Textbook - Chapter 1

Chapter One:
What is A/V Productions?

AUDIO/VISUAL
A/V is short for Audio/Visual. It refers to any digital media that implements the senses of sight and sound. To put it more simply, A/V refers to films and filmmaking. We are going to making films in this class, so you will soon grow familiar with the workings of film producers.

WHO’S WHO IN A/V TECHNOLOGY?
There are many jobs in filmmaking. Films are an inclusive medium that stems from theatre acting and incorporates a vast variety of fields. Some typical jobs include: Producer, Executive Producer, Director, Assistant Director, Gaffer, Best Boy, Music Composer, Music Programmer, Effects Manager, Sound Effects Manager, CGI Programmer (in modern films), Audiologist, Fashion Designer, Marketer, Publicity, Public Relations, and many more.

TRY IT!
When you get to the end of a movie, look at all the jobs that are listed!


PRODUCER In the strictly literal sense, a Producer is the person who produces a movie. In most cases, however, the Producer is the one who pays for the production of the movie. You can’t make Lord of the Rings without lots of money.

DIRECTOR The Director is in charge of the film as it is filmed. He tells actors what they are supposed to do and how they are supposed to act. He also is partly responsible for casting roles of the actors.

GAFFER Think of the Gaffer as the Technician. He is in charge of electricity, lights, set up and other things involved “behind-the-scenes” of the movie.

BEST BOY More or less, the Best Boy is the Gaffer’s assistant.

CAMERAPERSON The cameraperson is responsible for filming the scenes in the movie. It requires skill to properly position the camera, and most camerapersons who are hired have developed “steady shoulders” for camera work.

TRY IT!
Peter Jackson is a Director. What does he do? How would his job be different if he was a Producer?
THE HISTORY OF AUDIO/ VISUAL

Although records differ, the earliest signs of Theater acting date back to the Greeks. Actors were bandits or vagabonds who would roam the countryside in troupes or groups of other actors. As theater acting developed, large stages and theaters were built all over Greece (a design later copied by the Romans). The image to the left is a sample of Grecian Theater.


Why would theater be relevant to movies? It is because movies are simply plays that are put on television. There is a significant difference, however, between plays and movies. There are several, actually:

1. Take a look at the diagram. If you were watching a play, your view would be limited to the Orchestra and Skene. With movies, the audience is capable of viewing the action from 360 degrees and at various angles, at the whim of the director.
2. Actors in the theatre must memorize their lines and cues or when they are supposed to say something or perform an action. Movie actors can take as many attempts as necessary to get it right.
3. With music in the theatre, there is only one dimension. The orchestra that plays during a musical is foreground music; music that the actors are meant to respond to. In the movies, there is foreground music and background music; music that actors are not meant to respond to.

There are many more reasons, but these are the main ones that we will be dealing with.

TRY IT!
Watch a movie. Try to determine what music is in the foreground and what music is in the background. Be sure to understand the difference between the two.

On December 26th 1894, The Lumiere Brothers (residents of France) began working on an advanced Kinetograph. The Kinetograph was invented by Edison and was the first working design of our modern day camcorder. The result of the Lumiere Brothers research was the Cinematographe. According to the 1895 patent:
“The basic property of this appliance’s mechanism is to act intermittently on a regularly perforated strip to transmit successive displacements to it separated by stationary periods, during which photographic images are either exposed or viewed ”
The Cinematographe movies were soundless and short, but they were a step up from the Kinematograph, which could only hold about twenty seconds of motion . To the left, a picture of the Cinematographe shows that the overall structure was like that of a shoebox on a tripod. It was with this and other “evolved” versions of this that produced films until 1927.

What happened in 1927? 1927 was the year of The Jazz Singer an old Al Jolsen movie. It was the first film ever to have sound and music along with image. It was from this film that Audio/Visual arts were developed.


Try It!
Take a camera and take several pictures of something moving. Take the pictures and make a flip-book out of them. This is similar to the method of the Cinematographe.


SOME OF THE GREATEST MOVIES OF ALL TIME

Some of the greatest movies of all time include:
Citizen Kane (1941)
Casablanca (1942)
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
The Great Escape (1963)
Star Wars (1977)
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Return of The Jedi (1983)
Titanic (1997)
The Lord of The Rings (2001)



TRY IT!
Watch Star Wars. Notice how the special effects don’t seem like much now, but in it’s day it was considered revolutionary. What does this tell us about Audio/Visual productions and it’s growth?