reflection on the semester, spring 2010.

well, as i said in our last class, it has been a long semester. without a doubt, i learned more, far more, this semester in film than i have learned in any semester to this point. advanced videography essentially covers everything that needs to be covered to have a basic understanding of what you are doing with a camera. i do not feel nearly as lost now in film, instead i feel more confident, comfortable, and at ease with my work and working with others. i feel like i have a good understanding of ideas and uses, and as well as problem solving on a set. we covered so much material from camera, lighting, framing, tools, green screens. essentially everything but audio and FCP.

along with tcf 344, i was able to participate in the Cherones class. the combination of these two classes at the same time left me strapped for time and rest but full of new information. i was able to take concepts and things i had learned in videography to that point and apply them in the cherones class, which was a great help on set and preparation. and after the cherones class i was able to take things i learned in the cherones class and apply them in videography, which i was able to do with directing my scene. this has been a busy but rewarding semester, and will prove to have been one of the more pivotal semesters in my college career when it is all done.

artist statement

no matter how im feeling on a day or how stressed out i may get, filming is the escape for it all. when i think about work i have to do, i may feel overwhelmed. but once im out, with a camera, all the problems dissapear. i dont think about all the bad things, i just enjoy filming.
i try to create an image that the audience is going to look at and realize that there is something in the frame catching their eye, but they just cannot figure it out. i love making images that are very subtle with their point, yet emphasises that point. some of my biggest influences use this style. with film, there are endless possibilites of combinations using the frame, lighting, and music. i love shooting with natural light and using close ups. these bring the audience into the shot more. i try to convey what our eyes see, but in a way that our brain does not notice. a camera expresses what we see in a way we cannot, and expresses how i feel in a way i cannot.

DP-Roger Deakins

The DP that i chose to study is Roger Deakins. Roger Deakins has done many works, most notably with the Coen brothers, as he has been their main cinematographer for several films. Deakins started out in still photography, but moved to film work as a way for a career. Originally, Deakins was interested in documentary and that style, but soon began working on dramas and other films. Deakins has an extensive resume and his style can change to please his directors.
The thing i enjoy about Deakins work is the variety he can create. Look at 'O Brother Where Art Thou' which is bright, colorful, and fun and compare it to "Fargo" which has a dimmer look, with a lot of black and while colors. however, his frames are always visually interesting and he makes great use of subtle things on a set that catch the viewers eye, things like symmetry and depth.
Deakins has talked about his different styles, adn how with different directors he can do different things. Even just for teh coen brothers Deakins will show variety. Deakins says that the more he is able to work with a director the more they can explore more ideas and get more complex, but even as teh difficulty increases the understanding and ease increases.
One can look at 'Fargo' and see a simple scene, a lot of snow and night shots with a static frame. That movie is played in masters and X2 coverage shots, not too much camera movement. However in 'Barton Fink', Deakins uses much more camera movement to guide the action. The camera is more involved than in other films, but this variety adds to Deakins ability. He is able to make a simple shot very compelling with angles and depth, and he collaborates with teh Coen Brothers perfectly.




"O Brother, Where Art Thou"




"Barton Fink"




"Fargo"

Direct a Scene

this is a short film, all one scene. enjoy!
directed by johnny hanna, director of photography micah russell, actor milton ragsdale.

Guns and Pills from UA, Telecommunication and Film on Vimeo.

reels.

i believe a director or dp has a few options for good shots for their reel. first, if there is a take from any film you have done previously, then it can be used. this may be a funny scene. nice composition, it may be special to you for some reason, or it just may be a shot that you enjoy seeing. besides shots already done, there may be some shots that are floating around in your head that do not specifically belong or fit in to a film. these can be shot for the hell of shooting them, and they are great in a reel because so much time and energy will be put into that one shot, instead of that shot being lost in the shuffle of all the takes done for a movie. i have two ideas for shots for my reel, both are individual shots that i just want to take. i also have some good ideas about movement, but may be limited by equipment. how about a camera on a bike?

$$$$ shot

i think the money shot is a shot that a director or DP knows they have while they are shooting it. there is just something that feels different about a money shot, that feeling is what i think tells you it is a money shot. once you cut on that shot, you walk away smiling at the take. this shot is going to be visually compelling, and something about the scene will call for more attention than the other scenes. there does not have to be only one money shot in a film, each sequence in the film can have its own money shots. these shots stand out above the others for their visual composition, framing, lighting, and action in the scene. it all makes for a special take.

project prepping

this has been a fun project to prepare for as it is 'my project'. i think about it alot, and that helps. i have found it really helpful to take notes at any random moment an idea for a shot or lighting comes into mind. notes for my journal, shot ideas are what i have been working on so far, no story board to date. i dont like story boards, i dont like having something telling me what i must shoot, i may want to change it a week after i make one. an ongoing list of ideas that are very possible is almost a better replacement for my use. my DP and i have a lot of the same ideas for the project, and i think the conjuction will yield some good results. just reviewing the script will bring another idea in. review and notes seem to be the best pre production methods along with compiling eqpmt, crew, and shot litst.

piece from fall 2009.

i did this entertainment news type piece last fall on a track and field athlete here at UofA for entertainment news production class. hope you enjoy.

chelsea taylor news piece from UA, Telecommunication and Film on Vimeo.

camera movement

this assignment, concerning camera movement, was a nice one to complete. i found a clip from the movie "four rooms", a tarantino thriller that i actually forgot how great of a movie it actually is. one of the reasons this film, and most tarantino films, is visually compelling is because of the quick cuts, odd angles, and symmetrical framing that is utilized. the clip is only 1:36, and has a link for it below.
the first shot is a medium waist shot, and is actually the 'token' tarantino shot of himself he has in every one of his films. nice framing, still camera movement, has the table and money soft in the foreground. the next shot is a pre-cursor for an angle used later, an overhead of the table, but this is close on the money, three stacks of $100 bills. we then cut to a still shot, CU of the bellboy, head in hands listening to tarantino. 'four rooms' sticks with the still camera shot again for a profile shot of tarantino continuing the explanation. that is the end of the still shots, the next few are slow moving tracking shots. while tarantino continues to talk, the CU of the bellboy is pulled out, so if is a medium shot from the chest up, and has a very slow zoom into the face of the bellboy. the background is soft, so the eyes stay fixed upon the bellboy for the whole shot. this is an effective movement, as the dialogue is very serious, a bet is being made for a lot of money, and the movement reflects the seriousness as we move into the mind of the bellboy. the shot stops once we are at the CU of the head again.
the next shot is the great shot in the film. we go back to the overhead, but this is a wide overhead showing the table and the five people around it. no wasted space in the frame! the camera is still for a few seconds, staying on the table, but once the men stop moving and the scene is set, the camera begins movement. this seems to be a crane shot, overhead with a slow zoom in on the action. the camera zooms in to the left of the frame, quickly cutting out the right side. the camera seems to go from a straight down angle to leveling out. it has a minor rotation of about 15 degrees and slowly levels to a CU of a lighter. this shot has a short depth of field, as the lighter is critical focus and the man's hand and shirt are a bit softer. this overhead, slow pan down leveling shot is a nice complement that is not used that often, but seems to fit tarantino perfectly. the action is slowly unfolding, building to a moment just as the camera is slowly moving to a spot. once there, we have a few quick cuts (pinky gets chopped off, man screams), before a steadi-cam shot of the bellboy swiping the money from the table, putting it away, and waltzing out of the room. even here, the action is quick. the last shot is one continuous shot, but goes from money, quickly to pocket, quickly to bellboy's head, and he quickly turns and leaves the room. this is the immediate aftermath of the bet, and everything seems to be happening fast with a lot of commotion in the background, and the quick cuts and movements mirror the feeling.
i think the camera movement in this film is excellent, and has the traditional tarantino quick cut style to it. i do not see any 'bad' tracking shots in this clip, as the clips match the mood of the scene very well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzYOrldilP4

short film

this is not my favorite online short, just to preface. this is more of a music video but i still find compelling images in it and i like the setup of not trying to hide itself. the short knows what it is. so this piece is kind of making fun of itself in a way. i say this because of the background and the attire of the people. it places itself on a stage with a spotlight, and alternates between close ups of the faces and medium shots of the group dancing. it follows a pattern, alternating between people and between faces and groups. it has a high key lighting setup, and uses all thirds of the frame.

http://www.dscheinert.net/movies/2009_ItsCoolToRap.mov

shot analysis: Fargo

For this assignment, I chose the Coen brother’s film, “Fargo”. The DP on this film was Roger Deakins, who I think is a very good cinematographer. I chose a 2 minute sequence of a scene about thirty minutes into the movie. The setup is that the two men have kidnapped a women who is in the backseat, and they are taking her to a remote location. The tags arent on the car, so the cop pulls them over. From here, the story begins to spiral out of control.
The scene begins with black, and then a Paul Bunyan statue appears. There is a pan down from a low angle of the statue, a slow and drawn out pan that is signifying dark events that are about to occur. It is dark outside, but the statue has a high key light on it. We then go to some shot reverse shot and OTS shots of the main character driving. These are done from the backseat, and the scene is dimly lit. This is giving the scene an edge or a nervousness of what is to come. They then use a medium shot to show a cop pull up in the rear window with his lights on. There is somewhat of a short depth of field as the lights on the police car are soft as he approaches. Once the cop is at the window, suspense is brought it. In the medium shot, we cannot see the cops face until the end, as his midsection takes up the center and right thirds of the frame. Steve Buschemi occupies the left third. This scene is lit using the cops’ flashlight and some fill light in the back. There is also a power position shot as we see from the cops POV a camera looking down at Buschemi, as in the cop authority looking down at the subjects. As Buschemi is attempting to talk his way out of the problem, we see several profile shots of the characters, all looking nervous in dim light. These close ups are conveying the tension in the situation. This shows that they are in trouble and are apprehensive about what is to come. The cop, in the same section of the frame, leans his head in and we see the man’s face for the first time, thinking the suspense may be over. The camera is in the passenger seat for this as we look across Buschemi, who is driving the car. We see Bushemi’s partner then reach across screen, just his arm, from left to right and grab the cops head and repeatedly bangs it on the window. There is a quick cut to a gun, and then from outside at the cops former POV we hear the shot and see the head get hit by the bullet, killing the cop. This is done on a medium shot that crams all three faces into the shot. There is then a CU of Buschemi, looking very nervous, and a shot reverse shot of the passenger. The gun is in the foreground of the passenger, the gun is soft, but is showing us that this is what happened. This guy pulled out this gun and killed a cop. Next is a medium shot from outside the car. Buschemi is just to the right of center with the dead cop, and their car and the cop car occupy the left and right third of the frame respectively. This is when we see a different light set than what was in the car. Before it was dark and dissonant, just the flashlight and some fill. Now the scene is lit a bit more even though we are outside in the dark. Even with the light the cop and Buschemi are dark, almost silhouette. cars have their headlights on, lighting the area around them and some of the snow. Buschemi drags the corps around the cars and off the road, lit with the headlights.
This whole scene, and movie, has a dark feature to it with the lights and the Coen Brothers and Deakins use the blackness of night, the white of snow, and the red of blood to contrast well together. And as always, the shots are very aesthetically pleasing. NOTE: my image grabs are in the reverse order of how they happen. so start at bottom image and work up. also, this was not the end of the scene just the end of how far i did the analysis.

beautiful lighting

this was sort of an odd assignment, i feel like it is similar to the first one we did on cinematography and lighting. nonetheless, i found 2 images that i believe have beautiful lighting. the first image is a photograph by Rarindra Prakarsa. i really like the gold overtone with it being strongest on the sheet. i love the way water plays in this picture, not only the reflection on the sheet but also capturing the gold. my second picture is a photo of quentin tarantino from a new york times article. i feel like the photo is quirky, like tarantino, considering he is wearing heels and appears to be a womens suit. he is centered but not facing center, and the light has the creepy 70's feel to it. also, notice the lingerie over the lamp. interesting.

Rarindra Prakarsa photo
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://ursispaltenstein.ch/blog/images/uploads_img/rarindra_prakarsa_photography_2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ursispaltenstein.ch/blog/weblog.php%3F/weblog/comments/5879/&usg=__jsGH9PMOP-Pn2JZBM4UBgyPEQD8=&h=398&w=560&sz=44&hl=en&start=2&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=ksMVwQDp_8F5KM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=133&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbeautiful%2Blighting%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:*:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7GGLJ_en%26um%3D1

Tarantino photo
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/themoment/posts/0820tarantino.2.jpg

Portrait of a Place. Rama Jama's

this is my portrait of a place. it is rama jama's, the breakfast, burger, shake shack on bryant dr. i chose this place because i thougt it could almost tell a story itself. the owner is very nice, and looks like nick saban. enjoy!

Portrait of Rama Jama's from UA, Telecommunication and Film on Vimeo.

portrait of a place

we have been assigned to film a portrait of a place. this seems daunting at first, 2+ minutes with no dialogue, but can be made easier when broken down. im filming a place that i think is unique to tuscaloosa and unique to the spirit of tuscaloosa, that is rammer jammers. im not making a storyboard or anything in depth. just a good idea of the shots, i know i want a lot of pictures and food filmed. i can speak to the owner and having a better idea about the history of the restaurant, a history i will try and convey through compelling images.

this week

well this was a nice week for class. both days involved working hands on with these new hd cameras. they sure do look good in 1080i and 24p. really nice stuff. the exercises were nice, review for the most part but working with a camera is better than a lecture so ill take it. i learned more about thinking conceptually on framing a shot, just little technical ideas here and there about placement. not much in practice, i knew how to do everything we did. it really is just a matter of converting it from one camera to another. but really, all cameras white balance or adjust the iris in the same manner, just find the button and the adjuster. bu it was a nice week of work, cant wait to get to the real good stuff.

filmmaking? me?

to say you want to grow up and be a filmmaker is quite a broad exclamation. of course, we would all love to one day be a famous hollywood director, but is that really a reality? im not sure it is, which is why that is not my personal goal for filmmaking. i love movies, and i love making them but more than that i enjoy working with a camera. honestly, in my ideal world i would own my own restaurant or two and have the ability to make films on the side. however, in another sense i need a back up plan to that, one that involves a job out of college very fast. with that said, i have really taken a liking to sports filming. i completed my internship filming football practices and games for tuscaloosa county high school, and that experience has led me to wanting to film more football. i would not mind being one of those guys filming the nfl one day, working for a tv company. all of that would suit me. in fact, im trying to film alabama football for the coming season, a work in progress. with athat said, my goals for this course are to become more comfortable with a camera, more comfortable being on a set, just more experience overall that can help me whether its on a movie set or on football field.

my visual style

trying to come up with your own visual style is somewhat difficult, as i feel it changes with each project. however, i think that there is a general style people have, and i went to some of my favorite movies to figure out my general style. i really like uneven lighting. i like the chiaroscuro look on alot of things, i like the light to be very prevalent in one area then not in the others. here is a chiaroscuro idea seen in the sky, and i like how the clouds are very lit up in the middle and get darker on the way out.

another image i like is this still shot from oceans 11 movie, a shot at the end of the movie. i think this is a beautiful image, and again we have a major source of light and everything else is dark or silhouetted against it. even the line up of the people is visually compelling, as the heads of the people are in a 'mountain range' shape moving gradually up then down. this is one of my favorite movies and this may be my favorite shot from it.

the third image is a shot from the movie 'let the right one in'. it is a swedish film about a vampire girl. i love the way snow plays in movies, especially with the blood and night. anytime blood is used with snow, milk, or other white items it has a very good contrast.

top 10 films

in no particular order:

1.The Departed

2. Tropic Thunder

3. Charlie Wilsons War

4. 28 Days Later

5. All the Kings Men

6. Good Night and Good Luck

7. 'Oceans' Series

8. Burn After Reading

9. Fargo

10. DeathProof

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1272007/