Presentation - Cinema "soundtrack"

Introduction

In movie industry terminology usage, soundtrack is a contraction of "sound track" and is an audio recording created or used in film production or post-production.

"If you can't believe a little in what you see on the screen, it's not worth wasting your time on cinema." - Serge Daney

In the sky of the cinema people learn what they might have been and discover what belongs to them apart from their single lives." - John Berger

What is Soundtrack?

• it can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game
• it was commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the synchronized recorded sound.

Original of the Soundtrack

• it came into public in the early 1950s
• first conceived by movie companies as a promotional gimmick for new films
• it was commercially available recordings were labeled
• it advertised as "original motion picture soundtrack."
• such recordings are made from a film's music track, because they usually consist of the isolated music from a film

Types of Soundtrack

• Musical film soundtracks which concentrate primarily on the songs
• Film scores which showcase the background music from non-musicals
• Albums of pop songs heard in whole or part in the background of non-musicals
• Video game soundtracks are often released after a game's release, usually consisting of the   background music from the game's levels, menus, title screens, promo material (such as    entire songs that only segments of which were used in the game), cut-screens and occasionally sound-effects used in the game.
• Albums of pop songs heard in whole or part in the background of musicals

 

Key Quotes:

1.         "Film as dream, film as music. No art passes our conscience in the way film does, and goes directly to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls." – Ingmar Bergman

2.         "Dialogue should simply be a sound among other sounds, just something that comes out of the mouths of people whose eyes tell the story in visual terms." - Alfred Hitchcock

3.         "Film music should have the same relationship to the film drama that somebody's piano playing in my living room has to the book I am reading." – Igor Stravinsky

        http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_definition_of_cinema
 

4.         Recorded musical accompaniments to silent film were generally felt to be inferior to the attractiveness of live music, which had long been a vital part of the cinemagoing experiences.

The Hollywood Film Music Reader, Mervyn Cooke

 

5.         The sounds of recording by the variable density method are as follows – microphone, which converts the sound vibrations into a system of electric currents.

The Hollywood Film Music Reader, Mervyn Cooke

 
                                              
Samuel Beam

• he was born on July 26, 1974
• his better known by his stage and recording name Iron & Wine
• he was an American singer-songwriter
• he occasionally tours with a full band
• the name Iron & Wine is taken from a dietary supplement named "Beef Iron & Wine" that he found in a general store while shooting a film.

Case study: Flightless bird, American Mouth

 

^{http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euHGXlYrLNk}

"Flightless Bird, American Mouth"

• it was created by Iron & Wine and aroused further attention of audiences at that time
• it was chosen for inclusion in the movie by star Kristen Stewart, who plays Bella Swan
• the soundtrack won a 2009 American Music Award for Favorite Soundtrack.

Benefits of Soundtrack

l   To arouse further attention of the viewers

l   "Does art reflect life? In movies, yes. Because more than any other art form, films have been a mirror held up to society's porous face." So that soundtrack as a best way for movie makers to further arouses audience’s attention in the spectacle.

l   To help audiences engaging more and enjoy more in the screen.

l   To remind audiences back to their own memories.

References:

1.     The Hollywood Film Music Reader, Mervyn Cooke, Oxford University Press, 2010.
2.     Spectacular Narratives, Geoff King, I.B.Tauris Publishers, 2000
3.     http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_definition_of_cinema
4.     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soundtrack

User Generated Digital Media

“Leave Brittany Alone” Blog Questions:

How many viewers are estimated to have watched the you tube video?
It is about 40 million people to have watched the youtube video.
(Actually viewers are 41,986,898)

How would you rate the video?
I am not really love the video. Since I am not sure what’s going on and what are the details of the video. So it can’t arouse my further attention to the video.

Is it of high quality in technical terms? Is it interesting aesthetically e.g. camera angles, use of light, the narrative, and so on?

It seems no technique at all. Because it was only forced on one shoot at the beginning to the end. In the process, it cannot saw any techniques, such as no camera angles, no use of light that used in the video.


Does it raise interesting socio-cultural issues?
In the past, only mass media to make us widely known about the issues. But nowadays, we could change our role from passive to active. We could upload our own comments or point of views to media sharing platforms, such as youtube to leave our comments to particular issues. It could enhance the interaction between up loaders and viewers. It also aroused further attention to the viewers to discuss more on the issues.

Do you think deserved the attention that it received from the Internet community?
I think that is a good way to arouse our attention to daily issues which received from Internet community. As a citizen, we have our own responsibility to pay attention to concern the thing that happened surrounding us. As the time goes by, Internet community becomes a part of our lives and we cannot live without Internet. We can absorb different kinds of information through Internet and arouse public concerns on such particular issues.  Therefore, Internet community provides a good way for us to learn more and to think more.

Briefly describe the video
It is about a man who dressing up likes a woman and sitting on the bed. He was cried and yelled to the camera that complained that the paparazzi should leave Britney Spears alone as they bordered the life of Britney Spears. It is obviously arouse the attention of the public to concern more about the side effects of paparazzi and think more about the privacy.

Find at least one interesting video, based on Crocker’s or Bus Uncle, and upload it to your blog
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-O3KEL-yA0

Report some positive and negative comments about this new ability for computer users to make and widely distribute and respond to online films (such as the above three videos). (eg see Leadbeater, We-think, xviii;  Burgess and Green, Youtube, Cambridge: Polity, 2009, 10…, 21-30). 

Positive:
It is great that provide a new way for the public to present comments and own points of view to the internet. It encourages the interaction and communication between the up loaders and the viewers. Since the internet provided the public platform for those who are interested in the issues to discuss more and present the ideas directly.

Negative:
The privacy of the people was to make known to the public. Since everyone have their own right to upload clips or photos freely without asking holders’ permission, so it will invade the privacy of public. Otherwise, it is definitely resulting in the property rights will be invaded.  The public could watch different kinds of video clips freely and without any charges. Clips’ owners will lose the benefits by selling such clips to earn money.

Social networks and online identites

On your blog write a two paragraph report on a class member who has an interesting set of online identities (you may use pseudonyms ie fake names)

  Contemporary understandings of identity are changing. Nowadays identity is thought of in more complex terms:

 “In sum, the selves that we have are composed of multiple identities and contradictory experiences. In late-modern society, it is almost impossible to have a fully unified, completed and coherent ‘self’; rather, we all tend to have fleeting, multiple and contradictory selves”

(Charles Cheung “Presentations of Self on Personal Homepages”, p45)

“Cherri” is internet addicted. She loves to visit different kinds of websites and search variety of interesting information. For example, she always visit “HK Golden” to read those posts who uploaded by the public. She always tells me it was really interesting and deserves to read. As she found that, internet is a world which full of curiosity. She could beneficial from the Internet to satisfy her own curiosity.

Otherwise, she also loves to use social networks to communicate and interact with others. She always uses social networks to chat with friends or families, to follow the update news of friends and to read some of the gossips. Nowadays, social networks – facebook or msn being a new trend for the communications between people. Also, everyone wants to share their own stuff online and without permission to let everyone knowing their privacy.

Internet and Media

What is the primary source of news for you?

For me, I always read newspapers to absorb primary sources in the past. Because of the internet was not well-developed, read of newspaper is the mainly for most citizens to absorb primary sources. Until to 20^th century, using of internet is a new trend for us to search different kind of primary sources. Despite of using internet, there is no way for people to communicate with others and engage into different social conduits. For examples, we are not only using Facebook to keep in touch with others, but also searching information by using kinds of searchers and so on. Nowadays, most of us cannot live without internet. It is beneficial to our daily life since the internet is tailor made for non-object news. We could easy to find and synthesize different views.

Do you think that ‘mass media’ will some day be totally replaced by digital media / internet?

Actually, I think that “mass media” will be totally replaced by internet in some day. Since the internet was “word of mouth” in nowadays, any of us could be reporters to report different news. It is convenience that the news could transmit to every websites without any constrains. You could say what you want to say in the internet. So that the roles of media transmitted from specific reporters to the majority of people who using internet. It is good that the internet provides different ways for us to synthesize different views and to find information easily.

Digital Knowledge Sharing

 

What is a brief history of the encyclopedia?

An encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from all branches of knowledge. Encyclopedias have existed for around 2,000 years; the oldest still in existence, Naturalis Historia, was written in ca. 77 CE by Pliny the Elder. The modern encyclopedia evolved out of dictionaries around the 17th century. Historically, some encyclopedias were contained in one volume, such as the Encyclopaedia Britannica or the world´s largest Enciclopedia universal ilustrada europeo-americana, became huge multi-volume works. Some modern encyclopedias are electronic and are often freely available, for example Wikipedia.


What are some key features of that encyclopedia
According to Wikipedia:
Encyclopedias are divided into articles or entries, which are usually accessed by article name^. Encyclopedia entries are longer and more detailed than those in most dictionaries. It is like generally speaking, unlike dictionary entries, which focus on linguistic information about words, encyclopedia articles focus on factual information to cover the thing or concept for which the article name stands.Indeed, the purpose of an encyclopedia is to collect knowledge disseminated around the globe; to set forth its general system to the men with whom we live, and transmit it to those who will come after us, so that the work of preceding centuries will not become useless to the centuries to come; and so that our offspring, becoming better instructed, will at the same time become more virtuous and happy, and that we should not die without having rendered a service to the human race in the future years to come.

According to Encyclopedia Brittannica:

Encyclopædia is a general knowledge English-language Encyclopedia that is available in print, as a DVD and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert contributors. It is regarded as one of the most scholarly of encyclopaedias. It divided the paper work into several parts; some of the contents are totally scientific and force on the art. Because of the encyclopaedias will force on different aspects at different period of time. So that the information will be concentrate on very specific topics. 

Which encyclopedia was most useful for this research?

In this research, I think Wikipedia was more useful. Because the use of Wikipedia system was more simple and easy than Encyclopedia Brittannica. As I said it before, Encyclopedia Brittannica was divided in to articles. It was generally liked speaking rather than to present such ideas or concept to viewers.

Can you trust this encyclopedia (the one you used) 100%? Why or why not?

I cannot trust this encyclopedia totally. Since some of the information is freely edited by anyone, each of us could freely entry and uploads what they want to say to Wikipedia. It means that this information and research were unable to distinguish the genuine from the fake. So that we need to bear in mind to take care to choose this kind of information. Avoid using wrong information to cause any misleading and misunderstanding.

Digital photography

What is the difference between analog photography and digital photography?

Analog photography is a commonly term for photography that uses a progressively changing recording medium. And the Digital photography is a form of photography that the sensitive sensors of light to capture the image focused by the lens. It seems that the digital one can capture image to store as a digital file ready for digital processing viewing or printing, but the analog one must need to print it out to view.

What use is digital technology to photographers?

The photographers could use some of the software to improve the quality of photos. It is hard for photographers to ensure the quality of photos, like the colors, spaces, line combination and so on. Therefore, Photoshop is a good helper for them to edit those photos to make it perfectly.   

Is photographic truth at an end? Has it ever existed?

I think the photographic truth has still existed. The photographers will use Photoshop for editing which to ensure or improve the quality of photos. Since the photographers captured different moments through different angles, although it may not impartial enough and it can still reflect some parts of truth to the audiences. The most cricial duties of photographers are to persent the truth to the audiences, maybe some of them influenced by commercial and to present those more visually rather than the truth. But they can still present the truth of first capture.

Photoshop

Digital games

According to the film, what are some pros and cons of playing video-games for individuals and societies?

Pros:

According to the film, playing video-games is good for children to learn more and to inspire their thinking. As they need to deliberate strategies during the gaming and it will enhance the use of brain. Otherwise, playing video games could provide a way for adults to release their stresses. Because of video game is the way to entertain.  You and Your friends could sit at the room play for whole day and didn’t go out. It will easier to concentrate a group of people to play and discuss such activities. So it will boost up large profits towards the economy of countries.

Cons:

It is easily addicted for some people, like the teenagers who have less ability on judgments about wrong and right. Since teenagers are difficult to control themselves, the addiction of video games will cause such problems to the society, like some of the teenagers will hide themselves at home without working and studying.

According the film, is there any evidence that digital games can encourage aggressive values and anti-social actions in the real world? Do you agree?

The film actually mentioned some of the criminal which also happened in the reality. For example, the players are holding a gun to shoot some of the “bad man” and they will repeat it thousands of times. Honestly, the film will promote some of the aggressive values in the real world; maybe they will imitate the way to shoot people or to murder people. In my own view, it must have some reasons to arouse violence behaviors such as family background, unhappy childhood experiences and so on. Therefore, we cannot simply judge the digital games will enhance aggressive values in the real world.

Should governments have the right to ban certain games? Why or why not?

I think that the governments should have the tight to ban it. If the government does not control the contents of games, it will cause a great disaster towards the society and morality. The players of video games are mainly target on teenagers and the majority of them are not mature enough to judge the right and wrong.

Animation and CGI in cinema

What are the Pros and Cons of Computer Generated Imagery?

Pros:

Use of the computer generated imagery could easy to cope with different aspects to produce film. Especially for the science fictions, we can use of it to make the film more fantastic and turn the reality to a dreamland. It also creates more opportunists for producers to bring their newly concepts into full play and to display a totally different world on the eyes of audiences.

As we all known that those films are difficult to produce it without the use of computer technologies. Because of the spectacle almost not found in the reality, so the skill could make it more realistic, for example to

Cons:

The films made by CGI more liked an invented world which something will not happen at the real world. In the films, the function of actors are less influenced than the traditional one since it mostly depended on CGI to make screen more stately to arouse audiences’ surprised. So the crucial ingredients of film to stir up audiences’ emotions, included the technique of CGI rather than those excellent acting of actors. To stir up emotions are the main reason for a film to become popular and better. CGI will definitely reduce the importance of actors, such as their excellent acting only being a supporting or minor role to the film.

Will Computer Generated Imagery make actors obsolete? Yes or No? Why?

No, I think the actors still having existence value in film market. Although CGI advocated presenting the great contrasts between the real and visual world, actors still are the most crucial elements to arouse audiences’ emotions. Since their own dictions and gestures will give energetic life to the character and audiences will sink into to follow actors’ emotion. For example, they will drop into film’s plot and being with actors to experience different emotions and things. When I watched “One Day”, I always been sunk into it and experienced the fluctuated emotion of actress. It reflected that the actors still having their own functions to boost the quality of films.

Should digital characters be nominated for acting awards competing with humans?

It is not the same. As digital cinema are the team of professionals who good at the use of CGI and with a narration to use his voice to tell the story. It also consumes a great amount of sources and manpower to produce film. It is not the same situation of traditional film have a well and clarify division of labors among each parts of production.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of motion capture?

Advantages:

It will reduce time-consuming in order to control the quantity of capture as it could count the times more exactly. So the practice of capture will be less. And the techniques of CGI will have more perfectly quality than the traditional one.

Disadvantages:

Firstly, the costs of motion capture will be huge. Since it must contains advanced computer technologies, liked the expensive software system and professional to control it. Obviously, it is not suitable for small scale productions as the costs are great in amount, only large enterprises have efforts to bear it. Secondly, the harmony of human actors and motion capture are difficult to match up.

Should animation strive for photorealism?

Animation just really different the reality because of the animation always pursuit artificial beauty and provide a fantastic landscape to the audiences. It is really different to the cinema film. Since those films want to mode a real situation for audiences to sink into the plot and have experiences with it more easier.  

Mission to Earth

What is new or different about this example of digital cinema when compared with

Traditional ways of telling a story

Mission to earth was the example of soft cinema which was totally different from traditional cinema. It was made in an unusual way than the traditional one since the audiences though two or three or even more images showing at the screen in the same time. The traditional cinema only presented the main ideas of film rather than to show different images to viewers, it almost focused on the plot or the action of characteristics. But the Mission to Earth always presented the images without dialogues and only has a narration to tell the story which will result in a larger space for audiences to imagine more conceptions. For the traditional one, they seldom used this way to show the details of film.    

Constructing a film

The elements of constructing a traditional film included plot, characteristics, melody, diction, thought and so on. For the digital cinema, we don’t need some characteristics to present the plot and just having a narration to tell the story in order to inspire the audiences to have more imagination on the film.

  

What other art (film, digital art, painting etc) does this film remind you of?                        

It could promote the new skills of digital cinema to the general public and let more audiences to have a deep cognition on digital cinema. It also reminded me when I watching this film liked reading comics, a series of images combined together to organize a brand new story.

Wrap up- central question for Manovich –what can this new medium do?

New medium could simplify the production of film-making so that could promote it to the general public. As all we known that, the production of film-making consumes lots of resources, liked huge human resources and capital and so on. It was definitely reflected the truth that film production couldn’t make it individually and must corporate with different kinds of aspects. New medium obviously beneficial to the film production such as having a great invocate on making film more easily.

Modern Times: Pros & Cons of cinema

In the video clips, Chaplin was a worker in the factory. Chaplin and other workers really like a robot under the control of machine which ensured the quantity of production. They need to repeat thousand times of actions to cooperate with the machines and practice it non-stop to ensure the quantity of production. The CCTV

In a couple of paragraphs, summarize the way that Chaplin is affected by new technology in the beginning of the film Modern Times.

In the video clips, Chaplin was a worker in the factory. Chaplin and other workers really like a robot under the control of machine which ensured the quantity of production. They need to repeat thousand times of actions to cooperate with the machines and practice it non-stop to ensure the quantity of production. The CCTV  System always made the eyes on the workers; it made them under the great stress. Since they practice the same action thousands time of a day and the testing of “Lunch machine”, the machine driven Chaplin got crazy and he can’t control himself which recognized everything liked the products he made. It was not only sincerely reflected that the machine not just harm the physically of the body, but also damaged the mentally part of human. Because of the new technology, it definitely enhanced the quantity of products which beneficial to the boss, but it ignored the physically and mentally requirements of workers.

       

Then discuss any similarities or differences in the way you experience common digital technologies such as computers and the Internet.

Similarities:

We made a great rely on the digital technologies in the 21^st century. Liked the video clips, we tried to make use the technologies to beneficial our daily life, such as every day when I wake up, the first I do must to check the new feed of Facebook in order to follow friend’s status, or to check the e-mail to update the news of campus and so on. You can see that everything around us nearly all related to digital technologies, the most common phenomenon is that the majority of us always hold an intelligent mobile on hand, rather on working or standing in MTR. It absolutely reflected that we can’t live without digital technologies and when we leave it will cause a great inconvenience in our daily life.

Differences:

The differences between Chaplin and us are the digital technologies bring us a great convenience among our daily life but it made Chaplin got crazy. The main reason of the differences because of we enjoy to use the digital technologies to beneficial our life, liked we could easy to search and make use of the information in the internet and always made us being relax while using the internet. But the digital technologies made Chaplin into disaster; he was under the control of machine which got him in a great stress and even though made him being crazy. It can clearly be seen the improvement of digital technologies

System always made the eyes on the workers; it made them under the great stress.

Since they practice the same action thousands time of a day and the testing of “Lunch machine”, the machine driven Chaplin got crazy and he can’t control himself which recognized everything liked the products he made. It was not only sincerely reflected that the machine not just harm the physically of the body, but also damaged the mentally part of human. Because of the new technology, it definitely enhanced the quantity of products which beneficial to the boss, but it ignored the physically and mentally requirements of workers.

       

Welcome to my blog - love autumn

Hi! I'm Chelsea. A year 2 students of Visual studies. My favotite season is autumn. Hope you enjoy the weather of autumn too:D