Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Editing (Continued)
As the editing process was started last week in the lesson times, we are hoping to get the majority of the sound editing done today, ready for the rough cut showing in Friday's lesson. This is essential as in the showing, there will be a lack of tension and mood should there be no sound. We are going to edit in some sounds that would seem to the audience as diegetic, whereas because they have been edited in, they will of course be non-diegetic sounds. Other than this, we will be adding the non diegetic sounds such as the tension-adding music and sound tracks.
Storyboarding
Over the past week and the weekend, I have been completing the storyboard for the final production and adding in the extra shots that we are needed to film in the near future. Today I will be adding some colour to the appropriate shots in the way that I believe we should edit the sequence into different colour patterns in order to make the scenes seem disjointed and off set from one another as the beginning is the introduction of current events, followed by some past events. The sequence is finished however, with the beginning of the current event from the beginning of the sequence.
Saturday, 7 January 2012
Thrilller Movies Studied
Through the planning process and the research, I have watched a selection of Thriller movies for both inspiration and research on the typically included codes and conventions. Some of these movies that I have watched include "Man on Fire", "The Sixth Sense" and "Orphan". The movie "Man on Fire", starring Denzel Washington is an example of both a suspense, and an action thriller about the relationship between a young girl and her bodyguard in a city where children go missing on a daily basis. The base of the story line contributes to the genre of a suspense thriller as the audience are often left wondering whether or not the young girl will be kidnapped or not. Obviously, in order to follow the standard movie structure, the girl must be kidnapped at some time, which acts as the chaos or the 'disequilibrium' section of the movie. The suspense is then transferred to whether or not the bodyguard will find the girl and in which one of his investigations. "The Sixth Sense" is a movie in which the genre is that of a psychological thriller as the audience must have a very psychologically adapted in order to predict the final outcome of the movie. Personally, I lacked the insight to predict it for myself and was, however pleasantly surprised at the end. The movie was a very good example of effective camera angles and visual editing, this very well created the sense of the supernatural. "Orphan" however is an example of a psychological thriller with hints of horror conventions.It again is a very good example of camera angles, but the most important thing, it thought, was the effectiveness of the edited music, which contributed greatly to the suspense and tension of the plot line as the character begins to get darker in personality. From these, I have gathered a broader knowledge of the key codes and conventions of the genre and this will help me in the editing and extra filming process in the production of the coursework piece.
Friday, 6 January 2012
Christmas Holidays
Before the christmas holidays began, we were partially into the planning process and the filming. filming progress was slow over these holidays as the group lacked any common free time. On the day that we did film, we made great progress and more than doubled our current footage length. In the first lessons back, we uploaded our new shots and we are currently in the middle of editing. Today we managed to get the initial title sequence in and working on Final Cut Pro.
Friday, 25 November 2011
Final Production Beginning
Over the weekend we will be taking pictures of the sets in which we will be filming and will also possibly be doing some filming ready for the final editing. The sets we are planning to use are:
-A kitchen in one of our houses
-The living room (For the first major event)
-Dark street/alley ways/ under street lamps
-Possibly also under felixstowe pier
-A kitchen in one of our houses
-The living room (For the first major event)
-Dark street/alley ways/ under street lamps
-Possibly also under felixstowe pier
Sunday, 20 November 2011
Update: Planning for final production
Over the next three weeks, we will begin filming and editing our short sequence, in this time we will be doing a recce of the areas in which we are going to film and a health and safety check for any dangers. Also mood boards of ideas and conventions of thrillers will be made ready for the final production.
Movie opening evaluation: Se7en
Recently, we were asked to analyse the beginning of the thriller film se7en. In order to do this we focused on the four main areas in movies. Below is the analysis we came up with.
Sound:
Within the opening of the movie, there is an emphasis upon the dietetic sound in the room where Morgan Freeman's character is. The sound includes the sirens of emergency vehicles typical in the busy American cities. Also the key rail in his apartment where he lives. In transition from this sequence to the sequence where detective Somerset meets with detective Mills sounds like a gun click, this may foreground and forebode future events of the movie to the audience. The ambient car sounds return when Somerset and Mills are working on the first crime scene, following the hugely emphasised steps of Mills running up the stairs in order to show his youth, arrogance and easy going nature. Can also show his flaws as a professional. The dialogue between the detectives follows the lexical field of homicide (murder) and outlines further the course of the film and their duties.
This section is followed by the title sequence in which some of the sounds in the sound track seem similar to screams which represent and evoke fear among the audience. The sound track also represents a very bass filled beat which can represent a heart beat and the fragility of life itself. The tempo an pitch of the music increases as the images on the screen become more intense. At the very end of the opening credits and title sequence, the only lyrics of the track are played at the start of the main segment of the film and are "you're coming closer to god" which clearly represents the factor of religion often visited in the film.
Camera angles and movements:
At the beginning of the movie, there is a still medium shot placing the people present in the environment and setting the scene for the audience. This is followed by a close up of Morgan Freeman tying his tie upon his detective uniform, and the camera shot slowly moves up so that there is a close up of his face in order to show his expression at the time. Another close up follows this but is of the character's work related objects lying neatly upon the table, showing they can possibly be of some importance to the movie as it progresses. There is a use of shot/reverse shot within the conversation between Mills and Somerset. This not only allows the audience to place the characters in their surroundings but also allows them to see the facial expressions upon both detectives' faces. When the two begin walking back to the precinct, there is a use of a low camera angle in order to make them appear to the audience larger than them and also shows importance. The camera tracks the two and matches their movement before a long shot in the bedroom. A close up of Somerset's glasses emphasises his intellect and systematic way of thinking throughout the film before a similar shot of his metronome slowly pans out to create tension and meaning of the metronome. Within the title sequence, there is little in the way of camera angles and shots except that they are almost all disoriented and grainy. Also, nowhere within the sequence is the head or face of the character present, this adds tension among the audience as the ominous and illusive character's identity is wanted by them.
Mise-en-scene:
Within the opening, there is a part in which the personal life of Somerset is illustrated, something that is rarely seen from this character is his personal life and feelings. The emphasis upon his uniform and his work related objects all being perfectly organised and applied perfectly show his attention to detail and prove he may be of great use in the investigations. It is clear that the two detectives wear very stereotypically detective clothes in order to illustrate their role in the movie and the community. The juxtaposition between Somerset and Mills' facial expressions outlines the difference in experience within their roles. Inside the first crime scene, the blood upon the blinds shows the violence no doubt soon to present itself to the audience. When walking, Brad Pitt's character is seen having his hands in his pockets, which can show either laziness, youth, inexperience or complacency with the crimes that surround him.
Finally, in the title sequence, there are many shots of who the audience believe to be the killer, without ever seeing his face. He is seen to be making many notes, selecting many images and many words sand sections from books, this really outlines the sick and systematic way in which he works. The most disturbing of all of these clips is the one where he is seen to be cutting the skin from his fingertips, showing that he removes his traces through destroying his fingerprints, not only making himself untraceable but almost removing his entire existence. It shows also that he may take pride in what he does, that he may think that what he is doing is right, even though the audience know that it is completely sick and morally wrong, no matter what he might think.
Editing:
The start fades in from black to the pre-credits opening scene, and quickly cuts to the important work relayed objects on Somerset's table. Lots of quick cuts are used in this segment in order to outline the confusing nature of the film. These cuts go to the murder scene, where we see the bloody blinds and the dead body. The same idea of quick cuts is used in the title sequence as well but the cuts are in fact a lot quicker and more shaky in order to further emphasise the confusion here and possibly allows the audience a peek into the mind of the killer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4YV2_TcCoE
Sound:
Within the opening of the movie, there is an emphasis upon the dietetic sound in the room where Morgan Freeman's character is. The sound includes the sirens of emergency vehicles typical in the busy American cities. Also the key rail in his apartment where he lives. In transition from this sequence to the sequence where detective Somerset meets with detective Mills sounds like a gun click, this may foreground and forebode future events of the movie to the audience. The ambient car sounds return when Somerset and Mills are working on the first crime scene, following the hugely emphasised steps of Mills running up the stairs in order to show his youth, arrogance and easy going nature. Can also show his flaws as a professional. The dialogue between the detectives follows the lexical field of homicide (murder) and outlines further the course of the film and their duties.
This section is followed by the title sequence in which some of the sounds in the sound track seem similar to screams which represent and evoke fear among the audience. The sound track also represents a very bass filled beat which can represent a heart beat and the fragility of life itself. The tempo an pitch of the music increases as the images on the screen become more intense. At the very end of the opening credits and title sequence, the only lyrics of the track are played at the start of the main segment of the film and are "you're coming closer to god" which clearly represents the factor of religion often visited in the film.
Camera angles and movements:
At the beginning of the movie, there is a still medium shot placing the people present in the environment and setting the scene for the audience. This is followed by a close up of Morgan Freeman tying his tie upon his detective uniform, and the camera shot slowly moves up so that there is a close up of his face in order to show his expression at the time. Another close up follows this but is of the character's work related objects lying neatly upon the table, showing they can possibly be of some importance to the movie as it progresses. There is a use of shot/reverse shot within the conversation between Mills and Somerset. This not only allows the audience to place the characters in their surroundings but also allows them to see the facial expressions upon both detectives' faces. When the two begin walking back to the precinct, there is a use of a low camera angle in order to make them appear to the audience larger than them and also shows importance. The camera tracks the two and matches their movement before a long shot in the bedroom. A close up of Somerset's glasses emphasises his intellect and systematic way of thinking throughout the film before a similar shot of his metronome slowly pans out to create tension and meaning of the metronome. Within the title sequence, there is little in the way of camera angles and shots except that they are almost all disoriented and grainy. Also, nowhere within the sequence is the head or face of the character present, this adds tension among the audience as the ominous and illusive character's identity is wanted by them.
Mise-en-scene:
Within the opening, there is a part in which the personal life of Somerset is illustrated, something that is rarely seen from this character is his personal life and feelings. The emphasis upon his uniform and his work related objects all being perfectly organised and applied perfectly show his attention to detail and prove he may be of great use in the investigations. It is clear that the two detectives wear very stereotypically detective clothes in order to illustrate their role in the movie and the community. The juxtaposition between Somerset and Mills' facial expressions outlines the difference in experience within their roles. Inside the first crime scene, the blood upon the blinds shows the violence no doubt soon to present itself to the audience. When walking, Brad Pitt's character is seen having his hands in his pockets, which can show either laziness, youth, inexperience or complacency with the crimes that surround him.
Finally, in the title sequence, there are many shots of who the audience believe to be the killer, without ever seeing his face. He is seen to be making many notes, selecting many images and many words sand sections from books, this really outlines the sick and systematic way in which he works. The most disturbing of all of these clips is the one where he is seen to be cutting the skin from his fingertips, showing that he removes his traces through destroying his fingerprints, not only making himself untraceable but almost removing his entire existence. It shows also that he may take pride in what he does, that he may think that what he is doing is right, even though the audience know that it is completely sick and morally wrong, no matter what he might think.
Editing:
The start fades in from black to the pre-credits opening scene, and quickly cuts to the important work relayed objects on Somerset's table. Lots of quick cuts are used in this segment in order to outline the confusing nature of the film. These cuts go to the murder scene, where we see the bloody blinds and the dead body. The same idea of quick cuts is used in the title sequence as well but the cuts are in fact a lot quicker and more shaky in order to further emphasise the confusion here and possibly allows the audience a peek into the mind of the killer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4YV2_TcCoE
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