No Country For Old Men

No Country For Old Men

After discovering a case of money among dead bodies, Llewelyn Moss thinks he can keep it quiet, but when unemotional killer Anton Chigurh locates Moss and his money, veteran Moss makes a run for it. With bodies falling everywhere Anton goes, it's only a matter of time before he catches up with Llewelyn. As this chase is going on, Sheriff Ed Tom Bell is overseeing the investigation and begins to see the country in a different light than it once was.

The official trailer for this film is highly effective. The speed of the scenes are slow paced, however the tension and the action is very intense. The trailer is slow paced mostly all the way through until it gets towards the end. Towards the end of the trailer, it speeds up to match the action of killer Chigurh on the run. It grabs the audiences attention as the trailer makes them feel on edge. The target audience would be people who enjoy thrillers, action and mystery. The trailer of the film is very intense which makes the audience wonder if the film would be just as good. It gets the audience asking questions about what happens next. 

The first setting of the film shown is a deserted part of the Wild West. It makes the audience suggest that this film may just be about cowboys or some sort of Western film. The setting makes the audience judge the film before it has really started. However, the setting shows the audience where the majority of this film is set and may give some ideas about what the characters might be like. 

The film opens by Non-Digetic sound spoken by the Sheriff. The Sheriff speaks about how times change in the Wild West. It makes a big impact as it gets the audience questioning how it has changed and why the Sheriff says this. 

The costumes of this film are very different. Llewelyn Moss wears a cowboy hat, boots and carries a pistol, just like a cowboy in the Western films. The Sheriff wears his uniform, however they are very different compared to the ones now days. He wears the uniform with the cowboy hat and sheriff badge. Anton Chigurh does not look like the typical killer. He wears all black, including his hair. He does not have a particular costume to make him look like a villain. However, he does not look like a villain from the Wild West. He does not wear a cowboy hat, boots or  a pistol, in fact he only carries a gas tank.

The characters in this film are introduced very intensely. The villain, Anton Chigurh is the first character to be introduced. It is seen that he is being arrested , however he ends up strangling the sheriff who arrested him. Llewelyn Moss is introduced by firing a gun at a deer. He then walks into a crime scene and finds himself in trouble. The characters are introduced this way to show the audience what they are capable of and to show that they both are powerful. It creates an intense atmosphere throughout the whole film. 

Source Code

 

Source Code

 

The film was made in 2011 and is an american science fiction techno-thriller film directed by Duncan Jones and written by Ben Ripley. The movie stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright. The films world premiere was on 11th March 2011 at South by Southwest. It was then released by Summit Entertainment on 1st April in North America and Europe. The film receieved positive feedback from critics and grossed over $147 million worldwide.

 

Source Code was released in theatres on the 1st of April,2011. In the US and Canada the film was released theatrically in 2,961 conventional theatres. The film grossed $54,712,227 during its ruin with midnight screenings in 2,961 locations. Overall the film made $147,812,094 and debuted at #2 on its opening weekend.

 

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the US on July 26, 2011. The UK released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 15,2011. In the Uk there also was a DVD featuring a 3D cover.  

 



The plot of the film is about a US Army helicopter pilot, Captin Colter Stevns, wakes up and finds himself on a train. The last memory he had was flying in Afganistan, however he awakes to find himself in another mans consciousness. 8 minutes after finding this out , the train explodes and Stevens finds himself in a pod. He speaks to someone named Goodwin, who tells him that he has to go back and find out who the bomber is. He has numerous attempts to find the bomber however when he returns Goodin and Rutledge, the scientist in charge, tells him that he is a part of a project that can put someone in another persons consciousness during the last 8 minutes of their life. He then decides to save the train from the explosion despite Dr Rutledge tells him that the effort is worthless.

 

 

 



Collateral

Collateral

The film Collateral is a crime thriller which was made in 2004. The films plot is based on a cab driver (Jamie Foxx) finding himself the hostage of an impatient contract killer ( Tom Cruise) as he makes his rounds from hit to hit during one night in Los Angeles. The cab driver then has to find a way to save both one last victim and himself.

 

The film was directed by Michael Mann and written by Stuart Beattie. This was Michael Manns first feature film to be shot mostly with high definition cameras. One event of note was the filming of the coyotes running across the road, the low light capability allowed Mann to spontaneously film the fox without having to set up lighting for the shot.

 

Collateral opened on August 6, 2004 in 3,188 theatres in the US and Canada and grossed approximately $24.7 million on its opening weekend which it ranked #1 at the box office. The film remained in theatres for 14 weeks and grossed $101,005,703 in the US and Canada. In other countries it grossed a total of $116,758,588 for a total worldwide gross of $217,764,291. 

 

The Birds Analysis

The Birds Analysis

The film 'The Birds' was Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and was published in 1963. The genre of the film is a Horror/Thriller. 

Hitchcock's external threat is from nature in this film.  Usually in Hitchcock's films there is no where to hide. Including 'The Birds'. In this film Bodega Bay is no where to hide

The start of the film shows the only red herring in the film. The red herring that appears is when the audience thinks that the genre of the film would be a romance. However a red herring occurs and the genre is twisted into a horror/thriller. 

In this scene of 'The Birds' Hitchcock has used many effective camera angles. This scene 'Eyes Pecked Out' is a very horrifying scene. Hitchcock has used extreme close up scenes of the woman. He then moves the scene to a point of view to show what she is looking at. He then goes back to the close up scene which shows a 'reaction shot'. 
Hitchcock uses no sound within this scene, he does this to add tension. 
As the man is shown with his eyes pecked out, Hitchcock uses the three jump cut scene. This zooms into the man 3 times which adds horror and suspense.




Hitchcock uses dramatic irony within this film. He uses it in the scene at the schoolyard. This is when Tippi Hendren did not know that the birds were gathered outside the school. However the audience do. 

Also Alfred Hitchcock has used many different camera angles in other scenes. In this scene of the ' Birds attacking Birthday Party'  he used high and low camera angles. He uses high camera angles to show a birds eye view. This also can highlight the point of view of the birds. As it is a high camera angle looking down on the children it shows that the children are weak. Hitchcock uses a low camera angle to show that the birds are strong and that nothing can over power them. 






Near to the end of the film, the birds attack the Gas Station. As Hitchcock has used a high angle in this scene it could interpret that it has something to do with God. It could mean that God will not intervene or help the people.

The Manchurian Candidate

 

The Manchurian Candidate

The original Manchurian candidate was produced in 1962 and was classes as a Mystery Thriller.  The plot of the film is about  former Korean War POW gets brainwashed by the communists into becoming a political assassin. The storyline changes around as another former prisoner may know how to save him. 

The film starred popular actors and actress' during this time such as Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh and Angela Lansbury. The film had an estimated budget of $2,200,000 and grossed up to  $4,180,630 in the USA. 

Many great media concepts were used during he film as it used a very good range of non diagetic music to enhance the tension when Raymond was approaching the lake to kill his next victim, this was seen to be the key to the thriller genre. Many close ups were used to effectively show the emotions of the characters to the audience. Also the fog that was shown represents the lack of clarity within the characters as they experience infuriation overload and there dreams are ambivalent.

In 2004 another Manchurian Candidate was produced and published, however this was not the original. The film was an up to date version directed by Jonathan Demme, in which the film was in colour and used more hi tech equipment. The film starred actors such as Denzel Washington, Liev Schreiber and Meryl Streep. 

The estimated budget of this film was $80,000,000. Once the gilm was released into cinemas the film grossed $65,955,630 in North America, $30,150,334 in other regions which totals to $96,105,964 worldwide. 

After the film was released, 199 reviews were collected by Rotten Tomatoes. The film gained an overall approval rating from critics of 81% with an average score of 7.1/10. 


 The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

Psycho Analysis

Psycho Analysis

The film is opened by looking at a crane shot of the town where the beginning of the film is set. The camera then is zoomed into a bedroom window where Marion Crane and lover Samuel Loomis are sharing their feelings about their future together.

The scene where Marion was murdered in the shower was one of the most memoriable moments in the film industry. This was because this was the first time that sound has been used in this situation. The soundtrack used whilst she was being murdered was very thrilling and dramatic. The sound made the whole scene look emphasised and brutal. As marion drops to the floor, a graphic match was added in to make the style of editing more horrific. The blood and water whirling down the plughole, then faded into a close up shot of Marions eye as it zooms out to see her dead body.

Throughout this film, red herrings, sound, lighting and camera angles are present. Alfred Hitchcock used very dramatic music in the scene at the death of Marion in the shower. The music was presented as horrific and shocking which suits the action, which would be called parallel sound. 

A long shadow is shown at the scene at the death of Abgrogast. This shadow is very powerful and it is created very big and can easily see that the person has a knife, however you was not be able to see who was in possession of the knife and the shadow created a mysterious look. A close up silhouette is shown as Marion is brutally murdered. The silhouette also gives the mysterious look of who the killer is. 

In my opinion this is my favorite Hitchcock film so far. This is because it has huge amounts of suspense and thrills. The way Alfred used many editing and camera techniques also makes this film very succesful. It makes the audience wonder what will happen next and it questions who is the murderer behind this.

North by Northwest Analysis

North by Northwest Analysis

An ordinary advertising man Roger Thornhill falls into a bad situation when he is mistaken for a man by the name of George Kaplan. Thornhill tries to make sense of the case as foreign spy Philip Vandamm try to destroy him. However, Thornhill is framed with murder. Thornhill is now on the run from the police, he then meets a beautiful blonde woman, Eve Kendall, on the train. She helps him to evade the authorities. Later on he learns that Eve isn't the innocent bystander he thought she was. Not all is as it seems however, leading to a dramatic rescue and escape at the top of Mt. Rushmore.


At the beginning of the film, it seems as Thornhill has got himself into a lot of trouble and looks as if he cannot get himself out of it. The scene where Vandamm got him drunk and made him drive home made him look weak and not being able to fight back. However towards the end of the film Thornhill thought about how he was going to make Vandamm think that he was dead. He done this by becoming a resourceful hero. He thought quick and clever to find his way out of situations. 

Alfred Hitchcock includes a variety of continuity editing techniques to create both smoothness and suspense.  The first of these concepts is the establishing shot.Whenever a new scene occurs, Hitchcock utilizes an establishing shot to provide overview to a scene. Hitchcock utilizes establishing shots at the United Nation’s complex, the Chicago bus stop, and Mount Rushmore.  These establishing shots allow audience members to understand what is going on and where the succeeding scene is occurring.

When Roger Thornhill first meets Eve Kendall, she is wearing a white dress with plenty of skin showing, giving the impression that she is a “good” person who is helping Roger Thornhill escape from police. While Eve Kendall is off-screen, the viewer learns that she is an agent for the evil Mr. Vandamm.  The next scene, we find Ms. Kendall wearing a thick, black coat, showing her as a “bad” person. Using this discontinuity technique emphasises Eve’s transition from a helpful person to a secret agent, which helps the viewer follow the story and adds suspense. These can also be known as red-herrings. 

In nearly all of the suspenseful scenes, including the drunken car chase, the police chase in the train station, and the Rushmore scene, the rapid scene change from Mr. Thornhill to those in pursuit creates a heightened level of suspense. 

Different types of Thriller

Different types of thriller

Action thriller – A typical thriller film with strong aspects of action often will involve violence with fast pace scenes, special effects and pyrotechnics a few examples of action thrillers are The Bourne series, James bond Series and Taken

Crime Thriller- A mixture between crime films and thrillers often about a successful or failed crime, the central topics of the film often include robberies, shootouts, heists ect. A few examples of crime films are The Dark Knight, Goodfellas and Pulp Fiction. 

Supernatural thriller- Brings a supernatural element to the thriller genre, which adds suspense, builds tension and adds twists into the plot, often the hero/ main character has some kind of psychic ability a few examples of supernatural thriller are Paranormal Activity, The Sixth Sense and Donnie Darko. 

Legal thriller- is a thriller movie where the hero confronts enemies inside and out of the courtroom when their actions outside the courtroom may jeopardize the case in the courtroom a few examples of Legal thrillers are A Time To Kill, The Client and The Firm. 

Erotic thriller- is a thriller movie with strong aspects of erotic present throughout the film, has been available since the rise of the home cinema system a few examples of erotic thrillers are Dressed to Kill, Sliver and Basic Instinct. 

Disaster Thriller-  Is a thriller in which the main conflict is due to some kind of natural or artificial disaster such as hurricanes, floods, volcanic eruptions or nuclear disasters a few examples of disaster thriller films are Armageddon, Twister and Deep Impact. 

               

            

Rules and Conventions

Rules and Conventions

To aim for a successful thriller, many things must be included. The rules and conventions of a thriller is that it must have suspense,red herrings and cliff hangers.

In every thriller there must be a villain and a hero.  In most thrillers, the heroes always end up to be the weakest out of the two. However the hero always end up saving the day. 

Suspense: A state or feeling of excited or anxious uncertainty about what may happen.

Red Herring: A clue or piece of information which is or is intended to be misleading or 

distracting.

Cliff Hangers: A dramatic and exciting ending to an episode of a serial, leaving the audience in suspense and anxious not to miss the next episode.

Introduction to Thrillers

Introduction to Thrillers

What is a Thriller?

A Thriller is a genre that revolves around anticipation and suspense typically involving crime or espionage. The aim for Thrillers is to keep the audience alert and on the edge of their seats. Many people find thrillers very enjoyable, and they appreciate the fast pacing and complex plots associated with this genre.

Examples of a Thriller?

North By Northwest - Mistaken for a government agent by foreign spies, an advertising agent travels cross-country trying to survive.

Sub-Genres of a Thriller?

Action Thriller -  This sub-genre will often have continuous motion and action including physical stunts, chases, fights, battles, and races. E.g : Die Hard

What is a cliffhanger?

A cliffhanger is the ending of a film or story that leaves the character in a seemingly impossible situation, such as hanging off the side of a cliff. The purpose is to make the story so interesting that the audience thinks what is to happen next and to carry on watching.

What is a red herring?

A red herring is an extraneous character meant to divert the reader's attention from the true killer/robber/etc. It is usually a logical choice for the culprit, but ends up being nothing.Thrillers typically involve sudden plot twists and lots of red herrings.

Recipe for a thriller:

• Plot Twists i.e: red herrings
• Resourceful hero (weaker)
• Suspense -> Thrills -> Cliff hangers
• Sound (usually music)
• Villain driven plot (powerful)
• McGuffin ( villains care about but audience do not)

What is a Maguffin?

What is a Maguffin?

A Maguffin is a plot element that catches viewers' attention. A Maguffin is that the major players in the story are willing to sacrifice almost anything to obtain it, regardless of what the Maguffin is.

The specific nature of the Maguffin may be ambiguous, unidentified, generic, left open to interpretation or otherwise completely unimportant to the plot. 

Common examples are money, victory, glory, survival, a source of power, or a potential threat or it may simply be something entirely unexplained. 

The Maguffin is very popular in films, especially thrillers. Sometimes the Maguffin is the central focus of the film in the first act, and then declines in importance as the struggles and motivations of characters play out. 

Examples in film include the meaning of rosebud in Citizen Kane (1941), the titular Maltese Falcon, the Rabbit's Foot in Mission: Impossible III (2006),the briefcases in Pulp Fiction and Ronin, the Letters of Transit in Casablanca, the Heart of the Ocean necklace in Titanic, and the mineral unobtainium in Avatar (2009). 

Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born 13 August 1899 and died 29 April 1980. Alfred was an English film director and producer. He was very famous for many techniques in the suspense and thriller genres. 

 Hitchcock was influenced from early 19th century. Hitchcock has mainly been influenced by current events and art movements. Different influences changed Alfred's films. Hitchcock was a member of the London Film Society which showed French, German and Soviet art films, as well as early and new American films. With this opportunity, it gave Hitchcock ideas and techniques.  Hitchcock was able to strike the perfect chord of suspense in his feature films. 

Preliminary Exercise Evaluation

Preliminary Exercise Evaluation

For this exercise we had to include many editing techniques into our sequence. This short film was about a pupil being late for class and responding to the teacher in an unacceptable manor. Whilst filming this, there were many techniques that we had to include, these were: Match on Action, Eye line Match Shot, Shot/Reverse Shot and not breaking the 180 degree rule.

We used all of these techniques through our film to complete the task. We did not break the 180 degree rule as the two characters in the same scene always had the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera did pass over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it would be called ‘crossing the line’.

Match on Action is when the character starts an action in one shot and then see them continue in the next. We was able to create the match on action very smoothly. We used the Match on Action three times within our film. We used it as the pupil was walking up the stairs, walking down the corridor and walking through a door.

We used a very simple Eye line Match Shot within our film. An Eye line Match Shot is when we see a character looking at something off screen and then we cut to a shot of what they are looking at. We used this twice with different characters but with the same object. We done this to show that they were both looking at the same object.

Finally we used the shot/reverse shot to show the conversation between the pupil and the teacher. We also added in a master shot to show who the conversation was between. The shot/reverse shot was shown by only showing the shoulder of character A as character B speaks. This then swaps to show the response.

In my opinion we used all of the techniques correctly. However the Eye line Match Shot was very unstable. If this wasn’t unstable the whole sequence would have been accurate. During the editing of our film, we watched back what we have filmed. We realised that whilst speaking, it wasn’t picking up any sound. This was due to the microphone not being turned on. However, we resolved this by doing a voiceover on top of what had been said. This solved our problem. Next time we have learned to check everything is fine and turned on before we start filming. Also it would be a good idea to play back what we have filmed just in case there were any errors.

Overall I thought our film was very good in the way everything was set out and how it all worked out. I thought that the way we edited our film was very smooth and had no mistakes. To make improvements on this film we would use a tripod whilst filming the Eye line Match Shot. This is because it would be stable and look much better. Also to improve for next time we would make sure that the microphone is on and working and play back what we have filmed.

Preliminary Exercise

Style of Editing

Style of editing

Style of editing consists of how shots are linked together. The movement from one shot to the next is called a transition. 

The Straight Cut- Is the most common and "invisible" form of transition. One shot moves instantly to the next without attracting the audiences attention to anything else. Straight cuts help to retain reality. They do not break the viewers suspension of disbelief. 

Dissolves- This is fading one shot of the screen while another shot is fading in. The audience will be able to see both shots on the screen at the mid-point of the dissolve. It is used if the film maker wants to show a connection between two characters,places or objects. 

Fades- A gradual darkening or lighting of an image until it becomes black or white. One shot will fade until only a black or white screen can be seen. This is commonly used to indicate the end of a particular section of time within the narrative. It can also show the passing of time. 

Wipes- One image is pushed off the screen by another.Images can be pushed left or right. It is more common for the image to be pushed off the left hand side as this movement is more consistent with the sense of time moving forward. It is used to signal a movement between different locations that are experiencing the same time. 

Jump Cut- A jump cut is where the audiences attention is brought into focus on something very suddenly. This occurs by breaking the continuity editing. This is known as discontinuity. It appears as if a section of the sequence has been removed. The gap in action is emphasised by the use of a jump cut. It is used to startle the viewer and draw attention to something. 

Graphic Match- The filmmaker can choose to place shots in a certain order so as to create a smooth visual transfer from one frame to the next. When two consecutive shots are matched in terms of the way they look this is called a graphic match. For example: in Psycho. The circular image of the plug hole with the next image of Marion's eye. 

Speed of Editing

Speed of editing

The speed of editing consists how long does each shot last. In a film, all the scenes last a certain amount of time. It could last a matter of seconds or it could continue for minutes. The speed of editing gives the audience the impression of what mood is taking place on screen.

If the audience is to feel anxiety and suspense, the editing will be quick. This means that the scenes/shots would be changing frequently. However, if a more relaxed mood wanted to be shown, the scenes last longer and change less frequently. 

A trailer for a film must be packed with detail from throughout the film, therefore the editing will be very fast. 

Scenes at the beginning of a film tends to tell its story, it must be long enough for us to be able to understand where we are and what is going on. It is also slow to introduce the main characters. As the film goes on, scenes may become shorter as the editing cuts between telling two or more story lines at the same time. 

In most films, when comparing the pace in the opening sequence with an action sequence from later in the film. For example, in Gangster Squad, the length of each shot are different and so is the editing. 

Continuity Editing

Continuity Editing

 

 

 

This is a sence of realistic chronology and generates the feeling that time is moving forward. It can also be used for flashbacks or flash forwards but the narrative will still be seen to progressing forward in an expected or realistic way.

 

 

There are many techniques that can be used to show continuity editing. Eye-line match is one. This is when we see a characted looking at something off screen and then the scene cuts to a shot of what they were looking at. Another one is match-on action. This is when we see a character start an action in one shot and then se them continue it in the next. This would mostly be used if walking through a door or past a wall. Finally the last one that may be used is Graphic match. This is used when two shots are linked with a similar shape or composition on an image. For example the plug hole and the eye in the killing scene in Pyscho. 

Mise-en-Scene

Mise-en-Scene

Mise-en-Scene is the French term meaning for "What is put into the scene or frame". 

The main elements of Mise-en-Scene are :

• Settings and props
• Costume, hair and make-up
• Facial expressions and body language
• Lighting and colour
• Positioning of characters and objects in the frame

Settings are where the media text takes place and props are the objects we see in the setting. For example in a Western film , the setting of the film would be set in Western America. The props that would be used are cowboy hats, pistols, spurs on the backs of their boots and waistcoats. 


Costumes are very important as it instantly sets the character. This is because the costume shows what kind of person they are. Revealing, close-fitting clothes look sexy, while clothes that hide the body could make a character seem conservative or shy. Makeup is an extremely important aspect of that because they help establish the film's overall look. In its most extreme form, makeup can be used to convey traumatic wounds or even transform an actor into an alien or inhuman creature.

Facial expressions and body language are very important within the media industry. Facial expressions show a big impact on the emotion of the character. Also body language also can tell whether people are lying, nervous, excited or scared.  For example a person crying instantly shows that the person is upset and to show that someone is scared their body language may be shaky or covering their face. 

Colour and lighting shows a specific mood, emotion and atmosphere to the overall film viewing experience. Without light, it is not possible to see anything, and it is not possible to shoot a film. Lighting set ups can also show different moods. For example putting the light behind the person would create a silhouette which can be shown as mysterious. Without colour it will not set any atmosphere, mood or emotion. For example the colour red can highlight danger or love. Without being able to see this colour, it will be very difficult to be able to work out what may happen next. 

The positioning of actors on stage in one scene will usually affect the possibilities for subsequent positioning unless the stage is cleared between scenes. A different positioning of shots conveys different ideas to the viewer. For example, a montage containing a negative theme followed by a positive theme may give the viewer the idea that the positive theme is the main theme of the montage.

Lighting Exercise

Lighting and Colour

Lighting and Colour

 

 

 

The reason for which lights are necessary in filmmaking is that film does not respond to light the same way our eyes do. Specifically, film and video see things in a much more contrasty way.This means that they cannot cope with the lighting contrast of real life: if you shoot a scene without artificial lights, either the shadows will go completely black or the highlights will go completely white. All of this means that if you want a scene to look natural, ironically the only way to do that is to have enough light to make film see the scene the way our eyes see the scene. There are many different lighting methods to give different viewpoints and techniques.

 

On a Standard Set Up these lights are used: 

The Key Light is the brightest and most influential.

The Back Light helps counteract the effect of the key light or creates an outline or silhouette.

The Filler Light helps to soften the harsh shadows that the use of key and back lights create.

 

These lights are used to create some sort of technique:

Underlighting is when the main source comes from below the subject. Used in thrillers and horror films.

Top Lighting is when the main source of lighting comes from above - highlighting the features - used to create a glamourous look.

Back Lighting is when the source is behind the subject. If no other lighting is used silhouettes are created.

Low Key Lighting is created by using only the key and back lights. This will produce a sharp contrast of light and dark areas on the screen as very deep and distinct shadows are formed. This is known as chiaroscuro (from the Italian for light - chiaro and dark - oscuro)

High key Lighting appears more realistic as more filler lights are used.

 

Film Noir is the name given by French film critics to a group of films made in Hollywood from 1941 to 1958. These films are filmed using low-key lighting to give the filma a hard, sharp look with strong areas of contrast between light and dark.

 

 

Colour was first used in films such as Voyage a Travers L'Impossible by the pioneer Georges Melies in 1904. This film was hand painted frame by frame. The next development was the introduction of two-strip technicolour using only red and green. The first full three strip technicolour was Becky Sharp filmed in 1935. From the 1930's to the 1940's black and white was used to represent reality and only colour was used to represent fantasy. However, today the opposite is true.

 

Denotation: The literal description of an idea, concept or object. For example the colour red is a particular wavelength of the electromagnetic spectrum.

 

Connotation: What we associate with a particular idea, concept or object. Using the colour red again, this could represent anger, danger, romance, love, blood etc. Colour works on the subconscious mind to create mood.

 

 

 

 

 



Sound Evaluation

Sound Evaluation

The story based around this sound exercise was to create a short argument. The argument was shown on the reality TV show Jeremy Kyle. This argument was between a mother of a sick daughter and her best friend. They were arguing because the best friend is taking the mental patient for advantage. 

During this sound exercise it was beneficial to use the microphone. Also using the 'Master Shot' and the 'Over the shoulder shot'. These are the main things to use whilst filming a conversation. We also explored many camera shots such as 'Pan' and 'Point of view'. As we was editing, we made sure to include all of these techniques. 

We was able to create all of the following techniques. We created the 'Master Shot' simply by placing the camera on the tripod and being able to fit both of the people in the frame. The 'over the shoulder shot' was created when having a conversation. As the person in the conversation was speaking, we would film the shoulder/head of the person that is being spoken to. This was because it shows who the conversation is between. It then is used in the same way as the other person replies. We added in some camera shots which included 'Pan' and 'Point of view'. We used the 'Pan shot as Jeremy started to walk from one side of the frame to the other. This was to show his movement. The 'point of view' shot was used to show the camera man chasing after someone. This shows the point of view of what they see as if you was them. 

I think looking back at our footage that we did use each technique accurately. However, I think that we did not really use the microphone as well as we could have done. I think that every scene where someone was speaking, the microphone should have been closer in able to get a more clear sound. For next time we would definitely make sure that the microphone is closer to the person speaking to get a better sound. 

Overall, the most positive elements of our film was the way we used the 'Master shot' and the 'over the shoulder shot'. I thought that the way we was able to use both of them and make it look accurate was done very well. Also whilst editing these together was done very good as there were no faults. I think to make improvements we would make sure that the microphone was closer to the sound which would produce a more clearer sound.