Sunday, 28 November 2010
Rough Edit Guilt Trip
This is our rough edit. It is not finished as we did not have time to put enough music in, so some parts are a bit quiet. On Thursday we did a viewing with everyone else in our classes' videos being shown, and we got an audience of people to view them. We created a questionnaire, which we posted on survey monkey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/L7XVFKJ and also a printed version which people watching the intros could fill in. This was a great chance to see what everyone else in the class had been doing.
Our feedback was quite mixed, a few people noticed the music, which we will improve on final cut. some people said they did not understand the ending, which after we saw it through their eyes, we realised that it could definitely be improved as it is not really very clear. I think this is because when we did the planning, we planned way too much shots for the time of film we had, as we did not realise timings.
With this feedback we can hopefully do a better edit in Final Cut, to make the music more continuous and the storyline better.
Thursday, 25 November 2010
Body of Lies
Body of lies is directed by Ridley Scott, and based on a novel of the same name, written by David Ignatius. It is produced by Warner Bros Pictures, Scott Free Productions and De Line Pictures. Body of Lies was released in the Semiology/Location
As the film opens, there is a Middle Eastern character speaking and pointing his finger. We get the impression he is the leader, because the way he speaks and body language is quite authoritative, and from what he is saying in the subtitles he seems to know a lot, and has influence over a great deal, and also is speaking in a manner of inspiration and encouragement. Because he is speaking in a foreign language, we as an audience feel excluded as if we are intruding on a secrecy act. We can connotate that because he is an unknown figure and language, he is a bad character, and the way he is pointing his finger he is almost dictating. After this, there is a shot of a train rushing past the screen. It's fast, rattly movement creates a slight built up of tension as it quickens the film pace, to make it seem as if there is something going to happen soon, and time is running out. This tension is added to with the bomb squad running around secretly. Although they are dressed in black, we know they are good people because they are country officials, we know them as defenders of us. This means, due to the vast amount of them spread out all seeming to focus on one house, that whatever they are defending us from is important as they must be quite dangerous. There is also a milkman character who seems to be the innocent, unaware peace character. The houses in the area of focus are run down, and poor which are usually used in film to portray dodgy dealings and mysterious activities in that kind of area. Sound/Special Effects
The film opens with the traditional Warner Brothers sound, which gives the audience some familiarity, and a feeling of safety. The man speaking is talking in Arabic, although we know it is set in Manchester, there is also Arabic music playing in the background. This makes the whole intro more sinister. As there is more action going on, there is more going on in the scene, with loud cars, and faster paced music. The radio in the background is relaying the voice of the same man at the beginning, implying that the man was an authority figure. The overall noise of goings on intensifies the film, by increasing tension. The opening uses mainly diegetic sound of city life noises and people speaking etc, except the Arabic music that is plying in the background which does not seem to have an origin point. The big explosion at the end is heightened by the complete silence just before it, making it more intense. Mise-en-scene
The dark room at the beginning has many shadows, implying that they are concealing something. The foreign man talking and pointing his finger indicates power and that he is possibly a dictator. There is also smoke, which means there must be fire, signifying danger. In the next bit, the characters' faces are shadowed, also showing that they are hiding something and are not what they seem. The police are dressed in black, and are running around suspiciously and secretly. The intro contains themes of religion, suicide, explosion and mass destruction. The swat teams' entrance breaking is concealed by the sounds of the milkman, signifying that they are using the innocent character of the milkman as cover. Camera shots, angles & Lighting
The scene opens with a mid shot of the Arabic dictator's face, and the camera slowly zooms out as he talks. The room in which he is in is dark and shadowy, and also slightly musty, as if he did not want to be in full view and is therefore hiding. There is light peeking through the windows, and as we see slightly later on with the swat team it quite light outside, indicating that it could be early morning. The house which the three men are in also seems dark and musky. judging by the sweat they are producing, quite hot too, unless that is merely the tension of whatever they are doing, which is later revealed as building a bomb. This part is filmed as if it was the point of view of someone walking into the house. There are several shots of the Swat team as the camera follow them as they make their way to the house. At this point, the camera shots are very choppy changey as they switch between different views of the swat team and the milkman. There are several mid shots of the characters' faces inside the house, as they realise they are being broken into. When the bomb goes off, there are several different views of the explosion from different angles, and some with a kind of shaking effect to make it seem like the whole floor is rocking, and everything is in chaos. Wednesday, 24 November 2010
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
On Friday night i went to Kings Lynn cinema to see the new Harry Potter film. After reading the book, i was excited about what the film had in store for the audience, and how it would compare to the book. Directed by David Yates, screenplay by Steve Kloves based on the book by J K Rowling. Following the death of Dumbledore and the sweeping overtake of the ministry of magic by Voldemort, Harry, Ron and Hermione leave Hogwarts in the aim to destroy the horcruxes, therefore defeating Voldemort and returning the magical world back to the way it was. Although this film is only the first part, it still lasted a hefty 2 1/2 hours long, which despite being a long time to sit watching a film, meant (hopefully) they hadn't left anything important out.
I was surprised how much i enjoyed the film, the acting and special effects were spectacular as usual, and although there was a slightly dull phase through the middle part of the film, this was picked back up to a climax for the end. It was strange to see the first harry potter film not to be set a hogwarts, making it differ from the rest of the films entirely. The plot is more free flowing without the usual school-mischief-quidditch-voldemort storyline, so the film lacks a certain 'safety' feel as the characters are running around freely with at some points not a lot going on. It has to be said that hogwarts, spells and naive, merry Christmases were missed in this film, which had an overall more dark shadow over it which the previous films had been slowly growing, and i fear will dominate the final part, as the simple spell-casting, quidditch-playing days disappear due to voldemorts increasing power. It was also slightly disappointing that in all the running time the trio only managed to destroy one horcrux, then they were back to square one. Despite this, the film had this ultimate power that intensified the whole film, made it very powerful and full on. But the thing that i think completes this film is the editing and filming. The colour filters, tone of the film, the whole bluey tinge that darkens the scenes but brings out colour when there is some, a characteristic typical to Tim Burton films, creates this mysterious yet contrasting effect. The immense prodution techniques used for this film has given it a definite flair of individuality and uniquness that is nessicary to this film to prevent it from being forgotten after the inital sweep of popularity.
This is a screenshot from the film, which i specifically remembered, because of it's fantastic photographic qualities with the dark, slightly blue sky, the large rocks, leading to Harry in the foreground. The gentle light emerging from the tent adds a warming quality to the shot. With the light area in the sky above the tent, this signifies that the person inside the tent is a good character, bringing hope and light to the darkness. The darker patch of sky lingers over Harry which could seem as if he has something to hide, is a slightly darker character in the sense that he is not to be trusted, especially because he is wearing the horcrux at this time which has an effect on his mood and perception of things around him. His slightly weary posture signifies he is tired and worn out. Monday, 22 November 2010
Location
We discussed several film locations, as we all have woods near where we live. Holly said the woods near hers are particularly creepy, and there are several small lanes leading towards it. We decided to film here because of the whole setting, the country lanes and open fields, as well as the woods having some interesting fetures such as a bridge and a swing, which we incorpurated into our thriller.
Large shadowy tree, leafy ground; good forsound effects, area surrounded by fairly dense trees. We sound the swing, and decided to add it into the film by havin Daisy coming into the clearng and seeing the swind swaying slightly, as if someone has just been swinging on it a gotten off. This adds to the paranoia that builds up during the opening.
The bridge we decided to add into the film as well because it was another dynamic feature to add to the environmet rather than just trees. We also thought this would be a good place for Daisy to trip up as it is a step, as apposed to having trip over a stone or something. Also the bridge has water running under it, a typical thriller convention.
Holly went out and took photos of her area for reference:
http://rhs-hollyf-media.blogspot.com/2010/10/scene-shots.html
Holly went out and took photos of her area for reference:
http://rhs-hollyf-media.blogspot.com/2010/10/scene-shots.html
Research into similar products
To support our thriller planning, as a group we did some research into films that are similar to ours. This is posted on Holly's blog:
http://rhs-hollyf-media.blogspot.com/2010/11/research-into-similar-products-we-are.html#comments
These films, as well as all the others that we have looked at over the past few weeks while doing audience research have influenced our thriller majorly. For example the large rabbit in Donnie Darko as the idea of being followed by something that is not actually there, an idea which we developed when we first started planning. We came up with the idea of being followed through the woods, but we decided to make it so it is being haunted by the sub conscious mind as this was much less cliche, and created a more interesting storyline and character dynamic. This is a similar thing, that influenced us after looking at the Machinist, although we developed our idea further for the whole film, with the development that the main character is slowly deteriorating into madness as the tormention of the conscious gets worse.
http://rhs-hollyf-media.blogspot.com/2010/11/research-into-similar-products-we-are.html#comments
These films, as well as all the others that we have looked at over the past few weeks while doing audience research have influenced our thriller majorly. For example the large rabbit in Donnie Darko as the idea of being followed by something that is not actually there, an idea which we developed when we first started planning. We came up with the idea of being followed through the woods, but we decided to make it so it is being haunted by the sub conscious mind as this was much less cliche, and created a more interesting storyline and character dynamic. This is a similar thing, that influenced us after looking at the Machinist, although we developed our idea further for the whole film, with the development that the main character is slowly deteriorating into madness as the tormention of the conscious gets worse.
Thursday, 18 November 2010
Tuesday, 16 November 2010
Thriller opening
For the last week since we filmed the first part of our film, we have been creating a rough edit on iMovie. This has been very useful as it helped us peice together and organise the film that was ad already, and also it made us realise that we had planned too much for the time limit we had, so we had to drastically reduce some of the clips, and even cut out a few scenes entirely, before we managed to get it down to 1:00 min long, leaving us 1:00 left for the rest of the opening. We also got to play around with some of the effects for the 'creature view' part. we added several transitions, and as a rough edit, i think it looks pretty good. Today we imported the footage from Sunday, and we will begin a rough edit on that tommorow. On Sunday we finished filming at Holly's house. This was really successful, although we came across some complications. We began by filming the very last shot, when Daisy sees the cut has gone. We did this because we didn't now how well the 'cut' would wash off. We then went to the woods, a different part to where we filmed last time. We found a large clearing with a big tree, and a swing. We thought this looked quite scary and effective and so we decided to add this into our film. Everything else went well, we were very pleased with how well it went. It started to get dark quickly so went back to te house to film the final scene. We then realised the light outside was different to the one in the first scene we filmed that day, and as this scene was supposed to be morning, we had to artificially create some light. This was fairly difficult, but we can edit the brightness later on.
Q Magazine- Target Audience
Firstly, i think that the magazine is targeted at both males and females. This is because the colouring on the front; red, orange, black & white are non-gender specific, and because they a re bright tones, it stands out to everyone. Alsothere is a gender mix of music icons on the front cover, appealing to men and women. Becaus ethe layout is quite simple, using simple colours, shapes and lettering, i think it appeals to the younger generation, possibly 20-30 years. Also the context, famous icons and type of music featured in the magazine appeals to the younger generation.
looking through the magazine, adverts, apart from music ones, seem to all be aimed at men. There are men's perfumes, the game 'Halo', alcohol and golf adverts and mobile phones. Because these things appeal predominantly to men, this leads me to think that the majourity fo the readers of this magazine are male, even though the cover seems to be unisex. There is not one advert that is directed solely at women.
No Country For Old Men; Coin Toss Scene
Sound
The next sound presented in this scene are the footsteps of the character Anton Chigurh as he is walking across the floor towards the gas station counter. This is also diegetic sound because although we cannot actually see his feet, we can see him moving. His heavy footsteps indicate he is wearing big boots, signifying he is possibly a bad character, strong, and as would be common in that area of America, a labourer of some sort. Chigurh open the conversation between him and the gas station attendant by saying 'How much?' His short, blunt, to the point and slightly rude question is spoken in a very deep voice, coarse and rough in strong American accent, although the dialect is unspecified. This hints that he is a villain because that is the type of voice we associate with bad characters. In contrast, the gas station attendant's voice is a lot weaker, slightly feeble, and accented with a strong southern American accent. when placed with Chigurh's harsh voice, we know instantly who is the villain and who is the victim. It also indicates that this scene, if not the whole film is set in southern America There is no other sound occurring while the characters are talking, which focuses all of the audience's attention on what they are saying. Chigurh flips the coin, which makes a significantly loud ringing noise. This is to draw attention to the significance of the coin, as it is the most important icon in this scene, as the gas station attendant's life depends on it. Because the noise is so defined, it makes us wounder what would have happened if the coin landed the other way up. It also brings a lot of tension to the scene as so much is dependant on it. Just when the gas station attendant is about to call the coin, there is extremely faint, suspenseful music played, the only non-diegetic sound in the scene. This is added to create suspense when the attendant can 'stand to win everything', the tensest time of the scene, and as there is bare minimum other sounds during the scene, it is very effective.
The 'coin toss' scene opens with a long shot of the gas station. There is diegetic sound in the background of gentle wind blowing, although we cannot see it, we know it's there because the 'Texaco' sign is squeaking rustily, indicating it is moving because of the wind. This faint wind blowing sound can be heard throughout the rest of the scene, whilst the characters are talking. The is also a distant helicopter sound at the beginning that disappears quickly. All these sounds combined with a background of silence throughout the scene create a very distant, isolated and desolate setting for the scene, therefore indicating that the victim will be helpless at the hands of the villain.
Wednesday, 10 November 2010
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
Sunday, 7 November 2010
Filming
Today we began filming for our thriller opening, after completing all planning and research in class. We chose to film at Holly's house because there are some creepy woods nearby that were perfect for filming. As we walked towrds the woods we shot several scenes of Daisy taking the dog for a walk. this worked very well as there we some good landscape shots that show isolation. We managaged to film very well accoringly to the storyboard plan that we devised previously, and although neither Daisy or I had been to these woods before and did not know how well they would work for our film, it turned out to be just right. There was also a stream in the woods which we got a shot of to show running water, a classic thriller theme. we had to stop filming around 4.30 as it was begining to get dark so we will need to finish filming sometime next week but overall i think it was a successfull day as we made a good start and managed to get about 1/3 of the filming done.
Thursday, 4 November 2010
Film Planning
Costumes-
Black because it is fairly neutral and normal, and will not stand out, which is what the character is like. A red scarf to signify danger, warning, and concealing something. 
Narrow muddy track, looks unused and therefore isolated. No buildings around to show that the character is walking into helplessness, as the audience see there is no one able to help her. 
even more unused and desolate track leading towards dark, shadowy, dense woods. the open fields around it makes it look extreemly isolated, as if there is nothing except the grass and the sky. When we film, as is is autumn, should be fairly overcast, which will look mysterious and grey, and also hinting that there won't be many happy occurences, signifying there will be bad things ahapening ahead.Characters- For the casting, we decided it would be best if one of us plays the main character. This means we all are included in the production of the film, we all know exactly what we want for our film so we can produce exactly that, and it is easier for travel as we all live in little villages a way aprat from each other. As i am not very good at acting, it would be either Holly or Daisy. We decided Daisy would be best because Holly has a fringe covering her forehead, which wouldn't work for the bit where the character cuts her head.
Monday, 1 November 2010
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