Anthony's Film Blog

Independant Research Critique

2011-04-12T04:49:00.000-07:00

Jason Torres: Power that Pops

1. What was their research question?

Power Through Lighting and Color in International Cinema

2. What areas did they choose to focus on in their comparisons?
Jason chose to focus on color and lighting and how they portray individual and hegemonic power.

3. How did they incorporate sources both primary and secondary into their doc.
He uses quotes from the Director of Photography and the actual films as his primary sources. He used secondary sources from people who write about film to help him understand his concept better and to supplement and support his claims.

Carmen Carillo: Political Thrillers

1. What was their research question?

Unknown (What makes the Manchurian Candidate and Z a political thriller?)

2. What areas did they choose to focus on in their comparisons?
She chose to focus on camera movements, editing of scenes, the tension in scenes that is felt by the audience, and the general emotional reaction the audience has to certain events and how these reactions are what make up the thrills found in political thrillers.

3. How did they incorporate sources both primary and secondary into their doc.
Director interview with Gavras and shots from the films reflecting what she is talking about are her primary sources. She used secondary sources to provide herself with base knowledge.

Independant Research Script

2011-04-12T04:25:00.000-07:00

1. Research Topic and Question

Topic: Heist Films
Question: “How does plot structure contribute to the thrill experienced in Heist films?”

2. Films that you plan to use in your analysis

Bob le Flambeur Dir. by Jean-Pierre Melville. Studiocanal Image, 1956.
The Silent Partner Dir. by Daryl Duke. Carolco Pictures, 1977
Die Hard Dir. By John McTiernan. Twentieth Century Fox, 1988.
Reservoir Dogs Dir. by Quentin Tarantino. Miramax Films, 1992.

3. 3 areas to focus on in comparison-

What kind of heist film is this?

Which part of the 3-act structure of a heist is used?

How does plot type create a thrill?

Final Project Film Idea

2011-02-17T06:59:00.000-08:00

group members: Anthony Blasko, Alejandro Curiel, Ashley Rich, Gino Santoro
Log-line: a guy meets a girl by chance and they quickly cancel their plans to spend time with each other.
Treatment:

guy is sitting on a bench on a pier, with his morning coffee, laptop bag next to him.

a girl walks past him also with her morning coffee and settles in looking over the rail.

he sees her and thinks for a second. he then gets up and goes next to her.

she sizes him up really quickly. he takes out a pen and a piece of paper and writes something on it. he passes the note to her across the rail.

she sees it and looks at him briefly before opening the note. she then reaches into her bag and takes out a pen.

she writes something on the note and hands it back to him. he picks it up then reads it and smiles.

he writes something on it and when he looks to put it on the rail, he doesnt see her. she is gone

he quickly looks around and can’t seem to find her. he sits back down on the bench with his head held low.

short time lapse shows that he has finished his coffee. he gets up to throw it away and when he looks back at the spot where he met her, there is a note held down by a rock.

he looks around first to see if anyone is there. he places his coffee cup on top of the trash can and then he walks to the note and reads it.

he then quickly turns around to see her standing there, holding a notebook in her hand. she opens it up to show him a planner with a day completely crossed out. we understand that its today.

the guy goes over to his bad and takes out his day planner. she walks over to the trash can, drinking the last of her coffee. she also puts her cup on the trash can. we see him crosse someting out. we understand it to be his schedule for the day.

when he looks up again, she is gone. but this time he looks around and she is simply standing near the end of the pier, waiting for him.

he hurriedly places the planner back in his bag and runs to catch up with her.

we get a final shot of their two coffee cups as he catches up with her in the background. they are blurred out and the coffee cups are the last shot. the designs on the coffee cups form a heart between them.

Genre influences:

i dont exactly know what genre this is, but it definitely has the feel of a romantic playfulness scene. for this, the characters are going to be flirtatious and spontaneous.

the setting is also rather romantic because it is a pier where one might go on a date at night. but by setting it in the morning, there is less of the serious romance implied and it also gives the characters the opportunity to have the entire day for themselves once they decide to spend the day together.

the conflict here isn't a big one. trying to preserve the rather light hearted tone in the scene, the conflict is basically just him failing at picking a girl up. we could exaggerate the conflict by stressing somewhat on his disappointment and that he might take it a bit too hard that she disappeared.

Themes:

a theme that this film develops is definitely “some forms of happiness require spontaneity”

if he wouldn't have been spontaneous, he wouldn't have gotten the girl. if she wouldn't have been spontaneous, she wouldn't have the great time she is about to have.

influences:

one influence we found was the short film “Victim” by Christian Ramos on Vimeo. this film influenced the whole pier-date idea and how the two characters at one point were standing next to each other, but facing away from each other. "VICTIM" film

i also drew some inspiration from the music video of “our kind of love” by lady antebellum. this influenced me in wanting to keep the whole thing light hearted. the video never gets serious about the relationship and there is never drama. the whole thing is fun and spontaneous and flirty. they're just having a good time. i wanted this film to be like that as well.

Sound Unit Pre-production

2011-01-27T12:16:00.000-08:00

Logline:A guy finds a picture of a girl holding up a peace sign. He can't put the picture down and gets hit by a car. The picture now shows the girl holding up 3 fingers.

a guy is walking on the street. he sees a picture on the ground of a pretty girl. he picks it up and a eerie/romantic sound plays.

he keeps walking but can't stop looking at the picture. the sound plays again. he steps on a rake and hits himself in the forehead.

he rubs his face but keeps walking. he turns into his house and walks into the kitchen.

the sound plays again and he slips on the wet floor. he falls and brings dishes crashing down on him. he has a hard time getting up but is able to make it up to his room and fall down to his bed.

the scene fades out and back in with him sitting on his windowsill, looking at the picture. he is mesmerized by the picture. he begins to fall asleep.

he falls out the window and hits the ground. we see him bleed out from his head. the picture floats down to the ground. the girl is now holding up 3 fingers. the sound plays again. the camera slowly pans up from the picture to reveal another guy finding the picture. there will be parallels between how the first guy finds the picture and how the second guy finds the picture.

fade.

how the treatment meets the requirements:

Narrative:

Sound Design plays an important role in the development of character, setting and conflict.(Explain How)
the sound charcterizes the picture as enchanting. there will also be foley sounds and loud sounds to act as the jarring occurances where he gets hurt. most sound will be synchronous with some of it being added in as necessary. the nondiegetic sound that playts each time he gets injured develops the conflict.

Production Elements:

Foley Sound Effects incorporated in film either realistically or expressively.
foley sounds will include the bowls falling, the rake slapping him, door opening, him falling, etc... The foley sounds will be realistic because the film is going to be as realist as possible, with the exception of the ending.

Rhythmic match at some point in the film's edit
none

Sound Bridge as a scene transition
there will be a sound bridge when he goes to sleep and wakes up. probably birds or something

Sound Montage or Leitmotif tied to character
the eerie/romantic sound tied to the picture and misfortune

The Hurt Locker Analysis

2010-12-13T23:57:00.000-08:00

1. Opening Remarks
The Hurt Locker. An ambiguous title for an equally ambiguously interpretable film. The narrative centers around Bravo Company EOD division and their rotation in the Iraq War. We are taken along on their missions and with each new task, we are revealed more about their characters. each plot development brings us closer to what their realities are in the war and how each is dealing with the constant stress of battle.

2. Context
The film was made in 2009, 6 years after the start of the Iraq War. It comes out during a waning of public support for the war and growing resentment towards the political leaders who remain indecisive. It also competes with the year's top blockbuster, Avatar, for recognition, in fact beating out the blue-planet themed film for best picture. It capitalizes on the theme of moral depravity located in a morally sun-baked landscape. The powerful message hits home with many viewers because it evokes sympathy in the viewers for the men who face death on a daily basis for our liberties, seeing as we get a glimpse into the hell of their daily routine.

3. Setting, Acting, Costume
The setting, Iraq, is no surprise for a war film about the 21st century. It's hot, dry, and merciless.
The acting to accompany the setting is in my opinion executed really well. You get the feel for each soldier's character and they all give off a stunning performance. Costume as well was nicely handled. They were very realistic and believable utility uniforms. The whole of these three serves to create a feel of realism in the whole movie, which in turn delivers a greater punch on the metaphysical level.

4. Cinematography and Lighting
The cinematography was done in the expected documentary style. Hand held takes, long duration of shots, realistic and objective capturing of footage. Although it is a documentary style of film making, it is more Hollywood in its composition. They depend largely on natural light since most of the footage is outside in the hot Middle-eastern sun, and as such, most of the film has a yellowish hue to it. Yet because this is a documentary type film, many of the staging is natural. The false feel to the movie can easily be misinterpreted to make it not seem like a work of friction.

5. Editing
The editing is done much in the same way that a Hollywood film is edited. The only difference between the two is that the Hurt Locker capitalizes more on the reality of the situation. We do see however a strong manipulation of time in the documentary in a way that completely departs from its genre. There are some situations that are repeated several times simply for the emphasis. The pacing is also different from a traditional movie, with long takes be dropped in favor of shorter, intermediate takes.

6. Score
The score in this movie is powerful, consisting of a wide range of sources, it conveys exactly the mood we're supposed to feel at that moment in the film. This is another way that it strays form a traditional documentary. We are being spoon fed what to think instead of being allowed to make our own opinions about the topic. Also, sound effects of anything at all, very well accentuating what needs to be accentuated and all sounds are essentially used. In this sound design, it should be noted the mixing of the use of western and middle eastern audio tracks in the score.

7. Script
The narrative in mainly linear, with time lapses occurring between scenes. It seems to me as if the plot were more character driven because with each new mission they go on, we discover something new about the characters and their relationships with each other. Many of the humor also comes form the subtext, like when Beckham tries to sell him dvd's again. The movie also does a good job highlighting the issues involved in war and what it does to the men who fight in it.

8. Genre
The Genre is most obviously a documentary. But as mentioned before, it is more of a neo-documentary due to its departure from the overly extensive realistic shots. There is also some clear manipulation of the footage in the editing. Some sequences when something will explode five times just so that we are able to take it in from 5 different angles. It meets the Genre in that it does document the rotation of an EOD unit, but also subverts the genre with the simple fact that much of it is choreographed and planned to create a story. The director clearly has a story to tell and it is her story that we hear mainly, not the story of the soldiers.

9. Closing Remarks
So overall, The Hurt Locker is definitely one of the more artfully crafted documentaries, even though it does try to shake off some of the constraints imposed by the genre.

Documentary Pre-Production

2010-11-18T20:22:00.000-08:00

Reyes

Purpose: To show the struggles of a man dedicated to a goal in the face of overwhelming odds.

Contacts: The subject, his recruiter, his friends, family, support in general

Interview Questions:
What was your initial situation?
What challenges did you or are you facing?
Explain what you do to overcome these challenges.
What is the motivating force behind what you do?
How has your life changed since you became dedicated?

General Flow:
The film is going to start with some b-roll of him working out. He will explain his situation to the audience and introduce the challenge he has.
In the middle, we will have him tell us about how is life is like now that he had to change. He will tell us about what he does to improve and how he will attain his goal.
The end will be an update on his situation, what is looks like in the present. Then he will end with an inspirational viewpoint on what he expects will happen and if he will succeed.

Scripts:
There is no script yet because there is no b-roll and no interviews yet. The entirety of the script will be created upon acquiring the interviews and the b-roll. The story will be created in the edit. For an idea of what the script will be like, look at the general flow.

Shot List-
- BS of interviewees
- CU of working out
- MS of him going about daily life
- WEV of workout
- Handheld shots following him ie. Documentary style
- Other creative shots once we get an interview

Intro: His name is John Reyes. He has two goals. Lose the weight, and become a Marine.

Closing: --no closer. Film will end on an inspirational note form the interview.--

Short Documentary Review: "Misssey"

2010-11-18T20:18:00.001-08:00

The narrative of this documentary explains the tragic life of teenage prostitution. It details how Misssey was created and its mission. It consults the views of its members, former prostitutes, and organizers. All interviewees detail their experience with under-aged prostitution and how they ended up with Misssey. The film works well in its narrative because with each new interviewee, the story gets more and more personal, more and more detailed. We can literally visualize the tragedies of these girls being picked up off the street by pimps. At one point, we get detailed descriptions of the horrors these children suffer through because of their situation. It gets really horrible and we are left with a bitter taste of disgust in our mouths.

This is furthered by the general apathy of our society towards this topic and the trend of inaction that is shown through spectators, those aware of the situation, and those who will look at this documentary and do nothing. But again, the really punch in this documentary comes from the personal ties the interviewees have to the situation and the inspirational stories some of them share provoke a sense of hope in us, and in the kids who have the misfortune to fall into this situation and have the chance to see this documentary.

The camera work is pretty varied. The interviews all have the same, slightly skewed, bust shot framing, but the b-roll is definitely more varied. There are cropped frames, low viewpoints, tight close-ups, dolly shots from a car, and shaky shots used for stylistic effect. But it should be noted that most shots are simply of talking heads. The b-roll for this story is limited by the fact that you cannot get some of this footage because it is too dangerous, because of privacy constraints, etc… Yet the b-roll is not what makes this film. It’s the story. Although, to make the shots more powerful, I would have added a “crier.” It sounds crude, but with a sad topic like this, I would have added an interviewee who is prone to crying when telling her story near the middle to really accentuate the seriousness of this topic.

Just the shot of the emotion connected to the story would help convey the story so much better, because then it really lifts us up when we see the bright side of this organization’s work.

The editing is nothing special. It is simple cutting between talking heads and b-roll. The editing of the b-roll itself is not too special either. They really stayed with simple cuts in this project, occasionally throwing in a cross-dissolve.

The audio is melancholic at times, made up of a simple score. Occasionally the music takes over in times of silence and sometimes there is no audio at all. The audio is composed mostly of the interviews, which I think, is perfectly fine because we focus on the story and not the sounds. There is a lot of information to take in and if the score were any louder or more diverse, it would be overpowering and we would lose the focus of the film.

Baraka Film Review

2010-11-18T20:17:00.000-08:00

Overall, watching Baraka was like no other film I have ever experienced. The non-verbal aspect to it definitely threw me off. I was so taken aback that I did not know what to think. I just watched the monkeys chilling in the hot spring. The whole movie conveyed a sense of peacefulness and inner balance that I think many of us lack in our lives. It gave insights into other cultures and different areas many of us will never get to see in real life. It captured the natural beauty of the world. It captured the natural beauty of people. Watching the movie, I experienced a mixture of boredom at some points, amazement at others, serenity, curiosity, perplexity, amusement, and awe. At no point was I left emotionless. At the time, watching the movie, I didn’t know what to think. But in retrospect, the power of this movie truly is obvious and its message of inner peace is clear.

1
This movie is titled Baraka because it evokes the feeling of taking in a deep breath and exhaling it. This has a calming effect and I think it’s analogous to the meaning the film is trying to convey. “Take a breath, breathe, calm down, and find your inner peace.” The shots transport us to areas of the world far removed from our daily lives and show us ways to live that might not be our first choice. The music adds to the feel that this movie does not only consist of an amazing slideshow, but there are certain emotions we need to be feeling associated with some of these images. Also, if you look at it from the “essence” perspective, you can see how the entire world, broken down to its essence, is one being. Different peoples are the same, different cultures are similar in many ways. All our souls are part of the same essence.

2

There are many shots in this film that show wide, aerial shots of our planet. These shots that showcase the beauty of nature lead us to become analytical in a sense of our own culture. When shots are juxtaposed to show contrast between the pristine beauty of the Wetlands of South America with the slums of Brazil, we begin to think rather critically of our own societies. We no longer have a simplistic, doleful view of our societies and to a degree, we become envious of other cultures that get to experience the beauty of nature up close and personal. This also leads to us criticize our societies socially. We often view ourselves as more developed, and thus possessing a higher standard of living. But seeing these indigenous cultures perform their rituals, we get a sense that they are more alive than we are; that they have found happiness in its essence.

3
The main message, or theme, in this movie is that if we do not change our ways, we will end up living in a dystopia much like the garbage dumps in India where the people had to scavenge for food. Although making reference to a crude movie seems tasteless, this scene reminds us of the huge garbage piles from Idiocracy. We let ourselves fall into ruin and destroyed the beauty of nature we had. This is also a critique of our habits concerning the environment. If we do not change, we will lose the environment that harbors all the locations and all the cultures we see in this film.

4
Without a voice or text, we do not attribute a culture to the story. We understand it to be a global voice, the voice of the essence of the world’s people. So the lack of voice or text, and therefore language and bias, achieves the director’s goal of making this a global film.

5

The city usually has clips that are either sped up drastically, or static. Either everything is changing too fast to appreciate the world around us, or nothing is changing, no problems are being fixed, we are sitting in our own rot. It seems that the only escape, the only way to save ourselves would be to escape back to nature, back to the pure essence of the world, become one culture again and let the freedom of the world transport us to true happiness.

6

This monk could be the lone spiritual lighthouse in a sea of busy, materialistic people. He is there to show them that there is no need for our “modern” ways to be happy. Contentment and indeed happiness for some, comes in the form of divine connections. He could also be there questioning the morality of making those workers work in cigarette factories under the conditions they work in. Those who devote themselves to a religion are often symbols for morality and the simple cutting linking the monk to the cigarette factory might question the morality involved in that situation. But the film’s main blow with this juxtaposition is that it advocates religious endeavors, or spirituality. It is argued that only through the peaceful side of religion can we find our own inner peace.

7

With the refuse heap, Baraka criticizes the viewers on our complacency. It questions how we can sit idly by and watch others scavenge for food in dumpsters alongside livestock and wild dogs. How can we continue to throw out food we do not like when others are forced to get whatever they can just to survive? The film does a great job in throwing these questions of morality into our faces, potentially provoking some to action in the process.

8

The music is very diverse, made up of mostly the indigenous music from each area. The one that stands out to me is the one from the Kecak scene. Not only is the entire audio made up of them screaming, but it also has a certain melody to it that is achieved through their “primitive” musical instruments. The auditory beauty of the scene is also accentuated by the way it ends. It ends on one lone drum beat and cuts immediately to shots of a volcano, highlighting the power of the volcano and drawing a comparison to the power of the tribe’s ritual.

9
I think we watched Baraka because we needed to se that we are not the center of the universe. We are not the pristine example that everyone should follow. Sometimes, we need to take the backseat and follow in others’ wakes if we want to achieve the utopia every society strives for. This view could have arisen if we were presented with similar images not in a movie, but not spontaneously. If we are secluded form the world, and do not contribute to its essence the same way other cultures do, then we cannot hope to be able to come to these conclusions on our own. We need the exposure to be let into the light. And with this exposure comes the desire to travel. The movie shows us all this natural beauty and it would be a shame to waste our lives contenting ourselves with slideshows and audio tracks. We need to experience these instances in nature first hand if we want to be able to “breathe.”

"Hungry Love" Critique

2010-11-06T11:24:00.001-07:00

Basically, this film is about a guy who is desperately in need of food and resorts to going through a series of acts to try to impress a girl and win her lunch box from her. I felt that I wasn’t having much success in my other films because the drama was too hard to imbue within those films. So when we started our Amélie Unit, I saw this as an opportunity to take myself in another direction. I based my whole concept on the premise that it had to be an awkward encounter between a man and a woman where there would be romantic tension, yet the whole thing would be very comedic. I think it does stay true to the romantic comedy genre of Amélie and that it did not turn out horrible, like my other films.
Overall:
First, I’ll begin with what I was tasked with. I was pretty much the director of the film and editor in my version. As director, I had to block my actors and pretty much detail all the facial expressions, movements, subtleties, and general actions they needed to be performing. I also had to make sure lighting was correct, sound quality was good, and the shots looked decent. As the editor, I just had to pull everything together. Because this film required a different edit to be handed in for each group member, I also had to work on the score and color correction for the shots that seemed out of place.
The main problem I had was that Devan, my guy actor, would not cooperate with some of the things I wanted to have him do. I think this took away from some of the comedic qualities of the film had I been able to get certain shots. But I gave in to his reservations and just tried to keep the whole production rolling. In editing, my only problem was really the lighting. The camera’s focus was not working properly so some shots looked too washed out and I had to color correct to smooth that out.
This time around, the whole production of the film went relatively smoothly. The only problems we had were scheduling conflicts, availability, and lighting issues. With scheduling, we would have miscommunications and as such, lost valuable shooting time. Also, many of us had very tight schedules. I had practice every day of the week and Katryna was needed for the school play. Tyler had work on one of the shooting days and the whole availability issue was one of the biggest problems we faced. But I think THE biggest problem was that the lighting was off. The first time we went to go shoot, Devan was late and we lost the period of time before the sun would be changing position quickly. So, some of our shots turned out dark. The second time we went to shoot, the light was changing even quicker and we lost an entire weekend because it had begun to rain. In the end, we managed to work out the schedule by prioritizing this project over our other commitments and the lighting could be fixed in the edit.
Critical Evaluation:
Story: The story begins by setting up Devan as a guy who is suddenly really hungry. Ten he goes through a whole bunch of ways to try to impress this girl who has food, and in the end he ends up not only with her food, but with her as well. I wasn’t really trying to highlight any issue or create a theme. I just wanted to make a funny little story about a guy who would do anything for food. I tried to portray Devan as this suave guy who knows how to impress women, and Katryna as a girl who is nice and proper, but not immune to the charm of a guy. I think I kept consistent with their characters and showed a nice evolution for Katryna as someone shut off, to someone who is totally open, but while staying true to both of their characters. I think I pulled off the climax nicely through reverse dramatic irony. Katryna sees what is on the card before we do and so we are itching to find out what it was. When we finally see it, we see that there is a cute message that wins her over because in the next shot, they are walking away hand in hand. So we know that Devan succeeds and we are left with a feeling of closure.

Casting/Acting:
I think we cast the movie really well. Devan, although you would expect him to want to eat all the time because he’s a pretty big guy, also takes you off guard when his cheesy wooing techniques work. Katryna also played her part really well. Her only criterion really was that she had to be a girl, but her acting was really good too. They were both really believable and you could easily distinguish who was who. Their personalities also provided a nice contrast and helped keep the story alive.
When it comes to their acting, as I’ve said before, terrific. You really believe that this is who they are, and we form ties with them as we would with our friends, and not simply as we would with characters. We didn’t really use any makeup or worry about their wardrobe. We only cared that it remained consistent from shooting day to day. There was also no dialogue, so the acting was better because we did not have to worry about making the dialogue believable too. Both actors do maintain a consistency in the way that they stay in character and a consistency in how they characterize their character.

Music and Effects/Lighting:
The music design in this piece was very simple. Aside from a few foley sounds to provide audio cues, there was only one score that was looped to create the romantic, French accordion café music that so effectively helped create the romantic mood in the film.
With lighting, we depended on natural light, shooting just before magic hour to get that nice rich, yellow and warm feel. Unfortunately, the changing light caused several consistency errors from shot to shot, and some shots were to dark, so we had to reshoot some of them. In the end, we still had to redo a couple shots by color correcting them. I needed to spend more time to make the color correction more precise, but I did not have enough time.

Titles and Credits/Camera Operation:
The only titles I used were in the beginning and for the credits. Both times, they were unobtrusive and only communicated information that we could not get visually. This was mainly due to the generic falling leaves of autumn, and the black background in each.
The framing in each shot is also pretty good I think. Many of the shots are static because I still have some uncertainty in my abilities to create dynamic moving shots, although I did try a few times. Whenever there is a zoom though, I felt that it appropriately fits and serves to create intimacy between us and the characters. Some shots that could be improved are the ones that have some awkward framing or that could have been tighter. With the shots, I also think that I could have used more variety in them. Possibly a few reverse shots would have been a nice stylistic characterization for my film. At the point where they are walking, I would have liked a nice aerial shot, but no one would let us use their roof.

Sound/Editing:
We did not record any on location audio because we knew that it was going to be a silent film. We did record a few foley sounds with the camera, but even then it was not on location.
When it comes to editing, I think the cuts came out relatively well and the pacing is appropriate. Each shot as the appropriate duration for a certain effect and they maintain continuity throughout the film. When changing from scene to scene, I thought about ways I could make it so that it isn’t an awkward or abrupt change. This time, I did not resort to fade to blacks or dissolves. I used the score to transition from the house, to the street, to the park, all the while maintaining the walking motion to create a link. Each shot is followed in my opinion by the appropriate reaction shot, POV shot, axis match, etc… a few areas I could have improved were the guitar opening scene. I would have preferred to use a close up of Katryna and show the guitar in the next shot that way, but due to the shot being too washed out, I opted to cut to black very quickly because I had no better method. Yet I think that each scene is appropriately trimmed and that the shot order is logical and fluent. The editing is almost transparent and except for a few moments like the guitar scene, the color correction near the end, and the ending with the heart, the editing is hardly noticeable to the commoner’s eye.

Objective evaluation
Reviewing my film, completely ignoring what went into making it, I would say that the film is pretty good. The key moments designed to make you laugh all accomplish this and the story is not lost in the shots. As a viewer though, I would have preferred that Devan be shown taking out the guitar and that the lighting/color correction be fixed at the end. I was also wondering if there should have been some cue for Devan to walk up to the window. It seemed weird for him to just get up and look outside. But overall, it works and the film itself was rather enjoyable.

Treatment for Amélie genre movie.

2010-09-28T04:27:00.000-07:00

log line: awkward young man sits on a bench next to a woman with her lunch next to her. we think that he is attracted to her but in the end he goes for the lunch.

treatment: a man is sitting on a bench (we hear his stomach growl) when an attractive woman sits down next to him, on her lunch break. romantic music is cued in.

he eyes her and she notices him. subtly, she shows him cleavage as she opens her lunch. we see his eyes double take as he tries to look away.

she looks up and catches him staring. he looks away. they awkwardly sit next to each other.

as we are looking at him, we hear her moan. his eyes dart towards her and she is sucking the chocolate off her finger as she holds a pudding cup.

his face shows pain/desire. by now we see him writhing on his bench seat. barely able to contain himself.

she stands up and he freezes. we see her walk away behind a tree slowly, hinting at him to follow her. he just stares at her as we see her leave her lunch behind.

he stands up and the screen fades to black.

fade back in. he is on a rooftop somewhere, happily eating the lady’s lunch. romantic music keep splaying on a more cheerful note.

Amelie: Stylistic Devices

2010-09-12T22:48:00.000-07:00

The first stylistic device the Director of Amélie uses is color correction. Many of the scenes, and consequently many of the shots, have a distinct yellow feel to them. Either the room starts out as yellow (yellow walls, yellow curtains) or the characters wear yellow. In many scenes there will be that overwhelming presence of yellow. In outdoor shots such as this one, color correction becomes evident as even the yelowness of the sun is exagerated to give the whole film a unified, magical realistic feel. This feel of surrealness is intended to make us understand that although this is the real world, weird, magical tings are stil going to take place.

Furthering the director's intent on creating a surreal world, there is the blend of reality and CG graphics. The personification and physical manifestation of Amélie's imagination serves as our bridge to magical realism. We undestand that anything can happen in this film and that weirder,, yet comedic things will also take place, furthering our interest in the movie, beconing us to continue to watch.

Another way the director destroys our reality is by breaking the 4th wall. Several times throughout the film, characters will break out of the story and adress the audience directly. Here it is the comatose neighbor who wakes up for a second to confirm Amélie's suspicions on why she is asleep. Also, by waking up, we are pulled into Amélie's psyche as she thinks it is possible for the neighbor to just wake up and fall right back asleep. This possiblity of the impossible happening continues to reinforce the idea that this is a magical realism film. Every stylistic element in this scene is meant to enhance the magical feel to the story. The curtains are even yellow in the background, as is the headrest.

One way the director adds humor to the story is by exploiting Amélie's quirks. First, he gives her some oddness about her like collecting stones, or wondering bizarre things (how many people are having an orgasm at that moment). Then he proceeds to show us couples having orgasms. The uncomfortableness of watching characters have orgasms is enough to draw a chuckle or an embarassed and uneasy smile, but then he takes us back to a close up of Amélie as she tells us the exact number of people having an orgasm at that moment. I feel that the director is intentionally trying to break the conventions of film making by introducing "inappropriate" material and resenting it in a comic light. He uses comedy as a form of filmic satire.

Treatment: Life's Playground

2010-04-27T03:27:00.000-07:00

A harmonica plays in the background as we get a view of a neighborhood street with a park a few steps away. A narrator comments that “not all summer afternoons are filled with fun and freedom. Take it from me, I know from experience.” A kid is being picked on by 3 guys. Jared walks along the street and sees them.

Flashback to a scene where a little kid who looks like Jared is also being picked on in the same park. They are taunting him the same way that the older guys are taunting the kid Jared sees.
We return to the present and Jared starts walking over to the scene. The guys look up at him and the one who appears to be in charge comes forward, asking him what he wants.

Before the guy can finish his sentence, Jared takes a swing at him and knocks him to the ground. He looks briefly at him and then walks on to the next guy. He takes him out as well. He walks on to the last guy who’s holding the kid by the collar.

Jared grabs the guy’s wrist and wrenches his grip loose, punching him in the stomach. The guy collapses. He takes up the lead bully again and punches him in the face, sending him flying.

Flashback cuts in as the guy is flying to Jared-kid flying backwards. The bully is picking on a younger Jared. Time mixes and Jared is preying on his younger self. He realizes that something is amiss, but he continues to act out his role and pick on his younger self.

His younger self cries out “why won’t you leave me alone?” time flashes back to the past and a bully is standing where Jared was standing before. The bully advances on Jared-kid.

Time flashes back to the present and Jared crouches over the bully and places one hand on his throat and raises the other hand in a fist. The bully is struggling to breath.

We get an intense look of Jared’s eyes as he struggles with himself and we are taken back into a flashback.

The bullies are pinning Jared down and one of them is about to drool onto his face. He is trying desperately to free himself but he is unsuccessful.

Rapid cuts between past and present: the drool falling onto his face and Jared-older punching in the bullies face.

The screen is black and we hear the narrator’s voice along with the harmonica playing in the background. “Sometimes you have absolutely no control of those summer afternoons.”

The Jared is revealed sweeping the streets with a cop standing by, watching him. Jared is wearing handcuffs. There is a student reporter walking next to him with a pen and open notepad.

The voice comes back: “Actually, you always have control.” It becomes apparent that it is Jared’s voice. He speaks as he is sweeping the street. “Your choices affect what you do tomorrow. You got to think before you act, you know what I mean? The guy didn’t die nor nothing, but like, that didn’t matter to the judge you know? He said this wasn’t a game. Lemme tell you, when you’ve got three years of this ahead of you, you realize how easy it woulda been to not hit that guy.”

The screen fades to black with the sounds of the street still audible. The credits fade in and out. “It woulda been really easy, now that I think about it…”

-Fade-

The Dramatic Moment

2010-04-21T22:40:00.001-07:00

I would have to say that in my short film, my character would be a high school guy, possibly a pretty big guy. I want him to be a guy because when i portray his confusion, I want it to almost have the feel of him having an anger management problem, but not quite. And i feel like if it would be a woman playing the part, it would be distasteful to the audience and would be a turn off.

My character is confused and conflicted. He wants an answer or some form of guidance but there is no one to help him, so he has to turn to himself and rely on his own judgment to make the right choice.

Should he choose to punch the bully's face in, he would ultimately corrupt his character and forever taint what he was doing through moral convictions. But on the flip side, if he refrains from giving in to the temptation, he rises above the challenge and crystalizes his morality and yet at the same time, breaks the cycle of violence he became entangled in.

When it comes to the dramatic moment itself, we have our main character, come upon a scene of bullying. He remembers how he was bullied and decides to continue to strive for vengence. But in this scene, he stumbles on another act of bullying, and this time, it's too much for him. He is about to deal a blow that will kill the bully and he is faced with the moral dilemma of either doing it or not. The dramatic moment should focus on his confliction. I think that I might want to introduce a parental figure that could have passed away, appear to him in his mind and discourage him from corrupting himself further.

I am debating whether or not to make this a tragic plot or not. If it ould be, I would like to include some allusion to the bible, how Jesus took upon himself the sins of humanity and was crucified to cleanse humanity. If not, I would like to allude to Lazarus's rise from the dead, as in our character's redemption.

Some things to consider... I'll be sure to post my approved treatment when I get it done.

Plots that Kill

2010-04-21T11:33:00.000-07:00

A plot line I would like to take the time to look at is the Moral Plot.

This plot line is used by the movie Chinatown. In Chinatown, there is a morality tale that is being played out concerning corruption and its fluctuating presence in society. This film noir implements this plot line to conform to its genre conventions of social criticism. It also places emphasis on the main character's moral dilemma, not only being a PI, but having a bad reputation as a PI without the power of the police to stop evil.

When it comes to a story of my own, I was thinking about using a story that follows the tale of the cycle of violence and how to break it. A kid is picked on during his childhood and as soon as he becomes stronger during high-school, he decides to turn his new strength on the bullies, helping out other kids who are picked on, yet going overboard and almost killing them. This story will deal with the theme of the cycle of violence and I don't know if it will be a unique take on the plot, but it should be interesting. I'm going to try to focus profoundly on his inner turmoil and I haven’t decided yet whether or not to try to connect it to society as a whole, depending on how much time I have.

I definitely envision a high schooler, probably a big guy acting, with a little skinny kid acting as his younger self. I see the character as male because seeing a woman in this role will probably be a turnoff, seeing as violent women are generally discomforting to watch, especially if it looks like they have an anger problem.

I'd say my character is definitely dealing with trying to find a balance in his life. All in one moment, he is conflicted with taking the path of vengeance or the higher road. I want to try to capitalize on that emotion.

I still haven’t decided yet whether he will come out virtuous or not, but if he does, it will be saying that the cycle of violence can be broken and that people can learn to live with one another.

For now, the details of my plot are a little sketchy, but I do want to make my plot unique in some way that will have a twist at the end, and leave the audience with a feeling of emotional closeness, being saddened by my film's end.

Italian Neorealism

2010-03-25T11:18:00.000-07:00

Ideological and thematic goals

They wanted to focus on the society as a whole, not the individual. Their emphasis was on solidarity and companionship and fraternity. These films were heavily anti-fascist and focused on the hardships of a post war Italy. They did not depict the high life or create glamorous stories. These we stories about the run of the mill Italian who was struggling to survive in increased poverty and unemployment. They tried to depict the harsh reality of life after WWII that many Italians were living. They all tried to show a criticism of the status quo and make people aware of what needs changing.

Unquestionably, their greatest single influence was the anti-Fascism that marked World War II's immediate postwar period

a focus on collectivity rather than the individual. Solidarity is important, along with an implicit criticism of the status quo

Historical context

It is post world war two and Italy is ravaged and destruction is everywhere. Allying themselves with the Nazis proved to their detriment and as such, they suffered penalties. Joblessness was everywhere. People who had jobs making weapons found themselves out of a job. The shift from agriculture to industry in order to support the war caused great scarcity in food and led to the starving of many Italians. Those who were not going hungry were poor. As for the industry, as soon as Mussolini fell, a great number of films came out, speaking out against fascism and criticizing the status quo. So in a way, world war two helped spark the neo-realist movement in Italy.

Cinematic techniques

The Italian neo-realism movement was also characterized by its cinematic techniques. The films from this era are usually made with a freehand, semi-documentary style. These films were only semi-documentary style because although they would do one continuous take, they would stage their actors, tweak the lighting, do takes over if there was a mistake. The directors would go outside on the streets and film the regular lives of the people. They would have largely unprofessional actors. These actors were not the typical Hollywood stars, but people from the street. Also, because they would try to film the lives of people, yet be as real as possible, most of the filming was done in well lit locations because the cameras of the day could not work well in low light, and they tried to stay away as much as possible from artificially lighting the scene.

Key contributors

One of the key contributors was Luchino Visconti. His La Terra Trema was a lot more documentary style than most of the other neorealist films of the time. He also directed Bellissima, a film about the struggle of a modest Roman Family. Roberto Rossellini also contributed several films such as Roma: Citta aperta, Paisa, and Germania anno zero. Victorio De Sica brought to the collection films such as Sciuscia, and Ladri de Biciclette. His masterpiece, Umberto D., is heralded as the best film that came out of this movement. But more on that later.

Key films

La Terra Trema: This film, set in Sicily, is about a family that uses its entire life savings to buy a fishing boat so that they can survive on that fishing. This movie uses very little audio and focuses on the stark and depressing reality of this family losing its only means of survival.

Ladri de Biciclette: This film focuses on the struggle of a father trying to provide for his family. His bicycle, his source of income, is stolen and in desperation he is forced to steal a bike of his own. This film tries less to focus on the documentary style of the movement, and uses a more staged approach to portray how one moral conflict leads to another as soon as its resolved. This is characterized by some as the one true communist film of the era for its emphasis on solidarity on the community rather than the individual.

Umberto D.: This film was shot entirely in the studio. There is no real plot in this movie. It simply describes the toil of late-life poverty. The main character is a pensioner and is played by a professor. The cast is almost entirely nonprofessional, especially the main character. This story diverges slightly from the neo-realist emphasis on solidarity by focus partially on Umberto’s personal struggle to maintain his independence and identity. But it also stays true to the principles by showing that he is not alone in this struggle. The film also shows many other pensioners in the same struggle. It is ultimately the most depictive out of all the Italian neo-realist films of the simply complex lives of the masses because not only does it focus on the struggles of the community, but also provides a concrete example in the form of Umberto, and in turn uses Umberto reciprocally as a smaller version of the greater struggle.

The Cabbie: Analysis

2010-03-22T21:42:00.000-07:00

So from this film festival that vimeo is hosting, Beyond the Still, I found another one of Laforet's movies. The Cabbie. Decidedly better produced than its sequel, Wrong Place, Wrong Time, I took some time here to analyze three shots in the movie to discuss characterization, conflict, and resolution.

Characterization: in this shot, several things can be said about this man. He is a cab driver, his clothes and the time of day he is stuck working suggest he is poor. Him cleaning off the bear shows his intention to take it somewhere, home possibly. And if we assume he's taking it home, we assume he has a young daughter. So pretty much, with this one shot, we learn about his socio-economic and familial background. And again, I imagine there isn't too much light so the camera's lowlight capabilities come in handy here.

Climax: The key in the foreground here is classic. And the rack focus brings importance to it and lets us know that this is the climax. In this shot, we're thinking about how the girl is in awe at finding this cool treasure in her teddt bear. We're wondering what the key could be for? Why was it in a stuffed bear? Our immediate suspicions bring us to the conclusion that its for something important, something way bigger than a cabbie and his daughter. Then we flash back to the initial shot. It was dropped at the airport, a place big business leaders and spies and mafia members use a lot. Our suspicions are confirmed immediately with the next shot, but this still serves as the climax to the story.

Resolution: The last shot in the scene is the resolution. Here we are revealed a chest and are led to assume that the key the girl just found opens this chest. Something is moving inside it and we can hear grunts, human grunts. The camera slowly dollies away and we are revealed the location on the chest, an abandoned warehouse somewhere. Our minds go crazy with thoughts, all characteristic of this type of cliffhanger. Who, or what, is in there? Will the key find its way there to save whatevers in the chest? If so, how? Is the cabbie going to have a role in all of this? What organization or criminal did this? Is this even a crime? Who are we dealing with here?

And there you have it, just a quick look at Laforet's film, The Cabbie.

Reverie and DSLR cameras

2010-03-16T21:28:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, this time around I'll be looking at a short film by Vincent Laforet, Reverie.
He made this film using an attachment to his hi-def, 1080p Cannon still camera.
This new technique uses the camera's ability to shoot in low light and to create selective focus, combined with the HD capabilities of the camera. But to shoot video, he used an attachment to convert all the stills to video. Here's some of his shots:

This shot is interesting. It outlines very clearly the selective focus being used in the shot. The focus here is on the reflection of the flowers in the galss. This shot is very diffcult to capture, made possible by the camera's low f-stop. To obtain a relfection, the flowers had to be lighted, but couldn't be lighted from inside the car because then the photographer would show up in the shot. So he used the faint light that was coming from outside to light the flowers and he probably wore a black shirt. But the thing is, the camera was able to pick up on this low light and give a nice clean cut picture.

Again, great use of low light in this one. A bridge is a place where you ar enot likely to find a lot of light. And because of the position of the camera, the headlights of other cars should be creating silhouettes of everything, yet the camera still captures everything in crisp detail. I also think the fisheye lens serves to accentuate the lighting done. The lighting, minimal, is brought together from different parts of the screen with the fisheye lens and we get a feel for the overall lighting used, and the ability of this camera to pick up on it. Very good.

Laforet stays true to what he is know for here, his picturesque aerial landscapes. But he also implements the use of the cameras ability to shoot in low light. Up in a helicopter, away from the city, your not going to get a lot of light, so the use of this camera's supe rlow f-stop is a good choice. But also, if you notice the city in the background, you can see that it's blurry, drawing our attention to the man's face. Just another way Laforet uses selective focus in his shots to make the image a stunning one.

Well thats all for now. Maybe another post about how photographers are turning to video, but still using their same camera lenses, in the near future. Depending on my teacher's mood.

Editing Concept Demos, review

2010-03-07T23:03:00.000-08:00

Match Action Cutting:

1) I would have to say that we almost don’t have anything besides match action cutting in this one. I made the moves nice and flowing. The development of the story, I didn’t worry about too much since it’s only a demo. But I think my production value went down because of that and I made careless mistakes in continuity and coverage. I would definitely have made sure Devan’s sister was not in the shot or that you couldn’t see my reflection in the mirror.

2) My camera work was abysmal. Every shot was shaky. Nothing was planned out. I just winged the whole thing. I really had a problem with continuity, mostly because Devan would always move every time I would stop recording. With one camera, it’s hard to achieve the same blocking. My most creative shot though was when the camera was on the table while Devan was pouring the coffee. I liked that one.

3) My concept is entirely edit based. So naturally I had to cut the shots in a way that showed seamless flow from one shot to the next. Like in every film I make, I have trouble finding appropriate audio. I have trouble recording my voice, and I have trouble finding a score. But I guess it worked out okay-ish.

Parallel action:

1) The story of this demo is terrible. It was put together piecemeal and hurriedly. We were originally planning to have a scavenger hunt competition in a supermarket where they come together and fight over the last item on the list. The on-site manager said it was okay, but his boss said it wasn’t. so we ended up having to put something together rlike this.

2) I feel like the camera work was a little better in this one. Not so much shaking. The shots weren’t super creative or anything. But my favorite shot was the ELS of Devan walking down the hallway. I also liked how I went along the z-axis when he was peeing.

3) The edit was terrible. I did not have enough coverage for the initial scene where I’m browsing through his facebook account. My acting was terrible and had to find a way to clear up the audio of when I’m speaking. I have yet to master the way to record voices separately and string them together to make it sound like a conversation. But again, parallel action is a concept all done in the edit. I had to intercut the two storylines to make it seem like it was happening at the same time. I hope I successfully achieved that effect.

Blog review: Solitude Trailer

2010-03-07T21:53:00.000-08:00

The assignment here was to take 3 screenshots from the trailer and discuss the production value of the piece.

1) Intro

I chose this picture because it was the first concrete indicative that something is wrong. aside form the skid marks in the first scene, this passing shot of the deserted car shows that something is not right. the doors are left open, meaning the occupants of the vehicle probably left in a hurry. placing it along the road, next to a plane of what looks like wheat, with the wire fence and wooden door, we immediately begin to undertsand that this is going to be a horror movie. although it is blurry from the movement of the car, we clearly notice that it is deserted. If anyone noticed, there is a slight continuity error. in the previous shot, the car has already passed and the girl is looking behind, not sideways. So it's as if the car passes by, and then rewinds and passes by again. But mainly this shot is meant to setup the rest of the trailer, piquing our curiosity and laying the groudnworks for the fear that is to come. Since this is a horror movie trailer, we are expecting fearful things to happen. This slight view of something being amiss and our minds begin to wander and we think ourselves into fear and the paranoia, making the following shots all the more effective in getting our adrenaline to rush.

2) Climax

This is the part in the trailer where we know for sure that there is no one in town, they are completely deserted, and are being preyed on by something, or someone. Here, the girl is being chased by some unknown and terryifying thing. By staging this shot so that she is running away from the camera from something that is outside of the shot, we are not revealed the identity of the assailant. This is reinforced by maintaining a constantly tight shot of the woman, making her fear personal as well as further conceiling the attacker. But also, as she is running, the camera gets closer to her and comes in tighter, giving the impression that the camera has to move in quicker than she can run just to keep up with conceiling the assailant, giving us the impression that he is getting closer. The handheld camera work also helps to highten the terror of the shot, transfering the feelings of running away (or towards) someone. Because the shot is not steady, but rough, this creates a feeling of unease in the viewers and stresses them out. This stress, mixed with the sounds of fear from the woman, the heavy breething that can be hear, and the loud footsteps, is confused in the brain for fear, letting the adrenaline rush and the trailer achieve its desired effect.

3) Final Shot

This is the last shot seen in the trailer. It is a very powerful shot because at first we only seen the woman crying. We automatically think that it's only because she is losing her friends and is scared and overwhelmed. Then the shot reveals to us her friend taped to the wall, mouth covered, and before we have the time to full formulate the thought of wanting to warn her that she's next, the screen goes black and she screams. They got to her. The lighting in this shot is done in a way that isnt to overpowering. Contrary to what other directors might have done, the director of this trailer chose to not use harsh lights on the guy in the background that would turn on as the shot revealed him. The lighting was kept dim, not overbearing and it did not turn on brighter as the shot revealed the guy. All our attention is focused on trying to make out the guy and we hardly have time for our eyes to go back to the woman as she screams. The screen goes black and we are left with nothing. Just the looming sense that we get after and adrenaline rush. This feeling of curiosity mixed with relief is what makes this trailer so effective. It will appeal to the need for this rush and relief that viewers are looking for. Veteran horror moviegoers are likely to be drawn in by this promise of fear and newbies to the curiosity of what happens to the woman.

But overall, a solid production value, very enticing, and extremely well made. Makes me want to see it, although it was never made into a full length movie.

Avatar Blog Post

2010-01-25T10:59:00.000-08:00

What challenges did James Cameron have in realizing his vision?

Well first of all, he came up with the story of Avatar in 1997. The problem was, though, that he realized that the technology was not advanced enough yet to pull off his vision. So he waited a few years, worked on other movies, and when the technology was advanced enough, he decided to work on it again. To achieve all the cinematic effects and the 3D shooting and HD shooting, he had to develop special cameras and new technology that would allow the digital versions of the actors be shown as they move.

What was the process in creating Pandora?

James Cameron took the best artists and had them draw the plants. He had biologists come in and explain what the plants would be like and on what the artists should base their plants on. After having the drawings completed, digital environments were created to match the drawings and the spectacular environment of Pandora was created.

How has Performance Capture changed the film making process?

Well now, with performance capture, it's no longer the actors doing a voice over and the editors finishing the visuals. Now it's a live edit. Meaning that the actors have motion detectors attached to their bodies and as they move, the cameras not only record what they see, but also the digital avatar that the actors are acting out. So right there, live, it's like the cameras would be recording directly the digital characters. What we see in the movies is the performance of the actors, not simply a digital version of what editors think the characters might move like. Performance capture also eliminates the need for prosthetics since their image is created digitally right away.

How much money was spent on marketing the film? What challenges does News Corp face in realizing profits? Does the massive budget spent on the film effect the authenticity of its message?

News Corp spent around $150 million on marketing. If the movie wouldn't have wowed audiences as soon as it opened, it would have been a huge flop. Although a lot of money was spent on making this film, the message still stays strong. I think that adding stunning visual effects simply made the movie better. People complain over an unorigiunal plot, but this is what makes the message so recognizable. And the visuals simply enhance the film and how we perceive the message. Also, the visuals, with all the high-tech machines, makes the message modern and shows us where we will end up if we do not change our ways.

Do you agree with the critic's claim that Avatar "identifies the profound spiritual bankruptcy that underlies our financial insolvency...and reminds us (to)... make new choices for the greatest good of all". Or is this film just a trite recycling of previous plots that reinforces racist stereotypes? Explain with examples from the film.

This film does offer us the moral lesson. As for the racist element, although there is a valid argument, I think that it is more that the story is just a classic story about an advanced civilization that is evil and that the more primitve one triumphs against all odds with the help of one of the advanced population who defected to the primitive side. It's simply a story of someone who sees the light and defects to the good side anbd uses his skills to help the ones in need. The plotline is comparabvle to an invading alien force and if one of them wants to help the human race. Simple. But it is obvious that Cameron is trying to teach us a lesson about our spiritual bankruptcy. Although I personally just prefer to view is as a nice story about a hero.