Dolly Rig
Roll Camera Shot
Pitch Shot
Here are this week tutorials from Maya. I still need to upload the Pendulum and the Second Ball to this post.
As the subject of my Essay, I've chosen to write about Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I want to focus on the 'Epic' landscapes and narrative and analyse. I want to break my essay down to the key sections.
Editing
I want to look at how the shots are held for quite long periods of time, as there is a lot of detail to take in. I also want to analyse how the pace of the film is reflected in the editing, with the tranquil travelling scenes with long shots and peaceful editing contrast the battle-scenes which have a lot of short, sharp shots. The editing also is very important to the story, usually showing several locations at once throughout the film.
Camera Movement
In analysing the camera movement I want to explain the large sweeping shots, panning across the landscapes, and the very-long shots, showing the characters moving through large caverns and mountains, which emphasises their journey and shows the size of their surroundings. The camera movement also shows the brutality and devastation of the battles, getting very close to the action and using a lot of slowed footage to allow the viewer to see the detail and build suspense.
Order of Scenes
The storyboarding and order of scenes is another focus, I want to analyse how the story is told and explained to the viewer as there are many sub-plots and extensive detail which needs to be presented. I want to also show how the order of scenes emphasises the 'journey' that is being taken, with montages of travel. There is also a suspenseful build up, with the main characters being pursued by the 'Ring-Wraiths' I want to explain how the film's structure builds this threat and shows the danger.
Contextualising
I want to put my film into the context of other 'Epics', showing how such a large story is being told, and who have told others before this. I'm trying to deicde which films to 'link' to Lord of the Rings. The ancestors of the film. One I would say was the religious biblical epic: Ben-Hur from 1959. I would also like to mention Star Wars (1977), Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and perhaps Gone with the Wind. For an updated look, I may talk briefly about Avatar.
PHIL: If you have any ideas about more films I could use to compare and other subjects I can include then that would be really helpful.
Editing
I want to look at how the shots are held for quite long periods of time, as there is a lot of detail to take in. I also want to analyse how the pace of the film is reflected in the editing, with the tranquil travelling scenes with long shots and peaceful editing contrast the battle-scenes which have a lot of short, sharp shots. The editing also is very important to the story, usually showing several locations at once throughout the film.
Camera Movement
In analysing the camera movement I want to explain the large sweeping shots, panning across the landscapes, and the very-long shots, showing the characters moving through large caverns and mountains, which emphasises their journey and shows the size of their surroundings. The camera movement also shows the brutality and devastation of the battles, getting very close to the action and using a lot of slowed footage to allow the viewer to see the detail and build suspense.
Order of Scenes
The storyboarding and order of scenes is another focus, I want to analyse how the story is told and explained to the viewer as there are many sub-plots and extensive detail which needs to be presented. I want to also show how the order of scenes emphasises the 'journey' that is being taken, with montages of travel. There is also a suspenseful build up, with the main characters being pursued by the 'Ring-Wraiths' I want to explain how the film's structure builds this threat and shows the danger.
Contextualising
I want to put my film into the context of other 'Epics', showing how such a large story is being told, and who have told others before this. I'm trying to deicde which films to 'link' to Lord of the Rings. The ancestors of the film. One I would say was the religious biblical epic: Ben-Hur from 1959. I would also like to mention Star Wars (1977), Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and perhaps Gone with the Wind. For an updated look, I may talk briefly about Avatar.
PHIL: If you have any ideas about more films I could use to compare and other subjects I can include then that would be really helpful.
This is the first page of my storyboard, It is very rough, but has planned out the shots for my scene. I'll be uploading the next pages over the next few days. I'm trying to get each page digitalised as I go along.
The second Hitchcock film of the week was Psycho, released in 1960. This is one of the most hard-hitting and well-known films in history, mainly due to the boundaries it was breaking in the time of it's release. The plot is based around a woman, Marion who steals a large amount of money from her employer on a whim and flees from the city and her surroundings. After raising suspicions, she books into an old declining motel, ran by loner Norman Bates and decides to stay the night. Avoiding Bates' passes and interest, she retires to her room, only to be attacked whilst taking a shower by the assailiant.
This scene is the most well-known and focused of the movie. Hitchcock attracted fame with this scene due to it's brutal nature compared to the other movies around in the 1960's. Although the editing prevents the viewer from seeing the knife entering Marion's body, it is implied by quick, sharp editing that proves almost as violent as the wounds themselves. The blood running into the plug-hole and the shower curtain being dragged from it's rails has been parodied and praised constantly over the last 50 years.
The character of Norman Bates also provides interest as he is delusional and truely a 'psycho' after imitating his long-dead mother, who he had previously butchered, by dressing in her clothes and speaking in her tone. For the 1960s this was also a breakthrough theme of cross-dressing as well as psychopathic behavior. One reason for this is because of the discovery of serial killer and grave-robber Ed Gein, who had become famous a few years earlier in rural America after murdering and mutiliating people. (I made a more indepth post on him on the last unit here: ED GEIN)
Between Psycho, filmed without colour and heavy editing and yesterday's film 'Rope', filmed in rewarding colour using very long takes there are many differences. However, both stories kept the viewer intrigued and through the use of camera-work, did an incredible job at telling a story worth hearing.
This scene is the most well-known and focused of the movie. Hitchcock attracted fame with this scene due to it's brutal nature compared to the other movies around in the 1960's. Although the editing prevents the viewer from seeing the knife entering Marion's body, it is implied by quick, sharp editing that proves almost as violent as the wounds themselves. The blood running into the plug-hole and the shower curtain being dragged from it's rails has been parodied and praised constantly over the last 50 years.
The character of Norman Bates also provides interest as he is delusional and truely a 'psycho' after imitating his long-dead mother, who he had previously butchered, by dressing in her clothes and speaking in her tone. For the 1960s this was also a breakthrough theme of cross-dressing as well as psychopathic behavior. One reason for this is because of the discovery of serial killer and grave-robber Ed Gein, who had become famous a few years earlier in rural America after murdering and mutiliating people. (I made a more indepth post on him on the last unit here: ED GEIN)
Between Psycho, filmed without colour and heavy editing and yesterday's film 'Rope', filmed in rewarding colour using very long takes there are many differences. However, both stories kept the viewer intrigued and through the use of camera-work, did an incredible job at telling a story worth hearing.
Time is slowly disappearing for this project, so I want to plan out exactly what I need to do. I've planned my storyboard frame by frame, and I've totalled this to about 34 different shots. This seems like too many for a 60 second animation, but I know that once I moveit into Pre-viz I'll know what shots I'll need to use, and which ones to let go.
Below are my story-board plans. I'm going to draw them all out later very roughly and then begin the refining process to create an appealing animatic.
In my storyboard I have a lot of 'walks to door' ' walks from room' I'm hoping to make these very quick cuts, rather than having a lot of redundant action. This should allow me to focus the little time I have on the comedy moments.
Below are my story-board plans. I'm going to draw them all out later very roughly and then begin the refining process to create an appealing animatic.
In my storyboard I have a lot of 'walks to door' ' walks from room' I'm hoping to make these very quick cuts, rather than having a lot of redundant action. This should allow me to focus the little time I have on the comedy moments.
STORYBOARD PLAN
I've been trying some different story-boarding styles, from keeping it black and white to stylising it with bright colours, but I'm settling for a style which I feel will be capable of progress as well as matching the mood and setting of my story.
A style which I would like to mimic or at least borrow from is the Comic series of Tintin. Created by the Belgian Georges Remi it was a series of comics, books and eventually TV films about 'TinTin', a young reporter and his dog Snowy. I forgot this existed until I was researching storyboarding and came across it. I really like the simplistic style as it still shows emotion and action.
