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