director journal week 6-7

In the seventh lecture, we learned how to be a good director.

First, we need to watch many movie, enjoy the experience and let your emotions take over you like laugh, cry, and scream. With time, you will sharpen your evaluation technique and be able to note merits and flaws in the movies you watch.

Second, analyze movies. We not just watch movie but also need to analyze it. Analyzing is very different than merely watching. Watching a movie is something fun and you just watching with not thinking the thought of the film. In the other hand, analysing a movie means hard work. It may take twice or more time to refine and re-watch the detail of film.

This will provide a more deep evaluation of the language of filmmaking. You should pay attention to theme, structure, shot size. Every movie has their theme, the director must to bring out the theme, if not, and the film will not be successful.

Third, a good film director must be a good storytellers, thus it is paramount for wannabe directors to master the craft of screenwriting. You can make a bad movie with a good screenplay, but you can't make a good movie with a bad screenplay. You don't have to become a screenwriter if you don't want to, but you absolutely have to learn screen writingtechniques and apply it to your movies.

Fourth, attend a film school and major in film production. In the film school, will learned the techniques of shooting, and some theory for us to understand how the production work. Besides that, we have the chance to taste many different job positions such as cameraman, lighting person, make-up, production manage, director, prop and so-on. These possess will help you more understanding the functional of the production.

Lastly, expand your network. It's all about who you knows and who knows you. Friends can open the doors you need open. They can help you when you need help such as location, stars, equipment, budget and so on. Because there are no production with one man. The director need screenwriter, cameraman, lighting person, make-up, production manage, director, prop to help him/her to produce the film.

In sixth week lecture, we learned about shots, cut, and editing. When a camera recordimage, it produce shots, which is spliced together in a process call editing. The lens is thesmallest unit of filming and basic language to constitute a movie. A complete description of the lens including its length, action records, subject to camera distance, camera angle, the direction of camera movement, and sometimes there is a special function of this lens. In a play, the use of a lens must have thought or the director want to express something. Thus, utilizing the lens allows viewers to think and make the whole film more exciting.

SHOTS

Distance from the camera to the subject

Distance from the camera to the subject has three categories: long shot, medium shot and close-up. In these three categories, there is a detail large range from extreme long shot to long shot, medium long shot, full shot, medium shot, medium close shot, close shot, close-up and extreme close-up.

Extreme long shot

long shot

medium close shot

medium shot

close shot

close-up

Camera angle

Camera viewpoint is not necessarily horizontal line. Angle of the camera can make tilt or bent. there are four kind of angle always use in the shooting, A bird's-eye view cameraangle, high-angle lens, horizontal- angle lens, low-angle lens, and sight of worm.

sight of worm

high-angle lens

A bird's eye view

CUT

The basic unit of editing is the cut. A cut is (oddly enough) the splicing together of two shots. Between scenes or larger narrative units, called sequences, the cut can mark a rapid transition between one time and space and another, but different kinds of cuts will have different effects, depending. There are many kinds of cuts such as jump cuts, match cuts, montage cuts, compilation shots, cutaways, and cross-cuts.

this is one series of jump cut.

EDITING

There are four basic categories of editing, which is chronological editing, cross-cutting or parallel editing, deep focus, montage.For example the film (cape no.7) is using the cross-cutting or parallel editing, because the storyline is telling the audience about the two difference eras (1945 year and 2006) love story.