Depth of Field!

 What is it? Depth of field means the range of focus on a photograph or film. It shows the audience the distance between the nearest and furthest objects that are in acceptably  sharp focuses in order to convey a message. There are many types of depth of fields but I am going to be focused on deep, shallow and soft.

1) Stills from Existing Media

a)

A still from Good Will Hunting (1997) using deep focus to convey development.
In this specific scene, it shows that the two men are on the same level, and share a somewhat mutual respect.

b) 

A still from Good Will Hunting (1997) using shallow focus to convey conflict.
Even though both men are facing the camera, only one is focus, therefore, isolating him and creating tension.

c)

A still from Carrie (1976) using soft focus to convey conflict.
The soft focus makes it look dreamy and fake, and can be confusing and conflicting.

2) Stills created by me!

a) 

A still using deep focus to convey character.
Shows the people at the bottom possibly reflecting by having them looking at the sunset. The deep focus gives the audience more things to look at, and feel more apart of the scene.

b)

A still using shallow focus to convey character.
The shallow focus here further helps to isolates and put attention to the plush than being in the middle already did. It shows character by showing the plush stands out from the others in the background.

c)

A still using soft focus to convey conflict. The soft focus adds a fuzzy and “dizzy” effect from the guy’s perspective. It shows that he is unwell, and may be suffering from the heat or a headache. 

3) Written Reflection

Even though I enjoyed doing this particular blog, I know I still have room for improvement. For me, the hardest part of this blog was how can I use different depth of fields in order to convey conflict, character, and development. But more specifically, soft focus. The only times I’ve seen movies use soft focus was for dream and memory scenes. Trying to make a still look like a dream was difficult, when I  tried to, it looked silly, so I had to change my image last minute. I resorted to making a still where the audience almost has an empathic connection. Basically, the guy’s suffering and his vision is likely blurry and so the camera/our eyes are blurry.

Moving on, for deep focus, I wasn’t sure on how I could use it in order to tell a story. Deep focus is super common in films and so it has a wide range of stories all of them tell. In my photos, I wanted to show a calmer story with a larger setting. So I stuck with a broad theme of reflection, which can definitely be up for interpretation.

Lastly, shallow focus. Of all the depths, this was the most difficult to take photos of. In my other blogs, I only used deep focus, but in this blog, I had to specifically use shallow focus. I take all my photos on my phone, however, my phone can’t use the portrait mode.. which is a big help in talking shallow photos. It took me forever to try and change my settings in order to focus on only one object. But I managed to get it in the end even if it took way too long.

-🍎🧃

Camera Positions!

Cinematography, What is it? Cinematography directly translates to “writing in movement.” This simply means it is the arts and crafts of capturing moving images using a film or camera. Angle, level, height, and distance all make up cinematography. Also, those terms can overlap with each other.

1) Stills from existing media that demonstrate the following:

a) 

Still from East of Eden (1955) using angle to convey conflict and development.

Here, a Dutch angle is used to convey conflict by creating a sense of uneasiness and disorientation.

b)

Still from Tess (1979) using level to convey character.
This is a ground-level shot which shows the girl to be close to the earth/nature (literally grounded) which reflects her innocence and connection to the rural environment.

c) 

Still from Submarine (2010) using height to convey conflict
Here, the audience is in the point of view of the main character. The two people are shown to be at a higher height, looking down on the main character. This creates an imbalance of power and a scene of tension and uneasiness.

d) 

Still from Submarine (2010) using distance to convey conflict

  In this long shot, the girl is shown to be far from the camera and alone. The setting makes it so that it further emphasizes her isolation and conflicted emotions, and can even make it feel overwhelming.

Stills created by me (my recreations!) that demonstrate the following: 

a)

A still using angle to convey conflict, character and development
Here is another Dutch angle used to show tension and uneasiness, maybe even unbalancedness between the two guys.

b)

A still using level to convey conflict, character and development
I used a eye-leveled shot to show character and how the two boys are likely on good terms.

c)

A still using height to convey conflict, character and development
Here, I tried using height to make both appear smaller and vulnerable since we are looking down on them.

d)

A still using distance to convey conflict, character and development
The distance makes the two guys look smaller compare to the environment, emphasizing how big the problem feels and how far apart they are emotionally, even though they’re physically close.

Written Reflection 

There were many challenges I faced, but it was mostly misunderstanding the concepts (once again). Just like for my last blog, I ask around, researched more and it helped. Overall, I got the gist of the cinematography/camera positions but when it came to knowing how to convey it into my stills, it became an issue. Mostly because I knew how to identify it didn’t know how to apply it.

My biggest challenge was telling the difference between angle, height and level. Height, I still don’t fully understand the concept but for this blog, I focused on making the camera the point of view of another person/thing in order to show the height difference between them and the focal object from a higher or lower perspective and what it can convey and represent. Also, when it came to height specifically, I kept confusing height in terms of camera positions and height in terms of mise en scène. For example, I kept thinking about the height difference between two items, or people. However, when taking the actual shots, I tried not to angle it but I still felt like I did anyway. 

Speaking of which, for angle, I wanted to do a high or low angled shot but it was too similar to my heights still. So, I settled with finding and taking a dutch angled shot to convey what I wanted. As for level, I believe it is when the camera is balanced to something (ex. eye, ground).  To avoid less confusion than necessary I stuck with taking either an eye-leveled shot or a ground-leveled shot. In summary, this blog helped me learn a lot about cinematography but it also taught me to fully understand everything I learnt before applying it to my work.

-🍎🧃

Balancing Mise en scène!

What is it? Mise en scène directly translates to either “placing on stage” or “what is put into the scene.” It refers to anything that is placed in front of the camera. This includes lighting, composition, art direction, costuming, makeup, and texture.

1) Stills from Existing Media

    a. 

A still from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) using contrast to guide the viewer’s attention

The person is much brighter than the background, contrasting them, which makes the man stand out more.

    b. 

A still from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) using color to guide the viewer’s attention

Everything in this still is a hue of blue (a cool color) besides the red jacket (A warm color).

    c. 

A still from Jurassic Park (1993) using size to guide the viewer’s attention

 Highlights the Brachiosaurus by showing the size difference between it and the humans.                                      

    d. 

A still from Aftersun (2022) using frontality to guide the viewer’s attention

Even though the man is closer to the camera, because the girl is faced towards the camera more (frontally), the viewer becomes more inclined to look at her and so she becomes the focal point here.

2) Stills created by me

    a.

A still using contrast to guide the viewer’s attention

There are two plushies here, one is blending into the background while the other stands out. That is because the plushie on the right is much more brighter, so it contrasts the black background, making it more noticeable to our eyes.

    b. 

  

A still using color to guide the viewer’s attention

This image uses red and green, warm tones usually attract people’s eyes first and in this case it’s red so it draws our eyes the most. 

    c. 

A still using size to guide the viewer’s attentions

The plush to the right is more closer to the camera, making it much bigger. This draws our eyes more attention to it since we are usually more drawn to bigger items than smaller ones.

    d. 

A still using frontality to guide the viewer’s attention

Here, there is two people talking, however, our eyes are more drawn to the blond boy since he is facing in the general direction of the camera more than the other boy. This is because frontality has a range. Which means, the blond boy does not have to face directly towards the camera in order to guide the viewer’s attention.

3) Written Reflection

Overall, this blog was not difficult but took a long time to created due to small issues/misunderstanding that slowed it down. The biggest challenge I mainly faced during this photo experiment was differing between contrast and color. Beforehand, I had thought it was almost the same thing due to the term "color contrast." After researching, I concluded that color refers to the hues and saturation of an image/scene. While, contrast refers to how strongly the different elements stand out against each other, like light vs. dark. Though there are much better explanations, I stuck to this simple one for this blog. It actually took me a concerning amount of time to figure this out… Another issue was that I struggled with understanding frontality. Basically, I misunderstood the usage of it when it came to guiding the viewer’s attention. At first, I thought it meant a simple one shot with the person facing the viewer, but that makes it so frontality  (In terms of drawing the viewer to the focal point) is pointless since there isn’t anything else to focus on. From what I learned in my media studies class, frontality works better when it’s with two or more items and one is facing front while the others are not. Another challenge I often had was knowing what to take photos of… I had pictures in my head but when it came to real life, it did not look as good as I had imagined. So I redid many photos in order to get my point across.

Taking the photos was not bad at all, relatively, I managed to take them pretty quickly with no issues. In general, I had a fun time doing this blog, but next time I would definitely plan more beforehand.

-🍎🧃

The Rule of Thirds!

 Found Still

1a. 

Still image from The Truman Show (1998)

The man (Truman) is shown in the bottom right hotspot to emphasize how small and isolated he looks compared to the open space. 

Landscape

2a.

A photo taken without regard for the rule
Nothing is lined up to the thirds and can be viewed as “aesthetically unpleasing.”

2b.

A photo taken with regard to the rule
The horizon lines with up the horizontal line and the focal object (the tree) lines up with the hotspots.

One figure 

3a.

A photo taken without regard for the rule
The girl is dead center and ignores the hotspots within the rule of thirds. 

3b.

A photo taken with regard to the rule
 The girl is aligned with the hotspots on the right vertical line.

Two figures 

4a.

A photo taken without regard to the rule
The two boys are not aligned to any lines in the rule of third.

4b.

A photo taken with regard to the rule
The two boys are aligned to the horizontal line with neutral spacing.

4c.

A photo taken with regard to the rule
The two boys are aligned to the horizontal/vertical line. This image suggests agreement since the two guys are smiling at each other and shaking hands. 

4d.

A photo taken with regard to the rule
The two boys are aligned to the horizontal line. This image suggests disagreement as the boys are facing away from each other with an upset look on their faces. They are also close to each other with might create a sense of tension.

Written analysis 

5a. The still image in 1a is from a scene in The Truman Show. In this scene, Truman is walking through water towards a staircase that seems to lead up to the sky. This image uses the rule of thirds by placing Truman at one of the hotspots, aligning him with the right vertical line. So naturally, the viewer’s eyes are more drawn to Truman. The horizon also lines up with the bottom horizontal line which creates depth and makes the scene more balanced to the audience (subconsciously). This shows character development because it highlights the importance choice that Truman is about to make. Furthermore, it suggests the plot is reaching a new turning point as Truman is moving towards something new and unknown. By placing him off center, it makes the scene dramatic and shows how significant this decision is.

5b. In 4c, the image shows two boys facing each other and shaking hands in a band room. This photo follows the rule of thirds by placing each student on the vertical lines, while their handshake is centered. This draws the viewer’s eyes directly to the handshake, showing it as the most important part of the image. The handshake can represent teamwork or agreement in a story. Additionally, the eyes of both guys are aligned with the top horizontal line and they are positioned on opposite sides of the two vertical lines which can illustrate the idea of balance, respect and equality between the two. Looking closer, it can be shown how the two are smiling at each other, this could imply friendship and a mutual understanding. Unlike the image shown in 4d, where they were not looking at each other and shows tension between them. This image helps tell the desired story because it already established familiarity, understanding and agreement between both guys.

-🍎🧃