The default theme will play, but ignore it. Switch to "DVD map" view (either by clicking the button below the iDVD screen or by choosing "View" from the menu bar at the top and selecting "Show Map"). Drag your final QuickTime .mov file to the little box that says "Drag content here ..." You should see an icon for your file in the box and it should begin encoding. To see the encoding process, choose "Project" from the menu bar and click on "Project Info."
Before you burn your DVD, choose "Advanced" from the menu bar, and click "Loop." You will see a small circular arrow appear in the box on the DVD map w/your file. This will ensure that you bypass the funky little theme that iDVD so desperately wants to play -- and your movie will automatically play w/out a theme when you put it into the DVD player.
Now, you click the "Burn" button, or choose "File" and click "Burn DVD." Insert a blank DVD when the program tells you to. I recommend DVD -R (though +R will also work in these Macs. I just have had better luck w/the -Rs). It should take about 20 min to burn, hopefully less. When the first DVD is done and you eject it, the program will ask if you want to burn a second one. Go for it.
Good luck and see you Wed w/your finished DVDs in hand!!!!
]]>This week's blog entry requires a review of your past entries over the course of this semester. Please re-read your entries, and pick one sentence you have written that stands out for you as something you would not have expressed before you took this course. In your response, please copy the sentence, and in a 1-2 paragraph response, discuss the ways in which that sentence represents something in your own point of view that has changed since the beginning of this semester.
]]>This week's entry will consider the use of animation in the film Run Lola Run. In the film, each of the three segments contains an animated scene depicting Lola running down the stairs. But in each segment, the scene changes slightly. From your point of view, why do you think the filmmakers chose to animate this particular scene at those particular moments in the film? Consider what the process of animation might have allowed that shooting the scene with actual actors in the actual location might not have allowed? What does a switch to animation communicate to you? In what ways do you think the animation was or was not effective?
]]>• Launch the Stopmotion application.
• Click the button next to "1. sources" (it will light up then immediately go out again).
• Click the top pulldown menu next to "2." and choose your input source. Leave the bottom pulldown menu as it is.
• Click the red button beneath "3. open/close" and it will light up in a moment.
• Click the menu button that says "settings" underneath the small black box.
• Now a large menu box will open. Leave all settings as they are, but on the far right side of the "Compression" tab, you'll see two small preview windows. The top window should show your source video (the camera view). From the pulldown menu next to the word "preview," choose "compressed" and you will now see the same image in the top and bottom windows. Click "ok" to close the box.
• Click the green button next to "4. start." The button will light up, and you will see the camera view in the top "input" window.
• Click the button and the box next to "6." and you will then use the spacebar to record a frame.
• To re-record or advance/move backward, press 'S' to move forward frame-by-frame. To move back, press 'A' until you get to the frame you want. Hit the spacebar to record that frame again. You can do this for multiple frames if necessary.
• To view what you have recorded, click on the "play frame" box next to "7." The small yellow arrow in the box lights up. Press 'F' to move forward and 'D' to move back. You will see your recorded frames in the bottom "output" window.
• At some point, you should save your work. In the "saving /recalling" box, click the "save" button and choose a name and location for your file. It will have the extension ".json." If you need to leave your project unfinished, you can come back to it later by opening Stopmotion and clicking the "load" button, then choose your project file.
• When you have finished your project, you can easily make a QuickTime movie by choosing the settings in the bottom box called "export QuickTime movie" and clicking the "export" button and saving your project.
• If you want to record more or less than the default 250 frames, you can change that setting at the top while you are creating your animation. If you don't change it, then when you export you will get a QuickTime movie that is 250 frames, regardless of how many you have recorded.
Looking forward to our animation demo on Monday, for this week's entry, please describe in detail your favorite animated character: is it human or other, male or female, type of clothing, facial features, idiosyncratic behaviors (e.g., a funny walk, a lisp, etc), style in which the character is drawn. Then talk about your earliest memories of discovering this character, and what attracts you to him/her. What is his/her main conflict? What is so funny about him/her? Does s/he remind you of someone (perhaps yourself)?
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There are two events happening that have a tie to this course, and your attendance at either of them can earn you FIVE extra credit points for attending. The first event is the Experimental Film Program, in which there will be a screening of "an excellent cross-section of some of the best avant-garde filmmaking today." A post-screening panel discussion will follow; one of the panelists will be award-winning filmmaker and UMN Professor Hisham Bizri (a personal mentor and incredible cinema artist). This event takes place Friday April 29, 2011 at 7pm at St. Anthony Main Theater, 125 SE Main Street, Minneapolis, 55414. For more information, download this doc:
Experimental Film Program Press Release.doc
The second event is "How To Make My Movie: The MN Filmmaking Scene," a panel discussion with local professionals in the film industry who will address what it takes to make and finance a film in Minnesota. This event takes place on Saturday, April 30 at 4:30 PM, St. Anthony Main Theater. For more info, download this doc:
2011 Film Fest MN Film Panel.doc
TO RECEIVE FULL EXTRA CREDIT POINTS (it's all or nothing): In addition to attending, you must write a one page paper (300-400 words, double-spaced) answering in detail the following questions:
1) What was the most useful thing you gained from attending this event?
2) In what way(s) will this experience change how you approach producing and/or viewing films and videos?
3) What question did you ask the panel? What was the response and were you satisfied? (this requires that you ask a question of the panel -- keep in mind, I plan to attend both events).
Hand-in the hard copy of your paper by Wed May 4 in order to receive your extra credit points.
• Pre-production
• Production
• Postproduction
Preproduction Phase
In general, the preproduction phase encompasses all aspects of preparation that are performed before the camera starts to roll. Some aspects of preproduction include:
• Screenwriting
• Storyboarding
• Funding
• Assembling a crew
• Casting & Rehearsals
• Costume Design
• Location Scouting
• Set Design
• Properties ("props")
• Scheduling
Production Phase
The production phase refers to the period of time when the film is actually being shot. Some aspects of production include:
• Direction
• Camera operation
• Lighting
• Sound recording (dialogue, room tone, music, sound fx)
• Acting
• Production Management (scheduling)
• Continuity
Screenwriting
Basics of writing a screenplay (pdf):
ScreenwritingBasics.pdf
How to format a screenplay (link):
http://www.scriptfrenzy.org/howtoformatascreenplay
Example of formatted screenplay (pdf):
FormattedScrnply.pdf
Storyboards
Basic Template:
StoryboardTemplate.pdf
Example:
http://www.storyboards.co.nz/visa.htm
Scheduling
Script Breakdown Sheet (pdf):
script_breakdownsheet_1_.pdf
Shooting Schedule Template (xls):
Shooting SchedTemplate.xls
Shot by Shot (Shot List) Template (xls):
ShotByShotTemplate.xls
Please visit the Katherine E. Nash Gallery exhibit, Everybody is an Astronaut -- MFA Thesis Exhibition, and pick one work of art from the show to which you felt a strong connection. Write a 2-3 paragraph response to the work and post it as a comment on the main blog page beneath this entry. In your response, describe the piece you chose and the connection you felt to it. Then answer the following questions:
1. What is the main metaphor of the piece?
2. What elements work effectively to make the piece visually and/or narratively compelling?
3. What elements work against the piece and what suggestion(s) might you have for the artist?
For information on the Nash Gallery and this event:
http://nash.umn.edu/events
Please visit the Minneapolis Institute of Art exhibit Facing the Lens: Portraits of Photographers (http://artsmia.org/index.php?section_id=2&exh_id=4026) and do TWO things:
1) Choose one photograph from the show to which you feel a strong connection or have a strong response. Describe the photo (including the title and artist) and explain your connection/response to it in a comment to this entry.
2) Participate in the Exhibition: (http://www.flickr.com/groups/facingthelens)
Upload your self-portrait to the MIA's Facing the Lens: Portraits of Photographers group on Flickr. All photographs in the pool will be shown on a screen in the Harrison Photography Gallery for the duration of the show. The MIA requests that you include your name, title of photo, and the date the photo was taken (this information is added to the photo from your Flickr page). Once you have added your photo, please post a link to the Flickr page of your photo (under "Share This" option near the top left of page, choose "Grab the Link") as a comment to this entry.
Both parts of this assignment need to be completed by the deadline to receive points.
]]>Everyday events are often so ordinary that they fail to register in our memories. How many times have you realized that you can't remember what you had for breakfast/lunch/dinner on Wednesday, or what shoes/pants/shirt you wore on Tuesday? But sometimes when something happens that is extraordinary, whatever ordinary thing we were doing becomes cemented in our memories. I'll bet you remember exactly what you were doing when you heard the news of the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11, no matter how mundane (I was listening to my clock radio, just waking up).
So, think back through your history to a time when an everyday event you were engaged in turned into something quite extraordinary for you personally (please don't use 9/11 as an example here) and in a 1-2 paragraph response, describe what ordinary thing you were doing, what happened to turn the event into something remarkable, and talk about what sights and sounds you especially remember.
Please post your response as a comment to this entry!
]]>One of my fondest memories in the world is the sound of the front door at a house where I lived many years ago. We often relate our memories to images and smells, but sounds can also be powerful experiences for us. In a 1-2 paragraph response, please answer the following questions: What is one of your favorite sounds in the world? What is one of your least favorite sounds? What images, feelings, memories do these sounds conjure up for you?
AND ... what one sound would you love to hear more than anything else but -- for whatever reason -- is not possible for you to experience?
]]>Using a video camera, please record examples of the following items to either miniDV tape or SD card (we will be learning how to log and capture/transfer footage on Mon Feb 28). You can incorporate more than one item per shot if you wish.
XLS
LS
MLS
MS
MCU
CU
ECU
High angle
Low angle
Neutral (eye-level) angle
Birds-eye view angle
dutch (oblique) angle
Plus examples of 10 (ten) items chosen from the following elements of composition list:
line, shape, texture, pattern, size, perspective, positive/negative space, balance, harmony, rule of thirds, rule of diagonals, convergence, depth of field, high/low contrast (black and white), color
Please do a quick review of "Man With a Movie Camera" (click on link below) and find an image that you feel is particularly effective, powerful, and/or compelling. Then in a 1-2 paragraph response, state the proximity and angle of the image, and describe at least three elements of composition that have been used by the cinematographer, and the ways in which these elements work to make the image attractive and/or meaningful. Make sure you begin your entry with the exact time of the frame you've chosen from the film.
Proximities: XLS (extreme long shot), LS, MLS, MS, MCU, CU, ECU
Angles: high, low, neutral (eye-level), birds-eye view, dutch (oblique)
Elements of composition: line, shape, texture, pattern, size, perspective, positive/negative space, balance, harmony, rule of thirds, rule of diagonals, convergence, depth of field, high/low contrast
Link to an online copy of the film (click on play button in middle of small screen):
http://www.archive.org/details/ChelovekskinoapparatomManWithAMovieCamera
Program 1 - 48 Minutes
• Zecca, Ferdinand -- El Espectro Rojo, 1907 -- 7 min
• Cornell, Joseph -- The Midnight Party, 1940 -- 4 min
• Eames, Charles and Ray -- Powers of Ten, 1968-1977 -- 8 min
• Conner, Bruce -- A Movie, 1958 -- 12 min, and Ten Second Film, 1965 -- 10 sec
• Brakhage, Stan -- Mothlight, 1963 -- 4 min
• Mouris, Frank and Caroline -- Frank's Film, 1973 -- 13 min
< Intermission >
Program 2 - 47 min
• Kentridge, William -- Johannesburg, 1991 -- 25 min
• Whitney, John -- Lapsis, 1963-1966 -- 10 min
• Sharits, Paul -- T.O.U.C.H.I.N.G., 1968 -- 12 min
< Intermission >
Program 3 - 46 min
• Klein, William -- Broadway by Light, 1958 -- 12 min
• Broodthaers, Marcel -- La Pluie (Project pour un texte), 1969 3 min
• Holzer, Jenny -- Art Breaks, 1991 -- 5 min
• Benning, Sadie -- Jollies, 1990 -- 11min
• Pennell, Miranda --Drum Room, 2007 - 15 min
As you read this week's article by Turvey, consider the ways in which we have incorporated cameras into our everyday lives -- so much so, that we take them completely for granted. As Dziga Vertov was fascinated with the ways in which the camera could "see" that the human eye cannot, consider how technology has increased the camera's "superiority" to the human eye. In a 1-2 paragraph response, please discuss how you have experienced this in your own life.
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