When discussing our project in lesson we came up with what we think is a really good idea for the opening sequence. We thought of having a continuous scene throughout of someone getting ready like a normal person, we'd only have close ups of each action that is performed as we don't want to show his face during it. Some of these images could be buttoning up a shirt, tying up laces, putting on a suit jacket etc. So if he was tightening up his tie we would have a shot of his shoulders down to the middle of his torso so that the audience is focused on the individual actions. However, after a couple of day to day actions have been done we want to quickly cut in some split second images of weird quite disturbing things like a hand covered in blood sliding down a wall, a distorted image of someone being injected with something and other creepy images which will take the viewer by surprise. We thought this was a good idea because it indicates and gives clues as to what will happen in the film, for example he has just come out of a mental hospital all recovered and is getting on with life normally, which is where the normal day to day getting ready clips come in. It then goes on to the disturbing images which flash up really quickly which can indicate that something horrific is breaking through his memory and that he is in fact not a normal man getting ready for work.
From this idea we decided to think about what sort of costumes we would need, we researched the things that people in mental hospitals usually wear and also the stereotypical interpretation of what mental people wear. We found that they are nearly always very plain and pure clothes and the obvious straight jacket is used when patients need to be restricted, so we decided to go with this and have a plain white straight jacket for our main actor to wear. While sorting this out we also agreed that we would use Fred in out group as the actor because we preferably wanted a man to be the main character and he's quite tall, and its easier to use someone in our group than only being able to do filming outside of lesson if our actor was in a lesson at the time. We knew we wouldn't need anymore actors than that and we were also aware of the fact that we shouldn't show the face of the main character during our opening titles because it keeps up the tension of not knowing who the person is yet and adding mystery.
As a group we thought about what sort of music we would have playing in the background as well and came to the decision that a classical sounding piece of music would work well as it can reflect the main characters mind. The classical calm music playing whilst horrible images flash up on screen creates a strange sense of not belonging and hints that this character isn't all right in the head.
For the actual credits we thought of having some appear during the normal getting ready scenes but then also having some appear in the space of a few shots that have a pure white background with something in the corner thats in clear focus, and the names of actors and editors etc. will be quite jolty and distorted much like the opening credits to 'se7en'. We thought that this would put across the genre of the film a bit more and make it look quite good and creepy. For the ending we have decided to have a shot of the back of the man opening his front door, but instead of seeing the normal outdoor life of streets and roads etc. a big white light will fill the screen and the title of our film will appear then. We quite like this idea because it's like him opening the door to his mind because he's trying to get on with his life but the pure white light indicates that memories from the mental hospital will come back. It can also suggest him starting a clean slate because the colour white is associated to be quite pure and new.
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
German Expressionism
After going through our ideas about having images that will reflect the main character we were advised to research German expressionism, which we found out was a way of using different images or sets to symbolise certain things and create a deeper mood amongst the audience.
German expressionism started shortly after the first world war due to the lack of money, this lack of money meant that the theatres and creative side of Germany could not afford all the nice sets that places like Hollywood had. So they came up with a way to get these things across without having to spend lots of money. They decided on using quite peculiar mise-en-scene in the sets which were very non-realistic and had quite geometrical designs which were all different so that each one could show the different shadows and lighting for a performance.
A good example of this used in opening titles for a film is 'The Cabinet of Dr. Calligari'.
German expressionism has influenced a few film genres like horror along with certain films like Dracula, Frankenstein, The Cabinet of Dr. Calligari, Psyhco and Citizen Kane. It's a way of expressing the psychological turmoil of space by characters and because of it's themes of madness and insanity we thought that it would fit in with our ideas perfectly.
German expressionism started shortly after the first world war due to the lack of money, this lack of money meant that the theatres and creative side of Germany could not afford all the nice sets that places like Hollywood had. So they came up with a way to get these things across without having to spend lots of money. They decided on using quite peculiar mise-en-scene in the sets which were very non-realistic and had quite geometrical designs which were all different so that each one could show the different shadows and lighting for a performance.
A good example of this used in opening titles for a film is 'The Cabinet of Dr. Calligari'.
German expressionism has influenced a few film genres like horror along with certain films like Dracula, Frankenstein, The Cabinet of Dr. Calligari, Psyhco and Citizen Kane. It's a way of expressing the psychological turmoil of space by characters and because of it's themes of madness and insanity we thought that it would fit in with our ideas perfectly.
Friday, 11 December 2009
Main Task Ideas
Over the past couple of lessons our group have been coming up with a range of ideas we could use for our main task. We came up with four different routes we could take and these were Vampires, Criminal/Murder, Ghosts or a Crazy Teen Horror.
Vampires
A brief idea we had to do with vampires was to have a vampire who goes on a killing rampage after having his heart broken. So we thought we could use alot of black and red throughout the titles and different images which look quite eerie and scary. We decided shortly after that this idea would resemble "Twilight" too much and it's too typical which would make it boring.
Criminal/Murder
A man who has recently come out of a mental home fully rehabilitated but things start triggering off the hurtful past.
We didnt really think too much about the Ghost or Crazy Teen Horror idea as we already quite liked the idea of the man who comes out of a mental home. We started thinking about a very rough story as we didn't want to get too narrative in the titles but we needed a rough idea so that we knew what sort of images to put in it. We agreed on something along the lines of, a man gets released from a mental home and thinks he's okay but something triggers off a horrific memory that brings everything back and he then becomes an insane man on the loose who starts killing people. We also though that it would be good if he had bad OCDs because it would make it quite twisted if everything around him and in his house was overly organised perfectly.
With this idea in mind we discussed a vague idea of what we could sort of images we could use during the opening titles. Having very jolty camera work was an idea that we liked alot because we think that it would make it look really disorientated and weird which would partly reflect the main characters mind. We also decided of having alot of weird images flashing up really quickly throughout like creepy shadows, sharp objects, someone struggling in a straight jacket and maybe someone restrained to a table. We thought of these because we thought it would get across the genre of the film quite well. For the main colours we thought we might use white and red because the white would symbolise something like a clean sheet for the man and also like a padded cell which are pure white. The red will obviously symbolise anger and blood.
Vampires
A brief idea we had to do with vampires was to have a vampire who goes on a killing rampage after having his heart broken. So we thought we could use alot of black and red throughout the titles and different images which look quite eerie and scary. We decided shortly after that this idea would resemble "Twilight" too much and it's too typical which would make it boring.
Criminal/Murder
A man who has recently come out of a mental home fully rehabilitated but things start triggering off the hurtful past.
We didnt really think too much about the Ghost or Crazy Teen Horror idea as we already quite liked the idea of the man who comes out of a mental home. We started thinking about a very rough story as we didn't want to get too narrative in the titles but we needed a rough idea so that we knew what sort of images to put in it. We agreed on something along the lines of, a man gets released from a mental home and thinks he's okay but something triggers off a horrific memory that brings everything back and he then becomes an insane man on the loose who starts killing people. We also though that it would be good if he had bad OCDs because it would make it quite twisted if everything around him and in his house was overly organised perfectly.
With this idea in mind we discussed a vague idea of what we could sort of images we could use during the opening titles. Having very jolty camera work was an idea that we liked alot because we think that it would make it look really disorientated and weird which would partly reflect the main characters mind. We also decided of having alot of weird images flashing up really quickly throughout like creepy shadows, sharp objects, someone struggling in a straight jacket and maybe someone restrained to a table. We thought of these because we thought it would get across the genre of the film quite well. For the main colours we thought we might use white and red because the white would symbolise something like a clean sheet for the man and also like a padded cell which are pure white. The red will obviously symbolise anger and blood.
Monday, 7 December 2009
Start Of The Main Task
As a group we've started discussing a range of ideas that we could use to create the opening title sequence of a horror or thriller film. We first looked at some examples of opening titles to film that have already been made.
The first minute of this clip is very basic example of an opening title sequence. The aim with the titles is to give some clues as to what will happen in the film. In this clip the film is called Detour so they've put the image of a car driving down the road with the camera facing out the back so the viewer can only see whats going behind the car. By having this very basic clip in the background it indicates to the audience that someone is likely to take a wrong road and going somewhere they didn't originally plan. This however is too basic for us to as our project.
This clip is the opening titles for James Bond Goldfinger which is a very good example of an abstract style for doing the opening titles. The strange image of a women painted gold with the projections being shown on her give a hint that the film with have elements of mystery in them and the projections are mostly of the characters which match up to the right names as they come on screen. Each projection is also on a different part of the womens body which can indicate what the character is like, for example Sean Connery is projected onto the womens head which shows that he is an important character, Gert Frobe who plays Goldfinger is shown over half the womens body which indicates that he has power in the film and is going to be in charge of something.
The opening titles for Seven are one of the best examples for the sort of thing we should be aiming to create. It has lots of images of someone analysing and taking notes on what looks like evidence from a murder case, in none of these do we see the persons face only the main part of action like a close up of his hands turning over a page. The cinematograghy in this is really good because they have mainly used close up shots of items like pieces if evidence, books, photos etc, and have made the background distorted and fuzzy, which i think is useful to our group as its a good example of what our shots could focus on like on items that will reflect the film. The shots are also quite fast cutting which indicates that the film has some fast action in it and this is something we aim to do in our sequence because it creates alot of tension. The credits quickly jolt up and down when they come on screen in turn which gives it a creepy mysterious feel to it. They have also used quite low key lighting which can insinuate that the film itself will be quite dark and mysterious, and the connatations of darkness are usually quite bad and negative. All the shots used are very good indications to the genre and theme of the film which is what we would like to, all the different shots like the bits of evidence, slightly disturbing images, messed up bits of bodies and the case notes all give you the idea that it will be along the lines of a crime thriller type film. For our sequence we want to include some disturbing images and some quite psychotic images so that it will give the idea that ours will be a sort of psychological horror/thriller.
This is the opening to the film Hannibal which is another good example of something we could aim for. All the clips are quite distorted and fuzzy to make them look messed up and reflect the film and part of the main characters mind. Another part of the main characters personality and mind is reflected through the music which is a nice classical piece which is quite calming but also the complete opposite to the images on screen. This contadiction is something we're thinking of doing in our own title sequence. We won't be having an actual scene during any credits though as it will take too long and the task only says to create the opening titles. The writing at the start is in blood red which indicates that the genre is some sort of horror or thriller, they also calmly fade in and out of each other which again puts across the idea that the film will be quite contradictory.
Creep
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peggLQ1fLg8
This is another horror/thriller themed opening sequence that we have taken ideas from. It has very eerie music in the background which creates tension and make the audience feel tense before the films even started. In our openning sequence we want to do something similar with creating tension, we want to have quite eerie music like this but instead we want the music to build in tension along with the shots on screen so that there is a big increase in tension in the titles and in the audience. Another really good thing about this sequence is the effects put on the shots, they're very distorted and blurry meaning you can only just work out what the different things are which can indicate to the audience that some of the people in the film will become very disorientated and un able to focus properly. The blurring and distorting of shots is again something we would like to include because we think that it really makes the genre of horror stand out to the viewer. The titles are on black background and some of them are on the shots which is what we're aiming to do because we think that it looks much better and a little more creepy if the titles are plainly on a black background, because with the music building in tension this will give a good effect. Another idea that we thought was good from this is the way the images become more disturbing and scary as the sequence goes on near to the end because this again creates more tension and gets the audience more interested in the film.
This is the opening sequence for 'Six feet under'. We looked at this because we thought the way the titles have done is quite interesting and we're thinking of using this idea in our own sequence. We like the way that the titles fit onto diffrent parts of the shots and sets, for example when the editors name appears on a beaker filled with liquid and then goes down at the same time as the liquid does, and also when the executive producers name is on a gravestone in the shot. We're thinking of using this because we feel that our sequence will have lots of opportunities to do it, like on the characters shirt pocket for example, and makes the titles more interesting to watch. Another idea we got from this was to do with all the hospital equipment because we want to use some in ours as well and in this they clearly show the association of pure white with being in a hospital which we could use to indicate that our main character isn't completely healthy in more ways than one. The lighting in the hospital is very bright, enough to not let the audienec see beyond that light which we want to use for our ending because we want it to be like he's starting a new life.
The first minute of this clip is very basic example of an opening title sequence. The aim with the titles is to give some clues as to what will happen in the film. In this clip the film is called Detour so they've put the image of a car driving down the road with the camera facing out the back so the viewer can only see whats going behind the car. By having this very basic clip in the background it indicates to the audience that someone is likely to take a wrong road and going somewhere they didn't originally plan. This however is too basic for us to as our project.
This clip is the opening titles for James Bond Goldfinger which is a very good example of an abstract style for doing the opening titles. The strange image of a women painted gold with the projections being shown on her give a hint that the film with have elements of mystery in them and the projections are mostly of the characters which match up to the right names as they come on screen. Each projection is also on a different part of the womens body which can indicate what the character is like, for example Sean Connery is projected onto the womens head which shows that he is an important character, Gert Frobe who plays Goldfinger is shown over half the womens body which indicates that he has power in the film and is going to be in charge of something.
The opening titles for Seven are one of the best examples for the sort of thing we should be aiming to create. It has lots of images of someone analysing and taking notes on what looks like evidence from a murder case, in none of these do we see the persons face only the main part of action like a close up of his hands turning over a page. The cinematograghy in this is really good because they have mainly used close up shots of items like pieces if evidence, books, photos etc, and have made the background distorted and fuzzy, which i think is useful to our group as its a good example of what our shots could focus on like on items that will reflect the film. The shots are also quite fast cutting which indicates that the film has some fast action in it and this is something we aim to do in our sequence because it creates alot of tension. The credits quickly jolt up and down when they come on screen in turn which gives it a creepy mysterious feel to it. They have also used quite low key lighting which can insinuate that the film itself will be quite dark and mysterious, and the connatations of darkness are usually quite bad and negative. All the shots used are very good indications to the genre and theme of the film which is what we would like to, all the different shots like the bits of evidence, slightly disturbing images, messed up bits of bodies and the case notes all give you the idea that it will be along the lines of a crime thriller type film. For our sequence we want to include some disturbing images and some quite psychotic images so that it will give the idea that ours will be a sort of psychological horror/thriller.
This is the opening to the film Hannibal which is another good example of something we could aim for. All the clips are quite distorted and fuzzy to make them look messed up and reflect the film and part of the main characters mind. Another part of the main characters personality and mind is reflected through the music which is a nice classical piece which is quite calming but also the complete opposite to the images on screen. This contadiction is something we're thinking of doing in our own title sequence. We won't be having an actual scene during any credits though as it will take too long and the task only says to create the opening titles. The writing at the start is in blood red which indicates that the genre is some sort of horror or thriller, they also calmly fade in and out of each other which again puts across the idea that the film will be quite contradictory.
Creep
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peggLQ1fLg8
This is another horror/thriller themed opening sequence that we have taken ideas from. It has very eerie music in the background which creates tension and make the audience feel tense before the films even started. In our openning sequence we want to do something similar with creating tension, we want to have quite eerie music like this but instead we want the music to build in tension along with the shots on screen so that there is a big increase in tension in the titles and in the audience. Another really good thing about this sequence is the effects put on the shots, they're very distorted and blurry meaning you can only just work out what the different things are which can indicate to the audience that some of the people in the film will become very disorientated and un able to focus properly. The blurring and distorting of shots is again something we would like to include because we think that it really makes the genre of horror stand out to the viewer. The titles are on black background and some of them are on the shots which is what we're aiming to do because we think that it looks much better and a little more creepy if the titles are plainly on a black background, because with the music building in tension this will give a good effect. Another idea that we thought was good from this is the way the images become more disturbing and scary as the sequence goes on near to the end because this again creates more tension and gets the audience more interested in the film.
This is the opening sequence for 'Six feet under'. We looked at this because we thought the way the titles have done is quite interesting and we're thinking of using this idea in our own sequence. We like the way that the titles fit onto diffrent parts of the shots and sets, for example when the editors name appears on a beaker filled with liquid and then goes down at the same time as the liquid does, and also when the executive producers name is on a gravestone in the shot. We're thinking of using this because we feel that our sequence will have lots of opportunities to do it, like on the characters shirt pocket for example, and makes the titles more interesting to watch. Another idea we got from this was to do with all the hospital equipment because we want to use some in ours as well and in this they clearly show the association of pure white with being in a hospital which we could use to indicate that our main character isn't completely healthy in more ways than one. The lighting in the hospital is very bright, enough to not let the audienec see beyond that light which we want to use for our ending because we want it to be like he's starting a new life.
Saturday, 28 November 2009
Editing
Before we could edit our footage, we had to log each shot we had filmed including the ones we thought we wouldn't use. To log it we simply had to write down what was in the shot, how long it was, when it started and finished and whether we wanted to use it or not, we did this because it would make our capturing much quicker and easier as it means we know exactly when all the different shots we wanted would start throughout all our footage.
After doing this we then had to capture all of our wanted shots onto the computer so that we could edit them together, we made sure that each shot was renamed properly so that we wouldn't get confused on which each shot was later on.
For our editing we have been cutting each shot so that we only have the sections we want and making sure the shot will flow nicely into the next one. We also made sure that we varied the types of shot around a bit but so that it still maintained shot-reverse-shot. The sound and speed of some shots have been edited aswell for example we slowed the last shot of the photo dropping to the floor quite alot and on a couple of shots the audio has been taken out because some that didn't have any speech had some un-relevant sounds in the background.
After doing this we then had to capture all of our wanted shots onto the computer so that we could edit them together, we made sure that each shot was renamed properly so that we wouldn't get confused on which each shot was later on.
For our editing we have been cutting each shot so that we only have the sections we want and making sure the shot will flow nicely into the next one. We also made sure that we varied the types of shot around a bit but so that it still maintained shot-reverse-shot. The sound and speed of some shots have been edited aswell for example we slowed the last shot of the photo dropping to the floor quite alot and on a couple of shots the audio has been taken out because some that didn't have any speech had some un-relevant sounds in the background.
Saturday, 21 November 2009
Filming
When we were first starting filming we had two members of the group absent so we had to adapt to that a bit and do as much as we could. As we had one person acting and the other on the camera it meant that we couldn't really do any over the shoulder shots or any that involved two characters. But we managed to get the establishing shot of the door, and the two shots of someone walking and opening a door and then the next shot being them coming through the door on the other side. We also did a medium shot of my character with a line of speech, along with a shot of a photo falling to the floor and landing face up on the floor. This shot took us quite a lot of takes until it went right becuase, when dropped, the photo often drifts over too far so that then it doesn't end up landing in shot and sometimes not the right way up. All of the shots we filmed in this session were doubled up in night vision aswell because we couldn't get hold of any artificial lighting for the dark room so we could only have either all the lights on or no lights and film it in night vision mode which fits with the little story a bit better, but as we didn't have the other twos opinions, we just shot them both.
When we had the rest of our group we went to finish our filming and got the rest of our shots done, we also cut out alot of the speech so that it's more simple. After showing the group the footage we shot the day before we all decided that we liked the night vision shots better so all the shots we shot after that were in night vision.
When we had all of our footage we started to log each shot we had done, including the ones we might not want. We write down what the time code was, what type of shot it was, what happens in the shot and whether we want to use it or not so that when it comes to capturing the film we know exactly where everything we want is.
When we had the rest of our group we went to finish our filming and got the rest of our shots done, we also cut out alot of the speech so that it's more simple. After showing the group the footage we shot the day before we all decided that we liked the night vision shots better so all the shots we shot after that were in night vision.
When we had all of our footage we started to log each shot we had done, including the ones we might not want. We write down what the time code was, what type of shot it was, what happens in the shot and whether we want to use it or not so that when it comes to capturing the film we know exactly where everything we want is.
Monday, 16 November 2009
13th and 18th November Lessons
13th November
In this lesson me and my group mostly prepared for filming next week. We created a basic script and then looked through each stage of our storyboard to see where diffrent bits of speech would fit in well with the shot, this meant that we took out out quite alot of the dialogue so that everything works well. After finishing a rough draft of the script we had a look at one of the proper film scripts on ilearn and saw the complicated format which it has to be write in, we began to understand most parts of it so that we can write our script up in the same format later on.
In this lesson we also wrote up the visual description of each of our shots in our storyboard so that when we come to film them we will know exactly what it is we need to film. We included any camera movements, shot types, actor movement and any lighting we will use.
18th November
In this lesson we came across a slight problem as Fred wasn't here with the script and the finished storyboard and we were prepared to film the majority of our scene today and he was also going to be acting as the other character in our scene along side me. So in the end we decided to set up the equipment in the photographies dark room anyway and test out what lights we wanted where and what worked well. We also did a few test shots to see how the positioning of the characters would look and moved around until it was clear which side the different characters will be on, so that we dont break the 180 degree rule. We agreed on doing the proper filming the next day after college when we would all be free.
In this lesson me and my group mostly prepared for filming next week. We created a basic script and then looked through each stage of our storyboard to see where diffrent bits of speech would fit in well with the shot, this meant that we took out out quite alot of the dialogue so that everything works well. After finishing a rough draft of the script we had a look at one of the proper film scripts on ilearn and saw the complicated format which it has to be write in, we began to understand most parts of it so that we can write our script up in the same format later on.
In this lesson we also wrote up the visual description of each of our shots in our storyboard so that when we come to film them we will know exactly what it is we need to film. We included any camera movements, shot types, actor movement and any lighting we will use.
18th November
In this lesson we came across a slight problem as Fred wasn't here with the script and the finished storyboard and we were prepared to film the majority of our scene today and he was also going to be acting as the other character in our scene along side me. So in the end we decided to set up the equipment in the photographies dark room anyway and test out what lights we wanted where and what worked well. We also did a few test shots to see how the positioning of the characters would look and moved around until it was clear which side the different characters will be on, so that we dont break the 180 degree rule. We agreed on doing the proper filming the next day after college when we would all be free.
Shot-Reverse-Shot, 180 Degree Rule and Match-On-Action
Shot-Reverse-Shot
Shot-Reverse-Shot is a certain film technique which is often used in scenes with alot of dialogue and is part of the continuity editing which makes scenes more realistic to the viewer. It usually starts with an establishing shot with both characters on screen and then cuts to a shot of character one looking at the other, this character could be off screen or the shot could be looking over their shoulder, so that it's clear who they are looking at. The next shot is usually the same type of shot but reversed so that it shows character two looking back at the other one, and because they're shown facing opposite directions the audience assumes they are looking at each other. Throughout the scene the shots will often get closer into the characters faces especially when the dialogue gets more intense, because it pulls the audience into the characters emotions more.
We will be using this type of shot in our preliminary task because we will be having two characters sat opposite each other exchanging dialogue and we don't want the editing to be very noticable. So we will use quite a few shot-reverse-shots to make the conversation seems more realistic.
The 180 Degree Rule
The 180 degree rule is an invisible line in filming when shooting a scene with two people talking opposite each other, which you can not cross. It would also start with an establishing shot so that the audience can see which sides the characters are on. For example character one on the left and character two is sat opposite them on the right. All shots after this one must show the characters on the same sides they were on otherwise it will confuse the audience if character one is suddenly on the right instead of left. The only way you can cross this line is if you actually show the audience the camera movement of it moving round and crossing the line in the scene, and if you do this you must carry on showing the characters on their new sides i.e Character one now being on the right and character two on the left, until you move the camera round again.
We will be using the 180 degree rule throughout our task because we have two people having a conversation across a table and we will be showing each character on different sides of the screen. This means that we won't be able to cross the 180 degree line otherwise our characters will end up on the opposite sides and our audience will get confused.
Match-On-Action
Match on action is a technique in film where you would cut from one shot to another that matches the first shots action and energy, so that the actions look more real to the audience and again makes the editing more invisible. The shots can often be filmed hours apart from each other but the cutting on the action gives the impression of continuous time and when watching the edited footage back. Because the action is begun in the first shot and then carried through to completion in the next shot, it creates a visual bridge which distracts the audience from noticing the cut, therefore making everything that bit more realistic to them.
This video is helpful because we will be using a couple of match-on-action shots in our scene. For example when one character comes through the door and at some point a photo is handed across, so that is another opportunity to use it. We decided to use it in these places because we thought that it would flow from the different shots nicely and be quite un-noticeable.
Shot-Reverse-Shot is a certain film technique which is often used in scenes with alot of dialogue and is part of the continuity editing which makes scenes more realistic to the viewer. It usually starts with an establishing shot with both characters on screen and then cuts to a shot of character one looking at the other, this character could be off screen or the shot could be looking over their shoulder, so that it's clear who they are looking at. The next shot is usually the same type of shot but reversed so that it shows character two looking back at the other one, and because they're shown facing opposite directions the audience assumes they are looking at each other. Throughout the scene the shots will often get closer into the characters faces especially when the dialogue gets more intense, because it pulls the audience into the characters emotions more.
We will be using this type of shot in our preliminary task because we will be having two characters sat opposite each other exchanging dialogue and we don't want the editing to be very noticable. So we will use quite a few shot-reverse-shots to make the conversation seems more realistic.
The 180 Degree Rule
The 180 degree rule is an invisible line in filming when shooting a scene with two people talking opposite each other, which you can not cross. It would also start with an establishing shot so that the audience can see which sides the characters are on. For example character one on the left and character two is sat opposite them on the right. All shots after this one must show the characters on the same sides they were on otherwise it will confuse the audience if character one is suddenly on the right instead of left. The only way you can cross this line is if you actually show the audience the camera movement of it moving round and crossing the line in the scene, and if you do this you must carry on showing the characters on their new sides i.e Character one now being on the right and character two on the left, until you move the camera round again.
We will be using the 180 degree rule throughout our task because we have two people having a conversation across a table and we will be showing each character on different sides of the screen. This means that we won't be able to cross the 180 degree line otherwise our characters will end up on the opposite sides and our audience will get confused.
Match-On-Action
Match on action is a technique in film where you would cut from one shot to another that matches the first shots action and energy, so that the actions look more real to the audience and again makes the editing more invisible. The shots can often be filmed hours apart from each other but the cutting on the action gives the impression of continuous time and when watching the edited footage back. Because the action is begun in the first shot and then carried through to completion in the next shot, it creates a visual bridge which distracts the audience from noticing the cut, therefore making everything that bit more realistic to them.
This video is helpful because we will be using a couple of match-on-action shots in our scene. For example when one character comes through the door and at some point a photo is handed across, so that is another opportunity to use it. We decided to use it in these places because we thought that it would flow from the different shots nicely and be quite un-noticeable.
Monday, 9 November 2009
Sequence using continuity
This is a clip of the film Escape from New York, about 7 minutes 40 into the clip there is a scene between Hauk (on the left) and Snake (on the right) talking across a table. I chose this scene because it is very similar to our task as it keeps to the 180 degree rule, uses alot of shot-reverse shot and it has interesting lighting.
When Snake first walks into the room, the top half of him is in shadow which indicates that he is very mysterious and a bit of a rebel, it then moves to the next shot which shows both characters and the space between them so that the audience can establish the kind of relationship between the two characters. The main lighting for this scene is Chiaroscuro lighting making the room look quite dark, mysterious and intense, also Snake isn't in as much light as Hauk which again relates back to him looking mysterious.
Another thing about this clip is that each time Hauk says a line, it cuts back to Snake who is just looking around like he doesn't care and isn't interested, then it cuts back to Hauk and it continues with the shot - reverse shots. As the conversation goes on between them the camera shots slowly get closer in on their faces, especially when the offer is about to be made. There is also a small series of quick fire shots going back and forward on the two characters faces: Short line, cut, short line, cut etc. This shows that they are trying to make a deal and come to some agreement.
Throughout this whole scene they keep to the 180 degree rule with Hauk always being more to the left of the frame and Snake always on the right.
Our Ideas
After talking and sharing ideas with the rest of my group we now have a pretty good idea on what our scene will be like. We have decided to use the Photography's dark room as a setting and use a couple of the lights in there because we don't want too much light as our scene will be based on horror, so it needs to be quite dark and mysterious. Our basic idea is to have someone enter the room and sit down opposite someone else and they will be trying to realise who the 'killer' is by looking at some photos they just developed. Our scene will start with an establishing shot for a couple of seconds and then a character will walk and open the door and enter the room from the outside, this will then cut to a shot of the person walking inside the room from the other side of the door so that it displays continuity. We will have a couple of match on action shots like when one of the photos is been handed over, and we will also get in closer on the peoples faces as they get more into the conversation and near the end there will be a close up on one of their faces when they suss out everything. Like the clip above, there will be alot of shot-reverse shots between the two characters and we are also thinking on having some of the shots cut in time with a piece of music to produce more tension and a nice sense of rhythm. When discussing our shots we made sure that we took the 180 degree rule in account, especially the shots where it's over the characters shoulder.
Friday, 16 October 2009
Start of Preliminary Task
In my group for this task, other than myself, there is
Aimee Baker - Strengths in directing and has experience in using photoshop. One of her weaknesses is that she can get annoyed with things very easily and likes to be in charge alot of the time. A way to overcome this is to just make sure that everyone else gets their ideas across aswell.
Nicole Collas - Strengths in camera work and is quite organsied which will help us keep on task alot easier. She is also a perfectionest which is both a strength and a weakness because it means that the work will be high quality but it also means that she would spend hours just trying to perfect one bit when there is alot of other stuff to do. To make this less of a problem we can assure her that the work is fine already and to just move on onto the next part of work.
Fred Bools - Multitasker and good researcher, he also has experience in doing lighting, sound and operating a camera. One of his weaknesses is that he has a short attention span but we can overcome this by keeping him involved all the time and always asking for his opinion on things.
My strengths are mainly in creativity, but i also have experience in using the editing and other technical programmes as i do BTEC Music Technology. One of my weaknesses is that i don't always speak up about my ideas and i'm not very good at directing, we can overcome this by the rest of the group frequently asking me for my ideas.
Today we also shared our individual ideas we had for the preliminary task with each other just so we had a bank of ideas we could use. One of Aimee and Nicoles ideas was about a couple who are sat down in a restaurant, and the man suddenly proposes to the women. But she knows that he has previously cheated so she rejects his offer and then a big arguement takes place. This could work becuase it involves 2 people sat down exchanging dialogue so a good use of the 180 degree rule can be used, and there would be alot of good reaction shots that would fit in aswell.
One of my ideas was based around the old mobster gangs, and they would be in a dimmly lit room. One would walk in and they would both be staring very seriously at the other, and it would develop into a typical ' have you got it? ' situation where one mobster owes the other something and it ends with someone being punched. This could also easily use the 180 degree rule and it also fits the task description.
Aimee Baker - Strengths in directing and has experience in using photoshop. One of her weaknesses is that she can get annoyed with things very easily and likes to be in charge alot of the time. A way to overcome this is to just make sure that everyone else gets their ideas across aswell.
Nicole Collas - Strengths in camera work and is quite organsied which will help us keep on task alot easier. She is also a perfectionest which is both a strength and a weakness because it means that the work will be high quality but it also means that she would spend hours just trying to perfect one bit when there is alot of other stuff to do. To make this less of a problem we can assure her that the work is fine already and to just move on onto the next part of work.
Fred Bools - Multitasker and good researcher, he also has experience in doing lighting, sound and operating a camera. One of his weaknesses is that he has a short attention span but we can overcome this by keeping him involved all the time and always asking for his opinion on things.
My strengths are mainly in creativity, but i also have experience in using the editing and other technical programmes as i do BTEC Music Technology. One of my weaknesses is that i don't always speak up about my ideas and i'm not very good at directing, we can overcome this by the rest of the group frequently asking me for my ideas.
Today we also shared our individual ideas we had for the preliminary task with each other just so we had a bank of ideas we could use. One of Aimee and Nicoles ideas was about a couple who are sat down in a restaurant, and the man suddenly proposes to the women. But she knows that he has previously cheated so she rejects his offer and then a big arguement takes place. This could work becuase it involves 2 people sat down exchanging dialogue so a good use of the 180 degree rule can be used, and there would be alot of good reaction shots that would fit in aswell.
One of my ideas was based around the old mobster gangs, and they would be in a dimmly lit room. One would walk in and they would both be staring very seriously at the other, and it would develop into a typical ' have you got it? ' situation where one mobster owes the other something and it ends with someone being punched. This could also easily use the 180 degree rule and it also fits the task description.
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