Film Studies and Cinematography / Project 1

30/8/2022 - 20/9/2022 / Week 1 - Week 4
Nurul Adlina Rizal / 0345429 / Bachelor of Design in Creative Media
Film Studies & Cinematography
Project 1


JUMPLINKS



LECTURES

Week 2: 

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1lZXal9YIMz1TgKutwK1rnWLPPj8bUjkXJH7bDSAhWlU/edit#slide=id.ged61779953_0_75

Animation: Idea to Pre Production

Pre-Production

- Idea Development
- Script & Storyboarding
- Character Design
- Production Design

Idea Development

Pixar's Idea development

- begin with personal experience and develop into a story that is universal

- identify something emotionally

- keep working on it, changing it

- remember the initial feeling/idea

Script & Storyboarding

Visual Storytelling:

Transcript the written word into visual. 

Character Design

- begin from shape
- sketch thumbnail
- mark the best ones
- draw them larger
- create variants

Production Design

Create the finished "look" of an animation

Concept to Theme

Concept: Simplest description of an idea

Theme: Manifesto of the concept.

- calls for style, character design, art direction, music, and pace that compliments the story 


Week 3:

Refine and Clarify Central Idea

Story concept > Story premise

- identify what's unique about your idea and focus on that aspect to create a detailed premise

3-Act Structure

Story: Action + Event

Use 'Because of that'.

Visual Storytelling

The act of telling a story or communicating information with visual content. 

Show don't tell !

Story beat: Most important moment of the story

Story beats show WHAT is happening in point form !

Story spine


Act 1:

Introduce the character, the world and the theme. 

Leaving her comfort zone. Better new place. Make the audience fall in love with the character.

Inciting incident: conflict

What or who is the antagonist?

Set up !

Act 2

Because of this...
Because of that...
Because of that...

Series of progressive complication.

Rising action: Obstacle. Make them make a difficult decision. LOW POINT.

What is the goal of the main character at the start of Act 2. 

Turning Point - where your character learns something new and realizes their needs

Act 3:

Until finally...
And ever since then...

Develops a better version of themselves, a new version of the world is presented. 


Week 4:

Cinematography in Animation

The art and technology of motion-picture photography:

- Composition of a scene
- Lighting of a set
- Choice of camera lenses
- The camera angle and movements

Character:
Stronger/weaker
More emotional
More confused/intelligent
Innocent/Mature

Composition:
- Camera Angle
- Rule of Thirds
- Staging
- Camera Movement

Staging

Personality

Recognizable; an expression can be seen. A shy child would turn their eyes down and slightly rotate their upper body away from the gaze of another child. The child's actions reveal the fact that he is shy.

Mood

A mood is staged so that it will affect the audience. The tight composition of dark trees in a dense forest, leaning in toward a scared youth; eyes glowing from within the thick; hurried breathing filling the air; the child's eye wide open. 


INSTRUCTIONS


Project 1

Week 1 30/8/2022

1A: 

Think of a memory that you remember vividly. It should be a memory that comes easily to you. 

My Verbal Memory


Fig 1.0: Verbal Memory in Audio (30/8/2022)

Transcription


Fig 1.1: Transcription of Verbal Memory (30/8/2022)

1B: 

Why do you remember this memory so well?

I believe I remember this memory well because of how emotional the situation was. I was a bit overwhelmed when I received the news that I was accepted into a prestigious school. As much as a part of me was excited and proud of myself for being able to achieve it, I was feeling a lot of sadness due to the thought of leaving my friends. The thought of one day waking up to go to school and not seeing them there in class. My friends meant a lot to me since we have been through so much together, the good and the bad. 

To connect it to emotions, it would mostly be, sadness, guilt, overwhelmed, and stunned.

Week 2 6/9/2022

Ideation. In this week, we worked on the ideation sheet of our story. We associated music and images to the story which in turn provides us with reference and ideas of how the final -project could look like. 

Week 3 13/9/2022

Point form.

We were tasked to create a point form for our story structure. Personally, I did not know if my story was cohesive or valuable since it is quite emotion based. It does not follow the proper story structure and I was worried if it will resonate with others. However, I am sure that many people who were my age at the time or have felt the pain of separation could relate to my story. 

Week 4 20/9/2022

FINAL

Fig 1.2: Ideation Final (4/10/2022)


FEEDBACKS

Week 4

General Feedback: -
Specific Feedback: Write your story poetically. 

Week 5

General Feedback: Think about what type of animation your story is. 
Specific Feedback: Find out the moments in your high school that would best portray the character's goals and what they care about most. 


REFLECTIONS

Experience

Personally, I had an amazing experience in Film Studies and Cinematography class because the class is so small. With only 7 students in class, we were able to have a more personalized learning and feedback session with Mr. Martin. He is able to monitor our stories and advise us on what we can improve on. During this project, I was shocked to learn that we would create a story based on our personal experiences. It is how most story writers write an impactful story. In personal experiences, there is something that people can relate to. I love that concept and had a lot of fun brainstorming my sad experience into something I can share with others and hopefully make them feel seen. 

Observation

I observed that I struggled a lot in turning my personal experience into something that is a feasible and interesting story. It was also difficult to fit my story into a story structure. While I believe that the Pixar story structure is a good mold for a good impressive story, my story was more emotionally-driven. I believe that I need to be creative in shaping my personal experience into a story with new characters with relatable experiences. 

Findings

In conclusion, I was able to learn the industry methods used in creating stories and how to structure them in a way where the story can resonate with people. A good example shown in class made me understand that structuring your story in a bad way can make the audience hate your character. I hope that Project 1 can build a good foundation for upcoming projects in this module. 


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