This investigation was purely to see how the actor (Dion) would be able to use the space and what types of shots I would be able to create. Before shooting this I briefly read through the script to get an idea of what the narrative was. I didn’t want to become worked up over the narrative, I wanted my focus to be just creating the visuals, centralising on mise-en-scene, the framing and the camera movements. I haven’t yet incorporated the shots in the kitchen or the bathroom. I have edited the scene together but the editing was not my central focus.

I used hand-held camera for all of these shots. I started off using the tripod but found that it was too restricting when trying to test out shot coverage and tying to get an idea for my framing. I will be using a tripod in further investigations once I have figured out what shots I particularly like.

For this test shoot I trialled medium, close up, high angle, bird’s eye, over the shoulder, long shots, tracking shots and medium close-up shots to try and create a variety of visuals. I will need to incorporate more dynamic shots in my further investigations such as extreme close-ups, tracking shots or panning shots in order for my visuals to communicate more meaning. At this stage, I am not moving the camera as much as I would like to so this will be something to focus on the next time I shoot. I think that the actor will need to move about the space more in order to achieve more dynamic camera movements.

In this scene I have shot from outside looking in (frame within a frame) aiming to create a voyeuristic shot. I did this to make it feel as though someone is watching the character sitting on the couch. I had problems with this shot as I could see my reflection in the window. I thought that if I was to shoot at night time I wouldn’t have this same problem. This would allow me to get quite an interesting observant shot of the character. I would like to film at night for my next investigation to see what difference the lighting has on effecting the mood of my scene. Does it communicate a different meaning for my scene?

Location-the living room, bathroom and kitchen.

Aspects that I want to focus on for my first shoot:

• shot coverage
  • variety of shots
  • dynamic shots
• natural lighting
  • lighting the off-side of the face
• focus pulls
  • using focus pulls from an object to the character
• hand-held camera
  • shaky
  • voyeuristic
  • movement of frame
• framing
  • balance
  • composition
  • frame within a frame

Visual rhetoric/ visual literacy are terms that have popped up whilst researching the image system. The article, Visual Rhetoric/ Visual Literacy explores the ways in which you can approach film as a visual medium. It demonstrates that just by being an active viewer rather than a passive viewer of film can help you in understanding how the images and sounds within a narrative convey meaning, ‘not just through the characters’ actions but also through framing, camera movement (reframing),editing, optical effects, lens choice and sound.’ These are elements that can be forgotten about when the focus of the audience is to find the plot of the film.

Visual rhetoric and visual literacy is ‘how/why visual images communication meaning’ (Visual Rhetoric/Visual Literacy). Visual rhetoric looks into how visual images communicate instead of dialogue or verbal messages communicate. Visual literacy is about the process of reading an image and how we respond to it.

Some of the visual strategies employed by a film to create a particular effect are:

THE IMAGE:

-mise-­en-­scène and framing

and what effect does this have?

MOVEMENT:

-the pacing-quick or slow

-how does the camera move

-how long are the shots

and what effect does this have?

These are all aspects that I will need to consider when producing my scene. If I am to consider the visual rhetoric of my work I will be able to more effectively communicate through visuals rather than through dialogue.

Visual Rhetoric/ Visual Literacy: Writing about film. Writing Studio, Duke University, Available from: <https://twp.duke.edu/uploads/assets/film.pdf>. [3 May 2015].

From further readings of Gustavo Mercado’s book ‘The Filmmaker’s Eye’ I have come across a term that is unknown to me called ‘the image system’. According to Mercado the term was developed my film theorists who were trying to create a ‘systematic understanding of film through analysis of images, editing patterns, shot composition, and ideological tendencies of certain directors.’ (pg.21). Gustavo suggests that in some film theories, image systems have been used to decipher and figure out deeper meanings from the visuals. These meanings depict the connotations that particular images have ‘in addition to their literal meaning’. (pg.21).

I think it would be useful for me to explore the ways in which visuals are used in films to create connotations and symbols. I would like to employ some of these within my scene in order to use visuals to convey the narrative.

I like the way that this scene in ‘Nightcrawler’ has been shot. Although it is dialogue heavy I feel as though the visuals play the most integral role in creating a focus on the characters emotions, their status and the tensions. The visuals determine which character is central to the story and the focus of that moment in time.

-shot 1

A low angle medium shot as the character opens the door to the inspectors. The low angle is used to establish their authority and communicate their power over the other character.

-shot 2

-shot 3

The camera frames the character in a close up shot. The height of the camera is now at his level, making us feel as though he is not threatened by the inspectors.

-shot 4

The inspector enters the room, her figure dominates the frame in a medium shot. This creates tension and suspense as we feel as though she is going to find something that will get the character into trouble.

-shot 5

The inspector is looking at a camera in a medium shot. This shot communicates that her objective is to look at the footage on the camera.

-shot 6

-shot 7

Another low angle shot is used to frame the character. He is surrounded by both inspectors which communicates that they have possibly figured out that he has done something wrong.

The exercises within class this week allowed us to focus on the more technical aspects of filming and using the camera. We worked off a handout which required us to run through five different exercises, focussing on focal length, focus, exposure, neutral density, gain, and white balance. We went through the fundamental technical aspects that we needed to know for the camera and Paul told us a good acronym to remember them- P.O.W.F.F.E.R (power, on, white balance, frame, focus, exposure, record). We didn’t manage to get through all of the exercises on the handout but the task was really helpful in allowing me to understand how to do a focus pull when the subject is moving around the frame. I learnt that it is good to use markers on tape on the focus pull and to block out where the objects and characters will be within the frame throughout the shot. Paul also reminded us how important it is to keep the frame ahead of the action. It is better to be too far ahead of the action than to be lagging behind otherwise the shots look awkward. When working as the camera operator, it is helpful to get someone to pull focus for you so that you can focus on the framing and the camera movements.

In Friday’s class we went outside to film ‘The Person with the Headache” (from our handout).

There were three main aspects we had to focus on within this task

1. the way in which the actor was walking towards the camera-we wanted to make sure that we lit up the off-side of their face and two being

2. getting the exposure correct-it was sunny outside. Did we need to use ND filters?

3. pulling focus as the actor walks towards the camera from a Medium shot to a Close Up.

We had a bit of difficulty getting started with this task as we couldn’t get the actor in focus-we then discovered that this was because it was on auto focus- oops!

All in all, this exercise really helped in our understanding of how to pull focus and how to have the correct expose in an exterior setting.

Existence? Identity? Schizophrenia? A loss in the family? Stuck in the past? Crimescene?

Goal= to find his identity

Obstacle= the past

• make the character make choices
• if nothing changes in the scene then nothing has happened in the scene
• create the illusion of life and plot
• be unpredictable

—-

BEV (bird’s eye view) shot of man lying right back on a couch with head his head facing the ceiling and his arms extended out clasping the couch as if he was being crucified.

Cut to Flicker of half a second flashback to close-up birds eye view shot of man’s face submerged in bath water opening eyes and staring at the camera. Cuts BEV shot of man lying on couch looking up at the ceiling. Cuts-back to one second flicker of close-up birds eye view shot of man’s face submerged in bath water opening eyes and about to scream. Cuts back to BEV shot of man lying on couch looking up at the ceiling. Cuts back to three second flicker of close-up birds eye view shot of man’s face submerged in bath water opening eyes and screaming—simultaneously the kettle starts boiling (whistling) for several seconds and we see a close up of this. The man drops his gaze from the ceiling to the kitchen. Mid-shot with flowers in the foreground looking at the profile of this man sitting on the couch (pull-focus). He hastily gets up and attends to the kettle in the kitchen.

He pours himself a tea/coffee then hastily makes his way back to couch. On the coffee table in front of the couch there is a series of photos (Close-up pan of the photos). The man is comparing the photos against each other and begins quickly rustling through them as if he has come to some sort of realisation(Over-the shoulder or POV shot). (POV) He holds one photo up in the air and the camera shows the photo, the photo is still raised in the air by the man whilst the camera shifts to the left slowly (and slightly) to an empty picture frame on a wall full of pictures.

The man walks towards the wall and realises there are more empty picture frames everytime he keeps looking. He is confused and quickly makes his way back to the coffee table, grabs the photos on the coffee table and scatters them on a rug in front of the coffee table. Shot looking up at the man’s face through the scattered photos. He scuffles through the photos on the rug as if his life depended on it. He stops on one photo and slowly raises it. He looks at it for a moment not before checking his surroundings as though he is being watched.

Cut to a handheld (Shaky?) voyeuristic shot peeping into the family room from the backyard of the man getting up slowly and walking towards the bathroom. The camera follows the man into the bathroom. As the camera enters the house, coming from the bathroom we hear the sound of a running tap.

Cut to split shot of family room and bathroom. In this shot we see a blank photo frame resting on a chair in the background of the family room and the reflection of the man’s face in a mirror in the bathroom.

The man is splashing water on his face in the sink (or bath?) repeatedly. Cut to close-up shot of him staring at himself in the mirror with water dripping down his face.

Cut back to split shot capturing an empty mirror in the bathroom and a picture of the man in the picture frame resting on the chair in the family room.

END SCENE/TEASER…COULD END IT HERE?

<<<ALTERNATE ENDING>>>

From the split shot, the man enters the bathroom, lays down in a half-filled bath. The camera moves towards the man until the shot is BOV looking down at the man’s face submerged. He screams with his gaze looking into the barrel of the camera.

END SCENE/TEASER—

Could put close ups of the kettle boiling as little flashes in between, particularly at tense moments.

Also could put more flashes of the man’s face in the bath shot, particularly in the last part where the camera follows the man into the bathroom.

Potential shot along the pictures on the wall.

Mid-shot (Close-up?) of man splashing water on his face however we see the man’s actions upside down as the camera is actually focused on the mirror. The man’s gaze is forwards and the shot flips to a extreme close up of the man looking down the barrel of the camera.

Written by Dion Kaliviotis 

Dan Gilroy’s ‘Nightcrawler’ is a film that I feel particularly relies on visuals to depict its story. This isn’t to say that there isn’t a lot of dialogue in the film, I just feel as though as the audience we gain a greater understanding of what is happening in the film through the visuals and actions of the characters rather than through what is being said. I believe that ‘Nightcrawler’ is a film that has quite a distinct visual style and therefore interests me as having my own distinct visual style within my scenes is something I would like to achieve in the near future.

An article on ‘The Examiner’ suggests that the film has a surreal look, it is both dark and voyeuristic. The article explores the idea that the film has a strong visual palette which is mainly developed through Jake Gyllenhaal’s (Lou Bloom) use of the camera throughout the film. Apparently Gyllenhaal used the camera a lot off set, he practiced with it, used it as a research tool (Dan Gilroy talks, 2014). This is much what I aim to do-use the camera as a research tool-try and shoot as much as I can in order to create a successful scene.

A particular aspect from the film that I found interesting was the way in which the action was shown through the viewfinder of the character’s (Lou Bloom) camera. Gilroy said that this technique was used in order to keep ‘the action close in the chase to the characters’. I thought this was an effective and distinct way of depicting the story through visuals within the film.

Dan Gilroy talks the slick, surreal, subversive look of Nightcrawler, The Examiner, 17 November 2014. Available from <www.examiner.com/article/dan-gilroy-talks-the-slick-surreal-subversive-look-of-nightcrawler>. [4 April 2015].

Throughout this semester I have focussed on creating an aesthetic and compelling scene. My focus now is to develop a scene that relies on the visuals to tell the narrative rather than the dialogue. To do this, I want to further explore the framing and composition of shots. I aim to discover how visuals can be used to convey meaning and create a story.

As written in an earlier post, I have learnt that framing is particularly in important in creating balance within a shot. From looking at scenes and deconstructing them it is interesting to note how the characters and objects have been framed and what meaning the framing has in terms of the story. If there is too much room in the frame above a character’s head, dead space can be created. If there is too little room above the character’s head in a wide shot the frame can look unbalanced and awkward. If the frame in a wide shot cuts off the character’s ankles or legs it can also look strange-the whole subject should be able to fit nicely within the frame. These are just a few aspects to consider when I film my scene.

I have found Gustavo Mercado’s book ‘The Filmmaker’s Eye’ particularly interesting in helping me understanding what it is exactly that makes a shot work well.

Some of the elements are :

• the placement of the character in the frame
• the use of the rule of thirds-this creates for a ‘visually harmonious composition’ (pg. 7)
• the rules of composition and breaking these rules
• Hitchcock’s rule- the size of an object in the frame and how it should connect to its significance in the narrative at that particular moment. The size of the character can be used to create visual emphasis.

I further discovered that the use of an unbalanced composition can be useful in reflecting the state of the story-it can create reflect and symbolise ‘chaos, uneasiness and tension’ (pg. 8).

The height of the camera can be used in order to ‘manipulate the audiences relationship to the subject’ (pg.8). If the camera is at a low angle- it conveys confidence, power and control. If it is a high angle-it suggests that subject might be weak, passive and lacks power.

Closed frames and open frames can be used to control how much information is being shown to the audience. A closed frame shows most information on the screen. An open frame doesn’t show all of the information within the frame (usually a close up) and draws attention to the off-screen space.

Focal points can be used to demonstrate an idea clearly. This can simply be achieved by having something in focus or not in focus, having it lit or unlit and by what is taking up most of the frame.

Reading Mercado’s book, in my research to come I would like to look at films that rely on their visuals to depict story and meaning. Scenes that aren’t dialogue having and don’t have dynamic use of shots. The first that comes to mind is a film I saw recently, Dan Gilroys’ ‘Nightcrawler’.

Mercado, G 2010, The Filmmaker’s Eye: Learning (and Breaking) the Rules of Cinematic Composition, Focal Press, Burlington.

This week our focus was the proposal. In Wednesday’s class we refined exactly what it was that we want to achieve by the end of semester. We shared our ideas with Paul and he gave us individual feedback. I found it helpful sharing my ideas with the class as they were able to contribute to what I should do for my scene. I was interested in hearing everyone’s proposal ideas because everyone had taken a different approach to the task-some people work better writing, others work better practically, some wanted to focus on particular aspects on a scene such as framing and others had a similar perspective to me and wanted to focus on creating something that relies on visuals rather than narrative.

Epiphany: 

Through discussing my proposal with the class I came to the epiphany that everyone has different attitudes and styles to the ways in which they want to film or write about their scene. It was interesting to see what everyone had taken and discovered from the class exercises and particularly the ways in which they wanted to implement them within their own work.