Month: May 2019

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Choose a scene from a food doco and write about all the sounds that are used and the effect they create, and b) write about the sounds you can record in your documentary and what they will convey.

As in any film form, sound is crucial for creating a sense of reality for the viewer, the sense of ‘being there’.

This film talks about the process of making a meatball by hand, but also talks about family — emphasis on inheritance. This film , we can see that it put much effort on recording the original sound of hitting the meat.  As a crucial process of  making this dish, the sound shows how much power is needed for it. For example, started from 7 mins, the master is hitting the meat with the drumbeat in background music. It presents the harmony of hand made and music, but also it arouse excitement of audience. In the 15 mins, the master is making the roasting duck. There is a subtle point is that, seeing the close up of the image of duck what is full of oil and roasted in the fire, we can hear and the sound of burning, and it help create a illusion of  — “we seem to hear oil dripping into the fire” (which is the effect of image and sound of atmosphere).

As reading mentioned microphone helps catch the sound we might not notice in the normal life. It helped to construct the sense of reality(p290, Fox 2018). In this film, not a sense of isolation, cold, independence, it presents the atmosphere of market, a kind of normal in daily life. We see the market and we can hear yo-heave-ho, even thought we can only see on way through the market followed by the bicycle, we seems likely have seen the wheelbarrowcarries the rice to pass through from the side, all kinds of stalls, even the image of children playing around. How wonderful is it ! That’s the function of the sound effect and charisma. 

Fox, B. (2018). Documentary media. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, pp.288-297.

After reading,there are several points needed to be noticed to make a high qualified documentary. Before the formal interview, we may have an basic understanding of the interviewee, observe the best way to relaxed interviewee and know what can make him tell the story in a best / natural  way.  If it’s necessary, we can also invite the others as long as  the presence of other is assist to show the personality.

And thinking back what we have done in the class practice, there are some aspects still needed to be improved. Firstly, we didn’t set up well when we trying to get the angle and background. In the practice of vox pop, we applied hand held camera to shoot. Then I found out that the image is quiet unstable and baseline is not in the horizontal position. Even, one of the interviewee didn’t look at the direction toward the camera, instead, he was looking at the direction where staff who is give the question.  It was a hard work when I tried to editing, I wish we did have mobile phone help to shoot variety angle so at least we are able to select better one during editing.

In my final project, I think the hardest part would be that I am going to interview myself , ps: it’s going to be English speaking. So I would be need to write script and check the grammar first, then I will try to invite someone seat in front of me to reduce the embarrassment. And I will find a model when I am setting the camera to make sure the light and angle is good enough.

EVERYTHING SPEAKS FOR ITSELF 

In most of documentary,there are much portion are filling up with interviews and explanation. But also, there are silenced film produced as well. I remember I did talked about same thing last year, I watched several documentary without word and arouse the all kinds of feeling from the button of my heart.

(Example from previous one)

At that time, I wasn’t able to appreciated more in the film. All I remembered is sense of shock that hit on me from this religious.  Another film what is called Note on Blindness also made me impressed me so much. It didn’t left too many scientific / theoretical words in the film, rather it allots  perfect time for words and picture, so that audience are able to be slowed and relaxed in the created atmosphere of the film. At that moment, I was able to understand the power from wordless scene. It’s more than a pause from listening.

How might you convey some of your central idea, arguments, or narrative elements using image or no words ?

If me using no words to convey my central ideas, arguments and some narrative elements, I would like to create a central / core line for my story ,and it has to be very clear to the audience about what does the film try to convey. Related to my won project, I am planing to make a documentary of me being vegetarian and what kind of challenge I have meet in the relationship of my family. I may apply for 15 seconds of no words, for example, the image of me sink in the swimming pool and with a stressed face, to show the tension and my anxiety (with sound effects — pause of previous talking and music). Further more, I will not opening with fast paced words, instead, I prefer left a few second for audience to watched my diet, so that people will not feel too busy at the beginning.

I suppose the amount of words dose much help on creating imagination, that’s why the aesthetic of film are always changeable. The space of no word make people more focus on the image and started to create a world of own. To me, as long as the film has conveyed what director try to convey, then that will be the goal and true meaning of the film production.

Wk 4 — Smoothie bowl

In this video, we are aim to present how to make a smoothie bowl step by step.

 

Wk5 — Interview

voxs pop :

Basically, In this video we have a quick Q&A to people in the school, that invite them to introduce a special food from their home town.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1b-0omE2nNUWdhwrolc0IBbwQaAbfbiGt/view?usp=sharing

interview :

In the video, we had interviewed with someone who is randomly picked, to talk about how he thinks of Australian food.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vJTUUolEXc-od1mcFHWrXPOTPwk4eQpR/view?usp=sharing

 

Wk 6 :  practical experiments

I named this video as Throwback and Come Back. Since it doesn’t have any words and sound (I didn’t find out the perfect music / sound track to fit in it) I suppose to describe it. At beginning, I took a DVD from classic musical which is “old” so the whole story become grey. The color helps to recognize whether is throwing back or at the present. Until I saw the naked man on the magazine (the magazine create a sense of modern), I came back to the present.  I wasn’t able to think any good sequence to connect each footage, so I guess it’s fun to use the element in the footage.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KgtHasWGtdzDAb6GzXl1-rW7f1_iQ3ha/view?usp=sharing

 

 

Three type of documentary structure :

Linear Structure :  Documentary that applied this type of structure usually contains singular protagonist. protagonist’s goal pushes the extension of the story, the film is divided by three act drama sequences — beginning, middle, and ending. Each part are potentially broke down into eight parts. Each part has own question that lead on to the story, and the consequence link to the plot / beginning in the next sector. This structure, therefore, breaks down the information into steps. It helps to arouse audience’s interest by adopted deeper and deeper plot, though they knowing the ending.  I think the structure does take time to consider ” what is the most important concept to the film “. To Achieve it, director supposes to have a clear train of thought about the topic(strong logical ability), then able to present a work that audience wants to see.

Episodic structure :

As writer contend in the reading, “Singular protagonist , adhere to chronology, but the scope of time covered may be so great that the distillation of larger periods or episodes in the life of the protagonist will need to be crafted (childhood, the early years , the war years)”.  As I understand it, Episodic structure as a type of long shot film, that need to follow the timeline and fill much information in the timeline. I would like to apply this structure to make my video seems more layers and deep. I would like to make a video in a certain sequence, as I have “I” as the single protagonist and my main stream — Food choice and Family relationship, I will talk about when did it happen and how does it develop in the later. It has its order and rhythm.

Thematic structure :

This structure,in the reading, was explained as “Events and sequences are not related through chronology or causality, as much as by thematic focus. Each sequence still contains an inherent unity and point,and together all the sequences add up to a synthesizing claim, but the links along the way may be far more conceptual or associative rather than literally derived from chronology, causality, or characters.”  This one is a little bit abstract to me, I think in the type of doco , the story is leaded on by the development of events. In the perspective, the film can be shoot and edit in varies way as long as it tells a whole story.

 Fox, B. (2018). Documentary media. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge.