Prelim - Peer Evaluation

The feedback that we were given has been concluded into a few small points about Pivotal for each title. All of the feedback has been useful as i can use it to strengthen my performance for the next task to make sure it is at a high standard.

Was the genre evident? How, what conventions did they use?

Genre was Thriller which was quite clear as it was quite dark scenery and was tense at times

Sometimes the genre looked like a horror as it seemed a little bit scary

Did they include all shots including dialogue, match on action and tracking? Which shot did you like best?

Most of the shot were used but not all of them. There should have been a few more close ups and the high shot didn't really look high enough. The best shot was the match on action as she opened the door and walked into the room as it was clear that it was a match on action and it was also well filmed. The close up of the 'meeting in progress' sign was clever too.

How did Camera, Editing, Sound, and Mise En Scene work together?

The editing was very good and very clever as there was a few effects on the clips. The strobe lighting at the end created a good effect. Some music could have been added and there was quite a lot of background noise which could have been edited out. Most of the camera shots were good but some were at an angle or not still which could have been done better.

Script and Story?

The story was confusing as it was not clear who the people were and what they were doing. It could have been clearer. The script was good but there could have been a little more dialogue as there was not a lot but the dialogue they had was good and well planned out.

The average score ranged from 30-40 out of an overall 50 which i was pleased with.

Prelim - self evaluation

Self-evaluation

Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?

I worked with Nathan Lorenzo and Jack Beeson. Jack filmed all the clips and Nathan was the main character and I was a secondary actor. We were assigned a genre and ours was thriller, which we were all happy with but we knew it would be a challenge to film and make sure it is not conveyed as a horror. We discussed the basic outline of our story and made sure we kept with our theme the whole way through, they key was not to be too over the top and create a tense atmosphere so we could make it clear to the audience that our theme was thriller.

How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use? What theories did you try to take into account?

To plan the sequence, we made a storyboard in which we made different scenes and discussed where we would put the shots that were given to us to make the scene more effective, we also made a script to make sure we all knew what we had to say and at what time. We had to think about what we would do throughout the prelim task to make sure that our thriller did not become a horror as we were told that it was hard to convert into a horror from a thriller. We thought about the lighting and the location of where we would be filming as it had to be relating to our genre all the way through. We also used a Prezi presentation to document the filming and the storyline to show how we had planned and used our time.

What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?

We used the school video cameras and tripods to film and complete the task. We used a phone to create the flashing effect in the last scene as we thought it looked very effective and then we used the computers and premier to finalise and perfect the task. We added sound effects and video effects to our videos, which enhanced the original footage and made it seem more like a thriller.

What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?

We needed to make a tense and dramatic atmosphere which was very hard to do during the day as it was very light in most places that we went and we wanted it to be dark. We had to find the perfect places to film too as we had to be in the right setting to convey our genre. When we were shooting, we had to find the best lighting and whereabouts it was and where would be best to film, we had to shoot may scenes more than once for multiple reasons like, something in the shot was missing or we couldn’t stop laughing. But once we took the roles seriously we got it done much quicker and it was much easier to film. When editing, I found it a little hard as when I had previously used premier I did not use some of the effects I used this time round so I found it a little more complex to work with but once I had added effects I was much more comfortable with using the software.

How successful was your sequence? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently? What did others say about your production?

Overall I think the sequence worked well. I was happy with the end result and most of the feedback received was positive. If we had more time I would have liked to film in a different location and a different time as we wanted it to be dark but most of the time it was very light in our scenes. Also I would have made the dialogue much better as I found we needed more to explain what was going on in the scene as we were the ones that thought of the story and understood it, we assumed everyone else would, but it was actually quite confusing as we were told in our feedback so I would have added more dialogue to help people understand the scenes more. I think our group worked well together and we could easily select roles in the task. I was very happy with the shots we go but although we did not capture all of the shots required I was very happy with the ones we did film.

What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework, do you think?

I learnt a lot from doing this task as it really showed me how difficult it is to film the perfect shot and how many details and aspects need to be thought about and included. It has definitely helped me feel more confortable with using the premier software which will be very useful. It also made me realise that I need to use my time more wisely when filming and editing. Instead of messing around and not keeping up with everything, I need to be on top of everything and make sure I take all of it more seriously. And instead of putting off the planning of it all, I should have done that first and made sure that everything was figured out and where and when we would be filming. But overall I really enjoyed making the video and was happy with the outcome.

Pivotal - prelim task

Narrative

Today we were learning about narrative and some of medias most influenced and key historic people. These people include Vladimir Propp, Roland Barthes, Tzvetan Todorov, and Levi Strauss.



Vladimir Propp had the idea that there were 7 main characters in any type of media/film.
These 7 were:
1. The villain
2. The dispatcher
3. The helper
4. The princess
5. The donor
6. The hero
7. The false hero

Roland Barthes taught us the idea of semiotics, for example the colour red being associated with anger, danger, love, heat.
He also taught us about enigma, this is when the media manipulates the mind and then leaves the audience asking questions.

Tzvetan Torodov taught us that stories always start at equilibrium. And in order to return to equilibrium the character.s must overcome a series of obstacles.

Levi Strauss taught us about 'binary oposition' this is the study of oppositions within a movie (e.g. good vs evil)

Creating a Logo

Today we were assigned the task to create our own logos. When doing this at first i was thinking of all the other different logos and film production companies there are. However when it came to creating my own logo none of them inspired me. I wanted mine to be different to all the others so i did not want to use any of the ideas that had already been taken. There is no movement or animation or sound as i thought it was effective enough to be how i made it. I knew i wanted a strong name that would stand out and be remembered so i decided to go for 'Stryker'. Using this i made the decision to have a lighting bolt coming from the bottom of the cloud or a lighting 'strike' to link in with the name. I felt that my logo was very successful and although it is not an amazing animation i still think it is effective and the name is short and so people will remember it easily.

Juno Opening: first filming task

Today we were told that we would be doing a remake of the opening of the film Juno (first minute).
We started by making a storyboard to plan out what scene we would be doing and the timings of all of them. This would help us when filming because then we would know exactly what to do when we were filming which would make it much easier.

After making the storyboard, we went out to film. Thankfully the road we were filming on was not too busy and it was right outside our school. This took a little longer than expected as we wanted to make sure we got the scene as exact as we could and to also help us when editing i also learned how to use the cameras with more confidence which will help me when filming the final piece. Once we got all of the shots we needed, we went in to edit.
When editing on Adobe Premier, i felt that i learnt how to use the software much more. It was difficult to match up the clips we filmed to the actual opening of the film as i wanted to get it as exact as i could. I matched the transitions to the actual opening which i was very pleased with and overall i was happy with the outcome.

Premier Practice

In the past two lessons we have been practicing using a piece of software called Adobe Premier to edit videos and music. We were given a set of video clips and music to choose from and we had to create a small video with these elements included just so we could get used to the software as we will be using it regularly throughout this year. The first section of the video i used to put different scenes of America to a song and time it correctly. The second part of the video i used a series of clips from James Bond and also used the original James Bond theme tune. I cut the clips to how long i wanted them and faded the music in and out and took the sounds out of some of the clips as i thought the music sounded better without the background noise.

Film Language - analysing movie clip

The Dark Knight Rises
Camera
High Shot - zip wire across to other buildings
Tracking shot - running up to the bank doors
Match on Action - opening the door and running into the bank firing shots as they are running
Close up shots of the faces of the unknown men as they are behind the masks - hidden identity

Sound
unknown men speaking about the 'joker'
gunshots in the building
not much dialogue - mainly speaking about the joker
music nearer the end to create tension

Editing
Straight cuts as there are clips of different men breaking in from a different entrance
Clips are short

Mise En scene
set on a typical day at daytime

Film Language - analysing movie clip

Up (montage)
Camera
Long shot walking up the hill and the woman has to help the man
Happy scenery
Signs of love - wormseye view of them looking up to the sky and looking at the clouds
Birdseye view looking down on the couple as they look at the clouds
Close up of the pot at time goes by and the money builds up and days go by
Camera flash at the beginning signifying that it is a flashback of their lives and how it flashes by

Sound
Music is upbeat and makes the audience feel happy
Slower music when she is in the hospital signifying that she just had some bad news so the audience can feel the emotion
Music is non-digetic as the characters cannot hear it
Digetic - clapping at the beginning and the storm and the smashing of the pot

Editing
Time passing by through the years by looking at the mans tie and seeing the woman do it up through the years
Straight cuts

Mise en Scene
Hair colour changing from brown to white shows time passing
Characters clothes become older and the scenery becomes more colourless and grey

Film Language

Film Language has four key elements, these are:
Camera
Sound
Editing
Mise en Scene
All these four elements are put together to create effects in the scene and manipulate the audience to how you want them to feel. Each of them can be broken down and explained in much more depth.

Camera - FAM
Frame:
extreme close up (e.g. somebody's eyeball)
close up (e.g. someones face)
mid shot (e.g. someone standing (cannot be taken above the belly button))
long shot (e.g. someone standing from a distance)
extreme long shot (e.g. mountains/scenery)
Angle level:
High (birdseye view)
Low (wormseye view)
Movement:
Pan left/right
Tilt up/down
Zoom in/out

Sound - MCDOVED
Music
Contrapuntal (music/lyrics contrast)(opposite: parallel)
Digetic (sounds actors can hear)(non-digetic - e.g. voiceover)
Off screen/on screen (e.g. phone call in another room)
Voiceover
Emotion
Dialogue (way people say things depends on: age, tone, level, accent)

Editing - TOP
Transition (straight cut/dissolves/wipes)
Order of narrative (beginning/middle/end/flashbacks/dreams/time period e.g. years)
Pace

Mise en Scene - CLAMPS
Costume
Lighting
Actors
Props
Setting

Semiotics - photo analysis

Denotations - a group of young adults sitting with each other on 2 G letters.
Connotations -

• The girl in the top right is in red symbolising power and hate, also she is above everyone else so she could be powerful and quite high up in society. She also seems as if she is quite vain and is always expecting people to do things for her as she is above everyone in the photo. Also it shows that she is independant as she is not close to anyone and she is by herself.
• The girl on the far left is in white showing innocence and she is not as far up as the girl in the red but she still is higher than the other characters showing that she still possesses power, also she is very close to the boy in the grey jacket showing that they may have a sexual relationship or be close to each other it also shows that she is not as independent as the other people as she close to another character.
• The girl in the back is also in white again showing innocence but also showing purity and the fact that she is behind the letter shows that she may be a shy character and her stance is showing that she is independent
• The boy sitting in the front shows me that he is quite laid back and relaxed as he is in jeans and as he is sitting it tells me that he is lower down than everyone else as he is below everyone so everyone would look down on him.
• The boy on the far left stands in a very strong and confident manor but having his hand in his pockets shows me that he is a fairly laid back person who can stand up for himself. I noticed he has his shirt untucked which shows me that he does not really care about his look or how he dresses as it shows that he has a scruffy look about him.
• The boy on the far right is dressed in a shirt and tie and smart trousers and shoes showing that he may be quite high up in society and cares about his appearance but he has is shirt untucked and his top button undone showing that he can be quite messy/scruffy at times. The way he is standing tells me that by him hunching over he may have something to hide or he is not completely confident about standing up for himself as he is not standing in a strong stance like the boy on the far left.
• The letters themselves almost look gold showing that these people are rich and high up in society and it also signifies money and wealth which gives me a brief idea that the series is a drama about wealthy young adults as they all have different characteristics that make you think different things about them. The white background shows purity and innocence of all the characters and also showing youth, so the series may start when they are young and go through to when they are older.

Semiotics

In today's lesson we learnt about semiotics. Semiotics is the study of signs and anything that may stand for 'something else'. Everyone reads images in pictures in an attempt to decode them and make sense of what they mean to us.
We broke semiotics down into two key parts:
Denotations - what we see when we look at an image (what is it?)
Connotations - what we understand from this image (what are the meanings behind the picture?)
After learning what each of the two key parts of semiotics meant we had some practice and used our knowledge of denotations and connotations to break down these 4 key colours:

Red:

Danger

Love

Passion

Blood

Blue:

Innocence

Royalty

Water

Pure

Yellow:

Sun

Hope

Caution

Light

Green:

Nature

Envy

Evil

Money

Institution (Low budget vs High budget)

Low Budget - Paranormal Activity (Horror/Thriller)

Budget:

$15,000  (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

 £3,593,762 (UK) (27 November 2009)

Gross:

 $107,917,283  (USA) (15 January 2010)
Produced by:

Blumhouse Productions

Producing mainly horror films, Blumhouse Productions films have other low budget films including:
Insidious (2010)
Budget - $1,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend

-

£1,441,292 (UK)

Ouija (2014) - 

Budget:

 $5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

 $20,006,000 (USA)

High Budget - Spider Man 3 (Action)

Budget:

 $258,000,000  (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

 £11,827,013 (UK) (4 May 2007)

Gross:

 $336,530,303  (USA) (17 August 2007)

Production company:

Marvel & Columbia Pictures

Marvel produce many action films, many of them are very high budget like:

Thor:The Dark World (2013)

Budget:

$170,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:$85,737,841 (USA)

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Budget:

 $140,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: $65,058,542 (USA)

 

Representation

Representation

Representation refers to the construction in any medium (especially the mass media) of aspects of 'reality' such as people, places, objects, events, cultural identities and other abstract concepts.

The term refers to the processes involved as well as to its products. The CAGE concept involves 4 main aspects which are Class Age Gender and Ethnicity.

Character Typing

there are three different kinds of character typing

An Archetype

a familiar character who has emerged from hundreds of years in fairy tales and storytelling

A Stereotype

a character usually used in advertising and marketing in order to sell a particular product to a certain group of people; they can also be used negatively in the media.

A Generic Type

a character familiar through use in a particular genre of movie.

Mise En Scene

In todays lesson we studied Mise en Scene. This roughly translates in english to 'Whats in the scene'. So as the traslation states we spent the lesson talking about the various sections of a scene that imact how it looks and comes across to the viewer. There are 5 basic catagories which can all be changed to make the viewer feel or think differently about the scene. The 5 categories are:
Setting and props
Lighting and colour
Positioning of the character
Facial expressions and body language
Costumes, hair and makeup
All of these features are compressed into making a scene and manipulating the viewer in different ways. When the features are not collaborated correctly, the results can be catastrophic as they make a whole new scene which might not even make any sense. The smallest details can make the biggest differences throught any scene in films.

The Lost Ones 227 - a planned horror

This is the Horror film that we outlined and presented to the class today. After recieving some feedback we are pleased with the ideas that we came up with and put together. We all made up the title and had our input in the poster to advertise the film which was quite myserious as it left people wondering. Along with the setting, we had to choose a unique cast and why we thought they were suitable for the roles they were playing and why they were in the film. We all had our input with the storyline and everything else and it was put together well. We also had to mension how we would advertise the film on the market and where we would want to adertise it. After recieving some good feedback and critisism these are the results we had.
The total scores were mainly 7's and they were averaged out from the scores we revieved in the rest of the feedback.
Most of the feedback sheets said that the title was catchy and intriguing and it was intersting how it related to true events that have happened.
We got mixed feedback for the characters as some people thought they were well thought out but some people said that they were not well casted as they were not as well known.
Some people thought the film was different in a way that it was a unique storyline, but some people thought that it was not as original as others because there are many horrors relating to paranormal activities.
The feedback on marketing was all positive as we chose more than one way to make our film become noticed and to encourage people to want to see it.
Overall i was happy with the feedback as it gives me things to work on the next time i have a task similar to this and the positive feedback on some parts were very good as this was the first time we have done something like this.

Mise En Scene - Katniss (Hunger Games)

Settings and Props
Set in woodland area (dirt, trees)
Somewhere unknown, no buildings or other people

Lighting and Colour
High lighting
All nature colours (green, brown)

Positioning of the Character
Centre of the image
Showing she is the main character
No other characters involved or to be seen

Facial Expressions and Body Language
Face looks very serious and alert
Body is tensed and awkwardly shaped
On the lookout for anything that could potentially be dangerous.
Costumes, Hair and Makeup
Costume is modernised but plain and almost blending/camoflauge into the background to keep her more hidden in the cicumstances.
Hair is tied in a plait to keep it out the way and cant get in the way if she is in danger or has quick movements
Makeup is minimal if any but very natural looking as there is no need for it if they had it.

Genre Picture Task

Today the task given to us was to be inspired by genres and then go on to create still images of genres that were randomly chosen. We took some time to plan what we would do and then went outside to take the pictures which are seen below.

 In the image above we are portraying the genre of THRILLER inspired by 'The Guest'

 In the image above we are portraying the genre of HORROR inspired by 'Oculus'

In the image above we are portraying the genre of ROMANTIC COMEDY inspired by 'The Vow'