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Lesson #3: Production (2-3 Periods)
Production Phase
For all information below, MAke notes in your Process Journal.
The production phase refers to the period of time when the film is actually being shot. Some aspects of production include:
–Direction
–Camera operation
–Lighting
–Sound recording
–Acting
During production, these roles are usually delegated to the following production departments.
–Direction
•Director (oversees all aspects of the production)
•Assistant Director (works closely with the actors)
–Camera
•Cinematographer (oversees camera operation and lighting plan)
•Camera Operator (operates the camera)
•Assistant Camera (loads camera, pulls focus)
–Lighting
•Cinematographer (oversees camera operation and lighting plan)
•Gaffer (head electrician)
•Grip (sets up lights)
–Sound
•Sound Mixer (records the sound)
•Boom operator (positions the microphone)
•Clapper (displays the clap slate for the camera)
–Talent
•Actors (perform before the camera)
–Miscellaneous
•Production Coordinator (scheduling)
•Continuity “script girl” (watch for continuity errors)
•Make-up Artist (apply make-up to actors)
•Production Assistant (various jobs)
All of the departments and positions described on the last two slides serve one goal: to capture the sound and image necessary to tell the story. Although going into every detail of production is far beyond the scope of this course, let’s consider the “nuts and bolts” that go into filmmaking.
This is a good time to review CAMERA Shots, Angles and Movements
Types of Shots
–There are three basic shot types that are based on the apparent proximity of the subject.
•Long shot (a.k.a. Establishing Shot)
•In the most pragmatic sense, long shots can be used to establish a location, acquainting the viewer with the onscreen space so that the sequence of shots that follow is not disorienting.
•Long shots can also be used to suggest a wide variety of meanings such as isolation, loneliness, freedom, emotional distance, and more. (Note that interpreting any particular shot or sequence of shots is dependent upon the context of the film.)
•Full Shot and Medium Shot
•Full shots include the entire body of a subject from top to bottom while medium shots generally include the body from the waist up.
•Full and medium shots tend to mimic our point of view when we are engaged in a social encounters.
•Close up shot-up Artist
•Close-up shots capture a single object, or feature within the frame. They are commonly used to reveal subtleties and/or create a sense of engagement or intensity.
Types of Angles
–There are three basic types of angles which refer to the position of the frame with respect to the subject within the frame.
•High Angle
•A high angle shot refers to a camera position where the lens aims down at the subject from above. An extreme high angle is sometimes referred to as “bird’s eye view.”
•High angles can be used to reveal the layout of a room or to make a subject appear weak and small. As mentioned previously, however, the context of the scene and the larger film must be taken into account prior to interpretation.
•Low Angle
•A low angle shot refers to a camera position where the lens aims up at the subject from below. Worm’s eye view.
•As opposed to the high angle shot, the low angle tends to make the subject appear intimidating and powerful. Again, the larger context of the film must be accounted for.
•Straight-On Angle
•A Straight-On shot refers to a camera position where the lens is aimed directly at the subject. •Especially when used in conjunction with the full or medium shot, this angle mimics our point of view in a social encounter.
Camera Movement
–Camera movement guides the perspective of the spectator and causes him/her to attend to those events and features which are most important to the narrative and aesthetic of the film. There are five basic forms of camera movement:
•Panning
•Panning refers to the left to right or right to left movement of the camera as it remains on a single axis. This is demonstrated graphically on the following slide.
•Tiltin
•Tilting refers to the down to up or up to down movement of a camera while it remains on a single axis.
•Tracking
•Tracking refers to the sideways movement of the camera as it captures a scene.
•Trucking
•Trucking refers to the forwards or backwards movement of the camera as it captures a scene.
•Booming
•Booming refers to the vertical movement of the camera as it captures a scene.
•Crane
•Crane shots permit a wide range of sweeping motion and height in capturing a shot.
LIGHTING
–Lighting refers to how a scene is lit, and, to a large extent, how it is exposed on film. It is among the most complex and important aspects of production and can be divided into two categories based on location and two categories based on style.
•Location (Indoor versus Outdoor lighting)
•Lighting Scheme (High Key versus Low Key lighting).
Process Journal Notes:
Acitvity #1: Copy the following diagram into your Process Journal.
Activity #2: Watch the two videos below and make notes on lighting in your Process Journal
Sound Recording (for the pros)
–Sound recording is treated separately here because, in traditional film production, it is recorded completely independently from the image. This is known as “double system” sound recording. Generally speaking, there are at least four soundtracks in any feature length narrative film:
•1 – the sound effects track.
•2 – the music track.
•3 – the room tone track.
•4 – the dialog track.
Sound Effects
•For the most part, sound effects are obtained separately by a “foley” artist who coordinates sound effects in synchronization with the onscreen action through a process known as “looping” – where a portion of the film is repeatedly played to perfect the timing of the sound effects. This is considered to be part of post-production which we will cover next.
•Alternatively, for low-budget productions, libraries of prerecorded sound effects can be used or sounds can be recorded during production by the sound mixer and boom operator.
Music
•Film music is either purchased (if it is not in the “public domain”) or scored specifically for the production.
•Music that is scored is done in similar fashion to foley sound in the sense that film is playing during the recording session to enhance timing.
Room Tone
•Room tone is recorded silence. Normally, once all of the dialog is recorded, the sound mixer asks for about a minute of quiet to record the sound of silence in the particular setting.
•The reason for recording room tone is that all recordings have a low level of “noise” in the background and, during the editing process it is sometimes necessary to fill in gaps so that there is not an abrupt change in the tone of the background noise.
Dialogue
•In order to record dialogue in “double system” film production, it is necessary to synchronize the movement of lips with the sound of voices. Simple as this may seem, achieving it requires precision instrumentation.
•Most modern film sound is recorded digitally, but earlier films made use of a “crystal” synchronized analog tape recorded referred to as a “Nagra” (manufacturer’s name) which kept the speed of the tape constant so that no “drifting” occurred between the picture and the sound track.
•The function of the “clap slate” or “sticks” (see the slide after next) is to supply a marking point for when the synchronization between picture and audio begins, allowing the editor to accurately align picture with sound later during post production.
•The first film credited with synchronized sound is The Jazz Singer (1927). (click to Youtube it!)
•There are a series of steps that are taken on a film set in order to ensure the proper coordination of picture and sound track:
–1: The director says “quiet on the set” and “roll sound.”
–2: The sound mixer says “sound speed” when the tape is running at the correct speed for recording synchronized sound.
–3: The director calls out “roll camera.”
–4: The camera operator says “speed” when the film is running at sound speed (24 frames per second). –5: The director calls out “slate.”
–6: The clap slate indicating roll, scene, and take is placed before the camera and read out loud (e.g. “Roll 1, Scene 1, Take 1”).
–7: The director says “mark.”
–8: The slate is clapped and removed.
–9: Finally, the director calls “action” to cue the actors..
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