Practical Screencraft 2 BAFI201 - Evaluation 22nd Jan

Sunday 22nd January 2017                             Practical Screencraft 2                        Andy James

Practical Screencraft - BAFI201 Evaluation

Part 1 – Film Analysis – Heat

For my practical screen craft 2 BAFI201 project, I decided to focus my analysis for part 1 around the 1995 crime drama film heat, written and directed by Michael Mann, paying close attention to the use of cinematography, the way the characters are presented, the use of background sound which builds up tension but leads to a ceaseless noise inside the bank.

I chose the scene featuring Robert De Niro and his gang as they carry out a robbery in an international bank, as I have an interest within editing, cinematography and sound I decided to research into the different camera angles, a range of high and low angles have been used to show the power statuses of each character, the way that De Niro has been framed in the centre of the image makes myself think back to him being the male dominant lead. The use of tracking shots re-create the motion for me of a CCTV camera, we are given a scope of the room inside the bank as De Niro, the male lead walks into the foyer, we’re then shown the other two male characters as they pick their targets. The editing style for this scene starts off slow with the clips lingering so we get to see the gang as they prepare for the robbery, once the balaclavas are in play, the cuts become swifter, the action and pace of music all combined together help to create a great amount of dramatic tension for us as the viewers.

The dialogue is short and snappy, orders are given out which I thought re-created the commands a director would give to the crew and actors whilst on set. The backing track helped not only to build tension but on closer inspection I noticed that some of the shots were cut to the pace of the music, adding suspense and building tension for the dramatic action sequences which unfold.

The key element from the scene that I would like to use within my film, I liked the way that we heard sounds all the way through as the staff were in panic mode, but the sounds didn’t always correspond to the action that we saw on camera. My idea would be to use lights within an underground bunker, spinning them around in circles to act as the police/army convoy headlights, whilst casting shadows of the characters costume.

Part 2 – Short Film PTSD

For part 2 I created a short film that would consist of the same theme from heat, being surveillance. The lingering shot would help to create suspense and build tension, helped by the sound design. The footage was shot down in a local dungeon to act as an underground war bunker, reinforced by the sounds of explosions going off and the sounds of guns reloading and metal beams collapsing. Acetate lighting used as a way to cast shadows of the actors costume to signify a soldier, the use of a single camera shot because the soldier has found himself trapped, the flashing lights, to try to give off the effect that something is coming towards the soldier but he faces up to it. The sound design of bombs going off were created using fireworks and the sound of dust and debris falling was achievable by sprinkling rice over a piece of tinfoil resting in a plastic bucket.

PTSD – Part 2 Short Film – Roles

Director, Writer, Editor, Sound Recordist – Luke Curno (PCA Student)

Cinematographer – Constantinos Christou (PCA Student)

Sound Recordist – Aidan Wright (PCA Student)

2 Part Film Analysis Submission
Practical Screencraft 2 - 2 Part Film Analysis from Luke Curno on Vimeo.

Bibliography

Heat (1995) Bank Robbery Scene Clip [HIGH QUALITY] Dir. Michael Mann (1995) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL9fnVtz_lc Accessed 17/01/2017 - Published on Youtube 05/02/2009

Link to all my Practical Screen-craft 2 BAFI201 posts http://lukecurnopca.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Practical%20Screencraft%20BAFI201

Moving Narratives 2 BAFI202 - 17th January

Tuesday 17th January 2017                 Moving Narratives 2.            Kaz Rahman

Screening - Le Film "Pick Pocketer" 1959 by Robert Bresson

The film itself made myself as a viewer aware of the male leads surroundings, the people who come and go throughout his everyday life. I assumed that his close friend Jacques would have got pick pocketed towards the end of the film.

As the audience we aren't given much to think about, we sort of have to observe what's going on and link certain elements of the content together to work out what's happening. I myself though that the film was a lot about perspective, we wanted him to get away and we didn't see him as a villain.

The film contained themes of Crime and Punishment, the activity that was taking place seemed somewhat addictive, the pickpocketers practised the routines over and over, making them professionals at the stunts and tricks that they were repeating throughout the film.

There was a great use and style for the use of cinematography within the film, the way that the characters would move in and out of space, the way that once the characters have left the scene, the shot would linger on, creating suspense and building tension for us as the viewer.

The locations were pretty simplistic, around the town where he lived, he had his own bat cave where he could escape too and even hide what he had stolen, however his room was searched upon many occasions but nothing was found.

The performance was expressionless, the character took the same facial expressions throughout, no one cried as such which left the piece emotionless in my mind. I almost felt at times that the character felt anonymous, the way that he would appear and then didsapear, the only thing that made him stand out was the voice over and the overly sized jacket that he wore.

Comparative Digital Practices BAFI205 - Evaluation - 12th Jan

Thursday 12th January 2017                Comparative Digital Practices             Dan Polantonio

Evaluation - Digital vs Analogue - Crushing the Waves

For my Comparative Film Practices module we had to create a 4-5 minute visual piece which was based around the idea for Digital vs Analogue, I focused my piece around the differences between each medium, outlining some of the key features and reasons for opting to use one or the other for your own personal productions. My main concept would be to attempt to capture the rugged coastline, focusing around the waves, rock-pools, the journey that surfers enter whilst out on a board, as well as using voice over to use metaphors to explain how the film/digital cameras function, whilst linking the VO to the content on screen.

An idea that "overtime film has been washed out by digital, however camera operators still have the ability to opt to use either digital or film to create there vast array of concepts within cinema, why is this" posing a rhetorical question followed by a clear explanation of the functions for each medium" its up too the audience as to how they perceive this information.

Equipment Used - Nikon D3300 DSLR camera, interchangeable lenses i.e. a Sigma wide angled lens ranging 10-20mm as well as a Tamron zoom lens ranging 18-300mm. Go Pro Hero 3+ - Green Filter and Campark 4k.

Software Used - Premiere Pro - Used for the editing side and changing audio levels - Effects used - Colour correction, EQ filter for changing the audio levels, de-noiser to reduce the background noise, cross dissolve and dipt to black for transitions. Audition - Used for creating the voice over - Adjusting recording levels, normalising the files to make them higher in pitch but at the same time decreasing the background noise.

What worked well

Planning
I had a vast array of ideas which I was able to present to my lecturer during my tutorial discussion, I evidenced different types of camera angles through my film which worked well with the voice over, close ups to explain the process of film, wide angled shots to replicate what would be achievable with a digital image sensor. I had a clear understanding through a quick storyboard and shot list for the way that I was going to shoot my film as well as detailing the time frames and possible locations for the content. I already had an idea of the equipment that I would be using to record the voice over as well as for the filming, which meant that I was able to book it out efficiently and crack on.

Filming 
I opted to use my own camera kit which I think worked well as I could use the camera whenever I wanted, with a vast array of camera lenses which I use for my everyday commercial nature documentaries which I made valuable use of for "Crushing the Waves", the whole documentary styled edit was filmed using the external location Wembury Beach, Plymouth. I made use of my Go Pro's for a few of the landscape shots, multiple visits too the location at different times of the day meant that I was able to capture a contrast in the change of lighting for the sea, as well as creating atmosphere through the mist, sunrise and the way that these colours enhanced the water, helped by using a neutral density filter which is built into my DSLR camera.

Editing
The voice over works well as a way to talk about the pro's and con's of using both mediums, the thing with film or digital is that they both take time, careful planning, for digital images we need time for editing and shooting. However, with film we will require time set aside for the processing of the film, to eventually be able to edit our footage, in some cases we may have to re-shoot our footage, digital is the way forward for myself as I can review exactly what I have shot on the shoot, then I can opt whether I require another take on set.

What didn't work well

Planning
Planning to record the voice overs on different days, some of the voice over wasn't used as half way through the shoot I sort of changed my original idea as there wasn't much wildlife so I made use of what I had on the day, various panning shots of the coastline, moody sky with a lot of surfing activity and a gorgeous sunrise along the rugged coastline. I had hoped to feature the marine life in the rock-pools around the coast, tracking shots were in mind, over exposing the camera to capture noise and pixels in order to enhance the grainy effect that you can achieve with using a film camera, voice over enhances the different type of image sensors for digital or film.

Filming
Whilst filming, I wanted to portray movement within the frame for my images to keep them interesting, using the zoom on the camera lens to play around with the fixed focal length for my framing but it wasn't a consistent zoom. A few of the shots were slanted but I was able to fix these in the edit using stabiliser as well as straightening the image. Usually when I edit commercial pieces I would use a mixture of stills as well as video content but I would crop the frames to fit and then use an effect known as ken burns, however within premiere pro I had to crop the frame and set in and out points for the image to move between which I thought looked too basic.

Editing 
Again, taking note about the voice over being recorded on separate occasions, it sounded lower in pitch the second time, despite using a NT1A mic with a H5 on both recording days. However, using premiere pro I was able to use the EQ filter audio effect in addition to the de-noiser effect (applied to audio clips individually), using the EQ plug in I was able to reduce the treble, bass and volume level to make my voice sound consistent throughout the film.

What I would change

Planning
I would have liked to have used more than one location, I was thinking about using multiple beaches to be able to catch a vast array of coastline shots but in the end I went for the one location as I focused my piece more around the waves and the way that they can create really interesting concepts within a given frame. I think that if I had cut a few shots of Plymouth Barbican into the film, this would have ruined the lovely rural location, plus there weren't any boats at Wembury beach making my film inconsistent. It would have been nice to have achieved some time-lapse of the waves rolling in and the surfers movement as they approached the shoreline.

Filming
Thoroughly interested in filming the piece to focus around the idea of something being indexical, the idea behind the aura, giving across the travel, way that memories have been created, relate back to footprints/handprints, the way someone has made their mark, unfortunately I never filmed a shot of someones footprint which has been left in the sand which I think would have linked into my voice over well.

As a nature cameraman, I would have liked the ability or the chance of seeing the rock-pool creatures, however I would have needed to visit the location at low tide. The likely suspects that I could have captured would be the shore crab, beadlet anemone, shanny and the common limpet.

Editing
Having trouble syncing up the audio to make the levels consistent, for next time I think that I will make sure to have all of my voice over written up for the film in one go, that way I can ensure I get a consistent level of recording, meaning I would have more time to play around with colour correction to enhance the mood of the sky, colour of the waves and perhaps have a go with audition a lot more. In the end I decided to add a slight blue tint to the shots with water in, also I added a grey tint to the sky shots to make them pop out of the frame a lot more, especially for the mist over the dew-stone which is by far my favourite shot out of all my footage.

Overall

I was very pleased with the film that I created, I think visually it was a beautiful cinematic piece, a range of different camera angles and cameras meant that I was able to capture different angles of the rugged coastline as well as focusing around the water, changing the focus to get different perspectives on the movement of the surfers. The voice over complimented the visuals well and the added sound effects for the water made the piece a lot more calm and built atmosphere.

Final Film

 
Comparative Digital Practices - Crushing the Waves (PCAD) from Luke Curno on Vimeo.

Moving Narratives 2 BAFI202 - 10th January 2017

Wednesday 10th January 2017                      Moving Narratives 2                                   Andy James

Screening - North by Northwest

Writer/Director - Alfred Hitchcock

Heavily influenced by German Expressionism - He is known for being the master of suspense, creates well thought spy and crime novels.

Starrs - Carrey Grant, Eva Marie, James Mason, Martin Landeav.

Similar too the Bond and Jason Bourne - Action/Thriller Genre. 

Themes that the film contains

Cold War - Reliance on spies

Chase - Various action sequences

Journey - Kidnapped, running away from the frame

Deception - Mrs Kendals role as a double agent

Note: We know certain things that characters don't know, the characters sometimes know links/information that we as the audience have not quite worked out.

Forms suspense through a lot of different scenes, the one scene that stood out too me was towards the middle of the film, we see Carey grant arrive out in a field, desolate landscape, he gets of the bus and waits for another man to arrive. The shot lingers, creating suspense, the loss of audio builds tension, the wide angled shot gives a great sense of space for the scene, in the middle of nowhere.

I was constantly fixed on the passing of traffic, awaiting one of the cars to stop and get out to kill Carey.

Comparative Film Practices BAFI205 - 4th Jan

Wednesday 4th January 2016                  Comparative Film Practices                Dan Poalantonio

Additional VO Ideas

Think about a poetic way to talk about the landscape, has a surface to it 

Every coastline is unique, cliffs become eroded, film becomes fragmented, loosing its age and memory.

Take the waves as they wash away footprints that were once left in the sand, similar too film by the way imperfections of analogue can create interesting concepts.

To develop our analogue images they need to pass through solutions, a polluted water source creating adverse change, taking the form of chemical substances or energy, the way film grain builds up to give the cinematographer a random optical texture of processed photographic film through the presence of small particles. 

Moving Narratives 2 BAFI202 - 4th Jan

Wednesday 4th January 2016                      Moving Narratives 2            Kaz Rahman    

Screening: Rebel Without a Cause

Todays lesson was based around 1950's american cinema, known as the hollywood golden age, a time when Alfred Hitchcock thrived as a filmmaker for recreating The 39 steps and Strangers on a Train.  film that we watched dating back too this time period "Rebel Without a Cause" which casted James Dean, Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo.

Around this time the films consisted of a lot of similar elements which made them unique to other periods/movements i.e. the films would be positive, upbeat, have star power as well as having a big budget and featuring a younger generation of actors. I feel like this film in particular was tied between adulthood/kidulthood i.e. through the use of language for the context. I particularly liked the seen when the three leads are inside an abandoned mansion, they start to talk about renting out a house and the possibility of children, it completely changed the mood of the film for myself as it was almost like the children had matured into independent adults, the fact that they would always be out late  getting up to mischief and creating trouble.

Performance
The performance through the film I thought was well acted, even disturbing at times, the director really did well to created what I'd call middle class, misunderstood, alienated teenagers.

Subject Matter/Story
I feel like this film had a use of melodrama, the idea behind good vs evil, situations that are going on within the family's homes create problems for the actors, we can follow this through the films narrative through the action sequences that take place i.e. when the kids are at the back of the high school, the bullies start to pick on Jim (acted by James Dean) and they start to stab him up, in the end the ring leader of the pack and jim shake hands.

The main scene that stuck out too me for Good vs Evil involved Jim chatting to his family, he has just killed someone but he wants to hand himself in, which even though hes trying to do the right thing, the gang aren't far away and they see it as Jim confessing himself and the gang, they fight back leading to drastic actions back at the mansion.

Lastly I feel like the characters all had a sense of belonging, Jim and Judy were meant for each other, they fall deeply in love towards the end, but the character Plato is interesting because we become aware that he has never had real friends, so once he meets Jim he can't stay away, this was key to the film towards the end where Jim tells Plato too come out, who then listens but sadly gets shot, giving the film a disturbing tone which I think was a dark ending.

Key to note that throughout the film, we see Jim offering Plato his jacket as he thinks he's cold but at the start of the movie we see that Plato doesn't take it, however towards the end when they all get trapped, he does take the jacket, I saw the coat as an element of belonging, friendship.

USP
Throughout the film I felt as if money was not an issue for either of the families, there family's were well off, always something flashy on screen whether it was cars, motorbikes, jackets, houses, watches, even the school that they all went too i.e. we see on Jim's first day that he gets pushed aside for standing on the high schools logo on the ground, apparently no one is allowed to step on it.

Camera Angles 

Variety of shots to set the scenes, it gradually reduces when the actors are with there families inside the house, I noticed that there was a clever use of dutch tilts, low/high angles, alot of close ups, mid shots, wide angles to set the scene and tracking shots to follow the action that takes place.

References

Rebel Without A Cause. California: Nicholas Ray, 1955. film.