(COURSEWORK) - Preliminary Task: Evaluation.

The Meeting

Below is our finished Preliminary Task. It was a very enjoyable experience, however we did come accorss quite a few problems along the way. First of all I was supposed to be camera girl but I was having difficulties in keeping the camera steady and getting the right shots. Since we had a limited amount of time to complete our task, we had a brief team discussion and Mica then put herself forward for camera girl and I then became the director. The whole team was happy with the changes and we carried on in pursuing our task. 
I really enjoyed the role of director as I had many ideas to implement and everyone chipped in with different views as to where the actors should be seated, the tone of voice they should use when speaking, the angle of the shot, etc.
Our original plan was for it to start off as a horror, with the lighting being pitch black, but we were not able to do this as we had to film it in the school and the lights are automatic, also none of us were able to stay back late enough for it to be totally dark outside which meant that we just had to make do with what we had and eliminate the horror theme at the beginning. We were influenced by several horror movies such as Scary Movie. We also used to this movie as a reference for our comedy. We decided to aim for a teen audience as our storyline was influenced by movies rated '15' and '18' which possibly wouldn't be appealing to adults.
In this task we had to show that we understood the 180 degree rule, shot reverse shot and match on action, which we tried our best to show. Unfortunately, during the editing process we realised that our attempt at shot revers shot wasnt quite right. We were unable to find a suitable time to re-shoot with our actors so instead we came together as a team and decided to do a quick video ourselves, showing that we do understand the technique.
All in all I think that our piece flows well as a story and is easy to understand, we put a lot of thought into our mis-en-scene.
Hope you enjoy!

 Shot Reverse Shot

Preliminary Task!

PRELIMINARY TASK.

(COURSEWORK) - My First YouTube Video.

Representation of Children and Teenagers in the Media

We were given a task by our Media teacher to create a video about the representation of either children, teens or the elderly in the media and post it on YOUTUBE. I chose to do a little mixture between children and teens. This was my first time using iMovie so its not that amazing but I am learning and developing new skills, so the more I use it, each video I post should get better and better each time.

You can click here or on the title to view my video!

(COURSEWORK) - Preliminary Task: Production Schedule.

Above is our production schedule for our preliminary task. It is essential that we produced this schedule in order for us all to be organised during shooting so everything runs smoothly. We have written down the time slots in which we will shoot each scene. Bearing in mind that this is just an estimation of how long we will take to film each scene, it may take more or less time when we actually start filming. As you can see we have also written down which floor plan we will be using for each scene, as well as the actions and props that will be used.

(COURSEWORK) - Preliminary Task: Storyboards.

The bottom one is first, then the top one. If you click on the picture you will be able to see the annotations for each scene.

(COURSEWORK) - Preliminary Task: Floor Plans.

(COURSEWORK) - Preliminary Task: Planning.

Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.

Genre – Horror

Roles within the group:

Director – Reanne 

Camera girl – Mica 

Lighting and Set Preparation - Nga

Sound/editing – Jodie

Story line:

A student falls asleep in class and wakes up to a dark empty school, he/she panics and then run out of the classroom down a long corridor (dark and spooky) opening doors on their way but all doors are closed with empty classrooms. She finally gets to the end of the corridor to an empty room where there is a person in a seat in the room with one spotlight on the person seated. The person is turnt away so we are unaware of his identity, the person then turns around which twists the story from a horror to a comedy as the theme of christmas is introduced although the beggining of the story generated a horific atmosphere.

Script

Character (Pants whilst pausing): Sorry I’m late

Character2: I’ve been waiting ages for you (DEEP AND CYNICAL VOICE)

Character 1: I came as quick as I could, I didn’t realise the time

(Character 1 looks at clock to show eye-line match)

Character 2: Oh well it doesn’t matter now, take a seat

Character 1: Ok (nervously and takes a seat)

(Character 2 slowly reaches for a briefcase & opens it)

(Spins chair around)

Character 2:  So which one should we give mum for Christmas (JOLLY TONE)

(Lays out a pack of cards in front of character 1)

Props/Objects needed:

·                     Briefcase	·                     Desk	·                     Computer Chair
·                     Christmas Cards	·                     Onesie	·                     Clock

(EXAM) - Film Review.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

The Twilight movies are my favourite, they are the movies that I enjoy the most. I'm not quite sure why, I think I like the whole vampire vs. werewolf theme of the movies. Here is just a little review of the third of the Twilight movies 'Eclipse'.

The use of slow motion when the vultory walk emphasises on the danger that is to come from them. It also connotes a sense of power to the vultory. The close ups of Bella and Edwards faces helps us to see their facial expressions clearly which draws the audience closer to them; enabeling them to form an emotional bond with them.

This is the training scene where the vampires and the wolves have come together to prtoect Bella and they are training to fight against the newborn army. I personally love this scene because of the editing techniques used in this scene. The use of slow motion and ramping enhances the powers of the vampires and makes their actions look real. This scene is also seems to be a form of montage as there is music in the background and it is showing a progression in time, with the vampires and wolves getting stronger as they all learn more.

This is the scene where Rosalie tells her story about how she was turned into a vampire. Flashback was used here to obviously show a reversal in time and in this case costume is also used to emphasise the past. we can see that in the flashback the characters are all wearing old fashioned clothing.

(EXAM) - Archetypes.

An archetype is an original model or type after which other similar things are patterned; a prototype. Below are examples of a male and female archetype.

Action Mother

An action mother chooses to take on the roles of motherhood as well as saving the world.

Camp Gay

This is the traditional stereotypical image of a gay man. He's flamboyantly femenine in his dress, speech, mannerisms, and interests.

(EXAM) - Editing Techniques.

Elliptical Editing
Elliptical editing is a technique used in film editing that allows the duration of an event on-screen to be shorter than it would be in the actual story. The simplest type of this would be a cut between two shots which both show parts of the same event. This cut allows the filmmakers to get rid of part of that event, reducing the duration of the event on-screen. Elliptical editing is used to control the pace of the story through getting rid of the uninteresting parts that the audience wouldn't have wanted to see.

Continuity Editing

Continuity editing refers to arranging the sequence of shots to suggest a progression of events. The initial purpose if this type of editing is to sooth over the inherent discontinuity of the editing progress.

Montage

A montage is an editing technique ususally used to show a person going from a beginner to a professional using loads of quick, short shots. A montage portrays a movement in time and every shot needs to show the character progressing a little. there is usually music playing over the top with many things happening at once. A montage would also fade out at the end.

Transistions
In editing, transistions are used to join two shots together. There are many different types of transitions however, the most relevant types of transitions are the cut and dissolve. These two techniques are the best for storytelling and are the most natural/professional.
CUT: This is the most common transition used which consists of a direct change from one shot to the next.

DISSOLVE: This is when there is a gradual fade from one shot to the next. this has a more relaxed feel compared to the cut and conveys a sense of passing time and changing location. It works well with photo montages.
There are other transitions such as fades, wipes, and digital effects but these are not used as much as the cut and dissolve. However, just because they are not that common, it doesnt mean they are not used in film; I personally have seen quite a few movies that have used these transitions and they have all worked well. I think it depends on the type of movie they are used in and when they are used in that movie. They do work, if used properly and for the right reasons.

Jump Cuts

This is an editing technique in which two sequential shots of the same subject are shown from different angles/positions. this makes the subject look like they have moved in an unrealistic way. Some say that this specific technique violates the concept of continuity editing as the movement of the subject is not continuous.

180 Degree Rule

The 180 degree rule states that when filming two people in the same shot, the camera must stay on the same side of both of them. There is an imaginary line called the axis connecting the characters and the camera is free to move 180 degrees on one side of that line.

In a conversation, the first on character will always be shown to be on the left and the other on the right as shown in the above photo. If the axis is crossed and the characters are filmed from the other side, the characters in the conversation will be shown to be speaking from both sides which would confuse the audience. The video below is an example of the 180 degree rule being broken.

Parallel Editing

Parallel editing is when two or more scenes or scenarios are happening at the same time but in different locations. This allows the audience to see what the characters cannot see, therfore engainging the audience and allowing them to form bonds with the characters.

Long Takes and Fast Cutting

A long take is when there are no cuts between scenes and the camera continuously films for several miutes. Long takes are rare in movies presumably because they are very time consuming; if one small mistake is made during filming, the whole take has to be started again. Below is an example of a genius long take from the film 'Goodfellas'.

Fast cutting is when several consecutive shots are quickly shown one after the other. the duration between each shot is usually 3 seconds or less. This technique can be used to convey a lot of information very quickly, or to connote danger, chaos, energy, etc. I think fast cutting is really effective when used in action movies as it keeps the audiecnc interested and heightens the sense of the movie. Bleow is a clip from a movie 'The Dark Knight' where fast cutting is successfully used in a fight scene.

Here is clip from the movie 'Oldboy' where a long take is used in a fight scene. I personally think it doesn't do the scene any justice as it makes the fight seem fake and rehearsed as it drags on. I find it quite boring to be honest, had the filmmakers used fast cutting instead of a long take, I believe that the scene would have been a lot more interesting, the sense of danger would have been a lot higher, making the fight seem realistic.

(EXAM) - Match on action.

Below is an example of Match of Action that I have taken from YouTube. Soon my team and I will have our own example but in the meantime this is here to show my understanding of Match on Action.

Match on Action  is a form on continuity editing in which one shot cuts to another shot Portraying the same action of the first shot. This connotes a sense of continuity as the action carrying through draws the viewer's attention away from slight cutting issues.

(EXAM) - Shot Reverse Shot.

My Example of Shot Reverse Shot

 Shot Reverse Shot is a method used in film where one character is shown looking at another character, and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. The characters are shown facing in opposite directions, resulting in the viewer assuming that they are looking at each other.

Above is an over the shoulder shot  of my friend Jodie looking at me and below is another over the shoulder shot of me looking at Jodie.

(EXAM) - Creating my own scene.

Here I used a 3D imgaging software called Alice which allowed me to create a setting of my own. I tried to portray a family home setting, which is why I chose a big house and the children together with their parents outside. As you can see I havent completed my scene but I think by looking at what I have done so far, I'm sure you are able to gather an idea about the scene I tried to create. 

(EXAM) - Camera Shots.

Extreme close up;
-The ECU gets right in and shows extreme detail.

Close up;

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

Extreme wide shot;

-The view is so far from the subject that he isn't even visible. Often used as an establishing shot.

Very wide shot;

-The subject is visible (barely), but the emphasis is still on placing him in his environment.

Wide shot;

-The subject takes up the full frame, or at least as much as comfortably possible.

Mid shot;

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

(EXAM) - Mis-en-scene.



Here is some work I did, explaining the five parts of Mis-en-scene and how it is portrayed in this shot.

(EXAM) - Analysis of a Trailer

HORROR; The Woman In Black

This is the trailer for a horror movie 'The Woman in Black'. This movie fits the horror genre conventions really well; 

- Good verses evil
Daniel Radcliff is the good guy and he is trying to find and stop the ghost of the woman in black who is making children commit suicide.
- Religion
There are some religious connotations in the movie that some of the characters refer to in the movie.
- Revenge
The ghost of the woman in black is seeking revenge on the bahalf of her son being taken away from her.
- Childhood issues
The woman in Black gets into childrens heads and convinces them to commit suicide.
- Supernatural
The woman in black is in fact a ghost of a woman.
- Zombies
The woman in black's dead son comes alive from the swamp and walks towards the house. The dead children also come to the haunted house where daniel radcliff is.
- Insanity
The ghost of the woman in black is mad, when she was alive she had a lot of anger inside of her because she wasn't well enough to look after her son so her sister took him into her care.

ROM-COM; The Back up Plan

This is the trailer for a romantic comedy 'The Back Up Plan. This movie also fits the rom-com genre conventions very well;



(EXAM) - Character Theories.

Seeing as I used the animated movie Shrek to show an example of the timeline, I have used it again to give and example of Character Theories.

• Shrek is the hero, who is usually male. He is the agent who restores the narrative equilibrium often by embarking upon a quest (or search which Lord Farquard sends him on). Propp distinguishes between the victim hero, who is the centre of the villain's attentions, and the seeker hero who aids others who are the villains victims. The hero is invariably the texts central character.
• Lord Farquard is the villain who usually creates the narrative disruption.
• Donkey is the donor gives the hero something, it may be an object, information or advice, which helps in resolution of the narrative.
• Donkey is also the helper aids the hero in the task of restoring equilibrium.
• Fiona is the princess (the victim) is usually the character most threatened by the villain and has to be saved, at the climax, by the hero. The father's (who in fairy tales was often the king) role is usually to give the princess away to the hero at the narrative's conclusion. He may also despatch the hero.
• Lord Farquard is the dispatcher sends the hero on her or his task (who can typically be the princess father)
• Dragon is the false hero appears to be good but is revealed, at the narrative's end, to have been bad Characters can fulfil more than one sphere character type, for example; a princess may also be a helper.

(EXAM) - Narrative Theories.

- Intro to my Blog.

http://prezi.com/drz7mzlekwnf/all-about-me/