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Monday 23 September 2013

Continuity (BLK)

 
Continuity Techniques:
We used the 180° rule by staying to the left side of the character from the first shot focusing on the left of the character, through to the over the shoulder shot. This creates continuity as it doesn't confuse the audience about the character's positioning and direction.
The shot order smoothly demonstrates the narrative by beginning with an establishing shot (extreme long shot) and moving closer to a mid long shot and then even closer to a mid shot followed by an over-the-shoulder view of the watch. The viewing of the watch demonstrates a match cut of her raising her arm and looking at the watch from the character's point of view. We also used a match on action between shot two and three where Georgie continues to saw despite the change of camera positioning.
 
However, this change in camera positioning does not abide by the 30° rule. This makes the two shots too similar and creates confusion for the audience, making this scene uneasy to watch. If we abided by this rule, the continuity of the sequence would be much improved.

 
 

Trainspotting
 
The sequence starts with the low angle view of Renton's feet running, followed by a mid shot of him running towards the camera. This clearly portrays the fact that the character is running and demonstrates the narrative.
The shots vary in framing in order to make it run clearly. For example, the mid shot cuts to the master shot of him running before cutting to a further out mid long shot. This also helps to abide by the 30° rule as it creates a variation in angles and shot distances. For example, there are a lot of cuts between the character running towards the camera, and the point of view shots.
In the Renton's part of the sequence, the camera abides by the 180° rule. The character is kept of the left of the frame whilst running towards the camera, and the right when the view is from behind. This creates a constant sense of direction.
There is a match cut between the shot of the football in the air and it hitting Renton's face. The two shots create a perfect match on action, as if it was all taken in one shot.
Cross cutting is used between the football scene and the scene of Renton in the house. These create a clever parallel of the two events, with a match on action of the character falling, despite the two events happening in at different times. This makes the sequence flow nicely, creating a strong representation of the character.

Tuesday 17 September 2013

Film Opening Analysis (DYM)


 
The Nightmare Before Christmas Film Opening


The Nightmare Before Christmas is an animated musical fantasy film about a town called 'Halloween Town'.

The opening begins with a narration introducing the audience to the plot and main theme of holidays, focusing on Halloween. The eery mood is set with the spinning birds eye view of the woods, and the genre of fantasy becomes obvious with everything being slightly distorted and, of course, cartoon. We then enter 'Halloween Town' where the setting is established by a town sign. The setting and genre are made clear through the use of darkness and creepy characters as the camera enters the town through a graveyard, following a non existent person on a journey through the town. The graveyard is typically associated with the idea of Halloween and scary movies.
 
The soundtrack, 'This is Halloween', is a way of introducing the plot as well as the characters one by one. The more important characters have a more prominent role in the opening sequence, for example the mayor is shown in multiple shots in order to make him more memorable to the audience. We can tell that Jack Skellington is the protagonist as there is a long introduction and anticipation for his entry by the other characters. He enters with a low angle to show his power and importance in the film, as surrounding characters cheer at his arrival. 

The main plot idea of the creation of holidays is introduced by the narrator, but little plot information is actually revealed. There is obviously a focus on Halloween with the soundtrack and also typical connotations such as the graveyard and pumpkins. We can tell there is going to be some kind of relationship between Jack and Sally because of the close ups on her face which reveal the emotion felt when she looks at Jack, compared with the simple happiness of other characters. As 'Christmas' is in the title, we assume that the story will be about Christmas. However, there have been no themes of Christmas introduced yet. This has been deliberately withheld in order to make the audience wonder where Christmas comes into the plot. In addition, we can infer that there is going to be an event probably involving the villain Oogie Boogie, due to his more prominent introduction creating a villainous profile and juxtaposing with the rest of the playful characters in the sequence.

At the start of a film, I feel the audience needs to gain a sense of setting (for example by using an establishing shot). They should also be introduced to the main characters in the film and shown some sort of relationships between characters, if multiple are introduced. This alone creates some sense of narrative for the audience to follow. Not too much plot should be given away in the opening sequence, but there should be enough to get the audience interested in the film.

Sunday 15 September 2013

Analysis of Still (BLK)


This shot is supposed to be from a British urban drama film
Representation of Genre
  • bike sheds create a typical youthful setting, common of the genre and familiar to the target audience
  • hoodies, jeans and trainers conforms to the genre and creates a character representation of young British hoodies 
  • low angle makes characters appear intimidating and serious
  • the image is supposed to appear as if two teenage (possible gang members) are breaking into a bike shed
  • the long shot enables us to include a lot of the background which adds to genre
Success of the Shot
I think the genre comes across strongly due to the setting and costumes as well as the positioning and activity of the characters; breaking into bike sheds. I also think the low angle works well.
Improvements
I feel our shot could be improved by closing in the framing of the shot as there is not enough focus on the characters in comparison with the background. In addition, it could be more obvious what the characters are doing in the shot by showing the lock they are trying to break. The characters could also have more relevant facial expressions. This would make the narrative and genre come across much more strongly.