The Scene in Cinema Week 6 Reflection

Focal length can result in distorts on a subjects face, for a full-frame camera, 50mm is the focal length that is most similar to the human field of view.  Another characteristic of a different focal length is the compression of space that occurs.

As the focal length becomes longer, the subject appears to be closer to the background and our field of view is narrower. Apart from the characteristics that different focal length creates (such as depth of field), a longer focal length allows filmmakers to save money. With a smaller field of view, there is less area in the shot to treat and the shallower depth of field means that the background can be less detailed.

This week’s discussion on focal lengths also brought me to investigate different lens characteristics. The example here compares Arri Ultra Prime, Cooke S4I and Zeiss CP lens. The most prominent difference can be seen in the lens flare generated.

Both Arri and Cooke lenses create lens flare in the image, Cooke S4 is more visible. The Zeiss CP lens, however, does not have lens flare at all.

These characteristics allow filmmakers to achieve a different feel. Cooke lens with its warmer and lens flare gives off a unique cinematic style that can give a more natural feel to the scene especially outdoors.

The Zeiss CP lens does not result in lens flare and its cooler temperature may be more suitable for filming harsh, geometric objects like architecture. Doing further research, I learned that Zeiss have a specific line of lens called Radiance that can create lens flare.

Chromatic Aberration is the failure of a lens to focus all colours to the same point. This can be seen in the edges of the bokeh of Zeiss Supreme lens, whilst ARRI signature lens’s lack of chromatic aberration is a selling point for them

There is a green edge around soft highlights, therefore it does not blend smoothly into the background.

In summary, different manufacturers make lenses with different characteristics. These differences will ultimately result in a slightly altered image in the form of lens flare, bokeh, chromatic aberration and more. To take these factors into account requires a deep understanding of the kind of scene you want to create and what lens is most suitable for it.

The Scene in Cinema Week 5 Reflection

We started off this week’s discussion with eyelines, particularly in a shot-reverse-shot situation where the actors do not occupy the screen at the same time. If eyelines is incorrect, the suspension of disbelief is broken. The need for matching eyelines is for the audience to perceive that the characters are looking at each other. To match eyelines I can follow the 180-degree rule, but this assumes that both actors are in the same physical space to each other. If, for example, only one of the actors is on set in a dialogue scene, how do we maintain eye lines? If it is known where the other actor’s eye would be, I could place a marker in that area with tape and instruct the actor to look there when talking. If it is not known (if this was the shot-reverse-shot with the first actor), I would note down the camera position in relation to the line and the angle at which it is placed. With the reference of the previous shot, I can deduct the angle needed for the reverse shot for matching eyelines.

When viewing films this week, I was looking for instances of eyeline mismatches and was unable to find any. For me, as soon as the scene demonstrated the spatial positioning of the characters and that they are speaking, I would not notice any eyeline mismatch.

From the notes this week, a clip from My Sex Life, or How I got into an argument piqued my interest. It was a scene where characters move inside an apartment in one take. The lighting setup for this shot was intriguing. Previously, I have experiences in lighting for a single position, actors could move around in a zone where the lighting works best. For this scene, as well as the scene in Carlos, was what Robin described as a modern style of lighting. Meaning that the exposure priority as not always on the face of the person talking. Indeed, there were moments of talking where the actors would be shrouded in darkness before they reach a predetermined lighting setup and a dialogue exchange would talk place. It depends on the purpose that the shot was attempting to achieve. I believe the shot from My Sex Life, or How I got into an argument amongst other things, sought to establish the location and the atmosphere that these characters are at. Therefore, it can use moodier, low-key lighting to emphasise that. In the future, I will consider the purpose of the scene in the context of the film to determine what sort of lighting is appropriate.

The Scene in Cinema Week 4 Reflection

In this week of classes, I was unable to complete the exercise to shoot a scene, instead, I did a storyboard, shot list and floor plan of the scene. The process of turning the script into something visual made me realise the number of choices that must be made prior to covering the scene. I chose the cafe scene with Rachel and Barney. With the restriction of using only 4 setups, I had to discard giving every notable line in the script its own shot. Instead of giving Barney his own shot to show him fiddling on his phone, I decided to start the shot with Rachel coming into focus. Robin mentions that this shift in focus to Rachel was different from how the script describes the scene. When creating the storyboard, I did not think about the character focus, by making Rachel enter the scene first, I essentially made her the focus of that shot. This is something I want to investigate further, as deciding whose scene it is can have a major impact on the story and the characters. Looking back at my storyboard, if I replaced the first shot with the camera pointed at Barney on his phone, the scene becomes more closely connected to him instead.

 

In Tim Barnard’s commentary on decoupage, he identifies the difference between it and montage. He states that decoupage “cuts up … the script in its narrative form to create a detailed plan for shooting the film, complete with camera indications, stage directions for the actors and even changes of shot” (2014, p.4). I believe the exercise we did this week is also a form of decoupage where we segmented the script into another form which enables us to shoot the scene in our heads. In the future, more effective and in-depth insight into the process of storyboarding and shot listing would be beneficial.

The Scene in Cinema Week 3 Reflection

In the notes provided for this week’s class, we looked at the difference in form/style in Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange” and Anderson’s “O Lucky Man!”. In this discussion, we noted the difference in coverage for both directors. The former seem to utilise locked down tripod shots with a wide lens, whereas Anderson uses standard focal length lens and moves the camera according to the action. For Anderson, there are more closeups of objects to guide our attention. Kubrick, on the other hand, uses long takes and lets the audience to see what is most important in the shot. This had me thinking about other directors and how they might plan coverage for a scene. 

 

We also looked at the coverage of a bar scene in Gossip Girl and A Flame Within. In the two clips, we see a dialogue exchange between two people. In doing these shot reverse-shots, the concept of the 180-degree rule came into discussion. Most notably, how the scene in A Flame Within did not follow this. The result of which was a feeling of disorientation, as the positioning of the characters become difficult to understand. Yet I believe there are ways to cross the line without it becoming disorientating. One such example is in Parasite by Bong Joon Ho.

In a shot-reverse-shot dialogue scene between two characters, the camera crosses the line and delivers the rest of the conversation with the character looking at the same screen direction. Yet, in this example, the positioning of the characters was not confusing. I believe this is because, in a shot, the camera itself moved as it crossed the line, this gives the audience a better understanding of the space they are in.

In addition, the shot-reverse-shot are dirty, and more than half of the frame is taken up by the back of the other character. Through this, we can still understand that a conversation between these two characters is taking place.

 

The Scene in Cinema: Invictus Descriptive & Analytical Writing

1:28-2:56

 

After Nelson Mandela (played by Morgan Freeman) is elected president of South Africa, his personal bodyguards have joined by additional white bodyguards who were also assigned. Jason, one of the bodyguards confronts Mandela and voices his grievances having to work with them.

 

In one of the first racial conflicts presented in the movie, Clint Eastwood covers this conversation between the bodyguard Jason and Nelson Mandela in only a few key setups. The scene features three characters, only two speaks. The secretary character is largely overlooked in the coverage of this scene, likely situated here to demonstrate how busy Mandela’s first day in the office is. 

 

In terms of blocking, both Jason and Mandela are directed to move around. Jason enters the scene and serves as the motivation for the camera as it pans around to reveal Mandela and his secretary. His dialogue with Mandela establishes a line between them; by which the camera setup is based around. Jason brings with him his complaint about the new white bodyguards who were assigned, through the over-the-shoulder shots, we can see that he is the only one standing in this scene, demonstrating his initial agitation over this decision. However, Mandela defends his decision. He too stands up and walks around his table and closer to Jason. As he walks around, the camera pans accordingly to maintain the line, keeping both of them in the shot whilst cutting off the secretary. As Mandela encourages Jason towards reconciliation and forgiveness, the camera too becomes tighter on their faces using a longer lens than the wider shots which precedes it. The camera placement in this scene follows the 180 degrees rule, this is effective for a conversation because cutting between naturally guides our eyes left and right when one character speaks.

The light source in the scene comes from outside the windows, this is used to simulate sunlight. Special care is taken as there are no other objects in the scene that is brighter than the windows, further creating the impression that this scene takes place during the day. The white linen curtains serve as a diffusion for the characters’ faces as this is a dialogue-heavy scene. Apart from this light, many of the lighting choices are to create background separation. I believe there is also a top light created by bouncing off the ceiling. This can be seen also to separate Jason from the interior in the over-the-shoulder shots. The windows behind Mandela acts as a backlight to separate Jason’s brown jacket from the wooden interior of the room as he enters the scene. 

The Scene in Cinema Week 2 Reflection

In class this week, we attempted a block-through of a scene. In it, a student comes into class, makes conversation with others and sits down. For me, I gained a deeper insight into focus pulling. I have used a wireless focus puller before where I could manage the focus behind a monitor away from the camera itself. In this class, we used camera tape on the focus ring of the lens and used focus markers to keep track of my focus on the subject. Focus marking can be done with stand-ins, an assistant to place a marker in a spot that can’t be seen on camera where the subject should be, and then marking the focus on the tape with a pen. This allows the focus puller to know where the focus should be without seeing the viewfinder. 

The chapter by Bunuel discusses the idea of segmentation and its close ties to cinema. He writes that a well-shot film with good camera angles can seem uncinematic because it lacked a good segmentation or decoupage. Whereas a film with ordinary photographic techniques can be a good film with great decoupage. My understanding of decoupage is the process carried out before anything is shot. It takes place during scriptwriting and especially storyboarding. Bunuel echoes this idea, saying that the “very act of setting one’s camera before an object to be filmed presupposes the existence of a decoupage” (2000, p.134). In class, we spoke about the role of the director. In this case, the director who is also in charge of turning the script into storyboard is also in charge of the decoupage of the film. This task differs with the role of the editor whose role is to coordinate shots with each other, however, the arrangement, sequencing of the film was “first projected inside the brain of the filmmaker” (2000, p.135).

The Scene in Cinema Week 1 Reflection

Coming into this studio, I look forward to furthering my cinematography knowledge. This week’s class has been a refresher on some of the basics in camera operation, the exposure triangle and cinematic properties such as depth of field. The term ‘coverage’ was not something I am personally familiar with. My initial thoughts on coverage remind me more of capturing sufficient footage, such as B-roll, for the edit. From what I took away this week, coverage meant breaking down a shot into its basic features. The idea of blocking was experimented upon in the first lesson, with the use of a floor plan, the team could accurately see the beginning and end of their movements onscreen. Prior to this class, I was told that T stops are a more accurate measurement of light entering the camera sensor, which is the reason why most Cine lenses are rated in T stops. However, I now understand that the reason why it is more accurate is that it is a measurement of the light after it passes through the glasses in a lens, although the inaccuracies are barely noticeable.

The exercise on the depth of field is a useful one in this industry. The effect of a shallow depth of field – the bokeh that is generated – is commonly associated with cinema. When clients ask me for a cinematic look on their videos, this is often what they want to achieve. The exercise we did in class showed us the extremes, by creating the most and least shallow depth of field possible. In the reading by Tom Reilly, he defines a shot as what is “photographed in between the words action and cut” (2009, p.16). The most interesting part for me was his mention that generally, 2 4/8 of a page is shot in one day. Taking into account the time it takes to set up lights and a camera, directing the actors and breaks, it does not surprise me that the average amount of script covered is 2 4/8 pages.

The News is a Joke: Week 11 Reflection

The class time was spent this week doing a final run-through of the script, correcting any grammatical and logical errors. We made sure that Aaron could read through the edited script without any issues. Later, we also spent time completing the safety checklist for Friday. I noted down some final changes to the graphics and EVS footage that will have to be added or replaced on Friday.

On Friday, our group rehearsed first. We had a different desk this time, it came with a lighting strip, the colour of which can be adjusted. We came up with the idea to change the lighting colour in relation to our gag of singing the national anthem. To do this, the lighting manager, as well as an assistant, must coordinate the timing to alter the colour. Additionally, we decided that we should have an announcer introducing and hyping up the audience before the show began. This meant that we had another mic in the control room for James to use, the audio was then sent to the floor so the audience could hear him.

When the time came for the taping, we noticed an issue with the lighting. The lights were not shining onto Aaron’s face properly, resulting in shadows whenever he leaned forwards. We paused the taping after an EVS played and started from the beginning when the lighting was fixed.

Insufficient lighting on the host’s face

The announcement made on our second take had a mistake, therefore, we would have to edit together the two take we have in total. The lighting during the national anthem segment was done well, by overlaying the EVS footage of the flag, we made the set look more red than usual. During the national anthem segment, to our surprise, people audience stood up for it too, however, that moment was not captured. I believe this moment would have been better if we switched the vision over the audience camera.

Overall, the execution of our segment was successful to a live audience. There were many laughs that could be heard from the control room. I think this is due to the time we spent giving the audience sufficient background on the issue and showing relevant clips to them before making the jokes. For our satire to work, we needed to create a sense of community amongst those who get the joke (McClennon, 2011).

I can not imagine doing this from the ground up without the collaboration with the rest of my group. Each and every member contributed to a crucial role of the taping and development of the script.

 

McClennen, Sophia (book excerpt). “Satire as Public Pedagogy” America According to Colbert: Satire as Public Pedagogy. Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. pp. 71-95.