Film Techniques

In this class so far, we have discussed a wide variety of film techniques. In spite of the fact that I am totally and completely intimidated by the upcoming film project, I think there are some techniques that are within our reach for this project.

Lighting effects, I suspect, will be some of the easiest. I know a little about photography, so I have some experience working with shadows, oversaturation, etc. I particularly like the harsh feel that can be achieved with undersaturation. This is something that was used to great effect in The Godfather. That's one of my favorite movies, so I'll probably draw on it for inspiration. Other lighting techniques that I think would be within the reach of our group are lighting from below (for a creepy effect) and from behind (for a shadowed, otherworldly effect). I also like the effect created by black-and-white photography. I've used it in several still compositions, and I think I could probably use it to good effect in our film.

Sound is another important part of the film, and it's the area where I feel less confident. Unlike major film productions, we don't have the time or equipment to custom-mix every possible sound we need. Techniques that we've discussed that I do feel confident working with include sound-bridges between scenes and voice-overs.

As far as composition, transtitions, and other effects, there are several that I think are within our reach. A montage, like the dinner scene in Citizen Kane, seems like it wouldn't be that hard to accomplish, assuming we could get the sound-bridges to work, and since it compresses a large amount of information into a short period of time, it could be effective in a short film. I also like the use variations in depth of field, as seen in Sunset Boulevard. The Kuleshov effect, using a shot bookended by reaction shots to create the sense of a particular emotino, also seems like something we can pull off, and might ease some problems of framing that we might otherwise encounter.