Picture I chose as an inspiration to my script:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Girl_taking_picture.jpg
Tuesday, 19 May 2009
Montage / Wong Kar Wai 1
7th May, 09
After spending the first half of the lesson finish watching "Blanche", Miss Wong started us on a new project, Montage editing.
We watched a short film on an editing skill called the Kuleshov effect, developed by the Russians. The film was narrated by Hitchcock (the film genius). First, he showed us of an old man, frowning, then slowly smiling, then continuously, a young woman playing with her son. What this short film told us was that this old man may be the gentle loving grandpa, full of love, kindness, and happiness in seeing his family so happy. Then the next clip, the self same man, then the self same frown, then later, the self same smile. The continuously, a woman wearing an bikini, sun bathing. What this clip told us of the character was that he was a pervy sick old man. I was really amazed at how the same expression could have such a different effect on us when different clips were edited together.
We also watched another similar one where a man holds an axe with a fixed glare at a certain point, then with different clips edited in, showing completely different stories.
Later, we watched several montages, one that was most vivid to me was the one about religion. At first, it has shown religion in a scary eerie light, then as the montage builds up, the person who made the montage suddenly added "HOORAY!" to it, making me slightly confused, but nevertheless, enjoying the montage, and later understanding that the maker was mocking religion. Another one that I remembered the most was the one about the fate of a baby pram during a war. As the war builds up, the pram edges slowly, millimetre by millimetre closer to the edge of a long flight of stairs, then there are massive crowds marching, guns firing, people screaming, shouting, and back to the baby pram. It's amazing how discontinuity can build up tension so quickly and in so many different ways.
Later, we proceeded to analysing why don't we "get" Wong Kar Wai films. What the class thought was exactly the same as what I thought. We thought:
-the film is weird
-story is disjointed
-what seems to be the main characters just randomly appears or dissapears from the movie
-we feel alienated
-we ask "WHY? what is that guy doing!!??" sometimes
We later learnt that WKW wants to make his films non-generic, and they are never cliche. He makes odd-ball images during his film to get the audience really thinking deeply about what he is trying to convey to the audience instead of just watching a film. Same reason why there are parts of the film where he uses fish eye lenses and makes the film disjointed and jumpy.
At the end, Ms Wong set us a task to write a short (less than five pages) script in Wong Kar Wai style. It would be very challenging, because I still cannot properly grasp the idea and style of WKW. I'm also slightly dissapointed, because I would rather do a Montage task.
Problems and Difficulties:
-I can't seem to find the differences between metric, rhythmic, tonal, overtonal and intellectual montage.
-I think it would still take me a long long time before I can learn to properly enjoy Wong Kar Wai films without saying "what on earth is he trying to say!?"
IB Learner Profile:
-Enquirers: we learnt about Montage editing skills and the style and reasoning behind WKW films.
After spending the first half of the lesson finish watching "Blanche", Miss Wong started us on a new project, Montage editing.
We watched a short film on an editing skill called the Kuleshov effect, developed by the Russians. The film was narrated by Hitchcock (the film genius). First, he showed us of an old man, frowning, then slowly smiling, then continuously, a young woman playing with her son. What this short film told us was that this old man may be the gentle loving grandpa, full of love, kindness, and happiness in seeing his family so happy. Then the next clip, the self same man, then the self same frown, then later, the self same smile. The continuously, a woman wearing an bikini, sun bathing. What this clip told us of the character was that he was a pervy sick old man. I was really amazed at how the same expression could have such a different effect on us when different clips were edited together.
We also watched another similar one where a man holds an axe with a fixed glare at a certain point, then with different clips edited in, showing completely different stories.
Later, we watched several montages, one that was most vivid to me was the one about religion. At first, it has shown religion in a scary eerie light, then as the montage builds up, the person who made the montage suddenly added "HOORAY!" to it, making me slightly confused, but nevertheless, enjoying the montage, and later understanding that the maker was mocking religion. Another one that I remembered the most was the one about the fate of a baby pram during a war. As the war builds up, the pram edges slowly, millimetre by millimetre closer to the edge of a long flight of stairs, then there are massive crowds marching, guns firing, people screaming, shouting, and back to the baby pram. It's amazing how discontinuity can build up tension so quickly and in so many different ways.
Later, we proceeded to analysing why don't we "get" Wong Kar Wai films. What the class thought was exactly the same as what I thought. We thought:
-the film is weird
-story is disjointed
-what seems to be the main characters just randomly appears or dissapears from the movie
-we feel alienated
-we ask "WHY? what is that guy doing!!??" sometimes
We later learnt that WKW wants to make his films non-generic, and they are never cliche. He makes odd-ball images during his film to get the audience really thinking deeply about what he is trying to convey to the audience instead of just watching a film. Same reason why there are parts of the film where he uses fish eye lenses and makes the film disjointed and jumpy.
At the end, Ms Wong set us a task to write a short (less than five pages) script in Wong Kar Wai style. It would be very challenging, because I still cannot properly grasp the idea and style of WKW. I'm also slightly dissapointed, because I would rather do a Montage task.
Problems and Difficulties:
-I can't seem to find the differences between metric, rhythmic, tonal, overtonal and intellectual montage.
-I think it would still take me a long long time before I can learn to properly enjoy Wong Kar Wai films without saying "what on earth is he trying to say!?"
IB Learner Profile:
-Enquirers: we learnt about Montage editing skills and the style and reasoning behind WKW films.
Sunday, 17 May 2009
SCREENING!
4th May, 09
We watched everyone else's films today.
I was disappointed to learn that Catherine has not completed the poster after she has declined my offer to complete it. We did not have a poster for our film.
First film we watched:
"Say Cheese" by (Sarah, Adrian, Bernice, Raphael, Ashley)
-the story was slightly weird, i didn't understand the first part where sarah was on the phone
-sound matched well with the cahse scene, though Miss Wong nad most of the class didn't think they matched.
-good use of the portal/cripple idea
-a bit too unreal, the victim should hae ran, instead of staying in one spot and posing for the camera
-shoud use more diagetinc sound instead of too much non-diegetic
-pacing was too slow
-well controlled,v understood how to control white noise better than any of the groups
"Babooshka" by our group: Catherine, Christopher, Xingyi, Camille (me)
-the directions from the portals don't match
-the scripting was obviously lacking in detail
-underdeeloped
-didn;t see portals, just cutting throught scenes
-good background sound capture
-story was little too unpredictable (in a bad way) and random
-POV are messy, mismathed
-need to balance the light and dark
-grainy (should have used HD)
"Wabbit Hunt" by Joyce, Elliot, Justin, Henry
-Very different, three chasing one instead of one on one, something nobody else have ever done before
-music matched the movie very very well
-great interpretation of the charlie chaplin style
-good portrayal of the comedy theme
-story line can get slightly messy
-some supposed diegetic sounds were too obviously fake and unnatrual
-subtitles were too small and hard to read
"High Octane" by Louise, Jeffrey, Ella, Andy, Louise
-music at the start didn't work out too well
-easy to get overrated
-artistically aware
-not enough portals, lots of just cutting through scenes
-music is too generic, like a teenage music video
-high production value
May 7th, 09
We continued watching the last film,
"Blanche" by Hannah, Julien, Jing-ting, Medora
-Background music quite inconsistant
-too abstract, audience hard to get what the story was trying to tell the audience. Because there was so little time to establish the the story, it has to be clear and direct
-taxi-office portal was really brilliant
-in some parts, the music was too intense for the vdeo
-story underdeveloped
-not enough portals
Problems/Difficulties:
-I think i had some difficulties to spot the problems or traits that make a movie bad from Miss Wong's opinions. Some movies I thought were really brilliant, like "Hight Octane", Miss Wong says that it is a bit too teenage music video. I think that is the problem that I may face when in future producing another movie. I need to learn how to see the movie in a different light than how I usually do to avoid making the movie generic, cliche and cheesy.
IB Learner Profile:
-Reflectors: watching other people's films made me realise how obvious it is that other groups have put in so much more work into their films than ours. I'm NOT saying that our group didn't put in effort, becuase I'm sure most of us did, but its just that our group didn't have really good chemistry. From interacting with them daily outside of film, I noticed our personalities and styles are very different from each the others, so while one of us likes an idea, the rest of the group doesn't like it, vice versa. It takes a long time for us to settle on one idea, and while we're trying to make one thing work, somebody from the group just had to do something to upset it.
We watched everyone else's films today.
I was disappointed to learn that Catherine has not completed the poster after she has declined my offer to complete it. We did not have a poster for our film.
First film we watched:
"Say Cheese" by (Sarah, Adrian, Bernice, Raphael, Ashley)
-the story was slightly weird, i didn't understand the first part where sarah was on the phone
-sound matched well with the cahse scene, though Miss Wong nad most of the class didn't think they matched.
-good use of the portal/cripple idea
-a bit too unreal, the victim should hae ran, instead of staying in one spot and posing for the camera
-shoud use more diagetinc sound instead of too much non-diegetic
-pacing was too slow
-well controlled,v understood how to control white noise better than any of the groups
"Babooshka" by our group: Catherine, Christopher, Xingyi, Camille (me)
-the directions from the portals don't match
-the scripting was obviously lacking in detail
-underdeeloped
-didn;t see portals, just cutting throught scenes
-good background sound capture
-story was little too unpredictable (in a bad way) and random
-POV are messy, mismathed
-need to balance the light and dark
-grainy (should have used HD)
"Wabbit Hunt" by Joyce, Elliot, Justin, Henry
-Very different, three chasing one instead of one on one, something nobody else have ever done before
-music matched the movie very very well
-great interpretation of the charlie chaplin style
-good portrayal of the comedy theme
-story line can get slightly messy
-some supposed diegetic sounds were too obviously fake and unnatrual
-subtitles were too small and hard to read
"High Octane" by Louise, Jeffrey, Ella, Andy, Louise
-music at the start didn't work out too well
-easy to get overrated
-artistically aware
-not enough portals, lots of just cutting through scenes
-music is too generic, like a teenage music video
-high production value
May 7th, 09
We continued watching the last film,
"Blanche" by Hannah, Julien, Jing-ting, Medora
-Background music quite inconsistant
-too abstract, audience hard to get what the story was trying to tell the audience. Because there was so little time to establish the the story, it has to be clear and direct
-taxi-office portal was really brilliant
-in some parts, the music was too intense for the vdeo
-story underdeveloped
-not enough portals
Problems/Difficulties:
-I think i had some difficulties to spot the problems or traits that make a movie bad from Miss Wong's opinions. Some movies I thought were really brilliant, like "Hight Octane", Miss Wong says that it is a bit too teenage music video. I think that is the problem that I may face when in future producing another movie. I need to learn how to see the movie in a different light than how I usually do to avoid making the movie generic, cliche and cheesy.
IB Learner Profile:
-Reflectors: watching other people's films made me realise how obvious it is that other groups have put in so much more work into their films than ours. I'm NOT saying that our group didn't put in effort, becuase I'm sure most of us did, but its just that our group didn't have really good chemistry. From interacting with them daily outside of film, I noticed our personalities and styles are very different from each the others, so while one of us likes an idea, the rest of the group doesn't like it, vice versa. It takes a long time for us to settle on one idea, and while we're trying to make one thing work, somebody from the group just had to do something to upset it.
Saturday, 16 May 2009
Twilight 7
I'm not very happy with our progress regarding sound editing. There are some background noises in the clips that needs editing, and the sound editor wasn't doing it!
Xiangyi, who isn't the sound editor, and I worked together and added sound effects on FCP. While editing sound, Xiangyi stumbled upon a special effect where everytime the character goes through a portal, the whole screen warps and turns green in a flash. He added this to most of the portals, and added another effect, where the screen appears to be "blown off" and comes back in a flash.
We also fast forwarded the sound while the screen warps or flashes, and while doing that, the white noise became a more high pitched, "teleport" like sound. We thought using that would be great.
Chris the sound editor finally made his appearance in the film lab and gave us the songs, then he quickly left. We thought that the song didn't match and they weren't the ones that we picked, so we tried contacting him, but failed. So we had no choice but to use that song.
We encountered another problem while watching our film. There was a partduring filming when catherine was holding out the matryoshka above the camera to drop it, her hand appeared on the screen. Mr Chang helped us and taught us the steps to blacking out the the portion of the screen. This is a skill that i have not previously learnt.
After Xiangyi added the subtitles, we exported the film to the dropbox
Later that day, I contacted catherine and told her to bring the matryoshka doll so that we could make a poster of it. I had a few ideas in mind on making the poster, like:
-a black background with harsh lighting upon the doll. (I don't think this will work out very well, because i don't think it would suit the theme of our film very well, because its not so dark and serious)
-two overlapping opaque matryoshka dolls (This would suit the film better, because at first, the doll did show powers of portalling of its own.)
Xiangyi, who isn't the sound editor, and I worked together and added sound effects on FCP. While editing sound, Xiangyi stumbled upon a special effect where everytime the character goes through a portal, the whole screen warps and turns green in a flash. He added this to most of the portals, and added another effect, where the screen appears to be "blown off" and comes back in a flash.
We also fast forwarded the sound while the screen warps or flashes, and while doing that, the white noise became a more high pitched, "teleport" like sound. We thought using that would be great.
Chris the sound editor finally made his appearance in the film lab and gave us the songs, then he quickly left. We thought that the song didn't match and they weren't the ones that we picked, so we tried contacting him, but failed. So we had no choice but to use that song.
We encountered another problem while watching our film. There was a partduring filming when catherine was holding out the matryoshka above the camera to drop it, her hand appeared on the screen. Mr Chang helped us and taught us the steps to blacking out the the portion of the screen. This is a skill that i have not previously learnt.
After Xiangyi added the subtitles, we exported the film to the dropbox
Later that day, I contacted catherine and told her to bring the matryoshka doll so that we could make a poster of it. I had a few ideas in mind on making the poster, like:
-a black background with harsh lighting upon the doll. (I don't think this will work out very well, because i don't think it would suit the theme of our film very well, because its not so dark and serious)
-two overlapping opaque matryoshka dolls (This would suit the film better, because at first, the doll did show powers of portalling of its own.)
Thursday, 14 May 2009
SHOOTING!!
After school today, Xiangyi, Chris and I went to continue shooting what we missed.
We shot the cafe and causeway bay scene which only took a short time.
Chris wasn't in any of the scenes, so I gave him the job of video logging.
I took over the job as director since Catherine isn't here. At the cafe, we took the place of the tables where they are arranged as a la carte seats. We stationed our camera on top of a bench since we can't fit the tripod in between the seats. We took a few takes, each time alternating the exit, because Catherine still hasn't planned any of the shot directions yet. (even though i have story boarded them, shes not happy with them, and said that she's going to change it) At one point, a waiter walked in front of the camera right when xiangyi exits the scene, so that it looks like he portaled behind him. I have took special note about it on the log sheet, noting that it has the best effect out of all the takes. We left it there after that.
We made out way down to causeway bay to film the second last scene. I told xiangyi to appear behind a shop corner and disappear into a crowd of people. First time he did it, a person was staring at the camera, so we re-did it. After several takes, we got a really good shot where nobody (finaly!) stared at the camera and xiangyi exectued all the blocking sucessfully without fault. After that, we were done with today.
I thought we made create progress today. We have completed everything within three hours, taking lots of different shots as well. As inappropriate as it may sound, i think as a group, we work better without catherine disagreeing on everything we say, but just to try everything out. We always get the best results just trying and not having every single move controlled.
Problems/difficulties:
-apart from the staring passers-bys, everything else was perfect. A few more takes, and we can avoid that problem.
IB Learner Profile:
-Risk takers: We tried everything possible to ge a good take. Different angles, directions etc.
-Communicators: We all contributed ideas to each others and we all listen and we actually tried all the ideas out.
-Inquires: We asked each other our about how our ideas are, the tried them out, and learnt from our mistakes about whats bad about each take.
Regarding Ms Wong's question:
I think, all we have to do is to really voice our opinions and ask each other what they like and don't like about the idea and why so we have something to actually work on and improve on. I should also push myself and remind myself to do so, because or else, out conversation would just be. "um.." "yeah..." "no..." "i hate it" "no that's stupid" "you guys think of something, and i'll go online and look for ideas (and ends up on facebook)"
We shot the cafe and causeway bay scene which only took a short time.
Chris wasn't in any of the scenes, so I gave him the job of video logging.
I took over the job as director since Catherine isn't here. At the cafe, we took the place of the tables where they are arranged as a la carte seats. We stationed our camera on top of a bench since we can't fit the tripod in between the seats. We took a few takes, each time alternating the exit, because Catherine still hasn't planned any of the shot directions yet. (even though i have story boarded them, shes not happy with them, and said that she's going to change it) At one point, a waiter walked in front of the camera right when xiangyi exits the scene, so that it looks like he portaled behind him. I have took special note about it on the log sheet, noting that it has the best effect out of all the takes. We left it there after that.
We made out way down to causeway bay to film the second last scene. I told xiangyi to appear behind a shop corner and disappear into a crowd of people. First time he did it, a person was staring at the camera, so we re-did it. After several takes, we got a really good shot where nobody (finaly!) stared at the camera and xiangyi exectued all the blocking sucessfully without fault. After that, we were done with today.
I thought we made create progress today. We have completed everything within three hours, taking lots of different shots as well. As inappropriate as it may sound, i think as a group, we work better without catherine disagreeing on everything we say, but just to try everything out. We always get the best results just trying and not having every single move controlled.
Problems/difficulties:
-apart from the staring passers-bys, everything else was perfect. A few more takes, and we can avoid that problem.
IB Learner Profile:
-Risk takers: We tried everything possible to ge a good take. Different angles, directions etc.
-Communicators: We all contributed ideas to each others and we all listen and we actually tried all the ideas out.
-Inquires: We asked each other our about how our ideas are, the tried them out, and learnt from our mistakes about whats bad about each take.
Regarding Ms Wong's question:
I think, all we have to do is to really voice our opinions and ask each other what they like and don't like about the idea and why so we have something to actually work on and improve on. I should also push myself and remind myself to do so, because or else, out conversation would just be. "um.." "yeah..." "no..." "i hate it" "no that's stupid" "you guys think of something, and i'll go online and look for ideas (and ends up on facebook)"
Tuesday, 12 May 2009
Twilight 6
Wednesday 22nd, 09
We started uploading the footage onto final cut pro today so while we wait, we helped Chris pick some songs that might suit our film.
Chris and Catherine went on freeplay music to pick out some songs that might be useful for out film. They picked about 20 that might suit. Then I went over to their computer to listen to them after setting up the camera for import. I thought "Ambush" was the best, because it had an eerie air to it, and the beat was also pretty fast, which i think resembles fast heartbeat or footsteps. XiangYi also chose a similar one. Catherine then picked the intro song which was slow and heavy. Chris also picked a song that may fit in several different bits. He will be responsible later then for editing.
Problems/ Difficulty:
-I think we are working too slow with this progress
-Our group doesn't have a sense of unity. We always have awkward silences which is greatly irritating because i know that some of them has good ideas that they want to voice but is just too scared to break the silence. I always make an effort to break it, but afterwards, they always either say yes or no and continue on the silence.
-One or two people are very close minded. When an idea is voiced, the person would always say something rude and mean to stamp on that idea. I think this is the reason of the awkward silences
IB Learner Profile:
Inquirers - we found songs and their themes and how they will suit out film. this was one of the few things that actually worked well as a group.
Xiangyi stayed behind to do some editing, but none of us could stay behind because I had lunch duty, catherine had to meet with mrs chadwick regarding her pp and chris had to see another teacher.
We started uploading the footage onto final cut pro today so while we wait, we helped Chris pick some songs that might suit our film.
Chris and Catherine went on freeplay music to pick out some songs that might be useful for out film. They picked about 20 that might suit. Then I went over to their computer to listen to them after setting up the camera for import. I thought "Ambush" was the best, because it had an eerie air to it, and the beat was also pretty fast, which i think resembles fast heartbeat or footsteps. XiangYi also chose a similar one. Catherine then picked the intro song which was slow and heavy. Chris also picked a song that may fit in several different bits. He will be responsible later then for editing.
Problems/ Difficulty:
-I think we are working too slow with this progress
-Our group doesn't have a sense of unity. We always have awkward silences which is greatly irritating because i know that some of them has good ideas that they want to voice but is just too scared to break the silence. I always make an effort to break it, but afterwards, they always either say yes or no and continue on the silence.
-One or two people are very close minded. When an idea is voiced, the person would always say something rude and mean to stamp on that idea. I think this is the reason of the awkward silences
IB Learner Profile:
Inquirers - we found songs and their themes and how they will suit out film. this was one of the few things that actually worked well as a group.
Xiangyi stayed behind to do some editing, but none of us could stay behind because I had lunch duty, catherine had to meet with mrs chadwick regarding her pp and chris had to see another teacher.
Monday, 11 May 2009
Twilight 5
April 8th, 09
Due to an unfortunate event, I had to arrive school late. By the time I got there, everyone had glum looks pasted upon their faces, while facing a constant problem in our group - our schedules.
Turns out, nobody is free all together on the same day. Nobody in our group is willing to sacrifice their sundays, so the only day that might be feasible is wednesday. Catherine's not free that day, which was extremely bothersome because she was the director, and if she's not here to keep everything under control, the boys are going to start wanting to do things their way. One immediate example was when chris wanted to delete all three scenes from the script so that he could "skip" the filming.
I was only at film class long enough to agree on a schedule, so I will fill in on some more planning
We will have to complete:
- intro: when the matryoshka and villian is indtroduced, and the first displays of portaling power, from the matryoshka. - location - at school, film lab, desk.
- when villian was looking for the matryoshka: when the villian first portals, he appears in a coffee shop. -location- the coffee shop in braemar hill
- when villian portals into a park: villian is franctic, running around and portaling in and out of the same location and stressing out. - location- victoria park.
Equipment list:
-tripod
-camera
-shot list
-script
-storyboard
Prop:
-matryoshka
Hopefully, we could avoid the same problem that we had before was becuase these locations are all filmed in public places, the people wont be giving us any "stare in the camera" looks. Our solutions is just to look for some nooks and crannies where fewer people will go to and hopefully film there.
Due to an unfortunate event, I had to arrive school late. By the time I got there, everyone had glum looks pasted upon their faces, while facing a constant problem in our group - our schedules.
Turns out, nobody is free all together on the same day. Nobody in our group is willing to sacrifice their sundays, so the only day that might be feasible is wednesday. Catherine's not free that day, which was extremely bothersome because she was the director, and if she's not here to keep everything under control, the boys are going to start wanting to do things their way. One immediate example was when chris wanted to delete all three scenes from the script so that he could "skip" the filming.
I was only at film class long enough to agree on a schedule, so I will fill in on some more planning
We will have to complete:
- intro: when the matryoshka and villian is indtroduced, and the first displays of portaling power, from the matryoshka. - location - at school, film lab, desk.
- when villian was looking for the matryoshka: when the villian first portals, he appears in a coffee shop. -location- the coffee shop in braemar hill
- when villian portals into a park: villian is franctic, running around and portaling in and out of the same location and stressing out. - location- victoria park.
Equipment list:
-tripod
-camera
-shot list
-script
-storyboard
Prop:
-matryoshka
Hopefully, we could avoid the same problem that we had before was becuase these locations are all filmed in public places, the people wont be giving us any "stare in the camera" looks. Our solutions is just to look for some nooks and crannies where fewer people will go to and hopefully film there.
SHOOTING!
Today was really tiring, but a fun process nevertheless
I think that today was really the first time that we actually "clicked" as a team. Catherine's directions were straight forward this time, telling the actors (chris and xiangyi) exactly what she wants, and choosing sensible places so that the actors safety are guaranteed (we were filming at the roof - with not bars around!) I got up and down, crawling and tip toeing to get good shot directions. Chris and xiangyi cooperated flawlessly as actors, though chris did want some extra scenes of himself that wasn't planned.
Then we filmed at a ledge that was more like a podium. It was difficult to shoot there, because it was a public place, lots of kids were playing football and old people were running around. I have to say, they were rude, because some of them - even the grown ups, walked directly into the camera while staring at the lens. We couldn't really get it done because of too much distractions at the set, and time ran out, so we all had to leave and plan to film it another time.
I think that today was really the first time that we actually "clicked" as a team. Catherine's directions were straight forward this time, telling the actors (chris and xiangyi) exactly what she wants, and choosing sensible places so that the actors safety are guaranteed (we were filming at the roof - with not bars around!) I got up and down, crawling and tip toeing to get good shot directions. Chris and xiangyi cooperated flawlessly as actors, though chris did want some extra scenes of himself that wasn't planned.
Then we filmed at a ledge that was more like a podium. It was difficult to shoot there, because it was a public place, lots of kids were playing football and old people were running around. I have to say, they were rude, because some of them - even the grown ups, walked directly into the camera while staring at the lens. We couldn't really get it done because of too much distractions at the set, and time ran out, so we all had to leave and plan to film it another time.
Twilight 4
March 30th, 09
We were introduced today to some steps that we will have to do, like in order to reserve equipment, we have to fill out an equipment reservation form, show Mr Chiang our storyboard and shot list. No matter how we think these steps are bothersome, I understand all it is for, is just to help us get organised and to make out filming process easier. Mr. Chiang also taught us about the time code on the tape, so that we can read the video log and record it onto a log sheet.
I showed my group the story board, and they were quite happy with it. They took quite a while to read it, and do some refining to it and we're good to go.
I did some planning on how we are to use our time efficiently on the 4 hours on Saturday that we have. I am very sure that we will take ALOT (alot indeed) of time on saturday getting outselves sorted out and getting used to the equipment and everything judging by the way that we work. We will be filming the rooftop and ledge scene. The rooftop scenes and ledge scene is hand held (because they are chase scenes), so we dont need the tripod yet. We dont need the boom mike either because we dont need to record any conversations.
Equipment list:
-Shot List
-Story board
-Script
-Camera
Props:
-Matryoshka doll (commonly known as Babooshka)
IB Learner profile:
Thinker: I did the planning, making decisions on what to bring, what not, shooting what scenes and what times, etc.
We were introduced today to some steps that we will have to do, like in order to reserve equipment, we have to fill out an equipment reservation form, show Mr Chiang our storyboard and shot list. No matter how we think these steps are bothersome, I understand all it is for, is just to help us get organised and to make out filming process easier. Mr. Chiang also taught us about the time code on the tape, so that we can read the video log and record it onto a log sheet.
I showed my group the story board, and they were quite happy with it. They took quite a while to read it, and do some refining to it and we're good to go.
I did some planning on how we are to use our time efficiently on the 4 hours on Saturday that we have. I am very sure that we will take ALOT (alot indeed) of time on saturday getting outselves sorted out and getting used to the equipment and everything judging by the way that we work. We will be filming the rooftop and ledge scene. The rooftop scenes and ledge scene is hand held (because they are chase scenes), so we dont need the tripod yet. We dont need the boom mike either because we dont need to record any conversations.
Equipment list:
-Shot List
-Story board
-Script
-Camera
Props:
-Matryoshka doll (commonly known as Babooshka)
IB Learner profile:
Thinker: I did the planning, making decisions on what to bring, what not, shooting what scenes and what times, etc.
Twilight 3
March 26th, 09
Todays lesson was spent pre planning. We are still thinking of locations for our portals, and eventually, we came up with Repulse Bay, Causeway Bay Pedestrian Cross, Braemar Hill Coffee Shop, and victoria park, Catherine's rooftop and road beneath Catherine's home
Again, we touch upon the problem of our conflicting schedules. Catherine's almost never free, but she is the director, so there we have a big problem. We later compromised our time and agreed on filming this Saturday's afternoon from 3 to 7.
I have worked hard on the story board, but it wasn't easy, becuase of the script that Catherine wrote is lacking information. She hasn't planned any shots, all she wrote was lines of description of whats happening. She hasn't even done it on final cut pro, so the scene descriptons, character space, were all jumbled up. There aren't any dialogue on our film either. XiangYi and I copied the script out on final cut pro half way while teaching Catherine how to use this software. She wasnt familiar with where the options are and everything, so I showed here where they are, and also some tips that she didn't notice at first, like pressing enter after a CHARACTER space autimatically gives you a DIALOGUE space. etc.
I left her my email so that she could send me the script after converting it to PDF (because converting it to microsoft would take out the formatting) and i started working on the story board tonight. She told me to plan all the shots for her and use my imagination to create a setting. So I started on internet searching the locations so get a sense of what it looks like. Then just briefly sketching it, I created the start of it. I have no idea what the road near Catherin'es home looks like, so i just drew an ordinary bend in the road. Hopefully, drawing without planning won't affect the filming process much, so I told myself to keep in mind a flexible mindset while filming.
Basically, I have changed the script alot when converting it from word to picture. Lots of the things she wrote didn't make sense and I had to redo the story board several times just so that it follows a logical order. The directions (e.g. left exit screen, left re-enter screen) were also very messy, and i have voiced my concern to catherine, but she just said to leave it and pretend that it was done intentionally. It was a hard script to work on.
Problems and difficulties:
-Overall, i dont think we all work that well as a team.
-As a director, catherine's doesn't pay enough attention to the details, making the team members work doubly hard just so that the directions she give can make logical sense before carrying them out.
IB Learner Profile:
Risk- takers: I have taken some risks in story boarding, because the directions and script was all done in a very unfamiliar manner, and i had to pick my brains and use different ways to over come that problem.
Todays lesson was spent pre planning. We are still thinking of locations for our portals, and eventually, we came up with Repulse Bay, Causeway Bay Pedestrian Cross, Braemar Hill Coffee Shop, and victoria park, Catherine's rooftop and road beneath Catherine's home
Again, we touch upon the problem of our conflicting schedules. Catherine's almost never free, but she is the director, so there we have a big problem. We later compromised our time and agreed on filming this Saturday's afternoon from 3 to 7.
I have worked hard on the story board, but it wasn't easy, becuase of the script that Catherine wrote is lacking information. She hasn't planned any shots, all she wrote was lines of description of whats happening. She hasn't even done it on final cut pro, so the scene descriptons, character space, were all jumbled up. There aren't any dialogue on our film either. XiangYi and I copied the script out on final cut pro half way while teaching Catherine how to use this software. She wasnt familiar with where the options are and everything, so I showed here where they are, and also some tips that she didn't notice at first, like pressing enter after a CHARACTER space autimatically gives you a DIALOGUE space. etc.
I left her my email so that she could send me the script after converting it to PDF (because converting it to microsoft would take out the formatting) and i started working on the story board tonight. She told me to plan all the shots for her and use my imagination to create a setting. So I started on internet searching the locations so get a sense of what it looks like. Then just briefly sketching it, I created the start of it. I have no idea what the road near Catherin'es home looks like, so i just drew an ordinary bend in the road. Hopefully, drawing without planning won't affect the filming process much, so I told myself to keep in mind a flexible mindset while filming.
Basically, I have changed the script alot when converting it from word to picture. Lots of the things she wrote didn't make sense and I had to redo the story board several times just so that it follows a logical order. The directions (e.g. left exit screen, left re-enter screen) were also very messy, and i have voiced my concern to catherine, but she just said to leave it and pretend that it was done intentionally. It was a hard script to work on.
Problems and difficulties:
-Overall, i dont think we all work that well as a team.
-As a director, catherine's doesn't pay enough attention to the details, making the team members work doubly hard just so that the directions she give can make logical sense before carrying them out.
IB Learner Profile:
Risk- takers: I have taken some risks in story boarding, because the directions and script was all done in a very unfamiliar manner, and i had to pick my brains and use different ways to over come that problem.
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
Twilight Lesson 2
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Catherine had the script done according to XiangYi and my portal line. She did not change anything in the end. She added a story the it so in the beginning, the villain and the protagonists are introduced.
I drew a table of times in the week so that everyone could tick or cross when they are free and when they are not free. Our schedules are very bad, beacuse nobody is free all at once. They all clash with each other.
We decided to put our schedule aside and think of loations first. I have suggested the IFC patio for the introduction of characters, becuase it is desolated and people rarely go there. I also think that it suits the mood because there are no tall buildings around, so gives a feeling of erieness at night.
Catherine again, did not like that idea because it was too far from her home. She wanted to do it under her home where there is a bend in the road and a lampost where the villian can dissapear through. Nobody in the group objected to avoid any arguements so we agreed in the end.
Problems / difficulties:
Again, it was the communication. This time, we did talk, but still there was a problem. It was very hard to talk to Catherine, talking to her was just like walking on eggshells. She is easily offended, not open to other people's ideas, and wants to do everything her own way. We would just have to cope and listen then.
I found the script very vague, therefore, making my job storyboarding extra tough. There are no directions, instructions, or shots whatsoever to tell me what she wants. I have consulted her on that matter, and she said that it was my job to figure all those out. I have to differ, but I did not voice it to avoid any further arguments.
IB Learner Profile:
Thinker - today was another planning lesson, and we were thinking all the time for ideas. Location planning today.
Twilight Zone Chase Scene Lesson 1
Monday, March 16, 2009
Although I was slightly disappointed to learn that we will not be able to work with my old group, at the same time I was also quite excited as it is a new chance to work and collaborate with other students. Different combinations of people often produce very interesting results, so I will be anticipating what will happen with our final product.Our roles were chosen today:
1. Catherine Dennig - Director / script writer
2. XiangYi Cheow - Editor
3. Christorpher Checketts - Sound Editor
4. Me (Camille Yung) - Camera Person
Catherine wanted the film to be very original, one of a kind, and suddenly, I came up with this weird bizarre idea of an invisible chaser, POV for the audience (which could be a creature, spectre, thing, the victim's conscience etc) chasing a victim. Throughout the film, you don't know who you are and why you're chasing the victim, but you are. Because we all have seen last term's screening, we concluded that we did not want a cliche typical boy chase girl movie.
We consulted with Ms Wong about the feasibility of the invisible chaser idea, but she said that it would be extremely hard to convey this to the audience, so we decided that the idea void, although I still really liked it.
Catherine told XiangYi and I to come up with ideas so that she could write the script, which I thought was quite confusing because the whole group should be coming up with ideas, not just XiangYi and I, but since she was the director, we listened to her anyway.
We came up first with a list:
Door - lamppost - from a rubbish bin - jump up ledge - appear behind a sofa of a chinese family, (they can yell, 做meh呀！搞meh鬼！出去!) jumps behind wall - up up from a bush - crawl under table - fall out from a tree - run into a football goalie - fall into sea
But Catherine didn't like it because she said that there were some really typical portals like a door, and crawling under a table, so she said that we had to come up with a different one. XiangYi and I picked our brains but no more new ideas, so we went onto YouTube. From one clip, we saw a rewind of a person jumping back to the camera off a really tall pile of boxes, and we have decided that we will use this technique when trying to jump onto high places.
Unfortunately, the lesson's time is up, so we just handed our list of ideas to Catherine, but she was unhappy with it, and she said that we would change it. I would be anticipating what ideas that she can come from
Problems/ Diffuculties
Communication - Catherine was quite obvious (in my opinion) that we did not want to think of anything, and just leaving XiangYi and I to do the thinking. We did not communicate well with her, and I think that next time, we should talk to her more frequently and asking her for ideas as well instead of just us doing everything.
IB Learner Profile:
Thinkers - I thought that we have put alot of thought into our portal line, though Catherine didn't like it very much
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