Summary of As Coursework Media Blog

I feel this media project has been a great experience for me. I have found the course to be challanging at times but overall enjoyable.
I have learnt allot about the film industry and how there is more to a film then just filming, editing takes up a HUGE part in film making. I have also learnt that to make a film you must think about lighting, sound, camera angles and mise en scene.
If i could have started my course over again I would have tried to pace myself more so that I had more time to make final ajustments to my blog and film opening.
If I pass my AS media course I will most definitely be returning to complete my A2 Media Studies.

Thank You.

Opening Sequence Evaluation

Evaluation Completed

Today I recorded my evaluation. I was running low on time as I had to do an individual evaluation because I could no longer get in touch with my group. I answered the questions as best as I could but had to record myself in one take due to the time shortage, meaning the recording was not as good as it could have been, neither was the presentation of the powerpoint, however I did it with the little time I had and managed to complete it. Enjoy :)

Opening Sequence

Opening Sequence final product

This is our final product of our opening sequence. I am pleased with the result of our work and feel we have achieved the horror genre by using the convensions applied.
If I could change the film I would have liked to have filmed at a darker time of the day. However if we had done so I don't think we would have been able to film as much due to everyones after school scheduals.I like the variation of camera shots used and the mise en scene we applied. I think we have successfully created a horror product. I would have liked to have created our own production name and logo but was unable to because of being short on time and group absences.

Things I like about the film:

• Variation of camera angles (especially worms eye view as the victim walks towards and steps over the camer)
• The costume of the killer (created by myself) I feel is realistic and scary.
• The setting (The forest was thick and dense creating an isolated and suffercated feel).
• The music(I feel it went well with the genre and created fear in the audience)

Things I felt could be improved:

• Tension could have been built sooner by introducing quick flashes of the killer.
• Dialogue could have been clearer.
• Lighting could have been darker.
• More blood.

Final Editing Update

Today was my last chance to finnish editing our opening sequence. I feel I did all I could to improve it in the time I had, sadly I did not have enough to do my final improvement which was to make our own production company and logo. However i did manage to sync the music better into the killers actions meaning there was no delay between music when the killer stepped in front of the camera or turns around in the final scene. I am happy with my editing process although I also would have liked the change from music piece one to go smoother into music piece 2 instead of just a one piecing stopping and the other starting. I would have like to try and merge these.

Opening Sequence First Draft Completed

We finnished our first draft of our opening sequence today. I am happy with the sequence however I feel there could still be some improvements to it such as our own company name and logo and a darker, dimmer lighting creating more of a horror effect. Sam will not be able to help with editing now as he is going to be absent from school until the end of the easter holidays, meaning I will have to try and edit by myself or with Ruba and Sepideh.

Editing Update 3

Sam had worked on editing over the weekend and had done a great job of putting music into the film and also credits which we had not even writtern. He also came up with the title name "Blood Farmers" which I thought was a great idea. I was happy and content with the video which was just as good because we running out of time. We showed our film to miss Kasam who gave us some good advice on dialogue as in one scene cars are driving past as two characters are speaking making it hard for the audience to hear what they are saying. We fixed this by getting rid of the dialogue and placing music right over the top of it. We did this as we thought it wasn't nessecary to hear what they were saying as the story still made sence anyway.

Editing Update 2

Yesterday me and Sam continued editing. This mainly consisted of taking out more shots and fixing the mistakes people had spotted on the showcase. We were also trying to sync sound with actions such as the killer stepping out infront of the camera and a scary noise to go with it. We managed to cut down the film to about 3 minutes 15 seconds. This was a great success considering our video started as 9 minutes or so long.
Sam brought in his mac book and downloaded an editing programe to mac book so that he could work on the film over the weekend.

Showcase

Yesterday was our Showcase. Because we had to re-film all the shots we had already done with Ruba, we had not had much time to edit meaning our video was unfinnished so we were worried everyone would think it very poor. I found great insperation in watching the rest of the classes films. Some groups had edited very well with great music to match.
The comments we recieved for our video were very helpful and detailed. They mainly consisted of people liking our variety of shots, location and Costume. However people also spotted mistakes with dissapearing cars and cuts cutting too late. We took the feedback into great consideration. Tomorrow we will follow our advise given and fix our mistakes.

Editing Update 1

Me and Sam started editing today while Sepideh and Ruba worked on the group blog. At first I found it difficult to navigate Final Cut Express but when we got used to it I found it was simple enough. We managed to edit about three quarters of our footage. We were finding it hard because we had about 9 minutes of footage and had to cut it down to three. We went through the footage we had taking out all the unessecary or poor shots. After this our total time was still about five minutes with the end still not even edited and no music. Our showcase infront of the class was the day after. We had edited all we could so we decided to extract our film into the showcase folder. This was taking a very long time so we left and went home while the video uploaded.

Filming Update 4

Today we took time out of our double media lesson to travel to Repton Park and finnish filming our opening sequence. I brought my costume with me today so that we could film the final confrontaion of the killer. We finally finnished filming and returned to school to upload the footage. I think the session went very well and the footage was very good with a great variety of shots.

Filming Update 3

Last week we tried to finnish our film before we broke up for half term. However we had great difficulty doing so as our actress Ruba was off of school sick due to glandular fever. We heard that Ruba could be off school for at least 2 weeks. We did not have time to wait for rubas return as we would be running extremely low on time by then.
We decided our only option was to strat filming again with a different actress. Sepideh and Rubas friend stepped in to help us out.
We re-filmed most of the shots we had already had but still had much left to do. After about an hour of filming we packed up and returned to school as Sam had work to attend. we agreed we would meet Monday and resume filming.

Filming Update 2

Yesterday we continued filming our opening sequence. We returned to Repton Park and picked up from where we left off. Today was sunnier then the last day we were filming which created a problem for us as when we put our cuts together the forest would look allot brighter from one cut to the next. We decided we could edit this out on Final Cut Express.
We experimented with camera shots and angles. I even decided to climb a tree to create a crane shot. We thought this would add to the variety of shots nicely.
We didn't manage to film a great deal as the battery on our camera ran out after only 40 minutes. We decided to call it a day and to bring an extra battery next time we film. To finnish our film I will nedd to require a costume, fake blood and a weapon.

Filming Update 1

Yesterday (07/03/11) we started filming our opening sequence. We walked to Repton Park where we began filming in the forest. We chose the forest because it was quiet dense and thick. It was also quiet dark which is what we wanted because it added to the effect of a horror.
Upon arriving to Repton Park we decided it was best to change parts of our story board due to a new location.
Our roles in the opening sequence were as followed;
Myself: Director
Sam: Camera man
Ruba: Actress
Sepideh: PA
The first day of filming went well but very slow. This was mainly because it was our first day of filming and finding the location. I felt the location was an excellent choice and fitted well with our genre. If we are to finnish filming our opening sequence on time we will have to schedual at least four more days of filming.

Preliminary Sequence

Our Preliminary sequence can be found on our main blog

Opening Sequence Analysis 3 (LORD of WAR)

"Lord of War" uses a very effective opening sequence that draws its audience in becuase of its uniquess and originality. The opening consists of a 1st person narrative of a bullet. We see how the bullet is manufactured, checked over, packaged, shipped, loaded and used to kill. The first scene starts with a crane shot coming down overlooking a factory. The factories lighting is very dark. This could possibly be to show how sinister the birth place of a bullet is. This factory creates weapons of death and the dim lighting used corrosponds this. It could also be dark to show how the bullet is still in the womb of its process as it gradully gets lighter as it is shipped about until finaly the bullet is taken out of its box and spilled onto the floor. Here bright colours are used to show its final birth before it is loaded into the gun. A fantastic view down the barrell of the gun is then used while the gun is aimed about and finaly shot. As the bullet leaves the barrell we follow its path until slow motion is used to allow us to look into the face of its victim. Quiet shockingly the victim is a young boy which makes it all the worse when the bullet penertrates his head. The lighting also shows us how far around the world this bullet has travelled. From a dark factory to a pale shipping dock to a sunny (supposedly) Africa.
Amazing camera shots are used when the bullet is dropped and begins to roll. The camera remains in a 1st person shot spinning around and around until it is picked up just before falling over the edge of a dock. When it is picked up a finger and thumb appear each side of the camera making it very realistic as if the camera is really a bullet being picked up.
The song choice (Buffalo Springfield "Stop Children Whats That Sound")is also an excellent one as it is calm and relaxed and not at all the sort of song you would expect to be played when corrosponded with images of bullets, guns and death. However the pace of the song matches the flow of the course the bullet is taking well and also lyrically matches the theme of guns and resistance. "Step out of line the man come and take you away"
This film opening successfully captures my attention with its camera effects, sound, lighting and origionality. I would defiantly watch the rest of this film.

Opening Sequence Analysis 2 (Zombieland)

Zombieland uses a very effective opening scene which straight away sets the narrative and genre of the film. We can tell this by the instant gore we are shown as a helpless man holding a camera in first person view is attacked and eaten alive by a zombie. In the distance during this we can also see the capital building of Washington up in smoke meaning the audience instantly recognises a disaster is afoot. We are then shown an extreme close up shot of the zombie giving us a chance to take in the great make up effects applied. Because of this we can can tell straight away by the first few seconds that this is going to be a gorey horror film. We also know from this first scene that this film is also going to be a comedy after the zombie looks in the camera, picks at he's teeth in the reflection and burps. These two genre's contrast each other extremely, however in this opening they are conveyed together perfectly keeping a great ballance between gore and comic effect. We can also tell from the narration that this is going to be a comedy when the soft voice of Jesse Isenberg narrates over scenes of people getting eaten alive by zombies. Lines like "It's amazing how things can go from bad, to total shit storm" create comic effect as in a situation like this we would expect a survivor to sound panicked or scared. Alternativley the narrators voice is calm and soothing as if he has been doing this for years. The narrator does not decide to hide anything or hold back on information for us to find out later as horror films ussually do to build suspense. Instead the audience is straight up told everything that has happened to the world and how the zombie infection has spread world wide. The narrator then tells us he's rules to survive in zombieland in which for each rule we are shown an example of someone being horrifically killed by not following he's rules. This again is very horrific but funny at the same time. For example, Jesse Isenberg tells us the first rule is cardio. He tells us that consequently the first to be killed were "The fatties". Dialogue like this is humerous and creates a ballance even when we are shown an overwieght man struggling to escape a zombie until he is tragically killed. We are then shown a montage of different situations in which people are attacked by zombies. The lighting used here is quiet bright and colourful which shows convensions of a comedy rather than the traditional darkness of a horror. While this montage is happening Metallica plays in the background with "For whom the bell tolls". This song is a good match for the film as lyrics such as "take a look to the sky just before you die, its the last time you will" go well with the theme of death and destruction. The song also goes well with the slow motion pace of the montage as we see people running and trying to escape the undead in slow motion allowing the audience to pay more attention to detail and so the costumes are trully payed attention too. Clever effects are used on the credits as they appear and dissapear evertime someone runs into them making it look as if the words are being pushed away. The title 'zombieland' appears in a glass window and splits in two after a man escaping zombies smashes through the window with a crow bar.
The opening is very effective and in my opinion deffiantly makes the audience want to carry on watching to see what else will happen.

Opening Sequence Analysis 1 (Donnie Darko)

The opening of Donnie Darko is very effective maily due to its music, lighting, characterisation and setting. The opening starts on a road on a mountain side. The lighting is quiet dark as the only light on set appears to be coming from a sunrise from over the mountains edge as tall trees block out all other light creating a mysterious and eerie scene. The first thing we notice is something bright in the middle of the road. The camera slowly pans along the road creating tension as the audience are anticipating to find out what or who this is in the road. At about 30 seconds the person (Donnie) begins to sit up and we realise it is a young boy. Donnie is wearing a bright T shirt so we can clearly see him laying in the road and so he does not blend in with it. While this is happening a low piano sound plays creating a mysterious loud vibration sound. At this point the audience is curious as to why this boy was laying in the road drawing them in and wanting them to find out more. When we finaly get a close up on Donnie we see he is dazed and confused and seems to be wearing pyjamas and no shoes adding to his mysteriousness. We also see a road bike opposite him making us wonder that maybe Donnie has had an accident. At 33 seconds a high pitched piano sound plays over the low vibrations playing a soothing lullaby with vocals singing harmonys over the top. Before Donnie stands up the camera pans over the mountain side creating a peaceful scene that suits the lullaby. When Donnie stands up with his back to the camera in a close up shot we are distanced from him as we cannot see he's facial expressions. When Donnie turns to face us we see his face change from dazed and confused to a smile as donnie begins to chuckle to himself. From this point we can see that Donnie is not a normal boy. The fact that he is in this bizzare situation and is appaerntly not worried like a normal boy would be creates the questions, why is he laughing? What does Donnie know that we don't? This again creates tension between Donnie and the audience as they want to know more about him. At 1:13 Donnie walks out of view of the camera and The title fades in. The font itself is strange and exotic like Donnie. At the same time the title appears the lullaby changes into more of a sinister note co-inciding with the title, giving off the impression that Donnie Darko is dangerous or disturbed. At 1:15 the director includes a camera effect a few seconds after the title appears. A blinding flash fills the screen. This flash is made to look like a sunrise. It could also be the signal for the flash created from a large explosion as if from a nuclear bomb, signifying the end of the world. This would contrast to what actually happens in the film as Donnie is told the world will end in 28 days. This could also mean a new beginning, as the sun has risen and a new day is upon Donnie. This would also contrast to what happens in the film as we find out later that Donnie is in a tangent universe that is on a constant cycle always begins again on the mountain. After this flash Donnie appears riding his bike back down the mountain. A variety of camera shots show Donnie is alone on the road as if he is a lone wanderer, a solitary figure.

The song that plays once Donnie appears after the flash is very important to the opening as the lyrics of the song match key elements of the film and give an insight to what this film will contain. The song is 'The killing moon' by Echo and the Bunnymen. Lyrics such as "So soon you'll take me" and "up in your arms too late to beg you" and "fate, up against your will, through the thick and thin. He will wait until you give yourself to him" corrospond greatly to the films events as Donnie is forced to make a decision to give up his life and that it is fated that Donnie must die. Once Donnie is off the mountain we are shown a poster for a "middlesex halloween carnival". This gives the audience a small insight of the date and place the film is set in. As Donnie rides through a suberban neigbor-hood we can see that he lives in what appears to be a tidy well kept area giving us the impression of a safe secure place. Once Donnie arrives at his house the camera pans away from Donnie and across the front lawn (which is very bright and colourful creating sence of happiness and possitivity) where we first see his family. A man stands on the lawn tending to his garden, we presume this to be Donnie's father. When a young girl, maybe a little older than Donnie (we presume this is his older sister) crosses the lawn to speak to her father he ushers her away with a leaf blower causing the young girl to run away stropping while her father laughs to himself. These characteristics show that Donnie's family is pretty much an average family as the father thinks himself a bit of a comedian and the young girl is a stroppy teenager. However we see from Donnie's rather large well kept house that he is also quiet fortunate. When the camera returns to Donnie he rides towards his garage and discards his bike desperatley leaving it carelessly on the lawn. We then leave Donnie again to see a younger girl (presumebly Donnie's younger sister) jumping and having fun on a trampoline. Donnie enters through he's back yard where we walks past his mother while she looks up from reading a Stephen King novel giving him a concerened yet unsurprised look, totaly ignoring her as she stares after him. This shows the audience that everyone in this family seems to be normal except Donnie. The father, sisters and mother all appear to be doing normal day to day things except Donnie, singling him out from the rest of the family. We can tell by the way his mother does not bother to ask where he has been that Donnie and his mother do not get along and that this is not unusual and must happen quiet frequently in the Darko household. When Donnie enters the house the camera follows him from the side as he goes to the fridge. When he opens the door we see a white board on the door on which someone has writtern "Where is Donnie?". This tells us that the family are in fact worried and concerned about Donnie but are also used to this unusual behaviour as no one confronts Donnie when he returns home. The total effect of the opening gives the impression that Donnie is a problem child and not your average teenager.
The opening in my opinon is very gripping and makes me want to continue watching the rest of the film as it seems mysterious and creates questions that I want to be answered.

Panning Shot

In this panning shot, the camera rotates slowly in a 180 degree angle taking in the scenery of a beach. The shot is used to show the beauty of the beach and is rotated slowly to emphisise the intensity of its beauty.

Tracking Shot

In this scene of Kill Bill. A tracking shot is used to follow Uma Thurman around the set giving the audience a clear view of the location and also follows the main characters every move making them the main focus of the scene.

Crane Shot

In this scene of 'Elizabeth' a crane shot it used extreme effect as the camera starts of panning across a bloody river gradualy zooming out until we can see many dead bodies next to the river. The camera continues to rise and zoom out until we can see a whole field of bodies increasing the shock horror.

Whip Pan

In this scene with bruce Lee a whip pan is used to quickly get from side of the set to another. The whip pan is also so fast that it creates a blur allowing two scenes to merge into each other. This creates a sence of ergancy and panick.

Reverse Tracking Shot

In this scene of 'Goodfellas' a reverse tracking shot is used to focus on the two characters. By using a reverse tracking shot, the backgroud moves away while Robert De Nero and Ray Liotta remain as they are. This creates a feel of unreality as if the world is around them is going crazy.

Worms Eye View

In this extract of a worms eye view, the camera is looking up from the floor creating a status effect meaning that because the camera is lower than the subject it is looking at, it seems inferior and less important. This is also a good shot to show someone with power (looking down on the camera) or someone with fear (looking up at the camera).

Harry Potter Advertising

Empire magazine is one of the most popular Film magazines on the market. The fact that Harry Potter is on the front page shows how massive this film is. Also the fact that it’s on the front page means that people will see Harry Potter being advertised whether they buy the magazine or not. By simply entering there local news agent or supermarket they will see the front page and be reminded of Harry Potter.

By advertising on busses and other public transport people will see Harry Potter promted where ever they go. On a normal daily routine people will not me able to go one day without seeing some sort of advertisment for the new motion picture.

At the time of the film’s release the You Tube homepage was set as a Harry Potter theme and automatically started a trailer upon loading the homepage. This means that every time someone opens up YouTube they will be presented with Harry Potter. YouTube is extremely popular meaning a massive majority of the world will view YouTube and see the trailor everyday causing them to go see the film.

Selling the video game once the film is released will encourage younger audiences to see the film once they have played the game. Or visa versa.

This poster was promoted all over the country in cities, cinemas and on public transport. With so much advertising people will be constantly thinking about the film and will eventually sucome and go see it.

This is a harry Potter action figure. Toys will promote the film to a younger audience who play with them. If children play with the toys they will want to see the characters in action on the big screen also.

How are the sequences from ‘Pillow talk’ and ‘fringe’ different? Discuss the difference in pace and style of editing as well as the effect the editing has on meaning/the audience’s receptions of the extracts.

In this essay I will be comparing and contrasting two extracts ‘Pillow Talk’ and ‘Fringe’. Pillow talk is a romantic comedy directed by Michael Gordon and was released in 1959. Fringe is an American science fiction series broadcasted in 2008. These two extracts have been selected because of the time difference between them showing great differences in pace, style of editing and the effect the editing has on the audience.

The style of editing is extremely different as we can tell by the diverse range of cuts and shots which appeal to both target audiences. In “Fringe” a conversation has been broken up into many different shots. The cuts used are fast and fluent. Each shot length lasts about three seconds focusing on the characters facial expressions. By focusing on the characters reaction to dialogue the director has brought the audience closer to the character making them feel emotionally connected. An establishing shot is then used to show the outside location of the next scene. Using CGI, the director places a huge spacecraft or blimp above the next location which vanishes from the air creating dramatic effect which builds tension as the audience is given a quick change of scene.
In Pillow talk the editing in cuts is hugely reduced in comparison to Fringe. The shots used in Pillow talk are very basic consisting of mainly over the shoulder and medium shots. Pillow talk is much slower paced and uses fairly long shots at a time without cutting for up to thirty seconds. This is due to the time the film was released when multiple shots had not fully merged into films yet due to the technology of editing. We can see in Pillow Talk that a split screen is used in a telephone conversation instead of alternating cuts. This is to connect to the audience with the characters. Because we can see both characters facial expressions at the same time, the responses to each other’s dialogue is emphasised. This shot at the time would also be considered impressive and trendy as it pushes boundaries for a film of its time. A dissolve shot is used for a change of scene creating a soft transition from one location to the next and also creating a feeling that time has passed since the last scene.
The difference in pace is not just due to the difference in era and technology. Pace is used in these extracts to match the genre of the film or show. Pillow talk is a romance and is much likely to be a slower paced film with fewer shots to create intensity and emotion throughout the conversation. Fringe, being a sci-fi uses the common conventions of that genre meaning many multiple shots are used to create tension and excitement as if something big is about to happen.

The mis-en-scene plays a big part in setting the mood and scene. ‘Pillow Talk’ uses lighting to create a calm, relaxed, romantic scene with dim backlights and lighting on the main characters making them the focus of attention. ‘Fringe’, to create a mood of tension and danger, uses mainly backlights from behind the blinds, allowing only a shed of light to enter.

The audience of these two extracts would contrast quiet greatly due to age and gender. This is because of genre and the large time period between which these extracts were filmed. As Pillow Talk was shown to audiences in the 1960’s, the style of editing isn’t as diverse as it is in modern day films. Because of this someone who is used to modern day editing in film would not read Pillow talk the same way that an audience from the 1960’s would read it. This is because an audience member from the 1960’s would see the editing being at its peak where as a modern day audience would see it as dull, simple and with much to be improved since a modern day audience member is used to multiple camera angles and fast paced cuts. In terms of gender, women may prefer ‘Pillow Talk’ to ‘Fringe’ because of its genre. ‘Pillow Talk’s appeal towards woman may be greater than men because it is a romance, whereas men may appeal more to ‘Fringe’ because of the action it contains. 

In conclusion it is clear that both extracts have a significant difference in style and pace, (due to the difference in time and technology between them) however, both extracts aim for the same audience reaction of tension and focus. Both extracts attempt to do this by using close ups on facial expressions as they react to dialogue.