Jibran Karamat Film Blog (AS 2023)

  Film Opening Inspiration 1. Smile (2022) A recent horror film that released, directed by Parker Finn which had an amazing opening that served to set the mood for the entire film and create a terrifying enigma for the narrative to base off of. It was this film that made me realize I wanted to do a horror/mystery project of some sort even more than before. 

A storyboard is a graphic representation of how your video will unfold, shot by shot. It's made up of a number of squares with illustrations or pictures representing each shot, with notes about what's going on in the scene and what's being said in the script during that shot. Here are some attempts at storyboarding I've done for other projects in the past.

  Vertigo Effect: Introduced by Alfred Hitchcock in his 1958 film Vertigo. The technique involves reversing the zoom of the movement of the camera (for example, camera is moving towards the subject, so you zoom out) to give a disorienting zoom effect. We were tasked to try this effect for ourselves in class.

According to the theory of code by Roland Barthes, there is always more than one way to read a text. Within any given text there is a plurality of meaning rather than one correct reading. Uncovering a text’s plural meaning requires not only reading but also re-reading.  Barthes identifies five different kinds of semiotic elements that are common to all texts. He gathers these signifiers into five codes:  Enigma:  anything that is mysterious or unexplained Proairetic:  sequential elements of action Semantic:  elements of the text that carry referential, extra-literal meaning Symbolic:  When two connotative elements are placed in opposition or brought together by the narrator Cultural:  anything in the text which refers to an external body of knowledge such as scientific, historical, and cultural knowledge

 Levi Strauss' binary opposition theory identifies how within media texts, most commonly films, there is a binary opposite between two characters or forces. This is shown obviously within comics where there is a struggle for the good to win against evil.  It is the contrast between two mutually exclusive terms, such as on and off, up and down, left and right. Levi Strauss, proposed a theory of 'binary opposites' which entails that the majority of narratives in media forms such as books and film contain opposing main characters. These binary opposites help to thicken the plot and further the narrative; and introduce contrast. For example, hero and villain, predator and prey, masculinity and femininity, etc

 

  Types of Shots and their effects: • Look room: Is the space that is left in front of someone's face on the screen; gives the impression that the person is looking at or talking to somebody just off the screen [by not leaving enough look room the subject may appear to be confined]. • Negative space: the empty space around & between the subjects of an image. • Positive space:  Refers to the subject or the interesting areas. I.e; a person's face or figure. • Rule of thirds: The four interesting points on the grid, important for the placement of subject. • Depth of field: It is the distance between the nearest & the furthest objects that are in acceptably sharp focus in a image captured by a camera. There are two types;     ~ shallow depth of field: small amount of           the image in focus.     ~ wide depth of field: to have a large                   amount of imag...

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E8dv-1RHg1vPdjz9qJQOF4DI6l0xwSv4/view?usp=share_link We made this video as an assignment for our class. Muskaan Irfan and Myrah Suleiman are the actresses where I directed and Alishba Jalal handled the camera, Muskaan also edited. We chose to film at our school canteen as the lighting was better and we found props in the area that fit our idea for the plot.

 Representation of age has changed a lot over the years. Previously, only two age groups were shown in television (adult and child) - [because children left school at an early age and directly started working which was considered as a switch from childhood to adulthood]. However, as of now; there is a variety in different age groups and there are different stereotypes associated with them: • Children: young/innocent/naive/helpless/powerless • Teenagers: aggressive/moody/into unethical activities & usually go against or disregard the system.  • Adolescent: Often showed as an ideal age for love, parties, passion, being glamorous & attractive.  • Middle age: Are done with all the fun, not aware of the popular culture, boring busy lives - grumpy.  • Elderly: Unattractive, weak/slow, ill/confused, powerless and dependent on others.