Prompt 4, Readings

Sight and hearing:

This article had the least to say but the most to understand. And the reason I chose to write about this topic is because I am heavily inspired by 2 Bollywood movies, called Sairat and A Wednesday. In a nutshell, the final scenes of both movies were similar yet poles apart, in the sense that, one used only narration (sound) with a static picture  and the other only used video with no sound. Its interesting how both convey the same feeling in totally opposite way. It’s the director’s and cinematographer’s skills that just by 1 element, they put such deep effect on audience’s mind.

It is truly presented in the article that both- sound and Image can side by side but for improvisation, when sound can do the job, there is no need of the video to be played. It stills works the best if we pause the video on a certain symbolic point and let the audio do the magic and vice-versa.

The most interesting guidelines given in the article are-

When the eye is entirely won, giving nothing or almost nothing to the ear. And when a sound can replace an image, cut the image or neutralize it.

In my personal opinion, sound can do the wonders that probably an image can never do. It’s all because ears go more inwards while eyes are always the surface or just outwards. This phenomenon leaves in deep thoughts and makes me be more creative while directing a media.

If you see the history, there are great examples of both elements in their own worlds and eras. Earlier, we used to have either newspapers or magazines which used only eyes to express thoughts or radios where, only ears do the job. Both had brilliant ways to educate the audience. For example, when reporting an accident, the audience understands the whole scenario only by looking at the image shown on the papers and reading the news. It is as good as witnessing what happened on-spot. Similarly, during football or cricket commentary, radio provides the best service for people to listen to whatever is happening in the field by just listening to radio.

It’s amazing how hearing and sight play an important role and how they are never dependent on each other. It is hence correctly said that, Image and sound must not support each other, but must work each in turn through ‘a sort of relay’.

 

 

Prompt 5, Lenny reflection

Lenny exercise can be described as a full body workout, all in once. It taught me a couple of interesting things I never knew and most importantly the essence of working together in a team. A team which comprises of people with different attributes, who know their jobs well and have a great work ethic. We produced Lenny- The Book.

Pre-production:

I wasn’t physically present during the pre production schedule due to my work commitments. But my other teammates Cameron, Megan and Adil did a fantastic job in terms of making the storyboard and script breakdown. Another good part about the whole process was that it was properly planned such that all members of the team get to play all sorts of roles while producing the media.

I think, Megan and Cameron did a great job with the storyboard, but it could have been more detailed. Some of the shots were hard to understand and a bit clumsy. While production we couldn’t obviously follow what the storyboard presented but after having the scripts in our hand, we managed to creatively think about the shots and frames. Since, it was a small project, not having a storyboard, worked. But in larger projects, feature films, one can never work without a story board.

The locations, my fellow teammates chose were brilliant as they suited the theme.

A few other snapshots from the pre-production team are-

I strongly believe that they could have been more detailed.

Production:

On the production day, I played the cinematographer for the first scene and camera assistant and Assistant director in the other two. Although we only manager to shoot 2 scenes, scene 1 and 3. We preferred to be accurate and effective than hurrying up in completing the scenes. I wanted to handle the camera as I had never experienced it before and of course i learned a lot from it.

We worked with another team, and played their characters when they were shooting and vice-versa. In terms of the performance, we did a decent job in terms of sound. I think, the camera work could have been more powerful but that’s what i have learned from it for my future endeavours.The important thing we kept in our minds was the 180 degree line, which was not to be crossed during a conversation. And that definitely made a difference in the entire sequence.

 Post- production:

As usual, this is the time in the process i am most excited for. Jotting down everything together and making sense out of it, is something post production provides. But the most unfortunate thing happened with me as someone either stole or misplaced my footage and premiere file i made on the first day of the editing. It was 75 per cent done, and i lost it. I had to redo everything again, from labelling shots, sequencing them, and playing with the lights.

Therefore what i have uploaded is a rough cut of one of the versions of The Book. I made the necessary changes in the lights but still haven’t set the sound properly. I tried to use different cuts like cut on action and L and J cuts. List of shots that we made while production also played an important role while editing as it makes this process easier. 

Go Lenny!

Prompt 1, The abstract edit

One of the most challenging learning experience was this abstract exercise. Yet again we are a small tutorial and have limited people for handling different positions during a production. Stating that, I did all of the abstract shoot and edit on my own and would like to call myself a one man army.

For the first instance, i thought it would be an easy job to do, since i would be playing all the roles on my own. So no merging ideas, no compromising with thoughts and style while production. But it certainly turned out to be the most difficult situation of all times. This was the time when i learned how important it is to work in a group. I faced many hard times while going on my own like, there was no one for safety, no one to handle the tripod, no one to suggest a better frame and other technical things. And since I say all this, there were these mighty rains, I wasn’t able to cope up with.

Its very easy to sit in the editing suites and comment on bad lighting and focus. I experienced the worst case scenarios on my own. I got to know soon that all the odds were against me and then I tried to do the most simplest things possible.

I knew i had a better hand on editing than on camera. I set my aim on just getting focused shots and of course a good production design.

Limitations faced while production considering the fact that i worked on my own:

1. Due to the rain, i couldn’t set my exposure properly. Whenever i used to set the brightness, either sun would come out in the cry or clouds would cover them. It was all happening in seconds. So then i made my mind  to set this thing while editing.
2. No Safety- There was a time when i was shooting in the middle of the city, i couldn’t place my equipment bags anywhere. So the only way out is to shoot with all the bags on- the tripod and the camera case.
3. Going places- So as to move from one place to another, it was getting very hard to carry all the equipments and the cases on my own.

 

The Post-Production:  

It was the time to put all the shots together and make a creative abstract video out of it. I knew all mistakes i made during production and had planned a way out of it. It’s a creative job to combine different videos together and make a sensible story out of it.

The video is based on the city life and how people adjust themselves according to the pace of the city. The sound plays an important role in such experiments. It’s all based on the background music so as to what the actual feeling and sensation of the video is. The music i have used is a upbeat, pumping and a melodious track which goes with the pace of the city life.

I tried to use the cuts according to the music beats. I also have experimented with the video effects in the adobe premiere pro. I think the different lights gives some life to the video. Mostly, I have used the slow motion effect, because I think it gives more gravity to the video and adds a classy style.

I don’t know if the video is perfect or not, but all know is I have learned so much from it. It is completed on an experimental basis and I am so glad i got this opportunity which taught me gems, i will always treasure.

Prompt 7, You find a scene

Bajirao Mastani:

When we talk about bollywood, we need to talk about Mr. Sanjay Leela Bhansali. A Director, Producer and a music composer, he has everything a man dreams of when joining the industry. For the ones who are new to bollywood, Mr. Bhansali as a director is the epitome of elegant movies and always known for his extravagant sets and mind boggling filmography. An alumnus of The Film and Television institute of India, Sanjay Leela Bhansali is renowned for some of all time blockbusters like- Devdas 2002, Black 2005, Ram Leela, 2013 and his latest superhit Bajirao Mastani, 2016.

This scene from Bajirao Mastani, is a classic example of his brilliance in film making and of course set composition.

CAMERA SHOTS:

The scene starts from a lady, Kashi, walking in a room. The shot is kept simple as no panning or tracking is used. On the other hand, Mastani, is seen sitting on the bed. Both the shots are establishing full shots such that a relation between the characters and ambience is portrayed. As Kashi starts walking towards Mastani, the focus is maintained either by manually adjusting the focus or setting a deep depth of field.

When the conversation begins, the 180 degree line is maintained. This means that in all over the shoulder shots, they haven’t crossed the line.Whenever an expression is to be shown, the shot cuts to either a mid closeup or a close up.

SOUND:

The background score has perfect blend of inquisitiveness and subtle feeling. Its a pure ambient sound. I loved the foley work. When both the characters are walking, ghungroo’s sound is added so as to give a natural feel. If you watch the scene properly, you will also get to know that on 3:14, the dialogue has been dubbed externally as there is slight lip unlink. Another great thing about the sound is that, since the 2 characters are wearing heavy jewellery, when they move the jewellery’s sound is also heard.

EDITING:

In the first couple of seconds the editor has managed to show the relation between the characters and the ambience. He has shown Kashi walking in the room first and then mastani, which shows that Mastani didn’t know someone was visiting her. During conversations, over the shoulders are shown on every dialogue. There are also a few L and J cuts where you can see the reaction of the one who is listening.

It’s a great representation of linear editing. Close up shots are used whenever a certain expression is to been shown. There are no jerks in the cuts. They are in a loop such that the audience is connected to the story.

CAST:

Deepika Padukone plays Mastani and Priyanka Chopra plays the role of Kashi. Both are well known actresses and also share a great relationship with the director. This relation makes it easier to understand what director wants them to showcase. Both have done a phenomenal job in terms of acting.

 

Prompt 6, TK2 Taxi Driver Deconstruction

Take 2- Taxi driver deconstruction.

I had pretty much deconstructed everything on the aspects of sound, editing and production design in my earlier blogs. But today, I am talking more about the grammar and techniques of cinematography which I learned while shooting a group project, Lenny.

This scene, is a simple introductory conversation scene between the protagonist and his lady, majorly filmed in the interiors of a working place, with simple yet classic cinematography, usual commotion background score and powerful dialogues.

Storyboard:

This is a rough storyboard of the whole scene. It shows how, while directing the shot, Martin Scorsese would have made a storyboard and represented it through camera. It show all major transitions of the shots- how the character moves, how the camera tracks or pans and also which type of shot is used.

The most important and logical technique I learned while shooting Lenny was that we should never cross the 180 degree line whilst the 2 characters are in a conversation. This is an imaginary line which gives a rough idea of, when shooting over the shoulder shots, we never switch sides. It believes that the audience loses focus and interest in the scene. This is done in the start of the conversation when the cinematographer select 1 side of the imaginary line. He then shoots all OTS shots maintaining the same structure.

If in case he wants to switch sides, he will have to pan the camera from one side to the other such that the flow and continuity is not broken.

The Scene talks perfection in all possible ways. When you combine actors like De Niro, Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel, etc with powerful writing of Paul Schrader, camera brilliance of Michael Chapman and of course Martin Scorsese, you are bound to receive a never ageing film called Taxi Driver.

 

Again, I would like to focus on the background score of the scene. It attracts me the most. It shows how the director has tried to keep it real by not adding any extra score. He has just attached a typical in-house work ambience. He has included the steps sound which adds gravity to the scene.

Prompt 3, The initiative post

The producer of any media, is or should be, a leader. And that’s what I, as an individual, practice to be each and every day of my life. I have been referring to many books, articles etc, so as to hone my skills as a producer. Many of the producer’s roles include responsibility of almost everything, the process, the budget, the people and ultimately the final product (Wales and Wales) .

One of the major roles within the production business is of the Unit production manager, and this is something that interests me the most. The whole idea of managing people, business, personnel etc thrives me to become one. Not just on a professional level, but also personally, a production manager should be well planned. Since the time I have chosen to be a production manager- I have started making excel sheets for my daily routines, expenses, travel routines etc. It has helped me on a huge level as I have started thinking in a much more advance and planned manner.

There are many things which I have learned about the roles of a good production manager, by reading books, researching online and also by personal experience-

1. Making preliminary shooting schedule and script breakdown.
2. Coordinating the budget.
3. Survey of all locations, business arrangements.
4. Ensuring efficiency in production.
5. Making sure that the production report for each day is covered.
6. Arranging equipments, transportation, food etc for the crew, cats and staff.
7. Negotiation for locations, personnel and releases.
8. Maintaining liaison with the government authorities.
9. Making sure that no legal boundaries have been crossed.

According to Bastian Cleve in the book, Film production management- ‘In principle, the production manager’s job is not one of artistic creativity. (Clevé). I don’t agree with this notion, as I think and believe, everything in this industry is an art. Making proper schedules, in order to maintain the flow of any organisation, is a work of creativity with mind-boggling intelligence and management.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Wales, Lorene M and Lorene M Wales. The Complete Guide To Film And Digital Production. Boston: Pearson, 2012. Print.
2. Clevé, Bastian. Film Production Management. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Focal Press, 2006. Print.

 

Prompt 2, The expertise exercise (three shots)

For our first project we did was “Three shot exercise” so as to understand how to shoot for editing. We were just taught to use a camera- Sony X200 and asked to shoot only 3 shots and make a short story out of it. It could be anything, an action, a movement or even a complex love story. Thanks to our small tutorial group, we had many options to shoot and also could work closely with the equipments.

Pre-production:

I was grouped with Cameron, a fellow student, and were left with the camera kit. Louise, our tutor had already given us examples of the three shots exercise but we thought of doing some improvisations in the same techniques. We went through many ideas likes, dropping a coin, throwing a ball on the wall, etc but decided to go with a simpler yet interesting idea, which was showing a man entering an elevator and coming out of it on a different level. We went to building 8 level 3, for shooting the scene.

Production:

Whilst shooting the hardest part was to control the elevator. Some or the other time, it either not used to open on the desired or had other people entering/exiting through it.

1. First was Cameron’s full shot from his right side entering the elevator. Now, we planned to make it simple by not rushing into panning or tracking. But if in case we needed to do that, we knew we could do that while editing. So, I being the cinematographer, made sure that the frame is balanced and there is nice amount of headroom so as to edit it later.
2. Second shot was Cameron waiting in the elevator for it to reach level 7. We had to take couple of retakes of this particular scene as the first take was out of focus, in the second, a lady walked in the elevator and third, I forgot to press the recording button. In the end, we managed to take a mid-shot of the character waiting and moving out of the elevator.
3. Third and most important shot was him getting out of the elevator. I knew it was an important one to shoot since, I knew that while editing I will cut on action of him getting out. So the best and safest way to do that was to shoot a straight full shot, again not tracking or panning.

Post-production:

The best part of the whole structure is editing. I found it easy to edit, since we had shot it accordingly. It shows the importance of proper production, if you want best final results. When I started editing, I found a major mistake we made while shooting the first scene. I think I hadn’t set the focus properly and also because of less lights, when Cameron was moving, it became blurry. The second mistake I identified was that, while ending the shot, we should always let it go for another 3 to 5 seconds such that we can fade it out or cross dissolve with other takes. Because of this mistake, I couldn’t end the scene in a subtle manner. I think it was a bit jerky and bit too early. We could have extended it to another 2 seconds and had given a smooth end.  

Prompt-1 Reflective writing

As I read the paper, the first thing which popped in my head is that I wish I had read it in my first semester, I would have scored better marks in Collaborative media practices. But better late than never, now I know what is the basic fundamental of reflective writing- ‘Be honest and express what you exactly thought while reading or listening any material, reflect your understanding in the simplest and understandable form of writing.

There were many things which amazed me while reading the paper, one of them was- It is as good as writing a private diary (if writing for yourself). And I feel it is justified because its straight forward description, straight forward decision and simple problem solving. It’s like inter-personal communication (unless its assessed by a tutor). I really like the notion of presenting your thinking and usage of “I”, because other formal formats of writing, deny its use.

In a nutshell, reflective writing is having different views for the same event, not so sure decisions, questioning your own solution and portraying performances of others.

Presentation of reflective writing-

There were 3 examples of reflective writing of an experience of a presentation by Marianne, at her first job after graduation, with results- Descriptive but less reflective of personal experience, some reflection and deep reflection, respectively. It was very helpful but it seemed like she was writing for her own self (probably for her diary). I am not sure how to consider this example for formal reflective writing, specially if assessed by tutors because there was too much use of emotions. Though what I understand from it is to use personal experience from past, honest opinions and improvements for future, while writing a reflection.

One of strategies given for improving our writing (which I found interesting) is assuming things and making hypothetical situations. I personally consider, using this approach I can think beyond what’s present in front of me and will be able to solve my problem efficiently and effectively.

 

Prompt-5 A scene

Taxi Driver

Martin Charles Scorsese, the american director, has always been known for his extra-ordinary production designs and creative projects. One such project was Taxi driver, 1967. This movie was a big success in the film industry and was known for its quality anarchic sensibility and some simple, yet amazing camera direction, giving it worth a watch for all interested in neo-noir films.

The Scene talks perfection in all possible ways. When you combine actors like De Niro, Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel, etc with powerful writing of Paul Schrader, camera brilliance of Michael Chapman and of course Martin Scorsese, you are bound to receive a never ageing film called Taxi Driver. This is a simple introductory conversation scene between the protagonist and his lady, majorly filmed in the interiors of a working place, with simple yet classic cinematography, usual commotion background score and powerful dialogues.

CAMERA SHOTS

The shots in the scene are very simple and grammatically perfect. For example, the scene starts with mid-close up shot of De Niro, cut-to tracking shot of him walking in the workplace. When he is walking towards the other 2 characters, Point of view shot is used so as to properly show the expressions with respect to the protagonist.

Character’s conversation is set up in a mainstream Over the shoulder shot, and also sometimes Dirty over the shoulder is used.

My favorite shots were those master shots, where the third person was trying to overhear the conversation by either walking by their sides or by peeping from the pillar.  

SOUND

As we all know sound plays a key role in boosting up the whole scene, be it music, voice quality, foley or background score. When De Niro is walking inside the workplace, his footsteps add more gravity to the scene. No background music is used until he leaves the workplace. During conversation, the natural commotion is used which gives a real feel of the surroundings.

CAST

Robert De Niro and Cybill Shepherd as Travise and Betsy, did a phenomenal job in the scene. Robert’s amazing expressions when trying to flirt with a lady, asking her to go out with him and of course, Cybill playing hard to get is a stunning combination.  

EDITING

Just like the camera shots, the editing is kept very simple yet classic. Simple cuts like, hard cut, some L and J cuts where, the one who is listening is shown than the one who is speaking, to capture the audio and expressions of the reaction. Cut on action is used when he opens the door. The most exciting this is that the camera is never kept stationary. Even when in conversation (when not a OTS), there are continous zoom in and zoom out.

Prompt-4 Keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts-

Adobe Premiere Pro, is one of the finest and toughest yet most used editing software specially in the television industry.

There are many shortcuts available that makes editing, in this specific software, easy. It saves the time of finding functions on the window and makes it easy to edit and quick. I already knew many shortcuts before hand but there is always something new to learn every time I go through shortcuts written on my tutors blog.

Some of them are,

• Command+D for Video transition- This is one of the most important shortcuts I have learned recently, which saves a lot of time. Before i knew this one, I used to go to the Project window – Effects – Video effects – Video transitions, and then select the required transition. But this shortcut makes the whole process small and quick and directly links me to the video transition.

• Shift+Command+D for Audio transition- This shortcut is very similar to the video transition except it provides the audio effects and transitions.

• Option+delete for Ripple delete- This keyboard shortcut allows ripple delete function directly apply wherever we want to, instead of right clicking the mouse where the selection is made and then pressing ripple delete.

• Shift+Command+/ for Duplicate- There are times when you want to duplicate either a bin, sequence, or a selected audio even a video on the timeline. Instead of copying and pasting it on the desired location, you can just use this command and do it quickly.