Long take, Pleonastic and Foley Sound

First attempt at a long take...

below is my groups first attempt at a 'long take' the irony of the matter is that it is indeed a short... very short attempt at a continuous shot which should of been longer but... well there is no excuse for lack of imagination. Any-who since we did not feel this was a good enough video for the class, i feel it was good enough for my blog (so you should feel very honored) and hopefully future projects shall show progress from what we started with, this being living proof.

Without further ado enjoy....

THE beauty INSIDE Review

In film studies we watched this short film on youtube called 'THE beauty INSIDE' which is a story of a guy named Alex who wakes up every day as a different person. He is always the same person on the inside but on the outside he is somebody else. When he meets Leah and falls in love everything changes for him. He knows he will see her again but she will never see him.

While some background this movie it was actually a 'social' movie having premiered on facebook and getting the audience involved in that happened this is and was a very unique and interactive film where the viewers also able to submit videos saying certain lines and be in the film too. That i thought was clever and a good idea getting them more involved. Having viewers audition and send videos of themselves being Alex since he kept a video diary.

So having never seen this film before or even heard of it before my lesson, i'm happy... glad even that i was introduced to it, having been in partnership with Intel and Toshiba who produced this having their products used throughout the film,  which i thought was a really smart marketing scheme. (it doesn't feel like their selling their products when really in retro spec they are.)

Broken up into a series of episodes, the story follows Alex (voiced by Topher Grace) who has a unique condition; every time he wakes up his appearance changes. He could wake up a man or woman short or tall, skinny or fat, black or white (any other ethnicity), attractive or not. This got me wondering what if this was a real condition, and how did his parents deal with it? Was it recent? Born this way? (Lady Gaga) Just made a bunch of rhetorical questions stampede into my brain and a heard of nonsense answers wash them away.

Following Alex as he tries to deal with his situation and connect with women the only way he knows how through one-night stands. Which all changes when he meets the girl of his dreams 'Leah' only after meeting her does he find himself wishing he could have a normal life, a relationship. Finding it morally interesting as how he deals with this and takes it among himself to take action to get to know her by visiting her at work, seeing people connecting through more than just 'looks' is definitely a series worth watching.

I found this film a learning curve in society, showing how Alex deals with his condition and how it changes when he meets someone, and is suddenly at fault with his 'condition' after gradually being able to accept it. With that he becomes not only the protagonist but the antagonist as well having an ongoing fight with his conflict being his 'condition' having no control over who he wakes up as, yet having the elaboration of meeting Leah thinking differently about his 'relationships' and getting close someone and inviting them home, while watching that i saw the more vulnerable side to Alex, him actually wanting to open up to Leah showing a big step in his life. Having stated before he's never had any in his home before, he includes us the viewer on his journey. Coming to the climax and resolution i was indeed glad to see Leah back and how she hadn't abandoned Alex when he told her the truth that was a very emotional part of the story for me, if she hadn't accepted him i would of had cried! In giving him a chance we see the CODA take effect ending with Alex having his fairy-tale ending (getting the girl) and eventually stopped changing. (Awww)

With the moral of the story being... Buy Toshiba and Intel computing products!

No. That as the saying goes... 'It's what's on the inside that counts.' (which was pretty hard to count when no one can see your insides.') (deep.)

I enjoyed this film and would recommend it to watch as a feel good short. Giving it a rating of 6/10
(it's more than halfway pretty good)

Homework task #3

Tilt up -  Camera angle that looks up at the object instead of being on the same level. A movement which scans a scene vertically.
Tilt down -Camera angle that looks down at an object instead of being on the same level. A movement which scans a scene vertically, rotating around the axis that runs from left to right through the camera head.
Tracking - When the camera is being moved by wheels. The movement is normally quite fluid and the tracking can be either fast or slow, depending of speed.
Dolly - Sometimes called TRUCKING or TRACKING shots. The camera is placed on a moving vehicle and moves alongside the action, generally following a moving figure or object. Complicated dolly shots will involve a track being laid on set for the camera to follow, hence the name. The camera might be mounted on a car, a plane, or even a shopping trolley.... A dolly shot may be a good way of portraying movement, the journey of a character for instance, or for moving from a long shot to a close-up, gradually focusing the audience on a particular object or character.
Crane - Basically, dolly-shots-in-the-air. A crane (or jib), is a large, heavy piece of equipment, but is a useful way of moving a camera - it can move up, down, left, right, swooping in on action or moving diagonally out of it. The camera operator and camera are counter-balanced by a heavy weight, and trust their safety to a skilled crane/jib operator.
Handheld - The Steadicam (a heavy contraption which is attached a camera to an operator by a harness. Hand held cameras denote a certain kind of gritty realism, and they can make the audience feel as though they are part of a scene, rather than viewing it from a detached, frozen position.
Ariel/ Birdseye - An exciting variation of a crane shot, usually taken from a helicopter. This is often used at the beginning of a film, in order to establish setting and movement. A helicopter is like a particularly flexible sort of crane - it can go anywhere, keep up with anything, move in and out of a scene, and convey real drama and exhilaration — so long as you don't need to get too close to your actors or use location sound with the shots.
Zoom - A zoom lens contains a mechanism that changes the magnification of an image. On a still camera, this means that the photographer can get a 'close up' shot while still being some distance from the subject. A video zoom lens can change the position of the audience, either very quickly (a smash zoom) or slowly, without moving the camera an inch, thus saving a lot of time and trouble. The drawbacks to zoom use include the fact that while a dolly shot involves a steady movement similar to the focusing change in the human eye, the zoom lens tends to be jerky (unless used very slowly) and to distort an image, making objects appear closer together than they really are. Giving the impression of movement and excitement in a scene where it does not exist. 

Homework task #2

Medium shot - Is a shot intermediate between a close up and full shot.



Used to create normalcy throughout the movie making it easier to switch from long shots to medium shots with fluency.

Long shot - Is a shot from a considerable distance.


Used to get the audiences attention, creating tension or concern capturing shots for believability. Usually introduces the beginning of a scene, setting in motion the audience's perception.

Extreme long shot/ Establishing shot - Is a shot taken from an even greater distance.


Used to make the background seem more dominant and get the audience to focus more on the landscape than the characters.

Medium long shot - Is a framing at a distance making objects appear 4 or 5 feet high appear to fill most of the screen vertically.


Allows to show the audience some of the environment, but also allows the characters to interact easily.

Canted/ Dutch Tilt - Is the tilting of the camera.


To create disorientation or illusion gets the audience thinking or confused.