Re-pitch

After we formed our group, we revised our idea and decided that certain aspects of the opening wouldn't work effectively.

New idea:
A group of teenagers go to a camp to commemorate their friend who was 'killed' a year earlier. There was actually no body found. We then see brief flashbacks of how their friend was killed. Back in the present day, one member of the group becomes separated from the others. This character is then killed by their 'dead' friend, however there is use of narrative enigma here because the audience do not actually know who the killer is until it is revealed later on in the film.

Narrative Representations

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Marcus Nispel, 2003)

The start of this opening goes against Todorov's theory of equilibrium as he said that we should start with equilibrium, encounter a disruption of this equilibrium (dis-equilibrium) and then solve this by creating a new equilibrium. The film starts off with images of a crime scene and police officers, which signifies dis-equilibrium. We then go to equilibrium as we view the 5 main characters, which is not the order in which Todorov suggested it should be.

  Carole Clovers theory of the final girl is also reflected. The first character the camera fully focuses on has brunette hair and appears to be the sensible one out of the group. This character is the stereotypical final girl, used in many slasher films. However, she appears to have a relationship with one of the boys in the group, which goes against the stereotypical final girl character, who, in Clover's book, supposedly does not have a boyfriend. We then see people in the back kissing. Both the boy and girl are blonde, which signify that these characters are most likely dumb, and sexually active. The girl is the stereotypical scream queen, which is the binary opposite of the final girl character - the theory of binary opposition was created by Levi-Strauss. The boy could also be known as the 'scream king'. 

   Within the group, there is a character who is framed as 'the other'. He wears glasses and is nerdy and appears to be the only character within the group to not be in some kind of relationship which signifies he is different. He appears to be the annoying one, who the others do not like very much which therefore means the audience do not empathize very much with him. 

When A Stranger Calls (Fred Walton, 1979)

In this opening, we see a teen girl who appears to represent Clover's final girl character. She is introduced to the film holding school books as she is babysitting, which is how the final girl is signified; being academic. However, she does not have brunette hair like stereotypical final girls do. Instead, she has ginger hair, which confuses the audience as we do not know if she is a final girl character or a scream queen, despite common scream queens being 'non academic' and hating school. The girl is then having a phone call to someone and is talking about a boy. She first appears on screen holding books, but seems to be more interested in talking to someone about 'Bobby'. This confuses the audience even more, because the stereotypical final girl is either single or is not interested in boys. This character is polysemic, meaning she could be the non stereotypical final girl or scream queen.

   We also see reflection Todorov's theory of equilibrium, as the film begins with a regular day to day event of a teenager babysitting. The equilibrium begins to be disrupted as continuous phone calls are passed through, from an unknown character, who is signified to be the antagonist as he is suggesting something is wrong. 

Scream (Wes Craven, 1996)

The first character is a blonde woman. Her blonde hair signifies she is the scream queen of the film. As well as having the stereotypical appearance of a scream queen, she is home alone, which is a common signifier of the slasher genre. We learn that the girl has a boyfriend, which is also anchorage to signify she is the scream queen figure. Equilibrium is portrayed at the very start as well, as the girl is simply preparing popcorn and is on the phone, although she does not know that the man she is talking to is the killer. As she begins to realise, the equilibrium becomes disrupted. This is another example of Todorov's theory being applied to a slasher film. 

   Barthes' theory of narrative engima is also applied to the opening. To begin with we only hear the voice and don't see the physical body. When we do see the killer, he is wearing a mask, so we still do not entirely know who it is and what their motive is. 

Stalk And Slash Vodcast

Coursework Pitch

Idea:
Firstly, we see a flashback of a previous event in a derelict building, where there are 2 boys and a girl. The 3 are messing around when one of the boys gets trapped under a plank of wood.  We then go back to the present, where the 2 survivors are standing in the same building, talking about how the place holds bad memories. This conversation progresses into an argument about how the boy made the girl leave when she wanted to help their friend. As this is going on, we get a point of view shot of someone approaching the pair from behind. Then then go back to view the pair from the front, and see a figure standing behind them. The figure is breathing heavily and the pair slowly turn round, after feeling breath on their necks. They are faced with their friend who was killed. There is then another flashback of the girl being dragged away by the other boy who is preventing her from saving their friend. As she screams, we go back to the present where she also screams. (These screams can be used as an audio bridge to link the two scenes together). The screen then fades to black and the film title appears.

The Town That Dreaded Sundown - Narrative Enigma example

The above idea may initially need shortening down however, with fast editing in the flashbacks and action scenes, it may work well. If not, then some scenes such as the argument can be taken out and the killer can reveal himself sooner.
There will be use of Barthes' narrative theory for narrative enigma. There will be use of narrative enigma up until the end of the opening, when the pair announce the name of the killer, however we do not see his face.

Levi Strauss' narrative theory of stereotypes and binary opposition could also be reflected. The girl in my opening will be the stereotypical nerdy, sensible final girl character, whereas the boy will a jock who doesn't care about school, is dangerous and does stupid things. This is a form of binary opposition  as the pair majorly contrast, which causes conflict in certain parts of the film, such as the girl wanting to help their friend but the boy dragging her away.

Part of Todorov's equilibrium theory may also be applied in some aspect, however the last 2 stages do not occur how Todorov's theory states it should. There is initially a state of equilibrium in the first flash back as the 3 teenagers are hanging out together. There is then a disruption of the equilibrium as the beam falls onto Jason. There is a recognition by the teenagers that the equilibrium has been disrupted, and there is a failed attempt to repair the disruption, as the girl wants to help but the surving boy does not let her. The final stage of a reinstatement of the equilibrium is not achieved in the opening, however it could be achieved as the film carries on.

Friday the 13th DVD cover

The name of the killer will be Jason, which holds intertextual references for Friday the 13th (Marcus Nispel, 2009) after a boy called Jason drowned in a lake but came back to life and stalked and killed any one who came near the lake. My idea is similar to this, because the killer is called Jason and he has come back to life to punish his friends for not saving him. It is also located in a derelict, rural area, similar to that in Friday the 13th, which takes place in a rundown camp.

The Strangers - mask will be similar to the male killer in this film

The weapon that Jason carries will be a plank of wood with nails sticking out of it, which links in with the way he was killed. To kill his victims, he will beat them with the stick. He will also be wearing what he was wearing when he died, however the clothes will be ripped and dirty, and his face will be covered up with a sack or piece of cloth, with intertextual references to The Town That Dreaded Sundown (Charles Pierce, 1976) and The Strangers (Bryan Bertino, 2008).






Titles and Idents Vodcast Notes

Slashers (Maurice Devereaux, 2001)
Budget - $165k
Box office - unknown; this probably means the film never had a cinematic release.
The opening scene is set out like a game show so titles for the game show appear, however there are no titles or idents for the film itself.

Urban Legend (Jamie Blanks, 1998)

Tristar

Budget - $14m
Box office - US; $38m, UK; £1m
The first title is for Tristar, which is a fairly well known company. The ident involves a horse with wings coming out from behind some clouds and the company name is in bold capital letters above. The next ident is Pheonix Pictures. We see a match lit and the flame burns into the shape of the company logo. The text is in bold capital letters against a black background. The screen then fades into black and white serif font appears saying 'Pheonix Pictures presents' then another title saying 'A Neal H Moritz/Gina Matthews production' with non diegitic music playing. The title 'Urban Legend' then appears in capital letters which fades into the first shot of rain on the ground. Actor credits appear in the centre of the screen, then move to the side as an establishing shot of a car travelling down a country lane appears The titles stop at 2:21 in, and continue after a killing at 8:33.

Scary Movie (Keenen Wayans, 2000)
Budget - $19m
Box office - US; $157m, UK; £10m
Animated letters appear on screen to spell out 'Dimension Films' in blue against a black background. This is the only ident and there are no immediate credits. From the start, it is obvious that thhis film is a spoof of other slasher films, with particular intertextual references to Scream (Wes Craven, 1996) The title of the film appears in red capitals against a black background after the first character is killed.

Madhouse (William Butler, 2004)
Budget - $3m
Box office - unknown; this probably means the film never had a cinematic release.
The first ident is Lakeshore Entertainment, where a boy runs and jumps into a lake with the company name in capitals. The next ident is Lions Gate Films. There is a green animated lion, and the large text is in gold. The titles appear after we see a shot of blood on the wall, a montage of images of a mental asylum and somebody running and being hit by a car. At this point, titles saying 'Lions Gate Films presents' appear in white font on a black background. 'A Madhouse Production' then appears. As actor credits are running, images of what the audience assume to be inmates of the asylum appear. The very last credit we see is 'Directed by William Butler'.

Black Christmas (Bob Clark, 1974)
There is white writing on a black background, which is often used in slasher film openings.

Cry_Wolf (Jeff Wadlow, 2005)
The first ident is Rogue Pictures on a birds eye shot of a forest.

Occupant Films

All The Boys Love Mandy Lane (Jonathan Levine, 2006)
Only one ident for Occupant Films appears, then we go to the titles with white serif font on a black background.

April Fools Day (Fred Walton, 1986)
Only one ident for Paramount appears. At 3:15 the title for April Fools Day appears, and the titles continue until 5:06.

Slasher Franchise Vodcast: Friday the 13th

Titles and Idents Vodcast

Completed Ident

This is my completed ident:


My initial idea for the ident was to have to have cupcakes exploding to spell out 'Cupkate Productions', however when I tried to do this, it proved very difficult to do in the time period I had. Therefore, I changed my idea to something more simple, which was easy to create using LiveType.

Ident Idea

My ident will be called 'Cupkate Productions'. The main colour theme will be pink, and the font sans-serif.

The concept:

Possible cupcake designs.

There is a single cupcake, which explodes. The icing hits the screen and spells out the words 'Cupkate Productions'.

(Image from http://ericaliveloverandom.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/cupcake-sunday_22.html)

Slasher Film Conventions

Conventions and things you expect to see in a slasher film opening sequence:

• Opening credits with serif font
• Non-diegitic music, often guitar or string based
• Sometimes there is use of an audio bridge
• Dutch angle
• Intertextuality
• Anchorage/Expositon
• Polysemy
• Narrative Engima
• False scare
• Scream queen/king
• Chase
• Post-modernism
• Slice and Dice
• Stalk and Slash
• Fast paced editing
• Short takes
• Final girl?

Final Girl Concept

The final girl concept was devised by the feminist author, Carole Clover in her book Men, Women, Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film. It is used in thriller and horror films, particularly slashers, that specifically refers to the last girl alive to confront the killer. The final girl is typically sexually unavailable or virginal  and sometimes has a unisex name. During her confrontation with the killer, Clover argues she becomes masculinised through 'phallic appropriation' by picking up a weapon and standing up to the killer. Because the horror/thriller/slasher genre film's are generally a male-oriented genre, have a young female character can be associated with sadistic voyeurism and feminism. According to Clover, it is necessary for the surviving character to be female in order for a film to be successful, because she needs to be able to experience abject terror, and this would not be able to happen with a male character.

Final girl and scream queen in Halloween

How Laurie Strode defines the final girl archetype in Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978):
The first signifier links a good academic level, and the fact she is carrying books signifies she is intelligent. Later on in the film, she forgets a chemistry text book and her friends laugh at her, which is a use of binary opposition, as her friends are the scream queens. The clothes she is wearing are also a signifier that she is the final girl. She is covered up, and the clothes are quite old fashioned, dull and un-sexy. Her hair is also brunette, which is a common feature of the final girl to have. As well as this, Laurie does not have a boyfriend and is a virgin, whereas as her scream queen friends all have sex, and end up being killed. When she is hanging out with her friends, they're smoking but she is not, which signifies responsibility.

How Sidney Prescott defines the final girl archetype in Scream (Wes Craven, 1996):
As with Laurie Strode, she has long brunette hair, and her dress sense is old fashioned and fairly childish. The first time we see Sidney her night gown is what we, in modern day, might typically associate with elderly people. She is also doing her homework, which signifies academia. Her bedroom is also quite childish. Because she is a teen, we would expect to see posters of shirtless boys/men, however there are framed pictures with floral decor which is unusual for a teenagers bedroom.

ASFF Film Festival

ASFF promotion image

On the 9th of November, the class went on a trip to the Aesthetica Short Film Festival in York. We attended two masterclasses, the first was a talk from the head of productions Barry Ryan from Warp Films, and the second was a talk from Danny Cohen the successful Hollywood cinematographer. 

Warp Films - Barry Ryan:
Warp Films have had 18 feature films, 5 TV series and have won 6 awards for their work. They have also gained a world record for the most zombies in one place at a time. This year, Warp Films are celebrating their 10th anniversary, so Barry was explaining how this year has been very busy for them! He commented on the upcoming productions Warp Films are creating in the next year:

Warp Films logo

• Stone Rose Documentary
• Southcliffe (Channel 4)
• 71 (Thriller film)

He then went on to explain about the economics of film making.

• If a film earns £1m at the box office
• The exhibitors take 50%
• The distributors then take their earnings for promoting the film
• The distributor splits what's left in half
• The film company then has to pay back all equity finance
• The producers get  only 50% of the total profit remaining.

This taught us about why it is important to watch films at the cinema and to keep the cinema's 'alive'. People who download films illegally off the internet and watch on the TV for home cinema can seriously affect all film makers, however it especially affects low budget indie film companies such as Warp Films. 

Barry Ryan explained how Warp Films are always proud of their work, whether the films were successes or not. They learn what goes wrong in the bad films and can understand why popular films worked. He told us to not let any film go to waste and to improve your own techniques or to pick out the good techniques. This is a useful lesson for our own work.

Working Title - Danny Cohen:

Danny Cohen, cinematographer

Danny Cohen now works for Working Title, however he was part of the Warp Films team when they made This Is England (Shane Meadows, 2006). He explained how wide shots showing lonely landscapes can signify loneliness. In parts of the film, these shots set Shaun (main character) up for what he eventually falls in to. The equipment used in the film was stripped back beacuse of the low budget. No famous or known actors were used in the film, so using unprofessional actors was a great risk, howver the film did well for an Indie film company.
   Cohen explained how there can be complications using real life settings to shoot footage, for example one day there may be snow and the next day there might not be. This means that may film makers tend to prefer working on sets, as they can control things the way they want them to happen. Directors react to what happens and what they see when shooting but the location can have a major effecr on filming as it must fit in with the time period. At this point, he spoke about how recreating the 80's look for This Is England was a tricky task, as even the little things like street lights, have to be changed to fit in.
   After he moved on from Warp Films and into Working Title, he was a part of the TV series Dive. On this secion of the masterclass, he explained how the camera type can cause implication when filming, as a shot from the show needed a wide lense but they did not have one. They did overcome this problem however. We watched a clip of a young diver who is aspiring to perform in the Olympics. The scene was really well thought out, as we got a sense of the girls fear as we are shown how high she is diving from and how important it is for her to get the dive right. This emotion was portrayed through the clever shots. He mentioned how because the setting was so real, the actors performed really well.
   He was also involved in the making of The King's Speech (Tom Hooper, 2010). He spoke more about lighting at this point. He was telling us how the lighting must remain consistent through out the day, and because this obviously is impossbile, they re-created day light. The shot in the film where Colin Firth (King George VI) is giving his speech, the background is not blurred out. Usually in films, backgrounds are blurred out to focus on the main character of the shot, but he explained his choice to not blur the background was because it is important to not let the background disappear as it defines the star and the context. 

Microdrama: Finished Film + Reflection

This is our finished version of our microdrama. There are many things which need improving, such as the range of shots and angle types. We could have also gained coverage, getting more additional shots to be used in the editing process.

Microdrama: Editing

Although we initially had a group of 5 working on the microdrama, we split in to 2 groups - a 3 and a 2, to edit the footage. Millie and I were in a pair.

We edited the footage on Final Cut Pro, which is an easy programme to function and because we have used it before, we found it a good way to edit our footage.
  When we uploaded the footage we discovered some of the footage we shot had somehow been deleted, which caused implications, however we over came these problems. We did think about re-shooting the lost footage but we realised that the film still made sense without this footage, so as a group, we decided to leave the lost footage out entirely.

The film begins and finishes with a live news report, explaining the events. Millie and I decided to research live news reports on YouTube, so we could make the reports as realistic as possible. We added text and a banner which made the news report look more professional. We also edited the lighting to make it appear darker, seeing as we shot the footage in the day rather than the night. This effect worked well because it enhanced the terror within the film.

Microdrama: The Shoot

There were a couple of issues when filming our microdrama...

Because we were out side in a public area, there was a lot of background noise, and it was a windy day so in some sections of the footage the wind overrules the voices. We had to stop filming a few times as well to let people past, which in some cases meant we had to go and film again, which got a bit annoying.
One of the main problems of the shoot was that the HD camera ran out of battery, fairly close to the end of the filming, so we had to improvise by using Hannah's iPhone. Luckily the camera qualities were not much different, however we had filmed the footage on the HD camera in landscape and the footage on the iPhone in portrait. This created problems later on in the editing process.

Overall the shoot went well, and we managed to overcome the issues we had. We had planned well and therefore we had other options and solutions to the things that went slightly wrong. 

Microdrama: Planning

The theme of our microdrama will be horror, involving 4 characters - a news reporter, a murderer and 2 members of the public. Because there are 5 people in our group, we will assign the camera job to the 5th person without a role in the film.

The film will be set in a public area, most likely Ilkley park. The opening scene will be a live news report taking place. We will then follow the 2 members of the public, which will lead to something major happening. We plan to finish the film with another live news report, concluding the previous events.

We have made a story board including the different shot types and angles, which will benefit us when shooting the footage as we will have pre-made decisions, which will speed up the filming process.

It will be ideal for us to film in the evening when it is dark, but still light enough to see properly. This will create more of a sense of terror and mystery, and also because major horror films tend to be set at night, such as Halloween, Scream, House at the End of the Street etc. 

Key Narrative Theories

Todorov
Todorov is associated with the theory that every narrative can be broken down into 3 basic stages. Equilibrium, dis-equilibrium and new equilibrium. People usually refer to the 3 part model but he actually proposed 5 stages.
1. a state of equilibrium at the outset.
2. a disruption of the equilibrium by some action.
3. a recognition that there has been a disruption.
4. an attempt to repair the disruption.
5. a reinstatement of the equilibrium.

Barthes
Another basic but vital component of most narratives is the concept of narrative enigma. These are the puzzles created within the narrative . Trying to figure out these puzzles is part of the enjoyment of watching the text. This is often done by not showing someones face or key information purposefully being hidden from the audience.

Levi Strauss
When we consider the use of stereotypes it is often evident how a binary opposition is at play. For example how we describe a stereotypical poor or working class person in broadly the opposite of how we would describe a middle class or upper class person. Scenes within dramas often reflect this idea with clashing pairs. These binary opposites are what often cause conflict or tension.

Vladimir Propp
Propp argued that there are essentially 8 different character types, also known as an archetypes.
1. Villain - also known as the antagonist they are the 'bad guy' of the film and they never usually end up 'winning' or having the best outcome at the end of the film.
2. Donor - this person usually helps prepare the hero for what they have to overcome or gives them something to help them.
3. Helper - helps the hero in their quest.
4. The Princess/Prize - the hero that deserves her/it throughout the story but is unable to marry her at he beginning of the story due to whatever villain is doing to stop them.
5. The Princess and her Father- gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, marries the hero. Propp noted that the father and the princess can be quite hard to distinguish between.
6. The Dispatcher - character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.
7. Hero/Victim - also known as the protagonist, reacts to the donor, weds the princess. 
8. False Hero/Anti Hero/Usurper- takes credit for the hero's actions or tries to marry the princess.These roles could sometimes be distributed among various characters. Also once character could do things that mean they apply to more than one role.

Semiotics Rap

Signifier means a single detail with a symbolic meaning,
It is a denotion that makes us see emotion,
Juxtaposition is binary opposition,
These generate drama and conflict.
Lets take the commutation test,
To see how changing the signifier would affect the text,
Or how about we do some reading,
Either preferred, negotiated or oppositional to understand the meaning.
Take a red rose for example of polysemy,
This has not one meaning but many,
Anchors are the opposite of this though,
As these interpret a single meaning which stops the flow.

Semiotics: The Concept and Key Terms

Semiotics is the study of signs and how they can be interpreted, as well as a system for investigating the symbolic encoding of meaning within texts. They allow us to examine and explain how meaning has been encoded in a text, and show awareness of the choices made by the text's creators. 

Key Terms:

SIGNIFIER: detail from a text which has a symbolic meaning.

SIGNIFIED/SIGNIFIES: the symbolic meaning/interpretation which links to the reading of the text. 

DENOTE/DENOTATION: a description of what we see or hear within in a text.

CONNOTE/CONNOTATION: the symbolic meaning of these factual details.

E.G. when we can DENOTE a male having stubble and dark hair this often CONNOTES villainy.

BINARY OPPOSITION: they are a key device for generating conflict and drama and when they're placed together we can talk of binary opposites being juxtaposed meaning they're paired together to emphasise the contrast and difference.

E.G. male/female, rich/poor, rural/urban.

POLYSEMY: every media text is essentially polysemic as it has many possible meanings.

ANCHORAGE: this is when we fix an interpretation to a text, because signifiers have been embedded within the text which point the audience towards a preferred interpretation.

COMMUTATION TEST: considering how the meaning of a signifier would be influenced if it was to be changed, which tells us if a detail in a text is important or not.

READING;

- PREFERRED: how the creators hope you will respond to their media.

- NEGOTIATED: the audience mostly understand the preferred reading but don't fully follow it, meaning they reject/are                unaware of some of the signifiers in the text.

- OPPOSITIONAL: the audience constantly rejects the meaning and interpretation that is being encoded by the directors.

NARRATIVE ENIGMA: certain elements are purposely hidden from the audience, to build up a sense of mystery and drama.

INTERTEXTUALITY: creating an overall impression of a text which targets a certain audience, however the meaning is tied to another, earlier text.

E.G. to understand 'Scary Movie' you'd need to have seen 'Scream', which it spoofs.

Vodcast on Conventions

We were in a group of 4, and we had to analyse conventions on 8 films between us. Some films were old and some were new, so we compared them and the techniques used.

Opening EG6: About A Boy

DVD credits

About a Boy (Chris Weitz & Paul Weitz, 2002)
PRODUCED BY: Tribeca Productions, Working Title.
DISTRIBUTED BY: Universal Pictures, Studio Canal, Mars Distribution (click here to see more)
BUDGET: $27m.
BOX OFFICE: $41m (USA), £16m (UK).
RATINGS: 7.1 (IMDb).

I am going to analyse the opening sequence of this film. As the company credit for Working Title appears, there is a voice over of 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire'.

Credits:
'A Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz film' (directors)
Actors/Actresses
Casting
Make-up/hair designer
Music
Costume designer
Editor
Production designer
Director of photography
Executive producers
Co-producers
Producers
Screenplay
Directors (again)

0:55, shot 1

Shots:
1 - The very first shot is an overhead shot, which appears at 00:55 (after idents), showing the floor board as the camera is on the ceiling. A man walks past, but we do not see his face which is a use of narrative enigma.
2 - We then see the TV, and the same man walks past. There is a question asked on the game show, and the answer comes from a voice over, not from the contestant. We can tell this voice is Hugh Grant, because he is an extremely famous British actor. This makes us wonder if he is the man we are seeing, even though we have not yet been given any information as to who this character is.

1:07, shot 3

3 -  The next shot is of the man turning the TV off. Non-diegetic music begins to play and who we believe to be Hugh Grant narrating, continues to speak carrying on the answer to the question from Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The first credit also appears at this point; it is Hugh Grant. This confirms that the voice over is Hugh Grant and because is name appears first, this suggests he is the main character. We still have not seen the characters face.

1:18, shot 4

4 - The shot then switches to a fish tank, and another two names appear individually, suggesting these are also main characters. The film title 'About a Boy' also appears. The camera begins to pan across the room, as more credits appear. This time, they are grouped, suggesting these characters are less important. The mise-en-scene suggests this man is wealthy and well-off.
5 - The camera then changes to follow the unknown man who is making his way across to the microwave. He reaches for a mug in the microwave, holding a piece of toast which tells us it is most likely the morning.

1:39, shot 6

6 - At this point, we still have not been shown the mans face, but the voice over is still on going. The phone beings to ring, and the camera zooms into a close up of a note on the coffee table. There is a woman's name and a number on the note. This suggests this note is important, but the mans screws it up.
7 - In this shot, the man is putting the note in the bin, and in the background, the phone goes to answer phone and a woman is leaving a message about the night before. We are then told that the woman's name on the note belongs to the woman leaving a message on the answer phone, which tells us this man is not in a relationship, and is perhaps a casual outgoing character.

1:45, shot 8

8 - The character still hasn't been revealed, and as he walks past we only see his shadow on a large bookcase. This suggests he is intelligent.
9 - We then get a medium long shot of the man walking away. He is going to put his coat on, telling us he's going out somewhere.
10 - At 1:54, he walks up to the mirror, however it is positioned so we still cannot see his face, only the clothes he is wearing.
11 - At this point, we see a face, but it is not clear what the actual

1:54, shot 10

features are, as he is looking into something round.
12 - At 2:01, there is a swipe transition to a young boy laying on a bed in his pajamas. His arms are folded, and his expression appears to be slightly sad.
13 - Hamster running round a wheel which is squeaking.
14 - The boy rolls over, and the narration from the man turns into the narration from the boy. The narration is sad, as he is talking about not fitting in at his school. This tells us this boy is unhappy and is maybe being bullied. We also get the idea that he has moved around a bit, as it is a new school he is talking about.

2:01, shot 12

15 - The camera goes to a close up of a clock, which is saying 5 o'clock. We do not know if this is night or morning, but from the previous scenes of the man getting toast, we presume it is in the morning.

2:13, shot 16

16 - At 2:13, there is an extreme close up of the boys face. Although it is dark, we can see the light shining on his eye, and it looks like he is about to cry.
17 - The boy goes to pick the hamster up out of its cage and puts it in the sink. He fills up a tray of water and begins to wash the cage. This suggests that this hamster is very special to this little boy, perhaps his only friend from what he is saying. He mentions something about being home-schooled, but he would have to pay his mum as it's only them. This is very different to the man in the first scenes, as he seemed rich and well-off.

2:48, shot 19

18 - The mise-en-scene is quite basic, and the lighting is dark. We see the boy sat on the stairs at 2:45
19 - The alarm clock goes off at 2:46, and the camera goes back to how we first saw him, lying on his bed but this time he is in uniform.
20 - There is a close up of the boy opening the door. He is wearing a hat, telling us it is cold outside.
21 - We then go back to the man at the start. There is a close up of his hand holding car keys, then he opens the car door and gets in. The man begins to narrate again.

2:55, shot 20

22 - The narrative enigma ends here, as the characters face is revealed. It is Hugh Grant, who we now known must be one of the main characters, along with the boy.
23 - Hugh Grant is driving an Audi TT, which also suggests he has a lot of money.
24 - The ending ends at 3:13, when the scenery changes to an entirely new setting and new characters are introduced.

3:03, shot 22. Character is revealed

Opening EG5: Wild At Heart

Wild At Heart (David Lynch, 1990)
PRODUCED BY: PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, Propaganda Films.
DISTRIBUTED BY: The Samuel Goldwyn Company, Universal Pictures Video (click here to see the full list).
BUDGET: $10m.
BOX OFFICE: $15m (USA), £1m (UK).
RATINGS: 7.2 (IMDb).

Credits

The first credit goes to the director, as it says 'A Film by David Lynch'. The next credits go to the main characters. The ones after these are shown together meaning these people are less important characters. The next credits are for people like the casting director and producer.

When the credits are showing, a match is lit and there is fire in the background.  This signifies fear and danger, and gives the audience the sense that the film is going to be an action film. However, the music suggests that romance is also involved, as violins are used, which are often associated with love. The font is bold and sans-serif. The credits roll on until 2:32.



Information

1st shot of the two main characters

Two shot medium shot of the main character and unknown character

 The first shot we see is of a painted ceiling, which signifies money and wealth. The music is diegetic and jolly, and can be recognized as music played at dances. We get some information about the location, telling us it is in America. The camera then pans down, past a chandelier, to a busy stairway with women in dresses and men in suits. At 0:40, we meet see the two main characters. The relationship between these two is romantic, as the first shot of them is them kissing. These two characters are young compared to the other people, and are dressed differently, showing the age gap and diversity. At 0:48, we meet another character, who introduces us to Sailor, who we presume is the main character as he was the first person we saw. This unknown character introduces a story line, however the audience is still unsure as to who this man is and what is going on. There are a lot of close ups and two shots, to show the relationships. The third character and Sailors relationship appears to bad, as they're using strong language towards each other, and the audience gets a sense of a fight.

Close Up of the knife

   There is then a close up of the knife that the third character is holding, and Lula screams. Music begins to play as Sailor and the third, unknown character fight on the stairs. The fight is brutal, and makes you wonder why it is happening. The third character mentions something about Sailor sleeping with Lula's mum, however this is not proven to be true. There is another character whom we see watching the fight on the stairway, however we do not know who this is or what the relationship between these characters is.

4th unkown character

Sailor seems to be 'winning' the fight, and the editing is very fast and close up shots are used, to show the emotion of the two characters'. The camera shows blood on the floor, and Lula screaming, telling Sailor to stop.

At the end of the fight, Sailor has killed this man, who was paid to kill Sailor himself, and lights a cigarette. He then points at someone, and shows a woman's face, but we do not know who this is or why he is pointing at her. There is a shot reverse shot, showing Sailor, to the woman's face and then back to Sailor.

Comparing 2 Past Coursework Openings

I compared 'The Second Personality' and 'The Cellar'.

The Cellar:

The Second Personality:



In The Cellar's opening shot there is non-diegitic music playing in the background, but the main audio focus of this shot is the heavy footsteps which are gradually getting louder. The shot is a low dutch angle with the camera being in a dark room which instantly signifies something is not right. The low angle makes the audience feel threatened by the sound of the footsteps and the darkness. The shot is of a door, with light coming through, which creates a sense of narrative enigma, as we have not been given any information about what is happening and why we are being shown this shot. The door then opens and somebody walks down the stairs but we still do not fully know what is going on. The shot is still the same at this point.
In The Second Personality's opening shot there is non-diegitic music playing, however it appears to be diegitic. This is because of the way to opening sequence has been shot. There is a shot of a radio as the music begins to play, however the music does not fade throughout the entire sequence.  The first shot we see is of somebody in bed, and the camera then switches to the radio as the music starts. We then go back to the bed and someone begins to get up. There is use of narrative engima here as the room is dark, and the shot is a low angle, signifying this person is dangerous and that we should perhaps feel vulnerable.

Strongest features:
The Cellar;

• There is a lot of shot variety in this opening. An example would be at 0:48, when there is a close up of a girl with her mouth taped up. The camera then zooms out to show her postion and we see she is being held captive.
• The editing for meaning to viewer is also well thought of. We firstly see what the current situation is, but then camera then switches to how the girl got to be in this positon then ge go back to her. The past event is in black and white, to signify this is a separate event. The camera then does a montage of the house, in which we presume it is all taking place, and the girl in the cellar.

The Second personality;

• There are also a lot of shot varities in this opening.

Weakest features:
The Cellar;

• For lighting, candles were used which did give a 'spooky' effect however at times, it was too dark to see what was happening.

The Second Personality;

• The editing for meaning to viewer is poor in this opening. The black and white effect is the same as The Cellar,  switching from past to present shots, however it is not clear as to why we are sent back to the past. There is a girl in the past shot, but she only appears briefly so we cannot tell if she is a major part of the film or not.

Assessing a Past Coursework Opening

The Second Personality


The stongest feature in this opening is the variety of shot types. At 0:07, the director has very cleverly used a shot of a radio to appear as the music starts playing, as if the music is coming from the radio. This creates the effect that the music is non-diegitic but appears to be diegitic. We thought this was a good way to introduce the music.


The weakest feature of the opening is the unclear transitions making the plot hard to follow and understand. The girl in the opening only makes a very brief appearence making it unclear whether she is a main part of the film.

We don't see any of the criteria being excellent but we would say the variety of shots was fairly good and we would put in the proficient section. We think that the editing for meaning to veiwer might fall into the minimal category, as the order of shots are poor.

Shots:
1 - From 0:15 to 0:20, there is use of narrative inigma, as we do not see the characters face until 0:21. This is used to create a sense of mystery and suspicion.
2 - At 0:21, there is a low angle, medium shot. The camera reveals the character here, when he looks into the mirror. This shot is a long take, lasting 7 seconds, without any form of movement.
3 - At 0:28, the shot changes to a black and white scene. This suggests the scene is a thought or memory coming from the character looking into the mirror, but we are not entirely sure. The music also changes here, from the rock to romantic.
4- From 0:28 to 0:50 the shots are medium, with no variety of angles.
5 - At 0:51, there is a close up of the boy cutting a sandwich and placing it into a box.
6 - At 1:01, we see the boy putting books into a bag, telling us he is going to school and the sandwich is for his lunch.
7 - At 1:07, the camera goes back to the sandwich as he picks up the box, but the camera stays focused on the area even when he has taken the sandwich. He then goes back for the knife. All these shots are close ups, to show the importance.
8 - We then see the boy putting the knife in his bag with a close up. It would have been good to use a dutch angle here, to signify something is going to happen but there is no angle.
9 - At 1:23, there is use of a panning shot, to show him walking away from the house. At 1:28, there is a subjective point of view shot, looking at his feet walking. The camera is very unsteady here.
10 - At 1:32, we then get another point of view shot, however this is from another character, who we do not know. This builds suspense.
11 - At 1:34 the shot switches, to show someone following the first character.
12 - At 1:37, the first character stops and the camera zooms in to a close up, to show the emotion of his face.

Assessment Criteria

Mark scheme

Final Cut Pro X: 1st Impressions

I had already been introduced to Final Cut Express when I was introduced to this software, so I already knew the basics of how it works. I was taught by an A2 student.
   I thought that this software is very similar the Final Cut Express, in the sense that the editing tools are the same. However, there are a lot more effects and transitions you can add into your video, and it is better for editing longer videos. Although there are added features, it soon became clear how to work this software and I have used it since confidently.

   The editing side of the software is quick and easy to pick up, but my group when editing our swede did struggle with exporting the file in the right format. There were many steps and processes to go through, and it became quite confusing. We had to re-export our video, as we had used the wrong format and it did not work. We were taught how to export it again, and I now think I would feel confident doing it again by myself.

Shaun of the Dead Swede

We worked in a group of 5 to make our swede. We decided upon Shaun of the Dead, because it is a popular film, meaning the scenes would be easy to recognize and we didn't need a lot of equipment or props to make it work well. The scenes we chose were good as they are well known scenes from the film. Although it was a fun task to do, I think we should have planned it more before hand, and added more shot types and angles into it. We could have also made it longer by filming more scenes. 

   To edit the video, our group split into two groups, so we have two finished version of the swede. This is my groups version:

Sweding Explained + Pitch

Sweding is remaking a film on a practically non-existent budget, with amateur equipment and actors. The idea comes from the film Be Kind Rewind (Michael Gondry, 2008). The point of a swede is to re-create a well known, popular film and make it funny.

Pitch:
I think that the film The Amityville Horror would be good to swede, as there are a lot of events that occur. To reenact some of these events, you would need no special effects or major props. One of the main characters in the film is a little girl, who was shot dead by her father. She is still living in the house, in the closet of one of the bedrooms. To re-make this little girl, we should use a boy, who is tall with short hair. Some of the scenes

Here is the trailer for the film:


A couple of the scenes that could be re-maked:

(0:40 onwards)

Final Cut Express: 1st Impressions

I had never heard of or used this software before I began Media at A level, so I thought it was going to be difficult to use and get the hang of. However; it was very easy to use. All the tools you need for cutting and editing the video footage are in the same place, and it doesn't take long at all the edit a video clip. We used this software to edit our Prelim, and it was very easy and quick to do, as it only took us less than 1 hour to cut it down and make it flow. There are different transitions you can add in, and you can also add text, which enables you to make your video different and unique.

   Although the editing side of the software is easy, I had to be shown a few times how to export the video in the right format, as there were many different formats. Apart from this, the software is very clever, and is good to use to edit short clips.

Preliminary Task

In our groups' preliminary video, we used Poppy and myself as the actors whilst James was in charge of filming. In the task, we had to include the use of 180 degree roll, match on action and shot reverse shot:
180 degree rule - This is a guideline in film making that states that two characters in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes over the imaginary line connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line.
Match on action - This is a technique of continuity editing where an action commenced in the first shot is completed in the second shot, or an action in the first shot is mirrored by an action in the second shot.
Shot reverse shot - This is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character, then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. This is a classical style of Hollywood continuity editing.

The task was to make a short, basic video of ourselves entering a room, walking across to the other side and having a conversation.
   We wanted the video to have a range of shot types and angles, which I think we managed to complete well. After filming the video, we used a software called Final Cut, to edit and cut the shots.

If we were to do the video again, I think we would use different actors, even though the task was just for practice to get an idea of why these shot types are important and how they effect the flow of the video.

OpeningEG7: Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle, 2008)
PRODUCED BY: Celador Films, Film4, Pathé Pictures International.
DISTRIBUTED BY: Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox, Channel 4 (click here to see the full list).
BUDGET: $15m.
BOX OFFICE: $141m (USA), £31m (UK).
RATINGS: 8.1 (IMDb).


I am going to analyse the opening scene of this film. It begins at 00:40 (after idents) and ends at 1:53.
Apart from the idents, there are no other credits. They are all shown at the end of the film.

00:35

00:43

00:50

The very first shot is a close up, over the shoulder shot, of whom we gather to be the main character. He is sweaty and  dirty, and it is set in a dim, orange coloured room, filled with smoke. The close up shows the emotion of the characters face and the over the shoulder shot tells us that he is not alone and that someone is sat opposite him. There is background noise, however it is not clear what it is and there is no dialogue so at this point, we only really know what the main character looks like. At 00:50, there is a shot reverse shot, as the camera switches to look over the first characters shoulder, at the man sat opposite him, and then back to the first given shot. The impression we get from this second character is that he isn't very nice, by the way he is blowing smoke into the first characters face. He is also sweaty and dirty, giving the audience the idea they have been in that room for a long while together.

00:57

1:02

 
 
   At 00:57, a date and place appears on the screen in the top left corner. The font is fairly small and simple. It says 'Mumbai, 2006', which gives the audience some information about what to expect, and where it all takes place. At 1:00, some more writing appears, releasing even more information to the audience. It tells us a name and a situation, however it still is not clear who this name belongs to and who is in this given situation. It also asks a question, making the audience get involved and to perhaps suggest that somehow there is police involved. At 1:02, the man blowing smoke hits the first character across the face. It becomes clear that the first character is under some sort of interrogation, linking the name and situation with the police.
                                                                            However, we're still not entirely sure as there has been no dialogue.

1:12

    After this scene, 4 possible answers to the question asked previously appear, in the style of 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire'. The theme tune to the game show has begun to play in the background. There is a montage, of someone dropping a lot of money into a bath tub, and the first character. From this point, we can figure out that the first character is waiting behind the set of 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire', therefore confirming that he is the name given (Jamal Malik) and he is in the given situation; he is one question away from winning 20 million rupees. However, the questions says 'How did he do it?' which contradicts the previous statement. This questions suggests he has already won the money whereas the statement above suggests he has nearly won it...
   From this, we can also figure that the film has gone back to how it all began, as he has already won the money. We can then work out that the 2nd seen character is interrogating Jamal, after, we presume, winning the money.

1:27

 
Whilst the music is playing, there is someone introducing the game show, telling us what is going on. At 1:27, we get the first bit of face to face dialogue. The shot type is a close up, however the lighting is poor and dull. A new character is asking Jamal if he is ready, and as Jamal replies, a spot light flashes on and off of him. This effect enables us to briefly see the characters face and emotion. He looks quite nervous and seems to be staring at one place, perhaps trying to calm his nerves. At 1:44, Jamal and the new character walk onto the stage. The shot type is a two shot, with the unknown character looking up at Jamal smiling, but Jamal is still looking else where with a nervous expression. We can figure out that the new character is the host of the game show, but we are still wary about him as we have not been given any information about him.

1:44

   At 1:48, there is a birds eye view of the stage on which Jamal, has just walked onto. This gives an all round view of the setting. The opening scene effectively ends as the music comes to an end. Jamal has sat down in the hot seat and is about to start playing the game. The effect of the game show theme tune playing is a clever way of introducing the start of the film and also the start of the game show, even though there are flashbacks, despite the fact that we do not discover that they are flashbacks until later on in the opening sequence. The dimensions of the screen are long and thin, cutting the top and bottom halves of the characters faces off.

1:48