10th December 2012 Reflection

Today in film, we spent most of the class finishing off a task from the previous lesson focussed on overhead diagrams. I used a scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail to begin, before creating a shotlist and then creating an overhead diagram. I feel that this task has given me a great idea of overhead diagrams, which will be very useful for the upcoming assignment.

For homework, we were supposed to analyse an episode of the twilight zone for metaphoric value. The episode I chose was the episode "I Shot an Arrow in the Air", in which the launch of an experimental spacecraft goes wrong, leaving the survivors of the crash stranded on an asteroid. The survivors argue amongst themselves, before they seperate to scout out the area. After one of the three survivors does not return, the leader of the mission is suspicious when the final member returns with more water than he had left with. They go out looking for the missing member, only for the final member to turn on the leader, killing him so that hey may survive for longer. However, in a major plot-twist, it is revealed that they merely crashed in a desert on earth.

I believe that it conveyed its message well, that humans turn on each other easily. It also conveyed the futility of this, through the final plot twist. Another note of interest was that it managed to contain a somewhat meta attitude, having the "alien" landscape (clearly filmed on earth) eventually revealed to actually be earth.

20th November 2012

Today in film, we continued working on our Books to Blockbusters film, part of a school festival intended to highlight the complications and joys of converting books into films. However, having already collected and edited most of our footage, only one group member edited, while the rest conducted additional research into the Twilight Zone.

Also, here's our completed film noir: http: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0cw8BC4Iog

2nd November 2012 Reflection

Today in film, having finished our film, we spent most of the period watching our work in front of the class, taking several minutes afterwards to reflect on it. I feel this helped us come to grips with our film, as well as compare it to the work of our peers in various ways. I look forward to seeing the few remaining ones on Tuesday.

Film Reflection 31st October 2012

Today in film, we had to finish shooting the last few scenes of our film. Having shot and edited the majority outside of class, we were able to do this with relative ease. I feel that we worked well together when filming this piece, and together made the film much better than I think it would have with other group members. I also think that parts of the unit were rushed, and this detracts slightly from the final piece; However, the somewhat rushed completion of our film has not detracted from it being an admirable piece of filmography.

3rd October 2012 Reflection

Today in film, we were redirected from film class to attend a workshop by the actor Nigel Miles-Thomas. Though acting in films instead of live drama, many of the activities he suggested could also be applied to film-based acting. Through several activities, we were taught the importance of making dialogue sound fluid, as well as the importance of saying dialogue exactly and correctly.
Though many of the concepts did not apply as much to us, I feel that this workshop was greatly helpful in regards to improving on the quality of our acting, as well as in reiterating the importance of saying dialogue correctly and of using body language to support dialogue.

Film Reflection 17th September 2012

Today in film, we began making final preparations before beginning to shoot. Not final final preparations of course, just final preparations. We spent some time observing scenes from Double Indemnity, Heat (1995) and Internal Affairs (2002) and speculating on what film noir traits they used. This helped cement many of the techniques we had learned of last class, as well as giving us an idea of how they could be employed. I feel prepared to begin shooting, though several planning lessons remain ahead of us.

Review:Dogma

Before I begin this review, can you promise not to tell my mother. I have been sworn to secrecy by my father concerning Jay and Silent Bob, due to her disapproval of the pair in general. We good? Ok.

Dogma's an interesting movie. It comes of as distinctly childish, despite its subject matter, and carries a somewhat hopeful tone with it, even in the face of the destruction of humanity and representatives of Mooby (basically Disney) being slaughtered by a vengeful Matt Damon. It also conveys an attitude to Catholicism and religion in general that will probably offend many (ironically true to some of the metaphors it gives).

The film opens with an abortionist (legal), who is a Christian despite her profession, and goes slightly into how she lost her faith (couldn't get pregnant, husband left her). Soon after this she is educated by Metatron (played by none other than Alan Rickman/Snape) of two banished angels attempting to reenter heaven. Though seemingly innocent, by doing so they will reverse a decree of god and thus end existence. Joined by two stoners (Jay and Silent Bob), she sets out to stop this from happening.

I won't spoil the ending. Its a good movie, if awkward at parts. And despite being predominantly a comedy and a work of fiction, parts of it seem to make sense within Christian doctrine. But again no spoilers. I give it a 7-8/10.

Film Reflection 13th September 2012

Today in film we spent some time going over some scenes from Double Indemnity we had attempted to redo. Though mine ended up looking little like the original scene, it gave me concepts of what kind of angles and dynamics would be necessary in our film. We also spent time going over the core concepts of the genre, such as the characteristics of a protagonist, antagonist, love interest, and various other plot points. I have discussed with my potential group, and we have come up with various ideas to go with the concept: Murder in the Glasgow Police Force. I feel I now have a greater understanding of the genre, and can now utilise those skills to my group's advantage.

Review:They Live

Saw a reference to They Live (in Futurama I believe), and curious as to what kind of storyline could involve grotesque skull-faced aliens and a lens of some variety. And the experience was...well interesting I guess.

First off, I just want to point out that the film wasn't designed totally as a horror/sci-fi, though there are elements of these involved much of the movie has comedic elements, such as the main character repeatedly and untactfully insulting the aliens appearances, despite having no back-up plan.

The movie opens with a homeless drifter walking around, looking for a job. He is able to secure a temporary job at a construction site, and later travels to a nearby shantytown with his co-worker Frank. Due to a turn of events, the shantytown is attacked with bulldozers and destroyed for unknown reasons.

The drifter enters a nearby empty church, where he discovers a box full of mysterious sunglasses. Thinking them to be normal, he puts a pair on and leaves the building, only to discover that these glasses allow him to see subliminal messages on every form of media, encouraging shallow and meaningless behavior. He also discovers the existence of the aforementioned skull-faced aliens, disguised as human beings. After proceeding to kill two alien police officers and take their weapons, he proceeds to attack a bank full of the aliens (at the same time coining the popular phrase:"I'm here to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and I'm all out of bubblegum).

Through a convoluted turn of events he is able to recruit Frank (his former co-worker), and together they join up with a resistance cell. However, no sooner have they done this than the organization is attacked by the police, resulting in many casualties. However, the drifter and Frank are able to steal an alien teleportation wristwatch, teleporting to a banquet saluting the aliens and their knowing supporters.

After proceeding to make their way through the banquet, again massacring security, they end up on the roof. Frank is promptly killed by a double agent, who had developed a relationship with the drifter. Though she attempts to convince the drifter to give up, he uses a hidden pistol to kill her and destroy the beacon broadcasting the signal hiding the subliminal messages, allowing everyone to see the world for what it truly is.

The film concludes with a montage of shocked people discovering aliens in their midst, including a horrified woman who discovers her current lover is in fact an alien.

Though not groundbreaking in anyway, the film greatly embodies the paranoia at the lack of information concerning the  many issues affecting the world during the time it is set (the 80s I think), as well as putting a somewhat dark comedic tone to already dark subject matter. In short: it's no Star Wars, but pretty good. Go see it anyway.

Film Reflection 7th September 2012

Today in film, we spent the entire lesson examining specific editing techniques that could be employed to various ends. Because I have just published another post illustrating each technique and examples, I will not go into detail concerning the techniques. However, it is needless to say that many of these will be useful not only in our upcoming film noir assignment, as well as whatever films we may need to make in the future. I do feel that this lesson was not entirely well spent however, as this took a disproportionate amount of time to complete, as much of it could have been better completed as homework.

Notes on Continuity Editing

Notes on Continuity Editing
Cuts
A quick transition between two scenes, advanced examples of which are shown below.

Cheat Cut: A cut that actually rearranges the set to make parts of the set seem disproportionate. Often used cuts impossible given the constructed set (i.e. cutting to film from behind a where a wall supposedly was)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7H83f9uxYc&feature=player_embedded

Crosscutting/Parallel Editing: Cutting between two or more separate lines of action usually occurring at the same time. Gives a sense that the two occurrences are connected in some way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wbjylCEJLw

Cut In/Cut Away: Cuts that zoom in nor zoom out into a portion of the same space instantaneously.


Dissolve: A transition where the first shot gradually disappears and the second shot gradually appears.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJq1auJq_gc&feature=relmfu 1:26-1:28

Iris: A transition effect that can begin/end a scene, or be used to cancel out the rest of a shot and focus on one detail. Gradually blacks out the rest of the scene except for one circle of  focus.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuYIq-J5l9I 0:08-0:11

Jump Cut: A cut where either the characters change against a constant background instantaneously or the background changes instantaneously against characters still in the same position.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tDRBb0apDg&list=UUSAUGyc_xA8uYzaIVG6MESQ&index=2&feature=plcp 1:25-1:26

Establishing Shot/Reestablishing shot: Quick cuts between shots to either establish the set of a scene or to reestablish and emphasize details not shown prior in the scene.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I16_8l0yS-g

Shot-Reverse Shot: A type of cutting that quickly cuts between two characters at more or less the same distance, often when they are having a conversation or doing some act together (i.e. playing ping pong).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKdcYnlkhx8

Superimposition: Exposure of more than one shot at the same time, causing them both to appear simultaneously.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-1uU_QSIWw

Wipe: Transition that causes one scene to be quickly "wiped" (fade along a line), with the other scene appearing at the same time over that line.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usXca7W_jvM
Matches
Techniques that join two shots by making a connection between them in some way.

Eye-line Match: Quick cuts between a shot of a person looking in some direction, and the object they are looking at, gradually zooming in on both the object of focus and the person's eyes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VPMEKCITvs

Graphic Match: Take advantage of the similarity between two objects by making quick cuts to show a connection between them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4rHeGqaDBk

Match on Action: A quick cut between two views of the same scene, making it appear uninterrupted.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHh12_JHjTg

Duration
The decision to or not to edit has become important with not editing becoming an impossibility.

Long Take: Taking an abnormally long time to cut. Since these are difficult to set up to be exactly the same set for an extended period of time, they are often shot from the same angle for the whole scene.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJEEVtqXdK8

Overlapping Editing:Cuts that repeat the action, expanding on it each time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJEEVtqXdK8 0:48-0:55

Rhythm: Hard to encompass entirely, altering aspects of the music, lighting and various other aspects of the film can dramatically alter the mood.

Double Indemnity Test Edit

30th August 2012

Today in film, we began much as the last class did by reviewing things we had previously learned. However, this was significantly more necessary, as it served as a refresher for protocol for setting up the camera, final cut pro, and various other things. Granted we had learned all these things before, however with all the intricate details many of us had forgotten, and it was good to review these. We continued by  being tasked with making a storyboard of a scene from the Film Noir mentioned last class (Double Indemnity). This was a good idea, as it got us thinking about the effects and camera angles that should be employed in a film noir, as well as sample dialogue that could be employed for our projects. This was followed up by us having to list all the necessary camera angles, dialogue, rigs, shots and actor movement. All and all, having dissected the scene bit by bit, I feel that I have a greater understanding of the techniques to employ later on in our project.

Film Reflection 29th August 2012

Today in film started as most intro lessons do, a review of the class protocols. Due to being in a new room, various things didn't apply, however due to the launch of the macbook program some new things had come into play. A review of these was helpful, though to be honest a somewhat dull way to begin the semester. However, this was soon ramped up with the start of research for our new unit: Film Noir. I will admit that I was excited by this, and when tasked with watching the 1960's Film Noir Double Indemnity saw many techniques that could be employed to further emulate the style. I look forward to the next lesson.

8th May 2012 Reflection

Today in film, we began by discussing the upcoming project, which is mainly focused on sound design. After being put into new groups, we discussed potential subjects, and decided it would be interesting if we did the sound to a comic strip of some variety. We have yet to decide on a comic, and will discuss this next class. We spent most of the class finishing Dancing with Wolves, which is a prime example of the techniques we will need to use for the assignment: Using music to appropriately alter the emotions of the audience, Altering the effects volumes to a similar ends and Trying to keep the background music constant with the emotion that is being conveyed. This movie has given me a host of ideas for our documentary, I only hope I can use them properly.

3rd May Reflection

Today in film, we continued watching Dancing with Wolves. Unfortunately, I missed the first part due to a field trip last week, causing me to be absent for the first part of the film. We focused on the use of sound and music in the film, and how it affected our perception of characters and the situation. This has helped me come up with ways we could use sound in our documentary, as well as several discussion topics for the upcoming essay.

19th April 2012

Today was the first showings of the documentaries. We were given half the class to apply finishing touches. In this time, I was made to present as I had not yet done so. After presenting a slightly abridged version of my presentation, due to time constraints, I feel I did a decently good job. Except for the fact I forgot to mention the  type of documentary my documentary was (in short missing the entire point of the presentation). After this, I aided my group in putting final touches on our documentary. Unfortunately (again due to time constraints), we were unable to screen, only be able to watch and give feedback on one documentary.  I feel that this was useful, as we were able to see what another group had done, giving us an idea of how are documentary style compared to that of other groups.

Reflection 27th February 2012

Today in film, we worked on interview techniques and angles. We rotated through several roles as a group of 5 with each member getting a chance to act as a cameraman, camera assistant, sound tech, interviewer and interviwee. We devoted most of the lesson to this, perfecting the phrasing of questions, as well as the correct demeanor and the correct series of camera angles to intersperse in an interview. Though we were productive this lesson, more preperations need to be made before we can go out to the field, we still have to organise interviews and we still have to hone our skills at and in front of the camera.

Reflection February 21st

Today in film, we started by considering interview questions which we would interview our subjects. We then learned an important lesson in note taking: We had previously not taken note of the model of the camera we were using to film. As a result, we were not allowed to borrow another one until we were given the model of the camera (Panasonic HD/HS 900). This informed us that our notes were not as extensive as we had previously belived them to be. After this, we went over the correct procedure for putting away headphones, before spending some time reviewing camera basics We finished up going over the basics of microphone use.

February 17 Reflection

Today in film, we discussed mainly camera operations. We first outlined the components of all camera, namely viewfinder, lens, battery and format. We spent some time going over correct procedure for setting up the camera, as well as how to operate the camera and how to operate the supporting tripod. There was also some discussion of the various features of the camera, such as manual focus adjusting and manual white balancing.  We finished by using the camera and tripod combo to take several shots, a long shot, a medium shot and a close-up. This has prepared us adequately for the physical filming of our documentary, and now all we have to worry about is the actual execution and editing. In short, our troubles are far from over.

February 13th Reflection

Today in film, we prepared a presentation on our film. We went into further detail on the execution of each previously discussed component (beyond the “elevator pitch). We described details such as: the style of documentary we wanted to embody (1980’s David Attenborough-style documentary)and the style of opening scene we would use (parody of a British style documentary, man walking down a street dictating). However, many of our concepts were not thought out well enough, as a result our presentation did not go as well as it could have, with our visual cues not being fully utilized and our ideas not being completely articulated. For the next lesson, we should seriously think our ideas through, so as to be more prepared.

Feb 9 reflection

In film class today, we further discussed our documentary, specifically what we wanted to be in it beyond a concept. After some deliberation, we decided to interview restaurant owners, some CIS staff and some random people on the streets. We also decided to include segments on the history of each dish, as well as delving slightly into the preparation of each dish. We then began thinking about the execution of each of these ideas, deciding to set up our documentary as semi-satirical. Finally, as a result of our ideas being finalized, we were able to come up with a title for our documentary that embodied all of our desires: Lord of the Fries.

Sound of Music

I've been hearing about this movie for a while, but I've had no interest in it. I recently was made to watch it, and found it not lacking. The first half reminded me eerily of Yellow Submarine, with music bringing happiness and joy back into a place previously lacking said emotions. The second half was an interesting statement on the conflicting views of a veteran given the chance to fight again under the command of his enemy. I found however, that the ending seemed rushed, and not well executed. The film was also incredibly cheesy, but then again what is a musical if not cheesy?

Film Reflection 3rd February

Today in film, we began discussing concepts for our documentary. In our group of three, we discussed several topics, eventually coming up with two conceptual ideas: one investigating the gentrification of Sheung Wan and one investigating why onion rings are much less popular than French fries. We aim on making the onion ring concept our final documentary: We will divide up our documentary between interviews with various people (on which of the two dishes they prefer), The history of either dish, The preparation of either dish and blind taste testing (possibly too gimmicky, will discuss). Overall I feel that our documentary, if executed correctly, could be a great piece of filmography, however our main challenge is making it good enough to be taken more seriously than just as a fluff piece investigating food.

February 1 Reflection

Introductory lesson to the film course. We spent some time in the beginning going over the rubrics, I’ve already narrowing documentaries I may use in the coming presentation: Namely Blue Planet, Supersize Me and An Inconvenient Truth. I was intrigued by the concept of setting film-making out as a scale: With Documentary being the Right-wing, Experimental being the Left-wing and Narrative being the center. I have also started to conceptualize potential issues I could focus on with the documentary, but so far have come up with nothing. Will think about that more as classes go on.

Interesting youtube video

No idea who made this, but it's weirdly funny: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFCNVvvmxNw&feature=related&fb_source=message