1000 reflection
This semester we have looked at the World of Animation and in particular how editing, colour, sound/music and framing all contribute to enhancing the film and fully immersing the audience/viewer in the film in a holistic way. Each week we learnt how a different aspect of film making helps to contribute to the overall immersive experience of watching a film to an audience.
For the first couple of weeks we had lectures to teach and highlight how we were going to go about analysing film. Week 1 we had an introduction to the module, where we learnt what the course entailed.
We watched 3 short films together as a class. These were ‘Whiplash (2014) by Damien Chazelle, Isle of Dogs (2018) by Wes Anderson, and Sandman (1991) by Paul Berry. These films are all very different genres and were shown them because of their differences and their ability to highlight how film techniques such as sound, colour, editing and framing all help tell the story.
During week 2 we had a lecture on cinematography & mise-en-scene. Cinematography is art and technology behind film making. This includes the use of lighting, camera settings, filters, blocking, dynamic angles, movement and colour and general composition of a scene. Mine-en-scene is anything that is in front of the camera lens including the light, colour and actors too. Cinematography and setting the scene are a vital part of film making and help the audience to fully engage themselves in the film and bring to life acting and words through the lens. Cinematography allows the audience to understand their placement within the filmic world.
Over the course of week 3 we had a lectures on sound & editing. We learned about diegetic and non-diegetic sound. Diegetic sound refers to sounds that exists within the film world’s logic. It can be onscreen or happen off screen but always happens when the action takes place. Eg, when a bullet fires from a gun, you will hear the sound. Non-diegetic sound refers to sound that we as the audience can hear, but that is not taking place within the world of the film itself, for example, background, scary music that alerts the audience that something is about to happen, but the character in the film would not be aware off. We learnt about sound design, sound mixing, (theory of editing) classical continuity, soviet montage, (temporal logic) the logic of time and (continuity editing) intercutting and match-of action. The use of sounds/music in crucial to the filmmaking process. All of these aforementioned techniques and strategies have a huge impact on the film’s audience as well as on the underlying storytelling of the film.
In week 4 we were placed into different groups for the assessment. Our assignment was to produce a presentation to analyse an animated short film. This presentation was to be under 10 minutes and was to be done within a group setting.
At first, I was worried to work in the group chosen for me as there was a high chance I’d would be working in a group with people I had yet to met. I was put into group 5 with Chris, Ellen and Zoe who I hadn’t met yet. However, once everyone had gotten into their groups and had a team building exercise within the class to help us to get used to working with each other, I felt more relaxed and comfortable and it was actually good to work with people I didn’t know. Once the team building was completed every group was then each assigned a short animated film to analyse. Group 5 were assigned the short film called ‘ Nodding off’.
After the class was over we all agreed to make a discord chat to later discuss how we were going to analyse our short animated film. The next day we quickly got around to sorting out everyone’s part in the group presentation. We decided to break the assignment into 4 areas with each of us to analyse a specific area. The areas that we broke the film into were – colour/atmosphere, editing, sound and framing/camerawork. We each picked one topic to make notes on. Chris did sound, Ellen did framing/camerawork, Zoe did editing and I did colour/atmosphere.
I enjoyed doing research on colour theory in film. I researched a few websites about colour theory and took down some notes. I also watch several YouTube videos explaining colour theory. This I found much easier to learn from as I am very dyslexic and it is easier to watch a video and learn than to read.
My experience in working with Chris, Ellen and Zoe was very positive. We all kept each other up to date and informed. This happened every time someone added or edited notes. Everyone worked well together and pulled their own weight. I also felt that everyone had done a good amount of research and had a good understanding of what it was they were researching. There is always room for improvement and If I was to do this again I would try to write more on atmosphere and how the colour impacts the viewer.
