Today when creating our animatic we had to finish off drawing our storyboards and then adding colour to them. We created five storyboard pages which all had to be scanned so that we could edit them in paint and then add them to windows movie maker. In paint we made the colour stand out more and made the outline for the characters. Using movie maker we can put one image after another to make it seem as if they are moving.
The good things that happened on the day were that we could get on with work eventually when we had the colours and other utensils.
The bad things on the day were that as soon as we got into the room the power was off in the room and none of the computers would come on and we could not get on with the work, another bad thing was that it took another thirty minutes after the hour that it took for the computers to come on, and finally because there were so many storyboard pages and so many things going on it took a while to do the drawings and to get every picture coloured in.
Tuesday 13 December 2011
Friday 2 December 2011
Preliminary
This is our preliminary video which we created to test our skills on using different camera angles and other camera uses. (e.g. zoom) We used a variety of different camera angles in the production with only two characters these characters are Ryan Rheeston and Lauren Powell, using the camera was Craig Fallows. When the preliminary was made all we had to do was edit it using the software final cut express. The best aspects of the preliminary were the camera angles because there were a large variety which showed our skills and knowledge of a camera and how to use it, examples of the camera angles were zoom and over the shoulder shot, we got both of the characters involved by going over the shoulder of both the characters.
The bad aspects of the preliminary were the sounds in the background of people and other noises outside, also in the act it lacked dialogue which meant that the storyline was hard to follow and it made the whole seem meaningless. There were plenty of things that could of been improved in the preliminary like the way everything was put together and the sounds in the background could of been removed or there could of been another sound over the top of it, also before everything was recorded there could of been a script put together to add more dialogue to give a stronger structure for a storyline.
Tuesday 22 November 2011
Prelimanary research
Continuity Editing: This is when one shot moves onto another will a smooth clean change, that is very unrecognisable to the audience, and doesn't create disorientation. One example of filming that does not do this is Discontinued filming, used in foreign films mostly, and shows the change of shot very clearly, causing somewhat confused to the narrative.
It includes two different categories of cutting; one is Temporal cutting, which connects shots together to support the narrative development. It may be linear progression or not, and can include flashbacks and flash forwards, these are both used to establish the progression of time.
The other category is Spatial cutting, which creates unified space through editing the shots from different angles and framing. This includes things such as shot/reverse shot, the Kuleshov effect, and parallel editing.
Spatial Editing: This is the act of placing the shot of one location, with a shot from another, and using them to construct film narrative in any imaginable way.
Within this form of editing, there is the 180 degree rule, which states that, in the 360 degree radius of the set, when filming direction interaction between 2 characters, that all cameras and camera movement mist be on one side of the set only, covering '180 degrees'. Within this side of the set, there is two cameras, one behind each character that will film the opposite characters reactions, and can be edited to make a short interaction/conversation. This is done to prevent disorientation of the audience, and make the scene look natural. Another form of editing that is used in Spatial editing is the shot/reverse shot, which is a little similar to the 180 degree rule, as two cameras are placed behind each characters that are having a conversation, and the whole conversation is filmed over the shoulder, but is kept stationary.
The last form of editing that is used in Spatial editing is the Match on Action shot, which is when an action shot is filmed, possibly a character reading a book. And the shot is cut half way through the action, and another filmed shot is placed directly after this cut, showing the certain action carried on, but in a different shot, often zoomed in.
I think that continuity editing is important when filming because it is essential that the transition between shots is as smooth as possible to ensure that the audience has maximum enjoyment form the film and that no attention is drawn to the change in shot.
It includes two different categories of cutting; one is Temporal cutting, which connects shots together to support the narrative development. It may be linear progression or not, and can include flashbacks and flash forwards, these are both used to establish the progression of time.
The other category is Spatial cutting, which creates unified space through editing the shots from different angles and framing. This includes things such as shot/reverse shot, the Kuleshov effect, and parallel editing.
Spatial Editing: This is the act of placing the shot of one location, with a shot from another, and using them to construct film narrative in any imaginable way.
Within this form of editing, there is the 180 degree rule, which states that, in the 360 degree radius of the set, when filming direction interaction between 2 characters, that all cameras and camera movement mist be on one side of the set only, covering '180 degrees'. Within this side of the set, there is two cameras, one behind each character that will film the opposite characters reactions, and can be edited to make a short interaction/conversation. This is done to prevent disorientation of the audience, and make the scene look natural. Another form of editing that is used in Spatial editing is the shot/reverse shot, which is a little similar to the 180 degree rule, as two cameras are placed behind each characters that are having a conversation, and the whole conversation is filmed over the shoulder, but is kept stationary.
The last form of editing that is used in Spatial editing is the Match on Action shot, which is when an action shot is filmed, possibly a character reading a book. And the shot is cut half way through the action, and another filmed shot is placed directly after this cut, showing the certain action carried on, but in a different shot, often zoomed in.
I think that continuity editing is important when filming because it is essential that the transition between shots is as smooth as possible to ensure that the audience has maximum enjoyment form the film and that no attention is drawn to the change in shot.
Friday 18 November 2011
Developed Treatment
The setting for our groups horror film will be a large patch of woods, the reason the woods are a good idea for a horror is because anything could live in there and who knows how large it is while you're in there. The woods that we are filming in will be described as dark, enclosed and isolated from any kind of help. The dark will help our film because it is the natural lighting for a horror film and it creates tension.
The protagonist of our group will be the main character, however there will be some side characters such as a sidekick the character who helps the hero, a donor this is a character who helps the hero by giving him something whether it is an object or just a piece of advise that will help him later on, in our film the donor will be one of the heroes friends who sacrifice themselves to help him out and ensure that he survives, there will also be a prize for the hero at the end and this is just the simple prize of life, then the final character is the villain who always conflicts with the hero. The adversary/adversaries are a group of physically deformed people who were removed from society because of their differences and forced to live in an isolated area a large distance away from any other people and because of this they have had to revert back to animal instincts to survive the environment where they live. The protagonist is the complete opposite of the adversary where as they do anything to survive he takes life for granted.
Little bit of light
dark
darkThe protagonist of our group will be the main character, however there will be some side characters such as a sidekick the character who helps the hero, a donor this is a character who helps the hero by giving him something whether it is an object or just a piece of advise that will help him later on, in our film the donor will be one of the heroes friends who sacrifice themselves to help him out and ensure that he survives, there will also be a prize for the hero at the end and this is just the simple prize of life, then the final character is the villain who always conflicts with the hero. The adversary/adversaries are a group of physically deformed people who were removed from society because of their differences and forced to live in an isolated area a large distance away from any other people and because of this they have had to revert back to animal instincts to survive the environment where they live. The protagonist is the complete opposite of the adversary where as they do anything to survive he takes life for granted.
Hero
Villain
VillainThere are three theories to our groups film these are; binary opposition, character types and the equilibrium theory. First of all the binary opposition is how the two characters are different in our production the idea is based around regular vs irregular, from this there is a clear opposition between the two. Second there are the character types which are not just the hero and villain there are a variety of characters that each have their own roles in the production, these have already been mentioned in the previous paragraph, but to sum up they are the hero, villain, donor, sidekick and a prize. Finally there are three parts to the equilibrium theory which consist of equilibrium, disequilibrium and a new state of equilibrium. Equilibrium is how the character starts off in the film and how we see the character personality wise, in our film the hero will start off as an easy going character who likes to play the joker in the group, so he has many likeable traits and many downfalls to his character. The disequilibrium is what happens for the character to suddenly change his/her personality drastically, in our production it is a case of displacement and fear which drives the main character to start taking things seriously and figure out what is really going on, this horrible case is the hero and colleagues being lead completely astray which presents a challenge on finding the way back. Last of all the new state of equilibrium is how the heroes personality changes to adapt to the situation that he is presented with, which in this case means not taking life for granted any more and going from being harmless to doing what's necessary to live.
Monday 14 November 2011
Design Decisions
Costumes
In horror films the costumes are important as they show what type of characters they are, that's why in our film opening we are using costumes that best describe how the both the adversary and the protagonist live their lifestyles. The adversary/adversaries clothing will be kind of old fashioned and the clothing will age as well, so they will appear as tattered and ruined and maybe too small or large for the character as if they were hand me downs. The Protagonists' clothing will be more up to date and will gradually change through out the rest of the film.
Lighting
In our film the setting will asisst how the lighting comes through, our film is set in the woods where the trees will block light and produce some natural low key lighting which will emphasise the dark atmosphere of the film. With low key lighting there is a contrast between the light and dark where most of the area will be extremely dark and then there will be a light that pokes through highlighting the character.
Mis-en-scene
Mis-en-scene is how the setting is used to emphasise the genre of a film and we are using an area that produces many different lighting shapes that can confuse the audience on where the characters are hiding because of how shadows are bouncing around. The woods are an ideal area for horror because anything could be lurking around in them whether it's animals or psychopathic people who make a home out of the woods.
Props
Props are ideal for a horror movie because they are mostly weapons and the more unique of a prop the scarier the character holding it will appear. The weapon prop is to show how dangerous the character is and this proves that he can cause some harm and this scares the audience a little more, a unique weapon that will be used in our film will be a pair of shears because it is original and no one would expect to see them as a murdering weapon.
In horror films the costumes are important as they show what type of characters they are, that's why in our film opening we are using costumes that best describe how the both the adversary and the protagonist live their lifestyles. The adversary/adversaries clothing will be kind of old fashioned and the clothing will age as well, so they will appear as tattered and ruined and maybe too small or large for the character as if they were hand me downs. The Protagonists' clothing will be more up to date and will gradually change through out the rest of the film.
Lighting
In our film the setting will asisst how the lighting comes through, our film is set in the woods where the trees will block light and produce some natural low key lighting which will emphasise the dark atmosphere of the film. With low key lighting there is a contrast between the light and dark where most of the area will be extremely dark and then there will be a light that pokes through highlighting the character.
Mis-en-scene
Mis-en-scene is how the setting is used to emphasise the genre of a film and we are using an area that produces many different lighting shapes that can confuse the audience on where the characters are hiding because of how shadows are bouncing around. The woods are an ideal area for horror because anything could be lurking around in them whether it's animals or psychopathic people who make a home out of the woods.
Props
Props are ideal for a horror movie because they are mostly weapons and the more unique of a prop the scarier the character holding it will appear. The weapon prop is to show how dangerous the character is and this proves that he can cause some harm and this scares the audience a little more, a unique weapon that will be used in our film will be a pair of shears because it is original and no one would expect to see them as a murdering weapon.
Tuesday 8 November 2011
Narrative Theories Research
Narrative is the telling of a story, which is important because it tells the audience what exactly is going on throughout the story, a narrative can be found describing fictional or non-fictional events. In media terms, narrative is the coherence/organisation given to a series of facts. The human mind needs narrative to make sense of things. We connect events and make interpretations based on those connections. In everything we seek a beginning, a middle and an end. We understand and construct meaning using our experience of reality and of previous texts. Each text becomes part of the previous and the next through its relationship with the audience.
To find more about this check here; http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevkeyconcepts/alevelkeycon.php?pageID=narrative
There are three different parts of the first narrative theory these are; equilibrium, disequilibrium and a new state of equilibrium. These are the stages that a character go through, the first equilibrium is what the character or characters start off as, the next disequilibrium is what drastically goes wrong for the character to begin to start changing his ways and the third theory a new state of equilibrium is how the character has changed. For example a film like 'Transporter 2' the character begins as a basic chauffeur working for a rich family and he is treated like the family by the mother and child, the second part then kicks in where the child that he is chaperoning for is kidnapped under his watch, this starts to bring in emotions in to the character which then allows the last part to kick in which is the new state of equilibrium, the character because of the kidnapping now becomes a unstoppable force hunting for the kidnappers, this is a complete change of character. After the new state of equilibrium the character may sometimes return back to how they used to be, however sometimes it is a large change and it now becomes their type of personality and the third part becomes the first part.
When creating an opening scene for a film I believe that the first theory must be used this tells us what the characters personality is like at the beginning of the film, this gives us a brief description or narrative about whether the character is a hero or a villain. The best theory is equilibrium because it is good for an opening where as the other theories tend to kick in over short period of time through out the movie, this brings us to the storyline of the film as it is usually determined by these theories.
Bibliography
Information for the first paragraph from http://www.mediaknowall.com/
Filmography
Transporter 2 (2005) Director: Louis Leterrier
To find more about this check here; http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevkeyconcepts/alevelkeycon.php?pageID=narrative
There are three different parts of the first narrative theory these are; equilibrium, disequilibrium and a new state of equilibrium. These are the stages that a character go through, the first equilibrium is what the character or characters start off as, the next disequilibrium is what drastically goes wrong for the character to begin to start changing his ways and the third theory a new state of equilibrium is how the character has changed. For example a film like 'Transporter 2' the character begins as a basic chauffeur working for a rich family and he is treated like the family by the mother and child, the second part then kicks in where the child that he is chaperoning for is kidnapped under his watch, this starts to bring in emotions in to the character which then allows the last part to kick in which is the new state of equilibrium, the character because of the kidnapping now becomes a unstoppable force hunting for the kidnappers, this is a complete change of character. After the new state of equilibrium the character may sometimes return back to how they used to be, however sometimes it is a large change and it now becomes their type of personality and the third part becomes the first part.
When creating an opening scene for a film I believe that the first theory must be used this tells us what the characters personality is like at the beginning of the film, this gives us a brief description or narrative about whether the character is a hero or a villain. The best theory is equilibrium because it is good for an opening where as the other theories tend to kick in over short period of time through out the movie, this brings us to the storyline of the film as it is usually determined by these theories.
Bibliography
Information for the first paragraph from http://www.mediaknowall.com/
Filmography
Transporter 2 (2005) Director: Louis Leterrier
Friday 4 November 2011
Alien Movie - Final Cut Production
This is the final cut of our project where we filmed ourselves in front of a blue screen reporting on a event that will later on be edited into the video because of the blue screen, what we were reporting about was the alien spaceship hovering above the white house and then we would have to time the explosion and react as if it was actually behind us even though there was only a blue screen behind us,l we encountered a problem with this but this is our final cut, while trying to convert the film the final few seconds were missing and this explains the lack of movement whilst the explosion is happening, this is because we had to edit the explosion to fit that anyway.
Thursday 3 November 2011
Final cut introduction
In our group we have recorded a scene with a blue screen behind us with a video of a scene from the movie independance day. The scene was 29 seconds long and it the majority of the scene was frozen so that the picture of the white house would remain in the background for a certain amount of time that we feel that we can introduce what is happening behind us. We recorded a final cut of the scene that we had done, the scene had consisted of me (Ryan Rheeston) and Cezary, it was a basic scene with a reporter interviewing a protestor about the aliens in front of the white house before the huge explosion had happened that was caused by the giant alien spaceship that hovered above it.
To make our final cut we can edit it so that everything pieces together properly. The recording the video was the easy part of the task because we only had to choose our roles for the final cut and we had to prepare a script that we could say within the 25 seconds before the explosion takes place and although we reacted to the explosion we had to time our reactions properly because we could not look behind us and see the what was happening. Using the camera for our group was Craig Fallows.
Now that we have recorded the final cut we now had to go onto the apple macs to use a software on there called 'final cut extended edition' using this we had to set up the name for our project set it up for rendering, but we could not do this because there was a problem with the file types of the videos. The file type that was recorded on the camera was not the right file type for the editing software.
To make our final cut we can edit it so that everything pieces together properly. The recording the video was the easy part of the task because we only had to choose our roles for the final cut and we had to prepare a script that we could say within the 25 seconds before the explosion takes place and although we reacted to the explosion we had to time our reactions properly because we could not look behind us and see the what was happening. Using the camera for our group was Craig Fallows.
Now that we have recorded the final cut we now had to go onto the apple macs to use a software on there called 'final cut extended edition' using this we had to set up the name for our project set it up for rendering, but we could not do this because there was a problem with the file types of the videos. The file type that was recorded on the camera was not the right file type for the editing software.
Thursday 27 October 2011
Film Treament Draft
The main theme or idea of the film opening that my group is creating is horror, we have a different selection of conventions for our film these are; murder or cannibalism, insanity, disfigurement and displacement or being lost.
The main character of the opening will be the survivor, him and a few other friends will be the survivors for the beginning of the film, the majority of the people who begin in the group will be the characters who die to show the main theme of the movie opening, the survivor should be a believable character as he will be the one taking the lead and making most of the judgments to make the decisions throughout the few minutes of the opening, because of all of these actions he should be classed as a believable main character because he shows that he is in charge.
The characters goal in the film is to escape the area that they are lost in which in this case is a forest or woods, the reason why this is such a challenge is because of the murderers who are trying to stop them. The murderers are psychopathic because they have many things wrong with them, like the four conventions of the film, they are all murderers for the reason of cannibalism, they must kill and eat them for survival, they are known as inbreds so they have major disfigurements and refuse to interact with people and this leads to the insanity of the characters because they enjoy what they do and are good at it.
Throughout the entire film the characters lives should all be at stake.
The characters of the film are all friends just taking a stroll through an area that they don't recognise, but they don't care because they are all just trying to have a laugh and enjoy themselves, but they will all be picked off until someone realises.
The main character of the opening will be the survivor, him and a few other friends will be the survivors for the beginning of the film, the majority of the people who begin in the group will be the characters who die to show the main theme of the movie opening, the survivor should be a believable character as he will be the one taking the lead and making most of the judgments to make the decisions throughout the few minutes of the opening, because of all of these actions he should be classed as a believable main character because he shows that he is in charge.
The characters goal in the film is to escape the area that they are lost in which in this case is a forest or woods, the reason why this is such a challenge is because of the murderers who are trying to stop them. The murderers are psychopathic because they have many things wrong with them, like the four conventions of the film, they are all murderers for the reason of cannibalism, they must kill and eat them for survival, they are known as inbreds so they have major disfigurements and refuse to interact with people and this leads to the insanity of the characters because they enjoy what they do and are good at it.
Throughout the entire film the characters lives should all be at stake.
The characters of the film are all friends just taking a stroll through an area that they don't recognise, but they don't care because they are all just trying to have a laugh and enjoy themselves, but they will all be picked off until someone realises.
primary research task
Questionnaire- Horror
(Circle the answer)
1. What type of setting do you find most scary?
A. Graveyard B. House C. Abandoned area D. Other
2. What is your favourite type of horror Film?
A. Slasher B. Haunting C. Psychological D. Crime/Mystery E. None
3. What is your favourite genre?
4. What is your favourite film in this genre and what draws you to it?
Favourite Film:
A. Advertisements B. Actors/Actresses C. Trailer
Favourite Film:
A. Advertisements B. Actors/Actresses C. Trailer
5. What do you most dislike about this genre?
A. Blood/Gore B. Lack of story C. Characters
A. Blood/Gore B. Lack of story C. Characters
6. What elements do you expect to witness in this genre?
A. Hero/Survivor B. Villain/Killer
A. Hero/Survivor B. Villain/Killer
7. What do you believe to be the best thing about horror movies?
A. Story line B. Blood/Gore C. Suspense D. Setting E. Acting
A. Story line B. Blood/Gore C. Suspense D. Setting E. Acting
8. What is the best type of killer?
A. Mysterious B. Public C. Serial
9. Are you affected by horrors when you watch them?
A. Yes B. No
A. Yes B. No
10. What do you expect to see at the end of a horror film?
A. The evil character is killed or taken away B. The evil character gets away and continues what he’s doing
audience research
Audience research is important because without an audience to watch a film there is no need to make a film that will cost millions of dollars or pounds, because there will be no chance of it winning an award if the effort was not put in to find out what the most popular film genre is out there.
For audience research the people are labeled, they are labeled in the demographics table.
Grade- Class- Description
A- Upper middle- Higher managerial, administrative or professional. (Doctors/Lawyers)
B-Middle-Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional. (Teachers)
C1-Lower Middle- Supervisory or clerical, junior managerial, administrative or professional. (office/ Nurses)
C2- Skilled Working- Skilled manual workers. (White Collar)
D- Working- Semi-skilled and unskilled workers manual workers. (Blue Collar)
E- Lowest level of substance- Casual workers, unemployed, state pensioners, students.
Audience Theory
Two Step Flow Model
http://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Levels%20of%20theories/macro/Two-Step%20Flow%20Theory.doc/
Bibliogarphy
www.utwente.nl
For audience research the people are labeled, they are labeled in the demographics table.
Grade- Class- Description
A- Upper middle- Higher managerial, administrative or professional. (Doctors/Lawyers)
B-Middle-Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional. (Teachers)
C1-Lower Middle- Supervisory or clerical, junior managerial, administrative or professional. (office/ Nurses)
C2- Skilled Working- Skilled manual workers. (White Collar)
D- Working- Semi-skilled and unskilled workers manual workers. (Blue Collar)
E- Lowest level of substance- Casual workers, unemployed, state pensioners, students.
Audience Theory
Two Step Flow Model
http://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Levels%20of%20theories/macro/Two-Step%20Flow%20Theory.doc/
Bibliogarphy
www.utwente.nl
Wednesday 12 October 2011
Mood Board
This is my mood board. This is based on our film explaining all four of the key concepts which are; Cannibalism, Disfigurement, Displacement and Insanity. They are all shown in the mood board separated into different sections.
Cannibalism is shown in the mood board in the bottom left hand corner, where you can see body parts spread out showing that they have been tore off people,also in the corner you can see two people gathered around a body picking at it, so this clearly shows the concept of cannibalism and if the pictures don't explain enough for you then the word 'cannibalism' is used as a sub-title for that section which draws you to look into how it is cannibalism. We have chosen cannibalism because it is scary the fact that people would be willing to kill other people then eat them, it is a good concept for horror.
Disfigurement is shown in the bottom right hand corner of the mood board where you see lots of different faces either clearly disfigured or hidden behind a mask, in the corner you see a person being murdered and he is surrounded by the disfigured faces which proves that they have a murderous feel to them. We have chosen disfigurement because some people being disfigured draws them closer to the point of murdering others so there for it is a good concept for horror.
Displacement is shown all along the top of the mood board page, with mostly images of lots of different places all different in looks showing that if a person was lost then there could be lots of places wher they could be, this makes someone feel as if they will never be found which then brings the genre into it (horror). There are also pictures of signs pointing in all directions showing choices and decisions, right or wrong which could lead to something drastic.
Finally the concept of insanity is seperated around the whole of the mood board, there is insanity in the left, right corner and in the middle. The reason for doing this is to show a mix up in the mood board to symbolize how an insane persons mind is mixed up. If you look in the bottom middle of the page you see a man on an operating table and then a person cutting the top of the head off. There are different types of insane people like the person on the left wearing lots of make-up which means that he wants people to see who he is, he wants to draw attention to himself, on the right there is a person wearing a mask which means that maybe he wants to remain hidden and doesn't want people to notice him. Most murderers do it because they mentally unstable and people worry when around someone who is insane because they worry when they are about to crack, thats why this is good concept for horror.
The main title is in the centre of the page which tells you what the main point of the film.
Tuesday 11 October 2011
film production
Group: Me (Ryan Rheeston), Craig Fallows, Lauren Powell
Genre: Horror
In our film we are using a style similar to the horror movie 'wrong turn', a group of people are going to get lost in the woods and are going to find out a nasty surprise when a few horrible characters come to visit.
Genre: Horror
In our film we are using a style similar to the horror movie 'wrong turn', a group of people are going to get lost in the woods and are going to find out a nasty surprise when a few horrible characters come to visit.
Tuesday 4 October 2011
Genre research
Genre
The definition of genre is the categorizing of a certain aspect of something for example a film or a book, there are many different types of genre varying from the scary horror to the love of romance, other then them two there still many more.
There are advantages and disadvantages to genre, the disadvantages are that; we should be understanding how a film text functions in relation to genre, rather being defined by them and we should acknowledge that a genres features will depend on the audiences own understanding.
The advantages are; it can offer comforting reassurance in an uncontrollable world, this means that when people watch a villain in a movie get punished they feel better like it could happen in the real world, the bad people will get punished here too. Another advantage of genre is; it was seen as a strategy used by producers to ensure audience identification and reduce the risk of a film failing, this is an advantage because labeling a film with a genre tells the audience what kind of film it is, the directors use this because some genres are proven most popular in some years and the director should bring a film out that matches that genre to make sure it doesn't fail. The most popular genre in 2009 was comedy, findings were found on the following site http://ddunlop.com/2010/01/recapping-2009-most-popular-movie-genre/, and the most popular genre for the year before was comedy by a larger percentage, http://ddunlop.com/2008/12/recapping-2008-most-popular-movie-genre/.
The genre of my film that me and my group are creating is horror, the conventions of the film are blood, tension and scary setting.
The original history of horror
Horror is a genre that brings the emotion of fear into people, some of the first horrors were not as graphic as the horrors that are seen these day because that isn't what scared them, so the horrors in the past were about setting a horror scene with a setting and sound. Find more information here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_film
This is a scene from one of the first popular horrors that was impressed most of the people.
Top 4 Horror Directors according to 'best-horror-movies.com'
4. Wes Craven - Branching into the 'Teen Horror' market may have slightly damaged his initial psychopathic and damaging horror movie status, but even if he now made a hundred 'Norbit' sequels he would still be an individual, influential genius. Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven (born August 2, 1939) is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, perhaps best known as the director of many horror films, including the famed 'A nightmare on elmstreet' and Wes Craven's New Nightmare.
Highlights - Last House On The Left,
The Hills Have Eyes,
Scream
3. Tobe Hooper - Just hearing the name 'Leatherface' chills me to the bone. Tobe has a great talent of creating utterly terrifying movie antagonists and has the art of gore and violence down to a tee. Tobe Hooper (born January 25, 1943) is an American film director and screen writer, best known for his work in the horror film genre. His works include the cult classic 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (1974)
Highlights - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,
Poltergeist
2. Sam Raimi - He's the genius behind and father to the 'evil Dead' series... Enough Said. This list couldn't be made without him. he also introduced us to Bruce Campbell, the biggest B actor of all time. Samuel Marshall "Sam" Raimi (October 23, 1959) is an American film director, producer, actor and writer. He is best known for directing cult horror films like the Evil Dead series
Highlights - The Evil Dead,
Evil Dead 2,
Army Of Darkness
1. George Romero - 'They're coming to get you Barbara!' When I was watching Night of the Living Dead for the first time I was like, WOW... His use of memorable dialogue and stylized and graphic violence make all his films instant successes, and his legend will live on for a millennium... He also made the best sequel of all time, and is the real, zombie master...
George Andrew Romero (born February 4, 1940) is an American film director, screen and editor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies."Highlights - Night of the Living Dead,
Dawn of the Dead,
Day of the Dead
The definition of genre is the categorizing of a certain aspect of something for example a film or a book, there are many different types of genre varying from the scary horror to the love of romance, other then them two there still many more.
There are advantages and disadvantages to genre, the disadvantages are that; we should be understanding how a film text functions in relation to genre, rather being defined by them and we should acknowledge that a genres features will depend on the audiences own understanding.
The advantages are; it can offer comforting reassurance in an uncontrollable world, this means that when people watch a villain in a movie get punished they feel better like it could happen in the real world, the bad people will get punished here too. Another advantage of genre is; it was seen as a strategy used by producers to ensure audience identification and reduce the risk of a film failing, this is an advantage because labeling a film with a genre tells the audience what kind of film it is, the directors use this because some genres are proven most popular in some years and the director should bring a film out that matches that genre to make sure it doesn't fail. The most popular genre in 2009 was comedy, findings were found on the following site http://ddunlop.com/2010/01/recapping-2009-most-popular-movie-genre/, and the most popular genre for the year before was comedy by a larger percentage, http://ddunlop.com/2008/12/recapping-2008-most-popular-movie-genre/.
The genre of my film that me and my group are creating is horror, the conventions of the film are blood, tension and scary setting.
The original history of horror
Horror is a genre that brings the emotion of fear into people, some of the first horrors were not as graphic as the horrors that are seen these day because that isn't what scared them, so the horrors in the past were about setting a horror scene with a setting and sound. Find more information here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_film
This is a scene from one of the first popular horrors that was impressed most of the people.
Top 4 Horror Directors according to 'best-horror-movies.com'
4. Wes Craven - Branching into the 'Teen Horror' market may have slightly damaged his initial psychopathic and damaging horror movie status, but even if he now made a hundred 'Norbit' sequels he would still be an individual, influential genius. Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven (born August 2, 1939) is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, perhaps best known as the director of many horror films, including the famed 'A nightmare on elmstreet' and Wes Craven's New Nightmare.
Highlights - Last House On The Left,
The Hills Have Eyes,
Scream
3. Tobe Hooper - Just hearing the name 'Leatherface' chills me to the bone. Tobe has a great talent of creating utterly terrifying movie antagonists and has the art of gore and violence down to a tee. Tobe Hooper (born January 25, 1943) is an American film director and screen writer, best known for his work in the horror film genre. His works include the cult classic 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (1974)
Highlights - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,
Poltergeist
2. Sam Raimi - He's the genius behind and father to the 'evil Dead' series... Enough Said. This list couldn't be made without him. he also introduced us to Bruce Campbell, the biggest B actor of all time. Samuel Marshall "Sam" Raimi (October 23, 1959) is an American film director, producer, actor and writer. He is best known for directing cult horror films like the Evil Dead series
Highlights - The Evil Dead,
Evil Dead 2,
Army Of Darkness
1. George Romero - 'They're coming to get you Barbara!' When I was watching Night of the Living Dead for the first time I was like, WOW... His use of memorable dialogue and stylized and graphic violence make all his films instant successes, and his legend will live on for a millennium... He also made the best sequel of all time, and is the real, zombie master...
George Andrew Romero (born February 4, 1940) is an American film director, screen and editor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies."Highlights - Night of the Living Dead,
Dawn of the Dead,
Day of the Dead
Tuesday 27 September 2011
Codes and Conventions of film openings
Here are a few films that all begin in the same way with the same creators shown right at the start.
Wall-E
Monsters Inc
A Bugs Life
In these films the first words that that show up are 'Disney-pixar presents' this is how all the films are linked, the creators 'Walt Disney pictures' and 'pixar animation studios' are the first things to be shown because they are the most important things in the opening title sequence after them names all the opening titles move onto different things like the director, or the cast, or straight to the movie.
Wall-E
Monsters Inc
A Bugs Life
In these films the first words that that show up are 'Disney-pixar presents' this is how all the films are linked, the creators 'Walt Disney pictures' and 'pixar animation studios' are the first things to be shown because they are the most important things in the opening title sequence after them names all the opening titles move onto different things like the director, or the cast, or straight to the movie.
All the films are animated so this makes us assume that all the films are for children. The technical codes in these films are the constant jumbling of images at the beginning of each film, this is a form of entertainment for the younger children so this is obviously their target audience as the images are supposed to draw the attention and bring some humor to the opening of the film.
The symbolic codes in the title sequences are images that are related to the rest of the film this is for the consistency of the meaning of the film for example; monsters in monsters inc, bugs in a bugs life and machinery in wall-e.
The signs are just the colours they all are bright except for wall-e which show that wall-e is a different type of kids film than the other two, because the colours are bright this suggests that it is definitely a kids film and they hope that the kids would respond well to the colours as most children do and that lets them believe that the rest of the film will be better.
The cast is almost the same in each film showing a regular use of all the characters, but because it is animated so only the voices are needed.
The symbolic codes in the title sequences are images that are related to the rest of the film this is for the consistency of the meaning of the film for example; monsters in monsters inc, bugs in a bugs life and machinery in wall-e.
The signs are just the colours they all are bright except for wall-e which show that wall-e is a different type of kids film than the other two, because the colours are bright this suggests that it is definitely a kids film and they hope that the kids would respond well to the colours as most children do and that lets them believe that the rest of the film will be better.
The cast is almost the same in each film showing a regular use of all the characters, but because it is animated so only the voices are needed.
Sunday 25 September 2011
Film openings
First Film: The expendables
Genre: Action
From the opening scene of this film you can see that there is plenty of action, because right away you see gunfire which makes us assume that there will be this much action throughout the rest of the film.
The symbolic codes of this opening scene are clear to who everyone are, the fact that one of the groups of people have basic weapons, small guns and knives this shows that they are just the basic kind of pirates, you can tell that they are pirates because they are on a ship, however the other group of people have more advanced weaponry like laser sight this establishes that they know what they're doing and have clearly prepared for it. A key fact for the symbolic codes of the scene is the costumes that that everyone wears, for example the pirates wear rags and random clothes, where as the more prepared group all are wearing the same type of clothing (dark), this suggests that it is there uniform so they could be an advanced team hired by the government.
The technical scenes of this are based on the lighting and camera angles, the scene is dark for a reason so you can clearly see how professional the team are and how organized they are, the dark is also used so that you can see the effects of the special equipment used in the dark e.g laser sight. In this scene there are lots of close-ups to show the tension between the people and the plenty of medium long shots to show how groups are divided.
The key signifiers in this scene are the images of the guns which show war, this is because they are used for killing and other violence in the world.
From the opening sequence of the film you expect the film to be full of action and to keep me interested through the duration of the entire film.
You can see that the film is only suitable for people from at least 15 and up because you can see that there is violence and foul language, so you should only watch the film if you are into hardcore action films as this
looks like it would please those kind of fans easily.
Second Film-Forrest Gump
From the opening scene of this film it is hard to tell what genre the film is but you can assume that it is a drama.
The symbolic codes of the opening are the feather and the muddy shoes. For two minutes the camera follows a feather, the feather could show peace because of how it just floats around the city it lands by the feet of someone who could only be thought of as the main character, the fact that he picked the feather up and placed it in a book inside his briefcase shows that he is very sentimental. The characters shoes are muddy so this suggests that he has been moving around alot and this makes us think of the character as a traveler also because of the suitcase he is carrying around.
The technical codes of the opening are the camera angles it is always a close up on the feather to show how it ends up at the feet of the character as if it was meant to land there and there was a reason for it being there, at some points it is a birds eye view angle to show how far the feather has fallen.
The feather is also a signifier because it is the main focus point in the opening, the feather could symbolize freedom, another signifier could be the briefcase that the character placed the feather in it was being carried around with him there were clothes and other objects inside so that means that he is on the move and this can also be seen because how muddy his shoes are. These all show how the character has his own sense of freedom.
This sequence tells us that there could be a back story to the character because of the variety of the things inside the briefcase.
The older people are targeted in this film because its a drama.
Third film-Transformers
The genre of the film is action, sci-fi. The expectations of this film could be great if you are the sort of people who are sci-fi fanatics.
The technical codes in the film are just close ups on the cube that's floating through space, the shape of it tells us that it must of come from somewhere with an intelligent civilization that is why there is a narrative voice in the background that tells us how it got there so the opening scene is very informative on the plot of the story, so we know what is going on in the film.
The symbolic codes in the opening of the film are the cube and basically the rest of the space which let us know what genre the film is. The cube floats around space as if it is lost so we know that the film is based around that and trying to find it, the space that the cube is floating around in is large and vast which makes us think where the cube is going to end up and will it be found.
The signifier in the opening is the narrative voice which we can only assume is alien, it is a key signifier because it is needed at this point of the film to tell us what the rest of the film is going to be about and how these objects are involved in the film and whether they're important to the plot of the film or not.
The key audiences for this film are teenagers to adults.
Genre: Action
From the opening scene of this film you can see that there is plenty of action, because right away you see gunfire which makes us assume that there will be this much action throughout the rest of the film.
The symbolic codes of this opening scene are clear to who everyone are, the fact that one of the groups of people have basic weapons, small guns and knives this shows that they are just the basic kind of pirates, you can tell that they are pirates because they are on a ship, however the other group of people have more advanced weaponry like laser sight this establishes that they know what they're doing and have clearly prepared for it. A key fact for the symbolic codes of the scene is the costumes that that everyone wears, for example the pirates wear rags and random clothes, where as the more prepared group all are wearing the same type of clothing (dark), this suggests that it is there uniform so they could be an advanced team hired by the government.
The technical scenes of this are based on the lighting and camera angles, the scene is dark for a reason so you can clearly see how professional the team are and how organized they are, the dark is also used so that you can see the effects of the special equipment used in the dark e.g laser sight. In this scene there are lots of close-ups to show the tension between the people and the plenty of medium long shots to show how groups are divided.
The key signifiers in this scene are the images of the guns which show war, this is because they are used for killing and other violence in the world.
From the opening sequence of the film you expect the film to be full of action and to keep me interested through the duration of the entire film.
You can see that the film is only suitable for people from at least 15 and up because you can see that there is violence and foul language, so you should only watch the film if you are into hardcore action films as this
looks like it would please those kind of fans easily.
Second Film-Forrest Gump
From the opening scene of this film it is hard to tell what genre the film is but you can assume that it is a drama.
The symbolic codes of the opening are the feather and the muddy shoes. For two minutes the camera follows a feather, the feather could show peace because of how it just floats around the city it lands by the feet of someone who could only be thought of as the main character, the fact that he picked the feather up and placed it in a book inside his briefcase shows that he is very sentimental. The characters shoes are muddy so this suggests that he has been moving around alot and this makes us think of the character as a traveler also because of the suitcase he is carrying around.
The technical codes of the opening are the camera angles it is always a close up on the feather to show how it ends up at the feet of the character as if it was meant to land there and there was a reason for it being there, at some points it is a birds eye view angle to show how far the feather has fallen.
The feather is also a signifier because it is the main focus point in the opening, the feather could symbolize freedom, another signifier could be the briefcase that the character placed the feather in it was being carried around with him there were clothes and other objects inside so that means that he is on the move and this can also be seen because how muddy his shoes are. These all show how the character has his own sense of freedom.
This sequence tells us that there could be a back story to the character because of the variety of the things inside the briefcase.
The older people are targeted in this film because its a drama.
Third film-Transformers
The genre of the film is action, sci-fi. The expectations of this film could be great if you are the sort of people who are sci-fi fanatics.
The technical codes in the film are just close ups on the cube that's floating through space, the shape of it tells us that it must of come from somewhere with an intelligent civilization that is why there is a narrative voice in the background that tells us how it got there so the opening scene is very informative on the plot of the story, so we know what is going on in the film.
The symbolic codes in the opening of the film are the cube and basically the rest of the space which let us know what genre the film is. The cube floats around space as if it is lost so we know that the film is based around that and trying to find it, the space that the cube is floating around in is large and vast which makes us think where the cube is going to end up and will it be found.
The signifier in the opening is the narrative voice which we can only assume is alien, it is a key signifier because it is needed at this point of the film to tell us what the rest of the film is going to be about and how these objects are involved in the film and whether they're important to the plot of the film or not.
The key audiences for this film are teenagers to adults.
Wednesday 14 September 2011
movie poster
Genre: Action/ Thriller
From this poster you expect to see murder in the film, also from the strange looking person in the background you expect to see some strange unusual things and the poster tells us that there is some horror in the movie, however because the male character has a gun this suggests that there is a sense of action in the film.
The signifiers in the poster are the dark colours which signify the evil of the character in the background as he is the only character that is faded into the background, that suggests that he could spend alot of time in that area and it is where he does most or all of his hunting. The gun that the person is holding in the image signifies the limits a person is willing to go to survive.
In this image you can see a scared woman, also there is a disfigured character in the background that clearly shows a savage look so you can easily see that he is the dark character in the film.
The connotative level of the poster is action/ horror/ thriller these are the genres that you associate with the poster.
To summarize the poster tells us that this is a horror film about murder and psychopathic, disfigured people, and finally from the title 'wrong turn' it emphasises the fact that the regular people in the poster had no idea that they were about to run into what they did.
Tuesday 13 September 2011
Analysing movie poster
The genre of the movie is an action/sci-fi,
the codes and conventions of this genre make you think low key lighting for outer space activities, ground eye to show how dominant the alien species are and dutch tilt to show every thing is falling apart,
the signifier of this poster for transformers are that it shows aliens from out of this world, shown by the space above the humans.
The denotative level show aliens above the sunset, destruction behind the humans this suggests that that the aliens in power have caused the destruction, also the fact that the aliens heads are that large in in the picture show that they are much bigger than than the people. We see that the aliens are made of machinery which suggests that they're either from space or they could be man made.
The connotative level is destruction, the fact that there is other life out in the universe. The two aliens in the middle and left both have blue eyes symbolising good and kindness, whilst the alien on the right has red eyes symbolising sufferring and evil.
In that poster they are trying to tell the audience that there is other life out in the universe.
Friday 9 September 2011
My first post
Hello my is Ryan Rheeston I am 16 years of age and I attend King Edwards Sheldon Heath (KESH) Academy, in this blog there will be my work for A-Level media.
http://youtu.be/6pj8EGwT-l0
http://youtu.be/6pj8EGwT-l0
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