Silent Film with
Director’s Commentary & Review
Overview
To give us another perspective on how
films work, your group will produce your own narrative silent film. Because
silent films cannot rely on dialogue to convey information and story, the other
elements of film composition are emphasized. Mise-en-scène, cinematography,
editing and sound must be used to deliver the story. Your group will have to
put this into practice, demonstrating an understanding of how these elements
come together by using them yourself. Then, as individuals, you’ll analyze these
elements in a fellow group’s film by writing a critical review.
Content
Your group will produce a 3-4 minute silent film that tells a story. The film must use the elements of film composition discussed in class throughout the semester (mise-en-scène, cinematography, editing, or sound) to deliver the narrative. In addition, your group will come up with an explanation of the choices made and how they come together to tell your tale. You’ll record this information as an audio file, which will be posted along with your film to your blog to provide a “director’s commentary.” Your group will turn in a transcript of the director’s commentary the same day that the rest of the assignment is posted to the blog.Rather than writing a typical movie review, which is usually aimed at telling readers whether a film is worth seeing, your individual review will have more of an analytical focus. Your goal is to select an element or two of another group’s silent film (such mise-en-scène, cinematography, or editing), track it through their film, and assess its contribution to the film as a whole. You will post your individual review to your group’s blog, so it can include video clips, screenshots, links, and so on. Review should be around seven hundred fifty words in length (3 pages).
Guidelines for Movie-Making
- Keep it simple – Making a silent film that works on composition elements alone is harder than it might first seem. Keep your story simple and try not to do too much. Three to four minutes is not much time so focus on getting across a simple idea, well.
- No miming – Your film must communicate what is happening through elements of composition. One of those elements is acting, of course, but this isn’t charades.
- Make conscious choices – You do not have to use every element of film composition to tell your story, but be aware that they will all be present regardless. So if, for example, you don’t feel like doing costuming, make sure what your actors are wearing does not interfere with or distract from what is supposed to be going on.
- Intentional rather than masterpieces – Remember that the goal here is to demonstrate that you know how the elements of film composition come together to communicate a story. Your films, therefore, will not be evaluated in terms of whether or not they work as movies as much as whether it is clear to me you understand what you are trying to do.
- Explanation is important – Think of the explanation and the film together as one project. No matter what you do on camera, all the elements of film composition apply. The explanation is a chance for you to guide me through your film, pointing my attention to what you want highlighted.
- Resources – If no one in your group has a way to record digital video (phone, digital camera, dedicated digital video camera, etc.) they can be borrowed from the school. iMovie is also available on library computers and is pretty simple to use…just ask Rachael if you have questions.
Guidelines for Review-Writing
- Analysis over opinion – Your group’s goal here is to analyze, rather than summarize or rate. The review should answer the question: HOW is X used in the film? Recognize that the use of an element might change for different effects. You’ll want to note those changes, but still be able to talk about general strategy.
- Stay focused, be thorough – There is not enough space to address every element of composition. Stick to the one or two element(s) you select and really cover it. Remember as well, this is a blog post and so should be between 600 and 700 words at MOST. Be economical and still cover your topic.
- Come to a conclusion – While there is a lot to be said for presenting a clear picture of how an element is used, you are asked to go a step further to make a statement about the overall effect of that decision. You should still be writing with a thesis statement, examples, and conclusion to answer the question: How does using THAT element in THAT way affect what is communicated?
- Use media – In many cases your point will be more clear if you use images or video clips as illustrations. You are encouraged to enhance your review by implementing whatever media you see fit.
- Proofread! – Check spelling, grammar, your links, etc.
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