film-tv 2010

Todays TV lecture is about shot construction and filmic de-construction. One of the tips Paul told us is that we are insane if we don’t have our film parties and spend our time deconstructing scenes and noting how the movies are put together. He showed us a clip from Taxi Driver; Taxi driver is very character based and quite stylised in its shot construction. People are carefully placed in shots and the colours used denote a grungy mood. There are lots of warm tones- yellow, brown khaki- and yet the scene is quite austere and cold. It opens with a wide shot- its got a few planes or dimensions and alot of depth- it shows outside and inside. It’s deep focused with the focus on the mens faces. Its shot at night-time. This tells us information about the characters involved – as the juxtaposition with the next scene which is shot in the daytime with candy warm tones and close up emotional characters emphasises aspects of DeNiro and his nightime cohorts. Paul says he wants us to make a beautiful film, he wants us to create art- but its not about being pretty. It’s about adding meaning and conveying information through beautiful – artistic visuals.

Later in Taxi driver we see DeNiro enter the candy coloured election office during the day- that automatically tells us he’s out of his depth. He is trying to take himself- but not his underworld connotations into that world. They analysed the script with colour and frame, symbolically making decisions about what to use. Angle and viewpoint are also important. Viewpoints can be objective (wide) subjective (over the shoulder) or POV (Point of View shot). Area of shot or shot size is important as it tells you what to focus on- what we want you to see as the film makers speaking to it’s audience. Camera movement through pans and zooms also conveys meaning- emotions and draws focus. The details in the script are important and how we draw focus to them is important to consider. However it was interesting to see how nice little described touches in the script- were sometimes cut or overlooked in film production because of timing and lack of necessity.

The description of DeNiro’s character and what he was wearing changed from script to film- he didnt wear a tie- he wore a nicer jacket, he didn’t carry a cigarette- we need to remember as a group that we can make these decisions – without having to “change” or “re-write” the script. I feel we need to do a little of this with out script- just change details.

Paul then talked about his love of film interpretations with us. He mentioned how in the two scenes he has shown us scorcese repeats an over the top hand shot in both scenes- its kind of the underworld or masculine sexuality he seems to be focusing on- these shots also nicely break up the focus on the actors reactions and acting. Scorcese uses zoom in his films – he uses it on objects and sometimes during tracks. Tracking or panning is better to use in a close up situation however and it is tracking or panning I’d rather use in our film.

The switch between a tracking camera and a static camera can work well. For emotions and to “shoot lovingly” as Paul says you can shoot a close up with a shallow depth of field- though its adviseable not to make the depth of field too extreme as its not telling the story then as you can’t understand the characters surroundings- that said the background doesnt necessarily need to be in focus.

RMIT does have dolly’s Paul said but apparently Dollying is a very slow process- however we used something last year when we had a camera on a tri-pod and attached it to a desk chair on wheels and that allowed us to pan effectively. The main problem with that set up is that the camera’s height is not as moveable and changeable.

Paul then gave us an example of a storyboard for taxi driver (quite a dodgy or doable story board haha). I can’t wait to start storyboardig I’ve been trying to resist doing that lately as I want to go through it practically and technically first and then get swept away in the visuals and the vision! I can’t stop thinking about the lush colour I ideally would love to use in this set- and this film in general. Also the costumes I feel are going to be very important and I keep thinking about the presentation and imagery of the characters.

SO what we do is we film the one character throughout the whole scene- then we do the scene again- we don[’t button on and off for our two characters and reposition and go again for their part then go back and focus on character one- this doesnt make it easy to edit- and draws out the filming process. We figure out our frame angle and movement from the storyboard and script. Then we do our blocking once we have our location and can draw an overview. Paul says we ARE INSANE if we don’t generate blocking and storyboarding NOW -we will have to re-jig stuff anyway – so its no issue. Paul then puts the shot in written form in an excel list – and then schedules the scene.

We schedule by ordering the shots – the Master shots or important ones first

the other shots then follow

then tricky shots- or complex shots

Ext/Int ext first (in case it rains)

Inside next- this way we will have everything we need and will be certain they are good. When it comes to bigger films you have to think about how much time the actors on set- and using the specific actor whilst you have it. Therefore when you have access to them, the shots you least need, shoot last- because then it’s not DIRE if you don’t get it. This won’t be as big of a deal for us as we are shooting in one day; with only two actors.

There are some basic cinematic rules hollywood fils seem to keep and one is the 180 degree work- the line- or the access of action. from establishing shot a woman is on the right – man on the left- meaning whatever we show- that should be the case. If you break the 180 degree line- it confuses the viewer as it doesnt seem like the characters are in the right place- it disorientates the viewer. THis means over the shoulder shots have to be at the same angle and be exactly the same kind of over the shoulder shot. There needs to be a balance in angles – the angle of the camera is in a line – and there is a line between the actors. The height of the camera is also important as if you change it too much- it can screw up the eyelines. Doing a floorplane makes it really easy to figure out where the line is- this needs serious planning as we don’t want to end up in tears!

[From TV – LECTURE-SHOT CONSTRUCTION]

wow. almost in tears.
This film is excruciating.
In response to the question ‘Does it capture the extremity of the event?’

YES

The sound was absolutely chilling. the crescendo in dynamic, texture and minor orchestral music swelled to create a climax of devastation and sadness. The little footage that was used was so effective, as initially you can only guess what they are showing, and as it is flashed for the 3rd time, and left lingering that one second longer, you realise what it is – a body falling from a building. The excerpts used from the phone conversations were used without distraction, focusing on the emotion in the voices of these people, particularly the last female where the content of what she was saying was so devastating it needed nothing to accompany it.

The murmur of voices at the start i interpreted as prayer. Initially i believed it to be in spanish, forgive my ignorance, of whatever language is spoken in that particular region of south america, however on reflection, it may have been a muslim prayer, attempting to portray what the muslims were praying for.

The most audible fragments of sound were the dominating fragments that overshadowed everything underneath them. The levels were at a perfect level where one could appreciate the context of what was going on underneath what it was that we were intended to focus on, so on that part, the sound levels were very well done.

The use of orchestral music was brilliant, with the music begining in a low key and feeling foreboding, with the crawlig of the music into a very high pitched minor always squeel really relaying an emotion of torture and hysteria.

The ambient sound that swelled in the beggining was ery suspense building – and it almost sounding like a recording of nothing – like someone had just recorded a quiet room to capture the ambient sound of ‘existance’ and put it in there, throughout the first segement, and slowly increasing the levels untill it was like the silence was yelling at the listener.

Visually i was getting impatient, and infact i feel that was becusae the audio was making me SO uncomfortable. I actually feel like this is a very good reaction, but if i were to respond to my first reaction, i would have made visuals more constant throughout the middle section.

The off-white screen at the end was very effective, and portrayed a feeling of peace for the dead, especially when the screen went to a harsh white right at the conclusiong. Of course, the extremely well placed words at the end – evidentally sending the message to the muslims – with the delay in the english transcription denoting a translation for enligsh speakers, as oppose to a message for english speakers. This delay spoke a thousand words about who that message was really for.

My stomach is in knots even writing this, it was so sad. Please make me never have to watch it again!

[From 11′09″01 Inarritu]