new wave film

This is my new wave film, the film is made up of a series of short scenes edited together in premier pro with melon cony music in the background as planned. I kept to the original plan as everything I shot wasn't staged, I used mainly natural lighting or ambient lighting that was already there, I staged nothing to try and keep the video as close to real life and as realistic as possible. Similar to a new wave film for example Italian neorealism films I have used long takes, however to try and prevent my video from being boring with lots of long takes, i tried to split them up by adding other clips over the long takes, so in the middle of my long takes there are flashes from other scenes i shot. I did this to make my new wave film a bit more interesting. I was also influenced by the french new wave because some of there films have unusual lighting like in "Le Plus Grande Erreur" (the greatest mistake).

I think i showed my influences from the different new waves and managed to adapt sales like the long takes from different types of new wave films into my film. However their isn't much of a narrative, the film shows characters on a journey but there isn't a clear narrative or story to follow. However i managed to do as planned and take shots of real life, used different lighting techniques and edited with quick jump cuts. However because i used hand held camera for the entire film, lots of the shots are very shaky which i tried to fix in editing with warp stabiliser but it didn't come out as smooth as i would have hoped. The music in the video jumps part was through the film, as the music wasn't long enough so because i felt that song was right so i stretched the song out to last the whole video, although the jump isn't that out of place you can tell it's there and so i lowers the quality of the video. My shots are all in focus however some shots like the tilts of the wooden statue is slightly over exposed. However i used plenty of pans and tilts, there are also zooms and pull focus, so that i could show that i had technical experience with the camera.  There is a range of different camera angles and lighting techniques which show a range of interesting clips to form the film.

When filming I made sure that the equipment was never left alone and i kept the camera strapped and round my neck at all times to make sure it was never lost. The SD card was kept in the camera and never taken out incase it got lost. When filming i would keep to the sides to prevent obstructing people and when filming i kept an eye on my surroundings so not to trip or bump into anyone else.    

Camera shots

camera shots from abbie on Vimeo.


This video shows the different camera shots. I have labeled each shot to make it easier to tell which shot is which. I have tried to keep the shots clear as to what they are. The tracking shot is not done well as i put the camera in a trolly and you can see the bars of the trolly taking up most of the shot, i changed the aperture so the bars are out of focus,s o you can tell who i am tracking and the trolly gave the movement more ease however there is a part where the trolly goes over a bump and you can tell because the camera jumps a little. I tried to keep all my shots clear and of a good quality and i think i did this well because I had a lot of natural lighting so i could have the ISO low in a lot of the shots. However I used the same person in most of my shots and because i made it simple, so i when editing and the person watching could easily see and tell which shot is which even without the titles, the video is a bit boring, i could have taken a range of different objects and people to get the shots and their would have been more of a variety. I think i have managed to capture the shots well as for example in the extreme close up, you can see what is meant to be in the image which is a feature of the persons face, but i also had a low aperture so that the background is out of focus which draws more attention to the factual feature in focus. I tried to order the shots well, as at the beginning of the video you see a close up followed after by an extreme close up where you can see a comparison from close up to extreme close up, followed by mid shot, long shot and establishing shot. Most of the time the establishing shot would be at the beginning for example in a film it would normally start with an establishing shot or extreme long shot so the audience knows where the film is set, however i put my establishing shot int he middle of the video because i preferred to group the mid shots, close ups and long shots together so it is easier to compare them.

new wave: design brief

After looking at the Italian neorealism new wave and analysing a couple of films, there is a common theme of shooting real people, for example the bicycle thieves protagonist is played by a factory worker in real life, this is so the director could get a better sense of realism. The films are also known for not having a happy ending, because of the realistic stories, they are given realistic endings which doesn't include a happy ending.

I hope to make a melancholy film following real people in situations that are not staged. This could be them walking around, looking at something but i also want to capture other real things. I want to take shots of something that are just there to look at. Something most people see in their everyday lives. I plan on making it melancholy with the music, when it comes to editing i want to give the short film, music to fit with he theme of how nothing is exciting, it's just everyday people in everyday lives, there is no narrative, just real life, which to some people is sad and boring. I plan on just using the lighting around me, the ambiance of what lighting is already inside and natural lighting, this is so nothing is staged and it is all real. I am hoping to find different kinds of lighting, to add more colour to the shots.

To avoid a narrative structure, i will add shots of another scene into another scene with quick jump cuts. The footage that i shot, i am going to try and have it out of order, so there isn't a story to follow, although most Italian neorealism films do have a story to follow, mine won't because i want to focus on the realistic nature of everyday life, how everything and everybody is living their own lives and they get mixed up within one another. There won't be any diabetic music to give the idea of not knowing what is going on with other peoples lives, they all merge together. I don't what any one i am filming to know i am filming them because people act different when they know they are on camera.

editing shots

The shinning, establishing shot

Hangover part 3, continuity editing

the hunger games, shot reverse shot

mission impossible ghost protocol 180 degree

Edward scissor hands, cross cutting

matrix, match on action

shame, Kuleshov Effect

the karate kid, metric montage

the good the bad and the ugly, rhythmic montage

they live, intellectual montage

tonal montage

overtonal montage

30 degree rule, ex machine

Editing labels

These images show the labelling of videos in Premier pro. This is helpful for organisation as in list form it only gives you the name of the video which i have renamed so i know by the name which video shows which. I also used the good tick box to mark to myself which videos are good and that i could use when i start editing.  When i click on a video to rename it i can see the video behind the labelling screen, so i don't have to go back and forth to know what the video is, I can see the video. This is really useful when editing because it saves time going up and down looking for the right clip because i have already looked and and organised the clips, so i know what videos i have and where to find them. However if you have the same shot for example a shot of a lake and you have several but only one of them is the right one, and you have already labelled them lake side 1, 2 or 3, it can be difficult to fin which one is the correct one, but you can also click a box that marks the clip as good, sow hen you come to find that clip you just for the clip with he correct name and the tick. This process may take a while depending on how much footage you have but it keeps everything organised and it makes things easier later on. 

Essay attempt no1.5 (Contextual study of Italian cinema after WW2/ 1944)

Mussolini was the leader before getting overthrown in 1943, was against the Italian neorealism films as they painted Italy in a negative light, so he pushed for meaningless films made purely for entertainment. These films were called white telephone films which were Italy's imitation of American films. Italian neorealism is a type of film that was made in Italy between 1944-1952. These films consist of post war Italy and the poverty stricken working class. The films focus on the conditions of the working class and the sate of Italy post World war two. The films were shot in real locations showing a realistic portrayal of Italy. Films like this before WW2 were banned as they were believed to show Italy in a negative way however when the war ended in 1945 and Mussolini had been overthrown their were less restrictions in the film industry and more Italian neorealism films were made, however because after the was Italy fell into a depression so the films did not have a big budget and they need up making more money over seas. because of the budget was so low they didn't have that much money to spend on actors, props or what was left of the studios.  Most of the actors in these films were un-trained or amateur in order to give the films the realism they wanted to portray. Italian neorealism focuses on portraying the real Italy, with it's poverty stricken environment where it is difficult to find a job and make money to support a family or themselves. Italy was also heavily damaged by the the second world war, with buildings and streets destroyed and left as ruble. In some Italian neorealism films you can see the piles of rubble as they would film on the street. The film the Bicycle thieves, its lead protagonist was a factory worker and the boy who played his son was a spotted when filming as he was selling flowers with his father. The film the bicycle thieves is one of the most well known and critically acclaimed Italian neorealism films, as it not only clearly shows the state of Italy and the struggles of the everyday man trying to support his family but it also clearly shows how everyone is struggling and how no ones issues are unique as the ending scene shows Antonio and his son walking away and fitting into a crowd of people in the same position as him. Italian neorealism films are thought of as a key moment in film history, as Martin Scorsese said "the most precious moment in film history". Not only did the Italian neorealism films inspire some of the most well known directors of our time, but it is also known that it lead to the french new wave movement.

The title of the film is bicycle thieves, thieves meaning more than one, as Antonio has his bike stolen by a thief, the first their and at the end Antonio himself steals a bike making him the second thief.
When Antonio is deciding to steal a bike the director leaves several minutes of him arguing with himself to show that stealing the bike is not an easy design but in order to be able to provide for his family he must do so, this is a key moment as it reflects the situation most people had to face in order to survive. He gets caught stealing the bike, which does not just create public humiliation for him but he is caught in front of his son, which is arguably a worse form of humiliation and he is confronted with the fear that he is unable to provide for his family which is common, and as Lamberto Maggiorani who plays Antonio the protagonist of the film, is not a trained actor so most of the acting done in this film was real, he has lived through similar situations as he is was factory worker when he was cast for this role. This is all post WW2 because the conditions of Italy were very poor, people from Italy desiccated that time as still being in a depression because not many people could get jobs or have enough money to feed and support their family. The ending of The bicycle thieves is not a happy ending, if it wasn't a Italian neorealism film and a Hollywood or white phone film instead then the ending would be happy and Antonio would have found his bike and everything would have been alright but because it is an Italian neorealism film, which focus on the realistic truth behind the poverty stricken Italy. Antonio never found his bike because that was the realistic truth, not all stories have happy endings and that is what the film makers were trying to perceive because that is what is realistic, work was hard and it was difficult supporting a family and in times of poverty it was extremely difficult to do so.