This is a scene from Wonder. I chose this scene because it shows a teacher talking in front of the class and different behaviors of the students both introverted and extroverted. This would help with our film because in the beginning, we have a teacher talking in front of the class with multiple students- some anxious while some don’t care about anything, and others are paying attention attentively.
Cue
Notes
What super close insert shots can show the character traits?
– Close to teachers face with some writing on the board visible
-Cut to entire class to show students- some are paying attention attentively, some slouching
-Cut to a wider shot of teacher and then close shots of different students faces watching teacher
-Camera pans up with the movements of the character- steps, raising hand, standing up
-Shy student: hands in lap, head tilted more downward, very tense/sat upright in the seat, sat in the corner of the classroom
-Extroverted student: relaxed with movements/smooth, relaxed back in the seat, sat in the middle of the classroom
Summary: Cut from close ups of the teacher to wide shots of the entire class and close ups of individual students to show both the teacher talking and the students reaction to the teacher. This also allows the characters traits to be shown by their body language. A shy student will sit more tense with their hands in the lap and in the corner of the room while a more extroverted student will sit more relaxed with smooth movements and in the middle of the classroom.
Storytelling is joke telling: -Knowing your punchline and your ending -Everything is leading to one goal
Make them care- emotionally, intellectually
Make a promise: -Show that it will lead somewhere that is worth people’s time -Propels you forward through the story to the end
Storytelling without dialogue: -Audience wants to work for the meal -Absence of information draws us in -Don’t give them 4, give them 2+2
Stories are inevitable, but they are not predictable
Characters have a “spine”: -An interior motif that controls all of their decisions -They don’t always drive the character to make the best choices
Drama is anticipation mingled with uncertainty: -Anticipation is tension -Honest conflicts with truth that creates doubt -Marlin tension with Dory forgetting everything, underlying global tension about “will we find Nemo?”
Storytelling has guidelines not hard fast rules
Make characters like-able -Woody is selfish in the beginning, he is kind and generous as long as he stays the top toy- him being nice under these conditions allows him to be like-able while still showing his character growth
A strong theme is always run through a well told story- evoke and infuse wonder
Use what you know- capturing a truth from your personal experiences
Summary:
Storytelling is knowing your punchline and ending. It is drawing the audience in and making them care to show that it will lead somewhere and it is worth their time. The audience is smart, and absence of information draws them in and makes them interested. Using what you know from your personal experiences can help capture a truth.
By March 2nd, as a part of my film team, I will explore the film director’s skill pathway by following Bruce Block’s The Visual Story and will have explored the visual story element of movement over the course of our February project.
Movement in the screen world: only 3 things move- 1. an object 2. the camera 3. the audiences point of attention
The visual components that attract the audience’s attention: 1. Movement 2. The brightest object 3. The most saturated color 4. The actor’s eyes 5. The object with the most visual component contrast
Visual Affinity = least intense
Visual Contrast = most intense
What do different movements mean and represent?
Movement
objects in the frame in contrast to the background, facing the camera= trust, facing away=no good, moving toward someone could mean escalating problem or characters becoming closer, blocking sheet
Project Timeline
Start Pre-Production
Choose role
Make a SMART goal
Research blocking and the visual story element of movement.
Create shot list
Create a timeline for the project.
Collaborate with the team, discuss film ideas.
Write log-line.
Create Trello board with scrum
Story board
Present storyboard
Block out scenes and advance storyboard
Start Production
Gather Equipment and Props
Shoot the scenes, collaborate with cinematographer
I attempted to control the Visual Story Element of Movement with the help of Bruce Block’s The Visual Story Element
I made decisions
I showed blocking choices through an advanced story board
I identified beats
POST-PRODUCTION – REFLECTION
21st Century Skills
Ways of Thinking (Creativity, Innovation, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving)
I was creative in the way I controlled movement. I thought to make Lily go from right to left as opposed from left to right. While it may not have created as much effect as I wanted, the idea was good and had a good foundation just needed to be amped up more.
Ways of Working (Communication & Collaboration)
We didn’t have the ingredients to make an actual smoothie, but still wanted to give the impression of Sammy drinking one. To do this, we all decided to just have a black screen with blender and sipping noises. That way, it would give off the impression of making a smoothie, without actually having to do so.
Tools for Working (Info & Media Literacy)
Over the course of the film, we used Scrum for Trello to stay organized, and PremierPro for editing. I also used Bruce Block’s “The Visual Story” to help research my techniques for controlling movement.
Ways of Living in the World (Life & Career)
This production was helpful for future skills as we had to develop skills of collaboration and maintaining an open mind to new ideas. This also helped us learn how to try something new and maybe have it fail. For example, my attempt to control movement didn’t have the effect that I wanted it to have. I can now learn from this mistake and try it in a different way or improve it during our next production cycle.
Reactions to the Final Version
Michelle: “Good presenting and explaining why you did what you did. All of you as a group did very well.”
James: “The idea was there. We usually see and read form left to right instead of right to left so changing it makes it unusual and tells us something is up. I think you could have amped it up more by making a more consistent pattern of left to right and making sure the audience notices it. By doing this, we notice the pattern break and it’s more obvious. This can also be amped up by intertwining the other visual story elements together in a cohesive unit.”
Self-Evaluation of Final Version
Simple- Our film was simple and easy to understand. The audience can easily see that Lily is trying to deliver a package under a time-crunch.
Unexpected- It is unexpected at the end because the package was turned into a smoothie. The rest of the film made the package seem very important.
Concrete- Our film was memorable because it left the audience with a sort of plot twist. The black screen and sound effects allow them to envision their own ending.
Emotional- Our film showed Lily in distress and anxious. We built our film using phone calls to add more tension, however, I think we could have added more and built the anxiety and stress up even further. This could potentially include more obstacles Lily has to overcome and more action in our shots.
What I Learned and Problems I Solved
One problem that arose was we couldn’t make an actual smoothie and therefore had to figure out how to give the impression of a smoothie without actually making one. To do this, we all decided to just have a black screen with blender noises and sipping in the background.
What are longitudinal planes? When would we want to emphasize them?
Space
longitudinal planes, wide angle lenses have a greater depth of field, let objects blur- shallow depth of field
What does the different line movement mean/represent?
Line and Shape
squint- lines and shapes are horizontal and help direct the eye, gain in contrast= more lines appearing, movement in lines
In what instances would you want a brighter tone vs a darker tone?
Tone
know where you want the audience to look- no movement they will watch the brightest area of the frame, hide or reveal objects
What do different colors mean for the tension in the film?
Color
actual color of objects in the film, teal and orange- push teal and orange to make it look more alive, blue/teal- hope and life, orange-vibrancy
What do different movements mean and represent?
Movement
objects in the frame in contrast to the background, facing the camera= trust, facing away=no good, moving toward someone could mean escalating problem or characters becoming closer, blocking sheet
What does the pace of the rhythm represent?
Rhythm
walking past things that are stationary creating a rhythm, find the sounds rhythm and let it control the visual rhythm, shape to a shape- ex: rolling apple cuts to a rolling tire
By January 28th, as part of my film team, I I will explore the directors pathway by following the Studio Binder film blocking tutorital and will have created tension in the film using a logical blocking sequence.
Ways of Thinking (Creativity, Innovation, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving)
After collecting our shots and uploading them to premiere pro, we noticed that the tones of the shots were inconsistent as some were warm with an orange tint and some were cold and bluer. In order to resolve this problem, I made the decision to change the film to black and white to balance out these tones and it also went along with our thriller/horror genre.
Ways of Working (Communication & Collaboration)
Throughout the course of this production, we had to make decisions and collaborate to ensure that we would finish within the deadline and present the best possible work. One example, mentioned before, was black and white as we didn’t have time to re-shoot and we all agreed it went along with our genre. Another example is cutting out extra sounds that we didn’t have time to film such as the door creak. We were unable to find a creaky enough door and didn’t want to spend too much time on this one thing so we all decided to just cut that out.
Tools for Working (Info & Media Literacy)
Over the course of this production, we used the scrum for Trello in order to stay organized and timely with the steps needed in order to finish within the deadline. I used StudioBinder and Epic Light Media for tutorials. Additionally, we used premier pro to edit our film and google slideshow to present our evidence to the class.
Ways of Living in the World (Life & Career)
This production was helpful for life skills and future career skills as we had to develop the skills of collaborating in a group and maintaining open to new ideas. In addition, we also had to work with a deadline and manage our timely wisely to ensure that it was completed. Our problem-solving skills were improved as many challenges arise during production that we had to solve and work around.
Reactions to the Final Version
After presenting the film, these classmates commented their feedback regarding my role:
Daniel- “I liked the decision to make it black and white and thought it added to the thriller genre type.”
Merja- “I thought your decision to put Lily in a corner to make it appear as thought she was trapped was smart.”
Self-Evaluation of Final Version
Simple- our idea was simple and was easy to follow. The viewer can easily sense that something scary is happening.
Unexpected- the viewer didn’t know what the actress was being haunted by until the very end which made the ending unexpected.
Concrete- our film was memorable as it left with a cliffhanger leaving the viewer wanting more and wondering what happens next.
Emotional- our film showed the actress in distress and scared as something is haunting her. We built our tension throughout the film using sounds such as creepy music fading in and out and uneasy-sounding laughs. In addition, we played with the minds of the viewer as we put in a shadow before actually seeing that it was in fact the shadow of the doll.
What I Learned and Problems I Solved
Some problems that arose were uneven tones in our shots with not enough time to shoot and we solved this by making in black and white. In addition, we also had trouble finding a creaky enough door to fit our film so we decided to cut it out in order to save time for our editor. I learned how to properly use the advanced storyboard and also developed a practice in blocking out my scenes.
Revolves around a close reading of a text Text can have a deeper meaning beyond what was originally intended Art can take on a meaning separate from the artist who created it intended
How do we closely look at films?
Audience familiarizes themselves w/ techniques and devices while watching the film Consider both the content of the film-central themes, narratives and formal elements- how the content is presented via cinematography and dialogue In order to come to conclusions about films one has to closely examine the cinematography and dialogue
How is this applied in film?
Film is grounded in script and cinematography New Criticism in film is the close reading of the visual storytelling Ex: lighting- highkey lighting to illuminate the Joker and while Batman is shot with lowkey lighting, the director does this to reinforce the Joker as one that sheds light on Gotham’s societal dysfunction
Summary
While New Criticism for scholars is often seen as revlolving around a close reading of texts, film is grounded in script and cinematography meaning it can also be seen as the close reading of the visual storytelling in a film. In order to come to conclusions about the characters or plot in the film, one has to closely exament both the content but also the formal elements such as the cinematography and dialogue.
