Preliminary Evaluation

Prelim evaluation

In general, I feel our group's preliminary task was very good and i feel for a first attempt at filming and editing we did a decent job. When the film was being created all the camera shots were steady, as if the shots are unsteady they would make the film look dodgy and bad. Sometimes an unsteady camera can be used to create effects in certain shots but our piece didn't need to have any scenes with this certain effect. Another thing I feel we did well in our film was using a variety of shots this helped create tension in scenes when needed, although at times we used to many different shots and made it look a bit unsophisticated and could confuse the audience. Although, overall our film portrayed a variety of good shots with such shots as long shot, medium shots, shot reverse shots which were all required and I felt we used them all too good effect.  

 

Also our editing was very good as we got all the required effects in and it helped make the film look more professional. It also helped to keep the audience up to date with what was going on and helped the film run on smoothly. We also used some effective mise-en scene in our film as we was quite lucky with the weather as it fit the interrogation scene and it created a sense of mystery and was good for portraying pathetic fallacy as the weather was reflective of the scene. We also used the appropriate transitions in the film such as jump cuts and fade to black to help build up tension.  

I also feel our editing was very effective as we used a variety of techniques, like the fast forward tool to speed up our clips to make them seem more realistic. Also we added some non-diegetic sound in during editing to create some of the sounds which weren't defined enough when filming the scene first off. We also used some titles but only basic ones to show the required information needed; although the titles was a down side to our task as we could of added more titles to help the film look more professional. We also made sure that our entire match on action worked well and there were no pauses so it didn't ruin the effect which we felt went really well as it looked very good and professional. Another tool we used was the to kill the sound on some clips so we can just have non-diegetic sound this is so we can get rid of the atmosphere around such as talking, footsteps and weather. 

If we were to do the task again or when we do our proper assessment we should use shots carefully to make sure it doesn't look like an amateur film and looks very good and something that you'd expect to see in a movie theatre. Also we definitely need to add more titles to help give the audience a more idea of what is going to happen and also give the film more professionalism; but overall I thought our first attempt at a task like this went extremely well.

 

 

 

Captain phillips moovly - sound analysis

Glossary of sound terms
Diegetic sound- Sound that comes from a person or object in the scene and seen on the screen.

Ambient sound- Background sound belonging to the scene but not always seen on the screen/can be recorded on location or can be added via a soundtrack.

Non-diegetic sound- sound that comes from nothing that can be seen on the screen and has been added afterwards in the editing process. Examples of this are soundtrack music or a voiceover.

Synchronous sound-  This is where the sound is synchronised with the object emitting that sound. As in lip-sync where the actors mouth moves exactly in time with the words we hear.

Asynchronous sound- This is where the sound track is deliberately out of sync with what we see. it is a rare effect in TV drama.

Sound effects- Sounds that are added to the visuals in editing. They may be natural sound, for example, the sound of traffic outside the window added to a shot filmed in studio.

Sound bridge - Where either diegetic or non-diegetic sound continues across one or more transitions/cuts

Dialogue - The sound made by characters talking to each other

Voiceover - Where a voice from outside the image on screen is giving the audience information to help with the story.

Mode of address - This covers the manner in which the narrative comes across to the audience. This includes language style used by characters or narrators.

Direct address - When a narrator or character speaks directly to the audience

Soundtrack - Sound added entirely in post-production. Usually a mixed music track

Prelim feedback

Vox Pop Interview

I felt our Vox Pop went really well as well followed all the rules surrounding a Vox Pop. We made sure the interviewee was always placed to the right of the screen so we can see the environment around him and most Vox Pops are filmed in busy places. We had some activity in the background the show a busy environment and I felt it worked well. We also had short answers which are typical of most Vox Pops. Although one improvement I felt could be made, should be the camera level. It should be a bit higher to be at eye-level with the person being interviewed. This helps show equality and is important for the audience to see the person at eye-level. Although I felt overall it went very well, especially getting the interviewee to look away from the camera as this is important as the person is not talking to the camera. 

Analysis of Vox Pop

Results:

Q1) What’s your favourite thriller film?

       - 'Speed' by Keanu Reeves

       - 'High plains drifter' by Clint Eastwood

       - 'Taken' by Liam Neeson

       - 'Batman, The Dark Knight' by Christopher Nolan

       - 'Captain Phillips' by Paul Greengrass

       - 'James Bond'

From these results when can see that the audience we spoke to tend to go for films that are very popular in their specific genre. Also the directors that worked on the films chosen are very popular and well known director, known for creating exciting thriller movies. Also the movies are quite popular and this shows the audience tends to go for something mainstream which suggests they are in the psychographics category of mainstreamers. The results that we got can help us as the movies the audience spoke about are all action thriller films which help us as we can target our films at this specific demographics group as we’ve got results to prove they like action thrillers. Although I felt we could have asked a mixed range of gender and age.

Q2) Why?

       - 'Speed' because of excitement and explosions

       - 'High plains drifter' as it is very intriguing and draws the audience in

       - 'Taken' as it is very action packed and keeps the audience on the edge of their seat 

       - 'Batman, The Dark Knight' because it has good action scenes and joker makes a good villain 

       - 'Captain Phillips' as the character are very well thought out and good action sequences 

       - 'James Bond' a good story line 

We can take a lot of information from our results to help us with our final production as we can see that the people we interviewed showed us that they like films with lots of action and things that keep the audience on the edge of their seat. We can see from the target audience that the main reason they like their favourite thriller film is because of the action that creates tension amongst the audience. This helps us with our production as it tells us that by doing an action thriller film it would benefit our target audience.

Q3) What do you look for in a thriller?

       - A film with lots of violence which keeps the audience on the edge of their seat and is exciting

       - A film that is very intriguing and intense

       - A film that entails lots of action, explosions and violence which keeps the audience occupied

       - A storyline with twists and turns and unexpected sequences

       - A film with thrills and spills

Asking the question of what people like to see in a thriller film is important to us as we can use that information and use it to our advantage when producing our final production. We can get an idea of what our target audience loves to see when watching a thriller movie. We now know that when we film our final production we must make it very action packed and something that keeps the audience occupied and keeps our target audience happy.

From our findings I've noticed that a lot of peoples favourite thriller films are action thrillers. This will help us with our opening sequence as it shows we have to consider making our thriller have some action within it to please our audience. Also the demographics have to be taken into consideration which is the age, the age of the people that we interviewed are all around 16-18. This is reflective of there lives as at that age your life can be quite action packed. This is important to attract our audience and make it so the audience can relate and enjoy the production. 

Also when asking what our audience what they look for in a thriller helps us decide what to incorporate into our production. We found that our audience likes things such as keeping the audience nervous and an intense film, this shows us that we have to create a piece that is interesting an creates tension amongst the audience. A way of doing this would be by using the other finding we got which were things such as violence and action, by using these things in our production we would be making the majority of our audience happy as we are introducing what they like and hopefully will make the sequence appeal to them. 

Preliminary task

Opening titles timelines

I feel the images and typography used in the opening titles for Captain America are effective. I think this because of the first image which appears on screen is the propaganda poster used in the war of the man pointing saying 'I want you...' this is effective as it makes the audience feel wanted and it also creates the impression that the film was made for the audience. Also I think the colour of the text is effective as it is all mainly in the colours of red, blue or white. This is effective as it's the colours of the American flag and this is something that relates to the film, it helps set the scene and it's also something the audience can create links with the text.

I feel the typography for the opening titles of Snatch weren't the best. Although the colour white for the images of the characters suggests the gang have something to hide and try and act all innocent as the colour white has the connotations with innocence, it is a pure colour. Although as most gangs act the innocent we all know that they always have something odd about them.

Prelim Planning

Snatch analysis/Mise en scene

Mise en scene analysis

Cousin Avi

When watching the opening titles of snatch we see that the character 'cousin avi' is an intelligent character and could be associated with an business man look as he's wearing smart attire. Also he's looking into the diamond during the opening sequence which suggests he's a character that deals with the business type of things. That point is backed up when we see 'cousin avi' seemingly to appear in an office which suggests he's into the business side of things and a laid back character. This could suggest he may be the leader of the gang as he takes a laid back approach on things and shifts the jobs to other members. 

Sol

We see the character Sol after cousin avi as we see the diamond passed through the safe from cousin avi and during that transition the diamond has transformed into money. This suggests that the character Sol deals with the financial side of things and looks after the money. Also the setting shows that Sol is a character who works for the gang behind the scene. The costume of Sol suggest he's a devious character. 

Mickey

Mickey seems to be a character of some secrecy as he's protective over his money and could be seen as a gold digger as all he seems to care about is money. The expression on his face could suggest he's quite an aggressive character. The setting seems to be like a caravan which suggest Mickey is a poor character and a minor character for the group and has little authority.

Vinny

Vinny seems to be a character who looks after all the goods that the gang get there hands on. We see Vinny seems to be a character of cheekiness by the way he's smiling when holding the gold chain. This suggests that Vinny could get carried away with his job.

Franky

In this shot we are introduced to Franky four fingers who has a sense of cockiness about him which represents a presence of power. We see this by his sunglasses which hides his identity which could also reflect the group as they may keep there identity private from the outside world. The cards being in the forefront of the image suggests gambling is a major part of the gang as a way to improve money income. Also the character missing a finger creates an atmosphere around the gang which suggests they can get caught up in trouble from time to time.

Turkish

Here we are introduced to the character 'turkish' and we get the impression he's the hard man of the gang. The name of the character 'Turkish' shows the stereotype of most hard men in gangs as he's an eastern European member. When the opening titles is seen the man with the 'Turkish' shows an impression of fear which shows the characters dominance. The costume of the character shows the gang can be rather sophisticated and a well run gang. Also the setting in the opening titles shows the unpleasance around him which represents the job the 'Turkish' character has to carry out. Also the actor is Jason Statham and this is an example of star persona as he's well known for his work in the thriller genre. 

Gorgeous George

The name gorgeous George doesn't match the character that plays him as we can see he's quite a fierse, bruised up man with no front teeth. This suggests gorgeous George is a front man for the gang and deals with the brutal side of things. Also the setting shows him in a rough area laying into a punching bag and the rough area does represent his personality. 

Tommy

Tommy seems to be the baby and the weak link of the gang. He's behind the punching bag when gorgeous George is punching it and gets whacked by the bag. This shows his clumsiness and seems like the character which could get the gang in trouble. 

Bullet-tooth Tony

Bullet-tooth Tony looks to be the most ruthless of all the characters as we see him throwing a man into the boot of the car. He's the man doing all the dirty work for the gang. Looking at the car bullet-tooth Tony is using and the costume of him suggests that the film is based in the olden times when gangs were more sophisticated and went round doing there business more quietly.

Boris the blade

Boris the blade seems to be the gang member that takes care of all the brutal business. We see this by the gun being used which suggests the gang does kill if needed and the job of Boris is to kill when needed. 

Doug the head

Doug the head suggests that he's the character with the most authority, this is proved through the name. Also we can see by his body language when the film is shown as he's seen as a furious character with an attitude towards the person he's talking to. Also his attire shows he's a man of importance and wealth.

Brick

Brick seems to be a character who strikes fear into other character as he's seen to have a short temper and use weapons to get his point across.

Diamond

We see the diamond right before the introducing of the characters and straight after the last character is shown. This creates an idea for the audience as the diamond is always centre to the screen which grabs the audience's attention and stresses the importance of the diamond. It will also have a link with the characters as them being shown between the diamond which shows that all the characters are linked to the diamond and it shows the audience that the diamond is an important aspect of the film.

Camerawork

The camerawork in the opening of snatch but it could be a lot better. The shots are all the same and they are mid shots of characters and showing them dealing with a prop. This is effective for the audience as it gives the audience of who the characters are and what there job is and this is seen from the prop they are dealing with. Although the close up of the diamond is effective as it shows the motive of the gang and gives the audience an idea of what the story will be about. 

Editing

There are some match on actions which are used to help the transition to the next characters that are being shown. It also helps create a link between the two characters. 

Sound

The diegetic sound used for the opening titles of snatch is the same background music throughout and is an upbeat and fast tempo sound which suggests the action is quick and the music is reflecting the action of the film. There is an effective use of non-diegetic sound in the opening titles, this is present when the dialogue towards the end is taking place. The sound of a police siren can be heard and it gives a sense of mystery and keeps the audience guessing about what has gone on. 

Narrative

There is only a little bit of narrative in the opening titles of snatch but it is effective. The villain is a stereotypical villain as he has an eastern european accent which is common for villains in thriller films. It also helps set the scene and sets up the film for the audience. 

Taking into account the costume and setting it is quite typical of a thriller genre. The use of costume is important as most of them are wearing smart attire which is typical of a gang, especially in a thriller film as it shows they are a sophisticated gang. Also the use of long dark coat as seen wearing by the 'Turkish' shows the representation of danger as the dark colours represent danger. Also the setting of a rough area is a convention of a thriller film as it shows the mess of the location which can reflect the characters and the storyline. 

Speed audience profile

Speed-Audience Profile

It’s an action thriller starring Keanu Reeves, he is associated with action thriller films as this is his star persona. It is a classic action thriller which fits it very well as it contains a hero trying to stop a bomb going off, with lots of explosions and fast paced editing. It is a hybrid between action and thriller as it is a perfect mix of both.

This is the cover and it shows it is an action thriller due to the colour scheme being mainly red and also the pictures show explosions which are associated with action films.

The White in the text stands out and draws attention to it which is another sign of typography.

 

Audience Profile-

The demographic age we believe is suited to this film is 15-28 year olds we picked this because we feel it would suit their lifestyle as they have similar lives which are quite action packed.

We feel the majority of the people who watch this will be males because the film is more directed towards that sort of gender as typically girls would prefer less violence.
 

I would say the psychographics linked to this film would be strugglers as it’s aimed at the lower class like the unemployed and students and they fall under this bracket. The socio-economic class that would watch this film would be C2-E as it would not be appreciated by anyone in the higher class as it is quite violent and would not fit their sort of lifestyle.

This film would be watched by people whose lifestyle revolves around cars or is action packed as this film has lots tense and exciting moments which would appeal to them. People who are fans of Keanu Reeves would love this film as it fits his star persona perfectly.

The director Jan De Bont could be associated with the word Auteur, because a lot of his films revolve around action.  

ISL Week 2

Glossary of terms – Week 2 ISL

 

Editing techniques

Editing is putting a film together/video clip in an order to make sense to the viewer.

Techniques:

Transitions

These are the ways two shots are joined together; there are lots of transitions but the most common one is the straight cut, where the shot cuts straight away to the next. It helps keep continuity and pace in the film.

Dissolve – A gradual transition, a shot fading into another

Fade to black/white – A shot fades in or out from either black or white. This can indicate time passing and flashbacks.

Cross cutting – The action cuts between two sequences to create links, parallels or contrasts between two storylines. This can help create tension.

Wipe – A line moves across the screen showing a transition from one shot to another. This is effective as it can represent a change of time or location.

Jump cut – An abrupt cut between shots; this can have a dramatic effect and can indicate a start or end in action.

 

Sounds

Diegetic sound – This sound is heard and recorded from the location of the film, such as speech or sound.

Non-diegetic sound – This sound is added to the film to add to the atmosphere of what’s being viewed, such as narrators or music.

 

Continuity editing

·         Maintains the spatial relationship in a film

·         Calls the audience’s attention to specific things in the film

·         Allows the film to shift through time

·         Gives the film rhythm

Match on action

When shots are edited together to show how actions progress through time – shows cause and effect.

Shot reverse shot

Edits together two shots from two different camera positions to give the impression of a conversation taking place.

ISL Week 1

Glossary of terms – Week 1 ISL work

 

Camera shots

 

Mid shot – Shows some part of the subject in more detail while still giving an impression of the whole subject.

 

Medium close up – Half way between a mid-shot and a close up.

 

Close up – A certain feature or part of the subject takes up the whole frame.

 

Extreme close up – This shot gets right in and shows extreme detail.

 

Two shot – A shot of two people, framed similarly to a mid-shot.

 

Over the shoulder shot – A shot looking from behind a person at the subject.

 

Noddy shot – Usually refers to a shot of the interviewer listening and reacting to the subject.

 

Point of view shot – This shows a view from the subject’s perspective.

 

Extreme long shot – The view is so far from the subject that the subject isn’t visible. Often used as an established shot.

 

Very long shot – The subject is barely visible, used to show environment around the subject.

 

Long shot – The subject takes up the full frame or as much as comfortably possible.

 

Camera angles

 

Eye-level – The most common angle, being the real-world angle that everyone is used to. It shows the subject as we would expect to see them in real life.

 

High angle – A high angle shot shows the subject from above. This has the effect of diminishing the subject, making them appear less powerful.

 

Low angle – This shows the subject from below, giving them the impression of being more powerful or dominant.

 

Bird’s eye – The scene is shown from directly above. This is completely different and somewhat unnatural point of view which can be used for dramatic effect.

 

Slanted – This is where the camera is purposely tilted to one side so the horizon is on an angle. This creates an interesting and dramatic effect.

 

Framing and composition

 

Shots are all about composition; rather than pointing the camera at the subject, you need to compose an image. Framing is the process of creating composition and is also what you choose to be in the shot.

 

Rules

 

·         Look for horizontal and vertical lines in the frame; make sure the horizontals are level and the verticals are straight up and down.

·         The rule of thirds; the rule divides the frame into 9 sections. The points of interest should occur at 1/3 or 2/3 of the way up or across.

·         The golden mean is when you are composing a shot you should imagine a diagonal line over the top of it; points of interest occur along the line.

 

Composition = where objects are placed/arranged in a shot

 

Basic camera moves

 

Pan – The framing moves left and right with no vertical movement.

 

Tilt – The framing moves up and down with no horizontal movement.