Hey! So just to say I have began a new blog for my second year as a Media Production student, why not take a peek?
https://grantsnaithyr2blog.wordpress.com
UNITED STATES – CIRCA 1950s: Woman with surprised look. (Photo by George Marks/Retrofile/Getty Images)
For my 162MC edit, I chose to adapt ‘A Game of Bluffs’ to the film movement of Film Noir but also with the modern influence of director Steven Spielberg. Film Noir has long been an interesting subject for me and when I began to write the script I did so with the Film Noir movement in mind. Steven Spielberg is not one of my favourite directors however I appreciate his techniques and his invisible oner, or one take method of shooting as seen in films of his like Jaws (1975). I hoped to combine the two methods to create a slow paced and 
mysterious piece that drew from both sources.
The first decision we took upon ourselves as a group was to shoot our film straight into black and white. This was a group decision as most of us agreed we would be turning our footage into black and white anyway despite editing into different styles. During editing certain scenes appeared too bright since our location was lined with white walls and some large windows that couldn’t be blocked so in post I chose to decrease the brightness to keep a gritty feeling to the visuals. Film Noir makes use of strong lighting and the casting of distinct shadows. The film Double Indemnity (1944) was largely influential to me for the visual and style of 
shadow, in some scenes I left the brightness so you could barely make out facial features. I would have liked to have dimmed the backdrop more throughout if I had more time just to create the impression of the characters being in a dark bar somewhere.
Some of the cuts are particularly long in my edit of A Game of Bluffs so as to better keep to the style of Steven Spielberg, in particular the scene where Jimmy is telling the crude joke. Chapmann makes a remark whilst Jimmy is talking, if I was editing to a different style I would have cut to Chapmann to say this line but instead I feel that Chapmann is already an established character and the audience are aware that that is his voice and so hold the shot on 
Jimmy. These slow one takes allow the audience to connect with the characters emotionally and to soak in the atmosphere of a competitive poker game. Ideally I would have preferred to shoot the whole thing in one take by moving the camera around the table capturing the four men in shot throughout however we lacked a shoulder rig for the smooth movements and our actors joined last minute and were unable to memorise the lines.
Although I wanted to keep to long continuous shots, sometimes it was necessary to cut away to a different shot either because the camera was unable to move fast enough around the table or moving to the next shot felt unnatural as it broke the 180 degree rule. For these shots I still wanted to tell something about the characters so instead of cutting away to random shots of cards or chips on the table I chose to show a finger 
running on the edge of the glass to show edginess or a chip rolling through knuckles to suggest nerves. I feel these cut aways subtly inform the audience how much these characters mistrust one another.
The sound is always a crucial component in film and perhaps even more so in Film Noir. Sound effects need to sound real and grounded, no hyper-real effects. In addition to this music is a key component for pacing, atmosphere and setting. I deliberately chose to use Body and Soul by Ziggy Elman bec
ause it fit the time period to operate both as diagetic and non-diagetic pieces of music. For the majority of the film the music acts as diagetic, a record playing in the background of the bar however as the action kicks off it changes to non-diagetic music before changing back in the aftermath. I also wanted to use this song all the way through the film to reinforce the long takes that were being shown with the same continuous music.
During the course of the film there are several conversations taking place between the characters that don’t necessarily add to the narrative but help to develop the characters and their working relationships. I ch
ose to keep these in rather than streamlining the film to keep the narrative moving because I felt it was important that in a film so character driven it was important to understand these characters. My inspiration for this style of edit comes mostly from Quentin Tarantino’s in films Pulp Fiction (1994) and Inglourious Basterds (2009). In the latter of these two films, Tarantino has a bar scene which really influenced me in its style of long takes and seemingly pointless conversation only to suddenly flick into action.
I debated with myself about the opening of the film for quite some time and ended up choosing a different opening to what I had originally planned. Originally I was going to use a shot of New York city with a title indicating the setting of ‘Chicago, 1948’ and then cut to our main character Chapmann entering through the bar door. However, I decided against this in favour of opening up on a shot of a chip rolling across someone hand in the hopes that this would immediately establish the setting, tone and subject of the film. I then cut to our first character introduced with the close up of him taking the glass.
In conclusion, I was relatively happy with the outcome of A Game of Bluffs and learnt a great deal in the process about filming to meet the editing style of your piece and also the central column to film, sound. When I re-shoot this over the summer I feel like I will be much more prepared for the challenge and aware of what worked and what didn’t and how I can improve the overall quality of the film.
Film Bibliography
Double Indemnity (1944) by Billy Wilder
Inglourious Basterds (2009) by Quentin Tarantino
Jaws (1975) by Steven Spielberg
Pulp Fiction (1994) by Quentin Tarantino
Relevant Blog Posts
https://grantsnaithyr1.wordpress.com/2015/03/16/editing-a-narrative/
https://grantsnaithyr1.wordpress.com/2015/03/26/the-smokey-veil-of-film-noir/
https://grantsnaithyr1.wordpress.com/2015/03/26/a-game-of-bluffs/
https://grantsnaithyr1.wordpress.com/2015/04/30/schools-styles-and-the-researching-of-film-editing/
https://grantsnaithyr1.wordpress.com/2015/05/02/the-mystery-of-film-noir/
https://grantsnaithyr1.wordpress.com/2015/05/07/the-sound-edit/
https://grantsnaithyr1.wordpress.com/2015/05/13/a-game-of-bluffs-promo-work/
One thing that really excites me about film is the art of portraying a narrative through the visual medium. Now this can be done in the traditional ‘real life’ appearance as many films do, and do so successfully, however its those daring enough to try something different that really stick in the mind. Here are a few interesting visuals:
Okay, so this one isn’t from a film, but its gameplay appears not too dissimilar so use your imaginations a bit. This trailer is for a platform game being released sometime this year called Ori and the Blind Forest by Moon Studios, a worldwide collaboration of designers and programmers who have been working on the game for the past four years. Whats interesting about this visual is the strong contrast of lighting and stark colours that create a real luscious appearance to the characters and settings.
The two above clips are from Sin City and The Spirit, both are what could be called dark-comic book adaptations, each portraying a deprived city in need of a hero but instead offered up a down on your luck guy for a ‘hero’. Both films make use of dark visuals and in some cases black and white to create a gritty feel to the film almost like a film noir style. Both also make play on strong key colours throughout the story like the red of blood and the yellow of skin, things that are either odd to the story or that they want to draw attention to. In some senses this drowns out the scene and causes our eyes to focus on this colour, a powerful technique when used correctly.
This amazing film shot and directed by Terrence Malick called The Tree of Life tackles the difficult question of the meaning of life and creation. It does this in a really interesting self reflection of the main character, looking back upon his life. Throughout Terrence Malick utilises some truly inspiring lighting to influence the mood of scenes, and though this is not uncommon in mainstream film visuals, Terrence takes this to a new level with an in-depth understanding of the influence these visuals have over others. The film also features a beautiful sequence where it depicts the creation of the universe that again plays with the lighting almost like a beautiful dance, it is truly majestic and one of my favourite scenes from any movie.
I found this great tutorial on how to adjust you Machinima footage to have that dark and cinematic look to it. I will be experimenting with this after the editing process to experiment with the footage however if time is against me then that may be done in an edition after my hand-in date.
Vicarious
Experienced in the imagination through the feelings or actions of another person.
The poetic piece entitled ‘Vicarious’ starts off with a blurred shot of light particles crackling from the side of the screen, this slow and beautiful visual lures its viewers into a false sense of security from the
get go. The initial idea of using this visual was centred around the idea that it was the glow of the television screen just out of view and that as the video progressed we were going to be viewing the television set and we would then end on the same visual to suggest we had turned away from the violence presented to us by the controlling media.
I wanted to play around with the theme of eyes through out the entirety of this poetic piece for several reasons. Firstly, the eyes are the gates through which we allow this violence to flood into our systems and the visuals successfully show this by interjecting as the violence of each clip increases, becoming more and more rapid in movement and ‘distressed’. Secondly I wanted to capture emotion in my piece to help the
audience feel an emotional tie to the themes behind the poem, I don’t think I successfully achieved this target as well as the first because of the quality of some of the eye clips chosen were blurry.
Some of the shots of eyes carried a little more significance than to simply convey ourselves as absorbers of the media. There are two shots of eyes that I chose specifically to show; one of an eye being removed and another of a lobotomy procedure. Both shots whilst very different in som
e respects were chosen to represent connotations of how the media experiments on us as viewers and consumers. I know that this was a great choice as a few classmates even commented upon this visual. The final eye shot was without careful examination completely similar to every other shot of the eye before it however I chose that particular shot as it focused on the retracting of the iris to suggest a moment of realisation or an ‘eye opening’ experience.
At one stage of the poem the following lines occur “Bloated on pain and swollen on suffering” for me this was a brilliant part of the poem as I felt it really emphasised the feeling that we simply cannot get enough, however I had trouble thinking of a visual for this piece. I eventually came to the realisation that a simple twisting and swirling black and white visual could be great here. Its intended purpose was to symbolise the discomforting contortion feeling of being bloated.
Overall, ‘Vicarious’ is a representation of a human coming to terms with the brutality we are spoon fed on a daily basis by the controlling media. It points the finger at you and asks the question what is wrong with humanity that we feel the need to see such misery and violence and enjoy doing so. I hope that this has opened your eyes to this frightening reality of modern day society.
These are the visual storyboards for my Web 2.0 project entitled ‘Shadow of the Mountain’. The project is to retell a classical narrative, in my case the Overcoming the Monster story but told in a unique way using various internet based tools. Shadow of the Mountain is a machinima project filmed using the game engine of World of Warcraft and other applications such as FRAPS, WoW Model Viewer and WoW Map Viewer and then edited together using Adobe Premiere. Below can be seen still images I have captured for the purposes of creating a working storyboard, please bear in mind these shots are rough and could be slightly altered during the filming process, in addition to this characters seen in these stills are not character from the story but simply in-game NPC’s that served for blocking out my shots.
Shot #01 <Establishing Shot> Still shot of the Town Hall clock tower with the distant peak of a mountain above a treetop canopy. A gentle plume of smoke rolls across the bottom of the screen.
Shot #02 <Establishing Shot>
Still shot of the gate of Darkshire as a guard on patrol duty passes underneath, towards the end of the clip we get the audio of a judges hammer and a restless crowd fading in leading us on to the next shot.
Shot #03 <Mid Shot> A Mid shot of the Mayor of Darkshire in rich clothing and a monocle. He shouts out across a restless crowd for “Silence!” In the backdrop is one of his advisors who is also dressed in fine clothing establishing their social status.
Shot #04 <Mid Shot>
A Mid shot of an angry civilian amongst the restless crowd. He shouts out towards the mayor “And what about the mountain? How much longer must we live in his shadow!”
Shot #05 <Mid Shot, Panning> Another citizen amongst the crowd is seen crying into her hands as the discussion once again breaks down into angry protest. She is dressed in the clothes of peasantry.
Shot #06 <Mid Close Up Shot>
A waist up shot of the Mayor from a slightly lower angel to give the sense of his authority. “The welfare of the citizens of this town is my first priority as Mayor”
Shot #07 <Over the Shoulder Wide Shot> We see a shot of the mayor in full at his podium addressing the crowd over the shoulder of his advisor, his speech continues “A withdrawal of all forces from the mountain to increase patrol strength is the most logical step”
Shot #08 <Mid Shot> The angry citizen from before looks dissatisfied with this answer “Hmm! To protect your own hide you mean. How will we ever be safe whilst he sits upon his mighty mountain?!”
Shot #09 <Wide Shot or Close Up>
The Mayor appears enraged by this remark and loose his cool allowing himself to get caught up in the moment. “If you want to rest in an early grave then head up that mountain yourself!”
Shot #10 <Mid Shot>
A shot of another of the Mayor’s advisors who turns to look at the Mayor in surprise from his remarks. There is hushed gasps and whispers then a moment of silence.
Shot #11 <Mid Shot>
A brief moment of the Mayor saying nothing as he composes himself, looking out across the crowd. “We are all afraid. Afraid for what will happen to Darkshire, to our children, and to ourselves. It is I who has to decide how best to preserve our people. And, if that means making the call, to retreat. Then I will be damned if I let your hatred deter me.”
Shot #12 <Wide Shot>
A Wide shot of our main protagonist, the female gnome, sat in her peasantry clothing on a bench as the rambling of the crowd slowly begins to fade.
Shot #13 <Wide Shot>
The citizens of Darkshire exit the Town Hall doors slowly (no Gnome) The sound of crickets chirping in the distance and footsteps against the awkward ‘contained’ silence of the crowd exiting.
Shot #14 <Wide Shot>
Another Wide Shot showing people walking out and away from the Town Hall, this time with the Gnome at the back of the pack slowly walking out and past the well. The other citizens all scatter off.
Shot #15 <Close Up>
A Close Up shot of a gently swinging lantern in the midnight breeze. The Gnome paces past the lantern slowly and out of shot.
Shot #16 <Close Up>
Another Close Up shot but this time of a iron fencing that has become buckled by something. In the distance up the hill can be seen a house and the Gnome walks into shot and up the hill towards the house.
Shot #17 <Mid Close Up Shot>
A Mid Close Up Shot of the fireplace, most of the shot is taken up by the fireplace but you can see areas around it to establish the house interior. The Gnome walks into shot looking at the fire. “All i’ve ever known is Shadow…”
Shot #18 <Wide Shot>
A Wide Shot establishing more of the house and area around the fireplace. The Gnome turns away from the fire and walks towards her wardrobe. “death…”
Shot #19 <Mid Shot> A Mid Shot of a chest in the house (may edit a staff to be resting on top depending on time restraints) and the Gnome walks into shot, obscuring the view of the chest/staff. “and fear.”
Shot #20 <Wide Shot>
A Wide Shot of Darkshire town. “Darkshire, my town, my home, we lost hope along time ago now”
Shot #21 <Wide Shot>
A Wide Shot of the Darkshire Town Hall clock tower but from the opposite side to before and with the appearance of the Moon/Sun in the background. “I think its time we took that back.”
Shot #22 <Mid Shot or Wide Shot>
A Mid Shot of Wide Shot of a solitary twisted looking Scare Crow stood in a barren field with eery silence and creaking as he moves in the wind. Building suspension.
Shot #23 <Wide Shot>
A Wide Shot (Possibly a Close Up depending on time restraints) of a rat in the field rearing up on to his back legs attentively perhaps to the sound of gently fading in footsteps.
— To be Continued —
“For all its material advantages, the sedentary life has left us edgy, unfulfilled. Even after 400 generations in villages and cities, we haven’t forgotten. The open road still softly calls, like a nearly forgotten song of childhood. We invest far-off places with a certain romance. This appeal, I suspect, has been meticulously crafted by natural selection as an essential element in our survival. Long summers, mild winters, rich harvests, plentiful game—none of them lasts forever. Your own life, or your band’s, or even your species’ might be owed to a restless few—drawn, by a craving they can hardly articulate or understand, to undiscovered lands and new worlds.
Herman Melville, in Moby Dick, spoke for wanderers in all epochs and meridians: “I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas…”
Maybe it’s a little early. Maybe the time is not quite yet. But those other worlds— promising untold opportunities—beckon.
Silently, they orbit the Sun, waiting…”
I came across this short film after watching a news update on the video game Star Wars: Battlefront, which is being produced by the game company behind Battlefield, DICE. It had been rumoured, that the art team behind the Star Wars game had been in touch with Erik Wernquist, the man behind this short film ‘Wanderers’ to help them build an art style similar to his. So, I checked out his short film and I can honestly say it is beautiful, its visuals dominate you in a sense of awe that makes me wish I owned a telescope. Its certainly an inspiration as I move forward with my own short film.
The Journey Begins 