Cinematography

UNIT DEADLINE: 11TH DECEMBER 2020

ASSIGNMENT BRIEFDownload

Week 1

Composition and Movement
The placement of the camera is a decision; and what we do with the camera affects the way the audience thinks and feels about a scene. If we can direct their eye effectively, we will engage them. Composition Rules allow us to ensure an image looks effective, but of course, rules can be broken, and sometimes this can be interesting too. The important thing is to justify why you’re making the choices you’re making and how this supports your telling of the story.
Resources Used in Class This Week:
1917 Featurette
Basic Camera Composition Video
Camera Movement Video
Gladiator Scene
Luther Scene
The Irishman Scene

We all interpret stories in a personal way, which is why every director is unique. When a director has a distinct style, we call this the Auteur Theory. A Tim Burton film looks and feels different to a Spielberg film, for example.

Production Groups

GROUP 1 – The Positive Hour
Director – Romeo
Camera – Katja
Lighting – Daniel
Sound – Michael Y
Assistant Director – Raheem

GROUP 2 – Two
Director – Lucille
Camera – Samara
Lighting – Ashley
Sound – Rianna

GROUP 3 – Two
Director – Elleise
Camera – Nathan
Lighting – Tirveen
Sound – Keiyanna

GROUP 4 – The Positive Hour
Director – Liibaan
Camera – Lewis
Lighting – Velton
Sound – Hakim

GROUP 5 – Pitchfork Disney
Director – Mya
Camera – Yaheim
Lighting – Halit
Sound – Aaron
Assistant Director – Kieron

GROUP 6 – Road
Director – Joe
Camera – Michael N
Lighting – Fiza
Sound – Marwan

Week 2

Yourself As Inspiration
There is no right or wrong way to make a film, but your experiences, interests, background and personality help to influence the way you tell stories. The best filmmakers use their personal experience of the world to enhance their storytelling.
Resources Used in Class This Week:
For Sama Documentary Trailer
How to Use CloseUps in Film
Akira Kurusawa – Composing Movement
The Spielberg Oner
Children of Men Long Take
Shot Types Recap
Example Weekly Blog 1
Example Weekly Blog 2

Week 3

Three Point Lighting
Three point lighting is a typical way to film a subject, such as an interview, which is considered to be most flattering. This is not the only way to film a scene, however, and you can play around to achieve interesting effects. You should understand the basic idea of three-point lighting though, in order to achieve a far greater professionalism in your film and photography work. You should find out what style of lighting was used for the scene you are aiming to recreate.
Resources Used in Class This Week:
Three Point Lighting Basics
Cinematic Lighting
Reflector Panels from Amazon
Lighting with purpose

Week 4

180 Degree Rule and Production Design
The direction of travel in your film can easily confuse viewers if it is not consistent. This can be harder to achieve than you might think: in order to simplify this, filmmakers use the 180 degree rule. Production design is the area of filmmaking responsible for the mise-en-scene of what appears on screen: thinking about everything from props and costumes, to locations and sets.
Resources Used in Class This Week:
Lighting with Purpose
180 Degree Rule
180 Degree Rule in Practice
Production Design
Logistics of The Hobbit movies

Week 5

EVALUATION AND DELIVERY
You are marked on your understanding of cinematography and lighting in this unit. This involves looking at the choice of shots, lenses and focal lengths, lighting style and equipment.
Once you have created your scene, you should edit and upload to Youtube.
You then need to write a short (between 500-750 word) reflection about your piece.
You should talk about:
-Why you shot your scene the way you did. Why did you pick those camera angles? Why did you move the camera?
-What focal lengths and lens choices did you make and why? What impact did they have on your image?
-How did you light the scene? What equipment did you use?
-Why did you light the scene in this way? What did you hope to achieve?
-Production design: what location did you choose and why? Did you pay attention to the choice of colours, costume or set layout?

Remember that good cinematography isn’t just about pointing the camera randomly and pressing Record. Good cinematographers take time to think about their shots and lighting, so that they will make the audience feel a certain way.

GRADING

FAIL
You will fail a unit if any of your work is missing. It is important that you know what you need to submit so that there are no gaps in your work. For this project, you need to submit:
-500 word writeup about the director of your scene
-A finished scene recreation
-A 500-750 word writeup about why you filmed the scene the way that you did and how you decided to light it

PASS
To get a Pass, you will have demonstrated a satisfactory understanding of Cinematography. You won’t have put much thought into lighting, camera angles and location choice, and you won’t have articulated your reasons in detail in your finished write up.

MERIT
To get a Merit, your cinematography skills will be good: you will have made efforts to light your scene using reflectors and lights, and you will be able to talk about why you did this and what you wanted to achieve. You will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of focal lengths and lens choices and the impact these have on your image.

DISTINCTION
Your cinematography will be excellent, with a highly skilled ability to light, frame and film your scene to achieve your desired dramatic effect. You will be able to explain your choices in detail, and be able to link this back to your chosen director and their style which you are trying to recreate. You will discuss lens choice, individual lights, focal length, camera shots, auteur theory and camera placement and movement, with references to composition and scenic arrangement.