Kristine 

As cinematographer, my aim is to showcase Ben’s internal struggle by the means of cinematography. In Chungking Express by Wong Kar Wai, framing plays a huge part in communicating how the characters are feeling. Most shots are medium shots with the character placed in the middle. The focus is on them and most often it is either dark around them, or other things block the space beside them. This way of framing not only singles out the characters, but can be symbolic of how alone they feel. When the viewer sees shots like this, it forces them to focus solely on the character, as they stand out. As a result, we pay more attention to their actions or facial expressions, allowing us to try and comprehend how they are feeling in that moment. My aim is to do something similar with the cinematography in our final film. I really want the viewers to understand how Ben feels! This will be done through the two main shot types of close-ups and wide shots. With close ups, I want the viewers to really focus on Ben as a character, and what he is going through. Additionally, I want to use close-ups as a way to reveal Ben’s agoraphobia, by depicting him in isolation or in closed spaces. In a similar way, I want to use wide shots as a way to illustrate how alone Ben feels, yet how crowded (literally) he actually is within his own home. This is something that is done in Juliet of the Spirits, where the stillness of the house is juxtaposed to the stillness that Juliet is feeling after Giorgio left her. Ultimately, I want to show how the space that surrounds Ben, reveals the state he is in. Another thing I would like to do as cinematographer is use familiar image as a way to illustrate character development, or just development within the story. In almost all of Wes Anderson’s films, familiar image plays a huge part in illustrating character development. Often the characters are depicted in similar scenes, but in a changed manner. Sometimes they are even depicted in a similar manner, to establish their character. In our film, I want to use familiar image in two main ways. The first way I want to familiar image is to show Ben’s character development. Throughout the course of our film, Ben goes through a change by gaining more and more courage to face his fear. By illustrating Ben in similar situations at different times, I hope to show the gradual change Ben goes through in order to fully overcome his fear. The second way I would like to use familiar image is to show general change within the story. In our film, there are many similar instances, yet aspects of the situation are slightly different. By using familiar image, I hope to show the change within the situation (or perhaps lack thereof). ** *__25/10/2013__ ** In the cinematography book "Lighting" by Blain Brown, it is stated that we expect lighting in film to do a number of things such as create "mood and tone", " a full range of tones", "depth and dimension", "shape and fullness" and "separation" As cinematographer, I don't solely want to use lighting as a way to enhance the image on screen, but also contribute to the overall meaning of the story. On a personal level, lighting has always been something I've been relatively uncomfortable with, as I've never felt like I have been able to do it effectively. As cinematographer, I know how I imagine each of the frames to be lit, but the difficult part is actually doing it, and doing so with meaning and purpose. In our final film, I want to use lighting as a way to create a stark contrast between "Ben's world" and the "real world" outside. I would also like it to further develop Ben's character, by lighting him in such ways that reveal certain aspects of his character.
 * __21/10/2013__** Throughout my time as an IB Film student, I have been very intrigued by the way in which cinematography may reveal a lot about a character on a highly personal level. Our final film centers around the internal struggle of a character named Ben, who is agoraphobic. The story details his journey towards facing his fear in the name of love.

The world Ben lives in is the one within the comfort of his own home. As we have decided, his house is relatively dark, and overflowing with lots of random knick knacks. The purpose of this is to illustrate his agoraphobia (which is something that is confining him). Most situations we will see Ben in is within this particular setting. Through lighting, I would like to highlight the difference between his home and the outside. Ben is essentially a hermit hiding within his own home. Thus, I aim to show his house to be relatively dark, as a way to create a lonely, somber mood. In contrast, I would like to show the outside true to it's nature, as so to depict reality. I want to show the "outside" as bright and vivid, to illustrate that Ben has nothing to fear. In all o f Wes Anderson's movies lighting plays a large role in setting the mood for the scenes. For the most part, Wes Anderson uses high key lighting throughout his films in order to create a light hearted mood. However, in scenes that are particularly notable (or with strong gloomy emotions) the lighting is far more low key. This is done in order to reflect the emotions within the scene, thus contributing to the overall mood/tone. Although what I would like to do is not entirely similar to the techniques of Wes Anderson, I essentially want to show how alone Ben feels within his own home, and how much better off he would be if only he stepped out of his house.

Another way I aim to use lighting to create meaning is by using it as a way to develop Ben's character. In the book, it says that low key lighting is often used in mysteries and romance movies. Although our movie is a romance movie, it focuses more on the main character, than it does on the couple. For the most part, the premise of our story remains relatively light hearted, as Ben is a lonely character with a soft side. Thus, when lighting scenes with Ben, I want to show the dimensions of his personality by either using soft lighting, as a way to illustrate the side to his personality that is sweet and caring. I also was to use low key lighting as a way to emphasize the sadness or loneliness he feels within a particular moment, or just generally within. A useful way I learnt how to do this from reading the book, is by lighting the subject from the "upstage side(the side away from the camera)", as this adds shadows creating depth and dimension. Separation will also play a huge part in terms of lighting, as many shots of Ben will be of him in isolation as a way to put an emphasis on his character. In the Vimeo video series: Behind the Glass, Vincent and Blake bring up some interesting ideas about lens focal length and depth of field. As I stated in my first journal, I want to show Ben lonely or in isolation by the means of cinematography. I actually feel like I stated my aim pretty well in my first journal when I said "Ultimately, I want to show how the space that surrounds Ben, reveals the state he is in" Although composition and shot type may be major ways in which I may achieve this, they are not the only ways. The use of different lenses is something that can contribute to this idea as well, as I learnt by watching the video series "Behind the Glass". In "Behind the Glass" Vincent and Blake state that a wide angle lens (such as a 16 mm) emphasizes the foreground, whilst de-emphasizing the background. Since I want to put a focus on the fact that Ben is alone, I think using a 16mm lens will prove to be particularly useful. A 16mm lens will draw your focus onto Ben, whilst revealing how alone he is within his environment (without drawing more focus onto the background rather than him). "Behind the Glass" also brings up depth of field. In the video, Vincent and Blake talk about shallow depth of field, and how it causes the subject to be in focus, with anything in front or behind it out of focus. Shallow depth of field is something I would like to make use of in our film, especially for all of the close ups. For this reason, I think using a 50mm lens f/1.8 will be highly effective. By using a 50mm, I will be able to firstly show Ben in isolation (as everything in the background will be out of focus), but also draw focus to Ben, and distort anything irrelevant that may appear in the background. Ultimately this will draw your focus onto Ben in moments where it is intended, and create a much more pleasing, aesthetic and meaningful image. In the Youtube Video: Camera Movement Tutorial: How To Create Emotion, I learnt about some interesting ways to use camera movement in creating meaning. Three interesting types of movements the video brought up that could be effective within our film were: Quick Push In, Slow Dolly In and the Slow Dolly Away. The Quick Push In is where the camera quickly moves in on the subject as so to create a feeling of surprise or shock. I thought this could be an interesting camera technique to use when Ben firsts sees the bully. The Slow Dolly In is a camera movement that can help share/emphasize the emotions a character is facing. The Slow Dolly Away on the other hand can leave them looking "emotionally lost and abandoned", which is further reflected onto the viewer. I figured both these types of camera movements could be effective to try out in moments where Ben feels the most alone or feels the most emotionally. Renee posted two very interesting youtube videos on how to film a dialogue scene. The first video: Camera Techniques Tutorial - Dialogue Scene, makes an interesting point about using "inserts" (small shots-normally close ups) as a way to provide additional information within the scene. This is an important point to take into regard for our final scene, as the final scene relies heavily on the little details that are noticed by Ben. However, I find that this point also holds validity in non dialogue scenes. Often, "inserts" can be useful in avoiding awkward jump cuts within a scene, which is a similar idea brought up in the second video.
 * __ 01/10/2013 __**
 * __06/10/2013__**

In the second video: How to Film a Dialogue Scene: Angles, Framing and Rule of Thirds, the video talks about the importance of making sure the shots are different enough from each other to avoid jump cuts. This is a problem I've faced in the past, which is something I would like to refrain from this time. Furthermore, the video talks about the use of lenses and the switch of angles. It suggests that one should not use completely different lenses, in changing angles. This disrupts the feeling of the scene, as it is highly noticeable. Since our film is relatively repetitive, I aim to ensure that there is continuity within the film by ensuring that shots that are similar in composition and that precede one another (within a scene) are not too similar. This way, we avoid awkward jump cuts that don't make sense. Something I think will help contribute to this is the choice of lens. However, one thing that may make this slightly challenging is the fact that there is almost always only one subject in the frame. In this case, having inserts (of the teddy bear, little gestures/movements) will be useful in maintaining the continuity within the film once edited.

The video also talks about the rule of thirds, and the flexibility of the rule in creating meaning. The video talks about how breaking the rule of thirds can often be a way to draw focus onto a subject, as a way to stress the importance of the character. In our film, this will be particularly important, as the story centers around Ben. Breaking the rule of thirds is something I intend to do on occasion, in order to isolate Ben and emphasize how he feels, or the importance of his character.

__** 27/10/2013 **__ I found the filmmaking experience up until the first rough cut to be very slow, and stressful at times. Most filming days started at 10 and ended between 2-4.The first two days we were very unorganized. We also had some issues with people being late, as well as people having to leave early. These are all problems that essentially just delayed the entire filmmaking process, which is a little frustrating as we still aren't done, and the editors and sound people still have to handle editing and sound.

One thing that was out of our control (and always seemed to be the case on our filming days) was bad weather. I think there was one day where we had good weather, in which we thankfully managed to get most of our outdoor scenes. However, there were also at least two days where the weather was really not working to our advantage. Mixed with all of our other problems, we were really limited in what we could film, and thus we had the option to do either nothing or make the most of what we could. Naturally, we attempted to make the most of our time despite all of our problems. During these days, we tried to film as many of our indoor scenes as possible.

As cinematographer, I realized that I made a number of changes to my shot list as we filmed. One change that I made was mixing up the way in which I filmed the shots of "Jess". In the shot list, I had most of her shots as wide shots of her either coming out of the house, coming home, etc. As we began filming, we decided that we wanted to actually make the shots of her look like they were literally in Ben's point of view. Therefore, what I decided to do was film these shots hand held, and try to mimic the movement that would come with looking out the window at someone. We also decided that Ben would have binoculars at times. For those particular shots, I moved in closer and experimented with fast movement and the focus.

Another thing I did was incorporate what I learnt in class about closed framing. Since Ben is both literally and mentally closed off from the world, I wanted to use closed framing as a way to show this. Luckily, this worked out pretty well because the main location we filmed in was a very small study. There are also a number of shots by a window and a doorway, which framed Ben in a closed manner.