Film Appreciation

 

Angle

If a shot is defined as ‘camera distance’ then an angle can be done so as ‘camera position’. It is like placing a light in a position to illuminate an object. There are five basic angles. They are: i) Over –head angle   ii) High angle  iii) eye-level angle  iv) Low angle  v) Oblique angle (which is also known as “Dutch-tilt”)

An angel is identified by the position from which the viewer sees the object. For example, a Low Angle is like using foot-lights to light the object. The object may appear larger, domineering, worshiped or even menacing. A low angle may be used to present Christ-on-cross or even the blade of guillotine coming down.

An Eye-Level angle, like a mid-shot, creates the illusion of reality. The audience of Yasijuro Ozu’s ‘The Tokoyo Story’ (1953) experienced a great sense of watching the social drama of changing Japanese domestic values and personal relationships. The magic of Ozu lied in the fact that he had used static shots from a camera raised just 3 or 4 feet above the ground. So the audience had the eye-level view of the characters crouched in the traditional Japanese style of sitting. This is the uniqueness  of mid-shot at eye-level angle.

A High Angle diminishes the object. But a good maker always breaks the cults and improvises upon it. Remember the High Angle used by Selvaragavan  in ‘Pudhupettai’ for the opening song filmed in a slum back-drop. The character seen from High Angle seems to challenge and deify the audience seated in the boxes.

An Over-head / Top-angle is the most philosophical of all visual. It gives one a cosmic sense. In Oliver Stone’s Alexander an Extreme-Long over-head filming of the battle ground with the forces ready to strike, and the camera swooping down breath-takingly to survey the rank and file, closely but rapidly, is almost suggestive of the ‘Vulture Death’ souring over humanity.

Lighting

As shot and angles suggest the distance and position, lighting sets the mood of the visual as colourisation does. There are three basic types of lighting: High key, Low key and High-contrast.

High key or bright lighting is used for comedy. Low key or dim lighting is used for tragedy. The colour format and the key lighting scheme have been apparently inspired by works such as Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather.

A high contrast lighting scheme is used for mysteries, ghosts/suspense thrillers. Alfred Hitchcock used it in an unsurpassable manner for the conversation between Norman Bates and Marianne in Psycho

Prominent and Subsidiary

For a classic film-maker subsidiaries are not there in a frame merely to create an atmosphere or establish the background. He attributes equal importance to the prominent and the subsidiary. The subsidiaries in a frame contribute to the prominent. For example, in Sanjay Leela Bansali’s Black (Hindi) when Amitab Bacchan the eccentric genius in teaching the special children is introduced, there is the poem of Rober Frost’s Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” in the background written on a blackboard as a subsidiary. It precisely talks about the adventurous character of the central character present in the frame. The verse as the Subsidiary intensifies the concept of light, knowledge and teaching defined succinctly

Barriers in Communication

 

Barriers in Communication

Communicating is straightforward. What makes it complex difficult, and frustrating are the barriers we put in the way. The top barriers are,

Physical barriers

Physical barriers in an organization includes large working areas that are physically separated from others. Other distractions that could cause a physical barrier in an organization are environment, background noise.

Perceptual barriers

The problem with communication with others is that we all see the world differently. If we did not, we would have no need to communicate: something like extrasensory perception would take its place.

Emotional barriers

One of the chief barriers to open and free communications is the emotional barrier. Your emotions could be a barrier to communication if you are engrossed in your emotions for some reason. It is comprised mainly of fear, mistrust and suspicion. A few of the emotional interferences include hostility, anger, resentfulness and fear.

Cultural barriers

When we join a group and wish to remain in it, sooner or later we need to adopt the behavior patterns of the group. These are the behaviors that the group accept as signs of belonging. The group rewards such behavior through acts of recognition, approval and inclusion.

Language barriers

When a person uses inappropriate words while conversing or writing it could lead to misunderstanding between the sender and a receiver. Language that describes what we want to say in our terms may present barriers to others who are not familiar with our expressions, buzzwords and jargon. When we couch our communication in such language, it is a way of excluding others. In a global marketplace the greatest compliment we can pay another person is to talk in their language.

Gender barriers

There are distinct differences between the speech patterns in a man and those in a woman. A woman speaks between 22,000 and 25,000 words a day whereas a man speaks between 7,000 and 10,000. A man talks in a linear, logical and compartmentalized way, features of left-brain thinking, whereas a woman talks more freely mixing logic and emotion, features of thinking by both sides of the brain. It also explains why women talk for much longer than men each day.

Lack of subject knowledge

 If a person who sends a message lacks subject knowledge then he may not be able to convey his message clearly. The receiver could misunderstand his message, and this could lead to a barrier to effective communication.

Stress

One of the major communication barriers faced by employees in most of the organization is stress. When a person is under immense stress, he may find it difficult to understand the message, leading to communication distortion. At the time of stress, our psychological frame of mind depends on our beliefs, experiences, goals and values. Thus, we fail to realize the essence of communication

 

Components of communication

 

Components of communication

Communication is an experience between speaker and listener. If you want your message to be as clear as possible when delivered , each of these components  need to be taken into consideration

i.                    Context

Context is a broad field that includes country, culture, organization and external and internal stimuli. Every message,  whether oral or written begins with content.

 

ii.                  The message

The message may be in the form of order, opinion, advice, suggestion, instruction, question answer material. It is necessary and important that idea or message received be identical to the idea or message sent. It is possible only when both communicators sender and receiver are skillful in communication and its language.

 

iii.                 The Speaker/ Sender/ Encoder

   Sender is the person who communicates the idea, information, material, etc. He acts in the capacity of speaker, writer or encoder. The speaker also conveys a message with tone of voice, appearance and gestures. The speaker may dress in a certain way to project a specific image, may smile to project friendliness, may raise his or her voice to gain attention.

iv.                Medium

Medium of communication includes letters, reports, fax, cables, telephones, charts, pictures or any other mechanical device. Medium may also be a person as a postman.

v.                  The Audience / Receiver / Decoder

The receiver is the decoder who receives, decodes or interprets the message. The same message, delivered by the same speaker, will not necessarily be received the same way by different audiences. The audience background attitudes and beliefs affect the message they hear.

If you want your message to be as clear as possible when delivered, each of these components need to be taken into consideration

 

Film Appreciation - Mise-en-scene

 

 Film Appreciation

Mise-en-scene

Mise-en-scene is a French term derived from drama. It means “putting-on-stage”. It is the basic grammar of film-language. It stands for the particular style or technique of a maker in designing a visual.

Shot

A shot is an uninterrupted filming of an object or an action. It generally is marked by the director’s call ‘start’ and ‘cut’  on a shooting spot. It can also be understood as the ‘camera-distance’. There are six basic shots. They are: i) Close up  ii) Extreme Close-up  iii) Mid-shot  iv) Full shot  v) Long-shot   vi) Extreme –Long shot.

A film uses different shots, not just to keep the viewer engaged through variety. Each and every shot has its specific value and impact.

Close-up

Close-up is a miracle of cinema. Close-up creates an unsurpassable intimacy between the viewer and the visual.

Extreme close-up

 An extreme close-up is as unique to cinema as any fairy-tale exoticism. If cinema is a surrogate with its vicarious experience, an extreme close-up shot is a perspective which one can never have otherwise. Da Vinci  in his precise description of perception points out that the minimum distance required for a clear perception should measure equal to the length of the viewer’s face. So outside filmic experience an extreme close-up is impossible in life. Also, if a close-up creates intimacy revealing features of the object, an extreme close-up presents the minute details of it.

Mid-shot

A mid-shot is closer to everyday reality than the other shots. It gives an impression of being there. It is almost like being a passive participant and a silent spectator of a neighbourhood affair. That’s why this shot is generally used in TV dramas and talk-shows. It is almost like the frame accommodating the viewer and the camera nodding a ‘thanks- for-stepping-in’

Full –shot

A Full –shot or a mid-long shot it like a drama director asking his actor to ‘open-up’. Remember the striking mid-long shot used in the airport scene in ‘Return of the Dragon’ to introduce Bruce Lee.

 

 

Long-shot

A long-shot places the character in the space. Sometimes a character exists in the space and sometimes it struggles against the space. So, in a long-shot both the character and the backdrop are important. That is why to suggest a morbid, unlocalized space  the maker uses a limbo shot in which the background is just painted in white. It is like a colour contrast as the one effectively used in Matrix when Neo calls for weapons.

Extreme long

An extreme long shot is genereally used with wide angle, telefocus lenses in wild life and nature photography. In cinematography it attributes grandeur to the visual. The tone of the shot is always philosophical.