Characters are a important part of any film. They allow the audience to connect to them and form emotions while also helping the audience imagine the surroundings in more detail almost taking on the role of the character. For the audience to form this emotional bond with a character how ever the character does need to conform to some specific aspects. Here are some of the things I think are important in character development to involve the audience :
Character must relate to a large demographic of people - Usually a very normal every day person.
The character must be likable - For the audience to have a emotional connection they have to like the character.
Often the character will have some personal issues - Mentally unstable and conflicted. This allows the audience to feel some sympathy and also lets them feel like they know the character. Having this personal confliction can also help the audience relate to the character as everyone has some conflict in there lives.
Stereotypes are another important thing to consider when developing a character. A stereotype will often be a very simplified standardized conception of a specific social group. For my short film I will have to consider if I want any of my characters to conform to a particular stereotype and if it would enhance or change the story in any way to do so.
These are just a couple of the important parts in character development for a film. In a short film I am not sure that I will have the time to delve deeply in to the characters and there confliction's or complete personalities. I can how ever aim to make the character appealing and likable to the target audiences while hopefully giving a slightly more in depth view to there personality.
Tuesday 18 January 2011
General Representation
Representation is the way in which something is presented or portrayed to the audience.
"Representations are discourses of imagined and rendered connections that may influence opinion or action, or effect change".
Cultures are often one of the things that can be represented in many different ways in films. One film may for example show a specific group of people as stupid, hateful, vandals. Another film how ever could show that same sort of group of people as hero's.
Representation also plays a huge part in everyones lives in how we perceive the world. Many countries we may never have been to are shown in the media through things like films and we can be lead to believe we understand that country and its culture based purely on what we have seen and how it has been represented. This can be a good and a bad thing as it allows us more of an insight in to the world but it will generally also have a lot of biased views and wrong portrayals based on things such as the views of the writers or directors of that form of media.
In film representation plays a huge part in connecting with an audience and making a story seem believable or inoffensive. Depending on things such as characters and mise-en-scene the audience can often generate opinions on a matter based purely on how something is portrayed. A good example of this would be how gender is represented in a lot of films. Men will often be perceived as a hero who will often have to save a woman who is represented as helpless and needy. Representation often also reflects the general cultures and beliefs of the people from the times the film was made. As well as some times trying to manipulate the ideas and views of an audience to coincide with those of the director. Examples of this would be in a lot of films that are set in poorer countries the director will usually have an opinion on the cultures he is trying to portray. This will generally influence the way this culture is represented.
Representation is not just limited to films how ever. in current popular culture many different media outlets such as television, radio, advertising, poetry, books and websites are prone to presenting things in a specific and sometimes close-minded way.
"Representations are discourses of imagined and rendered connections that may influence opinion or action, or effect change".
Cultures are often one of the things that can be represented in many different ways in films. One film may for example show a specific group of people as stupid, hateful, vandals. Another film how ever could show that same sort of group of people as hero's.
Representation also plays a huge part in everyones lives in how we perceive the world. Many countries we may never have been to are shown in the media through things like films and we can be lead to believe we understand that country and its culture based purely on what we have seen and how it has been represented. This can be a good and a bad thing as it allows us more of an insight in to the world but it will generally also have a lot of biased views and wrong portrayals based on things such as the views of the writers or directors of that form of media.
In film representation plays a huge part in connecting with an audience and making a story seem believable or inoffensive. Depending on things such as characters and mise-en-scene the audience can often generate opinions on a matter based purely on how something is portrayed. A good example of this would be how gender is represented in a lot of films. Men will often be perceived as a hero who will often have to save a woman who is represented as helpless and needy. Representation often also reflects the general cultures and beliefs of the people from the times the film was made. As well as some times trying to manipulate the ideas and views of an audience to coincide with those of the director. Examples of this would be in a lot of films that are set in poorer countries the director will usually have an opinion on the cultures he is trying to portray. This will generally influence the way this culture is represented.
Representation is not just limited to films how ever. in current popular culture many different media outlets such as television, radio, advertising, poetry, books and websites are prone to presenting things in a specific and sometimes close-minded way.
Tuesday 11 January 2011
Narrative
The narrative in a film is usually the story being told. While it will be different for every film a lot of films follow the same rough guidelines of the classic narrative system :
Beginning - Middle - End
Equilibrium - Disequilibrium - Equilibrium (resolution)
If you look more in depth at specific genres and there narratives you can notice huge similarities in a lot of films as well. An example of this would be the generic Hollywood blockbuster action film. These generally follow a narrative of :
Introduction to characters / locations - disequilibrium when something bad happens - Things get positive usually around the middle of the film - chaos which is worse than the original disequilibrium - Happy ending where everything is resolved and there is a restoration of moral order.
This seems to be the general plot line of the majority of blockbusters that I have seen. A briefer description of this would be something like :
Introduction - Disequilibrium - Resolution - Disaster - Equilibrium.
For my short film I personally think it will not be long enough to have a general narrative plan of numerous stages. I do how ever see that I will need to think quite hard about the different steps in my films plot as it develops before I can begin to film it.
Beginning - Middle - End
Equilibrium - Disequilibrium - Equilibrium (resolution)
If you look more in depth at specific genres and there narratives you can notice huge similarities in a lot of films as well. An example of this would be the generic Hollywood blockbuster action film. These generally follow a narrative of :
Introduction to characters / locations - disequilibrium when something bad happens - Things get positive usually around the middle of the film - chaos which is worse than the original disequilibrium - Happy ending where everything is resolved and there is a restoration of moral order.
This seems to be the general plot line of the majority of blockbusters that I have seen. A briefer description of this would be something like :
Introduction - Disequilibrium - Resolution - Disaster - Equilibrium.
For my short film I personally think it will not be long enough to have a general narrative plan of numerous stages. I do how ever see that I will need to think quite hard about the different steps in my films plot as it develops before I can begin to film it.
Sound
Sound is a huge part of any modern film. Things like background music , dialogue, effects and sometimes narration are hugely important when it comes to forming a connection with an audience or enhancing a scenes general feel. During an action sequence for example you could play a fast paced exciting bit of music to make the whole scene feel more dynamic and intense.
A very useful website I found which covers a ton of information on sound in films is http://filmsound.org/
Sound can be placed in to different categories in film depending on where it comes from such as background sound compared to sound which is added in editing.
Non-diegetic sound
Sound whose source is neither visible on the screen nor has been implied to be present in the action:
Another term for non-diegetic sound is commentary sound.
Diegetic sound
Sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film:
Another term for diegetic sound is actual sound.
These brief descriptions are from http://www.filmsound.org/
Dialogue
Dialogue is very important when trying to tell a story. Pretty much every film with an actual story will feature dialogue of some kind. Dialogue is usually defined as written or spoken communication between two or more people. This is something I think my film will have to use to effectively make the story straightforward to follow.
Sound Effects
Sound effects are usually classified as additional effects usually added in editing to often enhance a specific scene or make it more realistic. An example of this would be adding a gun shot effect in editing each time someone fires a gun in a scene.
Wikipedia has a nice description of sound effects related to film and television :
Sound effects or audio effects are artificially created or enhanced sounds, or sound processes used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. In motion picture and television production, a sound effect is a sound recorded and presented to make a specific storytelling or creative point without the use of dialogue or music. The term often refers to a process applied to a recording, without necessarily referring to the recording itself. In professional motion picture and television production, dialogue, music, and sound effects recordings are treated as separate elements. Dialogue and music recordings are never referred to as sound effects, even though the processes applied to them, such as reverberation or flanging effects, often are called "sound effects".
I think sound effects will be crucial in my film such as even adding things like wind noises can change the audiences connection to the scene and add realism.
Narration
Narration in film is when you have someone talking over the story often giving a description of a characters thoughts or what is happening. Narration can often offer a unique insight in to how a character is thinking or it could also give you hints to what is going to happen a bit further on in the film. The narrator will often be a main character in the film how ever this can change sometimes to be an unknown voice. The narrator will often guide the audience through a story especially if the plot is quite complex.
In my film I doubt I will be using narration as I feel it would not fit with the general theme of my ideas and it would seem forced rather than being an aid to the story or character development.
Music
Music is an incredibly important addition to most films. The effects it can have on a scene are huge. It can control emotions and enhance them immensely. It can also act as a signifier to things that may have already happened in a film or things that will happen later on. IT can add a lot more drama to a scene particularly in action films. Music can also help the audience connect to a character or develop a character more. Music can also be used as diegetic sound to give a sense of realism in a film as the film characters can respond to something that we know to be real.
Music is something I would like to use a fair bit of in my film to try and enhance some specific scenes and effect audience emotions.
I think sound will play a huge part in my production and It will require very careful choices as the wrong bit of music in a scene can completely ruin the scene just like a bad sound effect can make something that should be serious become humorous.
A very useful website I found which covers a ton of information on sound in films is http://filmsound.org/
Sound can be placed in to different categories in film depending on where it comes from such as background sound compared to sound which is added in editing.
Non-diegetic sound
Sound whose source is neither visible on the screen nor has been implied to be present in the action:
- narrator's commentary
- sound effects which is added for the dramatic effect
- mood music
Another term for non-diegetic sound is commentary sound.
Diegetic sound
Sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film:
- voices of characters
- sounds made by objects in the story
- music represented as coming from instruments in the story space ( = source music)
Another term for diegetic sound is actual sound.
These brief descriptions are from http://www.filmsound.org/
Dialogue
Dialogue is very important when trying to tell a story. Pretty much every film with an actual story will feature dialogue of some kind. Dialogue is usually defined as written or spoken communication between two or more people. This is something I think my film will have to use to effectively make the story straightforward to follow.
Sound Effects
Sound effects are usually classified as additional effects usually added in editing to often enhance a specific scene or make it more realistic. An example of this would be adding a gun shot effect in editing each time someone fires a gun in a scene.
Wikipedia has a nice description of sound effects related to film and television :
Sound effects or audio effects are artificially created or enhanced sounds, or sound processes used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. In motion picture and television production, a sound effect is a sound recorded and presented to make a specific storytelling or creative point without the use of dialogue or music. The term often refers to a process applied to a recording, without necessarily referring to the recording itself. In professional motion picture and television production, dialogue, music, and sound effects recordings are treated as separate elements. Dialogue and music recordings are never referred to as sound effects, even though the processes applied to them, such as reverberation or flanging effects, often are called "sound effects".
I think sound effects will be crucial in my film such as even adding things like wind noises can change the audiences connection to the scene and add realism.
Narration
Narration in film is when you have someone talking over the story often giving a description of a characters thoughts or what is happening. Narration can often offer a unique insight in to how a character is thinking or it could also give you hints to what is going to happen a bit further on in the film. The narrator will often be a main character in the film how ever this can change sometimes to be an unknown voice. The narrator will often guide the audience through a story especially if the plot is quite complex.
In my film I doubt I will be using narration as I feel it would not fit with the general theme of my ideas and it would seem forced rather than being an aid to the story or character development.
Music
Music is an incredibly important addition to most films. The effects it can have on a scene are huge. It can control emotions and enhance them immensely. It can also act as a signifier to things that may have already happened in a film or things that will happen later on. IT can add a lot more drama to a scene particularly in action films. Music can also help the audience connect to a character or develop a character more. Music can also be used as diegetic sound to give a sense of realism in a film as the film characters can respond to something that we know to be real.
Music is something I would like to use a fair bit of in my film to try and enhance some specific scenes and effect audience emotions.
I think sound will play a huge part in my production and It will require very careful choices as the wrong bit of music in a scene can completely ruin the scene just like a bad sound effect can make something that should be serious become humorous.
Thursday 6 January 2011
Camera Techniques
The camera techniques are probably the most important part of a film. This includes things like camera angles , shots, movement, and the view. To create a good film you need to learn about camera angles and there effects on audiences as well as different types of camera movements and what shots to use to include specific parts of mise-en-scene you want to be shown.
Here is a brief description of some shots and there effects from Wikipedia :
Here is a brief description of some shots and there effects from Wikipedia :
The use of different shot sizes can influence the meaning which an audience will interpret.
The size of the subject in frame depends on two things: the distance the camera is away from the subject and the focal length of the camera lens.
Common shot sizes:
- Extreme close-up: Focuses on a single facial feature, such as lips and eyes.
- Close-up: May be used to show tension.
- Medium shot: Often used, but considered bad practice by many directors, as it often denies setting establishment and is generally less effective than the Close-up.
- Establishing shot: Mainly used at a new location to give the audience a sense of locality.
Choice of shot size is also directly related to the size of the final display screen the audience will see. A Long shot has much more dramatic power on a large theater screen, whereas the same shot would be powerless on a small TV or computer screen.
Wikipedia also has a long list of dozens of different camera shots that can be used with hyperlinks to more in depth explanations of each shot : Wikipedia camera shots
Lighting
Lighting plays a very important role in any visual product from photos to films. There are a lot of different atmospheres that can be created with lighting often to reflect a specific genre or scene. Here is a post from my blog last year which shows the atmosphere and effects lighting often creates in the film noir genre: http://mcampbellmedia.blogspot.com/2010/01/experimenting-with-lighting.html. For my film I will have to consider lighting and the effects it could have on my story and its atmosphere.
This picture shows how lighting can drastically effect the atmosphere of this bar. The natural light coming in from the windows reflects around the room making it seem very vibrant and alive despite the room seemingly being empty.
This picture has a unnatural light shining on half of the mans face. This creates a atmosphere of mystery and a sense of danger. This is a common theme in film noir and mystery films.
This image shows how lighting can create silhouettes to give a sense of mystery and suspense. This is a very effective lighting technique to use in appropriate situations. It is created by having a very bright light behind the silhouette. If it is appropriate to do so i would like to use this effect in my film.
Lighting is something I will have to consider in depth when filming my final product as if it is ignored or used wrong it can drastically change the atmosphere of the film and ruin the emotional connections to the audience.
Images from Google image searches
This picture shows how lighting can drastically effect the atmosphere of this bar. The natural light coming in from the windows reflects around the room making it seem very vibrant and alive despite the room seemingly being empty.
This shows how lighting can even contradict the locations natural atmosphere by making what could be seen as a isolated forrest look lively and safe. This effect can sometimes be used in films to trick viewers in to believing some where is a safe spot when it will often turn out to be dangerous.
This image also shows the power the lights reflections can have creating a vibrant atmosphere in the picture.
This image shows how lighting can create silhouettes to give a sense of mystery and suspense. This is a very effective lighting technique to use in appropriate situations. It is created by having a very bright light behind the silhouette. If it is appropriate to do so i would like to use this effect in my film.
Lighting is something I will have to consider in depth when filming my final product as if it is ignored or used wrong it can drastically change the atmosphere of the film and ruin the emotional connections to the audience.
Images from Google image searches
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