The Renaissance

 

The Renaissance

Introduction

The period between the tenth century and the fifteenth centuries is known as the Medieval age or the Middle Ages. It is also called as the Dark Age because it was unenlightened both intellectually and spiritually. Constantinople, the capital of the eastern Roman empire, was captured by the Truks in 1453. Fearing ill-treatment, Greek and Latin scholars fled from Constantinople. They took shelter in Italy, Germany, France and other European countries. They carried Latin and Greek classics and taught them wherever they settled. This was the origin of the Renaissance

Renaissance and  literature

Three great Italian writers Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio created an interest for learning Latin. Their works came to be read far and wide. Shakespeare derived the sonnet form from Petrarch. The Italian writers spread the ideal of humanism. Man was their central concern. Machiavelli was another great Italian writer. Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey got a universal appeal.

Renaissance and science

John Gutenberg of Germany invented the printing press in 1454. Before the invention, books were copied manually by the copyists in monasteries. The process consumed more time. After the invention, books were available at a cheap rate. It increased the readers number. The first Latin Bible was printed in Italy in 1455. In a short period presses were started all over Europe. Caxton introduced the printing press in England in 1476.

The mariner’s compass was another important invention. It helped mariners to reach far-off regions. Columbus discovered America in 1492. Vasco da Gama reached Calicut on the western coast of India accidentally in 1498. Magellan set out to explore the Pacific Ocean in 1519.

Copernicus disproved the Ptolemaic theory that the earth was the centre of the universe. Kepler proved that the earth and the other planets rotated round the sun in elliptical and not in circular paths. In 1609 Galileo invented a telescope with which he proved that the sun was turning on its axis. Many important discoveries were made in the field of medicine too.

 

Renaissance painting

Michael Angelo, Raphael Leonardo da Vinci and Titan were the most famous painters of renaissance. Michael Angelo paintings based on Biblical themes. He painted the picture of “The Last Judgement” in Sistine Chapel. Leonard de Vinci created the fresco of ‘The Last Supper’ on the walls in Milan. His another famous picture is Mona Lisa

Renaissance sculpture

Lorenzo Ghiberti and Michael Angelo were the great Renaissance sculptors. Michael Angelo was not only a painter but also a sculptor. He is known for statues of David and Moses. His statue of Virgin Mary holding the dead body of Christ on her lap is an immortal work.

Thus the renaissance made remarkable changes in many fields.

 

Editing

 

What is continuity editing in film?

Continuity editing is an editing system used to maintain consistency of both time and space in the film. Continuity editing helps ground audiences in the reality of the film while establishing a clear and structured narrative.

The goal of continuity editing is to make the mechanisms of filmmaking invisible as to help the audience dismiss disbelief more easily.

Continuity editing, also referred to as three-dimensional continuity, is the predominant editing style among commercial Hollywood films.

Techniques of continuity editing in film

Eye line

Eye trace

180 degree rule

Matching action

Continuity in film follows a few fundamental rules. Here are a few rules and techniques of continuity editing. While these rules are occasionally and intentionally broken in filmmaking, understanding these rules are important for every filmmaker.

CONTINUITY IN FILM TECHNIQUES

Eyeline

The eyeline match is one of the most fundamental tools in continuity editing. It aims to fulfill the expectation of an audience to see what a character is looking at when they are looking off screen.

When the scene is a dialogue between multiple people, one character often looks screen left while the other character looks screen right to maintain the consistency that these characters are looking at each other. This is fundamental when shooting over the shoulder, shot reverse shot scenes.

 

The importance of eye line match occurs when sequential shots may not have been shot chronologically. In fact, the actors may have been on set at different times. Maintaining the eyeline match creates the illusion that they are both present in the same room at the same time in the film.

Eyeline match does not solely pertain to left or right, but can be more precise such as matching the height of another character or object vertically. If there are a group of characters, like in a dinner scene, it is important to be precise with the eye lines so that the audience will understand who each character is looking at

180-degree rule

If you have taken a class on editing or cinematography, one of the first rules you will learn about is the 180-degree rule. The 180-degree rule is meant to orient the audience and help them understand where characters are in relation to each other and their environment.

To do this, you filmmakers create an imaginary line between two subjects in a scene. Then they keep every camera setup on the same side of this line, within the same 180 degrees.

 

 The 180-degree rule is important when cutting between characters in the same space. But what happens when you want to cut to the same character from a different angle in the same space? This is where the 30-degree rule comes into play.

30-degree rule

Sometimes filmmakers cut from one shot of a character to a different shot of the same character either to change the shot angle or cut to different shot sizes. To avoid jarring discontinuity editing or a jump cut the two different shots must be taken from at least 30-degrees apart.

The 30-degree rule is incredibly important when shooting with multiple cameras which many cinematographers often do. It is an important rule that allows filmmakers to change the perspective of the camera while maintaining the consistency and logic of the scene.

Some filmmakers purposely break the 30-degree rule and use a jump cut and discontinuity editing. We’ll touch on why filmmakers do that in a bit.

WHAT IS A MATCH ON ACTION CUT?

Matching action

Editing to match the action of characters is one of if not the most basic tool to continuity editing. What is a match on action cut? It is a staple to what some editors refer to as invisible editing. Matching action simply aims to cut on the same frame of a character’s action between two shots. In this action scene from Mad Max: Fury Road, pay attention to every cut and notice how many cut on the action of a character to make the scene smooth in consistent shot to shot.

This will maintain the continuity of motion between two takes, otherwise known as invisible editing. Cutting on action is just one example of a match cut — some match cut techniques are designed to maintain continuity while others are meant to disrupt that flow. To better understand this technique, check out the video tutorial below.

Cutting on action is important. Looking for small actions to cut on like a character standing up or picking up an object will help when cutting to continuity.

CONTINUITY OF MOTION

Eye trace

All of the rules of continuity editing above help maintain the illusion of a scene’s time and space. Eye trace, on the other hand, is more of a storytelling editing technique to keep in mind when cutting to continuity.

Eye trace is a technique and part of Walter Murch's Rule of Six that allows an editor and director to direct the audience's eyes and attention toward a specific detail on screen through a cut. For example, if the first shot has a subject in the bottom left of the screen, the next shot may have an important plot detail in the same position to ensure the audience will see it. 

The eye trace is an editing technique that will immediately elevate the level of your editing. While it isn’t necessarily a rule of continuity editing, it is an important technique to keep in mind. It will help you be a more effective editor and storyteller in the long run.

 

What is a jump cut?

In filmmaking, a jump cut is an edit to a single, sequential shot that makes the action appear to leap forward in time. After the cut, the subject may appear in a different position or attitude, or the camera position may be slightly different. This cut style is a great departure from the standard conventions of continuity editing, which dictate that the camera angle should change by at least 30 degrees from one clip to the next.

 

A brief history of the jump cut.

In the early 1900s, filmmaker Georges Méliès discovered the jump cut and used it to portray magic tricks. With cuts that appeared seamless, Méliès made characters magically disappear and reappear.

 

Jump to 1959 and Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless. Godard broke the rules with obvious jump cuts in the same sequence. During a driving scene, the camera angle remains the same, over the shoulder of the character Patricia in the passenger seat, but the scenery in the background changes abruptly.

 

The effect of the discontinuity is to disorient the viewer and draw attention to the artificial nature of film. Some claim that Godard was forced by the producer to make drastic cuts to the film, so he cut it haphazardly out of spite, accidentally creating one of the most influential films of the French New Wave.

 

Since Godard, filmmakers have used jump cuts in countless creative ways. These cuts can work with dramatic or comedic effect to show the passage of time as a character changes positions in a single shot. They can use a single camera position to show a character covering a great distance without making the audience watch every step. Jump cuts can also portray the point of view of an intoxicated or disoriented character without resorting to special effects. 

 

What is a montage?

A montage is a series of separate images, moving or still, that are edited together to create a continuous sequence. Montages enable filmmakers to communicate a large amount of information to an audience over a shorter span of time by juxtaposing different shots, compressing time through editing, or intertwining multiple storylines of a narrative.

The word “montage” derives from French — meaning “assembly” or “editing.”

Common Film Techniques Used in Montages:

Music

Quick cuts

Voiceover narration

Minimal or no dialogue

Repeated camera movements

What is a montage used for? It may depend on the genre of the film. Other times it may depend on what information is being communicated to the audience. 

 

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.

 

Ode to Evening - William Collins

 

Ode to Evening   - William Collins

‘Ode to Evening’ is one of the famous odes written by the English poet William Collins. This transitional poem centers on the natural setting during the evening. William Collins paints a beautiful picture of an evening in his poem, ‘Ode to Evening’.

  It is a beautiful poem of fifty two lines, addressed to a goddess figure representing evening. The poem appeared in Odes on Several Descriptive and Allegorical Subjects in 1747. This poem has mainly three parts; the first one is the opening salutation to the evening, the second one is the center where the poet requests for the guidance in receiving peace, and the last one is his personal point of view to return to the general aspect.

When the poem commences, the speaker humbly requests to the spirit of Evening to grant him the skill of singing so that he could please her. She is an enchanting part of nature who sometimes looks like in a pensive mood. She is also fond of the speaker’s song. The fascinating nymphs in the evening that come from the buds of flowers bring fragrance in the peaceful evening environment. To make the environment more soothing, the speaker’s song should be very soft like that of the murmur of the streams.

The only sound that the speaker listens is that of the cry of the bat and the beetle. He aspires to go to the ruined building in some lonely valley to watch the beauty of the evening, but he is disturbed by the rain and the wind. So, he decides to visit the mountainside to see the descending evening. In the end, the speaker admits that the charm of the evening should continue to bring peace and harmony and to inspire friendship, poets, science and lovers of the peace.

The application of the femininity in describing the evening and characterizing her is one of the strengths of Collins. Words and phrases like ‘chaste Eve’, ‘fancy’, ‘rose-lipped’, ‘nymph reserved’, and ‘maid composed’ are some of the illustrations of the use of the femininity in the poem. These traits to the evening adds the concept of an eye-catching woman who is reserved and patient.

The poet has used the concept of the evening as a way to put his view on the woman as contradictory figure, something mysterious and also generous. The evening is merging point of the sunlight and the sunset, in a way, it is a transition from light to dark, day to night. Depicting the negative side of the evening, the poet says, it symbolically hides all the faces of the daytime whether good or bad. In its darkness, everything is same and mysterious. It is the eve that makes sure that the next day is certainly going to be bright and sunny. In that sense, evening is the seed of the hope and life of the next day.

Collins personifies evening in this poem as ‘chaste Eve’ which is a Biblical allusion to Eve. The comparison of the evening to the Biblical Eve is ambiguous. If the fallen and flawed state of Eve is associated to the evening, then the evening becomes something negative and cursed state of the day when the bright light of the sun is missed and set. But, if the poet is comparing evening with the innocence and purity of Eve, then the evening means a beautiful time of the day when everything comes to the resting point with peace and harmony all around. The intention of the poet is still ambiguous.