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.