'The Dinner Party'

Film a 4-minute dialogue-driven, fictional narrative based on the title 'The Dinner Party'. You must choose a single genre for your film e.g. horror, western, sci-fi, film noir - and this will influence your mise-en-scene and mise-en-shot choices. You should aim to audition and direct actors from within the school to play the main roles in the film. The groups are - Cristina, Yoko, Ximena and Diego AND Alfredo, Gema, Oscar and Deborah.

IB FILM Standard Level - Independent Study (External assessment)

This is what we will be working on for the rest of the bimester:

Independent study (25% of overall mark)

Rationale, script and list of sources for a short documentary production of 8–10 pages on an aspect of film theory and/or film history, based on a study of a minimum of two films. The chosen films must originate from more than one country. (25 marks)

Length of the rationale: no more than 100 words

Length of the script: 8–10 pages


DETAILS: This component is based on part 2 of the course (film theory and history), but also draws to some extent on part 1 (textual analysis). The aim of the independent study is to encourage students to engage in some depth with a cinematic tradition that is unfamiliar to their own culture.

Genre; theme; direction; use of sound; colour; editing; lightingStudents must produce a script for a complete short documentary production exploring an aspect of film
theory or film history, based on the study of films from more than one country. The documentary should
be targeted at an audience of film students in the 14 to 18 years age range.

The independent study must be presented in the form of a written dossier composed of the following three items: Rationale; Script; Annotated list of sources

The topic should be discussed primarily in cinematic terms.

The prime voice of the documentary must clearly be that of the student, who will also act as the narrator, on-screen host and/or voice-over.
Students must ensure that any comments or ideas they attribute to celebrities or others, such as experts, are fully supported by detailed references in the annotated list of sources.

* Students at Standard Level must make reference to a minimum of TWO films in their independent study. * The chosen films must originate from more than one country.
* At SL the study is not necessarily comparative.
* The rationale must offer a brief, reasoned explanation of the concerns of the topic in no more than
100 words.
* The script must clearly indicate the relationship between the audio and visual elements of the documentary, employing an established documentary format such as “side-by-side” columns for video and audio components.
* All descriptions of video and audio elements must be both detailed and specific.
* Scripts must be 8–10 pages long at SL, using an accepted size of paper (for example, A4 or US letter) and must use 12-point Courier font (not in block capitals) and single spacing.
* It is important that the student treats a topic of film history or film theory in cinematic rather than literary terms.
* The annotated list of sources should refer to all materials used in researching the topic and all materials
used in the documentary itself, including films from which extracts will be shown and quotations from
experts or academics. Annotations should give the source and/or location of the reference.
* A comment on the relevance of the source must be included.
* Assessment of this component is based solely on the written script and the rationale. Actual films or film sequences are not acceptable.
* The materials produced for this component must not be submitted as part of the production portfolio.
* As part of the learning process, teachers can give advice to students on a first draft of the independent study.  Advice on improving the work can be given, but this first draft must not be heavily annotated or edited by the teacher. Constant drafting and redrafting is not allowed, and the next version handed to the teacher after the first draft must be the final one.

Examples of topics for the independent study: -
Suggested topic/Suggested films:

Rites of passage: A study of cinematic At SL the study could be of Walkabout and Cinema
representation of adolescence (and/or childhood) Paradiso.
(Other suitable films could include The Butcher Boy
and Boyz n the Hood.)

The outsider: A study of how representations
of “the outsider” are constructed, with particular
reference to the films of Akira Kurosawa and their
Western remakes
At SL the study could be of The Seven Samurai and
The Magnificent Seven.

Propaganda and film: A study of film as political At SL the study could be of The Triumph of the Will
and/or social propaganda and Why We Fight.

Images of horror: A study of the development
of horror films through cinematic techniques (or
their reflections of cultural fears)
At SL the study could be of Nosferatu and Mary
Shelley’s Frankenstein.
(Taken from: IB Film guide First assessment 2010)

Among the topics students may choose to investigate are:

Michael Moore: analysis task

Michael Moore: an analysis

Michael Moore - documentary film-maker

Personal details (personal details, dates)

Film biography (list of films and awards, Moore’s position in the film-making world)

Details of film-making techniques (refer to narration, inter-cutting with old ironic footage, subject matter, his role in his films, music, humour, etc.)

Level of objectivity (consider evidence used, witnesses interviewed, emotional manipulation, presence of fallacies, etc.)

Impact of movies (consider how engaging his films are, nature of subject matter, how investigative Moore is, whether he gets his message across, etc.)

Critics’ opinions (positive and negative reviews of his films)

Conclusion (your opinion on Michael Moore’s films)

Documentary film-making lesson

Watch these three different styles of documentary:

Coalface (1935) dir: Alberto Cavalcanti

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7yExWQQjRw

Streetwise (1984) dir: Martin Bell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZERDYwSUgCE

A man with a movie camera (1928) – Dziga Vertov

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22_KBgOxQL8

What is the content or theme of the documentary?

Who do you think is the intended audience?

Discuss the choice and sequence of images, portrayal of the characters and setting, use of diagetic and non-diagetic sound, type of narration used.

What does this documentary style make you feel or think about the content?

Why do you think these film techniques were chosen by the director?

What do you think is the overall message or aim of this documentary film?

How would you describe this style documentary and why?  Just come up with some adjectives to describe the style:

Which style do you prefer and why?

Lima Film Festival 5th-13th August

http://www.festivaldelima.com/2011/

Next film activity: Make a 3 minute pop video - some examples from Michel Gondry and Chris Cunningham

WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT DOCUMENTARY FILM?

Documentary deals with fact, not fiction. Most importantly, documentaries delve into a non-fictional world with real events, real issues, real conflict, real people and real emotions. Everything seen and heard on screen is grounded in accuracy and has no element of fiction.

Documentary is flexible. Unlike fictional films, documentaries have no fixed

visual and conceptual guidelines per say. It’s impossible to concretize events or

decide one way or the other about how the film will turn out eventually. There are

fewer ‘rules’ to be followed, which reflects the fact that there are few rules in the

real world as well. This makes it more challenging but infinitely more exciting.

Documentary inspires movement and action. At the very heart of documentary, there is an issue and a message at hand. The passing on of this message to the audience is usually the reason that the film was made in the first place. Documentaries have long been used as an instrument to inspire change in their audience, be it social change or inner change.

Documentary involves less control. Unlike fiction films, documentaries must be

shot in the real world and show real events happening. Often, the filmmaker is

unable to control the event he is shooting as well as the circumstances

surrounding the event. It’s difficult to think about lighting when in the middle of a

sniper shootout! There is less control over the subject in documentary; however

this unmodified, improvised element is often the very charm of non-fiction films.

Documentary subject is paramount. Documentaries are inherently bound to their subject matter. Since their purpose is so issue-specific and their circumstances are non-fictional, the subject is the most important aspect of documentary films and is given precedence over other aspects, for example: entertainment value. In fact, until recently filmmakers scoffed at the idea of a documentary being entertaining. This attitude has, of course, changed now but subject still remains the dominant element.

Credibility is key in Documentary. The emergence of the documentary as a

recognised cinematic genre in the 1920’s inherited the trust of the audience in the

veracity of the image as an authentic representation of the real. Today, we are

much more skeptical, even with documentaries. Audience trust, once lost is gone

forever so a documentary, in this day and age, must always provide credible

information and sources to put a suspicious audience at ease.

Form is more important than formula. There are no recipes in documentary

films. Every subject and issue is specific and is showcased on film in its own

appropriate manner. Form and the layout in which a subject is showcased in a

film are important as they add value to the film, but there is no one tried and

tested way to do this.

(source: Trisha Das, How to write a doumentary script)

When We Were Kings (Leon Gast, 1996, USA)

WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT FILM?

Film is visual. The words that a screenwriter writes will never be read by anyone. They will only be seen and heard as images on a screen. The most important skill of a screenwriter is that he must be able to write visually. Theorizing or explaining a concept in a script is pointless; if the audience can’t ‘look’ at the theory, it’s not worth writing. A screenwriter must think, ‘Is what I’m about to write visual in nature? If not, then how can I make it visual?”

Film shows motion. Most of the images you see on screen have action. It’s what separates moving images from photographs. Stories for film must be translated by a screenwriter into active images.

Film reveals what the eye often can’t see. A tiny cell in our bodies, a country

we’ve never been to, details that we would normally miss. The screenwriter must

bring things to life for the audience who may have never before experienced what

they see on screen.

Film transcends time and space. A film doesn’t adhere to our dimensions of time and space. Once made, it continues to exist in a little bubble of its own,

transcending the limits of our present lives. A screenwriter must understand that

writing for a film means creating a being that should have a life of its own long

after the writer has moved on from it.

Film is Subjective. By simply pointing the camera in a specific direction, a

subjective choice has been made. The very nature of film, like our eyes, is to

focus on what is considered to be the object of interest and eliminate what lies

beyond the lens, thereby losing all sense of objectivity.

Film chooses audience. The screenwriter must always keep in mind that each

film chooses its own audience depending on how he chooses to tell the story. By

varying a script, he may be showing the film to very different people in the end.

Film repeats accurately. Film footage doesn’t discriminate between objects,

doesn’t hide, cheat or lie. It consistently reproduces what the camera sees in full

detail. It is the filmmaker who must shoot objects in a particular way to include or

eliminate details.

Film may have colour and audio elements. It’s not only about moving images.

Most films, unless the filmmaker chooses not to use them, have the elements of

sound and colour. These elements are always, if present, incorporated into the

script.

Film emphasizes and emotionalizes. Films can evoke different kinds of reactions in the audience, from grief to anger. They can make the audience think and send powerful messages across to them.

(Source: Trisha Dash, How to write a documentary script)

French New Wave

Remember to include the following aspects in your work on the French New Wave (you'll probably want to include more than this, though):

People:

• André Bazin
• Claude Chabrol
• Jean-Luc Godard
• Francois Truffaut
• Charlie Chaplin
• Alfred Hitchcock
• Orson Welles
• Howard Hawks
• John Ford
• Nicholas Ray
• Bob Rafelson
• Quentin Tarantino

Themes, ideas, inspirations:

• Italian neo-realism
• Challenges to the social order
• Auteur theory
• Cahiers du cinéma
• Une Certaine tendance du cinéma français
• Existentialism
• New Hollywood
• Absurdity of existence

Films and techniques:

• Le Beau Serge
• Les Quatre Cents Coups
• A Bout de Souffle

• Tracking shots
• Playing with audience expectation
• Low budget
• Jump cuts

Please remember that you also need to get across a 'feeling' for the French New Wave (imagine what is was like to be a part of it), not just a dry definition of the different ideas, people, and techniques that it involved. The movement was more than just an expression of artistic concepts - it was a whole way of life!

Invitation to screening of El Bien Esquivo (2001) - Thursday 23 June 2011 in Baker Hall

El Bien Esquivo (2001)

The Old Markhamian Association is happy and proud to invite Markham's IB Film department to our first 2011 Cultural Week in which we will project the Peruvian film El Bien Esquivo (2001) , directed by Old Markhamian film maker Augusto Tamayo (Promotion 1969) and featuring actor and Old Markhamian Diego Bertie (Promotión 1985).

This event will take place on Thursday 23 June at 7:30 pm at Baker Hall. After the film projection, a cocktail will be served. Both Mr. Tamayo and Mr. Bertie will be present and students, staff and attendees will have the chance to speak to them.

DRESS: Formal and elegant

SHORT DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT: Alfred Hitchcock – A true auteur?

 Alfred Hitchcock - a true auteur?

The Pitch: Your production company has been asked to produce a short 6-7 minute documentary script that explains the general concept of auteur film-making and the director as auteur by using the career and work of Alfred Hitchcock – concentrating on two of his Hollywood films: Psycho, North-by-Northwest.

Your documentary script must be written in the Video/Audio format shown in the IB Independent Study handout: (“The impact of German Expressionism on Modern Horror Films”)

You must include these 7 PARTS:

1. Basic definition of auteur film and auteur director

2. Historical/Cultural context of the auteur concept

3. Alfred Hitchcock – the director – what makes him special?

4. Recurrent themes in Hitchcock’s films – storylines

5. Stylistic unity in Hitchcock’s films – consider mise-en-scene, mise-en-shot

6. Narrative techniques

7. Conclusion – so is Hitchcock an auteur and why?

    Is this a useful way to think about him?

Some useful sources:

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2005/great-directors/hitchcock/

http://gillonj.tripod.com/alfredhitchcock/

http://www.crimeculture.com/Contents/Articles-Spring05/Hitchcock.html

Film authorship – the director as auteur (handout)

Think about which clips from Psycho and North-by-Northwest you want to use to support your narrative.

Film Authorship: Director as artist or 'auteur'

Jean-Luc Godard -  film 'auteur'

§"The director is both the least necessary and the most important component of film-making. He is the most modern and most decadent of all artists in the relative passivity toward everything that passes before him. He would not be worth bothering with if he were not capable now and then of sublimity of expression almost miraculously extracted from his money-oriented environment." §(Andrew Sarris, The American Cinema, p.37)

 

Lesson 5: Film Authorship

Look at three of the directors we have looked at so far: Alfred Hitchcock (North by NorthWest, Psycho), Quentin Tarrantino (Pulp Fiction), Steven Spielberg (Jaws, Jurassic Park, ET)

Answer the following questions in your group:

What is distinctive about this director? – What raises him or her above the crowd?

Discuss in relation to:

Mise en scene and Mise-en-shot

Key structures of narrative (cause/effect logic, key narrative devices, ordering of events)

Narration (omniscient/restricted, voice-overs)

Themes (subject matter)

Dialogue

Sound (diagetic and non-diagetic)

Any other distinctive qualities in their films

“The auteur policy values the personality of a director precisely because of the barriers to its expression. It is as if a few brave spirits had managed to overcome the gravitational pull of the mass of movies.” (American Cinema)

So - What are the implications of viewing the director as an artist or “auteur”? Think about this in terms of the film industry and also in terms of film as ‘significant form’ – the Formalist view that films should be seen as a serious rival to the other established visual arts.

Put all your notes on your BLOG !!

Order of events -- 'fabula' (chronological story) and 'sujet' (plot order)

Pulp Fiction (Dir. Quentin Tarantino 1994)

Fabula and sujet are terms originating in Russian Formalism and employed in narratology that describe narrative construction. Sujet is an employment of narrative and fabula is the chronological order of the retold events. The fabula is "the raw material of a story, and sujet, the way a story is organized." Since Aristotle (350 BCE, 1450b25) narrative plots are supposed to have a beginning, middle, and end. For example: films like Pulp Fiction and Momento. Citizen Kane starts with the death of the main character, and then tells his life through flashbacks interspersed with a journalist's present-time investigation of Kane's life. This is often achieved in film and novels via flashbacks or flash-forwards. Therefore, the fabula of the film is the actual story of Kane's life the way it happened in chronological order; while the sujet is the way the story is told throughout the movie, including flashbacks. (source: Wikipedia).

We will watch the film Momento (Dir. Christopher Nolan 2000) This film is often used to show the distinction between plot and story. The film's events unfold in two separate, alternating narratives — one in color, and the other in black-and-white. The black-and-white sections are told in chronological order, showing Leonard conversing with an anonymous phone caller in a motel room. Leonard's investigation is depicted in colour sequences that are in reverse chronological order. As each sequence begins, the audience is unaware of the preceding events, just like Leonard, thereby giving the viewer a sense of his confusion. By the film's end when the two narratives converge we understand the investigation and the events that lead up to Teddy's death. (source: Wikipedia)

HOMEWORK: You should complete the worksheet you started in class based on narrative chronology, fabula and sujet and the questions related to Pulp Fiction and Psycho. The last question which I did not include on the sheet is: How would you change the sujet (the director's ordering of events) of Cinderella or any other well-known fairy tale so that we don't simply follow the fabula (the linear chronology of events) but we can still follow the story's logic?

Narrative and narration part 2

And after Psycho, the logical choice is North by Northwest, which has a very different narrative structure,  demonstrating that we need to consider the relation of characters' needs to simple cause-effect logic.

rium

Narrative and Narration

Psycho (1960)

Dir: Alfred Hitchcock

"No one...BUT NO ONE...will be admitted to the theatre after the start of each performance of PSYCHO."

Let's look at CAUSE-EFFECT LOGIC in narrative film: The first three scenes of Psycho reveal the importance of 'narrative logic'. By scene three we have established the cause or motivation that will drive the film. From scene four onwards we will see the effects of Marion's actions (her decision to steal the money).

One fruitful ways to analyse cause-effect logic in narrative film is to imagine the scenes in a different order.

1. What would be the effect if Psycho began with scene 3? It's plausible but not logical – we don’t have enough information to understand Marion’s motives.
2. In what ways is scene 3 the direct effect of scenes 1 and 2?
3. Is it just a coincidence that the money is shown in the scene immediately after Marion and Sam talk about their inability to get married?
4. Why don't we see Marion travelling from the hotel to her office, or from office to home?
5. Why don't we see Sam going to the airport?

So what do we mean by ‘narrative’?  It refers to WHAT happens or what is depicted in films (as well as novels) while ‘narration’ refers to HOW that narrative is presented to the film spectator.

3 minute film extract analyses

Films we watched today included:

• Trainspotting (1996, Danny Boyle, UK)
• The Dark Knight (2008, Christopher Nolan, US)
• Second Hand Lions (2003, Tim McCanlies US)
• Kill Bill (2003, Quentin Tarantino, US)
• Black Swan(2010, Thomas Leroy US)
• Just Go With It (2011, Dennis Dugan, US)
• The Tourist (2010, Florian Henckel US)
• Scoop (2006, Woody Allen, US/UK)
• Cleopatra (1963, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, US)
• Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980, Irvin Kershner, US) 

Lesson 11 - Formalist- and Realist-styles of film-making

                                        

  

Sergei Mikhailovitch Eisenstein (1898-1948) 

Homework for next Thursday: Select 2 clips from 2 different films (from 2 different countries)  to illustrate your ideas – be ready to give a 5-10 minute talk based on your clips and how and why they illustrate the main features of a formalist or realist film.

Groups:
Formalists: Jimmy and Diego; Cristina and Deborah

    Realists: Ximena and Yoko; Oscar and Alfredo

       Some questions to consider before your talk:

1) What are realistic films supposed to reproduce?
2) Why are formalist films stylistically flamboyant?
3) Why are formalist directors referred to as expressionists?
4) Why would realists be more concerned with psychological truths?

Textual Analysis of Michel Gondry Levi's commercial - 31st March

Remember to write up your TEXTUAL ANALYSIS of Michel Gondry's Levi's commercial using the WHAT; WHY; HOW formula (see below) and publish it on your BLOG - as well as publishing your Hollywood studio work and one entry for your PRODUCTION JOURNAL. You should also select a 2-minute sequence from a favourite film which you will talk about in class.

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS CHECKLIST
What do you need to think about when you look at a still photo?
Overall composition - framing of shot
Camera angle
Lighting, shade, and colour
Location - where was it shot
Target audience

What other elements do you need to include for an analysis of a moving film sequence?
Camera shots, movement (mise-en-shot)
Editing and sequencing (mise-en-shot)
Sound - diagetic or non-diagetic (mise-en-shot)
Location and set design (mise-en-scene)
Features determining film genre e.g. horror, thriller

For longer sequences:Representation of character and issues

Context:Construction according to narrative and other formal organising principles
Possible historical, economic socio-cultural and institutional factors

Sequence of tasks for any textual analysis of a film:
What is being seen and heard?
Why was it made that way?
How are things such as character mood and ideas constructed?

Barney Elliott - Markham College Film Masterclass - 7th April

The first in the Film Masterclass series will be held in the Music Room and will be by invitation only. The audience will be ALL of you IB Film students as well as potential film students primarily from S4.

Date: Thursday, 7^th April 2011
Duration: 2.45pm-4.15pm
Content of Masterclass: Barney will talk about the scripting, filming and post-production of his two recent short films: True Colors (shot in London) and Last Resort (shot in Lima). He will also cover the process of getting financing for his planned long feature ‘Oliver’s Deal’ which he intends to start shooting in Peru this year or so. He will also talk about his work as a director of short commercials here in Lima.

Barney Elliott website

Script-writing

This week we'll be thinking a little bit about how scripts are constructed, and you will be writing your own scene using Celtx. To get a clear idea about what a finished script should look like, follow the links to scripts for The King's Speech, 127 hours, Death at a Funeral, and  Megamind. Also check out the BBC scriptwriting page, from which we'll be looking at the standard format for certain types of productions.

Films we've looked at so far

Jurassic Park
Little Caesar
The Wizard of Oz
Rope
Nine Lives
Citizen Kane
Exit through the Gift Shop
Matrix
Michel Gondry's Levi's commercial

'Rope' director Alfred Hitchcock's comment on using long takes in film

…if I have to shoot a long scene continuously I always feel I am losing grip on it, from a cinematic point of view. The camera, I feel, is simply standing there, hoping to catch something with a visual point to it…The screen ought to speak its own language, freshly coined, and it can’t do that unless it treats an acted scene as a piece of raw material which must be broken up, taken to bits, before it can be woven into an expressive visual pattern. - Alfred Hitchcock.

Alfred Hitchcock

REMINDER - Keep a Production Journal

Production Journal

For ALL YOUR practical work - add as a regularly updated entry on your blog

What you are planning to do?

What you actually did during the shoot?

Why did you choose to shoot the film this way - camera angle, camera movement, length of shot, focus, editing?

What other elements of production did you have to consider - mise-en-scene issues?

What practical/technical/ post-production problems did you come across – how did you over come them?

What were the results? Did you achieve your main aims? Why not?

What would you change or improve for your next shoot?

Do you have any other notes or feedback for other members of your production team?

Have you seen examples of what you tried to do in films you've watched recently, by directors you admire?

Include sketches, scripts, story boards, to-do lists etc.

Description and analysis of first dinosaur scene from Jurassic Park

For next Thursday - Write up your notes on the scene we watched from Jurassic Park (1993). First write up a straight description of the scene - what did you see on the screen, first impressions, feelings and emotions inspired by the scene. Then using the scene analysis grid (Mr Dunn will hand this out in his lesson) write a 250-300 word analysis of the scene, discussing the effect of the use of camera angle, lighting, sound - diagetic, non-diagetic, composition, use of colour, contrast, close-up shots, establishing shots, editing, chronology and narrative viewpoint. Use your IB Film glossary to help you define these terms. Put your work on your blog (make sure you have your answers to the film questions there too.)


Jurassic Park
Steven Spielberg

Film-making activity #1 - Interview your partner

During today's film-making activity, you will pair up and start to plan your filmed interview. That means we will have four groups of two making a 2-minute interview per group. So you need to decide who is going to be the interviewer and who's the interviewee. Both of you should appear on camera during the film. Before you start shooting: we would like you to write a very simple script which should include the dialogue between interviewer and interviewee, as well as what basic camera shots and lighting you plan to use. We aim to shoot the films in the drama studio under the stage.

Here's Katie Holmes talking about her career in film: http://video.nytimes.com/video/playlist/arts/movies-critics-picks/1194811622317/index.html#1247466702770

Your interview should cover some or all of the following topics:

Please state your full name:

We'll start with some firsts:
... cinema experience?
... actor/actress you admire/worship?
... director you became aware of?


And the last...:
... film you cried in?
... film you saw in the cinema?
... film you switched off or walked out of?


And some favourites. Your favourite:
... childhood films?
… recent films?
... all time films?
... cinema?
... piece of cinematic trivia?
... actors and actress?
… directors?
... scene? 


Either/Or:
Speilberg or Scorsese?
De Niro or Pacino?
Subtitles or dubbed?
Hollywood or Bollywood?
Julianne Moore or Julia Roberts?
Zak Efron or Bela Lugosi?.
Star Wars or The Matrix?
Sci-Fi or Rom-Com?
Bourne or Bond?
3D: the future or a phase?

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Welcome

Welcome to the Markham Film Blog. This site will help you in your journey into the world of Film, and provide you with support as you study the wonderful IB Film course.