5.28 - Shooting "The Change"

Warm Up
POTD
QOTD:
What is the greatest challenge in creating a storyboard from a shot list? I am very curious.
STORYBOARD CHECK OFF
Please hand in your storyboard while you do the warm up

Using Your storyboard
Maximize your efficiency by shooting your shots OUT OF ORDER. If you group shots of similar locations and subjects (actors, etc) you will save time setting up your shots. This works especially well in close-ups, but requires a VERY organized director.

Use scissors to cut your panels into individual cards and organize them by similar location and subject.

Groups of Three
Form like Voltron. Students with complete storyboards will shoot first.
1 director/co-star (with storyboard)
1 camera person
1 actor

Camera Lotto
Pick a number get a camera.

Shooting
Use the hallway and classroom to shoot you short. Be careful of your background to avoid continuity errors.

Importing
Import your clips to your and your group member’s student server.

Editing
If time allows.

5.25 - Shot Lists and Storyboards

Warm-Up

POTD

VOTD:

genre convention - A genre convention is a typical or standard plot, character, setting, icon, theme, or effect in a genre story.

QOTD:

What makes a comedy a comedy? What makes a horror movie a horror movie? A Western a Western? Most films observe "genre conventions," what genre was "The Cross?" What is you favorite genre of film? Think of at least one example of a genre convention you have noticed in other films of this genre.

Creating our own shot list with beats and objectives (continued)
As a class develop a shot list together. Adapted from Mamet’s, On Directing.
1. We will need one note taker
2. We will need one board writer
3. We will need everyone’s participation

Shot-list to a Storyboard
Use the paper storyboards to illustrate the shot list we created.

Using Storyboards Effectively
Cut your storyboard up into its panels (one sheet has 6 panels). Group these panels by similar shots and angles. For instance, if shot #2 and shot #9 are close-ups of the protagonist's hands, we can shoot those two shots one after another without setting up the camera at a new position.

Film in groups of 3 (or, view "The Cross" depending on time.)
1. organizer/director/producer (in charge of determining the order of shots and what is necessary in each shot)
2. camera
3. actor

Uploading to your servers
Every person in your group needs to have a copy of the clips for editing before next class.

Warm-Up (10 min)
POTD
VOTD:
1. Hierarchy Of Film - See desktop document
2. Beats - A specific piece of the story that leads up to a larger objective. A segment of a story based on multiple shots.
Objectives - A bigger building block than a beat. Can be the whole point of the short story. All of out beats will contribute to the protagonist completing this objective.
uninflected
cinematically
juxtapose
steadicam

Reading TalktotheText (20 min to read, 15 min to discuss)
TttT David Mamet On Directing pg. 1-7 and answer the following questions on your blog:


1. Mr. Mamet Describes two ways to make a movie. What are they?
2. Uninflected is defined as something NOT changed by tone or pitch? What does that mean in film?
3. Mamet says we, as storytellers, should “let the cut tell the story.” What does that mean?
4. What is a shot list most similar to?
5. Mamet gives this as an example of something you can not film without narration:”Nick, a young fellow in his thirties with a flair for the unusual.” Why would this be impossible to film without narration?
6. Why, according to Mamet, has steadicam hurt film?
BONUS:
7. How is a film like a dream?

Creating our own shot list with beats and objectives (45 min)
As a class develop a shot list together. Adapted from Mamet’s, On Directing.
1. We will need one note taker
2. We will need one board writer
3. We will need everyone’s participation

5.19 - Edit the Cross

Warm-Up

Downloading the clips to computers:

Each student will need their own copy of the clips you shot yesterday. So like last week, the person who saved the videos to their server will be responsible for downloading the clips to 3 computers. Do so NOW!

Edit The Cross

Import the video clips to iMovie.

Arrange the clips to tell the story of "The Cross."

Remove the original audio (right click > detach audio > delete)

Add sound effects from findsounds.com

Export @ Broadband - Medium

Name your file "THE CROSS _ YOUR NAME"

5.18 - Storyboards + Shotlists

Warm-Up (15 min)
POTD
QOTD:
Use the following article to answer your questions of the day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storyboard

1. What is a storyboard?
2. What are arrows used for, or, how do they help?
3. What information should be written under the drawing?
4. How is a storyboard different from a comic? How is it similar?

Part 1 - Shot lists and Storyboards (20 min)
With your group, use shot-lists to complete the storyboards to pre-produce your next video.
Shot-List: The Cross.pages
Storyboards: Storyboard Template.pages

Part 2 - Camera lottery (5 min)

Part 3 - Shooting (45 min)
Use storyboards and shot-lists to organize your shoot.

Part 4 - Uploading (15 min)
Import, export and save to all group member’s servers. You will be editing next class.

5.14 - Turn-In Abstract angles Project

Warm-Up

POTD

QOTD:

mini-reflection - answer the following questions on your blog

1. What did you like about shooting your first video?
2. What was a strength of yours?
3. Did that strength help your group?
4. What was a challenge for you?
5. How did you overcome that challenge?
6. What would you change about this project?

part - 1 COMPLETE AND HAND IN YOUR ABSTRACT ANGLES PROJECT

If you began editing your video but DID NOT FINISH you must put your iMovie Project file BACK INTO THE "iMOVIE PROJECTS" folder on your desktop.

Here is s video demonstrating dragging your iMovie file back into the iMovie projects folder:

http://blip.tv/dashboard/episode/2759075

You must also reimport your clips. Before importing your clips, drag them to your desktop. If you try to import from your student server, you could be waiting all day!

When exporting, please use Quicktime to export and change the "default settings" to "broadband - medium." If you leave the export on default you could be waiting all day!

Part - 2

Answer at least 10 of the following questions on your blog based on the in-class movie:

1. What did the first filmmakers do instead of editing?
2. Edwin S. Porter is regarded as the founder of what art?
3. Why do some editors not go on the movie set during filming?
4. If a 2 hour movie uses 200 hours of unedited material, how much unedited material does a 5 minute movie use?
5. Why did Stephen Spielberg’s editor cut so much of Jaws out?
6. What lesson did James Cameron learn from Terminator 2?
7. Who established the "grammar of film"? Name two of the techniques that he introduced to moviemaking?
8. What is the "invisible cut"? How is it achieved?
9. How did the first editors edit a film?
10. The editor/director relation ship often is a struggle to achieve the right length of a film. The editor wants the film _______ and the director wants it to be ________.
11. How did the editor of Election get his way? What was his way?
12. What is Juxtaposition?
13. While Americans were interested in telling bourgeoise stories, Russian filmmakers wanted to show ______.
14. How can a bowl of soup, a coffin and a little girl change the meaning of a neutral expression? What is this technique called? (Hint: two possible answers.)
15. Why did Eisenstien want to make the audience aware of the fact that they were watching a movie (the opposite of "invisible cutting")?
16. James Cameron thinks an action scene should have what kind of build up?
17. About how many “shots” does a typical movie have?
18. With which organ does editor Didi Allen cut a film? Why do you think that is?
19. What innovation brought more men to be involved in editing?
20. Why did the movie Dante's Peak not use music in the underground scene?
21. The ______ is responsible for finding the best performance of the actors.
22. Usually actors aren't allowed into the editor’s cutting room? Why is that?
23. When does Spielberg have a difficult time editing? Why?
24. Editing is also called, "A dance of _____." Why do you think these are so important in movies?
25. Why were movies so important to WW!!? What are these films called? What is an example of one of the German films of this type?
26. Editing is often perceived as emotional _______-ion.
27. What does a “2-shot” refer to? A “1-shot”? What about a “long-shot”?
28. According to 1950s film grammar, what is a dissolve used for transitioning between?
29. A "jump-cut" is seen in French filmmaker Jean-Luc Goddard's Breathless; what is a "jump cut"? How does it break the rule of the "invisible cut"?
30. Which 1967 major American film “broke the rules” of editing that the Germans and Russians had earlier broken or disregarded?
31. Why do you think Easy Rider was so widely accepted even though it was so difficult to understand?
32. What does implicit mean? How is it used in movie making?
33. What does intercutting mean? How is flash-back and flash-forward used? How does this fragment time and space?
34. The movie XXX was influenced by which “-ism”?
35. Why do some editors and directors think people of today need faster cutting? Why do some people worry about this trend?
36. Slower cutting can provide what type of effect? What does that say about the “rhythm” of cuts?
37. What does George Lucas mean when he says, “all art is technology?”
38. Who creates the first final draft of a film?

If you were the only group member to save your movie clips in your server, you will log-in to 3 computers today to drag the clips to the desktops of your group members.

We will be importing our clips into iMovie and editing together our abstract angles movie.

Each shot should have it's own title. Please export your movie to broadband-medium and drop in my drop-box when you are done.

5.11 - Getting to know your tools

Warm-Up (15 min)

POTD

QOTD:

1. What is your favorite movie? Why do you like it?

2. What is a movie that you have seen recently and NOT liked? Why did you dislike it?

3. Do you have any experience making videos or movies?

VOTD: Use the following words in an example sentence.
Tripod: A three legged stand used for controlling and stabilizing a camera.
Clip: A single unedited shot.

Part 1 - Review of Shots, Angles & Movements (15 min)
Reviewing with video examples.

Part 2 - The 9 or 6 Digital Cameras (10 min)
3 types of camera in the school
Still/video - good for images & importing, bad for sound
SD video - good for importing, bad for sound
HD camera - good for picture + sound, LONG IMPORT TIMES
The more you know about the camera the less magic it is.

Part 3 - Importing and Exporting (10 min)
Join Group. Students film a 10 second video. To prove import and export skills. Groups of 3 (camera, grip, subject).

Part 4 - Abstract with all Angles, Shots & Movements. (30 min)
Students will be given an object to shoot from all different angles, using all of the shot distances (possible), and with all of the camera movements defined last week.

Part 5 - Import, Export & Save. (20 min)
Students will import their raw footage into iphoto. Export to the desktop and save to their 3 group members student servers. Next week each member of your group will edit one version of this abstract project.

Warm Up - 10 min
POTD
QOTD: fill out as much of the Camera Angles, Movement & shots sheet as best you can. we will post the complete version to your blog a the end of the period for credit. This is our assignment for the day.


Part 1 - The Camera Angles (10 min)

Think of the camera as an eye. When you look at people from different angles or distances you notice different things about them. For instance, seeing a person in a long shot might give you a better understanding of the character’s environment.

Different Angles have different meanings.
(two volunteers one actor, one cameraperson(rotating))

1. low angle
2. high angle
3. level angle
4. eye-level angle
5. dutch or batman angle
6. rack focus

Part 2 - Basic Shots (10 min)
The distance of the camera to the subject has different meanings think of these shots on a continuum (far left extreme close up, far right long or establishing shot).

Need 3 volunteers (two subjects, one cameraperson (rotating))

1. extreme close up
2. close up
3. medium shot
4. one shot
5. two shot
6. over-the-shoulder shot
7. full shot
8. long shot
9. establishing shot

Part 3 - Camera Movements (10 min)
When you move the camera it changes the way the audience sees the subject(s). For instance, dollying into a close up may suggest becoming more intimate with the subject or getting into something more private.

The movement of the camera can convey different meanings.
Need two volunteers (one actor, one cameraperson)

1. tilt
2. pan
3. cant
4. zoom in
5. zoom out
6. dolly in
7. dolly out
8. tracking

Shot Analysis Video in 3 parts (10 min)
Further Exploration of shots and angles through looking at masterworks.
Use these to help complete your worksheet.

5.3 - Viewing our Kuleshov Effect Montages

Warm-Up

POTD

QOTD:

What do montages, the Kuleshov Effect and juxtaposition have to do with each other?

Kuleshov Effect Video Screening

Cutting Edge Movie