Today was our first film lesson of the semester and we started off the lesson by going over what we would cover in the film and the skills that we would have to develop through the course of this unit.
The units were similar to the ones last year, however this year it would be a lot more in-depth; especially in cinematography and sound editing. In addition, we would also explore a new unit: film analysis. I am very interested to learn about this particular aspect of film because I would be able to learn the outcomes of specific camera movements and shots, dialogs and editing. By watching and critically analyzing films on a minor scale it will reveal many references to the storyline of the film which is essential in aiding it to progress. This knowledge will also no doubt be useful in my personal filming experience and will also hopefully allow me to appreciate films more fully.
We also went over the "IB Learners Profile" which are the guide lines and characteristics to adapt when doing film. The ones that I will pay closer attention to would be "open mindedness" and "risk taking" because I think that these are my weaker areas that need to be accounted for.
By way of a recap of the cinematography skills learned last year, we did an exercise on experimenting on different techniques to achieve the designated outcome. Our first exercise incorporated a person crumpling up a piece of paper and throwing it on the floor, however we had to film it twice, creating two different types of feel each time. The first feel was a sharp and detailed effect. Our group achieved this by using many extreme close angle shots, with emphasis on the face and paper, because they were the main subjects of the scene. By using close shots, it highlights the actors features and the set of circumstances which they are in, thus achieving the detailed affect. The second shot had to create a gritty and documentary feel. This we had a little bit of trouble expressing (no doubt exercising the "thinkers" and "inquires" aspects of the IB learner profile), so we asked Ms Wong for advice and obtained many tips on how to achieve the gritty atmosphere. She first told us to think about the kind of characteristics of a documentary; would there be an extensive diversity of angles, will there be much cinematographic aspects to it (as suppose to a movie), she also suggested that we use the "hand held" technique to give the gritty and "on the spot" sensation. In the end we hand held the camera and used minimal camera angles and we were very content with the our outcome because it achieved the rough feeling that we anticipated.
Our second exercise depicted a person walking up the stairs then looking up in surprise. In the first scenario, we had to adjust the colour to express anger and surprise. This we did by increasing the light exposure slightly, making the shot bright and more accommodating to the "angry" sensation. We also plan to make the shot a bit redder on Final Cut Pro, which will also add to the anger. We also hand held the camera and made it a "point of view shot" because we thought it would add to the surprised effect. In the second scenario, we had to achieve a sad and melancholy feel. Somewhat like the opposite to the what we did in the "angry" shot, we made the shot a bit darker by reducing the light exposure and plan to enhance the cool colours on Final Cut which will aid the miserable feeling that is expressed. We also used one long range shot to create the sensation of smallness and isolation, which helped express the sadness. This proved to be very successful.
Lastly, we did an exercise on sound effects. Having done sound effects before last year, this was quite easy to pick up and we all had many ideas on how to achieve a certain sound effect. When doing the sound effect for "work" we all came up with the ideas of having the sounds of "pencil on paper, typing, crumpling paper, indistinct background talking and occasional coughs". This turned out quite well however I think that we could have incorporated more sounds to enhance the "busy" sensation and capture the "hustle and bustle" atmosphere of work. Secondly, we also did a sound effect on "joy" which we achieved by having cheering noises, clapping, yelling and laughing. This was effective however, it was I found it very stereotypical and boring and I hope that we could achieve the atmosphere differently. Possibly adding music in the background and having more people participating in the sound effect.
Overall this was a very beneficial lesson; we learned from two different ways, firstly through Ms Wong's teachings and secondly through our own problem solving. This lesson exercised the "inquires", "knowledgeable" and "thinkers" aspects of our IB learners profile. We also learned to work effectively with each other and work together to achieve our goal. I think my group and I worked very well together and all weighed in to help complete our task.
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