Week 4: Composition and Aethetics

Week Four

Workshop
In todays workshop we learnt about composition and aesthetics. I really enjoyed this workshop as it links directly to what i want to do in future years. i ideally aspire to become a cinematographer or focus my degree more towards that front so this weeks lesson was particularly interesting and useful. I felt that while having known a few of the things already that i had learnt a great deal of new terms, technical language and elements of cinematography.

The Arrangment of Elements,Colour,Tone and Line in the Mise-en-scène

Looking at form and content and how they work in conjunction with each other then allows you to understand how composition is put together. when thinking about content as the subject itself and form as how it is arranged you have to explore and investigate the frame and how it is set up.Elements in the frame like negative space, rhythms, lighting ,colour, shape and proportion, contrats etc. are things you should look out for when analysisng and interpreting a frame and its composition& aesthetic.

Here is all of the technical language, meanings and techniques we learnt about in this workshop...

Key Words:

• Looking Space(Negative space for a character to gaze)

• Lighting(high-key/low-key, fill light, soft vs hard)

• production design(setting and costumes)

• Graphic focus(geometric lines and shapes)

• Rule of thirds(Grid overlay of equal space divided into thirds)

• Symmetry/Asymmetry(frame divided equally vs not balanced)

Screen Grammar:

• Camera techniques(angles and distance
• manipulating time(screen time, slow motion, flashback -*prolepsis/analepsis)
• use of sound( direct sound, diegetic/non diegetic, soundtrack, silence)
• editing techniques (cut, matched cut, jump cut)
• narrative style(mise-en-scène, objective/subjective treatment)
• lighting(soft/harsh, back lighting)
• graphics(text, graphics, animation)
• formats and other features(Shot, scene, sequence)

Theory of Editing & Post-production workflow:

Thinking about what you see on screen:

• Rule of thirds
• the 180 degree rule
• the golden ration 
• matching eye line and matching cuts
• natural transitions 

Pre- Production Overview

in pre production there are many different things you have to think about an organise before you can start shooting. 

a list of all aspects of pre-production:

- idea development

- logistical planning/creative planning(Story board)

- researching and sourcing

- Location scouting/RECCE

- Hiring Crew

- Scheduling Shoot

- Budget/financing

- Scripting/shot list

- Casting(i.e interviewees)

- Work on conceptual model

Narrative

• Aristotle - Beginning, middle and End 
• 3 act Structure 
• Set up - Conflict - Resolution 
• Dramatic arc/Curve
• Non linear narrative( multiple arcs)
• Symbolic and metaphorical 

I did some of my own personal research on cinematpgraphy and read an article on how cinematography styles are different in different films.

"Tedium poses no such difficulties for “Inception,” which inhabits a stylistic realm all its own. The exploratory, exhibitionist, and technological feel of the film’s dream world is contrasted with the warm, more earthy sensibility of reality in DP Wally Pfister’s impressive vision. Then again, are the film’s spectacular visuals really attributable to cinematography? Or are they the work of the movie’s special effects team? Perhaps Pfister is getting more credit than he deserves—although the aid of revolutionary visual effects didn’t prevent the Academy from rewarding DP Mauro Fiore for last year’s “Avatar.”
While “The Social Network” has been lauded more for its social commentary than its cinematography, one shouldn’t short change DP Jeff Cronenweth’s contribution. His choices of color palette lend an authentically New England look to a recreated Harvard, and his compositional choices make shots of the less-than-engaging activity of computer programming look like stylized art. However, there are moments when the film feels overly produced, for no discernible reason. Excessive use of green filters and extremely shallow depths-of-field do little to advance the story, and give the impression of stylization for the sake of being stylized.
“The King’s Speech” takes classical cinematography and turns it on its head, to great effect. DP Danny Cohen virtually abandons the traditional shot-reverse-shot style of conversation—heads are on the wrong sides of the screen, actors’ noses are pressed up against the frame line, backgrounds take up 80% of the screen—and this unsettling style perfectly captures the internal tension and discomfort of the film’s speech-challenged protagonist. Everyday occurrences and interactions are infused with awkwardness for audiences just as they are for the character."

 (Source: http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/2/8/what-is-cinematography/) 

I found that this article was very useful. it allowed me to see technical language in practice while also allowing me to fully understand how cinematography is seen within film, how to comment on it, how to spot it in a frame or scene. i can understand to look for a colour pallette and try and investigate its meaning, whether it be symbolic or simply used for the aesthetic. 


One minute Documentary 
In Class we also showed our one minute films. My groups topic was 'My First Day at Sussex', the task i was initially given in my group was to film the interviews and some of the cutaways as we decided to use my flat mates. The interviews went reasonably well, but we did encounter a few issues like for example the road noise as my accommodation is close to the road. i also had to use my own camera as i had issues with my 'Siso' account. this was all resolved pretty quickly and we managed to get quite a bit of footage. Although the rest of my group decided take on the editing, it proved difficult to transfer the footage to my group members so i decided to attempt editing the documentary myself, which is something i didnt mind doing as i had thought of a few ideas for the way it could look. After a few nights of working on the small project this was the end result:

My First Day at Sussex

On reflection i  think that this task went reasonably well. i felt that i used the new skills i had learnt in class well and created a documentary that met the brief.

Reading & Research for Creative project

Reading:  

Rabiger, M. (2004) Directing the Documentary, London: Focal Press. Ch.16: Research Leading Up to the Shoot

Bernard, S. C. (2010) Documentary Storytelling: Creative Nonfiction on Screen, New York and London: Focal Press. 2 Story Basics

• Research Partnership:working with a partner when researching is a lot more useful than expected, you will understand different perspectives and appreciate how much richer your ideas can become with another persons view and understanding.

• A Sample:
• Research relationships
• two research strategies
• deciding the action and casting the subjects
• value of assigning metaphorical roles

• How people alter in front of the camera: Pre- interviewing is extremely important before shooting, you want to test the behaviour of the interviewee as they are on screen. some may appear as uncomfortable or nervous on screen as others may play up to the camera and come across as completely unnatural. Typical behaviour tends to be self- consciousness and contsrainment but as the cameras continue to roll they become more relaxed.

• Developing the films thematic structure: During research, collect many varying viewpoints as its intriguing and useful to understand many different perspectives and perceptions.

• Finding the dialectics and developing a working hypothesis: in documentary a hypothesis provides an interesting start point. 

• Refining research into a plan: The need for development, conflict and confrontation. The dramatic curve.