Month: March 2020

The Story of Film: Episode 1 – Birth of the Cinema

Episode 1 – Birth of the Cinema

Introduction

a lie to tell the truth- this is filmmaking

cinema used as an empathy machine

Romantic films always in a rush

there’s a pause in the story used to show realism

reflects truth that all humans feel that we can’t just produce mechanically.

images and ideas excite us

looking into bubbles to see trouble

much of what we assume about movies is off the mark. film making is racist by omission

1895-1918: The World Discovers a New Art Form or Birth of the Cinema

regular place documented in the first actualites’

created in the black moriah

Lumieres believed in actualites, the factory shot was the place of the first movie that was shown by them.

was innovative and unsettling to the audience

a conception of reality that people could witness

 

 

first jump cut ever used in film to make a man appear

first special effects  used by Georges Melies

inspired people with the dream to project because of Melies

first to film at the front of a train creating a slow tracking shot known as the phantom ride

Claude Lanzmann used the phantom ride to narrate the tracks that took the Jews to Auschwitz.

uses a tracking shot on light to make it feel as if the film itself is tripping

used the first close up to show the cat eating in more detail. created naturally and comfortably

closeups of a dead woman’s hand and hair being lowered by the bridge to show the feeling of despair in the scene.

zoom and extreme closeup used to show the people that he realized something deep inside Fonda.

became a quick way to show ideas and communicate

1903-1918: The Thrill Becomes Story or The Hollywood Dream

by 1903 film makers had developed many of the key shots to show a story but couldn’t edit, this was the first film that was cut to see a progression of events and time.

shot the first scene using double exposure to show that a man falls asleep to jump into a film.

first introduced parallel story structure, not what happens next. shows what happens at the same time

first film that they would allow actors to turn around, giving birth to a different look into action

was startling when he wouldn’t show the face of Anna Karina

girl in this film was anonymous

Florence Lorence was burned into peoples mind after media outrage

Less censorship meant actors could be more sexual and hollywood learned from it in what they could have

added an element of sublime to their film inspiring a dreamy fictional feeling to the film, or sense of surreal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Rebirth of a Nation (2007) dir. DJ Spooky

 

 

 

 

Session 6

Summary

Role

Director

Intention (SMART Goal)

By March 18 as part of team 3 I will have completed Walter Murch’s “Direct The Eye” tutorial to be able to create valuable eye guiding scenes for Project 6 in our film production cycle.

PRE-PRODUCTION – INQUIRY

Leader(s) in the Field / Exemplary Work(s)

  1. Martin Scorsese known one of the most influential and greatest directors was a New Wave Era director in Hollywood. Scorsese’s body of work explores themes such as Italian-American identity, Catholic concepts of guilt and redemption, faith, machismo, crime and tribalism. He is best known for his work in Goodfellas and Taxi Driver.

Training Source(s)

  1. we will use Trello to organize our production and stay up to speed.
  2. I will begin to make tasks for each production team member and assure that they stay on their job.
  3. I will now start storyboarding with the screenwriter and cinematographer, identifying our points of tension in our film.
  4. After storyboarding, I will identify important and key shots on our shot list with our cinematographer.
  5. I will ascertain that every team member is clear on their understanding of their role and their tasks.
  6. I will now choose a specific setting, and a time when we can all get together.
  7. Once pre-production is completed I will work with the editor to get the visual experience and pacing of the film that is desired.
  8. Then I will make sure that the film is uploaded and delivered to Leduc.
  9. After that I will create the presentation slide show and share it with everyone to edit their own evidence and reasoning into.

PRODUCTION – ACTION

The (FILM, SOUND, or GAME Creation)

Skills Commentary

POST-PRODUCTION – REFLECTION

21st Century Skills

Ways of Thinking (Creativity, Innovation, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving)

Ways of Working (Communication & Collaboration)

Tools for Working (Info & Media Literacy)

Ways of Living in the World (Life & Career)

Reactions to the Final Version

Self-Evaluation of Final Version

What I Learned and Problems I Solved

Grammar and Spelling

Editor

Text Analysis: Up in the Air

IMDb link to movie informational page

Cast and Crew

Notes

  • Got people who recently lost their jobs in the recession to come in and go through the firing process again and get more realistic reactions
  • Asked people to respond the way they wish they responded to their loss of career, or respond how they initially reacted to their loss of position.
  • Made it feel relaxed and more like an interview so that the people were relaxed
  • Needed to make everything fast and clean inside the airport to make it feel like a relaxed and pleasurable experience to travel because its “not planes, trains, and automobiles.”
  • needed to show that Ryan Binghum’s place of comfort was the airport.
  • shot from 10pm to 4am to be able to film in actual airports.
  • TSA volunteered time
  • made intro to look like old postcards
  • backpack speech came from a life experience where his house burned down and he realized it was oddly freeing to have all of his stuff gone as long as him and his wife were safe.
  • used lots of motion in cinematography to create that “hustle feeling.”
  • Decided to give Jason Bateman a beard to change his character from most of his other roles.
  • Camera couldn’t point down so the Cessna’s would have to dive bomb to get the footage they needed.
  • designed the bar scene where Alex and Ryan (Vera and George) to seem like a romance form the 80s-90s.
  • Scene was improvised by Vera and George
  • Wanted to show a mystery through shooting in a curved hallway.
  • shot entirely in a functioning open airport. dealt with people bewildered by George Clooney walking through the airport.
  • Wanted to show Jason Bateman’s character as completely artificial so he decorated his office with store bought memorabilia.
  • Set up cameras completely on dance floor a 4×8 foot board coated in plastic that you can control a dolly on.
  • Rolfe Kent: Composer–
  • excellent at making low key comedic music
  • Rolfe Kent makes all the music in his studio and adds all the music one by one
  • Used bark to hide spring so that it stayed winter
  • A song if its right or wrong will put you into the right or wrong tone
  • most important tonal piece
  • very specific and carefully thought out