Semiotics in Film

 The whole semiotics talk has me a bit confused. I took a class on signs in art so I understand the signifier and signified some but at first was lost on how this translated into film.

 Initially I was immediately reminded of the silent film era and how without sound, the film spoke to the viewer. Then I thought about signs and how certain things that we know, when shown on film would not need an explanation. I envisioned a street scene, where cars are stopped at a traffic light. The red light prompts the cars to step on the brakes and hold tight until they see the green change. This to me is an example of how signs could work in film. The meanings are implied by what we know about the colors red and green. 

Another example could be sound in a film. With the film series Jaws, sound is a crucial part in triggering the audiences sense of danger. 

 In the film Halloween, the theme song is played whenever Michael Myers is near, symbolizing the danger and ultimately a whole lot of knife slashing is about to come up. Cover your eye's kids!

 Another way that semiotics can be portrayed on film is through the narrative. The writer/director can convey a message without stating the obvious. An example of this would be in Star Wars. Actually there are tons of examples in these films but lets focus on Darth Vader. 

His costume is black and cold metal looking. He is taller than most people in the film. He is powerful to the viewer’s eye without having to be told. We know from the first frame that he is the bad guy. 

Chapter 7 Review

7 Elements Of Digital Storytelling

 After watching the youtube video on the seven elements of digital storytelling, I searched the web and found a blog on the Richmond School of Arts & Sciences website.  While the protocol is fundamentally the same; POV, Dramatic Question, Emotional Content, Voice, Soundtrack, Economy and Pacing, the website gave a better explanation of the different elements.

http://blog.richmond.edu/digitalstory/2009/03/03/7-elements-of-digital-storytelling/

 Point Of View – This is the underlying theme in a story. Often the point of view lives on or takes a role of its own within the story.

 Dramatic Question – This is the meat and potatoes of the story. This is the main theme that the story revolves and is answered by the rolling credits.

 Emotional Content- This element adds depth, meaning and a connection with the viewer.

The Gift Of Voice – This element makes the story your own. The narration wins the audience over with the way his or her words flow out.

Soundtrack- The soundtrack is a great way to connect emotionally with the audience. To me, the soundtrack makes a film.

Economy – Being able to tell your story efficiently.

Pacing- This is one of the most important elements. Many times a great film will suffer when the pace is completely wrong. Sometimes the beginning is too slow and the story picks up after the audience has lost interest, or the ending drags on and on. Having a great pace and being able to get the story out is something that requires a tremendous amount of skill.

 After reading and researching these elements, I began evaluating my own work in the past. I started watching a couple of my old projects and started to critic them as if they were a classmates or any other video off of youtube. I came to a project that I did for a media arts class last summer. This project was something that I shot and did a few small 2d cartoon animations for based on an old world book that my family had when I was a kid. My voice, as narrator worked well for this project. I had a very emotional attachment to this book and the memories of childhood so the emotional content was there as well. My pacing I feel worked well, I flow through the story of my book without losing interest. Of all the elements that we learned about, the only ones that I feel were not met or for better words, lacked in my book project are soundtrack, and dramatic question. I am a bit puzzled by the question element in this project. While from the mentality of an outsider or first time viewer of the project, I understand the narrative. I just get caught up on the why? Portion of this element. Why the book? I mean I know the importance of it and it is special because of the past emotional direct connection with the narrator, but maybe that is what makes it all relevant. Perhaps the question doesn’t matter for this project? Perhaps the importance of the book and it’s emotional content are strong enough?

 Here is the video. What do you think?

More Movie Review

Poetry In Motion Video

 For this project I wanted to show the dangers of being distracted while driving. Funny thing is, I was all alone to do the shoot so I had to hold the camera on the dash while driving which is beyond hypocritical and dangerous. With that being said, everyone is safe and I was able to capture what I needed. I found a cover of the song "Drive", originally by The Cars, sung by a group called The Deftones who are signed to Maverick Records. The mood of the song is what inspired me to edit the way I did. I had other ideas on the crash scene and also wanted to shoot some footage of my family at the cemetery, however my wife out right refused, called me morbid and being as I am already behind in the class, I used a couple of stills to show the crash. To set the mood for the video I also desaturated the footage but using keyframes I wanted to fade the effect in the entire length prior to the crash scene. I also used a sped up and revered cut to bring the footage prior to the distraction of the radio scene to show how the end result would be different.

Chapter 3 and 4 review

Chapter 1 and 2 review

Camera options

I just bought a new digital slr camera which takes full hd video. Now I am all set for my photography class and if I need to shoot quick high quality digital footage, I can. I also have a sony vx1000 mini dv standard def 3 chip camera which I have used for many projects but it is very outdated. Speaking of outdated, perhaps if I can find a way to edit 8mm film locally, I can take this down off the wall of the editing room I put together in my house.

 When I worked at Vassar College, the students shot 16mm and they had editing stations that I would have access to. Problem is they only work on 16, not 8. I would love to try the camera out though, I bought it a few years back, still sealed in it's original packaging. Never used!