Short Film Treatment: Friends

Boy is talking to his friend and his friend is telling the boy how he is scared for his life. *bang bang*

Boy wakes up to the sound of a door knock. It is early in the morning and the sun hasn't even risen yet. He lies staring up at the ceiling for a few moments more. Seconds pass to minutes and he needs to decide whether or not he should answer the door.

He wonders if he is gone. No. The knocking continues.

He gets up and brushes his teeth and gets dressed. He takes out his wallet and looks at the contents inside and he takes out a picture and a folded piece of paper. He stares blankly at the papers and he looks up to the ceiling, trying to keep his tears suppressed. He walks downstairs. As he opens the refrigerator for food he remembers the times he's shared with a lost friend.

The sun is shining bright and he remembers the memories of him and his friend very happy and the times that they shared, laughing their youth away. They are best friends and would do anything for each other. He reminisces the activities that they used to participate in including playing basketball, playing games and even talking about the girl next door.

One day, it is raining and the young boy is at home finishing up on homework. *ring ring* he gets a phone call from his friend. They talk briefly and the boy’s face immediately becomes dark and serious. His friend is walking quickly down with the silhouette of a man behind him. The friend is shot twice in the back and the boy is breathless.

*knock knock* Boy is back in the present. He takes out the picture once again and this time, he smiles and feels relieved of his sorrows. He finally build up the courage open the door.

You ready?
"Yeah . . . I'm ready.”

Run Lola Run Presentation Critique

My group, which consisted of Xeryus, Tres and myself, was in charge of evaluating the "Camera" section of Run Lola Run. We presented our slides based on sections. I took the sections regarding composition and framing. I took multiple examples of shots in the film that I thought showed Tom Tykwer's stylistic approach to the film. There were many shots that emphasized distance and I discussed how these shots are important to reveal especially in this type of action movie. I discussed composure as it includes the use of lines, background, placement of objects along the rule of thirds, and other aspects such as lead room and headroom. What I should have focused more on was how it  affected Tykwer's work as a whole. When it came to the section of framing, I didn't use as much film language as I would have wanted to because of my lack of understanding with the topic. I thought I did have some good points, though such as how a shot can tell a story, but once again, I needed to synthesize these examples with the rest of the film.

I thought some strengths of my presentation included slide design and the comfort I had with my slides. By having little text in my slide, it allowed me to not depend on pre-written idea, but instead elaborate as I progressed. This actually had me come up with additional analysis as I progressed through slides. I got out some ideas that I had not previously thought of. I made sure my group had time to rehearse our presentation so that we wouldn't feel nervous going up not having gone over the slideshow so because of this, I was able to familiarize myself a little more before.

Areas that need improvement, which are also addressed above include the need to synthesize the film as a whole. This can help reveal the director's intent and their styles. I need to improve on understanding why the director does certain things the way they do like how sometimes, Tom Tykwer decides not to follow the rule of thirds and he does not always have certain aspects the way we expect. An example would be the unique sound design. By improving my understanding of director's intent, I believe that I can enjoy films in ways I haven't been able to before. By doing so, I can improve on my own film knowledge through the evaluation of established film directors.

Critique: Camera Demo

During the filming of the camera and tripod demos, we as a team learned how difficult it is to to capture movement while up close. If the person behind the camera is not focused on capturing the movement, it becomes unorganized and what we want to capture doesn't get captured. For example, while filming the buttons on the camera and their corresponding actions, the camera remained still, the "actor's" hands were going in and out of the shot. Another part that we didn't focus on enough was the sound quality. We learned the importance of the positioning of the mic and the attention needed for your footage. Sound is crucial because if you have an amazing shot with sound or dialogue and the sound is missing, then the shot is virtually useless. What we learned were the functions of the camera and how to set up for a shot. I think that the project was very helpful in that it allowed a hands on experience.

While filming, my partners saw this project as a more creative project than what it actually was. Sometimes, we visualized a shot that was too difficult and therefore, we often veered off track. Our time management was not the best, but we ended up focusing on the last day of filming and we got all the content finished. With the lines, because the "script" was just a rough cut and we had to figure out how we needed to present our content. Some of the lines were harder than the others but some actors didn't know how to improvise so we took multiple takes on just one line. Overall, the beginning was pretty rough because of the excitement with finally being able to handle a camera. Despite this,  towards the end we junked all the unnecessary conceptualizations and ideas and make the whole filming process faster and efficient.


Going in to our first real film, I would tell my team to prepare and know their jobs before hand. I think the pre-production aspect of filming is as important or more important than the filming itself because it allows the team to know exactly what is going to happen. I don't want to go into a shoot and have my crew ill prepared. Even though I don't really have experience with filming a short film, I think I have an idea, based on videos I've seen and behind the scenes footage, about how an efficient shoot would look like. Also I'd tell my team to check all the equipment before every shot so that everything is in order -- sound, focus, framing, actor's lines, etc.

Character in Time

 

Being the new kid on the block is not the most comfortable feeling one would like to experience. This young man has just moved away from his lifelong friends and he now has to adapt to this new environment in which he must finish his high school career in. This is his chance to start off with a clean slate - no past, no memories, no burdens, fears, or judgment. He walks home from a day of solitude and wonders how long it will take for him to shed his image as an outsider. In his mind, his loneliness manifests itself into a slowed sense of time. By and by, he tries to befriend new people, but his bold attempts are gone unnoticed. The ten minutes it takes to walk home seems like hours as if the seconds on the clock has stopped ticking. He recalls his life back in his old home. His mother is baking a cake for his little sister's seventh birthday as he and his soccer team talk about the excitement of yesterday's game in the backyard. He is happy and content and life seems to be flying by. It seems like only a week ago he entered elementary school into Ms. Green's classroom with unfamiliar faces. He focuses back to the present. He has arrived home.

Last Day Dream - Chris Milk: Short Film Cinemetography

POV shot of newborn kid

POV shot of old man in hospital

This short film, "Last Day Dream" directed by Chris Milk, tells a story in less than one minute. Although only being 42 seconds long, it reveals to us the life of an individual (whom we'll refer to as "viewer") from birth to death, showing only a few frames at a time. Because of this, each shot serves great importance. It must be composed in a form in which the audience is able to relate and understand what is going on in the shot. It is immediately communicated to the viewers that the video is about this child that is born. We know this because the placement of the camera makes it seem that we are experiencing life through the eyes of the viewer. This is otherwise known as a point of view, or POV shot. The opening shot is important because in the end, the shot reappears. The blur effect indicates a lack of focus through the eye of the child. The visual balance of the two parents show that they both have a significant role. The last shot is to have the greatest impact on the audience because it marks the end of the journey through this individual's life. The audience is supposed to understand that this the set-up of this shot is nearly identical to the beginning. The lighting in the final shot is seemingly duller and blurrier than that of the beginning.

The use of the rule of thirds highlights importance

A lower exposure was probably used to shoot these shots

 The composition in the film is stays simple. It uses the rules of thirds constantly to highlight importance, which is usually another individual interacting with the viewer. They are mostly placed on the higher right side intersect. There is no significant z-blocking shown in this film. In this shot where the father is playing with the viewer on the swings, it reveals a background of trees influencing the depth of feel. The lighting is also simple, using mainly the light from the sun. During this shot, along with others that are directly pointing at the sun, the exposure was most likely turned to a lower setting, allowing less light to enter the lens. This is apparent in the darker edges. The illusion of looking through this person's eyes is further enhanced with the lack of focus in order to indicate movement.

The film uses a lot of close ups and extreme close ups to increase that feeling of safety and reminiscence.  These life experiences are to be related to and therefore the feeling of closeness must be created. Shots like these show us the a togetherness with the other individual. This shot in particular

uses a shallow focus in order to reveal importance in the viewer's wife. By not focusing on the background, it draws attention to the women who we presume is the individual's wife. The cutoffs are on the forehead and around the shoulder area. If the cutoff were to be above the top of the head, the wedding veil would become another point of interest. The cinematographer may have considered this when deciding how the shot would be set up.