Making Better Movies with Moviestorm Vol 3: Sound and Light

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EMPHATIC SOUND Shoot the scene based around the sound. Shoot it again in a more conventional manner. Review What does shooting it this way add to the story, the character, or the mood? What did you have to do visually to make the audio work? At what point did you show the audience what was making the sound? Could you have done it earlier or later and been equally effective? What other sounds did you leave out that you would normally have put in? Followup exercises Do the same with a scene that includes dialog. How do you have to shoot it to keep the key sound and fit it around the dialog? 16
USING MUSIC AS LEITMOTIF Technique Use a musical theme to denote a character, then use the music to imply the character without showing them. Using music to convey information to the audience is a powerful technique that requires careful work from the director, cameraman, editor and composer to set up and carry off. In the early part of the film, the musical theme (or leitmotif, as it's called in classical music) is established. Then later in the film, you can use the music to foreshadow a character’s presence. You can use this in all sorts of useful ways. If a character is only half-shown, the audience will assume who it is if they hear their leitmotif. You can also suggest that an on-screen character is thinking about on off-screen character by using the leitmotif. Great examples of this are Darth Vader's theme in the Star Wars movies, or Indy's fanfare in the Indiana Jones movies. When you hear that music, you know Indy's coming to the rescue or Vader's about to do something evil. When filming a scene that uses a leitmotif, you need to allow sufficient time for the leitmotif to be played, and choose camera angles that support it. During pre-production, note when you plan to use the leitmotif instead of (or to complement) a visual and structure the scene around it. Left: if you've already established this character, you know who they are as soon as they open the door. This strong image would also make a good one for establishing the leitmotif: the viewer will associate that music with both the person and the mood. Center and right: using a romantic theme when the two lovers are together sets the tone. Using the same theme later when the man is alone suggests to the audience that he is sending a message to her and is thinking about her. This is a complex exercise, which will involve shooting a short film, at least 5 minutes, maybe more. You will also need a score that includes at least one strong recognizable theme. You may find it easiest to simply take this from classical music. 17
Page 2 and 3: CONTENTS FOREWORD .................
Page 4 and 5: This excellent series of books will
Page 6 and 7: EXERCISES How to use this book The
Page 8 and 9: Once you start thinking about the s
Page 10 and 11: FOLEY OR NOT? Film the scene, and r
Page 12 and 13: AMBIENT NOISE Film and edit the sce
Page 14 and 15: REALISTIC AMBIENCE Go to a busy loc
Page 18 and 19: USING MUSIC AS LEITMOTIF Shoot the
Page 20 and 21: USING SOUND TO BRIDGE A SCENE Shoot
Page 22 and 23: CUTTING & DIRECTING TO MUSIC Film a
Page 24 and 25: MUSIC VIDEO Film the piece in five
Page 26 and 27: Lighting a virtual movie scene is a
Page 28 and 29: REALISTIC VS UNREALISTIC LIGHTING F
Page 30 and 31: FAKING LIGHTING CONTINUITY Shoot th
Page 32 and 33: MOSTLY DARK SHOTS Shoot the scene a
Page 34 and 35: DAY VS NIGHT Film the scene in dayt
Page 36 and 37: MOVING LIGHTS Shoot the scene with
Page 38 and 39: HANDHELD LIGHTS Start in a dark set
Page 40 and 41: SILHOUETTES Shoot the scene convent
Page 42 and 43: FILMING SHADOWS Shoot the scene con
Page 44: Matt Kelland is one of the founders

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