Harry Potter Warner Bros. Studios

I visited the Warner Brother studios in London. This is both useful for my exam and the coursework. The visit gave me an insight into the detail, depth and preparation it has taken to produce such big films.

I discovered that many models have been created within the production process before the sets were created. The sets have extreme detail and are constructed with care. Many hours were taken in  the make-up and costume. Special effects were created using green screen and computer generated images.

While our group cannot replicate the same level of technology and detail, we can take what we found out into consideration. We have learnt the importance of continuity and costume. We may also consider using green screen in some aspects of filming.



Great Hall model



Goblet of Fire costumes



Wigs



Make up



Various props



Green screen carts in Gringotts



Prosthetics for the Goblins



Diagon Alley Set



Models of the sets



The Hogwarts model

Textual Analysis of Buried's Titling

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/buried/


Buried - 2010

Plot: Paul is a U.S. truck driver working in Iraq. After an attack by a group of Iraqis he wakes to find he is buried alive inside a coffin. With only a lighter and a cell phone it's a race against time to escape this claustrophobic death trap.
Duration: 95 minutes
Genre: drama, mystery, thriller
Released: 29th September 2010 (UK)
Rated: 15
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Robert Paterson, Ivana Mino
   

 
 
 



 
The title of the film appears swiftly as the word 'buried' scrolls up the screen. This makes it appear as if the camera is moving down through the ground. It is positioned on the bottom right of the screen and takes up approximately a quarter of it suggesting that the title closely links into the film itself. It is a yellow/brown colour linking to the underground/buried theme of the film. It is a basic, quite bold font that allows the audience to easily read it. The letters then fade as they travel up the screen.


The photo of money appears to be cut into strips and is accompanied with small writing. This shifts in a diagonal movement from the bottom left-hand corner to the top right. The people's names are written in white and their role in the film production is in yellow. Both have the same font but the white is slightly larger suggesting the names are slightly more important.

All of the titles appear to move upwards suggesting a feeling of travelling down through the ground. They are all on a black background suggesting the dark will be a prominent feature throughout the film.

Audience Theories

Uses and Gratifications:

The theory was developed by Bumler and Katz. It suggest that audiences use any media text for various reasons as suggested below:

• Diversion (Escapism) - escape from everyday problems and routine
• Personal Identity - finding yourself reflected in texts, learning behaviour and values from texts 
• Personal Relationships (Social Interaction) - using the media for emotional and other interaction e.g. substituting soap operas for family life
• Entertainment - Using the media as a source of entertainment
• Surveillance (Information) - Gathering information from the media e.g. documentaries, weather reports

We will consider why our audience will be watching our thriller piece and take this theory into consideration during production.

Hypodermic Needle:

According to this theory the media is like a syringe which injects ideas, attitudes and believes into the audience who have little choice but to be influenced. For example, according to the theory, if you watch something violent you will be inclined to do the same violent thing.

We need to take this theory into consideration when making our film. Our piece may have scenes of violence or stalking and we need to consider how this will effect our audiences.


Active/Passive Audiences:

An active audience is an audience that thinks about what they have seen on screen after watching it. What they see has the potential to affect them physiologically. A passive audience is the opposite of this and they do not think about what they have seen and it doesn't affect them afterwards.


Identification and Sensitisation:

Identification - violence in the media releases tension and desires through identification with fictional characters and events (catharsis).

Sensitisation - violence in the media can sensitise people to the effects of violence.

Six Stages of Media Production

Hitchcock: a Case Study

Alfred Hitchcock, the English film-maker/director has helped to shape the modern-day thriller genre. One of his earliest films was the silent film, The Lodger (1927), was a suspenseful Jack the Ripper story. This was followed by his next thriller Blackmail (1929) which was his first sound film. Hitchcock makes a signature cameo appearance in every film after 1940, except The Wrong Man (1956). Although he was nominated five times as Best Director between 1940 and 1960, Hitchcock never won an Academy Award.

Alfred Hitchcock is considered the acknowledged auteur (theory that a director's film reflects the director's personal creative vision) master of thriller and suspense. He manipulates the audience's fears and desires. He often wove taboo or sexually-related themes into his films, such as the repressed memories of Marnie in Marnie (1964) and the homosexuality in Strangers on  a Train (1951).

In many of his films, there was a life and death chase ending with a 'showdown' at a famous/familiar landmark, e.g. London's Albert Hall in The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956). He also uses tight and confined spaces or restrictive train journeys to heighten emotions i.e. The Lady Vanishes (1937).

Hitchcock often used 'red herrings' (also called McGuffin) within his films to catch the viewers attention. This misdirects the audience and keeps their attention on the film. Some McGuffin's used by Hitchcock include:

• The Lady Vanishes (1938) - the coded music contained in a piece of music
• Strangers on a Train (1951) - Guy's cigarette lighter
• The Birds (1963) - the cause of the strange bird attacks

Hitchcock explores the darker side of human nature through situations, including sexuality, guilt, punishment, paranoia and obsession. He normally would let the viewer know that some horrible event would happen creating unbearable suspense while viewers waited for the inevitable.

After the classic films of the 1950s, his films were wildly uneven. He produced Psycho in 1960 and The Birds in 1963. Both of which became very successful quickly.

Brief History

In order to help build our ideas for our thriller piece, I have researched the history of thriller films and will take this information I have found into account when planning our film piece.


Media Timeline:



(source: http://www.disabilityplanet.co.uk/critical-analysis.html)


The Kuleshov Experiment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gLBXikghE0


Kuleshov and Eisenstein experimented with cut up footage in 1910 to 1920. They did this to see how the results would get different responses from audiences depending on what the sequence showed. This experiment demonstrated that the context of a piece of footage is vitally important. Political film makers often used this technique for propaganda purposes.


Thriller Films

Earliest 'thrillers':

• Safety Last (1923)
• The Cat and the Canary (1927)
• The Bat Whispers (1930)
• M (1931)
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1931)
• Murders in the Zoo (1933)
• Gaslight (1944)
• Laura (film noir - 1944)
• The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
• The Spiral Staircase (1945)
• The Lady from Shanghai (1948)
• Sorry, Wrong Number 91948)
• The Third Man (1949)

(source: http://www.filmsite.org/thrillerfilms.html)

Lighting Practice

In order to prepare ourselves for our thriller piece, We practised using light and different shots to achieve the 'thriller' effect.

Using a torch on a phone, we took this photo. The light is concentrated on the left of the face, casting the right into darkness. This creates a 'thriller' feel as half of the face is in the shadows.

This photograph was taken with the light source beneath the subject. Most of the face is dark and very little can be seen clearly. This could be used on the antagonist's face to make him/her appear sinister and evil.

This was taken using the natural light that filtered through the door. The shadows aren't as deep or black but it still creates a 'thriller' look.

The different lighting methods could be used within our film piece. I will take these images into consideration when thinking about the lighting in our thriller film.

Textual Analysis of 'Se7en'

Analysis of a thriller opening. Can be used to gather ideas for our own task.

Thriller Opening - Initial Ideas

I will be working in the same group that I worked with in my preliminary task - Lois, Darby and Tasmine. We will delegate the tasks between us equally and fairly while playing to our individual strengths. Lois will act and edit and Tasmine and Darby will organise our time and film. I will also help film and occasionally act if required. I will also make sure that our piece has continuity and the mise-en-scene is accurate. This will include: costume, props and lighting,

Although we didn't get far with our ideas, we decided we could do a horror/psychological-thriller with a stalker and a victim. The antagonist may be introduced at the point.

Titling Practice

To prepare for our thriller main task, we practised using After Effects to add titling sequences to short clips of video. This was incredibly hard but I did manage to add text to some footage. Before having to title our main piece, I will need more practise at titling.

Conventions of the Thriller Film Genre

What is a thriller?
   It is a broad genre of literature, film, gaming and television. It usually includes numerous, often overlapping sub-genres. Literary devices are used in thrillers to create suspense red herrings and cliff-hangers. Thrillers are fast paced with frequent action. They often feature a resourceful hero who must thwart the plans of more powerful and better equipped villains.

Types of thrillers:

• Spy - James Bond
• Military - Saving Private Ryan
• Political - Argo
• Conspiracy - The Insider
• Medical - Coma
• Forensic - The Bone Collector
• Psychological - Seven
• Horror - Silence of the Lambs

Characteristics of a thriller:
   Thrillers often overlap with mystery stories but instead of solving a mystery, the protagonist thwarts the villain's plan. They occur on a grand scale, e.g. serial/mass murder, terrorism, assassination and the overthrow of the government. Standard plot elements include senses of jeopardy and confrontations. There is often a climax where the mystery is solved, the villain is defeated and the population is saved. Thrillers often take place in exotic, dramatic settings such as, cities, deserts, churches, subways, airports, polar regions and high seas.

Barthes' 'Narrative Codes'

Barthes' Narrative Codes are five codes that are used within media to engage the audience. These include:

• Action Code - This is used in a media text to indicate what the next part will be. It advances the narrative e.g. the starting of a car engine would suggest that the car will drive away.
• Enigma (mystery) Code - This is how much information is given to the audience. It sets up a problem for the audience to solve, grabbing their attention and keeping them interested e.g. a hand opening a door but the audience not knowing whose hand it is.
• The Semic code - This is the symbols, signs and meanings within media that tells the audience about its narrative and characters e.g. films including vampires would include the garlic and the fear of it.
• Cultural Code - It is used in order for the narrative to makes sense to a socially and culturally aware audience. It references to elements in the real world that the audience will recognise e.g. Aston Martins from the James Bond films.
• Code of Oppositions - This is the use of binary opposites within media e.g. black v white.

The narrative of our preliminary task was a basic kidnap story. A young girl was attacked and tied up in a cupboard and the antagonist leaves her in the dark. Later, the protagonist saves the girl and frees her. The antagonist watches the victim and the protagonist leave. Within this, we used some of Barthes' Narrative Codes without realising.

Action Code - This was used many times within our piece. On example of this is when the protagonist enters the store room. The going through the door indicates that the protagonist will find the victim.

Enigma Code - This was used when the antagonist kidnaps the victim. The audience don't know why she has been kidnapped. This grabs their attention and will make them continue to watch to find out the answer.

Cultural Code - This was used throughout the piece. English was spoken and it was filmed inside a school suggesting to the audience that it is taking place in a well educated, western country.

Code of Oppositions - This was used within the clothing of the protagonist and antagonist. The protagonist wore light clothing and the antagonist wore darker clothing.

However,  we didn't include any of the Semic Code. This couldn't really be applied to the preliminary task as it wouldn't be appropriate. But, this could be used within our final thriller piece to inform the audience more about the characters and indicate the meaning within it.

Game of Thrones: a Media Case Study

http://www.slideshare.net/carmeldavenport/game-of-thrones-case-study

The above link, is a link to my Game Of Thrones case study. Although it is for the exam aspect of the course, many aspects are relevant to the coursework task. I could use my research on filming techniques, group representation and editing when thinking about the thriller task I will complete. The research will be useful when planning and preparing our thriller opening.

Preliminary evaluation

http://www.slideshare.net/carmeldavenport/as-preliminary-evaluation

The link above is my preliminary evaluation that I have completed.

Preliminary Task Short Film

After a lot of filming and editing we have finally completed our film. I am pleased with the results but as always, there is room for improvement.

Filming Issues...

I thought that filming part of our preliminary task would be easy. Just film what we needed and that was it. I didn't realise how many problems we would encounter...

The main problem our group encountered was the continuity of our piece. People in our group forgot to wear the same clothing which meant we couldn't film on certain days. If the clothing changed from shot to shot, the continuity would be disrupted and the piece wouldn't be realistic.

Another issue was when our teacher was out on a school trip. He accidently took the keys for the camera cupboard with him. After searching all over the place for them, we realised we couldn't film. An entire hour of filming was lost. We couldn't edit either as the footage was still on the camera.

When we finally got into the cupboard, we attempted to put the footage onto the computer. Upon putting the SD card into the computer, we discovered that the film was gone. Whether it was deleted or the SD cards were swapped, we will never know.

We have to make up for lost time and missing footage, so we better get filming...

Location of Filming

Before we start to film  our preliminary task, we need to find a place to film it in. Taking into consideration the fact that classes will take place while we film, we had to find a place that would be available when we needed it. We also had to find a place that fit in with our storyboard - corridors and a dark cupboard.

 



 

This is the English departments store room. We decided that this would be appropriate to use as the cupboard featured in our storyboard. It is largely disused and therefore we would not be disturbed while filming.

It also comes across as menacing. The area is very cramped giving a sense of claustrophobia and fear which suits our storyboard. Once the lights were turned off it created the sinister and gloomy effect we were looking for. A perfect place for our kidnapper to hide her victim!





This is the area where the store room is located (the store room is the open door). This will be the backdrop of the kidnapping. Due to it being a dead end, it suggests that the victim will not be able to escape, making the shots even more effective.

This picture depicts bright, airy corridors. This sharply contrasts with the other, much darker, locations. This will be where the victim walks along giving her a sense of vulnerability and an easy target which is exactly what we were looking for

This corridor also produces the same effects. The bright vivid colours also emphasise this.








We carefully considered our locations. Now we only need to do the filming!

 

Utopia: Case Study

Utopia: Post-production

 

 

 

An article was published on wired.com explaining how Utopia got its comic book look in the post-production stage. The article talks about how the bold colours, primarily yellows, cyan and magentas, differ from the normal greens, blues and reds used in cinematography. It also talks about the software used in the editing stages- Nucoda Film Master- and how it was applied to the shots to enhance the dull British skies.   

 

Post-production is the last stage in film making. This includes the editing of the shots and sound to create a final piece. Post-production is a chance to correct minor mistakes but if the original footage is inadequate, then post-production would be unlikely to fix this. Post-production mixes the audio, adds sound effects and non-diegetic sound, shots are improved and the shot order is established.

 

When editing my own film pieces in post-production, I need to consider the intended audience and the effect I wish to create. I will consider how the piece looks on screen and the effect it creates. I will use effects that reflect the theme of the piece - a thriller opening. I will make sure that the shots have continuity so that editing is not required to do this.

 

Many things will need to be considered when applying effects and editing a shot.

 



Storyboarding

 

 

As part of our continuity task, we have to create a storyboard of our short clip of film. Our final film is a opening to a thriller so we decided to play with this in our preliminary task as practice. We decided to make it into a hostage situation between two people. Our storyboard is as follows:

 

 

Our storyboard shows the camera shots that we will use in the short film clip. Although the drawings and notes are basic, they describe the shot types and the camera movements needed.

 

The storyboard will help us keep on track and show us which shots should go where when we reach the editing stage. It will also help us manage our time effectively to ensure that all the shot are filmed how we want them to be filmed.

 

However, we can still make changes to the film as the storyboard is a rough guide rather than an exact representation of what we must follow.  

Preliminary Production Task

 

Before making our final film, the short thriller opening, we must know how to use the cameras and all the different shots.

 

Our task is to create as small continuity piece involving filming and editing an interaction between characters. The basics of this piece must include a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down opposite another character which whom he/she exchanges dialogue with. The task should demonstrate match-on-action, shot/reverse shot and the 180 degree rule.

 

In order to do this I have to understand the things need to complete the task so I had ago at taking stills with these conditions involving my younger brother.

 

 

This animated gif I made demonstrates match-on-action. Match-on-action is the film and editing technique where one shot cuts to another view that matches the first shot's action. it gives the impression of continuous time action. this is a form of continuity editing. I believe that my attempt at match-on-action was very successful and I will use this skill in the continuity task I will complete.

 

 

 

 

 

The 180 degree rule is a basic guideline that states that two characters in the same scene should always have the same left-right relationship to each other throughout (see image).

 

 

I will use these skills in my continuity task as a practice and in preparation for the final project I must do. To complete this task I will be working with Tasmine Benton, Darby Abberley and Lois Woodward.

 

 



Shot Practice

Camera Shot Compositions

Framing a shot: practice with stills

 

 

 

Mid shot: shows the character from waist upwards. Emphasises the facial expression of the character but includes some of the background. 

 

 

 

Shot Practice

Camera Shot Compositions

Framing a shot: practice with stills

 

 

Long shot showing background: shows the frame's background that is dominated by the tree. Draws attention away from the character.



 

 

 

Shot Practice

Camera Shot Compositions

Framing a shot: practice with stills

 

 

 

Long shot using rules of thirds: makes both characters dominated by their surroundings but draws the eye towards them while considering the background.



 

 

 

 

Shot Practice

Camera Shot Compositions

Framing a shot: practice with stills

 

 

 

Extreme close up: shows the antagonist attacking the protagonist. Emphasises the action between the characters.



 

 

 

Shot Practice

Camera Shot Compositions

Framing a shot: practice with stills

 

 

Low angled shot: the protagonist dominates the frame making her look intimidating to the frame's point of view.

 

 



 

Shot Practice

Camera Shot Compositions

Framing a shot: practice with stills

 

 

 

Establishing shot: establishes that the location is a school. 

 

 

 

Shot Practice

Camera Shot Compositions

Framing a shot: practice with stills

 

 

 

Two shot: shows the antagonist (arms crossed) confronting the protagonist (front facing). Gives antagonist a menacing look while the protagonist looks intimidated. 

 

 

Shot Practice

Camera Shot Compositions

Framing a shot: practice with stills

 

 

Long shot using leading lines: draws the eye to the character, making her look inferior.



 

 

 

 

Shot Practice



Camera Shot Compositions

Framing a shot: practice with stills

 

 

 



Long shot: shows character and some of the background. Character is dominated by the tree in the background.







Starting AS Media

Welcome to my first blog.

I have always been interested in media but studying it is a first for me. I have started the AS media course this week and so far I am finding it enjoyable. I love watching films and TV, so this course seems just right for me. I like many different genres and love watching a wide variety of things.

Game of Thrones and The 100 and two TV series' that I am particularly interested in. I've read The Game of Thrones series so it is interesting to see how it has been adapted to make it suitable for TV. The effects are brilliant and it has been well made. I cannot wait to find out why which camera shot has been used where.

Our task in media is to make a two minute introduction to a thriller film. It sounds like it will be great fun but first I have to learn how to all the software. It will be hard work but well worth it. I already have a few ideas!

Carmel