Autuer Theory Pt. 1

What is auteur theory?  How did it first develop in France?

    Auteur theory is that a film is the reflection of the creative vision of the director, wherein the director is attributed to being the author of the film akin to the way that a writer is the author of a novel. The conclusion from this theory is that a film's quality is directly tied to the director's choices and ability. It first developed in France because of the advancement into sound and the subsequent influence of larger studios who created less "artistic" films. Because of this, a return to the idea of film as art occurred, circulating the auteur theory.

Guillermo Del Toro on Directing

What are the key pieces of advice that Guillermo del Toro gives beginning directors?  How can this apply to your career?

    Key pieces of advice that Guillermo del Toro gives to beginning directors are the mindset, share your opinions through a piece of work, and to simply just start. His first piece of advice is a simple as changing the way you think from "I want to be a director" to "I am a director," because as soon as you're actually doing something regarding any kind of media, no matter the level, you are still a director. His second piece of advice was to use work as a method of communicating your contempt towards different issues. He illustrated an example of if you dislike the movies that are being made, instead of complaining, you should make a film that exemplifies what you think movies should be like. His last piece of advice ties back to the first, but if you want to become something, simply just start doing it. Whether that be as a director or a writer, although directing does require more resources and collaboration than writing does. This can apply to my career as I could take these pieces of advice to heart and use it to drive my work and motivate myself.

What's the Point of a Director

What do you know about a director's role in a film?  What questions do you have about the director's role on a film?

    When it comes to filmmaking, people often gravitate towards and give the most attention towards the glamorous positions. One of the biggest ones being the director. Most people think of the director as the leader of a set; however, there's a lot more to a director's job than giving out orders. The director's role in a film is to make their vision come to life and make the decisions on set.

    The director is the creative lead of the film; they dictate the actual look of the production, primarily things such as costuming, sets, locations, props, makeup, and so on and so forth. They must work closely with each of the different creative departments both before and during the production in order to create the visual look of the film. Although they may not be in charge of the look camera-wise, they still have a lot of effects on how the film looks through color, costuming, and locations, all of which affect the impact of the film.

    Furthermore, the director's primary job is to work with the talent in order to bring the character's of a film to life. This involves building trust with the actors, rehearsing them so that they are comfortable and prepared, and, of course, directing them during the scene. It is important for the director to build trust with the actors so that they are more sure in what the director tells them. One way is to make them feel like the director has thoroughly planned and thought things out, which could be done with something as simple as having already designated spots for the actors to sit during a read through. Rehearsal is an important process for the director to lead as to allows the actors time to experiment with their performance in a more comfortable setting. Once it comes time for the direction, it is important for the director to approach it in a way that gives the actor the ability to effectively bring their characters to life. Thus, they should focus on telling the actor what their character is thinking and what their goal is in the scene, rather than simply telling them what to do.

    Some questions that I have about the director's role on a film is the scope of their working during pre-production, as, in my current experience, roles have been less solid and more fluid, thus responsibilities have been shared.

Role of the Director

Write an in depth reflection on what the role of the Director is.  What are their duties in the production?

    A director's job is to bring their vision to life. The primary duties of a director involves decision making. They are responsible for guiding the cast and crew in order to reach solutions and achieve their vision. When it comes to actors, they should give clear direction about what their character may be thinking and what their goal(s) are in that moment. This often leads to an overall better result than line reading, which is where the director only really focuses on surface level acting and may cause the actor to just copy how the director does it, restricting creative choice and meaningful performances. During pre-production, the director coaches the location scouts, work with set designers, props, and costumes to decide the visual mise en scene, and during filming the director works with hair and makeup and the special effects department to work out the details of the story telling, and the director decides where the camera goes.

Cinematography Unit Reflection

Explain in detail three key things that you have learned during the scope of this unit.  What are two things you still have questions about or want to learn more about?

    Three key things that I have learned during this unit are the history of cinematography, lighting, and composition. During this unit, I have gotten a more in depth look at the history of cinema and cinematography, which includes how technological limitations and advancements influenced the art of film and the visual storytelling. For example, the introduction of sync sound films also altered the aspect ratio as the strip now had to include the sound. An important area that I learned the most about has been lighting. I have learned the basic principals with 3-point lighting, fill, key lights, back lights, etc. Furthermore, I have learned ideas such as Rembrandt lighting, chiaroscuro, the use of shadows, etc. Another thing that I learned about was a deeper dive into composition. In this unit, we went beyond the basics that we've learned in the beginner class. Different framing and compositional techniques that change the visual story telling of an image. Two things that I want to learn more about are more techniques and staples of horror films and more complex lighting principals and techniques.

Cinematography Scavenger Hunt

Why did you choose this film? What makes it interesting to you?  Use what you've learned in this unit to study the lighting and write a reflection on what you've learned about how the cinematographer uses lighting to communicate the story.

    I chose this film because it was one that I really enjoyed watching. It contained a lot of funny references to a variety of historical figures, events, and time periods. Some things that I learned about how the cinematographer used lighting to communicate the story was during the Vietnam scene

Don't Complicate Lighting

What is Geoff Boyle explaining in this video?  Why is it so important to keep this in mind?

    Geoff Boyle is explaining that ... It is so important to keep this in mind because ...