Stroy board and Shot list

Story board and Shot list

To help us direct and vision our opening sequence we have made a story board and a camera placement plan to help us decide where we are going to place the camera and and how we are going to film the shot.

The story board will be used to help us visualize the scene and what and who is going to be in the scene. The story board will also be used to ruffly estimate how long the shot is going to be. (for example shot 1 is 8 seconds) 

First sequence

Second sequence

Third sequence

The camera placement plan will be used to help us choose where we are going to place the camera when we are on location. It will also help us angle where the camera will move and turn for pans and tilts.

First pre-Production Meeting

First Pre-Production Meeting

In our first meeting we discussed what we needed to do and who was going to do it . Abel was set the task of finding a location and looking a what costumes we were going to need, Victor was set the task to make the screen play and look for suitable actors for our opening sequence. I as set the task to look for props and discuss what shots were going to use in the opening sequence.

Location 

The ideal location were looking for was an abandoned street and derelict buildings this would give our opening sequence a unnerving atmosphere. we also discussed a secondary location which we decided that it was going to be a forest with a small camp site (2-3 small tents and a camp fire partially extinguished). After some searching Abel came across an abandoned sewage plant behind the turnpike in Yarnton, this will be perfect as a location as it creates the perfect mood and atmosphere that we want.

Costume

The costume we were looking for is something quite casual but slightly dirty and ripped which would give it a survival-esk  look and to authenticate the look add some survival gear like gas mask, rope, drinks bottle, carabineers etc. 

Presentation

 Presentation

For this lesson we were asked to make a presentation on where we were going to film, what soundtrack we were planning on using, what props we were going to use and we also had to make a picture board which is a slide with a few pictures and words (similar to a college) this is supposed to show the type of feeling that your opening wants to give the audience. in our case we wanted the audience to feel unsettled and uneasy which and we also wanted them to feel like something is not right and that something is wrong but not till its to late. with this presentation we also had to show what actors we would like to be in our opening but not actually use.

Actors
The actors that we wanted to use were Denzel Washington because of his performance in the book of eli as this film is very similar to what feeling we want to get across and he helps this feeling get across.



 Angelina jolie because of her performance in the Lara croft films as she portrays a similar character to what we want in our opening scene as she portrays a tough, strong willed woman who can survive.



 Over all for the characters we are looking for is a normal looking person trying to survive in a un-survive-able world. We also had had to explain what treatment we were going to give our film in our case we are going to give the opening a miserable atmosphere and also make the audience feel like something is not right.

Music
The music that we want for our opening sequence need to start quiet and slowly build up and as it goes on gets more and more tense.


  

Recreating a movie clip

Recreating a movie clip

To show our skills at filming we were set a task to try and recreate a movie clip. the clip we chose as a group was a clip from the film seven (se7en) of which this was our first set task to film a scene.

Before we filmed the scene we had to story board the scenes we were going to do of which we had to draw a picture of the scene itself then say how long it was going to be and then what type of shot and movement it was(cope of our story board below)


After that we had to go out and film our scene. while filming this we did not have to focus on the setting or clothing just the shots and movements of the camera and actors. we did this to get an idea of how to film and what techniques we had to learn to get the best out of our camera.
Once the filming was finished we went and edited our scene with Movie plus (editing software) this would help us get to grips with the software and what features it had and learn how to use them.
Overall this task helped me get to grips with the camera and some of its options and it also helped me learn how to use the editing software in the fact that I can edit clips together and change the transitions between each clip.   

 

Film Language

Film Language

In our last lesson we learnt about film language and how important it is, we learnt how editing and sound are both crustal parts of film language and that they help structure the narrative, how they link scenes and events together and how it helps show a logical order to the film and how it helps show time span throughout the film.

Editing

There are many types of editing some edits are used to transition between shots and some can be used to show something important.

Matched Action: Matched action is where action from one shot is carried over to another for example in an action scene where some one punches some one else and the scene cuts mid punch to a different angle but you still see the punch as fluent as if it was one shot.

After action: after action is where the scene is cut directly after an action shot for example some one shoots someone else and after the shot has fired the scene changes to the view of the area rather then keep the same shot. this is used to show the dramatic impact of the scene .

Before action: Before action is similar to the after action but the cut is made before the action. an before action cut also has the same impacts of a after action shot.

Entrance/ Exit: Entrance/ Exit cut are a kind of motivational shot as the cut is made when the a main character leaves the shot so they cut to another shot of him/her. this is used to show movement within a  scene with out moving the camera

 

  

Editing techniques

Editing techniques 

When you film and edit a clip or sequence there are a few techniques that can be added in to add effect or that must be followed for the clip to make sense.

Eye line match

Eye line match is usually used when two characters are talking and gives the effect that they are looking at each other even though they are not in the same shot. This also comes in useful when there are multiple people in the clip but not all in the same shot, it comes in useful as while they are taking it is clear to whom they are talking to. An eye line match can also be used when a character is looking at an object and then the scene cuts to that object for example a man is looking to his left then it cuts to the television that he is watching. 

Pace

The pace of the cut is when the time between cut is short which makes it  faster which builds the tension of the scene or long which makes it slower which make it less tense and more calm . Pace can also be refered to as the rhythm or tempo of the shot.

Cross cutting

Cross cutting is a technique where it establishes that there are two things happing at the same time in two different places. to do this the camera cuts from one scene to another which gives the effect of them happing at the same time but this is not all ways the case. Cross cutting can also be used to make the audience question the shots for example the first scene is looking at a rich man counting his money and then it cuts to a some poor homeless people lining up for food in a shelter this creates a sharp controversy between the scenes and makes the audience question each scene.

Graphic match

A graphic match is where two similar objects, compositions ect match in two different scenes which metaphorically link the two shots. this can also be used to create a cutaway between two shots as it focuses on one object and then changes scene but is focused on the same object on a similar object. 

180 degree rule

This is an editing technique where if there are two people talking to each other but are opposite each other then the camera must not pass past around 180 degrees.(shown in picture below). If the camera 

does pass around 180 degrees then is makes it look like they are stood next to each other.  

Main task

The main task

Our main task is to make an opening secuence to a fiction film and it must introduce titles (Film name, actors, directors etc) and a relivent sound track(suit the purpose of the opening sequence) and must last aproxamatly 2 minutes.

The first part of our main task is to plan the production (Pre-production) for which we will have to do some research (by going out and finding opening sequences the either intrest us or will help us plan our sequence), plan the production (getting hold of any extra equipment we need that the school does not have, organising locations to make sure that we can use them when the time comes to film,) and do some audence research ( By which we will have to see what type of audence watches what type of film e.g. a young audence is not going to watch a horror film).

The second part of our main task is to Film the sequence (Production) for which we will have to go out and film the sequence which could take week or even months whihc is where the pre- production will come in as if we have planed correctly we will get the best we can out of our group (Filming, acting etc). But there is one thing we must keep in mind that is "Good enough is NOT Good enough".

The third part of our main task is the after production (Post-Production) where we will edit our clips and filiming from our second part and add all of the after effects like sound and a soundtrack, types of cuts like fade aways etc. This is also where we will add our titles to our sequence.

Throughout this process we must keep an up to date blog or diary on what is happing.

Recreating a movie scene Task Props

For our recreating a movie scene task we had to recreate a scene for the film "SE7EN" in our scene we needed to use props to fully capture the essence of the scene. The props we needed were a folding knife and a box.

In the scene Morgan freeman opens a box with a folding knife so to make sure our task looked as similar as possible we had to get the props used in the scene so the day before we filmed we as a group gathered the props necessary.To the side and below  are products similar to the ones we used during the film shoot. 

 

perliminary task

Preliminary task



Before we start are main task we were set the task to make a short simple video where a character(Paddy) had to walk into a room open a door walk across the room and share a few lines of dyalogue to another character(Me).

To do this we made a story board so that we could vision the scenes before he filmed them so that we all knew what was happening. After we had agreed in the script and story board we went out to look for a good locaton  to film. we chose the english block in our school as it was the quitest at the time of filming.

From making this short video i have learnt that we need to make sure that we know exactly what we need to do but to leave soem room for improviastion as some ideas might not be possible whe out filming.



  

Delta heavy, get by(stop frame action video)

An example of a stop frame video

This music video by Delta heavy uses stop frame action to shows the beat of the song and other sounds that are made for example the singing. Its quite a cool video and is worth a watch even if you don't like the song as it would have taken them hours to make as it is so smooth with very little jerky movements or jump cuts. 

Recreating a movie scene Task Story board

To help us understand the way to plan out and prepare for a filming shoot we had to design a story board and recreate the shots from the film we were going to recreate. The film we chose was "SE7EN" and the scene we chose was the scene where Morgan freeman opens the box. So to to help up plan we made a story board of all the shot in this 30 second sequence. Below is our first attempt at creating a story board.

Camera Movements

Camera movement

In our past two lessons we have been looking at  camera movement. So my group was set the task to go out and attempt to recreate these movements effectively. In the paragraphs below I shall explain how they used and a description on the movement its self. 

1.Panning 

Panning is where the camera moves horizontally across the scene but does not move from the tripod. In the clip below our group had a go at panning. In this clip you can see the camera move across the bench and past Abel in the middle of the bench. This kind of movement is used to set the scene and gives you an idea of the character and the kind of mood or personality they have.

2.Zoom

Zoom is where the camera does not move instead you use the zoom function on the camera. In the clip my group zoomed in on paddy from which we went from a medium shot to a close up. Zooming is normally used to show something shocking or create tension. Another way zooming can be used effectively is by moving the camera towards the character in shot and zooming out at the same time this widens the background yet keeps the character central and appears as that they have not moved and example of this is in the movie "Jaws" (below).

3. Tilt

Tilt is use to show power and is performed by the camera moving vertical, this shot is very similar to panning but vertical not horizontal. I the shot below we tilted up from Abels feet till we could see his face, a problem we encountered was that the bright light from the sky behind him made the camera change the lighting in the video which made Able go dark so that we could not see him.

4. Crabbing

Crabbing is where the camera moves horizontally and normally follows the actor across the scene. In the shot we attempted we did not have the right equipment to create a smooth shot. Crabbing is normaly used to follow the character while he/she is moving this removes the need to cut the scene in to multiple shots .

5.Long shot

Long shots are used to shoe the area that the characters are in or to give a better perspective of the scene. In this shot we attempted a long shot where you can see Paddy running away from Abel in this scene you can tell they are in a field and near a tree line at the edge of the field.  

Camera shot in Movies

Camera shots 

In todays lesson we were looking at different camera shots of movie clips. The movie clip we chose was the "The rooftop showdown" from the "The Matrix". (Clip below)

The clip starts off with a medium close up of the pilot which indicates that he could be important in some way. This then shown shortly after the fight begins when he transforms in to one of the clones.

Throughout the clip there is a lot of medium close ups during the fight. For example the following caption of a close up of Neo when he is shooting at the clone. (Below)

 Another use of a close up shot is near the end of the clip when Neo is talking to Trinity. This part of the clip also uses the Rule of Thirds. This is used when the camera changes the view whilst they are talking. The camera changes to Trinity who is stood on the left when she is talking and then swaps to Neo who is stood on the right when he is talking. (Example Right & Bottom right) This type of shot is used to show emotion between characters and is used throughout the movie. These clips are also a eye level shot as the camera is level with the actors eyes.











Another type of shot used in this clip is a medium shot which you see when the clone walks out of the helicopter and on to the rooftop. This shot is used to show the background and give you an idea of where the characters are. It also gives the setting of the scene which in this case is on the roof top. (Example Left)







First Blog

First Blog

During our first lesson we were asked to analyse this video clip "Get carter Car park scene"( Below ).

with this clip we were told to analyse the clip with the following headings:
1. Character
2.Relationships
3. Location
4. Genre
5. Narrative/Storyline

                                                                     

From the very start of the clip we can tell who the main character is and why. The reason why is because he is wearing a different colour suit compared to the others and is also stood on the left-hand side of the screen and further forward. This uses the rule of three where if you split the screen into a  3x3 grid and the most likely place you are going to look is on either the left or right as it is somewhat unnatural to look directly at the middle and at the start of the clip the man in grey is on the left and the two in black are on the right (0:00 to 0:16), this shows his importance and his relation to the other two characters. With that you can now tell what kind of relation there is between the three characters. The man in grey has a clear sense of importance as he is the one looking out over the site and stands out more in the clip. Also the use of a prop (the plastic cup) has been used to show his importance and it is also used to show his anger and further importance whereas the other two in black just stand and talk about the planning and design of the building. This also give us an insight to the location of the building and what the building is. At the beginning we can identify that they are discussing the design of the building which indicates it is a building sight and as the scene goes on(0:20) we can see an over view of the city on the right-hand side. From this little opening in the back ground we see high rise buildings suggesting they are in a city and as they speak English we could assume that they are in London or another large city in Britain. At the point (0:40) we meet an other character (Jack) from which we can tell could be of a higher status within the group than the man in grey. This is shown by the way the man in grey reacts as he steps back and drops his arms and says "Jack" in a surprised manor allowing the viewer to assume that Jack is of higher importance. Throughout the whole clip we can make judgements on what genre the film is and half way through the clip the man in grey is thrown of a building on to a car which from this we could say that it is a action/thriller film.