Brendan McDowell
Entertainment Technology
Assignment #12
January 6, 2015
Summary
A major goal of all filmmakers is to create an atmosphere that can be perceived by
viewers to seem like it is reality. This idea is so that the viewer has an overall experience that is
similar to if someone was actually observing the actions and events taking place right in front of
them when watching a film or television show. There are many technicalities to making this
possible, as to make illusions possible, there is much thinking and planning to make the situation
seem real. Factors of lighting, shot composition, audio, movements, anything that is displayed in
a film is put in consideration when considering what makes a film more realistic and creating an
illusion that makes a viewer have this experience of “reality”. Technologies such as switchers are
used to achieve the best possible shots during situations to make the screen seem like a virtual
reality, this includes multiple shots that can be used to create the best positioning of shots during
the flow of a film being put together. It is vital to a film to have the necessary elements to make
up a realistic and atmospheric experience for anyone viewing the film.
Questions
1. Explain some of the basic features of television that distinguish it from the media.
Television can display the visual techniques that are involved to create an atmosphere
that is enjoyed by the viewer. These visual techniques include the use of zooms, cuts, and
special effects. With these visual techniques, also comes audio techniques that are also
heavily used in the art of television. These techniques include music, sound effects, and
the dialogue that is included within the scene.
2. Briefly explain the terms switcher, cut, dissolve, and superimpose.
A switcher is used to switch from one shot to another by moving a lever that changes
which camera is being used when multiple cameras are being used to shoot a subject. A
cut is when a shot is immediately put to another shot with no particular transition. A
dissolve is a slow cut where one shot disappears as another appears over it. A
superimpose is the text over a shot that is used to display information about the shot
whether it be credits or even information needed to be displayed.
3. Briefly discuss some audio/visual features that would let you distinguish between a
situation comedy and a mystery/detective type of program.
A situation comedy would have the audio aspects of a laugh track and lively music,
accompanied with well-lit shots, making a much more upbeat atmosphere. A
mystery/detective show would have a much gloomier atmosphere with dim lighting and
music that isn’t necessarily that pleasant. With these aspects put into effect, it is obvious
which program is which, due to the atmosphere that is created.
4. What are the specific benefits of using multiple cameras?
Multiple cameras can make a scene much more interesting, such as having a variety of
different shots to cut to when trying to keep a viewer’s attention. The use of multiple
cameras can make a stationary subject much more interesting, such as a symphony,
obviously there is little to no movement when performing, so to make this a much more
interesting experience for the viewer, cutting to multiple cameras with different shots can
achieve a much more exciting and intriguing atmosphere.
5. What features are used in children’s programming and for what specific reason?
Children’s programming tends to have a lot of intentional placement of things that tend to
grab a child’s attention. These features include the use of animation, colorful images,
weird and unusual voices, sound effects, and upbeat music. These are all part of the
formula that makes a children’s program a children’s program.
6. Briefly explain the term chromakey and give examples of how it is used in television.
Chromakey is the technique of creating an illusion of a person or thing being in a certain
area that it actually isn’t in. The most common use of chromakey is the use of green
screen, where the green surrounding the person or object is cut out and replaced to
resemble a different area and setting. Many television shows use this technique to avoid
traveling and filming outside the studio.
7. Explain why it is impossible for television programs to duplicate reality.
Due to the limits of time, and the limit of space, the full dimensions of a television
program are not fully understood by the viewer, unlike in reality, where the viewer has
the opportunity to explore the dimensions of reality, unlike the constraints in a television
program.
8. Describe the use of props, sound effects, and lighting effects in television
programming.
Props are used to move action along, they can be used to commit actions that can move
the plot along, such as a fake knife being used to commit murder in the plot. Sound
effects can make certain sounds more apparent, capturing the breaking of glass for
example sounds much better when a sound effect is dubbed over the original sound of the
breaking material that is supposed to resemble glass. Lighting effects can resemble the
time of day, the weather, and other features of the setting.
9. Explain how it is possible to make an individual disappears on television.
With the camera rolling, the camera records the individual in their designated place in
front of the camera, once the camera is turned off, the individual moves out of the shot,
while other actors and objects are not moved, as well as the camera not being moved.
Once the camera begins rolling again, it creates the illusion that the original individual
disappeared once the two clips are edited to connect to each other.
10. Briefly explain the terms wipe and fade and describe their use in television
programming.
A wipe is a transition used to usually transition to a new scene that can either be a new
setting or new time. A wipe is when a new shot pushes the existing shot out the way to
replace it. A fade is when a shot slowly goes into a solid color, the most common solid
color is black, hence the famous saying and famous use of the “fade to black” in many
films and television programs.
11. Explain what is meant by “real time”.
When a broadcast is broadcasting an event that is happening live, or at that exact time, is
what is labeled to be in “real time”. A film that has been edited is not in real time, as each
shot was filmed in the pat and edited together later to become the film itself.
12. Because television programs are restricted by time and other elements, explain what
specific features are used by producers/directors.
Firstly, the whole time process of a story is not shown, only the key events are displayed
on camera to move the story along, every second is not shown when a story that takes
place over weeks is being told. With these restraints, producer and directors must display
and characterize each character in the plot quickly and effectively, while also moving the
plot along. They characterize with the dialogue of the character, the body movements,
and the decisions of the character in order to achieve this.
13. Give an example of a situation in which an ultimatte would be used by the director.
When two characters are in a moving car having a conversation, in order to make the
situation and image more realistic, an ultimatte can be used to shoot the scene, where a
machine is created to simulate the characters are in a moving vehicle, while there is also a
simulated background that is also moving, as if the outside world is moving by the
characters in the car. This makes the scene look like they are actually in a car rather than
in a studio.
14. Under what circumstances would a zoom lens be used in a TV program or
advertisement and for what purpose?
When a certain subject needs to be addressed to have more focus and emphasis, a zoom
lens is used to zoom unto an important subject, such as the reaction of a person when
receiving information, or a certain object that represents something in the shot.
15. Discuss the advantages that are offered by the editing process.
With the art of editing, many effects can be achieved, such as a disappearing person or
object. Other effects such as the illusion of movement can also be achieved when editing
a film together. With the use of editing, many effects can be used that isn’t physically
possible, creating an almost magically effect at some times.
16. Explain what Doris A. Dondis means when she says that the “camera and visual
computer will be an intellectual adjunct”.
What she is saying is that these techniques of creating effects through the use of cameras
and editing will continue to improve, but only in small ways, as the use of camera effects
have basically been perfected at this point, so only small things can be added to their use.
17. The show True Detective has been critically acclaimed in all aspects of its story and its
technicality. The actual technicality of the shots and cinematography is well done. To
create suspense and darkness of the situation, the cameras move very slow, revealing
settings very slowly. This creates an almost scary and psychotic setting. Going with the
cinematography, the lighting creates a very gloomy setting with it low lit areas in which
the story takes place in. Music usually plays when the plot becomes more suspenseful, as
the music adds even more to, as low-key music enters in the background when a
significant event is taking place. The editing of the show is much like the camerawork,
it’s slow, and allows you to capture a gloomy atmosphere in that period of time.