Please reflect on how you feel about the course. What surprised you, what excited you, what disappointed you. What we could have done better. What you could have done better.

My Goals/Desires response from Week 1:

For the first semester of Film-TV 1 I hope to gain a better understanding of the production process of films, from the pre-production stage right through to post-production. I hope to gain an understanding of industry practices which will help me feel better equipped to conduct my own productions in the future.

I want to challenge myself by taking on roles that I’m not used to in production such as trying my hand at cinematography or technical adviser. By pushing myself to learn how to best serve the production from a technical stand point I believe I will become a better filmmaker by not letting fear of technology stand in my way.

I hope to learn from the other students not only in my group but in the other film groups as well. I would like to learn how to be a better editor and to learn skills in lighting and sound, which if I’m not in charge of I still hope to learn these skills by watching and helping other students.

By the end of the semester I hope to be a more well-rounded filmmaker who is ready to take on any aspect of filmmaking.

And Now:

This semester of Film/TV 1 has been the best I’ve ever had in terms of setting out to achieve, learn, and grow from the experience. I feel like I have gained so much from just one semester of film production that I can’t wait to continue studying, working and learning.

I set out to gain knowledge in production practices, lighting and sound, and editing and I have come away feeling more confident in my ability than ever before. I’ve always felt confident in my writing, producing and organisation skills but I’ve always taken a step back when it came to the technical side of things. I feel really proud that I can now take the lead in any of the production roles, which I never would’ve had the confidence to do before this course. I certainly never thought I would be confident, let alone enjoy editing but I really did. I used to always ask my brother for technical help but now he is asking me for advice and I even colour graded a video for him just today, which I never thought I’d be able to do before this semester.

I really feel like I took myself out of my comfort zone this semester and gained so much for it. Before this semester, I was hesitant to put my hand up for production roles for experience, but now I feel like I can take on any role and that my production experience/knowledge no longer holds me back. I just want to keep making content and now I feel like I can do it without needing a whole team of people to rely on.

This course is fantastic, and I don’t have any criticisms at all. The only thing that surprised me was the lack of attendance at the lectures. Before this semester I’d never had lectures and have heard that people tend to not go. It was a bit disappointing as I gained a lot from the lectures and feel like others (even those in my group) would’ve benefited a lot from them.

I really loved how everyone came together to help one another despite whether we were from the same tute or not, just because we all understood what we were going through. It was great that all of the students could lean on one another for advice and support and the teachers are just superb. The teachers’ commitment to the students, their approachable nature, knowledge and dedication outside of class is amazing. I can’t fault this course. I feel like I learned and gained the most from it than any other subject or even my previous course.

Film Reviews:

Coffee & Pi:

This film is proof that simple ideas are usually the best. The humour that comes from Adrian factoring in the different possible ways he could approach Rebecca taps into the natural awkward and nervous feelings we go through when we want to approach someone we like. I really liked the equation graphics that accompanied the possibilities Adrian was considering and I think they really helped tell the story and add a style to the film. The story is very easy to relate to and funny, the actors performed the characters really well. The only thing that really distracted me was some of the framing (close-ups) could’ve been a bit neater and tidier, particularly in the important conversation between Adrian and Rebecca. I felt like that scene could’ve been covered or edited in a more interesting way to highlight it’s importance.

Shelter:

Wow. This film brought intensity from the get go. The sound production and editing of the entire film, but in particular the beginning when the children are running away, is amazing. The opening scene gets you straight into the suspense and thriller genre of the film and hooks the audience instantly. I loved the clever use of editing and using lens flares to suggest what is outside of the shelter to avoid having to show the outside world. I wouldn’t have thought that a futuristic apocalyptic world could’ve been depicted so well with the constraints that we all had, but this film definitely proved me wrong. However, the story did seem a bit rushed towards the climax. It’s probably more suited to a feature film length as I really would’ve liked to see more interaction between Blair and the siblings, building that tension up and wondering what will happen. I understand the ending of them returning to a better world, but I don’t think it was really necessary and you could’ve ended it on the siblings hugging after Blair is killed. This may have given you more time to build up the suspense between the characters.

A Love Lost:

I was interested to watch this film as the mood and story are both quite similar to our film ‘Getting By’. The pacing of the film was great in that it reflected Graham’s grief and his daily struggle without his wife. The use of voice over was an interesting choice and I think it would be great to see a version without it, because I think the story would come across just as well. With saying that, I did like the insight into Graham’s day, like how he sometimes forgets and makes breakfast for two, or remembers too well. The lighting in the anniversary scene was superb and I loved the candlelight, it really brought the mood of the scene to life. I did find some of the dialogue in this scene a bit confusing though. The stark contrast between the lighting made me think he was daydreaming of what he wishes he said to his wife before she passed away, and it only became clearer that it was a memory further into the dialogue. Catherine’s reaction to Graham answering his phone during dinner kind of goes against what she was saying to him. Overall, the sadness and grief of Graham came through in the way the film was put together.

Sliced:

I was really keen to watch this film as I helped out on it. I really enjoyed it, I thought it was really funny and the suspenseful and intense music just added to the absurd nature of his addiction. The opening scene in the alleyway is really funny. It’s a shame that some of the other scenes had to be cut for technical reasons but I thought it was clever how the transition between the dinner scene was cut to the alleyway. The performances were great, however the only criticism I have is that I think the ending could’ve been exaggerated a lot more – maybe he is lying on his bed covered in white bread and in bread heaven, like you would see with gangstas and cash. I think that the addiction could’ve been pushed even more further, however I still think it’s great and funny.

Tom, Phuoc, Torika, Michael and I’s short film, ‘Getting By’. We had a great time making it and testing our skills as a crew and it paid off in the end. Can’t wait to be out there making another one soon!

Getting By from Mai Tan Phuoc on Vimeo.

Consider Sandra’s lecture “Directing Actors” and describe at least a couple of points that you took away from it (even if you’re not the director).

Director Sandra Schibberas’ lecture on directing actors was insightful and interesting. Having been to theatre and acting school herself, she is confident in working with actors and communicating with them about exactly what she wants for a particular scene.

Her first important piece of advice was to ensure that you cast actors that understand the story of your film. She explained that casting a great actor who has the look you want and has a great voice won’t be the right fit for your film if they don’t understand or grasp the story you are trying to tell. Ensuring that they understand the genre of the film and demonstrating an awareness of changes in their character’s mood or perspective is also very important.

In regards to our film ‘Getting By’, we were very fortunate to cast a fantastic actor, Kostas, as our main character. He immediately understood the genre of the film as being a drama and we knew right from the first audition that he understood his character Arthur’s emotional arc as well as the story of our film.

Her advice was great in that she emphasized the importance of preparation and rehearsals before the shooting of your film. She recommended that when rehearsing with actors, you shouldn’t get bogged down in technicalities or specifics of movement. I brought this advice to our rehearsal with Kostas and when he became flustered with some of the dialogue, both Torika and I encouraged him to find his own way of expressing the same emotion.

Getting any and all questions from the actors prior to the day of shooting is also integral to ensuring that the shoot runs smoothly. Sandra recommended this as on the day of filming, the crew needs to be able to talk to the director at any moment to solve any issues or ensure that they are setting up the shots the way the director wants. This is something that we could’ve done a bit better on our own film as preparing the actors for the following scene took up a lot of the directors time, which did put more pressure on the crew.

Sandra also advised that you should always give encouraging feedback after every take so that the actor/s feel positive about their experience. Being aware of how you are communicating to the actor/s is important and trying to influence them to think that your idea for their delivery is actually theirs will make them even more positive about their performance.

In this clip screened in the lecture from the Coen brothers’ ‘Blood Simple‘ describe what is happening in terms of the edits specifically in terms of the audio and video. Also name the different kinds of audio you can hear.

This excerpt from ‘Blood Simple’ demonstrates that when editing together a conversation between two characters, there are more interesting ways to go about it. Rather than always cutting to vision of the person speaking, showing the other characters’ reaction to the information they are being told can provide an insight into the character’s motivations and emotions. For example; the hitman’s anxiousness to be paid by the man who hired him (Julian Marty) and not be found out that he has faked the photos is highlighted as the camera focuses on his reaction to the Julian’s dialogue and him being sick. This is also used to show Julian’s reaction of being sick after seeing the photographs and hearing from the hitman that the kill has been carried out.

The sounds implemented in this scene are all diegetic, or a part of the story world even if not all of them are onscreen. There is no added music or other nondiegetic sound in the scene. The sound of the fish slapping the table is heard as well as crickets and the fan which are heard constantly throughout the scene. Noises coming from the street including sirens are heard. The chair creaking, envelope rustling, the lighter being used, cigarette being butted out, and footsteps are all included. Sliding the fish across the table, the creaking of the door opening, Julian being sick, flush of the toilet and running water are heard. The fly buzzing, safe being opened, pushing of the money across the table all lead up to the sound of the gun being cocked by the hitman and the subsequent echoed gunshot.

The edit of the vision to show Julian’s knowing and scared reaction to hearing the gun being cocked is well executed as it shows that he has realized that he has been played and is about to die.

Find the keyboard shortcuts for Adobe Premiere and note two or more functions that you’ve never used before that may be invaluable to editing.

One of the keyboard shortcuts for Adobe Premiere that would be really useful in editing is the shortcut for Ripple Delete which on Mac is Shift+Forward Delete, and is Shift+Delete on PC. When you’re adding clips to a sequence or have cut a clip and want it to snap to the previous clip so that you can watch the sequence continuously, this keyboard shortcut eliminates the empty video space between the two clips.

Another shortcut is Cmd+G (Mac) or Ctrl+G (PC) which is used for grouping clips in a layer. This means that if you want to apply the editing techniques to multiple clips you can do so without doing them individually.

Cmd+D (Mac) or Ctrl D (PC) is the keyboard shortcut for applying a video transition for a clip. This makes placing transitions between clips much more simpler and quicker as you can easily add the video transition at the playhead.

 Lecture 7 Lighting: What was covered? Do you think the content is relevant to your project? And why?

The lighting lecture covered quite a lot of information which will be helpful for planning and shooting our film. Lighting, by definition, is a result of exposure. Being comfortable with adjusting exposure levels on your camera and adjusting the positions of the subject, camera and artificial lights are all important to achieving the correct level of exposure.

There are a few reasons why lighting is important to a film; we light for exposure – so the subject and location is visible, for continuity – in terms of temporal (time of day) and spatial, to have control over the image – stylistic choices and tone, and to achieve a good key to fill contrast ratio – the key light being the brightest or more prominent, with the fill being the less prominent light (could be bounced or reflected).

An important point I took from the lecture was to know your location and do test shoots before filming. This will allow any changes needed to be made to the shot schedule, if for example, you realise during your test shoot that too much sunlight floods the particular location at midday, so you choose to shoot there in the early morning. Understanding the natural lighting that occurs at different times of the day at your location is important to scheduling the shoot and making choices of fixing these issues; such as blacking out a room or shooting at a different time of day. This is something that we will be doing tomorrow on our test shoot as we will be experimenting with the natural lighting at the location as well as implementing the artificial lights, gels, reflectors and negative fill to see how we would like to set up the lights for our shoot next week. We will take photos of our setups so that we have a reference of how we would like to light and position the camera, as well as photos to represent a storyboard that we can follow on the day.

Communicating with the director is also very important as it ensures that you both understand how the coverage of a scene will be shot, so that you know where the lighting equipment needs to be positioned for that particular shot. Keeping your eye on the bigger picture and understanding how the lighting will maintain continuity or not (depending on stylistic choices) is also something to think about during pre-production and on the shooting day. In terms of our film we will ensure that we plan as well as we can as a result of our test shoot and I along with the rest of the technical crew will ensure that we communicate with Torika and Michael so that we don’t have problems on our shooting day.

An interesting point that I hadn’t thought of previously to this lecture, was that a lighting set-up can involve taking lights out of the location rather than introducing them. This is also known as negative fill and can be achieved by using a large black card to reduce the amount of light illuminating the subject’s face.

Select from one of the readings from week 5, 6 or 7 and describe two points that you have taken from it. Points that excite you, something that was completely new to you.

Out of the lighting readings from week 7, the one I took the most from was the Malkiewicz reading. It gives really in-depth descriptions of different types of lighting techniques for different types of lighting that you may want to achieve.

One of the important points I took from the reading is in regards to how we will light most of our film. The advice that comes from the reading for filming interior day scenes is that it requires soft light, meaning that it is diffused and doesn’t create harsh shadows. The only hard light would come from the sunlight coming in from the windows, which can be prevented on location by closing curtains. These types of scenes usually have the upper parts of the wall as being darker, depending on the natural location of the sun at the particular time of day. This is important as if you want to achieve a realistic impression of day time, even with the interior being quite dark, it’s important to keep in mind that the upper parts of the wall should be dark.

Another important point is to be wary of creating unwanted shadows. Each source of light can create shadows depending on their position in relation to the subject and when you add artificial lights, the trick is to ensure that shadows are kept to a minimum. You must try and only produce one shadow, or two if you really have to. This is due to that in real life we are used to seeing only one shadow, or one direction of shadow as they would naturally occur. Having multiple shadows with competing directions are unrealistic and distracting for audiences. This is where planning how you will set up your lights for your shoot comes into play as you can experiment with positions, heights and angles to prevent multiple shadows occurring.

https://vimeo.com/92206462

Last week, my group and I filmed our ‘Lenny’ script in an hour. It was a challenging experience but we learned a lot from the issues we had to face on the day.

Even though we had our pre-production completed before the shooting day, due to some miscommunication we hadn’t organised reliable actors for the day. In the half an hour before class, we all contacted our friends, and luckily enough we managed to secure one of my work friends and her friend who were at Melbourne Central on their school holidays. They are both quite shy so for them to participate for us was really nice of them, even though the acting wasn’t the best, we still really appreciated that they took time out of their day to be in the ‘Lenny’. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have been able to film on the day.

The weather also caused another issue. It was drizzling and raining on and off all day, and so for a time before the tute, Tom, Phuoc and I went around looking for some interior locations we could use. When Michael arrived at the tute, he suggested that we use the exterior location he suggested previously, as the rain was holding off at that time. No doubt, the location looked amazing, especially in contrast to the duller interior locations we thought we would be stuck with. As it did continue to drizzle during our shoot, we had to be wary of keeping our pre-production sheets and continuity shot list dry. We also had to cater for the actors who had to sit on a wet bench by finding things that they could sit on to prevent them from getting wet.

The short period of time that we had to shoot, meant that we had to cut shots out of our shooting schedule and ensure that we filmed the minimum amount of shots, with some variety, of each scene to ensure that we could have a complete ‘Lenny’ and not one with missing scenes.

On the day, Michael and Torika shared the role of director, and they both worked really well together. In the future, it would be best if they had more of a chance to discuss pre-production and the shots they want rather than communicating just on the day, but with saying that, they chose and prioritized really good shots on the day.

It was a bit frustrating for me on the day as I had organised the shooting schedule which was barely looked at. In hindsight, this is understandable as we didn’t have much time and had to make quick decisions, however at the time I did feel like I went to the trouble for nothing.

Phuoc’s camera work was remarkable as shown in post. Despite the language barriers, he communicated with all of us well to ensure that he got the shot that Michael and Torika wanted, while also at times directing the actors in their positions and ensuring the box was in shot. However, Phuoc didn’t tell me that the slate wasn’t always in shot when we were calling the shots, which is something that we realised towards the end of the shoot. We have both discussed this and will in future, make sure we communicate better.

As I was camera assistant, I also filled in the continuity shooting log. In the beginning, there was some confusion as to how to log the shots, with Torika and I thinking that it should be that the ‘shots’ shouldn’t restart back to 1; however we were out voted by the boys and did it in that way on the log and slate. In future, I will log the shots in the correct way for easier post-production.

Tom did a great job as sound recordist. I originally wanted to do the sound, however I had an ear infection the day before and on the day and so Tom and I swapped so I wouldn’t be in discomfort. He did well especially considering we had a large wedding party taking photos in our location at the same time. He and Torika also edited the ‘Lenny’ together, after Phuoc had uploaded the file to the server.

Filming the Lenny made me realise that I had slowly taken on two roles in my production group. While I am on the technical team, I ended up doing more producer-type roles in the pre-production, logging and keeping time on the day. I was disappointed that I didn’t have as much of an involvement in the technical aspect, and would next time ensure that I do.

It also confirmed to me that we need to communicate more efficiently before the shoot with each other to ensure a smooth shoot.

As Paul described the opening shot of our ‘Lenny’ as one of the best he has seen in the course, it confirmed that Torika and Michael’s vision with Phuoc’s camera work can create magnificent results. It definitely gave us a confidence boost going into our film shoot.

While our roles in our production group are still blurred and we would like to try out different roles, we all learned our strengths and weaknesses from making the ‘Lenny’ and are in a better position going forward for our film.

This week’s lecture on lighting proved what many people have said time and time again; that you must experiment, test, fail, and improve in order to learn how to light a scene the way you want to.

Lighting, by definition, is a result of exposure. Being comfortable with adjusting exposure levels on your camera and adjusting the positions of the subject, camera and artificial lights are all important to achieving the correct level of exposure.

An important point I took from the lecture was to know your location and do test shoots before filming. This will allow any changes needed to be made to the shot schedule, if for example, you realise during your test shoot that too much sunlight floods the particular location at midday, so you choose to shoot there in the early morning. Understanding the natural lighting that occurs at different times of the day at your location is important to scheduling the shoot and making choices of fixing these issues; such as blacking out a room or shooting at a different time of day.

Communicating with the director is also very important as it ensures that you both understand how the coverage of a scene will be shot, so that you know where the lighting equipment needs to be positioned for that particular shot. Keeping your eye on the bigger picture and understanding how the lighting will maintain continuity or not (depending on stylistic choices) is also something to think about during pre-production and on the shooting day.

An interesting point that I hadn’t thought of previously to this lecture, was that a lighting set-up can involve taking lights out of the location rather than introducing them. This is also known as negative fill and can be achieved by using a large black card to reduce the amount of light illuminating the subject’s face.

There are a few reasons why lighting is important to a film; we light for exposure – so the subject and location is visible, for continuity – in terms of temporal (time of day) and spatial, to have control over the image – stylistic choices and tone, and to achieve a good key to fill contrast ratio – the key light being the brightest or more prominent, with the fill being the less prominent light (could be bounced or reflected).

The most important point I took from this lecture is to do as many tests as possible at the location, and experiment with the different equipment. This is something that I have already mentioned to my group and that we’ll definitely do to ensure we get the best possible result for our film.

‘Shooting to edit’ means that when you film a scene, you are doing so with the intention of editing different shots together to create a dynamic and smooth scene.

Filming in this way means that you have more control over the coverage of a shot or scene. It allows you to set up the camera and lighting to shoot a particular shot in the way you want, then set up the camera and lighting again to film from a different direction or angle. This means that filmmakers have a variety of shots to choose from during post-production and may pick and choose depending on the performance of the actors or preference of angles.

This method also gives the filmmaker the ability to shoot out of order, so that scenes occurring at the same location at different points in the script, can all be shot at once, rather than having to move back and forth from reoccurring locations.

Shooting to edit also allows filmmakers to have control over the timing of a scene. When editors put the shots together, they can choose to cut quickly between shots which shortens time, or to linger on a shot which elongates time. This is different to using a single long shot covering a scene as it happens in real time, whereas shots filmed from different angles may be edited together to either compress or elongate time.

The student film ‘Rolling’ demonstrates how a simple, worldly concept can still be humorous.

The film is about a young man who has a crush on the local supermarket girl. He goes there to ask her on a date, but becomes tongue-tied and says that he is there to buy toilet paper for a charity he supports. The girl is impressed and orders a large amount for him, which he is then stuck with. She goes to his apartment to tell him about his delivery and he won’t let her in (otherwise she’ll see that he was lying). The conversation is awkward as she then leaves.

The simple concept of a boy trying to ask a girl out is something that most people can relate to. The filmmakers succeed in conveying the nerve-racking feeling that people can identify with as the young man blunders and humorously puts himself into a ridiculous situation.

The camera movement in the supermarket works well to show how he is trying to build up his courage to talk to her. It follows him as he walks towards camera and towards the girl – his facial expressions showing just how nervous he is. The harsh, bright lighting in the supermarket provides a feeling of exposure – demonstrating how naked he feels.

While most of the dialogue and delivery by the actors works to show the awkwardness of the situation, there are times when it comes across as being too obvious or not natural enough. When the girl arrives at the boy’s apartment, her part of the conversation doesn’t flow and doesn’t feel natural. This could be because throughout the whole film she has kept an unwavering smile on her face, and doesn’t show any curiosity or change in her facial expression.

The film ‘Clown Train’ succeeds in presenting a dark and creepy tone through it’s particular use of sound. The film presents a young man on a train, who asks a quite scary looking man dressed in a clown outfit why the train has stopped. As the conversation continues, the tension increases as the clown’s responses frighten the young man, who eventually escapes the train.

The opening of the film immediately sets the tone and mood. There are no visuals – only a black screen; while the layered sound effects deliver suspense, gives an indication of the setting, and peaks the audience’s interest of what the film may be about. The sounds heard during this time are a high-pitched creaking, rumble of the train on the tracks, creaking brakes, the grinding of the train tracks, and then a quiet hum of the lights that then illuminate and reveal the characters in an empty carriage.

The combination of sounds typical to a train setting indicate to the audience that the film will be in an urban setting, at a train station/platform or the train itself. While they provide important information for the audience, the sound choices also deliver a creepy and unhinged tone. For example; choosing to use the sound effect of the grinding train tracks, rather than the hustle and bustle sound of commuters demonstrates the isolated and dark sense of feeling the sound operators/designers wished to convey (and did successfully).

Throughout the scene during which the two characters converse, sounds of rushing wind passing the train, the electric buzz of the lights, creaking and an echo of tapping is present. During the parts in which the vision/train lights cut out, a sound of electrical interference is heard. When the lights return, the creepy clown has suddenly moved closer to the young man. The sound demonstrates tension, and the threat that the clown is posing becomes clearer.

At the final moments of the film; a faint, but deep sound of knocking, then a sinister sound crescendos to the moment of the young man deciding to escape the clown and the train. The carriage doors creak as he opens them, and his footsteps can be heard.

What I noticed about the use of sound in this film was that while each sound was different in it’s own right, layered together they made an ominous, creepy and suspenseful tone. They all fit together, and only stood out to emphasize important actions or dialogue. They all created a world that was clear to the audience and served the film in the best way possible.

The crime drama ‘In the Line of Fire’ makes great use of sound as well. The scene that we listened to in the lecture, and then watched in the tute is when Eastwood is returning home and then receives a threatening phone call by Malkovich.

A sinister sound opens the scene, then the sounds of city traffic, the rustling of Eastwood’s trench coat and his footsteps are heard. We can hear him dropping his keys, then turning soft blues music on as he wanders his apartment. The shrill sound of the telephone ringing interrupts the calming music and makes the audience feel uneasy. As the threat of the phone call increases, Eastwood turns the blues music off, which makes the audience focus on the tense conversation occurring.

An ominous and sinister sound effect is used as Malkovich describes his plan to kill the President. Eastwood then hears the sound of sirens through the phone and then hears them directly – Malkovich is nearby as it’s the same siren. The sound of coins in a payphone is heard, giving Eastwood and the audience the information that Malkovich is calling from a nearby payphone and the threat of him possibly watching Eastwood at this very moment becomes evident. A door slamming and Eastwood’s running footsteps as he leaves his apartment to investigate ends the scene.

When used properly, sound effects can not only provide information about setting, character, and plot, but can provide a variety of tones to add drama to scenes.