Planning before

 

Now that our film portfolio was submitted and our location was chosen, it was time to make sure that everything was ready. We definitely did not want to be at the location ready to film and then have something important missing, so our director made a nice list through text messages about clothing, accessories and objects needed. It was important to remember about the clothing as there is a big chance that we will be in the film as extras, and we can't clash against the main characters when it comes to how we look. So, the most casual boring clothing for everyone. 

For our accessories our director was the only one who has a chess set and they also decided to bring the makeup needed. A bandanna was needed, and I already have some so I'm in charge of bringing it. We wanted to add more props like poms poms but though I thought I had ones, in the end I couldn't find them. I also have the phone that we are going to use to record the movie, so I am making sure that it has space and is fully charged for filming. 

To prepare for filming, I downloaded adobe premiere rush on my phone, and I have been playing around with it. Figuring out focuses, options and the menus so when it comes today of filming it won't be the first time looking at the app. I did a lot of messing around with the focus as that will be an important part of our film, and I wanted to understand a bit how it worked in the app. then I went into the more fun parts like random transitions or titles, just trying everything I could do. 

one of my tests.

Finalizing the details is an exciting idea because it means we are almost there to film, but it can also be kind of boring going through a checklist, its similar to a rocket launch. We have to make sure everything is in order before, so it doesn’t end in catastrophe after. 

 

Film portfolio

The film portfolio was definitely the hardest part to work on. The decision making was easy, we had a plan, but the problem was execution of the plan. For the most part it went well, on my side I did all my things without any problems. Our editor didn't have too much to do right now but did help when they could, our cinematographer had all the ideas ready, and our director was really organized and tried to make sure everything went as planned. 

The problem zone happened when it came to actually putting all the cinematography in the portfolio. Our cinematographer got locked of their account as they forgot to change their password. And though we already had talked about all the types of shots we wanted and there was a pretty clear idea on what we were going to do, our cinematographer couldn't actually put anything in the official document. 

We figured out how to get over that by them doing the shot list in their notes app and doing the story board in paper based on the notes and then taking a photo of it. The ones who had access to the document would type in what they did, which worked but it took a long time and parts were missing. But then we ran into another problem which was the formatting of the original version of the shot list was all messed up.  The formatting caused even more time delays as weird stuff kept happening. 

Old format

We were on a time crunch and our director decided that we couldn't continue fighting against the weird formatting issues. So, a decision was made, and we made our own format that was easier for us to understand and work with. We didn't want to stop using the original document as that was what was given to us to use, and we had already put so much time into it but changing it was better overall. It took extra time to copy everything again into the new format, but we knew it was going to be worth it as the new personalized format will let us work faster when filming. 

New format

In the end even with everybody working together, we turned the portfolio late. It was a sad thing but at least we turned in something we were happy with and one we would use. 

Scouting locations

Last class, we went on an adventure outside to scout a location for the film.  We are limited to our school's patio as a general location, but the patio is so big, we are able to choose specific areas for our group to record at. 

Before going in, my group already had an idea of where we were going to film. We wanted one of the picnic tables near the garden area because it was one of the prettier and more isolated areas in the patio. When we got there, we came across some possible problems that we could have while filming so we started searching for another option. For option 2 we chose an area that was closer to buildings. With the two options decided on, we had to weigh the pros and cons for our final decision. 

This was our first option and what we pictured when we were working on the movie. We loved the fact that it had a garden in the background and a lot of plants surrounding the area. The foliage gave a very lively and calm atmosphere but was also one of the negatives of this location. The plants, especially the tree, can be very distracting if a windy day happens. And the fact that if we wanted to do a shot that showed the side opposite to the garden, there could be random people there that were not planned. 

This was the second location, one that countered all the cons of the first one but had cons of itself. This location didn't have any moving parts, or people filming close by so there weren't any possible distractions. But one of the biggest cons of this location is that it didn't have a table to put the chess set, so if we wanted to film, we would have needed to get a table, move one of picnic benches, or use the little walls as our table. The other con was that it was a pretty boring background as it was just the white building. 

We ended up choosing option 1, as we figured out how to overcome most of the cons. For people walking in shots that don't feature the garden we will use shallow focus, to make sure the background doesn't stand out. The tree won't be too much of a worried as a lot of our shots won't have the tree and the character action in the film would be too over-the-top that it will keep the audience focus on them. To make sure that the attention stays on the character instead of the background, the characters will wear out of place costumes that won't blend. 

 

Planning ahead

Phineas and Ferb- Lights,Candace,Action!, 2008

 Making a movie is overwhelming, especially the planning part. Our group felt like we had so much to do and yet little time. So a plan had to be set in motion that would organize the chaos we had. 

In our game plan the first thing was to figure out our story which was the thing we put the most focus on. We went from varying ideas to thinking of doing a coming-of-age story, but it felt too serious for our first movie. We wanted to do something more fun, and less restricting. We thought of those extreme comedies like shaolin soccer, where things do not follow the audience’s expectations and even reality. From there ideas just sprouted out and our director put them all into a script, which we were all happy about. 

In our limited time together in person as a group we went over all the different sections we had to cover in the proposal. We could not go too in-depth into parts, so we had to give general ideas that our group liked, and each person had the job of putting more detail into the ideas that fit their section. 

We heavily relied on our phones to communicate outside of class, as when we finished our section or needed confirmation about things, our phones really helped us stay in touch. 

If we had not taken the time to organize our plans, I do not believe we would have finished. And while the planning took time out of possible time for working into more in-depth sessions, it made it easier for everyone when it came to working on our own

Sound design: an unsung hero

 Sound design is such an intricate part of filmmaking. Sound includes the music, big sound effects like explosion to the clothes on an actor being ruffled, to dialogue. People do not often think about sound other than the musical score, but in modern days in a big production almost all the sound is done in post-production. Even the sound of iced water shaking is done in a soundproof area weeks or months after filming and the sound is done by chucking walnuts together. It is such interesting work to do and think about.

 

Sound is an important part of a modern-day movie. Sound Design gives emotions to a scene and a good film uses sounds for storytelling. And I am not only talking about dialogue, the sound effects, and the musical score in a movie that thinks about their sound design more than just putting pop music in the background, will land its story beats better and make for a better experience. Our chess film doesn't have any dialogue and has some jokes that only work with specific sound so this concept applies even more to us.

Track list for Suicide squad, August 5, 2016
Having a kind of related pop song every 2 minutes is not good sound design.

I have had prior knowledge of reading into musical motifs, different instruments, have had classes about musical theory and have played music. I had also research a lot about sound design in films before we started working our chess film and I am passionate about the subject so I chose to be the sound designer. I hope to show a good use of sound design in our film.

A sound clip of the Batmobile's engine in The Batman, March 4, 2022. This is one of my favorite sound clips of any film, The haunting sound of the engine was made using a combination of  the sound of bottle rockets going off and then doing an extreme stretch,  a reverse sound of a WW2 jeep, with a ford motor.

Hello there!

Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, May 19, 2005

Hello, I am a student right now taking media studies. I have always been interested in film making, and the principles behind the process. This class has made it more fun to watch media and made it easier for me to pay attention to movies. I have always enjoyed talking about media that I have strong emotions or thoughts about, and this class has helped explain better why I would either like or hate something. right now, in my media studies class we are starting to do the more practical work, which is extremely exciting. We have started on our first short film which is based around a chess set. This is a group project and I have the role of sound design and technical director, which I am incredibly happy about.  

My favorite type of media are properties that have a lot of history and different versions of the same characters as Star Wars, TMNT, Mario, Ironman, Barbie, and Batman. I really enjoy the possibilities of different interpretations that are official but are big deviations of the normal formula for a franchise. Arcane, Rise of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Batman, and God of War Ragnarök are all rooted from an original source, but they take liberties with the material which shows new ways that beloved characters can be adapted. I really enjoy classic novels, my favorite books either having witty writing like Emma, or gothic horror like Dracula. 

All of the media has influenced me to who I am now, which will definitely be shown in our short film. 

Structuralism-Claude Levi-strauss (blog post 9)

Shaolin soccer 12 july 2001

Shaolin soccer vs Team Puma scene

The purpose of this scene is to show the impressive skills of  the Shaolin soccer team against  a more experienced team and  relying on appearance will be deceiving. In a structuralist interpretation of this clip is character oppositions between  underdogs and a cocky richer team. This clip uses the function of creating identifiable character type to create comedy and sense of direction. The Puma team is shown making fun of the Shaolin soccer team because of their looks. The ego of the puma team is really big part as they believe themselves better than the shaolin soccer. But as the game goes on the shaolin soccer team does not let the puma team get a goal once and the puma team is shown complaining and whining about it which causes comedy .At the end the shaolin Monks win and the audience roots for them as they are the good guys of the oppositions.

They live November 4,1988

Seeing the truth scene

The purpose of this scene is to show the real truth that hides behind  facades and that looking at things deeper will show more than first thought was possible. The structuralist  function being done in this scene is explaining a a complicated idea into some more simple for the audience to get. The use of the glasses lets the audience and the character in the clip understand and believe a concept that is difficult to explain. The glasses in the scene show world how it actually is, instead of telling the audience which makes it easier to digest the information. If the opposing information was not show this way, the story telling would suffer.

genre theory-Steve Neale (Blog Post 8)

 Everything, Everywhere, All at Once March 11, 2022: Trailer

 Genre: Science fiction and absurdist fiction

The narratives similarities is the best convention to determine its genre as its trailers shows some of the distinctive themes of science fiction and absurdist fiction. The subject matter of the Multiverses is a science fiction staple and the hints that one of the themes will be about the purpose of life, lets the audience determine the genre .While other conventions could be used the themes of the movie are so unique to their genre that its fastest and most recognizable way.

Genre subversion: The film uses contextual subversion, with social influences of the cultural burn out that audiences have for multiverse movies that have superheroes in it. The characters are normal everyday people which bring a new twist for audiences.

Genre hybridity: The film uses its hybridization to create an individual product. Everything, Everywhere all at once is a unique movie because of its combination of different aspects of genres which are done very well in a way that makes the film a new fresh of air.

Phantom of the Paradise, November 1, 1974: Trailer

Genre: Musical comedy

The best convention to determine the genre is  narrative similarities through the style of the movie. This movie uses songs for story telling and jokes which is the biggest difference of a musical compare to other movies. Humor is really focused on as its also how it tells parts of the story.

Genre subversion: The budgetary constraint of this movie made the creators have to think outside of the box when it came to making this movie .As its an indie film, its budget was pretty low compare to others and it had to stand out in other ways like subverting the fact that musical would have to be serious or comedies not having heart.

Genre Subversion: The used of hybridity between genres allows the film to use tonal shifts. A comedy needs to have a lot of jokes that are fast paced and funny but it doesn't allow for a break time to deal with emotions. The fact that its a musical can make it that the audience can breath and take in the emotional moment through the music without feeling like it doesn't belong or break the pace.

Electric Dreams July 20, 1984:Trailer

Genre: science fiction romance

To determine the genre the best convention to use for this movie is narrative similarities through narrative themes. The themes are very easy to figure out in this as it the trailers show the theme of man vs machine something that is very science fiction and then two character falling love which is what the genre of romance is on. As the themes are so easy to decipher, looking at the film through narratives similarities is the simpler way.

Genre subversion: The film subvert its genre social influences of cultural effects of its time. The sudden of popularity of computers in the 80s most likely influenced the movie. To think of an interesting way computers could be used and how far technology could  go.

Genre Hybridity: The film piggybanked off of science fiction technology. The 80s brought a big bloom of computer users and technologies. Science fiction became very popular at the time because of these technological advances. The film used that in its advantage by adding the technology to a romantic plot which is different compare to traditional romance or science fiction films.

Narrative Equilibrium-Tzevetan Todorov (Blog post 7)

 Mission: impossible-Rogue Nation, July 31, 2015 opening

Proppian characters

The Hero: Ethan Hunt

The Dispatcher: William Brandt

equilibrium: The characters Benji, Brandt, Luther and Ethan get introduce and it states that they are on a mission to get the package out of a Russian plane by hacking into a satellite.

disruption: The hack is successful but all the ways to stop the plane like the mechanics, hydraulics and fuel box cant be accessed. This causes the plan to go haywire and the plane to get on the air with the package still inside.

new equilibrium: The new plan becomes Ethan Hunt getting inside the plane through the door and escaping with the package by its parachute.

multiperspective narrative: The view point changes from  Ethan and Benji with the plane  to a communication room with the character Brandt and Malesia where Luther is hacking the satellite.

in media res: This media clip starts in the middle of a mission where its almost about to fail, this makes the stakes super high, making the viewer intrigued.

This clips purpose is to establish the characters, their roles and personality in the movie. For example the audience realizes that Brandt coordinates the team and is in a higher position compared to the rest as he is shown overseeing and giving orders but at the same time its shown that the other characters don't care about authority too much or  rules through their defiance against protocol. This clues the readers in into the characters and possible conflicts between them in an intriguing way.

Semiotics-Roland Barthes(Blog Post 6)

Punch-drunk love, October 11, 2002 opening scene-semiotics

sign: The colors.

signifier: Barry Egan by himself being surrounded by blue.

signified: Barry Egan is isolated.

denotative meaning: It is a color of the rainbow that humans can see.

connotative meaning: Blue has a negative connotation with emotions like sadness and loneliness 

code: Office work: The suit, the paper on the table, the table, formal wording and the sound of pens.

This clip establishes the fact that Barry Egan isn't satisfied with his life most likely because of loneliness .The first shot  Barry is far away from the camera, with a lot of space distancing the audience from him, showing how isolated he is. The color blue surrounds him and because of the association of the color, the audience understands that its not a happy thing that he is so far away.

Depth of Field in Cinematography

 

A still from Knives out, November 27, 2019 that uses a deep depth of field for character.

A still from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,March 30, 1990 that uses shallow depth of field to convey conflict.

A still from Pride and Prejudice, November 11, 2005 that uses soft depth of field to convey conflict,

A still showing a deep depth of field to show conflict.

A still using a shallow depth of field to show conflict.

A still using a soft depth of field to show development.

This blog wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be though I did have to be creative in some parts. I had no idea how I was going to do the different focuses with my phone. maybe there was an option for cameras that I didn’t see and would have done the job much better. but I knew about the new cinematography mode of the iPhone, and I decided to take screenshots of videos done with the mode. It worked good enough, but my shaky hand made it hard to control the blurriness of photos. It was very finicky on its focus so a lot of it felt out of my control. I just had to let the camera do its thing while hoping that I could get a good shot. I had a lot of fun posing my photos this time. I got the idea of giving it a small story that went with the depth of field requirements. The first one was a deep depth of field, and I thought that the best way to demonstrate it was to have all the characters in focus. The shallow focus was used to demonstrate the disarray and chaos of the scene. And finally, a soft depth of field to show the bloody result in a similar way to how some shows censor their violence. I had big difficulty finding a soft field of depth from existing media. I knew that I had seen it somewhere, but I couldn’t figure out where so I spent a long time looking for a still.