Blog #9 Reel and Artist Statement

Cinematography & Videography Spring 2014 Reel from Skylar Brown on Vimeo.

As an artist the majority of my inspiration comes from what’s around me  and the things I love, such as music, traveling, history, animals, and of course my friends and family. While many of my peers aspire to be a part of narrative motion picture my passion lies with music video. Music has been a part of me all of my life and I have been working as a music photographer for the past two years capturing the energy of concerts in a still photograph. I want to bring life and movement to my images to enhance the emotions a song invokes while giving my audience a visual story and maybe even bring their attention to something that they might otherwise ignore. I really enjoy experimenting with a lot of different techniques that I have learned through still photography over the years. Sometimes they work out sometimes they don’t, but I’m still learning and I’m bound to make mistakes. Who knows maybe one day one of my mistakes will become my signature technique.  

Scene Assignment

Due to the size I was unable to post through vimeo.

Blog #8 Visual References and Goals for Scene Assignment

For this scene assignment my goal is to capture Dorian's innocence and his initial corruption at the hands of Henry, using a more modern day setting and language. I am hoping that I can find a way to represent Henry as the Devil on Dorian's shoulder and Basil as the Angel in  a battle for his conscious.

Blog #5 Inspiring Lighting Techniques

When it comes to lighting I personally love using natural lighting or the lighting that is available on location I also like back lighting a subject too create a very nice silhouette. I'm also completely addicted to black lights, lasers and party gels, pretty much all you see in raves and concerts. Most of my lighting inspirations come from music videos because the lights along with music evokes emotions so easily.

Lindsey Stirling - Elements (Music Video)

• The use of different lighting styles and color temperatures help establish each element as its own character

AFI - Girl's Not Grey (Music Video)

• Uses different color temperature to separate fantasy from reality

Skrillex - Summit feat. Ellie Goulding (Music Video)

• Uses various lighting techniques and color temperatures in one music video

Tron Legacy

• Use of blue lights to identify the digital world
• Different light colors are also used to identify characters.
• Blues and whites for protagonists
• Reds, orange, and yellow for antagonists

Avenged Sevenfold - Hail to the King (Music Video)

• shot in black and white mostly silhouetted and a lot of shadows

The Used - I Caught Fire (Music Video)

• A lot of black light and strobes used for the bands shots
• Natural lighting and fire light used for story shots

Blog #4 Strength's and Limitations of DSLR Cameras

It was originally developed for student and Indie filmmakers who could not afford film cameras and it is occasionally used in some major motion pictures like Black Swan and the Avengers. As a photographer I absolutely love my DSLR cameras however as a filmmaker I understand that there are strengths and limitations to shooting with a DSLR.
Strengths:

1. DSLR's key strength is that it is cheaper than a lot of other professional cameras making it a great camera for those who are starting out in the industry. 
2. They are very light weight and mobile, I take my cameras almost everywhere I go and they don't way me down as much as something like a Sony EX 3 or JVC 100 might
3. DSLR's are very user friendly, they are easy to use and once again are great for anyone who is starting out as a camera to learn on.
4. The large sensors in the DSLR camera work well to help let in more light they also are great for control over the depth of field in images.

Limitations:

1. While the camera itself provides a wide range of strengths to create amazing films, for truly professional looks additional equipment such as lenses and filters are usually required.
2. Overheating is a huge issue in DSLR cameras sensor, which causes it to sometimes shut down in the middle of shooting, which is definitely an inconvenience.

Blog #2 Top 5 Favorite Scenes

It was actually kind of hard trying to decide my favorite scenes of all time since there are so many movies that I enjoy but I was finally able to pick out my top 5.

5. Shinobi: Heart Under Blade - Oboro's Sacrifice

This film comprises of many beautiful and action packed scenes however my favorite scene of this film is towards the end when Oboro begs Tokugawa leave the ninja villages alone. At first Tokugawa declines her request and explains his fear of the powers the ninja's posses at the mention of this Oboro blinds herself because her own power resides in her eyes. The reason this scene sticks with me is because of the way it is shot when Oboro blinds herself. It starts off with an extreme close up on her hands moving towards her face, cuts to a wide of Hattori Hanzo telling her to stop, cuts back to a medium close up of her face as she pushes her fingers in, and then there is a fast cut to a medium of her back to the camera as a pained noise comes from her. The next shot is of blood dripping on the ground and then Oboro's hand falls next to the blood splatters. The last shot is a close up as Oboro lifts her head her eyes closed and blood streaming from them. The film consists of many special effects in the fight scenes however this scene to me is better than those because of the lack of special effects and just using simple shots create the illusion that she really did blind herself.

4. Lords of Dogtown - Start

This is one of my top 5 favorite films of all time so it was really hard to pick out just one scene I liked but I finally managed to narrow it down to the very first scene simply named, Start. There are a couple of shots in particular that made me pick this scene, specifically for the lighting. First off when Stacey is introduced they use a variety of color temperatures to emulate night n city street, blue for the moonlight and tungsten for street and patio light. When they introduce Jay as he sneaks into his parents room I love the effect of the flickering light coming from the TV that they use as his parents fill light. The last introduction is of Tony this is where one of the coolest shots in the movie takes place, as he skates downhill and he is silhouetted by a blue back light.

3. Pan's Labyrinth - The Pale Man

This is another one of my favorite films due to my love of fantasy and this scene take one of my top favorite scenes of all time pretty much due to it's creepiness. The thing I love most about this scene is the camera movement and the use of crushed depth of field making the scene stunning. First as Ofelia enters the Pale Man's dining room and the camera follows her movements from the opposite side of the table as she inspects the food there, the camera stops its movement once it reveals and Ofelia notices the Pale Man sitting at the head of the table. The next camera movements tell the story of the Pale Man as the camera Pans across the ceiling to show pictures of the Pale Man killing and eating children, and then cuts to a pile of children's shoes that belonged to the Pale Man's victims. The whole scene is very macabre but it is absolutely unforgettable. 

2. The Lord of the Ring: The Fellowship of the Ring - Council of Elrond

The Fellowship of the Ring is 1 part of my favorite movie (Yes, I count the whole trilogy as one whole movie, so sue me!) and this is one of the most memorable scenes of the trilogy, mainly due to Boromir's line "One does not simply walk into Mordor" becoming an internet meme, however there is more to this scene then a simple memorable quote. This is the scene where the fellowship is formed and also where Boromir's corruption begin's. The extreme closeup as Boromir's hand as he reaches for The Ring creates an extremely intense moment that is then interrupted by Gandalf using Black Speech and the lighting is dimmed to show the evilness of the words used by Mordor. As this happens there are cuts of closeups on Gimli, Elrond, Frodo, and Legolas to show how the power of the Black Speech affects them. I enjoy the cuts to the Great Eye and Frodo as Gimli attempts to destroy The Ring because it shows how much of a hold The Ring has over Fodo, the closeup of The Ring surrounded by the broken shards of Gimli's axe is also great shot because it emphasizes The Ring's power.

1. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children - Tifa vs Loz

Even though it's animated this is my favorite scene of any film I've ever seen, however due to it being an animated film it has a broader range of capabilities such as the creation of settings and the movement of cameras. Due to this being such a fast paced fight sequence the camera movement wold be nearly impossible in a live action sequence, however there are many shots that are great inspirations for action scenes, such as the wide shot when Marlene (the kid) runs behind the pillar and watches Tifa and Loz. My favorite shot of the whole scene and the thing that makes this scene number one on my list is when Loz throws Tifa to the wall, and the sequence is in slow motion for a time the cuts than go from wide to medium and close up as she lifts her head than to a sort of POV shot from Tifa staring down at Loz. This whole scene comes together very well to show off what an absolute bad ass is even though she loses the fight.