I had so much fun working with three-point lighting and discovering the ways it can ultimately transform your shot. Of course, I was aware of the importance lighting has in a film shoot, especially in dark or boring spaces, however, I didn’t realise the importance each different light could make, depending on its position. My favourite light would have to be the back/hair light as it essentially created more dimension to the shot.
As seen in the video we were instructed to watch before class, it take’s the subject of the shot and separates them from the background. It provides that extra dimension, so they aren’t seen as lost in what appears behind them. While the sun can become an amazing asset in film making, I remembered from what Paul mentioned that a lot of “natural light” you see in movies and television shows is faked by extremely powerful and bright lights outside the set. I find it so fascinating that this can be achieved.
As you can see in the still’s shown, Nelson looks overexposed and dull in the lighting from the room in the picture. Yet, on camera, it tells a completely different story. The green in his hair has become more vibrant, the shadows on half of his face create amazing definition. It’s exciting how great lighting can affect the mood of the shot you desire to create.
As Paul touched on in class, setting up lighting and camera’s and audio equipment, all in one space, can become chaotic and messy. Leads are everywhere, people are everywhere. However, amongst it all, we seem to all know our roles and get the job done which is an element I really appreciate about film making.
Something we had yet to work on in regard to shot construction was camera movement, so when we got to chance to finally give it a go, it was exciting nonetheless.
In a group with Aria and Grace, we used a colourful backdrop to concentrate on our pans, follow throughs, zoom ins etc.
In my first edit, I focused on matching up clips and timing myself and Grace walking up the stairs. Aria was hand-holding the camera for this, and the result was great. However, it did help me realise how hard controlling the camera can be in regard to holding it yourself instead of using a tripod for stability.
It reflects back to the clip from a movie Paul showed in class, where shots were constructed with the camera operator HOLDING the camera while almost RUNNING to follow the subject in the shot. It looked clumsy and awkward to watch. Hence, I can say now I definitely prefer the use of a tripod, although holding the camera is easier in regard to quick pans and follow throughs.
My second edit is much messier as it focuses more on other shots and movements we did, rather than having them match up. It showcases more our experimentation.
In all honesty, we basically constructed every shot possible we could possibly do in terms of capturing someone walk up and down that staircase. Looking back, I really liked the shot where the focus on characters switched from Aria to Grace, as Grace walks past and up the stairs.
Although not included in the edit, a test shot with Paul in it focused on him going down the stairs but disappearing out of frame for a second before coming back in to continue down the other flight of stairs. I really liked that shot as it shows that the camera doesn’t need to follow the subjects every move for the shot to be effective.
The scene I have chosen to deconstruct this time is from the 1976 film adaption of Stephen King’s novel Carrie. It is quite different from the movie Juno in almost possibly every aspect besides them both being teen films. Drawing off elements of art cinema, Carrie features supernatural abilities within a high school setting, drawing on teenage issues such as puberty, bullying and romance as the film centres around the prom. The film is more disturbing than frightening in my opinion. Director Brian De Palma’s style is also notably different and unique, which also encouraged my decision to choosing this scene.
In this scene, Carrie is in class and surrounded by class mates and her teacher whom is reading a student’s poem. The student is revealed to be Tommy Ross, a popular athlete who eventually later in the movie goes to take Carrie to the prom. The scene opens with a close up on Carrie’s hand, copying down the poem word for word. What happens next is a zoom out, which in many cases, is avoided during shot construction. However, De Palma includes frequent zooms throughout his film, so much so that they seem unnecessary and random at times. However, I believe this one works as it establishes Carrie’s like for the poem, as well as then zooming out to establish where she is and where the voice is coming from.
The shot is then dragged out to be quite long, panning around the students until turning around to focus in on Tommy and become a medium close up. When the teacher announces Tommy’s name, a whistle is heard, assumingly from outside. It’s almost as if it was used to demonstrate Tommy’s athletic nature, yet the teacher goes on to speak of his “home runs” right after which leads me to think, was it necessary?
The most extraordinary shot, however, is the double focus on both Carrie and Tommy that De Palma constructed. Tommy is seen at a close up, while Carrie is shown over his shoulder at a mid-shot. De Palma is famously known for his shots using a Split Focus Diopter, which is a half convex glass attached to the camera’s main lens. It helps create that double focus, and in the case of this scene, capture the emotions and reactions of two characters at once. You can even notice the blurry line in the scene through Tommy’s hair. I think this shot is brilliant as I don’t recall seeing it done so well. As Carrie announces her admiration for the poem and Tommy is seen as bothered by her doing so, the shot shows the division between both character’s personalities and personas.
As you can see with the before still, it is quite bland and dull and needed something to give it some life and personality. When watching the scene, you already see a guy being chased. What is missing is the sci-fi element that was also meant to be showcased in the very short clip. So in order to give that implication, I dulled down all the highlights and brightness, increased the shadows, and gave the highlights/shadows a blue tint. I believe it makes the clip instantly more creepy and intense.
SECOND COLOUR GRADE:
For the next still, I completely went in the opposite direction and created a more warm atmosphere. I changed the temperature, increased the exposure and played a bit more with saturation and vibrancy. This made my clip go from dark and sinister to light hearted and possibly comedic. As someone who wishes she was talented enough to be an art student, I love playing around with colours and how they can instantly alter the mood of the shot.
THIRD COLOUR GRADE:
Finally, I really went all out and decided to add tints and hues of pink to change the vibe yet again. It almost seems like it is dusk and the sun is setting, and reflecting pretty pink light onto the character as he runs from the anonymous source. I like this one as it’s different and combines the warm and cool tones used in the previous two colour grades.
This first edit focuses on another script exercise we worked on in class.
The production and filming/recording of this exercise would have to be my favourite to date, as I really enjoyed the teams I worked with and how we all used our different skills to create something wonderful.
For someone who had little to no passion for film making at the beginning of the year, I have really grown to become excited about shooting and learning more about the art of creating such wonderful pieces.
As a beginner, I enjoyed having a go working the camera and really focusing on the shots themselves. With this exercise and edit in particular, we worked hard in pre-production to really nail which shots we wanted to use, and it’s reflected really well in the end result.
For this second edit, I decided to use footage from our second shoot and I believe it has to be my favourite edit of the two.
I was excited to work with these shots as we focused more on the over the shoulder shots to really add some variety of angles. It was hard to achieve the shots perfectly as we were forced to work with the wall, but I believe they came out well and work wonderfully in the end piece.
Having to work in certain locations can really test the skill of your team, and it was fun to challenge ourselves to film in such a tight and confined space. I definitely also took away how important recording sound on a shoot really is. For the second shoot we luckily remembered to turn the camera audio on, unlike in the first shoot, so it was easier when it came to edit. However, what the camera picked up was not even close to the level of quality which the boom recorded.
We recorded wild lines, atmos and Foley in a quiet place which also had soft music playing in the background. However, when it came to editing, the atmos we recorded really didn’t fit with the audio of the lines. There was too much of a cut between different background noises and it was unsettling. Even in the final edits the background noise isn’t perfect, however, it was the best I could do with the skill level I have at the moment.
The scene which I have chosen to deconstruct is from a popular teen film called Juno, which showcases a sixteen-year-old girl falling pregnant and working to find perfect adoptive parents to take on her child once it is born. This scene is early on in the film when Juno is faced with having to tell her parents that she is pregnant. What I love about this scene is the setting which has been created; the two parents on the couch, Juno standing in front of them and the supportive friend by her side. The director has set up this awkward situation so well as many teenagers can relate to having to tell their parents big news, whether good or bad, while their parents sit in front of them. As teenagers were the audience which Juno was to appeal to, the production was accurately done. However, as this film is also comedic, the director had to establish what would be a serious situation into something which also featured humour and witty-ness. Hence, the father character is seen joking about who the dad of Juno’s child is, rather than being upset with his daughter for getting herself in the situation. Although this could occur in real-life, it is less common to make light of the news of your child’s teen pregnancy.
In terms of shot construction, there are shots which I love and shots which I can’t quite wrap my head around. The director focuses heavily on dirty over the shoulder shots in this scene to establish the point of view of Juno and her parents. However, it is only over the shoulder when set on her parents, and it particularly only features a tiny portion of Juno’s arm rather than the traditional whole shoulder. When focused on Juno, it is not over the shoulder but rather set in front of the parents. This would have been done because an over the shoulder would have been to awkward to construct due to their being two parents and only one of Juno. What is odd to me is the slight pan to the right the camera does when it goes back to Juno. It does it a couple of times throughout the scene and seems almost pointless. If anything, it could symbolise how Juno is looking towards two different directions as her parents are sitting not right next to each other, and hence the camera mimics their positions. However, this seems unnecessary and makes the shot distracting.
There is minimal sound work in this scene as the focus is heavy on dialogue, however, there was folly conducted for the beginning when the parents are seen shifting nervously in their seats. It adds to the tension being introduced in the scene as they anticipate their daughters news.
Prior to class, we were instructed to create a two-line script which involved two characters performing two actions. We then got into groups in class and picked a script. What I liked about the particular script we chose was how simple it was. Simplicity is perfect for beginners such as me, who want to work more on creating great shot construction. I worked with Linda as co-directors to create the right shots for what was occurring on the script. Looking back at the final clip now, the only shot I may change is the one where one the character’s is seen saying, “fine, let’s go.” It is on an odd angle and I feel because of the height difference of those acting, we should have gone for a wider shot to make it less awkward.
Reflecting back on creating this very short clip, I can see the advantages and disadvantages which come with working with a large group of people in a small and surrounding a small camera. The obvious advantage is the teamwork, and not having to monitor sound and the camera on your own. We had three to four people helping out with filming, two on the sound and two acting. Everyone helped out with setting up the shots and getting it perfect. However, what went unnoticed during filming was the mic and its cord which can be seen in one of the shots, very clearly. Out of all of us there, no one picked up on it, and I recall shooting that particular shot up to three times. An unfortunate mistake but something I can definitely learn from.
The sound construction for this clip worked a lot better than for the Lenny exercise. I am quite happy with how the folly turned out and especially how nice the atmos sounds in the background. I wasn’t aware of the soft music playing in the background while filming, so I was surprised whilst editing that it picked up the pleasant tune coming from the RMIT store. It added to the ‘bookstore’ setting we were aiming to create.
Upon learning more of what goes into the process of film-making, sound was next on our agenda and hence we were instructed to create sound for the Lenny exercises from the week before. Not being able to be a part of the filming process of the Lenny exercise led me to want to really engage in creating the sounds, particularly due to the fact I had never really experimented with the equipment.
However, it was upon doing this exercise that I realised creating wild lines, atmos and folly after production can be an extremely difficult process if done poorly, especially for when you arrive at the editing stage and have limited sounds to work with. Being beginners, my group and I didn’t realise how well we had to match up the sounds with the actual clips, and therefore, we just went for it. This led to the recorded sounds not matching up with the ones in the edited clip and most of them were cut from being used. These being the footsteps we recorded as they were completely off from the real ones, and parts of the dialogue. That’s why in the clip, some dialogue is from the original camera and others is wild lines.
Although it didn’t quite work out in this exercise, I now have an improved and greater respect for those who do practice folly and other sound construction as a profession. To get the sounds spot on and perfectly timed takes a lot of patience and precision. It reminds of the when I went to Universal Studios in LA at the start of this year, and watched a stage show which was centred on film production and what goes into it. People from the audience were picked out to have a go at performing folly to a clip from a movie and it was quite entertaining seeing non-professionals give it a go. It honestly reflected exactly how my group and I went in doing our own.
I hope in future exercises that I am able to better perfect working with sound, so when it comes to editing I am not faced with the inevitable “red face rising.”
For my initiative post, I have decided to reflect on a television series I watched for one of my other courses, Television Cultures. The scripted series, UnREAL, focuses on the behind the scenes of the production of dating reality TV shows, such as the Bachelor. After watching the first episode in class, I was astonished at how dramatic and ‘crazy’ they made the producers, directors and other crew out to be. Like the title says, it almost seems too “unreal” to be true. In the first episode alone, it shows the main character (a producer) manipulating the cast of the show to make the episode more interesting. For instance, in order to create their villain on the show, the producer takes a note of her troubled past and uses that to fire her up and cause a scene. It shows how scripted reality television can be and leads us to question what is real and what is fake.
Although events are exaggerated in the show to make narrative sense, UnREAL gives the audience a look into the behind the scenes of media producing in all of its glory. For a viewer like myself who is studying media, it is extremely interesting to note how reality television producing is quite different from scripted film producing. When you think of reality television, you ultimately have the impression that the show is unscripted, in fact in most cases you expect it to be. But in recent years, many of our favourite shows have been called out as being scripted. MasterChef, although casting authentic Australians to be on their show, sets up from the beginning who is to be eliminated, especially if the contestants break their contracts. Love Island Australia has come under fire as research on the contestants has shown that most of them are actors or actresses. Even the show Catfish, which focuses on the hosts catching people who have lied about their identities online, appears to be scripted by the producers who cast people to be the ‘catfish’ and then not tell the hosts so the hunt to find them is authentic.
Upon seeing UnReal, I was also able to reflect on media producing as being quite a difficult career path. Although it is different in a film sense, seeing the casted producers in the show being directed to manipulate in order to get better footage made me almost uncomfortable. The contestants became puppets and stereotypes for the crew to take advantage of in order to get ratings. In the show, the producers are even offered a cash prize to whoever could create their next ‘villain,’ and the main character claims she can make or break the male ‘bachelor’ on the show. Although this could be heavily dramatized, the pressure on producers to create quality content would be extreme. I have never been drawn to film or television producing but seeing how difficult and draining this job could have definitely allowed me to rule it out as a career option. However, with that being said, I also have more respect for screen producers who are under this type of pressure and do their absolute best to entertain us as an audience.
One of our first homework assignments was focused on the shot construction exercises we did in class. The task was simple; film yourself performing an action and construct as man shots as you desire. However, it HAD to be boring and this initially links to one of my discoveries made in class. As said by Paul, shot construction has to be boring in order for scenes and segments to be perfected. To gain experience creating a stunning shot, there needs to be practice done beforehand. Hence, by doing the homework task, I experimented with different shots of myself making a cup of tea. Reflecting back on it now, I realise that by habit I made the short 30 second video not as boring as it could have been. But to my defence, I am a creative thinker and learner and I believe it positively assists me to making satisfactory work. Although the clip was short, shot construction can be time-consuming and tedious in order to be perfected.
Used to inspire our homework exercises, the first shot construction work we did in class also links to my epiphany had about shot construction and film-making having to be tedious and boring in certain cases. This exercise involved us getting into groups of 4 or 5 and shooting different shots of the same action. Paul instructed us to not to go crazy with our shooting, as some other professionals believe is necessary. Instead, he told us to shoot to edit, meaning we should experiment with shots so we don’t have any regrets when we got edit, and also meaning we shouldn’t go overboard. By creating different shots of Alex contemplating what to drink from a vending machine (with the help of others in my group), I was able to later see in the editing process how different shots work together nicely. With multiple shots, different versions and edits of the same scene can be conducted. Therefore, if you were to be working with a client, you have different options to show them in case your first one was to not be of their taste.
