Carlos Jose
Documentary analysing
Lift is a 2001 British documentary that set on typical tower in London. It was directed by Marc Isaac himself and it’s a handheld camera. Marc Isacc did many documentaries like All White in Barking that has been controversial for stereotyping working-class people. Marc Isaac is good at interacting with the public and the cinematography being symbolic and claustrophobia on this documentary, it was nominated for a Bafta award and won the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival as Digital Competition.
The documentary starts with a scary entrance of the lift going down and it is so good how the director can make scenes of monotonous scary with the use of sound effects. I noticed the presence of the colour green and that links with the numbers of the level building they are. The camera is always centred to people's faces, the director and the people are in a place that is small, and it feels that the conversation between the people intimate, and later people start to open about person things from the life. The camera is always pointing from the centre and uses medium and close shots to give more of that intimate vibe and it’s giving a free place to confess and show the true emotions.
This documentary is kind of a time capsule of it’ s time, because the building also represents the 00’s multicultural and multi-coloured. In the building we see people of many different races, this documentary was recorded on a building in south London, and it’s well known to a big Jewish community, and it’s noticeable because one of the elderly women that uses the word "Mazel tov" which means good fortune and she said that to the camera man, showing that she is proud of her Jewish heritage and also at the end of the documentary and the south Asian man offers the camera man a Leaf-wrapped Food, and it was given with so much care, and the same man when encountering the camera man, he always offered him food and he had it. We are exposed with a boy talking about his current relationship with his partner and he uses slangs of his current time, and this also show a wide range of ages the youngest being an infant and the oldest being between the age of 70-80.
The lift can also draw comparisons with a confessionary because there is a time that the act of sticking a camera to their face is normal that they start giving more details of their personal lives like the man had a bit of an odd-sounding speech and he starts opening about the pain of losing both of his parents in tragic circumstances and that led to him to start suffering schizophrenia and you notice that his face pattern is of pain and suffering. The good thing about this documentary is that in a span of 24 minutes is enough to show so much the devolvement of the people and shows that normal day people the background have lives and emotions and it’s good to find a narrative on a small lift in a building that is being gentrified right infront of their eyes.
Bias and Agenda
Bias in simple words means a personal and sometimes unreasoned judgment” or an instance of such prejudice and a close-minded way. Bias can damage things like articles or even research, because if an individual to display his point it might distort the measurement and observation. In media bias is a dangerous thing, because the information that is shown in the news need to be unbiases and impartial, because before media, politicians and other newsmakers had to rely on word of mouth to communicate the many messages they were communicating.
These methods are mostly unreliable. Media bias has a large effect society that most of the time is used on a negative way used by far right new outlets like Fox News and The Daily Wire. These conservatives new outlets most time or not media neutrality, and that includes the inability of journalist to report all available stories and facts.
There is many examples of bias that mostly Fox News and right wing media uses like coverage bias when they show the negative news about one party or ideology. The prime example of this is the way that right wing media covering the George Floyd protest, they created false narratives about the protest and distorted stories fit their narrative against the George Floyd protest that was highlighting racial motivated police brutality that still going on.
There is famous story that has been distorted like the women that being sprayed with the fire extinguisher and she pulled out and a knife at supposed looters, and this video was used for Anti‐Black Lives Matters movements, selling the narrative that a disable was being attack but the fact the women was able to walk and she wasn't an old lady but 30 years old, this video was even referenced on the opening scene of the fourth season of Atlanta.
Agenda in a media world for example like documentary, films or tv show is mainstream media using their influence to sway the importance of topics on the public agenda, where the media only ask a limited range of questions about a topic, agenda a can change an individual's perspective and public opinion, and media agenda walks side-to-side with media bias because they spread their influence in politics, economy and culture.
The types of agendas are Media Agenda Setting is when the media determines the agenda for which stories are considered important, for example when TV channels trying to villainise people and inviduals like for example the Nevermind documentary. This documentary was solely made for the aim of framing the late singer of being a child abuser, by getting into detail of the personal lives of the supposed victims, and they can paint them as victims and make Michael Jackson the villain, which is a power that a director can hold in pushing an agenda. Is important that the media that is being consumed needs to be un-bias and impartial.
Narrative or Story Arc Theory
A narrative film is a type of film that uses numerous filmmaking techniques to tell a story with a clear beginning, middle, and end. The story is typically fictional and involves characters and events that are connected by cause and effect relationships. Most of these films follows the clear ideas of the directors mind and it follows many patterns, and the most surface level example is the rags to riches, loser to winner, the most famous example is the Cinderella plot.
Narratives always follows a set of steps, which the universe of the movie is set, and it follows three acts: Act one is when the movie is introduced to audience and how the universe works, and Act two is where the character grows and develop in response to conflicts, they trying to solve it with trial and error and it will eventually escalate to a climax, and the Act three the final that's where the characters a solves the conflict. The tradition narrative arc has five elements:
The first one is Exposition is when the audience is introduced to the story, it offers background information and back story to other characters, including who is the character and where is being set, and this happens to all the mainstream movies, to give more detail to the story. The rising action is when conflict is happening and the this is like the middle section of he story, and this mostly begins with what's called an "inciting incident that triggers that puts the main events of the story in motion. The Climax is the biggest point of tension of the story line and often the point at which all the different subplots get with each other. The climax need the main character to face a danger or truth. Finally Falling Action which id the final part of the story, the conflict gives way to resolution, and the tension disappears, either the hero loses or wins, or can be a tragic ending or happy.
Kurt Vonnegut is an American writer that has developed a theory that is called The Shapes of Stories, and the idea behind it was stories have very simple shapes ones that computer can understand, and parts of story are like graphs where is two two axes the Y and X, Y being good and bad, and X axis representing the beginning and end of a story, with positive and negative shapes of waves. The idea was presented and submitted to the anthropology department at the University of Chicago, but is was rejected because it was so simple and looked like too much fun. The eight examples of Kurt Vonnegut:
There is many differences between a narrative of a feature film and a documentary is that a feature film plot is fiction and aims to entertain the audience, and documentary filmmaking is focus in proving an accurate representation of real events like crime investigation or person's life and aims more to educated the audience or inspire the viewer.
This is the classic rags to riches to story is when the main characters gets into trouble and overcomes it and ends up having a happy ending. it was proven that stories like these are the most lucrative movies, earning £37.48 million on average.
Boy meets Girl is the typical romance where boy and girl meet for the fist time and they fist feel in love but then they have to develop their relationship, and few ups and downs and at the end they get together
Creation Story is a cultural, religious or traditional myth which describes the earliest beginnings of the present world. and they best way example is greek mythology.
The old testament story arc is when the plot the story is going well until it, tragedy hits and and at the end is a bad ending.
The New Testament follows a more modern story path, according to Vonnegut.
The Cinderella arc, like Rags to Riches, is one of the most common arcs, often found in love stories, sports stories, Disney movies, and other stories with happy endings. If you're writing a Disney movie, there's a good chance it's going to be Cinderella.
This the story that the final coutome or the action or not predictable and we get to choose who is the good and bad, this story is common among character driven stories like the The Sopranos, is not just looking to glorify the mafia lifestyle, but to explore their psychology, and they always end with an ambigous ending.
This is the never ending cycle of just everything going wrong, and this narrative and the movies are mostly depressing, There is no moment that trends toward the positive, and the endpoint tends toward infinite unhappiness.
Elements of Documentary
Infographics- are a visual representation of information, and examples of infographics like images, icons, text, or diagrams, and also there is also an animated infographics.
B-Roll- is any extra video that is viewed as being less important than the main "A-Roll" material, and it can be collect from a different unit, and they include stock footage, etc. B-Roll is mostly used on documentary to fill up more space on the movie's runtime and news.
Fly on the wall is a style of documentary filmed without interviewing or asking subjects to speak directly to the camera, but rather by filming them as they go about their daily lives, and the biggest example of Fly on the wall is the reality show Big Brother.
Vox Pop- comes from the Latin word "voice of people", and now Vox Pop are short video with clips containing interviews with members of public. Vox Pop can be used to conduct surveys and get first hand sources and most commonly used by brands or products.
Small Film Crew Job Roles
Camera Person or Camera Operator are in charge of recording the action. Whether it's for a documentary, a sizable multi-camera studio show, or a significant outside broadcast, they film what's going on. They are aware of which cameras to use in what situations and take into account a shot's composition, framing, and movement. The main roles that they play is to assemble, prepare and set up equipment prior to filming, which may include tripods, monitors, lighting, cables and leads and headphones, provide tips on how to capture a scene effectively and describe the impact of specific photographs, be prepared to innovate and experiment with ideas maintain good working relationships with other members of the crew and cast, including the director, producer, actors, interviewees, presenters, lighting technicians and sound recordists.
The camera operator works under the Cinematographer, Cinematographer can operate the camera, but many don’t, so the Camera Operator on a film is the person who, without getting technical here, operates the camera for the Cinematographer. A great example of a cinematographer that camera operates is Roger Deakins a cinematographer with the knowledge of camera lighting and lens, and he is well know by works included on The Shawshank Redemption and Blade Runner 2049.
According to Glassdoor, the national average salary for a Camera Operator is £46,540 in United Kingdom. For a cameraperson, the recommended day rate rises to £340 to £470.
A Director on a movie set is a person who leads the artistic and emotional qualities of a film, envisions the screenplay (aka script), and collaborates with the cast and crew to make that vision a reality. Cast member selection, production design, and all other artistic components of filmmaking are crucially influenced by the director. He is the main person a movie production, The executive producer or producer, who is ultimately in charge of a project in the end and employs them.
There are many pathways for to become a director. Many directors first were screenwriter, cinematographer, or film editor. A director's responsibility is to visualise the script. They collaborate closely with the producers to name the department heads, such as the director of photography, assistant director, and production designer, as soon as a production has secured the funding it requires, either through funding or commissioning. The director has to be able share the vision of the film with a range of people from different departments, inspire them to do their best work, manage the cast and crew, make creative decisions, and have a passion for and deep knowledge of film and TV drama, appreciate all genres of art, so as to be able to draw ideas from a range of sources, getting influences from anywhere.
There are many well-know Hollywood directors like Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Christopher Nolan, Stanley Kubrick, David Fincher. Noticeable female directors like Kathryn Bigelow, Sofia Coppola, Gina Prince-Bythewood and Chloé Zhao.
TV and film directors lead the creative and technical production for cinema and television, they are very variable, employment is usually offered on a freelance or self-employed basis and the fees you command as a freelance director will vary considerably, depending on the size and scale of the project and the level of experience of the director.
The Editor edits the images as they are received from the set (rushes) (or lab, if the drama is being shot in celluloid). Editors may be working on scenes from the film's conclusion before its commencement because scenes aren't typically shot in the order that the story develops. They are very involved pre-production, editors work closely with the director to decide how to make the most of the script. Once filming starts, they look at the rushes each day, checking technical standards and the emerging sense of story and performance and editing it into a series of scenes. Editors have the role to be able doing to have a great skill in storytelling, understand how to use pictures, rhythm, pace and tension to tell a tale, and have an extreme good understanding of visual awareness, have a good eye, know what look fits the style of the film, and also being able to use programs like Adobe Premiere Pro and Sony Vegas, etc.
There is many sectors of edition. The First assistant editor, their primary task is to communicate with other departments, like production, camera and sound. There is Supervising sound editor were they are responsible for all sound on post production, and finally The dialogue/ADR editors have a close working relationship with the picture editors due to script changes and replacement dialogue with the actors. There are well-know Hollywood editors that have work on many blockbusters like Thelma Schoonmaker, Anne V. Coates, Verna Fields, Paul Hirsch and William Goldenberg.
Lighting technicians or a Gaffer works closley with the cinematographer, and they help to bring the scene to life with lighting. To understand the intended light effects and determine how to create them, they collaborate with the Cinematographer, they make a list of the equipment that will be required to realise the artistic concept and embark on reconnaissance missions to observe how the lighting will function on location. They have to be able to install lighting apparatus, assemble the necessary lighting and filtration equipment, check that everything is operational, and perform testing. Plot and arrange any necessary scaffolding and cranes, and make sure that all cables and wires are safely hidden before loading automated colour changing equipment.
at the rehearsals, verify the lighting's focussing. Operate, maintain, and adjust lighting between shots as needed while shooting, and programme and operate lighting consoles.
Salaries vary greatly depending upon the type of production and your level of experience. The average salary for employed lighting technicians is around £36,920 per year, but you may need to start on a lower salary in order to secure work and gain experience.
A film producer is a person who manages the making of movies, Producers plan and organise different parts of film production, such as choosing the script, organising writing, directing, editing, and securing funding, whether they are employed by a production company or working on their own. Producers will either choose and secure the rights to scripts, select and hire authors, or come up with plot ideas. A script is "optioned" in this manner. They choose the film's scope and budget and secure funding from financiers, studios, and distributors. They accept production costs and collaborate with director's creative ideas. The producer puts together a small creative team to assist in pitching the movie to studios and production companies. If a director hasn't already been chosen for the film, the producer searches for one with a group of writers and may approach a few well-known actors for the lead roles.
Also there are the executive producer is at the top of the producer food chain, as they control and often provide the film's funding. Learn more about what an executive producer does and how they relate to the other producers on a motion picture.
Font Creation
For the creation of the font we need to download a template from a font builder called Calligraphr that was offered us from our teacher by email, and also I got some font inspiration, I want to make font that is kind of silly and edgy with some occult symbol but still with bold letters.
I first opened up Adobe Illustrator, that I used previously to creator logos, and Adobe Illustrator is good for font because the letters come up vectors, and that helps the font not pixelate.
I uploaded the template on Illustrator, but it had box in the middle and I had to get rid of it
I used the Artboard tool so that I can put the box on the right size of the template.
I dragged the artboard on the right size of the template.
I meanly will use the blob pencil tool and and the line segment. The blob pencil tool will help me kind of drawing the fonts for the lower case letters and the line segment for the upper case where the design will get a bit more abstract.
I uploaded the fonts to caligrapher
Then just pressed build and now
Pre-Production
Pre-production is the process of organising and carrying out each activity that has to be done before production starts. The director, cinematographer, producers, first assistant director, production managers, production coordinators, and site scouts are typically involved once the script is finalised.
Budgets - A production budget is simply the agreed upon cost between a financier and a producer for the creation of a product. That product could be a fine-tailored suit, a chandelier; or in this case, a movie. The person in charge of the budge for a movie production by a line producer, unit production manager, or production accountant, and they have the responsibility to get along with a variety of people, contracts and expectations should be made explicit, everyone should be aware of what must be done and build a powerful team. There are tactics for cutting cost especially if the movie is low budget and or small crew. It's good to avoid filming on location in well-known or busy areas, Sunday morning, shoot the action scenes because is less traffic for a good car chase scene, instead of using well-known actors, it's better to use lesser-known ones, that are talented.
Call Sheet - Call Sheets distributed to your cast and crew prior to a day's shoot, and they provide each crew member with all the information they require, including location information, scenes to be shot, crew member phone numbers, times, necessary props or special effects, weather information, and more. Call sheets are usually deployed the night before a shoot, mainly because they need to be amended or updated at the last minute based on tasks accomplished that day. Nobody knows where to be, when to be there, or what to do without a call sheet. It unifies your whole crew under a single set of shooting instructions and provides them with all the necessary supporting information.
Risk Assessment - An evaluation of potential dangers for each scene and shooting site is done using a form called a film risk assessment. It's critical to take health and safety carefully when making movies. It involves taking effective precautions to keep people safe. A good risk assessment needs to able to identify the potential hazards, Who is at risk and how? and what action is necessary to reduce the risk.
Ideas of potential Documentary
The Fall Of Biggavelli
The first idea for a documentary I was thinking about talking about the downfall of the convicted New York rapper Max B or nickname Biggavelli. He was a rising rapper from the housing project of Harlem, an innovator by introducing the word "wavy and through affiliation with other well-know rappers of the scene of rap in Harlem like the Diplomats legend Jim Jones that resulted on a well documented feud and the top charting French Montana, and producer Dame Grease. Max B has a well-know history of getting in trouble with the police. He once served 8 years in prison for robbery, and also him being blackballed an act of shutting someone out of the music industry. So that and the feud with his close associate made him more distanced to music. The final straw was when he was sentenced to 7s years on conspiracy charges connected to armed robbery, kidnapping, aggravated assault and felony murder, but later reduced to 12 years and he is set to release this year 2023.
For this documentary I really want to focus on the legal problems and his personality. This me just trying to get more in-depht of Max B's mind, and
I'm thinking about getting people very close to him that explain more about his motives of his behaviour, or trying to arrange a prison visit that we can do and interview with him getting more insight of his personality, and getting more of him talking, explore his psyche, this can be great a character study movie like Taxi Driver that explores a mind of disfranchised man in the 70's New York City. I want to follow the rags to fall narrative. The because for this documentary don't want to make a happy high life - rags to riches story. I want this documentary be like the movie Dancer in the Dark where the movie starts off if the an depressing start but finishes really unfairly for the main character. I want to make a story of deception. Story that makes people think that he action are not the right ones, and people can find him sympathetic or find him a horrible person. I want to make a film that can get people to discuss. For the cinematography I want it blue-ish atmosphere that feels like winter and a wide cinematic screen, most of the scene will be recorded in New York City during the winter to give a more depressing tone, and get more stock footage of family, and most of the shoot will happen in the morning and using a 35 mm or Digital camera, using premiere pro to edit the film. They way that is going to be promoted with question that fist with the narrative 'Should He Be Free?', because the main goal of this documentary is to question who choose to idolize sympathise with because of most documentaries are really one sided and not explore the end of the argument.