Genre Conventions: Action

For our genre exercise we will be creating a short action film.

"Action film is a genre wherein physical action takes precedence in the storytelling. The film will often have continuous motion and action including physical stunts, chases, fights, battles, and races. The story usually revolves around a hero that has a goal, but is facing incredible odds to obtain it. "
(The Script Lab, n.d., para.1)

The Action genre is very wide and can include Action-Comedy, Action-War, Disaster Films, Action-Adventure, Superhero, Martial Arts etc.  Generally the action genre is more about the pace and style of the cinematography and storytelling then the themes or setting of the film (Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Crime, Spy films etc can all be action films)
  
Like any genre, Action films come with their own set of cinematography conventions and visual clichés.  Our group briefly discussed this the other day and listed quite a few of these.  As a refresher this is what we came up with:

• High Shutter
• Quick cuts
• Shaky cam/ handheld shots
• Close ups -usually combined with fast cuts
• Use of very wide shots
• Slow Motion
• POV's
• Sweeping camera 180°/360°s

While researching action films I also came across the 'whip pan' which is often used in action films and can be seen in most of the below examples.  The whip pan can be used as a transition to conceal a cut but also can be used to describe a rapid panning shot which follows an action.  On occasion it can be used to double as a POV shot. 

 
Here are a few film examples, looking mostly at fight and chase scenes:

The Raid Redemption (2011), Directed by Gareth Evans:




The Raid Redemption is an Indie Film which premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.  I haven't seen the film in its entirety but I stumbled across it while researching the action genre.

The above sequence uses of a large number of the cinematography techniques we had identified earlier, but also shows a couple we hadn't thought of initially.  These are the 'whip pan' seen at 0:44 which follows the action, and also the use of a variety of shots and camera angles (bird's eye, worm's eye, dutch tilt) etc.

This sequence makes use of shaky, handheld camera for the majority of the shots.  Not only are there a number of close ups the clip also demonstrates the use of the very wide shot at 0:37.

I'm not sure what has been used in terms of shutter in this sequence but judging from the motion blur I'm guessing that it is not an especially tight shutter angle.  


The Bourne Supremacy (2004):




Shot angle variations (birds eye view at the start is one example), shaky cam, quick cuts and close ups are among the cinematography techniques used in the car chase scene above. There are also a couple of POVs but they are cut so quickly that it isn't obvious (2:07), and a short "Whip Pan" at 1:01.


The Bourne Ultimatum (2007):



I decided to look at another Bourne example as this one is a foot chase and fight scene.  The shaky cam doesn't seem quite as erratic as the car chase from The Bourne Supremacy and this might be in part because of how it is inter-cut with steadier footage.   Once again close ups and variations in camera angles are used a lot throughout the clip.

This scene also includes slow motion shot which we often associate with Action films (1:13).  The whip pan is also much more obvious in this sequence than the previous and is used as a transition at 1:02. 


Hot Fuzz (2007):




While the previous examples show the genre conventions clearly, they are both serious films.  This isn't a necessity for an action film.  Hot Fuzz (2007) for example is an Action-Comedy, which parodies a lot of the conventions of an action film.

Even though they are parodied cinematography techniques can be clearly be seen in the above clip: whip pans, close ups, extreme wides, fast cuts, slow motion, handheld etc.  At the end of the clip (2:44) another of the techniques we identified which didn't show up in the previous examples can be seen, the camera 360°.  It's pushed to the extreme here due to the nature of the film but is often played straight in other action films.

Another important note to make here is about lighting.  Action films aren't defined by the lighting used any more than they are by the setting and this is illustrated quite clearly by the differences in the style of these films.  The lighting has been chosen to enhance the mood of the story, so it is obvious that a serious action film will use lighting with stronger contrast than one with a comedic tone. 





References:

http://thescriptlab.com/screenplay/genre/action#

Screenwriting: Status Changes

I had a really nice blog post here.  You'll have to take my word for it now though because about 5min ago when I opened up my draft to add some more research I accidentally deleted and over saved my post.

Anyway, this post was SUPPOSED to talk all about status changes.  So moving on, here's the gist of it. 

Essentially, Status in screenwriting is character related.  Status is conveyed in status transactions, dialogue or physical actions which communicate status to the audience.   It can refer to the power-dynamics between the characters in a scene or who has the upperhand.

A status change occurs when there is a change in these power dynamics or if the tables are turned in the relationship between the characters.  This could be complete reversals in status eg the hunter becomes the hunted, but can be much more subtle.  For example if two characters are having a disagreement but one of them becoming more acquiescing, or gives slightly in their position.

A status change can also occur in one character.

We read a play, Soldier Stale, which was really helpful for me as an example of status changes through dialogue and in beginning to identify status changes.  Reading the play also brought up an interesting discussion about how subjective our interpretations are, especially when considering written dialogue.  It's interesting to think that when we see a film that those interpretations have already been largely made for us and then portrayed through the actors and the directors choices.     

I'm going to try to find some more examples of status changes a bit later on which I hope will help me when writing my Table Play.  I think this will be a struggle for me as I've never written dialogue, or screenplays as long as this one.  I'm still a bit stuck for ideas so I'm really hoping for some inspiration to strike.

  

Cinematography: Genre Exercise

For our group's Genre exercise we were assigned the action genre.

Our group started off by talking about Action films and what genre conventions we could think of.

We came up with:

• High Shutter
• Quick cuts
• Shaky cam/ handheld shots
• Close ups -usually combined with fast cuts
• Use of very wide shots
• Slow Motion
• POV's
• Sweeping camera 180°/360°s

Some action films we could look at include:
Saving Private Ryan, The Expendables, The Italian Job

Recent action films often have a large focus on VFX and include sub genre's such as the recent Super Hero films and Transformers franchise. 

Some common elements of the action film are stunts, fight scenes, chase sequences

Cinematography Study Session

Just a last minute study session.  I typed out everything I could remember about each topic without checking my notes, so here's hoping I've remembered correctly.  Exam starts after lunch today! 


Focal length and Field of View:

The focal length is the distance between the center of lens and the sensor.  Camera lens lengths are usually specified in mm.

The Field of View refers to the extent of the observable world that can be seen at any given moment.  In this case- how much can be seen in frame, or how much the camera captures.

Field of view is connected to focal length through angle of view.  A smaller focal length results in a wider angle of view.  This then results in a larger field of view. 

If the focal length is changed the angle of view also changes, resulting in a different field of view. 

Kelvin Scale and Colour Temperature:

The Kelvin scale was created by Sir William Thomson.  It uses a scale from absolute zero- which Thomson defined as the point where molecules stop moving.  In his experiments Thomson heated carbon and watched as the colour changed from red to white-blue at it's highest temperature.

This is why the hottest temperatures on the kelvin scale are sky blue at 10000K.

In cinematography Kelvin is used for lighting and determining the colour temperature.

It is typically used in white balancing, which determines the overall temperature of an image, and allows the camera to identify colours correctly.  If footage looks too yellow then the White Balance temp is too high.  Colour temperature can be manipulated to alter the mood of the film. 

Principles of Shutter:

One type of shutter is the rotary shutter, which is found in film cameras.  Rotary shutters have a disk which rotates in front of the film gate to allow the film to be exposed.  Some rotary shutters allow the shape of the shutter to be altered.  This is called the shutter angle.  The standard shutter angle is 180°.  Changing the shutter angle will cause different effects on your footage.  A smaller shutter angle: eg 90° will have less motion blur and result is a sharper image.  It will also allow less light to enter the lens effecting the exposure of the film.  As the angle decreases further is will give the footage a stuttery, stop-motion look.

In digital film a shutter angle of 180°= a shutter speed of 1/50.  Shutter speed refers to how long the frame is exposed for.  A standard rule of thumb is that the shutter speed should equal twice the FPS, but this can also be altered for different effects.  A faster shutter speed eg 1/30 will result crisp, choppy footage with reduced motion blur, while a slow shutter speed (1/400) will result in a less sharp image, with lots of motion blur and smoother motion.  As with shutter angle, shutter speed also affects the exposure of the film, with longer shutter speeds make the footage more exposed.

Aperture:

Aperture is the hole in the lens which lets the light through.  It refers to how open the lens of the camera is, and is represented in F-Stops.  The smaller the F-Stop (Eg F1.4) the larger the aperture.

A small F-Stop allows more light to enter the camera resulting in a smaller depth of field, less overall sharpness and a more exposed image.  Opening the Lens by 1 F-stop doubles the amount of light that goes through.  Reducing the F-Stop by 1 halves the amount of light.

Disadvantage of a very small aperture= a decrease in sharpness because of diffraction.
Disadvantage of a very large aperture= Distortions, Chromatic Aberrations, Optical Vignetting  

Different lens don't allow the same amount of light through even if they have the same F-Stop.  T-Stops measure the amount of light going through a lens.  T=F/ Lens Transmittance %.


Inverse Square Law:

Inverse Square law states that a physical quantity or strength is inversely proportional to the distance from the source.

In cinematography this relates to the relationship between the intensity of the illumination of a subject and their distance from the light.

I= 1/D²

If the distance between the light and subject is double the intensity will be 1/4 of the original.  A 2 stop loss of intensity will occur every time the distance is doubled. 

An example: If the light in it's initial position is one meter from the subject then its intensity is at its most powerful. If it is moved 1 meter further back distance=2. 1/2² = 1/4= 1/4 loss in intensity.  Of the light is moved another meter distance=3. 1/3²= 9= 1/9= 1/9 loss in intensity.

Lux and Illuminance: 

Lux is SI unit of Illuminance.  It can be measured using a light meter but these mostly use foot-candles instead.  I can't remember much more off the top of my head about it, so I will want to avoid this topic in the exam. 

3am Costume Making and the Greenscreen Shoot

Last weekend we had our Greenscreen shoot.  The plan was to film everything needed upstairs first (the scenes involving dirt, as this couldn't be done in the studio) then move downstairs on Sunday to film the Int. ship scene.

We knew from the beginning that this would be a tough shoot.  We had no DOP, no gaffers, no VFX supervisor.  Our Camera operator was also no longer part of the course and we had to find a replacement.  We had a very limited crew this time round. 

Callsheet 16th May

Callsheet 17th may

When we arrived on set we were already 30min behind.  I had driven the van to pick up a couple of people in the morning but they had overslept and were late.  When we arrived at the location most of the crew weren't there.  The VFX assistant contacted one of the art department to say he wasn't coming just before his call time, but hadn't told the producers or me about it at all.  Between Vincent and I we decided that we would manage.  At 9am our actor was due to arrive, he ended up being an hour late. 

All in all we weren't off to the best of starts.  There were also a large amount of shots required, and many of them would require rotating the entire set and lights.  I had previously created a colour coded shot list which showed where each shot would need to be filmed, but I knew that I would need to do a precise breakdown of the shots to minimize the amount of time spent re-arranging our location.

Shot List

Since some shots had been altered or added by our director we didn't have storyboards for everything so I took the time to draw up a couple so that I could get more idea what he wanted out of those shots.  This was also to help me when it came to thinking about what direction the sets would need to be placed in.

Storyboard 1 by Sarah Dewbery

Storyboard 2 by Sarah Dewbery

I drew up a shooting order, intended to help out with shooting in front of the greenscreen and set ups, which only became longer since we didn't get through everything on the first day.

Shooting Order for 17th May

Clearly we had a lot to get through, and we only managed to film about half.  I underestimated how long some of the shots would take to set up and film- especially the closeup shots which I thought we would get out pretty quickly.  It seemed like there was just a real lack of motivation from the crew and every time I turned around someone had wandered off set without saying anything and we had to wait while we tried to track them down.  Since we were all doing multiple roles we really couldn't even carry on if one person disappeared.  I think the other holdup came from greenscreen inexperience, which I didn't realise would be such an issue.

By the time our first scene was filmed we had manged to make up some lost time, but unfortunately we had an art department hold up.

The previous night myself, John, Vincent and Chris had spent until 3:30am that morning at the tin-shed trying to finish one of the costumes which was needed for Saturday's shoot.  We were mostly done, or so I thought, but John stayed up the entire night after the rest of us were gone working on it.

I sewed the cloak ^

          
I've been called on a few times to help out with costume, because I have a bit of background in sewing and design from school.  I'm no seamstress but I can definitely sew basic stuff together.  In previous weeks I sewed the following patches onto jackets, and I also went shopping for a replacement costume with John after they had bought the wrong sizes.

But I digress.  Anyway, the costume wasn't ready and we ended up being held up another hour or two while we waited for it.  I felt bad for our actors, not only were they waiting around for us, we then had to race through shots to try and get them done before they had to leave again.  I feel a little sorry for the animators too- there will be some significant rotoscoping in quite a few of the shots we filmed as we didn't manage to get the height we needed and at times the greenscreen wasn't lit brilliantly.

We reached a stalemate of sorts.  Vincent and I could see the problems at a glance because of our VFX backgrounds, but neither of us had the skill or lighting knowledge to fix the problems.  Whereas those who were more experienced with lights in our group (not that there were many with no Gaff or D.O.P) simply hadn't developed the eye to even see the problems, even if they were pointed out.  This contributed to a lot of time spent trying to communicate within the group and getting issues fixed. 




We decided we would need to film the rest the next day, because we would need to pack up everything in that room before SIT closed on Sunday night.  I knew right there that we wouldn't be getting through everything, as we already had a lot of shots in the scene scheduled for the following day, that I was skeptical about getting through.  This lead to some messy scheduling as our actor required wasn't available until the afternoon.  We had to wrap up our filming downstairs at 3:30 or 4pm on the dot at the latest in order to film a shot we needed upstairs before our actor had to leave again.  On our second morning of filming our actor was an hour late again....

We also ran into heaps of other issues during the weekend.  Two lights blown, a faulty RCD, cords that didn't work, Tripods that broke.  You name it.  Oh and we had no slate...

Murphy's Law. Retrieved from https://bizkidsrochester.wordpress.com

I guess that the lesson here is that no matter how well you think you have scheduled something, whenever you are relying on a large group of people or on equipment you can expect things not to work out.  Especially if you are dealing with something your group is unfamiliar with like a greenscreen shoot!

Despite the issues it was actually a really enjoyable shoot.  Working with such a small crew was really nice, there was less tension and for the most part everyone just got stuck in and helped where ever they were needed.  It was slow work, and there was a lack of urgency in the crew which wasn't ideal but it also felt relaxed. 

Two more days of filming to go!  I'm still hoping, probably against all odds, that we have a day where things actually go to plan. 

News Shooting Exercise

We started on the group News Shooting exercise a while back but I only got my final edit completed recently, so now seems like a good time to post about it.

In interviews there were a couple of points we talked about before filming:

B-Roll:

B-roll refers to narratively coherent sequences which are useful for telling stories visually as well as breaking up the to monotony of interview footage.  This helps to draw in the viewer.

Eyelines:
Another tip for Interviews was to do with the subjects eyeline, which should be near to but not directly towards to camera.  Positioning your Interviewer near to the camera is one way you can achieve this.

3-4 Sec Rule:
The 3-4 second rule is about shooting economy.  Shooting Economy is the ratio between the amount of footage shot and actually used in the edit.  When editing B-roll together it is likely that you will only use 4-5 seconds at the most.  This means you can move through B-roll shooting quickly as you only need to roll on a few seconds. 

It's important to have shooting discipline and to know in your own mind what you are shooting.


My Interview:

When I filmed my interview I decided to go for a 3-point lighting setup.  I didn't want flat lighting in my interior interview, and I am quite happy with the look of the lighting.  Unfortunately when I came to editing my footage it was really, really grainy- which I hadn't noticed at the time of filming.  (it looks nice while it's small!)  I'm not sure why it happened, but I wonder if I just didn't have enough light in the scene.

Grainy footage mishap.

Things looked better in my B-roll sequence and I didn't end up with as much grain.  I really like the lighting in both shots despite the issues..

B-Roll

In my B-Roll sequence there were other problems though and things I would do differently now that I have a bit much knowledge.   I would definitely think a bit more about the composition of the shot above. I'd also want to frame out the wires in the and deal with the reflection off the Mac in the back.

I was pretty nervous filming this as it was the first time I was using the camera for a sequence as opposed to just for exercises to compare the different settings, and I found myself a bit daunted by also the different things to think about.

Editing

 

When We Go to War

I watched the first episode of When we go to War last week.  Although it was on TV on Demand as a double episode (1&2) I found I could only sit through one episode.  Not because it was bad, far from it, but because I could only take in so much at once.

I think the series has been approached from a very clever angle by the writers, taking an important event in history and making it personal by using engaging characters and showing how the war changed their lives.    I felt that this first episode did a really good job of introducing these characters and their outlook on life and the war. 

At this point my favourite character is Bea.  This is probably in large part because she has had the most development so fair, and the largest part in the first episode.  The first episode introduces Bea, who is smart, hard working, and strong minded but also shows her softer side and vulnerabilities- she is afraid to disappoint her father.  These are all likeable qualities although I'm sure as the series goes on we will be introduced to more negative sides to her character, this is a drama afterall.

I disengaged from the episode part way, shortly into episode 2.  I don't think that there was anything that would keep me engaged any longer at that point and that it was more the length than anything related to the storytelling. 

Screenwriting: Writing for 48

Last week in our Wednesday screen writing class we finished reading through the classes Non-dialogue Screenplay's.  It was nice to see what the others had come up with.

This also led into a bit of a discussion about inanimate objects being 'characters'.  There is a bit of a debate about this in the screenwriting world.

One argument is that something like a city or a shed doesn't have human qualities and that they don't 'want' anything- therefore they can't be considered a character.

In one of the screenplay's we read it I felt that it wasn't so much that this inanimate object had been given a character, but more that everything the audience saw was like we were looking at the events as they unfolded through it.  My interpretation is not that it was treated as a character per se, but more that it was like the eyes in which the events were viewed through, like a character without a soul, which the audience looks through- a window into the world.

Empty Eyes. P. Damsten. 2012.  Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/pdamsten/7170946578/

I did think that this made the screenplay quite impersonal, like the audience was a stranger looking in from a distance; but I also thought that it could be a clever technique depending on how it was used.



In the second half of our lesson we talked about writing for the 48 hour film contest.  The Rialto Channel 48 Hour Film Contest takes place this year from 1st-3rd May. 

 
In the 48 hour contest each team is given parameters- a character name, a prop, a shot type, a line of dialogue and a genre.  Mostly what we went over in this session was a refresher from some of our earlier classes, with some extra advice more specific to 48.

Some main points were:

• Observe Genre Conventions
• Pick a model film from the genre
• Identify genre troupes
• Subvert, don't fully copy
• Gimmicks are fine, but back up with substance
• Start with a character:
• Objective
• Obstacle- should be a game changer and threaten the objective.  This could be an antagonist or an inanimate object
• Character Arc- what does the protagonist sacrifice or give up to find a sense of resolution
• Moral Lesson?
• Informs climax of the film
• Stinger- a surprise ending.  Subvert in some way.

Priorities for creating a good 48 hour film are:

• Story
• Casting
• Pace
• Audio

Our team has struggled with all of these points each year.  We probably don't focus on character enough during our writing stage, we struggle to find good voice actors, and audio isn't a strong point for any of us. Last year we also forgot to do an animatic, so we didn't end up with good pacing at all. 


    

  

Analysing the Edit: The Importance of Delivering Feedback in a POSITIVE Manner

It seems that my blog over the last couple of weeks is becoming a bit of a ranting ground, so I do apologize for that in advance of this post.  I wanted to talk a bit about something that happened a little while ago in class because I think it leads to an important point about working well together as a group.  Also I just have a lot of frustration building up and I need to get it off my chest :)

Frustration. n.d. Chris Wildt. Retrieved from https://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/f/frustrated.asp

When classes started up again after we had filmed the first part of 'The Beast of Fawkes' we had a class session where we showed our rushes to the group.  Unfortunately this didn't end up being a positive experience, so what follows is an attempt at reflecting on this.

The first thing we did was putting together a chronological edit, which was intended to not be viewed as an edit but as a rush.  It was purely for the purpose of seeing whether or not the shots would work chronologically, or if there were any glaring problems that meant we would need to reshoot.

I feel like watching the rushes as a group had a more negative effect on the group then a positive.  This was probably in part because of the number of people in our group who don't understand rushes and were expecting to see an edit which was fast paced and well transitioned between shots.  The other problem was that some people were getting impatient, and wouldn't stop for long enough to let us explain what it was they were about to see. 

Frustration. 2012. Retrieved from http://www.squirrelosophy.com/2014/01/17/frustration/

This made the entire experience really frustrating, I think for everyone.  Those that didn't understand rushes were disappointed by what they were seeing, and although at this point there were clear issues with some of the performance I didn't feel that the rushes, which were also missing some shots, were the place to tear the entire thing apart.  I felt in hindsight that as much as you want your group to be kept informed and to see where things are at, that these rushes (much like an animatic or a beatsheet) might have been better shared only with a smaller group.  This might have preserved some morale.


It could be that I am simply interpreting the session based of some pent up frustration's- but I particularly didn't appreciate how this feedback session was handled.  And I certainly didn't appreciate being talked over and ignored while trying to explain that this was only a rough chronological rush, only to then be torn into about missing shots (which had been filmed!), shots that were too long in the edit  (which wasn't an edit!), and cinematography decisions.   

Blame the Squirrel. 2013. Retrieved from http://www.squirrelosophy.com/2013/05/22/blame-the-squirrel/

I always try to be honest, and I realize that it can come across quite harsh at times when people try to give you honest feedback.  But I think even while being honest we can try to temper our the sharpness of our words. 

I appreciate the advice of people who know more than I do.  I'm new to this film thing, and the first to admit that I don't know much at all.  But I think that such a negative barrage and attack on the project is nonconstructive.  If there are suggestions to make things better, by all means suggest.  But don't tear peoples work apart in front of the entire group, or suggest that we have been lazy.  This a sure fire way to have everyone simply switch off.  
  

Over it. retrieved from http://society6.com/product/hello-i-am-over-it_print#1=45

Now the reason I bring all of this up is group morale.  Over the past few weeks I've been personally feeling less and less motivated about our project, and I think a large part of that is that I have been made to feel responsible for things that simply aren't my responsibility.  Normally I am happy to help out where-ever is needed.  And perhaps I am taking things too personally, but events like the one I mention in this post do nothing to make me want to continue giving it my all.

From the declining sense of engagement from the group as a whole, I would think that this is affecting others in the same way.  When the group dynamic and morale breaks down it becomes even harder to maintain your own.

I think it's important for me at this point to step back, vent these frustrations, and be sure that I'm not simply over reacting to things.

Lighting Ratios

Lighting Ratios are the difference in the amount of light from the key and fill.  A higher difference will give more contrast to the light and shadow, giving a Film Noir feel; while a lower difference gives more even and flattering lighting and shadows. 

A lighting ratio can be used as a kind of short hand on set, and can be helpful when the same lighting needs to be set up again on another day.