Friday Class: Prelim Task

Last Friday we had our prelim task, this was our first time properly using the camera in a way where we had more freedom of how we wanted to direct the shots. There was a structure that we had to follow of the shots; we had certain scenes and a very simple script.

The thing I most enjoyed about this task was that we were able to do some filming out of the classroom and for the majority of the period. The reason I really liked it is because this was the first time I got the chance to properly use the camera and I didn’t know that I would enjoy it as much as I did.  Although this is not to say that the task was easy. One of the things I learnt about the process of filmmaking was how detailed everything has to be. How you have to make the shot of the full scene, then a medium shot and then after that a close up and they all have to look the same, this was something new which I learnt but also which surprised me. I wouldn’t say there was anything about the task that I didn’t like because I found it all so interesting to learn and be apart of that it is even hard for me to find something which I liked the least.  I think that another one of the reasons why it’s hard for me to find anything I didn’t like about the task is because our group worked so well together. Everyone gave their ideas and contributed well to the group, swapping with the directing, filming and tracking the continuity. I feel that everyone contributed equally well to the group and this is why we didn’t have many problems. But if we were able to do this task again I think that we would aim to be a bit more organized and have a stronger idea of what we wanted by being better planned before we shot the prelim.

We decided to shoot our small sequence outside of Hurtwood House, where the main offices and girls boarding houses were in the school. We used a car just outside of the office to film a short scene of two boys trying to break into a car with the simple script “Do it!” “I cant’”. The only problem with our location was that sometimes it got really loud and we would have to stop and wait for either people to pass or cars coming into the drive way. Our prop was just a car that was outside of the office and luckily for us, unlocked. But there was a problem with this. We had a problem staying to the 180 degree rule because since one of our actors were trying to break into the car, that didn’t give us much space from behind him to film the close-up of the other actor but luckily were were able to just get there although we could not see the screen showing what we were filming extremely well and it was a tight squeeze between the car and the camera. Even though we had these problems we were able to finish all of our mandatory shots before the end of the lesson so we got to do some additional shots as well. We shot a medium shot of one of our actors getting into the ‘stolen’ car to put at the end of our small sequence as sort of a laugh. But we also did an extreme close up of one of our actors trying to break into the car so that we are able to show the audience clearly that it is his intention. I mostly worked on filming the long and medium shots so I am really excited to see how they will turn out.

Poster Target Audiences Analysis

Shutter Island

In this movie poster we see that it is very dark adding mystery to the idea of the film. There is also an island which looks very mysterious and threatening, this tells us that its a thriller most likely aimed at men. 

The actor in this film is Leonardo DiCaprio, he has a wide fan base of which mostly include women therefor this film is aimed for a women audience as well as men. Because of the sinister theme of the poster I would say that this film is for the target audience of about +18. 

Red Riding Hood

The title of this film "Red Riding Hood" suggests that it is aimed at a younger audience because we would imagine that that it is based around the fairy tale - Little Red Riding Hood which is meant for young children. Although every thing else seems to contrast to this because of the dark menacing woods between the girl and the blood stain on her dress next to the giant knife. Because this film has the sort of fairy tale/ thriller theme going on I would suggest that this film is mainly aimed to young girls of about fifteen years or more.

Hanna: Sound Analysis

At the start of the sequence we don’t hear much apart from a slight buzzing noise, the lady talking and Hanna crying. Since Hanna is crying in this scene we think immediately that she is an innocent girl and the people that had put her into this type of prison are cruel. These are the only diegetic sounds we hear until Hanna breaks the ladies neck of which the sound is emphasised greatly to have more of an effect on the audience of what this girl has done. After this we hear a series of loud diegetic shots being fired, things breaking/shattering, strong siren alarms going off as well as non-diegetic techno music starting. At this point we know that Hanna is no longer the innocent girl we thought she was a few seconds ago and because of the tempo in the music we know that now she is on the run. Hanna’s breathing is amplified greatly empathizing the fact that she is in a panic, basically running for her freedom, desperately trying to find her way out.

When Hanna gets into the medical lab, the non-diegetic music stops suggesting to us that she must be in hiding, as soon as she is spotted the music started again telling the audience straight away that she is still in control of the situation but this time when the music starts its more upbeat making us feel more hope for Hanna and hinting that now she has a better chance at escaping. As soon as Hanna opens the latch to her freedom, her breathing becomes quieter, free from the panic that it used to have, the music stops and we hear mostly silence apart from a little wind, telling the audience that Hanna has successfully escaped and also the end of that action sequence in the film. 

The Usual Suspects: Movie Poster Analysis

Straight away from looking at this poster we can tell that these guys are in trouble because they are having a mug shot taken, so we know that they are in a police station. Because of this we get the idea that this film will be a type of crime/thriller.

The man in the middle, because he is in the middle and the tallest we can assume that out of the 5 guys in the line up he is the one with the most power. He’s wearing a suit that one would normally wear if they were to go out at night. This makes us think that he only comes out at night. His shirt is read, signifying danger.

The man to the left of the middle guy, in the Matrix type outfit looks like the most frightening man of them all because of what he is wearing and the tattoos on his knuckles we instantly think that this is a guy we wouldn’t want to mess with. But his outfit also suggests that he wants to stay hidden, not be seen, blend into the night. 

The man to the left of the guy in the middle in the blue/ beige suit does not look like he should be part of the scene at all because of his facial expression and his body language. Because of what he is wearing we get the impression that he is of about middle working class and because he is wearing light colours we think that he is more innocent then the other guys in the line up. His facial expression and the way he is standing makes us think that this guy got pulled into a mess that he didn’t want to be apart of. 

I assume the man on the far left, because of his Porsche jacket is the driver out of the gang. He is not wearing expensive looking clothes and is the shortest man of the group, this suggests that he is only the errand boy does not have much power and will do whatever he is told to make some money.  

The last guy, on the far right is also wearing kind of lighter colours, suggesting that he isn’t as guilty as everyone else. He also has a baby curl of hair hanging down onto his face making adding to his innocence. He’s standing in an awkward position suggesting he is perhaps nervous.

 Behind all of the 5 men, there is a shadow making the picture seem more sinister and implies that all of the 5 men are as guilty as one another.  

Class: Tuesday 11th September

On Tuesdays’ class we learnt all about filming a sequence, I found this very interesting because I never knew that this amount of detail went into filmmaking. So basically what happens is that first a wide shot is filmed with the camera, this includes everything that is going to take place within the scene. While this is happening there are some people who are watching what happens within the scene very careful and writing down everything the actors are doing, such as the facial expressions they make, the way their hair and make up looks, etc. The people that do this are called continuity girls, they record all of this information to make sure that when they do the camera shots called close-up and medium close-up everything remains the same. The close-up shot is when the camera is zoomed into or focuses on the main point in that scene. For example if someone walked in and picked up a book then put it down again and walked away, the close-up would only focus on the picking up of the book then they putting back down again. Then when the medium close-up is being filmed what the camera will focus on a little more of what is happening within the scene but once again the actors will have to try and do everything exactly the same. During this lesson I learnt how much effort and detail is put into every film and it made me realize how much work is actually involved in making a movie or a tv show but I found it very interesting and really enjoyed the class.

How to use your camera

 

Rule of Thirds
The Rule of Thirds is when you split a image up so that you have 4 main focus points, these points are the ones that people notice first either in a film poster or when watching a movie. The 4 main points of focus are where the red crosses are.

180 Degree Rule

The 180 degree rule is when once the camera has shot a side of a persons face, the camera is not allowed to go onto the other side of the face because it changes the angle in which the camera is filming and is confusing for the audience because all of a sudden the actor is facing another way.

Here is a video explaining the 180 degree rule with more detail:

  

The Conversation: Movie Poster Analysis

The film The Conversation is set in San Francisco, we know this because of the picture of the city. The poster is mostly in Black and White telling us that perhaps this movie is set a few years back but it also contrasts the red that signifies danger, making us classify this movie as possibly a thriller.

There is a couple walking across the red strip on the poster with a target aimed at them, telling us that they are the targets or are in some sort of trouble.

At the top of the poster we see a man looking out of a window, he is looking down telling us that he is most likely high up so we could assume that he is a person of authority but the fact that he is inside can suggest to us that he is insecure and would rather stay inside to hide and stay safe. The Conversation has a mirror image reflecting onto the red strip of the poster giving the film I type of stalking, copying factor, possibly someone is following the couple.

The Shining: Movie Poster Analysis

The first thing we notice about this movie poster is that about half of it is black and the other half is white. The part in which the poster is black, we see Jack Nicholson barging through the door with a axe and a demented psycho look on his face. Because of all this we can tell that he is the villain in the film and by the look of the crazed look he has in his eye and his smiling bared teeth we see that he is stalking his prey, the woman on the other side of the wall. The woman who has a very frightened look on here face is on the more white side of the poster; this tells the audience that she is innocent. Because of the way she is clutching the wall, with her mouth wide open and wide terrified eyes suggests to us that she is trapped and has nowhere else to go. Because the woman is shot in the background that makes her look a lot smaller compared to the villain, giving him a lot more power over her.

The Shadow of the Heron

The opening shot was filmed from above the actors and a street lamp which was providing the only light in the scene. Straight away I could tell it was supposed to look old fashioned because it was in black and white, sort of a 1950’s styled film.

The actor was wearing a large overcoat and a hat covering his face, giving me the impression that he is some type of detective like in the old fashioned movies.  As the camera lowers and become of body level to the actor we are still not able to see his face because of the light and the way he is clothed, this suggests that the character does not want to be identified adding to the suspense and mystery of the film.

As the other actor walks into the scene, his face is also hidden and no words are spoken between the two making viewers feel more intrigued to understand clearly what is happening. The note which is passed between them is zoomed into, telling us that it is of importance. We can tell when the scene is ending because of the loud footsteps walking away.

In the next scene we can clearly tell that the person is watching the girl in the window because of the reflection on the camera lens. I thought this was very clever because we were able to see what do people were doing at the same time. We get a silhouette of the man although not enough to reveal his identity, constantly keeping it a mystery. Since the colors are very dark, we can tell what he is doing because of the noises that he is making, such as the sound of him taking a picture. Sound in this film is very important because through this we are able to tell what is happening.

The scenes fade into each other very easily here through the taking of a photograph and the looking at one. I think that this is very clever.

We see that the actor is wearing gloves this supposes that he is in a place where he shouldn’t be and does not want to be linked back to being there. We see a pipe on the desk adding to the 1950’s detective style theme. The camera only focuses on what the man is doing at the desk continuing to keep his identity a secret.

The title of the thriller is typed out onto the screen with the last word ‘heron’ being typed more slowly for empathies as well as to suggest that this is the main character of the story.

I think that this is effective as at thriller because throughout the whole film nothing is said, adding to the mystery of the film. As well as not being able to see who the man is, this keeps us intrigued so we want to carrying on watching.

About Me

My name is Marita Hall I'm from New Zealand but have been living the past couple of years in Brazil before coming to England to study in Hurtwood House.

My four A levels subjects are Media Studies, Buisness Studies, Sociology and Music Technology.

 I love music so therefor I am hoping that someday I will have a career in the music buisness, traveling around the world which would be a dream come true for me. 

 One of my favourtie bands would have to be Neon Trees, with my favourite song of them being Everybody talks.