Reading Response

What I found interesting was the distribution of a film and creating it. It was interesting to learn that films aren’t the same format the entire way through and parts of it can be quite different from the ones in distribution. Perhaps it’s because in our class, I’ve gotten into the habit of using one particular format for filming and then presenting in the corresponding one as well, so it hasn’t really occurred to me that it was possible. For bigger film projects, I would expect that change the format a bit, but I never thought of changing the format for mine. It also depends on the viewing you want as well, such as HD or not. Also, it never occurred to me that they shot in different formats by how smoothly films usually are in the editing process.

It was interesting to read about the difference between film and video since people often associate one with another. Film doesn't necessarily have to be expensive to get good results and for a larger group, video is best. I'm using a little cassette right now for a small group and I think it's quite good so far. Sometimes though, video has an advantage, especially when I'm the type of person that doesn't stop recording when it's not time to and I waste a lot of film and have a lot to upload and go through.

Something I learned from this book was that slow motion was the only option for shooting. It baffles me as now, we don't need to shoot with slow motion because of how our cameras work. As discussed in the text, they needed to shoot many frames per second because film cameras could only achieve these frame rates. From learning a bit about this, I want to be able to experiment with slow motion as we are so spoiled by the smoothness of film now. Even some cirical slo-mo shots are done in film, as mentioned in the book, which proves that it's still quite effective, in cost and in technique.

Reading Response 3

A superobjective is what the objective of the main character is. Mamet tries to explain this by giving a situation and asking others to think of a scene for it. In the case of On Directing Film, it is a student trying to earn the respect of a teacher. That is the superobjective and the concept of the scene. Establishing the character does help the superobjective, as the character is what is of pursuit of the superobjective, but it doesn’t need to be established all the time. As long as the protagonist wants something, the audience will want it as well.

By ‘cutting’ in different parts of a film, typically changing shots, the film can create a sense and climax to the audience. The example used by Mamet is the House of Games when there are two guys fighting over a gun. The next shot, or cut, is of professor looking on with the gunshot in the background. We don’t actually see the two characters fighting and the hot, but it is implied what happens through the eyes of the professor. This gave the sense of helplessness to the audience as they watched on while something major happened.

In the section “Where Do You Put the Camera?,” they came up with a variety of shots for one main concept. Each one of those shots was trying to convey the same meaning, but at the same time, there were many that portrayed different meanings when they proceeded along. I realized that you have to be careful when planning your shots because of how many different meanings you can take from one scene.

The concept of clichés popped up in the reading as well, especially using the clock to indicate earliness and time. Clichés have been used many times in the film industry and are a lot of times, unavoidable. Mamet mentions that you shouldn’t shy away from clichés, but try to make it better. I agree with this, but then again, it would be hard to determine what is ‘better’ considering clichés have been around us for so long and used many times.

What struck me the most in the reading was on page 24, when Mamet says that narrative weakens the film. I actually disagree with that, along with how he said that you don’t really need to establish the character. What keeps me paying attention to a film is the narrative and how well the characters develop through that narrative. I feel that it’s an essential part of creating art work, especially if you intend to have some sort of storyline. If you do not have a decent storyline or a character that can grow, there’s not much you can do with the film and, in my opinion, it can turn out to be a boring and maybe even cliché.

Source: David Mamet's On Directing Film

Reading Response 2

In order to create focus, you use the lens of a camera. Using the lens, a focal length can be created -- it measures the power of a lens to bend light rays coming from the subject. Focus is used in order to enlarge details, such as expression or minor objects and making it clear and sharp to the viewer. How far a subject is and how you adjust the lens greatly influences how sharp the image is. When the camera is 'out of focus,' the image is blurry and softer in appearance. When a camera is 'in focus,' it is the opposite: the image is much sharper. Focusing through looking at the viewfinder is preferably. It is usually more accurate and faster to use your own eyes. When the subject is closer to the lens, the farther it has to be from the film plane.

Lighting influences how we understand a scene and how we experience it emotionally. Ir directs the audiences' attention, since we are naturally more drawn to the brighter areas. Lighting also establishes the time frame the scene takes place in. Taking an angle lighting shot gives us the dimension of subjects, creating shadow or flattens it. There are 2 qualities of light: hard, which makes shadows crisper, and soft, which makes the shadows appear gentler. Hard light creates more defined shadows, while soft light can be used as a strategy to hide facial imperfections. Lighting contrast is expressed in ratios called Lighting Contrast Ratio and the results come from a combination of the key light (casts main shadows) and fill light (fills in key's shadows). Sometimes the intensity of light can get in the way. This is why they have reflectors, something white or silver, to help diffuse the light or even practicals (such as a table lamp on a set) to help as well. Using a scrim (circular wire mesh screens that is placed on the front of a lighting unit) are the best way to reduce intensity. Light is defined as a 'form of radiant energy which is visible.'

Colour is created by white light going through a a prism (or prism like object) in order to create hues. The human eye sees 3 colours: red, green and blue. There are 2 ways to make colour: additive (adding light) and subtractive (subtracting light). Additive starts with black and starts adding the reds, greens and blues in order to create white and other colours.Subtractive is the opposite: it starts with white and we subtract cyan, magenta and yellow to create black or others. If you mix colours, they will create another colour, like mixing red and blue will create magenta. Using a filter subtracts light as they put more emphasis on their own colour and takes away from the others. If we use a red filter, it will absorb green and blue, also known as cyan. If we use a cyan filter, it will absorb red, giving more prominence to green and blue.

In order for a video image to work, both light and colour must be used. Without light, there is no colour. Without colour, there is no real impact, depending on the type of video you are creating. You create colour from light, so it is only natural that they would be working together in order to create that final image. It is important to note that depending on what kind of light source you are using, the colour of a subject may appear differently. An example would be under a florescent light, objects will appear a bit more blue. Brightness and the intensity of light depends on how we see colours. If we see a colour against a light background, it will appear dark. If we see that same colour against a dark background, it will appear lighter.

While reading about colour, I felt like my education in art was a lie. This is mainly because of the primary colour aspect. I was taught that the primary colours were what the text said: red, blue and yellow. To find out that you can't use those three colours in order to make all the others just seemed to have baffled me slightly.

Used Ascher and Pincus' The Filmmaker's Handbook as well as the Kodak Light and Colour reading.

Reading Response

According to Google, video is defined as “the system of recording, reproducing, or broadcasting moving visual images on or from videotape.”

Image is defined as “a representation of the external form of a person or thing in sculpture, painting, etc.”

So the term video image itself should be self-explanatory. If I was to define it based on what I read from The Filmmaker’s Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for the Digital Age by Steven Ascher and Edward Pincus, I would say it is a final product of a video consisting of many steps that consists of editing light, contrast and sound.

Ascher and Pincus’ book has given many informative and fairly technical material, including the function of a camera and the many controls on them as well.

On a camera, you can manually control:

• The viewfinder: the monitor that allows you to see what you are shooting.
• The white balance: adjusting the camera to the colour balance of the light
• The exposure: how much light goes through the lens of a camera
• The focus: how clear the image is when you’re shooting

Before this book, I was quite uniformed about cameras in particular. I did not know that a camera had something called a sensor: a chip that converts the light coming through the lens to electric charges. I didn’t realize that the sensor had such an impact on what we see in order to produce the final video and image.

It was interesting to know that there was so much to do before shooting, such as the numerous adjustments for colour, contrast, etc. I am more used to this cheap digital camera and point and shoot. I knew cameras had to be set up, but to bring in a technician to fine-tune settings has never really crossed my mind.

Many of the terminology is new to me, including gamma which refers to the contrast of the image. Although I had an idea about shadows and highlights when it came to an image, to learn the correct term for it was refreshing. Even though I have simplified the explanation, there are many types of gamma such as normal, reduced and cine/film.