Author: Mr G

Teacher
Posted on in Cinematographer, Cinematography, Film Micro Elements, Production Roles

Advancing your Cinematography

The creative intention for the week

‘To develop my cinematography skills and practice advanced techniques which can be used for expressive meaning in film.’

Session 1 – Filming with Canon DSLR cameras

Menu & Settings

  • Setting the White Balance
  • Grid display
    • rule of thirds / composition
  • Auto and Manual Focus
  • Recording Mode – (movie rec size)
    • 50 fps, 1280×720 (frames per second / resolution)
  • ISO (light sensitivity)
    • darker environment – higher light sensitivity & ISO number
    • lighter environment – lower light sensitivity & ISO number
  • Aperture (quantity of light coming into the lens)
    • low number (eg F1.8 = larger amount of light let in = shallow depth of field)
    • high number (eg F8 = less light let in = deeper focus) 

Different types of lens

  • 18-55 mm kit lens
  • Prime 35 mm lens
  • Telephoto Lens
  • Macro Lens

Session 2 & 3 – Play Time

Choose a minimum of  four techniques to research and practice this week. Two from each list:

List 1
  • Depth of Field & Pulling Focus
  • Filming in Macro
  • Impact of different lenses
  • The Trombone Shot
  • Bokeh
List 2
  • The Rule of Thirds
  • Frames within the Frame
  • Symmetry & Leading Lines
  • High Contrast Lighting (Low Key)
  • The Quadrant System

You will need a clear example of what you’re trying to achieve and also a tutorial video or web page on how to achieve it practically.

For each technique you should aim for either a shot of about 10-15 seconds or two to three different shorter examples of the same technique being used in different ways.

Session 4 The Edit

  • Use WeVideo to edit.
  • Upload your footage
  • Create a montage of cinematography techniques,
  • Name the kit / technique in a caption at the start.
  • At the end use a caption to suggest a potential meaning or impact of the technique on the audience

Reflective Journal

A short 1-2 minute video of your various experiments with composition. This will have been exported from WeVideo to YouTube – which should be possible directly.

A reflection on how it is possible to use camera to communicate meaning.

Posted on in Film Micro Elements, Sound

Sound in Film

We have already done some basic exploration of sound when we did the foley sound exercise. This week we are going to go into much more detail in terms of how to describe sound in film and analyse the meaning communicated.

We will be completing an analysis at the end of the week.

Terms

You need to be able to describe all the elements of sound that feature in a film. Here is a diagram of those elements that you need to describe and analyse.

Sound Diagram

Diegetic Sound (includes foley)

Non-Diegetic Sound

We’re going to do an analysis of the sound in this sequence from The Return of the Jedi (1983) Marquand, from the beginning to 5.04.

Watch through the clip and make notes using a copy of this document to make your notes.

They key to this is to describe the examples of the various sounds from your text clearly. Here is a blog with some useful ideas about how to describe music.

Sound Recording Task

Record dialogue in a scene using the boom and shot gun mic.

Here is the sequence, from 4.49 until the end.

Here is the script

We will be filming on one camera from two angles and recording using a shotgun mic, external recorder and boom.

We will sync up the sound and video in post using WeVideo. I will upload the footage and you will have to edit the video and sound together.

Here is a link to let you register with our WeVideo account.

  • Here is the group project link to WeVideo for Mr Gregson’s class.
  • Here is the group project link to WeVideo for Miss Hales class.
Posted on in Editing, Film Micro Elements

Introduction to Editing

Editing, the connectives in Film Language

Think of cut as connectives in a sentence….

…so, and, then, but, however, meanwhile…

How then does does editing create meaning if it’s just simple links in the film?

Well first of all, the edit constructs the meaning in the minds of the audience. Introducing…

…The Kuleshov Effect

 
Editing – Time, Space and Attention

So…OK…it’s the connectives of film, such as: ‘so’, ‘and then’, ‘however’, ‘meanwhile’… which the audience link to make sense of two images.

  • It’s also think about how editing shifts the film in time…such as, ‘Later that day’, ‘Earlier’, ‘The following Morning’, ‘8 years later…’, ‘Flashback…to recap important narrative information’…
  • It can also be used to draw audience attention to specific elements of mise-en-scene which are important. This is usually in the shape of characters view of what they see, although not always (often the audience know more than the characters). Ironic that…
SLIDESHOW TIME…
 
PRACTICAL TASK – Recreate the Kuleshov Effect

Working in pairs of two.

  • One pair shoots a series of reactions in MCU and.
  • A series of objects or events
  • Swap footage and using the other groups reactions / objects, along with your own…
  • Edit together in 3-5 different ways to create different meanings / ideas
Independent Study

Watch & summarise the videos in 5 bullet points

Textual Analysis of Editing

Identify the editing techniques used in this sequence.

Analyse how these editing techniques create meaning and sense for the audience.

You should use this handout to complete your TEA and then upload to your reflective journal under editing, along with a link to the clip.

Posted on in Extras, Film Macro Elements, Film Micro Elements, Information

Recap of Autumn Term 2017

We covered a lot of important concepts last term that we need to build upon in the rest of the course.

Task 1

Class brainstorm of the key things we have learnt in Film.

Task 2

Create a visual representation of one of those concepts in small groups.

Task 3

Contribute to a class glossary of terms for the concept you have been allocated.

Task 4

Find a film that your’re excited about and apply one macro to the film and one micro to a sequence.

Posted on in Cultural Contexts, Film Macro Elements, Genre

The Superhero in Other Cultural Traditions

Proposition:

Films are a cultural product and therefore reflect  the period and culture in which they were made.

The super hero then embodies heroic values of a given culture or time.

The binary of the hero is of course the villain and, if the hero embodies our cultural description of heroism, the villain embodies our fears of criminality and ‘evil’ to use a simplistic term.

If we are using Batman The Dark Knight to explore how that Superhero reflect the America Christopher Nolan finds himself in, we can use film to explore other cultures’  values, attitudes and beliefs with regard to the superhero.

In this lesson we are going to look at films from China and Japan and ask ourselves what we can learn about these cultures through their cultural products (films):

Task

Look at the sequences below from excellent films from the orient: What impression do you get of the heroes in these sequences? How are these ideas constructed through the mise-en-scene and cinematography?

Traditional Chinese Superheroes

Hero (2002) Yimou

Modern Japanese Hero

Ghost in the Shell (1995)

Nerdwriter Video

Posted on in Assessment & Feedback, Cinematography, Film Macro Elements, Film Micro Elements, Mise-en-Scene

Batman Essay

Task – A textual analysis essay.

Essay title

Complete a textual analysis of the denouement of The Dark Knight and answer the following question.

‘Analyse and evaluate the representation of Batman in the final scene of the The Dark Knight (2008) Nolan.’ You should use specific examples of mise-en-scene and cinematography to discuss how Nolan highlights and underlines the messages and values of the film.

Advice and Guidance
  • The essay will be assessed in how it shows your ability to demonstrate…
    1. …an understanding of the cultural context.
    2. … an understanding of how the extract makes use of film elements to create meaning.
    3. …an understanding of the ways in which the cultural context of the film and the identified film elements relate to each other, as well as to the chosen film text as a whole
  • The essay should be 1,000 words long (+/- 10%). 
  • You should use screen shots of key moments from the sequence that are the subject of your close textual analysis.
  • You should refer explicitly to the Crash Course YouTube video on, ‘The War on Terror’.
  • Quote from the article we discussed in class, Dark Knight, Dark Ideas by Chris Turner. 
    • This article and the Crash Course YouTube Video should be credited and referenced at the end of the essay.
Posted on in Cultural Contexts, Film Macro Elements, Genre

Evolution of Batman

‘The world about us has changed and is continually changing at an ever-accelerating pace. So have we. With the increase in media coverage and information technology, we see more of the world, comprehend its workings a little more clearly, and as a result our perception of ourselves and the society surrounding us has been modified. Consequently, we begin to make different demands upon the art and culture that is meant to reflect the constantly shifting landscape we find ourselves in. We demand new themes, new insights, new dramatic situations.’

‘We demand new heroes.’

Excerpt from Alan Moore’s introduction to the The Dark Knight Returns (if you’re a graphic novel fan you can read the complete article here.

The Evolution of the Batman

TASK

So let’s explore some recent(ish) iterations of Batman. How is he being treated in these films? What ideologies (values, attitudes and beliefs) seem to be attached to this character? How is the audience encouraged to respond to the character of Batman?

How do you know? What clues are you getting from the text that lead you to this conclusion?

Batman The Movie (1966) Martinson (Batman = Adam West)

Batman 1989 (Burton) (Batman = Michael Keaton)

So after all our study and research, lets look at Nolan’s Batman and explore how he is a product of a darker time. How he satisfies our demands for ‘new heroes’.

TASK

Take a copy of the slideshow above discuss and complete.

Embed the slideshow with a brief reflection on the representation of the Batman in Nolan’s trilogy into your reflective journal.

Posted on in Cinematographer, Cinematography, Film Micro Elements, Production Roles

Composition in Film

The Rules of Composition in Cinematography are described and exemplified in this video:

Task

Create a class slideshow which defines, explains and exemplifies the following rules of composition:

  • Symmetry
  • Contrast
  • Depth of field
  • The rules of thirds
  • Leading lines
  • Balance
  • Lead space
  • Frames within the frame

Please edit one slide on this slideshow:

Reflective journal

Embed this document in your reflective journal in the Cinematography page.

Great Cinematographers

Posted on in Cultural Contexts, Film Macro Elements

America Post 9/11 – The War on Terror

Contention / Thesis

‘All cultural products, including film, are a reflection of the time in which they were made!’

How can we test this idea? We can see if it applies to our films? Is it possible to see, in the characters and themes of The Dark Knight, the significant events after 9/11 attacks and the ensuing ‘War on Terror’ prosecuted by the American military and intelligence services?

Can we also get a sense of social attitudes at that time and how Gotham, it’s inhabitants, the police and Batman echo this social structure (and divide)?

This is a video which covers most of the important historical contexts.

…The War on Terror

Task

Note making document.

There are a lot facts in the above video on the socio-political context in America after post 9/11. Also it explores some of the social divides created by wealth or lack of it.

As we’re watching this video, and in the light of work we did on the key article from yesterday’s lessons, what contextual elements of the film seem to echo these contexts?

What themes are in the film, which seem to be concerned with the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and the war on terror?

What conclusions do you each about the nature of The Batman of the new millennia.

Reflective Journal

Embed the video into your journal

Summarise in 3-5 bullet points the key historical events that you can argue echo in The Dark Knight

Posted on in Critical Response & Reception, Cultural Contexts, Film Macro Elements, Filmmakers

The Batman – Dark Ideologies

TASK

Read, discuss, understand this key note article on Batman by Pete Turner.

  1. Some important terminology to define before we read:
    • Ideology
    • Socio-Political Context
    • Vigilante
    • Dominant Hegemony
    • Authoritarianism
    • Dichotomy
  2. Read the article aloud around the class.
  3. Stop/start discussion on the article and specific sections of it:
    1. Vigilantism, justice and vengeance
    2. By any means necessary – the tactics of Batman
    3. Inequality in Gotham
    4. The masses
  4. Complete notes on the article during the discussion
  5. Highlight key quotes from the article to use in next week’s essay
  6. Generate a Harvard reference for the article to use in the bibliography of the essay
Reflective Journal
  1. Embed article
  2. Summarise in 3-5 Bullet Points
  3. Reflect on the importance of reading articles / reviews on films we are studying (50 words)