Director of Photography-ing(?) FOR DUMMIES

Oh hello there. Didn't see you there. No, don't go! As long as I have you here, we have a very important matter to discuss. For centuries (or at least for a little while), there has been a daunting question on people's minds. What exactly does a Director of Photography (or cinematographer) do for a film production? Hmph, that's certainly a tough question. Let's go to the expert to try to find an answer to this inquiry.

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What's up, guys?! You know me. I'm that guy. From that thing. You know, that thing? No? Ah well, might as well just give you what you came here for. So you want to know what a director of photography does, huh? Well you're in luck! It's time for this week's "...FOR DUMMIES!"

Like quite a few other crew positions (Producer, Director, etc.) the director of photography's (or DP for short) job stretches out over all three stages of production: preproduction, production, and postproduction. They really don't get any sleep, but who needs sleep?! Let me break it down for you.

Obviously, we start with preproduction. Duh. The DP begins his/her job with discussing the director's vision for the overall film as well as scene by scene. Based on what the director is looking for, the DP determines what exactly is needed for each scene, and, following that, hires a camera crew and organizes and purchases any equipment and supplies that will be needed. When deciding what's needed for each scene, the DP works with many other departments--including sound and lighting--to coordinate production needs. In summary, the DP uses his preproduction time very wisely. He pretty much plans out every shot and gets any and all the tools he'll need to acquire these shots.

After many months of planning, the DP's job moves into production. The most essential thing the DP must do during this step of the process is to coordinate the crew while working closely with the director to make sure every scene and shot is set up to match the director's vision. If the director doesn't get what they want, may Hitchcock have mercy on your soul. Here's where the difficult stuff comes in. For each and every shot, the DP must decide on: the best combination of cameras (oh yeah, filters and lenses, too), the placement of the cameras, what the lighting should look like, AND when the best time would be to shoot. On particularly large films, the DP often oversees several cinematographers who supervise different camera set-ups. He often ALSO manages the photography budget, so the DP is kind of like a part-time production accountant.

Finally we come to postproduction (yeah right, we're not done yet). The first step of the third step of the three-step film production process begins with the DP working with the processing lab to make sure the film retains the color and the mood that he and the director were aiming for. If this part of the process gets screwed up, then a big chunk of all the hard work and planning goes right down the drain. The DP also reviews dailies as well as cuts of the film throughout the editing process. It's important for the DP to participate as a critical eye throughout postproduction.

Alongside the film director, the director of photography has some of the most creative control of the entire crew. They decide what we see and how we're going to see it. Often times, the DP is the person who makes a good film into a film that we'll never forget...

Or they can be the person who absolutely ruins it. Either way, they're really important.

How To Make The Perfect Sundance Film

That's right, by the time you finish reading this article you will be ready to dominate the Sundance scene.

Okay, not exactly. But Ted Hope (CEO of Fandor and author of Hope for Film) has shared his advice on how he got his films into Sundance.... all twenty-three of them. Not only that, but his films have won the Grand Jury prizes three times. That's the big kahuna of prizes at Sundance.

He even understands our modern short attention span and broke down his advice into 10 easy to follow steps. For extra measure, I've added pictures to extend your attention.

1. The protagonist

Center the story around an everyday person, someone the audience can identify with (not a wealthy or an evil type).

2. The plot

The protagonist needs to go through a serious arc, suffer hardship, and then come to some understanding that the audience didn’t expect.

3. Be bold

Show risk-taking in the filmmaking. Make it feel like it may all fall apart, but then save it at the last moment: People should say, “It’s bold.”

4. Be disciplined

If you can’t be bold, be disciplined. If it doesn’t fit the form, cut it out.

5. Own your aesthetic

Embrace, even flaunt, your aesthetic and the limits of your aesthetic. Don’t be ashamed of your limitations. Own your choices.

6. Engage bigger issues

The story has to be bigger than the movie itself and should deal with issues of either class conflict, gender conflict, sexual conflict, or other political issues. How do you comment on the world at large while still examining the minute and particular?

7. Cast

You need to cast a few stars or soon-to-be stars, so it should be an ensemble piece that covers generational conflict. You have the old-name actor you’re bringing back and the up-and-comer whom no one had seen yet, along with actors who can move from TV into feature films.

8. Shock value

It needs some moment of audacity, the kind of thing that people will talk about and that might even shock the uninitiated.

9. The right mix

Have a sense of humor about great tragedy— or find the tragedy in the hilarious. Embrace the cocktail; make it at least feel fresh.

10. Leave them wanting more

Shorter is better; 90 minutes is the new 120 (today, 80 is the new 90). No one ever says, "I wish it had been longer" when they leave the theater.

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The following was an excerpt from Hope's new book, "Hope For Film: From the Frontline of the Independent Cinema Revolutions", also featured in a blog post on nofilmschool.com. I found this post particularly interesting and insightful, and hopefully you find it helpful too as you write your new Sundance film :)

Persona

Last week I watched Ingmar Bergman's 1966 film Persona for the first time. Its one of those films I'd heard about over and over again, and seen lots of references to in other films, but never actually watched it myself. I didn't really have any idea about what the plot was before going in, but after watching it I was really pleased with it. I tend to enjoy twisted, strange films that provoke thought and the urge to watch it a couple more times.

Here's the premise: Well-known theatre actress Elizabeth Vogler is in the middle of performing a play and suddenly finds that she is unable to speak, crippled with what we gather is an overwhelming anxiety or depression. She is sent to a facility and is looked after by Sister Alma, a nurse. The doctor decides it would be beneficial for Elizabeth and Alma to retreat to her seaside home to help Elizabeth recuperate faster. The two bond though Elizabeth still will not speak, while Alma uses her as a confidant of sorts, constantly talking to her and eventually confessing her innermost secrets. Elizabeth is physically healthy and able to speak, but still refuses while she voyeuristically "studies" Alma's character. Alma, soon in a weakened mental state, begins to assume the identity Elizabeth has cultivated for herself over her years of rising to fame as an actress. Alma basically becomes Elizabeth, helping Elizabeth cope by separating herself from the inner turmoil caused by her own existence.

Persona is minimally shot with many close ups, allowing the viewer to "get into the minds" of the characters. Its very cerebral, and provokes a lot of thought in order to piece it together, while also being pretty creepy. After watching I was able to see the connection between this film and one of my all time favorites, David Lynch's Mulholland Drive, which is said to be heavily influenced by Persona. Both Persona and Mulholland Drive feature main characters that are actors who meld identities with other characters. The concept of fluid identities is really fascinating, and also prompted me to think about where a person's identity lies in the profession of acting. I think that it must be hard for an actor to separate himself from the identity of a character he is playing, or truly know who he is as a person.

I really enjoyed this film, though I'm not sure I've fully grasped Persona in one viewing. I'm eager to watch it a few more times as well as check out more of Bergman's work.

One Shot Reflection

Directing has always been something that I've been somewhat interested in, but not too sure of myself in. At least in production classes, I've been used to developing an idea in a group and being the DP-essentially being able to frame my own project as I see fitting. It was a challenge for me this time to step back from this role, and tell someone else how I wanted my vision to be seen. However, I found that (even though I was only able to do one take) when you have faith in your crew and their abilities, this can end up looking really great.

The pre-production process, however, proved to be much more stressful than I had initially anticipated. My idea sort of 'came to me' in a brainstorming process, somewhat out of nowhere. I knew it was a bit ambitious, but for once I wanted to go outside of my comfort zone in a production class and really try something I'd never done before. I went through about 3 trials of making the sugar glass that essentially failed. The first one didn't harden at all. The second ended up looking alright (but ended up failing...I'll get to that). Then, the night before shooting, my talent suggested I try doing it again just in case. So I did, and it again came out decent.

At the time of the shoot, I first decided to use the last piece of sugar glass because I thought it looked the worst. The shoot went great and the photography looked amazing. As I went to remove the first piece I made from the pan, it broke right in front of me. So I had to go with what I had. It ended up looking really great and I was able to do some cool stuff in post. I think I'm gonna try my hand at directing the next opportunity that arises.

The "Last Kiss" Photo

The other day I came across an interesting article involving spontaneous inspiration and the hassle of release forms and other annoying but necessary things to get done when trying to make a film. With the conclusion of our one shot projects, I thought this article was particularly interesting. The story involves a man named Mo Gelber, an audio engineer by day and occasional photographer who happened to follow a crowd of reporters outside a courthouse, not even knowing who they were following. Amongst the commotion, Gelber saw something he found more interesting: a young couple sharing a last kiss getting escorted by police officers on each side of them. He ended up snapping this shot.

Gelber was pleased and ended up entering it into a contest called "Project Imaginat10n," a collaboration between Canon and Ron Howard. The contest called for people to send in their photographs with the potential of one being turned into a film. Gelber's shot ended up winning. However, the judges gave Gelber only a few days to get all the release forms signed, leading Gelber on a wild goose hunt, since he had no idea who any of these people were or where to find them.

Gelber called the police station and tracked down the cops pretty easily, who had no problem signing the forms. The hard part came when trying to find the couple in the photo. Gelber ended up turning to his Facebook friends, who put him in contact with a popular photography blogger who ended up putting Gelber's photograph on his blog, asking if anyone knew where to find the couple. A few hours later (pretty much up until the last minute of the deadline) the woman in the photo contacted Gelber, telling him that she and her boyfriend (who were arrested for graffiti) would be happy to sign the release and help him win the contest.

Mo Gelber faced another problem when it came to working out the details of the contract with Canon with his photo subjects. The problem was that the release states that for the rest of their lives, only Canon or the contest representatives could photograph them. Long story short, Canon and the couple's lawyers tried to negotiate the terms of the release but were unable to reach an agreement and Gelber's shot was disqualified. However, a positive to come out of this story is that now Gelber's photography has gained much more media attention.

I think this story is quite interesting because it highlights all of the legal stuff involved in making films that we often forget about. Unfortunately, it is a necessary part of the filmmaking process and could potentially force the artist to compromise the project. Of course, Gelber's situation is a bit more difficult because everything was being done through the Canon company, but these kinds of issues are still things that filmmakers commonly face.

Read the full interview with Mo Gelber here: http://good.is/posts/how-this-last-kiss-photo-sparked-a-facebook-manhunt/

One Shot Music Videos

I've been thinking a lot lately about the concept of the "one shot story," which seemed a little foreign to me when we first started talking about it in class. Thinking about it more, I realized that I actually had seen many one shot stories in my lifetime, through the form of music videos.

I had to question why an musician would choose to debut their own piece of art through the form of a one shot music video. They seemed, by nature, to be much more difficult than being able to utilize different cuts to get the message across to the audience. Later, I realized that there are actually many benefits of the one shot music video.

One benefit is that it has the potential to be cheaper and easier to make while still being engaging. Bob Dylan famously did this through his music video for "Subterranean Homesick Blues," in which he stands in an alley way and holds up signs for each of his lyrics as his song plays. Though it is pretty simple, the video is actually very interesting to watch, and forces the audience to think about the lyrics and meaning of the song. Watch it here:
http://www.contactmusic.com/video/bob-dylan-subterranean-homesick-blues

Another case for the one shot music video is that it allows quite the opposite- an extravagant display of lighting, effects, and action, all planned out until the last second, as with LCD Soundsystem's "All My Friends"

...Or a meticulously choreographed dance routine, like in Feist's "1234."

I realize now that one shot music videos not only give the filmmaker lots of creative freedom, but perhaps even allows the content of the video and song to resonate with the audience more, as each movement is clearly methodically planned and coordinated. 

6 word story and other such wonderful topics

I thought for a while about this assignment and I wanted to bring in something very complex and yet simple. One of my inspirations was a recent funeral I attended. The preacher quoted a scripture that caught my attention and made me cry like a baby. The scripture was John 11:35; Jesus Wept. To understand that a symbol of such great influence among people for hundreds of years and to see him humbled for the grieving sisters of Lazarus, to understand that he knew and felt the pain that they were feeling is very deep and I decided to take it and make it something more modernly understood.

My six word story is:
"The King wept with his people."

This reminded me of the scene in The King's Speech. In the scene I speak of, the queen comforts the king as he weeps. It's a scene where the audience begins to feel a mutual feeling of the weight of the world and a man in complete frustration and nerves. Almost a feeling of release. I wish I could find the particular scene on YouTube, however even if I did it probably wouldn't do it justice. It's a great film and it's a must see, for sure. I have personally made a list of my favorite films from the past three years (that I've seen). The King's Speech came in at number twelve out of my (currently) 119 films.

I found a little clip of the film in this montage of the story line on YouTube.

For now Ta Ta!

-Lucy Lynne' Hall

WELCOME!

Welcome everyone!. The following project structure is intended to provide you with a methodology to be both specific and help you track the progress and meet your milestones. Since individual projects vary widely some points might not apply. However, you can use it as a roadmap to define/clarify your goals and go back to it frequently and methodically.

It has four distinct phases:

DISCOVERY

This phase helps you understand the big picture and the opportunity to achieve the main goals of your project; to take an idea from conception to completion in the most effective manner.

Brainstorming, sketch scenarios, analysis and feasibility assessments.

Define the requirements, scope, timeline, budget (your time and resources) and benchmarks for the project.

Synthesis:

• Produce a final script with the discovery result.
• Develop a production plan and a storyboard.
• Present a timeline and a budget estimate.

Don't be afraid to make mistakes! invent associations, structures, forms, silences, sounds.

DESIGN

During this phase, create the look and feel of the story. Develop the story requirements, the creative components, the technical design and the infrastructure that supports the project.

Creative Design:

• Storyline and character creation
• Script
• Storyboard
• Art Direction
• Audio Design
• Production Design

Technical Design:

• Equipment requirements
• Set/backgrounds/location/plates
• Lighting diagrams
• Special efx design
• Models, costumes and makeup

PRE-PRODUCTION

Develop and integrate all the creative, technical and information components.

• Research, research, research!
• Location Scouting
• Set design
• Casting
• Graphics, 3D video/audio production needs
• Technical integration

PRODUCTION

• Lighting
• Rehearsals
• Systems testing
• Problem resolution 
• Cinematography
• Sound

POST-PRODUCTION

• Media Management
• Editing
• Sound Mixing
• Color Correction
• VFX
• Title Design

DEPLOYMENT

Live environment:

• Projection
• Audience Test performance and feedback

• Implement promotion/communication strategies

Showtime!

That's all folks!

1-Quality: the true nature of things, the peculiar and essential character

All Illustrations custom made by Rich Powell

How To Do It

Welcome everyone!. The following project structure is intended to provide you with a methodology to be both specific and help you track the progress and meet your milestones. Since individual projects vary widely some points might not apply. However, you can use it as a roadmap to define/clarify your deliverables and go back to it frequently and methodically.

It has four distinct phases:

DISCOVERY

This phase helps you understand the big picture and the opportunity to achieve the main goals of your project; to take an idea from conception to completion in the most effective manner.

Brainstorming, sketch models, scenarios, analysis and feasibility assessments.

Define the requirements, scope, timeline, budget (your time and resources) and benchmarks for the project.

Requirements of Analysis:

• Prioritize and validate requirements based on quality(1) and strategic factors
• Determine success criteria and metrics
• Define a preliminary list of production requirements.

Synthesis:

• Produce a final script with the discovery result.
• Develop a high-level implementation plan. (storyboard)
• Present a timeline and a budget estimate.

DESIGN

During this phase, create the look and feel of the solution (style). Develop the story requirements, the creative components, the technical design and infrastructure that supports the project.

Creative Design:

• Storyline and character creation
• Script
• Storyboard
• Art Direction
• Audio Design
• Production Design

Technical Design:

• Equipment requirements
• Set/backgrounds/location/plates
• Lighting diagrams
• Special efx design
• Models, costumes and makeup

PRE-PRODUCTION

Develop and integrate all the creative, technical and information components.

Creative Production:

• Location Scouting
• Casting
• Rehearsals
• Graphics, 3D video/audio production needs
• Technical integration

Technical Production:

• Set design
• Lighting
• Cinematography
• Sound
• System testing
• Problem resolution
  

DEPLOYMENT

Demonstrate the solution after all final specifications and testing results.

Live environment:

• Projection
• Audience Test performance and feedback
• Implement promotion/communication strategies

Showtime!

That's all folks!

1-Quality: the true nature of things, the peculiar and essential character

All Illustrations custom made by Rich Powell