film/tv 2 analysis reflection 2, question 1

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In the lecture we screened a short film called ‘End of the Line’ – the film shot in Broken Hill.

Please describe in 300 words or less if you think they achieved what they set out to do. You may not remember much detail, if so, it could be helpful to talk about your first impressions, after all this is what most of us are left with after one viewing. The treatment which we showed in the lecture is avalaible here. Feel free to write to any categories you wish. eg. story, choice of participants, sound, camera, editing etc.

although i don’t remember all too much from the first viewing of “end of the line”, i remember enjoying it, even though i was a bit disturbed/surprised by it. the main visual concepts adn stimuli that i took away from the film was the incredible landscape shots and i think these worked really well in serving the group’s treatment of demonstrating the emptiness and vastness of towns like this in the outback. contrasting these shots with the lives of Kevin and Beth told throughout the film does really make the audience wonder how people can live out in places like that. again i feel like the treatment worked because the audience is left wondering whether or not they could actually live out there in such seclusion. the visuals of the vast land gives a disturbing feeling of being all alone in the empty outback of Australia, almost like being stuck in a horror film, yet can also present the idea of serenity and peace in living so far away frmo the bustle of the inner cities.

film tv 2 analysis reflection 1, question 5

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Listen to the audio you recorded in Tute #1.  Here. Write a paragraph or two about your recording from a technical and/or “poetic” perspective.

Consider:

What these sounds evoke for you.  What associations they have.

Do any of your recordings suggest images?  What might they be?

Do any of your recordings suggest the possibility of other recordings?

it’s difficult for me to judge these sounds on an emotional/associational level because i know what each of them are and where their sound originates. technically of course there could be better recordings. we were just experimenting not just with using the device itself but with gain, volume, movement and the location of the microphone compare to the origin of the sound which we were trying to record.

some of our sounds are a lot more obvious than others, for example, the opening of the microwave, beeping while the buttons are pressed and finished and the sound as it cooks. another obvious sound was the tram going past, although with this one we tried to experiment as well with other vehicles on the street and to see what types of sounds we could generate by either keeping the mic static or moving it to follow the source of the sound to produce different ideas and noises.

from a more poetic perspective, two of my favourites are the waterfall and the treadmill. the waterfall was a steady stream of unchanging noise yet because it was a waterfall it was also constantly changing. it is not immediately obvious to the listener what it was but is also somewhat soothing, as running water generally is. the one i really like is the treadmill. it is not obvious at all what it is and the sound is consistently changing throughout as the treadmill sped up then slowed down and this makes the track interesting because it doesn’t feel static. but what makes it even more complete is the faint beat of a music track you can in the background because the sound was recorded in a gym. not really sure why but i really do enjoy listening to this track and i feel like it has the potential to become part of a series involving the sounds of other equipment in the gym.

film tv 2 analysis reflection 1, question 4

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Listen to the first 10 minutes of Glenn Gould’s radio documentary, “The Idea of North”. Record your impressions in a paragraph or two.

i found this doco very difficult to listen to. for one, it kept crashing so i got it in a very disjointed manner. however, i felt as the the program itself was rather disjointed. the beginning made me almost entirely lose interest as all the voices began speaking over one another. it was impossible to listen to one over another so in the end it just became an indistinguishable babble.

the program became easier to listen to once a definitive narrator took over and some actual ideas were discussed whereas originally i had no idea what was going on. there was the introduction of some background noises to accompany the dialogue which made it seem more natural even if the noises could be a bit loud at points.

unfortunately, the whole thing dropped out completely at the 7 minute mark and nothing i could do would fix it, it just kept crashing, so thats all i could get out of this.

 

 

film tv 2 analysis reflection 1, question 3

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In this week’s lecture, scenes from Scott Ruo’s ‘Four Images’, Brian Hill’s ‘Drinking for England’ and Chantal Akerman’s ‘D’Est’ were screened.  Choose one of these, and consider, in a single paragraph, what might have intrigued, interested, displeased or repelled you.

in the lecture we were shown scenes from Chantal Akerman’s ‘D’Est’. i can’t say i was a huge fan of it. although i guess it would be classified as a documentary, it just didn’t really feel like anything. it was a little unsettling to just watch those people sit with no dialogue or music or anything. what i did like was the first shot of the people walking around the camera. i thought that was interesting because you keep waiting for people to look at the camera or imagine yourself walking by the camera and trying to think of how you would act. this does bring up the question of how real are documentaries because people will always act differently in front of a camera than they would in real life.

Film tv 2 analysis 1, question 2

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In 200 words or less please outline your goals, desires – what you want to get out of this semester. You will review this later in the course. Many will rethink this dramatically by the end of the course – this is a good thing.

most importantly for me this semester i want to make a film i am proud of, something i will want to show people. i want to learn a lot more about documentaries and the different forms. it’s never particularly been something that has interested me at all so i think this will give me an opportunity to make something i normally wouldn’t and it will be a really good experience.

i also think making a dock is an excellent opportunity to learn and discover a different way of filming. not everything can be planned, not everything can be perfect and often the idea can evolve and change along the way which i think is really important and something i’m looking forward to this semester.

film/tv analysis reflection final, question 2

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Remember your answer to this from week 1?

“In 200 words or less please outline your goals, desires – what you want to get out of this semester. You will review this later in the course. Many will rethink this dramatically by the end of the course – this is a good thing.”

No? Go back and have a look.
Now we’d love you to do the same at this end.
Please reflect on how you feel about the course. What surprised you, what excited you, what disappointed you. What we could have done better. What you could have done better.
bellow is my answer back in week 1:

“Throughout this course i am primarily hoping to improve my writing abilities in relation to stories and ideas for film/tv. this includes becoming more familiar with different aspects of the story such out outlines, synopses, plots, character, events and problems and script writing, and improving on how to combine all these separate elements to create on cohesive and interesting story.

the other goal which i am trying to accomplish is to be able to effectively take these story ideas which i or or my group have created and be able to adapt that to a film that is enjoyable and coherent and in doing so to further enhance my abilities in being a part of the film production process. a major part of this is learning how to work well together collaboratively as a group to explore all possible story ideas and and overcoming intergroup difficulties to be able to produce the best possible film.”

i really enjoyed this course. looking back on my two answers from week one, i feel as though i have successfully accomplished, but, i completely left out the other. however, the part that i did not really achieve, the answer about improving my writing skills, i did try with it, back in the first few weeks when we were thinking of story ideas and synopsises. so i did give it my best effort. but, i have come to realise that writing is not my strongest ability but rather that i am far more suited to adapting a script or screenplay to film.

what i really loved about this semester was getting the chance, as the director of our film, to take the script and work with it, create a story board and a shot list, to mark up the script how i would like it done. to work with the actors and the writer to try and get the most out of the story that i could. my major goal of the semester was that i wanted to make a film that i was proud of and i am really proud of the film that we made as a group. i think we all worked well together and despite some hiccoughs along the way still pulled through and learnt how to manage issues and still produce a great film. i learned a great deal from the over all production process, especially about how much thought and planning and time goes into pre production.

what surprised me about the course was the way we were simply thrust into the project from the get go. dropped right off in the deep end and told to swim and i think that was a great way to do it. we had limited time and just had to move with it with no time for doubts and second guessings and i think that was a really great way to experience making a film.

what excited (and terrified) me was the prospect of directing. i had never done it before (except in high school) and i felt there was a lot of pressure on me to produce something great. luckily i had a great team supporting me so working together as a group to get the project done really was a brilliant learning experience.

what disappointed me was that i couldn’t help out on any other group film shoots. the shoots were all done on weekends which was when i work so i couldn’t help out on any others but my own and i feel as though this would have helped my learning of different experiences in different roles on set more.

what the staff could have done better was group formation. i don’t really know how they could change it but there needs to be a better way to sort out the groups. there was very little thought or effort put into the groups regarding peoples skills or interests in roles, suitability or friendships or who was even present in class at that time. i ended up in a completely unfeasible group that needed to be disbanded because it had been carelessly put together. luckily, this was handled very well by the staff and i ended up in a great group so not all bad 😀

what i could have done better. i think i could have tried a little harder in the concept stage of this semester. i didn’t really take the idea generating tasks seriously as i didn’t think they were going to be used for anything and i feel like i really wasted this opportunity, especially considering it was one of my goals to improve my writing i feel like i really let my self down there. i am also upset that i have come out of this and still know very little about lighting. i was interstate for the lighting week and i should have taken it upon myself to catch up but i didn’t because i was preoccupied with getting ready to direct and i feel that i have missed that opportunity.

on the whole, i really enjoyed this whole semester and have really learnt a lot from it and had some great experiences that will surely help me in the future.

film/tv analysis reflection final, question 1

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Please write constructive comments/reviews of the films you saw. It can be just just those you loved the most or intrigued you the most.

first off, i loved al the films and i thought each one of them was great. gonna be hard to find constructive comments.

Milk: this was one of my favourite of the films screened. it was an original and funny story with a surprise ending. although it is a little short, the elongated milk spilling scene does lessen this feeling and it’s done in a comedic and enjoyable way. the music and comedic timing were great across the film. only one issue i found with it is the foley at the end where you distinctly here his footsteps as he approaches the milk bar but then no sound at all as he sits down. otherwise a really great film.

granny theft auto: i also really loved this film. its very enjoyable and you get s cruel sense of satisfaction watching the rude old lay get arrested as the boys get off free. the editing was really great, especially as the officer searches the car and we see the comparison of items from the two different cars. my only recommendation would be to in some way reveal the second car a little earlier. it comes right at the end and can be a bit confusing to people who had no idea that there was a similar car there. music works really well though out the film.

Pranking frank: this was another one of my favourites. i thought this was a brilliant script and very well executed. the editing was great, in particular the scene with frank practicing different things in front of the mirror. the locations worked well, including the establishing spot so the audience knew when we were back at franks house. on top of that, i thought the twist ending was brilliant and i really didn’t see it coming at all which i think was the only film that did that for me so i was very impressed by it.

film/tv analysis reflection 6, question 8

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Most applications reserve keyboard shortcuts for the functions that use most often. It is really good to learn all of these as it will speed up your editing and additionally alert you to functions that the software developers and other users find important. (You can learn much about the software by looking at keyboard shortcuts).

Find the keyboard shortcuts for Adobe Premiere and note two or more functions that you’ve never used before that may be invaluable to editing.

as i have never used premier before, all the shortcuts are new to me so it took some experimenting to find them

some really useful ones i have found are:

command k: this cuts thetimeline at the playhead through all the tracks so i don’t have to go use the razor tool and try to get it exactly at the play head which can often not end up in extacly the right frame.

i and o: in and out. these are used when viewing the clip in the priview window so as to select when the clip will start and end that is put into the timeline. this makes it so easy to select a time to start and end a clip when watching because you don’t need to try and hit pause and then select an in or out point, you ca press i or o while you’re watching and also change it as you are watching if you find a better out or in point.

,: comma will insert the clip from the privew window into your timeline according to your designated out and in points and is a really quick and easy way to move selected parts of clips into the timeline.

enter (in the gape between clips on the timeline): i only found this one halfway through the editing process and it has saved me so much time. by selecting the blank space between two clips on the timeline and hitting enter, all clips after the blank space will move left to join up to the previous clip. this has saved so much time from having to zoom out, select all the clips to be moved, then zoom back in and move them, every time i make a tiny edit

film/tv analysis reflection 6, question 7

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In this clip screened in the lecture from the Coen brothers’ ‘Blood Simple‘ describe what is happening in terms of the edits specifically in terms of the audio and video. Also name the different kinds of audio you can hear.

there is quite a lot of editing done in this scene. there a re very few wide shots with both characters but rather consistent cutting between the two characters from different angles and distances throughout the scene which would have required a lot of editing. there is also a large number of cutaways throughout the scene which would also require tedious editing as well as carefully editing cuts between character doing a single action between shots which would have to be done very finely to ensure the movement looks smooth.

the audio would also have taken a lot of time to edit as there is not just dialogue but a distinct background sound created through atmos or other effects, such as the crickets or the hum of what is assumed to be the fan, and also the inclusion of a large number of folly sounds including opening the envelope, turning on the tap in the next room and footsteps walking across the floor. each of these sounds would have required a great deal of effort to create in time with what was occurring in the shot and then edited in to match the scene as it unfolds. the scenes utilises a lot of juts and l-cuts which are useful for showing one characters reactions to another characters dialogue or actions. it also keeps the action of the scene flowing so the audience don’t get too bored by going back and forth. by editing the audio in such a way it keeps things interesting and constantly changing.

the different kinds of audio heard in this clip are dialogue, sound effects, foley sounds, background sounds and music right at the end

all the different sounds from the clip:

dialogue

envelope rustling

breathing

footsteps

tap running

tap turning

fly buzzing

opening safe and putting stuff in

chair squeaking

sliding money across desk

gunshot and echo

crickets

fan(atmos)

foot hitting ground

kicking gun

putting money in pocket

door closing

music accent at end

 

film/tv analysis reflection 6 – question 6

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Consider Sandra’s lecture “Directing Actors” and describe at least a couple of points that you took away from it (even if you’re not the director).

as director of our film, i took a lot of really great points away from this lecture that i thought would really assist me when directing on set.

i felt one of the most important  points Sandra made was to always keep the script on me and keep  notes about the the emotions of each scene or shot written in the script. this is imperative for shooting to edit as the scenes and shots are filmed out of order and it is highly important to ensure that the correct flow is felt between shots and scenes when editing by keeping continuity running in regards to the emotion of whats going on in each shot. if these do not match up then the film will not come together well and will not tell the desired story. as the director the most important job is directing the actors to get the right emotion to tell the story properly and emotion is how to get the story across

another really useful point was when sandra discussed the standard way of shooting vs the not so standard way. she brought up some really great points that i would not have considered when shooting the film. first off… how to make it interesting. i had created a shot list for the film but Sandra’s point was to go beyond just the general shots that you can do to show the scene but to also take different kinds of shots that would tell the scene. make the audience see it in a different way and create a real emotion or feel to the scene. to do this, Sandra suggested to simply experiment. put the camera at odd angles or weird nights and interesting locations. create different blocking or framing or set ups. don’t just make it normal. also to think about cutaways. this is something that i think is really important that again i would never have considered. of course, cutaways require time which can often be a stretch on shoots, but they are still important and can add an extra layer to the film that just your basic wide shots can’t do.

lastly, a really grew point was about directing the actors. as this is my first time directing, this is a really important part for me as i have never directed actors before. a really good point was to rehearse with them before hand with a  camera, especially to cover non-dialgoue sections of the scenes. this is because o the day a lot of time will be taken up with working with the DOP so it is important to get a good relationship with the actors and let them know what i want before the shoot. another really great point was about how to talk to the actors on the shoot. these guys are volunteer and it may be there first jobs. i want them to be feeling as comfortable and happy as possible as they re doing this for us. Sandra said it is really important to be honest with the actors. however, she also mentioned we need to be delicate. if something looks wrong or isn’t working, don’t just tell them that, rather give a way to change it r a different outlook approach to it so that everyone can be working on the same page and can all try to get as much out of the scene as possible. i big issue for me will be correcting them as i am not one to tell people what to do or what not to do so the idea of telling them instead what can be changed rather than just saying they’re wrong was really helpful so that i can maintain a good communication with the actors on set.