Cameras 101
How do you focus using our cameras & on what?
Magnifying glass, on the eyes or whatever you want to be most in focus
What professional editing program AND version do we use?
Premiere Pro CC
What screenwriting software do we primarily use AND why?
CELTX; it's free; proper format is hard without software
What is auteur theory?
The theory that a film has ONE author whose specific style, trademarks, and experiences make their films uniquely related.
The first movie of all time and why this is your answer.
Horse In Motion, Roundhay Garden Scene, Arrival of a Train, OR The Great Train Robbery
What frame rate do we shoot at and why?
24 fps because it's what we're used to seeing in movie theaters for over 100 years
Why does everything you do in film class have to go in a specific folder?
It will get disconnected or trashed otherwise.
What's the rule for making sure readers know how long your film will be?
1 page = 1 minute in proper format
What is color theory?
The study of how colors represent deeper meaning in film (emotionally, psychologically, narratively, or aesthetically).
The FIRST filmmaking device invented in 100AD China and then stolen in the 1870s by a murderous filmmaker...
Zooapraxiscope!
What is both similar AND different between aperture, f-stop, and shutter?
How do editors use bins, and why are they called that?
They are digital folders to organize footage by videos, stills, audio, scenes, etc. They're called bins because they used to be physical bins for physical, analog film.
Describe three rules of three.
Examples:
Beginning, Middle, End
Act One, Act Two, Act Three
Counting, Ascending, Final Three
ETC.
Name three types of genre tropes we look for to determine what makes a movie a specific genre.
stock characters, theme, iconography, tropes/patterns, conventions, codes, cliches, shot types
Name another FIRST in film history. Be as specific as possible.
Example: A Trip to the Moon had the 1st sfx, score, and extensive color grading (we think)
What do each parts of SAIFF mean & which order works best? (Be prepared to explain why)
It's our checklist to make sure we're "saiff" to film:
Shutter
Aperture
ISO
Frame rate
Focus
Best order: FSAIF
Name two effects and two transitions and tell us the difference between an effect vs. transition.
Effects change the footage; transitions go between clips.
effects - change color, ultra key, slow speed, fast speed, volume, etc.
transitions - constant gain, constant power, exponential fade, dissolve, dip to black, etc.
List 10 key elements of a narrative film that you could graph... IN ORDER!
1) Setting
2) Characters
3) WANT or NEED (internal and/or external)
4) Inciting Incident
5) Conflict
6) Rising Action
7) Obstacles or Stakes
8) Crisis
8) Turning Point
9) CLIMAX
10) Falling Action and/or Resolution or Deliberate Anti-Resolution
What is critical race theory and how does it apply to one film of choice?
Race theory studies how films relate to race and ethnicity; Example: Blackkklansmen confronts negative stereotypes about violent black "brutes" (seen as early as Birth of a Nation) and shows the violence of white supremacists from the flipped perspective of a black police officer.
OR The TV show friends is not inclusive in terms of race. Black, Latinx, Asian, and indigenous people are essentially "invisible". New York City is portrayed as devoid of diversity. When characters of color do appear, it is in a colorblind society that may or may not actually exist.
Name FOUR early cinema filmmakers AND what they're known for. You may include murderers and racists...
Edweard Muybridge, George Milies, Louis Le Prince, The Lumiere Brothers (Auguste and Louis), Alice Buy Blache, DW Griffith, Oscar Micheaux, Zora Neale Hurston, Lois Weber, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Dadasaheb Phalke, Salvador Toscano Barragán, Ida Lupino
List five *critical* camera steps toward achieving a high quality nighttime slow motion shot with blur?
1. Find a key focal point*
2. Open aperture
3. ISO max 800, add external light
4. Slow shutter speed (much slower than 1/50)
5. Faster frame rate
Name 5 tools, windows, or practices that are specific to Premiere editing.
project, source, or program window; trim tool, razor blade, effect controls, graphics window, insert, overwrite, etc.
Adv/IB Y1: What are FIVE KEY screenwriting tips you could pass on to a new filmmaker not in this classroom?
IB Y2: Name TEN.
1. Raise the stakes
2. Show Don't Tell
3. Create a surprising yet inevitable ending
4. Short films often end with a climax or punchline
5. Consider rules of three
6. Outline using the key elements of story.
7. Graph your story to see how does or does not consistently rise.
8. Create a beat sheet or outline
9. Create a character sheet or outline
10. Consider your audience.
11. Consider buttons.
12. Consider unfilmmables.
13. Consider The Mamet Rule.
14. Consider what type of sequence you're writing.
15. What's your elevator pitch?
What is queer theory and how does it relate to a movie of choice?
Queer theory is the study of how queer identities are explored, avoided, or related to in film.
Paris Is Burning explores queer as a verb. What is queering and what makes this dangerous to our society? The realism of the film also showcases the diversity within the LGBTQ community in a way not often explored in cinema before its release.
What are the three criteria for the Bechtel test AND why might this test not be enough?
1) *Features* two women
2) Who talk to each other
3) About something besides a man
It fails to account for how these women are represented (negative, sexualized, intellectually inferior, weak, etc.). It also fails to account for any real diversity in terms of all ethnicities, abilities, and LGBTQ identities.