Here is an iMovie in the process of being made. With more time, it would be absolutey amazing. Use your imagination.
P.S. It's documenting the future. That may blow your mind.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Teaching Idea for Film Techniques
Viewing in Silence: The Art of Film
A lesson plan designed for students who are just beginning film studies
Time: 50 minutes
One of the greatest ways to observe the art of a film is by watching a silent film. By taking away the conversation and the background noises, students can become more aware of the camera angles, the lighting, and the deliberate choices that are being made that guide a story. Watching a movie silently takes away the distraction of the story line and puts the film techniques on center stage.
For this activity, rather than watching a movie that was made as a silent film, students will watch a clip from a movie or television show without the sound on it. After watching the clip once, students will be asked to describe what they thought the clip was about. They should be asked what they thought the mood was. Was it happy? Sad? Suspenseful? They should also discuss any character developments or traits that they saw developed. Was somebody bad? Good? How do you know? Who was involved in the action? Was somebody hurt emotionally? Is somebody angry?
After this initial exposure and debriefing, students will watch the clip one more time, silently. This time, however, they are to specifically be looking for evidence for their earlier claims. They are to be paying attention to the color, the action, or the camera shifts, as they look for specific clues that led them to believe their earlier statements. After the second run-through, students will then get time to share this evidence and collaborate on the film techniques used.
Finally, the clip will be shown a third time. This time the sound will be on. After this showing, students will be asked how accurate their assumptions were. How does the background noise add or detract from the mood you felt without the sound? Were the storyline and character ideas accurate?
This lesson plan could be adapted with almost any clip. For example, the earlier clip that I annotated from the television show Friends could be used. Students could pick out areas where they thought jokes were being told, moments of suspense, etc. Could students figure out if the wedding was successful? What ideas can we come up with about what happened based on just the camera shots? What about the series of matched cuts that comes after Ross says the wrong name? Can we tell that something shocking just occurred? Taking away the sound of the clip, forces students to pay attention to all of these moments simply so that they can decipher what is going on. This activity will lead to a discussion about how these deliberate camera techniques add or detract form the mood and storyline of a clip.
A lesson plan designed for students who are just beginning film studies
Time: 50 minutes
One of the greatest ways to observe the art of a film is by watching a silent film. By taking away the conversation and the background noises, students can become more aware of the camera angles, the lighting, and the deliberate choices that are being made that guide a story. Watching a movie silently takes away the distraction of the story line and puts the film techniques on center stage.
For this activity, rather than watching a movie that was made as a silent film, students will watch a clip from a movie or television show without the sound on it. After watching the clip once, students will be asked to describe what they thought the clip was about. They should be asked what they thought the mood was. Was it happy? Sad? Suspenseful? They should also discuss any character developments or traits that they saw developed. Was somebody bad? Good? How do you know? Who was involved in the action? Was somebody hurt emotionally? Is somebody angry?
After this initial exposure and debriefing, students will watch the clip one more time, silently. This time, however, they are to specifically be looking for evidence for their earlier claims. They are to be paying attention to the color, the action, or the camera shifts, as they look for specific clues that led them to believe their earlier statements. After the second run-through, students will then get time to share this evidence and collaborate on the film techniques used.
Finally, the clip will be shown a third time. This time the sound will be on. After this showing, students will be asked how accurate their assumptions were. How does the background noise add or detract from the mood you felt without the sound? Were the storyline and character ideas accurate?
This lesson plan could be adapted with almost any clip. For example, the earlier clip that I annotated from the television show Friends could be used. Students could pick out areas where they thought jokes were being told, moments of suspense, etc. Could students figure out if the wedding was successful? What ideas can we come up with about what happened based on just the camera shots? What about the series of matched cuts that comes after Ross says the wrong name? Can we tell that something shocking just occurred? Taking away the sound of the clip, forces students to pay attention to all of these moments simply so that they can decipher what is going on. This activity will lead to a discussion about how these deliberate camera techniques add or detract form the mood and storyline of a clip.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
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