COMPOSITING EXERCISE

Earlier in the trimester we shot 4K footage on the FS7 of a perfume bottle in the void. We then had to replace the label on the bottle and do a colour grade on it as well. For the blog post, I’ll be going through step by step of my processes.

First, we have our raw footage in a composition in Adobe After Effects. In order for us to replace the label, we need to put a tracker onto the original label that the new label can stick on to. Fortunately, the uni computers have AE Mocha that do an easy job of this. So transferring the footage to Mocha, we placed a tracker on it, and after a few times I got it right and we were ready to go back to After Effects!

 

Then came the fun part of adding the new ‘Chanel’ label onto the existing perfume bottle by creating a node to attach it too. It took me a fair few attempts to get this right as i’m quite the amateur when it comes to anything post production, so eventually I got the new label onto the bottle, resized and placed.

Alex wanted us to colour correct the perfume bottle separately than the background, which turned out to be the better way to go anyway. SO we put a garbage matte over the perfume bottle to isolate it, which will let us colour it differently. I had a lot of difficulty getting this perfect, but after a fair few hours of trying (and crying) to get the keyframes perfect, I finally did it!

So after this, I got into colour correcting the bottle, label (already pictured) and background. To do this, I fiddled with curves, hues & saturations  and added colour lut’s (I used the 3rd one) that Alex provided us with.

    So here’s a before and after comparison:

So there you have it… they are the basic steps I went through in order to create the colour grade/ compositing exercise!

• Dana

 

Colour Grading

For this LO we’ve been instructed to write a blog as if we’re giving a brief to a colourist with the example of Rinse & Spin.

Colour grading is an important part to any film production as it can make the final product go miles further. It can transform a flat, desaturated image to an image bursting with colour and depth. It can be used to improve the quality of an image, to create a style and to even create mood. In some cases it can also be used to deceive an audience that the footage was shot at a different time of day or even century.

First, there’s episode 1, ‘Pilot’

The first episode has no underlying theme to base a grade from like the following episodes. The pilot is the only episode that isn’t stylised, which impacts the grade. We still want to keep the plot a mystery to the audience, but a way to hint at it is through the colour choices. So for this episode, I want to aim it in the direction of hollywood action blockbuster. Hollywood action blockbusters usually have a cool dual tone look, where the highlights are warmer, but dulled, and the cool tones are brought out to be stronger. To do this, I would drop the saturation and bring out the cooler tones, like purple, blue and green. I would then desaturate the warm tones, which allows them to blend easier with the cooler tones to create a smooth, polished look. The examples below are from Taken 2 and Wolfman, and you can see in both images that there are cool tones throughout, with the warmer tones still intact. Using the screen grab from taken, their skin tone is very warm with orange undertones. The background of the image in the majority is cool, with flecks of warmth and pops of colour to keep the image interesting and colourful without looking too dull or flat. Using this colour grade style will create an action feel and will emulate hollywood’s action colour grade.

Episode 2 – Medieval 

The medieval episode draws inspiration from the medieval era (obviously), which requires a lot of care to create a certain look. The colour grade for era pieces is what seals the deal, makes the end product look polished and complete. For this episode, I envision a sepia tone grade throughout. The use of sepia creates an older-time feel, as it reminds us of aged photographs that are slowly losing their colour. To achieve this look, I would get the colourist to use a selective colour tool to saturate the yellows and oranges in the picture, and then desaturate any aggressive tones, like bright reds, blue’s, purple’s… If necessary, sepia sometimes has a slight greenish tinge (note the second picture reference from Game Of Thrones) to create extra depth to the scene. As seen in the images below, they have an old time feel where we assume the image isn’t set in postmodern society.

Episode 3 – 70s Cop 

Episode three is another era piece, set in the 70s. As mentioned before, an era piece takes special care and attention in order to reach the desired look and goal. Seeing as the episode is set in the 70’s, it only makes sense to emulate the look of a 70s cop show. For the episode to look authentically like the style of the 70s, the colourist would need to be specific on the colours he wants to ‘pop’ on screen. I would suggest warm colours, like red’s and yellow’s, for the same reasons I mentioned for the sepia grade. Following the example of the photo below, taken from Barney Miller, we can see the image is grainy, desaturated and flat. The colours are somewhat vibrant but have no depth to them. I would want to emulate this look, by keeping the warm colours vibrant, while ever so slightly dulling the cool colours. I would suggest applying a warm filter over the top of the footage before dulling the cool colours, as the filter may already do that for you. Then I would drop the contrast slightly, being careful to not drop it too much and make the image look ‘milky’.

Episode 4 – Film Noir

The fourth and final episode of the web series is inspired by the style of film noir. Film noir is very specific and difficult to pull off without practice and research. The style completely relies on the colour grade as it features high contrast images which are difficult to create without post production tweaks. To transform the original footage, which is flat and in colour, I would firstly transform the footage to greyscale. This will still leave the image looking flat and without any great shadows or highlights and may leave too much of the image in shadow or in highlight. To emulate the classical chiaroscuro lighting associated with film noir, I would then open curves and drop the shadows and raise the highlights to develop a high contrast look. If this doesn’t acquire the look completely, I would then move onto levels and adjust the contrast there, until it reaches the desired look of a crisp, high contrasted image. This will then create a look similar to the image below, with deep shadows and bright highlights, which act as a focus point for the viewer.

 

 

Colour grading is extremely important and can change how your film is perceived and felt. I am in no way a colour grader, however I do understand the difference it makes to the end product and why it is so important for it to be completed.

Return of the Studio 3

Hi everyone,

so this trimester i’m repeating studio 3, which isn’t a massive deal I guess.

Although i’m only enrolled in the Studio 3 subject, i’m finding this trimester so far one of the busiest! That doesn’t mean i’m not enjoying it though.

I’m in the midst of (first time) producing my used-to-be grad film “Rainbow” (working title), and combining that with all the activities thrown my way for Studio 3 by Craig, you could say i’m quite the busy bee.
Despite this being my first time in a producing role, i’m really enjoying the challenge. I’m constantly motivated by my director Levi, and having the responsibility hanging over my shoulders for the success of the film is helping me drive the film along as well. I really want it to do well and end up at festivals around the world, and I know, i’m aiming very high.
I feel like i’ve got a solid team on my hands. Some are slower to get out of holiday mode than others, but we are all trying out best. I was very nervous before stepping into producing, because it seems like a lot of work and takes heaps of time management skills. So far, so good with that one!
One of the challenges I’m facing is budget. It’s so hard to budget for things when you don’t have money at all. Catering is expensive, and we require some expensive props. Since when are bike’s so expensive? Why does catering have to cost an arm and a leg? How am I going to pull all of this off with no money? I’m going to apply for a budget from SAE, but we may not be successful. I’m learning everything as I go, but I’ve found that i’ve already done a lot of producing tasks while being director. Being in a small class forces you to take on a few roles, so now I’ve just secluded myself off to the producing side and have abandoned the directing side.

I feel like i’m doing well. I keep tabs with Mairi about twice a week, and Craig has told me he’s noticed the producer in me by the way I talk about shooting a film and the logistics behind it. I’m not sure if it’s because i’m in producer mode, or if i’m meant to be a producer. But, for now, i’m trying not to focus on the bigger picture and to focus on what is in front of me.

Hopefully next week is as good as this one!
Ciao,
Dana.

NATIONAL CINEMA

In modern society, it’s difficult to find a film that can be classified as completely original. Whether its intentional or accidental, there are always cues that signify genre which indicate the audience what kind of film they are watching. There are many different types and genres of cinema, some which have been forgotten with time and some which still thrive in postmodern cinema. National Cinema’ is such a broad subject to touch on; If I were to reflect on each film culture of the world, I’d be here for days, years, lifetimes. Instead, I’m going to narrow it down to one culture, and one decade, well, roughly. The era of German expressionism is one of my favourite times in film history, and in fact, inspired me to make my first short film in high school. I wanted to delve into this film style again to see if it still inspired me and shone through my work. I’ve only been a filmmaker for two years now, so how can I be sure where I’m headed to in the future? What are my inspirations? I haven’t had a time to stop and think clearly about this question. My tastes may have changed in the past two years, into me liking something else better, drawing on another genre more… this answer I’m not sure of.
German expressionism didn’t begin with film, but rather with art. The artistic movement began in 1905, dealing with the psychology of a defeated nation after World War I, expressing emotions like humiliation, betrayal and anger (German Expressionism, 2013). During the war, German audiences flocked to anything that would distract them from the global conflict they were involved in. “German filmmakers, taking advantage of the cultural fixation, pumped out more films during this period than any other point in the last 50 years “ (Martin, 2015). Expressionism became a most notable notable film movement from 1919 – 1926 (Thompson & Bordwell, 2010), due to Germany being cut off from international films and were forced to create a film market of their own. The German government began to support their film industry, wanting to create propagandising films in order to compete with other foreign films (German Expressionism, 2013).
Ironically, I haven’t watched many expressionist films. I’ve seen bits and pieces; however, I aim to in the future. For those I have watched, it’s been a fair while. So with me not watching expressionist films, are they still in the forefront of my mind when I make films? Can I really have inspiration from them without continuously watching them?
I haven’t ignored the genre completely, as I’ve watched films that have directors who are inspired by the genre itself. Tim Burton, my favourite director alongside Wes Anderson, is heavily inspired by the expressionist era. The first film of his I watched was Edward Scissorhands, which is heavily inspired by the expressionist era.

I look at these images and I get almost an itch, where I really want to make something that visually looks like these images. I tend to flock to dark storylines and corrupt characters. The expressionist films produced in the 1920s came attached with a sombre and depressive mood, featuring corrupt characters and often invoked distorted and abstract images, as it was an era that opposed naturalism. The mise-en-scène of expressionist films held many characteristics, one of the most noteworthy being the use of chiaroscuro lighting, which is the use of high contrast lighting between dark and light colours, which helped add to the dreary atmosphere captured in these films (Kevin, 2014). Along with chiaroscuro lighting, the use of shadows and abstractly painted sets created an otherworldly atmosphere the expressionists loved.
I don’t think I’ve been making films long enough to say if the expressionist style influences me, however, I know they inspire me. The expressionist were non conformists and they weren’t worried about other people’s opinions, and that’s how I want to be. It’s easy to get wrapped up in other people’s ideas and lose yourself in the process. I want to be able to express myself the same way the expressionists did and love it because it’s a reflection of me. I’d much rather make a film that screamed me than a repetitive summer Hollywood film.

As I said before, one of the main reasons I love expressionist films is for the corrupt characters. I always wondered why I love the dark and disturbed characters most in film and TV. From Malfoy in the Harry Potter series, Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes (especially Moriarty), the Joker & Harley Quinn from Batman, and almost every psychopath that is escaping my mind, is usually one of my favourite characters in a story. The crazy, mental and delusional characters, to me, have so much more depth and make me shiver with excitement. They also show so much passion, even if it’s for the wrong reasons. It’s not that I identify with these characters personally, but maybe, just maybe, it’s because of the influence of expressionist films shining through me. I hope to write a character as brilliant as these ones when I get the creative freedom too. The crazy characters and corrupt storylines just seem to sit with me more than hollywood dramas and comedies. So, do I want to produce an expressionist in the future? Yes. Why? Because I want to know what it’s like to invest so much energy and emotion into a film so freely and so artistically. I want to be able to express emotions like Robert Wiene, F. W. Murnau and Fritz Lang did in their iconic films.
I’ve made one expressionist inspired film before (my first short film ever) in the style of Film Noir, and I can say it was one of the funnest experiences of filmmaking i’ve had. Designing the dramatic lighting, the costumes, using a mustang as a prop and was so enjoyable because I could be so creative and expressive with it. Now this film wasn’t full on expressionist, but it was still a great experience i’d love to do again. I still look back at the video and enjoy it, despite it being a little crappy (understandably). Even though my second actor pulled out and it took me hours to set up the lighting, and was a one man team on this film, I would still do it all over again.

Even though my film isn’t brilliant, I’ve fallen in love with the style. While researching expressionist styles, images like these came into my mind just thinking about the style. Due to my mind being so stressed out with Studio 3 and CIU final project work, no, I did not get any ideas to mind because I’ve burnt myself out beyond repair. Nevertheless, I do know for sure I will have plans in the future, even if it isn’t 100% expressionist, and only 10% expressionist. I don’t know how else to say that expressionism inspires me, or influences me. It just does. I love crazy things and crazy people, and if those aren’t key factors in expressionist films, I don’t know what else is. (I know it’s not the same for all expressionist films, but it’s a common theme)…
So all in all, the chiaroscuro lighting, the dramatic tone to the imagery and all of the crazy, is why I love expressionist films. I will definitely try and get in touch with the genre more deeply and explore it more, along with other genre’s.
REFERENCES
(2010). German Expressionism. In K. Thompson, & D. Bordwell, Film History: An Introduction, Third Edition (pp. 87-102). New York: McGraw Hill.

‘German Expressionism’. 2013. Historical Background of German Expressionism.http://madgermanexpressionism.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/historical-background-of-german.html

Martin, T. (2015). World of Light and Shadow – German Expressionism and its Influence on Modern Cinema.http://centerforcreativemedia.com/index.php/german-expressionism/

(LO14) Directing Tools

“A director may fall into one of the deepest pits by rushing immediately to visual or pictorial solutions” – Georgi Tovstonogov

This is one of my greatest fears as a director, and, if not, already one of my flaws. Since Craig Proudley lectured us on the difference between competent, good & great directors I’ve become consciously aware of ‘directing styles’, and where mine is headed. I haven’t had time to explore my style thoroughly and put anything into action, however I hope I can adapt his tips to my final project next trimester. I can so far say I’m a competent director until I complete my studies and have time to explore my creativity. Sometimes I can be less than a competent director, if I look back on previous works. My first time directing was also my first time writing, which I enjoyed and did well at; and I often think if was a fluke. I put my heart and soul into that film, which ended up crashing and burning by the time it hit production, but it was a massive learning curve for not only my craft, but about myself. This trimester hasn’t been smooth sailing with my directing, but ill get into that later.

One way to help yourself grow as a director is to research other directors, and exactly what their tools and techniques are. Watch their films from oldest to newest and see them grow. See what their inspirations are. I first got this piece of advice when talking to Robert Connolly, the director of Paper Planes (2014), when I met him at Gold Coast Film Festival. He also told me to find a story in anything I could and film it, even if it’s on my iPhone. He said that he began learning to direct through watching films, and look where he is now. He’s a successful writer/director with a film that made it to the big screen.

For me, I’ve always strived to make something different. I’ve always tried to think of a unique shot or storyline that’s different from anything else. I don’t want to be stuck in a cycle of Hollywood storylines and character types, where the same movie gets produced over and over, just by different directors and with different titles. I’ve always thought that successful filmmakers had a technique and a complex strategy on how to direct actors, what to shoot and where to put the camera. However, after reading “On Directing Film” by David Mamet, I’ve learnt this isn’t always the case.

Mamet provides an interesting point, which is to “keep [filmmaking] simple, stupid and don’t violate those rules that you do know. If you don’t know which rule applies, just don’t muck up the more general rules” (Mamet, 1991, p. 73).
This comment made me realise I’ve been overthinking directing. I’ve always strived for the most unique way to portray something, or how to make sure what I’m doing is different than what everyone else does. This is probably why I always draw myself too short, because sometimes its impossible to be unique and new, depending on the circumstance. Sometimes being new and quirky isn’t the right place to start, as sometimes it becomes more about trying to be someone else rather than being yourself, which can draw away from the quality of the story, and into something messy instead.

Mamet seems to be the kind of director I aspire to be. A director whom acknowledges they don’t know all of the answers. His technique is very simplistic and honest, as he’s honest with himself whether he is writing or directing; he has a particular knack for ensuring everything has a purpose, especially with storytelling.

“If you find that a point cannot be made without narration, it is virtually certain that the point is unimportant to the story” (Mamet, 1991, p.4).

He also draws close inspiration from Einstein on how films should be made, “… a succession of images juxtaposed so that the contrast between these images moves the story forward in the mind of the audience” (Mamet, 1991, p.2). I also inspire to follow this, to show not tell, express subtext and context, and to share information without it being said by a character or narrator.

One of the main topics Craig Proudley discussed in his lecture was subtext, and how much difference on how a character acts, thinks, dresses, and how interesting a story can be. Subtext can make a tremendous difference to a film, however is rarely noticed. I’ve begun to think of filmmaking as if it were an iceberg. Only 10% of it is seen: the final result, with 90% being hidden underneath, pushing the film to be the best it can be. Subtext is one thing I struggle with, as it’s a difficult concept to master, which is why not every film is great. I look forward to trying to add subtext to my final project.

I still don’t know what I’m doing as a director. In such a small class, I often need to worry about other aspects of filmmaking, such as being a gaffer, producer, DOP, editor… I find myself managing various roles at once to made do. I feel this has limited my focus on directing, which has in turn left me slaking, unfocused and deflated. It also gives me less time to understand a scene, script, characters and storyline. An example of this would be the SADS campaign. I wasn’t fully aware of my lack of understanding until I read a quote from Mamet:

“We see directors do as many sixty takes of a shot. Now, any director who’s watched dailies knows that after the third or fourth take, he can’t remember the first, and on set, when shooting the tenth take, you cannot remember the purpose of the scene. And after shooting the twelfth, you can’t remember why you were born. Why do directors, then, shoot this many takes? Because they don’t know what they want to take a picture of. And they are frightened” (Mamet, 1991, p.67).

On the set of SADS, before shooting, I barely had time to look at the script, hence me not fully understanding the scene. This was because I was holding on too tightly with my fashion video, as it was a very big project for me, as I was Director/Producer/DOP/Editor, and because it was for a friend. I didn’t want to let her down, and I wanted to excel on this project. The SADS video seemed less important to me because it wasn’t mine, I didn’t know the client, and I was too selfishly focused on my own pre-assigned work to put as much effort into this project as I could have. I also couldn’t mentally stretch myself across a few productions. I decided to focus on the one that was more dear to my heart.

On set, after fourteen takes, half of which were useless/ not needed, we ran out of time to shoot the necessary coverage. This ultimately ruined the whole video, as it now has coverage and continuity issues. I wouldn’t call myself afraid, as Mamet said, but I did not have full understanding of what we were filming. I trusted the DOP/Producer and his preproduction planning, without taking a look at it myself, which I dearly regret. Nonetheless, it happened, and I can only learn from my mistakes and move forward. 

Through all of my crashes and errors, I stay optimistic, thanks to Michael Rabiger & Mick Hurbis-Cherrier for their words of wisdom in Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthetics (2013) … “Don’t listen to anyone who says you are (or are not) talented. I’ve taught thousands, and “talent” can be a flash in the pan. What matters more is your quality of effort, dogged persistence, and that you love the work. Nobody can tell who will do well”

This has helped me this trimester while reflecting on my work. I’m confident that I’m just having a bad run, and need to take some time off to re-energise and collect myself. I need to find new inspiration and have a fresh start with my studies, and refresh my creativity. I think the best way for me to draw upon myself as a director, is to look up to those I aspire. As Robert Connolly said to me, I need to watch other films, film what inspires me, write about what inspires me… which is what I will do over trimester break. I will find myself watching films and analysing them. I want to watch more foreign films, black and white and subtitled films, independent films and explore every type of film I can. I want to break away from the stereotypical Hollywood mainstream films and gain cultural awareness. I’ve watched a few independent films, which I find more endearing and true, which I do inspire to achieve through my filmmaking.

 

REFERENCES

 

Rabiger & Hurbis-Cherrier. 2013. Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthetics (5^th ed.). Taylor & Francis.

Mamet, D. 1991. On Directing Film. USA: Penguin Books.

(LO6) Compositing & VFX tools used for fashion video

My recently made fashion video for my friend Anh was very post heavy, and today i’ll be discussing the processes & tools I used to create the video.

Firstly, I had to remove the chromakey background. I used the Keylight (1.2) and Advanced Spill Suppressor in Adobe After Effects to remove the background, and duplicated the footage to use various masks to suit different shades of green. I had to raise the whites and crush the blacks quite severely in order to get the chroma key even. We had to use three different masks to ensure the final product wasn’t grainy down by her feet like it was originally. The mask down the bottom fixed the problem (pictured below). I tried to remove the background in Premiere Pro, however I didn’t have as many options and tools as I did in AE, and didn’t provide a clean end result. The Keylight removed the green screen background, with the spill suppressor helping to remove the green tinted spill around the edges of her skin.

above: original problem: see through dress and grainy feet & shadow

The three masks had to be key framed throughout the footage, as there wasn’t much room on the green screen for the model to move without getting in the way of something else. This made it a very meticulous process. Key framing was an issue as it was a continuous take, where I would change shot size, therefore need to change the keyframes regularly.

I then experimented with backgrounds for the client, trying to find engaging effects to create an interesting look. To do this, I searched for high resolution geometric backgrounds and placed it under the video file in the composition. I first explored with a dark geometric background to try and bring out the whites and greys in the outfits, however I felt it dragged the image down, there being no clear edge between outfit and background. 

Then I tried again with a lighter background, using a solid grey layer to produce an even background, then using a .png file, placing it between the solid layer and the video file, creating a textured floor. Still deciding this was too busy, we opted for a simple grey room. 

The grey room didn’t distract the viewer from the dress. It also complimented it, as the colour scheme was all neutral greys, whites and silvers. Adding black into the mix would make the colour look harsh, juxtaposed to the soft greys.

After deciding on background and finally getting all of the masks and chroma key’s finished, I could move on to the effects. I wanted to do both an ‘echo’ effect and a kaleidoscope effect to the video. For the echo, I duplicated the video file composition six times, lining them up next to each other and dropping the opacity. Sometimes I only had one or two together at full opacity, or one at 25% opacity next to a 100% opacity duplicate. Here are some of the shots that made the cut:

For the Kaleidoscope effect, in AE, I dragged the “Kaleida CC” effect onto the clip in the composition and then altered the angle of the kaleidoscope until it reached the desired effect I was looking for. 

When I first tried the Kaleida effect, we were still discussing backgrounds. I then moved to a plain grey background for the Kaleida, but it looked very flat and dull. When finally adding in the final background, it added the extra dynamic I was looking for. The shapes made from the ‘light fixtures’ on the roof of the background adds an extra aspect that brings out the outfits more and makes the frame look more interesting. It also provides more movement.

The final look (pre-grade):

After exporting the ordinary footage, the Kaleida footage and the ‘echo’ footage, I laid it all out in Premiere Pro and began to cut it up with music. To create the flickering effect between two pieces of footage, I overlaid the two different exports, the Kaleida on the top, and sporadically laid out keyframes that changed the opacity at a rapid pace.

Here are some screen caps of the effect when the opacity on the top video is low:

I also tried to accomplish other effects until my client decided she didn’t like it. What I was wanting to do, is put the Kaleida effect on both sides of the wall. To do this, I put the Kaleida footage over the regular footage in AE and turned it into a 3D object. I used the toggles to rotate it on it’s ‘z’, ‘y’ and ‘x’ axis’s so it appeared to be reflecting on the side of the room. I then had to draw a mask around the edges so it fit inside frame of the mirror. I did a very rushed job on one side to show the client to get her approval before spending time on it. She decided she didn’t like it, but I took a screen cap at the time, and this is what it would have roughly looked like:

Looking back, I’m not sure if it would have fit in, but if I ever feel compelled to try and edit this video again, i’ll definitely try this effect again. For the effects I did use, I feel they did a great job at making the video look quirky and unique, which is what my client wanted. I found the tools & techniques I used to be very effective and captivating, and I feel I over delivered to the client, because she felt she got back more than what she asked me for. Taking a video that was meant to be filmed on a white screen, and filming it on a green screen instead raised the bar for my performance, and I feel through exploring the techniques mentioned above, I went above and beyond what I was required to do.

(LO5) – Cinematography

LO5: Demonstrate an understanding of the value of cinematography as a character, subtext and storytelling tool

Description: Students must communicate a sophisticated understanding of visual storytelling in a director’s vision and/or the design of shots and lighting plans for a screen production. Students must articulate how specific cinematic tools for example lights, lenses, aperture, framing, camera movement, will advance their story. 

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There are many different ways to shoot a story, so many it would be impossible to count. Sometimes the way you shoot a scene is more important than the context withheld in the scene. Choosing between a wide angle, standard, telephoto or stylistic (i.e. macro, micro, fisheye) lens can change how an object/subject is perceived and can change the mood of the story.

Beginning with angle, the angle at which a person is shot can change how they are perceived to an audience. People are usually shot at eye level, as the shot is neutral and provides no opinion on the subject.

The above shot provides no opinion on the character. I chose this shot because in the film, Harry is about to do something very courageous. The director chose not to exploit this scene by shooting from a low angle, but chose to keep it neutral.

A low angle shot distorts the image, making the character look aggressive, ominous or dominant (Moura, 2014).

In the case of the above image, the character is being heroic, and when shot at a low angle, the cinematography reflects this. A high angle shot has the opposite effect, by making the subject look small, insignificant. They are also a good point of view (POV) shot for adults looking down at a child, as seen in Matilda (Moura, 2014):

The shot makes Matilda look small and insignificant, especially as she is looking up towards the camera. She is being looked down upon by an adult, and the camera serves as a POV, reiterating emotions set from previous shots.
These are the main angles a cinematographer follows, however are not the only ones to exist. There are others, such as the dutch tilt, which “changes horizontal and vertical lines into diagonals and creates a more dynamic composition. Though rare, canted angles can be employed with great artistic effect to disorient and disturb the viewer” (Moura, 2014). Dutch tilts are often used in horrors, and help signify that there is something wrong, without being overbearing. It is slightly abnormal to not be noticed with an untrained eye, however does have a final impact on the emotions conveyed in a scene.

There are also POV shots, and one of my favourites, the Birds Eye. This shot can also serve as a POV, a way to add intimacy with a viewer. This shot is commonly used with Wes Anderson, however is used eloquently in his film, The Royal Tenenbaums (2001).

This shot of the characters attempted suicide is confronting and personal due to the choice of shot. It places the audience in the mind of the character, as if they are looking down into their own hands, feeling the emotions the character is feeling. The shot choice is perfectly used in this scene and adds extra emotional qualities.

The movement of a shot can also convey meaning in film. Firstly, a tracking shot can be used to show significance of a subject, by either following the subject or by tracking to a subject. This is different to a standard pan shot, as a pan is usually executed on tripod, whereas a track is either freehand, steadicam or dolly.

(Gibbs & Freer, empire.com)

Another favourite of mine is the dolly zoom, where a camera is tracked forward, and the camera lens is zoomed out. “Steven Spielberg utilised this effect in Jaws in 1975 in a sudden distortion of perspective isolates and zeroes in on Chief Brody – his worst fears have become true” (filmmakeriq.com).

The shot is usually used in situations such as the Jaws scene above, accompanied by screeching music to suggest something terrible is about to happen, or the character has a sudden realisation.

It’s not only up to camera framing and movement to tell a story. Lighting can tell an audience almost instantly about mood and character. Basic three point lighting makes a character look safe, friendly and approachable. It’s a neutral standard for a viewer, which doesn’t convey much about a subject emotionally. However, there are some lighting techniques that can be used to tell a story. For example:

Lighting from below can signify a power complex or the character is evil. The woman in the above picture looks troublesome, as if she is about to commit a crime or so something evil. The dramatic lighting tells us this story, as the framing is neutral, if not, ever so slightly low angle.

Harsh lighting with high contrast to one side of the face suggests mystery, that the character is hiding something as the whole face cannot be seen. This lighting is often used in interrogation scenes, particularly when the character is guilty, or even by the detective, to add a feeling of harshness to their character. There is also the use of a solo backlight, which produces this effect:

This shot conveys no emotion. The cinematographer wants to hide an identity to build suspense, or to convey no emotions at all. The shot is mysterious and unnerving, as we know nothing about the characters emotional state, not anything about their identity.

Also, aperture and depth of field can be used to change where an audience looks on screen, and where they are primarily focused. Aperture can effect what is sharp within an image, and the depth of field is controlled through the focal ring on the lens. Beginning with aperture, a smaller aperture, i.e. f1.4, will give you less sharpness than a wider aperture, i.e. f16. Below is a side by side comparison of the same scenery shot with the two apertures mentioned:

(Chrysanthouon, 2014)

On the left is the image shot with the aperture f1.4, and on the right is it shot again with the aperture as f16. For the first image, I looked immediately to the rock as it is the only thing in focus. By raising the aperture for the second image, almost everything is in focus. I still look at the rock first, however I take more time looking at the image, taking everything in. The image is also brighter and gives off a neat & polished finish.

Depth of field can be used to isolate a subject from the background, or from other subjects in a scene. The depth of field can also be used to tell who’s story it is, by keeping them in focus. It can also be used to blur out foregrounding objects to create stylistic shots.

In the above image, we naturally look at the bride and groom as they are in focus. If the whole image was sharp, we would notice the bagpiper immediately as he is closest to the lens. However, but blurring him out and focusing on the couple in the back, despite being partially covered, we know the story is about them, not the bagpiper.

Using different techniques such as aperture, depth of field, lighting, and using different shot sizes and lenses can all impact on how the story is told. The visuals mentioned above, all paired up and put together, can create complex and meaningful shots. For example, by using a low angle shot, with lighting lit from the bottom of a face, with a dolly zoom will create suspense, and suggest the character is plotting an evil plan, or is watching their evil plan unfold. By using an eye level frame with three point lighting, a cinematographer can create a basic scene, void of emotional bias. The frame will look open and inviting, and relies on the content to embellish emotional traits.

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REFERENCES:

Moura, G. 2014. Camera Angles: the Art of Manipulation. Retrieved from: http://www.elementsofcinema.com/cinematography/camera-angles-and-composition/

Chrysanthouon, S. 2014. How to Create Mood and Story with Aperture Effects. Retrieved from: http://www.oopoomoo.com/2014/10/how-to-create-mood-with-aperture-effects/

EmpireOnline. (n.d.). The 30 Camera Shots Every Film Fan Needs to Know. Retrieved from: http://www.empireonline.com/features/film-studies-101-camera-shots-styles/p1

(LO13) Reflecting on feedback from online viewers

So as you know, I filmed a fashion video for my friend Anh. I recently uploaded it to youtube and ask for feedback. This blog post is dedicated to LO13 – where I respond to the feedback, and if I would change anything in regards to this feedback. Here’s a screen cap of the feedback so far:

100% of the feedback I have been given has been positive, which has been a sigh of relief. There were many opportunities where I could have crashed and burned while filming/editing this project. The last minute decision to use green screen was terrifying as I was the editor. I’ve filmed on green screen many times for my internship, but it is a painted wall, not a roll of material, and isn’t full body. The main point is I had never been taught how to edit with chromakey. I threw myself into the deep end, with little knowledge of Adobe After Effects and barely any editing experience. The feedback has been a shine of light amidst a dark trimester, and has been a reward for the hard work I put into this production.

Would I have changed anything? I probably would have tried to find an alternative method of filming rather than green screen, but only for reasons being it took up so much time, which could have been spent on other assessments. I don’t regret using the green screen, especially because it wasn’t lit properly, because now i’ve learnt so much more about post production. I now am more confident with colour correction, chroma key, masks, keyframes, and so much more because of this video and i’m proud of how much I have achieved, and the comments on this video has reflected that.

I did get one suggestion, from user ‘Broseph Plays’: “Only thing that would of been cool would be some semi-slow motion effects to put a little more variation into the filming”. I did attempt to play with this effect, but it didn’t seem to have the same effect as the sped up footage did. Some of the footage used is sped up to almost 500%, and only a few clips remained at their original speed. The sped up footage created a quirky look that suited the soundtrack, and complimented it nicely.

People appreciated the juxtaposition between the music and the imagery, “The ambient-esque music creates a sense of mystery and intrigue rather than the usual horror vibe. The visuals are very nice and clean and the background colour palette makes the model stand out more than the rest”.
Choosing a background was a difficult process, and i’m glad Anh and I settled on this one. The empty, futuristic room set an almost sci-fi tone while accompanied by the visual effects, which makes it take a step up over a plain white room.

They commenters said they were left with wanting more, which is the whole purpose of the video. The ‘Anh’ logo and the season title at the end wrapped up the idea and people understood the campaign.

Overall, I wouldn’t have completed this video differently. I’d play around more with effects for personal use, however I feel there is an even balance and build of effects used in the video, which isn’t over used or violated. I’m proud of myself for my work, and would love to do projects like this in the future.

-D.

Busy Busy Busy

I never blog about what goes on outside of uni, because this blog is based for my uni, so I just tend not too. But It’s not that I sit around at home and not do anything when i’m off. I actually never have a day off, and it tends to impact on my mental health and stability towards the tougher weeks of the trimester.
But every week, I intern at this wonderful company called Reel Feed!!

We produce online web/tv content on ippy.tv, which is our new website. We just upgraded from our old website, which has been an exciting move! I’ve been working with them since January this year, so I obviously love it there! I’ve moved up from content curator, which was the boring stuff like creating thumbnails, uploading videos and making sure everything is grammatically correct etc etc.. Now I film about 3/4 videos (by myself) a week, look at scripts and do some small curation tasks, like scheduling social media posts, but I enjoy it a lot more now that I’m doing what I want too. Most of the videos are filmed on a green screen, or on the white studio wall we have.

These are the lovely people I work with, this isn’t everyone because we’ve expanded a bit, and people weren’t there on the photo day, but this is most of us! They are always so kind to me and give me opportunities to learn new things and give me real world experiences.

If you want to check us out, here are our website/Facebook pages:

Website: http://ippy.tv/ (I film the briefcase, news, sport, and a new show thats coming out that i’m not sure if im aloud to talk about)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reelfeedtv

So yes, I do uni, intern and work. How am I alive?!?!

Love,
D.

Producer Does What? (what used to be LO7)

[this was for an essay we were doing, which got cancelled – but i’ve already done a bit on it so i’m just going to post it anyway so it wasn’t a great big waste of time]

In a small class, there are only so many roles you can play when making a film. What we have on offer is Writer, Director, Producer, DOP, Gaffer, Grip, Costume/Set design, Sound and Editor. I can gladly say i’ve filled each role at least once, except for producing. I’m not sure why this is, but it has resulted in a lack of knowledge of what a producer actually does. At this very moment in time, as I write this sentence, I’ve done very little research on what a producer actually does, so with my little knowledge and experience, here is what I think a producer does: they put up casting adverts, as well as help with casting, they organise locations, permits, budgets, set schedules, catering and paperwork regarding actors, such as talent releases. I feel producers are very unappreciated for the work they do, and a lot of the praise goes to the Director because they are the ‘head’ of the project. Now, I also know there are different types of producers. I know theres Executive Producers, Production Managers and Associate Producer … but other than that, I have no clue what each type of producer does, nor how many there are. I do remember Craig Proudley saying he does a two hour lecture on the different types of producers – yikes!

So, the point of this essay-style blog post is for me to learn exactly what a producer does, and document the journey as I go. [Now that this is an ex-essay, i’ll just be exploring a few different roles…]

To begin, according to the Producers Guild of America, a producer:

“initiates, coordinates, supervises and controls, either on his own authority, or subject to the authority of an employer, all aspects of the motion-picture and/or television production process, including creative, financial, technological and administrative”

I feel this accurately describes what a producer does, however it tells me nothing about the different types of producers. I feel its important at this level to understand at least a few of the producing roles found in Film & TV, such as:

The Executive Producer who, in short, “supervises one or more producers as they perform their duties for one or more films” (Dannenfeldt,2008). Occasionally this type of film producer will represent on behalf of a studio to keep an eye on other producers and ensure they are sticking to their assigned budgets. It’s also common for this position to be given to celebrities in order to create publicity.

“George Clooney, for example, was listed as executive producer for “Far from Heaven” (2002) to generate publicity, but didn’t spend any time on the set, according to the film’s producer Christine Vachon” (Dannenfeldt, 2008).

Next we have the Associate Producer, whom “handles certain aspects of the production, as assigned by the producer” (Dannenfeldt, 2008). The Associate Producer is delegated tasks throughout all stages of the production, and also often has an Assistant Producer to delegate tasks too.

Other roles i looked into are:

The Co-Producer, who “shares producer responsibilities as a team or group with other producers”, a Coordinating Producer, who”Coordinates the work of several producers to create a unified end result” and a Line Producer , who”Handles the physical aspects of a movie’s production and usually is not involved in decision-making regarding creative issues” such as budgeting and planning (Dannenfeldt, 2008).

Of course on a smaller production/budget, the a single producer can take on a few, if not all, of these roles. Especially at uni, all of these roles combine into one, plus others I haven’t even mentioned. After briefly looking into what a producer does, I don’t have a great desire to be one. I’m much more comfortable in my Director role, or being DOP. Now, seeing as this ‘essay’ is now void, i’m going to leave this here and save my energy for the real essay. If I had time, and we’re only doing this, i’d go into the difference between film producers & tv/commercial producers, but I guess thats for another time. I know this post cleared up a few things for me about producers, I hoped it did for you too!

REFERENCES

Dannenfeldt, D. 2008.  How Movie Producers Work.  Retrieved from http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/movie-producer.htm

Producers Guild of America. (n.d.). Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved from: http://www.producersguild.org/?page=faq