Final Course Reflection

Final Course Reflection

Wow, this course has been by far among my top 3 favorite classes I have ever taken during my time in college. This has been the most eye-opening experience I've had in all of my studies in film, in terms of both the industry and my abilities. Before taking this class, I had a pretty mild interest in cameras -- I owned one myself but didn't do much with it because I didn't know what it was actually capable of. Today, I just wanna go out and video everything. I'm already looking for new lenses and a new camera body to up my game and get into the world of cinematography.

Aperture, ISO, shutter speed, and exposure were all words I had heard before, but now that I know what they mean and how to change them to create exactly what I want they are now powerful words that I will use way more often. With learning these words, I've also learned that adjusting these settings can be quite different from one camera to another and that it's important to exposure yourself to a wide variety of different cameras to get familiar with how to use them. I never thought I would have walked out of this class knowing how to use so many different cameras!

I think by far my favorite part of learning about cinematography was learning about lenses and what each one is capable of producing. It is so very useful to know how a 24mm wide angle lens varies from 85mm telephoto lens. I no longer have to guess what the best lens would be for a project because now I know what each lens produces in terms of image.

Learning as much as I did about lighting was also very useful. There are so many tricks and tactics that we learned to create so many different settings (just by using lights!) that I never would have thought of on my own. However, despite all of the knowledge I have gained about lights, I hope working with them does not become my primary job. Working with them takes a lot of time and patience that I do not have.

This class taught me so many things and actually made me question whether or not I really wanted to wind up in post production (and let's be honest I still don't really know). Working with cameras is so enjoyable and gives you so much freedom to just create things, it's incredible. While most days I still think I belong to editing, I hope that wherever I wind up working I'll be allowed to dabble in cinematography as well.

Thank you Dr. Raimist for a great semester.

Reel // Artist Statement

Reel // Artist Statement

I made a bold decision second semester of my sophomore year to change my major to film, but I can gladly say I know I made the right move. And while I still believe I'm more geared toward the editing side of filmmaking, I learned a lot about cinematography this semester and want to continue enhancing my skills with a camera.

I found over the course of the semester that I really enjoy working on projects that aren't exactly cut and dried. Taking a camera out and just appreciating a place or event has been among my favorite things lately. And as we see in my selection of scene assignment -- a montage with voice over and dramatic music -- I believe I do best with filming pieces that aren't strictly scripted. My style of art has become taking ordinary life events and places and shaping them into art that can be appreciated by everyone else.

Life is measured in moments and thoughts, and filmmaking allows us to capture our own moments and thoughts to share visually with everyone else. We're inspired by places, events, and things around us and it's important to be able to share what we see with everyone else -- that's art. So what if you can't draw or sing; if you know a few basic camera skills you can be filmmaker and thus an artist.

The great thing about filmmaking is no two artists work the same way, which yields infinite unique works of art. It's so inspiring to know there's no right or wrong way to make a film and that people will never tire of watching films because they are always changing and different. However, despite films constantly changing, we can still learn from fellow filmmakers' techniques and abilities and take those on to create our own masterpieces.

As my filmmaking career takes off over this next year, I hope to continue working behind a camera and capturing those moments I think are meaningful and worth sharing with the rest of the world. I hope to inspire someone with what I share and impact their life somehow. While I'm just getting started here in the film world, this is a journey I'd like explore from various angles -- from behind the camera as well as the computer.

Scene Assignment // Gone Girl

Shot List

Shooting Script

Storyboard

Floorplans

Visual References

Lighting Techniques

Lighting Techniques

Tron: Legacy

Tron: Legacy implements a lot of low key lighting throughout the film. This effect is successful in this particular film seeing as it is set in a video game world where everything seems to be going wrong and is very dark. There is an evil that is taking over the world that requires a sort of cool, dark, shadowy setting which is exactly what this lighting allows. The main character of this film, Sam Flynn, is clearly an outsider to this world and by using the low key lighting effect the audience gets a better feel for just how isolated and different he feels from everything surrounding him. Using this low lighting gave a sense of entrapment as the character is trying to find an escape from this deep, dark mess he has found himself in.

Skyfall

Skyfall is another film that successfully uses low light to tell a story. In this action film, there is a quite larger array of color used, typically changing from scene to scene, unlike Tron: Legacy which focuses on the cooler, more blue tones. Despite jumping from white to yellow to blue, however, Skyfall still relies heavily on the low lighting to create suspense and danger in each scene. Seriously though, it wouldn't be a James Bond movie without a heavy amount of mystery and tension.

The Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz uses a lot of high key lighting throughout the film to display the bright, wonderful world that is Oz. Every character in the film is lit very brightly to display their unique beauty that is individual to themselves. Dorothy is often lit brightly -- especially for close ups -- to display her innocent nature as well as her optimism that there is good in everyone.

The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby has a pretty good mix of high and low key lighting. However, I would say there is probably a good bit more high key lighting in this film as everything about it is romantic in more of a sweet, almost cheesy way rather than in a passionate, seductive way (where low lighting might be more effective). The scenes that seem to never fail to be very bright are the ones in which Gatsby throws an elaborate party or those in which Daisy is included and not upset about something. This film is set in an age when everyone is attractive and fun and in love. And what better way to highlight these defining characteristics than with high key lighting?

Shot x Shot Analysis

Inception

"You're Waiting for a Train"

The scene begins with a close up shot of Mal who is clearly distraught over the story Cobb is about to tell that she has never heard before.

Next, we move to a close up of Cobb for a reaction shot. Here we can see he is expressing a similar emotion as it is a story he does not like to tell.

Back to a close up of Mal for a reaction.

Close up of Ariadne.

Back to a close up of Cobb to show his uneasiness about the subject.

Back to a close up of Mal.

Close up of Ariadne.

Final emotional close up of Cobb before flashback begins.

Medium wide shot of Mal and Cobb with a shallow depth of field to focus on them as they walk alone in a world created for only them.

Close up of Mal from a low angle as she sees something important.

Over the shoulder to reveal the house.

Medium close up from behind Mal as she reaches into her daughter's doll house.

Close up of Mal's hand twisting the dial and unlocking a safe strategically hidden in the doll house.

Close up of Mal's face from a low angle as she reaches into the safe for the top.

Extreme close up of the top (the bigger the small item is on screen, the more important it is to the film).

Close up of Mal's hand as she closes the safe once again.

Back to present time, close up of Cobb.

Over the shoulder close up of Mal for a reaction shot.

Flashback to another moment in time. Medium close up from a low angle of Cobb as he walks.

Over the shoulder of the same house from the earlier flashback. The shots in this part of the scene directly align with the shots of Mal from the first flashback.

Medium close up of Cobb opening the doll house.

Close up of Cobb's hand as he opens the safe.

Close up of Cobb's face from a low angle for a reaction shot.

Extreme close up of the top.

Back to a close up Cobb's face as he reaches into the safe.

Back to the extreme close up of the top as it continually spins.

Back to a close up of Cobb as he begins to close the safe with the top still spinning.

Close up of Cobb's hand as he closes the safe.

Wide shot of Cobb and Mal walking along railroad tracks to establish the next series of events.

Back to present time for a close up of Mal for a reaction.

Close up of Mal. This shot is sideways as she lays upon the railroad tracks.

Close up of Cobb holding onto Mal's hand.

Over the shoulder close up of Cobb, sideways as he lays on the railroad tracks.

Close up of bolts of railroad track with a shallow depth of field to express the distance of the train.

Close up of Mal as she lays on the tracks.

Ove the shoulder close up of Cobb.

Extreme close up of Mal.

Over the shoulder close up of Cobb.

Extreme close up of bolts of train tracks, still with a shallow depth of field.

Extreme close up of Cobb and Mal's hands. As the scene intensifies the shots get closer and closer and cutting becomes much quicker.

Even closer close up of Cobb as he looks behind Mal at the approaching train.

Close up of Mal, not quite as close as before to show the train just behind her until it moves into fram before cutting to black.

This scene effectively portrays the story Cobb is telling in the background as the scene plays out. He explains that he and his wife were trapped in this dream state for many years, and Mal had let this dream state become her reality. The top was Mal's "totem," an item that she could use at any moment to test whether or not she was in a dream or real life. By locking her totem away, Mal had chosen to forget that she was only dreaming. Once Cobb realized his wife had reached the point of no return, he deemed it was no longer safe for them to live this way. In order for them to wake up, they needed to die in this dream state (thus the part where they lay on train tracks and yell back and forth to each other until they are run over).