Movie Trailer Review for Lincoln

Movie Trailer Review for Lincoln F1

1) Narrative:

F1

           This trailer revolves around the key struggles Lincoln faced during his fight to end the Civil War and pass the Fifteenth Amendment; family difficulties with his wife, as well as his rivalry with political opponents. Beginning with a quote from one of Lincoln's speeches "sets the stage" for the primary battle; the abolishment of slavery. As the trailer progresses, this primary goal is emphasized at several points, even using a moment of his wife's desperation while persuading him to stop the older son from enlisting to relate to the conflict of the Civil War. F2. Interestingly, the conflict between Lincoln and his oldest son is omitted during the trailer, suggesting irrelevance.

F2

The trailer begins with a quote from one of Lincoln's speeches, and is recited by an African-American soldier to President Lincoln. F3. Coincidentally, this is the same format the original movie follows, and reflects Lincoln prioritized method of thought. It is evident throughout the trailer and movie that his primary objective as president would be to abolish slavery, considering all other matters-including the Civil War-as secondary. Additionally, the trailer never refers to the passing of the amendment, even if viewers previously know the outcome of the vote. Scenes often show Lincoln calm and collected, and only once is an outburst evident, in which Lincoln is seen abashing criticisms that he is focusing on passing the fifteenth amendment before ending the Civil War. F4.

F3

F4

F5

Edits mainly are created to be short clips of critical scenes; intercut by fading transitions. In the edit as well, many short shots are connected to a single piece of voiceover whose source is revealed near the end of the quote. As if in an interview, the "b-roll" equivalent is sped during voiceovers of famous quotes or other critical audio components of the movie, while long emotional scenes are extended to match the song that matches the emotion, drawing the viewer's attention to less explicit, visual detail. F5.






See the Trailer: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/dreamworks/lincoln/

Documentary Movie Critique: Alien Earths1

Documentary Movie Critique: Alien Earths

F2

            This documentary revolves around the critique of society, wishing to emphasize the rarity of planets with the ideal conditions available on Earth. Visiting the few potential candidate planets not only show the diversity of our universe, but the amazing coincidences necessary for life. The documentary not only wishes to explain these slim chances of habitable planets, but also urge viewers to appreciate the planet. Interview locations remain constant, yet the descriptive b-roll present in most explanatory scenes are introduced at times of relevance in the interview. When a topic is acknowledged, the director uses the b-roll as almost a second narration, yet ends the animation or b-roll when the topic changes. F2 Certain instances of b-roll are seamlessly reintegrated at various moments of the documentary, providing emphasis on these components. This seamless introduction is achieved by employing varying examples of potential planets, then listing their flaws. By using such blunt introductions, the director is able to examine two subjects at once: the countless conditions required for life, as well as the perfection of Earth to maintain life. Obviously, voice-over commentary is necessary for the b-roll to discuss both topics listed above. 

F1

            The commentary often originates from interviewees, however a recurring voice-over intertwines the information to explain the interview’s relevance in discussing the topics. Little symbolism is employed in this documentary, as blunt facts offer more relevance towards  an imposing perspective of the topic. The director wishes it understood that the Earth is unique, and that there is little hope of finding such a planet are unlikely. In this analysis, little room is left for metaphors. There is no disagreement between the different interviewees, as they all wish to contribute further evidence. Lack of dispute originates from the documentary’s topic, and accepted truth, and relies greatly on indisputable fact. Many international scientists and astronomers are interviewed for this documentary, yet there is little private information exposed. Again, most of this documentary is focused on accepted fact, which is difficult to withhold from the public. However, the documentary attempts to ‘remind’ its viewers of the scarceness of planets potentially ideal for life. The director hopes that the viewers will take advantage of the luck of being on a planet that supports life, and stop taking advantage of the planet itself. Animations are used in this documentary to help transition from the interview to the b-roll. An example of this are scaled ‘versions’ of habitable planets in the palm of the interviewee that will steadily grow until the b-roll commences. This definitely helps the audience understand the concepts through imagery. F1  

F3a

F3b

                Voice-overs are used, yet only to link information from interviews, not to present information. This way facts are expressed from a reputable source. There is little ‘staging’ needed for the interviews, most are conducted in a constant location, allowing the director to control the background. B-roll was not staged and often superimposed on the footage of the interviews. F3a-F3b Artistic representation are often used in this documentary to illustrate scenes, as this is the sole method available. Most of the content has never been seen, and can only be visualized through representation. Nonetheless, all aspects of these artistic works are discussed and evaluated during the relevant interviews, validating the image. This builds interest in a topic that could not be pictured without representation by means of film. 

F4

                 Sound in this documentary is often used to build a ‘climax’ until an important piece of information is revealed. Little music is required by the b-roll, happening in space, but the added sound helps focus viewer's attention on important details, which would be glazed over without sound manipulation. The filmmaker often uses 360 degree shots during b-roll, to analyze this often digital composition of the topic. More information is to be shown in this instance. On the other hand, the interviews are filmed from wide angle to short angle shots, providing less visual detail, but more auditory information. This documentary film was very effective in the delivery of information and the production tools used. The director was able to integrate the interview and b-roll well to provide auditory and visual descriptions as required. This way, viewers were able to visualize certain objects, or concepts, that could not be imagined otherwise. F4

Link to documentary: http://www.chockadoc.com/alien-earths/

Production Portfolio

PRODUCTION PORTFOLIO

AVD. FILM

SESSION: November 2012

NAME: Alexander Davis

SCHOOL: Capuchino High

Table of Contents

Individual Rational for Film……………………………………………………………………. 2

Individual Written Commentary………………………………………………………………3-8

Individual Rationale for Infinity

Infinity was created as an almost satirical, sci-fi adventure; focused on the concept of equality between manufactured life and natural intelligence. The protagonist, a well-sung community helper, is called upon to create a program that will solve all problems. While the protagonist is successful, he becomes obsessed in becoming the sole benefactor of humanity, causing him to dismiss the program as a simple tool. The climax builds until a final plea from the program for recognition of its major contribution; once again ignored. Resolution of the film offers little comfort towards improvement. With a final retaliation from the program causing a war, the protagonist turned antagonist begins to create a new program, suggesting the repetition of mistakes.

Word Count: 119

Individual Written Commentary for Infinity

Inspiration originated from the Sci-fi action movie The Matrix. This movie focuses on a protagonist who must overcome the realization that the word around him is inexistent, and is formulated for the benefit of intelligent robots. This notion of manufactured intelligence that can overcome biotic life is incorporated in the film Infinity, portrayed by a program that vows for revenge against a human race that has cast it aside. The program has destructive abilities, and is able to cause a war to begin. My title, Infinity, represents humanity’s continuous strive for easy methods of obtaining perfection (F1). When Zander, the protagonist, initially attempted to improve the world through the use of a program that is manipulated for minimum human effort. Once humanity suffers from retaliation of the program, Zander creates a new program to reestablish order. This repetition is closely related to the title, suggesting that humanity rests on comfort rather than on efficiency.

Originally, Zander was to conceive of the program in school, yet the script was altered. The introduction of the ideas behind the program were instead instilled by an unknown authority figure, named “Agent X,” to further resemble The Matrix. Additionally, it would build an understanding of Zander’s programming skills and capabilities. While in pre-production, the treatment underwent several alterations, compensating screen time for character development versus plot development. The treatment was altered for additional time to be spent on the storyline to generate the general feeling of action and adventure genres, with little time spent on background and history. The plot-line began with a transition from a brief introduction to the creation of the program.

Infinity was my first movie in the sci-fi genre. As most of my previous works have been set in comedy, it was a challenge to make the transition. I was often tempted to include underlying humor, yet found this to cause disturbance in the creation of the genre. For certain scenes, such as the introduction of Zander to the world in AT&T Park (San Francisco) (F2), I had to arrange for the opportunity to film. This scene in particular was shot in part from the Virgin America Suite, followed by similar, more elevated, shot from the Oracle Suite. This second take was used in the production due to its slightly better pan. I overcame I had special access to these locations via my participation in the Bay Area Science Festival. This scene had been envisioned during pre-production, yet not included in the treatment or script as I had not been positive that the opportunity would be present. However, once I had arranged the details for filming, I understood slight modifications to the script were necessary to add this scene in the movie. To facilitate the transition of the scene into the movie, I decided to create a short promo movie to superimpose on the footage of the Jumbotron, then cut to a scene of the protagonist orchestrating the promo from his home (F3). This scene was successfully incorporated into the final movie, and I believe it smooths the plot flow from the public introduction of the “simpleton” program to the beginning of the program’s vengeance.

The majority of the film was shot using a Canon EOS Rebel, which I found shot high-quality footage yet allowed for easy manipulation. Certain special scenes were shot with different cameras to create the illusion of being original footage. For example, the “Skype” scene with “Agent X” was shot entirely with a webcam (F4). The webcam made a contrast that I found ideal to simulate a form of concealment, like a witness protection program, and could be not be as easily achieved with the camera. 

Apparel worn during the movie reflects well upon the clothes worn in movies like the Matrix. I also found the transition of clothes helped show Zander’s changes in personality, from normal, modern, teenage clothes to a black turtleneck with sunglasses. It was necessary for the actors to be wearing the clothes at the correct time, so I created a schedule for the shots to be shot efficiently, limiting the amount of changing.

Most of the footage was shot in my family room, with different scenes in other rooms, like the sofa in the TV room. The filming was broken up easily between the two locations, and I often used two cameras filming simultaneously to offer the audience very close match of action between cuts. In the scene to the left, both cameras were placed in near parallel of each other, allowing for the shots to be unobstructed in Zander’s depart from the scene. At this point, the sun was hitting the action harshly, which I took advantage of by angling the cameras away from. This allowed me to light the shot without adding any artificial light. In different shots I also had the benefit of an overhead light source, such as the several skylights in my hallways, and in the door entry. It was necessary for me to edit the aperture during the editing stages for this hallway scene, however, as the light from the front door’s windows were obstructing the scene. In addition, the script was changed to make this first scene a video camera, thus the lack of image resolution. The video camera was tied to the story as Agent X’s method of knowing the arrival of Zander. Before filming, I ensured the intent of the film’s scene was clear with all actors and participants for the scene to be shot correctly. Lighting also helped create this allusion, and I often used different gels for the crucial scenes.

All the shots were filmed silently, added to the footage manually for sound distortion to occur simultaneously on the computer, and be broadcast through speakers after the distortion so that the actors could hear the changes of voice and act the scene to the emotion necessary to project. The scene where this was not possible was Zander’s entry back from school, as the microphone could not be easily handled. Instead the entirety of the audio was added in post-production individually. Additionally, this concept was employed during the “newscaster” shot, where the footage of a news-set was used to introduce the war. The audio being successfully input, I reckoned the shot resolution was able to be reduced, as the scene was supposed to be originating from a television set.

Additional props had to be set as well, such as the arm chair from the Agent X scene. To again create obstruction through natural light sources of Agent X’s face, I oriented a chair to face the window in the family room. Then I carefully avoided the chair during the next scenes, yet such precaution was unnecessary, as the chair was often not filmed, as evident in the blocking shots. Zander’s sunglasses were also a neat find, as they added a sense of superiority within Zander’s character. The shots themselves were filmed during key times, and I split the filming between two days. This also helped ensure the quality of scenes, as the first day was shot during the afternoon into evening, and the second day during the morning to afternoon. This was, the shots that required a special time could be reoriented in the opposite order the next day. The filming lasted about five to six hours, and was entirely shot using the same script. 

I allowed the actors into the editing room to see the film and to ask for commentary about the work in progress. I received several good ideas, and incorporated most of them into the film. My most relevant suggestion was the beginning scene, which introduces Zander typing histroy homework on a computer. This is almost to add a feeling of comedy to the piece, as the rapid typing was not a dense sci-fi action but merely history homework. I was also able to incorporate the title into Zander’s closing of the laptop. If I were to redo this scene, I would have added the title within the laptop itself, and use a text formatter to create a 3-D animation of the text. Post-production was mostly used for the edit, allowing for the scenes to be arranged, and have a “backup” shooting event the following day, if needed. This was not necessary, as the shots had been successfully filmed and input into the movie. 

The title Infinity helps create the tie between the film and the message of a flawed society. 

I envisioned this film to be of the satirical, sci-fi genre, and hoped to focus on equality. Zander was an improved version of myself, with my values, yet with common human flaws of distorted meaning behind actions of good. Zander’s intent was to successfully generate a methods of overcoming world problems, yet found his contribution to be a way of generating publicity for himself, as most humans act. Infinity raises the question if act that benefit the one acting are really acts of goodwill. The climatic end of the film shows the downside of acting for personal benefit, as Zander had accepted the acknowledgement of changing the world for the better, and would be forced to take the blame of causing a new World War. However, these cases of “justice” are rare, and often the selfish acts are accepted as regular by society. Also, the film is comfortless for the improvement of humanity, as Zander’s solution towards fixing the problems caused by the program’s retaliation is to create a new program. The repetition of human mistakes causes the society to be flawed, and I feel should be revealed. Infinity examines this flawed repetition, and displays the quote “if you fail, try and try again” as flawed itself. Failure is acceptable, but Zander’s character decided to repeat himself simply for his reputation to be maintained.

Word Count: 1,702

Project Imagination

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