Product Research

The main task videos for Media As seem to follow the same pattern and genre.

They are either Phsycho-thrillers, about murder and mentall illness -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwqJk8WTBkU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3vo6-AB9Gc

Or Action movies about policemen and secret agents -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7Bwioi5ZJw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoJks0aRz6g&feature=fvst

These seem to be the easiest genres to use, so we may decide to go for either of these.

Product Research - Paranoia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ENOvTpQVno

''PARANOIA. by me, emily & jenni.''

This is also a good Video, it seems to move slowly, and the music compliments this, creating a safe feeling of reminiscence and love, which is abruptly punctured in places by bursts of static and the superimposed negative of what seems to be a girl's body. This makes us feel uneasy, as we are not sure what is happenening, and this intensifies over the video, until the male character walks past the body of his girlfriend and we begin to understand. They make very good use of effects, using good filters and the bursts of superimposed images. It is made more spooky by the lack of dialogue, which has made some of the other videos look a little amateur. Overall a very spooky video which brilliantly creates an air of unease, using techniques we could draw on for our movie opening.

Product Research - The Hunt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bklkHHKI_1s

''Media Studies Main Task (The Hunt), filmed for our AS Coursework, in Weybridge, Surrey.''

This was the best example of an As Media video main task we could find. I think the opening is very effective, the murder is shot with a nice filter that gives it a good ambience, and I like the effect of the black screens with titles against short bursts of video. The tense music in the background and the non-diagetic sound of the voice clips helps build up the atmosphere and create a very proffesional looking, effective music. Coupled with the repeated shots of the dead body and the voice clips summerising the father's life, this would not look out of place in a cinema, being broadcast as a proper film. The only thing that lets down the look and flow of the movie is the occasional shakycam shots, and there is some bad use of the camera which makes parts of the clip look amatuerish and drags the whole thing down. I would also lose the last close up of the main actor's face during his phone conversation as this looks and sounds cheesey and drops any credibility and reality the video has built up.
Overall this is a very good video and has made me think about following in the same idea and building on the black screen/movie transitions.

Choice of Tasks

We were offered a choice of briefs for the main task spanning four different media: Print, Video, Audio and website. Each had pros and cons, for example the print task involves making the front page for a music magazine which would be quite easy and interesting, as I have an interest in music. The audio task involves making a five minute news bulletin which would also be very interesting, but a lot harder. It would also take more audio recording facilities, which we may not have access to. The website assignment did not hold any particular interest for any of us, so we decided to choose the Video task.

The video tasks offers something for all of us to do, and it is the most engaging and interesting task offered. It offers the most freedom, giving us the choice to go in any direction we want. The only requirements are:
'the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.'

We will discuss what we plan to do for our task, what genre, what storyline and characters we will use and what we need to film.

Prelimination Exercise - Evaluation

I think we did quite well in our prelimination task, we followed the 180 degree rule, the 60 degree rule, match on action etc. But there were some things we could have improved.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Pt6pTRulII

In the opening scene, the sound whilst the main character is walking up the stairs is very loud, the footsteps in particular, and they drown out the muttered 'afternoon' from Luke to myself. Although this was down to the camera's recording quality, we could have reduced the sound during editing. The sound also sounds a little disjointed between scenes, but this was because the sound was recorded via the camera, that needed to be moved between shots. In a real production, the sound would be recorded from a static device such as a microphone attatched to a boom

The main problem with the clip though, is the glaringly obvious continuity mistake. When Luke opens the door to Sam's office at approx 0'16'' he leaves it open, not closing it. But when Sam storms out of his office at 0'40'' the door is closed, so he has to open it. This means that someone must have mysteriously closed the door between Luke leaving it wide open and Sam storming out, which is not shown. This is a large break in continuity and ruins the flow of the clip. It only took one eagle-eyed viewer to notice it, then the rest of us could not miss it, spoiling the illusion that this was real life and making us all aware it was just a show.
Continuity breaks like this can spoil the illusion of a film or production, and we will be sure to be extra-vigilant in the production of our main task to be sure that nothing like that will happen again.

Overall though, I am pleased with how the exercise came out, the camerawork is steady, the acting has no mistakes, it is well edited with no gaps or mistakes, it is dramatic, gritty and professional. We also made good use of different camera shots, such as worm's eye view and shot reverse-shot.

Prelimination Exercise

Our prelimination exercise 'the interogator' is now on youtube at the following adress -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Pt6pTRulII

I would appreciate it if people could take the time to watch it and comment on what went well and what we could have done better, with any suggestions how we could improve it.

Thanks.

Filming and Camera Techniques

I have extensively researched some interesting and useful camera techniques we can use in our project. When We have planned and researched what we are going to do, I will select which techniques and angles we will want to use in our film.


In film, an insert is a shot of part of a scene as filmed from a different angle and/or focal length from the master shot. Inserts cover action already covered in the master shot, but emphasize a different aspect of that action due to the different framing. An insert differs from a cutaway, as cutaways cover action not covered in the master shot.
There are more exact terms to use when the new, inserted shot is another view of actors: close-up, head shot, knee shot, two shot etc. So the term "insert" is often confined to views of objects—and body parts, other than the head. Thus: CLOSE-UP of the gunfighter, INSERT of his hand quivering above the holster, TWO SHOT of his friends watching anxiously, INSERT of the clock ticking.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insert_(film)

An establishing shot in film and television sets up, or establishes the context for a scene by showing the relationship between its important figures and objects. It is generally a long- or extreme-long shot at the beginning of a scene indicating where, and sometimes when, the remainder of the scene takes place.
Establishing shots may use famous landmarks to indicate the city where the action is taking place or has moved to, such as Big Ben to identify London, Sydney Opera House to identify Sydney, the Eiffel Tower to identify Paris or the Las Vegas Strip to identify Las Vegas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Establishing_shot

In film, a Bird's eye shot refers to a shot looking directly down on the subject. The perspective is very foreshortened, making the subject appear short and squat. This shot can be used to give an overall establishing shot of a scene, or to emphasise the smallness or insignificance of the subjects. These shots are normally used for battle scenes or establishing where the character is. It is shot by lifting the camera up by hands or by hanging it off something strong enough to support it. For a scene that needs a large area shot, then it will most often likely to be lifted up by a crane or some other sort of machine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird%27s_eye_shot

Shot reverse shot (or shot/countershot) is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_reverse_shot

A point of view shot (also known as POV shot or a subjective camera) is a short film scene that shows what a character (the subject) is looking at (represented through the camera). It is usually established by being positioned between a shot of a character looking at something, and a shot showing the character's reaction .The technique of POV is one of the foundations of film editing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_of_view_shot

In film or video, an over the shoulder shot (also over shoulder, OS, OTS, or third-person shot) is a shot of someone or something taken over the shoulder of another person. The back of the shoulder and head of this person is used to frame the image of whatever (or whomever) the camera is pointing toward. This type of shot is very common when two characters are having a discussion and will usually follow an establishing shot which helps the audience place the characters in their setting. It is an example of a camera angle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over_the_shoulder_shot

Dutch tilt, Dutch angle, oblique angle, German angle, canted angle, or Batman Angle are terms used for a cinematic tactic often used to portray the psychological uneasiness or tension in the subject being filmed. A Dutch angle is achieved by tilting the camera off to the side so that the shot is composed with the horizon at an angle to the bottom of the frame. Many Dutch angles are static shots at an obscure angle, but in a moving Dutch angle shot the camera can pivot, pan or track along the director/cinematographer's established diagonal axis for the shot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_angle

In fiction, continuity (also called time-scheme) is consistency of the characteristics of persons, plot, objects, places and events seen by the reader or viewer over some period of time. It is of relevance to several media.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuity_(fiction)

 The 180° rule is a basic guideline in film making that states that two characters (or other elements) in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line. The new shot, from the opposite side, is known as a reverse angle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/180_degree_rule

Groups:

After much deliberation, we have organised ourselves into a group of four:
Me (Ed Barnes)
Luke Cowie
Mark Posnett.
Sam Bailey


Both Luke and Mark are very enthusiastic and interested in the subject, and both are hardworking and I feel they will be a great asset to the group. Whilst neither are necessarily that experienced in filming or editing, they have both quickly adapted to the equipment during the peliminary task and they are both quick learners. Sam Bailey is a good actor, and studied media for GCSE alongside me so has had experience in the subject.
I am sure we will work well together as a group and will be able to draw on every member's strengths to create an impessive production.