Welcome

Welcome to my A2 media coursework blog, my name is Alice Cahill (0130)
I'm working in A2 Production Group 1 with Gavin Fraser (0245), Mahalia John (0345) and Kayvon Nabijou (0610)
Within the sidebar of my blog you can access a live link to The Latymer Media Music Video Blog, the archive to all of my posts and the labels to the A2 Preliminary Task, A2 Research & Planning, A2 Construction and A2 Evaluation

Thank you for taking your time to look at my blog.

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Sunday 8 December 2013

Tracking: Kill Your Darlings (Case Study 4)

Interview

In last week's issue of Time Out, there was an interview with Daniel Radcliffe, in which some of the questions were to do with him starring in the new film: Kill Your Darlings.
Time Out is a free magazine about what goes on around London. It's aimed at both genders, aged 18+ who like to go out.

This magazine has a very large audience, therefore the message will get out to a lot of people.












Poster Advert
In The Guardian Guide, there is an above the line, poster advert for Kill Your Darlings.
It's placed as first advert in the film section











Review


Film review of Kill Your Darlings in Time Out

Tracking: The Hobbit D of S (Case Study 3)

 TV Spot Trailer
Whilst watching The Big Bang Theory on E4 around 3pm on Sunday a Hobbit trailer came on during the advert break.
TBBT targets aged 16-25 males, and science fiction and rom-com fans.
This above the line marketing, paid by Warner Bros, is made to target teenagers and fantasy/science-fiction lovers, which is one of the The Hobbit's main audiences.










Article
A below the line article about Luke Evans' acting career in the Guardian Guide.
The article features him acting in other movies and then promotes him in his new movie: The Hobbit.
The guardian is aimed at upper-middle class 25+ male and females, maybe with families. This is another audience The Hobbit is trying to reach.











Article
Another below the line article, about Sir Ian McKellen in the Radio Christmas Times.
The article is about Sir McKellen and his acting career.
Within the article is a picture, promoting his role of Gandalf in Lord of The Rings, and within the text is a promotion of the new Hobbit film.
The Radio Times is read by TV lovers and families. The Christmas Radio Times is especially popular because there is a lot of TV at Christmas, so people buy the guide.











Advert for Competition
In last week's issue of Time Out, there was an advert promoting Odeon's Holiday Competition to New Zealand, also advertising the Hobbit.
Time Out is a free magazine about what goes on around London. It's aimed at both genders, aged 18+ who like to go out.
This magazine has a very large audience, therefore the message will get out to a lot of people.

Saturday 7 December 2013

Tracking: Kill Your Darlings (Case Study 4)

Radio Advert

(I know the audio doesn't work but it's there, I promise)
This is an advert I heard on Xfm Radio on Saturday morning before midday. The advert was about 25 seconds. It features dialogue from the film, Daniel Radcliffe's name and his role, reviews from Harper's Bazaar (fashion magazine), film release date and it's certification. It was played 2-4 times within an hour.
Xfm Radio's main audience is aged 16-25 males, who are fans of alternative music, primarily indie pop. This above the line marketing technique is effective to place in this platform because fans of indie music may also be interested in indie films such as Kill Your Darlings.

Tracking: The Hobbit D of S (Case Study 3)

TV Trailer
When watching ITV channel at 11:18pm on Friday night, I was watching an advert break for 'I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here Now' (the after show of I'm a Celebrity). A twenty second TV spot trailer came up for The Hobbit.
I expect this was targeting adults and teenagers because it was too late an advert to be aimed at children. I'm a Celebrity is targeted at 16-35 year old females, whom of which may be parents. It's sponsor is Iceland, which is aimed at TV-loving families, which is a similar audience to The Hobbit. It may also have been shown due to the show's popular ratings (the show had a five minute peak of 12.9 million viewers this series).
This is above the line marketing, paid for by Warner Bros.

Sunday 1 December 2013

Tracking: The Hobbit D of S (Case Study 3)

Theatrical Trailer in the cinema
Whilst in the cinema at 2pm a full theatrical trailer for the Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug was shown. This is a useful platform to reach keen film fans (they would not be at the cinema if they were not fans of movies).
The film I was seeing was certified 12A, which is also the same age range as The Hobbit (12A). This is beneficial, as viewers of a 12A movie are more likely to be interested in watching another 12A film rather than viewers of an adult film.



Posters
Around the cinema were a few posters promoting the new Hobbit film. This is again appealing to film fans, as they are around the cinema where film fans would be.
There was also a life-sized cardboard cutout display of some of the characters (I did not get photographical evidence). This is eye-catching and has a similar effect to posters, to give information to anyone who sees it.

Thursday 21 November 2013

Tracking: The Marketing of Case Studies 3 & 4

The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug (Case Study 3)

  • Newspaper article: The Independent
    • Below the line marketing
    • Readership is predominantly educated middle class people
    • It's valuable because it is easily accessible, it has a direct reach to specific people, it has the connectivity trait therefore readers have the ability to comment, like and share (audience involvement) - offering their opinions and boosting the marketing
  • Competition: Win a Trip to New Zealand
    • Above the line marketing - the trip's expenses and promotion by Odeon Cinema are paid for by Warner Bros.
    • This may appeal to many people: families, young adults, adults, travellers
    • It's valuable because it is includes audience involvement, audience can be entertained, but it is valuable for the film because to enter the competition they must prebook their tickets at the Odeon Cinema
      • Benefiting Odeon Cinema, the film and the winners of the holiday
  • Trailer Release from Warner Bros: Full Teaser Trailer
    • Above the line marketing - The film was paid for to produce the footage for the trailer and the editors were paid
    • This will appeal to families, adults, teenagers, action movie-lovers and essentially anyone who is interested in watching the film
    • The advantage of this marketing technique is that it has infinite shareable potential, direct reach to specific people and it's connectivity through shares, likes and comments
Some other examples I found were:

Kill Your Darlings (Case Study 4)

  • Newspaper Article: The Mirror Online
    • Below the line
    • Appeals to tabloid readers, gossip-lovers of low intellect - This is obvious through the fact that the writer focused on the subject of Daniel Radcliffe kissing another man
    • It's valuable because it is easily accessible, it has a direct reach to specific people, it has the connectivity trait therefore readers have the ability to comment, like and share (audience involvement) - offering their opinions and boosting the marketing
  • Trailer Release from Sony Pictures Classics: Full Trailer
    • Above the line
    • It reaches anyone who is interested in seeing the movie, romance/drama/biography film lovers or anyone who sees the link to the video
    • The advantage of this marketing technique is that it has infinite shareable potential, direct reach to specific people and it's connectivity through shares, likes and comments
  • Poster Release: Originally Sony Pictures Classics, but there was an article published on Empire
    • Above the line (to create the poster) but below the line for the publishing of the Empire article
    • Potentially anyone who sees the poster. This all depends on where (and if) it is placed outside of the Internet
    • This is a valuable platform of marketing because it gets the word out quickly so information can spread through word of mouth and sharing of the image through social media sites
Some other examples I found were:

Saturday 16 November 2013

Kill Your Darlings (Case Study 4): Research

  1. UK Release Date: 6th December 2013
  2. Institutions behind the film's production and distribution: Producers: Killer Films, Benaroya Pictures and Outpost Studios. Distributors: The Works UK Distribution, Sony Pictures, Future Film, Lumiere and Paris Filmes
  3. Production Budget: N/A
  4. Nationality: American
  5. Type of production: Low budget, independent film
  6. Connections with other films: None
  7. Director: John Krokidas (first directorial feature film)
  8. Star actors: Daniel Radcliffe (as Allen Ginsberg), Dane DeHaan (as Lucien Carr), Michael C. Hall (as David Kammerer), Ben Foster (as William Burroughs), Jack Huston (as Jack Kerouac), Elizabeth Olsen (as Edie Parker)
  9. The film's plot: "A murder in 1944 draws together the great poets of the beat generation: Allen Ginsberg, Jack Herouac and William Burroughs." - IMDb 
  10. The film's audience: This film is aimed more at adults who enjoy drama, romance and biographies, this is evidence that the film is skewed more towards women rather than men.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Case Study 3): Research

  1. UK Release Date: 13th December 2013
  2. Institutions behind the film's production and distribution: Producers: MGM, New Line Cinema and WingNut Films. Distributors: Warner Bros, Cocinsa and Forum Hungary.
  3. Production Budget: $250,000,000 and funded by MGM and New Line Cinema
  4. Nationality: American
  5. Type of production: Large Budget, Hollywood Blockbuster production
  6. Connections with other films: The second part to a three-part film series, starting with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and concluding with The Hobbit: There and Back Again. All three films together act as a prequel to The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, also directed by Peter Jackson.
  7. Director: Peter Jackson
  8. Star actors: Benedict Cumberbatch (as Smaug/ The Necromancer), Evangeline Lilly (as Tauriel), Richard Armitage (as Thorin), Orlando Bloom (as Legolas), Hugo Weaving (as Elrond), Ian MacKellen (as Gandalf), Martin Freeman (as Bilbo)
  9. The film's plot: "The dwarves, along with Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf the Grey, continue their quest to reclaim Erebor, their homeland, from Smaug. Bilbo Baggins is in possession of a mysterious and magical ring." - IMDb
  10. The film's audience: Fantasy film lovers of all ages. There is action and violence which would appeal more to adults and teenagers and then some childish humour for younger viewers. However, only true LOTR fans amongst the young, children audience would sit through this 3 hour film, otherwise it would be a dull experience for them.

Wednesday 13 November 2013

Papadopoulos & Sons (Case Study 2): Director Q&A

Marcus Markou, the director of Papadopoulos & Sons, came into school to give us a question and answer session about the journey in the making of his first feature film.
These were the top five main points I felt I had learnt from the discussion:


1) Marcus drew specific aspects from his own life, in the past, and from his Greek heritage throughout the film. James Papadoupoulos, in the film, wanted to discontinue his Law Degree at university even though his father was against it. This mirrors the director's life at that age who (in reality) realised he then wanted to learn drama, then going onto pursue the film industry.


2) Marcus had to distribute money accordingly, due to his tight budget. During pre-production, he hired a Line Producer (Sarah Butler), who would read the script and work out the budget for individual shots. If a shot was thought to be too expensive to film, it would get cut from the script. Marcus also persuaded actors to join the cast because they loved the script, as opposed to large amounts of money. Stephen Dillane (Harry Papadopoulos) even had Game of Thrones postpone the shooting schedule back a week for the one-off opportunity to act in a film with his son, Frank Dillane, who would be playing father and son.

3) We learnt about Marcus' clever marketing techniques to reduce the cost. He took the free and easy path of social media, with sites like Twitter and Facebook it was simple to voice his film to potentially anyone. This platform of marketing gained about 15,000 likes. This was more cost-effective than a TV commercial or a poster on a bus, on top of that it probably would have reached the about same amount of public attention.

4) Marcus was a believer that this type of work was less of a job and he saw it as something more enjoyable, which is why he did not care too much for a profit for the film, he was interested in breaking-even and benefiting from the whole experience. As an example of this, on the first day he tried his best to avoid the typical hierarchy of the industry taking over, by placing himself at the level of the actors, the equipment team, the extras etc. This would give the whole cast and crew a sense of family and togetherness, which was the perfect atmosphere for a family film like Papadopoulos & Sons.

5) When marketing the film and deciding on a specific audience, Marcus said none came to mind. He believed that it would appeal generally to families as well as individual viewers of all ages due to the multi-generational cast. Furthermore he discovered that the appeal of the Greek community across the UK to be astoundingly large. To follow this, Marcus took it upon himself to contact as many Greek churches as possible on in the UK, making them aware of the independent film's release. In addition to this, he used Twitter to directly tweet any UK fish and chip shops (particularly in London) to ask 'if they had the chance to see a film about a fish and chip shop, would they?', in most cases the answer was yes.

Tuesday 5 November 2013

Papadopoulos & Sons (Case Study 2): Research

Written and directed by independent filmmaker Marcus Markou, Papadopoulos & Sons is a British comedy-drama, shot entirely in London.

The plot is based around the main character Harry losing everything within his 'super rich lifestyle' after a financial crisis hits. He and his family pack and leave, to follow with Harry reluctantly reuniting with his brother to bring their old chip shop back to life. The family come to terms with their new life and begin to appreciate it.

Marketing

The marketing campaign has many platforms:



Distribution


This indie film was self-distributed and self-promoted by Marcus Markou's own company: 'Double M Films'. It was screened in several film festivals, including:



  • The Dinard British Film Festival (France)
  • The Palm Springs International Film Festival (USA)
  • The Seattle Film Festival
  • The Thessaloniki Film Festival (Greece)
    • Where it received the Michael Cacoyannis Audience Award in November 2012
    • One month later in December 2012, the film was released in cinemas all over Greece
    • Four months later, in April 2013, it was then released in Ireland and the UK
In June 2013, the film was released in 70 cinemas in Germany and achieved the impressive tally approximately 24,000 admissions in the opening weekend.

Critical Reception

The film received a large amount of reviews in the UK, such as:

  • The Guardian
  • The Telegraph
  • Contact Music
All rating them a 3 stars out of 5. Other critics, like:
  • Total Film
  • Female First
Both described the film as "feel-good" and emphasising the film's "charm and heart".

Lastly Papdopoulos & Sons recieved:
  • 82% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
  • And a 6.2 out of 10 on IMDb

Friday 25 October 2013

The Dark Knight Rises Sweded

My group of consisted of Mahalia, Molly and I. We decided to swede the film 'The Dark Knight Rises'. This was decided due to its popularity within our age group and because it is action packed and has very little dialogue, which would be boring to watch.
Below are our marketing techniques and links:

Youtube Trailer:



Behind-the-Scenes Exclusive Interviews and Footage (Posted on Youtube, Facebook and Twitter):




The Poster which was posted around the school and on our Facebook and Twitter pages:


--------------------------------

Facebook Group:

https://www.facebook.com/DKRsweded?fref=ts

Twitter Account:

https://twitter.com/darkswederises

--------------------------------

This all led up to our FINAL short film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIzkX1YmWD8&feature=youtu.be&safe=active

Overall I enjoyed working on this project with my group and combining with other groups. I also loved having a 0 budget as we had to be resourceful, which was really enjoyable.

Sunday 13 October 2013

DEXTER title sequence re-edit: Evaluation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icJj93U2Dp4
1)  Summarise the conventions of title sequences that were most important to this task.

The role of the title sequences are to show the viewer the people behind the camera, so they do not go unnoticed, for example the director, costume designers, music directors etc.
The titles themselves should improve the sequence and look as if they are meant to be there. To do this, the titles must have a clear sense of genre through the use of colour and font.
The titles may also be during a sequence with little dialogue or important events happening to capture the audience's attention.

2)  How did your group plan to edit the title sequence? (consider timings, industry requirements etc.)

We decided that in industry there are usually about 20 titles in a sequence, so we wanted to put as many as we could into our one. However, due to the tight time constraints we were under we managed to put in 5. We decided on red for our titles colour, which stood out, which was essential for the thriller genre.

3)  Explain the creative decisions made by your group.

We used the colour red for the titles, to connote the genre of thriller-horror and to show consistency from the main 'Dexter' title which was also red. The colour also had connotations of blood and anger, which worked well due to the violent actions which were happening during the sequence.
We chose a font similar to 'Times New Roman' because it's legible and we thought it fit the horror theme, also we thought a block font was too boring.
We made some of the titles move with their environment for example when the blood spread along the screen, we made the red title fade away as the blood spread to it.

4)  How does your re-edit compare to the original?

The original edit is different but better than our edit. Their edit contained all the necessary titles and were not overly ambitious. Their titles were static and had a block font which was stylish and fitted the genre perfectly. Our edit could have been good if we had finished what we had started and in hindsight a block font would have stood out more than the font we chose.

Saturday 12 October 2013

Sweded Films Research

Sweded Films are amateur recreations of famous films using limited resources and technology, inspired by the 2008 comedy film 'Be Kind Rewind'. The films are typically much shorter in length than their originals and use shoe-string budget props to mimic the source material.

Sweded Films originated from the film Be Kind Rewind, the character Jerry accidentally erases the video tapes at Mos Def's video rental store and the two of them remake all the lost films themselves. These films were really liked by the public. They told the public that they take longer to arrive and cost more because they come from Sweden, hence the term 'sweded'.

These were a few of my favourites:




Saturday 5 October 2013

Prelim Evaluation



The Brief:
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° rule.


1) Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?

We were a group of 3: Me, Shani and Kayvon. Shani and Kayvon were the two main actors. Shani because of her experience and enjoyment of acting, and Kayvon, even though he was not as confident about acting as Shani was, we needed a male protagonist. I directed the video, also working on camera and sound.

2) How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use? What theories did you try to take into account?

Firstly we agreed on the genre of spy-thriller, influenced by the James Bond films. We then constructed a storyboard around the prelim brief of a character walking in, making dialogue and sitting down. This was done shot by shot while walking it through, which was very useful as when it came to filming we would know exactly what and where to film and not waste any of our short time period. Once we had finished that, we planned out our costumes around the genre, Kayvon wearing a suit and Shani wearing a black dress and sunglasses.

We tried to include multiple theories and techniques:

  • A range of shot types, from long shots and master shots to close ups
  • The 180˚ and 30˚ rule, but we think it may have been broken due to problems within editing (last two shots)
  • Zooms (shot 3)
  • Panning and crabbing (shot 4)
  • Arcing around (shot 6)
  • Shot/reverse shot (shots 9 and 10)
  • Eyeline match shot (shot 3)
  • Narrative flow
  • Match on action

3) What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?

To film the video, we used a Canon HV30 camera, a shotgun microphone, Mini DV Tape, Sennheiser HD 201 headphones and Adobe Premiere Pro to edit.
Using the Canon HV30 Camera, we used the Mini DV Tape to record the footage. The shotgun microphone was used to record audio within the range and the Sennheiser HD 201 headphones were used by the mastersound to check for the sound being recorded onto the camera.
Using Adobe Premiere Pro was quite simple to use. We viewed all of our clips and decided as a group which shots we would keep by placing them in a different bin. We cut each of the clips by making 'in and out points', then dragging them to the timeline, using two separate tracks, alternating shots between the two. The video had to be watched several times on the timeline to look out for points in the sequence which could be edited more closely, to make sure we didn't break the narrative flow.

4) What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?

While planning we had to take into account props, location, actors and storyboard within the set hour we had. We readily decided to shoot within the Media Block, as we would be guaranteed permission. The storyboard took up most of the hour, however actor positions were quickly allocated and props and costumes were organised to bring in.
When shooting, we had to keep within the time constraint, while making sure shots were lit correctly, abiding by the 180˚ and 30˚ rules, were focused, and had audio etc. Some of these aspects we realised we disobeyed by the time we were editing.
When editing the group had to make sure there was narrative flow, continuity and match on action.

5) How successful was your sequence? Please identify what worked well, and in hindsight, what 
would you improve/ do differently?

I think our sequence was successful, as we fulfilled the demands of the brief. We matched the action of Kayvon opening the door and crossing the room. Kayvon didn't sit down, but he lay across the table, which we believed to be similar to sitting down. We did that mainly because we hadn't set out the chair to be smoothly taken out and sat down, so we we thought it would be smoother to do it the way we did. It also added a comic essence to our piece.
If I were to improve the sequence, I would take into account backlighting, which made some shots darker than others as they were shot in front of the window (shot 8). I would also be more careful when it comes to the 180˚ and 30˚ rules, as we broke by the end of our sequence.

6) What have you learnt from completing the task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework, do you think?

From this task, I have learnt how to plan, film and edit a shoot effectively without too many aspects going wrong, such as managing time. I have also learnt to film more shots of the same actions to avoid unfocused shots and keep within the 180˚ and 30˚ rules. I have also learnt about using more techniques in sequences like this such as shot/reverse shot, panning, arcing and the use of a master shot, which i can use for future projects.

Tuesday 1 October 2013

Art of the Title Activity - Immolere

1) Summarise your film idea. Provide a brief synopsis and outline what happens in your film opening.
'Immolere' is a horror-mystery film. The film's main setting takes place in a school, which is not obvious from the grid. The main character is the murderer (Josh) who has a disturbing obsession to kill a group of students who mistreated him in high school.

2) What kind of information has been included in your film opening?

The stills of our film show the murderer planning to kill the girls, such as stills 1, 3, 5, 8 and 9. Still 1 is a picture of the girls with strong, felt tip markings over their faces, the dead ones being crossed out and the last girl in the middle being circled, showing she is main victim. Still 3 is a low key lit shot of scissors and knifes being lined up, showing the murderer's weapons, and the way the weapons are lined up show his OCD and unstable mental state. Still 5 is an over the shoulder shot of the murderer, stalking another school girl by watching her on a screen. Stills 8 and 9 take place in a dark room, of the murderer developing large photos of  the girl circled in the first still, showing his obsession towards her.
The other stills are of girls that he has killed or are about to kill (stills 2, 6 and 7). Stills 2 and 6 are of dead girls, lying on the floor, adding to the murder-mystery genre. Still 7 is of a girl in a very dark room, with minimal lighting, looking afraid. All of these shots connote mystery and horror and give out minimal information about the film apart from the genre, which reels the viewer in to find out more.

3) How do the titles link to the main film idea?

The typeface is like cut out pieces of paper and stuck together to make words. This looks like it has been done by the murderer himself, showing off his OCD and obsessive behaviour. This is quite creepy and fits perfectly with our genre. Our other option was a font that looked all scratchy, similar to the film Se7en's font which would've been more eerie, but would be harder to see as a title.

4) Summarise the expected audience reaction. What should the audience be thinking by the end of your opening? Is your opening clear or ambiguous?

We expect the audience to understand quite little about our film opening, expect for the genre (horror-mystery). The victims are shown, however the murderer is not, making it quite ambiguous for the audience. The reason is also not made clear as to why he is killing all of these girls. This is left for the audience to find out later on in the film.

5) Identify three things you included in your grid that are important in the construction of an opening sequence and explain their role in understanding the film.

1- A sense of genre - To make obvious what the film is based around and what the audience is supposed to expect.
2- Slow reveal of events - To create a strong atmosphere of mystery which is vital for this film. Also to shock the audience with short and fast reveals of events.
3- Close ups and low key lighting - To reveal character emotions and give little away about setting and main characters.

6) How effective is your project as a film opening? Explain your answer.

I think our film opening is quite effective as a film opening, as it gives out enough information to connect with the audience on a personal level as if they're involved within the plot, but not too much for them to become disinterested, as if they feel they know what will happen in the story. This is because it displays the genre perfectly due to the ambiguous low key lighting and use of close ups, themed typeface and hidden storyline.

Thursday 26 September 2013

Film Opening Continuity - The Matrix


  • The clip starts with the distribution and production company's names and logos, however instead of their standardised logo colours, they are all themed to the colours green and black which are the colours of the matrix. This gets the audience ready for the film before it's even started.
  • There is then a fade to black, then to be followed by the matrix numbers falling into the screen. This is turned into a transition into the title of the film. The title then zooms into the screen and fades again to black.
  • This then opens to a shot of a blank screen with a flashing space bar taking up the whole frame, in the background is a phone dialling sound, so the audience knows that they are waiting for something.
  • The phone is answered (as the voiceover), the computer screen shows the call being received, giving the audience an idea that it's either their computer screen or someone else's, tracing their call.
  • The conversation is happening between the male and female character across the voiceover, while the screen changes to 'trace program: running', making obvious to the audience that the speakers are being looked for by someone.
  • Next, it cuts to a shot of the full matrix, zooming in on separate numbers very slowly. This brings attention away from what is happening on screen, to what is being said over the voiceover about another two characters. This dialogue being said is significant to the storyline which is why it was emphasised.
  • One character then hears a suspicious, computer sound over the phone, then causing her to leave and the voiceover to finish. This then brings attention back to what is happening on screen.
  • The camera zooms rapidly through the matrix numbers into a white light. The white light then transforms into the light of a torch, held by a police officer holding a gun near his face, in an extreme close up shot. The focus pulls away from the police officer, to his background, where more police officers stand around with torches and guns. The audience is unsure as to whether they are the good or bad characters and are also unsure as to how dangerous the people they traced on the phone are.
  • The same shot pans then pivots, following one police officer with his gun out, in a ready-to-fire position.
  • A corridor is shot from the end of, so the viewers see the policemen all walking quickly and quietly down it. These shots have had no dialogue, very low key lighting (apart from the torches) and limited sound, except for the quiet violins as background music. This is all factors of building up tension and suspense.
  • This cuts to a close up of the grimy door, panning around it, with silhouettes of the police officers surrounding it with their guns, ready to fire. The pan ends with a side-view of the door, which a man then nods to signal another police officer to kick down.
  • The next shot is a low angle, mid shot of a police man kicking down the door, but from the audience's point of view, at the screen. This gives the police officer superiority and power, leaving the audience scared of these men.
  • There is a quick cut to the door breaking, then cutting back to the men storming in, fastening the pace.
  • The audience is put into a new empty room, with nothing but wooden tables against the wall and a women sat in the middle of them, facing the wall. This is a wide shot of the room, also known as the master shot. Again the room is dark and the only source of light is coming from the mens' torches being shined at her back.
  • The camera goes back to the police officers, all in line with torches and guns. Two men shout at the woman to freeze and put her hands up, which should scare the audience and the woman.
  • A mid close up of the women's face, lit from her computer is shown to the audience but not to the police officers. Her face is calm when she should be scared. This intrigues the audience to know more about her character. She slowly but still calmly puts her hands up as if she knows her next more already.

Wednesday 25 September 2013

Accident Sequence Continuity




a) What techniques did you specifically use to create (narrative flow) in your accident sequence?

Firstly we shoot the master shot, to establish the entire setting of the tree and the space around it, and the characters (Gavin and the two girls, me and Chrystal). This makes sure that the audience have a clear idea of exactly where and who this story takes place with. The same shot then zooms rapidly into Gavin's face, into a close up, which makes obvious the main character.

The next shot is of Gavin climbing into shot and then climbing out, this gives the shot a sense of verticality, also using up the full frame, which is unconventional for that type of shot, making it different.

Following that is a high angle shot of the two girls looking up to Gavin, realising that he's falling. The high angle shot shows the point of view from Gavin, as he is in the tree looking down at the two girls.

This then cuts to a low angle shot of Gavin wobbling in the tree, about to fall. The effect of the low angle is to exaggerate the height of the tree and the distance he will fall from. To follow this is another close up shot of Gavin falling in and out of frame.

Lastly was a shot of high angle framing of Gavin lying on the floor, hurt from his fall. The high angle was to represent his pain and damage to his body and to his dignity in front of his friends.

b) In hindsight, what could you do to improve the continuity (narrative flow) of the sequence?

To improve the continuity of our sequence I would change the framing of some of the shots. A few went straight from long shot to close up, such as the wobbling shot and the falling shot, which leaves the audience slightly disorientated because of it.

Also the shot of the two girls looking up to Gavin in the tree broke the 180˚ rule as we filmed on the opposite side of the tree as oppose to the rest of the shots, which again leaves the audience disorientated because of the fast changing in direction.

Friday 20 September 2013

Analysis of Film Opening – Looper

(This is a short clip of Looper's opening scene, I couldn't find a longer one online of which I talk about in my analysis)
 

Looper is a hybrid film and fits into the categories of five genres: thriller, action, sci-fi, crime and noir. Released in 2012, Looper is set in 2044 Kansas, USA.

The opening scene is fast and abrupt. A young man (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) waits in an open field, then seconds later another man appears out of thin air, bagged and tied, and the young man shoots and kills him without hesitation. This leaves the audience confused and left to think what they will of the first few moments as the film title cuts for a few more seconds. Following the title screen is a voiceover of the young man explaining time travel and his job to the audience, informing them what he had just done and what he does with the body next. It is important that the order of events was shown this way. The sudden death of the unknown man catches the attention of the audience, as they will be eager to discover an answer for the young man’s actions in such an early point in the movie, only to be followed by a detailed explanation, making the viewer feel involved in the story, now that they know what’s happening.

The male protagonist is the only important character introduced in the first few minutes. His role of the protagonist is obvious to the audience, not in the first minute, but after the title screen, when he talks personally to the viewers through voiceover. This makes his role clear, as no other character would create a relationship with the audience like that.

A large amount of information is given to the audience in the opening sequence as a whole; it gives the reader a setting, time and a main understanding of what the story is. The information concerning the main plot (closing your own loop) is deliberately withheld, otherwise too much would be given away in the first few minutes and the audience would have too much information given to them in such a small amount of time. The details given about the story so far were perfect, and the way it was given created anticipation keeping the viewers interested and wanting more.

Thursday 19 September 2013

Reflection on Film Stills



Describe your shot and identify in what way it could be described as representing your chosen genre.

This is a very long shot of a man in a dark corridor. Our chosen genre was horror-mystery, which I feel this photo represents very well. The positioning of the shot creates a more sinister effect, as the sidewall takes up the majority of the frame, showing the silhouette of the person at the end of the corridor, making the corridor appear longer. This framing may also be because the man is going to move into the space and walk towards the camera. This is a point of view shot, putting the viewer right into the story, making it seem more realistic to the audience. The posing of the man is very relaxed, considering the unusual and scary setting, he should be looking panicked or lost, and therefore creating the sense that maybe he’s a villain within the story. The low-key lighting and strong use of shadows were purposeful, as they add to the eerie and mysterious atmosphere because the viewer is oblivious as to what he looks like or whether this man is dangerous. The very little artificial light that shows what is there gives away very little clues about the story. Lastly the grainy effect on the photograph makes the audience feel disorientated and scared because they can’t see much within the frame.

What did you actually do to achieve this effect?

To achieve this effect our group found a dark corridor, with limited light, and tested out a few shots with flash and a few without. The shots without the flash were unsuccessful and some of the shots with the flash were average. We then experimented with the night vision setting on the camera, which gave us the grainy effect, making the photo appear as it was shot at night. We used the portable light to light the wall in the bottom right of the photo, which looked good because otherwise the photograph would have come out too dark.

Identify what is successful about your shot.

The shot was successful because it fit our genre of mystery-horror perfectly, as it contains many aspects of mystery through the shadows and aspects of horror through the setting and the man’s characteristics. The photo’s night vision effect was also successful, as it connoted the genre well, whereas a flash photo revealing the man’s face would have given the shot a completely different mood because then too much information would be revealed, removing the mystery from the shot.

What would you do differently in hindsight?

If I were to take this photo again, I would try out more of the effects and see if there was a way to reveal the man’s character more without giving too many clues away. I would also try to make the man central of the shot, in maybe a long shot instead of a very long shot, as the wall takes up slightly too much of the frame.