Preliminary Task Analysis

1. What planning did you do? How was this useful, and how did you change from your plans?

We did a lot of planning for this task such as a storyboard to make it easier to see where the characters have to be in certain scenes and to make sure that you have the right shots to go with the action. Then a recce took place to see what the location was like so that we could plan exactly where the action was going to take place and the objects to avoid or use. Also, we created a floor plan to see where the cameras will have to go and what shots they are taking from different angles. It was much easier having a floor plan because you could see exactly where everything was going to be i.e. cameras, characters and props. In practise, our plans had to change from the floor plan we had drawn up, because of the extraneous variables such as noise from people that sometimes got into the shots which happened during the rehearsal. First, we did a character rehearsal where we could go over the action with the actors and see exactly where they were going to be and what they were going to do or say at certain times so that when we came to edit it, all of the shots would be the same especially during the conversation (180 degree rule). We then did some blocking out, which is a camera rehearsal that does all of the shots and angles without the actors just to make sure that they are certain of the angles that are going to be used.

2. What camera skills have you developed? How confident are you with using the cameras, and has this confidence changed during the project? Give details of specific camera skills/techniques you have developed/improved, and include areas where you lack confidence and need to improve.

I have developed many camera skills such as how to shoot people and actions by using a variety of different shots such as close ups, extreme close ups, long shots, low angle and high angles. I have also developed various techniques such match on action and the 180 degree rule so that it’s easier to know where the characters are going to be; which is really important when you are filming a conversation. Before the preliminary task I wasn’t very confident with using the cameras because I didn’t know all of the important techniques to make the shoot look realistic. However, after doing it I am now more confident with using the cameras because I know how to prepare before shooting and the different names and types of camera angles. I have improved on using a variety of different shots on one scene so that it gives the scene a better and more dramatic effect such as close ups of the actors to show emotion. A skill that I think I need to improve is holding the camera steady which could be overcome by using a tripod and a dolly.

3. What editing skills have you developed? How confident are you with using the editing program? Give details of specific editing skills/techniques you have developed/improved, and include areas where you lack confidence/need to improve.

The editing skills I have developed consist of now being able to export and use in and out points which help to select the clips that you need so you can put them together. I am quite confident with the editing program because I know how to pick the certain clips that I want and put them together easily. However, I need to improve on using smooth transitions to prevent it from jumping too quickly or slowly from one scene or clip to the next. I could do this by making sure that the timing is correct and that I am not cutting out any important clips.

Psycho Analysis

Title: Psycho
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Date: 1960
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Certificate: 15

Brief Synopsis:
A young woman steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor who is under the domination of his mother.



This is a trailer from the film 'Psycho'

Psycho is a noir Thriller that was made in 1960 starring Anthony Perkins as the character Norman Bates. It connotes a lot of major generic aspects of the Thriller genre, such as chiaroscuro lighting which is used to portray the intense atmosphere of the killer Norman Bates. It specifically indicates the diversities of his character and the way that the film is made, in the sense that even though the story starts to follow Marian Crane, the hidden signifiers link back to the madness of Norman Bates.

In the opening credits the words are presented as strips with the lines looking as if they are cutting into them, as the famous Herrmann’s soundtrack plays. This could demonstrate a premonition of what will happen to Marian Crane in the famous shower scene, when Norman Bates continues to slash and cut into her with a knife.

This shot of Marian Crane looking at herself in the mirror indicates that she is torn between right and wrong, and whether it was a bad idea to steal the money even if it was for her love interest. Hitchcock has used this representation of ideology to portray her confused attitude towards good and evil and how the line between them is ambiguous. Marian is fighting a battle against herself because she stole the money to aid the one she loves, but continues to hear the voices in her head considering the consequences of her actions – how her employer and sister will react when they find out. This anticipates the representation of the voices in Norman’s head (himself and his psychotic mother) and how even though he is a murderer, they are similar to each other.

This shot of the car in the mirror suggests that the policeman is following Marian and that his suspicion could ruin her, making her end up in prison. In the mise en scene the main focus is the car that is following her, the outline of the mirror drawing the eye straight to the car by using the rule of thirds.

Throughout the film there is the theme of rain running and in the scene where Marian is on the run, her window screen becomes blurred by the rain. It affects her vision which indicates that as she has started to become possessed by her thoughts, her personality has also changed and she doesn’t know who or what she has become. The blurred vision, rain/water running, shadows and use of mirrors are recurring features in the mise en scene of psycho. This specific type of cinematography reinforces the sense of confusion and doubt about the characters personalities which link to Bates and the constant split personality battle that he is facing.

This screen is a screen shot of Norman Bates; Hitchcock has used non ambient lighting to produce Norman’s shadow on the wall next to the pictures of the birds of the wall that cover his spy-hole. He has done this to create the idea of Bates’s split personality and that he is not the harmless, stuttering character that he seems. This is the scene where Marian first arrives at the motel and sees all the stuffed birds and notices Bates’s obsession with them. This suggests the misogyny that he has, stereotyping Crane as one of his birds or victims which is ironic because a Crane is a type of bird, suggesting that he can do what he wants with Marian, demonstrating his hatred towards women.

This is a clip of the famous shower scene which uses the diegetic sound of the shower mixed with the non diegetic soundtrack to indicate the danger that is about to happen. The diegetic sound of the running water links to the rain on Marian’s windshield which connotes that the audience knew that something disastrous was going to happen which creates suspense. The use of the shower demonstrates the confined space and claustrophobia that the character is feeling. It suggests the idea that Marian’s world is caving in on her.       

 

Preliminary Task

Love Actually Presentation

Script to screen

View more presentations from lolemilylol.

Analysis of The Third Man

Title: The Third Man
Director: Carol Reed
Date: 1949
Genre: Film-Noir, Mystery, Thriller
Certificate: PG

Brief Synopsis:
Arriving in Vienna, Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) learns that his friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles), who has invited him, recently died in a 'car accident'. However, he quickly finds out that things aren't as they seem and 'Harry Lime' has a secret past and isn't who he thinks he is...



This is a trailer from the film 'The Third Man'


In the opening of this scene from 'The Third Man' the first thing that you hear and see is a musical instrument called a Zither. It is a cultural reference to the destroyed city Vienna, and the song which is playing is named after the character Harry Lime and introduces us to him. It is used to symbolise that he pulls the strings and is in control of 'Holly Martin’s' emotions. The use of the voice over sets the scene and introduces us to the city of Vienna and the ‘black market’ where they use close ups of hands to show the exchange of money and stolen goods, which emphasises the illegality of the situation.





In this clip Holly Martin walks underneath a ladder which is called dramatic irony because it suggests that something unlucky is going to happen to him. The use of his shadow when walking up the stairs implies that he has a split personality or it could relate to a theme of heaven and hell where Holly is heaven and his shadow represents Harry Lime who is hell.  Holly is always trying to following Harry and the perspective of his character is being turned upside down as Harry plays 'cat and mouse' with him. Also, the use of a high angle shot of Holly looking up to the porter (Paul Horbiger) on the floor above represents his vulnerability.

This screen shot of Harry Lime in the sewers emphasises that he is being compressed by the feeling of doom and there is a visible metaphor of the 'walls closing in on him' leaving him with no escape. The sewers create a labrynth effect, empahsizing the distopian feel which is also being portrayed through the dark, chiaroscuro lighting. The setting enhances the audience's attention by using the low ceiling and narrow brick walls and impiles that he is trying to find a light at the end of the tunnel. The composition of Harry standing in the middle suggests that he is the centre of the whole mystery of his death, and now Holly has found him, the uncertainty that surrounds him has faded entriguing the audience to find out what happens to him next.

This slight tilt shot is the first time Holly Martins sees the person that he has been searching for, and builds up the tention about the mysterious Harry Lime. The way the light has been thrown across his face and everything else remaining in darkness suggests that Holly Martins has finally 'seen the light' and stumbled across what he has been searching desperately for. As the light appears and finally shows the audience the illusive Harry Lime, the soundtrack with the same name starts playing and he smiles at Holly as if nothing has happened and that he hasn't been stalking him. This contrasts his menacing personality displaying that even though he knows he is in the wrong it doesn't stop him from being arrogant and 'toying' with Holly's emotions.  
    

    

Analysis of Once Upon A Time in America

Title: Once Upon a Time in America
Director: Sergio Leone
Date: 1984
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Certificate: 18

Brief Synopsis:
A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to Brooklyn over 30 years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.




This is a trailer from Once Upon a Time in America 

The first signifier of this introduction is the song (or anthem) ‘god bless America’, this soundtrack has a sense of irony because it is stating that America is a great country whereas this song contrasts the film because it is about gangs and violence in America. Sergio Leonie has specifically done this for that reason and maybe to criticise America because the citizens think everything is fine when they don’t know what is happening behind the scenes.





This is just a clip of the opening credits which opens the film with the anthem ‘God Bless America’. The song shows the irony and mood of the moment.

The first character that appears on the screen is the character ‘Eve’ who is a femme fatal which could be insinuated by her pearls. They could represent purity which could also be another portrayal of irony because her character is involved with gangsters or even teardrops which could be a premonition of the fact that she will shortly meet an abrupt end. The fact that you can only see her face and that the rest of her is caped in darkness might suggest that her beauty is the only thing that shines through her whereas she might be hiding something or that her personality might not reflect her looks and that looks can be deceiving. This gives reference back to the film and what Sergio Leone is trying to insinuate, that not everything is as it seems and that America was going through some troubled times in the with their government and the way that the law was inflicted.  It reflects the mood of the moment of that time (1910-1967).

This film clip uses the rule of thirds to draw your eye to the main focus which is the corruptness of the police in the fact that they have just killed a woman for no apparent reason other than with holding evidence. The archway frames them, which shows that they are the main focus and the way that they are positioned suggests that they are a strong force who have cornered Eve and seem to have the upper hand. The way the light is positioned above Eve’s head might symbolise her beauty and her being angelic compared to the police and the measures they take to ‘enforce the law’ by taking it into their own hands.

This camera shot is called a worm’s eye view and has been used to create an effect of being over powered. It has been turned upside down to show the blurred lines of the law enforcers of this time; and the law breakers. It shows how the two sides have in this film been switched upside down to symbolise the corruptness of the police and the point of view of the gangsters.   

Essex Boys Analysis

Title: Essex Boys
Director: Terry Winsor
Date: 2000
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Certificate: 18

Brief Synopsis:
The film is based loosely around events in December 1995 that culminated in the murders of three drug dealers in Rettendon, Essex. On 6th December Patrick Tate, Craig Rolfe and Tony Tucker, three drug dealers well known to the police, were lured to Workhouse Lane. There they were blasted to death with a shot gun while sitting in their Range Rover and had been lured to their deaths on the pretext of a lucrative drugs deal. The three bodies were found the following morning.



This is a trailer from the film 'Essex Boys'

The wording at the very beginning introduces the premise of the film. By saying it is based on a true story gives the audience a sense of reality and by saying that it ‘left three men dead, two serving life imprisonment and another living under an assumed identity’ immediately creates suspense and intrigue as to what happened.

In the opening credits the use of the white lines being drawn could symbolise someone scratching a car with a key which gives reference to the location and actions that take place in the film. It gives a sense of grittiness especially with the harsh, scratching sound that goes with it and the melancholy soundtrack.

In this image the way the mud has been smudged across the windscreen gives Jason a gritty and harsh persona which also reflects the location. His posture is full of arrogance and the way he is looking straight at Billy without expression is quite aggressive. The framing of the car windscreen gives the effect that darkness is closing in on him and that something bad is going to happen to him which is dramatic irony. The chiaroscuro lighting gives this image an eerie effect and by using Billy's perspective to show the uncertainty that he has of Jason and the opinion that he has of him is unclear.

The use of the vertical lights connotes the feeling of imprisonment or that the character Billy is trapped in this dangerous situation. This could insinuate that Jason has just got out of jail and that maybe Billy is heading in that direction. Billy is in focus to show his emotion whereas the character Jason is blurred to create a sense of unknowing about him and that Billy maybe has an unsure perception of him.

This image of the car in the tunnel could be interpreted as looking down a barrel of a gun suggesting that something bad is going to happen to these characters. It could also be perceived as there is light at the end of the tunnel, however, the car is blocking the light and therefore they are stuck in a never-ending bad situation.