The PLOT!!!!!!

Plot of Media Production

After only a short time with my group we had already shaped a very entertaining, thrilling plot that would be interesting to film. Below I have written a personal plot, inspired by what we talked about in the lesson.

Well here goes…………………..

Our film is going to open with shots of the film’s ‘Victim’ riding his moped through a desolate setting (Of which we are yet to decide on). As per usual the moped breaks down in the middle of nowhere. The audience are lead to believe that this is an unfamiliar area to our character which will be shown by how gormless he looks on a short survey of the area he takes to see if there’s anyone around when the bike breaks down. When our character comes back from his obviously fruitless look for help he comes back to find his Moped missing. He finds this heard to believe as we clearly see him lock it before he goes to look for help. Our character then gets out his phone to check for a signal. But guess what? He hasn’t got any. Any to add this awful chain of unfortunate events a point of view camera shot shows us a character watching him through the bushes, he will be breathing heavily to show a potential weakness that if we were to do the whole film the victim could exploit. The clip will end like this with the character slowly edging towards the character. It will finish with the ‘Villain’ metres away from our victim who spots the man.

Whoaa finish!!!!

Cutting it notes

Below I have listed 6 facts and figures about the TV series 'Cutting It' typed by my fair hand. What a wonderful topic to research! I would have got more but unfortunatly due to the low budget nature of the series and the fact that nobody cares, I was restricted to notes from the BBC Website. So here goes. Other facts on the website included the language that the series was spoken in and the fact that it was given a PG rating:

• Cutting it was a 'Popular' TV series that ran between 2002 and 2005
• The main filming of the series was in Macclesfield
• The series as a whole saw 9 directors accupy the hotseat. These were:Catherine moreshead, Andy Deemmony, Philip John, David Kerr, Fraser Macdonald, John Alexander, Roger Goldby, Philip John and Julie Ann Robinson
• The series won one award as well as being nomiated for five others. It won RTS Television Award
• The main cast were Sarah Parish who played Allie (The Women from the clip), Jason Merrel who played Gavin Ferraday, Allie's Husband and Angela Griffin who plays Darcy Henchall
• The Production of the film was funded and supervised by the BBC

Notes about the Departed and Vacancy

right time for another blogger sesh! This time I'm writing up notes for two thriller films we watched called the Departed and Vacancy. It was amazing how we managed to find every little detail in 5 minutes of both films from miss edited camera shots in Vacancy to an impressive shout by Richard who even managed to scout out a cigar that the main character had in one scene then two seconds later in the next clip was without! I am prepared to offer a $1000 dollar reward for the safe return of that cigar!



Right, now onto the more pressing matters the notes. While I managed to find more for vacancy due to the fact that we watched the opening about four times (Mainly to correct filming errors but also of course to check out it's thriller characteristics. Ok no more fooling around below I have written my 'Vacancy' notes. I have divided them into sections, first of all about the characters we see then the Music and well I guess you'll have to read on to see the others.........




Vacancy


Characters



The first characters we see are a man and a women who appear to be travelling a long distance to be with what turns out to be a family member. They would appear to be a former couple although it is fairly obvious by the way they treat eachother (Unpleasant) that they are no longer and are probably going to their destination together because perhaps the family member they are visiting doesn't know thay have split up.



The man appears to be very on edge and short fused. This is understandable as we learn that he has been driving the car for several hours and is probably only still awake due to pep piills he claims to have taken when the couple last stopped. Apart from this wedon't really learn much else about this guy. He appears to be one of the 'good' characters in the film as we have no reason to ecuse him of being otherwise.



And now for the women! The women seems generally more sharpe and alert than the man probably due to the fact that she has slept the whole journey while the man has been driving, this means that in all the petty squabbles the pair have during the short leg of the journey are won by her (Obviously the fact that she is a women also helps her argumentative power!). She also seems much 'healthier' in apperance. The man looks very 'hot under the collar' and unhealthily orange while the women has a good level of colour to her face, although once again the contrast in the pair's faces is probably due to the level of sleep they both had.



The third character we are introduced to in the opening to the film is what would appear to be our 'Bad guy'. Typically all in black (Even his little woolly hat) and suspiciously kind for a stranger occupying his Patrol station at just past 1:30 in the morning especially seeing as the station is in such a rural location (But thats for another section!)







Music/Sounds



Sound in the opening to the film, in my opinion is to unerve the audience and also to show how desolate the area is. For example we hear cries from wild animals such as owls who don't 'twit ah woa' for any Tom, Dick or Harry and infact only tend to make noise when there are no humans around indicating that the area dosn't have that many inhabitants to save the day should things go wrong which we all know they will.







Setting



The setting is basically what looks to be an old empty mountain range that doesn't really seem to have much of anything especially people. We get a great range of camera shots, more in particular 'extreme wide shots', many of these to show the nothingness of the area.





Narratives


The story so far has basically seens a couple take the wrong direction through a seemingly uninhabitable mountain range. Although as luck would have it........ It's not unhabitated, we are infact met with a 'kind' owner of a garage who clearly benefits from a great deal of custom, so much so he can keep his garage open until a staggering 1:30am in the morning!



The Departed

Looks like a spin off to a classic Spaghetti Western, but in the middle of a Povital area in Boston. Ok and now for the notes:

Characters

The two characters I would like to focus on are our two potencial 'Heroes' of the film.

First of all our gangster. The first shot we see of him, he is walking into a Cafe. He immediately displays high levels of confidence as he strolls into a local Cafe. He is very rude to the waitress, making several sexist puns. We then find out he is obviously quiet well respected as we see the big bald cheif looking on not even battering an eyelid as this man ridicules his staff. The other word I would use to describe him is generous. There is a timid young boy leaning againest the counter (Who is the other character I would like to talk about when I get to it) who says he is living with his grandmother after being asked by our Gangster character. Our Gangster then orders two loaves of bread (And some other sumptuous products although I missed these!) to which he gives to the boy.

And for our other character. Well as I've already said he is a timid, gaunt looking character. We get the feeling that he is an inocent boy, growing up in an area of poverty and corruption ran by gangsters. We see in the end of the clip that the boy ends up joining a garage. A position he was offered whilst talking to the man.

Music/Sounds

The only influencial sounds we hear in the clip are mainly diagetic, including classic city noises like traffic. The only other noise we hear that could have some sort of inpact is the sound of Seagulls which indicates that the location is near the Sea There isn't really any other noticable noises.

Setting

The setting as I've said is in a poor area of Boston ran by Irish American Gangsters.

Narratives

The film, I would imagine is around how this big time gangster operates. The young boy we see could possibly be involved as a sidekick or an understudy possibly.

Shawn of the Dead vs Dawn of the Dead

Both films done very well in their own Market place. For example Shawn of the dead had a much lower budget ($4,000,000) than Dawn of the dead ($26,000,000) and therefore made a smaller profit. Whereas Dawn of the Dead used its financial superiority to rake in a much larger gross profit. Shawn of the Dead $3.3 million in the USA, taking 8th place at the box office despite a limited release to only 607 theatres. In the UK it took in £1.6 million at 307 cinemas on its opening weekend and netted £6.4M by mid-May. The film has earned just over $30 million worldwide in box office receipts since its release. I would now like to look at both film’s attendances at the cinema. While Dawn of the dead has earned $102,356,381 worldwide gross.
The second thing I would like to look at is the awards of both films. Dawn of the Dead’s only major award was the ‘Golden Trailer Awards’ where it won best trailer. Although one award seems pitiful it was NOMINATED for several others including the Bram Stoker Award for best screenplay in a film, the Saturn award for ‘Best Makeup’ and for best ‘Horror Film’. Shawn of the dead didn’t actually win any major awards although it was nominated for a couple including British Academy of Film and Television and also best British film.; This once again demon straights how the financial budget of the film determents how both films done at the Awards.
To conclude, as we can see both films were very successful and although a conservative view would lead someone to view Dawn Of the Dead as ‘more successful’ because of the much larger profit, however as a percentage both have made similar profits in correlation to how much was invested initially, allowing me to come to the conclusion that both films were triumphant in their own marketplace

After viewing Somers Town

4. How would you categorise this film in terms of genre? Does it remind you of any other films you have seen?

I would put this film into the category of a Comedy/Drama. This is because as well as providing a few laughs to provide a comedy element, it has a serious plot about two boys who have more in common than they might think. The problems these boys share are true to life of many British boys and girls growing up. Poverty and 'no where else' just to pick two are two common themes that many people in the world today must face which gives me the ammunition I need to also put this film in a drama based catagory


5. What do you think is the film's appeal for audiences?

I think the films appeal is all about social realism (A word I nicked off the women who gave a presintation at the start of the Movie). People don't always want to see a glammed up film where everything is happy and the only tradgedy is when a young princess breaks a fingernail. People want to see a film about real people leading real lives, facing real struggles that some can relate to.

I also agree with the famous excue for many types of news Media when I say that people love going to watch something where people struggle so they can feel better about their own little lives.

6. As well as being in black and white, the film is subtitled during the conversations in Polish between Marek and his father; there are also sections in French. In what ways do these factors affect your responses to the film, the situation and the characters?


I think in many ways these subtitles are used for the character's benefit in the sense that they are talking in their own language to kind of show the audience that you cannot take the Polish and the French out of them. I mean we learn they can speak perfectly good English although if they were to speak this all the time it would take away the 'Polish Edge' Marek and his farther has.

I also think the subtitles are used for the audience. For example if they would have opted to do that not quiet English not quiet European it could be very confusing to the audience as they wouldn't be aware of when the characters are trying to speak English and when they are trying to speak Polish.

The final reason I could think of was for authenticity reasons. There are more than enough examples of failed attempts at directors giving foreign characters awful English accents that are just not realistic. Foreign characters with subtitles is much more affective.

7.Shame Meadows' 2006 release, 'This is England', won a number of awards. Research and explore the film's critical reception and suggest what similarities and differences you can identify between 'Somers Town' and 'This is England'.

The film recieved a very good reception with review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 93% of critics gave the film positive reviews. The was also put into several Movie list's top ten films of 2007 reaching an impressive 3rd in Newsweek's.

It was also debated whether it should be a an 18 or a 15 certificate with a majority of film councils opting for 18, although Bristol and Camden were among the few who choose 15 as they believed the film should be seen by a teenage audience that they believed the film was aimed at.

The 15 or 18 certificate debate was probable due to the racist content of the film. Which is probably the main link between Somers town and This is England. Both films are based on the topic of foreign immigrants starting a new life in England although I believe Shane Medows probably created Somers town to show that not all imigrants recieved a warm reception coming into England as seen on This is England. Also I think Shane wants to show in Somers Town perhaps how racism towards immigrants decreased through time as This is England was set in the seventies and Somers town was more modern day.

Another connection between the two is probably how both film's main characters are in very povital areas, and how the young people in the film find their own fun. I think this is impotant as we see the characters of both films doing very practical imaginative things to amuse themselves such as talking and socialising, as well as the drinking element of the film

The final connection I found in the pair is the fact that both were about characters being influenced by lower moral streetwise friends to disobey their parents. In this is England the Fred Perry wearing Mods illistraight several examples of rebellion and without realising drag the main character of the film Shaun into trouble just by him being present during some of the boy's mishaps. The same sort of thing can be seen in Somer's Town with Tomo having a similar influence on Marek who from what I can gather has had a fairly strict upbringing away from getting drunk, a substance Tomo introduces him to.

8. To what extent do you think the audience is expected to be 'comfortable' with this portrait of two teenagers?

This is an interesting question. First of all I don't think that the audience created the characters to make the audience feel comfortable with them. They have have come from very challenging backround that I think this has been done purposely to make the audience feel 'uncomfortable' with the lives that the boys lead.

Most teenagers (especially ones that are still at school like the ones in the film) are still growing up, enjoying the inocence of this age. Instead we see the characters stealing from a laudermat which as well as showing the shear poverty of the characters tells the audience that these young boys of around 15-16 are stealing. Something that alerts the audience as to how these characters (more in particular Tomo) have been brought up and how acts like this have been added to the film to make the audience feel uncomfotable.

The second example I could think of that I believe has been used as a technique to make the audience feel uncomfortable is how Tomo has absolutly nowhere to go. This boy of 15-16 is homeless. A large percentage of people we see in this country that are homeless tend to be so through their own personal problems, however this young boy is in the same possition through no fault of his own. This is shocking toi the audience (Or 'uncomfortable as the sheets put it, great word!)

9. A sign on the estate reads 'children playing on these grounds is prohibited'. In what different ways do Tommo and Marek seek to amuse themselves within this environment? Do you think the film encourages us to judge any of their actions?

I believe the shot we see of this sign has been purposely added for the reason in the question. As we see at several points in the film this sign falls on deaf ears as far as Tomo and Marek goes as we see them loitering outside the grounds on numourous occasions.

We see the boys doing very teenage like things such as loitering and sitting around watching the world go by. It would appear they are growing up in an area that is unfriendly to their age group, probably due to the other inhabitants of the area in their age group, which means that there doesn't appear to be that many facilities in the area for them. Just scene when we see the two of them riding bouncing toys clearly made for todlers!

10. What messages about childhood and adolescence do you, or could you, take away from the film?

I think the film director has gone out of it's way to show the audience the worst possibly situations in tomo's and marek's to grow up in. I therefore think that the messege we can take from this film about adolecscence is to cherish it, because some people have to grown up a lot quicker and miss this important part of their lives (Marek and Tomo although more in particular Tomo)

11. Do your reactions towards the boys change at different points in the film? Which moments in particular:a) encourage you to sympathise with the boys

I would like to select seperate incidents for both boys. The point in the film where I feel most sorry for Tomo has to be in the Cafe where we see him talking to the Scottish women (After he had been beten up which was a close second). We hear Tomo speak of how he has nothing and now he's lost his bag as well, this scene was upsetting probably most because of his age. For a teenage boy to have 'nothing' is hard to believe.

For Marek it has to be when his dad comes home to find him and Tomo 'Boozing it up' in the living room (or just after this point). Although you have to sympathise with Mareks dad I also see the incident as a cry for help from Marek who appears to see very little of his dad who seems more woried about going and getting drunk.

b) make you unsympathetic towards them?

This has to be when they rob the laundrette. Although you could argue from an audience point of view this was very comical (Especially when they got the bag home). From a passerby's point of view in the Movie they are doing nothing to help themselves. Many view them as the dreggs of society and this is an example that to be quiet Frank supports this notion.

After reading through a textbook for the best part of 30 minutes I thought what a perfect occasion to take some notes from this and blog it! (This is before I realised it was homework!)
So here goes..............
Page 36- A fine page to start on! Green columes give way to a wonderful white border around the page........... On a serious note:
Diegesis: Something I picked up fairly quickly in the lessons but it was nice to be reunited with diagetic and non diagetic sounds once again.
Examples from films and a bit about Diagesis:
First of all Non diagetic: A Non diagetic sound is a sound that is added mainly for the audience’s benefit, normally the example the textbook uses is Taxi Driver where Music is used to create a ‘Haunting atmosphere’. For the other 99.9% of the population who, like me have never heard of this Movie another example can be found in ‘No Country For Old Men’ a film we are watching clips of in class. At the start there is a voice over of what we can assume is a former sheriff of the area where the film unfolds. I think this example is very affective as he tells us of a murder that has been committed in the area. This immediately sets the mood of the film.
And for Diagetic sound, a sound which is ‘Natural’. Ok I’ll go into a bit more depth. A sound is natural to that scene for example the whistling of the wind, this is another affect that is used in ‘No Country For Old Men’. This simple sound tells us the audience a lot. First of all it shows us that the area is vast and empty and if something bad (Or good but not often!) happened it isn’t likely to be heard by anyone.
What I learned from reading the passage about them:
I learnt that they can both run into each other (If both are being used to show the same thing)

Micro and Macro origination:

From what I can make out this is basically making sure your film falls into the genre you want it to fall into. If only it was that simple. Right from what I can make out micro elements such as types of camera work, Music, styles of title, Dialogue and setting the pace are all collectively a macro theme. The basic idea I think is if your doing a film about romance and two actors are about to kiss or something you don’t really want to have motorhead playing in the background and the camera shaking like a leaf.

Bottom line Micro and Macro origination= common sense when making a film

Camera work and framing

I thought it would be be4st to divide this information into bullet points
· Most of the shots you take as part of a film should be taken with a non mobile camera
· Zoom is not usually used in film. Only use if you are deliberately trying to show amateur footage
· Film uses fewer close ups than TV mainly because the viewing screen is much bigger
· Mainly use Mid shots, Long shots and sometimes close up shots
· Rule of thirds. Frame divided into a 3 by 3 grid. Keep people’s eyes off of the centre
· ‘Language of film’= How effective different combinations are e.g long shot to a mid shot as used in the text.
· The higher the angle the less superior a character is

Mise en scene

This is basically the detail of a film. From what I can gather it is another common sense element. Just ensure that you do the simple things right, consistently. Think about things like costumes that will best portray what your film is about. Another one of my stupid examples: Don’t wear school uniform if you’re meant to be dressed as some sort of murdering hillbilly!
Another one would be make sure that your character has the same haircut throughout. If your filming over a long period and your actor starts as a mod style skinhead and towards the end has liberty spikes it’s not going to look practical!

Lighting

Most of this is common sense really. Use your initiative outside of the world of Hollywood where directors and cameramen get the luxuries of multi thousand (Million?) lighting. Although I did make some notes below of the methods used in the text book
1. Natural light- Basically use things like the sun to your advantage. E.g sunny day can help capture a happy moment
2. Use cheap lighting- coming back to my comment earlier. It’s a light at the end of the day! Why spend all that money on a spotlight for an amateur film when things like torches are much more reasonably priced
3. Colour filters- again this is a facility that you can spend a fortune on or use a bit of old common sense and use things like shinning a light through liquid which is just as effective as a filter
4. Positions the light source for effect: Another simple yet effective method that can change the mood very easily. E.g A bright light in front of the character can show mystery as to what’s actually there (Magical possibly)
Combining sound, image and titles
A lot to think about in this section but again it’s all about accuracy. Use sound, imagery and titles to fit in with your film. Add appropriate sound for the mood of the film.

The grammar of non linear editing

This section is basically saying don’t get too carried away. Think about your audience at all times and not what makes your job any easier (Although if you can hit two birds with one stone, I certainly will be if I can find something that can tick both boxes).
It also says be consistent (Don’t start using different titles and imagery as this just looks stupid to put it simply!)
Make editing invisible. From what I can gather this simply means that your film must look believable. Don’t have sounds arriving too late for the scene they’re meant to be in.

What do you think a modern director would choose to produce a film in blakc and white, rather than colour? What Affects might they be hoping to achieve?





First of all it obviouskly makes the whole film stand out, despite the film being in black and white and the natural responce being that the colour loss of the film makes it dull it almost helps to tell the story.



Also the lower class element of the film is supported by this black and white feature. Although this is probably not a direct feature of the directors reasoning behind the colouration at was probably though of. The fact that all the characters in the film have been brought off as middle and lower class. I therefore think that the colouration is to help deplict these people as being very poor and plain



further more I think the director has used the black and white colouring to demonstraight that a movie doesn't need to rely on colour to bring in the audience, especially seeing as the Movie itself doesn't really have too many moments where colour could play a big impact. Their isn't a scene where, in my opinion a radient GREEN sun or a medow of GREEN grass would have been needed.

Finally I think the fact that MOST of the Movie being in black and white makes the final scene where the boys are in Paris with their dream girl (Whoose name is never used in the film) more special as it kind of shows the boys coming out of the dull struggles and problems they face in their lives to be with the girl of the dreams in Paris (A scene of the Movie shown in colour probably for this reason)

From the list of modern films shot in black and white you were given. Choose three and find out their release date, their genre, the director’s reputation and the critical reaction to the film.

Come back to

The film is named after Somers Town, the part of London in which it is set. Most of the filming also took place on location in that area.
Given the London location, what iconographic sights and sounds might you expect from the film?

I think all of the sounds we hear associated with London in this film are very much digetic (The Hustle and Bustle of the streets, the noisy traffic in the city).

We see some very 'London typical sights' aswell. For example we see the London Bridge, something instantly associated with Long (Hence the name LONDON BRIDGE) but also I think we see other sights such as the large blocks of flats and the B and B cafe. These places are not places that just exist in London however it is very easy to relate them to London by their structures and instandtly regonisable characteristics (e.g Tomo's Bacon sandwitch. A meal that I would immediatly think of as a big old Londoners mid morning snack!).

Something else I found was the dodgy market salesman who gives Marek the Arsenal shirt comically with Terry Henry on the back instead of Therry Henry. This in itself might just have been used to generate humour, although I think it shows the wealer dealer London image that reminds me of such London classics as Oliver Twist and Only Fools and Horses.

What are your expectations about character and narrative based on this setting?
I would expect the characters the honor this as very steriotypical citizens of the city. For example I would think due to the fact that they are likely to be very lower class I would think that they would have poor manners and act a bit like grifters (Once again relating to Oliver Twist)

Somers Town day out

We embarked on Norwich armer with a notpad and pen ready to take notes on the British film industry and of Course watch a film called Somers town, a film based a friendship shared between two boys both from backrounds many people put in the category of 'Dreggs of society'. The film is directed by Shane Medows. Someone who is notorious for stepping up to the hotseat when confronted with films based on Social realism (Basically doesn't smooth off the edges and tells it how it is).

Before the film we had a women talk to us about British films and the similarities between each one. For example the women definied a British film as a typically low budget film that tended to focus on the midle class

The industry we have today kicked off in the 50's after the war where directors realised the importance of using real life working class people in their movies.

Well thats it from me for now

Laters

Once Upon a Time in The West

As part of our ongoing research into the 'Art' of the thriller industry we watched the first few minutes of a Spagetti Western film called 'Once Upon A Time In The West'. Although the obvious outdatedness (Is that a word) of the film provided cheap laughs from the class it was actually in my opinion a good example of a thriller film. The opening 2 minutes of film were all we saw, but that was enough time to pick up some Tentionous (Another one I will have to check with those nice people at Oxford). For example sounds like the creaky door built up a hostile mood that lingered in the backround of a scene which saw an old ticket officer standing off againest a Big Black Cowboy (Words that when put together can only mean trouble!) And also the 'Diagetic' sounds. The NARURAL whistling of the wind showed the decoletness of the area and how the man probably had no help for miles.
While I managed to squeeze Diagetic into my description I'm afraid my notes prohibited me from doing the same for Non Digetic, the definition of which I would like to list below.
Non Diagetic: A sound that does not occur as part of the action, and cannot be heard by the film's characters for example the theme tune to a movie often overlaps the titles and spills onto the start of a Movie. This is a Non Diagetic sound as only the audience can hear it.

Well anyway thats it for now Cheers for reading

Joe

Final Cut Part 2

Today was a much more hands on lesson, exploring areas of editing software I had never seen before. Learning about how to add and label clips of film by connecting the camera to the mac and adding the clips we collected around the school onto the computer. We used the escape key to cut at different points to create shorter, more organised clips which we then labelled with what they showed to ensure that the editing process is a little less stress free, only a little

Cheers for now

Joe

Thriller Planning, Audience Research, Thriller Research, Thriller Evaluation, Thriller Construction, Course Work

Media Homework- Thriller Films

Thriller Definition
Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action, and resourceful heroes who must crush the plans of more-powerful and better-equipped villains

5 Thriller Films
The Godfather
The Great Escape
Jaws
Hotel Rwanda
Terminator 2- Judgement Day: This is the film out of the five that I have seen. It is a good example of the definition I have provided above. It is fast paced with lots of gun action throughout. And a, in theory less powerful hero who uses his resources well against a more powerful superhero who is made of liquid metal a substance described by the hero in the movie as ‘Indestructible’. The plans of the villain are to destroy the main character, John Connor, a character who is set to lead the human race to a close fought victory against their Scynet computer counterparts. The is basically about the liquid metal villain robots failed attempts to destroy John Connor. The film finishes with a last gasp battle between the good and bad robots which following the outdated corny Thriller theme results in the Indestructible robot being melted in a big pot of molten liquid. Who would have guessed?!!!!

On a serious note. It was a pretty interesting lesson.

The programme was similar to a programme called Adobe Premier Pro which proved to be an advantage as Final cut is just a better laid out, slightly more user friendly programme that we are using to edit a promotional video of the school! Should be interesting!

This is my Blog about final cut!!!!

Well basically last Friday we learnt about how to use a editing programme called Final Cut. A tedious process that saw us occupy Apple Mac computers for the best part of two hours, a period that saw us only scratch the surface of learning to use the programme as we seemed to watch a spining globe in various motions includeing fast, slow, rewind, slow rewind, normal, up, down, side to side!

Still looking forward to tomorrow's lesson where he comes in again though!!!!!!!