Post-prod & Color - 10/12

10/12 Color

Color Correction - "takes chroma (color info) and adjusts to get the right balance.
-adjusts so color looks good on different monitors
-match color from shot to shot
-match color between cameras

In Final Cut you can view chroma in Wave Form or Oscilloscope

Wave Form Monitor - Plots scanlines (measured in IREs) to show brightness (luminescene)
100 - overexposed
7.5 - safe black - TV monitors can't read below that - looks like dead monitor

Contrast compresses the wave form.

Oscilloscope - chroma displayed as dots in a circle with 6 boxes (regions):
[R]- red
[M] - magenta
[B] - blue
[C] - cyan
[G] - green
[Y] - yellow

-when dots/points are in circle, not in the boxes, colors are washed out
-when dots/points are outside the circle of the boxes, colors too condensed, they bleed into one another.

Hue wheel - just shifts color
Balance dot adjust color

Sound
1926 first sync sound

Director's job in re: Sound
1. Make sure they capture clean sound for Post-prod
2. Create sound list
3. Location survey - at same time of day/week as the shooting will occur to see how it will work - along w/ Producer and Sound Mixer

Producer's job in re: Sound
1. Make sure sound crew has all the equipment needed
2. Get best deals on the equipment
3. Location survey, to determine if they are 'sound friendly'
4. Ask sound crew at the end of every day's shoot: "Do you have what you need?"
5. Make sure gear is in "as good or better condition" than when it was rented.

Sound Team
1. Boom-Op - operates the boom pole
2. Sound Mixer - in charge of quality of audio being laid to tape


Responsibilities of Sound Team:
1. Capture Clean Dialogue
2. Match sound perspective to camera
3. Get needed sound effects
4. Get Roomtone (have at least 60 sec)
5. Sound Reports (Sound Logs) - keep track for Post what is recorded on set, imp. notes


Clean Dialogue - "dialogue that is not interrupted or troubled with noise" - Can be clearly heard & understood

ADR - Automatic Dialogue Replacement - re-recording for post, aka "looping"

Wild sound - any sound recorded w/out an image, to be synced to a certain action in Post

MOS - Mit Out Sound - "any shot captured w/out accompaniment of sound"

Roomtone - "ambient sound in a location that can be heard when all other sounds are gone."


Sound Consistency:
Within the Shot
Scene - audio consistent to create sense of space/time
Movie - consistent across scenes

Sound Systems:
DTS - Dolby Theatrical Surround - 6 channels - F,B, RF, RB, LF, LB - Front, Back, RightFront, Right Back, Left Front, Left Back
SDDS - Sony Dynamic Digital Surround - 8 Channels - F, B, L, R, RF, RB, LF, LB - as above + Left, Right

THX - professional certification for theater sound - killed by stadium seating
-Theaters are separated
-Outer and inner doors
-Minimize echoes

Microphone Placement considerations
1. Director's vision
2. Actor's blocking
3. Camera Placement
4. Size and composition of the shot
5. Lighting
6. Camera Movement
7. Acoustics of the location
8. Camera Noise

Electric wires hum at 60hz - esp. when power and sound cables get intertwined

Barney - "sound jackets wrapped around camera to reduce noise"

Blimp - "casing for camera, usually it's waterproof"


3 Approaches to Recording Sound
1. Boom - mike mounted on pole, held near subject(s)
2. Plant/Stash - mike put in the scene to capture sound
3. Lavalier - mike planted on talent

2 Types of Microphones
1. Omnidirectional / Dynamic - (plant/stash) - Picks up sound from 360°

2. Directional / Condenser - (booms & lavaliers) -
a. Cardioid - listening area right around the mike
b. Hyper-cardioid - "Shotgun mike" - listening area resembles spray of shotgun


Audio Mixing
-highs, mids, lows - on the graph - highs = peaks, lows = valleys
-Sound frequency measured in Hertz - hz

Clean sound through equalization & volume adjustment

Audio meter - measures volume in decibels

1. Primary sound: 0 to -6 dB
2. Background: around -12 dB
3. All other sound under -18dB

Equalization - equalizing volume on various frequencies

20hz - 10Khz - human hearing range

6Khz - high tones
between - mid tones
600 hz - bass tones

Low pass filter - drops thing above a certain frenquency by lowering volume
Hi-cut - elminates frequency - makes for cold sound

Notes 10/10

Why do we Light? - To create Depth and separation.

5 Ways to Create Depth
1. Lighting
2. Selective Focus
3. Move the Camera
4. Warms and Cools
5. Atmospheric Haze

Amps - amount of power reserved for a specific circuit, amount that can be pulled
household circuits - 10-20 amps
business - 20-40 amps

Volts - capacity on the line
household - 110 (100) - business 220

Watts - how much power you can draw
household - 1000 (amps x volts = watts)


2 Types of Light

1. Hard - light w/ very sharp light to shadow drop-off that leaves well defined shadows and thin transfer areas

2. Soft - light w/ diffuse light to shadow drop-off leaving large and undefined transfer areas


2 Major Color Balances

1. Tungsten - light of the color orange CTO (=warm) burning at 3200 Kelvin, equal to that of most indoor lights

2. Daylight - light of the the color blue CTB (=cool), burning at 5600 Kelvin, equal to light outside on a sunny day


Fresnel - type of light that has a Fresnel lens

Fresnel Lens - type of lens that has same optical effect as a plano-convex lens, but has reduced weight and temperature retention

Open Face - opposite of Fresnel - light that has no lens - just a bulb in front of a reflector

-General rule - women exposed 1 fstop more than men in US movies

Mercury Medium Arc Iodide - HMI aka Hemmy- Daylight - CTB - "type of gas discharge light w/ a color temperature equal to daylight and high efficiency over 90 lumens per watt"

Lumen - metric measurement of light
Lux - 1 lux = 1 lumen per sq. meter

1 Foot Candle = amount of light given off per sq. ft from a candle

Fluorescent lights - burn green -
Minus Green Gels correct for this to add magenta


TYPES of Lights:

Ace - 1k Fresnel
Mickey - 1k Open Face (aka Redhead)
Joker - 1,200w HMI Fresnel
Junior - 2k Fresnel
Tweenie - 650w Fresnel
Mini - 200w Fresnel
Pepper - 100w Fresnel
Sun-gun - Low wattage HMI w/ handle, can be aimed, like sun

3 Types of Lighting:

1. Key Light - main light on subject, brightest source, gives most light, needs 'source' to justify it

2. Fill Light- light that gives details to shadows

Fill - reflector that bounces light onto subject
Negative Fill - black board that absorbs light

3. Back Light - light that creates separation of subject from background
Either 1. lights the background
2. lights subject from behind

High Key - bright lighting style w/ low contrast & bright spectral highlights; detail in shadow - "traditional"/"classical"

Low Key - high contrast, dark shadows - "noir style"



Rules:
1. Key Light at least 30° off camera
2. Take every light into consideration, justify every light
3. People want to see people's eyes

Safety Rules:
1. Always wear gloves
2. Never replace bulb w/ bare hands
3. Always secure lights - use 'dirt'
4. Always yell 'Firing' before turning on a light to avoid hurting eyes
5. Always leave a less than full lighting case open
6. Never position lights above water
7. Use common sense

Production Notes 9/29

Definitions:
Storyboards - "visual outline of the final edit of the film. A diagram of the process in which a film will be shot and assembled"

Interior Objectives - character's needs, conscious or unconscious, resolved through the story

External Objectives - character's goals or wants, which he/she is actively striving to attain throughout the movie

Internal Obstacles - Psychological biases - what keeps a character from fulfilling needs. ex. fear

External Obstacles - Physical barriers that character needs to overcome to accomplish goals

Means - abverbs, HOW a character carries out actions of the film - way in which character goes about overcoming his obstacles

Public Life - facade a character presents to the world

Private Life - true nature a character hides to be accepted by the groups that he wants to belong to

Actions - physical things a character does to accomplish goals (distinguished from 'means' - the how of the actions)

Independent Activities - actions a character takes that are indepedent of the story

Windows of True Nature - glimpses of 'private life'

Beat - change in a dramatic flow (Pepperman - 'bits of moments')

Shot List - contains what the shots are


Visualization Process:
Step 1. Director's Script Breakdown (gets to emotional core of the film)
a. Script Wash - letting script wash over you & recording emotional reactions
b. Finding the Arc of the Story - "emotional arc that characters travel through in the story from beginning to end"
-Internal/Ext. Objectives of characters
-Int/Ext Obstacles
-Means
-Public Life
-Private Life
c. Scene by scene breakdown
-Actions
-Independent Activities
-Windows of True Nature

Step 2. Marking the Script - mark script to indicate shots & cuts, Director & DP do this together

Step 3. Shot list

Step 4. Shooting Script - all shots written in SCENE Heading format

Step 5. Storyboards

Production notes - 8/31/05

Definitions:
What is the Script?
"A blue print of the story that will be told after the final edit of the film."

Treatment: "Bare bones of the story written as narrative prose rather than in descriptions of individual scenes."

Steps in the Writing Process:
1. Concept Development
2. Character Development
3. Outline or Timeline
4. Treatment
5. Script

Concept Development:
-Genre?
-Story?
-Themes?
-Social Message?
-Title?

Character Development:
1. Name
2. Psychology / Sociology / Physiology
3. Miscellaneous - Casting / Free association in character to come up with background

Psychology: character's history & resulting behavior
Sociology: social relationships (ex. family, work, friends) and how they affect protagonist's self perception - **Needs stakes, something to lose
Physiology: important physical features that impact the story (only necessary features should be given)

3) Outline or Timeline

4) Treatment - "bare bones of the story written as narrative prose rather than descriptions of individual scenes"
-mininal dialogue - important parts, necessary elements
-written in present tense, with active verbs
*No feelings, thoughts, emotions in screenplay or treatment

5) Script

Format:
A. SCENE HEADINGS - 1.5" from the left edge of the page
ALL CAPS
INT/EXT - NAME (location)/ TIME

B. Action Line - 1.5", Normal type - describes scene, what people are doing (Names in ALL CAPS)

C. CHARACTER NAME - 3.7" left margin/ 2.2" right, ALL CAPS

D. Dialogue - 2.5" left margin/ 1" right

E. Parentheticals (Actor's directions)- 3.1" left margin / 1" right
- to clear up confusion / avoid too much description, adverbs


Script Format