Sight, Sound, Motion Examples 2

Sight:

A silhouetted photograph of a necklace that I wear every day. It's the tree of life.

Sound:

The Black Keys: Everlasting Light, I recently saw them in concert and this song was their best by far. It was not only great vocally but it was visually appealing as well, with lights surrounding the crowd.

Motion:

Video One

Video Two

These are two videos that we recorded last class

Chapter 6 Outline

Chapter 6

        I.            I. aspect ratio

a.       relationship of screen width to screen height

b.      standard aspect ratios

                                                               i.      regardless of the size, it is four units wide and three units high

                                                             ii.       4 x 3 is mostly used for television shows because of the common shape of televisions

                                                            iii.      16 x 9 is usually called HDTV

                                                           iv.      5.55 x 3 is usually called widescreen

                                                             v.      7 x 3 is usually called Panavision

                                                           vi.      most US films are shot and projected in widescreen

      II.            II. framing

a.        4 x 3 is better for close-ups and medium shots

b.      not a major difference in height and width, so there is not much negative space or "dead zones"

c.       widescreen, or 16 x 9, is used for films that want to capture backgrounds or landscapes

                                                               i.      easier to film dialogue scenes because more than one person can fit in the frame

d.      difficult to format 16 x 9 for a 4 x 3 screen

e.      techniques to switch between sizes

                                                               i.      windowboxing: simplest technique, reduce the size of the picture and place it in the center of the widescreen frame

                                                             ii.      pillarboxing: fitting a full-sized 4 x 3 image in the middle of a 16 x 9 frame

1.       fitted into the center of a 16 x 9 screen so that the top and bottom coincide with the 16 x 9 picture space

                                                            iii.      letterboxing: used to make a widescreen presentation

1.       show the whole width and height of the original format and mask the top and bottom of the screen with black, white, or colored bars

                                                           iv.      cutting, stretching, and squeezing

1.       more drastic ways of making wide-screen images fit the aspect ratio of standard video is to simply crop the wide-screen image on either side

2.       digitally stretch or squeeze the image to fit a specific aspect ratio without the telltale dead zones on the sides or on the top and bottom of the screen

3.       pan-and-scan process: most important portions of the wide-screen frame are scanned and made to fix the 4 x 3 aspect ratio of the standard video screen

a.        series of shots is analyzed for various aesthetic criteria and then reedited so that they will show up effectively on the small screen

f.        secondary frames

                                                               i.      artificial masking

1.        blacking out both sides of the screen

                                                             ii.      organic masking

1.       less obvious method of masking by filling the sides of the screen with natural scenic elements

g.       screens within the screen

                                                               i.      creating a secondary frame of any aspect ratio within the principal frame and leaving the space around the secondary frame empty

                                                             ii.      moving camera

1.       can easily overcome the basic restrictions of the fixed aspect ratio

    III.            III. aesthetics of size

a.       size constancy: we perceive people and their environments as normal sized regardless of whether they appear in a long shot or a close-up on a large movie screen or small video screen

b.      object size

                                                               i.       knowledge of object

1.       relation to screen area

a.        judge size by how much screen area is occupies

b.       if it takes up a large screen, it is perceived as relatively large

2.        scale

a.       we make continual judgments about object size by seeing the object on-screen in relation to other (usually known) objects that appear in the same shot

                                                             ii.      image size

1.       close-ups

2.       standard and small screens need close ups

3.       inductive sequencing

4.       shot sequence must be very dense, cramming a lot of shots in a relatively short time period

5.       brief running times

6.       stories must be told in a very short time span or at least in relatively short segments

7.       dense audio track

8.       need to pay particular attention to the audio track because of the extremely limited visual space

c.       image size and relative energy

                                                               i.       image size influences how we feel about certain screen events

                                                             ii.      large images feel more overpowering than a small video image

Reflection Week 3

Today, Doc Chris started out the class with several trials. He not only gave constructive criticism to those people who had weak blogs, but gave out several TWITA awards for blogs that were doing well visually and verbally.  The Red Pandas had a good amount of praise, including Genna and James.  James' blog was so good that he gave his entire team, including me, immunity for the rest of the day.  Meaning, if any of us didn't do our homework correctly, he gave us an out.  Doc Chris said it's because this class focuses on teamwork. Which I'd have to agree with. Red Pandas are top notch.

Dan on trial for his blog. He had good photos but didn't have enough substance to his text.

Genna on trial for her blog. She had the best reflection Doc Chris had seen in a while, quote from him directly.

James and Doc Chris during his trial, getting berated about being a Yankee fan and getting praised for having a great blog, despite coming into class a day later than everyone else.

Doc Chris had our team and the No-namers head off in a coin flip to determine who would present their outlines first. Naturally, The Red Pandas won. See Photo Above.

Next, the No-namers and the last team competed in a Rock Paper Scissor contest to decide who would go first. As you can see, Mike isn't happy with the outcome. They lost.

Doc Chris is holding the class as he normally does. Though this class is extremely different from Video Production, his teaching style remains the same. I think that most kids these days appreciate this kind of teaching style since it is relevant to them and utilizes communication skills that they regularly exercise anyway. He keeps the class on their toes when it comes to assignments and trials.
The Red Pandas are outstanding, as usual. I think that we mesh well and we are a fun group of kids. Everyone has different strengths that we bring to the group and none of us seem to be quiet or reserved, so I think that is a plus to our dynamic.
The class went well as usual. We continued to learn techniques about blogger, Google+, and facebook. I'm not a fan of Google+ really, but I think it is interesting that we're learning about it in our Multimedia class. I suppose it is relevant to the course. I noticed that Facebook is actually becoming more and more like Google+ so it's probably better that I learn how to work Google+ since there is beginning to be a blend in functions. Doc Chris also continued to tell us to "sexy" up our blogs, so I'll have to start to do that in different ways. We also presented our outline in the studio since we had to demonstrate the importance of lighting. We showed 3 point lighting, using key, fill, and back. The other two groups were  good too and the No-namers showed a really cool video about perception. I'll have to find it and post it here.

Examples of Sight, Sound, & Motion homework

Iron & Wine live at Ramshead in Baltimore

A polaroid I took during my lunch at my internship in NYC

A polaroid of two of my friends while we were out on the water

Sam Garvey modeling for me

Six photographs that I've taken. I'm a photography major so sight is a huge part of what I do.

Two examples of video, stop motion shorts that I created.

Three examples of sound, highlighting 2 loyola based bands on campus...Beauty & The Greek and Palace at 4 A.M.

Video Lighting Basics - Three Point Lighting

Reflection 1

Chapter 3 Outline

I.        Standard Lighting Techniques

a.     Photographic Principle / Triangle Lighting

                                                    i.    refers to the triangular arrangement of key, back and fill lights

1.     back light is opposite the camera and directly behind the object 

2.     the key and fill lights on opposite sides of the camera and to the front and the side of the objects

b.     Key Light

                                                    i.    the principle source of illumination

                                                   ii.    reveals the basic shape of the object or event

c.     Fill Light

                                                    i.    controls falloff

d.     Side Light

                                                    i.    comes from the side of the object acting as an additional fill and providing contour

e.     Kicker

                                                    i.    comes from the back

                                                   ii.    usually from below and off to one side

                                                  iii.    an extension of the back light

                                                   iv.    rims the object from below what the back light can reach

f.      Background Light / Set Light

                                                    i.    illuminates the background, which can be an actual set

g.     Chiaroscuro Lighting

                                                    i.    lighting for fast falloff and for light / dark contrast

                                                   ii.    articulates space, clarifies and intensifies 3D property of things and the space that surrounds them and gives the scene an expressive quality

                                                  iii.    creates drama and volume

                                                   iv.    functions:

1.     organic function: should appear as natural as the light that is available in the scene

2.     direction function: can use the light to direct the viewers' eyes in a certain direction

3.     spatial / comp. function: high and low energy areas should be balanced

4.     thematic function: should emphasize the theme or story of the scene

5.     emotional function: to affect our feelings directly, regardless of the actual subject matter of the scene; operates in unison with the thematic function

h.     Rembrandt Lighting

                                                    i.    only specific areas are carefully illuminated while others are kept purposely under or unlighted

                                                   ii.    falloff is fast but there is enough fill light to render the attached shadows somewhat transparent

                                                  iii.    background, although generally dark, is partially illuminated to outline the figures or to fulfill other orientation functions

i.      Cameo Lighting

                                                    i.    chiaroscuro lighting pushed to its extreme

                                                   ii.    illuminates the foreground figures while leaving the background totally dark

                                                  iii.    highly directional

                                                   iv.    produces fast falloff with dense attached and sharply defined cast shadows

                                                    v.    makes it difficult for performers to move without stepping out of the precisely defined light pools

                                                  vi.    visual intensity causes the pictures to look strangely theatrical and often removed from the television reality

j.      Flat Lighting

                                                    i.    uses highly diffused light that seems to come from all directions

                                                   ii.    extremely slow falloff

1.     does not reveal any particular light source

                                                 iii.    ideal for continuous action

                                                  iv.    can shoot from different angles without having to worry about shadows

                                                   v.    all lights should be the same brightness

                                                  vi.    renders the attached shadows highly transparent or virtually invisible

                                                 vii.    game shows and many sitcoms are illuminated by flat lighting

k.     Silhouette Lighting

                                                    i.    hybrid of chiaroscuro and flat lighting

                                                   ii.    used to light the background and not the figure

                                                  iii.    can conceal a persons identity, often used in interviews

                                                   iv.    unlighted figures against a bright, evenly illuminated background

                                                    v.    figure appears flat and dark but accentuates their contour

l.      Media-enhanced and Media-generated Lighting

                                                    i.    refers to the manipulation of the lighting by the medium itself

                                                   ii.    can adjust the brightness and contrast with and editing software, whether dealing with film or digital photography / videography

                                                  iii.    solarization: combining the positive and negative images of the same subject

                                                   iv.    posterization: reducing the brightness of an image to only a few steps

m.    Single-camera Lighting

                                                     i.    also called film lighting because it is most commonly used in film production

                                                    ii.    set up for discontinuous, short-duration action and then edited together

                                                   iii.    lighting control is extremely high

n.     Multicamera Lighting

                                                     i.    must satisfy the different points of view of the cameras

                                                    ii.    used for long-duration action, such as interviews, sitcoms, game shows, situation comedies, and talk shows

                                                   iii.    flat lighting is used

o.     Unusual Lighting

                                                      i.    used as an intensification device or as an aesthetic edge