Wednesday 27 June 2012

Project: Mise–en–Scène


Viewing: I have selected this scene from the film “Rum Diary” directed by Bruce Robinson starring Johnny Depp. Sanderson has taken Kemp to his luxury beach home for breakfast and introduces his girlfriend Chenault. The scene is a conversation between Kemp (a writer) and Sanderson (a property developer/crook) about the help he needs to form local opinion in favour of his plans to develop an uninhabited island. Unknown to Sanderson, Kemp has met Chenault before but she doesn’t seem keen to let Sanderson know that. Kemp is distracted by her as she prepares food and keeps looking towards him through the screen.
The scene is set from the moment the two men enter the beach house, is comprised of 19 shots and lasts just 1min 48sec.
The scene feels relaxed and luxurious in direct comparison to previous scenes in a busy newspaper office, bowling ally, airport and the following scenes of squalor and cock fighting in the poor districts of Puerto Rico. This is achieved by the setting, a modern, bright house set on a beach. The mise en scène has definitely played a part in this, everything has been selected to reinforce Sanderson's wealth. In the context of the narrative, Sanderson is prepared to use Kemp for his own ends. Also, Kemp is establishing a relationship with Chenault which is given meaning later in the story.

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For ease of description I have labelled all of the frames above with the same numbers if they cover a similar area of the scene despite the lens focal length. (I find the almost interchangeable use of ‘shot’, ‘frame’, ‘scene’ confusing especially if a frame changes by zooming or panning the camera) I have answered the questions posed by the learning notes below.
Frame 1. A wide shot that establishes the luxurious interior of the beach house as the two men enter. (the previous scene is the car drive to the house and the walk to the front door). The meaning conveyed by the mise en scène is described above.
Frame 2. This wide shot framing is used to show  the two men’s progress through the house and is also the location of their conversation as a mid shot after the introduction of Chenault and the return to the inside of the house.
Frame 3. Another mid shot lines up the three characters ready for the introduction. Chenault moves in from the right of the frame to greet Sanderson.
Frames 4 and 5 medium close up, show the flicker of recognition between Kemp and Chenault as they are introduced.
Frame 6. Mid shot as Kemp explains to Sanderson that he may recognise Chenault from the plane while she denies that they have met. (they actually met when he was paddling a pedalo and she was swimming at night on the capital’s resort beach)
Frame 7. This is the scene to the right of the frame 2 where the conversation between the men  takes place. Chenault is shown behind the screen preparing fruit as Kemp is distracted by her while listening to Sanderson’s proposition. There are two mid shots and a medium close up where she is shown watching Kemp intently. This choice of mise en scène gives a conspiratorial feel to the as yet undeclared relationship .
Frame 8. This is an almost throw away shot of a bejewelled tortoise, again the mise en scène is used to reinforce Sanderson’s wealth.
Frame 9. This medium close up of Kemp is used in preparation to show his dialogue response to just how much Sanderson knows about him and to show that he keeps looking across to Chenault as she prepares the meal.

Saturday 23 June 2012

Assignment 1–Tutor Feedback and Reflection


My tutor gave me comprehensive feedback on the first assignment. Rather than re-work any of the shots or edits I made for it, I have decided to make note of the criticisms and apply them to future projects. In this way, the improvement from one assignment to the next can be more easily seen. Here is a list of things that I will need to consider for future projects:
  1. Exposure: My first shot was underexposed. I have checked out the manual options for my camera and found the iris control which allows me to open and close the iris in graduated steps and preview the effect on the viewing monitor. This will enable me to expose correctly for predominately white scenes.
  2. The use of a title for the sequence and/or the use of  a “SLUG” or filler of black frames at the start of a sequence. I did not consider this for the first assignment but will in future projects. I must stop thinking of these as just exercises and add a little “polish” to them.
  3. Transition/cut – I need to watch the smoothness of  the transitions between shots. Cutting two shots together where you are zooming in works best if both are zoomed at the same speed and in the same direction.
  4. Deciding where to cut. The second shot of my sequence needed cutting after the car pulled away. I can see that now. The alternative scenario proposed by my tutor would also have worked; i.e. filming Angie getting into the car  from within and the car driving off, then cutting to the next scene. Again in the third shot, I needed to have cut before “craning” down. the rest of the shot was redundant. The uncertainty here was really just that. I only had a memory of the scene that was available as we passed so I was filming continually until the monument passed out of shot.
  5. Again, constructive comments from my tutor about a better way to record the fourth frame, from outside the car and then cut back to the POV shot of the arrival from within the vehicle.
There is a lot to consider for my next sequence but essentially, more careful planning and being aware of what works best when cutting shots together. Learning to visualise creatively is an essential skill to learn. At the moment I tend to get an idea into my head and film it as I see it. I need to be able to look for the alternatives and will make a conscious effort to do so.

16/09/2013 As I prepare for assessment, I was having seconds thoughts about editing this film in light of my experience over the past year. Unfortunately, since filming and editing this clip I have changed my PC and my editing software. This has resulted  in loss the original footage and the upload file I used for Vimeo has been saved in a format that my current editing software cannot open. I'm sure my progress from this point in the course is evident.

Wednesday 13 June 2012

Viewing–Hitchcock’s “Psycho”


I can’t believe that before now, I hadn’t seen this movie.  I knew the story from reading about it over the years. From my reading of Warren Buckland’s “Understand Film Studies” I can see why it has its place on the recommended films list. It is able to demonstrate the following aspects of film making:
  • Diegesis and film sound - Diegesis is the story or narrative world of the film. There is internal and external diegetic sound, external being the voices of characters, sounds of animals, the music soundtrack etc. Internal diegetic is sound heard only within the mind of a character (and the audience of course). in the closing scenes of the film, Norman is thinking with his mother’s voice, confirmation of his psychosis.
  • Montage – the classic shower scene montage (a non linear sequence which shows an idea greater than the sum of its parts) cut to Bernard Hermann’s rhythmic score, shows very little other than Norman’s “mother” wielding the knife, Marion Crane falling in the shower and dragging the curtain off the rail. There is no stabbing of flesh shown. The viewer fills in the gaps and creates in their mind the grisly slashing murder suggested by the music and the montage of images.
  • Narrative devices and structure – Hitchcock is a master storyteller and uses many devices in telling his stories. The first three scenes of the movie are a good example of causal logic in narrative development. 1. Sam and Marion discuss marriage but can’t afford it. 2. Sam leaves the hotel and Marion returns to her office. $40,000 dollars become available to her. 3. We see her at home with the money. She is packing a suitcase. This narrative device introduces an obstacle (no money to get married) She overcomes that obstacle but then creates disequilibrium in the narrative by becoming a fugitive. Omniscient narrative (the story is told from the point of view of many characters) and Restricted narrative (the story is told from the point of view of one character only) are both used by Hitchcock in Psycho. Omniscient narrative produces suspense while Restricted narrative produces mystery.
  • Hitchcock uses the process of searching for the dominant character using the camera. The film opens with a panning shot of the Phoenix skyline and then zooms into a hotel room to establish Marion as the dominant character for the start of the movie. After her murder, the camera wanders around the motel room until Norman enters and then it attaches to him as the dominant character.
According to Buckland, Psycho is a good example of Hitchcock’s emphasis on editing, particularly the montage in the shower scene (34 shots in 24 seconds) Shooting a high number of POV shots and shooting in a confined space (Lifeboat and Rear Window) are two more characteristic Hitchcock styles.

Friday 8 June 2012

Assignment 1

Objective: Produce a short sequence, of no more than 5 shots that tells a simple story using images alone.
Planning: After much thought I decided to use the simple narrative of a journey. It has a beginning, a middle and an end which can fit into 5 frames. It will start with an the view of a finger tracing a route on a map, a car being loaded with luggage, the same car being driven past an iconic landmark that everyone will recognise (Stonehenge), arrival at an address and finally a greeting.
1. Look at the map.(close up) This shot needs to introduce the journey. I will do this by showing a finger tracing the route, close up, from above. I will restrict the frame to only what is absolutely necessary to give the information.
Assgt 1 Frame1
2. Load the car. (Mid to long) This frame will show the car and luggage being loaded into the boot using  a medium to long shot. I will probably include the driver getting in starting the engine and pulling away.
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    3. Journey (Driving + significant landmark - Stonehenge) (wide, mid, low or high angle from the back seat) From the moving vehicle I’m planning to show that time has passed and the journey is passing Stonehenge. I’m using an open topped car and this would be the ideal shot if we are able to drive with the roof down. Traffic conditions and weather will play a major part in the success of this shot.
    Assgt 1 Frame3
    4. Arrival (sweep into the drive POV) The plan for this shot is to follow  the movement of the car off the road, through the gate, onto the drive of the house. This will show the arrival at an address and the end of  the journey. It needs to show an end so the car will stop and movement will cease.
    Assgt 1 Frame4
    5. Greeting (mid to close) The final frame will show the driver emerging from the car to greet her son. There is little movement here other than the hug and greeting and there is no need to show more than just that in this final shot.
    Assgt 1 Frame5

    Untitled from Richard Down on Vimeo.
    Production Notes: This sequence was shot in one day on a journey from Hampshire to Devon on the Jubilee weekend. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get the shot of Stonehenge if it rained but luckily we were able to put the roof of  the car down. Shots 1 and 4 needed two takes. As the brief called for a story using images alone, I muted the sound on each clip to avoid distraction..
    Evaluation:
    Frame 1 works well. There is not a lot of action but the shot is close enough for the map to be readable. This was filmed outside on the bonnet of the car when the sky was cloudy. Perhaps a little reflected light may have improved the contrast. The map and the moving finger quite clearly indicate a route is being planned. Timing: 7 seconds
    Frame 2: I automatically zoomed in on the rear of the car and panned right as Angie opened the door, got in and started the engine. I could have left it as long shot but I think zooming in confirms to the viewer that the main action is about the car and driver. I did think about showing the car driving off but the brief was quite specific about confining the action to the frame. Timing 16 seconds
    Frame 3: I shot this on the move with only vague idea of what I would be able to shoot. As it was, in one pass I got two sequences. The first included here, of the monument as it comes into sight as you drive towards it and a second, where I filmed it from the drivers eye level and zoomed in and panned right as it passed along the passenger window. Unfortunately both of the windows were up and were distracting as they are tinted. This was quite a lengthy shot at 29 seconds. I was pleased to have kept fairly well to the frame just by raising and lowering the camera and all of the action is through the frame top to bottom rather than across it.
    Frame 4: This frame contains more movement as I wanted to show the car pulling off the road at a recognisable location that was the end of the journey where the car pulls to a stop. I have managed to keep the camera fairly steady. My attempt to “read” the house name as I passed was not successful but this final part of the journey comes to a clear and definite end at this point. Timing 15 seconds
    Frame 5: This final shot could have been made outside of the car but I maintained my point of view within it as I wanted to give the impression that the camera is a close observer of the action but remaining at a discrete distance. I think shooting from within the car at a low angle ties the journey, the car and the reunion together. Timing 15 seconds
    This is more of a narrative and I was aware that this could be documentary footage. Indeed, all of the action is what happened on that day anyway, just not necessarily in the order shown. There is a lack of continuity in my shots, note the car roof is up, down and up again.
    This was a good dry run for a proper shoot. I could have benefitted from more planning rather than grabbing footage in a documentary style during a routine journey to visit family. I’m hoping that my approaches to the local drama group give me the confidence to ask for help with my projects so I can plan more interesting sequences. My camera techniques are improving but I pan and zoom almost instinctively. This may be good but I have a feeling that my tutor may ask me to think more about each shot before pressing the record button.