Our Groups Developement

From the preliminary exercise to our main piece of coursework, great steps were made in improving our skills and techniques.

Whereas in the first exercise, our use of camera shots was quite limited, our second piece included more sophistacted shots with more purpose to them. We were more confident and so experimented with a greater range of shots to achieve a more interesting piece of film for the audiences viewing. The match-on-action of the character walking through the door that we learnt from the first piece was carried through to the second film, as we knew it was a technique that would really boost the quality of our piece. We learnt which shots worked and which shots were too ambitious. Our camera work improved, as it was far steadier in the second piece and gave a more proffesional feel to the film.

The editing was also vastly improved. In the first piece we used several peel screens which looked quite amateur, so with our second piece we decided to only use neccessary editing that would keep the film flowing effectively. This was important in improving the continuity of our piece and keeping the verisimilitude of the film.

The music in the first film worked well, as it was upbeat and targeted the correct audience. So we brought this philosophy into our second piece, and chose a soundtrack which would fit the chosen genre and audience. The dialogue was also improved on, as we felt it had more purpose to it in the second piece. The use of the music as a sound bridge from one shot to the next also works well with the editing to sustain continuity.

Despite not paying much attention to mise-en-scene in our initial piece, we realized it was vital to address this in our second piece. Therefor much more thought and effort was put into the setting and props that we would include in our second film. This gives a far greater clarity to the narrative of the second piece (such as the basketball and graffiti), which would help to entice the audiences attention.

By Matt Harrop

Evaluation of initial pratical task.

For our first piece of practical corsework we decided to make it upbeat and easy to watch. We used a wide range of camera angles and offered a very in depth view into the action. The first shot i am especially pleased with as it gives a very effective view of the two characters and the setting of the film.

The soundtrack we used was a track that i made personally and we all thought it set the mood of the representation very well as it is upbeat and is of a youthful genre and so fits the type of audience the film is aimed at.

We generally used very lilttle editing as the use of cut shot transitions was what we considered best as there are a large number of shots fitted into a short space of time.

We set the film in a school as this was a realistic setting for the type of film it is. We feel we could improve on this film by offering a wider range of sho types and lengths and to maybe experiment with different types of editing to improve the quality of the viewing and the dialog.

Improvements that could have been made

in reply to the comments left by other groups we fully agree with both the positive and negative points raised. The main issue we have found is the lack of clarity in the dialogue. This could have been solved by the use of the 'Boom' microphone as it would have improved the quality of sound. This however was impossible due to the lack of required equipment to make our opening the highest quality it could have been. We also would have liked to have used split screen shots in our editing, but we didnt have the technology to do so effectively.

POSTED BY: Mirzo Young, Alex Cox and Matt Harrop

Evaluation of others... movie intro 'Uk Ambition'

Rachel, Lucy, Nikki and Helen said...

We like your use wipe cuts and use of different shot especailly the slow motion shot. We also liked the way that your non-digetic music faded in and out with the dialogue.

However we were slightly confused that the weather changed from snowing to sunny weather in the matter in seconds.

Well done!
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abbie&cat said...

Firstly, the establishing shot used was highly effective in establishing the setting of the film.
The close-up shot of the 'respect' hand gesture meant that the close relationship of the two characters was emphasised very clearly. This suggested some relevance to the storyline, genre and the rest of the film.
As you adhered to the 180 degree rule, the shot reverse shot was really subtle and emphasised the ease of conversation between the two characters. This allowed the piece to seem very realistic!
The continuity of the entire piece was very successful, as it flowed smoothly throughout. This meant that the film was easy to relate to because it allowed verisimilitude to continue.

One negative point about your film, we thought, was the editing. Although it was good to see some clear editing techniques used in the opening, the use of wipe shots meant that the film looked a little unrealistic.

Our favourite shot was the last one, where you used slow motion and a low angle shot. This was excellent! It was done so well and emphasised the character's superiority. It introduced the storyline of ambition and could easily have lead on into a feature length film from that shot.

Excellent work!
by cat and abbie

p.s We loved the music! It really emphasised the genre of the film and was really appropriate. It worked really well in suggesting the events of the day, when the character was waking up for example, the pace, first slow, then gradually faster as the characters started to move was perhaps reflective of their lifestyle.
by abbie and cat

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Nilesh said...

Mirzo, Alex and Matt, nice work lads! Some good camera angle but i especially like the birds eye view shot of coxy walking down the stairs. I liked the use of slow motion and close up shots to emphise the respect shown between Coxy and Mirzo. I also like the ending shot of the slow motion lay up, very nice.
But i dont understand how Mirzo ended up with a White hat when he doesnt have one at the start and also, who sleeps with a jumper and a pair of trackies on!
To maybe improve on your film, you could maybe tilt the camera on some of the basketball shots that mirzo takes to make it look more impressive, other than that i enjoyed whatching your film

Nilesh

Research on the opening two minutes of The Ring 2

You can immediately tell that this is a horror film from the opening two minutes. The backing music used creates suspense and tension for the audience, and the aerial shot of the water creates an air of mystery for the audience, who do not know what to expect from this. 

Diagetic sound is used of the clock ticking to further enhance the suspense whilst the scene carries on. Close ups are used of the video tape and then an extreme close-up is used of the character inserting the video tape into the recorder which draws the audiences attention to this particular point of the film, emphasizing its significance to the narrative.

   An establishing shot is used early on after the mysterious shot of the water to give the audience a clear view of where the scene is being set. The use of silence is important in that it creates an uneasy atmosphere for the audience, who would find the scene unpredictable.  The 180 degree rule is executed so the audience do not become disorientated within the conversation and are aware of their surroundings and can then pay more attention to the dialogue.

   The mise-en-scene used is subtle yet affective. The characters and surroundings appear normal, to further create the feeling of unrest amoungst the audience.  The use of normal clothes and props in the home suggest that this is a normal film, though the use of sound and camera shots contradict this. For instance the low angle shot of the male character when he finds hand print up his arm, gives an impression that he is trying to gain control of a situation which is perhaps supernatural, a technique often used in many horror films.

Tracking is used to follow the movement of the male character from his point of view, though no other editing is used in the scene, as a sense of reality is clearly being implemented.

   

Our Final Verdict on 'UK Ambition'

From the feedback we have recieved regarding the many different elements of our film we have concluded that there is a definate improvement on the first attempt we made. The responses we got were generally positive whilst offering many ways of improving it. The general idea was that the soundtrack fitted very well and some of the shots we uded were very inventive but at some points elements of the storyline didn't fit very well with what the audience were viewing on screen. We agree with all the comments made and thank you greatly.

Alex Cox

300 Opening Evaluation

The opening to 300 is typical of many period drama representations. Throughout the first 2 minutes that i watched there was a continuous narative that helped set the time period and the storyline to enable the audience to gain full understanding of the situation and the backround of the story being told. There is also an underlying soundtrack being played during the narative which helps set the mood and the purpose of the film. I found it quite dark and almost religeous which is what is being attempted during the extract. It also helps to put emphasis on some of the narative particulary during the more descriptive periods and offers a sound bridge between shots. The narative itself is meant to be non diagetic and is for the audiences ears only. The use of a narative makes the audience feel as if they have exclusivity to the entire story and can often predict some future events in the storyline simply through the narrative.

The camera work that is used in this particular film is very intresting. There is no obvious use of an establishing shot but the opening shot is of a pile of skulls that is explainrd through the narative. There is a very wide range of shots used and there tends to be alot of shortertakes and continuous editing used to keep the film flowing and add to the mood set by the narrative and the soundtrack. A typical example of how the film varies its use of the camera is during a combat scene where the first shot is held for ten seconds before it is cut and from then on shots are held for a maximum of three seconds. This could have been done to establish what was happening before offering a more detailed view into the action.

Editing plays a huge role in the quality of this film. Not only the fantastic us of CGI but the use of lighting, shot transition and slow motion effects. All these elements give the audience the best insight possible and make the film look like a proffesional mastery. Slow motion shots during combat scenes offer the most detailed view of the action and the camera doesn't shy away from these elements in the slightest. The focus of these scenes is often on the blood itself not always the action going which adds to the graphic effect the fim offers.

Overerall, a very watchable film with great use of modern techniques and use of a great storyline.

Alex Cox

Adulthood Opening Evaluation

The opening to the modern day British classic Adulthood contains many techniques that are unique and inividual to its creation. From the very first scene the audience is immediatly thrown into the story from the use of flashbacks and clever editing. The useage of these flashbacks offers the audience a reminder of the events that took place in Kidulthood which are key to the storyline of the sequel and you really have to watch both to get the full idea of the message that is being portrayed.

At the very beginning, during the flashback sequence there is a very clever use of silence. This is done to set the mood for what is being shown on screen and to add reality to the idea of the flashback sequence. As it progresses there is a gradually increasing introduction of diagetic sound as it leads up to the focus of the opening which is when Sam hits Trife with a baseball bat. This particular action is what the whole storyline is built around and the clever use of sound and fade to black shot transitions really gives across the meaning of the scene and how influential it is to the whole plot. After this, the whole perspective of the opening changes when the a subtitle saying 'six years laters' appears on the screen to symbolise the transition back to what is presently happening in the story. The sound, camera work and editing all adapt to fit the new setting. There is an immediate difference in the mood which is set by the introduction of a soundtrack. The genre being modern day London Hip-Hop gives the audience a setting almost whithout having to watch the film itself. However, the establishing shot of a busy main road and the movement round and under to veiw the action occuring beneath really adds conviction to the initial impression.

There is also editing used throughout the opening sequence to influence the speed of the shots. Slow and fast motion are both linked to give an upbeat mood and at the same time symbolise danger. The slow motion shots are also used to focus on certain points of action and ensure that they are clear to the audience as detail is essential in this particular film. The film also achieves this by spliting the screen three ways at a number of points to show different aspects of the action from different perspectives. It gives a better view of the setting and at the same time doesn't waste time doing so. It could also hint at the modern element of the film and how it is representing current gang, drug and weapon issues within modern society.

Throughout the opening sequence there tends to be mainly high angle shots that give an impression of the setting and the general action from a distance. This may be because there has been no introduction of main character roles at this point and the idea is to give the audience almost an open teaser of what the storyline is about. The content would also suggest this, as there is visual drug, sex and violence reference within the opening two minutes without any dialog used. This is an unusual way of opening a film as it is often considered to not make sense without dialog in the first 2 minutes.

The genre of this film is set instantly and is clearly a crime drama. It gives a modern representation of young communities in west London and shows how racial and moral cultures clash on a day to day basis. The ingenius use of sound, camera work and editing makes this film very watchable and in my eyes a must see. I also get the idea from the content that every young person is meant to be able to relate to the film in some way or another through the issues it deals with and how the characters behave.

Evaluation of UK AMBITION Film...

Our Film is based on a young basketball player, who wants to make into the a professional basketball player. Our initial ideas about the film was to create a good action film, but some time later when we discussed the idea in detail it became complicated and not an easy genre to do. So we came to a conclusion that we will make sport/drama genre which is very interesting and not so complex to make. We also chose this genre because there are a lot of different camera and movement shots.
We were changing the ideas as we went along to make scenes better and professional. The main characters in the film are two good friends who are meeting up and discussing the future of dreaming basketball player.


Working With Existing Forms and Conventions

We observed the conventions of continuity very well. We tryed to make scenes in detail as possible to make the into flow, so the audience would be interested and intrigued to watch the movie.
Our film does challenge the genre as it has the use of background music nearly throughout the intro, which is not used in the same genre movies i have research on.This creates the atmosphere and mood.
We have not used any intertextuality in our film, because it is only an into of the movie, so there is not a lot of time to fit it in.
The type of audience pleasure that we are trying to provide is the story of a basketball player who is dreaming to be a professional and unrevealed as yet. I'm confident that we have satisfied the audience with our intriguing opening scene.

Representation

We have represented a very stereotypical and determined young basketball player who with the help of coaches and who has an ambition to progresses to reach the professional level of basketball. This has been represented in the opening by the use of the the urban court, which emphasises that the boy is not very rich but is a talented player. the use of clothes represents the personality of the person, so we have used trackies, a hoodie and a coat with a hat, which represented the character in his own unique way. the use of the weather conditions created the atmosphere and the mood in the scenes which was in the middle of sun and light coloured clouds. this set a happy and great atmosphere.

We have tryed to include most of the characters and people which are targeted for the genre we created. Teenagers are included and older people are excluded. if the movie would be extended to a longer time than there would be older people included to make it realistic.

We have chosen a our intro to begin from the house all the way to the basketball court, which seems realistic because every persons day start from him/her waking up and get ready to go out. We have also made use of the court with graffiti around and no net on the basket. This tells the audience where the character is from, which is also realistic because it emphasises that he has a lower class family and lives in difficult conditions.

Mise en scene is quite important in our Film which makes the film realistic and sets the location as well as the use of props and lighting. The music sets the mood and the atmosphere in the scenes. The acting is even more important because this will tell the audience how it feels to be in characters position. The camera work shows different type of views in a scene which gives audience more detail of the location of the characters, emphasised the character's superiority and the construction of verisimilitude.

Institutions

The kind of media institution that more likely to distribute our product is working Title, this is because they produce movies that are unique, talented and are British films.

Audiences

Our main audience are mostly teenagers and older people who like Basketball. We came to this conclusion because of the music, locations, mese-en-Scene and camera compositions we have used.

My analysis and research process in pre-production of the movies was very useful and successful in some ways. I have found out what will be the best way to start our film, the type of shots should be used not making audience confused regarding to the positions/locations of the characters, the type of music genre played, the type of locations should be used and the most importantly the editing including transitions, cutting and continuity.

In filming and editing we have ensured that the meaning would be apparent to the audience by making it clear and simple story line. We made clear to the audience from the start of the movie. Following the actors throughout the intro so it would be clear for the audience to understand what is happening. We made some creative decisions while rehearsing our conversation part of the intro. Improving on our lines and making then sound realistic. We made the last shot of the intro slow motion which has influenced the sense of the audience.

When we trialled aspects to our target audience to get their opinions and views of the film, the respond we had was mostly positive as you can see at the comments made. Most of our audience commented on the last shot of the intro which looked very effective and has emphasised the character's superiority. We did our best to entertain the audience.

Using Technology

Technology like a camcorder enabled us to develop our opening scene. The use of camcorder was portable and allowed us to to range of shots. We have also used a tripod which enables us to make more stable and accurate shots making the scenes realistic and professional. However, if we had a better camera our shots could have been much better and professional. I think we did a mistake not using a microphone, which spoils some of the dialogue in the film. We have also used editing software which helped us to improve our film into by including transition of images, sound, cuttings and continuity of the film.

The Preliminary exercise to the main task helped us not to make the same mistakes. The digital technology enabled us to develop our opening by using the editing software effectively, to make the into look better. We also learned from Preliminary exercise some rules of the camera movements and angles to make the main task have a better effect on the screen. For instance in the Preliminary exercise we did not use a tripod successfully and not very often, but we have looked back at our errors and and use of the tripod to make the scenes stable. However, we did not use a 'Boom' microphone to make our conversations clear and profession. This made our dialogue scences a little poor and careless.

Myself and my group did a lot of research on the music choise that should have been used in the intro and came up with a better choise of music after uploading the work.
I was quite dissapointed with the use of sound as you have most probably noticed. We did our best trying to keep the sound clear and professional. By the use of IT helped us to improve when we had to fade the soundtrack into the backround which worked really well. However, during the dialogue there are other backround diagetic sounds which do not make the scenes look good and make it seem a sloppy work.

Final Verdict

I'm very pleased and happy with our final film because it showed a huge improvement. I had a good time Acting and editing which was fun and challenging. Overall if we were to do a task like this again we would improve on our mistakes and make even a better intro of the new film.
From the feedback we have recieved from the our teacher and other poeple regarding the many different points of our film we have felt of a definate improvement than the the first attempt we made with our peliminary work. The responses were generally positive but there were some things where we could have done better like the soundtrack, as we did in our peliminary work, which was prodused by the member of our group and sounded very original.

M Y