Film 304 - Research List

Sunday 21st January 2018                             Contexts of Practice               Lecturers: Lucy Leake

Dissertation Structure

I started off my planning by drafting up my ideas for the topic question "How does the Director evoke different emotional states on the target audience, in war films"

For the beginning part of the process, I worked closely alongside the college's study zone to gather a structure for my dissertation, outlining the chapters and headings that all my knowledge and research could be put under. I then decided on which films to use, I had a unique idea of choosing directors from different parts of the world as I thought that this would generate better results.

I chose a Chinese director, Lu Chuan who directed City of Life and Death.

2 European Directors, Wolfgang Petersen and David Ayer, Petersen directed Das Boot and Ayer directed Fury. 

Lastly I chose a recent motion picture by a British director, Christopher Nolan who directed Dunkirk. I also touched upon a few other films but they were only briefly addressed through comparisons of colour palettes.

I also used books and online sources which proved useful in order to expand on preconceived ideas, in fact some of the articles that I found had been written by the directors themselves, which I found very interesting. Gathering an understanding as to why they decided on certain techniques and what they hoped to achieve. 

I participated in many class discussions and became open minded to sharing my initial ideas and concepts with my peers. I provided an account of research across to my lecturers during tutorials and they were always proud of my achievements. 

Here is a screenshot which outlines the tutorials I participated within as well as information on areas that I could expand on. 

Bibliography

Film Case Studies:

Ayer, D. (2014) Fury, Columbia Pictures, DVD.

Chuan, L. (2009) City of Life and Death, China Film Group, DVD.

Nolan, C. (2017) Dunkirk, UK: Warner Bros. Film.

Petersen, W. (1981) Das Boot, Bavaria Film, DVD.

Spielberg, S. (1993) Schindler’s List, Universal Pictures, DVD.

Books:

Brown, B. (2002) Cinematography - Theory and Practice. (4th ed.) USA: Focal Press.

Orpen , V (2003) Film Editing - The Art of The Expressive: (2nd ed.) London: Wallflower Press.

Rabiger , M. and Cherrier, M. (2013) Film Techniques and Aesthetics. UK, Burlington: Focal Press.

Websites:

Aslan, (2011), GradeSaver, http://www.gradesaver.com/atonement/q-and-a/how-important-is-lighting-in-the-film-play-47713 (09/11/17)

Dargis, M. (2011), The New York Times, New York, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/movies/city-of-life-and-death-from-lu-chuan-review.html, (08/11/17).

Dargis, M. (2011), The New York Times, New York, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/movies/city-of-life-and-death-from-lu-chuan-review.html (08/11/17)

Douek, J. (2013), US: NBCI, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3832887/ (08/11/17)

Failes, I. (2017), vfxblog, https://vfxblog.com/2017/08/09/heres-one-of-the-best-interviews-ive-heard-christopher-nolan-give-about-his-thoughts-on-film-digital-and-vfx/ (08/11/17)

Furness, H. (2017), The Telegraph, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/07/new-dunkirk-film-wont-feature-churchill-doesnt-get-bogged-politics/ (09/11/17)

Gonzalez, R.C. (2016), Movie Pilot, Creators.co, https://moviepilot.com/posts/3970876 (08/11/17)

House, J. (2012), SlideShare, https://www.slideshare.net/jordan_house/vladimir-propp-14561275 (09/11/17)

Howe, D. (1997), WashingtonPost, The Washington Post Company, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/review97/dasboothowe.htm (08/11/17)

Hullfish, S. (2017), ProVideoCoalition, https://www.provideocoalition.com/art-cut-oscar-nominated-editor-lee-smith-ace-dunkirk/ (08/11/17)

IMDB, (d.u.), Das Boot Trivia, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082096/trivia (08/11/17)

Khairy, W. (2011), RogerEbert.com, https://www.rogerebert.com/far-flung-correspondents/the-crushing-suspense-of-das-boot (08/11/17)

Kreps, D. (2017), RollingStone, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/hear-hans-zimmers-supermarine-from-dunkirk-score-w491375 (08/11/17)

Liu, W.L. (2009), China: TIME, http://world.time.com/2009/05/12/lu-chuans-city-of-life-and-death/ (08/11/17)

Macnab, G. (2017), Independent, http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/dunkirk-review-christopher-nolan-release-date-harry-styles-tom-hardy-war-film-oscars-a7848386.html (08/11/17)

Mediaknowall, (d.u.), Mediaknowall, http://www.mediaknowall.com/camangles.html (08/11/17)

Newbould, C. (2017), The National, https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/film/dunkirk-like-virtual-reality-without-the-headset-says-director-christopher-nolan-1.482051 (09/11/17)

Nolan, C. (2017), The Telegraph, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2017/07/08/spitfires-flotillas-boats-rough-seas-1000-extras-christopher/ (09/11/17)

Philip, T. (2017), New York City: GQ, https://www.gq.com/story/dunkirk-according-to-a-dunkirk-historian (08/11/17)

Productions, O. (1998), Das Boot: A Review of the Director's Cut, ObTwo, http://www.elegantbrain.com/edu4/classes/readings/dasboot.htm (08/11/17)

Shager, N. (2017), Yahoo News, Yahoo Movies, https://ca.news.yahoo.com/christopher-nolan-writes-essay-dunkirk-virtual-reality-without-headset-185808697.html, (08/11/17).

Shanovitz, (2014), SlideShare, https://www.slideshare.net/shanovitz/lighting-in-film?next_slideshow=2 (09/11/17)

Southall, J. (2014), Movie Wave, http://www.movie-wave.net/fury/ (08/11/17)

White, R. (d.u.), Our Pastimes, https://ourpastimes.com/importance-of-lighting-in-film-12209385.html (09/11/17)

Film 301 - Written Evaluation for Film 301 - Research and Experimentation Module

Tuesday 12th December 2017    Research and Experimentation     Lecturers: Kaz, Dan, Andy

Written Evaluation for Artefact and Sketchbook Film

What went well?

Planning 
I wanted to ensure that both my artefact and Sketchbook film were going to be achievable and successful, whilst linking towards the idea of a historical documentary for my forthcoming graduation piece. I created a rough shot list and storyboard to support my project titled “Never Forget, Always Remember”. I have been in contact with various organisations and groups, which tie into my subject matter; they have since taken an interest into my proposal for my forthcoming graduation piece and offered around sources and information to aid my production.

I used this module as a chance to experiment with different ways in which footage can be overlaid to convey an emotional message or create movement within a locked off shot. I feel like the tests that were carried out have helped to sufficiently prepare myself for the intended style of my graduation film. Whilst challenging my practice through taking risks, I feel like this has helped to support my independent research into the content for my short experimental artefact. Both my artefact and sketchbook consist of multiple elements that link into the theme of remembrance. I covered a lot of different areas of research and experimentation, which meant that when it came to the editing for my sketchbook, I had a variety of interesting concepts.

The films that I have watched for visual inspiration consisted of an architectural theme where the viewers are guided to focus on the past in contrast to the present; the same idea is briefly addressed within my artefact and sketchbook film. The audience are given an insight into how the subjects within the frame move within an open landscape, portraying the remains of the airfield or buildings interiors. The technique of overlays have been employed within my short artefact film and touched upon in my sketchbook as a way to experiment with the level of opacity needed for my ghostly figure. Kiarostami’s work influenced the lack of camera movement within my artefact. His experimental piece "Five" from 2003 utilises locked off shots, similar to the opening sequence presented in my film, which presents a young RAF officer walking along the airfield. Here is a link to my blog where I talk about Iranian New Wave cinema and give a short review of Kiarostami's film "Five".

Filming
I filmed at a wide range of locations, some of which I decided not to use within my work. The visuals that I employed were to portray the open spaces and their landscapes, this allowed for clever innovations of movement alongside my ghostly figure. I experimented with the use of different cinematic techniques such as a slider for the end of my artefact. This particular movement tracks across a line of gravestones for improved composition, I wanted to see whether or not that I could set the slider up at an awkward angle to give the effect of elevation as if the young soldier was being sucked up to heaven. There are a few shots that I captured which I ended up not using, an over the head shot of the soldier gently clenching his fist whilst holding a poppy. This shot would be repeated and reversed to give off an effect of a crumpled poppy transforming into a polished artefact. Reasons as to why it wasn’t used linked into my intentions for the narrative; I feel it would have given my project a linear narrative when I was trying to create a film that consisted of a mixture of linear and non-linear. Here is a link to my blog where I talk about the shooting of the ghostly past, similar to “Five” 

Editing
My chosen rhythmic editing style works well to convey a theme of remembrance, the superimpositions helped to make my piece reflective. The voice over in my sketchbook brings everything together, outlining the process of development and it helps the viewer understand my thought process and intentions for my forthcoming graduation piece. The use of key frames allows for the young officer to fade in and out of the frame, which enhances the ghostly effect, which was achieved by adjusting the opacity. One particular section that I think worked well is positioned at the end of the short film "Never Forget, Always Remember" A young soldier is portrayed in the frame; he fades in as he salutes the graves for his fellow crew, once the hand moves down to his side, the second shot fades in over the top and the camera slides across to the right.

Another element of my film that worked well involved the sound effects and style of music choice. The mixing of the sound for the spitfire worked well as I was able to add de-noise to adjust my audio clips and music to make them consistent, this was then heavily carried out within my sketchbook for the narration. I carried out a short interview piece with Nathaniel Marklew where I got him to ask about the process of my film. The audio, which we recorded, helped to shape the script for my sketchbook film.

What didn't go well?

Planning
I dedicated the majority of my time for experimenting with different shooting techniques for my short. The idea for my sketchbook film was to create a 5-minute film that would portray the process of creating a historical documentary. This would include artefacts like postcards, photographs, archive footage, digital images, site plans, contacts made, locations visited and much more. I feel like the voice over for my sketchbook could have been cut down, as my film is around 6 minutes. However, I feel that if I had chopped it down, I could have missed an important element of the explanation for production. 

Filming
The cards of my camera filled up pretty quickly so I spent a lot of time transferring footage and charging my batteries. This time could have been channelled more efficiently towards experimenting with lighting setups which would make the piece more visually stunning and opened up an opportunity to film in one of the old air-raid shelters. I plan to use the air-raid location for my forthcoming graduation piece. For the re-wilding section of my grad film, I decided to set up my own wildlife set as a way to entice a wide variety of wildlife to the surrounding area where I was filming. The majority of my time was taken up by set up for this and moving around the area to achieve different angles.

Editing
Whilst editing the short film, I decided that I wanted to color grade my footage to give a winter/autumn feel and resemble the seasons of when it was shot, changing the different Lumetri color wheels/curves to achieve the perfect color palette. I spent a lot of time looking for a specific orchestral music track that could set the scene for my film right from the get-go. I wanted an emotional/sad orchestral instrumental piece of music, which would reflect the art of war as well as lifting the room with a calming melody.

What I would do differently?

Planning
I would plan to use fewer locations for my filming, this would allow myself to become more focused on the task but I had an urge to experiment within different locations and try my best to create a film which would question the viewer's perceptions as to what was happening.

Filming
I would like to use a dolly, I think this could have been a lot more effective towards the end scene, the slider was pretty small in scale, restricting the movement across the screen. I think I could have shown the young soldier entering the graveyard; the dolly could have tracked the soldier up to the gate and followed them along the gravel path up to the gravestones. I created my own go pro rig, which allowed myself to place the camera on the car and film the soldier out in front but stability was an issue.

Editing
For the editing of the short film, if I had more uniforms I would have liked to have superimposed three different characters in front of the gravestones at the end to give the effect that more than one soldier has come to pay his/her respects to their fellow crew.

Conclusion
In conclusion, I am proud of the artefact that I have created for my research and experimentation module, I feel like the visuals, music, editing style, costume and props all help to portray my intended theme of remembrance. I feel like the end shot of the officer walking around the graveyard and saluting on screen helps to achieve the intended twist for my film, which is that the ghostly figure is remembering others around him; whilst at the same time, we are remembering an officer through the opaque figure.

The sketchbook film works as a short film to show my thought process for this particular module. Displaying the research, inspirational sources, and experimentation that I employed through my research and touches upon the idea for my graduation piece.

Here is a link to my blog with everything labeled for my Research and Experimentation module: https://lukecurnopca.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Film%20301

Bibliography – Films

Five (2003). Directed by Abbas Kiarostami: Iran

The Glen Miller Story (1954). Directed by Anthony Mann. NYC, Universal-International

Film 301 - Shooting for my Artefact

Monday 20th November 2017                Research and Experimentation     Lectures: Kaz, Dan, Andy

Cinematic techniques used for my artefact film

For my artefact film, my short film primarily consists of locked of camera shots, using the art of long takes as a way to portray a young soldiers journey as he walks across the moorland scape.

For the middle of the film I wanted a fast paced montage which would consist of references towards my intended theme of remembrance.

Here are a few screen grabs from the footage for the middle of my artefact film 

(screenshots taken using preview)

Holding a Poppy out in front - adjusting the opacity to give a ghostly effect

Walking towards the air-raid shelter, about to take a Poppy out of my inside coat pocket

For the ending of the film I opted to use a slider, however, as I had never used this piece of equipment I was unaware of the amount of space that it covered. The idea was great and once everything was put into motion, I feel like the transition of shot to shot worked well once they were superimposed over one another. The weather on the day was great as well, slightly overcast with a cool breeze which meant that my uniform wouldn't flap about.

Here are a few behind the scenes shots from shooting on location at the graveyard 

(all of these shots were taken using my phone). 

Slider kit that was employed 

Slider (Wide angled Sigma lens 10-15mm)

Adjusting the slider head and the height of the slider legs

Dressed up ready for the shoot - On location at the graveyard. 

Film 301 - Famous Visitor to Harrowbeer

Sunday 12th November 2017         Research and Experimentation      Lecturers: Kaz, Dan, Andy

The Glenn Miller Story - 1954

For my graduation film, I am going to have a section which illustrates a few famous stars who visited Harrowbeer Airfield during its time of use. Glenn Miller was one of the famous people to visit the station, after years of hard work and determination, he formed his own band and his own arrangements. I wanted to look into this further and stumbled upon the 1954 American film "Glenn Miller Story" (The Glenn Miller Story, 1954) which was directed by Anthony Mann. The film stars James Stewart as Glenn Miller and June Allyson who plays his wife called Helen Miller, but before she was called Helen Burger.

The film details the life of Glenn and how he went from an audition, writing his own arrangements for which lead to himself finding the right sound and forming his own band, who over time became one of the most successful groups of the band era. They became famous for one of their biggest songs in America, titled "Moonlight Serenade" He has it all, a beautiful wife, his own band, money, a family but he enlists and gives up his fame and success in order to entertain the troops, there was a great scene where they were onset during World War II.

I paid close attention to the way that video clips and stills of newspapers were being overlayed, it helped to illustrate the story of how Glenn Miller's band became such a hit, thinking of this film as a historical piece which consists of the rise and fall of Glenn Miller and his band. I particularly liked the section of the film where we see Glenn playing alongside Louis Armstrong and the color rapidly changes in a consistent cycle across the screen. I felt like this looked considerably vibrant, not only that but it was a very effective way of making the band who were positioned in the foreground, stand out from the background.

References
The Glenn Miller Story. (1954). [film] United States: Universal-International.

Film 301 - Iranian New Wave Cinema

Thursday 9th November 2017            Research and Experimentation     Lecturer: Kaz, Dan, Andy

The work of Abbas Kiarostami

Iranian New Wave Cinema - Five 2003  - pays homage to Japanese filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu

We watched a short film that was directed by Abbas Kiarostami Five (Five, 2003), a film which consists of 5 different long takes, with the themes of water, nature, and animals. I felt that this abstract piece of work was very interesting and I would like to have a go at implementing the ideas of long take and fixed camera angles into my research and experimentation module submission.What's unique about this piece of work is that it revolved heavily around fixed camera shots and visuals for the first 4 long takes. The short consisted of 5 sections which I have broken down below;

1). Sea waves close in towards the shore. we watch a piece of driftwood being swept along the beach, the force of the waves break the wood but we carry on spectating to see if the two bits of wood become connected and aligned within the frame. 

2). Wide angled shot which portrays the sea in the background, the consistent flow of waves and in the foreground, we witness passer by's. I felt like this shot, in particular, consisted of multiple layers, I also liked the way that there is an empty frame towards the end of the frame which we haven't seen up till now. 

3). At first glance, I thought that the animals were seals, I liked the transition changes through changing the saturation which fades us into the next shot as well as bleaching the ocean out. Particularly liked the ripple effect of the waves as they change course, visible in the background when the saturation adjustments take place. 

4). A wide-angle shot which portrays a group of ducks waddling in front of the screen, side to side, strange foley noises created to replicate the movement of the animals along the sand.  

5). Unlike the 4 shots previous, this long take revolves heavily around the sound design, we hear the animals and can see a small ripple of water which moves from the center of the screen to the top of the frame. About 3/4 of the way through this we can visibly see that the object that has been reflected in the moon, this then cuts out to a wide angled shot of the sea at Dawn.

Here is an image from the film Five (2003) - Long Take No.3

Here is a film that I created alongside a few students in response to Five called One Filling, I edited this piece with the intention of experimenting with sound distortion and color correction.

One Filling from Luke Curno on Vimeo.

References

Five. (2003). [film] The Caspian Sea in Iran and Spain: Kimstim.

Film 301 - Ghostly Past

Monday 6th November 2017         Research and Experimentation       Lecturers: Kaz, Dan, Andy

Ghostly Past

Over the past week I have been researching into the different kinds of Uniforms that fit my Great Coat that I bought whilst out at Davidstow Airfield, which portrays 2 and a half rings on the shoulders. I decided that I wanted to dress up and look the part for the test shots as I could get a flavour for the costume design and how the colour would show up on a wide angled camera.

Here is a screen grab of myself dressed up as a Squadron Leader

For the shoot on the moorland I visited the RAF Harrowbeer Archives, Michael the owner lent myself an Officer's Hat with a cloth peak as well as an RAF kit bag which I stuffed with Camo netting and bean bags. I discovered that the coat that I bought at Davidstow would have belonged to a Squadron Leader, enhanced by the badges.

Whilst on the moors, I used my Nikon D3300 with my sigma wide angled lens ranging between 15-20mm, I set the camera up on the tripod to film a 20 second clip where there would be no movement within the frame. Then I would let the camera roll for a second time as I walk across the screen, I would then layer both pieces of footage over each other in the edit and then I would change the opacity to make myself look like a ghost walking across the screen.

Here are a few screen grabs from my overlay experiment

I had the idea of stitching together footage I had filmed of a spitfire at the Harrowbeer Airfield event, I then filmed myself pretending that I was tracking the plane in the sky, changing the opacity again meant that I looked like a ghost from the past.

As well as the moorland shots, I experimented with the gravestones and graveyard, a panning shot which tracked across the gravestones of a crew who crashed, I took still images of the gravestones and then superimposed them onto the footage, creating freeze frames but adding consistency to the movement of the frames.

Here is a screen grab to show the experiment with the graveyard and gravestones

I have decided that for my Research and Experimentation module, that I want to create a short film to do with Rememberance Day. I shall create the character of a young soldier who once worked in the RAF force and was posted at RAF Harrowbeer. Another shot idea that I have come up with will involve footage of myself holding a poppy in my hand, clenching it tightly in my fist, but I will overlay this shot with another shot where I drop the Poppy onto the floor. 

After testing out different kind of shots I have been thinking about a way to connotate the idea of a film about a soldier who is being remembered while remembering others. For the final shot of the film I want to use a slider for two shots, the first shot will be static portraying myself saluting soldiers graves. This will be overlayed with a slider shot which will slide across the graves so the frame will transform from a static shot into a consistent movement. 

Film 301 - Moorland Re-Wilding Shoot

Friday 3rd November 2017       Research and Experimentation       Lectures: Kaz, Dan, Andy

Moorland Re-Wilding Shoot

For this filming shoot, I have partnered up with a student on my course who has a key interest in sound recording, while I await the birds, he will be set up with a Parabolic microphone nearby to capture the surrounding atmosphere. The location although perfect for my nature filmmaking, it wasn't the best for sound recording as the moorland spot was just off of the main road, which meant that the mic would constantly pick up the sound of the cars as they went on by.

I decided upon embarking into the outdoors to test out and experiment with other ways to film my footage for the rewilding section of my graduation film which will consist of a variety of different shots which can be cut together to create a fast-paced rhythmic montage. 

A week previous I accompanied a bird ringer who I have known for many years, specializing within this niche, monitoring and reporting his findings to the British Trust for Ornithology. He would first set up the nets which are where the birds would fly into the net and get caught up in the netting, but they would be unharmed. In order to attract the species of birds, he would place speakers in the middle on the floor of the netting which would play the audio track of the birds that he was trying to capture.

Here are some behind the scenes shots from the bird ringing (taken on my phone).

I have downloaded and mixed together to create an audio track which has a duration of an hour, I hope to place this using my phone and placing it into a waterproof bag, chance to experiment with different ways of attracting nature to increase my chances of success. I would like to add that I shall not be using a net of any sort as I want to capture the birds on their flight paths through the treetops.

Here is a link to a blog post which goes into more detail about the setup for the shoot and the process for creating my wildlife set.