Sound and Titles

On the 31st January our group began to dicuss what sort of sounds we would like in our opening sequence. We initially discussed soundbible for sound effects. An example of a sound effect we would like is a creepy moaning noise, which would be the reason why the district nurse went down into the cella. However, we found it difficult to find a sound effect we all prefered of soundbible so we decided to do our own sound for that part of the opening sequence.
Below is the website we used to find sound effects.

As well as looking for sound effects, we also tried to find a music backing track to set the scene of our opening sequence. We think the backing track is very important as it helps tell the audience the mood of our opening sequence and the type of music we aim for is to give the impression our opening sequence is tense and something is not right about the house the district nurse entered.

There was a variety of music websites we found, however it was difficult to find copywrite free music. However, we found soundcloud and free music archieve.

Above is the 'free  music archive' website. We found it very useful as it allowed us to choose music from different types of music including instrumental, blues, spoken etc. We chose instrumental music, and we decided to choose an extract which suits the tone of our opening sequence the most. We like it slow because we believe it builds up tension and quiet  because it is more eerie.

We also began to discuss titles within the opening sequence. This enabled us to discuss the different roles we all took to produce the opening sequence. For example, we came to a conclusion that Leah was in charge of the camera, i was director, Danielle was costume and amber was editing.

Mise-en-scene

Mise en Scene

Ideas of horror opening sequences

We decided our opening sequence would be a horror.

To give us ideas of a horror opening sequence we looked at the Original halloween 1978 opening.

Here is a preview of the opening:

This clip gave us a good idea of an eerie opening. We mainly like the idea that the house was seen as underthreat as they made it look scary through the use of light and camera shots and movement. I specifically like the way the camera moved around the house, showing the threat people are under.

Horror openinig scences usually have dramamtic music, and we believe we will use an eerie sound track to emphasise and give the audience an impression of what our opening sequence will be.

Main task

Brief of the main task:

"Film the opening sequence of a new fiction film, including titles and soundtrack to last approximately two minutes."

One important part I should consider in the brief is new fiction. This is when we will have to make our video up. We will need to decide as a group what fiction and the type of genre. We will need to understand different genres as they have different openings to them.

For example, the conjuring and P.S I love you have very different openings due to their different genres.


The conjuring, this is a scary movie

However, P.s i love you is a romantic genre

I also need to consider the titles for my video. I need to understand that the director always comes last and I need to know that the titles include the type of film and the principle characters in it. I also need to work out how long and how big the titles would be.

A soundtrack also has to be included in the opening, however we can not use copy write music. Sound could include diegetic and non diegetic as well as backing tracks, voiceovers, dialogue etc. The soundtrack has to link to the genre of the music. For example, if the genre is scary it is slow, quiet music.

I also need to manage my time. It can only be two minutes long but the video takes a long time to edit and produce so the best way to manage my time would be this time management sheet:

This is an example of an opening sequence :

This is an opening sequence of the conjuring. It implies to us that it is a scary film because of the quiet, tense music. The pictures of families could also suggest to us that the film is based on a true story.

Perliminary Task

Brief:

"Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse and the 180 degree rule."

I have highlighted the parts I think are most important for me to know in this task.

To plan our video and filming, we made a story board to help us:

This story board helps us organise how we will be filming and what shots we shall be using. It helps us to plan so we are prepared to film and we have a plan to follow. The storyboard includes a sketched picture of the shot we will take, the camera shot/angle and the duration of the short clip.

We used different camera shots and angles in our short film, these are screen shots from our film of the examples of angles we used:

 In the brief we were asked to use a 180 degree rule, this is when you have the camera angle at no more than 180 degrees. We have shown this in our video when the two characters were having a conversation.

We also involved the shot reverse shot. This is when you film the character then take a shot of what they are looking at. An example of this is when one character is filmed looking through the door, and then we take a shot of the room and person they were looking at. This is important in a film as it gives the audience a perspective of  what the character was looking at and it engages the audience more and could be seen as more dramatic.

 









The last technique we were asked to involve in our video was the match on action. This  is when         there is lots of shots to make it flow. In our video we showed match on action when the character       was walking towards the door and then opened it. Match on action is very important in a film so         that it flows and does not confuse the audience.

        

This is our completed video:

We edited this video on Movie Plus. We had many little clips of the actors at different times and we cropped these clips to form a sequence to make it flow and look like a clip thats expressing the story of someone walking into a room through a door and having a conversarion with somebody else.

Editing

Editing is a crucial part of film language, it is how we are engaged with the film and how everything makes sense to use. If there was no editing then the film would appear confusing.

Two examples of good edited films are Pulp fiction and Memento.










There are many different types of edit:


Cut - This is used for less abrupt transitions and is achieved with a fade, dissolve or wipe.


Matched cut - This shows the continuity of direction.


Jump cut - This is when you change from one scene to another but they have to be very          different scenes so that the audience doesn't get confused. For example, suddenly changing from inner city London to a jungle.


Motivated cut - This is within the scene. For example, if I see something the camera shows what I see


Cutting Rate - This is the speed of the shots


Cutting rhythm - This flows within the scene. For example, in a scary film it will be fast camera movements


Cross cut -


Cutaway - This is a reaction shot and it is filling in gaps


Insert - Putting two images together for example a telephone conversation and the screen shows two people on the same screen talking.


There are also different transitions:


1) Buffer
2) Fade/Dissolve
3) Superimpositions
4) Wipe
5) Inset
6) Split screen
7) Stock shot

Sound

 In class we have been studying the different typew of sound. We learnt about sound effects, dialogue, music and atmospheric sounds.

We were given a group task to produce different sound effects to form a scene of world war battles using just sound.

To help us find some sound effects we used the website: http://soundbible.com/ 

Firstly, we listended to a clip from James bond to identity lots of different sounds used.

This clip uses many different sounds including diagetic and non diagetic, Diagetic means sounds of the scene and non diagetic means sounds not on the scene.

An example of sound of music in this clip is when the music begins slow to create a tense atmosphere, however the tempo then changes when more action begins to make the scene sound more dramatic.

Sound effects were also used. For example, when the sword was pulled out. Also gun shots were used to add mor drama to the scene as usually gun shots do not sound so loud and dramatic so they emphasied it through the use of sound effects.

This is similar to the sound of the smashing glass. It was overemphasied to the sound it usually makes in real life so it adds extra loudness to the scene.

Here is our final sound piece we created trying to imply it was a war scene just through the use of sound effects, dialogue, music and atmospheric sounds:

Camera Shots

Extreme close up - This shot is very effective because it focuses on just one feature of the face in detail. In this case it is the eyes which shows fear which can look intense.

Big close up - This is further away from the face, showing more facial features which helps to express emotions. A big close up can look dramatic.

Close up - This shows the whole head. It can be effective because it clearly shows their emotion




Medium close up - This shot shows the head and shoulders. It is effective because you focus just on them and there are no other distractions.

Medium shot - This picture shows two people. This could be seen as effective because it intrigues you and makes you interested because it shows more of the background.

Medium long shot - This shows the environment around the people, it is effective because it takes the attention away from the people and shows more of the atmosphere.

Long shot - The long shot is effective because you can see everything going on.






Establishing shot - This is a shot of an Urban environment. This picture was taken in London of the London eye and Big Ben.

High angle shot - This is a shot when its looking down on people. This is effective because it could show the hierarchy, that they are less important

Low angle shot - This is a shot when its looking up on people, it is effective because it could show they are more important.

Birds eye view - This is a picture of looking down over the top, it is effective because it gives you a good perspective of the setting.

Dutch angle - This is when you change the angle of the picture, it is effective because it is different from normal shots.

Eye level shot - This a picture taken from eye level, it is effective because it shows how they see things at that height.






Reverse angle shot - This is like a medium close up, it is effective because you focus just on the person and their emotion.

Film using still images

In Media our group task was to make a sequence of still images to form a short clip. To do this we had to use different camera shots to express someone being told some bad news.

Firstly, in class we got given some cut out still images from the film "ET". We studied these images and the camera shots used and tried to put these pictures in an accurate order. For example, there was a birds eye view of the town so we thought this would go first as it would be setting the scene. However, this picture was in the middle of the sequence of pictures as it was of the boys looking down on what they could see when in the air.

Here is a picture we thought came at the beginning:

However we put this image below at the end as it was them riding off in the sunset which appeared the scence was ending:

We then watched the clip of 'ET'. To watch this clip click on the video below:

After watching this clip we realised we hadnt put our pictures in the correct order. This helped us to understand different camera movements and how still images from the film can lead you to think something different.

When we began plan our short clip of still images we used a story board. This is the template of the storyboard:

We discussed in our group what camera shots and the picture would be of and then filled in  our storyboard so we have a clear plan on how to form the clip to show someone being told bad news.

Here is the storyboard i did to help me produce my video:





This storyboard shows the different camera shots i am planning on doing and the way my actors would be in the shot.

Here is my overall clip of still images showing some bad news being told to someone:

Camera shot movement analysis

In class i studied two clips from different films. These films were 'Casino Royale' and 'Superman returns'. When i watched these clips i analysed different camera shots and camera movements.
The first clip we watched in class is called "Casino Royale", to watch this clip click on the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZxNbAwY_rk 

This clip from the film contains various camera shots and movements.

Camera Shots from 'Casino Royale':

It has a close up shot showing the emotion in the mans eyes which makes it affective as it looks more dramatic.

There is also a high angle shot looking down on the man on the crane to show how high he is. This makes the scene look more tense and gives a clear view on how high up he really is to make it appear more dramatic. The picuture on the right shows an example of a high angle shot i found in the film:

This picture on the left is a reversed angle shot. It is a shot implying what the other character can see. This camera shot makes you more engaged with what is happening.









Camera movement from 'Casino Royale' 

In 'Casino royale' there were various camera movements.

At 0:22 when the man looks around the area, the camera moves aswell to demonstrate him looking around. This is called camera panning. It builds up suspence as it makes the viewer feel in the actors situation. This makes it feel as though we are seeing the scence of the film through the actors eyes.

Overall, the clip we watched on Casino royale was full of action and very dramtic through the use of camera shots and camera movements which made it exciting. However, this is very different to superman returns.

This is the second clip we watched in class, this clip was from part of the film called  'Superman returns'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-DOuX-Pi6o

Camera shots from 'Superman returns'

This picture shows an establishing shot of an urban environment i found in the clip. An establishing shot gives the audience a good idea of the setting and it sets the scene.




     

This close up showing just supermans head and shoulders is very effecttive as it shows the emotion in his face and there are no distractions so the audience focuses just on him.







Camera movement from 'Superman returns'

Right at the beginning of the clip at 0:04 it shows a camera panning. This is when the camera moves around. In this case, it is the camera moving around the house showing the different rooms and people in the rooms to set the scence and know what the atmosphere is like. Here is a link from when the panning begins. It then ends at around 0:14. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-DOuX-Pi6o 

Another camera movement was when the camera tilted upwards as it watched Superman fly away into the sky. This was at 2:02 , this link takes you to the exact time in the clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-DOuX-Pi6o#t=122 



To conclude, my favourite clip out of the two was the Casino Royale clip. This is because the camera shots had been used to build up tension and made it very exciting. However, Superman returns was less exciting and more dramatic due to the camera shots and camera movements.