From Silents To Studios: Part 1

Sound in Film

By the 1920's film had advanced to a turning point in which would change the whole industry. Film was now being produced with sound. At the time, studios opposed films with sound for many reasons such as: they were not sure if the public would accept it, stars had noticeable foreign accents, sound studios were expensive and many other reasons. All upscale studios besides Warner Bros. did not use sound. During this time, Warner Bros. Studios was slowly fading away and needed something new to bet their whole company into, in order to save them. Releasing their first feature length film with sound was a success. Their film called, "The Jazz Singer" had saved their business and caused buzz among the film industry. Studios were shocked at what this film had done. Soon after, almost all films had sound and were labeled as, "talkies." Many actors lost their jobs because they did not have the voices to fit their look or part in a film. Along with actors losing their jobs, the qualities of films started depleting. Film techniques were not being used as they were and storylines became boring. But as long as there was sound in their films, production quality did not matter as much.

Writing About Film

The five kinds of film writing are formal analysis,  film history, ideological papers, cultural studies/national cinemas, and discussion of the auteur. A formal analysis paper is where the viewer critiques a film in sections and how they contribute as a whole to a film. It also is one of the most common film papers. A Film history paper reflect history behind the film to show date or age corresponding to it's time from when it was made. An ideological paper films that promote religious, political or any other kind of beliefs. Discussing the Auteur is a paper about the film as a whole and the person who visioned it.

Annotating a film sequence is when you take notes in certain way, as you watch a film, just as you would take notes for a class or something. By annotating a shot sequence, you label each shot in the sequence. This helps you keep track of each shot in a sequence that has a diverse shot selection. Reviewing these notes can establish a visible pattern that the director, editor or cinematographer was going for.

When an authors says to "Think Beyond the Frame," they are implying to think what further meaning is behind the shot or shot sequence. The following question are ones you should ask yourself when "Thinking Beyond the Frame": Who is the director?, What is the production history of the film?, What do the critics and scholars say?, What can you learn from the film's genre?, Does the film reflect an interesting cultural phenomenon?.

Film Trailer Review: Life of Pi

The movie Life of Pi directed by Ang Lee, came out on the 21st of November. The buzz that this movie has started to stir up is from its trailer. In this review, I will talk about the aspects of the trailer that make it quite successful.

Figure 1

The narrative structure of the actual film is easily depicted by the selected scenes that were incorporated in the trailer. The trailer consisted of only significant scenes in a chronological order to clearly show the story line. The first scene shown in the trailer does a really good job of establishing the story line for this film. The shots are from the first scene with the ship that the animals are being transported on. Figure 1 above established the scene with the animals on the boat. This scene is significant because it is shows the main conflict that Pi faces throughout the movie. The following scenes show other conflicts and resolutions of the movie, without giving the actual movie away. Also, the trailer does not show the climax but rising actions that make the audience want to further know about the movie and climax of the plot.

Figure 2

The cinematography in this film was really done well. Each shot really exemplified a purpose and the editing in post production really completed the film. I really liked the shots when Pi wakes up on floating debris and realizes that he is stranded in the middle of the ocean. The way that the sky reflects off of the blemish free water really has a cool effect. Figure 3 below is a screenshot of one of the shots in the scene. The general look of the film did suite the story line quite well. The main character, Pi, is a young man from India. Through wardrobe and appearance, the audience can tell the time frame really good for this movie just from the trailer. What I really liked about this film is that over time, Pi's hair got noticeably longer due to being stranded and distraught. Also, from what is in the trailer, the relationship between Pi and the tiger is shown to be progressively growing closer throughout the whole two minutes. One of my favorite scenes in the trailer is the one where the water is glowing green around the boat and then all of a sudden a whale jumps out of the water and over the boat. Figure 2 above is a screenshot from the scene.

Figure 3

Figure 4

This film was completed majority through its edit in post production. This film took place in the middle of the ocean with a lot of dream like and imaginary stuff happening. Definitely a lot of time had to be put into the editing process of this film. For example, the beginning scene of the trailer has Pi swimming through the flooded ship and there is a zebra that swims by the camera. They most likely did not really try to drowned a zebra for this scene, so they definitely created the shot in the edit. In figure 4 to the left, you can see the shot of the zebra swimming underwater. The edit of the trailer pretty generic. It was the type of trailer with out dialogue, a dramatic song and used text to show rising action and explanation for each scene. The movie is an action drama and I think the trailer song fit it well. The song consisted of orchestra instruments that gave a dramatic and fast paced tone for the trailer. Because of the music being fast paced, the cuts from shot to shot are really quick. At some points, the music slows down and shots are held on screen much longer and at a slower speed.

Overall, I feel that this trailer was well done and followed the standard conventions of trailers good.
Heres the link to the trailer: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/fox/lifeofpi/

Documentary Pre-Prodution: Winter 2012

Documentary Pre-Production: Winter 2012

1.Purpose: To educate the audience about radiology at San Francisco General Hospital

2.Contacts: My father, my father’s boss, my father’s co-workers, and possibly patients.

3.Interview Questions: -What’s your favorite thing about working at your job? -What did it take to get to your position today? -How was it when you first started working here? -What is the hardest thing about your job? -Can you tell me some history behind the hospital? -What do you usually deal with on a day to day basis? -What is the weirdest case that you’ve ever dealt with? -How are the patients that you scan usually?

4.Shot List- Close-Ups, Extreme Close-Ups, Waist Shots, Long Shots, Extreme Long Shots and B-roll.

5.General Flow: The beginning would open up with the with shots of the neighborhood eventually leading up to the hospital. Then a shot of the sign of the hospital with some others inside the hospital. Next, I would use some voice over to introduce the section of the hospital I am documenting while showing B-Roll of the whole Radiologist department. Like people working, technology and stuff like that . After, I would introduce my first interviewer and ask them questions while showing B-Roll relating to the questions. Then, I want to talk about some history behind the Radiologist department and how it has updated from before. And within talking about the history and stuff, I want to maybe include more interviews. Finally, I want to end the documentary with every interviewer answering a good closing question with B-Roll of the hospital.

6. Scripts: Questions for the interviewers, templates to answer the questions and voice over script. Intro:________________________________________________________________ Closing:_____________________________________________________________ 7. Production Schedule: By November 30th - All pre-production is done; treatment, 2 column script ready, etc... By December 6th - All filming is completely done By December 9th - Rough Cut done and Music score started By December 12th - Whole edit is complete and ready to be exported

"Drug Crazed - USA" - Film Critique

The documentary film Drug Crazed - USA is an investigation of the new designer drug called, "Bath Salts." This documentary informs the audience of the dangers of this new drug that is sweeping the nation. It argues about whether the drug should be legal or not but clearly states it's position by the use of interviews, voice overs and other evidence. People who were interviewed told the heart wrenching stories of their loved ones that were consuming the drug and addicted to it. And in some cases, losing their lives. The people interviewed were followed around to document their attempt to reach their goal of banning Bath Salts.

Dickie at his birthday

One larger story followed was the story of "Dickie Sanders." Dickie Sanders was on the rise to becoming a great BMX star until his behavior on Bath Salts cost him his life. His story is told by his father who was there when Dickie tried to kill himself and when he actually did. Dickie's paranoia that was brought upon him because of the Bath Salt caused him to shoot himself and take his own life. Emphasizing this story shows the audience the dangers behind this drug and the effects of it.

The documentary is narrated by a voice over to introduce each person and explain backstory behind each of them. The narrator also explains the context behind the video on the screen also. This makes it easier for the audience to understand more meaning behind what is displayed. The narrator also clearly takes his position on the side of the argument against the use of Bath Salts.

One of the interview doctors

Medical professionals and scientists are interviewed to provide information on the drug. They discuss what chemicals and substances are in the drug and they explain what they do to your body and mind.

The director did a good job of organizing the way that the each scene was put into order. First, the drug was introduced, then stories of the drug were told, and finally, the medical research and science behind the drug was revealed.

One drug bust in action

I also like how the director incorporated the drug busts to show evidence of further attempt to ban Bath Salts. Within a scene of the documentary, the director showed live footage, archival footage, and direct interviews. All of these contributed to the standard conventions of the documentary film genre on top of the cinematography style. Nothing fancy was done for the artistic choice of cinematography. Most shots were still, but there were a few continuous shots that were shot handheld during the drug bust scenes. Almost no music at all was played during the film besides in the opener and credits. This was most likely done to preserve the informative side of the audio. This documentary overall I feel was pretty effective. It was executed well to give the audience information about the drug. Although, it could have been a little bit longer and talked more about the origin of the drug. Otherwise, it was good film.

Link to documentary: http://documentarystorm.com/drug-crazed-usa/