Films that inspired me

Recently i have been watching many crime related programs & films and i came across 'The Wire'. Within the opening sequence the mise-en-scene of specific shots inspired me and gave me some good ideas for my thriller opening.

This shot is a low angle close-up of a CCTV camera. My thriller opening is about a crime that has taken place & caught on CCTV. This has inspired me as it has visually showed me a way in which i can make it clear to the audience that the footage being played is through CCTV.

In this high angle shot it shows the recording of the CCTV footage, camera is tilted from a higher perspective & is in black & white. This has helped me gain ideas on how the CCTV footage in my thriller opening should look like & how we can make it clear that it's CCTV footage (black & white)

This frame from the movie Batman: The Dark Knight has inspired me in many ways, from the costume to the mise-en-scene. I like this image as it's dark. Batman is dressed in dark clothing despite him being the protagonist character; representing the current state of the situation he's in. This inspired me to use different camera angles to get this epic feel within a frame.

The Usual Suspects - Opening Scene

The opening sequence for 'The Usual Suspects' starts with a close-up shot of a set of matches being lit. The room starts of dark, giving the impression to the audience that something may of happened; or that there's a form of evil in the area. Both diegetic and non-diegetic audio is used, the sound of the match sticks being lit and a leaking sound are both coming from the world of the story. While a background melody is being played, bells are used for this non-diegetic soundtrack & the volume is very low. The genre is exposed to the audience as tension is built through enigma codes. This film is a thriller.

The following shot is a medium shot, of a man using the matches that he lit to light up his cigarette. The room is still dark while the characters face is lit by the flame. This shows the importance of the character and keeps the audience aware of his presence. Only half is his face is on show at this point of the shot, the camera then tilts up giving full exposure of his face to the audience. Eventually the camera stops and we are able to see  a fire set behind this character. Instantly it shows the audience that this man isn't our protagonist, he's dangerous & is definitely a fire starter. He also sits comfortably with the fire set behind him, this shows the audience he is experienced and this isn't his first time doing bad.

Another medium shot appears of a liquid leaking from a tank, to me it looks like an oil tank. the camera tilts from the top of the tank to the bottom showing the oil leak onto the floor. The room is very dark, restricting the audience to know for sure if it's an oil tank. This was done effectively as i personally found it difficult to know for certain what it is in the shot. This shot also creates meaning through cross cutting as the audience will instantly know that fire and oil do not get along very well; & if they meet it can cause a very serious problem. Diegetic audio is used for the oil leaking down onto the floor.

The shot then changes into a long shot of this mysterious smoker, his face and his right hand is more lit then the rest of his body, bringing the audiences attention to the two body parts. The male character then uses his cigarette to set fire to a piece of paper, he then casually drops the paper onto the floor. At this very moment disaster occurs as the fire grabs hold of the helpless oil on the floor; creating a action code as this action leads to another (fire being set). Diegetic audio occurs once the flame is set. The audience should now be sure that this mysterious character is the villain of this film due to the fire he just started. The character doesn't seem to have any intention to move away from the flame or leave the building before it gets burnt down, this shows the audience that this character may be attempting suicide.

A medium shot takes place right after, following the flame as it travels down the oil, it then quickly changes to a close/medium shot of the flame going past a dead man. The man is laying helplessly on his stomach with worn out clothing and blood all over his face. This brings up an enigma code as the audience question who killed this man? Did he deserve to die or is he innocent of his death? These questions are yet to be answered as the shot quickly changes to another medium shot of the flame.

In this shot diegetic audio occurs of a liquid hitting down on the flame. The camera tilts up towards the leakage to show a male urinating onto the flame. This mysterious character manages to stop the flame from burning down the entire place. It's unclear to see what type of character he is but the darkness around him shows that he's mysterious and most likely a villain despite the stoppage of the flame. He is higher up then the first character that we have been shown, this represents his power as he stands tall above the other character. non-diegetic audio occurs as we see this new character appear, a low key melody is being played, representing the darkness within this mysterious man.

In conclusion the opening sequence to 'The Usual Suspects' manages to build a lot of suspense through enigma & action codes; as the audience are left questioning many things. Edits are normal paced until the camera follows the trail of the flame; the editing gets quicker, building tension on what's going to happen. Darkness represents power in this sequence as the more mysterious and shady character we meet (second character) is put above the first character we meet. The audience should be left biting their nails as this movie builds tension & suspense at every given opportunity.

Why genre is so important.

Genre allows movies to be categorized, making it easier for the audience to have a rough idea of what to expect. e.g. if a viewer is looking to have a laugh he/she will go watch a movie under the genre 'comedy'.

There are many different genres, for example:

-Comedy
-Horror
-Thriller
-Romantic
-Action
-Sci-fi

These genres can also be mixed together to create a hybrid genre, e.g. romance / comedy (romcom) is a hybrid genre. This is used by directors to try create unique films that are not often made. An example of a movie that does this is 'Knocked up', conventions are used from both genres to create a new unique film. This film is full of comedy yet has a story line full of love & romance.

Genre is important as it allows production companies to create a target audience very easily. E.g. if Warner bros. was to develop a new movie which involved action based scenes, they will instantly state that their target audience is anyone who enjoys films under the genre 'action'.



Genre, audience & industry are all linked together, creating a triangle. The industry will chose a genre depending on the demand of the audience. The selected genre will instantly do well on the big screens as the demand is already there. This will make the audience happy that a film of their demand has been distributed; which then leads to the industry receiving a large amount of money from the total sales of the film. This triangle is unstoppable and will always bring the audience & the industry happiness; due to costumer satisfaction & the money being sent do the industry from the audience.

Certificate

These are the certificate ratings for films that are published in the cinema & on DVD. These help the audience know what to expect from the movie, the older the age rating the more inappropriate for children the movie is.

I did some research on films similar to the thriller opening me and my group are working on. This research helped me decide on what age certificate my opening thriller should be given.

Fugitive - PG, this means the movie hasn't got much disturbing scenes and is suitable for anyone with parental guidance up to the age of thirteen.

The Dark Knight - 12A, this film is suitable from anyone that's aged twelve plus, but parental guidance will be needed if the viewer is aged twelve.

We have decided that our film will be a 12A as we feel parental guidance will be appropriate to watch the film. If we made the age certificate a 15 we would attract a smaller audience as not everybody will be able to gain access to watch it. By making it a 12A we are able to target a wider audience allowing sales to be larger.

Our film 'Dream Chaser' will have some harsh scenes which will include a form of torture, this scene is definitely not suitable for an audience under the age of 12. We want to make certain scenes slightly gothic, through the behavior that the secret agency carries out. All these scenes will be shown in minimal detail to the audience; keeping it visually unclear what's going on. This is going to be done to keep the criteria of the 12A certificate rating in line with our movie.

Our film doesn't involve drugs, sex, nudity or foul language & we feel that our film fits the criteria for a 12A movie perfectly. Despite a torture scene that is kept in minimal detail, our film doesn't break the criteria of being a 12A film. As a group we have officially decided that our film will be a 12A.

Narrative

A narrative is a constructed format which creates a sequence of fictional or non-fictional events. Narrative is needed for the human mind to make sense of a occurring situation; this is done by connecting events together creating a beginning, middle & an end. People seem to get story and narrative mixed together, story is the irreducible substance of a story while narrative is the way a story is related.

Narrative conventions - While processing a narrative in order to find the meaning there are a series of codes and conventions that need to be considered. When we look at a narrative we look at the conventions of

-Genre

-Character

-Form

-Time

We put these conventions together to work out the media text within a narrative. There are many narrative theories, these theories give us a rough idea on a film is plotted as each section is categorized; for example

Todorov's theory :

The equilibrium - All is set as should be, everyone is living happily as they would in their mundane life. At this stage there's no occurring problems, it's normally used to build emotion & a deeper understanding towards certain characters.

The disruption - A disruption occurs, normally from an antagonist of some sort. Todorov believes this is when transformation within the characters occur most.

Recognition - The disruption is recognized, normally by the protagonist. This recognition builds tension & can be left with an enigma code; as the audience question how the protagonist is going to act according to the recognition of the disruption.

Attempts to repair the disruption - The protagonist attempts to repair the situation, normally by confronting evil. This is the stage where peace can be determined depending if the protagonist manages to repair the disruption.

New equilibrium - A new equilibrium is formed, despite the losses made during the journey. The characters normally become stronger through experience of the disruption though there's normally a huge sacrifice along the journey.

Many movies go by this five point breakdown, such as 'American Psycho' & 'The Outsiders'.

Roland Barthes:

Enigma Code - This controls how much the audience should know about the narrative in a movie. Directors create enigma codes to make the audience question things within a film. For example if a murder has taken place without the audience seeing who the killer is, the first enigma code would be 'Who killed this man?' or 'Did this man deserve to die?'. This gives the director full control on how he wants the audience to feel.

Action Code - This is when a action takes place within a movie, which then leads to another action taking place. For example, if a man gets put into prison, this action may lead to him trying to brake out. Action codes help direct the narrative in the way the director chooses.


Vladimir Propp

Vladimir broke up fairy tails by putting them into sections that he felt are most important to build a narrative, he made a character list and felt that all narratives will need at least a few of the characters on this list:

-Hero - also known as the protagonist, normally repairs the disruption
-Villain - also known as the antagonist, normally starts the disruption
-The donor -  Prepares the hero to confront the disturbance
-The princess - The reward for repairing the disturbance, normally marries the hero
-The helper - Normally helps the hero repair the disruption, can also be looked at as the sidekick.
-The Dispatcher - Warns the villain about the Hero's existence
-False Hero - Tries to take the Hero's credit and tries to take his reward by marrying the princess.

He also feels that without at least a few of these characters, a narrative will not be able to run as these character roles carry the narrative forward.

Sub genre conventions (Thriller)

There are many sub genres which help categorize thriller movies as then many conventions that can be followed, different movies follow different conventions. Sub genres help categorize these movies despite them already being categorized under the genre 'thriller'.

Conspiracy thriller - This thriller consists of a hero figure (protagonist) who normally find self trapped in a situation within a powerful organization with a high power. This resolves around many antagonist characters under a secret organization, who in the end is defeated by our protagonist character. Examples of films who use this thriller convention is 'The Bourne Identity & Enemy States Of Mind'.

Crime thriller - This creates a very suspenseful film, this focuses on the life of a criminal. It includes a lot of action to build suspense and tension within the audience. An example of a crime thriller is 'Hero Wanted'.

Psychological thriller - A thriller film which has conflict between the main two characters, the conflict is more emotional and mental, rather then physical. An example of this is 'Inception'.

Innocent on the run thriller - This sub genre consists of a male protagonist who is blamed by a power above his (normally authority) for doing a crime that he has complete innocence of. An example of a film under this sub-genre is 'Fugitive'. It follows all the same conventions (innocent male blamed for a crime which he did not commit).

These are the main thriller sub-genres that have similar conventions to me and my groups film (Dream Chaser). Our film is a hybrid of :
-Innocent on the run (Our character is blamed for a crime he did not commit)
-Crime (A serious crime is committed which involves the police & secret agencies)
-Conspiracy (Our hero is trapped in a difficult situation where he's over powered by authority)

Research on a successful film director

Christopher Nolan is a very successful & world wide known film director. He mainly directs films with a sub genre in the thriller area; an example of this is the film inception, as its a psychological thriller.

Nolan received serious recognition after directing a big Hollywood film in the year 2000 called 'Memento'. He managed to direct this film on a story  idea given by his brother Jonathan Nolan. Memento was nominated for many awards such as a Golden Globe and an 'Academy Award' (Oscar) for best screen play; this was a huge push in Christopher Nolan's career.

Nolan then pushed on with his career with the help of his brother Jonathan. They both worked together to direct films which included The Batman series & The Prestige. His first collaboration was with a man by the name of Wally Pfister; he would photograph all of Nolan's subsequent films.

In the year 2002 Nolan directed 'Insomnia', an American remake of the 1997 Norwegian film of the same name. Nolan used his creative ideas and included major changes to the plot & the nature of the main character. This led the film to success as the film sold very well in the cinema with many people queuing outside of the big screens to watch it, globally.

In late 2006 a Batman film was officially confirmed; The Dark Knight. Nolan was again directing with the help of his brother Jonathan, they worked together to write a script to this film. They included a star actor to play one of the most important roles in the movie as the antagonist 'The Joker'; Heath Ledger took the role of acting this dark character. The film ended up with global success with enormous box office success; setting the record for the highest-grossing weekend opening in the U.S. It earned over $158 million dollars and became the third highest earning film of all time in the United states in October 2011. The film was then nominated for the 'Directors Guild Of America Award' for 'Best Director' for The Dark Knight. It also got nominated for a total of eight Oscars in the 81st Academy Awards. 

In the year 2010 Nolan received a seven figure contract to direct a film of the name 'Inception' due to the success of The Dark Knight. This film is a psychological thriller. Nolan wrote the script and directed the film. Filming began in summer 2009 and the film was released on July 16 2010. The film received very positive reviews & became a box office hit.

Future Projects:

In March 2010 Nolan confirmed that he's been working on an idea for a Superman movie along side David Goyer. Nolan was given the idea by David Goyer over the phone, which then led to several meetings to discuss and develop the idea. Nolan loved the idea and was more then willing to take it on.

Mr Hughes - This film was scheduled for 2004 but was delayed due to the release of The Aviator & Martin Scorsese's. Nolan feels that making this film ten years later (2014) will be more suitable as people would have forgotten about The Aviator & Martin Scorsese's. He describes this film as the best thing he as ever wrote.

The Key Of The Street - This film originally was a book by Ruth Rendell. Nolan developed the screenplay which he originally planned to direct for Fox Searchlight until he decided to make 'Batman Begins' for The Warner Bros. Nolan wanted to direct this movie once The Batman Begins hit the screens but by then the demands seemed dead. It's only recently demands suddenly increased for this movie, giving Nolan a great opportunity to give the audience what they want.

Christopher Nolan is a very successful film writer and director as he directed & writ many huge Hollywood films. He was able to change ideas into his own by creating new plots and giving characters different personalities. All the big names he directed became multi award winning movies and are definitely will be in the history books for films of all time !

Genre: Action Adventure

Narrative: Indiana Jones is set to adventure across the boarder to find the mysterious 'arch'. He must travel to Egypt as the arch is a ancient artifact which is known to have great importance. He must go through many obstacles to try achieve his goals of getting his hands on this ancient artifact 'the arch'.

Iconography: This is the directors idea of how certain situations should be presented to the audience. In this film the movie is presented as a wild adventure film. It gives the audience the idea that every task will involve a lot of drama. It also shows the audience how to solve specific situations from the directors point of view. He done this by showing hard work will bring success.

Characters: Indiana Jones is the main character & the audience will know him to be the protagonist. There are many antagonist in this film trying to stop Indiana Jones from getting his hands on the mysterious 'arch' 

Camera work: Many shots / angles are used during this clip. 
1) Establishing shot
2) Low angle long-shot
3) Side close-up shot (multi level)
4) Eye level Medium shot
5) Close-up low angle
-These are the main shots i noticed within the short opening sequence

Settings: This film was located in Egypt (Cairo) and is set in the mid day.  The setting suits well with the narrative (gaining possession of the arch). This is because Egypt is known for its mysterious artifacts.

Analysis on Memento opening

The opening sequence starts up with emotional non-diegetic audio, it's a soft melody which connects the audience with the sequence. It makes the audience feel deep emotion (sad) due to the instruments being played (violin). This gives an idea to the audience of what genre the film is 'Thriller' due to the tension being played by the non-diegetic soundtrack, which is most probably a score.



The first camera shot is of a males hand holding onto a Polaroid image. The shot is at a high angle and is a close-up. This is done on purpose to show two things.
1) What gender the character is
2) What's on the Polaroid image (blood)





It also gives the audience a rough idea of what genre the movie is from the first ten seconds; once putting together the visuals and the audio the audience should manage to work out that this movie is a thriller (Psychological).

There's opening credits during this film opening, they're placed in the middle of the frame. The text is in a simple font and is in a baby blue colour. The first credit shows the audience what the title of the film is, 'M E M E N T O' all the letters are in capitals and go across the middle of the frame, from the left section of the frame across to the right. I noticed there's a lot of space left between each letter, this is to make it appeal to the audience and to show its importance. The following credits are all in the same font and colour though they are in smaller sizes compared to the credit with the film title.

Although they take less space of the frame though this doesn't mean they are less important. In a following credit 'Co-Producer Elaine Dysinger' i noticed that the producers name is in a bigger font then the word above 'Co-Producer'. This brakes the conventions of giving power to the things/people above; it may also be a deep disguised message questioning authority and the power of the higher.

The shot cuts into a medium shot of a male actor, he has cuts on his face & seems very bruised. He's holding a Polaroid camera (prop) and he's wearing a suit. This will show the audience that this character has been through a rough time. His facial expression looks very serious, giving the impression that he is a dangerous character; making the audience keep a third eye open for him.


Diegetic sounds start to occur from the instant the Polaroid camera flashes, a close-up shot appears of blood dripping down a wall. There's male glasses on the floor along with a damaged bullet shell, giving the impression it has been used. The camera shot then changes into a medium-shot from behind a male at a high angle, he seems to be dead.

At this very moment complexed editing skills are used. The film is played backwards; this is shown by the glasses going back onto the dead males face, the bullet going back into the chrome gun and the dead man coming back to life. This maybe very complexed to carry out though when viewed by the audience it may look very simple, it's very effective as it adds uniqueness to the opening sequence and really makes the sequence more concrete.



To conclude Memento has a very solid opening sequence. They involve good camera shots & angles which is then blended with suitable non-diegetic sound track creating tension within the audience. Good editing skills is shown by adding uniqueness to the narrative by playing the story backwards. The film producers definitely got their targeted audience where they want them to be (the edge of their seats).

Batman Titles

In all the 9 frames above of the movie 'Batman' they all go by a colour coding selected by the director and any art / designing team. They follow the original Batman theme colours (yellow & black / navy blue) with the text overlaying the images. They all follow their own conventions by having dark images layered by a bright text. They follow their own conventions through their sub genre of a heroic thriller

The first frame shows the audience who the film is directed by 'WARNER BROS PRESENTS' the production company 'Warner Bros' is in a bold yellow font. This makes it stand out from the dark image behind it as it's the most eye catching part of text in the frame. The word 'presents' is in a smaller font and is put under 'Warner Bros' this shows the audience that it isn't as important as it's underneath the production company. A dark image lays behind the text, of which looks like dark grey clouds. This reveals what theme the movie will have to anyone who doesn't have any knowledge of what Batman is about as it represents mystery. 

The second frame goes with the same text colour & sizes. 'A GUBER-PETERS COMPANY PRODUCTION' the text is once gain in yellow with the first four words in a big bold font while 'production' is in a smaller font & is not in bold. It over layers the image behind it to stand out in the frame. The image behind once again is dark & grey.

All the following seven frames follow the same text sizes, font & colour with the text overlaying the image. The image in the following seven frames are all dark and all relate to the movie e.g. frame nine has the Batman hero logo. This gives a rough idea to the audience what the movie is going to be about and the colour contrasts also give the audience an impression of what the film has to offer.

The silence of the lambs

This opening sequence starts with a graphical introduction of the company who has worked on & released this movie 'Silence Of The Lambs'. It shows the audience right away that it's a 'Orion Pictures Release'.

The following shot is of a dark dead tree, in the middle of what looks like some sort of wasteland/forest. The shot is very dark and gloomy, this can give the impression that something bad has occurred; as the tree can represent death due to it having no leaves on its branches. This instantly grabs the viewers attention as they may feel fear and alarmed due to the darkness of the shot. The representation of evil also tells the audience that this film is a thriller.

Non diegetic sound track is being played through the introduction and through out some of the first few minutes of the opening sequence, the soundtrack is based on low keys and matches the atmosphere of the forest as it's very creepy; it gives effect to the audience and allows their emotions to interact with the opening sequence.

Text appears on the screen of the creators of the movie 'A strong heart / demme production'. The text size is a average size & appears on the middle of the screen. It appears with a black font with a with outline, the colours clash good together. The black represents the darkness within the shots while the white outline makes the text stand out and clear to see/read.

The shot then loses slight focus and slowly pans down to the bottom of the forest from a high angle. As this happens a character emerges from the bottom of the dark shady forest. The female character is climbing up a hill and seems to be holding onto a rope pushing her self to the top. She gets closer and closer to the camera with every strive forward she takes, this makes the high angle have less of an effect as she gets closer to the camera; this shows the audience that this female actor is gaining power with every strive.

As she reaches the top of the hill she walks into a medium shot, this allowed the audience to see her facial expressions as she reaches the top. The female actor is wearing a light blue top and black trousers, she's panting heavily as if she's struggling to catch her breath. Her hair is tied back and she seems very sweaty; though this is expected after seeing how much effort she put in to climb up the hill using the rope. Her clothing looks very dirty and worn out; this instantly tells the audience that she has been out in this forest for a while, and adds an enigma code by making the audience question 'how long has this female actor been in this forest?' & ' Is she lost or is she running away from something in this dark forest?'

During the chase of this lost, vulnerable female actor impressions suddenly change as she approaches a climbing frame. This gives the impression that she's maybe in a sort of assault course. A panning shot takes place of this female forcefully climbing this climbing frame with very slight struggle. This instantly makes the audience realize she is more powerful then we thought. It also gives the impression that she may have received some form of training due to the way she forcefully pushes her body to climb the climbing frame, finishing with a summersault. It's unusual for film directors to give females this form of power due to the stereotypical thoughts of females being weak. By giving the female actor power it adds uniqueness to the movie and makes it differ from others.

The camera then tracks the female running through the forest until she disappears into the fog within the forest. A straight cut then occurs and mainly focuses on her upper body and her feet as she runs through the forest. This builds of tension as it shows the tension within the situation of the female running through this dark misty forest, as the audience can see her facial expressions clearly and how tense it is to be in the situation she is currently in.

A male actor then comes into the shot running towards the female actor. He is wearing a cap with the letters 'FBI' this instantly tells the audience that this male has a form of authority and power. As soon as he is next to the female actor she goes down to hold her knees to catch a breath; this shows audience that she is in a weaker position as she it looking up at the male actor, giving him the upper hand in power. He is looking down at the female actor stated as 'Sherly', this represents that he has more power then Sherly, maybe due to sterio typical behavior of males being more powerful then females.

Sherly then carries on with her run as she goes towards a building. A long shot from a high angle is taking as it pans her running towards the entrance. Many extras are shown training very hard within the mise-en-scene, this also gives the impression that she is in some form of FBI training camp.

Further down the scene it shows Sherly entering a escalator full of big male extras wearing red. She's physically the smallest out of them all though she stands right in the middle, she isn't intimidated by the men at all. This once again makes the audience feel Sherly is even more powerful by not being fazed by the big male individuals.

In conclusion, the opening sequence begins by building up tension with each frame to show danger, this is done through the shots and angles used. Unsettling situations are set for the characters within this sequence though it may portray the characters current emotions. The audience should start to get a better understanding of the events within the sequence as the film gets deeper. Stereotypical behavior is not used as the directors gave Sherly a lot more power then the everyday female role in a movie. This non-bias behavior gives the female audience a film to enjoy as Sherly can be looked at as a role model due to the power given to her characters role.

Enemy of the state (1998)

The aim of this sequence was to make viewers feel tension allowing them to feel more engaged. Many techniques where used to build tension within the sequence.

The first scene shows two grown male characters having a one on one conversation. Cross cutting was used in this sequence to switch through shots sharply. this is done in the conversation to show the reaction on the two male's faces as they have a deep conversation. There's no none-diegetic audio; this may have been done to show viewers that the current diegetic dialog is very important information. This allows them to be aware that they must concentrate more within this part of the sequence; allowing tension to be built as the viewers are attacked with the fast pace editing and diegetic audio (dialogue); keeping the audience on their toes as they observe the fast pace cuts from one male character to another.

I noticed at "0:47" a long shot (tracking) takes place which then cuts into a over the shoulder shot, showing a conversation taking place with both characters. A shot reverse shot takes place to show the facial expressions of the characters while having this deep, tension building conversation. This is done to engage the audience with the current conversation taking place. We had to do this camera technique within our very own preliminary exercise. It was good to see & compare the standard of the professional over the shoulder shots to my very own.


In this close-up shot it shows the white male behind some sort of gate. This gate can represent a cage; with this representation it gives viewers the idea that this male is trapped within a very small area as the close-up shot doesn't leave much space within the frame. By doing this it may give the impression that the white male is helpless and has no choice but to create this new world order that they've spoken about.

Non-diegetic soundtrack kicks in to the scene as the frame cuts from the two characters sharing knowledge about the known upcoming new world order; to a medium shot of a man in the rain. The rain tells the audience that something bad is going to happen to our prejudiced character due to the darkness within the shots. The two males costume gives the impression that he has a form of authority due to him and his partners face being exposed. They're wearing black gloves and dark clothing & also have possession of a gun. The editing is at a fast pace and cuts in a good flow with the music, this is done to build tension / suspense as the audiences emotions are being controlled by the soundtrack and visuals; creating us to feel a form of fear & worry.

Professional edits are used in this scene to form precise cross-cutting; from the scenes located outdoors to scenes indoors. These shots are straight cuts from showing out antagonist (men outside) to our protagonist (Will Smith) this instantly shows the audience that the two shots shown are related; this also tells the audience to be ready for antagonism between our heros and villains.

In this close-up shot it shows Will Smith behind the same gate/cage with his hands over his face. This instantly will give viewers the idea that he has given up or has been defeated by this upcoming new world order as he's trapped and concealed in this dark lighted cage. Tension is built in this frame by the behavior of this character that Will Smith plays. The audience will instantly feel tense once seeing our prejudice look as if hes losing all hope, it also makes the audience feel that the upcoming event of the new world order is very powerful and maybe unstoppable due to the behavior (both hands on face) of our prejudice.

Within this opening sequence tension is built through the fast paced editing and shots involved. They build tension by giving clear shots of the characters facial expressions. It engages the audience allowing them feel apart of the sequence as the fast paced edits keeps the audience hearts racing due to the tension being built.

Juno remake

In class my teacher showed us a film opening of the movie 'Juno' we watched the opening as a group.




We took into account all the shots that we saw within 1minute 40seconds of viewing the opening. I managed to notice:

1. Long shot (tracking)
2. Medium to long shot from behind the female actor
3. Close-up to female actors shoes
4. Medium shot of the female actor walking (legs)
5. Long shot (Female actor walking towards camera)
6. Medium shot of female actor
7. Medium shot of female actor walking (legs)
8. Medium shot of female actors upper body
9. Medium shot high angle of female actor walking away from camera
10. Long shot female actor walking towards the camera (Match on action with shot 9)
11. Long shot from female actors left leaving the frame
12. Long shot of the female actor walking towards the camera
13. Close-up female actor opening 'Sunny-D' bottle
14. Close-up female actor drinking 'Sunny-D'
15. Birds eye view looking down at female actor walking
16. Long shot of the female actor walking towards the left of the frame
17. Medium shot of the female actor walking away from the camera
18. Point of view shot of the female actor looking down at her shoes.

We took these shots and put some of them into a story board. This was done to help us remember what shots need to be taken while filming; it can be looked at as a reminder/plan.

• First thing we did was to make sure our main character within this reconstructed Juno opening is a female; we did this to try make our reconstruction as close to the original that we can make it. We also inputted the original non diegetic sound track (All i want is you by Barry Louis Polisar) into our video.

• We kept looking back to our story bored to help us keep in track what shots need to be taken in which specific order. It was key to do it in order to help it easier to edit as clips wont get mixed up with others.

• We took some shots similar to the ones listen above of the original Juno opening to try reconstruct it as much as we can. 

• We also used props such as a coke bottle just to show that we tried make it as close as we can; it's better to have a prop even if it isn't the same drink then have nothing at all !

We did well on this task though i feel we should have made it slightly longer and try add effects to give it that cartoon feel like the original; next time we're going to use effects to make our videos look more like the original.

One Minute Timeline

This is a clip from the movie 'Batman: The Dark Night', I analyzed one minute of this clip and spoke in slight detail about Mise-en-scene; sound & editing. I inputted all the information into a table using Microsoft word

Media 1 Minute Timeline Research)

I included everything that i could within the one minute of the clip above. I spoke in a decent ammount of detail; this task has helped me notice things that i wouldn't of noticed before, such as the instruments being played in a score.

- Dialogue*

Preliminary Exercise

This is my preliminary exercise. Me and my group where assigned to record our very own thriller scene and we managed to to do so. We put a lot of effort into this exercise to try achieve new accomplishments by experimenting with some new camera techniques and new editing skills.

• In these two screen grabs below it shows me editing two seperate video clips and putting them together to create match on action.

• Firstly we recorded from behind my actor walking away from the camera towards a near by door. Our second take was from the other side of the door where my actor walks in. The camera was placed on my actors right.

• We then did a straight cut between these two clips at a perfect time to give full effect on the match on action as it creates great continuity making it very hard to even recognize the straight cut within the editing as it seems very natural. 

• At first when our teacher explained to us how match on action works I thought this would be very difficult to do, as we tried it i felt a lot more confident in my skills as it wasn't as difficult as i thought it would be.

• In these two screen grabs it shows my example of a shot reverse shot.

• We had to take two different video clips and put them together, our first over the shoulder shot was over my actors left shoulder in the purple jumper & my second over the shoulder shot was over my actors right shoulder in the red shirt. We edited them together with straight cuts giving us a feel of a conversation.

• I found this slightly more difficult to do as i had to make sure we didn't brake the 30 degree rule while recording taking these two over the shoulder shots.We also where aware of the audio while taking these shots as we realized the script had to stay the same; if it differed within the shots the conversation would be unclear and may have lost its meaning. We managed to pull it off in the end though i feel it should have had some more shot reverse shots within my thriller scene.

• In this screen grab it shows me editing the audio within my thriller opening.

• Using the razor tool i had to split the audio into sections. Once i did this i used the pen tool to add spots on my audio allowing me to create a manual fade. I used this fade to make the none diegetic audio volume drop while the conversation took place. This made the diegetic audio more clear to listen to as it was louder then the sound track

• At first i didn't know how to do this manual fade but with some experimenting i managed to do it in the end. I feel this was the hardest thing within the thriller scene as it took me a long time to figure out how to do it.

As we did this project we had to keep in mind many things such as mise-en-scene

• We made sure that everyone is wearing the appropriate clothing (smart school wear) to match the situation of our shots taking place in the school.

• Props & objects where used such as pens, couches, tables & paper just to make the most of our facilities to give a school atmosphere within our shots.

We made sure used a wide variety of shots/angles within our opening

1. Long shot
2. Medium shot (low angle)
3. Long shot (high angle)
4. Low angle (medium shot)
5. Long shot (walking away from camera)
6. Medium shot (match on action with shot 5)
7. Medium shot walking down stairs towards camera
8. Long shot (low angle match on action with shot 7)
9. Extreme close-up (hand on handle)
10. Medium shot (walking into classroom)
11. High angle medium shot of two actors
12. Over shoulder shot (actor in purple conversation)
13. Over shoulder shot (actor in red conversation)
14. High angle medium shot of both actors
15. Medium shot of both actors talking
16. Long shot (low angle)
17. Medium shot (walking off exiting the classroom)
18. Medium shot walking into the 'Six form office'

Editing was also well we where able to expand on our skills and try new things

• Straight cuts are used to create match on action & a conversation
• We edited audio to adjust volume levels allowing us to sync clips with audio better as shown in the screen grab above.

- We definitely should of tried more editing techniques such as colour/contrast etc. this will be done in our next exercise.

Sound was done well as we covered all types of sound (Diegetic & Non-diegetic)

• Diegetic sounds (sounds from a source in the story) was used a lot within our shots. Dialog was used a lot and so was sounds from objects; such as tables being hit and doors being slammed closed. These are all examples of when diegetic sounds where used

• Non-diegetic sounds (sounds coming from a source which isn't in the story) where used through a sound track. The soundtrack was used to build tension within the audience as it was a dramatic and tense sound track.

Over all i feel we did very well on this exercise as we managed to include many new camera angles/shots and develop our editing skills; though i feel that there's a lot of room for improvement. Especially with my editing skills e.g. putting clips to create smoother continuity & by trying new ways of editing (transition fades etc). Despite this on a all we did well in this exercise.

"Analyzing a thriller opening"

As research I went over some thriller openings & looked at the strengths and weaknesses on them. I'm going to talk about the strentgh and weakness of a thriller opening called "The Safehouse"

Mise-en-scene is used very well in this whole thriller opening; many conventions where used in order to match the atmosphere.

• The lighting used on the female talking about her rape experience was really well lit, it's not too bright though it isn't too dark either, it seemed right in between with a little bit of a gloomy feel to it. This was a good way in which the audience can interact and feel the pain of the female actor; as rape is a very serious situation and the lighting really helped catch the seriousness of the scene.

• The costumes where also very well done from the beginning to end. from when she is talking to the viewer directly in a  hoodie giving the expression she is trapped and stuck indoors to the outdoor outfit of going to her house; as if she just came from night out. The heels worn gave away that she was out partying as females normally wear them when going for a good night out.

• The location of the entire thriller opening also matches the scenes very well as it links to the story. At first she's directly talking to the audience through a camera about her rape experience. Her location seems to be her home most probably her bedroom. This goes well as it gives the impression that she's stuck inside doors ever since her terrifying experience.

1. She also has a location outside of her home; while she tells the viewer her story. She talks about her day "A taxi dropped me home, about 2AM, outside my house." the location matches the story she's telling the viewer as the location's outside her home showing her walking to her house. It then changes to her going into a block and walking up stairs to go inside of her home.

Another strength is the sound used in the thriller opening; both diegtetic and none diegetic sounds are used.

• Diegetic sound is sound that comes from the world of the story; such as the dialog is used. It was used very well as they're all synced in perfectly with the mouths and are allow the viewer to understand what's happening in the thriller opening. Diegetic sounds of doors closing are also in this opening and are good in volume & very clear to listen to. Lastly diegetic sound of a keyboard is used for the opening credits. This makes it look like the letters are being typed onto display  and not just appearing randomly; this was done very well as all key sounds are matching in time with the letters appearing.

• Non diegetic sounds are sound that doesn't come from the world of the story; an example of this being used within the thriller opening is the sound track being played in the background. It's played by a piano which creates a soft melody which really fits in well with the situation occurring within the scenes. The volume is put low while dialog is being played, this is to make the dialog clear and easy to listen to.

Many camera angles / shots where also used in this thriller opening. they managed to include a wide range of different camera shots & angles

1. Eye level medium shot (Female actor talking directly to the audience)
2. Establishing long shot (Female actor walking home)
3. Low angle medium shot (Female actor walking towards door)
4. Extreme close-up (Female actor's feet letting out cigarette)
5. Medium shot from behind (Female actor walks into the block of flats)
6. Then turns into a panning shot towards a shaded character
7. Extreme close-up of heels (Female actor walks up the stairs)
8. High angle medium shot (From top of stair case looking down at female actor walking up stairs)
9. Long shot (shaded male character walking into the block of flats)
10. Medium shot (Female actor on top of the stair case)
11. Extreme close-up (Males shoes walking up the stairs)
12. Medium shot (Female actor opening her home's door)
13. Extreme close-up (Female actor drops keys and picks the keys up)
14. Medium shot (Male actor runs into the home and attacks the female actor)

• A good example of match on action was used when the female was opening her home's door to go inside. They took a shot from behind her opening the door and a shot in-front of her walking in. It's very smooth and created great continuity.

Editing was used very well, they managed to use editing to create meaning within this thriller opening.

• Straight cuts are used throughout the entire opening. Each cut was done very well as the entire opening was very smooth allowing the cuts to be unrecognizable. I feel they should have experimented with some transitions such as fades just to have a change as the shots changed.

• I really liked some of the effects they used, e.g. when the female actor is walking home '0:34 - 0:37' they added a form of motion blur. They used this as the female actor tripped over; this showed the viewers that she's drunk as the motion blur gave a feel of how she's currently feeling (dizzy)

• Another nice effect they used was when the opening credits appeared '0:38 - 0:39'. They used a key bored effect to make it seem that the letters are being typed into the screen as they appeared one by one; this is very effective as it shows their creativity and i'm personally going to learn from this and try introduce something similar to my thriller opening.

On an all i feel they did very well. The thriller opening was very simple but very effective as everything linked well together; allowing a lot of meaning to be created. On the other hand i feel they should have tried experimented with more complexed effects just to show off their skills more then they do.
They also managed to make it seem as a opening sequence and not a scene of a film. They did this by showing a outline of the story and making it clear what the thriller will be about.