Film Study prep

Now that we've finished our creative writing unit we've begun our film study. To begin we looked at different film aspects.

Color
Color in the film is used to set the tone or provide a deeper meaning to a character. The color of a film is the combination of three things; hue, saturation, and brightness, or HSB for short. Different colors can be used to symbolize different things, for example, red can symbolize passion, white = innocence, blue = calmness, etc. The matrix uses mostly green as green is often associated with the color of code. The green is also slightly off-putting, which the matrix is. You can make a film look rawer and bitterer by desaturating the color. Or, alternatively, create saturated colors similar to Wes Anderson to make the color pop. Brightness can also be used to display tone. A cool blue will set a different tone compared to a navy blue. You can also have different colors assigned to different characters such as in Baby Driver to display something about a character. Color may not always symbolize something in film however, it could've simply been chosen because it fits the film's aesthetic. Typically a director will make it clear when color is important to the story.

Film Blocking

Film blocking in film is extremely important as it's what makes most films interesting. Blocking is where you place your actors and can be used to show subtext, power dynamics, and aid in layering scenes. There are three different shapes that are typically used in blocking; triangle, circle, and squares. Triangles are typically used to layer scenes, form an aggressive tone, and show create dominant and submissive roles between characters. A square is used to show limits and containment. Often squares are formed visually around characters and not typically used in conversation scenes. Circles are used to symbolize inclusivity, equality, and safety. Along with shapes, you can also use lines to align your actors. Someone standing in a verticle line next to someone lying down roughly horizontally can symbolize power.

Motifs

Motifs are used throughout a film to symbolize something. It is typically an abstract idea or the theme of the movie. Motifs are important as they are there to help show the audience, visually, what the theme of the film is. Whether your film has a theme or message to deliver is what defines your film from being good and being great. An example of a motif is the sony cassette tape and cassette tape in the Loonaverse (yes I'm still on about it). The cassette tape represents how the members of Loona are able to rewind time and how each universe is in a loop. Vivi being seen with a stack of them, each belonging to a different member, and how her's is cracked (which is why her "memory" is so oversaturated). Kim Lip pressing play at the start of Girl Front and pressing rewind at the end causing the music video to begin again. Yves using it to replay memories of her and Vivi, and finally Olivia burning it, essentially causing Lonna to break out of this loop. This motif of breaking free (especially from loops) is not only seen through the cassette tape but also by them running and, at the end of Butterfly, finally running off the track. 

Visual Contrast
Visual contrast in film is used when the director wants to compare two things. It may be comparing the bright technicolor world of Oz to the black and white world of Earth. Contrast can not only be shown through color, although it is the most common way to do it, but also through blocking set design, tone, costuming, and camera angles. An example of set design begin used to show contrast in film can include the 2009 Pixar movie "Up".  In the opening of "Up" we see Ellie and Carl painting the room of what they hope to be their future baby. The wall is yellow with a painting of a stork in the clear blue sky. The scene is bright and colorful. Compared to the next scene in which we learn Ellie is unable to give birth. The doctor's office is cold, harsh, and nearly devoid of color. This creates a contrast and can also represent the feelings of the couple, once they were full of joy and hope, now they are sad as they learn the life that they wanted is unattainable.

Film Theory

Film theory is the process of dissecting and analyzing a film. Typically theorists will us film aspects such as camera angles, color choices, sounds, tones costuming, lighting, set design, motifs and symbols, and editing. These are interpreted and many theorize what they mean. For example, The song "I Don't Dance" from Disney's "High School Musical 2" has gay subtext (Ok it does not make sense that at the end Chad and Ryan switch outfits, ok, I want answers, Disney).

Camera Movements

Camera Movements in film are also an alternative way to create feeling and tone. A Whip pan would work for a scene in which things are happening at a fast pace, i.e the kitchen of a high-end restaurant. A slow pan would work from showing a landscape or establishing shot. The most common way of revealing something in film (especially in science fiction films) such as a planet or item. Possibly even the height of a building. In order to make the camera movements feel natural to the viewer is to put yourself in the eyes of the viewer. Your shots are essentially showing the viewer where to look so you have to understand where the audience will be looking to not make it awkward or hard for them to see. Another important thing to remember is to know what shot to use for what scene, a scene filled with lots of movement won't feel as good compared to a shot where we move with the characters. Remember to also use a variety of shots, think of it like writing structure. Having the same sentence creates a boring story. Similar to having the same camera shot throughout a film. 

Tone

Tone in film is mostly used with other aspects of film such as color, set design, lighting, costuming, etc. Since I've already talked about creating tone using color theory I'll talk about creating ton with lighting. There are three main aspects of tone; lighting, exposure, and art direction. Lighting is pretty easy to explain. It's how you light the set and characters. For example, darkening a room can be used to represent something. Such as a shadow over a figure to symbolize how small they are. Exposure is how much light the camera is exposed to the camera. This is typically used to create contrast between two scenes, similar to The Godfather. Mafia life in The Godfather is typically filmed using minimal lighting while everyday life is filmed brightly. This is also used in A Streetcar Named Desire where we see the main character constantly shrouded in shadows, symbolizing how shes avoiding the truth (the light). Art direction is also used to create tone, namely using colors. I've already discussed so I'm not going to write another paragraph about it cause I've got like, 5 more to go and I'm like already ready to drop out.

Production Design

Production design in film is the overall look of the film. Colors, sets, and clothes are all things that allow films to have a unified feel. Set production is used in a variety of ways with the main three being to set the tone, reveal more about characters, and convey themes of the movie. For example, an empty room and plain wardrobe will create a feeling of emptiness for the audience. 

Auteur Theory
The auteur theory is the theory that a great director has repeats aspects of his film. These aspects may include a common shot, structure, color palette, special effect, and many other things. For example, you can tell a Baz Luhrmann film through his production design. He consistently uses modern music and has a fairly similar color palette across his films. An aspect of the auteur theory is that the director is involved in every aspect of the film. For example, Neil Breen plays a hand in every aspect of his films, director, writer, actor, all of it. Many people take auteur director's films as being great and the best. However, I think otherwise. In my opinion, I believe that although the auteur theory is interesting, it's also, like, a tad bit stupid. Let's think about it, essentially what higher-than-thou film buffs/critics are saying is that in order for a director to be considered an artist is that you must be able to tell it's a film by that director and that is what makes a director great. Now that is really stupid. Just because a director has a hand in all aspects of production does not make it either necessary or good. If we go back to Neil Breen you may be thinking he must be a great director by having a hand in every aspect of his films. Surprise, he's films are ******* awful. There's no other way to put it. They're bad, like, ridiculously bad. This video is the trailer for his film twisted pair and a compilation of youtuber YourMovieSucksDOTorg commenting on his films and watching various clips.

Just because someone's films are consistent and the director has a hand in everything does not make him a good director. It could also hold the possibility of making their movies a little boring. Like, there's an extent to how similar a director's body of work can be. Also, movies aren't made just by directors, lighting technicians, editors, producers, set designers, and costumers all play an extremely important part in making films look great. Also, by the way, I love Neil Breen, like, wow, we really do be living in a society. 

Insert Shot

The insert shot is used to show a detail within a scene that the director would like you to notice. This could be to reveal information, foreshadow something, or to up the tone of the film. For example using lots of quick, fast-paced, close up insert shots ups the anty and electric feeling of the scene. 3 important aspects of the insert shot include composition, perspective, and focus point. Most of these all play on each other. To enhance the audience's focus and attention on a specific detail, objects in the background and foreground can be used to create leading lines. This will allow the eye of the audience to naturally follow the lines to the point of focus. Depending on how long you focus on the scene can show the audience how important a detail it is.