Tuesday 18 November 2008
Misdirection
We watched a college student's film production called Misdirection. There were many good ideas used and a lot of complex camera angles and editing techinques involved. Our favourite part was a sequence in which the male character is dilusional, he used a hand held camera and fast jerky movements to portray his state of mind. We are impressed by this and are thinking of including a similar sequence in our film.
Monday 17 November 2008
One Hour Photo
This is an evaluative essay of the opening sequence of a psychological thriller; "One Hour Photo". It is relevant to our research as it discusses the mis-en-scene and cinematography used in a typical opening sequence to a pychological thriller. It has helped us with ideas for camera angles and many other porcesses we could possibly use in our film. This film was the spark for our idea and so we look up to it emmensly. We appreciate all aspects of the film and we are planning to replicate many of these within our own sequence.
With reference to sound, editing and cinematography, how is meaning created in 1 hour photo?
One hour photo begins with several credits sliding into a black screen from the left, one by one. They have multiple colours within each word, bellow which are numbers to make the credits look like negatives from none-digital cameras. Each credit pauses in the centre of the screen to allow the viewer time to read it, before a bright light flashes in the middle of the word, to erase it. This effect looks like a flash from a camera which, therefore, gives the setting for the film, which is largely based around cameras and photography.
Throughout the opening credits there is a low, steady, pulsing base line, which represents a heart beat. High pitched strings, slowly increasing in pitch, create an ever-increasing tension, climaxing in juxtaposed silence and a bright white visual. Within the white shot is a white camera, the only colour within the whole shot is a small red button on the front of the camera. There are no curves, soft angles, colour or anything else to make the shot look welcoming, warm or friendly. The lack of emotion and sound makes the whole shot very tense and eerie. It is of extended length which builds tension with it climaxing in the camera flashing, with loud diagetic, mechanic noises of the camera. The loud noises of the camera are so shocking to the viewer because of the eerie silence before hand.
The camera then cuts to a close-up shot of a computer screen loading the photograph the camera has just taken, it is of a white man with bland, colourless clothes and bleach-blonde hair standing in front of a brilliant blue background, the only colour in the scene so far. The camera quickly cuts to a medium shot of the camera which suddenly jerks to an extreme close-up of the same camera. This shows the significance of the camera in the film and suggests the film will be unpredictable. This quick change in camera angles is accompanied by the same shutter, mechanical noise and flash of the camera as before, this makes the viewer jump and feel uneasy.
The camera cuts to an establishing shot of a dark room, which pans around to show a completely white room, with the man from the photograph sat at a table, the only colour in the room is a red chair. The theme of red being the only colour in the room seems to follow throughout the opening sequence. The complete lack of colour and silence in the room represents the isolation of not only the room but the man sat at the table. This gives the viewer an idea that the man may be lonely and vulnerable to the world. This is reinforced later in the film when we get to see his house for the first time. It looks much like the blank interrogation room in that there is no colour; all of his appliances and furniture are white and bland.
The isolation of the room is interrupted by a door loudly opening and slamming shut, in storms a man wearing a bright blue shirt, suggesting he is a police officer. The colouring of his shirt stand out from the blank room and from the mundane-coloured man (now being shown as a criminal) sat at the table. The camera cuts from the establishing shot to a medium, over the shoulder shot of the police officer, and then the same shot of the man.
There is little sound in the shot, nothing more than a none-diagetic slow rumble and diagetic conversation, through lowered voices, between the man and the officer. Within the conversation the officer asks a series of questions, the final of which makes the man think; a close-up of his face shows his thought process. The camera cuts to a medium, unstable, zoom of a woman with a camera, there are lots of bright, saturated colours and the it has been slowed slightly, only 10 per cent or so, but enough to make it look like a memory or reminiscence. The entire shot is juxtaposed to all of the previous angles, there are no strait lines, or sharp angles; everything is soft, warm and welcoming.
Soft piano and strings enter with the shot creating a positive, uplifting mood. The sound of laughter and children playing is also heard but at a slower pace and with an echo effect, this adds to the memory/reminiscence theme. There is an unusual voice over from the man in the interrogation room which shows the viewer it is his memory. It also allows the viewer to see what he is remembering perfectly, not their own interpretation of his words. This puts the viewer in a privileged position, and can understand this mans personality and thoughts.
An establishing shot follows with a soft pan of a garden full of balloons and bright colours, giving the impression of a child birthday party. Following this are several point of view shots, none of which are stable, which puts the viewer into the scene. All of the colours are saturated and sounds have an echo effect, also all of the shots are slowed slightly. The shots show a young boy blowing out his birthday candles and a water fight between several children. All of the shots are selectively focused upon one child, (the birthday boy) and, what appear to be, his parents. The voice-over, soft music and laughter all continue through the several shots.
The family shown in this scene are later shown in their home, full of warm colours and soft lighting, which is juxtaposed to the man’s home which is completely white, hard and eerie to the viewer. Sharp shots and jerky movements of the camera are also used to reinforce the mood of the house. This sets the scene for the entire film and also gives more information on each character.
Dale also wrote a similar essay with a similar title, also discussing the different media elements used in One Hour Photo. He has included different information than Kirsty, so both are equally useful to us.
How is meaning created through sound colour cinematography and editing in the opening sequence of one hour photo.
When we watched the opening sequence there wera a lot of things that you could pick up on looking at it through a media point of view. The first thing I am going to talk about, is how meaning is created through the sound of the piece, one thing I noticed was that the music was very mysterious and had a dark nature to it, quite sadistic – this created a lot of enigma about what was going to happen as we didn’t know. The mysterious music also creates tension, and suspense. When the main character has the flashback, the sound is still very eery, but there is a non-dijetic sound of children’s laughter, making a juxta position between the two. Also the fact there is little dialouge in the first part of the opening sequence creates a lot of enigma involving the character – creating even more tension for the audience.
Another thing that I am going to talk about is the colour that is used in the opening sequence to one hour photo. When looking at the main character, the clothes he is wearing are very dull and grey, there is no colour to them at all. And throughout most of the opening sequence, the places where it is taken from are also very dull and bland with no colour, when he is being asked questions in a room, there is juxta position from him and the man that is asking questions because he is wearing bright colours. Later on we are taken into his house and the entire place is white. During the flashback the character has – the colour is a lot more vibrent and colourful, but also has a sepia edge to it, to remind us that this is a flashback . This creates a juxta position between the dullness of where he is now, and all the colours we are shown in the memory/flashback.
There are a lot of different editing techniques used in one our photo. First of all, we have a CU shot of a camera taking photo’s of a man, there is no non-dijetic sound added apart from the flash from the camera. We then see him in a room being asked questions there is a medium shot of the two people talking – the camera then zooms into the mans face into an ECU and hold’s it there for a couple of seconds. The screen then wipes out into a flashback the man is having, but there is also a voiceover of him talking. The whole flachback scene is put into a slight slow – motion, and there are slow wipes as it changes flashbacks. At the end of the flachback there is children’s laughter but it extended to create the picture for us of it being a memory.
From these essays we have decided to test out some techniques used in One Hour Photo. These are:
With reference to sound, editing and cinematography, how is meaning created in 1 hour photo?
One hour photo begins with several credits sliding into a black screen from the left, one by one. They have multiple colours within each word, bellow which are numbers to make the credits look like negatives from none-digital cameras. Each credit pauses in the centre of the screen to allow the viewer time to read it, before a bright light flashes in the middle of the word, to erase it. This effect looks like a flash from a camera which, therefore, gives the setting for the film, which is largely based around cameras and photography.
Throughout the opening credits there is a low, steady, pulsing base line, which represents a heart beat. High pitched strings, slowly increasing in pitch, create an ever-increasing tension, climaxing in juxtaposed silence and a bright white visual. Within the white shot is a white camera, the only colour within the whole shot is a small red button on the front of the camera. There are no curves, soft angles, colour or anything else to make the shot look welcoming, warm or friendly. The lack of emotion and sound makes the whole shot very tense and eerie. It is of extended length which builds tension with it climaxing in the camera flashing, with loud diagetic, mechanic noises of the camera. The loud noises of the camera are so shocking to the viewer because of the eerie silence before hand.
The camera then cuts to a close-up shot of a computer screen loading the photograph the camera has just taken, it is of a white man with bland, colourless clothes and bleach-blonde hair standing in front of a brilliant blue background, the only colour in the scene so far. The camera quickly cuts to a medium shot of the camera which suddenly jerks to an extreme close-up of the same camera. This shows the significance of the camera in the film and suggests the film will be unpredictable. This quick change in camera angles is accompanied by the same shutter, mechanical noise and flash of the camera as before, this makes the viewer jump and feel uneasy.
The camera cuts to an establishing shot of a dark room, which pans around to show a completely white room, with the man from the photograph sat at a table, the only colour in the room is a red chair. The theme of red being the only colour in the room seems to follow throughout the opening sequence. The complete lack of colour and silence in the room represents the isolation of not only the room but the man sat at the table. This gives the viewer an idea that the man may be lonely and vulnerable to the world. This is reinforced later in the film when we get to see his house for the first time. It looks much like the blank interrogation room in that there is no colour; all of his appliances and furniture are white and bland.
The isolation of the room is interrupted by a door loudly opening and slamming shut, in storms a man wearing a bright blue shirt, suggesting he is a police officer. The colouring of his shirt stand out from the blank room and from the mundane-coloured man (now being shown as a criminal) sat at the table. The camera cuts from the establishing shot to a medium, over the shoulder shot of the police officer, and then the same shot of the man.
There is little sound in the shot, nothing more than a none-diagetic slow rumble and diagetic conversation, through lowered voices, between the man and the officer. Within the conversation the officer asks a series of questions, the final of which makes the man think; a close-up of his face shows his thought process. The camera cuts to a medium, unstable, zoom of a woman with a camera, there are lots of bright, saturated colours and the it has been slowed slightly, only 10 per cent or so, but enough to make it look like a memory or reminiscence. The entire shot is juxtaposed to all of the previous angles, there are no strait lines, or sharp angles; everything is soft, warm and welcoming.
Soft piano and strings enter with the shot creating a positive, uplifting mood. The sound of laughter and children playing is also heard but at a slower pace and with an echo effect, this adds to the memory/reminiscence theme. There is an unusual voice over from the man in the interrogation room which shows the viewer it is his memory. It also allows the viewer to see what he is remembering perfectly, not their own interpretation of his words. This puts the viewer in a privileged position, and can understand this mans personality and thoughts.
An establishing shot follows with a soft pan of a garden full of balloons and bright colours, giving the impression of a child birthday party. Following this are several point of view shots, none of which are stable, which puts the viewer into the scene. All of the colours are saturated and sounds have an echo effect, also all of the shots are slowed slightly. The shots show a young boy blowing out his birthday candles and a water fight between several children. All of the shots are selectively focused upon one child, (the birthday boy) and, what appear to be, his parents. The voice-over, soft music and laughter all continue through the several shots.
The family shown in this scene are later shown in their home, full of warm colours and soft lighting, which is juxtaposed to the man’s home which is completely white, hard and eerie to the viewer. Sharp shots and jerky movements of the camera are also used to reinforce the mood of the house. This sets the scene for the entire film and also gives more information on each character.
Dale also wrote a similar essay with a similar title, also discussing the different media elements used in One Hour Photo. He has included different information than Kirsty, so both are equally useful to us.
How is meaning created through sound colour cinematography and editing in the opening sequence of one hour photo.
When we watched the opening sequence there wera a lot of things that you could pick up on looking at it through a media point of view. The first thing I am going to talk about, is how meaning is created through the sound of the piece, one thing I noticed was that the music was very mysterious and had a dark nature to it, quite sadistic – this created a lot of enigma about what was going to happen as we didn’t know. The mysterious music also creates tension, and suspense. When the main character has the flashback, the sound is still very eery, but there is a non-dijetic sound of children’s laughter, making a juxta position between the two. Also the fact there is little dialouge in the first part of the opening sequence creates a lot of enigma involving the character – creating even more tension for the audience.
Another thing that I am going to talk about is the colour that is used in the opening sequence to one hour photo. When looking at the main character, the clothes he is wearing are very dull and grey, there is no colour to them at all. And throughout most of the opening sequence, the places where it is taken from are also very dull and bland with no colour, when he is being asked questions in a room, there is juxta position from him and the man that is asking questions because he is wearing bright colours. Later on we are taken into his house and the entire place is white. During the flashback the character has – the colour is a lot more vibrent and colourful, but also has a sepia edge to it, to remind us that this is a flashback . This creates a juxta position between the dullness of where he is now, and all the colours we are shown in the memory/flashback.
There are a lot of different editing techniques used in one our photo. First of all, we have a CU shot of a camera taking photo’s of a man, there is no non-dijetic sound added apart from the flash from the camera. We then see him in a room being asked questions there is a medium shot of the two people talking – the camera then zooms into the mans face into an ECU and hold’s it there for a couple of seconds. The screen then wipes out into a flashback the man is having, but there is also a voiceover of him talking. The whole flachback scene is put into a slight slow – motion, and there are slow wipes as it changes flashbacks. At the end of the flachback there is children’s laughter but it extended to create the picture for us of it being a memory.
From these essays we have decided to test out some techniques used in One Hour Photo. These are:
- the colourless life Si lives
- the idea of the obsessive link to photograqphs
- the unknowing victim
- the stalking in the car
- the knowledge Si has of his victims
Research of Different Genres
Notting Hill
1999
Directed by Roger Michell
Romantic Comedy
· Opening Credits
· Everything is slowed down
· No establishing shot
· Fades
· Slow pan
· Main character smiles in most of the shots
· She is centralised (selective focus)
· Unsaturated colours (red stands out)
· Tracking Hugh Grant
· Saturated colours
· Hugh Grant not centralised/ no selective focus
· Many more extras
· More realistic MES
· Establishing shot
· Don’t see his face much
· Voice over
· Meet important characters
Ghostbusters
1984
Directed by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis
Action/comedy/sci fi
· Establishing shot of building
· ECU lion
· Tracking shot of main woman
· Establishing shot of inside the library
· Weird sci fi SFX
· Dark (not light)
· Dull colours
· Enclosed space
· Stereotypical Library MES – lots of wooden shelves and books
· High pitched strings
· Fast paced drum beat
· Alpha channel mask – iris
· Credits
· Bright red
· Easily recognisable theme tune
· “Ghostbusters” logo
· Glow around the lettering
· Black solid font
· Super imposed onto establishing shot of building
· Music bridges several shots and scenes
Never back down
Director: Jeff Wadlow
Writer: Chris Hauty
Release Date: 4 April 2008 (UK)
Genre: Action Drama Sport
Plot: At his new high school, a rebellious teen is lured into an underground fight club, where he finds a mentor in a mixed martial arts veteran.
The scene I am going to talk about is where Jake (good guy) has found out that Ryan (bad guy) has beat up his best mate Max and is going to sort this rivalry out at the beat down.
Sound
The sound in this scene fits the genre, they use a music track called stronger by Kanye West, it fits with this scene really well as Jake travels to the club where beat down is. The song allows us the audience to know how Jake is feeling and what his intention is. The song is lowered so we can hear dialog between Jake and his mum this is important as we see how both of them have changed. The song is non diagetic at the start of the scene and when he gets in the club it slowly fades to diagetic
Mise en scene
Card bored box in Jakes room, we see this at the beginning of the film, we find out that’s it is his dead dads stuff. They use this to show his respect for his dad, as he goes in the box and gets his dads T-shirt and puts it on, this shows he had a close relationship with his dad.
Gloves to show he is going to fight.
Camera angles
The scene with Jake’s mum coming in his room, this little scene helps the audience see how the mum n Jake are feeling. It show Jake packing his bag ready for beat down and his mum walks in and he say “I don’t want to lie about this” and his mum says “I’m not going to ask you to.” This shows how the relationship between him and his mum has changed. They use these camera angle to show this:-
Close up
Over shoulder shot
Medium shot of his face down the third line on the right side of the screen, we also see in this shot Jake’s emotion on his face.
Over shoulder shot of Jake, his mum is bigger than him and it shows she is in control as she is positioned higher than Jake.
When he gets to the beat down they use a crane shot and lots of pans in a medium shot as he rushes through the crowed.
Editing
Eye line match – when Jake and his mum are talking in his room.
Quick cuts to build the tension coming up to the climax of the film.
Continuity editing.
Mean girls
Directed by: Mark Waters
Released: 2004
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Sound
Safari music comes on during credits and then continues into the first scene- sound bridge-connecting the two scenes together.
Music fades out for dialogue to be introduced.
Once important introduction of the characters has been heard safari music begins again.
Voice over of Katy, this helps the audience understand how she feels and it also helps with the pictures that tell the story which goes along with the voice over.
Uplifting/bubbly music.
When flashbacks of Katy back in Africa safari music plays to set the scene.
Sound effects -bus
Modern music to introduce viewer to school and school life.
As music is played background noise form people can be heard.
Music dramatically stops at the end of opening scene.
Mise-en-scene
Simple cloths/ standard clothes.
Brown paper bag to represents packed lunch-school.
Neutral make-up creates the feeling of simplicity.
Camera – talking pictures of daughter going to school.
Glasses and old fashioned clothes to make character look clever.
Chequered skirts and denim overalls to make characters look like farmers.
Wild animals – to represent Africa.
Sandy- desert like setting.
School bus
School bag
School desks, chairs, books, posters, detailed school equipment, black board to create the image of a class room.
Coffee and donuts.
Camera angles
Low angle shot/ point of view daughter looking at parents.
Close up of mothers face.
Back to low angle shot.
Pan upwards to show characters are now level with each other.
Medium shot used to show dialogue between characters.
Photos taken in medium shot, so all of the character and surrounding can be seen.
Close up of face- allows us to see her reaction to what is happening around her.
Over the shoulder shot, to show a conversation between two people.
Medium shot of two people colliding, and then a quick close up to show coffee being spilt.
Editing
Continuity editing.
Match on action.
Flashes on every picture.
The opening of this film is simply edited and uses basic techniques so the targeted audience will understand what the director wants to get across.
Without a Paddle
Genre: Comedy
Director: Steven Brill
Writer: Fred Wolf
Harris Goldberg
Year: 2004
Sound
Non-diagetic music, reminiscent of the time when the characters were young.
Little conversation but there is some dialogue heard over the top of the music
All of the diagetic sound is heard but the music is prominent
Mise en scene
Realistic / stereotypical
The flag and compass prominent as they are significant later in the film
In the shot of the boys trick or treating, there is a lot of pumpkins and skeletons in the front garden to show it is Halloween.
Camera angles
First shot is a medium shot of all 4 boys to introduce the characters and show they are most important. There are very few other people in the opening sequence
Lots of close ups of the boys working/playing
Long shots of the boys playing
High angles shots from the trees and the tree house
Another medium shot to show all 4 boys dressed up for Halloween, it shows they are never apart.
A shot of the 4 boys on their bikes, 3 on the third line the fourth is centralised to show something is going to happen to his bike; he falls off in the next shot
Low angled shots to make the jump over the stream look higher and more significant
Close-ups of their faces at graduation, introducing the characters, with their names across the bottom of the screen
There is a low angled point of view shot of a golden skull with jewels in it, to make the viewer feel the same awe as the boys, which then cuts to a high angled point of view shot of another boy watching them.
There is a further medium shot of the boys eating their lunches sat on the edge of the tree house, however, the camera then moves to show only 3, the 4th is off to the left. This shows that the 4th is less significant, and that the other 3 can live without him. He dies at the beginning of the film. This is the main story line.
After the 4th boy has attempted to jump the stream, the camera cuts back to all of them at graduation, proud they have graduated, then back to the boys proud they have completed the jump, showing nothing has changed.
The final shot is a medium shot of all of them happy at graduation. Tom is highest in the shot, then Jerry, then Dan then Billy. This shows the ranking of the boys, in order of power and significance to the film. Because Billy dies at the beginning he is last in the ranking. Dan is weedy and nervous so follows Tom, the most daring; he has been in prison and very rarely has a job, and Jerry; out-going, quite daring, but cleaver and stuck in a dead end job.
Editing
The initial credits are in a child-like font, white on a black screen
Some letters are wrongly capitalised; childish
Some shots, the boys are aware of a camera being there and do things in front of the camera on purpose. These shots use a handheld camera to show it is being filmed by someone, and also puts the viewer into the scene.
The camera very often moves to show the viewer what is happening instead of cutting to a different angle/shot
The credits continue through the entire sequence, however, they are purposely small and in the bottom corners of the shots, to show they are less significant to the rest of the shot.
The medium shot each boy jumping over the river on their bikes fades to a slowed-down close up of them at their graduation, their names are bellow almost like a signature. The shot then cuts back to the boy half way through the jump and then landing it. This is a cutaway.
There is a fade after the shot of the boys celebrating their jump, back to them at graduation.
Scary Movie
Horror Spoof
Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans
Writer: Craig Mazin
Year: 2001
Sound
Jumpy violin music, to coincide with what’s happening in the scene.
Most music non-diagetic/ tense fits in with the scene.
Voice on phone, dialogue / voice-over
Mise en scene
Posh house, very large kitchen
Some skeletons on show, and other representatives to show that it is Halloween
Popcorn been made, keeps getting bigger
The arrangement of guns and the banana un-realistic
The popcorn becoming massive size, also unrealistic
Scream/ wearing a mask and has a blade, mysterious and dangerous
Stereotypical blonde, long blonde hair, big chest, thin body (throughout the whole scene keeps making the obvious wrong decision)
Camera Angles
Establishing shot of house
Close up of popcorn
Pan of girl answering phone / talking
Slow zoom, puts her on 3rd line from the left hand side
Medium shot of popcorn, popcorn is central
Extreme Close Up of girl locking door
The camera is used to make it look like there’s someone in the house following her around
Medium shot of scream, followed by a Close up of him looking at the magazine
Medium Shot of popcorn again
As she is on the phone she is consistently on the 3rd line to the left hand side
Medium shot /point of view of her ex boyfriend taped to a chair
As bad things are happening she moves more to the central line, keeping her in central view so the audience can focus on her expressions
Tracking shot of the woman running to the door
Medium Shot of the popcorn again, but this time, popcorn is un-realistically large
Point of view shot of the woman looking out of the window, switched to a medium shot of the woman against the door
Zoom into screams face
Tracking shot following woman
Medium shot of woman
Tracking shot of woman running away while scream entails
Editing
The whole phone conversation with the woman and scream is voice over’s
Slow motion of the girl running through the sprinklers
Music fitting in with the scenes perfectly.
As you can see we developed our research as we became more comfortable with the process. The later reviews are much more detailed than the previous ones. These reviews are more useful to us as they include more precise points and are more organised. It was these reviews that helped us to narrow down our choice of genre and also gave us ideas for mis-en-scene, music and camera angles. It gave us a better idea of what cinematography is typical of each genre.
1999
Directed by Roger Michell
Romantic Comedy
· Opening Credits
· Everything is slowed down
· No establishing shot
· Fades
· Slow pan
· Main character smiles in most of the shots
· She is centralised (selective focus)
· Unsaturated colours (red stands out)
· Tracking Hugh Grant
· Saturated colours
· Hugh Grant not centralised/ no selective focus
· Many more extras
· More realistic MES
· Establishing shot
· Don’t see his face much
· Voice over
· Meet important characters
Ghostbusters
1984
Directed by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis
Action/comedy/sci fi
· Establishing shot of building
· ECU lion
· Tracking shot of main woman
· Establishing shot of inside the library
· Weird sci fi SFX
· Dark (not light)
· Dull colours
· Enclosed space
· Stereotypical Library MES – lots of wooden shelves and books
· High pitched strings
· Fast paced drum beat
· Alpha channel mask – iris
· Credits
· Bright red
· Easily recognisable theme tune
· “Ghostbusters” logo
· Glow around the lettering
· Black solid font
· Super imposed onto establishing shot of building
· Music bridges several shots and scenes
Never back down
Director: Jeff Wadlow
Writer: Chris Hauty
Release Date: 4 April 2008 (UK)
Genre: Action Drama Sport
Plot: At his new high school, a rebellious teen is lured into an underground fight club, where he finds a mentor in a mixed martial arts veteran.
The scene I am going to talk about is where Jake (good guy) has found out that Ryan (bad guy) has beat up his best mate Max and is going to sort this rivalry out at the beat down.
Sound
The sound in this scene fits the genre, they use a music track called stronger by Kanye West, it fits with this scene really well as Jake travels to the club where beat down is. The song allows us the audience to know how Jake is feeling and what his intention is. The song is lowered so we can hear dialog between Jake and his mum this is important as we see how both of them have changed. The song is non diagetic at the start of the scene and when he gets in the club it slowly fades to diagetic
Mise en scene
Card bored box in Jakes room, we see this at the beginning of the film, we find out that’s it is his dead dads stuff. They use this to show his respect for his dad, as he goes in the box and gets his dads T-shirt and puts it on, this shows he had a close relationship with his dad.
Gloves to show he is going to fight.
Camera angles
The scene with Jake’s mum coming in his room, this little scene helps the audience see how the mum n Jake are feeling. It show Jake packing his bag ready for beat down and his mum walks in and he say “I don’t want to lie about this” and his mum says “I’m not going to ask you to.” This shows how the relationship between him and his mum has changed. They use these camera angle to show this:-
Close up
Over shoulder shot
Medium shot of his face down the third line on the right side of the screen, we also see in this shot Jake’s emotion on his face.
Over shoulder shot of Jake, his mum is bigger than him and it shows she is in control as she is positioned higher than Jake.
When he gets to the beat down they use a crane shot and lots of pans in a medium shot as he rushes through the crowed.
Editing
Eye line match – when Jake and his mum are talking in his room.
Quick cuts to build the tension coming up to the climax of the film.
Continuity editing.
Mean girls
Directed by: Mark Waters
Released: 2004
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Sound
Safari music comes on during credits and then continues into the first scene- sound bridge-connecting the two scenes together.
Music fades out for dialogue to be introduced.
Once important introduction of the characters has been heard safari music begins again.
Voice over of Katy, this helps the audience understand how she feels and it also helps with the pictures that tell the story which goes along with the voice over.
Uplifting/bubbly music.
When flashbacks of Katy back in Africa safari music plays to set the scene.
Sound effects -bus
Modern music to introduce viewer to school and school life.
As music is played background noise form people can be heard.
Music dramatically stops at the end of opening scene.
Mise-en-scene
Simple cloths/ standard clothes.
Brown paper bag to represents packed lunch-school.
Neutral make-up creates the feeling of simplicity.
Camera – talking pictures of daughter going to school.
Glasses and old fashioned clothes to make character look clever.
Chequered skirts and denim overalls to make characters look like farmers.
Wild animals – to represent Africa.
Sandy- desert like setting.
School bus
School bag
School desks, chairs, books, posters, detailed school equipment, black board to create the image of a class room.
Coffee and donuts.
Camera angles
Low angle shot/ point of view daughter looking at parents.
Close up of mothers face.
Back to low angle shot.
Pan upwards to show characters are now level with each other.
Medium shot used to show dialogue between characters.
Photos taken in medium shot, so all of the character and surrounding can be seen.
Close up of face- allows us to see her reaction to what is happening around her.
Over the shoulder shot, to show a conversation between two people.
Medium shot of two people colliding, and then a quick close up to show coffee being spilt.
Editing
Continuity editing.
Match on action.
Flashes on every picture.
The opening of this film is simply edited and uses basic techniques so the targeted audience will understand what the director wants to get across.
Without a Paddle
Genre: Comedy
Director: Steven Brill
Writer: Fred Wolf
Harris Goldberg
Year: 2004
Sound
Non-diagetic music, reminiscent of the time when the characters were young.
Little conversation but there is some dialogue heard over the top of the music
All of the diagetic sound is heard but the music is prominent
Mise en scene
Realistic / stereotypical
The flag and compass prominent as they are significant later in the film
In the shot of the boys trick or treating, there is a lot of pumpkins and skeletons in the front garden to show it is Halloween.
Camera angles
First shot is a medium shot of all 4 boys to introduce the characters and show they are most important. There are very few other people in the opening sequence
Lots of close ups of the boys working/playing
Long shots of the boys playing
High angles shots from the trees and the tree house
Another medium shot to show all 4 boys dressed up for Halloween, it shows they are never apart.
A shot of the 4 boys on their bikes, 3 on the third line the fourth is centralised to show something is going to happen to his bike; he falls off in the next shot
Low angled shots to make the jump over the stream look higher and more significant
Close-ups of their faces at graduation, introducing the characters, with their names across the bottom of the screen
There is a low angled point of view shot of a golden skull with jewels in it, to make the viewer feel the same awe as the boys, which then cuts to a high angled point of view shot of another boy watching them.
There is a further medium shot of the boys eating their lunches sat on the edge of the tree house, however, the camera then moves to show only 3, the 4th is off to the left. This shows that the 4th is less significant, and that the other 3 can live without him. He dies at the beginning of the film. This is the main story line.
After the 4th boy has attempted to jump the stream, the camera cuts back to all of them at graduation, proud they have graduated, then back to the boys proud they have completed the jump, showing nothing has changed.
The final shot is a medium shot of all of them happy at graduation. Tom is highest in the shot, then Jerry, then Dan then Billy. This shows the ranking of the boys, in order of power and significance to the film. Because Billy dies at the beginning he is last in the ranking. Dan is weedy and nervous so follows Tom, the most daring; he has been in prison and very rarely has a job, and Jerry; out-going, quite daring, but cleaver and stuck in a dead end job.
Editing
The initial credits are in a child-like font, white on a black screen
Some letters are wrongly capitalised; childish
Some shots, the boys are aware of a camera being there and do things in front of the camera on purpose. These shots use a handheld camera to show it is being filmed by someone, and also puts the viewer into the scene.
The camera very often moves to show the viewer what is happening instead of cutting to a different angle/shot
The credits continue through the entire sequence, however, they are purposely small and in the bottom corners of the shots, to show they are less significant to the rest of the shot.
The medium shot each boy jumping over the river on their bikes fades to a slowed-down close up of them at their graduation, their names are bellow almost like a signature. The shot then cuts back to the boy half way through the jump and then landing it. This is a cutaway.
There is a fade after the shot of the boys celebrating their jump, back to them at graduation.
Scary Movie
Horror Spoof
Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans
Writer: Craig Mazin
Year: 2001
Sound
Jumpy violin music, to coincide with what’s happening in the scene.
Most music non-diagetic/ tense fits in with the scene.
Voice on phone, dialogue / voice-over
Mise en scene
Posh house, very large kitchen
Some skeletons on show, and other representatives to show that it is Halloween
Popcorn been made, keeps getting bigger
The arrangement of guns and the banana un-realistic
The popcorn becoming massive size, also unrealistic
Scream/ wearing a mask and has a blade, mysterious and dangerous
Stereotypical blonde, long blonde hair, big chest, thin body (throughout the whole scene keeps making the obvious wrong decision)
Camera Angles
Establishing shot of house
Close up of popcorn
Pan of girl answering phone / talking
Slow zoom, puts her on 3rd line from the left hand side
Medium shot of popcorn, popcorn is central
Extreme Close Up of girl locking door
The camera is used to make it look like there’s someone in the house following her around
Medium shot of scream, followed by a Close up of him looking at the magazine
Medium Shot of popcorn again
As she is on the phone she is consistently on the 3rd line to the left hand side
Medium shot /point of view of her ex boyfriend taped to a chair
As bad things are happening she moves more to the central line, keeping her in central view so the audience can focus on her expressions
Tracking shot of the woman running to the door
Medium Shot of the popcorn again, but this time, popcorn is un-realistically large
Point of view shot of the woman looking out of the window, switched to a medium shot of the woman against the door
Zoom into screams face
Tracking shot following woman
Medium shot of woman
Tracking shot of woman running away while scream entails
Editing
The whole phone conversation with the woman and scream is voice over’s
Slow motion of the girl running through the sprinklers
Music fitting in with the scenes perfectly.
As you can see we developed our research as we became more comfortable with the process. The later reviews are much more detailed than the previous ones. These reviews are more useful to us as they include more precise points and are more organised. It was these reviews that helped us to narrow down our choice of genre and also gave us ideas for mis-en-scene, music and camera angles. It gave us a better idea of what cinematography is typical of each genre.
Monday 10 November 2008
Questionnaire
We have decided to carry out a questionnaire to research our target audience and what they would like to see in an opening sequence to a fictional film. We carried out a pilot questionnaire and got five people to fill it out.
From our pilot questionnaire we found that our first two questions were successful, in that people understood the question and answered them correctly. However, we found question 3 to be too complicated and hard to understand. Therefore, we will look into either re-wording it or replacing the question. If we were to leave this question as it is, our resluts would be inacurate as to people's actual thoughts and we would then create a film which would not give the pleasures the audience wants from a film.
For question 4 we devised a numerical system for people to rank their worries in society. After reading their responses and asking for their feedback we decided that the ordering system was too impersonal and vulgar to rank such terrible issues. It was also very tedious and time-consuming for them to think about each answer and give them a ranking. They also felt self-concious by the fact they may have ranked the issues in a different order than someone else, therefore making them feel inconsiderate and heartless. From this we have decided to keep the question as it is relevant to our genre, however, we will ammend our answering system to a more simple and less personal tick box answer.
For question 5 we have decided to re-word the question, this is because the answers were verry vague and did not give us any relevant or useful information. We will change it to what they think are the most common villains in thriller films as this will give us much more information which we can use in our planning.
From our pilot questionnaire we found that our first two questions were successful, in that people understood the question and answered them correctly. However, we found question 3 to be too complicated and hard to understand. Therefore, we will look into either re-wording it or replacing the question. If we were to leave this question as it is, our resluts would be inacurate as to people's actual thoughts and we would then create a film which would not give the pleasures the audience wants from a film.
For question 4 we devised a numerical system for people to rank their worries in society. After reading their responses and asking for their feedback we decided that the ordering system was too impersonal and vulgar to rank such terrible issues. It was also very tedious and time-consuming for them to think about each answer and give them a ranking. They also felt self-concious by the fact they may have ranked the issues in a different order than someone else, therefore making them feel inconsiderate and heartless. From this we have decided to keep the question as it is relevant to our genre, however, we will ammend our answering system to a more simple and less personal tick box answer.
For question 5 we have decided to re-word the question, this is because the answers were verry vague and did not give us any relevant or useful information. We will change it to what they think are the most common villains in thriller films as this will give us much more information which we can use in our planning.
Preliminary Exercise
We filmed a sequence of Helen opening a door, sitting down on a chair, and diversing a dialouge between her and Kirsty. Dan was the camera man filming it and editing was done by the whole group. Kirsty and Helen acted for the production of the preliminary exercise. Everybody contributed to writing and storyboarding the piece and choosing the various camera angles used.
This exercise helped Helen to learn the basics of creating media and the various preparations required. Dan and Kirsty did media at GCSE level so they already knew this, but the exercise taught them the use of the 3rd line and the 360 degree rule. During the editing everyone increased their knowledge to a more diverse range of skills within the software.
We began our short sequence with an extreme close up of Helen's hand pressing down the door handle. This means the viewer knows nothing of the setting or action, creating tension. The camera cuts to a close up of the other side of the door, you see the handle press down, the door open and Helen begin to walk through the door. The close up continues the tension as the audience is still unaware of the situation. The next shot is a medium shot of Helen continueing through the door and starting to walk down the stairs. She is on the third line to show she is the most significant object in the shot, it also makes the shot more interesting to view. The camera then cuts to a tracking shot of Helen walking down the stairs, as she reaches the bottom Kirsty comes into view sat behind a desk. They are both on the third line to show their significance. Helen is higher in the scene to make her look more vulnerable, and give Kirsty the control. This shot shows the viewer much more of the room and so eliminates the tension. The camera cuts to a point of viwer shot from Helen to Kirsty. This puts the audience in the position of Helen, and makes them think the same as her, even though they know little about the scene. The camera then cuts back to the tracking shot to show where she has walked to. As Helen sits down the camera cuts to an over the shoulder shot of Kirsty behind the desk as she delivers her speach. The camera then cuts to an eyeline match of the previous shot, in an over the shoulder shot of Helen as she speaks. The eyeline match makes the scene easy to watch and allows the viewer to keep up with the action without much effort. The final shot is an over the shoulder shot of Kirsty, this is a continuation of the eyeline match. Throughout the entire sequence the 180 degree rule is utilised, this creates continuity, and was also part of the brief.
This exercise helped Helen to learn the basics of creating media and the various preparations required. Dan and Kirsty did media at GCSE level so they already knew this, but the exercise taught them the use of the 3rd line and the 360 degree rule. During the editing everyone increased their knowledge to a more diverse range of skills within the software.
We began our short sequence with an extreme close up of Helen's hand pressing down the door handle. This means the viewer knows nothing of the setting or action, creating tension. The camera cuts to a close up of the other side of the door, you see the handle press down, the door open and Helen begin to walk through the door. The close up continues the tension as the audience is still unaware of the situation. The next shot is a medium shot of Helen continueing through the door and starting to walk down the stairs. She is on the third line to show she is the most significant object in the shot, it also makes the shot more interesting to view. The camera then cuts to a tracking shot of Helen walking down the stairs, as she reaches the bottom Kirsty comes into view sat behind a desk. They are both on the third line to show their significance. Helen is higher in the scene to make her look more vulnerable, and give Kirsty the control. This shot shows the viewer much more of the room and so eliminates the tension. The camera cuts to a point of viwer shot from Helen to Kirsty. This puts the audience in the position of Helen, and makes them think the same as her, even though they know little about the scene. The camera then cuts back to the tracking shot to show where she has walked to. As Helen sits down the camera cuts to an over the shoulder shot of Kirsty behind the desk as she delivers her speach. The camera then cuts to an eyeline match of the previous shot, in an over the shoulder shot of Helen as she speaks. The eyeline match makes the scene easy to watch and allows the viewer to keep up with the action without much effort. The final shot is an over the shoulder shot of Kirsty, this is a continuation of the eyeline match. Throughout the entire sequence the 180 degree rule is utilised, this creates continuity, and was also part of the brief.
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