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.

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. 

Comparative Film Practices BAFI205 - 12th December

Monday 12th December 2016             Comparative Digital Practices       Dan Poalantonio

Digital vs Analogue - Initial ideas

Location Idea: Wembury Bay

For my final piece for comparative film practices, I decided to outline Digital vs Analogue, I decided to talk about the way that both film or digital cameras function, outlining some of the key features that you are given to create any type of image or film that you desire. My whole piece explores the differences or pro's and con's with film and digital through a short 3:30 piece shot around the seaside at Wembury Bay.

Plans
Idea of shooting the seaside using a digital camera, my nikon d3300 with a range of interchangeable lenses, I would like to use the possibility of colour correction to recreate a film feel to certain pieces of footage where the VO that I am creating talks about analogue etc. The content for the short film would include surfers, wide angles of the beach, over exposed, under exposed shots to link with the analogue possibilities within camera, idea for panning shots to be a inside camera editing technique, possible flickr for the colour corrected shots to make them stand out and signify film stock. 

Foley ideas
Waves crashing
Background sea noise
Whistling

Idea for voice over 
With digital image sensors, we determine resolution by counting the number of pixels within a given area, a wide angled panning shot of the seaside would reach up too around 24 mega pixels, using a nikon d3300 and a 10-20mm sigma lens.

Film puts a practical limitation on the amount of shots you have available to you at any given time, tending to amount towards exposures between 24 and 36 in a 35mm camera, it all comes down to the types of film or camera that you use.

The dynamic range of digital cameras is inferior to film stock.

You become conscious of your shots, paying close attention to your subject.

Nothing matches the organic tones grain and flickr that are achievable with film, but with the digital sensors we can expose the frame to capture the clouds in the sky or even the mist covering this mewstone., but i feel like the effect within a film camera is still much more organic and beautiful.

Film typically has more latitude than current digital sensors, exposing negatives by a stop means we still have the ability to create detail from the highlights, there's very little room for error with digital sensors.

I believe that there is still a growing community of camera operators who opt to use both mediums as a way to expose, highlight a particular time and space.

Behind the scenes for the editing and foley creating (All shot using an iPad and iPhone)

 

Think about the materialistic nature of analogue

Comparative Film Practices BAFI205 - 8th December

Wednesday 8th December 2016                 Comparative Film Practices             Dan Paolantinio

Super 16mm Film 

The shoot itself was very organised, 5 people were on set at all times which meant that the workload was shared out evenly amongst the group, first off we set the camera up to our desired angle, next we would use a tape measurer to establish the gap between the camera lens and the subject we were filming to get a focus, finally we took a light reading of the brightest point within the frame to establish our aperture for the shot.

Behind the Scenes - Photos taken using my iPhone

Actor in Silhouette

Positioning the camera - Wide angled shot

Camera setup, measuring the focus

Cutaway shots - Autumnal Leaves

Super 16mm Arri 2 - Kit Ready

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Shot List

Shot 1 - Wide Angled Shot - 17 seconds 

Shot 2 - Mid Shot - 15.1 seconds 

Shot 3 - Close Up - 16.6 Seconds 

Shot 4 - Blowing of Leaves - 22.4

Shot 5 - Unconventional over the shoulder - 5.7 Seconds

Shot 6 - High angle of the steps - 9 Seconds

Shot 7 - Shadow on trees - 18 Seconds 

Shot 8 - Shadow of the Trees - 9.5 Seconds

Shot 9 - Long shot of Steps - 8.5 Seconds

Shot 10 - Footsteps up the stairs - 17 Seconds 

Shot 11 - Picking the tree - 11 Seconds

Shot 12 - Tracking shot following actor - 10 Seconds

Comparative Film Practices BAFI205 - 29th November

Tuesday 29th November 2016.     Comparative Film Practices.   Dan Paolantonio

My Group: Josh Timbrel, Ed Mawhood, Nathaniel Marklew, Matt Miller and Dan Discombe.

Location Scouting - Super 16mm Project

My group decided to go location scouting today, we had the idea that we wanted to film a location where we could highlight the shadows of our character as they move around. The first place that we went too was the park out the back of the hoe, we saw potential through the open area, the way the trees were aligned on either side of the path, however we wanted somewhere that had an aura too it, we felt like the park looked too clean and so we wouldn't have been able to use our ideas of a rustic look for the film.

We then moved over towards the pavilions where we found a small wooded area, this was perfect for our film, we were able to reflect shadow on the trees as we ran past, we thought about utilising the lonesome park bench as a point of contact for our main character who is never revealed on screen. We thought that this small part of ground could be seen as a place for reflection, perhaps something has happened too the character within this location.

The second location that we visited was on the marine football ground, this place was old, had a great aura and we all planned out 6-7 camera angles that would work well for the film. I took a few pictures and videos of the location.

Behind the Scenes - Super 16mm Location Scouting

Marine Football Field - Trees behind the shot, shadows on the trunks as someone dashes past

Hoe Park - Idea of utilising the trees for exterior shots - shadows along the floor as someone travels through the woods.

Capturing the light as it just peaks through the gaps in the tree branches, aiming the camera towards the top to capture the beams of light as they reflect down the trunks. 

(All photos taken by myself using my iPhone 4)

Shot List - Cinematographer 

Panning shot leading across the tops of the trees - In a rainbow shape (up and down), starting from a really old architectural building and leading too a rusted old looking building.

Panning shot of the architectural steps or the entrance to the marines football field park, pillars either side, characters shadow outlined as if he's walking inside. 

Various close up shots of trees - seeing the characters shadow moving across the tree trunks and displaying an outline of their clothes on the ground.

The sun beams shining through the tops of the tree branches, forming an outline on the ground.

Close up along the floor with the grass being blown, perhaps we see a hat rolling along the ground or someones old glove. 

Leaves being blown across the ground in front of the camera

High/Low angle shots of the park to give a sense of space - the location is pretty open, giving an insight into the landscape.

Wide Angled Shot - Portrays a bench at the front of the frame, with a bowling green in the foreground and a monument thats visible in the background. 

Comparative Film Practices BAFI205 - 23rd November

Wednesday 23rd November 2016              Comparative Film Practices             Dan Paolantonio

Pitching Super 16mm Project Ideas - Discussed ideas about possible VO, how the film would be shot, did some location scouting on the internet, looking around Plymouth to find suitable and reachable places. We thought about the content for the film as well, trying to understand the content for our film.


Decasia - Bill Morrison

On first look I loved the visuals for this short film which I thought were very appetising, I found myself scanning across the screen picking out the images that were underlaid, trying to make sense of the storyline, if any. The way the images were repeated, it gave the impression of a cycle, linking back to the footage of workers, we see the processes involved for developing film.

Through the archive footage that was used and the series of events that unfolded on the screen, i think that this piece had a link to space and time, the way that the camera panned across action, the way of movement through people i.e. dancing around or just walking from place to place. The music itself played a huge part towards bringing the visuals to life, almost gave the impact of emotion that the subjects on screen were feeling towards certain parts of the film.

Bibliography

Decasia (2002) - Directed by Bill Morrison - America

Comparative Film Practices BAFI205 - 16th November

Wednesday 16th November 2016.             Comparative Film Practices        Dan Paolantonio

Postcards and Super 16mm Mood-board - Below is my postcard that I created

Chosen Quote: "lithography was surpassed by photography"

Front Side

Back Side 

We researched into some of the work that Walter Benjamin had completed, he wrote a paper up in 1936 which was titled "The work of Art in the age of mechanical reproduction. I found this article to be of great interest despite only reading a short piece of the paper.

Towards the second part of the lesson we were given two tasks, the first to pic a quote from the extract we were given, next we would have to create a postcard around the quote cutting out images from old film magazines and then we would have to re-write the quote in our own words, I thoroughly enjoyed this exercise as it got myself thinking about how different concepts of art can have different perceptions, understanding the use of technology and of course their pro's and con's.

For the last exercise we were to form groups of 6 people that we would work together well with for the super 16mm 1 minute film project, which will be filmed using the Arri flex film camera. We were told to mood board any ideas that the group may have had, I wrote down everyone's inputs as well as any decision making that went on through our innovative thinking. I thought about the story, shots, content, sound, editing techniques, motives, whether it would be one take or not and if so why.

Here is an image of the mood board that I created for the group to show our initial ideas.

Comparative Film Practices BAFI205 - 7th November

Monday 7th November 2016                 Comparative Film Practices               Dan Paolantonio

Set Task - 2 minute narrative film using stills to show time progressing

After watching "Le Jetee" last week in the studio theatre, we were set the task to create a 2 minute film where we would explore the use of still images in order to create a narrative for time. We would possible have to make the images black and white to fit the theme of the film and to link our stills back to being taken in the past, give the film stock or stills an authentic look.

Myself and my team had written up a poem which we would use as the main narrative piece to tell a story of the travels that the actor had within our piece, in this case I was the actor, I dressed up looking formal wearing black trousers and a white collared shirt, linking in with the idea of getting ready for work.

We all worked on the edit together and we all participated in getting stills for the piece including locations like beaumont park, play area, bus stop and even the friendly abode which we used as the characters place of stay throughout the piece. the idea we had to show time would consist of different locations to show the movement of the character but also we decided to repeat the images in some parts to give the effect of a cycle of life but also we thought that we could take out some o0f the images to make it look like things were disappearing one by one, as if he was loosing his mind.

Behind the scenes

Wide Angled Shot of the Park

Mid Shot - Walking around the park

Low Angled shot - Leaving for work

Cut Away Shot - Trees in the Park

Arriving at my bus stop to commute to work

Extreme Close Up - Going to sleep

Comparative Film Practices BAFI205 - 3rd November

Wednesday 2nd November 2016           Comparative Film Practices        Dan Paolantonio

Super 16mm Film Camera - Inducted to use the Arri Flex SR2 - Re-flex action (Flex)

Had a go at assembling the camera together, using all of the component parts as well as being shown how to take light metre readings, whilst adjusting the camera accordingly.

Arri Flex SR2  

Ensure Metal rods are attached

Step 1 - Place Battery pack down on pin,

Step 2- Screw in Film stock, magazine and make sure the top silver pin is pointing towards the camera.

Step 3 - Screw on the pistol grip and attach pins to the underside of the camera body

Step 4 - Slide on matte box - Presents lens flare

Step 5 - Turn the camera on and start rolling

Light Metre

Using the light metres, look through the key-hole, click the side button to take a reading and then adjust the aperture according to the light meter. Point the white dome towards the camera when taking the readings.

The focus is positioned at the front of the camera, the zoom is at the back.

Le Jetee - Studio Theatre Screening

For the second part of the session we watched a film by Chris marks

"Le Jetee" which I thought experimented well with the passage of time. It was almost like a dream sequence, the way the scientists were holding experiments on a prisoner who was defenceless, trapped inside his own mind. I liked the way that the photos worked together, especially with the clever usage of consistent transitions I feel like it was made evident if someone was moving. The more the images were repeated, the more I felt like time had stopped for only a second or so.

Comparative Film Practices BAFI205 - 20th October

Thursday 20th October 2016                      Comparative Film Practices             Dan Polantinio

Bjork London Exhibition - 2016

Tate Art Gallery (all my own photos) 

From the trip to London, I feel like I have generated an idea for my film with the super 16mm project where we have to create I believe a 3-5 minute film on Super 16mm. I would like to explore the idea of enhancing the ages of buildings around London centre by the colours of the super 16 film, also I would like to use the curvature as my main theme for the piece. I thought about filming statues around London but moving the camera with the shapes of the architecture of industrialised buildings.

Idea to replicate my still images, create a moving image. 

Replicate the colour and aesthetics to the construction buildings and machinery

Mixture of elements that we recognise, used to symbolise a women's life in Africa

Jane Alexander - Reasons behind the art piece positioned above

Comparative Film Practices - BAFI205

Wednesday 5th October 2016                  Comparative Film Practices            Dan Paolantinio

Introduction to Comparative Film Practices

After the first session for Comparative Film Practices, we were each given the task to get into groups of 2-3 where we would have to create a 2-3 minute film which was focused around colour for the main theme.

Myself and my partner Dinos had a few ideas in the pipeline, once we sat down and talked to each other, we were able to come up with a firm starting point, I thought about creating a film which portrayed an experiment that was going on, in this case I thought about re-creating the skittles experiment, of which we could use the time it takes for the colours to mix with the water as a way of time progressing.

We then started to think up a few lines of V.O. which could drive the message of what we were trying to portray across within the film to our audience. I then thought about creating a fast paced montage of clips which used all the same colours too that of the skittles, whatever colours leak out first, i.e. if it was blue we could show short clips/pictures of the sky, sea, water, ice, with the images starting slow and fading in. these images in turn would overlay the skittles experiment, making people think what is going on.

V.O.
As cinematographers we are always thinking of news ways to give across messages in an abstract fashion, whether that is through visuals or demonstrations, we all interpret things in different ways, this leads to asking ourselves what is going on" 

Take Skittles, artificial and vibrant in colour, resemble the colours we see in everyday life, they stand out and catch the attention.

These colours are all around us, if only we took time to look. 

The message I wanted through this film was to make people aware of the vibrant colours around them! Man made - Artificial sources that we make which are nice to look at.

Here is the short film that myself and Dino's made for submission followed by some images behind the scenes.

Comparative Film Practices - Skit from Luke Curno on Vimeo.

Highrise - Additional Film that I shot

Behind the scenes

Adjusting the Cannon C100

Setting up the skittles

Re-focusing the image (peaking)

Experiment taking place

Editing the audio and footage together