This is an still of our original footage in which we came across in the trash from when we deleted it. This footage was not sufficient due to the weather conditions and the lack of experience, which we overcame by refilming up to 6 times to get the right weather conditions and footage that is usable
Friday, 24 April 2009
original footage
This is an still of our original footage in which we came across in the trash from when we deleted it. This footage was not sufficient due to the weather conditions and the lack of experience, which we overcame by refilming up to 6 times to get the right weather conditions and footage that is usable
Thursday, 23 April 2009
Evaluation of practical production
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
After researching film noir, I have considered how our finished product incorporates general convections of film noir itself. Our film opening does this in many ways. Firstly, the setting being in a quiet location upon a lonely pier, with two people meeting secretly, this incorporates traditional conventions of film noir, as the genre is extremely enigmatic and our film opening poses the questions of; Who are these people? Why are they here? What are they doing? Therefore adding to the enigmatic description of film noir itself.
Through the editing process itself, during which we used imovie HD6, we decided to transfer our product in to black white colouring, we did this for two reasons being; firstly it makes the film have a much more dark and mysterious feel, and that is the result we were hoping for, and also, many film noir films are actually filmed in black and white, due to the fact that many were filmed before coloured films were actually available. We thought this would act toward the age in which the original film noir films were made.
The film genre which our finished product fits into is definitely of the thriller film noir genre itself, as it doesn’t have the connotations of an action adventure, romantic or comedy, though, it does have conventions of rural detective film fiction such as Agatha Christie, the setting is inconspicuous and secretive, fitting in with the notion of mystery which all film noir should contain. We also used old sad dreary music, by Billie holiday to create this downbeat and enigmatic effect.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The social groups which our film opening targets are not obvious within the first minute of our film, this Is because the film if it were to develop further doesn’t target a specific age, class or race. Our film does in fact strongly represent a certain type of persons, it represents enigmatic and spy like characters, ones in which you would see with in film noir itself. The film does this by not introducing the characters, for example within the first scene you do not meet the characters, you do not even see their faces.
The film opening does though however, challenge the traditional male and female stereotypical characters, with the male character who this ‘secret’ note is being passed to is actually inferior to the women who this note was sent, this is shown within the opening with the line ‘She wants to see you now’ making this femme fatale character the more dominant in the relationship, which actually challenges male and female stereotypes itself, although the femme fatale usually has a sexual power over men.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
The product itself is not something that you would find in your local mainstream cinema and it does not have the connotations of a major Hollywood blockbuster as I don’t think it appeals to all types of audience, it targets a more niche and closed audience, the film opening also does not have the funding of a Hollywood blockbuster. It is clearly a low budget production, probably made by a small independent production company.
The film opening itself is something which would be presented in an art house broadcast itself, as we locate in the southwest it would be a film in which could be broadcast at the Plymouth Arts Centre or Dartington/The Barn as they deal with low budget films that could initially become quite successful. It could also be a niche film presented on a movie channel such as film 4.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for my media product would most likely be a niche small spreads audience, those who in which would enjoy watching typical old detective film noir films. The film hasn’t got a specific sex in which it targets and the age group would probably fall into the older audience, seeing as they have may indulged in this type of film when they were younger. It may not appeal to the younger generation as if you consider the media today; more focus has been put into high budget action and adventure films such as Harry Potter, or Lord of the rings. Therefore the film genre isn’t something in which young people are open to seeing in their everyday Apollo cinema.
How did you attract/address your audience?
Long establishing shots have been used to establish this convention of film noir, and we have used the artist Billy Holiday for the soundtrack, the music ties in with the theme of the film with certain lyrics matching the events that are taking place for example when the note is being passed in slow motion, the music is also in slow motion.
The audience throughout the opening of ‘The Lady Of The Night’ is on looking something that isn’t suppose to be witnessed, as no one is suppose to know about the note because even when the note is passed on, barely any contact between the two characters is made. This makes the audience engaged, as they know what is going on, and it attracts the audience because they want answers, therefore enticing them further and they therefore will carry on viewing. This links back to the traditional film noir notion within our film opening we have created enigma, purpose and also suspense.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have learnt a lot through the filming and editing process. During our filming we used many different cameras, and we came to realise that each one worked very differently, one of the problems that we faced and over came with the use of different cameras was the issue that some cameras were programmed not to filter out the wide screen mode. We filmed the passing of the note shot first and this when uploaded had the wide screen mode switched on and therefore, when filming with different cameras that did not have this mode, when we came to edit using imovie HD we wide screen matching it exactly to the passing of the note sequence to match continuity. This made us see how editing helps a lot within the creation of the ideal mise en scene and we felt that this wide screen mode made the mise en scene much more effect full.
I have also learnt that continuity is an extremely important part of filming and that it has to be perfect. This also ties in with continuity of the story line itself as we did actually film another piece to this opening but felt that due to the camera work actually being quite unsteady and rather rushed, to put it in would not be an advantage, therefore more learning that to get some good shots a lot of time is needed.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
In comparison to the creation of the preliminary task itself, much more research has gone into the creation of the film opening that we have created. Firstly we researched all the conventions of the film noir genre and these greatly influenced our finished task itself, for example the choice and style of music, the choice of shots such as long establishing shots to get an idea of the setting, and also our choice to place the opening in back and white.
Our ideas changed throughout the whole process and if we didn’t plan thoroughly through creating storyboards and looking at different possible locations our end product may not have been as successful. We faced many problems such as poor whether conditions along the way and if we didn’t have this idea of the different locations and weather conditions suited to the film of film noir; we would have faced much more difficulty.
When I first started the course itself personally I had no idea on how even a small film was made, and I had no idea of the work that needed to be put in to making a decent short 1-2 minute opening to a low budget film.
I feel that since the preliminary task itself, we have progressed greatly. Camera shots have improved greatly, as me and my partner has been able to perfectly use match on action within our piece, and this has very much improved since our preliminary task. We have also been able to edit in a soundtrack this in which we did not know how to do when creating our first short piece.
The film opening has also enabled us to get to grips in more detail with the editing process itself, such as using effects such as fades and changing the brightness and contrast its self in order to suit the specific genre. Our editing techniques have also improved hugely since the preliminary task as we have now learnt how to cut shots down to make them shorter, and we have learnt how to merge clips together in order for it to create a better product.
Overall, I am extremely happy with the finished product, and I am happy with most of the camera work, even though we faced many issues along the way, causing our film opening to be shorter than we initially had hoped for. I am also extremely happy with how the editing process as excelled, and I feel that I have learnt a lot from this task, especially through the editing process itself and how this is the most difficult and time consuming part of making a film.
After researching film noir, I have considered how our finished product incorporates general convections of film noir itself. Our film opening does this in many ways. Firstly, the setting being in a quiet location upon a lonely pier, with two people meeting secretly, this incorporates traditional conventions of film noir, as the genre is extremely enigmatic and our film opening poses the questions of; Who are these people? Why are they here? What are they doing? Therefore adding to the enigmatic description of film noir itself.
Through the editing process itself, during which we used imovie HD6, we decided to transfer our product in to black white colouring, we did this for two reasons being; firstly it makes the film have a much more dark and mysterious feel, and that is the result we were hoping for, and also, many film noir films are actually filmed in black and white, due to the fact that many were filmed before coloured films were actually available. We thought this would act toward the age in which the original film noir films were made.
The film genre which our finished product fits into is definitely of the thriller film noir genre itself, as it doesn’t have the connotations of an action adventure, romantic or comedy, though, it does have conventions of rural detective film fiction such as Agatha Christie, the setting is inconspicuous and secretive, fitting in with the notion of mystery which all film noir should contain. We also used old sad dreary music, by Billie holiday to create this downbeat and enigmatic effect.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The social groups which our film opening targets are not obvious within the first minute of our film, this Is because the film if it were to develop further doesn’t target a specific age, class or race. Our film does in fact strongly represent a certain type of persons, it represents enigmatic and spy like characters, ones in which you would see with in film noir itself. The film does this by not introducing the characters, for example within the first scene you do not meet the characters, you do not even see their faces.
The film opening does though however, challenge the traditional male and female stereotypical characters, with the male character who this ‘secret’ note is being passed to is actually inferior to the women who this note was sent, this is shown within the opening with the line ‘She wants to see you now’ making this femme fatale character the more dominant in the relationship, which actually challenges male and female stereotypes itself, although the femme fatale usually has a sexual power over men.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
The product itself is not something that you would find in your local mainstream cinema and it does not have the connotations of a major Hollywood blockbuster as I don’t think it appeals to all types of audience, it targets a more niche and closed audience, the film opening also does not have the funding of a Hollywood blockbuster. It is clearly a low budget production, probably made by a small independent production company.
The film opening itself is something which would be presented in an art house broadcast itself, as we locate in the southwest it would be a film in which could be broadcast at the Plymouth Arts Centre or Dartington/The Barn as they deal with low budget films that could initially become quite successful. It could also be a niche film presented on a movie channel such as film 4.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for my media product would most likely be a niche small spreads audience, those who in which would enjoy watching typical old detective film noir films. The film hasn’t got a specific sex in which it targets and the age group would probably fall into the older audience, seeing as they have may indulged in this type of film when they were younger. It may not appeal to the younger generation as if you consider the media today; more focus has been put into high budget action and adventure films such as Harry Potter, or Lord of the rings. Therefore the film genre isn’t something in which young people are open to seeing in their everyday Apollo cinema.
How did you attract/address your audience?
Long establishing shots have been used to establish this convention of film noir, and we have used the artist Billy Holiday for the soundtrack, the music ties in with the theme of the film with certain lyrics matching the events that are taking place for example when the note is being passed in slow motion, the music is also in slow motion.
The audience throughout the opening of ‘The Lady Of The Night’ is on looking something that isn’t suppose to be witnessed, as no one is suppose to know about the note because even when the note is passed on, barely any contact between the two characters is made. This makes the audience engaged, as they know what is going on, and it attracts the audience because they want answers, therefore enticing them further and they therefore will carry on viewing. This links back to the traditional film noir notion within our film opening we have created enigma, purpose and also suspense.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have learnt a lot through the filming and editing process. During our filming we used many different cameras, and we came to realise that each one worked very differently, one of the problems that we faced and over came with the use of different cameras was the issue that some cameras were programmed not to filter out the wide screen mode. We filmed the passing of the note shot first and this when uploaded had the wide screen mode switched on and therefore, when filming with different cameras that did not have this mode, when we came to edit using imovie HD we wide screen matching it exactly to the passing of the note sequence to match continuity. This made us see how editing helps a lot within the creation of the ideal mise en scene and we felt that this wide screen mode made the mise en scene much more effect full.
I have also learnt that continuity is an extremely important part of filming and that it has to be perfect. This also ties in with continuity of the story line itself as we did actually film another piece to this opening but felt that due to the camera work actually being quite unsteady and rather rushed, to put it in would not be an advantage, therefore more learning that to get some good shots a lot of time is needed.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
In comparison to the creation of the preliminary task itself, much more research has gone into the creation of the film opening that we have created. Firstly we researched all the conventions of the film noir genre and these greatly influenced our finished task itself, for example the choice and style of music, the choice of shots such as long establishing shots to get an idea of the setting, and also our choice to place the opening in back and white.
Our ideas changed throughout the whole process and if we didn’t plan thoroughly through creating storyboards and looking at different possible locations our end product may not have been as successful. We faced many problems such as poor whether conditions along the way and if we didn’t have this idea of the different locations and weather conditions suited to the film of film noir; we would have faced much more difficulty.
When I first started the course itself personally I had no idea on how even a small film was made, and I had no idea of the work that needed to be put in to making a decent short 1-2 minute opening to a low budget film.
I feel that since the preliminary task itself, we have progressed greatly. Camera shots have improved greatly, as me and my partner has been able to perfectly use match on action within our piece, and this has very much improved since our preliminary task. We have also been able to edit in a soundtrack this in which we did not know how to do when creating our first short piece.
The film opening has also enabled us to get to grips in more detail with the editing process itself, such as using effects such as fades and changing the brightness and contrast its self in order to suit the specific genre. Our editing techniques have also improved hugely since the preliminary task as we have now learnt how to cut shots down to make them shorter, and we have learnt how to merge clips together in order for it to create a better product.
Overall, I am extremely happy with the finished product, and I am happy with most of the camera work, even though we faced many issues along the way, causing our film opening to be shorter than we initially had hoped for. I am also extremely happy with how the editing process as excelled, and I feel that I have learnt a lot from this task, especially through the editing process itself and how this is the most difficult and time consuming part of making a film.
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
Shot list
Panning and tracking shots, to make it seem as though the viewer is following the charecters, this creates enigma.
Static shots of the man and women walking, we have used these in areas such as when the women walks past the camera, to make it seem more pace full and also using static longs shots of the man and women walking into the distances.
Long shots of man standing still, also used to get a better view of the scenery behind the pier setting.
Close up two shot of the man and women passing the note, as the is a main factor withion the opening sequence.
Match on action shots.
Close ups
Static shots of the man and women walking, we have used these in areas such as when the women walks past the camera, to make it seem more pace full and also using static longs shots of the man and women walking into the distances.
Long shots of man standing still, also used to get a better view of the scenery behind the pier setting.
Close up two shot of the man and women passing the note, as the is a main factor withion the opening sequence.
Match on action shots.
Close ups
Friday, 13 March 2009
Meeting 5
As we decided to change the ending of our production as our first attempt of the ending wasn't at the same standard of the rest of our footage, therefore with the deadline coming to a close, as of next wednesday, we took the refilming into action yesterday. We decided to emphasize the enigma of the mysterious 'women' so the main focus of our end footage was on her.
Friday, 6 March 2009
Meeting 4
Again we have faced yet another problem, our movie is taken longer than expected to transfer over to the hard drive which means that we will have less time to edit it. which is the last thing we need right now. so we have to wait till its loaded before we can edit, so we just have to sit and wait as there is nothing we can do about it
Meeting 3
we have finally finished gathering our footage and beginning to edit it, we have faced a problem as it is taking a long time to copy into the local drive therefore making us unable to access it, we have around 18 days left to finish our evaluation and editing.
meeting 2
changing it, we decided to change our idea this is because we were unable to achieve our first idea. so we sat down and decided to come up with a new idea. Our new idea developed when our original idea fell through because of the weather. The setting of our new idea and now takes place on the pier instead of the white bridge by the harbour. Therefore we get a better view of the surrounding and can make most of the weather by having it towards our advantage rather than trying to work against it, as this is something that can't be controlled, so we might as well try to include it to our opening adding to the atmosphere.
Friday, 16 January 2009
Shots list of first scene.
Crabbing shot of mans feet walking, to have credits coming up.
Tilt shot from mans feet to his head.
Zoom out of mans head down, puff of smoke.
Point of view shot of man watching mysterious lady walking towards him on the pier.
Medium close up of womens feet walking along the pier towards man.
Medium close up of mans feet walking along the pier towards the lady.
Static two shot shot of feet stopping parrelellel to each other.
Tilt up to women passing man a note, stopping for a second and continuing to walk in opposite directions.
Tilt shot from mans feet to his head.
Zoom out of mans head down, puff of smoke.
Point of view shot of man watching mysterious lady walking towards him on the pier.
Medium close up of womens feet walking along the pier towards man.
Medium close up of mans feet walking along the pier towards the lady.
Static two shot shot of feet stopping parrelellel to each other.
Tilt up to women passing man a note, stopping for a second and continuing to walk in opposite directions.
Our first attempt
We did our first attempt at filming to try out our ideas and to see what they would look like, also to show that we have got some footage and are able to edit somthing as it may come in handy later on. We faced a few problems as per usual as the weather wasn't in our favour and we didn't plan to film it in the rain. Therefore this made our original idea not possible to do, meaning we had to come up with a whole new idea on the spot and improvise as we went along. The pouring rain meant we were unable to use a tripod as this would have resulted in the camera getting wet, which was not an option. So this nfootage has showed that no matter what we need a tripod as it isn't good enough. Now when we go to film we will have to choose between our 2 idea's all depending on what the weather is like. On the weekend if it is raining again rather heavily then we will stick to the idea we have just filmed as that is able to be done in the rain, however if its just cold and not raining then we will do our original idea on the bridge which would make it possible to do, as like iv said its not possible to do in the rain, so the weather is deciding our fate. But both are very similar in the type of film opening it is, therefore changing it but not to drastically
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
Meeting 1
Our first meeting that we had was discussing what we are going to do and trying to compromise how and when we will achieve our filming with all the people that we will need at that time, so we were trying to figure out the time. We have both agreed to meet after school on thursday, meeting on sunday and willing to stay behind school friday, monday and tuesday to catch up with all our editing, this is due to the fact that have been faced with a problem that we weren't able to loan a camera as the media teacher wasn't in and exams have been going on. So all together we have been lagging behind a bit and willing to catch up.
Tuesday, 13 January 2009
Planning
We have decided to film around the time of 6 o clock in the evening. As it is January time this enables us to get the setting of dusk. As we are filming on Torquay harbour side, near a main road, this could create a few issues for us, such as the traffic, though our film noir proposal is set in the present day in which cars are a fluent thing, we still need to consider sound editing ect.
Monday, 12 January 2009
Research
Film Noir.
The years immediately following the end of World War Two marked the start of a crucial phase in the creation, definition and popularising of both literary and cinematic noir.
Both literary and cinematic noir can be seen as closely related to the modernist crisis of culture – as reflecting the feelings of nightmarish alienation, disorientation and disintegration that are often taken as hallmarks of the modernist sensibility.
Discussions of noir often centre on visual and specifically cinematic elements – on things like low-key lighting, chiaroscuro effects, deep focus photography, extreme camera angles and expressionist distortion. But it is essential as well to take account of themes, mood, characterisation, point of view and narrative pattern.
The representation of the protagonist's subjectivity is crucial - his perceptions (both accurate and deluded), his state of mind, his desires, obsessions and anxieties. The need for attending to the handling of perspective in film noir is concisely summed up in Fritz Lang's explanation of his subjective camera work: 'You show the protagonist so that the audience can put themselves under the skin of the man'; by showing things 'wherever possible, from the viewpoint of the protagonist' the film gives the audience visual and psychological access to his nightmarish experiences.
We are brought close to the mind of a protagonist whose position vis a vis other characters is not fixed. Treacherous confusions of his role and the movement of the protagonist from one role to another constitute key structural elements in noir narrative. The victim might, for example, become the aggressor; the hunter might turn into the hunted or vice versa; the investigator might double as either the victim or the perpetrator. Whereas the traditional mystery story, with its stable triangle of detective, victim and murderer, is reasonably certain to have the detective as the protagonist, noir is a deliberate violation of this convention.
Shared guilt is often the only common bond amongst noir characters, who are usually doomed to be isolated . The main themes are generalisations of the ill-fated relationship between the protagonist and his society. Characters suffer either from failures of agency (powerlessness, immobilising uncertainty) or from loss of community (isolation, betrayal). Obsessed, alienated, vulnerable, pursued or paranoid, they suffer despair as they act out narratives that raise the question of whether they are making their own choices or following a course dictated by fate.
The years immediately following the end of World War Two marked the start of a crucial phase in the creation, definition and popularising of both literary and cinematic noir.
Both literary and cinematic noir can be seen as closely related to the modernist crisis of culture – as reflecting the feelings of nightmarish alienation, disorientation and disintegration that are often taken as hallmarks of the modernist sensibility.
Discussions of noir often centre on visual and specifically cinematic elements – on things like low-key lighting, chiaroscuro effects, deep focus photography, extreme camera angles and expressionist distortion. But it is essential as well to take account of themes, mood, characterisation, point of view and narrative pattern.
The representation of the protagonist's subjectivity is crucial - his perceptions (both accurate and deluded), his state of mind, his desires, obsessions and anxieties. The need for attending to the handling of perspective in film noir is concisely summed up in Fritz Lang's explanation of his subjective camera work: 'You show the protagonist so that the audience can put themselves under the skin of the man'; by showing things 'wherever possible, from the viewpoint of the protagonist' the film gives the audience visual and psychological access to his nightmarish experiences.
We are brought close to the mind of a protagonist whose position vis a vis other characters is not fixed. Treacherous confusions of his role and the movement of the protagonist from one role to another constitute key structural elements in noir narrative. The victim might, for example, become the aggressor; the hunter might turn into the hunted or vice versa; the investigator might double as either the victim or the perpetrator. Whereas the traditional mystery story, with its stable triangle of detective, victim and murderer, is reasonably certain to have the detective as the protagonist, noir is a deliberate violation of this convention.
Shared guilt is often the only common bond amongst noir characters, who are usually doomed to be isolated . The main themes are generalisations of the ill-fated relationship between the protagonist and his society. Characters suffer either from failures of agency (powerlessness, immobilising uncertainty) or from loss of community (isolation, betrayal). Obsessed, alienated, vulnerable, pursued or paranoid, they suffer despair as they act out narratives that raise the question of whether they are making their own choices or following a course dictated by fate.
First ideas.
Props: Grey coat, Torches, lamppost, Trilby, cigars.
Setting: Dark alley/street/road/ Office: Find a place within the school premises. Setting, torquay harbour bridge.
Music: Sinister trumpet music.
Opening: We need titles. Storyboard and camera shots.
Tilt up shot of a man smoking a cigar, lent against a lamppost, this man is talking on a voiceover talking about how it was the beginning of the end.
Camera shot of a pair of heels walking, and then another one of a man walking, both of these characters are walking toward each other. The man says ‘ You got what I’m looking for?’
Close up of a note being passed from the woman to the man, you do not see the faces. This takes place at night. Fade out.
Woman in a chair spinning round in a long grey coat and beneath the coat she is wearing long slinky dress, to show her femme fetale characteristics.
A different man who she was meeting comes in the office, which has all the original film Noir elements in it; venation blinds? Possible Smokey atmosphere.
Another shot of a man walking toward the women, a man passes the gun to a different woman and this time you can see the face. The man says ‘Pleasure doing business with you’ Screen goes blank, and opening titles comes up along with quite jazzy music.
This is the first initial plan and ideas it is not fixed.
Setting: Dark alley/street/road/ Office: Find a place within the school premises. Setting, torquay harbour bridge.
Music: Sinister trumpet music.
Opening: We need titles. Storyboard and camera shots.
Tilt up shot of a man smoking a cigar, lent against a lamppost, this man is talking on a voiceover talking about how it was the beginning of the end.
Camera shot of a pair of heels walking, and then another one of a man walking, both of these characters are walking toward each other. The man says ‘ You got what I’m looking for?’
Close up of a note being passed from the woman to the man, you do not see the faces. This takes place at night. Fade out.
Woman in a chair spinning round in a long grey coat and beneath the coat she is wearing long slinky dress, to show her femme fetale characteristics.
A different man who she was meeting comes in the office, which has all the original film Noir elements in it; venation blinds? Possible Smokey atmosphere.
Another shot of a man walking toward the women, a man passes the gun to a different woman and this time you can see the face. The man says ‘Pleasure doing business with you’ Screen goes blank, and opening titles comes up along with quite jazzy music.
This is the first initial plan and ideas it is not fixed.
Film opening analysis
Snatch:
The opening sequences of films are important in determining and putting across what the film itself is going to consist of, these things include factors such as what Genre type of genre the film may take place in; Romatic, comedy, crime, horror, science fiction and more. It can also establish setting and character. In this essay I am going to analyse how the opening sequence to the film of snatch uses many different filming techniques in order to identify the films theme, genre, the basic style of the film, what characters the film may be based around and also what this sequence makes the viewer expect from the film itself.
When the film first begins we see a set of credits, white on black is the format of these credits, this colouring instantly sets the film with an enigmatic feel to it, we usually associate mystery with the colours black and white because they are bold and basic and we don’t get much connotation from the colours themselves, just like mystery. We then hear a non-diagetic voice over of a man talking to the viewer. The man is talking about diamonds, now diamonds are something associated the rich and powerful and bearing in mind that the man is talking in a low cockney voice, and his speech isn’t what you would call ‘proper English’ we automatically assume that he isn’t talking about how he has lots of diamonds. Therefore he is more likely to be talking about how to obtain them, and this instantly puts the film into possibly the genre of adventure and mystery. The fact that there is a voice over of a man speaking suggests that he could be one of the men in the room in which the camera focus’s on, or this character whom I speaking may initially play quite an important role throughout the film.
The film begins in a dark room with two men sitting down, the room is dark and grey, the setting here creates a sense of enigma, therefore the film begins with a feel of mystery, again establishing this genre of mystery and adventure, not only does the setting play apart in establishing this enigmatic feel but we also don’t know why the men are sat there, again associating the film snatch with this theme of possible enigma as the setting is already making the viewer ask questions. The beginning of the opening sequence when the men are sat in this room is extremely slow paced. There are not many cuts or transitions; just two men sat in a room whilst the voice over is talking. The voice over at the end of this scene asks a question: ‘ What do I know about diamonds?’ and the viewer instantly gets a feel of what the film is about.
The camera then cuts, after the voice over asks how to obtain diamonds, the camera cuts so a close up view of some security cameras, it focus’s in on one particular cameral in which we can see clearly that it is tracking some Jewish men, cultural Jewish background music also starts playing at this point. This is used in order to make it obvious to the audience what kind of people these men are suppose to be, the camera then tilts down to another security camera in which shows the men walking into the office. The fact that the camera is looking through a security camera at the Jewish men straight away connotes that these men are up to no good. Acton then establishes this because they start to fight, connoting that the Jewish men are violent.
The camera cuts then to the same Jewish men, sitting on a train, and the camera uses a medium two shot of two men taking off there masks, telling the viewer instantly that these men are fraudsters. Dressing up in disguise in order to obtain and thieve. The Jewish music also stops playing at this point in which tells us that in fact these men are not Jewish. The camera then zooms in to a close up of a diamond, in which they themselves have just stolen, therefore this film suggesting is definitely about how to acquire diamonds as the man is happy with his accomplishment. The camera goes into a transition with the diamond spinning, the non-diagetic background sound suddenly cuts in to fast pace music, introducing each character, we see a medium shot of each character along with the fast pace music, and the denotation of the characters with what they are wearing and look like, suggests to the viewer that all of these men are in disguise, just like the Jewish men were when the were stealing the diamond, and because the Jewish men were in disguise we therefore know that they are all in the diamond industry, well not exactly, they all partake in thieving of diamonds and after this introduction it is blatant and definite that this is what the film will be based on.
The opening sequences of films are important in determining and putting across what the film itself is going to consist of, these things include factors such as what Genre type of genre the film may take place in; Romatic, comedy, crime, horror, science fiction and more. It can also establish setting and character. In this essay I am going to analyse how the opening sequence to the film of snatch uses many different filming techniques in order to identify the films theme, genre, the basic style of the film, what characters the film may be based around and also what this sequence makes the viewer expect from the film itself.
When the film first begins we see a set of credits, white on black is the format of these credits, this colouring instantly sets the film with an enigmatic feel to it, we usually associate mystery with the colours black and white because they are bold and basic and we don’t get much connotation from the colours themselves, just like mystery. We then hear a non-diagetic voice over of a man talking to the viewer. The man is talking about diamonds, now diamonds are something associated the rich and powerful and bearing in mind that the man is talking in a low cockney voice, and his speech isn’t what you would call ‘proper English’ we automatically assume that he isn’t talking about how he has lots of diamonds. Therefore he is more likely to be talking about how to obtain them, and this instantly puts the film into possibly the genre of adventure and mystery. The fact that there is a voice over of a man speaking suggests that he could be one of the men in the room in which the camera focus’s on, or this character whom I speaking may initially play quite an important role throughout the film.
The film begins in a dark room with two men sitting down, the room is dark and grey, the setting here creates a sense of enigma, therefore the film begins with a feel of mystery, again establishing this genre of mystery and adventure, not only does the setting play apart in establishing this enigmatic feel but we also don’t know why the men are sat there, again associating the film snatch with this theme of possible enigma as the setting is already making the viewer ask questions. The beginning of the opening sequence when the men are sat in this room is extremely slow paced. There are not many cuts or transitions; just two men sat in a room whilst the voice over is talking. The voice over at the end of this scene asks a question: ‘ What do I know about diamonds?’ and the viewer instantly gets a feel of what the film is about.
The camera then cuts, after the voice over asks how to obtain diamonds, the camera cuts so a close up view of some security cameras, it focus’s in on one particular cameral in which we can see clearly that it is tracking some Jewish men, cultural Jewish background music also starts playing at this point. This is used in order to make it obvious to the audience what kind of people these men are suppose to be, the camera then tilts down to another security camera in which shows the men walking into the office. The fact that the camera is looking through a security camera at the Jewish men straight away connotes that these men are up to no good. Acton then establishes this because they start to fight, connoting that the Jewish men are violent.
The camera cuts then to the same Jewish men, sitting on a train, and the camera uses a medium two shot of two men taking off there masks, telling the viewer instantly that these men are fraudsters. Dressing up in disguise in order to obtain and thieve. The Jewish music also stops playing at this point in which tells us that in fact these men are not Jewish. The camera then zooms in to a close up of a diamond, in which they themselves have just stolen, therefore this film suggesting is definitely about how to acquire diamonds as the man is happy with his accomplishment. The camera goes into a transition with the diamond spinning, the non-diagetic background sound suddenly cuts in to fast pace music, introducing each character, we see a medium shot of each character along with the fast pace music, and the denotation of the characters with what they are wearing and look like, suggests to the viewer that all of these men are in disguise, just like the Jewish men were when the were stealing the diamond, and because the Jewish men were in disguise we therefore know that they are all in the diamond industry, well not exactly, they all partake in thieving of diamonds and after this introduction it is blatant and definite that this is what the film will be based on.
Film Noir proposal for practical performance.
For our practical performance we have decided to focus of the genre of film noir, as we enjoy the mystery genre. Our opening sequence will continue for a maximum of 2 – 3 minutes, in which we will introduce the film genre and the opening credits to the film. The film noir techniques we use will all be set in the modern day society.
Our opening sequence will consist of firstly a fade out from a dark background and here we see a man walking, but we only see his feet walking with the opening titles appearing along with this. the man then stops walking leans against a post and he crosses his feet over in a relaxed manner. the camera will then tilt upwards to uncover a man, in a trilby, half covering his face, to bring in this element of mystery, sinister music is played along with this. Also we can see cigar smoke coming from his mouth, the camera follows the trail of smoke to look at the white bridge that he is standing by, we then hear the amplified sound of footsteps. The camera cuts to an extreme close up of a woman’s heels walking down the footbridge, the man also starts walking up the foot bridge and we only get a shot of his feet. An extreme close up of a note is then passed from the man to the women and the woman says ‘ she wants to see you now. ‘ We do not see who this women is through this first clip.
The camera then cuts to the scene in a new up to date with technology office. The camera shows a point of view shot from someone who is opening the door of the office, the man who we see in the first clip, he is starring of the back of a chair which is placed behind a desk, there is a lit lamp, paperwork, ash tray and half a class of wine with lipstick on. The chair spins around to reveal a women in which we saw passing the note in he first scene, the women is dressed in a long dark coat, smoking.
The women sees the man, a different man to before, A shot from here point of view of his feet and tilting is then used, this is to show that she is attracted to the man and along with the tilt shot, in cuts some quite seductive music to represent this idea of the ideal femme fatale characteristic in which in classic film noir films have such as we see at the beginning of sin city, when the women gets shot. Except this time there is a slight twist; it’s the gorgeous man in who attracts the women at the beginning of this short beginning.
For our practical performance we have decided to focus of the genre of film noir, as we enjoy the mystery genre. Our opening sequence will continue for a maximum of 2 – 3 minutes, in which we will introduce the film genre and the opening credits to the film. The film noir techniques we use will all be set in the modern day society.
Our opening sequence will consist of firstly a fade out from a dark background and here we see a man walking, but we only see his feet walking with the opening titles appearing along with this. the man then stops walking leans against a post and he crosses his feet over in a relaxed manner. the camera will then tilt upwards to uncover a man, in a trilby, half covering his face, to bring in this element of mystery, sinister music is played along with this. Also we can see cigar smoke coming from his mouth, the camera follows the trail of smoke to look at the white bridge that he is standing by, we then hear the amplified sound of footsteps. The camera cuts to an extreme close up of a woman’s heels walking down the footbridge, the man also starts walking up the foot bridge and we only get a shot of his feet. An extreme close up of a note is then passed from the man to the women and the woman says ‘ she wants to see you now. ‘ We do not see who this women is through this first clip.
The camera then cuts to the scene in a new up to date with technology office. The camera shows a point of view shot from someone who is opening the door of the office, the man who we see in the first clip, he is starring of the back of a chair which is placed behind a desk, there is a lit lamp, paperwork, ash tray and half a class of wine with lipstick on. The chair spins around to reveal a women in which we saw passing the note in he first scene, the women is dressed in a long dark coat, smoking.
The women sees the man, a different man to before, A shot from here point of view of his feet and tilting is then used, this is to show that she is attracted to the man and along with the tilt shot, in cuts some quite seductive music to represent this idea of the ideal femme fatale characteristic in which in classic film noir films have such as we see at the beginning of sin city, when the women gets shot. Except this time there is a slight twist; it’s the gorgeous man in who attracts the women at the beginning of this short beginning.
Sunday, 11 January 2009
Casino Royal
The scene begins at night with a black and white picture; this connotes enigma and mystery instantly because filmmakers nowadays use this effect in order to create a dark and dim atmosphere for the film. Firstly onscreen a car pulls up in front of a tall building and a high angle camera shot is filming a man in a trilby getting out of the car. This instantly connotes the genre of a type of film noir with the black and white picture, mysterious feel and of course the famous shot of a mysterious looking man in a trilby and the viewer instantly knows that this film is therefore going to be set in the murder, mystery type of adventure genre. The camera tracks this man into a small office, again just like the type you would find in a traditional film noir picture and again suggesting this feel of mystery. Setting is established here through setting and the use of the black and white picture.
Character is also established instantly at the beginning of this film as when the man enters the office the camera cuts to a shot of Bond sat in a chair, he is already inside the office, and we instantly know that this is an unexpected surprise to the man, as he doesn’t look as though he was expecting company. The two characters exchange a sequence of conversation talking about how many characters Bond as killed, and how he isn’t yet of the status ‘00.’ When this is said a connection is instantly made with the title itself of 007. The famous Bond status and we know that this character will play possibly the main character in the film.
Music also plays a part in establishing the films genre, within the opening credits the song that is played is ‘’ you know my name’ performed by Chris Connell, in which can be seen as quite a slow song but also you can associate it with this sense of mystery. When the opening credits begin you see a series of animation of guns and people getting shot and falling down, this also plays a part in generating the basis of what the film will consist of; a lot of gun crime, men in suits, and adventure.
Action is used also to establish character, we see a gun being held in bonds direction, and this connotes that this character dabbles in violence as he himself is a wanted character, but it establishes that the character of Bond is good within the film because of his secret agent status. We also no that this character of Bond can be extremely violent as we see him committing two murders within the first few seconds of the films itself and he does this with no sense of remorse, this is a very strong character. The 2 murders also connote a strong amount of murder and violence throughout the film as we have already witnessed it at the very start, before the opening credits. The last shot before the opening credits establishes the character of bond and what he is about as his quick reflexes showing him turning and killing a man, with a point of view shot from the man he is shooting at, and finally a transition of picture with blood running down the screen with Bond himself in the centre of a gun whole, all of this connotes; the main character, the fact he is violent and the initial genre of the film: adventure mystery.
Character is also established instantly at the beginning of this film as when the man enters the office the camera cuts to a shot of Bond sat in a chair, he is already inside the office, and we instantly know that this is an unexpected surprise to the man, as he doesn’t look as though he was expecting company. The two characters exchange a sequence of conversation talking about how many characters Bond as killed, and how he isn’t yet of the status ‘00.’ When this is said a connection is instantly made with the title itself of 007. The famous Bond status and we know that this character will play possibly the main character in the film.
Music also plays a part in establishing the films genre, within the opening credits the song that is played is ‘’ you know my name’ performed by Chris Connell, in which can be seen as quite a slow song but also you can associate it with this sense of mystery. When the opening credits begin you see a series of animation of guns and people getting shot and falling down, this also plays a part in generating the basis of what the film will consist of; a lot of gun crime, men in suits, and adventure.
Action is used also to establish character, we see a gun being held in bonds direction, and this connotes that this character dabbles in violence as he himself is a wanted character, but it establishes that the character of Bond is good within the film because of his secret agent status. We also no that this character of Bond can be extremely violent as we see him committing two murders within the first few seconds of the films itself and he does this with no sense of remorse, this is a very strong character. The 2 murders also connote a strong amount of murder and violence throughout the film as we have already witnessed it at the very start, before the opening credits. The last shot before the opening credits establishes the character of bond and what he is about as his quick reflexes showing him turning and killing a man, with a point of view shot from the man he is shooting at, and finally a transition of picture with blood running down the screen with Bond himself in the centre of a gun whole, all of this connotes; the main character, the fact he is violent and the initial genre of the film: adventure mystery.
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