Baby Driver Day 3

Today in class we started off by having Mr. Rivers give us our final notecards for the last day of watching Baby Driver. We were required to take a scene and analyze it based off of what type of scene cuts were in the film. After this we left off from where we stopped the movie on Thursday and finished the rest of the movie. In today’s part of the movie Baby runs from the cops after the bank robbery was failed. Baby runs through the mall from the cops and tries to find a change of clothes. Eventually he goes into a store and steals clothes to disguise himself from the police. Baby then steals a car from a lady, and as he is driving away he gives the lady her purse back. This is important because it signifies that Baby is not one of the other men that he was committing the robbery with. Throughout the film Baby is shown hesitating whenever someone else was about to be killed or was getting killed. Baby’s childhood was haunted by his parents dying in a car accident and this is evident throughout the movie. By the end of the movie all of Baby’s crew members were killed, but it seemed like Baby got away with his girlfriend. Baby and his girlfriend end up driving out of the state but end up getting stopped at a bridge by the police. After this Baby is arrested and is sentenced to 25 years in jail. We can see the love connection between the two and how upset Debby was when this happened. Overall I thought this movie was very good and was packed with action filled scenes. After the fim was over we voted on what we thought on the movie. I voted that the movie was GOOD GOOD because it had such a good plot.

Friday March 29 - Final Day of Baby Driver

Today, Friday March 29th, we finished watching the film "Baby Driver". Before Mr. Rivers started the film from where we left off, he handed out the last of our note cards that we had to fill out during the movie. We also reviewed all of the grades that have been due in the marking period and Mr Rivers reminded us to make sure to have all of our work in. We then began the film where we left off and it was right before where Bats dies after baby drives into the back of a truck, killing him. After this, Baby is forced to run from the cops and heads into the mall to avoid them. Baby takes different clothes from the mall to be disguised. He then ran out of the mall and stole a car from a lady. Baby took the ladies car and gave her the purse she left in there. He also apologized to her and this showed Baby's good side. He is a very good person and this is shown throughout the film. Some examples of this is that he takes care of Joseph, the deaf black man who lived with Baby in his apartment. Baby had a very rough childhood and got himself into a very bad situation with crime in order to make money. Once he got himself into this situation, he could not get out. Regardless, Baby is a good person inside and means well. Later in the movie, Baby and the couple who were a part of the job get into a shootout in the parking lot resulting in Buddy's wife being killed. Buddy is very angry about this and later attempts to kill Baby and Debora. After all of this, Baby somehow manages to escape the cops and gets back to his apartment to save Joseph. He brings Joseph to a home so he is safe and he then goes to meet Doc to get his tapes back. As they go down into the garage, another shootout breaks out and Doc kills everyone until Buddy pull up in a cop car. Doc believes it is the cops but Baby knows its Buddy. Doc gets killed after he gets run over and Baby and Buddy then go through a long fight where they are driving around the garage in a very well made action scene. Baby avoids Buddy and manages to drive into the cop car and force it off the building they were in. Buddy left the car but Baby does not know this and the next thing he knows, Buddy has a gun to Baby's head. He takes two shots on each side of his head that makes Baby's hearing impaired. Debora, who was waiting in the car, comes out and hits the gun out of Buddy's hand. Buddy then falls off the building and Baby and Debora drive away. Debora is then driving and when Baby wakes up, he can see a wall of cop cars in front of him. He surrenders and turns himself in. During the court scene for Baby's sentence, he is talked about by several people who all say something very similar. This is that he is a very good person who means well and just managed to get caught in a bad situation. Baby is sentenced 25 years in prison but the last scene really does show good insight to who Baby really is, a great person who was traumatized by an accident as a kid and just got caught up with the wrong people. After the film ended, Mr. Rivers asked us to fill out a Be Reel poll on classroom for Baby Driver. Everyone voted for Good, Good and rightfully so as this film was very enjoyable and very well put together. I hope this can help anyone who was absent Friday.

Baby Driver Day 4

Today in class we continued to watch Baby Driver, directed by Edgar Wright. We resumed the movie with Baby preparing for his next job with the best criminals from the last heists, Bats, Darling, and Buddy. They all go to a warehouse where they met with some of Doc's guys to buy weapons. When Bats became suspicion of the men being the police because of a LAPD marking on the weapons create. He then proceeds to shoot the dealer and his men. They get into a gunfight and Baby takes cover. After darling get skimmed on the arm by a bullet, they all make it out of the gunfight alive. On their drive back to headquarters, Bats proclaimed that he was hungry and told Baby to stop at a diner in the distance, but Baby refused and they go there anyway. When they arrive, Baby sees Deborah but avoids eye contact. Baby also does not talk when she is taking their drinks and when she brought them, Bats asked why Baby wouldn't want to go to this diner. She tells him to fill out a suggestion slip which must have pissed Bats off because he goes to pull out his gun when she walks away but baby grabs the gun and convinces him not to do it. He puts the gun away and they all leave except Baby, who pays for the bill and gave Deborah a napkin that read "Road trip 2 AM".

When the get back to headquarters, Doc is extremely pissed off and tries to cancel the heist because they killed cops that were on his side. Bats persuades him to still do it but before he decided, he made Baby make the final decision which enhanced his character. He also told them that they must stay there because they are wanted. After everyone fell asleep, Baby tries to sneak out at 3 AM but he was not quick enough because Buddy blocked his car from leaving. Bats also gets in the car and they ask why he was leaving and he told them he was getting coffee. Bats then shows him that he found his recorder which has been recording their conversations to make beats. He tries to explain this but they don't believe him and knock him out. He then wakes up back in the headquarters with all of his mix tapes on the table. There is comedic relief when a tape is played and is a song. The next morning they wake up and get in a van and head to the post office. After they run in the post office, Baby stays in the car and sees the bank teller that he met the first time, and proceeds to shake his head to warn her. She fast-walks away and comes back with a security guard. As he knocks on the window, the rest of the group run out and Bats shoots the security guard and they all get in the car. After looking at the bank teller again, baby does not move the car and they all start to scream at him. Baby then drives strait into the truck in front of them and kills Bats. This is when the period ends and we gave Mr. Rivers our third note card about jump cuts. There were many J cuts and cutting on action examples in what we watched today. Pick your MP3 blog dates!

Baby Driver and Match Cuts

Today in class we continued watching the film Baby Driver, so we could analyze the different types of scene cuts throughout the film. One cut I analyzed today was during a shooting scene, where the director decided to use jump cuts to intensify the scene. For example, when Baby was entering the Butcher House and the two sides started shooting at each other, which then caused jump cuts to be added in. I talked about this on my notecard that we were required to finish by the end of class today. Also in the beginning of the class we talked about the most important parts of a match cut. The first component we looked at was Audio, then character placement, followed by dominant features, and then finally video. We then watched the Mission Impossible trailer, we did this to see how the director set up the trailer to be in sync with the music’s beat in the background. Mr. Rivers wanted to show us this because later on in class we saw the same example in Baby Driver. In tomorrow’s class we are continuing watching the film Baby Driver to keep learning about the different types of cuts in the movie.

Baby Driver day 3

Today in class we started off by talking about ¨what matches in a match cut¨ We said...

Audio- Audio
Character placement
Dominant features
Video- Audio

These are all examples of how a match cut is performed.
We then watched the new mission impossible trailer and talked about all the match cuts that were in the trailer and also all different types of cuts that were in the trailer...
The main point of this was to show us at one point in the trailer the music is in rythem with what is happening in the film and in baby driver today there was a scene where that happens.

Speaking of baby driver this was our third day watching baby driver
We now get to know a little more about the gang characters, they go to pick up weapons in a sketchy warehouse and Jami fox notices that they are cops and without hesitation just starts shooting all of the cops and they get into a gun fight where the music if in contact with the shooting of guns... They all make it out alive and get the guns and go, they then go to the diner where Debra is working and he cant speak to her cause he did not want to put her in danger with Jami fox character being a pyhsco and all, So they then go back to their drawing room and their boss is pissed and calls the heist off they are all upset and talk him into doing it anyway. They wake up and get ready to rob the post office Baby is waiting for them to get back the cops are right behind them and Jami fox gets in the car and Baby send the car right through a medal rod killing Jami fox. they all jump out of the car and start running.
We stopped cause the bell rung right there.

3/28/19 Match Cuts and Baby Driver

Today in class we opened with some mission impossible theme music, along with a discussion about match cuts.
Rivers asking, what can match in a match cut?

• Class examples
• Composition 1 -----> Composition 2
• Audio 1 -----> Audio 2
• Action 1-----> Audio 2

Following that, we started watching the trailer mission impossible fallout and were told to talk about the match cuts in that sequence.

• Visual blood drop -----> explosion
• Fighting scenes and bullets match beat drops, the music builds excitement.

After that, we continued are viewing of ¨Baby Driver¨, In which we see a lot of development from Baby. He keeps getting thrown into violence that he doesn't want, and he is starting to say no. His resentment goes as far a Baby even killing a co-worker. We can notice Baby become more rebellious and start to become more of a man.

 This section of the film was full of different types of cuts, highlighting match cuts.

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Daily Blog #2 ~ The 2nd Day of "Baby Driver"

At the beginning of class today, Mr. Rivers began a discussion about our first notecards on Baby Driver that we all handed in yesterday. First off, Mr. Rivers said that our notecards were, for the most part, excellent but there were still some things that we all could improve on. Specifically, Rivers said we (as a class) needed to improve on our precision (how detailed we are in describing a scene while also remaining specific) and our thoroughness (basically how much of the question we've answered). Afterwards, Mr. Rivers brought up a PDF of some exemplary notecards from yesterday that we then reviewed in our groups with the goal of finding not only the best one but also examples of precision and thoroughness. After a couple of minutes, Rivers called our attention back to the front of the classroom and we discussed as a class what examples we had selected in our groups. Specifically, the two notecards that came up the most were Kirsten's and Delia's as Kirsten's was very detailed while also being extremely specific (precision) and Delia's was very well organized and answered every part of the question she chose very well (thoroughness). Afterwards, we resumed from where we had left off in Baby Driver (the Mike Myers Heist scene). Today's class, although it may seem as a very abstract conversation that pertains primarily to Film as Literature and English, connects very well to the real world. The ability to write a essay or document and be detailed as well as specific while also being thorough in your answer and analysis of the question or subject posed is an exceptionally important and useful skill that everyone will need at one point or another in their lives. Whether that be during a college English or Film Analysis class, or for some form of report for a future job, one needs to be able to fully convey and describe their response to their boss or teacher while also remaining clear and concise.

Baby Driver/Note card

Today in class we started off by talking about our note cards from the day before
Some of the things that can be put on the card are Editing techniques which identify an edits choice. 
Also you can talk about Genre and how the plot of the movie effects that.
Also in this movie music is a big part of the movie so something else you can put on the note card is editing and music choice.

Then we watched the movie
We started off in the scene where he robs the bank truck with Jami fox, it goes wrong and somebody dies and you can tell Baby does not like to see that by his facial expression... then this what looks to be ex solider starts chasing him and he is not giving up Baby finally gets rid of him and they have to switch cars one of the gang members leaves his gun behind, and they just let if go and go switch cars again, the guy who left the gun ends up dead...
Baby then does his last job and got really into seeing Deborah the girl from the diner, he becomes really close with her and one night when they are out to eat his gang boss calls him over and tells him that he is not done driving for him and he gets dragged right back in. they get a new crew and they are ready to start a new heist.
That is where we left off.

Second day of Baby Driver!!!

Welcome back to Film as Literature! Today in class we began by looking at some students notecards from yesterday. For my notecards I analyzed which kinds of cuts were used in the movie and talked about how they affect the tone of the film. These cards aren't supposed to be big paragraphs, just a few sentences. A particularly good note card was Hunter’s. He talked about how the cuts on action reaffirm the fact that the movie is an action movie. When doing this he is both precise and thorough. We then continued to watch the movie Baby Driver that we started on Tuesday. For my card, I talked about the frequent use of cutting on action featured in the heist scene. This cutting on action accentuates the action aspect of the film while also adding tension because the audience doesn't know if Baby will survive. In the film, Baby pulled off his final heist but due to the fact that he saw someone die, he became very uncomfortable. He then went to the diner to see the waitress he likes. He left with her to go to the laundromat and they talked about their lives. They then set up a date to go out for dinner in a few days. Baby got a real job as a pizza delivery driver so he could make legitimate money. Baby and Debora went on their date but while at the restaurant Baby's old boss showed up. He offered Baby another job but when he tried to refuse, his old boss threatened to hurt him and his loved ones. Baby called Debra and asked if she wanted to run away with him so he could escape his past and she agreed. The gang gathered for the heist with Baby's true intentions still unknown but the period ended. We will continue the movie tomorrow.

The Editing in “Baby Driver”

Today in class we started a new film and new activity. After briefly reviewing editing techniques, an activity was discussed during class. This would be the notecard activity which was previously mentioned on classroom. For each day of watching film in class a note card should be turned in by the end of class. The options for what a student should fill out on the notecard are as follows:

• Option A (Editing technique or editing choice): Identify an editing choice (cut or transition). What does it DO (Logic? Continuity? Tone? Genre? Practicality?)
• Option B (Genre):
• Option C (Editing, music, and diegetic vs non diegetic audio): This film often blurs the lines between diegetic and non-diegetic audio. Select a moment where this happens-- what ARGUMENT(s) does it make about music?

Students should write A, B, or C to indicate what choice they made for that day’s notecard. Class notes may be helpful as reference, however students should focus mainly on viewing the film.

The film that we are viewing is “Baby Driver.” This is because of the editing techniques the film employs which got it nominated for an award. Thus far, we haven’t gotten too far in the film but were introduced to the central characters. The main character is nicknamed “Baby” which has to do with the fact he doesn’t really speak. The film starts with him being a getaway driver for three bank robbers, listening to music the entire time. When back at their base the one man tries to harass Baby, but he more or less doesn’t care. People question if he is mentally handicapped, but this is denied.

In Baby’s personal life, he lives with a deaf man and remixes people’s comments, which he records constantly, in his spare time. It was explained his obsession with music has something to do with his parents’ death caused by a car crash which he witnessed when he was little. It supposedly distracts him. Other than this, a potential love interest was introduced when he went into a diner and was head over heels when he heard her singing. She will probably be significant later on. Currently, Baby has just finished another job successfully, and that’s about where the class left off.

Watching this film and observing editing techniques will potentially be good for a future project in class, since it will work as s good example. This also further expands our understanding of film when we watch it in the future, since a lot of the time cuts and editing techniques can go largely unnoticed and underappreciated.

3/26/19 Baby Driver and Film Cuts

Today in class, Mr.River began by giving us note cards. We were told to answer one of the three questions displayed below every day forth until the movie finished
A) EDITING TECHNIQUE/CHOICE: Identify an editing choice (cut or transition). What does it DO (Logic? Continuity? Tone? Genre? Practicality?)
B) GENRE: How does editing (assembly) make this film a (INSERT GENRE HERE)? (GENRES: COMEDY, ROMANCE, ACTION, MUSICAL, ???) 
C) EDITING & MUSIC: This film often blurs the lines between diegetic and non-diegetic audio. Select a moment where this happens-- what ARGUMENT(s) does it make about music?

With that, we began the film ¨Baby Driver¨ staring Ansel Elgort. The film started off with Ansel(Baby), we seem to be the driver for a group of people looking to perform a heist. We don't know why Baby is doing this but he seems uncomfortable, drowning everything out with music. As Baby waits we realize that he really like music, grooving in his car to old school funk music. He seems very meticulous when it comes to music and feels a connection towards anyone who likes music.

Once the heist is complete, Baby and his goons speed off in a suped-up Subaru, which turns into one of the coolest car chases I've ever seen. Baby clearly has the insane driving capability when it comes to cars. After they evade the cops, we learn that Baby is only doing the heists because he stole someone car and h is doing the heists to pay him back. We also learn that Babys driving abilities to spawn from a tragic car crash when he was little, which gave him ringing ears(hence all the music). Near the end of the section, we learn that Baby secretly records people when they talk to him and turns there voice into music tracks(I think this is so he can hear the person without the ringing), which he stores and seems to have hundreds of.

Try and hand in your notecards by the end of class, if not it's ok, hand it in at the beginning of class tomorrow.
If you miss the film, talk to Mr.Rivers about a makeup viewing.

3/25 blog

Today was March 25th 2019 and today we started off class by reviewing transitions in editing which are:

• Cutting on action
• Cutaway
• Cross-cutting
• Jump cuts
• Match cut

• Fade out
• Dissolve
• Smash cut
• Iris
• Wipes
• Invisible cuts
• L-cut
• j-cut

These are used in movies to create dramatic transitions which furthers the plot and combines scenes. After we talked about transitions Mr. Rivers told us we had 6 minutes to watch a movie clip and to find a transition in the clip. However, the alarm went off and we had to go outside the school for a fire drill. We proceeded to walk down the steps and out the doors in the stairwell. We were outside for a few minute until the drill was over and then we went back inside. Then we picked up where we left and watched a clip and found a transition. We came back as a class and started watching some of the clips and the first one we watched was Harry potter the goblet of fire. We analyzed it as a class and found transitions such as j-cut and L-cut. Then we watched the intro to la la land where we found a smash cut and we watched now you see me where we found another smash cut. Then to end off the class, Mr.Rivers gave the good news of we are starting a new movie tomorrow.

We can relate this to the real world because we see transitions whenever we watch tv, movies, youtube, ads, etc. Transitions serve a multitude of purposes and without these transitions all these different kinds of film would be left lackluster. Also we learned the safety precautions the school takes in case of a fire. Now I can properly escape a building when there is a fire and that was today’s class!!!

Glossary of Cuts and Transitions

So Mr. Rivers started class today by showing a video. It gave the illusion that the character holding the camera was running a long distance next to a really long mirror, but in reality, it was just the way that it was edited and filmed. Here is the link to the YouTube video( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zsyl9eOUot8 ) (It's not blocked)

Mr. Rivers wanted us to define continuity and assembly that we found in the video. Assemble is the organization of choices or effects. Continuity means to continue - gives the illusion that some things are happening at the same time.

Assembly based on the video - illusion of reality
Continuity - background/location
NO CONTINUITY ON THE CLOTHES

The choices by the director, such as the shot framing, has an effect of long distance, where the shot angle has a illusion of continuity

Choices                                       Effect
Shot Framing --->                      Long Distance
Shot Angle ---->                        Continuity


Mr. Rivers then explained that on Google Classroom, under the assignment, Assembly with Alfred, there is a link to an article. I'll post the link here anyway:( https://nofilmschool.com/2016/03/rocket-jump-film-cuts-and-types-transitions-editing )

Make sure to write down the following into your notes, or copy and paste the Glossary of Cuts an the Glossary of Transitions (they are in the article)

Glossary of Cuts:
Cutting in action - cutting while there is movement on the screen
Cutaway - cutting to an insert shot & then back
Cross Cutting - back & fourth between locations, (for example, a phone call)
Jump Cuts - disjointed edits in the same shot or action
Match Cut - cut from one shot to a similar shot by either matching the action or composition

Glossary of Transitions:
Fade In/ Out - to/from black
Dissolve - blend shots
Smash Cut - abrupt transition
Iris - old fashioned; circle that opens and closes in camera
Wipes - screen wipes from one side to the other
Invisible Cuts - impression of a single take
L Cut - audio transition
J Cut - audio of the next scene starts before you get to it

It is also very important that you watch the video on the article:  https://nofilmschool.com/2016/03/rocket-jump-film-cuts-and-types-transitions-editing

It will help you to better understand the new vocabulary!

There is a new post on classroom called "Post your film clip here!" The assignment was to get into pairs or in a group of three, and find a movie clip, trailer or music video that uses different types of transitions and cuts. That is what we did for the rest of class.

Pies=Great Transitions

Today the class began with analyzing the new trend "Naruto Mirror Challenge" where kids use a single mirror to create a funny run. The reason for studying this trend is that they use shot framing to assemble multiple different shots, and continuity (or lack thereof) to create the tone. After watching and discussing these choices and effects, we continued notes on film editing, spending the majority of class analyzing specific vocab/terms.

These terms came from the article "Don't Know a Cutaway from a Cross-Cut?This Video Breaks Down Edit Speak", which provides both a video and a list of terms. Make sure you copy and paste this list into your class notes, for these are the terms we need to know for this weekend's assignment. The video breaks down each of these terms, talking about where they are in films and their purpose. After discussing all the types of cuts and transitions, it went a step farther and talked about creative combinations of each. For example, the film The Graduate used a match cut into j-cut to bring the audience to three different places while having a flow.

The class was then given the weekend assignment. The assignment is finding a clip from a movie and analyzing the specific editing choices and their effects. Try to find a clip that has interesting edits, like the example used above. This assignment is due by class on Monday. 

To conclude the class, we were shown one of the greatest transitions in cinematography. I'll include the link at the bottom of this page.  I don't want to ruin what happens, but some background knowledge: the scene is operating on a person who has to go through an operation involving his skin, so if you easily get a weak stomach, beware. Go to 3:25, sit back, and enjoy. Oh, it also involves pie.

Editing has huge effects on what the audience perceives. Great editing shouldn't even be noticed. I recently watched a video on bad editing in the movie Bohemian Rhapsody, and I was surprised at how many mistakes the movie made. There were edits that ruined the pace in scenes, tone, and sometimes even continuity. The video does a great job showing just how important editors are to films, and how hard their job can get, especially if scenes are blocked or directed incorrectly. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuAZmisGLLY

Podcast Blog: Pocahontas

Pocahontas is a Disney film released in 1995, and arguably a classic. I personally didn’t watch it really when I was younger, but I really enjoyed the movie. First of all I personally love Disney movies in general, they have a certain charm to them. Starting with the animation, I found it really interesting. I liked that they chose to depict the leaves as colorful and bright, implying that there is some kind of magic at work. I mean, that really does seem to be the point since after all Pocahontas can see that everything on the land is alive and has spirit, she can even talk to the willow tree. Another moment in the animation I appreciate is when they’re singing about how the other side is a bunch of savages, and you can see the shadows of soldiers in the smoke in the sky as it collides. That moment is really impactful and drives home the point that something awful will happen if the two sides go to war.

Going off the point of everything in the forest being alive, I thought the film has some really good messages to share with the audience. First of all, Pocahontas herself talks about respecting the earth rather that just exhausting resources out of greed, which is a positive environmental message. In the lyrics of arguably the most memorable song “Colors of the Wind” she explains that if you just use the resources of land you’ll never be able to learn about it. To her people, everything has a spirit name from the animals to rocks even.

This transitions into another message the film sends, which is about how one should try to see things from others perspectives and communicate. John Smith and the crew travel to the new land expecting to just be able to take it, all in a very fixed mindset of entitlement as they don’t see the natives as human, or at least not on the same level as them. Meanwhile, as soon as Pocahontas’s tribe hears that these people have ill intent, they automatically refuse to see them as anything but monsters. Up until the very end only John and Pocahontas were able to get along because they remained open to each other’s perspectives, and since the rest of the characters didn’t do that there was bloodshed and they nearly fought an entirely preventable war. This is an excellent message to be sending to kids and the general public alike.

Overall I like how these serious and inspiring messages were included in the film even though it’s meant to be for younger audiences. That, and the art and music made it an enjoyable experience, but I don’t expect anything less from Disney. Personally, it really touched my heart to see these two groups of people come together and later support one another. The ending was especially touching when John had to leave and her tribe provided him and the rest of the crew with food. If I had to rate the film, I’d give it a good, good.

3/21/19 - Editing and Assembly Continued

Today's class started not with editing, but a special reminder from Mr. Rivers. We are entering the start of the March Madness tournament today (my bracket is already screwed up, if anybody cares), so Rivers took the time to remind us that we are in class to learn, not watch the games no matter how tempting. That being said, he specifically requested that we work with him by not having anything March Madness related up while in class.

That being said, we took the next five minutes to finish and submit our work from the last few days, including submitting our satire podcasts and preproduction pages, along with finishing up our Assembly with Alfred slides. After this time, we were asked to look at said slides and pick some out that were interesting to us. This started with Seth's slide, which was the addition of a demonic being. His explanation focused on how Alfred is embracing death, and where he took it as the idea that he is a masochist, our class explored its dark comedy in incongruity and relief theories. Also, we looked at Finn's slide, which had Alfred smiling at Jack Cavanaugh. We looked at this slide to remind us about continuity, as while Finn's idea for the slide is great, Jack's picture is a portrait while the others are landscape, leading to the point to keep that in mind as we go into narrative.

After this, we went right into examining clips from two films. One group member was asked to count the number of different shots in each clip, which would lead to a discussion on how the editing created different tones and ideas. The first clip was the famous shower scene from Psycho, which we split into three parts - pre, during, and post murder. The pre-murder was slower, with 11 shots in that sequence to convey a slow burn of anticipation. During the murder, something around 32 shots were used within 40 seconds to create a frantic tone, casuing a sense of confusion. After the murder, we return to slow cuts, with 10 shots showing the viewers what has happened.

The second clip was from Goodfellas, following a man with ties to the mafia entering a restaurant with his date through the kitchen. The two minute scene was done in one take, which was done to create characterization, as the man has a lot of influence and love from the staff of the restaurant. Also, it sets up the setting, showing how expansive the kitchen is as they walk through it. With this, the period ended, and Rivers added that we will go over specific shot types tomorrow.

The focus on tone through shot lengths here would be beneficial for those in a marketing background, specifically for those who work on commericals, for instance. By not only varying the shot lengths but the kinds of shots used, marketers can evoke certain emotions through their commercials, which would be beneficial in attempting to gain their business. The same applies to those who have to market films, as trailers are normally fast paced in order to get their audience excited for said film.

Why Film Editing (Shot Assembly) Is So Important

In today's class, we went over Alfred Hitchcock's coined term "assembly" and what it means. Assembly refers to, during his time, physically putting together each shot in order to make a continuous scene. Today, assembly simply means the order of shots and how they affect the audiences perception. For example, at the beginning of class, we created our own assembly using our slides page "Assembly with Alfred". In each slide, we got to stick any black and white photo in between a blank faced Alfred and a smiling Alfred. These different shots went from making Alfred look like a friendly old man to a serial killer. This was just one example of the importance of assembly. We went an analyzed one scene from Psycho and one scene from Goodfellas. 

In the Psycho scene, we split the few minute clip into three different segments. In the first segment (approximately 40 seconds), we saw it only used eleven shots. These few shots created a "calm before the storm" mood, creating a suspenseful build up. In the next segment, the shots are constantly changing as the woman is brutally stabbed. These one second shots create a chaotic mood, scaring the audience. In the last segment, the film only uses a couple shots, using a blurring transition to shoot from a shower drain to the woman's eye. This creepy scene and few shots creates the "calm after the storm" mood.

In Goodfellas, the three minute scene is one complete shot, which creates a continuous, authentic scene. By using one long shot, it easily shows location, creates continuity, and helps to push the story along in a creative way.

By analyzing these shot transitions now, we are getting ready to create our own film at the end of the year. These lessons also help us understand what truly makes scenes compelling in the movies we watch on our own. 

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series which first premiered on 2/1/18. The AP Bio

is now on its second season and is available on NBC,

Hulu, Youtube $1.99, and Amazon prime video $1.99.

Episode S02E03 is releasing tonight at 8:30pm as a

matter of fact. The main character in the show is Jack

Griffin. Background information about him would include

that he used to work at Harvard as a Philosophy professor,

although he was let go of that position. Now he works at a

high school as an AP bio teacher. In season one the

development of the main character did not change,

he was the same revenge loving character. Also Jack

Griffin refuses to teach his students AP bio at all costs.

Most days he is late to work and sometimes he's even

drank alcohol in front of the students while he celebrates

his nemesis failures. Every morning when he walks into

class he tells the kids to ¨Shut up already¨.

The Principal at this high school is easily manipulated by

Jack Griffin. When the Principal finds out that he is

frequently late and unprofessional, Jack easily convinces

him otherwise. A very unrealistic setting  is portrayed in

this show since no right minded principal would ever

believe his nonsense. In fact on the first day at his new job

Jack Griffin drives into the statue outside of the high school

and gets out of his car and walks into class. Another example

of how unprofessional he has been was when he throws the

kids textbooks out the window. In reality this would have

serious consequences fortunately it's just a funny TV show.

(Main character and the Principal hugging)

There is a lot of Incongruity theory and Superiority theory

in this show. An example of Incongruity theory would be

Jack Griffin makes the students work his other jobs on the

side so he would finish writing his book. This is incongruity

theory because to the audience it's unexpected to have a

teacher expect this from high school kids. An example of

Superiority theory in the show is when Jack Griffin laughs

at his rivals downfall since he feels superior that he did not

make the same mistake.

Jack Griffin is a very fictional character to regular teachers,

since regular teachers don't tell their students to party.

Even worse Jack throws a party at his students house when

the students parents are away to impress his old girlfriend.

While he is throwing a party the students come to the house

and tell him they want to party too. Since he doesn't have much

time to think and the adults are almost there he tells them to

go in the basement. It gets even better at the party the principal

makes a guest appearance and then half way throw the party the

kids run upstairs. Jack's old girlfriend realizes that the kids were

partying in the basement and that Jack lied about whose house it

is, so she tells everyone to leave. In the end there are no consequences

and the principal doesn't do anything. This type of humor is incongruity

theory since it is unexpected that the kids show up to party and that he

allows it. It's also the opposite of the outcome that would have happened

in real life, since there are no consequences.

My rating for the show is GOOD, OK

Id recommend this show to anyone that likes Incongruity theory.

The show has a rating of 7/10 on IMBD and a 65% on Rotten

Tomatoes. Id rate the show good ok since I thinks some parts

of the show are funny, though it could have been executed better.

The jokes get a little repetitive and the fact that the main character

is fixated on destroying his enemy make the show childish. I think

the show could improve by having the main character develop more

and not always stay the same.  

Alfred Hitchcock: The Big Baby & TYFS Podcast

Our Thank You For Smoking podcasts were scheduled today, the planning was a little different though. Groups were scheduled to record in two groups. While the first bunch were off recording, the others had to listen to a lecture on our new narrative unit. Today was all about learning about the assembly of film, explain by Alfred Hitchcock. Hitchcock claims that the assembly of film determines it's context. The example we saw in class was of an old man looking at something, that something being a mom playing with her baby, the next shot is of him smiling, finding the baby charming. In a revision of the same scene the baby and it's mother are replaced with a woman in a bikini sunbathing. Although the first and third shots remained the same, when they replaced the baby with the attractive woman, all of a sudden the old man looks more like a pervert since he's now smiling at a girl in a bikini and not a baby. By changing only one thing, it changed the meaning of the entire scene. After seeing the presentation on this, the homework assigned was to insert a new picture in the middle of our choice, then explain what the new context of the scene is. Aside from that, we wrapped up with our last podcast and will continue with learning about narrative later on. By learning about assembly, we're learning how whatever a film chooses to show, determines it's entire narrative. Trailers often stretch this to their advantage, trailers often show scenes out of order to hide the real plot, sometimes they'll even show scenes that never make it into the final cut, the unknown is what gets people interested in the movie. Narrative is usually the main focal point of most films today, so in regards to that, this is a great start to an otherwise important subject when it comes to film.

Thank You For Smoking Bonus Podcast/Assembly with Alfred (DLB 3/20/2019)

Today in class, Mr.Rivers split the learning time into halves. In the first half of class, we took notes and Mr.Rivers showed us a video of the great Alfred Hitchcock. Before digging into the video, we discussed "association." In doing so, we came to the conclusion that it means to bring together, or gather. From this point on, we got right into the video which can be found via. this link (starting at 5:40) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHvcScioNts. In the video, Hitchcock discussed the impact on changing a part of a scene and how that affects the viewers perception on the character. More specifically, we discussed as a class that editing is a choice that affects the tone and therefore characterization. Along with that, we copied down two short bits of notes that were as follows:

Everything is IMPLIED

• Develops character
• Linear sense of time (cause & effect)
• Continuity of LOCATION

Eyeline match:

1. Character looking at something
2. Thing they are looking at
3. Character reacting to a thing

These aspects of film were introduced to us in order to identify parts of the video we had just viewed as well to begin knowing how to use them. This is so when it comes time for us to make our own films we know what's what.

In the second half of class, students recorded their podcast regarding satire on the film Thank You For Smoking. In my groups podcast, we focused heavily on the satirical tone the film has as a whole. Also, we made the political divide a HUGE topic of discussion. Mainly, we talked about how the film throws shots against both liberals and conservatives, remaining neutral. Even though I can't mention everything we discussed, an example of this in the film is how Heather Holloway, a reporter for the Washington Post (liberal), seduced Nick Naylor in order to get what she wanted. Overall, our podcast was strictly focused on how the film Thank You For Smoking was a highly satirical piece.

At the end of class, we began working on a slides presentation called “Assembly with Alfred 2019” which can be found on Google Classroom. Though we only started looking at the assignment, students are tasked with finding a black and white image which aids in characterizing Hitchcock.

If you haven’t already, make sure to post the link to your podcast on the 2019 Podcast Page and also post your pre production sheet on Google Classroom.

Links:

Assembly with Alfred 2019

Film as Literature Google Classroom Page

2019 Podcast Page

Tuesday- Sub Work

Today in class we had a substitute teacher. We were asked to do our pre production for our podcast about Thank You For Smoking. 

Logan	Continue to elaborate off of my partners	Listen to what they are saying and bring in quotes/other knowledge
Vaughn	Discuss the satire of movie	Bring notes to class
Logan	Not hesitate when i'm talking	Have notes written down so i can continuously talk without pausing
Vaughn	Speak with confidence	Know what to talk about before hand
Jack	eliminate pauses	keep going with the flow of thoughts.