On the Frame Blog: Week 6 – What is Film Subjectivity and the issue of POVs

In week 5’s class we were given a set of questions to answer, I answered them in a word doc, but forgot to put them on my blog. So here they are:

Can film have subjectivity?

The concept of subjectivity is difficult to grasp. The word has many meanings, that could all mean different things relating to film. Obviously any critique of the quality of a film is subjective, but I also believe that film can contain subjectivity inside itself. A film can show events or narrative that are not defined in an objective sense, and are up to the audiance to interpret. Film can also employ a mirad of techniques to show things from a certain point of view, giving the film its own subjective take on a thing. Its difficult to explain, especaillay in words.

Can film think?

In a literal sense? No, a roll of celluloid or a file on a Harddrive is not capable of though. However in a more abstract sense, I do beleive film (and any creative medium) is possible of presenting critical ideas and asking questions, which inspire the audiance to follow.
Whose point of view are you getting in drive?

The Driver, the film follows him and we are only showed his immidete surroundings. We the audiance, see’s whats in his general vicinity and knows the same things as he does about the events taking place. However this is not 100% true, there are instanes where the film breaks away and we are shown something entirely seperate from The Driver, such as the welcome-home party next door.

How does your subjectivity become the films?

The audiances own subjectivity becomes the films because every single person watching will see different things in a slightly different light based on their culture, age, upbringing and more. This subjectivity becomes the films because it is impossible to watch the film without judging it and its contents by your own values.

How important is the camera to subjectivity?

The camera is very important to subjectivity because it chooses what is shown, and how. The camera (or more correctly the finished frame) is how the film shows its subject matter, and thus affects how it is viewed. Different angles, lighting and motions can all alter how something is displayed, as well as the ability to show or hide different aspects or events, limiting the audiances knowledge and affecting how they respond.

Final physical film screening at IMAX, Intersteller.

Last night I had a unique cinematic experience, that was almost certainly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: Seeing Christopher Nolan’s Intersteller in its 70mm IMAX glory, the last 70mm IMAX filmstrip played at Melbourne Museum and the final use of a 17 year old projector that needed more floorspace than my apartment.

I will fully and un-ashambly admit I sacrificed the quality of my essay to see go to this event, 4 extra hours would have massivly improved my barely finished piece of writing. But alas…..I really wanted needed to see this.

Before the film began the managers and projectionists at IMAX gave a brief talk about the history of the 15 perf70mm projector at IMAX, and showed, live for the audiance, the process of setting up the film for display. The machine was impressive, and the size and scope of the filmstrip was awe-inspiring. 7cm film is a hard concept to grasp without seeing next to regular sized film. 24 frames, 1 second of film, is as tall as the average male. It was an insightful look into the technical complexities of the medium (and the visual fidelity of the film was a testoment to the quality of the product and the projector).

However, they also talked about why it is being replaced and how after 17 years it is time for the IMAX theatre to move on. The primary reason is cost, the monetary expenditure on keeping it running and obtaining/storing films is ludicrus. Another reason cited is  a lack of content being produced for the format, the host of the event saying that they couldnt keep it running relying solely on Christopher Nolan.

I am not the type of person who defiantly hates digital film (although I will not buy a digital copy of anything unless physical media doesnt exist), but seeing something disappear forever is always sad, an important part of artistic history lost (I know other 70mm IMAX projectors exist, but they are slowly vanishing everywhere, and I’ll likely never be able to visit them anyway). That being said, it is easy for a casual movie-goer to be angry at the loss of the projector, as we are not the ones who have to keep it running. A feeling of sadness is more approriate in my opinion. Like a beloved grandparent, its loss is sad, but not unexpected and its memory should be treasured.

As for the actual film, I did not see it on its original run, but I did see it later on DVD on a 24 inch TV with crappy speakers (although it was still better than my cousin, who watched it first on a plane). When I first saw it I enjoyed it moderatly, but I had several issues with the plot. As for the visuals and score, they were butchered by the TV, and all I could think was “I bet this was amazing in IMAX”.

I was correct.

Intersteller has the most 70mm IMAX footage out of any Hollywood film, over 75 minutes that made full use of the technology. The impact was stunning, while the constantly changing aspect ratio was annoying and a bit distracting, any and all the fullscreen sections were amazing, especially the scenes of silently drifting through space. The sound sytem at IMAX also put my TV’s shameful speakers in thier place, at certain points Hans Zimmer’s score made the entire room vibrate and teh deafening organs were incredible.

My issues with the plot still stand, but for sheer spectecle and overwhelming cinematic experience seeing Intersteller the way it was intended (as well as the emotional impact of knowing it was the last 70mm physical film reel to be played in Melbourne) made this event one of THE best movie-going events of my life

On the Frame blog: Week 5 – Death Stares, Chocolate Muffins and the Kuleshov effect.

Last thursday (I know, im pretty slow) we were given an activity to “recreate” and “reinterpret” one frame from a selection obtained from the films we watched that week. First re-doing it as accurately as we could, then doing something interesting with it in relation to one of Deluze’s theories.

I chose this iconic frame from Once upon a Time in the West.

Re-creating it was fairly simple in concept, just do a close up of my face and squint. You’ll see however, that my most intimidating stare is pitiful compared to Jason Rohbarbs. (I also had no hat)

For the next image the task was “re-interpretation” in relation to one of Deluze’s theories. I found quite a lot of the reading to be confusing and rather abstract, but one concept that appealed to me was Montage, and the art of putting 2 frames or shots together to create meaning. This was also relevant to the “Kuleshov Effect”, where meaning can be placed on an image simply by what accompanies it, even if the image stays the same and the accompaniment changes.

Here is my reinterpretation of the shot.

I copied the “close up of eyes staring at something” from the original, but replaced a rival who is engaged in a gun fight with a chocolate cupcake, completly re-defining the emotion behind the stare. It is no longer an intense, emotional showdown with a man who wronged me many years ago, in this image I am simply very interested in the muffin.

On the Frame Blog: Week 4 – The 180 degree rule and a shoddy WordArt diagram

In Thursdays class of week 3, we were tasked with using some very fancy cameras to film short sequences of footage, attempting to encapsulate one aspect of the frame we had been learning about. I decided to shoot some footage showing the 180 degree rule in action. The 180 degree rule is a method to frame action or conversation in a way that is not confusing or disorientating for viewers. The way that it works is a “line of action” is placed through the center of two edges of the scene being portrayed.

This crude diagram I made with WordArt explains it:

As you can see, once you have established the line of action, the camera **should** stay within a 180 degree angle of this line. This means that the 2 “edges” of the action (for example two humans having a conversation) never switch sides in the frame. The camera can move anywhere along a 180 degree ark, the two people will stay on the same sides of the frame. The camera can sit at a perpendicular angle (which will put each person in equal size ratio) or it can sit at an extremely narrow angle to the line of action (which would put one person in the foreground, taking up much of the frame), in both scenarios the two people stay on the same side at all times.

However, if the camera is placed on the other side of the line of action the two people will swap sides in the shot, which is both confusing and disorientating for audiences.

Here is my video, which showcases how the 180 degree rule works in practice.

 

The video showcases Alex (the other one) and Sandy (the other one) having a (mute) conversation. My video switches between 3 different angles, and demonstrates how as long as you stay within 180 degrees of the Line-of-action (in this case the bench) both participants will always stay on their respective side.

TV Cultures Blog Post 2

Blog Post 2

(Lack of) Scheduling in relation to Arrested Development

Scheduling and routine have always been important parts of human life, especially in broadcast television, programs have always traditionally had a set timeslot each week, and people or families would timetable their evening around what TV shows they wanted to watch, and this routine or schedule would be relevant for a long time, until a season of a show finishes.

While regular scheduling can give a program an engaged audience who knows precisely when the next installment will appear, non regular scheduling can do the opposite, upset and frustrate viewers who have no idea when they should expect more content. This is especially true in a series that has over-arching plots and continuity between episodes, rather than standalone stories that can be viewed in any order and still make sense.

Arrested Development is an American sitcom created by Mitchel Hurwitz that follows the misadventures of the wealthy Bluth family. Arrested Development differed from most comedy programs of the era, Arrested Development was “a new kind of sitcom: one using a character narrator and an unlocked, hand- held camera, and one without a laugh track” (Barton 2015, pp 199). Its biggest difference was that the entire plot was conceived before production and it was to have a serialised structure so each episode would follow on the from the last.

While the show did contain a narrator that helped remind audiances of major plot points from earlier episodes, most of the smaller or “hidden” call-back jokes and foreshadowing was only noticed by those who had seen every prior episode and had a good memory of their content. To fully enjoy and appreciate the show, the audience needed to have regular interaction with the show, this is why scheduling is important.

Looking at this chart you can see that it was not infact given regular scheduling. Gaps between episodes up to 5 weeks long, a seemingly random distribution of 1-4 episodes on a single day.

Season 3 air dates

If regular scheduling and routine are important for an enjoyment of a television program, then Arrested Development was doomed. Scheduling of TV has traditionally helped in organising our lives, as we base flexible activities around those which cannot change (i.e. a TV show’s timeslot). A show with set times that dont follow any reasonable organisation makes this impossible. A viewers could not, for example, create an evening timetable of watching television and include Arrested Development, as some weeks it was absent, and others it took up 4x its standard block.

Not only was show robbed of any reasonable flow between episode but it was also hampered by “Fox’s decision to air some of the episodes out of their intended order, causing confusion for a number of viewers.” (Barton 2015, pp 237).

Scheduling has been a cornerstone of Televison as a medium since its inception, but as much as a weekly burst of new content is associated with the traditional TV experience, the creators intentions or the fans enjoyment is null and void when compared to getting good ratings.

It is interesting (but probably unsurprising) to note, that Arrested Development’s 4th season was exclusively for Netflix, releasing every episode at the same time. That however, is enough content for an entire new blog post.

 References:

Barton, KM 2015, A State of Arrested Development : Critical Essays on the Innovative Television Comedy, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, Jefferson, N.C.

 

 

TV Cultures Blog Post 1

Blog Post 1

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver and engaging with the online community.

John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight one of the latest examples of the increasingly popular phenomonum of satirical news shows. Oliver covers a variety of topics each week in short segments, before dedicating the majority of his 30 minute timeslot to cover a singular issue in greater depth.

Oliver’s content and presentation style are both informative and humorous, taking serious topics and events and discussing them while simultaneously lampooning those involved and making jokes about the events/issue at hand.

The show focuses heavily on engaging the audience and encouraging virality. To aid in the humorous approach to covering stories, the show uses graphics in the top left corner often filled with humorous images that accompany what Oliver is discussing, often using photoshopped images to make people or events seem ridiculous, using a similar style to “memes” or “reaction images” popularised on online forums and social media. Other times short video clips are used, sometimes to explain the topic and other times purely for comedic effect, sometimes going to (relatively) large effort for a joke.

For example in the segment on the NCAA, covering how players are paid nothing even when appearing in licensed products such as video games, a satirical commercial for such a game was produced for the show (begins at 18:20 in this clip from the official Youtube channel).

It included 3D animation, voice-over work and fake boxart, this lengthy foray into fake video game commercials adds nothing to the serious discussion of the issue, it is merely a recap of all the previous discussion rolled into something very funny, very memorable and most importantly very sharable.

This meshes well with Last Week Tonight as the show relies on its online presence for a large portion of its audience. The official Youtube channel has over two million subscribers and videos regular receive over 6 million views, screen shots and small segments are shared on social media for their “hilarious, but true” value.

However, the most obvious example of this is the hashtags that are created by the show, usually as mockery of a famous company or individual related to the episodes main topics.

In this lengthy segment ( relevant section beginning at 15:25) the Tobacco, a new mascot for the Marlboro cigarette company is suggested, a diseased lung named Jeff. Oliver also asks the audiance and viewers at home to “help out” and spread the image via the hashtag #jeffwecan, in an attempt to place the image of a “diseased lung wearing a cowboy hat” when Marlboro is googled.

The attempt succeeded and this image still remains the no.1 result when searching for “Marlboro Mascot” on the internet, and remains in the top 30 for searches of “Marlboro”. This proves not only the effectiveness of spreading messages through social media, but also the audiences willingness to do so.

By engaging in, and promoting internet culture and deliberately encouraging virality in his content John Oliver starts voluntary “activism”, increased audience engagement with the show and an impressive amount of free advertising for his brand and HBO.

 

 

On The Frame Blog: Week 3 – Bullet Time and an arbitrary reason to talk about Metal Gear Solid

Week 3

 Something I found very interesting from this weeks class was the short documentary on “bullet time” and the new cinematographic tecniques that wouldn’t be possible without computers.

Interestingly during the late 90s when the technology was being developed and showcased in The Matrix films were using it to create shots that weren’t possible previously in the medium, this was also the same time period when 3D animation and 3D polygon based video games were becoming incredibly popular.

The example I’ve chosen is 1998’s Metal Gear Solid published by Konami and interestingly directed by Hideo Kojima, a game having a director is no oddity, but the difference is MGS displayed its director as would a film, it even had an opening credits sequence listing all the major developers and voice actors for characters as they appear. Throughout the games many cutscenes every effort was placed on making it as cinematic as the lowly power of the original Playstation would allow. In a 3D digital environment the camera could be placed anywhere, and move around at any speed, but Kojima chose to display it through pans, tilts and emulating trolly or crane shots.

As seen in this extract from Metal Gear Solid, the times when gameplay stops and an important story moment happens the game looks very much like a film in its camera placements.

Conversely, looking at this iconic shot of the matrix (alas in low quality .gif form) the slo-mo 360 degrees camera spin is not something that would be classed as a “film technique”, at least in the classical sense, because it would have never been possible without extensive computer work.

Ironically, a 360 degree camera spin was (and is) common place in video games, allowing the player to judge their surroundings, and give the impression that an invisible camera is tethered to the player character and not existing in any real world parallel.

So as The Matrix had real people fighting in bullet time framed from angles no real-life set could replicate, video games were trying to legitimize themselves by drawing from film and film techniques for storytelling and showing action.

On the Frame blog: Week 2 – 50 frames and the art of photographing a shoe

Week 2

The “50 frames” assignment has been interesting: Taking 50 photos knowing 46 of them will go unused, and the 4 that will be used are for an assignment worth 0%, is a strange task as there is no real incentive to put effort into it. However despite no tangible insentive for quality I have been trying to make my 50 frames good and varied.

The question posed on the board for a blog prompt is “Reflect on methodology for the 50 frames exercise. Did you complete it all in one go? Do you remember the story on your situation each photo?”

My methodology for taking the 50 frames was to at various moments of inspiration takes some photos of anything remotely interesting in my general vicinity. My photos were captured over many days, sometimes lots in one day, other days I wouldn’t take any, towards the end I was running out of time so I began desperately taking photos of random items around my parents house where I was staying the weekend.

I remember the “story and situation” for each photo, I tried to make it interesting and unique, attempting to capture a different aspect of stuff we talked about in class or something else related to film/photography.

Some examples include my time lapse photos of me eating an apple, it’s a series of 10 photos starting with a complete apple and then a “progress shot” after each bite until its gone. I soon realized I wouldn’t be able to use this for the assessment task since the sequence was more than double the required number of photos, and making all of them part of a sequence would make it hard to write about each one.

Ever since I was a kid stop motion has fascinated me, and I would create “movies” using action figures and a webcam that would create GIFs of fight scenes I choreographed with Dragon Ball Z characters, multiple Spidermans and the occasional Lego monstrosity. In my first project brief last semester the title screen was a stop motion progress shot of a hand drawn title card, and its definitely something I would like to continue to develop my skills at.