Wow!

Monday, June 3, 2011

How Do I Do This Movie Analysis?

1. Characters

Protagonist – main character

-       character’s Before and After – How do we meet the lead, and what is wrong with him/her? And then, after the “process” of the plot, how does he/she change? How does he/she end up? What has he/she learned?

-       How does the movie make you like/love/care about this lead?  What attributes does he/she have?

-       What is the quest or the conflict or the problem or the drive or the engine for this lead?

-       Deeper things – symbolism? Anything there that teaches us something? Any lesson?

Next character – because it could be the antagonist, or the best friend, or the husband, or whatever – you can choose the second most important character and do the same for him/her – thing you might notice – he/she will have less to do, less to change, less to learn

2. Plot

What happens? Why is it good? Why is this exciting or interesting? Is there anything new or surprising? Assume that surprise might be good in a movie. Assume that you are trying to figure out if this is worth watching.

A good plot pulls the viewer in. We are IN the story.

What is at stake? What is to be gained or lost? Is it big enough to hook you?

You might examine the plot thinking about that pattern I showed you. (ie Taken)

3. Technical Elements

The way the movie is made.

Camera work, lighting, editing, special effects, costumes, make up, stunts, action set pieces (action scenes that require “stuff” to happen in a big way), sets, props, design, etc

What do we say about these things? – good or bad, and why so?

This is the Level 4 type observation – this is the good mark stuff

4. Music and sound – again, level 4 stuff – stuff most people don’t notice – makes a huge difference in some movies – you want to point out where it works and where it might not

May 4, 2011

Work on character sheet for the Blockbuster YOU want to see!

Work on the ongoing projects that you owe me that you should already have submitted that hurts me.

Building up your prework on the trailer.

Preparing yourself mentally to do some "character moment" video stuff starting next week.

Thanks.

April 29, 2011

Trailer Pieces

1. Chase scene – don’t have to cut it all in – use maybe the best parts? And you can show different parts at different times

2. Character defining moments – we see the character(s) in moments that tell us what they are, who they are, what they want, and gives us a sense of their awesomeness

3. Opposition – what is happening to challenge the hero? We need to see some of this – some kind of counter-energy – could be the elements or a pack of wild Snapes or whatever

4.  Establish the places – where are we seeing the hero

5. Show some feeling, maybe sad or romantic or dread – show some of that

6. Something that gives us a sense of where it’s all going – what’s at stake?

7. Variation – if you focus on one dominant feeling, you should also have a little of some other feeling – ie comic relief? Romance? Whatever

8. A slogan or catchphrase or some kind of clever line or two can also build excitement

April 28, 2011

Production

-     the process of making a movie

-     this is the part you should be doing right now

Director (maybe several of you)

-     planning shots and preparing a list of storyboards to get proper coverage

o coverage is the selection of shots to best cover the action you are shooting – mixing the shots

-     where the camera set ups will be is decided by the director

-     actors’ blocking – moving around in the shot

-     instruct the actors’ performances

-     the director is trying to tell the story in collections of shots

Why don’t directors just shoot the whole story in sequence?

-     shoot every location “out” while you are there

-     eg – cemetery – the script has pages 4, 8, 15, 36, 67-75 in the cemetery – so, we shoot all those pages one after the other so we don’t have to come back

Actor –

-     be a piece of meat and obey his Master (some directors think this)

-     interpret the script – read the script, know the part and “show” it in the most obvious way

-     know the lines or be able to improvise, which is to “play” the part

-     at our level, you’ll be working from a plan, not from a script (possibly) – using a script will be much better, but you may not have one

-     LISTEN to the other actors and REACT to them

-     DON’T look at the camera, don’t laugh – this will kill your scene

Camera Operator

-     make sure the camera is charged and signed out BEFORE you shoot

-     you evaluate the area you’re in – what do you need to get good shots?

-     Lights? Bounce light? Sunlight or roomlight? Which way to face the shot?

-     Thinking about sound – sound is a killer at this level – you want to “close mic” whenever possible

-     Lavalier – little remote mic that you can wear

-     Batteries again? –

-     Help the director to get all the shots needed – do we have all the stuff we need to edit the scene?

-     Eg connecting and transition shots, B-roll and reverse angles

-     Level 4 stuff – think about colour and lighting in a more interesting way – think about shots in a more interesting way

Other Group Members?

-     lots of other things to do

-     props? Set pieces? Why not make something interesting that boosts the quality – Jeremy Books – access to fake weapons – adds value

-     skilled artist – make some strange laser pistol or a mask, etc

-     stunts, background action, second camera, hold a boom mic, etc

-     multi-character pieces for shooting

-     maybe the editor just watches and takes notes of continuity (maintains the length of cigarettes, height of drinks, the angle of heads, etc)

Other Production Issues

-     costumes? Don’t say to Armour that I said you need his – he hates that

-     vehicular access – ie Robin and the Easter bunny – ATV

-     different locations – stream for a joke about surfing – etc

Thoughts

-     HAVE A GOOD STORYLINE – even though this is a trailer, you NEED that throughline!

-      

I Mark

-     storyboards

-     script

-     character designs (ideas)

-     any prep work on scenes and sequences (wish list, breakdowns, set pieces, etc)

-     the rough work of doing the shoot

-     the final in terms of:

-     contribution of members

-     shots

-     sound

-     editing

-     use of added values

-     post-production (music and sound effects and visual effects)

-     overall story and effect on me – viewability

Problems with Sound?

Pull it out and cover it up – with music or sound effects or overdubs

Visuals? – don’t use the shot or crop into it

You can always reshoot

Problems with group – fix them or kick them – don’t ask me to solve your groups dynamics – this is part of your learning

April 21, 2011

The Process of Reviewing a Film For Mr. Lobb’s Class Part 1, In Which We Discuss Character and Motivation

1. The Setup

How do we analyse or review setup?

We know the things that get established

(we aren’t discussing that now)

Level 4 Setup Analysis requires that you think about these deeper elements of character that make the audience FEEL the movie

a) How do we empathize with the lead? (or why) – what happens to make us care?

Empathy – to feel what they feel

There are moments in the setup where the movie is designed to make us KNOW the character’s feelings – better movie = better moments and better move = more layers of problems and reasons that we feel for the character

-     the good movies, and your good review, will also look into the motivations that make the character do things – good, deep, inner drives that are strong and make sense and make good action are what movies need – HIGH STAKES

-     Wizard of Oz – that mean old lady will kill the dog! Or take the farm!

Do the hero’s actions ALL come from this powerful drive? If so, movie is better – if not, movie less powerful

April 18, 2011

Stage 3 – Progress

-     the main character will be making moves towards his/her goal and his/her character change

-     remember! There are two goals – one is the EXTERNAL GOAL, which is the quest – in Taken – get the daughter back

-     But then, there is the INTERNAL GOAL – which is to be a better father

-     The two goals need to work together

-     External goal – quest of the plot

-     Internal goal – character arc

-     The progess here is BOTH – he/she is getting some kind of forward motion – gaining information, clues, moving to new places where things are happening, finding objects that help, or people that help

-     We are building towards the midpoint of the movie – 50% of the way in, and there will be a Point of No Return

-     This will be a moment where something bad happens to the hero, or something good, but it will mean that there is no going back to the old life

-     This moment is a decision or an action that means the hero will have to go on to the end, and either CHANGE or FAIL (which would be a crappy movie)

Stage 4 – Complication & Higher Stakes

-     this is the point in the movie where the bad stuff start to happen to the lead character – the “bad guys” start closing in, and the progress that the hero was making appears to be in doubt

-     in Scott Pilgrim, the old girlfriend about whom he was hung up, returns to town

-     in Happy Gilmour, I bet there is some problem at the golf course that threatens his plan – maybe some guy has some info that will mean he gets kicked out of the tournament

-     the original plan the hero has is much complicated and there has to be some new response –

-     also, there will be more danger, more loss, and more tension for the audience

-     at about6 75% we have the Major Setback

-     this point is also called The Low or the place where the worst moment occurs – this is where in Taken, the hero finds the dead friend of his daughter –

-     there is usually some kind of death here, symbolic or real, or some kind of terrible loss – the couple splits, the hero’s girl is captured, the daughter is kidnapped, whatever happens it is the thing that most threatens the hero –

-     some movies have a different timing, but that bit will be there

-     this is here because the hero has to be brought to the lowest point in order to later find their power and rise above

-     remember – the movie is about TESTING the hero – without that dark moment, there is no test!

-     Right after that DARK MOMENT – what has to happen? – the audience feels sad, good feelings – we empathize with the character, which makes movies better –

Stage V – Final Push

-     the hero is in the dark place, but then something happens – a person from the past, or some object of importance appears and gives a message that somehow reminds the hero about his/her strength and allows him/her to dig deep and find it

-     the final push is often in the form of a battle or confrontation between the hero and the villain – could be a fight, could be a sport event, could be a public event of some sort where feelings are burst in the open –

-     often begins with a “getting ready” sequence with weapons, armor, guns, etc

-     there is often a guardian of some sort, or a series of tests, problems, obstacles that delay the final confrontation – the hero must break through layers of these to get to that moment

-     this is often called Storming The Castle – eg – getting through gates, sneaking into tunnels, climbing something, lots of these scenes – or, it could be a chase or hurrying scene

-     or it could be a TIMER – ie have to get to X before Y happens!

-     We sometimes see in a movie, that the bad guy very much like the hero – and the bad guy will point this out, and often makes sense – the bad guy might even be the more rational – hey, why can’t we all just get along? Or hey, why don’t we join forces?

-     NOTE! What is the hero REALLY doing in this confrontation?

-     On the OUTSIDE he/she is solving the quest, beating the bad guy, fixing the problem

-     BUT ON THE INSIDE – he/she is dealing with the inner problem and coming to terms with it – ie learning the message of the movie

-     In Scott Pilgrim, he realizes LOVE – he finds out what the L word really means

-     Common Things to See Here – a return from an earlier character who motivates or helps or might even save the hero – Star Wars – Han Solo AND ObiWan

-     Hero has a setback, then reignites his/her power and defeats – often a false ending here (think Friday the 13^th)

-     Often the hero will see the error of his/her ways and announce it in some way