The Walking Dead 'Hospital Corridor' Promo

Research: The Lovely Bones trailer

Group research

CHRIS'S MUSIC RESEARCH:

Research of music for Thriller idea.

I have looked for sinister music to try to incorporate into our piece as non-diegetic sound. I looked broadly at some piano music as I feel this will fit into the sequence and allow it to flow seamlessly. These are some possibilities I have found.


"Comptine d'un autre été: l'après midi" composed by: Yann Tiersen
This was my first thought; it is quite a sad tune but I thought it was more sinister than it actually was. This seems quite romantic which does fit with the flashbacks but will conjure completely different connotations of what the sequence is about and does not fit with the thriller genre.


I researched some movies with some sinister underlying music and found this. Whilst it is more sinister; it does take a while to get going and is quite slow moving. This is not necessarily a bad thing and around 3:30 the music becomes stagnated and staccato with a sort of urban techno beat to it. This is very sinister and unsettling; this is the sort of music I would like to aim for.



This is the third song I found. It is slightly faster and more techno but is still somewhat sinister. The fluency fits our fast paced, quick shooting style. This, I think is almost perfect for the piece and will definitely direct the audience towards thinking this is sinister. It is a bit same-y however so I cannot deem this sort of music perfect.

These are just some ideas that I think could compliment the piece very well and aid fluency as well as building tension. I will take the ideas to the group and see how they feel about them.

Group Research

Lauren is in my group and she researched the lighting for the piece:

Lighting Research

My group started to look at lighting ideas. We originally looked at single spotlights and different lighting positions. We then started to talk about wanting to have the lighting dimmed so that it is darker and more mysterious; for example, just having a single light bulb in the room, giving it that more naturalistic lighting, but the room still looking dimmed - just like in the title sequence 'Affliction'.

Research: footsteps sound effects

At the beginning of our thriller we want to create a mood of isolation so we know that no one is near this man. I want to add in echoes to the footsteps sound effect to add extra tension and feel of isolation. This example shows the idea of what we want to do however I want it to be much cleaner with no shuffling.

Research: SE7EN - music

The music in this opening title sequence is quite weird and you don't quite know what the sounds are. Personally I think we want to create something like this so the audience are confused what is going on in the basement with this child. We also want to add diegetic sounds for example him walking into the basement and the key going in the lock.

Research: Band of Brothers & The Pacific, flashback scenes - concerntrating on Band of Brothers

In our opening sequence we want to create two stories of the man, him in the room with the child, and also him with his wife who is actually dead. The use of flashbacks in Band of Brothers makes it clear that he is thinking about something else (the flashbacks) which is what we want to create.

Research: Affliction

The use of the second screen is quite similar to what we want to do however not in the concept of filming him but getting up different files on a computer. Also the dark colours is something we want to portray. There is a camera in this which is fairly similar however we are closely setting up the camera not having it set up.

Research: setting & lighting (The Rock)

The setting in this is very dark and gloomy, it has a basement feel. Obviously this is a piece of research so we will not copy this set out but I am just getting ideas about the colour of the setting and the lighting. The fourth picture emphasises the basement feel with the lighting as it looks dusty, like a basement would. 

I also liked the idea in the second picture of the film spinning round. In our thriller we had the idea of setting up a camera, this is a different approach to make it clear that we are filming. I will present this to my group to see what they think as we thought the flashing red button would look good.

Storyboard - coursework

We spent 2 lessons doing the first draft of our storyboard. This involved deep analysis into cuts, timings, whats happening in the shot e.t.c. On lesson one there was only me and Chris in our lesson so we took it slowly and in a lot of depth to do the first 5 or 6 scenes. We thought about the non-diagetic we should use however we could not be definite as we wanted to talk about it with the rest of our group. Lesson two was came together more as all of the group could discuss our ideas. Chris tried to work out the timings and realised that the whole shoot would be very short so then Laura, Lauren and myself worked it out and felt it was slightly longer than Chris said.
We have yet to work out the location of our shoot. I think it would be much easier to do the camera set up in the studio however the shot including the hallway and the door will have to be done somewhere else. We are all looking into some non-diagetic music we can use and this will hopefully be sorted soon however I think it will change and there will be a discussion as each person will like their own music they find.
In the beginning we decided to use a digital camera to set up. This gives connotations of police detective, photographer, stalker and other connotations. However we changed our minds and decided to set up a film camera. When we conversed as a group we realised that maybe a film camera straight away goes to the idea of psycho rapist. So we might think about this and experiment between the two so we don't give any ideas away.
These two lessons were very helpful in laying out our shoot and work out where we are. We still have a lot to do but so far our group is getting on well and it is successful.

Opening title sequence of SE7EN - Kyle Cooper

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The music:

The soundtrack for this sequence is quite unsettling. It is slow and creates a sense that something bad is always about to happen. Sound effects have also been added for affect which include clicks and different high pitched screeches. As the sequence is ending the music gets faster. In my opinion this music doesn’t fit the piece but because Kyle Cooper is so clever, by using the beats out of time, creating an unsettling mood which is what I think he intended to do.

Camera:

The camera shots are mostly all extreme close ups which create a sense of ambiguity to the audience, and they don't know what is coming up next. By using these ECU's Kyle Cooper makes the hands in this sequence become a person with a confusing personality. From watching this concerntrating on camera I have made an assumption of what this man is like, I think he is suspicious and clever and has lots of secrets to hide.

Editing:

The editing of this piece disorientates the audience as it chops and changes to different activities that this man is doing. It is hard to concertrate on one thing as there are so many cuts. Each shot lasts about 2 seconds and the whole thing is just over 2 minuites so that puts into perspective how choppy and changing the piece is. In my opinion this really works as I think this is what Kyle Cooper intended to do. 

Wimbledon Opening Titles

The titles:

 The titles jump from left to right with the beat of the music. The text is concordant with the soundtrack which makes it visually interesting and fresh for the viewers eye.

In this sequence Cooper uses still images to create a moving image mixed with videos. This creates a very dynamic and visually interesting sequence as you start to move your head with the people. It is very clear that they are watching a tennis match so the sequence works with the title. At the beginning the camera follows sky and it looks like a summers day so he is setting the scene but also it suggests a new day, new start, and the beginning of the movie.

After this the whole way through it is kind of the same thing just moving heads, until the end where the tennis ball comes towards you almost in a 3D way. This opening sequence could easily be very boring however Cooper adds a twist to his work & it becomes very interesting  to look at.

 

Skyfall Opening Credits - analysis

This opening sequence is very dramatic and goes almost through a story.  It connects to the music as some of the actions relate to the lyrics. The credits are not too big so they do not distract from the graphics however they are centred to there is an attention to them. The most important names are at the beginning, middle and end with Daniel Craig first, then Judie Dench and then the Director.
The opening scenes are very dark with lots of shadows suggesting things are going on that people don't know. There are about 70 names that come up in the opening sequence which gives an idea of how many people work on the film.

About Kyle Cooper

Kyle Cooper  is a modern designer of motion picture title sequences. He studied graphic design at Yale University. He got an MFA in graphic design at Yale which kick started his career working as a creative director at R/GA and at advertising agencies in New York and Los Angeles. He also got a BFA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Whilst working at these places he made the title sequence for 'Seven' which was quoted “One of the most important design innovations of the 1990s”. After making this sequence Kyle Cooper became very in demand and has now directed over 150 film title sequences. He has also been awarded with "almost single-handedly revitalizing the main-title sequence as an art form".
Kyle Cooper also started two film design companies called Imaginary Forces and Prologue Films.
Here are some of the title sequences Kyle Cooper has done:

Here are some sequences he has done but he has done many more too.

Kyle Cooper Demo Reel

Movement, energetic, animation, advertisement, movies, names, words, colour, black and white, stand out, visually interesting, dynamic, versatile, clever, eye catching, motion.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - Kyle Cooper

The music: 
The music is menacing at the beginning which sets the scene. There are sounds of the actions such as the man climbing over the wired fence in the first scene which adds reality to the piece. The 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' section is highlighted with the bang of the gun and the white text melting down like blood.
The scenes:
Each scene is very visually interesting and add a new aspect to the story. Every one flows and the fact that they are drawings highlights his talent. Each scene tells a story almost as if it is a cut down version of the film.
The text/titles:
The titles are bold so you can see them however they are quite small so they do not distract the audience from the amazing graphics.

Catch Me if You Can Opening Title Sequence - analysis

As a contrast to the other opening sequence I have analysed on 'Skyfall'. This is completely animated but completely shows the idea of the film. Cleverly the way the credits are done they fall down in a line and then are used by the animated people either by hanging off them or walking on them as steps. The most well known name is presented first after the production credits, "Leonardo Di Caprio."The way the title is presented with the "me" flying off suggests that the person is good and not being caught, this is then highlighted by the taxi turning right and then the police car turning right after cars had passed the turning slowly. The music feels like a chase too so this adds to the tension of the opening sequence.

Deeper analysis into editing and its meaning - "Don't Look Now"

Yesterday, we looked at the opening to "Don't Look Now." For our exam we have to look at all four aspect, not just editing, but for this lesson Adam thought it was necessary to look into editing deeply as it is possibly the hardest one. This was much easier as I could just pick out the different editing techniques rather than having to remember all 4 sections.

When watching the sequence we treat it like the exam in terms of, the first time we watch it we are not allowed to write anything down. On the second time you start to write stuff down but still watch however, on the third and fourth time you should have stopped watching and being drawn in by it and instead write notes and just quickly look up to notice another editing technique.
The sequence opened with an establishing shot of the pond, this could symbolise that the pond is very important as it is held for a long time. Then there is an edit to a dark window with glistening light, this is a very ambiguous shot which could represent the ambiguity of the opening sequence. Another establishing shot is shown with the girl playing with a wheel barrow and the white horse in the background which suggests purity as it is white, but the establishing shot produces as understanding that the children are happy playing outside. There is an edit from a close up of the pond to the fire which could suggest the contrast of both and that there is a contrast of something in the play. The cut from outside to inside and the fire inside is symbolic of danger... the danger that is going on outside. There are many match cuts in this piece for example when the girl throws the ball into the water and the dad throws the cigarette packet to the mum. This almost suggests a connection between the father and daughter as they are doing the same actions at the same time. Another match cut is when the father dives into the river and the mother throws the symbolic picture onto the sofa. This photograph has a huge meaning in the opening sequence which is ambiguous throughout. However there are man cuts to and from this image the father was studying to the little girl. When the ink starts to spread and the girl starts to drown the cuts from her being held in her dads arms in a specific

shape, to the ink spreading in this shape. This represents a connection between the two. The positioning of shots represent the danger the girl is going to encounter. For example when she is walking along the bank and her reflection is in the water, which technically shows her underwater and this is foreshadowing her death. The reason I have mentioned camera a lot is because it is very closely connected with editing and so it is hard to avoid.

Production Meeting 1

Initial view points of my group

This lesson we got put into our groups. Adam our media teacher asked three people to give them three names and the outcome was 3 groups of 4 and one group of 3. I am in one of the groups of four with Chris, Laura and Lauren. My initial thoughts on the group were varied as I am not in a friend group with any of the three. However, when I joined with them to start talking about our ideas we seemed to work well together and listen to each other. However, this is just the beginning and I don't want to get too ahead of myself. Strengths of our group are that we can work well together and listen to each other however when we disagree on something it tends to have an impact on the mood of the group as we all have very strong view points.

This is my group 

Thriller Ideas

Idea 1 – A family of four are struggling with their money, the children aren’t being affected but the mother and father are finding it hard to supply to them. In order to get money they sell their fairly large house and downsize, moving to a different neighbourhood. The neighbourhood they move to is slightly less safe than the one they were living in before but this does not seem to be a problem for the people in that neighbourhood, thus they buy a house and live there. Unbeknown to them their next door neighbour is a psychopath. As soon as they move in the next door neighbour has his eye on the ‘new’ family of the neighbourhood. Throughout the film you see the psychopath plotting ideas in order to kill the children. Towards the end he captures one child and she goes missing, he fails to actually kill her. The opening sequence opens with the mother placing the children’s dinner on the table, there is a clock in the background to highlight the time (early as they are children). They have a pizza take away as there is not much food in the house as they have just moved in. There is crockery around wrapped in paper so the idea that they have just moved in is emphasised. Then a cut to the father in the study which has boxes in but the desk, chair and his laptop have been unpacked and he is doing some work. Then a cut back to the kitchen, the children and mother are very happy laughing and smiling. There is a window in the kitchen too and the man has walked around the outside of the house and stands still looking into the window at the children. There is a shot from outside the window looking in to show the audience that someone is watching the family but they do not know. It cuts there.

Idea 2 – A teenage girl about 17 is in a relationship with a man of 30 years old. She met him as she had a group of friends who were interacting with older men. Her and this man were very happy and enjoying their relationship. He meets the family and they ask him and their daughter to babysit the younger daughter, who is 9. The older daughter drives the parents to the restaurant they are going to. Back at home is the younger daughter and the man, he is watching her and unbeknown to the rest of the family, he used to be a rapist and had just come out of prison 3 years ago. The man rapes the child in the film and there is major suspence as she is sworn to secrecy about it and none of the family know. Thriller follows their story. The opening of this involves the 17 year old girl and the man driving home. They are playing music loudly and the camera follows their journey home. They are very fond of each other in the car whilst driving and the man is slightly over the top, this highlights his power over women. The journey home is fairly long but they then arrive home and there is a POV shot of the younger girl looking out the window of the couple walking towards the door, there is eye contact between the man and the younger sister and then the younger sister hides behind the curtain in fright. 

Idea 3 – A journalist has been assigned work for the New York Times. Her task is to write about the crime in New York. She was going around New York involving herself in high flying people such as politicians. Almost like the prohibition where police men and politicians got away with drinking, this was the same, but to do with drug crime. The opening of this in an the woman’s office where she is working on a computer, the desk is full of paper to highlight that she is a very busy woman. There is a knock on her on her door (she has her own office) from the boss. She is told that she has been promoted and they celebrate. The offices cheer for her. There is then an over the shot of her looking at her computer screen researching drug crime in America.

Idea 4 – There is a computer virus going around a town, which then leads to a major spread into the cities. This virus is killing many people and it happens when you go on your computer and it penetrates your eyes. Once this virus is in you in kills you with in 2 days. A man is all behind this, and someone is out to catch him but he does not know this. He is sat at his computer screen killing many innocent people via a computer, so technically he is a mass murderer. The opening sequence is set in the psychotic mans house, where it is night time and very dark. The camera follows round the corridors, as if it was someone else and goes very slowly. The man who is catching out the psychotic man is in his house. As the man approaches the kitchen, the psychotic man sitting in his kitchen eating dinner emerges. The whole of the opening sequence is in the point of view of the man who is stalking the psychotic man.

Sound Analysis

Connotation and Denotation

Semiology

Semiology came from the Greek word 'semeion'. which means sign. It trys to create a science of study of sign systems and their role in the construction and reconstruction of meaning in media texts. Semiology concentrates on the text and the signs and codes that are in it.

Connotation

The secondary meaning of a word or expression in addition to its real meaning. (ie ‘red’ connotes danger/passion/communism, a ‘car’ connotes freedom. This is very often cultural and can depend on context. Connotation represents the various social overtones, cultural implications, or emotional meanings associated with a sign. For example if you see someone holding a knife in a horror movie you would associate it with a murder.

Denotation

direct meaning or set of meanings of a word or expression from the meanings associated with it. What it actually is. (ie ‘red’ denotes a certain colour, a ‘car’ denotes a vehicle for moving people and things around. Denotation is the real meaning. Denotation refers to the literal meaning of a word, the 'dictionary definition'.

What is a thriller?

The genre thriller are known to promote intense excitement, suspense and high levels of anticipation. The tension usually rises when the main character is placed in a situation or mystery, when life itself is threatened. There are many types of thrillers: 

Types of thrillers: 

• Comedy thriller
• Crime Thriller
• Psychological thriller 
• Supernatural thriller
  

Above are a few thrillers from each genre. 

Characters in thrillers:
There are different characters which include convicts, criminals, stalkers, assassins, innocent victims, prison inmates, menaced women, drifters and romantic triangles. Obviously there are other types of characters that create thrillers however these are the type of characters I have seen in thrillers. 

ALFRED HITCHCOCK-
Hitchcock helped to shape the modern day thriller genre. His first silent film was "The Lodger"(1926) which was a gripping story. Although Hitchcock was nominated 5 times as Best Director her never won an academy award. 

In many of his films there was an inevitable life and death chase ending with a showdown. One of Hitchcock's most shocking thriller is Psycho (1960) which is about a loner mother which a 'shower scene.'

Hitchcock inspired
There are a number of Hitchcock inspired films such as 

• Niagra (1953)
• Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
• The Night of the Hunter (1955)
• Touch Of Evil (1958)
• Cape Fear (1962)

Finished prelim task.

Finishing editing our prelim

We carried on from our last lesson editing our prelim task. We had to remember the tools we used last week in order to finish it. 

I wanted to make sure I had a full understanding of the editing so far so I made sure I took control at the beginning. After about 10 minuets of discussing with my group and editing others joined in and we all took part together. 

We watched through our prelim so far and were happy with that so did not change anything. The next scene was a moving shot. When editing on a moving shot you have to make sure the action is taking part in the next scene. 

The plan in our prelim was to make the reasoning of the argument in the scene to be ambiguous until the last shot. However, we did not look close enough when shooting at how all the scenes will connect together. Unfortunately there came a point where we realised that we had missed a shot which would connect one scene to the next. There was a discussion with in the group on how to sort this out. We decided to zoom into the door to split the scene where the hand goes up to the projected otherwise it completely didn't fit. 

This was very annoying as we wanted it to be as good as it could be, however it was also a good lesson to learn as we know what to concentrate on when shooting and to think about all the scenes connecting in editing to make the one document.  

Another problem we encountered was with the sound. At the end of one of our shots there was "cut" said a lot before the end of the shot. This meant that we had to collaborate other sound from other shots, this was quite difficult as we had to ensure it was the sound was similar and flowed continuously without interruptions due to the sound.  

Although we had all these problems, the outcome of our piece was much better than I had expected. As only editing for the second time I feel we overcame these problems well and learnt a lot through the process. 

First lesson using final cut pro

Yesterday, we started using final cut pro to edit the beginning of our prelim task. Before we started we talked about the importance of using this programme and the importance of knowing how to edit. In the real working world being able to use this editing programme as a base for other programmes allows us to possibly get a job, or more likely to with the knowledge of the programme. This programme is generally used for fast changing scenes like adverts it is not used often for films, apart from the film True Grit with many fast changing scenes.

 Matt (one of our media teachers) went through with us how to open up our folder. He would show us on the big screen then make us do it too so we had a full understanding of how to get up our work. In media terms a name for a folder is called 'bin'. We made our first 'bin' called 'rush bin'. In this bin was all our original shots. Then a second bin was made called 'log bin'. This was our chosen shots which we would then edit to put in a sequence.  Once we had our scenes we had filmed up on the screen, we went through how to choose where the clip starts and finishes. Then how to make the sequence so the scene flowed. If there were voices in the background of the end of one clip you could cut them out. You repeated this with each clip and placed it in order. We got about a quarter of the way through editing our prelim task, we went slowly as we all tried to get an understanding for the programme's tools.

Opens Credits "Sexy Beast"

Use of mise en scene
Introduced to first character which is who we mainly focus on in this opening sequence. He is in speedos with sun cream and other items on the floor suggesting he is quite a lazy character. This is then emphasised by the way he talks to the pool boy, the man clearly doesn't do anything for himself. His voice is fairly cockney and his attire suggests he is possibly a dodgy character.
Then it moves onto the women driving in the car but it is an over the shoulder shot which is slightly ambiguous as we do no know who she is. The man is wearing a gold necklace which is stereotyped to cockney people.
Use of camera
Opens with an establishing shot of the sky so the audience can concentrate on the pink opening titles, then the camera moves to a medium long shot which shows the main character. There is then a two shot of the man and pool boy which has a shallow depth of field highlighting the authority the man has over the worker. Later there is an establishing shot of the man sunbathing next to his swimming pool which has connecting hearts in it, this is fairly cliché and shows the audience what time of man this person is. After there is then an over the shoulder shot of the woman, this doesn't show her face which is fairly ambiguous so we don't know where the woman is going or who she is. The establishing shot shows a house in the mountains, which is in the middle of no where and this highlights the isolation of the place. This is then picked up again with the over the shoulder shot of the man walking to put his shoes on and it again shows that where he is, is in the middle of nowhere.
Use of sound
The lyrics in the song are fairly poignant. The beginning of the song starts with
 "Strolling along minding my own business"
  - these lyrics emphasise the way he is approaching this time of 'minding his own business.'
"suntan lotion in that bottle of yours
Spread it all over my peelin' skin baby
That feels real good
All this skirt lappin' up the sun" - these lyrics are said when the sun tan lotion is on the floor and then he puts the flannel on himself to keep him cool and as he lies down and 'groans' because he has been cooled down it says 'that feels real good' so the lyrics connect with the image at the time.
The music very upbeat suggesting a good mood and atmosphere.
Use of editing
The length of the cuts make some shots awkward for example the shot of him lying down with the flannel on him. It also highlights the humour in this film.
The credits are in bright pink so they stand out and they are also representing his lifestyle being bright pink as pink sometimes suggests fame.
When the film pauses with the opening title it causes the audience to look at the title for longer. It is also quite funny as it is paused in quite an awkward position.

The Shining opening credit

In this opening sequence of 'The Shining' we had to analyse mise en scene, editing, camera and sound. Stanley Kubrick uses this opening sequence to create a creepy mysterious idea that is carried on throughout the sequence. It opens with  the warner bros opening title, with warner bros being very well known it gives this film and automatic judge that the film will be relatively well made. I think this opening sequence is very effective and accurately creates the mood it is trying to create.
Firstly, in the mise en scene the location is clearly observed. The car is driving through mountains that seem to go on for a while, suggesting the character is driving far away to somewhere in the middle of no where. In this sequence we are not introduced to any characters or a plot, leaving the audience thinking creating an ambiguous atmosphere.
Secondly we look at the use of sound, the music is very creepy and mysterious. It creates a disturbing atmosphere and feels, to the audience, that something is coming up behind them or someone is watching them. Music plays a big part in scenes because if the music with this opening scene was a joyful song in the charts, it would create a very different atmosphere.
The use of camera is very important in this scene as it creates the idea of someone watching the person in the car which connects to the music. The camera follows the car using birds eye view shots, and wide angle shots, with nothing around them highlights the ambiguous atmosphere.
Finally the use of editing in this scene is confusing to me as Kubrick uses a bright blue font for the credits, this does make them stand out however it is a contrast to the scene, bright blue normally suggests happiness and peace and this contradicts the idea of the opening sequence. The change of camera angles is also part of the editing and I feel that Kubrick did this well because there was a constant sinister element to the sequence.

Mise en Scene of a scene from 'The Holiday'

Tent Scene - Media

Preliminary Task

Yesterday we shot our preliminary task, the whole class took part in it and we were in groups of 4. A script was given to us which was fairly simple, although for some reason we kept forgetting it and then we put our own meaning to the task. We all used the camera as there were different angles to shoot from so even if you were acting you could still get a feel for the camera when using it. Myself and Harry, another student in my class volunteered to act. It was quite comical as he is a brilliant drama scholar and acted great and I can't act to save my life so the contrast already had a comical feel. Kate and Arabella were behind the camera a lot of the time placing us in the correct position and moving the camera to where it was supposed to be.

There were several shots that needed to be taken which were: one wide - we shot this multiple times so we could perfect it as much as we could. This also saves us if any editing goes wrong we can always go back to the wide shot as it captures everything. Then close ups of each character to emphasise their facial expressions but also including the setting behind. The close ups were filmed by Harry or I filmed him. Another shot we did was over the shoulder, this gives a more interesting perspective because you can potentially see what the character who's shoulder we are looking over, is looking at.

Our group was situated in the classroom, we had to talk together to come up with an idea for our shoot. In the previous lesson Matt, one of our media teachers told us that filming is "10% doing stuff and 90% communication" thus we made an extra effort to communicate with each other. We came up with the idea of not being able to reach the projector, as I am very small I obviously had to be the one who couldn't reach it. We found it very amusing as it was a small thing (turning on the projector) and having such pressure to do!

We started off filming the wide shot with the whole scene, we did this numerous times as we needed time to correct it and also we had to get into the flow of things as it was only our second time using the cameras. Kate was the director for this scene, and Arabella was the camera man. They communicated before shooting with the "stand by", "role camera", "action". After filming the wide shot we did close ups. The camera didn't need to be moved which was a lot easier and by doing this, in the real film world it would save a lot of vital money. Finally we took the over the shoulder shots which we did have to move the camera.

Our group all worked well together and I feel we worked very independently and fairly professionally. It was a good start to my filming experience.

Coursework Task Defined

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.

Shooting a sequnce

I was excited to start my second practical lesson as I was wanting to know what was next from the lesson last week. 
We were in groups of four and we had to set up the camera and tripod like we had last week before we started anything. This meant we had to have the bubble in the middle because we did not want any slanting shots. My group knew exactly what we were doing. After that our teacher did a few role plays with a few of us showing us how to make a sequence, with extra people involved such as a director, camera man and the actors. 
As this is just the beginning we kept the camera on the tripod without using zooms or holding the camera. To start I was director, Laura was camera man and Harry and Kate were the actors. We shot the scene a few times with different camera views. We first shot it all in an establishing shot with Kate on the sofa and Harry walking in, looking at her, sitting down with her and then Kate leaving as she is clearly not amused. We then did some mid-shots so it was clear what the characters were doing, and also some EPUs so we could see the facial expressions clearly. 
My first filming experience shooting a sequence was exciting and helped me catch a feel for what it is actually like. I enjoyed it very much.

Camera lesson with Adam

In this lesson we gathered an understanding of different shots. Unbeknown to me before learning about this different types of shot sizes represent different meanings. As an example, an extreme close up (ECU) usually of the face, try to convey an emotion and/or detail whereas a long shot shows the full figure of someone which contextualises the character and their location.
Different shots can also be used to represent someone's authority such as a high angle is when the camera point down above eye line which indicates low status or vulnerability. In contrast a low camera angle (below eye line) can indicate high status, someone in power or someone intimidating.

We used 'Pleasantville' as an example to look at the different shots. Films or programmes usually open with an establishing shot to indicate the location. Pleasantville opened with an establishing shot, then moves on to a three shot which suggests closeness within the group of friends, highlighting people get on at the school. There is then an ECU of the boy showing his emotion. There is then many shot reverse shot close ups with the same eye line to look like the boy is talking to the girl however we realise this is not the case when there is then an establishing shot to show who is in the school grounds and he is no where near the girl and she is actually talking to the boy she is with. There is then a two shot of the girl and boy talking together to emphasise the idea that it was their conversation the girl was replying to. The opening sequence ends on an establishing shot which is also at a high angle emphasising the boys vulnerability.