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The Story of Film Episode 5

Notes

A portion of this is copied from Wikipedia

1939-1952: The Devastation of War…And a New Movie Language

The Story of Film Episode 4

Notes

A portion of this is copied from Wikipedia

The 1930s: The Great American Movie Genres…

…And the Brilliance of European Film

The Story of Film Episode 15

Notes

A portion of this is copied from Wikipedia

2000 Onwards: Film Moves Full Circle – and the Future of Movies.

Epilogue the Year 2046

The Story of Film Episode 12

Notes

A portion of this is copied from Wikipedia

The 1980s: Moviemaking and Protest – Around the World.

The Story of Film Episode 3

Notes

A portion of this is copied from Wikipedia

1918-1932: The Great Rebel Filmmakers Around the World

The Story of Film Episode 2

Notes

A portion of this is copied from Wikipedia

1918-1928: The Triumph of American Film…

…And the First of its Rebels

The Story of Film Episode 1-Birth of the Cinema

Introduction

1895-1918: The World Discovers a New Art Form or Birth of the Cinema

 

  • 1903-1918: The Thrill Becomes Story or The Hollywood Dream

Session 6 Production Project

Summary

SMART Goal

My goal is to write with a flow of, something happens, but then this happens, therefore this happens, but then this happens. To create a cinematic flow to the story.

Specific- The skills that I would learn are cinematic writing and cinematic dialogue.

Measurable- The only way to keep progress of this goal is wait and see the first scene. Then I would be able to evaluate the flow.

Achievable- I may not have the writing skills to do achieve my goal but I do have writing resources and online templates.

Relevant- I am setting this goal now because we are about to make a film and before you can record at least half of the film, there needs to be a script (at least a draft).

Time-Bound- The deadline for the script would be March 18th which is 1 week from writing this so It’s pretty reasonable.

Pre-Production

Leaders in the Field

They focused a lot on defense mechanisms that the character has to keep him more closed in the box so that they would be more of a burst opening at the end. They used the different side characters to weaken these defense mechanisms to slowly open him up to his true emotions. One of the defense mechanisms is pushing away the people that are trying to help but our side characters don’t want to leave and keep pushing him to the point of breaking down. This is one of the most amazing scripts ever and a great example of releasing and rising tension.

Training Sources

  • You have to find the truth within a story
  • A story always has something underlined in there that shows us a hidden message
  • If the director and the writer are the same person that’s how you know what the screenplay was intended to look like
  • The movie doesn’t always have to be faithful to the screenplay
  • Sometimes the writer wants the director to follow the script even though that’s not how it is all the time
  • Don’t put a lot of shot details and specifications because the director won’t listen and do it just as good

Project Timeline

  • Write post production bog post
  • Brainstorm ideas for the story
  • Start thinking about some scenes would fit within that story
  • Write the beginning of the story and the middle
  • Write the end of the story and have someone help you make final touches and edit it
  • Help director with story flow during filming
  • Help editor put the right clips in the right order to follow the story

Text Analysis: Up in the Air

Here is the IMDB page for the movie Up in the Air

Cast and Crew

Notes

  • Starting the movie they made the camera movements very subtle
  • They interviewed people who actually lost their jobs to get a feel for what they need to tell the actors and how they want int to look to make it very real.
  • He based a few of the elements in the movie on his real life even though his movie was based on a book.
  • He put things in the background to determine the place they are at
  • Had a curved hallway to signify how the flying life has no end because you can’t see the end
  • Had to dial back lighting because it’s not sexy
  • stole a shot from a movie (die hard) because he loved it and why not?
  • moving cameras for moving people (the smaller the space the less movement) exception:big dynamic movements
  • Makes the camera be the dancing partner of the actor (use the eye-line)
  • subtle music is great for dramedys
  • have your receptors open

Session 5 Film (8 Ball)

Summary

Role

I Was the Screenwriter and my goal was to be comedic as possible. I made a script inspired by the movie Freaky Friday. So it was 2 pages long and expected to be 2 1/2 minutes.

Intention

Smart Goal

Specific: I want to write a good flow of dialogue that sounds like a real conversation without it being choppy and out of place.

Measurable: I will measure progress by having others proof read my work, while I listen to see if it sounds normal.

Achievable: I already obtain a recording device so that I can record a conversation between people. Once I can get a recorded conversation then I could possibly be able to write a conversation

Relevant: I’m setting this goal now because it gives me more time and it’s better to set a writing goal before you write.

Time-Bound:The deadline is sometime around next week which is plenty enough time to write a one page script with a good flow of dialogue.

Pre-Production-Inquiry

Leaders in the Field/Exemplary Works

For a key leader, Christopher Nolan was chosen to look at his techniques in terms of writing. He employs many techniques, most notably his themes. In a broader sense, his stories surround ethical and existential themes such as personal identity or morality. It also ties into the emotional themes of his characters, who are often lonely or greedy. His films have a tendency of being centered around conflicted male figures who struggle to identify themselves and their purpose. Nolan also utilizes scientific phenomenons, such as the theory of general relativity in Interstellar, or lucid dreaming in Inception.

Extending beyond themes, his storytelling techniques include changing points of view, flashbacks, and unreliable narrators. He also utilizes crosscutting of parallel action to raise tension and build to the climax. Examples of his work that have embedded narratives and crosscutting between timelines include Inception, Memento, The Prestige, and Dunkirk.

Training Sources

Training Video 1

0:34– What is a screenplay?

2:41– Using lighting and contrast to tell a story

10:55– What a film should be about

Training video 2

1:56 – Overlapping dialogue

2:56 – Misunderstanding

3:22 – Different trains of thought

5:15 – Trouble communicating with others

7:07 – Structure

8:25 – Dramatic question

8:44 – NOT “what will happen?” BUT “how it will happen?”

9:30 – Importance of collaboration

Project Timeline

The Film

Post-Production

21st Century Skills

I used my creativity to write a script that best fits the actors personalities. I would attempt to use my communication to see what would be wrong with the script and what I could improve on. I used celtx.com to write my screenplay then copied it to my google drive. This will help me later to understand and really know how people talk.

Reactions to the Final Version

Eric B. said “Really fun dialog, chicken butt line was dumb.”

What I Learned and Problems I Solved

I learned that you can’t count on everybody to attend, our editor wasn’t here so I edited the film.