Grammar Edit 2

Week 4

Screen position edit:
- focuses or directs the eye to a new position on screen.

Form Edit:
- a transistion from a shot which has a pronounced shape, color, dimension or sound to a shot which has matching.
- generally a cut but can be mixed with sound as a motivation -> usually time with sound to another location e.g. Ridley's BHD rotating fan scene as the transistion to the chopper blades in the next scene.

Concept Edit:
- purely a mental suggestion.
- becos of the 2 shots chosen and the point that the edit is made, it plants a story in your mind.
- covers changes in time, place or story.

Matching Shot:
- generally try to cut matching shots.
- shots which are similar angle, similar lens, at a similar distance from subject have similar depth of field provided they have similar composition and content.

Editing Dialogue:
- never edit out a performer's pauses unless there's a good reason.
- accept them as a guide and use them as a motivation.
- sometimes you can change the complete meaning of a scene.

other notes:
- reaction shots seem more natural during a phrase or sentence than at the end. this is becos of where your eyes scan. Generally we look at the listener during a conversation not only at the end.
- remember the medium is vision and sound.
- must be additive to add something to a shot.
- better to show 2 eyes and more frontal if emotion of reaction is to be shown out.
- Possibly avoid doing an action edit from long shot to a close up.
- avoid composing an actor with lines running across his head for example.
- try not to cut halfway into a zoom or dollie.

Grammar Edit

Week 4

Simple Shot:
A shot containing one or more people or inanimate or animate objects.
- no lens motivation
- no camera movement
- no mounting movement -> no dolly/tracks
- a simple subject
- different shot sizes

Complex Shot:
Can contain one or more people (or things).
- camera movement
- lens movement
- no mounting movement
- a simple subject movement
- any combination of the camera, lens camera movement
- can be pan, tilt, pan & tilt

Developing Shot:
Can have one or more subjects.
- lens movement
- camera movement
- camera mounting movement
- complicated subject movement
- often doesn't need to be edited

Six elements of the edit:
- motivation
- information
- composition
- sound
- camera angle
- continuity
* content (phone right hand; expect next shot to be same)
* movement (directions)
* position (right side first shot; right side second shot)
* sound

Directing small notes 2

Prepping the actor(s)

Questions to pose for the actors...
1. "What do I want?"
2. "What am I giving/getting from the other actor?"

- send actors the synopsis or perhaps the entire script for them to break it down -> esp. narrative beats.
- use active verbs most of the time instead of passive verbs.
- most of the dramatic action in a scene is the actor with the most lines.

Prepping:
1. Beats
2. Action
3. Intention - what's driving the scene?
4. Motivation
5. Objective - what do i want?
6. Logic

For e.g. the intention to grab a beverage in the fridge (intention) needs the motivation for the actor to walk towards the fridge, opens it in order to get the drink (motivation).

Think! "how doi i go about getting what i want?"

Keywords for actors:
* Goal
* Objective
* Desire
* Intention
* Motivation
* Action
* Obstacle
* Logic

- use visual images to stimulate/tickle the senses for an expression/reaction -> e.g. cold vomit...

American Beauty

Found an interesting line of dialogue while watching "American Beauty":

"I'm just an ordinary guy with nothing to lose..." - Lester Burnham

A good quote on how i feel about everything at the moment in this course *sigh

Directing small notes

- acting is very much similar to life.
- directing is very intuitive -> as in how realistic life is.
- treat each individual differently -> especially with regards to the cultural background.

Instructions to actor -> the need to understand externally with respect to understanding physical actions for better and more natural acting! -> promote the understand it mentally.

- break down the actor's prejudice of certain actions which he/she has to perform.

- Generally start to work with biggest problem an actor has -> as in the key problem.

- differentiate the real actor and the character that they are going to play -> "Who am I?"

Ingredients to act

+ define what you and another person (relationship)
+ objective
+ strategy
+ tactics
+ text
+ subtext
+ interior monologue
+ beats
+ evaluation

Character Building & Directing

* Choose objectives.
* Look for the facts.
* Look for behaviour.
* Look at the things he/she talks about.
* Look at emotional events.
* Look for things that the characters want out of life.
* Direct using "as if" or "its like when".
* Status - high/low - annoy and suppress exercise.
* Subtext.

Logic & Motivation

- Set acting parameters for actors.
- use verbs to express actions to motivate the actors to play out any specific scenes.
- Immediate objectives --> motivations to get to the objectives.
- Actors listen complement to each other to play out the actions/dialogues sequentially.
- There are always reasons for every motivational actions.

Questions for actors:
- "if"
- "what do you want in the scene?"
- "What do you want from the other person?"

- External situation can help to bring out the internal feelings. It could very much be environment and costumes to psyche the actor(s) emotional feelings into their characters.

- provide a safe positive atmosphere.
- give first and last positions.
- don't be cast in stone -> give ownership of the actor's performances.
- use action words and other things.
- rehearsal.
- blocking -> continuity -> the close up.
- comfortable and achieveable for the camera.
- comfortable and credible for the actors.

Objective for actors!:
- what do i want?
- action.
- who am i?
- subtext?
- listening.
- beats / key moments.

Acting & Performance

Moving the camera (motivated)
1. Externally - i.e. following a particular character (physically)
2. Internally - i.e. showing the feelings of the character (emotionally) feelings & POV shot

Editing
1. Motivational - cut to action
2. Informational - wide shot to establish location
3. Sound - cut to sound efx
4. Continuity - 180 degrees (line axis) Screen Geography
+ matching eyelines and overlapping shots
+ avoids jump cut -> more than 30 degrees of the same
shot size

OTS is relatively like a weak POV (dirty 2 shot)

Screen Grammar - Week 2 Recap Part 2

Screen Grammar

* Remember to inhabit your storyteller's character while you direct. Shoot and see from his or her point of view. This won't be easy to remember.

* Become aware of who is acting and who is being acted upon at any moment and in any situation.

* Remember that characters are alive when they are seeking to do or get.

* Direct to imply the subtext.

* Make storyboards if you are doubtful about how a sequence will cut together. Draw stick figures if this is the best you can do.

* Remember to shoot generous action overlaps between matching shots when you mean to cut them together.

* Decide when long, comprehensive takes are called for and when a more fragmented style suits the situation being filmed.

* Give your major attention to the actors and after intial consultation for each shot, leave directing the camera to the DP.

* Look carefully for what you may have forgotten before striking any camera position or set.

* Keep all the versions you edit.

* View all your rushes again before you lock down a final cut - there is always an unused gem.

* If you want to place a cut on the beat of music, you must make it three frames ahead of the beat if it's to look right!

* In match cutting on movement, overlap (that is, repeat) the first two or three frames of movement to allow the eye to catch up.

* See how far you can go with discontinuity and still keep your audience. Have showings to find out what you can get away with. What permits the audience to fill in the gaps?

Screen Grammar - Week 2 Recap

Screen Grammar

* Every so often when you have time, make yourself aware of the different aspects of your consciousness and decide what film language would best serve your stream of consciouness.

* What did your consciouness make you do? (Move in, move away, avert your eyes, listen, think, remember...)

* Pretend you are handling a camera in everyday life and line up shots. Determine their aspects and motivations according to the emotional context of an Observer.

* Practice seeing every shot for its connotations, not just denotation.

* Loook for metaphors or symbols in movies and analyse whether they are organic to the situation or imposed.

* Make yourself classify shot juxtaposition by their type, such as illustrative, counterpoint, contradiction, associative, tense-shifting, and etc.

* See how established directors handle the axis, particularly crossing the scene axis. Multiple characters scenes with a number of character or camera moves can get very complicated.

* Practive dividing up scenes in everyday life into their possible axes (subject-to-subject, and observer-to-subject). You may want to unobtrusively scan from different vantage points.

* Make yourself aware of what makes a scene discrete. (Is it defined by time, location, mood, other?)

* Screen language imples a particular intelligence, grappling with events in which it also participates.

* Notice when composition on the screen is being adjusted because of changing internal elements.

* See a feature film and count how many types of scene or time transitions it uses.

* Notice when visual rhythm is inherent to the subject matter or when it is being varied for authorial reasons.

* Notice external compositional relationships (the juxtapositional commentary created by two compositions cut, dissolved, or otherwise associated together).

Artistic Identity Part 1 & 2

Good Stuff!

For any of you guys who aspire to be a director or even thinking of enrolling in ADFP as a directing student...make sure you possess the right mentality of working hard and smart.

Enuff of the bitching...i'll keep it for later posts especially for the producing shit in our narrative project B.

In Artistic Identity Part 1, we learn the following stuff:

1. What to do when we deal with actors?
2. How to entertain our audiences?
3. What authorship essentials require?

And in Artistic Identity Part 2, we learn the following:

1. Questions to help us travel inward and to develop ideas.
2. Problems to avoid in general.
3. Resources to probe.

Semester 2 - Week One recap...

Recap of Week one...

Kym always remind us to find a stake in the presented script so as to develop it into a good film...without a strong interest in it is like shooting something without passion.

Relationship between Actor and Character:
- maintain eye contacts with fellow actors when in front of camera -> focus and to ignore the crew and etc...
- try no to block too much for actors to get maximum attention from the other party.
- Listen and react.
- Relax when acting -> be more free in their characters.

List of Mechanics:

1. Eyelines
2. Eye contacts / Don't blink
3. Movement (with size of shot)
4. Marks
5. Relax and free up (be themselves using the MAGIC word, "if")
6. Listen and reaction
7. Less more -> not over-acting
8. Focus / concentration -> put the actors well into their specific characters.

Slogging like a dog!

Director's Notebook & shitty workload!!!

Damn, i haven't really update my directing notes on this blog. Luckily Kym went through the course outline and checkpoints in class with us last week. Shoot is over but so many outstanding assignments and stuff to be DONE!

1. Studio Exercise - Rehearsal (060206 - Monday)
2. Studio Exercise - Actual (080206 - Wednesday)
3. Asian Cinema Final Essay - (010206)
4. Media Law Assignement 2
5. Media Law Exam - (140206 - Tuesday)
6. Crew on Helmi's set (020206 to 050206 - Thursday to Sunday)
7. Post production for "Regrets" until 220206

Looking at the amount of workload we have, sometimes i wonder if the course management and instructors actually communicate on their respective schedules at the start of the semester.

Oh well, nothing's perfect i guess...

...I'm Back!...

Shoot is Over!

It's been a while since i last posted my opinions and feelings on the film making experience @ Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Yeah, i'm back here again to post my experiences and learnings for the potential directors wannabes out there.

6 weeks of pre-production stress and hardwork...and finally our Narrative B production, "Regrets" is over. For the moment, we are being relieved of production stress but soon our post-production trauma will soon take over...