In Thursday’s class (4/1/10) we watched a movie called Adaption. The overall movie was weird. This film is a post-modern film. It doubts everything that is modern.

The beginning of the movie starts off with the character speaking to himself about himself. While he is speaking all that can be seen is a black screen. By having the black screen, the audience can focus more on the character and what he is saying rather than what he is doing. The character continues to talk about himself and doubts himself like post-modern films. They way he speaks about himself sets of tone of depression. Not only does he doubt himself but he also doubts modern ideas. For example, he wanted to do a movie on flowers, just a simple flower movie. Who else in the world wants to do a movie about flowers unless it’s on the discovery channel or a discovery movie.

In this movie, there are a lot of back flashes and forward flashes of what’s going on. The movie jumps from one scene to the next. The movie just like all of our other movies focuses on either movies or the movie making business. This movie in particular is about writers and trying to write movies about something that can be significant or insignificant as a flower. Throughout the movie, it is obvious to see the change in the characters. One character was a magnificent writer who was uptight and could have just about anything she wanted, but could not find true happiness and her passion. Throughout the movie, she meets someone who is passionate about different things but cannot find the commitment in one thing. After meeting him, she turns into a different person. She is care free and finds happiness with him but is hurting herself. But while with him, she is doing drugs so the question is, is it the drugs that made her happy or the man? Also the main character, he is a looser and has low self-esteem. He talks about himself and creates a crazy like atmosphere. He is a shy character, he can’t talk to women without sweating, he can’t say what’s really on his mind, and he is not very social. At the end of the movie, he finds his courage to talk to the woman he loved and told her that he loved her. Even though he did that, he still has this looser like character.

In the movie the main character has a twin brother who is out-going and basically the opposite of him. However, he is not as good of a writer like his twin, the main character. So this brother as a character in the movie is sort of his alter ego but also a constant reminder of not to take things over board.

In Thursday’s class (3/4/10) we went over different things to use for our short films. We had a workshop on different ways to use the camera and what kind of sound we are looking for to put in our movies. Eric gave us great tips to use for our films. He suggested that we find live music because it will sound much better in a movie. He also told us that holding the mike will be a little difficult because it might be in the way. I’m the sound director so I think that will be really hard for me to do. Also, he told us that we should think about the different types of actors we want in our movie. We should do a casting call so that we can have great actors in our movies. But, we also have to do paper work and handle a lot of legal issues so that we won’t get sued or go to jail. I didn’t think we needed to do all of that for this short film but we do.

After our workshop, we broke up into our groups. My group went over our story board. We wanted to make it better. We actually had a great story board but we really didn’t have a story line behind the story board. But throughout the class, Cameron, our script writer, came up with this awesome script for our film. With having a script we can move along with much faster. We now know what type of actors we are looking for and the setting of our film. Our genre is horror and I know it might be hard to “scare” the audience but I think we will do a great job of that. We are in the process of finding what kind of sound we want in our movie that can be accomplished in time and that will set the tone of the movie. The movie is horror so we need creepy scary sounds that will help the movie seem scarier than it is. We are also thinking about what types of shots we are going to use in our film. We want to use a long view, zoom in and out, dolly, and other shots as well. The effects of the shots will also help the genre of the movie. Another important element we are thinking about in the process of this movie is the lighting. We have to figure out if the lighting in the place will be enough or if we are going to need additional lighting of our own. It’s a lot to think about even for a short film so imagine for a long film.

Ending question: which genre do you think is easier to work with?

Blow Out

In Thursday’s class (2/25 /10), we watched this movie called Blow Out. I have never seen or heard of this movie before, but I love John Travolta and he was in the movie! So it was a pretty good movie.

So like all of the other movies we watched in class, this movie was about movies. It focused on some key point such as sound in movies. It did overlays of sound, sort of like Singing in the Rain. They had actors/actresses create sound vocally for an already production. The difference is, there was more to work with and it wasn’t that difficult to get the actresses into a booth and just put their voice to the action on the screen. Also, during this time period, there is more vulgarity and sex in the movies.

In the movie, John Travolta goes out and gets some “real” sound to make the movie sound more real. Sad enough, it’s someone who is actually going through a horrible situation in which was recorded for her protection. This movie also highlights the selfishness and corruption in America. It’s as if everything is being covered up. A great scene that illustrates the corruption is when the young lady dies during the parade. The parade is so big and loud, the fireworks are going off, and she dies in front of everyone but sad enough no one sees it or hears it. This movie had great features such as split shots, owl shots, split screen, and narrow depth of field. By having these different shots, it brings attention to what is not visible or key points to remember throughout the movie for later reasons. For instance, the scene when the camera focuses on the very thin string that he uses to kill people, is very interesting because it’s such a small method he uses but it is given this time to let the audience see what it is and how it’s being used. Also, timing is very important in this movie. Where the characters are at any point and where the sound is in any action. for example, when the car when off into the water, everyone thought the tire blew out and that the driver was just drunk and had a terrible accident, but actually because of the heard gunshot and the spark of light, it was clear that a gunshot was fired and the tire which cause the car to go into the water.

Ending question: Do you think they ever really use sound form someone who was really going through a situation that was recorded other than in documentaries?

In Thursday’s class (2/18/10) we went over the screen writing program. There are many different things that go with the program that make it work really well.

In our class, we are broken up into groups of four and five and we have to make a film. The film will be shown at the end of the semester in a film festival. Each group has a specific genre on which they need to do their film accordingly. The genres are horror, drama, comedy, romance, action, and experimental. Within each group, there are roles that we have to play. Someone has to be the director; someone has to be the editor, and sound effects person. My group is doing a horror film. There are other things that we have to have in are film such as a Mime/clown, must have the line “Why is this happening to me today of all days?” and "It would be better for us not to talk about that." And we must have a guitar, a cheese grater, and skull. I don’t think it would too difficult to have any of these items in our horror film.

In my group, I am responsible for the sound effects. When we watched the movie/documentary on sound in films, I saw that there were a lot of elements to it. I can’t just think of a sound and make it happen; I have to get resources that are or close to the sound that I am looking for. Without the sound in the movie, it would be hard to determine the mood and give it an actual effect.

Since I have been in the class, I look at movies in a different way. I view movies with more appreciation also. When I see a movie, I look for the setting of the lighting that sets the tone and how it goes with the movie. I also listen for the sound of music if there is any, and when it plays in the movie and why. But I also look for the shot. I try to figure out what’s the reason a dolly shot is being use or a wide shot. I think about the essence behind the picture.

Ending question: Has there been any movies that contain more than three genres?

SINGING IN THE RAIN

In Thursday’s class (2/11/10) we watched the wonderful movie SINGING IN THE RAIN. I have never seen that movie before and it was so good. I learned the singing in the rain song in elementary elementary school but never seen the movie.
The movie’s images and color gave of a darkish yellow tone at times then during certain times in the movie, it gave off a bright color tone. During the movie scene when there was Broadway, the colors were very extravagant, loud, bright, and radiant. The color makes the scene showy and exciting like you just have to be at that place at that particular time. It was like a fantasy and where everyone wants to be. The theme of the movie was the introducing of “talkies”. The movie focused on film and that before in film, all of the movies were silent films. In silent movies, actors and actresses work more on expression and their looks. It’s very true that sound can set the tone of an audience of how the movie is perceived. For instance, when the two actors were in the movie when it was silent, everyone loved the movie because the music and the words on the screen gave the audience a particular feeling. However, when they converted the movie to a “talky”, the audience laughed at Lena because of her voice. Her voice was really high pitched and she didn’t have a lick of sense. The tone of her voice didn’t go with the one of the movie. It was hard for the transitions of silent films to “talkies”.
The fantasy aspect of the movie was within the movie scene. It had to be the right setting, the right music, the right color, just the right everything just to say how you really felt. Everyone wanted to live in this fantasy world because it was so perfect. It illustrated the tone can set anything. The characters in the movie were very funny, and lively. The movie overall was exciting. At the beginning of the movie, there was a red carpet, the paparazzi and the fans watching as the actors and actresses came to the movie premiere. Even though time has passed from then to now, the same thing happens today with our stars and how they are treated. They have their red carpets, paparazzi, and their screaming fans to cheer them on.

Ending questions: If Lena did the first “talky” film setting the example, would the audience have reacted the same way?

class 2/4/10

In Thursday’s class (2/4/10) Eric shoes us this cool video on youtube of graphics. it shows the different tricks and what it takes to do the graphics.

Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choice when recording photographic images for the cinema. Lighting is very important because like sound, it helps set the mood and the tone of the film. There are three main lights typically used in film which is key light, fill light, and back light. The key light is the main light used; it is the brightest light, which brings attention to a particular actor, or object in a scene. After the key light is the fill light the fill light’s job is to fill in spots with lighting that are in darkness. It’s not as bright as the key light. The final lighting is the back light; it sets apart the background from the forefront. After we went through the different lighting, we saw many zoom features using eDietz’s camera, it was really fun. The Camera’s features included zoom in, focus and unfocused shots, and lighting. We went over depth of field, which focuses in on one spot and blurs out either the background, or forefront depending on where the focus point is. Focal length is the zoom and the distance between the aperture and the lens.

We watched a clip from Citizen’s Kane which also included a new step in filming during that time which was deep focus. As there where characters in the front, in the middle of the scene, and in the background, everyone and everything was in focused. How could they do something like that? Well let me tell you, they usually used projection and did overlays with the film, and other times, depending on the placement of the characters, one camera was used and was focused on all areas.

The documentary we watched on visions of light was very interesting. A statement that one of the directors of editors said was let the movie tell its story without sound, then add the dialogue as if it was music. I found that very interesting because what really makes up the story? I think that having a film that tells its own story without sound will make a good movie for a specific genre like romance. But with a suspense or horror film, not using the analogy will help keep the audience guessing. Also in the documentary, they were focusing on lighting and different lighting portrays different meanings.

Ending question: During the documentary, a director said, the lighting is dark around his eyes which make the character scary and creepy. My question is do they every make things up about the lighting and say it was done on purpose when really the had no idea or they just messed up?

Oh Norma!!!

In Thursday’s class (1/28/2010) we watched this crazy dramatic movie called Sunset Boulevard. There were many elements to this movie that I wasn’t even aware of. The genre of the film is suspense and filmoir. Filmoir movies tend to not have a happy ending. Also there is a lot of sleazy sex going on and violence.

The movie was in black and white so it gave it a more intense feeling and focused on the theme of the movie rather than the color. The transitions in the movie are faded while music is playing in the background. The movie has a wide shots but many close up shots as well. The main character Norma Desmond is also framed many times throughout the movie. The irony of the movie is awesome. Norma lives in this huge mansion it’s ugly, old, and weathered on the outside, but full of life on the inside. It describes the life of Norma, how she’s old but still feels young. There is also a lot of foreshadowing, similes, metaphors, and double-entendres. The movie has a narrator that tells the story. When the narrator is speaking, there is music playing in the background that makes it a continuing story. The music also sets the tone of the narration.

I usually don’t watch movies in black and white because it seems so boring, but this movie was totally opposite. Norma made the movie very interesting. Her lifestyle was one of the rich and famous at first, but that’s when movies “didn’t need dialogue, just faces”. Still rich and has all of the money in the world, she still has nothing. Her life is empty and she needs a companion. She fines that companionship in Joe. Joe brings her life. He helps her with her script which at the end is not successful. Her life is a script, a dramatic show that she lives, and Joe helps her with her life, which at the end is not successful as well, but she does get her time to shine. When ever Norma spoke, she spoke as if she was in front of an audience; she always gave a great performance. Joe was a character whose life was sort of like Norma’s. He was in a financial struggle but had the social life, which Norma lacked the social life but not the financial part. So they fit together like a puzzle, they were each other’s pieces. But like any other puzzle, there are more than just two pieces, which then comes in Betty. She is connected to Joe because he has the “eye” for a good story but needs Joe to help her write it.

This movie focuses on how film has changed throughout time but has still remained the same in that women have to be perfect.

Ending question: If everyone acted everyday of their life like Norma, would the world be more interesting or annoying?

P.S. When someone is dramatic I’m going to say Oh Norma!!!