Preliminary - The Equation

Preliminary exercise

Group : Mandev, Sunny,Ladan,Rashida.

Shot list and script





story board
https://docs.google.com/document/d/19OcWuU9eRNXq2rmLzD_BICmW2GMUD4EaRvY-e8QcYyU/edit

Editing task

this short extract of 'catch me if you can' Steven Spielberg uses a number of editing techniques to create tension for the audience. To begin with the scene starts off with non-diegetic sound which is a mysterious kind of music  , creating tension for the audience as it tells us something dramatic may occur very soon. While this non-diegetic sound is played we can see a medium shot of the two male characters as they argue with each-other and a tracking shot then occurs as they both walk across the room. The use of the panning shot makes the audience feel more engaged with the movie as they feel as though they are the characters themselves, as the characters move across the room the audience feel as though they are too. In this situation it would cause the audience to feel tension as they feel as though they are the characters themselves so they begin to feel nervous as they think the gun is actually being pointed at them. Steven Spielbreg also uses a number of close-ups in this extract which again engages the audience with the movie as it allows them to see things in greater detail. For example when the detective goes into the other detective's wallet there is a close up of the wallet allowing the audience to see what is inside it . This showed us that the wallet was filled with fake cards and no type of id ,which gave us a hint that the other detective was not real.The use of this extreme close-up also creates enigma codes as the audience begins to ask questions like 'whose wallet is that?' and 'is he a real detective?'. By creating enigmas code it engages the audience even more making them want to keep watching on in order to find out what will happen next.Steven also used point of view  shots when the detectives were looking out of the window allowing the audience to see through the characters view, which again makes the audience feel as though they are the characters themselves. The use of straight cuts in this extract also speed up the pace of the film as first we can see an over-the-shoulder shot of the detective holding a gun at Leonardo Dicaprio then suddenly we can see a close-up   of the letter in his hands. This may be trying to tell the audience that the letter in his hand is going to be significant in the events leading to the aftermath.

Media awards : Favourite productions

The experiment

The experiment was one of my favourite year 12 productions because of the use of different camera shots , diegetic and non-diegetic sounds which created a lot of tension for the audience. The 2 minute clip begins with a non-diegetic sound which is a voice over , this instantly signifies to the audience that a story was going to be told. As the voice over is played a number of shots are also played at the same time , allowing the audience to understand the concept of the story clearly. One of my favourite shots in this short production was the panning shot of the main character 'Alissa Garcia' when she was running away. The panning shot allows the audience to feel as if they are the main character themselves as instead of seeing her run off out of the shot and out of our sight we continuously see her running which makes us feel like we are going wherever she is going. This creates tension as we are now more engaged with the film and we know that she is in danger so we feel as though we are in danger too. In terms of cinematography in the beginning of the short clip we are shown text on the screen which again engages the audience as we are basically forced to read it as if we don't ,we may feel as though we missed some important key aspects of the film. I also noticed the contrast between the dim and bright lighting in different scenes. At first when we are introduced to the main character and her story a lot of things are in black and white and dim lighting however, when we see her in the big green field this shot is in colour. I feel as though this was done to show the contrast between her dark past and her 'new beginnings' , perhaps her running away from her problems will be her new life. In terms of editing I noticed a lot of straight cuts were used in order to speed up the pace of the film , this is a great technique if you want to create tension and make the audience more engaged as they are eager to find out what will happen in the end.


Labrat

Labrat is my second favourite year 12 production. To begin with in terms of mise-en-scene we can see a lot of props being used which helps the audience to understand the film narrative more clearly. The use of the lab coat, glass beakers and other scientific equipment tells the audience that the main character may actually be a smart boy with hidden talents. This creates enigma codes as they may ask questions like 'what will he do with the equipment?' and 'does he have hidden talents?'. The use of the non-diegetic sound , which was the main character's voice over, allows the audience to understand the film's narrative clearly as he begins to tell us his story. I can also see a number of different camera shots such as close ups, long shots and medium shots. The use of close-ups of the main character's hands shaking and his black eye shows us great detail of his emotions. We could easily tell that he was nervous when his hands were shaking and the extreme close-up of his black eye signifies that some violence may have occurred which may tell the audience that the genre for the film is action or drama.  I personally really liked the main characters acting , his body language and facial expressions contrasted very well with the film narrative. In the beginning of the short film he looked very distressed and upset whereas towards the end where he was in his own quite space he looked very happy. He seemed very hesitant and shaky in the beginning , especially when he was being physically abused. However when he entered the lab his shoulders were up-straight and he seemed very confident in what he was doing. In terms of editing I noticed that a lot of straight cuts were used to create a quick pace for the story and to quickly jump into different scenes. There were also some fade in shots used to go into different scenes in order to portray a flashback to the audience.


What Makes A Good Practical Production

In order to have a good/successful production I think a lot of planning has to take place and everyone must make a good contribution to the work. If you are working in a group I believe everyone should contribute to ideas for planning and have equally set tasks. Having a group leader would be a good idea too as they can check on the rest of the group's progress and make sure that everything is running smoothly. Judging from the two productions that I've picked I've noticed that 'the experiment' was better in terms of causing tension drawing the audience in. A simple and clear narrative was portrayed with-out overdoing the amount of clips and different shots they used. I think keeping it minimal is important because if you add too much to the story you may begin to confuse your audience or even give away the whole story. The less you give them , the more they want. Another aspect of a good practical production is the props you use and the way the characters act. Using props in your film is a must as your scenes will basically be boring without them. Things like weapons, bags , bottles etc. make a difference in your film especially if close-ups are used on them as they could be significant later down in the  In terms of characters acting I think a lot of emotion has to be put into it to make it more realistic , the characters must act as though they are really in that position in order to sell the film narrative to the audience.Lastly always remember to save your work every few minutes , as loosing a lot of hard work would take a lot of time and energy to do all over again.

Cinematography

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPCt2BBqR2k

World trade centre

This is one of the scenes from the movie 'World trade centre. In the beginning we can see the fire fighters making their way through the world trade centre with a lot of equipment. There is a number of close –ups used on the equipment which may be telling us viewers that this is a signification prop as it may have something to do with the nearby events that may occur. A number of panning shots are used in this scene as the fire fighters make their way around the world trade centre which begins to speed up the pace of the scene. The use of this shot creates tension as it tells the viewers that something tragic may occur very soon. At 1:00 is where all the tragic events occur, again a number of close ups are used at this point. The use of close ups shows us the fright in the fire fighters faces when they realise the world trade centre collapses. By letting us viewers see the fire fighters emotions clearly we are able to see the film’s narrative of how it is both dramatic and emotional.  A long shot is then used showing the characters running from the main area of the lobby to the elevator shaft which again makes the scene very dramatic as us viewers ask questions like ‘will they make it in time?’ or ‘are they going to make it alive?’ which makes us keep watching.

learner response for powerpoint presentation

WWW- I was able to explain clearly how the images were contrapuntal to the music and how they were parallel to the music. I made sure that I was not reading off of the presentation and I pointed clearly at each image and explained how each  of them linked to the music.
EBI- My presentation should have been a little longer and I should have had more than 4 images per slide. I should have gone into more detail when explaining how the images were contrapuntal and parallel to the music.

My top 3 picks for the presentations :

1. Abayomi
2. Katie
3. Callum

They all presented really well and spoke clearly .They also had a lot of images for each slide and were able to explain why each of them linked to the music and didn't link to the music. I also enjoyed each of their music choices.

Film Language: sound presentation & sound task.

MENACE TO SOCIETY - Cops & Mexicans scene
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDgdYJHz2Ng



In the extract I have chosen there is a variety of different sounds.  To begin with this extract from the film starts off with non -diegetic sound. This is non -diegetic as the main character is doing a voice over which means it isn't coming directly from the scene itself. Then shortly after we are introduced to diegetic sound as there is dialogue between the characters when they are being arrested and the police begin to argue back with them. In this extract the parallel sounds we can hear is again coming from the dialogue of the main characters. As it is an aggressive scene between the police officers and the two young black males the explicit dialogue contrasts with this making it parallel. At 1:53 to 1:56 in the extract I can notice a short sound bridge. We can hear the main character coughing at 1:53 and he still continues to cough when the camera has switched scenes meaning the same sound has been carried into a different shot. The only time i can identify music being played in this extract is at 1:!3 to 1:20 seconds. The music being played is coming from within the film therefor it is diegetic sound.