Alessandro Pinizzotto s3695359
-Descriptive and Analytical Writing:
-Reflections:
Month: March 2020
Descriptive & Analytical Writing-The Scene in Cinema
Alessandro Pinizzotto s3695359
Descriptive & Analytical Writing
Scenes in cinema can deliver very different emotions depending on how the scene is shot and edited together. Drama films are especially good at delivering emotions to the viewer, dramas can come in different shapes and forms and the scene from one such movie I want to analyse if from the film Logan (2017).
This film talks about tree main protagonist running from the government on a road trip-kind film, during their escape they stumble upon nice people that offer them dinner, the way the scene is tackled is very simplistic, yet effective. The compositions of the camera show the dynamics between all the characters around the table between the three members of the family, Logan, Laura (the child) and Professor Xavier especially when the child misbehaves showing the reactions of Logan and Lura. you can see they are close and have a father and daughter-like relationship in the shot showing this connection.
A simplistic atmosphere with no music and moody lighting emphasise how morbid is the world this comic book story is taking place in but at the same time, the cinematography makes you notice, with a pan of the outsides, how darker and colder the world outside breather from the constant chase and action this movie provides.
To construct this scene mid-shots and closeups are heavily use to give a spotlight to the characters reactions, as well as pans outside the house reminding us of the danger out there. The mise en scene shows a house lived in and full of memories of the family inhabiting it and succeeds at giving an atmosphere of warmth, Laura, the child, is shown how a family works and how this kind of relationship can bring joy and happiness.
Overall this scene in my opinion, with the use of mostly diegetic lighting and what could seem like simplistic shots, successfully delivers all the characters emotions and atmosphere it needs to give the viewer all the emotions and immersion possible.
Reflective Writing-The Scene in Cinema
Alessandro Pinizzotto s3695359
REFLECTION WEEK 1
In Class#1 we immediately started exercising and working with cameras. Our first exercise w\consisted in reproducing a drama scene of a film we never saw before, this gave us full creative control on how we wanted to shoot the scene without actually recording.
For this exercise, we used Sony EX cameras and we were divided into groups of 4 or 5 and looked around the building for a place to practice our camera and actors movements and went back to class to show our peers what we came up with.
My group and I were assigned a script by a Japanese, our script was called “Henry’s Living Room” and we had the limitation of having to shoot the scene in one take. Initially, we were confused on what the scene was about and what the plot of the film could be, we imagined it was a survivor movie (which was completely wrong) and began to choose who would operate the camera, who would direct, and who were the actors. I was selected as the camera operator and we started exercising what movements the camera and the actors should make to make the scene as interesting as possible.
In Class#2 that week we also experimented with focus, depth of field and exposure trying to find the best way to put in focus our subjects and testing out the different focal lengths. This exercise helped with getting familiar with the camera’s focus settings and try out how the depth of field influences the image, to emphasise that we walked behind the main actor in full focus in a corridor to add depth to the image.
In my opinion, these exercises were quite useful to learn and get used to putting more care in the shots we take, keeping in mind that a shot does not have to be only aesthetically pleasing, but should also serve the narrative and the conveying of emotions.
In my future projects, I plan to keep what we learned in class in mind and be sure to think carefully where the actors are in relation to the camera and how sometimes a single shot can say so much more and be more dynamic than having a multitude of shots in the same scene.
REFLECTION WEEK 2
Class #3 was an interesting one because we tackled something I never had first-hand experience with focus pulling. It was interesting to talk about and discuss the role of a focus puller. We learned how it is a crucial thing to keep track of the level of focus you have to switch through using a piece of sticky tape around the focus ring.
The mise en scene is a very important aspect of filmmaking; it creates the space where the actors will move and can tell a story of its own. In this class, we also did a little scene where some students were assigned roles of a crew and had to do their job to shoot the scene correctly and efficiently, a scene as stated by Tom Reilly, a scene is simply what happens between the words action and scene. Besides the room’s technical issues we managed to perform the exercise and have a satisfying take.
During this exercise, I learned how to perform focus pulling and how to correctly make the actors understand where they have to stop placing marks with tape on the floor or other surfaces as long as they are out of shot.
In the future, I plan to use this exercise to be able to not rely too heavily on autofocus to have a more precise focus for my films and videos. This class also helped me make clearer what the roles in a crew are and how they can work better together with the actors to be more effective.
Sadly there was not another class that week but with David and Neville Kurniawan, we worked on a lighting experiment where we tried to chive the best lighting to light a model face.
REFLECTION WEEK 3
Sadly we were not able to have classes this week, but we still had chances to learn something useful and important thanks to the readings provided and in PART 1 of said readings, we explored even more what a director’s role is.
Directors tend to have a style, something that distinguishes them from all the rest and be recognisable from their work, we analysed a few scenes from films by Kubrick and Linsey Anderson where one uses a predominance of fixed shots, while the other uses mainly camera movements.
What I gained from the PART 2 was the importance of having a floor plan and shot list, these tools help planning the scene you are about to shoot more thoroughly and visualise the camera movements you want to make.
It is sad that with the current situation we do not know when we will have a normal class again so we will have to stick with online classes for now, not having a chance to do practical exercises in a team with my classmates. Because of this I find struggling to find concrete things to reflect upon but hopefully, I will be able to learn new and useful things regardless and get the chance to work on some projects and use all the significant thins learned in these few weeks. I also hope this class will give me more knowledge about filmmaking, camera operating, directing through practical exercises and scene analysis.