Understanding Film and TV task 2

The art Department

Production Designer
The Production Designer is responsible for the entire Art Department. They play an important role in helping the Director to achieve the visual requirements of the film and they give the Producer carefully calculated schedules which suggest ways of making the film within the specified budget and time period. A huge amount of work and imagination from the Production Designer and Art Department goes into constructing the backdrop to any story and creating the sets.
Production Designers might be asked to review script before a Director is even approached. They read a screenplay to consider how they would bring the story to life visually. After breaking down the script, they discuss with the Director how to shoot the film and they decide to use indoor studio sets or locations, what visual style the film will have, whether there are certain design elements that may give an emotional or psychological depth to the film and when and where Special Effects and Visual Effects should be used. These discussions are followed by research during which the Production Designer source their ideas from things such as books, paintings, and other media

Production Designer requirements:

• Considerable artistic as well as technical drawing skills.
• An understanding of art history, architecture and world cultures.
• Good communication skills and the ability to inspire and motivate the team.
• The ability to conceptualise ideas, to think visually and be able to direct the Art Department to bring these ideas into tangible form.
• An understanding of the production process and technology of filmmaking, as the Production Designer must concern themselves with how sets and props will interact with the cast, as well as with lighting, special effects and roving cameras.
• Creativity and a vivid imagination to help shape the visual style of the film.
• A good sense of time and place with a methodical approach to work.
• The ability to see the broader picture and to co-ordinate effectively.
• A full and comprehensive understanding of film budgeting and scheduling

Art director
The Art Director acts as project manager for the Art Department and oversees the creation Production Designer’s creative vision into blueprints and eventually the construction of the final film sets, either in the studio or on location.
The Art Director is also responsible for the budget of the art department and their work schedule, allowing the Production Designer to maximise the money allocated to the department. Art Directors are usually appointed by the Production Designer and their team consists of Assistant Art Directors, Draughtsmen, Art Department Assistants, Graphic Designers, Storyboard Artists, Model-makers and the Construction Crew. On smaller scale productions the roles of Production Designer and Art Director are often given to one person.
The Art Director’s starts work early in the Pre-Production stages, working closely with the Production Designer, analysing the script so that the Art Department can produce the blueprints which the Art Director and the Construction Manager use to assess the level of crew and materials needed to construct and dressing of the various sets – this information is vital for the Art Department budget which the Producer and his team need to work out the overall budget they need to raise for the production.

Art Director requirements:

• To be a fully qualified designer and draughtsman with a talent in multiple disciplines of art combined with a good eye for decoration and detail.
• The ability to conceptualise ideas, to think visually and be able to direct the Art Department to bring these ideas into tangible form.
• An understanding of the concept of color theory and composition, as well as techniques of camera framing.
• An understanding of the production process and technology of filmmaking as the Art Department must concern themselves with how sets and props will interact with the cast, as well as with lighting, special effects and roving cameras.
• Creativity and a vivid imagination to help shape the visual style of the film.
• A good sense of time and place with a methodical approach to work.
• The ability to lead a large team with the correct amount of discipline and diplomacy.
• The ability to see the broader picture and to co-ordinate effectively.
• A full and comprehensive understanding of film budgeting and scheduling.
• A sensitive and diplomatic manner when working with Performers and Crew

Assistant Art Director
At the start of pre-production, the Assistant Art Director works closely with the Art Director and Production Designer on the preliminary designs. Once the Director has approved the concepts, they will assist in hiring the Art Department team to complete working drawings, detailed sketches and layouts which will be used in set construction. If locations are to be used, they carry out technical recces, providing the Supervising Art Director with any relevant information for the Production Designer. During construction the Assistant Art Director will monitor the process and work on each subsequent set up to the first few weeks of shooting when their work usually comes to an end. During filming, some more experienced Assistant Art Directors may work on the studio floor as Standby Art Directors. The Assistant Art Director’s responsibilities vary according to the size of the production. On smaller films, they help the Art Director with a wide range of jobs including Art Department research, accessing props, surveying locations, model making and helping to produce blueprints. Big budget films may involve designing and building many complicated sets, both in the studio and on location, so a number of Art Directors may be employed, all working on their own sets throughout pre-production and production, with their own team of Assistants.

Assistant Art Director requirements:

• A good all round knowledge of interior design and architecture as well as a practical understanding of building and construction.
• The ability to conceptualise ideas, to think visually and be able to direct the Art Department to bring these ideas into tangible form.
• An understanding of the concept of color theory and composition, as well as techniques of camera framing.
• An understanding of the production process and technology of filmmaking in order to understand how sets and props will interact with the cast, as well as with lighting, special effects and roving cameras.
• Creativity and a vivid imagination to help shape the visual style of the film.
• A good sense of time and place with a methodical approach to work.
• The ability to see the broader picture and to co-ordinate effectively.
• A full and comprehensive understanding of film budgeting and scheduling.
• A sensitive and diplomatic manner when working with Performers and Crew

Draughtsmen
To become a Draughtsman you will already have been an Art Department Assistant and a Junior Draughtsman, where you will have assisted in all drawing tasks on several productions, eventually becoming a fully-trained Draughtsman. Some Draughtsmen will even become a Production Designer or Art Director, many prefer to stay in the Draughtsman role and concentrate on perfecting their skills so that they become expert and much sought-after practitioners.

Draughtsmen must requirements:

• To be already qualified in technical drawing skills and be fully conversant with the related computer software (CAD or similar).
• Expertise knowledge of all building materials and construction techniques.
• The ability to visualize perspective and 3-dimensional space combined with a good understanding of the needs of the Director and the Director of Photography in terms of light and camera angles etc.
• A good knowledge of historical and global architecture, as well as period details and techniques.
• The ability to visually interpret other peoples’ ideas combined with the ability to work quickly and instantly respond to changes.
• Initiative, awareness and imagination. This is a creative career and as you progress through the Art Department, you will need all these qualities.
• The ability to work easily as part of the Art Department team and the extended Film Crew

Art Department Assistant
The job demands a mix of imagination, practical and technical skills and the ability to organise yourself and co-ordinate tricky tasks.
Working as an Assistant is the first step in progressing through the Art Department. The position gives you the opportunity to get experience and learn on the job, by practising the drawing and model making skills which all Draughtsmen and Art Directors need. There is tough competition and it can prove difficult to get this job – but researching forthcoming productions and contacting Art Directors may provide an opening. Good Assistants often progress quickly to become Junior Draughtsmen.

Art Department Assistant requirements:

• To be already qualified in technical drawing skills and be fully conversant with the related computer software (CAD or similar).
• Expertise on all building materials and construction techniques.
• The ability to visualize perspective and 3-dimensional space combined with a good understanding of the needs of the Director and the Director of Photography in terms of light and camera angles etc.
• A good knowledge of historical and global architecture, as well as period details and techniques.
• The ability to visually interpret other peoples’ ideas combined with the ability to work quickly and instantly respond to changes.
• Initiative, awareness and imagination. This is a creative career and as you progress through the Art Department, you will need all these qualities.
• The ability to work easily as part of the Art Department team and the extended Film Crew

Art Department Trainee
Working as an Assistant provides the opportunity to learn on the job, by practising the drawing and model making skills which are vital for all Draughtsmen and Art Directors. Good Assistants often progress quickly through the ranks to become Junior Draughtsmen and continue up the grades.

Art Department Trainee requirements:

• Strong freehand drawing skills as well as an interest and ability in architecture and technical drawing. Although Computer Aided Design (CAD) is used it is essential that anyone wanting a career in the Art Department should be able to produce a hand-draughted plan or a scale model.
• A keen interest in design, the history of architecture as well as a love of cinema is essential. Each project will require research as attention to detail is paramount.
• To be able to understand complex drawings, specifications and technical literature in order to fully comprehend the Art Director and Production Designer’s instructions.
• Initi1ative, awareness and imagination

Accuracy:
Accuracy is defined by the quality or state of being correct or precise. If a programme presents lies to an audience it is not an accurate programme. A documentary must be accurate to be a factual programme. I will make sure my factual film will be accurate by checking any facts I use are correct.

Balance:
When a factual programme is balanced, it is showing a fair representation of each side of the story. The producers are unprejudice towards the arguments and stories presented. Each side is focused on equally and treated with objectivity.

Impartiality:
Impartiality is when the producers of the factual programme do not take a side. They remain completely objective throughout. The programme does not display any bias towards either side of the argument. The representation of each argument is balanced and fair.
In my documentary on Graffiti I will not show a preference for either side of the story, I will simply document peoples opinions and present them with complete neutrality.

Objectivity:
The definition of an objective programme is that it is not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts. The programme remains detached from either side of the argument/story while presenting them both even handedly.

Subjectivity:
A subjective programme is based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions. The opposite of objectivity. It does not present impartial and fair representation of each side of the story or argument and often focuses more positively on one while showing the other in a more negative light.

Opinion:
An opinion is a persons view or judgement formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge. Opinions can be backed up by strong arguments, but that does not necersarily make them correct, and there are others who will likely still disagree with an opinion presented. Because of this, opinions must never be presented as fact in a factual programme.

Bias:
Bias is an inclination or prejudice for or against an argument, person or group. An example of a documentary that displays a lot of bias would be Supersize Me in which a man eats McDonalds every day to prove how bad it is for your health. He sets out to prove something negative about McDonalds rather than exploring the argument fairly.

Privacy:
Everyone has the right to privacy, and a producer should respect this when creating a documentary. If a person does not want to answer a question or have a video or image of them put in your documentary, you should respect their wishes.

Representation:
Representation is the way that you portray a person, group or argument. It is important that a producer does not allow their personal bias or opinions effect how they represent people in a factual programme.

Digital Graphics Review

In Adobe Photoshop I have created a poster, a DVD sleeve, and a DVD disk cover for the film Anaesthetic.

 For the film poster I created a template with a width of 40 inches and a height of 30 inches. Making the resolution 300 pixels per inch as to ensure the quality of the final product.

 

We took the pictures of our two characters seperately and then used a technique of changing the characters contrast to the background in order to easily cut them out and removing their original backgrounds..

 

 

They were then placed onto the background picture we had taken on set for the poster

 

 

I also changed the hue and saturation to create a more satisfactory dark tone for my poster, as well as adding my title text and block credits text underneath.

 

 

For my DVD sleeve I used very similar techniques, but this time adding in screen caps of the film anaesthetic and also inserting a logo, BBFC rating and a DVD logo.

The DVD disk cover was kept ver minimal, I simply used the photograph of our character Tobias and the backround that I had previously edited from my poster.

Raster VS Vector

Raster images
Also referred to as a bitmap graphic, a raster graphic is the most common kind of image found on computers. Raster images are made up of a grid of pixels, each pixel is assigned a colour value, and with enough pixels a computer can create the illusion of a crisp image. If you were to enlarge one of these images, you would lose the sharpness and quality of the image as the pixels became more clear. Depending on the height of the resolution of a raster file a picture can look incredibly crisp. An extreme example of this would be this 320 Gigapixel panorma photograph of London. Which allows you to see extreme details from huge distances. The problem with this is that the pixels in raster images require a large amount of disk space, so creating pictures like this is not easy.
Raster files come in formats such as .BMO, .TIF, .GIF or .JPG. Raster images are often created and edited in software such as microsoft paint, or adobe photoshop.

Vector images
Unlike raster graphics a vector graphic is not made up of a grid of pixels. A vector image is very good for media printing because it's size can be increased hugely without any loss of image quality, this is because vector graphics use geometrical formulas to represent an image. Instead of being made up of a grid of pixels, they are made of shapes called "objects". You can edit each objects shape, size, position and colour Common files formats for raster are .CGM .SVG .ODG .EPS .XML. Vector files require very little memory to store them Vector graphics are often edited in software such as Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Freehand, Pro/DESKTOP.
Before vector graphics can be translated into the physical world from a computer through a raster based output device such as a laser printer or dot-matrix printer, the vector image must be translated to a bitmap to create. A limitation of vector graphics is that they cannot handle phtographic images as well as a raster format can. Because of this, the best time to use vector images is when creating large scale illustrations and logos.

Raster Or Vector?
There is no better graphics format. Both raster ad vector graphics can produce brilliant results simply by understanding the strangths and weaknesses of both of them. Where one fails the other one will likely compensate in that area.

The Thriller Genre

Thrillers

 

Thrillers are a very wide genre of film that can include sub genres such as gangster movies, spy films, sci fi, detective films, crime and more. I love thrillers because they're movies designed to keep you interested, if they don't keep you on the edge of your seat throughout then they're not doing their job right. This makes the thriller genre one that leaves very little room for error. The entire genre is built on suspense, which must be delivered else the entire movie falls apart. Thrillers, often being very cynical tend to portray society or the world as dark and unforgiving. A thriller that is a large Hollywood blockbuster usually do this too, but they often swap out the dark endings for a more upbeat optimistic conclusion to the film. Often in thrillers you'll find that important information is withheld from the audience in the movie, until near the conclusion of the film, the audience sometimes knows this, sometimes we're just given hints that something happening in the story is not quite right, which excites us more to find out what the twist is.

Fantastic examples of thrillers using this technique of long drawn out suspense would be movies like Fight Club, Oldboy or The Usual Suspects.

 

  

The preferred reading for an audience of a thriller is in the name. We want the audience to be thrilled, to feel tense, excited or anticipant. A thriller must succeed in this or it will fall short of its potential. This brings me to my next point, the fact that a good thriller creates suspense and mystery for the audience, it demands your attention throughout, it requires active spectatorship from the audience, which is one of the reasons I love this genre, because they force the watcher to think about what they are watching. Because of this thrillers are not often easy, laid back watches for the passive spectator.
For example in Oldboy and Fight Club we are thrown into the minds of the main characters, we learn things as they do, anything that they don't know, we won't know either, information is withheld until the character learns it.

 

The idea of active spectatorship means that each viewer is different and that each person will react to the material they are watching differently than the next. Audiences do not simple absorb what they watch without thinking about it.

Passive spectatorship is something that was suggested by the Hypodermic Needle theory. The idea that the audience simply sits back and accepts the media that is delivered to them without thought.

 

Some film makers attempt to turn the audience into passive spectators while watching their movies, for example a movie like Transformers, an action movie directed by Michael Bay. Transformers does not demand much thought from the audience. There are clear protagonists (the autobots) and antagonists (the decepticons). The film never stops to ask why the bad guys are doing what they're doing, they just want to destroy all humans, that's all you need to know.

If a spectator is truly passive then it is much easier for them to go away from your movie with the creators preferred reading. That being, that the movie was good and enjoyable to watch.

 

Others encourage make the audience actively spectate, make them pay attention and think about what they are viewing. Thrillers do this. For example in the movie Fight Club we are not shown a clear antagonist and protagonist. The bad guy can be a good guy and the good guy can be the bad guy. The ideologies of anarchy are presented to us very convincingly by Tyler Durden, but then the counter argument is presented to us by the Narrator. We understand what Tyler Durden believes, we see the sense in it, but the Narrator allows us to also see the madness. It presents two points of view and lets the viewer make their own decision, this is active spectatorship.

 

 



 

Wes Anderson and Auteur theory

 

Auteur Theory and Wes Anderson

 

 

Auteur Theory is the idea that arose in France in the late 1940s that I director of a film can have a major effect on the creative style and vision of the movies that he/she produces, in effect making the director more the author than the person that actually wrote the material.

"A true film auteur is someone who can bring something genuinely person to his subject instead of producing a tasteful: accurate but lifeless rendering of the original material." Francis Trauffat, 1950.

 

Wes Anderson is widely thought of as director that would qualify to be an Auteur. This is because he brings a very unique style to all of his movies that is easily recognisable to almost anyone who has seen his films before. For example he often includes very similar themes within all of his films. For example the stories tend to revolve around middle to upper class families that are more than a little dysfunctional as well as precocious and pretencions characters.

Also Wes Anderson has a very notably quirky style of cinematography that appears in the majority of his movies. For example a he often makes shots completely symmetrical. He also likes to use tracking shots that last a relatively long time and require a large amount of choreography in order to shoot. The is also a slow motion shot in every one of his films not including Fantastic Mr. Fox.



 

Wes Anderson also has a habit of using high angled shots in his films, here is some examples.

The mes en scene that Wes Anderson creates is always very vintage, with a very 60's era style to it. He uses costume that would be out of place in today's world, and props that should be long outdated.



He also often uses a very similar colour palette throughout each of his films that includes shades of yellow, red, blue and orange.

Wes Anderson titles are also a notable signature of his, in a bold yellow font that fits his colour palette.

Not only do his characters and cinematography have very distinct styles. But also his choice of actors. Wes Anderson's movies has repeatedly collaborated with multiple actors in his films, such as Bill Murray, Owen Wilson and Jason Schrwatzman. When Wes Anderson Directs a new movie it is expected for at least one of these actors to be in the film.

 

 

In my personal opinion, because of all of these unique and quirky things that Wes Anderson brings to his movies, that make his work instantly recognisable as a film made by him, he fits the definition of an Auteur. He is someone that makes a movie his own. Bringing something different to its delivery that only Wes Anderson could do, because that is his style of film making

Oldboy 2003 vs Oldboy 2013 (Spoilers)

Oldboy 2003 vs Oldboy 2013



I'm going to be comparing the original Korean movie, Oldboy to the 2013 american remake of the film.

The lifetime gross of the original Oldboy reached an impressive $14,980,005 (Box office mojo), almost quintupling its original budget of and estimated $3,000,000 (IMDB), over time it has grown to become a cult classic around the world.
The movie has been nominated for and won countless awards in the time since its release, being praised for its acting, directing, lighting, music and cinematography. The film was received incredibly well by audiences who gave it a score of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes as well as critics reaching 80%.


The remake on the other hand bombed in the box office make a measly $4,861,022 (Box Office Mojo) after splashing out an estimated budget of $30,000,000 (IMDB). In comparison to the original Oldboy 2013 was received poorly by audiences and critics alike, scoring only 42% among critics and 32% from the audience.

Although the stories of these two movies are incredible similar, there are some differences that may have contributed to the originals success and/or the remakes downfall.

Plot
Directed by Chan-Wook Park, the plot of the 2003 Oldboy is a very dark, grim, twisted and violent one. The protagonist, Oh-Dae su is kidnapped and held hostage in a prison for 15 years, only to be inexplicably released from captivity, to discover why he was imprisoned and more importantly why he was set free. Along the way he meets Mido who he falls in love with.
After uncovering that the reason Woo-Jin Lee imprisoned him was because of the death of his sister who he was in an incestuous relationship with. Woo-Jin Lee blames Oh-Dae Su for her death, as he was the one who started the rumour of their relationship. As his final act of revenge he Woo-Jin Lee reveals that Mido is actually Oh-Dae Su's daughter

Directed by Spike Lee, the remake has a very similar story, the protagonist, Joe Doucett is imprisoned for 20 years, he escapes and meets Marie, who he falls in love with. The main difference between the 2013 remake and the 2003 original is that the antagonist is that for some reason it was decided that the back story for the original antagonist was not strange enough and instead replaced an incestuous brother, sister relationship, with one between father, son and daughter. After being discovered by Joe and him spreading the rumour throughout his school, Adrian's father attempts to murder his family before taking his own life, but Adrian survived, and began to plan his revenge on Joe for revealing the truth about his family.

Protagonists

Oh-Dae Su, the 2003 protagonist is quickly presented to us as a flawed man, a drunk, and not the best parent. This is all explained to us within a few minutes before he is kidnapped, we don't get a lot of time to connect to the character that he is before that. We then get much more time to get to know Oh-Dae Su as he grows as a character and battles for his sanity in his prison. Through voice overs we get a good insight as to what is going on in his mind and how that translates into the things he does. He is a character that has clearly made mistakes in his life, but never particularly wronged anyone to an extreme extent. Because of this, sympathy and empathy for this character comes very easily to the viewer.

Joe Doucett on the other hand is given much more time to be fleshed out earlier in the movie, and does not come across as a simple delinquent, instead he comes across as completely despicable, perverted, alcoholic, disrespectful, annoying and uncaring. Because of this even after trying to redeem himself its very hard to sympathise with this character. Especially when later in the movie we get an insight into his school life through flashbacks and how he was just as cruel as a teenager as he was as an adult.

Antagonists
Woo-Jin Lee is portrayed as a suave and cool bad guy that uses emotional and mental manipulation to toy with the protagonist. Although being an evil with a twisted sense of justice, Chan-Wook Park doesn't let us forget that, despite being cruel, he still is human, giving depth to his character, making his actions even more unsettling.

Adrian Pryce from the remake was portrayed quite differently. With a somewhat over the top English accent and a cold unexplored personality that makes him a fairly basic villain that we may have seen far too many times in cinema to find interesting. Copley's acting is somewhat over exaggerated making his character seem cartoon-like and it doesn't fit with Spike Lee's attempt to make a grittier, more realistic movie, than the previous one.

Cinematography
There's a lot to be said about the visual style created for the original Oldboy. The cinematography is unique, quirky and beautiful. The camera is rarely still and never fails to be interesting throughout the entire movie.

The most notable scene in the original is the iconic hallway fight scene which takes place in a single shot that lasts almost 3 minutes. Spike Lee created a similar fight in the remake in a shot lasting almost 2 minutes, he does a good job of the making same scene, while putting his own twist on the camera angles.

Although the cinematography in the new Oldboy is good it still doesn't live up to its predecessors incredibly well crafted shots.

Over all I think the remake of Oldboy was an unnecessary one. It brings nothing new to the table and although it makes a good stand alone movie, it fails to surpass or live up to the original, which it will never not be compared to, in almost every category. The movie is a remake of a movie that didn't need to be remade, because it still stands up 11 years later as a fantastic movie that would be incredibly hard to improve upon. The only reason you could possibly have to watch the remake instead of the original is that if you don't speak Korean and don't want to read subtitles, which is still a pretty poor reason at that.

All too often Hollywood remakes a foreign film loved by movie goers only to have the English speaking version fall short of everything the original was revered for. Some movies do not need to be remade, in my opinion, Oldboy is one of those movies.