Looking for drama everywhere

http://sevencamels.blogspot.com/2012/06/looking-for-drama-everywhere.html

Iron Giant notes + group boarding exercise!

Iron Giant notes

8:00 - rather than show H fully climb tree, they cut through the tree

8:33 - H's "getting ready" sequence foreshadows IG's hidden side by showing the red menace comic.

10:34 - great camera shot/move here - starts leaving space behind H to suggest vulnerability, then pulls back on IG reveal to show difference in size

11:00 - 11:10 - cross cutting

11:20 - back to mom at the house - mega cross cutting here - this whole sequence cuts back and forth between mom and H in the forest.

11:30 - cause and effect - power outage because of H's actions

12:20 - great weight animation on power switch

13:24 - great arcing animation on the way down.

15:55 - red trees and red tractor frame the actors in the center

16:22 - great reveal on KM starts with the logo on the car, pans up to KM's face, then follows badge gesture

18:50 - H meets G beats:

 - H goes to forest and sets "trap" 

 - H falls asleep

 - H wakes up to see the bait is gone

 - Look of terror on H's face, bumps into destroyed "bait"

- H looks up to reveal IG

- H runs from IG

- H slams into tree

22:45 - note the cut on spinning action - KM's gesture matches H's perfectly

24:14 - train tracks in shot foreshadow event about to happen

24:23 - framing here is perfect - tree line leads eye from IG to H to tracks

24:45 - hope and fear!

26:25 - cuts from KM on phone to car speeding away - brilliant!

28:00 - hope and fear in the kitchen!

29:11 - characters solving problems

34:35 - foreshadowing!

34:55 - 35:10 - great camera moves to show size/scale

41:42 - curved line of junk serves as pillow for IG (and leads eye there too)

42:50 - H's phone conversation becomes increasingly more difficult as KM is eavesdropping. Getting H tangled up in the cord enhances this visually.

1:03 - weather change reenforces story change!

1:06:35 - scramble the jets - amazing cut from phone to white house to jet after burner!

1:06:50 - 1:07:30 - group boarding exercise!

Finding tone in your drawings

http://sevencamels.blogspot.com/2010/09/quick-primer-on-values.html

http://sevencamels.blogspot.com/2012/01/tones-values-and-using-them-and-your.html

http://evanerichards.com/2012/2794

http://evanerichards.com/2012/2789

http://evanerichards.com/2012/2736

Film clips

Ways to safely cross 180:

1. Camera crosses the line
2. Actor crosses the line
3. New actor enters the scene and establishes new line

Creating and re-establishing new 180 lines:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTIc6y5mojw&feature=share&list=PL8F3444EC493C0C85


180 degree triangle:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFgCZDRkacU&feature=share&list=PL8F3444EC493C0C85

180 degree rule CAN be broken intentionally...

The Matrix subway fight (0:00 - 1:50)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMx-Az5Da4M

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/180-degree_rule

http://www.brighthub.com/multimedia/video/articles/60379.aspx

Paprika explains the 180 degree rule:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9xD_YYZrbA&feature=share&list=PLIxpDLIQpXvN5tJaBijnngE25u305l-hU


American Beauty:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt0rz5iPuaA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw0kuEG7NR8&list=PL7B08A44C4D74CF75




No Country for Old Men (framing, pacing, camera push-in):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1U3MyX0pmE&list=PL0871E80F80989E56

breakdown and board ( 1:15 - 2:12 )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBqbMZ23n5o&list=PL0871E80F80989E56



The Godfather - note camera push in right before shooting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppjyB2MpxBU


Amelie - puts camera in the mental space of the blind man:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wuntz3KDIAk&list=PL0CBD56D41228F70F&index=2



Midnight in Paris:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln6Mdjs6dEE - separation of characters

Billy Ellliot - reveal of info:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0p2X2rQ6Ag (0:55 - 1:20)


2001: reveal of info:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s-PiIbzbhw

Line and Shape

edge, contour, closure, intersection of planes, imita- tion through distance, axis, and track.

Edge - edge of a 2d surface creates the line. Only visible if there is tonal or color contrast to pop it out.

examples: sheet of white paper against black, shadows cast on wall

Contour - the apparent line around the border of a 3d object

Closure - connect the dots, etc. Viewers create lines through connecting dots on screen

Intersection of planes - When two planes meet, they appear to form a line

Imitation through distance - complex objects recede into lines at a distance

Axis - invisible axis that runs through people, objects, etc

Track - the path an object makes as it moves across the screen

Linear motif - any pic can be reduced to simple lines. A pic's linear motif can be circular, straight, horiz, vert, or diagonal, or any combination of.

Horizontal - calming, least intense of all line motifs

Verticial - authoritarian, more intense

Diagonal - dynamic, most intense of all line motifs

Straight lines:

• direct

• aggressive

• bland

• honest

• industrial

• ordered

• strong

• unnatural

• adult

• rigid

Curved lines:

• indirect

• passive

• natural

• childlike

• romantic

• soft

• organic

• safe

• flexible

• Actors - when reduced to silhouette, what are the basic shapes?

• Scenery

• Set dressing - furniture, etc

• Simplify

Shapes:

2D:

3 basic shapes - circle, square, equilateral triangle

3D:

3 basic shapes - sphere, cube, 3 sided pyramid

All objects/shapes can be reduced to these basic shapes

Circle - benign, innocent, cute

Square - less cute than circle, rigid

Triangle - most dynamic of the shapes, because:

1. contains diagonal

2. Can be used to POINT in a direction - it's an arrow!

triangles often are described as bold, aggressive, dynamic, angry, menacing, scary, chaotic, disorienting, and unorganized

Contrast and affinity - circle and triangle have maximum contrast

Creating a linear motif storyboard to help discover/plan contrast/affinity in your shots

Space

SPACE

• Deep 
• offers illusion of 3d depth on a 2d screen
• no real depth in screen space, illusion is conveyed through depth cues
• perspective - 1, 2, and 3 point (draw buildings)
• perspective creates VANISHING POINTS and LONGITUDINAL PLANES
• Audience's eye will be usually drawn to and on-screen vanishing point (
• draw railroad tracks)
• draw two vanishing planes, with actor on outside, then actor on inside, at VP. Compare the two.
• size difference
• separating objects/actors into FG, MG and BG helps create depth
• movement
• moving parallel to the picture plane:
• objects further away will appear to move slower across screen
• objects closer will appear to move faster
• draw track runners to demonstrate
• moving perpendicular to picture plane
• objects appear to move faster the closer they are to the camera
• camera movement
• dolly in/out = moving camera closer or farther from the subject
• draw scene with FG actor and two BG actors, then dolly in
• FG actor will get larger faster
• tracking shot - camera dollies left/right
• with one FG and three BG actors, FG actor appears to move faster horizontally in screen space.
• crane shot - camera is moved vertically up or down.
• same FG/BG actor combo - FG actor will drop out of frame faster than BG guys
• Textural diffusion
• objects that are closer to the camera will have more visible texture
• Arial diffusion
• fog
• must have objects affected and unaffected in both the same shot in order to be an effective depth cue
• Tonal separation 
• light objects generally appear closer, dark objects generally recede
• can also be reverse, depending on lighting and arial diffusion
• Color seperation
• warm colors generally appear to be closer
• cool colors generally appear to be further away
• Up/Down position
• objects lower in the frame appear to be closer than objects higher in the frame (maybe because they appear more accessible?)
• Overlap
• overlapping objects in the frame create depth
• Focus
• blur vs sharp
• Flat
• emphasizes the 2d aspects of the screen space
• flat cues:
• frontal planes and NO LONGITUDINAL PLANES
• size consistency
• movement
• movement parallel to picture plane = good
• camera movement - pans, tilts and zooms
• help emphasize flat space because the relative distance between/size of objects does not change in the shot.
• textural affinity
• same amount of textural detail
• reduced tonal seperation
• reduced color separation (affinity of color)
• reduced overlapping shapes
• inverted depth cues
• inverting or reversing depth cues can help flatten deep space
• tone: placing brighter  obis in the BG and darker ones in the FG
• color: warm BG, cool FG
• textural diffusion: make BG obis have more texture and FG ones have less
• size difference: place larger objs farther away, and small ones closer.
• Limited
• combo of deep and flat space cues
• Ambiguous
• occurs when viewer is unable to understand the actual size/spatial relationships between objects in the frame
• lack of movement -
• objects of unknown size or shape
• tonal and textural camouflage
• mirrors and reflections
• disorienting camera angles

• DEEP SPACE
• dramatic
• exciting
• edgy
• can be used to release tension
• FLAT SPACE
• calming
• comedic
• disarming
• can be used to build tension/claustrophobia and awkwardness
• wes anderson!
• LIMITED
• combo of both
• AMBIGOUS
• mysterious
• disorienting
• chaotic

Film compositions #1