Term Extensions


After thinking a long time, I would have to say that the closest craft that comes close to the way knowledge is developed in film making is chemistry and medicine.

 

To give us a quick glimpse as to what I mean, I would like to show you a clip from Malcolm in the Middle.

If you forward to time marker 3:45, you will come across a party that has gone horribly wrong, which isn't quite estrange from a normal MitM episode. Malcolm got his hands on a chemistry set for some talent show that only the smart kids participated in, and tried to make something. You'll see what happens instead.

 

EDIT: Video was removed. In the video, Malcolm mixed some ingredients he got off the web to make the world's worst stink bomb, but instead created a radioactive explosion.

 

As Malcolm found out, by slightly deviating from the original instructions, you can get drastically different effects. Granted, it's a TV show and a bit over-exaggerated, but still gets the point across.

 

In Film making, there are certain guidelines of film etiquette and style that over time have just become the way things are. One rule, for example, is the 180 degree rule. This rule basically says that a camera should never cut to different angles that cross a certain boundary or else the characters will swap sides and the viewer will become disoriented. Perhaps this video will explain better.

 

Like the video says, the rule can be broken, and Hollywood does some amazing ways of breaking said rule. This technique was actually followed after a early western film that was made that had not used this rule. The result was a disoriented viewer base and an overall bad film. This rule was discovered as a result of a mistake and used as a basis for most filmmaking.

 

Experimentation with camera angles and new ways to shoot material help filmmakers discover new ways to do different takes and perform certain scenes, just as chemistry and medicine experiment with different concoctions to try and get the newest and best medicines and drugs around.