Today’s class focused a great deal on the idea of creating a scene and how a group of creatives can come together to fuse different talents, skills and techniques to execute a piece of watchable media. In our groups of 6, we were split into different technical roles to make sure that our film operated on a professional level. I was given the role of director and it definitely taught me some things.
Firstly, it showed me that organising an amateur film set is a lot harder than it sounds! Finding the confidence to direct a small cast and crew is incredibly hard to muster up. It’s incredibly hard to trust your own voice and direction in the hope that others will respect that and be willing to put their own trust within you to get the job done.
The class today definitely taught me lessons in the craft of scene building and filmmaking. It taught me that a scene can’t be created by using one person alone and that it’s a team effort which makes it truly special and great. A team that bonds really well and shares the same creative vision will easily be able to create a body of work that holds up on its own.
This scene, taken from Somewhere (Sofia Coppola, 2010) is probably one of my favourite scenes of all time. Within me, it instills the feelings of nostalgia, longing for the past and hope for the future. This is all achieved through a number of different cinematic techniques, including the use of different camera angles to create the idea of drama and an emotional narrative between customers, as well as the use of soundtrack to encapsulate the overall mood of the scene.
Firstly, to understand the overall context of the scene, its important to know that the film focuses on the complexities of being a child to a famous actor. The establishing long shot of the ice-rink, surrounded by the whimsical palm trees of LA, makes the audience aware that the movie does take place in the beautiful, yet mysterious surrounds of Los Angeles, California. Los Angeles is well known for being the geographical birth-place of Hollywood, a place that many associate with superficiality and disposability.
Throughout the whole scene, the two characters are shown in their respective positions on set through the use of a shot reverse shot. Elle Fanning’s character, who is an interpretive ice skater, is portrayed using a long shot, whilst Stephen Dorff’s character, is watching his daughter skate whilst being portrayed using a mid shot. I believe that this combination of shots is used to correlate to the audience the type of relationship that Johnny (Dorff) has with Cleo (Fanning). The use of the long shot might symbolise the emotional distance that Cleo has with Johnny at this point in the movie. Although they are biologically related, their emotional relationship is one of distance and the unknown.. Johnny does not really understand his daughter, but by attending her ice skating practice, he is able to slowly understand the essence of his daughter through her craft. At the start of the scene, the first mid shot of Johnny shows him glued to his fine, although as the scene progresses, he gradually learns to let go of his emotional connection to his phone and to focus more on his daughter. This is symbolic of their relationship starting to develop. The way that the shot reverse shots are ordered allows the audience to easily interpret what is happening, through the cinematography as well as the acting techniques utilised by the cast.
The use of score is also important in this scene and helps to set the thematic mood that is present in not only this portion of the movie, but throughout the whole film. Gwen Stefani’s hit song “Cool” plays as Cleo skates around the ice rink. The song tells the narrative of a character who once felt a deep love for another person, but now through the natural progression of life, is no longer in love with them but accepts their respective fates in life. This can be applied to the scene, as Johnny, leading up to this moment has not been a great father to his daughter, but is now in a position where he is ready to take it upon himself to be present in her life.
Blocking, according to Tom Reilly’s ‘The Big Picture’ refers to the way a shot in a scene of a film is systematically “choreographed” and physically set out out to paint a picture to the audience of what is happening in regards to narrative. It is the way that the actors and the props within a shot contribute to the narrative’s influence on drama, story and the way that the audience are able to interpret the emotional route that a film is trying to convey.
The part of the reading that I really gravitated towards was the idea that some film directors usually determine the ‘blocking’ of a shot by testing it with the real actors and deciding what feels natural the actors in terms of their movement and own positioning, whilst other directors consult their D.O.P’s to decide what the most visually appealing mise en scene is. I know personally that when I film scenes, I definitely treat it as a real organic process, in the sense that I like to test a scene out with the actors and experiment with what feels the most natural and what my eye instinctively decides to be the most visually appealing experience for not only me, but the audience also. I trust ‘the eye’ to make good judgements on behalf of an audience, as a visually unappealing shot can distract from the intented drama of a specific moment in film.
This first semester has been an incredibly interesting one for me. After essentially having four years off from heavy academic learning, I found my way navigating classrooms and libraries again in the hopes of finding the knowledge that had eluded me for a while now. Starting at RMIT, I was a little worried about the copious amounts of work that would inevitably be thrown my way and knowing no one. A culmination of these things really threw me off and the semester started a bit shaky but bearable.
My learning experiences throughout the semester were interesting to say the least. I definitely started off in Media one a little lazy and unsuspecting, but I truly believe that I learnt how to apply myself to the work and to even let it motivate me to produce good material. I don’t really enjoy the work that I produced in semester one, but do think that I have a lot of room to improve and that I actually will improve on my technical skills. I know that I have good ideas in my head and just need to learn to put them out into the world in an appropriate and presentable manner. The lectorial that focused on Renè Descartes Cartesian theory of dualism (that the mind and body operate independently, but rely on each other) really struck a chord with me. It’s so true. You can’t produce technically perfect material that is relevant and presentable unless there is a really good idea behind it. I think i’ve really grasped this notion and am looking forward to going into semester 2 and fully applying myself to the practice and with a new motivation to get up every morning and become part of this world a little bit more at a time.
What I also learnt throughout the semester is that I 1000000% percent work better independently. Whilst I didn’t really have any traumatic experiences throughout the semester working with other people, I learnt that the only true person that you can rely on is yourself. I understand that that sounds super cliche but, oh my lord, is it true! You don’t need to rely on yourself to turn up to a mutually agreed time and place, you just do it. Eliza and I were discussing this because she is also a *(im)mature aged student*, but we can really feel an age difference between us (WE’RE ONLY 22!!!!) and the people straight out of uni, no disrespect. Just a difference in priorities.
To sum it all up, semester one was a GREAT way to learn my strengths and weaknesses. Now I know how to apply myself to my studies in semester two and i’m actually really looking forward to it!
A little video that sums up my feelings right at this minute and to end it on a bit of a high note, courtesy of Queen Of Pop Anastacia.
It is now that time of semester where everyone is frantically running around trying to get there work together. It’s really interesting and slightly humorous to watch.
Anyyyyywaaaaay, here are my five curated posts. I find these to be my most substantial and thought-provoking blog posts.
I think that upon reading these blog posts, it’s quite clear that they are my most thought-provoking blogs. I think personally for me to be engaged with my blog writing, I definitely have to have a keen interest in the issue that i’m writing about and how it reflects my interests and passions.
Also, it’s quite interesting to notice the progression of my writing throughout the semester in Media One. At the start of the semester, I didn’t really quite understand the purpose of the blogs and how they would benefit me, but now it’s quite clear that the blogs have really developed my creative writing skills as well as the way I can ponder on a specific issue and pull it apart to study it.
Next semester, i’m really looking forward to applying myself even more to my uni work. I had so many distractions at the start of the semester but my mind is much clearer now and i’ve actually learnt to enjoy studying, which sounds absolutely ridiculous. There’s something appealing about sitting in the Building 9 studying area, all warm and experiencing the feeling of being on top of all of your work and projects. It’s great.
This project brief was interesting one to complete, to say the least. We were given the task of researching ‘technologies’ and it proved to be quite arduous and difficult. Being a topic so broad, I think we went into the project having no obvious clue as to what topic we were going to hone in on and analyse. We soon discovered that the most succinct route to this project would be to paint a portrait of the typical technology user.
I think with this project brief, the strongest aspect of it would be the nature of the research. I believe that it is incredibly coherent, relevant and well-researched. It makes sense and it is presented well in a simple and efficient blog format. It makes sense to the everyday reader.
In saying this, I think it could’ve been improved if we as a group worked better together and more efficiently. I strive on communication in group work and it definitely could’ve been better. I also think that the project brief could’ve had more direction, and this is a common problem that I have heard from many students.
I’m really looking forward to experiencing new project brief’s in the coming semester. I get that semester one is introductory and get a bit tiresome so it will be great to get a new boost of creative inspiration.
Is anyone else super conscious of using their smartphones on public transport or is it just me? I find it terrifying how much of a strong-hold technology has on some people. Everyone has their heads bowed and their full attention focused on the Facebook app open directly in front of their eyes. It’s terrifying. Someone could be waving a knife in the aisles on the Craigieburn line but no one would be present enough in the moment to realise it!
I find it distressing. I pledge, from here on out, to not be on my smartphone for more than 1 minute at a time on public transport. Also, I will only reply to texts from my Mum.
We are discussing Media Dependency in more depth for Project Brief 4.
The link can be found here www.sebdeajustin.tumblr.com.
“Does technology dictate society and culture? Or are we, as human beings, in charge of how technology progresses?”
This is a question that Dan posed to us Media students in today’s lectorial. I think it’s so interesting and I think about on a daily basis. Media dependency is something that I know I struggle with and a lot of my friends. No one likes to be at lunch with a friend and then find that said friend is spending more time on their phone as opposed to communicating with you, in real life. Every week, sitting in the lectorial, it’s obvious how many people are distracted by the technology directly in front of them. By sitting at the back of the lecture theater, you can get an incredible view of the terrifying sea of Macbook’s that are in the room.
I think that for some people, technology may dictate their lives but for others, simply a tool to enhance their everyday lives.
I definitely don’t think technology dictates my life, as I am extremely conscious of my time spent on it and try to limit my exposure to it. I prefer face to face communication but believe that technology is important to the enhancement of the human race and to me as an individual.
So unfortunately I didn’t make today’s practical class for Media.
DRAMA.
That’s okay though, because while everyone was in class, I was speeding towards my death in bed wiping the constant stream of mucus away from my nostrils.
Anywaaaaaaaaaay, my group and I have been making really good process on project brief four. We’re about to get to the ‘nitty-gritty’ and really apply ourselves to cleaning up our blog so it appears coherent and presents the information that we’ve gathered on technology to paint a really clear picture and so that our audience can eat up the information efficiently and at their own leisure. We don’t really want to force information on anyone, we just want to present it in the hope that people will interact with it… As a group, we all decided that this is how we prefer to absorb information so it made sense to establish our tumblr in this way.
Also, have received some feedback on the vlogs that i’m producing. I think i’ll be attempting to mix the demographic up a bit also. It makes sense – everyone uses technology, not just people around my age.
Meanwhile – everyone is starting to feel a bit stressed.
