This past sesmester

in this past sesmester i have learned alot about film. much more of the production side and what goes into to making a film, i still feel and know that i have tons more to learn and truely understand before i can totally grasp on everything that goes into making a film which i would love to see and which i think should even be offered as a class at school. A simple one hour tcf credit class in just watching and discussing the making of movies. Everyone knows there are a ton of videos out there now breaking it down for us. i think it should be brought into our class rooms too. Besides all that mess, i honestly do believe i have taken on alot this sesmester, a little at a time starting with the basic, and going into the troubles and fun of getting to use a green screen and opening up so much opurtunity in filming. one thing i learned about myself is i need more, i need more classes like this, i need to see it all, its all good in all in books, but once i see it come together on set like when we would go to the studio what was said would finally make since. I understood the lighting when we would talk about it, but when we actually got to go and make our own lighting it changed everything. getting to move the lights around personally and see how the little things i did to move them, made the biggest difference, i got excited. i liked it. its all about how you look at it or how you want some one to look at it. you are making there precetion for them. I liked they control and freedom to be able to do that, with lights, who knew! i hope i can take what i learned from this class and bring it with me to furture classes so i can become the film whatever i want to be, i think once i figure it all out i can narrow it down to what i truly enjoy the most. until then i am just going to keep trying everything and see which one sticks!

Artist Statement

Ever since I was really young I was always into cameras and film. Not really knowing anything about them expect they can capture moments to show other people who might never get a chance to see something that I have had the chance to encounter. Even if it was just a kid doing a trick on a skateboard. Or my friends and me do a pretend talk show. I loved it, I liked being able to put my ideas with others and coming up with great humor. At the time we were just being kids and being silly. I never new that something I used to have so much fun with all through out my life was also a possibility for a career. Until I found out the school had a department for it. Although I didn’t have the same experience as most the other kids, I was still just as interested. Maybe not to the extent of making the same types of films. But I never had a class at the school that I had something in common with every student in my class, whether it is one thing or another. Which brings me to my main point for my artist statement. I don’t consider myself an artist, I am still very much so an aspiring artist. I have much more to learn until I can deserve that degree. But one thing I can say about me is, when do get passionate about something I never let it die and till I see it out. And I believe that will help me when I get more into film. Endless I feel strong about it or comfortable with it, it won’t seem to turn out right. You can tell when I know what type of idea I want and I want it captured on film. Ideas will start flying for more ideas, and soon I will get a perfect shot or the shot I wanted. When I work, probably not like other people. I like working with other people. I want to know there idea and I want them to know mine. I like comparing and sometimes adjusting. I am a strong believer of how many minds are greater than one. Some people see things that other people don’t, like a problem or a solution. And like I have seen in class if you have a director or a DP who isn’t quite looking at the whole situation he will tend to miss things and it slows down the whole production. Being a director would be an amazing dream; maybe one day I could do it. But being a director is like being a captain of a ship. They need to know the ins and outs of their craft before they can tell anyone else to do it. That what I want to know I want to learn it all. That’s the type of artist I aspire to be. A well-rounded artist. And in the future I hope my statement can inform you on how I did that.

Director

What makes a good director? there are many things that i believe can come together to make a great film. A few people say there are three things that make a great director and i believe they are correct. First thing that is said is a Vision, having a director who doesn't know what they want or where can cause major problems in a production. You need a strong voiced leader who can imagion a great shot and make it come alive on the screen. They also need to be about to talk and explain and be able to move people consistantly through a shot. The next term is blocking and they say the director need to choreograph what they wants. making sure the actor is in frame and stays in the path that the movie needs. they need to make it possible so that no one is standing in the way or ruining the shot that has been worked on for hours. One thing that everyone knows about production, it takes time and patience.To make a good reel for a director they need to be able to show what they are thinking. The best reel for a director would be the main or master shots or maybe the detailed shots. you want to show all your great work and the work of your teammates.

Green Screen

The green screen, its where anything can happen. It is most common in weather and news broadcasts. But more recently movies have gotten into it too. Filming many shots that would not be possible with out the technology of a green screen. Green screens can also be blue. But green tends to be the furthest color from skin tones, which makes it the perfect color to use. This picture is an example of how it is set up. This is the set for Spider Wick Cronicals set. Alot of set up process goes into using a green screen. You have to get the lighting perfect to the back ground or the actor will look out of shot. One of my favorite ways that a green screen is used is by the fake dricing sceens. not only is it cheaper , but much safer than to put an actor in a real car chase http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwY3pB_KYtE&feature=related Sin City is also a very famous movie that tends to use alot of screen screen. In the link above is a example of what the actors had to do to use the green screen and how diffucult it is to film with no surroundings. Its quite a talent to act on a green screen, there literally is nothing but same color sheets on the wall. Green screen is an easy and great way to get many different shots.

Dp Peter Deming

Peter deming has been around the production scence for a quite some time now, winning many awards like hte Independent spirit award for Mulholland Dr. and the Cinematography award for House Party. You may also have seen many of his older yet famous movies, such as, Scream 1,2 and 3 and one of my favorite movies, mystery alaska. personally i do not like the scream movies, not because its a bad movie but purely because i get so scared watching it. Peter Deming is know the set the mood. In many reviews and interviews it is said he spends most of his time talking and purely setting up the mood. and he does it well. scream is so dark and slow and heart pounding. like other scarey movies it has a slow eriry and them BAM some one dies, but the build up that he does is great it dark it gets you scared, it does the job. When Mr. Deming did the movie "the jacket", the director John Maybury, Mr. Maybury only had great things to say. "Can you talk about the director of photography?

Peter Deming? What can I say? He’s a prince among men. My last film, “Love is the Devil,” was shot by John Mathieson who’s a DP I grew up with. We worked on stuff from pop videos through to my arty stuff through to “Love is the Devil.” Unfortunately after he did ‘Love is the Devil” he did “Gladiator.” He just got nominated for an Oscar last night for the appalling “Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera.” And thankfully he didn’t win, although bless him he’s a sweetheart. He wasn’t available for this because he was doing “Phantom of the Opera.” I lucked out big time by getting Peter Deming, if only for his work on “Mulholland Dr.” and “Lost Highway.” It’s a gift. Besides his technical skills, as a human being he’s very atypical of a DP. He is a sweetheart. He is a prince among men."

JP Perry

Recently I was looking a few different DP reels, trying to figure out different ways that people shoot and different images of shots. I came upon one guy named JP Perry. He has done a few commercials also does a little camera operation. One major commercial you might have seen is a WNBA. Which is the women’s nations basketball association. The thing that attracted me to his work is the lighting. Most of his commercials have great lighting to set the mood of his shots. The WNBA it got a dark feel to it. Also a hazy color, just they way it would look in a gym that is lightly lit from the outside. It shows the women bouncing the basketball alone, but it’s an intense strong shot. The shots are slightly panning right to left, medium shot with little background. Drawling all attention to the women in the shot. In Mr. Perry reel, the colors that he is able to capture are just incredible. He does one golf commercial, when the color of the green is just popping out off the screen. Then he has very clean slow moving shots, which are very pleasing to my eye.

http://www.jpperry.net/com_reel.html

MOVEMENT

Recently I watched on of my favorite movies, Mystery Alaska. I like the camera movement in the movie for a few reasons. First of all it’s a lot of slow moving shots. I am not a big fan of a bunch of quick shots. Most of them are long moving shots. Mainly because of the location they are filming out. Its very beautiful mountain shots. Some of the shot like in the beginning when they are all in the locker room getting ready for a game. It’s a lot of medium close up, so the audience can get to know the characters. But also you can tell the camera isn’t free hand but it seem like it is on a free stand because there is a little movement but it isn’t shaky, I believe to give a more personal feel like I am in the locker room with them. One part of this movie I love is the crane shots. Like when he is riding on a snow mobile and after it passes the crane lifts and pans to show where he is riding too, and this incredible view of an Alaskan mountain is revealed.

Shot by Shot # 2

So orignally i did the shot by shot wrong, so here is my round two, This time i choose to use the movie "CryBaby" which has one of my favorite actors in it, Johnny Depp. In this movie it starts out ending the first major scene. First of all the movie starts with a large shot of the whole high school. i will upload them in order of talking about them. Its is a wide shot that is enough for the bus to pull through the front of the school, this establishing shot shows were the movie is taking place, having the bus pull through the front which keeps the eyes entertained. The next shot is a clear view of a boy in pain. its a medium close up and then it slowly pulls away to show whatelse is going on. it pulls away for a larger wider shot. which contains the other high school students waiting in line. Which is the next shot. The students are in two lines framing the screen, drawin attention to the banner in the background setting hte time of the movie, which would be 1952. Next shot they start to introduce some of the main characters of the movie. This is a close up shot of the two young couple. Showing a little of the back ground. but mostly there facial expressions. now one of the last shots of the opening seen is a reval shot, its a moving shot headed towards one indiviual student. get close up to her, then she turns around to show her face, which is scarey but also it gives the shot excitment. a moving relviling shot tend to be very interesting.

Pre-Game;)

In class we went over alot of how to get ready for a shoot. Which was a great example on how if you dont have people in charge of certian things it can get very messy. left and right people are thoughong out ideas. trying to get everything organized. This part of filming i really enjoy. I like the brainstorming process. I like working together with everyone else to get the perfect shot. First what we have to do is figure out what we are filming. Like in class we choose a scene of in a hospital. Then we tryed to decided what we visual wanted to see happen. Then we set up the camera where we could get the first master shot. From there it got a little complicated, but i know the next time it would work better. We had to figure out lighting. Which when you have 11 people doing that it gets a little trangled. That is why we are supposed to have one DP. Then we have anohter director to tell everyone else to do. So i guess it is a process. You first need the story, then you need the set. Then you move to the lights to get the feel you want. Then you work from there, trying out different angles and set ups to see what works for the perfect shot. I think the reason i like this part is cause i like createing things. in a way you are building your story, and if you want to tell the best story you have to have all the right parts. Every little detail matters. another reason i like this part is everyone has a key point. nothing can be done with out the other person. and when you get everyone to work together and it runs smoothly, it ends up being great. when we were working on our last projects, thats what happened. we would start out with one thing, then a person would do something or say an idea then we would come up with something and it would get better and better with every shot we would take. At this moment i really like the behind the camera productions. Still working on the editing, but i love production side!!!

best photo of the week _light

lite-brite

This week my blog is on light, light can do so many things for a shot. I think it makes the feel of the shot. It tells you if the scene is happy, sad, scary. Like if you wanted to make a shot look scarey, you might use less light, maybe some shadowing so you cant see the whole screen, not being able to see everything might make it a little more mysterious.  like this photo, there is a person with a bright light behind them, and all you can see is the out line of there body. It makes you wonder who and what the person is, and why they are standing like that, it brings mystery. My favorite type of light is probally natural light. like in sunset and sunrises. The way the sun reflects off of objects is the most pleasing view. No one will disagree and say a sunset is not the best site to see. It makes you feel good to even look at a picture of a sunset. Another form of a natural light, is fire, the flames give of a glow. If it was possible to use a light like that in filming it would make the most amazinfile:///Users/saratanger/Desktop/fire.jpgg shots, plus the fact that you cant control the way the flames blow makes it beautiful. My favorite shot of the week would have to be the image i found of a skate boarder in the air after hitting a half pipe. He is fully air born with only the sun going down in the back ground, because of the light in the background it causes him to be compeletly blacked out. Its bring extreme into beautiful. Like can do so many good and bad things for filming. But when you play and practice with it, we can learn to find the right light for every mood and set we are planning on having.

none of the photos showed up so i am gonna try to put the on in order. 

Little behind~

This week in my blog, i know i am a little behind but i was to show the intro shot of one of my favorite movies. I know it might not be the most award winning film out there and it is made by disney, but not only is it one of my favorite movies it also has one of my favorite actors/ producers. Mark Walhberg. He started out with nothing, and made it big. I am also a big fan of the northern new york attitude accent. (plus he is quite sexy :) haha) Anyways, the movie i want to show is "Invinceable" a movie about a broke, just laid of teacher, who decides he wants to try out for the eagles and pro football team, With nothing but back yard experience, he does the ultimate dream. Rags to riches, my top favorite type of movie. Like i said before, i like the light hearted, feel good movies. at firtst it starts out with just some kids running and music, the light has a old brown gloss over just to give the rustic old feel of a poorer northen city.file:///Users/saratanger/Desktop/screen-capture.png  Next they date it by adding a window shot of an old car, to place the time prob around the early 80's.file:///Users/saratanger/Desktop/screen-capture-1.png . It makes it clear that the area they are in is toubled, alot of people loosing there jobs on hard times, a little bit of a blue collar area with a bunch of factories file:///Users/saratanger/Desktop/screen-capture-3.png

file:///Users/saratanger/Desktop/screen-capture-5.png, they end the opening with a shot of football to let you know that file:///Users/saratanger/Desktop/screen-capture-8.pngis what this movie is all about, they dont waste anytime to let you know about the football!

 they 

This week......

So this week i have been thinking more about what movies i like to watch. I have already said i like feel good movies. But after watching a few war movies. I like the war stories, not so much the war, but more like what everyone goes through. The love part and even the events of how something they couldnt stop and just they way they deal with it. I feel like they are re telling there story in a movie and i love to hear stories, which is prob why i was attracted to those type of movies. Just gave me another type of film to look at, i am gonna order some more on my netfilx. 

Every week  i am gonna upload a photo that makes me smile This weeks is :the one with the puppy, haha its cute

Oh another type of filming i like it the ones that make you feel like you captured this great moment. Like the filming is not set up, they make it a way you feel like your there and makes u feel emotion for the character and if some thing bad or good or funny happens u feel it too. 

- i know Dr. R, said we would look around and if we see somthing that looks cool or interesting we should remember or write it down. Well i guess i saw a moment between two people and i thought it was cute.  My roommate and boy friend were just talking, sorta in the way that they thought no one was looking, and they exchanged a few cute words, but to there surprise everyone else in the room was listening or watching so after the moment, we all techinacally runined it with a group AWWW, haha it was just a good moment that i thought was rememberable and just they way it played out was great. 

First blog

This would be my very first blog, which i believe will just turn into me rambling, but here it goes, I am very excited for the classes this fall. I feel like iam going to be learning alot in class and i am ready to learn. When i was in class last week we got to see alot of the new eguipment that they bought over the summer, which made me more excited cause now we have such nice stuff to learn on so i feel like we are getting an advantage. i feel very privledged to be in the class and the opurtunrity to get to use the euipment. Also i am excited for the people in class. There is a good mixture of people so i think the videos we will make are gonna be very interesting and i cant wait. I am ready for our first video assignment now. Still think its a little odd to blog but what ever, ill get used to it. Just interesting trying to think what to type. Haha, i do like the whole idea of carrying around a journal and writing down any ideas we think of.. it very relaxing and kind of nice to look back at hte day of ideas and thoughts that i have. I wanna keep it and read it again at the end of the year just to see what i have learned or how my opinions have changed. I also like the fact that the teacher isnt from the south. I know that probbally sounds werid, but all my teachers are from somewhere around here and i think she will be good for the school. Someone from a different area with different views. She seems like she will get some stuff done. And the fact that she has real experince doing things, she will have a lot of insight and that will help us all alot. I know it will help me a good amount. pretty much all i can say is i am ready for class tomorrow and ready to see what is in store for me in this class. well intill the next one of these little blog things... later!