Pratical Screencraft 2: Summary and Evaluation

I used “Night of the Hunter” as the basis of exploration of my specialist subject, and also to explore the idea of the modern day thriller and remakes.

So going into this project, “Night of the Hunter” stuck with me. I remember all the subtle lighting techniques and how every shot felt like it could be framed and hung on a wall. I loved it, so when we had to select a scene for this module I knew exactly which one I was basing my work off of.

So I started by exploring the idea of “Night of the Hunter” being set in modern day (Film and Madness, Remaking Night of the Hunter.) I asked myself. “How would this film be done today? What would a director want to do differently?” While this was relevant to give me an idea, I had to look at the film from the perspective of a specialist subject. So I chose Editing. (Film and Madness, Why would an editorcare about Lighting and Composition?)

I examined the factors we had covered in class like composition and perspective (Film and Madness, UnderstandingPerspective and Composition Through The Shining), lighting (Film and Madness, theImportance of Lighting and Shading).  I also made notes of choreography (Film and Madness, Basic Choreography), and some notes on After effects (Film and Madness, After Effects.) After all of that research, I felt comfortable enough talking about the clip, but I now had to knuckle down and actually film something. I put together a storyboard (Film and Madness, Storyboard), which gave way to the groundwork for the film. It also acted as a great reference sheet later on. I also went on location ahead and took some practice stills (Film and Madness,Test Stills), of the area to see if I could recreate the images in my head. It was a great success as I was able to rework anything I wasn’t happy with on the day.

As for filming, that went very well. The actors were on time and the whole thing was shot in two hours with only two reshoots the next evening. There were a few issues however; one was some of the shots needed a bit more lighting to them and going back, I would have gotten out another LED light. Another issue with the film is one particular shot that is far too shaky. I had to take the camera off the tripod as I was fussy with the type of shot I wanted to achieve, but there was too much shake because of wind. Sadly, warp stabilizer was unable to fix this during the edit and I had to use the shot. Next time, I’d probably try to keep the camera on something stable.

Overall however, I’m quite happy with how the project turned out. I kept myself to certain deadlines and I was able to finish my work a whole week early.

Words: 488

Sources:
- A Slow Journey Into Madness. (2015) Remaking "Night of the Hunter." [Online] Available from: http://aslowjourneyintomadness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/practical-screencraft-2-remaking-night.html [Accessed: 9th December 2015].
- A Slow Journey Into Madness. (2015) Why would an editor care about lighting and composition? [Online] Available from: http://aslowjourneyintomadness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/practical-screencraft-2-why-would.html [Accessed: 9th December 2015].
- A Slow Journey Into Madness. (2015) Understanding Perspective and Composition through the Shining [Online] Available from: http://aslowjourneyintomadness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/pratical-screensraft-2-understanding.html [Accessed: 9th December 2015].
- A Slow Journey Into Madness. (2015) The Importance of Lighting and Shading [Online] Available from: http://aslowjourneyintomadness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/practical-screencraft-2-importance-of.html [Accessed: 9th December 2015].
- A Slow Journey Into Madness. (2015) Basic Choreography [Online] Available from: http://aslowjourneyintomadness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/practical-screencraft-2-basic.html [Accessed: 9th December 2015].
- A Slow Journey Into Madness. (2015) After Effects [Online] Available from: http://aslowjourneyintomadness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/practical-screencraft-2-after-effects.html [Accessed: 9th December 2015].
- A Slow Journey Into Madness. (2015) Storyboard [Online] Available from: http://aslowjourneyintomadness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/pratical-screencraft-2-storyboard.html [Accessed: 9th December 2015].
- A Slow Journey Into Madness. (2015) Test Stills [Online] Available from: http://aslowjourneyintomadness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/pratical-screencraft-2-test-stills.html [Accessed: 9th December 2015].

Pratical Screenscraft 2: Final Film (1 & 2)

Night of the Hunter - Reimagining (Part 1 & 2) from Martin Steell on Vimeo.

Pratical Screencraft 2: Test Stills

So before filming my film, I took some practice images to get an idea of what I wanted to create. This was to be used as a reference guide that is more specific than my storyboard, but it was also so I could practice with the lighting as I was concerned how it would turn out.

 This was the earliest test on the silhouette image for the film. I hadn't introduced the actor yet as I was simply testing if the light was able to bleed through the curtain effectively enough.

 These were some practice shots to measure the distance needed to get the side shot of the silhouette. I ended up get much closer on the day and completely cutting out the table.

 Outside shots I was practicing as well, while none were exact and they were shot during the day, they're pretty close to what was used in the film.

A shot I did on the fly as I remembered I needed to ass to find a sink for a cut away. This was used for the final film.

 Practice silhouette shot. The room was still too bright but at least the outside light was spot on.

 Trying to incorporate the cut away screen shot and the silhouette shot. Looking back, this might have worked if I brought the screen up more and had it take more of the image, but I decided to cut it out entirely. I don't regret this choice as it distracts.

Finally, more practice images. I decided the actual camera angle wasn't right so I changed it on the day of the shoot.

Pratical Screencraft 2: Storyboard

 [The Shot Opens with the tap dripping.]

 [Cut to a TV screen or a mac screen that has an image of a vulture and a rabbit.]

 [A man is sitting in a chair. The lighting brings him out as a silhouette.] 

 [A man walks under a streetlight and becomes visible.]

 [Phone on the mans lap vibrates and he answers. We hear the caller start singing a song.]

 [A behind shot of the man singing. We can here him clearer now.]

 [A close-up shot of the man singing.]

 [A second close-up of the man inside.]

As you may notice in the film I ended up changing a few things around on the day of the shoot. Most notably shot 4 ends up being the opening shot in the film. However, this proved to be amazingly helpful on filming day as an easy reference guy as I can easily get mixed up on what we were doing next.

Practical Screencraft 2: Why would an editor care about Lighting and Composition?

So as I'm going to be examining the scene from "Night of the Hunter" for my film one, my tutor has insisted that I also examine this scene from a specialist subject matter. So I have chosen to look at this clip from the perspective of an editor, but this opens up a new question; as an editor, why would I need to know about Lighting and composition?

If I had chosen another clip I could talk about After Effects as well, considering that my specialism is editing this would have fit quite nicely as a lot of editors today are expected to have at least some knowledge of after effects. However, the Night of the Hunter was filmed in 1955so is the only post work would have been done on the film itself, if any was done at all. So there isn't really any room to talk about that subject matter.

There is a little room to talk about the choreography, but the issue is with that is most of the characters are very still during the scene. There is not a lot of movement from the actors because their meant to be still in order to build a sense of tension, and while I can bring this up, there isn't much else to talk about.

There is plenty to talk about lighting and composition though, so the key here is to bring up relevant examples. I have chosen three specific shots to make my points. The image of the killer waiting outside the house, the side shot of the old woman waiting by the window and another shot of her by front facing. The reason for this selection is they are all excellent examples of what I need to talk about.

They are all great examples of shading and lighting and composition because how they all add to the scene. The lighting tells a story of an evil killer and stalwart protector facing off on this farm, and the composition helps to create an atmosphere that the audience cant tear its eyes from with its use of camera angles and how it incorporates the third dimension.

Now as an editor, the relevancy to these practices are quite high, and this is ignoring the obvious fact that I wouldn't have any footage to work with if this stuff hadn't been filmed by the rest of the team. When it comes to lighting for example, the better I understand how it creates an illusion of a place being set at night or how it can define a character without them speaking a single line of dialogue, the better I can spot inaccuracies or faults during the edit. Say an image was overexposed, and the image was far too bright for where the place was set, I can identify this in the edit and lower the brightness of the image, or I can confirm with the director wether the shot is lit as intended.

For composition, the perfect starting point is the positioning of the shot, but if the director is working with the edit with me and they decided he wants the image to be brought in closer. The more I know about composing a shot, the easier it will be for me to identify with exactly with what they want. It creates a more efficient process of editing as well, and the director can entrust with simple note of changes if he had something else to do.

These are just some examples I can use in my film one. Essentially though, the editor is the one who puts the puzzle together, but the director, producer, cinematographer, lighter, sound operator and everyone else are the ones who provide the pieces.

Practical Screencraft 2: Remaking "The Night of the Hunter"

So for this module I have chosen to base my film off the Night of the Hunter. There wasn't much reason for me choosing the clip outside of the fact that I liked it, but I guess I also have a desire to play with lighting more and this gives me a good enough reason as any.

The scene in question was shot at night in a farmhouse. I couldn't find anything on whether the house was a set or filmed on location, but either way lighting is crucial to the scene while also maintaining the illusion that it is night. So looking at this scene, how would it be shot today?

Well I don't see it being a farmhouse in my opinion as it's too open. A lot of horror films play off the idea of home being a safe place, and then warping that expectation by having someone attacked or murdered there. It's playing off an old fear of being harmed where you're meant to be safe. A film that does this brilliantly is "Panic Room" and this leads me to my next point. A mother and a daughter are trapped in their own house, in a neighbourhood where none of your neighbours know about the danger. There should be people who can help, who can call the police or maybe intervene, but nobody does as their asleep, or maybe they just don't care enough.
To me there is something so scary about that. This feeling of being stalked with no hope of outside help and being forced to fend for yourself that this film does so well. I would try to recreate that feeling in this film. All that is between the killer and the victim is a front door. So I will film in a street and a house connected to other houses.

Now another thing I want to reinterpret is the song. The song itself is fine and strangely haunting despite it being a very positive tune about being beside God and Jesus. I think it's the fact that there are little to no other sounds, it forces you to focus on that tune as darkness is prevalent in the scene. So that in itself is fine, but if your in a house and the person is outside, it is very likely the sound would be muffled and barely legible even if everyone else is silent. So how can you make it clear but also show that the victim can hear the attacker clearly from the other side of a wall? A phone call.

There is a sense of anticipation with a phone call. In reality it could be anyone, and they could be anywhere close to you. More importantly though, you get a static-like effect from a phone call which creates a fantastic effect. It's striking, but also haunting put in the right setting, a setting just like "Night of the Hunter" perhaps? So I want to have the killer contact the victim through a phone call and the victim listens as the killers sings them the song.

Bibliography:
- Night of the Hunter. (1955) Film. Directed by Charles Laughton. [DVD] UK: MGM Home Entertainment
- Panic Room. (2002) Film. Directed by David Fincher. [DVD] UK: Columbia TriStar Films

Practical Screencraft 2: After Effects

Ah, the joy of after effects. The little things that go into making something from scratch always really impressed me. This post will mostly be just notes and references for the future as it is harder for me to talk about details. I'm more of a kinetic user who learns from muscle memory and repetition.

- Premier can be easily incorporated
- Edit individual clips, not the whole thing.
- After effects can easily take up RAM so make sure to not have anything on that you don't need on.
- There are different image files to incorporate and you can use video
- Colour correction is simple (look up tutorial)
- Excellent for creating backdrops for green screen.
- Effects that are from a distance (e.g. Explosions) look better than closer up.

Video Examples:

Cool Guys Dont Look at Explosions from Martin Steell on Vimeo.

Practical Screencraft 2: Basic Choreography

When you hear choreography, you then to think of dance sequences and grand productions, but it is important to remember the relationship between the camera and the actors. They need to work together in order to create the best visual, and more specifically it requires the coordination of the cast, the director, the boom mic operator, the cinematographer etc. Pretty much everyone on the set.


Musicals are a great example of this as they often have large dance numbers that are filled with a large number of actors. In this scene from "The Muppets" you have a moment at 2:03 that has at least over ten people in the shot and the camera panning diagonally. For this to work, the camera has to move but the actors have to move with the shot so they stay in the centre. This requires timing on the part of everyone involved. Usually this where the director steps in to help organise what everyone should be doing in the shot. This may also be the responsibility of the choreographer who is mostly responsible for dance sequences in cinema or theatre.

Now we had the chance to test this out for ourselves in an exercise during class. We were taken up to the green screen room where we were given space to improvise a scene and then decide the positioning of the cameras. While I was acting and didn't get to use the cameras, it was a very interesting exercise as you had to rely on space and repetition. When we got our pattern down, the cameramen repositioned the camera to get the best image. I guess that is what I took away from this when it came with working with people: healthy communication with the whole crew leads to a well made film.

Biblography:
- The Muppets. (2011). Film. Directed by James Bobin. [DVD] UK: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment