Category: Uncategorized

Story of Film – Episode 1 – Birth of the Cinema

Introduction

1895-1918: The World Discovers a New Art Form or Birth of the Cinema

1903-1918: The Thrill Becomes Story or The Hollywood Dream

Editor Resource Notes

Notes:

-Cutting on action 0:30

Simple, effective, useful in fast-paced scenes, can be used to emphasize action

-Cutaway 0:58

Cut to an insert shot, show character distress

-Cross cut 1:30

cuts back and forth between locations, increases tension and suspense

-Jump cut 2:15

Cuts between the same shot, shows the passage of time, montage, urgency

-Match cut 3:01

Cuts from one shot, to a similar shot in shape/composition, can also be verbal

Transitions

-Fade in/fade out 3:54

Dissolving to or from black

-Dissolve 4:05

Can be used in montages, shows the passing of time

-Smash cut 4:56

Abrupt transition, intense –>quiet, quiet –>intense

– Iris 5:33

Stylistic effect, used to narrow field of view

-Wipe 5:58

Many types, different shapes or stylistic effects can be used as wipes

Production Project Session 2

SUMMARY

Role: Sound Designer

Intention (SMART Goal): USE THREE AUDIO SOURCES & RECORD ROOM TONE

PRE-PRODUCTION – INQUIRY

Leader(s) in the Field / Exemplary Work(s)

https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0102110/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1637604829670000&usg=AOvVaw1HjwU44FnS1oZQyjI-0RPH

Training Source(s):

https://www.youtube.com/c/ScottMurphyIdeasAboutMusic

-Major and minor chords

-Combinations

-Which chord combinations produce which effect

-Music notation

Project Timeline

Day 1: Storyboard created, Shot list made

Day 2: Script Written, Props and equipment gathered, Started audio and video shooting

Day 3: Shot intro and rising action scene, uploaded external audio

Day 4: The shot’s climax and falling in action, re-recorded audio for the intro, composed music for film

Day 5: finalized intro audio and music, shot filler scenes, wrote suspense music

Day 6: Recorded voice-over audio and worked on edublogs/slideshow, labeled audio and video

Day 7: Began editing

Day 8: Finished final audio steps, continued editing

Day 9: finished editing, exported film

Proposed Budget

None

PRODUCTION – ACTION

The FILM

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iYTyrw12Vb8R0aZ-C0X0sdVBvGcOR3iV/view

Skills Commentary

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/129oJ3AYeXKWuz-SfCQPcDKh8mSzDqz4IWO_vXXMdbSk/edit?usp=sharing

POST-PRODUCTION – REFLECTION

21st Century Skills

Ways of Thinking (Creativity, Innovation, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving)

Over the course of this project, I utilized the elements of creativity, innovation, critical thinking, and problem-solving to effectively support my film team as the sound designer. For example, the idea to use ADR was a collaborative effort of me and my director, which was innovative because it allowed us to have very clean audio on top of the room tone that I recorded. A problem we ran into was having most of our members being in the cast, so to solve not being able to hold the mic all the time I trained our director to take my place when necessary.

Ways of Working (Communication & Collaboration)

Communication was a vital part of this project, and collaborating on ideas and execution made the film much stronger. In the beginning, for instance, I consulted the editor and director of my team for what “feel” we wanted for our music, and we decided on two distinct pieces. The first was our intro which we wanted to be upbeat, and I worked with my editor to make sure that the music fit with the beats.

Tools for Working (Info & Media Literacy)

For this project, I familiarized myself with two important media tools for both composition and organization. I learned how to use a midi keyboard and GarageBand software in order to compose simple background music. I learned how to record and re-record takes of music and add multiple tracks of audio. In addition, I also better utilized Trello as an organizational tool for this production cycle and even made a personal board to better keep track of my personal tasks.

Ways of Living in the World (Life & Career)

I developed some really important life skills through this production cycle. I developed my ability to problem solve and improvise on the spot, which is an extremely important skill in the world of work. I developed this skill from having to improvise the music tracks from my previously limited knowledge of music and composition. Problem-solving was an important skill when it came to losing audio, and having to prepare backups and in the moment problem solving became crucial.

Reactions to the Final Version

One critique I received was that my use of ADR was good but very obvious and that I needed to make sure it sounded more authentic.

“The audio was really crisp and I liked the simple piano music” -Jessica

Most of the feedback from my contributions to the film was centered around the two pieces of music I made, and how they were simple but effective when it came to creating an atmosphere.

Self-Evaluation of Final Version

Assessing my storytelling using the Heath brothers SUCCESs model, I can identify the successful elements of my film. The idea was simple, in that the story was linear and easy to understand; unexpected because the conflict of the story (the glue) was definitely not expected; concrete because of how the script incorporated descriptive and emotive language to give the characters and story more depth; and finally, the story was emotional because it appealed to the common stress of being stuck somewhere when you are running behind, and the triumph you feel when you make it on time. In addition to all of this, I think that improvements could be made to the emotional appeal of my future films, especially when it comes to creating music and using audio to convey emotion.

What I Learned and Problems I Solved

I learned a lot in this second production cycle, but of course, this is a given. This second cycle was more formalized than the last, and the stakes were higher. With that came the stress of creating a higher quality product, and with a new role to figure out in tandem, this became quite the learning experience. I had to overcome my inexperience in the field of music and solve last-minute emergencies through foresight and the use of backups. This film and the production process that accompanied helped me learn how to adapt to a new role quickly and become flexible and productive under pressure.

Grammar and Spelling

Grammarly

Editor

Pablo