In our seminar session on Wednesday, we had our final guest speaker of the semester. We were paid a visit by Professor Diaz, a film and cinema professor. We were given a lot of information on the production of movies. There were any interesting things she taught us!

One thing that I really found interesting was that the films are actually a series of photos all edited into a sort of flipbook motion, which creates the appearance of a video. They go at a rate of 24 frames per second, or a frame every 4.17 milliseconds. Now when I watch movies, I’m going to try and focus on that, even though it is probably untraceable to the naked human eye.

We also learned about different aspects of the frame itself. There were different angles and different levels of how close or far the camera shoots. It creates a different atmosphere or opinion of the viewer. It could make the viewer feel like a part of a conversation as another character, or a sky view, to create a different feel.

The lighting also has a major impact on a scene. Dim lighting could imply the focus is supposed to be on the dialogue, while brighter lighting could imply that the scenery is meant to be the focal point of the viewer’s attention.

One final aspect I will talk about is the music portion of movies. Background music is a vital essence to the emotional appeal, or to the focal point. Silent background music could make you focus on the dialogue (like dim lighting) while emotional music could augment the feelings radiated from a scene.

All in all, there were many things I learned from this guest appearance. I had never realized how much had gone into the making of a film, how every little aspect of a film, was meant to be the way it is.