Psychology of the Home

Molly Coyne

Psychology of the Home

Week 5

June 4th, 2013 · No Comments · Uncategorized

I feel that in the past few weeks I’ve learned a lot about filming, photography, and even life stages of the home and the people live in there. I finally finished my first set of readings as well. I really found “Architecture of Happiness” interesting. It taught me about how styles can effect a building and how changing eve just a few aspects of a door or window can change the style of how it is seen.

I’ve been really enjoying learning the new skills with my camera the most. I’ve been reading a lot about cinematography and editing and realized how little I know about the entire film process.

I’ve collected almost all the footage I need for my project now, which means I still just need to collect footage from two more houses which I plan to do next week. By the end of week 6 I hope to have all the footage I need and be able to start editing pictures and find the right music to edit my video.

 

I will admit this project has been a lot harder than I thought it would be. However, it has been really great to challenge my skills and concentration and ability to have self-discipline with my work. I’m trying my best though, so I hope the class enjoys my final film.

I also realize I mentioned before that I’ve learned a lot more about cinematography. To be specific…

Cinematography comes from the Greek roots Kinema meaning “motion,” and graphia meaning “to describe” or “to write.” So cinematography is literally writing or describing in motion.

The cinematographer is responsible for all aspects of filmmaking related to the camera, including the materials, composition, light & color, framing, movement, and duration.

The main aspects of the chapter that really caught my attention however were the sections on deep-focus shots, shallow-focus shots, and the rule of thirds. I realized how much I haven’t been focusing what all i am capturing on screen and have really been trying to develop a deeper understanding of what matters to get on screen.

For those who don’t know, a deep-focus shot is when you can see several planes in one scene. For example, a character standing in front of a couch in front of a lamp in front of another character in front of a wall is a deep-focus shots because of how many layers are on screen. You’re able to see more of the scene than in a shallow-focus shot where you can only see a few objects in the shot. Usually no more than two or three. Lastly, the rule of thirds is when you make sure the main subject on screen is not in the center but more to the side, above or below. It gives balance to the scene.

Those are just a few of the main points I’ll begin to look for in my editing just to better my camera skills. If anyone has any specific questions, I would be happy to answer.

 

I feel like I have really learned a lot about filmmaking but at the same time I know I have a lot of room for improvement. I’ve been working with a little video camera I have as well as a new dslr camera I bought resently.

I am still learning about lighting, effects, sound, color, technique, angles, and framing. By the end of this quarter I hope to come out with a much greater understanding of films, as well as a greater knowledge of the aspects. I already extremely respect it and the work that goes into filmmaking.

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Week 4

April 29th, 2013 · 1 Comment · Weekly logs

For this week I’ve mainly been dedicated to film editing and getting caught up on my weekly reading as I had gotten slightly behind in the reading. Thankfully this week I’ve gotten completely caught up.

Also to respond to Stephanie about different editing, mainly I”m still going through different ways of putting my film together. I have been making a few different storyboards over the last couple of weeks. I’ve also been determining where to put the video portions, the photos, the interviews, and the questions. So many different ideas have run through my head and with a lot of help from critique sessions, I feel I have a much better direction for my project. My ‘Film Interpretation’ book has also proven to be inspirational and insightful. It teaches just about everything, from A to Z, you need to know about making a great film. I’ll also be posting pictures from my project shortly.

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Week 3

April 29th, 2013 · No Comments · Weekly logs

I forgot to write a post for week 3 but for that week I mainly kept going with my reading and learned a bit more about architecture. I also read several chapters in my book ‘Film Interpretation’. I learned in week 3 a lot about how even though architects in the past have tried a variety of many different styles to find jus what they wanted to create in a house, it’s usually never about the structure with people. People are often quite oblivious to the style of the house or apartment they buy or rent. More often they are attracted to the feel of a place, without realizing that is has something to do with the style. I just found that really interesting and I realized how little I know about the style of different architecture. Rather than simply different woods or any structure an architect uses it’s more than the simple materials they find, every piece has meaning.

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Week 2

April 17th, 2013 · 1 Comment · Weekly logs

This week I was able to accomplish quite a bit towards my project goals. I’ve been reading Architecture of Happiness by Alain De Botton which has really been teaching me more about the architecture of homes and why people will choose the way their homes are set up. I love the way the book mentions how the house itself is a character. Our home becomes a piece of who we are and where we come from. Every aspect of our homes says something about who we are individually, which is interesting how a house can actually do that. The book even questions why we need these objects in our homes to help find our identity. What I realized is having these objects, not only do we buy some in attempt to express ourselves to others or to ourselves or just because we like them, but these objects also create memories no matter what they are or how we got them. That’s mainly what  I’ve been reading about. I have also made a lot of progress with my video, working at editing to piece the first part together. I have been trying several different editing styles to see what I would like to show the most. I have also been able to get the interviews I needed so these last couple of weeks have gone really well. I’m excited to keep working on this project. This week will be dedicated to reading and editing.

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