Blog # 5 – Production Reflection

I embarked on this wonderful project with Karyn Salazar. It was she who came up with the concept and together we developed it into a mini-documentary. Shooting inside the truck was very interesting. No matter how much pre-production we could have done I felt nothing could have prepared us for shooting inside the truck. It was an extremely fast moving place with barely enough time sometimes to re-focus or get a proper angle. But I think it worked in our advantage in this production as it was a documentary and gave that realistic and grounded look. In terms of equipment I personally found the zoom recorders to be impractical especially for doing outdoor interviews. I would have definitely preferred a shotgun microphone. Having a small DSLR was actually beneficial in this particular location because of the limited space. The most important lesson I will take away from this project is that as artists we learn to adapt to whatever is available within certain circumstances and make the best out of it.

Final Project - Mini-Documentary

Inside the Food Truck - Documentary from Harshvir Latta on Vimeo.

Blog # 4 - MOMI Reflection

The Museum of Moving Image (MOMI) encapsulated a visually informative “behind the scenes” experience of the Film and TV industry. It covered every aspect of production ranging from scriptwriting to editing. I found the evolution of camera technology to be especially fascinating. The change has been exponential in the last century. From what I understood, camera technology has changed mostly in two ways: size of equipment and quality of image. Seeing the sheer size of camera systems in the museum with even heavier equipment to hold them was beyond belief. My respect for the people who made films in the earlier days increased very much after seeing these machines. These days technological advancement has given the power to make movies in the palm of our hands. The other way camera technology has evolved is quality. It began with film on an 8mm or 16mm reel and has evolved into a completely rehabilitated industry shooting on 70mm IMAX reels or even on digital formats. The use of Technicolor was such a new concept back in the day but now Color Grading is a standard tool in post-production process. In conclusion I feel that even though technology has helped us in many ways but somehow it has diminished our determination to be more attentive and has shattered the “getting it right the first time” attitude. In the earlier days if you were working on a film, every crew member had to be perfect because you couldn’t see the results right away and even then it couldn’t be altered if something went wrong using post-production tools like we have them today. Nowadays we just shoot and if we don’t like it we keep on shooting again and again. And if we still don’t like the results later, we always have After Effects as our backup plan!

Blog # 3 - Editing Analysis

Movie Title - Fiddler on the Roof (1971) 
The sequence starts with a low angle silhouette long shot of a fiddler on the roof. Cuts to a medium shot of Tevye, the milkman. The camera follows him on a track as he introduces us to his village, Anatevka and his “Traditions!”.  Symbolism is used in the coming shots by showing religious artifacts and manuscripts to portray tradition. The cuts here are clearly noticeable to create a powerful effect on the viewer. The length of the shots goes hand in hand with the tempo of the music. The faster the tempo, shorter are the shot lengths. We then follow Tevye through Anatevka with long static shots showing the roads and fields of the village. The long shots are used to define the space which is Anatevka. Tevye stops in front of a house and is transferring milk to a smaller container. The shot starts with a long shot (full body figure) but as he walks towards the camera it transforms into a medium shot and then as he goes away becomes a long shot again. This action with the use of the tracking shot and a pan seem very natural and does not interrupt the thought process of the viewer. The images follow the lyrics of the song. As they start talking about the whole village an extreme long crane shot is shown to establish the whole village working. We then follow every individual in that village in close-up or medium shot doing their own work. The cutting of the shots and the actions performed by the individual is in sync with the rhythm of the song. For example in the blacksmith sequence, it seems that they are creating music with their work. There are no transitions between shots i.e. every shot has a discrete start and end point.

Assignment # 2 - Audio Interview

Blog # 2 - "What I Hear"

I was sitting on the stairs at Times Square. The sun was taking its last breaths before darkness took control. It must have been quite a pleasant day because the people sitting next to me kept on talking about it. It was a weekday but still I could hear masses of tourists talking and walking. Ticket sellers of various tourist attractions, shouting to justify their wages. I could hear them trying to convince tourists for Broadway shows, bus tours and store sales. Music artists trying to get discovered were trying to sell their music CD’s by giving a preview of their music on little portable speakers. Most of the music seemed to be pop or rap. The sound of camera flashes were like waves on the ocean hitting the shore, in the context that they were never ending. Drunken tourists just shouting for no apparent reason making people around them uncomfortable. A beggar going around asking for money, surprisingly for marijuana with no inhibition in his voice. Also how can I forget the continuous horns and sirens because well it’s New York City. The screeching of brakes of every vehicle seemed to have their own particular tune. Taxi cabs honking to get their customers, while other people honking at the taxi cabs to get out of the way. There was some construction going on somewhere. It was having a competition with the horns on who is the loudest. Wind was blowing heavily as I could hear it whistling over my ears. Talking about whistling, the traffic policemen were trying to control the New York City traffic with their whistles. Individually all the sounds were just noise but layered up they created the city ambiance or should I say the “city symphony.”

Assignment # 1 - Define a Space

Film & Media Prod. - Assignment # 1 - Define a Space from Harshvir Latta on Vimeo.