The "Sniper Scene" From "Saving Private Ryan"
I think the theme of this movie is mainly centered around triumph focusing on a small group of soldiers with a common objective. They know their jobs and they will risk their lives trying to do them. Some will not make it out in the end but they all tried. This movie shows this in many different scenes throughout the story and it is focused on the role of the sniper in this particular one. He is putting himself in a lot of danger trying to find the other sniper in the rain, and he displays it by motivating himself with words. The theme is very active in the story as you are not told his motivation, you must observe and see his courage to understand.
Line is very important when it comes to this particular scene because the lines portrayed are very precise to what is going on in the sequence. Virtual lines are heavily used to direct attention toward the soldier that is down on the ground, along with both snipers as they look up and down in a nervous and slow nature. These lines are then shown more directly through the scopes of the snipers as the audience gets a peek of what exactly the characters are looking at. The fascinating part is that the audience never really sees where the protagonist is looking through the scope and even eye sight. Instead they show the nervous antagonist sniper who scans his area only find that he is too late when he sees the other sniper.
Movement is also very important in this scene because there is not a lot of it at all. This makes the little movement present in the scene that much more important to the story. Slow movements of the US sniper as he adjusts to his shot without being seen really create a sense of danger. The soldier injured and bleeding on the ground slowly losing movement create a massive sense of urgency throughout the scene. The german soldier uses slow scope movement looking carefully for his shot. The only real fast movement in the scene is when the german sniper gets shot and quickly falls down.
Very broad shapes are used in the scene to not distract the user from what is going on. You are not intended to pay attention to the down because the real action and suspense is happening between the snipers. The rain overshadows most of buildings anyways which restricts the audience from really seeing much. There are more complex shapes in the german soldier's scope as he scans through the many obstacles that the US soldiers are hiding behind. Their complex shape is used to throw off the sniper as well as the audience. They can really experience the difficulty with finding a target in the scene.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
# 7 Animation Comparison
I used two frames from the animated cartoon, Spongebob Squarepants.
The first one:
The second one:
These two frames are very different from each other but contain the main character in each. What we first look at when viewing these two pieces is the color. In terms of hue, there are a lot of warmer colors in the second frame versus the first one. This shows a warmer environment especially centered around the lighter color of the main character, spongebob. Looking at the other characters in the frame, they have a darker color and this could be related to their expressions in the scene. Obviously they don't seem as cheerful as the main character and the animator decided to make their colors go along with it. The color in the first frame is a lot darker overall. The stress in both the characters in the shot is displayed on their faces and the color goes along with it. In terms of brightness, the first frame is a lot brighter in the front and especially on the main character. As depth goes on, the brightness gets significantly lower towards the people in the background. Even the characters right next to the main are a little dimmer than him. In the first frame, the environment around the characters is very dim and dark giving a suspenseful vibe to the scene. These different lighting techniques utilize shadows of the background characters in the second frame, and a darker mood in the first frame. Movement is also very important in these two frames. The first frame displays a large amount of movement as both characters in the shot appear to be in a frantic run. This shows fear in the shot and it is accompanied by the dark mood as explained before. The weight is a lot higher in the first frame over the second one because details are a lot more important and movement displays this easier.
The first one:
The second one:
These two frames are very different from each other but contain the main character in each. What we first look at when viewing these two pieces is the color. In terms of hue, there are a lot of warmer colors in the second frame versus the first one. This shows a warmer environment especially centered around the lighter color of the main character, spongebob. Looking at the other characters in the frame, they have a darker color and this could be related to their expressions in the scene. Obviously they don't seem as cheerful as the main character and the animator decided to make their colors go along with it. The color in the first frame is a lot darker overall. The stress in both the characters in the shot is displayed on their faces and the color goes along with it. In terms of brightness, the first frame is a lot brighter in the front and especially on the main character. As depth goes on, the brightness gets significantly lower towards the people in the background. Even the characters right next to the main are a little dimmer than him. In the first frame, the environment around the characters is very dim and dark giving a suspenseful vibe to the scene. These different lighting techniques utilize shadows of the background characters in the second frame, and a darker mood in the first frame. Movement is also very important in these two frames. The first frame displays a large amount of movement as both characters in the shot appear to be in a frantic run. This shows fear in the shot and it is accompanied by the dark mood as explained before. The weight is a lot higher in the first frame over the second one because details are a lot more important and movement displays this easier.
#6 Scene Story Boarding
First Five Shots of Scene
Overhead View of Shots
After watching the first 5 scenes from the movie "Se7en" I determined that the director tried to keep the shots fairly simple in the movie and didn't seem to break any rules in this particular part. I assume he did this because as the story is concluding and the audience is in charge of figuring out the main story. Making complex camera angles and movements might throw the audience off at this point completely defeating the purpose of the active ending that the movie is trying to portray. The first 5 scenes mainly consist of a few OTS shots but at different distances away from the character. The first OTS is a medium shot while the same character has a medium close up a couple shots later. I feel they did this to emphasize when he is looking into the box and the upcoming horror he will experience from it. The other character has an interesting 2 shot OTS that includes the antagonist in the background blurred out. The angle on him is also low suggesting a power of the protagonist over the antagonist. This is very interesting because that soon changes immediately after the other character discovers what is in the box. The rule 30 rule in terms of size really fit when the opening of the box happened. The character changed two shots and it went smoothly. The rule of thirds was also used to help keep your focus on the emotion of the characters as well as the mysterious box without even showing what was in it. The director did not break the 180 degree rule in this sequence as the characters did not move much and so he could preserve the notion of the story intended.
Overhead View of Shots
After watching the first 5 scenes from the movie "Se7en" I determined that the director tried to keep the shots fairly simple in the movie and didn't seem to break any rules in this particular part. I assume he did this because as the story is concluding and the audience is in charge of figuring out the main story. Making complex camera angles and movements might throw the audience off at this point completely defeating the purpose of the active ending that the movie is trying to portray. The first 5 scenes mainly consist of a few OTS shots but at different distances away from the character. The first OTS is a medium shot while the same character has a medium close up a couple shots later. I feel they did this to emphasize when he is looking into the box and the upcoming horror he will experience from it. The other character has an interesting 2 shot OTS that includes the antagonist in the background blurred out. The angle on him is also low suggesting a power of the protagonist over the antagonist. This is very interesting because that soon changes immediately after the other character discovers what is in the box. The rule 30 rule in terms of size really fit when the opening of the box happened. The character changed two shots and it went smoothly. The rule of thirds was also used to help keep your focus on the emotion of the characters as well as the mysterious box without even showing what was in it. The director did not break the 180 degree rule in this sequence as the characters did not move much and so he could preserve the notion of the story intended.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
#5 Song Deconstruction
Song One:
The Movies - Creation Lake
Phase I:
Tempo: Medium
Source: Vocal and Piano
Groove: Steady and a little upbeat
Phase II:
Instrumentation: Piano and Drums drive the song
Structure/Organization: Verse > Chorus > Verse > Extended Chorus
Emotional Architecture: Song mainly stays in same place but drops a little
Phase III:
Height: Fairly Low
Width: Both on each side mainly
Depth: Sound made up of around 3 instruments plus vocals.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Song Two:
Silversun Pickups - Creation Lake (Cover)
These songs are virtually the same song but there are many differences between them. Lyrics are the exact same for each song but are sung by a man in the movies version, and by a woman in the silversun version. This really separates the song's feeling between the two versions but vocals is not the only differing factor. The melody is fairly different between the two because the instruments are emphasized and used differently from each other. The silversun version even adds new instruments and sounds to add the the emotion of the song. The structure is also very similar in both versions of the song but the silversun version emphasizes an intro and outro more than the movies version. The quality between the two songs couldn't be any more different. The movies version has a similar steady piano throughout the entire song and doesn't emphasize on anything other than it besides the vocals a little. The silversun version starts out slow and then picks up with steady drums and a keyboard that instantly amplifies the song in both sides. It is then accompanied by a guitar riff played during the chorus that is high in height and alternates each of side. I feel the silversun version has a lot more to offer in timbre as well as rhythm. The movies version may be more organized just from the fact that it is similar, but I also think the silversun version is quite organized as well. Overall I would lean towards liking the silversun version a lot better because I feel it adds a lot more to the movies version. Even though The Movies wrote the song, I feel that Silversun Pickups' version really added a whole new layer to the song while still maintaing the same lyrics. The real differences is emphasized between the vocals in the two songs and the higher pitched voice from Silversun Pickups adds a lot to the emotion of the song. They then put a lot more sound into the chorus of the song while the Movies' version just stays at a consistent pitch throughout the entire song.
The Movies - Creation Lake
Phase I:
Tempo: Medium
Source: Vocal and Piano
Groove: Steady and a little upbeat
Phase II:
Instrumentation: Piano and Drums drive the song
Structure/Organization: Verse > Chorus > Verse > Extended Chorus
Emotional Architecture: Song mainly stays in same place but drops a little
Phase III:
Height: Fairly Low
Width: Both on each side mainly
Depth: Sound made up of around 3 instruments plus vocals.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Song Two:
Silversun Pickups - Creation Lake (Cover)
Phase I:
Tempo: Slow
Source: Vocals and Guitar
Groove: Low tone and not upbeat
Phase II:
Instrumentation: Vocals and
Structure/Organization: Intro > Extended Verse > Chorus > Verse > Chorus > Outro
Emotional Architecture: Song fluctuates rhythm
Phase III:
Height: Higher
Width: Guitar pans between each side
Depth: Big instrument layer between keyboard and guitar/bass + vocals
These songs are virtually the same song but there are many differences between them. Lyrics are the exact same for each song but are sung by a man in the movies version, and by a woman in the silversun version. This really separates the song's feeling between the two versions but vocals is not the only differing factor. The melody is fairly different between the two because the instruments are emphasized and used differently from each other. The silversun version even adds new instruments and sounds to add the the emotion of the song. The structure is also very similar in both versions of the song but the silversun version emphasizes an intro and outro more than the movies version. The quality between the two songs couldn't be any more different. The movies version has a similar steady piano throughout the entire song and doesn't emphasize on anything other than it besides the vocals a little. The silversun version starts out slow and then picks up with steady drums and a keyboard that instantly amplifies the song in both sides. It is then accompanied by a guitar riff played during the chorus that is high in height and alternates each of side. I feel the silversun version has a lot more to offer in timbre as well as rhythm. The movies version may be more organized just from the fact that it is similar, but I also think the silversun version is quite organized as well. Overall I would lean towards liking the silversun version a lot better because I feel it adds a lot more to the movies version. Even though The Movies wrote the song, I feel that Silversun Pickups' version really added a whole new layer to the song while still maintaing the same lyrics. The real differences is emphasized between the vocals in the two songs and the higher pitched voice from Silversun Pickups adds a lot to the emotion of the song. They then put a lot more sound into the chorus of the song while the Movies' version just stays at a consistent pitch throughout the entire song.
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