Date: 16-11-2012
Tutor: Carla Grimley
Content: one to one discussion with proposal writing
Today Carla and I discussed my research topic and checked the grammar of proposal writing. She also gave me some adivises about writing words and quatation. Hereby is the proposal modification with tips from Carla.
Name: Xiaoyu Liu
(N0463029)
Course: MA Film Practice
Date:10-11-2012
What is your subject of study?
A study
of micro-film language, dialogue and cultural environment
What is your research question?
The feasibility of non-dialogue film in the micro-film format
Research aim(s):
What are the overall
aims of the project?
The aim
of this research is to study the impact of dialogue and other non-linguistic components
in micro-films delivered via different new media platforms. During this research
experimental micro-films will be produced.
Research objectives(s):
What are the specific
tangible project objectives?
Note: these are separate
to what you personally need to learn in terms of skills and knowledge, see
learning objectives below.
1.
Research films in different languages and cultural environments, analyse
the features of the films.
2.
Review existing researches, books, articles, film appreciation and
reflect journal writing.
3.
Work on 2-3 experimental works during the study.
4.
Produce non-dialogue micro-films with a final piece of about 10 minutes in
length.
Rationale
·
What is the wider
context of your project?
‘Now that we can photograph our loved ones, not
only in stillness, but as they move, as they act, as they making familiar
gestures, as they speak… Death cease to be absolute.’ --- La Poste de Paris
As the French movie pioneer stated, movies are a
revolutionary form of art which affect everyone’s life since 1889. In the year
1910, Thomas Alva Edison put a sound track on the right side of the traditional
16mm film, which was the end of a silent world in this industry. Nowadays, as
the pace of cultural collision and fusion is getting faster and faster, we are being getting
more exposed to films from other countries in a variety of different languages
and cultural environment. The role dialogues play in films has come to our attention, is it possible to let our audiences be saturated
in a complete story without dialogues? This is the question I need to work on
during this research stage.
·
How does the
project relate to your previous experience/practice?
My major on previous degree study stage was
broadcast and media production, that helped me lay a solid foundation on both
sound and vision producing. In this case I would like to change my research
direction on the MA stage to the narrative field. With a wider range of knowledge
on all aspects of film research I will be more confident in the future.
·
How does it
relate to relevant current practices, debates and theory?
At present, many scholars have done researches
work in terms of the relation between film and dialogue. Sarah Kozloff devoted
her opinions on the function of dialogues in the book ‘Overhearing
Film Dialogue’ (2000) as: anchorage of the diegesis and characters;
communication of narrative causality; enactment of narrative events; character revelation;
adherence to the code of realism and control of viewer evaluation and emotions.
Based on the previous research, my research lays particular emphasis
on non-linguistic components
in micro-films which relatively rare in this area.
·
Why is the
intended research significant? (So what?)
There is no doubt that dialogue, as one of the
crucial components, serves important functions within a film's story. However,
it also becomes a main reason for a restriction in understanding. Non-dialogue
films provide an alternative way for audiences, especially those who use different
languages, to understand and be infected with film’s the unique atmosphere. By
way of illustration ‘Mr. Bean’ is one of the most famous English comedy brands not
only within the UK, but also worldwide. With
exaggerated body language this character grew
to be the iconic character in the media history of this country. Faced with
this realm of possibility that filmmakers are able to transfer their ideas towards
a wider range of viewers with different cultural backgrounds, I think this
research topic worth its own value. Meanwhile, dialogues sometimes dragged too
much attention from viewers than the other elements such as the subtext of the
story, the tactile appeal of pictures, music, special effects
and so on. A non-dialogue film is more engaged on the essence of film itself.
·
How does this
project relate to your plans for the future?
Microfilm, as a newborn medium of art, has a
prodigious potential.
This research provides me with a superior opportunity
to get involved in this industry, as well as to accumulate experience and to
become ready to work as a producer in a film company.
Reference
David
Cheshire (2005) ‘The Book of Movie Photography—the complete guide to better
moviemaking’
Sarah
Kozloff (2000) ‘Overhearing Film Dialogue’
Bibliography
Cite essential background or
contextual material using the Harvard System of referencing
Peter
Greasley (2011) ‘ Doing Essays & Assignments—Essential Tips for students’
Paul
Wheeler (2007) ‘High definition cinematography’ Second Edition
Professor
Bert Cardullo (2011) ‘World Directors in Dialogue: Conversations on Cinema’
Today the session was about the rechnique and skills to film an interview in and outside door. Interview is a basic element in documentaries and TV programmes. Some DSLR can produce good quality of video but there is no way to get rid of the noise when record with the internal microphone. That means external recorders are needed in order to add a clear sound track at the editing stage. The basic types of microphone are: omnidirectional, cardioid and shotgun. Meanwhile, the composition of the picture is also a key component. We were required to find a ideal filming location and produce a short interview by the equipments borrowed from Waveley shop. 
