film projects (1)

8/10/2019 Film Projects (1)

1/7


2/7

Student Film Study Projects 297

Note : You will be graded as a gro up, so full group cooperation is a mu st.Be sure to se lect peop le you ca n work with.

3. Behind the ScenesWe of ten appreciate a movie m ore w hen we k now how i t was made. W hat wentinto its crea tion behind t he scenes? H ow, for exa mpl e, di d the ar t director desi gnthe se ts for Citizen Kane? How did the photogra pher ac hieve those str iking cam -era movements and l ightin g effects? W here did th e ideas for th e sc reenplay com efrom, an d what di d each writer co ntribute to the scrip t?

This ass ignment is an opportunity to look behind th e scenes at a particularaspect of f ilmm aking that interests you. First, select a film you would li ke to learnmore abou t. Then , choose one of the f ollowi ng topics a nd write a repor t on wha tyouleam.

A. Script W riting. Who was responsi ble for the film scrip t? Wheredid the main id ea o riginate? If th e film i s based on literature,cons ult the original text and compare it to the f inal f ilm.

B. Photography. Who was the film s chief cinematogra pher? Wha t ishe or she mos t noted for? Are there any technical innovations incamera work o r lighti ng? How were they ac hieved?

C. Set Design. Who was in volved in selecti ng and creating the film ssets? Were a ny special problems e ncountered in m aking the se ts?How we re they so lved? How important are the se ts in the final

film?D. Music. Does the film u se famili ar mu sic or a n origi nal sco re? W hat

musical decisions were made b y the composer? Wha t effectswa sthe composer striving for? Are d ifferent m elodi es used fo r dif-feren t charac ters or scenes? How do they contribute to the totalfilm exper ience?

E. D irection. Some direc tors have a stronger hand than others i n themaking of a film . Directors may be interes ted in differe nt ele-ments of f ilmma king. What role did th e director have in produc-ing the fi lm you c hose? W hat are t he direc tor s h allm arks i n thisand other films?

F. Acting. Select two or three ac tors in the fil m and find ou t moreabout th em. Why do you think they we re chosen for th e film?What other roles have they p layed? Are they versa tile or s tereo -typed? W hat can you learn about their behavior on or off the setduring the film s product ion?

G. Reception. Do some resear ch to find out how the film was re -ceive d du ring its first release. W hat did th e cr itics say? How didthe ge nera l public respon d? How do you acco unt for the recep -

tion i n its own time and today?


3/7

9 Appendix

4 Shot by Shot Ana lysis

Goo d movies, like goo d stories, poems, and plays, are best read more than once.

Under close analysis, a well -made fi lm can reveal qua lities a nd mea nings tha t wemiss the f irst t ime through. The p urpose of this assig nment is to take another,careful look a t par t of a fam iliar f ilm in order to apprecia te how it was made andhow it wor ks.

A. Select a film to study from th e course list. View the entire f ilmand then cho ose a s cene (from ten to twenty shots in length) toanalyze.

B. Do a s hot-by-shot analysis of the sce ne. Your analysis shouldinclude the following fo r each shot:

1. A bri ef descrip tion of t he shot (action, setting, charac ters)

2. Framing ( close-up, medium shot, long shot)3. Ca mera a ngles (l ow angle, high ang le, eye level)

4. Camera move ment (tilt, cra ne, zoo m, pan, tracking, none)

5. Lig hting (high key, low key, ba ck lighting, fro nt li ghting,normal)

6. So und (descri be any dia logue, music, vo ice-over, or soun deffects)

7. Tra nsitions (cu t, disso lve, wipe, ot her op tical effects)

ote: You may lis t the ele ments 1-7 for each shot or descr ibe themin paragrap h form, but t hey sho uld all be acco unted for.e Answer the fo llowi ng questions a bout your chosen sce ne:

1. Plot. How does t his scene co ntribut e to the ongoing story?Give a brief overv iew o f your chosen f ilm (w hatis it about?)and exp lain how the sce ne fi ts in.

Point of tneu:Does this scene prese nt an o bjective v iew ofeve nts, or does i t represent someone s s ubjective acco unt?Expla in. How is the camera used to emphasize this point ofview?

3. Character.What do es this sce ne tell you about th e major char-acter or c harac ters? Refer as s pecif ically as y ou can to theactors move ment s, wor ds, and dress as reve aled by thecamera.

4 Tone. Describe the overal l mood of this scene. Is it mysteri-ous, funn y, sa d? How do t he lighting and camera wor k helpto create this moo d?

You are enco urage d to comple te the s hot-by -sho t analysi s in gro ups oftwo. St udents have fou nd that collaborative viewing helps t hem see more c learly(four eyes are be tter than two) an d thin k more sharp ly (discussion no urishes ideas)than they wo uld alone. Yo u are expec ted to answer the qu~ons in part C byyourself.


4/7

Student Film Study Projects

5 Contemporary Film Review

This ass ignme nt is an opportunit y to app ly what you h ave learned th is term to a

con temporary film of y our own choice. Select a new film that has ju st been re-lease d or one th at has been ma de ava ilable recently for home v iewi ng. Ch oose amovie that genuin ely interests you o r puzzles you-a movie that you want tothink about and exa min e more caref ully than u sual. Sin ce this will be a cr itica lreview, yo u need to go be yond a simpl e sta tement of your lik es and dislik es. Beprepared to use w hat you ha ve learned a bout film techniqu e, theory, and hist oryto illumin ate this film . Find out m ore a bout the dire ctor , the actors, and th e iss uesso you can m ake an inform ed evaluation . You might want to consider so me of thefollo wing topics in your rev iew:

A. Personal Issues. Wh at struck the mo st respons ive cho rds in you?How can you acco unt for s uch a s trong emo tional or int ellectualresponse? To what extent d o you b elieve that your re spon se canbe generalized to other viewe rs? W hy?

B. Technique. Were there any excep tiona lly goo d (or b ad) uses o fmu sic, dialogue, camera work , edit ing, or special effects? Con-sidering what you now know a bout the pr ocess of producing afilm, what are the film s techni cal strengths and weakn esses?

C. Acting. Wh at were the principal roles and how we ll were theyperformed? Were the actor s typecast or misc ast? How cre dibl ewere their perform ances?

D. Plot. Outlin e just enou gh of th e story so a reader w ho has not

seen the film c an unde rstand your comme nts. How original , howcomp ellin g, did you find th e plot?

E. 77 S Wh at are the main ideas o r issues o f the film ? Is it a simplelove s tory, o r d oes i t make a thought -provo king statem ent aboutcertain kind s of relationship s? Are there any hidden or blatantmessages? A re the messages di stractin g, intru sive , or int egratedwith th e plot?

F. G enre. Does thi s film belon g to a class of similar films , such asWe sterns, horror film s, or musi cal comedie s? If so, what otherfilms doe s it resembl e? Wh at are the comm on characteristics ofthese film s? Wh y do you thin k this geme is popular tod ay?

G. Representation. How does the film r epresent diff erent kind s ofpeople: men and women, rich and poor , various ethnic group s?Wh y do you think it represents them in this way ?

H. Ideology. Wh at cultural b eliefs (e.g., about sex uality, politics, fam-ily) wer e chall enged or confirm ed by the film? How wa s thisaccomplished?

6 Fiction into Film

Most movies these days see m to b e based on b ooks. L iterary classic s are re vived

for th e mod em screen, best selle rs are converted into box office s ales, and even

9 9


5/7

3 App e ndix

obscure stories bec ome major m otion p ictures. This is your chance to adapt awork of w ritten fiction into film. In th e process, yo u ll l earn what goes into themaking of a movie, you ll appreciate the di fferences between two impo rtant m e-dia, and you ll become a better reader of both fiction and film .

Begin by readin g lots of fiction: short stori es, nove ls, and narr ative poemsthat mi ght lend th emselves to adaptat ion. Your job i s to find a promising storyand explain it s cinema tic possibilitie s to the others in your group . This ca n bedon e in a wr itten film propo sal that outlin es the plot , sketches the main ch arac-ters, s ugges ts locations for the major scenes, a nd speculates on the technic al chal-lenges a ca mera crew might face.

Re-read th e origin al story closely with th e film in mind . Look for details ofcharacter to help you ca st the principal actors. Pay attention to th e se ttin g so yo ucan scout lo cation s and d esign interio r sets. You ll need to b e awar e of the story spoint of v iew in order to decide on camera setup s for eac h shot . Mos t impo rtant,you ll need to unde rstand th e story s tone and theme i your film is going to befaithful t o the origin al.

Onc e the group ha s decided on a stor y, the film proposa l can be trans -formed int o a stor yboard or shooting script. A storyboard tells the story, shet byshot, in pic tures an d text. The pictures show w hat the cam era will see. The textprovides the dialogue and a ction ; it al so gives cues about cam era po sition, light-ing, edit ing, and other product ion t echnicalit ies. A s hootin g sc ript de scr ibes eachshot, but without p icture s. Lik e the storyboard, the shootin g script i s a bluep rintfor constru cting the fin al film.

In addit ion to th e acto rs and script writers, your group will need produc -tion specia lists, including a dire ctor to direct th e action and o verall shooting ofeach scene; a script supervisor to pl an eac h day of shootin g and check the res ultsaga inst the storyboard or shooting script; a cinem atograph er to set up and op er-ate the camera; a set desig ner to cr eate the se ts or f urni sh them with p rops; alightin g crew to illumin ate each indo or scene; a so und te chnic ian in charge of thesound tra ck (s ound effects, music, dialo gue) ; and an editor to splice t oge ther thefinal film , or combine the final video electroni cally i you use videotape.

A successful film production d epends on m any thin gs, not th e least ofwhich is res ponsible group p articipation. Every member of the gro up ha s a spe-cific job to do . The group depends on eve ryone doing h er or his j ob reliably . Onl yi every bod y works toge ther c an a work of fiction come alive on film.

7 How Films Are MadeThis is a comp etitive a ctivity. You r group will comp ete with o ther groups in theclass to identif y the steps involved in filmm aking a nd the sp ecialists who p er-form each task. In your group , list as m any steps-in order- as your group canthink of, from th e original conception to the final screening. For each step , try togive the p rofession al title o f the person or people re sponsible for that phas e offilm pr oduct ion. The group th at can prepare the most compl ete, accu rate list winsthe comp etititon.

8 Evolution of a Genre

Select seve ral clip s from film s that illu strate changes in a film geme ove r tim e.You mi ght choos e, for e xample, combat films from th e time of World War II, th e


6/7

Student F ilm Study Projects 3

Korean War , Vi etnam, and other recent conf licts. Or you might choo se films froma single war T he Gre en Berets, 1968 ;Apocalypse N ow , 1979; Platoon, 1986) . Explorethe changes re flected in these clips. How do th ese fi lms reflect hi storical a ttitud es

toward c ombat? How do they s how chan ges in film technique and popu lar taste?Other genres to consider include sci ence fiction, Wes terns, rom ance, comed y, ad-venture, and fil m n oir.

9 Co m pa re the C lassic a nd the R e make

Select comparable scenes fr om two versions of the same s tory and screen them insuccessio n. You might show sc enes from Lee Thompson s Ca pe F ea r (196 2)andScors ese s 1991rem ake in order to explo re the evo lution of f ilm noir . You mi ghtcompare the original King Kong (1933) wit h one of its more recent incarnations(1968 ,1976,1986)to trace changes in special effects.Or you m ight show The Searchers(1956)and Star W ars (1977) to see how L ucas borrowe d from For d to re-crea te thesci-fi ge nre in the image of the W estern.

1 Case Stud y

Do a case study of a movie star. Identify the star s three leve ls of id entity: the rea lperson, the ac tor s roles ( the kinds of c haracters he or she plays in the movies),and th e star s persona (the image projected in th e popul ar medi a). Cull your in-formation from sources such as movie magaz ines, a dvertisements, posters, talkshows, docum entaries, the Internet, and the fi lms themselves. Analyze the im-ages you find. Wha t imp ressions are they intended to convey? How do you ac-count for your o wn respo nse to these images? How do you explain th e star s

popul arity?

11 Content Anal y s is

Sociologists do a lot of co unti ng. They co unt th e number of v iolent acts or in-stances of ex plicit language in films to study trends in social b ehavior or cen -sorship. They analyze the roles given to women or minoritie s in order to fo llowpatterns of representation o ver time. Do som e counting of y our own to preparefor a discu ssion of re prese ntation and influence: to what d egree do mo vies refle ctreality or h elp shape rea lity?

1 2 Film Segmentation

A film segmentation breaks down the structure of a fi lm into its component pa rts.It id entifies the main eleme nts of the story and shows how these elements arearranged. Sometimes the story is to ld chronolog ically, as a s traight narrative . Som e-times it is prese nted as a f lashback or a series of jumps in time, as in Pulp F ictio n(1994) o r Memento (2001 ). Use this partial segmentation of To Kill a M ockingbird(1962) as a guide:

1. Credit Sequenc e: Clos e-ups of objects se t nostalgic mood andintroduce thema tic symbols.

2. Ma ycomb, Alabama: Daybreak. Sets story in rura l South of19 30s.Introduces Sco ut, Atticu s, [em, and Dill . Atticus is too old to


7/7

302 Appendix

play foo tball for t he Me thodists. Di ll lear ns about the mysteri-ous Boo Radley next door.

3. F inch Yard :Atticus and the children gree t the or nery Mrs. Dubose .4. Sco ut s Room: She rea ds aloud to Atticus and asks a bout her

dead mot her.

5. Front Porc h: Jud ge T aylor asks A tticus to take the case of To mRobinson , a Negro ac cused of raping a w hite woman, Maye llaEwe ll.

Select a film you want to study in this way. I dentify the ma jor scen es andnotice how they a re arra nged . Wri te an exp lanation of yo ur findings, includingany patterns of nar rative progressio n, sym metr y, zigzagging, or circu lari ty. W hatis th e ove rall shape of the pl ot? How does the narrative pat tern contr ibute to the

movie s t heme? 3 Direct This Scene

Read the following descrption of a scene from Brian De Palma s Scarface 1983 :

Miami 1 950. The inm ates in a Cuban refugee camp have begun toriot . Hund reds of men are burnin g tents and a ttack ing guards wi thpipes, s ticks, and rocks. In th e general mayhem , one man is pull edout of a tele phone booth. Blinded by broken g lass, he is p ushedthrough th e crowd and stagge rs into a tent where boisterous pris -oners are shouting and wreckin g every thin g in sight. Sudd enly, helooks up a nd sees that he is bei ng fo llowed . On e of his stalkers peersat him from b eyon d a bunk b ed. Another, closer , holds a knif e. Thehunted man tries to escape t hroug h the crow d, but he is str uck twoknife blows in the stomac h, one by eac h assa ilant . He s tagge rs andfalls. He is dead.

How would yo u shoot and edit thi s sce ne ifyo u were t he direc tor? Use as toryboardto h elp you visualize it shot b y shot . For eac h shot, draw a rough ske tch of theactors (s tick figures w ill d o fine) and any significant props. Beneath each sketch,descri be the fol lowing: (1) a ctio n (w hat happens i n the shot); (2) f raming (CU,MS, LS, E CU, E LS) and c amera angle (low an gle, high angle); (3) any cameramoveme nt (track, boom, pan, tilt , zoom); (4) l ighting ( low key, hig h key, back-

lightin g); an d (5) so und (dialog ue, so und effec ts, voi ce-over, music) .Exa mple: MS of the stalker from below. Came ra zooms in to CU ofhis brooding face in shadow, then tilts down to show a kn ife cradle din hi s hand . The sw itchblade flashes as it op ens. Stalker: I havesomething for you, Tony. M usic swe lls.

film projects (1)

Documents