Tuesday 16 December 2008

Thriller FIlm - Filming Process

Our first attempt at shooting went ok, but when we came to edit we found a number of problems with the captured material. These problems included such things as our camera making some of our film blurry, and when we uploaded it the movement wasn't smooth, as the pc skipped a couple of frames, making it jumpy, affecting the overall look of our peice.
Also, we decided that some aspects of the outfit "Simon" was wearing in the shooting weren't suitable or good enough for his character, so by re-shooting some shots and scenes we were able to make sure the continuity and costumes were more appropriate.
After we changed the costume, and some of the shots,the filming became alot easier and ran alot smoother.


(Late December & Early January)
We encountered another more serious problem towards the end of 2008, as the main pc's hard drive malfunctioned, losing many files from the designated pc. This included the filming for our thriller, and the already edited bits. We were unable to retreive the files, so we had to start filming again from the start, and editing. This put us behind the other groups, as some of them were close to finishing editing, however our teacher gave us an extension to complete editing and our evaluation, giving us a chance to improve our footage and learn from our mistakes. This worked quite well as we sorted out our character casting problem, and helped us see what we needed and what we didn't.
However, after we finished filming and editing, we disvoered our film was 1min and 44 seconds too long.
We are in the process of cutting it down, which proves harder to do than it sounds.

Friday 12 December 2008

Thriller Opening - Layer Cake

Director: Matthew Vaughn, 2004.
Opening shot/Mise-en-scene/shot types: medium shot of the explosion in the van, genrly zooms out, instantly makes impact and grabs the audiences’ attention. Close up of drugs, and shown different time period flashbacks. Siren and camera zooms out and begins panning, slow paced film, high angle shot which makes the characters look like they are being watched, long shot shoging the drive in, extreme long shot following the car going along rural road to large mansion. Midshot shows them walking, following the characters and rorates around table whiles rockish music played.
Opening credits: First titles of producers etc, centred and plain with no music. Black and white, white writing of title layer cake on the door of his terrace house.
Narrative perspective: internal monologue – thriller signifier – match everything up and well fitting for a good carry off.
Mise-en-scene: switching places in periods of time, reflecting different periods, prison, flower drug power, modern day, innocent and clean more professional and pharmacy suggesting pharmaceutical lifestyle. Shot in London following Daniel Craig down the road, contempory music, chilled, male protagonist, flaw of drugs and drug dealing.
Editing: drugs in what looks like a pharmacy storage room, into a pharmaxy. Shots fade into others. Diegetic music faded out and went white, went to show a car shot. Goes into another shot lots of people contrast of people lower class and professional dealers.

Thriller Opening - Sin City

Directors: Frank Miller and Robert Rodingnez, 2005
Opening Shots/Mise-en-scene/Shot stpyes: establishing shot, urban city setting, seductive woman with red low backed dress. Two person shot, slow jazz music (film noir) non diegetic sirens and city noises. Birds eye view. Car view camera shot exactly like in Chinatown and vertigo. Chiaroscuro lighting. Woman looked in the camera zooms out whilst panning and goes in a spiral (thriller signifier) twists occurring.
Opening credits: explosion, city, font of credits look almost cartoony or as if written for a comic book – white outlines. Red writing, balck and white background. Images behind the text like guns, people (possible characters) stills that move across the screen, all drawn as comic books are. Film is based on drank miller’s graphic novel so use od the graphic images is almost a reminder of his book, influenced the film.
Mise-en-scene: raining/slashed streets, classic thriller signifier. Wet lashed streets and balcony with smoke. Bleak atmosphere, woman is vulnerable but sexy and possible dangerous. Eyes flash green sugguesting emotion (jealousy?) man seems protective. Monochromatic black and white flash of the scene when they kiss, more reminder of the graphic novel.
Editing: black and white, red dress and gren eyes only colour, slow paced shot editing, showing contrasts, and monochromatic flash.
Narrative perspective: voice over of the man, internal monologue.

What makes a thriller introduction successful:

Initial idea's on what makes an opening/introduction to a thriller so successful:
  • Mystery/Intrigue
  • Possible cliffhanger
  • Clever and effective editing
  • Good/steady camera shots.
  • Appropriate lighting/dress/props
  • The abililty to "hook" or "engage" the audience, so they're interested in the rest of the film
  • Good use of the mise-en-scene - Effective
  • Originality/Individuality
  • Effective framing, compostion (rule of thirds)

Camera Rules/Shots:

180 degrees rule: maintains that line of action should not be crossed, interests of fluid continuity. Therefore precludes a difference greater than 180 degrees between camera angles in consecutive shots.

Shot reverse shot: alternating shots, typically of two characters in a dialogue sequence.

Match-on-action:
occurs when an action begins in one shot and is continues or completes in the next.

Cast - Thriller Film

The cast starring in our thriller are:

CHARACTER'S NAME ---- ACTORS:

Simon ---------------------- Ben Jones

Reason: We had a problem with our casting, as someone dropped out, and Ben was free when we needed to film. Also, he fit the character profile quite well when he wore the appriopriate clothing for "Simon". Ben has an innocent "baby face" which is what we hoped for for the casting of "Simon", as he's meant to be a good boy gone bad. His face represents his innocent youth, and his outfit (similar to in the picture below, but without the scarf) represents the group of people he has fallen into. Because Ben usually wears similar to clothes as to the ones we picked for "Simon", he suited the character props well. He owned a coat, hat and shoes extremely alike the ones on our prop list, so generally he was a good pick.









Jitmal ---------------------- Jakob Montagu-Shaw
Reason: Jakob had the appearance and attitude to suit the character, and also, a problem with our casting led us to need him to play 2 roles in the film. This worked quite well because the other role he plays, we do not see his face. Handily, Jakob owned many clothes to fit this character, and could act the part, as its what he is usually like.



Old man -------------------- Jakob Montagu-Shaw
Reason: He's tall (which fits the character profile) and we generally thought he would be a good person for this role because he is in our group, wanted to be in the film, giving him a good chance to multi-task within the group. He also helped write the character profile for the character giving him a good idea of how to act toward the camera in the shots, as he was involved in the conversation about the character as well as the written work.




Jitmal -------------------- Mark Wright-Premachandra
Reason: Mark has the appearance and attitude for this character. At first we didn't think he would be able to play this role, so we prepared to cut out the gang leader, and prepare Jakob for the role. However, he came through and when he was available we filmed with him. Mark smokes, so it wasn't a problem getting cigarettes into the film to show the gang's nature. he also has darker skin, which fits in with the gang image and gets the film to appeal to a wider audience. Mark wears quite bright colours compared to the others in film, however this suits his character as he's meant to be the more child-like and sensitive one of the group, the "little brother".

Thursday 4 December 2008

Why Britain Needs The British Film Industry.

Jobs:
•The British Film Industry supports many British people by supplying them with jobs and an income.
•These jobs include: building, acting, painting, make-up, electrician, directing, costume designing, writing, advertising and many many more.
•This is important to the British economy as if we relied on the American Film Industry we would have many unemployed and our economy would loose a lot of money. Also it would mean we would have to rely on America for our living.


Tourism:
•Thousands of people a year come to walk round the British Film Industry, or places in which films have been made in Britain. E.g: People from europe, america and other places (even people from the UK) have travelled quite far for a holiday or break just to visit Alnwick castle, where the Harry Potter films were set.
•This provides many local businesses with money and an income, because b&b's, small hotels or other hospitable places get more buisness from the people visiting their area's.
•They also come to see many new english actors, hoping to meet them or visit the places in which they grew up or were born. E.g: Some people visit Chester or West Kirby, as this is where Daniel Craig, star of the new Bourne film's was born and went to school.
•All this tourism is good for England and for other countries, as it opens everyone up to each other and other cultures. Bringing in tourism lets us not only make our buisnesses thrive, but also allows us to meet people from other cultures.

Shooting Schedule - Thriller Film

Our shooting scedule for our Thriller is:

  • 6th December, 4 o'clock
  • 16th December, 4 o'clock
  • 17th Dcember, 4.30pm
  • 12th January, 5 o'clock

We had to also film some more in january because we had a few problems with our tape, which is fine now. The filming was to be done near dusk, when it was dark, as that's when the film was set. Also it gives us shadows and dark corners which created mystery for the location and the story. Depending on how much filming we get done on each day, we are leaving plenty of time to re-film to sort out technical problems, so we have enough time to edit and finalise our peice.

We had to also film some more in january because we had a few problems with our tape, which is fine now.

Wednesday 19 November 2008

Script - Thriller Film

Shot 1:
dim light, small lamp on in the room. Streetlight from outside through the window. Simon rummaging through a chest of draws, fast and hurried. Finds a gold watch that looks expensive.
Simon: (whistles) S**t man!
Simon stuffs the watch in his pocket.

Shot 2:
Crew standing on corner outside, glancing at their watches. Street lamps light the street dimly in some places.
Crew member 1: pfft, takes his time don't he.
Crew leader: i know man, what's the kid doing in there?
Crew member 2: i'm not waitin for this s**t much longer, that geezer will be home soon. I told you we should have gone in with him.
Crew leader: and risk us getting caught? nah you idiot!

Shot 3:
Simon in the room, rummaging now in the wardrobe, he drops a load of boxes on the floor. Dim lamp still lighting the room.
Simon: f**k!
He searches through the boxes, looking for more valubles. His phone rings.

Shot 4:
Close up of the phone, which shows "Mum" on the screen.
Simon: hi mum...yeah...i'll be home soon...ok...love you, bye.

Shot 5:
He hangs up and sighs with his head in his hands. He starts putting the boxes back.

Shot 6:
Mans legs on the pavement, shoes clicking and cane on the floor. Streetlamps light the feet faintly.

Shot 7:
Simon rummaging in more draws, slower, picking up small things and putting them in his pocket - mainly jewellery, dim lamp still lighting the room. He see's an expensive ring that looks special but puts it back into the back of the drawer.

Shot 8:
Shot of the crew hanging out, with the old man walking up in the distance. The crew notice the man and watch him wearily.
Crew member 3: is that the old geezer?
the old man turns into a driveway.
Crew member 2: f**k! thats him.
Crew leader: i'm outta here, f**k the kid!

Shot 9:
the crew starts running away from the street, in and out of streetlamp shadows, they run to the end of the road, and split up, footsteps and yelling bye and swearing.

Shot 10:
close up of the old mans feet walking up to the door, and setpping infront of the door. Keys jingling and being put into the door.

Shot 11:
mid shot of the old man's body, footsteps and keys unlocking the door, walking into the house, streelamp light washes into the hallway.

Shot 12:
bottom midshot of the old man walking in from outside, door nearly shut, turning on a dim light.

Shot 13:
Simon hears a bang from downstairs and looks around and freezes with a scared look on his face. The lamp is still on.
Simon: s**! (whispered)

Shot 14:
Old man hanging his coat and hat, still no veiw of his face, this is from behind, weak light of the hallway prevents any main features being shown.
Old man: b****y kids.

Shot 15:
Simon stood in the middle of the room, looking around for somewhere to hide.

Shot 16:
Old man's shoes, walking up the stairs, which creak.

Shot 17:
Simon dashing towards the bed and getting on his knees.

Shot 18:
The old man entering the room, shot from behind, follows him in, the room is empty.

Shot 19:
Camera at floor level, looking under the bed, simon is laying there, scared look, looking at the old man's feet.

Shot 20:
The old man takes off his coat and tosses it on the bed. He notices the mess in his room.
Old Man: what the?
He looks around, looks in the wardrobe, and is about to look under the bed when the shot cuts out.

Storyboard - Thriller Film



























































































Character Profiles - Thriller Film

Simon (main character)
Age: 15/16 years old
Hair colour: Brown
Height: 6ft
Attitudes: Naive, clever, witty, quick- thinking.
Background: Simon started off from a young age attending a boarding school, but never really fitted in. He was often getting into trouble and eventually convinced his parents to let him move school. At the start of his new school life, he was quiet and was slow to make friends, and didn't really settle in. Some boys in his year to decide to pick on him, and an older crew of boys notice and stand up for him. That is when he got involved in the wrong crowd and his life went on a down hill.


Jitmal (Gang member)
Age: 17
Hair colour: Black
Skin colour: Tanned
Height: 5/6 ft
Attitudes: Status is below the gang leader, and he doesn't care much for school. He isn't very bright and likes being around a lot of people, which is probably why he joins the gang. He has a good home life, but arguments sometimes arise after he's been out all night with the crew, without telling his parents.

Background: Brought up well, but fell into the wrong crowd at school. He's not a main member of the gang but is more of an outcast. He's sensitive but tries to cover it up with his frequent robberies with the gang, and other things alike. Him and Simon are quite similar, though he has been part of the crew longer, and is more trusted. He's like the "kid" of the group. Everyone's little brother.



Gang Leader

Age: 19

Hair colour: No hair

Skin colour: Black

Height: 6ft

Attitudes: Has respect from the gang although he's not particularly nice to them. He dropped out of school, considering it a waste of time, but then went to college.

Background: Distant with the family, they work through the day and night. He looks after himself so is self-centered and uptight when he's around people. His gang is more like his family.


Middle Aged Mysterious Man
We have made no information as we want to make the gangster man very mysterious, but we do not wish to give anything away. The idea of him being mysterious is based on making the film introduction have a mysterious atmosphere, as this is a classic thriller signifier theme. He will be kept mysterious as the camera will never show his face only his silhouette.

Monday 17 November 2008

Perfume Advert - Written

Audience Research:


Demographic classification: I wanted the advert to aim for the C2 to C1 or B classifications. This is because the highgest % of women are in the C1 classification.

Personal Aspirations: This advert was aimed at the "Succeeders" and "Indiciduals" of the population, this is because the advert isnt "normal" in the sense that you wouldn't expect to see a poster of this up and around. Also, aimed at "Succeeders" because of how there is a sense of control over the other in the picture.

Social value: "Self actualisers" and "Innovators" were the groups the advert was aiming towards, because of how the advert is out of the normal boundries of perfume adverts, drawing in the "risk takers" or people "exploring new change".

Hierachy of needs: Self actualization, because of the creativity, spontaneity, lack of prejudice and acceptance of facts (some people are gay) .

The picture:

jess - the female dressed as a male, is quite victorian in the sense of george sand, a woman who had relations with both men and women, and dressed in men's clothing, the "first" woman who did so.

lorna - this dress she is wearing is also around the same period, but is feminine.


Editing:


I edited this picture by enhancing its contrast, and then putting it into black and white, removing all the colour. Then i tried and tested a few fonts for the bottom right corner for the title and artist of the perfume, and decided on the swirly one seen.

Film Synopsis - Thriller Film

Name: ________________

Genre: Gangster/Thriller.



Blurb:
Simon is 15. He got in with the wrong crowd and spends his life getting in trouble and running from it. Until one night, when they step it up a notch, and decide to rob a house. This time, Simon will discover that maybe running from the scene can prove worse than staying put.

Introduction:
Young boy robbing an old man’s house, old man returns home and catches him hiding under the bed. The boy’s friends who were outside have run off in fear of police getting involved.

Beginning of movie:
Boy has gone missing; police get involved as “missing persons” investigation. Crew members are told by the leader to lie about where they were, say that they weren’t near the old man’s house. Crew member returns to the house to watch the old guy and cover up their tracks of being there. Another crew member returns to the police to tell them what happened, police then question the old man, who claims the boy ran out of the house before he could catch him. The next day the boy turns up dead, and the old man and the leading crew member are arrested.

Middle of movie (4 Points of view):
Boys view: stealing, hiding under the bed, old man catches him, he throws the stuff back at him that he was stealing and runs out the house to walk home. Shadow grabs him and starts beating him, this is in a run down place near a river. Shadow then hides the body.
Polices view: gets a ring from parents, talk to people at the school, getting nowhere with the investigation. Question the old man and are suspicious of crew member as they find out he told everyone to lie about them being there. Arrest both.
Old mans view: returns home from pub to find boy in his house, tries to catch him and yell but boy runs out. He is stirred and starts drinking and falls asleep. Next day Police are asking him about the boy and how the boy is missing. He’s surprised. Answers and tells them what had happened and lets them search the house. He is rude because they suspect him. He gets arrested and is not happy.
Crew leader’s view: Been drinking, goes out to make boy rob a house. Drunk. They run when man returns, he stays and watches as a few minutes later the boy runs out. Angry. Follows boy home, when at river he grabs him and beats him yelling how stupid he is and he will get them caught. When the boy is unresponsive he panics and hides the body, swearing and shaking. Returns home, washes his hands and the next day tells his crew to lie about where they were. When police find out where they were he panics more, and when he is arrested he tries to cover it by swearing at the police.

End of the movie:
Police find the weapon that killed the boy and fingerprint it. They tell both man and crew leader what they are doing to shake them. Old man is released and leader is convicted as his prints are found all over the weapon. Movie ends with prison door banging shut and seeing the lad through the letterbox opening, which is also shut. He had his head in his hands.

Thursday 13 November 2008

Meeting Schedule - Thriller Film

Meeting Schedule:
Week 1 –
Wednesday, Period 2.
Thursday, Period 3.
Week 2 –
Wednesday, Period 3.
Thursday, Period 3.
Weekends – Saturday mornings, Café Nero’s.

In the first weeks of our Thriller planning, we gathered a few ideas and thought about the main sub-genre's and styles for the story. We also had many discussions in class and in meetings about out narrative and plot, which we changed a few times before deciding on one. Our initial ideas were pretty vague, but when we all decided on a plot we stuck to it and started trying to develop it. The sheet we were given was helpful, as it told us everything we needed to cover,
so in our meetings we would decide how to do each part, and then tick them off the list once we got them done.
The sheet involved the following:
IDEA STAGE
- Initial ideas -> Films that have influenced our ideas
- Genres and styles -> What we are trying to achieve ~ themes and ideas
During the next meetings we began to think about other things from the list, such as:
PRE-PRODUCTION which included:
-Meeting schedule
-Synopsis of film
-Detailed storyboards
-Character profiles
-Location scouting/decisions on locations
-Cast auditions/choices
-Shooting schedule
-Deciding on props.

Most of the things on this list we found to be easy to finish quickly, however the last 4 took longer for us to develop certain ideas. We thought of a number of possible locations, but the easiest and most available location to us was Jakob's (a member of our group) house. He drew out a rough plan of his house and we found it easy to fit in with our filming ideas. For example, we wanted the room "Simon" broke into to be at the front of the house overlooking a moderately busy street, which Jakob's house could provide. We also wanted "Simon" to break in through the back of the house, which Jakob could easily create with his back garden and kitchen window.
The casting for our thriller didn't take too long, because we mostly chose people we knew and Jakob from our group, as he wanted to do some acting and he fitted the profile quite well. The gang wasn't hard to find people for as alot of people were up for the idea of dressing like gangsters.
Our prop list was only a vague idea of what we thought the actors should wear/look like/carry, as we thought of possible changes as the planning and filming went on. We made a few changes to the old man's props, and alot to Simon's, as we had a few different ideas as to what we were looking for from the characters.

Prop List - Thriller Film

Old Man John:



















- This is a similar trench coat to the one our character will wear. It is quite sophisticated when compared to Simon's coat which we see earlier in the film.
+ The black colour of the coat keeps in with mystery, as the identity of the man is no clearer. The coat is a typical wear for a male in a thriller, and links in to the look of a detective. The collar of the trench coat will be propped up, to hide the neck and bottom facial features of the character, creating more mystery about his identity.




















- These are the trousers and shoes the old man will wear, both black, and both working-style and smart.
+ This is an appropriate look for our character as it will represent the old man's wealth and class, showing he's a rich man and may be quite important (or self-important). It also hints towards a good/wealthy career. The size of his house will also enhance this idea as the house is quite large.








- The hat of the man will be grey and in the style of an old trilby hat.
+ This will be worn so it covers the majority of his face, either with the material or in shadow. This will show how mysterious he is, and how he keeps his identity hidden, because we want to leave the man's identity anonymous and unrecognized. It creates mystery which we feel is a good way to start our thriller film, as it gets the audience interested and intrigues.



Simon:















- Big coat, warm and "gangster" like. Thick and with a hood.
+ Its a winter coat, giving us a time where this is set,
Winter coat, with a hood so it can be used to hide their faces if needed. The coat is relatively cheap looking as the guys aren't very professional and are not able to spend a lot. The dark colour of the coat will be good as they will not be as noticeable as if they were wearing lighter, more colourful colours. However, our film is being shot at night so it wouldn't really matter anyway. The coat also needs pockets so the guys can stuff as much as they can in them, instead of carrying a bag.








- Grey/Black beanie hat to be worn looseley on Simon's head.
+ This will help cover Simon's hair, and other features, as burglars usually hide these things if they are burgling. It shows his limited knowledge of what he is about to do, as he is not a professional burglar, and he doesn't do this regularly.









- Expensive "Gangster" trainers.
These trainers are quite like the ones that we have found the characters to wear (the two guys breaking into the house). They are going to wear trainers, as they are usually worn by men and they can relatively cheap. They will probably be black (the pairs that the men wear) as they will be less noticeable on the idea of them being less identifiable.

Extras:










- This is an old gun, a prop used for the old man.
+ The classic look of the old man's gun creates more weath for the old man, and gives him a sense that he knows what he's doing, as he's probably had alot of experience with guns, which is why he keeps one in his kitchen.

- This a more modern gun, exchanged from the gang leader and then used by Simon.
+ Because Simon is less used to having a gun, a more experienced thick black (almost toy like) gun is more suitable, as youths are more likely to get hold of these than the classic one above, as they are cheaper.

Ideas Stage/Mission Statements - Thriller Film


- Initial ideas for film:

Idea 1: Man running down a road, away from something. Empty. Thinks he’s getting chased, but he isn’t actually. Police shows him CCTV of him not being chased, could be a massive conspiracy.



Idea 2: Man in suit walking down a corridor. Bangs into a room and starts searching. Another man in a chair and a woman in another on the other side of the room. After a clear messy search the angry man leaves. The man in the chair says “so where did you hide it?” and the young woman, smoking, just smiles.




Idea 3.1: Young people robbing an office, running out, one falls over, they all split up and run separate ways. The young one who fell over hides in the shadows. Phone starts vibrating; “Mum” comes up on the screen. A hand slides round the youth’s mouth and he drops the phone. The phone had been answered, lays on the floor with a faint voice calling out to the owner.







Idea 3.2: FINAL – “Gangsta’s” robbing an old man’s house, but he returns home and they run off except one is left there and gets caught inside the house with the old man, who is a “crazy killer”.

- Films that have influenced your group:

1. KiDULTHOOD – Young teenagers, Gangster lifestyle, violence.
2. Layer Cake – Shot types (close up, mid-shot), Watching a particular character (young teen) and following him through the start, Location (urban city landscape), Shots fading out.
3. Sin City – Sound effects (siren’s in the background), Location (urban city landscape), Weather (Raining).

- What kind of thriller do you want to make, Genre, Style:

Genre: This film will have a few sub genre’s including; thriller suspense and crime thriller.
Style: The style of the film will be modern “Gangsta”.

- What are you trying to achieve? Themes or ideas you want to explore:

We would like our introduction to capture the audience’s interests and attention, so that it draws them into watching the whole film with interest. We want to explore the “Gangsta” theme along with the innocence of your childhood/teenage years, by showing how a young smart innocent teenager can have their life turned around, and become a bad teen/villain, just by the people who he/she hangs out with.

Narrative Of China Town

The main structure of this movie is: beginning, twist, middle, climax and finally the ending.
In the beginning we are introduced to a character called “J.J” Gittes, who is a private detective. A woman who we think is Mrs Mulwray is hiring Gittes to spy on her husband, as she thinks he is having an affair. This introduces the feel of deception and mistrust, and the woman is a typical femme fatale, with red lips, silky expensive clothing and a cigarette.
However, this soon easy-to-understand plot we are introduced to very quickly goes pear-shaped, with a twist and deception of identity, as a new typically femme fatale woman introduces herself as Mrs Mulwray, proving the other Mrs Mulwray to be a fake. Soon after, having discovered corrupting evidence against Mr Mulwray whilst tracking him to discover his affair, Gittes investigates into the water reservoir plot, and discovers Mulwray to be dead, and Evelyn’s (Mrs Mulwray) father to be his business partner. Gittes uncovers a big plot formed by the water department, suggesting they’re forcing farmers out of their land so they can buy it cheap, and selling it back at a much higher price as they’re fertilising the land with water they’re diverting from the reservoirs. However they are putting pensioners in a retirement home unknowingly legally in charge of the land. During this discovery, Gittes and Evelyn strike up a romantic relationship, which is cut short when Evelyn receives a dramatic phone call making her leave him for a while.
Gittes follows Evelyn to a house to find her keeping Mulwray’s mistress against her will. Gittes confronts Evelyn, who tells him that the girl is her sister, and distressed because she has only just learned of Mulwray’s death. Later on another twist develops as the police point out that Mulwray’s lungs were filled with saltwater, even though he was found in a freshwater reservoir. Gittes goes to the Mulwray mansion, and finds glasses in their back-yard bond, which is filled with saltwater.
The climax of this film is when Gittes confronts Evelyn, and she reveals that Catherine (her husband’s mistress) is her daughter and her sister, revealing the sexual relations she had with her father, however her father had taken advantage of her.

More on the mise-en-scene of Chinatown:
Slatted blinds.
Character drinking & smoking.
Shadows in the corners.
Spying/surveillance - binoculars.
Watching man in wing mirror
Fan in the background.
Chiaroscuro lighting.
Deception - hidden identity (of the daughter).
Red lips, blonde/brown hair, tight suit - Femme Fetal.
Gun shot.
Violence- knife.

Camera angels/Shot types:
Extreme close-up on photo- black and white, gently zooms out.
Over the shoulder shot showing a subject that has more importance.
Long shot - shows hostility and harsh surroundings.
Mirroring reflection of man walking away, shot through binoculars.
Close up of watches.
High angled shot.
Another reflection in man's camera- you can see man/women.
Over shoulder shots, close ups, mid shots, extreme close ups, long shot, birds eye view (used to show emotions on faces of character, e.g. Jake lying in bed with Mrs Mulwray).
All making the audiences attention focus more on the film, keeping them engaged in what is happening (narrative-wise).

Sound:
Jazz music in introduction, relaxing and soothing - non- diegetic
Calm, quiet music- makes you question what he is doing
Tension music - minor key, makes you feel not-quite-right ~ repeated when looking at lake for men. It builds suspension Romantic music used.

Editing & Special Effects/ SFX:
As Jake falls unconscious, the shot fades out.
One of the security guards cutting Jake's nose open with a knife.

Monday 20 October 2008

Method 2 - My Media Questionnaire

Gender:
Age:
Occupation:


How often do you watch the news?
- Every day
- 3 – 4 times pw
- 2 – 3 times pw
- <> 5 times pw
- 3 – 5 times pw
- < 3 times pw


Do you like documentaries?
- Yes
- No
- Sometimes


What attracts you to a TV show?
- Action
- Comedy
- Famous Actor
- Reviews (friends/prof)


What type of movie do you watch in the cinema?
- Comedy
- Action
- Romance
- Thriller
- Sci-fi
- Other


Do you prefer old classics or new films?
- Old classics
- New films


Whats your favourite cinema in Norwich?
- Odeon
- Vue
- Hollywood
- Cinema City



Question 1:
Every day: the majority of this group were either over 18 or female, suggesting that as you grow older you may pay more interest to the news, and female’s maybe have more interest or time for the news.
3 – 4 times pw: no males were included in this group, and the majority of the females were under 18, suggesting again the females interest in the news, and that under 18’s still have an interest in the news.
2 – 3 times pw: the majority of this group was male, although there was 1 under 18 female. This still suggests that males watch news less.
<2 times pw: Only 2 males included in this group, both under 18, hinting that young males probably don’t have much interest or time for the news.


Question 2:
Overall this shows that female’s probably have more interest in going to the cinema, as all but one go more than 3 times a month. The men however don’t go more than 3 times a month except 1 over 18, probably because lack of interest, or beliefs that it is too expensive.


Question 3:
This chart shows that half the people I interviewed aren’t interested in documentaries, the majority of which were male. In fact only one male and 3 females said they actually liked watching them, and 2 females sometimes did. This may show that boys don’t have too much interest in documentaries, as they probably like to watch other TV.


Question 4:
This shows that people are attracted to a program mainly because of the genre, and not much about reviews, although women and not men said they would watch something with a favorite actor in, which shows that who programs pick to be in their TV show or the main genre of the film can be extremely important

Question 5:
This shows a wide variety of preferences, but looking back at the table, the only film genre that contains both male and female vote is comedy, as the other genre’s are picked by either male or female, demonstrating the different tastes we have.


Question 6:
This pie chart shows that most people preferred more modern films, probably showing either an improvement in film making and narrative, or just that people like newer films better. Only one under 18 male and one over 18 female liked old classic films better than newer films, maybe demonstrating a lack in acknowledgement of good old films.


Question 7:
This chart shows that the 2 main cinema’s in Norwich are the most popular, however some older people prefer the quiet Hollywood one which doesn’t get as much publicity.


Question 8:
This shows a wide variety on favorite channels, and doesn’t really say much about gender or age, except the older people interviewed seemed to enjoy BBC and Dave more than Film 4 or E4.

Wednesday 8 October 2008

Analysis of Perfume Advertisment - Opium by Yves Saint Laurent


This advert consists of an un-clothed lady who is lying on a black silk cloth, wearing only jewellery and high heels.
The woman's facial expression could portray what it feels like to wear the perfume, after wanting or needing it if you've been deprived of it.
The perfume is called "Opium", which gives us a feeling that the perfume is an addictive drug in the form of a scent. The woman is showing the audience what it feels like to have the perfume and to own it. In this mise-en-scene the woman is wearing no clothes, which could give the impression that the perfume alone is enough, and that she does not need clothes. The figure in the frame has very pale skin, which is made to look paler with the use of contrast with the very dark silky background. The pale skin stands out of the photo and draws attention down to the "Opium" wording, with the framing of the worse with her legs.
The woman's ginger hair and green and pink make-up is harsh on her skin colour and the contrasting background, which could show how the perfume as a scent, stands out, and that you would stand out if you wore it.
The fold jewellery could represent glamour and wealth, and the high heels represent superiority and more glamour. However, as clothes usually express the personality of a person, the lack of clothing in the photo represents how the perfume is now your personality and is "you".
This advert is appealing to the young audience, teenagers and young women alike, showing them that the perfume is good enough to be addicted to, and good enough for them as themselves.

Analysis of Perfume Advertisment - Fuel For Life by Diesel


This perfume advert has a young woman looking into the camera, holding the perfume in one hand, and touching her chest with the other. She is sitting on a high stool/chair and the details of the perfume are on the opposite side of the frame.
The woman's facial expression portrays a look of hidden pleasure and is "asking" if you want what she has got (the perfume) and pleased because she does have it. Her flowing dress drapes down to the floor from the high position she is sat in, creating an impression of a flowing waterfall or river. This creates the feeling that she is drenched in the perfume, and that its a magnificent feeling and smell. The flowing dress represents a gentle but harsh appearance, as it crashes around her chair's bottom, however flows down off her unclothed body.
Her skin and the perfume flask are the only colour (apart from black/white/grey-scale), and the attention is mainly drawn towards her mouth and the bottle of perfume. The woman's skin and the perfume are quite light pale colours which contrasts highly with the dark background.
The woman's hand is folded softly towards her chest, seemingly absent mindedly, giving an impression of elegance and posture. The words are printed in an upside-down "L" shape opposite the woman, reflecting her body shape. The words printed in the "L" give an impression of danger and excitement ("Finally Legalised" and "Use with Caution"), also the main name of the brand, "Fuel for life" is printed big and fancy at the top, suggesting that this is the one perfume for you for the rest of your life.
The advert is appealing to young women and reaching out to them to buy the perfume, telling them they can feel the pride of owning a perfume this good.

Wednesday 24 September 2008

Media Shots







Over the shoulder shot (Lucy Garstka & Gemma Lam) - used to show a conversation taking place, or to show someone watching someonw else.








Birds eye veiw (Lucy, Gemma & Megan) - shots taken from above, looking down on the subjects, usualy used in passing or over scenery.










High angle shot (Lucy Garstka) - shot looking down at a subject, though not as high or dramatic as bird's eye's veiw.











Low angle shot cropped (Lucy Garstka) - this makes the person seem taller and more important, giving them more status, or a higher status.














Extreme long shot (Builder) - these shots usually also show surrounding scenery or in this case the long corridor. These shots usually establish the location, and sometimes give a feeling of isolation.









Midshot (Gemma Lam & Megan) - these shots show most of the body, but not all. They are good for showing movement, and to show the people in more detail, however also show the background and other features.








Close up (Helen Blythe) - this shot commonly shows the face of a person, close. It shows the characters facial expressions and any features.








Extreme close up (Gemma Lam) - this shot gets very up close and personal with the subject or person it is shooting, and it creates different atmospheres, like; passion in a romance films, or mystery and intruigue in thriller films. They don't show the whole of the object or person's main feature - i.e the face, but cuts off the top or bottom.