Reading Material

Film Art: An Introduction by David Bordwell / Kristin Thompson

1.

Throughout the project, I have been using this book by David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson as a reference. Particular sections that have helped when thinking about the four elements needed for our film would be:

Page 213+
  Describing the functions of the long take, this chapter has been incredibly helpful. It defines what a 'Long Take' is as well as giving valuable research material for different films that include this element. For example, Hitchcock's 'Rope' is mentioned, due to it being famous for only having as little as 11 shots "most running between 4 and 10 minutes" (Bordwell and Thompson, 2010, p.214).
  A great aspect of this chapter, is a shot-by-shot series of frames and descriptions of Welles's 'Touch of Evil'. "It offers an alternative to building the sequence out of many shots, and it stresses the cut the finally comes (occurring at the sound of the explosion of the car)" (Bordwell and Thompson, 2010, p.216). By having this, I have been able to build up a clearer vision of what I would like the long take in my film to be like.

Page 136+
  This section of chapter four gives information of low-key illumination lighting. This will help me when creating the indoor lighting change. Bordwell and Thompson have used references from films such as 'Mauvais Sang' and 'El Sur', in order to demonstrate the way that lighting can suggest different emotions and even the view from the character. For example, "Low-key lighting in El Sur suggests a child's view of the adult world as full of mystery and danger." (Bordwell and Thompson, 2010, p.136)

Page 167+
  Chapter 5 is all about Cinematography. Obviously, this helps dramatically towards my own piece as much of it's content is relevant. Subheadings include: 'The Photographic Image', 'The Range of Tonalities' and 'Perspective'.
  The chapter speaks a lot on depth of field, something that I like to use in my own films. I think it helps an audience distinguish the shots main focus, as well as providing an overall nice image to look at. I like the stylistic quality of deep-focus cinematography and I think that pull focus can add a lot to a shot. This is all discussed in this chapter and I found it enjoyable and informative to read.


References:

1. http://www.google.com/imgres?q=film+art+an+introduction+9th+edition+pdf&um=1&hl=en&client=safari&sa=N&tbo=d&rls=en&authuser=0&biw=1280&bih=664&tbm=isch&tbnid=iArgDamRHE7c2M:&imgrefurl=http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/2009/09/22/is-there-a-blog-in-this-class-2009/&docid=7GaYfqrcSZWWUM&imgurl=http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/cover-9ed-5001.jpg&w=500&h=640&ei=FGTSUPbRHbKX0QXIlYCICQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=4&vpy=100&dur=676&hovh=254&hovw=198&tx=75&ty=147&sig=117828630293561111691&page=1&tbnh=145&tbnw=110&start=0&ndsp=37&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:90
2. Bordwell, D / Thompson K (2010) Film Art an Introduction (Ninth Edition)         New York: McGraw-Hill

Meeting 5/12/2012

On the 5th December, Myself and Fraser met to create the shot lists and go through storyboards for the scenes yet to be filmed. Clarice could not come as she was filming for another project. Amy also did not attend.
  In the meeting, we created the document below. We created the shot list for scene 5 using the storyboard Fraser had already done, and made a new one for scene 3 from scratch.

  The shot order for scene 3 has not been put in because I plan to add more shots to this scene at a later date.
  Fraser had also formed a document/schedule of sorts:

This includes the dates and times we will be filming - it was completed once Fraser had heard back from Missy as to when she is available.

Tutorial 29/11/2012

  On the 29th November after the meeting with me group, I had a quick tutorial with Mark to check that everything was going right. I talked him through any issues we had - Such as us effectively being a smaller group and each of us therefore having more work to do.

  He had queries about our lighting changes and said that the brief was just a simple lighting set-up - such as just as using a reflector board. However, we still plan to do our original sequences this as well as this. I was worried that we wouldn't have enough time to edit seeing as we are filming it relatively late due to our actor being unavailable much of the time, but Mark assured me that we should be fine - after all, we aren't being marked on our editing skills.

  Mark mentioned that our POV sequence did need a section of someone being followed - something that we haven't captured. We plan to rectify this by filming it from the dogs point of view as he follows James later on in the film.

  I found the tutorial helpful as it assured me that we are doing things correctly and that we are on track with everything.

Meeting 29/11/2012

On the 29th November Me, Fraser and Clarice met before our tutorial to go through a schedule of when we will be filming the next scenes. It has been awkward to find a date that the actor Jimmy is free all day and the earliest was the 12th December. Although this seems a little late, it does give us chance to get everything prepared before then as well as just about enough time to edit.

  Other days we thought of filming was Friday 7th December and Monday 10th December. These days would be used to film the scenes needing just Missy. Fridays filming will be in the City and Monday in Killamarsh. Fraser needs to get in touch with Missy to check these dates work for her.

Meeting 21/11/2012

On the 21st November Myself, Fraser and Clarice met to go through what we had done so far as well as do further planning for the other shoots needed. Amy also met with us for part of the meeting, however, it was hard because she knew little about the films storyline and our plans on how we are including the Four Elements.

  Below is a list of the decided aspects we have chosen to use for our final 3 elements, as well as some independent research I have done:

Use of Colour

  After talking about this in the meeting in detail, we have decided that at well as the conjoining colour of red in James' socks, Lucy's scarf and the dog's lead to represent their unison, the use of green in the countryside will demonstrate a quaint and peaceful atmosphere, as well as using dull greys and browns in the town centre to symbolise the constant flow of city life. I think that the juxtaposition between the greens in the country and the greys in the city will really highlight the two different worlds that James and Lucy live in - something that we are trying to portray.

  Inspiration for the tranquil greens are demonstrated in Peter Weir's 'Witness' (1985). This was mentioned in the workshop and I think it correlates well to the shades of green we plan to use in our film. The setting of 'Witness' is the Amish country and I think that to many people this denotes the image of innocence and something traditional. Therefore, the use of green works well as it helps display that image of peace.

1. Frame from 'Witness'.

  Another example that I thought of that has influenced my use of green within the film, is Gary Ross' 'The Hunger Games' (2012). The protagonist in the film, Katniss, uses her time in the woods to hunt. It is a place she feels safe and the overshadowing trees help conceal her from getting caught. Before going into an arena to which she is forced to kill everyone, her most valuable weapon is to hunt in order to survive. Therefore, there is a great physical likeness to both locations, despite being completely different. The colour of green is prominent in both and correlates to Katniss as being somewhere she knows she can be the best.

2. Frame from 'The Hunger Games'

  The dull greys are reminiscent in many british films, particularly gritty dramas and horrors such as Danny Boyle's '28 days later'. A film that I think demonstrates the look we are trying to create perfectly, is Boyle's 'Trainspotting' (1996). The urban setting, style of realism and the theme of drugs represents the city in "urban poverty and squalor in "culturally rich" Edinburgh".4.

3. Frame from 'Trainspotting'

  The colour of red that will be present in the Missy's scarf and James' socks will signify not only their unison but the romantic relationship between them. The red on the dog's lead will also help show their cohesion.

Lighting Change
There are a couple of lighting changes that we plan to film for this piece. The first is very similar to a scene in Danny DeVito's 'Matilda' (1996):

5. Frames from 'Matilda'

  This scene is interesting as it portrays the passing of time through the use of lighting. The light comes from the window in Matilda's room and has obviously been brightened during filming the shot. Towards the end, the camera zooms in on her face as she awakes. We have decided to do something similar to this at the beginning of our piece where James is about to wake up.

  Another way we plan to show a lighting change is through a short time lapse when James is eating his lunch on the hill with his dog. Hopefully, this will show how long they have been there and the time that Lucy has waited for him.

  Finally, we will use a reflector board in the city scenes with Missy to show subtle lighting changes.

Long Take

  For the long take, we have decided to include a shot of James playing catch with his dog in a field. It will be nice to use a dolly in order to get a tracking shot of this as I feel that movement will make it much more interesting. The long take in 'Elephant' that I have reviewed earlier in the blog will be something that we consider when filming this section of our piece.

Overall, I think that it was a successful meeting and I am now clear on the exact actions we are putting in place to ensure we have all four elements in our film. We have also made sure that Myself, Fraser and Clarice all get the storyboards done by the next time we shoot.

References:
1. http://www.google.com/imgres?q=witness+harrison+ford&um=1&hl=en&client=safari&sa=N&tbo=d&rls=en&authuser=0&biw=1280&bih=680&tbm=isch&tbnid=VHvxv8S48KuQ1M:&imgrefurl=http://www.soapchat.net/showthread.php%3F124170-Witness-Harrison-Ford&docid=U7HvwXDs9Mw5UM&imgurl=http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc330/barbaracastpics/misc/vlcsnap-2010-10-17-22h40m47s187.png&w=640&h=360&ei=VdO_UNKSGuqR0AXnsIG4CA&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=120&sig=117828630293561111691&page=4&tbnh=139&tbnw=257&start=97&ndsp=36&ved=1t:429,r:99,s:0,i:388&tx=121&ty=31
2. http://www.google.com/imgres?q=the+hunger+games+trees&um=1&hl=en&client=safari&tbo=d&rls=en&authuser=0&biw=1280&bih=680&tbm=isch&tbnid=x-IBD-4lbqZHbM:&imgrefurl=http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/dvd-review-the-hunger-games-20120823-24n93.html&docid=fWQ4RZ_1ArfZYM&imgurl=http://images.smh.com.au/2012/04/04/3188780/hunger-games-wide-620x349.jpg&w=620&h=349&ei=itO_UOzvNqbB0QWW34HgDA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=341&vpy=167&dur=27&hovh=168&hovw=299&tx=166&ty=71&sig=117828630293561111691&page=1&tbnh=139&tbnw=277&start=0&ndsp=26&ved=1t:429,r:16,s:0,i:131
3. http://www.google.com/imgres?q=trainspotting&num=10&um=1&hl=en&client=safari&tbo=d&rls=en&authuser=0&biw=1280&bih=680&tbm=isch&tbnid=L4Xy1jL29HEa1M:&imgrefurl=http://www.jonathanrosenbaum.com/%3Fp%3D6727&docid=fz_ObPPovGz_1M&imgurl=http://www.jonathanrosenbaum.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/trainspotting2.jpg&w=768&h=432&ei=Lte_UMnxBcrBhAeovYHoAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=715&vpy=176&dur=535&hovh=168&hovw=300&tx=175&ty=82&sig=117828630293561111691&sqi=2&page=1&tbnh=140&tbnw=243&start=0&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0,i:161
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trainspotting_(film)
5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REkalwqS3a8

Filming POV Sequence 13/11/2012

  On the 13th of November, we filmed the Point-of-View sequence required for the film. Myself, Fraser, Clarice and our two actors - Missy and Jimmy, met at the bus station to catch the 8:55am bus to Killamarsh. We arrived at 9:25am.

  We initially met Clarice's dog as we plan to use him throughout the film and needed to familiarise ourselves with him. Using the shot list I had printed off, we filmed each of the shots in a particular order. This meant that we used our time wisely through filming all similar shots at the same time. Being organised is important to me as the last thing I wanted was a fed up crew and especially fed up actors.

  The actors worked well together and we did not seem to have any problems with them. The dog - Ben, was also very well behaved and easy to work with.

  A problem that we had towards the end of filming was that despite having two batteries for the camera, that appeared to have enough power (as stated on the camera), they stopped working. I am unsure as to whether this was a problem with the camera or not but it did affect the amount of time we had to film. Because of this we had to continually turn the camera off and on for it to work for around a minute at a time in order to shoot the last bit of footage we needed.

  The series of shots that we shot were influenced by the 'Vertigo' scene we were shown in the workshop. However, I do think that we needed more shots from Missy's POV and we plan to get these at a later date.

 As for roles, we each took it in turn to use the camera and I feel that we all gave input on interesting shots that could be included in addition to those on the shot list.

  To conclude, I think that the shoot went well. We worked well as a group and managed to get pretty much all of the footage we needed. I'm looking forward to the rest of the shoots.

Final ParaShoot Form