Filmmaking in the Age of Digital Video
Curriculum developed by Nancy Sue Brink, [email protected]. Emma Lozman, editing and consulting Caitlin Kennedy Martin, project manager Elizabeth Loren Savusa, artwork Dueane Dill, Austri Fletcher and Nancy Sue Brink, Lucinda Spurling, photographs Part of the Information Technology course track developed for Bermudian government high schools, CedarBridge Academy and the Berkeley Institute, as part of B.TEC: The Bermuda Technology Education Collaborative. Acknowledgements Thanks to teachers from CedarBridge and Berkeley for their ongoing input and support: Karen Clemons, Michael Reid, Racquel Rose-Green, Donna Swainson-Robinson,Dana Selassie, Lamone Woods, Josie Kattan, Steve Lawrence, Janice Parker, and Marielo Leveridge. Also thanks to Professor Eric Roberts, Stanford University Computer Science Department, Professor Brigid Barron, Stanford School of Education, and Maryanna Rogers for project assistance and guidance. This curriculum draws from various sources, including: • Barnouw, Eric (1992). Documentary: A History of the Non-Fiction Film. New York: Oxford University Press. • Ellis, Jack and McLane, Betsy. A New History of Documentary Film. • Rabiger, Michael (2004). Directing the Documentary. Focal Press. • National Film Board of Canada, Educational Resources, http://www.nfb.ca With support from: IECF: International Education Collaborative Foundation BTEC: Bermuda Technology Education Collaborative Bermuda Ministry of Education, Sports and Recreation XL Foundation, Ltd.
1st printing: August, 2007 2nd printing: February, 2008 3rd printing, March, 2008
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Curriculum Overview Contents
i Curriculum Rationale Course introduction ...... 1 description...... 2 prerequisites...... 2 content relevance ...... 2 central curriculum questions...... 2 Educational goals ...... 3 Theoretical framework...... 3 curriculum design principles...... 3 project-based learning...... 5
ii Curriculum Plan Learning objectives...... 7 skills...... 7 understandings ...... 8 Course organization...... 8 outline ...... 8 Instructional strategies ...... 9 course structure...... 9 lesson structure ...... 9 role of teacher ...... 10 creating a risk-taking environment ...... 10 creating a reflective learning environment ...... 11 Assessment criteria ...... 11
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Curriculum Module Contents
1 The Language of Film and Video Unit 1: The language of documentary film...... 13 learning objectives and content outline...... 13 presentation & discussion: benchmark lesson ...... 14 presentation & discussion: the language of documentary film...... 17 vocabulary and review...... 22 exercises and handouts ...... 23 Unit 2: Camera, image, and shot language...... 33 learning objectives and content outline...... 33 presentation & discussion: understanding film language ...... 34 presentation & discussion: camera eye...... 41 technology workshop I: digital camcorder ...... 45 vocabulary and review...... 48 exercises and handouts ...... 50 Unit 3: Sound recording and the soundtrack ...... 61 learning objectives and content outline...... 61 presentation & discussion: the science and history of sound recording...... 62 technology workshop II: microphone ...... 65 vocabulary and review...... 66 exercises and handouts ...... 67 Unit 4: The language of light ...... 73 learning objectives and content outline...... 73 presentation & discussion: the art and science of light...... 74 technology workshop III: light kit ...... 79 vocabulary and review...... 83 exercises and handouts ...... 84 Unit 5: What’s the story? ...... 87 learning objectives and content outline...... 87 presentation & discussion: what’s the story?...... 88 vocabulary and review...... 93 exercises and handouts ...... 94
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2 Combining the Elements Unit 1: Storyboarding...... 101 learning objectives and content outline...... 101 presentation & discussion: the art of the storyboard...... 102 vocabulary and review...... 107 exercises and handouts ...... 108 Unit 2: The Art of nonlinear editing ...... 119 learning objectives and content outline...... 119 presentation & discussion: the art of nonlinear video editing...... 120 technology workshop IV: non linear digital video editing ...... 130 vocabulary and review...... 133 exercises and handouts ...... 135 Unit 3: Editing your process video ...... 141 learning objectives and content outline...... 141 presentation & discussion: more about editing...... 142 vocabulary and review...... 147 exercises and handouts ...... 148
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3 Producing a Digital Video Unit 1: Preproduction...... 151 learning objectives and content outline...... 151 presentation & discussion: getting ready to go...... 152 vocabulary and review...... 157 exercises and handouts ...... 158 Unit 2: Production ...... 165 learning objectives and content outline...... 165 exercises and handouts ...... 166 Unit 3: Postproduction...... 169 learning objectives and content outline...... 169 presentation & discussion: refining the editing process...... 170 vocabulary and review...... 171 exercises and handouts ...... 172
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4 Distributing Your Digital Video Unit 1: Reaching your audience...... 175 learning objectives and content outline...... 175 technology workshop V: compressing video for DVD and the Internet...... 176 presentation & discussion: reaching your audience...... 180 vocabulary and review...... 183
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All art is a kind of exploring…To discover and reveal is the way every artist sets about his business. — Robert Flaherty, documentary film pioneer Producer, Nanook of the North
Curriculum Rationale
Course Introduction very day, senior school students are exposed to digital media, whether through advertising, YouTube videos, theatrical films, or television programs. The proliferation of digital video means that young people must decipher messages that previous generations couldn’t even imagine. The Euse of digital video has increased steadily over the past decade in a variety of professional fields, including business, law, and communication. Schools are following suit: teachers are integrating digital video into a broad range of classrooms; students use it for presentations and reports. Knowledge of the technologies of digital video production, the basic science that underscores the technologies, and the craft and language of film provide students with skills that will benefit them in their future education and employment. It ensures that students are media-literate participants of the burgeoning world of digital media. Given the quickly changing pace of technology, an increasing number of employers are seeking applicants with general intellectual capabilities, including the ability to: think critically, synthesize and integrate information, work collaboratively, be creative, complete long-term projects, and communicate decisions. The range of skills required for production of a digital video project strengthens these critical capabilities, and also teaches project management and the collaborative process, essential in the professional world. Digital video can also offer strong motivation for student learning. Working behind a camera gives students a sense of empowerment; working in front of a camera builds student confidence and poise. Advanced technical concepts are more easily approachable in the context of the digital filmmaking medium because they are integrated into a creative and vibrant framework. A filmmaking course boosts not only specific media skills, but also numeracy and literacy skills, as students are introduced to the conceptual, artistic, organizational, and technical process of digital video production. Young adults are often targeted by the media as primary consumers of the digital genre. But they also have the potential to be primary producers, quickly learning to use increasingly affordable and accessible tools of digital video production.
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Description Filmmaking in the Digital Video Age is a project-based course that combines instruction in contemporary digital video and computer editing technologies with discussions about the history, art, and science of documentary filmmaking, to provide students with tools for communication, documentation, and self- expression. Hands-on workshops are blended with conceptual design and development lessons including: audio-visual technologies and their impact on communication and society, basic scientific principles that underlie technologies and perceptions of media produced, and ethics related to contemporary digital media. Screenings of film and video clips as well as visits by local filmmakers allow students to develop their understanding of the language of audio-visual media and their critical thinking skills as viewers of these media. Students create three short videos, assist their classmates in their video projects, and develop a base of professional-level skills and understandings. In a cooperative and comfortable setting, students become creators, critics, presenters, and defenders of their independent digital videos. Prerequisites This course builds upon knowledge learned in the prerequisite course, Introduction to Computing. Electives Multimedia I: Visual Design and Multimedia II: Interaction Design are suggested but not required. Content relevance The Multimedia track provides students with directly applicable workplace skills, as well as preparation for advanced education in multimedia and design. Students who complete this course will have the experience, skills and video portfolio necessary to obtain an intern position in digital video media. They will have completed the equivalent of a community-college-level introductory digital video course. Central questions Central curriculum questions from a student’s perspective:
1. What is digital video?
2. How have digital media tools changed filmmaking?
3. Why is collaboration important for digital filmmaking; how does collaboration with my peers make me a more successful filmmaker?
4. What is documentary film?
5. How has documentary film been important throughout the history of filmmaking?
6. Why is it important to learn the “language” of film and video; why can’t I follow my own rules?
7. What do I like; why do I like it?
8. How can I represent myself/my ideas through my digital filmmaking?
9. What are the basic principles of digital filmmaking?
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10. What are the basic tools and applications for digital filmmaking?
11. How do I use those applications?
12. How can I become an independent learner of multimedia applications and new filmmaking ideas, as they are likely to change?
Educational Goals
1. Students are media literate critical thinkers.
2. Students use film language, film principles, and digital video production and editing tools to create meaningful productions.
3. Students collaborate and manage workflow efficiently.
4. Students effectively present and defend their digital videos to a variety of audiences.
5. Students engage in constructive critiques of their own and others’ digital video projects.
Theoretical Framework This is a project-based course, allowing students to learn concepts and applications through the creation of collaborative, long-term, meaningful projects. Students engage in hands-on scaffolded activities and projects which encourage reflection about their experiences with the principles and strategies behind good filmmaking. Filmmaking equipment and digital video editing applications are presented through workshops as tools with which to create film. Curriculum Design principles The following 5 design principles guided curriculum development. Principles are modified from those suggested by Yelon (1996) and modified by Posner and Rodinksy (2001):
1. Provide well organized and clear goals: Specific to this curriculum: Each module, activity, and project has a list of intended learning objectives of which both the student and teacher will be aware. When completing assignments or holding discussions, all of the participants will know the intended focus of the work. Organized and clear goals will help students focus on and structure the most important ideas.
2. Provide multiple opportunities for feedback: Giving students information about their progress toward intended goals.
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Specific to this curriculum: Specific teaching strategies are advocated that provide students with ongoing, multiple opportunities to receive feedback on their work, such as collaborations and peer critiques. The projects and activities provide inherent feedback through review questions and self-assessment rubrics, helping students to monitor their own progress. Teachers should use the same rubrics to assess student work.
3. Motivate students: Media environments likely to engage students are (1) relevant to students’ lives; (2) ones in which student effort pays off in terms of successful learning; and (3) contain points of reference in prior knowledge. Specific to this curriculum: Modules build upon students’ prior knowledge from previous computer studies courses, and explain how new concepts and skills will be helpful in other parts of the course, and in students’ lives. Assessments are based on revisions and effort, as well as mastery of knowledge. Project content is student directed to engage students in their own learning and provide opportunities for students to pursue their own interests and questions.
4. Create a risk-taking environment: Students are allowed to take chances and learn from mistakes in a supportive learning environment. Specific to this curriculum: Scaffolded projects and assignments provide students with structured guidance within a model of experimentation and creativity. Projects allow students to solve problems in a variety of ways, and are designed to encourage students to revise their work based on feedback and assessment. Therefore, they are not penalized for mistakes or for trying something new. In addition, a variety of classroom resources are available for student experimentation. Discuss media resources that are available in your classroom, school, and community (books, websites, experts, etc.). Students are required to participate in respectful and productive critiques of work, and this behavior should be modeled by the teacher.
5. Provide a reflective environment: Encouraging reflective and deep processing of information. Specific to this curriculum: Project work is ongoing and stresses self-assessment and revision, leading students to think deeply about their own work instead of simply completing it. Participation in self-assessments, classroom discussions, video project, Filmmaker’s Journals, and reflective essays throughout the course encourages students to focus not only on content, but on their experiences with that content.
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Project-based learning Project-based learning is an instructional method that uses long-term, complex, real-life projects to motivate learning and provide learning experiences. This model is fundamentally different from a more traditional approach of short, isolated, teacher-led lessons. The emphasis on student projects in this course is based on research in the area of education and cognitive science about how students best learn. The EduTech Design Group at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Kolodner, et al (1995)) present the results as follows. The words in italics are mine, to identify how these points map on to our curriculum design principles: 1. In order for concepts and skills to be learned deeply, it is important to have two kinds of experiences: those in which knowledge and skills are acquired and those in which newly learned concepts and skills are used. (project-based) 2. An important prerequisite to deep and effective learning is knowing why one needs to learn something. (goals and motivation) 3. Failure of expectations triggers the need to learn; well orchestrated gentle failures uncover “felt needs,” promoting the want to learn and goals for learning among learners. (risk-taking environment) 4. Reflection allows a learner to recognize and make clear what has been learned through experience. This allows students to both organize their knowledge well and index it for later access. (reflective environment) Project-based Learning Online References Global SchoolNet Foundation Practical advice for getting maximum learning out of class projects: http://www.globalschoolnet.org/index.html Global Schoolhouse: Introduction to Collaborative Project-Based Learning How to plan and organize class projects, and sample projects: http://www.gsn.org/web/pbl/ 4-teachers Organization Definitions of project-based learning, and guidelines for creating projects. http://pblchecklist.4teachers.org/ The Buck Institute http://www.bie.org/index.php/site/PBL/overview_pbl/ Resource page for project-based learning websites, articles, projects, pd, etc Apple Learning Interchange http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/
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Curriculum Plan
Learning Objectives
he overall intended learning objectives are broken into two areas: skills and understandings. Skills include mental abilities such as problem solving, interpretation, analysis, and application. Understandings include knowledge of ideas, concepts, facts, principles, theories, generalizations. Each module T contains specific learning objectives, which expand on the overall course objectives listed below. Skills Students . . .
• become proficient in the use of the following digital video production tools: camera, microphone, basic lighting, nonlinear digital video editing software and web compression software.
• collaborate formally and informally to develop and produce digital videos.
• revise their digital video projects based on assessments.
• use their digital videos to communicate ideas to audiences.
• present and defend their digital video work to varied audiences.
• critique another student’s digital video work objectively and constructively.
• are confident and competent with a variety of video production tools.
• use instructional materials and references independently to learn new applications or features.
• manage complexity through assessing, creating, and producing using multiple representations of information.
• create, modify, and manipulate digital video material in a variety of ways.
• collect and organize various types of information from multiple sources to create meaningful digital videos.
• view completed media and works-in-progress using critical skills that will allow them to be thoughtful and creative consumers, as well as producers, of contemporary media.
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Understandings Students . . .
• analyze films and videos they like, and defend why.
• recognize media that is aimed at them, and critically critique filmmakers’ intentions and productions.
• explain possible social/ethical issues of digital film and video.
• discuss the role of the filmmaker in relation to social/ethical issues, including responsibility to audience.
• defend the use of traditional filmmaking methods and ideas in the development of digital videos.
• recognize language, history, and concepts that underlie production of films and videos, and the way we perceive those forms.
• develop a sense of professionalism and collaborative process applicable to digitial video production and other creative and professional endeavors.
Course Organization
Outline Module 1: The Language of Film and Video 17 class periods Unit 1: The language of documentary film 4 class periods Unit 2: Camera, Image, and shot language 4 class periods Unit 3: Sound recording and the soundtrack 2 class periods Unit 4: The language of light 2 class periods Unit 5: What’s the story? 5 class periods Module 2: Combining the Elements 11 class periods Unit 1: Storyboards 3 class periods Unit 2: Nonlinear digital video editing 3 class periods Unit 3: Editing your process video 5 class periods Module 3: Producing your Digital Video 14 class periods Unit 1: Preproduction 5 class periods Unit 2: Production 1 class period Unit 3: Postproduction 8 class periods Module 4: Distributing your Digital Video 3 class periods Unit 1: Reaching your audience 3 class periods Total: 45 class periods
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Instructional Strategies
Course structure These ideas are modified from those developed by Brown and Campione (1996). Beginning of course: Present the overall framework of the course during the first day of class. This “benchmark lesson” should introduce the students to the purpose of the course, the big ideas/deep principles it contains, and tie it all to a common knowledge shared by the class. Students must be sure of the content, and what is expected of them. Specific to this curriculum: In the benchmark lesson students should be given the introductory handout which contains the outline, central questions, goals, and a blank version of the assessment criteria. Review the assessment criteria with students, having them fill in the accurate percentages. Discuss how the this class fits with the information they learned in previous computing courses. Encourage students to refer to the overall curriculum goals throughout the course in order to chart their progress. Middle of course: The bulk of the course engages students in independent and group digital filmmaking activities, encouraging them to collaborate and become effective project managers. Students share expertise and projects with the rest of the class. Specific to this curriculum: Each module contains a long-term project which is a culmination of the concepts and skills presented in the lessons of that module. Students follow the digital filmmaking process to complete the projects, engage in peer reviews and critiques, and present their completed compositions to the class. End of course: The end of the course engages students in a consequential task that forms the conclusion of the unit. Specific to this curriculum: Students design, develop, and present a 3-5 minute digital video that showcases the skills and understandings they have developed throughout the course. Lesson structure To encourage students to be active in their own learning, lessons should follow a regular schedule, allowing students to anticipate and prepare for different sections of the class: • Introductory “Do-Now” activity • Content delivery/discussion • Project work/Revision • Peer review/feedback • Wrap-up
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Role of teacher Adapted from Kohn, (1993). The teacher should guide the students through the course in the role of a facilitator. Instead of lecturing, the suggested role of the teacher is to provide initial ideas and skills, encourage collaboration, suggest resources, guide class discussions, and monitor overall classroom learning in a comfortable environment.
• The teacher may offer consultation, suggestions or guidance, questions, and criticism, but leave the final choice to the students.
• The teacher can narrow the number of possibilities from which a student is permitted to choose.
• The teacher may provide the parameters according to which decisions can be made, perhaps specifying the goal that has to be reached but inviting students to figure out how they want to get there.
• A decision does not have to be thought of as something that teachers either make or turn over to students. Instead it can be negotiated together. Creating a risk-taking environment The digital media classroom should be one with an open policy of exploration and questioning. The teacher is responsible for modeling the desired behavior for the digital media classroom.
1. Provide and suggest resources for student reference. In this course, students will need to access, review, or explore general media production ideas or specific digital video applications. Often, the teacher is the only source of reference a student knows to consult. Each course unit provides and suggests related texts, applications, websites, and worksheets. Share these with students to expand their specific knowledge and general confidence in independently searching for and using new ideas and skills.
2. Create opportunities for formal and informal collaborative work. Have students to work in groups of 3-4 when they are brainstorming ideas, and developing their projects. Encourage them to pose questions to their group before asking the teacher. The members of the group will build trust as they work closely together though projects, creating collaborative working groups that form the larger design community of the classroom. Students learn from each other, generate new ideas, and get important feedback from others.
3. Establish design conversation guidelines. When students brainstorm ideas, critique another students’ work, present their own work, or participate in a class discussion, there is often anxiety about the reception of their comments and/or work. It is a good idea to establish and require acceptable means of communication in these situations. Discussions should be student-centered; the teachers’ role is to draw students out, make sure each important idea that is touched on in discussion is recognized, encourage students to justify their comments, and make sure all students are engaged in discussions.
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Creating a reflective learning environment
1. Encourage reflective learning discussions. There are many opportunities within the course for classroom discussions around content. These discussions should be led to encourage full exploration of concepts and full explanations and justification of arguments instead of simply stating opinions or regurgitating information.
2. Filmmaker’s journal requirement. Students keep a journal throughout the course in which to record class notes as well as their ideas, inspirations, and questions. In this space, they can tape in items that intrigue them, record or sketch ideas, and take notes. The journal should encourage students to organize their reflections about the project and the media production process, and can help the teacher with assessment by providing additional insights into the students’ experiences.
3. Creation of a video portfolio. The video portfolio is the final course product in which students organize their work on DVD in a way that allows them to present what they have learned during the semester.
Assessment Criteria Assessment should not only capture student understanding of concepts and subject matter, but also document and promote the development of real-world skills, such as evidence of good collaboration skills, the ability to solve complex problems and make thoughtful decisions, and the ability to give effective and articulate presentations. Students should be fully aware of the assessment standards and should use the same criteria the teacher does to assess their own and each others’ work. New Bay Media's website, TechLearning, contains an excellent article, Assessment, Assessment Rubrics and Evaluation Guidelines, by Carol Holzberg, that provides links to several tools for creating an assessment rubric for project- based learning that will suit your students, including models that specifically address the difficult task of assessing creative work. http://www.techlearning.com/db_area/archives/WCE/archives/evalguid.php Suggested requirements for this course are below, but it is advocated that teachers of this course collaborate to produce a final requirements/assessment standard. A copy of this chart with blank percentages is included in the introductory student handout on the cd-Rom. Have students fill in actual percentages during the “benchmark lesson” so that they fully understand the assessment criteria for the course. Performance Assessments Responsibility...... 10% • attendance • punctuality • completion of Do-Now activities
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In-class performance ...... 20% • successful participation in class discussions • successful participation in peer-reviews • successful collaborations with classmates • participation in and successful completion of in-class activities Product Assessments Written/Practical assignments...... 15% • essay assignments • filmmaker’s journal
Projects...... 55% • Telling a story in pictures • The interview • Process video • Independent digital documentary • Compressed video
12 : The Language of Film and Video 1 Unit 1: The Language of Documentary Film The language of film and video is an everyday part of Expected duration: 4 days our lives: we go to the movies, we watch television, we download video podcasts from the Internet. But this Resources: language – made up of juxtaposed images, sounds, and Filmmaker’s Timeline stories – is little more than a century old. And it is still evolving with changes in technology, understandings, Handouts: and culture. This unit will introduce students to 1.1.a Course Overview documentary film as an exciting contemporary 1.1.b Youth Voices storytelling genre and to the language and technology 1.1.c Two Bermuda Filmmakers of filmmaking.
Key Concepts Equipment: • Films and videos are made up of a unique, evolving DVD player language that combines image and sound to tell a story. Digital video camera package • The term “nonfiction film” includes a number of and nonlinear editing station genres, including news, educational and instructional
films, reality programming, and documentary films. Materials: • A documentary is “a creative treatment of actuality” Recommended Films: (John Grierson), a film that tells a story based on the Nanook of the North lives of real people, events, or situations, and usually Rare Bird has a unique point-of-view or “voice.” When Voices Rise • The proliferation of low-cost digital video cameras and editing programs has made documentary filmmaking much more accessible for youth and students. • Vocabulary words defined at the end of the unit.
Key Skills • Identify basic tools of digital filmmaking.
Outline class type of content content materials equipment 1 Benchmark Familiarize students with Handout 1.1.a: Lesson course content, projects, Course Overview and expectations 2 Presentation The language of Film: Nanook of DVD Player and Discussion documentary film the North (History and Craft) 3 Exercise 1 Youth Filmmakers: an Handout 1.1.b: Internet Access exploration Youth Voices
4 Exercise 2 Filmmaking in your Films: Rare Bird, DVD Player backyard: two Bermuda When Voices Rise filmmakers Handout 1.1.c: Bermuda Filmmakers
13 Presentation & Discussion: Benchmark Lesson Course Introduction To orient yourself and your students, review the course outline, using Student Handout 1.1.a: Course Overview, which leads students through:
• Content to be covered in each Module • Projects to be completed in each Module • Filmmaker’s Journal • Assessment Criteria (Percentages can be filled in with students, according to your rubric)
You may also want to address the following topics in preparation for discussions about documentary, youth voice, and local filmmaking. If time allows, give students a tour of the equipment that they will use to produce their digital videos.
21st century literacy: film language and media literacy The language of film and video may be young, but it has tremendous power in our lives, particularly in the lives of adolescents. They are growing up with constant exposure to television, movies, YouTube, video podcasts, advertising, and video games. Young people can process multiple layers of images and input quickly and efficiently, in ways their elders can’t keep up with. These audio-visual media can open up new ideas, connect people from opposite sides of the world, and persuade people to move into action. But as with the written word, it’s important to be media-literate, to understand how the media language works. Audio-visual media can influence, manipulate and even “fool” the viewer. As more and more messages are delivered through these multi-layered creations, young people (and others) must become critical thinkers who can analyze what they see. By producing media themselves, they will learn skills that they can apply both as audience and creator. They will become more careful and critical consumers of media and, as their education and employment demands more of them in this field, they will also be more literate producers. The Media Literacy concepts applicable to digital video and audio-visual media are the same as those that can be applied to other media – news, advertising, and more. A detailed description of a media literate person has been created by Babson College and Clark University as part of their project, “A Media Literacy Approach To Developing an Anti-Drug PSA Campaign” and can be found at: http://www.babson.edu/medialiteracyproject/. Five main understandings are identified and explained. In brief, a media literate person is aware that:
• Media messages are constructed products. Instead of simply taking the message of a film, video, or television program at face value, the viewer recognizes that someone purposely created that program with that message or point of view. • Media messages affect the current state of the world. Mass media uses reality as a starting point to create messages that people can identify with. But the prevalence of media in our society in turn affects reality. People use what they continue to see in television, movies, advertisements, etc., to inform their appearances, actions, desires, etc.
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• Media messages have economic and political purposes and contexts. Not all media are created for the good of the consumer; most are designed in order to make a profit. In addition, newspapers, magazines, television, and other media keep their costs low by including advertising (in itself, another profit-driven branch of media). Advertisers pay for their ads to appear in time-slots or print pages to reach an already captive audience. While some imagine the independent documentary filmmaker to be free of the influence of profit-seeking, documentarians must still, in many cases, take into consideration sources of funding, distribution channels, and other market issues when they develop the ideas for and produce their films. • Individuals create meaning in media messages through interpretation. Different people can have wildly different interpretations of a documentary, commercial, music video, or news program, because we create meaning by bringing our own unique life experiences and background into the process. Meaning is in people, not in words or images. • Each form of communication has unique characteristics. Television reaches a large audience, but its linear form limits interactivity. The web allows a viewer to be interactive, and while more and more people use the Internet, it is more difficult to reach a targeted audience. Radio is great for music and short bits of conversation – even radio documentaries – but isn’t useful for presenting how things look and feel. (Part of a documentarian’s job as he or she develops a project, is to examine these issues when deciding how best to reach an audience.)
But why teach students to make documentaries?
It seems clear that literacy in audio-visual media must be part of a 21st century education. But in an age of music videos and reality shows, people might ask, “Why teach students digital video skills and literacy through documentary films? Why not have them create music videos, or write scripts for and then film a movie? Wouldn’t students be more interested in doing projects like that?” These are useful questions to address with students and colleagues. The process of learning to make a documentary film is particularly valuable for the following reasons: 1) Making documentaries demands that students become more aware of their communities and interact with them. It also gives them excellent practice in finding their narrative voice. Students must seek out stories and apply the skills required by all storytellers of creating a structure, a voice, and a narrative thread. Having to come up with ideas and do the research for their projects requires students to conduct informal and formal interviews and then examine their discoveries with a critical eye. 2) Making a documentary provides opportunities for students to examine their own points of view and voices in relation to the world they encounter every day. Documentaries allow people to see the world through the particular point of view of the filmmaker. Cameras are powerful tools – especially when combined with the work of an accomplished editor – and students quickly learn that the choices they make as filmmakers will influence how an audience thinks and feels. 3) Students learn the basic language and tools of digital filmmaking while creating products that are likely to be seen and used successfully outside of the classroom. Whether students produce a portrait of a community leader, a personal narrative about an experience, an examination of an important community issue, or a glimpse into local history, they can create something of value that receives recognition in the community.
15 This is an excellent confidence- and leadership-building experience for students. And, once learned, basic filmmaking skills can be applied to any genre. Many successful narrative filmmakers have also produced highly-regarded documentaries – and many got their start producing documentary films. 4) Making a documentary allows students to get hands-on experience with technology early in the learning process. While scriptwriting is a valuable enterprise that reinforces basic writing skills, it takes time to write a good script, cast, rehearse, and plan for production.Learning the filmmaking craft and corresponding technologies therefore often takes a back seat. Producing documentary film, on the other hand, requires students to gain more immediate mastery of these transferrable technology and craft skills – a valuable asset in the job market and for college-bound students. 5) Creating documentaries helps students in becoming good problem solvers, critical thinkers, and project managers and in learning to work successfully in a team. These are intangible but highly valuable skills that employers and college admissions officers will look for as students move out into the world. Because students are interacting with real people and real situations when making a documentary, the solutions to problems encountered often require a great deal of sensitivity, flexibility, and creativity. 6) Documentaries help to connect young people from around the world (and people of all ages), creating greater understanding and awareness in an increasingly global culture. The Internet and the availability of affordable technology have made it much easier for youth from around the world to share their lives and stories with each other. There are many sites dedicated to providing a forum for thoughtful and well-produced videos by youth and children. Documentaries (in many forms) play an important role in these sites.
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Presentation & Discussion:The Language of Documentary Film
You and I as common people must not pass silently from life. Future historians must have our testimony as their resource. Documentaries are our grassroots visions, not just what was preserved by an elite and its minions. You and I can use cinematic language – the 20th century’s great contribution to universal understanding – to create a record of family, friends, and surroundings; to pose ideas and questions; and to forcefully convey what we see and feel. We can propose the causes, effects and meanings of the life that we are leading. We can bear witness to these times, reinterpret history, and prophesy the future. The consequences of all this for democracy, and for a richer and more harmonious tapestry of cultures, are incalculable. This is the art and purpose of the documentary film. —Michael Rabiger, Directing the Documentary, p. 15
Background: What is a documentary?
In recent years, documentary films have enjoyed an explosion in popularity and commercial success. Feature-length films like Bowling for Columbine (Michael Moore, 2002), March of the Penguins (Luc Jaquet, 2004), Supersize Me (Morgan Spurlock, 2004), and Hoop Dreams (Steve James, Fred Marx, Peter Gilbert, 1994) are engaging films and box office hits as well. Some documentaries, such as An Inconvenient Truth (Davis Guggenheim, 2006) – which featured U.S. Vice President Al Gore leading an examination of global warming – educate, inspire, and move their audiences to action. Other films, like Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog, 2005), which follows a man who lives with, studies, and is killed by Grizzly bears, allow viewers to experience things they might never imagine. Still others, like the Emmy Award- winning Girls Like Us (Jane C. Wagner and Tina DiFeliciantonio, 1997), which follows four girls through four years of high school in south Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, shine new light on common human experiences. Amazon.com lists more than 17,000 “hits” when you type in “DVD/Documentary!” They cover every subject imaginable: history, the environment, current events, war and peace, family, music, art, and more. But what is a documentary, really? Finding an exact definition can be challenging. In the introduction to his definitive and beautifully written text, Directing the Documentary, Michael Rabiger, a filmmaker and educator, explores the many sides of documentary film (he uses the word “film” in referring to documentaries made on video as well as the film medium), noting: Get two documentarians together, and the chances are high that they will argue about what documentary is. Even though documentary has evolved continuously from its inception, its purview and methods remain ambiguous, as its parameters keep enlarging. Uncontested, however, is what remains central to documentary’s spirit – the notion that documentaries explore the mysteries of actual people in actual situations. … People who make documentaries put a high value on the joy, pain, compromise, and learning that come from being completely alive. No wonder they make such good company! (p. 4) At its most basic, documentary film uses a language made up of images, sound, music, and narration to tell stories about real people, in real situations. In looking for a definition of documentary, Rabiger first cites that of John Grierson (1898-1972), documentary pioneer and founder of the venerated National Film Board of Canada, who defined it as “a creative treatment of actuality.” Grierson’s definition leaves a great deal of room for interpretation –
17 but it does provide a starting point for understanding the history and power of this fascinating genre. The “Fathers” of documentary film
Recommended: show first 10 minutes of Nanook of the North, available from Amazon.com In Modules 1 and 2 of this course, the history of film craft and technologies are woven throughout the lessons. Many men and women have played critical roles in the development of documentary filmmaking, but Grierson and his contemporary, Robert Flaherty (1884- 1951), share a common designation as “fathers” of modern documentary. The films and ideas of these two men set the stage for the work of generations of documentary filmmakers. Since the first film reels were shot, filmmakers have been documenting real people’s lives, activities, adventures, and stories. But in 1922, Canadian Robert Flaherty released his epic Nanook of the North, now considered to be the first “documentary” film. It had been a long journey for Flaherty. A mining engineer, he traveled to the Arctic Circle with a hand-cranked camera and rolls of film stock, to shoot an ethnographic film about the vanishing way of life of an Inuit family. He shot over 30,000 feet of film of daily life of his “Eskimo” friend Nanook and his family. But while he was editing back in Toronto, he accidentally set fire to the film negative. He lost all of it. He had to decide whether to abandon the project – or to dig in and start all over again. Flaherty spent a great deal of time and effort raising the money to return to the Arctic, buteventually he was able to return and once again, film with Nanook. Nanook and Flaherty were both aware that much of the way of life that Flaherty was recording was already being erased by technology, changes in transportation and communication, and the encroachment of civilization. Flaherty’s film would be a way to show the world something of a way of life most people knew nothing about. Filmmaking had already become a successful commercial industry. But film distributors were skeptical about this long, 75-minute film that simply followed a family through their daily lives (albeit very different lives from those of movie-goers.) They didn’t believe the public would pay to see it. But they were wrong. Long lines formed outside theaters. Viewers were taken by Flaherty’s vision of Inuit life. And the harsh conditions and the hunts were representative of a larger, ancient theme of mankind’s struggle for survival. Flaherty’s Nanook established a theme that would run through his subsequent films and that of many subsequent American filmmakers: the struggle between man and nature. Ironically, while audiences were lining up to see Nanook of the North, Nanook himself died, hungry and cold, on a hunting trip. On a trip to New York in 1926, John Grierson, a Scotsman by birth, established the use of the word “documentary” for the evolving genre of nonfiction films while reviewing one of Flaherty’s later films, Moana. He stated that Moana, “being a visual account of events in the daily life of a Polynesian youth and his family, has documentary value.” Grierson started his filmmaking life in Britain in the late 1920s, organizing a film unit at the Empire Marketing Board (EMB). The EMB Film Unit’s mission was to document aspects of daily life that people might take for granted. Living in post-World War I England, Grierson wrote of his work making films for the British Government: “Somehow we had to make peace exciting, if we were to prevent wars. Simple notion that it is – that has been my propaganda ever since – to make peace exciting.” His first film, Drifters, premiered in 1929, and showed
18 Module 1, Unit 1: The Language of Film and Video
the life of people who worked the North Sea herring fisheries. (For more information and to screen clips of the film, go to http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/439877/index.html.) In contrast to Flaherty’s “man against nature” themes, Grierson’s vision was of the documentarian as a social critic. He saw great potential for the new, universal language of cinema in this realm. He was often critical of Flaherty for what he viewed as romanticizing subjects’ lives and ignoring the political and social causes of their situations. Already, controversy was part of the world of documentary. In 1939, Grierson was invited to Canada to become that nation’s first Film Commissioner and to set up an organization to produce films about Canadian life. The result, the National Film Board of Canada (http://nfb.ca/documentary), is still one of the most influential organizations in international filmmaking, creating hundreds of outstanding films and leading efforts to apply evolving technologies in innovative and challenging ways. By the mid-twentieth century, documentary film was evolving around the world, becoming a powerful social and cultural medium. In Module 1, Unit 2, students will get to see some of the first short films made by Edison Studios in the 1800s. In Module 2, Unit 2, students will be introduced to the innovations of early Russian documentarians, whose filmmaking helped establish many conventions of contemporary film language. They’ll encounter the films of Leni Riefenstahl, whose Triumph of the Will helped to establish Hitler’s hold in Germany, and films of World War II documentarians who became Hollywood giants, such as John Huston and Frank Capra. As students begin to produce their own documentaries, they will encounter many of the same questions, challenges, and discoveries encountered by the earliest documentary filmmakers. Encourage them to take time to watch documentaries by other filmmakers and examine how they approached their subjects and characters. As Michael Rabiger notes: “Documentary is a young genre in the young art of cinema and has only just begun exploring the limits of its potential” (Directing the Documentary, p. 94). The language of documentary film and video is only 100 years old and is changing rapidly with the advent of digital technologies and the Internet. In becoming digital filmmakers, students are taking on the role of pioneers and explorers who will contribute to this evolution. Recommended: Exercise 1 – Youth Filmmakers: an Exploration, using Handout 1.1.b: Youth Voices Recommended: Exercise 2 – Filmmaking in your Backyard: Two Bermuda Filmmakers, using Handout 1.1.c: Bermuda Filmmakers
Resources on documentaries and on documentary film history
This list provides a place to start in exploring the myriad print, film, video, and online resources that provide information about documentary filmmaking and its history. For more information on John Grierson The Grierson Trust: http://www.griersontrust.org/index.htm Grierson biography, National Film Board of Canada: http://www.nfb.ca/portraits/john_grierson/en/
19 Grierson archive: http://www.is.stir.ac.uk/libraries/collections/spcoll/media/grierson.php For more information on Robert Flaherty Articles by and about Robert Flaherty, including an excerpt from How I Filmed Nanook of the North: http://www.cinemaweb.com/silentfilm/bookshelf/23_rf1_2.htm Cinemaweb article: http://www.cinemaweb.com/silentfilm/bookshelf/23_dd_1.htm Filmmakers Timeline The history timeline accompanying this curriculum package provides teachers with a reference that correlates major world events, technological developments, film history landmarks, and the production of notable documentary films. Books Eric Barnouw, Documentary: A History of the Non-Fiction Film. A Galaxy Book, Oxford University Press, New York, 1992. This has long been required reading for documentary filmmakers; it is well-written, comprehensive, and entertaining. Jack C. Ellis and Betsy A. McLane, A New History of Documentary Film. Continuum International Publishing Group, Inc., 2005. Includes more recent trends in documentary. Michael Rabiger, Directing the Documentary, Fourth Edition. Focal Press, 2004. Rabiger gives a brief overview of history and relates it to current trends. This is an excellent resource for film and video educators, covering all aspects of the filmmaking process – it is clearly written, with extensive background information as well as exercises for advanced students. Online Resources National Film Board of Canada (http://nfb.ca/documentary) The National Film Board is, in itself, central to documentary film history. The NFB website is one of the most useful and fascinating online media resources for educators and students. Increasing numbers of NFB films are online, and their goal is to eventually make a majority of their films accessible on the web, many for free. At this time, there are excerpts from many documentaries (as well as some full films). There are also special projects designed to promote web filmmaking, new technologies, and interaction among filmmakers and viewers. The Educational Resources section is outstanding. And for students interested in animation, there are few more extensive or interesting sites. Many stunning animation films are now online, including those of animation pioneer Norman McLaren. Documentary Films.net (http://www.documentaryfilms.net/) Resources and information about contemporary films for documentary makers and viewers European Documentary Portal (http://www.documentaryportal.com/). Information for and about filmmakers in the European Union Media Rights: Media That Matters (http://www.mediarights.org/) Extensive database of contemporary documentary films and resources for youth media makers and educators UC Berkeley Media Resources Center, Chronology of Documentary Film History (http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/docexhibit/docuchron.htm) Academy Awards for Documentary Features (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Documentary_Feature)
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Academy Awards for Documentary Short Subjects (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Documentary_Short_Subject) Filmsite.org’s online glossary of filmmaking and cinematic terms (http://www.filmsite.org/filmterms5.html)
A note about “nonfiction” – what documentaries are not Recently, “non-fiction film” has been used by some filmmakers and marketers to circumvent the notion that some people have of documentary as “boring” or “preachy.” But “non-fiction” encompasses a number of genres – so it’s important to identify what documentaries are not:
• A documentary filmmaker is not a reporter, and documentaries are not News (although many reporters produce fine documentaries). Most documentaries tell a story through a filmmaker’s acknowledged point-of-view and individual style, where news must adhere to strict journalistic standards of fairness. While a documentary film should still be fair and respect the facts, a point-of-view is expected. • Documentaries are not instructional, “how-to” videos or industrial or educational films that have as a sole requirement the imparting of knowledge. (Again, many educational films are also fine documentaries. To learn about and view some creative and beautiful educational, or “academic” films, go to the Academic Film Archive of North America, at http://www.afana.org/.) • Reality shows are not documentaries – they are created situations, not “actuality.” This new genre, in which real people are transported to contrived situations outside of anything they might normally encounter, is a fascinating cultural phenomenon. (For more information go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_television.)
21 Wrap up: Vocabulary and Review Questions
Vocabulary • Non-fiction film and video • Documentary film Film and television genres based A film and video storytelling on facts and real people and genre that is a “creative treatment situations, including news, of actuality,” a creative telling of educational films, instructional real stories that involve real videos, nature films, people documentaries, and more
Review Questions 1. What is non-fiction film and video? How does documentary distinguish itself from other forms of film, video, and television? 2. Why is Nanook of the North important? 3. How was John Grierson’s approach to documentary filmmaking different from Robert Flaherty’s?
Filmmaker’s Journal Students should set up their Filmmaker’s Journal during Unit 1. Recommend to students that they use a spiral notebook or composition book that will fit easily in their book bags or knapsacks. Discuss with them the following paragraphs from Handout 1.1.a: Filmmakers are always looking for ideas and noticing things that we might want to use in our films. A good way to keep track of and work through your ideas is to keep a Filmmaker’s Journal. In your journal you can write, draw, scribble down your thoughts – anything that helps you figure out what you need to do to make a successful digital video. A good thing about a journal – rather than single sheets of paper – is that your ideas are all in one place. You can refer back to them as you work on your projects. Sometimes it’s helpful just to flip through your journal to see what you’ve noticed that might make a good film. Or one of your journal entries might give you a clue about how to solve a problem on your current production. Throughout the course, there will be specific assignments for your Filmmaker’s Journal. Enjoy them, and use them to help you set off on your journey to becoming a digital filmmaker.
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Exercise 1: Youth Filmmakers: an Exploration Recommended: Student Handout: 1.1.b – Youth Voices Description Youth filmmakers from around the world are finding audiences and getting increased exposure through a number of excellent youth video websites. Affordable, high-quality digital video cameras and editing systems have fueled the proliferation of youth media- making in school classes and in extracurricular and community programs. Young people are applying their voices and unique perspectives to subjects of interest to youth and adults. Their documentaries provide insight into the cultures and experiences of young people learning to navigate the complex 21st century world. Some young filmmakers question whether what they have to say is important. Providing students with an opportunity to see other youth videos can get them excited about the work they will undertake in this course, give them some confidence in their voices, as well as give them ideas about possible subjects and styles. Instructions For this discussion, divide the class into teams of two or three students. Assign each team up to three videos (dependent upon class size and length) from the list on Handout 1.1.b. Ask students to watch the videos carefully, making notes in their Filmmaker’s Journals. Ask them to discuss with each other their observations about the following:
• What moves you or draws you in? • What surprises or excites you? • How do the stories, ideas, and concerns of these young filmmakers – your peers from around the world – reflect your own concerns? How do they differ from your concerns?
Allow time at the end of the class for each team to give a brief report on the videos they have watched. If time allows, choose one video to screen with the whole class. Resources While youth-produced videos are available in many places on the Internet, several sites provide consistently well-produced, intelligent, and interesting work; a number of these are listed below (links to additional youth video are available on these sites as well). Listen Up! http://www.listenup.org/ “Our Mission: Listen Up! is a youth media network that connects young video producers and their allies to resources, support, and projects in order to develop the field and achieve an authentic youth voice in the mass media.” Listen Up! is a membership organization, but its videos are also accessible to the public. The organization provides excellent support and services to youth producers and youth media educators. Their goals are to: 1) Provide connections, information, media tools, and services to young video producers and their allies, both inside and outside the network; 2) Work with young producers to raise production quality and tell excellent stories; 3) Implement and fund
23 projects; 4) Cultivate meaningful partnerships with like-minded organizations to develop and promote the field of youth media; 5) Secure broadcast venues for youth-produced video. This site is one of the most valuable for youth producers and educators. Documentaries suggested for this class can be found in the following Showcase Collections:
• Listen Up! 2007 VIP Documentary Collection: http://www.listenup.org/screeningroom/cat.php?view=96257734c00f95d8c929f528be790 675 • Listen Up! 2007 VIP Personal Storytelling Collection: http://www.listenup.org/screeningroom/cat.php?view=5c79aebd0a115e0630cd1bd90cb6 2c93
Adobe Youth Voices http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/philanthropy/youthvoices/index.html Adobe describes this program as “a global philanthropic initiative to empower youth in underserved communities.” This software development company has developed extensive partnerships around the world that have allowed young people to develop craft and technology skills using their media software.
Apple Learning Interchange http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/ Apple provides extensive curriculum support for teachers, particularly in the area of technology integration. Examples of videos made by students are available online at this site, under Member Submissions.
Center for Digital Storytelling http://storycenter.org The Center for Digital Storytelling works with youth and adult organizations to teach them effective ways to use photos, interview, and video to tell their stories with the most accessible tools. Currently the site offers only a few video samples, but more will be added in the future. The Digital Storytelling Cookbook has many useful ideas.
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Exercise 2: Filmmaking in Your Backyard – Two Bermuda Filmmakers
Recommended: Student Handout: 1.1.b – Bermuda Filmmakers
Description Compelling documentaries don’t always show exotic, faraway places or events – sometimes, great stories take place in our backyards. While many people are aware of Bermuda as a location for Hollywood feature productions, there are also documentaries about Bermuda, produced by Bermuda residents. In this class, students will be divided into two work groups to view segments from each of two films by Bermuda filmmakers. Group One will view part of When Voices Rise…, a film by the late Errol Williams about the 1959 Theater Boycott that desegregated Bermuda’s cinemas. Group Two will watch part of Rare Bird, by Lucinda Spurling, which tells the story of legendary Bermuda conservation biologist, David Wingate, and his lifelong fight to save a bird thought to be extinct for 325 years, the Cahow. (Available from Afflare Films, http://www.afflare.com.) Instructions: Ask students to read the articles (referenced below and specified in Handout 1.1.c) about their respective film. Then, they should watch approximately15-20 minutes of their film (segments are specified in Handout 1.1.c), as class length allows. As they watch, they should jot down notes in their Filmmaker’s Journal, paying attention to the following questions (more specifically phrased with respect to each film in Handout 1.1.c):
• How does the filmmaker draw you into the story, catch your attention at the beginning? • What elements does the filmmaker use to tell the story? (For example, photographs, interviews, observational footage, drawings, maps, historical footage, graphics, etc.) • Why are these elements interesting or effective in the film? • How does it feel to see films that document something that takes place so close to home, and has impact on your life? How does this inspire you?
Ask students to select a spokesperson for the group, who will report on the film to the entire class. The group should also select a two to three minute segment of the film to show to the rest of the class, which they feel best represents what they like about the film. Errol Williams, When Voices Rise… When Voices Rise… tells the story of the 1959 theater boycott, a pivotal moment in Bermuda’s history. The film contains archival footage, photographs, and interviews with surviving members of The Progressive Group, which organized the boycott, and other boycott leaders. Royal Gazette, July 16, 2007 http://www.theroyalgazette.com/siftology.royalgazette/Article/article.jsp?articleId=7d778333 003000a§ionId=60 Article about the making of When Voices Rise… http://www.bitdepth.org/index.cgi/articles
25 Lucinda Spurling, Rare Bird Rare Bird tells the story of one man’s passionate fight to save the endangered Cahow, the Bermuda Petrel believed to have been extinct for more than 300 years. The film tells its story through interviews with David Wingate and others involved with the Cahow, archival footage, photographs, drawings and rare footage of the Cahow in the wild.
• Article about Lucinda and Rare Bird in Cinema Without Borders http://www.cinemawithoutborders.com/news/127/ARTICLE/1170/2007-02-02.html • Information about Afflare Films (Ms. Spurling’s company) and her other film projects http://www.afflarefilms.com/
From Rare Bird, courtesy of Lucinda Spurling: a cahow chick
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Student Handout 1.1.a: Filmmaking in the Digital Age: Course Overview Welcome to the film studio. Over the next months, you’ll learn the basic skills needed to become a filmmaker. You’ll be learning them by producing your own films – primarily documentaries, but the concepts you master in this course can be applied to any kind of film- and videomaking. This course focuses on giving you professional-level technology and craft skills, but you can also use them for your own artistic work. Here’s what you’ll be looking forward to:
Filmmaker’s Journal Filmmakers are always looking for ideas and noticing things that we might want to use in our films. A good way to keep track of and work through your ideas is to keep a Filmmaker’s Journal. In your journal you can write, draw, scribble down your thoughts – anything that helps you figure out what you need to do to make a successful digital video. A good thing about a journal – rather than single sheets of paper – is that your ideas are all in one place. You can refer back to them as you work on your projects. Sometimes it’s helpful just to flip through your journal to see what you’ve noticed that might make a good film. Or one of your journal entries might give you a clue about how to solve a problem on your current production. Throughout the course, there will be specific assignments for your Filmmaker’s Journal. Enjoy them, and use them to help you set off on your journey to becoming a digital filmmaker.
Module 1: The Language of Film and Video The first moduleof the course focuses on giving you the tools – both artistic and technological – to shoot video, record good sound, plan and create a visual story, and plan and record an interview. You’ll learn about the basic shot types; how to use a video camera, a microphone and lights; and how to develop and ask good questions. Projects include: • Telling a Story in Pictures: plan, photograph, organize, and present a story that can be told through 24 still photographs • The Interview: interview your classmate about the photographic story that he or she created {Note: these two short Module 1 projects will be edited together during the editing technology workshop in Module 2.}
Module 2: Combining the elements This module focuses on teaching editing technology skills as well as on the planning and production of a short video that shows a process. You’ll learn to create and use storyboards as a basis for your production – both when you’re out in the field with the camera and when you get backto the studio and have to get organized to edit video. In addition to learning to edit your video picture, you’ll learn how to add music, sound effects, and titles and credits. Projects include: • Digital Storytelling: combining pictures and words You’ll create a short film from the photos and interview you produced in Module 1
27 • The Process You and your crew will create a storyboard that illustrates how to do a simple task, like peeling an orange. With your crew, you’ll videotape your storyboard and edit the footage. Sounds a bit dull – but then you’ll make it your own, adding sound effects, music, and your own voice-over track.
Module 3: Producing your own digital video At this point you’ll have acquired the skills necessary to create a digital video from start to finish, and you’ll put them into practice. You’ll create a “proposal” for your video and pitch it to your classmates, and then shoot, edit, and complete your third digital video project. Projects for this module include: • 3-5 minute independent digital documentary, on a subject and in a style of your choice.
Module 4: Reaching your audience Now that you’ve finished three videos, you need to figure out how to get people to see them. You’ll compress your video for DVD and Internet delivery, in preparation for your class’s Film Festival, which will allow your friends, family, and community to see your video.
Assessment You will be graded on the following:
Performance Responsibility ______(percentage) Do you show up to class on time and hand in your work promptly? Do you share equally with your teammates and crew the work on exercises and projects?
In-class performance ______(percentage) Successful participation in class discussions Successful participation in peer reviews Successful collaborations with classmates Participation in and successful completion of in-class activities
Product Written/practical assignments ______(percentage) Essay assignments Filmmaker’s Journal
Projects ______(percentage) Telling a Story in Pictures The Interview Process Video Independent Digital Documentary Compressed Video
Tests Tests and Quizzes ______(percentage) Final Exam ______(percentage)
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Student Handout 1.1.b: Youth Voices With your partners, watch the group of videos assigned to you by your instructor from the list below. As you watch, jot down your reactions in your Filmmaker’s Journal. Remember, these notes are for you, so don’t worry about neatness and full sentences for this discussion – just be sure to get down your thoughts! Some questions to consider for each documentary:
• What moves you or draws you in? • What surprises or excites you? • How do the stories, ideas and concerns of these young filmmakers – your peers from around the world – reflect your own concerns? How do they differ from your concerns?
Discuss your reactions with your partners and decide upon the most important things that you’ve noticed. Choose a spokesperson who will report these observations to the full class. Why might it be important for your peers to see the films you’ve watched? Online films by youth media makers
• We Don’t Want No War from Beyond Borders: Personal Stories from a Small Planet. A child soldier in Sierra Leone tells of the changes that occurred in his life when the war came and he was forced to become a child soldier. http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/philanthropy/youthvoices/index.html
• The following videos can be found at Listen Up! 2007 VIP Documentary Showcase: http://www.listenup.org/screeningroom/cat.php?view=96257734c00f95d8c929f528be790675 Videos are listed in alphabetical order in the collection. Descriptions are by the youth makers themselves. Basquetbol. By Nick Parker: Global communities can be found right at your local basketball court. Basketball - a game that connects the local to global and translates across cultures and languages. Comfort. By Erica Lamey: My film is about how I use food as comfort and how it led to me struggling with obesity. I describe my journey to take control of my eating habits, as well as health, so that I can live more healthily and happily. Mentor: Steve Dempsey CONTRA. By Edgardo Servano-soto: A haunted exploration of how the stereotypes and expectations placed upon us sometimes come from within. (There is debate in the comments about this video as to whether it is a documentary or not. What do you think?) Editing the Truth. By Deep Shah: What is truth in a documentary? Re-visiting an earlier piece about racism, stereotypes, and the word “gangsta,” an editor explores the out-takes, goes behind the scenes, and has private interviews with the subjects to try to discover the “truth” about their on-camera performances and the final documentary. Life on the Res. By Danielle White, lead producer: Life on the Res was produced in 2006 by 8 young artists living in the small village of Kego Lake, located on the Leech Lake Reservation in Minnesota. Muertitos. By Sara Hinajosa: The story of the new yet ancient ritual in the San Antonio area, Muertitos is a documentary about life and death. Examining the traditional celebration of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), this documentary is educational as well as fascinating.
29 Off The Chain. By Jayce Hafner: The story of the Community Bike Shop where anyone can “earn” a free bike. Sew What? Produced by youth makers at Light House: The life and hard times of a young fashion designer. The Life Next-door. By Manshi Chauhan, Anu Kumari, Beauty Kumari, Manisha Chauhan, Soni Kumari, Kajal Garg: A portrait of “Ali Razza,” his struggle and views on different aspects of his life, his aspirations, and views on Indian school education system. After prolonged discussions the group decided that we would make a film showing how society and people around influence the aims and ambitions in life. In the process, we started looking for people to be interviewed and we came across Ali Razza who lives in a small Jugghi (tent house) next to our big school building. Sorrowful Water. By Stephanie Reina: A disturbing image changes the way one girl thinks about water. Whispers of the Vietnam War. By Kao Choua Vue: WAR is a documentary about my father’s experience as a soldier in the Laos Wars of the late 1960’s. Wishes for the Sky. By Bre Blaesing: This documentary surrounds the event Wishes for the Sky, an event in which people celebrate Earth Day. The day’s events were filled with individuals making wishes on kites and flying them, and making public promises to the earth. Where Do I Come From? TRUCE youth producers: A young black woman reflects on the legacy of slavery and her heritage from Africa.
• The following videos can be found at Listen Up! 2007 VIP Personal Collection: http://www.listenup.org/screeningroom/cat.php?view=5c79aebd0a115e0630cd1bd90cb62c93
Lovebirds. By Jazmin Jones: An elderly couple’s story of growing up in the South, set against the images of their current Northern California home, records the lush landscape of their lives and their lovebird melody. Soccer. By Nicolas del Papa: Soccer illustrates a passion for soccer that goes beyond teams, competition, and commercialism. Soccer simply shows the beauty of the game and the devotion of those who play it.
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Student Handout 1.1.c: Two Bermuda filmmakers
For Group One
Errol Williams, When Voices Rise… When Voices Rise… tells the story of the 1959 theater boycott, a pivotal moment in Bermuda’s history. The film contains archival footage, photographs, and interviews with surviving members of The Progressive Group, which organized the boycott, and other boycott leaders. Divide your group in two; each half will read one of these articles:
• Royal Gazette, July 16, 2007 http://www.theroyalgazette.com/siftology.royalgazette/Article/article.jsp?articleId=7d778 333003000a§ionId=60 • Article about the making of When Voices Rise… http://www.bitdepth.org/index.cgi/articles
Then watch, all together, the following excerpts from When Voices Rise…:
• Beginning of the film through minute 12:00 (stop at graphic for Ira Phillips interview) This segment sets up the conditions that led to the organization of the Progressive Group and to attempts to dismantle desegregation. • Skip to minute 37:00 and watch through the segment entitled “Street Protests.”
As you watch, jot down notes about the following in your Filmmaker’s Journal:
• How does Mr. Williams draw you into the story, catch your attention at the beginning?
• What elements does Mr. Williams use to tell the story? (For example, photographs, interviews, observational footage, drawings, maps, historical footage, graphics, narration, re-enactments, etc.)
• How does it feel to see a film that documents something that takes place so close to home, and has impact on your life? What did you learn? How does this story resonate in your own life?
• This documentary tells of an important historical event through the words of people who remember it. Are there other events or stories that you can think of that might also make good historical documentaries?
Discuss your notes and select a spokesperson to report on your reactions to the film. Select a 2 – 3 minute segment that illustrates what you like best about this film.
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Lucinda Spurling, Rare Bird Rare Bird tells the story of one man’s passionate fight to save the endangered Cahow, the Bermuda Petrel believed to have been extinct for more than 300 years. The film includes interviews with David Wingate and others involved with the Cahow, archival footage, photographs, drawings and the only footage of the Cahow in the wild. Divide your group in two; one will read the interview about Rare Bird, the other will look at the Afflare Films website.
• Interview with Lucinda Spurling in Cinema Without Borders http://www.cinemawithoutborders.com/news/127/ARTICLE/1170/2007-02-02.html
• Information about Afflare Films (Ms. Spurling’s company) and her other film projects: http://www.afflarefilms.com/
Then watch, all together, the following excerpts from Rare Bird:
• Beginning of the film through minute 11:35 (stop after the sequence in the Museum of Natural History) • Skip to minute 36:45 through minute 45:00 (stop at interview with Jennifer Gray)
As you watch, jot down notes about the following in your Filmmaker’s Journal:
• How does Ms. Spurling draw you into the story, catch your attention at the beginning?
• What elements does Ms. Spurling use to tell the story? (For example, photographs, interviews, observational footage, drawings, maps, historical footage, graphics, narration, re-enactments, etc.)
• How does it feel to see a film that document something that takes place so close to home, and has impact on your life? What did you learn? How does this story resonate for you?
• This documentary combines one person’s very personal story with a story of major scientific and environmental importance. What other stories can you think of that combine a personal story with an event or occurrence in the community that might also make good documentaries?
Discuss your notes and select a spokesperson to report on your reactions to the film. Select a 2 – 3 minute segment that illustrates what you like best about the film segments that you watched.
32 : The Language of Film and Video 1 Unit 2: Camera, Image, and Shot Language When we watch a movie, we are led through a story made up Expected duration: 4 days of hundreds of individual shots. While technologies and Resources: styles change, this alphabet of shots continues to provide the Filmmaker’s Timeline building blocks of film and video language – the grammar of Handouts: film and video. In this unit, students will learn basic shot 1.2.a The Grammar of Film language as they learn to use the digital video camcorder. The 1.2.b Project Worksheet: I first component of the Module 1 project, Telling a Story in 1.2.c Scene Analysis Sheet Pictures, will be assigned. 1.2.d The Camera Eye 1.2.e Digital Camera Workshop Key Concepts Equipment: • Shots are the basic building blocks of a film language that Camera package, tripod is not much more than a hundred years old. DVD player • Choice of shot, framing, camera angle, or other element Materials: has an impact on viewer perception and understanding. DV Tape Stock • Filmmakers and technology have influenced each other, Card stock framing tools as cameras and styles have evolved throughout the Project: history of the motion picture. Telling a Story in Pictures • Positive, supportive peer critique is an important step in any type of creative work. • Vocabulary words defined at the end of the unit. Key Skills • Assembling and operating a digital camcorder • Analyzing shots used in an edited scene • Planning and creating a visual story from still photos representing a variety of shot choices
Outline class type of content content Materials equipment 1 Exercise 1 What Don't You See? Photographs computer projection Presentation & Shots are the basic building Handout: 1.2.a Discussion blocks of film language Grammar of Film Project Telling a Story in Pictures Handout 1.2.b: Assignment Pictures Project 2 Exercise 2 Scene Analysis Handout: 1.2.c: DVD Player Scene Analysis Presentation & The Motion Picture Camera: Timeline DVD Player Discussion understanding film and video Handout: 1.2.d: and how we see them The Camera Eye 3 Workshop Technology 1: The Digital Handout 1.2.e Camera Camera Digital Camcorder Package, Tripod 4 Unit Summary Telling a Story in Pictures Photo software Student Presentation or Powerpoint
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Presentation & Discussion: Understanding Film Language
Film language is a set of collectively generated conventions that enable us to tell each other stories through the orchestration of images, actions, sounds, and words. It exists because human beings of every culture share complex processes of perception and logic…Artistic decisions in film are made in the light of shared instincts of recognition…Language exists to accomplish, get, or do what we need…and film language is a tool to understand the world, then act on it. —Michael Rabiger, Directing the Documentary, p. 144
Shots: the basic building blocks of film language
Recommended: Exercise 1 – What Don't You See? Film and video have their own language, shared by directors, camera operators, sound recordists, and editors. People working together on a film use this language to give direction and to communicate their vision and ideas for their films. Film language – whether used in a Hollywood feature, a news story, or a documentary – is based on shots. There is a whole “alphabet” of descriptions and abbreviations that provide the building blocks of screen language. Shots are images framed and recorded to create meaning for the viewer. If shots were not composed in a variety of different ways, editors would have nothing to work with and films and videos would be pretty boring. Shot composition refers to how the filmmaker combines elements to create a powerful image. These include the size of the content that appears on the screen, the angle of the camera in relation to the content, camera movement, and direction of the action on- screen. Following are descriptions of some basic shot choices. Handout 1.2.a The Grammar of Film provides diagrams and descriptions of the concepts discussed below. These common conventions provide a framework for understanding shot language. Filmmakers find their own variations on and adaptations of these conventions. Two excellent online resources on shots and framing are The Grammar of Film at http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/gramtv.html, and Atomic Learning’s Video Storytelling Guide at http://www.atomiclearning.com/storytellingindex.shtml.
Shots described by image frame One of the first things a filmmaker considers is how to frame a shot. When filmmakers frame their shots, they are deciding what information they want the viewer to have and how they want the viewer to feel about it. How much of the subject is on the screen? What is left out? How does that affect the story? Each type of shot reveals different information about its subject. In the images below, you can see how placing a “frame” around a specific part of the landscape – in this case a boat – focuses the viewers attention. By eliminating the part of the image outside of the “frame,” the filmmaker is letting us feel more involved with the boat.
34 Module 1, Unit 2: Camera, Image, and Shots
A shot can be framed to show the subject very close to or far away from the camera. A shot could give a bird's-eye or a worm's-eye view. You might use a wide angle or a telephoto lens, which would reveal more or less of the subject and create a very different feel (see focal length). While there are common conventions about how types of shots are arranged or why they are used, filmmakers often use shots in unconventional ways to create an unexpected feeling or to reveal elements of a story in an unexpected way. Also important in framing shots is the position of the subject on the screen. Filmmakers talk about a “rule of thirds.” Divide the screen into three vertical and three horizontal components, as if you were drawing a tic-tac-toe board over your shot (see figure below for example). In general, you should position your subject so that the viewer’s eyes are drawn along these imaginary lines that you draw. For example, in an interview, the interviewee’s eyes would be placed approximately on the top horizontal line (as opposed to the direct center of the frame); the mouth would be more or less along the bottom horizontal line. In the following image, you can see the placement of the lion’s body along the “third” lines. The most important detail – the lion’s eyes – are near the intersection of the horizontal and vertical lines. Photograph by Austri Fletcher.
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The following table includes common names for shots that are described by how much of the image fills the frame. Photographs courtesy of Dueane Dill. Shot Type Description Example Wide Shot The wide shot shows a subject in relation (WS) to its overall surroundings. Generally, the camera has been positioned some distance from the subject.
Here, the camera is on the sidelines of the parade; the shot encompasses the Gombey dancers, some of the surroundings, and even some of the spectators.
Establishing The establishing shot, usually also a wide Shot (ES or shot, sets up the location or geography of a estab shot) particular scene, usually at the beginning of a sequence, to provide context or set up a scene or story.
This extremely wide shot of Hamilton’s waterfront, shot from the ferry, establishes that we are in Bermuda’s capital.
Master Shot The master shot, usually also a wide shot, The camera rolls through an entire Gombey shows a complete version of the action in a dance sequence; the footage covers all the particular setting or scene. action. Medium In the medium shot, the subject and Shot (MS) surrounding scenery are given equal weight.
While one Gombey dancer is central to this image, other participants in the parade are equally visible.
Close-Up A close-up shows a lot of detail but little (CU) or no surroundings. A close-up is the most emotional of shots. With people, you start to get a sense of what they are feeling. Close-ups are also useful for transitions between scenes or very different shots.
In this close-up, the dancer’s mask and gestures are the complete focus. Background details are not decipherable.
Filmmakers often use gradations of these shots, such as a Medium Wide Shot (MWS), a Medium Close-up, or an Extreme Close-Up (ECU or XCU).
36 Module 1, Unit 2: Camera, Image, and Shots
Shots described by camera angle Another important aspect of shot composition is the camera angle: the placement of the camera in relation to the subject. The camera angle has an emotional impact on the viewer. The following table includes the common names for shots that are described by the camera angle. Shot Description Example Type Neutral, or The camera is looking at the “Eye subject from a neutral angle. Level” This is the angle used by more Shot factual programs, like News to maintain a feeling of objectivity. The camera is set at the same height as the sailor’s eyes.
High The camera is placed above Could range from an extreme “birds-eye” view to a slight Angle the subject’s eye-level. A high raising of the camera in relation to the subject. Shot (HA) angle shot tends to make the viewer feel that the subject is smaller or less powerful. The camera looks down from the shore at the kayaker.
Low The camera is placed below Could range from a very low “worms-eye” view to a slight Angle the subject's eye-level. A low lowering of the camera in relation to the subject. Shot (LA) angle shot tends to exaggerate the size of a subject, making the viewer feel that the subject is more powerful. The camera is almost on the ground, looking up at the sailor on a skateboard.
Dutch The camera is tilted on its axis Angle in relation to the subject, so Shot that vertical lines angle left or right. This convention has become more common with music videos, MTV, and other contemporary image-makers. When shown on a screen, the sailor in this shot will appear to be tilted, on an angle.
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Axis and direction
The table below explains additional key concepts related to shots: the axis and screen direction. Concept Description Example Scene The invisible line between subjects in Two people are having a conversation in a restaurant, Axis a shot sitting across the table from each other talking face to face. If you were standing to the side and listening to them (or maybe sitting at a third seat at a square table) your attention would be pulled back and forth as each person spoke, along an invisible line between each of those two subjects.
Camera The relationship of the camera (and A video camera is recording a scene for a Axis likewise the viewer) to the subjects in documentary about a tennis player; two athletes face the film. The line from the camera to each other in a tennis match. By respecting the axis, the subjects is a key tool for helping the video helps viewers keep track of which player viewers to understand what's has made certain shots and points. happening in a shot and how different elements of a scene relate to one another.
Screen Screen direction describes the The camera moves from left to right across a school Direction direction of movement in a frame, yard, from a group of children playing ball with each whether right to left, up and down, or other, to a child standing along, watching. diagonally.
In general, a scene is filmed from only one side of the scene axis. The camera might move back and forth or turn along that axis. By crossing the axis (and consequently changing screen direction,) you might confuse the viewer. For example, if you're at a football game, watching two teams, you can tell what's happening because you know which end of the field each team's goalpost is on. If you walk around to the other side, your brain adjusts to the change because you can see that transition – your body has actually made that transition. But in a film, suddenly crossing the axis can create a very confused audience that wouldn't know which team is about to score! The audience doesn't know where it is in relation to the action on screen. So filmmakers use their various shots, such as close-ups or tracking shots, to help viewers understand visually that they've crossed the axis and are looking at the action from another direction. Note that sometimes filmmakers do change screen direction or cross the axis for precisely the effect of throwing a viewer off-balance!
38 Module 1, Unit 2: Camera, Image, and Shots
Camera Movement The use of camera movement in shots can be a powerful tool in moving your story along. But be cautious! It’s very tempting to keep the camera moving, instead of letting the action play out within the frame that you’ve set. This can be tiring and confusing for your viewer. So plan your moves carefully. Make sure that the camera moves at a comfortable pace between interesting aspects of your subject. The table below explains additional key concepts related to shots: the axis and screen direction. Concept Description Zoom In/Out A zoom refers to the illusion of moving closer to or farther away from a subject using the zoom lens. You zoom in on a subject by moving from the wide angle to the telephoto end of the lens. A zoom out does the reverse – it moves from the telephoto to the wide angle end of the lens. Pan Right/Left When you pan the camera, you swivel the camera sideways, which gives the feel of moving from right to left or left to right. On a storyboard, a pan would be indicated by arrows and “pan right” or “pan left.” Tilt Up/Down For a tilt, you would swivel the camera up or down, revealing what lies at the top or bottom of the shot. You would indicate a tilt with arrows and “tilt up” or “tilt down.” Tracking or Dolly The camera is moved by placing the tripod on a wheeled dolly or on tracks that Shot move along the length of your scene. These technologies are pretty expensive, but a creative filmmaker can find inexpensive alternatives: a wheelchair, a bicycle, etc. Just be cautious for the sake of the equipment and the crew.
Focal Length The focal length indicates what range of the lens is being used to record the shot, from wide angle to telephoto. A close up might be shot from far away with a telephoto lens. Your central subject would be sharp, but any background detail would most likely be blurry. Or a filmmaker might use a wide angle lens, standing very close to the subject. There would be a much greater depth of field – a larger portion of the image would be in focus – but the image might feel more present. An extreme close up shot taken with a wide angle lens can look very round, in an exaggerated way. The choice of focal length can give two similar shots a very different feel.
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Additional elements of shot language Concept Description Example Point-of- In a point-of-view shot, the A scene begins with a wide shot of a person standing on a View Shot camera is place closed to the dock. The next shots cuts to a close-up of that person's (POV) line of sight of one of the smiling face. Next, with the camera placed about where the film's “characters,” implying person is standing, is a view of a boat pulling into the that we are seeing what that dock, with a woman and three children smiling and person is seeing. waving. The final shot is a medium shot of the first person waving back. The implication is that we are seeing the boat arriving through the eyes of the person on the dock. Cutaway shot A cutaway takes the viewer A person waits inside of the Ferry Terminal on a rainy day. away from the main action We see a WS and MS of the person sitting on a bench, of the scene. reading a magazine and glancing up occasionally. The third shot in the sequence is a cutaway shot of a big clock on the wall, which reveals that the person is looking at the clock. Two-shot A shot of two people Two senior school teachers present their beautifully (2S) together in the frame. painted Bermuda Onion.
Recommended: Exercise 2 – Scene Analysis, with Handout 1.2.c. Can be done as homework or in class. Handout 1.2b: Assign Project – Telling a Story in Pictures
40 Module 1, Unit 2: Camera, Image, and Shots
Presentation & Discussion: The Camera Eye: How do motion picture cameras work and how have they developed?
I am cinema-eye – I am a mechanical eye. I, a machine, show you a world such as only I can see. From now on and for always I cast off human immobility, I move constantly, I approach and pull away from objects, I creep under them, I leap onto them, I move alongside the mouth of a galloping horse, I cut into a crowd, I run before charging troops, I turn on my back, I take off with an airplane, I fall and rise with falling and rising bodies. …Freed from the framework of space and time, I coordinate any and all points of the universe, wherever I may record them. My mission is the creation of a new perception of the world. Thus I decipher in a new way a world unknown to you. —from the writings of Dziga Vertov
A Brief Overview of Motion Picture and Video Cameras: History and Science
Handout 1.2.d: The Camera Eye illustrates the concepts behind motion picture and video cameras. Modern film and video language grew out of developments in art, photography, and recording technologies that span many years and continents. The Filmmakers Timeline highlights milestones in the development of motion picture and video cameras. The Timeline also demonstrates how the changes in camera technology correspond to changes in other technologies and to historical and cultural events. For additional information, the web is, as usual, a great resource. An excellent website, The History of the Discovery of Cinematography at http://precinemahistory.net, provides extensive information about the development of all aspects of camera technologies, including examples of very early experiments with still pictures and attempts to mimic motion. The Museum of the Moving Image, at http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~s-herbert/opticroom.htm, takes visitors on an informative and amusing tour of developing cinema technologies of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The website http://www.charlesurban.com/gateway.htm, dedicated to early color film pioneer, Charles Urban, provides a extensive links to sites about early cinema. The First Motion Pictures Still photography was first developed in the early 1800s. It didn’t take long for inventive photographers to start looking for ways to push the technology further, and attempt to reproduce a moving image the way they could a still image. Inventors of the still camera drew on mechanics of the human eye in their original designs. The camera has a lens, as do our eyes. The shutter opens and closes to let in more or less light, just as the iris in our eye opens and closes. With still photography, the camera can mimic the eye’s functions effectively enough to reproduce an image that our brains can recognize without difficulty. But generating a moving image with a camera is a more complicated task. The “mechanical eye” of a motion picture camera (as described in this chapter’s opening quotation by Dziga Vertov) has to use a little trickery to make our brains interpret the camera’s images and detect motion.
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Camera lens viewing an object Human eye viewing an object The development of the motion picture camera and the field of cinema was an international endeavor, with a few particularly notable pioneers from England, the United States, and France. Englishman Edwaeard Muybridge (1830-1904) made important early contributions to motion pictures with the work he performed documenting the movement of racehorses owned by Leland Stanford (a wealthy California businessman and founder of Stanford University) and for his “stop frame” images of human activities. Muybridge printed his images on celluloid, a special photographic plastic made from plant fibers, and played them on a machine known as a Zoopraxiscope. On this machine, individual photographs, or frames, were projected in rapid succession, which created an illusion of movement. Muybridge’s machine was a profound development in cinema, employing the same concept used in contemporary film technologies. Our eye and brain turn individual still images into “moving pictures” by interpreting them as continuous motion, a phenomenon known as apparent motion. You can also experience this effect by creating a flipbook, a series of drawn images that change slightly from page to page; when you flip through them, the image appears to move. For more information on Muybridge’s techniques, visit http://americanhistory.si.edu/muybridge/. Thomas Alva Edison, famous American inventor of the light bulb, and his assistant, William Kennedy Laurie Dickson, are credited with inventing the first motion picture camera, the Kinetograph, as well as the Kinetoscope, a peep-hole motion picture viewer. In 1888, Edison wrote “I am experimenting upon an instrument which does for the eye what the phonograph does for the ear, which is the recording and reproduction of things in motion.” Edison used the same concept Muybridge relied on with his Zoopraxiscope, but without the need for individual photographs: the Kinetograph captured multiple images in sequence on a single strip of celluloid film. The Kinetoscope then played this filmstrip for the viewer. Although motion pictures were predominantly silent until the 1920s, Edison also experimented with film and sound together. By the turn of the century, the Edison Manufacturing Company had made a successful business of manufacturing equipment for recording and projecting motion pictures and was also producing motion pictures themselves. Examples of the Edison Company's early films can be seen at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/edhtml/edmvhm.html (follow links to Selected Motion Pictures List). The Frenchman Louis Lumiére's invention, the Cinématographe, came slightly after Edison's Kinetograph. But while Edison's invention was bulky and not easily transported, Lumiere's fit in a suitcase (large by today’s standards, but tiny at the time). It was a camera, a processing unit, and a projector, all in one. So Lumiére could shoot footage in the morning, process it in the afternoon, and project it to an audience that night! Lumiére recorded trains arriving at a station, workers leaving a factory, a child being fed by his parents, people picnicking along a river – all slices of everyday life. On December 28, 1895, Louis Lumiére and his brother Auguste, held the first public film screening at the Grand Café on the Boulevard des Capucines in Paris. The Lumiéres’ Cinématographe Lumiére became all the rage in France and eventually all over the world. This
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easy to use and portable device truly launched the motion picture era. For more on the Lumiére brothers, go to http://www.terrace.qld.edu.au/academic/lote/french/famous_people/yr5lumi.htm. Throughout the early Twentieth Century, motion picture cameras continued to evolve, becoming lighter, more portable, and more sophisticated. The pioneers had to figure out many basics of making cameras and projectors work smoothly. For example, inventors had to calculate how fast the film strip needed to run through the camera and projector for the single transparent images, or frames, to be best perceived as continuous motion. Eventually it was decided that approximately 24 frames per second was most effective. If the film ran more slowly, viewers began to notice the “flicker effect,” which made it seem as if the projector lamp was flickering. That's how the movies got one of their nicknames: “flicks.” Enter the Video Camera For decades, film – light-struck images on strips of celluloid – was the exclusive medium for storing recorded images, even when television debuted in 1939. But in the mid-1900s, the company AMPEX began to experiment with electronically recording visual images on magnetic tape. The tape was made of metal filings on a thin plastic backing, much like the tape that was being used to record sound. AMPEX introduced the first “video” tapes in 1956, the name derived from the Latin word, videre, meaning “to see.” These first video recordings were made on two- inch-wide magnetic tape. This first heavy, bulky AMPEX recorder sold for $50,000. Two inventions broadened the potential for videotape. In 1967, the Japanese electronics company Sony introduced a portable (although still heavy and expensive) video camera called the Portapak. The Portapak allowed filmmakers to take video out of studios and onto the streets. With this invention, the modern era of video was born. In 1969, Sony introduced another new product, the videocassette recorder, or VCR. While tape formats and technologies have changed since then, these basic ideas – a portable camera and tape stored on plastic cassettes – have been consistent through most of the video era. Analog and Digital Recording There are two methods of recording an image (or sound) onto magnetic tape. The first is analog recording, in which an image is stored on tape as a continual wave of information. Analog videotape formats over the years have included:
• 2” tape • Betamax • 1” tape • Beta SP • Umatic tape (3/4”) • 8mm, and • VHS (1/2”) • Hi-8 tape.
For more information on analog video formats, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video. Digital recording was developed after analog recording, and is quickly replacing it. With this method, the image being recorded is converted into a series of binary numbers. The count of these numbers produced per second is called the sample rate. The first digital videotape format, D-1, was introduced by Sony in 1983. Digital formats now in use include:
• D-1 • DV Cam, and • Digital Betacam • DVC Pro. • DV Standard (also called Mini DV)
For more information on digital video formats, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_video.
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Video Frames and Timecode Like film, video is divided into frames. But unlike film, video frames cannot be visualized as distinct individual images; rather, the frames are theoretical. Countries in general adhere to one standard of video. The US uses NTSC (National Television Standards Committee); Britain uses PAL (Phase Alternating Line). NTSC video divides each second into approximately 30 frames, wheras PAL video contains 25 frames per second. When shooting film, filmmakers identify frames through tiny numbers on the edge of the developed film called “edge codes.” But when shooting video, originally there was no obvious method of marking distinct frames. Filmmakers needed to find a method to keep track of shot position on the videotape, and developed a system known as timecode. Timecode consists of eight numbers reflecting hours (01 – 23), minutes (01 to 59), seconds (01 to 59), and frames (01 – 29). NTSC timecode looks like this: 01:59:59:29.
There are two different modes of timecode: drop-frame and non-drop-frame. Non-drop-frame uses all colons in the code. Drop frame replaces the final colon with a semi-colon. As the video plays, the timecode adjusts by eliminating a single frame at regular intervals; this ensures that the running time of the video is accurate, which is important for television broadcast. For an in-depth technical explanation of timecode, visit http://www.poynton.com/notes/video/Timecode/.
Interlace and Progressive Scanning Each frame in a video is divided into two “fields” that are combined in one of two ways. The first is a technique known as interlace scanning, originally devised to improve picture quality for television broadcast without using extra bandwidth. Interlace scanning plays an image in two passes of alternating lines, from top to bottom of the screen. The first field rapidly plays every second line and the second field fills in between the lines. The most modern technique of combining the two fields is known as progressive scanning. The flat-screen television monitors that are now taking over the market respond best to progressive scan, which records and transmits an image in lines that run in a continuous sequence from top to bottom of the screen. Contemporary cameras include a variety of video speeds and scanning modes. An “i” or a “p” after the camera setting indicates interlace or progressive scanning. Make sure that your editing system is compatible with the format that you choose. For more information on interlace and progressive scan, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/interlace; As with computers, digital video technology is constantly changing. Now, manufacturers market cameras that record on videodiscs, on hard drives, and on large memory cards, such as Panasonic’s P-2 cards. The transition from Standard Definition (SD) to High Definition (HD) is perhaps one of the most substantial changes. High Definition improves quality of the video image by increasing the number of scan lines, but also changes the aspect ratio (the ratio of the width and height of the picture) from 4:3 (SD) to 16:9 (HD). This is a major change that has far-reaching implications for media consumers and makers. (And who knows what might come next!) Two useful articles on the transition to High Definition are: High Definition or Standard Definition: It’s all in the Pixel Count, at http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/118003.html, and Wikipedia’s segment on HDTV, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_television.
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Technology Workshop I: Digital Camcorder
Handout 1.2.e: Camcorder Workshop Checklist includes basic information about the functioning and protocols for using the digital camcorder and tripod. Specifics for the equipment selected for the class can be found in the camera manual. The handout also outlines things a student should think about before heading out to shoot their videos. In this workshop, students will work in teams to support learning and build a sense of collaboration. This workshop is divided into two sections:
1. In the first section, the teams learn basic camera assembly and operation, using specific information about use of your school’s camera from your camera manual.
2. In the second section, each team is challenged to apply shot language in short exercises. Notes on choosing a camera for your class: The growing numbers of digital camcorders on the market today provide many good options for teachers trying to balance budget against quality learning for their students. Prices for consumer and “prosumer” cameras range from hundreds to thousands of dollars; there are advantages and disadvantages to each. Some basic recommendations will help you to make the best choices for your classroom. Recommendation #1: External Audio Input. Choose a camcorder that allows you to plug in an external microphone, such as the Sennheiser MKE300. While built-in microphones record adequate sound for home movies, they are not adequate for producing good quality sound for student projects and do not encourage students to pay attention to sound quality and levels. Recommendation #2: HD versus SD. HD is still relatively expensive, but prices are dropping. If you can afford a camera with an HD option and your editing system supports HD, that option will provide the most long-term flexibility. Note that within these general categories, there are additional options. Standard Definition camcorders designed for consumers generally record in the DV Standard mode. However, prosumer cameras often add a higher quality option, DV Cam or DVC Pro (depending on the manufacturer). Make sure the formats available on your camera are compatible with your editing system and deck and with your overall program goals. Recommendation #3: Manual Controls. Many consumer cameras do not let the operator adjust focus, white balance, the iris, or sound levels. While Auto Controls are useful, being able to switch to manual settings is important for a more professional learning experience. Recommendation #4: Tripod Choice. A lightweight tripod is adequate for most camcorders. But many less expensive video tripods do not allow smooth movement of the camera. Look for a tripod that has a true fluid head and allows smooth tilts, pans, and adjustments of the camera position, such as the Matthews-Libec MT20. Recommendation #5: Extra Batteries and Battery Charger. Camcorders usually come with one small battery. Ordering two additional longer-playing batteries for each camera is wise. Also order external battery chargers for each camera package; charging batteries on the camera is a slow process that ties up your cameras. Which camera you purchase clearly depends upon your school’s resources and your students’ needs and learning styles. But careful research and attention to these guidelines will ensure that your camcorders will allow you to teach all units in this curriculum and that your students will gain understanding of basic professional video concepts. Many large camera box stores have knowledgeable sales departments that can help you assess constantly changing camcorders. And remember, even if you have to work with the most basic of cameras without the recommended options, your students can still produce well-crafted and creative videos.
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Camera Workshop Part 1: Step by step assembly of camera package
*Make sure camera batteries are charged before the day of the workshop and that you have tape stock available. Have students assemble in 3-5 small groups, each with a camera package, and lay out the components. Lead all groups together through assembly of the camera: 1. Mount battery on camera; discuss the battery charger and procedures for charging batteries and checking battery charge. 2. Insert tape; confirm with students the format of the tape stock and the camera they will be using. Note the “locking” mechanism on the tape. This tab should be open in order to record. Locking it when you remove the tape after recording will prevent accidental erasure. 3. Set up the tripod in the middle of each group and remove the tripod plate. Review how to adjust the tripod legs to different heights. 4. Place the tripod plate on the camera; make sure it is tight and that the camera is securely mounted. Secure the tripod handle in a comfortable position. Level the tripod, using the level bubble if you have one. Review the tilt and pan controls and locking mechanisms. At this point, advise students never to walk away from the camera when it is on the tripod and risk its being bumped or knocked over by someone walking by. One of the crew members should always tend the camera. Note: all knobs and levers should be loosened when storing the tripod, to prevent damage during transport. 5. Change camera settings from automatic to manual. Your camera will provide exact instructions for each of these manual settings. a. Manual focus: General protocol for focusing on a subject is to zoom all the way in on your subject (something clear and distinctive, like a human eye). Turn your focus ring until that close up is in focus, then adjust the framing of your shot. (Note: some higher-end cameras have a “backfocus” setting; check your camera manual to see if this is included.) b. Manual iris: Many cameras allow you to have control over the exposure of your shot – the f-stop that you use to shoot a shot. The automatic iris will sometimes adjust the exposure in a way that does not serve your needs, or will create artifacts if there is movement in front of the lens. (For example, a bus passes in front of your shot, reducing the light entering the lens; when the bus clears the frame, there can be a sudden surge in light and corresponding artifacts on your picture.) c. White balance: White balancing helps your camera identify a true “white” and then adjust the other colors accordingly. The “temperature” of your light will vary according to your light source (more in Unit 4: Lighting). To white balance, zoom in on something that is pure white – paper, cardboard, cloth. Focus your camera. Then hold down the white balancing button or switch, until the symbol, , stops blinking. The picture on your screen or viewfinder should show a pure white. Check the manual for specific instructions. d. Zoom mechanism: some higher-end cameras have a zoom ring that allows you to zoom in and out manually. Check your camera manual to see if this is the case. e. Steadishot: Turn off if placing camera on a tripod; turn on if the camera is to be hand- held. f. Digital Zoom: Make sure that the digital zoom option is turned off; use only the optical zoom. Quality of the digital zoom is usually quite poor.
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Camera Workshop, Part 2: Camera team challenges
After students have assembled the camera and can perform various functions with some confidence, give each group one of the challenges described below. These challenges rely only on visual information and should not include sound; they are very short silent movies. Each team will record 10 – 15 second shots that document a creative series of actions or expressions. For example, students might perform some trick like juggling, write and fold a letter into an envelop, try to build a structure with cards – any action that requires only action, no words or sounds. Encourage students to be creative and dramatic. The same actions should be repeated and recorded at least 3 times, changing only the aspect of the shot that pertains to that challenge. Different students should operate the camera and perform for the different shots, so each can experience all aspects of the exercise. Challenge A: WS, MS, CU In this challenge, the camera remains still, in a neutral position, approximately at eye-level. Actions performed by the student will be recorded in a Wide Shot (WS), a Medium Shot (MS), and a Close Up (CU). If there are more than three students or there is extra time, try variations of these shots as well, such as a Medium-Wide Shot (MWS) or Extreme Close Up (ECU). Challenge B: High Angle, Low Angle, Eye-level In this challenge, the camera remains still, framed as a consistent Medium Shot (MS) frame. Students first shoot the action performed at eye-level. Then move the camera as far up as possible to a high angle (HA) looking down on the “actor.” Finally, move the camera to its lowest position, for a low angle (LA) shot, looking up at the “actor.” If there are more than three students or there is extra time, try more subtle variations of the high and low angles. Challenge C: Camera Moves – pan, tilt, zoom (Note: if you have more than 3 teams, this challenge can be subdivided into as many as three different challenges.) In this challenge, the camera will move in a number of different ways. Position the camera in a neutral position, at eye-level, for all activities. a) Pan Right, Pan Left: Two students, standing a few feet apart, perform the actions, perhaps waving at each other (be creative!) Start by recording the student on the left for a few seconds and then slowly pivot the camera to the right (pan right) to capture the second. Repeat the shot starting with the student on the right. Experiment with the speed of the pan. b) Tilt Up, Tilt Down: One student performs an action such as dancing or marching in place. Start by recording the “actor’s” feet moving; slowly move the camera up to the student’s face (Tilt up). Record the action again, this time starting with the student’s face and moving down to the feet (Tilt Down). c) Zoom In, Zoom Out: Start in a Wide Shot that encompasses the student’s entire action; slowly use the zoom ring or automatic zoom lever to go in to a close up of some part of the action. Repeat the shot, starting with a close up of the action and zooming out. When all teams have completed their challenges, review the tapes with the full class, asking students to notice how each shot makes them feel. What did they like, and why? What made them feel uncomfortable, and why? How can understanding this shot language be helpful to them when watching television or movies?
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Wrap up: Vocabulary and Review
Module Vocabulary Aspect ratio Frames per second (fps) Ratio of height to width of the picture The number of frames in a second of film on the screen (24 fps) or video Analog recording Framing Video or sound recorded in a Establishing the image or information continuous stream onto magnetic tape contained within a frame or film or video Apparent Motion High Density (HD) an illusion created when images are NTSC or PAL video with a 16:9 aspect flashed on the screen, very quickly, ratio and a higher number of scan lines one after another, and our brain (720 progressive and 1080 interlaced) interprets them as moving Persistence of Vision Camcorder Retention of an image by the eye after it is A portable all-in-one video camera actually seen. This concept is often cited that allows the operator to record as the reason that we perceive the still sound and picture with just the one images of film frames as being in motion. unit; earlier video cameras had a However, that theory has been discounted separate field deck and camera, which by scientists, and replaced by other required two people for operation. concepts like apparent motion. Camera Angle Production value The relationship of a camera to its Attention to quality of the image recorded, subject including composition, light, sound and Camera Axis other details of the shots An imaginary line that denotes the Standard Density (SD) relationship of the action or subjects NTSC or PAL video with a 4:3 aspect on screen to the camera; more than ratio and a scan line density of 480 180 degree difference in shot angle Timecode crosses the axis and can be confusing Electronic code number unique to each to viewers video frame Composition Tripod The arrangement of elements within a A three-legged stand used to support the shot camera, usually with collapsible legs Digital recording White Balance Video or sound recorded as numerical A process that allows the filmmaker to data adjust the camera for different color Flicker effect temperatures, telling the camera what The pulsating or wavering of a “white” is moving picture image Worldwide Video Standards Frame Specifications for television broadcast The visible part of action captured by (NTSC, PAL, or SECAM). Countries in the camera that forms the rectangular general adhere to one standard. The US image on the screen. Also, unit of uses NTSC (National Television measurement for a single image Standards Committee); Britain uses PAL printed on film or captured (Phase Alternating Line). (For details, go electronically on video. to: http://www.kropla.com/tv.htm)
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Review Questions 1. Describe and draw six shot choices you might include in a short sequence about getting on a motorbike. 2. List 8 important steps you need to take to prepare your camera before you shoot. 3. How do shot choices affect how you, as a viewer, respond to the shot? 4. Define “frame.” How many frames per second are there in film? How many frames per second are there in NTSC video? In PAL? What video standards are used in Bermuda, in the United States, and in Great Britain? 5. Define “analog” and “digital.” 6. Define Standard Definition and High Definition. 7. What is “White Balance?” What happens if you don’t white balance your video camera, and why?
Essay Suggestions 1. Digital video equipment has become cheaper, lighter, and easier to use. How do you think this is changing society? How do you think this is beneficial to society? How do you think this might be harmful to society? 2. Film pioneer Dziga Vertov wrote about the camera as a mechanical “cinema eye.” Writing from the point of view of the camera, he said “My mission is the creation of a new perception of the world. Thus I decipher in a new way a world unknown to you.” Vertov wrote this in the 1920s. Has his vision been fulfilled, and if so, how? If not, why not? What is your vision for using your digital video camera? If you like, write from the point of view of a 21st Century digital camera.
Filmmaker’s Journal Watch a television commercial at home. Note what kinds of shots the filmmaker uses in the commercial. How do you think media makers use these shots to manipulate your reactions? What do they want you to do? How does this make you feel?
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Exercise 1: What Don’t You See?
Description In this exercise, students compare photographs to explore how framing of an image affects our intellectual and emotional understanding of that image. This exercise encourages students to think critically about images that they see in the media, whether in print or on the screen. It demonstrates the power of framing a shot to communicate an idea, to impart information, or to create a specific response in the viewer – a critical skill in digital filmmaking. Students will also learn that what is left out of a shot is as important as what is included. Instructions There are two possible approaches to this exercise. In the first, the teacher selects images and presents them to students. In the second, students look through magazines or newspapers for images and present them to the class. Both approaches demonstrate the main point: the framing of a shot is a subjective act that can affect the viewer's knowledge or understanding. Method 1: 1. Show students the following close-up image (from a United Nations photo, taken by Austri Fletcher) and ask them to tell you what they think they know about the these camel-riders and their story from this image:
2. Show students the following wide-shot that the close-up was taken from. Ask them to consider the following questions:
• How does this new view change the story? • What was it like to see the close-up of the camel riders first, and then the wide shot that shows the city in the background? • How would your reaction change if you saw the wide shot first, then the close up?
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Method 2: For this method, you will need strips of paper and tape that can be used to frame an image, to block out parts of a picture that students don’t want to show right away. 1. Provide students with magazines that contain many pictures, such as a travel magazine. Ask them to work in groups, and to find a picture that contains an interesting close-up within the picture. 2. Ask students to use their framing strips to explore different framings for parts of the photo. 3. Ask students to choose one close-up framing to present to the class. 4. Proceed with the exercise as in Method 1, allowing each group to present its picture.
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Exercise 2: Scene Analysis
Description In this exercise, students watch a short video scene and identify the component shots using the building blocks of basic shot language, as described in the previous section. The National Film Board of Canada makes a significant portion of its film library available online. This is a tremendous resource for teachers with a limited budget or limited access to a film library. This exercise makes use of clips available online from the National Film Board, but these can be replaced by other films if you have them available. Recommended: National Film Board of Canada: Educational Resources; Arctic Mission; Banks Island to Vancouver: use either Full Sail Ahead or Tuktoaktuk’s School (http://www.onf.ca/aventures/sedna/arcticmission/ma_expedition/video.html).
Instructions: 1. Give students a copy of the Scene Analysis Worksheet. 2. Play the selected clip, asking them to make quick notes on their handout sheets, specifying for each shot they see an identifier (such as CU or WS) and a quick description, for example, “CU: boy’s face”, or “WS: band playing”. 3. Repeat the clip once or twice, if needed, to give students a chance to fill in the shots. 4. Scroll through the clip, stopping at each shot, asking students how they identified the shot. Note that it is likely that everyone will agree on some shots but may disagree on others. This underscores that while there is a universal shot language, there are still judgments and personal perceptions to deal with when communicating with others about shots. 5. Ask students to look at their “shot list” and consider the order of shots.
• Do they notice any particular patterns or tendencies?
• Note that the change from one shot to the next is called a “cut.” Were there any cuts students found particularly pleasing? Disturbing?
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Handout 1.2.a: The Grammar of Film Language Shots described by image frame Shot Type Description Example Wide Shot The wide shot shows a subject in (WS) relation to its overall surroundings. Generally, the camera has been positioned some distance from the subject.
Here, the camera is on the sidelines of the parade; the shot encompasses the Gombey dancers, some of the surroundings, and even some of the spectators.
Establishing The establishing shot, usually also Shot (ES or a wide shot, sets up the location or estab shot) geography of a particular scene, usually at the beginning of a sequence, to provide context or set up a scene or story.
This extremely wide shot of Hamilton’s waterfront, shot from the ferry, establishes that we are in Bermuda’s capital.
Master Shot The master shot, usually also a The camera rolls through an entire Gombey wide shot, shows a complete dance sequence; the footage covers all the action. version of the action in scene. Medium In the medium shot, the subject and Shot (MS) surrounding scenery are given equal weight.
While one Gombey dancer is central to this image, other participants in the parade are equally visible.
Close-Up A close-up shows a lot of detail but (CU) little or no surroundings. A close- up is the most emotional of shots. With people, you start to get a sense of what they are feeling. Close-ups are also useful for transitions between scenes or very different shots. In this close-up, the dancer’s mask and gestures are the complete focus. Background details are not decipherable.
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Shots described by camera angle Shot Description Example Type Neutral, The camera is looking at or “Eye the subject from a neutral Level” angle. This is the angle Shot used by more factual programs, like News to maintain a feeling of objectivity. The camera is set at the same height as the sailor’s eyes. High The camera is placed Could range from an extreme “birds-eye” view to a slight Angle above the subject’s eye- raising of the camera in relation to the subject. Shot level. A high angle shot (HA) tends to make the viewer feel that the subject is smaller or less powerful. The camera looks down from the shore at the kayaker.
Low The camera is placed Could range from a very low “worms-eye” view to a slight Angle below the subject's eye- lowering of the camera in relation to the subject. Shot (LA) level. A low angle shot tends to exaggerate the size of a subject, making the viewer feel that the subject is more powerful. The camera is almost on the ground, looking up at the sailor on a skateboard.
Dutch The camera is tilted on its Angle axis in relation to the Shot subject, so that vertical lines angle left or right. This has become common with music videos, MTV, and other contemporary image-makers. When shown on a screen, the sailor in this shot will appear to be tilted, on an angle.
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Axis and direction Concept Description Example Scene The invisible line between Two people are having a conversation in a restaurant, Axis subjects in a shot sitting across the table from each other talking face to face. If you were standing to the side and listening to them (or maybe sitting at a third seat at a square table) your attention would be pulled back and forth as each person spoke, along an invisible line between each of those two subjects.
Camera The relationship of the camera A video camera is recording a scene for a Axis (and likewise the viewer) to the documentary about a tennis player; two athletes face subjects in the film. The line from each other in a tennis match. By respecting the axis, the camera to the subjects is a key the video helps viewers keep track of which player tool for helping viewers to has made certain shots and points. understand what's happening in a shot and how different elements of a scene relate to one another.
Screen Screen direction describes the The camera moves from left to right across a school Direction direction of movement in a frame, yard, from a group of children playing ball with each whether right to left, up and other, to a child standing along, watching. down, or diagonally.
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Camera Movement Concept Description Zoom In/Out A zoom refers to the illusion of moving closer to or farther away from a subject using the zoom lens. Pan Right/Left When you pan the camera, you swivel the camera sideways, which gives the feel of moving from right to left or left to right. On a storyboard, a pan would be indicated by arrows and “pan right” or “pan left.” Tilt Up/Down For a tilt, you would swivel the camera up or down, revealing what lies at the top or bottom of the shot. You would indicate a tilt with arrows and “tilt up” or “tilt down.” Tracking or The camera is moved by placing the tripod on a wheeled dolly or on tracks that move Dolly Shot along the length of your scene. These technologies are pretty expensive, but a creative filmmaker can find inexpensive alternatives: a wheelchair, a bicycle, etc. Just be careful for the sake of the equipment and the crew.
Additional elements of shot language Concept Description Example Point-of- In a point-of-view shot, A scene begins with a wide shot of a person standing on a View Shot the camera is place dock. The next shots cuts to a close-up of that person's (POV) closed to the line of sight smiling face. Next, with the camera placed about where the of one of the film's person is standing, is a view of a boat pulling into the “characters,” implying dock, with a woman and three children smiling and that we are seeing what waving. The final shot is a medium shot of the first person that person is seeing. waving back. The implication is that we are seeing the boat arriving through the eyes of the person on the dock. Cutaway A cutaway takes the A person waits inside of the Ferry Terminal on a rainy day. shot viewer away from the We see a WS and MS of the person sitting on a bench, main action of the scene. reading a magazine and glancing up occasionally. The third shot in the sequence is a cutaway shot of a big clock on the wall, which reveals that the person is looking at the clock. Two-shot A shot of two people Two senior school teachers present their beautifully (2S) together in the frame. painted Bermuda Onion.
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Handout 1.2.b: Project: Telling a Story in Pictures You are going to tell a story about your life, using only still photographs, no words. You can take 24 pictures; you should use at least 5 different types of shots. Choose something that you care about and plan carefully – you want your viewers to follow your story only from the pictures, without any explanation from you. Use these 24 boxes to help you plan out your shots, and the space below for descriptions, such as “CU my eyes”, “WS my house”, or “MS my cat looking out of window”.
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Handout 1.2.c: Scene Analysis Worksheet
Film Title: ______
Scene Description: ______
Shot # Type of Shot Description
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Handout 1.2.d: “The Camera Eye” The lens of a camera acts much as the lens in our eye. While the light seen by our eye travels to our brain and is interpreted as shapes and colors, the light that travels through the camera lens is recorded either on film or electronically onto tape (although the camera still needs our brain to decipher these images.)
Camera lens viewing an object Human eye viewing an object
Analog recording pattern
Digital recording pattern
Timecode Diagram
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Handout 1.2.e: Camera Workshop Checklist
Questions to ask yourself concerning the camera well before you go out on your video shoot: 1. Check your equipment the day before you go out on your shoot. Is everything there and in good working order? 2. Are your camera batteries fully charged? If not, make sure you charge them at least the day before! 3. Do you have enough tape stock for your shoot? 4. Are there any special items or props that you’ll need?
Checklist for setting up the camera: 1. Place battery on or in camera (as required by your camera). 2. Insert tape into camera 3. Place tripod plate on camera 4. Set up tripod at the height you would like to start with; secure camera on tripod 5. Check camera lens for dirt or dust; clean if necessary with lens cleaning cloth and special lens cleaning solution only! 6. Turn camera on; make sure setting for focus is on manual 7. White balance the camera 8. Set up your shot and focus the camera 9. Hit record and start shooting!
Some notes about protocols with your crew: Everyone is familiar with the phrase “Lights, camera, action!” On a set – whether for documentary, narrative fiction, or music video – it’s important for the crew and the subjects or actors to know when the camera is rolling and when you’re rehearsing or just getting things ready.
1. The director should check with the subject to make sure he or she is ready. 2. The director can then tell the cameraperson to “roll tape.” 3. The cameraperson will let the director know when the camera is “up to speed,” which is indicated by the steady rolling of timecode in the viewfinder or on the monitor. 4. The director will then let the subject know that it’s ok to go ahead with the action or ask a question to start the interview – whatever has been planned. 5. The director should let the crew and subjects know when the tape stops rolling, by saying “cut.”
60 : The Language of Film and Video 1 Unit 3: The Soundtrack Human beings tend to be visually oriented, relying heavily Expected duration: 2 days on what they see for information. We don’t notice sounds, or we ignore them – especially subtle, everyday sounds. But Resources: sound is an essential part of a film, no matter what the genre. Filmmaker’s Timeline This unit will encourage students to use their ears as well as Film Clip: Day After Day their eyes when watching and making films or videos. They will learn about the basic elements that make up a Handouts: soundtrack, about the art and science of sound recording, and 1.3.a Sound Science about the basic functioning of the microphone 1.3.b Sound Stories Homework Key Concepts 1.3.c Microphone Science • The ability to record sound and combine it with film and and Technology video has developed since the late 1800s. It has transformed film from a purely visual medium to a Equipment: unique, multi-faceted medium. Camera, tripod, microphone, • A movie soundtrack – whether documentary, fiction, or headphones animation – combines sound effects, music, and voice DVD player / LCD projector (narration, dialogue, voice-over). • Sound can have a powerful effect on how we perceive Materials: visual information – including movie footage. glass bottle, can with plastic lid • A microphone acts like a mechanical “ear,” receiving and a “drumstick” sound waves and translating them into electrical signals Large sheets of paper and that can be recorded on tape or other media. markers • Vocabulary words defined at the end of the unit. DV Tape Stock Key Skills • Recording sound with an external, on-board microphone. Outline class type of content Content materials equipment 1 Presentation & How does sound affect what Handout 1.3.a: Discussion we see? Sound Science Exercise 1 What’s It Really About? Film Clip: Day DVD player After Day Large paper or blackboard Presentation & What is sound? Filmmakers Discussion How is sound recorded? Timeline (science) How has sound recording developed? (history) Exercise 2 Sound Stories Handout 1.3.b: (Homework) Sound Stories 2 Workshop Technology II: Sound Handout 1.3.c: Camera, Tripod, Recording and the Microphone Microphone, DV Microphone Science And Tape Technology
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Presentation & Discussion: Sound Recording: Science and History
Sound wave energy, whether it is generated by human speech or microwave ovens, is so physical it actually heats the space in which it is transmitted. Think of all the knowledge and emotion communicated through the medium of sound. It can inform or elevate us, make us feel sad, inspired or soothed. It can agitate us, create a sense of serene tranquility, or evoke mental pictures. —Bernie Krause, Wild Soundscapes, p. 8
How does sound affect what we see? Sound is as important to a film and its story as the pictures are. A film soundtrack is composed of a number of different elements: sound effects, music, and voice. A soundtrack might include human voice in the form of dialogue, a narrator, an interview, or creative elements such as poems, chants, or rhymes. In the early days of filmmaking, limited technology meant that film and sound were recorded separately and then linked together later. As a result, a great deal of preparation and thought were required for the pieces to be synchronized, or “in sync.” But even today, when we can easily record sound directly on to videotape, the quality and creative use of sound is an essential element of effective filmmaking. The first step toward a good video soundtrack is learning how to record sound well during production. Sound recorded with a microphone while shooting the picture is called location sound, or production sound. This sound provides the basis for the soundtrack. Elements added during editing fill out the soundtrack and make the viewer's experience even more rewarding. {Recommended: Exercise 1A – What's it Really About?} What is sound? Handout 1.3.a: Sound Science includes diagrams of the concepts detailed below. Most everyone has dropped a pebble in the water, watching ripples move further and further from the center. Sound occurs in much the same way. Waves are generated by small, rapid changes in the air around us – specifically in atmospheric pressure – that produce sensations in our ears that we call “sound.” Acoustics is the science of sound. Some important concepts to understand, as you record sound for your video:
• Volume: the loudness of a sound, determined by the amplitude of the sound wave. Amplitude is how broad the wave is – how much air each individual wave displaces. A decibel is the unit of measure for sound waves. The human ear can hear very soft sounds at 0 decibels (0db) Sustained exposure to sounds with an amplitude of 85 db or more can cause damage to human ears. More extensive information about sound, hearing, and hearing loss can be found at http://www.dangerousdecibels.org/howwehear.cfm
• Pitch: How high or low a sound is. This is determined by the frequency of the sound wave, or how often a wave repeats in a second. This is often referred to as cycles per second. The note “A,” used by orchestras for tuning, is 440 cycles per second. Human ears allow most people to hear sounds in the frequency range of about 32 cycles per second to 15-16,000 cycles per second, a range that narrows as we get older. Some frequencies are outside our hearing range, but can be heard by other animals. The combined frequency and amplitude of a sound wave creates a wavelength.
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One common phenomenon, the Doppler Effect, gives a sense of how sound waves behave and how we hear sound. This effect is very apparent when an ambulance drives past you with its siren on. Naturally, as the ambulance gets closer, the sound gets louder. But it also seems to change pitch, sounding higher and dropping lower as it passes by.
• Steady State and Percussive sounds: Vibrations that set up sound waves might be created by such different mechanisms as wind running through the mast of a sailboat or by two cars crashing together. The sound of the wind, which is continual and doesn’t seem to have a beginning or end (as long as the wind is blowing), is known as a steady state sound. The car crash, caused by the striking of one object against another, is called a percussive sound. Clapping your hands is another example of a percussive sound. The sound of traffic in the background is a steady state sound. Blowing across the top of a bottle could be either percussive or steady state, depending upon whether you blow continually or in short bursts.
How is sound recorded? The mechanisms to record sound were developed fairly recently. The first “recordings” of sound were cylinders used in music boxes. Thomas Edison created the first Phonograph recording of the human voice in 1878 – his lab-assistant reciting the nursery rhyme Mary Had a Little Lamb. Now we encounter recorded sound in many formats and through many media – on the radio, in movies, on mp3 players. While the format we listen to may be varied, the recording starts with the same basic tool: a microphone. When recording sound, a microphone receives sound waves and translates them into electronic signals that are recorded onto a tape or other medium. Similarly our ears translate sound waves into signals that are transmitted to and translated by our brain.
How the microphone works: Sound waves hit the diaphragm and make it vibrate. These vibrations are converted into electrical signals that travel through wires and are recorded today on tape, disc or hard drives. These recordings can be used in a variety of ways as part of a digital video soundtrack, increasing the impact of the images and story.
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How has sound recording developed? In 1899, the first gramophone factory opened in Hanover, Germany; gramophone records would accompany Captain Scott on his Antarctic expedition in 1910. But it wasn't until the 1920s that inventors created a successful system for projecting film that played sound and picture together at the same speed. The first commercially successful sound film was The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson, which was released in 1928. Originally, sound was recorded separately from the film. Equipment was often heavy and bulky. In order to make sure sound and picture ran at the same speed, the camera and tape recorder were linked by cables that controlled the speed of both machines. Eventually, a crystal was developed that kept the tape recorder running at the proper speed, so that the camera operator and sound recordist could be independent of one another. After the film was developed and a workprint created, sound was transferred to magnetic tape with sprockets, and the painstaking process of “syncing up” would begin. The editor (or more likely the assistant) would find the clap slate – the black and white board indicating scene and take – on the picture, marking the frame where the clapper closed. She would then find the first frame of the corresponding clap sound on the “mag film,” as it was called. The editor would add filler to the sound track or picture to match them up. This had to be done for every shot. After the workprint of the film was edited, additional tracks of effects and music were added, creating multiple tracks that had to be mixed together in a special studio. This final soundtrack was then printed on an optical track on the edge of the final print of the film. This system is still used for movies shot and edited on film (although much film is transferred digital tape or disks for editing. Videotape allows the picture and sound to be recorded together on the same tape and played back in sync. In addition, many camcorders include an “on-board” microphone, built in to the camera, although an external microphone improves the quality of the sound. While this makes recording sound easier and creates much less work in the editing room, it doesn't guarantee a good soundtrack. A good soundtrack still requires careful attention to how sound is recorded and often requires that additional elements be built into the soundtrack. Significant developments in the science and technology of film sound and movies are noted on the Filmmakers Timeline. For more extensive information about the history of recording sound for the movies – including articles and timelines – go to http://filmsound.org/film-sound-history/. Filmsound.org has numerous useful sound-related resources and links on its homepage, including “Film Sound Clichés,” frequently asked questions, film music links, and articles by renowned sound designers Randy Thom and Walter Murch (also an accomplished editor.) {Recommended Exercise 1B – Sound Stories. Can be done as homework, in class, or as an assignment for the Filmmakers Journal.}
64 Module 1, Unit 3: The Soundtrack
Technology Workshop II: Sound Recording and the Microphone
In this workshop, students will learn how to use an on-board external microphone for recording sound and will learn some basics of the science of sound and sound recording. 1. Review: Sound Science and Introduction to Microphone Handout 1.3.c: Microphone Science and Technology provides a sound/microphone review diagram, diagrams of important concepts for the technology workshop, and basic instructions for hooking up an external condenser microphone. 2. Hands-on Work: Have each team assemble its camera. Have students follow your instructions to place the microphone on the camera, connect any cables between the microphone and camera, and connect the headphones to the headphone jack. Have each group orient its camera and microphone in the same direction. One student from each group should be under headphones, with all cameras in standby mode. Walk around the perimeter of the room, telling a story continuously, keeping voice at a steady level. Ask the student with the headphones to notice what happens as you change position in relation to the microphone. Where is the sound louder? Where is it softer? Ask the student to rate the 4 positions around the microphone (back/front/left side/right side) from loudest to softest. Continue circuit of the room, having a different student put on the headset each time you reach the front of the room. This demonstrates the microphone pickup pattern. The handout shows several microphone pickup patterns. Ask students if they can identify the pattern of the microphones they are using. 3. Group Discussion: Have students listen to the ambient sound, or ambience, of the room – with and without the headphones on. Discuss how these background sounds might affect your videotaping – for example, what happens if someone is playing a cd in the background while you're trying to record an interview or videotape someone in an activity. Discuss listening for background sounds, like airplanes, hall noise, busses or trucks, dogs barking – things that may distract viewers from the main focus of your shot, and strategies for improving a sound recording situation (asking someone to turn off the radio, putting the dog outside, closing doors and windows in a noisy location, etc.) Discuss procedures for recording sound with different sized crews. If the cameraperson has the headphones on, he or she will need to listen for any sound problems. If the crew is large enough, a second student can wear the headphones, listening for quality of the sound, and any problems. The crewmembers should work out a way to communicate about sound problems, and what to do if the person monitoring sound hears a problem serious enough to require stopping the camera. 4. Setting Sound Levels: While most camcorders have an automatic setting for controlling the volume of the sound being recorded, most allow you to override this and to set sound levels manually. Consult the camera manual to do this. For digital sound, the optimal sound level is -12 db. Digital sound will distort, or break up, if it is recorded at too high a level. Too low a level means that the ratio between the important sounds of voice or action, will be too low compared to the background. 5. Recording Voice: Choose a poem or short reading for students to use for sound recording experiments. Have students experiment with recording their voices at different levels and distances. Rotating responsibility for camera, sound, and performance, have them read the passage very close to the mic, medium distance, far away, with loud voices, normal voice, or in a whisper. Discuss how the recorded sound changes in these different situations.
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Wrap up: Vocabulary and Review
Acoustics Percussive Sound The science of sound A sound with a sharp or distinct Ambience, or Ambient Sound beginning, often created by the striking Sound that is inherent to a location, such together of two objects as the sound of crashing waves at the Pitch beach or the hum of traffic on a busy How high or low a sound is, determined street. by the frequency of the sound wave Decibel Sound Level A unit of measure for sound amplitude, The loudness at which a sound is being or volume recorded Diaphragm Sound Wave A membrane in the microphone that A change in air pressure that creates the vibrates, much like an eardrum sensation of sound in the ear. Location or Production Sound Soundtrack Sound recorded either on videotape or Sound effects, music and voice on a medium synchronized with film, at combined to create the audio portion of the same time the visual image is a film or video recorded Steady State Sound Microphone A sound created by continuous A device used to capture sound waves vibrations and convert them to electrical signals Sync Sound (synchronized sound) Microphone Patterns Sound that matches the picture exactly, The direction in which a microphone usually the location sound. The term “hears” sound; also called the “pick up” “in-sync” refers to picture and sound pattern. These may include omni- running together properly. directional, cardioid, hypercardioid, or Volume “shotgun.” (See Handout 1.3.b) How loud or soft a sound is, measured in decibels Module review questions 1. How are sound waves created? 2. What is volume? 3. What is pitch? 4. Define steady-state sound. Define percussive sound. Give three examples of each. 5. Draw a diagram of a microphone and give a brief explanation of how it works; compare it to a human ear. 6. Draw and label three different microphone patterns.
Filmmakers Journal As you watch movies or television, make notes about the sound. Do you think sound effects were added to the existing sound? What impact does the sound have on you? How does the sound make a scene seem more real to you? More fantastic?
66 Module 1, Unit 3: The Soundtrack Exercise 1: What's It Really About?
Description This exercise examines how sound affects our understanding of what we see. Students examine how sound design – the weaving together of audio elements – affects how the visual image and story are perceived and understood. For this exercise, we recommend using the first 5 minutes of the 1962 film Day after Day, produced by Clement Perron at the National Film Board of Canada (http://www.nfb.ca/collection/films/fiche/index.php?id=11534).
Instructions 1. Show students the film clip, with the sound turned off. Ask students to consider two questions while the film plays: • What sounds would you expect to hear with these images? • What do you think this film is about? As students call out their ideas, jot down answers to each in lists on large paper, chalkboard, or smartboard. 2. Return to the beginning of the film or other selected segment and play the segment with sound. Ask students to note how their responses change with the addition of sound. • Are they hearing the sounds they expected to hear? • What were some of the sounds they heard (include sound effects, music, voice)? • How does the addition of these sounds change the story for them? 3. Tell students a little bit about Day After Day. Day after Day was produced by the National Film Board of Canada in 1962 by Clement Perron, of Studio G, the French-language division of the National Film Board. It caused quite a stir! The filmmakers documented life at a paper mill in a small Canadian town, recording and editing what seemed to be a fairly straightforward documentary about making paper. But when the soundtrack was added, it took on an entirely different character. Here’s how the NFB describes the film today: A film produced in 1962 that looks at life in a small paper mill town in Quebec where most of the 6500 inhabitants derive their livelihood from the one industry. Day after day, the same work, the same hours, the same machines, the same product, until the entire routine of living becomes but a reflection of the dominant routine of the mill. This is the film’s theme as it probes to the very core of company-town life. The camera-work is also of note: the film was shot with an Éclair NPR camera, one of the first light-weight 16 mm film cameras that could be hand-held. While the camera now would seem heavy and hard to manage compared to our small digital video cameras, it was a major technological innovation that allowed the filmmakers to create a fluid, intimate feel with hand-held camerawork.
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Exercise 2: Sound Stories
Handout 1.3.b: Sound Stories Homework encourages students to become more aware of sounds around them – the ambient sound or ambience – and to experience sound as part of a story. The homework assignment can also be done as an in-class exercise. If done in class, hand students a piece of paper as they come in, and ask them to students settle at their desks, close their eyes, listen and jot down sounds. As the teacher, you can add sounds to the natural soundscape – a computer turning on or off, writing on a chalkboard or whiteboard, keys rattling – anything that might trigger imagination. Ask students to open their eyes and relate what sounds they heard. Could they identify the sounds, or were some a mystery? How was listening with their eyes closed different than with eyes open? Then proceed with writing assignment, as in-class writing time, as homework, or as a Filmmaker’s Journal assignment.
68 Module 1, Unit 3: The Soundtrack Handout 1.3.a: Sound Science
Sound Waves are generated by rapid changes in the air pressure.
Volume is the loudness of a sound. Amplitude is how broad each wave is, how much air is displaced by a sound wave. Amplitude determines the volume of a sound.
Pitch is how high or low a sound is. Frequency is how often a sound repeats in a unit of time. Frequency determines the pitch of a sound.
Steady State Sound Percussive Sound Sounds created by continuous vibrations Sounds created by objects striking each are called steady state sounds. other are called percussive sounds.
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Handout 1.3.b: Sound Stories Homework
1. Sit quietly with this paper and a pencil, preferably outside or in an interesting place.
2. Close your eyes and listen very carefully for 5 minutes.
3. As you listen, keep your eyes closed and jot down every sound that you hear in the space below. If you don’t know exactly what the sound is, describe it as best you can. Don’t worry about neat writing – these notes are just for you.
4. After you open your eyes, look at the sounds on the paper. What do they make you think of? Using these sounds as central elements, write a short, half- to one-page story, scene, or poem that incorporates the sounds you’ve heard. Try to emphasize the visual scene implied by the sounds. The scene can be true or fictional – be as imaginative as you like, but think carefully about the how you express in writing the sounds that you’ve heard! Try to imagine that your writing is heading for the big screen!
70 Module 1, Unit 3: The Soundtrack Handout 1.3.c: Microphone Science and Technology
A microphone acts much like our ear. Sounds waves strike a membrane that vibrates, and the vibrations are converted into electrical signals that can be recorded on tapes or other media.
Microphone “pick up” patterns Different microphones “hear” sound in specific patterns; the different patterns are useful for different kinds of recording and situations.
Omni-directional Cardiod Records evenly in all directions Records in heart pattern, front and sides
Hypercardioid “Shotgun” Records heart pattern in front, Most focused recording pattern, often and around barrel of microphone intended for longer distance recording
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: The Language of Film and Video 1 Unit 4: The Language of Light
Just as we need light to see well, a camera needs light to
record an image. Sometimes available light – sun or lamps in Expected duration: 2 days a room – are adequate for documentary filmmaking. At other
times, filmmakers must supplement existing light in order to Resources: create the desired “look”, using lights designed specifically Filmmaker’s Timeline for film or video. This unit will familiarize students with basic concepts behind light and lighting. It will also introduce Handouts: students to equipment that will be used in the course. 1.4.a Art and Science of Light 1.4.b The Light Kit and 3- Key Concepts point Lighting • The way light falls on an object affects the quality of an image and the composition of a shot. It has an impact Equipment: on how a shot makes the viewer feel. Light Kit • Light is composed of waves of electromagnetic Camera, tripod, microphone, radiation that we perceive as different colors, headphones depending on their wavelengths. DVD player • A camera receives light waves and interprets them as images, much as our eyes do. Materials: • Vocabulary words defined at the end of the unit. DV Tape Stock Key Skills • Lighting an interview subject using three lights: key, fill, and back light. • Evaluating available light and its adequacy for shooting a scene.
Outline class type of content content materials equipment 1 Presentation & The art and science of light discussion (science, craft) Exercise 1 Lighting Analysis B&W and Color DVD Player Film Clips Presentation Safety: working with lights and Discussion and electricity 2 Workshop Technology III: Available Handout 1.4.a: Light Kit, Light and the Light Kit “Three-point” Camera Setup, Lighting DV tape, Deck and Monitor
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Presentation & Discussion: The Art and Science of Light
Cinema consists of drawing the audience's attention to the significant elements and eliminating the superfluous. What are the means we use to do this? I will mention three: • Framing, which eliminates from the start what we don't want to show the audience • Lighting, which leaves in darkness or shadow whatever might distract the audience's attention from the subject • The movement of the camera, which, by heading toward the essential, will sweep aside the superfluous as it goes All of this corresponds to our own way of perceiving the world, for we eliminate from our field of vision everything that does not hold or attract our attention: when we're looking for a phone number in our address book, our eyes move quickly past all the others till they light on the one we want. Brightly lighted subjects always draw our attention. When we are shifting our gaze from one object to another without letting anything in between interfere. —Andrzej Wajda, Double Vision: My Life in Film, p.85
What is light and how does it affect your camera? Light is made up of bundles of electromagnetic energy, or quanta, that travel through space (even in a vacuum), much as waves travel through water. These traveling waves of energy come in varying lengths, including many wavelengths that we can’t see with our eyes. Light is measured in units of cycles, or waves, per second, also called Hertz (Hz). Light that the human eye can see ranges from 430 trillion Hz, which we see as red, to 750 trillion Hz, which we see as violet. Filmmakers refer to these different frequencies as color temperature. Light that radiates at lower frequencies – that we see as red or orange – is referred to as “warm,” despite the fact that it actually has less energy. Light that radiates at higher frequencies – that we see as blue or violet – is referred to as “cool.” What we call “white” light is a actually a combination of all of the colors, or frequencies. Sir Isaac Newton first confirmed this when he passed sunlight through a glass prism, which separated the light into its individual wavelengths to create a rainbow. The same effect, known as refraction, is at work when light shines through raindrops and we see a rainbow in the sky. Unless light is passing through something like a prism or a raindrop, our eyes cannot identify the many colors composing it. Instead, we generally see most light as “white,” even when one frequency contained in the light might be particularly strong. But although our eyes can’t really tell the difference, a camera can. If you videotape outdoors in sunlight, the footage will tend to have a blue tint (because the sun emits more high frequency wavelengths than low frequency). Indoors, under lamps used commonly in your home, called tungsten lamps, the camera will “see” orange. Fluorescent lighting creates a green tint to your footage – not terribly attractive on your interview subject’s face! To solve this problem, you need to tell the video camera what “true” white is, using a process known as white balance. Most camcorders have presets that auto-correct for specific lighting circumstances like sunlight and tungsten light. Many cameras include a general feature to white balance automatically (although not always accurately). The symbol is used on cameras to indicate that you are using a manual “white balance”.
74 Module 1, Unit 4: Lighting and the Light Kit
To white balance manually, take a pure white piece of paper, poster board, or cloth. Hold it up in the area that you will be videotaping, zoom in on the white surface, and focus. Then, press down on the button with the symbol. The symbol will flash on the lcd screen or in the viewfinder. When it stops flashing, your camera should be white balanced. For specific instructions for your camera, check your camera manual. When you look in the viewfinder or on the monitor, it’s important to trust your eyes. If the picture looks blue or orange to you, double-check the camera’s white balance. You might even notice that the light on one side of your frame has an orange tint from a tungsten lamp and the other side is tinted blue, from sun coming in through a window. It can be tricky to get the balance just right; sometimes filmmakers end up having to make corrections to their lighting by placing color-balanced gels over their lights to even out the color temperature in the shot. You might have to turn off practicals or overheads that are affecting the color of the light. Two additional concepts critical to understanding lighting are: the quality of the light, or coherence, and the intensity of the light, or how bright the light is. These two aspects combine to create what filmmakers often refer to as hard or soft light. Hard light might come from noonday sun, an unfrosted light bulb, or a focused spotlight. Soft light might come through a screen or thin, light material, from a frosted light bulb, or through special materials made for film and photography to diffuse hard light. Lighting in an art that requires a great deal of experience to master. But there are a number of useful resources online on the science and art of light that will help you to get started. How Stuff Works provides accessible text articles and videos about the physics of light, at http://www.howstuffworks.com/light.htm. A thorough course in light and lighting for video starts at http://cybercollege.com/tvp027.htm in module 27, continuing through module 28. Both modules include detailed information, examples and a “quick quiz.” Information from this online course will be useful in looking at how filmmakers use light, as well as the technical issues covered above. The Physics Classroom provides for more detailed information about the physics of light, color, and color temperature (http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/GBSSCI/PHYS/CLASS/light/lighttoc.html).
How do filmmakers use light? A cinematographer's style of lighting is how he expresses himself. That’s how the individual personality comes out. —Mario Tosi, Masters of Light, p. 233
Hollywood cinematographers spend a great deal of time lighting their scenes. By using varying light sources in different ways, filmmakers evoke different moods on the screen. While this is visible in contemporary color films, the importance of light is even more apparent in classic black and white films. Look at the way light falls on the characters, on objects, or on the background. Notice how the mood of the film is reflected in the light. Effectively lighting film or video requires practice, patience, and a willingness to experiment. Although many student films (and other documentary films as well) are made using whatever light source happens to be available, it is equally important for student and documentary filmmakers to understand the principles of good lighting. Often, it’s to the filmmaker’s advantage to use available light. For example, sunlight pouring through large windows might
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dominate a room. Or a skylight might brighten the background. A simple table lamp might help to set a mood or increase light in a situation in which extra lights and equipment might intimidate the subject or make him feel uncomfortable. Understanding basic principles of lighting can help you make good decisions for your film. While there are no formulas for successful lighting, there are guidelines and practices that will get you started.
The Basics of Three-Point Lighting
Three-point lighting is based on being able to light your scene using three main lights: a key light, a fill light, and a back light. While you can use more or fewer lights, this is a basic configuration for understanding how light shapes and illuminates your image. Key Light The key light provides the main light on your subject. It highlights the shape or form of your subject matter, revealing detail and giving your subject dimension. Sunlight is often used as the key light, but when an artificial light source is used (indoors, for example, or at night), as a general rule it should be placed at a 30 to 45 degree angle to the right or left of the center of your subject. If you are lighting a person, this will also give your subject a little bit of sparkle in the eye. You can also place the key light slightly higher than the camera, for more depth in the image and to reduce discomfort for your subject from light shining in his or her eyes. Fill Light The key light will create shadows on and behind your subject. Shadows play an important role in film by adding dimension; However, too much shadow will obscure important details. A fill light is used to fill in the shadows – not completely, just enough to give some shape and depth, but not so much that the scene looks “flat”. Generally, the fill light should be placed about 90 degrees from the key light. It should come from a softer, less intense light source. Contrast between the key and fill lights creates a sense of three dimensions. The difference in the brightness of these two lights is known as the lighting ratio. Back Light A back light separates your subject from the background and gives your shot added depth by lighting your subject from behind. For an interview subject, you might want the back light to softly light your subject’s hair, creating a gentle halo effect. The back light is usually placed above the camera, directly behind the subject, and, like the fill light, is a soft, less intense light. Following are some additional lighting considerations: Background Light It is sometimes necessary to add light to the area behind your subject, to prevent the background from falling into darkness. A background light is angled from the side, toward the background, and is generally a soft, even light. In a small space, or if you have a limited number of lights available, your back light and background light could be combined.
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“Practicals” A practical is any light that appears in the frame, such as a candle or a home lamp. These can add a bit of light to your subject or provide a particular feeling in your shot, but be aware of color balance and how the practical interacts with any other lights you have set up. If you have a lamp on the subject’s left side but put the key light on the right, this might be confusing to the viewer. Consistency – making sure the source and your added light give the viewer the same message – is essential. Bounced, or Reflected Light Sometimes a light source doesn’t accomplish the effect you are aiming for on its own. Filmmakers often reflect the light off a large white surface to amplify or cushion the light to achieve a desired effect. There are special film and video reflectors available for lighting, but a large piece of white foam core or heavy posterboard can be just as effective. Reflected light can be especially useful as a fill: by holding the white surface approximately 90 degrees from the key light source, you can reflect a soft fill into shadows on a person’s face. Have students experiment with a reflector; notice the difference in the light on the subject with or without the reflector. Important lighting considerations for documentary filmmaking As a documentary filmmaker, you rarely have the same ability to control the lighting in your shots as a feature filmmaker would. But there are a few things you can do to make sure you are using the available light as effectively as possible. When you are making decisions about lighting, ask yourself the following questions: 1) Is there an available or apparent light source for this scene? Whenever you can, check out your location ahead of time and note any windows, doors, or lights you can’t turn off. Decide how you will orient your subject to make best use of these and what you need to do to supplement these sources. After you scout your location, make a plan for using or supplementing the available light sources in your location. For example, if you are shooting indoors on a bright sunny day in a room with big windows, the sunlight in the room might provide an effective key light. If you’re shooting on a cloudy day or in a room with small windows, you might need to use a lamp or other interior lighting fixture, depending on the mood you are trying to create. Or you might need to supplement the light with one or two lights from your light kit. The more you can work with the existing light, the easier your setup will be – but do what makes your shots look best, given your resources, time, and location. 3) How much time do you have to set up? In most cases, keeping things simple will give you the best result. If time is limited, it is especially important for you to look for ways to use available light rather than attempting to set up your own lights. Have a plan for your crew – who is responsible for what tasks, including lighting – before you begin to set up. 4) Is your subject nervous or uneasy? Lights often add to people’s uneasiness, particularly when they are being interviewed or are not used to being in front of the camera. Again, keep things simple, so that you can focus on putting your subject at ease and making him or her comfortable.
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Safety for using a light kit Film crews generally keep a collection of artificial lights on hand to supplement available light. This collection is referred to as a light kit. While the exact makeup of light kits vary, they will usually include a few lights of different styles and intensity, light stands, cables, and miscellaneous items such as plug adaptors, lighting gels, leather gloves, and clamps. When artificial lights are being used, a few basic rules will ensure everyone’s safety: 1. Most lights for video use quartz bulbs, which can break just from simple contact with the oils in skin. Be sure that when the bulbs are changed, the fresh bulb is handled only with a soft cloth or some other material that protects the lamp. Also: use caution when changing a newly burned-out bulb – it could still be very hot! 2. Leather or other heavy work gloves (one small and one large pair) should be included with the light kit to protect hands from burns when adjusting lights. Tungsten-halogen lamps, such as those used in the popular Lowell Omni and Tota lights, get very hot when left . 3. Make sure cables are secured out of the path of action; tape the cables down with gaffer tape if possible. Tucking the light cord underneath a leg of the light stand can help to prevent a light from falling over if a cord is accidentally tugged. It is also helpful to drape a small sandbag over the light stand leg to make it more secure. 4. Lights designed for film and video require more power than home lighting. There is a simple formula that students should learn that will tell them whether the circuitry at their location will safely run their lights. a) Find out which electrical outlets or plugs are available to you and note which circuits they are on (you may have to ask someone familiar with the location) b) Locate the fuse box or circuit breaker at the filming location and note the number of amperes, or amps, available on each circuit. Amps measure electrical current, specifically, the rate at which electricity flows through a circuit. c) Note the wattage for each of your lights (wattage is printed on the bulb). A watt is a unit of power that indicates how much energy is consumed by an electrical appliance when it is in use. d) The final factor in your formula is voltage, the electrical potential, or the force that causes electricity to flow through the circuit. In Bermuda and the United States, standard household voltage is between 110 and 120. e) Use the following formula to determine amps needed by your lights: watts divided by voltage = amps. If your voltage is between 110 and 120, assume a voltage of 100, which allows a safe margin. Your formula in Bermuda would be watts divided by 100 volts = amps.
For example, a 750 watt Lowell Tota Light would draw 7.5 amps (750 watts divided by 100 = 7.5 amps). A 500 watt Lowell Omni Light would draw 5 amps (500 watts divided by 100 = 5 amps).
f) Determine which outlets can be safely used to plug in your lights, based on the amps available and the amps needed. In the cases above, both Lowell lights could safely be plugged into a 20 amp circuit, if there was no additional draw from computers, lights, appliances or other electronic items. Be sure to check what else is on the circuit that cannot be turned off or unplugged.
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Technology Workshop III: Available Light and the Light Kit In this workshop, students will learn basic lighting techniques that can be used for interviews in Module 1, Unit 5. They will also learn to use a basic light kit. One camera will be needed to record the different workshop lighting setups. There are a wide variety of lights available for film and video, reflecting a wide range of budgets. A lightweight, compact kit that includes three lights of different intensities is ideal for students. The following workshop uses three commonly used lights made by the lighting company Lowell: the Tota-light (750 watts), the Omni-light (500 watts), and the Pro-light (250 watts). 1. Introduce your students to the Light Kit
Students should: a. Set up the camera (no sound needed) b. Work in small groups to set up each of the three lights on light stands. (If using Lowell lights: one Tota-light, one Omni-light, and one Pro-light.) c. Calculate the amps for each light. d. Review safety procedures. e. Arrange lights according to the basic lighting setup in Handout 1.4.b: “Three point” Lighting f. Plug in and turn on each light to make sure it works.
2. Practice session for three-point lighting
This exercise will help students to see and understand the role of each light as well as to observe changes that occur when the position or intensity of a light is changed. The diagrams for each workshop exercise are shown in Handout 1.4.b.
a. One student should act as the “interview subject” and sit in the “interviewee chair.” b. Other students should arrange the camera and lights in the configuration shown in the first diagram for the lighting exercises. Record 20 seconds of each lighting setup, with the “interview subject” talking to an “interviewer”. Repeat the exercise, adjusting the lights according to each diagram.
3. With the whole class, screen the footage recorded during these lighting exercises. Ask students to answer the following questions: a. What role does each light play in each different setup? b. What changes do you see as the lights are set differently? How would you describe the effect of each different lighting scenario? c. What do you like; what don’t you like? Why?
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Diagrams for Lighting Exercises i. backlight only (use Omni)
ii. key only; at eye level (use Tota, with screen)
iii. key only; elevated 45 degrees above camera level
iv. fill only (use Pro-light)
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v. key (elevated) and back light
vi. key (elevated) and fill
vii. fill and back light
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viii. key (elevated), fill, and back light
ix. fill light using white board, with light bounced from key light
x. intensity: key light only, moving closer and farther from subject
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Wrap-up: Vocabulary and Review Vocabulary Amperes (Amps) Fill Light the rate at which electrical current a light intended to soften some of the flows through a circuit shadows falling on a subject Available Light Intensity the term used by filmmakers for the amount of light that will fall on a sunlight or artificial light being used subject to light a film or video scene Key Light Back Light the main light source in a scene, a light that accents the back of a which gives the subject depth and subject, helping to separate it from the reveals detail background Light Coherence bundles of electromagnetic energy the “hard” or “soft” quality of the light called quanta, that travel in waves Color Temperature Voltage (Volts) the color of light, based on the electrical potential, or the frequency of the light wave electromotive force that moves electrical current through a circuit Contrast Watts the difference between the light and a unit of power indicating the amount dark areas of the frame of energy consumed by electrical appliance when turned on
Review Questions 1. Draw a lighting scenario that includes a key, fill, and back light, labeling the lights, camera position and the subject. Explain the role that each light plays. 2. What is color temperature? What should you do to compensate for an orange or blue tone on your video? 3. What is the formula for calculating the amount of power needed for your lighting design? 4. What is light? 5. List three safety procedures for working with lighting. Brief Essay Suggestion Without light, there would be no film or video; it is the basis for the recorded image. Yet there are creatures that live in such dark caves or so deep in the dark ocean that they don’t even have eyes. Write a one-page essay describing life in a world without light – and what would happen if that world were suddenly exposed to a bright light source (something like the sun). Filmmaker’s Journal This week, make notes and sketches documenting light that you encounter throughout the day. How does the light change from very early morning when you wake up to the time you walk in the doors of the school? What qualities does moonlight hold? What is the light like in your living room? In your classrooms? How does hard or soft light affect the look of people’s skin? How do different qualities of light make you feel? Be creative – draw pictures if you like. See how many different types of light you notice.
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Exercise 1: Lighting Analysis
Description Classic black and white films are especially useful for helping students to see and understand elements of film and video lighting. In this exercise, students will view a scene from a black and white film to focus on aspects of light that are harder to see in color. Citizen Kane, by Orsen Welles, provides a number of beautifully lit images for students to examine and is widely available, but other classic films can work as well. Use what you like and have on hand.
Instructions 1. Choose a short scene to play for students. 2. After playing the scene, pause the DVD on one frame and ask students to consider the following questions:
• What kind of mood does the lighting in this scene convey?
• What is the suggested source of the key light in the scene (sunlight, a window, a lamp, a fireplace, etc.)?
• What is the quality of the light?
• Are there any practicals in the scene? What role do they play?
• What time of day does the lighting suggest?
• Where do you think the key light was placed? 3. Ask students to make a simple schematic drawing of the lighting setup they imagine was used for the shot, including key, fill, back light and/or background light.
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Handout 1.4.a: “Three-point” Lighting
Basic three-point lighting
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: The Language of Film and Video
Expected duration: 5 days Unit 5: What's the Story? 1 Human beings have always gathered to share stories – be Resources: it chatting together around a fire, reading books in a
library, or sitting in darkened movie theaters. No matter Handouts: the medium, a good story has basic compelling elements. 1.5.a Interviewing Tips Some stories center on heroic journeys or fantastic 1.5.b Interview Project Planner events, but often the most interesting stories grow out of 1.5.c Observer Note Sheets our own everyday lives and communities. In this unit, students will explore basic elements of telling stories Equipment: through interviews. Students will apply knowledge Camera, tripod, microphone, gained throughout the module to a storytelling project headphones that combines photographs in Telling a Story in Pictures with interviews of their classmates. Materials: DV Tape Stock Key Concepts • Stories play a fundamental role in human beings’ individual and collective lives; film and video are contemporary equivalents of the ancient storyteller • Just as written stories use plot, character, and description to engage a reader, film stories use narrative devices to shape viewer experience • Our own everyday lives and experiences can provide fascinating subject matter for film stories • Interviews provide filmmakers with a powerful storytelling element for their films • Interviewing is an art that combines well-crafted questions with skillful listening • Vocabulary words defined at the end of the unit.
Key Skills • Working in a team to acquire video footage (using skills gained in Mod. 1, Units 1 – 4). • Researching and developing questions for a 5-minute interview that elicits stories from a classmate. • Evaluating location and background for interview.
Outline class type of content Content materials equipment 1 Presentation & Discuss stories, interviews, and discussion how to ask questions Exercise Tell Your Story, Ask for More Presentation & View film clips that feature Timeline discussion different interview styles Project Assign teams, introduce project 1.5.a Interviewing and discuss ethical issues Tips 2 Presentation & Discuss framing, composition, and 1.5.b Interviewing Discussion “set design” for interviews Project Planner Project Work Day Research, pre-interviews, and question preparation 3 Project Work Day Videotape interviews in groups of 4 4 Project Work Day Screen & discuss raw footage 1.5.c Observer Note Sheets 5 Workshop Visit from Local Filmmaker
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Presentation & Discussion: What's the Story? As we are made of water, bone, and biochemistry, we are made of stories. —Joe Lambert, Digital Storytelling Cookbook and Traveling Companion
History of the use of interviews in film The first films were primarily documentaries. That is, rather than being fictitious narratives, early films often consisted of real-life events captured on film. But while interviews (known as talking heads, in modern-day film lingo) are common in contemporary documentary filmmaking, early films were entirely composed of visual images. As noted in Module 1, Unit 3, on Sound Recording, it was not until the 1920s that filmmakers integrated synchronized sound into their films. Even then, early sound recording equipment was heavy and could not be easily carried into the field. But after World War II, technological advances made during the war became part of the commercial filmmaking apparatus. Documentary filmmakers began to take crew members with them dedicated to recording sound, allowing them to capture existing sound – and also to ask questions and record people’s stories on camera. In the 1960s and ‘70s, interviews became an important part of documentary filmmaking, both for television and for video. The groundbreaking 1960 CBS Report Harvest of Shame is an early example of a TV documentary in which interviews played an important role. This documentary related terrible conditions faced by American migrant agricultural workers; it was reported and narrated by journalism legend Edward R. Murrow (who story was told recently in the Hollywood movie Good Night and Good Luck). Harvest of Shame elicited a tremendous public outcry – especially as it was televised the day after Thanksgiving in the United States. Part of the report’s power came from its use of “talking heads,” which quickly became part of filmmaker’s storytelling toolbox. (For more on Harvest of Shame, go to: http://www.frankwbaker.com/harvest_of_shame.htm.) During this same time period, independent filmmakers also began to increase use of interviews. French filmmaker Jean Rouch was a pioneer of the school of filmmaking known as cinéma vérité (“film truth”) – the French translation of the Russian filmmaker Dziga Vertov’s Kino Pravda (the title for his 1920s newsreel series focused on everyday experiences, which also translates as “film truth”). The power of this school of cinema was its dedication to achieving its impact through inquiry, rather than through simple observation or through protest or pedantry. In 1961, Rouch and co-producer Edgar Morin released Chronicle of a Summer (Chronique d’un Été). On the boulevards of Paris, the filmmakers stopped people to ask them “Tell us, are you happy?” At that time, France was in the final phase of the Algerian war, and French citizens faced crises in economics, education, and race relations. Although some Parisians walked away from Rouch’s camera, others stayed and addressed the question. They were later asked to visit the filmmaker’s studio to watch and discuss the various answers; their reactions to those tapes were also filmed. By shaping the interviewee’s experience, the filmmakers were not just observers, but catalysts. Other powerful examples of early cinéma vérité filmmaking also used talking heads to tell stories and to examine culture and society. Marcel Ophül’s The Sorrow and the Pity (Le Chagrin et la Pitié, 1970) examined the town of Clement-Ferrand in wartime France under Nazi control. By combining archival war footage with interviews of occupation survivors –
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some who resisted the Nazi’s and some who collaborated with them – the film revealed a complex picture of the World War II era. (It was rejected by French television as too controversial, but achieved great success in theaters and on worldwide television.) During the 1970’s, interviews also became a major component of biographical filmmaking, in which they are still widely used today. Two early examples of such film biographies are Bethune (about the compassionate Canadian doctor Norman Bethune), produced by the prolific Donald Brittain and John Kemeny for the National Film Board of Canada, and I.F. Stone’s Weekly (a study of the dissident journalist Isidor Stone), produced by Jerry Bruck, Jr., in 1973.
How do you get people to tell you stories? Stories move in circles. They don’t move in straight lines. So it helps if you listen in circles. There are stories inside stories and stories between stories, and finding your way through them is as easy and as hard as finding your way home. And part of the finding is getting lost. And when you’re lost, you start to look around and listen. —Corey Fischer, Albert Greenberg, and Naomi Newman from A Travelling Jewish Theatre’s, Coming from a Great Distance Adapted from Writing for Your Life, Deena Metzger The homepage of the Center for Digital Storytelling website states: “Listen Deeply. Tell Stories”. Concise but profound, this advice is an excellent guideline for filmmakers, especially with respect to integrating interviews into films or videos. Successfully incorporating interviews into film is no straightforward task. Film historian Eric Barnouw highlights this in Documentary: A History of the Non-Fiction Film , explaining: “[Cinéma vérité] gave status to the interview, a device that had been shunned by most documentarists. Documentaries began to be crammed with interviews. When used for purely informational purposes, the results were generally drab and pedestrian. Their effectiveness in such films as The Sorrow and the Pity was closely related to tensions surrounding the question, the interview, the situation.” Barnouw points out that the cinéma vérité movement influenced the evolution of film technique in ways ranging from “beneficial to disastrous.” The new documentaries had the power to impact viewers profoundly and uniquely, but, Barnouw warns, this impact could be for better or worse: “[Cinéma vérité] often focused on the great and powerful, but also helped the lowly become articulate participants in society. Voice-over narrators of previous decades had almost always been elitist spokesmen. Thus the new genre had a certain democratizing effect – or disruptive one, depending on the point of view. Since the technique often involved the precipitating of crises – usually, but not necessarily, of a personal sort – it raised ethical and social issues not easily resolved.” These observations are crucial for students to consider as they begin to explore the world – and people’s lives and stories – with their cameras. On the level of craft, it is important for students to understand that a film or video must not simply present information, but should engage the viewer visually and emotionally. Good films – and good interviews – tell a story.
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Good interviewing techniques, compelling “characters,” and an emphasis on storytelling are all necessary for an effective interview-based film or video. Equally important is that a filmmaker show genuine interest in and curiosity about the person being interviewed. Having someone “listen deeply” to their story is a powerful experience for any human being, and in an on-screen interviews, it can provide an people with unique opportunities to share joyous and painful aspects of their lives. As common as interviews are in contemporary news programs and documentaries, it is essential that filmmakers – including student filmmakers – remember that they are dealing with real people, real stories, and real lives. An interviewee may reveal something that he’s never talked about before, or something that might hurt him if made public. The filmmaker may sense that there is more to a story, and must decide how far to push the interviewee in follow-up questions. There are no easy guidelines for what to do in these situations. Video camcorders are omnipresent in today’s world, and we have all grown very used to having them turned on our lives. But it is important for a serious filmmaker to recognize that the presence of a camera can impact events and people’s lives. Following are suggestions that will help student filmmakers prepare for interviews and make better decisions when confronted with difficult scenarios: 1) Learn more about your interviewee and the subject matter of the interview by doing background research. Background research can help a filmmaker plan a sensitive and effective approach for the interview. If the person is a public figure or has been involved in public events, research might include scouring the news or reading profiles on the internet. But even if the person is not well known, it is still possible that you will be able to find some information relevant to their story either online or in a library. 2) A good interview usually reflects a trusting relationship between the filmmaker and the person being interviewed. Spend time getting to know the person you’re interviewing by doing one or more “pre-interviews” with them. Make sure you let the person know why you’re interested in his or her story and what you plan to do with your film. Give the interviewee an opportunity to ask you questions, to feel comfortable with you and your project. As part of your background research, you might also talk with other people who know the interviewee – family, friends, co- workers. This will support – but not replace – pre-interviews with the participant. 3) Have participants sign written releases stating that they understand the nature of the project and agree to participate (see Module 3.1 for a sample release form.) 4) Talk with teachers, project advisors, or interviewees themselves if you question whether you should use something that you’ve recorded. Both you and the participant will have to live with the consequences of your choices. In most cases, the interview and the resulting film will be a valuable and affirming experience for the participant. An in-depth discussion of ethical responsibilities and issues raised by interviews and documentary filmmaking can be found in Michael Rabiger’s Directing the Documentary, Chapter 17, Missions and Permissions (pages 240 – 255). The best way to become an effective interviewer is to practice. Students can practice pre- interviewing, crafting questions, and actually doing interviews with each other during class time. Knowing how to ask good questions is a skill that will help students not only in filmmaking, but also in other academic areas as well. Handout 1.5.a: Interviewing Tips provides students with guidelines for effective interviewing.
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{Recommended: Exercise – Tell Your Story, Ask for More}
Interview Logistics
Knowing how to research your subject, how to craft good questions, and how to listen carefully are key skills for effective interviewing. However, there are many additional items to consider when planning an on-camera interview. The location, or setting, of the interview The setting of an interview can have a great impact on the message conveyed. If chosen well, the setting can help supplement the story of your subject, but if chosen poorly, it can detract from the interview’s effectiveness. There are no right or wrong answers for choosing your location. For each situation, there will be a number of considerations. Perhaps most critically, you will need to evaluate how much control you will have over the environment where the interview is to take place. If you interview someone outdoors, will you be able to record good quality sound? For example, it could be problematic if you’re next to an airport or a busy street. If you interview someone indoors, what will your light be like? Is there a window that will give you consistent natural light, or will you need to bring in artificial lighting? Alternatively, you may want to create a background; filmmakers sometimes use a black or colored backdrop, or paint a backdrop scene. Whatever you choose, the interview setting should be interesting, but not so interesting that it draws attention from the interviewee. You will ultimately have to balance all of these factors and decide which are most important for your particular film and interviewee. At the top of the list should always be: What will allow me to get the best interview from this person? What will make my interviewee most comfortable? When you pre-interview your interviewee, ask them if they have an idea for a place that would be comfortable for them. What should the eyeline be for the interview? When you watch interviews in news and documentaries, you will notice interviewees looking in various different directions in relation to the camera. The relationship between the interviewee’s eyes and the camera is known as the eyeline. The eyeline is determined by where the interviewer sits or stands, since the interviewee will tend to look at the interviewer, rather than at the camera. The closer to the camera the interviewer sits or stands, the more direct or intimate the eyeline. Sometimes the interviewer actually sits right underneath the camera lens so that it seems as though the interviewee is looking directly in the lens. Again, there are no right or wrong answers for choosing the eyeline: you will have to decide what approach makes the most sense for you and the interview you are doing. With experience, you will develop preferences about what works for you and your camera person. (If you are sitting close to the camera, take care not to bump the tripod.) How will the director and the crew communicate? The director is generally in charge of the “set,” and responsible for communication with the interviewee and with the crew. Before filming, the director should focus on preparing and putting the interview subject at ease while the crew ensures that the lights, camera, and sound are set up properly. Once everyone is ready, the director should take his position for the interview (which should have been previously agreed upon), establish eye contact with the interviewee, and double-check that the crew is ready to film. When communicating on set, it’s helpful to use basic instructions that the whole crew understands; filmmakers have
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developed a lingo for just this purpose. The director will ask the cameraperson to “roll camera.” When the camera is rolling, the camera person lets the director know by saying “rolling” or “speed” (up to speed.) “Cut” is the term used to stop the action of the camera. The manner in which crew members communicate with each other will help impact the success of an interview. If you are clear about who is responsible for which tasks, you will be able to maintain a calm, comfortable setting for the interviewee and set the interviewee at ease. If you do have disagreements on the set, it’s best to stop and quietly step aside to discuss the best course of action. It is not unusual to have things take an unexpected turn when you’re making a film. Stay calm, communicate with each other and your interviewee, use your training and common sense, and work together to find a solution. How much time do you need to set up, to do the interview, and to clean up? As the director, tt’s important for you to schedule ample time for set up, interviewing, and clean up, and to be clear with your crew and your interviewee about the time frame. It’s always best to overestimate and get done more quickly than to tell people you’ll be done more quickly than is possible. You will need to evaluate how to get the best material for your film while being considerate of the other people involved. There’s generally no need to keep an interviewee waiting. You can do the majority of your set up without your interviewee. Then, he or she can come in a few minutes before filming so that you can make any necessary adjustments to the height of the camera, to the lighting, and to any other details.
Interview Example: Alanis Obomsawin, of the National Film Board of Canada There are now many fine examples of documentary interviews on the Internet. Recommended for this unit are interviews with and by Alanis Obomsawin of the National Film Board of Canada. Alanis Obomsawin is a documentary filmmaker and a member of the Abenaki Nation in Canada. In addition to the interviews with her, the clips contain examples of her work that integrates interviews. Of particular note are: Making Film For and About Natives and the Message to Young People. To view these interviews, go to http://citizen.nfb.ca/onf/info and click on Alanis Obomsawin. You will need Realplayer to view the movies.
{Recommended during discussion: Handout 1.5.a – Interviewing Tips}
{Assign: Interview Project – Tell Your Story, Ask for More, using Handout 1.5.b – Interview Project Planner}
{Recommended during review: Handout 1.5.c – Observer Note Sheets}
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Wrap up: Vocabulary and Review
Vocabulary • Closed questions • Interview Questions that can be answered with A process of inquiry in which one word or yes/no information is solicited from a person • Cinema verite through questioning A term coined by Jean Rouch for a • Open questions style of filmmaking that was candid Questions that elicit stories or broad, and realistic; a translation from the thoughtful responses Russian Kino Pravda • Talking Head • Eyeline Film term for a shot in which a person The relationship between the camera is talking directly to the camera, and a subject’s eyes, particularly usually in an interview important for interviews
Review Questions 1. You are going to do an interview with your teacher about his or her life as a teacher. How would you prepare for that interview? Outline your steps and goals. 2. What are some important considerations when interviewing someone? 3. What steps would you take when setting out to interview a community member for your film?
Brief Essay Suggestion In the interview clip Making Film For and About Natives, Alanis Obomsawin talks about the tradition of storytelling and how it has changed in native Canadian communities – largely because of changing technology and communications. She believes that documentary films are important because they help people to “recognize themselves.” Do you think this is true for your community, and why? How do you think making documentary films might affect your community? How might it help them to “recognize themselves?”
Filmmaker’s Journal Throughout this week, listen to your friends, teachers, or family members and identify three subjects or events that might make good stories for an on-camera interview. Write down six questions relating to each of these stories, based on what you learned from listening to and talking with the people you’re interested in about these events.
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Exercise: Tell Your Story, Ask for More
Description
Students will work in pairs to advance their understanding of storytelling, in a series of short exercises that progress from informational “babble” about a subject to answering questions that elicit deeper and more detailed stories. By using a “boring” everyday object, students will see that the potential for stories exists in even the most ordinary parts of our lives.
Instructions
Choose a theme or object to use as the subject for this exercise, something ordinary, like “socks” or “toothbrush,” that everyone will encounter during the day. Have students find a partner and face each other. Students choose who will go first. The partners will run through the entire exercise once, and then reverse roles. Discussion can happen only after both partners have finished, or in between as well. 1. Babbling about socks. Ask the first students to babble for one minute – to talk without trying to shape a story – about socks. Encourage them to keep talking for the full minute; partners should listen carefully for interesting parts of the “babble.”
2. Telling a story about socks. Student 2 asks the Student 1 to take one aspect of the babbling – some detail or event mentioned in the first part of the exercise – and tell a story about that item. Encourage the partners to listen carefully and to think about what else they might want to know about this story. The listeners can jot down notes if desired.
3. Ask your partner questions about socks. Student 2 will ask student 1 questions about the story they heard, as if interviewing on camera. The goal is to elicit more information from partners about the story and to notice how the questions influence what is revealed.
4. Discussion: what did you notice about each of these exercises. How did listening to babbling and to the more carefully crafted story differ?
What surprised you about your partner’s story? What was interesting about it? While the story started with socks, is that what it was really about? If not, what direction did it take?
Did your questions help you to learn more about your partner’s socks? What did you notice about how you asked the questions? Did some questions work better than others?
Tell students that the process they’ve gone through is a brief (and probably silly) microcosm of the interviewing process. First, get as much information about your subject. Second, focus on some aspect of the information that can be imparted through a story. Third, craft questions that will help to elicit as full and interesting a story as possible. Of course, careful listening is essential to each aspect of this exercise – and to effective interviewing.
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Project: The Interview
Description Students will revisit the photo stories created in Module 1, Unit 2, and use them as the basis for a peer interview. The photos and interviews will be edited together in Module 2, Unit 1.
Instructions Assign students to work in pairs. Each pair will review their photo stories, created in Module 1, Unit 2. Students will then prepare to interview their partners about the story told in pictures. 1. Pre-interview Students will ask their partners to tell them more about the story, making notes and working to extract more detail about the story and more of their partners’ underlying thoughts and feelings about the story. Students should take notes in order to remember details. 2. Crafting Questions and Preparing for the interview Students will prepare five questions about the story-in-pictures and prepare to conduct a five- minute interview. 3. The Interview Fishbowl The interview fishbowl can be done in groups of four (two pairs working together) or with the whole class. In both cases, students create one interview “set” that will be used for all interviews. For each interview, students will rotate positions: • a camera operator, who will run the video camera • a interviewee, who will sit on the set and answer questions about his/her story • a director. The director should be the student that pre-interviewed and prepared the questions for the interviewee. • an observer, who will take notes on what works well and what might be improved in the interview they are watching. If working in groups of four, this will be the fourth student; if working with the full class, all students can be observers. If there are adequate quiet rooms and adequate equipment, several groups of four can work simultaneously. This configuration requires less overall class time. If the fishbowl is done as a whole class, videotaping of the interviews will take more class time. The advantage is that students can observe and give feedback on more interviews.
Class Screening
Screen the recorded interviews with the whole class. If there is time, screen the entire interviews. If not, ask each student to pick one or two questions to show. Students should have their “observer” notes on hand, and be prepared to make notes during the screening. Remind students that you are not critiquing the “performance” on screen, but rather trying to help each other figure out how to get the best interviews possible.
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After screening each interview, ask observers for each feedback, using the peer review guidelines established in Module 1, Unit 2. Questions to consider while screening: 1. How did eyeline influence how you felt about the interview? 2. Did certain kinds of questions seem to be more effective than others? 3. How did the director handle unexpected moments – perhaps their interviewee got stuck or shy, or said something unexpected? 4. What constructive suggestions do you have for the interviewer?
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Handout 1.5.a: Interviewing Tips Tips for asking good interview questions
1. Ask questions that encourage the interviewee to tell you a story. Avoid “closed” questions -- questions that can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.” GOAL: OPEN QUESTIONS that are neutral in attitude and encourage replies that tell stories (for example: What led you to believe that the helmet laws for motorbikes in Bermuda? or Tell me about the match that made you think that cricket rules should be changed? or Tell me the story about how your friend’s helmet saved her life? AVOID: Closed questions, that can be answered with yes/no or with just one or two words, such as a date. (e.g. Do you think there should be helmet laws? Are cricket rules are fair? What day did that happen?) 2. Clearly identify the topic you are interested in talking about with your interviewee, and demonstrate your interest in their ideas or their story. GOAL: Questions that directly relate to your topic. (e.g. You said you were excited when St. George’s won Cup Match, can you tell me more about that?) AVOID: Questions that manipulate the interviewee or include your own opinion (e.g. Do you agree with me that St. George’s is better and should have won?) 3. Make your questions friendly, but focused. GOAL: Be specific and target one issue at a time (e.g. Can you tell me about the first time you went to a football game?) AVOID: Really general questions (e.g. What is the most exciting thing you’ve ever done?) and rambling questions that include too many topics. 4. Maintain eye contact and give silent feedback with your body and eyes. GOAL: Maintain eye contact and give visual feedback in the form of smiling, nodding, looking puzzled, etc. When you think someone has finished answering wait a few seconds; sometimes people come up with their most interesting thoughts or stories at the very end. While silence can be uncomfortable, it also provides a pause and time to think – and then speak. AVOID: Giving verbal feedback—remember that you do not want your voice to overlap with the interviewee’s responses! 5. Try to pick up on topics or events that your interviewee seemed to feel strongly about. GOAL: Refer back to previously mentioned events that seem to elicit feelings (e.g. You mentioned seeing your father play on the winning team. How did that make you feel; how did it affect your feelings about your father?) 6. Ask for specifics and ask for the story. GOAL: Stories! Narratives need specific stories and incidents (e.g., follow up simple, objective responses with: “Can you tell me a story to show that?”) Keep in mind your pre- interview and other conversations with the interviewee. Are you hearing what you want? Are you getting the stories that interested you? It is fine to add or rephrase questions to get a better answer, or to ask someone to tell you a specific story that they’ve told you during research and pre-interviews.
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Tips for interview preparation 1. Do your research. Talk with your interviewee, with people who know that person, and check for any background materials that might exist. You can ask your interviewee if they have pictures or other materials that might relate to the story you are interested in. 2. Rehearse your questions to be sure they are clear and that you are comfortable with them. Writing your questions on an index card is a useful way to have them nearby, without risking noisy paper. If you do have the questions on loose-leaf paper, secure the paper on a clipboard. 3. Know why you are doing the interview and what role it will play in your film. Let your interviewee know what your goals are and why you’re interviewing them. 4. Decide on the setting for the interview; secure any necessary permission to use the location. 5. Communicate with your crew and your interviewee about the time and location for the interview. Make sure you and the crew are clear about who is bringing equipment, tape stock, and other items. You might want to bring snacks or drinks if it’s going to be a long shoot.
Tips for the interview 1. As the director, your job is to keep things calm and relaxed. Enjoy the privilege of hearing your interviewee’s story. 2. Let the interviewee know that you may have to interrupt during the interview (for technical reasons or if you need to redirect an answer.) But be gentle when you do have to interrupt. 3. Be yourself when doing the interview; remember you chose to interview this person because you found him or her interesting. 4. Maintain eye contact with your interviewee and respond silently with body language, not sounds or words. 5. Feel free to ask the interviewee to tell you a story a second time or to repeat an answer if it’s too long or feels awkward. You can always use the excuse that there was a technical problem, or an airplane going by overhead disrupted the sound quality, so you don’t make the person feel uncomfortable or self-conscious. 6. Listen carefully. Follow up on interesting details or unexpected twists in the story. People will let you know if they really don’t want to talk about something. 7. Ask more factual and non-threatening questions first and more difficult or personal questions later in the interview, when you are both more at ease. 8. Make sure you and your crew communicate clearly about what’s happening.
Things to avoid before and during the interview 1. Don’t worry about the order of your questions, if you need to it is OK to vary from your plan. You’ll be editing your footage later, so allow the interview to follow a natural course. 2. Don’t ask vague/general questions; always keep in mind why you’re interviewing the person. 3. Don’t ask more than one question at a time. 4. Don’t overlap your voice with your interviewee’s voice. 5. Don’t hurry – let the person take time answering, and give yourself time to ask questions and to make sure you’ve covered all that you wanted to. You can always stop rolling the camera for a couple of minutes to give yourself time to think (your crew can chat with the interviewee while you quietly work out a change of direction or question, or check to see that you’ve covered all that you want.)
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Handout 1.5.b: Interview Project Planner
1. Ask your partner to show you his or her photo-story. Talk together about the story. What do you want to know about this story? What details make the story interesting? Ask about what happened, and about where and when it happened. Why was it important? How does your partner feel about the story? Record the following:
• Basic Story Theme (This is a story about . . .):
• Jot down the details you’ve heard about the story:
2. Develop five questions that you think will elicit the aspects of the story that you want to hear in your interview. Keep in mind that these interviews will later be edited together with the photos to create a short film. For the interview, you might want to write these questions on an index card, a small slip of paper, or paper secured on a clipboard or in a notebook. a. b. c. d. e.
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Handout 1.5.c: Observer Note Sheets
Director Notes during interview Notes during footage screening
100 : Combining the Elements – Nonlinear Digital Video Editing 2 Unit 1: Storyboarding Filmmakers use storyboards to plan shots and to Expected duration: 3 days and out-of-class production communicate to the crew what they imagine on screen. Although storyboards are more commonly used in Resources: advertising and fiction filmmaking, they are useful for Filmmaker’s Timeline planning the visual story for a documentary film as well. In this unit, students will create a storyboard for an everyday Handouts: activity (such as peeling an orange). In the following units 2.1.a Comics as Storyboard Analysis Sheet for Module 2, they will produce a one-minute video based 2.1.b Storyboard Sheets on this storyboard. Knowledge acquired in Module 1 will 2.1.c Project Planner for be applied and reinforced by the unit exercises. Process Video 2.1.d Production Log Sheets Key Concepts A storyboard is a set of sketches, drawings, or photos, Equipment: • Camera and sound package arranged in sequence, that outlines shots to be used in Light Kit a film, video, television commercial or in other media. DVD player • A storyboard is a valuable planning tool for
Materials: filmmakers. It is also an important for communicating Photo stories and interviews with the production crew, the editor, and set, art, or produced in Module 1 sound designers. • Vocabulary words defined at the end of the unit. Key Skills • Creating a storyboard for a one-minute video based on an everyday process that follows an action from start to finish. Shots will be planned for “cutting on action” or continuity editing. • Organizing a video shoot using fellow students as crew. • Shooting video footage based on storyboard. Outline class type of content content materials Equipment 1 Exercise 1 Comics as Storyboard Handout 2.1.a: Comics as Storyboard Analysis Sheet Presentation / The Art of the Storyboard DVD player Discussion Exercise Digital Storytelling: Combining Handout 2.1.b: Com- 2 (Homework) Pictures and Words bining Pics & Words Project: Process- Introduce project, discuss how Handout 2.1.c: Project based video to move a subject through Planner for Process space and time Video 2 Project Work Day Students create storyboard based on everyday process 3 Project Work Day Students review storyboards Handout 2.1.d: with peers, revise if needed, Production Shot Log and plan for production Equipment {as needed, for out-of- Camera, sound checkout school project production} package, light kit
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Presentation & Discussion: The Art of the Storyboard A tough discipline while developing a film idea is to tell yourself that you must make a silent film. Whether or not you have the action, behavior, and images to do this will reveal whether you are thinking like a journalist or like a filmmaker. To be cinematic you must chronicle and narrate using the camera rather than speech. Behavior, action and interaction on the screen invoke our thoughts, feelings, and judgments. —Michael Rabiger, Directing the Documentary, p. 136
{Recommended: Exercise 1– Comics as storyboard}
Pictures are worth a thousand words: a filmmaker’s search for the story Consider the following scenario. A filmmaker – let’s call her Raquel – is struck by a topic for a documentary film: say, for example, she has always been intrigued by Portuguese Man’o’War jellyfish, ever since she narrowly avoided being stung by one while swimming at her local seashore, and so she thinks they would make an excellent film subject. First, Raquel searches movie databases and the Internet to see if there are any existing films on the mysterious creatures. Finding a few, she considers how her approach to the subject will be unique. Reflecting on her interest in the topic, she decides she will aim to reach a new, younger audience by highlighting personal stories about her community’s interaction with the jellyfish. Next, she does background research on her topic: she reads articles from newspapers and scientific journals. While reading the articles, she learns to her good fortune that the international expert on these jellyfish lives nearby. This scientist has spent his entire life fascinated by the beautiful and delicate jellyfish. Raquel calls the scientist, talks with him on the phone, and spends a few days out in the field looking at jellyfish that have been tossed ashore as well as going out in a boat to observe them in the water. She takes lots of pictures and speaks with other beachgoers about their experiences with the Man’O’War. Raquel decides she’s got the makings of a great film. The scientist is a compelling character, full of stories and information. The Man’o’War is beautiful and fascinating. The scientist and the background research have also revealed other interesting people and stories: doctors who have treated jellyfish stings; swimmers who have tangled with the wild creatures; and wildlife management personnel trying to balance the economic needs of businesses that rely on beachgoers with the jellyfish visits. Raquel sits down with piles of notes, photographs, and photocopied information, determined to make a film that will show her viewers the Portuguese Man’o’War in a completely new light. She wants to convince people that despite its deadly qualities, this creature is significant and should be valued! There’s enough information on the table to write a whole book on the subject: on jellyfish biology, on jellyfish ecology, on the people whose lives are entwined with the jellyfish cycles. How can all of this research be transformed into a plan for a compelling film? Raquel begins to arrange her photographs, tacking them to a bulletin board on the wall. On index cards, she makes notes about the shots represented by each photo, and records quotes from the various pre-interviews she’s done. She steps back and looks at the story that is emerging from the pictures, full of images of the purple and blue creatures with curly
102 Module 2, Unit 1: Storyboarding tentacles, of deep aqua water and pink sand. One photo is a close-up shot of a swollen toe, another is a wide shot of a woman sitting on the beach, pointing to her toe, while telling her story. A high-angle shot from a cliff looks down on hundreds of Man’o’Wars hovering on clear water, just beyond gentle breakers. A small boat floats on the edge of this strange gathering; the next photo is a medium shot of the scientist sitting in this boat, peering down into the water. The images alone, presented in an orderly sequence, give a great sense of the story Raquel wants to tell in her film. Using her many photographs, Raquel has created a storyboard, a filmmaking tool that originated with animators and was later adopted by live action filmmakers. Although more commonly used by fiction filmmakers, storyboards can be useful tools for documentarians as well. For Raquel, the still photos she took will be translated into motion when she sets out with camera and crew. But when actual photographs are not available for storyboarding, hand- drawn pictures – even stick figures – are equally effective. The utility of the storyboarding exercise hinges on the planning it requires, rather than on the quality of the images involved. Documentary filmmakers invariably encounter surprises when out in the field with a crew, but creating a storyboard will help them prepare for production, and help them to think on their feet when they encounter those surprises. A storyboard also serves as a reference when a filmmaker heads to the editing room with the footage that she’s shot. Even simple sketches can help both beginner and advanced filmmakers to think about what their films will eventually look like and what shots are needed, and will ensure that a film is visually compelling as well as intellectually interesting. As Michael Rabiger points out “What can I show?” is the key issue, for the screen really is different from other forms of persuasion. Film portrays people and situations by externals, by what can be seen in action. Descriptions of feelings or events do not move us to strong feeling as people seen living them do. We want primary evidence, things seen in motion, not hearsay evidence at secondhand… Can you film material to tell a story with hardly any narrating speech?” (Directing the Documentary, p. 136)
A brief history of the storyboard
Photographs and simple stick-figure drawings are certainly adequate for storyboarding any film. But storyboarding has become an art in itself, originating in increasingly complex animation projects produced in the early twentieth century. In the 1920s, animators made comic-book-like “story sketches” of their work to help them plan animated films like Walt Disney Studio’s Academy Award-winning Steamboat Willie. In the early 1930s, Disney Studios began to systematically use such sketches in planning their films, making popular the practice that we know as storyboarding. Although other animators used story sketches as well, Disney Studios animators in particular are credited with raising storyboarding to an art. Disney artists created sketches representing each shot of the story to be animated – sketches that illustrated the type of shots, angles, and camera moves needed, annotated with brief descriptions – and would hang them in sequence on the wall. That way, animators, scriptwriters, and others involved in the collaborative endeavor of making a cartoon film could see the big picture. They could literally see the whole story in sequence. Animators would then fill in all of the individual frames needed to animate the actions suggested by the sketches. The first fully storyboarded animation film was Disney’s Three Little Pigs.
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Live action filmmakers recognized that storyboarding techniques developed for animation would be useful in helping them plan many aspects of their productions, including the order and type of the shots making up the story, camera movements, art direction, production design, and more. In the 1940s, storyboards gained popularity among fiction film directors. One of the first live action films to be fully storyboarded was the epic Gone with the Wind. Every shot in the film was storyboarded by an artist whose drawings helped the film’s personnel envision sets, costumes and actors’ expressions, as well as kinds of shots to be used. And the finished film was four hours long! Today, storyboards are expected in planning and visualizing most films and many television shows. A number of excellent online resources provide additional information on the history of storyboards, as well as some helpful examples. For general and background information, go to http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Storyboard. An Internet search on “storyboard and samples” yields websites of successful working storyboard artists who have contributed to popular commercials and major Hollywood films such as Spiderman and Star Wars. These are fascinating behind-the-screen looks at storyboards from films popular with teenagers. A caution: some of these sites contain sections with images not suitable for classroom use, so make sure you check them carefully. There is also software available online to assist students with their storyboards. Atomic Learning (http://atomiclearning.com/storyboardpro) offers a free download that you can use to create your own storyboards from scratch. The National Film Board of Canada website features two storyboard-related sections, both of which include effective teaching tools. At http://www.nfbkids.ca, a storyboarding game allows students to create an animated storyboard using pre-drawn elements. The game is intended for younger children, but it’s fun and does a good job of illustrating the principles involved. For resources aimed more toward high school students, go to http://www.nfb.ca, Educational Resources; Documentary Lens; Behind the Camera. The Sequencer tool allows students to arrange still images from NFB films into short film sequences; the sequences can then be played with shots placed in different orders. This is an excellent way for students to observe how varying shot order can change a story’s impact. The Storyboard tool allows students to arrange shots from NFB’s films on a storyboard and add notes and dialogue, a good tool for analyzing shots. Blank storyboard sheets are also available. There are many excellent books on storyboarding, among them: Paperdreams: The Art and Artists of Disney Storyboards by John Canemaker. The Art of the Storyboard: Storyboarding for Film, TV and Animation by John Hart. Storyboards: Motion in Art by Mark Simon. Recommended: Exercise 2 – Digital Storytelling: Combining Pictures and Words. This can be done during class time, in preparation for editing demonstration and workshop in Module 2, Unit 2, or as homework, if class time available is limited.
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Module Two Project: Finding Stories in the Ordinary: The Process Video
Recommended: Handout 2.1.c: Project Planning Packet for Process Video
Description In Module 2, students will create a one-minute video based on a simple task that follows a sequential process. Focusing on an ordinary, everyday item helps students recognize that visual storytelling and filmmaking opportunities abound in their daily lives. We recommend capturing the process of peeling an orange. It has a distinct beginning, middle and end, and it can be performed in one location without special props or equipment (except perhaps napkins!). If you choose another process, be sure that it has a number of steps, but can also be performed in one location – preferably in the classroom itself. Students will create a video to be edited for continuity of action; it will be planned and edited to follow the sequence of the process, emphasizing production value and attention to detail. Students build on the production skills developed in Module 1. They will also experience how different music, sound, or voice-over styles can turn the same shots into a completely different film. For the first stage of this project, students work in crews of three. Together, they examine the process and create a storyboard that shows what shots, angles, actions, and camera movements they plan to use in their videos. The crews will shoot their videos outside class time; their footage should be ready at the start of Module 2, Unit 3. At that time, students will have completed the editing workshop in Module 2, Unit 2. In Module 2, Unit 3, students will edit their new video footage, and add voice-over, sound effects, and music. Sample projects accompany the curriculum. They were created by High School seniors in a filmmaking workshop at The National Hispanic University’s Upward Bound Program, in 2003, in San Jose, California. Orange X was produced by Lien Le. An Uncommon Prey was produced by Maria Reyes; the storyboard for her production follows is included in this unit.
Instructions: Storyboarding and Preproduction 1. Assign students into teams of three. During production, students will rotate positions of Director, Cameraperson, and “Actor” (who will perform the storyboarded actions). 2. Select a simple activity to examine, such as peeling an orange. Emphasize that this is an “action” video; their storyboarded shots should include only action, not dialogue. 3. Ask students to examine carefully how the process works. How can it be broken down into shorter actions or segments? How might these actions or segments be communicated through different shots? For example, you might give students a basket of oranges and ask them to experiment by peeling them in different ways (e.g., in one long strip, or in small chunks), noting the steps taken to get to the edible fruit – including hand motions, facial expressions, anything that could help to make their shots interesting. 4. One member of each team should act as the storyboard artist, while the other team members experiment with the process. On a large sheet of newsprint (or on storyboard sheets) the storyboard artist draws the frames suggested by the team, including types of shots, angles, camera movements, screen direction, and any special
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instructions for the Actor. Emphasis should be on cutting on action – allowing action to flow from shot to shot. See the following sample storyboard for an illustration of how this can be communicated on paper. 5. Ask each team to give a brief presentation of their completed storyboard, so that their classmates can give feedback. The teams will make modifications and prepare for production.
Production
After finalizing their storyboards, each team should 1) check out equipment, 2) choose their location, and 3) shoot their video according to the storyboard. Students will rotate roles of Director, Cameraperson, and Actor, shooting the video three times in the same location. At the end of production, they will have three similar videotaped versions of the storyboard. While variations will occur due to personality or individual skill with the camera, the only major difference between each version will be the on-screen personnel. Sometimes more than one take of each shot on the storyboard will be necessary. Encourage students to note each take on a Camera Log Sheet that includes the Shot#, Take # Description, and any useful notes about the shot. What was good? What were the problems? Did you have to cut and start recording the shot again? Did you drop the orange? Having this information at their fingertips will make editing much easier.
Postproduction 1. Each student captures the version of the footage he or she directed; the student will be editing another student’s image. So if Student A directed Student Cameraperson B, and Student Actor C, Student Director A will edit the footage with Student Actor C’s image. The Director should assemble shots according to the storyboard, noting places in which variation might be necessary. As students edit, they will begin to see what makes those edits work. The concept of continuity will become clearer, especially when things don’t work as planned and they have to come up with new solutions! Ensure that students screen the assembled footage, noting what needs to be changed. 2. Students should refine Assembly Edit to a Rough Cut after screening and make decisions about what needs to be changed. Begin to plan voice-over, sound, and music. 3. Screen rough cut for feedback and make final changes to the edited picture to create a Fine Cut; screen Fine Cut to confirm that you are ready to pass the video on. 4. The Director finishes editing the Fine Cut, she passes it to the “on-screen” talent, the Actor. 5. The Actor writes and records voice-over in her own voice, and edits it into the video. 6. When voice-over is completed, add music and sound effects. 7. Add a title at the head and simple credits at the end, acknowledging the crew.
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Wrap up: Vocabulary and Review Questions Vocabulary Animation creating a treatment or script, shot A movie composed of still list, and storyboard, and other drawings or models that are decisions that will affect how the viewed in sequence, making them film is shot, budget, and crew and appear to move and change resources needed. Cinematic Production A style of combining images, The period of creating the film sounds, music, and words in a during which the filmmaker and filmed or videotaped story that is crew are out in the field shooting uniquely moving when viewed the film or video. on-screen A second meaning includes all Continuity phases of making a film or video, Consistency of detail from shot- from start (preproduction) to to-shot in a movie, including finish (postproduction). screen direction, axis, and props Postproduction (e.g., ensuring that a person’s The period after the film is shot, glasses are on through an entire including: organizing and logging scene, even if it was shot in footage, transcribing interviews, sections, at different times) capturing and editing footage, Cutting on action, or “matched cut” adding music, sound effects, An edit that cuts during an action voice-over or narration. This stage and completes the action in the takes the film to completion. following shot Storyboard Preproduction A set of sketches, drawings, or Development of and planning for photos, arranged in sequence, that a film or video, including: outlines shots to be used in a film, background research, pre- video, television commercial or interviews, location scouting, other media
Review Questions 1. What are three reasons for creating a storyboard? 2. What are three things that you should include in a storyboard? 3. Storyboard a sequence of five shots that you could use for a scene that shows a friend getting on a bike.
Filmmaker’s Journal This week, try to see your world in shots. Create short storyboards in your journal that illustrate some of the simple things you do every day. What things do you notice when you’re working on being a “visual thinker” that you might not have noticed otherwise?
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Exercise 1: Comics as Storyboard
Storyboards – a tool for planning your video
Description In this short warm-up exercise, students will examine comic strips in the local paper as if they were plans for short films. They will discuss elements they would add to make the drawn panels into a film.
Instructions Ask students to choose a comic strip from a local newspaper, using either online or paper editions. If they choose to use online comics, they can select from archives of well-known comic strips. Highly recommended is Lynn Johnston’s long-running serial comic, For Better or for Worse (http://www.fborfw.com); the panels provide a variety of types of “shots.” Also excellent, and perhaps of more consistent interest to senior school students, are Boondocks (http://www.gocomics.com/boondocks/2007/07/29/) and Curtis http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/curtis/.) Sunday comics provide longer sequences for analysis; some incorporate dialogue, some are “silent movies.” Ask students to analyze each frame as a shot. What kind of shot is it? If they were translating it into a film shot, what kind of sound would they add? How might the camera move? Are there any additional shots or actions they would need to make the story make sense on the screen? Students can use Handout 2.1.a: Comics as Storyboard Analysis Sheet to record their analysis. Ask students to share their analyses of the shots and their ideas for making the comic strip into a short film. If students’ analyses differ, ask them why they chose a particular designation; notice that the conventions of the language are ultimately subjective. While there are guidelines, each person will have slightly different interpretations of the shots.
Summary The art of storyboarding has close ties to comic books and comic strips. Both tell stories through frame-by-frame artwork. Filmmakers and animators then translate their comic-like illustrations into shots and plans for a film.
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Sample comic strip analysis
Following is a sample analysis of For Better or For Worse, Sunday, April 23, 2006. (http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archives/001757.php)
Comic Strip: For Better or For Worse Characters: April, a teenage girl, and her two dogs Scene: April takes a ride
SHOT # DESCRIPTION SOUND NOTES LENGTH 1 MS April puts on skates, Dogs panting, ambient Could add CU skates 6 secs surrounded by dogs sound of neighborhood going on or CUs of dogs’ excited faces 2 MWS April puts leash on big dog Ambient sound, April Add CU of hand 3 secs murmuring “OK clipping leash, April’s Farley” face when she talks, cutaway, small dog whines 3 WS April puts leash on small dog Ambient sound, April End shot with April 4 secs talks with small dog standing, dogs pull her out of frame 4 MS April riding with the Clatter of skates, dogs Head of shot: April 10 secs (with pan dogs Pan Left to panel 5 – barking, April skating toward camera, ending in panel 5) “whoops” begin pan as she nears camera and follow action 5 – End Pan Left on MWS, side Continue sound as view, as April and dogs pass above; could add car houses and leave frame horns, other neighborhood sounds 6 WS Low Angle, April from Continue sound as 4 secs behind, moving away from above; as April sees camera fire hydrant, she yells at dogs slow down! 7 Cut to reverse shot, Continue sound as Add a number of short 2 secs MS Low Angle of April and dogs above shots to heighten coming toward hydrant, from tension: CUs of feet perspective of hydrant and paws, faces and expressions 8 Cut to reverse shot, Continue sound as Intercut with CU and 3 secs CU Fire Hydrant, through April’s above; add in April’s medium shots that keep legs, moving away from camera, voice, yelling “I can’t bringing us closer to with dogs visible, running on stop!” the hydrant either side of hydrant 9 MWS April hits hydrant. Dogs Dogs panting, April After a moment of 8 secs stop suddenly and sit down, grumbling at dogs silence, April sits up panting slowly 10 Cut to April: “Dogs! They do Fade to black 6 secs CU April, looking mad, dogs in the dumbest things!” background
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Exercise 2: Digital Storytelling: Combining Pictures and Words
Description The assignment in Student Handout 2.1.b: Combining Pictures and Words will prepare students for the editing workshop in Module 2, Unit 2. In this workshop, students will edit together the photos they took in Module 1, Unit 2, with selections from the interviews with their classmates videotaped in Module 1, Unit 5. Working in the same pairs established for the project in Module 1, Unit 5, The Interview, students will create storyboards from each set of photo stories and interviews. The storyboards will illustrate how they will combine photographs and interview bytes to tell an even stronger story than either element alone could tell. The resulting storyboard will provide the starting point for the editing workshop in Module 2: Unit 2.
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Handout 2.1.a: Comics as Storyboard Analysis Sheet
Comic Strip: Scene:
Characters:
SHOT # DESCRIPTION SOUND NOTES LENGTH 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
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Handout 2.1.b: Combining Pictures and Words
Instructions
1. With your partner, review your photo stories.
2. Review your interviews, making careful notes about what you each said. How do your comments relate to the story told in your photos? Is there a section of the interview that gives the viewer more insight into your story? Is there a section that might completely change a viewer’s understanding of the story?
3. Select a short piece of the interview (one or two minutes) that you feel best complements your photo story. Your one or two minutes might all come from one answer. Or you might find that you want to take 30 seconds from your first answer, 30 seconds from another, and 40 seconds from your last answer. Just be sure that you note where each piece comes from.
Transcribe the selected piece or pieces of the interview, writing down word for word what you said.
4. Using storyboard sheets, plan out how you might edit the interview and story together. Which photos go with which part of the interview? Where might you want to see your “talking head” on the screen? Where might you want to use the audio from the interview simply as “voice-over” with the photos? Be sure to mark timings of the shots on your storyboard sheets. Also, if you can, note the timecode of the interview sections that you think you’d like to use – it will make things go faster when you edit.
5. Be sure to save your storyboard sheets from this assignment for the Editing Workshop.
A note: The Center for Digital Storytelling at http://storycenter.org/ posts examples of digital storytelling projects that combine still photos and voice over. You might want to look at them for some ideas.
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Handout 3.1.b: Storyboard Sheets
Production:
Shot #: Length: Shot #: Length:
Description: Description:
Audio: Audio:
Shot #: Length: Shot #: Length:
Description: Description:
Audio: Audio:
Shot #: Length: Shot #: Length:
Description: Description:
Audio: Audio:
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Handout 2.1.c: Project Planner for Finding Stories in the Ordinary (Process Video)
Description
The video project that you are about to undertake will help you learn how to shoot and edit continuous action. Your goal is to lead your viewer through each step of a process – so that they understand how that process works. You’ll get experience shooting video for continuity. In the editing room, you’ll learn about cutting on action, or match cuts. This is a basic concept that every filmmaker learns and knows how to use (even if they end up breaking all the rules later!) A chase scene – whether the chase takes place on foot, in a car, or in some other vehicle – also relies on continuity to let the viewer understand what’s happening. You will work in with your crew of three people. Together, you will examine the process and create a storyboard that shows the shots, angles, actions, and camera movements you plan to use in you video. After shooting your videos outside class time; you will edit your new video footage, and add voice-over, sound effects and music.
Instructions: Storyboarding and Preproduction 1. With your team, examine carefully how the process you’ve been assigned works. How can it be broken down into shorter actions or segments? How might these actions or segments be communicated through different shots? Note details of each step in the process – including hand motions, facial expressions, anything that could help to make your shots interesting. 2. One member of each team should act as the storyboard artist, while the other team members experiment with the process. Draw shots suggested by the team, including type of shots, camera angles, camera movements, screen direction, and any special instructions for the Actor. Emphasis should be on cutting on action – allowing action to flow from shot to shot. The storyboard will contain only the plan for the picture and sync sound; each of you will add your own voice-over and music during the completion of the editing. 3. Ask each team to give a brief presentation of their completed storyboard, so that their classmates can give feedback. The teams will make modifications and prepare for production.
Production After finalizing your storyboards, you will 4. check out your equipment and make sure it is in good order and batteries are charged; 5. choose your location, and make sure you have all props necessary; 6. shoot your video three times, according to your storyboard. Each of you will take a turn in the role of Director, Cameraperson, and Actor. Note each shot and take on your Camera Log Sheet, including Shot #, Take #, Description, and any useful information about the shot. What was good? What were the problems? Did you have to cut and start recording the shot again? Did you drop the orange?
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Postproduction 1. Capture the version of the footage you directed. the student will be editing another student’s image. 2. Assemble shots according to the storyboard, noting places in which changes or variations might be necessary. Screen the assembled footage, noting what needs to be changed. 3. Refine the Assembly after the screening, editing it to the Rough Cut. Begin to plan voice-over, sound, and music. 4. Screen rough cut for feedback. 5. Make final changes to the edited picture to create a Fine Cut. 6. Screen the Fine Cut to confirm that you are finished with the picture edit and ready for the next stage of the project. 7. You will now take over the edited video with you image on it, in which you are the “on-screen” talent, the Actor. While the Director edited the footage of you, you are now going to take over and create a soundtrack that reflects your personality and take on the project. 8. Now that you are working with your image, writes and record voice-over in your own voice, and edit it into the video. 9. When voice-over is completed, add music and sound effects, as desired. Be careful not to overdo the music – use it wisely to support the voice and action. 10. Add a title at the head and simple credits at the end, acknowledging the crew and anyone who might have assisted you. 11. Create a digital videotape master of your video.
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Handout 2.1.d: Production Shot Log
Production Tape #:
Producer Date:
Shot # Take # Shot Name Description and Comments
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118 : Combining the Elements – Nonlinear Digital Video Editing 2 Unit 2: The Art of Nonlinear Editing “What makes a movie a movie is the editing,” says Zach Expected duration: 3 days Staenberg, Academy Award-winning editor of the Matrix trilogy, in the documentary The Cutting Edge. Editing Resources: allows filmmakers to compress and rearrange reality. Filmmaker’s Timeline Editing organizes the basic building blocks of film Film: The Cutting Edge language into sequences – into the sentences and paragraphs of the film. This unit will introduce students to Handouts: basic editing concepts and to the tools of computer-based 2.2.a Basic Editing Tools nonlinear video editing. Students will combine projects 2.2.b Step-by-step Guide to from Module 1, Units 2 and 5 into a finished product. Editing Your Movie Key Concepts Equipment: • A film or video editor transforms shots into a coherent and compelling story. Nonlinear computer editing station • An editor’s tools evolve with technological advances. DVD player While their task remains the same, the challenges they face change with their tools.
Materials: • Editing involves choices that affect how a story is understood and may pose ethical questions. DV Tape Stock • Historically, women have played a significant role as motion picture editors. • Vocabulary words defined at the end of the unit.
Key Skills • Operating a nonlinear digital editing system: organizing, capturing, and editing footage • Recognizing editing conventions and styles
Outline class type of content content materials Equipment 1 Presentation & The craft of editing: how Film: The Cutting DVD Player Discussion editing evolved and how it Edge affects the way we experience a film
Workshop Review picture story and Completed Preparation interview choices exercise from Module 2, Unit 1 2 Workshop Technology IV: Nonlinear Photo story and Digital Editing Digital Editing Interview selects stations Handout 2.2.a: Basic Editing Tools 3 Workshop Students complete practice Digital editing (continued) editing projects stations
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Presentation & Discussion: The Art of Nonlinear Digital Video Editing Film…is made up of many different pieces of film joined together into a mosaic of images. The mysterious part of it, though, is that the joining of those pieces – the "cut" in American terminology – actually does seem to work, even though it represents a total and instantaneous displacement of one field of vision with another, a displacement that sometimes also entails a jump forward or backward in time as well as space. It works; but it could easily have been otherwise, since nothing in our day-to-day experience seems to prepare us for such a thing. Instead, from the moment we get up in the morning until we close our eyes at night, the visual reality we perceive is a continuous stream of linked images. In fact, for millions of years – tens, hundreds of millions of year – life on Earth has experienced the world this way. Then suddenly, at the beginning of the twentieth century, human beings were confronted with something else – edited film. —Walter Murch, In the Blink of an Eye, p. 5
The role of the editor in filmmaking has evolved tremendously since the early days of filmmaking – indeed, there were no editors in the beginning! As students learn about editing, they will also be given an overview of the history of film language. As they work in the editing room they will learn a great deal about every other aspect of film – cinematography, sound, and storytelling. It is the editor that brings all of these elements together so that they will keep the audience watching from the first to the last frame.
An insider’s look: The Cutting Edge Recommended: Screening, The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing. The Cutting Edge, produced by Wendy Apple for the STARZ Encore Entertainment (2004. 99 minutes), gives a comprehensive introduction to the history and art of editing and is highly recommended as a teaching tool for this unit (it is available commercially and is inexpensive). Each topic below is linked to a corresponding segment in the film. Film segments not highlighted in this text also contain interesting information for student editors; however, some are not appropriate for classroom use, as they draw on popular films with ratings of NC-17 or R. It would be best to screen any additional segments before showing them. Following are timings for relevant segments of The Cutting Edge, corresponding background information, and suggested discussion topics.
The first editors • 2 min. 45 secs. to 6 min. 30 secs. “Once upon a time there were no editors” THROUGH Rob Cohen’s interview about editing
• For Discussion: How did editing change motion pictures? How do you think editors contributed to the new language of film?
In the early days of moviemaking, there were no editors. Filmmakers shot long takes that ran until the action had stopped or the film ran out. They projected their movies exactly as they had been filmed.
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Edwin S. Porter, an associate of Thomas Edison’s, is credited with the first edited film, Life of an American Fireman, in 1902. In 1903, his next film, The Great Train Robbery, foreshadowed many contemporary editing devices. The twelve-minute movie contains double exposures, cross-cutting or parallel edits, composite editing, and split screens. It condenses time: a telegraph operator seen early in the story in the Western Union office is later seen inside a dance hall, without having had the camera follow him there each step of the way. (Excerpts are included in The Cutting Edge; to see the whole film online, go to: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/edhtml/edmvhm.html; search the Alphabetical Titles List.) Twenty-first Century editing is a highly technological business, but the first film editors simply looked at strips of film against a window or other light source, looking for the right place in the action to cut. They literally cut between film frames with scissors and taped or glued the selected strips back together in a new order – thus, the name “cutters” in the United States. In France, where filmmaking was also developing at a rapid pace, they were called “monteurs.” Over time, editing became more sophisticated, with the advent of tools like special splicing blocks that held the film down and let editors cut precisely. Equipment was developed that let filmmakers crank film from reel to reel through a viewer and light source. These “moviescopes” allowed editors to see the series of still frames in motion. In 1924, the first motorized editing machine, the Moviola, was marketed and used for editing 35 millimeter and 16 millimeter film for much of the 20th Century.
Editing: the invisible – but powerful – art • 10 min. 24 secs. to 14 min. “The First Modern Editor” on D.W. Griffith and seamless editing THROUGH segment on “the invisible art.”
• For discussion: How did the editing in D.W. Griffith’s films make movies even more dramatic than they had been? Do you see similar elements in today’s movies?
Following the success of Porter’s revolutionary techniques in The Great Train Robbery, film editors quickly became essential to the filmmaking industry, although it would take some time before their role in a film’s success was fully appreciated. D.W. Griffith was one of the first directors to truly embrace the importance of editing. Born to a poor Kentucky farm family in 1875, Griffith was a self-educated playwright and actor who got a job making short films with the production company, Biograph (http://www.biographcompany.com/home.htm). Griffith displayed a tremendous understanding of the possibilities of cinema, bringing together many elements of the new, evolving art of cinema. Believing that audiences would appreciate longer films than Biograph tended to produced, Griffith left his job to make Birth of a Nation (1915), a feature-length movie (of more than two hours) about the American Civil War. Birth of a Nation is generally regarded as the first masterpiece of modern cinema for its technical components. This film, and Griffith’s subsequent films, established much of the language of cinema that we draw on today, including the use of close-ups and dramatic, intricate, continuity-based editing. Birth of a Nation’s subject matter – although widely accepted in its day – is now highly controversial: the film portrays the Ku Klux Klan as heroes restoring order in the South after the Civil War. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) unsuccessfully campaigned against the film, which became the most successful box office attraction of its time. In 2002, D.J. Spooky (aka Paul Miller), a conceptual artist, writer, and
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musician from New York, re-edited the film, which is not in the public domain. He created a new soundtrack and performed it live. His goal was to address the stereotypes of race in the film, to “remix the film along the lines of dj culture,” hoping “to create a counter-narrative, one where the story implodes on itself, one where new stories arise out of the ashes.” By re- editing this silent film, he created new meaning from the same images.
The Russians challenge the norms: the importance of montage • 20 min. 44 secs. to 25 min. 58 secs. Martin Scorsese talks about Russian filmmakers; Dziga Vertov and The Man with the Movie Camera; Kuleshov’s experiments in juxtaposition; Sergei Eisenstein and the Odessa steps montage. • For discussion: How did the experiments and movies created by Russian filmmakers advance editing? What elements would you want to keep in mind in editing your own movies? How was the editing in the Russian films different than that of D.W. Griffith’s films?
As D.W. Griffith was working in the United States to establish a popular cinema designed to entertain, Russian filmmakers were working in a different context, framed by the Russian Revolution of 1917. Lenin and other political leaders saw the potential for film to reach “the masses,” many of whom could not read. Russian filmmakers were theorists and experimenters. They rejected the entertainment-based filmmaking of the evolving American industry and the continuity editing that had become its standard. Around 1918, a Russian filmmaker, Lev Kuleshov, experimented by editing together existing shots from Tsarist-era films. He alternated shots of a man looking toward the camera with shots of a bowl of soup, a child, and a woman at a coffin. Audiences raved about the man’s performance, the power of his reactions to the three shots that had been interwoven with his gaze. In reality, his expression was identical in all three of his reactions; the juxtaposition of the images gave the actor’s expression meaning. Kuleshov established that the way we respond to the contrast and connection between shots draws on our own associations with those images. Tone and meaning are derived from five elements contained in the shot: 1) Emotional content, e.g., happy vs. sad; 2) Light, i.e., the contrast between dark vs. light in the frame; 3) Rhythm, i.e., the pacing of the shots, fast or slow; 4) Objects, e.g., the size of the object in the frame; 5) Distances, e.g., how far we are from the subject, close-ups vs. wide shots. The “Kuleshov Effect” demonstrated that it is not just the shots themselves that create meaning, but also the way in which those shots are combined. It also highlighted that viewers bring their own understandings, experiences, and ways of seeing to the cinema, and that those preconceptions play a role in their interpretation of what they see as well. Kuleshov’s experiments helped to establish the importance of montage – a French term meaning to “put together” – as an essential tool of cinema. For Russian filmmakers, montage was the basic tool for their films, and their work established theories and practices that we draw on today in using film language. Dziga Vertov’s Man with the Movie Camera is a masterpiece of Soviet montage filmmaking. Man with the Movie Camera incorporates both the cameraman and the editor – a woman – into the film itself. The cameraman roams the city with his “camera eye,” recording all that happens during the day, and then brings the images back to the editing room, where the editor selects and arranges the shots into a representation of reality. The editing in Man with the Movie Camera is fast-paced and intricate, juxtaposing the working filmmakers with daily life.
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It anticipates many contemporary editing styles. (Excerpts from Man with the Movie Camera are included in the Cutting Edge segment on Russian filmmakers; the film is available in its entirety on DVD.) Another Russian innovator, Sergei Eisenstein, was studying to be a civil engineer when the Revolution took place in 1917. Eisenstein shifted gears to become a filmmaker, viewing his new line of work as social engineering. In 1925, he directed the epic film, Battleship Potemkin. A particularly famous sequence in the movie takes place in Odessa, then a Soviet naval base, on the stone steps leading down to the seaport: soldiers and common citizens clash in shots that have been repeated in movie after movie since. Eisenstein used visual images to get to move us intellectually and emotionally, by making connections through montage. The juxtaposition of images heightens their impact and meaning. Eisenstein stated that "montage is an idea that arises from the collision of independent shots. … Each sequential element is perceived not next to the other, but on top of the other." Eisenstein’s theories of montage identified six distinct ways in which shots can be edited together for greatest meaning: Montage Type Description Metric Montage Shots are cut together according to their length via a strict formula, corresponding to a measure of music: the shots follow the beats. Shot length is the driving force. Rhythmic Montage Cutting is determined through action within the frame, not just physical length of the shot. Shots are cut in a rhythmic way that embraces the action. Tonal Montage Emotional tone of a sequence motivates the editing. For example, a series of shots of a quiet ocean at sunset might follow interviews about sailors lost at sea. Tonal montage relies on the context of the surrounding sequences for meaning. Intellectual Montage Shots that represent an idea are cut together. Shots are iconic, they have meaning within a culture or experience. Familiar symbols are often juxtaposed; for example, a cross (representing a church) might be contrasted with a sword (representing the power of the state). Overlapping Montage Shots overlap each other to further the action, even if the actions seem at odds. Motion within the shot motivates the cut. For example, a wheel turning cuts to gears turning. The similar motion draws the viewers attention from shot to shot. Screen direction and composition are taken into account in this type of montage. Overtonal Montage Overtonal montage synthesizes metric, rhythmic, and tonal montage.
For more information about Eisenstein and his contributions to filmmaking and montage theory, and to information about other Soviet filmmakers, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Eisenstein. Equally influential, Russian Vsevolod Pudovkin (who in later years claimed to have co- authored the Kuleshov experiments) believed that the cuts that created montage were “the nerve of cinema” and must build over time. He pioneered theories of editing that focused on the structural aspects of film editing, emphasizing that shots build relationships to each other and act as instruments that shape viewers’ impressions. Shots are edited into scenes, scenes
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into sequences, sequences into acts, acts lead through dramatic structure to create the whole. Pudovkin based his theories of montage on five ways in which shots could be put together.
Montage Approach Description Contrast Contrasting images related to a theme are juxtaposed to convey meaning. For example, the notion of the rich man versus the poor man could be conveyed through a close up of new, polished shoes, followed by a close up of dirty shoes with holes in them. Parallelism Two thematically unrelated events are linked through a single connecting item, such as steam from a coal train, which transitions to steam from a tea kettle on a stove. Symbolism Abstract connections are established by using images that we associate with certain meanings, much like Eisenstein’s intellectual montage. Simultaneity Shots of one event follow another in such a way that the outcome of one event dictates the meaning of another shot. For example, shots of the birth of a child are followed by a close-up of the mother’s smile. Leitmotif Shots present images that repeat an idea or theme, such as close-ups of a soldier’s helmet, followed by his gun, followed by his dog tags.
Film editing and the role of women • 36 min. 32 secs. to 38 min. “Cutting for Hollywood” THROUGH the arrival of sound. • 41 min. 35 secs. to 43 min. 20 secs. The new era of sound and editor Margaret Booth.
• For discussion: What stereotypes of women made men think they were more suitable for editing than for work as a camera operator or director? How do you think things have changed for women in modern times?
In Man with the Movie Camera, Vertov shows a man striding out into the world with his camera, while a woman sits at the editing bench, putting together shots from reels of film. This scenario was not uncommon in real life: although often invisible in the growing film industry, women were prominent in early cutting rooms. At first, editing was seen as a menial job, more of a clerical or organizational task that didn’t require much knowledge or filmmaking expertise. Contemporary editor and Academy Award winner Walter Murch notes that editing was originally regarded as something “like knitting” – a woman’s task. By the time filmmakers realized the essential power of editing, women were technical masters of the cutting room. More men became editors with the emergence of sound cinema, but female editors continued to be influential partners in the art of filmmaking. Early prominent examples of female editors include Rose Smith, who worked with D.W. Griffith on Intolerance (1916), and Anne Bauchens, relied on by legendary filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille for more than forty years. In 1929, the first sound films of studio powerhouses MGM and Goldwyn Studio were edited by women: Bulldog Drummond (MGM) by Viola Lawrence, and Broadway Melody (Goldwyn), by Margaret Booth. Booth later held the powerful position of Supervising Editor at MGM, from 1936 to 1964. The role of women in the evolution of cinema is only recently being acknowledged – but the editing room is one place where women were influential from the start. This influence held true in documentary film as well. A well-known documentary editor from the 1930s and 40s (and filmmaker in her own right) is Helen van Dongen, editor and wife of
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Joris Ivens, a Dutch documentary pioneer. Helen van Dongen edited Ivens’ early, experimental documentaries, The Bridge and Rain – sometimes holding the film up against a window for light and cutting it with scissors. Van Dongen also edited two films for documentary pioneer Robert Flaherty, Moana and The Louisiana Story.
Documentaries of the World War II Era: Editing and propaganda • 58 min. 06 secs. to 1 hour 46 secs. Film and propaganda: Why We Fight and Triumph of the Will; influence on contemporary films.
• For discussion: What is the difference between education and propaganda? How do you think editing affects the point of view of a film and its affect on an audience?
One of the most powerful and controversial filmmakers of the World War II era was Leni Riefenstahl. Commissioned by the National Socialist (Nazi) Party to produce a documentary in 1934 about the Party’s annual rally in Nuremberg, she created Triumph of the Will (Triumph des Willens.) In this and documentaries such as the 1936 Olympia, Riefenstahl pioneered many aesthetic conventions of film language and made significant technical advances in the field. For example, she developed the tracking shot, in which a camera is place on a tripod that moves on rails and follows the action. Her use of dramatic and emotional low angle shots made Hitler (in Triumph of the Will) and the athletes of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin (in Olympia) appear powerful and godlike. Triumph of the Will presents some interesting historical and filmmaking questions. It was widely awarded in Europe as a groundbreaking film. The skill and quality of the filmmaking is unquestionable. But the film was also a powerful tool in promoting and popularizing the Nazi agenda and unquestionably strengthened Hitler’s power. After the war, Riefenstahl claimed that she did not know about the atrocities committed by the Nazis, despite the fact that she made several films commissioned by the Nazi Party. She was accused – but not convicted – of war crimes as a propagandist. While she remains one of the most influential and controversial figures in filmmaking, she lived the rest of her life in relative obscurity. (Riefenstahl surprised the world with the release of a film shortly before her 100th birthday: Underwater Impressions – Impressionen Unter Wasser. At 80 years old, she had lied about her age in order to get her scuba diving certificate, so that she could pursue underwater photography and filmmaking. She died in 2003, shortly after her 101st birthday.) When Hollywood director Frank Capra was recruited to make films for the United States World War II effort, he watched Triumph of the Will. The film had been banned in the United States, so he had to have a special security clearance to watch it. Capra was chilled by the film and believed that if Americans saw it, they would understand why the U.S. had joined the fight. Capra produced a series of seven films called Why We Fight to help Americans understand the historical and social context that gave rise to World War II. He compiled the films from archival footage shot for other films – including excerpts from Triumph of the Will. He also used recreated and shot events that were not already on film and couldn’t be captured “in actuality,” even incorporating animation. The manner in which images, sound and narration were edited together in his series underscored the urgency of the situation facing the world, characterizing those involved in the worldwide conflict in terms of good or evil.
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Why We Fight was as effective as propaganda with its intended audience in the United States as Triumph of the Will had been in Germany. Like Russian filmmakers who promoted the goals of the proletariat following the Russian Revolution, Capra used montage and juxtaposition in highly effective and dramatic ways. Many of the images and sequences in his documentary series have been imitated in contemporary fiction film as well.
Learn the rules and break them
• 1 hour, 2 min. 06 secs. to 1 hour, 7 min. 20 secs. Breaking the rules of editing. Vertigo THROUGH Breathless and Godard’s jump cuts THROUGH Dede Allen and Bonnie and Clyde.
• 1 hour, 18 min. 46 secs. to 1 hour, 22 min. 19 secs. “Faster and Faster:” changes in pacing and the effects of MTV.
• For discussion: Do you think changes in editing styles – for example, faster cuts, more disconnected edits or jump cuts – also change the people who watch them and the cultures they live in? Why, or why not?
Over the years, filmmakers have worked to identify and categorize concepts embodied in different types of editing. While established conventions don’t guarantee an interesting film, they do provide students a framework for considering why certain film and video edits work well. As with all “rules,” these editing conventions are also being constantly challenged and broken. For example, for decades, cutting for continuity was the standard in narrative films. Francis Godard’s film Breathless challenged that standard and legitimized use of the jump cut, helping to change people’s expectations and tolerances, just as D.W. Griffith’s close ups had challenged audiences – and then become an accepted standard. As filmmakers challenge norms, and as audiences accept those changes, film language expands. Ken Dancyger, author of The Technique of Film and Video Editing, takes a full chapter to look at the influence that MTV has had on editing. He says, “We must view the MTV style as a new form of visual storytelling. Part narrative, part atmosphere, sound intensive, and image rich, the form has a remarkable appeal to the new generation of film and video makers whose media viewing experience is preponderantly television.” (p. 187) The MTV approach is multi-layered and centers on music: plot and narrative becomes less important; great leaps are made in time and place; jump cuts are even more common. While the style evolved primarily from music videos, in recent years it has permeated television and movie editing. The digital age of editing • 1 hour, 23 min. 43 secs. to 1 hour, 26 min 15secs. Digital editing and the future.
Video editing, as opposed to film editing, requires a means of transferring electronic signals accurately from one tape to another. The first video editors transferred one shot from a source videotape recorder to a second recorder, with a controller that kept the two “decks”, as recorders and players are known, running together. Video editing was therefore a linear process, and differed from film editing in that there was no way to add shots into the story once you finished a sequence. With film, you could undo a splice – simply unstick two film sequences or cut the film in a new place – and add in another shot. But with linear video, editors who wanted to make changes to already-edited sequences had two unappealing options. Either they had to redo the editing from the place they wanted to add the shot, or
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they had to use their edited tape as their source for another round of editing – referred to as “going down a generation” – which meant that the signal deteriorated and the picture didn’t look very good. As a result, before going to tape, video editors had to carefully plan out their shot sequences, music, and narration in what was known as an “offline” edit, and create an “edit decision list.” In order to finalize an edited film, editors would then go to an “online” studio that used sophisticated computer-controlled technologies to produce a high quality, accurate, good-looking final product – which could be a very expensive process. As computers became more common and affordable, the video industry began to experiment with technologies that would allow editors to work once again in a nonlinear fashion, similar to film. In one early approach, both film and video were transferred to laser disks, which provided random access to shots. Personal computers opened the market for smaller production companies and independent and documentary filmmakers to make use of nonlinear editing technologies. Today, a number of companies provide excellent software, from Apple’s iMovie and Microsoft’s Windows Media Maker to the higher-end AVID systems, which first appeared in the late 1980s. Computer-based nonlinear editing systems allow footage from digital tapes to be transferred – “captured” – to hard drives in a digital format. Once again, filmmakers can edit with the flexibility provided by film. Video does require powerful computers with lots of storage, but as costs come down, professional-level equipment becomes increasingly accessible. Computer-based editing has also made the world of special effects more accessible to the average consumer. Video transitions like dissolves, page turns, and wipes are now usually available in realtime in editing programs. But while these options can be helpful and lots of fun, the most important aspect of good filmmaking remains good storytelling based on an understanding of the basics of film language and good editing.
The editor at work: a profile of Walter Murch
While there are many accomplished and experienced editors, few have been as widely awarded and as generous with their knowledge as Walter Murch, who served as editor and/or sound editor on many award-winning films, including Apocolypse Now, The English Patient, and Cold Mountain. His book In the Blink of an Eye, and his Conversations with novelist Michael Ondaatje, are excellent reading for beginning (and advanced) editors and filmmakers. The following segments of The Cutting Edge follow Walter Murch as he explains why he is making specific edits in the film Cold Mountain. Note the way in which he has placed still photos representing the film’s shots on his editing room wall – an echo of the storyboard. Sections following Walter Murch, as he edits Cold Mountain:
• 6 min. 30 secs. to 7 min. 45 secs. Segment 1, Walter Murch, editing Cold Mountain. Murch introduces us to his editing room, and his nonlinear digital video editing system. Murch edited Cold Mountain with an off-the-shelf Apple Macintosh G4 and Final Cut Pro – a system accessible to consumers and used in many schools. • 28 min. 54 secs. to 30 min. 15 secs. Segment 1, Walter Murch, editing Cold Mountain. “Where do you start?” Murch explains the importance of feeling the rhythm of the edits. He shows how he chooses and cuts in his first shot, on a timeline that looks very much like timelines students will encounter.
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• 34 min. 50 secs. to 36 min. 31 secs. Segment 2, Walter Murch, editing Cold Mountain. Murch shows us how he solves a problem caused by a lack of continuity in two shots. A mismatched edit could distract people from the power of the scene or lead their eyes in the wrong direction. This type of issue is especially important to note for documentary editing, in which footage comes from real events in which people cannot be directed and controlled. Murch’s years of experience have led him to know that you can find a solution if the emotion and performance of the shots are good. • 56 min. 29 secs. to 58 min 05 secs. Segment 3, Walter Murch editing Cold Mountain. “The dance of eyes.” Murch shows how just one item in the frame – the direction and movement of eyes – can lead the editor to a certain order and rhythm of shots that involve the viewer in the emotion and story line of the scene. • 1 hour, 10 mins. 01 secs. to 1 hour, 12 mins. 12 secs. Segment 4, Walter Murch editing Cold Mountain. Murch and director Anthony Minghella discuss the way that an editor’s technical job – cutting together hundreds of individual shots to tell a story – is also a search for the emotional elements of the story, the tension that keeps viewers watching. Walter Murch notes research on the nature of blinking, and notes that we entertain an idea, or a linked sequence of ideas, and we blink to separate and punctuate that idea from what follows. Similarly – in film – a shot presents us with an idea, or a sequence of ideas, and the cut is a “blink” that “separates and punctuates those ideas” (In the Blink of an Eye, p. 60.) Murch defines the ideal cut as one that satisfies six criteria, and assigns an “importance” percentage to each of these criteria (p. 18):
Ideal Cut Criterion Description Importance Emotion The cut and the shot selected are true to the emotion of 51% the moment Story The cut and the shot selected advance the story; they 23% don’t pull the viewer away from their involvement with the film Rhythm The edit occurs at the “right” moment; it is rhythmically 10% interesting Eye-trace The edit acknowledges where the viewer’s interest is 7% located and moving within the frame Two-dimensional plane of The edit respects that our actual three dimensions are 5% the screen being condensed to two dimensions on-screen, and will be seen in two dimensions Three-dimensional space of The edit respects on-screen continuity – for example, 4% action, or continuity in space where people are in a room or where they are in relation to one-another on screen
The more of these elements a cut satisfies, the more seamless a cut will be. The ultimate goal is for an editor’s work to be invisible – that is, so well done that the viewer doesn’t think about the cuts in the shots. Murch’s rating system allows some room for error: if you can’t satisfy all six criteria, satisfying those criteria higher on the list will obscure problems with those lower on the list. “What I’m suggesting,” writes Murch, “is a list of priorities. If you have to give up something don’t ever give up emotion before story. Don’t give up story before rhythm, don’t give up rhythm before eye-trace, don’t give up eye-trace before planarity, and don’t give up planarity before spatial continuity.” (In the Blink of an Eye, p. 20)
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For more information about Walter Murch, listen to Behind the Scenes with Walter Murch at National Public Radio (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4994411.) In addition, Filmsound.org has links to numerous articles on Murch and his approach to film and video editing, sound design, and sound editing (http://www.filmsound.org/murch/murch.htm).
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Technology Workshop IV: Nonlinear Digital Video Editing In this workshop, students will be introduced to the very basic steps needed to edit picture and sound. They will need their homework from Module 2, Unit 1, the storyboards which they created to show how they will combine their photo stories and interviews. Working in teams, students will help each other capture video, import still photos, and edit these elements together. Students will learn basic commands for making cuts to picture and sound tracks on their timelines, and they will add a simple title to their videos. Students will create a video using “cuts-only” editing: except for fades at the head and tail of the video, they will not use transitions, in order to better understand why cuts work or don’t work. The final product will combine their on-camera interview bytes and still images with voice-over that has been selected and edited from their interviews. Emphasis in this workshop is on learning basic technical skills in cutting voice and picture. Organizational strategies as well as adding music and sound effects will be covered in Module 2, Unit 3, while students are editing their process videos. This workshop assumes that system and software preferences have been set by the teacher or by IT support before the class starts. It is also a good idea to set consistent sound playback levels on the software, computer, and speakers. This allows students and teachers to establish a sense of a “good” sound level – one that allows the viewer to hear the sounds well, but is comfortable. {Recommended: Handout 2.2.a – Basic Editing Tools and 2.2.b – Step-by-step guide to editing your movie} As you have seen in the work of editors like Walter Murch, editing is both a technical process and an art. As students’ ease with the hands-on technical process increases, they will begin to see more and more possibilities with each shot chosen and each edit they make. Encourage students to experiment. A computerized, nonlinear video editing system allows you to try and save different cuts quite easily. They can then compare the different versions, or refer back to an idea they had tried in an earlier cut. Remind students that editing is a process. Like writing a paper, they have to have a first draft. It won’t be perfect the first time; they’ll revise, review, and refine until they’re satisfied. And each time they finish one piece and start a new one, it will be easier because they have more skills and more experience. Film and video editors take their movies through several stages, or “cuts.” First, in the stage known as the assembly, they compile the sequence of shots according to the storyboard. Next they edit to a rough cut, which is a more refined version of the piece. Often, there are several rough cuts, until finally, all those who have a say over the movie are satisfied. At that point the filmmakers have reached a fine cut, or final cut. At each stage, the editor, director, and any other personnel watch and review the cut carefully. Work-in-progress screenings are very important, allowing filmmakers to step back from their hard work, take a deep breath, and see how the whole film or scene or sequence works. They will often invite viewers who haven’t seen any of the footage to join them in the screening, to give a fresh perspective on the film.
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As you review cuts with students, ask them to consider the following questions as they watch their own and other students’ works-in-progress. Notes from these reviews will provide the information that students need to revise their cuts and take them to the next level. 1. How do I feel when I’m finished watching this cut? 2. Is my story clear to someone who doesn’t know everything I know? If not, what is missing? What needs to be clarified? 3. Are there places where I’m bothered by something, where my attention drifts, or where I’m “pulled out” of the feeling of the movie? 4. In examining “trouble spots,” what do I notice? Are there frames that need to be trimmed? Is the rhythm of the editing right? Are there shots that need to come out? 5. What technical aspects of the cut, such as audio levels, should make note of so that I can fix them later? Notes on choosing a nonlinear digital video editing system for your class: As with cameras, options for computer-based video editing available to consumers are growing rapidly. Some require special hardware made by the company that makes the software; others are dependent upon sophisticated software packages and can be run on out of the box computer hardware. Search for nonlinear digital video editing on the Internet and you will be confronted with dozens of possibilities. Some are excellent but expensive; others are affordable, but unproven. Two editing systems currently dominate the educational market and are finding their way into the professional world as well. Adobe Premiere Pro (and the beginning version, Premiere Elements) is designed primarily for PCs (http://www.adobe.com/education/). Apple’s Final Cut Pro (and Final Cut Express) is designed for Macintosh computers and is rapidly becoming a contender in the professional market (http://www.apple.com/education/). Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro have similar interfaces, and both companies offer excellent packaged solutions for K-12 classrooms. Their websites provide free teaching and learning materials for teachers and students, as well as samples of student work produced with their products. This workshop is based on procedures for editing with Adobe Premiere Pro. If you are using a different editing system, you will need to give students specific commands corresponding to your editing software. Most programs include quick reference “cheat sheets” for editing commands and menus. As with cameras, your decision about what editing package to use will be driven by budget and students’ needs. Free, basic movie editing software is now included with new computers, primarily iMovie for Mac and Windows Movie Maker for the PC. While these programs are not nearly as powerful or sophisticated as professional systems, they do allow students to perform basic editing tasks. If a budget for more advanced software is not available, these programs are viable options for introducing students to editing and filmmaking. The following recommendations will help you make the best choices for your classroom. Recommendation #1: Source for video input/output. Should you use the camera as the source deck (VTR) or should you buy a digital video deck? Most editing systems will allow you to use your camera as the source deck for video editing. While this option is certainly acceptable, if you have a budget for equipment, purchasing a digital video deck will extend the life of your cameras. Using a camera as a VTR adds to wear and tear on the delicate tape transport systems.
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Recommendation #2: Pro vs. Elements or Express. Purchase the “Pro” versions of the software if you are able to – the advantages are substantial for senior school-level learners, who will benefit from exposure to professional-level tools and skills. Both Apple and Adobe provide schools with bulk licensing that makes this more feasible. Recommendation #3: Media Storage. Video requires a great deal of hard drive space. Some schools and programs ask students to buy their own firewire hard drives for their projects, usually ranging in size from 120 to 250 gigabytes. Recently, the price of drives with terabytes of storage has dropped substantially. As storage affordability increases, solutions will become less difficult for classrooms and students. In terms of selecting specific drives, it is essential to check for compatibility with the creators of your editing software and computer hardware. Recommendation #4: External monitor. While computer monitors are fine for editing, they do not give a fully realistic view of what a program will look and sound like on television. An NTSC or PAL monitor that can be hooked up to a computer or VTR is useful for screening student work and ensuring it will look good in final screenings. Recommendation #5: Speakers and headphones. External speakers will allow students to hear the sound they are working with more fully, but they are not a necessity, as internal speaker quality has greatly improved. However, if all of your students are editing in one room, it will be difficult for them to hear their sound tracks. In that case, individual headphone sets will be critical. Decent comfortable headphones can be purchased for a reasonable price. Note that although the specific commands and terminology may vary between software packages, the concepts are the same. Once students learn the basics of one software package, they should be able, with the help of a good manual, to transfer those skills to any other tools they might need to work with. In general, you will need a powerful computer, a good monitor, fast, high-capacity external Firewire drives, a digital video deck, and appropriate cables. You will probably also want a printer, an NTSC monitor, and an external DVD player/recorder. Exact components will be determined by requirements from the manufacturers of hardware and software. You should always double check system requirements and peripheral compatibility before finalizing editing system purchases.
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Wrap up: Vocabulary and Review Questions Vocabulary Assembly Keyframe The first compilation of shots in the In animation and video editing, editing process, in which shots are control points on a timeline that arranged in approximate order indicate the beginning, end, or according to a script, storyboard, or changing of a particular parameter paper cut Jump Cut Cut A cut that breaks the continuity of The point at which one shot switches time, jumping forward to an obviously to another; also refers to an in- separate part of the shot progress version of the film Match Cut Cross Cutting The cut from one shot leads logically Also known as intercutting or parallel into the next shot, according to editing. Shots from two scenes are dictates of continuity such as screen intermingled to connect the stories, direction and screen action. For moving both forward, sometimes to a example, a cut from a medium shot of meeting of the two scenes a person opening a door to a wide shot Dissolve of the person walking through the A transition in which the end of one door and pulling it shut shot gradually merges into the Montage beginning of another, often implying a Images connected by content and by the change of place or time way in which they are edited together Edit Decision List (EDL) Nonlinear Editing Time code information defining each A system that allows for editing of edit in a sequence shots out-of-sequence and for making Editor changes easily The member of the postproduction Post-production team responsible for assembling and Editing of recorded materials, refining the shots into a story including adding of music, transitions, Editing sound effects, credits and graphics In film and video, the process of Rough Cut compiling shots into a coherent story An in-progress cut of the film that Fade In / Fade Out refines the story and flow of the film An effect in which the beginning of a Shooting Ratio shot starts in darkness and lightens to The amount of film or tape exposed or full brightness / An effect in which the recorded in production compared to end of a shot starts in full brightness the amount used in the final film and ends in darkness Transition Fine Cut A merging of the beginning and end The final edit of the film before it is of two shots to show change. Includes mastered to tape or DVD dissolves, fades, wipes, push, and Firewire many other effects A data transfer protocol and port used Voice-over for video capture and export, also A character’s voice is heard over non- known as I-Link or IEEE 1394 sync images
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Review Questions 1. According to Walter Murch, what is the most important criteria for making a cut, and why? 2. How have editors helped to shape the language of film? 3. What is a montage? How did the montage editing of the Russian filmmakers differ from the continuity editing of Edwin S. Porter and D.W. Griffith? 4. Name two types of montage editing and describe what you might see in each of them 5. What is a match cut? Draw three shots of a child catching a fish that reflect match cutting. 6. Draw the same sequence of shots with jump cuts. Do you think the viewer would react differently to these two different cutting styles, and why? 7. Briefly outline five steps you would take in editing your video. 8. Why is computer-based video editing called “nonlinear?” Why do you think this is advantageous to filmmakers and editors?
Suggested Short Essay Topics • Triumph of the Will is considered one of the most powerful (and disturbing) pieces of propaganda ever produced. Editor and filmmaker Helen van Dongen said of Triumph of the Will “The film was a weapon, but was it film art? It is very difficult. I have never been able to define precisely where propaganda begins and art is left behind. As a weapon, Triumph of the Will is terrific. If you had been unemployed a long time and you saw this film you would probably put on the brown shirt when you came home.” (Interview with Ben Achtenberg, Film Quarterly ©1976 University of California Press)
Filmmaking employs a powerful combination of image, sound, and story. And within each film there is almost always strong point of view (often made stronger through the editing.) Write a short essay about a film that you’ve seen that influenced the way you think. What were the most powerful aspects of the film for you? What was the filmmaker’s point of view? Considering the ways that documentaries have been used as propaganda, how do you feel about your chosen film’s effect on you?
• Women have had a powerful presence in both documentary and motion picture industry editing rooms, but few people know much about their contributions. How does this historical reality reflect how women’s roles have evolved in other areas of society? Do you think this pattern is changing? Are women more visible – both in filmmaking and in other areas of society? How do you think changes in technology affect changes in attitudes toward women?
Filmmakers Journal Consider John Huston’s description of blinking between seeing a lamp and a person. While you are sitting in your house, in the cafeteria, or outside, note where you “blink” as you look around. If you were videotaping, what shots might you end up with?
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Handout 2.2.a: Basic Editing Tools 2 While each editing software package has slight differences in tools and terminology, the basic methodologies are the same. Following are eleven tools you’ll find in Adobe Premiere Pro’s Tools Panel. (Apple’s Final Cut Pro contains almost identical tools, but the corresponding keyboard shortcuts may be different.) Some of these tools might become your favorites; others you might never use. Experiment with the different tools as you’re editing – it’s the best way to become comfortable with your editing options. (And don’t forget, you’ve always got the Undo command (Edit>Undo)!)
• Selection (keyboard shortcut: V) Your most important, all around tool. Use it to drag, drop, select and trim clips.
• Track Select (M) Track Select lets you select all clips to the right of the arrow or double arrow position on a video or audio track. To select more than one track, choose this tool and hold the Shift key while you click the mouse. You can then apply an action to all tracks selected.
• Razor (C) The Razor cuts a clip in two. This can be useful in trimming frames from the head or tail of a shot. Make sure after using the Razor that you return to the Selection tool; you can easily toggle between the keyboard shortcuts C and V.
• Pen (P) The Pen allows you to create, delete, and work with keyframes on video and audio, such as the keyframes required to adjust audio levels.
• Ripple Edit (B) A Ripple Edit trims a clip and shifts the following clips in the track by the amount you trimmed.
• Rolling Edit (N) Rolling Edit trims adjacent in- and out- points simultaneously, by the same number of frames. The edit point between the frames changes, but the position of other clips in the timeline stays the same.
• Rate Stretch (X) A tool for special effects, Rate Stretch allows you to apply slow or fast motion to a clip.
• Slip (U) When you drag the end of a clip with the Slip tool, you change the in and out points of the shot, without changing its length or position on the timeline.
• Slide (Y) The Slide tool moves a clip as you slide it along the timeline. It doesn’t change the shot you’re moving, but it does change the in- and out-points of the adjacent shots. This would be a good tool to try while editing a series of still images.
• Zoom (Z) The Zoom tool allows you to see your track in more or less detail; this works like the Zoom In and Zoom Out buttons in the lower-left corner of the Timeline.
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Handout 2.2.b: Step-by-step guide to editing your movie
Editing Workshop, Step 1: Log and capture your footage 1. Connect your camera to the Firewire (IEEE1394 bus) or USB 2.0 port on your computer. If using USB 2.0, make sure your software supports that option. 2. Open Adobe Premiere Pro. Name and save your new project to the appropriate hard drive or other storage area. The Premiere interface shows the following elements: • A Project Management Panel that contains Bins, Sequences, and other assets • Monitors – a Source Monitor on the left that’s used to trim and view shots, and a Record Monitor on the right that’s used to play your edited video sequence • A Timeline, or a visual representation of all your video, audio, and graphics clips. This is where most of your editing occurs 3. Under the File menu, choose Capture. The Capture pop-up box window will allow you to search through your source video. You will be asked whether you want to capture video and audio, or one or the other; choose audio and video. You will also need to select which drive on your computer to save your clips to. You will then need to fill in information about your footage, including tape name or number, shot or clip name, description, scene, take, and any notes you might want to add.
Capture Method 1: Capture your footage shot by shot, finding the head and tail of each shot, marking an in and out point, and hitting the Capture Now button on the Capture window. This is recommended for capturing small amounts of footage. Capture Method 2 (recommended for workshop): Select and log clips for Batch Capture. You can also log all of your footage – noting in and out points of all the shots you wish to capture – and then select Batch Capture. 1. Log each interview segment you plan to draw on for your video, either by searching through the video using the on-screen controls or by typing in time code numbers. If you search for a segment, the in-point for (or start of) the shot is recorded when you select the Set In button; the out-point (or end) is recorded when you select the Set Out button. Be sure to leave a head and tail on the shot – one or two extra seconds at the beginning and end of the shot. You will trim these later, but they give you a little bit of flexibility in your editing. 2. After setting the in- and out-points for a shot, select Log Clip. The time code numbers and other information you supplied about the shot are recorded in a bin. The bin is a folder that holds the clips you will use to edit. You can organize your footage in these bins in a variety of ways, just like you would organize other computer files and folders. For this project, label your bin “
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A note: Adobe Premiere and Final Cut automatically display your captured video in List 2 mode. If you prefer, you can change the view to Icon mode so that you can view your clips the way you would a storyboard. By grabbing the label tab for the window you can drag the bin into its own fly-out window and use your bin to arrange and consider shots as you might on a storyboard. A caution: while most software has an AutoSave function, you should get in the habit of saving your work frequently!
Editing Workshop, Step 2: Import your still photographs into a second Bin 1. Under the File menu, choose New->Bin. Label the bin “
Editing Workshop, Step 3: Assemble your interviews on the timeline Your timeline is referred to as a Sequence in your Project Management Panel. Your sequence might include one section of your film or your whole film. You can create as many sequences as you need. If you’re working on a longer film, you can create a sequence for each section of the film. You can also save copies of different versions of the same sequence. 1. Under the File menu, choose New->Sequence. Label the sequence “
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A caution about sound and picture “sync”: with many software packages it is possible for sound and picture to get “out of sync.” You are usually alerted to this by red numbers that indicate the number of frames the tracks have moved away from each other. Make sure that you watch for these and fix them (if they aren’t intentional!)
Editing Workshop, Step 4: Add your photographs to the timeline 1. Open your
A note: There are multiple ways to perform each task that you’ll need for editing: selecting commands on menus, click-and-dragging the mouse, or using keyboard shortcuts. Experiment with various methods for editing tasks – slip and slide edits, trim windows, and more. Don’t be afraid to try different ways of doing things – you can always hit undo if you don’t like the results. Eventually, you’ll find the methods that you like best.
Editing Workshop, Step 5: Screen your work-in-progress and refine your movie Review your rough cut with your teacher and classmates, considering the following: 1. Do the words of your interview and your photos complement each other? Do they work together to tell the story you want to tell? 2. Do the cuts fall where you want them to fall? How does the rhythm and pacing of your cuts feel? Do you want some shots to be longer or shorter? 3. Are the audio levels even? Are the cuts in sound “clean” – can you hear the beginnings and end of words? 4. Are there any photos or interview bytes you want to take out of your movie? Maybe they interfere with your story, or maybe they just don’t really add anything.
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Once you’ve screened your video, make changes based on your review, using the editing 2 techniques you learned in Editing Workshop, Step 4. Remember: the advantage of a nonlinear digital video editing system is that you can make changes – and change things back to the way they were – with ease.
Editing Workshop, Step 6: Add a title to your video 1. In your Project Management Window, create a bin called Titles and open it. 2. From the Menu, select Title->New Title->Default Still. Name your new title “
A note: On the Titler Designer screen, you will notice two boxes, which indicate “action safe” boundaries (the outer box) and “title safe” boundaries (the inner box.) NTSC monitors cut off 10 to 20 percent of the picture. By keeping your text within these boundaries, you will ensure that your text is visible on all screens.
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Editing Workshop, Step 6: Adjust your audio levels 1. Review your video, paying attention to whether your audio levels are consistent. If not, you will need to adjust your audio tracks. 2. Each audio track unfolds to show a band that allows you to edit your sound and adjust levels. By using your Selection Tool, you can raise or lower the yellow line on the track, the Volume Level Graph. The Volume Level Graph indicates the audio level, or volume, for each track. The yellow line indicates 0 decibels (db) and is your default sound level. As you adjust tracks, you will hear and see the increase or decrease in decibels. The average human ear can detect a 2 db change in sound level. 3. If you want to adjust discreet sections of a clip, hold down the Control key and select the track. This action places a node on the yellow line known as a Keyframe. By holding down the keyframe, you can adjust parts of your track, raising and lowering them as the sound demands, suddenly or gradually. Making things sound just right will take experience and experimentation – and careful listening.
Editing Workshop, Step 7: Master your footage to videotape Once you have completed all of your edits, you can either burn your video onto a DVD or master your video to tape. In this workshop, you will create a videotape master, recording the video from the computer to your digital video deck or to your camera. (While DVDs are common now, it’s important to have a digital tape master; it preserves your movie at the highest possible quality, in case you need to compress or modify it in the future.) 1. To prepare for recording to tape, add black video or bars and tone to the head of your sequence (you’ve probably noticed that any movie you watch begins with a blank display like this or a “Countdown,” which is also an option in Premiere and most other editing programs). Select New Item->Black at the bottom of your Project Panel. The default length is 5 seconds; in the Source Monitor, change the length to 30 seconds. 2. Holding the Control key, drag the black clip to the head of your timeline; your entire sequence will move 30 seconds to the right. 3. Connect the video deck as you did to capture video back in Step 1. 4. Under the File menu, choose Export->Export to Tape. 5. Select Activate Recording Device. Your tape should be cued to the point at which you would like to record your video; in this case, it’s a good idea to use a new tape and cue it to the head of the tape. Suggested preroll – the amount of time your tape backs up before it begins to record – is 5 seconds, or 150 frames. 6. Select Record. The computer should begin to control the deck and record your video. 7. Congratulations! You’ve completed your first project!
140 : Combining the Elements 2 Unit 3: Editing Your Process Video Building on basic editing skills introduced in Module 2,
Unit 2, students will edit the footage of the everyday Expected duration: 5 classes process into short videos. Emphasis will be on organizing strategies for editing. Students will learn the basic skills Resources: needed to add music, sound effects, and titles to create Filmmaker’s Timeline finished digital videos. Discussion of the use of music in films will encourage students to explore when music Handouts: should be used or omitted. 2.3.a: Tips and Strategies 2.3.b: Sample Credits Key Concepts Film and video editors must plan their approach to 2.3.c: Editing Log Sheet • new footage. Before editing, “raw” footage must be 2.3.d: Peer Feedback Sheet carefully organized, logged, and reviewed.
• Editing proceeds through phases that include Equipment: assemblies, rough cuts and fine cuts. Nonlinear computer editing • Sound effects and music affect how viewers perceive station a film.
• Filmmakers must be aware of copyright laws and Materials: respect the creative work of other artists. DV Tape Stock • Vocabulary words defined at the end of the unit.
Key Skills • Organizing and logging video footage. • Editing footage for time and continuity. • Adding music, voice-over and credits to edited footage
Outline class type of content content Materials equipment 1 Presentation & Preparing to edit Handout 2.3.a: discussion Editing Log Sheet Project Work Capture and assemble Editing stations Day footage, following storyboard 2 Presentation & Adding narration or voice- Editing stations discussion over Project Work Continue editing, to rough Editing stations Day cut stage 3 Presentation & Adding music and sound DVD Player discussion effects; copyright issues Project Work Refine editing to fine cut Editing stations Day 4 Presentation & Adding titles and credits Handout 2.3.b: DVD Player discussion Sample Credits Project Work Refine editing to fine cut Editing stations Day 5 Project Review Screen completed Process Handout 2.3.c: Editing stations Day Videos; peer critique Feedback Sheets
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Presentation & Discussion: More about editing To me the perfect film is as though it were unwinding behind your eyes, and your eyes were projecting it themselves, so that you were seeing what you wished to see. Film is like thought. It’s the closest to thought process of any art. Look at that lamp across the room. Now look back at me. Look back at that lamp. Now look back at me again. Do you see what you did? You blinked. Those are cuts. After the first look, you know there’s no reason to pan continuously from me to the lamp because you know what’s in between. Your mind cut the scene. First you behold the lamp. Cut. Then you behold me. —John Huston interviewed by Louis Sweeney, Christian Science Monitor, August 11, 1973
Organizing for effective editing As students return to class with the footage for their process films, discuss the following tips and strategies with students and review editing basics from Module 2, Unit 2. Students will edit their footage according to instructions found under Post-production in Handout 2.1.c Project Planner provided in Module 2, Unit 1. Following are suggestions that will help students approach their editing in an organized and professional manner, which are summarized in Handout 2.3.a: Editing Tips and Strategies. Make sure you’ve labeled the tapes you’ve shot! Give each tape a unique name – such as your initials, or initials representing the film subject, followed by a number. For example, if you have four tapes for your film, they might be labeled: XY01, XY02, XY03, and XY04. Labels should be carefully and securely pressed onto the tape, so that they don’t interfere with playback. These unique names are important: when you log and capture your footage, those names will let you know what tape a shot came from. It is a good idea to create an overall log of all the tapes you have shot, a list that reminds you of each tape’s content, characters, location, shooting date, and any problems you faced during production (with equipment or with noise, or from other unforeseen occurrences!) While students might only have one tape each for this project, you might want to create an overall log for the entire class, to avoid later confusion of duplicate tape numbers. As you review your footage, log shots on each tape carefully. Shot logs are your record of what is contained on each tape. As you watch your new footage, you’ll make note of the in-point for each shot, the description, and any comments about the shot. Shots can be logged on paper, by hand, on a computer spreadsheet or with the Log and Capture mode of your editing software. If you need to find a specific shot or figure out how you might solve a problem in your cut, you can refer to your logs to jog your memory about what’s available, whether you liked it, and any problems you might face in using certain shots in your film. Accurate and thorough logs are of particular importance as you work on longer videos with more raw footage. Even the best of editors and directors need reminders about what is on their many tapes! Transcribe interviews. Unlike scripted films in which the words and story are pre-planned, the words spoken in a documentary are most often finalized after the film is shot. Documentary filmmakers generally transcribe interviews and other extensive on-camera speaking or dialogue; that is, they write out a word-for-word accounting of the interviewee’s answers. This written record allows them to remember and refer to what their characters have said and how they said it.
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Create a Paper Cut. Once footage is shot, logged and transcribed, it is a good idea to create a paper cut that serves as a guide for assembling your first cut. A paper cut is similar to a storyboard, but reflects the actual footage you have shot and serves as a plan for editing, rather than serving as a plan for what you want to shoot. You can use your storyboard as a starting point, making any necessary adaptations to your original plan; be sure to screen your footage carefully before you do this. A paper cut can be prepared in a number of ways: with a word processing file, a database, storyboarding software, or pencil and paper. While there is no right or wrong technique for paper-cutting, you might want to consider using the old-fashioned technology of index cards. They are inexpensive, and you can make notes and sketches on them, glue things to them, easily rearrange them, and take them anywhere. Watch your film, then watch it again. And again. Whether you’re reviewing your new footage as you create your paper cut, reviewing your first rough cut, or putting your film “in the can” (a phrase used to indicate that an aspect of the filmmaking process was complete, when film stock was stored in metal cans), few things are more important than watching your video carefully. Know your footage thoroughly, and make sure that you’ve trimmed every frame precisely so that you don’t have any stray frames in between cuts (these are known as flash frames). Paying attention to detail, as well as maintaining a sense of the whole story, are hallmarks of good editors.
The voice of the film: adding narration or voice-over Traditional documentary narration usually consisted of a rich male voice doling out information and expounding on the film’s themes (often called the “voice of God”). That style is no longer dominant, and is found primarily in journalistic, scientific, or historical documentaries, where there is an expectation of objectivity. In modern social documentaries, viewers are generally led through stories by the voices of interviewees or by a more personal voice, reflecting an acceptance that documentaries have a point of view. The point of view may be that of the filmmaker, the characters, or some combination of those, transmitted through the narrative voice. The best way to familiarize yourself with different narration and voice-over styles is to watch films from different eras and different producers. Browsing the National Film Board of Canada’s website (http://www.nfb.ca/) will expose students to varied styles and techniques and let them travel through filmmaking time. It can be a good source of ideas or inspiration if they are feeling “stuck” as they try to create their own voice-overs. For this module’s process video project, Finding the Story in the Ordinary, students will be asked to write and record a narrative track that will add a dimension to the simple process they have videotaped. Encourage them to be creative, to employ what they know about poetry, storytelling, humor – to find their creative expression in words. Ask them to consider how their words might add to the meaning of the pictures, which, after all, are fairly ordinary activities. They can write out their script and read it, or they can try to improvise on themes or ideas that they have identified. The former may take more time to prepare; the latter will take more time to edit.
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Sound design: adding music and sound effects
Recommended: Screening, The Cutting Edge
• From 38 mins. 55 secs. to 41 mins. 38 secs. Editor Pietro Scalia discussing Black Hawk Down THROUGH editor Tina Hirsh discussing Dante’s Peak.
The MTV style has created a broad expectation that images will be accompanied by music. But when is music appropriate? When might it be better to use sound effects? Or silence? Each film you work on will present its own possibilities. In Dante’s Peak, the use of sound effects without any music heightens the tension of the scene. In Black Hawk Down, dropping the sound effects and using only music adds to the feeling of other-worldliness, of strangeness. In Jarhead, accomplished sound designer and editor Walter Murch chose to allow everything to go silent at a critical scene; he talks about this decision in an interview with National Public Radio, accessible at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4994411. Remember: sound is an equal partner in your video. Sound design in documentaries is as critical as sound design in feature films. Recall how the soundtrack – music, sound effects, and voice – completely changed the meaning of the edited shot in Clement Perron’s documentary, Day After Day. Sound effects When you are videotaping, sound is automatically recorded “in sync” with picture. But that’s just a start. The recorded sound may have imperfections you need to address (perhaps someone was speaking too quietly, or a dog barking in the background is distracting). Or the sound effects that exist on your track may feel “thin” or inadequate (perhaps the crowd at the cricket match you filmed was not as enthusiastic as you’d hoped). As in Dante’s Peak, you might want to edit additional sound effects into your track to create the feeling of a large crowd for your audience, for example, by adding extra shouts and cheers to scenes at the match. For a scene at the beach, you might add sounds of water lapping or waves crashing, or perhaps some seabirds calling in the background. Sound effects can help to create a sense of place. Sound effects can also suggest something that is happening off-screen. For example: over shots of a woman sitting in a restaurant, sirens start to blare. Cut to the next scene, where a man else is being loaded into an ambulance. In this case, the siren sound will have helped the audience anticipate the next shot. Use sync sound as a guide when you’re editing, but be creative! Most editing software allows for multiple audio tracks – probably more than most people will ever use. You can record your own sound effects – ambient sounds, specific sounds you’d like to add – or you can use pre-recorded sounds. Filmsound.org (http://filmsound.org/sound- effects/libraries.htm) lists a number of sites where you can download free sound effects. Sound effects can be captured or imported to your editing software in the same way as video or still images, and then can be cut in by dragging the clip to one of the tracks. Check your software menus for any special commands relating to audio.
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Music Learning to use sound and music well takes time and practice. Resist the temptation to run music continuously throughout your video. Instead, look for ways to use music that build the emotion and momentum of the film, support the rhythm and pace of the editing, or help you to make a change in direction (such as with a montage or transitional sequence). Some questions to ask when editing music with your picture:
• Does each piece of music have a musical beginning and ending? If music ends (or begins) in the middle of a musical phrase, it can be disturbing or distracting. Any music sequence should be played to a logical completion point. Occasionally you will want music to fade out gradually, for example under an interview byte or in a transition to a new scene, but make sure that you use this effect sparingly and that the music does not interfere with the new shot or scene.
• Does the rhythm of the music support the rhythm and pacing of the picture? When a film or video is well-edited, you can almost count beats in the pacing, much as in a piece of music. In choosing music, be aware of the tempo of your editing – fast or slow, even or jumpy. Music and picture cuts can work together in surprising ways. But you don’t want them to fight with each other! Once your music is cut into your video, you might need to adjust some of your edits. If you’re having to re-edit the entire sequence, you might want to think again about your choice of music.
Sometimes you might choose your music first and edit picture to the music. This is the case for music videos, but can also be the way to go when music plays a specific role in your film. For example, if you’re doing a film about a band, you might start with footage of the band playing. The music would continue, and you would cut to shots of the band members at school. In this case, the music drives the length of the shots.
• Does the music support (or add to) your message, what you’re trying to get across? Music can lead the audience through the emotions and action in a film. It can support the voice of the film, or underscore time and place. Music in a film can also be clichéd, manipulative, or overly-dramatic. It’s important to trust your film and your story and make sure they’re working on their own. Music won’t fix problems with editing or storytelling.
• If the music has words, do the words support (or add to) what you’re trying to get across? Be cautious about using music with lyrics – if you do, make sure the lyrics are relevant to the story, message, and audience of your film. You should also avoid using music with lyrics if there are people talking in the scene – your viewers will have a hard time sorting out who to listen to!
• If there is music underneath a person speaking or under dialogue, can their words still be heard? Will viewers still pay attention or will they be distracted? When you adjust your sound levels, make sure that the voices are easily heard. Your audience will be frustrated if they’re fighting to understand the words in an interview or the voice of a narrator. Strong beats can be a great editing tool – or an interference.
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Copyright and fair use in student projects
Rights and permissions to use music is a challenging area, made more so by the rise of Internet distribution of music and other creative works. In general, students can legally use recorded and copyrighted music for school projects, but cannot distribute the videos more widely without securing the rights to use that music. Usually, rights for student film festivals and other student exhibition venues is inexpensive or free. If the student plans to sell a film, he or she must clear those rights. Information about international copyright and intellectual property rights can be found at: http://www.bermudayp.com/ip/ip-1.html. Some ways to avoid problems include 1) securing CDs of royalty free music for your classroom; 2) directing students to royalty-free or creative commons music on the Internet; or 3) encouraging students to work with student musicians and composers. There are many online sites for royalty-free music, including, Creative Commons (http://creativecommons.org/), which provides links to a number of low- or no-cost music sources, as well as other creative and educational tools. Another exciting solution for student filmmakers is working with student composers. Student musicians may already have tracks, beats, or songs that your students can use. If time allows, they might want to compose original music for a film.
Adding text: titles and credits
Students will add a title and credits to their films. The title, at or near the head of the film, can either be displayed over a black clip in the timeline or superimposed over the picture. Most editing software allows filmmakers to create simple animated titles, although these take time to render as well as to create. For the process project, students will create a still title over black that will be inserted at the head of the timeline. Credits, displayed at or near the end of the film, can be formatted in a number of ways. A credit roll, in which the text rolls up from the bottom of the screen, is the most common method for more extensive credits in longer films. Many editing programs have preset credit rolls in their text tools. If credits are not extensive, students might want to edit a series of still titles to music; each page, or screen, would hold one or two credits and stay on just long enough for people to read. Handout 2.3.b: Sample Credits shows one approach to credits; students can vary font, color, and speed. As with the title, credits can roll over a black screen or over picture. For the process project, students will roll credits over black.
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Wrap up: Vocabulary and Review Questions
Vocabulary Copyright Sound Effect The exclusive right to make copies of A sound artificially reproduced to a literary, musical, or artistic work. create an effect in a dramatic work. Paper Cut Transcript/transcribing A set of sketches, drawings, or notes, A word-for-word accounting of an arranged in sequence, that serves as a interview or other on-screen dialogue guideline for editing the assembly cut. in a film, video, or radio program.
Review Questions 1. What are three critical organizational elements of postproduction, and why is each of these important? 2. What is meant by the “voice” of a film? How does this voice relate to the point of view? 3. What are three things you should keep in mind when adding music to your film, and why? 4. How can the experiences of the narrative film editors in The Cutting Edge be applied to editing sound and music for documentary filmmaking?
Filmmakers Journal In this module, you have completed two projects – your first two digital videos! How did it feel to screen your creative work with your fellow student filmmakers? What tasks or elements of the projects did you particularly enjoy? What did you find challenging? Has working with digital video affected how you see things around you day to day?
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Handout 2.3.a: Editing Tips and Strategies
Make sure you’ve labeled the tapes you’ve shot! Give each tape a unique name – such as your initials, or initials representing the film subject, followed by a number. For example, if you have four tapes for your film, they might be labeled: XY01, XY02, XY03, and XY04.
As you review your footage, log shots on each tape carefully. Logs are your record of what is contained on each tape. As you watch your new footage, you’ll make note of the in-point for each shot, the description, and any comments about the shot. Accurate and thorough logs are of particular importance as you work on longer videos with more raw footage. Even the best of editors and directors need reminders about what is on their many tapes!
Transcribe your interviews. Documentary filmmakers generally transcribe interviews and other extensive on-camera speaking or dialogue; that is, they write out a word-for-word accounting of the interviewee’s answers. This written record allows them to remember and refer to what their characters have said and how they said it.
Create a Paper Cut as plan for editing. It is a good idea to create a paper cut that serves as a guide for first assembling your footage. A paper cut is similar to a storyboard, but reflects the actual footage you have shot. You can use your storyboard as a starting point, making any necessary adaptations to your original plan; be sure to screen your footage carefully before you do this.
Watch your film, then watch it again. And again. Whether you’re reviewing your new footage as you compile your paper cut, reviewing your first rough cut, or putting your film “in the can” – few things are more important than watching your work carefully. Know your footage thoroughly, and make sure that you’ve trimmed every frame precisely so that you don’t have any stray frames in between cuts (these are known as “flash frames”). Paying attention to detail, as well as maintaining a sense of the whole story, are hallmarks of good editors.
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Handout 2.3.b: Sample Video Credits
A Film By (or) Produced and Directed by YOUR NAME
Camera STUDENT 1
Sound Recording STUDENT 2
Production Assistance STUDENT 3
Narrated by YOUR NARRATOR’S NAME
Music by COMPOSER’S NAME (or) Music NAME OF PIECE NAME OF CD OR COLLECTION MUSICIAN OR BAND NAME COPYRIGHT INFORMATION (or) used courtesy of
Thanks to YOUR TEACHER, PARENTS, FRIENDS AND ANYONE ELSE WHO HELPED
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Handout 2.3.c: Video Editing Log Sheet Director: Production: Date
Tape Number: Event: Location:
Shot # Shot Name Description Timecode in Length Tracks Notes and Comments
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Handout 2.3.c: Peer feedback sheet
Film Title What’s the story? What did I like? Suggestions for improvement
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: Producing a Digital Video 3 Unit 1: Preproduction In Module 3, students will focus on the process and Expected duration: 5 days management of a successful digital video project. Applying skills and knowledge acquired in Modules 1 Resources: and 2, students will produce a 3 – 5 minute video. In this Filmmaker’s Timeline unit, students will develop a concept and create a proposal for their videos, as well as prepare for field production. Handouts: 3.1.a Documentary Proposal Key Concepts Packet • During preproduction, filmmakers research and plan 3.1.b Storyboard Sheets production of their videos. 3.1.c Production Shot Log • A proposal allows filmmakers to communicate their 3.1.d Sample Release ideas for a film or video to clients, potential funders and investors, and potential viewers.
Equipment: • Filmmakers must be able to “pitch” their ideas. • Film and video cameras are powerful tools. DVD player Filmmakers must use them responsibly and
understand the impacts of recording and presenting Materials: people's stories.
• Vocabulary words defined at the end of the unit.
Key Skills • Creating a proposal and preproducing a digital video that includes interviews and visual footage • Presenting a plan for a 3 – 5 minute digital video
Outline class type of content Content materials equipment 1 Presentation & Introduce module project Handout 3.1.a: DVD player discussion and go through parts of Documentary proposal, discuss the “Pitch” Proposal Packet 2 Project Work In-class work on proposal Handout 3.1.b: Day with peer and teacher Storyboard support Sheets 3 Project Work In-class work on proposal Handout 3.1.c: Day with peer and teacher Production Shot support Log 4 Project Work Students present project Handout 3.1.d: Day ideas to classmates Sample Release 5 Project Work Project organization and Day revision based on feedback
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Presentation & Discussion: Preproduction: getting ready to go I think it's inevitable that people will come to find the documentary a more compelling and more important kind of film than fiction. … In a way you're on a serendipitous journey, a journey which is much more akin to the life experience. When you see somebody on the screen in a documentary, you're really engaged with a person going through real life experiences. So for that period of time, as you watch the film, you are, in effect, in the shoes of another individual. What a privilege to have that experience. —Albert Maysles, documentary filmmaker Producer, Gimme Shelter, Here Come the Beatles, and more from “Flies on the Wall With Attitude” by Anne S. Lewis. Austin Chronicle, February 16, 2001
After a screening, filmmaker Werner Herzog was once asked about the “intellectual challenge” of shooting a film. He replied, “Filmmaking is athletic, not aesthetic.” He went on to talk with the audience about the grueling pace of shooting a film, during which there is little time for extensive thought. Even for such a renowned and accomplished director of feature films (Fitzcarraldo and Rescue Dawn) and documentaries (Grizzly Man), shooting the film is hard work. (For more on Werner Herzog and his films, go to http://www.wernerherzog.com/.) Preproduction – the research, planning, and scouting that precede production – can make the difference between getting the footage you want and being disappointed back in the editing room. Preproduction can result in very specific items. Think back to the theoretical filmmaker, Raquel, in Module 1, Unit 5, and her film on the Portuguese Man-o-War. Her idea only took shape after she conducted background research, talked with experts and joined them in the field, and met people who had encountered the jellyfish. She was able to create a structured plan for shooting her film; she knew what images she wanted, who she wanted to interview, and what conditions she might face. Her preparation made it more likely that she’d end up with the footage she wanted and that she’d be ready for unexpected things she might encounter – both good and bad. When you plan your shoots carefully you are more likely to be able to maintain control over what happens when you head out with your video camera. Sometimes, however, that’s just not possible, as the event or activities to be filmed are in themselves unpredictable. Let’s consider another scenario. A second filmmaker, let’s call him Tyrone, has decided to do a video about the Bermuda Cricket team’s performance at an upcoming ICC Intercontinental Cup tournament. No matter how well he plans, there are many things Tyrone simply can’t predict before filming: who will win which matches, how far the Bermuda team will go, who the outstanding players in the matches will be. He can’t even be certain that games will start as planned: for example, the schedule might change if it rains. But although Tyrone doesn’t know what will happen, there are many things he does to make sure he’s ready for his shoot. The first thing Tyrone does is secure permissions necessary to videotape the team and to videotape at the tournament. Once permissions are secured, he talks with the team managers and players, and conducts pre-interviews to learn about their experiences playing in other tournaments. He makes sure he understands the game – the rules, the preparation of the field, the history, and why people like to play. He becomes interested in a particular team member, a man who made a comeback after an illness that kept him from the game for two years. Tyrone then decides that it would be interesting to do some video interviews with this player and his teammates before the tournament, as well as to videotape some practices.
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Before long, Tyrone realizes he needs help to cover the costs of his film. He has discovered that a local bank supports the arts and sponsors the local team. Looking over the funding guidelines the bank’s public relations office has sent him he reviews his research and ideas and writes a proposal – a brief, focused document that communicates his vision for the film, the background information, his reasons for making the film, the intended audience, and what assistance he needs in order to move forward. Writing a proposal helps Tyrone get financial assistance for his documentary. But it also helps him focus his ideas and vision for the film. The proposal clarifies for him that this film is not just about cricket. It’s also about the strength it takes to overcome personal challenges. He sees that the film could inspire others facing illness or hard times – lending itself to a much broader audience than a film just about cricket might have. Tyrone sends the appropriate bank officer the proposal. He is asked to come to the bank and pitch his project – to give a short presentation for board members outlining his plans and answering questions. The bank is impressed with his vision, and Tyrone receives a grant to help pay for crew, equipment rental, tape stock, and other costs he has included in his budget. He can now arrange for a crew, schedule interviews with players, and finalize press credentials that are required for access to players and the field during the tournament. He can plan the logistical details of filming, such as where the crew will meet and set up, and where to order meals for the crew. He can order tape stock. He can create a shot list or storyboard that sketches out his approach to the film and clarifies the shots needed. Although Tyrone can’t predict what will happen during production, he has learned about what usually happens – which means that he and his crew will be able to respond when something unexpected occurs. Being ready for those moments means that he’s much more likely to be able to think on his feet and deal with problems that might present problems that might get in the way of the film’s success. He’ll also be ready to capture powerful events that might otherwise have passed him by. The Proposal Although senior school students will not be soliciting funds for their documentaries, they can still participate in an abbreviated proposal-writing process and practice pitching their films to their classmates. These activities encourage them to make sure that all logistics are covered. It also introduces them to a practice they will encounter in the professional media world. Handout 3.1.a: Project Planner is a template for a student proposal for a short documentary, modified from a professional proposal template. The template provides a framework for the following items: • Project Concept: a concise statement identifying the main theme and subject of the film. Usually twenty-five words or less, this statement helps proposal readers immediately understand the nature of the project. Filmmaker Raquel might write: “Man’o’War teaches viewers about the biology of and myths surrounding an often- misunderstood creature, the Portugeuse Man’o’War jellyfish, and highlights efforts to protect the jellyfish and its environment.” Tyrone might write: “Cricket Match shows how one player’s struggle to come back to cricket after a long illness has inspired teammates and fans, changing their lives as well as his own.”
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• Project Rationale: a short paragraph about why you want to make this film and why you think it’s important. Filmmaker Tyrone might start this section by writing “Although Cricket Match appears to be a film about a popular sport, emphasizing the player’s return can inspire hope in people are facing adversity.) • Project Description: a lengthier exposition that introduces proposal readers to the information you’ve gathered about the project, including: 1. The film’s “characters”: who will be seen and interviewed in the film. 2. The primary activities or events to be covered in the film, such as cricket practices and matches, dinner with the cricket team, jellyfish research trips, and walks on the beach when the jellyfish wash in. 3. The style of the film; what will the film look like. Will it include formal sit-down interviews, or will interviews be done informally out in the wild with the scientist? 4. The audience for the film and how you intend to target them. Is the film being made for senior school students? Is there a broader audience in the community? How will you reach this audience – who can you talk to and ask for assistance in arranging public screenings venue in the community? 5. Personnel Bios. You should include a short statement about yourself that highlights your experience and why you are qualified to make this film (e.g., “Saving wildlife is a passion of mine, and I have volunteered with the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo on efforts to save other wild creatures. I have spent time with the Portuguese Man-o-War scientist and he has agreed to participate.” or “I have followed the Bermuda cricket team for ten years and know details of the game and the team.” You should also include a brief statement about your crew members. • Project Treatment: a document that envisions the film in words, showing how you will treat your subject. For this project, a storyboard replaces the treatment, but this is a term that is used in development of professional proposals for films and videos. • Resources Needed (Budget): Students should identify crew, equipment, and tape stock needed, and any other resources needed for their videos. • Schedule: Students should plan out their preproduction days, pitch date, production date, editing days, and completion deadline, in accordance with the class schedule. Specific tasks and goals can be assigned to those dates.
A note: Emphasize to students that while a well-written proposal should contain all the information needed, it is equally important that it reflect their passion and enthusiasm for their film subjects and to feel the drama inherent in their stories. Those reviewing pitches and proposals will ultimately be moved most fully by a filmmaker’s excitement and commitment.
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Project: Final Project Planner: 3 – 5 minute digital video
In their final projects, students will apply skills and knowledge acquired in Modules 1 and 2 to produce a 3 – 5 minute digital video on a subject of their choosing. Ideally, the final project will include carefully planned visual sequences that apply shot grammar, on-camera interviews, and a soundtrack of effects and music. Choosing a topic Encourage students to select a topic that they are excited about and that they will enjoy spending time with. As they brainstorm, encourage them to revisit ideas they have been jotting down in their Filmmaker’s Journal, to look through local newspapers, and to talk with friends and family. Following are ideas to help students who are unsure where to start: 1. Portraits Use interviews, photos, and footage of a person’s activities and interactions to create a portrait that tells a piece of his or her story. Portraits are ideal short video projects. Your school: Is there a student, teacher, or staff member who is doing something unusual? Is a student participating in a local competition or performance? Your family: Family can provide a surprisingly rich source of film ideas. Perhaps your grandmother has a special talent and a story to go with it, or maybe your father had an interesting experience you’ve always wanted him to tell you about. Maybe your brother had a challenge to overcome that will inspire other people. Your community: Is there someone that you admire out in the community? Is there a shopkeeper who has told you stories over the years? Is there a local musician or artist that you’d like to know more about? 2. Place Portraits Choose a place in your local environment that is special to you – a spot on the beach, a tree-house, a back porch at your aunt and uncle’s house. Using shots of the place (with and without people), voice-over, and interviews with people who know or treasure the place, let your audience feel and understand this special spot. 3. Yesterday/Today Explore how a place in your town or a tradition in your community has changed over time, through footage and still photographs that compare past and present, voice-over, and interviews with people who have experienced that change. 4. A Video Letter “Writing” a video letter is a creative way for students to explore issues or ideas that are important to them in a personal voice – education, global warming, finding jobs after graduation. The letter can be addressed to fellow students, to friends or family, or to community or political leaders. As with other digital video projects, it can include interviews as well as voice-over, and photographs as well as video footage. 5. What is . . .? Students can create an interview-based film that explores a personal question, such as “What is friendship?” or “What does it mean to be a member of a family?” With creativity and careful choice of subjects, this can be a powerful and achievable form for students. (See video sample, Cycles of a Woman’s Life, by Maria Reyes, which addresses the question “What does it mean for a girl to become a woman?”)
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Project Production Overview Step 1: Assign Project Crew Students will work together as a crew in teams of three. During preproduction, they will discuss their ideas and give each other feedback on their proposals. Each student will direct his or her own film, but collaboration from members of the crew will help to strengthen the projects and provide for a more supportive crew experience. Step 2: Preproduction (Module 3, Unit 1) Students will select and research their film topics, pre-interview interview subjects, complete Project Proposal packets, and create storyboards. In planning their films, students will use their knowledge of: • the language of film and video, and shot grammar • storyboarding • interviewing techniques and interview question development Step 3: Project Pitch Students will do a 3-minute presentation to the class about the ideas outlined in their proposal. Other classmates and the course instructor will pose questions exploring the idea and preparation. Students will revise their plans based on feedback received. Step 4: Equipment Checkout and Crew Check-in Crews will prepare equipment and tape stock for their video shoots, making sure teacher and crew are aware of schedules and logistics (meeting places, times, etc.) Recommend to the “Director” that he or she provide this information to crew in writing. Step 5: Production (Module 3, Unit 2) Crews will shoot video according to plans created in Module 3, Unit 1, as outlined in the Proposal. Step 6: Postproduction (Module 3, Unit 3) Students edit video footage on nonlinear digital video system, performing the following steps:
• organize and log footage, either by hand or using editing software
• create an assembly based on storyboards and shooting plans
• edit a rough cut and revise to fine cut based on feedback from teacher and peers
• add sound effects and music, as appropriate, to create an effective soundtrack
• add titles and credits
• master to tape
Step 7: Compress video for DVD or Internet (Module 4)
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Wrap up: Vocabulary and Review
Vocabulary Budget a document itemizing labor, materials, and other resources needed for a project, the cost of those needs and how they will be funded Pitch a persuasive presentation giving an overview and crucial details of a film or other project, intended to solicit financial or other support Proposal for filmmakers, a document that summarizes plans for the film, with the intention of persuading an investor, funder, or others to support the project
Review Questions 1. What happens in each of these stages of filmmaking: preproduction, production, postproduction? 2. Why is preproduction important? 3. What are four sections you might have in a proposal? What does each one consist of and why do you include it?
Brief Essay Suggestion You are an executive for a film production company, and you get to decide what films and filmmakers your company will support. Recently, you heard a filmmaker pitch a film on the history of schools in Bermuda. Describe the pitch and tell us whether you gave it a “thumbs up” or a “thumbs down.” If thumbs up, tell us what made you decide to support the film; if thumbs down, what could the filmmaker have done better?
Filmmakers Journal Look through previous entries in your Filmmaker’s Journal. Throughout Modules 1 and 2, you’ve been jotting down ideas that you’d like to turn into films. Is there one that you’d like to take on for your Module 3 project? What do you need to do to get to work on it?
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Handout 3.1.a: Documentary Proposal Packet
Film Title: Producer/Director
Project Concept
Project Rationale
Project Description and Treatment
Who are the film’s “characters”?
What are the primary activities or events to be covered?
What will the film look like (What will the style of the film be)?
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Who is the audience for this film? How will you reach this audience?
Personnel Bios
Producer/Director
Crew
Editor
Resources Needed (Budget)
Crew needed (who and how much time)
Equipment needed (what items and how much time)
Tape Stock needed
Number of tapes: x Cost =
Other resources needed
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Schedule
Preproduction Days: Pitch Date: Production Date: Editing Days: o Complete: Log and Capture: o Rough Cut: o Fine Cut: o Titles and Graphics o Sound Effects Completion Deadline Date:
Storyboard Create a storyboard for your film, using Handout 3.1.b: Storyboard Sheets. When the storyboard is completed, make a list of the shots you need, organized by location and scene. This “Production Shot Log” will allow you to easily check off the shots you need as you complete them during production. You can also make notes about the shot – identifying an especially good take, or things that occurred during shooting that weren’t anticipated – that might help you during editing.
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Pitch Planner
What are the three main points you want to make in your pitch? 1.
2.
3.
What are three questions you think people might ask you about this project? How can you prepare to answer them? 1.
2.
3.
What materials do you need to get your point across quickly and efficiently and to show that you have thought carefully about your idea for the film (photographs, storyboard, interview questions, other materials)? How will you use these materials?
Have you secured all permissions needed to shoot the videotape – from your film subjects and from the places in which you’d like to do your production?
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Handout 3.1.b: Storyboard Sheets
Production:
Shot #: Length: Shot #: Length:
Description: Description:
Audio: Audio:
Shot #: Length: Shot #: Length:
Description: Description:
Audio: Audio:
Shot #: Length: Shot #: Length:
Description: Description:
Audio: Audio:
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Handout 3.1.c: Production Shot Log
Production Tape #:
Producer Date:
Shot # Take # Shot Name Description and Comments
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Handout 3.1.d: Sample Release
A note: it’s always a good idea to make sure the people that you are videotaping understand what you are doing and give you full permission to use their voice and image in the production. Distributors and television stations often require releases and most professionals will routinely have people sign them.
VIDEO RELEASE
I give my permission for (STUDENT FILMMAKER’S NAME), producer of the (PRODUCTION NAME), to use any and all video and audio recordings, still photographs, or other materials in which I or my child, ______, appear. I understand that the materials will be owned by (STUDENT FILMMAKER’S NAME) and will be used only for purposes consistent with the mission of the project. I relinquish my rights to the materials produced for this purpose.
Name: ______
Address ______
______
Email ______
Phone ______
______Participant Signature
______Signature of parent or guardian, if under 18
Date:
Location:
Event:
164 : Producing a Digital Video 3 Unit 3: Postproduction
Expected duration: 8 days Having successfully acquired digital video footage in Module 3, Unit 2, students will apply knowledge acquired throughout the course to editing their final video projects. Resources: Filmmaker’s Timeline Key Concepts Careful planning is essential for making a digital • video; however, a filmmaker must also be creative Equipment: and flexible in the editing room, as one rarely ends up Nonlinear Editing Stations with exactly the footage expected. • Vocabulary words defined at the end of the unit.
Key Skills • Applying knowledge of editing equipment, craft and aesthetics to editing a 3 – 5 minute video. • Applying basic knowledge of color correction and audio equalization. • Providing encouraging but constructive critiques of video cuts to fellow student filmmakers.
Outline class type of content Content materials equipment 1 Presentation & Debriefing from production discussion and review of editing procedures Project Work Screen and discuss video Shot Logs from Nonlinear Time footage in small groups Production, with Editing Stations notes 2 Project Work Log and capture selected Nonlinear Day shots; begin to assemble Editing Stations 3 Project Work Finish assembling shots and Nonlinear Day begin to edit Editing Stations 4 Presentation & Color Correction and Audio Captured video Nonlinear discussion Equalization Tools (mini- clip of your choice Editing Stations workshop) Project Work Edit toward rough cut Nonlinear Day Editing Stations 5 Project Work Complete rough cut; view Nonlinear Day with teacher, small group Editing Stations 6 Project Work Edit to fine cut Nonlinear Day Editing Stations 7 Project Work Edit to fine cut, add music, Nonlinear Day voice-over, sound effects Editing Stations 8 Project Work Complete all finishing work Nonlinear Day for digital video project Editing Stations
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Presentation & Discussion: Refining the Editing Process
{Recommended: Exercise 1 – Production Debriefing and Nonlinear Video Editing Review}
Color Correction In Module 1, students learned about white balance and color temperature. But despite any filmmaker’s best efforts, even with the most sophisticated of cameras, the color and light in some of your shots can be unbalanced or inaccurate. When shots are edited together, the color or light can be mismatched in contiguous shots. Editing systems offer various options for color correction that allow editors to adjust shots so that edits appear more seamless. Usually, color is corrected by adjusting the hue and saturation of the colors in a shot, or by adjusting the relative levels of individual colors (Red/Green/Blue). Each editing system has its own specific toolset, but functionality of each one is based on the same concepts. More advanced students might be interested in examining the Waveform Monitor and Vectorscope in Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro, although this text will not cover them in detail. Waveform Monitors and Vectorscopes have been used by broadcast technicians for decades to ensure that video meets color standards for television; that is, to ensure sure that the colors are accurate and that the signal is not too bright or too dark and does not have too much contrast. For more information about color correction, see Chapter 14 in Adobe Premiere’s Classroom in a Book, or Volume III, Chapter 20, Color Correcting Clips in the Final Cut Studio HD manual. Online resources are available at http://www.doom9.org/index.html?/capture/digital_video_color.html. Color Correction for Digital Video by Jaime Fowler and Steve Hullfish is a useful text for those interested in the science, art, and tools of color correction and can be previewed at Google Books.
Audio “Sweetening” As with color and exposure problems on the picture, paying close attention to good sound recording mitigates most problems, but not all. Inevitably, recordings include unwanted background hums and noises, or voices that just don’t seem to “cut through” the track, voices that sound “flat” compared to other voices in the film. In audio postproductions houses, sound artists perform what is called audio sweetening. After sound editors build the tracks for a film, a rerecording mixer brings them all together, adjusting levels, smoothing out transitions, and equalizing sounds – modifying the frequencies and other aspects of the soundwaves to make them sound more consistent and appropriate to the picture. Rerecording mixers are true artists who work singly or in teams in audio postproduction facilities. But many nonlinear digital editing programs include sophisticated tools for audio sweetening. For more information on audio sweetening, refer to Adobe Classroom in a Book, Lesson 12, or Final Cut Pro Studio HD, Volume III, Chapter 3 in the manual. Online resources are available at http://www.adobe.com/motion/primers.html, http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/tutorials, and http://www.apple.com/finacutstudio/resources.
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Wrap up: Vocabulary and Student Self-evaluation
• Audio Sweetening • Contrast The process of adjusting sound The difference in value between the levels and equalization while lightest and darkest parts of an image mixing together individual • Hue soundtracks the dominant wavelength of a color • Brightness • Saturation The amount of light in an image The purity of a color; how far away it displayed on a screen is from black • Color Correction The process of adjusting the color balance and color temperature, and the brightness and contrast in the video signal
Filmmaker’s Journal At the end of each editing session, take a couple of minutes to make notes about your progress. What aspects of your footage do you like; what aspects could you improve? What changes are you making from your original plan? What new ideas come from the footage itself? What are you learning from editing that will affect how you preproduce and produce your next film?
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Exercise 1: Production Debriefing and Nonlinear Digital Video Editing Review
Description To ensure that students are well prepared for editing their material from Unit 2, use this time to have them review their production experience and to plan for editing.
Instructions
Production Debriefing Ask each team of students to give a brief 3 – 5 minute presentation on their production experience. In their presentations, students can draw on entries they made in their Filmmaker’s Journals about their video shoots. Ask them to emphasize what they learned and what advice they have for future student filmmakers.
Review of Editing Protocols Referring to the workshop in Module 2, Unit 2, review the steps to be taken during the editing process:
• Step 1: Screen your footage carefully and make notes about what you like and want to use
• Step 2: Log and Capture the footage you’d like to use and organize it in your project Bins
• Step 3: Import still photographs (if you have them) into a separate Bin
• Step 4: Assemble your footage on the timeline, according to your storyboard
• Step 5: Screen your work-in-progress and refine your movie. For this project, you should have an assembly, a rough cut, and a fine cut (to which you’ll add your titles and sound effects)
• Step 6: Add a title and credits to your video
• Step 7: Adjust audio levels and add sound effects or music where desired
• Step 8: Master your final edited film to videotape
This module has seven project workdays; ask students to map out an editing schedule that identifies the steps they will complete during that time. Student plans should be specific to their particular projects (for example, “capture interview footage of scientist and environmentalist. Import still photographs from jellyfish studies.”)
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Exercise 2: Introduction to Color Correction and Audio Sweetening Tools
Description This exercise familiarizes students with the color and sound correction tools in Adobe Premiere Pro through teacher demonstrations.
Instructions Color Correction Note: This introductory demonstration can also be done as an exercise in which each student works with a clip from his or her own footage. While color correction and audio sweetening are arts in themselves, the tools provided in programs like Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro provide simplified solutions as well as more extensive professional-level tools for solving problems with color and sound in individual shots. Adobe Premiere Pro contains a number of Color tools, found in the Effects window. Some are presets; others allow you to make sophisticated, customized adjustments. Color correction tools are found in the Color Correction, Image Control, and Adjust folders. For those familiar with Adobe’s other applications, some of these effects will feel familiar. To demonstrate the basic principle of color correction, capture a 5 – 10 second clip and drag it to the sequence timeline; drag a second copy directly after the first. Ideally, the shot chosen should include at least one person and a background that contains a variety of colors. 1. Apply Color Balance (RGB), which is found in the Adjust folder, to the first copy of the clip. A popup window allows you to manually adjust red, green, and blue, the basic components of the RGB (Component) video. 2. Adjust the red setting to 125%, leaving the green and blue as they are. Notice how the shot “warms up” as the Red in the shot increases. Return the red setting to its original position. Play the two clips on the timeline so that students can see the difference between the original and adjusted clips. 3. Repeat the actions in (2), increasing Green and then Blue. 4. Repeat actions (2) and (3), this time decreasing each component by 50%. 5. Adjust all three colors in the clip so that it looks “natural” to your eye. If you are adjusting color in a series of shots and are having difficulty matching them, skin tones should be your priority. If the color of faces is consistent from shot to shot, viewers will tend to be more forgiving of slight variations in background color. Use your judgment – and if in doubt, show it to others to see how they respond.
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Sometimes shots look washed out or too harsh. In these shots, you may need to adjust Brightness and Contrast. Using the clips on your time line, demonstrate the following adjustments. 1. Apply Brightness and Contrast (found in the Adjust folder) to the second clip. Slowly move the Brightness slider up by 10%, then 25%, then 50%, noting how the brightness of the clips increases. 2. Move the Brightness slider down to minus 10%, then 25%, then 50%, noticing how brightness decreases. Return the slider to the 0 position. 3. Move the Contrast slider up by 10%, then 25%, then 50%, noting how the contrast in the clips increases. 4. Move the Contrast slider down to minus 10%, then 25%, then 50%, noting how contrast decreases, making the image look “flatter.” Return the slider to the 0 position. 5. Adjust Brightness and Contrast so that the clip looks “natural” to your eye. Adjusting either Brightness or Contrast means that you will probably have to adjust the other. Experimenting with these tools is the best way to learn how Brightness and Contrast work with each other.
Audio Sweetening In Adobe Premiere, extensive audio sweetening tools can be found under Audio Effects. The effects can be applied to individual clips. You can use the DeEsser to cut down on sibilance (the hissing that happens when some people say the letter “s”), or add Bass to deepen your narrator’s voice. The DeNoiser automatically reduces tape hiss; Reverb allows you to make your clip sound like it was recorded in a large, resonant room, such as a cathedral. To demonstrate effects, open Audio Effects>Mono (or Stereo if your clip has stereo sound.) Drag an audio effect to the clip on the timeline and look at the settings for that effect under the Filter tab in the Source Monitor window. You can then make custom adjustments to the effect. Each effect also allows you to bypass the effect as well. Note that another useful tool, the Audio Mixer, can be opened in the Source monitor window. The Audio Mixer resembles a mixing board in a professional audio studio. This tool gives you tremendous flexibility and control for finishing your soundtracks, but takes time to learn. Students who have some experience with music production will be able to apply their knowledge of music recording and mixing tools to using the Audio Mixer. The best way to learn is to experiment with real footage that needs real solutions.
174 : Distributing Your Digital Video
4 Unit 1: Reaching your audience in an Internet world
Traditionally, documentary films and videos reached Expected duration: 3 days audiences primarily through distribution companies, film
festivals, and television broadcast. But in recent years as
bandwidth and computer accessibility have expanded, the Equipment: Internet has become a major tool in making Editing station with documentaries (and movies of all sorts) available to wide compression software audiences. This unit will introduce students to
distribution options and to basic concepts behind video Materials: compression for web and DVD. Students will also DVD's for compressed video prepare for a Student Film Festival, in which they screen their final projects for their peers and, if possible, friends and family. The Film Festival can be held during class time or as an afternoon or evening event. Key Concepts • Digital videos must be “compressed” to create files small enough to fit on DVDs and to play on the Internet. • Filmmakers rely on a variety of resources to reach their audiences, including educational and theatrical distribution companies, television, film festivals, and the Internet. • Incorporating a distribution strategy into your production planning will help focus your film and help you to reach your audience. • Vocabulary words defined at the end of the unit.
Key Skills • Compress video for the Internet or DVD • Assess potential distribution, appropriate to intended audience
Outline class type of content Content materials equipment 1 Workshop Technology V: Video Nonlinear Compression Editing System 2 Presentation & Reaching your audience: YMDI Toolkit Discussion strategies for distribution (available online) Project Work Continue Video Nonlinear Time Compression Editing System Prepare for Film Festival 3 Project Work Finish Video Compression Nonlinear Day Prepare for Student Film Editing System Festival Discussion Group self- and peer evaluation
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Technology Workshop V: Compressing video for DVD or the Internet
Despite widespread use of optical storage Digital Video Discs (DVDs), it is wise to create a digital tape master of your video. You can easily return to digital tape if necessary to re-edit your work or to generate new media. DVDs, on the other hand, do not allow such flexibility. Digital tape will preserve your video at the highest possible quality. In accordance with this recommendation, in Module 2, Unit 3, students exported their videos to digital tape. For extra protection, filmmakers often make two digital tape masters and store them in different places for safekeeping. It is also possible to export directly from your completed video to DVD or to an Internet compatible format. But this export requires a critical extra step: the film must first be compressed, or condensed in size. Compression reduces the amount of data in the digital video file so that it will fit on a DVD or can be streamed or downloaded from the Internet at an acceptable speed. The ratios between data rates for uncompressed video and compressed video can be large. For example, the compression ratio for a digital video file that has been compressed for DVD is typically 5:1. The ratio for the same digital video compressed for modem web delivery can be as high as 9000:1! Compression works by efficiently summarizing sequences of images and sounds using a codec – a matched pair of compressor and decompressor. That is, video compression looks for patterns and translates them into small codes, reducing the amount of data required to store the video. When the complete data is required again – that is, when the film is viewed – a key exists to expand, or decompress, the information from the small code back to the full pattern. The decompressor decodes (expands) the compressed data, allowing the viewer to see a representation of the original video that is not quite identical to the original, but close enough to be perceived as such. It’s critical that the compressor and decompressor be matched; the decoder must understand the data summary provided by the encoder. Codecs rely on two main types of compression: spatial and temporal compression. Spatial, or intraframe compression, analyzes one video frame at a time, looking for areas of repetition or similarity within the frame, and saves space by encoding these areas with a general reference. Temporal, or interframe compression, looks for differences between frames, saving space by recording only the changes from frame to frame. The variety of compression formats and codecs expands constantly. The choice of which to use for a particular project will be determined by your delivery requirements. Will your film be viewed on DVD? Will it be streamed on a website or posted on YouTube? Do viewers have access to broadband or only to a modem? Most nonlinear video editing programs – including Adobe Premiere, Apple’s Final Cut Pro, iMovie, and Windows Media Maker – offer straightforward compression options for DVD and for the Internet. In this workshop, students will use presets embedded in their editing software to compress their videos for DVD and, if time allows, for the Internet. For more detailed technical information and guidance about compression, you can download Adobe’s Compression Primer at http://www.adobe.com/motion/primers.html. The speed at which video compresses depends upon the length and complexity of the videos and the power of your computer’s processor. You might want to do a test before students begin compression to determine how long the process will take the entire class.
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Exporting video for DVD Adobe Premiere includes an Export to DVD function that provides an easy, good quality option for compressing video and burning it to a DVD. The programs provide a very basic, easy-to-use form of DVD authoring, the process used to make video DVDs and DVD-roms that can be played on DVD players and computers. An authored DVD can include beautifully crafted menus and graphics, in addition to video. Commercial DVDs, such as the DVDs used for feature films, often contain complex motion graphics, slideshows, and navigation that take the viewer through a number of layers, programs, and options; authoring is in itself an art. Programs such as Apple’s popular iDVD are very basic authoring programs. More complex programs such as Apple’s DVD Studio Pro or Adobe’s Encore are authoring programs that allow independent media makers to do more advanced authoring, and are manageable for advanced students. It is possible for Premiere and other nonlinear editing programs to take care of the complex compression procedures without much need for intervention (or understanding) from the user. But this limits your ability to compensate for particular problems or issues that can show up in the compressed version of your video. As you gain more experience with the process you may wish to take more control, adjusting settings that address your video’s needs. It is helpful to understand that the process of burning a DVD for video includes a step (called build on some DVD authoring programs) that creates two special folders required for video DVD playback: Video TS and Audio TS. The “assets” of the film – MPEG 2 video, PCM (uncompressed) or .ac3 (Dolby Digital) audio files, and any graphics, text, slideshows or menus – are converted into a format that can be read by and navigated through on a DVD player; they are stored in these folders. When you “burn” your program to DVD, these folders are transferred to the disc. When you put the burned DVD into a computer or DVD player you don’t see the files themselves. Graphic representations of the menus and video appear on the screen and can be navigated using a mouse, keyboard, or remote. DVDs come in a number of formats and sizes. At this time, the most commonly used for video DVD is the DVD-R format, or DVD-5, which has a 4.7 gigabyte capacity. Consequently, your assets should be no larger than 4.37 gigabytes, to allow the DVD to burn properly. (Larger capacity DVDs are available but not as common.) So the challenge is to compress your video at the highest possible quality that will fit on your DVD; easy enough for a short film, but more complex for a lengthier one. It is important to be aware of the balancing act you’ll need to perform in authoring DVDs. How do you decide how much compression to apply to your video? To do this, you have to determine the bit rate for your DVD video compression. Bit rate is the speed at which audio and video content travels through cyberspace or on a computer network. To calculate the bit rate, you must take into consideration the total length of your video, the type of DVD you are using (probably DVD-5), and the type of video and audio compression selected (Constant Bit Rate, or CBR vs. Variable Bit Rate, or VBR). Online bit rate calculators are very useful in determining your maximum allowable bit rate, and in choosing the best method of compression for a particular video. While this can seem confusing, it is important. A simple-to-use calculator is available on Create Space: http://www.createspace.com/Special/AuthoringNightmares/03/BitBudget.jsp.
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For more information on the complex topic of bit rates and compression, the following resources may be helpful: the article Bits, Bytes, and Bites, part of the series Top 10 DVD Nightmares – and How to Avoid Them (http://www.createspace.com/Special/AuthoringNightmares/03/BitsAndBytes.jsp); Jim Taylor’s extensive “DVD FAQ” at DVD Demystified (http://dvddemystified.com/); and http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/dvd4.htm. A caution: DVD technology is not always reliable. The failure rate for discs burned on computers and on DVD recorders is about five percent. Even when a disc burns properly, sometimes it will play without problems on one DVD player but not on another. The long-term stability of CDs and DVDs is also an unknown (remember, DVD technology has only been on the market since 1997). Making a digital tape master of any video is absolutely critical to ensure that students won’t lose their work because of a faulty or damaged disc.
Step-by-step DVD compression: To create a video DVD using Premiere: 1. Open the timeline for your completed video, making sure that you have made all the changes and adjustments needed. 2. Choose: File->Export->Export to DVD. This will bring up the Burn DVD window. a. Under DVD Settings, choose Burn to: Disc. Type in your Disc Name (for example, “Man’o’War: The Movie”) and the number of copies you want to burn. Make sure that your Export Range is Entire Sequence. b. Under Encoding, click on Settings. This will bring up Export Settings, which provides selections to control the audio and video quality and codecs. You can either select a preset or create a custom setting. For DVD, the codec should automatically be MPEG2-DVD; the program lets you fine-tune these settings. i. For Presets: select the highest quality that will create a file that fits on the allowable space on your DVD. Make sure your selected preset is consistent with the video standard (e.g. NTSC) and the aspect ratio (e.g. Standard Definition or 4:3). The preset selections assume that your video is interlaced unless it specifically says “Progressive” in the preset description. ii. You can also create Custom settings by choosing Custom (make sure you have selected both Export Video and Export Audio). Determine the maximum bit rate using the online bit rate calculator discussed above. Then: 1. Select the tabbed window labeled Video. Set your bit rate according to the calculator: expand the Bit rate Settings and select the Bit rate Encoding suggested by the calculator (CBR, VBR-1, or VBR-2) and set the Target Bit rate (mbps). 2. Select the tabbed window labeled Audio. Under Audio Format choose Dolby Digital. Click Options under Audio Codec, and make sure the target Data Rate is 192 kilobytes per second (kb/s). Under Audio Service>Audio Coding Mode, select 2/0 (L,R Stereo). iii. After specifying your settings, click OK on the Export Settings window, which will return you to the Burn DVD window. Click Burn. If you have not already inserted a DVD, you will be asked to do so at this time. The computer will indicate when the DVD burn has been successfully completed.
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Video Compression for the Web If time allows, students can also export their videos and compress them for web delivery. Compression for the Internet involves a similar process to that of burning for DVD, but instead of ending up with files on DVD, you’ll have a file on your computer that can be uploaded to the Internet. YouTube has a useful Help section that provides information on compressing and uploading video to the Internet, at http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/topic.py?topic=10524. It includes current recommendations for getting the best quality in a reasonably sized file. This is a good place to start to experiment with the basics of compression for the web. An excellent article, Video Compression, A Codec Primer, by Andy Volk, provides background information about compression and available formats and codecs; it can be found at http://www.webmonkey.com/webmonkey/04/42/index4a.html. YouTube recommends using the following specifications: MPEG4 compression, at a resolution of 320x240, with MPEG3 audio, and a frame rate of 30 frames per second (fps.) In Premiere Pro, videos can be compressed using presets under File>Export>Movie. Following are steps for compressing a movie according to YouTube’s recommended standards. 1. Open the timeline for your completed video, making sure that you have made all the changes and adjustments needed. 2. Click on File>Export>Movie. In the Export Movie window, click on Settings. Select Video settings and modify the following: a. Compressor: select MPEG-4 b. Frame size: change height (h) to 240, width (w) to 320 c. Frame Rate: select 30.00 d. Quality: You can set the quality from Low to High. This will determine the data rate; the higher the quality, the larger the file. At this time, YouTube limits file size to 100 MBs. While getting the right size/quality balance takes some trial and error, a web video size calculator is available online at: http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/Video-Size-Calculator-Download- 80914.html. e. Click OK and return to Export Movie. 3. Name your exported movie under File Name. Save your movie, making sure to choose the proper destination folder. You should then have a file that can be uploaded to the Internet. You should also save the file on a CD.
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Presentation and Discussion: Reaching your audience: new strategies for distribution in an Internet world
Rapidly changing technology has revolutionized the production of films and videos. It is also revolutionizing the ways that filmmakers reach their audiences. This has created advantages but also challenges for filmmakers. On the up-side, it is much easier for beginning filmmakers to make sure people see their work. The recent proliferation of Internet video distribution centers such as YouTube bypasses the need for enormous server capacities for streaming video. While much of the content posted on these sites is simple and amateur, there are also many well-made, original and provocative videos. Online video also allows people from remote parts of the world to communicate with each other through projects like video letters, to experience each other’s cultures, and to share their ideas. Large media outlets, such as the National Film Board of Canada, the Discovery Channel, and National Geographic, make a large quantity of very high quality media available online, often for free. Some outlets, including the National Film Board, make excellent use of the Internet as a means of promoting independent and original media production. Their sites advance twenty-first century media literacy while encouraging creative, thoughtful, and exciting responses to the contemporary world. In many ways, the burgeoning Internet media world is reshaping how media outlets do business. On the down-side for experienced, career-minded filmmakers, these changes in distribution models have decreased the income stream filmmakers previously received from royalties from sales and rentals. So while it’s easier to produce an independent digital video, it’s harder to make money with it. Consequently, assessing your audience and carefully planning your marketing and publicity are important skills to learn. Options for student film distribution What’s the right way to distribute an independent digital video? There is no straightforward answer; each video will require a distribution plan tailored to its audience, style, length, and other specific characteristics. Making a good digital video requires tremendous effort and commitment. There is no greater reward for filmmakers than having an audience watch and appreciate the final product. Encourage students to look for opportunities to share the videos they have worked so hard on in class. The Youth Media Distribution Institute (YMDI; http://www.ymdi.org/) is an excellent resource for young filmmakers (and youth involved in other media, as well.) It provides articles on and guides for distribution, festivals, technology, and issues relevant to young people. Youth can also post their videos to the site. YMDI has also created a toolkit to assist young people in figuring out how to make sure their films reach their intended audiences (http://www.ymdi.org/toolkit/). The Toolkit includes information about and links to distributors who are reliable and open to youth media. The Toolkit is also be useful during research and preproduction to help determine the appropriate audience for a video and to strategize an effective distribution plan. Studentfilmmakers.com (http://www.studentfilmmakers.com/) targets student and youth filmmakers in forums that address filmmaking topics, including distribution and film festivals.
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Film festivals are an excellent way for students and youth filmmakers to gain exposure for their work. The Bermuda International Film Festival (http://www.bermudafilmfest.com/) has film camps for children and also sponsors a Children’s Film Festival. The Director in the Classroom (http://thedirectorintheclassroom.com/festivals4.php) maintains a growing list of student film festivals in Canada and the United States. Inside Film Magazine Online (http://www.insidefilm.com/festsbylocation.html) has an international directory of film festivals, some of which may include youth filmmakers. The Internet lists thousands of film festivals specific to youth talent. Students can research festivals and target those that seem most likely to be interested in their films. In addition to more formal screening channels – distributors, Internet, television, and festivals – encourage your students to work with people in the local community to set up screenings. Perhaps a student produced a portrait of a local musician; a screening of the short film could be combined with a performance by the musician. Encourage them to think creatively about possible community venues for their films. Final Class Activity: Digital Video Student Film Festival An ideal final activity for this class is a Student Film Festival, which will allow students to screen their films for friends, family, their film subjects, and for others they know in the community. Each student will have completed three short films that will show growing mastery of technology, craft, and creative process. The festival can be held on a weekend or evening, during a free class or after school – whatever works for your class and the potential audience. Teams of students can be assigned to take charge of planning or coordinating areas of the festival, including:
• Committee 1: Publicity – Get the word out! Poster: Create a poster for the event that includes date, time, place, a list of the filmmakers, and perhaps the titles of their final film projects. Invitation: Create a small invitation that can be given to friends, family, and film participants Announcements: Advertise your screening in school or community publications, such as newsletters and newspapers. Maybe a local newspaper will want to do an article about these young filmmakers.
• Committee 2: Logistics – Where and what needs to happen Location: Where will the festival be held? Secure your location, making sure the date is cleared and permissions are granted Equipment: How will you show your films? Is there a video projector available in the location, or will you need to use one from the school? What do you have to do to make sure the equipment is there and working properly? Staffing: Who will take care of basic setup, like arranging chairs and greeting people at the door? Refreshments: Do you want to provide any drinks or snacks for your audience? What will you serve and how will it be obtained? Will your location allow you to have food in or around your screening room?
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• Committee 3: The Screening: How will the films be best showcased? Order of the films: How will you organize the films for screening? You have three short films from each filmmaker. Will you organize them by filmmaker, or by type of project? Within each grouping, what is the best order for screening the films? Program: Do you want to have a printed program for the festival that includes information about the films, the projects, and the filmmakers? Introductions and announcements: Who will introduce the films and filmmakers? What do you want to say about them? Filmmaker Q&A: After screening the film, it is a good idea to give audience members a chance to ask questions of the filmmakers. How will you facilitate this? Would you like to have an audience response sheet that allows people to share their congratulations and responses to the films?
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Wrap up: Vocabulary and Review
Vocabulary
• Bit Rate • MPEG The speed at which audio and Abbreviation for Motion Picture video content travels on a Experts Group, a committee of network. Bit rate is usually video and audio experts who measure in kilobytes per second developed standards for (Kbps), for example 28.8 Kbps. compressing video for DVD and the web (and gave the standard • Codec their acronym!) MPEGs include In computer technology, an MPEG-1 for VCD, MPEG-2 for abbreviation for Compression/ DVD, and MPEG-4, for the web. Decompression. The compressor, or encoder, is an algorithm or • Spatial (interframe) Compression specialized computer program that Compressing film by encoding encodes or reduces the number of repetition within a frame. bytes consumed by large files and • Temporal (intraframe) programs; the decompressor, or Compression decoder receives and interprets the Compressing film by encoding encoded file changes between frames. • Compression Standards • Variable Bit Rate Compression formats for TV, The bit rate varies throughout CD/Internet, Streaming, and compression of the video in order DVD. Among the formats are to maintain the highest quality in MPEG, Quicktime, Windows the smallest possible file. Media Viewer, and Realtime files. • Video Compression • Constant Bit Rate The process of encoding digital A consistent target bit rate is video to take up less storage space maintained throughout and transmission bandwidth compression of video. • Video Decompression • DVD Authoring The process of decoding Creating a video DVD or DVD- compressed video to return it to an ROM that can be played and approximation of the original navigated on a DVD player • Video Streaming • Film Festival Enabling video to play A showcase for films and videos, immediately as it is accessed on often with a specific theme or the Internet rather than being orientation downloaded and stored first.
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Review Questions 1. What is a Codec and how does it work? 2. Why must video files be compressed for CD, Internet, or DVD? 3. What is the definition of bit rate? 4. Describe the difference between spatial (interframe) and temporal (intraframe) compression.
Filmmaker’s Journal: A Finale The Film Festival is over, you’ve produced three digital videos, and screened them with friends, classmates, family, and other members of the community. What was it like to watch other people while they watched your films? Did they respond as you expected? If your film subjects were there, how did they respond? As you go forward in your education and in your career, how do you think you might be able to use what you’ve learned in making digital videos?
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