Design in Motion: Applying design principles to filmmaking 9781350109551, 9781350025516, 9781350025547, 9781350025523

Table of contents :
Cover
Half-title
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Acknowledgements
Preface
Introduction
Part I: Setting It All Up
Chapter 1. Foundations
Brainstorming
Primary and Secondary Research
Storyboarding
Development
Feedback and Feedforward
Documentation
Chapter 2. Audience
Personas
Context
Format
Treatment
Tone of Voice
Chapter 3. Structure
Story
Narrative
Key Message
Documentary
Voice-over versus Captions
Chapter 4. Sound
Creating the Right Tone and Atmosphere
Sound as a Tool for Focus
Shape
Working with Musicians
What’s Free and What’s Not
Part II: Creating the Elements
Chapter 5. Composition
Framing
Motion versus Stillness
Screen Space
Focus
Chapter 6. Camera
Camera Movement
Why Use Different Lenses?
Using a Variety of Shots
Camera Techniques
Chapter 7. Form
Triangle, Square and Circle
Using Form as Exploration
Visual Summaries
Outcomes
Chapter 8. Colour
A Quick Overview of the History of Colour on Screen
The Significance of Colour
Combinations
Creating a Colour Palette
Colour Correction and Grading
Part III: Putting It All Together
Chapter 9. Text and Information
Character
Legibility versus Readability
Ways of Creating Text
Movement
Titles
Data Visualization
Chapter 10. Editing
How Editing Developed from Shorts to Features
Invisible and Visible Editing
Transitions (and Tips)
Effects
Rhythm and Pace
Glossary
Image Credits
Index

Citation preview

Design in

MOTION

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Design in

MOTION

Applying design principles to filmmaking

Penny Hilton

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BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC Bloomsbury Publishing Inc 50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP, UK 1385 Broadway, New York, NY 10018, USA BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published in Great Britain 2020 This electronic edition published in 2020 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Copyright © Penny Hilton, 2020 For legal purposes the Acknowledgements on p. viii constitute an extension of this copyright page. Cover design David Daniels All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.

Bloomsbury Publishing Inc does not have any control over, or responsibility for, any third-party websites referred to or in this book. All internet addresses given in this book were correct at the time of going to press. The author and publisher regret any inconvenience caused if addresses have changed or sites have ceased to exist, but can accept no responsibility for any such changes. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Control Number: 2020931704

ISBN:

HB: 978-1-3501-0955-1 PB: 978-1-3500-2551-6 ePDF: 978-1-3500-2552-3 ePub: 978-1-3500-2553-0

To find out more about our authors and books visit www.bloomsbury.com and sign up for our newsletters.

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For Charli and Fred. And their grandmother Monica Mead, who can be heard on every page. With thanks.

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Contents viii Acknowledgements ix Preface xi Introduction

1

Part I

105 Part II

Setting It All Up 2

Chapter 1

Creating the Elements 58

Chapter 3

106 Chapter 5

Foundations

Structure

Composition

3 13

59 67 71 74 82

Story Narrative Key Message Documentary Voice-over versus Captions

107 117 121 129

86

Chapter 4

16 21 29 32

Brainstorming Primary and Secondary Research Storyboarding Development Feedback and Feedforward Documentation

40

Chapter 2

Audience 41 42 48 51 55

Personas Context Format Treatment Tone of Voice

Framing Motion versus Stillness Screen Space Focus

132 Chapter 6

Sound 87

Creating the Right Tone and Atmosphere 94 Sound as a Tool for Focus 95 Shape 100 Working with Musicians 102 What’s Free and What’s Not

Camera 133 137 142 144

Camera Movement Why Use Different Lenses? Using a Variety of Shots Camera Techniques

vi

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Contents

vii

189 Part III

Putting It All Together 148 Chapter 7

190 Chapter 9

Form



Text and Information

149 156 162 166

191 197 199 200 203 214

Character Legibility versus Readability Ways of Creating Text Movement Titles Data Visualization

Triangle, Square and Circle Using Form as Exploration Visual Summaries Outcomes

168 Chapter 8

Colour 169 A Quick Overview of the History of Colour on Screen 171 The Significance of Colour 177 Combinations 181 Creating a Colour Palette 186 Colour Correction and Grading

220 Chapter 10

Editing 221 How Editing Developed from Shorts to Features 225 Invisible and Visible Editing 228 Transitions (and Tips) 236 Effects 236 Rhythm and Pace

242 Glossary 245 Image Credits 265 Index

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viii

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements I would like to thank all the postgraduate design students who have contributed to this book and for their generous time, support, and encouragement in the writing of it. Regretfully I was not able to track down every single designer whose images I have included, but not for want of trying. Apologies to you if I have missed your name out.

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Thanks to the many people quoted, whose work and wisdom have been an inspiration, and a special thanks to Lee Ripley, David Daniels, Susannah Rees, Russell Bestley, Harry Murphy and Charli Hilton. Also to The London College of Communication for allowing me some time to get this finished.

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Preface

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Preface Some while back, we asked our group of graphic moving image master’s degree students to literally draw out where they saw their current study sitting within the broader industry of film-making. In other words, how relevant or important was graphic design to the films they would be party to? The results were interesting and varied, perhaps not surprisingly as the group was made up of professionals from many design-related disciplines who had come together to look at where design and moving image intersect. In hindsight this exercise planted the seed for this book. Revealed in quick sketches ranging from pie charts to illustrated characters, they all saw their role differently. Those more confident about their own design abilities saw their practice of animation as being a direct result of film-making. Those bent on a route of independent film-making saw the design content as a necessary element to address, but perhaps one that sits alongside the process rather than being central to it. The photographers and documentarians within the group, whose focus was more single-minded, saw principles of design as sitting outside of their own goals, albeit to run in tandem at moments of need but not necessarily a springboard for their own outputs. Of course, there is no right or wrong amongst the students’ sketches, just different approaches within a multidisciplinary field. This book aims to address and clarify some of these approaches, pulling out the role that graphic design should and could play within film-making, whether that film is live action, animation, narrative or abstract and however long the duration, a two pic gif or a feature, long or short, each stage can be informed and improved by applying principles of design. Principles such as structure, tone, composition, scale, symmetry, shape, tone, colour hierarchy, typography, pace and rhythm.

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Surely every decision made around the film-making process is intrinsically linked to design, so it makes sense that if you apply these ideas and theories around design, using them to inform your own work should get a better result overall. People are more likely to want to watch your films, stay engaged and then maybe, even want to see it again. If you prefer to work in a team or be part of another person’s vision, then this book will be useful too, as having a better understanding of all the stages of production is going to make you a more valuable member of the production team. If you do your job well, on time and with enthusiasm, then the next job the director puts together, you will be the first to be called. You might find yourself with time on your hands and a story to tell; this book should help give insight into the important role that graphic design has to play at the various stages of production. Not only for student projects, as hopefully you’ll receive good support as your course is delivered, but this book is also for the self-starter and new film maker who feels their design principles and skills need underpinning to improve all areas relating to film. Overall this book is for the new directors, those who want to be responsible and in control of their own ideas, perhaps prepared to corral a team to get a production off the ground and be prepared to be the one responsible to see it through to the end. Even if it’s merely conceived in the head and made entirely on the desktop, some of the stuff in this book should enable you to make it the best it can be.

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Preface

Figure P1–3  Graphic moving image master’s students sketch out where they see their own practice of design sitting within the film industry.

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Introduction

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Introduction While we all embrace the fact that almost anyone can make a film, be it a mini doc on a smartphone or a self-funded festival entry, this free access has major drawbacks too. As it means your film must work harder to compete with all the dross that’s being churned out on a daily basis. You will have seen the bad films, probably not right to the end, but you know the ones we mean. Films where you are bored within the first few shots, where the design is an assault to the eye, the typography cringeworthy, the choice of colour pallet without rhyme or reason. Or worse we can’t understand the gist, the pacing is completely off, and the music grates. So how do you avoid these mistakes? Especially if you are new to film-making or even if you have been making films for a while but are less confident of the choices you make when it comes to design. Perhaps you automatically revert to old habits for fear of trying something new. Small budgets invariably mean small crew, so it’s likely your production budget won’t afford you the luxury of an expert team on hand, inputting and advising at every process. This book aims to help you make the right design-related decisions yourself, to make sure your film stands out and creates maximum impact in return for all your hard work. Something has instigated your impetus to produce your message in this format in the first place, be it wanting to get your voice heard, articulating some research or as part of your film studies. Whatever reason and incentive you have that started you off in the first place, understanding the many elements that could make or break your film could be the difference between holding the viewers’ attention or have them hit the stop button. That is all part of the challenge. In researching this book, I have drawn on my own experience as a film maker for advertising, broadcast, design documentary and branding, both live action and animation. My own practice informs my teaching, and in turn, I learn an immense amount from my students. I have also collated lessons from early pioneers of film, extracted relevant design-related points

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from film reviews, referenced interviews with directors, drawn on opinions of practicing graphic designers, typographers and motion designers. I have referenced historical and contemporary cinema and, as a backbone running throughout the book, drawn on the library of unseen work from the, often brilliant, emerging motion graphic designers enrolled at the University of the Arts whose work is constantly referenced. In addition, I have studied hundreds of video essays to synthesize content that relates specifically to the field of graphic design, bringing it all together into, what I hope will be, a useful compendium of all things related to graphic design aimed at the new film maker. If you have a few films under your belt already, you may find some points obvious, or other areas not thorough enough, in which case I have included resources to find out more. In seeking to examine the value of image, form, colour text motion and duration, the book is divided into three sections. First a look at things you need to consider when you are setting it all up, not only relating to conceptualizing and early design aspects but covering how you might lay down some best practice to keep you on top of things as the production gets underway. The second part concentrates on creating the elements focusing on supporting your decisions throughout production, explaining in detail why some methods work while others fail. And lastly the third section gives some insight into putting it all together. The truth is I’ve been looking for this book for years, hoping that someone else had written it. While I had no problem finding a ton of how-to books that relate to film-making, and excellent tutorials online on whatever I could possibly want to know about the technical side of film-making, there seemed very little on the aspects of graphic design within film. I was not necessarily looking for new perspectives, or a review of the best design enabled by refined digital technology, but more some solid opinion of how and when to apply basic principles of design on a broad scale, across the entire process of film-making from start to

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Introduction

finish, specifically with a clear perspective on why it makes a difference. It’s a shame a book like that didn’t exist in my role as course leader, it would have been handy for my students to have one collated resource that pulls together most of what they needed to consider for their next film, whatever that might be. A book that references design principles seen at play in historical and contemporary films, and one that at their stage of development also contextualizes their own studies. All this between two folds of heavyweight paper, to have and to hold in the hand and flip through the pages you can touch. Imagine. Seems like, with their help I had a job to do. For them this is maybe a little late, but hopefully not for all those graphic designers who want to develop their work into film, nor for those already making films who don’t have a grounding

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in design. To the photographers who want their work to move, and documentary film makers who are let down by their rudimentary design skills, this book is for you. I hope it comes at a good time. No matter what your past experience or where your next film will take you, I hope you approach this book with a beginners mind and draw from it the confidence to make better decisions about all aspects of the design, as well as an overview and understanding of the basic principles that are behind some of the best films to have stood the test of time. I look forward to seeing your film up there with them soon.

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Part 1

Setting It All Up

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Foundations Chapter Overview This first chapter aims to give you a few pointers on how you can begin an idea. It puts some of the essential building blocks in place to ensure you can follow it through, from the initial concept for a new film, to setting up an efficient workflow system, including planning, research and organizing your time to keeping your development on track. In this chapter, you will learn to do the following: • Kick off an idea by looking at some ways to approach brainstorming. Take a methodical approach to your initial experiments and slowly build up ideas for a new project. • Consider how this early work forms part of your primary research. Look at the intrinsic value of secondary research and the importance of looking around you. Exploring and drawing inspiration from experts in the field is crucial to your development. • Value the different stages of storyboarding to help you organize ideas for your film and be realistic about production. • Keep development on track; timetable and schedule the production in a way that allows for change by remaining flexible to adapt to any revisions or developmental changes during production. • Turn feedback into feedforward by taking it as constructive criticism to help you stay focused and perfect the film you originally intended to make. Apply a strategy of constructive selfappraisal that allows for design development. Be open to comment and value professional feedback to aid project development. • Outline the benefits of constant reflection and critical self-assessment and develop ways of documentation to enable you to share your process and methodology.

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Brainstorming

Brainstorming So you are at the start of a new project. Great. Often it is the best bit, full of promise and speculation about what your new production could be. You could begin by asking yourself what am I interested in, what generates an emotion in me? What could provide an opportunity to visually articulate something I feel motivated by and work out exactly what I want to say. Do I want to develop some new skills and find my voice through the craft of film? Any number of these things might be the impetus for starting a new film project. On the other hand, some people find the start of a new film daunting. There are too many possibilities, and the whole prospect is so overwhelming that it is hard to know where to start. If that is the case, this chapter is good place to begin. If you feel bogged down by uncertainties, such as ‘Will I actually be able to do what I want to do?’ or ‘Will I pull it off?’, this book will help. Setting a new idea in motion can be the most difficult part. Many find it easier to be involved in an idea with a clear task allocated that contributes towards the whole of the production, rather than being entirely responsible for it. Film work does, after all, rely on successful collaboration. Either way you must start somewhere, solo or in a team, and you are not going to get better unless you make a start. We all have different interpretations of how to go about brainstorming, be it group work to capture the first things that spring to mind on a large sheet of paper or independent sketchbook work jotting down ideas as they occur. Either way if you are not a confident mark-maker, it is important to ‘stay in your sketch book’ as much as possible and not be tempted to jump onto your computer, which often ends any focused exploration as the on-hand digital tools take over the mind. Even though this manual process can initially be disappointing or

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lead to frustration, it is better to keep your goal in mind and start doodling, sketching, potato printing – anything to make some physical marks. Worry about presentation later, if at all. If you don’t free yourself from how it looks, you will get nowhere. In the following pages students demonstrate early, systematic idea generation using a geometric shape as a starting point. The goal is to pull something extraordinary out of the ordinary. Nothing complex, but rather a different, systematic approach that can deliver surprising results. Once you have got some early ideas and thoughts to start you off, do anything, then do it again and ask yourself what it shows or could represent. Keep answering your enquiry, ‘Why is it interesting?’ Xi Wu develops ideas based on a circle. On her camera she recorded all the circles in her immediate environment. Surprised at the prevalence of circular shapes, she began making patterns around her and soon looked beyond her initial preconceptions of the inherent properties of the circle. She notes an affiliation with feelings of attraction and radiation. She began to ask herself if it was possible to create circular shapes from objects that were not actually circular, and if so, what effect would it have. She devised a small experiment. This led to other experiments: some successful, some less so. But for each experiment she noted what worked, such as when the ideas sparked off other ideas, and which experiments were not worth pursuing. After many iterations and interesting short experimental films exploring time, light and space, she tasked herself with the challenge of representing her circular world as she worked towards producing an output. Taking the triangle through a similar process yields different results. Approaching your initial idea in a detailed, explorative way should provide an opportunity to re-establish some basics and get more ideas flowing. Here are a few things that might help.

The best education in film is to make one. Stanley Kubrick – film director

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4

Foundations

1.0c

1.0a

1.0d

1.0b

Figure 1.0 a–e  Beginning with a basic shape, students use sketchbooks to record their process of idea generation. Lee Tesche starts work on a circle; Hyunlee Jo, a square; and Maria Rocha pulls notes from early thoughts on a triangle.

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1.0e

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Brainstorming

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Figure 1.1 a–b  Kirandeep Johal begins her square investigation with the humble potato, intrigued by the degraded fading image of repeat printing. This is a starting point for markmaking, and just this simple activity can start a train of thought as Xi Wu also discovers in our next example.

1.1a

1.1b

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6

Foundations

Figure 1.2 a–e  By establishing some simple ground rules, Xi Wu sets herself a short, four-part task: find an object, colour the object with paint, fix the object by one point and finally rotate it to create a print. It was an effective way to visualize the movement of circles. By then taking the idea into After Effects, she made a short film, based on these experiments, called Everything Can Be a Circle. 1.2a

1.2b

1.2c

1.2d

1.2e

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Brainstorming

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Figure 1.3  Christian Caller makes notes on the structural properties of a triangle and plans out some ideas of what he could investigate while on location at various bridges.

Professional Tip One thing worse than staring at a blank page is staring at a computer screen not knowing where to start. If you only do one thing, aim to get off your computer. Start sketching, take a walk and photograph, do anything, but don’t use your computer as a starting point. It will most likely lead to a dead end. Free yourself up with a bit of systematic mark-making. What questions arise from these early ideas? Ask what it shows or could represent. Keep in mind the question, ‘Why is it interesting?’ Write your current aim on a Post-it note. Put it up in your workspace and keep referring back to it.

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Is your next decision going to further your aim? Are you losing your focus? Is your central message getting confused? Allow time for constant reflection and appraisal. Don’t get bogged down by technicalities, when you are deep into your work, set a timer to take a break from what you are doing in order to review. Ask yourself if are you still on brief? Often technical complications can affect the outcome. Have you solved the problem to further the original intention or actually changed it?

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Foundations

Making a Start How do you, typically, go about organizing your time? Do you have a budget? Do you have a deadline? How much time will you have to experiment and test out your ideas? Are you planning on being on a technical learning curve? Who else will be involved? Does your team have experience? How are you going to negotiate your role? What do you want out of the process? What do the other team member want out of it? Are they the same things? If you can answer as many of these questions as possible at the outset, your project will begin on solid ground. Answering these questions will help you think about the scale of your project: there’s no point in having complex ambitions if you simply don’t have the resources (i.e. low to no budget and little time). Be realistic to avoid producing something that doesn’t really work. It’s better to produce something really well because it is simple, works through a solid idea, employs a relevant technique and communicates clearly.

For more advice on actually generating ideas have a look at the resources at the end of the chapter. You need to get past the phobia of a blank sheet of paper; there’s no better way than to start. From a practical perspective you will need to be realistic, this list of questions is a good start to enable you to get things set up effectively. Here’s is an example of an early film project that needed a focus and simplification in order to progress past the initial development stage, as what had seemed fruitful areas of exploration,

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albeit broad and all encompassing, proved far too ambitious. Attempts to make a start soon revealed the production was over-complicated and unrealistic. Rather than continue, the goal posts were brought nearer to simplify it, in terms of both its scope and production methods, resulting in a different film. Through its single focus, it communicated a similar message in a more direct way. Looking ahead at what she still had to do in the time left, Roshnee sensibly reduced her workload by dramatically simplifying the idea. Instead of pursuing her original idea of producing her story first as a printed graphic novel and then expanding it to an animation, she chose to select one story from the many interviews she conducted. From the perspective of a single Indian woman, she presents current cultural thinking and begins to zero in on a simplified hands-on animation technique in order to concentrate on producing a more feasible short animated film with a voice-over she wrote and recorded herself. Of course, you may not be able to answer all the questions intended to help you make a start at this stage, in which case the likelihood is that you are still grappling with an idea. So how do you go about developing an early idea into a film? First, you need to get to know your subject area well; without this how can you possibly know what you want to say? Herein lies the value of research. It is nigh on impossible to come up with ideas in a vacuum, so the more you surround yourself with related ideas and think around your subject from the past, present and future perspectives, the more likely you will hit upon a notion that inspires an original take on what you are investigating.

Quick Tip It may seem obvious, but you could save yourself a lot of time if you do a check for originality before you get too far down the line. Google it. Search on YouTube. Seriously. Ideas, names, whatever. Maybe someone has done it already and better than you ever will.

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Brainstorming

Show me the money and I’ll show you the film.

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Figure 1.4  Roshnee Desai’s original intention was to look at Indian cinema and stereotypical representations of women. She asked how she could use her moving-image skills to encourage Indian women to ‘get out of their boxes’, meaning to break free of restrictive cultural conventions.

Jean-Luc Godard – film director

Figure 1.5  Roshnee started by investigating several areas as starting points to help inform her film. The list itself was long and broad, and given her sixteen-week production time frame, fairly impractical. Her original plan was to turn her thinking into a graphic novel, intending to write the narrative and illustrate the pages herself.

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Foundations

1.6a

1.6c

1.6b Figure 1.6 a–d  Roshnee experiments with a variety of animation techniques to test possible styles, using a combination of illustration, photography and hand-drawn filmed characters before opting for a final look.

1.6d

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Brainstorming

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Figure 1.7 a–b  On completion, the film was picked up by the BBC and various local and international radio stations. It served her well for securing further work.

1.7a

1.7b

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Force yourself to write down what is of no interest, what is most obvious, most common, most colourless . . . antique shops, clothes, hi-fi, etc. Don’t say, don’t write, ‘etc.’. Make an effort to exhaust the subject, even if that seems grotesque, or pointless, or stupid. You still haven’t looked at anything, you’ve merely picked out what you’ve long ago picked out. George Perec – Species of Spaces

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Primary and Secondary Research

Primary and Secondary Research Many people are confused by the terms primary and secondary research, thinking primary must be what is there already and secondary being what you follow up with, but that is not the case. Primary research is what you actually carry out yourself, and it may or may not happen first. It also might even be where you look for inspiration. Any experiment you do yourself is essentially primary research. How far you develop this is up to you, as is the point when this primary research develops into a concrete project. Sometimes curating early primary research outputs can be enough, although usually this early stage can benefit from crafting and developing. Most experiments are better a second or third time round; however, there is a raw energy to early work that can get lost when over polished. Here are a few examples of successful experiments into form – note that all of these started as simple analogue ideas, initially using only a camera to record the work. Secondary research is what others have already done, what has or could influence you. It is helpful to make a note of what appealed to you, the original source and where it was referenced. There’s nothing more frustrating when

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you’re interested in following up on someone’s references than to hear ‘I don’t know who it’s by, I think I saw it on Twitter or Instagram.’ In my opinion, a lack of secondary research is probably the single biggest weakness in students who do not develop to a professional level, but it’s surprising how many people feel they can just skip this bit. And it shows in their work. With so much content easily accessible, it may be tempting to restrict yourself to merely searching online but making the effort to absorb as much physical work as possible will have a huge impact on your work. If you never leave the confines of your digital space to totally encompass yourself in your subject, you risk missing out on user-experience, tactility, the tangible and so on. Another benefit of actually visiting a physical space is that the event allows time for reflection, seeing how other people react and interact with work is seldom something you can learn from viewing work alone online. Go with specific questions that might inform your own work and take a notebook or sketchbook. Make as many observations as you can. Watch people watching. Once you find ideas are beginning to take shape, it’s time to start plotting them out as a sequence, perhaps not as a whole as yet, but the sooner you get something down on paper, the sooner you can develop it as a whole.

An Approach to Primary Research If you are not sure where to begin, think about tiny details, the mundane, the ordinary. Find interesting observations in every characteristic. Illustrate and question.

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Foundations

Figure 1.8 a–b  Ahram Park experiments with water droplets, seeing how the circular forms react when combined to create different marks.

1.8a

1.8b

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Primary and Secondary Research

1.9a

1.10a

1.9b

1.10b

1.9c

1.10c

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Figure 1.9 a–c  James Symonds looks at hand-drawn representations of squares, comparing proportion and scale.

1.10d Figure 1.10 a–d  Sam Campbell explores the illusion of form, noticing how the ridged shape of a square softens and transforms in motion. (See film on website.)

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Foundations

Storyboarding There are many reasons to use a storyboard; essentially, they help you outline a skeleton of basic plot points and organize your story. They are also used as a tool for ensuring you have an interesting mix of shots to tell your story dynamically and to set out the sequence in which they will be seen, so you get a feel for the narrative as it will unfold to an audience. Personally, I’m a big fan of the storyboard. One of the many directors I look up to, Werner Herzog,

is not. ‘Storyboards are for cowards’, he tells us. Perhaps they may be for a respected director with a substantial budget and the confidence to know he can deliver, but for us lesser mortals, the storyboard is an essential tool. Storyboards can convey your early vision to the production team or persuade budget holders to part with their cash and convince them you are the person for the job through the concise articulation of a coherent vision. Many a production has fallen apart due to the lack of anything planned out on paper. If you are in the early stages of planning your narrative, and perhaps have not produced many

Figure 1.11

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Storyboarding

storyboards before, you would do well to start by looking at the art of cartoon strips and comics. In particular, the cartoonist and writer Will Eisner and Scott McCloud, cartoonist and comic theorist, respectively. One look at their work and you will see a host of tips on planning shots to help tell your story, the general technique of storyboarding, as well as insight into framing and content, all of which apply to film-making. If you are working by yourself and don’t have a team of people supporting you, plan out a production within your abilities and draw your own parameters around what you can feasibly achieve.

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This can protect yourself from failure or, even worse, producing something you are disappointed with, which may make it more difficult to find a starting point for your next project. Many find it can be very daunting to start with a blank piece of paper with a load of empty squares fixed in position crying out to be filled in. See below for an example (Figure 1.11). It is much better to keep the process flexible, adaptable and analogue, certainly to start with. If it is generated on computer, it is less easy to step back and observe the detail in context across the sequence.

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Foundations

Here are some examples of storyboards that were useful at various stages.

1.13a

Figure 1.12  Working out a concept can be quite rudimentary. Here James Symonds begins to plan a narrative in terms of camera movements.

1.13b

Figure 1.13 a–c  Roshnee Desai works with an early Post-it note sketched frame for flexibility. It also helps set the naive style for the final animation.

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1.13c

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Storyboarding

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Figure 1.14 a–c  Each scene is planned out for this animated film about social phobia from team Xingru Dong, Tian Xie and Rachel Salter. Each detail of the animation is indicated clearly. The illustrative style of the storyboard was also to set the style for the final film.

1.14a

1.14b

1.14c

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Foundations

Figure 1.15  Your client may be less visual than you assume and may struggle to interpret your basic sketches. It may be an advantage to present something a bit more polished but beware of over promising, as there is can be a marked difference in expectations between a roughly drawn board and a more developed one with little room for interpretation. This can lead to disappointment as the ridged standard set out in the initial images may differ to the final thing. Here Ahram Park, Tom Brown and Ester Vilaplana plan out their shots for their short film This Jerusalem. Figure 1.16  Suzanne Green and James Fraser use this mid-production storyboard to map out their rough cut, indicating places where new inserts are needed. The process is useful to work out what shots are still missing, to plan accurately for a second visit to their location.

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Development

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Figure 1.17  By repeating an iterative cycle of experimentation, reflection and refinement, new ideas emerge.

Development Once an idea is beginning to emerge and you have begun to plan it out, it’s important to organize your continuing thoughts as they develop. Working out a timetable is essential to plan your time by working backwards from your deadline, self-imposed or otherwise, and bear in mind the questions asked in the Making a Start feature on page 8. Creating a realistic schedule for your project is an essential part of any successful production. Break down the time available into specific elements, such as storyboarding, creating animatics (a sequence of shots), testing design styles, animating specific elements, creating the titles, music and effects. And, of course, allow for more edit time then you think you’ll ever need, as this is where everything can unravel. Include all stages and be as pragmatic as possible. Accept that if you need more time than you estimated on one element, something else will have to give. For example, if you are going to spend more than the allocated time on animating specific elements, then you may have less time to work on the music. This may result in the film being compromised and is why realistic scheduling is crucial. A common problem for new film makers, particularly when you are working outside your comfort zone or are learning new software, is not factoring in the time it takes to learn the software

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or how to use new equipment. Be sure you consider this in your time estimates. In addition, always try out new equipment before the day you need to use it to avoid a wasted or disappointing shoot day that will need more work to rectify further down the line. You may need to share your scheduling plan as the previous infographics illustrate, but even if you don’t, it is worth taking your time over, thinking carefully about how long the different stages are going to realistically take. There are several web-based project management tools out there you could use, but organizing your time to stay on top of productivity is the goal, whatever method you choose. Visualizing the plan is a starting point, and making a realistic estimation of each of the production processes is one way of giving you a good indication of how long a specific piece of animation might take you to produce. For example, if you are using After Effects or similar editing and compositing software, make a series of preliminary small tests, and before you invest time in making anything move, design some two-dimensional sample frames on paper, or use Photoshop to composite the image. Choose a sequence from your storyboard that is only a few seconds long, and time how long it takes to produce. Ask yourself if it has taken more screen time than you had planned, or does it drag and could be made shorter? You may need to revise your storyboard and possibly your production schedule, too.

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1.18b 1.18a

1.18c

1.18d

Figure 1.18 a–d  As you can see, not much time is left for reviewing quality of work. Try to build a stage for changes, switch production schedule around to accommodate anticipated revisions or, as a last resort, negotiate a later delivery date rather than submit substandard work. (a) Basic planning is essential if only mapping out a rough idea of the relationship between experiment and research. Here Sujeong Yoon aims to continue her visual experiments throughout the production process. (b) Katerina Alivizatou’s ambitious animated film about dog adoption leaves little time for idea development (blue) more concerned with the technical challenges of the animated output (green). (c) Ahram Park plans out her work with key start points; the end dates drift a bit, but she attempts to leave time for testing and feedback, while still allowing time for refinement before the project is due. (d) A different design schedules various stages on a day-to-day basis, useful for collaborative work. This image was pre-production for the film This Jerusalem, featured in the storyboarding section earlier (Figure 1.15).

Most finished student films I’ve seen, even the best ones, are a few weeks off being a whole lot better. But by then it’s too late. Penny Hilton – educator and film maker

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Development

Another way is to produce an animatic, which is a series of basic static images to represent the idea across a timeline, as early as possible. This is usually taken from your storyboard and ideally should include sound, if relevant. This is helpful for your own planning, as you may see immediately that certain sections need to be longer or that the whole thing is over length and has too many shots. It might tell you the areas that are likely to drag on too long and need more interest, likewise it might reveal that the concept is too confused

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and sprawling so needs simplifying before you invest any more time in production. Animatics are a great way to review different stages, and you should get into the habit of producing them for review regularly throughout your production. Do this well and it will allow you decent time to consider the aesthetic. Is it doing the job you want it to from a design perspective? Is it giving the feel you want? Is the design appropriate? Could the work be better? So often there is no time to adjust, refine and improve, so the result falls

Tom Brown—Projection designer Tom Brown, projection designer, offers this advice: I usually create animated films for projection as part of larger projects like live events, so often I start with an existing concept by a director or collaborator. This also means communication is a big part of the creative process, which can be a good and bad thing at the same time. In the last couple of years I’ve found a method that seems to work for me: I’ll do visual research online to find lots of existing work that might have one or two interesting ideas in it, then print out images and physically stick them in a brand new notebook, adding my own sketches and notes, along with notes taken in meetings. Having everything in one place really helps me find bits and pieces as I work on the animation later on, even though there are plenty of webbased project management tools I could use. This gets filtered down into a PDF of visual research and concepts that I can send to whoever I’m working with, ensuring we have a

starting point that we can both refer to and know we’re imagining the same thing. Clearly the importance of coherent communication is key to collaboration as well as establishing a way to document and build on your own thought process. But what about creativity? How can we allow time for that? Tom continues: I’ve learned the hard way that everything in animation and film-making takes twice as long as you think it will, whether you’re working on a self-initiated project or something for a client. A lot of my work involves creating an image and then putting it through a process that manipulates it often in quite uncontrollable ways, before choosing the best version; nowadays I allow extra time for that. On a recent project I worked on animating by myself for three-quarters of the total time spent and had editing sessions with the director for the other quarter. This proved to be a good way of allowing myself time to experiment alongside having more focused periods as well.

Figure 1.19 a–b  Tom Brown’s project Broken Messages.

1.19a

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1.19b

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short of being what you had originally intended. Try to safeguard yourself from this by scheduling realistically in order to build in time for reflection. One way of keeping on track that also helps you clarify the developing idea is to ‘pitch’ it: say it out loud, if only to yourself. Having to succinctly articulate your thoughts will really help you focus on the main structure of what you aim to do. If you are struggling to make your idea sound coherent, perhaps you have some more thinking to do before you launch into production.

Scheduling creativity Establishing the bare bones of your film will allow you to concentrate on being creative and exploring different ways to express your idea. In other words: get the why, what and who out of the way first (see Introduction). This will free up the pre-production time necessary to determine relevant production techniques and allow time to experiment. You need to be sure you will not run out of time. Constantly allow for breaks to review your

Bartosz Druszcz—Motion Designer Motion Designer Bartosz Druszcz has a slightly different approach to starting a new project: The crucial part of developing an idea for me is creating a mood board. Once an idea pops into my mind, I feel the urge to visualize it as soon as possible. Visual research is very important for me. I collect images that help me sketch; I create prototypes, possible colour combinations; I try to think of composition. Only when I have a few images that help me fix ‘the feel’ I wanna achieve, I move to more in-depth research and storyboarding.

next bit. There’s no point in pushing yourself; if you are not sure about something, just move to the next element and the solutions will come eventually. This is what helps me to work efficiently and keep the fun factor in place. Bartosz’s work is very graphic driven, in that colour combinations, shapes, movement and the dynamic of how these relate to each other is often central to the idea. His need to research and experiment with the look of the design is always going to be crucial to the success of his films.

To ensure he has time to allow for creativity, he says: I divide my animations into sections. I work on them simultaneously. If I get stuck, I move to the

1.20a

1.20b

Figure 1.20 a–b  Bartosz Druszcz’s graphic-driven approach.

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Development

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Shirin Ebrahimi Asil Shirin Ebrahimi Asil often tackles complex ideas that are hard to define. She says: For me the starting point of any creative work is research. As soon as I decide about the idea and what I want to work on, I start my research. I read as much as I can about the subject and I do extensive visual research. This is really good because it helps to see others’ approach to the idea and also what has been done before. This also helps me to organize my thoughts on what angle I want to narrow my focus on. Second, I think about the content and form I want to present my idea: who would be my target audience and how I could reach them best. Then

1.21a

I start sketching and producing as much material as I can to be able to decide about the form and continue from there. For Shirin this sketching and producing process is integral to scheduling creativity and can often take up most of her waking hours. When I’m working on a project, it means that all the time, no matter what I do, my mind is thinking about it and looking for things that I could relate to my project. I try to work as much as I can from eight hours to sixteen hours, depending on my deadline.

1.21b

Figure 1.21 a–b  Shirin Ebrahimi Asil experiments with split screen.

progress and ask ‘Is it doing what I want it to? Is this the right look for what I want?’ More specifically, you want to allow time to ask yourself something like ‘Can I design the typography so that it plays an important role?’ Do not be rushed into a last-minute decision because your deadline looms. You may find yourself defaulting to the easy, in the spirit of ‘I’ll use Gill Sans, it’s not going to offend anyone.’ Overall you should avoid getting too bogged down with the mundanities of the technical production, so that you can no longer see the forest for the trees, with the danger of sacrificing your key message to solve production issues.

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I asked a few film makers currently working across different areas how they start off projects.

Allowing for change What if your project goes pear-shaped part way through the process? Try not to doggedly pursue your original intention if it isn’t working. Step back and ask if the idea is being compromised or needs rethinking. Perhaps the problem is due to lack of production time or possibly because other barriers have cropped up: equipment problems, access to contributors or interviewees proving difficult. How can you salvage your original idea? Is there another way of telling the same story? Simplify.

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Use metaphor. Include a voice-over to help fill in for the content that couldn’t be shown. Having a less ambitious plan B up your sleeve might also be a sensible precaution; if it becomes obvious your original production isn’t working, plan a straightforward way to economize and adapt your storyboard to suit your resources. Throughout your production, it is worth checking in with the original idea, as it might help spur you on when you come up against a brick wall or hit a bump in the road. Various production issues can demoralize you: your reminder of why you started your film in the first place will help you focus. One way of doing this is to write the main aim on paper and stick it above your workspace. Keep checking in with yourself. Is it delivering? What emotion do you want to create? Is it heading in the right direction? Is every decision made contributing to the main aim? It might seem obvious, but this can help prevent you from wandering off on a different tangent. It can be a challenge to keep the bigger picture in mind and not get waylaid with detail; it is even harder as the creator to critically reflect on your own work. An early warning sign might be that you are getting bored with the process, so the chances are your audience will most definitely be bored watching it and will likely stop. Not a great outcome if you plan to get you work seen. Another way of testing how your film is progressing is to share your unfinished work and ask for feedback before it’s too late. It’s not unusual for projects to go off course midway through production; perhaps others will be better at spotting this than you. There are more suggestions for ways of encouraging constructive feedback later in this chapter. Maybe the goal posts changed, or what you thought was going to work doesn’t: a shot was impossible to get right, so you made do; perhaps you struggled with the design, tried to modify, and it took on another look entirely. As soon as you suspect problems, address them to salvage the production time you still have. There will be a finite point in every production when you can say it doesn’t work and still move on to an alternative plan. Be realistic. If the plan is now not possible, change the plan. Or at least how you planned to do it. If in doubt simplify. If your script called for four examples to illustrate a point, see if it works with two. It may result in a different film, but by halving your shoot time, perhaps you can claw back more time to try out some options in the edit.

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Here is an example of a new film-making team who hit problems early in the pre-production process yet managed to salvage the film. As novice film makers, Suzanne and James planned to produce a short documentary film on the theme of the familiar and the ordinary. Intending to explore the uncelebrated, the average and the overlooked, they canvassed for contributors to stimulate lively debate. They identified four people who looked promising: an architect whose work is inspired by popular culture and the ordinary; an artist whose sculptures are inspired by human impact and common spaces, giving new meaning to the everyday; an exhibitor at the London Design Festival who set out to share and celebrate some of the most mundane design classics; and lastly the owner of a long-established, old-fashioned dry-cleaning shop. The intention was to film all four and weave a comparative narrative, intercutting between the interviews, pulling out points of interest, contrasting opinions on the value of the everyday. However, the plan started to come unstuck as two contributors became elusive, and one secured interview proved as good as useless due to poor sound quality and a hurried camera set-up. A new plan was called for. Early visits to the dry-cleaners were looking encouraging, and photographic tests at the location were proving interesting. Best of all, the contributors were enthusiastic and accessible. As deadlines loomed, decisions were made to drop the parallel stories and just concentrate on the one location. The resulting film became a single-­minded profile of the manager and his craft. The extra time spent on him allows an insight into his personality that we would have otherwise missed, and a window onto his day-to-day routine celebrates the detailed precision this vanishing trade reveals – which was the essence of the original intention. In their own words, the film makers said:

The film is about reflecting the paradox of linking something apparently mundane or commonplace to strategies that give it weight and substance, following the ‘magical’ journey of a garment being dry-cleaned as a craft and service underappreciated, juxtaposed with a commentary about how you can find inspiration from the ordinary and the

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Development

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everyday. The intent is to express how one can invest meaning and awareness in objects or processes that are not only dynamic, but also seen to be unexceptional, to use this insight within a wider context to enrich and celebrate the modest and unobtrusive. Had the intended plan been followed, to try to cram in all four stories along with the problems that arose, the whole film would have been quite different, no doubt compromised, possibly very rushed, and perhaps significantly less engaging. And most encouragingly the team was enthusiastic with their output and energized to continue developing their new-found skills. No doubt their next film will be even better. Had they refused to deviate from the original structure. they might well have been put off the process for life. Remind yourself who you are making the film for and why. Your current confidence in your idea and skills should establish just how cautious or inventive you can afford to be. Learn what you can from each experiment that you do. Note where it could be better, where you could make changes, and where you should compromise. Reviewing what you have created so far and weighing up how far you have yet to go, will help you decide if it is wiser to change direction. The work in progress could well produce different more effective outcomes that perhaps weren’t what you intended, but ones that could work very successfully as an alternative solution.

1.22a

1.22b

1.22c

Evaluating Your Own Work Are you bored within the first thirty seconds? Are you glad when it’s finished? If yes, change it. Whatever you do, don’t just make do.

1.22d Figure 1.22 a–d  Extra–Ordinary (2016), directed by James Fraser and Suzanne Green. Their process shows how a change of plan can salvage an idea.

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Sometimes when an idea flashes, you distrust it because it seems too easy. You qualify it with all kinds of evasive phrases because you’re timid about it. But often, this turns out to be the best idea of all. Saul Bass – designer

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Feedback and Feedforward

Feedback and Feedforward The term ‘feedforward’ is bandied about a lot, particularly in reference to learners’ progress. While perhaps a little trite, it is meant to counter the idea that feedback is likely to be negative, more a justification for the judgement made, whereas feedforward looks ahead to what might be still to come. It serves as a reminder that all criticism should be framed to improve and continue the development process, rather than to shut it down or impel anyone to give up. First, it can be helpful to be self-critical. One of the most useful ways of evaluating your ideas is to implement a Like/Improve analysis at an early stage. Take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle: on the left-hand side write ‘Like’, and on the right side, write ‘Improve’. Under Improve reference everything that doesn’t work about the idea, things that you are in doubt about or areas that you have that could be improved. On the left side write everything that you think works about the idea, perhaps elements of the design, the meaning, the pace, the audio, and so on. Ask what currently contributes to making your idea work. Look again at the Improve list: what can you actively do to address the areas you have highlighted? Make a new list. How long will these improvements realistically take? Now ask, given the time you have available and the length of your list, is the idea still worth pursuing? Another way of developing your idea more formally in an educational setting, in a classroom or with a group of likeminded film makers, is to show work in progress and invite structured comments reframing feedback in a positive, forward-thinking way. This exercise, loosely based on the pioneering thinking tools developed by Edward De Bono, steers comments into three sections: plus, minus and interesting. Here reaction is invited in a constructive way, an opportunity to begin with something positive, then move on to what could be improved, which may be a detail or something broader, and then finish with a specific point of interest. This can produce unexpected results and often collects surprisingly useful comments.

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The sooner you get over the fear of others’ opinions, the better. There are numerous accounts of students too fearful to show their work, having wobbles on hand-in days and running down corridors in the opposite direction. Or in a teaching session, students trying to be last to present in a class as they’re too embarrassed to reveal their own efforts, intimidated by the standard already on show, often only to astound us all when finally coerced into sharing their work. A good, and practical, reason to get your work out of the bag is to have to stand up for it, as receiving feedback can serve to confirm, if only to yourself, you know what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. Or, conversely, it can help you to admit to yourself something isn’t working that you’ve perhaps been in denial about. Anything that helps towards gaining clarity at an early stage can help. Taking the attitude of ‘you can see it when it’s finished’ can unravel the project, as you may have got something completely wrong that could have been addressed early on. Instead the end result, and possibly the future of the project, is compromised. Structured, frequent input can help you keep going on your project ensuring, it constantly evolves. Try to adopt the following approach: Don’t be precious about your work. It is better to expose your work to others, to strengthen your own ideas. Think of yourself as working in a team with the people who feed opinion into your work. Invite opinion using this feedforward approach:

Feedforward Exercise Often it’s hard to step back and see the bigger picture. Invite your peer group to give you feedback on your work in progress. Put sample frames of your work on the wall, or post it online and ask these simple questions to help develop it: + Areas of strength: What works? – Weaknesses: How can it be improved? Interesting: What is notable?

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Sam Campbell reflects on his use of graphic elements:

In an attempt to emphasize the underlying issues raised in the film I was interested in the fragmentation and distortion of the architecture. For example, elements of the building were deleted or sections would move slightly, altering their shape. Although I am happy with the aesthetic of the film, I had struggled throughout the project with the way that the graphic elements were to express the

Designer Matteo Bisato has some practical ideas on how to analyse your developing project through a lens of critical thinking; this helps him understand that the work can exist beyond a stumbling block and iron out any problems before it’s too late. I put some distance between me and the project. I pretend I’m a viewer that hasn’t seen it before, and I focus on the emotional impact that it delivers more than anything else. Everything from concept to storyboard to post-production may be executed perfectly, but it’s hard to tell if you are actually engaged with the film or just watching it passively.

certain elements and also the techniques

In these situations, I encourage myself to sketch a lot more than I usually do. I find that translating thoughts in simple, rough images often allow me to gain a new perspective on my project.

that I had used seemed to me to be

Matteo Bisato – graphic designer film maker

aim of representing the displacement of community. I was reluctant to over-use

clumsy and contrived. These elements are what I am least happy with in the film.

Figure 1.23  Sam Campbell’s film Heygate Lost (2011) captures the displacement of community, as a large housing estate, home to over 3,000 people, is demolished as part of a regeneration programme at the Elephant and Castle in London. These images from his visual summary, along with the selfcritical reflection, allows Sam to reassess how he approaches his next film in terms of prioritizing content and scheduling.

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Feedback and Feedforward

When you are working in isolation, it can be hard to escape tunnel vision and retain perspective. How are you going to invite feedback from professionals? Often, driving single-mindedly towards a deadline, you may not have the time or the inclination to ask for comments midway through production. There may also be a competitive or non-disclosure aspect to your project, which may make you unable or less likely to want to share it. In which case, you have to respect the client’s wishes and rely on your own trusted network. But in general, it rarely pays to be precious with your work, better to open it up for comment, be brave and distribute it. There are several online forums where professionals showcase work in progress; these can be instrumental in helping you sharpen your idea, and many people find them useful. However, a few words of caution: If you are thinking of using questionnaires, they will need to be very carefully designed to elicit useful feedback. Throwing something together in one of the automated online survey sites, such as Survey Monkey, can be counterproductive as your questions may be too leading or out of context, and respondents may feel the need to merely tick one of your boxes when, left to their own opinion, they would rather have given an alternative answer.

Professional Tip On Focus Groups: Don’t just ask, ‘Do you like it?’ Ask: What do you understand by it? Tell me what it is about? Who do you think it’s aimed at? What does the music make you feel? How could the message be made clearer? How could it be improved? Could it be shorter, longer, louder, less wordy, less busy, more active, and so on? Try to recreate the conditions and context as much as possible to get a more accurate picture.

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Take-Away Thoughts on Feedback Always show your work. It doesn’t have to be finished. Don’t show just anyone and everyone. Listen as well as speak. Control your ego. Be positive and always learn from your mistakes. Accept that someone else might have the solution. Work together and not in isolation.

Don’t show it to everyone. It can get confusing, someone may have nothing really to say but feel pressured to say something that might be a complete red herring. Showing it to more people does not necessarily guarantee a better result. Show the people that matter and ask specific questions. Although being open about your work and sharing it with others is always useful, particularly to establish if the intended message is being communicated, it’s probably just as important to grow confident in your own opinions and to stay focused. Trying to take on board every comment that is made can lead to a watered-down outcome and is simply outright impossible. It’s likely that individual feedback will be contradictory; only you can decide if the feedback is valuable based on the context of who’s giving it. Sometimes you can just completely overlook something an extra pair of eyes might immediately spot; the danger is getting so close to your work that you can’t see the forest for the trees. In a professional setting it is crucial to get input on your work; in a competitive situation, such as pitching for business, feeling protective about an early idea makes it all too easy to try to justify skipping this stage. Feedback helps iron out potential problems before they can grow and create insurmountable problems, meaning you have to start again from scratch.

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If I’m working directly with a client, I will share things with them early in the process to get feedback; it makes them feel involved and, just as importantly, explains the process. Equally the more you can understand about their side helps the overall production. If I’m working with a producer, I get them involved as well . . .

not just as a record of the contacts you made and the people you met during the production, but also to be able to see how you overcame certain issues: this could help you avoid the same mistakes on your next film. It can be very helpful should you want to add layers to your film later or divert your project in another direction. The document can also work as a production diary, recalling all sorts of memories, including the various trials and tribulations of the whole thing.

Don’t let your ego run riot. I’ve seen creatives refuse to accept a better idea because it either came from someone else or, worse still, the client, and their precious ego felt deflated. Finally when you think that your film is finished, or even better, show a short test to a trusted colleague before it is finished, ask for honest feedback before it is too late. While an ‘awesome’ reaction might be nice to hear, it might be more helpful to encourage comments on content; if the answer is a little off, it may suggest you have a bit of rewinding to do. David Daniels – animation director

With these things in place, helping you set your work up and ensuring you stay on track, you are ready to begin the next stage of establishing who you are talking to.

Documentation For the final section of this chapter, here are a few thoughts on why keeping a record of your process is worth doing as you set up your project. You’ll spot that the term documentation is a constant in this book for several reasons: For any subsequent productions you get involved with, it is really valuable to have a record of what your process was,

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Continuous Development Where I work, I am able to access the work of a master documenter, as we are home to the Stanley Kubrick Archive – part of the University of the Arts London Archives and Special Collections Centre based at the London College of Communication. Kubrick was renowned not only for his hugely influential films but also for his involvement in every stage of the production process. Incredible detail, meticulously observed and documented, now carefully guarded but open to all students at the University of the Arts and to the public by appointment. This fascinating legacy is respectfully pored over by more than 2,000 people each year and has been the catalyst to numerous new projects, since it became available in 2007, and countless new interpretations of his work by students of the university. This was the main intention of the generous donation from the Kubrick Estate – that his influence should live on, inspiring future film makers, as well as being available to wider communities of designers, film makers and historians. The archive spans Kubrick’s entire career, from his time as a photographer for Look magazine to his final film Eyes Wide Shut. The main concentration is records created during the making of his films, over 5,000 items of which 90 per cent are catalogued, and this catalogue is available online. Precisely because Stanley Kubrick was actively involved in every step of the production process, and took the time to document it, is why this is such a valuable and rich resource and will continue to be for generations to come.

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Documentation

1.24a

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Figure 1.24 a–e  (a) Some of the hundreds of shelves in the archives at London College of Communication. (b) A vast selection of material is directly accessible, including annotated scripts, props and fine costume detail. (c) Early sketch for the end of Dr. Strangelove. (d) Maquette set-up to plot camera positions and moves for Full Metal Jacket. (e) Preproduction costume research for Barry Lyndon for the character of Barry Lyndon’s Mother.

1.24e

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Figure 1.25  Sarah Wickes begins her research for her project #Me: Digital Spectres and the Self by categorizing selfies posted by well-known celebrities.

Figure 1.26  Angie Kordella’s work on beauty resulted in an interactive book, where pages could be removed for comparison. She annotates her process on screen, alongside the turning pages, so we can clearly understand her process. Please note the use of capital letters. Does it help the reader or not? What tone of voice does it create?

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Figure 1.27 a–d  Tammy Alperovich-Malkov’s film, set during the Israeli– Palestinian conflict, uses postcards to reveal an unfolding narrative. She starts by referencing the design style of postcards and posters of the time to inform her own design decisions for the props featured in the film; this works as a mood board and visual reference.

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Figure 1.28 a–e  It’s hard to overestimate the importance of sketchbooks. Here we can see Designer Illustrator Yi Lin takes great care compiling his sketching regularly; an avid collector of detail, he uses the pages to reflect his latest interests, providing a constant source of inspiration.

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How you go about organizing this documentation process is very individual, but suggested headings or sections could be used to outline your aims and key message. Include documentation of your areas of research, allowing you scope to explore a few routes into your idea, including as much secondary research as possible that has affected your own design development. You could write it as a rolling diary, updating every few days, noting any lessons learned, such as constructive criticism you plan to act on or new inspiration taken from an exhibition visit and so on. Use your documentation as a tool for constant reflection that fast tracks your development,

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and if regularly updated, documentation can get you back up to speed if there is any hiatus during the time spent on the project, as it serves as a reminder of where you left off. Put some effort into it and it can double as support material to tell the story of your own methodology. This story can be film based, an outcome in its own right, and can often prove to be an excellent gauge of commitment to show future employers. Another reason to document the process might be to illustrate the level of detail needed for the benefit of those you are collaborating with or to interest parties in a future project. If you are studying, tutors assessing your work may well put

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more emphasis on the journey than the end result. Forms of comprehensive process documentation would be valuable in such a case. Playing a key part in inspiration are mood boards that give a general overview, or look books, a term borrowed from the fashion industry, which set out, in images and textures, the themes of new collections. The term ‘look book’ is frequently heard in connection with film pre-production for showcasing specific attributes of the proposed film, for example, a desired impression created by Figure 1.29 a–b  Pia Hakko puts together some styling ideas (a) for her film Maggie’s Appetite about the breakdown of a relationship. She references other films in a similar vein, studying the camera work, noting angles and lighting. (b) She says, ‘I think it was essential to have a mood board just to get inspired and understand better what “mood” you want to have in your movie. When my script is finished, I’ll do another mood board but this time more in detail. This detailed mood board is stuck on the wall during filming to remind me not to miss some of the atmosphere I was intending to follow. A mood board also helps me understand wardrobe decisions, as I need to differentiate the two characters played by the same actor, one as Maggie, the other as her subconscious. The colours can reflect their emotions, state of mood and personality.’

a particular camera lens or lighting set-up, or character type for casting. The mood boards and look books you create yourself will help you find your own individual voice and style, as well as becoming your secondary research. For those of you attending film festivals and design events, you will have noticed the increasing interest in the behind the scenes films that accompany many showcased projects to give a sense of the process of production. We are often more intrigued with the story and production

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details of how it was all put together then the end product, as there is more we can take for our own practice and professional development. You may well want to make your own version when your film is complete, so the methods described here could provide good content for one. In this chapter we’ve looked at ways of shaping the idea for your project to get it off the starting blocks. Don’t be afraid of failure. If you produce nothing, no one can comment or give feedback

Resources On the companion website you will see various additional content relating to each of the chapters. For this first chapter, you’ll see a couple of development exercises to help you focus on your own treatment and a persona for your next production. Meanwhile following are some valuable resources to continue to build on throughout your project, share with your production team, and generally keep you motivated. Books De Bono, Edward. Six Thinking Hats. London: Penguin, 2000. Ingledew, John. An A–Z of Visual Ideas: How to Solve Any Creative Brief. London: Laurence King Publishing, 2011. Judkins, Rod. The Art of Creative Thinking. Great Britain: Sceptre, 2016. (Look on YouTube for an intro to the book.) Lupton, Ellen. Graphic Design Thinking: Beyond Brainstorming. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2011. McCloud, Scott. Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics Manga and Graphic Novels. New York: William Morrow Paperbacks, 2006. McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York: William Morrow Paperbacks, 2001. Smith, Keri. How to Be an Explorer of the World. London: Penguin, 2011.

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and you’ll never improve. You might as well produce something, anything, if only to begin your development stage. With these aspects covered in this chapter – how you plan to set your project up, stay on track and record your method along the way – you will be ready to home in on the detail of your brief. The next stage is establishing exactly who you are talking to, so you can approach the design appropriately.

Internet Social media sites like Pinterest will keep you visually stimulated. Start by searching keywords to look for inspiration and compile selected images to create your own boards. There’s plenty of inspiration on the website Creative Bloq, which offers several tips on brainstorming, as well as project management tools and advice about how to give more constructive design feedback and how to take creative criticism. Elliot Groves from Raindance suggests nineteen great ways to brainstorm short film ideas: https://www .raindance.org/19-great-ways-to-brainstorm-short -film-ideas. For story boarding tips from Scott McCloud, look at http://scottmccloud.com and his TED talks on the visual magic of comics: https://www.ted.com/talks /scott_mccloud_on_comics. Werner Herzog has several master classes teaching filmmaking online, many publicly accessible. For the development substantial film productions and scheduling Yamdu.com production management software is aimed at new directors wanting to break into an industry or intending to stay independent. On the subject of feedback, investigate Edward De Bono’s thinking tools: http://www.cortthinking.com.

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Audience Chapter Overview In the last chapter we discussed ways to get an idea going, methods to ensure your working process stays on track, and how you might make the best use of the time you have available. This chapter is going to concentrate on developing and shaping your particular message to engage a specific audience, so you can approach the designed content in the right way. In this chapter, you will learn to do the following: • Clarify who are you talking to. Unless you are clear about who you are pitching your idea to and why, making the right decisions on structure choices will be hit and miss. Knowing your audience is key; learn how to integrate a persona in your work to clearly visualize who you are talking to and start your production on the right track. • Identify the context in which your film will be seen. By asking the right questions, you will understand what else your film must compete with, consider the location of your work, and see how it affects your design approach. Appreciating the likely mindset of your viewer will help steer your outcome. • Determine the formats the final film might be accessed through. Ask the relevant questions to write your own brief. Does the final screen size affect the design, and what are the design implications of producing work for different formats? Once you have decided on an idea and how it will be viewed, how do you decide the best treatment to opt for? How should you make that decision relevant and appropriate for the intended audience? Having a coherent vision will strengthen your design. • Get the tone of voice right for both the idea and the subject matter. Start off on the right foot and ensure you are using a relevant approach. Develop methods for checking that your intonation hits the mark.

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Personas

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Personas Designing for specific viewers is essential; before you make a start, you should really get to know your audience. One way to do this is to adopt a tool commonly used across industries, such as marketing, design advertising and branding: the persona. A persona is a fictional character you develop who is the typical adopter or user of your product, service or brand. A persona can provide you with a composite sketch of a key segment of your audience, to help you focus on what design will be most relevant, engaging and, therefore, useful to the audience you have in mind. In film terms, a persona can act as a good starting point to help you with design decisions and convincingly meet the needs of the message you are trying to communicate. Building a mental picture of your persona’s likes and dislikes will help steer your approach. If your work is conceptual and more in the realm of fine art, without a specific, obvious message, this may not be a necessary process. However, it is more than likely you will be aiming at a specific group of people and have a particular reason or purpose that you want your film to have, so a persona may still help you towards a coherent message. For this chapter we are making the following assumptions. First, the film you are looking to produce is not commissioned but rather a piece of work that is self-initiated. The difference being that if you are designing a film for a specific client, the demographic of the audience may well be predetermined. Although if you are working to a commission, but don’t yet have these details, a persona would be a good place to start. The second assumption is that the self-initiated piece of work, at this early stage, has the flexibility for you to determine which audience you will focus on, and you are looking for ways to ensure your message really speaks to them.

Figure 2.0  Yang Guo maps out exactly who he’s talking to before he starts his film about pollution in Shanghai. Hoping to instigate action, it’s important he pitches it right.

There is a lot of advice online, mainly focused on personas for marketing and branding, on how to define your target audience; how to get under the skin of your users and see the situation from their perspective; how to get a good sense of what they may be experiencing; and how to gauge what frame of mind they will be in when approaching your service. We can also learn a lot from ‘empathy maps’, which are a collaborative tool used to gain deeper insight into customers and guide user-experience design (UXD). This may not be exactly what we need to centre on here, but in principle, what we are trying to achieve is similar. Empathy maps are a basic structure within which to build

A persona is a kind of mental model – an imaginary person with a name, history, and story who has a way of doing things. James Heaton – Tronvig Group

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our approach. Between empathy maps and personas, we can build a more accurate picture of who we are talking to and establish what feeling(s) we want to produce in our viewers. Here’s how. Let’s look at how we might create a useful persona with our film audience in mind. The best place to start would be to answer the most obvious questions: what is the age, sex, status, concern, working situation (and so on) of your persona? Going further might also help you decide on your design approach. Ask questions: What does she read? What TV programmes does she watch? What are her musical tastes? What is her favourite movie? Does she even identify herself as a female? Build a picture of your persona, not just virtually but actually; find a picture that represents the sort of person you are talking to. You can make all of this up or base it on someone you know personally or perhaps someone you have read about. You will need to create several different personas if the audience is varied or mixed, or if there are different types of people in mind that you plan to address, rather than having a single fictitious person who represents all your categories. Give names to any personas you create, so they become individuals. You may find it useful

to keep them in mind and to constantly refer to them as your production builds; ask them questions directly and let them be your guide.

Context Now that we have our audience in mind, we need to consider the context of where our film will be seen. Understanding the location and landscape is a start; for example, will it be shown on a cinema screen, a smartphone or at a train station? But also important is the political and social landscape. The idea for your film may be timely because it responds to a current news event or taps into the zeitgeist and therefore has relevance to your audience. What is the typical mindset your viewer might be in when engaging with your work? How might this affect your approach to the design of the film itself? A film that relates specifically to its context is the ‘Look at Me’ campaign designed as part of the Blind Eye project. Appearing more like a moving billboard, this awareness poster for Women’s Aid highlights the often unseen or ignored crime

Figure 2.1 a–b  Look at how Héloise d’Almeida found this process useful in shaping the design direction and tone of voice for her animated film Red about the comforting aspect of the colour red.

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Some questions to ask to help establish your design route Are there any background factors that propel this idea or message? Where do you think it should be seen?

Is the intended location already occupied or cluttered, both in terms of competing imagery or distracting audio?

What do you imagine it will have to compete with?

Is there a temporality to your film – not just in the time-based nature of the design, information or narrative as it unfolds during the playing of the film, but is there a possibility that viewers will watch the film again?

What frame of mind do you think your viewer will be in when they watch your film?

If so, how might this affect the elements within the film?

Will they be in a hurry or relaxed and in a position to process all that you want your film to say?

Will it stand a second viewing?

What are the inherent challenges of this environment? How would you like people to access it?

Will it have to vie for space or attention?

of domestic violence. Positioned high up and outdoors in the concourse of Canary Wharf station in London, a steady flow of people passes below, rushing to or from work or preoccupied with other activities. The headline ‘Look at Me’ sits alongside a filmed image of a woman’s face with clear bruising. Through facial recognition technology, sensors pick up the eyes of passers-by if they gaze upward. If, collectively, the billboard is ignored, the bruises on her face increase. If, however, enough faces in the crowd register as looking at the image, the injuries begin to disappear, and she says, ‘Thank you.’ The poster/film ends with Look at Me. Don’t turn a blind eye; together we can stop domestic violence.

How can you approach your design accordingly?

Invisible technology is seemingly simple but underneath perhaps quite complex. The resulting effect works because the public can feel involved and that their actions, which in this case is to pay attention and notice, sends the message that just by taking the time to look you can make a difference. This is a personal, relevant and effective way to get a simple message across. Still on the theme of domestic violence, the self-initiated film I made for cinemas back in 1993 was the first-ever cinema ad on the subject. At that time, the issue was hardly even on the government agenda, and I had to lobby hard to get it past the British Board of Film Classification with a Figure 2.2  ‘Look at Me’ 2015 campaign by advertising agency WCRS for Women’s Aid uses facial recognition technology to engage passersby. The more people who look, the fewer bruises are visible.

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broad enough certificate to enable it to be widely distributed. This is an example of a subject-­ specific location, as the private darkened space of a cinema auditorium provided a safe place to highlight the issue, offering advice in the form of a helpline number to encourage women to seek help and break free from the cycle of abuse. Interestingly, I was offered free air time to screen the ninety second public awareness film on TV but declined. I preferred to write an appropriate message that could be more safely delivered away from the very place where the abuse could be taking place – where it might incite further conflict or upset children who might recognize symptoms. Now the issue is much more out in the open, quite literally, as the location of ‘Look at Me’ illustrates.

Another illustration of understanding context and how it might have a direct effect on reception is a theatrical release of the documentary Dreams of a Life (Carol Morely). Let’s look at the emotional effect behind the format for the viewer, which takes on a different role in the context of the closed, almost intimate space of a darkened theatre, than if it were to be accessed in a crowded room online. The film is an attempt to shed light on the unresolved death of Joyce Vincent, a young woman whose body lay undiscovered in her flat in North London for three years. Only when she had accrued massive rent arrears were the authorities prompted to break into her flat, where they found the TV still on and the remains of her body on the sofa.

Figure 2.3  The cinema auditorium provided an appropriate setting to highlight the dangerous, hidden cycle of domestic violence. Don’t Stand for It (1994), directed by Penny Hilton, addressed a captive audience to persuade sufferers to come forward to ask for help at a time when the subject was far from mainstream. 2.3a

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Figure 2.4 a–d  New film maker Abigail Smith provides another example of a context-appropriate design approach. In planning to entice a new teenage audience to the work of Shakespeare, she attempts to dispel any preconceptions of his prose being unfathomable by giving the subjects more current relevance. Taking central themes based on the emotions of love, hate, jealousy and greed, she rescripted some of his more well-known scenes and set them in a contemporary context, filming them as if they were user-generated confessionals. She uploaded the series to YouTube for access via a single channel. By inviting the viewers to also create and upload their own versions in response, or even just to comment on those she posted, she builds a participating audience who actively connects to her campaign ‘Bards Talk’. Abigail summarizes, ‘When it comes down to it, Shakespeare’s stories are about parts of human nature that never change.’

Documentary in style, interviews with friends reveal her to be a popular, sociable, successful woman. Although a sad film, the themes it touches on are also quite harrowing: the breakdown of community, loneliness and isolation. These are perhaps accentuated by the setting where the film is viewed: a private dark space where discussion is discouraged. The viewing experience becomes stifling in the subdued, enforced quiet space of the cinema auditorium. The story is both shocking and outrageous, but as the forum does not allow for discussion, nor does the film suggest any action, the audience leaves the cinema disturbed and deeply saddened by the underlying implications of where we are heading as a community,

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especially where the virtual world of social media seems to replace real human contact. There are no lessons to be learned, just an empty sadness at the quiet tragedy of the narrative and the continuing unanswered question about the mystery that surrounds Vincent’s death. This feature film example illustrates how different environments can affect the response to your film. While we are primarily concerned with short format film, and most likely those prompted by the intention to communicate a specific message, rather than feature films, let’s consider a film by Ken Loach, one of Britain’s leading political activists. Loach uses the medium of film to communicate socially meaningful stories. His film

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I, Daniel Blake is an angry eloquent exposé of the humiliating benefit system; skilfully handled, it is no frills, just good storytelling, with expert performances drawn from new actors in a way that only Ken Loach can. But is it clear what Loach was expecting us as individuals to do with the current situation he brings to light? Is just having more awareness enough? Are we to change our behaviour? If so, how? What would he actively like us to do? Lobby government? The film was heavily promoted, launching amidst a massive marketing campaign, so perhaps the surrounding publicity and exposure becomes the goal, and the film is merely the vehicle to promote debate around the subject, to raise political awareness and perhaps, ideally, to steer some on-the-fence voters to tick a different box at the next election. Ken Loach’s anger and sense of moral injustice has been the main driving force throughout his long film-making career. ‘If you are not angry, what sort of person are you?’ In an interview in The Independent, he says of the film I, Daniel Blake, ‘I suppose why you hope it connects to people is that we need to fight back.’ Some of the best feature films will have a clear, intended, take-home message that we are left feeling or thinking as we leave the cinema. Perhaps the most powerful moment of any film should be directly after the last frame. Here are a few more examples of how context can affect design, the approach to these films was all driven by appropriate positioning, so they could address a specific audience. Alberta worked on this project in 2011, prompted by her concern over the sheer numbers of people losing their lives while making perilous journeys across the Mediterranean in search of a safer place to live. Years later, this death toll has soared; in 2016, over 10,000 migrants lost their lives – the deadliest year yet. This subject couldn’t be more relevant. These films are to be shown in busy transit points, such as underground and train stations. This cross track likens the discomfort of the crowded rush-hour crush with the extreme conditions migrants have to suffer on their own journeys in containerships and freight trains. With an inference of ‘you don’t know how lucky you are’ or ‘stop complaining’, the design of the animation is simple, fluid and bold for easy visibility on a crowded train platform. The smooth motion, simple narrative and captions inform, while

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supporting multiple viewings. Without audio, the simile is powerful and thought-provoking. Projected high up in a window above a shop in the main high street, the character Alice, from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, having taken her potion, appears to alter in size. We see her body distort and grow until, hardly fitting in the room, her face presses against the window as she screams at us. We feel for her and want to know more. Crowds gather, drawn to the spectacle; it becomes a talking point as the image is both mesmerizing and immersive. In the shop below, details of the production are revealed through another projection-mapped installation, promoting the theatre performance. James says he wanted ‘to encourage the spectators’ active engagement of content by presenting graphic moving image in an unexpected and surprising manner. It is this act of engagement that promotes the validation of the viewers’ point of view.’ He explains:

The vast majority of moving image we consume is presented to us on flat, rectangular screens, be it a television, computer monitor, or smartphone. Within this format lie a handful of standardized resolution sizes and aspect ratios that further restrict the film maker and designer. So ubiquitous are these rectilinear formats that even the most outstanding content can be tarnished with a sense of the mundane, as viewer apathy in a visually saturated society becomes more acute. Re-engaging with an audience through unusual presentation techniques is a cornerstone of this project. ‘Subversion’ and ‘spectacle’ are powerful tools, which I intend to use in overcoming issues of viewer apathy, and which have the potential of leaving a lasting impression on the viewer, providing the content delivers something more than just a cacophony of images.

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Figure 2.5 a–e  Ewa Przybyla addresses the increasing problem of young women binge drinking via a short film intended for access on Facebook. Disturbed by the current trend to post selfies of inebriated states, her initial pre-production research also used this social media platform, posting images of herself seemingly drunk and asking friends to respond to them. Her resulting film contrasts how you feel when you are drunk with the actual reality of how you look. Facebook was a perfect and relevant format on which to share the message.

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Figure 2.6  Alberta Torres’s campaign Without Borders aims to communicate the theme of migration to a wide audience, to raise awareness, empathy and provoke action through Amnesty International. She says, ‘If globalization is so good and capital can travel across nations, why don’t people have the same rights? For years, the Mediterranean Sea has become a huge mass grave, in the indifference of the two sides.’

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Figure 2.7  James Symonds’ ‘Alice’ project uses projection and video mapping techniques to challenge audience apathy, while promoting a youth theatre project in his local town of Bexhill, UK.

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Format Having worked out who you are talking to and where it will be seen, you need to set about deciding on the most appropriate format for your film. In this context, by format we mean the size of the canvas, or in actual terms the size of the screen you are working to, most likely determined by its end destination. Currently in the industry, it is becoming more common to supply finished films or content in multiple formats (square, landscape and portrait) for all social media. Sometimes as many as nine or ten formats are used to cover all the different platforms accessed via screen. But to simplify, let’s concentrate on the optimum format, so we can concentrate on the design. To make the best use of the space, you will need to think about the limitations of where it will be accessed and the optimum format that the shape of the parameters dictates. You may not have the option, as the end format could be predetermined, but if you do, you should be asking whether your design needs to be rectangular or square in shape, or long and thin more like a web banner. Perhaps CinemaScope, either 16:9 or 2:35? If it is to be square, perhaps it will be modelled on an old style 4 ✕ 3 traditional TV format or the 500 ✕ 500 pixels format commonly used for Instagram gifs. The aspect ratio you design to might determine if the eyes will need to scan, or if the viewer’s

head will need to physically move from one side to another to take in the entire image; if so, what will be the elements that dictate where to look and when? Your own field of vision is actually extremely wide, so if your film is going to be shown on a vast cinema screen, then planning an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, more commonly known as Anamorphic scope, Panavision or CinemaScope, will more likely mimic your actual vision, and you’ll have the physical space to get away with it. But if you are looking at a film on your phone, then this aspect ratio will be far too small. Despite the fact that a handheld device allows you the flexibility to bring it closer to a comfortable distance and possibly enlarge parts of the screen at will, the restriction of the small screen is not advisable for small text or details that will pass in a nanosecond. If the image is square, most likely it can be taken in all at once (unless the viewer is close or the screen is particularly large.) You may decide on a longer and thinner format, perhaps because your story calls for more wide angles, but be aware this large space will affect how we see depth of field. Close-up detail, spread over such a large area, may be harder to signpost and therefore lose impact. Here are some illustrations of projects where the format size has affected outcome, not always positively. Paulina Gajewska reflects on her project: “I intended to produce a video projection that will be mapped onto the building. A moving image piece to be an exploration and my interpretation of the

Figure 2.8  Cristina Addonizio’s oneminute exploration into the properties of the golden section. She uses kinetic typography to cover all the information she wants to include in the short time she has, and this enables her to romp through eras at a fast pace. But the combination of moving inset images, background detail and transitions of text, on and off screen, is so relentless that we don’t know where to look, and by the time we do, the text has gone. It is not just the placement and pacing of this that makes the information difficult to read but the size of the text on screen is too small to be legible in the format presented.

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Figure 2.9  In the film The Light Circus, Paulina Gajewska plans to project onto the fifteen-storey tower block of the London College of Communication amongst the urban sprawl of London’s Elephant and Castle roundabout, to promote a one-off event.

creative play, using a theme and form of circus performance. I want to redesign the building and make it, for one night, become a stage and an artist and to perform, the ‘circus’ show that opens at dawn. The aim is to choreograph and animate the visual performance. The work has been created to appeal to the passing viewer, with the aim to amuse and to entertain.” By referencing the Bauhaus sense of creative play and the theme of the circus illustrated

Establish the Role of Your Film Do people need to interact with it, to be able to touch it and be involved with the continuing narrative? Is the viewing experience passive or active? Passive would involve a fixed narrative with no flexibility or variation throughout a given timeline, other than personal interpretation of what you have offered. Active might mean options are offered throughout, in which case how are you going to make these options clear? What if your outcome covers more than one screen? How will these different screens relate to each other? Where will they be sited, and how does the eye or mind react to the space in between?

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through the Polish poster school from the 1960s and beyond, Paulina says, ‘Every major artist from the Polish poster school and those, following in their footsteps, created at least a few circus designs in their career. Designed and printed not for an existing venue or event, but for the sake of the concept itself, the theme has become a playground for the artists’ creativity.’ An apt choice of location is to site the projection onto one of Europe’s leading art colleges.

Is sound a crucial element? If so, does the chosen format lend itself to hearing audio? A gallery piece or installation may allow for sound, but siting your project in an open public space may not. What do you want the audience to do as a result of watching your film? Get on board with your message? If so, how? Sign up? Donate? Spread the word? Laugh? Be shocked? Or do you want to motivate viewers to take action? If these emotions are to be exploited, then the message needs to be clear, and the format that this message is delivered in needs careful thought.

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Figure 2.10 a–f  Here is another project by James Symonds, this time Knife Crime. His aim was to address the growing concern of young people carrying and using knives. The design is simple, and almost without motion, as the projection is mapped directly over an actual kitchen knife lying as if discarded on a floor. As several quotes and statistics are projected, the knife appears to seep blood, eventually covering the surface as the confessions and opinions escalate. Simple and arresting, it draws you in.

The intention of my final experiment was

Having uncovered interviews and

to use video mapping techniques to add

unaired footage on the Dispatches

a backstory or narrative to a common

‘Disarming Britain’ website, I decided

household object. When we view a projected

to build simple graphics to illustrate

moving image, it tends to be scaled up

the number of teenagers killed due to

onto a large display. By focusing on a small

stabbings in 2009.

item, I wanted to challenge the assumption of expanding an image and project on a much more personal and intimate scale. Video mapping tends to be purely based on aesthetics, so I wanted to explore the option for more topical content. As a result, I began to work with using a kitchen knife to discuss teenage crime in Britain. My initial idea was to project facts and statistics on teenage knife crime onto the object itself. Having researched recent campaigns and the statistical data presented by government agencies, I realized that to have any meaningful impact I needed

Originally this film was shown in a theatre foyer, before a performance of a youth production. Although targeting the right age group, perhaps it was not directly aimed at the kids most affected: James accepts that his idea could be better targeted and reflects on areas for improvement.

I would have preferred to have used an exterior setting for the piece, to ground it in a real location, but as it was my first experience of mapping, I needed an environment I could easily control. Having got to grips with mapping a flat surface, I would like to explore mapping on more three-dimensional objects.

to include some real-life experiences of children in relation to the topic.

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Treatment

Format might also refer to the type of film that it needs to be and what function it will serve, as this will determine the appropriate output format. Just as if you were to design a piece of graphic design in a two-dimensional printed format, there are as many design decisions to be considered for screen, such as, scale, colour, composition, placement, focus etc. But before those elements are tackled, here are some questions that need answering to help you establish what role your final film should fulfill. As you can imagine, there would be little point in creating a chilling short film that relies on atmosphere to build tension if it were to be sited on a huge screen in a crowded shopping mall. The audio would have to cut through the already noisy sounds of the location, and any potential passing viewers would be distracted by their primary purpose of shopping. However, if this same film were to arrive on your smartphone at midnight with a persuasive invitation to watch it, it might well be more effective. For the shopping centre, it would be better to use the impact of the large screen, perhaps by filling the screen with sudden movements that might draw attention. Although elements of surprise or shock might work geographically to evoke the sensation you are aiming for, obviously sensitivity to a young audience would also have to be considered, both for ethical and legal reasons.

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Treatment Now we know who, where and what we are trying to address, we should decide on how the film will communicate its message. Look at the work more broadly and consider the design in its entirety, before decisions on specific elements can be made. In the film industry the term treatment is usually a document that gives a clear outline of the proposed film and includes a lot of detail to help pitch the project (see the following feature), but for a short film that has design as a focus, the term treatment may also cover different considerations. It may clarify decisions to choose live action over animation, or an infographic approach as opposed to a talking head documentary. Of course, many new film makers will look to work within what is financially feasible, most likely taking a route within their technical comfort zone. If there is a budget at all, it will have to be spent wisely; early film makers may defer initial treatment decisions to suit their own specialisms, or comfort zones. But some of the best work can be unexpected and produced when these boundaries of experience are stretched.

Figure 2.11  Roman Kim chooses to shoot live action to give a reality to the ancient myth of Siberian shamanism about souls passing through different worlds. He projects images onto characters to show memories and employs specific colour grading to give an ethereal, dream like quality.

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Tips on Writing a Treatment There are lots of different ways to write a treatment. Depending on what your end format is going to be and who needs to see it, your final document could be very detailed or a brief one pager. If you are planning to submit a treatment, look carefully at the format requested, as they all differ. Here are a few generic ideas to get you started: Working title: Give your film a name. You are always free to change it, but it can be very helpful to refer to a specific project title, especially if you have several projects on the go. You may well find that a better name comes to mind as the production develops. Genre: Putting your film project into a category enables people to understand your context immediately: an advert, short film, drama, documentary or music video. Outline: Can you sum up your idea in a few sentences (not just a condensed narrative of the beginning, middle and end)? Explain the topic as a synopsis and think what the film is really about. Be as succinct as possible. Target audience: Being direct and specific will help pitch your design and message. (See the Persona section.) Rational: Has something instigated your idea? What is the background thinking that has led to it? Are there any questions you are looking to answer or a premise on which to start? If so, try to outline it clearly.

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to bring to the screen, and how does that shape the atmosphere, as reflected in the designed elements? When you have got this pinned down, it can be useful to gather images from picture libraries, Pinterest being an obvious start. If live action, look for references of lighting styles, locations, wardrobe and actors. If animated, look for illustrative styles, colour palettes, typography and similar styles that help you build a picture of what you are aiming at. Be as detailed and specific as possible. Then create your own mood board on Pinterest or similar. Constraints and contingency: Are there any limitations that you need to consider or provision that might hinder the free development of your project? What measures can you put in place to ensure this isn’t the undoing of your progress? Legal and ethical considerations: This could be from needing to consider health and safety precautions during filming or music licensing. List anything that might become a barrier to smooth production. Budget: Be realistic. You can ether work backwards and use what funds you have available wisely or work out what are the essential elements that you will have to pay for. Don’t expect everyone to do it all for free, as it can make it awkward to go for perfection.

Character breakdown: Who are the relevant characters? How far can you flesh them out? Reference images can provide a useful discussion point, especially in lieu of casting.

Presentation: Be sure to collate all the above information in a clean concise robust way, whether it’s to be printed or viewed as a pdf on screen; lay it out divided by headings to tell your story logically and with coherence.

Audio elements and visual elements: This could be very complex and involved, but before you start detailing out any images or sound, think about what you are trying to achieve through the mood of your film. What emotions are you hoping

Remember the document isn’t merely to outline your thoughts but, hopefully, to inspire people you may be collaborating with and give them the confidence to know you have a robust, clear vision.

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The following examples show treatment styles that were chosen to convey the message in the most appropriate way. We can see the progression of the intention up against stills from the final outcome.

Figure 2.12 a–c  Eduarda Lima looks at climate change and the rising temperature in her film Delu(g)ional Games. Full of facts, figures and charts, she attempts to not only make the subject more accessible but also to engage her audience so the content sticks. By opting for an unsettling, photocollagestyle animation over documentary footage, she aims to create incongruous images that simultaneously simplify a complex issue.

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The most obvious treatment style is not always the best way to communicate a message. Surprising treatments can leave powerful impressions, so it’s worth trying to keep an open mind at the conceptual stage. Here are some examples of difficult subjects handled in unexpected ways:

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Figure 2.14 a–c  The BBC production Young Men performed by BalletBoyz reveals the horrors of war through dance. The lavish production has no real ambient sound, yet the pathos and agony of each scene shouts out.

Figure 2.13 a–c  Blue Seat Studio’s Tea and Consent, an animated simile, likens the ridiculous notion of forcing someone to drink tea against their will to the act of having sex with someone without clear consent. They handled a serious subject effectively by using humour.

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Tone of Voice

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Tone of Voice Now we have looked at the different elements that might make up the look and style of the film, and the reason behind some of our choices, let’s consider the way we might choose to get our message across. This is less about what we say than how we say it. If we are using voice-over, it might be the language we use, the way we construct the sentences, the sounds of our words, and the personality we communicate. From the perspective of the design elements, what do they convey in addition to the basic clues given from the treatment style? The design might be governed by the choice of colour palette, the frenetic motion of the animation or the slow pan of the camera. Certainly, any choice of music or ambient sound will play a key role in the impression a film makes. Getting this approach right up front, developing a design style appropriate to both audience and subject matter, is crucial. Together these make up the tone of voice and getting this right can make or break your film. Let’s look at an example:

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I should have spent more time at the design stage and should have planned better where each graphic would appear on the screen, so that in the end I wouldn’t have had to change so many things during the process. Working along with an illustrator or graphic designer could have improved the final design.

Figure 2.15  Cristina Duran’s film about planned obsolescence references the graphic design style of 1960s public information films, including character style, typography, colour palette, delivery of voice-over and music, complete with old style frame format and old TV effect. This style is relevant for both the subject she illustrates and to appeal to the audience today as it reflects the era she refers to.

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2.16c

2.16d Figure 2.16 a–d  Stella I-Chen-Chen develops a photomontage animation style to tell us a story about capturing the ‘Big Idea’ that is often the part of the creative process with which people struggle. As ideas often result from eclectic thinking, her mixedmedia treatment style reflects this notion.

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Figure 2.18 a–d  Here is another example of the audience leading the design. Note the varying styles in this animation series called My Eating Disorder, which formed part of a clinical trial. This is one of a series of films produced by Penny Hilton working with Professor Janet Treasure at the Maudsley Hospital for people in recovery from eating disorders. Animated to real testimonials, the characters had to have an ambiguity to be representative of many and no defined body shape, so viewers would concentrate on the spoken content without distraction or judgement of the visual.

Audience

One way of gauging the tone of voice is to test the early stages on a small relevant focus group. You don’t need to have the completely finished film to do this, but a still image that accurately represents the tone of voice through its design could save you a lot of unnecessary work and give you a clear indication of what you need to address before you invest too much time on getting the motion right. Choose a frame that might indicate the colour palette, typography and details that give an accurate impression of the graphic design. Another way of testing is to composite an image into the environment in which it will be seen, a mock-up of how it might look before you go to the effort of fully producing it for that environment. This visual prototype becomes a great tool not only for showing those less able to imagine your film in context, but also for you to realize how it might look when finished and if any adjustments to the design need to be made. Test it on an audience, not just asking ‘Do you like it?’ but also ‘What does it say to you?’ What impression does this give? (For example, is it serious, jokey, trustworthy, etc.?) Try not to lead and put words into the mouths of your respondents, rather choose people for their ability to articulate opinion. Obviously, a sensitivity to design would help too.

Figure 2.17  Joao Monteiro’s film Size Zero uses infographics to illustrate Western culture’s obsession with body size and increasing problems about obesity. While it fulfils a purpose of bringing to life a rather dense voice-over, read at a breakneck speed, the tone of voice of the animation style is jokey, almost humorous, despite the serious nature of the message. We could ask if the characterization of some of the figures appears insensitive and possibly serves to alienate the very audience most affected by the issues mentioned. With a tight time frame to work within, perhaps too much time was spent on solving the technical challenges of learning new software and not enough time on what it might actually look like. A problem the director was all too aware of.

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Figure 2.19 a–b  Aydin Mustafa gives us a clear idea of how his outdoor film might be perceived in the environment he has designed it for. By contrasting the affluent lifestyle of the average Parisian to the hardship faced by refugees in nearby camps, he places the film in busy areas to interrupt day-to-day commuters and hammer the message home. This composite image seen in situ, enables him to amend the scale of the imagery, adjust text for legibility and spot if any relevant details need to be visible from a distance.

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Resources On the companion website, there are some exercises to help you develop further in some of the areas covered in this chapter, as well as these other online resources. Internet Free archive footage is available here: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/films. No Film School is a leading worldwide community where film makers learn from each other: https://nofilmschool .com. Search personas through the Tronvig Group website.

Evidence-based user-experience research is available here: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/empathy-mapping/. Be clear on formats: https://aspectratiocalculator.com. More information from No Film School on themes and treatments is available here: ●● http://www.raindance.org/7-rules-for-writing -short-films/ ●●

https://nofilmschool.com/2012/07/wes -anderson-avoids-writing-themes

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https://nofilmschool.com/2016/12/4-key -elements-writing-strong-film-treatment -why-it-matters

Try the Interaction Design website for additional advice on personas: https://www.interaction-design.org/literature /article/personas-why-and-how-you-should-use-them.

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Structure Chapter Overview This chapter talks about structure: both in terms of how the narrative of your film can be structured, as well as how you structure the process of production. Now that you have established who you are talking to and what you intend to say, we can begin to think about how to shape the production of our concept. This chapter is less about some of the cinematic conventions that make up narrative and storytelling in feature films, rather it is primarily concerned with short film that competes for an audience and will most likely be aimed at people who may have a short attention span. By looking at some basic principles and applying growing graphic design skills, the project can begin to be tangible. Perhaps you have a germ of an idea bubbling away, but it’s as yet unformed; now is the time to start shaping it into a structure that can sustain viewer’s interest over the duration of screen time we have allocated. There are many ways we might do this. In the following sections, we will look at: • How to begin to shape your idea into a time-based piece and make the best use of the available screen time. There will be an overview of some of the accepted rules on story structure and the importance of finding your story. • How to develop your chosen technique into a strong narrative and make the best sense of your idea illustrated through several examples from emerging film makers. • Various film techniques that could be exploited to bring out your key message. If the key message is simple, how do you support the message, encourage people to relate to it and remain interested? • If you are working with real stories, how might you use graphic design or motion graphics to further engage your audience? What would be the advantages of including this in your documentary work over a more straightforward live-action treatment? • Will your film need to use voice-over or captions? What sort of difference can it make to the film that you choose, and how should you decide which is more suited to your idea and will be more effective?

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Story If you are planning a fictional narrative, the current consensus for how you structure your story suggests you include the three Cs, characters, conflict and crisis, which can be plotted on a timeline. There might also be a setting; a trigger; a quest, however small; a critical moment; or a full-fledged crisis – leading to a climax and usually some kind of resolution, surprise or closure. There are plenty of online courses to help you develop skills in storytelling, plot and structure. When we talk about story, we mean the story of your film, the actual script you are working to, which, like it or not, is always going to be much more important than any technical wizardry or design style. As you plan your story, think carefully about what you want your film to be about – not what you plan to happen sequentially or what we will see on screen as time unfolds, but what the film

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is actually about – the real essence of it. Can you boil it down to one sentence? If you can, you are ready to start. If you can’t sum up what your film is about succinctly, chances are you have not researched enough to be at the point of having any sort of valid opinion, supposition or premise worth exploring through your film. This research process is integral to the early development of any film script. For now, let’s assume you have the beginnings of an idea for a film, but you are as yet unsure what sort of structure would suit its method of delivery. And let’s also assume that, at some point, you intend to include elements of graphic design in your film. There could be any number of reasons for this: your film may be entirely animated, relying heavily on graphic design techniques; it may employ information graphics to help simplify a complex set of data; or it may use a layer of graphic design to make a specific point that other imagery is unable to. Whatever the reason, each use will have a defined purpose. Figure 3.0  This diagram represents a typical story arc often used to shape mainstream feature films. You might be surprised how many successful films follow this structure.

A story should have a beginning, a middle and an end, but not necessarily in that order. Jean-Luc Godard – film director

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Figure 3.1 a–d  An interesting exercise is to illustrate the essence of your story in as few images as possible. Matteo Civaschi of Italian creative station H-57 attempts to represent basic plots of the movies Lord of the Rings, The Shining, The Blues Brothers, and Titanic in five seconds or less.

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Figure 3.2 a–d  These single image pictogram posters for the films by Victor Hertz (The Bicycle Thief, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Psycho and Hunger) can start you thinking how you might represent your complex storyline succinctly or be a useful pre-production exercise to distil the essence of your film.

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Before we start looking at some of these in detail, let’s look at storytelling in general, to establish the importance of the art; make an effort to get this right from the start. Developing your storytelling skills is the single-most important thing you can do as a film maker. There are many rules of general storytelling and screen writing we could reference, especially relevant for creating a film of relatively long duration. If it is your plan, now or in the future, to develop this area, you could do well to investigate the following people. There are many well-respected experts in the field we could list, but let’s start by looking at these diverse four. Either critics or practitioners, we can learn a lot from them: Aristotle, John Berger, Robert McKee and Scott McCloud. Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, in his seminal treatise Poetics (also known as The Theory of Poetry and Fine Art) concluded that there are seven golden rules of successful storytelling. These rules or principles related to ancient Greek theatre; however, today, some two thousand years later, the same seven elements are still relevant for writing. They are (1) plot; (2) character; (3) idea/ theme; (4) speech (dialogue); (5) chorus (song, music, score); (6)  décor (production design, art direction); and (7) spectacle (special effects, SFX). Note that these also form the categories that are reflected in the current film awards. Many of these principles also apply when we are structuring our short format films. Especially number three, as the idea or theme is essentially the ‘why bother’ of the film itself and is often left out of many short films. John Berger, much loved, accessible author, essayist, and art critic, known for his book Ways of Seeing, published in the 1970s, changed the way that we viewed and engaged with art. Fronting the BAFTA Award–winning four-part series of the same name made for the BBC, he shows us he really is a master of storytelling. Observe the way he addresses the camera, his tone of voice, his delivery, the writing, the balance of words to pictures. No wonder it is still regarded as one of the most influential art programmes ever made. He understood the one-way-street nature of television as it was back then, saying ‘there is no dialogue yet, you cannot reply to me. For that to become possible in the modern media of communication, access to television must be extended

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beyond its present narrow limits.’ Almost a prediction it seems and how right he was, as dialogue and interactivity has become the cornerstone of so much of the digital content we consume. Robert McKee, a creative writing instructor, known for his seminars and books on the principles of screen writing, looks at the narrative structure of a work examining what makes the story compelling or not. His maxim is ‘Write the Truth’, and he has compiled his own ten commandments of screen writing, while many are more relevant to feature-length films or novels, his advice on the importance of research, respecting your audience, and not using cheap surprise are valuable rules for any format. Scott McCloud is another great reference, already mentioned in the section on storyboarding in Chapter 1. McCloud was heavily influenced by the legendary American cartoonist Will Eisner. Eisner was famed for his principles of graphic storytelling and popularizing the term ‘graphic novel’. As a comic book creator, McCloud writes about storytelling from a visual perspective, particularly concerned with how it unfolds on the static page. Using the dynamic of the structure of the book and the physicality of the page, he offers clear insight to the conventions of graphic design and how basic eye movements effect storytelling, all of which can be applied to screen. By creating and understanding comics himself, McCloud soon realized they were a visual medium: the different elements of pictures, words, symbols and frames are all funnelled through the single conduit of vision. We can learn a lot from his talks and recorded lectures that can be brought into our own film-making when it comes to unfolding narrative across a time-based medium. He shows us how captions relate to image; how simple eye movement, although culturally specific, has a bearing on the understanding of the narrative; and where the action happens outside or between the frame. If we were to reference some of these respected authorities on storytelling, we would see that much of this broad thinking can be applied to how we might approach the structure of our own specific short film, be it live action, animation, fact or fiction. Here are some other general points that I have noted along the way, collected from a range of different sources or through my own experience.

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Story

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Figure 3.5 a–d  A Herman Miller recruitment short film This Is You, from Fairly Painless Advertising, provides an example of engaging the audience all the way through. At two and a half minutes long, it doesn’t allow you to look away for a second or all meaning will be lost. Wall-towall voice-over repeatedly invites your response.

Figure 3.3  Cartoonist and comic theorist Scott McCloud shows us the route the eye will naturally travel across a comic page. In a single screen image with movement, these focal points may have a different flow governed by movement, light and colour.

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Figure 3.4  Scott McCloud sets out five basic choices as being the key to good storytelling: choice of moment, choice of frame, choice of image, choice of word and choice of flow. These all apply as equally to film as they do the comic and could be interpreted as selection, composition, design, dialogue or script and the transition from one scene to the next.

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1. Engage the audience; make them work. The passive action of watching can be made more active if you don’t patronize your viewer. Don’t just feed them the information, make them work to understand it; really engage them and keep them on their toes. 2. Your time is limited. No doubt there are numerous scientific studies that prove the following observation and some that are contrary, but I have found that the first minute is crucial; actually, the first twenty seconds can be critical. After twenty seconds if your audience is not absorbed, they will switch off or drift away. Believe me I’ve done it, especially viewing showreels. Sometimes ten seconds is all it takes for boredom to set in, especially if you have hundreds to look through. You may well never get a second chance to make a first impression. The end of your film is also important, according to the 48FILM project, when writing your script, plan on a powerful opening, a meaningful middle and a satisfying end. 3. Is the story worth telling or retelling? Is it written or rewritten in a fresh, original, meaningful, enlightening, and relevant manner? Or, at the very least, is the story compelling and memorably entertaining? Otherwise, why bother making the film at all, let alone subject anyone else to having

to sit through it? Is your story revealed in an engaging, moving, cinematic and active way. If so, could it be described as boring, linear, passive, mundane and merely expository? 4. Mind your budget. If your access to resources is limited, think minimal. You don’t want your no-to-low budget struggle screaming out from every frame. Worst can be poor performance from substandard, wanna-be actor friends. Sorry, but let’s be brutal – they won’t thank you. However, don’t assume that a no-to-low budget is a disadvantaged place to start from. An urban myth once reported the BBC would frequently halve budgets to increase creativity. True or not, it’s an interesting proposition. 5. Show emotion. Have you encouraged the audience to get emotionally involved with the main characters and their stories? Can they identify, care about, or at the very least be interested, engaged or entertained by them? In the case of documentary, this can be brought out through the choice of dialogue, drawn from the questions you ask and the selections you edit together from their answers. If it is a fictional narrative, the emotional engagement might spring from a specific technique, as is evident in the film Victoria (Figure 3.6).

When forced to work with a strict framework the imagination is taxed to its utmost – and will produce its richest ideas. Given total freedom the work is likely to sprawl. T. S. Eliot

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Story

Jump into the story as quickly as possible and jump out of it as quickly as possible.

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Elliot Grove – founder of Raindance

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Figure 3.6 a–b  Victoria (2014), a German drama by Sebastian Schipper, is a sort of heist thriller movie that was shot in one long take from a camera alongside the main character as she joins a group of reprobates on a night out. The story unfolds in real time over more than two hours, using the one-take form to drive the narrative to great effect. So absorbing and immediate, we experience the action concurrently with the characters acting in it, as Shipper says, ‘It’s not about a bank heist; it is a bank heist.’

Figure 3.7  Planning a structure illustration. Bruce Block talks in terms of the story structure graph to plot the visual intensity level of a film as it unfolds. This can be a useful tool in developing a narrative by visualizing the shape of it as a whole. Likewise, other visual components of your film, be it long or short, channel ident or documentary, can all be plotted to reveal use of space, tone and line.

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Figure 3.8  By keeping your storyboard flexible, it allows you to concentrate on one small section at a time, rather than be preoccupied with how the sections follow on from each other. Being able to move elements around with ease allows you to try out several variations of structure easily. Here Filip Pomykalo plans out a short documentary, making sure he covers what he needs to at the shoot, and he tries out an initial running order.

People have forgotten how to tell a story. Stories don’t have to have a middle and an end anymore. They usually have a beginning that never stops beginning. Steven Spielberg – film director

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Narrative

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Narrative The term narrative refers to the way our specific story unfolds. We have already established the need for a good story, so let’s think about a unique way to present it. If you look at the selection criteria for some of the short film festivals, you will see that ‘quality of the narrative’ rates high up there and is often the first thing the judges will look for when choosing shorts. So, how do you make your own narrative compelling? There is a lot written on shaping the narrative of long-form story structures, usually involving story arcs, central characters, backstory, resolution and conflict. Some of this may apply to our shorter versions, but here are some more designbased suggestions that will help your time-limited narrative have maximum impact. When planning out your shots, look for variety in framing, keep the pace active, employ a mixture of shots and unexpected framing compositions, allow the viewer time to take in movement and absorb the pulse points or beats that help the flow of the narrative. This applies to animation, live action or even simple text transitions. If you are including a layer of graphic design on top of the live action, perhaps as titling, additional information, or even as full-screen animation, think about the transition points, how it appears and when, the duration of time it will be on screen, and what other information needs to be understood around it. Otherwise the structure of your whole piece will jar and the continuity of the story you are building towards may fall apart. The length of your film may well be already determined up front. In other words, the brief you are answering will have a set time slot to fill. But if not, what are the deciding factors? Here are some of the starting points to consider: ●●

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What is the audience’s attention span and the time available to view? How much information do you need to cover? How complex is the story you plan to tell? Can you break down the content into easily digestible pulse-points or significant beats of the film?

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3.9d Figure 3.9 a–d  Pia Hakko has taken a ‘start with intrigue and keep it surprising’ route. In her film about unspoken truths and bottled emotions, it takes us a while to work out what’s going on, as we query the relationship of the image to the text. Who is doing the talking and who is thinking? As these questions challenge us, our interest is sustained, and we are compelled to find answers. Not revealing everything up front can hold an audience’s interest, and in this example, the initial hidden nature of the narrative relates to the subject matter of hidden truth – which has a way of coming out.

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Figure 3.10 a–d  In her animated film Pond (2015), illustrator and animator Xingru Dong employs a range of shots to tell her fable about the relationship between man and nature via microorganisms, using a mix of hand-drawn illustrations and collage to create simple, low-tech, frame-by-frame animation. She keeps the narrative dynamic, plotting the scene content for a mix of wide and close-up shots, to make each new one lively and interesting, revealing a fresh and visual surprise.

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Figure 3.11 a–d  Directors Amanda Perry-Kessaris and Andy Renmei consider text transitions, being careful how they time the blurring effect of their end credit sequence so that the pacing allows for a clear read.

Structure

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Figure 3.12  Directors Hong Hu, Matteo Bisato and Filip Pomykalo collaborated on the film Rethinking the Senses about multisensory design. Initially their plan was to approach a range of people in the design field to gather opinions on sound, but this ambition proved too broad and impractical. Instead they decided to focus on the views of just one person, David Toop, to provide a much more concise film. A range of topics and ideas were recorded in a dense forty-five-minute interview. The broad points of enquiry were then organized and prioritized, so they could be edited down to a final four minutes.

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Figure 3.13 a–d  What we see is a seemingly endless quest to reach a destination, only to be thrown back to the start again. Just at the point of potential comfort, or journey’s end, we are wrenched away to the unknown, only to have the process repeat itself. What it’s actually about is displacement, a struggle to find a place to belong to, to feel connected. The image is conceptual and metaphorical, and only some may understand it, but, if you have previous knowledge of what the director intended, the tension is palpable. Others will probably lose patience and be bored by it. What do you think?

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Key Message

Key Message Assuming your job is to communicate an idea, the sooner you can narrow this down and define the key take-away message, the easier it will be to determine your structure. There are most likely themes you will want to cover and explore in a unique way (hopefully). These themes may well be implied and therefore open to interpretation; this ambiguity forms an important part of how the film is received. Some will get it, but it won’t speak to others for whatever reason: they may have a shorter attention span, or are more easily distracted, and a particular element set their mind wandering elsewhere. Control of this is

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impossible. You’ll know this if you have ever seen a film you thought was boring or rubbish, only to subsequently read a review that mad you reappraise it. Realization of the director’s intentions can make you view it in a different light. Perhaps if these intentions were more obvious on first viewing, more would appreciate it; perhaps making it more obvious would remove all subtlety. It’s a fine balance and often a matter of subjectivity. Let’s look at some key messages and see what early film makers have done with them. Bartosz says that by completing this project, he wants to encourage people to become ‘curators of information’. In times of information overload, keeping an inquiring mind is crucial.

Figure 3.14 a–b  Influenced by the work of Edward Muybridge and stop-frame animator Jan Svankmajer, Alex Holstein experiments with early zoetropes. His initial intention was to explore emotion in an abstract form by building a form of three-dimensional zoetrope that relies on repetition, movement and lighting for the simulation of a character continuously running. The model is filmed in action from several angles and edited to create this twominute piece Running Man. Simple and conceptual, the continuous motion coupled with oppressive reds and blacks embodies a constant struggle.

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Figure 3.15 a–e  Bartosz Druszcz’s film Why ask Google? takes ‘the tip of the iceberg’ metaphor to call for us to be more circumspect in our quest for knowledge. In his three-dimensional animated film about media manipulation, he asks why we limit ourselves to using Google’s search engine. The voice-over tells us, ‘Google’s search covers only about 15 per cent of the worlds internet . . . and we restrict ourselves to the first few research results. Our knowledge is based on this tiny spot. Information is not flat, it is three-dimensional and expands as you go deeper. Information needs perspective. Grab a book, ask your friend, listen to people. Find the real answers.’

Structure

3.15a

Figure 3.16 a–e  Hyunlee Jo experiments with time manipulation and becomes interested in visually representing the different ways we experience the passing of time according to how we move within the same space. In her film Time Dilation, she splices up the image to fragment and distort it, elongating and truncating action to show how different perspectives alter perception.

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Try to reach for a simple, visual phrase that tells you what the picture is all about and evokes the essence of the story. Saul Bass – graphic designer

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Documentary Documentary, as a subgenre of non-fiction, has gone through a really interesting development in the last few decades, no longer generating merely small screen interest, and as their popularity increases, we’ve seen a shift to cinema. Perhaps due to the huge success of theatrical releases of documentary films, such as Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004), which was one of the highest grossing documentaries, released after Bowling for Columbine (2002), whose popularity was one of the first to be clearly proven through box office sales. The potential ambiguity of reality and fiction is another rich area for a film maker to explore, films like Andrew Figure 3.17 a–c  We are all familiar with the information content on news reports created by news caption generators, current technology being reflected in the methods, format, and design of gathering and reporting news, as we can see from this news programme from the BBC aimed at kids (a) and UK’s Channel 4 News (b). We are also seeing more and more design content and on-screen graphic design as plot points, as we rely more on screens as a way of life. SMS text conversations are often embedded into dramas, as in this example of the BBC drama Sherlock (c).

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Jarecki’s Capturing the Friedmans (2003) being a prime example, as is Banksy’s Exit through the Gift Shop (2010) and the American TV series Making a Murderer (2015). This audience interest has stimulated more regard for documentaries in general, and as their commercial value is acknowledged, more investment has followed. Many additional subgenres have emerged and offer an interesting scope of structure for the film maker. Some have demeaning hybrid labels, such as mockumentary, docu-comedy and soap-umentary. Have a look in the resources at the end of the chapter for some ideas of recent outstanding, must-see documentaries that straddle many of these categories. Some of the most interesting work around, in my opinion, are the constructed narratives that we see in dramas that are heavily based on research. As the line between fact and fiction blurs, stories are artificially orchestrated to reveal real-life happenings, providing an interesting discussion point. Whatever fact-based form your film might take, Charlie Phillips who currently commissions documentaries for The Guardian online says, ‘A documentary offers a window into the real world, direct and unfiltered access.’ Referring to what he looks for in a proposal he says: ‘In our easily distracted online world we should be offering a complete story arc, lots of moments where the story gets pushed along and keeps you interested, where something new happens. A brilliant story.’ He goes on to say it needs to be a contemporary story, something really important that’s telling you something new, informing you on a subject you need to know about – right here and right now. The length of the film reflects people’s attention span. A documentary of fifteen minutes, as long as it has a great story to it, is going to hold you in. Whether fact or fiction, let’s look at the how films with an emphasis on design can pull out interesting elements of a documentary or add a layer of fact.

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But be warned about putting too much info on screen at once. Cluttering your screen will confuse your audience. Setting up a rhythm is key. The following films rely on graphic design to enhance them, not just as an additional layer to add a caption, and the factual content has had a significant bearing on the structure of the design of the overall film. 3.18a

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Figure 3.18 a–e  Eduarda Lima begins to plan out the design of her film about climate change. As the aim is to engage young people, she steers clear of a dry documentary approach and all-too-common scare tactics that many young people lack the foresight to relate to. Instead she concentrates on developing the design. This shows work in progress; the resulting film was discussed in the previous chapter.

Figure 3.19 a–c  Wen Wang and Ju Young Reu designed this film based on research by Sato Misato around product levels of embodied carbon for the Centre for Climate Change at the London School of Economics.

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Structure

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Figure 3.20 a–e  In Dean G. Moore’s film Tunnel Vision, the text adds a layer of information, revealing hidden facts about the secret world of the London Underground. Relatively sparse throughout the twenty-minute duration and at times hard to read, the flow, motion and content of the extra layer adds to the mystery.

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If you have a simple idea, but not the skills just yet to produce a complex animation sequence, some of the most effective work can be produced through a series of carefully chosen, static images, revealed sequentially to form a film. If your shots are well designed, composed and planned properly, there are no limits to what you can communicate. Chris Marker’s film La Jetée (1963) is one of the most influential, radical science-fiction films ever made. I have run several workshops for designers who have never made films before; one challenge was to produce a two-minute silent film in tribute to an event, person or place of their choice. Many chose to use a sequence of stills to form a narrative, and amongst the group of master’s design students, some interesting outcomes were produced, not least to discover what events in their culturally diverse lives were significant. Some of the simple ones were most effective, as with the following examples.

Figure 3.22 a–b  Using a mix of sourced photographs and captions, Takeo Ozaki brings attention to the US Military assistance to governments recruiting children as soldiers.

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3.21e Figure 3.21 a–e  Chris Marker’s La Jetée, although a fictional narrative, at twenty-eight minutes, is made almost entirely of stills held together by poetic voice-over. A tale of time travel told in expertly timed, monochrome static photographs, apart from one three-second film sequence. Blink and you’ll miss it.

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Figure 3.23 a–d  Pia Hakko creates an early experimental study for a longer piece in her film All the Things We Can’t Say. By photographing strangers in the street and asking them to write down their private thoughts, the sequence is made from a series of static images.

Structure

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3.24b Figure 3.24 a–b  Neil Leonard uses bold static captions above a graphic of the city skyline to imagine a flooded London. He chose to use sound for his tribute, and the increasing volume adds to the rising urgency of the need to address the potential situation. 3.23c

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If you are planning on filming and involving participants for a documentary-style format, these are the basic steps, in order, that you should follow in the pre-production or planning phase.  1. Generate your idea. This is paramount. Research, research, research.  2. Outline and/or script your treatment of that idea.  3. Structure your content, with idea generation, including sound design.  4. Storyboard.  5. Test.  6. Animatic. If image-based, this could be an approximate plan of how it will look on a timeline.  7. Shooting board. Plan out any graphic content integral to the composition and timing of shots.

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Documentary

 8. Discuss board with your team (i.e. directory of photography, camera and lighting, and sound person).  9. Secure locations and contributors. 10. Book crew and equipment. 11. Arrange shoot day(s). 12. Create and print out release forms. Personally when I am structuring a documentary, I find it helpful to storyboard to communicate what’s needed for different stages of the production. As I tend to use a lot of graphic design in my work, often mixing animation, typography and live action, planning it out in this way is the start point to prepare the shoot and help schedule

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post-production. These storyboards, although pretty basic, helped to anchor initial thoughts and assumptions during development and also helped to keep focus in the edit. Following are some frames from storyboards of two different films. The first example (Figure 3.25) shows the forward planning involved to produce an exploratory documentary film with lots of graphic design content in the form of blue screen backgrounds and captions to summarize the topics and reinforce the points made by the contributors. In this case 14 hours of interviews were edited down to 11 minutes but these images show the initial concept as shown to client – The National Health Service.

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Figure 3.25 a–c  Frames from Race for Health directed by Penny Hilton.

In this second example, a short film about the disability discrimination act called Designed for Life made to unpack this positive social change, I knew I wanted to structure it to include interviews with less-abled people, but to only use the audio so their voices are heard without judgment. The film was plotted out over 45 frames; I shot interviews with 12 people, filmed in over 8 locations, and it

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took a week to edit, finally running to a duration of 5'30". I planned bold graphic captions as punctuation points and contrasted the status quo of a non-accessible society versus the projected future of a fully accessible one. This hope for a better world was to be represented by a growing baby in a womb; this device also emphasized the fact that 83% of people are not born with a disability.

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Figure 3.26 a–c  Frames from Designed for Life directed by Penny Hilton.

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Figure 3.27 a–e  In Mengyao Qiao’s research portfolio, she documents the production of their film about design studio Lust, from the preliminary conception, through to the storyboard initial plans for structure, and to mid-production reflections.

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Voice-over versus Captions In many instances, all dialogue or voice-over will need captions for accessibility reasons, but our focus is if there is an option to choose one or the other as part of your structure. Assuming there is a need to add an additional thread of information to link the story or content together, it is important to know what difference the two approaches make to the viewing experience. There is no doubt that your choice of voiceover will set the tone. If the ‘voice’ remains in the head of the viewer (i.e. delivered by captions), interpretation is flexible and loose. If the voice is audible, the type of voice you opt for will, like it or not, be an integral component in the perception of

your film. Think carefully about what tone you are aiming for; don’t just go the easy route, relying on a willing mate to provide the voice-over for you, unless of course they fit the bill perfectly and perhaps have some acting experience to boot. There are many ways to compare voice-over to captions doing a similar job, so before you decide which is the best approach for your film, it’s worth comparing a couple of them: A voice-over can give tone and colour and can emphasize specific words, while a caption will allow for neutral reading but is cold and depersonalized. A voice-over can be read at speed and in the exact way the director determines, but captions must be on screen long enough to be read by the average reader. A voice-over can obstruct the flow of surrounding audio, while a caption requires superimposition or interruption of pictures. If you decide to go down the voice-over route, here are

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Figure 3.28 a–b  Your choice of voiceover will have a significant bearing on the tone of voice of your film. Here two film makers made careful decisions to choose a voice-over appropriate for the job. (a) In Lana Abdelhady’s film In Disguise, a calm, soothing, reflective female voice encourages a way out of a creative block, whereas in Bartosz Druszcz film Mesh (b) his threedimensional visuals aim to enhance an excerpt from German writer Juli Zeh’s ‘In Free Fall’, delivered in the style of a scientific lecture. Have a listen and see if you think they made the right choices. 3.28b

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Figure 3.29 a–d  This short film about access for disabled people, Designed for Life by Penny Hilton, uses graphic design in the form of text and statistics throughout. The content of the many interviews is divided up into themes punctuated by a sobering statistic.

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Figure 3.30  In Bec Worth’s and Cate Rickards’s film, The Annexation of Hello Land, their interview with artist Rachael Finney is broken into distinct sections with on-screen captions to divide up the content and provide natural breathing spaces.

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some questions you should be able to answer when setting the tone for your voice-over: ●● ●●

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Male or female? Authoritative and dependable, relaxed and conversational, corporate or slightly offbeat and quirky? What about delivery? Should it be full of energy, upbeat, and enthusiastic or slow and deliberate? Are there already other voices on screen, and if so, do you want to provide a balance? Does considering the age and culture of the audience you are talking to help inform your decision?

In general, your choice of voice-over should complement the message and method you’ve chosen for your film; be aware that its presence is similar to an additional lead character in your film. Handled well, a voice-over keeps the film running smoothly, sitting alongside the image, and complementing it perfectly. Ideally it adds to the content in a way that pictures alone cannot. Perhaps they might dictate the edit, for example be

Resources On the website there are several exercises, discussion topics and set tasks relating to this chapter that should help you develop further. Books Aristotle. Poetics. Penguin. Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. This is also TV series on BBC4, and there is a dodgy version on YouTube: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pDE4VX_9Kk. Block, Bruce. The Visual Story: Creating the Visual Structure of Film, TV and Digital Media. 2nd edn. Routledge. Eisner, Will. Comics and Sequential Arts. Eisner, Will. Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative. McCloud, Scott. Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics Manga and Graphic Novels. William Morrow Paperbacks, 2006. McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. William Morrow Paperbacks, 2001. McKee, Robert. Story: Substance Structure Style and the Principles of Screenwriting. Methuen Publishing Ltd. Milesi, Gianmarco, and Matteo Civaschi. Film in Five Seconds: Over 150 Great Movie Moments – in Moments. Quercus, 2013.

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sync points for specific shots, informing us where the edit points should be. If what we are hearing is out of time with what we are seeing, it will be very confusing and possibly make nonsense of the narrative. Subtlety is key with voice-over: you don’t need to describe what we can see, or the effect will seem heavy-handed, clumsy and patronizing. Rather, you should fill in the missing pieces, narrating what we are unable to see on screen. But be prepared, captions are a different matter and can often provide signposts, chapter headings, break points or natural pauses or beats to help you structure your narrative, to keep the pace moving. They also provide a great opportunity to establish a look and feel of the designed content, which helps to define the tonal quality of the film. Here are some examples of screen grabs that work as chapter headings or do away with the need for continuous voice-over. Hopefully this chapter has provided some pointers for structuring your film, and you will be ready to consider the next and final cornerstone in this section of setting up your film: sound.

Ross, Edward. Filmish: A Graphic Journey through Film. SelfMadeHero, 2015. This graphic novel on the history of film is packed with design insight. Van Sijll, Jennifer. Cinematic Storytelling: The 100 Most Powerful Film Conventions Every Filmmaker Must Know. 2nd edn. Michael Wiese Productions, 2005.

Internet Writing Fiction Workbook: https://books.google.co.uk/ books?id=DK0R8SVtZccC&pg=PA31&lpg=PA31&dq#v =onepage&q&f=false On story: Muse Storytelling, who bill themselves as experts in the art and science of storytelling, offer info and courses on the importance of storytelling, including this amusing storytelling IQ test (I only scored 6/10 FYI): https://www.musestorytelling.com/story-iq-test On plot: More fun and games on this quiz site: https://www.apost.com/en/blog/can-you-%20 guess-these-movies-from-a-simplepictogram/816/ Forum and membership for film makers starting out: www.48filmproject.com. Top sites for independent film makers: https://www .raindance.org/top-13-sites-for-independent-filmmakers /and https://indiefilmhustle.com.

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Recommended viewing Exemplary documentaries that fit into one or more of the ever-changing categories are listed below.

Look Out For Stylized constructed narrative, docudrama, biopic, mockumentary and observational documentaries, one thing they all have in common is that they are all based on extensive research. The Act of Killing (2012), directed by Joshua Oppenheimer Amy (2016), directed by Asif Kapadia Capturing the Friedmans (2002), directed by Andrew Jarecki Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004), directed by Michael Moore Fog of War (2003), directed by Errol Morris Ghosts (2006), directed by Nick Broomfield Grizzly Man (2005), directed by Werner Herzog The Last Survivors (BBC Two 2019), directed by Arthur Cary Making of a Murderer (2015 Netflix), directed by Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos Searching for Sugarman (2012), directed by Malik Bendjelloul Senna (2010), directed by Asif Kapadia Spellbound (2002), directed by Jeffrey Blitz The Square (2013), directed by Jehane Noujaim Tarnation (2003), directed by Jonathan Caouette They Shall Not Grow Old (2018), directed by Peter Jackson Thin Blue Line (1988), directed by Errol Morris The Woodmans (2010), directed by Scot Willis Wormwood (2017 Netflix), directed by Errol Morris

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4

Sound Chapter Overview Sound or audio is one of the most important aspects of your film to think about early on, and I would encourage you to start thinking about it in tandem with your emerging idea, certainly before putting anything into production. The method you choose for recording any audio on location is going to be essential because garbled dialogue, wind interference, and dodgy levels can completely ruin a film, by making it look poorly executed and inept. However, this chapter concentrates on the use of applied sound against picture, rather than the audio recording of specific scripted scenes or locations. It is widely known that a general ignorance around sound design, both in choice and recording, can be the deciding factor over whether a film feels amateurish or professional. Good sound can elevate a film, whereas bad sound can completely ruin it. Too many new film makers make the mistake of leaving decisions about the sound and audio to the very last minute, or at best, part way through production, be it soundtrack, audio bed, effects, or voice-over. Collectively the design of the sound is often as important as the picture itself and, in many cases, more so. Time spent getting this right is well worth it. This chapter will look at the importance of sound in general, the extra dimension it can bring to your visual work, and why it should be considered from the start. We will look at the following: • Creating the right tone relevant to your message, to underpin or even establish the mood of your piece. • How the application of sound has a direct bearing on what we look at. • How to shape the structure of your audio to complement your design. • How and why you should decide what route to take musically and as a designer, how to construct a brief to get the best results. • The basics of sourcing your audio, from using music libraries to free resources.

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Creating the Right Tone and Atmosphere

Creating the Right Tone and Atmosphere The time to consider sound is at the outset of your idea, as you begin to form it; it could well be a source of inspiration that will direct the development of content, so it is very limiting to leave it to the production phase. Sound is often an essential tool for telling your story, so you need to get into the habit of thinking about sound and picture working together as equal partners. This chapter relates to two overall types of audio: diegetic and non-diegetic sound. Diegetic sound is organic to a scene and is realistic: for example, the voices of characters, sounds made by objects in the scene, or any sound presented as originating from a source within the film’s world. The source of non-diegetic sound is neither visible on screen nor has it been implied to be present in the action; this could include narrator’s commentary or voice-over, sound effects to add drama, and mood music. Graphic moving image or abstract animation often uses non-diegetic sound, as its designed forms and motion do not always naturally suggest specific sounds that occur on screen or that might reflect a narrative. It is this type of sound on which we are going to concentrate. As sound is widely used to accompany moving graphics, we find a poor choice can have a detrimental effect. I always ask students what their thoughts are about the audio when they show me early film ideas; often they say, ‘I don’t know, I haven’t thought about it.’ As sound is perceived immediately, it can instantaneously set the scene; it establishes a tone and begins a narrative in a way that is less open to interpretation than perhaps some ambiguous bit of design might. In my opinion, we are more patient with puzzling moving images and will give them time to become clear, but we are less tolerant of unclear sound and want answers immediately. Often the most common choice is to use music as a background to sit alongside your images. With millions of compositions instantly downloadable, it’s very easy to run out of steam when making a selection and to settle for something that will make do, rather than ideally conveying what you

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want. It is much better, therefore, to spend time in thorough forethought. Another obvious option that can be limiting is to rely on the lyrics of a chosen song to act as the voice of a character, like a narrator or to summarize and embody an idea. This route can be clichéd and is usually awkward; before you settle on a particular piece, consider some of the following basic ideas and tips about music and sound effects: ●●

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Be subtle with music, too much and it will dominate your visuals to the point of incomprehension. As with a printed design layout, allow breathing space, not just to give some air around the audio to give the ears a break, but also to allow some time for the eyes to take in the messages. Sound and picture don’t have to match. Music can add a ‘psychological backbone’ in the words of Mike Figgis. Sound effects can be used as an important prop or plot point. Realistic sounds can be altered to behave in a different way to give expression and meaning. Sound effects can be entirely external to the scene.

This illustrates the fact that sound is a design entity in itself. It’s full of ideas and nuances, reflecting and bringing in additional themes that extend the meaning of a sequence, so it should be inextricably linked to the visual elements of your film. In fact, everything in the previous list could be considered under the umbrella term of sound design. Conversely, if you remove sound altogether in a film, you can see how hard the image has to work, as illustrated in the film design exercise referred to in the previous chapter. The brief called for groups of mostly non-film makers to each make a two-minute film in commemoration or acknowledgement of a person, place or event of their choosing, with the caveat that it had to be silent, making the designer’s task much more challenging. Two minutes is a long time with no audio. The brief was instigated after watching TV coverage of Remembrance Day in the UK that typically intercut shots of live, outside broadcasts showing crowds of people, heads bowed, observing the silence. These images bore little relevance to or significance for commemorating those who died in war other than the sight of people taking

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Figure 4.1  There are occasions when songs with lyrics can be used in a masterful way, and chosen well, they can establish a theme or conflict and mood. As with the use of the Doors’ track ‘The End’ in the opening scene of Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979). The song not only locates the film historically – originally released in 1967 as numbers of US troops arriving in Vietnam rose significantly – but the strong themes of nihilism and doom are captured in the lyric by conversely using it to open the film. This is also reflected in the graphic by inverting the head of the first character we see on screen, who appears in close-up and upside down, adding to the themes of inverted right and wrong, good and evil, and a world gone mad.

time out to remember. Since this was not very visually stimulating as TV content or in any way informative, the design of the students’ films had to aim to sustain interest; if any typography was used, it needed specific timing between other features, as without the framework of sound to guide the motion or set a mood, the coherent rhythm to read and properly take in all the elements would be missing. While the groups were always culturally diverse, comprising a wide range of nationalities, the events they each chose to focus on often had overlapping themes: partition in Korea and Ireland and child exploitation, such as Sierra Leone’s child soldiers, Ireland’s work houses and Switzerland’s Verdingkinder or contract children. Many students focused on their own experience of tube train disasters in London, Hong Kong and Korea. These themes brought unexpected parallels and synergy that allowed for interesting discussions. Understanding the power that music has on emotion, some film makers insisted they be allowed to include audio, so as the project developed with each redelivery, it modified into something else, becoming an exercise in the effect and connection of mood, emotion, music and expectation. So what happens when we get it wrong, and why should we worry? Why not just find a track we really like, put it on the audio timeline and lay it under the visual? Well, here are a few reasons.

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First, the music may be under copyright, in which case it would be illegal to use it without permission; you will be at risk of incurring serious fines if you use it without respecting the licensing agreements. This is explained in more detail later in this chapter, along with ideas for alternative solutions. Second, just because you like the track, don’t assume that everyone else will. What might evoke a happy memory for you, might well irritate the next person or even create an unexpected reference that arouses a totally different response than you intended. If you are near the completion of a film project and the sound has still not been incorporated, the experience of finding the right audio is an interesting one. It is not uncommon to have the preconception that you have the ideal music in mind, an absolute perfect match, the tempo the mood, even the lyric fits with your idea. You think you have already made an excellent choice even before you see it working with the picture. Then you play it alongside your film to test it out and something weird happens: it makes the film feel like something else entirely. The poignant, reflective atmosphere the graphics were to create has become saturated by overly melodramatic audio that seems heavy-handed and clichéd, or perhaps the beat appears in sync with the rhythm of the transitions in a way that you could not have

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Creating the Right Tone and Atmosphere

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Figure 4.2 a–f  Djordje Balmazovic uses a sequence of bold black and white illustrations in his silent tribute to a friendship torn apart by opposing views of conscription in the former Yugoslavia. Notice how hard the images have to work to retain attention when there is no sound to help it flow. This absence of motion makes us concentrate wholly on the statements used to present his thought-provoking dilemma.

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Figure 4.3 a–e  Cristina Addonizio uses a mix of illustrations and captions to bring attention to the plight of African child soldiers.

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imagined. Now combined, the whole piece suddenly feels contrived and idiotic. Perhaps a full-blown commercial music track may seem an obvious way to go, but it’s rarely the best. Start by thinking about what the core idea is or how the themes that it covers can be translated into an audio idea. Play with silence, record natural elements, such as the wind in the trees, rain falling on a pond, or children’s laughter. Think instrumental and ethereal, if your film calls for that; a classical fully orchestrated piece, for example, will most likely dominate and overpower your visual. Unless, of course, you have epic themes to convey. Reference Kubrick’s use of Johann Strauss’ The Blue Danube in 2001: A Space Odyssey against the zero-gravity dance between spacecraft and space station; supposedly Kubrick preferred this placeholder to the piece he had initially briefed Alex North to score, and it remained in the film. But as American film critic Roger Ebert comments: ‘North’s score . . . would have been wrong for 2001 because, like all scores, it attempts to underline the action, to give us emotional cues. The classical music chosen by Kubrick exists outside the action.’ Kubrick’s choice allows us to distance ourselves from the detail of the picture and review the significance and implication of the whole scene. Worth noting is the area of audio branding. Despite the changing landscape of TV networks, rebrands are still a regular feature where audio plays a crucial role in establishing a presence, as channels vie for our attention and compete for the same audience.

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Figure 4.4 a–d  Jai Ryoong Kim uses a mix of animation and photographs in his silent tribute to the families separated after the Korean War. The absence of sound helps us focus on the images as the minimal movement guides us around the frame.

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Creating the Right Tone and Atmosphere

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Figure 4.5 a–b  The composer James Newton Howard, working on M. Night Shyamalan’s supernatural thriller The Sixth Sense (1999), used the recorded human breaths of hundreds of people and even animals to create a moving ambiance, giving a sense of a constant presence that added to the chilling atmosphere and sense of unease.

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Figure 4.6 a–e  In Edgar Wright’s film Baby Driver (2017), we see the audio physically embodied within the location and art direction. Lyrics of the music score are integrated to set a surreal theatrical effect. Graffiti, posters and signage all echo the lyrics perfectly in sync with the continuous tracking shot, reminding us we are outside looking in, yet reinforcing a seamless connection between what’s going on in ‘Baby’s’ head and what we see on screen. The music becomes not just a backdrop or mood setter to the film, but it also actually enables us to see the environment from his music-fuelled perspective.

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Figure 4.7  Sarah Culross experiments with the properties of a square using both sound and visuals. In her early investigation, she produces a soundtrack created by dropping square objects onto different surfaces. The results are crude but set her off on a path of interesting exploration.

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Figure 4.8 a–d  The perfect solution is to compose your own music, if you have the skills and the resources to do so, as director Hyun Lee Jo managed to do in her film Time Dilation (see Chapter 3). The film is about our varying experience of time according to our own individual speed of life, and the composition helps evoke themes of memory and loneliness. Not all of us are lucky enough to be able access these musical skills on tap.

Figure 4.9  In Clement Jaquier’s film about evolving technology and digital printing, he produces a rhythmic percussive audio bed to reflect the central idea. It is a graphic representation of how traditional wooden block presses are increasingly being replaced by digital printing presses.

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There’s a sadness to the human condition that I think music is good for. It gives a counterpoint to the visual beauty, and adds depth to pictures that they wouldn’t have if the music wasn’t there. Mike Figgis – film director

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Figure 4.11 a–d  In this Synchromy (1971) film, ScottishCanadian animator Norman McClaren creates visual music; the hypnotic geometric shapes appear to dance to the electronic soundtrack in a synchronization of image and sound.

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Sound as a Tool for Focus To get a good understanding of how sound can affect the interpretation of a picture, look at the work of some of the early experimental film makers interested in the visualization of sound. Best known for his work for the National Film Board of Canada. Norman McClaren was a pioneer in a number of areas of animation and film-making: direct film animation, visualizing music, abstract film, a stop-frame animation technique called pixilation, and the recording technique, graphical sound.

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4.10b Figure 4.10 a–b  New Zealand-born Len Lye was one of the first to reinvent this direct animation technique, making marks directly onto the celluloid film in this piece Colour Box (1935) for the General Post Office Film Unit. Notice how the colours change and appear to move in time to the music, the forms fluidly syncopating, in movements that might otherwise have been undetected without audio.

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Shape

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Someone asked me how my films look without sound. ‘Terrible’, I said; they don’t look good at all because they’re done for sound, with sound. Len Lye – film director One experiment I did had a remarkable effect, which you can try yourself. I had made a 16mm film test to look at a range of analogue techniques based on direct film-making, by working directly into emulsion on the frames of celluloid, scratching and colouring the surfaces, sometimes individual single frames, sometimes several at once, so the effect when run through a projector was unpredictable (certainly to me at this loose experimental stage). I then chose a piece of music before playing it to an audience, just to get some initial feedback, and I noticed how the components of the image took on a different emphasis as your eye is compelled to find a synchronicity with the music. Elements that were perhaps less consequential or obvious are brought to the fore as your focus rests on them momentarily to the exclusion of other areas of the screen. Different instruments can pick out different elements of the picture. Given a wildlife scene, for example, the chords of a guitar would emphasize the running of meerkats, but introduce a deep bass drum, and your attention might be directed to the distant elephants in the same scene. This effect is shown clearly in the work of Len Lye, the experimental artist–film maker from New Zealand, who explored sound with sculptures and animated films from 1929 through the mid- 1960s. He says, ‘I created a piece of audio-reactive “video sound sculptures”. The different sounds coming from different places produce sculpture themselves. Each group of graphic elements has a direct correlation to the sound.’ He goes on to say. ‘One of the important things in sound art is that sound exists as a physical entity, as a sound wave. From my perspective, I believe that the sound can be delivered to us through different senses and it led me into the question, what if we can feel the sound through the sense of sight,

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if we hear and see the sound at the same time, it will become a powerful and radical way to communicate with an audience who watch music videos or enjoy listening to music. For that reason, the potential audience of my project is people who are into music and make music videos or musicians. I have an optimistic view that my project has potential possibilities to be developed for music videos or visual shows for sound art performances.’

Shape If we were to take any given film and could visualize the soundtrack in comparison to the image, plotting it on a timeline, we might begin to get an idea of the ‘shape’ of the sound as a whole. It may be sparse and thin, thick and dense in parts, rising to crescendos and then falling away dramatically. Sequences may be full and busy, so complex and cluttered that everything competes. Others may be minimal and calming, so we are able to take stock and reflect on previous action, even evoking a calmer mood. The shape of this would look smoother and more linear, as opposed to the jagged high and lows of a more chaotic track. The first professional creative role I held was as a copywriter in advertising. Working with an art director as a team, we were soon allocated radio commercials to write and produce; from there, I focused on TV commercials and short films involving dialogue and music. Working with actors and sound engineers, I soon appreciated the effect of sound on pictures. Later in my experience of commissioning music, not just for the films I was either writing or directing myself, but for different TV programme

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Figure 4.12 a–g  Eighty years on from Colour Box, Hiro Tanaka revisits this early animation style, in his See Feel project. To exploit the technique digitally, he sought to visualize the different notes with a view to better understanding composition of noise music, taking the track ‘Dead Guitars’ by British band Seefeel.

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Figure 4.13 a–e  What if the image could keep us focused on the music and actively enhance our experience? Sarah Culross’ project Sibelius 4th does exactly that. Instigated by her late arrival to a live concert, finding she had to sit at the back, she noticed how difficult it was to stay focused; however, when she moved to the front at the interval, the experience was quite different. She asked how she might design large screen visuals to accompany the orchestra performance on stage in a manner that might encourage new audiences to classical events, while at the same time not alienate existing audiences.

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Shape

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genres where a great deal of pre-packaged graphics were needed to wrap up individual shows, I was responsible for compiling a music library for convenient use, almost commissioning music by the yard. The type of show dictated the shape: a studio-based sports review programme needed a punchy, energetic opener followed by a driving bubbling underscore that could be increased or decreased accordingly if guests were being interviewed or results were being read out. Whereas an investigative documentary might need something sparser and atmospheric, rising in pitch and tone in parts to reflect the emotional journey of the narrative.

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Figure 4.14 a–e  Inspired by the thoughts of John Cage on silence and the work of Ryoji Ikeda, Jaeho Hwang’s project Seeing the Sound experiments with manipulating the image to reflect the sound, making a visual embodiment of the sound itself. First Hwang uses the technique as an intervention to an existing scene and later to create three-dimensional images that illustrate different field recordings that combined to make a composition.

Getting a feeling for what type of audio gives atmosphere and tone to which abstract graphics, or the sort of music bed that might be needed to bubble under a live-action section takes time and experience to get right. As ever, there are no set rules, and sometime the oddest pairings work surprisingly well. If you are placing music against graphics, the following rule of thumbs usually applies: Title sequences need to have a particular starting point to kick them off, not only from the perspective of design, but also to provide a strong hard audio intro to announce the start of the programme, as if calling you from the next room. They also need to have a definite end, an intentional full stop that clearly signals it has actually finished. This might be a punchy final note that falls to a decay, but it should never be a fade, leaving space for doubt, or suggest something else is on its way or that the graphics would trail on into the distance forever as the music is carried elsewhere. It should just be final, neat and tidy, without ambiguity. He says, ‘Audio effects and music selection were perhaps the most challenging part of my project. Finding music to match the mood and speed of the animations was a tough exercise, as a perfect balance was required when dealing with the timing and transitions in each video. Too fast and the viewer would not have ample time to digest the information, too slow and the audience would lose interest. Sourcing the audio was another facet of

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Figure 4.15  What happens in between the start and end point will be determined by how the designed components are set to reveal the story (if indeed there is one). Perhaps the audio is designed to coincide with transitions between shots or be aligned to the arrival and duration of text. One interesting exercise, as a point to reflect on, is to draw out a representation of the music in graphic form to see if it coincides with the narrative, marking out the peaks and troughs.

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Figure 4.16 a–e  An example of timings and tone working well is reflected in a project to encourage the youth vote in Pakistan by Samad Iqbal. He had quite a struggle to find the right piece to help focus the eye and complement his animation.

the operation that required time and patience, as license-free music is hard to come by.’ He ended up with a sound design created from a composition of library music and added sound effects to highlight the motion. As you can appreciate, searching for the right music or audio is very time-consuming, which is why many practitioners will pay music search companies to hunt down the perfect track for them, to help wade through the copious amount of bland free stuff available online. There are also many companies who create music to order, often signing new

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hungry talent who are ready and willing to score fresh bespoke audio. Rather than having to start each search from scratch with each new production, create your own library of audio you personally respond to; the music, for example, may evoke a certain mood, which while perhaps not appropriate for the film in question at the moment, could well come in handy at a later date. You can go back to this library time and time again, saving hours, days or even weeks of endless searching. This is a rewarding task to do in any downtime during film production that might avoid a last-minute panic.

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I don’t believe in putting in music as a band aid to get you over some rough parts or bad film making. If it’s there it’s got to add to it or take it to another level. Quentin Tarantino – film director

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Working with Musicians Of course, one of the best options is to collaborate with a flesh and blood musician. Nurturing a relationship with a composer and performer with both the skills and resources to be able to write a piece for you, and better still, provide variations, can be invaluable, not to mention elevate your film to a dimension you had not thought possible. A film director friend of mine has just completed her first drama short that is currently doing the rounds at festivals. She thought nothing of waiting four months for her choice of musician to be available to work on her film, even though it meant putting the production back significantly. The best approach, if you haven’t already, is to learn some vocabulary to articulate your ideas. One way is to look at the words used in the catalogue listings of tracks available through online music libraries. Here are two examples to give you an idea of how the descriptors match the audio. One track called Pyromancer from KPM T13, from one of their Drums and Percussive collections by Stewart Jeffrey Barnes and Christopher James Morris, is described as ‘ATMOSPHERIC sound effects and stick rhythm introduce building, EPIC tribal tom drums RUMBLING deep bass and metallic clanging sound design that ebbs and flows with trailer risers and DYNAMIC synth drum effects’. Note the significant keywords are in all caps. More simply, this one listed as Creepy Kids, from their Trailers Toolkit (PHA 2 track 27), is described as horror, creepy kids, toy piano, broken, disturbing mystical.

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4.17c Figure 4.17  Peter McKerrow has produced the sound design for a wide variety of films from animation to live action, fact to fiction. Here are three: (a) Visual Rhetoric, directed by Penny Hilton; (b) Leon’s Story, directed by Sam Campbell; and (c) Tunnel Vision, directed by Dean G. Moore.

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Interview with Sound Designer Peter McKerrow A musician I collaborate with when I get the chance is Peter McKerrow. With over fifty years of experience as a composer and performer, he has written for me many times, and after completing a master’s degree in sound arts, he collaborated with some of the moving-image students on my course to create audio for their film work. I asked him how he goes about the process of applying sound. PH: What are the questions you ask a film maker to start you off? PMcK: What is the deadline? I really need to know this to plan my time. What sound design do you want? Music? Foley? FX? Beds? Motifs? Leitmotifs? At which points in the film do you want them to each start and finish (i.e. the minutes and seconds)? What is the effect you want the sound design/composition to create around your film? That is, where and how do you see the sound working? Are there keywords you can give to describe the emotions you want the scenes to express (i.e. happy, sad, melancholy, powerful, terrifying, majestic, assertive, etc.)? PH: If you are presented with a piece of film (let’s say an abstract animation), how would you go about creating the sound design? PMcK: First of all, I will set up markers to show the changes of scene and mood. From there, if needed, set hit points for stings. Then see what rhythmic patterns may work with the images between the markers, and once done for each scene, set a tempo map for the film. For example, in Visual Rhetoric (https://vimeo. com/71577241), there was the rhythm of the circles pulsing out from the centre of the screen that provided the rhythm for that section of the film. Having created that tempo map, the next stage is to build the bed of sound, to set the atmosphere. For example, if the scene is in the countryside, we might hear the sound of the breeze, birds, flowing water, if near a river. At each stage of progress, I will send the director a rough mix to show how my thoughts are developing for their comment and feedback.

PH: Thinking about a typical example of how you work with a film maker, let’s take Sam Campbell’s film Leon’s Story, for example, can you take us through the process? PMcK: Sam Campbell and I met initially for him to brief me on how he felt the sound should work within the film. Sam wanted sound beds, music and FX. From there we agreed to a timetable of weekly meetings after which I would work up ideas coming out of those discussions and lay them to the respective scene to be then sent to Sam for comment. With this modus operandi, we were able to build up the sound over a period of approximately two months. PH: Did this differ to, say, your experience working with Dean Moore on his Tunnel Vision film? PMcK: For Tunnel Vision, my role was that of composer. The sound design was by Russell Callow and Alberto Sanchez Nue. Dean briefed me on the style he wanted – in this case, minimalist – and gave me the timescale to work to. From there, I took a rough cut of the film, set out the places where the changes of mood, or action, occurred, and then composed the music to the tempo map created from there. At each stage, I would send Dean sound clips of the ideas; he would comment, and from those comments, I would develop the composition further. PH: What is your ideal brief? PMcK: To work with the director from day one and be an integral member of the team. To be given a list of hit points and keywords to describe the sound as it develops throughout the film. The most important components of the process are time and information. Too often, a director will give you days to design/compose the sound for a film where he/she could probably have given you much longer. PH: Any essential tips that the above might not have covered? PMcK: The most important tip of all is that of regular and honest communication. If the director is not happy with the sound, they should say so (and why).

Next up, if a music bed is required, the tempo and the mood of each scene will determine whether the music is in a major or minor key. Music, if used, is to support the image, not supplant it.

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Preparing Your Music Brief 1. If you know what you want, learn more about music composition, use relevant grammar and descriptive phrases to articulate it in words. Be as clear as you can and avoid ambiguity. Misinterpretation could be very expensive on your production time, and you could risk torching a valuable relationship. 2. If you really don’t know what you want, talk to your composer; discuss the film and the mood you want to bring out.

What’s Free and What’s Not As we have explored sound is crucial, so don’t leave it to the last moment, respect the craft and throw yourself into it. Learn to work with

3. Give him or her what you can – to help illustrate what you mean collate some examples, even if it is only an example to illustrate what to avoid. Record a dummy version on your phone. Sing. Try to recreate the rhythm as best you can, anything to get the conversation started along the right lines (e.g. ‘A bit like this but not like that.’). 4. Decide whether you want the audio to enhance the atmosphere or counteract it.

musicians, develop a vocabulary to make the whole commissioning process smoother. Sound is much more than an element of your film; it is integral in itself and is your film. Give the same care and attention that you would the concept, structure, design, and motion; remember that few notice good sound, but everyone spots it when it’s done poorly.

Understand Your Options What are your options, and what are the pros and cons?

Con: Hard to find the right track as the options are infinite.

Commercial music is music that has at some point been, or currently is, popular.

Composed music is scored especially for your sequence.

Pro: Professional quality. The music is instantly recognizable and brings useful connotations.

Pro: Best possible option for ease of copyright. In this case, the fee and license will be negotiated upfront.

Con: Easy to misjudge. Since the music is subject to licensing agreements, check permissions out with publishers and performer first. This process alone is very time-consuming, and it is often easier to go straight to the composer/writer rather than through an agent. They may initially be flattered, but likewise their reputation may be tarnished if you produce a turkey.

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Con: Getting the brief right or risk trying the patience of your musician. Timing may also be difficult as you have to slot into the available time frame of musicians and performers. Foundsound is audio compiled from a variety of sources (i.e. recorded on location from real life, not necessarily a performance as such).

Library music is pre-recorded music written by composers for a particular type of sequence for potential use.

Pro: Completely unique. Lots of software tools are available to support this approach, from basic intro level up to professional.

Pro: Easier to negotiate than commercial music. Readily available, this type of music is a great online resource and usage is more flexible.

Con: Skills needed to develop in this area. A natural enthusiasm for the area of sound design is also needed here.

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What’s Free and What’s Not

Resources On the companion website there are some exercises to help you develop further. Books Figgis, Mike. Digital Filmmaking. 1st American edn. Faber & Faber. See, especially, the chapter on sound. Van Sijll, Jennifer. Cinematic Storytelling: The 100 Most Powerful Film Conventions Every Filmmaker Must Know. 2nd edn. Michael Wiese Productions, 2005. This book was mentioned in Chapter 3 but pay particular attention to the chapter on sound effects and the one on music.

Internet Chat with Mike Figgis: http://www.bbc.co.uk/films /2000/09/01/mike_figgis_chat_transcript_article.shtml. More on Mike Figgis: https://www.theguardian.com /film/2000/aug/11/culture.features. For an intro into film music and pure excellence of composed music to picture, study any of the films by Sergio Leone. A great inspiration for sound design in general is to take advantage in the rise of excellent podcasts, my favourites

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at the moment are mainly American, for example, Serial, Love + Radio, Atlanta Monster, and 99% invisible. All are notable for their shape and design, and they are often packed full of audio ideas. In the UK, we have Radio 4’s Short Cuts series with Josie Long, whose adventures in sound continue to break new ground. Adweek article about ten royalty-free music sites: https:// www.adweek.com/digital/royalty-free-music/. Incompetech royalty-free music: https://incompetech .com/music/royalty-free/index.html?genre=Silent+Film +Score&page=2. Musopen.org offers recordings, sheet music and text books to the public for free. An article about recording high-quality sound for your low-budget movie: filmhttp://www.scarycow.com /lowbudgetaudio/. Another site offering all sort of interesting gems, particularly on field recording, is The Quiet American: http://quietamerican.org/. Why aspiring film makers should watch films without sound: http://www.lavideofilmmaker.com/filmmaking /watch-films-without-sound-learn-filmmaking.html.

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Part 2

Creating the Elements

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Composition Chapter Overview So far we have looked at our approach, deciding what our film is actually going to be about and why. This next section, we move on to consider design structures for the composition and why we might draw on them when creating the components. Here composition refers to the frame of the image and how the elements of the mise-en-scène appear within it. It is a tool to accentuate the focal elements of an image, using compositional influences and visual devices to highlight key subjects. These might be geometry, framing, attention to space, the eye-line of subjects, use of diagonals, positioning of subjects, use of a light source, or applying focus, scale or guiding lines. In essence, it is how you present the image as a whole and how these individual elements relate to one another. The question of how the eye responds to visual stimuli has been a subject for intense scrutiny since the beginning of film. Important elements that have been established are brightness, colour, size, shape, motion, speed and direction. Carefully composing and structuring these within your frame can guide the eye and promote the required emotional response. As designer-director you also have content, juxtaposition and intersection of other elements to play with. This chapter will look at examples of all these, addressing common design dilemmas to work out what should go where, including the following: • Framing your overall composition. Live action or animation, your design should allow your eye to absorb the main point without overload. • Understanding the emotional effect of activity within the frame, in terms of motion and stillness, and how you might include action and inaction. • Understanding the effect of X, Y and Z in terms of the dynamic it creates in screen space. For multiscreen or less typical proportions how can the design be fully effective? • Ordering elements to make sense of what you plan to communicate. How can we direct the eye to a specific area of the screen?

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Much like a painting or photograph, the static image of a frame offers all sorts of storytelling opportunities, from the literal elements within it to the signifiers they might suggest. As we are dealing with motion, the composition of the frame is likely to be always changing, which presents

us with additional story elements to play with. Brightness, colour, size and shape are universally considered to be the most eye-catching qualities within a frame’s composition if the image is static. However, motion, speed and direction can be just as significant as seen through the limiting aperture of our bounded frame. Let’s look at some of these attributes (brightness, colour, size, and shape).

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Figure 5.1 a–f  Here Sujeong Yoon’s Lonely Ball animation represents the physical and emotional feeling of depression. She uses a minimal colour palette in an attempt to depict depression using tones of grey, devoid of any colour. Not only does the physical space of the locked room illustrate feelings of claustrophobia and suppression, but the lack of colour in the environment also reflects despair. When the opening door is offered as an escape, our attention is drawn to the brightness.

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Figure 5.2 a–d  In this short, stop-motion animation Play with Type, Jose Mendez employs a controlled colour palette. The action is concentrated around the area with the most colour, yet the motion is constantly busy, active and lively.

Figure 5.3 a–d  Size and scale can be determined through design and use of particular lenses, as explored further in the next chapter on camera. Here we see Thibaut Degenne’s experimental work on composition, which looks at the effect of reframing well-known paintings by David Hockney and Georges Seurat.

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Screen direction can be taken as a starting point for framing a shot and illustrates the different effect it will have on our perception. Screen direction might mean a number of things, such as the direction a character or object is travelling within the frame. The camera might be static or might follow this action. Depending on the narrative, the

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motion of both the object and the camera could represent antagonism, individualism or conflict. This movement and framing could also draw our attention to change, similarity or dissimilarity or likewise the opposite. In the following examples we can see how the designer directors exploited this.

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Figure 5.4 a–g  Looking at Lee Teche’s autobiographical film on intergenerational communication through baseball, we see the continuous motion of the camera reflecting the idea of cyclical connections. Research started as an investigation into the properties of a circle, with the director looking particularly at old VHS recorders and what remains when tapes are copied several times over. He says, ‘with each passing generation, nuggets of information are retained and passed down’. This took him to look at what connects himself, his father and his grandfather. ‘With each familial generation, the one commonality that has been retained is a mutual enjoyment of baseball.’ Lee then asked his family to recount memories of how baseball has always been a vehicle to relate to one another. In the resulting film, this edited audio provides the soundtrack, and the circular idea is reflected in the continuous motion and directional path of the animation. As each move pauses, Lee pays attention to the composition before it swings off to continue its journey through the generations. 5.4g

Figure 5.5  In Julia Braga’s film experiments on the subject of emotional displacement, all motion is in the action, as the camera is static and locked off. In Rotating Doors, we see the partly reflected image adds to our disorientation, as we are unsure if time is reversed or actually mirrored.

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Figure 5.6 a–b  In Roman Kim’s film The River, he uses constant close-ups to tightly frame his subjects and focus on emotion.

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Figure 5.7 a-b  Sam Campbell seeks out unusual angles for unexpected framing in his film about the demolition of Heygate Estate in South London.

Figure 5.8 a–d  Xinxin Xiu’s animated film based on the propaganda posters of Shanghai uses motion and framing to begin the story in an art gallery as if viewed by a visitor. As we are drawn into the image, the story behind the posters comes to life.

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In photography, an essential composition technique is to use the rule of thirds, and this is also applicable to film. Often seen but nonetheless effective, this is where the frame is divided into nine imaginary sections, or evenly into thirds both vertically and horizontally. This division creates reference points that act as guides for framing the image by placing the subject at the intersection of the dividing lines or along one of the lines itself. This draws the eye to focus on certain parts of the frame, improving composition and balance, helped by the common idea that an off-centre composition can be more engaging to the eye, as it looks more natural than one where the subject is placed right in the middle of the frame. It also encourages a more creative use of negative space, the empty areas around your subject, allowing you to see size and shape more effectively. Looking through your viewfinder, use two horizontal lines and two vertical lines to mentally

divide the image up into nine squares. Remember the important elements should appear on this grid either along the intersections of the lines where the points meet or within a particular section of the grid. It is helpful to use this rule when shooting interviews, as real people in real spaces all need positioning and composing within the frame. When you are composing your shot, allow for what is called ‘nose room’, rather than placing your contributors up against the edge of frame, allow some space for them to breathe. The following examples show the effects of what this can bring. Another tip for better framing is to pull your subject slightly towards you in physical terms; in other words, provide a little space between your subject and the background they are positioned against. This increases the depth of the shot, making it more visually comfortable. Positioning a small practical light on the floor can exaggerate this effect and increase the feeling of space further.

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Figure 5.9 a–b  Here we see Katerina Troshikhina has exploited the rule of thirds, in her film Ocean Sea, by positioning her camera to place her subject on the point of the intersecting lines and leaving an expanse of uncluttered frame, provoking feelings of solitude, calm and nostalgia.

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Figure 5.10 a–c  Sometimes, however, you need to understand the rules in order to break them. In contrast to the rule of thirds, look at how unconventional and disconcerting these framing set-ups are for Mr. Robot, the US series about cybersecurity engineer turned vigilante hacker Elliot Alderson. Here the picture is divided into four. Quadrant framing is used to illustrate his distrust and the general social anxiety he experiences; by positioning him in the lower edge with plenty of empty space or background detail in view, we get a sense of his isolation in each scene, which suggests his psychological turmoil.

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Figure 5.11  Director Stanley Kubrick’s recurrent use of one-point perspective exploits the unsettling effect of perceived symmetry. Here we see examples from (a) 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968); (b) A Clockwork Orange (1971); (c and d) The Shining (1980); and (e and f) Full Metal Jacket (1987).

Many directors have successfully exploited the unsettling effect of one-point perspective, creating an unnatural symmetry, often for location shots or real scenes that appear surreal in their perfection. One well-known practitioner of this technique is Stanley Kubrick, who began his film-making career as a photographer and has a designer’s eye when it comes to composition. Here’s what other critics have said about his use of this framing:

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You feel like there’s something wrong in every one of these shots. You can’t put your finger on it, but you know things aren’t quite right. James Opliant – ‘Kubrick // One-Point Perspective’, HYDE Magazine (1 September 2012)

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Framing

These symmetrical shots have a disturbing psychological impact on the audience, putting them at unease even if there isn’t anything immediately menacing present in the shot. The viewer feels very distanced from what is occurring and it is almost like we are watching still images, paintings or other such works of art come to life rather than watching motion picture photography. At the same time, many of these shots are not symmetrical but the one-point perspective forces the viewer to look towards the central, most distant point. It draws our eyes into the frame, ignoring the sides often and focusing on what is most central and distant. In this way, rather than distancing the viewer, it

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A development of this unsettling emotional effect of one-point perspective can be seen in split-screen examples, where mirroring, cutting and repositioning of images takes on an eerie magical quality. We believe it, but it disturbs us. Look at how these experimental films provide contemplative opportunities, as in the first example. With so many things to consider, it’s hard to know when putting too much in one frame is overkill. If the screen is overloaded, the point you are making will be lost in the clutter of other detail and distract viewers from the main focus. So beware if too much is going on, as competing colour, size, shape and motion will all be vying for attention, and viewers won’t know where to look. Getting the balance right takes skill and experience, fast-tracked through careful observation of work by renowned cinematographers and motion designers, so this should be an obvious place to start. Focusing on their keen attention to detail and deconstructing how they have induced their emotional effects will provide invaluable lessons.

actually pulls us in to the shots. Pete Turner – film studies lecturer

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Figure 5.12 a–d  Imaginary Forces designed a title sequence for US crime drama Bosch, about a lonely ageing detective. These abstracted shapes of architectural structures become the perfect backdrop to hold text and work well to set the mood of reflective melancholia, while at the same time maintain a disturbing tension.

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Figure 5.13  This film, Transportable Wheels from photographer Julia Braga video series Kaleidocity/City-trilogia, explores the city landscape. The mirrored frames and acceleration of speed provides a continuous atmosphere of urban dystopia. Inspired by Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, the eerie industrial soundscape is almost as unsettling as the face-like image with the momentary toothy grin, appearing to mock us.

Figure 5.14 a–d  Xi Wu uses masks and a mirroring structure to compose her circular 360-degree distortion film Gravitation. Based on ideas of relentless urban claustrophobia and dreams of escape, this effect becomes meditative.

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Figure 5.15  In James Symonds’ simple experiment Mirror Cube, he explores the effect of mirroring. By taping four small mirrors together and rotating pieces of coloured card, he records the outcome and makes the following observations: I noticed that when the floor area consists of a single block of colour, your attention focuses more on the cube’s structure. The geometric patterns that are introduced by the additional coloured areas, move your attention to a more open vista. The quality of the colour also appears to change in relation to what surrounds it. While the red coloured card remains a constant throughout the experiment, the hue appears to be different if it is bordered by blue segments (and this changes again if the red becomes the surrounding element of a blue area).

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Figure 5.16 a–e  Framing centrality is another useful tool to assert dominance within the narrative. If you want a character to appear imposing, position them in the centre of frame, and they will appear in control. Here we see (a) Clockwork Orange, (b) Full Metal Jacket, (c) The Shining, (d) Psycho and (e) Sunset Boulevard.

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While the flow of the image at 24 frames a second tends to assert a ‘now-ness’ to the picture, stillness allows access to the time of the film’s registration, it’s ‘then-ness’. This is the point, essentially located in the single frame, where the cinema meets the still photograph, both registering a moment of time and thus fossilized. Laura Mulvey – Death 24 × a Second

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Motion versus Stillness

Motion versus Stillness By merely using a sequence of stills, you can build up complex ideas and storylines to guide an emotional response by the audience and tell complex narratives. This constructive static imagery technique is often overlooked by new film makers in their rush to become technically competent. These simple methods are easy to achieve and can have very powerful effects. A prime example is Chris Marker’s 1962 film La Jetée, as discussed in Chapter 3. This story of time

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travel, through a past, present and future and the aftermath of World War III, is told almost exclusively through still images and voice-over narration. Used well, it can expertly exploit what the theorist Laura Mulvey describes as the ‘then-ness of stills versus the now-ness of moving image’. Every frame of the film holds a nostalgia that is dominant in Marker’s story. We are familiar with the use of montage within feature films to show things such as the passage of time or an emotional transition. A momentary still within a motion sequence can have a powerful effect, as can cropping an image to only reveal part of it, as this experimental project reveals.

Figure 5.17 a–d  La Jetée (1962) is Chris Marker’s story of a man forced to explore his memories in the wake of World War III devastation, told through still images. 5.17a

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Figure 5.18 a–d  In Citizen Kane (1941), director Orson Wells used a montage technique of a series of stills, not only to show the passage of time, but also to reference a metaphor for life being a jigsaw puzzle, with Kane searching for the missing piece.

Composition

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Chiao Yun Kuo describes her technique:

I started recording videos at random and captured a frame from the video. And then I cropped the frame and used masking to separate to different images which were combined with sound or music in order to change the original meaning of the moving image. Based on the idea that a moment of stillness within the moving image and its narrative creates a ‘pensive’ spectator experience, the kind of reverie that Roland Barthes associated with the photograph alone, but this reverie reaches out to the nature of the video itself. This pause for the spectator, usually ‘hurried’ by the movement of both film and narrative, opens a space for consciousness of the still frame within the moving image.

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Films made entirely of still images can be brought to life through careful design and composition, adding unobtrusive transitions and well-crafted typography. These following films all rely on static images to tell their story: Another great use of stills is for planning the composition of your film at the pre-production stage as discussed in Chapter 1, using an animatic to establish what movement is needed before any shooting begins or animation is undertaken can be a real time saver. It is particularly helpful for estimating how detailed an animation can afford to be (i.e. if the shots are going to occupy a lot of screen time, or if in the structure of the story, the shot maybe shorter than you anticipated), thus allowing your valuable production time to be better spent elsewhere. It’s a good idea to write a revised shot list after this process, to include the shots from your animatic and to cover any additional variations to fill the holes you might have missed. By seeing the bare bones as static images, you can plan new dynamic camera moves, work out where the movement needs to be and figure out how much time you have to fill. This is particularly useful for animation where the process is less flexible than filming.

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Motion versus Stillness

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Figure 5.20 a–c  Divya Chadha pays tribute to the Aanganwaadi system (courtyard school), which makes education available to kids living in the slums, near the heavily populated urban areas of New Delhi. Often breadwinners as child labourers or domestic helpers from the age of four, these children are unable to attend regular schools due to their hectic work routines. By attending the Aanganwaadi, which is only held for a few hours every morning, they are able to learn, play, laugh and find a few hours of solace amidst their challenging lives.

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5.19d Figure 5.19 a–d  Chiao Yun Kuo creates a series of experiments in Play with the Viewer that forces us to focus on arbitrary elements of a moving-image composition. Using collage and cropping collage techniques to alter the composition, she concentrates on the effect of freezing the frame to promote a different experience.

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Figure 5.21  Gazel Parizadeh pays tribute to the largest remaining mud brick structure in the world. Dating back to the sixth century BC, the cultural heritage site of Bam Citadel in Iran that was obliterated in just two minutes on December 26, 2003, by an earthquake.

Figure 5.22  Ioannis Koutalis reflects on friends who once were close but are now forgotten. The absence of action allows us to focus on the text and increases the feeling of nostalgia.

Figure 5.23  Neha Sood was herself caught up in the monsoon floods in Mumbai in July 2005. Her two-minute silent tribute reflects on the devastation caused and the impressive sense of community spirit that prevailed to get the city up and running again within a week. Through a series of still photographs sourced from the internet, she pays tribute to the people and the spirit of Mumbai.

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Figure 5.24 a–b  Dimitra Tzanos’ Fear for Freedom, although not silent, uses a well-placed audio track to illustrate the response to white domination in South Africa after the apartheid era. Using a sequence of stills, her first attempt at film-making tells two stories told as personal reflections revealed via different diaries.

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Screen Space

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Screen Space As well as playing with brightness, colour, size, shape, and motion versus stillness, you need to consider some simple properties that utilize the spatial dynamics of the frame and work to break out of the constrictive nature of our composition area. This is particularly useful when we are both describing and considering motion, speed and direction, as it helps us understand how to exploit what happens within the confines of the bordered area of a flat screen. Movement can be explained in terms of the x-, y- and z-axes, each refers to a direction and will have a different emotional effect according to how each is exploited. X-axis refers to the line that cuts the frame horizontally, so objects run left to right or right to left along the x-axis. In many societies, this leftto-right movement mimics the way that our eyes move when reading, so it feels the most comfortable. If you reverse the motion and move from right to left, for many of us this feels less natural and therefore less comfortable. Left to right or right to left? Essentially one is positive, and one is negative, especially movements of characters. Think back to the film Rocky, and the iconic shot of Rocky Balboa running up the stairs in the training montage: his left-to-right movement, coupled with a motion of bottom to top of frame (the y-axis) as he bounds up the stairs, signify his power, drive and ambition – a good guy running towards success, inspiring thoughts of progress, hope, success, altruistic heroism and general good. A right to left movement, especially with a downward motion, would suggest the reverse. When we see the bad guy in feature films entering from the right or text arriving from this side to represent or signify conflict. Using this right to left movement can have a direct effect on our emotions, making make us feel unsettled or that something isn’t quite right. It feels as if it is going backwards in space in a physical and psychological sense. In contrast to the Rocky clip, look at this still from World War Z (and search for the clip to see the full effect in context). Although the zombies are also powerful and driven, they are the bad guys rushing towards the destruction of the human race, making us think of antagonism, regression, hopelessness, failure and evil.

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5.25e Figure 5.25 a–e  Clement Jaquier’s film, The Art of the Title, provides an example of x-axis movement. The constant leftto-right movement, picking up clues on the way, gives us the impression we are on a linear journey towards a reveal.

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Figure 5.26  A film still from the training montage in Rocky (1976), directed by John G. Avildsen.

Other examples include Full Metal Jacket and Saving Private Ryan, where we see heroes enter screen left to travel right, and bodies on stretchers travel from right to exit left. Both these examples are from the No Film School website, a trove of information for the diligent film maker, with thinking based on a recent study conducted at Cleveland State University, which aims to explain this effect of lateral movement scientifically for those interested. As a shorthand device, this horizontal move on the x-axis can be also used for scene changes to signify onward or backwards, as in forward to the future or backwards to the past. Think back to the work of Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics that we touched on in Chapter 3. A horizontal move can also accentuate a scene change to reinforce the notion of simultaneous action, similar to the comic strip caption ‘meanwhile’. Often this is seen as a fast camera panning action possibly even out of focus between shots, for a full comic strip effect, filling in the gutter or space between the frames. Y-axis refers to the line that cuts the frame vertically, so a top to bottom direction of anything moving on the screen. Here notions of gravity come into play, so anything that falls from the top of the screen to the bottom appears smoother, easier and more natural, as opposed to objects or text travelling from bottom to top, which appear less comfortable as if resisting gravity. It is probably a reason why most end credits move this way. The Z-axis runs from the foreground to the background or from the background to the foreground and gives the audience a sense of three-dimensional space or depth of field. An object placed along this plane will change size, depending on where it appears on the trajectory

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or which lens is used. And it will have an impact on feelings of power as it exploits scale. Look for how film makers make the most of these conventions and movements and use them to express different ideas. We have already mentioned the use of mirroring an image to create an unnerving effect; the space on the screen can also be divided up intentionally as a method of storytelling by portioning out areas to contain separate or complementary stories that might benefit from a comparison or contrast. Since the beginning of film itself, this has been a favourite tool, becoming really popular in the 1950s and 60s, for example, in this narrative section of Pillow Talk. The designer Pablo Ferro took this idea of multiple images a stage further, to what was to become his signature style. He first experimented with the technique in an advertisement for Singer sewing machines, an approach taken on a few years later by Christopher Chapman in his Oscar-winning short film A Place to Stand

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5.27b Figure 5.27 a–b  In this dreamlike, surreal animated short, Ahram Park uses a constant vertical camera move up along the y-axis. This gives the appearance that everything on screen moves down and leaves the frame, giving the illusion that we are moving upward in the direction of space, and it serves to accentuate the idea of worlds connecting.

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Screen Space

for the 1967 Expo in Montreal. This film suitably impressed Norman Jewison, who was directing The Thomas Crown Affair. In the editing process, the film was running long, so in an effort to truncate a significant sequence of a polo match, they asked Ferro, already on board as logotype designer, to have a look at it. Ferro revisited his own earlier process, showing several pieces of footage on screen at once. Using composition and movement to reflect the action and the glamorous, high-flying

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lifestyle of the star, he not only avoided waste, but the result was an innovative multi-dynamic image sequence that accelerates the narrative, while shaving several minutes off the screen time. Director Norman Jewison reported, ‘In the three to four minutes of multiple image time, audiences had really been exposed to close to 15 minutes of straight-cut film.’ Impressed, Jewison asked Ferro to repeat the process for other sequences and eventually for the title sequence itself.

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Figure 5.28 a–g  The idea for the Charles and Ray Eames’ film, Powers of Ten (1968), is realized through a constant z-axis move throughout, as we see two picnickers in a park. Every ten seconds we view the starting point from ten times farther out, until our own galaxy is visible only as a speck of light. Returning to Earth with breath taking speed, we continue on the same axis inward – into the hand of the sleeping picnicker – with ten times more magnification every ten seconds to finally end inside a proton of a carbon atom within a DNA molecule in a white blood cell.

5.28g Figure 5.29 a–b  Michael Gordon’s film Pillow Talk (1959) uses a split-screen device to suggestively position the two lead characters, connecting them even though they are in separate locations. 5.29a

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Figure 5.30 a–f  As a narrative device, split screen has been established for a long time. For a closer view, watch these full films and notice how dividing the screen affects the composition and narrative overall. Stills from (a) Four Troublesome Heads (1898), directed by Georges Méliès; (b) Life of an American Fireman (1903), directed by Edwin S. Porter; (c) Run Lola Run (1998), directed by Tom Tykwer; (d) Rules of Attraction (2002), directed by Roger Avary; and (e and f) Wormwood (2017), Netflix series, directed by Errol Morris.

A fuller story is revealed in an interview for the pre-eminent website The Art of the Title. Look in their features section or search for the film on their website to find information on hundreds of seminal films. For more information on the use of split screen in the movies, look out for Marco Heiter’s video essay on Vimeo that showcases the history and the use of it, in his narrated compilation that provides several ideas on how this technique can be exploited as a compositional tool. In the film Timecode, the director, Mike Figgis, plays with more than one screen at a time, providing a narrative across four areas, the screen being divided into equal quadrants. In an interview on BBC Radio Four in 2000, he reflects on observing an audience watching his film.

that their eye movement is completely different when they looked left, right, up, down, and they’re terrified of missing something, even though they might be bored by the film. They are so conditioned to be given all the information in a clean way, and if you don’t do that, two things happen: one is that they sit up on the front of their seat (and) they are much more alert, not slurping away so much on the coke . . . I suddenly realized it’s a completely different relationship, much

What is interesting is the idea of breaking

more interesting for a film maker because

the traditional way of looking at a film,

they’re awake.

which is you sit in a chair and you face one direction in the dark and you watch one screen. I made a film on four screens at the same time, real-time film; the thing I noticed, almost by accident, as

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soon as I saw audiences watching, is

So think about how your story could be perceived geographically and mentally, expanded by splitting it up across several spaces. Think about how it effects the viewers reading emotionally, drawing them in and demanding more active experience.

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Figure 5.31 a–d  Frames from the Oscar-winning short film by Christopher Chapman called A Place to Stand (1967), which was shown at the 1967 Expo in Montreal. 5.31a

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Figure 5.32 a–e  Pablo Ferro designed and edited several sequences employing a multiscreen technique, establishing his name in the design world and helping to elevate the film to the iconic piece of cinema that it is today. The polo match sequence from The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), by featuring several moments at once, helped truncate time and therefore reduce screen duration. 5.32d

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Another example of multiscreen work worth considering for its mesmeric effect is the work of British artist David Hockney. His meditative 360-degree screen immersive installation ‘Four Seasons’ is a single image made up of many screens put together. He collapses time by revisiting the same location at different points in the year and creates four separate films. Each one exhibited on four facing walls of London’s Tate Britain Gallery in 2017 to celebrate sixty years of

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the artist’s work. Shot from a slow-moving vehicle, with nine cameras recording simultaneously, he records the changing landscape in impressive detail and clarity, encouraging us to take a close look while joining in his celebration of the miracle of the seasons. The result is like a cubist film, revealing different aspects of the same scene, as perceived by a moving observer while exploring the effect of recording and portraying time. (See resources at the end of chapter.)

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Figure 5.33 a–d  Pablo Ferro designed the iconic title sequence for the same film, employing his multiscreen technique similar to a moving magazine spread, that was to establish his name in the design world.

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Figure 5.34 a–c  BA Graphic Media design students experiment with the connectivity of multiscreen work by considering how the design should relate to each screen. (a) Jack WatkinsonBoone directs a warning to drivers about the use of mobile phones, the presence of the phone screen being one distraction too many as the driver fails to see an oncoming motorbike. (b) Keto Seto splits the screen up to compare simultaneous time zones, and (c) Aydin Mustafa designs a set of moving escalator panels promoting a behind-the-scenes look at the gaming industry called Off Screen.

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Remember it’s not what you see yourself that matters, it’s what you make others see. (With thanks to) Edgar Degas

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Focus

Focus Using the example of motion graphics rather than live action, we have already discussed the importance of sound for encouraging your audience to focus their attention on a specific area of the screen, by highlighting a particular area with audio cues. As the Time Code split-screen example illustrates, however, how you time any elements that move within the screen will also be affected by the motion. Too fast and it will be lost, the point missed entirely, and a motion that is too slow will drag, possibly ruining the flow of your film. As there are so many variables, there can be no set rules for working your timings out to ensure perfect focus on a specific detail of the screen, other than the judgement of your own eye. You can’t assume that your audience will know

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what you are showing them unless you take the time to show them. As with print design and page layout, setting out a rhythm is really helpful, using designated areas of the screen for particular information trains the eye to read more fluidly instead of having to hunt out the most significant detail in the composition. What is important here is that, in order for your audience to focus on the area of screen you want them to, you should allow enough time for the viewer to read any text. Moving to the next shot too quickly or breaking the rhythm risks the next incoming shot being ruined. The viewer’s eyes may then anxiously dart about the screen eager not to miss anything else before it too disappears, often at the expense of all other elements within the composition. Another way to draw attention to a specific area of the screen is to employ some of the basic principles of photography, outlined in the box, as

Photographic Composition Tips •

Use lenses that have a short focal length guiding you to the required spot, especially over a large area where the rest of the screen may be out of focus; this will direct you to the main action.

•

Think about your lines running into the corners of your frame to create a dynamic composition that draws you in.

•

Think about where you place your subject, using the previously discussed the rule of thirds both horizontally and vertically, but also employ geometrical relationship of the Golden ratio. Many artists and architects from the ancient Greeks to the present have based their own structures and compositions on this mathematical equation, believing it to be aesthetically pleasing as it appears in natural forms, such as spiralling leaves and seashells, amongst others.

•

•

Think about your cropping; what you leave out can be as significant as what you include. Leave an area within your composition to hold text if needed. Choose a background that has a natural uncluttered texture or space, so the text won’t have to compete against it. Think about your lenses; a dynamic wideangle lens might be what’s needed, but be aware that angles and uprights could warp distorting shapes.

•

Make sure your subject does not have to compete with a busy background or that clothes worn don’t cause any sort of screen disturbance; many patterns, stripes or checks are worth avoiding. Notice the wardrobe choices of TV news presenters or weather forecasters are often distracting if not well chosen, as just a minimal movement can cause all sort of disturbance in the signal processing, causing a screen pattern effect called moiré.

•

Look through the monitor or your screen preview; consider it thoroughly before you begin to record. Is there anything overlooked that might distract from what you want to focus on (i.e. an office plant in the background, which might appear to be part of the foreground on camera, or something that creates ridiculous bunny ears around your subject who is attempting to deliver a serious piece to camera).

•

Our eyes are attracted to light, so remember your lighting can make a visual statement helping with focus.

•

Use of black and white or monochromatic imagery can make a stronger more photographic statement that can set it apart from the surrounding colour, as well as potentially making inadvertent references to the past or nostalgia. (With thanks to Graham Diprose – photographer)

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a useful framework for considering how to achieve a focal point or a point of interest. It’s worth noting that cameras and eyes work differently. Cameras scan but eyes dart about in saccades or a system of sudden jumps, in order of the elements that they are most attracted to: light first, think theatrical spotlights or cars headlights, and then movement, particularly sudden movements. This is possibly a primitive response to keep us alerted to potential danger. If we want attention, we wave our hands; a magician also exploits this concentration on movement to perform his tricks. We know if we are in a bar with a TV screen flickering away, its lure is hard to resist. Introducing an object in the foreground, which used to be known as a dingle, can help knock the background further back, dividing up the planes of action and encouraging us to concentrate on the sharper area of focus. In the fifteen-minute video essay on Channel Criswell, Composition in Storytelling (viewed on YouTube), Lewis Bond uses excerpts from over 127 films to illustrate many of these points.

Figure 5.35 a–d  Xi Wu, Joe Aitkins and Sarah Wicks produce a film Anxious World about anxiety in the metropolis. The frenetic city is portrayed in fast motion and time lapse, each frame composed to reflect a feeling of hectic living.

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Composition is used to affect us on a psychological level so that’s how you should think when composing images, what emotions can I display ? Create a sufficient structure to your image, make sure its visually pleasing, find your focal elements and use interesting visuals to convey your message. Every subtle change you make in positioning your frame creates new emotion, a new piece of art and all of this achieved by composition, a skill that can make images last forever. This chapter has explored various methods of composing your film, pointing you towards thinking about design principles in relation to your film. Before we move onto looking at the role of the camera and investigating how it contributes to design elements, have a look at these resources and ideas for further exploration.

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Focus

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Resources On the companion website there are a few exercises relating to this chapter aimed at developing your skills in composition. Books Bartesaghi, Simone. The Director’s Six Senses: An Innovative Approach to Developing Your Filmmaking Skills. Michael Wiese Productions. Edgar, Robert, John Marland and Steven Rawle. The Language of Film. 2nd edn. Fairchild Books, 2015. This book discusses how film language works and how to actively influence an audience’s thoughts and feelings and guide their gaze around the screen. Mulvey, Laura. Death 24X a Second: Stillness and the Moving Image. Reaktion Books, 2006.

Films and web Pete Turner, film studies lecturer: http://ilovethatfilm. blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/kubrick-one-point-perspective -supercut.html. Channel Criswell: https://www.youtube.com/channel /UCL5kBJmBUVFLYBDiSiK1VDw. Composition in storytelling: https://www.youtube.com /watch?v=CvLQJReDhic. A film about the process of making ‘Four Seasons’ by David Hockney, which is an example of multiscreen work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxcaM_f0-kg.

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Figure 5.36 a–d  Another team’s take on a similar theme but using sparse line animation. Xingru Dong, Rachel Salter and Tian Xie concentrate on social phobia. The framing helps us focus on the movement.

Marco Heiter’s video essay on split screen in movies: https://vimeo.com/23768767. Study the composition of these cinematic shots: https:// blazepress.com/2016/01/the-70-most-beautiful -cinematic-shots-in-movie-history/. 24 Frames (2017) is the final film of film maker Abbas Kiarostami. This experimental project is a collection of twenty-four short four-and-a-half minute films inspired by still images, including paintings and photographs. Tips on making films with still images from V Renee on No Film School: https://nofilmschool.com/2013/12/if -youre-making-films-with-still-images-here-are-a-few -things-to-consider.

Online articles Filmslie.com is an excellent resource hosting comment and theory. Look for the analysis of Chris Markers La Jetee by Lamos Ignoramous. Filmslie.com/chris-marker-la-jetee -analysis-temporality/ Marco Heiter uses over 50 split-screen scenes from movies and tv series to re-edit into another story. https:// vimeo.com/23768767. Telegraph article called ‘The Long History of Short Films’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film -life/7593291/The-long-history-of-short-films.html.

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6

Camera Chapter Overview There are some common camera techniques we can apply from the film industry, both old and new, to help define your own design style and bring some originality to your work. Although this chapter is primarily aimed at those using cameras to record live-action video, many of these basic rules are also appropriate for the designer/animator, particularly if you are using three-dimensional modelling and animation software for your motion graphics, such as After Effects or Cinema 4D. Understanding the value and significance of camera movement and set-up, regardless of whether it is live action or graphic design that is being created, will help your film enormously. As many of the same rules apply to either output, this introductory guidance on the role of the camera in terms of the set-up, the design of your shot, and the emotional impact each brings to your film, can make a significant difference to how your work is perceived. We will consider the following: • How camera movement influences and affects your work, specifically and generally what each move might bring to the shot, irrespective of format. • How different camera lenses aid your storytelling and help define your narrative. • Why using a using a variety of shots and techniques can bring dynamism to your story and reduce ambiguity by directing the audience to the relevant element, as well as bringing energy and interest to it.

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Camera Movement If you look at early movies made when the film industry was starting out, you will notice most scenes are made up of static shots. At that time cameras were large, heavy and extremely expensive, so moving them around to get a particular shot was impractical, far better that they remained safely anchored on a tripod in a fixed position. This meant action had to unfold in front of the lens. If a close-up was needed, the actors had to move nearer to the camera; if the scene called for a wide shot, they moved away. Sometimes a scene change might even happen in shot rather than halting the camera and spending expensive studio time resetting the camera and lighting. Today cameras are light and accessibly cheap. Some impressive, excellent films have even been made on phone cameras. Sean Baker’s Tangerine (2015) is an example. But the basics rules still apply: the function of camera movement should be to assist the storytelling, so understanding what a particular move brings to the narrative when cut into a sequence is essential as you plan your film and certainly before you press the record button. As every move of the camera reveals or conceals something and brings with it a host of implications, any move should be made with intent and purpose. Here are some introductory essentials about the types of camera moves, what they could be used for and why. The following are ways of positioning the camera to create a particular effect. First be aware that if you don’t use a tripod, you will, like it or not, bring the character of the camera or cinematographer into the shot. It’s so easy to think you can hold the camera steady and

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that no one will notice any slight movement, but they will. If you try handheld and it’s not for narrative reasons but more for practicality, at least brace yourself by using a support to stabilize the shot. Remember the tighter in you are on your subject or composition, the harder it is to keep the camera steady. A pan is a camera movement that swings on a horizontal or vertical plane, typically to give a panoramic effect or to follow a subject. For a tracking shot, the camera is mounted on some sort of device with wheels to enable a smooth path as it tracks the subject. A crane or drone camera can be used to create high-angle shots that look down on a scene. The shots look powerful and are often breathtaking or symbolic, giving a unique birds-eye view of the action. A static shot occurs when the camera is fixed to a tripod and does not move; the view of the scene is fixed as if seen through a window or the proscenium arch of a theatre stage. If the action on screen is calm, a static camera might evoke a contemplative, passive or meditative mood, or it could possibly feel detached and impartial. If the action on screen is violent, a static shot might seem cruel or dispassionate. A handheld shot is just that. The camera is held in the hand, which by default, gives a wobbly unstable look. This might add immediacy or give a first-person perspective, particularly if cut alongside a static shot as the camera switches from being an anonymous silent observer to a conscious living person actively looking into the shot and engaging in the proxemics of location. The Steadicam was introduced in the 1970s and takes the camera off the tripod and places it in a harness worn close to the body. This helps to

My rule about camera movement is simple. Always ask the question: why is the camera moving? And if your answer is ‘I don’t know’, then put it on a tripod. Mike Figgis – film director

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stabilize the camera, allowing for a smooth, fluid look, and a floating or dreamlike effect. In After Effects and other editing software, it is possible to correct wobbly shots using the stabilizer tool. You can create an approximation of this by tracking corner points to lock down the shot, often a good fix if your camerawork is less than steady. Overall remember that pointless camera moves draw attention to themselves and can be distracting, but if there is a relevant reason for the move, your viewers will be so absorbed in the story they should hardly notice. As long as the camera move reinforces the action, you can’t go far wrong. Note how Alex Ferrari draws a parallel between the theme of film and the how Kubrick directs the movement in his last film Eyes Wide Shut. Ferrari explains the specific visual style employed in the baroque nightmare, as shown through ‘alluring one-point perspective compositions and frequent use of steady cam rigs, zooms both slow and fast, extended tracking shots and elegant dolly work. The camera floats dispassionately as it observes the action creating the distinct

impression of an omniscient observer. Indeed the floating nature of the camera echoes the floating nature of the dreams themselves.’ Director Mike Figgis warns us about overkill of camera movement: ‘A slightly more barren environment will make your camera move more effective, don’t dilute it by overuse; try and preserve the effect.’ When your camera is moving, watch out for strobing effects; whether objects are passing in front of the camera or your camera is moving itself, this can easily happen. It usually looks like a distracting flickering that can be caused by a number of different reasons. For example, if a television or computer monitor appears in shot and shows a flickering effect, it could be to do with lighting, frame rates or shutter speed. Adjusting to the relevant frame rate to suit the situation should eliminate the problem. In general, to avoid it, keep your moves slow and steady unless you are intentionally trying for that effect. Here are a few examples of camera moves chosen by new film makers to reinforce the storyline.

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Figure 6.1 a–f  Xi Wu film How do you keep your memories safe? asks us to consider what would happen if we lost all our digital memories. With so many precious photographs being kept solely in a digital format, what happens if we encountered a total storage meltdown. After a sequence of an escalating buildup of digital images, resulting in image overload to the point of blackout, we pull back on the z-axis to reveal location and context: a desktop computer screen sitting on a desk, suggesting all previous shots have taken place within a home computer.

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6.2c Figure 6.2 a–e  In this animated example from Lana Abdelhady, she uses minimal camera movement. Her two-minute film In Disguise aims to encourage designers to embrace a creative block rather than fear one. She restricts movements to a few well-placed zooms, the odd vertical movement to follow the focus of the animation, and subtle, slow left-to-right horizontal moves to suggest the past or reversed to look to the future. But overall the effect is relatively static and restful to complement the reassuring message and therapeutic tone of voice-over.

6.3c Figure 6.3 a–e  On the other hand Joe Aiken’s use of camera is much more active. In his short film Lost in Athens, from his series about being on the hunt for identity through graffiti, he follows a fellow graffiti artist around the streets of Athens and looks at how the secret youth world reflects on the changing society, post refugee influx. With almost every shot handheld and moving, the camera work reflects a sense of immediacy and clandestine, covert coverage.

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Figure 6.4 a–f  Ahram Park’s film London and I uses a locked camera in every shot, using a tripod to keep her camera rock steady as she tell the story of feeling isolated and lonely in London as an international student. She uses a Cinema 4D effect in post-production on the characters featured, representing the feeling of being incomplete. This key idea is at the centre of every shot, so additional camera movement is unnecessary, not to mention the practical implications of making the effect more complex to achieve.

Figure 6.5 a–d  Another example, this time from industry, is seen in the US hit TV series Breaking Bad. Here the smooth sweeping motion of the camera surveys the room settling on what we perceive to be a lone central character. The motion continues, revealing a strategically placed Walter White to a menacing degree.

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Why Use Different Lenses?

Why Use Different Lenses? The main reason for choosing a particular lens will be to remove ambiguity in reading the shot, by directing the viewer to focus on what we intend them to. The other reason is to create a specific effect, which we will deal with after. The conscious selection of a particular lens goes hand-in-hand with the shot set-up and framing, commonly known as the shot scale. By selecting

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what should be included in a frame and what should be left out, the shot reveals what it wants us to see and conceals what it does not. The shot’s scale carries a range of meanings based on how far or how close the character, scene or object is to the camera. The names of these shot set-ups vary slightly, but on the whole, the terms in the box are the ones most widely accepted. In addition to these shot set-ups, particular lenses can strengthen the design further and are used for additional effects, but use with caution, as all are loaded with meaning.

Table of Shots or Shot Scale Name Meaning ECU

Extreme close-up

This framing is larger than life and is used on characters to record detail that might otherwise be unnoticeable (e.g. pupil dilation to show terror or the raising of an eyebrow). Used on objects, it might record the agonizingly slow movement of the sweep hand of a clock to signify impatience. CU/CS

Close-up or close shot.

A close-up is usually the head and shoulders of the subject in frame; the term close shot is used more for objects. Both frame sizes are less tight than an ECU. MS

Mid shot or medium shot

The mid shot is a slightly looser, all-purpose shot, usually allowing you to pick up on a character’s movements and gestures. As body language is important in conveying emotion, the medium shot should remain close enough to capture that emotion. Reference any John Ford film, for example The Searchers (1956). LS

Long shot

Here the whole body is in shot from head to foot, usually with some background. We see where the character is positioned, standing or sitting and some of the surrounding location to provide context. A long shot is not as wide as a wide shot. ELS/WS Extreme long lens or wide shot This framing gives you a view of the entire scene with a deep depth of focus, so everything is sharp. This is most often used as an establishing shot, also known as a geography shot. My father, Terry Gould, whose career as film cameraman started in the early 1950s, had a different set of labels. His crew used the five T scale, and he would throw directions to his assistant, such as ‘Give me three Ts’ for a mid shot. It was cruder but a little more direct. 1T Teeth

(ECU)

2T Tits

(CU)

3T Tum

(MS)

4T Toes

(LS)

5T Top of the head

(WS)

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A wide-angle lens can add a great depth of field to a shot, meaning that objects in the foreground, middle ground and in the background can all appear in focus at the same time. This is an ideal choice for establishing shots to give context. Note that as everything will appear on a flat plane; any necessary detail will need to be picked out through some other method, such as movement, brightness, colour and so on, as previously discussed. A telephoto lens works in a different way to a wide-angle lens by bringing distant objects closer to the viewer and compressing space so that objects appear to be on the same horizontal plane. Its shallow depth of field means objects in front of and behind the focal point will be out of focus. While this type of lens is excellent for picking out detail, be aware of the distorted sense of reality this lens can give. A fish-eye lens is an extreme wide-angle, and with it comes an exaggerated linear distortion. Traditionally this lens was often used to create a feeling of the surreal, of hallucinations or nightmares. More recently we’ve seen a proliferation of head-mounted mini-cameras to record action from a personal point of view, first-hand,

Figure 6.6 a–d  Roman Kim’s film Ritual is a haunting portrayal of the soul’s journey according to Siberian shamanism. He keeps the camera close to the subjects, so we concentrate on detail, expresssion and emotion.

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in as much detail and context as possible. Such lenses are often used in extreme sports to relive the thrill of the action and sometimes mounted on jet skis, skateboards or parachute helmets. City cyclists, for example, use these mini-cameras to record their commute and protect themselves in court should they need evidence in the event of an accident. For a look at some of these in action, see the list in resources links at end of chapter. Let’s also have a look at a few examples Another example of camera and lens choice being a narrative device is the use of shallow depth of field, as seen in the award-winning episodic TV drama The Handmaid’s Tale, series one. In Evan Puschak’s video essay on his weekly YouTube series Nerdwriter, he brings our attention to its systematic use throughout the episodes, becoming a motif of visual language. It serves many purposes, capturing the main character’s point of view and those of the other women, reflecting their restricted narrow view of the current world of Gilead. With a continuous combination of shallow depth of field and extreme close-ups, the totalitarian dystopian world is forever dominant.

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Why Use Different Lenses?

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6.7c Figure 6.7 a–e  In her film I am Not Fine, Heidi Purnama shoots from a first-person perspective to directly put her in each scene of the action. The characters feeling of isolation and increasingly low mood is perfectly captured, as we see her being overlooked and hear her internal negative thoughts vocalized. The camera shows the action happening around her, as people interact or not reflecting her conscious experience rather than the view being an unconscious observer of the scene.

Figure 6.8  From AlexiaXenia Papageorgiou’s documentary Monos about the impact on the local population of the Greek economic crisis during 2009–10. The title Monos, meaning to stand alone, is bought out by the use of a high-angled vantage position of the camera as she shoots a solitary figure crossing a road, illustrating feelings of isolation and abandonment.

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Figure 6.9 a–d  Stills from the TV series Handmaid’s Tale created by Bruce Miller. In Evan Puschak’s video essay for Nerdwriter he says, ‘When I watched the Handmaid’s Tale I was amazed at how much the depth of field influenced my feelings about the characters, and the world, and the story. It’s just rare that you see this device used with such purpose, so methodically and so effectively.’ He suggests binge-watching a few episodes, then stepping outside to have a new appreciation of just how much there is to see.

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If you don’t have anything to say, then you shouldn’t be making films. It’s nothing to do with what lens you’re using. Christopher Nolan – cinematographer

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Using a Variety of Shots

Figure 6.10 a–c  In Girl Chewing Gum by John Smith (1976), the camera is fixed on a wide view of the street. By covering this broad view, everything in sight feels as if it could potentially be staged for the camera.

What often happens if you stay in a single set-up is that it will result in a flat, one-dimensional narrative that is pretty tedious for your viewer, who will soon lose interest, especially as we have been bought up on a diet of films using extraordinary variety. If you are recording a real event or, let’s say, someone working on something, expect to gather a bare minimum of five different shots, which will create a video sequence with visual variety. Think about shooting in sequences, for example, a close-up on the hands of a subject, showing what is happening; a close-up on the face of who is doing it; a wide shot revealing where it’s happening; an over-the-shoulder shot, linking together the previous three concepts; and an unusual, side or low shot, providing story-specific context. This way you will have covered a lot of material and find you have enough to illustrate a basic story, at the very least. There will always be exceptions to needing shot variety, such as when the constant static position has relevance to the story. John Smith’s short 1976 film Girl Chewing Gum is a classic example where all the activity on a busy east London street appears to be controlled by the director’s voice. In another example, a similar framing is repeated at different locations in a one-minute ad called ‘Move’ for Student Travel Australia, giving an interesting effect of a stationary subject in an ever-changing landscape (see Resources for link).

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In general, the rule of thumb is that a variety of shots are important to retain the viewer’s interest. Try not to use them gratuitously and they will really help bring your story to life by adding drama, tension and all sorts of additional meanings. As we have discussed, the storyboard is the most reliable tool for checking whether a sufficient variety of shots is covered before you get to the shoot or start on your animation, as you can easily see the range of shots planned and amend these accordingly before too much time is invested. From your storyboard, you can derive your shot list. This list should be the bare minimum you shoot, but it may well include any additional shots that may not fall within the narrative you have boarded. The image that will appear on camera is often flattened, so try squinting your eyes, which gives you a more realistic picture of what you might get. You never know exactly how a sequence will look until you start to edit it, so the more options you have the better. Shoots can be stressful, with many tiny details to remember, so preparation is key. While you may think you will remember your plan when you get on location, in reality there will be a hundred other things to remember, especially if you do not have a large crew to assign tasks to, so a checklist is very useful. Go with an open mind on the day, be responsive to location and environment, have the flexibility in your shooting schedule to keep an eye out for the unexpected, which may actually be a lot more interesting than your preconceived idea. And do remember that the image that appears on camera is often flattened, so try squinting your eyes, which gives you a more realistic idea of what you might get.

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Using a Variety of Shots

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6.11c Figure 6.11 a–e  Yi Chun Lin plans out his animated fable The Arms aiming to use a mix of close-ups, mid shots and wide angles for variety.

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6.12c Figure 6.12 a–e  Elias Freiberger uses a variety of framing in his film Design Starts Here to keep the narrative lively and surprising.

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Camera Techniques In addition to camera movement, framing and choice of lenses, there are other camera techniques or ideas used by cinematographers to create a certain look. These include ways to position your camera to create a particular effect. In most cases the examples listed next refer to live-action shooting. Point of view (POV) is when the camera is positioned so that we are seeing the action from the perspective of the protagonist to communicate a sense of what the character is experiencing, a subjective view of a specific character, often enabling us to relate to the situation more empathetically. Sometimes this technique is used as a gimmick with no logical reason within the narrative other than to break up the other shots and add some interest. However, there may be implicit, relevant reasons (e.g. a camera from inside an empty fridge looking out could record the frustrated facial expression of the protagonist as he searches for food, the closing of the door and subsequent blackout allows for a natural cut that could be repeated to show time elapsing as the character appears progressively thinner, more unshaven, and the room behind messier, and so on). Another example of this shot appeared in the US series Breaking Bad, which frequently used impossible POV techniques as a montage to suggest the routine and careful detail involved in the procedure of cooking crystal meth around which the story hinges. The dramatic value this adds is to give a seeing-eye vision to these inanimate objects that then appear to have their own personalities. This has sinister overtones given that the drug is responsible for so much destruction in the story, almost as if it were outside of human control. A Dutch tilt is a shot where the camera is tilted slightly on its side, causing the horizon to be at angle. This is a real statement shot, as it creates a sense of disorientation, and amongst other things can suggest a state of confusion, anxiety, foreboding or the surreal. For this reason, it should be used sparingly. It was the favourite of the German Expressionists, Tim Burton, Sam Raimi and the designers of the villains’ hideouts in the 1960s TV series Batman. Shooting through transparent objects or stained glass can give a dramatic, interesting effect, either as part of the narrative sometimes creating distortion or abstracting a real-life scene and distancing us from it.

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Placing an object in the foreground, so that it is in soft focus, draws attention to the background, allowing a sense of space and distance. This can give an unexpected result, particularly if the camera is moving; the soft object in the foreground creates drama and appears to mimic actual vision as seen through our eyes as opposed to a camera lens. A foreground object, such as a branch for example, can have an added use of breaking up a light source to create interesting shadows. A way of making your tracking shot more dynamic is to place objects in the foreground and enhance parallax. This is the visual effect of objects closer to the frame appearing to move faster in the field of view than those more distant. This can be seen in real life, for example, when you look at the bottom of a swimming pool as you swim from the shallow to the deep end. You may move at a constant speed, but you may also notice how it feels like your stroke is covering more ground in the shallow end, but it slows down as the bottom of the pool is further away. A filmic version of this is often seen in the films of Steven Spielberg particularly in many of his sideways tracking shots. This term parallax is more recently used to refer to an effect of creating 2.5D images from stills based on the same principle. For ideas on camera moves and composition, study the films of Alfred Hitchcock. He began making films in the silent era, where the challenge was to make the story come to life through images alone, so they had to work a lot harder. This approach has been the cornerstone of his craft and is apparent in every scene. The scenes in many of his films have a narrative that hardly needs dialogue; the way the camera is used and the editing alone say it all. Filming an image reflected in a mirror is another technique that can create a disorientating effect, as we are switched from being safely behind the lens, observing the action, to suddenly being part of the scene, seeing alternative angles reflected. Be careful not to film your own reflection unless you want it in the shot. Lots of film maker’s forums show you how to achieve this. Now we have had a look at the role of the camera in relation to the design of your film and considered some of the basic principles of camera work. In the following chapters, we are ready to take on the chief cornerstones of screen design, first in the way of form and colour, followed by how it all goes together, in the final chapters on text and editing.

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Figure 6.13 a–c  Francantonio Cuschieri’s 50-minute film I started life as a study into the movement and behaviour of the eye, and it developed into a liveaction drama set in Portugal. It is shot entirely from the point of view of the lead character, which actively involves us with the action.

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Figure 6.14 a–d  In Tommie Geraedts’ film Flic, about the physical pain of performance, the violinist and her instrument are filmed using a variety of camera angles: (a) close-up to reveal detail; (b) reflected in a chrome sphere, (revealing the cameraman); and (c and d) through a foreground object.

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Resources Have a look on the companion website for a few ideas of exercises you can do yourself to develop your skills in this area.

Twelve Films That Were Shot on an iPhone  1. High Flying Bird (2019) directed by Steven Sonderbergh. Shot entirely on an iPhone 8.  2. Unsane (2018), directed by Steven Soderbergh  3. 9 Rides (2017), directed by Matthew A. Cherry  4. Detour (2017), directed by Michel Gondry (more of a commercial for Apple, this short was shot on iPhone 7)  5. Tangerine (2015), directed by Sean Baker (Sundance winner)  6. Framed (2014), directed by Mael Sevestre  7. I Play with the Phrase Each Other (2014), directed by Jay Alvarez  8. Romance in NYC (2014), directed by Tristan Pope  9. Uneasy Lies the Mind (2014), directed by Ricky Fosheim. The film’s website has lots of advice on filmmaking with an iPhone. 10. Searching for Sugar Man (2012), directed by Malik Bendjelloul 11. The Editor (2011), directed by Chris Nong (eight-minute short shot on an iPhone) 12. Night Fishing (2011), directed by Chan-kyong Park and Chan-wook Park

The following resources are listed in these categories A. Camera movement B. Different lenses C. Shot variety D. Camera techniques A Camera movement essay from CineFix: https://youtu .be/h2c3JZ6X3f8. How to Fix Flickering DSLR Video: https://www .youtube.com/watch?v=rjHft9lYYc4. B A  dvert for Student Travel Australia. Consistent placing of the camera and fast cutting creates the illusion of the locations being connected: https://www .youtube.com/watch?v=-BrDlrytgm8.

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Focal Lengths and Lenses used by Great Directors https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMdb70ShnkI. Sam Macade for DSLR Guide talks about lenses – Storytelling with Cinematography: https://www .youtube.com/watch?v=VlnwLGtgb1o. C V  ideo essay on use of long shots in the films of Paul Thomas Anderson: https://vimeo.com/120423327.

Move advert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =-BrDlrytgm8.



Breaking Bad point of view shots: https://vimeo .com/34773713.

or

http://www.criticalcommons.org/Members /ccManager/clips/all-the-pov-shots-in-breaking -bad/view (same essay).

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Camera Techniques



This is a useful list of film terms with links to the films that illustrate them: http://www.filmsite.org /filmterms19.html.

D Note the eerie effect of Joseph Sy’s Advanced Cinematography Project based on the contrazoom and motion parallax: https://vimeo.com/85678642 (Push and Pull experiment).

Rare 1966 interview with Stanley Kubrick on his directing style when he was thirty-seven: https:// indiefilmhustle.com/stanley-kubrick.



Evan Puschack’s video essays on things relating to film, politics, music, painting, poetry, culture, sociological concepts and more: https://www .patreon.com/nerdwriter. In particular this one on The Handmaid’s Tale via YouTube: https://www.youtube .com/watch?v=cY4aCnfrqss



Illustrations of camera techniques: ‘5 brilliant moment of camera movement’: https://www.youtube.com /watch?v=O3EnnBDgMww and https://www.youtube .com/watch?v=h2c3JZ6X3f8.

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Top-ten opening shots of all time: https://www .youtube.com/watch?v=PnhZXELUmUs.



The parallax camera move can be seen here: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqB47nZCnsI and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPtHPgZmZdA



Tutorial of how to create the Parallax or 2.5D effect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdYEzui3Ttc



Some more examples of the parallax created from stills: https://vimeo.com/28709243



Compilation of depth of field montage by Fabriccio Díaz: https://vimeo.com/211017068



Some of the best video essayists are listed here: https://www.raindance.org/top-15-video-essayists -youtube/



Rocketstock blog, an interesting intro to motion blur and why filmmakers use it. https://www.rocketstock .com/blog/when-to-use-motion-blur/

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7 Form

Chapter Overview This chapter concentrates on the properties of form and shape and how they are reflected on screen, both within the design and as a basis for conceptual thought. It will take you through the process of how basic shapes can be manipulated using the power of graphic design principles to influence your film, presenting some singular properties of line, plane, mass and void. It will also illustrate concepts such as rhythm, order, motion and sequence. This chapter offers ways to create your own experiments for exploring some of these principles affecting space and time, to see where this early investigation could lead. We will address such questions as: • What advantage can going back to basic forms give us? We look at why exploring particular properties of the triangle, square and circle is an excellent jumping-off point. • How can you develop a methodology for exploring form? Revealed through a series of visual experiments created by designer film makers, we follow their early investigation to develop a workable methodology as they make a start in exploring the subject of form. • Picking up on the documentation section in the first chapter, we look at ways that process can develop into visual summaries, which can be a crucial tool for reflection while showcasing your project progression. The resulting form or outcome your experiment leads to might not always be clear initially. It may be more fruitful at this stage to free yourself from worrying about what the final film could or should be and immerse yourself in experimentation and discovery. Overall this chapter explores some intrinsic properties of form in relation to content, meaning and value.

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Triangle, Square and Circle Why study these particular shapes? Not least we study them because this trio of basic forms were the central foundation of the visual grammar developed and taught by the Bauhaus, the German art school founded by Walter Gropius and famous for its modernist approach to the arts and design. As a designer you may be familiar with the work of the Bauhaus school, producing work in Germany around the late 1920s, and in particular the gestalt psychology that was evolving concurrently. Gestaltists had been investigating perception and the interpretation of form and colour in the mind. The thinking was that what we actually see depends on what our brains decide is true at any given moment. They asked where is meaning located, in materiality or in our brains? The word gestalt is literally translated as ‘form’ or ‘shape’. In psychology, the term gestalt is used to mean ‘an organized whole that is perceived as more than the sum of its parts’. If we apply this to design, it means we take in the whole image rather than the individual forms on the page that contribute to it or the specific colours in isolation. Instead we see the overall effect and, in particular, how individual colours behave when combined with certain other colours. Wassily Kandinsky, who taught at the Bauhaus, linked the three shapes of the triangle, circle and square with particular colours and sounds. To his mind the dynamic triangle is inherently yellow, the static square intrinsically red and the serene circle naturally blue. Today this sign or visual phrase can suggest many meanings. For example, collectively the shapes can represent the idea of ‘the basics’, ‘design’, ‘modernism’ or even ‘postmodernism’. As individual forms, the triangle, square or circle can have other meanings entirely, depending on their use and context. They are a perfect springboard for defining and helping shape ideas. The Bauhaus required a basic course as a prerequisite to specialized study. The course allowed students to experiment with colour, shape and different materials. It provided a basis for all further development by stripping away particularities to unearth some fundamental truths that come into play in the visible world regardless of medium. The Bauhaus approach became representative of

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Figure 7.0  The most basic of forms can be a start point for extraordinary outcomes.

the formal laws considered to be at the root of all visual expression. Although short-lived, operating only between the years 1919–1933 when the school was shut down by the Nazis, the Bauhaus had a profound influence on subsequent developments in art, architecture, graphic design, interior design, industrial design, and typography. Its legacy proved to be the very bedrock of twentieth-century design and, not surprisingly, has become an integral part of art and design education ever since. It would be surprising if you had not been required to produce some sort of visual outcome based on these shapes at some point in your school career. In film-making terms, by interrogating these shapes as simple forms, free from the formalities of a client-driven brief or a predetermined outcome, this Bauhaus-inspired investigation allows us to explore the underlying spatial and temporal principles of graphic design and visual communication; ideas of symmetry and asymmetry, scale, framing, and hierarchy. Through experiments described in this chapter, we examine the basic elements that can illustrate concepts such as line, plane, mass, void, meter, light, colour, tone and texture. By placing emphasis on essential visual research methods, you can develop a personal approach to both the practical and theoretical components of your work. This articulation of a new-found visual language via reflection and analysis, provides the opportunity to re-examine some of the rudimentary and defining design principles and to consider their relationship to content and meaning. This opportunity to reassess and re-evaluate

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your own practice is a process that might be called ‘de-learning’ and ‘re-building’. Why might we want to do this? It is quite simple: to help us make sense of abstract notions and to require us to look at what we mean by visual grammar. Part of the Bauhaus legacy is the attempt to identify a language of vision, a code of abstract forms addressed to immediate biological perception rather than to the culturally conditioned intellect. Graphic designers frequently use the term ‘visual grammar’. Tony Pritchard, course leader in the design school at London College of Communication, uses the idea in the box below to explain it to his students. Applying this thinking to our work highlights the need to be aware of the visual components that make up the image on screen. Whether it is a darkly lit, live-action shot composed of people or objects within a location or bright abstract shapes of solid colour positioned and moving in a certain way, many things need consideration: space, line, shape, tone, colour, movement and

rhythm. Stepping back and analysing the forms on screen for how they might be interpreted helps us to understand the overall impression our film or sequence will give. When we combine different disciplines, such as graphic design in the form of applied graphic shapes or text, perhaps as information or captions to sit alongside live-action film, we need to be even more mindful of how these elements interact with one another. Central to this is the notion of visual progression, the very basis of structure. Progression may initially appear as something simple that builds to something more complex. In music, this could be narrative or even a simple point or dot that transforms into a line and then a shape. This progression, and how you deliver it, is what will keep an audience interested. If you are a graphic designer, you will no doubt be aware of some of the implicit characteristics of certain shapes (e.g. a circle can represent perfection, wholeness, all cyclical movement and even God or more abstract notions of eternity, life

Tony Pritchard on Visual Grammar The term grammar refers to the system, structure and elements of a language or area of knowledge. A language is a method of human communication. We are aware of this through the spoken and written word. Visual communication is also reliant on a language. This is called visual language, and the system that governs it is known as visual grammar. In order to communicate using this language, it is necessary to understand what its components are, what the relationship between the components are, and how they are used to create meaning and enable understanding. Acquiring knowledge of visual grammar is fundamental to the practice of visual communication and allows you to articulate, through the spoken and written word, the concepts behind your ideas. To develop a deeper understanding of the visual world it is often necessary to see the abstraction behind the reality. If you see the facade of a Georgian building, you can accept it as an example of a particular period of architecture. You understand what a building

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is and how it functions. It is also possible to visually analyse the abstract components that compose the facade. The building is a rectangle, and on that rectangle, there are more rectangles of different sizes and proportions; these are the windows and doors. These are arranged on the surface of the facade in a particular relationship to each other. If we consider the window, it is made up of further rectangles; these are the panes of glass. In seeing the reality (a Georgian building) and the abstraction (a series of rectangles that are spaced in proportion to each other), we are aware of two potentially different ways of viewing the same thing. By seeing the abstract, it is then possible to make analogous relationships to similar visual objects; for example, the front of a Georgian building is like a grid of squares, which could be like an abstract painting. This provides a richer context in which to experience and convey the visual world.

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Triangle, Square and Circle

warmth, or completeness). Circles are present in nature and can be friendly, warm, encompassing, and so on. In stark contrast, the human invention of the square – with the square’s strength, regularity and symmetry, implying solidity, stability and a unique homogeneity – makes it amongst the strongest of all known shapes. Triangles, too, are very interesting, with unique properties of their own; they can be aggressive, dynamic and, depending on where you are in the world, hold all sorts of different meanings from the spiritual

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to the mathematical. As Plato theorized with his isosceles and scalene triangles, they are the building blocks of the whole world. While these inferred characteristics of the three basic shapes might help us develop ideas and stories, what could some basic principles of graphic design about composition offer to the film maker? How might the forms, combined with the properties described on the next page, come to play out if abstracted on screen – or anywhere where image and text come together to communicate?

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7.1c Figure 7.1 a–e  With the starting point of a circle, Tammy Alperovich-Malkov’s investigation looks at how circles evolved within religious symbolism, producing this simple animated experiment.

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Figure 7.2  Thibaut Degenne takes a square and applies a more formal, methodical approach to his visual experiments.

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Figure 7.3 a–d  Katerina Alivizatou’s journey towards an output began with a triangular shape, the mathematics of Plato, which leads her to the theme of a kaleidoscope as a metaphor for life. Her final film Kaleidoscope uses fragmentation and union to represent a love triangle, when a third person invades the space of a couple, she chose to illustrate it through dance.

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Symmetry and asymmetry On a page, symmetrical layouts are inherently stable and balanced; they make sense to us and relate to nature. As designers, we constantly strive to harness this symmetry in a creative way. A flick through respected editorial layouts or award-winning print ad campaigns will illustrate best practice. Good symmetrical layouts can be centred but active, with a strong central axis, reflecting the same from both left and right.

Figure 7.4  Julia Braga also looks at the disturbing formality of reflection and symmetry in her short film Transportable Wheels. By reversing the soundscape of London, the reflected view of the skyline takes on a sinister tone. The use of symmetry is a wellknown device used by many great directors such as Kubrick and Wes Anderson to induce a feeling of unease.

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In its printed static form, the viewer is in control, choosing the duration of dwell time in the knowledge that nothing will change. The eyes can afford to be active, roaming around the space to take in all the elements, secure in the knowledge that any skipped elements will still be there the next time the viewer looks. The experience of viewing motion is quite different, with composition playing a different role in directing focus. Time is of the essence, so the sheer nature of the temporality governs layout. On the other hand, layouts that are asymmetrical can be more dynamic, breaking the rhythm to create interest and surprise. What works on the printed page can also be harnessed to a degree on screen. If our image is relatively static (i.e. without too much movement) and perhaps the shot duration is long enough to give us time to take in the detail before it is replaced by the next one, we might get away with a layout or construction that is alive yet balanced. The elements positioned flush left of screen, for example, might be balanced with some sort of activity on the right, as long as the movement of each element is not in opposition or fighting for attention. Timing the motion of each element will help to direct focus, ensuring that only one element is moving at a time, such as static text balanced with a slow-motion image. We aim for a dynamic or dynamic symmetry,

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7.5c Figure 7.5 a–e  Jose Mendez’s circle project bases his short animation on points in a typical day when circles feature, illustrating the repeating circularity of daily life.

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where the viewer’s eye is actively guided around and through a design in an exciting way, without getting in the way of the narrative.

Scale Another principle of design is that of scale. Large objects appear to be closer, while small objects appear to be further away. This can be applied conceptually, using the space on screen not only from corner-to-corner, as with a flat canvas, but also the distance between the foreground and background (i.e. three-dimensional depth or Z space, where a large object might appear to have more importance). This scale is often used in data visualization, where size is used to represent precise differences in quantity. Cropping an image or form changes its scale and can suggest tension, or movement and growth. In a sequence, perhaps all three of these may be suggested.

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Scale is also relative, both in relation to the screen, to the other elements visible alongside and in relation to the human body. Reversing our expectations of scale can have a strong visual impact. Enlarging something typically seen small or reducing something usually huge in scale can be surprising and memorable. Combined elements that contrast in scale can add more tension and interest between them. Hitchcock used this device frequently and famously said the size of any object in the frame should equal its importance to the story.

Framing Another principle from the graphic designer’s tool box is framing, and it is central both to camera work and composition. Where a graphic designer’s main skill might be bringing attention to images and text via margins, borders and cropping, a film

Figure 7.6 a–b  Designer Marie Van Driessche worked with social scientist Ben Wilson from the London School of Economics to chart the recent history of migration to the UK. She uses scale and proportion to represent the different ethnic groups arriving.

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7.7a Figure 7.7 a–c  In cinema, few things can show power more than size and scale. Orson Welles exploits this masterfully in Citizen Kane, rearranging the composition to show (1) Kane dwarfed in the distance to show intimidation, and then (2) as he walks towards camera, the scale changes as he reasserts dominance and looms over the two foreground characters.

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maker will use camera, lenses and composition, and motion and duration. On the page, a margin may be used as a border to contain the image that lets us see that picture as an object; in this case the border directs our eye to a focal point simply by being blank or empty. On-screen framing can be used to contain separate information or captions, so it is particularly useful for organizing text alongside image. On a page, a bleed image is the opposite; the image extends to the outer corners. This full-page image takes us inside the picture and makes it more immediate. Most screen-image film uses every available pixel or millimetre, and if we see borders top and bottom, there is usually a technical reason, such as a discrepancy between how the film was shot and what it is being shown on. For example, black bars top and bottom suggest a film was shot on a wider format than the screen it is projected on. Sometimes, however, these black

Figure 7.8 a–d  To help the elements appear in a more uniformed manner the frame within a frame is often used to create a subtle subplot, always relevant to the story it accentuates movement mood of focus diluting external details drawing our eyes to the area of attention. The four images shown here are: (a) The Searchers (1956) directed by John Ford; (b) City of God (2002) by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund; (c) Ikiru (1952) Akira Kurosawa; and (d) In the Mood for Love (2000) by Kar-Wai Wong.

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borders are an intentional mask applied to create a filmic look. Whenever you take a photograph, you are using framing as you position the camera to focus on points of interest and arrange the composition through the viewfinder. A frame within a frame is a good way to direct the eye, adding depth, focus and richness. Cinema is full of this technique of finding another frame within the frame. As a designer you might crop an image to change shape and proportion to add a sense of drama, intimacy or abstraction. Film makers can achieve similar effects with a change of lenses between shots, a zoom in, pull-focus or the use close-ups. As with the page, cropping an image or making it bleed changes its impact. Whether you are placing an image in space, changing the crop of an image or adding a border you are bringing attention to content directing people’s attention to what is important.

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Figure 7.9 a–b  Sarah Wicks’ project on selfies uses framing collage and negative space to illustrate the point that we are emotionally absent when taking images of ourselves to post online, thinking more of a digital existence than being present in the real world.

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Hierarchy Hierarchy allows you to navigate complex content and get the main idea quickly, in print or on-screen fussy cluttered layouts confuse and obscure. A print designer may use indents, outdents, or line spacing to create separations or signals of difference within the composition of the static image. Film makers, on the other hand, can be expressive by employing space: the physical space in front of the camera, the space as it appears on screen and the spatial size and shape of the screen itself. Hierarchy can also be directed by contrast, movement and rhythm which will include the

placing and movement of objects on screen as well as editing to determine the length of shot and, therefore, for how long each element is seen. The key to hierarchy is separation, or contrast and affinity, creating marks of difference strong enough that people can note them clearly (i.e. light and dark, large and small, and enough significant contrast to pick it up). The most important thing isn’t necessarily going to be in the foreground closest to camera; it could also be the only thing moving or the thing placed in the light. Both designers and film makers can express hierarchy in surprising ways.

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Figure 7.10 a–b  (a) In Tommie Geraedts’s film about the earth’s gravitational pull, he creates a rippling movement of the background to subtly draw our attention to a force field usually undetected. (b) James Symmonds uses separation and contrast to make us look twice at these illusions created in-camera. By suspending a mirror within an environment, these photographic experiments lead him to create a moving version that captures different time zones as well as different perspectives in one image.

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Using Form as Exploration Exploring form more fully provides opportunities to experiment with problem-solving, idea generation, intentionality and indeterminacy. They could establish methods of analysis and visualization, of representation, interpretation and documentation to carry ideas of information, hierarchy, orientation, navigation, sequential and narrative structures.

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If we go back to the triangle, circle and square shapes that started this chapter, an understanding of their potential is a good place to begin solving any design problem. First, we are going to concentrate mostly on the abstract nature of form and less on the context. Later we will go on to explore ideas for how you might pursue a contextual route of exploration. On the following pages, students develop their ideas around shape and use the process to make a diverse and innovative series of visual responses to the shape allocated that reflects their understanding of the property being investigated.

Figure 7.11 a–d  Eduarda Lima developed her early thoughts on the properties of the triangle through to her final output. She dives into complex triangular relationships prominent in popular feature films that display this three-sided shape to inform and guide the narrative.

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Using Form as Exploration

From this starting point, using a cycle of constant questioning and reappraisal, students develop self-initiated experiments with a clear objective in mind. Once each experiment is complete, time is allowed for review before undertaking the next task. To illustrate the various processes in the cycle, as shown in Chapter 1, let’s look at a number of projects that started with a simple shape; through development they reached some sort of resolution as an output. Tasked to look at particular areas in relation to their allocated shape, these students carried out a series of investigations to demonstrate

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such concepts as line and plane, mass and void. These concepts were not necessarily grouped in opposition to each other but to explore singular ideas on rhythm, order, motion and sequence. The possibilities are endless. However, when broken down into specific goals, a focus develops that allows ideas to flow with intention. Additional concepts of formation, division, repetition, rotation, distortion and intersection all provide rich starting points as the following illustrations throughout this chapter show.

Figure 7.12 a–b  Tammy AlperovichMalkov’s work on the circle develops into an app for kids to help teach early numeracy based around the idea of popping or merging bubbles.

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7.12b Figure 7.13  Katerina Troshikhina’s primary research into the square led her to notice the rigid inflexibility of its properties.

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Figure 7.14 a–d  Lana Abdelhady plots out her animation, using only the basic form of a triangle she plans distortion and motion to interpret the emotion of Joy and Fear.

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Figure 7.15 a–c  There is nothing like being actively involved with the experience of viewing. Here Thibaut Degenne’s study of scopophilia, through Hitchcock’s Rear Window, divides up the film so that viewers can walk through two viewpoints, adding additional layers to the narrative. By becoming an active participant in the on-screen voyeurism, you physically join the characters observing the action.

Figure 7.16 a–b  Another example of an immersive experience is this projected theatre promotion for a production of Alice in Wonderland by James Symonds.

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Figure 7.17  Being able to actually interact with the work gives a completely different experience. Here visitors to a film exhibition look through flick books that trailer the films on show.

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From these experiments, we see that rounded shapes can represent the indirect, passive, and romantic, the soft organic childlike, the safe and the flexible. Square shapes, on the other hand, suggest direct, industrial, ordered, linear, unnatural, adult and rigid properties. And triangular shapes are commonly thought to be aggressive and dynamic. What about the physical form of the work itself? What form might that take? Here are a few examples of projects that think beyond the confines of a single screen. Take a trip to the cinema for a fully immersive, wide-screen experience, or visit exhibitions that cross into your subject area, from large galleries to obscure theatre performances. Look at the way many department store windows integrate screen into their displays to attract passers-by through the allure of movement.

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The previous examples show that some of these shape-based concepts are all around us. Your secondary research in this area of form investigation would undoubtedly reference cinema, where a range of ideas and emotions is shown by employing the properties of shape and form. We can see how writers or directors create dynamic locations within scenes, or how competing signature shapes can represent characters to create a visual conflict. Characters may be attributed to relevant shapes reflected in props or in the set design, enabling their progression to be mapped by the audience over time. In Jennifer Van Sijll’s book Cinematic Storytelling, she cites many interesting specific examples of the use of the three fundamental shapes in cinema. For example, Francis Coppola’s 1974 film The Conversation uses the circular and linear to convey themes relevant to the plot, including

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Figure 7.18 a–c  The Conversation (1974) from director Francis Ford Coppola has a recurring theme of circularity reflected in both plot, story details and onscreen imagery.

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Figure 7.19 a–b  Triangles are often used to represent a three-sided relationship, either harmonious as in father-mother-child or otherwise, such as a lovers’ triangle. It can be represented within the design, composition, or placing of various props within the location or by the positioning of characters on screen, as with this scene from the French romantic drama Jules et Jim (1962), directed by Francois Truffaut, about a tragic love triangle.

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Figure 7.20 a–b  Hannah Leiss’s video essay on Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1962 feature film L’Eclisse (Eclipse) is a study of the visual storytelling used throughout the film, revealing a powerful vertical line device used to separate the two lovers from each other in each and every shot. The reoccurring graphic acts to reinforce and illustrate their struggle to communicate.

amongst other things, confusion, repetition and the general theme of ‘What goes around comes around’. Geometric shapes can be used to tell stories and enhance our emotional response to characters. See the link in the Resources section for the video essay by Jack Nugent from Now You See It, which helps us understand key aesthetic concepts about their psychological effects.

Figure 7.21  The Academy Award–winning film by MetroGoldwyn-Mayer, The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics (1965), animated by Chuck Jones, is the story of a straight line hopelessly in love with a dot. The film, based on Norman Juster’s book, gives us an interesting perspective on the mathematical and thematic properties of these two graphic devices.

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Visual Summaries Another form your research might take is in a printed visual summary. This may seem incongruous given we are working in a screen-based medium, but as we have already established, what we learn on the way often has far more value than the end result. A document that represents your journey through your various explorations of form to your final output of your visual work can be very useful. Adding to the points made in the documentation section of Chapter 1, visual summaries could be considered an abridged form of recording your

process. Within graphic design, teaching visual research summaries, a variation also known as process books, could be described as follows: The visual research summary documents the staged progression of your studies in response to the brief in an elegant, concise, communicative and aesthetic manner. The summary should show a number of alternative, practical, visual, contextual and conceptual responses to the brief. It is expected to demonstrate extensive and wide-ranging approaches to the interrogation of the form and should evidence an investment of energy, time, skills and knowledge. The keyword here is being concise. A visual research summary should be an edited version of

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7.22a Figure 7.22 a–c  Students document their production progress in printed form, a visual summary that covers all areas of development from initial idea to final outcome.

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Figure 7.23 a–b  Heidi Purnama references a range of sources for her project on hidden depression. While Sarah Culross organizes her experiments on fragmentation cropping and obscuring.

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your entire process – one that is curated to follow a narrative, often annotated to link the images, and that clarifies and explains any turning points. Images should be selectively curated from the more general collection of your process that might include intermediate records, potentially separate sub-projects, all in-progress work, experimental pieces, contextual studies, notebooks, digital files and research dossiers. The following images are from visual summaries by moving-image designers and graphic designers, where students have collated influences under the heading of secondary research. Visual summaries are not just essential as a record of your own progress, they are also used more and more to provide an overview of your process, to add to the depth and breadth of your outcome. The summary provides another chance to communicate your intentions and can serve as an excellent conversation tool, as there is great value in having a physical object to put in someone’s hand at a one-to-one meeting. Even in this digital screen-based age, we like the tactile sensation of holding a book in our hand and feeling the pages. There is still a thrill in the control of being able to turn, flip, unfold and generally interact with the experience of reading at will. Many film makers might struggle with the challenge of printing a book, so here are some examples of less traditional ways of documenting your process; made by students who focus more on screen-based communication rather than two-dimensional print, yet they have still managed to produce competent results.

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Figure 7.24 a–c  Secondary research pages from a visual summary by Tom Brown. 7.24c

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Figure 7.25 a–b  As we saw in Chapter 5, having taken a circle as a starting point, Xi Wu developed ideas of space and place, noticing how the shape reflects her own feelings of claustrophobia in the sprawling cities of her hometown Beijing, and now London. It also reflects her own cycle of movement as she travels from China to the UK and back again, once her studies are complete.

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Outcomes So where are we going with all this? What is the purpose of these iterations? It’s worth remembering that these starting points are intended to establish a working methodology that you can fall back on throughout any piece of work you undertake from now on. At the root of it all, you are discovering your voice, finding what you are

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interested in and why. Especially if you work independently and are a self-starter, these are good lessons to put to use. In this chapter we’ve looked at investigating basic properties of form to understanding the influential meaning of these properties that influence every detail of the film. We can see that simple forms can also provide a start point for a new project.

7.26c Figure 7.26 a–e  Sam Campbell started with a square, and using the motif of a window, he explored the reduced view this frame offers. Based on the story of Leon Greenman, a survivor of Auschwitz who on returns to London faced further anti-Semitism, Sam’s simple animated film illustrates the restrictions of a narrowed perspective, both literally and metaphorically. This film has been showing in London’s Imperial War Museum.

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Figure 7.27 a–d  Having explored the triad dynamic within cinema narrative, as we saw on page 156, Eduarda Lima bases her design around the form of a triangle for an imagined title sequence for Mike Nichols’ classic film The Graduate (1967) which revolves around a triangular relationship.

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Resources As well as the additional research on the companion website, there are several ideas for exercises for developing your approach to form independently or to do collaboratively in a small group. Books Crow, David. Visible Signs: An Introduction to Semiotics and the Visual Arts. 3rd edn. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2016.. Lupton, Ellen, and J. Abbot Miller (eds.). The ABC of Bauhaus Design Theory. Princeton Architectural Press, 1991. Mercado, Gustavo. The Filmmaker’s Eye: Learning (and Breaking) the Rules of Cinematic Composition. New York and London: Focal Press, 2010. Noble, Ian, and Russell Bestley. Visual Research: An Introduction to Research Methodologies. 3rd edn. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2016.

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Video essay about lines in the feature film L’Eclisse: https://vimeo.com/185537830. Vertical framing video essay by Miriam Ross: https:// vimeo.com/99499627. Video essay by Jack Nugent, from Now You See It, on how geometry of framing and characters are exploited in cinema to help shape the way we think: https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=lLQJiEpCLQE. Explore the inspirational, obscure mind of Daniel Eatock: http://eatock.com. Video essay The Daring Visual Geometry of Michelangelo Antonioni, from Emily Buder of No Film School: https://nofilmschool.com/2017/04/ watch-daring-visual-geometry-michelangelo-antonioni. Fifty design terms explained simply for non-designers: https://www.canva.com/learn/graphic-design-terms/. It would be good to know them all if you don’t already.

Films and web Animated short about the Bauhaus on YouTube from the Open University: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ud7Hb_vZeOE.

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Colour Chapter Overview The vast subject area of colour offers enormous potential for research as well as an excellent starting point to generate ideas, but also a device in itself to exploit as a filmmaking tool. What can we add to the 40,000 or so books on the subject of design and colour written already? Rather than covering the history and theory of colour in any detail, we will focus on colour as a major aspect of visual storytelling, and concentrate on the practical and emotional aspects of using colour, beginning with a brief overview of some theory. For those who are interested in learning more about colour theory and behaviour, there are further resources included at the end of the chapter that you might find useful. In this chapter we’ll look at: • Some basics that have contributed to the impact of colour on screen and a quick overview of the history and how colour came to be represented. • The significance of colour, both in broad psychological terms, as well as how it can be used to carry loaded meaning from a cultural perspective. We’ll look at how we perceive colour on screen today. • How colour can contribute to your story. How film directors have exploited basic thinking to underpin their stories and provide additional narrative layers. • Why do specific combinations of colours work on screen, while others don’t? How do certain colours typically behave when placed against others? What are some of the rules we know about colour and how might they apply to our film? • The best way to go about creating a colour palette and choose which route to take for a colour scheme. What are advantages to a set colour palette? • Once the film is shot and edited, what advantages can colour correction and grading bring to the final look of the film. How do different colour values affect our perception?

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A Quick Overview of the History of Colour on Screen

Overall this chapter should provide an insight into what you should consider when you deal with colour on screen.

A Quick Overview of the History of Colour on Screen If we want to consider how colour on screen can affect the viewer, it is helpful to take a brief look back to the beginning of the film industry. Still emerging from the ongoing developments in photography, early attempts at motion pictures allowed only for black and white. But even then, colour was used as a narrative device, either as artificial colour applied directly by hand as an overall wash onto the entire filmstrip or laboriously painted with tiny brushes onto specific segments. Developed in the 1890s, these techniques of tinting, toning, hand-colouring and stencilling were early explorations that led to over 230 different methods being tried. These included rotary filters, multiple lenses, and different types of screens and dye transfer systems previously used in photography. The race to make the first truly colour film prompted many individuals to set up film companies in an attempt to claim the prize, license their product and make their fortunes. Companies such

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as Pathéchrome, Kinemacolor, and Biocolour all produced impressive results, but these rudimentary systems were limited and lacked the third colour needed to make a full-colour image; while red and green worked to a degree, blue was proving more difficult to reproduce. Even today there is ambiguity over who could actually claim to have made the first full-colour film, but recently unearthed rolls of film in the National Media Museum in Bradford, England, suggest it is most likely to have been Edward Raymond Turner, a little known Edwardian British photographer working at the end of the nineteenth century who struggled to refine a rotary filter system before his untimely death at the age of thirty. Using digital technology, film archivists at the museum have painstakingly corrected Turner’s projector problems, while keeping true to his original process. So for the first time ever, it was possible to view the full-colour footage of Turner’s children filmed in the back garden of their home in the summer of 1902. For a comprehensive history of the advent of colour film and the many experimental techniques along the way, Barbara Flueckiger has curated an exceptional online database in her ‘Timeline of Historical Film Colours’ project (see Resources). With digital restoration now widespread, we are able to see excellent examples of early colouring techniques from films, such as The Great Train Robbery (1903), or more experimental test footage, such as the Kodachrome two-colour tests of hat fashions of the day filmed from 1922 or The Last Days of Pompeii (1926). But it wasn’t until some years later, when the development of Technicolour Figure 8.1  Purportedly the first-ever colour film showing the Lee-Turner Colour process. This still from Turner’s colour test film was painstakingly restored by David Cleveland and Brian Pritchard of the National Media Museum.

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really took hold, that the American fantasy musical The Wizard of Oz (1939) was able to fully exploit colour and use it to signify transition as part of the narrative. The insular, sepia world of Kansas pre-tornado gives way to the multicolour fantasy world of Oz, full of hope and wonder. This colour-coding device is popular even today in films such as Wonder Woman (2017), directed by Patti Jenkins. Also used to signify a plot point or give clues to a backstory, colour can often become a character within the film itself, as noted in the list of films in the next section. While it may not be essential to study colour theory to begin your design, it can be helpful to look into the work of the many theorists and thinkers who have written on the subject, as these early studies have been the launch pad  for many design and film projects. You could start with Sir Isaac Newton, who studied the dispersion of colours seen in rainbows; using white sunlight, prisms and mirrors in a darkened room, he noted the way each colour behaved and appeared. He organized these experiments into a colour wheel referring to red, green and blue as the ‘primary colours’, which were separated by the three ‘secondary colours’: yellow, cyan and magenta. These well-documented discoveries had a huge influence on the colour wheels developed in the early 1800s; these colour wheels are a circular abstract organization of colours that show

the relationships between primary, secondary and tertiary colours. They remain a common tool used by designers working today, and they form the basis of most scopes on current colour-correction software. There are two basic colour models which are worth understanding to have a good command over colour. The first is Additive or Light Colour Primaries, which are red, green and blue and can be combined in different proportions to make all other colours. For example, red light and green light added together are seen as yellow light. This additive colour system is used by light sources, such as televisions and computer monitors, to create a wide range of colours. When these light colour primaries, red, green and blue, are mixed evenly to create secondary colours, these form the next colour model, cyan, magenta, and yellow. The second colour model is Subtractive Pigment Colour Primaries, which are cyan, magenta and yellow (commonly simplified as red, yellow and blue). Many people are more familiar with this model used when producing colours from reflected light; for example, when mixing paint or using a colour printer. Obviously there’s a lot more to it that this scant précis; a few links at the end of this chapter could help you get a better picture of some of the fascinating explorations into colour theory.

Figure 8.3  Eduarda Lima looks at colour triads, Goethe’s colour triangle, his emotions theory, and finally the subtractive process, in her film on triangles.

Figure 8.2  Still from The Wizard of Oz (1939), directed by Victor Fleming (and others). As Dorothy opens the door onto the Land of Oz, the expression on her face no doubt reflects the marvel of the audience of 1939, seeing full Technicolour on a cinema screen for the first time. Colour makes things seem more real, and in the early days its reproduction was transformative.

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The Significance of Colour

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The Significance of Colour We’ve known for a long time that the communicative quality of colour can evoke powerful emotions from people and, when used properly, can be a highly effective tool to enhance the narrative. Although cultural associations of colour will vary, there are many commonalities in terms of colour preference and meaning. The three subtractive primary colours red, yellow and blue tend

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to be the colours to which most people are drawn. For example, globally, blue tends to be the most popular colour amongst both male and female adults, whereas children prefer red. Yellow, the most luminous colour in the spectrum, tends to draw the attention of infants and toddlers with developing vision. Research on currently accepted meanings of colour leads graphic design students at London College of Communication to make some general observations. In research into the connotations of colours, brand and identity, designers collectively accept the following:

Red: Positive – excitement, energy, passion, desire, strength, power, heat, love, fire

Green: Positive – nature, environment, health, renewal, youth, vigour, spring, fertility, freshness

Negative – aggression, danger, blood, war, violence

Negative – jealousy, envy, misfortune, greed

Orange: Positive – balance, warmth, enthusiasm, vibrant, creativity, attraction, success, stimulation, encouragement Negative – deceit, distrust Yellow: Positive – joy, happiness, optimism, idealism, hope, sunshine, summer, gold, philosophy

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Figure 8.4 a–c  Juliana Utsch looks at how colour affects forms by experimenting with proportion and contrast.

Blue: Positive – tranquillity, peace, calm, stability, harmony, unity, trust, water, confidence Negative – cold, depression Purple: Positive – royalty, spirituality, nobility, ceremony, mystery, wisdom, independence, dignity, magic Negative – cruelty, arrogance, mourning, gloom, frustration

Negative – dishonesty, cowardice, betrayal, jealousy, deceit, illness, hazard, caution, decay

Reading through this list, you might not agree with all of these associations, which shows how subjective the perception of colour is. By generalizing the meanings ascribed to a colour, we are likely to exclude many people, and there are no doubt cultural differences. What are your

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impressions of colour? Have a look at the following project, where you can cast your own opinion. But if we take these generalizations as fact, let’s look at how some film makers have applied this knowledge to their work or explored some of these theories.

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Figure 8.5  ‘Colour Emotions’ is an interesting live internet survey by designer Nikoloz Getsadze. He canvasses for reactions to colours by matching them with emotions. If you would like to participate yourself, the URL is in the Resources section.

Figure 8.6 a–d  Given that all colours have loaded meanings, Juliana Utsch’s two-dimensional experiments into emotions and how to represent them graphically became much stronger when she eliminated colour altogether. By simplifying them, the idea is distilled. Here she has represented (a) fear, (b) sadness, (c) homesickness, and (d) insecurity.

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Figure 8.7 a–e  Thibaut Degenne’s early experiments on form develop with colour. Using the blur and motion tools in After Effects he creates a set of systematic experiments observing how the colours interact at speed.

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Figure 8.8 a–e  Xuan Zhang become interested in how folding structures separate space within the same surface. Using colour theory and origami, she created characters for a promotional animation for MTV.

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8.9d Figure 8.9 a–f  Jai Ryoong Kim sees if it is possible to distil the colours of wellknown paintings to simplify colour and shape.

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Film Directors Using Specific Colours as Plot Points Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958) – Red and green are used to represent different themes: red for danger, green for lust. The character Madeleine is associated with the colour green throughout the film, initially surrounded by red as a warning sign. Ingmar Bergman’s Cries and Whispers (1972) – A rich contrast of red, black and white represent blood, death and faith in the film that won cinematographer Sven Nykvist an Academy Award. Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List (1993) – Although filmed in black and white, this Holocaust film has a momentary inclusion of red in a little girl’s coat. Spielberg says that he wanted to bring red in to represent ‘a large bloodstain on everyone’s radar as we did nothing to stop it’. Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s The City of Lost Children (1995) – This film uses complementary reds and greens to depict danger or caution, as well as the menace and eeriness of the world of the evil character, Krank. M. Night Shyamalan’s Sixth Sense (1999) – Red represents anything in the real world that has been tainted by the other world. Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City (2005) – This film uses a monochrome colour palette, where black and white highlights good from evil. The inclusion of certain accented colours, mostly red, emphasizes objects of importance, giving the film a very unique visual style that replicates its graphic novel source material. Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) – Del Toro uses different colours to differentiate between reality and fantasy, using a predominately blue palette of dark hues for reality and a warmer pallet of reds and golds for the fantasy sequences.

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Of course there is always the possibility of stripping down colour, which gives a completely different perspective as observed by cinematographer Roger Deakins. This subject was uniquely explored at the ‘Monochrome’ exhibition in London’s National Gallery in 2017–18. Spanning 700 years of the tradition of painting in black and white, from the beginnings in the Middle Ages through the Renaissance and into the twenty-first century, it revealed what happens when artists cast aside the colour spectrum and focus on black and white. It was common practice amongst some of the old masters, such as Da Vinci, Van Eyck, Durer, Rembrandt and Ingres, to first create a grisaille, a preliminary painting executed entirely of shades of grey. This preparatory monochrome version of the

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painting was used as a study, allowing the artist to concentrate on light and shadow, composition, scale, relationship and balance of shapes before the addition of colour might cloud meaning. Bear this in mind when you are designing your next film or shot. Stripped of colour, the tonal range is revealed. Tone is quite different to colour; where a saturated colour may appear intense, the viewer is more likely to be drawn to the brightest colour first. A saturated yellow will always attract attention, as it is not only saturated, but also bright, whereas a saturated blue, because it’s so dark, might go unnoticed. As colours darken, their ability to attract the eye is decreased. An interesting experiment when you are designing your image is to strip it of colour and see where the focal points are.

Figure 8.10  Painter Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres painted this unfinished copy, reduced in size and much simplified, of the celebrated Grand Odalisque of 1814. Paintings in shades of grey called ‘grisaille’ were often made to establish variations in tone as a guide to engravers of black and white reproductive prints.

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Black-and-white focuses you on the content and the story, and it really concentrates your attention on what’s in the frame. All too often, colour can be a distraction – it’s easier to make colour look good, but harder to make colour service the story. Black-and-white imagery is much more about the balance between the light and shade in the frame, and I think it can help convey story points a lot better with fewer distractions. Roger Deakins – cinematographer

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Combinations

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Combinations The colour wheel is a tool for combining colours and is divided into warm and cool colours. Warm colours being vivid and energetic tend to advance towards us in space, whereas cool colours can give an impression of calm, create a soothing effect and appear distant. As Gestalt thinking showed us in the previous chapter, observing the image as a whole is a fairer way to measure the effect of colour in general, instead of breaking down the visual elements or separating colours into isolated parts. Rather we should be thinking about how colours react when displayed against each other and ask what we need to consider when designing in colour for the screen. If we were to think of visual storytelling as a cast of visual characters, it could be broken down into story, sound and visuals. The building blocks of space, line, shape, tone, movement and rhythm have been explored in the previous chapter, but the other significant visual component is colour. This could be affected by light, hue, brightness and saturation, or governed by a specific colour system. All these basic components of colour contribute to the visual structure and are based on an understanding of the principle of contrast and affinity, or difference and similarity of shots. Joseph Albers book Interaction of Colour was based on studies he carried out with his students at Yale University, and the work was

The greater the contrast in a visual component, the more the visual intensity or dynamic increases. The greater the affinity in a visual component, the more the visual intensity or dynamic decreases. Bruce Block – on the principle of contrast and affinity

Figure 8.11  Contrast and affinity.

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originally published as a large boxed edition in 1963. Intended as a guide and teaching aid for artists, instructors and students, he clarifies his theories of how colours appear to change their hue, brightness or saturation when placed next to each other. Albers found that a colour can change its appearance depending on what colours appear around it, and he set three basic rules involving how they work: 1. Hue and black and white, or simultaneous contrast – If we take the colour cyan (blue), it will appear darker placed against a white background than it does against black. This effect will vary according to the size and proportion of the two colours. Often referred to as the Bezold Effect, it is an optical illusion where a colour may appear different depending on surrounding colours (i.e. brighter when placed around white and darker when placed around black). 2. Complementary colours – Complementary colours are those that are opposite to each other on the colour wheel. When these colours are placed together, their saturation increases and each colour appears more vivid. On screen, if we were exposed to a scene that is, let’s say primarily red, and then cut to a blue one, the second scene will be affected and appear far more saturated. 3. Analogous colours – The third rule is that analogous colours, which are groups of three colours that sit alongside each other on the colour wheel (such as red, orange and

red-orange) will interact in different ways when placed next to each other, appearing to be more separate in colour. For example, an orange square on a red background will appear more yellow than the same orange square on a yellow background, where it will appear more red. Another way of looking at this is through the work of Singapore artist and painter Ng Woon Lam, who has a simplified colour theory, based on the more complex three-dimensional colour space system of hue, value and chroma established by Albert H. Munsell in the early twentieth century. Ng Woon Lam groups colours by dividing them into ‘friends’ and ‘enemies’, providing a comprehensive practical approach to the designer and a basic insight into the understanding and use of colour. A few pointers from this system include: ●●

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Design rhythm can be achieved easily by using more friend colours and fewer enemy colours. Colour schemes with more friend colours and a few enemy colours create interesting variations in hue through complementary results, making it generally easier to arrive at colour harmony. On the other hand, a great deal of design effort is required to achieve colour harmony on a picture plane filled mostly with enemy colours. Visual tension is attributed not only to colour but also to a combination of various visual

Figure 8.12  The Bezold Effect.

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elements. Balancing an image demands sensitivity to transition colours and visual tension amongst size, shape and colour on a picture plane. So how do we apply this? We know that animation, of any style, offers the greatest amount of visual control, as everything is to be created, so more choices and decisions must be taken at each stage. But no matter what approach you take to

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your film, the same visual language applies equally to live action as it does to animation. It’s also worth mentioning the physical effect that colour has on the eye. We know that if we stare at a screen for long periods of time, darker colours are easier to look at and cause less strain, so if you are designing a website, for example, and you want to encourage dwell time, this will be a major consideration in your choice of colour palette.

Figure 8.13  Analogous colours.

Figure 8.14  David Daniels interprets Woon Lam Ng ‘friends’ and ‘enemies’ colour grouping to help us understand transitional colours, the asymmetrical nature of colour and to define the colours considered friends and those which are enemies.

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Figure 8.15 a–b  Loving Vincent stills, times two.  In writer/director duo Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman’s animated film Loving Vincent (2017) about the famous impressionist Vincent Van Gogh, the focus is on the mystery that surrounds his death. Set in 1891, the year after his death, it tells the story of the last few weeks of his life. The film was seven years in the making and involved a team of eighty fine artists-turned-animators for the production to create a vivid, swirling tribute based on 125 of Van Gogh’s paintings in his original style. It is the first fully painted feature film using oils on canvas. In some of the scenes in the film that represent parts of Van Gogh’s life that he didn’t paint, flashbacks are seen in a different style, smoothly painted black and white oil, based on photography of the era. They contrast acutely with the constant boiling brilliant colours of the rest of the film and become a counterpoint of melancholy amongst the turmoil of brush strokes.

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Creating a Colour Palette

Creating a Colour Palette A colour palette can be an essential tool to design your film. So far, we have had a look at the difference between black and white versus colour, but it may also be helpful to look at some thoughts on the comparisons of image versus text. In Armin Hoffman’s Graphic Design Manual (1966), he writes, ‘the picture . . . contains an inherent message. Although it costs us effort to read its outward forms it nevertheless speaks to us directly. Unlike lettering, the picture radiates movements, tones values and forms as forces which evoke an immediate response.’ Colour is an intrinsic tool of this. In this quote Hoffman is comparing the effort involved in taking in either image or text. Design educator Ellen Lupton suggests the difference between the two is that the response an image evokes is sensual and emotional rather than intellectual. Let’s assume this response may be to a single static image versus text in a two-dimensional printed environment. If we were to apply this to the screen-based moving image, other forces come in to play, mainly the temporal nature of the image. As a film maker we have one precise moment in time to organize our visual construct, a single opportunity to create impact, as we move continually along the timeline towards the end frame. This restriction is also our strength and should be a pivotal factor in our design choices. Too much detail and focus will be lost, too little and our eye and mind might wander. So we need some guidelines for simplification, some basic principles to adhere to, to ensure a visual harmony that can assure our film can have maximum effect in the time it occupies on screen. Previously in this chapter we have looked at the significance of particular colours and how they might operate when combined, but where do you start when creating a colour palette for a particular project if there are no set rules – if you have free rein as it were. This is where the value of the colour wheel, and its ability to help designers create appealing palettes, comes into its own. By applying the underlying colour theories of this circular layout system and the way we see colour, it can help our decisions. For example, for a palette based on

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complementary colours, you might combine colours for maximum contrast and would include the ones that are opposite to each other on the wheel, such as red and green. Here are a few basic starting points to bear in mind when faced with decisions about the use of colour, particularly in animation or illustration. Go minimal, don’t overload the eye with cluttered design and explosions of colour. Three or four colours should be sufficient to make up a background base, foreground tones or accent colours. The colours chosen should suit your subject, so think about what effect you are planning to achieve. Is it mood based, or is there an emotion you want to encourage? Consistency is key; any diversion from what you establish upfront may be read as significant, so use the same colour palette throughout your video. Chopping and changing will confuse or distract the viewer’s attention and could be very misleading. Here are some basic ways colours could be grouped to work on screen:

Side Note When Lindsay Anderson’s much praised film IF was released, many critics speculated on the significance of the inclusion of various black and white scenes. But the truth was colour film stock was very expensive, lighting for colour took time and money, and the budget was running out. Far from being an aesthetic decision, it seems compromises had to be made due to finances.

A pastel palette will give your film a calm and soft look. If your design includes large areas of the screen that are solid in colour, for example infographics, the simplicity of a subdued palette makes it easier to focus on specific elements rather than become overwhelmed by contrasting colours. Pastels also have a retro feel, a link that can be intentional as in the following examples. In general, pastels appeal to many; feel light, soft and peaceful; and are less intimidating and aggressive, so they can be useful when you want to stay neutral and don’t want to express a specific opinion. A monochromatic colour scheme contains shade and tint variations of a single hue. These different tones of a single colour can generate a feeling of harmony and balance in your design.

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8.17b Figure 8.17 a–b  Alberto Torres produced a two-dimensional animated title sequence for Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954). To be in keeping with the period, he references Saul Bass, the painter; Stuart Davies; and the general visual culture of the 1950s.

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8.16d Figure 8.16 a–d  Cristina Duran used a restricted colour palette in her animated film Perceived Obsolescence to reflect the public information films of the 1950s that she references.

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As we have discussed, an analogous colour scheme will add a little more contrast to your content. The colours in this scheme are adjacent to each other on the colour spectrum and offer more richness to your video than a monochromatic colour scheme. Bright colour combinations are a good choice, especially if the screen is small and you have limited time to get your message across. But creating the perfect contrast is all about getting your colour combinations right. For example, dark greys together with neon colours can be visually arresting, as would a few solid bright colours with black or white. This will make your video look more vibrant and energetic. Too much brightness will be a strain on the eye, and if you decide to use bright colours, make sure that your message still comes across by limiting the amount of text and number of images in your video. The usual rules apply: keep it simple.

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Creating a Colour Palette

There are of course many excellent examples that sit outside these basic starting points, but you will most likely find they are by expert designers who have understood the rules in order to be able to break them. If we look at the projects across these pages, we can see how a few of these colour palettes work: In a critique that I was co-tutoring, a colleague remarked on a piece of student work declaring it ‘visual vomit’. This rather savage comment was prompted by the fact that the work made you dizzy to even look at it, never mind encouraging you to take the time to try to work out its meaning. When challenged, the student revealed it had been hurriedly put together to meet a deadline, so was ill-thought-out and made little sense. In a panic, he had included far too many disparate elements in his design. Why was it so obvious? Because there was little coherency in his choice of colours and a complete overuse of the colour palette. Hence the comment: cruel but accurate.

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Figure 8.18 a–d  Paulina Gajewska uses the stark contrast of black and white for her huge projection. Seen from a distance and on a vast scale, the design needs to be simplified for maximum effect.

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8.19c Figure 8.19 a–e  Lee Tesche’s animated film aims to give life to inanimate objects. He uses a tactile screen-printed look and, using a simple and limited pallet, takes on board the advice of German typographer designer and writer Erik Spiekermann of never needing more than black, white and red.

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8.20c Figure 8.20 a–e  Maurice Binder’s title sequence for Dr. No (1962) manages to capture the suave, calm uber-cool, hypermasculinity of the character of Bond with nothing more than a grid of colourful circles in limited colour combinations popular in the 1960s. A prime example of stripping back an idea to a minimal form for full effect.

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Figure 8.21 a–b  Stills from work by designer David Daniels.

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Interview with Designer/Animator David Daniels What is your approach to colour? I try to have fun and play with colour; I don’t want to get intimidated by it. Though the study of colour theory is important, I don’t want to overthink the process to the point where you are afraid. Experiment, learn from your mistakes and jump in and play. Get your feet wet and make mistakes. Be bold. Sometimes the most stupid thoughts and weird colour combinations can be the one that solves the problem or opens doors. How do you chose what looks good/right for the job in question? Sometimes the colours used could be found within the brand you are working for; however, the craft is in the amount/balance of colour used. At other times colour can be used to convey emotion, give order, calmness, a whole range of feelings. Colour is everything, whether the screen is, say, flooded with a bright red, or against a black screen, there is a bright small yellow dot. Though of course colour can be decorative, I like the colour to have a meaning, a purpose. Less, in so many cases, is more. Have you ever worked on something that didn’t work because of the colour? Hopefully not, but there have been many occasions where perhaps a little bit less could have been better. There is always the temptation to keep adding colour – you are presented with such a choice; the secret is you DON’T have to use them all. A really good designer maybe only

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uses a small set of typefaces, the same could be said of colours: it’s what you do with them that counts. Or by changing the colour it has improved it, and why? I’m currently working on a longer piece of animation to accompany a piece of classical music. The process has taken me from using archive footage, to drawn animation, to abstract drawn shapes and is now in essence a piece of moving colour. All the other approaches I have rejected and even the current colour film has probably moved from using a wide palette of colours to no more than a dozen. A set of colours and the way they are animated have to say in this case, light, peace, land, calm through to cloud, storm, invasion, war, destruction, hunger, hope, faith and survival. The use of colour has to work, it is not just decorative but the core and heart of the design itself. In this case too much colour might confuse the audience; this has to communicate. I sort of work to a ‘Ker-Plunk’ theory. The screen may be filled with various elements, shape, image, type and colour. Like the game itself, you may remove a layer; does it still work? Do all the layers have a purpose? How much can you remove before it all collapses and loses its meaning? You can do the same with colour, perhaps the reduction of say three colours works; the design and message is stronger. Sometimes this theory shows that reduction is not the answer, but you have tried. Play, play, play and learn.

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Colour Correction and Grading Where the previous section relates more to the designed graphic elements, the two separate processes of colour correction and colour grading are more relevant if you are producing live-action work. Colour correction is a technical approach where you balance your images, checking that they are working consistently alongside each other, both within the frame and from shot to shot. Post-production grading can smooth this out and make sure the blacks are black and the whites are white. Often there is a need to create more continuity between the colour of the shots, where there may have been differences in lighting or where tonal values jump around and cause an unnecessary distraction when the shots are assembled together. Maintaining consistency from shot to shot will help viewers focus on the overall story and less on the detail. Grading, however, is altering and enhancing the colour for artistic purposes. Controlling the colour grade of film to affect the look is a technique that has been around for a long time, often used as a device to establish scenes, for emotional set-up or as location coding. An early example is The Wizard of Oz (mentioned earlier), which is bookended with Dorothy in a sepia-toned Kansas, with the middle being her journey to the kaleidoscopic Land of Oz. This look would affect the picture across the whole screen, with an overall tint on everything. In the late 1990s, digital colour grading could give a more controlled, refined look that came from singling out and enhancing some colours while leaving others alone. Reportedly the meticulously crafted dry, dusty tones of the Coen brothers’ film O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) was a turning point as digital technology took hold. More recently we are used to seeing the muted colours of many of the comic book or superhero movies, as they use a limited palette to set the style and feel of the film. According to critic Patrick Willems, Wonder Woman (2017) is different. In his mini video essay for the No Film School blog he describes how Patti Jenkins, director of Wonder Woman (2017), uses colour as a storytelling device and urges audiences not to complain that all the colours are drab and de-saturated, as each is thematically motivated and exploits colour more deliberately and better than any other superhero movie has in years. The films opens in the

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city of Themiscyra, richer and more vibrant than anything we have seen in other DC films, full of warm skin tones, deep blues of the ocean and sky, lush green everywhere, beautiful and full of colour. Wonder Woman then accompanies Steve Trevor to England and encounters Man’s World for the first time, and the whole look changes: everything is bleak and grey and shown in cold blue-ish hues . . . so now we are seeing a look similar to the Snyder movies (Batman, Superman, etc.), except this time it’s motivated by providing a sharp contrast between an Amazonian paradise and the blighted world man has made. Reference the following films to see how these directors have constructed their narratives around exceptional use of colour, to the point of it becoming a character within the film itself. Here we have emphasized the importance of colour in your design, hopefully establishing some start points to explore further, as well as given you some ideas of how a few artists, film makers and designers have incorporated colour into their bodies of work.

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8.22b Figure 8.22 a–b  In an interview with Elvis Mitchell on the colour treatment in Wonder Woman (2017), Director Patti Jenkins says, ‘the opening it’s all colour, it’s every colour and that is life and that is beauty. . . but Man’s World is much more limited, controlled. . . there’s a lot of colour but it’s actually only blue or grey. . .’

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Examples of Films with Strong Use of Colour to Create Mood and Atmosphere Jean-Luc Godard’s Le Mépris Contempt (1963) – This film uses triadic colours: red, blue and white. Kar-Wai Wong’s In the Mood for Love (2000) – This film uses jewel tones. Zhang Yimou’s Hero (2002) – Colour is used to define structure; each act of the film is represented by a different colour: white, red, blue and green. Colour dominates the visuals through costume and sets. The changing colour pallet for each act immerses the viewer in the narrative journey the characters travel on in the film. Roy Andersson’s Living trilogy (Songs from the Second Floor (2000), You the Living (2007) and A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2014)) – This series uses muted colours. Nicolas Winding Refn’s Only God Forgives (2013) – This film uses neon colours. Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) – This film (and other Anderson works) use soft colours to enhance the dreamlike fictional worlds he creates. Dennis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 (2017) – Blues and greys create a bleak dystopia for the first thirty minutes, which contrasts with the bright orange desert environment to come, providing a cautionary warning and putting the audience on alert.

To continue your research, you may find the following resources useful:

Resources

Some Suggested Areas for Further Study on Colour For some very accessible background on colour theory look at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) website, and search colour theory. Or look through designer and educator Leigh Cotnoir’s website and find Artspeak Elements: Color for some good info. The following are significant groups or individuals noted for their contribution to the area of science and the art of colour. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and statesman, published The Theory of Colour (1810), which influenced Arthur Schopenhauer’s book On Vision and Colours (1816) (See link.) The Bauhaus Movement, arguably the single most influential modernist art school of the twentieth century Josef Albers, artist and educator whose work formed the basis of modern art education programmes of the twentieth century Wassily Kandinsky, Russian painter and art theorist Len Lye, Oskar Fischinger, Norman McClaren: all pioneering animators Gestalt Theory of Visual Perception Rudolf Arnheim, author, art and film theorist best known for his work Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Eye. Carlos Cruz-Diez, Venezuelan artist known for kinetic and op art that explores ontology and perception Ellen Lupton, graphic designer, curator, critic and educator

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Books Bellantoni, Patti. If it’s Purple Someone’s Going to Die. Routledge, 2005. A film makers guide to making the right colour selections for your films, and why we feel the way we do while watching movies that incorporate certain colours. Cage, John. Colour and Culture: Art Science and Symbolism. Thames and Hudson, 2000. Cage, John. Colour and Culture: Practice and Meaning from Antiquity to Abstraction. Thames and Hudson, 1995. Leborg, Christian. Visual Grammar. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2006.

Films and web The first colour moving pictures from the National Media Museum: http://zauberklang.ch/filmcolors/ timeline-entry/1324/?_sf_s=Turner#/image/3324. ‘Colour Emotions’ project by Nikoloz Getsadze: http:// www.colouremotions.com. A list of nineteen ways to find good colour combinations, online tools and so on: https://www.elegantthemes.com/ blog/resources/color-palette-generators. Timeline of historical film colours: http://zauberklang.ch/ filmcolors/. The Adobe Colour CC colour wheel is a handy tool: https://color.adobe.com/create/color-wheel. Colour scheme creator: https://coolors.co. Colour in storytelling: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=aXgFcNUWqX0.

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10 Best Uses of Colour of All Time: https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=tILIeNjbH1E. Philip Brubaker takes us through the use of colour in director Kurosawa’s masterpieces: https://vimeo. com/209415021. A full story of how and why O Brother, Where Art Thou? received the colour treatment it did https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=Ppc43PUL1zIThe. Timeline of development of colour film: http://zauberklang. ch/filmcolors/timeline-of-historical-film-colors/. Schopenhauer’s On Vision and Colours: http://issuu.com/ papress/docs/on-vison-and-colors/3?e=0. The iconic book Interaction of Colour by Josef Albers reimagined as an app: http://yupnet.org/ interactionofcolor/. The Hands of Bresson: https://eyeonfilm.wordpress.com /2009/02/23/painting-film-and-color-an-annotated-list/. Kar-Wai Wong’s colour obsession compilation: https:// vimeo.com/201365254. Wes Anderson’s use of colour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMxTOoCQGzM

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https://www.lomography.com/magazine/334164-thewhimsical-palette-of-wes-anderson.

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http://blog.storyandheart.com/blog/2015/7/20/howto-speed-ramp-and-5-questions-to-ask-yourselfbefore-you-do-it-video-tutorial.

Lewis Bond video essay on colour in storytelling: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXgFcNUWqX0.

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Part 3

Putting It All Together

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Text and Information Chapter Overview This chapter looks at some of the different situations where you might want to incorporate text on screen, and useful approaches to each. There are particular considerations to be taken, depending on the role your text needs to play, so the message comes across as clear and absorbing. Use of type on screen can be easily misjudged. Whether you’re planning on designing a simple caption, a title sequence, or a complex information graphic, there are many graphic design principles that can be applied to give your work maximum impact. In this chapter we’ll look at the following: • How the style and positioning of your text adds to the character of your film and how the design principles of print-based typography translate to animated type. What else do we need to observe for the screen? • When should movement be included and how is the effect different for the viewer and the film itself? • How titles work on screen, the combination of images and text and the specific role of the title sequence designer. • How the role of information design is another key area that should employ clear balance of image and text. Data visualization is often centred around representative figures and type to get information across. We’ll look at a few approaches to working with data sets, text and statistics.

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Character

Character Time-based typography, kinetic typography or simply motion type is a form of temporal typography that combines text and movement. As old as the history of cinema itself, over a century of film-making has provided a range of examples of how words have appeared on screen. From opening title sequences to broadcast television graphics, and now with freely accessible technologies, graphic designers have limitless possibilities for expressing the perceptive values of typography in motion. We will look at how movement affects the communication of a text as well as aspects of time affecting design decisions, including orientation, direction, rotation, and so forth, as well as sequence, narrative and rhythm. We will also examine type-related issues that require more deliberation when used on screen, such as denotative and connotative interpretation, intonation and other supportive elements. Designer Alessandro Foschini became interested in the role of the audience, differentiating them from viewers or merely readers. On paper, type is static, and it’s the reader’s eyes that need to move. In contrast, time-based typography implies that type moves while the reader’s eyes follow. The Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan claims that screen-based media is cold, and the audience is ‘passive’, while print-based media is ‘warm’, meaning the audience has an active role in decrypting the message, and this makes a huge difference in the activity of interpretation. Therefore, since the audience allegedly puts less effort into deciphering a screen-based text, Foschini became interested in the tools designers have at their disposal to make the best use of type when in motion. He concludes his research in a short film that displays the following thoughts from some of the leading critics or practitioners in the field of text and design. No matter how much text you need to put on screen for whatever reason, your film will benefit from applying some basic typographic rules. An art form in itself, typography is a hidden creative discipline, not just fancy fonts and choosing a particular typeface, but more about creating an interesting and engaging reading experience. Deciding which font to use, and the where, how and when you apply it on screen will have much more impact if you observe some of the principles

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Figure 9.1 a–f  In Alessandro Foschini’s twominute animated film Type in Motion, he asks if text is losing out to the image. His interest in narrative structures in the communication of typographic messages led him to reference some of the experts in the field of motion typography.

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Type in Motion Director Alessandro Foschini Discusses Type In the visual culture that surrounds us, letters are losing to the image in communicative importance. We can argue that lettering has started to become less needed in communication due to new media; we are becoming a more visual culture due to films. This creates a new challenge for typographers. Time-based typography is kinetic: the characters move, the reader’s eyes follow. It is ephemeral. Nothing is left when it is over, except an impression. You can control what your audience sees when you want them to see it. It allows

of good type design. Ben Barrett-Forrest’s short animation offers a quick look at the evolution of typefaces and is helpful to put some of these principles in context and remind us that typeface design is all about legibility. So how do you go about choosing a font? With so many preset fonts to select from, it can be hard to know if your aesthetic decision leads to the appropriate choice. Especially if you have little experience working with type. One place to start could be to consider the subject matter of the film; the period in which it is set,

us to hear with our eyes, give voice to words and meaning and emotion to movement. A designer would use other elements to create impact on type, such as lighting effects, camera movements, sound and a range of transitions. In this way, the written word becomes a performer and has the freedom to move in real space or virtual space. Type, composition, editing and sound can change everything. Type is like actors. It takes on characteristics of its own. The ultimate goal of typography has not changed: it communicates a message.

historical or contemporary; the audience it is aimed at; or the overall tone of the film itself, as all of these could and should have a bearing on the choice of the font. There are no set rules – as long as you bear in mind that almost any font can be used on screen, if the size is right and there is enough screen time to read it. However, certain weights that include thin lines may well pose a problem if small, so a good rule to remember is the simpler and clearer the font, the smaller you can use it. Before you make your choice of font, you will need to think about your layout and the positioning

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Figure 9.2 a–f  This type overview is with thanks to typographer Ben Barrett-Forrest. His film The History of Typography is made from 2,454 photographs put together to create a stop-motion sequence providing an excellent background to how our Western typefaces evolved.

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Figure 9.3 a–d  Lama Ajeenah’s develops a short, stop-frame animation to explain visually what a serif is.

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Figure 9.4 a–b  Gary Hustwit’s film Helvetica (2007), about typography, graphic design and global visual culture, looks at the proliferation of one typeface as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. It is an exploration of urban spaces in major cities and the type that inhabits them. The independent film features renowned designers discussing their work, their creative process and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type.

of your text on screen, depending on how much needs to be visible at one time. Regardless of whether it is only a few individual words or dense information displayed, the layout will need to be logical, ordered and have a hierarchical structure. In practical terms, these principles can be simplified into ways of clarifying groups of information with line spacing, separation or through position on screen to gain emphasis. It can also be helpful to break down the information into small digestible chunks. Think of motorway signage: if

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the information was put up all in one go, it would be overwhelming. Use construction and alignment points in your layout to position your type. Use different weights of the same font – rather than different fonts – for emphasis, for a clearer, less cluttered look. Keep it simple. This can’t be emphasized enough: make simple two-part contrasts and avoid double emphasis. There is no need, for example, to underline and italicize when a simple colour or weight change of the font will look much cleaner and create a stronger contrast.

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Five Principles of Type Alignment to Consider: Contrast: Emphasize selected information, generate a response and guide navigation. Grouping: Construct visual clusters that organize text semantically. Alignment: Connect visual structures, regulating visible and invisible frameworks to indicate semantic relationships. Figure 9.5 a–b  In this printed example, Lee Tesche uses contrast and grouping to help navigate around the information in this poster of the United States withdrawal plans during the Vietnam War.

Recurrence: Regulate configuration or placement of repeating visual forms and frameworks (seen often in film title sequences where the titles appear in the same place). This will facilitate understanding, often allowing the viewer to anticipate meaning as well, creating a rhythm that is important in helping focus the eye against competing movement. Significance: Express the possible connotations of visual forms, inviting sematic interpretation and, if well executed, exciting interest.

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Figure 9.6 a–b  Recurrence, grouping and alignment: Four narratives run concurrently in this cinema film Don’t Stand for It directed by Penny Hilton made to raise awareness about domestic. Each strand occupies a specific, consistent space on screen. After the intentional panic brought on by information overload, the eye settles into the rhythm and is directed easily around the screen able to take in the changing images and counteracting storylines.

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Character

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Figure 9.7 a–l  In these experiments, animators Tammy Alperovich-Malkov (Pixellate a–f) and Ignasi Perez-Noguera Vila (Plasticity g–l) look at semantics and significance in an attempt to interpret the meaning of a chosen word. Here the words embody the meaning of the word in both design and motion.

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9.8j Figure 9.8 a–j  Jaeho Hwang (Transition a–f), and Nathalie Iltis (Weight g–j) Two further examples of taking a single word and using its meaning to propel the animation. Jaeho Hwang studies the frame by frame motion occurring between the letter forms (Transition a–f), while Nathalie Iltis makes best use of the whole frame to represent the solid properties of her word (Weight g–j).

Figure 9.9  Dealing with a lot of text on screen at once is not a simple task. Here an attempt is made to grapple with a lot of data in a logical manner in tribute to the fifty-two victims of the London Bombings of 7 July 2005. All the victims’ names and their respective dates of birth appear on screen to count up to the fateful day their lives ended at the moment of the bomb’s blast. As a silent tribute, the film can’t rely on sound as a visual prompt, so even though it is an interesting idea, navigating through the information is somewhat confusing.

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Legibility versus Readability

Legibility versus Readability It’s easy to get confused between legibility and readability. In the case of screen text, we are aiming for both. Legibility is being able to distinguish individual visual components that make up the letters through the choice of font and the letterforms it offers, through to a clear positioning and arrangement, all of which relate to presentation. Whereas readability is the chief goal of good typography and is more about how easy the text is to actually read, as well as how interesting and enjoyable this activity might be.

Timing How long the text is on screen can prove to be a major factor in how well we receive the text along with any other elements that might distract. Remember, the eye will be drawn to movement ,so if there are other areas of movement competing with the text, then this too will become a barrier. We all know how frustrating it is not to have enough screen time to read the text. This can cause all sorts of unwanted emotions that can completely destabilize the appreciation of your film. So how long should your text appear on screen? In general, the clearer the type is, the less time it needs to be on screen. An ornate, complex text will need longer screen time to read, whereas a sans serif font that boldly stands out from the background will take less time to read and therefore need less time on screen. Also bear in mind that the act of reading the text will detract from any accompanying image, so a shot that has both components will need to be on long enough for any necessary detail to be picked up as well.

Professional Tip Read your captions aloud in the same way that you have split them on screen to see if it makes logical sense.

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Text size What about the size of your text? Before we were all generating films using our own computer software, TV type generators were the most common way to create type. There used to be less variation in TV set sizes, so it was easier to set a rough rule. Type size was measured in television lines or pixels (i.e. eighteen to twenty television lines was the minimum for anything except contractual obligation text or legal disclaimers, unless the text was going to be on screen for a very long time). However, point sizes aren’t helpful as a guide anymore, as they refer to the absolute measurements of the real world rather than the relative sizes of the virtual world of the screen. Screen sizes vary according to context, who’s watching them, and when and what distance the viewer is from the screen, all of which have a bearing on the design, positioning and size of your text. So simply put, you have to make a fair judgement by relying on your eyes and being constantly critical. There used to be an old 2:8 rule used in broadcast design that went something like this: When you sit in front of a computer screen or editing monitor, you are usually about two feet from the screen. When you watch TV, you will most likely be, depending on the size of the screen, about eight feet away. In general, the bigger the screen, the further you tend to sit from it due to image quality. In effect, it was argued that all TVs appear the same size. Now with massive home cinema screens dominating small living rooms and our use of phones and tablets held inches from our face, this 2:8 average is all out of whack and no longer helps us determine the size font we should be aiming for. So, it’s back to relying on our own optical judgement. In classic typography, we usually avoid using all upper case, as the eye tends to recognize the shape of the word to read it, and this is quicker with lower case letters. On a screen, however, this rule is often ignored because space and resolution constraints mean that upper case is the best option for name captions and lists, including, for example, sports scoreboards and bullet points on news items.

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9.10f Figure 9.10 a–h  Xuan Zhang applies a consistent template to place the text to brand National Geographic TV, while Jai Ryoong Kim designs idents for Korean channel Sogon based around his logo, which is the main design element to hold them together.

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Figure 9.11  In this short documentary about David Toop, collaboratively made by Hong Hu, Matteo Bisato and Filip Pomykalo, the size of the title caption is small and the font is lightweight; however, there is a high contrast between the black letters and the clear white background it sits on. With very little movement in the shot, your eye is immediately drawn to it; held on screen for a full five seconds, it works despite its small size.

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Generally in captions and credits, a mix of both is used: typically upper and lower case for job descriptions and upper case for names. No matter what combination you use, the important thing is to apply a consistent, logical hierarchical structure. If the background image is complex, you need to lift your text away from it. There are several options you can use, such as creating a background strips of colour known as straps, using a shadow or giving your text an outline. You will be familiar with these design techniques from watching subtitled films.

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Ways of Creating Text

Ways of Creating Text There are countless design techniques for creating text on screen. Perhaps the simplest method may be to automatically generate a preset font from your editing software and position it over the relevant part of the picture. This will involve choosing a font that is appropriate for the job, reflecting the message in some way and manipulating it as

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needed, animating the text to include motion, if required, and deciding how it should arrive and leave the screen. If your idea allows, you could look at creating the letterforms to appear in the scene, embedding them into the core concept of the film itself. This may be as an animated layer designed and positioned specifically for the moving image it overlays, through models positioned within the scene, or by projecting text onto a surface and filming it, as illustrated in the following examples:

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Figure 9.12 a–b  In Dean G. Moore’s film Tunnel Vision, he generated text and information in After Effects using the Camera tool for a three-dimensional effect. This additional foreground text layer contributes to his story on several levels: The amount of detail on screen that he chooses to reveal is sometimes hard to read. By clustering the text in this specific hierarchy, he makes sure that only the dominant words are revealed, suggestive of multiple layers still undiscovered.    The transitions of the text, which is how it appears on screen, how it behaves when it’s there and how it is moved off, all reflect the motion of subject (i.e. transport, train tracks) or it directly reflects the motion of the camera, which in turn evokes travel and journeys.

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Figure 9.13 a–d  Clement Jaquier’s film celebrating the art of title sequence design uses props within the location to embed names of designers in the style of sequences they are famous for.

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9.14c Figure 9.14 a–e  Rather than hear the voice of French street artist Ox, known as ‘The Hijacker of Billboards’, designers Louise Courtois and Alice Szymankiewicz project the words of their interview with him directly onto surfaces he uses in his work. This non-vocal, silent solution is perfectly in keeping with his clandestine approach, so it is conceptually relevant for the subject. The static passages of text come alive as a passer-by interrupts the throw of light.

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9.15c Figure 9.15 a–e  Maria Rocha’s performing words project, King of Gaps, takes a visual approach to Fernando Pessoa’s poem and uses projection to reveal the text. The animated words for this performative piece, provide a backdrop to interact with. Careful timing of animation, positioning of projectors and numerous rehearsals are the key to the success of recording this accurately.

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Movement The way the text moves is one thing we can use to set the tone of a title sequence. The movement can affect the message to the audience and suggest ideas and emotions. It is a powerful and valuable element to communicate our message. Typographic representations using time-based composition, sound and motion have a remarkable ability to broaden the emotional stimulus in audiences beyond what can be attained in static delivery systems.

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In Louis Giannetti’s book Understanding Movies, he says that vertical movements upward, suggest aspiration, joy, power and authority. Movements pointing down have the opposite meanings, such as grief, death, depression and weakness. Because the eye tends to read a picture from left to right, physical movement in this direction seems psychologically natural, whereas movement from the right to left often seems inexplicably tense and uncomfortable. Title designers exploit these psychological phenomena to reinforce the message they want to deliver to their audience.

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Movement

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Figure 9.16 a–c  Chiara Comiotto explores the movement of text in title sequences, noting their emotional effect. She notes the left-to-right x-axis movement of Down with Love and the right to left x-axis motion of Hitchcock’s Psycho. She also looks at the y-axis upward movement of Up in the Air and the reverse direction of Danny Yoult’s design for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Examples of z-axis movement are Crash and Le Souffleur.

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Figure 9.17 a–c  Chiara then conducts her own study to show that kinetic typography is a valuable communication element in the creation of meaning. Her series of experiments clearly illustrate Giannetti’s overview.

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Figure 9.18 a–d  Through a series of iterative tests, Clement Jaquier looks at the emotional effect different motion has on text emerging from a background. Taking the much applauded Up in the Air (2009), title sequence by Gareth Smith and Jenny Lee, he creates his own version to explore a variety of x- and y-axis moves, noticing how the motion of the text and camera combined has a direct bearing on how we read the title.

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Figure 9.19 a–d  Note how the direction of the camera move adds to the concept and mood of this French ad for Air Canada. Directed by Romain Chassaing from Solab Paris Production Company, it is pensive and romantic, the continuously flowing camera contributes to a feeling of melancholy as the picture pulls away from us. The composited double-exposure transitions, placing the characters in new locations, reflect the idea of human connectivity. The final move upward to reveal the ‘packshot’ reflects aspiration, power, authority and joy. All qualities that any airline would like to associate themselves with no doubt.

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#With thanks to True Detective and Up in the Air title sequences.

Kinetic typography Kinetic typography is often given as a college brief to introduce graphic designers to motion software through designing text to illustrate a given piece of audio. With the timing, pacing and the rhythm preset by the sound, designers can concentrate on how to animate the text of the spoken words accordingly. I’ve set a similar brief myself and noticed the outputs often produce mistakes commonly made by people starting out with type manipulation: usually characterized by swooping camera moves over three-dimensional text coupled with ramping speed changes. This is time remapping, slowing down or speeding up footage to produce dramatic or creative effects, which is relatively easy to achieve but often overused. The difference between the sequences that work well and those that don’t is fairly obvious, and assessment is relatively straightforward. The next time you come across a piece of kinetic typography, ask yourself the following: Does the choice of font relate to the subject? How much does the movement contribute to the story? Does the motion interrupt the reading experience? Is there sufficient time to comfortably read the words so the delivery flows naturally? Search ‘kinetic type’ on YouTube and see what it throws up. Today there are over half a million have-a-go postings, and you will see that the first twenty could be a whole lot better if some of

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these questions had been addressed. On average a slightly classier, more refined bunch can be found on Vimeo, which is presently hosting nearly 17,000. Enjoy, but be critical. Other considerations to give character to your graphics are a combination of movement and tone, the particular font and how it is treated. The outline, the fill, whether it is two-dimensional or extruded, how light plays on the surface, and so on, all contribute to making it effective. These properties work alongside the way it behaves, including the movement of how it arrives onto the screen, what it does when it gets there, and how it disappears off screen. Designers have hundreds of transition options to choose from as editing software has inbuilt preset tools, all of which will affect your design. These presets are always changing, so there is little point going into too much detail about the merits of each, but let’s look at some of the most popular ways we might want to bring text on or off and consider the implications. The slow title reads: ‘When was the last time you slowed things down? Or took it easy? Take a deep breath. Kick your shoes off. Feel the grass on your feet.’ It would be interesting to see how putting the words into short sentences, altering the screen duration of the words, and refining the composition could all change the flow of the read

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Titles

and therefore the purpose, but it works as an interesting early inquiry into this area. Farah Kadum asks what happens when you bombard the eye. How much information can you take in? In a series of typographic experiments that play with rhythm, space and movement, she explores the effects of fast-paced text only, text next to image and text over image.

Transitions How the text arrives on screen and moves off again can cause unwanted distraction if not handled sensitively. First ask how much disruption you intend to include. A dissolve or fade is going to be less obtrusive than a cut on or slide. The faster the speed of each transition, the more intrusive, as it will appear to jar and affect the flow of how we read the sequence. Letters appearing on one at a time, echoing a typewriter or digital-generated type effect, will control the speed of reading. A handwritten stroke, such as ‘Skinny Caps’, can give a more personal, friendly, human touch, as if hand-drawn. A jittery, boiling bubbling effect has a constant cycle of almost undetectable motion but enough to lift it off the background to look playful and lively. This is often used to lighten the tone or to give a quirky or more friendly appearance. Reflections or shadows can embed the text into your environment, creating a sense of depth. Additional movement in the shadows or reflections can add to the sense of connected elements and also work to reveal text. You can also give the illusion of movement through fast cutting. By playing with our ability to recognize a word in a split second, the frenzied pace of stills in quick succession can have a powerful effect.

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Titles The earliest typography seen on screen is likely to be the introduction titles or inter-titles seen during the silent film era in such films as Voyage to the Moon from 1897, which is typical of the period: a white small-serried text on a black background for maximum clarity. Alfred Hitchcock began his career in 1919 illustrating title cards at Paramount Famous Players-Lasky studio in London. There he went on to learn scripting, editing and art direction, and he rose to assistant director. In 1922, midway through a production, he had the opportunity take on the role of director himself. Now, with more than fifty directing credits to his name, Hitchcock is still considered by many to be the master of suspense. Title sequence design can be a good place to start as a film maker. As mini-epics in themselves, often used to get the story started and contribute to the plot, on a basic level they list the actors and crew, but on an exemplary level, they can become as memorable as the film itself. Here are three views of the role of the title sequence from creators who have made some of the best.

I saw the title as a way of conditioning the audience, so that when the film actually began, viewers would already have an emotional resonance with it. Saul Bass

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Figure 9.20 a–h  The title sequence for Gaspar Noe’s Enter the Void (2007) is a bright, colourful typographic feast, reflecting the cast of characters and the mood of the film. The energetic and pushy soundtrack of LFO’s Freak against a visual overdose of frantic typography creates an effect that is extraordinary on many levels, reflecting the storyline of first-person perspective of drug induced psychosis.

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Figure 9.21 a–d  Designer Farah Kadum experiments with pacing, movement contrast and affinity. Concentrating more on positioning of text and duration rather than typography, she looks at the lasting impression. Can you actually change the mood of the audience through controlled delivery of the message?

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Figure 9.22 a–b  In George Méliès film Voyage to the Moon (1897) he plays with graphics directly, animating text using a stop-frame technique. Possibly one of the very first animated logos was created for his production company Star Films.

I try to make the typography in service of the story that we’re trying to tell. Kyle Cooper

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No matter what your view, the title sequence has always provided an opportunity to showcase emerging talent, and today we are seeing a larger slice of production budgets than ever before being allocated to creating remarkable opening design sequences. The titles of our streamed box sets, such as Dexter, Game of Thrones, The Big C, True Blood, True Detective and so forth, clearly illustrate where designers have taken meticulous care to directly reflect each show’s theme. It is fairly well accepted that Saul Bass was a pioneer in this craft, and he is usually the first name associated with fine title sequence design, working around the 1950s and 1960 at the same time as Pablo Ferro, Maurice Binder and Robert Brownjohn. They all incorporated the visual language of graphic design and popular culture into film. Their individual styles and innovative approaches set the standard for contemporary title

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design, and their influential work has gone on to inspire hundreds of designers practicing today. Chilean graphic designer and title sequence designer Pablo Ferro is hailed as one of the first artists to recognize the importance of typography in creating effective title sequences and is responsible for designing some of the most iconic titles sequences ever created. With a background in animation and advertising, he became most known for his work on Dr. Strangelove, which used his characteristic tall, thin, hand-drawn letters that became a trademark of his work. Ferro has always liked to work in a kinetic, nonlinear way, depending on movement for its effect and making use of the method now commonly known as ‘database narrative’, an emphasis on the selection and combination process rather than linear storytelling.

Figure 9.23 a–d  US Series The Big C from Curious Pictures directed by Matt Smithson centres around the new perspective of a woman who has been given a diagnosis of cancer. The titles eloquently illustrate the emotional distance she feels from the rest of the family, being under constant scrutiny and judgement. They can only peer into her world from the sidelines. Her playful actions in the pool reflect her altered behaviour and sense of now-or-never new-found freedom.

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Figure 9.24 a–f  Saul Bass was probably the most legendary and influential title sequence designer ever. Known for his bold graphic design, poster and title sequence work that perfectly set the mood for the cinema audience, he is often the first stop for anyone researching the subject. Bass worked with Elaine Makatura, who joined him in his studio after his initial success. The pair married in 1955 and went on to create some of the most memorable title sequences, as well as winning an Oscar for their short film Why Man Creates. Some of their notable title sequences include (a) Anatomy of a Murder (1959), directed by Otto Preminger; (b) North by Northwest (1959) and (c) Psycho (1960), both directed by Alfred Hitchcock; and (d) Cape Fear (1991), (e) The Age of Innocence (1993), and their last film, (f) Casino (1995), all directed by Martin Scorsese.

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Figure 9.25 a–f  Title sequences design by Pablo Ferro: (a) Dr. Strangelove (1964), directed by Stanley Kubrick; (b) The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (1966), directed by Norman Jewison; (c) Bullitt (1968), directed by Peter Yates; (d) Beetlejuice (1988), directed by Tim Burton; (e) To Die For (1995), directed by Gus Van Sant; (f) La Confidential (1997), directed by Curtis Hanson.

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Every part of me whether it’s my work or personal, I keep it moving. Pablo Ferro Today designers can easily draw on a wide range of skills, techniques and methods to produce title sequences, such as live action, use of freely available archive footage and different styles of animation, or a composite of live action and animation together. Projecting onto various surfaces can work well, as can using objects or photographs filmed under rostrum camera. And of course, type can be generated in any number of ways from caption generators to hand-drawn, printed or found type. Focusing on text, we could categorize some techniques used into the following three areas: Separation, fusion and fragmentation. Separation suggests the type acts on its own, apart from the image or the environment it sits within, so type and image retain a clear level of autonomy. Text is free to act with, against or independently from the image. This technique is

often used by designers to emphasize independence, freedom or neutrality. Fusion is a combination of graphic design type and image that merges into one entity that works as a whole. This alliance of form delivers a strong and coherent message that is sometimes optically altered or united in motion or position, to become one in purpose, image and meaning. It is potentially used to express a sense of unity, partnership, trust and love. Fragmentation is when the image and text displace each other, disturb or disrupt. A fragmented design can have many semantic layers and may require the audience to decode it. In opposition to the force of fusion, the motion of fragmentation can have unsettling implications and be less predictable in terms of interpretation. It could convey a sense of complexity, tenseness and overwhelming feelings.

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Figure 9.26 a–f  Stephen Frankfurt’s title design for To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), directed by Robert Mulligan, separates the type from the live-action background. The text is static, acting but not interacting with the background. It has a neutral position centred both horizontally and vertically. The intention is to express the neutrality, simplicity and wonderment of a child discovering a treasure box, which prepares the audience for some of the film’s primary themes of racial injustice and the destruction of innocence.

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Figure 9.27 a–d  If we revisit Eduarda Lima’s title sequence for The Graduate, directed by Mike Nichols (1967) we can see she has used careful alignment of text to fuse it on the background.

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Figure 9.28 a–f  For the titles sequence for the Bond film From Russia with Love (1963), directed by Terence Young, designer Robert Brownjohn experiments with projecting text over the body of a female belly dancer, creating a sexually charged opening in keeping with the nature of the film.

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I personally love title sequences for a myriad of reasons. I like the artfulness, the expressionism and that they have traditionally provided a foreshadowing of sorts for the story. It is like a great cover of a book, or the outside art of a cool CD or album. It helps to brand the content and get you excited about the potential. Jeff Barnes – executive producer with ComputerCafe (Panic Room)

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Figure 9.29 a–e  In David Fincher’s Panic Room (2002), type is embedded in the overall design with name credits extruded in three dimensions, distorted to match the perspective and manipulated to appear to hover surreally over the architecture of Manhattan. As the main concept came from the film’s director, David Fincher, instead of recruiting a title sequence designer to carry out the task, the visual effects experts were called in to create all aspects of the design from composition typography as well as compositing. The result is an opening title sequence that is a perfect set-up to the movie’s themes of fluid space and anxiety, and it places the film firmly and securely within its location. Albeit leaning somewhat heavily on Saul Bass’s original North by Northwest (1959) twodimensional animated sequence created some forty years before, this is a uniquely crafted sequence of design.

Figure 9.30 a–d  The collaborative team of Tom Brown, Ahram Park and Ester Vilaplana designed this neonbased typography fused into the location shots of London to highlight the words of Martin Galton’s poem This Jerusalem about the dark side of London.

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Figure 9.31 a–f  Use of fragmentation can be seen in Imaginary Forces’ title sequence for Spider-Man 2 (2004). The ‘battle’ rages between type and image, as graphic spider webs continuously obscure the credits and the text retaliates, vying for more space, communicating a dynamic and unsettling message.

Television On perhaps a slightly lower end of the production budget, all broadcast design needs graphic designers to draw on a range of skills to produce television programme content and create captions, straps, end credits, copyright boards, subtitles, wipes, digital on screen graphics for

station ID, to name just a few, all of which might rely on typographic expertise. In my opinion the most memorable TV title sequences centre on a big idea unique to the programme, either purely visual or conceptual. For many types of show, such as game shows or magazine programmes, a strong visual style will

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Figure 9.32 a–f  A recent brief set for graphic design students produced some interesting outcomes. The task was to design an opening sequence for a proposed documentary series called The Future based on Al Gore’s book of the same name. There was a lot of meaty substance to grapple with, as the sequence needed to feature all six drivers for global change; therefore, the designers’ task was fairly complex, but the project produced some interesting outcomes. Here Obinna Udekwereze covers a lot of ground by including data on screen and provides an example of text that is fused with the background.

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probably be all that’s needed, whereas for a drama, sitcom or documentary series, a concept relating to or summarizing the themes of the show could be more applicable. In some cases, the actual name can be the key, for example, the BBC’s flagship documentary series Horizon or EastEnders use of the Thames. However the idea for the title sequence is arrived at, both directness and appropriateness are crucial; you may only have seconds on screen to convey your message. The titles can be preceded by a taste of what’s to come – a menu or rundown of content or an update – and, as is often the case with current affairs, include clips, specific to the day, embedded within the sequence. There may be elements in the programme content that build from the titles, such as graphics needed in between to serve as a reminder of the brand of the show, like a sting or a shorter version of the title sequence or animating logo, a wipe or graphic transition to get you from one picture to the next. All are worth considering when developing a concept for the titles.

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entire screen to process the information. Screen duration, composition, and any additional visual components will need to accommodate what might be a potentially slow process, and as discussed, we can’t take in too much information in one go, hence the need to apply the principles of hierarchy. One area where we are used to seeing a lot of text on screen is on the feature film end credits. Often listing thousands of production crew names and sponsors, these are traditionally centre screen, white on black scrolling upward. Obviously, there are other more interesting ways to include volumes of text on screen, as illustrated in the previous section. Depending on your purpose, returning to the basic principles of graphic design and observing good typographic practice will make sure your message communicates more clearly. The list of title sequence talent is endless and should be studied at length. The Resources section at end of this chapter has a list of places where you can start.

Credits It’s not often that we see a lot of text on screen at the same time, as our eyes would need to scan the

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9.33c Figure 9.33 a–e  The 1936 film My Man Godfrey, directed by Gregory La Cava, provides a beautiful early example of excellent use of typography by a designer that is sadly uncredited. Layers of text appear across a city skyline, predating Saul Bass’s North by Northwest sequence by twenty-three years. The appearance of the letters is punctuated by the music score, and the slow camera pan enable us to take it all in. The sequence is well worth looking up.

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Figure 9.34 a–d  Traditionally end credits move vertically up the screen, from bottom of screen to top. Usually this is done for ease of reading, as discussed earlier, and so we can focus on one name at a time. Should the film be shown on a smaller screen, the text will still be legible. This directing team Axel Danielson & Maximilien Van Aertryck have chosen to lay the text out in a different way. In their film short film Hopptonet (Ten Meter Tower) (a–c), they use the whole screen so that we can take in more information at once. Although a refreshing break from the norm, it does need longer read time and, of course, could cause problems if viewed on a small screen.  Wes Andersons animated feature Isle of Dogs (2018) has a similar treatment for the end credits (d).

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Data Visualization It can be pretty daunting grappling with large volumes of data or data sets, but in the last few years, we have seen help available in the form of online tutorials and books. Most of the leading information design groups who specialize in this area are also sharing their work widely, so it has never been easier to learn directly from them. As we have become accustomed to seeing complex information in some sort of visual form, the demand for more work that integrates the disciplines of design and science has grown. Across the board, there has been a huge surge in the popularity of information graphics on the web and in the press, as well as more courses than ever being offered at university level. The discipline of how to create data visualization has evolved into two main schools of thought: The clear, minimalist approach of American Edward Tufte, a statistician and professor emeritus at Yale University, is that data should never be cheated, and if the audience notices the chart first and not the data, then you have already failed. This has been taken to mean you should present all the data, reveal top-level trends and employ minimal design, so as not to falsely represent the data. While this may be fine for academics or statisticians, the problem with this approach is that

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not everyone knows how to read a detailed graph or has the time to decipher details to extract anything of note. It is more likely that they would be put off and would fail to see anything that resonates, let alone a story. Tufte feels the data should lead and not be obscured by design. A different approach was pioneered by British journalist turned graphic designer David McCandless, which is more illustrative and interpretive. He argues that the audience is more important, and in order to engage them, you should be selective with the data in order to find a story and then emphasize it through beautiful graphic design. Whatever it takes to make the story clearer to the audience, although some might argue, at the expense of the data. As founder of the visual blog Information Is Beautiful, his work has been featured in The Guardian newspaper, as well as showcased in several major art galleries worldwide. Whichever approach you favour, if the goal and the message are obscured by too many visuals or too much data, then the content will fail. So how do you translate your information onto the screen? Rather than one static image that the eye might scan over, pick out specific facts. The notion of time and narrative come into play here, coherence and logic need to sit alongside typographic hierarchy (as discussed earlier in the chapter). Think about using contrast, grouping, alignment, recurrence and significance, as well as paying

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Data Visualization

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Figure 9.35 a–f  Designers Elias Freiberger and Ryan Tung worked with social scientist Regina Enjuto Martinez to develop a short animation about working conditions and labour rights in China.

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keen attention to the basic visual components of rhythm, space, line and shape, tone, colour and, most significantly, movement. One early project that integrated data and design was instigated by the London College of Communication in 2009. Pioneering in its time, this cross-disciplinary project looked at the potential of reframing research strategies for both designers at London College of Communication and social scientists at the London School of Economics. The project ran for several years with an annual cycle of fresh pairings, teaming graphic designers and film makers with staff and

PhD students whose research areas related to the social sciences (such as health, housing, inequality, human rights, poverty, etc.). While the work varied in quality, it was always interesting and, in most cases, instrumental in revealing new lines of inquiry, raising questions that would otherwise have been unnoticed. In the last chapter of the book, we come to the all-important area of post-production: editing, which holds an equal importance to the content itself and where all your hard efforts can unravel or alternatively can be made into something extraordinary.

Approaches to Working with Large Sets of Data •

The more preparation and discussion conducted before any design is undertaken, the better the outcome will be. These are some of the key activity points that were found to be helpful.

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Look for trends in the data that might be interesting and develop a story that will resonate with the audience. The key to presenting the story effectively is selection and emphasis.

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Write a brief that both parties agree to, first asking if the data set is credible and comprehensive. Ask what the audience cares about.

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Choose the best graphic approach for your story, bearing in mind there are pros and cons for each. Experiment with colour, line and shape, space and text until you have an effective solution.

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Figure 9.36 a–f  In this animated film, designer Henrietta Ross worked with researcher Wifak Houij Gueddana, Information Systems and Innovation Group, to capture the idea and key findings behind the MIFOS project, which looks at the different social interactions underpinning the process of developing and sharing open code.

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9.37d Figure 9.37 a–e  In this film, designer Giulio Cipone works with Helen Brown Coverdale to visualize theoretical ideas that have emerged from her research about the role of ethics in shaping state criminal-punishment decisionmaking. As her research is conceptual, focusing on whether and how understanding state criminal punishment from the perspective of the ethics of care can help provide sentencing guidelines, it was quite a challenge to simplify her complex findings into this three-minute animated film called Punishing with Care. 9.37e

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Tips on Dealing with Text Think of modes of difference. Captions that might appear over a background image will need to be clearly separated so they stand apart from the image. If working with a luminous screen, such as LED or TVs, light type on a dark background is usually clearer. Use fonts with serifs carefully, considering size, as the detail will be lost; in motion, the letterform will lose resolution if the font is too small. The simpler and clearer the font, the smaller and clearer it will appear. Complex fonts should be larger and on longer.

Large blocks of text are easier to read with both upper and lower case. Reserve upper-case text for single words or short statements. Use ornate or hard to read display fonts minimally (i.e. for single words only). Make simple two-part contrasts. Avoid double emphasis, such as underlining as well as Italics. Think contrast. The overall design should be driven by the most import statement. It is probably best to avoid Comic Sans.

Resources As well as the following suggestions, you should also have a look at the companion website for a few more ideas for your own independent learning.

Books Betancourt, Michael. Semiotics and Title Sequences: Text–Image Composites in Motion Graphics. Routledge/ Focus, 2017. D’Efilippo, Valentina. The Infographic History of the World. Collins, 2013. Kirk, Andy. Data Visualisation. Sage, 2016. Lupton, Ellen. Type on Screen: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Developers and Students. Princeton Architectural Press, 2014. McCandless, David. Knowledge Is Beautiful. William Collins, 2014. McNeil, Paul. A Visual History of Type. Lawrence King, 2017. Woolman, Matt. Type in Motion. 2nd edn. Thames and Hudson, 2005.

Films Press Pause Play (2011), directed by David Dworsky and Victor Köhler – Does democratized culture mean better art, film, music and literature, or is true talent instead flooded and drowned in the vast digital ocean of mass culture? Is it cultural democracy or mediocrity? These are questions addressed by Press Pause Play, a documentary film containing interviews with some of the world’s most influential creators of the digital era. Pablo (2012), directed by Richard Goldewicht – An animated biography of designer Pablo Ferro. Helvetica (2007), directed by Gary Huswit – A documentary about typography graphic design and global visual culture.

Web A History of Typography by Ben Barrett-Forrest: https:// vimeo.com/65899856. The history of the title sequence by Rebecca Gross for Canva: https://www.canva.com/learn/film-titles/.

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The best opening title sequences of all time by CineFix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8twthdaqB8.

A short graduation film by Jurgen Versteeg on the history of the title sequence: https://vimeo.com/26278283.

Art of the Title, an online publication dedicated to title sequence design, spans film, television, conference, and video game industries: http://www.artofthetitle.com.

Why Man Creates is a documentary film dicussing the nature of creativity by Saul Bass: https://vimeo. com/22113008.

Air Canada ad: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=BlAqrOZITKM or https://vimeo.com/106383566.

The Film before the Film is a short documentary that traces the evolution of title design through the history of film: https://vimeo.com/60964497.

Rebecca Gross, freelance writer, researcher, and design historian, has posted this illustrated essay of the Graphic Art of Film Title Design throughout Cinema History: https://www.canva.com/learn/film-titles/.

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10 Editing

Chapter Overview Whether your next film is to be a drama, documentary or animation, if it’s to be two minutes or over an hour, many of the tried and tested rules discussed in this chapter will help you to create a film with more impact. It might be an accurate recording of real events or a staged narrative unfolding through shot composition, direction, performance and design and told sequentially through editing. Either way it’s worth looking at how it all started. In this chapter, you’ll study the following: •

Look at the birth of film and how editing developed from shorts to feature films and some of the methods that became established as a result.

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Examine two main approaches to editing: invisible editing for a smooth continuous narrative and more visible editing exploring continuity and montage theory.

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Consider how different transitions affect the story. We look at the four basic cuts and a few others, exploring some ideas on when and why to use each one. We ask when effects should be used and why. When is it too much and how will you know when you have reached overload?

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Look at the importance of rhythm and pace to your film and how editing is the leading factor for controlling this crucial element.

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How Editing Developed from Shorts to Features

How Editing Developed from Shorts to Features What can we learn about early editing techniques that could affect how we design our films today? Considering that most of us have grown up on a diet of international feature films and homemade digital stories, many of the early revelations created by the pioneers of film have become so ingrained in our understanding of film grammar, that we take them for granted. So, let’s backtrack a bit. It’s a given that narrative films are made up of lots of short pieces of film joined together in a specific order to tell a story. The order in which they are put together, the length of shot, the choice of when to cut, the sort of transition needed, and whether this join is visible or not are all decisions made as part of the art and craft of editing. You may be aiming for the illusion of continuity or interrupting the flow of narrative to make a point, either goal can be achieved through editing. Schools and styles of editing change, evolving with the film industry as different techniques become relevant for particular film styles and contexts. From the minimal film continuity editing techniques of the early silent era to the influence of music videos and freely accessible digital editing tools, there are a range of choices available. Not only does advancing technology influence methodology, but individual tastes are also regularly being reconsidered, as techniques fall in and out of fashion. There are some building blocks from how the craft developed, however, that help us understand current practice. Amongst the early film pioneers were several people recognized as being instrumental in steering the development of film and moving image, particularly around how shots are put together and the psychological effect it has on us. The very first films were all shorts, some merely a few seconds long, presented through Thomas Edison’s peep-show-like device for individual viewing: the Kinetoscope. These and the first projected films that followed them were ‘actuality’ or ‘interest’ films, usually shot from one single camera set-up, showing royal processions, celebrities, travelogues or scenes of everyday life. No editing was involved. As film makers began to

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include narratives, many of these short one-shot films recorded a performed scene with no camera movement and no need to edit at all, as action unfolded in front of the lens in one wide shot. It was early days, and the world was just getting used to the new spectacle of flickering light and shadow that was to create the motion picture; it would be a while before continuous scenes would be joined together to tell a longer story. Amongst the first film makers to experiment with cutting film was Georges Méliès, whose playful film Voyage to the Moon (1902) used an editing in-camera technique and also included probably the first special effects ever seen on film. Discovered by accident one day when his camera jammed, he would intentionally stop the camera in mid-action, freeze the actors, then replace the props and restart the camera. When played back as one sequence it gave viewers the sense that the prop change was a magical illusion; similarly, a puff of smoke might be used as a ‘cut’ point with the same effect. This technique can be seen frequently in the early films of Buster Keaton, where scenes jump from one moment in time, scale, and pace to another for comedic effect. See Keaton’s film Sherlock, Jr. (1923), for examples of optical effects and in-camera tricks that foxed most cameramen of the time. Méliès seems to have also been the first to use a fade-in/fade-out, overlapping dissolves and stop-motion photography, but he never moved the camera, possibly out of practicality; instead it remained rooted to the spot, shooting each scene from the same angle, almost as if the scene were viewed from the best seat in a theatre. Editing probably first became purposeful with Edwin S. Porter’s work around 1903, using visual continuity by organizing his shots to make his screen stories more dynamic, discovering that the shot was the basic building block of the film. His film The Life of an American Fireman (1903) was a six-minute-long combination of stock library footage and staged scenes, comprising twenty shots. Noted for its temporal overlap, meaning a continuity lag between scenes, a fireman slides down a pole through a hole in the floor in one scene, followed by another scene at the bottom of the pole, where we see the fireman arrive, but after what seems like an awkward delay, certainly by our standards. His next film, The Great Train Robbery (1903), was twelve minutes long and fourteen shots. Both films show time and location changes, where the meaning of the story comes from the

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collection of the shots, to form dynamic narrative. This was to be Porter’s contribution to editing, and today we are quite used to seeing cuts representing a jump forward or backward in time as well as space. As cameras became less cumbersome, this enabled film makers to use a range of shots more easily. Initially early film makers thought splicing together different angles of the same scene would confuse the audience; however, they soon realized that editing shots into sequences allowed them to not only contribute to the narrative, but it also helped tell more complex stories. American director, writer and producer David Wark Griffith, better known as D. W. Griffith is often considered the father of film editing, influencing both mainstream Hollywood and Russian revolutionary film. A pioneer of modern film-making, his silent films used a wide variety of shots for dramatic construction, including extreme long shots, close-ups, cut-aways, parallel editing and variations in pace. In effect, he made use of many techniques we would associate with the principles of design: scale framing, composition, comparison and rhythm. Although Griffith was not responsible for inventing any editing techniques himself, he did make them emotionally and thematically significant in a way that none of his contemporaries were doing. His best-known film was the controversial Birth of a Nation (1915). Although popular at the time in the United States and setting the stage for feature-length films, it was criticized for its racist undertones as scenes glorified the Ku Klux Klan. In response to his critics, Griffith followed this film with an epic, three and a half hour–long film Intolerance (1916), which had four parallel storylines set across several different countries. Sadly, this film was to bankrupt him; it confused most audiences of the time and flopped at the box office. A few years later, however, the film made its way to Russia where it was studied by students attending the Moscow Film School. They pored over its technical achievements and ideas about society, cutting it up and rearranging scenes to fully understand the power of the editing. Under the teaching of Kuleshov, one of the first film theorists, students looked at the assembly of shots to create new meaning. In a famous experiment, which became known as the Kuleshov effect, they looked at the effect of juxtaposing two shots: In the first, a bowl of soup is followed by a shot of a man’s relatively expressionless face; in

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the second, the same shot of the man is preceded by the shot of a young girl in a coffin; and in the third, we first see a woman reclining seductively followed by the exact same shot of the man. When viewers were asked to comment on what the sequences meant, many marvelled at the actor’s ability to capture hunger, sorrow and lust so acutely. This Kuleshov effect has become a cornerstone of film structure, two shots together create something different than one independently; the juxtaposition of the shots inform and affect one another. Two of the burgeoning Russian film makers, under the tuition of Kuleshov, who were looking at the use of these early techniques were Vsevolod I. Pudovkin and Sergei Eisenstein, who would become major contributors themselves by further developing the ideas and work of Griffith. Pudovkin is known for establishing editing techniques and Eisenstein for theories on montage. Pudovkin attempted to develop a theory of editing by formally translating ideas into narratives beyond the intuitive classic editing of Griffith, a method to control a ‘psychological guidance’ of the viewer. These ideas became known as Pudovkin’s five editing techniques, and they outline how an emotion or idea can be conveyed without explicitly saying it. These relational editing examples were very influential 100 or so years ago and have gone on to form the foundation of the classic Hollywood-style editing that encourages a flow of narrative, making editing almost seamless. The techniques are still used in almost every film today. A contemporary of Pudovkin’s, Sergei Eisenstein, another young committed film maker, took these ideas to another level and combined the knowledge learned from Griffith’s film work with the lessons of the influential revolutionary thinker Karl Marx, integrating them into a single

The foundation of film art is editing. Vsevolod Illarionovich Pudovkin – Russian/Soviet film director

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Figure 10.1 a–f  The Kuleshov effect influences every film and film maker. It is the film editing or montage effect, as demonstrated by Lev Kuleshov in the 1910s and 1920s, the mental phenomenon where viewers read more meaning into sequential shots than from a single shot in isolation. It is the central component of visual storytelling, as through it we can suggest meaning and manipulate space and time.

experience. In his film Potemkin (1925), a tribute to the early Russian revolutionaries, Eisenstein uses a range of camera angles, lenses, and montaged individual shots to tell a story. His work is considered to be of landmark importance in forming the language of film. Eisenstein’s ideas on montage echo what we know is effective in creating strong graphic design, such as scale, framing, contrast and affinity, symmetry and asymmetry. He went on to become one of Russia’s greatest, most renowned directors and wrote extensively about film ideas, teaching a generation of Russian directors. Eisenstein argued in an early essay from 1929, ‘The Cinematic Principle’, that montage was the essence of cinema, equating it with conflict. This was not only through elements, such as the intersection of opposing graphic directions, static or dynamic lines, but also a conflict of scales through relative size of objects, opposing volumes of size, shape and depths, depending on position. He described montage as ‘combining shots that are depictive, single in meaning, neutral in content into intellectual context and series’.

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Fast-forward several decades and it is now accepted that shots put together can mean almost anything to anyone, as they are open to interpretation. This means that two shots put one after the other can suggest or express all sorts of relationships between the two shots depending on the viewer and the context, as in the Kuleshov effect. These might include relationships that are spatial, temporal, graphic, rhythmic or conceptual. Similarly, every shot you see changes the interpretation of the shot you are about to see, which has a ripple effect all the way down the timeline. This is the same case for scenes made up from several shots, as each scene will affect the next scene and sequences of scenes and so on. It is surprising how easy it is to forget this when you are in the middle of editing your film. Try not to get too bogged down with the small details and lose sight of the whole picture. However, no two editors working with the same footage will come up with the same film, as editing is an art not a science and has no right or wrong. Let’s have a look at how two different approaches impact film-making.

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Pudovkin’s Five Editing Techniques 1. Contrast – A comparison of two opposing scenes intercut. In The Godfather (1972), directed by Francis Ford Coppola, the baptism scene is intercut with mob killings to provide an illustration of moral hypocrisy in both action and dialogue (Figure 10.2a, b). 2. Parallelism – A way of connecting two seemingly unrelated scenes by echoing visual elements to show another idea (e.g. via shape, composition or detail). Often used to jump forward in time.

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The Silence of the Lambs (1991), directed by Jonathan Demme, exploits this technique by joining together the two opposing forces of the film: the FBI lead Jack Crawford and the criminal Buffalo Bill; their scenes intersect and culminate in a climax. 3. Symbolism – A way to represent another idea. Moving from the main scene to something that makes a symbolic connection. An iconic example is in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), directed by Stanley Kubrick. In the scene, an ape throws a bone in the air; it spins high out of shot, then as it comes back, its trajectory is matched with a cut of an orbiting satellite. In a few seconds, Kubrick shows evolution of both man and technology across millions of years (Figure 10.2c, d).

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4. Simultaneity – A way to cross-cut between two simultaneous events to build suspense. The narrative structure of Dunkirk (2017), directed by Christopher Nolan, uses simultaneity to bend time: editor Lee Smith crosscuts between a midnight sequence of sailors trapped in the hull of a sinking ship and a mid-day episode in which a Spitfire pilot tries to unjam the hatch of his plane as water fills the cockpit.

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5. Leitmotif – The reiteration of a theme or the recurrence of a shot that has some sort of meaning or symbolism. In Jaws (1975), directed by Steven Spielberg, we see several shots underwater, as if from the shark’s point of view, looking up at the swimmers (Figure 10.2e, f). This visual code heightens tension, suggesting an imminent attack.

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10.2e Figure 10.2 a–f  (a–b) Contrasting scenes in The Godfather (1972), directed by Francis Ford Coppola. (c–d) Probably the most well-known match cut in cinematic history 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), directed by Stanley Kubrick. (e–f) The underwater shots in Jaws (1975), directed by Steven Spielberg, providing a leitmotif. 10.2f

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Eisenstein’s Montage Categories Metric montage is the practice of placing shots together using an exact measurement, irrespective of the content of the shot, in other words cutting to the beat. This increases the tension of the scene and when combined with a use of close-ups and shorter shots will be even more intense. Rhythmic montage is cutting in tempo but taking its cue from the content of the shot (i.e. matching action or screen direction). Tonal montage considers the tonal values of the shot. This might mean decisions about lighting of objects or editing made to specifically represent the emotional character of the scene, which could be changing. Overtonal montage combines metric, rhythmic and tonal montage with whole sequences playing against each other, creating an interplay of pace ideas and emotions to induce the desired effect from the audience. Intellectual or ideological montage is the introduction of montage into a highly charged and emotionalized sequence. (Eisenstein’s film October (1927) is full of these.)

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Invisible and Visible Editing Of the many approaches to editing, two main schools have a significant bearing on how we shape the design and content of our shots, the first is sometimes termed as invisible, or classic continuity editing, the technique favoured by Hollywood feature films. The second style that we are going to look at, montage theory, is in complete contrast; edits are more obvious, where the juxtaposition of shots becomes obtrusive and intentionally interrupts the flow of the story or message for a particular effect, to introduce another idea, or to be visually jarring to make the viewer rethink. A montage of images can fall into this category, and according to Eisenstein, montage was the ‘essence of cinema’. We will look at how these two different approaches have been exploited by film makers and touch on some current ground rules for new film makers.

Continuity editing Award-winning Hollywood sound and film editor Walter Murch is often credited for being the person responsible for the industry’s smooth transition from mechanical editing to digital. He is a

Walter Murch’s Rule of Six 1. Emotion: 51% – How will this cut affect the audience emotionally at this particular moment of the film? Does the cut follow the emotion of the movement or does it subtract or distract from the emotion? 2. Story: 23% – Does the edit move the story forward in a meaningful way? From a musical sense, does it happen at the right point? Does it fit within the overall rhythm of what we have established?

the movement in one of those quadrants. For instance, if your character is reaching from the top left quadrant, and his eyes are focused to the right lower quadrant that is where your audience’s focus will naturally move after the cut.    Remember to edit on the movement and match the action.

3. Rhythm: 10% – Is the cut at a point that makes rhythmic sense? Does it occur at a moment that is visually interesting? Like music editing, it must have a beat, a rhythm to it. Timing is everything.

5. Two-dimensional plane of screen: 5% – Make sure your cuts follow a 180-degree axis to keep the action along its correct path. For example, if someone walks out of frame on the left, they should enter again via the right, or else it looks as if they have turned around and walked back the other way

4. Eye trace: 7% – How does the cut affect the location and movement of the audience’s focus of interest within the shot or will the incoming shot cause the eyes’ focus of attention to be distracted? Break the screen into four quadrants and try to keep

6. Three-dimensional space of action: 4% – The cut should respect the three-dimensional continuity of the actual space. It should be true to where the people are in the room and in relation to one another, as well as consider proximity and physicality of one another.

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great believer in editing being seamless and unnoticeable. Ideally the viewers should be so in touch with the story that they are unaware of the cuts as they experience the film, and they become direct participants along with the characters in the film. The aim is to achieve invisible editing, an uninterrupted flow of scenes to hold us in the story; we most commonly see this as the preferred storytelling goal of Hollywood. Murch achieves this by masterfully implementing a set of rules he terms as his ‘Rule of Six’ – a list of priorities that guide him through his editing decisions. An ideal cut for him would be one that satisfies all six criteria at once, but he ranks them in order of significance, giving them a percentage of importance, with the first outweighing all the others by far. For a more expanded explanation of The Rule of Six, watch the video essay on Vimeo from Nikole Hidalgo; it is full of practical examples. Even though eye trace is only given a small percentage on Murch’s scale, as narrative and performance will be the main contributors to the story, what if we are making a short non- narrative film? We are aiming for our shots to work as smoothly as possible in the least obtrusive way, so understanding where the eye is drawn to in the frame will help. This is primarily determined by movement and colour, but there are other factors too. Larry Jordan and Norman Hollyn at 2reelguys. com have produced many masterclasses on ‘editing without talking tech’. They expand on Murch’s eye-trace ideas:

Elements inside the frame catch the viewer’s attention using several different kinds of aesthetic energy: light, color, space, motion, brightness, focus, etc. Essentially, something that is big, bright, red, moving, and in focus is going to grab more attention or have more aesthetic energy than something that is small,

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dull, grey, still, and out of focus. This is important to know as an editor, because it will allow you to keenly choose your edits, as well as guide your audience through the story. This thinking has great resonance with Block’s principles of contrast and affinity that are likely to have been already applied by director, cinematographer and production designer, even before the film gets into the instrumental hands of the editor who will be the person to bring out the visual personality of the shot to inform the narrative, seamlessly or otherwise. Another lesson learned from Jordan and Hollyn is that the viewer sees what they expect to see and often not what is actually there. As a film maker, the challenge is to get them to see what we want them to see. The intention is to guide the audience towards the emotion we want them to feel; call it manipulation or control, either way we want to direct the audience’s attention through positioning specific visual components. Understand what they will be first drawn to has a strict hierarchy: starting with movement, then elements that are brighter, then bigger, those elements in focus, or those that are central. There are many times when you might intend to make your cuts deliberate and obvious, which brings us onto the other style of editing.

Montage theory The term montage, from the French term meaning ‘to assemble’, was originally used to mean editing in general, and can be preferred over terms like ‘cut’ that suggest something has been removed or omitted rather than carefully arranged to create an effect. Nowadays we refer to montage in more specific terms, and it tends to mean a collection of shots that represent an idea, for example, an internal thought, a memory or historical recap. Let’s look at this early example.

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Figure 10.3 a–d  One of the first montages used to great effect is seen in Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin (1925), specifically the Odessa steps sequence, often parodied and the subject of much discussion. Here the juxtaposition of shots builds intentionally to tell a horrifying narrative.

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Figure 10.4 a–d Un Chien Andalou (1929), one of the most famous short films of all time, is the work of Luis Bunuel and surrealist artist Salvador Dali. This silent film is deliberately incomprehensible to make a statement about the absurdity of French cinema of the time.

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The antithesis of invisible editing for continuity can be seen in the visual discontinuity of Luis Bunuel’s Un Chien D’Andalou (1929), famous for representing a satirical set of unrelated sequences intended to speak to the audience’s subconscious, possibly dreamlike and surreal, possibly ironic, but it represents the height of asynchronism. Based on visual discontinuity rather than classical rules of continuity, Bunuel was interested in making a film that destroyed meaning interspersed with the occasional shock. One of the most frequently referenced examples of the creative construction of a scene through an assembly of separate shots is the shower scene in Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960). Here the on-screen violence is inferred through a montage of over seventy-eight shots in rapid succession, lasting only forty-five seconds. Partly driven by being unable to show a full-length shot of a naked woman due to censorship, Hitchcock creates an illusion of gore, violence and nudity while actually showing us very little. Building suspense with a series of fast cut fragments, mere details of the scene and action, he successfully means to disturb us with the event of the murder and then shock us with the brutality, knowing the audience would fill in the gaps and be so absorbed in the horrifying narrative the editing would take a backseat. As well as numerous references to this scene in the art world (i.e. The work of Douglas Gordon), it has more recently become the subject of a feature documentary called 78/52 as there were seventy-eight camera set-ups and fifty-two edits in total. See the Resources section.

Transitions (and Tips) Now that we have looked at some background on editing styles in the broader picture, let’s look at the detail of how some of these shots can be put alongside each other in practice. Essentially, there are four basic transitions that can be used to take you from one shot to the next. These are the cut, the dissolve, the wipe and the fade. Although the grammar and meaning of each of these edit transitions may have evolved since the early days, the form of each of them has remained the same, as has their purpose,

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so most people understand what is meant when they are used. For clarity let’s take a look at a definition of each one and consider some accepted assumptions on how each works in context today, as well as some variations on the theme.

The cut The most frequently used transition, the cut is an instantaneous change from one image to another. This change can be made along with the sound or independently. A cut can be seemingly invisible, if following a continuity style of editing, or hard and abrupt to represent the mood of the story (e.g. adding a sense of urgency). The cut is most often used when the action is continuous, if there needs to be a sudden change for visual or aural impact, or if there needs to be a change in information or location. Cutting the picture and its accompanying sound can be done separately by delaying the sound or advancing it. This is known as a split edit or a J-and-L cut, which makes sense if you think of the shape the audio track makes against the visual track on a timeline. A J cut is when the sound from the incoming scene comes in early while we are still seeing the picture of the outgoing shot, and a L cut is when the sound from the outgoing shot carries into the next scene. Feature films will most likely make cuts in action, as this is the best way to create a smooth seamless flow of narrative. There are a number of ways you can do this, as we described in Murch’s Rule of Six. The eye has fewer problems filling the gap when there is an obvious jump rather than only a small incremental change; unlikely though it sounds, tiny differences are more likely to jar and disrupt our flow due to where our focus and attention has been drawn. As Murch puts it, when the ‘displacement is great enough . . . we are forced to re-evaluate the new image as a different context’. There are numerous video essays with good examples of how transitions work within the flow of the film, some at the end of this chapter. When you watch a film, you could also take note of how many cuts you can discern; count them out loud and note exactly what is happening on screen when they are made. Much like a magician directing you to look at his left hand as the right pulls off a trick, this sleight of hand goes unnoticed, as is the case with good editing.

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Transitions (and Tips)

The dissolve The second most common transition in motion pictures are dissolves. Unlike cuts, a dissolve intentionally attracts attention to itself, defining a gradual change at the end of one shot into the beginning of the next through superimposition via opacity levels, which measures how translucent a shot is, 100 per cent being solid. As the one shot ‘dissolves’ away by reducing the opacity level, the next shot ‘resolves’ to full screen, appearing smoothly from 0 to 100 per cent. They are most often used when there is a change in time or location, for example, when time needs to be slowed down or sped up or there is an emotional component to the subject in the story or a strong visual relationship between the outgoing and incoming images.

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Anxious World Short Film Collaborative team Joe Aiken, Xi Wu and Sarah Wicks worked together to produce a short film based on experiences of London. The film is a series of unconnected images held together by a poem written and narrated by director Joe Aiken. Within the one minute thirty second duration, many of the editing techniques mentioned are used, including dissolves, cuts, time lapse, slow motion, as well as layering and overlapping footage. To creates some of the in-camera effects, the team films reflections in windows and water; use bokeh, achieved with soft focus points of light; and re-film iPhone footage running on computer screens. Simple to achieve on a smartphone, collectively the variation of techniques aptly reflects a fragmented anxiety when edited together. Joe reflects on some of the camera work: ‘A mobile phone stuck to the train window for example, really helped the look of confusion and everyday London hustle and bustle . . . and added a personalised and recognisable feel.’ Stills from this film can be seen on the following page (Figures 10.6 and 10.7).

Figure 10.5 a–d  Production stills from the collaborative team Joe Aiken, Xi Wu and Sarah Wicks producing Anxious World.

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Figure 10.6 a–d  A variety of editing techniques helped the frenetic feel of the city: (a) layered text, (b) masks to create multiple and fragmented images, (c and d) repeating and layering the image in different sizes.

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Figure 10.7 a–d  Other techniques include several in-camera effects: (a) filming reflection, (b) looking through a window, (c) playing footage on an iPhone and re-filming screen, (d) using out-of-focus light sources or bokeh.

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The wipe A wipe is between a cut and a dissolve: often fleetingly, you get to see both images on screen at once, but unlike a dissolve with superimposition, it often uses shapes or other graphic elements associated with the story or meaning. They can zigzag, spiral, or move diagonally, horizontally or vertically across the screen, replacing the old shot with the new. Wipes are most often used when there is a change in time or location, when there is no strong

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visual relationship between the outgoing and incoming shot, or a wipe may be a styling choice for projects that call for more graphic treatment. They became popular in Hollywood cinema of the 1930s to transition from one place in time to another. Today they tend to be used in comedy, fantasy, sci-fi and children’s programming, often along with a sound effect to draw further attention to them.

10.8c Figure 10.8 a–e  Based on Rhythms 21 by Hans Richter made in 1921 (see Chapter 7), designers Daniel Eatock and Timothy Evans create this playful short animation using early Microsoft PowerPoint transitions, simply wiping from a full black to white and back again. Stripped of content, it provides an interesting study of the psychological effect of different wipes. Both are films worth looking at for the full effect.

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10.9c Figure 10.9 a–e  Thibaut Degenne’s After Effects experiments with a square are along the same lines, as all could be wipes from white to black; these are the midway points.

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Figure 10.10 a–b  James Symonds uses masks, compiling different time zones in one image to isolate the recurrence of particular observations (i.e. people wearing red in Red Crossing or the appearance of pushchairs in his March of the Buggies).

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The fade A fade-in is a traditional way of beginning a film or a programme, or it is used to mark the beginning of a chapter, sequence or scene. A gradual change from a solid colour–filled screen, typically black, into a fully visible image, it is also called fade from black, but it can actually be any colour. Fade-ins are used for a change in time or location, whereas a fade-out often marks the end of a programme, chapter, sequence or scene, but both can be used interchangeably. They have long been part of film language, a common tool of the editor for marking the transition into or out of the dreamlike state that is motion picture viewing.

can be effective in representing what is going on inside the head of a character, showing their point of view or a fleeting thought. As we saw in Jose Mendez’s animated circles film in Figure 7.5 a–e, the echoing of similar shapes can help to match the cut. Another example of metaphor can be seen in Hal Ashby’s film Harold and Maude (1971), where we see the couple on a hill surrounded by white flowers; this cuts to a military graveyard. Both the dialogue and the match cut not only create a relationship between the two scenes but also effectively engenders meaning and metaphor. As well as the previous examples, you will be familiar with many more, but perhaps you are not aware of how they are categorized. A whole host of them are defined in Joey Scoma’s video essay Cuts and Transitions 101. See Resources for link. And of course, there are many other transitions hard to label that work well to communicate something else entirely, the sort of transitions that really shouldn’t work at all, but just do. The editor is the last person in the production line as far as quality control, the last defence, so pay attention before you hit the render button,

Other techniques Of course, there are many more editing techniques besides these four, most are variations on a theme. Two more you will be familiar with are the graphic edit and the cut-away. A graphic edit is more of a visual match cut to create new meaning where there may be a graphic similarity of the two shots, perhaps of pattern or colour, an action echoed, or a similar idea. A cut-away, or inserting a shot in the middle of the action, is an intentional disruption that

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Figure 10.11 a–c  In an early offering from emerging director Roman Kim, he dissolves from the scene of a man sleeping to an underwater scene. We think he is dreaming, but it also metaphorically suggests the underworld in his film about Tibetan shamanic ritual.

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Editing Tips When to cut? Make editing decisions when the clip is playing, not on a still frame. Action provides motivation to cut. Upstream or downstream? Terms like move up the timeline or down the timeline can be as confusing as which is before and which is after? Editor Walter Murch likes to use the following terms for clarity when he’s discussing with directors: upstream being what has happened before and downstream is what is to come. A good rule to keep the flow of your narrative dynamic is to vary your shots in the edit to help build a rhythm, and in general, avoid putting a wide shot against another wide shot, as it will jar. It’s better to insert a medium shot in between to make the cut intentional rather than subtle, which can have the effect of drawing attention to the slight mismatch. Similarly, a medium to medium shot can look very awkward; however, a tight to tight shot can work if the difference between the images is marked. Natural Sound can be crucial to your storytelling techniques and punctuates your dialogue, making everything sound more real and immediate. The most common mistakes of new film makers at edit stage include the following:

you are familiar with all your footage, as you may miss all the good stuff or run the risk of editing yourself into a corner. Do a detailed full transcription, making notes on all the takes. Select the best bits and label them all clearly, so they are readily available. 2. Not using split edits. Your cuts will be less obtrusive if you avoid cutting picture and sound at the same point, as in a parallel cut; it is better to use appropriate split edits, also known as J-and-L cuts, to simulate an organic flow of a scene. This technique is so named because of the shape the cut makes on the timeline (see Figure 10.12). 3. Having a chaotic workflow. Know and test your workflow before you get in too deep. For example, group clips together, test the chain, ingest a few clips, sync the audio, make multi-cam if that’s relevant, sort into bins. Then cut a select reel and edit a test scene that simulates the real project. Do a colour and sound check and export it all the way to the end product (i.e. export as a quick time movie or DVD whatever you are to deliver on). Along the way, document the workflow by taking notes as you work. This bit of organization up front could save you days of work that may only need to be undone.

1. Not knowing your footage. Don’t rush to make the first cut; only start your edit when Figure 10.12  Try not to cut picture and sound at the same point, as in a parallel  cut; much better to use appropriate split edits known as J-and-L cuts. This helps the natural flow of a scene; the technique is so named because of the shape the cut makes on the timeline, as this diagram shows.

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check all your titles are in place, do a final spell check, and be sure all your transitions are as they should be. It’s true that the editing stage is where all the magic happens as films are made in the edit, not in the shoot. While it may also be ‘cutting out the bad bits’, there is a lot more to it than that. Harris Watts, in his book Directing on Camera, describes editing like a chef cooking a meal: the process of

choosing and collecting the ingredients is crucial, but it is in the kitchen that the meal is made, and the sensitivity of the chef will determine the outcome. His metaphor explains it better

Look at as many films as you can and see how it has been done and forge your own path. You will discover your own way of putting things together. This is a very new art in human experience, barely a hundred years old, whereas all the other arts . . . their origins are lost in prehistory. We individually and we culturally are discovering how to do this and there’s lots more to discover. Walter Murch – BAFTA Productions, on editing

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You choose your recipe (subject and angle), write out a shopping list (treatment and storyboard), get some money (you need more than you think) and go shopping for the raw materials (shoot the pictures and record the sound). Then you return to the kitchen (cutting room) and start cooking (editing). The meal is made in the kitchen; the film in the cutting room. Harris Watts – from Directing on Camera

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Effects Before we go on to the next section, here is a short note on film effects, the subject of many books in their entirety and a million how-to uploads. Often at the editing stage there is a temptation to play around with effects, especially if you are a less than happy with your material. This could be anything from relatively subtle lighting changes, creating a different mood or perhaps creating a particular film stock look to something more obvious and often gratuitous. It is important to use film effects sparingly unless your idea hinges on it. A trawl around YouTube, Vimeo, or the Adobe site will show you the variety of impressive film effects Premiere or After Effects can produce, in the right hands. Beware of automated plug-ins as, used arbitrarily, they can create overkill. While they can add to the finished shot by enhancing the meaning and adding to your story, many film makers get carried away. Before you get overwhelmed with the possibilities, first ask what result do you actually want to achieve? Is there a better way of doing it, perhaps in the writing or storyline? If you are sure this is what is needed, ask yourself what prep work you will need to do to make it work (i.e. at the shooting stage with props or wardrobe or with lenses and frame rates). Consider why you are applying an effect at all. If your footage is already shot, look at the edited sequence and remember that unless you really know what you’re doing it’s a highly skilled job to achieve a look in post-production.

Rhythm and Pace In general the rhythm of a film will be an individual and intuitive matter. Without it the editing will be jerky and draw attention to itself, but with rhythm, the film will appear seamless, and we become totally absorbed in the flow of the narrative; however, there are some practical considerations to help determine how long a particular shot should be, depending on the amount of visual information contained within the shot. For example, a wide shot with a lot of information is likely to need a longer time to take in than a close-up, which can be read instantly, so a shorter screen length may be all that’s needed. Likewise moving shots are often held on screen longer than static images to

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allow the audience to take in the changing information. It’s best to avoid having all the shots the same length, as this lack of variety will decrease the impact of the sequence and become predictable. If the rhythm and pace never change, or there are no surprises, your film will become monotonous to the viewer. The idea that a long shot can provide a moment of respite amongst an onslaught of images can be very effective. By slowing cuts, we have time to catch our breath and contemplate the message within the scene. Contrast the intentional emotional effect in the shower scene of Hitchcock’s film Psycho, as previously discussed, with the following example. Steve McQueen’s Hunger (2008) is the harrowing story of Irish Republican Army activist Bobby Sands’ last months in jail. More a mood piece than a straight history of the 1981 hunger strike, McQueen captures the humanity and brutality on both sides of the conflict. In one particular scene, a prison cleaner begins to wash the floors after a so-called ‘dirty protests’ where inmates poured urine under their cell doors and smeared the walls with their own excrement. Getting the pacing and tempo right can be problematic; too many quick cuts or too much fast-paced activity and your audience won’t be able to absorb the information; too slow with long dragging shots, and they will soon get bored. If your music is fast-paced, the shots should also keep up, or they will appear to drag. It’s a good idea to allow your audience to get established in the scene and avoid too many cuts up front. One approach to starting off an edit, could be to first lay down the music on the timeline, use an opening shot to establish the scene and then edit to the beat of the music and emotional feel. As we discussed in Chapters 3 and 6, a really good rule of thumb is to make sure that you shoot loads of B roll, things you can cut away to. This will help you mask any cuts needed to tighten up the dialogue, to remove any pauses or ‘buts’ in a less than flowing piece. This can really help with the flow of your story and keep the pace up; but without something to cut to, this will be impossible. Also be aware of what Norman Hollyn refers to as the ‘lean forward moment’, which is the point in the narrative when you want your audience to pay particular attention. This can be achieved with change, for example a sudden close-up from a wide shot or a drop in sound to silence. It could be an attitude, an emotion, a change in framing, colour or in the general composition.

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10.13b

Figure 10.13 a–b  Contrast the multi-shot look of Hitchcock’s shower scene versus the single take of this shot from Hunger (2008), directed by Steve McQueen. The camera is motionless on a long drawn out shot of the prison corridor; for almost three full minutes, he subjects us to extended monotonous action, to the sound of the broom scraping towards us. The corridor is long, and there is a lot of cleaning to do; the camera remains static and lingers, seemingly forever. The shot becomes uncomfortable to watch, echoing the frustration and futility of the film’s theme, while allowing us time for contemplation on the political situation that has brought us there in the first place.

10.14a

10.14b

Figure 10.14 a–b  Hitchcock montages seventy-eight shots in rapid succession. Although nothing is actually shown, the mere details are suggestive enough make us fill in the gaps and have a shocking effect.

Good editing makes the film look well directed. Great editing makes the film look like it wasn’t directed at all. Victor Fleming – director, Gone with the Wind, 1939 This will create a moment of maximum, effective attention, and it is the perfect time to release some vital information in your plot or underline your point. This is because audiences react when things change, and in Hollyn’s view, something must change in order for a scene to be successful. This will be a definite way to reinforce the narrative.

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Walter Murch’s background in pre-digital, mechanical sound design and picture editing, affords him a broad overview of how changing technology has reshaped the way he edits. In this excerpt from an interview recorded at the Sheffield International Documentary Festival in 2013 he says:

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The digital chip that is recording images is getting bigger and bigger so we are dealing with pixel density that is huge compared to what it was even a few years ago. What it allows us to do editorially is recompose the image within the frame, particularly useful in a documentary, as

10.15a

when you are shooting a doc you don’t know where this particular moment is going to go in the film, how it’s going to integrate, so there may be things within the frame that ultimately will not fit within the story, so the ability

10.15b

to recompose, to enlarge the frame and omit something now incorrect, perhaps a character that has disappeared in the film is in the shot . . . well, we can just eliminate that character by just narrowing the field, we used to not be able to do that so freely as (a) it was expensive

10.15c

and (b) even if you could do it the, grain structure of film was such that you knew something had happened to the shot whereas with digital film it’s not clear that’s the case. So we can, in a sense, photograph the film a second time in the

10.15d

editing by re-composing within the frame.

Figure 10.15 a–f Shirin Ebrahimi Asil uses editing techniques to visualize the relativity of time. Taking the quote by Albert Einstein, ‘The distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion’, she shows the same images in reverse at the same time. The pacing is fast, so within a few seconds it becomes clear that we are watching the same footage. It starts with the future, which is in reverse; cuts back to present, which is in real time; and continues back and forth until two images meet at the present and pass it to where its starts and ends again, looping time in a continuous cycle.

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10.15e

10.15f

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A lot has changed since the early days of celluloid film-making. With many advantages at our fingertips, films are now made faster, for a fraction of the cost, and more easily. We can review our work instantly and keep all versions as we go along. We have endless possibilities for sound design and integrated special effects. And best of

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all distribution is no longer a major hurdle as you can output a single version and easily transfer the digital file to whomever you like. There’s never been a better time to become a film maker or more of a reason to get out and experiment. All boundaries are set to be broken.

10.16a

10.16b Figure 10.15 a–b In Simona Staniscia’s project, she pays tribute to the Italian film director Pier Paolo Pasolini, a seminal figure in the evolution of film and language theory, in an attempt to illustrate and interpret some of his theories. Staniscia references some of his key concepts around order and meaning, and she unravels his thoughts on the long take versus editing. In one section called Splices, she takes a short clip from Pasolini’s film Edipo Re (1967) and studies the intersections or junctures where two shots meet. To bring our attention to the duration of each shot and the point of transition, she uses different methods: first an audible beep at the point of cut, then splitting the screen up and playing each shot simultaneously on the left and then the right. She covers the picture with a large visible time code, counting up each frame throughout the duration of the shot, and finally she plays all shots at once, layering all sound and images together.

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I think one of the most invaluable lessons I learnt from early attempts at filmmaking was to not be intimidated and just have a go. Not to feel excluded by those in the know, just to dive in and attempt the physical making and linking of filmed sequences.  A rough cut, or any earlystage footage can be like the pencil sketch or scamp for the graphic designer. It’s where the ideas can formulate, where it all begins.  To physically get out and shoot some footage on whatever platform is crucial. Conveying and pitching one’s early intentions, subject matter and storyboard are all clearly part of the process, but to have something to present, analyse and act upon is vital for an early stage filmmaker finding their way. James Fraser – graphic designer film maker

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Resources On the companion website, you’ll find several ideas to develop your skills in editing as well as the following resources. Books Dancyger, Ken. The Technique of Film and Video Editing. 5th edn. Routledge, 2010. Frierson, Michael. Film and Video Editing Theory: How Editing Creates Meaning. Routledge, 2018. Murch, Walter. In the Blink of an Eye: A Perspective on Film Editing. 2nd edn. Silman-James Press. Perkins, Chad. The After Effects Illusionist: All the Effects in One Complete Guide. 2nd edn. Routledge, 2012.

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Larry Jordan and Norman Hollyn talk editing without the tech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-IKKcrkprY.

General help and encouragement A student Guide to the fundamentals of film-making: http://www.elementsofcinema.com. There are numerous film school blogs and channels out there – these are two of the best for those seriously interested in the whole process of filmmaking: https:// filmschoolrejects.com; https://nofilmschool.com. Movie lovers’ streaming site Fandor has some excellent articles: https://www.fandor.com/categories/articles.

Web

Hard-earned advice for film makers: http://www. lavideofilmmaker.com.

Match cutting reference essay: http://mixform.com/ blog/20-vocab-lesson-the-match-cut.

Film-making blog from editor Vashi Nedomansky: http:// vashivisuals.com.

Editing as Punctuation video essay by Max Tohline, https://vimeo.com/138829554, or in fact any of the better video essays with commentary rather than just a compilation of excerpts.

Tutorials, tips and inspiration, as well as royalty-free music (mainly sponsored): https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog.

Cabooseblueteam has compiled a ridiculously long list of every noteworthy educational video essayist on the Internet – look it up on Reddit here: https:// www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/4808dd/ ive_compiled_a_list_of_every_noteworthy/ Or this list by Cyberpunkbully: https://www.reddit. com/r/TrueFilm/comments/3otxds/heres_a_list_of_ youtubevimeo_channels_like_every/Martin Scorsese on the editing of Psycho: https://nofilmschool.com/2016/02/ every-cut-weapon-martin-scorsese-editing-psycho. Director/editor Joey Scoma’s video essay Cuts and Transitions 101 for Rocket Jump Film School on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAH0MoAv2CI. Psycho shower scene feature documentary 78/52 is about the screen murder that profoundly changed the course of world cinema: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4372240/ and https://dogwoof.com/hitchcockmovie/. The Odessa steps sequence and its descendants: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH1tO2D3LCI.

Film maker Larry Jordan and Media Expert Norman Hollyn offer all sorts of solid advice on telling stories, via a series of video podcasts on their website: 2 reelguys.com. Mixform.com’s weblog, Sure Exposure, is about film production. Here’s an example: http://mixform.com/ blog/70-6-cheap-ways-to-add-production-value. Eight video essayists (Jacob T. Swinney, Tony Zhou, Kogonada, Richi Kaneria, Vashi Nedomansky, Leigh Singer, Burger Fiction (Andy Schneider & Jonathan Britnell), the Criterion Collection) on Vimeo: https://www.premiumbeat.com/ blog/8-must-follow-video-essay-editors/. How to go about making video essays: https://vimeo. com/190636725. And a video essay on video essays: https://vimeo. com/113857782. What makes a video essay great: https://vimeo. com/199577445. Journal of Videographic Film and Moving Image Studies: http://mediacommons.futureofthebook.org/intransition/.

Roger Corman analyses the Odessa steps sequence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hESDxUnZ1fo. Artist Rachel Rose discusses visual and sound editing techniques with Oscar-winning editor and sound designer Walter Murch: https://vimeo.com/154745423.

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Glossary Part One: Setting It All Up Chapter 1: Foundations Animatic: A sequence of static shots put together

on a timeline to indicate time and duration of each individual shot, often with a guide soundtrack. Storyboard: A series of images that illustrate a sequence of planned events. These can range from quick thumbnail sketches plotting out a basic narrative to highly polished composited photographs clarifying detail.

Chapter 2: Audience Anamorphic: Means intentional distortion, from the

Greek meaning ‘formed again’. Shooting with an anamorphic lens stretches the image vertically to cover the entire film frame, resulting in a higherquality but distorted image. When projecting the film, a reverse, complementary lens of the same anamorphic power shrinks the image vertically to the original proportions. This YouTube film for Arri Lenses highlights the telltale signs of a film shot anamorphically: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=P7i2SXGY maoPanavision Cinemascope: Groundbreaking new wide-screen process that revolutionized film-making in the 1950s. With an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, it became known as big-screen cinema. Empathy maps: Similar to a persona but usually a collaborative visualization used to articulate what we know about a particular type of user. It externalizes knowledge about users in order to create a shared understanding of user needs and aid in decision making. Personas: A profile of an archetypal user to represent the needs or interests of many. Usually based on ethnographic research, it emphasizes behaviour, motivations and mindsets. Treatment: A piece of writing that gives an indication of approach and style for a proposed film, or the film director’s own interpretation of an idea. For feature films a treatment has a slightly different meaning and tends to be the

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essential stepping stone before writing the full script. For more details see https://www .writersstore.com/what-is-a-treatment-and -why-do-i-need-one/ Voice-over: The voice you hear as the film is running.

Chapter 3: Structure Release form: Official document signed by

contributors to prove they have agreed to appear in your film. Shooting board: Series of images to use as a reminder of the order of what needs to be filmed and the intention of each shot. It serves as a useful prompt and essential production tool. Zoetrope: A nineteenth-century, pre-animation optical toy, consisting of a cylinder with pictures on the inner surface. Viewing the pictures through slits in the cylinder as it rotates gives the impression of continuous motion.

Chapter 4: Sound Audio bed: The sound of the scene’s

environment—a continual, underlying foundation of the audio track that the rest of the sonic elements (i.e. dialogue, FX and possibly music) build from. Diegetic sound: Sound that is organic to a scene and realistic; for example, the voices of characters, sounds made by objects in the scene or any sound presented as originating from instruments sourced within the film’s world. Direct film animation: Also known as drawn on film animation, where the images or marks are drawn directly onto the film stock as opposed to any other type of animation where the images or objects are photographed frame by frame. See the work of Len Lye, Norman McClaren, Stan Brackage and more recently Steven Woloshen, whose work can be seen here: https://vimeo .com/240478930 Graphical sound: Graphic design–based visualization of sound, sometimes automated through processing or aftereffects or drawn manually.

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Glossary

Non-diegetic sound: Sound whose source is

neither visible on the screen nor has been implied to be present in the action; for example, narrator’s commentary, sound effects added for dramatic effect or music to establish mood. Pixilation: Stop-motion animation with actors, as in real people.

Part Two: Creating the Elements Chapter 5: Composition Mise-en-scène: The arrangement of actors,

lighting, design, props, costume and graphics; basically anything constructed. A French term meaning ‘placing on stage’. Rule of thirds: A theory that if you divide your image with two vertical and two horizontal lines, the areas where your lines intersect will become focal points of your design.

Chapter 6: Camera Crane: A camera shot taken from a large camera

dolly or electronic device (an apparatus, such as a crane) resembling an extendable mechanical arm (or boom) that can raise the camera 20 feet or more above the ground. The crane allows the camera to fluidly move in virtually any direction (with vertical and horizontal movement), providing shifts in levels and angles; crane shots usually provide some kind of overhead view of a scene. Dutch tilt: A camera positioned on a tilt causing the horizontal to be at an angle. Fisheye: An extremely wide-angle lens with a field of vision covering up to 1808. Hand-held shot: A shot taken with a handheld camera or deliberately made to appear unstable, shaky or wobbly; often used to suggest either documentary footage, ‘realism’, news reporting, cinema verité or amateur cinematography; in contrast with Steadicam. Pan: A verb, and the abbreviation for panorama shot; refers to the horizontal scan, movement, rotation or turning of the camera in one direction (to the right or left) around a fixed vertical axis while filming. A variation is the swish pan (also known as flash pan, flick pan, zip pan, blur pan or whip pan), in which the camera is purposely panned in either direction at a very fast pace, creating the impression of a fastmoving horizontal blurring of images across the screen. Also, the action of rotating a camera up

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and down its horizontal axis is known as a tilt; the term pan is often confused with a dolly or tracking shot. Parallax: The parallax effect is when objects in the frame that are closer to camera appear to move faster than the ones further away. Point of view or POV: When the position of the camera shows the view of the protagonist. Shot scale: A set of terms used to describe the scale or framing of a particular shot. Static shot: Where the camera is still so the action takes place within the frame; an unmoving or immobile camera shot that is stationary, due to the use of a tripod. Steadicam: A lightweight mounting for a film camera that keeps it steady for filming when handheld or moving. Telephoto: A lens with a longer focal length than standard, giving a narrow field of view that results in a magnified image. The effect is to compress or condense depth in space, thereby bringing distant objects closer to the viewer without moving the camera, but it also flattens the depth of the image. It has the opposite effect of a wide-angle lens. Tracking shot: A smooth shot in which the camera moves alongside or follows the subject through space, usually with the camera mounted on a dolly or dolly track. These shots are often seen as a side-to-side motion relative to the scene or the action, also known as following shot; sometimes used interchangeably with dolly shot, pull back shot, pull-out, push-out, widen-out or pushback. If moving away it is called track back or if reversed can be called a track in or push-in. A zoom shot is when the shot is moving forwards on a horizontal plane. Wide-angle: A lens with a short focal length and therefore a field covering a wide angle.

Chapter 8: Colour Analogous: A colour scheme built out of three

colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel. Colour correction: A postproduction process usually done before colour grading. Colour is corrected to make sure footage looks exactly the way that the human eye sees things and to help the continuity of colour from one shot to the next. Complementary: A colour scheme built out of two colours that sit opposite each other on the colour wheel.

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Grading: The term colour grading is a post

production process to give your film an aesthetic an optional process that can help convey a visual tone or mood to heighten the narrative. It could be described as painting the image in a new way. Hue: Both the colour and shade of a colour. For example, a rainbow shows the melting of one hue into another from red to violet and all shades in between. Shade: A mixture of colour with black. Tint: A mixture of colour with white. Tone: Produced by mixing colour with grey or by shading and tinting. Triadic: A colour scheme built out of three colours equally spaced around the colour wheel.

Part Three: Putting It All Together Chapter 9: Text and Information With thanks to these definitions from the following blog: https://

eleanorlewisfrostmproy1graphicdesign .wordpress.com/2016/12/12/lesson-1/ Fragmentation: When the type and image disturb or disrupt each other (irregularities, displacement, interruption, exaggeration). Used to emphasize friction between ideas, to animate or energize a message or to construct a message with multiple meanings. Fusion: When type and image blend to form one entity through perspective, lens, filters, shared surface or texture or through motion, gesture or

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metaphor. Commonly used to make a stronger association of things or strengthen existing conceptual connections. Inversion: A form of fusion, when type and image trade places and the type takes on pictorial properties or the image takes on typographic qualities (hyperrealism, building blocks, frames). Used to reveal potential connections between elements and ideas, to create harmony by blending elements into a visual union, to create visual puns or to create story between words and images. Separation: When type and images operate independently; this could be through use of layers, borders, frames, compartments or windows. Often used to make multiple meanings or provide clarity.

Chapter 10: Editing Bokeh: The way a lens renders out-of-focus points

of light, which often appear as overlapping soft-edged circles, depending on the aperture. This effect appears in areas of the image that lie outside the depth of field. Film effects: A term used to collectively describe the wide range of post-production techniques applied to affect the look of the film from speed changes to distortion. Kinetoscope: A forerunner of the motion picture projector where images were viewed through a peephole.

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Image Credits Figure 1.0 a–e Beginning with a basic shape, students use sketchbooks to record their process of idea generation. Lee Tesche starts work on a circle; Hyunlee Jo, a square; and Maria Rocha pulls notes from early thoughts on a triangle. Images reproduced with permission of the artists. Figure 1.1 a–b Kirandeep Johal begins her square investigation with the humble potato, intrigued by the degraded fading image of repeat printing. This is a starting point for mark-making, and just this simple activity can start a train of thought as Xi Wu also discovers in our next example. Images reproduced with permission of the artists. Figure 1.2 a–e By establishing some simple ground rules, Xi Wu sets herself a short, four-part task: find an objecy, colour the object with paint, fix the object by one point and finally rotate it to create a print. It was an effective way to visualize the movement of circles. By then taking the idea into After Effects, she made a short film, based on these experiments, called Everything Can Be a Circle. Images reproduced with permission of the artists. Figure 1.3 Christian Caller makes notes on the structural properties of a triangle and plans out some ideas of what he could investigate while on location at various bridges. Image reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 1.4 Roshnee Desai’s original intention was to look at Indian cinema and stereotypical representations of women. She asked how she could use her moving-image skills to encourage Indian women to ‘get out of their boxes,’ meaning to break free of restrictive cultural conventions. Image reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 1.5 She started by investigating several areas as starting points to help inform her film. The list itself was long and broad, and given her sixteen-week production time frame, fairly impractical. Her original plan was to turn her thinking into a graphic novel, intending to write the narrative and illustrate the pages herself. Image reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 1.6 a–d Roshnee experiments with a variety of animation techniques to test possible styles, using a combination of illustration, photography and handdrawn filmed characters before opting for a final look. Image reproduced with permission of the artist.

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Figure 1.7 a–b On completion, the film was picked up by the BBC and various local and international radio stations. It served her well for securing further work. Image reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 1.8 a–b Ahram Park experiments with water droplets, seeing how the circular forms react when combined to create different marks. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figures 1.9 a–c James Symonds looks at hand-drawn representations of squares, comparing proportion and scale. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 1.10 a–d Sam Campbell explores the illusion of form, noticing how the ridged shape of a square softens and transforms in motion. (See film on website.) Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 1.11 The pressure of filling in blank, inflexible frames can be a daunting place to start. Image by David Daniels. Figure 1.12 Working out a concept can be quite rudimentary. Here James Symonds begins to plan a narrative in terms of camera movements. Image reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 1.13 a–c Roshnee Desai works with an early Post-It note sketched frame for flexibility. It also helps set the naïve style for the final animation. Image reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 1.14 a–c Each scene is planned out for this animated film about social phobia from team Xingru Dong, Tian Xie and Rachel Salter. Each detail of the animation is indicated clearly. The illustrative style of the storyboard was also to set the style for the final film. Images reproduced with permission of the artists. Figure 1.15 Your client may be less visual than you assume and may struggle to interpret your basic sketches. It may be an advantage to present something a bit more polished but beware of over promising, as there can be a marked difference in expectations between a roughly drawn board and a more developed one with little room for interpretation. This can lead to disappointment as the ridged standard set out in the initial images may differ to the final thing. Here Ahram Park, Tom Brown and Ester Vilaplana plan out their shots for their short film This Jerusalem. Image reproduced with permission of the artists.

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Figure 1.16 Suzanne Green and James Fraser use this mid-production storyboard to map out their rough cut, indicating places where new inserts are needed. The process is useful to work out what shots are still missing, to plan accurately for a second visit to their location. Image reproduced with permission of the artists. Figure 1.17 By repeating an iterative cycle of experimentation, reflection and refinement, new ideas emerge. Image by David Daniels. Figure 1.18 a–d As you can see, not much time is left for reviewing quality of work. Try to build a stage for changes, switch production schedule around to accommodate anticipated revisions or, as a last resort, negotiate a later delivery date rather than submit substandard work. (a) Basic planning is essential if only mapping out a rough idea of the relationship between experiment and research. Here Sujeong Yoon aims to continue her visual experiments throughout the production process. (b) Katerina Alivizatou’s ambitious animated film about dog adoption leaves little time for idea development (blue) more concerned with the technical challenges of the animated output (green). (c) Ahram Park plans out her work with key start points; the end dates drift a bit, but she attempts to leave time for testing and feedback, while still allowing time for refinement before the project is due. (d) A different design schedules various stages on a day-to-day basis, useful for collaborative work. This image was pre-production for the film This Jerusalem, featured in the storyboarding section earlier (Figure 1.15). Images reproduced with permission of the artists. Figure 1.19 a–b Tom Brown’s project Broken Messages. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 1.20 a–b Bartosz Druszcz’s graphic-driven approach. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 1.21 a–b Shirin Ebrahimi Asil experiments with split screen. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 1.22 a–d Extra–Ordinary (2016), directed by James Fraser and Suzanne Green. Their process shows how a change of plan can salvage an idea. Images reproduced with permission of the artists. Figure 1.23 Sam Campbell’s film Heygate Lost (2011) captures the displacement of community, as a large housing estate, home to over 3,000 people, is demolished as part of a regeneration programme at the Elephant and Castle in London. These images from his visual summary, along with the self-critical reflection, allows Sam to reassess how he approaches his next film in terms of prioritizing content and schedule. Images reproduced with permission of the artist.

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Figure 1.24 a–e (a) Some of the hundreds of shelves in the archives at London College of Communication. (b) A vast selection of material is directly accessible, including annotated scripts, props and fine costume detail. (c) Early sketch for the end of Dr. Strangelove. (d) Maquette set-up to plot camera positions and moves for Full Metal Jacket. (e) Preproduction costume research for Barry Lyndon for the character of Barry Lyndon’s Mother. a) and b) Photographs taken by the author; c) d) and e) With thanks to Stanley Kubrick Film Archives LLC, Warner Bros and University of the Arts London. Figure 1.25 Sarah Wickes begins her research for her project #Me: Digital Spectres and the Self by categorizing selfies posted by well-known celebrities. Image reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 1.26 Angie Kordella’s work on beauty resulted in an interactive book, where pages could be removed for comparison. She annotates her process on screen, alongside the turning pages, so we can clearly understand her process. Image reproduced with permission of the artist. Please note the use of capital letters. Does it help the reader or not? What tone of voice does it create? Figure 1.27 a–d Tammy Alperovich-Malkov’s film, set during the Israeli– Palestinian conflict, uses postcards to reveal an unfolding narrative. She starts by referencing the design style of postcards and posters of the time to inform her own design decisions for the props featured in the film; this works as a mood board and visual reference. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 1.28 a–e It’s hard to underestimate the importance of sketchbooks. Here we can see Designer Illustrator Yi Lin takes great care compiling his sketching regularly; an avid collector of detail, he uses the pages to reflect his latest interests, providing a constant source of inspiration. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 1.29 a–b Pia Hakko puts together some styling ideas (a) for her film Maggie’s Appetite about the breakdown of a relationship. She references other films in a similar vein, studying the camera work, noting angles and lighting. (b) She says, ‘I think it was essential to have a mood board just to get inspired and understand better what “mood” you want to have in your movie. When my script is finished, I’ll do another mood board but this time more in detail. This detailed mood board is stuck on the wall during filming to remind me not to miss some of the atmosphere I was intending to follow. A mood board also helps me understand wardrobe decisions, as I need to differentiate the two characters played by the same actor, one as Maggie, the other as her subconscious. The colours can reflect their emotions, state of mood

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and personality.’ Images reproduced with permission of the artist.

the message. Images reproduced with permission of the artist.

Figure 2.0 Yang Guo maps out exactly who he’s talking to before he starts his film about pollution in Shanghai. Hoping to instigate action, it’s important he pitches it right. Image reproduced with permission of the artist.

Figure 2.6 Alberta Torres’s campaign Without Borders aims to communicate the theme of migration to a wide audience, to raise awareness, empathy and provoke action through Amnesty International. She says, ‘If globalization is so good and capital can travel across nations, why don’t people have the same rights? For years, the Mediterranean Sea has become a huge mass grave, in the indifference of the two sides.’ Image reproduced with permission of the artist.

Figure 2.1 a–b Look at how Héloise d’Almeida found this process useful in shaping the design direction and tone of voice for her animated film Red about the comforting aspect of the colour red. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 2.2 ‘Look at Me’ 2015 campaign by advertising agency WCRS for Women’s Aid uses facial recognition technology to engage passersby. The more people who look, the fewer bruises are visible. Image reproduced with permission of Ocean Outdoor Media. Figure 2.3 The cinema auditorium provided an appropriate setting to highlight the dangerous, hidden cycle of domestic violence. Don’t Stand for It (1994), directed by Penny Hilton, addressed a captive audience to persuade sufferers to come forward to ask for help at a time when the subject was far from mainstream. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 2.4 a–d New film maker Abigail Smith provides another example of a context-appropriate design approach. In planning to entice a new teenage audience to the work of Shakespeare, she attempts to dispel any preconceptions of his prose being unfathomable by giving the subjects more current relevance. Taking central themes based on the emotions of love, hate, jealousy and greed, she rescripted some of his more well-known scenes and set them in a contemporary context, filming them as if they were user-generated confessionals. She uploaded the series to YouTube for access via a single channel. By inviting the viewers to also create and upload their own versions in response, or even just to comment on those she posted, she builds a participating audience who actively connects to her campaign ‘Bards Talk’. Abigail summarizes, ‘When it comes down to it, Shakespeare’s stories are about parts of human nature that never change.’ Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 2.5 a–e Ewa Przybyla addresses the increasing problem of young women binge drinking via a short film intended for access on Facebook. Disturbed by the current trend to post selfies of inebriated states, her initial pre-production research also used this social media platform, posting images of herself seemingly drunk and asking friends to respond to them. Her resulting film contrasts how you feel when you are drunk with the actual reality of how you look. Facebook was a perfect and relevant format on which to share

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Figure 2.7 James Symonds’ ‘Alice’ project uses projection and video mapping techniques to challenge audience apathy, while promoting a youth theatre project in his local town of Bexhill, UK. Image reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 2.8 Cristina Addonizio’s oneminute exploration into the properties of the golden section. She uses kinetic typography to cover all the information she wants to include in the short time she has, and this enables her to romp through eras at a fast pace. But the combination of moving inset images, background detail and transitions of text, on and off screen, is so relentless that we don’t know where to look, and by the time we do, the text has gone. It is not just the placement and pacing of this that makes the information difficult to read but the size of the text on screen is too small to be legible in the format presented. Image reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 2.9 In the film The Light Circus, Paulina Gajewska plans to project onto the fifteen-storey tower block of the London College of Communication amongst the urban sprawl of London’s Elephant and Castle roundabout, to promote a one-off event. Image reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 2.10 a–f Here is another project by James Symonds, this time Knife Crime. His aim was to address the growing concern of young people carrying and using knives. The design is simple, and almost without motion, as the projection is mapped directly over an actual kitchen knife lying as if discarded on a floor. As several quotes and statistics are projected, the knife appears to seep blood, eventually covering the surface as the confessions and opinions escalate. Simple and arresting, it draws you in. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 2.11 Roman Kim chooses to shoot live action to give a reality to the ancient myth of Siberian shamanism about souls passing through different worlds. He projects images onto characters to show memories and employs specific colour grading to give an ethereal, dream like quality. Image reproduced with permission of the artist.

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Figure 2.12 a–c Eduarda Lima looks at climate change and the rising temperature in her film Delu(g)ional Games. Full of facts, figures and charts, she attempts to not only make the subject more accessible but also to engage her audience so the content sticks. By opting for an unsettling, photocollagestyle animation over documentary footage, she aims to create incongruous images that simultaneously simplify a complex issue. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 2.13 a–c Blue Seat Studio’s Tea and Consent, an animated simile, likens the ridiculous notion of forcing someone to drink tea against their will to the act of having sex with someone without clear consent. They handled a serious subject effectively by using humour. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 2.14 a–c The BBC production Young Men performed by BalletBoyz reveals the horrors of war through dance. The lavish production has no real ambient sound, yet the pathos and agony of each scene shouts out. Figure 2.15 Cristina Duran’s film about planned obsolescence references the graphic design style of 1960s public information films, including character style, typography, colour palette, delivery of voice-over and music, complete with old style frame format and old TV effect. This style is relevant for both the subject she illustrates and to appeal to the audience today as it reflects the era she refers to. Image reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 2.16 a–d Stella I-Chen-Chen develops a photomontage animation style to tell us a story about capturing the ‘Big Idea’ that is often the part of the creative process with which people struggle. As ideas often result from eclectic thinking, her mixedmedia treatment style reflects this notion. Image reproduced by permission of the artist. Figure 2.17 Joao Monteiro’s film Size Zero uses infographics to illustrate Western culture’s obsession with body size and increasing problems about obesity. While it fulfils a purpose of bringing to life a rather dense voice-over, read at a breakneck speed, the tone of voice of the animation style is jokey, almost humorous, despite the serious nature of the message. We could ask if the characterization of some of the figures appears insensitive and possibly serves to alienate the very audience most affected by the issues mentioned. With a tight time frame to work within, perhaps too much time was spent on solving the technical challenges of learning new software and not enough time on what it might actually look like. A problem the director was all too aware of. Image reproduced by permsision of the artist.

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Figure 2.18 a–d Here is another example of the audience leading the design. Note the varying styles in this animation series called My Eating Disorder, which formed part of a clinical trial. This is one of a series of films produced by Penny Hilton working with Professor Janet Treasure at the Maudsley Hospital for people in recovery from eating disorders. Animated to real testimonials, the characters had to have an ambiguity to be representative of many and no defined body shape, so viewers would concentrate on the spoken content without distraction or judgement of the visual. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 2.19 a–b Aydin Mustafa gives us a clear idea of how his outdoor film might be perceived in the environment he has designed it for. By contrasting the affluent lifestyle of the average Parisian to the hardship faced by refugees in nearby camps, he places the film in busy areas to interrupt day-to-day commuters and hammer the message home. This composite image seen in situ, enables him to amend the scale of the imagery, adjust text for legibility and spot if any relevant details need to be visible from a distance. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 3.0 This diagram represents a typical story arc often used to shape mainstream feature films. You might be surprised how many successful films follow this structure. Image by David Daniels Figure 3.1 a–d An interesting exercise is to illustrate the essence of your story in as few images as possible. Matteo Civaschi of Italian creative station H-57 attempts to represent basic plots of the movies Lord of the Rings, The Shining, The Blues Brothers, and Titanic in five seconds or less. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 3.2 a–d These single image pictogram posters for the films by Viktor Hertz (The Bicycle Thief, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Psycho and Hunger) can start you thinking how you might represent your complex storyline succinctly or be a useful preproduction exercise to distil the essence of your film. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 3.3 Cartoonist and comic theorist Scott McCloud shows us the route the eye will naturally travel across a comic page. In a single screen image with movement, these focal points may have a different flow governed by movement, light and colour. Image reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 3.4 Scott McCloud sets out five basic choices as being the key to good storytelling: choice of moment, choice of frame, choice of image, choice of word and choice of flow. These all apply as equally to film as they do the comic and could be interpreted as selection, composition, design, dialogue or script and the transition from one scene to the next. Image reproduced with permission of the artist.

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Figure 3.5 a–d A Herman Miller recruitment short film This Is You, from Fairly Painless Advertising, provides an example of engaging the audience all the way through. At two and a half minutes long, it doesn’t allow you to look away for a second or all meaning will be lost. Wall-towall voice-over repeatedly invites your response. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 3.6 a–b Victoria (2014), a German drama by Sebastian Schipper, is a sort of heist thriller movie that was shot in one long take from a camera alongside the main character as she joins a group of reprobates on a night out. The story unfolds in real time over more than two hours, using the one-take form to drive the narrative to great effect. So absorbing and immediate, we experience the action concurrently with the characters acting in it, as Shipper says, ‘It’s not about a bank heist; it is a bank heist.’ Figure 3.7 Planning a structure illustration. Bruce Block talks in terms of the story structure graph to plot the visual intensity level of a film as it unfolds. This can be a useful tool in developing a narrative by visualizing the shape of it as a whole. Likewise, other visual components of your film, be it long or short, channel ident or documentary, can all be plotted to reveal use of space, tone and line. Image by David Daniels. Figure 3.8 By keeping your storyboard flexible, it allows you to concentrate on one small section at a time, rather than be preoccupied with how the sections follow on from each other. Being able to move elements around with ease allows you to try out several variations of structure easily. Here Filip Pomykalo plans out a short documentary, making sure he covers what he needs to at the shoot, and he tries out an initial running order. Image reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 3.9 a–d Pia Hakko has taken a ‘start with intrigue and keep it surprising’ route. In her film about unspoken truths and bottled emotions, it takes us a while to work out what’s going on, as we query the relationship of the image to the text. Who is doing the talking and who is thinking? As these questions challenge us, our interest is sustained, and we are compelled to find answers. Not revealing everything up front can hold an audience’s interest, and in this example, the initial hidden nature of the narrative relates to the subject matter of hidden truth – which has a way of coming out. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 3.10 a–d In her animated film Pond (2015), illustrator and animator Xingru Dong employs a range of shots to tell her fable about the relationship between man and nature via microorganisms, using a mix of hand-drawn illustrations and collage to create simple, low-tech, frame-by-frame animation. She keeps the

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narrative dynamic, plotting the scene content for a mix of wide and close-up shots, to make each new one lively and interesting, revealing a fresh and visual surprise. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 3.11 a–d Directors Amanda Perry-Kessaris and Andy Renmei consider text transitions, being careful how they time the blurring effect of their end credit sequence. Figure 3.12 Directors Hong Hu, Matteo Bisato and Filip Pomykalo collaborated on the film Rethinking the Senses about multisensory design. Initially their plan was to approach a range of people in the design field to gather opinions on sound, but this ambition proved too broad and impractical. Instead they decided to focus on the views of just one person, David Toop, to provide a much more concise film. A range of topics and ideas were recorded in a dense forty-five-minute interview. The broad points of enquiry were then organized and prioritized, so they could be edited down to a final four minutes. Images reproduced with permission of the artists. Figure 3.13 a–d In Julia Braga’s film Tunnel she shows us a seemingly endless quest to reach a destination, only to be thrown back to the start again. Just at the point of potential comfort, or journey’s end, we are wrenched away to the unknown, only to have the process repeat itself. What it’s actually about is displacement, a struggle to find a place to belong to, to feel connected. The image is conceptual and metaphorical, and only some may understand it, but, if you have previous knowledge of what the director intended, the tension is palpable. Others will probably lose patience and be bored by it. What do you think? Image reproduced by permission of the artist. Figure 3.14 a–b Influenced by the work of Edward Muybridge and stop-frame animator Jan Svankmajer, Alex Holstein experiments with early zoetropes. His initial intention was to explore emotion in an abstract form by building a form of three-dimensional zoetrope that relies on repetition, movement and lighting for the simulation of a character continuously running. The model is filmed in action from several angles and edited to create this twominute piece Running Man. Simple and conceptual, the continuous motion coupled with oppressive reds and blacks embodies a constant struggle. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 3.15 a–e Bartosz Druszcz’s film Why ask Google? takes ‘the tip of the iceberg’ metaphor to call for us to be more circumspect in our quest for knowledge. In his three-dimensional animated film about media manipulation, he asks why we limit ourselves to using Google’s search engine. The voice-over tells us, ‘Google’s search covers only about 15 per cent of the worlds internet . . . and we

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restrict ourselves to the first few research results. Our knowledge is based on this tiny spot. Information is not flat, it is three-dimensional and expands as you go deeper. Information needs perspective. Grab a book, ask your friend, listen to people. Find the real answers.’ Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 3.16 a–e Hyunlee Jo experiments with time manipulation and becomes interested in visually representing the different ways we experience the passing of time according to how we move within the same space. In her film Time Dilation, she splices up the image to fragment and distort it, elongating and truncating action to show how different perspectives alter perception. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 3.17 a–c We are all familiar with the information content on news reports created by news caption generators, current technology being reflected in the methods, format, and design of gathering and reporting. Figure 3.18 a–e Eduarda Lima begins to plan out the design of her film about climate change. As the aim is to engage young people, she steers clear of a dry documentary approach and all-too-common scare tactics that many young people lack the foresight to relate to. Instead she concentrates on developing the design. This shows work in progress; the resulting film was discussed in the previous chapter. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 3.19 a–c Wen Wang and Ju Young Reu designed this film based on research by Sato Misato around product levels of embodied carbon for the Centre for Climate Change at the London School of Economics. Images reproduced with permission of the artists. Figure 3.20 a–e In Dean G. Moore’s film Tunnel Vision, the text adds a layer of information, revealing hidden facts about the secret world of the London Underground. Relatively sparse throughout the twentyminute duration and at times hard to read, the flow, motion and content of the extra layer adds to the mystery. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 3.21 a–e Chris Marker’s La Jetée, although a fictional narrative, at twenty-eight minutes, is made almost entirely of stills held together by poetic voice-over. A tale of time travel told in expertly timed, monochrome static photographs, apart from one threesecond film sequence. Blink and you’ll miss it. Figure 3.22 a–b Using a mix of sourced photographs and captions, Takeo Ozaki brings attention to the US Military assistance to governments recruiting children as soldiers. Images reproduced with permission of the artist.

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Figure 3.23 a–d Pia Hakko creates an early experimental study for a longer piece in her film All the Things We Can’t Say. By photographing strangers in the street and asking them to write down their private thoughts, the sequence is made from a series of static images. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 3.24 a–b Neil Leonard uses bold static captions above a graphic of the city skyline to imagine a flooded London. He chose to use sound for his tribute, and the increasing volume adds to the rising urgency of the need to address the potential situation. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 3.25 a–c Frames from Race for Health directed by Penny Hilton. Figure 3.26 a–c Frames from Designed for Life directed by Penny Hilton. Figure 3.27 a–e In Mengyao Qiao’s research portfolio, she documents the production of their film about design studio Lust, from the preliminary conception, through to the storyboard initial plans for structure, and to mid-production reflections. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 3.28 a–b Your choice of voiceover will have a significant bearing on the tone of voice of your film. Here two film makers made careful decisions to choose a voice-over appropriate for the job. (a) In Lana Abdelhady’s film In Disguise, a calm, soothing, reflective female voice encourages a way out of a creative block, whereas in Bartosz Druszcz film Mesh (b) his threedimensional visuals aim to enhance an excerpt from German writer Juli Zeh’s ‘In Free Fall’, delivered in the style of a scientific lecture. Have a listen and see if you think they made the right choices. Images reproduced with permission of the artists. Figure 3.29 a–d This short film about access for disabled people, Designed for Life by Penny Hilton, uses graphic design in the form of text and statistics throughout. The content of the many interviews is divided up into themes punctuated by a sobering statistic. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 3.30 In Bec Worth’s and Cate Rickards’s film, The Annexation of Hello Land, their interview with artist Rachael Finney is broken into distinct sections with on-screen captions to divide up the content and provide natural breathing spaces. Image reproduced with permission of the artists. Figure 4.1 There are occasions when songs with lyrics can be used in a masterful way, and chosen well, they can establish a theme or conflict and mood. As with the use of the Doors’ track ‘The End’ in the opening scene of Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979). The song not only locates the film historically

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– originally released in 1967 as numbers of US troops arriving in Vietnam rose significantly – but the strong themes of nihilism and doom are captured in the lyric by conversely using it to open the film. This is also reflected in the graphic by inverting the head of the first character we see on screen, who appears in close-up and upside down, adding to the themes of inverted right and wrong, good and evil, and a world gone mad. Figure 4.2 a–f Djordje Balmazovic uses a sequence of bold black and white illustrations in his silent tribute to a friendship torn apart by opposing views of conscription in the former Yugoslavia. Notice how hard the images have to work to retain attention when there is no sound to help it flow. This absence of motion makes us concentrate wholly on the statements used to present his thought-provoking dilemma. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 4.3 a–e Cristina Addonizio uses a mix of illustrations and captions to bring attention to the plight of African child soldiers. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 4.4 a–d Jai Ryoong Kim uses a mix of animation and photographs in his silent tribute to the families separated after the Korean War. The absence of sound helps us focus on the images as the minimal movement guides us around the frame. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 4.5 a–b The composer James Newton Howard, working on M. Night Shyamalan’s supernatural thriller The Sixth Sense (1999), used the recorded human breaths of hundreds of people and even animals to create a moving ambiance, giving a sense of a constant presence that added to the chilling atmosphere and sense of unease. Figure 4.6 a–e In Edgar Wright’s film Baby Driver (2017), we see the audio physically embodied within the location and art direction. Lyrics of the music score are integrated to set a surreal theatrical effect. Graffiti, posters and signage all echo the lyrics perfectly in sync with the continuous tracking shot, reminding us we are outside looking in, yet reinforcing a seamless connection between what’s going on in ‘Baby’s’ head and what we see on screen. The music becomes not just a backdrop or mood setter to the film, but it also actually enables us to see the environment from his music-fuelled perspective. Figure 4.7 Sarah Culross experiments with the properties of a square using both sound and visuals. In her early investigation, she produces a soundtrack created by dropping square objects onto different surfaces. The results are crude but set her off on a path of interesting exploration. Image reproduced with permission of the artist.

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Figure 4.8 a–d The perfect solution is to compose your own music, if you have the skills and the resources to do so, as director Hyun Lee Jo managed to do in her film Time Dilation (see Chapter 3). The film is about our varying experience of time according to our own individual speed of life, and the composition helps evoke themes of memory and loneliness. Not all of us are lucky enough to be able access these musical skills on tap. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 4.9 In Clement Jaquier’s film about evolving technology and digital printing, he produces a rhythmic percussive audio bed to reflect the central idea. It is a graphic representation of how traditional wooden block presses are increasingly being replaced by digital printing presses. Image reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 4.10 a–b New Zealand-born Len Lye was one of the first to reinvent this direct animation technique, making marks directly onto the celluloid film in this piece Colour Box (1935) for the General Post Office Film Unit. Notice how the colours change and appear to move in time to the music, the forms fluidly syncopating, in movements that might otherwise have been undetected without audio. Figure 4.11 a–d In this Synchromy (1971) film, Scottish-Canadian animator Norman McClaren creates visual music; the hypnotic geometric shapes appear to dance to the electronic soundtrack in a synchronization of image and sound. Figure 4.12 a–g Eighty years on from Colour Box, Hiro Tanaka revisits this early animation style, in his See Feel project. To exploit the technique digitally, he sought to visualize the different notes with a view to better understanding composition of noise music, taking the track ‘Dead Guitars’ by British band Seefeel. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 4.13 a–e What if the image could keep us focused on the music and actively enhance our experience? Sarah Culross’ project Sibelius 4th does exactly that. Instigated by her late arrival to a live concert, finding she had to sit at the back, she noticed how difficult it was to stay focused; however, when she moved to the front at the interval, the experience was quite different. She asked how she might design large screen visuals to accompany the orchestra performance on stage in a manner that might encourage new audiences to classical events, while at the same time not alienate existing audiences. Image reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 4.14 a–e Inspired by the thoughts of John Cage on silence and the work of Ryoji Ikeda, Jaeho Hwang’s project Seeing the Sound experiments with manipulating the image to reflect the sound, making a visual embodiment of the sound itself. First Hwang

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uses the technique as an intervention to an existing scene and later to create three-dimensional images that illustrate different field recordings that combined to make a composition. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 4.15 What happens in between the start and end point will be determined by how the designed components are set to reveal the story (if indeed there is one). Perhaps the audio is designed to coincide with transitions between shots or be aligned to the arrival and duration of text. One interesting exercise, as a point to reflect on, is to draw out a representation of the music in graphic form to see if it coincides with the narrative, marking out the peaks and troughs. Image by David Daniels. Figure 4.16 a–e An example of timings and tone working well is reflected in a project to encourage the youth vote in Pakistan by Samad Iqbal. He had quite a struggle to find the right piece to help focus the eye and complement his animation. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 4.17 Peter McKerrow has produced the sound design for a wide variety of films from animation to live action, fact to fiction. Here are three: (a) Visual Rhetoric, directed by Penny Hilton; (b) Leon’s Story, directed by Sam Campbell; and (c) Tunnel Vision, directed by Dean G. Moore. Images reproduced with permission of the artists. Figure 5.1 a–f Here Sujeong Yoon’s Lonely Ball animation represents the physical and emotional feeling of depression. She uses a minimal colour palette in an attempt to depict depression using tones of grey, devoid of any colour. Not only does the physical space of the locked room illustrate feelings of claustrophobia and suppression, but the lack of colour in the environment also reflects despair. When the opening door is offered as an escape, our attention is drawn to the brightness. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 5.2 a–d In this short, stop-motion animation Play with Type, Jose Mendez employs a controlled colour palette. The action is concentrated around the area with the most colour, yet the motion is constantly busy, active and lively. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 5.3 a–d Size and scale can be determined through design and use of particular lenses, as explored further in the next chapter on camera. Here we see Thibaut Degenne’s experimental work on composition, which looks at the effect of reframing well-known paintings by David Hockney and Georges Seurat. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 5.4 a–g Looking at Lee Teche’s autobiographical film on intergenerational

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communication through baseball, we see the continuous motion of the camera reflecting the idea of cyclical connections. Research started as an investigation into the properties of a circle, with the director looking particularly at old VHS recorders and what remains when tapes are copied several times over. He says, ‘with each passing generation, nuggets of information are retained and passed down’. This took him to look at what connects himself, his father and his grandfather. ‘With each familial generation, the one commonality that has been retained is a mutual enjoyment of baseball.’ Lee then asked his family to recount memories of how baseball has always been a vehicle to relate to one another. In the resulting film, this edited audio provides the soundtrack, and the circular idea is reflected in the continuous motion and directional path of the animation. As each move pauses, Lee pays attention to the composition before it swings off to continue its journey through the generations. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 5.5 In Julia Braga’s film experiments on the subject of emotional displacement, all motion is in the action, as the camera is static and locked off. In Rotating Doors, we see the partly reflected image adds to our disorientation, as we are unsure if time is reversed or actually mirrored. Image reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 5.6 a–b In Roman Kim’s film The River, he uses constant close-ups to frame his subjects tightly and focus on emotion. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 5.7 Sam Campbell seeks out unusual angles for unexpected framing in his film about the demolition of Heygate Estate in South London. Image reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 5.8 a–d Xinxin Xiu’s animated film based on the propaganda posters of Shanghai uses motion and framing to begin the story in an art gallery as if viewed by a visitor. As we are drawn into the image, the story behind the posters comes to life. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 5.9 a–b Here we see Katerina Troshikhina has exploited the rule of thirds, in her film Ocean Sea, by positioning her camera to place her subject on the point of the intersecting lines and leaving an expanse of uncluttered frame, provoking feelings of solitude, calm and nostalgia. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 5.10 a–c Sometimes, however, you need to understand the rules in order to break them. In contrast to the rule of thirds, look at how unconventional and disconcerting these framing set-ups are for Mr. Robot, the US series about cybersecurity engineer turned vigilante hacker Elliot Alderson. Here the picture

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is divided into four. Quadrant framing is used to illustrate his distrust and the general social anxiety he experiences; by positioning him in the lower edge with plenty of empty space or background detail in view, we get a sense of his isolation in each scene, which suggests his psychological turmoil. Figure 5.11 Director Stanley Kubrick’s recurrent use of one-point perspective exploits the unsettling effect of perceived symmetry. Here we see examples from (a) 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968); (b) A Clockwork Orange (1971); (c and d) The Shining (1980); and (e and f) Full Metal Jacket (1987). Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 5.12 a–d Imaginary Forces designed a title sequence for US crime drama Bosch, about a lonely ageing detective. These abstracted shapes of architectural structures become the perfect backdrop to hold text and work well to set the mood of reflective melancholia, while at the same time maintain a disturbing tension. Figure 5.13 This film, Transportable Wheels from photographer Julia Braga video series Kaleidocity/ City-trilogia, explores the city landscape. The mirrored frames and acceleration of speed provides a continuous atmosphere of urban dystopia. Inspired by Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, the eerie industrial soundscape is almost as unsettling as the face-like image with the momentary toothy grin, appearing to mock us. Image reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 5.14 a–d Xi Wu uses masks and a mirroring structure to compose her circular 360-degree distortion film Gravitation. Based on ideas of relentless urban claustrophobia and dreams of escape, this effect becomes meditative. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 5.15 In James Symonds’ simple experiment Mirror Cube, he explores the effect of mirroring. By taping four small mirrors together and rotating pieces of coloured card, he records the outcome and makes the following observations: I noticed that when the floor area consists of a single block of colour, your attention focuses more on the cube’s structure. The geometric patterns that are introduced by the additional coloured areas, move your attention to a more open vista. The quality of the colour also appears to change in relation to what surrounds it. While the red coloured card remains a constant throughout the experiment, the hue appears to be different if it is bordered by blue segments (and this changes again if the red becomes the surrounding element of a blue area). Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 5.16 a–e Framing centrality is another useful tool to assert dominance within the narrative. If you

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want a character to appear imposing, position them in the centre of frame, and they will appear in control. Here we see (a) Clockwork Orange, (b) Full Metal Jacket, (c) The Shining, (d) Psycho and (e) Sunset Boulevard. Figure 5.17 a–d La Jetée (1962) is Chris Marker’s story of a man forced to explore his memories in the wake of World War III devastation, told through still images. Figure 5.18 a–d In Citizen Kane (1941), director Orson Wells used a montage technique of a series of stills, not only to show the passage of time, but also to reference a metaphor for life being a jigsaw puzzle, with Kane searching for the missing piece. Figure 5.19 a–d Chiao Yun Kuo creates a series of experiments in Play with the Viewer that forces us to focus on arbitrary elements of a moving-image composition. Using collage and cropping collage techniques to alter the composition, she concentrates on the effect of freezing the frame to promote a different experience. Image reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 5.20 a–c Divya Chadha pays tribute to the Aanganwaadi system (courtyard school), which makes education available to kids living in the slums, near the heavily populated urban areas of New Delhi. Often breadwinners as child labourers or domestic helpers from the age of four, these children are unable to attend regular schools due to their hectic work routines. By attending the Aanganwaadi, which is only held for a few hours every morning, they are able to learn, play, laugh and find a few hours of solace amidst their challenging lives. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 5.21 Gazel Parizadeh pays tribute to the largest remaining mud brick structure in the world. Dating back to the sixth century BC, the cultural heritage site of Bam Citadel in Iran that was obliterated in just two minutes on December 26, 2003, by an earthquake. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 5.22 Ioannis Koutalis reflects on friends who once were close but are now forgotten. The absence of action allows us to focus on the text and increases the feeling of nostalgia. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 5.23 Neha Sood was herself caught up in the monsoon floods in Mumbai in July 2005. Her twominute silent tribute reflects on the devastation caused and the impressive sense of community spirit that prevailed to get the city up and running again within a week. Through a series of still photographs sourced from the internet, she pays tribute to the people and the spirit of Mumbai. Images reproduced with permission of the artist.

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Figure 5.24 a–b Dimitra Tzanos’ Fear for Freedom, although not silent, uses a well-placed audio track to illustrate the response to white domination in South Africa after the apartheid era. Using a sequence of stills, her first attempt at film-making tells two stories told as personal reflections revealed via different diaries. Images reproduced with permission of the artist.

Figure 5.32 a–e Pablo Ferro designed and edited several sequences employing a multiscreen technique, establishing his name in the design world and helping to elevate the film to the iconic piece of cinema that it is today. The polo match sequence from The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), by featuring several moments at once, helped truncate time and therefore reduce screen duration.

Figure 5.25 a–e Clement Jaquier’s film, The Art of the Title, provides an example of x-axis movement. The constant left-to-right movement, picking up clues on the way, gives us the impression we are on a linear journey towards a reveal. Images reproduced with permission of the artist.

Figure 5.33 a–d Pablo Ferro designed the iconic title sequence for the same film, employing his multiscreen technique similar to a moving magazine spread, that was to establish his name in the design world.

Figure 5.26 A film still from the training montage in Rocky (1976), directed by John G. Avildsen. Figure 5.27 a–b In this dreamlike, surreal animated short, Ahram Park uses a constant vertical camera move up along the y-axis. This gives the appearance that everything on screen moves down and leaves the frame, giving the illusion that we are moving upward in the direction of space, and it serves to accentuate the idea of worlds connecting. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 5.28 a–g The idea for the Charles and Ray Eames’ film, Powers of Ten (1968), is realized through a constant z-axis move throughout, as we see two picnickers in a park. Every ten seconds we view the starting point from ten times farther out, until our own galaxy is visible only as a speck of light. Returning to Earth with breath taking speed, we continue on the same axis inward – into the hand of the sleeping picnicker – with ten times more magnification every ten seconds to finally end inside a proton of a carbon atom within a DNA molecule in a white blood cell. Figure 5.29 a–b Michael Gordon’s film Pillow Talk (1959) uses a split-screen device to suggestively position the two lead characters, connecting them even though they are in separate locations. Figure 5.30 a–f As a narrative device, split screen has been established for a long time. For a closer view, watch these full films and notice how dividing the screen affects the composition and narrative overall. Stills from (a) Four Troublesome Heads (1898), directed by Georges Méliès; (b) Life of an American Fireman (1903), directed by Edwin S. Porter; (c) Run Lola Run (1998), directed by Tom Tykwer; (d) Rules of Attraction (2002), directed by Roger Avary; and (e and f) Wormwood (2017), Netflix series, directed by Errol Morris. Figure 5.31 a–d Frames from the Oscar-winning short film by Christopher Chapman called A Place to Stand (1967), which was shown at the 1967 Expo in Montreal.

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Figure 5.34 a–c BA Graphic Media design students experiment with the connectivity of multiscreen work by considering how the design should relate to each screen. (a) Jack Watkinson-Boone directs a warning to drivers about the use of mobile phones, the presence of the phone screen being one distraction too many as the driver fails to see an oncoming motorbike. (b) Keto Seto splits the screen up to compare simultaneous time zones, and (c) Aydin Mustafa designs a set of moving escalator panels promoting a behind-thescenes look at the gaming industry called Off Screen. Images reproduced with permission of the artists. Figure 5.35 a–d Xi Wu, Joe Aitkins and Sarah Wicks produce a film Anxious World about anxiety in the metropolis. The frenetic city is portrayed in fast motion and time lapse, each frame composed to reflect a feeling of hectic living. Images reproduced with permission of the artists. Figure 5.36 a–d Another team’s take on a similar theme but using sparse line animation. Xingru Dong, Rachel Salter and Tian Xie concentrate on social phobia. The framing helps us focus on the movement. Images reproduced with permission of the artists. Figure 6.1 a–f Xi Wu film How do you keep your memories safe? asks us to consider what would happen if we lost all our digital memories. With so many precious photographs being kept solely in a digital format, what happens if we encountered a total storage meltdown. After a sequence of an escalating buildup of digital images, resulting in image overload to the point of blackout, we pull back on the z-axis to reveal location and context: a desktop computer screen sitting on a desk, suggesting all previous shots have taken place within a home computer. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 6.2 a–e In this animated example from Lana Abdelhady, she uses minimal camera movement. Her two-minute film In Disguise aims to encourage designers to embrace a creative block rather than fear one. She restricts movements to a few well-placed zooms, the odd vertical movement to follow the focus of the animation, and subtle, slow left-to-right horizontal moves to suggest the past or reversed to look to the

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future. But overall the effect is relatively static and restful to complement the reassuring message and therapeutic tone of voice-over. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 6.3 a–e On the other hand Joe Aiken’s use of camera is much more active. In his short film Lost in Athens, from his series about being on the hunt for identity through graffiti, he follows a fellow graffiti artist around the streets of Athens and looks at how the secret youth world reflects on the changing society, post refugee influx. With almost every shot handheld and moving, the camera work reflects a sense of immediacy and clandestine, covert coverage. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 6.4 a–f Ahram Park’s film London and I uses a locked camera in every shot, using a tripod to keep her camera rock steady as she tell the story of feeling isolated and lonely in London as an international student. She uses a Cinema 4D effect in postproduction on the characters featured, representing the feeling of being incomplete. This key idea is at the centre of every shot, so additional camera movement is unnecessary, not to mention the practical implications of making the effect more complex to achieve. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 6.5 a–d Another example, this time from industry, is seen in the US hit TV series Breaking Bad. Here the smooth sweeping motion of the camera surveys the room settling on what we perceive to be a lone central character. The motion continues, revealing a strategically placed Walter White to a menacing degree. Figure 6.6 a–d Roman Kim’s film Ritual is a haunting portrayal of the soul’s journey according to Siberian shamanism. He keeps the camera close to the subjects, so we concentrate on detail, expresssion and emotion. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 6.7 a–e In her film I am Not Fine, Heidi Purnama shoots from a first-person perspective to directly put her in each scene of the action. The characters feeling of isolation and increasingly low mood is perfectly captured, as we see her being overlooked and hear her internal negative thoughts vocalized. The camera shows the action happening around her, as people interact or not reflecting her conscious experience rather than the view being an unconscious observer of the scene. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 6.8 From AlexiaXenia Papageorgiou’s documentary Monos about the impact on the local population of the Greek economic crisis during 2009– 10. The title Monos, meaning to stand alone, is bought out by the use of a high-angled vantage position of the camera as she shoots a solitary figure crossing a road,

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illustrating feelings of isolation and abandonment. Image reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 6.9 a–d Stills from the TV series Handmaid’s Tale created by Bruce Miller. In Evan Puschak’s video essay for Nerdwriter he says, ‘When I watched the Handmaid’s Tale I was amazed at how much the depth of field influenced my feelings about the characters, and the world, and the story. It’s just rare that you see this device used with such purpose, so methodically and so effectively.’ He suggests binge-watching a few episodes, then stepping outside to have a new appreciation of just how much there is to see. Figure 6.10 a–c In Girl Chewing Gum by John Smith (1976), the camera is fixed on a wide view of the street. By covering this broad view, everything in sight feels as if it could potentially be staged for the camera. Figure 6.11 a–e Yi Chun Lin plans out his animated fable The Arms using a mix of closeups, mid shots and wide angles for variety. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 6.12 a–e Elias Freiberger uses a variety of framing in his film Design Starts Here to keep the narrative lively and surprising. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 6.13 a–c Francantonio Cuschieri’s 50-minute film I started life as a study into the movement and behaviour of the eye, and it developed into a liveaction drama set in Portugal. It is shot entirely from the point of view of the lead character, which actively involves us with the action. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 6.14 a–d In Tommie Geraedts’ film Flic, about the physical pain of performance, the violinist and her instrument are filmed using a variety of camera angles: (a) close-up to reveal detail; (b) reflected in a chrome sphere, (revealing the cameraman); and (c and d) through a foreground object. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 7.0 The most basic of forms can be a starting point for extraordinary outcomes. Image by David Daniels. Figure 7.1 a–e With the starting point of a circle, Tammy Alperovich-Malkov’s investigation looks at how circles evolved within religious symbolism, producing this simple animated experiment. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 7.2 Thibaut Degenne takes a square and applies a more formal, methodical approach to his visual experiments. Image reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 7.3 a–d Katerina Alivizatou’s journey towards an output began with a triangular shape, the mathematics of Plato, which leads her to the theme of a kaleidoscope as a metaphor for life. Her final

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film Kaleidoscope uses fragmentation and union to represent a love triangle, when a third person invades the space of a couple, she chose to illustrate it through dance. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 7.4 Julia Braga also looks at the disturbing formality of reflection and symmetry in her short film Transportable Wheels. By reversing the soundscape of London, the reflected view of the skyline takes on a sinister tone. The use of symmetry is a wellknown device used by many great directors such as Kubrick and Wes Anderson to induce a feeling of unease. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 7.5 a–e Jose Mendez’s circle project bases his short animation on points in a typical day when circles feature, illustrating the repeating circularity of daily life. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 7.6 a–b Designer Marie Van Driessche worked with social scientist Ben Wilson from the London School of Economics to chart the recent history of migration to the UK. She uses scale and proportion to represent the different ethnic groups arriving. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 7.7 a–c In cinema, few things can show power more than size and scale. Orson Welles exploits this masterfully in Citizen Kane, rearranging the composition to show (1) Kane dwarfed in the distance to show intimidation, and then (2) as he walks towards camera, the scale changes as he reasserts dominance and looms over the two foreground characters. Figure 7.8 a–d To help the elements appear in a more uniformed manner the frame within a frame is often used to create a subtle subplot, always relevant to the story it accentuates movement mood of focus diluting external details drawing our eyes to the area of attention. The four images shown here are: (a) The Searchers (1956) directed by John Ford; (b) City of God (2002) by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund; (c) Ikiru (1952) Akira Kurosawa; and (d) In the Mood for Love (2000) by Kar-Wai Wong. Figure 7.9 a–b Sarah Wicks’ project on selfies uses framing collage and negative space to illustrate the point that we are emotionally absent when taking images of ourselves to post online, thinking more of a digital existence than being present in the real world. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 7.10 a–b (a) In Tommie Geraedts’s film about the earth’s gravitational pull, he creates a rippling movement of the background to subtly draw our attention to a force field usually undetected. (b) James Symmonds uses separation and contrast to make us look twice at these illusions created in-camera. By suspending a mirror within an environment, these photographic experiments lead him to create a moving version that captures different time zones as

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well as different perspectives in one image. Images reproduced with permission of the artists. Figure 7.11 a–e Eduarda Lima developed her early thoughts on the properties of the triangle through to her final output. She dives into complex triangular relationships prominent in popular feature films that display this three-sided shape to inform and guide the narrative. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 7.12 a–b Tammy Alperovich-Malkov’s work on the circle develops into an app for kids to help teach early numeracy based around the idea of popping or merging bubbles. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 7.13 Katerina Troshikhina’s primary research into the square led her to notice the rigid inflexibility of its properties. Figure 7.14 a–f Lana Abdelhady’s triangle animation looks at how the emotions of fear, joy and sorrow can be represented through the changing perspective of a triangle. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 7.15 a–c There is nothing like being actively involved with the experience of viewing. Here Thibaut Degenne’s study of scopophilia, through Hitchcock’s Rear Window, divides up the film so that viewers can walk through two viewpoints, adding additional layers to the narrative. By becoming an active participant in the on-screen voyeurism, you physically join the characters observing the action. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 7.16 a–b Another example of an immersive experience is this projected theatre promotion for a production of Alice in Wonderland by James Symonds. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 7.17 Being able to actually interact with the work gives a completely different experience. Here visitors to a film exhibition look through flick books that trailer the films on show. Photo by the author. Figure 7.18 a–c The Conversation (1974) from director Francis Ford Coppola has a recurring theme of circularity reflected in both plot, story details and onscreen imagery. Figure 7.19 a–b Triangles are often used to represent a three-sided relationship, either harmonious as in father-mother-child or otherwise, such as a lovers’ triangle. It can be represented within the design, composition, or placing of various props within the location or by the positioning of characters on screen, as with this scene from the French romantic drama Jules et Jim (1962), directed by Francois Truffaut, about a tragic love triangle. Figure 7.20 a–b Hannah Leiss’s video essay on Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1962 feature film L’Eclisse

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(Eclipse) is a study of the visual storytelling used throughout the film, revealing a powerful vertical line device used to separate the two lovers from each other in each and every shot. The reoccurring graphic acts to reinforce and illustrate their struggle to communicate. Figure 7.21 The Academy Award–winning film by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics (1965), animated by Chuck Jones, is the story of a straight line hopelessly in love with a dot. The film, based on Norman Juster’s book, gives us an interesting perspective on the mathematical and thematic properties of these two graphic devices. Figure 7.22 a–c Students document their production progress in printed form, a visual summary that covers all areas of development from initial idea to final outcome. Figure 7.23 a–b Heidi Purnama references a range of sources for her project on hidden depression. While Sarah Culross organizes her experiments on fragmentation cropping and obscuring. Images reproduced with permission of the artists. Figure 7.24 a–c Secondary research pages from a visual summary by Tom Brown. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 7.25 a–b As we saw in Chapter 5, having taken a circle as a starting point, Xi Wu developed ideas of space and place, noticing how the shape reflects her own feelings of claustrophobia in the sprawling cities of her hometown Beijing, and now London. It also reflects her own cycle of movement as she travels from China to the UK and back again, once her studies are complete (see film on the companion website). Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 7.26 a–e Sam Campbell started with a square, and using the motif of a window, he explored the reduced view this frame offers. Based on the story of Leon Greenman, a survivor of Auschwitz who on returns to London faced further anti-Semitism, Sam’s simple animated film illustrates the restrictions of a narrowed perspective, both literally and metaphorically. This film has been showing in London’s Imperial War Museum (see the full film on companion website). Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 7.27 a–d Given a triangle to explore, Eduarda Lima became interested in the triad dynamic within cinema narratives, eventually creating a new title sequence for the Mike Nichols’ film The Graduate (1967) revolving around a triangular relationship. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 8.1 Purportedly the first-ever colour film showing the Lee-Turner Colour process. This still from Turner’s colour test film was painstakingly restored by

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David Cleveland and Brian Pritchard of the National Media Museum. Reproduced with permission of National Science and Media Museum / Science and Society Picture Library. Figure 8.2 Still from The Wizard of Oz (1939), directed by Victor Fleming (and others). As Dorothy opens the door onto the Land of Oz, the expression on her face no doubt reflects the marvel of the audience of 1939, seeing full Technicolour on a cinema screen for the first time. Colour makes things seem more real, and in the early days its reproduction was transformative. Figure 8.3 Eduarda Lima looks at colour triads, Goethe’s colour triangle, his emotions theory, and finally the subtractive process, in her film on triangles. Image reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 8.4 a–c Juliana Utsch looks at how colour affects forms by experimenting with proportion and contrast. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 8.5 ‘Colour Emotions’ is an interesting live internet survey by designer Nikoloz Getsadze. He canvasses for reactions to colours by matching them with emotions. If you would like to participate yourself, the URL is in the Resources section. Image reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 8.6 a–d Given that all colours have loaded meanings, Juliana Utsch’s two-dimensional experiments into emotions and how to represent them graphically became much stronger when she eliminated colour altogether. By simplifying them, the idea is distilled. Here she has represented (a) fear, (b) sadness, (c) homesickness, and (d) insecurity. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 8.7 a–e Thibaut Degenne starts with a square shape in After Effects; using the blur and motion tools, he creates a set of systematic experiments around colour, observing how they interact at speed. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 8.8 a–e Xuan Zhang become interested in how folding structures separate space within the same surface. Using colour theory and origami, she created characters for a promotional animation for MTV. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 8.9 a–f Jai Ryoong Kim sees if it is possible to distil the colours of wellknown paintings to simplify colour and shape. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 8.10 Painter Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres painted this unfinished copy, reduced in size and much simplified, of the celebrated Grand Odalisque of 1814. Paintings in shades of grey called ‘grisaille’ were often made to establish variations in tone as a guide to engravers of black and white reproductive prints. Jean

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Auguste Dominique / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

more than black, white and red. Images reproduced with permission of the artist.

Figure 8.11 Contrast and affinity. Image by David Daniels.

Figure 8.20 a–e Maurice Binder’s title sequence for Dr. No (1962) manages to capture the suave, calm ubercool, hypermasculinity of the character of Bond with nothing more than a grid of colourful circles in limited colour combinations popular in the 1960s. A prime example of stripping back an idea to a minimal form for full effect.

Figure 8.12 The Bezold Effect. Image by David Daniels. Figure 8.13 Analogous colours. Image by David Daniels. Figure 8.14 David Daniels interprets Woon Lam Ng ‘friends’ and ‘enemies’ colour grouping to help us understand transitional colours, the asymmetrical nature of colour and to define the colours considered friends and those which are enemies. Image reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 8.15 a–b Loving Vincent stills, times two. In writer/director duo Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman’s animated film Loving Vincent (2017) about the famous impressionist Vincent Van Gogh, the focus is on the mystery that surrounds his death. Set in 1891, the year after his death, it tells the story of the last few weeks of his life. The film was seven years in the making and involved a team of eighty fine artists-turned-animators for the production to create a vivid, swirling tribute based on 125 of Van Gogh’s paintings in his original style. It is the first fully painted feature film using oils on canvas. In some of the scenes in the film that represent parts of Van Gogh’s life that he didn’t paint, flashbacks are seen in a different style, smoothly painted black and white oil, based on photography of the era. They contrast acutely with the constant boiling brilliant colours of the rest of the film and become a counterpoint of melancholy amongst the turmoil of brush strokes. Figure 8.16 a–d Cristina Duran used a restricted colour palette in her animated film Perceived Obsolescence to reflect the public information films of the 1950s that she references. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 8.17 a–b Alberto Torres produced a twodimensional animated title sequence for Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954). To be in keeping with the period, he references Saul Bass, the painter; Stuart Davies; and the general visual culture of the 1950s. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 8.18 a–d Paulina Gajewska uses the stark contrast of black and white for her huge projection. Seen from a distance and on a vast scale, the design needs to be simplified for maximum effect. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 8.19 a–e Lee Tesche’s animated film aims to give life to inanimate objects. He uses a tactile screenprinted look and, using a simple and limited pallet, takes on board the advice of German typographer designer and writer Erik Spiekermann of never needing

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Figure 8.21 a–b Stills from work by designer David Daniels. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 9.1 a–f In Alessandro Foschini’s two-minute animated film Type in Motion, he asks if text is losing out to the image. His interest in narrative structures in the communication of typographic messages led him to reference some of the experts in the field of motion typography. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 9.2 a–f This type overview is with thanks to typographer Ben Barrett-Forrest. His film The History of Typography is made from 2,454 photographs put together to create a stop-motion sequence providing an excellent background to how our Western typefaces evolved. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 9.3 a–d Lama Ajeenah’s develops a short, stop-frame animation to explain visually what a serif is. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 9.4 a–b Gary Hustwit’s film Helvetica (2007), about typography, graphic design and global visual culture, looks at the proliferation of one typeface as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. It is an exploration of urban spaces in major cities and the type that inhabits them. The independent film features renowned designers discussing their work, their creative process and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type. Figure 9.5 a–b In this printed example, Lee Tesche uses contrast and grouping to help navigate around the information in this poster of the United States withdrawal plans during the Vietnam War. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 9.6 a–b Four narratives run concurrently in this cinema film Don’t Stand for It by director Penny Hilton. About domestic violence awareness, illustrating recurrence, grouping and alignment, each strand occupies a specific, consistent space on screen. After the intentional initial panic due to information overload, the eye settles into the rhythm and is directed easily around the screen, able to take in the changing images and three counteracting storylines. Images reproduced with permission of the artist.

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Image Credits

Figure 9.7 a–l In these experiments, animators Tammy Alperovich-Malkov (Pixellate a–f) and Ignasi Perez-Noguera Vila (Plasticity g–l) look at semantics and significance in an attempt to interpret the meaning of a chosen word. Here the words embody the meaning of the word in both design and motion. Images reproduced with permission of the artists. Figure 9.8a–j Jaeho Hwang (Transition a–f), and Nathalie Iltis (Weight g–j) Two further examples of taking a single word and using its meaning to propel the animation. Jaeho Hwang studies the frame by frame motion occurring between the letter forms (Transition a–f), while Nathalie Iltis makes best use of the whole frame to represent the solid properties of her word (Weight g–j). Figure 9.9 Dealing with a lot of text on screen at once is not a simple task. Here an attempt is made to grapple with a lot of data in a logical manner in tribute to the fifty-two victims of the London Bombings of 7 July 2005. All the victims’ names and their respective dates of birth appear on screen to count up to the fateful day their lives ended at the moment of the bomb’s blast. As a silent tribute, the film can’t rely on sound as a visual prompt, so even though it is an interesting idea, navigating through the information is somewhat confusing. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 9.10 a–h Xuan Zhang applies a consistent template to place the text to brand National Geographic TV, while Jai Ryoong Kim designs idents for Korean channel Sogon based around his logo, which is the main design element to hold them together. Images reproduced with permission of the artists. Figure 9.11 In this short documentary about David Toop, collaboratively made by Hong Hu, Matteo Bisato and Filip Pomykalo, the size of the title caption is small and the font is lightweight; however, there is a high contrast between the black letters and the clear white background it sits on. With very little movement in the shot, your eye is immediately drawn to it; held on screen for a full five seconds, it works despite its small size. Images reproduced with permission of the artists. Figure 9.12 a–b In Dean G. Moore’s film Tunnel Vision, he generated text and information in After Effects using the Camera tool for a three-dimensional effect. This additional foreground text layer contributes to his story on several levels: The amount of detail on screen that he chooses to reveal is sometimes hard to read. By clustering the text in this specific hierarchy, he makes sure that only the dominant words are revealed, suggestive of multiple layers still undiscovered. The transitions of the text, which is how it appears on screen, how it behaves when it’s there and how it is moved off, all reflect the motion of subject (i.e. transport, train tracks) or it directly reflects the

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motion of the camera, which in turn evokes travel and journeys. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 9.13 a–e Clement Jaquier’s film celebrating the art of title sequence design uses props within the location to embed names of designers in the style of sequences they are famous for. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 9.14 a–e Rather than hear the voice of French street artist Ox, known as ‘The Hijacker of Billboards’, designers Louise Courtois and Alice Szymankiewicz project the words of their interview with him directly onto surfaces he uses in his work. This non-vocal, silent solution is perfectly in keeping with his clandestine approach, so it is conceptually relevant for the subject. The static passages of text come alive as a passer-by interrupts the throw of light. Images reproduced with permission of the artists. Figure 9.15 a–e Maria Rocha’s performing words project, King of Gaps, takes a visual approach to Fernando Pessoa’s poem and uses projection to reveal the text. The animated words for this performative piece, provide a backdrop to interact with. Careful timing of animation, positioning of projectors and numerous rehearsals are the key to the success of recording this accurately. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 9.16 a–c Chiara Comiotto explores the movement of text in title sequences, noting their emotional effect. She notes the left-to-right x-axis movement of Down with Love and the right to left x-axis motion of Hitchcock’s Psycho. She also looks at the y-axis upward movement of Up in the Air and the reverse direction of Danny Yoult’s design for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Examples of z-axis movement are Crash and Le Souffleur. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 9.17 a–c Chiara then conducts her own study to show that kinetic typography is a valuable communication element in the creation of meaning. Her series of experiments clearly illustrate Giannetti’s overview. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 9.18 a–d Through a series of iterative tests, Clement Jaquier looks at the emotional effect different motion has on text emerging from a background. Taking the much applauded Up in the Air (2009), title sequence by Gareth Smith and Jenny Lee, he creates his own version to explore a variety of x- and y-axis moves, noticing how the motion of the text and camera combined has a direct bearing on how we read the title. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 9.19 a–d Note how the direction of the camera move adds to the concept and mood of this French ad for Air Canada. Directed by Romain Chassaing from

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Solab Paris Production Company, it is pensive and romantic, the continuously flowing camera contributes to a feeling of melancholy as the picture pulls away from us. The composited double-exposure transitions, placing the characters in new locations, reflect the idea of human connectivity. The final move upward to reveal the ‘packshot’ reflects aspiration, power, authority and joy. All qualities that any airline would like to associate themselves with no doubt. #With thanks to True Detective and Up in the Air title sequences. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 9.20 a–h The title sequence for Gaspar Noe’s Enter the Void (2007) is a bright, colourful typographic feast, reflecting the cast of characters and the mood of the film. The energetic and pushy soundtrack of LFO’s Freak against a visual overdose of frantic typography creates an effect that is extraordinary on many levels, reflecting the storyline of first-person perspective of drug induced psychosis. Figure 9.21 a–d Designer Farah Kadum experiments with pacing, movement contrast and affinity. Concentrating more on positioning of text and duration rather than typography, she looks at the lasting impression. Can you actually change the mood of the audience through controlled delivery of the message? Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 9.22 a–b In George Méliès film Voyage to the Moon (1897) he plays with graphics directly, animating text using a stop-frame technique. Possibly one of the very first animated logos was created for his production company Star Films. Figure 9.23 a–d US Series The Big C from Curious Pictures directed by Matt Smithson centres around the new perspective of a woman who has been given a diagnosis of cancer. The titles eloquently illustrate the emotional distance she feels from the rest of the family, being under constant scrutiny and judgement. They can only peer into her world from the sidelines. Her playful actions in the pool reflect her altered behaviour and sense of now-or-never new-found freedom. Figure 9.24 a–f Saul Bass was probably the most legendary and influential title sequence designer ever. Known for his bold graphic design, poster and title sequence work that perfectly set the mood for the cinema audience, he is often the first stop for anyone researching the subject. Bass worked with Elaine Makatura, who joined him in his studio after his initial success. The pair married in 1955 and went on to create some of the most memorable title sequences, as well as winning an Oscar for their short film Why Man Creates. Some of their notable title sequences include (a) Anatomy of a Murder (1959), directed by Otto Preminger; (b) North by Northwest (1959) and (c) Psycho (1960), both directed by Alfred Hitchcock; and

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(d) Cape Fear (1991), (e) The Age of Innocence (1993), and their last film, (f) Casino (1995), all directed by Martin Scorsese. Figure 9.25 a–f Title sequences design by Pablo Ferro: (a) Dr. Strangelove (1964), directed by Stanley Kubrick; (b) The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (1966), directed by Norman Jewison; (c) Bullitt (1968), directed by Peter Yates; (d) Beetlejuice (1988), directed by Tim Burton; (e) To Die For (1995), directed by Gus Van Sant; (f) La Confidential (1997), directed by Curtis Hanson. Figure 9.26 a–f Stephen Frankfurt’s title design for To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), directed by Robert Mulligan, separates the type from the live-action background. The text is static, acting but not interacting with the background. It has a neutral position centred both horizontally and vertically. The intention is to express the neutrality, simplicity and wonderment of a child discovering a treasure box, which prepares the audience for some of the film’s primary themes of racial injustice and the destruction of innocence. Figure 9.27 a–d Here Eduarda Lima uses careful alignment of text to fuse it on the background of this title sequence for The Graduate, directed by Mike Nichols, based on a triangular theme reflecting the love triangle of the storyline. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 9.28 a–f For the titles sequence for the Bond film From Russia with Love (1963), directed by Terence Young, designer Robert Brownjohn experiments with projecting text over the body of a female belly dancer, creating a sexually charged opening in keeping with the nature of the film. Figure 9.29 a–e In David Fincher’s Panic Room (2002), type is embedded in the overall design with name credits extruded in three dimensions, distorted to match the perspective and manipulated to appear to hover surreally over the architecture of Manhattan. As the main concept came from the film’s director, David Fincher, instead of recruiting a title sequence designer to carry out the task, the visual effects experts were called in to create all aspects of the design from composition typography as well as compositing. The result is an opening title sequence that is a perfect set-up to the movie’s themes of fluid space and anxiety, and it places the film firmly and securely within its location. Albeit leaning somewhat heavily on Saul Bass’s original North by Northwest (1959) twodimensional animated sequence created some forty years before, this is a uniquely crafted sequence of design. Figure 9.30 a–d The collaborative team of Tom Brown, Ahram Park and Ester Vilaplana designed this neonbased typography fused into the location shots of London to highlight the words of Martin Galton’s poem

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This Jerusalem about the dark side of London. Images reproduced with permission of the artists.

open code. Images reproduced with permission of the artist.

Figure 9.31 a–f Use of fragmentation can be seen in Imaginary Forces’ title sequence for Spider-Man 2 (2004). The ‘battle’ rages between type and image, as graphic spider webs continuously obscure the credits and the text retaliates, vying for more space, communicating a dynamic and unsettling message.

Figure 9.37 a–e In this film, designer Giulio Cipone works with Helen Brown Coverdale to visualize theoretical ideas that have emerged from her research about the role of ethics in shaping state criminal-punishment decisionmaking. As her research is conceptual, focusing on whether and how understanding state criminal punishment from the perspective of the ethics of care can help provide sentencing guidelines, it was quite a challenge to simplify her complex findings into this three-minute animated film called Punishing with Care. Image reproduced with permission of the artist.

Figure 9.32 a–f A recent brief set for graphic design students produced some interesting outcomes. The task was to design an opening sequence for a proposed documentary series called The Future based on Al Gore’s book of the same name. There was a lot of meaty substance to grapple with, as the sequence needed to feature all six drivers for global change; therefore, the designers’ task was fairly complex, but the project produced some interesting outcomes. Here Obinna Udekwereze covers a lot of ground by including data on screen and provides an example of text that is fused with the background. Figure 9.33 a–e The 1936 film My Man Godfrey, directed by Gregory La Cava, provides a beautiful early example of excellent use of typography by a designer that is sadly uncredited. Layers of text appear across a city skyline, predating Saul Bass’s North by Northwest sequence by twenty-three years. The appearance of the letters is punctuated by the music score, and the slow camera pan enable us to take it all in. The sequence is well worth looking up. Figure 9.34 a–d Traditionally end credits move vertically up the screen, from bottom of screen to top. Usually this is done for ease of reading, as discussed earlier, and so we can focus on one name at a time. Should the film be shown on a smaller screen, the text will still be legible. This directing team Axel Danielson & Maximilien Van Aertryck have chosen to lay the text out in a different way. In their short film Hopptonet (Ten Meter Tower) (a–c), they use the whole screen so that we can take in more information at once. Although a refreshing break from the norm, it does need longer read time and, of course, could cause problems if viewed on a small screen. Wes Andersons animated feature Isle of Dogs (2018) has a similar treatment for the end credits (d). Figure 9.35 a–f Designers Elias Freiberger and Ryan Tung worked with social scientist Regina Enjuto Martinez to develop a short animation about working conditions and labour rights in China. Images reproduced with permission of the artists. Figure 9.36 a–f In this animated film, designer Henrietta Ross worked with researcher Wifak Houij Gueddana, Information Systems and Innovation Group, to capture the idea and key findings behind the MIFOS project, which looks at the different social interactions underpinning the process of developing and sharing

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Figure 10.1 a–f The Kuleshov effect influences every film and film maker. It is the film editing or montage effect, as demonstrated by Lev Kuleshov in the 1910s and 1920s, the mental phenomenon where viewers read more meaning into sequential shots than from a single shot in isolation. It is the central component of visual storytelling, as through it we can suggest meaning and manipulate space and time. Figure 10.2 a–f (a–b) Contrasting scenes in The Godfather (1972), directed by Francis Ford Coppola. (c–d) Probably the most well-known match cut in cinematic history 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), directed by Stanley Kubrick. (e–f) The underwater shots in Jaws (1975), directed by Steven Spielberg, providing a leitmotif. Figure 10.3 a–d One of the first montages used to great effect is seen in Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin (1925), specifically the Odessa steps sequence, often parodied and the subject of much discussion. Here the juxtaposition of shots builds intentionally to tell a horrifying narrative. Figure 10.4 a–d Un Chien Andalou (1929), one of the most famous short films of all time, is the work of Luis Bunuel and surrealist artist Salvador Dali. This silent film is deliberately incomprehensible to make a statement about the absurdity of French cinema of the time. Figure 10.5 a–d Production stills from the collaborative team Joe Aiken, Xi Wu and Sarah Wicks producing Anxious World. Images reproduced with permission of the artists. Figure 10.6 a–d A variety of editing techniques helped the frenetic feel of the city: (a) layered text, (b) masks to create multiple and fragmented images, (c and d) repeating and layering the image in different sizes. Images reproduced by permission of the artist. Figure 10.7 a–d Other techniques include several in-camera effects: (a) filming reflection, (b) looking through a window, (c) playing footage on an iPhone and re-filming screen, (d) using out-of-focus light

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sources or bokeh. Images reproduced by permission of the artist. Figure 10.8 a–e Based on Rhythms 21 by Hans Richter made in 1921 (see Chapter 7), designers Daniel Eatock and Timothy Evans create this playful short animation using early Microsoft PowerPoint transitions, simply wiping from a full black to white and back again. Stripped of content, it provides an interesting study of the psychological effect of different wipes. Both are films worth looking at for the full effect. Images reproduced with permission of the artists. Figure 10.9 a–e Thibaut Degenne’s After Effects experiments with a square are along the same lines, as all could be wipes from white to black; these are the midway points. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 10.10 a–b James Symonds uses masks, compiling different time zones in one image to isolate the recurrence of particular observations (i.e. people wearing red in Red Crossing or the appearance of pushchairs in his March of the Buggies). Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 10.11 a–c In an early offering from emerging director Roman Kim, he dissolves from the scene of a man sleeping to an underwater scene. We think he is dreaming, but it also metaphorically suggests the underworld in his film about Tibetan shamanic ritual. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 10.12 Try not to cut picture and sound at the same point, as in a parallel cut; much better to use appropriate split edits known as J-and-L cuts. This helps the natural flow of a scene; the technique is so named because of the shape the cut makes on the timeline, as this diagram shows. Image by David Daniels.

Figure 10.15 a–f Shirin Ebrahimi Asil uses editing techniques to visualize the relativity of time. Taking the quote by Albert Einstein, ‘The distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion’, she shows the same images in reverse at the same time. The pacing is fast, so within a few seconds it becomes clear that we are watching the same footage. It starts with the future, which is in reverse; cuts back to present, which is in real time; and continues back and forth until two images meet at the present and pass it to where its starts and ends again, looping time in a continuous cycle. Images reproduced with permission of the artist. Figure 10.16 a–b In Simona Staniscia’s project, she pays tribute to the Italian film director Pier Paolo Pasolini, a seminal figure in the evolution of film and language theory, in an attempt to illustrate and interpret some of his theories. Staniscia references some of his key concepts around order and meaning, and she unravels his thoughts on the long take versus editing. In one section called Splices, she takes a short clip from Pasolini’s film Edipo Re (1967) and studies the intersections or junctures where two shots meet. To bring our attention to the duration of each shot and the point of transition, she uses different methods: first an audible beep at the point of cut, then splitting the screen up and playing each shot simultaneously on the left and then the right. She covers the picture with a large visible time code, counting up each frame throughout the duration of the shot, and finally she plays all shots at once, layering all sound and images together. Images reproduced with permission of the artist.

Figure 10.13 a–b Contrast the multi-shot look of Hitchcock’s shower scene versus the single take of this shot from Hunger (2008), directed by Steve McQueen. The camera is motionless on a long drawn out shot of the prison corridor; for almost three full minutes, the subjects us to extended monotonous action, to the sound of the broom scraping towards us. The corridor is long, and there is a lot of cleaning to do; the camera remains static and lingers, seemingly forever. The shot becomes uncomfortable to watch, echoing the frustration and futility of the film’s theme, while allowing us time for contemplation on the political situation that has brought us there in the first place. Figure 10.14 a–b Hitchcock montages seventy-eight shots in rapid succession. Although nothing is actually shown, the mere details are suggestive enough make us fill in the gaps and have a shocking effect. Film stills from Psycho (1960).

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Contributors With thanks to the following:

Graduate Designer/Directors Website (if given) Abigail Smith https://www.youtube.com/aboids Ahram Park http://www.ahrampark.net/ Alberta Torres https://www.albertatorres.com/ Alessandro Foschini http://www.eyesdonttalk.com/ Alex Holstein http://www.alexholstein.com/ Alexia Xenia Papageorgiou Alice Szymankiewicz Amanda Perry-Kessaris https://amandaperrykessaris .org/

Hiro Tanaka https://vimeo.com/doggytastes Hyunlee Jo Access Jack Watkinson-Boone https://www.instagram.com /jwatkinson_boone/?hl=en Jaeho Hwang https://jaeho-hwang.com Jai Ryoong Kim https://vimeo.com/jairyoongkim James Fraser https://www.jamesfraserdesign.com/ James Symonds https://www.symiancreative.co.uk Joao Monteiro http://www.mondi.tv/ Joe Aiken Jose Mendez https://www.josemiguelmendez.com/ Julia Braga

Angie Kordella

Juliana Utsch http://julianautsch.com/

Aydin Mustafa http://aydin.design

Ju Young Reu https://juyoungreu.weebly.com/

Bartosz Druszcz http://cargocollective.com /bartoszdruszcz

Katerina Alivizatou https://the-dots.com/users /katerina-alivizatou-90104

Bec Worth http://commonpractice.info

Kirandeep Johal https://www.kiranjohal.co.uk/

Cate Rickards http://www.caterickards.com/

Lama Ajeenah https://www.lama-type.com/

Chiao Yun Kuo

Lana Abdelhady https://the-dots.com/users/lana -abdelhady-85027

Chiara Comiotto Clement Jaquier http://blackpen.tv/language/en/ Cristina Duran http://cristina-oliver.com/ Dean G. Moore http://deangmoore.co.uk/ Dimitra Tzanos https://dimitratzanos.com/ Divya Chadha https://www.divyachadha.com/ Djordje Balmazovic http://skart.rs/

Lee Tesche Maria Rocha http://queenofgaps.com/ Marie van Driessche http://www.marievandriessche .nl/ Matteo Bisato https://cargocollective.com /dontgrowup

Eduarda Lima https://eduardalima.com/

Mengyao Qiao https://www.behance.net /KatherineQMY

Elias Freiberger https://www.oblique-films.com/

Nathalie Iltis https://www.nathalieiltis.fr/

Ester Vilaplana https://www.instagram.com /illesterations/

Neil Leonard http://neilrobertleonard.co.uk/

Ewa Fk Przybyla https://fkmylife.me/

Paulina Gajewska https://www.behance.net/paulinkita

Farah Kadum https://farahpsydmt.wixsite.com /bluelotus

Rachel Salter http://wavemediastudio.com/

Filip Pomykalo www.pomykalo.com Francantonio Cuschieri Heidi Purnama Hèloise d’Almeida www.helloise.fr Henrietta Ross

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Pai Hakko https://www.psc-brand.com/

Roman Kim Sam Campell https://samcampbell.net/ Sarah Wicks https://www.swicksdesign.com/ Shirin Ebrahimi Asil Stella I-Chen Chen https://cargocollective.com /stellaichenchen

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Contributors

Sujeong Yoon https://sujeongyoon.cargo.site/

Industry list of contributors

Susan Green http://suzanne-green.com/index.html

Ben Barret Forrest History of Type https://www .forrestgoods.com

Takeo Ozaki http://tkz.io/blog/ Tammy Alperovich-Malkov https://www.uppercaset .co.uk/

Blue Seat Studio https://www.blueseatstudios.com/

Thibaut Degenne www.designbydegenne.com

David Daniels http://www.davedaniels.co.uk/

Tian Xie

H-57.jpeg https://www.h-57.com/?lang=en

Tom Brown http://tombrownvisual.com

Herman Miller https://www.hermanmiller.com/en_gb/

Tommie Geraedts http://tomgeraedts.com

Kubrick Permissions

Xi Wu

Nikoloz Getsadze http://getsadze.ge/

Xingru Dong (Jam) http://theartroomplant.blogspot. com/2019/02/dong-xingru.html

Penny Hilton www.pennyhilton.co.uk

Xinxin Xiu Xuan Zhang http://xuan-9.com/

Daniel Eatock https://eatock.com

Air Canada.pdf http://www.solab.fr/ Viktor Hertz http://viktorhertz.com/

Yi Chun Lin http://www.linyi.uk/

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Index Aanganwaadi system, 119 Abdelhady, Lana, 82, 135, 158 Additive Primaries, 170 affinity, 177 Aiken, Joe, 135, 229 Ajeenah, Lama, 193 Alice, 47 alignment, 194 Alivizatou, Katerina, Alperovich-Malkov, Tammy, analogous colours, 178, 179 anamorphic scope, 48 animatics, 21, 23, 78, 118 animation techniques, 10 Aristotle, 62 Asil, Shirin Ebrahimi, 25, 238 asymmetry, 152–3 atmosphere, 87–92 audience context, 42–7 format, 48–51 personas, 41–2 treatment, 51–4 audio bed, 86 Baby Driver (Wright), 91 Balmazovic, Djordje, 89 Bass, Saul, 206, 207 Bauhaus approach, 149 Berger, John, 62 Bezold Effect, 178 Bisato, Matteo, 30 bokeh, 229 Braga, Julia, 109, 114, 152 brainstorming, 3–12 Brown, Tom, 23 Bunuel, Luis, 228 camera different lenses, 137–40 movement, 133–6 techniques, 144–5 variety of shots, 142–3 Campbell, Sam, 15, 30 captions, 82–4 Chadha, Divya, 119 character, 191–6 Chun Lin, Yi, 143 cinema auditorium, 44 CinemaScope, 48 circle, 149–55 Citizen Kane (Wells), 118

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colour colour correction, 186 combinations, 177–80 grading, 186 history of, 169–71 palette, 181–4 significance of, 171–5 colour correction, 186 Colour Emotions, 172 Comiotto, Chiara, 201 commercial music, 102 complementary colours, 178 composed music, 102 composition focus, 129–31 framing, 107–15 motion versus stillness, 117–21 screen space, 121–7 context, 42–7 continuity editing, 225–6 contrast, 177, 194, 224 cool colours, 177 crane, 133 credits, 213 cut, 228 cut-away, 232 d’Almeida, Héloise, 42 Daniels, David, 185 data visualization, 214–16 database narrative, 206 De Bono, Edward, 29 Degenne, Thibaut, 108, 151, 159, 173, 231 Designed for Life (Hilton), 79, 83 development, 21–8 change, allowing for, 25–7 scheduling creativity, 24–5 diegetic sound, 87 digital technology, 169 direct film animation, 94 dissolve, 229–30 documentary, 74–81 documentation, 32–9 domestic violence, 43 Don’t Stand for It, 44 drone camera, 133 Druszcz, Bartosz, 24 Duran, Cristina, 55 Dutch tilt, 144 editing developed from shorts to features, 221–4

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effects, 236 invisible and visible editing, 225–8 rhythm and pace, 236–9 transitions, 228–34 effects, editing, 236 Eisenstein, Sergei, 222, 223, 225, 227 Eisner, Will, 17, 62 facial recognition technology, 43 fade, 232 fade-in, 232 Fahrenheit 9/11 (Moore), 74 feedback, 29–32 feedforward, 29–32 Ferrari, Alex, 134 Ferro, Pablo, 122, 123, 126, 206, 207 Figgis, Mike, 124, 134 film effects, 236 fish-eye, 138 focus, 129–31 form as exploration, 156–61 outcomes, 166 triangle, square and circle, 149–55 visual summaries, 162–5 format, 48–51 48FILM project, 64 Foschini, Alessandro, 191, 192 Found sound, 102 fragmentation, 208 framing, 107–15, 153–4 framing centrality, 115 Fraser, James, 20, 27 Freiberger, Elias, 143, 215 fusion, 208 Gajewska, Paulina, 48, 49 geometric shapes, 161 Geraedts, Tommie, 145, 155 gestalt, 149 Giannetti, Louis, 200, 201 grading, 186 grammar, 150 graphic edit, 232 graphic novel, 62 graphical sound, 94 Green, Suzanne, 20, 27 Griffith, David Wark, 222 grouping, 194 guide user-experience design (UXD), 41 Hakko, Pia, 38, 67, 78 handheld shot, 133 hierarchy, 155 Hijacker of Billboards, 200 Hilton, Penny, 56, 79, 83 Hitchcock, Alfred, 203, 228, 237 Hoffman, Armin, 181 Holstein, Alex, 71 hue, 178 Hunger, 236

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Hwang, Jaeho, 97 I-Chen-Chen, Stella, 55 I, Daniel Blake, 45–6 Iltis, Nathalie, 196 Imaginary Forces, 113 intellectual/ideological montage, 225 inversion, 88 invisible editing, 225–8 invisible technology, 43 Jarecki, Andrew, 74 J-cut, 228 Jaquier, Clement, 199, 201 Jo, Hyunlee, 4, 152 Johal, Kirandeep, 5 Kadum, Farah, 203, 204 Keaton, Buster, 221 key message, 71–2 Kim, Jai Ryoong, 90, 174, 198 Kim, Roman, 51, 110, 138, 232 kinetic typography, 191, 202–3 Kinetoscope, 221 Kordella, Angie, 34 Kuleshov effect, 222, 223 Kuo, Chiao Yun, 118, 119 L cut, 228 La Jetée (Marker), 77, 117 lean forward moment, 236 legibility, 197–8 leitmotif, 224 Leonard, Neil, 78 library music, 102 Light Colour Primaries, 170 Lima, Eduarda, 53 Loach, Ken, 45, 46 Look at Me, 42–4 look book, 38 Marker, Chris, 77, 117 McCandless, David, 214 McCloud, Scott, 17, 62, 63 McKee, Robert, 62 McKerrow, Peter, 100, 101 McLuhan, Marshall, 191 McQueen, Steve, 236 Méliès, George, 203, 205, 221 Mendez, Jose, metric montage, 225 Miller, Herman, 63 mise-en-scène, 106 Monochrome, 175 montage theory, 118, 226–8 Monteiro, Joao, 56 Moore, Dean G., 76 Moore, Michael, 74 Morely, Carol, 44 motion, 117–21 Mustafa, Aydin, 57

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Index

narrative, 67–70 non-diegetic sound, 87 nose room, 111 outcomes, 166 overtonal montage, 225 Ozaki, Takeo, 77 pace, 236–9 palette, colour, 181–4 pan, 133 Panavision, 48 Papageorgiou, Alexia Xenia, 139 parallax, 144 parallelism, 224 Park, Ahram, 14 Perry-Kessaris, Amanda, 70 personas, 41–2 Phillips, Charlie, 74 pictogram, 61 pixilation, 94 Poetics, 62 point of view (POV), 144 Pomykalo, Filip, 66, 70, 198 Pond, 68 Porter, Edwin S., 221, 222 progression, 150 Przybyla, Ewa, 47 Pudovkin, Vsevolod I., 222 Purnama, Heidi, 139, 163 Qiao, Mengyao, 80 Race for Health (Hilton), 79 readability, 197–8 recurrence, 194 release forms, 79 Renmei, Andy, 70 research, primary and secondary, 13–15 Reu, Ju Young, 75 rhythm, 236–9 rhythmic montage, 225 Rickards, Cate, 83 right tone, 87–92 Rocha, Maria, 4, 200 Ross, Henrietta, 216 Rule of Six, 226 rule of thirds, 111 Salter, Rachel, 19, 131 scale, 153 screen direction, 109 screen space, 121–7 screen writing, 62 secondary research, 13–15 separation, 208 shade, 181 shape, 95–8 shooting board, 78 shot scale, 137 significance, 194

9781350025516_txt_app.indd 267

267

simply motion type, 191 simultaneity, 224 Size Zero, 56 sketchbooks, 36 Smith, Abigail, 45 sound right tone and atmosphere, 87–92 shape, 95–8 as tool for focus, 94–5 working with musicians, 100 Splices, 239 split edit, 228 square, 149–55 static shot, 133 Steadicam, 133 stillness, 117–21 stop-frame animation, 193 story, 59–66 storyboarding, 16–21 storytelling, 62 structure narrative, 67–70 story, 59–66 Subtractive Pigment Colour Primaries, 170 symbolism, 224 symmetry, 152–3 Symonds, James, 15, 47, 50 Szymankiewicz, Alice, 200 Tanaka, Hiro, 96 telephoto, 138 television, 212–13 Tesche, Lee, 183, 194 text and information character, 191–6 data visualization, 214–16 legibility versus readability, 197–8 movement, 200–3 titles, 203–14 ways of creating text, 199–200 time-based typography, 191 Timecode (Figgis), 124 tint, 181 title sequences, 97 titles, 203–14 tonal montage, 225 tone, 181 tone of voice, 55–7 Torres, Alberta, 47 tracking shot, 133 transitions cut, 228 dissolve, 229–30 fade, 232 wipe, 231 triadic colours, 187 triangle, 149–55 triangle and plans, 7 Tunnel Vision (Moore), 76 Turner, Edward Raymond, 169 type alignment, principles of, 194

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268

Index

typography, 191 Tzanos, Dimitra, 120 Utsch, Juliana, 171 Van Driessche, Marie, 153 Victoria, 64, 65 Vilaplana, Ester, 20, 211 visible editing, 225–8 visual grammar, 150 visual summaries, 162–5 visual tension, 178 voice-over, 55, 82–4 Voyage to the Moon (Méliès), 203, 205, 221 warm colours, 177 Watkinson-Boone, Jack, 127 Wells, Orson, 118

9781350025516_txt_app.indd 268

Wicks, Sarah, 130, 155, 229 wide-angle, 138 wipe, 231 Worth, Bec, 83 Wright, Edgar, 91 Wu, Xi, 3, 5, 6, 114, 130, 134, 165, 229 x-axis, 121–2 Xie, Tian, 19, 131 Xiu, Xinxin, 110 y-axis, 122 Yoon, Sujeong, 22, 107 z-axis, 122 Zhang, Xuan, 173, 198 zoetropes, 71

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