Sunday, September 8, 2024

CIN 400 / RTD 365 FALL 2024

 


CIN 400 / RTD 365 FALL 2024

Class meets: Monday and Wednesday 11-12:50 
COMM 1116 (Soundstage) 
Professor Sarah Lewison slewison@siu.edu 
Office hours Monday & Wed after class and by appt 
Office: Communication 1050E 
Teaching Assistant- the fabulous Ashish Kumar ashish.lnu@siu.edu

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Tuesday, April 4, 2023

Drew Yepsen handpainted film experiment

 



While working on my cameraless film I took very simple approaches and tried adding my own complexities and methods. I worked exclusively with one extended piece of film from an old war movie. The scenes I chose, soldier staring and a flag waving, allowed for me to work with scenes that were darker and lighter. This produced several different results. I did two main things which was scratching and the coloring. Scratching was the first step across the entire forty second clip. I used an exacto knife, sand paper, metal scrub and a nail file. All of these methods led to very different looks and I found that the overall scratch quality and depth varied between each one. I found that the nail file was great for clean lines on a smaller area and the metal scrub was great for depth and clear damage. When it comes to colors, I tried all kinds of fun methods. Prior to much of anything I soaked the entire film in sweet tea vodka for a day. This gave it a strange darker tone and made the emulsion very sticky. 


I put it outside to dry where it got covered in all kinds of earth Some of these dirt and grass marks can be seen on the final film. After drying and then cleaning to get, most of, the sticky off I went to work on color. I used acrylic paint which did not show up much outside of a shadow. I found that sharpie markers worked great for clean vibrant colors. I found that dripping a paper towel in water, coloring on it with the sharpie, making it wet again then applying to the film left this amazing water color look. You can see an example of that below in the first screenshot. This weird mix of green and blue came out great. A lot of the red came from dousing it in fake blood. The color is bright and it showed up great! Overall, I found that scratching before applying color, letting it dry and then rescratching is a great method to add depth to the film. Layers of color can be added using this method and it came out great! Two screenshot examples are below!

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Sunday, January 29, 2023

3 Ways to Establish Visual Rhythm in Your Film

By V Renée
August 26, 2018

What is visual rhythm and how can you use it to make better, more interesting films?

Visual rhythm is incredibly important in filmmaking because it establishes the flow of a story, a flow that can really make or break your film. While both good and bad rhythm put your audience on the edge of their seat, one finds them there because they're excited and engaged and the other finds them there because they're getting up to head for the door, so it's supremely important to know how to use visual elements wisely.

In this video, the team over at The Film Look shows you three ways in which they established the rhythm of their film The Asylum Groove to create an interesting, engaging, and meaningful story using visual techniques that are not difficult to implement into your own projects. Check it out below:


Keep in mind, I'm not talking about pacing here. When we talk about pacing, typically we're talking about the timing of the editing, like fast and frenetic cuts that pump up the action versus slow and meandering ones that let audiences marinate in the moment. Rhythm has more to do with story progression, like establishing a clear beginning, middle, and end and creating patterns to reveal important narrative information.

Let's take a look at the four techniques mentioned in the video:
First and final frames

Video essayist Jacob T. Swinney's "First and Final Frames" series taught us so much about the importance and power of bookending your film. It can show you if you've got a clear beginning and end, how your protagonist has changed over the course of the film, and it can also tie up your story nicely if you add a little visual hat tip to the beginning of the film at the end.

The Rule of Three

I'm not sure why this is a thing, but it is. Many theorists say that when something shows up three times in a film (or anything really), it establishes a pattern. "Why do patterns matter in filmmaking?" Because they give those repeated elements more importance, which means your audience is going to pay more attention to them. "But why do patterns matter in terms of visual rhythm?" Because, as the video points out, it's often just the right amount of information your audience needs to recognize something as vital to the scene, character, or entire film without belaboring the point and boring them.

Bridging shots

The Film Look shows you a great way to create a nice flow between your shots and different sequences. By adding an element, whether it's a certain color, object, or movement, from the previous shot/scene/sequence, you create a visual bridge that allows your audience to make a connection between the two otherwise separate events.


If you want to see how the Film Look team used these techniques in their own work, check out The Asylum Groove below.


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Wednesday, January 25, 2023

ASSIGNMENT 2: Shooting for the Edit

 READ THE SECTION on Continuity Editing:

WATCH THE FOLLOWING SHORT VIDEOS AND ESSAYS

Bleat 

My Josephine Barry Jenkins
Picasso and Braque go to the movies
Two by Sahajit Ray

Seagull Eggs by Abbas Kiarostami
Tierra y Pan

  1. Continuity and Narrative: Coverage, zoning, cutting on action



Cameraman

LINKS: 

Basics- Read this chapter on montage and editing

Film as phenomena: Simultenaeity and the shattering of the solid world 

One shot: observing the world

  1. Continuity and Narrative: Coverage, zoning, cutting on action


Discontinuity 

  • Jump cuts:  Note: not all the examples in this otherwise great tutorial are true jump cuts. Some are zoned cuts on action. See if you can figure out which is which.


Story Denali- storytelling from POV of dog 

Experimental: Found footage and layering: creating a dialogue


Example films from students 

Montage made from the everyday 

SIUC Student works:

In his essay about the long take as used by 

Quattro Volte Film Clips

LINKS: Basics- Read this chapter on montage and editing • Moving Pictures by Russell Leigh Sharman o Soviet Montage and the Kuleshov effect o Kelly Reichart on Elaborated Time Film as phenomena: Simultenaeity and the shattering of the solid world • Picasso and Braques go to the movies: Braque believed an artist experienced beauty "… in terms of volume, of line, of mass, of weight, and through that beauty [he] interpret[s] [his] subjective impression...”[17]"objects shattered into fragments... [as] a way of getting closest to the object... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Braque One shot: observing the world • Bela Tar by Kevin B Lee • Bela Tar Visions of Europe Continuity and Narrative: Coverage, zoning, cutting on action • How To Shoot A Scene With A Single Camera • How to tell a story in 5 shots • Graphic matches and matches on action • Graphic matches in I want Candy from Marie Antoinette • Dulac, The Seashell and the Clergyman : Note: Dulac is known as an experimental maker Discontinuity • Jump cuts: Note: not all the examples in this otherwise great tutorial are true jump cuts. Some are zoned cuts on action. See if you can figure out which is which. Story Denali- storytelling from POV of dog • My Dudus (story) Experimental: Found footage and layering: creating a dialogue • Songs for Earth and Folk by Cauleen Smith https://vimeo.com/71024774 • My name is Oona by Gunvor Nelson clip https://vimeo.com/242768525 Example films from students Montage made from the everyday SIUC Student works:
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Saturday, January 21, 2023

Analog film links. Spring 2023

1- Structuralism


Other links




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CIN 302 LINKS

READING: Moving Pictures by Russell Leigh Sharman

Sharman book  editing chapter
Bleat 
My Josephine Barry Jenkins
Picasso and Braque go to the movies
Two by Sahajit Ray

Seagull Eggs by Abbas Kiarostami
Tierra y Pan

  1. Continuity and Narrative: Coverage, zoning, cutting on action



Cameraman
2 strangers 5 times
Acid Brass

LINKS: 

Basics- Read this chapter on montage and editing

Film as phenomena: Simultenaeity and the shattering of the solid world 

One shot: observing the world

  1. Continuity and Narrative: Coverage, zoning, cutting on action


Discontinuity 

  • Jump cuts:  Note: not all the examples in this otherwise great tutorial are true jump cuts. Some are zoned cuts on action. See if you can figure out which is which.


Story Denali- storytelling from POV of dog 

Experimental: Found footage and layering: creating a dialogue


Example films from students 

Montage made from the everyday 

SIUC Student works:

In his essay about the long take as used by 

Quattro Volte Film Clips

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Sunday, August 15, 2021

MINI (5 MINUTE) DOCUMENTARY: Portrait of a Person, Place or Thing

The Short documentary- 
Unfolding the many-faceted sides of a subject: PERSON, PLACE OR THING or PROCESS
Or a process- to make a story.
3- 5 minutes

This visual story ask you to show us something:  a person, place, thing or process. Something, someplace, somebody or an event. All documentaries are made of short segments or scenes, each one leading to the next part of the story. Each segment gives us an image of something in time. These are like little portraits- each time we are introduced to someone new or to a new place-- each time we hear a new dramatic turn in the story, the storyteller needs to tell us where we are, who we are with, and what is going on now. The story can be minimal but should give us a feeling of who they are, what they do, and what makes them the way they are. It should also SHOW something, using the camera.

Example Portrait of person:The janitor in the Comm. building has been working at SIUC for 30 years, and now he is retiring. Did people know anything about this man who cleaned their hallways every evening?

Example story about a thing: - You go to a place where they build guitars, and document one being built- set to music played by the fellow who is building them.

Example story about a place:McAndrew Stadium will be torn down- and you will reveal the history that will be lost?
Farmer's Market one saturday

Example story about an IDEA:War, lies, night time, immigration. A story like this can be produced in a more abstract way.

Example story about an process or event: There is a "hackathon" happening in town. What is it? What do people do? You go there, film it, and interview people to learn. Maybe mostly interview the people who organized it.
(a big game!) (the last comedy show of the year)

Project requirements:
• An interview using an external microphone to ensure good sound (a lav is great)
• At least 10 minutes good interview footage.
• At least 10 minutes of B-Roll footage- figure 60 shots at 10 seconds per shot. Mostly stills.
• Background research into the subject (whether person place or thing)- into binder
• Edited to create a simple story- with a progressive revelation of information.
• Light use of music or sound effects to create a polished piece, with all sound levels balanced.
• A proposal/treatment


A) Consider some ideas for your portrait- write them down. Think of people who you have met or who you are curious about. 

C) Reflect on their story structures and be ready to talk about them next week. 
STORY STRUCTURE-
What is it about? (Person, place, thing, process, or a combination)
Does this follow traditional story telling structure?
What is the chronological order of the story?
What is the point of view?
What locations did they use?
How many angles (different shot/set ups in each location)?
Give examples of B-roll footage you see here.
How many different interview shots?
How many people did they interview?
What is the point of view?
What is the position of the maker? (critical, admiring, wonder? -- use your imagination)
Are there any filmic experiments in this? 

D) Look back at your list of ideas- cross out the ones you do not feel right about, and add in some others. 

E)  Who will you interview? Think about how to interview your subject by looking at some examples
F) Imagine what you will show with your interview. What will be your B-Roll? 
Are there other videos that have the same subject? What did they use for B-Roll?
RESEARCH ONLINE and by visiting the person's house, workplace or the location where the object or event you are covering takes place. Take photos or write down what you see there. 
Where will you stage the interview? Put all this in your production binder. 

G) Decide on your subject and make an appointment  with Sarah or Ellen to discuss your project

To assess your subject use some guideline questions:
  • Why is this interesting- what is the story?
  • What is the point of view?
  • What audience will like it the most? Can you make it appealing to other audiences?
  • What kind of structure does the video have? Chronological, personal, experimental, circular.
  • What kind of aesthetic approaches will you use?
------------------------

BEFORE SHOOTING- REVIEW your B-Roll ideas. 
Remember you are going to try to get 60 unique shots. 
  • MORE considerations: How will you use sound? 
  • What is the perspective in this story?
  • Is there one, multiple or are there conflicting perspectives?

PRODUCTION BINDER for MINI- DOCUMENTARY
• Preproduction
  • addresses, names, directions, phone numbers
  • lighting diagrams- if needed, 
  • location photographs,
  • what is the ambient sound at the location? Will you use it? What mic will you need to use?
  • Will you need lighting?
  • appointments, dates and time set
  • Will you need Help? Who will help you- name, phone number
  • interview questions
  • background research on the person, place thing
  • equipment list- don't forget sound and lighting
  • Ideas about how to tell the story (beginning and ending)
  • Check the spelling of your subject(s)

• Production
  • list of shots, recording format, 
  • interview notes- what were the best questions/ answers
  • possible sound, music, B-roll ideas
  • What you really shot for B-roll. 
  • How much footage you shot 
  • How many  shots? 

 • Post production
  • what sound do you have?
  • What sound do you need? Does this need music? What music?
  • Write down all your titles on as many pages as you need. Check the spelling. GEt someone else to check the spelling too. 
  • Make up a name for your piece
  • Make titles: opening title and closing titles- with subject named, you as producer, credits to music and images and anyone you need to thank for help or production advice. 










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