Workshop- the 180 degree rule

 The 180 Degree Rule

In the workshop, we studied one of the most important rule in filmmaking which is the 180 degrees rule.

What is the 180 degree rule?

The 180 degree rule is also know as - crossing the line.

This is a technique use for helping the audiences know where the characters are.

Here are some examples we got showed in the workshop:

Pictures below is screenshot from the film Heat. The two characters seat opposite each other. Pacino seating on the left and Robert Di Nero on the right side. In the third picture we can see the line between them is the 180 degree line, so the director can film from any angle from that semi-circle. Make sure that they are on the right side, so Pacino is always on the left looking to the right and Robert is on the right looking to the left.

This is how you can film this scene:

We see the camera is always on the side where show the right direction.

Why is the 180 degree rule important?

In the last example, there are two different actors, but in the next example, we see two actors wearing the same mask so it is very difficult for audiences to recognize who is who. This is where the 180 degree rule is very helpful for the audiences.

Keep the camera on the right side of the semi-circle, so the audiences know who is speaking. If the camera is set up on another side, then the actor who should be on the left side will show up on screen on the right side, this can confused the audiences.

Before start to filming, it is important to decide the position of the actors and set up the line between the,

Here is a WRONG example:

We see the two characters' position. 

The screenshot below is where the cameras should be set.

If we swop the side. set the camera on the other side of the circle, this is what is going to happen...

The character on the left side is looking to the left side, which feels wrong to the audiences.

Activity

After the workshop I did some activities base on what I have learnt:

I chose two objects and placed a pen between them as the 180 degree line.

These are some pictures I took, follow the rule...

Here is a WRONG example:

Because as the first picture showed, the white one should be on the right side, but because I placed the camera on the other semi-circle area, so that is why it looks very wrong from this angle.

Feedback after the pitch

 After pitching the idea, we have got some feedback:

 

During weekly FaceTime meeting we came up with different solutions...

The biggest problem from this feedback is how are we going to tell the audiences that the body is clone bot twin, we came up with :

- research articles or newspaper about clone on the table, so we can give a close up on this

- the label on the body, we can write something like version 3.0 clone on the label so audiences will know this is a clone.

- In the end the scientist walk out of dark and video himself on the camera, like a digital diary. He face the camera and say something like clone number... 

- the scientist transform the fingerprint on to the clone.

Now, we need to consider more detail of what do we want to film and how to fit in the titles.

As a group, we discussed that close up will only take a minute of the whole opening, so we thought about what we should add in the beginning, because we have close up montage later on so we want something physical or some actions straight in from the start.

Here are few things we thought about:

• the scientist drag a bag in, which the body is inside. The clone he is using  woke up and they start to       have a fight but their actions are the same.

Independent research --- Saul Bass

 Saul Bass

 Saul Bass (5.8.1920 --- 4.25.1996)

• He was best known for his graphic design career and motion-picture film title sequence designs.
• He went to Art Student League in New York after he graduated from high school. His teacher was Gyorgy Kepes who is a designer, painter and photographer. In 1954, he begins to work in film industry after he impressed director Otto Preminger by his poster. The director asked him to create the film 'The Man with the Golden Arm' opening title sequence. and that became Saul Bass's first title sequence work. He works for Hollywood film for over years and in 1969 heh won Oscar award, best Documentary, Short Subjects 'Why Man Creates' (1968)
• The title sequence history begins during silent film era, using letter card to introduce directors, writers etc. At the end of 1800s and beginning of 1900s, we see some typography start to appear on screen and in the letter cards. Moving forward to 1920s, film directors start to create more graphic fonts. In the middle of 1900s, the film industry breaks the idea of titling, starts to ass metaphoric imagery and motion pictures. this is when Saul Bass and other designers created motion typography. Saul Bass introduced a different way to approach title sequence using kinetic typography. At the end o f1900s, became the digital era, starting to have more animations and digital clips. or photography start to cone out.

• "My initial thoughts about what a title can do was to set moos and the prime underlying core of the film's story, to express the story in some metaphorical way. 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
  
  
• His famous works:

 

• Why Man Creates (1968)

 Vertigo (1958)

 North by Northwest (1959)

Elaine Bass

Elaine bass is Saul Bass's wife, and she is a designer and filmmaker work alongside Saul Bass.

(Saul and Elaine Bass's title sequences)

Here are two videos about history of title sequence:

The title sequence of Anatomy of Murder is designed by Saul Bass.

The music at the back suggests the detective feeling, and the first image is a drawing of a body in  six parts, looks like a died body. The font is modern, simple, bold and in capital. The colour is in black and white, so this suggests that the film is horror, because comedic would have colourful fonts. 

Pitch for first idea

 Intro:

this is our idea's first pitch.

 Workshop with Matt

In today's lesson, we watched a recorded video filmed by Matt. In this video there are 5 sections:

- Rule of third

- Background

- Camera heights

- Lighting

Rule of Third 

The technique Rule of Third is basically dividing the screen into 9 squares, like what is said in the video,"chopping the screen up into three horizontally and vertically.". The main thing about this is the lines, where the points meet. This helps us to see where we should put our objects and to reduce empty space.

When we place the object on the left or right point, this makes the image look more balanced.

Camera Height 

The height of the camera effect what the audiences see, so if where we shot gives out different messages. If we put the same height as the object then the shot will be more interesting and more details. If we put the camera at the top, then the audiences won't be able to see much things.

Background

If the background is not plain then it can makes the shot looks more exciting. 

Lighting

The lighting helps to give the shot a different feeling. If we use normal house light would be a normal shot, but if we change the light colour or turn of the lights then we will get a different colour shot or a pretty dark shot.

Experiment

Here are some pictures that I take from what I've learnt today.

I picked a random object on my table and tried with rule of third.

I tried to add something to the background.

Then I found a green image on my laptop and I tried with the lighting and a different camera height. 

From here I know that different height gives a totally different image.

Independent Reseach

 Independent Research (Font)

I researched font for our preparation, as we discussed that we will be doing title sequence so font will take

an important part in the sequence.

Firstly I looked at a video about this man who has worked in design font title for several years and in the video he talked about:

- how the font relates closely to the genre and the film

- how to design font

- the colour of the font

Then I found another video talks about font but for poster, because I couldn't find one for title sequence.

but in this video I learnt how the font can tell everything about the film. 

The font can easily tell the audiences what is the genre.

If we want our own special font, I can find a font that is close to and re-design it on top of it. In summer

I have been study in a workshop, in there I learnt how to re-design the font.

The picture below is what I designed last summer:

- using one font from laptop

- print out

- find a subject that is relate to the project ( such as bacteria was the subject that related to my project so I 

   did 5 different designs from that)

- draw on top of the original font to form the final

- choose colours

For the film title sequence, we talked about how scalpel is the subject that suits the most.

I chose 5 different font bases first and I sent to the group chat and we chose one font together.

Then I printed out and put a layer of paper on top of it. Put a light under it so I can draw on the paper.

(Pictures of me doing it)

(From the picture on the left to the picture on the right)

On the right side are 5 fonts I re-designed.

The scanned version.

Feedback on opening sequence ideas

 

My production group

 

Idea for opening title sequence 3

  Intro:

In the power point below will show the idea 3 for opening sequence.

Idea for opening sequence 2

  Intro:

In the power point below will show the idea 2 for opening sequence.

Idea for opening title sequence 1

 Intro:

In the power point below will show the idea 1 for opening sequence.