Orson Welles and Citizen Kane Final

Cole Laddusaw

Elements of Film

Professor Hammond

May 8, 2012

Final Exam

1)      “Citizen Kane” is one of the most influential films ever made. Discuss this statement.

The film “Citizen Kane” is seen as influential in the movie industry for many reasons. One such reason being the vast difference in cinematography used compared to any other movie being made during that time period. Since this was Orson Welles’ first movie, he wasn’t very knowledgeable in the film techniques being used and this led to a drastically different style of shots used in the movie. The angles and focus that he used had never been attempted due to stage restrictions or budget so when he found a way around these issues, the resulting images came off as a brave new perspective in filming. Another hugely influential aspect to “Citizen Kane” is the way Kane’s story is told. There is not one but several narrators recounting his life through different perspectives and time periods that are not always chronological. Although using flashbacks in movies was not entirely new, they had never been used as a complete form of storytelling in such a way that the story relied directly on them. This way of storytelling provided excellent character development for Kane as we were able to see how his personality and business practice changed so radically throughout his life but shown in very short periods of time.

2)      What had Orson Welles done in his first 23 years of life to warrant the Hollywood Film Industry offering complete creative control to a first time filmmaker?

Before coming to America, Welles had done some acting that drove him to move to America in hopes for a future on Broadway. Once he discovered his fame had not followed him, he went on to write a book called Everybody’s Shakespeare which started as a simple writing project and turned into a hugely successful series. Although this aided in his career and begot some fame, it is not this that I believe warranted Hollywood to give him complete control. After a few years in America, Welles went into acting in the theatre and more importantly, the radio. In October of 1938, one of the most famous and controversial radio broadcasts of all time took place due to a story performed by Orson Welles. Welles was doing a reading from the book The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells that he had adapted to the radio. Although there was an introduction to the broadcasts, the format in which it was conducted confused listeners who began listening after the introduction. The reading style of a news bulletin is what reportedly threw many listeners into a panic by actually believing they were being invaded by Martians. This stunt brought Welles instant fame and the attention of many Hollywood offers trying to pull him into the business. It was from this fame that he was offered the position to have full creative control of his very first movie, invoking much controversy and jealousy towards this newcomer by more accomplished directors.

3)      Pick an extended scene or sequence from “Citizen Kane” and discuss the storytelling technique by analyzing any combination of its component parts (direction, writing, performance, cinematography, production design, art direction, editing, sound, score, etc.).

The scene I will be analyzing is the description of Kane’s first marriage during an interview of one of his old friends and coworkers, beginning with him saying Kane and Emily had “a marriage just like any other marriage.” When the flashback first opens, you see a happy couple just sitting down to dinner. They are reminiscing about recent times together and are in good spirits. The flashback jumps several times, showing different stages in their marriage and the slow deterioration of their love for each other. In the beginning, they eat by each other’s side, which quickly changes to dinners across the table. The place setting also changes with time, adding more and more in between the two, blocking their view of one another. Their quips as well change with time from playful jokes to spiteful attacks. Kane’s work at the paper factory seems to quickly develop into a problem that takes away a huge chunk of his time with his wife, who rarely sees him in the end of the marriage. Kane’s stance on what he publishes changes as well from the bare facts, to opinionated arguments, to pure manipulation, stating that the people will believe what he tells them to believe. This scene really stood out to me as you see the couples’ entire marriage over a course of three minutes. The editing that tied together each shot was flawless and did not confuse that there was a passage of time. This can also be attributed to the costume design and makeup that showed the couple getting a little bit older with each flashback. Orson Welles’ acting is what really sold the whole scene. He flawlessly portrayed the aging of a man whos work and success directly affected his personality over an extended period. 

Final Project: The Films of Hayao Miyazaki

FINAL PROJECT: THE WESTERN GENRE OF FILM

Ariana Chinn

April 25, 2012

Elements of Film- Hammond

Final Project

The Western Genre of Film

Western films are a major defining genre of the American film industry and are a reminder of the untamed American frontier. Westerns are a part of a genre that concentrates on telling stories that are primarily set in the late 19^th century in the American Old West. Most Westerns are set between the end of the American Civil War (1865) and the massacre at Wounded Knee (1890), and often portray how primitive and archaic life was in the old west. Along with the old fashioned way of life, this genre also does a great job of depicting how the white man attempts to conquer the wilderness and subordinate nature in the rightful name of civilization (Newman, 1990). These conquests are strongly portrayed in movies such as the 1990 Kevin Costner film Dances with Wolves. It struck on the major conflict between Native Americans, as many westerns do, and also showed the destruction of the natural land. As time progressed, the western genre of film developed new and exciting sub-genres like revisionist westerns, romantic westerns, and science fiction westerns just to name a few. Although this genre evolved, it still retains traditional western themes and romanticizes ideas of loyalty and virtue.  

The American Film Institute defines western films as those “set in the American West that embody the spirit, the struggle and the demise of the new frontier”. The men featured in these struggles were depicted as nomadic wanders that usually came in the form of a gun-slinging cowboy with a hat, bandanna, spurs, a gun, and a horse. They were written to be either rebels or heroes, or rebellious heroes. These nomadic cowboys were typically involved in a plot that seems to be a classic central plot for westerns…the goal of maintaining law and order on the vast frontier in a fairly quick-tempo action story rooted in a good versus evil conflict. 

Edwin S. Porter’s The Great Train Robbery was released in 1903 and marked the birth of the Western genre. This film is credited with establishing the movies as a commercial entertainment medium, as well as being a template for excellent editing (McMahon, 2002). Some famous actors that were involved in the growth and expansion of the Western genre include Gilbert M. Anderson who was the first western film hero and star, Tom Mix, Harry Carey, and Hoot Gibson. Aside from the early stars that are probably not as well known as they should be are the newer more recognizable faces of the Western hero. This group consists of John Wayne, Wyatt Earp, William Holden, and Clint Eastwood. Although men are mainly recognized in these movies, they would be nothing without their spunky female costars. Some notable famous females in this genre include Joanne Dru, Katy Jurado, and Olivia de Havilland.

                       The Great Train Robbery, 1903. Directed by Edwin S. Porter

Western films were highly popular in the silent era, but only a few of the hundreds of silent Westerns survived to the present. With the new idea of sound hitting the movie industry in 1927, the major Hollywood studios dumped the Westerns, leaving it to the smaller studios and producers. The Western film was regarded as a dead genre in Hollywood by the late 1930s, but its popularity was resurrected by the release of the 1939 John Ford’s Stagecoach. Stagecoach became one of the biggest hits of the year and transformed John Wayne into a Western film icon.

A little further down the line  a new subgenre known as “Spaghetti Westerns” emerged. Also known as Italo-western, this genre came about during the 1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone’s unique and applauded film-making style, and was nicknamed the “Spaghetti Westerns” because most of the movies were directed and produced by Italians. Although the movies were made by Italians and Spaniards, they often starred young, up and coming American actors such as Clint Eastwood who was featured in three of Leone’s films. The most notable of the Spaghetti Western films are Fistful of Dollars and The Good the Bad and the Ugly. Typical themes in Spaghetti Westerns include the Mexican Revolution, a focus on revenge, and the myth of the bounty hunter. The films from this subgenre possessed a dimension of parody, which set them apart from Hollywood westerns (Smith, 1950).  

 The Good the Bad and the Ugly, 1966. Directed by Sergio Leone

After the 1960s American film makers began to question and change many of the traditional elements of the western genre. This era marks the beginning of the revisionist westerns, which is composed of emerging film makers who saw the Western as an opportunity to expand their criticism of American society and values. The new subgenre included darker elements and more cynical tones with a focus on the lawlessness of the time period, favoring realism over romanticism (Cowie, 2004). Although they had a more negative overtone than previous western movies, they also spread more positive messages of certain groups that were often discriminated against throughout history. In early films Native Americans were treated as savages and enemies of the white man, but revisionist westerns started to paint them in an increasingly more positive light. Along with the Native Americans and Mexicans gaining a slightly better image, women were given more powerful roles. The revisionist westerns encouraged audiences to question the dualism of hero-versus-villain and the morality of using violence as a means of gaining respect (Cowie, 2004). One of the films that encompasses all of these features is the 1956 adventure film The Last Wagon, in which a white man is raised by the Comanche tribe and therefore is persecuted by his fellow white population. There are also two young women in the movie who are forced into leadership roles, which helps to portray women as strong, able individuals.

            The Last Wagon, 1956. Directed by Delmar Daves

Another highly popular subgenre of Western film is contemporary western, which features movies such as Robert Rodriguez’s Once Upon a Time in Mexico and the more recent No Country For Old Men which was directed by Joel and Ethan Cohen. These films use a contemporary American setting, but utilize the traditional western themes and motifs. The contemporary western subgenre reveals the progression of the Old West mentality into the late 20^th and early 21^st century.  

 No Country For Old Men, 2007. Directed by Ethan and Joel Cohen     

Revisionist westerns and contemporary westerns are two of the more popular subgenres of western film. But there are other subgenres that are popular with the American public such as science fiction western, space western, horror western, romance western, and even animated western. Movies like Cowboys and Aliens from the science fiction western subgenre take the traditional ideals of a western film and combine it with the futuristic ideas and technologies of the future and science fiction. These two categories combine to form an interesting and exciting genre of film that opens the doors for creative new ideas and projects in the film industry. Romance western movies include the controversial film Brokeback Mountain and All the Pretty Horses. Brokeback Mountain falls into the contemporary western subgenre as well because it portrays a whole new kind of cowboy and creeps across the thin line of displaying homosexuality in such an open manner.

Brokeback Mountain, 2005. Directed by Ang Lee

The western film genre is a noted and important part of American history as well as the American culture, and continues to be a notably popular one today with all of the possibilities of special effects and the improvements in technology. The older movies and more recent movies such as American Outlaws, 3:10 to Yuma, Comanche Moon, and True Grit all serve as a reminder of the way we use to live before the many conveniences of technology emerged. It marks the struggle and endeavor for justice, and the forward movement of the American traditions. We may not live in this particular time and age any longer, but we can always make sure to acknowledge it and to stand in awe of the amazing and adventurous lives we once led.

WORK CITED 

Cowie, Peter. John Ford and the American West. New York City: Harry Abrams, Inc., 2004.        Web.

McMahon, Alison. Alice Guy Blanch: Lost Vision of the Cinema. New York: Continuum, 2002. 133. Web.

Smith, Henry. Virgin Land: THe American West as Symbol and Myth. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1950. Web.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Western_films

Film Editing

Film Editing

 Film editing is one of the most crucial stages in making a motion picture. Along with writing a screenplay and filming the pictures themselves, film editing can be noted as the most important and noticeable process involved with the production of a film. Due to its substantial significance and its uniqueness to film-making, the editing process has been noted as the separation between cinema and all other forms of art, and has been given the title of ‘the third creation of a motion picture’ (Harris, Mark). This research paper will look at the history and development of this irreplaceable aspect of cinema, including examples of the most influential editors along the timeline of cinema history.

 Film editing is a form of art and an element of film that requires meticulous detail and unwavering patience. The editing process begins once the screenplay itself has been written, the cast has been selected, and all of the footage needed for the story to be told has been collected by the producers and directors. At this point, the editor will sit down with the collected shots and begin work.

 This editing process will likely take weeks or months to complete, with every shot needing to be carefully examined for viewing difficulties. This post-production stage of film creation has three main stages, beginning with the Editor’s cut. This cut begins, and mostly takes place during the filming process, where the editor will sit and work in with the director on his shots in order to create an idea of what is expected in the latter stages of post-production.

 This Editor’s cut is followed by a director’s cut. Here, the director will likely be very involved with the work of the editor, especially with regards to the storytelling aspect of the work. The director and editor will work together to perfect the pace and structure of the movie through the connections they create between pictures and shots (Oscars.org). Some directors, especially those who have worked numerous times in collaboration with their editors, will allow the editors to take control of the shots and work freely by themselves. Other directors are very careful in the freedom they allow their editors and will constantly be checking to see how the final motion picture is progressing. The final outcome of this relationship between director and editor is explained by Christopher Rouse, Academy Award nominee for his editing of ‘United 93’, “Everything else — music, cinematography, costumes, design, acting — can be judged at face value. But when you’re looking at editing, you don’t know what the totality of the material was, and you don’t know the working dynamic between a director and an editor — whether the editor was micromanaged or given free rein” (Harris, Mark).

 This director’s cut will likely be a lot shorter that the preceding editors cut, and will be a product of a unique bond created between the director and the editor. Once completed, the final cut of the film will then be created. This cut is what will be seen on the screen, and the film producer is likely to be heavily involved in the decisions made at this stage.

 Figure 1 shows Director Kevin MacDonald and Editor Joe Walker working on the production of the 2011 film ‘life in a day’. Editing was an extremely crucial part of this motion picture as it is comprised of 4,500 hours of footage collected from 192 different countries (Krishnappa, Samyuktha).

 Figure 1

The editing art form is crucial for the story telling section of a film, as, if even one shot is placed out of sequence, the whole film could lose its meaning and significance. This story telling aspect of film editing is arguably the most important and, in fact, film editing if often said to be the art of storytelling. There are many techniques that can be used for this aspect of editing, including continuity, repetition and re-ordering of shots (Oscars.org). These techniques allow for changes and adaptations in the stories themselves, so that the exact image and idea that is required by both editor and director can be shown to the audience.

 To discuss the history of film editing, the 2004 film ‘The Cutting Edge’ is a documentary film about the art of film editing. This film gives insight into the world of film editing from the eyes of the editors themselves. As this film recounts, film editing began when Edwin S. Porter used cuts in the 1902 film ‘Life of an American Fireman’, and then again in his most famous work ‘The Great Train Robbery’, 1903 (The Cutting Edge...). The first of these films became a film editing base from all following films to build on after Porter became the first editor to include cut. In the film, the shot cuts from pictures of firemen rushing to a fire to pictures of a burning house, and back again. This revolutionary development in film editing was then expanded by Porter in his next and most famous work ‘The Great Train Robbery’, in which he developed a more sophisticated system of cuts, here using scenes in different time periods, as well as locations (Knight, Arthur).

 Figure 2 shows pictures from ‘Life of an American Fireman’, with the scenes occurring in tandem, but the screen showing cuts between the two locations. Figure three is a video clip of this 1902 film.

 Figure 2

Figure 3
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJHLv8qSYf4

 These revolutionary techniques developed by Porter have been researched and tested by numerous directors and editors since to find their real effects on an audience. A notable example of this was an experiment by Lev Kuleshov, a Russian director in the early 1900’s. Kuleshov took images from different time periods and juxtaposed them to one another in order to create the illusion that all were occurring at the same time (Knight, Arthur). The success of this experiment is another basis for the growth and development of film editing around this time.

 Film editing in these early periods of cinema involved the technique of literally taking rolls of films, cutting them and placing them on top of one another to create the desired picture. The film created by this technique came to be known as a cutting copy. Since this period, editing has changed a lot and is down done digitally and electronically using programmes such as Final Cut Pro, in which pictures are placed onto software and changed through the use of computers.

 Figure 4 shows an early film camera, similar to those used during the filming of Edwin S. Porter’s 1902 and 1903 hits.

 Figure 4

Since the very early stages of film editing, the glamour and limelight has been taken very much away from film editors and put onto directors and actors, even though a huge importance still lies with the editors themselves. As seen in Edwin S. Porter’s films, the revolutionary techniques he used brought him fame in the cinema industry; however, it is exactly that noticeable cutting from shot to shot that is what film editors try to avoid in the modern era. The term “the invisible art” has developed due to this idea, indicating that a great film editor will be able to create a motion picture in such a way that the audience will not notice any of the editing cuts, and that the film will run in perfect sequence, with a perfect run-time and no continuity problems (Harris, Mark).

 In the modern era, film editing has developed to cover a lot larger spectrum than in previous years. Film editing in years gone by required simply the editing of pictures, however, with the development of cinema and of digital editing, the process now involves working with sound, music and visual effects as well as the possible demanding or re-shooting scenes and re-writing scripts.

 With the relatively new found obsession with special effects in films, and now with characters being made completely from computer software, as in the 2009 film ‘Transformers’, film editors have had to adapt and develop their techniques in order to keep up with the ever moving realm of cinema. Whereas once editors were able to simply take film and place it as they desired, they are now having to work in with special effects and other area specialists in order for them to produce the final picture that they, the director and the audience desire.

 To discuss the current world of film editing, the most recent winners of the Academy Award for Best Film Editing were Kirk Baxler and Angus Wall for their work on ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’. This was the second year in a row that the pair have won the award, last year for their work on ‘Social Network’. ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ became only the second film in a decade to win the Best Film Editing award despite not being nominated for Best Picture.

Figure 5 shows the trailer for this film (Fritz, Ben).

 Figure 5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVLvMg62RPA

In conclusion, film editing is a very important part of the motion picture making process and without it many films would be left disjointed and out of sequence. The sheer importance of this art is depicted by the fact that not a single film has won Best Picture at the Academy Awards since 1980 without also being nominated for the Best Editing award. To state that any single section in the process of making a motion picture is the most important is simply impossible, however, without editing films would not be able to be viewed and enjoyed in the way that they are today.

  Works Cited


"Film Editing | Welcome | Teachers Resource Guide | YMI, Ltd./The Academy." Film Editing. Oscars.org. Web. 10 Apr. 2012.

Fritz, Ben. "Oscars: 'Dragon Tattoo' Gets Editing Win despite No Best Picture Nom." – Latimes.com. 26 Feb. 2012. Web. 11 Apr. 2012.

Harris, Mark. "Which Editing Is a Cut Above?" The New York Times. 6 Jan. 2008. Web. 10 Apr. 2012.

Knight, Arthur. The Liveliest Art. New York: New American Library, 1957. Print.

Krishnappa, Samyuktha. "World Awaits YouTube's Life in a Day Premier at Sundance."International Business Times. IBT.com, 24 Jan. 2011. Web. 10 Apr. 2012.

The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing. Dir. Wendy Apple. Perf. Kathy Bates. 2004. DVD.

FINAL EXAM

1)   “Citizen Kane” is one of the most influential films ever made.  Discuss this statement.

2)  What had Orson Welles done in his first 23 years of life to warrant the Hollywood Film Industry offering complete creative control to a first time filmmaker?

3)  Pick an extended scene or sequence from “Citizen Kane” and discuss the storytelling technique by analyzing any combination of its component parts (direction, writing, performance, cinematography, production design, art direction, editing, sound, score, etc.).

EXTRA CREDIT:  Watch Welles’s “Touch of Evil” and write an analysis.

NOTE:  The movie career of Orson Welles was marked by a troubled relationship with mainstream Hollywood.  Aspects of this could be discussed in question #2 and the Extra Credit proposition.

You may submit this in printed form during our last class session or post it to the class blog by that date.  Pictures and clips can be included.

Wakeboard Films

Film Paper

By Tyler Doepker

Overview

For my essay, I am going to explore all of the different aspects that are involved in making a wakeboard film. I will explore the template most films follow; they are similar to most other films because there is a build up to a climax. However, they are different because there is no story line. Next, I will go into the soundtrack of the film. Having the proper song choice for each section is very important and can make or break each section. After that, I will discuss the different filming techniques that cinematographers incorporate into the films and their benefits. Finally, I will give my opinion of where I think the wakeboard film will be heading.

Film Template

First, I will discuss the template of a wakeboard film. In every wakeboard film there will usually be three important sections. The first section of the film needs to be a good one. This section needs to draw a viewer in; the filmmaker will either make a creative opening, or have one of the top rider sections first. There is an equal share of creative opening and rider section openings. With the creative openings, the one that stands out the most was a song and dance routine with all the wake boarders in “Global Warning.” There have also been different stunts that have not been done before. An example of this is in Rewritten, the Hyperlite team film.  They had one boat send out rollers and then 10 other boats drive perpendicular to it to create a double up. All of the riders did the same trick for the first hit, then after that it just showed them all hitting the double up in a row and doing different tricks. That scene was impressive because it takes perfect timing to hit a double up and they had 10 people do it in a row at least 10 different times. If they do choose to put a single riders section, it is usually the second or third best section in the film. Again this is because they want a section that will captivate the viewers so they continue to watch.

After the opening, the intensity usually gets turned down a little. I am not saying that the tricks they are doing are not at the same caliber, they might just be a lesser known rider or a new up and comer. In these parts they will also show clips of different trips that the riders have gone on or different rail sections. These vacation clips usually don’t have as good of wakeboarding, however the back drop to where they are wakeboarding make these scenes equally as interesting. The rail sections are hard to make a focal point of the film, unless it is something so crazy and big that nothing like it has ever been done before. Rail sections are hard to pump up in the film because it is so technical. The average viewer does not know how hard it is to hit rails. The fact that the riders make it look effortless, does not help make it more appealing to the average viewer. If the viewer does know how hard and technical rail riding is, they would appreciate it and could view that as the main section of the film, however they need to make it appealing to the masses so more main stream tricks becomes the focus of the film. Also, if the film is longer than average, which is about 30-40 minutes, there will usually be a big attention grabbing section at about the half way mark. This section is usually a big name rider doing hard tricks to get the viewers back into the film.

At the end of the film, the last section is usually the best. This section will usually be given to the most notable rider in the film. They will be doing the hardest tricks, and the craziest stunts. The last riders section in the film is usually there to end the movie with a bang. Getting the last section can be very beneficial for a rider’s career. They are often pretty well known already, but getting the last section can catapult them to the top of the wake industry. The last section will be the most fresh in the minds of the viewers and that can lead to a larger fan base, which can lead to more sales of their products. It can also lead to more publicity from the hype of the film. There are even some riders who only rely on film parts and don’t compete at all.

Soundtrack

            There are many different types of music out there, and picking the right music for each section is very important. For the most part each type of rider has their own type of music that accents their riding best. Of course there will always be exceptions to these grouping, but I feel for the most part these groupings hold true.

            West Side Riders often have rap music playing during their sections.  Most of West Side Riders come from California and have strong “street” influence. Their street influence makes them concentrate more on style than technicality, they would rather look cool doing easier tricks than looking sketchy doing technical tricks. I think that their style also influences their music choices, which is usually mellow rap. I think the rap aspect caters to them going big because rap lyrics are usually pretty intense, and the mellow beats cater to the fact that they are going for style and not the hardest tricks.

            Grooms usually have up-tempo exciting music playing during their sections. Grooms are the young up and comers, usually in their first or second film parts. The young guys coming up are from all different backgrounds, their influences are also all over the place. Their riding styles usually vary quite a bit as well. However, they do have one thing in common; they are all looking to generate excitement about themselves in the wake industry. Out of all the different types of rider’s music selections, this is the one that holds true just about every time. If there is up-tempo music playing while they are riding, it will leave an impression that they are an exciting rider to watch.

            Free riders do not compete in contests; they make their name from their film parts and other publications. Free riders take the West Side Riders mentality to the extreme; they always have the best style in their video parts. They often do tricks that intermediate riders can do, but they do them with so much style that they look better than just about any advanced trick. Free riders usually have laid-back music, which works perfect with their riding style. Free riders are more worried about their overall style; they often sacrifice most difficult tricks, but add in their own style to make the trick their own. The laid-back music that they have playing during their sections often lacks speed and intensity, but introduces their own unique sound to make it their own.

            The heavy hitters that usually have the most notable section in the film usually have up-tempo music playing. They have the most exciting riding in the film and it would seem weird to have high intensity riding paired with any music that does not keep the intensity level up. The heavy hitters keep the tempo at a fast pace for the same reason the grooms do. They want the viewers walking away with a positive view on their section and think about how exciting it was. The only difference is that they already have a good name for themselves.

Photography

            There are many different filming styles to consider when making a wakeboard film. Each of the different styles can show the trick in a different light, one way you shoot it can make the trick look average, and the same trick shot from a different angle can make it look completely different. That is why a trick may be shown from two or more different angles, or a trick clip may be edited together from two or more shots to get the desired shot. The cinematographers are often experimenting with different ways to film, but I will go through the main techniques they use now.

            Filming from right in front of the rider being pulled on a tube from the same boat was a popular choice back when wakeboard film first started coming out. This method is still used in the modern films; however it is being used less and less. It gives the viewer a close up look to what the rider actually is doing during the trick. However, it does not show the amplitude of the riders very well. That is the main reason that it is not used as much anymore. With all the advanced in the technology in the wakeboard industry riders now fly much higher and farther, so shooting close up shots takes away from that. Another way they used to film was from in the same boat. This method often had water splashing in the front of the camera and it would also be very unsteady from the vibrations in the boat.

            Filming from a tube evolved into shooting from a chase boat. This style is now the most popular choice of the cinematographers. It has the same benefits as the tube with being able to focus on the rider and really capture the whole trick. However, it can also stay far enough away to get a good view of the amplitude the riders are getting. Another advantage with a chase boat is that they can be as close or far away as they want. They also have the luxury of filming from either side or from straight behind.

            Shooting from a helicopter is becoming more and more popular in wakeboard films. This method literally gives unlimited options for the angle of shooting each trick; they can do multiple takes and pick their favorite one. This method also gets rid of having to deal with the vibration from shooting in the boat. The major down fall to this option is that it is extremely expensive. Wakeboard films do not have a huge budget, so they cannot afford to shoot the whole film from a helicopter.

            When shooting a rail segment there are a few other options you can use to film it. When it is possible setting up a boom is the best way. You can make sure the angles and framing is all right before you start shooting because the riders are hitting a stationary object. This method is smooth and consistent; however it can get over used. Another option is doing a panning shot from a stationary camera. The only downfall to this choice is if it is a long rail, it does not have a long focus shot where it is a good close up. The last option is mounting a camera on a zip line. This method gives a fresh look at what is happening; it is equivalent to the tube method for behind the boat. It can get a lot of good close ups of the board and you can see the technical side of the tricks. The down fall is also the same as shooting from the tube; you lose the amplitude of what is going on.

           

Future Direction

            Wake cinematographers are always searching for new and innovative ways to film riders. For wakeboarding film enthusiast this is a good thing, films will also always be evolving. However, the era of feature length wake films is starting to fade out. With good cameras becoming less and less expensive, more and more people are putting together short viral videos. This is a bittersweet feeling for the viewers. On the one hand, they are getting more opportunities to watch their favorite riders, and it is in a timelier manner. On the other hand, sitting down and enjoying a compilation of the top wake boarders in the world is become less common. There is a bright spot for the fans that feel this way, when a new film comes out it usually has a much higher budget than in the past. This leads to higher quality films being produced that are more entertaining to the viewers.

            Either way a person is to look at it; wakeboarding films are evolving at a rapid rate. However, the one thing that will always remain the same is there will always be fans anxiously awaiting these films to come out.

These photos are taken from the wakeboard film Defy. The top one has the cinematographer riding on a tube filming the rider. It shows how close they really are during this type of shot. The second photo is of the camera crew filming from a chase boat.

The first clip is the trailer for the film Defy, the most recent wakeboard film to come out. This clip incorporates many of the different filming techniques. It also does a good job of leaving the viewer wanting to see more. The second clip is Parks Bonifay’s section from the film “12 Honkeys.” It is arguably the best section in any wakeboard film. It is an older film so the quality is not as good; however, the cinematographer does a great job showing the amplitude of the trick. Also, the song chosen is perfect, the intensity of the song keeps up the intensity of the riding.

A Clockwork Orange

When I read the description of A Clockwork Orange, I was definitely interested to see how a movie like this would play out.  It was definitely weirder than I expected it to be, but I was surprised at how interesting it was, especially the second half when all the psychological parts started showing up.  The way that the movie was put together was pretty genius for how I think the director and writer wanted to get the ideas of the movie across to the audience.  Some of the scenes were hard to watch, and it was definitely pretty disturbing, but it was one of those movies where, even though what you are seeing is disturbing, the meaning behind what's going on is incredible, whatever it is that you might be taking from it.  A Clockwork Orange is definitely one of those movies you don't forget.  I really felt like I was in this "future Britain" when I was watching it.  I know that the graphics of the rapes etc made it more extreme, but I wish that there was some way around all of that so that it would be easier to watch for myself.  The main character Alex really did a fantastic job.  The way he played the part of the charismatic psychopath was really cool to see.