Media Lesson 14th December

14th December

In our Media lesson:

We took photos of our characters and also ran and acted out the script (practice run)
We then also looked at possible soundtracks, and chose several and now need to evaluate them and come to a final decision on what our final soundtrack will be.

Planning opening to a thriller feature film

The points i have researched and undertaken to plan for our opening to a thriller film are:
- A brief synopsis of the plot

The main parts of the opening have been listed.
- Planning Edit
This includes the plot outline with transition effects that could be used between each shot during editing. Various transitions and effects have been listed that we could possibly use.
- Soundtrack
I have chosen a few sound tracks that would be appropriate to the various scenes in our opening.
- Equipment list
I have listed the pieces of equipment we will be using during filming and the type of brand each piece is

Brief Synopsis of the plot

Jodie sitting on a benchJodie drinking a bottle of VodkaRyan turning upThem kissingJodie slaps/scratches himEvil side shown Jodie sitting in graveyardJodie runs from RyanGoes down alleyway,Ryan is waiting for herArgues, pushes him he bumps his head and diesNext day Jodie walks into school Chantelle they talkJodie traps them both in toiletsKills ChantelleLights flashing loud shoutingBlood over her handsEvil side looks in mirror and smiles good side stares.

Planning Edit

Jodie sitting on a bench
1 - Cut to
Jodie drinking a bottle of Vodka
2 - Camera swivels around to
Ryan turning up
3 - Cut to
Them kissing
4 - Zoom out to
Jodie slaps/scratches him
5 - Cut to
Evil side shown Jodie sitting in graveyard
6 - Camera pans to
Jodie runs from Ryan
7 - Cut to
Goes down alleyway, 8 - Zooms in to Ryan is waiting for her
9 - Cut to
Argues, pushes him he bumps his head and dies
10 - Fade in from black
Next day Jodie walks into school Chantelle they talk
11 - Cut to
Jodie traps them both in toilets
12 - Cut to
Kills Chantelle
13 - Fades out to (black)
Lights flashing loud shouting
14 - Cut to
Blood over her hands
15 - Camera pans up to
Evil side looks in mirror and smiles good side stares

The reason why i chose each of the transitions.

Transition 1: i chose to cut to Jodie drinking the bottle of the vodka becuase we could have a long shot of her sitting on the bench and then perhaps cut to a close up of her drinking the bottle of vodka so this would be the most effective transition.

Transition 2: The camera would swivel/turn around/pan from Jodie to Ryan turning up. I think this would be an effective transition because the whole shot flows into one instead of having two shots one being of Jodie which then would cut to Ryan turning up.

Transition 3: The next shot would be cut to Jodie and Ryan kissing as the previous shot could be a long shot and with this shot being them kissing a close up shot would be preferred so the best transition would be to cut to this shot.

Transition 4: The next shot would then zoom out to a long shot of Jodie slapping Ryan then the camera will be able to pan as Jodie runs away which will be the most effective shot.
Transition 5: The next shot will be cut to the evil side of Jodie shown this would be an appropriate transition becuase it is the evil side being shown.
Transition 6: the camera then pans as Jodie runs away, this would be appropriate because the audience could feel as if they were really there and watching.

Transition 7: the next shot is cut to the scene in the alleyway this is the most appropriate transition as its a new location to the opening.
Transition 8: Ryan is waiting for Jodie to turn up down the alleyway so the camera zoom into his face which will be a close up shot of him, this is so that the audience can see the expression on his face and can try and understand how he feels about the situation.

Transition 9: the next shot is cut to the argument and Ryan being killed. The reason i chose to cut is becuase you have a close up of Ryan's face but then you would need a long shot of Ryan and Jodie argueing and resulting in Ryan's death and then fades out to black as he dies, becuase as he is dying he is leaving the opening so this would be an appropriate transition to use.

Transition 10: The next shot is then faded in from black as Ryan has just died. The following shot is Jodie walking into school the next day so the fade in from black is appropriate it as it is a new day.

Transition 11: From the previous shot this next clip is cut to of Jodie trapping Chantelle in the toilets. As both characters are in a different place in school it seemed appropriate to cut to this shot instead of using other transitions.
Transition 12: the next shot to is cut to Chantelle's death. I chose this transition again because we could cut qucikly from shot to shot building suspense and tension to the moment where Jodie kills Chantelle.

Transition 13: As Jodie is killing Chantelle the shot could fade out to black which fits in with her dying.

Transition 14: The next shot is then cut to Jodie with the blood over her hands. We could also fade in from the black again but i think cutting to this shot would be more effective.

Transition 15: From the blood on Jodie's hands the camera then pans up to see her evil side reflection in the mirror.

List of video transitions
Cut - one shot is then cut to another, quick change over.
Dissolve - one shot would dissolve into another adding effect to the scene and shot.
Shapes expand from centre of screen - one shot can expand over the old shot from the centre.
Fade in/out - this is quite effective becuase when it fades in or out the audience have got to wait to see what will happen in the next shot to follow.
Pixelate - one shot pixelates into a new shot, making the shot distorted from one to the other.
Wipe - one shot moves off the screen e.g. left to right and the new shot follows onto the screen.
Camera pans - As a character is moving in a shot the camera can pan and follow that character, it is effective becuase the audience coud feel as if they are actually there looking and watching.

List of Effects
Zoom in - this allows the audience to see more detail for an example a characters face, the audience could see the characters facila expression and can understand the emotions they are feeling.

Zoom out - zooming out, the audience can see more of the location in that scene getting an idea of where a location is and what is going on.
Gray Scale - gray scale is usually used to go back in the past to represent the past (many years ago)
Film grain/age - gives the scene more age, showing the audience perhaps the scene is from the past etc.
Hue - change the colour, hue and contrast of a shot making it abnormal.

Soundtrack

Song evaluation
Thriller film

These songs are not copyrighted.
They all came from www.freeplaymusic.com

Song: A bad feel
- Upbeat soundtrack
- Sounds as if someone is in a rush (perhaps running away from something/someone
- This may fit in with our thriller opening but seems a bit too upbeat and we don’t really have a proper chase just one of our characters running away from another character but that scene I don’t think would really go well with this music.

Song: After Sundown
- Begins quietly
- Builds tension
- Music comes across a bit mysterious
- Perhaps someone or something is watching something or someone else.
- I don’t think this would fit in with our opening as it appears to sound like a mystery piece of music and we don’t have anything along those lines in our opening

Song: Dark times
- Mysterious music
- Loud
- Builds tension
- This music may go with the scene in the toilets after the death has happened
- This music may even go with the scene down the alley way building up to the point of the death.

Equipment List

Item of equipment and Brand
Camera Sony-----HDV
Tripod---------------Manfrotto
Microphone--------Rode
Dolly------------------Manfrotto

Films: Vacancy and The departed

Film: Vacancy – thriller
Sub-genre – horror
The film vacancy is directed by Nimród Antal who had a budget of $19,000,000 to create this film. It includes the actors Luke Wilson, Kate Beckinsale and Frank Whaley. The plot of the film is a young married couple becomes stranded at an isolated motel and finds hidden video cameras in their room. They realize that unless they escape, they'll be the next victims of a snuff film.

The titles at the beginning are all in red this may represent danger as they are dark colours, the titles also stretch in size which makes the audience think of dripping blood, this is an effective way and may give a clue to the audience that there may be blood, gore and deaths. The title has an urban effect to it which looks a bit like graffiti. The background music is intense and increases in speed which builds suspense within the audience living them to wonder what the opening to the film will be. The opening scene to the film we know that this is set in California because we see a licence plate reading California on it.

There is faint background music whilst we see the car driving on the road. A typical road scene that is used what has been included in this film is a car driving along, dodges an animal, nearly causing a fatal road accident, which makes the audience think what might happen next. Whilst driving there are dark surroundings with night time noises e.g. an owl this effect helps build suspense to the moment. There us just a car in the middle of a road in the middle of know where which gives the impression something bad is going to follow later on.

The two people in the car cannot pick up any radio stations, which implies they are isolated from society and are very much alone. When we first see the characters their faces are partly hidden so the audience can’t see their whole face and when the couple starts talking to each other, the audience can clearly see there is tension between the two of them; much deeper than the average couple. The male jokes about a bit and both call each other a rude name, which proves the point they both have several issues maybe because of something that has happened in the past. Wide angled shots are used on the couple which shows the separation between them one person on one side of the car and the same but for the other person.

There are no shots/frames where we can see the couple in the car looking at each other; they are constantly looking else where. Throughout the opening of Vacancy there is a reoccurring image of the male in the car who keeps rubbing his eyes which implies tiredness, which makes the audience wonder whether there will be an accident due to this.

Film: The Departed – thriller
Sub-genre – Gangster

The film The Departed is directed by Martin Scorsese had a budget of $90 million to create this film. It includes the actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Vera Farmiga, Ray Winstone, Anthony Anderson and Alec Baldwin. The plot of the film is two men from opposite sides of the law are undercover within the Massachusetts State Police and the Irish mafia, but violence and bloodshed boil when discoveries are made, and the moles are dispatched to find out their enemy's identities.

The opening to this film begins with violence a fight has broken out so straight into the film there is action which may startle the audience because they might have not been expecting violence for the opening scene. The character that appears to have a bad personality is seen in dark scenes and you can’t really see his face which disguises what he looks like and is hiding the film uses the surrounding shadows to cover his face.

The music in the background is faint to begin with then becomes louder which builds suspense for the audience leaving them thinking what might happen next. The young lad we first see sitting in a public place has an innocent face and looks quite emotional which makes the audience feel sorry for this young lad. The setting to this film is in Boston which includes fighting as we saw from the opening and from what we have seen this makes us believe there may be corruption between the characters in The Departed.

Cutting it

Cutting it created by Debbie Horsfield, it a TV drama featuring twenty five episodes starring Sarah Parish, Jason Merrells, Angela Griffin, Sian Reeves, Ben Daniels and Amanda Holden. It is about the traumatic life of a hairdresser named Allie Henshall, alongside her lovers, her rivals and her dysfunctional family. It has four series unravelling the story of the hairdresser; Allie Henshall, but tragically at the end of series four there is disaster when Allie goes into hospital and receives new that she is beating her ovarian cancer but then walks out to tell Gavin the good news but she is struck down by a car, we don’t see this happen because in the scene it happens behind a bus, but the audience see’s Allie’s final moments in the arms of Gavin.

Cast
Sarah Parish, Allie Henshall
Jason Merrells, Gavin Ferraday
Amanda Holden, Mia Bevan
Christine Stephen-Daly, Melissa Devereux
Angela Griffin, Darcey Henshall
Sian Reeves, Sydney Henshall
Ben Daniels, Finn Bevan
Lucy Gaskell, Ruby Ferris
Annette Badland, Brawdie Henshall
Bill Thomas, Tom Henshall
Pearce Quigley, Eugene Eubank
Cherie Lunghi, Zinnia Raggitt
James Midgley, Shane Ince

Series one is about the introduction of Allie and Gavin, who are partners in love and business. Together they own a hair salon where Allie’s sisters work with them.
Series two is about the return of Allie, where she finds out she is not welcomed back at the salon having spent a month in Naples with Finn. Finn tells Allie at her dad’s 60th birthday party he wants to have another baby together. Allie then becomes Blade Runner’s (new salon) new owner so Gavin can not take over. Then later on both salons are burnt to the ground.
Series three is about Allie secretly ties the knot with Finn and is now running a new salon; Mia hasn’t been sited since the fire broke out in both salons. Gavin has left for Manchester having been paid by Finn to do so and now lives in the countryside in a converted barn.
Series four is about a fresh start between Allie and Gavin, they are back together and Brawdie and Tom are renewing their wedding vows together. Allie’s new salon is thriving and thinks of expanding by opening a hairdressing academy. Later it is revealed that Allie has ovarian cancer when she thought she was pregnant, Gavin finds out about Allie’s cancer. Both go to the hospital where Gavin is told to wait outside for Allie to return hoping she is given the all clear from fighting the cancer. As Allie comes out and is about to cross the road she is struck down by a oncoming vehicle and is left laying on the path Gavin urgently rushes to her and she spends her final moments with Gavin.

Production Tips

Diegesis:
Digetic material is a natural sound e.g. thunder. Digetic material is used so that the characters are aware of it. Non-Digetic material is added for the audience e.g. sound track music. Some types of sound are both digetic and non-digetic material e.g. a characters thoughts in a voice-over are digetic in that the character is aware of them, but non-digetic in the sense that other characters are not.

Micro and Macro origination:
To shoot appropriate material for a film you need to use the micro – macro strategy. If the fiction film follows the conventions of a particular genre, they should use the micro elements – types of camera work, music, style of titles, dialogue, setting and place – will ad up to a macro theme and set of representations. You need to spend time storyboarding and development of ideas before beginning the main task.

Camera work and framing
You should mostly use a tripod for a steady shot unless a hand held effect is required for a certain scene. Most shots are filmed with the camera not moving, unless movement of the camera is an effective exception to the norm. You should rarely use the zoom in and out on a camera and mostly use mid to long shots using close – ups shots sparingly. “Rule of thirds” principle is a useful effect for framing a particular shot. Combining various shots and different distances is essential to the “language of the film”, e.g. long shots to mid shots then finally to close – up shots. This enables the audience to establish the action etc. You need to consider using high and low angled shots depending on the characters power and authority, a high angle shot reducing the characters power and authority and a low angle shot increases it.

Mise En Scene
Mise en scene is all about the atmosphere and continuity of a film. Mise en scene is the most difficult element in the production of a film, but if this element is just right there is a far greater reward. It is essentially about the detail and you need to be careful choosing costumes, lighting, locations and props etc. this also needs to be maintained in each shot unless a change of location etc.

Lighting
Five tips to overcome the problem of not having the standard professional lighting equipment.
1. Use natural light – sunlight, use shadows, in mist, through rain – depends on the effect that is required
2. Use cheap and cheerful artificial light – make use of candles, firelight, torches, car lights, neon signs and street lighting. Keeping in mind health and safety.
3. Create colour filters – can easily shine light through coloured liquids and vases etc.
4. Position the light source for effect – lighting a scene from above, below or in an obscured way will create various types of atmospheres.
5. Ultimately lighting a scene is a scientific process.

Combining sound, image and title
Careful decisions need to be made on titles that will be added to the film. The title needs to have an appropriate font, colour and size. Using trial and error you should end up with pleasing timing if titles for the audience. The title should be in a correct and appropriate place on the screen; it could be on black between shots or over action and then decide how long the title stays on the screen. A question that should be asked, “does the title contribute to the film?” whether it helps the audience’s understanding of the narrative. Music could be added to add ambience to the start of a film.

The grammar of non-linear editing
You need to choose the correct transitions between each shot. Avoid exciting transitions stick to simple and straight forward. Your job is to make the editing invisible to the audience’s eye and so that the viewer believes in the reality of the fiction that is unfolding. Editing is all about the manipulation of time and space. You will manipulate space by editing between two simultaneous pieces of action and manipulate time by editing between two shots to move the narrative forward.

Somers Town After Viewing

Genre

4) I would say Somers town has a genre of a comedy and also drama. Comedy because at times the film is funny and also there is some drama in it to like when Tomo fist arrives in London and has to run away from a group of boys who will beat him up. This film in particular doesn’t seem to remind me of any other films I have watched before.

5) The film’s appeal to the audience is the comedy and drama of the film shot in black and white making it different to other films.

6) When the film is subtitled during the conversations in Polish between Marek and his father; and there are also some sections in French, these factors affect the audience by them having to read the subtitles which means they will miss the expressions the characters are acting out. The audience can understand what the characters are talking about keeping the audience in the loop.

7) Similarities between Somers Town and This is England
- Both have Thomas Turgoose as a character in the film
- Both have a genre of drama
- Two characters in both films meet somehow and become best friends

Representation

8) The audience would be uncomfortable when both Tomo and Marek are vulnerable and intoxicated because this means trouble for the two characters which is when the audience may become uncomfortable.

9) Marek travels around his home environment taking photographs and Tomo follows him.

10) A message the audience could take away from the film about childhood and adolescence is you will always need your family around you because Tomo left his family for London and even though he met Marek he got into trouble which didn’t do him any favours.

11) Throughout the film my reactions towards the two boys did change at different points in the film.
a) When Tomo gets beat up for no particular reason by a group of boys
b) When the boys fight over who likes Maria the most.

Lecture given on Somers Town

The notes below are from the lecture given about Somers Town

Somers Town is similar to films from 1960’s films with similar genres. It was the first film to be filmed in London whilst the Euro star train tunnel was being built. It is about outsiders, social realism and showing the identity and class of the characters in the film. Shane Meadows the director is a working class director, showing his identity through the film. Somers Town is about two boys, one from the Midlands who had travelled to London because there is no one there for him back in the Midlands, this character is known as Tomo, The second boy (Marek) has travelled from Poland with his dad because his dad his helping in the construction of the Euro star tunnel. Tomo has lost his identity, and Marek is a photographer, because whilst his dad is at work he travels around his local area in London taking many photos. The genre of this film is comedy, the theme is of the Euro star signified by Maria the sophisticated French women who works in the café but then moves back to France.

Before viewing Somers town

1) A modern director may choose to produce a film in black and white rather than colour because he may want to take to audience back many years ago to show them what in might have been like back then.

2)
Clerks

Director:
Kevin Smith

Release Date:
5 May 1995

Genre: Comedy

Plot:
A day in the lives of two convenience clerks named Dante and Randal as they annoy customers, discuss movies, and play hockey on the store roof.


The man who wasn’t there

Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen

Release date 2001

Genre:
Crime Drama

Plot:
A laconic, chain-smoking barber blackmails his wife's boss and lover for money to invest in dry cleaning, but his plan goes terribly wrong.


Raging Bull

Director:
Martin Scorsese

Genre:
Biography, Drama, Sport

Plot:
An emotionally self-destructive boxer's journey through life, as the violence and temper that leads him to the top in the ring, destroys his life outside it.

3)
a) Traffic because London is a busy place, also a lot of people shouting in the streets.
b) The character may be old fashioned.

Once upon a time in the west

Digetic sound is sound that is natural to a film e.g. a door slamming
Non-Digetic sound is sound that has been added to a film e.g. music

The film “Once upon a time in the west” fits into the thriller sub genre which is Western. A thriller sub-genre means, a thriller genre can include many sub-genres like western.

The opening to this film “Once upon a time in the west” begins with an old wooden door slowing being opened whilst creaking, then the station master an old man writes on a chalk board in doing so creating a horrible chalk sound while scratching it down the board. A cowboy then walks through the creaking door. The background noise is a bird. The camera starts filming from the cowboys feet to his head, this kind of shot implies he is powerful and is prepared and ready to fight. The old station is then surrounded by a few more cowboys, which stand still and very quietly whilst the only noise is the bird chirping in the background. The first person to talk in this opening is the ticket master at the station, we see he is scared off the cowboys because he was going to charge them for a ticket but then backs down and gives them one.

Throughout this opening the cowboys do not talk but the audience can guess what their personality is and the role in the film by their actions and the way they are dressed. The three cowboys take over the station and lock the ticket master away in a cupboard clearly to keep him quiet and out of the way. There are a few wide shots to show the desolate landscape, to show they are in the middle of now where, it’s just them and no one else and no help available if needed. Throughout the opening there is a constant background noise; whether it is a bird or a fly etc. The cowboys wait for the train patiently, one clicking the bones in their hand, the other amused with a fly, and the last cowboy fills his hat with water that he drinks in the end tat has fallen from a leak in the ceiling above. Finally towards the end of the opening we hear the train on its way to the station, the cowboys get ready and line up spaced out hands on the guns as if they are ready for a fight which may begin, but the only thing that happens is a wooden box is thrown out of one of the carriages onto the floor., this is now the end of the scene.

Iconography in the film
The guns that are shown show that the cowboys are powerful, string and can are dangerous. The bullets around their waists showed that they are well prepared for a fight if one breaks out; the long coats also imply they are strong and are in control. Their hats hide the characters/cowboys face. The ticket masters clothes and hat, show he is only the worker who is small and weak, who abides by the rules or what he is told to do.

No country for old men

In what ways does the opening to “No country for Old men” conform to the conventions of a thriller film?

We discover that by seeing the opening to “No country for old men” that this film is a creepy thriller film. It shows the location where the film is set by using a wide angle shot to show the desolate landscape, and how dry and baron it really is, this means the characters are isolated from a society/community.

The opening of this film begins with silence to build up suspense leaving the audience wondering what will happen next. The first two characters we see are the police men and what seems to be a normal guy driving a car who has been stopped by a police officer. The police officer takes the guy in with a tank of oxygen the guy had with him, the oxygen tank might have been show because it may be used later on in the film. Whilst the officer is on the phone the guy who has been cuffed sneaks up behind him and using the hand cuffs he strangles him, they both drop to the floor and finally the officer dies after his neck had been cut by the cuffs, this scene is about how the officer was caught unawares a convention with a thriller film. The psycho then releases himself and taking his oxygen tank with him he takes the officers car and becomes a cop pulling a member of public in. The psycho then gets out with the oxygen tank and walks to the car he has just pulled in which is highly deceptive because the member of the public believes he is an officer of the law, but then the psycho kills him by putting a tube to his head which is connected to the tank which blasts pressurized air through his head, making him drop to the ground.

This person, like the officer was caught unawares and then has been killed a few moments later. The next scene is a hunter, hunting antelope, there is a wide angled shot again showing the desolate location again. Between this scene and the one before they both have a theme of hunting, using weapons to kill, and catching people and animals unaware, they don’t know what will happen next. In this scene the hunter shoots one of the antelope but it doesn’t kill it straight away, he follows it. There is a wide shot of the hunter walking towards the camera with a background with hills and the sky is grey which means that something he may come upon is going to be possibly shocking, through the weather this builds to the scene which reveals what exactly the hunter has found. Using the weather to build suspense is another convention of what a thriller film could include.

Thriller research

A thriller film can contain many things; it is a genre of literature, film and television. They contain fast pacing, with frequent action and hero’s and powerful people. A thriller always builds suspense using various elements in doing so. Five films I have watched are Casino Royale, Fast and Furious, 2 Fast, 2 Furious, District 13 and Bad Boys all of which are thriller films, each containing fast pacing and frequent action whether it is fighting or chasing. My favourite film out of the five is Bad boys because the opening to the film really builds suspense and leaves the audience thinking what will happen to a certain character whether they will survive and where they go from that point onwards. It is an exhilarating film with non stop action overall an entertainer.

Labels

Labels

Final Cut Express

Final cut express is video editing application software that allows the user to edit and manipulate any video of their choice. It features a timeline; all the user has to do is just drop the video on it and then edit and manipulate the video with the many effects and filters final cut has to offer, to make the video professional looking.

Final cut can easily capture DV and HDV. There is an option for the user to choose what parts of the video they want to edit and then put all of these clips together to create a final video. To do this you press “I” to start importing and the “O” for out to stop importing. You can watch frame by frame of the video using the option buttons at the bottom of the screen. You can watch videos simultaneously, as it offers two screens for the video to be watched and edited.

Final Cut is easy to use and is easy to work around. It is user friendly and the layout is set out well so that everything is clear.

On the 09/10/09 we learnt how to capture video from our camera. Pressing the "Capture Now" button, a screen was brought up which was the video from our camera and when we wanted to capture a scene we pressed escape to end and capture that scene and on the left hand side of the screen, that clip would appear and then we put it in a folder we had created, so we know where we had saved it.

We also looked at a range of different effects we could apply to our clips to either enhance the quality or add an effect e.g. rays of light, to add a new perspective to it.

New Blog

This is my new blog