Photos 8: Sense of Movement

 Photo 1:
    The movement of the golden arches. The movement of those arches on the cups, fries, and the holder for the nuggets. Red and yellow color scheme. Thank you McDonalds.

 Photo 2:
    I was sitting on a Peewee Dolly from this past weekend on a shoot. I thought our shadows looked interesting on the pavement. How the dolly grip is facing you can tell which way we were headed. Also, the camera is facing the direction we were headed. I love shadows. I love how stretched the subjects can be. The black contrasts well on the pavement.

 Photo 3:
     The beautiful Provo Canyon. I loved the reds, the yellows, and blues. I thought the movement of the water was nice and how you can follow the yellow across the frame. This was during golden hour so it was great to see the light fire up those yellows on the trees.

 Photo 4:
     I thought the clouds in the blue sky had a nice movement at the canyon. I wanted to leave a lot of head room for the mountains.

Photo 5:
    This tree that barely has any bark on it caught my eye. It stood out from the crowd of trees. I would have liked to have a similar tree in the background to have more movement. There is a lot of clutter in the frame so it is difficult to see the movement but I tried to capture the vertical movement of the trees.

Director's Statement of Intent: Shot for Shot (Warrior) 2011

Director’s Statement: Shot for Shot

Warrior 2011, opening scene

1.     What is the story of this scene in two or three sentences? In other words, what happens in the scene?

Tommy reunites with his dad for the first time in many years. He wants his Dad to feel guilty for being drunk when his mom passed away. His dad wants some closure and forgiveness.

2.     What is purpose of this scene in the larger story? (Or, if there is not a larger story, invent the purpose of this scene.)

The purpose of this scene is for Tommy to let his dad know how he feels about him being drunk but he is coming to him because he needs a trainer for his upcoming fights. The dad used to train him when he was a kid.

3.     What is the emotion I want to communicate?

I want to communicate pain and guilt. This is a dramatic scene and the end of the scene does not resolve the conflict. At the end of the film, the son and father feel more love for each other and have forgiven each other.

4.     Why is this scene personal to me? What previous personal experiences does it remind me of? Why do I need to make this scene?

This scene is very personal to me. I still remember the first time I watched this film before I left on my mission. The brother’s story with the father’s story is similar to my experiences with my brother and father. My brother has been sober now for five years. So with this scene, the father is sober but Tommy is not. Tommy can’t let the pass go and brings it up to make the father feel guilty and ashamed. There were times in my life that I was tempted to do the same with my brother. Many experiences were missed out because he would be drinking and he would be too drunk to come spend time with me. I really want to do this scene because the pain and guilt you feel throughout is a reminder how destructive addictions can be. Also, how we need to be careful how we treat our family and is it worth it to forgive someone even if they hurt you badly.

5.     What, specifically, must the audience understand narratively and feel at the end of this scene? How do you intend to make sure this will happen?

I want the audience to understand that Tommy is the father’s son. I want them to understand that the kid in the pictures is Tommy’s brother. I want them to understand that the father is a recovering alcoholic. I will use the pictures along with performance to help the audience understand that the kid is his brother. Dialogue will help in knowing that the two are related, the father and the son. I will use dramatic lighting to help convey the pain and how the shadows of the past are upon them.

6.     What two visual elements (line, shape, space, tone, color, rhythm, movement) will you use to help communicate the emotion of the scene?

I will use tone and movement to help convey the pain and guilt in this scene. The tone of the whole scene is a lower one. The colors are less saturated. It’s more low-key lighting. The tone reflects the mood of the scene and doesn’t allow much light on both of their faces. The movement will help us feel the beats of the scene. The camera is mainly handheld so we follow Tommy in his father’s home picking up things like someone would as they first come back to a house after a long time. The actor’s movement stops when a beat or discovery occurs so that will help us. The camera movement will not distract the viewer.

7.     What are some potential obstacles to creating a successful scene? How can you be prepared to overcome these?

Some obstacles are the smooth camera movement, the location, the pictures, the lighting, and the performance. We are planning on using shoulder rig for the camera movement and I will ask Sariah to do camera tests with it. We need to make sure the focus is right with all of the camera movement. We will get marks for her to pull. The location is tricky because I need to find a space where we can go very wide and see the father in the back room as Tommy is at the pictures. I need to get many picture frames and place them on the wall and on tables. The lighting is going to be difficult because there is some mixing of lighting going on. It is mainly tungsten however there is some daylight coming from an overhead light. There isn’t much back lighting. We have practical lamps in the set up as well and we need to make sure those are the right color temperature. The performance needs to be spot on because this scene will fail if the actors are not in character. This scene is dramatic and requires all effort to stay focused on wants. Also, we are crossing the 180 line with the handheld like crazy so after the movement we need to know where is new line.

"Who's Watching", Director's Reflection

Director’s Reflection

            Now I appreciate direction, blocking, and rehearsals even more from doing this project. What I was going for with this scene is a man trying to work out on the bench press as others are around him. I wanted to share how the equipment is stationary and will sit there until someone comes and uses it for their gain. I wanted to show how much weight one will put on the bench press and struggle that they will go through in order to get stronger. I was wide for the majority which I wanted to show the space he was in however, I should have gone in tighter more to grab more emotion. I only had one time to shoot this due to time because my brother and I had to leave for a family gathering. I wished I could have rehearsed more. I had a hard time pulling focus when I zoomed in, so that was a fail. Also, I had to cut the beginning which I really wanted. I didn’t time when I was shooting and that hurt me because with the him walking into the gym, it was too long. I filmed more of the other people in the gym while he was setting up but again it was too long. I totally had a fail moment when I walked by the bench press and saw myself in the mirror. I should have staked out the gym more and notice where all the mirror were at. I should have filmed more of the specific weight that he was putting on. The camera movement isn’t as smooth as I hoped for. I appreciate marks for actors and knowing the blocking so much more now. It was fun to shoot this and I loved how I was spend time with my brother in the gym while he was in town.

Photos 7: Color

 Photo 1:
    I loved the blue and orange together, complimentary colors. It was a pretty sunset and I loved the trees together. I wanted to split the frame in thirds with colors.

 Photo 2:
    I thought the blue and red seats were a fun pair. This is a at a sub station. I liked the little green on the door, different saturations with blue, and then the red.

 Photo 3:
    With this picture, I wanted to show the contrast with the color black against white. The salt blends in pretty well but the pepper really pops out. The red doesn't pop out as much because the red is pretty desaturated.

 Photo 4:
    I wanted to show the colors that I see everyday above my desk. The colors from my DVD's and from Flareon and the brown from the bunny's mustaches cover a whole variety of colors.

Photo 5:
    The blue and red contrast again. What I learned from this one is if you have a darker color, which is not too saturated with low lighting, it won't pop as much. The red still sticks out. I wanted to use flat space as well to focus on the colors.

Photos 6: Tone

 Photo 1:
    So as you can see, I went to the Provo City Center Temple Open house with my family. I saw this statue in front and I loved it. I love how it is a family together. I wanted to try to an over the shoulder shot on the dad. I like the line that the family creates. I thought tonally, it was interesting how they stick out from the background. They are each made out of the same material so overall, tonally they are similar. The tangent on the top left is distracting. I didn't want that in the frame.

 Photo 2:
    I love this black and white photo of the statue and the temple in the background. So, this was one of the days where the fog and the inversion were terrible. The statue was very dark in tone and the fog hazed the temple detail out. I love how this almost created a silhouette on the statues.

 Photo 3:
   I turned this parking sign with the fence to black and white because I wanted to see tonally, what would happen. No wonder with film noir, the art had much red in the design if they wanted a color that would pop. All of the writing is a simple black except the circle around the P and the words "Towed Away" are in red. It's interesting to see how the "Towed Away" appears compared to the other words. The red had a lighter tone, which helps it have some contrast.

 Photo 4:
    Back to the temple with this one. The statue was a heavy black compared to the temple. The aerial diffusion helped the temple colors be lighter. The fountain is heavy on the tone scale. I wanted to frame it right in the middle and I wanted overlap. I wanted to create a compare and contrast with the two items.

Photo 5:
    These are the blinds at my mom's apartment. It was interesting to see how the light would break in through the clacks. The blinds and the light are on the opposite sides of the tonal scale. It's interesting how the light creates lines between the blinds. The vertical lines and the contrast are interesting.

Director's Statement and Beat List: Who's Watching

Jay Cutler, professional body builder, on the bench press

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT OF INTENT

1.     What is the story--the beginning, middle, and end--of this scene in three or four sentences? In other words, what happens in this scene as it starts, as it progresses, and as it ends?

The story is about a man going to the gym to max out on bench and for his back exercises. The story will begin with his walk, then his walk to the gym doors, and then it will finish in the gym as he exits. I want to tell a story about how working out there are others that are looking maybe judging you and how the machines will be there. You can always go back for your personal use.

2.     What, specifically, must the audience understand narratively? How do you intend to communicate that information?

I want to capture the other people working out and how there are viewers. He is not the only one. I also want to capture how the mighty bench press will stay at that gym even when he is done. It will always be there for him to use and for his struggle and pain, but gain. I will capture on a wide the people there working out and then right before he works out I will pan to the people again and I’m hoping to capture someone looking at the man. I will also stay at the equipment, the bench press, and have that be in the foreground and he leaves the machine.

3.     If this scene is from a longer piece, what is the narrative, emotional and thematic purpose of the scene in the larger story?

I want to show how much struggle and pain someone can endure at the gym. They are putting themselves through the pain. Also, I want to show how there are others watching you struggle. I don’t know exactly how this man will react, if when he sees the others around him before his work out if he will stay the same or look around a lot at the people. I know when there was more people it would take me longer to start my work out because I would wait until I felt like they weren’t looking.

4.     What emotion do you want to communicate in this scene? How do you intend to do this?  

Pain and struggle, then at the end some triumph that he did it. I will be close on him for his work out, to capture the emotion on his face. Then, I will stay at the machine while he leaves.

5.     What is the first image of the scene? What is the final image of the scene?

Low angle on his legs walking in for the first image and then for the final image, we will be at the same low angle but he will leave us and we will stay on the bench press.

6.     Why is this scene personal to me? What previous personal experience(s) does it remind me of? Why do I need to make this scene?

For me personally working out used to be very embarrassing for me. It has gotten better now and I have more confidence and more who cares what people are thinking about you at the gym, however, when there are others I become more self aware.

7.     What two visual elements (line, shape, space, tone, color, rhythm, movement) will you use to help communicate the emotion of the scene?

I want to use flat and deep space. I want to make him feel very flat while he is on the bench press. There isn’t much room to breathe. At the end, I want to create the most deep space by him moving from camera away and I will close down to get more depth of field. I will also use color in that I am going to change my white balance once I enter the gym to more tungsten, more orange to have a warm, hot feel.

  

8.     What are two or three potential obstacles to creating a successful scene? How can you be prepared to overcome these? Be specific!

Boy, some obstacles are to have the camera movement be steady, to have these angles actually work, for the man to perform well on the bench press, my aperture switch doesn’t totally fail, or if there isn’t anyone in the gym at the same time. I’m going to try to make the first shot be smooth as possible by getting a rig. I will look who is in the gym before we go in to see who is there and what does the set up look like. I can change my aperture while filming, that is a nice feature for the Canon 5D Mark III. I will know exactly what white balance I want so when I switch I  will go straight to that setting.

BEAT LIST

1. Visualize the event unfolding in your mind as you answer these questions:

a) Where is the action taking place? How will we know that?

The action will be taking place in the gym. We will know that by what we see. We will see the equipment, the weights, and the treadmills.

b) How will the action unfold? In other words, what are "beats" of the action?

The man will leave his car, enter the gym, get the weights ready, probably put his headphones in, sit down on the bench, lay down, and the push up the bar with the weight. There will be heavy breathing during his bench press. Then, I imagine he will stand up and leave the bench press. 

c) Who is involved in this event?

The man being the main focus, and there will probably be other people working out which I want to show at the end because I want to show how others are trying to become stronger. The man is not the only one.

d) Where is the drama in the event? Is it between competitors? Are there spectators? Is there some kind of physical risk?

The drama in the event is man versus the heavy weight. He will have all the weight on the bar and he needs to get it up as many times as he cans. There will be spectators around. I do want to show how they can look at you as you are doing this heavy lifting.

2. Decide how you will communicate the above information to the audience in terms of beats or points of focus. In other words, what specific images/subjects does the audience need to see to:

a) understand what's happening; We need to see the man enter in the gym, we need to see the equipment, we need to see the weight that he is lifting, and we need to see the others working out.

b) connect with the people involved; his face before he lifts, while he lifts, and when he is done, also the others working out because we can relate to them

c) grasp, and feel, the drama. : the specific weight he is pushing, get his breathing, capture the sweat on his face

3. Decide where the camera will need to move in order to capture these images.

I will follow him from his car to the doors at low angle right behind him, then when he enters the gym I will swing out to go wide to get him entering and to capture the equipment and the people looking at him. Then, I will track him as he goes to the machine, the bench press. Then, I will do an extreme close up of the weight he is doing. Then, before he pushes up the weight I will do a POV showing the others looking or working out. Then, I will walk closer and frame him under the bench press at a high angle. I will then try to come underneath him and show the bar going up and down. I will come back up and it will be a close up of his face to show the pain and sweat. Then, I will stay on the weight he did and have him exit clean then I will pan back and show him exiting and I will stay at the machine to show how the machine will always be there for him when he comes back.

4. Create a list of the above beats and images in the order you think they will occur. (Don't move past each beat too quickly--give the audience time to process the information!) For each beat/image, include this information:

a) The subject of the beat (what/who are we looking at?)

b) The why. Why is each beat important? What is the purpose of the shot in terms of story, drama, character? What impact will it have on the viewer? 

c) Include: 1) The type of shot (W, M, CU, ECU, etc.); 2) the angle and type (High, Low, OTS, POV, etc.); 3) any visual element(s) you'd lke to take advantage of in the location (Flat or Deep Space, Horizontal/Vertical/Diagonal Line, Warm or Cool colors, etc.) However, remember that you are not to

1A: Medium: low: the man walking into the gym, flat space and cool colors

1B: wide: high angle: the man walking inside the gym, we see the other people working out, we the equipment, we orientate ourselves, deep space, warm colors, I’m going to white balance to tungsten and make everything very orange inside

1C: wide, eye level, tracking shot of the man walking to the bench press, flat space and show movement from right to left, I think he will pretty much stay on the same plane

1D: medium, low angle, the man getting the bench ready, show the bench press with flat space and keep the warm

1E: medium, eye angle, the man sits on the bench to mentally prepare, I will profile him looking off frame

1F: wide, eye angle, showing the others around, they might be looking or not

1G: close up, high, the specific weight that he is using, show where the pin is, flat space and high contrast with black weight and white background

1H: medium, high, the bar right over the man, him looking up preparing, flat space and lines, have the bar at a diagonal

1J: medium to close up, high, push in, as he pushes the bar twice, I will come in slowly and really get that pain, that struggle, the work he has to put in with the emotion, movement and creating more flat space

1K: medium, low, I will capture the amount of weight again, pan over to his feet, he will get up, I will stay low to show that he has power now, and I will stay at the bench press and let him move on or exit to the next exercise.