Digital Filmmaking - Week 4

27/07/2019

Renee V. (2018). How filmmakers use aspect ratios to tell better stories. Retrieved July 27, 2019, from https://nofilmschool.com/2018/03/how-filmmakers-use-aspect-ratios-tell-better-stories?fbclid=IwAR0s73yPz7oLpDZSKKKeLC-hNaz7ldbA1K-p7vQe9LBF8Bn-3hmtKbjUBn4

Fandor. (2018, February 12). Sfx secrets: aspect ratios [Video file]. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/255452914


Stylistic and narrative reasons for filmmakers choosing aspect ratios

• Claustrophobia.
• Add context to the story.
• Capture sweeping landscapes through ultra widescreen formats.
• It's a critically thought-out, creative decision, rather than a default setting / decision.
• CinemaScope aspect ratios became a popular choice for filmmakers in the 1950's. Beforehand, most films were shot in the Academy Ratio.

• Time period.
• David Fincher shoots in 2:35:1, which supports his films' sleek cinematography and wide environments.

• A director's personal choice.
• Andrew Arnold uses Academy Ratio to apply claustrophobia.

• A Ghost Story was shot in 1:33:1 to apply isolation and to express how trapped the protagonist feels. A circular, home video type of border is used to express nostalgia / memory.

• The Hateful Eight's use of an ultra wide aspect ratio (2:76:1) is to compliment natural landscapes, but also to support feelings of paranoia and unease.

The purpose behind films switching between different aspect ratios (e.g. The Dark Knight) can be because of different time periods in the story, interaction from on-screen characters, express characters' emotions and to differentiate between nightmare (much narrower aspect ratio) and reality.

Choice of aspect ratios for filmmakers in the first half of the twentieth century was limited and were forced to implement the Academy Ratio, whereas filmmakers of today are free to choose whatever aspect ratio they want.

Hellerman, J. (2019). When to use 'continuous' in a script?. Retrieved July 27, 2019, from https://nofilmschool.com/When-to-use-Continuous-script?fbclid=IwAR0INzMq5jJvdi8Cdkq0lWfx1vhKsLBheItb2twd090dtmsJYqj-jRIFaIk

You use cont'd in a screenplay when a scene is in the same location as the previous scene (you include CONTINUOUS in the next scene heading, rather than day or night) or you can have DAY or NIGHT with CONTINUOUS in brackets.

Hellerman, J. (2019). What is cinema verite and how can you use it in film and tv?. Retrieved July 27, 2019, from https://nofilmschool.com/what-is-cinema-verite?fbclid=IwAR0nyw6YbMDF6Ul8RUT2Oc_mGkZM9spFbv7OEsrSzOihW8npsYj5NmCGY8w

Cinema verite

• It means 'truthful cinema' and is a filmmaking style that is defined by applying realism, which is mainly used in documentaries and avoids anything artistic or artificial. It's almost like Dogma 95.
• It heavily influenced American cinema with 'direct cinema' and internationally with 'observational cinema'. 
• The British called Cinema verite, 'free cinema'.
• Like Dogma 95, cinema verite liberates film from commercial or mainstream virtues.
• You can simply create a cinema verite film by making a documentary.

29/07/2019

True stories that I have experienced

• Chased by older brothers and got head split open by the edge of a door.
• Got scratched on the arm by a cat that hated me.
• Didn't go into the main swimming pool at Century Pool until I was 8.
• It took me all of Year 1 to get me into the school swimming pool.
• I dunked my head underwater when I was eight for class because I was bribed with a chocolate fish.
• I threw away a PS1 game that would give me nightmares.
• My Xbox 360 console got broken after a year since I had it because my nephew dropped a plate on it. It was quite strange for the next few years until it got the 'red ring of death'.
• I dislocated my knee at high school ball. It was so painful, it felt like it was never going to end.
• Woken by a big, massive earthquake, thinking it was a dream. It felt so surreal at first. It was the Canterbury 7.1 earthquake in September 2010.

Stealing from the truth to tell fiction

A few years ago, I went along on a trip to Wellington with some friends. Instead of flying over there, we just took a couple of InterCity buses to take us all the way up to Picton and got onto an InterIslander. It was weird being on a moving boat out to sea, even though it was just crossing Cook's Strait, it was close enough to going out to sea. 

Some of my friends preferred to stay inside because they couldn't stand the cold, but lucky for me I'm almost immune to the cold. Now, when I say 'almost', I mean it doesn't bother me like most people, but it will most definitely give me a hell of blocked nose in the long run.

It was good looking at the sea, but could also be boring. I got so bored after a while that I ended up busting some moves and stunts on the deck like from an action movie. I was about to attempt a flip, only for me dislocate my knee. One minute I was filling in time with dumb stunts and tricks, only to be on the ground. It happened so fast. It was scary figuring out and processing what was happening. 

By the time I hit ground, I could feel searing pain in my left leg. I assumed it was sprained, but I had never had a sprain that hurt this much before. It could just be me. However, I checked my leg closer and found that my kneecap had twisted to the left side of my leg. It was scary and surreal to look at, seeing my kneecap in a different place. I screamed in pain, pleading for help. A woman came out sprinting and looked shocked. She yelled for a medic to come. 

The woman told me to keep calm and to not fall asleep. She asked for my name and I asked for hers. It's hard to recall what specifically happened afterwards or who that woman's name was. I only remember in flashes of memories. I do recall the medic rushing out and trying to get me comfortable. Myself screaming in pain as they tried to raise me up from the ground. Being told to breathe into a nozzle, where time just slowed down for me. Then nothing. I woke up in hospital on dry land getting an X-ray. They seemed to had popped the kneecap back in place.