First Editing Lesson

On Friday, we were introduced to a programme used by all kinds of media artists, from amateur YouTubers to professional film makers: Adobe Premiere Pro. Personally, I had already worked with it a couple of times before, but this lesson helped me review the basic principles and I also took the opportunity to show friends in need how it worked. 

What we first did was learn the basic vocabulary essential for the utilisation of the programme. In the bottom left corner, we can find the folders, which are called "bins" in this case. The name is used since the birth of cinema, when the frames were so little that the crew had to hang them in the ceiling to be able to see them. They grouped each one of them according to the scenes they belonged to, placing a bin under each separate one. Moving on to the next word, "rushes" is used as a substitute of footage. The background story here is less original: the footage would be rushed off to be edited at night so next day the director could watch it. The equivalent in America is "dailies", if you are curious.

After getting to grips with these few terms, we started to figure out how Premiere worked by ourselves, carefully following Mark's instructions as to click twice in the squares which represented each short sequence. We were shown too the underlying controls to change from the regular clicking arrow (press B) to the razor blade to cut frames into segments (press C).

Having observed the mentioned details, we were ready to start editing our clips more or less properly —as effectively as we could do so—. Franek and I started dragging the frames to the grey espace where it is possible to set their In and Out (marking), cut them and mix them by moving their edges back and forth. We likewise changed the sound settings. The best time to jump from one frame to the next one is when the characters are in movement, as it makes the change less drastic. It is also relevant to know that the clip which is going to play once the editing is done is always the bit higher in the scale. 

I contemplated the entire lesson as extremely significant for the future tasks we will perform in order to carry out our thrillers. By all means, we will be able from now on, as a class, to work in the basics when we want to shoot our stories, with no technical restrictions and the opportunity to give free rain to our ambition —to a certain extent, of course—. In present day, we feel confident and able to make the most of the resources we have. And, more importantly, the issues we are learning about can prove useful beyond the classroom, when we are developing personal projects.

Letting my mind wonder about the Preliminary Task and the Thriller sequence that I start to foresee, I feel ready for both challenges after Matt's lessons' impact: he has made sure, within a few hours, that we can perfectly utilise a camera and a tripod, shoot a brief scene with creativity and dynamism and then edit it, three of the golden rules for a proficient media product. Undoubtedly, it is an impressive achievement what he has done during the last weeks, and I am glad that every student has collaborated sensibly throughout most of the process. I am really looking forward to getting started with the practical side of Media. I have started brainstorming already!

under these lines, the result of our edition can be viewed. Not very professional, but we did our best. I'm sure we will improve awfully through time.

First Studio Lesson

It was such a relief to hear that we were finally going to the studio and we would have our first experience with the Black Magic Mini URSA cameras which are available in Hurtwood House. At first, we gathered around the central espace of the room and Matt showed us how to bubble the tripod and place the camera on top, as well as fit in the lense. I found it very useful to learn about the procedure of assembling the camera and the tripod because in previous works I had done, I had difficulty doing so due to my lack of guidance. 

Once explained, it surprised me how basic the operation was: we just had to press a button and slide the camera through a group of small rails. We also turned a wheel around so that it stayed in that position without moving. This meant that there was no further risk of dropping the camera unless we tripped with the tripod. Furthermore, we made some arrangements with the handles that made the tripod pan and tilt to reduce the danger of damaging the camera. 

Afterwards, we were shown that we had to place a yellow bubble in one of the sides of the camera in the middle of the frame so that the image was recorded correctly. Then, we got the hang of focusing the camera. First, we had to zoom in the maximum possible and turn on the wheel until we saw the image as clear as it could be, and then zoom out and the job was done. If what you are filming is a person, it is important to know that the best reference is their eye. 

The exposure was the next concept we were taught about. It is what controls the amount of light that influences the frame, and the blue wheel through which you manage the different lumonosity is not very cleverly placed; it is right next to the button that makes the lenses come off the camera, which makes the situation really risky. The ISO, another of the three pilars of photography, is basically how sensible is the camera to the light. The default setting is 400, something which is not bound to be changed because it is the best measurement for the Black Magic camera and, simply, there is no need to do it. We also looked at the Shutter Angle, which should be kept at 180 degrees to achieve a normal effect when an action takes place. However, if you want it to be sharper (i.e. a recording of an Olympic performance) you need to lower it down. Finally, the White Balance establishes the colours of what we are filming. In an indoor location, it should revolve around 3000-3200, while outside, the ideal setting would be from 5600 to 6600 depending in the place and time; WB is measured in K (Absolute 0).

To conclude the lesson, Matt made us participate in a group challenge: we needed to detatch the camera from the tripod, remove the battery, and put everything in their specific boxes before the others did it, as well as arranging all the material again and making sure the camera was focused and with the right settings from the ones I just explained. Unfortunately, my group didn't win! Anyway, I learnt no much from the lesson thanks to the attentive guidance we were given by Matt and Paul. Now I can say, without doubt, that I am able to use Black Magic technology effectively.

Tipping Point (review)

During Friday's class, we have been working in groups to make comments on a thriller which is called Tipping Point. It takes place in a basement with low key lightning, which makes us feel that something suspicious is taking place there. Within the first seconds, we are shown a scene where a young man is leaning with blood on his face. The gesture he makes shows fear; he is terrified and this obviously makes us want to understand why he feels this way and what is going on. The scene is dark, which contributes to an uncomfortably morbid setting. We can see blood on the boy's face. It forshadows that the boy is hurting somone or is being hurt himself. Before the boy's face is shown, we have also seen a knife on the groud, which implies that violence will be involved.  

Afterwards, we are showed a man who seems quite relaxed; he is eating popcorn in a sofa. On the contrary, the boy who is facing the task of killing the girl looks devasted. The man in the sofa starts to force the boy to finish his job and, although at this point we are unsure about the plot yet, we can assume it is some sort of a sick game. 

Then, he crumbles and, with a fake paternal tone, the arrogant-looking man who is eating popcorn tries to cheer him up while he asks for a gun. Soon, the apprentice is dead and the camera lets us have a glimpse of the scientists writing things down in their notebooks. After that, it is the turn of a second boy. It is implied that the process is going to continue until all the young killers-to-be die or one of them actually murders the girl and there is a change. That is part of the tension the thriller builds: will the next boy manage to kill her?

 

As the scene evolves, we  start to perceive what the thriller is about: a Chinese experiment is being carried out. It consists of young men being casted to kill an actress who gets paid to pretend that she is a victim.

We know about the story thanks to the visual support and the clever angles through which we can see the characters: the actress, the prospective killer/s, the watcher who is checking the experiment while he ironically picks at some popcorn, and the Chinese scientists, viewing everything from a window fitted in one of the walls of the basement.

  

                            

Tension is all over the place since the first second, in fact. At first we feel pity for the girl thanks to her dramatic gestures of fear and desperation. Then we jump in our sits while the watcher kills the apprentice in cold blood. Finally, we wonder what will happen. The reigning obscurity and the close shots of the faces of the characters add up to the feeling of insecurity and strain that we are already experiencing. The sound effects (gun shots, steps) or even the lack of them (the initial roaring silence) enhance the scene. The lighting, as well as keeping the scene dark as we already mentioned, give a sence of industrialised space and some blue and red lights are intelligently used to make the actors glow and see their gestures with more precision.

The acting really stands out in this opening scene. It is what makes us feel sympathy or disgust towards the different characters, as well as the script, of course. It seems so easy to worry about the girl and then blame her for being just an actress and making suffer the apprentices who believe that the are being asked to kill a real victim. It is also effortless to be implicated with the young men and to detest utterly the watcher who assassinates without emotion.

In this thriller sequence, it could even be argued that the actors are the strongest part. However, we can still find all the elements of a sequence: it is clearly shown by a wide shot that the location is a basement. Moreover, the use of sound is effective: having a white noise at the start with no real sound makes the piece interesting as you wonder what is going to happen next and expect a climax. The scene, although it seems to present the stereotypical pretty damsel in distress,  is full of dark humour and fear, and nothing is what it looks like.

The idea of this deadly "X Factor" strikes me as a very original and effective one which keeps us on the edge of our seats. The thriller is left on a cliff hanger which can even manage to frustrate some of the most eager viewers. As the last character comes in, his aura of mystery certainly creates expectations. Will he be the protagonist? The tone and language suggest that the rest of the movie is going to involve a good amount of action, murders and betrayals. 

Having contemplated the aforementioned facts, we regard "Tipping Point" as a remarkable work which achieves what any opening sequence should do: engage the viewer and make them eager to continue watching.

                           

Vertigo, a mesmeric reverie

As this is a Media Blog, I am quite certain that you won't be surprised by the content of this post: I'm going to talk about my favourite film. And I will be listening to Bernard Hermann's music alongside; the choices are narrowed down. It sounds like Hitchcock, doesn't it? This afternoon, I have the pleasure to write about a piece of art: "Vertigo". It was released in the year 1958, distributed by Paramount Pictures and starred James Stewart and Kim Novak as the main characters. With a gross rental of 2.8 million dollars, some people would certainly label the film as a failure in Alfred Hitchcock's career. In fact, he himself seemed unsure about his vision of "Vertigo", and eventually blamed James Stewart's "old" appearance for its lack of success. However, others would stand up for it and even regard it as a classic. Personally, I do not share any of the two major viewpoints. 

From my perspective, "Vertigo" is pure poetry. It undoubtedly has those abstract elements which make a poem worth reading, as well as emotional depth and an outstanding aesthetic. Adding to this, we can find a great mastery of cinematography and an unusual script based on Boileau-Narcejac's novel "D'entre les morts". The main actors are very convincing and the choice of setting is regrettable —the original book designated Paris as the city where the action takes place, although Hitchcock decided to shoot the movie in San Francisco because, as mentioned by Aulier, "with its vertiginous streets and hilly landscape, the location perfectly matched the film’s themes. In a city where there were such extreme physical highs and lows, awful for anyone with acrophobia, the protagonist's vertigo became a character in and of itself"—. 

The storyline has an undeniable complexity: a retired detective, Scottie, is contacted by an old friend from college with the purpose of following his wife Madeleine, as he believes her to be under the influence of a spirit, Carlotta, an ancestor who committed suicide. Apparently, Madeleine wanders around town for the whole day with no other purpose than staring blankly at a portrait of Carlotta in an art museum or leaving some flowers in her grave, though it is known that she does not have any clue of the existence of her tragic relative. She falls into a state of trance on a regular basis and tries to commit suicide in various occasions. During the first attempt, Scottie is lucky enough to be around and saves her from drowning in the Fort Point bay. However, when Madeleine throws herself from a tower, by which time Scottie has fallen in love with her, he is unable to prevent her death due to his rooted fear of altitude —"Vertigo"—. She dies at the same age as Carlotta did, and everything seems to indicate that we are contemplating a ghost story with touches of romance and suspense. But this is just the first climax.

During the second half of the film, we find ourselves watching a devastated Scottie, living for the memory of his friend's dead wife. Each time that he sees a woman who resembles her, he runs into her in a desperate search for his lost lover. This happens until he finds Judy Barton, from Kansas. She reminds him of Madeleine with such intensity that he decides to drag her into an insane relationship in which he constantly asks her to change details in her behaviour and looks so that she becomes the perfect Madeleine. The second climax occurs soon. Scottie finds Carlotta's necklace, a recurring object which Madeleine used to possess and admire, among Judy's belongings. In an estate of manic rage, he urges her to return to the tower where Madeleine's death took place. The plot finally unfolds: Judy has collaborated with Scottie's friend in order to murder his unwanted wife by the means of a convincing story, some acting and a witness —Scottie—. In the middle of her confession, a nun appears in the top of the monastery's tower, and Judy, shocked and overwhelmed by her guilty conscience, falls into the void and dies, this time, for real. 

The ending is the only matter that puts me off when I want to re-watch the film. I much prefer the original idea, which Hitchcock altered in his adaptation of the novel: Judy dies chocked by Scottie, who acts in a state of blind outburst. I believe that this culmination is more logical and perfectly matches the characters and the general atmosphere of the film. 

Despite this elucidation, "Vertigo" is a masterpiece which would inspire any sensible viewer, containing strong images, unforgettable characters, clever plot twists and even psychological controversy. It is one of the few films I have watched which despises the dialogue for more than ten minutes and does not arouse in me any sense of boredom or impatience. I find the sentimental element unquestionably interesting: a man loves a woman who is an illusion, the real woman loves him, and he destroys both without being guilty of no crime. Furthermore, the technique is innovative and the famous "vertigo effect" was developed during the film —a zoom forward while tilting the camera backwards—, as well as the psychedelic approach which is chosen to depict Scottie's nightmares. 

Each shot is full of detail and each time you see the film you get to appreciate its nuances with more accuracy. The air of disorientation is successfully achieved by both of the main actors, who play characters that live in an uneasy discomfort, each one in different ways. It is a movie which requires your full attention but, once you commit to that, "Vertigo" will become an obsession almost as dangerous as Scottie's delusion.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertigo_(film)#Reception
http://mentalfloss.com/article/69070/11-dizzying-facts-about-vertigo
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052357/reviews?ref_=tt_urv