Week 6 Reading

This week’s reading was about psychologist Howard Garder’s introduction to five minds for the future for which he believes that these are the kind of minds that people should develop and will be needed in future to be successful. without equipping these minds, a person won’t be well equipped and won’t excel in a modern age.

The five mindsets that he talks about are the following:

  • The Disciplined Mind: be excelled in at least one approach of thinking.
  • The Synthesizing Mind: taking information from different sources, understanding it and distributing it amongst different people
  • The Creating Mind: putting up new ideas, conjuring a fresh way of thinking and concluding with unexpected resolutions.
  • The Respectful Mind: respects different groups of people, trying to understand others and work with them efficiently
  • The Ethical Mind: the one who is aware of own responsibilities and finds a way to work betterment for the society without being selfish.

Garder further comments on the how we appreciate science and technology but do not teach the scientific ways of thinking or even how to develop individuals creative capacity which is essential for continuing growth of science and technology. Without having any of the mentioned mindsets, individuals would be restricted to inferior assignments, making unwise decisions, being replaced by computers for not having that creative sense and not be worthy of respect.

I agree with Garder’s statement on the five mindsets. In today’s world we are consuming media on a regular basis and the trend will defiantly rise. It’s just that we would have to depend less on technology and more on learning values of five mindsets in order to succeed.

Annotated Bibliography- Research Project part 2

These are the two remaining bibliographies that I researched:

3, Rutherford, A. (2012). “Not Firing Arrows”: Multiplicity, Heterogeneity and the Future of Documentary: Interview with Amar Kanwar. asian cinema, 16(1), pp.117-124.

This article is an interview conducted by Anne Rutherford with a Delhi-based documentary filmmaker Amar Kanwar, whose documentary provokes a special magical connection with the audience, which is not seen in most of the documentaries. The articles is addressed towards students of media and documentary filmmaking. The filmmaker gives his views that about the film being an amazing medium which utilizes sound, image, and color and that you can do anything with it. It also gives an opportunity with experiencing different lives of subjects, getting different reactions from audiences around the world and also providing a variety in the filmmaking perspective. Amar points out that obsession is the key in order to engage with audience. This obsession leads to a certain mental state of mind for example when a dancer enters into that zone during an act, the audience feels the connection and this relationship changes between the two as they enter into that frame of mind. One interesting point to notice is that the filmmaker also gave his insights to future of storytelling, pondering on the notion that the documentary filmmakers are shifting towards shorter form of filmmaking, with the only purpose to satisfy their own research and furthermore creates new types of storytelling. 

The article has reasonable information and seems fit for our research purpose as the interview is from the industry practitioner itself and gives out the understanding of conventional documentary filmmaking, and also invokes to rework our own understanding of reality and the means of communicating.

 

4, Stoeltje, G. (2003). Light in Custody: Documentary Films, the Teach Act and the DMCA. Santa Clara Computer High Technology Law Journal, 20(4), pp.1075-1112.

The article outlines the legal issues that surrounds the licensing and distribution aspect of independent documentary films in the digital age. At current stage, documentaries are being distributed by small distributors mostly on VHS tapes, but as digital formats becomes affordable, the distributors will begin to convert the analog tapes into digital formats which also includes streaming or video on demand services. the author also informs that educational institutions are developing new teaching models like distance learning programs which can be accessed in digital form for student access. This article is addressed towards media regulators and students of documentary filmmaking. The author also discusses the technical details about current format and licensing practice, the economics of documentary practice, and the relationship of documentaries to the Fair Use Doctrine. One of the interesting features of the article is the short and long term licensing questions that are brought out by new laws and new technologies. Two bills namely the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and the Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act are also discussed in this article.

This article provides rational information regarding rules and regulation of distribution of documentaries. I believe that it is vital to know about these licensing issues as filmmaker and be aware of changing developments in these regulations to stay in the game. As technology progresses, laws will change by time too and does the platforms for delivering our content.

 

 

 

 

 

Week 3- Workforce

This week’s reading ‘Work’ by Ramon Lobato and Julian Thomas explores the realms of work environment in today’s world as mostly the workers are doing freelance work. It can be a good thing and a bad thing too. With freelancing, the workers have the freedom to work at their own pace of time, freedom for creativity and enjoying a permeable boundary between work, private life and leisure, but the expense is the experience they have in their bag and that can only be possible by working with a company.

A professor from New York University Andrew Ross said in his work ‘No Collar: The Humane Workplace and its Hidden Costs’ (2003) that although many enjoy the benefits of ‘new economy’ like flexible hours and creative control, his respondents also faced issues like over work and exploitations. This exploitation of labour is also shown on mainstream media in HBO’s tv series ‘Girls’, where the character Hannah ‘captures the experience of many aspiring media workers with working lives full of uncertainty and (self) exploitation’ (p.75)

However couple of solutions have been proposed in the reading like call for formalization of workplace and recruitment practices, along with better and more extensive government regulation. Hesmondhalgh and Baker have also emphasised that there should be unionization and a basic guaranteed income as a means to reform and a commitment that an individual will not self exploit.

I believe that if you are wealthy enough, then you may join the workforce for experience purposes as you feel yourself exploited, but for people with lower income, this is an issue as they would have to find ways to feed themselves. As long you enjoy what you are doing, then I don’t think there should be a complaining to do. Where do I see myself in all this? I guess I’ll probably be freelancing in near future and enjoy the freedom that it offers.

Annotated Bibliography- Research Project

Here is my annotations for our group project ‘Future of Documentary’

1, Mertes, C. (2007). Future Doc: The View from Sundance. [online] International Documentary Association. Available at: http://www.documentary.org/magazine/future-doc-view-sundance-novdez-2007 [Accessed 2 Aug. 2016].

The article outlines the challenges that documentary filmmakers face with commercially dominated media and audiences being disengaged from the message that these filmmakers initiate. The author is analytical as she argues that with the evolution of technology, how filmmakers have adapted themselves with the changes and how audiences have changed their viewing over time as well. This article is addressed towards the documentary filmmakers and academic researches of media and film field. The author also addresses on what if scenarios with regards to the future of documentary. Even though the article is 10 years old, Cara’s predictions are almost true to what she wrote like people wearing tiny cameras (action cameras) for recording and people not buying ticket to a film as theatrical distribution being morphed onto on-demand projection at any location and namely any device. the author also talks about audience being fed with consumerism and that filmmakers have to not only just raise awareness or entertain them, but also to create a culture of engagement.

The articles provides a useful rationale explaining the future of documentary filmmaking and its connectivity with the audience. Her findings are her own experiences as she is a director of documentary film program at Sundance institute. However I’m a bit concerned about her findings as they may be limited to what she has experienced in her surroundings or the films that are submitted at Sundance, That being said, her finding that documentary is filling the void left by the dying art of journalism is something to think about. This article is useful for our research topic as it gives a useful insight and provides a filmmakers perspective for our group’s objective.

2, Pyburn, R. (2016). How Emerging Technology is Shaping the Future of Documentary Filmmaking. [online] Whicker’s World Foundation. Available at: https://whickersworldfoundation.com/2016/03/how-emerging-technology-is-shaping-the-future-of-documentary-filmmaking/ [Accessed 2 Aug. 2016].

The article explores how innovations in technology is shaping the future of documentary filmmaking. The article suggests that the art of storytelling elements have remained the same but the technologies have evolved which are used as tools to tell the story. The article is addressed towards students of media. The article explains how Robert Flaherty’s ‘Nanook of the North’ was shoot with the innovative Akeley ‘pancake’ Camera which lasted for two decades after its creation which is unthinkable in today’s market as technology keeps on evolving and that if Flaherty would shoot a documentary today, he would only require a smartphone and portable audio recording equipment. The author also comments on new technologies is being used besides camera like drones for instance. As per their own investigation, 9% of filmmakers have used footage from drones and 18% have used action camera in their latest documentary. More importantly, the article talks about the role of viewers that could shift with the introduction of virtual reality as a platform to view as couple of filmmakers have made such documentaries and it seems that there will be more such in near future.

The article’s findings are reasoning enough as the author has conducted researches and surveys at macro scale, however when in surveys, there is no proof of whether the ones who filled it, did it with such intentions. Secondly no personal opinions can be heard and this survey technique is based more on quantitative rather than qualitative. This research is though useful as is provides supplementary information towards our research and potentially supports in capturing authentic storytelling as technologies develop.

3, MORTON, T, & PEARSON, M 2015, ‘1. Zones of silence’, Pacific Journalism Review, 21, 2, pp. 11-32, Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 2 August 2016.

4, Stoeltje, G. (2003). Light in Custody: Documentary Films, the Teach Act and the DMCA. Santa Clara Computer High Technology Law Journal, 20(4), pp.1075-1112.

Deciding about Campaign!

In week 6 tuesday’s class, all of us had in our minds (well at least what i thought) about project brief 3. Two to four members will have to devise a campaign strategy about any idea to be realised. It was then of our classmates suggested that it would be better if we all work on a single idea and divide roles between us. We all agreed to it and Mark gave a green signal as well, but the question was as to what idea we should work on. Couple of us gave some ideas and all of them were workable, it was then Dylan’s idea that we decided to work on. So the idea is simply to make a Mockumentary on the mishaps happening in university life. We unanimously divided ourselves into groups of management, content, production and social media. I’m paired with Nathaniel, Yuxin, Aravindha and Aref in production team.

I’m quite excited to work in this group, it is always challenging when you work with new people every semester for a studio and I’m fully committed to perform best and be a key player. I’m not sure as yet what role will I be doing in production, I’ll know that in next class when all of us will sit down and discuss our next move.

Media Exhibition

Yesterday was our last day for this semester. Works of more than 180 students were displayed in rooms allocated to specific studios. I have to say this has been a wonderful experience, not because of my film was on exhibition but the participation of my peers and mentor in this studio and their dedication really moved me to give my best. All of the works were great, I especially liked how the ‘Rocket’ studio one, where students gathered complex ideas and explained in video format.

It’s really hard to decide what to choose for next studio as all of them are great. A deep study is required before I carefully choose for my studio. As for the rest of the guys, my best wishes for you future.

Lightning

Lightning is an important element in cinema’s visual aesthetics. It creates an emotional impact. Contrast of light and dark influences the ways audience responses to the narrative. With deep shadows, it means that scene may reflect horror or some confusion in character’s personality whereas bright lighting may mean assurity in character’s personality and creates an impression that this subject can be trusted in the film.

Careful considerations should be made before shooting by cinematographers as to what kind of lightning equipment should be used. Black-white and color cinematographer each has its own perks but each of them uses different lighting techniques. One thing is for sure with black and white cinematography, the cinematographer only focuses on the brightness and shadows of subjects, whereas with colors, extra push is required with the white balance if the scene requires to be warm or a bit colder image. The angle of light is another aspect, by using mix of light sources in a scene also creates a dramatic effect to it.

In yesterday’s class we also learned some important terms regarding lightning. Back lightning, which means a light source coming from behind the character and its purpose it make a mysterious appearance of character. Key and fill lightning, which is the main light in a particular scene, while fill lightning is used to soften the harsh shadow effect.

While writing about the lightning, I’m thinking of creative ways to use what I learnt in class exercise for my film. Instead of using a huge tungsten light, I’ll be using dedo lightning. I have a small space so tungsten light won’t be useful. Although we didn’t experience dedo lighting, I think I can be expressive with these small equipments for my film project.

 

Pyassa (Thirst)

The other day I was looking at the spectacular piece of work by the legendary Guru Dutt who was a filmmaker from India. Here is my review:

Content:

What a movie it was. A neglected poet that struggled so much and was bashed everywhere for his poetry and in the end the same people used his name and made fame, thus the name “Pyaasa” thirst symbolizes the materialistic world and their limit crossing for fame. The establishing shot when the bee was squashed by a human reflects that the world takes advantage and will destroy anyone to get the fame and money, which is later shown in the movie. All did Vijay wanted was an inner peace. When vijay was working as servant for Mr Ghosh, he began reciting a poem at a gathering which reflected his loneliness and a journey to find the happiness. And the scene when Vijay receives a counterfeit coin justifies that people just want to satisfy their own needs rather than thinking about other’s position of his/her well-being.

In this movie two major people understood the conditions of Vijay’s life, Sattar and Gulabo. Because both of them know how the life is difficult on the streets. Whereas Meena betrayed his love and went on to marry a rich guy Mr Ghosh for the sake of her comfortable life. Again this continues on with the sub conflict of the movie and how similar the materialistic world is and the betrayal he got from Meena.

Also Guru Dutt remarkably used symbols to justify the essence of the film. Especially the way he compared the crucifixion of Christ (a picture of cross when Meena read news about vijay’s death) with Vijay and his resurrection in the movie to prove the masses that he is really alive and not killed. Plus how opposite the characters showed of Meena and Gulabo. One who sold love for respect in society and the other sells her respect to live in society. Their differences showed a different light on the film and the respect to be given to these types of women. Meena when she was caught with Vijay, Ghosh punished her and compared her with a cruel woman and when Gulabo was being chased by a police officer was caught by Vijay in his arms and told the officer that she is my wife, this tells that she is worthy for a compassion. One thing can be learned from this scenario is that the way man looks at a woman and her role in a society, and his behavior of women, are fair indicators of a man’s personality.

The performances were flawless by everyone. Each had its own magic on screen. Johnny Walker not to forget even a supporting role played greatly of a common man and his comic timings were great. Guru Dutt, Rehman, Mala and Waheeda all performed extremely well. No words can describe the level of their performance. Their dialogues and gestures each gave away its own presence on the screen.

The ending justified the movie title and the story as well and adding song “Yeh Dunya” added another meaning to the end. The world is full of hypocrites is what Vijay realized in the end. And that this world does not know the real Vijay who struggled so much to get recognition of his poems. Thus decided to leave that world and continue a life with a person (Gulabo) who understands the life of a street that vijay has gone through to finally get the inner pleasure of living in this doggy dog world.

Cinematography:

Murthy sir’s cinematography is marvelous. Great use of light and camera work which added to the personality of each character. Two sequences the one I would praise. First tone the railway track scene. It reminded of a Hollywood’s horror films. That something bad is about to happen and that scene was a turning point of the movie. The light source of train and the expression on Vijay and the beggar both added to the essence of the scene which turned out that Vijay is dead. And other scene when Vijay enters the hall where his death anniversary is celebrated, the light from his back shows and symbolizes the resurrection of Vijay and his stance of like Jesus Christ shows that Jesus also left the world because of hypocrisy and the same Vijay is going through.

Editing and Sound:

Editing is great. I failed to notice any major jumps probably because the lighting and performance outshined any mistakes that one could find. But yes little jumps I noticed like on the train scene, when Vijay jumped on a platform he put his hands on his pant pockets, but the very next scene his hand are not in pant pockets. But the rest of the sequences ran smoothly.

Music by S.D Burman is spotless. Sound a very important element reflected in this movie. The ambience, background score and the songs in this movie assisted along to give away the unfolding of the plot.  Probably the only reason why a viewer is stacked to his seat from the very first frame to the last frame is because of the sound and the dialogues.

Interesting scenes:

Prostitute dancing and Vijay singing a poem “Kahan hain” reflects the materialistic world for not carrying its own species.

The bee squashed at the starting of the movie.

Man giving a counterfeit coin to Vijay.

Ghosh beating Meena and Vijay saving Gulabo.

Vijay expressing his feelings to Gulabo about world rejecting his poems and Meena

Vijay denying to the people he is not “The” Vijay they thought of.

Storyboarding

After discussing my idea, Robin advised that it is always better to have some notes or either storyboard for smooth flowing in the process of filmmaking. Thus I created one just now.

Note*: I’m not good at drawing

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I know many of you may not understand, but it gives an overall view of 8 scenes of my film.

What do you think?

 

Comparison of Scarface 1932 and 1983

Watching both of these movies, I found similarities with the content and few of the dialogues but yes there were some changes made in the remake to suite the social conditions of the way America was in 80’s.

First about the characters, Tony in both the movies were different in some way like Tony (1932) was a jolly fellow and had fun with his gang members and also the boss, He dressed in plain black and white suits, He is an Italian in the movie, he sells beer to make money and when he wanted to kill someone he usually whistles. Whereas in 1983 version, Tony is from Cuba, he is violent, bad mouths a lot, does not joke around and takes business seriously, more courageous then the Tony (1932) since he gave up to the police in the original ending but in remake he fought with the mobs and worked his way from down to top whereas in the original Tony was already shown part of a gang. And whenever Tony (1983) gets angry, the camera focuses on the eyes of Tony and more importantly he sells cocaine in the remake.

But there were similarities in both of them like both of them wanted to reach the top, both have same relation with their mother and sister (in the remake’s case the sister was more of a incest type as she appeared almost naked and tells his brother to have sex with her), both killed their best friend for being with the sister, both like their boss’s girl, both kill their boss for double crossing, both die in the end.

Now about the other characters Tony’s friend in both the movies helped Tony to reach the top but the original one was more resilient towards women whereas in the remake he could fall for any hot woman that he could lay hands on. Sadly both die by the gun fire from Tony for being caught with his sister.

The girl for both Tony’s were vowed almost the same way but in the remake they both get married but the marriage does not work well and she leaves him in a restaurant whereas in the original, she falls for tony after the Boss’s death and is in relation with him.

Both the Boss’s in the two films were of the same situation, both high in power and tried to kill Tony and died same way as well by Tony’s friend. Difference comes here that in the original; the boss dies alone in the office whereas in the remake he is killed with Mel and Ernie watching them both killed.

The rest of characters in the remake were introduced new Like Mel Bernstein, Omar, and Sosa as they had significant roles in this movie and were not in the original.

Now about the situations of the movies which were somehow similar but portrayed in different timings and in different ways but in the end the meaning was same.

The first sequence when Tony sees his sister dancing with a stranger in a club. Tony gets mad as he is protective of her and does not want her to be with a man like he is. However the difference between the original and remake was that in original Tony stops dancing with Poppy and goes to his sister and punches the guy who was dancing with her and leaves the club taking along with her. While in the remake, he sees his sister walking with the man that she danced and when the Tony saw the man touching his sister’s buttocks, he got mad and followed them to the men’s bathroom. When they were making out, Tony bangs the toilet door and kicks the guy out and slaps his sister for doing this. There is a difference of how each tony reacted but the meaning in the end was same.

In the remake when tony asks his friend many to drop his sister back home, she tells him that he wants her as per her judgment of his looks and both stare at each other. While in the original, Tony’s sister throws the coin from her balcony to Tony’s friend Guino and both stare at each other sharing a moment.   

In both movies when the Boss’s girl asks Tony what will he do about the boss for which Tony in both the movies reply “I like Johnny/Frank, but I like you better”.

In another scene when the dialogues of both movies meet are when Tony saves himself nearly being killed and suspects his own boss for the doing. When the boss asks question about his condition, tony replies “They wanted to spoil my suit”. Then the boss begs for his life and is then killed by Tony. In the next scene Tony goes to Poppy/Elvira’s house and asks him about the boss for which he replies “where do you think?” But the difference arises when in original movie Tony and Poppy go to Florida for vacation and in the remake Tony and Elvira does not go anywhere and at that moment Tony’s business reaches at the top.

The Line “The world is yours” is seen on both the movies, in the original on the billboard and in the remake on the blimp and in Tony’s home. Which symbolizes that the only way you can get is through Money, Power and Respect and that is how the world became his.

In both the movies Tony executes his best friend for being with his sister and upsets him later on. However the outcome was different in both the movies. In the original, Tony’s sister shows up to him with a gun but cannot shoot him as she believes that there is a part of her in him. And then later the bullet which was for Tony hits his sister and dies in the end. In the remake one, Tony’s sister actually shoots him and then later is killed by a man who comes from window and shoots her like 10 or more bullets. With this also thing to notice that the remake had more gore in it rather than the original one.

And more importantly the way both died was different as well. In the original, police surround his house and want to arrest him for the murder for his best friend Guino. Tony tries to escape and losses his courage and thus dies by the machine gun. In the remake version, Tony is surrounded by a mob and picks up a gun and kills few of them when finally he dies from a shotgun behind his back.

To conclude, the content is similar only the difference comes in execution of both of them since each movie was made according to the demands and likes of the social lifestyle. The remake was well made by De Palma. Both of these movies tell a story of rise and fall of a gangster because of his greediness for money and power and the movie ends with Tony’s death since this movie was about him