This Week in Honors Film Making we learned about lenses and different ways to have your camera film with focus on different parts of the images within a scene. We also got hands on experience with the cameras in order to give us an experience for what it’s like to film with all these different options. We also learned that certain lenses can cost more than the camera.

On most professional cameras, the lense is usually how you adjust the exposure on the camera, which is usually included as a setting in most off the counter cameras that can be bought at a more reasonable price in stores. We learned about a certain lense that was used to give focus to an object close up and a person in the background and still give a blur to the person in the middle ground, which is very uncommon and was used to capture the way the person in the middle was almost dying while the medication responsible and the person this was affecting being within very clear view. We learned that different lenses can be applied to give a more distinct area of focus on certain things in the picture, thus applying a hint within a movie where the viewers should be looking in the screen.

Images can also be captured with different depths of field, which can make things either look closer together or more spread apart depending on the setting. We learned of a case where advertisers were looking to install billboards in a certain area that the citizens living in this area were very against, saying that it cluttered up the space. When asked for photo evidence, both the group of citizens as well as the advertisers went to get pictures, applying different depths of field to each picture. The one from the advertisers showed a very large spread from the billboards but the group of citizens presented a picture where the billboards looked extremely close together. The judge called fraud because of his lack of knowledge of this type of photography.

We also learned about shutter speed, which can effect a picture a lot more than a moving video but is still very important to know about when making a film. A low shutter speed exposes more of the picture to light making the picture much brighter but movement within the picture will be more blurred given more of the movement was captured in the speed that the shutter opened and closed. A picture captured with a much faster shutter speed will result in less light exposer, meaning the pictures colors will be a little less vibrant, but when trying to capture a more still picture there would be almost no motion blur depending on how fast the shutter opened and closed.

On Thursday, we went to the library to take shots of different angles, depths of field, and shutter speeds. We experimented with people closer and farther away for our depths of field and focus, and also tested different exposure options and shutter speeds. Something interesting is that in the shutter speeds, I noticed I could see more of what I was doing when I was moving with a quick shutter speed than a very open one.

 

The Article, “How ‘No Coutnry for Old Men’ Successfully Defies Narrative Expectations” by Justin Marrow, makes a very good point about movie plots. A good story teller should give the audience information in pieces, like 2 plus 2, instead of giving the audience everything in the form of 4. This forces the audience to put information together themselves, rather than having to “spoon-feed” it to them.

Though never seeing the movie myself, hearing that “the first murder we see is careful, violent and powerful, but the second is polite and clean. His apathetic attitude and his disturbing efficacy auggests a long history of taking life” gives me a clear image of the character. Through the story telling and through the characters attitude, we can get a sense of what’s gone on before the movie takes place, even  without a backstory.

As a film maker, I can see this as a very good way to tell stories. In movies and tv shows I watch, eveytime there is a mystery or something unknown to the audience, I want to see clues or things that catch my eye and hint toward the answer. Most of the time it is just a reveal and the mystery is concluded with out any deductive reasoning used, which can be disappointing. If I were to direct a tv show, I would leave subtle clues and hints scattered throughout the episodes. People who catch them would be able to theorize but not be certain on the answer, but could still make their guesses.

In the same way, I would not want backstory and characters traits to be revealed through simple dialogue exposition, or certainly not a narrator. I would want to gradually reveal traits and backstory through actions, emotions or expressions, leaving the audience wondering if that was an evil smirk or an antagonizing taunt. An audience cannot enjoy a movie that gives them bleak concrete evidence after bleak concrete evidence. An audience wants to use their brain and say to themselves “oh I get it” or “that’s who’s under the mask” or “he’s the traitor!”. No audience wants to know what to expect before the scene even happens. Throughout “No Country for Old Men”, the audience is expected their protagonist vs. antagonist showdown. But Moss is killed off screen, leaving the audience bewildered yet so much more intrigued with where the story is going.

After reading the article, I have a one question. How can you put together such an effective story while at the same time leaving things out so the audience can put them together. Specifically, how would you know how much you leave your audience to figure out before plot holes become imminent. Is there a certain set of rules to follow for this type of plot, or do multiple groups of people analyze and find out exactly how much works and how much doesn’t everytime a change is made. I feel like if I tried to create something along these lines, I would disappoint the groups of people who did not put two and two together or maybe dissapoint those who found it too easy. I believe the best person to ask would be a novelist or someone working with reviewing books because a book plot is much more drawn out in the process and may have more answers.

My name is Parker Miller and I am the lead moderator and creator of Parker’s FMC Blog. FMC stands for Film Making Class. I am a senior in high school and enjoy watching films and brainstorming ideas for my own. I went to Meredith Dunn for grade school and I am a drummer and music artist. If you are interested in music check out my Soundcloud here https://soundcloud.com/user-946068174.

I have made many short comedic films and have knowledge of effects production, although it is limited. I have acted in films and commercials for my school and grade school. I have little to no professional recording equipment and I use inexpensive mobile apps when i create films but I’m looking to step up to a new level.

I have produced a few short films but no longer do I possess the them because i had to erase them from my iPad. They were all comedic and very low quality so it may be a blessing I no longer retain copies. I believe the best parts of them were the effects and the complete and utter randomness within them. Many things could be done better especially since I was playing every role, producer, editor and director, so I wouldn’t say I am proud of them.

The reason I have decided to take Honors Film Making my senior year of high school is to get tips and broaden my knowledge of the field so that I can use what I learn to create better and more high quality films that I would be happy to leave for public viewing

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton