-          Analyze your favorite scripts

-          What elements of terrible scripts make them fail for you?

-          Dailyscript.com

-          Work on your own sense of style

1. Rising: ideal conflict, builds tension, developing

2. static

3. Jumping: no general rise, "jumpy"

4. Foreshadowing

lists & schedules

essential, prepares you for multitude of questions 

during production 

characters, props, special effects, costumes, etc

developing an understanding of the script 

A/V vs. Feature 

§  Exposition

§  Rising Action

§  Climax

§  Falling action

§  Denouement

desire usually shapes objective

need often unknown to the character (dont use it) 

Line of Action refers to actions associated to character's needs

a condition is an affliction, a state of being

desires are usually seperated

a character is no his or her condition 

make the character human despite the outcome

how does this affect his desires?

trap emotion through action 

DONT ONLY SURPRISE THE AUDIENCE, surprise yourself- the disoverer author 

carefully balance negative consequences with the truth of the character

merge of narrator-character

why is today like no other?

a careful balance between expected and unexpected 

Ryan's truth meter (reading)

o   Dramatic progression should change the stability of the narrative

o   Not always external/interpersonal

o   Does the need/desire shift since the scene began?

o   What is there to lose?  If nothing, then the loss will have no effect

o   What are the options?  Is there no way out of the worst case scenario?

o   Speaking through images

o   Visual cues, associations, etc.

o   Technical considerations

o   BUT DON’T DIRECT!

o   Re: Copyright permissions

o   Publisher/Author clearances

o   Short films have less economic impact – ‘easier’ to obtain approval

 What does the character want? is this linked to desire or need?

Carefully consider the choices made by the character

"What if?"

What if the worst happens

Why are scenes executed?

Status change

consider the stakes

VISUAL TEXT

-          Pare down the dialogue

-          Read your screenplay aloud to ‘hear’ how the words/action flow

-          Remember: much drama/comedy/horror/etc can be accomplished underneath what is said/done

The pan- on tripod, pivots left and right

the tilt- low angle/high angle shots, vertical shift by tilting

Pedestal Up/down- same position, physically moves up down 

Truck Right/Left- same position, "" moves left right

Dolly in/out- moves forward/backwards without zoom, space stays the same (with zoom the focus becomes skewed) 

o   The Cutaway- incredibly valuable, perspective shift

o   45 Degree Rule- If you are going to shift camera shot, move at 45 degrees

o   Jump Cut- Change in image by size only

o   Smooth Transition- change in image by size and angle

o   Clean Entrance/Exit- allows you to not show continuity in image while not disrupting the action (ex. Car driving down highway, jump cut to a diner and then enter the same car pulling up to diner)

o   180 Degree Rule- no difference which side camera positions itself, as long as there exists jump cut continuity

§  You can cross the line if you stop on it

o   Directorial Style

§  All of these choices lead to unique representations of subject matter

§  Throughout this production section of the course, these contribute to a greater sense of Director as Author (Auteur)

o   incredibly valuable, perspective shift

allows you to not show continuuity in image while not disrupting the action

i.e. (ex. Car driving down highway, jump cut to a diner and then enter the same car pulling up to diner)

no difference which side camera positions itself, as long as there exists jump cut continuity

you can cross the line if you stop on it

crossing the line with a reference (sidewalk) 

§  All of these choices lead to unique representations of subject matter

§  Throughout this production section of the course, these contribute to a greater sense of Director as Author (Auteur)

results from the amount of pressure produced by sound waves

measured in decibels (dB)

0- threshold of hearing

65- threshold of conversation

130- threshold of pain 

difference between the quietest and loudest points

used to evaluate audio systems

high end analog recorders- 70 dB

determines the 'noise floor' of recordings 

the 'signal-to-noise' (s/n) ratio 

Measured in hertz (Hz)

musical notes are pitches 

   pitches are determined by the frequency of the sound wave

how many cycles of pressure increase/decrease occur 

natural sounds are mixtures of waves at varying frequencies

'harmonics' are multitudes of the fundamental 

strength determines tone quality or timbre 

how audio systems respond to different frequencies of sound

increase/decrease response to low, med, high freq

equalizers alter these levels

Attack (initial hit)

Decay

Sustain

Release (end of hit) 

Dynamic (moving coil)- rugged, inexpensive, no power supply, usually used by musicians

Condenser-sensitive, expensive, fragile, uses power supply, Use a capacitor circuit to generate electricity from sound 

Bi-directional- used by interviewers

Omnidirectional- Mic placed in center, 360 degree coverage (everything)

Subcardioid- back is brought up, almost 360 but more focused 

Cardioid- heart shaped mic pattern, condensed even more than 'sub'

Supercardioid- heart shaped with some background, slimmed sides

Shotgun- flower-shaped, somewhat 360 degrees, some forward, some back, some side

background sounds

eliminate what you don't need 

consider heavy sound blankets

always record 'room tone' 

Position mic as close as possible

consider using lavs

use a highly directional mic

keep mics away from film cameras

consider how sound travels through space

live vs. dead spaces

adjust frequency pickups/equalize

if boomy, move mics away from walls 

expose tape to inaudible, high freq tone

usually turns on when 'record' is pressed

some prefer bulk erasure to demagnetize (usually with larger magnetic tape stock)

some recorders have one head for recording and playback

 separate allows you to monitor while recording

direct/source vs. tape position 

must be kept clean and free from magnetic charge

cleaned with rubbing alcohol 

be sure heads are making even contact with the recording stock 

synch film/video, speed must be precisely controlled

"crystal sync" generates a "pilot tone" so playback is controlled at same speed as recording 

also connects to timecode 

consists of a thick base- thinner emulsion or oxide (most oxides are made of iron)

base is made of acetate or polyester 

if the recorder has it, use it

ex. Dolby C system boosts mid and high freq sounds

dont confuse these systems with the multichannel playback format 

when sound is recorded it should be louder than the tape noise

overmodulation- over varying a perdiodic waveform

most units have a volume unit (VU) meter

Digital Recording level

same rule as analog- loud with overmodulation

keep enough audio headroom (7dB)  

mics/speakers usually analog

sampling rate- how often measure level of signal 

(CD 44.1 kHz, high- 48 kHz, DVD- 98 kHz)

Number of bits- how precisely each sample can be measured

Include cassette tape formats (DAT)

open-reel like the Nagra 

hard-drive units

Computer memory cards

Magneto-optical disk systems (minidisk) 

sleeve- usually ground

ring- right hand channel for stereo signals

tip- left hand channel for stereo signals

the sun

available light

lighting fixtures

illuminate subject

expose film

directs viewers attention

What kind of shadow does it cast?

what angle is it coming from?

How bright is it?

How bright is it relative to other lights?

What color is it?

How bright is it? and relative to other lights?

What color is it?

crisp/harsh shadows produced by parallel rays

soft/diffuse

less directional, dull indistinct shadows

key light, fill light, back light

(definitions on next cards) 

brightest light from the front

casts primary shadows

high enough to cast shadows on the floor

many keys for moving shot

fill shadows cast by key light

no distinct shadows on its own

always softer than the key light

opposite side of camera from key

(hair, rim, or edge)

opposite side of subject from camera

fairly hard, higher intensity than key

bright outline of subject, defines shape

separates subject from background 

relationship between key and fill

low-key= high lighting contrast

              - night, emotion, tension, tragedy

high-key= low lighting contrast 

             - bright, cheery, even distribution

moving an object twice as far from a light results in it being 1/4 of the amount

falloff is especially sharp when you are near the light source

even illumination- lights kept far away from minimal exposure changes

if a light appears colored, it is deficient in one or more of its temperaments

all light sources are unequal amounts of primary colors
humans adjust to balance light source as 'white'

differ in light and color they emit

both video/film have different reactions to different bulbs

types: incandescent, tungsten-halogen, HMI, fluorescent

household 2900 K

professional 3200 K

light is more yellow-orange 

employ tungsten filament surrounded by halogen glass (quartz)

usually 3200 k, smaller, more efficient, very hot

finger grease 

even more efficent, 3-4x more light than tungsten

more daylight balanced

 operated with AC power (wall adapter) and uses ballast unites to control electricity

light pulses must be evenly distributed to avoid flicker 

Fluorescent Bulbs

1. issues with conventional bulbs

2. proffessional bulbs

Issues: blue-green color cast, flickering (less than HMI), difficult to mix with other lighting

Proffessional: flicker-free, avoid humming noises of ballasts, daylight balanced (5500 K) 

light intensity measured in foot-candles

- one lumen/sq. ft 

one foot-candle=10.764 lux 

key-fill ratio- 2:1

constant audible tone (440 Hz or A440)- A above middle C

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THIS MEANS

an interconnection of electrical components with a return path to enable the charge to return to its source

Ohm's Law (other card) 

I=V/R (I=current in amperes, V=potential difference in volts, R=circuit parameter called resistance)

1  Ω is the resistance that will produce a potential difference of one volt in response to a current of one ampere 

Joule's law is derived from Ohm's law

Wattage= 1 J/s 

amp=electric charge/s

volt=potential difference across a conductor when a current of 1 amp dissipates 1 watt of power

P=I/V

Allows you to see if you are going to blow a circuit in advance  

focused from spot to flood

very controllable

can move from spot to flood

not as controllable 

nonfocused, open-faced, dish-shaped

attached to light source via clip

mounted on camera

block light spilling into lens

fits over spotlight

made of mesh

full or half

does not change temp or quality

green-single: reduces intensity by 1/2 f-stop

red-double: full f-stop

cast pattern shadow

break up uniform space of walls/floor

transition sunlight and shaded areas

i.e. create venetian blinds when you dont have any

used for a range of lighting functions

raise/lower color temp

raise color temp of 3200 K tungsten to 5500 K daylight

cut 50% intensity or one f stop