Camera Angles

High Angle;

A Photo from above, looking down on an object.

Eye Level;










A photo taken at the same level as the object, capturing as much of it that will fit in the frame.



Low Angle;











A photo taken from below, look up at an object

Shot Types

MS- (Mid Shot)














Shows some part of the subject in more detail while still giving an impression of the whole subject.


MCU- (Medium Close Up)

Half way between a MS and a CU


CU- (Close Up)

A certain feature or part of the subject takes up the whole frame.


XCU- (Extreme Close Up)

The ECU gets right in and shows extreme detail


2S- (Two Shot)

A shot of two people, framed similarly to a mid shot.


OSS- (Over-The-Shoulder Shot)

Looking from behind a person at the subject.


VVLS- (Very, Very Long Shot)

The view is so far from the subject that he isn't even visible. Often used as an establishing shot.


VLS- (Very Long Shot)

The subject is visible (barely), but the emphasis is still on placing him in his environment.


LS- (Long Shot)

The subject takes up the full frame, or at least as much as comfortably possible.


HSS- (Head And Shoulders Shot)

The subject is in the middle of the frame, the frame pictures their head and shoulders

Representation of visual conventions

Semiotics & signifiers;

femme fatals are typical of film noir's

red lipstick is a great signifier of a glamorous femme fatal

guns and violence are typical of these crime revolved films

fog is used to create dramatic effect, this is a typical convention of film noir's

smoking is a typical convention used in film noir's

The use of Font in the titles;

Fonts used in film noirs as the titles are usually to signify a deeper meaning to the film or are reletive to the story line

for example;

Here, our title is 'The Killers', first off the word 'Killers' is incredibly large which draws our attention to it making it obvious that someone is bound to die in this film and we are more than likely going to see the story unfold from the perspective of the killers. Also the title is in red, red signifies many things e.g blood, violence, passion; this shows us this film is more than likely going to involve all of those things in the plot.

           

The 'Sin City' dvd case is very similar to 'The Killers' as in the Font is bold and again in read showing us this film will probably be crime orrientated as above.

Casino Royale OTS and Prezi

Casino Royale OTS from May Chung on Vimeo.

Presentation on the impact of sound on Prezi

Target Audience

Continuity Task -Story Board

Page 1.

Page 2.

Dialogue.

Film Noir Lighting Task

Charley and I went in to the photography studio and another room at school to experiment with lighting. The pictures below are examples we found online and then our attempt at it.

example 1.

our version.

example 2.

our version.

example 3.

our version

example 4.

our version

example 5   

our version

Red Riding and Mulholland Drive and Blade Runner notes

Continuity Task

Our continuity task follow the same conventions as;

• Shot-reverse-shot                                                                                                                                   -This is used to show a two way conversation, where the camera points at whoever is talking and sometimes cuts between each character to show their response or reaction to what is happening.
• 180 degree rule                                                                                                                                      -This is also used to film a conversation but sometimes we can see all the characters in the shot at once, the idea is for the camera to stay within 180 degrees so that the characters stay on the same sides and thus causing less confusion for the audience
• Match on action                                                                                                                                      -The best way to explain match on action is to give an example, it's like when the camera films someone walking up to a door and you see them go to reach for the door handle and suddenly the camera cuts to give us a close up view of that person either going for the handle, or filming them from the other side of the door and coming through.

Micro essay on creating ambience

Creating ambience can be hard, it means creating music which will fit perfectly with the mood of the clip it has to match. So depending on whether the film is a sad or a happy piece the producer has to choose or create  the tone of the music to match, if not it could end up confusing the audience and possibly make them uninterested in what is going on because they don't feel involved in the story line, or they can not empathise with the characters.


Why Should I Go Home? from Chris Butler on Vimeo.

At first viewing I was a little unsure of the narrative, i felt it may seem there isn't much of a story line. It is a good example of the power of sound. The effective combination of the backing track along with the visual piece signifies to the audience that there is a deeper concept to the narrative. Creating ambience helps to show consumers that there is more than what meets the eye, the narrative is not always literal. It has given me some ideas for using sound to amplify the action in our OTS.


Carte Noire Recette filmée #2 Cupcakes from ))) datafone on Vimeo.

Also i think that the score which has been used throughout this short video is very effective, it helps capture the audiences atention and makes them want to see what happens next, even though it's about making cupcakes there is a certain amount of suspense cleverly used to draw you in.

A micro essay on copy right issues

The issues of copy right affect me by;

• not allowing me to use sound clips which already exist; this makes it harder for me to find sounds which match the clip, this is also very time consuming, it means that after filming and editing my OTS i then have to spend time foleying to find the matching sound
• i will have to create all original scores rather than using a song which an artist may of already released.
• the only kind of 'borrowed' sound which i could use would be if someone in my clip had turned on the radio.

You can look at the full list of information on the UK Copyright Law here

Micro Essay on foleying

SoundWorks Collection: Gary Hecker - Veteran Foley Artist from Michael Coleman on Vimeo.

We've been studying the effects of foleying and how effective it is when adding sound to a clip.
Foleying is useful because it draws the audiences attention more closely to diegetic sounds which consumers may not actually hear without the extra sounds being layered over the top of the film.
We watched the above clip which demonstrates how foleying is actually done and explains that when films are shot they concentrate on the production and dialogue, so foley artist's create sounds which may add tension or excitement to the film, foleying artists even go to the finest details of the horses breathe when it's running, as you can see in the above clip.
Foleying is an art form which not everyone can do, it takes an open mind to be a foley artist.

Sypnosis for our OTS

I am working with Charley for our practical piece and we're making the open title sequence to a sequel for the 1991 hit film 'Thelma and Louise'.
We want to answer everybody's question of what happened next?
We are going to borrow stylistic conventions from films such as 'Se7en' and the open title sequence from 'Casino royale' and the 'Artist' giving our open title sequence more of a neo noir feel to it.

Sypnopsis;
Our characters formally known as Thelma and Louise are living under new identity's in England, living glamorous lives but still cautiously running from the law.

we want the OTS to provide an introduction to the plot, establish the enigma - why are they in London - who are they? something to hook the audience into the plot line

it is not neccessary to know Thelma and Louise to enjoy our film but those who do would be interested thus providing an opportuity for us to use borrowed interest.

our intital storyline for the OTS is as follows

• camera opens to two woman knocking back whiskey in a bar
• a door opens bell rings.
• everybody turns to the door
• see footsteps as they come in
• see feet as they sit at the bar next to our two main characters
• american male character says to bartender that he's looking for two women
• thelma and louise become cautious mentally preparing their background story
• male character attempts to ask thelma and louise about the two female fugitives
• thelma and louise decline any involvment with this man
• shortly they both leave the bar, in to a black cab and frantically driving away
• flash back to two years before
• Thelma and Louise stand up and brush themselves down
• Thelma asks 'where to now' and they set upon England.

Survey Monkey Reflective Comment

Survey monkey is good because it's easy to use and easily accessible from school or at home.
It has a clear layout of questions and shows the results so they are easy to read to.
I can easily embed it in to my blog too which means people who do the survey don't have to change to another site when answering the questions.
It allows me to collect relevant information and reflect on my answers in a way which helps me complete my work to a high standard.

Sound -Understanding how to use it

Sound is used to create more of an atmosphere, synchronus sound used in the correct way it can make an action over dramatised so to draw attention to it. Sound effects add a lot of tension to a piece which can make it feel more complete and not so empty.
There may already be diegetic sound in the clip e.g wind or cars moving past
Not always does the non-diegetic music have to be relevant to the piece we are watching though, it could be a motif which is being played for the sound bridge.
Ambient sound is used an awful lot because it helps to set the mood so the audience can follow the story more clearly.

Research on The Killers and Double Indemnity

The Killers

The Killers (IMDb)

The Killers is a 1946 American film noir directed by Robert Siodmak.

Hit men kill an unresisting victim, and investigator Reardon uncovers his past involvement with beautiful, deadly Kitty Collins.

(to read the full plot click here)

Double Indemnity

Double Indemnity (IMDb)

Double Indemnity is a 1944 American film noir, directed by Billy Wilder, co-written by Wilder and Raymond Chandler.

An insurance rep lets himself be talked into a murder/insurance fraud scheme that arouses an insurance investigator's suspicions.

(to read the full plot click here)

But how do we know if both these hit films conform to the original structure of Todorov? well looking at the plots i can find out if they follow the specific sequence of  equilibrium, a disruption, recognition of the disruption, trying to fix the disruption and then a new equilibrium.

Double indemnity doesn't start off by conforming to the theory as it starts at the end but the rest of the points throughout the story tend to follow Todorov's theory.

The killers on the other hand does follow Todorov's theory even though throughout there are tiny parts which break the theory's structure they are counted out by the fact that they are too small for recognition.

When talking about Todorov's theory The Killers would be a  good example to use.

Research into particular film noirs

The Blue Dahlia (click for link to plot)
An ex-bomber pilot is suspected of murdering his unfaithful wife.




































































Murder, My Sweet (click for link to plot)
Phillip Marlowe hired by Moose Malloy to look for his former girlfriend Velma who has not been seen for six years

The Big Steal (click for link to plot)
An army lieutenant accused of robbery pursues the real thief on a frantic chase through Mexico aided by the theifs ex-girlfriend.

Film Noir Narrative Structure; looking at Todorov

We started off by looking at the original narrative structure of film noir

• equilibrium
• disruptive event
• recognition of disruption
• attempting to repair the disruption
• new equilibrium 

I worked in a group with Charley and Ryan, we done a brief exercise where we took pictures following a story board which we put together to create our own sequence trying to fit our structure to conform to Todorov's structure.

Picture 1;

Buster Rayburn is in a prison cell.

His voice over can be heard 'Here i am again. They said i wouldn't make it on the outside. If only i didn't meet that dame.'

Picture 2a;

 Picture 2b;

 Picture 2c;

Buster is drunk in a bar on his own and is greeted by a gangster who says he has a job for him. Buster turns down the job.

 Picture 3;

The gangster's girlfriend Lacey Lane appears. Buster can't take his eyes off her.

Picture 4;

Back to Buster in jail. Voice over. 'If only I walked away when I had the chance'

Picture 5;

Buster is back at the same bar drinking bourbon. Lacey Lane wa;ls in and whispers seductively in his ear.

Picture 6;

Lacey gives buster a gun and a kiss.

Picture 7;

Buster shoots the gangster as he leaves his house one morning.

Picture 8;

Buster and Lacey meet in a dingy hotel room. She thanks him and says she will run away with him that night.

Picture 9a;

Picture 9b;

Buster waits for Lacey at the railway station. The cops turn up and arrest him. Lacey can be seen in the background. She has obviously reported him to the police.

Picture 10;

Back to Buster in jail. His voice over can be heard. 'You see dames always bring a man down. She won't hurt any more suckers now.'

Picture 11a;

Picture 11b;

Buster quickly grabs a police man's gun and after a struggle, manages to fire a shot which hits Lacey and she dies.

Picture 12;

Flashback to Buster walking out of jail.