November 13, 2013

Second Half of Act 1 - (p. 11 - p. 23-27)

The real plot of the movie begins in this chunk.

I bet this is when Tom Hanks finds out he has to go get Matt Damon in Saving Private Ryan.

I bet this is when the other guy is hooked up with a new partner and she’s an Asian girl who wasn’t allowed to fight... in Pacific Rim.

I bet it’s when every character hits a problem that forces a physical, mental and emotional change.

This change is the start of the plot of the movie - the crime, the disaster, the investigation, the build up of troops, the quest, etc.

It begins a whole new Act - Act II (goes from p 30 or so to p 75 or so)

Complications/Problems/Big Changes/Scary Moments

The first half of the second act is about the hero making some kind of progress.

Usually, getting into a new world, a new concept, a new situation, finding things out, making some kind of friends, gathering information, items of use/power.

There may also be some kind of testing or obstacle course or a maze of some sort.

This is usually a very exciting part of any movie - because we’re learning so much as an audience.

At the half point, there is a Moment of No Return, a Confrontation, a Mini-Ending, a Dramatic Intensity higher than any before in the movie.

At this point, there is usually some kind of pre-confrontation between hero and villain

In Planet of the Apes, this is when Taylor speaks and changes the whole idea of humans in the ape world.

In the second half of the second act, everything goes downhill.

The villains gain momentum, the energy is much darker, the hero is in much more trouble, and it gets progressively worse until p.80 or so.

At page 80 or so, we enter Act III

Usually, at the end of Act II, there is a moment called The Low, or the Darkness, or The Touch of Death - it happens ALL the time in average movies.

The partner dies, the couple separates, the dog is killed, the daughter is kidnapped, the revelations come out that threaten whatever is important, etc.

The hero is driven into a terrible low and it looks like “all hope is lost”.

HOWEVER - there is next a moment where the hero digs deep, finds strength and often, some symbol to help him/her decide to deal with the low, with the problem AND with the inner problem he/she had at the start.

This part is KEY to all movies (pretty much) and it’s the crazy, American, moralizing that makes some people dislike pop movies.

The point is a character point = Hero, you need to embrace change. You need to be the person who ISN’T like he/she was at the start.

This whole inner layer of the character changing (character arc) is really what the movie is about.

It’s a journey from Point A to Point Z - from before to after - from broken to fixed

Act III

Resolution/Roller Coaster Ride/Big Chase/Big Fight/Big Moment of Confrontation/Big Realization/Finding the Thing the Hero Needed

Usually only about 20-30 minutes.

Has to wrap up the hero’s character problem - the hero needs to get what he/she needed to be whole, to be a real person.

Often takes place in front of witnesses or a crowd (very American)

Novermber 12, 2013

One minute of screen time is, on average, one page of script

Average movie - 110 minutes is therefore 110 pages (roughly)

Pages 1-10 - Setting Up

for Mr. Lobb, the first part of a movie is almost ALWAYS the best - Why?
this is when the “world” of the movie is created - it’s ALL new (unless you’ve spoiled)
there are so many questions and so many new, exciting things happening on-screen!
Recipe!
Here is a place
Here is a character who lives in that place
The character has a problem.
See? THAT’S a real problem.
Sometimes, there are other characters who work against that character. Here they are.
Sometimes, there are other characters who HELP that character. Here they are.
Our character has to change. What is going to force that change?

most movies open with some really exciting “something” that pulls the audience in immediately
it could be a character moment that sets up a question or concern
it could be an action scene that makes us know the stakes are high
it could be a very emotional moment that hits us and we have to rebound and find some meaning
it could be a crime that we need to see solved
it’s almost always a way of saying - don’t you need to see what happens? 

Some less obvious things to be set up: (no less crucial)
genre
tone (lighting, camera work, acting style, costume, etc)
time period (era influences action)
the rules - there are rules in every movie and they are important to set up early
eg Man of Steel - aliens, flying, super powers, etc
Dark Knight - not so much super, just powers
The Avengers - climactic fight - Captain America, Black Widow and Hawkeye are standing on cars, watching GIANT GODS fight and they can’t do anything
stupid romantic comedy - oh! coincidences, right? ridiculous chances that work
murder mysteries - that detective noticed EVERYTHING THERE WAS TO NOTICE in five seconds
time travel, etc - Back to the Future

It’s call The Hook.
There is something that just makes you watch the movie.
It has to be in the first 5 pages.
It is one thing that all movie producers are looking for.
It is some variation of all the stuff above and it has to be original and super cool.
You are tasked with watching the opening 15 minutes of a movie.

THEN, you should write down 10-15 things that are set up.

Facts, situations, informational, character-based, etc.

Make it a movie that you would never watch.

November 6, 2013

So, here is the list of genres from which to start 

And then, here is the core expectation for the project:

1. Horror
2. Action
3. Super-hero
4. Sci-fi
5. Musical
6. Crime-drama
7. War
8. Comedy (multiple kinds)
9. Animation (kids)
10. Drama
11. Kids
12. Disney
13. Monster
14. Melodrama (romance)
15. Comantic Romedy

What is the actual project? 

1. Participants (director, writer, cast, producer, etc) - who is the key player(s)? How does that person define that area of the genre?

• what does he/she add? what separates him/her from the competition? etc 
• review their “in” - evaulating that area of moviemaking (this requires knowledge)
• Googling is crucial

1. The actual movie(s) that epitomize the genre

• THIS is the movie that best shows that genre in action as a successful genre
• or THESE
• why is this movie the one? 
• does the trend change? (movie from old days, middle and modern and compare)
• what aspects make this genre/movie work?
• What are the elements of the movie in general? evaluate and review

1. Marketing and audience

• how did they sell it? 
• who watched it? 
• what was the result? 
• what tools were used? evaluate (ie posters, trailers, giveaways, tie-ins, etc)

1. Any kind of “special” element

• X Factor - what happened with this movie that might make it stand out? 
• first time actor something
• a weird backstory
• legendary element
• famous behind the scenes (Jaws, etc)

1. Patterns and interesting elements of theme or production

• James Cameron - always has strong females in his movies
• Steven Spielberg - always has orphans in his movies
• Ridley Scott - a certain focus of “look” 
• Meryl Streep - accents
• Daniel Day Lewis - Method
• what do you think about that? How does it help/hurt/add to the movie? 
• what is the effect? 
• 
  

Blog - having one with an intro to you - S

News reports - 2 articles - S

Music reviews/artist profiles - F

Music Genre Presentation - S

Music Review in Depth (in class) - S

Music Slideshow - S (marking music)

Photo Slideshow - S (marking photos)

Movie Genre Presentation - S

October 22, 2013

The Visual Qualities of Good Photography

• remember Arthur Klass?

1. Focus

• if you are trying to show the subject, make sure it’s in focus  
• a typical start for marking
• bad focus comes from low lighting and distance from subject
• smart phone has autofocus - choose carefully

1. Lighting

• where the highlights are is where the lights are - opposing area is shadow
• there are two styles of lighting we will think about
• a) naturalistic - sunlight, typical, we see it everyday and it’s “normal”
• b) expressionistic - more emotional, designed and chosen or built by lighting kits

1. Angles and Focal Length

• angle is the horizontal orientation
• angle is also on the subject
• the orientation of the subject IN the frame
• long, medium, close

1. Balance

• the layout of “things” within the frame
• subject, BG, FG, etc

1. Dynamic Line

- angles and diagonal action, lines and energy in a frame

October 21, 2013

The Poetry Analyses Are Revealing!

1. Show the references

• when you are writing that “something” happened, you need to actually make reference from the poem - by line, in quotation, etc. 
• ie making reference to the Third World line - you need to give me the quotation and then:

1. Explain the things that you’re saying 

• if you are going to say that you noticed X in the poem, and then you make reference to the line or whatever, you then need to explain in some detail WHY and HOW
• SHOW THE CHAIN OF LOGIC
• what is the thinking by which you arrived at that conclusion?

• you need to show A (the thing I read) + B (this idea I have) + C (this thing out in the world) + D (this way of connecting these things together) = E (this conclusion)
• this is how essays are written
• this is how good paragraphs are written
• this is how arguments are won

1. Don’t ever refer to yourself - no me, no I, no you

• simply state your point without saying “I think” or whatever else is like that

1. You need to figure out the meaning of things at a deeper level.

• when you’re looking at a symbol or an idea, you need to go a) this is the obvious and then b) this is the meaning
• you don’t have to do this on paper, but you need to think this way
• this will then fit into that mode where you explain that deeper meaning (point 2 above)

“one fine day a Third World struck back”

• what is the Third World? - answer
• that group was responsible for 9/11
• and then you could move on

We need to dig in - struck back? - the history of American war on poor nations

Third World - First World - the relationship between America and poor nations

reasoning behind their actions - Al Aqaeda is doing something that they think is right

October 17, 2013

How do we use music in accordance with images? 

The project we’re doing - making a soundtrack and linking it to imagery

Garageband, real-life, Fruityloops, etc

Make a song that fulfills the role that music does when we “see” it

 What does the music do in accordance with images? 

• the music acts as a cue to the emotion that the Creator intends for the photos to evoke in the viewer
• the music also acts as a counterpoint to the action - sometimes the music acts in opposition to the emotion that seems obvious - the music is “in on the joke”
• the music in a scene could be almost subliminal and affect us in a more psychological way - “the bass tone” “ch ch ch” “Psycho strings” “heartbeat emulation”
• a most common and kind of simplistic use of music (but awesome) is called NEEDLE DROPS - we saw one in that Rushmore clip (You Are Forgiven)
• a song comes in with meaningful lyrics at just the right time
• the other idea here is that the lyrics somehow correspond to the pix - this is SO OBVIOUS and it isn’t layered enough to be interesting

choose something INTERESTING to feature visually 

create mood

create some counterpoint

PLAN the cohesion of images and music

try to make something that CHANGES and has multiple sounds and feels

build the music yourself

you can use images from anywhere - CHOOSE ONLY HIGH QUALITY IMAGES

if you take your own shots, you will get higher mark

EVENTUALLY, we will do this with ONLY your own shots

October 9, 2013

What am I actually marking in your music project/songs?

1. Originality - don’t copy something else 
2. Dynamics - changes in the structure of the song - volume, part of song, instrumentation, flow, speed, etc
3. Tracks - multiple tracks with changes in the tracks
4. Length - over 1 minute, aiming for 2
5. Interest - hold the listener’s attention
6. Clever use of musical elements - different “things” - sounds, loops, parts, mixing genres or bits of this and that (remixing)
7. Evokes a certain feeling or mood
8. Visualize something - emotion that translates to an imagined “scene” 
9. Some people actually put some visuals to their song - slide show - this will REALLY help if you’re doing it in a soundtrack style
10. Fits into a genre or recognizable form