21 October 2013

Opening3: Now You See Me


Louis Leterrier, 2007 (Comedy/Action, 15)
Produced by: Summit Entertainment
Distributed by: Entertainment One
Budget: $75M
Box Office: $17M
Rotten Tomatoes: Scored 50%



Opening Shot:
The opening shot shows the main character practising a card trick, this card trick looks flamboyant and complicated. This has been designed to show his prowess and skill at magic. The shots used in this scene are sweeping, the camera moves swiftly, generally in a circle around the actor.

eyes closed





relics

enigma
sweeping shots

Opening2: The Truman Show


Peter Wier, 1998 (Sci-Fi/Drama, PG)
Produced by: Paramount Pictures
Budget: $60M
Box Office:$240M (worldwide) £9M (UK)
Rotten Tomatoes: Scored 94%
Opening Length: Approx. 5 mins

Opening Shot:
The fake credits
The opening shot shows the creator of the Truman show, christof, in an interview. It is solely him on screen. This shot is very basic, designed to set up the movie as a documentary of sorts. The next shot is of Truman talking to himself, this shot has been edited to appear as though it is on a TV. The shot has clutter, such as perfume and other toiletries, along the bottom of the shot. This is atypical to the types of shots often found in reality shows and has been made to show the way in which the camera's are placed on the show. We then see some fake opening credits, they introduce the characters and the character's characters. Clearly this has been set up like this so that the people watching the movie feel like their watching the TV show instead. 
The cluttered shot

Later Shots:
The slight high angle
When the light falls the camera is at a slight high angle, this shows truman's worry and powerlessness over the situation. As he goes to examine the light the angle moves to ground level, showing that Truman has now realised the light poses no threat. The next shot is of truman in his car, this shot has been edited to show numbers infront, highlighting the hidden camera style of the show. The shot is now low angle, this shows that truman is calm and seems to be back in control. By gradually changing the camera shot (going from high to middle to low) it demonstrates that truman isn't instantly in control but is instead slowly regaining control, in a tentative manner. 



19 October 2013

Opening1: Hot Fuzz


Edgar Wright, 2007 (Comedy/Action, 15)
Produced by: Universal Pictures
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Budget: $8M
Box Office: £20M
Rotten Tomatoes: Scored 91%
Opening Length: Approx. 5 mins



Idents and Titles:
The Idents are linked together by an audio bridge of some sirens and a jail door, these both link to police and so prepare the audience for the setting


Opening Shot:
Opening Shot.
The opening shot shows the main character walking towards a desk. It is an extreme long shot. The yellow light connotes an action film or a sci-fi. The light is polysemic, as we do not have any Anchorage, we can see on the desk files and other office items. From this Mise en scene we know that this is a busy office as, opposed to having just a few files, there are many files, one of which is open and there is also a paper tray filled with paper. This indicates that the office is actually in use, even though we do not see any receptionist.
Note the people in the background.

Later Shots:
The next shot is cut up by clips from a montage. This was done in order to make the scene feel busy and well populated. This is also shown by having people cross in front and behind of the character. All of the people on screen for this shot are facing the opposite way to the main character, this emphasizes the mission that he is on and also reinforces the busy feeling of the scene. 
Screenshot 3

The character is also shown, throughout the montage as being brave and a good policeman however, (particularly in screenshot 3) he is also shown to be looking stupid. this highlights both the action genre and the comedy genre. There are other shots within the montages, such as a shot where the camera is seemingly running towards the door, that presents the busy nature of the main character's life.

We then cut to an almost complete contrast of this to a meeting between the Sargent and the protagonist. The scene has been slowed down completely. The background music has stopped and been replaced with standard office sounds (ie telephones, typing and paper). This scene shows a dialouge between two characters about nicholas' (the main character's) transfer. This scene sticks to the 180° rule. The camera always stays on the right of nicholas and the left of the Sargent, even during a track shot.

18 October 2013

The AS Brief + Markscheme

Our Brief is to:
Create the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.
All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source. 



Microdrama: If ‘The Real Thing’ I’d…

The completed microdrama can be viewed here:



If the microdrama was a proper assessment I would have spent more time planning the microdrama, as it felt very rushed. I would have done a proper storyboard and I would have taken the time to write a proper Screenplay.

As well as this, while filming, I would have taken the time to do more takes and increase the Shot Variety I would change this because i think that with a greater shot variety there would be more Verisimilitude.

In addition to this I would vastly improve the setting, by hanging the mise-en-scene and adjusting the lighting I think that the microdrama would be greatly improved.

16 October 2013

Hacker

This is the hacker video:


4 October 2013

Sound: Codes and Conventions

So far I have observed:

  • There is often an audio bridge between the last ident and the opening shot, particularly in comedies.
  • There is also often some kind of non-diegetic music within the opening scene.
  • The sound is often designed to make the audience think and feel a certain way, in  horror this is done by making low notes beat faster and high notes be drawn out.
  • This is easily tested by doing a commutation test and swapping out the instruments with another, unlinked instrument.
  • A key point that I have noticed is that the music in non-invasive, meaning that the audience shouldn't notice it. This rings true even for the horror  movie Childs Play IV(Yu, 1998), where the music fades out for the kills, something which the audience may not consciously clock immediately, but invokes a reaction all the same.

PRELIM: My Prelim + Reflections

My Prelim can be watched here:



I completed the task for the prelim, and I think that it went well. By making this prelim I have learnt about continuity editing.

I have learnt how to film and edit match on action. Match on actions are good ways of transitioning from one setting and shot to another. When they are edited well they provide a seemless transition. I think that my match on action has been edited well but could still be edited better, there are a few frames that I could get rid of on either of the 2 clips, I will bear this in mind when I next edit a match on action shot.

I have discovered the 180-degree rule through this. I think that I will be using the 180-degree rule in my coursework, should it involve dialouge, as it is a better and less confusing way to film a convosation.

All in all I have learnt a lot from this task, and many of these things I will use in order to further increase the quality of my coursework.

3 October 2013

SoundEG3: Bride of Chucky

This is the poster for the movie.
Bride of Chucky [Childs Play IV]

Ronny Yu, 1998 (Slasher, 18)
Produced by: Universal Pictures.
Distributed by: Metronome Distribution
Budget: $25m
Box Office: $50.7m worldwide. £526k UK
TrailerWikipedia
RottenTomatoes: Scored 42%

Synopsis:
The fourth film in the Chucky franchise, it follows on 8 years after the previous Childs Play film. Focusing on Chucky's quest to escape the doll's body he is trapped within. 

Idents:
Bride of Chucky (Yu, 2008) starts with non-diegetic music over the idents. This music creates an audio bridge between both idents and the opening shot.

Music:
The music is strings which play slow, drawn out notes, they are combined in the background with a drum, playing slow beats. This beat then builds to a faster beat after briefly stopping. This creates the tension and connotes footsteps or a heart beat (it is polysemic until we have further signifiers and therefore anchorage). The music here has been specificly designed to create tension.

Changes in the Music:
There is an increase in the pitch and a change to sharp and flat notes all this combined with the fast drum drastically increases the tension. When we do a commutation test we find that this music has been very specifically designed for creating tension and making the audience feel nervous.

Diegetics:
The non-diegetic and diegetic sound are combined and the non-diegetic sound is more exaggerated than it would be in real life (an example of this is the phone, which rings as if it were on speaker phone) the young and naive voice on the other side of the phone creates an impression on the audience.

Volume Changes:
The music quietens for the sound of drips. This makes us focus on what is happening on screen and then when the radio activates we are shocked by the loud noise of it starting happening in the quiet.
The music the returns, making the audience feel safe. It then stops just before the person dies then returns at a faster pace as the dialogue is spoken.

Why has the music been designed like this?:
The music has been specifically designed in order to create tension, it's made to make the audience feel scared and afraid before any action has happened. The music prepares the audience for what will happen throughout the film. The long and slow notes combined with the percussion has an interesting effect on the audience, the long notes make yon hold your breath but the percussion makes your heart beat faster. Within the opening within the opening has been designed to fade and stop before any action happens, the audience will get used to this and so it can be used later on by the film makers to create the right atmosphere for each kill.

SoundEG2: Bolt

Byron Howard, Chris Williams, 2008 (Animation, PG)
Produced by: Walt Disney Animation Studios
Distributed by: Walt Disney motion Pictures
Budget: $150M
Box office: £17M (UK)
Trailer, Wikipedia
Rottentomatoes: Scored 88%

Synopsis:
Bolt, a dog, is the start of a hit TV show in which he has superpowers, he is mistakenly seperated from the studio and we follow him on his adventure back home and to his owner penny.

An ident from the film
Idents:
The idents are not linked to the main movie through the use of an audio bridge, they each have their own sound.

Music:
The music fades in along with the opening shot, this music is non-diegetic. the music sounds like a music box, this connotes memories, the ancorage provided for the fact that this is a memory is the way the scene has a sepia tone to it. The music changes key at the pivotol point that penny chooses bolt and the screen fades to black quickly.

The key decision that penny makes
Change in Music:
The music has now chasnged as the screen shows that it is 5 years later. The music is now quick paced and sounds 'action-y' it again is non-diegetic and indicates the tone for the rest of the film. This music stops when the title card comes onto screen.

Diegetics:
The music within the opening is mostly non-diegetic. For the first part I think that it is non-diegetic to emphasise the feeling that it is a memory, almost as if the music has sparked the memory of getting the dog. For the later scene the music is non-diegetic to help show that what we are watching is a TV show, it's the type of music that is expected to be found in a children/tween TV show.

Volume Changes:
The title card
The volume of the music doesn't really change whilst the music is playing. However the volume does change between scenes, in the first scene the music is soft and more atmospheric and less noticable. in the second scene the music is louder, more noticable. This makes the audience more alert and aware that there is action going on, as opposed to the scene simplly being set.

Why has the music been designed like this?
The music has been made like this very specifically, for the first scene the music is made to feel non-intrusive and reminisent, for the second scene the music has been made to make the audience feel on edge, it's the type of music that makes you sit up and pay attention as it is clear that something ionteresting will happen. This is made clear if we do a Commutation test if we were to change the music to being more quiet and less dramatic the scene has not got the same effect, it becomes just as boring as the last shot and the audience will miss the action occuring on screen because they won't be paying full attention.














SoundEG1: The Magic Roundabout

The Magic Roundabout
Dave Borthwick, Jean Deval, Frank Passingham, 2005 (Animation, U)
Produced by: Action Synthese
Distributed by: Pathé!
Budget: $20M
Box Office:£5M
Trailer, Wikipedia
Rotten Tomatoes: Scored 60% 

The Magic Roundabout(duval, passingham and borthwick, 2005) starts with 2 indents, with the latter connected by an audio bridge from it to the first shot, the two were for paithe and action synthese (with a character from the movie added into it.) and then text for the production companies which fades to the opening shot and new music starts as a pivotol and main character comes into the frame. The music sets the general tone for the rest of the movie by sounding dramatic and adventure-y. It highlights moments with creshendoes, such as the sheer cliff face in that the character faces. opening scene provides base for story before leading onto, with an non-diagetic audio bridge to the films title.
The ident with the Character in it
The point at which the music crescendos 
The title card

2 October 2013

PRELIM: Shot list

This is the basic shot list for my PRELIM task.

MLS: Character A walks towards door (Outside room, from door)
MS: Character A walks up to a door, hand on handle, starts to open it. (Outside room, focus on door)
MS: Other side of the door. Character A walks in to the room, hand still on handle, starts to walk into the room. (Inside room)
MCU: Character is crossing the room (Focus on the feet)
OTS, MCU-MS: over Character A to Character B [B starts to talk] (Focus on B)
MCU-MS: A starts to talk back to B (Focus on A, from somewhere around B)
MCU-MS: Reverse, see B talk to A (Focus on B, from somewhere around A)
2S, MS-MCU: Both A and B

PRELIM: The Task and The Terms

Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.

Continuity - everything appears logical and flows while on screen, breaking these rules would ruin the realism of the show and make it seem fake and artificial
Shot/reverse shot - different camera positions edited together to display a conversation and show both the characters during the conversation.
Match on action -  swapping between the action's start and end point, both start and end must match. For example, seeing someone throw a memory stick and then seeing someone catch it.
180-Degree rule - The camera must not go onto the other side of a line, this is so that it is clear that people are talking to each other (and not themselves).

A shot list for my PRELIM can be found here