Loser! – Final Project

Cinema Production was the first class at Elon University that taught me things I did not already know how to do with a camera. Coming into Elon, I have had four years of practice with a film camera, and hated having to sit through classes teaching me what the shutter speed, and aperture do. Finally I learned something new. But more importantly I learned what I came to Elon to learn: I learned how to use a myriad of different camera accessories, such as the pocket jib, and I learned when the appropriate time to use them would be. I learned how to be a cinematographer, and for the first time in my college career I feel like I am one step closer to my goal, and dream job.

Cinema Production also taught me how to be more organized. As someone who has ADHD, procrastination, and disorganization are huge issues that I always seem to cause myself. Because the textbook Professor Triche has her class study has so many different ways to organize in both pre, and post production, I had no excuse. I had options. And you can clearly see how much the instructions, and tips in the textbook have helped me improve my work.

Finally, I still have not mastered working on set, and in the editing suites, with people who either I do not click with, or who seemingly simply do not like me. This year, one group member in particular was constantly degrading and disrespectful to my work, and because I have not learned how to be confrontational in a professional  way, I let them get away with it. Which is arguably worse than not saying anything. Nevertheless, I largely blame this inability to communicate on all of the problems I have with the final cut of Loser!. For example, the color correction in one of the newer shots is way off, one half of the room is extremely blue, while the other is extremely yellow. And while I understand that this scene was difficult to color correct, because there are two separate rooms with two separate lighting situations, the way my partner handled me telling them that the original version looked better was incredibly rude, and unprofessional. This trend continued with every suggestion I made regarding our final, which is also why there are not a lot of scenes where Peter is talking about his D&D characters. Nevertheless, I accept full responsibility for these shortcomings because in the end it is my fault for not being assertive enough with my group member, and for being too timid to confront them when it mattered most.

That all being said, I still have not mastered the art of leaving enough wiggle room in the shooting schedule for when things inevitably go wrong. During the reshoot phase of Loser! , Peter’s roommate, Chris, cancelled on me literally two hours before our scheduled shooting time. This day was Sunday, two days before the final project was due, and I had no backup plan. So unfortunately, I was not able to capture any of the moments the class said they wanted to see of Chris and Peter interacting. But instead I captured more than enough footage of what the class said they wanted to see of Peter alone.

All in all, I am very grateful to Triche for teaching this class, and very grateful to Elon for offering it.

Project 3 – Fiction

The fiction piece was everything I could have hoped for. I had the honor of being my group’s director of photography, which is what I ultimately want to do in the film industry.

Being DP for this group, though fun, was incredibly difficult. Our film involves someone falling to their death from a second story window. So, even though we had the perfect location to film the first 90% of the project, we had to find a way to reshoot the fight scene with the ghost and the student while making it seem like they were in the same room. This proved itself to be the most difficult thing about the shoot because no first floor classroom had the same layout as the one we initially filmed in. And if they did then the windows wouldn’t open and they would be useless. This was an issue because in the original classroom there was an immovable desk next to the window the fight scene takes place in front of. So, I had to reshoot the fight scene from crazy angles, and be incredibly careful not to cross a certain line in order to maintain the illusion that we were in the same room.

Editing was tedious because of the stylistic choices in lighting the group made. We decided that the majority of the project would be shot under red, and blue altmans. This gave the film a creepy, more sinister look and tone which is what we were going for, however it often put the actors’ faces in shadow. Our rough cut was basically invisible to the class as a result; everything was simply too dark and no one could tell what was going on. So, after our reshoots, we had to adjust the color curves in every clip while maintaining the same look, and making sure nothing turned out grainy unintentionally.

Finally, the last challenge the group had to overcome was the sound. Because our piece is both fiction and horror, we had to find the right balance between scary and realistic. Alex, who directed, wanted a lot of big noises, and heavy breathing. This aspect was easy enough, though it took a very long time to find a byte of heavy breathing that did not sound sexual, or cliche. What made the sound design most challenging,  however, was Alex’s desire to have little to no music whatsoever. So, the pressure was on to have perfectly timed foley for every single action. We spent hours recording different ways to try and open a locked door, pencils snapping, tapping on phones, taking headphones off, and even the sound of smiles (the most disgusting sound in the world). Obviously recording was the easy/fun part, mixing everything in Premiere was the tedious part.

In conclusion I am incredibly pleased with this group’s final project. And am incredibly thankful to have, finally, been given the opportunity to show my skills behind the camera.

Trusting the Saddle – Project 2

Creating a documentary was a lot more simple, and a lot more challenging, than I initially thought. It was simple finding a subject to film, and thinking of questions to ask. Patrick Marley is one of the most interesting people I have ever met, so I knew he would be the perfect subject for a documentary. And on top of that, because he won gold in the Grand Prix he has done a lot of interviews, so he was comfortable in front of the cameras and even told me what he thought would be an interesting story.

The story was one of the more challenging aspects. Even though Patrick told us he wanted to tell his and Honey’s story after the Grand Prix, specifically how Honey still influences his riding today, he focused a little too much on the dates and a little too little on the story. This became a problem in the editing suites. Because my group and I had to cut down on a lot of the audio there were a lot of jump cuts that needed to be covered up by interview. Editing in general was a challenge because the editing room is where the final script is written. It is for that reason that I believe making a fiction piece is easier than making a documentary. On a documentary set, everything is basically a free for all. Sure you have questions written down and a basic idea of what you want the final product to turn out like, but that’s all you have: an idea. Whereas, in a fiction piece you have everything laid out before you, nothing can be questioned.

Though making this documentary was fun, and a great learning experience, I think I will stick to fiction pieces. Having everything up in the air on set was a little too nerve racking for me.

Film Critique – Fiction

For my fifth, and final, film this semester I decided to watch House of Flying Daggers, a wuxia directed by Zhang Yimou. I chose this film mostly because it is one of Yimou’s, the most famous Chinese director, lesser known films, and because of the stunning cinematography. House of Flying Daggers is a character piece, so the plot does get a tad convoluted and can be difficult to follow if you do not pay attention. The basic plot is, the Tang dynasty is trying to keep control over China against the rebel group, The House of Flying Daggers. The House of Flying Daggers is the government’s biggest threat because it is basically the Chinese version of Robin Hood; they steal from the rich and give to the poor and stir up political unrest. The film opens with two police officers, Leo and Jin, who are ordered to investigate a blind dancer, Mei, who is rumored to be a member of the organization. One three minute sword fight later, Leo captures Mei and imprisons her. Mei is later freed by Jin who is pretending to be a supporter of The House of Flying Daggers and tricks Mei into taking him there. During their trip, however Mei and Jin fall in love. Unbeknownst them, Leo falls in love with Mei as well and forces her to choose, and, because she chooses Jin, he kills her.

I believe this film was so successful for a few reasons. First, all of Yimou’s films feature the same things: a strong female lead, beautiful cinematography, beautiful sound mixing all combined to make some of the most interesting fight sequences I have ever seen on film.  Secondly, Yimou’s films all have at least one, or two, of the same actors and actresses; everyone on set has a well established, working relationship.  Having returning actors also gave them, and ultimately their characters, better chemistry. If Zhang Ziyi (Mei), and Takeshi Kaneshiro (Jin) did not have such good chemistry on set, their character’s three day love story would not have been believable. That being said, however, with the exception of the three main characters many aspects of the film are not believable. For example, Mei is blind and has no trouble riding a horse on her own through the forest, or Jin will shoot five arrows, fifty feet away from his moving targets, and every single one will hit their mark. These inconsistencies with realism are acceptable though, because of the genre of the film, the interesting way they were shot, and the fact that the acting made it believable. Mei is blind, however she is an extraordinary sword fighter, her performance, under Yimou’s direction, is believable because it is established early on, in the first fight sequence, that she uses sound to tell where her opponent is.

I would recommend this film to anyone and everyone. It has action, beauty, and romance. Every single shot in this film looks like a painting, Yimou’s attention to detail, and his obvious love of color make every shot take your breath away. The story is unconventional, with a blind, female lead kicking ass and being aloof and confident when two men start to feud over her; the main plot is the romance hidden beneath the Tang dynasty versus House of Flying Daggers subplot. This film sticks with you months after seeing it; it is for the action goers, the romance lovers, the cinematographers, and everyone in between.

Documentary Film Critique

The documentary I chose to watch for this assignment was Swastika, directed by Phillippe Mora. I chose this documentary because it is the most controversial documentary about Hitler ever made. It was so controversial, that it was banned in Germany for 37 years. The reason Swastika was, and is, such a controversial film is because it features the colorful home videos shot by Hitler’s wife, Eva Braun. Hitler is seen playing with puppies, chatting with friends, hosting parties and picnics, frolicking with young children, and going on beach dates. To contrast this incredibly innocent looking, and seemingly normal life, as documented by Eva, the film includes some of the most powerful and disturbing propaganda videos that Hitler created. The contrast between these two separate lives Hitler lead, his personal life and the one he wanted the world to see and believe, is Mora’s way of reminding the viewers, and the world, that though Hitler was a terrifying, evil dictator, he was still a human. As a matter of fact, this central theme is the first thing in the documentary, stating: “If the human features of Hitler are lacking in the image of him that is passed on to posterity, if he is dehumanized and shown only as a devil, any future Hitler may not be recognized simply because he is a human being.”

Though the premise of Swastika seems like it would make for an incredibly interesting story, it is not so; there is no story in this documentary at all. Swastika is not set up like a traditional documentary, consisting of a main interview followed by b-roll, Swastika is entirely b-roll; there is no interview whatsoever. Because of this, Swastika is best described as a documentation of Hitler in his day-to-day life. The idea of having no plot, or story in an hour and a half long documentary might lead people to believe that it will bore them after a certain point, however this is not the case. Hitler, however hateful, is an incredibly interesting character, and this film shows him in a way that is seldom, if ever, seen. It is both fascinating and terrifying to see one of the most hated men in history smiling, and playing with puppies. And it is even more fascinating and terrifying to see how his propaganda and how much of an influence it was on the German people, how many thousands raised their right arms and shouted “heil Hitler,” how children were taught so say “heil Hitler” after grace, and so on. So, though the documentary has no story, and almost no dialogue, the character is interesting enough, and his story is so well known, that no story was necessary at all.

That all being said, however, Swastika can be a grueling documentary to watch in one sitting. Many of the images are terrifying and visceral. Seeing throngs of people pledging their faith to Hitler, so help them god, and fireworks spelling out “heil Hitler,” and dozens of planes creating dozens of swastikas in the sky can be difficult to stomach for an hour and half; the documentary is unsettling. So for these reasons I would not recommend Swastika to the faint of heart. I would absolutely recommend watching a least a small part of it, however, because Mora’s words ring true, if Hitler is seen only as a devil, any future Hitler will not be recognized because they are human.

Pre 1970s Film Critique

For my pre 1970s film critique I had the privilege of watching German director, Murnau’s, film The Last Laugh (1924). The film is about an elderly doorman who loses his job due to his age and is forced to work in the hotel’s basement where he inevitably is forgotten and dies. Though the plot of this film seems simple The Last Laugh is the single most influential film ever made.

Not only is this the first silent film to not use title cards, The Last Laugh, is also the first film to ever incorporate camera movement, foreground/background, and new lighting techniques. Murnau managed to include dolly shots, tilts, zooms, racking focus, tracking shots, PoV shots, and even crane shots in his film. What is most impressive is that Murnau did not do all of these camera movements to prove that he can; Murnau had his camera move in only to add to the drama of his film.

Before  The Last Laugh, film sets were evenly lit: shadows did play a huge part in a narrative, and the depth of field on the camera was very shallow giving the films an overall theatrical feel. The camera movement added a lot of depth (foreground and background) to Murnau’s film but the lighting techniques he used did even more so. In many scenes the only source of light is a flashlight, or the back ground of the scene is well lit while the foreground is not. The film gets progressively darker as the main character’s life gets progressively more tragic; the basement of the hotel is nearly entirely black to resemble a cave. So, like with camera movement, Murnau only introduced new ways of lighting the set, and actors to add to the drama of his narrative.

Murnau was the director to introduce camera movement, and lighting techniques that are standard in Hollywood, and every film industry around the world, today. Though another director later on could have come up with the same concept and executed it, their ego could have gotten in the way and the camera movement would have merely been for the sake of getting a cool shot rather than adding depth to the narrative, an error some film makers make even today.

Experimental Film Critique

The experimental film I decided to watch was Days of Being Wild, directed by Wong Kar Wai. The film is basically about a young womanizer, York (or Yuddy depending on your translation) who leads on two women, Su Li Zhen and Mimi, for an undetermined amount of time before dumping them and leaving the country to find his estranged mother. After being rejected by his mother York is found drunk on the side of the road by Tide, an ex police officer turned fisherman who was acquainted with one of the women York rejected. The two board a train together but York gets shot and dies, the outcome this event has on Tide, and both of the women remains a mystery.

I believe that Days of Being Wild qualifies as an experimental film because Wong Kar Wai excludes any character development, and establishing shots from the film, meaning the audience has no idea who the characters are, at first, or where any of the events are taking place. In exchange of character introduction via techniques like exposition in dialogue, Wong Kar Wai uses the set, and composition of his shots to let the audience know who these characters are. For example, Su Li Zhen is characterized as being timid and submissive. In nearly every scene of hers she is boxed in; her back is always to a wall, she is always tucked away into a corner, she never addresses the camera or other characters to their faces. The only time Su Li Zhen is not framed this way is when she liberates herself from her heartbreak after being rejected by York, she is out in the open beyond any sort of walls. So, Wong Kar Wai uses the way characters are placed within a scene to physically show the audience who they are, and how they change over time.

Wong Kar Wai excludes establishing shots from his film in order to remove the characters from a definitive place in time. A sense of unhappiness, and heartbreak is ever present within his film by his choice in colors, using cool and muted colors only, and by his use of light, or lack thereof. There is barely any light in many scenes, distorting character’s faces, adding to their characterization and development, and further removing them from a definitive location on top of time. By removing his characters from all temporal and geographical context, one can hypothesize that the purpose behind these choices was to show the audience that human suffering is eternal. Every character is in a perpetual state of longing and heartbreak, and their actions, York being the exception, have no consequence.

I would not recommend this film to most people because it is incredibly hard to keep track of. For the sake of making an artistic observation on the human condition, Wong Kar Wai completely sacrifices all plot; there basically is none. I would only recommend the film to people who have a deep appreciation for cinematography because of the variety of shots Wong Kar Wai produces with a shaky, handheld camera, because Wong Kar Wai was more interested than producing a work of art than a story.

Stop Motion PSA: Distracted Driving

The sound design for this project presented me with two major challenges: finding voice actors and deciding whether or not to sacrifice realism for clarity.

My original plan was to have four characters: Captain America, Harry Potter, and Joker. In the final moments of the PSA I was going to have Joker set off a bomb, destroying the city, however I decided that that would be too many explosive moments in term of sound, would be too complicated to film in stop motion, and I could not find a fourth voice actor willing to play the part.

In postproduction I had to create six audio tracks to fit all the elements I desired. I started with ambiance, which I collected myself from the streets around campus. Then music. Next I included any major sound effects like the car crash, the motorcycle and the fire. After that I included less significant sound effects like Captain America’s phone vibrating and Harry Potter Dropping his sword. After that I mixed the voices.

Since the scene was supposed to be chaotic there was a lot of overlap which made it difficult to decide who to prioritize in terms of voice. For the most part I prioritized Captain America, because he was the villain, for lack of a better word, in the story. For instance, Batman’s “dun nun nas” when he is running across the street are barely audible under Captain America, the motorcycle and Harry’s warning. That being said, however, Harry’s warning was also not as loud as it could have, or should have, been in hindsight. It would have been more realistic, and effective to lower the sound of the motorcycle in that moment and have Harry speaking at almost max volume. However I wanted the threat of the crash to be ever present and in this case had to sacrifice realism for dramatic effect.

In the last few moments, I overlaid Captain America and Harry once again. This time Cap takes the back seat while Harry’s audio is the most prominent. I think I had Cap speak a little too softly, and had the fire sound effect in the background a little too loud. So Cap’s guilt is somewhat muffled and distorted, as is Harry’s. In this instance I should have sacrificed realism for drama, lowered the volume of the fire crackling, and made Harry and Cap’s voices more distinguishable.

Other than those two instances, however, I believe I did a decent job sound mixing this project. If I had to go back I would have focused less on the visual, and dramatic aspects and focused more on finding the right balance between drama and realism in the sound.

Film Critique 1 – Animation

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The animated film that I watched was Zootopia, because it was nominated for an oscar. The film is about a rabbit, Judy Hopps, who wants to overcome the stereotype in her society that prey animals cannot be police officers. In her attempt to do so she becomes friends with Nick Wilde, a fox, and the two embark on a journey to find a missing otter. After finding the otter, Nick and Judy discover that some of the predators are devolving into their more primal selves, and Judy unknowingly starts a race war by telling the press it is a genetic issue; predators are naturally dangerous.  In an underwhelming plot twist, it turns out that one of Judy’s childhood friends had created a biological weapon that is the cause of the predator’s dangerous behavior. In the end Nick and Judy expose her, and predators and prey set aside their differences to live in harmony.

The sound design of the film is what one would expect from an animated film designed specifically for children; over the top, and not very realistic. In every scene in every feature length, or short, film there are three major components that make up sound design: dialogue/voice over, sound effects and music. Zootopia relies mostly on dialogue and music to generate most of the sound in the film, sound effects, and sometimes ambiance, feel like afterthoughts. For example, in the very first scene we hear Judy giving a monologue about the times before predators and prey could live together harmoniously. We see a rabbit wandering through a rain forest, unaware of a predator stalking in the bushes behind it, and stopping for a drink before the predator lets out a roar and pounces. Things one would expect to hear in this scene are: the rabbit’s footsteps, rustling leaves, water swishing, perhaps the rabbit breathing, and ambiance. What we do hear is a sinister score, Judy’s monologue, a couple of very faint footprints that fall inconsistently, water swishing and a generic roar as the predator leaps. In other words, the film does not rely on realism in its sound mixing and editing. Not every scene is this passive with its sound design, however. Whenever Judy and Nick are in the city there is constant noise, ambiance, like cars honking and driving, walla, and their footsteps are clearly heard because they are walking on concrete. In most films these inconsistencies would be punished however, because this is a film made for children realism, particularly regarding sound is not a huge concern.

I would recommend Zootopia to children and parents because the plot is great for a children’s story and is a tasteful display of the dangers of racism and stereotyping. The light hearted tone, bright colors, fun pop songs and cutesy animation style skillfully mask the darker themes without completely obscuring them. I would not, however, recommend the animation industry to people who want to go into sound mixing, editing, or design because of its passive use. Sound in animated features is primarily ambiance, music and dialogue, sound effects are thrown in haphazardly to make some sequences feel more comedic, or dramatic.

A Place at Elon

Videography by: Charlotte Murphy

Edited by: Cassi Waciega

For this project I had to film at least 10 still images of a building on my university’s campus. Afterwards I made a paper edit of my images and passed it along to someone in my Com22o class to edit together into a video. I received Charlotte Murphy’s images and paper edit to create this.