Lighting Workshop - 30th November

What's on today?
Lighting, guerilla style: How can I light my film cheaply without a light kit? What lights go where? Why?  How can I manipulate light to create different effects and moods?

Your task:
1) Set up a shot with a subject at a desk using
a) three-point lighting
b) noir lighting

Feedback:
How distance of subject to lights, change of light strength, and change of angles alter the effects and mood of the shot.

Before you begin, you need to read this post from our friends at St George's North, where Dougal Fergusson gives us some more information about lighting in film. Many thanks to Dougal for this!

Shooting Film Noir - Part 2

Tasks:
1) Finish your noir scene scripts.

2) Storyboarding - As Christopher Columbus (director of the first two Harry Potter films) once said, “Making a movie without a storyboard is like throwing your money into a bottomless pit.”

Create a storyboard to go with your scripts, to give you a better idea of how to shoot your scene.  Look here and here to remind yourself of what elements to include in your storyboards, and how to lay them out.


You need more? Look at this tutorial:

You will find storyboard templates in the downloads section of your Figaro account:

\college\IB Film Studies\Screenplays and Storyboarding\template_storyboards.doc

Remember, when it comes to shot composition in your storyboards, think about both our purpose, and also the constraints of our filming location.

1) Purpose - to experiment with lighting and camera position to mimic a noir style.
2) Constraints
     - shooting indoor in fairly bare room with only one window and two doors.
     - very limited props for set design (table, chairs, phone)
     -no lighting or smoking of cigarettes allowed on school campus!!!

You will need to think carefully how to ensure that your shots create the ILLUSION of your setting. Think, for example, of how to use close ups and camera angles effectively to reveal just enough of your setting:

Look at how the angle and close-up position here shows a man, perhaps listening to a conversation in the next room, perhaps waiting for someone to enter...

Notice the use of shadow here too. We will need to find away to create these extreme shadows with our lighting.

Notice how the over-the-shoulder close-up shot here allows us to see the woman on the telphone, whilst keeping our view of the room restricted.





We will visit our "studio" tomorrow and set up our scenes, firstly experimenting with different ways of lighting the room and the subjects.

You will need to ensure you have in your group for tomorrow:
1) three table or desk lamps (1 100W, 260W)
2) a four-plug socket adaptor
3) costumes, hats, props


Fiming groups:
Double Jeapordy
Santos
Giuliana
Tomas
Ernesto
Ramiro

Touch of Evil
 Viveka
Manuel
Sabrina
Honorio
Carlos

WRITING A FILM NOIR SCENE - 21 November

Today's key word:

motif - a recurring element, theme or pattern in a film or text that has a wider significance

What's the purpose?

Preparing for your film shoot next week where you'll be shooting your own film noir scene, you'll need to understand how to write a typical noir scene.


You'll work in pairs today as scriptwriters, using a scene from what many critics consider to be the first noir film, The Maltese Falcon (Huston, 1941) as a starting point for your writing.


We'll use the best scripts next week to shoot your scenes.

1) Watch the trailer for The Maltese Falcon, to get a "feel" for the film:

Discuss as class: What recognizable FILM NOIR motifs can we find from watching the trailer?

Task 2: 

a) Watch the clip shown on the whiteboard from the opening scene of The Maltese Falcon, where Sam Spade (Bogart) meets  Ms Wanderlay (Astor) for the first time.

b) Read the following opening to a noir story.

What similarities do the two opening scenes have? What differences? Do you think the Wanderlay character is a reliable person in The Maltese Falcon? Why (not)? What about Sam Spade? Discuss in pairs and write a blog entry, using the same title as this entry, and labelling it Film Noir.

Scriptwriting pairs:

Santos and Ernesto

Manuel and Viveka

Ramiro and Tomas

Carlos and Sabrina

Giuliana and Honorio

Task 3:

Writing your own film noir scene. 

As you can see from what we've watched/read already, there are some essential motifs in Film Noir. You need to embrace these to give YOUR scene that authentic noir sensibility:

Batman - hero with identity issues

The first thing there's needs to be is an Anti-Hero. He could be a Private Detective - that's certainly one of the more popular options. (You could subvert this classic  motif by making your He a She.)

"Could I smoke a cigarette seductively before I look at these photos of my dead husband?"

You need to have a Femme Fatale. It's a classic motif in Noir. You know the type. Dressed all in black with legs up to here, she slinks into the PI's office, holding a cigarette on a long, long, holder, saying "Oh, Mr. Rockhammer, you're the only one who can help me find out who killed my extremely wealthy husband." Did she do it? Do I care? Where'd that saxophone music come from? Whatever her story is, whether she did it or not, she's definitely keeping some secrets.

The important thing is is that the world is very cynical. There aren't going to be any happy endings here, at least not for some people: it's usually a horrible place where the pessimistic notion of "anything that can go wrong will go horribly wrong" almost always applies, and it corrupts its inhabitants into perpetuating that nastiness against each other. More succinctly, trying to survive in one of these places is going to suck; humans are either bastards or morons or a combination of the two.

Plot:

Taking on board the private detective anti-hero, the plot may well involve an initial request from the femme fatale to find someone or have someone followed. Usually, though, the initial request turns out to be a lie.

Setting:

Bars are good, an alleyway too, as well as a private detective's office. Anywhere that can be dark and claustrophobic. REMEMBER your scene will be shot INSIDE though - so we can experiment with lighting.

With this background knowledge, you're ready to write your short scene. The final version will need to be posted on your blogs. You have the rest of the lesson to discuss and begin writing.

You will have twenty min of next lesson to complete and publish.

Take a look in the downloads section of Figaro for reminders of how to format your script:

college\IB Film Studies\Screenplays - Halloween document

Thanks to www.tvtropes.org from which I borrowed shamelessly.

Representation of characters - Mills/Pitt

In your analysis, one of the key things to consider is how characters are represented, and WHAT characters come to represent.

Casting of actors and actresses is, of course, key to this. Consider what image and ideas an actor like Brad Pitt has with the target audience for the film, for example:


Brad Pitt now

Brad Pitt in 1990s

Advertisement in 1990 that made Pitt famous

 What conclusions can we make about the image he brings? 

Compare this form of "new masculinity" with the older, more traditional symbol of male masculinity from before the 1990s - the "Marlboro Man":

Look at this picture

And read this article.(The part on MM - the Marloboro Man)

And this article.

How does the modern masculinity of Brad Pitt differ from traditional masculinity of the Marlboro Man? Write a paragraph in your blog, including images to help. (labels: Seven, Film Noir, Brad Pitt, Character)

Now watch the selected clips of Seven. How does the film play with Pitt's image of new masculinity?

Seven - Working towards A Textual Analysis

Review:

• Discuss with a partner the key things you have learnt so far about Seven in terms of film language (eg. use of camera, lighting, sound, editing, set design), genre and representation of characters.
• Create a brief list and be prepared to feedback.

Today
Before you begin planning your paired oral presentations on an extract from Seven, we need to consider more important elements of the whole film in greater detail. You will respond to a series of questions today which will help you to do that, posting all answers on your blog.

1) Genre
"The film is a mix of taut thriller, engaging mystery, and gruesome horror show, and it’s so howlingly bleak that the evil deviance at the center never gets any easier to stomach. At its blackened heart, it’s a cop drama, a thriller about a pair of mismatched detectives developing a mutual respect as they pursue a ruthless serial killer, but it’s so far beyond the boilerplate dramas you expect from the genre that it ceases to be just another cat-and-mouse game and becomes instead a haunting walk through a cruel world feeding on its on waste." taken from Pajiba


Reading the above, and using your own knowledge of genre, what genre(s) does Seven belong to? You will need to provide evidence for your choices. You can use filmsite.org to help.

2) Sociocultural and Historical Factors
Find out all you can about the term "Fin de Siecle". What does it mean? How can this term help us to understand the film Seven, and the choice of content? (You may want to look at the following:
http://www.oldandsold.com/articles30/french-painting-18.shtml to help).

More about Noir

Today

• Identifying Noir elements in Seven, and their effects
• Deciding on your oral textual analysis

Remember to keep making notes on conventions of noir as you watch Seven. Use the worksheerts to help you. Remember to keep track of the plot using the Murder Chart.

(Find these worksheets by accessing the following folders in the download section of your Figaro account: 

college\IB Film Studies\Film Noir)
So far, the feedback from the class, your ability to identify and explain the effects of different elements in Seven, has been really very good. This means I expect great things from your oral presentations on Seven!

Seven - Oral analysis:

what you can expect if you do not prepare
you Oral presentations thoroughly

• It will count towards 50% of your exam grade for the third trimester.

(The other 50% will be based on your final documentary and the documentation you provide (script and production journals).

• You will work in pairs, and be assessed together. So you need to ensure you both work together effectively, dividing up the work equally.
• You need to agree on an extract of no more than five minutes from Seven. You need to check with me and I will reserve that extract for you if it is acceptable.
• No two pairs can work on the same extract.
• Your oral presentation should last between seven and ten minutes, and you should not play your extract within this time.
• You can use screen shots or stills from your extract to better illustrate your ideas, although this is not necessary.
• You may bring in notes for reference and guidance, but you may NOT read from a prepared document.
• You need to all bring in pen drive with at least two GB of space to have a copy of the film you can study at home.
• You will have some class time to study, plan and practice, but you will be expected to work at home on this as well, as if you were preparing for an end of year exam in the exam hall.
• The oral presentation will be delivered in class during IB Film lessons, dates to be confirmed next week.
• The pairs are:
  Honorio and Ramiro
  Viveka and Carlos
  Giuliana and Tomas
  Santos and Manuel - chase scene: Mills vs Doe; reserved
  Sabrina and Ernesto

Any questions?

Neo Noir - Continuing the noir sensibility

What is neo noir?

It's a term (meaning, literally, "recent black") used to describe a body of films that carry on the stylistic and thematic traditions of the American noir films of the 1940s and 1950s. It's not really a genre (in the way, say, comedy or horror is), more a movement with certain conventions. Elements of noir can be found often in crime films, horror, science fiction, even romance.

We can split neo noir into two fairly distinct categories:

1) Modern films set in  the 1930s to 1950s which continue the noir sensibility by using and subverting plot, character and theme, as well as using stylistic conventions of camera, lighting, etc.

(In Chinatown (Polanski, 1974) darkness gives way to light in the 1930s LA desert setting. Notive how Jack Nicholson, the hard-boiled hero, is made to look vulnerable, even ridiculouswith his wounded nose.)



2) Modern films set in the modern/timeless world, which use and subvert themes, character types and conventions from the original noir films.

(Note the use of dutch angle in The Dark Knight (Nolan, 2008), a super hero film with a distinctly noir feel. Note also the bare, urban, industrial looking set).



In which category does Seven fit?

 Ideology of Neo-noir films
Neo-noir films address questions about guilt, redemption, the essence of human nature, and problems of knowledge, memory and identity. In the neo-noir universe, the lines between right and wrong and good and evil are blurred, and the detective and the criminal frequently mirror each other's most damaging personality traits. The neo-noir detective — more antihero than hero — is frequently a morally compromised and spiritually shaken individual whose pursuit of a criminal hides the search for lost or unattainable aspects of the self.  Neo-noir conveys ambiguity, disillusionment, and disorientation more effectively than even the most iconic films of the classic noir era. Able to self-consciously draw upon noir conventions and simultaneously subvert them, neo-noir directors push beyond the earlier genre's limitation.

Conventions of noir used/updated in Neo-noir (you highlighted manyof these last lesson when watching the opening of Seven):

• wide angles and deep focus (note in this shot from Act Of Violence (Zimmerman, 1948) how both the foreground of the man and pole, and the background of the station building are sharply outlined. What effect does this have?

• chiaroscuro: low-key lighting producing dramatic contrasts with light and dark and heavy shadows (note in the shot from Bladerunner (Scott, 1982), a science fiction noir thriller how both the hero and heroine are partly obscured by the shadows from the blinds. An excellent visual technique to show how trapped or enclosed the characters are.

• cold bluish colours reflecting alienation and technology  (notice in the shot from Seven how cold and clinical the feel is)
• dutch angles, low angles to show a distorted, chaotic world lacking moral clarity
• decaying, rundown urban city settings which seem like mazes or labyrinths
• downbeat atmosphere, reflected in the weather, or time of day
• closed framing
• complex storylines or narrative structures (eg. using flashbacks)
• voice-over narrations
• plots involving crime or investigations of crime (often murder)
• human nature at its most passionate, corrupt and destructive - crime motivated by greed, jealousy, etc
• flawed, alienated heroes and heroines
• archetypal characters—hardboiled detectives, femme fatales, corrupt policemen, jealous husbands
• ambivalent or bleak endings
• people striving against random, uncaring fate
• a sense of doom, a hopelessness in tone
• steadfast virtue ultimately rewarded and vice, in the absence of shame and redemption, severely punished in orginal noir (often subverted in neo-noir).

Task today:
As we continue our screening of Seven, add to your notes evidence from the film which shows any of the conventions mentioned above. (You will publish a full document, including appropriate screen shots when we have completed our viewing next week).

Film Noir - Monday 26th September, 2011

Following on from our study of Pulp Fiction, we will be moving both SIDEWAYS and BACKWARDS into the world of film noir, which Ramiro is something of an expert on given his presentation back in Trimester One on cinema in the 1940s.

We will be studying a modern noir film - Seven (David Fincher, 1995), in its entirety, from which at the end of the trimester

1) you will all choose your own five minute sequence and provide an ORAL textual analysis lasting seven to ten minutes
2) you will write, design and film a typical film noir scene, using the conventions we have studied in class both in terms of style and mood (lighting, angles, sound, etc), and content (character, dialogue, plot)

Before we begin our study of Seven, you need to brush up on the history of film noir...

A still shot from The Killers (Siodmak, 1946)

What is film noir?
It's a french label for a largely American film phenomenon arising in 1940s. Postwar France got to watch a lot of american films, and noticed similarities between the tone and content of these films and their own roman noir (dark edgy literature). noir means "black". And these films being made were pretty dark, in more ways than one...




Why did America start to make these films?
As we have discovered in previous classes, film movements come into being depending on attitudes/influences in culture, and depending on the economic and social situation of the countries making them.

• There was a growing sense of unease in USA in the 1940s - World War II (1939-1945) had shown americans the horror of violence, the evil of man, and the corruption of power. USA had gone through an economic depression in the 1930s that had ravaged the country. But, USA emerged from the war a stronger, more powerful country. The economy was now booming. However, the rise of materialism and a consumer society worried many - were American citizens too obsessed with wealth and material goods ? Were citizens conforming to readily to this consumer society? Was USA losing its sense of right and wrong in the quest for more wealth? Was the strong sense of national unity stimulated by the common goal of victory in WWII becoming lost in peacetime as individual gain became more important? Was it right that the country should be able to benefit economically from the war? Was it right that USA's new found power was built on their military might and nuclear weaponry?

• In 1930s a literary tradition of crime novels, the "hard-boiled" or "pulp" fiction (where have we seen that term before???) was very popular. Novels that depicted a different kind of detective hero to the traditional detective - the detectives in pulp fiction were anti-heroes, morally ambiguous characters who find themselves apart from the society they live in, on the edge of the law, often committing crimes as well as solving them. The books were violent, the dialogue gritty and real, action was on the streets, America was portrayed as an industrial, urban wasteland full of morally corrupt people, slaves to their desires and passions. The noir films of the 1940s have similar characters, plots and settings.

still shot from The Cabinet of Dr Caligari
(Weine, 1919)

• Viveka can tell us all about German Expressionism in the 1920s. This film movement, with its distorted and exaggerated camera work and set designs influenced the style of film noir. This can be traced to many European immigrants settling in USA, including people in the film industry, during the prewar years, who would go on to take jobs in Hollywood as film technicians and directors.

So, we're looking at films that through content and style reflect a mood of uneasiness, alienation and loneliness.

A still shot from Reservoir Dogs (Tarantino, 1992),
a neo noir thriller

What now?

Watch the opening of Seven. Its a descendent of the movement of film noir, often called neo (as in "new") noir - modern films that have updated the original movement.

Today's question - what elements of the film seem to belong to film noir? 

Discuss in pairs. Note down your responses ready to feedback.

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS - PULP FICTION (Tarantino, 1994)

What's On?

We will plan a written textual analysis of an extract from Pulp Fiction.

You will need to do some RESEARCH to help you produce a 1000 word analysis, which you will hand in on Wednesday 28th September, after the EXEAT.


Task 1
Watch the extract again. As you watch, create a blog of notes where you can jot down your thoughts on any or all of the following:

• narrative
• genre
• presentation of characters
• camera angles, shots and movement
• editing and sequencing
• lighting, shade and colour
• sound
• location and set design
• genre conventions
• target audience of the film

Discuss as a class your initial ideas, and be prepared to add to your notes.

Task 2 -

• In order to understand more about the crime genre in film, read the following information.
• On your blog of notes, jot down  the conventions (or rules) of the crime film that Pulp Fiction follows, and jot down the conventions it subverts (or breaks).
• Discuss as a class.

eg. one convention of the typical crime film is that the living quarters of the criminal will be seedy, dirty, poor. However, in Pulp Fiction, Lance's house seems rather mundane and normal, a regular middle-class house on a regular street.

Final task:

• Watch the extract again. This time, take more focused notes using the handout provided in class.
• Discuss ideas as a class.
• H/W - write a 1000 word textual analysis to be handed in on Wednesday 28th September.

Pulp Fiction - Narrative Structure

Today

We will explore the rather unusual narrative structure of Pulp Fiction, and see what effects Tarantino creates by subverting the linear chrononlogical order we expect in a film.

How?

Go the Tarantino folder, found in IB Film folder in the college folder.
Access the "Pulp Fiction narrative structure document". Read the instructions.
Open the "timeline template" document. Use this to create a linear chronological timeline of pulp fiction.
Send me the completed timeline by mail.

Feedback
After playing around with the narrative structure, discuss the choices Tarantino made. What effects were created by playing with the natural order of time in his film? Think especially about the opening and ending of the film.

Production Journals

What to do

• Spend the first fifteen minutes of today's lesson updating your production journals
• Your entries should reflect on the filming you carried out last week
• Your entries should also consider the choices you are now making in post-production

REMEMBER - the more detailed your entries, the better. Some key questions to help you write are below:

• What parts of filming were particularly successful and why?
• What parts of filming were difficult/unsuccessful. Why?
• Did you follow your plans during filming (shot lists, storyboards, location lists)? Did you have to alter any of your plans? Why??
• How did you fulfil your individual role during filming (cameraman, editor, scriptwriter, director, talent)?
• What are you responsible for in post-production? How are you working towards completing your film?

Documentary - The Interview

What's On?

The real meat of your documentary will likely be made up of  interviews with "experts" or witnesses" for your subject. So, the success of your film may depend on the success of your interviews. We need to analyse how to FILM a decent interview.






Today's task

• Watch the footage from Super Size Me (Spurlock, 2004) twice
• Answer the following questions

1) What techniques are used to introduce the audience to the interview subject(s)?
2) Is it necessary to hear a question being asked before the interviewee's response on film? Why/why not?
3) Shots - what camera positions and angles tend to be used? Why do you think these choices are made?
4) Movement - what do you notice about the movement of camera during interview filming?
5) What can you say about the positioning of the interview subject within the shot (ie. where are they looking and why?)
6) How long are the subjects' responses to questions? How much information/opinion do they give?
7) What research do you think Spurlock did BEFORE interviewing the subjects here? Be as detailed as possible.

Make sure you note these responses down in your laptop or notebook, and be ready to feedback with the class.

Finally, remember FILMING DAY is this TUESDAY!!! We'll talk in more detail about practical concerns tomorrow.

Documentary - completing preproduction tasks

The story so far...

Moonlight Productions - your production folder shows some thoughtful research, some detail in storyboards and thorough explanations of problems encountered and decisions made. Good. Impressive visual conceptualization of scenes.


Skin - Impressed with your organisation skills and the amount of footage obtained so far. Lots of interviews carried out. You understand that the more footage you obtain, the more choices you will have. A really dynamic group.

Toto - An executive producers dream - meeting all your deadlines, and more. Record keeping is thorough. B-roll obtained so far and the preliminary edits have an entirely professional feel. Keep it up.

Today:

• Each group needs to have submitted their location list by end of play today. We discussed this last week. Ask if you need help.
• Cameraman should be working (with help from Writer) on a detailed shot list. I will talk you through this process.
•  Deadline for this is Friday 12th August - tomorrow!
• Talent/Writer - narration/voice-over
• Researcher/Editor - completing all B-roll footage needed. (You need to include in shot list).
• All - add to your individual journals as ideas, problems, solutions arise

Bits and Bobs

For today:

• Updating your individual production journals (make sure all entries are labelled Production Journal) with details/evaluation of your planning/filming so far on your documentary. I will be checking these today with you!
• Completing and uploading your Tarantino-style scripts. Remind yourself of Pulp Fiction's script by clicking here.
• Feedback on Tarantino research.

Documentary Planning - location, location

What's on?

• lDeciding where you plan to shoot video
• lVisiting sites ahead of time to get a sense of the space
• lPlanning the order in which you will shoot in different locations
• lIdentify what the best shots are in each location 

Main Task

Many of you have already visited locations for filming, taken footage, etc. Great work and well done for planning ahead like that.

• You all need to provide a document containing the list of locations you are shooting in, the order you will shoot in them (including dates you will film/have filmed), and still shots with the name of location. 

• Include locations even if you have already decided to delete them from the final film. I want to know why.

See the example provided to help.

If you can finish today - great. If not - final deadline Thursday 11th August.

Additional tasks:

It is quite possible you will finish this task ahead of time, or it will not require everyone of your group. Here's some other things to work on:

• cameraman/editor - plans types of shots for each location
• talent/writer - scripts any narration, practices voice-over
• researcher - more b-roll, facts, statistics, research on interview subjects

 

Scripting dialogue - Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, 1994)

What's On?

Establishing HOW and WHY Tarantino shapes the dialogue in the opening of Pulp Fiction.

Scripting and performing a table-reading of your own Tarantinoesque dialogue

Task 1

a) Watch the opening scene of Pulp Fiction.

b) Discuss as a class elements of the film that are striking or interesting (camera, sound, features of dialogue, set/costume, mis-en-scene, editing, etc)


(John Travolta as Vincent Vega and Samuel L Jackson as Jules Winnfield)

c) Watch opening scene again, following with the transcript of dialogue.

d) In pairs, make notes on the following aspects:
i) Who are these people and how does the film let us know?
ii) What is surprising/unexpected about their conversation? Why?
iii) What is NOT surprising or EXPECTED about their conversation? Why?
iv) What parts of their conversation - if any - seem important to move the PLOT forwards?
v) What parts of their conversation do not seem to move the plot forwards? What effects are achieved by including them?

e) Feedback in pairs with another pair, then present findings to class.

Task 2- new pairs

Can you do a Tarantino? Provide an opening scene's dialogue, and try and give it a Tarantino flavour.

Set up:
Two characters (who we will learn are gansters, but not immediately) walking towards a subway. One is carrying an old suitcase. (It doesn't contain guns!) They are initially discussing/gently diagreeing on a topic of your choice: (I include some ideas below)
a) their favourite super hero
b) where to get the best milkshake
c) why Kanye West -  - is better than Radiohead. (or any other musical artists)
d) why one prefers make up, the other not

The key is how to try and make your writing sound natural, fluent, amusing, while at the same time revealing more about the characters (background, personality)  in subtle ways. Not easy. Let's experiment...

Quentin Tarantino - Scripting, Narrative and Dialogue

What's On?

• A new unit studying the director Quentin Tarantino to learn more about scripting, narrative and the use of dialogue in film.
• We will focus mainly on his film Pulp Fiction (1994), but will draw on examples from his other work.
• A written textual analysis on a five-minute section from Pulp Fiction - to be submitted 18th August 2011.

Today's objectives

• develop research skills - searching for information, scanning text for information, collating info, summarising info
• know background information about Quentin Tarantino

"You got guns on us. You decide to shoot, we're dead. Up top, they got grenades. They drop them down here, you're dead. That's a Mexican Standoff, and that was not the deal. No trust, no deal."

— Lt. Aldo Raine, Inglourious Basterds

Key words:

• genre - a type of film which follows certain conventions (eg. horror, comedy, western)
• trope - a storytelling device or convention easily recognisable by the audience (eg. For example, that guy in every horror movie who tells his friends "I'll be right back" is most assuredly not going to be back - this is known as TEMPTING FATE )

Task:
Answer the following research questions on your film blog.
Use the post title: Quentin Tarantino, label it: Tarantino, textual analysis, film history

Questions (in YOUR OWN WORDS PLEASE! CUT AND PASTING will lead to mark of zero, and you will have to redo at home)

1)      Name two distinctive features of Tarantino’s films.

2)      How was Tarantino’s education in film different to the normal method of film-school?

3)      Despite the success of Reservoir Dogs, Tarantino’s first film in 1992, it was criticized by many. Why?

4)      What genre do Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction belong to?

5)      Identify three recurring CAMERA ANGLES/SHOTS used by Tarantino. Include a screen shot example of each, with a brief caption about the possible effects created by each (eg. to give a sense of power to audience/character, to disorient the viewer, etc)

6)      Explain USING YOUR OWN WORDS what Tarantino’s Mirror shot is, and possible effects of using it. Include a screen shot.

7)      A recurring trope in Tarantino’s films is the Mexican standoff.

a) Briefly explain what it is.

b) Explain where the term comes from.

c) Examples of two non-Tarantino films that use it (with screen shots of possible).

d) Provide screen shots from two Tarantino films that use it.

8)      A “MacGuffin” is used in Tarantino’s film Pulp Fiction.

a)      What is a MacGuffin? Explain in fifty words.

b)     What is the MacGuffin in Pulp Fiction?

c)      Provide examples fo MacGuffins from two non-Tarantino films, with screen shots if possible.

You can use following website links to help:

Tarantino biography

Tarantino and Crime

Tarantino's trademarks

TV and Film tropes 

Word detective 

Production Journals - Monday 4th July

Order of play:

• Spend a good 25 minutes adding to - or STARTING, for some of you - your production journals for your documentary films
• Discuss textual analysis of Eden Lake, with my feedback
• Target setting for the next stage of your documentaries

What and how?

• Your production journals are your INDIVIDUAL records of your documentary work. That means you do them alone (although you can discuss some points with your group first)
• You need to keep these on your blogs. Label them "production journal" so they are easy to find
• On them you need to EVALUATE your work so far - how well are you doing in your own role as writer, researcher, etc? What successes have you had? What problems have you encountered and how have you solved them? What changes have you made, and why? What do you need to do next? 
• The more detailed your journals, the better. Remember, they will be assessed, along with the materials you produce as a group

And finally
The amount of effort you guys have put in so far has been really impressive. Not only that, the maturity you have shown, your creativity, and your initiative so far on this project - a massive pat on the back for everyone. But it's not cigars and champagne time yet...so keep working!!!

Documentary Planning

What's on?

• Today you need to finish your story outline (100 words approx.), with key images, equipment, and ideas completed on storyboard templates.
• You need to submit all research documents found that you intend to make use of, as well as explanations as to how you will use these documents (ie. narrate information, inlcude scans of images, film footage, etc)
• You need to submit evidence of any contact you are making with your subjects (experts, witnesses, member of the public) - this could be in the form of emails, records of telephone conversations or visits
• You can collect all these documents in the project folders I will give you today.
• You can send electronic back up copies to me

Production journal

• Individually, you should be keeping a record of the production process - in particular, how you are fulfilling your objectives as writer, researcher, talent, etc; the decisions you are making, the problems you have encountered, how you are solving them, etc. You will be assessed on this INDIVIDUALLY. All journal entries should be posted on your blog. Labels - production journal, documentary film

Capturing The Friedmans - Monday 27th June, 2011

What to do? (Apologies to Jagger/Richards)
You: Use Capturing the Friedmans to gather ideas and insights into the documentary film-making process.
You: Upload your finished notes on the film onto your blog (following instructions on the worksheet).
Me: Review your film blogs - give you ideas for how to improve them. (Remember, your blogs will be assessed for "logros" in Trimester 2. More than that - they're yours - created by you, nurtured by you, loved by you. Make sure you look after your babies!!!)

Questions?

STORY OUTLINES and RESEARCH - Thursday 16th June

Some great pitches last week:

Moonlight Productions - eloquent and ambitious. The pitch was forceful and effective. However, is the idea workable in five minutes? Who will your subject(s) be? Will they agree to be filmed to talk about this problem? We may need a rethink here...

Skin Studio - you have clearly thought ahead with regards to access, contacts, and keeping it simple. It's an idea that can work. How to make your documentary interesting, rather than a barrage of facts about the institution? That's your task for today...

Toto Productions - The pitch I heard in class contained a strong  and workable idea. It's do-able with careful thought and planning. But where is the document?? You need to be more efficient and meet deadlines if you want to get your documentary completed within the time frame given...

TODAY:

• Pitches approved - story outline
• Pitches not approved - revise idea/choose another of your ideas, resubmit pitch to class

 How to produce your story outline

• Map out the flow of the story using drawings and/or text
• refer back to the pitch
• write a brief 100 word piece on the narrative you will tell
• brainstorm what ideas will be communicated where in the story's timeline (using storyboard template)
• identify major images/ideas to be shown using  (using storyboard template)
• Access storyboard template in the shared area -   college\IB Film Studies\DOCUMENTARY PROJECT\digital.storyboard_template.pdf

 PLEASE NOTE: the story outline is a guide which will help you to plan and research the "meat" of your project. Obviously, your outline may well change as you research and develop your project. But it is a necessary first step in communicating your vision of what your documentary will be.


 DEADLINE for finished storyboard/outline - FRIDAY 24th June

l

DOCUMENTARY FILM PITCH

What's on?
Pitching your documentary on a local social/cultural issue

• lPitch your story ideas to EXEC PRODUCER

• lBrainstorm stories in your production groups

• lPresent top three ideas to class

• Class discussion of story ideas

• lProduction teams take your best idea, summarize it in less than one page of text under three headings: What’s the story, Why we're doing it, and How we’ll do it

 
 

How to present your final pitch:

• Both orally and in a written document
• Production company name at top; three paragraphs under the three headings above
• Remember - it all starts with a KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid! The simpler your idea, and your summary, the more effective your pitch will be
• Email me the final Pitch document to pwise@stgeorge.org.ar by lesson end

Written Textual Analysis - Monday 6th June

What's to do?
Today you must organise the excellent ideas you gave in class last week and write up a textual analysis of the opening to Eden Lake.

Steve's just been told he needs to complete his textual analysis by Friday...

Format?

• You need to produce this in a word document with the title Eden Lake - Textual Analysis
• You need to write in full paragraphs, and should organise your essay by using the note sheet given last week (each heading can be used as a new paragraph)
• You should include an introductory paragraph which outlines the film, what it's about (briefly - one sentence!!!), its genre, who made it, when and where it was made
• You should aim to write 800 words approximately. (Anything significantly less will likely not be detailed enough to show a satisfactory understanding)

How will it be assessed?

• You will receive a mark out of 25
• The handout provided will show the mark scheme. (We will read this together in class)
• The best pieces will show an excellent understanding of how meaning is made through film, will use film terms accurately and in detail, and will show an excellent understanding of how the extract relates to the film as a whole, as well as an excellent awareness of the film’s genre and/or its place in a broader sociocultural context

Deadline:

• You have all of today's class to write it. It must be mailed complete by Friday 10th June to pwise@stgeorge.org.ar

Eden Lake - Textual Analysis; Part 2

Task - Watch the opening five minutes of Eden Lake again. We are going to work individually to compile notes on our key questions raised last class:
a) What does the opening communicate in terms of plot, character and theme
b) How does the filmmaker convey these elements effectively, using sound, camera, editing

You will be given an editing sheet to help you record both your and the class findings.

In order to explore this fully, we need to analyse different things. To analyse means to seperate the whole (the opening) into the various parts that make it. For each question on your sheet, watch the opening five minutes AGAIN.

1) How is the plot or NARRATIVE built up here? (What do we learn about the story of the film, and how?)

2) What do we learn about the characters? HOW do we learn these things about them?

3) What conventions of film are used (editing, sound, camera, lighting, colour, etc) that help make this a horror film?

4)What themes of the film are explored here? HOW do, for instance, set and location help set these themes up?

5) What outside factors have influenced this film in the themes and choice of characters? (Think about socio-cultural factors we have discussed in class)

After 20 minutes, we will discuss your findings so far.

Eden Lake - Textual analysis; Monday 30th May

What's on today?
Two key questions that we will answer:
a) What does the opening of Eden Lake establish in terms of plot, character and theme?
b) How does the film establish these elements?

In order to answer the how, we will need to draw on our technical knowledge of film (use of camera, sound, and EDITING)

Also, we will look at a specific type of editing - the use of the JUMP CUT, which we will see in Eden Lake.

Jump Cut


Task - watch the clip of A Bout de Souffle (Godard, 1960). What is unusual about this clip in terms of how the shots are put together? Discuss and write a post on it.

How is this unusual edit created? Simply, part of a continuous shot of film is taken away, leaving a jump from one part of the shot to the other (temporal jump cut) Or, a new shot can be taken from a slightly different angle to the last shot, adjusting the camera position slightly (spatial jump cut).

So why use jump cuts? Surely they end up looking quite amateurish, and remind the audience that they are watching something artificial, something "made".

Take a look at this scene from Trainspotting (Boyle, 1996), as Renton is going "cold turkey" to get over his heroin addiction. He is also dealing with the death of a friend's baby. Look for the jump cut at around 29 seconds, and another example afterwards.

Now why has the editor used a temporal jump cut here?

• helps show that this isn't real - Renton is imagining it
• helps convey his sense of confusion, disorientation and paranoia

Now watch the clip of Eden Lake. Can you identify the jump  cuts? Are they spatial or temporal? What effects are created by including them? Post your answers on your blog.


Watch the clip again, make notes on what we learn of the story, the main characters, and the key themes or ideas the film will deal with.


Feedback with class.

Eden Lake (James Watkins, 2008)

What's on?
We're going to explore Eden Lake in more detail - its themes and imagery in particular.

What to do?
Look at the picture above. Note down all the connections you find between this and what we have seen so far in Eden Lake. These can be both literal (eg. set in a wood/forest) or more figurative.

Questions to consider as we watch:
Are films cultural artefacts? In other words, products of the societies that make them, influenced by the society that makes them, revealing concerns and attitudes of that society and culture?

Do films exist outside of the society and culture from which they come? Do they deal with timeless, universal ideas that could apply any time, anywhere?

Horror film scripting and storyboarding - Wednesday, 18th May

Firstly, regarding your storyboards and scripts for screen - some really professional and careful work, especially artwork from Sabrina and use of film terms from all of you.

Secondly - some interesting and original ideas discussed on Monday, which shows you are really taking on board the importance of location. Keep up the good work.

What's on?
The next two lessons give you a chance to work on your own horror film scripts and storyboards. The deadline is Friday 20th May.

What do you need to do to create an effective opening?

• Have a clear idea of the type of horror film you are making, and use elements appropriate for it (ie. vulnerable and isolated characters, POV shots - slasher films a la Halloween or Scream; industrial settings, fast paced editing, gore - zombie films a la 28 Days Later...ok, they're not - strictly speaking - zombies but lets not split hairs; atmospheric music, high angle shots, locations that symbolise feelings and conflicts - psychological horror a la The Shining)
• Have a clear idea of the texture and mood you wish to create (see above)
• Have a clear idea how you will build suspense in your opening using camera, sound, editing, lighting

Let's have a look at Dog Soldiers as an example:

• Present your work appropriately in the formats given for scripts and storyboarding
• Use you growing film vocabulary to communicate your ideas
• Come up with an appropriate name (you can do this last!)
• Be creative and have fun

How will you be assessed?

• 10 marks for creativity and orginality - demonstrated by the ideas you transmit through your work, your ability to fit or even subvert the genre
• 10 marks for professional and technical skill -using the format correctly, making sure you tinclude all information needed to communicate your vision for the fil , linking storyboard to script, a professional "look" to your work
• 10 marks for effective use of film language

Note: If you go on to film your horror opening outside of school time, you will be rewarded with an "Woscar". Please see me at the end of class to discuss this in more detail if you are considering doing this.

To remind ourselves of some of the conventions of horror, already discussed in class, let's go back to Wes Craven's Scream:

Scripting an opening - Wednesday 11th May

What's on today?
Exactly what it says on the tin, you're going to try your hand at writing a FILM SCRIPT for the opening of a horror film.


Why?
So you get an idea of how to layout the script, how to structure it, what info is needed, what film terms you need to use, etc.

How?

• Reread the REAL working script from John Carpenter's Halloween. Discuss the layout and what information is included for the director, cinematographer, editor and sound designer.
• Find a copy of the script in the download section of the school intranet: college\english\IB Film Studies\Halloween
• Watch the opening of Scream (up until 1 min 35 seconds: "oh, just some scary movie")
• Write your script on a new blog post.
• You can use the following breakdown of shots to help you get started with your script
• You should finish your post by lesson end today. 

 

Feedback

•  What are the strong points of the opening to this horror film? How does it compare to Halloween?
• What information seemed important to include in your script? Was there anything that you felt was not important to include?