Thursday, 26 January 2017

Script Tutorial 2


  Script (Draft 2) Feedback

  • You now have a lot of different locations for flashbacks – more than the two you had previously is good but I’d be tempted to say there’s now too much. You have ten different locations – this will be quite a challenge to film… remember you’d need different costumes, friends/family, potentially hair styles and make-up for each location to create the feeling it’s documenting a life. Perhaps limit to five or six but put a lot of work into costume and make-up?
  • Think about the visual style you want for this – black and white for flashbacks? Or perhaps vivid colour and with some kind of effect? Do some research on YouTube/tutorials to experiment with the right effect from Premiere Pro. You should then build this look and feel into your stage directions and description.
  • · I still don’t have an idea about how the rest of the full 30-minute film will pan out… if you’re an audience member here what reason do they have to continue watching? You don’t actually offer the audience an opportunity to find out how the character ended up in that situation – surely that needs to be part of the voice over and potentially the last 30 seconds or minute of your three-minute extract? 

Friday, 20 January 2017

Script Tutorial 1

     Script (Draft) Feedback


  • ·   As we discussed on Monday, there’s real potential to this idea and as an opening sequence with very artistic cinematography this could be very successful. But it’s nowhere near completion… there’s no title and literally one line of dialogue. Even with extended flashbacks this won’t fill three minutes.

  • ·    The one line of dialogue you have written is very good – but you need to develop this character now. If it’s the opening three minutes you need to ensure the audience sympathises with the character, develops an emotional connection and therefore wants to watch the rest of the 30-minute film.

  • ·     This is now a week late and I’m concerned that without this script very little of the rest of pre-production can be done: storyboard, shot list, shooting schedule etc. I’m always willing to be flexible but we now need to prioritise this coursework and see serious development over this coming weekend.

  • ·   We will have an additional script tutorial on Monday to go through the fully developed  script.   

Next step

    For my next step I plan on trying to make my script longer by adding more dialogue and perhaps more locations as by clip is too short for the three minutes.I also need to come up  with a title for my film. In terms of the video production I will fist make sure that my script is at the standard it should be then I will be able to create the other documents including mise-en-scene, the shot list and the story board.
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Monday, 5 December 2016

Preliminary Exercise Evaluation




For this preliminary exercise, I worked with Drenusha and created a story on an incidents leading to a kidnapped. Our planning process was fairly simple we mainly just worked around an idea of kidnapping. In terms of the final video there were elements to it that were good and elements that needed improving. In my view, I feel we  did well with the beginning shots as they connected together with the match on action personally think, the story-line lost interest as the scenes went on- not really making sense. In the first

However, our filming process was confusing and unorganised which lead to many difficulties such as not knowing when to film and how we were going to edit. Originally, we planned to film more scenes for the exercise but we were not able to agree on a time to do so. As a result, we just had to make a story based on what we had. Nevertheless, I managed to put the video together and had a chance to familiarise myself with the program. As a group we worked well together even though we had problems putting the video together. If we were to do this again I think we would definitely need to spend more time getting the accuracy of our shots right, our setting and mainly our organisation.

Monday, 7 November 2016

Editing: World War Z



In this film sequence from 2013s World War Z, there is  a lot of fast-paced editing which is used to show the panic and how these people are not thinking but reacting to this epidemic. This also creates tension and apprehension for the audience. During this scene, there are many cuts to show more than one perspective of the same situation.


The scene starts with a medium shot of the main character followed by civilians. Then there is a close-up on the microphone which gives the audience the assumption of music and celebration. The back view shot of the three guards may cause suspense as the audience don't know who they are but still have a sense of alarm. This is then followed by an establishing shot confirming to the audience that these people are being isolated from the outside world. At this point of the scene, the editing is slow- paced to show calmness of. However, the camera then focuses on outside the wall where the shot is cut again and is filmed from the zombie's perspective for a brief moment. The juxtaposition of the continuous switch from the increasing number of zombies and the civilians inside dancing inside builds nervousness as the audience know something the character don't in that moment (dramatic irony).

Anxiety begins to rise, as the soldiers begin to panic and the fast-paced editing signifies the fear of the unknown. From this point, the editing only speeds up as the atmosphere changes from celebratory to terror. The overview shot of the Jerusalem wall makes the audience understand how tall it really is. The shot of the single zombie itself is low key lighting which then changes high key as the zombie comes out of the shadow. This enigma code makes the audience understand what the zombie purpose.  By using these codes the audience may become distressed and fearful for the characters as the zombie's increase in number and reach the top.The duration of the shots shortens to emphasise the intensity and moral panic increasing. When the zombies jump off, there is a follow shot that shows the impact of the fall which then contrasts back to the characters who are in horror. Which is then followed by actions codes as, the main character is forced to run.


The use of one shot of the zombies falling to the soldiers shooting creates rigidity as the audience continue to stress about the main character and the civilians around him. The perspective of the helicopter (high angle shot) is used to  establish the situation. The constant movement of the camera signifies hysteria and terror of all the characters/ civilians. Slow motion is also used to notice the terror. There is a continuation of the use of high angle shots which quick transfer to close-ups of the main character followed by a close-up on the zombie. A close-up is used to show the bomb this enigma code allows the audience to understand that there is going to be an explosion which is shown through a mid shot. There are also elements of sound that help contrast the editing. For  example at the beginning the music was calm and the civilians were singling however, when the attack was taking place the sound of screams and bits are audible. 

Thursday, 20 October 2016

Cinematography: Gravity



This is the opening scene to Gravity directed by Alfonso CuarĂ³n. The first shot of the film is an establishing shot, introducing to us the setting which is in space. The next shot is a medium and long shot of both protagonists Ryan Stone and Matt Kowalski, so we as the audience, get the idea of their situation. The camera seems to be revolving around them. At this point there is a wide shot of the bottom half of the earth, giving the audience the impression that something is going to happen. There are also several close up shots in this scene that only briefly concentrate on the protagonists individually to signify how they have no time and gives the atmosphere a sense of danger. From the crane and tilt shot makes this scene more extreme when things start to go wrong and they have lost control building suspense. By the camera following the characters every movement, the audience feel a part of the action and desperation. There is another intense long shot when Matt is trying to help Ryan escape which is then followed by the close up of when Ryan is spinning alone making it clear to the audience her state being panicked and terrified. This scene is one continuous shot and ends with how it started through an establishing shot and also an extreme long shot where we can see the protagonist drifting off in space alone leaving a sense of mystery and uncertainty of what may happen to her next.

Saturday, 15 October 2016

Film Noir Research

Image result for film noir smoke

Image result for film noirImage result for film noirFilm Noir is a type of genre of cinematographic film marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism, and problems. The term originally came from french critics which mean "black film" or film of the night .This is a genre that doesn't make you think about happy endings. They are mostly set in locations that have are dark always, involving shadows of alleys and cities. Most film noir films have cigarettes and smoke to build tension in scenes. I have noticed that the women in theses film are portrayed to be independent and more eager to kill men rather than love them. In terms of dress code, women wear floaty hats and dresses, high heels and lipstick whereas men have more of a business-like look wearing suits and ties. Film noir is mainly set in the 1940s-50s in the era of  There are many high and low shots and fading scenes. Relationships in which "love is the final card in the poker game of death". Film noir has been inspired by crime which was a very big part of film noir that reflected America during that period of time. Film noir presented what America was going through in the Depression of the 1930s.




Monday, 10 October 2016

Blog Feedback

WWW: Overall, this is a very solid start to AS Media and I enjoyed reading your blog. You’ve picked out some really interesting clips and images to study which to me suggests you have great potential as a Media student. I’m particularly impressed with Drive – it’s a fascinating film, incredibly atmospheric and not a mainstream release so an excellent choice to analyse. It’s so important for Media students to be engaging with interesting and alternative texts outside of lessons and it looks like you’re already doing this.

EBI: You have a few bits missing or incomplete that we need to keep an eye on. The workload in AS Media is significant and it’s vital you stay on top of it – as long as you’re putting in the five hours or work outside of lessons you’ll be fine. The incomplete work: lighting – still image analysis and Film Noir research; Sound LR – you haven’t discussed who you thought produced the top three sound videos and why. In terms of the work you have posted, you are picking out some interesting details but overall you will need significantly more depth to your analysis in order to reach the higher grades in AS Media. Take the Drive poster – there is so much more you could say about the mise-en-scene here. Why a scorpion on the jacket? What about the neon lights in the background? The shadows? The upturned collar? Is the jacket slightly worn or dirty – what might this signify? Always go the extra mile in your analysis and explore every possible interpretation or detail.

LR: Firstly, make sure you catch up with the missing work by the end of this week. Then, for your LR, reflect on your first month of Film Language. What is your strongest piece of work so far? What is your weakest? What specific skills or knowledge do you need to develop over the rest of the course?