Planning and research list (Once highlighted bold it means it is completed)
- Google (G321 OCR blog) for example blogs
- Story board of our plot
- Mind maps – location, genre, costumes, ideas
- Photos of props
- Location photos
- Photos of clothing
- Photos of actors
- Music for our opening
- PowerPoint presentation for Planning and research
- Script (if any - probably no dialogue though)
Wednesday 16 December 2009
Monday 14 December 2009
Ideas for Camera Shots/Angles
These are a few shots and angles that we could use in our 2 minute film.
I liked the tilt shots because they make the audience want to watch what may come up and it creates tension.
Sunday 6 December 2009
Questionnaire's
Media Studies - Research Questionnaire
The main purpose of producing this questionnaire is to distribute it to round 30 people within different age ranges and social groups to get there opinion on film openings and other important things to do with an opening scene. This will give me an idea as to what genre we want to do and what we want to happen in our opening. Once the results have been collated I will post them on our blog and comment on each question in high detail as to the response given.
Questionnaire:
1. What is your age?
2. What is your sex?
3. What is your favourite genre film to watch?
4. What do you like to see most appear in a movie (E.g. fighting, arguing, romance etc.)?
5. What encourages you to go to the cinema and watch a film?
6. What is so important about the opening two minutes to a film?
7. Do you enjoy the beginning of a film when you watch it?
8. Would you like to watch a film whereby it starts at the end (E.g. recapping over a particular story)?
9. How often do you watch your favourite genre of film?
10. How often do you watch films?
The main purpose of producing this questionnaire is to distribute it to round 30 people within different age ranges and social groups to get there opinion on film openings and other important things to do with an opening scene. This will give me an idea as to what genre we want to do and what we want to happen in our opening. Once the results have been collated I will post them on our blog and comment on each question in high detail as to the response given.
Questionnaire:
1. What is your age?
2. What is your sex?
3. What is your favourite genre film to watch?
4. What do you like to see most appear in a movie (E.g. fighting, arguing, romance etc.)?
5. What encourages you to go to the cinema and watch a film?
6. What is so important about the opening two minutes to a film?
7. Do you enjoy the beginning of a film when you watch it?
8. Would you like to watch a film whereby it starts at the end (E.g. recapping over a particular story)?
9. How often do you watch your favourite genre of film?
10. How often do you watch films?
Wednesday 2 December 2009
Ideas From Genres of Films
We looked at different genres of film to help us get ideas on how to make our films appear more realistic to the genre that we have chosen. The first genre we looked at was types of gangster film including Kidulthood, Get Carter and Good Fellas.
Kidulthood is a more modern film compared to the other two and has non-diagetic sound of a drum and bass track which appeals to the audience but also shows the mood of the scene. The way that it is edited shows all the main characters and flashes past the people who are more in the back round of the film. This tells the audience that the film will be very fast paced.
The next gangsta film is Get Carter. This is much more sutle and starts with a very slow fade in and a slow zoom. The sound is very quite and creates tension in the scene. There is hardly any dialog in the first 2 minutes of the film and it is only the projector that is amplified so that the audience concentrates in it.
The last gangster film we watched was the beginning of Good Fellas. The titles at the beginning are very plain and simple but the main title with the name of the film on it is in red which relates to blood. The voice - over is an American person and 50s music to try and set the scene.
The two musicals we watched were Hairspray, High School Musical and Grease
Hairspray used blue bubble writing that appeared out of the haze of the spray. The music is very happy and upbeat. The film has sounds of older bikes to set a 60s scene. Old cars and old shops are used to make the film more believable.
High School Musical begins with white titles to show what time of year it is. (In this case white)
The lighting is used to introduce the two main characters.
The music in Grease is slow and romantic to show the genre of the film. It also has cartoon writing to show who it might appeal to.
The last genre we watched was the Horror genre. These included Saw2, Scream and The Village.
Saw's opening scene was very good at creating atmosphere and uses lighting, camera shot/angles and sound to make the audience feel scared.
The light was very dark and only showed a light bulb on its own showing that the person in the scene is on his own by the way that the camera looks around and the breathing that is coming from behind the camera.
Scream's titles are very good showing the title of the film in white then a scream and a knife slash can be heard. The title then goes red representing blood. There were many close ups on things that didn't appear very special in the film. The camera keeps following the girl showing that something might happen to her later on in the scene.
The titles in 'The Village' were in a very Gothic font showing that the film may be set in the past or in a distant place. High pitched music is used a lot and the only thing seen in the beginning of the film is the dark trees of a wood.
Using the things we have seen in the 3 horror films we can try and apply these techniques in our short film to try and make it better.
Kidulthood is a more modern film compared to the other two and has non-diagetic sound of a drum and bass track which appeals to the audience but also shows the mood of the scene. The way that it is edited shows all the main characters and flashes past the people who are more in the back round of the film. This tells the audience that the film will be very fast paced.
The next gangsta film is Get Carter. This is much more sutle and starts with a very slow fade in and a slow zoom. The sound is very quite and creates tension in the scene. There is hardly any dialog in the first 2 minutes of the film and it is only the projector that is amplified so that the audience concentrates in it.
The last gangster film we watched was the beginning of Good Fellas. The titles at the beginning are very plain and simple but the main title with the name of the film on it is in red which relates to blood. The voice - over is an American person and 50s music to try and set the scene.
The two musicals we watched were Hairspray, High School Musical and Grease
Hairspray used blue bubble writing that appeared out of the haze of the spray. The music is very happy and upbeat. The film has sounds of older bikes to set a 60s scene. Old cars and old shops are used to make the film more believable.
High School Musical begins with white titles to show what time of year it is. (In this case white)
The lighting is used to introduce the two main characters.
The music in Grease is slow and romantic to show the genre of the film. It also has cartoon writing to show who it might appeal to.
The last genre we watched was the Horror genre. These included Saw2, Scream and The Village.
Saw's opening scene was very good at creating atmosphere and uses lighting, camera shot/angles and sound to make the audience feel scared.
The light was very dark and only showed a light bulb on its own showing that the person in the scene is on his own by the way that the camera looks around and the breathing that is coming from behind the camera.
Scream's titles are very good showing the title of the film in white then a scream and a knife slash can be heard. The title then goes red representing blood. There were many close ups on things that didn't appear very special in the film. The camera keeps following the girl showing that something might happen to her later on in the scene.
The titles in 'The Village' were in a very Gothic font showing that the film may be set in the past or in a distant place. High pitched music is used a lot and the only thing seen in the beginning of the film is the dark trees of a wood.
Using the things we have seen in the 3 horror films we can try and apply these techniques in our short film to try and make it better.
Opening Scenes
Yesterday we watched eleven different opening two minutes of films from a variety of genres, these included Gangster, Musicals, Horror. Below is a few detailed descriptions of some of the clips we watched.
From watching these we could clearly see that we had chosen the right genre for the type of film we wanted to create. Which is Horror as this would be more realistic for us to re-create.
Gangster:
Kidulthood - this starts of quite dark and the establishing shot is in a stereotypical school setting, the soundtrack that we here at the beginning is up beat and high tempo. The font used for the opening titles of this film are white and they are a small size text. The start of Kidulthood seems quite high paced and it fasts forward then slows down. They use a wide fvariety of camera angles and some of these are pan, zoom, long shot and mid shot.
Get Carter - This is very slow to get into. We dont here many sounds apart from two simple alternating high notes at the very begining and also sounds from the click of the projector which is amplified and the dialogue in the scene. We do not see any titles during this opening two minutes. Again many camera angles used some are mid shot, low angle, close up and high angle.
Good Fellas - this was another film that yet again started very dark, The sounds we hear are of cars driving along a road as the titles flash across the screen, and then we hear a bang from the boot of the car this sound is amplified. The titles are white and red which connotates skin and blood. The music is quite up beat and also high tempo. What is unusual about this film is that as the titles are rolling it will cut to a bit of action e.g. the trees and then cut back to the white credits on a black background.
Musicals:
Hairspray - there is an establishing shot over Baltimore and this starts quite intense. The sounds used are up beat again and high tempo, there is a good use on diagetic and non diagetic sounds in the opening scene. The film title then comes up this says HAIRSPRAY in large bold green bubble writing. It emerges from a foggy cloud of hairspray. After the film titles come up it stereotypically goes straight into a song from the musical.
High School Musical - This starts very bright and it starts with mainly dialogue, the music is up beat and when it switches to the party scene there is diegetic sounds used e.g. stereotypical party noises. It didnt start with a song like Hairspray did and imstead starts intros=ducing the characters straight away.
Grease - This starts on a beach with a couple in the sunset. It starts quite happy but more unusual it starts with what could be percieved as the end of a romantic film. They use bright colours and up beat music. They also use a variety of shots e.g. long shot, two shot, pan, establishing shot and many more. The titles are in a cartoon format and they are a variety of colours, these are centered.
Horror:
Saw II - This starts dark aswell, we hear heavy breathing, not alot happens during the opening scene. It looks more effective as there is lightbulbs flashing and the noises we hear are represented in alot of horror movies. There is point of view shots and extreme close ups used to add even more effect to the horror aspect.
From watching these we could clearly see that we had chosen the right genre for the type of film we wanted to create. Which is Horror as this would be more realistic for us to re-create.
Gangster:
Kidulthood - this starts of quite dark and the establishing shot is in a stereotypical school setting, the soundtrack that we here at the beginning is up beat and high tempo. The font used for the opening titles of this film are white and they are a small size text. The start of Kidulthood seems quite high paced and it fasts forward then slows down. They use a wide fvariety of camera angles and some of these are pan, zoom, long shot and mid shot.
Get Carter - This is very slow to get into. We dont here many sounds apart from two simple alternating high notes at the very begining and also sounds from the click of the projector which is amplified and the dialogue in the scene. We do not see any titles during this opening two minutes. Again many camera angles used some are mid shot, low angle, close up and high angle.
Good Fellas - this was another film that yet again started very dark, The sounds we hear are of cars driving along a road as the titles flash across the screen, and then we hear a bang from the boot of the car this sound is amplified. The titles are white and red which connotates skin and blood. The music is quite up beat and also high tempo. What is unusual about this film is that as the titles are rolling it will cut to a bit of action e.g. the trees and then cut back to the white credits on a black background.
Musicals:
Hairspray - there is an establishing shot over Baltimore and this starts quite intense. The sounds used are up beat again and high tempo, there is a good use on diagetic and non diagetic sounds in the opening scene. The film title then comes up this says HAIRSPRAY in large bold green bubble writing. It emerges from a foggy cloud of hairspray. After the film titles come up it stereotypically goes straight into a song from the musical.
High School Musical - This starts very bright and it starts with mainly dialogue, the music is up beat and when it switches to the party scene there is diegetic sounds used e.g. stereotypical party noises. It didnt start with a song like Hairspray did and imstead starts intros=ducing the characters straight away.
Grease - This starts on a beach with a couple in the sunset. It starts quite happy but more unusual it starts with what could be percieved as the end of a romantic film. They use bright colours and up beat music. They also use a variety of shots e.g. long shot, two shot, pan, establishing shot and many more. The titles are in a cartoon format and they are a variety of colours, these are centered.
Horror:
Saw II - This starts dark aswell, we hear heavy breathing, not alot happens during the opening scene. It looks more effective as there is lightbulbs flashing and the noises we hear are represented in alot of horror movies. There is point of view shots and extreme close ups used to add even more effect to the horror aspect.
Tuesday 1 December 2009
Media Terminology
SOME REALLY USEFUL MEDIA TERMINOLOGY
CAMERA SHOTS
Aerial Shot – A camera shot taken from an overhead position. Often used as an establishing shot.
Close Up – A head and shoulders shot often used to show expressions/emotions of a character. Also can be a shot of an object, filmed from close to the object or zoomed in to it, that reveals detail.
Extreme Close Up – A shot where a part of a face or body of a character fills the whole frame/dominates the frame. Also can be a shot of an object where only a small part of it dominates the frame.
Establishing Shot – A shot that establishes a scene, often giving ther viewer information about where the scene is set. Can be a close up shot (of a sign etc) but is often a wide/long shot and usually appears at the beginning of a scene.
Medium Shot – the framing of a subject from waist up.
Two Shot – A shot of two characters, possible engaging in conversation. Usually to signify/establish some sort of relationship
Point-Of-View Shot (POV) – Shows a view from the subject’s perspective. This shot is usually edited so that the viewer is aware who’s point of view it is.
Over the Shoulder Shot – looking from behind a character’s shoulder, at a subject. The character facing the subject usually occupies 1/3 of the frame but it depends on what meaning the director wants to create (for example, if the subject is an inferior character, the character facing them may take up more of the frame to emphaise this)
Overhead Shot – a type of camera shot in which the camera is positioned above the character, action or object being filmed.
Reaction Shot – a shot that shows the reaction of a character either to another character or an event within the sequence.
CAMERA ANGLES
Camera Angle – the position of the camera in relation to the subject of a shot. The camera might be at a high angle, a low angle or at eye level with what is being filmed.
High Angle – A camera angle that looks down upon a subject or object. Often used to make the subject or object appear small or vulnerable.
Low Angle – A camera angle that looks up at a subject or object. Often used to make the subject/object appear powerful/dominant.
Canted framing (or oblique) – camera angle that makes what is shot appear to be skewed or tilted.
CAMERA MOVEMENT
Pan – Where the camera pivots horizontally, either from right to left or left to right to reveal a set or setting. This can be used to give the viewer a panoramic view. Sometimes used to establish a scene.
Track - a shot whjere the camera follows a subject/object. The tracking shot can include smooth movements forward, backward, along the side of the subject, or on a curve but cannot include complex movement around a subject. ‘Track’ refers to rails in which a wheeled platform (which has the camera on it) sits on in order to carry out smooth movement.
Crane – A crane shot is sometimes used to signify the end of a scene/ programme /film. The effect is achieved by the camera being put onto a crane that can move upward.
Stedicam - A steadicam is a stabilising mount for a camera which mechanically isolates the operator's movement from the camera, allowing a very smooth shot even when the operator is moving quickly over an uneven surface. Informally, the word may also be used to refer to the combination of the mount and camera.
Tilt - where a camera scans a set or setting vertically (otherwise similar to a pan).
Zoom – Using a zoom lens to appear to be moving closer to (zoom in) or further away from (zoom out) a subject/object when in fact the camera may not move (so, strictly not camera movement). Can be used for dramatic effect.
EDITING
Editing – the stage in the film-making process in which sound and images are organised into an overall narrative.
Continuity Editing – the most common type of editing, which aims to create a sense of reality and time moving forward. Also nick named invisible editing referring to how the technique does not draw attention to the editing process.
Jump Cut – An abrupt, disorientating transitional device in the middle of a continuos shot in which the action is noticeably advanced in time and/or cut between two similar shots, usually done to create discontinuity for artistic effect.
Credits – the information at the beginning and end of a film, which gives details of cast and crew etc.
Cross Cutting – the editing technique of alternating, interweaving, or interspersing one narrative action (scene, sequence or event) with another – usually in different locations or places, thus combining the two: this editing technique usually suggests Parallel action (that takes place simultaneously). Often used to dramatically build tension and/or suspense in chase scenes or to compare two different scenes. Also known as inter-cutting or parallel editing
Cutaways – A brief shot that momentarily interrupts continuous action by briefly inserting another related action. Object, or person (sometimes not part of the principle scene or main action), followed by a cutback to the original shot.
Freeze Frame – the effect of seemingly stopping a film in order to focus in on one event or element.
Eye-line Match – a type of edit which cuts from one character to what that character has been looking at.
Flashback – a scene or moment in a film in which the audience is shown an event that happened earlier in the film’s narrative.
Graphic Match – an edit effect in which two different objects of the same shape are dissolved from one into the other.
Juxtaposition – the placement of two (often opposed) images on either side of an edit to create an effect.
Linear Narrative – a style of storytelling in which events happen chronologically.
Montage Editing – the juxtaposition of seemingly unconnected images in order to create meaning.
Parallel Editing – a type of editing in which events in two locations are cut together, in order to imply a connection between the two sets of events.
Visual Effects - visual effects are usually used to alter previously-filmed elements by adding, removing or enhancing objects within the scene.
Match on Action - A shot that emphasises continuity of space and time by matching the action of the preceding shot with the continuation of the action. (For example a shot of a door opening after a shot of a close up of a character’s hand turning a door handle)
SOUND
Diegetic Sound – sound that can be heard by the characters within a scene/ sound part of the imaginary world.
Non-diegetic Sound – sound that the characters cannot hear and is not part of the imaginary world of the story. This includes a musical soundtrack or a voiceover (however this excludes a narration by a character within the story – referred to as an internal monologue and is diegetic).
Score – The musical component of a programme’s soundtrack, usually composed specifically for the scene.
Sound Effects – sounds that are added to a film during the post-production stage.
OTHER KEY TERMS
Artificial Light – A source of light created by lighting equipment, rather than from natural sources.
Convention – a frequently used element which becomes standard.
Disequilibrium – the period of instability and insecurity in a film’s narrative.
Enigma – the question or mystery that is posed within a film’s narrative.
Equilibrium – a state of peace and calm, which often exists at the beginning of a film’s narrative.
Framing – the selection of elements such as characters, setting and iconography that appear within a shot.
Genre – a system of film identification, in which films that have the same elements are grouped together.
Iconography – the objects within a film that are used to evoke particular meanings
Intertextuality – reference within a film to another film, media product, work of literature or piece of artwork.
Mise en scene – a French term, which literally means ‘put into the frame’. When analysing a sequence the term refers to everything you see in the frame (props, costume, lighting, colour, makeup etc.)
Narrative – a story that is created in a constructed format (eg. A programme) that describes a series of fictional or non-fictional events.
CAMERA SHOTS
Aerial Shot – A camera shot taken from an overhead position. Often used as an establishing shot.
Close Up – A head and shoulders shot often used to show expressions/emotions of a character. Also can be a shot of an object, filmed from close to the object or zoomed in to it, that reveals detail.
Extreme Close Up – A shot where a part of a face or body of a character fills the whole frame/dominates the frame. Also can be a shot of an object where only a small part of it dominates the frame.
Establishing Shot – A shot that establishes a scene, often giving ther viewer information about where the scene is set. Can be a close up shot (of a sign etc) but is often a wide/long shot and usually appears at the beginning of a scene.
Medium Shot – the framing of a subject from waist up.
Two Shot – A shot of two characters, possible engaging in conversation. Usually to signify/establish some sort of relationship
Point-Of-View Shot (POV) – Shows a view from the subject’s perspective. This shot is usually edited so that the viewer is aware who’s point of view it is.
Over the Shoulder Shot – looking from behind a character’s shoulder, at a subject. The character facing the subject usually occupies 1/3 of the frame but it depends on what meaning the director wants to create (for example, if the subject is an inferior character, the character facing them may take up more of the frame to emphaise this)
Overhead Shot – a type of camera shot in which the camera is positioned above the character, action or object being filmed.
Reaction Shot – a shot that shows the reaction of a character either to another character or an event within the sequence.
CAMERA ANGLES
Camera Angle – the position of the camera in relation to the subject of a shot. The camera might be at a high angle, a low angle or at eye level with what is being filmed.
High Angle – A camera angle that looks down upon a subject or object. Often used to make the subject or object appear small or vulnerable.
Low Angle – A camera angle that looks up at a subject or object. Often used to make the subject/object appear powerful/dominant.
Canted framing (or oblique) – camera angle that makes what is shot appear to be skewed or tilted.
CAMERA MOVEMENT
Pan – Where the camera pivots horizontally, either from right to left or left to right to reveal a set or setting. This can be used to give the viewer a panoramic view. Sometimes used to establish a scene.
Track - a shot whjere the camera follows a subject/object. The tracking shot can include smooth movements forward, backward, along the side of the subject, or on a curve but cannot include complex movement around a subject. ‘Track’ refers to rails in which a wheeled platform (which has the camera on it) sits on in order to carry out smooth movement.
Crane – A crane shot is sometimes used to signify the end of a scene/ programme /film. The effect is achieved by the camera being put onto a crane that can move upward.
Stedicam - A steadicam is a stabilising mount for a camera which mechanically isolates the operator's movement from the camera, allowing a very smooth shot even when the operator is moving quickly over an uneven surface. Informally, the word may also be used to refer to the combination of the mount and camera.
Tilt - where a camera scans a set or setting vertically (otherwise similar to a pan).
Zoom – Using a zoom lens to appear to be moving closer to (zoom in) or further away from (zoom out) a subject/object when in fact the camera may not move (so, strictly not camera movement). Can be used for dramatic effect.
EDITING
Editing – the stage in the film-making process in which sound and images are organised into an overall narrative.
Continuity Editing – the most common type of editing, which aims to create a sense of reality and time moving forward. Also nick named invisible editing referring to how the technique does not draw attention to the editing process.
Jump Cut – An abrupt, disorientating transitional device in the middle of a continuos shot in which the action is noticeably advanced in time and/or cut between two similar shots, usually done to create discontinuity for artistic effect.
Credits – the information at the beginning and end of a film, which gives details of cast and crew etc.
Cross Cutting – the editing technique of alternating, interweaving, or interspersing one narrative action (scene, sequence or event) with another – usually in different locations or places, thus combining the two: this editing technique usually suggests Parallel action (that takes place simultaneously). Often used to dramatically build tension and/or suspense in chase scenes or to compare two different scenes. Also known as inter-cutting or parallel editing
Cutaways – A brief shot that momentarily interrupts continuous action by briefly inserting another related action. Object, or person (sometimes not part of the principle scene or main action), followed by a cutback to the original shot.
Freeze Frame – the effect of seemingly stopping a film in order to focus in on one event or element.
Eye-line Match – a type of edit which cuts from one character to what that character has been looking at.
Flashback – a scene or moment in a film in which the audience is shown an event that happened earlier in the film’s narrative.
Graphic Match – an edit effect in which two different objects of the same shape are dissolved from one into the other.
Juxtaposition – the placement of two (often opposed) images on either side of an edit to create an effect.
Linear Narrative – a style of storytelling in which events happen chronologically.
Montage Editing – the juxtaposition of seemingly unconnected images in order to create meaning.
Parallel Editing – a type of editing in which events in two locations are cut together, in order to imply a connection between the two sets of events.
Visual Effects - visual effects are usually used to alter previously-filmed elements by adding, removing or enhancing objects within the scene.
Match on Action - A shot that emphasises continuity of space and time by matching the action of the preceding shot with the continuation of the action. (For example a shot of a door opening after a shot of a close up of a character’s hand turning a door handle)
SOUND
Diegetic Sound – sound that can be heard by the characters within a scene/ sound part of the imaginary world.
Non-diegetic Sound – sound that the characters cannot hear and is not part of the imaginary world of the story. This includes a musical soundtrack or a voiceover (however this excludes a narration by a character within the story – referred to as an internal monologue and is diegetic).
Score – The musical component of a programme’s soundtrack, usually composed specifically for the scene.
Sound Effects – sounds that are added to a film during the post-production stage.
OTHER KEY TERMS
Artificial Light – A source of light created by lighting equipment, rather than from natural sources.
Convention – a frequently used element which becomes standard.
Disequilibrium – the period of instability and insecurity in a film’s narrative.
Enigma – the question or mystery that is posed within a film’s narrative.
Equilibrium – a state of peace and calm, which often exists at the beginning of a film’s narrative.
Framing – the selection of elements such as characters, setting and iconography that appear within a shot.
Genre – a system of film identification, in which films that have the same elements are grouped together.
Iconography – the objects within a film that are used to evoke particular meanings
Intertextuality – reference within a film to another film, media product, work of literature or piece of artwork.
Mise en scene – a French term, which literally means ‘put into the frame’. When analysing a sequence the term refers to everything you see in the frame (props, costume, lighting, colour, makeup etc.)
Narrative – a story that is created in a constructed format (eg. A programme) that describes a series of fictional or non-fictional events.
Outlining our final task
Horror/Thriller
Setting
House / Bridge (road) / Woods (Cobham common)
Cast
Main character / Mysterious person
Special Effects
Rain (would be preferred)
Car noises (next to a busy A road)
Clothing/Props
Costume (main character – normal clothes, follower – long dark jacket and a covered face)
Laptop/computer (to show the message)
College/work bag
Keys (to open the door)
Sound
Non-diagetic
Creepy/mysterious sounds (violin stroke – high pitched)
Owl’s hooting
Diagetic
Rain hitting the floor
Credits
The title of film – big and bold (red/white – this is to represent blood and skin)
The rest of the credits – smaller font in corner of screen while film is beginning (white/red)
The Plot
• Coming home from college/work.
• Hints that they are being followed/watched.
• Walks over bridge, even more suspense.
• Walks up to house still being followed.
• Goes into the house
• Turns on computer and messages appear (email or internet warning).
• Person following looks in from outside through the window.
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