Synoptic treatment for film - The Guitarist’s Way
This is a story about one man’s dream of achieving his maximum potential in a world that offers no opportunities. Set in the grimy streets of downtown New York one man will do everything that he can to achieve his dream, to make the impossible possible to become the best guitarist that ever lived.
Our hero begins his career playing in sleazy bars and clubs that no one has heard of. It seems to be a mediocre lifestyle until a tragic accident where the owner of the main bar that he plays at gets shot when his house is broken into.
With no real venues that he can play at and the people that he knows turning on him by the second he can’t pay his bills and he has no where to turn to.
This was the case for many weeks until one day whilst sitting in an internet cafe he discovered youtube a popular website that hosts videos of anything that their users upload to it.
Our hero created a profile and quickly went home, that night he recorded seven videos using his mobile phone. Happy with the recordings he went straight to the cafe the next day and began uploading his videos.
Two weeks later he discovered that he had many views and comments from other youtube users, and to his surprise they were all positive. He looked up towards his inbox and he had several messages from one user who claimed to own a recording studio and a record label, saying the offer was there if he wanted it.
Our hero quickly took the deal, he became successful selling hundreds of thousands of copies of his albums, and he owed it all to one website.
Compare this film to the likes of the 2003 hit school of rock directed by Richard Linklater. Both films tell the story of a man who makes something out of playing his guitar. Whether there is a band or not that core ideal is there in both films. School of rock did well in the box office It grossed $131,282,949 internationally. The budget of the film was $35 million.
Other similar films include Wayne’s world a film about two guys who have a local TV program that become famous through the media. This links to our film because they both involve people seeking fame through the media, although our film centers around the more modern medium of youtube, Wayne's world focus on the television. This shows an evolution of media throughout time. Wayne’s world had a budget of $20,000,000, and it made $183,097,323 gross venue it also spawned a sequel and gathered a cult following.
This film would attract both the young and old; young people would like the inclusion of youtube and of the internet emphasizing the importance of the evolution of technology in recent years, that the internet isn’t just something for use of social networking sites, that you can make something out of it.
It will also appeal to the teenage market because this man has ambitions that he will stick to no matter what; this would inspire others to have ambitions and goals in their life.
The older people in the audience would enjoy the display of emotion in this film, because emotion is a very important aspect of this film, our main character goes through several stages including depression and eventually happiness at the realization of his goal.
To display these emotions extreme close ups will be a major shot used in the development if this film, this will allow the audience to connect with the character in the moments that he is most vulnerable.
Friday, 4 December 2009
Camera map, Shooting Schedule, Story board, Script and Group responsibilities
Camera Map Scan
Storyboard scan
Shooting schedule
Script
THE GUITARIST’S WAY
BY
Stephen Wilcockson
Tom Colledge
Andrew Barsby
SECOND SHOOTING DRAFT
February 26th 2010
THE GUITARIST’S WAY – Rev 06/11/09
FADE IN:
1. INT ROOM INTERIOR LIGHTING
We start with a view of a room; one man (Steven) is sat on a chair apparently in deep thought. Another man is trying to talk to him (Eddie)
Close up of Eddie
EDDIE
Hey man. . . you ready for this?
STEVEN
I have to be
The camera focus on a guitar case, the audience sees Steven grab the neck of the guitar
FADE OUT:
FADE IN:
2. INT STAGE INTERIOR LIGHTING
We open on a blank screen and hear the sound of a heavily distorted electric guitar we then see a fade in of Steven playing on a stage; he is playing a Yamaha erg121BK. He is wearing a black canvas jacket opened over a greenish brown T shirt, with a funny slogan on it. He is also wearing a pair of blue jeans with a pair of black trainers.
STEVEN (narration)
So yeah I love this movie, I’m in it by the way. This is my favourite part of the movie where he is playing guitar on a stage. . . oh wait sorry this is the end of the movie . . . You didn’t see that urm we’ll go back
(Whilst narration is occurring various camera shots of the venue are taking place, after panning shot low angle shot from perspective of audience member from front row, we see various shots of guitarist from different perspectives around the stage.)
3. BLANK SCREEN NO LIGHTING
We then see a rewind effect like one would see from a video cassette recorder appear on the screen with the sound effects of a rewinding tape. We see a rewind symbol appear on the bottom right hand side of the screen.
STEVEN (narration)
Ah here we go
We then see a dark room
DEEP VOICE
Let there be light
The audience then sees a close up of a light bulb turning on.
STEVEN (narration)
Oops too far. . .
We then see the rewind effect again with a fast forward symbol on the bottom right hand of the screen
STEVEN (narration)
There we go
4. INT BEDROOM INTERIOR LIGHTING
We then see a room with the same guitarist from earlier sat on a bed in a room playing an acoustic/classical guitar badly. . . Not just Mary had a little lamb bad; we’re talking bad, like uber happy birthday bad . . . terrible so to speak.
Camera change to over the shoulder of guitarist looking at song book, After effects of logo of WTF productions on current page of book, he changes the page and credits of Director, camera man and team involved appear as pages change.
STEVEN (narration)
AH my youth my first guitar. Aren’t I . . . good? Ish, look we all start from somewhere even you! You’re the ones who bought the ticket I mean a movie about a guitarist?
We see Steven look towards the screen in a questioning way,
STEVEN
Who’d pay to see that?
QUICK CUT OUT TO BLACK
Logo of The Guitarist’s way appears with the sound of a heavily distorted guitar chord
Group Responsibilities
Stephen Wilcockson: wrote the script, came up with the idea for the story, played the main protagonist in the film, wrote the music for the film, designed the film’s logo, provided the musical instruments for use in the film.
Andrew Barsby: Wrote the camera map, operated the camera during filming across all film days, all of the film’s editing
Thomas Colledge: Wrote the shooting schedule, expanded the idea of the story, provided the idea for the “let there be light” scene, played the protagonist’s friend in the opening scene, provided voice acting for the “let there be light scene”.
Storyboard scan
Shooting schedule
Script
THE GUITARIST’S WAY
BY
Stephen Wilcockson
Tom Colledge
Andrew Barsby
SECOND SHOOTING DRAFT
February 26th 2010
THE GUITARIST’S WAY – Rev 06/11/09
FADE IN:
1. INT ROOM INTERIOR LIGHTING
We start with a view of a room; one man (Steven) is sat on a chair apparently in deep thought. Another man is trying to talk to him (Eddie)
Close up of Eddie
EDDIE
Hey man. . . you ready for this?
STEVEN
I have to be
The camera focus on a guitar case, the audience sees Steven grab the neck of the guitar
FADE OUT:
FADE IN:
2. INT STAGE INTERIOR LIGHTING
We open on a blank screen and hear the sound of a heavily distorted electric guitar we then see a fade in of Steven playing on a stage; he is playing a Yamaha erg121BK. He is wearing a black canvas jacket opened over a greenish brown T shirt, with a funny slogan on it. He is also wearing a pair of blue jeans with a pair of black trainers.
STEVEN (narration)
So yeah I love this movie, I’m in it by the way. This is my favourite part of the movie where he is playing guitar on a stage. . . oh wait sorry this is the end of the movie . . . You didn’t see that urm we’ll go back
(Whilst narration is occurring various camera shots of the venue are taking place, after panning shot low angle shot from perspective of audience member from front row, we see various shots of guitarist from different perspectives around the stage.)
3. BLANK SCREEN NO LIGHTING
We then see a rewind effect like one would see from a video cassette recorder appear on the screen with the sound effects of a rewinding tape. We see a rewind symbol appear on the bottom right hand side of the screen.
STEVEN (narration)
Ah here we go
We then see a dark room
DEEP VOICE
Let there be light
The audience then sees a close up of a light bulb turning on.
STEVEN (narration)
Oops too far. . .
We then see the rewind effect again with a fast forward symbol on the bottom right hand of the screen
STEVEN (narration)
There we go
4. INT BEDROOM INTERIOR LIGHTING
We then see a room with the same guitarist from earlier sat on a bed in a room playing an acoustic/classical guitar badly. . . Not just Mary had a little lamb bad; we’re talking bad, like uber happy birthday bad . . . terrible so to speak.
Camera change to over the shoulder of guitarist looking at song book, After effects of logo of WTF productions on current page of book, he changes the page and credits of Director, camera man and team involved appear as pages change.
STEVEN (narration)
AH my youth my first guitar. Aren’t I . . . good? Ish, look we all start from somewhere even you! You’re the ones who bought the ticket I mean a movie about a guitarist?
We see Steven look towards the screen in a questioning way,
STEVEN
Who’d pay to see that?
QUICK CUT OUT TO BLACK
Logo of The Guitarist’s way appears with the sound of a heavily distorted guitar chord
Group Responsibilities
Stephen Wilcockson: wrote the script, came up with the idea for the story, played the main protagonist in the film, wrote the music for the film, designed the film’s logo, provided the musical instruments for use in the film.
Andrew Barsby: Wrote the camera map, operated the camera during filming across all film days, all of the film’s editing
Thomas Colledge: Wrote the shooting schedule, expanded the idea of the story, provided the idea for the “let there be light” scene, played the protagonist’s friend in the opening scene, provided voice acting for the “let there be light scene”.
Thursday, 3 December 2009
Conventions of the comedy genre
Conventions of the comedy genre
The comedy genre is rarely referred to as just comedy. This is because there are so many types of comedy these range from the romantic comedy to the black comedy type.
The romantic comedy focuses on two people and possibly their friends and relatives who find love with each other. The stereotyped plot line follows the "boy-gets-girl", "boy-loses-girl", "boy gets girl back again" sequence, however there are multiple variations of this plot line. This genre is generally seen as light hearted and sometimes simply referred to as a “chick flick” this means that it is believed that the film is aimed at a female audience. Examples of the romantic comedy include: It's a Wonderful World (1939), The Shop Around the Corner (1940), Sabrina (1954), When Harry Met Sally... (1989), Pretty Woman (1990), and Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994).
A parody or spoof is a film that uses scenes or concepts from other films and employs sarcasm, stereotyping and/or mockery of these scenes or concepts for comedic effect. Examples of parodies or spoofs include Blazing Saddles (1974), Airplane! (1980), and Young Frankenstein (1974).
A film that uses the Black comedy genre is one that employs topics or scenarios that would normally be considered taboo for comedic effect; examples of these scenarios include death, murder, suicide and/or war. Examples of films that use the Black comedy genre include: The Loved One (1965), MASH (1970), Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983), The War of the Roses (1989), Heathers (1989), Keeping Mum (2005), and Burn After Reading (2008).
A film that uses the Gross out comedy genre is one that employs vulgar, sexual or toilet humor into the film for comedic effect. Examples of such films include: Porky's (1982), Dumb and Dumber (1994), There's Something About Mary (1998), and American Pie (1999).
As well as the standard comedy genres there are also hybrid genres of comedy, these can range from the Action comedy to the comedy horror.
The Action comedy genre is a genre that includes comedic antics like slapstick or jokes with aspects of the action genre like a thrilling plot or daring stunts. These could also be martial arts slapstick films like the many starring Jackie Chan and others. Other examples of the Action comedy genre could be the buddy films, whereby mismatched partners find themselves in a situation that they solve over the course of the film in a comedic manner. Examples of films that use the Action comedy genre include: Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Hot fuzz (2007) The forbidden kingdom (2008) and Hancock (2008)
The comedy horror genre is a type of horror film in which the usual dark themes of horror are treated with a more humorous approach. These are often spoof movies that are simply parodies of horror movies for example Scary movie (2000) which was a parody of many movies of the time including Titanic (1997) The matrix (1999) etc etc. Other comedy horror genre films include zombieland (2009) and Shaun of the dead (2004). These comedy horrors focus less on the horror aspect of their genre but reflect the horrific moments as comedy like a parody.
A film that uses the fantasy comedy genre is one that magic, supernatural and or mythological figures for comic purposes. Most fantasy comedy includes an element of parody, or satire, turning many of the fantasy conventions on their head such as the hero becoming a cowardly fool. Examples of these films include Being John Malkovich(1999), Princess Bride (1987), Night at the Museum (2006), Groundhog Day (1993), Click (2006) and Shrek (2001).
The comedy genre is rarely referred to as just comedy. This is because there are so many types of comedy these range from the romantic comedy to the black comedy type.
The romantic comedy focuses on two people and possibly their friends and relatives who find love with each other. The stereotyped plot line follows the "boy-gets-girl", "boy-loses-girl", "boy gets girl back again" sequence, however there are multiple variations of this plot line. This genre is generally seen as light hearted and sometimes simply referred to as a “chick flick” this means that it is believed that the film is aimed at a female audience. Examples of the romantic comedy include: It's a Wonderful World (1939), The Shop Around the Corner (1940), Sabrina (1954), When Harry Met Sally... (1989), Pretty Woman (1990), and Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994).
A parody or spoof is a film that uses scenes or concepts from other films and employs sarcasm, stereotyping and/or mockery of these scenes or concepts for comedic effect. Examples of parodies or spoofs include Blazing Saddles (1974), Airplane! (1980), and Young Frankenstein (1974).
A film that uses the Black comedy genre is one that employs topics or scenarios that would normally be considered taboo for comedic effect; examples of these scenarios include death, murder, suicide and/or war. Examples of films that use the Black comedy genre include: The Loved One (1965), MASH (1970), Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983), The War of the Roses (1989), Heathers (1989), Keeping Mum (2005), and Burn After Reading (2008).
A film that uses the Gross out comedy genre is one that employs vulgar, sexual or toilet humor into the film for comedic effect. Examples of such films include: Porky's (1982), Dumb and Dumber (1994), There's Something About Mary (1998), and American Pie (1999).
As well as the standard comedy genres there are also hybrid genres of comedy, these can range from the Action comedy to the comedy horror.
The Action comedy genre is a genre that includes comedic antics like slapstick or jokes with aspects of the action genre like a thrilling plot or daring stunts. These could also be martial arts slapstick films like the many starring Jackie Chan and others. Other examples of the Action comedy genre could be the buddy films, whereby mismatched partners find themselves in a situation that they solve over the course of the film in a comedic manner. Examples of films that use the Action comedy genre include: Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Hot fuzz (2007) The forbidden kingdom (2008) and Hancock (2008)
The comedy horror genre is a type of horror film in which the usual dark themes of horror are treated with a more humorous approach. These are often spoof movies that are simply parodies of horror movies for example Scary movie (2000) which was a parody of many movies of the time including Titanic (1997) The matrix (1999) etc etc. Other comedy horror genre films include zombieland (2009) and Shaun of the dead (2004). These comedy horrors focus less on the horror aspect of their genre but reflect the horrific moments as comedy like a parody.
A film that uses the fantasy comedy genre is one that magic, supernatural and or mythological figures for comic purposes. Most fantasy comedy includes an element of parody, or satire, turning many of the fantasy conventions on their head such as the hero becoming a cowardly fool. Examples of these films include Being John Malkovich(1999), Princess Bride (1987), Night at the Museum (2006), Groundhog Day (1993), Click (2006) and Shrek (2001).
The History of Comedy
The history of comedy
Comedy as a movie genre puts the majority of its emphasis on humour; it is one of the oldest genres of film. A very early comedy short was Watering the Gardener (1895) by the Lumière brothers. The film is a French short black and white silent film, it runs for approx 49 seconds, it is known as the earliest comedic film and uses slapstick as its main device.
A still of the film watering the Gardener (1895)
A popular trend during the 1920s and afterward was comedy in the form of animated cartoons. Several popular characters of the period received the cartoon treatment. Among these were: Felix the Cat, Krazy Kat, and Betty Boop.
A picture including the main characters of Krazy Kat: "Ignatz Mouse", "Officer Pupp" and "Krazy Kat".
As the 1920s came to an end and the 1930s began the addition of sound to films gave comedians the option to use verbal comedy in the films they made for example W. C. Fields an American comedian who became a well known actor in movies. Very few comedians held on to making silent films for example Charlie Chaplain, who continued to make films devoid of dialogue during the 1930s.
A picture of Charlie Chaplain
In the 1940s with America joining World War 2 Hollywood became obsessed with movies about conflict, comedies began to involve military themes such as service, civil defense, boot-camp and shore-leave. The post war era saw the emergence of a new way to watch movies; this was the dawn of the home television. In 1948 TV to acquire commercial momentum and by the following year there were nearly a hundred television transmitters in American cities.
By the 1950s the television industry had become a serious competition for the movie industry. Despite the technological limitations of the TV medium at the time, more and more people chose to stay home to watch the television.
Initially the Hollywood studios saw the television as a threat to their business but then they began to discover the television as another outlet for their films. A few comedic film types that had previously been exclusive to the movie theatre transitioned to the television, the cartoon and the B movie for example.
A television of 1958
The 1960s saw an increasing number of broad, star-packed comedies including It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965) and The Great Race (1965). At the end of the 1950s early 1960s darker humor and more serious themes had begun to emerge Dr. Strangelove (1964) is an example of one such darker theme; it is a satirical comedy about Cold War paranoia.
A poster for the film Dr. Strangelove(1964), a comedy about cold war paranoia.
In the 1970s black comedies such as Catch 22 and MASH dealt with issues like the anti-war sentiment as well as treating the sensitive topic of suicide. As well as the above comedies there were many successful films over the 70s, a major star in some of these was Mel Brookes. He wrote directed and starred in some of his movies such as Young Frankenstein (1974) Blazing saddles (1974) and High Anxiety (1977)
A poster for the film Catch-22
A poster for the film Blazing sadles (1974)
Most British comedy films of the early 70s were spin offs of television series for example Dad’s army (1971) and On the buses (1971), both received a positive reception from the British public. Some of the greatest successes of the 70s were the Monty python team’s films including And Now For Something Completely Different (1971), Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) and Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979).
A poster for the film The life of Brian (1979)
A poster for the film Dads army (1971)
In 1980 the gag-based comedy Airplane!, a spoof of the previous decade's disaster film series was released and paved the way for more of the same including Top Secret! (1984) and the Naked Gun films all of which were directed by David zucker among others.
A poster for the film Airplane! (1980)
One of the major developments of the 1990s was the re-emergence of the romantic comedy film, encouraged by the success of When Harry Met Sally... (1989). Other examples included Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Clueless (1995) and You've Got Mail (1998) from the United States, and Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Sliding Doors (1998) and Notting Hill (1999) from the United Kingdom. Spoofs remained popular as well, especially with the Scary Movie series and Not Another Teen Movie.
A poster for the film Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
The late 90s to early 2000s saw British comedies examining the role of the Asian community within British life Bhaji on the Beach (1993), East Is East (1999), Bend It Like Beckham (2002) and Anita and Me (2003). These showed a growing interest in looking at how Britain has changed culture wise since the days of Dads army for example.
A poster for the film Bend it like Beckham (2002)
Also in the early to mid 2000s there were "stoner" comedies, which usually involve two guys on an adventure with random things happening to them along the way. Big movies of this sub-genre would be Dude, Where's My Car (2000), Big Nothing (2006), Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004), and Pineapple Express (2008). These movies usually have drug-related jokes and crude content
A poster for the film Dude where's my car? (2000)
Comedy as a movie genre puts the majority of its emphasis on humour; it is one of the oldest genres of film. A very early comedy short was Watering the Gardener (1895) by the Lumière brothers. The film is a French short black and white silent film, it runs for approx 49 seconds, it is known as the earliest comedic film and uses slapstick as its main device.
A still of the film watering the Gardener (1895)
A popular trend during the 1920s and afterward was comedy in the form of animated cartoons. Several popular characters of the period received the cartoon treatment. Among these were: Felix the Cat, Krazy Kat, and Betty Boop.
A picture including the main characters of Krazy Kat: "Ignatz Mouse", "Officer Pupp" and "Krazy Kat".
As the 1920s came to an end and the 1930s began the addition of sound to films gave comedians the option to use verbal comedy in the films they made for example W. C. Fields an American comedian who became a well known actor in movies. Very few comedians held on to making silent films for example Charlie Chaplain, who continued to make films devoid of dialogue during the 1930s.
A picture of Charlie Chaplain
In the 1940s with America joining World War 2 Hollywood became obsessed with movies about conflict, comedies began to involve military themes such as service, civil defense, boot-camp and shore-leave. The post war era saw the emergence of a new way to watch movies; this was the dawn of the home television. In 1948 TV to acquire commercial momentum and by the following year there were nearly a hundred television transmitters in American cities.
By the 1950s the television industry had become a serious competition for the movie industry. Despite the technological limitations of the TV medium at the time, more and more people chose to stay home to watch the television.
Initially the Hollywood studios saw the television as a threat to their business but then they began to discover the television as another outlet for their films. A few comedic film types that had previously been exclusive to the movie theatre transitioned to the television, the cartoon and the B movie for example.
A television of 1958
The 1960s saw an increasing number of broad, star-packed comedies including It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965) and The Great Race (1965). At the end of the 1950s early 1960s darker humor and more serious themes had begun to emerge Dr. Strangelove (1964) is an example of one such darker theme; it is a satirical comedy about Cold War paranoia.
A poster for the film Dr. Strangelove(1964), a comedy about cold war paranoia.
In the 1970s black comedies such as Catch 22 and MASH dealt with issues like the anti-war sentiment as well as treating the sensitive topic of suicide. As well as the above comedies there were many successful films over the 70s, a major star in some of these was Mel Brookes. He wrote directed and starred in some of his movies such as Young Frankenstein (1974) Blazing saddles (1974) and High Anxiety (1977)
A poster for the film Catch-22
A poster for the film Blazing sadles (1974)
Most British comedy films of the early 70s were spin offs of television series for example Dad’s army (1971) and On the buses (1971), both received a positive reception from the British public. Some of the greatest successes of the 70s were the Monty python team’s films including And Now For Something Completely Different (1971), Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) and Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979).
A poster for the film The life of Brian (1979)
A poster for the film Dads army (1971)
In 1980 the gag-based comedy Airplane!, a spoof of the previous decade's disaster film series was released and paved the way for more of the same including Top Secret! (1984) and the Naked Gun films all of which were directed by David zucker among others.
A poster for the film Airplane! (1980)
One of the major developments of the 1990s was the re-emergence of the romantic comedy film, encouraged by the success of When Harry Met Sally... (1989). Other examples included Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Clueless (1995) and You've Got Mail (1998) from the United States, and Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Sliding Doors (1998) and Notting Hill (1999) from the United Kingdom. Spoofs remained popular as well, especially with the Scary Movie series and Not Another Teen Movie.
A poster for the film Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
The late 90s to early 2000s saw British comedies examining the role of the Asian community within British life Bhaji on the Beach (1993), East Is East (1999), Bend It Like Beckham (2002) and Anita and Me (2003). These showed a growing interest in looking at how Britain has changed culture wise since the days of Dads army for example.
A poster for the film Bend it like Beckham (2002)
Also in the early to mid 2000s there were "stoner" comedies, which usually involve two guys on an adventure with random things happening to them along the way. Big movies of this sub-genre would be Dude, Where's My Car (2000), Big Nothing (2006), Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004), and Pineapple Express (2008). These movies usually have drug-related jokes and crude content
A poster for the film Dude where's my car? (2000)
Sunday, 15 November 2009
The history of film
The history of film
The history of film ranges from the late 19th century to the present day 21st century. It has evolved from simple sequences of pictures containing one scene, to today’s films that include sound, many scenes, enhanced CGI and 3D effects.
One of the first true films to be created was of a horse running in fast motion. The idea for this motion picture came from a man called Eadweard Muybridge, an English photographer who experimented with multiple cameras to create moving images. On June 11th 1878 Muybridge was able to successfully photograph the horse called Sallie Gardener running using 24 stereoscopic cameras. The cameras were arranged along a track parallel to the horse's, and each of the camera shutters was controlled by a trip wire which was triggered by the horse's hooves. They were 21inches apart to cover the 20 feet taken by the horse stride, taking pictures at one thousandth of a second. The combination of the pictures shown one after the other created a motion picture and so laid the path of film evolution to create the films we see today.
A picture of Muybridge beside his stills of the horse running.
The second experiment of the creation of the motion picture was filmed by Louis Le Prince on October 14th 1888. Louis Le Prince was an inventor, a French man working and living in England. The film itself Roundhay Garden Scene is now considered the earliest surviving motion picture; it was recorded at 12 frames per second and ran for approximately two seconds.
A picture of Louis le Prince with a still of the film Roundhay Garden scene and stills of the frames used.
The first public screening of film ever is due to Jean Aimé "Acme" Le Roy, a French photographer. On February 5th 1894, he presented his "Marvellous Cinematograph" to a group of around twenty show business men in New York City.
Real film continuity was first made by Robert W. Paul in 1898 with his film Come Along, Do! This film contained two scenes rather than the average single scene of the time; in the first shot an old couple standing outside an art exhibition follow other people inside through the door the second shot showed what they do inside. Although this does not sound like a major breakthrough this made films longer and created the multishot/scene movies that developed into modern day cinema.
Before 1912 actors in American films were kept anonymous from their audiences, by this time however they we're beginnning to get screen credit, also around this time longer film reels were being used and in some cases multiple reels for one film. This all meant that films were increasing in length and that the actors and actresses were becoming publically known this paved the way for the celebritiy actors we all know today to be created.
Experimentation with sound film technology, both for recording and playback, was virtually constant throughout the silent era, but the twin problems of accurate synchronization and sufficient amplification had been difficult to overcome. In 1926 Warner Bros introduced the vitaphone system, this allowed them to successfully add sound to their films. The impact of adding sound to films was immense the change over from silent films was swift. By the end of 1929, almost all films in Hollywood had sound, this was the sound era, the era of the “talkies”
A picture of a vitaphone with the logo for the device above
The 1940s brought with them many propaganda movies to the big screen, and with them realistic war dramas like 49th Parallel (1941). Not all films at this time were war related, for example Walt Disney's animated features like Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940), Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942).
A poster for the film 49th Parallel (1941)
During the immediate post-war years the cinematic industry was threatened by television, and the increasing popularity of the medium meant that some movie theatres would bankrupt and close. Distressed with the closures of many of the movie theatres across America studios had to find new ways to attract its audience, these included attempts to widen their appeal with new screen formats like CinemaScope to present a wide screen for the movies presented. This led to the revival of past films to take advantage of the new big screen formats. Some of the most successful examples of revived films of the time include The Ten Commandments (1956), The Vikings (1958), Ben-Hur (1959), Spartacus (1960) and El Cid (1961).
A poster for the film Sparticus (1960)
During the 1970s, film makers increasingly depicted explicit sexual content and showed gunfight and battle scenes that included graphic images of bloody deaths.'Post-classical cinema' is a term used to describe the changing methods of storytelling of the "New Hollywood" producers. The new methods of drama and characterization played upon audience expectations acquired during the classical/Golden Age period: story chronology may be scrambled, storylines may feature unsettling "twist endings", main characters may behave in a morally ambiguous fashion, and the lines between the antagonist and protagonist may be blurred. The beginnings of post-classical storytelling may be seen in 1940s and 1950s film noir movies, in films such as Rebel Without a Cause (1955),
A poster for the film Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
In world cinema, the 1970s saw a dramatic increase in the popularity of martial arts films largely due to its reinvention by Bruce Lee, who departed from the artistic style of traditional Chinese martial arts films and added a much greater sense of realism to them with his Jeet Kune Do style. This began with The Big Boss (1971), which was a major success across Asia.
A poster for the film The Big Boss (1971)
During the 1980s, audiences began increasingly watching movies on their home VCRs In the early part of that decade, the movie studios tried legal action to ban home ownership of VCRs as a violation of copyright, which proved unsuccessful. The martial arts genre was gain renovated by Jackie chan in the 1980s he had previously combined the comedy film and martial arts film genres successfully in the 1978 films Snake in the Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master. His next step was to involve more dangerous stunts within his films, with these stunts he also included slapstick humour, these films were widely popular in the far east at this time.
A picture of a video cassette and a poster for the film the Eagle's Shadow (1978)
The 1990s saw a vast increase in the use of special effects such as Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) and Titanic (1997) it also saw animated films aimed at family audiences also regain their popularity, with Disney's Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), and The Lion King (1994). Also in 1995 the first feature length computer-animated feature, Toy Story, was produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Disney. This was a major turning point in animated films, computer animation would grow to become the dominant technique for feature length animation, this allowed competing film companies such as Dreamworks Animation and 20th Century Fox to compete with Disney with successful films of their own. During the late 1990s, another cinematic transition began, from physical film stock to digital cinema technology. Meanwhile DVDs had replaced VHS tapes across many homes in the world.
The logo for the DVD format with a poster for the film Toy Story (1995)
Finally in the 2000s, Home cinema systems had become very sophisticated. With studios releasing special edition DVDs with content only for viewing by home cinema audiences. The lord of the rings trilogy (2001 – 2002 – 2003) DVD is an example of this it contains many hours of bonus feature that aren't viewable anywhere else other than on the DVD.
During the decade of 2000 to 2010 there has been an increasing globalization of cinema, with foreign-language films gaining popularity in English-speaking markets. Examples of such films include Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2001), City of God (2002), The Passion of the Christ (2004) and Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
A poster for the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2001)
The history of film ranges from the late 19th century to the present day 21st century. It has evolved from simple sequences of pictures containing one scene, to today’s films that include sound, many scenes, enhanced CGI and 3D effects.
One of the first true films to be created was of a horse running in fast motion. The idea for this motion picture came from a man called Eadweard Muybridge, an English photographer who experimented with multiple cameras to create moving images. On June 11th 1878 Muybridge was able to successfully photograph the horse called Sallie Gardener running using 24 stereoscopic cameras. The cameras were arranged along a track parallel to the horse's, and each of the camera shutters was controlled by a trip wire which was triggered by the horse's hooves. They were 21inches apart to cover the 20 feet taken by the horse stride, taking pictures at one thousandth of a second. The combination of the pictures shown one after the other created a motion picture and so laid the path of film evolution to create the films we see today.
A picture of Muybridge beside his stills of the horse running.
The second experiment of the creation of the motion picture was filmed by Louis Le Prince on October 14th 1888. Louis Le Prince was an inventor, a French man working and living in England. The film itself Roundhay Garden Scene is now considered the earliest surviving motion picture; it was recorded at 12 frames per second and ran for approximately two seconds.
A picture of Louis le Prince with a still of the film Roundhay Garden scene and stills of the frames used.
The first public screening of film ever is due to Jean Aimé "Acme" Le Roy, a French photographer. On February 5th 1894, he presented his "Marvellous Cinematograph" to a group of around twenty show business men in New York City.
Real film continuity was first made by Robert W. Paul in 1898 with his film Come Along, Do! This film contained two scenes rather than the average single scene of the time; in the first shot an old couple standing outside an art exhibition follow other people inside through the door the second shot showed what they do inside. Although this does not sound like a major breakthrough this made films longer and created the multishot/scene movies that developed into modern day cinema.
Before 1912 actors in American films were kept anonymous from their audiences, by this time however they we're beginnning to get screen credit, also around this time longer film reels were being used and in some cases multiple reels for one film. This all meant that films were increasing in length and that the actors and actresses were becoming publically known this paved the way for the celebritiy actors we all know today to be created.
Experimentation with sound film technology, both for recording and playback, was virtually constant throughout the silent era, but the twin problems of accurate synchronization and sufficient amplification had been difficult to overcome. In 1926 Warner Bros introduced the vitaphone system, this allowed them to successfully add sound to their films. The impact of adding sound to films was immense the change over from silent films was swift. By the end of 1929, almost all films in Hollywood had sound, this was the sound era, the era of the “talkies”
A picture of a vitaphone with the logo for the device above
The 1940s brought with them many propaganda movies to the big screen, and with them realistic war dramas like 49th Parallel (1941). Not all films at this time were war related, for example Walt Disney's animated features like Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940), Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942).
A poster for the film 49th Parallel (1941)
During the immediate post-war years the cinematic industry was threatened by television, and the increasing popularity of the medium meant that some movie theatres would bankrupt and close. Distressed with the closures of many of the movie theatres across America studios had to find new ways to attract its audience, these included attempts to widen their appeal with new screen formats like CinemaScope to present a wide screen for the movies presented. This led to the revival of past films to take advantage of the new big screen formats. Some of the most successful examples of revived films of the time include The Ten Commandments (1956), The Vikings (1958), Ben-Hur (1959), Spartacus (1960) and El Cid (1961).
A poster for the film Sparticus (1960)
During the 1970s, film makers increasingly depicted explicit sexual content and showed gunfight and battle scenes that included graphic images of bloody deaths.'Post-classical cinema' is a term used to describe the changing methods of storytelling of the "New Hollywood" producers. The new methods of drama and characterization played upon audience expectations acquired during the classical/Golden Age period: story chronology may be scrambled, storylines may feature unsettling "twist endings", main characters may behave in a morally ambiguous fashion, and the lines between the antagonist and protagonist may be blurred. The beginnings of post-classical storytelling may be seen in 1940s and 1950s film noir movies, in films such as Rebel Without a Cause (1955),
A poster for the film Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
In world cinema, the 1970s saw a dramatic increase in the popularity of martial arts films largely due to its reinvention by Bruce Lee, who departed from the artistic style of traditional Chinese martial arts films and added a much greater sense of realism to them with his Jeet Kune Do style. This began with The Big Boss (1971), which was a major success across Asia.
A poster for the film The Big Boss (1971)
During the 1980s, audiences began increasingly watching movies on their home VCRs In the early part of that decade, the movie studios tried legal action to ban home ownership of VCRs as a violation of copyright, which proved unsuccessful. The martial arts genre was gain renovated by Jackie chan in the 1980s he had previously combined the comedy film and martial arts film genres successfully in the 1978 films Snake in the Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master. His next step was to involve more dangerous stunts within his films, with these stunts he also included slapstick humour, these films were widely popular in the far east at this time.
A picture of a video cassette and a poster for the film the Eagle's Shadow (1978)
The 1990s saw a vast increase in the use of special effects such as Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) and Titanic (1997) it also saw animated films aimed at family audiences also regain their popularity, with Disney's Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), and The Lion King (1994). Also in 1995 the first feature length computer-animated feature, Toy Story, was produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Disney. This was a major turning point in animated films, computer animation would grow to become the dominant technique for feature length animation, this allowed competing film companies such as Dreamworks Animation and 20th Century Fox to compete with Disney with successful films of their own. During the late 1990s, another cinematic transition began, from physical film stock to digital cinema technology. Meanwhile DVDs had replaced VHS tapes across many homes in the world.
The logo for the DVD format with a poster for the film Toy Story (1995)
Finally in the 2000s, Home cinema systems had become very sophisticated. With studios releasing special edition DVDs with content only for viewing by home cinema audiences. The lord of the rings trilogy (2001 – 2002 – 2003) DVD is an example of this it contains many hours of bonus feature that aren't viewable anywhere else other than on the DVD.
During the decade of 2000 to 2010 there has been an increasing globalization of cinema, with foreign-language films gaining popularity in English-speaking markets. Examples of such films include Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2001), City of God (2002), The Passion of the Christ (2004) and Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
A poster for the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2001)
Monday, 2 November 2009
what options are available to film makers?
What choices are open to film makers in how they begin their films? What techniques are employed? and what effects are created?
There are many choices open to film makers in how they begin their films, these range from variation in camera shots or angles to clever use of diegetic and non diegetic sound in order to emphasize to the audience what the film maker is trying to show them.
The film City of god begins with quick fade ins and fade outs of extreme close up shots of a knife being sharpened accompanied with the amplified diegetic sound of the knife being sharpened as it is happening on screen.
The image alone could put the audience in a state of unrest as knives are not something that they would associate with a city of god.
The scene quickly develops showing quick cut shots of an extreme close up of a chicken and then extreme close ups of chickens being prepared for human consumption. This cycle between the two shows the audience the illusion that the chicken is becoming nervous as it has just seen its fellow chickens killed and cooked, the director achieves this with his quickening of the cycle between the two scenes.
The music accompanying this piece sounds like the happy celebration music that would be heard at a for of festival held in that place in the world. The music is eventually shown to be diegetic and not non diegetic as the audience would initially think with the quick visual fade in and fade out of acoustic guitars playing, this shows that while for the chicken this is indeed a gruesome ans sinister scene for the humans present this is a happy occasion with music dancing and food.
The nervous chicken is initially tied down by its leg while all of the above is taking place, soon however the chicken finds a way to escape. Upon escaping a man shouts his displeasure at the chickens escape, this man is later revealed to be the leader of this large group of people, initially it appears that the loss of this chicken is a terrible thing as the instant the chicken escapes the happy music stops playing and a man shouts out after the chicken. This assumption is quickly proven wrong when an extreme close up of the man who shouted shows him to be laughing because this has given him and his gang something fun to do, the gang quickly draw guns and set off after the chicken running through the streets and firing at said chicken. Whilst this is happening an establishing shot show another rooftop of a nearby building with people still enjoying themselves and acting normally, this shows the audience that many people running through the streets with guns is not an unusual thing but in fact an every day occurrence, this is one way that the director can explain a vital part of a story without having a character explain it or using a vast amount of an audiences time, this is a very clever use of camera shots/angles to show this place as a whole and how the society that lives there has adapted to situations that would horrify most people.
The film maker could also use narrative devices within his/her opening minutes of their film, for example dream sequences, The film Kung fu panda uses this opening and it is used in a clever way.
The opening to kung fu panda uses an entirely different animation than is used in the rest of the film, the dream sequence uses a traditional 2D animation type as used in many cartoons whereas the rest of the film uses 3D CGI animation this allows the audience to clearly distinguish between the pandas dream world and reality.
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