Monday
In Kim's class we had a good discussion on storylining and editing each other's work was very revealing - you could see where the weak spots in your own story were.
Tuesday
Unusually for me, I didn’t feel a huge amount of anxiety before this assessment; that changed about two minutes in. Mostly it was the time limit: I’m fairly confident I can now put up a camera and all its trimmings and mount some lights but getting it all done and then packed away again in under an hour is a challenge, just the way it was challenge to just do the camera in thirty minutes which I can now do pretty easily.
One very important thing I learned during the assessment was how to do backfocus. I thought I knew, and I did mostly, but I have been mistaking the take-the-whole-lens-off-screw for the adjust-backfocus screw the whole time. Embarrassing, but good that I now know it (it was because I remembered it as “the screw at the back of the lens” which it is, but not that one).
The camera element went smoothly, I’m getting used the kit now and I only had to consult my notes to verify that I was setting up the monitor correctly, which I think I did well. I was especially proud that I got the bars to exactly thirty seconds, not a second over.
The lights were trickier. By doing all the work by yourself you have to be running back and forth between all these lights and then running back to check the viewfinder and it’s quite stressful. I also had to abandon my plan, which had been to use the Kino lights as a fill simply because I wouldn’t have had the time to set them up and de-rig them. Then I had trouble trying to re-arrange my set-up to try to create the look I wanted, which was especially hard since we were just shooting a fairly flat mannequin. My personal taste is for quite a high level of contrast, which would have meant a strong key light and virtually no fill. Still, that didn’t fit the requirements of the assessment and I’m sure there’ll be plenty of time to play around with creating “looks”.
The de-rig was the most stressful part, since both Julia and I were scuttling about trying to pack away lamps which were still too hot with no protective gloves while time ticked away. Still, we were only a few minutes over; I would have preferred to have gotten in under an hour, I don’t think it was too bad, and it certainly wasn’t for lack of trying.
Overall then, I’m pleased with my performance but as ever it could do with more practice to become accustomed to the kit and more confident in how to use it.
Then afterwards, as stress relief, we went to go and see The Princess and The Frog. Made us feel like we were six years old again.
Wednesday
We had a rather depressing but interesting chat about the furutre of television online.
The depressing: no one watches good things on the internet, not when there are clips of cars slipping on ice. And, even if you do lure people into watching your magnum opus, you can't actually make money out of it. I keep coming back to it, but I think Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog bucks this trend - people watched it, it's good (it's brilliant!) and even though it was available for free people bought the DVD. Sadly though, not everyone is Joss Whedon.
Friday
I really enjoyed Sunset Boulevard, and I found some parts very scary indeed. I think the heroine may be my new role model: if I can but live as eccentrically and as opulently as her I'll die happy. Crazy, but happy.
Monday, 22 February 2010
Term 2: Week 6: Doctor's diagnosis: heartless
Monday
Half term holiday! Whoop!
Tuesday
Open day! Exciting adventures with trying to guide people around a building we still don't really know, crazy people and chats with the Principal. And, of course, the Pancake Party that night.
Wednesday
Two new modules, which I'm looking forward to: more cinema, more tv, including a very interesting discussion on what shocks/outrages us, which ramble along very pleasantly, and which is definitely my favourite way of learning.
This is the shocking advert I mentioned, and it is consequently a brilliant ad (it doesn't outrage me, I think it's just being good at its job!):
Friday
The day of musicals. Endless, endless, musicals.
(Into The Woods by Stephen Sondheim performed by the original Broadway cast; the whole soundtrack is on Spotify)
This is my kind of musical: self aware, funny, and musically complex enough to hold my attention - if I wouldn't listen to it doing the dusting, I won't listen to it onscreen.
We certainly got a tour of the kind I don't like. The cheesy, cheery kind, where plot or character is largely ignored in favour of getting to the next show tune. There was also the problem of being able to hear it over the permagrinning presenters slapping each other on the back.
There were some fun parts though: singing along to "Make 'Em Laugh", having a collective recoil from "Thank Goodness For Little Girls" and finding out how to walk on the ceiling.
Half term holiday! Whoop!
Tuesday
Open day! Exciting adventures with trying to guide people around a building we still don't really know, crazy people and chats with the Principal. And, of course, the Pancake Party that night.
Wednesday
Two new modules, which I'm looking forward to: more cinema, more tv, including a very interesting discussion on what shocks/outrages us, which ramble along very pleasantly, and which is definitely my favourite way of learning.
This is the shocking advert I mentioned, and it is consequently a brilliant ad (it doesn't outrage me, I think it's just being good at its job!):
Friday
The day of musicals. Endless, endless, musicals.
(Into The Woods by Stephen Sondheim performed by the original Broadway cast; the whole soundtrack is on Spotify)
This is my kind of musical: self aware, funny, and musically complex enough to hold my attention - if I wouldn't listen to it doing the dusting, I won't listen to it onscreen.
We certainly got a tour of the kind I don't like. The cheesy, cheery kind, where plot or character is largely ignored in favour of getting to the next show tune. There was also the problem of being able to hear it over the permagrinning presenters slapping each other on the back.
There were some fun parts though: singing along to "Make 'Em Laugh", having a collective recoil from "Thank Goodness For Little Girls" and finding out how to walk on the ceiling.
Sunday, 21 February 2010
Summative Statement: Television and The Small Screen
How television works is something most people probably don't think about most of the time; they watch what they like if it's on at a convenient time and while they may grumble about something like there being too many repeats they'll take what they're given. I really feel I've begun to look at the television I watch more as the output of a business rather than as a passive activity. There is so much to consider: scheduling, viewing figures, critical response, the reaction of the media and of viewers. One of the sadder facts I have taken is that quality is often irrelevent compared to the cold reality of what people are watching, hence the prevalence of copycat shows, spin-offs and reality tv.
Loathe it or hate it, reality tv has undoubtedly had a huge influence on what we watch; it's become so much of the landscape that there are dramas based off it and parodies everywhere. Plus, there is the fact that if any of us can come up with the next Big Brother, while we may have trouble sleeping at night we would be able to occupy our time by counting our money.
Class also gave me the opportunity to watch programmes I never would have otherwise. For example, the old American sitcom I Love Lucy which is still funny, and which we learnt influenced the whole sitcom genre, from Friends to How I Met Your Mother. It introduced things which we take as given such as the three wall set and the oddball neighbours. The Shield was an example of a more recent TV show which has changed the game, since it brings a staggering level of complexity to the cop show format. I would love to watch more of that, and also The Wire, which I saw on DVDs from the library. These are masterfully made programmes with a lot to say; in the same vein was Jimmy McGovern's The Street, which we watched while studying the idea of authorship. This was truly quality art - the writing, the acting, the low-key yet accomplished direction, it came together for a brilliant hour of honest storytelling which we can all aspire to.
Overall, I think our first module has been an eye opening experience. There have been pages worth of statistics along the way, but also stimulating discussions with each other on our beliefs and habits and opportunities to see some amazing pieces of television.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch
Loathe it or hate it, reality tv has undoubtedly had a huge influence on what we watch; it's become so much of the landscape that there are dramas based off it and parodies everywhere. Plus, there is the fact that if any of us can come up with the next Big Brother, while we may have trouble sleeping at night we would be able to occupy our time by counting our money.
Class also gave me the opportunity to watch programmes I never would have otherwise. For example, the old American sitcom I Love Lucy which is still funny, and which we learnt influenced the whole sitcom genre, from Friends to How I Met Your Mother. It introduced things which we take as given such as the three wall set and the oddball neighbours. The Shield was an example of a more recent TV show which has changed the game, since it brings a staggering level of complexity to the cop show format. I would love to watch more of that, and also The Wire, which I saw on DVDs from the library. These are masterfully made programmes with a lot to say; in the same vein was Jimmy McGovern's The Street, which we watched while studying the idea of authorship. This was truly quality art - the writing, the acting, the low-key yet accomplished direction, it came together for a brilliant hour of honest storytelling which we can all aspire to.
Overall, I think our first module has been an eye opening experience. There have been pages worth of statistics along the way, but also stimulating discussions with each other on our beliefs and habits and opportunities to see some amazing pieces of television.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch
Saturday, 20 February 2010
True Originals
Ah, alcohol advertising - it can always afford more class than any more salubrious industries. Makes me wonder what masterpieces of short form film art we've been denied by the ban on cigarette advertising.
The sound effects on this are great, watch out for the sounds of marching feet and swords being sheathed.
Also, it really makes me crave a cocktail, which must mean it's doing its job. Hummingbird anyone?
The sound effects on this are great, watch out for the sounds of marching feet and swords being sheathed.
Also, it really makes me crave a cocktail, which must mean it's doing its job. Hummingbird anyone?
Saturday, 13 February 2010
Term 2: Week 5: I vote we install a bed in the Fyfe
It's very strange to think that this time last year I was balancing being stressed about my upcoming French speaking prelim and being stressed by the fact I had no ideas for my interview, and what ideas I had were appallingly bad. Thankfully, both were set straight in the course of a bus journey to and from Edinburgh, after which I spent a night writing the tv show I ended up bringing rather than learning my speaking assessment. I think on balance I made the right choice.
Monday
Another very interesting lesson with Kim, talking about our own character ideas and the art of storylining. I learnt the valuable lesson of not making my characters likeable, because who ever likes a likable character? (*cough*Riley Finn*cough*) I'm very happy with the idea we came up with in groups, combining a couple of characters to make an even worse situation for the poor Websters.
And in the afternoon we re-capped the history of cinema up til sound, including the ridiculously successful but also incredibly racist Birth Of A Nation. I'm glad we didn't watch the whole thing, since I'm not sure if I'd be able to ignore the glorification of the KKK for three hours just for the sake of some tracking shots.
Tuesday
A full day of three point lighting! I say this every week but I still can't get over how pretty the pictures look when they're lit, it's really what I've been lacking so far, both in resources and knowledge. Something I learnt from being a subject: whatever you do, don't put 3000 watts of light tight on them, it may look fine but it makes whoever you are shooting miserable and squinty.
I feel confident about the assessment coming up: I know I can do the camera set-up by now from practice in class and outside, and hopefully I will be able to manage the lights as well. Getting a basic three point set-up should be ok so long as I remember how to do the stands, fine tuning may be a little trickier since I'll be on my own running back and forth, and the timing will be the trick - getting it all up and still leaving time to disassemble.
Tuesday is also notable for the TPA installation in the Chandler Theatre, where they made a massive bed complete with pillows and duvets and invited people in to watch movies and drink chocolate ovaltine. It was divine, and I really think they should do the same to the Fyfe. Permanently.
Wednesday
The bittiest day in the calendar, and I'm not even sure I'm getting this in the right order.
In the morning we had several hours of sound, learning about the mixers and the microphones and the myriad switches and cables involved. It's very tricky stuff, but I reckon it'll go the way of putting up the tripod finding the record button on the camera. I do hope someone's imagination was fired up by these sessions, since surely we need at least one sound recordist in the class. Anyone? Bueller?
Then we had open day sign-ups (I'm bouncering again, and no doubt I'll drop into "Your Favourite Film And Why You're Wrong" again because it's a tradition by now) and a meeting with TPA to discuss collaborative projects. We didn't come up with anything conclusive but it was nice to meet more of them, aside from the few we got to know through the Inner Space project and Maisie, who I've known since the days when I didn't know about the RSAMD.
Then, bizarrely, we had another Creative Beginnings lecture. It makes sense that the best one would come after the module is actually over and assessed, and Richard Holloway was actually brilliant. He was clever, and funny, and he mentioned film! For the first time, we filmmakers got a shout out. Hurrah for that, and hurrah for most of what he said, talking about the historical record of storytelling and its role as an act of defiance.
Finally, we had the showdown of the century: Team A vs Team B. I think it's pretty obvious Team B emerged victorious, but we all acquitted ourselves well on the subject.
Thursday
While fresh hopefuls turned up to be interviewed, we got on with more sound. This time we did more practical stuff: spying on each other with the microphone, competing to hold the boom up (I passed the one minute test!) etc...
I was surprised by how close into the frame you can get with a boom and disappointed at myself when I had to sit and talk, finding I'd forgotten so much of the text which once populated my brain. It seems the names of lights and safety protocols have displaced the monologues and poems I could once call on.
On a side note, we played "consequences" that night at halls, and to our shame, the resulting stories were far more coherent than when we'd done a similar exercise for Richard, only then we'd been able to what had come before. How that happens I have no idea.
Friday
I've already written about Singin' In The Rain so I'll just leave it at saying that I still love it.
Monday
Another very interesting lesson with Kim, talking about our own character ideas and the art of storylining. I learnt the valuable lesson of not making my characters likeable, because who ever likes a likable character? (*cough*Riley Finn*cough*) I'm very happy with the idea we came up with in groups, combining a couple of characters to make an even worse situation for the poor Websters.
And in the afternoon we re-capped the history of cinema up til sound, including the ridiculously successful but also incredibly racist Birth Of A Nation. I'm glad we didn't watch the whole thing, since I'm not sure if I'd be able to ignore the glorification of the KKK for three hours just for the sake of some tracking shots.
Tuesday
A full day of three point lighting! I say this every week but I still can't get over how pretty the pictures look when they're lit, it's really what I've been lacking so far, both in resources and knowledge. Something I learnt from being a subject: whatever you do, don't put 3000 watts of light tight on them, it may look fine but it makes whoever you are shooting miserable and squinty.
I feel confident about the assessment coming up: I know I can do the camera set-up by now from practice in class and outside, and hopefully I will be able to manage the lights as well. Getting a basic three point set-up should be ok so long as I remember how to do the stands, fine tuning may be a little trickier since I'll be on my own running back and forth, and the timing will be the trick - getting it all up and still leaving time to disassemble.
Tuesday is also notable for the TPA installation in the Chandler Theatre, where they made a massive bed complete with pillows and duvets and invited people in to watch movies and drink chocolate ovaltine. It was divine, and I really think they should do the same to the Fyfe. Permanently.
Wednesday
The bittiest day in the calendar, and I'm not even sure I'm getting this in the right order.
In the morning we had several hours of sound, learning about the mixers and the microphones and the myriad switches and cables involved. It's very tricky stuff, but I reckon it'll go the way of putting up the tripod finding the record button on the camera. I do hope someone's imagination was fired up by these sessions, since surely we need at least one sound recordist in the class. Anyone? Bueller?
Then we had open day sign-ups (I'm bouncering again, and no doubt I'll drop into "Your Favourite Film And Why You're Wrong" again because it's a tradition by now) and a meeting with TPA to discuss collaborative projects. We didn't come up with anything conclusive but it was nice to meet more of them, aside from the few we got to know through the Inner Space project and Maisie, who I've known since the days when I didn't know about the RSAMD.
Then, bizarrely, we had another Creative Beginnings lecture. It makes sense that the best one would come after the module is actually over and assessed, and Richard Holloway was actually brilliant. He was clever, and funny, and he mentioned film! For the first time, we filmmakers got a shout out. Hurrah for that, and hurrah for most of what he said, talking about the historical record of storytelling and its role as an act of defiance.
Finally, we had the showdown of the century: Team A vs Team B. I think it's pretty obvious Team B emerged victorious, but we all acquitted ourselves well on the subject.
Thursday
While fresh hopefuls turned up to be interviewed, we got on with more sound. This time we did more practical stuff: spying on each other with the microphone, competing to hold the boom up (I passed the one minute test!) etc...
I was surprised by how close into the frame you can get with a boom and disappointed at myself when I had to sit and talk, finding I'd forgotten so much of the text which once populated my brain. It seems the names of lights and safety protocols have displaced the monologues and poems I could once call on.
On a side note, we played "consequences" that night at halls, and to our shame, the resulting stories were far more coherent than when we'd done a similar exercise for Richard, only then we'd been able to what had come before. How that happens I have no idea.
Friday
I've already written about Singin' In The Rain so I'll just leave it at saying that I still love it.
Thursday, 11 February 2010
Monday, 8 February 2010
The Route V50
I promised Lucy I would post these:
They're a surprisingly complex advert for Volvo, with a very clever idea which gives you a real "ahhh, I get it!" moment, all supported by excellent digital effects and (three) excellent performances by Robert Downey Jr.
They're a surprisingly complex advert for Volvo, with a very clever idea which gives you a real "ahhh, I get it!" moment, all supported by excellent digital effects and (three) excellent performances by Robert Downey Jr.
Sunday, 7 February 2010
Oscar Nominations
I'm a bit late with this, but I have decided that since I am now a city-dweller with a Cineworld card and a bulletproof excuse to go to the cinema at any and all times (it's practically homework!) I ought to make this the year I see all of films nominated, or at least all the one in the big categories. Tricky, since quite a few are now in the realm of DVD release, but still I'll give it a shot, and to make it relevant I'll post about them here.
Here are the actual nominations if you haven't seen them yet.
And here's what I'll need to see (ones still to be seen in bold, still to be written about in italics):
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air
Crazy Heart
A Single Man
Invictus
The Last Station
Julie and Julia
The Messenger
The Lovely Bones
Nine
Ajami (Israel)
El Secreto de Sus Ojos - The Secret of Their Eyes (Argentina)
The Milk of Sorrow (Peru)
Un Prophete - A Prophet (France)
The White Ribbon (Germany)
Phew!
Here are the actual nominations if you haven't seen them yet.
And here's what I'll need to see (ones still to be seen in bold, still to be written about in italics):
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air
Crazy Heart
A Single Man
Invictus
The Last Station
Julie and Julia
The Messenger
The Lovely Bones
Nine
Ajami (Israel)
El Secreto de Sus Ojos - The Secret of Their Eyes (Argentina)
The Milk of Sorrow (Peru)
Un Prophete - A Prophet (France)
The White Ribbon (Germany)
Phew!
Term 2: Week 4: I've got structure coming out of my ears
Monday
We had our first screenwriting class in ages, taken by our glamorous Hollywood-resident Richard. We recapped subjects we'd done before like theme and structure, but found plenty more to cover in that.
I dread to think what Richard thought of our round robin attempts at writing outlines: each of us contributed one aspect of the story (character, goal, theme, inciting incident etc) in the hope that a coherent story would be built. In some cases we had moderate success, such as a story about a depressed firefighter, but others were hilarious in how awful they were. I don't think any of us will forget the claustrophobic submariner, whose reaction to his claustrophobia was to lock himself in a toilet... And who eventually realised he was the "most experienced on board"... And, of course, the illegal immigrant girl who was drugged and, while she couldn't move her arms or legs, she could go to the travel agent to book a flight home.
I like to think that this isn't a reflection of our true potential as filmmakers, but instead a symptom of that kind of collaborative and directionless writing.
Tuesday
Today, we were looking at character and dialogue. The character game was very fun, as we invented backstories for photos of real people and answered questions like "what sort of underwear are they wearing?" about them. It invites stereotyping (excepting Harry, who came up with a rather lovely story), but the point is that when an audience member first sees a character they make just the same assumptions, so we have to contain as much information as possible in those first impressions.
We were also asked to consider thinking about our characters as if they were real, and I had something to refer to, since character is something I've always been interested in. No simple stuffed toys for me, mine always had elaborate personalities and backstories, and the full accompaniment of character flaws and eccentricities. More recently, my advanced higher drama play led me to make my favourite character: Holly Fray. I think my approach is that I have to fall in love with them a little bit, since if I can't admire and love them, how will an audience, and how will I be able to put them through the rigors of a dramatic situation? The script to that play is actually posted here, and yes it's very dialogue heavy but it's the theatre, and that's allowed.
We also dicussed our premises, and picked one for all of us to write. It's horrifying how a story which intially sounds fun and easy to write actually would cause structural nightmares. I find it quite annoying how restrictive cinema structures are - this isn't to say that I reject the idea, I know that it's right, anyone who's seen a badly structured film would agree, but it does mean that a narrower range of stories can be told, and that action is necessarily distorted to meet the requirements of the three act structure. Anyway, as we come to understand it more I'm sure it will get easier to craft stories which do work, and in the meantime I can always indulge my theatrical tendencies in private.
Wednesday
What a jolly way to start the day: share three things you don't like about yourself.
That happened, and then we ate chocolate fingers (thanks Julia!) and it was definitely easier than eariier in the year.
Then, for something different, we talked about conflict and tension, and the reasons and methods surrounding them. We also touched on the curious way we feel tension even when we know the outcome, which is explored in a cognitive context here if you're interested (I'm a bit of a science geek, and this actually formed a large part of my argument against Verfrumdungseffekt... Anyway... It's a really great website that: the ideas and theories of a film theory lecturer from the University of Wisconsin).
My tutorial was late in the afternoon and it went very well. Richard agreed with me that the initial idea was weak, so the resulting script was never going to blow anyone's socks off, but it was overall in the region of "ok", with a good balance of dialogue and action and a move towards a good structure, thought it was still lacking. Not bad for the first go, and I definitely feel that after our intensive lessons on structure I could do it better, since I understand more about how to build the story up. I was never especially fond of the premise so I'm glad to be done with it and move onto applying myself to different ideas.
Inbetween class and tutorial, a bunch of us went to see Up In The Air and as we left we exchanged glances, and then compared notes on the structure. Our brains are truly diseased.
Thursday
Our special lecture from John Yorke was incredibly intense. In just over 90 minutes we covered the history and theory of story-telling, touching on Ancient Greek theatre, then Tudor/Jacobean theatre, then forward to the Naturalists and finally landing on Eastenders. It was mainly about the idea of a five act structure, which was a very useful addition to what we've been doing with Richard.
What we'd found earlier in the week was that the middle was the most difficult part; we could all come up with characters, situations and climactic endings, but an interesting middle was far more challenging. The helpful trick of the five-act structure we learn with John was to split the middle into a further three acts, with distinctive moments within that. It's like taking more references from your datum line to make a curve - it makes it easier.
It helped me that part of the lesson was done with reference to Shakespeare. If you think I'm a geek for Doctor Who you should see me with Billy Shakes, it's far worse, and anyone speaking to me in those terms has my attention.
In the afternoon we zipped through more early history of cinema, with more about Eisenstein and Kuleshov and the German Expressionists. It's quite fun for me to be looking at them directly, since before I've only referenced them in relation to their theatrical counterparts, and it's interesting to note that while Eisenstein was struggling with inventing cinema his contemporary Stanislavski was bringing the theatre to new heights of sophistication. Anyway.
There was also the comics joke of the week: a segue from Metropolis to Gotham.
Friday
More Chaplin! I do love the little tramp, and the sentimentality of these films. I don't think there's anything really interesting for me to comment on aside from the fact that it was great to get back to Chaplin's score, which was perfect.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch
We had our first screenwriting class in ages, taken by our glamorous Hollywood-resident Richard. We recapped subjects we'd done before like theme and structure, but found plenty more to cover in that.
I dread to think what Richard thought of our round robin attempts at writing outlines: each of us contributed one aspect of the story (character, goal, theme, inciting incident etc) in the hope that a coherent story would be built. In some cases we had moderate success, such as a story about a depressed firefighter, but others were hilarious in how awful they were. I don't think any of us will forget the claustrophobic submariner, whose reaction to his claustrophobia was to lock himself in a toilet... And who eventually realised he was the "most experienced on board"... And, of course, the illegal immigrant girl who was drugged and, while she couldn't move her arms or legs, she could go to the travel agent to book a flight home.
I like to think that this isn't a reflection of our true potential as filmmakers, but instead a symptom of that kind of collaborative and directionless writing.
Tuesday
Today, we were looking at character and dialogue. The character game was very fun, as we invented backstories for photos of real people and answered questions like "what sort of underwear are they wearing?" about them. It invites stereotyping (excepting Harry, who came up with a rather lovely story), but the point is that when an audience member first sees a character they make just the same assumptions, so we have to contain as much information as possible in those first impressions.
We were also asked to consider thinking about our characters as if they were real, and I had something to refer to, since character is something I've always been interested in. No simple stuffed toys for me, mine always had elaborate personalities and backstories, and the full accompaniment of character flaws and eccentricities. More recently, my advanced higher drama play led me to make my favourite character: Holly Fray. I think my approach is that I have to fall in love with them a little bit, since if I can't admire and love them, how will an audience, and how will I be able to put them through the rigors of a dramatic situation? The script to that play is actually posted here, and yes it's very dialogue heavy but it's the theatre, and that's allowed.
We also dicussed our premises, and picked one for all of us to write. It's horrifying how a story which intially sounds fun and easy to write actually would cause structural nightmares. I find it quite annoying how restrictive cinema structures are - this isn't to say that I reject the idea, I know that it's right, anyone who's seen a badly structured film would agree, but it does mean that a narrower range of stories can be told, and that action is necessarily distorted to meet the requirements of the three act structure. Anyway, as we come to understand it more I'm sure it will get easier to craft stories which do work, and in the meantime I can always indulge my theatrical tendencies in private.
Wednesday
What a jolly way to start the day: share three things you don't like about yourself.
That happened, and then we ate chocolate fingers (thanks Julia!) and it was definitely easier than eariier in the year.
Then, for something different, we talked about conflict and tension, and the reasons and methods surrounding them. We also touched on the curious way we feel tension even when we know the outcome, which is explored in a cognitive context here if you're interested (I'm a bit of a science geek, and this actually formed a large part of my argument against Verfrumdungseffekt... Anyway... It's a really great website that: the ideas and theories of a film theory lecturer from the University of Wisconsin).
My tutorial was late in the afternoon and it went very well. Richard agreed with me that the initial idea was weak, so the resulting script was never going to blow anyone's socks off, but it was overall in the region of "ok", with a good balance of dialogue and action and a move towards a good structure, thought it was still lacking. Not bad for the first go, and I definitely feel that after our intensive lessons on structure I could do it better, since I understand more about how to build the story up. I was never especially fond of the premise so I'm glad to be done with it and move onto applying myself to different ideas.
Inbetween class and tutorial, a bunch of us went to see Up In The Air and as we left we exchanged glances, and then compared notes on the structure. Our brains are truly diseased.
Thursday
Our special lecture from John Yorke was incredibly intense. In just over 90 minutes we covered the history and theory of story-telling, touching on Ancient Greek theatre, then Tudor/Jacobean theatre, then forward to the Naturalists and finally landing on Eastenders. It was mainly about the idea of a five act structure, which was a very useful addition to what we've been doing with Richard.
What we'd found earlier in the week was that the middle was the most difficult part; we could all come up with characters, situations and climactic endings, but an interesting middle was far more challenging. The helpful trick of the five-act structure we learn with John was to split the middle into a further three acts, with distinctive moments within that. It's like taking more references from your datum line to make a curve - it makes it easier.
It helped me that part of the lesson was done with reference to Shakespeare. If you think I'm a geek for Doctor Who you should see me with Billy Shakes, it's far worse, and anyone speaking to me in those terms has my attention.
In the afternoon we zipped through more early history of cinema, with more about Eisenstein and Kuleshov and the German Expressionists. It's quite fun for me to be looking at them directly, since before I've only referenced them in relation to their theatrical counterparts, and it's interesting to note that while Eisenstein was struggling with inventing cinema his contemporary Stanislavski was bringing the theatre to new heights of sophistication. Anyway.
There was also the comics joke of the week: a segue from Metropolis to Gotham.
Friday
More Chaplin! I do love the little tramp, and the sentimentality of these films. I don't think there's anything really interesting for me to comment on aside from the fact that it was great to get back to Chaplin's score, which was perfect.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch
Thursday, 4 February 2010
Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe/Newswipe
I've been reading and watching Charlie Brooker's goings-on for a couple of years now, and I'd recommend him to anyone interested in television, since his programmes seek to illuminate the way we watch it and the way it's made, in a hilarious way. Basically, it's like our television class with more swearing and more surreal animations.
"Screenwipe" was about TV in general, from which series were brilliant, to analyses of how reality tv is edited to create storylines, often disregarding the truth. On of my favourite articles was on why no one in their right mind would want to go into the business, and I reckon that if you can watch this and still want to do it, you're probably committed enough:
"Newswipe" has just started its second series, and while it's a depressing watch, it's also essential if you want to stay vigilant against misleading styles of news. The first episode featured a miniaturised documentary about the climate of fear the media encourages, and the way in which it has contributed to society's apathy and feelings of uselessness. You can catch the rest on iPlayer.
Luckily for all of you who have never heard of this bloke before, all these shows have been uploaded onto Youtube on this channel, and are available to watch. Isn't that lovely?
"Screenwipe" was about TV in general, from which series were brilliant, to analyses of how reality tv is edited to create storylines, often disregarding the truth. On of my favourite articles was on why no one in their right mind would want to go into the business, and I reckon that if you can watch this and still want to do it, you're probably committed enough:
"Newswipe" has just started its second series, and while it's a depressing watch, it's also essential if you want to stay vigilant against misleading styles of news. The first episode featured a miniaturised documentary about the climate of fear the media encourages, and the way in which it has contributed to society's apathy and feelings of uselessness. You can catch the rest on iPlayer.
Luckily for all of you who have never heard of this bloke before, all these shows have been uploaded onto Youtube on this channel, and are available to watch. Isn't that lovely?
Filming log: post-production on Crawl For Haiti
The editing of our footage from last Sunday was an excellent study in collaborative editing, which is tricky since there's only one mouse and a million opinions. Our finished product, however, was a very nice little minute-and-a-bit of a charity awareness film.
Things I learned:
The kerfuffle over distribution was a good bonding experience - there's nothing like a West Side Story style showdown to bring people together. What I learned was that not everyone will appreciate what you do and that you have to have the conviction of your own position, but it is now available to be seen, an here you go:
Things I learned:
- How to find the autosave vault
- How to compress interviews, layering voices over other images
- The importance of wild sound
- Timelapse will cause Final Cut to crash
- For some reason, when you try to render the typing-text effect it won't work, but if you export it it works out fine
- The light in the edit suite is on a dimmer
- A nice trick from Adam - watch your film with no sound, listen to it with no visuals
The kerfuffle over distribution was a good bonding experience - there's nothing like a West Side Story style showdown to bring people together. What I learned was that not everyone will appreciate what you do and that you have to have the conviction of your own position, but it is now available to be seen, an here you go:
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