For our final production, we wanted to use a song called Possibility, by Lykke Li. This song uses an acoustic piano and vocals, this gives it a slightly eerie affect; this will add a great atmosphere to our thriller/horror.

Problems
we encountered some inconveniences such as:

• Copy right issues
• How to alter a single level (e.g. piano)
• How to alter the intire song

the way we overcame these problems was to, ask a musician to preform a cover of the song and give us permission to use it; This will also allow us to control the audio editing. after asking Sophie if she would preform the cover, Liam and myself set up the recording studio (with the guidance of Scott). We used ...... mics to record the audio, allowing us to alter the recording circle. We also decided to record the in tire recording session on a camera, documenting the event; i then took this fotage, and mixed it with the audio that we recorded. This was using premire pro, this gave us a profetional looking, behind the scenes video. {as shown bellow}

Possibility-Effie Cover-Behind the Scenes (low res)

This video shows the audio in the raw format, it hasn't been enhanced. Before we add this into the back of our video we will add an echo, this will depend on weather it works/sounds good.

DEAD LINES !

Today we recieved our deadline for our post production work.

It needs to be completed by the 10th of December - 20 days from now.

This includes, Storyboards, Shooting list, Scripts and Research.

Storyboard ruff draft is complete, and Research is continous.

GROUP MEETING!

We have been having multiple group meetings recently to keep up our progress on our post-production. Our storyboard is currently in draft form with the final peice being drawn up.

We had a group meeting today to go over our final draft of the storyboard to make sure all ideas are included before the final copy is drawn up by Myself.

Analysis

MISE EN SCÉNE
Mise en Scéne is a Frecnh term meaning what is put into the scene or frame. What is put in or left out can make a big difference to the signals we, the audience, receive about what sort of film it is and how we are supposed to feel at this point.

A simple shot of a tree can be made to look threatening by stripping it of leaves, adding a vulture and some lightening and shooting it in darkness. The same tree can be given a very different look by having children playing beneath its sunlit branches. As an experienced film audience we are able to read these hidden signals of lighting, colour, props and characters and add these to our understanding of what will happen in the film.

In this way, the elements of mise en scéne are an indicator as to the genre (type) of film we are watching. We have certain expectations of the mise en scéne in different genres of films; e.g. Horror; Dark, creepy, evil.
Comedy; Bright, colourful, lively.

The elements to consider in the mise en scéne are:
a) settings & props
b) costume, hair & make-up
c) facial expressions & body language
d) lighting & colour
e) position ing of characters & objects within a frame

Heres a brief look at each of these in turn;

SETTINGS & PROPS

SETTINGS:

The settings used in a film are very rarely just backgrounds to the characters' dialogue and indeed we will often see shots of places without any action taking place. In this way the setting of a film is far more significant than the setting of a theatre and is almost always infinitely more detailed. Filmmakers can choose to build a setting from scratch using the bare walls and floor of a studio set; alternatively, a great deal of time and effort is put in by a location manager in the initial stages of making a fil;m to find a setting which already exists. Invariably this location will then be altered further to reflect exactly what the filmmaker wants to convery.

Settings can be used to manipulate an audience by building certain expectations and then the action takes a different turn, for instance, a tale of horror set against the familiar background of modern everyday urban life is showhow more disturbing than one set a century ago in a house in the wooods. This can be particularaly effective if the setting goes against what we would expect from this genre of film.

PROPS:

Props is the term we give to objects in the setting which play a part in the action, rather than just being part of the background, for example, the glass containing the poisioned wine.


COSTUME, HAIR & MAKEUP

COSTUME:

Costume plays a large part in the mise en scéne because it can be an instant indicator to us of a character's personality, social status and job. It tells us immediately whether the film is set in the present and what society and/or culture it will centre around. It may also provide a clue as to the part of the caracter will play in the action. Certain types of costume are identified closely with indicidual genres, for instance, the black cloak of the vampire with a horror film.

MAKE UP:

In the early days of cinema, make-up was used to highlight facial features as black and white film stock could not register detail very well. Certain genres traditionally use make-up more than others.

LIGHTING & COLOURLIGHTING:

Lighting can aim to give a particular scene a very realistic look or to bring out the dramatic nature of it and we associate these different lighting styles with different genres. It can be used to achieve a variety of a effects, for example;

• To highlight important characters or objects within the frame by drawing our attention towards them with a bright light source.
• To make a  character look mysterious by shading sections of the face/body.
• To reflect a character's confused state of mind may be suggested by alternating bright and dark light quickly as in a strobe effect.

COLOUR:

The connotations that colour carries with it are an important influence as to the mood of a scene. We tend to associate certain colours with certain genres particularly with reference to film posters and publicity materials which rely on the public quickly being able to identify with a film even from a distance.


POSITIONING OF CHARACTERS & OBJECTS WITHIN A FRAME

There are various ways in which the filmmaker can use positioning within the frame. For instance;

• If the filmmaker chooses to position a character or an object in the foreground of the shot we know that we, as an audience, should attach importance to this character or object; the mise en scéne is being used to direct our attention towards them. Likewise, we recognise that background events have less significance at this particular point in the narrative.
• A moving body or object placed against a stationary background will immediately draw our attention as it would in real life.
• If characters or objects are positioned evenly within the frame this will give a balanced feel ot the shot. If all the figures are at one end of the frame for example, this will create an imbalance for the eye by making the shot feel heavy on one side. These different types of spacing within the shot can be used to make the audience feel settled or unsettled, thus involving them in the action.
• If the positioning of figures and objects draws our atttention to the diagonal lines of the frame, this will help to inbalance the eye, especially if the lines of the background follow horizontal and vertical planes. This can be used to make the audience feel uncomfortable about the action that is taking place.
• The filmmaker can use positioning to indicate relationships between people, for example, if lovers are having an argument they will often be placed at the outside edges of the grame so there is a lot of physical distance between them to reflect the emotional distance they are experiencing at this point.

lighting.

lighting.

Ambient Light	The light already present in a scene, before any additional lighting is added. More info: Ambient Light
Incident Light	Light seen directly from a light source (lamp, sun, etc).
Reflected Light	Light seen after having bounced off a surface.
Colour Temperature	A standard of measuring the characteristics of light, measured in kelvins. More Info: Colour Temperature Chart
Contrast Ratio	The difference in brightness between the brightest white and the darkest black within an image. More Info: Contrast Ratio
Key Light	The main light on the subject, providing most of the illumination and contrast.More Info: 3 Point Lighting The image below shows this: Below shows Key light with less glare (created when the camera is too close to a light) :
Fill Light	A light placed to the side of the subject to fill out shadows and balance the key light. More Info: 3 Point Lighting
Back Light	A light placed at the rear of a subject to light from behind. More Info: 3 Point Lighting The image below shows both key light and back light used. Notice the 'halo' effect above the sholder:
Hard Light	Light directly from a source such as the sun, traveling undisturbed onto the subject being lit.
Soft Light	Light which appears to "wrap around" the subject to some degree. Produces less shadows or softer shadows.
Spot	A controlled, narrowly-focused beam of light.
Flood	A broad beam of light, less directional and intense than a spot.
Tungsten	Light from an ordinary light bulb containing a thin coiled tungsten wire that becomes incandescent (emits light) when an electric current is passed along it. Tungsten colour temperature is around 2800K to 3400K. Also known as incandescent light.
Halogen	Type of lamp in which a tungsten filament is sealed in a clear capsule filled with a halogen gas.
Fresnel	A light which has a lens with raised circular ridges on its outer surface. The fresnel lens is used to focus the light beam.
Incandescent	Incandescent lamps produce heat by heating a wire filament until it glows. The glow is caused by the filament's resistance to the current and is called incandescence

Sounds

Sound	Explanation	example
Diegetic	Diegetic sound which is part of the film world. This can be dialogue, music or sound effects which come from a source within the film world. Diegetic sound can occur either on screen or off screen.	In east enders in the queen Vic there is background noise of people talking and the radio.
Non-diegetic	Is sound which we do not recognise as part of the film world .	Background music and voice over’s.

THE USE OF COLOUR IN FILM

Colour working on the subconscious mind to create certain mood. Hospitals and dentists use pale colours in their waiting rooms, such as pale blues and greens, this is said to have a calming effect on the mind. Each colour has its own connotations, which may have been influenced by the culture of our beliefs, For example Christan's see the colour White as a symbol of purity where as in Indian religions white is seen as the colour of mourning. In the early days if a film maker wanted to use colour it would be painted on the shots afterwards. Technicolour introduced their new system in the early nineteen thirties that colour film began to see a commercial possibility.
Colour film was nearly thirty per cent higher than black and white, the effects where so dramatic that major film makers where eager to use it. Today we expect films to be in colour, and anything in black and white is added for effect. In the early days it was the opposite and colour was only really used for fantasy films.Red- Excitement, energy, passion, love, desire, speed, strength, power, heat, aggression, danger, fire, blood, war, violence.

Pink- Love, romance and excitement.

Beige- Unification, Quiet, Pleasantness, Clam and simplicity.

Yellow- Joy, Happiness, Betrayal, Optimism, Idealism, Imagination, Hope, Sunshine, Summer, Gold, Philosophy, Dishonesty, Cowardice, Jealousy, Conventousness, Deceit, Illness and hazard.

Blue- Peace, Tranquillity, cold, calm, stability, harmony, unity, trust, truth, confidence, conversation, security, cleanliness, order, loyalty, sky, water, technology, depression, appetite suppressant.

Turquoise- Sophistication, Feminine appeal.

Purple- Royalty, Nobility, spiritually, ceremony, mysterious, transformation, wisdom, enlightenment, cruelty, arrogance, mourning.

Lavender- Femininity, grace and elegance.

Green- Nature, enjoyment, Healthy, good luck, renewal, youth, spring, generosity, fertility, jealousy, inexperience, envy, misfortune, vigour.

Brown- Earth, stability, hearth, home, outdoors, reliability, comfort, endurance, simplicity and comfort.

Grey- Security, reliability, intelligence, staid, modesty, dignity, maturity, solid, conservative, practical, old age, sadness, boring, silver symbolizes calm.

White- Reverence, purity, birth, simplicity, cleanliness, peace, humility, snow, good, sterility, marriage (western cultures), Death (eastern cultures), Cold, clinical.

Black- Power, sexuality, sophistication, formality, elegance, wealth, mystery, fear, evil, unhappiness, depth, style, evil, sadness, remorse, anger, anonymity, underground, good technical colour, mourning, death (western cultures).



In the film Shindler's List the girl shown below, was shown wearing a red coat while the rest of the film was in black and white. This is done to show  you that the girl is of some importance, it also makes her stand out to the audience while in the film not much attention is payed towards her.

Juno task.

Last Friday (5/11/10)  our group planned a storyboard to help us film a practice video. are task was to reconstruct an opening silimar to the one seen in the film "Juno" this was to help us practice filming and video editing .. here is our quick version of the storyboard to give us a brief idea about the shots we
where going to use...

 

LOCATION
We decided on the best locations to frame the shots which looked quite similar to the location in Juno. in the video we changed locations often. we stayed in Werrington to do all the filming . we altered a few scenes to help fit our surroundings.

PROPS
in our film we needed to use a verity of props, we needed to find a object similiar to the sunny d juno drinks in the film. we used a bottle of milk to do this . we needed to find a way to dress actoress fran in clothes juno would wear . we where able to get a hold of a red hoody and suitable shoes to create a Mise-en-scène used in "juno"

EXTRAS
in our film we tried to include extras to add to the realism of the film
we got help from Connor's dad who played the part of a runner
also we was lucky enough to get in contact with a local neighbour who owned a van
who drove past us at the right time to match one of the scenes in "Juno"

PROBLEMS
we encountered many problems, one of the hardest challenges we had to overcome was the shot where you see Juno's feet and the camera pans up to her from a distance we had to shoot multiple shots to get it perfect.
another one of the problems was a member of the public took offence to us using branches for our filming , this meant we had to be more cautious about where we where filming.
another problem was the general weather conditions change from overcast(with occasional sun) to raining .. this was where we decided to call it a day

Timeline of an opening

                                   

Camera Angles	Screen Shot	Title analysis
Close up shot Of Tony Stark -          High key light -          Key lighting to the far left of the camera , projecting across the right of his face	( 9 seconds )	The opening scene is actually the ending of  “Robert Downey Jr ” stating to the world that he is “Ironman” The image then converts to a comic book style and tony stark changes into ironman.
Zoom in from black Images change to red Texts is in the centre of the screen	(17 seconds)	The camera zooms into the chest of iron man. The style symbolised Blue Prints as the opening titles are part of the making of the suit.
Zoom in from other shot Camera shake Text is in the centre of the screen	(22 seconds )	This screen shows who directed the film – joh favreau The shaking of the screen could symbolised the combustion of the suit as it is so advanced
Camera using crab technique  in from the left Text is at the top of the screen	(35 seconds)	This screen shows the blue print of part of the suit moving and functioning Showing the director of photography name – Mathew Libatique
Zooms in Back changes to blue Text in the centre of the screen	(59 seconds)	This screen zooms into the heart of iron man and the image changes to blue as the core is blue in the ironman suit. “Robert Downey jr” name is shown as he is the centre of the movie as he is the main character.
Images turn back to red Shows multiple shots in a couple of seconds Text is centre right	(1 minute 5 seconds )	The multiple shots show that the suit is coming together and shows of some of the weapons on the suit. Text shows another actor who has a lead role in the film
Camera uses a crab technique to the right Text fly’s in from left	(1 minute 10 seconds)	This shot includes red and blue , they could show that the heart of the suit ( blue ) and the suit ( red ) are becoming one.
Zooms in and through blue prints	( 1 minute 25 seconds )	This image changes the seen as if the credits are over and we are now leaving the suit
Zooms out to military symbol And images change to blue Titles cut out to black almost instantly	( 1 minute 36 seconds )	Image above zooms out to a federal symbol As during the film the military want access to the ironman suit. This ends the credit like a transmission and cuts of to black.

Film openings

Saw 6
the opening credits are writen in a weird font you see 3 versions of the text all in differn't sizes moving at differnt times across the screen also a few of the letters seem to twice every so often.
this is to create a creepy feel to the film.
the only lighting used is key light to keep a dark feel and uses Low key lighting to keep the film feeling dark
the credits fade to black and fade in to part of jigsaws death traps
the producer uses Extreme Close Ups of the traps slowly revealing the trap to the audience
there is not alot of opening credits
to finish the opening we see the first two victims waking up and wondering where they are
using a medium close up.

The plot of the opening is to introduce jigsaw the main cerial killer of the series new game of life and death and to show the audience how sick and twisted the film is going to become as in the first 5 minutes there is alot of blood ,gore and self harming.




FLIGHT PLAN
Below is the opening to Flight Plan, Our theme for our opening peice is a thriller. I have looked at various openings to Thrillers, below is one of them. This Film begins with a train going past, after it 'Touchstone Pictures and Imagaine entertainment present', follows, it is white writing on a black background which creates a eerie feel , this is the first thing you see so it sets both the mood, and the setting of a train station, The rest of the titles follow in the style of a train going past, the kind of shutter, line effect going over the writing is used to create this, this also give a tense feel to it. After the last name, the black screen fades out and shows a train with a woman sitting on the bench persumed to be waiting for the train.  This scene is the establishing shot and shows the back of the lady in  the middle of the screen, this automaticly make you think she is the main charecter. High Key lighting is used in this scene. The doors of the train open and the camera beings to zoom into her with the words 'Flight Plan' in white, fading in beside her, the pause here and the time it takes to zoom in also creates a feel of suspence, its almost like your waiting for something to happen now. The writing 'Flight Plan', which establishes the name of the film, flashes and fades back out, the camera then turns to the other side and shows the front of her face, this is the first time you see her, it continues to zoom it up to a 'Close up' viewpoint to show the worried emotion on her face. Quite a Soft High Key lighting is used here, this is to make you look more at her expression and less at the shadows. This sets the scene and mood for the rest of the film, the screen then blanks out and opens on a new scence, where low key lighting is used. This is the begining of the film. This will help me with openings because it shows new ways of setting a scene and creating the mood for the rest of the film. This opening scene captures your intrest in the film so it is inportant it is intresting and full of tension and suspense.

Dawn of the Dead (2004) {First Scene 00:00-01:00}

To begin with there are the dedications, to the filming groups, that help put the movie together; (such as logos, and iconic animations, “universal studios”).

However, instead of their iconic backing track, there is a more eerie track that runs through the dedications. This instantly puts the audience out of there comfort zone; helping to add to the films atmosphere. Relating to the fact that the genre is horror, a low continuous sound with a few distortions helps to create the atmosphere for the following scenes.

The final logo then dissolves, into what looks like a fire or chemicals mixing (a bright, moving mass of a yellowy orange substance). This then has a use of non-diegetic sound of fire burning, or even something dissolving in acid. These sounds will most like have been produced, using a technique called Foley art/sound.

The camera zooms out changing the colour of the mas to a white and blue; as the camera retreats farther the image of an X-Ray is shown, this would be considered the establishing shot; as unlike the first shot (established as a extreme close up of the X-Ray) I lets the audience know that it is in a hospital, this is strengthened by the fact that the shot is over the shoulder of a person in a lab coat. The audio also fades out, and the diegetic dialogue fades in. this almost gives the impression of snapping into reality or fading out of it.

The shot then zooms out further, to reveal the shot is over the shoulder of a doctor. This reveals the it is the doctor talking and not a voice over. A mid shot is used for the two characters to swap dialogue, once the character has finished his phone call the shot jumps out with no audio; to a long shot. This use of jumpy camera changes is typical of horror film as it adds a sense of urgency. As the characters begin to talk the shot goes back to a mid shot, the use of going out to a long shot could be considered as the establishing shot