Monday, 26 November 2012

(New) Risk Assessment - Georgiou





Risk Assessment



Potential Hazards
Prevention Of Hazard
Wet surface could cause someone to slip.
Wear correct footwear or wait till the pavement dries.
Climbing on roofs to film could cause someone to fall through it or fall off.
Don’t climb on roofs to film, just use a chair or something to stand on to get a high angle shot or birds eye view.
The tripod could fall which could cause the camera to fall and break.
Make sure the tripod legs are spread evenly to avoid it from falling.
Could be hit by vehicles when crossing the road.
Watch both sides of the road before filming and crossing.
Objects in the house could cause someone to step on them.
Remove them from the room to avoid someone from stepping on them.
The rain could cause the camera to stop working.
Stop filming and wait till the rain stops.
The charging cable for the camera could cause someone to trip over it.
Put duck tape over the cable to stop the cable from sticking out.




Why is creating a risk assessment important?
It is important to create a risk assessment as we can look at this before we film to make sure nobody get hurt or seriously injured. If a injury happens then it could result in the actors being too injured to appear on camera, this will delay the filming.

Opening Narrative Credits - Hartt




Opening Narrative Credits



My Opening Credits
For our opening credits we are going to be using a red bold font with resembles blood will be spilt. The tittle credits like director and producer etc... will be shaking and the names will will be still to add an affect and not look over done. (Similar to the SE7EN opening credits). For the tile it will have a similar font to the rest of the credits but it will be bolder and larger to show its the title of the film. We title slowly enlarge to add an affect which will draw the audiences attention.

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Saturday, 24 November 2012

Editing - Hartt



Editing

Editing is the juxtaposition (placing side by side) of different shots to create meaning. Their are different editing techniques like the cut where it is a sudden change of shot from one location to another.

A basic rule in editing it that if anything important happens, show it as a close up.

Cut
A visual transition created in editing in which one shot is instantaneously replaced on screen by another.

Continuity editing
Editing that creates action that flows smoothly across shots and scenes without jarring visual inconsistencies. Establishes a sense of story for the viewer.

Cross cutting
Cutting back and forth quickly between two or more lines of action, indicating they are happening simultaneously.

Dissolve
A gradual scene transition. The editor overlaps the end of one shot with the beginning of the next one.

Editing
The work of selecting and joining together shots to create a finished film.

Establishing shot
A shot, normally taken from a great distance or from a "bird's eye view," that establishes where the action is about to occur.  

Fade
A visual transition between shots or scenes that appears on screen as a brief interval with no picture. The editor fades one shot to black and then fades in the next. Often used to indicate a change in time and place.

Final cut
The finished edit of a film, approved by the director and the producer. This is what the audience sees.

Jump cut
A cut that creates a lack of continuity by leaving out parts of the action.

Matched cut
A cut joining two shots whose compositional elements match, helping to establish strong continuity of action.

Rough cut
The editor's first pass at assembling the shots into a film, before tightening and polishing occurs.

Sequence shot
A long take that extends for an entire scene or sequence. It is composed of only one shot with no editing.

Shot reverse shot cutting
Usually used for conversation scenes, this technique alternates between over-the-shoulder shots showing each character speaking.

Straight shot
A sudden change of shot from one viewpoint to another.

Wipe
Visible on screen as a bar travelling across the frame pushing one shot off and pulling the next shot into place. Rarely used in contemporary film, but common in films from the 1930s and 1940s.

Group Narrative - Georgiou



 

Alex's Individual Narrative

My main ideas for my thriller film:

Characters:

Antagonist: The killer would have a hidden identity to puzzle the audience, he would have a large body build.
Protagonist/Witness: Someone who will see the first murder happen which will make them a main character throughout the rest of the film. They will be hunted by the killer because they have witnessed the original murder. The witness will be confused and scared throughout the rest of the film.
Victim: The victim would be an innocent female and not much would be known about her to increase the audience's appeal for the rest of the film.

Theme:

Murder in the opening scene to shock the audience because it is a murder and in the opening scene to surprise the audience. Set in a house in a woods. The victim would be alone and unable to gain help from anyone.

Narrative:

The first thing to happen in my thriller film will be a chase scene between the murderer and the victim, followed by a murder scene.
Opening section.

Conventions:

Time: Night time (around 23:00).
Murder in the opening scene.
A victim and a killer.
A chase scene.
Set in a lonely house in the woods.
Helpless Victim.

Liam's Individual Narrative
Narrative

Film starts with a person on their computer doing some online gaming when suddenly a chat box pops up in the screen. At first the person ignores it thinking its just another pop-up, soon the killer typing to the person starts revealing personal information that no one else could know. The person  is now scared and getting abusive to the killer, the killer then shows a live feed of the room the persons in, the person tries to run and escape, noises and footsteps can be heard throughout the house. Just when the person believes to be free and thinks he has evaded the killer but is cornered in a room, he appears behind him and swiftly stabs the person.

CharactersKiller (antagonist) - I.T specialist. For some reason seeks revenge on group of people who ruined his life; maybe worked at an I.T company or helped create it e.g (microsoft, apple) and kills or ruins the lives of his previous business partners who screwed him over and stole his ideas.

Protagonist - Computer hacker finds out a way to track him and predict who is going to be killed next and catch the killer.

Victim - A previous business partner of the killer.

ThemeRevenge - The killer is seeking revenge for being cut out of the loop from the company he created.


Codes and Conventions
  • Low key lighting
  • Handheld camera
  • Hidden Identity - Killer's identity is unknown
  • An Enigma - who's the killer?
  • Iconography - weapon/knife 

Target Audience

The target audience for this particular film teenagers fifteen and over for this reason the film would be rate a '15'. This is because is meets most of the specifications of a '15' film according to the British Board of Film Classification website. It has moderate violence and language throughout the film, showing some quite gory scenes very occasional which is justified by the context of the film.

Daniel's Individual Narrative

Narrative
A psychopathic serial killer wonders the dark streets in search to kill his father. The father neglected the boy  since he was a young because he cared more about money and his job, and so the boy was left to do everything himself. The boy ran away from home at the age of 8, hoping his father would come looking for him, but he didn't. Now at the age of 16 he is known as the most dangerous serial killer in the UK. His father knows something is wrong as his memories of his son reappear, but is it too late to regret what he has done.

Characters
Killer-antagonist
Victim-Protagonist


Theme
-Greed
-Jealously 

Target Audience 
12+ because strong language is used, dangerous behaviour and a moderate physical threat.

Codes and Conventions
-Setting- House, street
-Weapons- Rope, Knife
-Low key lighting
-Chase
-Enigma
-Fast timing of shots
-High pace music


Group Narrative


Characters

-Victim
-Killer (Hidden identity)

Theme

-Revenge
-Technology

Narrative

Film starts with a person on their computer doing some gaming when suddenly a chat box pops up in the screen. At first the person ignores the chat box thinking its just another pop-up, soon the killer typing to the person starts revealing personal information that no one else could know. The person  is now scared and getting abusive to the killer, the killer then shows a live feed of a room, the person is very confused and suddenly realises that its a live feed of the room he's in. The person turns away from the computer monitor slowly and walks over to the corner of his room where he is being recorded from. He picks up a small object and breaks it apart and finds a tiny camera wireless.  The person tries to run and escape, noises and footsteps can be heard throughout the house. He runs out of the front door a down a dark road. Just when the person believes to be free and thinks he has evaded the killer, he appears behind him...

Thursday, 22 November 2012

Opening Credits - Hartt



Opening Credits


The main reason why films have credits is to let the audience know the peoples names who are included in the making of the film. The opening credit start by saying the names of the important people in the film like; major actors, special guests, director, producer, etc... At the end of the film the rest of the film crew and actors will be shown, this is called ending credits.

The opening credits can give away what genre a film is by the font, colour, positioning, size and movement. For a thriller the audience would expect to see a red font on a black background, bold and jagged which is conventional to a thriller as it resembles blood, murder and mystery.

Se7en Analysis
The opening scene of Se7en the text looked like a child wrote it as it wasnt neat like how a adult would write. Also the text was flashing white with a glow around the outside of it moving uncontrollably throught the opening. The font was the same size throught the opening apart form the title of the film which was large to capture the audience's attention. These credits help to make the audience realize it is a thriller by the use of sound and the images on the screen.





The sound repeats itself to build up tension as it sends a shiver down the audiences spine. The images are conventional as the audience can tell the person is the killer by the way the camera never shows his face, also how it shows what he is focused on, which is the pictures he is cutting up. The way the camera show the killer cutting the skin off his fingers tells the audience that he doesnt fear pain and that he is used to it.
















Wednesday, 21 November 2012

Production Roles - Georgiou



Production Roles



Production Roles

Camera operator - Alex

Actors - Alex, Daniel and Liam

Film Director - Liam

Sound technician - Alex, Daniel and Liam

Editors - Alex, Daniel and Liam

Location manager - Daniel

Storyboard organiser - Alex

Production role descriptions 

Camera operators -  Are required to operate a variety of equipment including single and multiple portable, remote-control and electronic cameras, cranes and mobile mountings. Some other responsibilities include assembling and setting up equipment; planning, preparing and rehearsing scenes, and following camera scripts.

Actors - Have to take the role of a specific character, either because they auditioned for it or it was assigned to them. Depending on the character and the depth required to portray it, actors have to do a considerable amount of research and preparation for their character.

Film Directors - Are the main creative force behind a film.They are responsible for making a wide range of artistic decisions. Together with the producer, the director hires the actors and staff. The film director works with the staff day to day so the director must be familiar with all of the skills involved in producing a film. 

Sound technician - Sound technicians are required to assemble, operate and maintain the technical equipment used to record, amplify, enhance, mix or reproduce sound.

Editors - Are in charge of assembling raw film material into a finished product suitable for showing. The material they work with may consist of unedited camera footage, dialogue, sound effects, graphics and special effects.

Location managers - Have to research the background of the film and organise a wide range of suitable locations for production outside of the studio.

Storyboard organisers (artist) - Have to draw a collection of pictures and illustrations that show what happens in the script and help the director visualise and set up a shot. It also can help the production manager create a budget,  the editor get a better feel for pacing, and help the production designer visualise the setting and locations required.





Tuesday, 20 November 2012

Scream Opening Scene - Harrt

Scream Opening Scene

    

                                      


Long Shot
This shot is shown in the scene where the victim had escaped from the house to outside. There is a long shot used when she looks at the car in the distance heading towards the house. All you you can see in this shot is corn fields, this tells the audience that she is in the middle of nowhere.

This shot is conventional to a thriller as it tells the audience the setting, knowing that at anytime the killer has places to hide and that he is ready to attack at any time.

Close-up
This shot is shown in the scene where the victim is on the phone to the killer. The close up shows her emotion on her face as the is scared and frightened by the voice on the other side of the phone. This is shown by zooming in as it is a way of showing a characters emotion.

This shot is conventional to a thriller as this shot is a way of showing a characters emotion in different situations. From this shot it can tell the audience if the character is happy, sad or frightened by what they see. This shot can also tell us how dangerous other characters can be by looking at the victims emotion.

Eye Lever
This shot is shown in the scene where the victim has been stabbed and is looking up at the killer. In this scene we can sense fright as the shot changes from a chose up to eye level to make the audience feel the victims emotion.

This shot is conventional to a thriller as this shot is used to make the audience be in the characters situation and know there emotion. This shot also builds up tension and suspense as audience are basically in the shoes of the character and they can see what the character is seeing.

Friday, 16 November 2012

Results for Questionnaire - Harrt


Questionnaire Results
 
 I gave the questionnaire to 32 people in my school and here are the results.
 
 

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Sunday, 4 November 2012

Narrative Theory - Georgiou





Narrative Theory


Vladmir Prop
Vladmir's theory is that whenever you watch a film you will see certain characters within the film who will undergo certain tasks throughout the film. 
  • The Hero (Protagonist) - The main character who has a task to do
  • The villain (Antagonist) - The person who obstructs the hero from his goal
  • The helper (Side kick) - The hero's assistant 
  • False Hero (Double agent) - A person who pretends to be on the hero's side who is actually working for the villain, tries to disrupt the hero's progress
  • The princess (Love interest) - Portrayed as the reward for the hero and tends to be the object needed for the villain's plot.
  • Princess' father - This tends to be the person who rewards the hero for his acts
  • Donor - This is the person who will aid the hero by providing him with an object with magical properties

Certain characters will undergo a certain functions throughout the film.




First function - Complication 
This is during a current state of disorder or chaos normally caused by the villain in order to go onto the next stage. The villain then harms a member of either the community, kingdom of the family. One of the members of the three desires something, normally to get back what was taken or something along those lines and the hero's sent to get what is desired. The hero then complies to the request of the group of people and heads off plan action against the villain.
Second function - Transference
The hero departs from home to head of to face off against the villain and on his long, tiring and trying journey the hero is tested and attacked. The hero of course overcomes the challenge and is given  and is given a magic gift or helper then the hero arrives at his place so he can fulfill his quest.
Third function - Struggle
This is the final stage of the film is the struggle between the hero and the villain, which tends to turn out to be a long epic fight. In the end the hero is branded and the villain has been overcome and the chaos has been returned back to normal.
Fourth function - Return
The hero return triumphant from his battle with the villain, but then he's pursued. The hero escapes or gets rescued  and heads back home. During that time the hero returns home as is not recognised because the false hero has claimed all the rewards. Another task is set for the hero and he accomplishes the task.
Fifth function - Recognition 
Finally, in the end the hero is recognised and the valse hero or villain is unmasked and punished in some way. In the end the hero attains the reward what ever that may be.
Todorov
Todorov simplified the idea of narrative theory whilst also allowing a more complex interpretation of film texts with his theory with Equilibrium and Disequilibrium.




Todorov's theory is pretty simple, it has been separated into three stages.

Stage 1
The first stage of Todorov's theory is that the fictional environment begins with a state of equilibrium. Everything is calm and as it should be with no disruptions at all.
Stage 2
Then the environment suffers a disruption usually caused by the villain which changes the environment from a state of equilibrium to a disrupted state.
Stage 3
A new equilibrium is produced at the end of the narrative, returning everything back to normal.
Todorov's theory's says that a narrative is not seen as a linear structure, but as a circular one. The main narrative is driven by attempts to get rid of the state of disequilibrium and restore the equilibrium. However the equilibrium at the end of the story is not identical to the initial equilibrium at the start of  the film. Hence why it's said to be a circular narrative.

Todorov argues that a narrative involves a transformation. the characters and/or the situations are transformed through the progress of the disequilibrium.
Linear Structure
A linear structure is where the film goes from the state of equilibrium to a state of  disequilibrium back to a state of equilibrium, but... The new state of equilibrium isn't the same as the initial state of equilibrium.

For example:

1st equilibrium - The village is peaceful, very care free with no security or army at all.
Disequilibrium - The village is attacked and ruined long story short the enemy is defeated
2nd equilibrium - The village has ceased being under attack and all the danger is gone, but...

Circular Structure
A circular structure goes through the same process of equilibrium to disequilibrium then back to equilibrium. In contrast to the linear structure the new equilibrium at the end is the same as the equilibrium at the start.

For example:

1st equilibrium - The city 's national treasure is held up high in it's rightful place
disequilibrium - The treasure is stolen
2nd equilibrium - The city's national treasure has been recovered and help up high in it's rightful place 

Aristotle
Aristotle's main theory is that all films are based on common themes.

Some headings that are used are:
  • Inciting Incident
  • Dramatic Question
  • Character Goal
  • Antagonist/Protagonist
  • Stakes
  • Resolution
  • Sympathy/Empathy

Films based on common themes

How this relate to my narrative
My group narrative relates with Todorov's theory. This is like the linear structure because at the beginning of the everything is normal and peaceful as the victim is just doing everyday things, but then that peace is disrupted by the villain. Then at the end the villain is defeated. However it turns out he's still alive.













Friday, 2 November 2012

No Country for Old Men - Harrt

No Country for Old Men
Setting
The setting in 'no country for old men' is set in a deserted area in Texas where not much grows. This is conventional to a thriller as it set in a unknown location.

The setting tells us there is a large area to escape to but there is nowhere survive or hide because of the heat and lack of food and water. The remote establishing shot reinforces the idea that the location is endless with nowhere to go, this will make the audience feel alone and make the characters feel helpless and vulnerable.

Camera Work
The establishing shot of the opening scene shows a long shot showing the view of the setting. When the villain killed the the cop their was a close shot of the chains on the handcuffs around his neck, this was then  followed by another close up of the killers face. This shot shows that the killer has no emotion after he killed the cop which tells us he has killed before. This is conventional to a thriller as the close ups of the killer gives a dangerous feeling for the audience.
Editing
After the killing, the camera follows the criminals feet. Diegetic sound is used to create loud footsteps, this builds up tension and suspense as it is filmed in slow motion. This is conventional to a thriller as this makes the killer look powerful and important.

Characters/Costume
The cop was wearing his police uniform to show authority and control. Also to show that he is there to stop criminals.

The villain was wearing black which tells the audience he is mysterious and has a hidden identity. Also black sybolises death which suggests he is a cold hearted man.

The victim was wearing white which tells the audience he is innocent.