Chapter 4 Production Design Basic tools of production

Chapter 4: Production Design

ä Basic tools of production design: ä Sets ä Costumes ä Mattes ä Miniatures

Ken Adam ä Dr. Strangelove ä Barry Lyndon ä Dr. No ä Goldfinger

Digital Effects ä Digital components of production design ä Pre-visualization ä Digital extensions of sets and miniatures The Truman Show ä Gladiator ä ä CGI environments ä Dinosaur

Acting

Acting in Film vs. Theater Five unique characteristics that shape film acting

ä Lack of rehearsal ä Budgetary factors create shortage of time ä Director attitudes ä Shooting Out of Continuity ä Economies of time and cost determine shooting order of scenes ä Shooting close-ups and coverage

ä Amplification of gesture and expressions ä Camera and microphone magnify performance ä Encourage restrained style of performance ä Minimalist styles ä Clint Eastwood

ä Lighting, Lenses and Effects Work ä Hitting the mark ä Performer should know how camera reads scene ä ä Depth of field Lens angle of view Contrast range – lighting falloff Camera movement ä Greenscreening Playing to nonexistent sets and characters ä Scene fully assembled during post-production compositing ä

ä Lack of a live audience ä Can’t calibrate performance according to audience response ä Chaplin ä Other comedy

Stars ä The Star Persona ä Composite personality established across many films ä Greater than the performance in any single film ä Personality stars and Character stars

Technical Acting ä Dominant style of screen performance during 1930 s-1950 s ä Lack of introspection ä Creation of character from the ‘outside’ ä James Cagney and White Heat (1949) ä Imitating the sounds rather than feeling the emotions

Method ä Method Acting ä Brought to cinema in the 1950 s by new generation of actors Paul Newman, Shelly Winters, Montgomery Clift ä Marlon Brando ä ä On the Waterfront (1954) The Godfather (1972) Last Tango in Paris (1973)

Method ä Internalized, richly psychological performance style ä Formal training at New York’s Actor’s Studio ä Emotional memory and sense recall exercises ä Emphasis on inhabiting the character psychologically

The Actor as an Element of Visual Design ä Unique body language of the performer ä Choreographing performance ä Integrating it with lighting, camera position and movement ä Typage ä Social ä Psychological