Day 2: Montage: Pre-Production

Need email again!

Sorry last time, the zoom died. So I lost your emails.

1. Sharing your montage ideas (25 min)

Welcome back everyone! So today we're going to begin with sharing your montage ideas. I want to make this experience as empowering as possible so I have set up some key rules to help make this a positive experience:

Feedback rules

1. The filmmaker sets up their goals for the project.

It's important for the audience to know what the filmmaker is trying to achieve so that they can give good feedback that will help the filmmaker in that goal. Sometimes, audiences project their own goals and then the feedback process can go wrong.

2. Start with the positive.

You need to help encourage the filmmaker. You want to see the good in their work. It could be the potential for good or a good idea. It’s always about supporting the filmmaking.

3. Be specific.

Try to not just say, that’s good. But what about it is good. They need to know if they are going to replicate that.

4. Limit the improvements to the most important elements.

What step or steps can they take to make their work better? It’s not as helpful to give then a long list of areas they can improve, but try to cut to the most important area they can grow in.

5. Filmmakers choose the feedback that helps them.

It's up to you what you want to go with. It's your film!

2. Storyboards (20 min)

Storyboard is the way you plan for your film shoot. It’s like rough draft of your film. Many hand draw the images but today we’re going to use your phone camera to make a photo storyboard like this…

Visual language introduction

But before we make a photo storyboard. We need to talk about visual language. How do we communicate feelings and ideas through visuals. Here’s a Pixar video to explain it.

Introduction to basic shots

Now that we know that visual language impacts an audience in many different ways, we need to talk about the fundamental blocks of visual language. Shots.

Shots are essential building block of any film or any scene. There are many types of shots but let's talk about the basics:

Now let's see if we can find these basic shots and framing techniques in this video we've already seen. Let's look for:

Wide or establishing shot (from Skyfall)

Medium shot (from Hunger Games)

Close up (from Shaun of the Dead)

Center framing (from Moonrise Kingdom)

Rule of Thirds (from Joker)

Using Rocky montage as an example of different shots

Let's look for the different shots and framing in these stills from the Rocky montage.

Another example of the different basic shots

In the film, "the poetry of details" the filmmakers used all of the basic shots and used the rule of thirds and center framing. Let's look at a few examples to see how this impacts the viewer.

Activity: Making Your Own Shots

1. Decide what kind of emotion you want to create with your shot.

2. Then, using your phone camera, take 5 photos of something in your area now with:

+Wide shots or establishing shots: How can you create a wide shot that creates that emotion?

+Medium shots: How can you create a medium shot that creates that emotion?

+Close up : How can you create a close up that creates that emotion?

+Center framing : Can you take a picture with center framing that creates that emotion?

+Rule of Thirds: Can you use the rule of thirds and create that emotion?

Email me the pictures so I know you know how to use these shots.

Homework: Make a storyboard of your film.

(Using your phone camera, take photos to represent all of your shots that you are interested in for your film. Work with the following guidelines:

+See if you can use wide, medium and close up shots.

+See if you can use center framing and rule of thirds.

+Arrange the photos in a word document or in your email to show me the sequence of the shots.

+Remember a lot of films use about a shot every three seconds and if your film is going to be 1 minute long, then that's 20 shots or more.

+Email me the storyboard by 1 pm tomorrow so we can all look at it on Wednesday.

Just a reminder the storyboard should be similar to this picture below (but you don't have to lay it out exactly like that.)

Bonus content: Going in depth with your shots

In the following video, you'll see that there is even more to think about with shots. If you want to go more in depth, the following video is definitely a great place to start:

End Of Class Meetings

I'm going to try to meet with you individually. If you're listed as meeting with you today, you'll stay in the zoom and i'll meet with you each for about 10 minutes. This is just so that I can give you some individual attention.

Here's the schedule for this week.

MON

Katherine

Evan

Eva

TUES

Owinn

Katherine

WED

Evan

Eva

THU

Owinn

Katherine

FRI

Anyone who wants to!

Also, check out their blog with lots of helpful information about filmmaking.