Nate

1. When reading a film script, what do the following acronyms stand for and what do they mean? LS - Long Shot MS - Medium Shot MCU - Medium Close-Up CU - Close-Up XCU - Extreme Close-Up EXT - Exterior INT - Interior VO - Voice Over POV - Point Of View OS - Off Screen SFX - Sound Effects

2. What do the following terms mean? CUT cuts - instantaneous changes from one scene to the next, as in "Cut to...." DISSOLVE lap-dissolves, also called dissolves - where two scenes momentarily overlap during a transition from one to the other FADE-IN and FADE-OUT fade-out and fade-in - - fade-out consists of a two-or three-second transition from a picture to black and silence; and, of course, a fade-in is the opposite CUTAWAY A cutaway is a related shot that is "away" from the basic scene. During a basketball game you might "cut away" from the game to a shot of the cheerleaders, the coach, or cheering fans. ZOOM A zoom, which is an optical version of a dolly, achieves somewhat the same effect. Even so, many Directors of Photography feel that compared to a dolly, a zoom is somewhat artificial looking. To indicate either one, a script notation might say, "camera zooms in for close-up of John," or "camera zooms out to show that John is not alone." DOLLY When the entire camera is moved toward or away from the subject, it's referred to as a dolly. 3. How long is the average feature film script? The average feature screenplay, traditionally, is between 95 and 125 pages long. In Hollywood these days scripts generally don't run longer than 114 pages. Comedy scripts are typically shorter, dramas longer. There are, naturally, variations. You could be writing an action-packed film where your description takes only 10 seconds to read, but will take 45 seconds of film time.

Many filmmakers begin working on a feature film based off a tiny script or even a small book. This can be something that is as short as only 5-6 pages or as long as 100 pages easily. The exact length of the script often varies based upon the length of the film itself and many times the length is changed substantially as the filming process starts to unfold. In general, a shorter script will translate into a much shorter film. Another guideline that you can use to help you determine how long your film script should be is to use the average idea that each page of script will consist of approximately 30 seconds of footage. This is only a rough estimate though; extensive lines of spoken script can take longer to do while fewer lines will generally take less time. This is important to keep in mind if you are working towards filming a film that will be a specific amount of time when you are finished.

media type="file" key="arizona_1_offspring.flv" width="360" height="270" media type="file" key="arizona_1_midi.flv" width="360" height="270" This video contains music from The Offspring. This video contains music made via Logic

1. Can music by itself (without lyrics) be humorous or funny? Uh, yes! Music by itself can be funny without lyrics by using interesting sounds and whimsical instruments. The banjo is often comical and uplifting, as are many other instruments.

2. What musical techniques can be used to make music funny or humorous? Utilizing major chords would be the first thing, while then playing those major cords on instruments that sound humorous, like a banjo or fiddle, would make them more humorous.

3. What kind of instruments and sounds are used to make a piece of music humorous or funny? Make a list.

Here, then, is the list of funny instruments:
 * [|Accordion] -As mentioned, one of the funniest instruments, if not the funniest.
 * [|Bagpipes] -Not funny to listen to, but funny because of its physical appearance, and the entire [|men in kilts] aspect.
 * The [|Dijeredoo] -Although probably not funny when actually played in its native context. But since it is associated with hippies, it becomes funny.
 * The [|Ukulele] - It is small. Small instruments are often funny.
 * [|Tuba], [|Trombone] and [|French Horn] . Brass instruments are funny as a group, and these are three of the funniest.
 * [|The Hurdy Gurdy] - A relatively obscure instrument, something like a fiddle, only...different.
 * [|The Oboe] -The funniest [|woodwind].
 * [|The Kazoo] - Funny, but since it is kind of intended to be funny, it loses some of its humor appeal.
 * [|Percussion] - Percussion, other than the drum set, is funny. Drummers, however, are funny, even though their instruments are not. Percussion instruments that can be funny include, [|Triangle], [|Tambourine] , [|Bongos] , [|Tom-Toms] , [|Xylophone] and [|Electric Dulcimer] , and [|Bells] . Especially [|Cowbells].
 * [|The Banjo] - Brought up to me, 2 1/2 years after the original writing, by [|Avalyn] . The Banjo is an obvious choice, especially because it is (like the [|Hurdy Gurdy] and the [|Fiddle] ) associated with HICKS. Also, another exception to my "stringed instruments aren't funny" rule.
 * Another subset of funny instruments is anything that is improvised, or invented.. (And the varieties of improvised musical instruments is manifold- [|rp] sent me a link to an-all vegetable orchestra]). I consider this to be somewhat of a different category. Of course the [|Saw] is funny. But how can you compare it to the [|Tuba] ? You just can't. It should also be noted that [|The Spoons], an instrument that is both non-drum percussion and improvised, has an unfair position of humor when compared to anything else.
 * Another group that is funny, but in a way that is again difficult to compare, is novel instruments, especially technological novelties. The [|Theremin] is funny. The [|Drum Buddy] is funny. The [|Player Piano] is funny. [|Wah Wah Peddle] can be funny. [|Moog] can also be funny. Also, it is from the [|1970s], a funny decade, and has a funny name.

Source: http://www.everything2.com/title/Humorous+musical+instruments

4. Can you find a funny/humorous piece of music that doesn't have lyrics? If you can, post a link or an .mp3 for your answer. Funny Music!

=Montage theory=

**What is Montage**
In the infancy of film and later television editing was not part of film making. It was staged like a piece of theatre where everything was one long take. The Lumières brothers for example worked with only one take to illustrate various stories. As the cinema evolved and more people began to create films new ideas emerged such as using different lenses. As films broke the idea of splicing film together to tell a story evolved until Sergei Eisenstein among many other editors began to explore Montage Theory. Montage literally translated from French is assembly, the process by which an editor takes two pieces of film of tape and combines them to emphasise their meaning. It is a method by which through two unrelated shots we may create a third and different meaning. Visualise for example shot a which is a pumpkin and shot b which is a hammer going down. Mix both shots together and you get meaning C. Mixing the two shots together insinuates that the pumpkin will be destroyed by the hammer. In the Soviet Union directly after the Octobre revolution Soviet editors such as Dziga Vertov and Sergei Eisenstein developed a very individual style of editing. Whilst films in America where only around three hundred or more shots a film we find that soviet films had over a thousand shots. The pacing was much faster and they were pushing the limits of comprehension of the audience at the time. In Sergei Eisenstein's Ivan the Terrible we find really good examples of this with the fight between the Russians and the Teutonic nights. There are a very wide variety of shots and the action is really alive flashing from one shot to another in quick successions. Sergei Eisenstein is an important individual within the world of editing because he developed "The Film Sense" with fast editing and juxtaposition. The school of thought at the time was that shots complemented each other. If you show a person walking then the next shot should help continue the action. Eisenstein developed the idea of juxtaposition. Juxtaposition is the process of showing one thing and another which are unrelated and through combining the two they create a new meaning. Imagine that you are creating a documentary about the night life of students in a pub. You have two shots, A which is a shaker being filled to create a cocktail and shot B is someone dancing. If both shots are juxtaposed then it leads us to believe that although the two shots were unrelated in time and space the student whom we see after the shaker has had his head filled with alcohol which is why he's behaving that way. = Editing = From montage theory we will now take a look at editing in general. Editing is one of the most important parts of modern television because without it modern television would cease to exist. Whenever we watch a film or program on television we notice that each program is different. Adverts for example are very short, around 30 seconds whilst programs last 25 minutes and films may last up to four hours and more.

Creating the story
The first stage for the producer and editor is to know what is the story they are trying to tell. The story is the skeleton of the edit and helps organise the edit into chapters and topics much as in writing. In writing this document for example I begin with the general concept of editing and Montage, I then need to create an outline for the story and as the framework is created I can then add elements as the process is happening. Over a period of time a story will begin to emerge in the form of a rough cut.

Rhythm and Pacing
Rhythm and pacing are very important within edits because if we are editing a news story then it must be very fast with shots not lasting more than around 3 seconds. In documentaries though there is luxury to play around with the pacing of an edit. If we look at [|"War Photographer"] for example we are introduced inside James Nachtway's world. The way in which the film is edited deeply affects the way in which we perceive the person whom is being shown. It takes ten minutes for us to hear James Nacthway speaking for the first time. It is feature length so we are given the luxury of watching the way in which this interesting photographer works and lives. If we take the feature film and look at it's basic structure then we may be able to edit the project down to around 25 minutes to fit within television schedules. The pacing will be much faster and more information will be given. If it is edited properly then the viewer should have the same feeling seeing a half hour version as for a 1hr 36 minutes version. When watching an action film such as Die Another Day we expect the cutting to be very fast, many shots to show various angles and to extend the action as far as possible to amaze the audience and in parts to contribute a little humour. In contrast if we were to watch Pride and Prejudice we would see far longer shots with a lower variety of shot sizes and elements. With sequences such as the helicopter sequence from Apocalypse now with the music and the huey helicopters and the firing of weapons and feeling we have right from the beginning of the film we can't help but be amazed at the beauty of the helicopter sequence. In the same way Blackhawk Down is a beautifully edited film with the descent from the helicopters into Mogadishu, the succession of shots showing the situation and the people within this situation so that we really feel something for the soldiers.

Juxtaposition
One sequence which I remember well is from the series "Spaced" which aired on British television where a couple are having an argument and we see shots of the two people arguing and this is intercut with scenes from Streetfighter and each time the girl scores a victory her avatar on the game wins, everytime the guy wins his avatar is holding the upperhand. The sequence really contributes to the audience's enjoyment of the scene.

** Soviet Montage **

1924 marks the beginning of the Soviet Montage style. Using cuts and nonlinear editing techniques, Soviet filmmakers were able to heighten the emotional power of the story. Jumping between different aspects of story and emotional drama, they presented grand, nationalistic stories in an innovative, symbolic way.

Some of the most striking examples of Soviet Montage films are Sergei Eisenstein's "Strike" (1925), "October" (1927) and "The Battleship Potemkin" (1925).



//"The Battleship Potemkin" (1925)//

//(Photo courtesy of Everett Collection)//

French style montage is simply the process of editing a piece of film. In Russian montage, it is more of a method of juxtaposing shots to derive new meaning that did not exist in either shot alone. American style montage is a short segment in a film in which narrative information is presented in a condensed fashion.
 * What is the difference between American, French and Soviet interpretations of montage?**

[|Disney Pixar's "Up" Montage]
 * List some examples of montage sequences:**

[|Karate Kid Training Montage]


 * How are these types of montage different?**
 * Metric: where the editing follows a specific number of frames (based purely on the physical nature of time), cutting to the next shot no matter what is happening within the image. This montage is used to elicit the most basal and emotional of reactions in the audience.
 * Rhythmic: includes cutting based on time, but using the visual composition of the shots -- along with a change in the speed of the metric cuts -- to induce more complex meanings than what is possible with metric montage. Once sound was introduced, rhythmic montage also included audial elements (music, dialogue, sounds).
 * Tonal: a tonal montage uses the emotional meaning of the shots -- not just manipulating the temporal length of the cuts or its rhythmical characteristics -- to elicit a reaction from the audience even more complex than from the metric or rhythmic montage. For example, a sleeping baby would emote calmness and relaxation.
 * Overtonal/Associational the overtonal montage is the cumulation of metric, rhythmic, and tonal montage to synthesize its effect on the audience for an even more abstract and complicated effect.
 * Intellectual: uses shots which, combined, elicit an intellectual meaning.

Montages can become cliche if the music is overly dramatic for the scene or if it doesn't really advance the story line (used as filler.)
 * Can montage become a cliche? If so, give some examples.**

[|Darker Than Black (Dramatic)]

You would definitely want to know about what the scene is trying to convey. If you're going straight off of images, that can be dangerous. Sometimes the director/producer wants contrasting music with picture. Also, you have to be careful of making a cliche overly dramatic piece. I know for me, when montages like that come on, I often think they are cheesy and not really relevant to the film.
 * How might you approach choosing or composing music for a montage sequence? What would you want to know about the sequence?**

- = = =**//Afro Samurai //**= In a futuristic yet feudal [|Japan], it is said that the one who wields the Number 1 headband is the fiercest fighter in the world and shall possess godlike powers. The only way to obtain the Number 1 headband is to challenge and defeat him in combat. However, only the Number 2 can challenge the Number 1, while anyone can challenge the Number 2, which causes a constant struggle for the Number 2 headband.

Justice, the owner of the No. 2 headband, goes to fight the owner of the No. 1 headband, Afro's father. The two battle, ending with Justice decapitating Afro's father and claiming his headband. His head rolls in front of his son, Afro, as he sobs and vows revenge.

Now an adult, "Afro Samurai" is the current No. 2 and a master swordsman. He travels Japan trying to make his way to the mountain-top keep where Mango awaits. As he makes his way to Mango, he recalls his journey from a frightened young boy to a master samurai. Along the way, many people challenge Afro for his headband, including the "Empty Seven Clan" who send various agents, including a robotic Afro, to kill him throughout his travels. He is also being hunted by his vengeful childhood friend Jinno, who was long thought to be dead. It is revealed that Afro's childhood samurai master became the new No. 2 after Justice killed Afro's father. When Afro confronts his master, they are both attacked by assassins, leading to the death of everyone except Afro and Jinno. Afro eventually defeats Jinno, and finally confronts Justice. Afro learns that there are other headbands in existence, ranging to an unspecified higher number, and sees that the corpses of those who wore them are skewered throughout the room where Justice awaits. Afro defeats Justice and takes the No. 1 headband, and the other headbands disappear. Source: Wikipedia

This is my take on what Afro Samurai's theme music could sound like. I took a more calming approach, as the samurai were excellent at self-discipline. media type="file" key="Afro Main Theme.mp3" width="326" height="72" Then, I decided that his fight with Justice deserved a nice remix. So, I did. I present the Afro Samurai Boss Remix. media type="file" key="Afro Theme Boss Remix.mp3" width="326" height="72" = =

A **leitmotif** ( [|/][|ˌ][|l][|aɪ][|t][|m][|oʊ][|ˈ][|t][|iː][|f][|/]  ), sometimes written **leit-motif**, is a musical term (though occasionally used in theatre or literature), referring to a recurring [|theme], associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical idea of **idée fixe**. The term itself comes from the [|German] //**Leitmotiv**//, literally meaning "leading [|motif] ", or, perhaps more accurately, "guiding motif."

In [|music], a **theme** is the material, usually a recognizable [|melody] , upon which part or all of a composition is based. It may be perceivable as a complete musical expression in itself, separate from the work in which it is found (Drabkin 2001). In contrast to an "idea" or " [|motif] ", a theme is usually a complete phrase or period (Dunsby 2002). The//Encyclopédie Fasquelle// (Michel 1958–61) defines a theme as "Any element, motif, or small musical piece that has given rise to some variation becomes thereby a theme."

In [|music], **variation** is a [|formal] technique where material is [|repeated] in an altered form. The changes may involve [|harmony], [|melody] , [|counterpoint] , [|rhythm] , [|timbre] , [|orchestration] or any combination of these.

So of the different leitmotif's that I've encountered are the Darth Vader music, Rebel Alliance Music in Star Wars; Jaws music from Jaws, etc.

media type="file" key="CHAP_320_1_Casualties_Of_War_Elliott_314287.mp3" width="290" height="24"

This is my choice of song for the first scene, about the war. I feel it's dramatic theme would help show the sorrows of war.

media type="file" key="OM_130L_3_Babelon_Hunter_Jr_Slott_425544.mp3" width="290" height="24" Creepy dude gets some creepy music. The woman may not know he's stalking her, but I do! And now you can feel it in your bones.

media type="file" key="Sweaty_Drunken_Afternoon_Kelley_Williams_(Wade)_642455.mp3" width="290" height="24" Much more personal of a choice. I see the cartoon cat stretching out and relaxing, exaggerating every move in order to taunt the cartoon dog, who sits outside on a hot hot day. That cat is such a dick!

Underscoring is the art of placing music underneath dialogue in order to set a particular mood or feel to a scene in a film. Typically, dialogue by itself is incredibly dry and bland, and the underlying music can add depth and emotion to a scene, be it sad or happy or excited or scared.

In the case of tonality, the tone of the music will help set the mood, as major chords typically are happier and minor chords typically are sadder.

In the case of melody, just simply banging a piano will not bring about the desired results of musical melody; instead it is the playing of the "right" notes that will hook the viewer.

In the case of rhythm, the rhythm of feel of the music will help also set the mood. The faster the music, the faster your heart beats (if you're hooked on the melody).

The timbre of the instruments will also convey a certain mood. You wouldn't want a loud and ostentatious instrument bleating like a big-horn ram during a sorrowful moment in your film. The right instrument for the job.

media type="file" key="Mulder Diagetic Clip 1_1.flv" width="362" height="362" media type="file" key="Mulder Diagetic Clip 2_1.flv" width="420" height="420"