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When I came into this subject I had no idea what to expect. I knew that the class would have actors, designers, proddies and multimedia people. I found the interaction with these people very interesting as they think about the problems we encounted in a different way to me. It was great to have the groups on a level playing field, however as a proddie I felt that the others thought that we somehow knew more about what to do with the projects as a whole. However as we started to edit the actors in my doco group were able to help out quite a bit.

I learned a lot of interesting things in this subject, from practical three-point lighting to the director-actor relationship. One of the most beneficial things I found in the subject was the use of examples in the lectures. These showed the things we were learning in class being used (or miss-used) in a real commercial situation like the use of the Odessa Steps sequence. The last two classes were very interesting. I felt the second last class was very much geared towards actors, however the last class I found very helpful and insightful. It gave me a new respect for actors and their craft. It also helped me understand the role of a director in a dramatic performance.

In respect to the blog process, I found it very helpful because it made me think about different aspects of storytelling and the technical aspects that go into it. If I could make one suggestion with the blogs it would be that there should be a topic set each week as well as a personal reflection. I had great fun in the course and now feel I have a much better grasp on how to translate ideas onto tape.

21 Grams

Director-Alejandro Gonzalez Writer Guillermo Arriaga

This director/writer team had previously worked on the Mexican language film Amores Perros. As such there was already a relationship between the two. Gonzalez wasn't involved heavily in the writing of the script and let Arriaga basically just write the script. However there were many rewrites of the script. Arriaga admits himself that their relationship was strong and that they communicated well during the process of production. They knew each other’s roles and stuck to them.

The writer had great respect for the director and understood that he was in charge of the production of the film. As such there was little or no problems during the production. He thought that as a writer he should work with the director not under him and in their combination this worked well. He respected the director’s responsibility to take the film into reality from its screenplay.

The director brought the writer to meet much of the cast so that they would select the right people for the characters as the film was largely character based. The film was praised for the quality of acting. This was brought about by the strong relationship between the writer, Guillermo Arriaga and the director Alejandro Gonzalez. Without this the director would not have been able to engage in dialogue easily with the writer and so his understanding of the written characters would have suffered.

www.scriptfactory.co.uk
www.wsws.org
www.tribute.ca
www.splicedonline.com

Television Ad

The advert that I chose to look at was a local commercial advertising the 'Jim's Hardware' store. The ad was very basic in structure with the average local commercial midi music accompanying the ad with a basic voice over carrying the name of the store and its details at the end. Also the voice over gives examples of tools and products that are sold.

The visuals attached to the commercials were very clear but were simplistic. The objects look as though they have been taken straight from the clip art files of Microsoft Office. They looked as though they were from a children’s cartoon. However they did indicate the type of products sold but not examples of products that are actually sold. The whole commercial had a plain black background and as the commercial progressed different tools covered the shop’s logo. This was repeated three times over until the shop information was shown.

The objects were brought in from the sides of the frames with animations that look like they were made in Microsoft PowerPoint. The ad failed to convey specific information on why a consumer would want to go to that particular hardware store and not another. It also failed to engage the audience’s interest of intellect. There was not an image shown of the shop front or even the inside of the shop which is important as it lets the consumer know what to expect from the store.

The ad being a cheap local commercial should not be expected to be of the highest quality but the commercial does suffer from a lack of real footage and artistic concept.

Personal Reflection on Comedy TV

I have been watching a fair amount of comedy television of late, most notably Seinfeld, The Games, The Office and The Nanny. While watching these shows I remembered the comment in class that Americans love the plot and story spilled out plain and that they don't like different dialects of English on TV. The Office and The Games are British and Australian shows respectively while The Nanny and Seinfeld are American. Both of the former shows were mega successes all around the world.

Both the American comedies are more like actors playing out a stand up comedians set. The canned laughter and often slapstick humour is very funny but is not intellectually funny or addressing any deeper issues. I suppose it is like fast food. Easily consumed on the spot and then on to the next meal.

I find that both the other shows are more intelligent and clever in the way that humour is expressed. Both of them are shot like documentaries to an extent and are based in office type situations. The scripting in these shows is extremely clever and often the jokes can be expressed by just good acting.

I find that American comedies tend to be over the top while the Australian and British comedies are more down to earth. The Office was at many times painful to watch because it seemed so real. The Games was especially good because it was able to, at the time send up the whole Olympic planning process without being offensive. In many other countries such a comedy would be considered in bad taste. Two other shows like this in Australia are CNNNN which basically takes the Mickey out of current issues and Corridors of Power which is a satire of the backbench representative in parliament.

A Set Designers Job Description

Set designers are needed in all of the areas of performing arts from television and cinema to stage plays. Their job is primarily to create a setting, which compliments the productions objectives. Set designers are responsible for making, maintaining, modifying and dressing sets.
Job Criteria
1. Preparation
Set designers need to prepare or examine sketches of the sets and props. They also need to read any scripts or outlines to gain a better understanding of the production and its certain requirements. A budget has to be adhered to and a record of expenditure kept.
Research needs to be conducted on the time period, country and culture of the production.

2. Communication
Communication is vital for set designers. They need to confer with the director so that the sets and props are suitable, acceptable and appropriate for the production.
The lighting staffs have to be liaised with so that the set can be properly lit.

3. Management
A set designer should be able to manage his/her delegated tasks in a way that fits into the production, is ready on time and on budget. They need to oversee and be involved in the construction and organization of sets and props. Make sure that the set and props do not interfere or hamper production elements. Set designers may also have to coordinate others to in the creation of sets.

4. Other Requirements
Odd working hours are often required, especially as the production date approaches. Sets may be simple or there may be many sets that need creation and dressing from scratch. A lot of set design work is freelance and a tertiary degree in some as design is often preferred.

Research
www.connexions.gov.uk
www.lunch-money.com Stage/Set Designer
web.mit.edu Set Designers Overview

My First Assignment Reflection

Well my first assignment is very much over. I found it to be a simple but helpful introduction on how to tell a story on camera. My role in the group was to organise the group on the day and complete the script, shot lists, schedule and camera floor plans. It was also my role on the day to operate the camera to set each shot in point and make sure each shot fitted. I shared the filming with the other proddie in my group and directed most of the shoot.

I felt some of the group member although tried to help thought that it was the proddies job to shoot, use the camera and direct action on screen. Some of the other group members seemed afraid to voice their opinion as well, but towards the end of the assignment this had mostly gone away. We had trouble with some group members who didn’t turn up to meeting on time or at all in a few cases.

One major challenge on the day of the shoot was that after the third of eleven scenes we were about 40 seconds into our time. I had rough figures on the shot timings but I forgot to take into account that there was no way to just trim each clip as I am use to from using Final Cut Pro. We overcame this by reworking the script to only eight scenes. Other than that the filming went faster and easier than I expected.

I found the paper work we were force to do made us think about the project more, which was a good thing. For me personally I found the in camera editing extremely frustrating and limiting. However for someone with no idea at all about cameras and filming it simplified the whole process.

A Foley Artist

When shooting in most cases only the dialogue is recorded to give greater control when mixing. The foley artist is the person who 'fills' in the sound to make the scene sound real. A good foley artist is one that can recreate the scene sounds without the viewers realizing. The foley artist has to recreate sounds as varied as footsteps to windows shattering. The foley artist often employs very creative methods to capture the 'right' sound such as using a pair of gloves to simulate the sounds of a bird flapping its wings.

foley infomation researched from
http://www.marblehead.net/foley/whatisitman.html

2003 OSCAR for Sound

The Lord of the Rings-The Two Towers won the OSCAR for best sound in 2003. The elements that made this films sound great are varied. For starters the original book the film is derived from had great descriptions of sound, which enabled the sound team a good start. The sound team also traveled extensively around New Zealand to gather all the sounds needed to create a sound scape that would take the viewer into the fantasy world shown in the film.

A particularly interesting way sound was gathered was at a cricket match in Wellington, New Zealand. Jackson (the director) directed the crowd of 25000 to make various noises from whispering to stomping.

Peter Jackson was extensively involved in the sound process as to make the film to his specifications. This film very much deserved the OSCAR for sound. It has incredible detail in the sound. In the battle sequences the weapons, projectiles and voices are clear and add a new element of immersion into the film. In the forest subtle rustles of leaves and trees can be heard. All the sound are very authentic. Just as important as the actual sounds the placement of these sounds in the surround sound environment is exact. The directionality of many of the sound elements is very real.

The following websites were very helpful in finding about the sound in TLOR 2
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lord_of_the_rings_the_two_towers/about.php
http://www.audiorevolution.com/dvd/revs/lotr2.shtml

Magazine Program Segment

I watched The Great Outdoors on Monday night and choose a segment on Andrew Daddo's visit to the Gallipoli sites. It was a very well made segment. Facts about the places were recited but then Andrew gave some personal reflections on the places, which gave the segment a very personal and emotional feel. At the start there was a brief introduction with a flag superimposed over a shot from the Dardanelles. This was accompanied, as was most of the segment by soft emotive music, reflecting the mood that was trying to be created. Andrew's voice over was also softly spoken with many pauses and silences.

There was a particularly good sequence when Andrew was speaking about the beach and old wartime stock film of the beach was shown then contrasted with a beautiful shot of the beach as it is today with blue water and rich soil tones. During the second part of the segment when an interview with a local was conducted Turkish music was played in the background to help create the mood. Andrew also made a few jokes with the man to lighten the mood and let the Turk give his countries side of the story. The transitions between the shots were mostly long cross-fades to soften the mood and give a graceful effect.

Throughout the segment there was good use of juxtaposition as very sad topics of Australians being killed were discussed while shots were shown of the beautiful landscape contrasted with the memorial and rows upon rows of graves. The segment was also split up into several mini-segments. I believe this was done so that the somber mood of the segment wouldn’t be overwhelming. Instead the viewer would be able to enjoy a few less serious segments before seeing the rest of the ANZAC segment. It was probably also done so that a viewer would have to watch the whole show to see the segment and all the ads in between.

Three-Point Lighting

It seems that three-point lighting in the television industry is considered base standard in lighting techniques. During the early days of Hollywood it was 3 point, 3 point all the way. However as Walter Graff (1) points out in his article when filming you try and capture people as they would appear naturally and 3 point lighting isn't natural. He shows that there are several other methods of achieving a quality and aesthetically pleasing image without using 3 point lighting. He shows that two lights can be used to illuminate a subject and remove them from the background.
The principles behind three-point lighting still remain valid today, however it may not be the most practical in each situation. For instance the scene may be set in a room with a window letting lots of light in. In this case the primary light source would be directed from the window. This method can be seen at http://www.cybercollege.com/tvp034.htm. Here several places are shown where variations on lighting design can be seen from natural light to the exaggerated effect of a screen on a face.
The use of shadow can often replace the use of three-point lighting as seen at http://www.cybercollege.com/shadows.htm. However it is probably best in most cases to start off with basic three-point lighting, as it is often the easiest way to get a good picture for the camera. Many of the modern techniques look to have been derived from the three-point method, where light have been positioned differently but give the same effect as three-point lighting. However there are also some techniques, which seem to be totally different such as seen in the third example in Walter Graff’s article. (1) With lighting each situation is different and needs to be treated as such, to stick to one lighting style would be like only ever using a mid-shot for filming.

1.http://www.dvinfo.net/articles/lighting/graff2.php 'Beyond Three-Point Lighting' Walter Graff (visited on 27-3-05)

Designers:who and why?

Designers are the people who give each producion its look. They get direction from the script and director in how the production looks, from costumes to set peices. It is their job to make sure that all the peices are in place ready at the right time. They want the production to look it best to give the right mood and atmosphere.
They work mostly with the production staff but also need to contact the actors about costumes and how the set works. It can become frustrating at times when people don't see the behind the scenes work.

What do Actors do, think etc.

Actors are tools of the directors in the production process. They show the themes and ideas behind a film. They try and connect with the audience on an emotional level as well as embody the character as described by the writer. There are many acting methods and the actor needs to find one that will work in the situation.
Sometimes the actor will have some creative control and discuss things with the designers and other team members about costume, look, motive etc. Acting usually involves waiting around, obeying the director and being fresh and ready at a moments notice.

Respect + Montage

Well after a few weeks of VPA110 i have a new respect for people who make tv shows and movies. The amount of thought and planning that goes into a single production is staggering.

I was watching One Tree Hill ( i feel a little shame) and noticed that there were about 4 or 5 small montages in the 45 minute program. Then i watched some movies. They all had several montages. Montage is a great way of visually telling a story but it never seems to be over used. it seems to me monage may the the Holy Grail of visual story telling. It would take a real big dope o made a bad montage.

I have sacrificed my life to blogging

Today the Eighth Day of the Third month of the year Two Thousand and Five A.D.

I Stephen Willmott have created my first blog.