Contextual links: Pay it Forward

In this scene from the movie 'pay it forward', there is a lot of tension that is created with the music and also when the boys are fighting and the parents are running to help him but cannot reach him in time. Also when the knife is revealed, a lot of tension is built. In our thriller, we definitely want to create tension, and I think this is a good example of how we would like our thriller to be in terms of tension and putting the audience on edge.

Contextual links: We are from venice

'We are from venice' is an A2 media studies music video that we found that was also done at Hurtwood. Although this is not related or linked to bullying, it does have a location and an aesthetic that would work well with our thriller. We definitely think that the location that this was shot at would be perfect for some scenes in our thriller, especially the beat up scene, as it is very urban and gritty. Furthermore, the location is very accessible as it is close to our school. 

The other aspect we like is the violent nature of the music video and the recklessness. We would definitely like to incorporate some of this into our thriller.

Contextual links: Cyberbully

I also found another clip from the film 'cyber bully'. I think that cyber bullying would be an interesting aspect to add to our thriller, as it creates the cycle of being bullied at school physically, and then going home and being bullied in the comfort of your own home by cyber bullies. I think that the way we could do this by one of the bullies filming the bullying and then posting it online.
In this scene from 'cyber bully' I think it really focuses on being sympathetic towards the victim, and shows how emotionally damaging cyber bullying can be, as it leads to her contemplating suicide.
I definitely think that introducing cyber bullying to our thriller would add an interesting angle to it, and this clip works as great inspiration.

Contextual links: Kidulthood

I found this clip on YouTube from the film 'Kidulthood' and I feel like this is a really good clip, as it is a good combination of violence and bullying. It is also is british, and shows a british bullying situation with british slang etc. and since we intend to make our thriller about a british bullying situation, this is a good link. We also like the idea of the mobile phone being involved, as using the mobile phone to film the bullying, and then that footage being posted online resulting in the victim being cyber bullied further, is quite an interesting concept as it means that even after the bullying has ended, it never really ends as she is still being bullied online. Ideally, we hope to make our bullying scene as realistic as this.

Contextual links: green street hooligans

Today our group had a meeting, where we began do some research to find some contextual links related to our thriller idea. When researching bullying scenes we found that most of them were centred around cyber bullying, but we found a scene from Green Street Hooligans which involved quite a brutal and violent fight scene which would probably be more compatible with our chosen idea, and whilst this is not bullying, it has the same violent aspect we are looking for in our thriller. It also involves a soundtrack which contrasts with the actions in the clip which is quite interesting.
The only thing that we feel makes this scene not completely compatible with what we are going for, is the fact that this is just lots of violence, and less actual taunting and bullying, but nonetheless it is still a good inspiration for our thriller.

Kyle Cooper: Spider-man 2 title sequence - ANALYSIS

In the opening sequence to spider-man 2, created by Kyle cooper, he consistently uses many animated pictures from scenes in the previous movie, which tell the story of the previous film, to introduce the audience to the sequel so that they are up to date and understand the context.I think that this is a very clever and creative, and also artistic way of introducing the audience to the film. 

I also like the way Kyle cooper incorporates movement into This title sequence, It makes it more visually impressive and the contrast in the colours he uses blue and red, bordered off by black lines which all relate to the spiderman theme, really set the audience in the right mind frame for the opening scene as it introduces them to it in such a great way.

I also like the way that the he uses the black lines that the opening credits appear behind, to create a web, it is very clever use of animation and it looks really great.

The Music used is the classic spiderman theme music used in their opening title sequences. It is upbeat which puts the audience in a good mood and creates a lively and interesting atmosphere as the film begins. 

At the end of the Title sequence, a picture appears of 'Mary Jane' and there is a voiceover from Peter Parker talking about her. The shot zooms out to a wide shot showing the picture of her on a billboard and then pans over to Peter Parker on a bike. 

Kyle Cooper: Wimbledon opening sequence - ANALYSIS

Kyle Cooper really does a great job in cleverly designing the sound effects, music and text to work together. The music in the background is happy and uplifting guitar music, which continues throughout the opening sequence, later accompanied by drums and subtle vocals harmonising. But there is also the sound effects of a tennis ball being hit back and forth, and every time the sound effect plays, a new title or credit appears, and this works really well and goes well with the theme of tennis in the film, as it is as if the titles are being hit from one side of the screen to the other, like a tennis ball.

The sequence is mostly composed of pictures being shown after each other in a stop motion fashion, for example it is used to show the audience looking from side to side following the ball. There are also a few short clips that are repeated each time the tennis ball sound effect is played. 

Overall, the sequence provides a good and interestingly constructed introduction to the film.

Kyle Cooper - SE7EN opening title sequence: ANALYSIS

In the opening sequence to se7en, Kyle cooper uses very eerie music with high pitched record scratch sounds which are very unsettling and set an eerie atmosphere. Kyle cooper really does manage to introduce the viewer into the story of the film without giving to much away in a very intelligent way. There are small actions that really open the story by teasing the audience with different clips introducing them to the film without giving too much away.
The credits and names of the actors are all relatively small regardless of the fact that they are big names such as Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt. I think that this is so that it does not distract the viewer from what is actually going on in the sequence.
Instances like when the man is cutting the skin from his fingers hints at the fact he is doing this to remove his identity so that he does not leave fingerprints. Other things like when the boys face is being scribbled on with a black marker, show that the man in this opening sequence obviously has bad intentions etc.
In conclusion, I like the way that Kyle Cooper has designed this opening sequence to introduce the audience without giving to much away.

Kyle Cooper Demo Reel

Kyle Cooper

Kyle Cooper is a title sequence designer for many very successful motion pictures, from Salem, Massachusetts.

As of today he has directed over 150 film title sequences including some big titles such as: Braveheart, Seven with Brad Pitt, Spider-Man, Godzilla, Iron Man, Superman Returns, The incredible Hulk, The Orphan, Tropic Thunder, Sherlock Holmes, Arthur, American Horror Story etc. to name a few! 
Kyle Cooper's work is truly incredible, as his title sequences are extremely creative and the graphics are very advanced. 

Kyle Cooper also attended Yale school of art where he earned a M.F.A in graphic design.

Kyle cooper also works in TV and commercials, creating commercials for Apple, Coca cola etc. 

He has also Co-founded the company 'imaginary forces'.

Production meeting - storyboarding continued...

In our third production meeting, we started another draft our storyboard. This time, instead of the storyboard being on an A3 piece of paper, it was done on a proper storyboarding sheet, so this was really our actual first draft. 

I again drew the pictures, with Bea, whilst Harry did the info. The kind of information that we included was location, description of exactly was happening in the shot, the angle of the shot and type of shot etc. The purpose of this is to make it so that when the camera looks at the storyboard he knows exactly what needs to be done. 

In our next meeting, we will be doing our final draft, which will mean that the illustrations will be more details and it will all be more neat etc.  as it is the one that will actually be used.

Production meeting - Storyboarding

In our second production meeting, we began to transfer our thriller idea into the form of a storyboard, to plan it out visually. In our storyboard, Harry wrote most of the annotations, whilst Bea and I shared the job of illustrating the storyboard and drawing the pictures. 

I felt that writing down our idea into a shot by shot illustrative storyboard helped to out the whole thing into perspective and helped us to understand how achievable the idea would be and what would be needed for each shot. Although this is just the first rough draft, I now believe that the final draft will provide a good plan for when we actually shoot the thriller, and it will be especially helpful for the camera man, as it shows them exactly the shots that they have to have filmed.

I found the illustrative part of the storyboarding to be the most favourable part for me, as I do art and so I enjoy it, which allowed me to make sure that I did it well. 

Semiology

Denotation

Denotation refers to the literal meaning of a word. For example the denotation of fire would be a process in which substances combine chemically with oxygen from the air and typically give out bright light, heat, and smoke; combustion or burning.

Connotation

Connotation refers to the associations that are connected to a certain word or the emotional suggestions related to that word. For example the connotation of fire would be danger, evil or fear.

A good example would be a knife. The denotation of a knife, would be an object used in households in the preparation of food etc. But the connotation would suggest that it is a weapon used to kill people by murderers. These ideas are promoted by the media. For example the film scream will have played a significant part in promoting the idea of the knife as a murder weapon. 

Opening sequence analysis - Don't look now

In our lesson we looked at and analysed the opening sequence of the film 'Don't Look Now', a 1973 thriller film directed by Nicholas Roeg.

The opening sequence begins with happy and dreamy non-diegetic music, which sets the mood for the scene. A white horse is scene galloping in the background as a young girl pushes a wheelbarrow. 

Another shot is shown later, which shows the young girl positioned in the foreground, with the house in the background, to show the audience where she is in relation to the house. 

There then follows a shot which pans down from the girl crouching above the lake. When the shot reaches the water, it shows her reflection in the water, which promotes the notion of her being underwater subliminally to the audience. 

The shot of the couple in the house shows the male figure looking at pictures, whilst who is presumed to be his wife sits with her back to him on the other side of the room. They appear very distant from each other by the way the shot is composed.

After this there are more shots of the girl walking, but these shots are of her reflection in the water, again giving the idea of her underwater. 

There is also a shot of the boy on his bike, running over a piece of glass and falling off his bike. Another scene is juxtaposed right after this of the Father looking up as if he heard the glass break, although this is impossible as he is too far away, which gives the idea that he can feel something is wrong, however it is evident that the wife does not have this same ability as she proceeds to act as normal and talk about the book she is reading. 

There is also then a shot of the mother putting her hand to her face to ask for a cigarette, which is immediately followed by a shot of the daughter doing the same hand motion, and finishing the action.

Afterwards there is also another shot which has the boy in the foreground and the girl in the background to show their distance from each other.

There is also another shot where the father finishes the action of the daughter, which starts with her showing a ball, and then the father finishes the action by throwing a pack of cigarettes to his wife. This also happens again when the ball lands in the water and then a shot of the father knocking over a glass of water is juxtaposed straight after to finish the action.

The father also continues to show that he can sense something is wrong when blood emerges on the photo and he immediately looks up. Although it is evident something is wrong and he can sense it. He tells the wife that nothing is wrong so they he is keeping something from her. 

There is then a shot after of the daughter submerged in water, which had been foreshadowed throughout the opening sequence. 

Types of Thrillers

A 'thriller' is a type of film that uses suspense, tension and excitement as its main elements. Thrillers stimulate a high level of anxiety, adrenaline, uncertainty and terror in the viewers. Thrillers are often compared to Horror films, as they provoke an uncertainty and can scare the audience, although the main element that separates thrillers from a horror is the tension and suspense. 

Separating Thrillers (genre) into different sub-genres.

• Comedy Thriller - A genre that combines elements of comedy and thrillers, a combination of humor and suspense or action. E.g. Mr. and Mrs.Smith.
• Conspiracy Thriller - In which the hero/heroine confronts a large, powerful group of enemies whose true extent only s/he recognizes. E.g. The Davinci Code

• Crime Thriller - This particular genre is a hybrid type of both crime films and thrillers that offers a suspenseful account of a successful or failed crime or crimes. These films often focus on the criminal(s) rather than a policeman. Central topics of these films include serial killers/murders, robberies, chases, shootouts, heists and double - crosses.E.g. Seven
  
• Erotic Thriller - A type of thriller that has an emphasis on eroticism and where a sexual relationship plays an important role in the plot. E.g. Color of night
  
• Legal Thriller - A suspense film in which in which the major characters are lawyers and their employees. The system of justice itself is always a major part of these works, at times almost functioning as one of the characters. E.g. The client.
  
• Psychological Thriller - This is a thriller that confuses the viewer and makes them question their perception of the plot a psychological thriller plays with the viewer's mind. E.g. shutter island 
  
• Political Thriller - In which the hero/heroine must ensure the stability of the government that employs him.E.g. seven days in may 
  
• Spy Thriller -  In which the protagonist is generally a government agent who must take violent action against agents of a rival government or (in recent years) terrorists. E.g.
  
• Supernatural Thriller - In which the film brings in an otherworldly element (such as fantasy and/or the supernatural) mixed with tension, suspense and plot twists. Sometimes the protagonist and/or villain has some psychic ability and superpowers. E.g. the skeleton key
  
• Techno Thriller - A suspense film in which the manipulation of sophisticated technology plays a prominent part. There is a bit of action and science fiction. E.g. I Robot
  

coursework task

Video Preliminary exercise: 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. Main task: the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes. All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source. Both preliminary and main tasks may be done individually or as a group. Maximum four members to a group.

First production meeting

In our lesson we were split into groups randomly, which meant that we did not choose our partners. These would be the groups that we are going to make our thrillers with. My group consists of Harry, myself and Bea. In our first meeting as a group, we told each other our ideas and each selected each of our best ideas.

My chosen idea was the idea about the boy who is bullied and is followed whilst leaving school, and whilst it was unique, it would have been hard to show the whole backround to the story in just the opening sequence.

Bea's chosen idea was about a stalker, who stalks a young girl and the opening sequence would involve him with pictures of her pinned up and with lots of research about her which would have been creepy, but in the end, from our three best ideas, we selected Harry's idea, as we felt it worked the best.

Harry's idea will basically consist of a political figure being assassinated whilst giving a speech. Aspects like Non-diegetic classical music will be added during the assassination to give it a unique twist. The only problem that we feel we may encounter is that this may require quite a lot of adult actors to make it work, however we definitely feel it is feasible to achieve this idea and produce it well.

Prelim

Thriller Ideas

IDEA 1 - Paranoid Girl

Plot

It is about a girl who is a fitness fanatic who feels she is a victim of paranormal events, and that she is being constantly watched. She is very paranoid about this and so she Tells her family and friends but they just think that she is stressed and paranoid. She is frustrated as she can’t prove anything and they don’t believe her. 

Opening sequence 

The sequence begins with her in the dance studio, using close up slow motion shots of her skipping with a skipping rope in gym/ workout clothes. Close up shots of her feet jumping off the ground with the squeaky sounds of her trainers hitting the ground. There will be not much sound. She will be looking in the mirror in the dance studio as she does this. After some time of skipping, she stops and puts the rope down , she then walks to her bottle of water and drinks it and looks at her watch. She then picks up her skipping rope and looks back at the mirror and she sees the door creak open / shut. 

Idea 2 - Kid leaving school 

Plot 

Plot will follow a schoolboy who is being Bullied. Parents tell him to be a man and stand up for himself. Because he is bullied he can’t concentrate on his work and feels like he has no support from the teachers. He does not finish his homework etc. and finds himself often in detention staying an hour after school and the teacher does not stay for the detention as he gives him not attention. He has to walk home as his mother works late. 

Opening sequence

The sequence will follow him in the detention room. The bell rings so he gets up to leave. A POV camera  shot watches him leave the classroom. The Camera then follows him as he walks home from a distance and he begins to get paranoid and walks faster. he then begins to run and try to catch breath as he gets more anxious he keeps looking back and then he bumps into his friend and friend asks why he is so scared and he  explains it is nothing and then is in relief. 

Idea 3 - Man At home

Plot

This is about a man who is being stalked by someone but he is unaware of this, he keeps finding the door to his house unlocked etc. and sounds at night which is why he is suspicious and paranoid. He constantly makes calls to the police but they get irritated by his calls saying that they are not serious as they cannot find any evidence and claim he is paranoid. 

Opening sequence

The opening sequence will start with him in his house watching TV. As he does this there will be the normal shots from inside the house, but then there will also be shots from outside the house looking in on him where the sound will be muffled to give the impression of someone standing outside watching from outside in on him. He will turn off the TV and walk to various areas of the house and the outside camera will follow his movements from window to window. He will then look through the window in the kitchen as he does the dishes and look with a suspicious face. The outside camera will then move away.

Idea 4 - can’t get into car

Plot

It is about a workaholic woman who always stays at work late after everyone has left. she has to go down to the vacant car park to get her car which is always dark and she is constantly warned by security not to do it as it can be dangerous but she does it anyway as she always prioritizes her work.

Opening sequence

The sequence starts with her leaving her work and going to the lift. She is nervous and keeps checking her watch for the time while in the lift. the lift ride down lasts a moment too long and is intended to create suspense. She walks out the lift into the car park and each of her footsteps sound is highlighted echoed. She walks closer and closer to the car and is obviously nervous as she begins to walk faster and faster. She finally gets to the car and her hand shakes as she goes to put the key in the car but she drops it and it falls under the car. she begins to stress and bends down and puts her hand under the car to try reach for it. she hears footsteps getting closer and gets even more anxious she reaches and finally gets the keys and as she stands up someone is standing there and she gasps for breath but it is just security who says ‘ you shouldn’t be here all alone its dangerous or something along those lines. 

Analysing sound in a scene - Kill Bill

We analysed this scene in class of Beatrix from Kill Bill getting buried alive in a coffin. In this scene there is a large portion of it where there is no video and the screen is completely black, therefor the only thing to guide you through the scene is the sound.

Sound is used very cleverly in this scene. The non-diegetic music played sounds like someone whistling and you would think that it would not fit with a scene of someone getting buried alive however, it works. When the last nail is hammered into the coffin, there music cuts off and the sound of the hammer hitting the nail is emphasised. 

This is where the light is cut out by the coffin lid closing and the scene continues in blackness. The sound is used to help the viewer visualise the coffin being carried to the hole and then lowered into it by using thuds etc. 

There is also a faint sound of a pebble hitting the lid of the coffin as it is in the whole, which is followed by a loud crashing sound of all of the soil and rocks being dumped on top of the coffin to fill the whole. The sound and the utter darkness really puts the viewer in the scene and it actually made me feel claustrophobic as i watched it, this is a clear indicator that the sound is used very successfully in this scene.

Another clever technique that is used with the sound in this scene is that as the dirt and soil piles onto the coffin, the sound becomes more muffled as she is buried deeper and deeper as the hole fills with material, this really puts the viewer in Beatrix's shoes, as you are hearing the situation from her point of view inside the coffin. 

Second Editing Lesson - Finishing our prelim.

On thursday 3/10/13 we had our final lesson of editing our prelims on Final Cut Pro. In this lesson we continued to do as we did in our last editing lesson, and once we had selected all of the raw footage that we wanted in our final cut and dragged it down, we watched it through and tried to smooth it out by fixing the small things that were wrong such as the audio being slightly out of time with the video.

As we edited the final thing, we made sure that there were no gaps between the blocks of footage that we had put next to each other as these result in a quick black screen before the shots transition into one another. 

One thing that we had to debate about was how long the gum should be shown for, as if the shot of the gum on the table is too long, the viewer may loose interest, but had it been too short, the viewer may not know what it is. I think that in the end we managed to trim it down to the right amount of time.

At the end of our prelim in the final shot, there was audio of me shouting 'cut!' so we had to cut out the audio from the final shot and replace it with audio from another take that we had shot, I thought that this was quite a good idea.

In conclusion I am quite pleased with the outcome of this prelim, I think that the main thing we did which  makes it work is the sense of continuity, by making sure all actions begun in one shot are finished in the next to produce a close to seamless edit. 

Film scene analysis - Psycho

In our lesson, we analysed the shower seen in Alfred Hitchcock's famous 'Psycho'.

One thing that was noticed about the scene when analysing, was that it breaks the 180 degree rule, which is basically a rule that means if you begin filming a scene, you should not pass over the line of action as it confuses and disorientates the audience. However it works in this scene as it reveals the killer behind the curtain.

The high pitched sound is used well in this scene to make the viewer jump as before it kicks in the only sound is that of the shower running. 

I think that the death scene is very well done in the way that when she falls she pulls down the curtain and each buckle holding the shower curtain up slowly unclips and lets her fall to the ground. Her blood then trails down the bath and swirls down the plug which then transitions into a shot of her eye. This is a very well done piece of editing.

We were also told that the shot of the shower head from below showing the water coming out was shot by re setting up the shower head 80 feet up in a studio, and then shooting the water coming out to prevent the water spilling on the camera head and distorting the lens, which shows Hitchcock's dedication to his craft. 

Opening sequence analysis 4 - Pleasantville

The opening sequence to Pleasantville begins with a few widescreen establishing shots , of many teenagers at a high school. The reason that I assume it is a high school is because there are many teenagers and they are all wearing backpacks. There is also a school bus which confirms the idea that it is a high school.

There is clever camera work and editing used, to cut between two close ups of the two characters, which makes it appear as if they are having a conversation, but soon after at the end of the sequence after the boy character has had a full conversation with what appears to be the girl whose close up is used, but in fact he is just talking to himself, which is revealed when the bell rings and a wide shot is showcased of him standing at least 20m away from the girl who he was supposedly having the conversation with.

Opening sequence analysis 3 - Dead Man's Shoes.

The third and final opening sequence we analysed was 'Dead Man's Shoes'.

This opening sequence showcases two brothers on some sort of journey, walking through various fields and roads, which shows that they know where they are going. Throughout this journey, there are flashbacks of the two boys in their youth, as children and babies. One shot in particular shows the older child/brother to be caressing the younger child, symbolising his protection of his little brother, which is also shown as they walk on their journey, as the older brother is leading the way.

The older brother in the front is wearing a green jacket and holding a large green bag, which makes me think that he is/was in the army. On the other hand, the younger brother is in a tracksuit, this shows his age to some extent as he is younger and teenagers are often seen as rebellious/lazy.

Another assumption I make from this opening sequence is that the two brothers are going somewhere because something bad has happened, to elaborate, i feel like the younger brother has done something wrong and is relying on the older brother to fix it for him, as the lyrics in the soundtrack (which is slow and slightly depressing) are 'I can't be held responsible'. These lyrics are repeated and could be explaining that the older brother cannot be held responsible for the actions of the younger brother, as they journey back to fix their problem.

Opening sequence analysis 2 - Sexy Beast.

The second opening sequence we analysed was sexy beast starring Sir Ben Kingsley.

The scene depicts a man lying in the sun in an expensive looking holiday home, with a large pool and a pool boy to clean it. He comes across as someone who has made their money in an un-honest way as he seems arrogant and doesn't act like the average rich man by the way he talks and acts.

The music played is upbeat and gives a sense of humour to the scene as it is ironic that the title is sexy beast and the music links to this title but however, the man in the scene does not fit the image. There is also a shot of a woman driving to what i assume is his house, which makes him seem to be a rich man who is a womaniser, although this could be his wife, but that conclusion doesn't fit him very well given the way he is presented.

The way that he talks to the pool boy also makes him come across as arrogant, and the way he lies down and relaxes while this young boy does all of his work for him. Finally, the that boulder rolls down the hill and almost hits him, can bee seen as a way of saying he is a bad person as it almost strikes him but it just misses him, which could be saying that he is always in trouble but manages to get out of it, which furthers the fact that he probably made his money working in a dodgy line of work.

Opening Sequence analysis 1 - The Shining.

In class, We watched the opening sequence to Stanley Kubrick's 'the shining'. 

The sequence consists of a compilation of different wide-angle shots following a car as it drives up a mountain on its way to what looks like a hotel of some sort. 

The way that the camera never actually enters the car makes it feel like there is a disconnection between the audience and the driver, as we do not get to see him. This makes the driver seem mysterious and also makes it seem like something isn't quite right. 

Also, the music starts of slow, low and creepy, but eventually picks up and begins to get very high pitched and tinny which evokes an even creepier vibe as it is very unsettling and makes for a strange, atmosphere.

The fact that the car is driving into a place that looks disconnected from society and seems to be 'in the middle of nowhere' also further promotes the unsettling atmosphere present in the scene.

Editing our Prelim!

For our lesson on Thursday 27/09, it was time for us to edit our prelim footage!Adam our media teacher gave us a lesson on how to use final cut pro, so that we could pick and choose the bits of footage that we wanted to put into our final piece. and we were told that Final Cut Pro used to edit the film True grit, as it is quick and efficient.

Carla, Archie, Katy and myself then used the skills we were taught to begin editing. We were shown how to create a new 'bin' which is basically the media term for 'file'. We named this 'Rush Bin' and this basically contained all of our raw unedited footage. Another 'bin' we made was the 'Log bin' which is where we put all of the clips that we wanted to use. 

Once we had selected all of our clips, we watched them and decided which parts of the clips we wanted to put into the film. to do this, we pressed command I (in) for where we wanted the clip to start, and then command O (out)for where we wanted the clip to end, we then dragged it down into the video half of the editing section at the bottom.

We all had turns at doing this so that we could become familiar with it. 

A useful tip we were given which we used in our editing was picking one clip and cutting it, and then Transition into the next clip at the same point in time so that the two clips flowed together and made it look as if the two angles were shot at the same time. For example if you have a shot of someone opening the door, in the next shot from a different angle it needs to have a sense of continuity and have the door open as if the door was closed in the following shot it would not make sense and confuse the audience. 

I think that now i have a good basic understanding of Final Cut Pro and It will now be easier to continue to edit our Prelims in our next lesson with adam.

Homework Task - Analysing a sequence.

Media presentation from hurtwoodhousemedia5

Third practical lesson - Filming my prelim.

We had our third practical lesson on 19/06/13. For this lesson we were told to read through an ambiguous script of dialogue shot from different camera angles.The script (shown below) Basically said things like "go on, do it!" which allowed us to do basically whatever we wanted with it because this could be interpreted in various different ways. We had to re-create this script by coming up with our own idea using the script's dialogue and camera shots as a basis. Our chosen idea, was to use the script to showcase a story of someone with bad breath being pressured into eating a piece of gum. Although the idea is ridiculous it worked with the ambiguous script and gave it a bit of a comical element.

We shot from different angles using different shots such as wides, close ups, over the shoulders etc. We also added in some extra shots at the end such as a close up of the gum being slammed on the table.

One thing that we had to change from our original idea was eating the actual gum, as we only had two pieces of gum and it would be difficult as if we got the shot wrong, and we had to re-shoot but did not have another piece of gum... that would be an issue as we would loose our sense of continuity.

Throughout the shoot Carla and Archie remained the actors, but we alternated roles such as the camera man and director. I was the director for the majority as this was my preferred role. 

Filming this prelim was a good learning curve because it allowed us to experience following a script with dialogue and shooting it from different angles. We also learnt helpful things, such as shooting all of the shots that needed to be shot from the same angle at once so that you didn't have to keep on moving the camera around as frequently. This was very useful and saved us a lot of time. For example we shot all of the wide shots first, instead of shooting a wide, then a close up and then another wide as this would require moving the camera back and forth too frequently and it would become impractical and overly time consuming.

Below is a the script we were given.

Prelim storyboard 1

Prelim storyboard 2

Second practical lesson - shooting sequences

We had our second practical lesson on Thursday 12/09/13. The aim of the lesson was to learn how to shoot sequences, which is basically filming different types of shots (e.g wide, close-up etc.) and string them together to create a scene shot from different angles etc.

At the begging we set up our cameras (as we were taught to do last lesson) and began to film a sequence that we made up on the spot. I was the actor, whilst Lauren given the role of the director And Carla - camera man. 

We were taught the words that we had to say to arrange the shot which were at the beginning of the shot, the director will say 'stand by', to this everyone on set would reply with the same 'stand by'.  The director then goes on to say 'roll camera', the camera man then begins to record and says 'camera rolling'. After this, the camera man will say 'action!' Which means the actors walk up to their mark, do their bit and when they finish, the director shouts, 'Cut!' And then the camera man stops recording and we do the same thing until we have all the footage we need. 

Our scene was a short sequence of me entering the room down the stairs using shots like close ups and low angle shots. We used all of the basic shots but as a group we came up with other ideas for shots such as a close up of the broom sweeping the floor. So that i knew how far to sweep to, I placed a mark on the floor which showed me how far to walk so that i would be in the shot. This was particularly useful for the close up shot of the broom sweeping as the camera had to be placed on the floor.

We also learnt new things that are necessary for the filming such as making sure there was no one in the background that wasn't supposed to be there or objects that weren't supposed to be there. An example of this was that in one shot someone else was standing in the background of the shot so we had to re-shoot it.

What we learnt this lesson will be essential in making our thrillers look realistic and professional. 

Introduction to media - using a camera

For my first practical lesson, on 05/09/13, we were taught how to use a professional video camera.The camera we used was a 'sony NX5'. We were taught the basics of the camera which included turning it on, zooming in and out... all the fairly easy stuff. We were also shown how to set up a tripod for the camera, which makes it much easier to shoot. We were shown how to adjust the height and luck the cameras position into place and also of course how to attach the actual camera onto the tripod! 

After covering the basics, we went on to learn some of the more 'complicated' functions of the camera for example white balance - which was a long process involving zooming in on something white, pressing the white balance button and then zooming out which made the colours in the shot look much more natural and vibrant instead of cold and blue-ish, also we learned how to use the 'ND filters' which are like putting sunglasses over the lens to make it a shade darker or removing one to make it lighter.

When we understood how to use these settings, we put them to practice by testing them on shots of trees outside and on a herring mannequin. We also used lots of additional lighting to light up shots etc. 

By the end of the lesson we were pretty clued up on how to use the camera, and all of its little functions, also how to adjust the environment to help improve the shot (lighting)... to conclude, heres a picture of the camera we used! (sony NX5)

Intro

My names Brandon and I'm originally from south Africa. When I was about seven years old I moved to England and I have a strong passion for film and art. I love comedy and horror films and I'm really into Hip hop music. I also do hip hop and breakdance and about two years ago when I was 14 I entered a dance competition for Disney channel and made it to the finals, which was exciting because I got to be on the actual Disney TV channel which was great.

Due to my interest in Film and art, I was given the opportunity to do work experience at Warner bros. last Summer in the creative department where I worked with a creative director who I worked with lots of fun projects on including a Promo for the TV show 'The Vampire Diaries' and various other interesting projects - It has been arranged for me to go back in October to do some more work.

I love comedy films but I also enjoy most other film genres. My favourite actors include James Franco, Jonah Hill, Jessica Lange,Johnny Depp, Will Smith etc. My favourite films are The Help, 127 Hours, This is the end, 21 jump street, the heat etc.

I think my love of film is one of the Main reasons that I chose media studies as one of my A level subjects, I also do art, photography and business so I really enjoy the creative side of film.