Our second class in the studio! 

At the beginning of the lesson we concentrated on 180-degree rule. It is a imaginary line used while shooting different scenes, which you can not cross. For example while filming two people having a conversation we can capture them only on one side of our imaginary line. Due to that rule our characters are remaining on this same positions.

If we cross it the viewer might be confused because in the previous shot one of the characters was on the right side of the screen and in the next shot they have changed places.

After practicing 180-degree rule on camera Sony NX5 we started talking about short sequences of shots and their order to make our scene as good as we can.

Then we split into few groups and for the rest the lesson we were shooting different sequences. 

In this task I was a director. My 'job' was to set the scene, place my actor in position that I wanted and cooperate with camera operator, mainly we discussed the place of the camera and just before recording the shot i needed to make sure that he is ready to shoot and camera is ready to roll. The most important commands where: 'Stand by', 'Roll camera', 'Action' and 'Cut'. After first command the camera operator is supposed to answer 'Standing by' and whenever he is ready to record - 'Rolling'. 

My first shot was a wide shot just to set the scene and show the location. The next shot captured character from waist upwards which was a medium shot to show more detail on my actor and his surroundings. The last two shots were close-ups. First one was a close-up on a actors' face to see his facial expression and movement of his mouth while saying his line. The second one was showing him walking down the stairs. We needed so many shots of one scene that while editing the whole scene, we can combine few different shots to make our scene more interesting and polished. 

I had a lot of fun during this lesson, i got to know better the perfect order of shots and this lesson helped me with understanding the 180-degree rule which is crucial while shooting a movie. 

   First lesson in the studio! 

During our first class in the studio we have learnt how to set the tripod and how to work with different types of cameras.

       We worked with Sony NX5

Sony FS100 

                     and Canon 5D    

             

                                     Each of these cameras had slightly different options.   

Sony NX5 is the most professional one. But together with Sony FS100 they are on very high level. When it comes to Canon 5D it is really small and light compering to other two Sony’s. 

Sony NX5 and FS100 have zoom option, and focus, however if we want to sharpen our shot, first we need to zoom in and then adjust manually a perfect focus and then zoom out.

Canon 5D has interchangeable lens which means that it is zoomless. It also means that if we want to focus our shot we need to measure the distance between lens and object that we want to shoot. 

We also learnt how to put batteries into each camera. 

At the end of the lesson we studied white balance which means making colours (mainly white) in our shot as much reflecting the real colours as possible. To change these colours we used white balance board. 

During last minutes of the lesson we trained our newly acquired skills!

„The Notebook”

movie poster analysis

While looking at this poster we can see two people standing close to each other in the rain with their eyes closed, which implies that they are about to kiss. This excites the viewer because it makes them want to know what is going to happen next. The viewer wants to learn more about the relationship and their backstory. 

The camera shot is a medium two shot, which explains why we can only see their bodies from the waist upwards. The picture is taken from a low angle and therefore involves us and makes us feel as if we are, ‚living in their world’.

The first thought that comes into our mind is that the genre is a romantic tragedy. This attracts viewers because they want to experience a tragic twist within the story. We can assume that the plot revolves mainly around love and intimacy. The intimacy of the image excites viewers which suggests that women and teenage girls are the target audience; as they want to see more scenes similar to this image. 

Both the characters are standing in the rain which implies that the story is not as happy as we first thought, and that there will be lots of ups and downs. On the other hand the sky is clear, clouds are soft and practically not visible and because of that we can assume that there are going to be plot twists - there is always sun after a rain. The character’s clothes are soaked as a result of the rain, which symbolises that they had many obstacles to overcome in order to find happiness together. 

We can see a engagment ring on the woman’s hand, however the viewer can not tell if she is engaged to the man who is holding her in his arms on the poster, or maybe a man that hinders the fullfilment of their love…? This intrigues the viewer and makes them want to learn more about the story, and the complicated relationship between these two. 

The main colours on this poster are white and blue which are signifiers. The male character on the poster is wearing a white shirt which signifies purity and innocence. The blue colour symbolies the tradegy of their relationship but on the other hand it signifies the abyss of their love, passion and infinity.

Around them bears a delicate glow, which can suggest that they treat their powerful feelings like holiness. 

The costumes show the time frame that the film is set in. They are clearly from the 1940’s era. The man is wearing a thin white blouse and the woman is wearing a 40’s style dress. 

Furtermore, The font that is used for the credits and title are very simple, and therefore they do not take the viewer’s attention away from the main image.

‚The notebook’ literally means journal where we can write our memories, different experiences, feelings etc. and then with the flow of time we return to these records… In this movie according to the meaning of notebook it can suggest that their love lasted very long time, it was overflowing with different emotions and events. We can also assume that with age they have flashbacks to those moments which they shared…

SUBMERGED

The clip called Sumberged is a opening scene to a thriller movie. It is set in submarine control room.

The scene starts by lightening dark screen with a blue ray. From the beginning in the background high pitched moan can be heard. At this point in the clip it is hard to say what is the location of the movie or its plot. After few moments we can see outilne of a submarine and its indoor with two people in. These two characters seem to be collages (and friends even) monitoring the scanning system and spoting any anomalies.

Suddenly they notice sunken boat. In the same moment they start to loose power and contact with their land base. And that is how the opening sequance ends.

The tension is build up from the beginning. The sound that viewer can hear in the background for the whole duration of the clip is giving a mysterious mood and the atmosphere. The control room is rather gloomy and dark which adds uncertainty to the scene. The shots of  the sunken boat are not really clear which makes observer more interested but on the other side frighten...

„The life of David Gale” Review

       Recently i have seen movie called „The life of David Gale” from 2003 by Alan Parker. My favourite actress , Kate Winslet, is playing the role of one of the antagonists -  together with Kavin Spacey.

She is a well known reporter who is been signed to a case completly different from her department, it then appears that it was on the request of main character - David Gale  (Kevin Spacey) who is a well educated profesor on university in Teksas. He has been accused of rape and a murder with a death penalty.

The action takes place over three days before his death verdict and Bitsey Bloom (Kate Winslet) is supposed to make an interview with him over these three days, to get the whole truth story and then expose it to the daylight… At first she is completly against him and she does not understand the purpose of her doing the interview, but she could not do anything about it. With the flow of hours she is starting to understand that her presence in the prison is not accidental…

       I must say that the opening sequence is rather random. The first scene is a wide shot showing us a field, in the middle of no where. Then from afar we can see a car that goes on from the right side of the shot towards the left, slowly reducing speed. A few moments later we can see vehical stopping in the middle of the road and a lot amount of smoke around it.

 Then the viewer can hear swearing in the distance really quietly. The driver gets out of the car energetically, not even closing the door, and start to run very quickly. We can not see who is the person.

 The next long shot captures a woman running, from her side, so we authomaticlly assume that she was the person that was driving the car.

 In the following shots we can see her with a cassette in her hand. She keeps going, passing shops and buildings and finally she gets to the little town. Suddenly she sees a truck and by blocking its way she screams for help. The car passes her selflessly.

 She is not giving up and starts running again, and thats the end of the opening sequence.

When i was watching these first minutes at first i was confused - i did not know who is that woman, why is she in such a hurry and what is this cassette. With the duration of the movie you realize that it was connected to the plot. After watching these first minutes it is hard to define the genre and tone of the film. First things that came into my mind while watching it were : „This woman looks very determinated, but what is she actually doing and why?”. I had mainly questions in my head and no information about the direct location, pace, genre or characters… But because there were so many unknows i got intrigued, i wanted answers to my questions.

I think that this opening sequence broke „stereotypes” - nothing was served on a platter. After watching the most common opening sequences, the viewer is able to predict what the plot is going to be about.

These two minutes were extraoridinery - there was no music, you could only hear her steps, breathing, birds singing and the sound of drums in the background. Because of this simplicity the viewer feels like a part of an action, like observer. The beginning does not reveal any details about further events. With the flow of time there are answers to all the questions that bothered the viewer at the beginning.

       In conclusion. The openning sequence in the movie called „The life of David Gale” is out of context, it is not like the majority of films openning scenes, instead showing the viewer what it is going to be about or what is the pace and location of the movie it makes you think more intensively about it. No information has been revealed and becuase of that the viewer is more interested in the plot and what will happen in a minute. I think it broke basic standards of general openning sequences and it made me feel more excited for exploaring the movie and more like a character in the film than a viewer becuase of the simplicity.

Maybe it doesnt introduce you to the movie and it does not make it easier to understand the film but it forces you to think about it and deepen your knowledge about the fact that you already have…