BLOG QUESTION ADV: WHAT DEFINES FILM NOIR P. 1

What are some key defining features of the protagonist in Film Noir? What are some key defining features of the femme fatale in Film Noir?

The Protagonists in Film Noir are often thrown from one bad situation to another. They are usually forced into situations they have no control over,  losing track of their morals before their downfall (e.g. death, losing someone, etc.). The femme fatale is a female, manipulative character who often seduces the main protagonist, leading him into compromising and dangerous situations. Film Noirs reflect the time they were made in. For example, the ones made in he 40's often reflected WW2.

BLOG QUESTION ADV: WATCHING BLACK AND WHITE MOVIES P. 2

How can black and white set a mood and create a tone? How can it heighten realism?

Black and white sets the mood by creating an unnatural, dream-like quality for its viewers. Since we perceive reality in color, viewing images in black and white gives viewers a surreal feeling. It sets a tone through shadows and lighting. In contrast, black and white can heighten realism, especially when used in a way that gives a film historical meaning. In documentaries or stories that predate color in photography and film, having your film in black and white can immerse the audience into the historical context of the story.

BLOG QUESTION ADV: WATCHING BLACK AND WHITE MOVIES P. 1

How did German expressionism affect black and white cinema? How did black and white enhance film noir? How does black and white enhance other genres?

German expressionism affects black and white cinema by enhancing the effect of shadows and highlighting the sharp contrast of shadowy shapes. It influenced a lot of the horror genre in America due to its exaggerated features. These high contrast lighting techniques used in German expressionism would be used in film noir. The themes found in these films, crime, greed, etc., are enhanced by the black and white imagery (lightness vs darkness). Black and white enhances other genres by visually communicating other elements of a story ( e.g., who's the villain vs. hero, character internal conflict, etc.).

BLOG QUESTION ADV: INVERSE SQUARE LAW OF LIGHTING

1. What is the inverse square law of light?

2. How does this affect you when you are lighting a scene? What do you need to keep in mind?

The inverse square law of light is used to calculate the fall-off of a light source as you increase or decrease its distance from the subject. The intensity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance. For example, if you were to double the distance between the light and a subject, you would have to use the equation (I=1/D^2), which would be I=1/2^2= 1/4. If you want to move a light closer, you will have to flip the equation to calculate the intensity. This rule also applies to audio (the distance between the microphone and the subject). When you are lighting a scene, you can use this rule to fix any lighting complications and to help you figure out what intensity (therefore distance) your light should be at based on the environment and other light sources in the room.

BLOG QUESTION ADV: REVIEWING 3-POINT LIGHTING

1. What are the three different parts of 3-point lighting?

2. What are three tips that this presenter makes that are different than what you have been taught so far in this class?
3. How can you put this knowledge into use in your future videos?

The 3 different parts of 3 point lighting are the key light (main),back light, and motivated light. The three tips this presenter gives that are new to me are to use objects in the room  or area (such as a lamp) to provide motivated light. If you're doing an interview, setting up a regular back light might work, but it doesn't hurt to add a pop of light in the background if it fits the setting. He also tells us that the strongest light isn't the key light, it's usually the back light. We can apply this knowledge to our future videos by trying to use our setting as a tool to experiment with different lighting techniques. Figuring out what objects alows light to bounce/reflect, what could be used in the background for motivated light, etc. 

BLOG QUESTION ADV: USING A WAVEFORM FOR EXPOSURE

1. What is the IRE scale? What does it mean on the waveform?

2. What is crushing and clipping? What does it tell you when you see it happening on the waveform?
3. Why is the waveform monitor so important to the digital cinematographer?

The IRE scale is a standard measurement of exposure used in waveform monitors. Crushing is when the waveform is below 0% making the image underexposed. Clipping is when the waves are above 100% on the waveform monitor, making the image overexposed. This tells us whether or not our image is broadcast legal. The waveform monitor is important to the digital cinematographer because it allows them to tell the true exposure of an image. They can't rely on the external monitor since exposure levels appear differently in different lighting/settings, so being able to read a waveform monitor is vital, since it's also the standard scale for all types of cameras.

BLOG QUESTION ADV: USING ZEBRAS FOR EXPOSURE

1. What are zebra stripes? What are they used for?

2. What do the zebra stripes tell you?
3. What a practical way to use these while shooting with a video camera?

Zebra stripes are black and white stripes superimposed by the camcorder over parts of an image that are exposed to a specific level. They are used to tell the exposure of certain parts of an image. When lighting for someone with lighter skin, and you have your zebra set to about 70%, you want to adjust your exposure to where certain parts of the skin are covered in that zebra pattern.  A practical way to use zebra stripes is when you're filming interviews to get accurate skin tone colors and to know when you're not overexposing. 

BLOG QUESTION ADV: REVIEWING GAIN

1. What does the ISO/Gain sensitivity of a camera mean?

2. Why would you want to increase the ISO/Gain of the camera?
3. What happens when you increase the ISO/Gain on a camera? What are the problems that come into play?

The ISO/Gain sensitivity of a camera is the measurement of how sensitive the sensor is to light  . We would want to increase the ISO/Gain of a camera if we were filming in low light settings (e.g. night time) . When you increase the ISO/Gain on a camera, the problem of visual noise comes into play which lowers the quality of the image, but boosts the exposure of the image.

BLOG QUESTION ADV: GETTING THE CORRECT EXPOSURE

Explain your answers to the following questions in a detailed, long paragraph:

1. What is a gray card used for? What does it help represent?
2. What is a waveform monitor used for? How should you use it?
3. What is false color? How can it be used to determine exposure?

A gray card is used to determine what setting to use on the camera to get perfect exposure. It helps represent skin tones on camera. A waveform monitor is used to tell the exposure levels which are found on the y-plane of the monitor. the x-plane shows the exposure of what's in the frame from left to right. You can use the gray card along with the waveform to fix your exposure, as the gray card shows up as a distinct white line. Usually having that line around 40 is adequate exposure. False color is similar to a waveform, except it reads differently. It can be used to determine exposure by using colors on a scale, which each represent different exposure levels. These colors will appear on the monitor in places where the exposure is high or low, allowing you to make adjustments to fix the highlights of your image.

BLOG QUESTION ADV: F-STOPS EXPLAINED

What is the difference between the aperture and the iris? In your own words, what is an F-stop? What is the difference between each stop? Explain in detail.

The iris is the mechanism which is a circular shield with a hole that opens and closes depending on how much light you want in the camera. The aperture is the name of that hole. The F-stop numbers is the scale of numbers that tells you how much light is coming into the camera (aperture size). The F-stop scale either doubles or halves the amount of light. The smaller the aperture, the less light is being let into the camera, giving the image a Deeper Dof. The larger the aperture, the more light is being let in, giving the image a shallower DoF.

BLOG QUESTION BEG/ADV: SPRING SEMESTER GOALS

If you remember, we blogged about your goals at the beginning of the fall semester. Revisit those goals when you first enter the spring semester.
Look back at the goals that you set in the fall. Did you achieve them? Why or why not? How can you take steps or make corrections to achieve these goals? Where will you need to look to gather help or resources?

I had three goals at the beginning of the year: Submit more films to a festival, learn how to color grade on DaVinci and edit more on AE, and learn how to light. So far, I haven't completed any of these goals, but I've been working on them throughout the semester. This semester, I hope to submit my college app film to a short film festival or contribute to a project that gets submitted to a festival. I've also started editing more, going out of my comfort zone by taking on challenging projects outside of class that require me to learn more editing skills. Lastly, I'm trying to learn more about lighting, and I've only taken one skills test, but I hope to complete a lot of the lighting skills this semester.