Why is it so important to cut on action?

Cutting on action is a way to cover up editing and to transition from one shot to another. Cutting on action means you don't have to find and use B-roll. It also creates the appearance of continuation rather than a stop and start effect. It also can be used with matched audio to continue audio as well.

What did you do in class and outside of class to help with ITVFest?

On Friday, October 13, I volunteered at ITVFest from 9:00am until 6:00pm. From 9:00 to about 10:30, I worked with the class and did basic tasks around the box office such as sweeping the floors and helping Izzy schedule VIP events for people helping over the weekend. From 10:30 to about 12:00, I worked with my group to deliver items to VIP lounges around town, clean out the entire Helmholz gallery, and help out at Village Picture Shows. From 12:00 to about 2:30, my group went back to the box office to help out. At one point they got so busy in the box office, that I was left in charge of working behind the desk, using the cash register, and checking in all the non-VIP participants of the event. From about 2:30 until 6:00, my group went to the Riley Center to help things run smoothly - set changes, giving directions, etc. On Saturday I volunteered at ITVFest from 11:00am-10:00pm. From 11:00 to about 2:30, I worked over at Factory Point giving directions, checking passes, etc. From 2:30-3:30 I helped Martha in the box office. At 3:30 I headed down to Famous Footwear for a VIP casting event I was invited to. I participated while also working to make sure things ran smoothly. When the casting event ended at 5:00, I went back up to the box office, to see if they needed help. I did a few quick jobs for the panelists at Famous Footwear who started at 5:00, but things seemed to be under control, so I spent some time watching Bill Muench's band play in the park. At 6:00, I went home to change and eat dinner. I came back to Northshire Bookstore at 7:45 and stayed until about 10:00. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to help on Sunday because I had two different four-hour gigs. Overall, it was a successful weekend and I was sad to see it end.

What have you noticed about television, commercials, or motion picture since starting this class?

I don't watch a lot of commercials, but while watching television or movies, I have been paying attention to how shots are set up. I tend to focus on when and why the camera gets tight on someones face, and when they allow for a wider shot. I also have started to concentrate on when they cut. I don't watch much television and I don't even watch that many movies, but I most certainly have started to notice things while watching that I wouldn't have even known to look for before taking this class. 

Before watching the film, imagine how you would've approached this film. 

To be quite honest, none of the ideas I had would've been anywhere near as good as this. I probably would've started this short film with a tight shot on a little boy's face. He looks very concentrated. As the shot widens, you see that the little boy is sitting in a sandbox playing with a beat-up plastic unicorn. As he's playing, a young girl walks up to him and asks "what is that?' At first he doesn't reply, but he eventually says "it's a unicorn". The little girl sits beside the little boy in the sandbox and says "never seen one up close before".  Again, the little boy is slow to reply. Before he has the chance to say anything, the girl says "beautiful" and reaches out her hand to touch it. The boy then screams "get away, get away". As he runs away, taking his unicorn with him, the girl mumbles "I'm sorry" under her breath. 

After watching the film, describe the style, lighting, sound, camera angles, acting, and decisions the director had to make.

For starters, the short film was nothing like I expected. I really liked how the lines aren't an actual conversation. The conversation starts with a look, then the other character answers the look with one of the lines. When the man looks at the door bell, you would've expected him to ring it, and for someone to come out, but then the window was shown, and it goes to a flash back. I liked how it cuts to the old window, the way he previously entered a house. It showed around the room, and showed the bread, which made it seem like there was someone in the house. The style of this short film would be somewhere along the lines of a war film with a little romance. The flashbacks showed the hardships of the war, but the present day focused on a romance strengthened by the war. The lighting when they go into the dark cabinet space is interesting because as the boy comes closer to the girl, her face becomes more lit up. It doesn't have to show the boy coming closer, since you know it's happening just by the lighting. They added a lot of sound effects when the three boys were walking around the room. The sound effects were more important than the dialogue in this scene, since there wasn't a lot of dialogue. The sound, along with people's face expressions, spelled out the mood. The camera showed a lot of close ups on people's faces. Since they didn't have the words to act through, everything had to be shown on their faces. During the peaceful scene where the boy and the girl are in the dark with no danger, it played piano music in the background, which shows their interests with each other, and that she can trust him. The film, while quiet and often lacking dialogue, avoids silence. You could hear the people stepping on crushed glass when there is no other sound that can be used, and there was dramatic music used in the background when something was happening that could end badly. It also played the same music when the girl first gives the unicorn to the boy, as was used when the man gives it to her at her house, and she opened the box. There is a mistake in continuity. When the guard is hitting the boy, he has a hat on, but after the hit, it shows him without the hat. Otherwise, it's possible that the guard hit the boy hard enough for the his hat to come off.