Select from one of the readings from week 5, 6 or 7 and describe two points that you have taken from it. Points that excite you, something that was completely new to you.

Week five’s reading contains extracts from Dušan Makavejev and Martin Scorsese on their unique filmmaking crafts and reasons behind some of their directorial decisions.

“It’s very important to realize that many people believe that the frame contains part of a larger reality. What is important to understand is that in movies there is nothing else – whatever is in the frame is all there is.”

– Dušan Makavejev, Page 114

In this quote Makavejev emphases the importance of the frame; he notes that what’s outside the frame is something we create by the frame – the image creates the fantasy about what is outside. Framing things in means drawing attention to, embracing, taking care, and incorporating something, but whatever you frame out means you’re depriving people of it. Scorsese also points out that what you put in the frame is a major decision, you can’t just put anything as this can make the audience expect something else to happen.

“Similarly, where I place the camera is very often determined by having to relay the right information…

It’s really a matter of the angle, even when you’re moving the camera. It’s important on the level of how much information, how much you want the audience to see, and somehow there’s an emotional thing too.”

– Martin Scorsese, Page 79 

Scorsese views the camera angle as imperative to conveying the right information to the viewer. The camera angle has the ability to decide what you want the audience to see, and importantly what you don’t want them to see. Below is a scene from Scorsese’s Raging Bull (1980) which he identifies in the reading as being comprised of only straight cuts. He also says that he tries to keep a normal look in dramatic scenes; they have an effect where you place the camera, the lighting, the look of the film – it’s what’s on the table, in the foreground and background. In this scene we see the strategic placement of the camera to capture the rage of Jake as he uplifts the table to throw everything off it.

Reference

Oumano, E. Film Forum: thirty-five top filmmakers discuss their craft, (p. 78-80, 114-115). New York: St Martin’s Press, 1985.

Lecture 7 Lighting: What was covered? Do you think the content is relevant to your project? And why?

Week seven’s lecture covered the importance of lighting as a reason for the exposure we need for the project, continuity over the whole scene, spatial continuity to make shots match and to providing perspective to control the image in order to superimpose aesthetics. One of the main points the lecture outlined was that lighting is all about decisions and this helps when you know your location and medium.

This knowledge was extremely useful for our projects as it will help us not only light scenes properly, but take advantage of light when we have it and create the proper aesthetic when we don’t; therefore helping create lighting continuity across scenes and plan shooting. Knowing the transiting of the sun will also allow us to plan for the sun to rise in the east and set in the west, therefore adjusting our shots for continuity. In order to be ready for shoot day we should think about the placement of the camera in relation to lighting, manipulate the sequence where you shoot the shots and shoot tests to see how our medium handles situations and responds.