Preliminary Task

                                                          Preliminary Task-Evaluation 





 The story we filmed was an interrogation and during the process we used most of the filming rules and techniques.



 One of the techniques we used was the eye-line match where Megan was looking in the direction of where her phone was and the next shot was the phone being held in Viktorija's hand. Another technique we used was the Match On Action.






This technique was used at the beginning when the two interrogator's walked through the door on the outside, and was a close up on the door handle being used. Then to finish off the technique we filmed on the inside of the room of them doing the same action and then edited it together.







Another technique that we used was the shot/reverse shot. We used this for the conversation between the interrogators and the person being interrogated. This effect can show which person is talking at which time.







Another technique we added was a graphic match. We used this technique so we could transition between two scenes to create a dramatic ending.

Shifty-An Independant British

                                                                     Shifty 

"Shifty is a British film made in 2008 under the Microwave Scheme that was funded by the UK film council (Since replaced by the BFI). The aim of the scheme was to provide young London film makers with a platform to make small independent film.

The rules of the microwave scheme were that the film had to be made in 18 days and with a budget of £100,000, it was the second Microwave film to be released. Shifty opened in 51 small independent cinemas such as the Curzon chain and on its opening weekend took £61,000. The final box office takings were £143,000 and most of the film's profits came from DVD and television sales.

Shifty was distributed Metrodome. £50,000 was spent on making celluloid prints of the film, administration and advertising. The intention was to attract two different audiences The first audience was the middle class audience that regularly sees small independent films at the independent cinemas. In addition they wanted to attract new, younger, urban audience. The audience had made "Kidulthood" and "Adulthood" profitable. In order to target both audiences, Metrodome produces different trailers. Interestedly the trailer targeting the youth audience, had a soundtrack of hip hop music but there was no soundtrack in the actual film.

In addition Metrodome ran adverts on pirate radio stations, used to Fly Posters (these are illegal posters that were put up ) and gave out "business cards" which depicted Shifty as a drug dealer and directed the recipient to a website. A music video to promote on Youtube and a website was created and prompted on social network sites.

Most controversially, the film sent out viral emails that identified the recipient as a potential drug dealer. The Advertising Standards Authority received a complaint and the emails were banned. However, the ‘bad’ publicity generated helped to promote the film.

Finally, Metrodome targeted the youth audience through a competition offering £500 worth of studio time to young musicians. The lucky winner had the opportunity to work with Riz Ahmed – a musician who starred in the film.

“Shifty” is a thriller that builds slowly. There are three interwoven threads to the story.  Chris (Daniel Mays), a young man in his twenties returns home to visit a best friend he has not seen for years. An enigma is set up. Why did Chris leave? We suspect something awful happened but are not sure.

We quickly learn that Shifty has become a drug dealer. As he completes his ‘round’ the film creates a realistic picture of urban life. A second thread to the story concerns Trevor who is a drug addict and desperate for drugs. The audience become involved in his desperate search for drugs which becomes ever more desperate.

The third and most important plot involves Shifty being placed in danger by Glen who lies and claims Shifty is short changing his supplier. Shifty fears for his safety and the film builds toward a climax of tension. The final resolution to the film takes the audience by surprise.

The Trailer:

Continuity Editing

                                                          Continuity Editing

Continuity Editing is to see how techniques are created, to plan a sequence to show the understanding of it and it is in preparation for filming and editing the first piece of coursework this week. Continuity Editing retains a sense of realistic chronology and generates that time is moving forward. It may also use flashbacks of flash forwards in an expected or realistic way.


There are different types of continuity editing:

Eye-line Match
-This is where we see a character looking at something off screen and then they cut to a shot of what they are looking at.









Match On Action
-This is where we see a character start an action in one shot and then we see them continue it on the next shot.









Graphic Match
This is when two shots are linked with a similar shape or composition of an image, the filmmaker can choose to place the shots in a certain order so as to create a smooth visual transfer from one frame to the next, when the two consecutive shots are matched in terms of the way they look.







180 Rule
-This is a basic guideline that states that two characters (or other elements) in the same scene should always have the same relationship to each other, when the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting two subjects, it is called crossing over the line.











Shot/Reverse Shot
-This is normally used in arguments or in conversations.

Film Noir

                                                                    Film Noir

Film Noir is the term given by the French film critics to a group of films made in Hollywood from 1941 to 1958. These films were characterised by their pessimistic, dark themes that show the darker side of human nature, fatalism and menace. They are filmed by using low key lighting to give the films the hard, sharp look, with stronger areas being darker. The most popular theme in Film Noir are American Crime and Detective films.

Colour and Lighting

                                                               Colour and Lighting




The first use of colour was seen in films such as "Voyage a Travers l'impossible" by the Pioneer George Melies in 1904. Here the film was hand painted frame by frame.
The next development was the introduction of two strip colour using only red and green, for example, The Mystery of the Wax Museum. The first full three strip technicolor was Becky Sharp in 1935





From the 1930's to the 1940's, black and white represented reality and colour represented fantasy and spectacle. There are two ways we can use colour, denotation and connotation.

Denotation:
This is a literal description of an idea, concept or an object
Connotation:
This is what we associate with a particular idea, concept or an object.

Colour works on a subconscious mind to create a mood.
For example, red can symbolise the enemy, anger, blood or even romance, green can symbolise peace, earth, sickness and new life and blue can symbolise sadness, calmness and tranquillity



                                                                       Lighting.

Key Light

  - This light is the brightest and the most influential

Back Light

  - This light helps counteract the effect of the key light or creates an outline and/or silhouette.

Filler Light

  - This light helps to soften the harsh shadows that the use of the key and the back light create.

Under lighting

  - This is where the  main source comes from below the subject and is mostly used in thrillers and horrors.

Top lighting

  - This is where the main source comes from above the subject, this is also used in thrillers and horror films, and the light highlights the features and is used to create a glamorous look.

Low Key Lighting

   This is created by using only the key and back lights to produce a sharp contrast of light and dark areas on the screen as very deep and distinct shadows are formed. 

High Key Lighting

  - More filler lights are used to make the lighting appear more realistic.

Mise En Scene

The Mise En Scene Exercise:

-In this exercise, we had to produce a small, quick film to show the people's emotions through body language and facial expressions. Firstly we showed the feeling of relaxation with a few friends chatting and are comfortable, they show this by being laid back, not showing any expression at all. then we showed the feeling of embarrassment, by having someone accidentally trip over with a handful of books. After this we showed some sympathy toward the embarrassment by asking them if they're okay. We then show the feeling of anger and frustration, as Viktorija looks unhappy and gives a long stare. The feeling of nervousness comes soon after as the group of friends become unaware and afraid of what Viktorija might say. The frustration and anger come back when she flips a chair and walks out of the classroom dramatically slamming the door behind her.

Rope 1948

                                                              ROPE 1948

Rope is a psychological thriller that was adapted from Patrick Hamilton's  Play which appeared in 1929.
The play was based upon the real life murderers Leopold and Leob who killed an innocent man to see how it felt, this case became very famous in America and it was linked to the ideas of Nietzsche and his notion of "superman" a morally superior human being. His ides influenced Hitler and the Rise of Nazis.

The film was made in 1948 and was directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The unique and interesting thing about the film is the editing, Hitchcock wanted to film the story as one long continuous take so that it was like watching a play and the audience felt they were "living" the action, however, before digital, film came in ten minute rolls and Hitchcock had to compromise and each unedited scene is ten minutes long, the changes between the scenes appear rather "clunky" to a modern audience.

Using this editing technique creates a feeling of claustrophobia, the actors and the audience are both 'trapped' in the film. The trunk with the body in it is present throughout the whole film, which adds to the tension. The popular questions that are asked are; Will the trunk ever be opened? Will Phillip and Brandon ever be discovered?

Another fascinating element to the film is the way homosexuality is portrayed, the strict censorship of the 1920's meant that the subject could be implied but not openly stated.

This thriller used devices such as Cliffhangers and Suspense.

Cliffhanger: Will Rupert Cadell (James Stuart) be killed at the end of the film?

Suspense: We constantly wait for the trunk to be opened and the body to be discovered.

Source Code

                                                  Source Code

Director: Duncan Jones

Writer: Ben Ripley

Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga

Budget: $32,000,000 (estimated)

Opening weekend: $14,812,094 3rd April 2011

Gross: $54,696,902

Summary: An action thriller centred on a soldier who wakes up in a body of an unknown man and discovers he's part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train.




The storyline keeps you on the edge of your seat and adds in enough humour to make it a thoroughly enjoyable experience. The movie contains suspense and can bring questions to the audience. There is amazing subtle chemistry between Jake and Michelle which really is the star of the film and the performances from all the actors in the movie were excellent. All together, the film delivers on romance, suspense, mystery and thrills. It has beautiful cinematography which makes Chicago proud because the makers of the film have set the scene so brilliantly. The movie has an enigmatic ending, where for the audience, it brings up more questions than answers but somehow feels right.

As well as excitement, there are tender moments in the film that relieve the tension, there is an ongoing romance and a very moving scene where Stevens phones his father. Colter Stevens is a resourceful hero, he gets out of a lot of scrapes as he challenges fellow passengers on the commuter train. The film is an example of an ordinary person, albeit a soldier, who has been dragged into a situation he does not really understand. Colter Stevens is not only against the bomber he is also against the creator of the source code who refuses to let him die and wants to use him for future missions, until the end of the film he is powerless and is driven by others.

Sound Exercise and Evaluation

For this exercise we had to film a short sequence to show examples of different sounds used in film . the different sounds that we used were:
-Non Diagetic Sound
-Off Screen Sound
-On Screen Sound
-Parallel Sound
-Pleonastic Sound (Door Slam)
-Ambient Sound (Empty Room)

We used off screen sounds by Viktorija standing behind the camera for it not to be shown: "Well look who it is" This can make the viewer be mysterious about who this person can be as they can't see them. Afterwards we used Pleonastic sound. This was where the door slam occurred off screen, which can alarm the viewers and be more interested in the film.
However, when we filmed some off screen sounds, talking and footsteps can be heard from the outside. For the voiceover, we had to use a small voice recorder and move to a different and quieter destination, as the microphone was sound sensitive, it could easily pick up surrounding sounds.
this was quite a problem for us as every time we tried to film a new sound, we had to make sure there wasn't anybody walking outside to give the footsteps effect, so it wouldn't ruin the quality of the footage.
The best part of the whole exercise was filming the off screen sound, and the non diagetic sounds, as they turned out to be best quality.

Use Of The Camera (Evaluation)

                                                       The Use Of The Camera

In this exercise, we made a short film to test out different camera techniques and movement, and in this short sequence, we only tested out some simple shots. The film was about two friends having a normal, everyday conversation, just catching up on what lessons they have or sharing interests, in the setting of their school. 

At the beginning of the film, we use a panoramic shot, to clearly show the setting of the scene of where the conversation is going to be held.

We also used an 'over the shoulder' shot, to focus on the different people that were speaking. 

Most of the shots were filmed on a tripod to make sure that the shots were still and not shaky which gives it a good effect. 

The last frame (the ending) was slightly shaky as the camera wasn't placed on the tripod, the reason for this was because the tripod wasn't tall enough to reach above the window. 

I think the best thing about making this film was choosing the right locations for the shots, and also using quite a lot of shots, to make the conversation seem more interesting with these shots added.

Psycho 1960

                                                          Psycho (1960)

The Director; Alfred Hitchcock

Writers; Joseph Stefano (Screenplay) , Robert Bloch (Novel)

Stars/Main cast; Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh and Vera Miles

-In Psycho, the audience initially think the film is about the $40,000 and the murderer becomes a shock. This shock makes the audience apprehensive for the rest of the film where anything could happen or anyone could be killed at anytime.

Hitchcock thoughts: 
the audience know there is a murderer in the house but they don't know when s/he will strike again but to be suspenseful they could know it could happen any minute. Hitchcock stressed that as the apprehension increases there is less and less violence on screens in the movie.

                                                                                                            


Hitchcock says "thrillers are characterised by fast pacing and frequent action"
Examples of this in Psycho is the shower scene, the car scene or the staircase in the house by the motel.

Norman Bates:

Hitchcock said it is important to avoid cliche and repetition, particularly with regard to character, for example, murderers can be charming and the heroes can be flawed. 
In his films, Hitchcock often placed evil in most banal of settings.


                                                                                                           

Storywise, psycho is not extrodinary, its true brilliance lies in its construction. Hitchcock has developed the film in such a way that it consistently flouts the audience expectations. In this film there are two major surprises. the first one being the shower scene murder and the second one being the final revelation about the mother of Norman.

Devices such as suspense, red herrings and cliffhangers are used extensively.
A viewer who sees the film for the first time without knowing about either will experience the full impact of what Hitchcock intended.
The greatest shock in this film was when the exit of Janet Leigh had occurred. This is doubly unexpected because, to this point, the screenplay had tricked us into accepting Marion as the main character. When she dies, the point of view shifts to Norman Bates which makes the audience puzzled.
In order to keep this crucial aspect of the film secret when Psycho opened in 1960, there were no advanced screenings and no one was admitted to a showing after the feature had started.

                                                                                                                                                                

The McGuffin

Hitchcock says that this plot device causes the action to happen in the movie. The device usually comes at the beginning of the movie and can also re-appear at the end of the movie. In his thrillers the audience don't really care about the McGuffin. In tis film the McGuffin is Marion stealing the money but the audience are more interested on what will happen to her and where she will go etc.

                                                                                                                                                                   

Whenever anyone speaks about Psycho, The first images that come to mind are those of Janet Leigh  being hacked to death in the shower, the scene is so famous that even people who haven'y seen the movie/film are also aware of the famous scene. The shower scene also stands as one of the greatest examples of execution and editing in the history of cinema. Bernard Hermann's discordant music has been used in countless other movies to denote the appearance of a "Psycho". The brilliance of the scene lies in the editing, a frame by frame analysis reveals that Hitchcock left a lot to the audience's imagination.

What we actually see in the shower scene is a knife, blood (which is actually chocolate syrup), water, a woman's nakaed body (with certain parts strategically concealed from the camera), only a brief showing of the blade penetrating the flesh. The fiull horror of the murder is only hinted at on-screen and it takes the power of the viewers's imagination to fill in the blanks.





      

North by North West; The Perfect Thriller

                                              North by North West; The Perfect Thriller

Released; November 22 1959.

Director; Alfred Hitchcock.

Screenplay; Ernest Lehman.

Trailer; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk0GbTMMbP0

Summary; An innocent New York advertising executive is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies and is pursued across the country finding a way to survive.

James Mason

                 

Cary Grant

Eva Marie Saint

*********************************************************************************
                                                Hitchcock's working methods;


In this movie, every scene was planned visually in order to help with the set out of the movie. Before shooting scenes in the movie, Hitchcock would have learned all the dialogue and rarely needed to look at the script just like a conductor conducting an orchestra without a score. When Hitchcock was directing, he never looked at the camera, he would always imagine as if he was looking at a screen in a cinema.

Thrillers are characterised by fast pacing and frequent action. an example of this in the movie id the drunk driving scene.

- Drunk Driving Scene " https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlY5kaZC2N0 "

Thrillers have resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more powerful and better equipped villains. I think this is true for this movie as James Mason acts as the bad guy/villain and Cary Grant had to thwart his plans and survive.

                                            Hitchcock's Two Clever Techniques

Setting was important for Hitchcock. Mount Rushmore is a symbol of order but Hitchcock sets a scene of disorder in that setting.
Hitchcock said that that the audiences need relief from suspense and a change of pace, so he would add a few scenes with humour to give the audience a laugh.

                                                                                                                                                                   

"A thriller is a villain driven plot whereby he presents obstacles the hero must overcome."

I think this is true in this film because the villain (James Mason) presents obstacle that the hero (Cary Grant) must overcome.

"THE MCGUFFIN"

The director said that the McGuffin is a plot device that causes the action to happen and this device usually comes at the beginning of the film and co=an sometimes return at the end of the film and in this film, the device is the Microfilm. In some cases the audience don't really care about this device that is used.

Use Of A Camera

                                          Use of the Camera in Filming

There are two types of shots using the camera
-Camera Shot
-Camera Movement

                                                          The Camera shots 

                                                               A long shot

                                                            A wide shot

                                                        A Medium shot

                                                       A close up

                                     
                                                An extreme close up

                                                        Point of view
                         

                                                         Low angle
          

                                              High angle

                                                The Camera Movement



                                                                            Pan

                                                                   Tilt

Crane Shot

Tracking shot

Rolling shot

Steadicam