What Lies Beneath

Se7en

This is a film trailer for the film Se7en.

Today I watched the film seven and thought it was absolutely amazing. It was such a clever idea and I really was interested the whole way through. This has made me think about my film and how I want it to be a simple idea which isn't made too obvious too soon.

Vlog number three: How filming went

British Film Institute

Today we went on a trip to the British Film Institute. Whilst we was there we heard from a range of speakers including Pete who is the Chief Examiner. The speakers proved to be beneficial as although they spoke about some things which are extremely advanced for As students it really did show us what going further into the media industry would be like.

Filming

On Thursday Caroline and I filmed for our film opening. We was given two hours out of school where we got to film. In this two hours we was able to complete everything we set out to. It was certainly a tiring experience. Towards the end of filming we was both extremely tired, and I have a bad feeling that we rushed the end. However on a brighter not I do think that we was able to get a variety of shots and angles which we should be able to quite easily edit together. Lucky for us we had good lighting and hopefully that means out continuity is good.

OAP Representations

Filming preparation

Tomorrow Caroline and I are going to be filming our 2minute film opening. I have just checked the weather forecast, and tomorrow afternoon should be dry and a bit cloudy. This could work to our advantage as our film is focused along a topic which is slightly depressing yet totally thrilling. Today Caroline and I finalized our actresses outfit and made the choice to have her dressed more modern as this would be more creepy that a typical 'black hoodie' effect. Tomorrows we feel like we have our work cut out for us, however if we stick to our key ideas, get the correct shots, and don't lose sight of the main goal I'm sure we'll be fine.

The Stepfather (1987)

This is the original opening for the film 'The Stepfather'. At the start we are curious to see what the man is doing as the non-diegetic music is constantly building suspense. The detail of what as happened isn't revealed, however it's safe to assume that he has murdered his wife and stepchildren. We can assume this because the character isn't fazed by the dead bodies around him as well as the fact he was washing blood off of his hands. Something which I find to be rather creepy is how much the mans identity changed within a small period of time. He comes across as psychopathic as whatever has happened was obviously planned, and not accidental in the slightest.

Setting for our film opening.

Your message:

Setting for our film opening.

Your message:

Setting for our film opening.

Your message:

Setting for our film opening.

Your message:

Setting for our film opening.

Your message:

Different types of readings

What is a dominant reading?
A dominant reading is when the reader understands and appreciates what the writer is saying. The point may or may not be intentional, however the reader is oblivious to the authors intention.

What is an oppositional reading?
An oppositional reading is one when the reader has the opposite point of view.

What is a negotiated reading?
A negotiated reading is when the reader shares some of the same view as the writer, however they also have their own opinions on the text which reflect their own personal opinion.

Vlog number two: Discussion about our progress so far

This 'VLOG' is all about where we stand in retrospect to our film opening. As you can see we have raw ideas which we are now finally ready to start story boarding.

Representations of age

Representations of age

	Youth	Old age
Positives	Ambicious Sporty Hardworking Talented Free willed  Able bodied Strong Fun Modern Innocent	Educated Religious Caring Wise Moral Stable Freedom Volatile
Negitives	Uneducated  Lazy Arrogant  Trouble Gangs Ignorant  Pregnancies  Hormonal Immature Insensitive Frivilous  Sexualised Drugs Smoking Violence Hedonistic Moody ASBO Immature Hormonal	Arrogant Traditional Disabled Boring Slow Moany Vulnerable Fragile Dependent  Smelly Senile  Anti-youth

Dr Who extract analysis

In this extract there are a number of different camera angles used to show exactly what we should be paying attention to. From the very start there is an over the shoulder shot which shows us that we should be listening to what the Doctor has to say, as he is the one with all the answers. In this case the impression is given off that the man is more interlectual as he is more stoic incomparison to Rose who is clearly emotional. Shortly after there is an extreme close up on Rose to show the audience that she is weak. We can come to this conclusion as she is crying which shows us that nothing else was important enough to be shown in the shot. Looking at this from the same point of view it makes the Doctor look strong even though he is not in the initial shot. Something which makes Rose look humane is when a mid close up of the Doctor is used, as he is transparent. This shows us that the way Rose is acting is normal and that the Doctor is abnormal. Also there is a two shot used which allows us to compare the representations of gender more easily.

When looking at the Doctor and Rose at the same time in a two shot, we can see Rose is looking up to him, showing us that she admires him for his behaviour and profession. This shows us that women are more domestic than men. When the Doctor attempts to be professional and offer some support and encoragment he deflects his attention to the other people present. In this case we see an establishing shot which shows us that he dominates their relationship. This could also be seen as the Doctor is trying to protect Rose from what has upset her by distracting her. There is a long shot of the Doctor from which we learn that he is superior to Rose, as his body language is confident, relaxed and practicle. It shows us that his attitute is positive.

From this the audience can see that men and women can have a conversation not only on a civil level, but as friends.Mise en sceneThe Doctor is in the Tardis with dark colours surrounding him, it’s shell- like representing how men are more closed off and keep their emotions in check more than women, compared to Rose who is on a beach which is a very open setting which can also be seen as representation of emotion, how women are open with their emotions compared to men, who, stereo-typically are quite reserved. In the Tardis it’s all artificial lighting inside, creating an almost alien look with the strange combination of colours, in contrast to the beach where it has natural lighting. This conveys the point of opposites: dark vs. light, yin and yang. Also there is contrast of the character with their surroundings, for example Rose stands on abeach that is timeless and yet she is so young compared to the earth whereas TheDoctor is in a very futuristic looking time machine and yet he himself is old but never ages. The shot-reverse-shot towards the end of the clip where they areboth on the beach represents neutrality and that despite the fact that they aredifferent, they still share that connection. However while they both stand on abeach, they have a different background to one another. The Doctor has a cliff representing earth, while Rose has the ocean representing water- the two things that make up our planet, working together. The Doctor is in a suit, smart or professional looking, representing men in that way, that they are powerful comparedto Rose who is in a black leather jacket and pink gloves, seeming more casual maybe representing the stereotypical idea that men are professional and they go out to work and ‘bring home the bacon’ while women can dress casually because they have domestic roles that do not require them to dress smartly. Also the pink glovescan be seen as a typical girly colour. The only prop used in this clip is the sonic screwdriver by The Doctor, suggesting the theory that men like gadgets andelectronics and they are all-knowing when it comes to that, also the light the screwdriver makes when it is activated is blue which is almost always associated with boys.

Within this extract there is non-diegetic sound in the form of a constant slow pace of music, which creates a calm setting. This sigfifys that men aren’t always ruthless and can behave in a passive way which proves the stereotype wrong. From this the audiencee can see that men and women can have a conversation not only on a civil level, but as friends. Whilst there is non-deegetic sound there is also diegetic sound present as the actors are speaking. This is important as it shows us that people can get their emotions across without kicking and screaming even though he isn’t actually there. The audience is lead to believe that there relationship was important to them both as through conversation it’s obvious there’s a mutual respect.

The main source of editing is shot-reverse-shot from the doctor to rose, and soon and so forth, it’s representing how close they are and that the conversation isjust between the two of them. The Doctor is then the one who breaks this closeness by looking at rose’s family instead of her, creating an eye line match. The fact that it was him who looked away instead of her can be seen in different ways,for example either the stereotypical view of men that they are in control- thedoctor is in control in this conversation- or it can be seen that he is in factweak and can’t hold the gaze with her and has to look away. The eye line match brings rose and the audience back to reality, by seeing the family we realise thatit’s not just the two of them and that feeling like the rest of the world doesn’t affect them is now shattered by seeing these three other people.

Footloose analysis

Yesterday I went to the cinema to see the film Footloose. During the first two minutes of the film I payed very close attention to the detail which was revealed about the film. I'm only blogging about the first two minutes as this is the initial aim of my task, and is ideally what I would like my film opening to be like. At the start of the film there is loud music played and a series of camera shots and angles, which allow the audience to feel the energy of the film. Within the first two minutes we don't learn very much. We know that there are teenagers who are partying and drinking late at night who then have a car crash which turns out to be fatal. If I was to have my film opening as something which seemed to have an ending SUCH AS A DEATH, then I would be afraid that people would think I was telling the whole story. Whereas as the film went on the start of the film proved to be a key piece of information, which couldn't have been changed in any way. In this case the film opening proved to be effective, (as the rest of the film was made) but in my case it could be a risk which might not pay off.

Possible clips for our half term homework project

Examples of twenty-five word pitches.

BIG: When a boy wishes to be big at a magic wish machine, he wakes up the next morning and finds himself in an adult body.

TITANIC: Fictional romantic tale of a rich girl and poor boy who meet on the ill-fated voyage of the 'unsinkable' ship.

THE NUTTY PROFESSOR: Grossly overweight Prof. Sherman Klump, desperate to lose weight, takes a special chemical that turns him into slim but obnoxious Buddy Love.

MEET THE PARENTS: Male nurse Greg Focker meets his girlfriend's parents before proposing, but her suspicious father is every date's worst nightmare.

THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE: Peyton Flanders seems to be the perfect nanny, but secretly she's out to wreck the lives of the family she's supposed to be helping...

All of these pitches are twenty-five words or less. I decided to look up some examples before creating my own pitch so that I could get a better understanding of how much detail was necessary. Since looking at them I feel that I feel more confident about the task ahead.

Vlog number one: Evaluation of the preliminary task

Camera Shots, Angle, Movement and Composition

Camera Shots

Preliminary outtakes completed

So here are our outtakes.

Preliminary Task

So the preliminary task is now finished and made official, as its now on youtube for the world to see. Not that I believe for two seconds that many people will view it, however this feels like Caroline and I have made it successfully to the first stepping stone on this long old journey we have ahead of us. I'm totally dreading the feedback, but for now we're pressing on and doing the outtakes.

Preliminary task completed

Today Caroline and I stayed after school to edit our preliminary task. Surprisingly it was a lot easier than we had anticipated. It proved to be a massive learning curve, because when we was going through our footage we realised that we didn't have some shots of our actors which we thought we had. In hind sight we should have got close ups of Daisy, and a two shot of them together. This would have probably made our job of editing easier, and at least meant that we had a choice of which camera angle we used rather that having no choice at all and having our hand forced. All in all we was able to learn our way around iMovie, and lets face it thats the main thing.

Preliminary task- Take 1, 2, 3, and all the way to 16

On Thursday Caroline and I started and completed the filming of our preliminary task. The amount of nerves involved were ridiculous, especially as we were the only group which decided to script our task rather than use lyrics. Once we had talked it through with our actors, to whom we are extremely grateful, it was clear it was going to take some time. The experience of being behind the camera and becoming a director for a short while was amazing, especially as being bossy comes naturally to me. Its certainly made me realize that not everything will run smoothly despite planning in advance. Adapting is going to be key. Through all the laughs, takes, and mistakes we think that we got all the shots we needed, well I hope so considering we have 16minutes of footage. Now its time to start editing.

Preliminary task preparation

Today in class we got into groups with people that we are going to be filming our preliminary task with. It was extremely interesting to see how the first two groups used the flip camera on and off the tripod. Caroline and me have decided that because the speech we have selected is sarcastic we would like to use over the shoulder shots so that we will be able to focus on the 'actors' voice. Another idea me and Caroline thought of is that we could film the clock ticking so that the frustration in the first character builds whilst waiting for the second one to arrive. Something that me and Caroline also thought about was possibly doing a 180degree shot which would be used to round off the scene.

Media Studies booklet.

ECS as and A2 Media Studies Course Booklet

This booklet contains everything that I'm going to need to help me with media for the next two years. Its full of useful pieces of information. After having a look through the booklet I am extremely excited, anxious and apprehensive about the preliminary task and even more so the actual task.

Mute.

I think that the opening for "Mute" is extremely clever.  The music and the opening credits build suspense so that we stay interested in it. There aren't a wide range of camera angles used however the angles that were used proved to be effective. I was also impressed with the music fading out as she took her headphones out of her ear. However I didn't like the fact that we know there was so speech for a reason. It could have been better by not giving the whole film away only two minutes in.

Today's lesson

So today in class we watched film openings which had been directed and produced by previous students from Enfield County, and other schools from around the country. I found this gave us a real taste of what our finished piece could look like (I know that's crazy considering we haven't even picked our groups yet). It was really helpful as it became apparent as to what the DOs and DON'Ts were. After only having been learning media for two weeks I have already become a major critic. 

Can I blog from my phone?