Film Foundations

      In class, we recently learned about the 180-degree rule, a rule in filming stating that you should draw an imaginary line between two people having a conversation, and always film on one side of that line. I filmed a short video featuring my parents talking which adhered to the 180-degree rule in order to avoid disorientating the audience. you

    Over the past week in this class, I have worked on a film showcasing cutting on action, or shoelace editing. Personally, I am happy with how the project turned out. I feel that the most successful part of the project was the actual filming, which I did over two days. I was planning to do it all in one afternoon, but I was busy, and didn't have much time to film. Even though I wasn't able to do it in a single afternoon, the filming process went smoothly, and I am satisfied with the end result.      The part of the project I feel was the least successful was the actual picture taking. I was unsure of what to take pictures of at first, so I took many pictures that wound up not showing up in the finished projects. Planning out the pictures proved to be more of a challenge than actually filming, as I initially couldn't settle on an idea for the film. If I had a plan regarding what I was going to take pictures of at the beginning, I believe that the shot in the pr...

In class today, we watched a clip from the film The Social Network , which included many instances of cutting on editing. Here are four examples: Here, the camera cuts in on the main character lifting his beer. Here is another example as the camera cuts from the character's hands to a medium closeup shot as he is typing. Here the camera cuts to two different views of the bus as it is moving. And here the camera cuts between two different shots as a man is walking.

Working with Adobe Premiere turned out to be way more difficult than I thought it would be. For some reason, portions of my video kept on getting deleted whenever I quit the software, even though I saved, and it took a ridiculous amount of time to export at 480p. I added end credits to the video, but it didn't export.     Despite all of that, I really enjoyed working on my first film. I ran into some technical difficulties, but I still feel somewhat proud of what I put out, even if it wasn't exactly what I wanted to make. I learned a lot about how to use Adobe Premiere and taking shots, and I'm really looking forward to working on my next project. I do wish that I could have properly exported my film, but I am mostly satisfied with the end result.

This Labor Day weekend, I watched two films: Kiki's Delivery Service  and Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors . I've always been a fan of Studio Ghibli, oft termed the "Disney of Japan", so I was ecstatic when my sister suggested we watch Kiki's Delivery Service . The movie was slow, sweet, and relaxing, and I found myself enjoying every second of it, though my sister did start to get antsy towards the end. I'm not someone who cries during movies often, but there's just a certain something  in Ghibli films that makes me tear up every time I watch one. I still think Grave of the Fireflies  is Hayao Miyazaki's masterpiece, but  Kiki's Delivery Service  is a close second. I also rewatched Sergei Parajanov's Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors this weekend. Parajanov is one of my favorite directors, and Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors  is my favorite of his films. It has an almost ethereal quality to it, and even though it isn't his most experimental film...