Preliminary Task Evaluation

Our Preliminary Task was to make film some sequences of a storyboard that was given to us and we did that in the old studio in our school which is next to the Music Tech class room and offers great light opportunities, space, doors that we needed for our sequence and silence. This location worked very well because there were two doors we could use, as it was said in the Storyboard, and we could use the special lighting to create a nice atmosphere. We used two spot lights that very focused on our two actors, creating shadows behind them and lighting up their faces. In the whole sequence I actually took a very active role (as well as all the others-because our whole group worked actively together to make a great piece of work) in the filming because I took the role of the producer. I focused the camera together with my partner, I made sure that the lighting was correct and didn’t create shadows we didn’t want and I also sometimes told the actors what to do, which worked very well because one of our actors actually started crying for us because it fit into the scene. I didn’t like the fact that we, and especially I was telling the actors what to do, but Lottie helped me and so they did exactly what we wanted them to do for us to even make a good piece of acting. We had soft light which created lots of shadows behind the actors, what fit to the scene because the soft light fit to the hurt of the “B” character and the shadows made it look like an evening scene. By having soft evening light underlined with shadows, the light was very effective because it represented a dark atmosphere and the hurt that character B felt because she was left by her lover. Our camera was set up in different angles and we first shot the whole sequence through a wide shot, then the whole sequence in a mid shot and so on to let the action play through the picture and this also makes it easier to cut after woods because we had enough space on the tape. With setting up the camera we also made sure that we didn’t cross the 180° line and because when we filmed the whole sequence from a wide shot and then a medium shot etc. we made sure that the tripod was in the correct level all the time, so if we had an over-the shoulder shot, the shoulder of our character was (hopefully) always in the right and same position. We also made sure that none of our group was standing in the light so that there were no shadows created we didn’t want. After shooting the scenes we were supposed to shoot we added some that we thought might add something to the story and give more extra detail for example the door opening and some more close-ups of facial expressions as well as point of view shots. To let everybody know what we are doing on the set we used the words “Standing by-running-action”. We said standing by to make everybody get ready, then running to make sure that the tape is actually running (we could see it on the time code) and action to let everything start. When the scene was over we said “cut” to end it.

Example of a short movie sequence

The Movie Making

Today we learned a little bit more about how to shoot a movie sequence. Our task was to do a Preliminary Practical Preparation and we were supposed to shoot 20 seconds. The story should be very basic, for example just picking something up from a table, but it was important to understand “how” to use the camera properly. The camera is on a still focus and lets the action play through so no matter what kind of shot you take the camera is always still and the action is taking part in front of it. We also learned about the 180° Rule. It says that if you for example have a two shot you draw an imaginative line between the two people and you can either shoot from the one side or the other but always in 180° and you are never allowed to cross that line because otherwise it will look as if they have changed positions and that would be a movie mistake. For example if you have a car driving through the desert and you let it start on the right side of the picture, then you can’t switch positions, or cross the line, because then it will look as if the car is driving in the other direction and maybe some people would interpret this as two cars crashing in each other which isn’t the intention. So you always have to film from one side and use the whole 180° but NEVER cross the line.

The Studio

In our second Lesson we have had a practical lesson in the Studio where two students should interview others in front of the camera. The Interviewer started with an introduction and then started asking questions that the person had to answer. While we were at the studio 6 people were important. Of course the interviewer and the interviewed but also the three people who did the lighting, and the camera man who also gave instructions. The people who did the lighting had to put them in the right position so that the people could see everything and the people who were watching the show could have a good-lighted view on them. The camera man had to focus the camera onto the people and gave the instructions. After a sequence the lights had to directly be switched off. Before we started to film the director said: “ready-action“ and after the sequence he said “cut” to end the scene.

Movie Sequence Analysis-The Holiday

Media Prep 4 – Textual Analysis Assignment
by Stephanie Kufferath
I analyzed the first 10 minutes of my favorite movie “The Holiday” which is a love-comedy and was published in 2006 and directed by Nancy Meyers. The movie is about two women who are desperately in love and change houses and lives for two weeks to try to find themselves. In these two weeks they meet new partners and finally begin to live a better life full of love. The Sequence I am going to analyze is made up out of 5 little and 1 big sequence. The main sequence takes part in an office around Christmas time in the year 2006.
In the beginning the camera fades in to a mid shot and shows a pair kissing each other while the names of directors and actors are screened in at the bottom. The Soundtrack is played non-diagetical and is a slow piece of music. Then the camera zooms out to an establishing shot which shows that the male character Miles is playing the soundtrack for the movie scene that we have just seen. The shot is used to show that Miles is a film music producer and to him the music is diagetic. After this the camera zooms to show his facial expression while he is looking at his girlfriend Maggie. This is represented by the point-of-view shots between Miles and Maggie. His point of view is a low-angle and hers is a high-angle because she is standing and he sits on his chair. This should also represent that he is the one chasing after her and she “wears the trousers”. At this point the commentary and the talk to the audience by one of the main Protagonists called “iris” starts and she describes the different relationships and love situations that refer to the characters which are presented. The camera crabs right to another scene where you can see two people in a car looking at each other but they do not have anything left to say. The camera zooms up to a close up and there is a two-shot to show their facial expressions while the music is going on playing non-diagetical. While Iris continues to talk about relationships the camera tilts up to a mise-en-scene which shows that they were sitting in a car and are stuck in a traffic jam around Christmas time. After this the camera cross cuts to the bedroom of an old man with this picture of his wife in the left hot spot while Iris says that “for others, love is simply lost”. Another cross cut into a bar where the camera is tracking a young boy who is flirting with a girl and finally walks over after some point of view shots which express that they are looking at each other. All these cross cuts introduce us to the main characters in the whole movie and show us, with what kind of love they are dealing, so the audience directly knows who is who. After this the camera finally cuts to Iris with a full shot which shows that she is working in her Biro on a present. The camera zooms in and crabs to Iris with a mid shot showing how she is packing the present and then an insert shot to show how she puts the present into her cupboard. Then she gets up while her voice continues and the camera tracks behind her and finally focuses her when her voice says “yes you are looking at such an individual”. Then she starts describing her experience with love and we see a point of view shot to the man she loves. While she walks over to talk to her friend the camera tracks behind her and ends up in a two shot. When they start their dialogue the soundtrack stops and we can hear a diagetic melody which are Christmas songs that are played in the office. While they talk about Iris’s relationship to Jasper the camera uses an over the shoulder shot to focus on the person who is talking, until a third person is entering and the camera jump cuts to Iris sitting back in her office working on her computer. While she is typing you can see her back until Jasper starts to talk and she turns around. Then the camera switches into a point of view shot to show Jasper in a low-angle shot leaning on her door. During their conversation the camera cuts between point-of-view shots either high or low angle. His point of view is a low angle because he is standing which represents that she doesn’t mean very much to him and he just pretends as if. When Iris gives her present to Jasper the camera zooms into her face up to a close up to show how nervous she is giving him her present. In the middle of their conversation they are interrupted by their chief who wants to do a speech for their company and they have to get out. However there is a jump cut to Iris and Jasper walking through the people but the camera follows Iris because Jasper decides to leave to talk to other people. While she is standing in the crowd the chief is shown in a low-angle shot because she looks up to him. When he finally addresses her she is shown in a mid shot between the other people in a high-angle. When the chief announces that Jasper is getting married the camera zooms into Iris’s face to show how hurt she feels and the Soundtrack of the piano starts to play again to underline her emotions because the man she loved for so long did not even tell her that he’s is getting married and told her 2 minutes before that he loves her. After Iris and Jasper exchange views Iris leaves and the camera cuts to a Montage sequence which shows Iris home way. She needs to go through London, go by train, through her little village and finally to her little cottage where there is another insert shot to piece of wood which says “Rosehill Cottage”. When Iris enters her house the camera zooms out and shows her house with the lights switching on to show that he had entered. When Iris starts crying the Soundtrack stops and the camera fades out into dark.
All in all this scene shows very clearly what kind of person Iris is like because the camera shots and movements represent her character to an extent that you can identify with her. She is very breakable and doesn’t have any luck with love and this is a feeling that many people know, so when she is talking to the audience in the beginning everybody can identify with her and sympathy is created. Another motion that is created by the camera is that the viewer directly dislikes Jasper because the Close-ups show very well that she is hurt by him and he doesn’t care at all. I really like how the first ten minutes of the movie are built up according to cuts, because all important characters and stories are introduced shortly with the help of Irises speech. This is one of my favorite movies because I think a lot about love and can totally understand the feelings of the Protagonists.

Still and Video Camera

The Camera shots are very important to make a movie or a picture look good, because if you use the wrong settings it looks weird.
The battery on top of the camera shows how many minutes the battery still lasts. The time code ( - - : - - : - - : - - ) shows how many seconds, minutes or hours you have already recorded and the last bit of the time code shows the frames per second which is 25 on this camera so it moves up to 24 and starts at 0 again.
The number 16:9 shows the wide aspect because if you shoot in 16:9 the movie can be used for a original TV. (The old ones who looked like a square had been 4:3)
The little window in the camera tries to show the hotspots of the shot. DVCAM 48K means Digital Video Camera and 48 K is the Sound quality which is used for the movie.
The Number 50 stands for the shutter speed light and if it is increased it is sharper, which is good for action scenes. It is very important to NEVER but it below 50 because the pictures won’t be sharp at all.
If there is 18 db written on the ground of the window you should put it at zero because it makes extra light which you normally do not need.
Another very important setting is that if you film outside you need to switch on the sun symbol and if you are indoor the lamp symbol should be switched on because otherwise everything inside would be yellow.

Tripods

Today we have had a practical lesson about Tripods. Tripods are used to make a still image which lets the action play through. This means that you focus the Tripod with the camera up to a certain area and let the action go through it because then you’ll have a better view without irritations by the camera.
The Tripod can be moved and locked in lots of different positions. It is very important that whenever you move it, it needs to be perfectly locked. As well as all the legs etc are movable you can also tighten the pan and till instructions. If you want to pan or tilt softer or harder you can use the locking nuts and make sure the camera moves the way you want it to.
To put the camera on top of the Tripod you need to push the button, lock it after woods and make sure the camera is perfectly still.