Blog 18 - Answer 2

"Cinematography is infinite in its possibilities... much more so than music or language." 

- Conrad Hall

1.  What is your EQ?

A: How can a filmmaker maximize the affective domain of the audience’s viewing experience?

2.  What is your first answer? (In complete thesis statement format)

A: A filmmaker can maximize the affective domain of the audience’s viewing experience by utilizing screenwriting elements to depict an engaging plot and colorful assembly of characters.

3.  What is your second answer? (In complete thesis statement format)

A: A filmmaker can maximize the affective domain of the audience’s viewing experience by applying proper cinematography techniques to provide an aesthetic and visceral connection to the images portrayed on the screen.

4.  List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.

A:

a.) Angles alone can provide a sense of emotion in the way something is portrayed on camera. In the real-world certain things are depicted to be grandeur or minuscule to our eyes making us feel the ways we do when we see them. For instance, when we see a towering skyscraper closer to the foot of the building itself, we can truly see the breathtaking marvel that stands before us. However if you were to look at the same skyscraper 10 miles away on a hill, you wouldn’t have the same stunning reaction.

b.) Lighting can make a shot more interesting and appealing. In the real world, shadows and light sources are everywhere. However, in film, light tends to be more dramatized in order to get darker shadows to provide information to the audience in terms of visuals. With lighting, a filmmaker can chose what they want to show an audience and how they want to.

c.) Composition is a big deal and get us to feel uneasy in certain ways when viewing a film. Film usually has a list of normal guidelines and standards that are typically followed, like leading lines and the rule of thirds. However, filmmakers can sometimes deliberately break these rules in order to make an audience on edge about what’s about to be viewed on screen. It’s a very strategic technique, but usually works if executed properly.

5.  What printed source best supports your answer?

A: One of my best sources so far with my research that supports this answer is a book called The Five C’s of Cinematography by Joseph V. Mascelli. The book itself explores many of the techniques that need to be understood in order to properly convey visuals on a screen. These are concepts like continuity, composition, etc.

6.  What other source supports your answer?

A: Some of the other sources that highly support my answer are the notes I took from a college film class I took at Cal Poly Pomona regarding certain angles and the emotions that are conveyed with them. In addition, I found a filmmaker’s handbook to composition that really helped me grasp the concept of certain aspects such as lighting from teacherweb.com.

7.  Tie this together with a concluding thought.

A: Filmmaking itself is a very diverse field of study with many different aspects affecting the way an audience views and ultimately reacts to it in the end. Cinematography is one of the most essential and crucial elements in a film that can make an audience experience certain emotions. In the end, a cinematographer chooses what to show an and what type of information to provide them so the story can progress.

Blog 17 - Interview 3 Reflection

"Filmmaking, a chance to live many lifetimes." - Robert Altman

To hear my interview with Jason Lee of the Jubilee Project, click the link below:

Interview #2 - Jason Lee

1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview?

A: The most important thing I learned from this interview is that we do it all for the story. Filmmaking is a storytellers medium that is extremely powerful. By tethering emotion to a story and message, we can get audiences to go out and make a difference in the world through their own experiences and personal connections to what is going on the screen.

2.  How has your approach to interviewing changed over the course of your senior project?

A: Over the course of the senior project, my approach to interviews have changed quite a lot. In the beginning, I was pretty much scared and worried about the type of questions I could ask these people. However, it wasn’t until I realized how much knowledge these people had. They were practically reserves of a large wealth of knowledgeable information that I could ask them. I then started to formulate a system in which I gained some background knowledge of their upbringing into the industry to get a better idea of who they are and then jumped right into the meaningful questions.

Blog 16 - Independent Component 2 Approval

"If it can be written or thought, it can be filmed."- Stanley Kubrick

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

A: For the duration of the Independent Component 2, I plan on spending my 30 hours creating another short film by partnering up with Jacob Smith and Philip Rosenblum. This short film however will be different than most types of other films in the past. We plan on creating a project that expresses multiple genres as the story progresses. We want to explore the aspects of cinematography and editing techniques in order to determine what methods can successfully get an audience to react in the way it was meant to be experienced in. We plan on shooting our short film with a total of four genres: horror, action, comedy, dramatic/romantic. By exploring these four genres, we hope to successfully relay the emotions that come with each genre.

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

A: Over the 30 hours, the three of us will undergo the three major sections of production: pre-production, production, and post-production (Preparation, Filming, Editing). Throughout the duration, we will complete a number of drafts for our screenplay, go through hours of countless filming, and sitting at a desk editing. In addition, the three of us plan on analyzing certain filmmaking aspects when it comes to iconic films and how those pieces of art were able to get audiences of all types to react in one uniform way.

3.  Explain how this component will help you explore your topic in more depth.

A: By completing this component, I believe that I will be able to gain a better understanding on certain editing and cinematography techniques that filmmakers use in order to elicit certain emotions out of their audience, whether it be through music, the type of shot, the type of cut, etc.

4.  Post a log in your Senior Project Hours link and label it "Independent Component 2" log.

A: Done

Independent Component 1

Another story with a meaning, a message, and a character moving through life.

For the finished product please click the link below:
Simple Affection (2016) | A Short Film

LITERAL

I, Isaiah Kai Maylad , affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 89 hours of work.”

Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component.

• Mills, Robert. "Colour and Storytelling in Films." Robert Mills. Chris Alwood, 17 Feb. 2015. Web. 3 Sept. 2015. < http://www.robertmills.me/colour-and-storytelling-in-films/>.

• Fischoff, Stuart. "The Evolution of Music in Film and its Psychological Impact on Audiences." Calstatela. Cal State LA, 24 June. 2005. Web. 10 Sept. 2015. <http://web.calstatela.edu/faculty/abloom/tvf454/5filmmusic.pdf>.

• "Introduction to Color Temperature." Filmmaker IQ. Filmmaker IQ, n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. <http://filmmakeriq.com/lessons/introduction-to-color-temperature/>.

• Flinn, Denny Martin. How Not to Write a Screenplay: 101 Common Mistakes Most Screenwriters Make. Lone Eagle Publishing Company, 1999. pg 142-169. Published.

• Hess, John. "Introduction to Foley and Sound Effects for Film." Online Video Clip. Vimeo. 2014. Web. 3 Dec. 2015. <https://vimeo.com/112006972>.

• Mascelli, Joseph V. The Five C's of Cinematography. First Silman-Lames Press, 1965. pg 50 - 66. Published.

Update your hours in your Senior Project Hours link. Make sure it is clearly labeled with hours for individual sessions as well as total hours.

A: The Senior Project Hours Log is all updated with hours that were completed over the course of this project.

Explain what you completed.

A: During the course of this project, Yuji Karuhaka and I combined our acquired skills and knowledge from both dance and filmmaking in order to create a experimental hybrid short film that crosses both the genres of silent and musical. With Yuji behind the choreography aspect of it, while I was behind the camera turned out to be an extremely fun and hands-on learning process. I was able to sharpen my skills as a filmmaker especially with the exposure of new cinematography techniques and editing softwares. The story itself was meant to be a fairly basic and generic in order to see if we could successfully convey an emotional impact through the visuals of the story (dance and cinematography).

INTERPRETIVE

Defend your work and explain its significance to your project and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.

A: I believe that our project highly demonstrates 30 hours (plus the hours after). Throughout the project, Yuji and I went through the three phases of filmmaking (pre-production, production, and post-production) successfully. In the beginning, the two of us thoroughly planned out our concept with notes and outlines and met up in order to successfully bounce off ideas. Because of the fact that our schedules didn’t really meet up during the day, we met a lot at night in order to discuss details. We made sure to mark up certain aspects we wanted to see brought out when the performance was actually put into production and looked around for a willing and open lead actress, Paula Montano.

A marked up page of our screenplay. The entire screenplay will be released once the film is released.

Shooting on location at a park in Pomona.

Filming on location at the Los Angeles County Museum of Arts (LACMA)

During production, Yuji and I (along with a crew of other students that were so gracious enough to donate their time and efforts to seek out the end of production) drove out to many different locations and cities in order to achieve the proper emotional appeal we sought out for the visceral connection. We took a day to go out to Los Angeles and film in many different locations. We decided that it would be best as a choice for the audience and a great learning experience to film out in the public. We wanted to see if  we were up to the challenge especially with our particular set of skills. Throughout production, we stayed countless hours in certain locations and hit certain road bumps along the way (i.e. There were times where our batteries would die, and being in public, we had no place to charge them, causing an unpredictable shortcoming of our full day of filming.) In addition, we took the initiative to go out and scout the locations we were filming at in order to fully understand the aspects that would affect certain things while on location ( i.e. weather, time of sunset, etc.)

Lighting test at LACMA when location scouting in Los Angeles.

Another lighting test at Santa Monica Beach.

When it came down to the editing, this was my favorite part. Usually, I dread editing because it’s sometimes tedious (AND I HATE iMOVIE and have no means to get a new program). This time however I downloaded a fully functional free trial of Final Cut Pro X in order to get the most professional and efficient editing experience for this project. In addition, I loved to see the final product being pieced together and start to fit nicely together. I was able to explore the functions FCPX had to offer as well as apply new editing techniques through the use of style that we were adapting to our film. Although audio was not used in the film at all, it was still hard to sync up music with the dance numbers that were filmed during the duration of the assignment. In addition, I stayed countless hours on the computer sitting through the pain of strained eyes and my love for filmmaking in order to calm down my excitement for the piecing together of the final film.

Getting accustomed to a new software, that made editing more efficient and easy.

APPLIED

How did the component help you understand the foundation of your topic better?  Please include specific examples to illustrate this.

Honestly, film is such a hands-on topic. My mentor, Marc Estrada, told me how filmmaking is such an essential field to go out and work for experience. He further stated how you could easily read all the books and articles on how to make a movie, but if you don’t go out to do it, you’ll never learn. With film, filmmakers learn from the mistakes that are made. Over the course of this IC, I was able to fully engross myself into the filmmaking process and be in charge of my own small production (even if we didn’t have a budget). My team successfully went through the different stages of production in order to create an efficient work environment and productive set. Yuji and I planned out our production to the very center in order to get as much done as possible. In addition, Yuji and I wanted to focus on the emotional aspect of visceral media. We wanted to apply techniques and knowledge in order to elicit the right feelings into our audience when viewing the film. For example, cinematography was much different that I’m used to especially since dance needs to be shot in very long takes. Yuji needed to get accustomed to the long unbroken shots and get used to the fatigue that came with precise shots without many breaks in between.

I also was able to explore music throughout this component, especially since music is such an essential portion of the filmmaking process. Music is a huge key both when relaying film through dance and through film because of how connected people have become to it. In our project, we had to deliberately and strategically chose the songs that were going in since the lyrics of the music was going to be the only spoken dialogue through the film.

Screenshots of the dance numbers presented in the short film itself.

In addition, this project helped me become a better director. Using the aspect of a silent film, all actions and facial expressions need to thoroughly communicated to the audience or else the viewer won’t understand the proper emotion to feel. As a director, I can usually explain to the actor how I want a line stated of portrayed. However, without the use of dialogue, I needed to come up with more descriptive methods in relaying my meanings and emotion to my actors. With the focus being solely on the actors and the story rather than the spoken words, it was a real challenge to convey the true interpretation onto the screen, but was done nonetheless.

This project was truly a wonderful learning experience for me and I would like to explore more aspects of film under a project like this again.

Blog 15 - Lesson 2 Reflection

“The most amazing thing is that every single person who sees a movie brings a whole set of unique experiences. Through careful manipulation, you can get everybody to clap at the same time, to hopefully laugh at the same time, and to be afraid at the same time.” - Steven Spielberg

1.) What are you most proud of in your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?

A: From my Lesson 2 presentation, I am most proud of my hook activity. I took a very big risk with the way my activity ran and wasn’t quite sure the way people were going to react. In addition, people were only going to react if the execution of the activity was done properly. I was able to successfully get my timing down and present it in order to achieve the precise reaction I was looking for.

2.)

a.) What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment)?

   AE P AP CR NC

A: Personally, I feel very confident in the way my second lesson went and believe I deserve an AE. I honestly think this has probably been one of the best and most confident presentations I’ve done over the course of my four years of I-Poly.

b.) Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.

A: Through the component contract, I feel that my lesson altogether was pretty solid. Personally I feel that my research did show a depth of 6 months of knowledge and that it was done in a very professional manner. Like I said, this has probably been the most comfortable and confident I’ve ever been when actually up in front and presenting my information. My answer itself was very clear to the audience and the time in my presentation was used as effectively as possible. I didn’t let a minute go to waste. As for my activity, I think it went fairly well. I think the audience learned effectively from it and that they were able to apply the knowledge acquired from my presentation in order to execute the task at hand.  In addition, my body language was pretty good and I was very articulate and passionate about the topic I was presenting.

3.) What worked for you in your Lesson 2?

A: I think my general flow worked very well in my lesson. At the beginning, it was one of my biggest concerns when coming up to present. In addition, I think I had the perfect amount of information to talk about. One of the biggest issues I have with presentations is that I usually have too much to talk about. For this particular presentation, I feel that I relayed the proper amount without feeling that I robbed the audience from further learning and explanation.

4.) What didn't work? If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?

A: I think my conclusion could’ve been a little more articulate and summarized. Looking back now, there are a couple of points I wished I put more emphasis on and reiterated in order to get the most solid foundation of understanding for the audience. Having the opportunity to fix it, I would have restated my essential question and remind the audience about my answer in case it wasn’t made clear in the beginning of they had simply just forgotten.

5.) What do you think your answer #2 is going to be?

A: I think for my second answer, I want to explore the idea of production value and cinematography. I want to see the ways in which visual stimulants can affect a viewer in their emotional state when watching a film.