Finished Result

Looking back at the footage from the previous blog I am overall pleased with my final product. Gordon Willis’s style was challenging to achieve as there was no room for even the slightest of overexposure. Grading could do little to hide these faults as they often looked to colorised afterwards. This also relates to shots where the light had been pointed on the walls making them brighter then the subject which is very distracting.

Before going further into the film, google blogger has been easy to use save one aspect, the pictures. They had to be ordered one beneath the other which made for a slightly messy looking layout and if done again I would more than likely using a different software.

Back to the film, I also feel that I could have done more camera techniques, especially Martin Scorsese one's. Though I have been under the impression that the more subtle the camera work the better, I may have been too subtle in some shots. This refers to the dolly zoom at the end when the lights are turned on, the boxer raises his hands and he is actually growing larger, giving the sense of a champion. This is too slow however and if done again I would have made it more noticeable. 

That being said I was happy with my pull focus during the bathroom shot at the beginning, which is first focused on the subject's reflection, then the piece of paper, until finally the actual subject. This was completely inspired by Scorsese's shot in Casino as mentioned in previous blogs and I find it to be similarly effective. There is also a shot of the boxer trying to skip but failing to do so whilst the camera slowly moves to the side. This is similar to the Martin Scorsese's 'Taxi Driver' when the camera moves away from Travis who is being rejected on the phone by his lover. This unconventional camera technique I found was effective as it further established how weak the boxer had become, that it is a struggle just to watch him.

I am also extremely happy with certain trademarks of Willis's that I managed to incorporate. The overhead lighting for the shots in the office created that great darkness around the subject's eyes and the yellow/black were balanced well to create a brassy atmospheric feel. 

Although I'm aware I was not being assessed on any aspects other then cinematography, I was overjoyed at how determined and talented the boxer Ben Fitzegerald was. This actually motivated me further in creating this film. With his help I managed to secure a Gym to film in which was also a great lesson on how to secure a location. All of these aspects along with the story and the appropriate song has made me feel confident that it stands out amongst other student films, encouraging me to show others this piece of work, including film critics across the Internet. Thus far I have had quite a positive feedback.

What I have gained most out of this module is how important lighting is to a cinematographer's job. It is this that can change a film's look from amateur to pro and I look forward to further developing my skills and using them for future films.

Colour Correction: Keeping Gordon Willis's Style

Colour Correction

When first approaching the colour correction, two documentaries were of great assistance ‘Gordon Willis on The Godfather’s Cinematography’ and ‘Emulsional Rescue Revealing The Godfather’. They both go into detail on the colours Gordon Willis used and how the original negatives were digitized for colour correction.

The digital cinematographer Martin Cohen gave a valuable lesson when he spoke about the possibilities that grading can give “Just because you can do it doesn’t mean it’s a good thing”. I fully heartedly agree with this statement, if cinematography could be done simply on a computer then there would be no need for half the equipment to be on set.

Before going into detail about the problems and changes I made my short can be broken down into two colours, yellow and black. For the scenes in the gym there was more black then yellow whereas in the homeshots there was more yellow then black however the colours always had a presence. This was to give a sense of different times between the locations similar to how Gordon Willis made the flashbacks scenes in 'Godfather II' more yellow and the present scenes more black.

Willis advises those who are giving the restoration ‘The Godfather’ to input all the yellows by 4 and the reds by 1. Using Premiere Pro CS6 I followed his advice;

The final result I felt was not nearly as effective as it could be. Though Willis’s advice set me on the right track on perusing yellow/red rather then yellow/green, the simple fact is certain footage of mine to begin with was not shot as dark as Willis’s. This led me to alter the correction to fit my footage so that it echoed Willis’s brassy style more affectively.

Careful consideration had to be made to how yellow a shot could be made without making it too artificial and thereby losing what was captured on film. The same can be said for the blacks, if too dark then you run the risk of the audience not being able to see the images on screen. Whilst experimenting I tried both an extreme black/yellow and subtle black/yellow;

The first picture demonstrates the more subtle approach whereas the bottom picture is the more blown out grading. It was here I realized that although time consuming, subtleties were far more effective then in creating a cinematic look. 

It soon became apparent that if there if the colours that are to be graded on are already present during the filming, in this case the blacks and yellow, then the grading is all the more effective;

Though many shots were as successful as the one's above, at times there was too much brightness and an alternative methods had to be found. Such was the case for the skipping shot where there was a distracting reflection from a light on the floor. To counter this I used the lighting effect in premiere pro, making the shot darker and more Willis's like;

Unfortunately blacks and yellows were at times dominated by other colours like the white wall which was far too overexposed to darken down completely. 

Something I was extremely pleased with however was the balancing of black and yellows during the home shots. As quite clearly seen here the grading has made those two colours dominate the scene;

In conclusion, I find that grading works best when lighting, exposure and colours are all correctly considered during the shot. It is a useful device for cinematographers, it's three-way-colour corrector, brightness/contrast, RGB colours and tint all assist in heightening the hard work that was already there and give it that great cinematic look.

Iconic Photos: Muhammed Ali and Mike Tyson

Once I had decided to film a boxing short, I found it appropriate to look at photographs of fighters in the ring. A common problem I found however when researching such photographs was that the photographer was often not credited which I will address throughout this post.

Ali's Triumph 

Above is an easy picture to recognise even to those who aren’t boxing fans. The image shows Muhammad Ali standing as the winning over Sonny Liston for the heavyweight championship belt. My belief for the popularity of this picture is it perfectly shows triumph, the low angle makes Ali appear very dominating with Liston helpless on the floor.

Although this is one of the most iconic pictures of the 60’s, the photographer is not as easy to identify. Many credit Robinson as the person who snapped this image however he is merely the printer of the picture as stated here;. Beyond this there appears to be confusion as to where the picture originated which though a shame as it would have been interesting to see what else that photographer had taken, it does not detract from the effectiveness of the picture.

Another iconic picture taken of the same moment was by photographer George Silk. The lights being in view makes the moment feel far more of a live show and although they should detract the eye from Ali I find that it instead makes him even more the centre of attention, it’s as if all the lights are pointed on him. I prefer Silk's angle here as to the last for it is instead outside and not inside the ring. Having the ropes in view separates the viewer from the boxer making it seem all the more realistic and gritty whilst also showing how the boxer’s are in their own world.

Both pictures have quite high contrast between the bright lights and dark background which echoes much of Michael Chapman’s black and white style for Raging Bull. There is also a similarity in the low angle of the shot, centre position of De Niro and having the ropes in view.

Silk's picture along with the opening for Raging Bull was a major inspiration for my own opening where the character of Reese is alone in the ring. I did however make the picture far darker to keep in tone with Gordon Willis's style.

Mike Tyson's Strength 

Another boxing picture that stood out to me was Mike Tyson’s tremendous jab pictured below.

Unfortunately like many pictures I browsed through I could not find a credited photographer, which has led me to believe that this is actually a still frame from the match. Never the less it is a perfect picture of the sheer strength Mike Tyson had. The background is appropriately out of focus with the fighters in focus given a good depth of field and the two are taking up the entire frame leaving no glaring dead space. Interestingly and more then likely unintentional the ring’s rope appears to be larger then the boxer’s no doubt as a result of the depth of field and focus. 

It was this picture alone that convinced me to freeze-frame a shot during postproduction of the boxing match. Luckily, the boxer I was rooting for landed such a punch and having it synced with a note from the music made it all the more effective.

If done again it would have been an idea to secure a closer seat at the front row to rid the image of all its dead space. However the desired effect of it being filmed unprofessional would have been slightly hampered.