Week 9 Clips Recap

Hey all,
A selection of the clips we watched last week in class, relating to colour and it's use. Check the notes on L@GU for not only the basic theories at play (complimentary colours, colour values, 'warm' and 'cool' colours) but also the possible reasons as to why certain colours/combinations are used in scenes. These are used in conjunction with the visual language of composing shots. Enjoy :D

All-Star Superman (Warner Animation): Opening Scene:


All Star Superman Pt.1 by mrcobain215vidz2

"What's Opera, Doc?" (Warner Bros.)



Dumbo (Disney) : "Look out for Mr Stork":



Dumbo (Disney) "Pink Elephants on Parade":



Kung Fu Panda (Dreamworks) Intro:




And the couple of live action examples:


Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (intro):



The Matrix: "Trinity rooftop chase":
(Notes a lot of the shots that we went over in "Genre" lecture are used in this sequence.)



See you all after the break. Hopefully, you're using the week off to progress a bit more in your final assessments. Any questions, email me :)

Recap- Week 8 clips

Hi Guys,

I hope if I haven't heard your final assessment story that you'll email me on pmason83@gmail.com....*hint*
Thank you to those that have :D

In the meantime, let's recap some of the clips we saw in the last class. The lecture slides are going up, my apologies if you missed the class, I simplified the shot layouts on the whiteboard, and expanded a bit, but you'll get the idea. The focal points and compositions/camera choices given as examples are those which tend to feature in particular genres. Have a look at the clips below, and see when these more advanced principles (from lecture) have been utilized in the genre clips below.

Many shots here should start to become very familiar to you ;D

Drip Along Daffy:
Parody-style films usually hit the nail on the head when they mimic the idiosyncrasies of composition and shot selection of the genre they're conveying. Check out in particular the "shoot out" sequence at the end of this cartoon, and think back to the shots we saw used in the Western examples from earlier in the semester. 

Duck Dogers in the 24th 1/2 Century:
Another example of genre parody- where referencing design, speech and themes have come into play.


Vezi mai multe din Desene animate pe 220.ro

Robin Hood Daffy:
And another, because I love Chuck Jones's "Porky and Daffy" partnership. We might see a couple more before the semester is out ;)



Live Action Examples:

Casino Royale (Madagascar chase sequence): Wasn't able to embed, but link is below.

This sequence uses everything we've touched on so far- Establishing shots, POV shots, over the shoulder, Zip pans, tracking shots, crane shots, use of diagonals in composition, strong perspectives etc. but also, some of the newer composing elements we touched on in the last class: Animating the scene (for a chase sequence- where the chasing character follows the "chasee" in the previous position, creating suspense and tension), upshots, landscape as character, action shots, beyond the standard points of interest etc. See how many you can spot!

Casino Royale sequence link: Click Me!

The Godfather (Opening scene):
Negative space and lighting to create focal points. Depth of field, Scale. Subtle truck out (camera movement).



 Tropic Thunder (opening scene):
 Not quite all of what we watched, but the "guts" of it are there. It's missing the "Big, Medium, Small" helicopter shot at the beginning, but you get the idea. Another example of parody, but again, referencing genre to get the laughs.

Straight forward, no nonsense Shots refresher

For script abbreviations, and a quick guide to terms. Think of it as a refresher, and reference guide for your upcoming major assessment. Have a think about these conventions that you've watched in previous examples in class.

http://www.mediacollege.com/video/shots/

See you Tuesday :)

For next week's class: Week 8, Tuesday 11th Sept.

Hi guys,
Just a quick touch base after yesterday, and to remind you to keep the ball rolling- I don't want anyone "drowning" in the next few weeks, so read below to make sure you're up to speed (especially the RED stuff).

I hope you all enjoyed our guest speaker Donald Walker (Disney, Animal Logic) , and seen the practical applications to what we've been learning in-class :D

You can check out his concept art and storyboarding examples here: http://donaldwalkeranimation.blogspot.com.au/

The cool thing is too, he touched on TVC storyboarding which will give us some time later in the coming weeks. Now Donald gave you a bit of a talking to regarding missing the Sunday talk; I just want to reiterate how hard it is to land a great role/experience outside of uni without having contacts/knowing what to do/knowing the faces of the people who can give you leads. This is something you guys will learn as you pursue a creative role/work experience. That saying "It's not what you know, but who you know" is 100% true. Anyways, more on that later :)

2 things: 1. I've noticed that my student email address for griffith has not been getting all the emails being sent to me. I know in the past, 1 or 2 of your queries haven't gotten through. So, don't think of me as ignoring your emails, feel free to get me through pmason83@gmail.com

2. Next week is week 8. There was no exercise yesterday because of the guest lectures, so in this instance I want to see EVERYONE's story idea for the final assessment. Email me if you want a sounding board. At this point, I'm going to suggest if you don't have a pre-existing script/story idea plotted out, then do a genre mash up, or possibly a public domain take on a character/story (original fairy tales are all public domain, a little research might score you a cool idea for a futuristic Grimm's story, or Aesop fable done like a western ....I'm just spit balling here, but you get the idea ;D

Actually, 3 things I've noticed. A couple of you have contacted me to say you've missed lectures (with reasons). That's ok, as long as you keep up. Head to Learning at @Griffith for the in-class exercise folders, the lectures are up too in PDF's, and read the blog archives with the clips/minor notes. I tend to talk more than the PDF slides suggest, so maybe a refresher in some points might be in the cards, perhaps I can talk things out to those who wish to listen during one of the upcoming tute sessions while the others are working.