The concept and camera angles of the Truman show

The Truman show is a movie that follows the real life a man from pre-birth. He lives in a fictional town made by the head producer/director. Every person in the town is a payed actor and have some form of day to day activities that repeat themselves over and over throughout the day.

The Idea of a full television show with the star having no clue is interesting. there are multiple things to be concerned about. The star is unpredictable, the actors could go rogue, there could be malfunctions with equipment, the list goes on. The way they go about producing the show seems very real. in the production booth. They live cut to different angles based on which angle is more appealing to the audience. they also have access to older footage and during moments they feel it necessary they can do live flash backs. With all of this they have to have lots and lots of cameras 5,000 according to the movie. That many cameras brings a lot of different and interesting camera angles. for example in his car there isn't just one camera behind the radio but also cameras behind the air blowers and in his dash board. The thought that went into this movie is great. over all the movie gives and interesting look at how a live shot looks and feels.

Divergent

I recently went to see Divergent for the second time in theaters and there were some scenes that really stood out to me.

When Tris (Shailene Woodley) is in the Dauntless compound I realized the lighting for the scenes were darker. In the novel Divergent by Veronica Roth, the Dauntless compound is underground so it made sense for the lighting to be darker since they are in a cave like setting.

In this clip I am showing , (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1N4nVb3Qew) you will notice, Tris Prior(Shailene Woodley) talks to Tori Wu (Maggie Q) about being Divergent.  The main color scheme of the Tattoo Parlor is red and black.  You can see the red is prominent but it doesn’t take over the whole shot.  The colors for the faction are Red and black, it seems necessary to use those colors.

I also noticed there was a light fixture to the left of Tori. That was used to give lighting to Tris’s face. I think it was a good decision to put the light there because if not Shailene’s face would not have been seen. We could not see her facial expressions.  I also see a backlight to help frame Shailene’s features a bit more.

I also noticed the camera zooms into Shailene’s face when Tori says, “Then you are already dead.”  It helped portrayed and show the emotion for the audience.

The second clip I enjoyed watching was when Tris jumped off the building into the Dauntless compound (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQLd_etD5RY). I noticed there were different camera angles used. When she is about the jump, there is a close up of her face determined to jump but still showing some fear.  When she jumps there is wide shots used to show her body falling. Then there is a bird’s eye view shot of her falling.  I saw some behind the scenes photos and there was a guy hanging with a harness on equipped with a camera and he filmed the bird’s eye scene which I thought was the best way to get the shot. When she had finished falling into the huge net, the camera shot changes to a worms eye view and she just looks at the sky. The shot i think was put there to show the audience what Tris felt after she did the most daring task of jumping off the building. 

FSBlog 3: The Importance of a Laugh Track

Here's a scene from the hit television show Friends in which Ross wants to know how to properly attack his two friends Rachel and Phoebe in an effort to prove to them that they need to be hyper-aware all of the time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtp9gQ3m-FE

Funny...Now here's the same scene (roughly), but without the laugh track...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgKgXehYnnw

Creepy, creepy stuff...haha.

I'm not sure exactly what I'd like to say in this post, but I think it's something along the lines of how different it is to write for a sitcom rather than, say, a short film. Watching the first clip is very natural to us, but when watching the second, we see the writing for what it truly is: Short, shallow lines that are engineered to allow laugh time and move quickly from one to the next. I just think it's very interesting that sitcom writers have to factor in the presence of laughing, whether it's live or not, into their writing process when other writers do not. Perhaps it's something we can all think about when writing our short films considering how much television our classmates seem to watch every night...

Blog Entry #3 - Rudy - "You Were Born To Wear That Jacket"

“You Were Born To Wear That Jacket” – Rudy – Blog #3

 

Genre: Biography/Drama/Sport

Written by: David Anspaugh

Directed by: Angelo Pizzo

Starring:

Sean Astin as Daniel E. 'Rudy' Ruettiger  

Jon Favreau as D-Bob

Ned Beatty as Daniel Ruettiger

Charles S. Dutton as Fortune

            Success is a relative term, and what it means to one may not be the same to another. Furthermore, success is a sustained effort – a constantly uphill struggle against the forces acting against it, as well as the people. “Rudy” is the epitome of the story of perseverance, the underdog, and the anomaly. The film helps display the miracle of a man that shouldn’t have made it to his personal goal, yet still managed to do it – and via his heart inspired so many along the way.

            The film begins with Rudy as a child, playing football with his brothers and friends from the neighborhood. Despite his size, he’s adamant about playing any position other than center – even as his brother’s discourage him. He carries a dream – a dream of one day playing for Notre Dame, and this vision is one that stays with him all his life. In the face of blatant discouragement, the loss of his best friend, the loss of his wife-to-be, we are shown the laborious journey of Rudy, a little man with a gigantic heart, who is carried off the field as the beacon of pride of Notre Dame. All of this aside, I was particularly enthralled not only by the story, but by the technique used to tell it.

            One recurring instance (and one of the most effective) used in the film is the application of a wide shot, giving the impressions of almost “David and Goliath-esque” scenarios. As Rudy walks along a field in front of Holy Cross, his avenue into Notre Dame, it is shown so far away from him - brilliant, masterful, almost majestic in appearance – as if he is walking up to a palace. This happens again as Rudy wanders across the Notre Dame campus to the football field, works his way past the gate, and makes his way inside. Again, we see a perspective used to show just how small he is in stature compared to the immense obstacles he has to overcome. Although the stadium is empty, it’s massive, and he is much like an insect in comparison to the room it resides in. The beauty in this execution is in just how simple, yet how effective it is at honing the scope of vision on Rudy as our hero – how physically small he is in comparison to his goals.

            The vibrancy of color and the lack of it, depending on the scene, aided in bringing much of the story to life. For the majority of the more jovial and inspiring occasions in the film, color is lush, triumphant music blares and we see slow motion shots of tackles and brief montages of Rudy’s training. For the more grave and uncomfortable scenes, such as his former love interest now together with his brother, colors are darker, the feeling is grim, and the discomfort reaches beyond the screen - and pulls you right in. You feel for Rudy. You want him to see beyond the harsh words, and discouragement. You want him to reach the summit.

            In summary, the technique within this work effectively bolsters the impact of the tale. Having come out in 1993 makes no difference. The film is timeless, and it is still one brought up easily among discussions of inspiration and triumph. The reason is simple – everyone appreciates an underdog - especially one who earns their way to the goal against the seemingly unmanageable.

Saving Private Snape

Here's a fun fact that not many people may know: In the movie 'Saving Private Ryan', the director had the American actors go through a boot camp to prepare them for the action, and so that they would really appear to have been "battle worn"; everybody that is, except for Tom Hanks.  Mr. Hanks wasn't told that everybody else went to Boot Camp, but everybody knew that Tom Hanks didn't go to Boot Camp.  This was done purposely so that when Private Ryan had to be in scenes, the soldiers hatred towards him would be real.

Here's a fun fact number two that you may or may have not known as well:  (SPOILER ALERT!!)  When the Harry Potter movies were being filmed, J.K. Rowling and Alan Rickman were the only two people who knew of Snape's secret love for Lilly Potter, and his promise to protect Harry.  This was done so that the characters of Harry, Hermoine, and Ron were a 'true' hatred for Snape's character.

Also on an unrelated note, apparently the rugrats were all a figment of Angelica's imagination, but that's a different story for a different time.

Sometimes, as a director, you have to be mean and lie to your actors.  You might have to think out of the box and do the unexpected.  Just because someone is a professional actor doesn't mean that you will get 100% of their best acting all the time, or even the emotions that you want.  You might have to do something as weird as tell everyone something different about a scene so they act differently.  The filming of Castaway had to be halted for a year so Tom Hanks could stop working out and didn't eat healthy just so he could effectively portray the body of a man deserted on an island.  Directing will sometimes require you to do the unthinkable to get the best shots; it will require new angles, different equipment, and even using different types of light to portray a scene in a way that you didn't possible.  The sky is the limit with your imagination, why not make your own rocket ship and break that limit.

(My) God's Not Dead

I had the pleasure of watching, God's Not Dead, this past opening weekend and it wasn't at all that I had expected. I was surrounded by a very large group (about 100) members from a church, which made the viewing of this movie a bit.. off, a lot of "Amen! Halleluiahs!" along with dancing and singing. Overall the message of the movie was inspiring and very fitting, since we are all in college ourselves, and we are constantly surround by folks who either believe or don't.We have to remember what the target audience of this movie was and is, Christians.  The movie itself had content and rebuttals from BOTH sides of the spectrum, so don't bash it before you watch it. But, I understand and can see how it might not be someone's cup of tea.
The actual Cinematography was lackluster, now I understand they didn't have a huge budget and if it were a made for TV movie, it would've passed off fine, but it was a "blockbuster" so it didn't quite make the cut of what I, or certianly other film critics (or majors!) might think belongs. The acting was lacking in some parts, very predictable no performance was so heart wrenching and Oscar worthy. The filming wasn't great, many scenes were forced close ups, and by this I mean the scene seemed that a wide shot or medium shot would've made it more comfortable for a viewer but instead, a shot that was cut in, way too close was chosen and gave off a bit of uncomfortableness and because it was so close the picture became grainy. Among various scenes having the grainy affect, It also sounded like they had to ADR after some scenes as well, which made the audio sound like it didn't quite fit in or match/transition smoothly throughout the movie.
The best scene throughout the whole film was, when Ayisha, ***SPOILER*** gets thrown out of her house for being a Christian. It was a really great scene, cinematicaly, they were able to capture the raw emotion from both Ayisha and her father, without saying any words. and the camera followed each character seemingly as if you were watching it happen right before your eyes.

David Lynch's Lost Highway

Each and every scene from Lost Highway merits praise in its production value; be that as it may, the way in which Lynch introduces us (and Fred) to the Mystery Man is particularly interesting, ignoring his elusive, symbolic subjectivity to simply look at the scene itself. At around the 28-second mark (of the linked video, not the film itself), the Mystery Man begins to approach Fred; as he does, the audible background music of the party begins to fade. By the time he reaches Fred, we’re left with silence (or, rather mechanical noise similar to the sounds which inhabit the entirety of Eraserhead). If nothing else, this forces the audience to focus on the conversation in and of itself—but, there also seems to be sense that sonic manipulation has the ability to affect us spatially: the two characters are isolated due, in part, to this decision (or perhaps Fred is isolated, unconsciously—depending upon your interpretation). Also worth noting, is the extreme close-up of the Mystery Man’s face; we’re able to clearly see his grotesque facial irregularities, to subsequently feel his presence and the anxiety it produces. The overall ‘feel’ of the scene speaks for itself—the acting, the writing—not to mention, some lines are of reoccurring (if not symbolic) importance: “you invited me; it is not my custom to go where I am not wanted.” Similarly, as the Mystery Man turns to exit, the camera untightens, and the music returns to the party; with this, there’s an almost palpable release of tension. Just beyond the scope of the video, Fred walks over to the homeowner to ask about the identity of the Mystery Man; his response is accompanied by the return of this ominous, mechanical noise (for lack of better terms): “he’s a friend of Dick Laurent’s”—which reverts us back to the opening scene (for the first time, that is)—another nod to Lynch’s writing, which although brilliant, probably isn’t the focal point of the Lynchian experience.