Depth of Field

 

Deep: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Shallow: The Hunger Games (2012)

Soft: The Sound of Music (1965)

Deep focus: Both subjects in focus so you can see everything at once

Shallow focus: One subject in focus and closer to camera while the other is farther and out of focus

Soft Focus: Entire shot is out of focus showing that the scene is a dream or not real

    While creating the images above, I ran into multiple issues, but the main one was creating soft focus. For those who don't know, a soft-focus frame is when the entire frame is out of focus making the scene seem like a memory or dream. There are many different ways to achieve this, the most common way being putting Vaseline over the lense. I do not own Vaseline... As a substitute I tried using ChapStick over a piece of tape over my camera.  ↓ 

 

Failed attempt at soft focus 

    Sooooo... as you can see that didn't go well...  

   As a plan B, I found something similar to pantyhose (another common tool for making this effect), this being a fake tattoo sleeve that had similar material to pantyhose. I then layered this over my phone camera and snapped a shot. This created a hazy effect over the entire frame. To really bring this shot together, I had the subject (my sister) look wistfully into the distance. This allowed for the shot to really have a dreamy aesthetic. 

    While creating the soft focus was challenging, another issue arose. The shallow focus. I knew how to execute the photo, but it originally didn't have proper conflict/meaning behind it. So, to really add a dynamic between the two subjects, I made the blurred one (my father) look angry while the subject in main focus (my sister) look worried. Therefore, we now have conflict. And since the audience is drawn to the IN-focus element, we now know that my sister is the center of attention, and we should be focusing on HER expressions and HER movements. 

Cinematography

 

Low angle: From Dusk till Dawn (1996)

Eye level: Superman (2025)

Low hight: Harry Potter and the Sorcercer's Stone (2001)

Far distance: 2001: A space Odyssey (1968)

High Angle: My father below me while im elavated on the staircase to achieve a sence of weakness.

Eye level: My sisters dull face at viewer eye level adds confusion and sadness.

 

Height: The height of the camera compared to my sisters height makes her seem shorter and less important.

Distance: The far distance of my sister mixed with the walking motion allows for tension and mystery. What will happen next?

    While taking the pictures shown above, one of the most significant problems I faced was finding the difference between height and levels. To really understand how to go about this, you must understand the different types of levels. These include eye-level, shoulder-level hip-level, and knee-level. Each one has a different purpose. For example, my use of eye-level created a connection between the subject and the audience. This differs from the use of height because it now depends on where the subjects are positioned in the frame. An example of this is how I positioned my sister in the frame. Since the height of the camera is significantly higher than she is, it makes her seem short and less impactful. Another challenge I faced was taking the angle photo and it actually having purpose behind it. In my previous attempts, my father was simply just standing there, looking down, and doing nothing!!! So first I got closer to him, then I had him turn to the side, but something was still missing so I put a red hat on him. I did this because I needed an extra factor to draw in the viewers attention

Balancing Mise en Scene

             When creating media, one of the most important aspects to take into account Mise en Scene. This refers to any and all content in the frame. So whether you alter the movement, contrast, color, size or frontality of the subject, the viewers perception of the shot is changed. Examples shown below.

Contrast- The Lighthouse (2019)

Color- Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (2005)

Size- Gladiator (2000)

Frontality- Napolean Dynamite (2004)

Contrast- My dark cat on a bright towel 

Color- Bright orange flowers in the neutral background

Size- My sister and stepmom at different distances

Frontality- My sister and my cat in front of the frame

            While creating the photos above, I ran into some challenges when knowing how and where to space my subjects, especially when it came to my cat... The beautiful feline shown above is my 4-year-old cat named Olive. I wanted to incorporate her into my stills because of her black and white fur and the contrast that came with that. But, when I attempted to photograph her, she simply... refused and ran away. That was until I brought out the bag of treats and waved them in her face. She was then WAY more compliant to look in my direction. Also, as you can see, she was also used in the "frontality" image. I wanted to add her next to my sister to add a comical aspect of a cat and girl standing right next to each other. But to achieve this I needed Olive somewhat upright. So, I had my stepbrother go behind my cat and hold her there. Yes, that's correct... hold her body in place so I could snap a shot. Another challenge I faced was the "color" image. In the example provided above, I added a film still from Star Wars that draws our attention to the bright lightsaber. So, in an attempt to add a similar aspect, I wanted to have my sister dress in black clothes and stand in a bright green landscape. I didn't end up using this idea because I felt it was too similar to contrast. So, to make it different, I added a neutral background with a vibrant color to draw us in. I did this by taking a glass skull and putting bright orange flowers where the eyes would be.

Rule Of Thirds

         "You met me at a very strange time in my life" says Edwards Norton in the final scene of Fight Club. This breathtaking scene is a perfect example of 'The Rule of Thirds' used in film. With the two silouets in the middle (or the "hotspot") of the frame, the image is balanced and we can see them and the exploding background as a whole. If we take this one step further, we can see that the explosion is meant to symbolise the point of no return. Meaning that the narrators plan (project Mayhem) has been completed and the city's financial system has been destroyed to no return (which is the plot).  

            When it comes to the "Rule of Thirds" being used in the realworld, it can have a great affect on our perception of what were looking at. For example, I personally took these two seperate landscape photos and each has different focal points that draw your attention.

2a: This landscape photo was done without the "Rule of Thirds" which means that there is no horizon on the lines and no focal points in the center.  

2b: On the other hand, this photo has a landscape the accuractly follows the rule. This is done by the horizon being on either the top or bottom of the horizontal line which creates visual depth and seperating.

3a: This image was taken without regard for the rule. When you do this, it's hard to determine what the focus of the picture is. Is it the Girraffe? It is the curtains? We may never know....

3b: Now this picture is using the rule of thirds. We can tell this because the Giraffe is in the "Hotspot" and is the main focus of the frame. 

4a: Since the image is without regard for the rule, the figure has no purpose and there is no horizon in sight. This once again, creates confusion. What are we looking at??

4b: From this photo, we can have a cohesive focus unlike the one above. This is done by the eyes being alligned with the landscape and having neutral spacing. The neutral spacing is shown by the people being on the vertical lines so there is an equal distance between the two of them.

4c: What does this frame look like to you? Just two girls staring at eachother? Defiently not! This photo is curisoity... or maybe it's love... Similar to the one above, their eye level is aligned with the landscape AND my camera. By doing this, we can see their perspective and become more enagaged in the story. To actually identify what the story is, we can look at their body language. In this specific shot, the girl on the left (my sister Addison) is reacing out to the other women (my mother Angeline). The bland look on my mothers face doesn't represent love and the hand placment of my sister shows she's reaching out to someone/somthing unknown. Thus, the story shown in the frame is my sister reaching into the unknown and my mother is being disintrested and neutral in the situation.

4d: In this photo, both my mother and sister show disagreement. This is done by the bland stares from the both of them and and no prominent body language.