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:

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Facebook Group:

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

Twitter Account:

https://twitter.com/darkswederises

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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.

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.