Jennifer Adams' HUM210 Blog

The Viewing

Jenn — Fri, 12 May 2006 07:47:57 +0000

Ok so for my actor, I chose Matt Damon. I’ve seen most of his work, and plan to see his upcoming films as well, like Oceans’ Thirteen and The Departed. He’s finishing up the Bourne Trilogy, with the last film coming out in 2007. He’s been in films like, The Talented Mr., Ripley, Mystic Pizza, School Ties, and Dogma. He’s done almost every genre of film, but I think the best he’s done is comedy. He does a good job of playing the dry sarcastic roles. He wrote his first film Good Will Hunting with Ben Affleck, which turned out to be a huge success. Also with Affleck, they started their own show called Project Greenlight. This show gives ordinary screen writers and directors the chance to show their skills and get a film made. It’s a reality TV – show with a purpose. There are two contests, one for who has the best screen play and the other for the best director. They are then paired up and the written becomes the visual. Damon has not only stared and written films, he has also produced a few TV series. At 36, he’s doing pretty well in his career and he should continue to do great things.

Reflection on the Reading

Jenn — Fri, 12 May 2006 06:43:50 +0000

So in the beginning of the film industry, the actors were like employees. They were told what to do and when to do it. They didn’t get to choose what films they stared in. If the actor wasn’t doing as well at the box office as hoped, they were canned. That happened until they started refusing roles, yet that resulted in suspensions. All of this forced actors to go freelance, floating around, instead of being owned by one company. For more control, actors would team up with the business savvy and form their own production companies. Kirk Douglas did this in 1955 when he launched his own production company Bryna. Under this company and the directing abilities of Stanley Kubrick, Douglas stared in two films that were quite important to his career, Paths of Glory (1957) and Sparticus (1960). He seemed to do pretty well for himself taking a chance and going out on his own. Bryna only had 16 films under its belt during its 31 year rein, from 1955 to 1986; Douglas stared in all but 5 of these films.

Rlection on the Reading

Jenn — Fri, 12 May 2006 06:24:34 +0000

So on the refection on the reading; I looked up ways to become a director. I found this crazy site. In the past you had to work your way into the business, there were no camps for you to diddle in to figure it out first. Now they have a director’s camp. You can start as early as 10 and looks like as late as 17. You can go to all kinds of different locations, Italy, New York City or MGM Studios. It seems like a pretty cool opportunity. You get to shoot with different types of film, and there are tons of workshops available. There’s also Acting, Screenwriting and Producing sections. I looked pretty cool.

http://www.nyfa.com/summer/index.html

Viewings

Jenn — Fri, 12 May 2006 06:11:24 +0000

I chose Sam Mendes as one of my directors. He’s is the director of films like American Beauty (1999), Road to Perdition (2002) and Jarhead (2005). There seems to be a main theme through these films. The leading characters are male, and going through tough times in their lives. In American Beauty, Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is a depressed father that is lovesick over his daughters’ young friend. In Road to Perdition, Michael Sullivan (Tom Hanks) is on a revenge kick against everyone who has done him wrong, while trying to save his son from being murdered for seeing to much. Then in Jarhead, Anthony Swofford (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a Marine stationed in Kuwait during Desert Storm. The story follows him through his experience during and after the war. They were all pretty good films, being a military brat; I would have to say that Jarhead was my favorite.

As my second director I chose Mimi Leder. She directed The Peacemaker (1997) and Deep Impact in (1998). Two back to back blockbusters full of nothing but action. The Peacemaker is about two people trying to stop a terrorist attack in the middle of New York. Deep Impact is about a meteor coming towards earth and only certain people will survive. Which doesn’t that remind you of a movie called Armageddon that came out the same year? Everyone has seen Armageddon, but not many have seen Deep Impact, I know I hadn’t. In fact in 1998 Deep Impact made more opening weekend, but less overall.

Reading and Viewing

Jenn — Fri, 12 May 2006 06:10:51 +0000

Both were pretty much a refresher for me. I’ve read these articles, if not something real close, last summer. For the text in the book, when you think of a director; you don’t think of what they did before they started making films or how hard it was for them to get their start. It was an eye opener to how hard it can be. As for the movies I watched, I’ve seen them all before. I just didn’t know there was a connection between them as far as who directed them.

Shot and Camera Movement

Jenn — Tue, 18 Apr 2006 18:57:07 +0000

Shot and Camera Movement

Pan Shot – This shot is basically used to show the distance between two characters or places in a scene. The speed of the pan is determined by the effect that is desired by the director. A quick pan says that there is no time to waste, and the action occurs quickly. A slow pan might show a conversation between two or more people. This shot scans the space of the scene horizontally.

Tilt Shot – Usually a diagonal shot. It can be used to show superiority, possibly to exaggerate the difference between character heights.

Tracking Shot – This shot follows the subject, or the action of the scene. Not only are you watching the character move, it’s almost like your moving with the character. In this style the camera moves along tracks or anything with wheels to get a steady movement of the camera.

Crane Shot – This is usually an aerial approach. Usually starts out high in altitude and far in distance and then moves in.

Steadycam – One of the hardest shots to perfect in the business. This is done by a man or woman for that matter wearing a harness and stabilizer. Cameras are quite the piece of heavy equipment. Yet it allows a greater sense of flexibility while trying to get that perfect shot. It tends to be a bit jerky feel for the scene, perfect example The Blair Witch Project. Some directors like this feeling; it gives more to the scene apparently.

Three Point Lighting

Jenn — Tue, 18 Apr 2006 17:04:07 +0000

Three point lighting is back light, fill light and key light. The back light is exactly that, it sits behind the subject being filmed. It’s used to accent the subject as well, and usually sits across from the key light. The fill light is usually softer and less noticeable than the others. It just takes out unwanted shadows in the shot. The key light, begin the strongest light used in the shooting process, is used to light up the subject itself. There is high key lighting which is used mostly for musicals and comedies, it is bright and casts little to no shadows on the subject. As an opposite of high key there is low key lighting. You would get this is your black and white films. It gives the scene or the movie for that matter, more suspense maybe. It’s your classic black and white, or is seen in the film noir genre.

So above - just some examples/visuals. I always do better with visuals.

The First being the Three Point Lighting : It’s a great picture to demonstrate the strength of light coming from each lighting option. You can tell with the differences in contrast, just how bright the lights are. With Key being the stongest and Fill being the weakest.

The Second Being High Key Lighting : Just a quick snap shot in a film (sorry don’t really know which one). You can see how everything is illuminated and there is virtually no shadow.

The Third Being Low Key Lighting : Again just another snap shot. With low key lighting it casts heavy shadows, helping with the dark, dangerous and suspencful feelings while watching such films.

Film Stock

Jenn — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 17:36:34 +0000

The term Film stock is just another term for Photographic Film. They are what movies are shot on. Film itself is classified by a few different things. One is by the emulsion used; the original was highly dangerous. It was a flammable cellulose nitrate, which means it was nitrate based film. Later in the 30’s, a “safety film” was used, which had a plastic base which made it less flammable. By 1955 all film industries including international were using this plastic based film. Another characteristic is the color; there is of course either color or black and white. Then there is the film speed itself. The Speed of the film itself, determines how much light is needed or can be used for the shot itself.

Paper Proposal

Jenn — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 23:09:29 +0000

Director : Ron Howard
Three FIlms :Cinderella Man
Apollo 13
Far and Away
Explanation : I’m really interested how the main characters in these films all show the same traits. They are the masculine male characters that always have to have things there way. They are the “Lords and Masters” of their surroundings in the film. I’d like to see how it’s done differently yet the same in ach film, and how it effects the film. Also, the settings in each film are dated in earlier times. With Far and Away being set in the late 1890s and made in 1992; Cinderella Man being set in the 1930’s being made in 2005; and then Apollo 13 set in the 1970’s and made in 1995. Seeing how things have changed in films between these times and then seeing how the technology has changed between the makings of these films.

Extra Credit on Film Festival

Jenn — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 20:47:41 +0000

Koyaanisqatsi

I came to see the first film with my dad and brother. I drug them along and they had no clue what we were seeing until we got there. They weren’t upset or anything, which was a good thing. My dad enjoyed the film. Every time I looked over at him, his eyes were wide open and focused, it was cool to see him like that. My brother on the other hand, was a little less interested. He was watching, but trying not to dose off at the same time. I liked the film a lot. The visuals were great. I got to see how other jobs were done, which was awkward but it was cool. I loved how the music went along with the film. I mean I knew they were going to but when there was a busy part the music gave you a hint to it before the picture popped up. I liked how the technology was minimal in this film. It got back to the basics. All in all it was a good film. I just wish the guy in the back would of stopped snoring.

We stayed till the end, well till about ten. Godfrey Reggio was very interesting to listen to. I have to admit I didn’t understand some of the things he referred to in a theoretical sense. I mean when he was talking about all the theorists, I have heard of them before I was just not familiar with the theories themselves. Yet he was fun to talk to, he would make long explanations to answer a yes or no question. It was pretty cool, because you’re learning why he did what he did with his films.

Naqoyqatsi

Unfortunately I was unable to go to the second film on Friday night because I had to work. I did however show up to the third and final film of the series. This film I have to say, I liked and didn’t like. I liked it because it was a more intimate film. You say people as individuals instead of as groups. The film to me meant strength, I know there is an actual definition of the word Naqoyqatsi but I don’t remember it. All the images showed strength of some kind. The people in the Olympics especially, exhibited great strength. The military photos also, discipline and strength. I didn’t like the film because it was too computerized for me. I didn’t like for that only fact. That and the music in this film was more relaxing so I almost fell asleep a few times, and I would have, if it weren’t for the kid behind me kicking my chair. Without seeing the second film, I might be wrong, but they seem to be in a sort of chorological order. With most and more technology used and proved used throughout the films. Although I noticed, maybe, that there were a few places in the music for the third film that sounded similar to the music in the third film. All the same I liked this film festival and I’m looking forward to next years.