WELCOME digital filmmakers to your new home! Here is a place for you to download awesome material for your epic projects.
We upload weekly lecture notes for you, as well as other useful documents for your filmmaking needs. Check the GOODIES box on the top right hand corner regularly to grab course material from us.
Posted by Patrick
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Thursday, December 23, 2010
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Dear All,
Since it's Christmas, I am giving you a list of best Christmas movies.Just in case you and your family want to watch some great movie on Christmas' Eve.
Elf
Miracle on 34th Street
Nightmare before Christmas
Home Alone 1 & 2
The Polar Express
The Christmas Carol Die Hard (Trust me, the 1st one took place during Christmas...celebrated with bullets and blood.)
Anyway, I wish ya all a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year.
Posted by Steven the JackaL
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Saturday, December 11, 2010
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Name: Reign of Assassin
Producer: John Woo, Terence Chang
Director: Su Cho-pin
Review:
An assassin organization was chasing after a mummified body of a legendary monk, which was rumored to possess the power of regeneration. One of the assassins took the body and run away from the organization. After slain her beloved man, she determined to change her identity and start a new life, but fate was never shaken away that easily…
Narrative:
Linear with flash backs of memories.
Theme:
The major themes of the movie are people’s greed, fate, love, changes, and assassin’s pitiful life.
Motif:
Greed: the body of the monk.
Fate: people that the protagonist encountered, the unchangeable truth of her identity as an assassin, philosophy of Buddhism.
Love: rain and tea house.
Changes: the surgery the protagonist took.
Pitiful life of assassins: life of magician and noodle maker, swords and sword skills.
Deep Level:
Reveals the greediness of man and the desire of making change in their life, yet the fate is not up to us to determine. The past will always come up to you if you don’t have all your affinity cut off.
Posted by Patrick
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Friday, December 10, 2010
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In week 5, we made this little practice about how to film a two-person dialogue. It's brief but we enjoyed making it. This clip is filmed by Digital Filmmaking B Class, directed by Ron and edited by Patrick.
This is the first time we worked as a team to shoot a scene.
This is for preparation for you 4 Hour Movie Challenge which is next week, and for your own major films.
Just a reminder that you must BOOK with Kevin (IT guy) for camera/boom/tripod/reflector hiring. You have been trained to use these equipment, so please don't break anything!!!
I'll also post up vids on making home-made equipment too, and check the GOODIES box for the film goodies PDF which tells you what equipment you should get for your films.
Posted by cindy
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Tuesday, December 7, 2010
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We have no access to AV editing, as posted on JIVI. Would be possible to upload the movies on medialab, so we can start working on our assignments, please? Thanks!
Inception is a film written, directed and produced by Christopher Nolan, which portrays the trials and tribulations of a “corporate espionage” spy. Set in a contemporary time, it possesses great cinematography and complex themes and concepts.
There are two worlds which are portrayed by Nolan, exploring the “real” world versus the complications of the “surreal”, where in this case is signified by the dream state. There are various motifs used throughout the film which create clear depictions as to which state the scene is portraying.
The first scene sets this surrealistic emphasis of the film, creating an eerie surreal aspect through the use of an echoed soundtrack of the kid’s voices in the background. Further use of a dissonant ambient soundtrack is also used all throughout the film, creating this sense of surrealism and ascertaining to a sense of urgency as time is slowed and further complication within a situation is comprehended. This distorted and dissonant soundtrack used as a motif to portray a current surreal state or setting. A sense of mystery is also created, with the use of a long shot of the kid’s from behind, emphasising a notion of questioning.
Contrast between transposing scenes are also used to create this notion of surrealism the director is trying to explore. There are major differences between the transitions of scenes, an example being the dissimilarity between the scenes where there seemed to be a peaceful high class dinner party, presented with a mixture of colonial-imperial Chinese theme, juxtaposed to a South American revolutionary movement shown within an a rundown apartment building with prevalent anarchy within the background. This juxtaposition and contrast between scenes also creates for a faster paced progression of the film.
There are also motifs used to differentiate current states of surrealism and reality.“Totems” are key items of symbolism, which create the inclinations between the setting of the scene, signifying if it is within a dream state or the real world.
Posted by killumibebe
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Sunday, December 5, 2010
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This is one of my favourite films of all time. I recently went back and watched it after a few months of not watching it, and I still love it. The movie is based around the Hoover family, who take a road trip from Albuquerque to the Little Miss Sunshine pageant in Redondo Beach, California, where they plan on taking their 7 year-old daughter, Olive. During the road trip, the family are met with many obstacles which the family must deal with. The family have to learn how to overcome much heartbreak, a broken-down VW bus, and ultimately death, leading up to the surreal Little Miss Sunshine competition itself. On this 2 day road trip, the Hoover family learns how important family is and also how to trust and support each other in any circumstances.
The film uses mainly natural colours to portray a more comfortable feeling to the film. The film is very colourful and the film uses colours to show the personalities of each character. For example yellow for the VW bus, green/blue for the mother, white for the uncle, black/white for the son, pink/red for the daughter, very vibrant colours for the grandpa, but the dad is always in different varieties of business shirts.
Each person has a very different personality. The grandpa, played by Alan Arkin, is very colourful and full of energy while he is the oldest, he acts like an out of control teenager. The father, Richard played by Greg Kinnear, is very stubborn and is a failed businessman and acts upon his winner/loser theory which does not get him anywhere. The son, Dwayne played by Paul Dano, is very determined to become a fighter pilot, to the point that he takes a vow to not speak for 9 months. The daughter, Olive played by Abigail Breslin, is still a very innocent ordinary little girl who is still chasing her dreams. The uncle, Frank played by Steve Carrell, is recovering from a suicide due to heartbreak in a gay relationship. The mother, Sheryl played by Toni Collette, plays a woman with a weak will which we can see from her deciding to quit cigarettes and not being able to. I feel that the actors/actresses all did an amazing job in bringing the characters to life. For example, in one of the scenes that I will always remember is when Dwayne says “Do what you love and fuck the rest”, this not only shows his personality and was also a dramatic point in the movie.
"Eat Pray Love" is a movie about a New York writer who takes some time off and spends a year traveling after her divorce. She goes to the three "I's:" Italy (to eat), India (to pray), and finally to Indonesia (where she finds love). Based on the book of same name by Liz Gilbert, I would say the movie lacks the emotions which readers of the book experience.
In the movie, Liz Gilbert, the protagonist, seems much more a selfish person than in the book. While in the book we can sort of understand and "see" her suffering and unhappiness before divorce, in the movie we only see a selfish woman who seems unhappy for apparently no reason.
Regarding "mis-en-scene," the places were well chosen to represent the countries Liz Gilbert goes, such as Naples and the pizza place in Italy, as well as the gorgeous places in Bali.
As most of the time, in my opinion , books are better than the movie version Eat Pray Love is not an exception. Although I still recommend the movie.
PS: I am curious to see if there will be a movie also of the following book "Committed" - her life after Bali with the new love
This week, we pretty much covered what storyboarding is, how to storyboard, and also practiced how to storyboard a script.
Just a note: We have looked through all the storyboards for the competition, and we have decided on the 3 winners for each Digital Filmmaking class.
... But you will find out in your next class. Bwahaha.
Congratulations on the winners, and we will post up the winning storyboards soon.
DON'T FORGET IF YOUR PROPOSALS ARE SENT LATE, THEN THAT IS VERY BAD. (In other words, you will lose a chance to get full marks for subject participation.)
We are very happy with the proposals so far, can't wait till we approve all of them so you can all start your scripting and storyboarding for your major film.
And thanks again for uploading your Baraka vids to the blog.. Even when it was taking 5 years of upload time. Thanks for the patience!
Posted by dr.dray
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Saturday, November 20, 2010
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Don't forget to email either Dray or Patrick your proposal!
Proposal:
A short paragraph/document detailing your story idea.
After we approve your story, you are then able to start working on your script & storyboard.
REMEMBER: The earlier you get an approval on your story, the earlier you start filming. (yay!)
If you fail to send an email to your captains, then you will be asked to PITCH your story idea to the whole class. So, we think its much easier and relaxing for you to just email us soon.
Can't wait to read your ideas!
- Cpt Dray & Cpt Patrick
PS: If we like it - then we are gonna put a ring on it.
So.. This week we went through idea development and the seven C's of story elements.
The Seven C's are:
Character Conflict Conduct Conditions
Context Crutch Configuration
Then we also went through some rules in class that you SHOULD consider for your short film. Again (for revision) these are:
Rule #1: Structure yourself around your item. Rule #2: A flawed protagonist is more compelling than a perfect protagonist. Rule #3: Have a strong BUT. Rule #4: Show, don't tell. Rule #5: Start late. Rule #6: 1 screenplay page = 1 minute of screen time. Rule #7: Make it shorter. Rule #8: Good writing is good rewriting. Rule #9: Read it aloud.
Then during our screenplay activity, we read a scene from Full Metal Jacket and acted it out, and hopefully next week we will do the same with the storyboard activity. Yay =]
Also the final rule for idea development:
Rule #10: Negative feedback is constructive feedback.
This means, if you show us your proposal and we tell you that you should change something or make it better... Think of it as help - We aren't telling you that it sucks. This is why we want you guys to send us proposals soon (Actually, ASAP) so we can give you feedback early on and you can focus on making your story better.
See you guys next week! Don't forget to attend tutorial because you will have your Assignment 1 briefing then.
Patrick is a film-maker who will currently specialise in teaching film related subjects at AIT. His Masters Degree, from the University of Sydney, was in Film and Digital Images. He also studied in Los Angeles at the NY Film Academy. His film Wakefield has been shown at a number of international film festivals.
Dray Svoboda
dray.svoboda@ait.nsw.edu.au Dray is currently finishing her Masters Degree in Interactive and Digital Media at University of Sydney (Sydney College of the Arts). This is her third trimester teaching at AIT and she has specialised in film studies here (Digital Film and Intro to Cinema) - she has an encyclopaedic knowledge of films.
Dr Adrian Bennett
adrian.bennett@ait.nsw.edu.au Dr Bennett's main task at AIT is the role of Dean of Studies, although he does teach in some subjects. His PhD (in Cultural Studies) was completed at Canterbury University and also at Georgetown University in Washington DC. His Masters Degree (specialising in New Media) was in Communications Studies.
