MEDP160 Final: "Followed" by Charlotte Schweiger from Charlotte Schweiger on Vimeo.
PASSWORD TO VIEW IS: FOLLOWEDMonday, May 16, 2016
Monday, May 2, 2016
Museum of the Moving Image: Technicolor and Scoring
After exploring the library of film scores I learned more about the integral effect that music and scoring has on the tone of a film. Prior to this, I did not realize just how much the composer is seen as an artistic collaborator with the director. I was intrigued to discover how composers design a soundscape around visual clues and motifs. It was mentioned for example in composer Rachel Portman's biography, that she is often chosen for quirky films, as her own modes in music suit the genre. For this reason directors will often work with the same composers, as their tastes line up to produce a single vision.
At the museum there was also an exhibit on the invention of technicolor, featuring a scene of Judy Garland in Meet Me In St.Louis. The complexity of early forms of color film are a million miles away from modern digital filmmaking. Today color is standard and is often lost on the casual viewer. After watching this however, I learned that the carful selection of a color palliate reflects the genre and motifs of a story and character. For example the color of the scene was bright and pastel, fitting for the time period and musical style of the film (Meet Me In St.Louis). Since the standardization of technicolor we have come to expect color and in fact may only recognize it's absence.
At the museum there was also an exhibit on the invention of technicolor, featuring a scene of Judy Garland in Meet Me In St.Louis. The complexity of early forms of color film are a million miles away from modern digital filmmaking. Today color is standard and is often lost on the casual viewer. After watching this however, I learned that the carful selection of a color palliate reflects the genre and motifs of a story and character. For example the color of the scene was bright and pastel, fitting for the time period and musical style of the film (Meet Me In St.Louis). Since the standardization of technicolor we have come to expect color and in fact may only recognize it's absence.
Monday, April 18, 2016
Editing Analysis - Birdman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xoj1SKkvj8E
The film "Birdman" by director Alejandro González Iñárritu is entirely shown in what appears to be a single-shot, but is in actually a series of seamless cuts. This editing style perfectly complimented to the linear narrative throughout the film. In this particular scene the cuts are so seamless that it is nearly impossible (for the untrained eye) to catch them. For this particular scene the erratic energy of the argument is heightened due to the camera's close continuous movement and following of the actors.
This argument is also foreshadowed by the jazz music which plays as the main character walks into the room. The music is used once again to signify the end of the argument.
There is also various different lighting atmospheres created. The start of the scene starts in a dim and eerily blue cast lit room. As the actors move rooms the colors become less ambient and more realistic. Signaling a shift in mood from the beginning to the end of the argument, which ends in a physical brawl. Overall however the lighting remains dark, with dark shadows obscuring the faces of the actors, even in the close-ups.
Since there are no clear cuts, the camera moves in and out for close-ups and long shots with out noticeable delay. Panning back and forth between objects and extra people to change perspective and point of view.
The film "Birdman" by director Alejandro González Iñárritu is entirely shown in what appears to be a single-shot, but is in actually a series of seamless cuts. This editing style perfectly complimented to the linear narrative throughout the film. In this particular scene the cuts are so seamless that it is nearly impossible (for the untrained eye) to catch them. For this particular scene the erratic energy of the argument is heightened due to the camera's close continuous movement and following of the actors.
This argument is also foreshadowed by the jazz music which plays as the main character walks into the room. The music is used once again to signify the end of the argument.
There is also various different lighting atmospheres created. The start of the scene starts in a dim and eerily blue cast lit room. As the actors move rooms the colors become less ambient and more realistic. Signaling a shift in mood from the beginning to the end of the argument, which ends in a physical brawl. Overall however the lighting remains dark, with dark shadows obscuring the faces of the actors, even in the close-ups.
Since there are no clear cuts, the camera moves in and out for close-ups and long shots with out noticeable delay. Panning back and forth between objects and extra people to change perspective and point of view.
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Sunday, March 27, 2016
The Soundwalk
I decided to complete my Soundwalk around my hometown of
Glen Head and Sea Cliff on Long Island. I took a walk by the beach front,
directly parallel to a busy road, I knew this location would provide an array
of mixing sounds. In the general background the sound of car tires on the
pavement in most notable (the way the sound changes as the car moves toward and
away), there are also many bumping sounds as the cars hit pot holes. Also in
the background is the sound of the wind rushing by my ears. It’s odd because I
feel like this is a sound which my mind would usually edit out, however I was actually
aware of it on this walk. Since the beach front was in a bay the water was
still and shallow and didn’t make much of a noise, except for a soft rushing
sound as the wind rolled over it.
In the foreground, there were many people walking dogs, so
the sounds of jangling dog collars and the tapping of the dogs’ nails on the
sidewalk stood out. Occasionally there would also be planes flying over head,
not close enough to be loudly heard, however the rushing sound of engines were
audible whenever one flew overhead.
My favorite sound occurred as I moved off of the main road
and down a suburban street towards a quiet boardwalk. The background of the
cars could not be heard, and instead the wind pushing the leaves in the bushes
and trees took over. While walking down this road there was the sound of a wind
chime, in what seemed to be a minor key, “soundmarking” the entry to a quieter
area.
Monday, March 14, 2016
Monday, February 22, 2016
Artist's Statement
What happens to a person's behavior when you put a camera in front of them? It seems that as soon as someone becomes aware of being filmed or watched, their behavior is altered slightly. This makes it almost impossible to capture truly candid and "real" shots. Even the best actors in the world go through intense training just to appear as if they are behaving in a natural and realistic way.
I my work I want to explore this delicate change in behavior that the camera can cause. A camera brings not just a single gaze, but the gaze of many who will watch the film and alter the reality of the subject. I want to explore a hyperrealism in narrative film making, mixing scripted scenes with candidly documented ones and discover when real behavior become constructed acting.
At what point, in the course of committing a person's action on film, does the reality become constructed by the hand of the director, the editor? We see this commonly in reality TV shows. Where even in the events may have happened, they have been heavily edited to portray a particular narrative. Nonetheless, these scenarios are presented as examples of real life behavior. So, at what point does "reality" film making become scripted narrative?
As an actor I have trained for many years to commit to a style which appears as natural as possible. This training has in many ways forced me to blur the lines between the constructed space of a scene and my actual emotional state. As both and actor and a filmmaker, I am inspired to push these limits and to a new window of realism in art.
I my work I want to explore this delicate change in behavior that the camera can cause. A camera brings not just a single gaze, but the gaze of many who will watch the film and alter the reality of the subject. I want to explore a hyperrealism in narrative film making, mixing scripted scenes with candidly documented ones and discover when real behavior become constructed acting.
At what point, in the course of committing a person's action on film, does the reality become constructed by the hand of the director, the editor? We see this commonly in reality TV shows. Where even in the events may have happened, they have been heavily edited to portray a particular narrative. Nonetheless, these scenarios are presented as examples of real life behavior. So, at what point does "reality" film making become scripted narrative?
As an actor I have trained for many years to commit to a style which appears as natural as possible. This training has in many ways forced me to blur the lines between the constructed space of a scene and my actual emotional state. As both and actor and a filmmaker, I am inspired to push these limits and to a new window of realism in art.
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