Today i pitched my final idea for my DP3 project, everyone seemed to like the idea and how i had gone about it, but one criticism was that is was too long and for the number of shots i had story boarded to get them all into 30 seconds would be a squeeze. So instead i was told to go through it again and maybe finish it early giving it the same affect or changing the ending slightly.
The session was very useful and gave me some good ideas of now to change my idea for the better which is what i plan to do now.
Friday 28 October 2011
Thursday 27th seminar session.
Today we had a seminar with Jools and we were given three tasks to complete within the three hours.
To start with we were told to film something protraying a metaphor inside and outside, not neccesarilly the same metaphor. For our inside shots we decided to use camera angles in order to show a sense of dominance, therefore we did a low shot looking up at Chris to show his authority and a high looking down shot of Sam to show his infeariority. After this we went outside and simply want to show a metaphor of being trapped or not free so we filmed James behind some bars for ten seconds.
With this task we could of taken more time framing the shots and getting the lighting right but overall they worked quite well.
The second task we had was to film the same subject with a three point lighting setup, then remove both lights one at a time and try to get the same effect on the subject, it was clear that this was extremely hard with the equipment we had, with the use of reflectors it might of been possible, but nonetheless is was a good learning experience when it comes to lighting.
finally we were asked to film an interview on the go, we were very rushed when we came to do this, and took our first shot of James walking and tessa interviewing him in a paparazzi style while Chris filmed, this shot was poorly framed and to close to James, with more care it could of been made to look very good.
To start with we were told to film something protraying a metaphor inside and outside, not neccesarilly the same metaphor. For our inside shots we decided to use camera angles in order to show a sense of dominance, therefore we did a low shot looking up at Chris to show his authority and a high looking down shot of Sam to show his infeariority. After this we went outside and simply want to show a metaphor of being trapped or not free so we filmed James behind some bars for ten seconds.
With this task we could of taken more time framing the shots and getting the lighting right but overall they worked quite well.
The second task we had was to film the same subject with a three point lighting setup, then remove both lights one at a time and try to get the same effect on the subject, it was clear that this was extremely hard with the equipment we had, with the use of reflectors it might of been possible, but nonetheless is was a good learning experience when it comes to lighting.
finally we were asked to film an interview on the go, we were very rushed when we came to do this, and took our first shot of James walking and tessa interviewing him in a paparazzi style while Chris filmed, this shot was poorly framed and to close to James, with more care it could of been made to look very good.
Language of Film Cont'd
Screen Direction: Logic to the way we watch a film, director will need to take many shot types into account in order to enhance the viewers perception of the film and give the meaning he wants these include: Pan, Tilt, Track, Elevate etc.
When shooting the director must make sure that screen direction is correct, so if your following a character and they exit a camera on the right the next shot they must enter from the left. When filmimg always plan the shots you are going to do and make sure they follow the rules of screen direction and if not structure in the shots in a way to compensate.
Cutting on Action:
"Cutting on action is one of the best ways to maintain the feeling of movement through time and maintaining screen direction and continuity. When editing, it is always best to cut as the talent does something - not as they are getting ready to do something or have already finished the action. If they are sitting, make the cut as they are on their way down, not while they are still standing. Cutting on the action will also hide the cut because the movement of your talent will distract the viewer from the hard cut. Cutting on action also lets you do a very interesting thing called a parallel cut. This is a cut between two similar actions yet involves two different subjects in two different places. For instance, say your subject is a boyfriend going to meet his girlfriend. He walks through a door; she gets into an elevator. You shoot him from the left and her from the right to give the feeling that they are moving towards each other. Cutting as he opens his door and her elevator door closes gives you two similar actions and speeds the action along. The 180 Rule, screen direction and cutting on action work together to bring these two together!"
180 Degree Rule:
This rule constitutes to when film say two characters talking to each and when thinking you must imagined that there is a a line through the two characters you must always stay this side of the characters when filming so not to ruining the continuity, the only time you can cross this line is if the camera physically is shown to move over it e.g. a tracking shot.
Zolly Shot:
These allow you to realise the importance of something that the character has realised, it is done by panning in and zooming out on the characters face at the same time.
When shooting the director must make sure that screen direction is correct, so if your following a character and they exit a camera on the right the next shot they must enter from the left. When filmimg always plan the shots you are going to do and make sure they follow the rules of screen direction and if not structure in the shots in a way to compensate.
Cutting on Action:
"Cutting on action is one of the best ways to maintain the feeling of movement through time and maintaining screen direction and continuity. When editing, it is always best to cut as the talent does something - not as they are getting ready to do something or have already finished the action. If they are sitting, make the cut as they are on their way down, not while they are still standing. Cutting on the action will also hide the cut because the movement of your talent will distract the viewer from the hard cut. Cutting on action also lets you do a very interesting thing called a parallel cut. This is a cut between two similar actions yet involves two different subjects in two different places. For instance, say your subject is a boyfriend going to meet his girlfriend. He walks through a door; she gets into an elevator. You shoot him from the left and her from the right to give the feeling that they are moving towards each other. Cutting as he opens his door and her elevator door closes gives you two similar actions and speeds the action along. The 180 Rule, screen direction and cutting on action work together to bring these two together!"
180 Degree Rule:
This rule constitutes to when film say two characters talking to each and when thinking you must imagined that there is a a line through the two characters you must always stay this side of the characters when filming so not to ruining the continuity, the only time you can cross this line is if the camera physically is shown to move over it e.g. a tracking shot.
Zolly Shot:
These allow you to realise the importance of something that the character has realised, it is done by panning in and zooming out on the characters face at the same time.
Feedback for DP3 ideas.
On Friday i had to present my ideas for DP3 to Jools and the group. I started my pitch with my idea around the choose freedom concept. My first idea was to do with video games and the idea was to show someone choosing a game called freedom and then playing that game on his console, the feedback for this was mixed, many said they liked the idea and the concept but said it didnt really show a freedom from consumerism it rather promoted it, and therefore an action to take for this idea was to change it so it would clearly show a freedom from consumerism.
My second idea also was along the gaming side of consumerism but this time instead the character within would be relentlessly playing video games all day and all night in the darkness of his room, i had planned to show the characters health detierating and junk food boxes piling up, eventually a concerned unknown outsider will burst into his room draw back the curtains and the slogan choose freedom will read on the window panes. This idea got generally positive reviews due to the real sense of choosing freedom and also many said that i would be able to do very interesting things with lighting.
My third idea was to have the character internet shopping buying lots of items, tv's, games, DVD's etc. on each page he looks at will be a advert for a product called freedom and eventually his consumer brain will buy it and his computer will turn off therefore he has chosen his freedom. There were mixed feedback ideas for this many thought it would be to hard to do without showing internet logos and product logos, and many thought it needed further development.
From the feedback it was clear that i needed to storyboard all my ideas in detail, and make it clear how i would shoot each idea. I have decided that i will make my second idea into my film for the DP3 project, because i believe this will give the clearest message and i will be able to some very interesting things with that idea.
My second idea also was along the gaming side of consumerism but this time instead the character within would be relentlessly playing video games all day and all night in the darkness of his room, i had planned to show the characters health detierating and junk food boxes piling up, eventually a concerned unknown outsider will burst into his room draw back the curtains and the slogan choose freedom will read on the window panes. This idea got generally positive reviews due to the real sense of choosing freedom and also many said that i would be able to do very interesting things with lighting.
My third idea was to have the character internet shopping buying lots of items, tv's, games, DVD's etc. on each page he looks at will be a advert for a product called freedom and eventually his consumer brain will buy it and his computer will turn off therefore he has chosen his freedom. There were mixed feedback ideas for this many thought it would be to hard to do without showing internet logos and product logos, and many thought it needed further development.
From the feedback it was clear that i needed to storyboard all my ideas in detail, and make it clear how i would shoot each idea. I have decided that i will make my second idea into my film for the DP3 project, because i believe this will give the clearest message and i will be able to some very interesting things with that idea.
Tuesday 25 October 2011
Thursday 20 October 2011
Storyboard for my Idea
Here is a quick storyboard for my initial idea.
Remembering that i wouldn't be able to show logo's in my film because of advertising rights means i will have to change this slightly in order to keep certain things out of shot but i know how i will over come it.
Remembering that i wouldn't be able to show logo's in my film because of advertising rights means i will have to change this slightly in order to keep certain things out of shot but i know how i will over come it.
Tuesday 18 October 2011
Language of Film
Language of Film:
The language of film is everything that makes up a film and what makes it appealing to the audience, composition, light, narrative etc.
Each shot of a film is carefully thought out in order to give some meaning and either tell you about the character or have some insight into the mood, there are many things that a shot can display...
In this shot from "Angel at my Window" its clear of the conscious choices made by the director in order to portray a significant meaning for the shot. The fact that the girls cardigan and the wallpaper are the same colour show that she is almost fading into the background, the room is very dark compared to outside showing sadness. Due to the ammount of space around the girl shows she is small/weak almost trapped, this is reinforced by the windows being shut. All this can be seen from this simple still, we are encouraged to take this into account when making our own films.
Shots:
Each shot should bring some new information or progress to the audience, jump cuts, dissolving and continous shots are used.
Composition:
As a camera man when filimg you should continously reframe your shot if its continuous in order to keep the composition relative, the rule of thirds should be taken into consideration, always keep the four important points at the focus.
The language of film is everything that makes up a film and what makes it appealing to the audience, composition, light, narrative etc.
Each shot of a film is carefully thought out in order to give some meaning and either tell you about the character or have some insight into the mood, there are many things that a shot can display...
Shots:
Each shot should bring some new information or progress to the audience, jump cuts, dissolving and continous shots are used.
Composition:
As a camera man when filimg you should continously reframe your shot if its continuous in order to keep the composition relative, the rule of thirds should be taken into consideration, always keep the four important points at the focus.
Monday 17 October 2011
DP3 My Idea
For this DP3 project i want to create a short film, which following the choose freedom idea, will make people think about consumerism and hopefully convince people to consume less, the way i hope to do this is have my film revolve around the gaming world, video games are a massive market in today's society with millions buying and playing games. Initially i struggled in thinking of a way i could do this, i knew i wanted my film to have some sort of choice aspect for the character within. I then had the idea that the character within my film would be choosing which game to play on his game console, and he would choose a game called freedom, i think this coincides with the the essence of my idea rather well.
I plan to design my own game art which i can do on Photoshop, i have done this before so it will be very simple. From here the character will insert the game into his console and i then plan to have photos on the screen which will essential be the freedom game, from here i will zoom in on the screen so only the photo can be seen, this photo will then come alive essentially and the character will walk from the camera's location into the free area followed by the slogan "choose freedom". I've thought about this in detail and know exactly how i plan to achieve it. I'll follow this post with my initial storyboard for my idea.
I plan to design my own game art which i can do on Photoshop, i have done this before so it will be very simple. From here the character will insert the game into his console and i then plan to have photos on the screen which will essential be the freedom game, from here i will zoom in on the screen so only the photo can be seen, this photo will then come alive essentially and the character will walk from the camera's location into the free area followed by the slogan "choose freedom". I've thought about this in detail and know exactly how i plan to achieve it. I'll follow this post with my initial storyboard for my idea.
DP3 Fridays Lectures.
After the lecture with Jools on Friday, it became clear to me what was actually expected of us in the brief, we were supposed to be setting out to create something innovative and different, not necessarily something new but a new way of going about it. This meant that i scrapped my first two original ideas and went back to the drawing board. Jools told us about a website called adbusters.org on their website the say that...
From this site i began looking at videos of things that interested me or things that i had heard about, i watched many videos and thought about how i could create something related to them but with my own spin on it, one video i found showed how much food is wasted in New York City. The way they go about it in the video i find very interesting and found their idea very inspiring.
"We are a global network of culture jammers and creatives working to change the way information flows, the way corporations wield power, and the way meaning is produced in our society."
I then found some interesting videos about freeing yourself from the media and consumerism, which i really enjoyed and it is this path that i want to go down for my DP3 project, i plan to do more research and look into different ways i can portray this idea of freeing yourself from consumerism.
Thursday 13 October 2011
DP3 ideas cont'd
Today i had another idea for my first DP3 project. While watching a celebrity version of Who Want's to be a Millionaire the idea of charities came into my head, because on these shows their chosen charities are never huge charities that you see everywhere but small charities that have a meaning to the person. I then thought that i would like to make an advert that promotes a charity that has a personal meaning to me.
I had too ideas about initially to promote people to support smaller local charities or i would choose a charity which relates to epilepsy because my sister has epilepsy. The way i would go about this is research into my chosen charity and go about promoting it so i probably wouldn't necessarily have interviews but more give information about epilepsy and the charity.
I had too ideas about initially to promote people to support smaller local charities or i would choose a charity which relates to epilepsy because my sister has epilepsy. The way i would go about this is research into my chosen charity and go about promoting it so i probably wouldn't necessarily have interviews but more give information about epilepsy and the charity.
Initial ideas for DP3.
When we were told about DP3 in our first lecture and given the brief of what we were going to be doing, one of the first things Deb said was "what do you feel strongly about". From this i straight away got the idea about how people mistreat the hand out of benefits in this country, this idea came from reading a lot of newspapers over the summer while working and a common story that i would come across would either be benefit cheats or large families who get benefits in order to support their families but use that as a way of living.
This reason i feel strongly about this subject was because people who are lying to the government either about disabilities or claiming job seekers allowance when not actually actively looking for work, are basically freeloading off tax payers money. Also concerning parents who have a large amount of children and use this as a way of living and sustaining an income, i gather that it can be a touchy subject but one article i read about a family with eleven children, where a quote from the father was "i love having a huge family i get £30,000 in benefits every year why should i work?". In cases like this thousands are being forked out and people who really need it to live aren't getting the support they need.
I haven't done much research into this at the moment, but if i choose this as my subject i plan to research how tax money is distributed as benefits or job seekers allowance, as well as interviewing people and getting their views on the matter. Hopefully i will be able to find some examples of people who really need benefits in order to survive or support their families, and make a thirty second add which promotes the idea of making benefits distribution fair.
I also know that disabled people or families with disabled children receive benefits because they or their parents may not be able to work because of their condition, and i believe this to be a strong cause to promote a fair distribution of benefits.
This reason i feel strongly about this subject was because people who are lying to the government either about disabilities or claiming job seekers allowance when not actually actively looking for work, are basically freeloading off tax payers money. Also concerning parents who have a large amount of children and use this as a way of living and sustaining an income, i gather that it can be a touchy subject but one article i read about a family with eleven children, where a quote from the father was "i love having a huge family i get £30,000 in benefits every year why should i work?". In cases like this thousands are being forked out and people who really need it to live aren't getting the support they need.
I haven't done much research into this at the moment, but if i choose this as my subject i plan to research how tax money is distributed as benefits or job seekers allowance, as well as interviewing people and getting their views on the matter. Hopefully i will be able to find some examples of people who really need benefits in order to survive or support their families, and make a thirty second add which promotes the idea of making benefits distribution fair.
I also know that disabled people or families with disabled children receive benefits because they or their parents may not be able to work because of their condition, and i believe this to be a strong cause to promote a fair distribution of benefits.
DP3 project things to note.
We spoke briefly to Jools today and went over the necessary items that we would need to be note or accompany our finished film for DP3.
- Reccie, including times and showing we have suitable locations.
- Permission, release forms.
- Times of shooting
- Background noise taken into consideration e.g. cars
- Risk assessment
- Weather forecast
- Location suitable for what you want to achieve e.g. shots
- Script: characters, role, performance
- Storyboards: need to accurately show your story
- Props list
- Music clearance
- Mood boards
- Keep blog updated
- Crew list
- Photos of set and shoot
- Schedule: call sheet = times
- Log sheet of shoot e.g. shots, whats gone wrong, sound checks, size/angle and result
Malac: Feedback
Today we showed our finished version on Malac to the group and we had mixed reviews, due to the lack of coordination between our group some people weren't present at the filming or the editing so decisions were made as last minute ones in order to make the film work.
Our film therefore rather than being a dialogue driven piece is in fact a trailer for the film, which as a whole works very well and the shots we took work for the trailer and with the right affects and shots mixed with an over the top soundtrack it fits the bill for what you would expect for a trailer.
Some of the feedback comments were that we should we have worked better as a group an also made sure that we were all present and both the filming and the editing. I believe that with the footage though that there was a sufficient amount of necessary film to create our original idea and i plan you do my own edit showing so.
Our film therefore rather than being a dialogue driven piece is in fact a trailer for the film, which as a whole works very well and the shots we took work for the trailer and with the right affects and shots mixed with an over the top soundtrack it fits the bill for what you would expect for a trailer.
Some of the feedback comments were that we should we have worked better as a group an also made sure that we were all present and both the filming and the editing. I believe that with the footage though that there was a sufficient amount of necessary film to create our original idea and i plan you do my own edit showing so.
Wednesday 12 October 2011
Sound for AV
Yesterday we had a lecture with Danny about sound and the aesthetics of sound when it comes to filming.
The audiovisual relationship is not natural but rather a sort of symbolic pact to which
the audio-spectator agrees to forget that sound is coming from loudspeakers and
picture from the screen. The audio-spectator considers the elements of sound and
image to be participating in one the same entity or world.
The result of the audio-visual contract is that one perception influences the other and
transforms it. So that ...
We never see the same thing when we also hear.
We don't hear the same thing when we see as well.
(Edited excerpt: Michel Chion, Audio-Vision)
Part 1: Mechanics
Loudness: Av sound constantly manipulates sound volume. For example, in many films a long shot of a busy street is accompanied by loud traffic noises, but when two people meet and start to speak, the loudness of the noise is characterized as much by the difference in volume as by the substance of the talk.
Pitch: The frequency of sound vibrations governs pitch, or the perceived highness or lowness
of the sound.
Most sounds in life are "complex tones", made up of different frequencies. Pitch helps us
to distinguish music and speech from other sounds. Pitch also serves to distinguish among
objects. Low pitched sounds can often suggest dull or hollow objects,
Timbre: These are often sounds that give feeling or color to a scene i.e. warm sounds for
happiness or dull cold sounds for fear.
Ambiance: Ambiance is the atmosphere of a place so this includes the background noise,
the sounds heard when no diegetic sound is present.
Room Tone: A locations’ "aural fingerprint“ Each room has a distinct presence of subtle
sounds created by the movement of air particles in a particular volume. Room tone is recorded during 'production sound recording' Room tone is used to match the production sound track so that it may be inter cut with the track and provide a continuous-sounding background.
Hyper-real Sound: These are sounds that are over exaggerated in order to be more
prominent,or give more emphasis in a scene.
Establishing Sound: These are sounds that establish a scene, so it may be sound of a busy
street or a quite country side, so even if the audience cant necessarily see the location the
establishing sound will make it known.
Foley: Foley are sounds which are added in in post production, they are artificial sounds
created using a number of objects in order to mimic the sound present in a scene e.g.
coconuts shells used to mimic the sound of horses.
Production Sound: These are sounds which a present when filming so any background sounds
you might encounter while shooting a scene e.g. birds, wind. Outdoor locations can be especially difficult due to the very limited control the film-makers have of the environment.
Natural Sound: These are the sounds of objects that are unaltered so sounds which aren't
emphasized to enhance there present within the film. They are rarely used because they
can be disappointing compared to an altered version.
Malac: Film Day
On Friday we did our filming for the small project surrounding the script Malac, our location had been chosen at Ollie's house using his basement which set quite a good set for the mystery around the script, Steph and Ollie's friend Ryan were our actors. When we arrived at Ollie's it became apparent how small the basement actually was but i think we did very well moving around the camera and our actors to make it work, like all film shoots we came across some problems but were able to overcome them with ease.
What i noticed was different about this shoot than previous ones last year was how much more efficient we were when it came to organizing the shoot and coming up with ideas, it took less than a day to have our final idea and we were able to shoot it in under three hours. As a whole the group worked very well together and everyone pulled their weight.
Throughout our film our main shots focus on Ryan playing the character who is tied to a chair, we tried to show as little of Steph's face as possible to keep a sense of mystery around her character, as well as this we do not show the Malac to the camera, we were able to borrow a smoke machine from the theater department which we used to fill the the box which the Malac was supposedly in, again this connoted mystery. We pretty much stuck to the script but changed a few parts which we thought didnt work or that we believed our actors could achieve better when done another way.
As a whole the film shoot was very successful and i look forward to seeing the finished edit.
What i noticed was different about this shoot than previous ones last year was how much more efficient we were when it came to organizing the shoot and coming up with ideas, it took less than a day to have our final idea and we were able to shoot it in under three hours. As a whole the group worked very well together and everyone pulled their weight.
Throughout our film our main shots focus on Ryan playing the character who is tied to a chair, we tried to show as little of Steph's face as possible to keep a sense of mystery around her character, as well as this we do not show the Malac to the camera, we were able to borrow a smoke machine from the theater department which we used to fill the the box which the Malac was supposedly in, again this connoted mystery. We pretty much stuck to the script but changed a few parts which we thought didnt work or that we believed our actors could achieve better when done another way.
Tuesday 4 October 2011
Moving Image, DP3.
Today was the first day of second year having chosen my pathway (Moving Image), we were given a brief overview of the year and what projects we would be doing throughout. However to start with we were split into groups given a script and told we had nine days to make it into a short film, it seemed this was just a small starter project to get us back into the swing of things.
The scripts title is Malac and tells the story of two unknown characters in an unknown location, one of the characters is male and tied to a chair while the other is female and surrounds her focus with a briefcase that contains the Malac. The Malac at this stage is unknown to us and we have to decide what we want to make of it or what we want it to be, the script creates a cynicism around this object and the male character is clearly in some distress about it, the script ends with the female character removing the Malac from the briefcase while the male character screams. In our group we briefly talked about how we would shoot the film and locations and roles of the group but we plan to talk more in depth after Jules' lecture on Thursday.
The scripts title is Malac and tells the story of two unknown characters in an unknown location, one of the characters is male and tied to a chair while the other is female and surrounds her focus with a briefcase that contains the Malac. The Malac at this stage is unknown to us and we have to decide what we want to make of it or what we want it to be, the script creates a cynicism around this object and the male character is clearly in some distress about it, the script ends with the female character removing the Malac from the briefcase while the male character screams. In our group we briefly talked about how we would shoot the film and locations and roles of the group but we plan to talk more in depth after Jules' lecture on Thursday.
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