Avant Garde Final

Resolution and Aspect Ratio determine the size and quality of the video. Aspect ratio is the ratio of the width of an image compared to the height. Resolution is the total number of pixels displayed in the image on the screen, and it is either progressive (p) or interlaced (i). Aspect ratio is important when resizing videos as to not avoid distorting them and Resolution is important because more or less resolution means more or less data and information, which would make a video higher or lower definition. For example this video was set in 1920x1080p (16:9) High definition. I think that we succeeded in this project at accurately depicting our story board and getting all of the camera techniques down like rack focus and in and out. I think I succeeded in the editing as well and making the film feel sad and kind of eery. I think we could have done better with some of the shots and just making them more technically good and more aesthetically pleasing to look at. Also some of the camera movements cold have been a bit better. Also I know some of our shots were not the right aspect ratio or resolution, so I would have liked to been able to fix that.

Montage Summary

Montage editing is film editing that is not necessarily in chronological order or in the same setting. It is film that transcends time to convey a new meaning and make film a unique language. Different visuals mixed around can draw different emotions and feelings from the audience, and that is the main goal of montage, in my eyes--to create feeling. Directors use different methods of montage like over-tonal montage, which includes the cutting of the shots or tempo, the rhythm of the action in a shot, and the tone of the shot, all of which create a new mood to the scene overall. There is also ideological montage, concerning the ideas in the shot rather than just the visual, and putting those ideas with opposing ideas to create something new.In other words, a thesis collides with an anti-thesis to create a synthesis. My clip from the pixar film "Up" uses montage in a more chronological way to show the course of the main character's life, and ultimately to explain why he lives the way he does in the rest of the movie. He is vey bitter, and this montage scene explains why with no dialogue needed. It also makes the explanation of his life much more artistic with the tempo of the music and the shots changing from a fast to a slow pace, and the rhythm of the action in each shot going from very energetic to much more calm and then even melancholy. This use of montage draws a sad reaction from the audience, and leaves them feeling sympathetic towards the character.

Resolution Map

Aperture Blog Post

1. 

• To create rack focus, you set the camera to a very low aperture, zoom in, and shift the focus of the video from the background to the foreground using manual focus or vice versa.
• It is used in film to transfer the focus from one person to another or to shift attention from one thing in a scene to something else.

2.

• To create in and out of focus, you start a scene completely out of focus, so using a larger aperture, and then slowly make it go into focus or vice versa.
• This is used in film to create confusion at first and then show understanding and also to set a scene by revealing where a scene is taking place and who is in it.

3.

• To create the bokeh effect, you again set a low aperture, zoom in, and make sure the lights in the photo are out of focus while the subject, if there is one, stays in focus. The low aperture and dark environment makes the lights blurry and interesting.
• Bokeh is primarily used as a cool effect in video to set a mood. It gives enchantment to a scene and sets time because it usually can only be achieved at night.

4.

German Expressionism Investigation

1.

1. Nosferatu

2. 

3. June 3, 1922

4. F. W. Murnau

5. Nosferatu has the strange angular movements of Shreck as Orlok that you see in expressionism frequently. This is expressionistic acting that is not so much non-naturalistic as non-human. In addition, the backdrops are reminiscent of the twisted abodes of other expressionist films, and are unconventional. There is very little set dressing and very little intentional stylization of backdrops. Murnau's wanted to demonstrate how the real world could be evocative of certain emotional vistas. So, he inverted the colors of the forest to make it appear spectral and he sped up the Count's carriage to make it fast and jerky. The website said, "For Murnau, the world itself is a chilling and terrifying place. It does not need artificially stylized painted backdrops to achieve this effect." This implies that Nosferatu was a dark film, and sort of a horror movie, which is also characteristic of German expressionism. 

6. Werner Herzog remade it in 1979 and called it Nosferatu the Vampyre

2.

1. Metropolis

2.




3. March 13, 1927

4. Fritz Lang

5. Metropolis had some of the most complex set and architectural techniques of its time. They were very elaborate and took a lot to pull off. It also was one of the first films to include a lot of extra actors in the film. There are a lot of rapid camera movements and cuts that give the film a chaotic, and kind of crazy feel to it. This is something seen often in German Expressionism that was kind of sparked by this film. In addition this film was focused on delving into socio-political issues like class, lust, and advancing technology.

6. There were no specific films mentioned, but Metropolis was said to have had an influence over Tim Burton's Batman movies, probably with the cityscapes, and Metropolis' influence can be seen in a lot of popular art.

3.

1. Pandora's Box

2.


3. December 1, 1929

4. Georg Wilhelm Pabst

5. Pandora's box can be seen as different from other and earlier forms of German expressionism, but it illustrates the central message of German expressionism, which is that realism should not be taken as a given. The film is more realistic by today's standards than most German expressionist films, but there are still many elements of German expressionism in it; for example, the message sent appeals more to the middle or lower class. It picks at society and teaches the viewer about the world around them. Also, the main character, Lulu, is definitely anti-heroic, as she kills a man and flees from her job. She is not saving anyone. 

Twilight Zone Chase Scene

• Reflect- Refer to your notes and answer how camera movements are used. What is the effect the movements have on the viewer?

I wanted to create a sort of chaotic and old fashioned feeling throughout the entire video, which is why I speeded almost all of our clips up, and used various cuts and camera movements to create that feeling and create more drama. We have two panning shots at the beginning and at the end that both give a new feeling to the scene overall. At the beginning, it changes the feeling of the shot by going from myself, who thinks they had a good show, and pans to Helena, who completely hated it to the point that she chases me and tried to kill me. This completely changes the mood of the video, taking it from kind of light to completely dark, even if it is slightly funny. Our dolly shot at the end is probably my favorite shot because even though the dolly didn't quite cooperate with us, it created a really cool and dramatic shot that showed the horror on my face, slowed the tempo of the film down a little and allowed for a gut punching (literally) ending. Our tilt shot at the end also slowed the scene down, and added a sense of confusion to the video. It was used to add drama and make the viewer feel a sense of urgency and horror at the end, and I put it there because it tied the film all together, and I wanted that create that sense of confusion and horror at the end, and add some humor by showing my face after i'd been stabbed. Our tracking shot basically moves with me and Helena, and created a stressful mood, added tension to the pursuit, showed where we were going, and sped the film up a little.

• How do filmmakers use Camera Angles to enhance their work?

The biggest way that camera angles help to enhance filmmakers' work is adding variety to a scene. If a film maker just used one angle for an entire scene, it would get quite boring, especially if it was a chase scene like we have been studying. They use camera angles to give different perspectives and create different moods in a film, kind of like camera movements do as well. For example, our canting scenes at the end create a lot of confusion and add to the chaos of the scene overall. I put them near the very end because that is the feeling I wanted the viewer to take from the video. Filmmakers use canting to show confusion a give a kind of urgent feel to the scene. In addition, we had multiple long shots in our film that gave a wider perspective on what was going on. In a long shot, more of the setting is shown, so it really shows you where the characters are and what is happening in the scene. In contrast, close-up scenes bring you more intimately into a scene and a character. It allows you to see the character's emotion, which in turn could set a new mood to a scene. Also, a point of view shot allows the viewer to actually step into the shoes of the character and see what they're seeing. Camera angles create different moods and add variety to a film that without it would make it be a very boring piece of work.

• Discuss successes & recommendations (if you were to complete the project again)

I really like the story that we created. I think it was funny and light, and our scene, like chase scenes in general, allowed for a chaotic tone, which I really like. I like how I edited the film a lot because we did have some shots that were shaky and a little unprofessionally done, which I know is not something we want in this project; however, the way I edited the film kind of hid that, and made those messy shots work within the film. I sped everything up almost like an old silent film, and added a very chaotic, messy and dark soundtrack that really doesn't sound great and is kind of confusing, but it's the feeling I wanted to draw from the film. I added little snippets of Helena talking as flashbacks throughout the film to almost make it expressionist or avant garde, add more chaos, and also to get smoother transitions and to speed up the tempo of the film a bit. What I would do over is definitely those shots that were shaky or blurry, and I want to film in more locations and have some more shots to work with. There is a lot in here that needed improvement, but I think I did a good job masking these flaws in my final product above.

Metropolis Background Notes

Major Artists:

Director: Fritz Lang
Producer: Erich Pommer
Production Companies: Universum Film A.G. (UFA), Berlin
Screenplay: Thea von Harbou, Fritz Lang (based on the 1926 novel by Thea von Harbou)
Cinematographer: Karl Freund, Günther Rittau  (Assistants: Robert Baberske, H.O. Schulze)
Editor: Fritz Lang
Music Score: Gottfried Huppertz
Art Director: Otto Hunte, Erich Kettelhut, Karl Vollbrecht
Set Designer: Edgar G. Ulmer, Walter Schulze-Mittendorf
Costumes: Aenne Willkomm
Make-Up: Otto Genath
Assistant Directors: Slatan Dudow
Special Effects: Ernst Kunstmann, Eugen Schüfftan, Konstantin Irmen-Tschet, Erich Kettelhut, Günther Rittau, H.O. Schulze, Helmer Lerski,
Cast: Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich, Heinrich George, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Theodor Loos, Fritz Rasp, Erwin Biswanger, Olaf Storm, Hanns Leo Reich, Heinrich Gotho, Margarete Lanner, Max Dietze, Georg John.

Visual: 

Metropolis movie poster clip


Photo of Gustav Fröhlich


Photo of Brigitte Helm



Audio: 

The film Metropolis (1927), directed by Fritz Lang, is generally considered the first great science-fiction film. It was produced by Erich Pommer, and written by Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou, as it was based off of her 1926 novel. Other important crew members include cinematographers, Karl Freund, and Günther Rittau; art directors,  Otto Hunte, Erich Kettelhut, and Karl Vollbrecht; set designers, Edgar G. Ulmer, and Walter Schulze-Mittendorf;  Aenne Willkomm, Otto Genath, Slatan Dudow, Ernst Kunstmann, Eugen Schüfftan, Konstantin Irmen-Tschet, Erich Kettelhut, H.O. Schulze, and Helmer Lerski.

The film stars Alfred Abel as Joh Fredersen, Gustav Fröhlich as Freder, and Brigitte Helm as Maria and the machine man. In addition, the actors Heinrich George, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Theodor Loos, Fritz Rasp, Erwin Biswanger, Olaf Storm, Hanns Leo Reich, Heinrich Gotho, Margarete Lanner, Max Dietze, and Georg John can all be seen in the film.

Watch For:
Visual:

 Visual of the drab worker's city

Visual of the luxurious, upper class garden

Picture demonstrating the Schufftan process

video clip of the dance scene

Audio:

• Watch for compositional and visual techniques that contribute to the narrative aspect of the story. One of the more common bad critiques of this film is in the story itself, but Lang creates more meaning and depth to it in the mise-en-scene.  Every scene is meticulously thought out to demonstrate an idea, particularly class conflict and man's fascination, but enslavement to machine. Lang stages every scene with the workers living in a city under the earth where all the buildings are colorless and all look the same, as the workers do too. In contrast, when he goes above ground to the upper class, there is no sign of this. There is luxury and beauty, and almost nothing looks drab or too consistent, showing how the upper class are unaware of the mundanity and misery below their feet.
• Watch for the Schufftan process, which is a form of compositing miniature sets into the full-scale shot using mirrors. This process was used by Lang to create a sense of vast scales without having to create even larger sets. The lower floors of the buildings in the "worker’s city", for example, were constructed full-scale in one of the film’s massize sets. The upper floors were mirror image models. Lang used this technique to create a sense of depth in his shots, creating stunning visuals. 
• Watch for a the feeling of chaos and confusion created in the movie, especially during Maria's dance scene. The strange editing done in this scene along with quick cuts from her dancing to the men gawking to Freder, sick in bed, convey a sense of urgency that leaves the viewer slightly dismayed. The scene is kind of comical to anyone watching because it doesn't really make a lot of sense with the abstract imagery that's portrayed in it. But, Lang obviously wanted to create confusion and chaos. He wanted to make the viewer feel that way to get his point across. It starts off slow, with the men waiting for the show to start, then builds and builds until Maria is going wild on stage and the men are going crazy for her, ensuing the chaos that is to come unto the city. 

Critical Essays:

1. Eisner, Lotte H. "The Haunted Screen; Expressionism in the German Cinema and the Influence of      Max Reinhardt." Berkeley: U of California, 1969. Print.

2. Randolph Bartlett, "German Film Revision Upheld as Needed Here," The New York Times 
    (March 13, 1927).

Web Sources:

• http://www.celtoslavica.de/chiaroscuro/films/metropolis/metro.html

• http://unaffiliatedcritic.com/2013/02/metropolis-1927-independent-study-in-world-cinema/

• http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-metropolis-1927

• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0017136/

• http://film110.pbworks.com/w/page/12610202/Expressionist%20mise-en%20scene%20in%20Metropolis
• http://metropolisvixfx.blogspot.com/2007/10/schufftan-process.html