No. 3

- - - -

In camera workshop three, Monday 19th of October, the main focus was on the sound aspect of filming. And we spent time going over how to set up the sound equipment, which microphone to use how, and after the run through of theory, we were then given a task to test out the sound equipment inside. Working in groups of two, we interviewed each other, and tested out the settings and sound imagery.

Amongst theory we went over how to use conducer mic, lapel mic and dynamic mic. What dead cat and dead wombat is. (used to reduce wind and background noise in sound recordings)

 
 


- - - -



As I have had sound as my chosen subject previously, the last year of upper secondary, it was fun to get to play with sound equipment again. Even though it was a bit challenging being both cameraman and sound engineer at the same time. As you can see Imogen handling really well in this picture. You go girl!


Here is a video of us testing out the sound equipment inside the studio building.

   

We were also given a second assignment, to go outside and shoot a short scene in the outdoors weather. To see how this would affect the filming, and result of footage.

Imogen and I had a lot of fun playing around with the camera, trying to capture the excitement of the game hide and seek. Which we later on decided to call
"Mad Women Let Lose".



//Images from google.com
deadcat.jpg
rent-lapel-microphone.jpg
GGDgu02.jpg

//Images shot by me
with iPhone 4s




Monday 19th of October we sat down with Simon, our course-leader, to go through story boards and trailers, and the different aspects of them. 



Story Boards
- - - -

- Is a series of sketches and a planning tool to visualise the action.
- Storyboards concentrate on KEY FRAMES that make up a particular scene or sequence.
- It i simply the frames that tell the story.

Story boards is an important key part of any film - television project. It is very often used un genres such as cartoons, animations and especially action. What to remember is that there is nothing right or wrong when making a story board.

- Story boards can be used at all styles of production, and is most used in the pre-production phase.
- The more information you can show in a story board the better!
- Not all productions use story boards, but at least they will have a shot-list.
- Pre-visuals is something that is more and more seeing the light of day, and has become a more accessible and popular way to visualise.


Three main - styles:
- Graphic: The most detailed, action dependent, films and series.
- Diagrammatical: Stick-men, less artistic.
- Plan view: Drawing for each scene, viewed from above.

Shot descriptions:
- Birds-eye view, or angle view
- Extreme long shot (ELS)
- Long shot (LS), or Wide shot (WS)
Medium shot (MS)
- Close up (CU)
- Extreme closeup (ECU)

Camera movements:
- Tilt shot
- Crane shot
- Pan shot
- Tracking shot
- Dolly shot
- Two shot
- Low angle shot
- High angle shot
- Over the shoulder shot (OTS)
- The steadicam shot

- - - -

Trailer
- - - -

- Were first shown AFTER the film, to "trail" the film. 
- Some trailers are shot specifically, example from early on: Psycho.

Examples of teaser trailers - Jaws and Terminator 2.

Tv trailers
- - - -

- The use of trailers to promote television programmes is now widespread. Example: Eastenders & Holby city. 




- Q to answer when making a trailer -
- What is the story?
- When is it on?
- Who is it aimed at?
- - - -

 At the end of the day we got an assignment to edit a 1-2 minute trailer to the short film "SOFT" from 2007, by Simon Ellis. Edited using Premiere Pro. 
1080pHD to view in top quality.



I decided to go with an upbeat song from Bensound.com, mainly because I felt that this song fits perfectly to the story and pace of the action in the film/trailer. The text that is being mentioned in the song, also fits really well with the dialogue and storyline in the film. I am really pleased with the outcome, though it was a bit difficult at times to pick out what to use and not. The fact that I made it into a 2 minute long trailer, made this into a bit of a challenge at the end. But I managed to get it together, and spent quite some time editing it. Thanks to some constructive feedback from friends, I was able to change some of the aspects, to keep the suspense and not give away too much. Fun assignment, and a good preparation leading up to the editing of our own projects. 

//Images from google.com



No. 2

- - - -

On Wednesday 7th of October we had our second camera workshop, and this time we got a new exercise where we had to get creative and come up with a way of telling a story about a person walking over to a chair. 

"The Chair"

Using several shots, as many as you could come up with, we had to think of how to build up the suspense of such a simple thing as just walking over, sitting down on a chair.

What was really fun, was that we got the opportunity to have our workshop in the Jools Holland set! It was really cool, and such a nice experience to see the set and get to "work" in its environment. 

I really enjoyed this workshop, and liked the way it challenged me to come up with ideas on the spot, which wasn't that easy at times. In the beginning I didn't quite know what to do or which shots to use etc. But by the time I started and got going, it kind of felt natural and like riding a wave.
1080pHD to view in top quality.




- - - -




[ri-surch, ree-surch] 

noun

1.
diligent and systematic inquiry or investigation into a subject in orderto discover 
or revise facts, theories, applications, etc.:
- - - -

In context of my story and the different aspects of what it brings up, I have done some research on the different aspects to better understand and to better know what they mean and how to portray it in the right way. For the story not to be presented in any wrong ways, or for it to infringe anyone.

- - - -


Depression: 

This is a aspect that has been, and still is very important and applicable as of today. A lot of people tend to brush the topic away, and not really take the health condition or people living with it seriously. I think one of the reasons for this, is because nowadays it has become a more "normal" terminology in our vocabularies. It is often a term used in a more general context of daily struggles. Especially young people has a tendency of using it more frequently in their lives as describing downs or hard days. 

I am not saying that everybody does, but as a teenager myself, I hear and see others around me use it as a term, while they're probably not thinking about the actual diagnoses. They might not know what it really means to be depressed. And how it is to live with a depression. And this contributes to making it into something that is not always taken seriously.

Being depressed is far more than just feeling a bit sad, unhappy or down for a couple of days. It is not something, like some people think, that you can just snap out of or just pull yourself together. It is a real illness with real symptoms, like lasting feelings of sadness and hopelessness, loss of interest, feeling tearful. There can also be physical symptoms such as feeling constantly tired, sleeping badly, no appetite, no sex-drive, having a hard time falling asleep and complaining of various ache and pain.

Sometimes there is something triggering the depression, such as life changing evens like losing your job, or even having a baby. Depression is also something that can "lay in family genes", if people have family that has history with depression, they are more likely to get or experience it themselves. But you can also become depressed for no obvious reason. 

The symptoms and type/level of depression varies from person to person, and at its mildest you could be just really low in spirit. While the most severe depression can make you feel suicidal and that life is no longer worth living. With the right treatment most people can make a full recovery from depression, or learn to live with it. 


Suicide:

A topic that is also often hushed down, it is taken seriously, but not really spoken openly about.
What is important to know, that many people might not think about, is the fact that anyone can develop a depression. And anyone can actually end up having suicidal thoughts at some points in life. 

Often it is some sort of depression, from for example losing a loved one, getting divorced etc. that develops into a evil circle. Often people blame themselves, and think it is their fault that it is what it is, or has become. Some starts taking drugs or drinking alcohol because it gives them a high or an escape from the feelings they are feeling. But however, this is not an everlasting escape, because after the high, the low comes back and all the feelings rushes back again.

This makes it into a never-ending evil circle, where a lot of people cannot imagine anything going back to normal anymore. They lose their hopes and dreams, gets discouraged and they try to figure out how to get rid of this unhappiness. A lot can only see suicide as the only option to get out of it. They fall down so low, and in need to find themselves again, they sort of have to borrow from other peoples hope to get back. It is possible to recover, to get back again. 

I think the biggest upheaval is to realise, and actually to ask for help. Often you have lost so many pieces of yourself, that you no longer really know who you are anymore. And one of the hardest things is to admit to oneself that you need help. 



Being gay:

The terms homosexual and heterosexual is not really used in everyday speech, instead there is used slang words. The terms used to describe gay people, and how they describe themselves have changed a lot over the last century. These changes are important to see how gay people lived and felt earlier vs now.

Earlier homosexual women and men chose to identify themselves with the term gay, because this helped them distance the term as someone abnormal or ill. And some people find the word insulting and abusive, and objects to its use. Generally the terms gay and lesbian is seen as being less laden with negative implications. Nowadays after the late fifties/sixties it became a normality in everyday use in association with the struggle for gay rights. In this context, the word gay came to represent, as it does now, a word with no negative connotations but rather with a positive and proud sense of identity. But even tough it is seen in a more positive context, it is still misused as abusive name-calling and such.

There are even kids all the way down to 1. and 2. grade-age, using gay as a invective and name-calling. Where does this come from? Children learn from their parents, and to draw parallels, this means that a lot of children grow up with prejudice against those who are gay.

Personally I can say that I have quite a few friends that are gay, so to me it is not any different than having friends that are straight. To me it is still hard to understand that in some countries this is not allowed or looked down upon. I think it might be because we all grow up in different generations, because in my generation this is something that has become totally normal. Which is the way I think it should be.

It has to do with acceptance, and even though the world have come a long way, some generations and places in this world still have a way to go before they reach this acceptance. The acceptance of other people being different than themselves.

I think the hardest thing of being gay is the struggle to realise and accept yourself, and then have to open up to others and have them "react" to you, and how you see yourself. Mainly because it is looked upon by many as something different, something not right. The simple reason for this, is because people, human beings, are afraid of change. If we can avoid change for what its worth, we usually will. It is in our nature to cling to whats safe. This is something that that can make it even harder for those who are gay, to admit and to have the guts to step outside of what is safe. But, I also think that once they have gathered up the guts, and puts it all out there. It is the most relieving feeling in the whole universe, and like a friend of me said, "you also get a even better view of yourself, by coming out".

In most cases coming out as gay is a relief and a great thing, but for some it might actually result in their lives falling together and everything just crumbles to pieces. An everyday struggle can be to feel on the outside, not being able to talk to someone about how you really feel. Because it is hard to know or accept that others can relate to your problems as gay.






//Sources of information

//Images from google.com

//Image shot by me
(the foggy mountain)
with Canon 600D


Character Profile

"Teenage boy"
- - - -

 I made this collage using Photoshop CC, with images from google.com, moviesincolor.com and weheartit.com 


Kayden Denell
17-19 y.o
From England

- - -
Key facts:
- two siblings
- divorced parents
- golden/brown hair
- urban fashion style
- loves books
- bright eyes
- cute

Studies and love books. Always hangs out in the local book shop so he can escape in to the fictional world of the books. 

Kayden grew up in a warm home, with reasonable boundaries and loving parents. It was a happy little family, until one day Kayden woke up one morning, at the age of 10-11 to discover his fathers sudden absent. He had just packed up his bags and left. Told no one, said nothing, he left behind a family of a mother with three children. Kayden were the oldest, and his fathers actions left him to deal with a huge responsibility. He was now the man in the house. And he felt he had to do what was expected of him, to help out at home. His mother did the best she could to juggle three kids, job and downpayment on the debt of the house. But she could not do it all alone, even though she did not want to weigh down her oldest son with that kind of responsibility, she had not much of a choice than to let him help out.

This caused Kayden to miss out on a fathers figure as he grew up, and he felt a certain bitterness and sadness for his father leaving. He therefor aspired to become a better man, that would put family values higher, and make sure everyone he met on his way would feel appreciated. It was at this period of time in his life, aged 10-11, he fell in love with books. He had to grow up so fast, and this was kind of his way of maintaining the child within. They were his escape to somewhere else, a way of putting all the responsibility on a shelf and breathe, even if it was just for a moment. The fictional worlds became his second home.

As he had been living in a calm neighborhood, with a loving mother and set routines, he didn't really know of anything else. It was how it was supposed to be for everyone he thought. It made him more adventurous, he wanted to see and explore what he didn't have himself, on the outside of his safe little bubble. As Kayden got older, he learnt a great deal about others lives, and he figured that his dad leaving their family wasn't as bad as things other people had to face and deal with. 


Even though he got a lot of confidence by having a large responsibility, he always had a certain amount of insecurity in himself. Was what he was doing good enough, should he do more, would his dad have been proud of him? 

Always when he would try out new things, he would hesitate, and have to have a think before he went through with something. This was something that often made people misunderstand him, or get the wrong impression. They would think he was scared, or vague, or even a coward.. but it was just his defense mechanism kicking in, making him question and hesitate, because he didn't want to do anything wrong. Didn't want to hurt anyone, or do the same to others as he felt his father did to him. Let anyone down.

This also made it hard for Kayden to get in contact with girls. He was so scared he would say the wrong things, or act in a way they would find offending. Because he had seen what one mans actions could do to a woman´s heart. He had never really had a girlfriend yet, by the age of 17-19. He had a couple of flirts at some points, but it never really went anywhere. And he didn't want to rush into anything, so he kept to his books. 

Despite his insecurities Kayden remained very open hearted, and even talked to his mother about how he felt sometimes. He had a very bright outlook on life, and wanted to maybe one day become a writer. So he could help someone else somewhere, to escape for a while. Even if it was just for a breif little moment. 

As he hangs out in the local bookshop one day, a young man on his way out drops something. Its a notebook/diary, as Kayden picks it up and are about to rush after, the young man is already long gone down the street. As Kayden starts reading the diary, to see if he can find out whom it belongs to. He experiences this whole new world, and a whole new set of feelings he has never felt before. He gets to know himself, on such a deeper level than he ever knew was possible. He has never known his sexuality to be this way before, but he realizes it through falling in love with this lost mans diary. He has to find him, it seems almost as if this young man wants him to. He needs to reach him, before its too late...


- - - -

Key characteristics: 
- bright outlook on life
- missunderstood
- adventurous
- presistant
- innocent
- insecure
- devoted
- loving
- kind


//Images from weheartit.com
and google.com


Character Profile

"Young Man"
- - - -

 I made this collage using Photoshop CC, with images from google.com, moviesincolor.com and weheartit.com 



Terell Bray
22-25 y.o
From England

- - -

Key facts:
- no siblings
- brown hair 
- soulful eyes
- handsome
- a soft smile
- adopted
- classy

Works as a journalist, because of a deep desire to be heard and taken seriously.

Terell was adopted at the age of 8, because his mother were no longer capable of taking care of him. His dad died in an accident whilst on his way to pick up Terell at school, on a bike. Terrell were left with the guilt of it being his fault. He took the blame for it in his heart, like a lot of children do if they¨re not told otherwise. He felt that if he had met his dad only a minute earlier or later, it would´t have happened. His mother did not handle the loss very well, and turned to alcohol for comfort. She was a good mother, but Terell ended up taking care of her, instead of her taking care of him. He never really got to recover from the loss of his dad.

This incident led to the fact that he had to grow up quickly, and he took the role as a grown up way too fast. There was not really much left of a childhood. His adoptive parents were nice, they were an older couple, they cared. But they had very set minds of what was right and what was not. Terrell were in that way not really allowed to mean anything else, or speak up about his view, if he saw things differently. And they never spoke of feelings, a hug now and then was about it. He became silent, and almost like a puppet of strings. This shaped him.

He was encouraged by this "lifestyle" to become a journalist. That way he could finally express how he felt, what he meant, and make his voice heard. At least that was what he hoped for, and believed the journalist industry would give him. But once again Terell was wrong. It turned out he most of the times had to be very objective, and not mention his own thoughts, point of view or make the reader aware of his presence in the articles. This silenced him once again.. And put just another brick on top of his sad mind. He got depressed. From never being good enough, not getting heard or seen as who he was. He wanted so badly to just have someone caring about him, and talk to him about everything that no one never did.



Terrell became hard on the outside, no one would ever even think to imagine what was behind his fasade. He dressed properly, had a creative and good job, colleagues whom he told jokes to and who saw him more as a friend than just a colleague. What no one saw, no one would know. Because no one never asked, never really looked closely enough.

How could he possibly get himself out of this mess, and how would he ever be heard. Would he leave this world without no one really noticing? He decided to write a book. A diary, filled with everything, from beginning to end. He needed someone to understand, someone to know the truth and to know his story, uncensored.

He hopes that the diary can make a difference for him, that someone will come to his rescue. Save him from himself. Putting his life-story in the hands of a young kid, what was he thinking? Eventually the river seems dangerously more tempting than waiting...

- - - -

Key characteristics:
- good at hiding feelings
- a bit mysterious
- profound
- loving
- polite
- quiet 










Today after we had gone through some follow-up theory of writing a script, layout and learned how to use the writing software Final Draft, we got assigned a writing assignment to solve whilst at Uni. To be handed in within a couple of hours.

" - Work in pairs
   - Take your journey to Uni today as an inspiration and write it out in no more than three pages. Using these new formatting skills



Josh and I teamed up, and right away started to make a mind map trying to figure out how and what we were going to tell, in our maximum three pages script. The ideas went back and fourth, before we decided on characters and the action of the story.


We ended up writing a script called "The Wonderfull, Incredible, Amazing, Spectacular, Supernatural, Awesome Journey To Uni", a comic and fictional story, propped with bad jokes and fun humor, of how Josh and I were on a late-running train, missed the bus, and got picked up by a gummy bear in a Candy Helicopter. It turned out the gummy bear was a ghost, and there were only one marshmallow-parachute left.. and we had to decide who were the lucky one to survive, by a new way of rock, paper, scissors. - rock, paper, inflatable monkey hammock.


The writing process went really well, and it was both fun and easy to operate Final Draft. The time flew by, as we piece by piece filled up the pages. I had a blast making this script, we laughed a lot, and it was really fun combining Josh¨s humor and mine. Thanks for the great teamwork!

After we finished our script we handed it in to our course-leader Simon, and he made notes on what needed improvement, and corrected our setup and layout. A good example and comments to take with me into the process of writing my full 10-page screenplay.



//All Images shot by me
with iPhone 4s




. . . .

Quick facts:
22. June 1906 - 27. March 2002
Birth name: Samuel Wilder
From: Vienna, Austro-Hungarian Empire
Nickname: The Viennese Pixie
Writer-director


has always maintained that movies are “authored,” and has always felt that much of a film’s direction ideally should take place in the writing[..] 
- The Paris Review

Billy started out to become a lawyer, but early decided to throw that idea away, to go work as a reporter for a Viennese news paper. He didn't break into the film industry before 1929, as a writer for many Gernan films. But he ended up moving, first to Pairs and then emigrate to America, at the same time as Adolf Hitler came to power. Because he could see that his Jewish ancestry would be a problem, if he were to stay. 

The films by Billy Wilder is known to be more heard of and known by the mass, than Billy is himself. You might have heard of films such as, The Apartment, Some Like It Hot, The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes or The Seven Year Itch. Well, if you did not already know, these were all produced/directed and co-written by Billy himself. 


To bring one of his many films forward in the spotlight, lets take a look at The Seven Year Itch. I spent this Saturday morning watching the film. To get to know Billy a bit more, and to see how he worked as a writer-directer. 

In short: The Seven Year Itch, 1955

It¨s a steamy summer in New York city and this scandalous, sexy comedy heats things up even more! A married man (Tom Ewell), whose wife and son are away for the summer, has his fidelity put to the test when a seductive starlet (Marilyn Monroe) moves in upstairs. Keeping his marriage vows in the face of her flirtations proves though when challenged by the notorious "seven year itch". Faced with this provocative problem, he¨s a victim to an outrageous mating dance filled with hilarious comedy! Directed by Billy Wilder, The Seven Year Itch has been heralded by critics and fans alike as one of the quintessential comedies of all time.  
 - DVD-cover 
- - - -

I found this film to be an interesting piece, and I like the colors in the film as they to me represent the "old days" back in the 1950s. Wilder is known to use elegant dramatization of his characters through some of the key elements we learned from Steve Coombes, - action and dialogue. Billy uses distinctive dialogue, and a sour/sweet or misanthropic view of humanity-qualities. And his films tend to feature a sharp wit and characters who frequently try to change their identity - IMDb

The Seven Year Itch - Trailer 



Wilders ideas came to him as he would be in the bathroom, and he kept a little black book with him that he put all sorts of entries, form dialogue he overheard, character ideas, a bit of a background and some boy meets girl scenarios. And he would often use his black book to develop his ideas. 

The Seven Year Itch claims to be the funniest comedy since laughter began. That might have been the fact back in 1955, but as of today personally, I can not quite agree with that. It certainly has elements of humor, but if it would work as well as a comedy, was it to be released today, I dont know. Then the dialogue, and actions would have had to get a little make over. 

Another thing I¨d like to comment on, is the use of dialogue in this particular film. I feel like it definitely has a weight of the 50¨s in it. By that, I refer to the fact that the film has a heavily amount of dialogue in it. Which makes it more "told not shown",  and that takes away a little bit of the excitement. 


Billy Wilder, one of American cinema’s premiere writer-directors.


In the story the action takes place in mainly two locations, his office and his home. Which is what we have learned a story should do. This indicates that Billy uses the classic story telling set up, and uses this to pursue and realize his elegant dramatizations. And he makes it work!

This particular film is an inspiration to me and my project for this unit, as it highlights and portrays the typical set up in story telling. And I will use it as an example of how a story should build up. I also like the way Wilder has managed to make the character develop. And the simple use of cinematography inspires me to think likewise for my project. 


- - - -

//Sources of information

//FIlm from youtube.com

//All images from google.com


No. 1

- - - -

On Monday 5th of Oct. we started off with our first camera workshop. We went through both of the Sony cameras we have at the studio, and all of the general functions on them. 

- Sony XDCAM PMW-200 -
- Sony XDCAM PMW-100 -

Here is a quick recap-video from our workshop-session. That I shot using the 
Sony PMW-100 camera.


- - - -


We were given a few tasks to test out the focus on the camera and a couple of different shot frames. After the tasks were solved we spent some time watching what everybody had done.


I found this workshop to be informative. We got to learn in a pace, not too fast and not to slow. And I think it was a good thing we focused on a few aspects of the cameras, and not everything all at once. 

Luckily for me I was already familiar with the Sony PMW-200 and it was really fun to get to "play" around with it again, after a couple of months not touching a film camera. 


I also thought it was exciting to see the different ideas people came up with, out of such a little task. A fun day, with some new experiences and a bit more development to bring in the bag of knowledge. 

- - - -

//All images shot by me 
with Cannon 600D




My idea for The Meeting
Story-telling unit


Pitch
- - - -

Boy discovers his sexual orientation, through falling in love with a depressed mans lost diary, and dedicates his time to find what seems to be his soulmate.



- - - -
- - - -




Idea
- - - -

There is this boy, in his late teens, spending a lot of his time, reading and hanging out in the local bookshop. One day as a young man is about to leave the bookshop, he slightly bumps into the teen-boy on his way out. This causes his notebook/diary to "fall" and hit the floor. In a rush the young man leaves, and at the same time the teen-boy picks up the book. He doesn't have time to react or run after the man, before its too late. He is gone.

As the teen-boy starts going through the mans diary, as to see if he can find who it belongs to. He discovers a sad and depressed young man in the texts he read. Even though he have never met this man, nor have known of his own sexuality to feel or be this way before. He gets to know himself, on such a deeper level, than he never thought would be possible. Just simply by getting to know the man in the diary. He finds it to be his task to find the man in the book. Find out who the person that has become such a big part of his life, and who he believes to be his soulmate, is.

He sets off to find the man. The young man he so eagerly wants to meet. He uses the diary as a tool to try and help find him. Fail and success, he runs into obstacles and judgement on his quest, but with a determination of love he pulls himself together and does not give up.

What we dont know, but what turns out to be the truth and reality is, that the young man dropped the diary in the bookshop on purpose. He wanted someone to find it, someone to know his story. By the time the teen-boy reaches his soulmate, the young depressed man has already taken his own life.

- -

My idea is to portray the story in a way that will not show who the young man is. This way it is up to the audience to imagine who the mysterious person in the diary is. By the time they realize or get to know that the person is a man, would work as a twist in the story. And also by the time the story gets to the end, the audience so badly would want the teen-boy to find his soulmate. They want him to succeed on his quest. Unfortunately they will not get what they want, and have to settle with the fact that what could have been an amazing love story, never was meant to be at all. 

Location: Bookshop, about the hometown of the teenage-boy and by the river.


Characters
Teenage-boy;
- in his late teens 17-19 y.o
- medium hight 
- bright outlook on life
- adventurous 
 -cute

Young man;
- 20-25 y.o
- medium/tall, taller than teenage-boy
- depressed
- handsome


- - - -


//All images from google.com 
&
Weheartit.com




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- Ida Frank -

- Ida Frank -

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- Studying Television Production at UCA - - University for The Creative Arts - Contact: televisionbyidafrank@gmail.com

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