Media Studies 120

1. Media Studies 120 April 23rd, 2013

2. Warm-Up: Mr. Harvey’s Place Using what you know about me, I want you to describe what my place might look like. Do I live in a house or an apartment? Is it clean or messy? What things would you expect to see on my walls and around the different rooms (living room, kitchen, bedroom(s), etc.) in my place?

3. Art Direction: Creating the Look Nowadays, movie budgets generally allow a filmmaker a great deal of freedom in terms of setting choice and set creation. The first film sets were created by Georges Méliès at the turn of the 20th century. With their painted backdrops, Méliès’ sets resembled traditional theater scenery— immovable and two-dimensional. Georges Méliès – Trip to the Moon (1902)

4. Art Direction: Creating the Look The first film to use full scale sets was Intolerance (1916). Unlike his predecessors, the set builder considered the filmmaker’s moving camera when designing for “Intolerance”, devising a completely integrated, three-dimensional space. Ultimately, what separates production designers from their theater equivalents is the camera. Every set or location must accommodate the camera’s changing three-dimensional view. Whether the camera itself is moving, or the framing is changing, the set should facilitate the movement.

5. Art Direction: Creating the Look “The most beautiful ballroom on earth means nothing unless it helps the context of the story.” Steve Zissou – Let Me Show You My Boat Look fors: how set is designed to facilitate camera movement, how individual rooms are designed to evoke particular feelings/emotions.

6. Art Direction: Setting the Stage Once sets are created, production designers need to decide how they are going to decorate their sets and locations. Set decoration includes all props and furnishings, including foliage (plants) and food, used in a given scene. Sometimes individual props and furnishings can be crucial to the story (i.e. the ring in LOTR) More often, however, the effect of set decoration is collective. As in real life, we make assumptions about film characters based on their environment. Realism vs. dramatic effect (fire hydrant) Look again at boat clip for how props/furnishings give meaning.

7. Art Direction: Costumes and Makeup Costumes and makeup can tell you a lot about the characters in a movie. First makeup in black and white films (blue/green semi-liquid grease paint). The fabrics, fit, and style of each costume are all carefully chosen by the designer to help the audience understand the characters. For example, an animal rights activist would not wear leather shoes. Two characters who hate each other might be costumed in clashing colors. A wealthy person would dress in designer outfits, while a poorer one might wear hand-me-down clothing.

8. Art Direction: Costumes and Makeup

9. Art Direction: Costumes and Makeup Introduction to Royal Tenenbaums 0:50-1:24

10. Art Direction: Colours Colors can reflect the social and cultural back- ground of a character, as well as his or her personality. A character who always dresses in grays and browns, for instance, is most likely serious and conservative. Colors can also be used to emphasize themes and moods in a story. A set decorated all in red might heighten the violence of a story, while a white set might underscore a theme of purity and innocence.

11. Art Direction: Colours

12. Practice Set: Documentary on Leo Hayes Imagine we are going to make a documentary about Leo Hayes High School. How would we make a documentary that focuses on Leo Hayes as being a “bad” place (think setting, props, costumes, colours)? How would we make a documentary that focuses on Leo Hayes as being a “great” place (think setting, props, costumes, colours)?

13. iDoc Assignment The rest of the period is yours to work on your iDoc. Apply what you learned today in creating your final product!