Film Elements Graphic Organizer

CAMERA SHOTS, ANGLES, MOVEMENT, AND COMPOSITION

1. Establishing shot: sets the location for a scene

2. Low angle shot: provides the viewer with a perspective from below

3. High angle shot: provides the viewer with a higher perspective, from above

4. Dolly shot: following the subject, making the camera appear as though it is on a train track

5. Birds eye viewer: shot from high high above, allows the viewer with an over-arching perspective

EDITING

1. Contrast: cuts back and forth between two scenes to suggest a contrast between the two of them. A dichotomy would occur where the first scene shows one extreme, and the second shows an opposite extreme

2. Parallelism: connects two scenes by focusing on one aspect that is paralleled between the two, even if the scenes appear unconnected at the surface

3. Simultaneity: builds suspense by showing two action-filled scenes occurring at the exact same time

4. Leit motif: repeating a shot and a specific sound or song, to show the recurrence of that scene or concept

5. Symbolism: tying together two scenes through the use of a symbolic object or concept

MISE-EN-SCENE

1. Staging: The particular way that actors, furniture, or other objects are placed in a scene. This is completely thought out by the director and producer, to "stage" the scene in the most effective way possible to suggest a certain mood. 

2. Acting: The actor's performance in the movie or play; this is extremely important to the overall flow of the movie as this can truly make or break the quality of the performance

3. Costume: The actor's appearance in the scene, which can provide context of the character's archetype, the time period, the weather, the character's age, etc. Costume can include makeup and wardrobe. 

4. Setting: Provides a mood, place of mind, or establishing location for the scene. This can be as simple as a dark room with a flash of lightning through the window, which would set the mood as eery; this could also be as extreme as an entire football stadium, filled with the cheers of the crowd and the whistle of the ref. This would allow for an exhilarating mood throughout within the scene.

5. Three-point lighting: key, fill, and back light is arranged in such a way that the scene is illuminated

SOUND

1. Direct sound: recorded while filming, and is not edited in afterwards

2. Diegetic sound: both the audience and the characters can hear

3. Non-diegetic sound: the audience can hear the sound, but the characters on screen cannot

4. Sound bridge: bridges one scene to the next

5. Off screen sound: sound is off-screen, whilst the camera remains focused on the action occurring onscreen 

Analyzing the Use of Mise-En-Scene within Friends

In this episode of Friends, titled "The One with the Monkey," multiple areas of mise-en-scene are used. This includes setting, lighting, costume and staging. This episode takes place during winter in New York City, and the six "friends" are throwing together a New Years Eve party.

Setting: As a general setting, this episode takes place in New York City. Nonetheless, like most Friends episodes, the majority of the episode is spent in Monica and Rachel's apartment. Decked out for the holiday, this setting creates a very homey and Christmas-y vibe for the viewer.

Lighting: With additional Christmas lights strung across in the background and bright white snow falling outside, the main space of the apartment is extremely bright. This allows for a very happy and carefree feeling, as there is no shadows or darkness. There is no sense of eeriness or confusion for the viewer, and the overall feeling is very happy.

Costume: As an ode to New York's below freezing weather at Christmas time, the six friends are bundled up in hats, boots, and sweaters- even when inside. More specifically, each character fits the role of "family member at Christmas dinner" archetype. For example, Chandler's striped sweater which looks strangely similar to something that the dad from Home Alone would wear; Monica's red cardigan, which gives off strong mom vibes. By simply looking at the character's outfits, it's clear that it's Christmas time.

Staging: Always situated in either the kitchen or living room, the group is clearly sat in a very specific way. Rachel throws her feet over the love seat, the three boys are on the edge of the couch, Phoebe is standing in the corner, and Monica is at the center, going on a spiel. It's a common sight among episodes, and it almost allows the viewer to be in the action with the characters.

Five Master Shots (with Sound!)

Find our five master edits with sound here.

LEITMOTIF: For our example of leitmotif, Kiley and I included a sound bridge. A sound bridge occurs when sound is carried over a visual transition in a film. We used this to depict a leitmotif because we used multiple scenes showing people drinking water and a water fountain. Adding the sound of trickling water in the background shows the common theme of water occurring throughout, which shows a connection between the two concepts.

PARALLELISM: To depict parallelism, we used post synchronization dubbing and diegetic sound. Post synchronous sounds place emphasis on the characters and makes a much more realistic ambiance, and it's the same case for diegetic sound. We added the sound of leaves crunching as Kiley and I walked past the screen as this placed an emphasis on us walking. 

CONTRAST: We used post synchronization dubbing for our contrast scene as well, where we added the sound of crickets and then the sound of a loud hallway. Regardless of the fact that crickets would not often be found in an empty hallway, the sound of crickets often represents silence. We added the sounds of a bustling hallway to further emphasize the sounds heard during passing period. These scenes contrast one another in that the hallway is painfully silent while students are in classes, and lively and energetic during the passing period.

SIMULTANEITY: We used direct sound for our simultaneity scene, as this showed the reality of what was happening during a Lely lunch period. In a way, this allows the viewer to truly feel as though they are there.

SYMBOLISM: We added triumphant music for our symbolism edit as the "L" in a Lely Varsity letter fades out into the L in "Lely Trojans." This shows Lely's pride and triumphant energy.

Overall, this sound allows the mood of our video to change constantly. However, watching this as a viewer genuinely keeps me on the edge of my seat and the ongoing upbeat music and sound creates a positive aura for the overall video.

A Look Into Pudovkin's Five Master Edits As Depicted in Hollywood

Once learning about Pudovkin's Five Master Edits, I soon realized that if you look hard enough, leitmotif, contrast, symbolism, simultaneity, and parallelism can be found right before your eyes! Here are some examples as shown in Hollywood films:

Leitmotif: With it being a musical, Hercules is notorious for its classic songs. One song in particular is Hercules' number with Go The Distance. This song acts as the character's leitmotif as it perfectly encapsulates everything about the character and his place in the movie. Surprisingly enough, I realized that most Disney movies have this concept of a leitmotif that describes each movie and main character. For example, Aladdin's Whole New World, Lion King's Circle of Life, and Tarzan's Two Worlds. Shown below is a brief clip from Hercules' number.

I had trouble uploading this video, so I have linked the YouTube video here.

Contrast: This video from 2001's Space Odyssey contrasts a bone being thrown up in the air with a space ship falling down. This comparison works, because the two sizes are very similar to one another and therefore a contrasting effect is established when the camera cuts from the bone in the air to a shot of the space ship in the air.

Here is a link to this scene from Space Odyssey

Symbolism: The epilogue of Breaking Dawn: Part II depicts multiple scenes occurring from throughout the series fades from one to another.

Here is a link to the scene in Breaking Dawn Part II

Simultaneity: In this shot from The Godfather, tensions rise when the camera is shot back and forth between two scenes. The camera cuts between Michael Cerlone at a christening and a gory death. This establishes an odd juxtaposition within the film, illustrating purity and gore occurring at the exact same moment.

Here is a link to the scene in the Godfather

Parallelism: In The Silence of the Lambs, the audience can see the FBI raiding a house that they believe belongs to a character called "Buffalo Bill." Following this, the audience sees Buffalo Bill reacting to a bell in a dungeon. The bell in the dungeon directly correlates to the FBI agent ringing the bell in the paralleled scene.

Here is a link to The Silence of the Lambs, which depicts parallelism.

Five Master Edits (The Principles of Editing)

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjnGvgvxHTc&feature=youtu.be

LEIT MOTIF: A leitmotif can be defined as a recurring musical theme connected to a particular character, object, place, idea. In Kiley and I's film, the camera angle switches periodically back and forth between the running water in a water fountain, and people drinking from a water bottle. In this case, the water would act as the subject, or object. The running water from the fountain acts as the recurring subject.

CONTRAST: In any case, contrast is an extreme difference between two ideas. In film, when the camera is cut between two vastly different scenes, this shows contrast. In our film, an empty, silent hallway is shown. Just moments later, after the bell is rung and students are moving from first to second period, a contrast is created as the hallway is now filled with students and noise.

SYMBOLISM: A symbolic connection is created when there is a bridge between the first and second scene in film. The camera zooms in on a Varsity letter "L" (for Lely), and when the camera zooms back out, it is focused on the "L" from the Lely Trojans ingrained in the bench outside in the courtyard. 

SIMULTANEITY: Simultaneity is useful in creating suspense for the audience. In film, a scene would cut back and forth between two events occurring at the same time to show either contrast or similarity between the two events occurring. In this case, there would be a difference in the noisy courtyard during lunch versus Mr. Alvarez's quieter, more controlled classroom setting occurring at the exact same moment.

PARALLELISM: Cutting together two unrelated scenes and drawing similarities or parallels between the two establishes a connection in film. In our case, Kiley and I focus the camera on our feet and the camera shows each of us walking across the courtyard.

Exploring the Use of Camera Angles Through the Beloved American Horror Story

In American Horror Story season three, episode one, viewers are introduced to the new season as well as new era and plotline of Coven. The setting is New Orleans, 1834. The opening scene depicts an older woman at the head of the table, and cuts from her face, to the three men that she is addressing (a point-of-view shot, nonetheless), back to her face, before eventually panning over to her daughter. The use of a point-of-view and panning shot in this scene practically gives the viewer whiplash, making them feel as though they are actively following and participating in everything that the narrator (in this case, the older woman) is doing or saying. Shortly after, in a new scene, viewers are shown the same woman now in a choker shot, where we closely follow her as she does her makeup. Oddly enough, in this case, “doing her makeup” consists solely of dipping the brush in a bowl filled of blood, before wiping it on her face. The camera pans from the brush dipping into the blood, back to her face as the audience watches her lather her face in the blood.

 In another scene, an over-the-shoulder shot is used when the same woman is hitting and yelling at her daughter. This puts the viewer in the daughter’s shoes, allowing the audience to feel the same fear that is felt by the daughter.

 The woman is shown walking down a long corridor, through a full shot, and we watch the woman as she passes through cells of abused slaves, crying out for help.

 Everything prior to this moment was solely from the opening scene, which established the setting, plot, and showed viewers what to expect from the upcoming season. Now, the story has reached present day (at least, for that story line). We follow the main character through another over-the-shoulder shot as she approaches a door. This type of filming could also be seen as a follow shot. The use of both an over-the-shoulder as well as a follow shot almost makes the viewer feel as though they are walking alongside the subject.

 A point-of-view shot is shown once again as the subject’s mom informs her that she will be attending boarding school in New Orleans due to her newfound witchcraft. This is clearly something that the main character is upset about, so we, as an audience, are able to feel that

sadness and frustration with her due to this shot. Soon after, a never-ending group of men in black suits enter the girl’s bedroom to take her away. This is done through a head-on shot, as the men one-by-one walk past the camera towards the girl, it feels as though they are about to hit the camera head-on. A close-up of a presumably irrelevant side character shows her gloved hand wrapping around the mother’s shoulder, as she shares her grief and condolences at the temporary loss of her daughter.

 The use of these multiple different types of shots creates an overall haunting yet captivating aura that surely a show titled American Horror Story would aim to create. The use of these different shots is essential to the production of this, as it truly does establish the creepy and, again, haunting mood of the setting and plot.

A Look Through My Classmate's Eyes

I reviewed Kiley’s and Lily’s storyboards, and while there were some similarities between their filming styles, overall their takes on this activity appear to be extremely different. 


Kiley’s storyboard did a solid job of evoking a sense of emotion from the viewer. Following the turbulent relationship of the subjects, the use of different angles such as extreme close up, panning shot, low and high angle shots allowed the viewers to feel for the subjects during both low and high points.

For Lily's storyboard, with the reaction shot being one of the first few shots in the storyboard, as a viewer, I was drawn in and wanted to see the rest of the storyboard. The over-the-shoulder shot shown where Erin is looking on her phone almost makes the viewer feel as though they are experiencing whatever the subject is feeling right along with them. A follow shot has a similar effect, as the viewer feels as though they are walking right in step with the subject. The head-on shot also induces a bit of fear within the audience, with the subject running straight towards the camera it almost feels as though she may knock straight into you. The explanations provided under each shot justify my thoughts in a way, as well as did a good job of explaining the filming process that occurred.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the different ways that Lily versus Kiley versus myself went about this project, and I found this project to be extremely entertaining. 

An Adventure in Film

With it being my first time really diving into film, editing, and recording, I'll admit that I was a bit skeptical at first. However, once I got my hands on the art that is production, I couldn't be stopped. I had a blast both recording my own work and starring in the works of my peers. The plot, the filming, the lighting- it was all fascinating! I had an extremely positive experience working on my first film, and I look forward to future productions in this class!

This first shot is an establishing shot, which allows the viewer to envision the location and mood.

This is a full shot, showing Kiley's full body from head to toe. I had a lot of fun messing around with the lighting during this shot as well.

Here is a medium shot, showing Kiley from only the knees up.

This is a tight shot, though there are some trees and a flash of sunlight peeking through, Cooper's beautiful face takes up nearly all of the screen.

Here is an over-the-shoulder shot, depicting Cooper conversing with Kiley.

Because Cooper ran straight into the camera, this is a head-on shot.

Here is a high-angle shot (often confused with an eye-level shot, because I am much taller than Cooper.)

Here is a cameo shot of Kiley drinking her iced coffee.

Here is a close-up, showing only Erin's face.

Here is a medium long shot, showing Kiley falling.

Lastly, a reaction shot, where Cooper reacts to something Kiley just said or did.

My Goals in AICE Media and Why I Joined This Class

      Originally, I joined AICE Media Studies because the topic stuck out to me and I was interested in the idea of a new AICE class at Lely. After looking further into the course material on the Cambridge website, I realized that the class would be extremely fun, thought-provoking, and unique in comparison to previous classes I have taken. 
    Freshman year, I completed Film I at my old school, which I have always found interesting. Over the years, I have thanked myself for completing a class where I was able to learn such a plethora of information. I hope to have the same satisfaction at the end of my senior year and at the completion of this class.