Lecture notes
Was paying more attention in class today. Some notes I took:
~ notion of genre - audience
~ passion -what do I care about?
~ a great writer may not be a published writer, but the fact that he finds love is enough
~ rich meanings in many aspects of our lives
~ 2nd conflict/tension - twins (preferred), no conflict means no story, no matter how subtle, layers/conflict
~ dramatic narrating - dramatic shift in character's life
~ character who undergone the most significant change is the protagonist
~ odd numbers are great. 2v1 is effective combo for dramatic storytelling
~ surprise them! unpredictability
~ most endings we hate - romantic comedy
~ endings with irony (neither positive or negative)
~ positive - "It's ok we won't hurt the bird."
~ negative - ripping the bird's head off
~ scene with nothing - introduce conflict!
~ no "he thinks, she feels" as you can't see or hear it
~ how can you translate feelings into visual or aural? Try and articulate it in actions
~ think in action, not dialogue
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
"Movie in a movie"
Ok, I've worked out the new concept. After a few labourous hours with several re-writing attempts. Thanks to Sam and Alice for their great ideas. You're the breast, eh best!
Here it is:
A rather trendy man, FRANKIE, walks along the pedestrian that’s blanketed in trees. It’s a nice cool, windy day with a bit of sun peeping through the shade. He’s dressed in op-shop attire and looks like he dresses to impress himself, rather than to impress. He spots a funky pair of sunnies, has a paperback novel in hand and a duffel bag slung over his shoulders.
He turns into a plaza that’s almost devoid of people. Frankie finds a shady spot and removes his shoes. Making himself comfortable and crossing his legs, he has a sip of water from a botle of water, turns to a page in the book and starts reading.
MELISSA walks rather briskly along another end of the plaza. She’s in a long bright, floral dress and has nice long tresses. She has a rather large parcel under her arm. Mobile phone on her ear, she’s giving directions to the other person on the phone in a foreign language. Walking past Frankie and into a slight wind, her dress ‘trails’ behind her.
Frankie catches a glimpse of Melissa’s dress off the corner of his eye and looks up from his book. His eye follows the shape of her dress, body and hair, he purses his lips and almost smiles to himself. Melissa stops and stands about 50 feet away from Frankie and waits next to a street lamp. Ending her conversation, she puts her phone back into her handbag and wraps her arm around the parcel. She takes a little breather and looks around. She barely noticed Frankie.
Frankie goes back to his book and looks up periodically, clearly appreciating Melissa’s presence.
TOMAS is walking rather hurriedly along a road. He clearly hasn’t been here before and is looking for a focal point along the road. Walking along, he spots the plaza and walks towards it.
Tomas spots Melissa from far and waves. Melissa turns towards Tomas takes a few steps towards him before stopping.
Frankie looks up to observe the going-ons. Tomas walks up to Melissa and gives her a hug. The parcel is sandwiched between them while they’re hugging.
Speaking in their common language, Tomas apologises to Melissa for being late and makes a joke about not being a walking Melways. Melissa laughs, hands the parcel over to Tomas, says it’s ok and initiates a conversation. They remain standing, looking comfortable.
Frankie hasn’t gone back to his book and is looking rather intently at Tomas’s and Melissa’s get-together. The couple is being observed through Frankie’s eyes. They’re clearly having a conversation, as Tomas and Melissa are gesturing and nodding. However Frankie isn’t able to hear the conversation as they’re too far away.
From Frankie’s POV, little English subtitles appear under Tomas and Melissa as they speak. The subtitles do not make any sense as they do not correlate to what the couple talking about.
Tomas and Melissa continues to stand and talk, looking lively. All this while Frankie continues to observe them. His POV continues to show completely random statements and quips that are left-field and out of whack.
Tomas and Melissa, while not being understood by the majority of the viewers, are clearly talking about the contents in the parcel. Frankie’s own little movie is panning out to be something rather different.
After a minute, Tomas and Melissa begin to head off towads Frankie. Walking abreast of one another, they take a slow stroll and continue to remain in animate conversation. Frankie’s POV continues in subtitled format.
As the couple walks past Frankie, the contents of the box fall out from the bottom of the box. Frankie quickly puts his book aside, walks over and helps pick up the contents. Tomas and Melissa stoop/squat over to assist and thank Frankie for his help.
Frankie points to his ear, indicates ‘there is nothing’ and begins to say, in incomprehensible English, that he’s deaf.
Tomas and Melissa both look slightly embarassed. They stand up, thanking and nodding continuously. Frankie gives a ‘It’s ok’ look, uses ‘you’re welcome’ in sign language and mouths it out.
The couple walks away with a broken box and contents while Frankie goes back to his shady spot. He looks up, just before Melissa disappears from around the corner of a building, smiles to himself and keeps reading.
Ok, I've worked out the new concept. After a few labourous hours with several re-writing attempts. Thanks to Sam and Alice for their great ideas. You're the breast, eh best!
Here it is:
A rather trendy man, FRANKIE, walks along the pedestrian that’s blanketed in trees. It’s a nice cool, windy day with a bit of sun peeping through the shade. He’s dressed in op-shop attire and looks like he dresses to impress himself, rather than to impress. He spots a funky pair of sunnies, has a paperback novel in hand and a duffel bag slung over his shoulders.
He turns into a plaza that’s almost devoid of people. Frankie finds a shady spot and removes his shoes. Making himself comfortable and crossing his legs, he has a sip of water from a botle of water, turns to a page in the book and starts reading.
MELISSA walks rather briskly along another end of the plaza. She’s in a long bright, floral dress and has nice long tresses. She has a rather large parcel under her arm. Mobile phone on her ear, she’s giving directions to the other person on the phone in a foreign language. Walking past Frankie and into a slight wind, her dress ‘trails’ behind her.
Frankie catches a glimpse of Melissa’s dress off the corner of his eye and looks up from his book. His eye follows the shape of her dress, body and hair, he purses his lips and almost smiles to himself. Melissa stops and stands about 50 feet away from Frankie and waits next to a street lamp. Ending her conversation, she puts her phone back into her handbag and wraps her arm around the parcel. She takes a little breather and looks around. She barely noticed Frankie.
Frankie goes back to his book and looks up periodically, clearly appreciating Melissa’s presence.
TOMAS is walking rather hurriedly along a road. He clearly hasn’t been here before and is looking for a focal point along the road. Walking along, he spots the plaza and walks towards it.
Tomas spots Melissa from far and waves. Melissa turns towards Tomas takes a few steps towards him before stopping.
Frankie looks up to observe the going-ons. Tomas walks up to Melissa and gives her a hug. The parcel is sandwiched between them while they’re hugging.
Speaking in their common language, Tomas apologises to Melissa for being late and makes a joke about not being a walking Melways. Melissa laughs, hands the parcel over to Tomas, says it’s ok and initiates a conversation. They remain standing, looking comfortable.
Frankie hasn’t gone back to his book and is looking rather intently at Tomas’s and Melissa’s get-together. The couple is being observed through Frankie’s eyes. They’re clearly having a conversation, as Tomas and Melissa are gesturing and nodding. However Frankie isn’t able to hear the conversation as they’re too far away.
From Frankie’s POV, little English subtitles appear under Tomas and Melissa as they speak. The subtitles do not make any sense as they do not correlate to what the couple talking about.
Tomas and Melissa continues to stand and talk, looking lively. All this while Frankie continues to observe them. His POV continues to show completely random statements and quips that are left-field and out of whack.
Tomas and Melissa, while not being understood by the majority of the viewers, are clearly talking about the contents in the parcel. Frankie’s own little movie is panning out to be something rather different.
After a minute, Tomas and Melissa begin to head off towads Frankie. Walking abreast of one another, they take a slow stroll and continue to remain in animate conversation. Frankie’s POV continues in subtitled format.
As the couple walks past Frankie, the contents of the box fall out from the bottom of the box. Frankie quickly puts his book aside, walks over and helps pick up the contents. Tomas and Melissa stoop/squat over to assist and thank Frankie for his help.
Frankie points to his ear, indicates ‘there is nothing’ and begins to say, in incomprehensible English, that he’s deaf.
Tomas and Melissa both look slightly embarassed. They stand up, thanking and nodding continuously. Frankie gives a ‘It’s ok’ look, uses ‘you’re welcome’ in sign language and mouths it out.
The couple walks away with a broken box and contents while Frankie goes back to his shady spot. He looks up, just before Melissa disappears from around the corner of a building, smiles to himself and keeps reading.
"The Eye is more superficial."
I've spent the weekend reading up and trying to understand last week's lecture on Sound. David said something that really made me look at movies (even the terribly cheesy ones done in bad taste!) in a different way:
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"The Eye is more superficial whereas the Ears are more uncertain. We can imagine what we hear."
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Wow! That's deep and profound David!
By my definition, David means:
"The Eye sees what you want to see (the more prominent visuals) but the Ears are more discerning (the less prominent sounds)."
I didn't think David could top that statement he made, but he floored me a few minutes later with this:
----------------------------------
"Cinema is ventriloquism."
------------------------------------------
Have you found your inner Zen yet, David? Haha.
I struggled a little to define this statement. But i remembered the video that David showed - couple walking down a dark alley when a bunch of hoons (off camera) flashed their lights on them (which bounced back off the wall they're walking parallel with), jeered and drove away - and that helped me tremendously in my thought process.
Sound can be thrown at you from anywhere but it is up to the director to project it. In the scene above, many people would have shown the hoons driving past. I probably might have as well. David suggested using them out of shot as they're not essential to the plot development, but using the sounds and visuals they make to indicate their presence.
By doing that, the director cuts down on unnecessary shooting. Finding a bunch of hoons and a loud, souped up car in Melbourne is as easy as snapping your fingers, but they are - as in reel life - a waste of time.
I've spent the weekend reading up and trying to understand last week's lecture on Sound. David said something that really made me look at movies (even the terribly cheesy ones done in bad taste!) in a different way:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Eye is more superficial whereas the Ears are more uncertain. We can imagine what we hear."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wow! That's deep and profound David!
By my definition, David means:
"The Eye sees what you want to see (the more prominent visuals) but the Ears are more discerning (the less prominent sounds)."
I didn't think David could top that statement he made, but he floored me a few minutes later with this:
----------------------------------
"Cinema is ventriloquism."
------------------------------------------
Have you found your inner Zen yet, David? Haha.
I struggled a little to define this statement. But i remembered the video that David showed - couple walking down a dark alley when a bunch of hoons (off camera) flashed their lights on them (which bounced back off the wall they're walking parallel with), jeered and drove away - and that helped me tremendously in my thought process.
Sound can be thrown at you from anywhere but it is up to the director to project it. In the scene above, many people would have shown the hoons driving past. I probably might have as well. David suggested using them out of shot as they're not essential to the plot development, but using the sounds and visuals they make to indicate their presence.
By doing that, the director cuts down on unnecessary shooting. Finding a bunch of hoons and a loud, souped up car in Melbourne is as easy as snapping your fingers, but they are - as in reel life - a waste of time.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Scriptwriting with the scriptwriters
Met up with Alice and Sam. They're got some mad skillz ideas that i'm crazily passionate about. You know that Prof Comm feeling when you know you're the young Padawan in a room, full of Jedis? Yep, that's how i felt. Prof Comm students always lose out compared to the full-on Media, Journalism or PR kids.
Now to bring that out in words. Am going to redo the concept and script.
Thanks guys, you were awesome.
Met up with Alice and Sam. They're got some mad skillz ideas that i'm crazily passionate about. You know that Prof Comm feeling when you know you're the young Padawan in a room, full of Jedis? Yep, that's how i felt. Prof Comm students always lose out compared to the full-on Media, Journalism or PR kids.
Now to bring that out in words. Am going to redo the concept and script.
Thanks guys, you were awesome.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Script, Concept, Whatnot Part One
After much deliberation, hesitation and emulsification (i was lathering my hair with shampoo in the shower when i struck upon this idea, hence the word), i have finally come up with a decent [sic] script.
After much deliberation, hesitation and emulsification (i was lathering my hair with shampoo in the shower when i struck upon this idea, hence the word), i have finally come up with a decent [sic] script.
Regular Joe of youthful appearance and casual demeanour (i'm picturing myself) walks up to a cinema ticket-buying area (i'm thinking this could be Kaleide Theatre to facilitate filming purposes).
Ticket-buying area is manned by a bored, uninterested bitch (she's attractive, no less) who's polishing and filing her nails. She's coughing and rubbing her throat and looks in physical distress. There's no one else in the cinema area; it's quite dead really. Regular Joe doesn't notice the Uninterested Bitch at the counter; he's standing from afar.
Regular Joe scans the movies available. Movie screenings are listed clearly over the booth. He looks like he knows what he's looking for.
Regular Joe's eye lights up when he realises he has 120 minutes to watch a movie before his next appointment. (Camera will show him looking at his schedule book and his watch, indicating there're still more than 2 hours to go before his next appointment).
Regular Joe opens his wallet, looks into it and hesitates. He doesn't have enough money for a ticket. He looks rather disappointed.
At this point Uninterested Bitch looks up and realises that Regular Joe is someone she knows.
Regular Joe twitches his nose and turns around and begins to leave. Uninterested Bitch stands up and begins to call out to him but only manages a stifled croak.
Turns out Uninterested Bitch has a terrible sore throat.
Uninterested Bitch utters something under her breath and goes to the back room. She finds her mobile phone in her bag and searches for Regular Joe. She dials for him.
Regular Joe is out along the street and gets a phone call. It's from a person he hasn't seen for awhile.
He answers the mobile and there's silence on the other line.
Cut to Uninterested Bitch and she's exasperated. She clearly has something to tell Regular Joe.
Regular Joe waits for awhile on the other line, looks at the mobile, shrugs and cancels the call. He calls her back.
Cut to Uninterested Bitch and she's hastily trying to text Regular Joe. Her mobile goes off. It's Regular Joe.
Uninterested Bitch doesn't answer the phone as she clearly wouldn't be able to carry out a conversation. The mobile phone keeps ringing.
Spin
Is anyone privy to this masterful 'short' film? At over 8 minutes long, it doesn't really qualify as short, but then again, when you've won 35 film festival awards, you can't be wrong. See what two turn tables and a time machine can do to a troubled city block.
Great music and video editing - timing's perfect. Lots of conflict and tension; something Diane pointed out in the making of a short film. Conflict, conflict, conflict. That's very important.
Is anyone privy to this masterful 'short' film? At over 8 minutes long, it doesn't really qualify as short, but then again, when you've won 35 film festival awards, you can't be wrong. See what two turn tables and a time machine can do to a troubled city block.
Great music and video editing - timing's perfect. Lots of conflict and tension; something Diane pointed out in the making of a short film. Conflict, conflict, conflict. That's very important.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Genre
Perhaps it's a reflection of who i am in person, but i'm a huge fan of comedy. Slapstick and self-deprecatory humor in particular.
I'm not the biggest movie buff out there; the Media students i'm with are very scary with their knowledge of old and new movies alike. These are kids, i kid not, who spout off films and lines and references from films before i was born. And i'm born in the 70s! Geez...
There's a particular style of movie-making that i'm attracted to. It involves gritty images (for the lack of a better word), handheld camera shots juxtaposed with animation and ideally (though not necessary), it's broken into several pieces and played randomly or in no fixed format. Memento and Babel comes into mind.
I've always thought it can't be THAT difficult to pull a Memento off. But after sitting through Diane's lectures, i'm beginning to have a greater appreciation for 'fragmented' movie-making. Boy it's hard alright...
Perhaps it's a reflection of who i am in person, but i'm a huge fan of comedy. Slapstick and self-deprecatory humor in particular.
I'm not the biggest movie buff out there; the Media students i'm with are very scary with their knowledge of old and new movies alike. These are kids, i kid not, who spout off films and lines and references from films before i was born. And i'm born in the 70s! Geez...
There's a particular style of movie-making that i'm attracted to. It involves gritty images (for the lack of a better word), handheld camera shots juxtaposed with animation and ideally (though not necessary), it's broken into several pieces and played randomly or in no fixed format. Memento and Babel comes into mind.
I've always thought it can't be THAT difficult to pull a Memento off. But after sitting through Diane's lectures, i'm beginning to have a greater appreciation for 'fragmented' movie-making. Boy it's hard alright...
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Final Cut Pro
There's really only one reason why i picked Television as a major in my final year in Professional Communication - Final Cut Pro. I've heard to much about it in the industry it's become a sad story.
Prior to this, i've learnt a great deal about iMovie (great program, but rather limited) and how it works. I've gotten some stuff out with the program and though it's not insanely awesome, it's nice to know you're able to put segments together to form a movie.
With my incredibly busy schedule, i have not been able to devote as much time in Final Cut Pro as i would have liked. I have found my writing partner Alice's blog to be really useful. Not so much that i'm physically in the lab referring to it, but it's great to read and believe that hey, i'm not the only one struggling with a strange program.
There's really only one reason why i picked Television as a major in my final year in Professional Communication - Final Cut Pro. I've heard to much about it in the industry it's become a sad story.
Prior to this, i've learnt a great deal about iMovie (great program, but rather limited) and how it works. I've gotten some stuff out with the program and though it's not insanely awesome, it's nice to know you're able to put segments together to form a movie.
With my incredibly busy schedule, i have not been able to devote as much time in Final Cut Pro as i would have liked. I have found my writing partner Alice's blog to be really useful. Not so much that i'm physically in the lab referring to it, but it's great to read and believe that hey, i'm not the only one struggling with a strange program.
Concept - Hurdle
Been trying desperately to catch up with my readings and homework. When the previous editors of Catalyst told me it's a full-time job trying to juggle full-time studies and Catalyst - which is in essence a full-time job in itself - they weren't kidding.
Week Three came and gone and much to my dismay i haven't been physically able to write out my story idea for Diane. It appears that she's leaving RMIT, which is no good as that means she wouldn't be able to give me some form of feedback. But i've sent the email to Paul as well. I'm hoping to get some feedback from him first thing next Monday.
But here's my concept, around the theme 'movie-going':
I've always baulked at the idea of movie-going. Paying $11-13 for a 120 minute movie just doesn't sit quite right with me.
My story is a comedy. The protagonist refuses to pay the monies for a movie he/she's been really keen on. Oddly enough the money he/she saved came back to bite him/her.
At the moment i've not quite worked out how the story looks. But i'll get it out before this weekend draws to a close.
Been trying desperately to catch up with my readings and homework. When the previous editors of Catalyst told me it's a full-time job trying to juggle full-time studies and Catalyst - which is in essence a full-time job in itself - they weren't kidding.
Week Three came and gone and much to my dismay i haven't been physically able to write out my story idea for Diane. It appears that she's leaving RMIT, which is no good as that means she wouldn't be able to give me some form of feedback. But i've sent the email to Paul as well. I'm hoping to get some feedback from him first thing next Monday.
But here's my concept, around the theme 'movie-going':
I've always baulked at the idea of movie-going. Paying $11-13 for a 120 minute movie just doesn't sit quite right with me.
My story is a comedy. The protagonist refuses to pay the monies for a movie he/she's been really keen on. Oddly enough the money he/she saved came back to bite him/her.
At the moment i've not quite worked out how the story looks. But i'll get it out before this weekend draws to a close.
Starting off the new semester
In light of the fiasco that was ridiculous pre-camera bookings and 'rushing to complete work by said time so as to return loaned camera by 9am the next morning' in 2006, i've done myself a big favour with the purchase of a lower mid-range video-camera.
The Panasonic NV-GS180 (right) is the product of several days of research. With an acceptable price-range that's just under 1K (which indelibly left a HUGE hole in my pocket), it resulted in a delay in my international school fee payment as i wasn't able to afford the massive increment that the fucking Howard government charges us.
Cost of the camera came with a wide-screen lens as i didn't see myself filming in 4:3 aspect. I'm still trying to figure out the funky functions; i'm sure that'll all come around as i we get busy with television stuff this year.
In light of the fiasco that was ridiculous pre-camera bookings and 'rushing to complete work by said time so as to return loaned camera by 9am the next morning' in 2006, i've done myself a big favour with the purchase of a lower mid-range video-camera.The Panasonic NV-GS180 (right) is the product of several days of research. With an acceptable price-range that's just under 1K (which indelibly left a HUGE hole in my pocket), it resulted in a delay in my international school fee payment as i wasn't able to afford the massive increment that the fucking Howard government charges us.
Cost of the camera came with a wide-screen lens as i didn't see myself filming in 4:3 aspect. I'm still trying to figure out the funky functions; i'm sure that'll all come around as i we get busy with television stuff this year.
This blog
David and Paul has been really nice and accommodating, seeing how i'm not a Media student. I had the misfortune of not picking Networked Media as a subject as well, so i have no access into the RMIT blogs.
However Blogger being the bread and butter of blogs, i've been given permission to start my television blog with Blogger. It's a good thing i have been blogging consistently for the last three years, otherwise this exercise would be absolutely mammoth.
To say i'm incompetent in HTML would be quite fair. This is where the Media students outdo me. It amazes me how they get all the funky Quicktime jazz into their blogs. However i know enough basics to get this blog going, which is good enough!! :O
Third year Professional Communication students really do have it hard. The way the course works, it's so disjointed. One moment we're stuck with sentence structures with 2nd year Journalism kids, the next we're in a lab working out semiotics and visuals with 2nd year Media junkies.
This being a course that spreads out over two semesters, this blog will cop a fair bit of spanking. Let's bust some ideas...
David and Paul has been really nice and accommodating, seeing how i'm not a Media student. I had the misfortune of not picking Networked Media as a subject as well, so i have no access into the RMIT blogs.
However Blogger being the bread and butter of blogs, i've been given permission to start my television blog with Blogger. It's a good thing i have been blogging consistently for the last three years, otherwise this exercise would be absolutely mammoth.
To say i'm incompetent in HTML would be quite fair. This is where the Media students outdo me. It amazes me how they get all the funky Quicktime jazz into their blogs. However i know enough basics to get this blog going, which is good enough!! :O
Third year Professional Communication students really do have it hard. The way the course works, it's so disjointed. One moment we're stuck with sentence structures with 2nd year Journalism kids, the next we're in a lab working out semiotics and visuals with 2nd year Media junkies.
This being a course that spreads out over two semesters, this blog will cop a fair bit of spanking. Let's bust some ideas...
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