Sound

We have been looking at sound and the importance of it in films recently. There are so many different sound elements in a film sequence that is easier to the group them into certain 'types'. A very simple way to identify and divide the difference sounds is as follows:

• Dialogue- all the words and vocal expressions of the actors
• Music- the music soundtrack that may be in parts or all of the sequence
• Effect- other sounds such as footsteps, gunfire, car for example.

Diegetic and Non- Diegetic

Diegetic:
Sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film: 

• voices of characters 
• sounds made by objects in the story 
• music represented as coming from instruments in the story space

Diegetic sound is any sound presented as originated from source within the film's world 
Diegetic sound can be either on screen or off screen depending on whatever its source is within the frame or outside the frame. 

Non- diegetic:
Sound whose source is neither visible on the screen nor has been implied to be present in the action: 

• narrator's commentary
• sound effects which is added for the dramatic effect
• mood music

Non-diegetic sound is represented as coming from the a source outside story space. 

Music helps to create the mood in a piece. However, we watched an extract from the film called Huger. This is a very powerful piece as there wasn't any sound. This isn't common in a film as although we may not always be aware of it, there is always normally some kind of sound. In this film extract there was limited dialogue but the focus was non diegetic sounds as the sound effects were added for dramatic effect such as deep breathing, footsteps and doors clicking. All these sounds made the scene more serious and mysterious as all our focus was on the sound of Bobby's breath.
I will use the idea of non diegetic sound in my own opening as I want to create a sense of isolation and tension. Silence will help me do this with little dialogue and more dramatic effects.

Mise En Scene

We have been learning about Mise en Scene recently in our lessons. Mise en Scene is a French word which basically means composing the scene. The definition of Mise en scene is the process of setting a stage, costume, lighting and surroundings. We looked at one film in particular which demonstrates Mise en Scene well, The Duchess.

The extract in The Duchess shows the journey of the newly- wedded Duke and Duchess
of Devonshire from their secret wedding ceremony, through the streets of London to Devonshire House. The scene ends in the wedding bedroom. This extract expresses Mise en Scene as the extravagant  dresses, wigs and jewellery all present how wealthy the couple is, in contrast to the families on the streets of London. As I looked closely I could see that the people on the streets were in dark browns which matched the colours of the floor and buildings. Where as the upper class were all dressed in clean white clothes and the lighting was on them to stand out and present their importance.

Another film we have looked at is Chicken Run. In the extract we see Mrs Tweedie taking one of the hens to kill it. The sky turns  dark red, blue and grey to show death, sorrow and bleakness.



I will be using Mise en Scene in my film opening, by using clothes that are dark and dull and limited lighting  and dark settings to create a uncomfortable atmosphere for my thriller.

Cinematography

In the last two lessons we have been focussing on Cinematography which is the art and craft of the camera itself, in terms of its position and choice of shot type to film a scene and how this contributes to making meaning in the film. We looked at two films in particular, Chicken run and Wallace and Gromit which are both similar as they both are animated.

We looked closely at the length of the shots and how that portrays a different character with or without power. For example when looking at Chicken Run, I couldn't help notice that when Mrs Tweedie enters the camp the camera makes her look very big and aggressive by shooting the scene beneath her so that we are looking at the chickens perspective. This makes it seem that the chickens are tiny compared to her as they are looking up and it also shows she has power and authority whereas the chickens are vulnerable. 
I can link this idea of vulnerability and authority in my own film opening by filming the shots in different angles. Another example, is using different angles such as canted angles. This makes the audience uncomfortable and unsettled as we don't know why the camera isn't at a straight angle. Once again this would be a perfect technique to make my audience feel unsure in my thriller opening. This technique is used in Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, in the scene where Wallace experiment goes wrong and the camera is darting around the place to show chaos.

Lighting is also a big part of expressing the genre in a film. For example, in a horror / thriller film, dark colours such as black, greys and whites are used to create a spooky and unnerving scene. Both film clips we have looked at have included dark and sinister weather. Whereas for a rom-com bright colours would be used to show love, happiness and joy. I will be looking shooting my film opening in are dark and run down place.

Research of directors

                                           Darren Aronofsky

Darren Aronofsky was born in February 12, is an American film, director, screenwriter, film producer and environmentalist. Darren is known for his film, "Black Swan" which was released in 2010. I chose Darren Aronofsky to research as I wanted to find a successful thriller film so that I could get more of an understanding of this genre. I am very interested to see this film as it looks good and it fits to my chosen genre for my opening.
From watching the trailer of the "Black Swan", I can see that Darren has made sure the colour of each scene is dark and sinister and the credits of the font is bold with black feathers for the background. The music in the trailer has also different tempo to hold suspense and keep us on edge. It starts with a creepy music box, but this quickly changes to a fast beating rythem to suggest the different scenes of the film. These small strategies all help to a successful thriller film.





David Fincher

David Fincher was born in 1962. He is an American director and producer, notably for films, television series, and music videos. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director in 2010. He is also known for having directed the psychological thrillers and crimes such as "Gone girl" and "Zodiac".











David Ayer

David Ayer was born January 18, 1968 and is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. This year he directed a film called "Suicide Squad" with a thriller/ superhero genre. All of these directors have thought hard about directing their films with a thriller or crime theme. I will need to do as much research into these themes so that I can produce an opening for my film with the correct and relevant content.

My finished preliminary task

This is my finished preliminary task. I chose an easy interview scenario with a cliffhanger at the end.

Finishing my preliminary task

Today I finished filming for my preliminary task and now I am starting to edit. I am very pleased with my work as it was more straight forward than I had imagined and I think that I showed match on action clearly. I am looking forward to seeing my end result of my preliminary task.

My Collage

Techniques For The Preliminary Test

Today in our media class we started talking about the preliminary task and we learnt that there are 3 main camera/editing techniques to complete this task. This are: Match on action, 180 degrees rule and shot reverse shot.

I have researched each of these 3 meanings and found some examples so that I am clear exactly what they are.

                                                                Match On Action

Match on action is used in film editing and video editing where the editor cuts from one shot to another view that matches the first shot's action, maintaining a flow and continual link.
An example of this if a person comes through a door, the camera shot would be behind them. As soon as they walk through door, the camera shot will go in front of them.

                                                               180 degrees Rule

The 180° rule is a guideline that states that two characters in a scene should maintain the same left/right relationship to one another . When the camera passes over the invisible axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line and the shot reverse.

https://youtu.be/oF_5k4AWTFw


                                                             Shot Reverse Shot

Shot reverse shot is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character.

https://youtu.be/h0xiCIMIwLY

https://youtu.be/o1Ey0a6LJRA

https://youtu.be/5qq9vGSOr5Y

First Plan for film opening

Lauren and I have decided we are going to work together and have just finished planning for our film opening. We have agreed to go with a mixture of action, drama and thriller as we think it is very interesting and we have come up with a good plot for it. Now we need to watch as many films as possible with action, drama and thriller, to get ideas on how they shoot each scene.

Jurassc Park- Film Review

Last Night I watched the family classic Jurassic Park, a science fiction/ adventure film. This is a great film as although it my be unsuitable for young children its still a film that kids, teens and adults can all watch together. I went with the family to watch it at Pinewood studios in the gardens on a big screen with a superb sound system. Even though I have watched this many times I still managed to jump at parts that I knew where coming due to the fact of the booming sound and the way Steven Spielberg's directs it to make each and everyone sit on the edge of their seats.

The film was made in 1993. Dinosaurs had walked the earth 26 million years ago and that is why this film is so special as it isn't like anything before as everything looks realistic especially for a film made  this long ago.
Jurassic Park is about dinosaurs that were brought back to life thanks to a man called John Hammond (played by Sir Richard Attenborough). By doing this he creates a park on a island full of different species of dinosaurs, so that one day he would be able to open it to the public. He invite a couple who study dinosaur fossils, along with his two grandchildren. This soon turns into a disaster as the original and amazing park becomes life threating as the dinosaurs escape from their encloures and hunt and dominate as they would have done.

This is such a thrilling film to watch and even though I have seen all of the Jurassic trilogy plus the newly released Jurassic World, I still absolutely love it and the special effects of the dinosaurs are so good that you really believe they are watching you, which is quite terrifying!