FILM STUDIES AND CINEMATOGRAPHY - EXERCISES

29/03/21 - 19/04/21 (Week 1 - Week 4)

Film Studies and Cinematography

Exercises

                                                                                                                                                                  

INSTRUCTIONS

LECTURE NOTES

Week 1 (19/03/2021)

For our first class, we had a short brief on the module's information and what projects we will be expecting for this semester. Here are the slides for this week's lecture:

 

During the class, Mr Martin suggested us to watch a Netflix series called "Love, Death & Robot". 

Review: My favourite story from the series is called The Witness which is the third episode. It is written and directed by Alberto Mielgo with animation by Pinkman.TV The Witness follows a woman who witnesses a murder in the building across the street from her. As she sees the murder, the murderer inside sees her after being alerted to her presence. What follows is a chase with the murderer in pursuit but something is strange about the whole situation.

The animation for this short film is incredible! The animation actually reminds me of a lot of Into The Spiderverse except for this short it is more 3D with more real-life visuals than the comic book style. The vibrant neon city, an occurring detail in these shorts so far fits perfectly with the animation style as moving objects look fast and sleek and colours help create the depth and atmosphere. The Witness is the first very R rated of the shorts and well you can tell by the detailed animation.The Witness is short and simple, it simply asks the question of what if you witnessed a murder and that is it. It’s conclusion ends up attempting to shock/mind boggle you as you figure out what is going on but it isn’t crazy enough to distract from the short’s beautiful animation style.

Rating: 8.5/10

Week 2 (05/04/2021)

For this week, we learned about the theme, story plot, art direction for animations.

• Narrative: tells why?
• Story: tells who & what?
• Plot: tells how?

For this week, we were required to watch "Frankenweenie" as this week's exercise. 

Review: In my opinion, its black and white look evokes horror nostalgia, not gothic. The only graphic and terrifying scene in Frankenweenie occurs in the last act, when the psychotic albino cat Mr. Whisker turns gradually into something that Victor was never prepared to face. It is always of some excitement to reanimate the dead, and Tim Burton refreshes his own work in the comedy horror genre.

A whole gang of children, each with a distinct spooky appearance (but well-defined via the horror hero library) causes calculated laughter. The hunchback and toothless Edgar (Atticus Shaffer) is by far the most interesting character to watch being animated, and he is the one (instead of Victor) to lead things into more trouble.

Rating: 7/10

Week 3 (12/04/2021)

For week 3's lecture, we learned about the 3 act structure as well as visual storytelling. We were also told to watch Loving Vincent, a rotoscoping animation, which means animators basically trace the movement from camera. Below are the slides for week 3:

The traditional three-act structure includes the following parts:

Act I - Setup: Exposition, Inciting Incident, Plot Point One.

Act II - Confrontation: Rising Action, Midpoint, Plot Point Two.

Act III - Resolution: Pre Climax, Climax, Denouement.

We were also told to watch Loving Vincent, a rotoscoping animation, which means animators basically trace the movement from camera.

Review: Personally, I grew up loving Vincent Van Gogh's paintings so being able to watch this for the first time was super exciting for me. I was also very amused at the fact that the whole animation is created with Vincent Van Gogh's painting style which require over 100 artist to do that. The result was over 800 oil paintings that bared his emotions in a way that offered a portal into the next century and continues to speak to us today. “Loving Vincent” integrates Van Gogh’s portraits and landscapes with hand-painted live-action footage of actors which makes it so mesmerizing and unique. In my opinion, my favorite scene is when the boatman was talking about Vincent, saying that he must be really lonely because a bird/crow could make him so happy and amused. If that is true, I just want to give Vincent a big hug right now if he is still alive. 

Rating: 9/10

Week 4 (19/04/2021)

This week we are required to watch Paprika, one of my favorite animations of all time! 

Review: The story is based around a lovely lady named Paprika, she has mastered the ability to sail into others dreams and help them with their problems an internal dream analysis/counselor. I found Paprika the movie is as fascinating as the soundtrack. Needless to say the dream sequences are exquisitely and vividly portrayed. The pace is manic at times and dreams and reality often converge to confuse the characters and especially the viewer. It all comes together however, in what can only be described as the best closing battle sequence I have ever seen.

The Animation: Stunning! 10/10 would definitely watch it every week if I can. 

Rating: 10/10

Week 5 (26/04/2021)

This week's lecture is about Character Design. It was fun to learn about the external and internal features of a character as we get more in-depth about it. 

For the animation part, we are told to watch Boy and The World. 

Review: Boy and the World is about the quest for connections through encounters with city life, poverty, economic inequality, the trashing of the environment, and manifold injustices. It is interesting because there is no screenplay, and the lead character is a little boy who does not speak and repeatedly breaks out into giggles when surprised or mystified. Others speak, but all we hear is gibberish. The creative animation of Boy and the World is appealingly simple, colorful, direct, and open-ended.

Rating: 7/10

Week 6 (26/04/2021)

This week's lecture is about World Design. That includes the search for a style to fit

the story, in all areas such as the background, characters, color and composition. It includes the research and concept-design based on possible stylistic directions. The varying moods, emotions, and actions encountered throughout the storyline will need to be interpreted by way of different visual and color approaches to these moments. Below are the slides for this week's lecture:

This week we watched Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV. This is a 3D Animation that's linked to the game, Final Fantasy.

Review: This animated adventure's amazing visuals are stunning, but personally, I don't really enjoy the story and plot of it. It is quite boring. However, IF I am a fan of the hugely successful Final Fantasy video game series then I would probably enjoy watching this. The 3D/CGI animation is amazing, but it is ultimately a movie in which perhaps only fans of the video game would enjoy. The visual effects are insane too in a good way, I don’t think there’s ever been a more beautiful CGI film and the action scenes are a blast to watch.

Rating: 5.5/10

Week 7 (26/04/2021)

In week 7, Mr Martin introduced us to the scriptwriting software called "KitScenarist". We were also taught on how to use it. For example, how to include the title, time, settings and so on. Below are the slides:

Week 9 (10/05/2021)

This week we learned about camera movements in animation. Mr Martin showed us videos and short animated films on how they apply these camera movements in animations as well. Here are some of the movements we learned:  

Camera movements: 

● Pan: Camera moves horizontally,

while its base is fixated on a certain point.

● Tilt: Camera moves vertically, up to down / down to

up, while its base is fixated to a certain point.

● Zoom: Changing the focal length of the lens to make

the subject appear closer or further away in the

frame.

● Dolly: Camera moves along like railroad tracks.

Week 10 (31/05/2021)

This week's lecture is regarding "Staging". Staging in animation is about communicating effectively to

your audience, utilizing elements of layout, background, composition, and organization of characters. The arranging of objects and movements in the frame will communicate and build a meaning.

Week 11 (07/06/2021)

For week 11, the topic is "Planning Animation Cinematography and Shot Structure". We learned about aspects of the narrative such as the moods, themes, character, motivations and plot, must be captured in the audio-visual medium. Below are the slides:

These are the factors needed to be included in a shot list:

● Scene number and shot number

● Shot type (close-up, wide shot, etc.)

● Camera angle

● Camera movement

● Brief description of shot- action

● Sometimes audio notes, or prop mentions

Week 12 (14/06/2021)

In week 12, Mr Martin explained to us about perspective in animation. Perspective is to create the illusion of depth, or space, on a flat page. Perspective gives the illusion of the 2D characters are moving

about in the 3D world. 

Week 13 (21/06/2021)

This is our last week for lecture, Mr Martin gave us a lecture regarding "color script"

Functions of color script:

■ Creating mood

■ Time (time of day/year)

■ Drawing the viewer’s attention

■ Representing realism or an emotional statement