Sound- Image and Image-Image Relationships

For this blog post, I chose to examine the edited Joker vs. Batman prison interrogation scene within Christopher Nolan's, The Dark Knight.  As the interrogation begins, a close up is taken of the Joker as he is sitting down at the interrogation table in a dimly lit room, after speaking with Sgt. James Gordon. As the lights turn on, it is revealed that Batman has been standing quietly behind the Joker the entire time, waiting for his turn at the interrogation. The shot however, remains on the Jokers face, while the mid section of Batman's body is exposed in the background, stunning the viewers. To add to this sudden change of events, once the prison cell door closes and is followed by the sound of fluorescent lights turning on, Batman wastes no time, violently bashing the Joker's head into the interrogation table, making a loud bang.  The scene then cuts to Batman for a split second, as he is now facing the Joker, looking at him as he whines in pain and shock. The scene in then cut to the Joker for a few seconds, once the Joker begins to speak to Batman. An establishing shot is then cut to Batman raising his fist to bash down on the Jokers hand, causing him more pain, and ultimately kicking off the intense interrogation that is about to occur. Loud beats begin to play in the background noise, increasing the anxiety of the audience.  Batman then sits down to talk to the Joker, and a mid-shot of him is taken over the shoulder of the Joker. Once this occurs, the scene is cut to a shot of the police men and women on duty witnessing this interrogation in the control room at the Gotham Police Station, establishing that the conversation is about to get very serious. Batman and the Joker begin to exchange in conversation, the cuts following each character as they say their portion of the dialogue, occasionally cutting to the opposite character to capture their facial reactions as the other character is speaking. However, once the Joker begins his monologue, soft, thought provoking music begins to play in the background, drawing the viewer to carefully listen to his words. That is all abruptly ended when the scene takes a violent turn, as Batman reaches over the table and grabs the joker by the collar of his shirt, cuing the loud beats to return within the scene. These loud beats serve to increase anxiety and suspense as Batman forcefully interrogates the Joker, pinning him against the wall. A cut is made to the Police men and women in the control rooms as they watch the action unfold, in shock. More forceful exchange is made between Batman and the Joker, as the scene cuts back and forth to follow each character again as they speak their lines of dialogue. As the scene increases in violence and suspense, an increasingly loud sound is added to the scene in order to maintain an anxious, nervous feeling among the audience. Overall, the shots used in this scene are organized in terms of pacing of dialogue between the Joker and Batman. The length of each shot is dependent on the length of each character's line delivery as well, making for very smooth and seamless editing.

Night Hawk- Final Project

This short film, Night Hawk, follows a young male college student’s mischievous overnight adventure at Hunter College as he makes the best out of being locked in with no way out after a long night of studying. Overall, the production of the film went fairly smoothly.  However, we did run into a few problems regarding lighting and sound, due to the various locations the group shot at throughout Hunter College. Although the majority of the film is on the darker side, we felt as if it contributed to the “overnight” feel that the film is meant to portray. After editing in post-production, however, we solved these problems; resulting in our final production. The main idea for the film came from Taylor Latrowski. Both Taylor Latrowski and Natasha Dunkin then discussed the storyboarding process, regarding the multiple locations and mischievous actions seen throughout the film. Taylor Latrowski took the role of being the cinematographer for this short film, whereas Natasha Dunkin and Taylor Latrowski both contributed to the direction of this film. Natasha Dunkin was responsible for casting Joseph Iacobazzo to play the role of the young male college student, whereas Taylor Latrowski took the role as being editor of this short film. Overall, the group worked extremely well together in order to achieve Night Hawk. 

Night Hawk

Joseph Iacobazzo Interview

http://vimeo.com/111170331

Recent Hunter College transfer student, Joseph Iacobazzo discusses his interests within the film industry and the differences he experiences after transferring to Hunter College located in New York City from Quinnipiac University located in Hamden, Connecticut.

Museum of the Moving Image Field Trip

Although I was not able to attend the Museum of the Moving Image field trip along with my fellow peers and educators at Hunter College, I did make time to attend during this past weekend with a friend. We hopped in a cab to Astoria, Queens and head over to the Museum of the Moving Image to view all of the unique,famous, and interactive attractions seen within the film industry. After seeing all the different attractions, props and film memorabilia, the attraction that stood out to me the most while I was at the museum was the interactive sound booth. I was extremely interested in this because it has always been a dream of mine to be a voice over artist in the future as my career. Ever since I was young, I had the ability to change my voice in order to impersonate many celebrities and mimic many accents from all around the world. Because of this, I have always been fascinated with voice-over sound within movies. Animation always stood out to me within the film industry because I always wanted to voice a character within a film, and make it my own. The sound booth at the museum really opened my eyes and made me feel as if I were getting a sneak peek at what my career would have in store for me. I got to see an example of a sound studio, with foam on the walls keeping the sound contained within the room. The technology used today within the film industry has really come a long way in changing and developing the way movies are created. Not only does the evolution of cameras change the way movies are created, but also sound systems change the way movies are created; as seen during my trip to the MOMI.  Although my friend and I were not given an official tour, we did enjoy our overall experience exploring the museum ourselves. Not only did we find the sound booth interesting, but also found the many movie props, cameras, and movie memorabilia very fascinating. Memorabilia from Star Wars, Mrs. Doubtfire, and the Exorcist interested me because these movies are extremely successful within the film industry and seeing it in person was super cool, in my opinion. Overall, the trip was well worth it because it exposed my friend and I to the many great and classic aspects seen within the film industry!

The Soundwalk

As I walked around the streets of the Upper East Side in New York City, I could not help but notice many of the keynotes, sound signals, and soundmarks that make up the familiar noises in this large city. Keynotes, otherwise known as background noises that I noticed while walking around consisted of cars, buses, and subways that all gave off different frequencies with every brake and acceleration each one made. Along with the noise each squeaky brake and roaring engine made, I also heard loud honks and horns that many impatient New Yorkers made in order to speed up their travels.  Another keynote that assured me I was in New York City was made by the rumbling subways that continuously pass each busy street. As I walked, I could not help but pay attention to the high pitched brake noises made by each subway I walked past. Along with keynotes, this busy city also contains many sound signals that allow one to recognize their whereabouts. Many sound signals included vendors promoting their businesses and homeless people asking for spare change in order to make a living. These sound signals most definitely caught my attention and helped remind me of the different kinds of people and ways of living there are in the city. Many people were seen playing instruments or talking on their phones or to their friends and family while walking the streets of New York. This made up the soundmarks that I heard while on my soundwalk. Many different voices filled the air including young babies and children, teenagers and old men and women. This made me realize that there are so many people packed in this one large city that make up the familiar sounds and noises that one would expect to hear when they are in New York City.

New York City Subway

http://vimeo.com/108537362

Natasha Dunkin Artist Statement

Hey everyone!

My name is Natasha Dunkin, I am twenty years old and recently just transferred to Hunter College to start my junior year as a film major. I transferred from Quinnipiac University located in Hamden, Connecticut to Hunter College because I felt as if New York City would provide me with a variety of opportunities within the film industry. Ever since I was old enough to truly appreciate and understand the film industry, it has been my dream to become part of it; either on screen or off screen. Primarily, my goal is to become an film actress at some point in my life. I have always been fascinated by the film industry and all that it has to offer. I was first exposed to the film industry when my cousin, Christopher, asked me to act as an extra in a production he was working on for his course at Columbia University around 5 years ago. It was a great experience being on set and witnessing first- hand how the film industry operates. In just the short amount of time it took to film the scene for my cousin, I learned a lot about the ins and outs of creating a believable, well constructed scene. Not only has this experience taught me about the production process but also, Quinnipiac University has taught me more than I could have ever imagined about the movie industry; behind camera and in front of the camera. As far as influences within the industry, I am I huge fan of Heath Ledger, Tom Hardy, Ansel Elgort and Sandra Bullock's work. Each of these actors and actresses have a unique style to their variety of characters which I admire and aspire to obtain in the future. I have always appreciated actors and actresses that can mold into any character in order to create a wide range of characters. My favorite film is Batman: The Dark Knight directed by Christopher Nolan. I admire the film style, acting and the message portrayed through this movie. I am extremely excited to learned even more about film and hopefully create and act in big screen movies in the near future!