☁️WilDreams☁️: 2023-10-08

Wednesday, October 11, 2023

Preliminary Exercise 9: Practicing Camerawork Day 2

Introduction

Hello everyone! In my last post, I discussed how my teammates and I united and applied essential camerawork skills such as shot sizes, camera angles, framing, and composition when completing this overall project, which is meant for us to practice what we have learned about filmmaking so far in this media studies class.

Another term our production team has studied in this filmmaking journey is the term cinematography, or as the Oxford Dictionary defines it, “the art or technique of camerawork in filmmaking.” On set, the person who is responsible for this position is, as you have most likely guessed, a cinematographer.

A Shout-Out to a Camerawork Legend

It is noteworthy to mention one of the most renowned, Academy Award for Best Cinematography, and Oscar-winning figures of Hollywood, Roger Deakins. He has helped produce work that is recognized to this day such as the childhood favorite franchise “How to Train Your Dragon,” as well as movie franchises that appeal to more mature audiences like “Sicario.” Roger Deakins was in charge of cinematography for these movies, because cinematographers responsible for camerawork.

Shot 1:

A thoughtful friend/cousin gives a birthday gift to her cousin.

Shot 2:

Two best friends intensely stare, and pierce into each other's eyes, mimicking the typical stare-down trope of someone who is about to brawl. They are shown play fighting.

Shot 3:

A Hello Kitty figurine with a pink, cat-suit themed onesie.

Shot 4:

My brother gazes into the rooftops plants at he Frost Museum, while he is deep in his thoughts.

Shot 5:

This Christmas artifact has been kept by my family for several years, and is typically placed in a corner nearby our Christmas tree.

Shot 6:

Frost Museums' visitors and tourists observe the turtles, snakes, and baby alligators within an artificial rocky habitat.

Shot 7:

A student is seen attempting to do a popular pose form a well renowned anime called, "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure,"; the pose is referred to as the "Jojo Pose."

Shot 8:

A full display of the Christmas tree our family assembled, and decorated for this year (2023).

REFLECTION- The Creative Process Continues

In short, our team’s objective for this project was to put techniques we have learned into practice, and the term cinematography has given us a new perspective of filmmaking to remember, which is that camerawork can be an art form used to express messages we aspire to share. All these innovative approaches combined has only grown our passion and wisdom in preparation for our film, and learning how to capture events and people in different lights and settings has made it easier to choose which shots will suit our movie the most.

Just as the last blog has explained, our team decided to continue the roles we exceled in to insure our best produced is published to our blogs. Peyton P (the producer) was responsible for shot ideas and contributed some of the images we used for our blog, while Marley B (the director) continued thoroughly research for camerawork ideas that would enhance our images, and both Lexi M and I (the camerapersons and cinematographers) continued to capture the shots at school, at home, and on field trips.

After our team each executed our part, we uploaded our images and annotations for our images seen above, and our goal was finally attained! The platform that Lexi M and I used to take each shot was done on the Camera application on our phones, and because we use our phones often, and were able to perform at an expert level.

Largely, this serves as an immense lesson on cooperation, and team building skills, as well as the importance of each member contributing their part, so our work can come together as a whole is crucial. We also learned about cinematography, in which my partner and I realized we were cinematographers without knowing.

WORK CITED:

-Oed.com. (2023). cinematography - Quick search results | Oxford English Dictionary. [online] Available at: https://www.oed.com/search/dictionary/?scope=Entries&q=cinematography [Accessed 5 Apr. 2024].

Monday, October 9, 2023

Preliminary Exercise 8: Practicing Camerawork Day 1

Introduction

From observing the title of this post, you may be wondering, what is Camerawork? Camerawork notes the techniques and ways cameras are used in the production of a film. Studying those camera methods are key, because as, “7 Basic Camera Movements (And Why they matter), www.seenit.io,” states, “camera movement can add a lot of meaning to your footage, changing and shaping a viewer’s perspective of a scene.”

Considering what techniques to use while planning our group’s planning shots, we broke down camerawork into four categories, written in the title of this blog, such as shot size, camera angles, framing, and composition. Below, these elements of camerawork defined, to clear any confusion:

Example: Establishing shot

-Camera Angles: The angle in which the camera is placed, while focusing on the subject.

Example: Dutch Angle

-Framing: The position of the camera directed at the number of subjects.

Example: Point-of-View Shot

-Composition: Visual arrangements in a camera frame.

Example: Depth of field

Sparked With Inspiration

On set, insuring all the elements above are included and properly executed in a film, a production team must have a cinematographer, otherwise known as photography director. One highly renowned, and among one of the most favored cinematographers by the public (myself included) is Bill Pope. For those who may not know, Bill Pope has collaborated on major film products in the film industry such as “the Matrix (1999),” and “the Jungle Book (2016),” in which are movies that have left significant impacts in Hollywood, still discussed until this day. As a result of these film’s overall positive receptions in the box office, he received countless awards such as a Primetime 2014 Creative Arts Emmy award, and a BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography.

My group and I intend to emulate Bill Pope and developing camerawork skills, because those skills provide inspiration for methods to use to emphasize elements of Mise-en-Scene we will produce in our film.

Shot 1:

A figure hides in the shadows, appearing to be a dark figure whose silhouette is barely distinguishable.

©Tone: Unsettling

Shot 2:

A high school student (Khloe) strides as she follows her classmates, and media studies teacher to learn how to capture camerawork in a school setting.

Shot 3:

Highschool students are shown lounging in the football field's bleachers, which waiting for a game to begin.

Shot 4:

Due to a minor gas leakage accident, students and teachers from a particular building were instructed to patiently wait outside until the issue was resolved.

Shot 5:

A feeling of discontent is expressed on the center cheerleader's face, due to a slight annoyance, while the other cheerleaders contrast with her, exuding content and eagerness.

Shot 6:

A man cosplays as Inosuke from a popular anime called "Demon Slayer," and just as the original character iconically points his sword to boast his bravery, he does the same in this image.

Shot 7:

My brother observed the numerous, diverse species of aquatic life kept at the Frost Museum in this image; the aquarium contains various fish, coral, and plant species (as well as sharks).

Shot 8:

Two students in a media studies class express their interest in an object they are looking at (their phones).

REFLECTION

During the production process for this assignment, our production team each contributed their own strengths into making our final product. Our team collaborated as directors, set designers, and camerapersons filming school, field trip, and home settings with people in our community and our surroundings acting, which made our project be complete and come together.

Our group purposefully arranged our shots to capture school and home locations, which reflect the genre that we are basing our movie on, which is the horror genre, or comedic, psychological horror sub-genre to be more specific. As a whole, we portrayed different social groups and settings in a humorous, or unsettling way conventionally found in the comedic, psychological horror genre.

For example, our first shot, established a dark, undistinguishable figure at the bottom of a flight of stairs. This was meant to create an unfamiliar, and unnerving atmosphere. Another example is our fifth shot, which showed contrast between an annoyed cheerleader who is surrounded by two happy, and upbeat cheerleaders, which is relative to paradoxes used in the comedy genre.

Using the shot sizes, camera angles, framing and composition that we chose made conveying our genre much easier, because subtle elements such as facial expressions, combined with atmosphere and mood, can have a significant impact on how a shot is perceived. Our teamwork, and overall uniting the camerawork skills we learned in this exercise has helped us to accomplish the goal of this assignment.

To explain, my dear and fellow teammates and I all each worked in areas of our personal expertise such as Peyton P brainstorming fresh, innovative approaches which shots to use, Marley B researching and planning how to capture our shots, and Lexi M, Peyton, and I oversaw photography.

We used our personal Camera app on our phones, and adjusted the quality and camera lenses to capture all the shots in this blog. Due to our regular occupation on our phones, we performed these camerawork skills at an expert level.

All in all, we learned the importance and impact of using camerawork in film, as well as key camerawork terms, which will help us in the near future during the production of our upcoming movie.

WORK CITED:

-Stennett, E. (2022). 7 Basic Camera Movements (And Why They Matter!). [online] Seenit. Available at: https://www.seenit.io/blog/6-basic-camera-movements-and-why-they-matter/.

☁️WilDreams☁️

Wednesday, October 11, 2023

Preliminary Exercise 9: Practicing Camerawork Day 2

Monday, October 9, 2023

Preliminary Exercise 8: Practicing Camerawork Day 1

Goodbye Aice MediaStudies Dream Team!

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