SDP1 Presentation 25/10/2012 Maria-Giovanna Naddeo Film – Choosing the most effective shots for my story

SDP Table of practice For SDP I am working towards Creating/Directing a Transmedia Show For SDP1 I am focusing specifically on ‘choosing the most effective shots/angles for my film’ My outcome for SDP1 is to have chosen, or know how to choose the most effective shot for my film, through research and practice.

Finding the most effective shot

The main focus of my research: What camera angles are used when shooting a romance film What shots are used when shooting a romance film Why these shots and angles are used, what do they cannote? The Romance genre, and its conventions How to put together a storyboard

1 – Finding: Research My main sources of research were: Katz. S: ‘Film directing shot by shot – Visualizing from concept to screen’ 1991. Michael Wiese productions Cross referenced with: Schreibman.M: ‘The film director prepares’ 2006. Myral. A. Schreibam Etherington Wright. C. & Doughty. ‘Understanding film theory’. 2011. Palgrave Macmillian Tyson.L. ‘Critical theory today’.2006. These three books are the main sources that I have been referring to in my work. The first book has improved my knowledge on Camera angles and Shots. The second book has improved my knowledge on film genre and structure The third book has improved my knowledge of theories and applying them to film.

Basic camera shots and framing

Digital Storyboard

Film genre – Conventions of filming a romantic comedy Romantic Comedy Genre: Love Actually (2003). Director - Richard Curtis Two Weeks Notice (2002). Director - Marc Lawrence Notting hill (1999) Director – Roger Michell Bridget Jone’s Diary (2001). Director – Sharon Magire Compared them to: The Prestige (2006) Director – Christopher Nolan The Dark Knight (2008) Director – Christopher Nolan Mirror (1975) Director – Andrey Tarkovskiy I watched and compared clips from these films. This informed my practice, as I was able to see the difference in the camera work for the different genre of film.

Storyboard With the understanding and knowledge from my research I created a Transmedia story board. Applying my research, I created a storyboard and focused on the following: Angles Shot size Who/what was in the shot What the shot size/angle showed How the shot showed the relationship

Mid-Shot: Why? ‘The medium shot captures the actor’s gestures and body language’ (Katz.S. 1991:127) Cross referenced with: ‘Contains the characters or a character from the waist up. From this shot, viewers can see the characters' faces more clearly as well as their interaction with other characters. This is also known as a social shot’ (http://www.skwirk.com)

The close up: Why not? ‘The close up can bring us into a more intimate relationship with the subjects on screen’ (Katz.S. (1991:123) Cross referenced with: ‘Contains just one character's face. This enables viewers to understand the actor's emotions and also allows them to feel empathy for the character. This is also known as a personal shot.’ (http://www.skwirk.com)

The first shoot

The second shoot

Evaluation of the Shoots: What worked? What did not work? What is the problem(s)? How do I fix the problem(s)?

SDP1 – What skill I’ve gained: My knowledge and skills have improved since the beginning of SDP1. I know the conventions of the genre for my film I know the most effective angles to use I know the most effective shot sizes to use I’ve learned different systems for shooting angles I know how to create a storyboard, and translate the research for the shots and angles to the storyboard. Even though I don’t feel I found the right shot for my film, I know why. So the next time I come to shoot, I can apply the changes.

SDP1 – Shots and Angles