Q: how do I make my pictures look epic?

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Touched
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Post by Touched »

slowtiger wrote:
I personally like when a filmmaker can use the wider aspect ratio in telling the story. It gives the director more options in framing a shot, and more flexibilit
This is a common mistake in thinking, like in "The screen is bigger, so we have more possibilities to fill it". Hitchcock said something about Cinemascope, other directors do, in interviews and books.
Also, my main complaint is that unless it's being shown on a real widescreen display (i.e. projected in a theatre, not being letterboxed on a narrower TV), then the screen is not bigger. It is smaller.
Again, this is spoken by someone who refuses to watch a movie with the sides chopped off to fit on a 4:3 screen. I always choose the letterboxed widescreen version if the movie was shot widescreen to begin with (even though they still chop off some of the sides most of the time.)
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andrewjs
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Post by andrewjs »

human wrote:At the risk of getting off topic, I just have to respond to:

"Citizen Kane... great epic film"

I understand that a lot of people believe this; I've heard it all my life.

Curiosity finally got the better of me last year and we screened it on DVD.

Say whut???
Rent the documentary Visions of Light about the history of Cinematography. It makes it quite clear just how revolutionary CK was.

It was a long time ago so by a modern perspective it might not be obvious, but what they accomplished in that film pushed the envelope in a wide variety of areas. It can be easily said that CK changed the way movies were made, in a sense, and gave the industry a new direction to pursue.

For most people, it is hard to enjoy classic films when you view them strictly from a contemporary frame of reference.
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mooncaine
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Post by mooncaine »

Gnaws wrote:
Bones3D wrote:First, use BIG TYPE! The bigger and more extruded into the horizon, the better!

Next, use loud, booming voices and sound effects! The more exaggerated it is, the bigger it seems to the viewer! Also, use dark, foreboding narration that starts with the phrase "In a world where...", followed by a problem and how the hero of the story will solve it.

Finally, use tons of jump cuts and explosions! In each jump cut, someone needs to be freaking out about how there's no time left! Also, throw in some gun play, hand-to-hand combat and car chases.

Then just end on a cliff-hanger...

HAHAHA!! Perfect formula! I have to write this one down.
We can't leave out the bit where somebody holds a pistol sideways while they're shooting it, esp. if they have one in each hand. Holding a pistol sideways is a cliché I laugh about in movies, because it's so overdone and it's a stupid way to operate a pistol anyway, I bet.

If a movie preview has a car exploding in a fireball, I just skip it. I'm so tired of that cliché.
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mooncaine
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Post by mooncaine »

andrewjs wrote:It was a long time ago so by a modern perspective it might not be obvious, but what they accomplished in that film pushed the envelope in a wide variety of areas. It can be easily said that CK changed the way movies were made, in a sense, and gave the industry a new direction to pursue.

For most people, it is hard to enjoy classic films when you view them strictly from a contemporary frame of reference.
Someone once defined "genius", a difficult term to agree upon, like this:

Someone in a given field of interest, whether it's art, science, music, or whatever, has done something that *must be reckoned with* [i.e., can't be ignored]. They have changed, from now on, the practices in their field.

Newton or Einstein was like that with physics. D.W. Griffith was like that with film. After he did his work, no matter how much you might dislike his work, you *must reckon with it* if you are a film maker.
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jorgy
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Post by jorgy »

slowtiger wrote:
I personally like when a filmmaker can use the wider aspect ratio in telling the story. It gives the director more options in framing a shot, and more flexibilit
This is a common mistake in thinking, like in "The screen is bigger, so we have more possibilities to fill it". Hitchcock said something about Cinemascope, other directors do, in interviews and books.
Let me qualify that: It must be a good filmmaker.

:-)

jorgy
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