Course Description – COMM-631
This introductory course is designed to provide hands-on opportunities to learn core filmmaking skills, including story development, production planning, cinematography, directing, lighting, editing, sound design, and graphics. Through lecture, screenings, in-class demonstrations, reading assignments, and hands-on projects, students will learn to create aesthetically and technically proficient digital video productions. Students will work in small production teams and share responsibilities for planning, executing and completing course projects and assignments. There will accordingly be a heavy emphasis on teamwork. As with most production courses, the workload for this course will be more than a typical 3-credit class. In this combined course, COMM-631 will take place the first half of the semester.
Course Description – COMM-634
This course is designed to advance your skills, professionalism, and your “voice.” Building on the core skills from Comm-631, it further develops your visual storytelling both in fiction and nonfiction, and advances your technical and aesthetic skills. This course covers digital video and 16mm film location production, studio work, and advanced post-production including sound design, graphics, titling, and motion graphics. Students will be exposed to more advanced pre-production, production, and post-production processes through screenings, working on course projects and in-class exercises. Students will work in small production teams and share responsibilities for planning, executing and completing course projects and assignments. ALL of the readings, lectures, workshops, and team projects are vital to learning the creative, technical and organizational aspects of advanced media production. In this combined course, COMM-634 will take place the second half of the semester.
Course Goals
- To learn and practice the basics of visual storytelling through a careful investigation of film grammar.
- To practice filmmaking skills that include writing, directing, producing, cinematography and lighting, sound recording and design, and editing.
- To learn how to collaborate effectively and fairly with colleagues, including the ability to critique others with respect.
- To learn how to treat equipment professionally, to behave responsibly regarding the equipment room or other rental and supply facilities, and to follow policies concerning equipment carefully.
- To begin finding your “voice.”
- To engage in responsible filmmaking toward the environment, habitats, people and cultures, other animals, and the audience.
AC/Grip Bag: Every filmmaker should have a personal grip bag that includes the following: gaffer’s tape, leather gloves, lens cleaner, electrical adaptors (2-prong to 3-prong), 9V, AA and AAA batteries (rechargeable batteries are becoming better, see greenbatteries.com for more details; also lithium batteries, while more expensive, last far longer than alkaline and weigh less and take up less space – well worth the extra money), small flash light, clothes pins (called C-47s in the industry), range of spring clamps, portable umbrella, reusable water bottle, etc.
Acting Talent Resources
- American University Department of Performing Arts: www.american.edu/perf_arts
- Carlyn Davis Casting: www.carlyndavis.com
- Central Casting: www.centralcastingusa.com
- http://www.dragonukconnects.com/home.php
Library and SOC Media Center Resources
- 5,000+ movie titles on VHS, laser disc, and DVD are available for student viewing in the library. The collection is housed in the Media Resources section of the library on the basement level. www.library.american.edu/about/media/index.html
- A 500+ title movie script collection is housed in the library.
- Katzen has extensive sound effects and music libraries
- Two sound effects collections on CD are available for student use in the Media Resources Section of the Library. These are the BBC Sound Effects Collection and the Hollywood Edge Collection. Students are allowed to listen to any CDs at the library and can check out up to three discs at a time for up to six hours.
All projects should include:
5 seconds of bars/tone.
5 seconds of a slate with the following information:
Name (s):
Project/Title:
Date and version:
Total running time (TR)
5-second countdown to the beginning of the program
Opening title and closing credits.
Run-time will be measured without credits.
Reading: Visual Storytelling
Preface and chapter 1 &
Chapter 5 (composition)
Creating and capturing good images requires a combination of skills. A videographer needs to have a good photographic eye as well as the ability to manipulate the various camera and lens controls to bring about the desired visualization of a particular shot or scene. It also helps to have good timing to make sure that you are in the right place at the right time to capture the perfect shot.
- What techniques can be used to manipulate depth of field during both the music video and the documentary to keep the audience engaged?
- What strategies will be used to shoot effective sequences for the documentary and music video?
- What composition rules must be strictly followed and which ones can be broken to aid the storytelling process?
- What camera mounting devices will be most helpful during the production of the live concert?
The lens controls of focus, zoom, and iris are responsible for helping you frame the shots the way that you want them to look.
Perhaps the most important decision that you face when you shoot is where to place the camera and tripod. Opting for the easiest or most convenient spot may not yield the best results since camera placement has a huge impact on shot framing. Depending on placement, the lens may need to be zoomed one way or another and the resulting shot may communicate different meanings than intended (like what???). Think carefully about camera placement, and make decisions based on storytelling and content rather than ease and convenience.
Focus
Every scene has a central object or subject that must be in focus. Such an object or person is often known as the point of critical focus in the scene. The focus ring on a professional camera has a series of numbers. When the focus ring is on a particular number, say 8 feet, any object 8 feet away from the lens will be in focus. To properly focus a shot with a professional camera, zoom all the way in until the lens will not zoom anymore. Now, focus the shot by turning the focus ring until the image appears sharp in the viewfinder. If you are focusing on a person, focus on their eyes. The focus must be readjusted if the camera position changes or the talent moves in the scene. This procedure may seem more complicated and difficult than simply using an auto-focus, but professionals prefer this method. An auto-focus lens is always searching for the sharpest focus. Any slight movement in the scene could cause the focus to change. Also, the mechanism for manual focusing on a professional lens is more precise.
Through preproduction blocking, the talent can be staged to stop at a specific distance each time. These distances can be measured and marked ahead of time. Blocking is a procedure in which the director, videographer, and other relevant personnel resolve camera positions, movement in the frame, and other issues prior to shooting a scene. During the shot, the videographer — or another person known as a focus puller – can ensure that the numbers on the focus ring are matched up to the measurements at the specific points. At each critical juncutre in the shot, the person would then be in sharp focus.
An object must be a certain distance from the front of the lens in order to get a sharp focus. That distance is generally 3 to 4 feet. If something is closer to the lens than that minimum distance, the videographer will not be able to focus on it. An optical device known as a macro lens allows focus on objects closer than the minimum distance.
Because of the increased resolution of HD video, focusing is even more critical. Many HD cameras have a focus assist system. These systems help the videographer more easily achieve critical focus. One system will slightly enlarge a portion of the image in the viewfinder to make it easier to focus.
Iris
The iris is the device that controls the amount of light entering the camera. On a professional lens, the iris is a mechanical device composed of a set of metal blades that the videographer can open and close to dictate the amount of light that is allowed to enter the camera. On most consumer and prosumer lenses, the iris is an electronic adjustment. Instead of th emetal blades, the electronics in the camera change the amount of light let in through the camera. Regardless of the mechanism, the opening that allows the light through the lens is called the aperture.
An f-stop is the number used to indicate how much light is coming through the aperture. Some typical f-stop numbers are f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, and f/16. Higher numbers like f/16 indicate a smaller opening and less light entering the camera. You are creating a larger opening through which light can pass. The change in the amount of light allowed is an exponential change. Each time you open the iris one stop, you double the amount of light passing through the lens. Opening up four stops on the iris does not amount to eight times more light. Rather, it amounts to 2×2x2×2, or 16 times more light coming through the lens.
Professionals tend to use an automatic iris to set up the initial exposure level and then switch to a manual iris.
Another method used to manually calibrate the aperture settings is to use a waveform monitor or the camera’s zebra function. A waveform monitor shows an electronic representation of the video image. It is used to determine if the video meets legal broadcast specifications. A digital waveform monitor shows active video on a scale that goes from 0 to 700 hundred millivolts (or .7). When viewing the luminance signal of the video, the brightest parts should not exceed the .7 mark, and the darkest pats should not go below 0. The scale on an analog waveform goes from 0 to 100. The bright parts of the image should not exceed 100 while the darkest parts of the image should not dip below 7.5. It is not a common practice to use waveform monitors because of their expense and burden of carrying additional equipment. Instead, many cameras have a function called zebras that help with exposure control. Zebras are a diagonal overlay that appear in the viewfinder when the image you are shooting is brighter than a preset waveform level. These cameras have a switch to select the level at which zebras will appear. Typically, these switches can be set at increments between 60 and 100 percent. Adjusting the exposure is a subjective action for the videographer, but the government as set legal limits for the video level. In addition, videographers want to avoid over or underxposed images. There is no universal rule for how a videographer should use zebras, but there are some general guidelines. With a setting of 100 percent, adjust the exposure until the zebras disappear. Another method is to use a lower number, like 70 percent, and try to adjust the exposure on a person’s face so that the zebras begin to appear.
Focal Length
Measured in millimeters, focal length is the distance between the optical center of the lens to the plane where the image is focused, or the target. The zoom control changes the focal length. A long focal length has a narrow field of view, large magnification, and is referred to as a telephoto lens. A telephoto lens is characterized by larger numbers such as 90 or 120 millimeter. A short focal length has the opposite attributes and is called a wide-angle lens. The focal length for a wide-angle lens would be a smaller number like 7.5 millimeters. Video cameras usually have a variable focal length, or zoom lens that can be set for any focal length within its range. While zoom lenses are widely used, some productions rely on prime, or fixed focal length lenses. A prime lens does not have an adjustable focal length capability, so zooming is not a possibility. A director may select a prime lens because of its specialized application like a super telephoto or super wide-angle lens. In addition, some directors believe that prime lens delivers more predicatble results than zoom lenses.
Depth of Field
Once you have mastered focus, iris, focal length individually, you can begin exploring how the manipulation of each factor in combination with the other factors can be used to compose the type of shots you want. One of the most important concepts that relates to these factors is depth of field. Depth of field is the range of distance over which objects in a picture will remain in critical focus. The standard terms to characterize depth of field are shallow (where there is not a long range of objects in focus) and great (where there is a long range of objects in focus). Depth of field is affected by iris or aperture, camera-to-object distance, and focal length. Because the videographer has complete control over the depth of field, it is a critical concept to understand. Manipulating the depth of field for any shot can have a dramatically different feeling.
Aperture: As the iris closes, you get a greater depth of field. An f/stop of f/16 would have a great depth of field, while 2.8 would yield a shallow depth of field.
Focal Length: A wide angle or short focal length provides a greater depth of field. A setting of 7.5 millimeter has great depth while 90 millimeter, or a telephoto shot, has shallow depth.
Camera-to-Subject-Distance: The Father away the camera is from the subject, the greater the depth of field. A subject who is close to the camera will have shallow depth of field.
Writing short films pp 1-99
Cinematic storytelling: pref, ch 1-3 (space, frame, shape), 14-16 (props, wardrobe, locations)
What’s the takeaway? What is a question taken away from it?
Cinematic Storytelling
- “…a shot isn’t considered unless it advances plot or character. There are no throwaways.”
- Film isn’t the same as the novel or the short story. It introduces technical elements that the screenwriter is expected to exploit…many first-time screenwriters forgo the creative opportunities of the medium, defaulting to dialog and narration instead. When screenwriters abandon cinematic technique, they leave a lot their movie behind on the roadside.
- In teaching filmmaking, story and film are often taught separately. Screenwriters are housed in one building, production people in another. Unintentionally, a divide is created where there should be a bond. Technical tools become separated from their end, which is story.
Project Assignment: “Lumiere” film
1 min
Work in teams but each person must film individual Lumiere in a “visually interesting location.”
Track decision making
Comfortable?
Difficult?
Paragraph on what was thinking before did it.
Reflect on what I now see and how compares to before.
Post report on Blackboard
Lumiere ideas:
Film something Leaking.
Music: No more Mosquitos? Deuce eclipse? I love it when things work out for the best, freedom from stress.
The character (Urban Mermaid) with swim cap and bathing suit must plug the leak otherwise someone is going to drown.
Robin Pohlman – TA
rp4543a@american.edu
Courage
Knowledge
Discipline
Grades are on
Creativity
Effort
Execution (not the most important because we are learning)
Techniques to keep in mind…
- Vacuum cleaner method is just capturing random moments. End up with a lot of stuff that can’t be used.
- Create and Find exits and entrances. Keep action in the frame.
- “Point of filmmaking is to intensify the experience of the world.”
- Changing action is a beat. When Benjamin turns on bathroom light in The Graduate, this is a beat.
- Job is to see like the camera sees.
- Compress time by fragmenting the world into segments. Good exercise for framing.
- Short films – when do long single take, time expands.
- Watch films and notice fragmentation. Need to dissect every film.
- Suspend disbelief.
- Wear earth/dark colors to avoid distracting the subject when interviewing
- Invoke your muses (Chico, music)
- The way you tell the story is more important than the story itself!!!
- every story must have dramatic irony or tension
- The dramatic chipmunk series is an interesting study in storytelling.
Personal takeaways…
I am here to learn how all the pieces of production work. I do not have to master the camera or audio or editing – I just need to know language to speak to them – just like I learned Drupal and programming so I can direct programmers.
Diana Taylor is a filmmaker, cinematographer who had a family.
Easier to have a family if partner shares your passion. Bingo!! 
Read the people I am pitching to. Pitch is one page. Larry said he had wanderlust so he figured out what films he could shoot to pay for travel expenses!! Yes!
This is Brazil. After New Years Eve. What?
Films and Filmmakers to check out…
Jean Luke Godard
Tim Burton (Big Fish) – he lives in world of magical realism
The Odyssey & The Iliad (Homer was the blind storyteller)
“The Return” Russian Film
“Rules of the Game” by Jean Renoir
“7 Samurai”
Tips for using a tripod…
- Don’t make a leak in the tripod head
- Lift tripod from bottom without camera on it!
- Move the arm away from me.
- Put one of legs downhill in the direction of the shot. Use fingers and thumb to move the arm (don’t grab with fist).
- Good heads are $5k!!
- Thing in middle is called a “spreader”. It provides support.
- Prongs stick out for using outside on grass.
- Extend legs before opening spreader.
- Rotate around until desired level and then teammate locks legs.
- Bass plate gives balance when loosening the tilt.
- Press red dot and slide out
- Breaks easily because it is plastic so be careful.
Tips for using the Panasonic HD camera…
- Insert battery on camera
- Loosen screw to fasten camera to bass plate
- Blow air to clean lens. Don’t HD camera up too long because other dirt/dust/hair can fall in b/c of gravity. With these little cameras, this is important. Replace lens shade.
- All directions are from operator’s POV
- Dial
- Focus
- Zoom in and focus, zoom out and focus
- Iris
- Back of camera should be set to manual
- Throw it out of focus on purpose so you can focus the viewfinder
- F stop (aperature) is controlled by manual iris. The higher the number the more light you stop. There is a guide online.
- Use auto iris to get ballpark then back to manual and adjust. Larry tends to underexpose. If u overexposed highlights you don’t capture detail
- Zebra B/w 0-100% voltage
- F stops are radius of light. go up 1.4 (square root of 2)
- Gain control is db (3= 50%). This controls light at the chip level and may add grain. Sometimes this is necessary and sometimes for aesthetics. We are not at this level yet.
- ISO
- Another way of controlling light is neutral density (ND).
- Another way of controlling exposure is shutter speed – ph720 (left side) – this is controlled by menu.
- Interlace – alternation of lines of an image that is projected
- 30 or 60 frames/sec setting is from electricty running in alternating currents in some frequency (120 volts alternating at half, hence, 60)
- 30 is video
- 24 is film and is slowest frame people didn’t see flicker
- 16
- Can shoot on different fps
- Read more about this in instruction manual
- Matrix – cinelike
- Load save saves current settings to the scene.
- Buy lithium batteries
9/2: Week 1
Reading: Visual Storytelling
Preface and chapter 1 & 5 (composition)
Writing short films pp 1-99
Cinematic storytelling: pref, ch 1-3 (space, frame, shape), 14-16 (props, wardrobe, locations)
What’s the takeaway? What is a question taken away from it?
Project Assignment: “Lumiere” film
1 min
Work in teams but each person must film individual Lumiere in a “visually interesting location.”
Robin Pohlman – TA
rp4543a@american.edu
Courage
Knowledge
Discipline
Grades are on
Creativity
Effort
Execution (not the most important because we are learning)
Vacuum cleaner method is just capturing random moments. End up with a lot of stuff that can’t be used.
Create and Find exits and entrances. Keep action in the frame.
“Point of filmmaking is to intensify the experience of the world.”
Changing action is a beat. When Benjamin turns on bathroom light in The Graduate, this is a beat.
I am here to learn how all the pieces of production work. I do not have to master the camera or audio or editing – I just need to know language to speak to them – just like I learned Drupal and programming so I can direct programmers.
Read the people I am pitching to. Pitch is one page. Larry said he had wanderlust so he figured out what films he could shoot to pay for travel expenses!! Yes!
This is Brazil. After New Years Eve. What?
Wear earth/dark colors to avoid distracting the subject
Diana Taylor is a filmmaker, cinematographer who had a family.
Easier to have a family if partner shares your passion. Bingo!!
Lumiere:
Film something Leaking.
Music: No more Mosquitos? Deuce eclipse? I love it when things work out for the best, freedom from stress.
The character (Urban Mermaid) with swim cap and bathing suit must plug the leak otherwise someone is going to drown.
Job is to see like the camera sees.
Compress time by fragmenting the world into segments. Good exercise for framing.
Short films – when do long single take, time expands.
Watch films and notice fragmentation. Need to dissect every film.
Suspend disbelief.
Jean Luc Godard
Tim Burton (Big Fish) – he lives in world of magical realism
The Odyssey & The Iliad (Homer was the blind storyteller)
Invoke your muses (Chico, music)
The way you tell the story is more important than the story itself!!!
every story must have dramatic irony or tension
The dramatic chipmunk series is an interesting study in storytelling.
Don’t make a leak in the tripod head
Lift tripod from bottom without camera on it!
Move the arm away from me.
Put one of legs downhill in the direction of the shot. Use fingers and thumb to move the arm (don’t grab with fist).
Good heads are $5k!!
Thing in middle is called a “spreader”. It provides support.
Prongs stick out for using outside on grass.
Extend legs before opening spreader.
Rotate around until desired level and then teammate locks legs.
Bass plate gives balance when loosening the tilt.
Press red dot and slide out
Breaks easily because it is plastic so be careful.
Insert battery on camera
Loosen screw to fasten camera to bass plate
Blow air to clean lens. Don’t HD camera up too long because other dirt/dust/hair can fall in b/c of gravity. With these little cameras, this is important. Replace lens shade.
All directions are fom operator’s POV
Dial
Focus
Zoom in and focus, zoom out and focus
Iris
Back of camera should be set to manual
Throw it out of focus on purpose so you can focus the viewfinder
F stop (aperature) is controlled by manual iris. The higher the number the more light you stop. There is a guide online.
Use auto iris to get ballpark then back to manual and adjust. Larry tends to underexpose.
If u overexposed highlights you don’t capture detail
Zebra
B/w 0-100% voltage
F stops are radius of light
go up 1.4 (square root of 2)
Gain control is db (3= 50%). This controls light at the chip level and may add grain. Sometimes this is necessary and sometimes for aesthetics. We are not at this level yet.
ISO
Another way if controlling light is neutral density (ND).
Another way of controlling exposure is shutter speed – ph720 (left side) – this is controlled by menu.
Interlace – alternation of lines of an image that is projected
30 or 60 frames/sec setting is from electricty running in alternating currents in some frequency (120 volts alternating at half, hence, 60)
30 is video
24 is film and is slowest frame people didn’t see flicker
16
Can shoot on different fps
Read more about this in instruction manual
Matrix – cinelike
Load save saves current settings to the scene.
Buy lithium batteries
Track decision making
Comfortable?
Difficult?
Paragraph on what was thinking before did it.
Reflect on what I now see and how compares to before.
Post report on Blackboard
“The Return” Russian Film
“Rules of the Game” by Jean Renoir
“7 Samurai”
Week 2
Review and discuss Lumiere films
A. continuity: basic visual storytellying thru fragmentation, combining shots, master shot sequence, 30-degree rule, crossing the line (180-degree rule), screen direction, POV.
Reading:
Visual Storytelling: ch 4 (media storage), 8 (aesthetics of editing), 9 (post-production), “Cinematic storytelling” ch 4&5 (editing) and 9-11 (camera)
Project 2 due nxt week: in-camera continuity
Work in teams of 3: Write, storyboard and film an “in-‐camera” continuity film that requires no editing, and that has no dialogue. Focus on story. The scene should successfully define the character(s) and location, mood and tone, conflict and resolution. It should have a beginning, middle, and end. Use at least 8 different shots, including: establishing, POV, hand-‐held, pan, tilt, match cut, eye-‐line match, reverse angle. Use a variety of shot compositions, i.e. ECU, CU, MS, LS, high angle, low angle, two-‐shot. Include at least one transition from exterior to interior, or vice versa.
Hyperfocal Distance – YOu have maximum depth of field for
Frenzy
Frederick Wiseman
Transcoding is what happens between HDHC card and FCPX.
Intraframe – frames per seconds
Interframe – lonGOP (Group of Pictures
The key to great directing and acting is to hide the obvious. Active verbs. Can’t ask for emotional outcomes. Give your actors objectives. If they walk to the bathroom and walk back, determine what is the backstory, what is happening that day?
Showing the villain in the same shot as the hero, how could the hero NOT see the villain? This was learned early on in filmmaking. Can’t suspend disbelief that far.
Parallelism is a great way to build suspense and show simultaneous events to engage the audience. The audience loves to see two things happening at the same time, they know more than anyone else.
Mise-en-scene is all about placement. Tree looks dark; makes viewer think something more sinister will happen but it becomes a frivolous scene that doesn’t make much sense which is why I personally like it, but of course it wouldn’t work in a traditional sense.
To see rain, you need backlighting or dark background.
To make the frame look larger, you can put an object in the corner and crop it.
When interviewing people for documentary remain silent after person answers question.
Signs are distracting because forces audience to read; they should be looking.
Don’t cut off actors’ feet. Be aware of too much head space.
Don’t direct camera at profiles of people. This doesn’t look natural.
Foreground. Midground. Background. Think more about choreography.
Allusion. We don’t have to see everything to build the world around the frame.
Light is a combination of reflections on surfaces.
Avoid putting horizon in center.
Looking up rule of thirds.
Screen direction is key to continuity exercise. What creates continuity? Respect exits and entrances. If I exit screen right, what direction should entrance be? It has to come from left.
Simplest Possible Narrative Hypothesis (SPNH)
A walk thru Columbia Heights
Shot 1: close up of girl’s hands holding a map (or GPS)
Shot 2: long, establishing shot (Dof) girl walks down Irving street past mural. Light reflects off mirrors on the mural.
Shot 2: Bus turning corner from Irving to 11th Street
Shot 3: feet walking past Capitol Bikeshare racks
Shot 4: outside shot of wonderland
Shot 5: closeup of bartender’s hand pouring beer
Shot 6: bartender’s hand Puts beer on the bar, she takes the glass, drinks it off camera. Cut to
Shot 7: extreme close up of girl’s lips drinking beer
Shot: she searches thru purse but not clear what she is looking for. She pulls out brush, earphones, candy wrappers, pens
Shot 8: Pan from her POV around the bar from Charlie McCarthy to Tarot cards sign (this can be a longer shot that captures the bar scene). Can stop camera on tarot poster – foreshadowing effect.
Shot 9: woman walks thru door.
Shot 10: woman leans over bar and orders
Shot 11:a close up of girl’s hand drinking beer (glass is half full now – shows passage of time)
Shot 12: camera shows their backs as they talk to each other
Shot 13: Close up of hands – woman traces lines of girl’s palm.
Shot 12: girl pulls her hand away abruptly as if woman told her something surprising.
Shot 13 Girl’s hand grabs beer quickly. another swig of beer – it is gone now.
Shot 14
Shot 15
Shot 16 she exits the bar with the person
Plan Bs:
1. If we can’t shoot at Wonderland, we can go to Looking Glass. Call Soren.
2. If too dark inside bar, we can have girl walk outside to patio area.
3. If Candace and Ray completely hate the idea of shooting in a bar, we can do the more simple idea of a girl in Columbia heights shopping for a pair of jeans (or some type of clothing) and trying to fit into them:
Shot1: long, establishing shot (Dof) girl walks down Irving street past mural. Light reflects off mirrors on the mural.
Shot 2: Bus turning corner from Irving to 11th Street
Shot 3: feet walking past Capitol Bikeshare racks
Shot 4: outside shot of store and window (there is one just past wonderland) – depending on what is in the window, we can do a closeup of that item as if girl decides she wants it
Cut to indoor scene
This can take place anywhere – we don’t have to shoot in the store because the focus will be on the girl trying to fit into the clothes.
Shot 5: Girl holds jeans up
Shot 6: girl
Our first meeting Sunday started out positively – we settled on a story relatively quickly – girl tries to catch up with someone and once she does the person turns around and looks just like her – nice twist, we all thought, but as we thought about the shots and possible acting curve, we ditched the idea. Ray and I staged some potential alternative shots in the drab Mary Graydon lobby area to make things simple but then we felt like we needed a more interesting location.
The meeting deteriorated at that point – creative conflicts were surfacing so Candace asked that we define our roles. Great idea but no one wanted to be so presumptuous to volunteer themselves as director or cinematographer, et al, so I went into yoga teacher mode and started talking about personality and psychology. I reminded them that we defined our roles from the very beginning just by talking and being ourselves.
Candace started to volunteer to be director but she didn’t seem very confident or convincing.
“I don’t believe that you are the director,” I said quite matter of factly, to my surprise. Time to stop being polite and start being absolutely direct. Thank goodness she is strong and didn’t take offense – she admitted she is still trying to learn how to give direction to people without being shrill/bitchy, something I can definitely relate to! And I told her that.
I then reminded everyone that throughout the week Ana was the one who had made contact with all of us. She was the natural central point of communication – I hadn’t called Ray and vice versa; I hadn’t called Candace and vice versa – but Ana had called all of us. She is a natural director.
Candace was the one who offered a story right off the bat so I asked her if she wanted to be the writer. She was still not certain, so I stepped in and offered to play this role since I was also working on a script for Prof Douglass’s class. Ray, who is most comfortable with the camera, became DP and Candace became producer by default – which totally made sense since she was the one who converted our Lumiere videos after the shoot.
The group parted but Ana and I continued on. We headed to the location we both liked for the shoot – a mural at Columbia Heights. We used my handycam to capture potential shots.
I worked on a script that night and sent it to her in the morning. We would follow the girl with the camera as she walked through Columbia Heights, using the amazing murals as backdrops. She would be lost and end up in Wonderland where there was a Palm Reading sign. A woman would walk in and read the girl’s palm and help her find her way. Ana loved the script! She was glad I was able to tie in the palm reading sign with our story.
She pitched the idea to Larry who responded that we were making our assignment too complicated. I felt my first pang of discomfort at the director’s changes in my script and I completely disagree with Larry’s assessment, especially since the assignment specifically asked for conflict and resolution. All it would have taken is one extra shot of the character’s hands holding a map or GPS among many moving photographs that don’t necessarily move the story along.
The good news is that I got over it quickly, and realized that this is the reality of being a screenwriter.
The actual shoot was overall nerve-wracking. We all work full-time so we had to start shooting at 6pm, which means we only had 90 minutes of light left in the day to capture all 15 shots. I found myself doing a lot of yoga breathing. I also told the director that because I am the screenwriter I would refrain from offering my opinions during the shoot in order to avoid too many cooks in the kitchen. That idea quickly deteriorated when each shot was taking 15 minutes and we needed a time-keeper. It was also clear that my teammates didn’t want me to remain silent so I offered advice and assistance whenever I could. I think this is fine for now, but as we evolve, the roles will become more important. It is the key to collaboration in any project. I have been building and managing Web sites for 15 years and I know that when people do not know what role they play conflicts arise. I want my teammates to OWN their roles, to BE their roles…and to NOT be afraid of making mistakes in that role because it’s inevitable, and the best path to learning.
Speaking of…our biggest lesson came at the end of the shoot. We set up the tripod inside the Wonderland bar without letting the manager know first. We got completely caught up in the moment and forgot that we were inside a private place of business. Granted, Ana and I had asked the doorman and one of the bartenders two nights before if it was OK to shoot there, however, this did not preclude us from speaking to the manager that night. She was clearly perturbed, but after we apologized, explained that we were students, and that we were not shooting any of the customers, she relaxed and introduced herself. We still felt uncomfortable, and even a little bit ashamed of ourselves for completely forgetting this important step in our process, so we decided to cut our interior shots short.
As for the final product – I absolutely love the first shot of the character walking down the stairs. The light is perfect and the tilt is smooth. The second shot doesn’t make too much sense – after seeing the character’s feet, we should cut to a POV of her back of her as she walks down the sidewalk. But I do love the creativity of capturing the reflections in the mural mirrors as cars passed by. We got a good variety in, but I think if we had more time, the quality of the shots could have been better. I am looking forward to improving!!
9/2: Week 1
Reading: Visual Storytelling Preface and chapter 1 & 5 (composition)
Writing short films pp 1-99
Cinematic storytelling: pref, ch 1-3 (space, frame, shape), 14-16 (props, wardrobe, locations)
What’s the takeaway?
I have a lot to learn and un-learn. Making mash-ups was a good start at throwing the “paints” of media on a canvas. I used what I had to tell my stories.
What is a question taken away from it?
Project Assignment: “Lumiere” film
1 min
Work in teams but each person must film individual Lumiere in a “visually interesting location.”
Robin Pohlman – TA
rp4543a@american.edu
Courage
Knowledge
Discipline
Grades are on
Creativity
Effort
Execution (not the most important because we are learning)
Vacuum cleaner method is just capturing random moments. End up with a lot of stuff that can’t be used.
Create and Find exits and entrances. Keep action in the frame.
“Point of filmmaking is to intensify the experience of the world.”
Changing action is a beat. When Benjamin turns on bathroom light in The Graduate, this is a beat.
I am here to learn how all the pieces of production work. I do not have to master the camera or audio or editing – I just need to know language to speak to them – just like I learned Drupal and programming so I can direct programmers.
Read the people I am pitching to. Pitch is one page. Larry said he had wanderlust so he figured out what films he could shoot to pay for travel expenses!! Yes!
This is Brazil. After New Years Eve. What?
Wear earth/dark colors to avoid distracting the subject
Diana Taylor is a filmmaker, cinematographer who had a family.
Easier to have a family if partner shares your passion. Bingo!!
Lumiere:
Film something Leaking.
Music: No more Mosquitos? Deuce eclipse? I love it when things work out for the best, freedom from stress.
The character (Urban Mermaid) with swim cap and bathing suit must plug the leak otherwise someone is going to drown.
Job is to see like the camera sees.
Compress time by fragmenting the world into segments. Good exercise for framing.
Short films – when do long single take, time expands.
Watch films and notice fragmentation. Need to dissect every film.
Suspend disbelief.
Jean Luke Godard
Tim Burton (Big Fish) – he lives in world of magical realism
The Odyssey & The Iliad (Homer was the blind storyteller)
Invoke your muses (Chico, music)
The way you tell the story is more important than the story itself!!!
every story must have dramatic irony or tension
The dramatic chipmunk series is an interesting study in storytelling.
Don’t make a leak in the tripod head
Lift tripod from bottom without camera on it!
Move the arm away from me.
Put one of legs downhill in the direction of the shot. Use fingers and thumb to move the arm (don’t grab with fist).
Good heads are $5k!!
Thing in middle is called a “spreader”. It provides support.
Prongs stick out for using outside on grass.
Extend legs before opening spreader.
Rotate around until desired level and then teammate locks legs.
Bass plate gives balance when loosening the tilt.
Press red dot and slide out
Breaks easily because it is plastic so be careful.
Insert battery on camera
Loosen screw to fasten camera to bass plate
Blow air to clean lens. Don’t HD camera up too long because other dirt/dust/hair can fall in b/c of gravity. With these little cameras, this is important. Replace lens shade.
All directions are fom operator’s POV
Dial
Focus
Zoom in and focus, zoom out and focus
Iris
Back of camera should be set to manual
Throw it out of focus on purpose so you can focus the viewfinder
F stop (aperature) is controlled by manual iris. The higher the number the more light you stop. There is a guide online.
Use auto iris to get ballpark then back to manual and adjust. Larry tends to underexpose.
If u overexposed highlights you don’t capture detail
Zebra
B/w 0-100% voltage
F stops are radius of light
go up 1.4 (square root of 2)
Gain control is db (3= 50%). This controls light at the chip level and may add grain. Sometimes this is necessary and sometimes for aesthetics. We are not at this level yet.
ISO
Another way if controlling light is neutral density (ND).
Another way of controlling exposure is shutter speed – ph720 (left side) – this is controlled by menu.
Interlace – alternation of lines of an image that is projected
30 or 60 frames/sec setting is from electricty running in alternating currents in some frequency (120 volts alternating at half, hence, 60)
30 is video
24 is film and is slowest frame people didn’t see flicker
16
Can shoot on different fps
Read more about this in instruction manual
Matrix – cinelike
Load save saves current settings to the scene.
Buy lithium batteries
Track decision making
Comfortable?
Difficult?
Paragraph on what was thinking before did it.
Reflect on what I now see and how compares to before.
Post report on Blackboard
“The Return” Russian Film
“Rules of the Game” by Jean Renoir
“7 Samurai”
Week 2
Hyperfocal Distance – You have maximum depth of field.
When editing, think small, be vicious.
Fred Wiseman – Wiseman’s films are, in his view, an elaboration of a personal experience and not an ideologically objective portrait of his subjects.
When writing, you are the architect making the blueprint and then hand off to engineers. Can it be built? During pre-production you get all the materials (hammer, nails) and then you finish with post-production.
We are not documenting a real story, don’t have to tell it as it happened. We have to find the most dramatic moment. Intensify and compress time within a frame: fragmentation. Slow disclosure. Hold back information to engage the audience. Critical storytelling.
Fragmentation vs. Camera Movement
Can show story by cutting or by camera movement. Slow long single take is to reveal in real time…this stretches time. Builds intimacy with character because no cutting. Good example of my work is 3-D Hero. When I just let the camera run, we got to see more of Chico’s behavior, mannerisms, pauses in speech. Editing is putting framing and camera movement into some kind of pattern. Build a pattern and just like in music, change it.
Engel loves “Frenzy” by Hitchcock, which deals with loss of identity and misidentification.
Parallel action is a ripe place to be for the audience. We are seeing two worlds simultaneously expressed. This is a powerful tactic.
There is a race to capture the bad guy. The audience was split in the middle – one side cheering for cops; other side cheering for good guy. The audience has more information than characters – this builds engagement but not as fulfilling as suspense (when audience doesn’t know).
The science says if you know end of the novel, you are more likely to read the whole thing.
The discourse – how was the story expressed through the author’s eyes and the tools of the text (not about good cinematography, good lighting, etc). The learning lessons is what we’re after. This was how I treated the Lumiere project! Woo hoo!
When transferring file from SDHC card to Final Cut, it must be transcoded – stripped so that it can be edited frame by frame. DO NOT tamper with SDHC card.
Intraframe – old codek that measures every frame.
Interframe works on a lonGOP (Group of Pictures). First frame is measured/sampled and then go to the 15th frame halfway through the second. Frames 2-14 do no exist in this Codek because they’ve been compressed. What gets sampled is highly efficient.
Ex: 5min = 5 GBs (need to know this to budget). Need to be careful about what you shoot (don’t undershoot). Need to pre-visualize. The best way to learn is have a plan, try to execute it, reflect on what worked and what didn’t. Just because previsualize doesn’t mean it’s going to be good. This is not science, it’s ART!!!
Post Lumiere on Tumblr in color and black and white.
Location sets the mood. It means something. Don’t always assume this should take place…HERE. Making love does NOT have to happen in a bed. Who says? Where would a first kiss happen?
