Classwork

 This is the classwork I have worked on this term. 

Camera

We studied the significance of camera angles and movements, which not only convey what the author intends but also evoke specific feelings in the audience.

Camera Angles:

• Long Shot: Captures the entire body, setting the scene and showing context.
• Extreme Long Shot: Establishes location and surroundings, often conveying loneliness or isolation.
• Medium Shot: Focuses on gestures and emotions.
• Cowboy Shot: Suggests dominance or power of the character.
• Close Up: Highlights important details, like facial expressions.
• Extreme Close Up: Emphasizes minute details or intense emotions.
• POV (Point of View): Shows the scene from the character’s perspective, creating empathy.
• Over the Shoulder: Involves the audience by showing the scene from behind a character.
• High Angle: Depicts vulnerability or low power of a character, or can show someone reaching for something high.
• Low Angle: Creates an intimidating effect, making the subject appear powerful or threatening.
• Dutch Angle: Adds unease or a sense of disorientation.
• Establishing Shot: Indicates a change in location, setting up the new scene.

In class, we drew various camera angles, with Tisha and I focusing on the Dutch Angle.

Storyboard

In class, we are learning how to create a storyboard, which is a crucial skill for visualizing a project before filming begins. Storyboarding helps in planning each scene and shot in detail, allowing for a clearer understanding of the narrative flow and visual elements. This process involves sketching or outlining scenes in sequence, which assists in organizing ideas, ensuring that all key moments are captured, and coordinating the visual and narrative components of the project.

Here is the storyboard Kimora and I worked on in class.

• ong Shot: Captures the entire body, setting the scene and showing context.
• Extreme Long Shot: Establishes location and surroundings, often conveying loneliness or isolation.
• Medium Shot: Focuses on gestures and emotions.
• Cowboy Shot: Suggests dominance or power of the character.
• Close Up: Highlights important details, like facial expressions.
• Extreme Close Up: Emphasizes minute details or intense emotions.
• POV (Point of View): Shows the scene from the character’s perspective, creating empathy.
• Over the Shoulder: Involves the audience by showing the scene from behind a character.
• High Angle: Depicts vulnerability or low power of a character, or can show someone reaching for something high.
• Low Angle: Creates an intimidating effect, making the subject appear powerful or threatening.
• Dutch Angle: Adds unease or a sense of disorientation.
• Establishing Shot: Indicates a change in location, setting up the new scene.

In class, we drew various camera angles, with Tisha and I focusing on the Dutch Angle.

Storyboard

In class, we are learning how to create a storyboard, which is a crucial skill for visualizing a project before filming begins. Storyboarding helps in planning each scene and shot in detail, allowing for a clearer understanding of the narrative flow and visual elements. This process involves sketching or outlining scenes in sequence, which assists in organizing ideas, ensuring that all key moments are captured, and coordinating the visual and narrative components of the project.

Here is the storyboard Kimora and I worked on in class.

Sound

In our lessons, we explored the crucial role of sound in video production, learning that while camera angles and movements create certain feelings, sound enhances these emotions and sets the mood for the audience. We discussed two main types of sound:

Diegetic Sound: This is sound that naturally originates from the world within the video. It is sound that characters or actors can also hear, adding realism and immersing the audience in the scene. Examples include footsteps, rustling leaves, or a radio playing in the background. This type of sound helps convey information and enhances the authenticity of the scene.

Non-Diegetic Sound: Non-diegetic sound does not exist within the world of the film and cannot be heard by the characters. It is added during editing for the audience’s benefit and is used to create or enhance the mood of a scene. Examples include narration, voice-overs, and sound effects. Non-diegetic sound intensifies the emotional impact on the audience.

We also learned about subcategories of diegetic sound, such as:

- Melodic: Sounds that have a musical quality or contribute to the melody of the scene.

- Discordant: Sounds that are jarring or unsettling, adding tension.

- Contrapuntal: Sounds that contrast with the visual elements, creating a complex emotional effect.

Mis-en-scene

We focused on Mise-en-scene, engaging in activities to better understand its components. In one activity, our teacher assigned scenarios, and our group worked together to illustrate them. Tisha and I handled most of the drawing, while Kimora and Eileen contributed descriptions and notes alongside the drawings. We had the job of illustrating a group of teenagers entering an abandoned haunted house.

• ong Shot: Captures the entire body, setting the scene and showing context.
• Extreme Long Shot: Establishes location and surroundings, often conveying loneliness or isolation.
• Medium Shot: Focuses on gestures and emotions.
• Cowboy Shot: Suggests dominance or power of the character.
• Close Up: Highlights important details, like facial expressions.
• Extreme Close Up: Emphasizes minute details or intense emotions.
• POV (Point of View): Shows the scene from the character’s perspective, creating empathy.
• Over the Shoulder: Involves the audience by showing the scene from behind a character.
• High Angle: Depicts vulnerability or low power of a character, or can show someone reaching for something high.
• Low Angle: Creates an intimidating effect, making the subject appear powerful or threatening.
• Dutch Angle: Adds unease or a sense of disorientation.
• Establishing Shot: Indicates a change in location, setting up the new scene.

In class, we drew various camera angles, with Tisha and I focusing on the Dutch Angle.

Storyboard

In class, we are learning how to create a storyboard, which is a crucial skill for visualizing a project before filming begins. Storyboarding helps in planning each scene and shot in detail, allowing for a clearer understanding of the narrative flow and visual elements. This process involves sketching or outlining scenes in sequence, which assists in organizing ideas, ensuring that all key moments are captured, and coordinating the visual and narrative components of the project.

Here is the storyboard Kimora and I worked on in class.

Sound

In our lessons, we explored the crucial role of sound in video production, learning that while camera angles and movements create certain feelings, sound enhances these emotions and sets the mood for the audience. We discussed two main types of sound:

Diegetic Sound: This is sound that naturally originates from the world within the video. It is sound that characters or actors can also hear, adding realism and immersing the audience in the scene. Examples include footsteps, rustling leaves, or a radio playing in the background. This type of sound helps convey information and enhances the authenticity of the scene.

Non-Diegetic Sound: Non-diegetic sound does not exist within the world of the film and cannot be heard by the characters. It is added during editing for the audience’s benefit and is used to create or enhance the mood of a scene. Examples include narration, voice-overs, and sound effects. Non-diegetic sound intensifies the emotional impact on the audience.

We also learned about subcategories of diegetic sound, such as:

- Melodic: Sounds that have a musical quality or contribute to the melody of the scene.

- Discordant: Sounds that are jarring or unsettling, adding tension.

- Contrapuntal: Sounds that contrast with the visual elements, creating a complex emotional effect.

Mis-en-scene

We focused on Mise-en-scene, engaging in activities to better understand its components. In one activity, our teacher assigned scenarios, and our group worked together to illustrate them. Tisha and I handled most of the drawing, while Kimora and Eileen contributed descriptions and notes alongside the drawings. We had the job of illustrating a group of teenagers entering an abandoned haunted house.

In another activity, each student received papers featuring characters or scenes to label the Mise-en-scene elements and analyze the feelings these elements evoke. 

To reinforce our learning, we also watched a video that reviewed the concepts discussed in class and provided additional insights.

 

Edit

We also learned about editing, which is one of the four main structures in film. Our teacher introduced us to different types of cuts, grouped into Continuity Editing and Non-Continuity Editing. 

Continuity Editing helps maintain the flow and logical progression of the story. Some examples include:

- Straight Cut

- Eyeline Match

- Shot/Reverse Shot

- Cutaway/Insert

- Match Cut

Non-Continuity Editing is used to break the normal flow, creating a more disjointed or abstract effect. Examples include

- Cross Cut

- Flashback

- Flash Forward

- Jump Cut

- Match Cut

We also explored how different takes affect a film:

- Long Take: Slows down the pace, building suspense and making the scene feel more immersive.

- Short Take/Quick Cut: Increases the pace, creating excitement, action, and focusing on details.

In one activity, we worked in groups of three (Me, Tisha, and Kimora) to create a timeline edit based on the scenario: "A killer is loose in the house. The victim doesn’t know anything is wrong.” (Optional: A detective has just learned the identity of the killer)." This helped us apply our understanding of editing to a practical scenario.

Personal Reflection:

Reflecting on the classwork we’ve done so far, I feel like it has helped me develop a better understanding of how to approach my project. Working on research, storyboarding, and analyzing movie trailers has given me a clearer idea of the conventions I need to follow, as well as how I can subvert them to make my movie opening more interesting. The classwork has also taught me how to break down a film’s structure and focus on the technical elements like sound, camera angles, and editing. These tasks have been a bit challenging at times, but they’ve pushed me to think more critically about my project and how each element works together. Overall, the classwork has been a useful step in moving closer to creating my final product.