Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Production

Sound and Music 

sound - enhanced sound is common in movies - realistic sound is, in fact, not helpful for the most part

this exaggeration somehow gives us a better sense of the physicality of the action

Foley is one example

Sound design - Ben Burtt - Star Wars

Music IS emotion in a movie - it’s particularly important in bad movies - CRUCIAL

Camera Work

Shots

good shots are shots we notice because the POV is interesting, surprising, scary, etc

Good shots stand out and have a “designed” look to them sometimes

There are rules to a shot - one rule - Rule of Thirds, however, breaking it can be good too

Focal Length

ELS - all context and environment - a vista - scenery - character is tiny in the landscape

LS - showing action - the characters are doing something in a place

Master - the most important shot it filmmaking - one shot of an entire scene done from a distance away to show the characters in the space, doing something in one continuous go - this is the TIMER for a scene and the trunk to which you would cut in the close ups and cutaways

MS - medium shot - often a two-shot - knees up - show body movements

CU - ribs up, shows faces and expressions - THIS IS WHERE THE ACTING HAPPENS

ECU - no context and environment - distorting

Angles

How does the camera aim at the subject? Straight on can be boring. Eye height can be boring. Variance here can make a shot MUCH more interesting and appealing. 

Consider 360 degrees and vertical angles as well. 

Lighting

if you notice it, it’s probably good. 

if you don’t, it’s probably good (unless you don’t notice it and it should be cool to help create mood and atmosphere)

Colour, amount of light, pools of darkness and brightness in variance

Mise-en-scene - the things in the frame - what is in the frame is designed and placed there for effect - props, set pieces, characters, etc - every shot is planned and set up.

Acting

• realism of the character
• charm and charisma
• the right look - H’wood stars are genetic freaks
• the part has to match the actor
• chemistry in pairings and groups

Editing - 

• the cutting of shots into scenes and sequences
• every time there’s a new shot, that’s a decision made by an editor
• cutting shots properly is when the actual movie is made
• every cut is a tiny slice of a moment that is selected as the best slice
• Michael Bay is hated for his crazy editing and pacing (Transformers) (or not)

Themes

- same as poetry, short stories and novels - there are underlying ideas that the filmmakers are thinking about