5 films im choosing for the homework - Max

For the homework im doing:

Taxi Driver
There Will Be Blood
V for Vendetta
The Sixth Sense
Donnie Darko

This is just so neither of you other boyos choose the same ones.

Research - 'Se7en' - Jack

Regardless of the fact that throughout this sequence it only focuses on what it seems to be memorabilia, and that you only really see the actions of a character's hands, it gives the spectator clues throughout that this character is most likely going to be the main character, with the provision of the Mise en Scene and his actions.

Mise en Scene:

• As the sequence goes on, it gives the audience the idea that the character is preparing for his murders, or in fact, he may have already committed a murder and is trying to get rid of the evidence. 
• Focuses on the books, texts and pictures - many shots showing character cutting significant parts of texts and pictures, and sewing things into pictures - the precision of it shows that the character is very meticulous, and this could possibly be representative of his killings. 

• Occasional filters of red, in which case could be symbolic to death or evil. 

• The character is shown crossing out specific words such as 'pregnant', 'intercourse' and 'transexual' these could be clues to what could happen later on in the film; leaving enigma codes for the spectator. 

• Low-key lighting - giving the sequence a dark feel to it, creating unawareness for the audience. 
• Highlight of when the picture of the boy is shown - the rest of the screen is black apart from the lit up picture of the boy - this is suggesting that he could be very significant therefore it wants to spectator to play close attention to how he looks. 

Camera Work:

• Shallow depth of field e.g when the character is cutting of hit fingerprints. This makes the spectator focus on what he is doing - it could be significant later on in the film. 

• Close-ups of needles, blades etc - this is so the audience can focus on these specific utilities. Or maybe it could be a sign to the audience that they could be used as potential weapons later on in the film. 

• Not much camera movement at all - this is down to it expressing that the one thing shown on frame is what the spectator should be focusing on. Due to the very fast speed of the cuts it also does not allow much camera movement and therefore it is establishing that each different thing that the camera is focused on in each frame should be the one that the spectator should be concentrating on. 

Editing:

• Very fast pace - could convey the character's emotions, suggesting the character has feelings of anxiety and his mind seems very 'scatty'. 
• The quick cuts only just give you an idea of what the character is doing but it therefore means that nothing is ever given away, creating many elements of enigma and the spectator will have to figure out the clues given themselves. 
• Turned page on the book used as a transition - can be used to create discontinuity, therefore being used to disorientate and somewhat engage the viewer to try and work out what is happening. 
• Jump cuts - used to manipulate time, suggesting what he is doing is taking a very long time - emphasising his perfection. 

Sound: 

• The sound is very parallel with the sequence as it builds up in regards to what is happening in the sequence. It starts off as a very simple, slow paced sound, and gradually builds up to a much more fast sound, creating suspense throughout the spectator's thoughts. 
• There is the addition of some scratchy squeaky noises over the top - this makes the audience think about what those sounds are - they may not be to do with anything as such, but are there to make the spectator feel uncomfortable, as they are also quite random, which can as a result disorientate the spectator.
• No dialogue - creating the suspicious personality of the camera. From what he can see he is doing throughout the sequence we can see that he is trying to hide something which is therefore most probably the reason why he isn't speaking; this could suggest he is alone and does not want to be everyone. It also gives the feeling as if he is trying to hide from the spectator as well, making the spectator intrigued to carry on watching the film.

Research - '44 inch chest' - Jack

Throughout this whole opening, it straightaway gives the film more of an eerie feeling as throughout the whole sequence there is continuously raised questions to what is happening/ has happened. The title '44 inch chest' can be used to relate to the character of the man as his look is represented as quite masculine, and looks like quite a big, strong guy. Therefore relating to the image of abnormally 44 inch chest. 

Sound:

• Contrapuntal sound is used - this could suggest many meanings within the sequence. The song is a love song about an end of relationship, therefore this could possibly be related to what has happened in the film and this is why the man is in the traumatic state. However it could be contrapuntal sound which could get us thinking about something completely different. 
• Sound builds up as the spectator gets more acknowledgment to what has happened - creates tension. Possibly the sound could now be more parallel to the context. For example, the sound gets louder and has a faster pace when there is a close up of the man's face, this therefore creates a deeper meaning how we feel towards the character.

Mise on scene:

• Setting - the setting has many elements of realism, therefore we can relate to both of the places. With the threatening state this can be used to shock the viewer due to the relation being made. 
• De-saturated colour - can be used to suggest that we're not seeing it exactly as it's happening; it could possibly be a dream or a flashback of the incident. 
• Everything is practically torn to shreds - could portray that if it was a person that had broken in, they may have been looking for something. 

• The man on the floor and the man on the sofa are both wearing aprons - leaves spectator to think what the relationship between the two men is. Could the man on the sofa be responsible for the incident? Or could he be a relation?
• Wind on the furniture - suggests that there is an open window and that it was a possibly break-in.

• The dog is also there which leaves raised questions to why it is there. It could possibly be the dog that caused the incident or it could not belong to the man. We can see this as the dog is hiding under the furniture, looking anxious to what has happened and avoiding the scene as much as possible. 

Camera work:

• Focus pull and shallow depth of field on glass - creating focus on why it is there and what has happened. 
• Glass could be diamonds/gems - this could possibly be the reason for if it was a break-in or burglary.

• Slow panning on man on the floor - used to gain good establishment of the narrative and also to raise enigma about the situation: has he been attacked? or was this the result of his attacking someone? This could therefore lead to the character thinking whether they are meant to be against the character on the floor or not. 
• Wide-shot with the man lying on the floor and the window open - this could suggest that it may have been a burglary and that they have broken in through the window. It could also lead the audience to wonder if the 'burglar'   is still in the house, or has he/she escaped back out the window.

• Long close-up on character's face - able to establish the condition of the man. Shows his eyes closing and leaves the spectator to question: is he going to die? Is he going to be the lead character or not?

Editing:

• Continuity editing - so the viewers are able to understand chronologically what has happened to the man and gain a good understanding of the narrative.
• Uses wall as the transition - the audience are able to see where the man is lying in relation to the rest of the house/ or room. 

• Slow cuts - so the spectator can get a better insight and view to what has happened in the house. 

Research - 'The disappearance of Alice Creed' - Jack

The opening of this film has used various techniques to maintain the spectator's attention and engagement, and has even tried to thrill the spectator, in this case it has therefore kept the spectator guessing to what necessary objects or places may mean or anything shown in the frame may mean in relation to the title of the film.
It has done this by:

• Sound building up the tension - at this specific point, as soon as they walk through the door there is an increased pace and volume in the music. It will create enigma codes as the audience may think "Is something going to happen now?" due to their tension being built up.

• Close-ups on the props - this includes close-ups on the drill, saw, rope and the soundproofing. Which is emphasisng the elements of danger within these utilities. It would make the spectator think that maybe these props could be used as a threat-full weapon against Alice. It also uses a shallow depth of field whenever the 'weapons' are displayed, which is therefore emphasising how important they are. Focus pulls are also used when displaying the 'weapons', which is to direct the spectator's attention towards them. Here are a few examples: 

Focus Pull and shallow depth of field on saw

Shallow dept of field on drill

Close-up and focus pull on drill

Extreme Close-up on drill

With all this focus on the drill it is suggesting that it could be very relevant to later on in the film. Not as a utility as such but due to the genre of the film it could be used as a weapon or a potential threat. 

• Dialogue - There is absolutely no dialogue throughout the first 5 minutes of the film; it is complete silence. This suggests that what they're doing has been planned - they know exactly what they're doing. This is also emphasised with the proximity between the characters - the character's are shown doing jobs that would usually require teamwork and verbal co-operation, however no dialogue is being used. This is shown at the specific point below. There is a long-shot/2 shot and then cuts to a close-up of one character and then to the other, doing the exact same job, which is therefore conveying that they know exactly what they're doing.

• Character is shown behind the wreckage - this is stating that he does not want to be seen and doesn't want anyone knowing what he is doing. 

• The sound of the stable gun in the woods is emphasised and is very loud, with an echo - this is expressing the feeling that they are in a big place, far away from anywhere else - they don't want to be found out. 

• Emphasis on the door - this could be symbolic of where freedom lies. There is also focus on close-ups of the weapons being used to lock up the door to suggest entrapment, and there's no way of getting out. 

Here there is another focus on the drill which can be conveying that it could
potentially be used as a weapon if anyone was to try and escape to 'freedom' 

Feedback

The Finished Video

Here is the embedded video, however unfortunately it does not have a soundtrack:

Here is the finished video with a soundtrack:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCAixS3lGkQ

Watch it in 720p for much better quality.

As you may notice, in the video we did not use a tripod. We did this as we felt that the video needed more of an anxious feel which was suitable for our context, therefore giving the shot more of a shaky feel to it.  Emily Bowles was absent on the day that we shot our film, so instead of taking her role as an actor, she took the role of updating our blog and also helped through the editing process. 

Prelim Complication

After completing about two thirds of our video, we ran into a complication...Our video tape was wiped - all our footage was gone, leaving us with no option, but to start over from scratch. Also, to add to the problem, one of our team members was not avalible for certain film dates,  in which case meant that we had to re-script our film, and as a result this made all of our hardwork we had put into our original film completely meaningless. Furthermore, seeing as we only had one hour to re-shoot our new film, we were unable to take control of lighting like we had before, and also had to make up the script on the spot. So as a result, our film was not as good as our first one, however, we managed to focus our objectives on the main task; to show match on action, shot-reverse-shot and the 180 degree rule. In a way, this therefore benefited us as we feel we got slightly side tracked into the production of our first shoot and had shots that we didn't necessarily need.