I Want Everything in My Movie!

Image by chunter01 via Flickr

Before I didn't realize the different techniques and effects used in movies, and now I'm so overwhelmed with the question of how I can make such an effect or technique in a movie which I will make.

I never realized that there are so much detail into each shot of a scene from lighting of the area to the angle of the camera recording the scene. It fascinates me how the effects are so subtle that for a person who doesn't know much about film, but they will still receive the effect trying to be relayed by the director.

After we had a class/workshop about lighting, the next thing I remember watching is an episode from Lost. And in once scene, a character is describing the decisions and life of another character, when he talks about the happy things, the speaker is seen under the light, but when he talks about the sad parts, he is in the shadow. I don't think I would have noticed this before, but watching it after having class made me realize that subtle intention of the director. I think this kind of lighting, using shadows, could not be hard to manipulate and use in a scene. Even the picture to the right shows a different kind of lighting which is also used in movies. This kind of lighting is to get rid of extra detail distraction, and have your attention only on what is being shown in the light. This is also highly possible to do with limited equipment. I think in general, as a crew, we are going to have to make sure the lighting is appropriate for the scene. I think also, we can use the effects of shadows from lighting and also use lighting to show some subtle details that aren't important but is still appropriate for the scene and character.

I think the transitions and effects that the editor adds to the movie is really significant also. I was watching an episode of Carnivale, and they had a scene transition where the scene and settings change instantly, but the last said words in the previous scene is the same said word in the next scene and setting. That brought a comic relief between these scenes, and almost a sense of coincedence that both characters were using the same words but they were in different settings. I feel like this was not intended by the director, but instead a trick made by the editor. Things like this amaze me how it was thought of while making the scenes and dialogue. Also another effect and transition used in videos are the different coloring of the shot to show mood. And I think the best transition I've seen is the scene from Citizen Kane showing time progressing between the married couple. I think transitions and coloring are the most important things in trying to relay subtle messages. And as important, they are also easy to use with not highly technical equipment.

I say this now, but I'm not sure how easy it will be to change the lighting of a room to give a depressing look, or to understand that detail is so important and sometimes some detail occurs unintentional. We'll see in time to come, how easy and hard it will be to use different techniques in trying to make a good movie.