Editing

I have made notes on different types of editing techniques there are and their effects on the audience. Being the editor of the group, I will be taking these into account when filming for our tasks and how it will tie into the type of genre we are trying to achieve .

Codes and Conventions of Horror Genre

Horror

Editing:

Horror is a genre that features a lot of tension build up by many different factors to use against the audience, playing on their fears.The use of long length shots can help hied the identity of something/someone. This gives and audience a fear of the unknown and what they cannot see. The eagerness of wanting to find out the identity of what is unknown is created and puts the audience on edge and causing them to not know when to come next and be on the edge of their seat.

These notes I have made on the horror genre depict the different aspects the decades have played on to re-invent fear to keep scaring the audience. 

Filming Location

Our group has decided to make the setting of our footage at Sophie's house. We decided on this location as she had a large desk area where we could easily control the lighting to darken and brighten to as we see fit. Another factor regarding the decision is the large garden area with a garage, leading to many possibilities of tracking shots and pans.

Desk Area- The desk area in Sophie's house was the main factor upon which we decided to use for our filming because it was the perfect setting for a "don" type mafia character. The desk on which could have many props that suggest things about the character and the situation. The inspiration for this idea come from the ultimate crime movie, "The Godfather"

This scene has a low level of light to create suspense. The eeriness of the "Don's" presence is really something we wanted to play on, building tension and suspense for the other character to meet him in his cold-hearted and fearless state. 

The desk can also contain props and indexual signs that suggest a lot about the criminals personality. My inspiration for having props on the table came from the movie "Scarface"

  

The use of the alcohol implies his lack of care and importance towards his situation or health, this could further imply his attitude towards his enemies , being emotionless and cold-hearted when it comes to their fate. 

Shot Durations

Arthur walking through the gate towards the camera- 2 seconds

Running pan shot into the shed- 4 seconds

Switching on the garage light - 3 seconds

Finding passport - 3 seconds

Running pan shot into house- 5 seconds

Step over- 3 seconds

Opening of the Don's room- 3 seconds

Finding the Don- 1 second

Poring whiskey- 0.5 seconds

Drink push - 2 seconds

Over the shoulder "Im not here to drink"- 2 seconds

Close up "Im here for my money"- 1 second

Money push- 2seconds

Medium "And the rest"- 2 seconds

Over the shoulder switch- 1 second

Money toss- 2 seconds

"Good doing business with ya"- 4 seconds

Gun pull- 1 second

Blackout after gunshot- 2 seconds

Shot List

During our groups filming, we explored a variety of different camera shots to give different angles and effects for our continuity task.Each shot gave a different effect on the audience changing the view and perspective of the audience in the diabetic world.

Medium shot-
We used a medium shot in the opening of our continuity task and establishes our main character "Arthur". Showing the top half of the character gives a tense view as he approaches closer to the camera.

Tracking shot-
The tracking shot was used on the occasions where our main character is shifting from one place to another with speed., The tracking shot follows the main character as he runs so the audience feel as if they are following his journey from one place to another. This shot gives a personal; connection between the audience and the main character.

Low angle shot-
The low angle shot is used to give a very unique view as Arthur steps over the camera. This connotes the superiority of Arthurs persona in the task as he is above the audience in the shot.

High angle shot-
The high angle shot was used to give a swift and dynamic view as Arthur enters the "Don's" lair. The audience being above the main character further bonds the two as they are following him into whoever he's going.

Over the shoulder shot-
 We used the over the shoulder shots for our dialogue in our task. The over the shoulder shot while Arthur was speaking, gave him a large focus and proportion of the shot. This gave him a sense of superiority as the angle of the shot was tilted slightly.

Close up-
We used the close up to build up the tension and superiority of Arthur and really give power to his dialogue and make him look big to the audience. The close up shot resulted ink his face taking up a large proportion of the frame, this allows him to have a larger power behind his dialogue as he appears to be bigger to the audience. We also used the close up so that when the "Don" pushed the glass into the frame it focused into a close up. This gives a slight background of the mafia culture and how people are greeted and treated.

The Pacific Review

The Pacific is a HBO mini-series about the battles between America and Japan in the second world war. The series is focused on three characters; John Basilone, Robert Lecky and Ugeine Sledge. All three characters are real people who were involved in the war between Japan and America. The series jumps from character to character dfrom timte to time experiencing different situations and battles throughout withoput losing focus of interest in the audience. The fact that the series is based on non-fiction makes it even more astonashijng to believe what takes place in the 10 part mini series. The sheer brutality experienced in the mini series is jaw dropping and portrays the dark side of war to the audience with mental tolls being experienced and great loss throughout. The Pacific grabs your emotions and shakes them brutally throughout the whole series as they experience exactly what each character feels at every stage. The series takes you on the journey of characters from home to war and back home and tthe bloody battles they toil through. The series also depicts what happeened to soldiers after the war and how mentally scaring they things experienced was and the toll it takes on them.This personally is one of my best things I have ever watched as it is an emotional journey and each character I understood and become attatched to. It is an experience like never before watching this mini series. Even the title sequence at the start of each episode is breath taking.

Django Unchained Review

This movie really got the grips of my attention right from the very opening and rattled it to the finish. With scenes of pure brutality and racism causes the viewer to really put themselves on the shoes of slaves. You begin to get to grips with the violence and the treatment of the slaves in that time period in which the film is set in (1800's). Django is a blossoming character. He starts off the movie with such little confidence and wit. But with the help of Dr King Shultz , Django turns into a sharp tounged with a presence that could easily wake anything in his path. He begins to develop verbal and shooting skills in a battle to save his wife Broomhilda. It seems throughout the entire movie that Dr King Shultz ( the bounty hunter that bought Django his freedom from chains) is the only white character to treat him respect and give him his human rights, portraying his character to be loving and faithful and Shultz really plucks the strings of your heart when you think about it as he should be cold-hearted as can be as he is a bounty hunter but he is really a nice heart warming character.

In conclusion the film is a brutal train ride with emotional drops and highs to portray the struggle of slavery and the sheer brutality of the contextual time the movie was set in. The blood bath of an ending is sheer chaos and the final scenes are something you have to experience to be over whelmed.

Taken Review

The movie Taken is about a former CIA agent who's 17 year old daughter is kidnapped on a trip to Paris for sex trafficking. I was not disappointed as Liam Neeson portrayed the nice guy with an unknown skill set . The film creates Bryan Mills as a tall iconic hero for the audience, building suspense from each and every turn leaving you breathless towards the end of the film. This is a classic example of a thriller, incorporating the classic codes and conventions of a thriller and utilising it to make it one of the greatest thrillers made in my opinion. It is a movie I recommend to anyone who is able to watch it as the experience of watching such a film is something i think everyone should experience. I don't want to give too much away about this movie so il let the final interpretation be what it will be for you when you watch this film.  This film has one of the greatest movie lines/threats in the history of film making. I heavily praise the director Pierre Morel for this splendid thriller that is Taken.

Mad Max Fury Road Title Sequence

The title sequence opens with the following titles: 

 The name of the actors has been displayed in a typography that resembles that of a rusting metallic finish. This is relevant to the film as the setting is a decomposing desert with destructions scattered across the place. The characters names under this are written in a sharp red font. The typography is almost like its something that has been scratched into a wall with a stone as it features jagged, sharp edges. This gives the titles a rough and rustic feel which matches the tone of the movie. The use of the red resembles how easily blood is spilled in this world. The use of the titles being as they are " Tom Hardy As Max Rotatansky" gives a comic book feel as if anything goes in this planet, even if it is utter chaos.

This second title is set on a heated metallic background. This is almost "lava" like which resembles the burning and decomposition of the planet. The titles again feature a rusting metallic typography, reinforcing the lack of care on the planet.

This next shot is of a group of trees being burnt by an explosion/shock.  This reinforces the decomposition of the planet.

The titles do not continue until this seen of the main character Max Rotatansky being dragged back into an evil lair.

This scene closes and the following titles appear:

These titles appear with a transition of closing doors from the scene above. This effect is like doors closing in on Max's fate. This creates a large amount of tension for the audience as they want to watch the rest of the film to unveil Max's fate.  Again the rusty, metallic typography has been used to reinforce the decomposition of the planet. 

The titles "Fury Road" are then slapped on top. This fiery burning typography resembles that of a brand. This suggest that characters may suffer the scalding pain and be scarred.  The burning animation sets the tone of "fury" and destruction of the movie.

Kidulthhtod Review

Kidulthood is a film set in the heart of London and follows a bunch of crime involved school kids on their day to day lives and the events that occur. The film exploits crime, bullying and use of drugs and alcohol by the teens making heads turn at all angles. This was our biggest inspiration for our main task idea as the film was some what relatable to me and sent chills of thrill down my spine when i watched this and decided we wanted to re create that. Things from the clothing to the dialect was such a realistic representation of real life that it related to us. The use of grime music throughout the film was something that stuck in my mind as it replicated the culture of the characters and environment. I highly recommend giving this film a watch as it was the biggest inspiration to us for our main task.

Shot Types

As the editor of the group, I decided to base our footage on a crime theme so that I can dwell on the fact of tension using lighting, different types and angles of shots and also putting dramatic music into our footage. I have contributed into researching different editing ideas and techniques to aid in the completion of producing our film.

Shot Types:

Medium shot-  This shot doesn't show the whole body, it only reveals half of the body. This will be a very nice shot to use when we film the mafia boss sitting in his chair awaiting his visitor in suspense like in the "Godfather"  scene below. We will film this scene with a low level of lighting in an attempt to build tension and anxiety for the audience like this shot in black and white below.

Extreme Close Up- This shot is a very close shot showing detail of an image or physical features of a person and is used to build tension. This shot can really capture the fear or frustration in the facial expression like this scen from "The Grey" below.

Over the shoulder shot- The over the shoulder shot is mainly used in conversation to give a dynamic view/perspective and is framed behind a person who is looking at the subject of the shot. The person looking at the subject should occupy only about a 1/3 of the frame. This shot helps establish the position of each person and gains the feel of looking at a person from another persons point of view. I will most likely cut between two over the shoulder shots whilst abiding by the 180 rule to give a dynamic and tense view of the dialogue in my preliminary task. 

Close up shot- a close up shot is one that frames distinctive close features of the face, resulting in the face being the main focal point of the frame. This emphasises the emotional state of the character in the frame more than a mid-shot or a wide-shot that delivers general information about the character. The close-up exaggerates the characters facial expressions drawing the audience towards their feelings and emotions unlike other shots.

180 Degree Rule

The 180 degree rule is mainly used when filming a scene which involves the conversation between two characters. The rule is based off of the one side of the conversation and that shots of the conversation should be shot from different points on the 180 degree line (axis of action). If the rule is broken and a camera is placed the other side of the axis , the shots when edited together will look like the two people involved in the conversation will have possibly moved or talking to the other person as the positions of the two people will not look aesthetically correct in that the two people are facing each other.

The image above displays the Line of action and the angle of axis round one side of it. As you can see camera A,B and C are all in line or one side of the axis. These give a clear perspective of the conversation between the two characters. Whereas, camera D is the other side of the point of axis and is breaking the 180 degree rule. This doesn't correlate to the other shots of the other side of the axis and looks as if the characters have moved or the shot has shifted slightly. The 180 degree rule is one that my group is going to abide by for our preliminary task as we want our dialogue to look aesthetically realistic and don't want the effect that the characters are shifting around the shot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bba7raSvvRo

This video helped increase mu understanding go the 180 degree rule and gives moving visuals and examples of when the 180 degree rule is broken and when it is followed.

Exam Possibilities

I have learned that my exam question will be asking me to analyse the ways that the four different technical areas that are sound,Mise-en-Scene,editing and camera shots and angles can be used to depict difference in representational areas in a small section from a soap. The representational ares we may be asked to look at are:

-Gender

-Class

-Race

Sound:

I should think about how diabetic and non-diabetic sound is used in the clip and how effects like sound bridge, voiceovers, sound motif or soundtracks are used to show difference. For example; a soundtrack may be used when showing one character and a different soundtrack whilst showing another. The tone of the soundtracks may be in binary opposition to depict difference in the two groups.

Camera:

Things such as camera angles can be used to show difference in power between representational groups. For example; a low camera angle can be used to emphasis the dominance of the representational group, whereas as high angle can be used to depict the weakness of a representational group.  

Mise-en-Scene:

Props in the Mise-en-Scene cane be used to depict differences in representational groups. Items such as clothing in the Mise-en-Scene to show difference in class by bright and wealthy clothes being in binary opposition to dark and dull clothes. Similarly, props such as jewellery and accessories can also be used in binary opposition to portray messages and differences between representational groups.

Editing:

The cutting between shots of different characters may be used in binary opposition to further imply differences between representational groups. 

Task

Our preliminary task is to film someone walking through a door. It sounds basic but our group wanted to add some tension as well as complexity into our footage. The group settled on the idea of making our movie gangster/crime themed. The inspiration from the movie "The Godfather" inspired the idea of having a mafia boss behind the door in which another criminal will open. This will create a lot of suspense and creates room for a number of interesting shots to be carried out. It also triggered the idea of using dark lighting to hide the identity of the mafia boss to create even more suspense and tension for the audience. Tension is a large role in our footage and will be something we will play on in the production of our footage. We have decided on the location of filming which will be inside our producer Sophie's house. This is because we can shut a lot of light out of the rooms in her house to give that dark mystique look we are going for. We have also located our actors. I am the mafia boss in our footage alongside Arthur in our class who will be acting as the opposing criminal.

Preliminary Task Roles

My group has been assigned roles to which go towards filming and producing our footage. I have been assigned the role of editing out footage. This means that I  will have to study techniques and shot types to help conjoin shots together and to portray the right message across to the audience. Chloe is the director of photography. Ben is the group's director alongside Sophie who is our producer. We are all evenly contributing to our preliminary task with fresh ideas and tasks to complete to help make our footage realistic, planned and aesthetically pleasing.

Rule Of Thirds

 The rule of thirds is a rule abided by to enhance the quality and focus of a photograph/shot causing a more aesthetically pleasing image to the eye. By breaking the frame of a photo/image down into thirds divides the image into sections and provides guidelines. These guidelines can aid in the enhancement of photos by placing objects or aspect of photos that meet in line with them.

The image above portrays the rule of thirds as the image is divides up into you guessed it thirds. The guidelines of these grids line up with the main focus of the image which is in this case the frog. The guidelines if followed result in a more balance and pristine image. This is because naturally the eyes focus to more the intersection points rather than the centre of the image. Using the rule of thirds works with the natural way of viewing rather than working against it to make a more aesthetically pleasing image. The rule of thirds will be an important role to remember for the director of photography in the making of our short film.

I have taken my own photos in which I have attempted to abide by the rule of thirds to make them more aesthetically pleasing and naturally focused. 

R-A-I-L-I-N-G

The abriviaiton R-A-I-LI-N-G is used to remeber the key concepts in media.

R-Representaion- How things are re-presented and re packaged to the audience.

A-Audience- Who is going to view it.

I-Ideology- A world view, attitudes that an individual or group hold and share in society.

L-Language- The way words and vocabulary are used to effect.

I-Insitution- The organisation and control of media industries.

N-Narrative- The different ways to construct meaning to the media.

G-Genre- A classification in which we put media into based on characteristics and patterns.

Introduction to Genre

Over that past few lessons of media studies, I have learned the importance and impact of genre. We have so far learnt the impact of genre on the audience within media and how different genres have different effects on the audience. For example; A "horror" movie will contain a lot of tension to keep the audience on edge not knowing whats going to happen next. Each genre has a different effect/impact on the audience. This creates audience preference (audience watching a certain film based on the impact of the film on the audience).

The audience play a massive role in the success of each genre. Due to statistics, the most popular film genre in North America by box office revenue, with a ticket sale of 39.35 billion USD from 1995 to 2015 is comedy. This is because the movie genre "comedy" creates a humorous and light-hearted impact on the audience and makes the audience come away with a very positive feeling because of the humour they have experienced. 

We have also learnt in the past couple of lessons that certain types of movie genres have a certain "syntax" or similar-recognizeable "patterns" or "themes" within them. For example; most crime and gangster films contain the "rise and fall" pattern. The "rise and fall" is a plot pattern in which you see the criminals rise to the top, the highlights and good experiences. You then see the sudden drop where the criminal looses everything and is on the verge of losing his life. By comparing these experiences together, the audience begins to unravel the mistakes and pot holes in the criminals actions. The effect of the "rise and fall" in the genre is to create tension and empathy. This usually answers all the questions of what happened (non-fiction). In conclusion, the "rise" escalates the audience and takes them towards the "climax" of the film and the "fall" is where everything come out of place in the plot and decreases the climax from the "rise" and keeps the audience on edge on what is going to happen next...

I have also researched and learnt about sub-genres. A sub-genre is a further division of the classification of movies within a genre. Sub-genres divide a genre into a group with similar patterns and characteristics. For example; A detective and mystery movie is a sub-genre of the crime and gangster genre . However, not all movies fall into a sub-genres. Some films break down the codes and conventions of fitting into one genre and combine to create their own genre. For example: rom/com is now its own genre as the codes and conventions of a romance movie and a comedy movie have been broken down and merged into one.