Reflection Four

How would you say your final Western shoot successfully mimicked the original and how would you say it deviated? Please use appropriate film language when describing the different areas of production.

True Grit
My final western shoot successfully mimicked the original in some parts, but deviated in other parts.
The scene our group decided to mimic was the opening scene of True Grit, which consisted of six characters. We decided to shoot in 4 different places: Fei Ngo Shan, Victoria's house, in an alley behind Victoria's house and Sai Kung country park.

In the original western shoot, there were 3 scenes: outside a house in an open area, inside a house, and outside a saloon. We decided to go to Fei Ngo Shan because there was an open area there where you could see mountains and hills from far away, which was exactly what it was like in the original film. The only thing we encountered was the weather. It was foggy and misty on the day we were shooting, up high in the mountains we couldn't see anything, which was disappointing. However, in Victoria's house scene, it worked out perfectly because she had a room which had everything we needed to film. We could mimic the film by hanging the props on the walls and it was set up nicely just like the original scene.

In the alley scene, we shot it during nighttime, because in the original scene, it was also shot during the nighttime outside a saloon. In order to mimic the atmosphere of the original scene, we decided to go to an alley where it was dark. However in the alley there were cars parked there, and since there was no way to move it, we just decided to work with it. After the gunshot, there were crowds of people coming out of the saloon in the original scene, but since there was no saloon, and we didn't have enough people, we just decided to ignore that part. We used the Sai Kung country park scene as the saloon, because there was a restaurant there with many people. Since the space was limited, we could not shoot in the way it was shot in original scene. The tables and chairs were modern, not western, and since it was so loud there, we could not record our voice, so at the end we ended up using voiceover to add the dialogue.

We also successfully mimicked the scene by using the costumes that we had. We tried to mimic the mise en scene used in the original scene as best as we could, by using same colored shirts, since it symbolizes the characteristics of the character. We did this by going to the drama studio and borrowing clothes, and we also went out and bought some of the clothes ourselves or borrowed costumes from people that already owned them. We used makeup to mimic the western look of the characters. Since the characters stayed continuously in the sun everyday, we had to mimic the scene by using bronzers.

During editing, we went down to the cross-country running track to capture a shot for the background for the opening credits, because we wanted to give the introduction a western feeling, just like the original shoot. However, we did not watch through the whole film carefully enough, because there was a missing gunshot sound.

The acting mimicked the original scene well, because we used facial expressions just like the original shoot. We also use props, for example Victoria's baby in the first scene, and added baby crying sounds during editing, which also successfully mimicked the original western.
Overall, our group mimicked the original shoot well.

Fistful of Dollars

This group, which consisted of Oswin, Erica, Tiffany, Daniel, and Alex, were very successful at mimicking the original shoot. I thought that the location was chosen very well, as it was almost identical to the one from the original shoot. There was an open space, with few buildings next to it.

This group also mimicked the costumes and props well, they used the same colored clothing, and used the same props. The only issue was that the original scene had a horse, but it was not possible to get a horse. The use of visual effects and sound effects also mimicked the original shoot at well. The sounds created a lot of suspense, while the visual effects enhanced the scene and made it look more like a western film.

The audio voiceover worked out in some parts, because the lip syncing was matched, but the voiceover was a little unrealistic, and it was easily noticeable as an audience.
Overall, this group mimicked the original shoot very well.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly 

This group, which consisted of Enrique, Ian, Gabriel and Daniel, were also successful in mimicking the original shoot. The location was chosen very well, and it mimicked the original shoot, because it was in an open space. However, in their shoot, there were trees and bushes blocking some of the shots, and there was a off-horizon shot, which did not use the rule of thirds, which deviated from the original shoot.

This group used mise en scene on the costumes, which also mimicked the original shoot. For example, Daniel, who was the Bad, had a black jacket, black hat, and black boots, which clearly symbolizes negativity, badness and evilness, while Ian, who was the Good, had a white shirt and a white scarf, which symbolizes innocence, and goodness.

The sound effects used mimicked the original scene very well, because it was dramatic, and intense music, which created a lot of suspense. However, some of the sounds were out of sync, for example the gun shot at the end, which may have ruined some of the suspense.
Overall, this group mimicked the original shoot very well.

3/10 to Yuma

This group, which consisted of Sirena, Isabelle, Dominic and Hugo, mimicked the original shoot well. They had a hard time finding a good location, because the scene was set inside a saloon, which had a staircase and a door visible. In the end, they shot in school, outside the drama studio. The main problem was that the set they filmed at was outdoors, while the original was indoors (inside a saloon). We were able to see the sunlight, which deviated from the original shoot.

Since this was shot outdoors, there was a lot of background noise, such as buses or wind noises, which made it hard to hear voices. It would have been better to do a voiceover to get rid of the background noises. However, this group set up the set well to mimic the original shoot. Hugo used a box to step up on, which leveled the actors to the same height. This was unnoticeable as an audience, which was very effective.
Overall, this group mimicked the original shoot well.

Note taking from Screening : 17/3

True grit :: Opening Scene :: Victoria, Constance, Ambrose, Emma, Alvin

-constance - two characters in same scene?

-missing gunshot sounds

-weather

-lots of different scenes
-cutting the camera before the shot ended (causing camera shaking)
-opening shot credits had good background

-good scene setup in the 2nd scene (desk/office scene)
-costumes matching mise en scene

True Grit Video

Fistful of dollars :: 3 coffins scene :: Alex, Tiffany, Erica, Daniel, Oswin

-some shots were out of focus, camera shaking

-Audio voiceover unrealistic (in the beginning)

-matching lipsync

-original scene was deserted, but there was people walking around in this scene
-visual effects (color, etc)
-managing sets well
-suspense created through shooting
-stepping into the frame worked well (good camera tracking)
-costumes matching mise en scene
-music volume too high (sometimes)
-not enough ambient noise (?)

The good the bad and the ugly :: Last scene - mexican standoff :: Ian, Gabriel, Daniel, Enrique

-music : dramatic, able to draw out suspense

-costumes (daniel: black jacket, hat, boots) (ian: white shirt, scarf?)

sound lost of sync?

lots of editing

off-horizon shot (not using rule of thirds, bushes blocking the shot)
-title credits used western fonts
-good transitions

3/10 to Yuma :: 4/11 scene - Captured in Bisbee :: Hugo, Dominic, Isabelle, Sirena (with Tiffany and Alvin)

-background noise (bus, wind)

-outdoors, original scene was indoors (saloon)

-cloudy and sunny days

-shaky camera

-weird ending cut

-unable to add mise en scene - no where to hang guns etc

-could not find a good location
-costumes matching mise en scene
-footage not synced well
-the box to step up on was unnoticeable by the audience (leveling the actors because of height difference)
-bad transition (loud to soft voices and soft to loud voices)

Reflection Three

How can we define 'shot'? How do you know you have changed 'shots' when viewing a scene? How would you define 'shot' when shooting the actual production?

A shot is a series of video frames that runs until when the angle changes, a transition or cuts happen in the film. A shot starts when a camera starts recording in one place, and ends when the camera switches to another angle or cuts to another scene. It is basically continuous footage between two edits or cuts in a scene. When viewing a scene, you will notice the camera angle change or a cut in the scene, that is when a shot has been changed.

A shot when shooting the actual production would be the moment that the camera starts recording until it stops and cuts to another shot or another scene.
There are usually lots of different shots in each scene with different types of shots, such as close-ups and long shots. A long shot usually shows the surrounding environment, including all characters, while a close-up usually focuses on a person or an object, for example you could use a close-up when a person is talking.

Reflection Two

How does the mise en scene help to communicate character and story? Give examples from our screening

Mise en scene reveals the story by showing different scenes and shots that tell the setting and reveal to the audience what might happen next, such as background of the scene.
Mise en scene reveals characters by showing what props they are using, such as guns, what type of costumes they are wearing, such as the colors of their clothing, white symbolizes innocence, and red symbolizes they are special and different from the others.
For example in the beginning Magnificent Seven, the farmers in the village are all wearing white robes, while the bandits raiding the village have red and blue colored clothing, symbolizing they are the bad guys.

How does the mise en scene reveal the theme of the film?

Mise en scene reveals the theme of the film by showing the audience the general storyline and plot of the film, and how the characters interact with each other. This can be seen by characters' dialogue, their attitude towards each other. For example the protagonist always shows his soft side to the audience through his dialogue.

Reflection One

How does the mise en scene help to establish the genre? Give examples from our screening

Mise en scene indicates what genre we are in by showing us the unique characteristics of that genre, for example in Western genre, the setting is usually in a desert, the characters usually involve with cowboys and indians, people usually carry guns around, there is always a 'hero' involved that is a loner, and the plot is about vengeance and justice. In our screening of The Magnificent Seven, mise en scene was used in the color of the costumes and the props. The farmers lived in a village in the middle of a desert, wearing white robes and cowboy hats, and the bandits rode on horses, carried guns and wore cowboy hats. From the mise en scene, we can easily tell the genre.

Using Final Cut Pro (25/2 Lesson notes)

Final Cut Pro Tutorial:

1. Close everything on computer
2. Open Final Cut Pro

(Preference Manager - trash -> final cut pro)

3. Select:
Format: AppleProRes422
Primary Scratch Disk: Final Cut Pro --> documents --> Final Cut Pro Documents

4. Put documents on to timeline/sequence

5. Capturing/Digitizing:
(-log and capture : tape based for firewire)
-use log and transfer instead

-Name Preset: Clip Date/Time

6. Drag Clips onto sequence

7. File --> New --> Bin
for organizing

8. If sequence doesn't match clip settings (for example fps), drop a clip to the sequence to match the settings

Work Flow for editing:

• Log and capture 
• Assembly edit 
• Rough cut 
• Fine cut 
• Lock picture
• Sound edit
• SFX / title / music 
• Final cut + export

Reverse Storyboarding Notes

Pre-production:

• scripts
• storyboard
• shot list
• casting
• location scouting
• budgeting
• costume/makeup
• props

How does pre-production affect production?

Storyboard:

Visual references are used by the director and cameraman

Depending on type of shoot, previs tools can be used to layout title sequences

Stick figures or stylized characters

Rule of thirds

-more beautiful/important if on the side

Website:
Videomaker.com - How to make a storyboard, storyboard lingo and techniques