Essay

Film Studies Essay

Shawshank Redemption- Brooks was here

Within this scene, Brooks, who has been in prison for over 60 years has finally been released. However life is not what it seems to be from the inside, and struggles to keep himself together. The director uses many different techniques through mise-en-scene and sound to influence the audience. Not only do we have an emotional attatchment to Brook’s but we also come to the realisation of the reality of how hard it is to enter this “new world”.

Throughout the scene there is incidental music in the background; which has very emotional acoustics.

In this series of scenes Brook’s is released from Shawshank prison. Earlier in the movie we see Brooks try to kill one of his friends, he does this in order to remain in prison. Brook’s is scared of the outside world, and upon his release all his dark thoughts become reality.

The montage and voice-over build up our feelings  of aloneness, we can sense the loneliness in his voice the second we hear his voice. The use of voice-over as a letter to the boys in jail strengthens the power of his voice. He’s telling the boys in jail to stay put. Brooks is scared of the new world he entered.

He has personal paranoia of the world he now lives in, and also displays cynicism in the way the world has changed. It isn’t the same world he left. In the section Cine Paranoia, it speaks about people dealing with the mistrust of people and technology. Brooks is astounded that there are so many automobiles on the street, as we see Brooks cross the street, we can see the fear in old Brook’s eyes. As Brooks says “The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry,” he is terrified of the outside world, he only knows his home, he only knows the life of Shawshank prison. He wakes up from nightmares in panic, he forgets where he is, and who would think a man would miss prison? In Shawshank, he was respected; in the outside world he is an outsider. He isn’t respected he isn’t loved. He speaks about robbing a store to go back to jail, he chooses  a second route, and because of his fear he figures the only thing to do is die. 

In the scene whereby Brook’s kills himself they cleverly use props to make the audience preempt what he is about to do. Therefore when he stands up on the table the first thoughts that jump into our head is “hang himself”. However the clever use of the knife makes us thing otherwise and we think he is carving his name. Within this scene, Brooks, who has been in prison for over 60 years has finally been released. However life is not what it seems to be from the inside, and struggles to keep himself together. The director uses many different techniques through mise-en-scene and sound to influence the audience. Not only do we have an emotional attatchment to Brook’s but we also come to the realisation of the reality of how hard it is to enter this “new world”.

Throughout the scene there is incidental music in the background; which has very emotional acoustics.

In this series of scenes Brook’s is released from Shawshank prison. Earlier in the movie we see Brooks try to kill one of his friends, he does this in order to remain in prison. Brook’s is scared of the outside world, and upon his release all his dark thoughts become reality.

The montage and voice-over build up our feelings  of aloneness, we can sense the loneliness in his voice the second we hear his voice. The use of voice-over as a letter to the boys in jail strengthens the power of his voice. He’s telling the boys in jail to stay put. Brooks is scared of the new world he entered.

He has personal paranoia of the world he now lives in, and also displays cynicism in the way the world has changed. It isn’t the same world he left. In the section Cine Paranoia, it speaks about people dealing with the mistrust of people and technology. Brooks is astounded that there are so many automobiles on the street, as we see Brooks cross the street, we can see the fear in old Brook’s eyes. As Brooks says “The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry,” he is terrified of the outside world, he only knows his home, he only knows the life of Shawshank prison. He wakes up from nightmares in panic, he forgets where he is, and who would think a man would miss prison? In Shawshank, he was respected; in the outside world he is an outsider. He isn’t respected he isn’t loved. He speaks about robbing a store to go back to jail, he chooses  a second route, and because of his fear he figures the only thing to do is die. 

In the scene whereby Brook’s kills himself they cleverly use props to make the audience preempt what he is about to do. Therefore when he stands up on the table the first thoughts that jump into our head is “hang himself”. However the clever use of the knife makes us thing otherwise and we think he is carving his name. Within this scene, Brooks, who has been in prison for over 60 years has finally been released. However life is not what it seems to be from the inside, and struggles to keep himself together. The director uses many different techniques through mise-en-scene and sound to influence the audience. Not only do we have an emotional attatchment to Brook’s but we also come to the realisation of the reality of how hard it is to enter this “new world”.

Throughout the scene there is incidental music in the background; which has very emotional acoustics.

In this series of scenes Brook’s is released from Shawshank prison. Earlier in the movie we see Brooks try to kill one of his friends, he does this in order to remain in prison. Brook’s is scared of the outside world, and upon his release all his dark thoughts become reality.

The montage and voice-over build up our feelings  of aloneness, we can sense the loneliness in his voice the second we hear his voice. The use of voice-over as a letter to the boys in jail strengthens the power of his voice. He’s telling the boys in jail to stay put. Brooks is scared of the new world he entered.

He has personal paranoia of the world he now lives in, and also displays cynicism in the way the world has changed. It isn’t the same world he left. In the section Cine Paranoia, it speaks about people dealing with the mistrust of people and technology. Brooks is astounded that there are so many automobiles on the street, as we see Brooks cross the street, we can see the fear in old Brook’s eyes. As Brooks says “The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry,” he is terrified of the outside world, he only knows his home, he only knows the life of Shawshank prison. He wakes up from nightmares in panic, he forgets where he is, and who would think a man would miss prison? In Shawshank, he was respected; in the outside world he is an outsider. He isn’t respected he isn’t loved. He speaks about robbing a store to go back to jail, he chooses  a second route, and because of his fear he figures the only thing to do is die. 

In the scene whereby Brook’s kills himself they cleverly use props to make the audience preempt what he is about to do. Therefore when he stands up on the table the first thoughts that jump into our head is “hang himself”. However the clever use of the knife makes us thing otherwise and we think he is carving his name. Within this scene, Brooks, who has been in prison for over 60 years has finally been released. However life is not what it seems to be from the inside, and struggles to keep himself together. The director uses many different techniques through mise-en-scene and sound to influence the audience. Not only do we have an emotional attatchment to Brook’s but we also come to the realisation of the reality of how hard it is to enter this “new world”.

Throughout the scene there is incidental music in the background; which has very emotional acoustics.

In this series of scenes Brook’s is released from Shawshank prison. Earlier in the movie we see Brooks try to kill one of his friends, he does this in order to remain in prison. Brook’s is scared of the outside world, and upon his release all his dark thoughts become reality.

The montage and voice-over build up our feelings  of aloneness, we can sense the loneliness in his voice the second we hear his voice. The use of voice-over as a letter to the boys in jail strengthens the power of his voice. He’s telling the boys in jail to stay put. Brooks is scared of the new world he entered.

He has personal paranoia of the world he now lives in, and also displays cynicism in the way the world has changed. It isn’t the same world he left. In the section Cine Paranoia, it speaks about people dealing with the mistrust of people and technology. Brooks is astounded that there are so many automobiles on the street, as we see Brooks cross the street, we can see the fear in old Brook’s eyes. As Brooks says “The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry,” he is terrified of the outside world, he only knows his home, he only knows the life of Shawshank prison. He wakes up from nightmares in panic, he forgets where he is, and who would think a man would miss prison? In Shawshank, he was respected; in the outside world he is an outsider. He isn’t respected he isn’t loved. He speaks about robbing a store to go back to jail, he chooses  a second route, and because of his fear he figures the only thing to do is die. 

In the scene whereby Brook’s kills himself they cleverly use props to make the audience preempt what he is about to do. Therefore when he stands up on the table the first thoughts that jump into our head is “hang himself”. However the clever use of the knife makes us thing otherwise and we think he is carving his name. Within this scene, Brooks, who has been in prison for over 60 years has finally been released. However life is not what it seems to be from the inside, and struggles to keep himself together. The director uses many different techniques through mise-en-scene and sound to influence the audience. Not only do we have an emotional attatchment to Brook’s but we also come to the realisation of the reality of how hard it is to enter this “new world”.

Throughout the scene there is incidental music in the background; which has very emotional acoustics.

In this series of scenes Brook’s is released from Shawshank prison. Earlier in the movie we see Brooks try to kill one of his friends, he does this in order to remain in prison. Brook’s is scared of the outside world, and upon his release all his dark thoughts become reality.

The montage and voice-over build up our feelings  of aloneness, we can sense the loneliness in his voice the second we hear his voice. The use of voice-over as a letter to the boys in jail strengthens the power of his voice. He’s telling the boys in jail to stay put. Brooks is scared of the new world he entered.

He has personal paranoia of the world he now lives in, and also displays cynicism in the way the world has changed. It isn’t the same world he left. In the section Cine Paranoia, it speaks about people dealing with the mistrust of people and technology. Brooks is astounded that there are so many automobiles on the street, as we see Brooks cross the street, we can see the fear in old Brook’s eyes. As Brooks says “The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry,” he is terrified of the outside world, he only knows his home, he only knows the life of Shawshank prison. He wakes up from nightmares in panic, he forgets where he is, and who would think a man would miss prison? In Shawshank, he was respected; in the outside world he is an outsider. He isn’t respected he isn’t loved. He speaks about robbing a store to go back to jail, he chooses  a second route, and because of his fear he figures the only thing to do is die. 

In the scene whereby Brook’s kills himself they cleverly use props to make the audience preempt what he is about to do. Therefore when he stands up on the table the first thoughts that jump into our head is “hang himself”. However the clever use of the knife makes us thing otherwise and we think he is carving his name.

First Music Video Draft

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plmI5cddCyM&feature=youtu.be

Axillary Past student work

Link to New Blog

http://fdsound.blogspot.co.uk/ - This is the link to my new A2 Media blog.

Music Video Idea 1

Imagine Dragons- On Top of The World

The song 'On Top of the World' by Imagine Dragons is a potential idea for my music video to be based around as the lyrics are based around someone or something who is based at their peak. The idea would be a performance based music video and the performance would take place in a large open space to emphasise the artists dominance such as a field or open building. If it was outdoors there would be a sunset in the background to make it look a bit more spectacular. A lot of the shots of the artists would be low angled to represent them as powerful as well as having lots of close up shots which would represent them as talented. The lyrics would also fit well with my idea for this music video as both are about not letting setbacks get in the way of the band who continue to work hard to get where they want to be in the music industry.

The editing would be of a normal pace with patches of fast paced editing when the song speeds up. As well as the music video being performance based there would also be parts of the video which would be showing a narrative in the form of flashback scenes showing the tougher times that the group had to go through to get to where they are today, such as not having enough money to perform, not enough money for a hotel, sleeping rough etc and to distinguish the flashback scenes they would be shown with grey lighting.

Some of Goodwin's Conventions that would also feature in this idea include a relationship between  the lyrics and visuals, also iconography which makes the music video distinctive in the case of this idea would be that the performance would not be in front of a crowd, mainly because it would be hard to pull off but also as that way the audiences entire focus is on the artists which will help to get across the representation that they are talented a lot better than it would if there was a crowd.

Here is the original music video:

Past student work analysis

Past student work

Music analysis

Mind map/ audience research

Location- Lackford Lake

As seen in the pictures above; Lackford Lake is the location that we are thinking of filming at. It is a very big and aesthetically pleasing. With a beautiful scenery of the natural environment it puts a concept behind the video. The concept is you can have fun in the modern generation without technology. In todays generation children/teenagers are keeping themselves confined in their rooms playing video games and using social media. This is impacting the next generation dramatically not only increasing the risk of obesity and diabetes but also not learning the everyday skills such as communication (eye contact), teamwork.... The message we are trying to put across is that you can go outside not only keeping you healthy but also having fun as well.

Analysing Downtown using Goodwins Theory

David Fincher

Controversial Music Video

Mood Board

http://www.gomoodboard.com/boards/F8a1SStJ/share

SCF INC. 2.0

SCF INC. 2.0

Music video idea

Split Screen - How To

Directors Study - Charlie

Daniel Askill from Chaziedaa

Director Study - Mark Romanek

Performance Music Video Analysis

Representation in Music Videos

Music Industry- Record Labels

Sony Music Entertainment

Sony Music was founded in 1929 under the name American Record Cooperation, and was renamed Columbia Recording in 1938 after being bought by CBS. Sony Cooperation bought the company in 1991 and renamed it SME, it is the worlds second largest music company, only behind universal music group.
Sony own the rights to many of the worlds most successful artists such as Beyoncé, Justin Timber lake, Kings of Leon, Britney Spears and many more as well as owning the rights to  artists who are considered iconic such as Michael Jackson and Madonna.

As they are a major music label they tend to own companies across a range of media so a lot of sonys marketing is done online on short video adverts on social networking sites or YouTube etc or they sometimes will advertise a new release on an advert on TV, and they will obviously have the artists new releases available as both a CD in stores or as a digital download online.

IAMSOUND

 

IAMSOUND is an independent record label based in USA that was founded as recently as 2006, the label specialises in trying to promote LA (local) based music but also owns several English artists such as Florence and The Machine, Little Boots and Charlie XCX.

 

The main way in which IAMSOUND market their artists is through online marketing in the hope that some of their lesser known artists work goes viral, which has happened before. They also host a yearly festival which is exclusive to artists owned by the company and is a good way to show off some of their smaller artists and promote them alongside the more well known ones. They will also have many CDs and digital copies of their artists releases, although they may not be as accessible as they would be for a major label. As IAMSOUND are an independent label they will also use radio stations to get their artists work out to the public as much as possible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goodwin's Theory Homework Task

Goodwins theory can apply to Michael Jackson's 'Earth Song': 

1. Music videos demonstrate certain genre characteristics - 'Earth Song' is under the pop genre. In the video, MJ is shown to be walking and somewhat dancing to the song, looking very into the song. This is very common in pop music videos.

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals - This is very clear in the video as the song is about humans ruining the earth and wildlife while the visuals are showing us how humans have killed animals (elephants) and trees etc.

3. There is a relationship between music and visuals - This is somewhat present in this video as when the song gets to the most 'intense' part, the editing gets quicker and the wind starts blowing at Michael Jackson as he sings.

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist - Close ups of Jackson are present in 'Earth Song' as he sings, they show his emotion toward the pollution etc.

'Earth Song' was released under the record label 'EPIC' on November 27, 1995

Goodwin's Theory is also applicable to McFly's 'That Girl' (Released 6th September under the Label 'Island'):

1. Music videos demonstrate certain genre characteristics - As McFly are a pop rock band, the video shows them putting on a performance with their instruments which is typical of a band of that genre. 

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals - The lyrics of the song are about a girl trying to get a girl and his friends doubt that he can do it, then he proves them wrong but loses her. The visuals are along the same lines, a girl turns up to their petrol station and the guys try to get her with the other band members doubting that they can. Then she runs off with a richer guy which links to the lyric 'but she was with another guy'.

3. There is a relationship between the music and visuals - This one is applicable to a certain extent. It fits because the music links to the music they are playing on their instruments and when the guitar solo is going on, Danny is playing the solo on his guitar. But it also doesn't fit because the editing isn't really done to the beat of the music etc.

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist - Lots of close ups of the band members are used throughout the music video, this satisfies the audience as each band member is shown with various close ups.

5. The artist may develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work (a visual style) - this is evident in McFly's music videos as the majority of them show the band performing the song for parts of the video and the other parts are the band messing around in the theme of the song.

Iconic music video from before I was born

The music video for Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean' is seen as an iconic video for many reasons. Firstly, it is one of Jackson's earliest music videos which gives it an iconic feel as this was the beginning of the king of pop. This video features the first time Jackson ever did his globally known dance move 'The Moonwalk' for his audience which is another reason why this is seen to be an iconic video, as he then went on to have that be his 'signature move'.

The video itself shows close ups of Michael Jackson's face as he walks down the street. His face looks caring and the close up shows the face the women fell in love with. Also, a close up is used when following the coin into the homeless mans cup. This emphasises MJ's skill.

The editing used is very much controlled by MJ, each shot cuts back to him to show us what he is doing during the whole video. This emphasises his importance. Slow motion is also used on some shots such as the cat running from behind a bin. However, the slow motion doesn't look smooth which could suggest it is one of the first times this had been tried in a music video.

MJ's costume in this video is very much to make him look cool and make everyone want to be like him. The bow tie, shirt and shiny shoes suggest he has lots of money. The way that everything he touches lights up suggests that he is like royalty and needs everything he touches to be bright, clean and shiny.

Goodwin's Theory Powerpoint

Music Video Timeline

The Monkees

Music Video- Monkees 'I'm A Believer'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfuBREMXxts

This song was released on the 31st December 1966. The Monkees were a young band that had some big hits in the 1960's; so big that we hear there songs to this very day (e.g. film).
In the Music video the band is the only thing that is shown; throughout this the camerawork is focused more on the lead singer who is also a drummer. This is very uncommon to have a drummer as the lead singer. We know that he is the dominant figure in this music video due to him being placed in the middle of the shot and that there is also low angle shot; looking up at him.
Thoughout this piece the editing is neither slow or fast paced. However the camera was very focused on the instruments that they were playing as they were doing close up shots of each instrument. From this they then move onto the person playing the instrument.
In this video there is alot of close ups, all of which are showing the hapiness of the band memeber. Also another key camera technique was the wide shots showing the band as a whole, from this i gathered that they were earing all the same clothes and also that this was a common style for teenagers in the 1960's.

Music Video Analysis- Thriller, Micheal Jackson

One of the main reasons as to why this music video is seen as iconic is due to it being one of the very first music videos to be made in the style of a short film which is similar to a horror film. Another key aspect as to why this music video is seen as iconic is due to the theme of horror which is shown through many mise en scene and sound aspects throughout the film which makes the video iconic as no music videos had ever been made that were based around very little other than the artist and their lyrics let alone a horror film which is why Thriller stands out.

Many mise en scene elements which are based around the horror genre are used effectively within the music video. We see props such as the smoke and fog which helps to create a spooky and mysterious feel for the audience and add to the realism of the video. The setting of the graveyard and spooky house are also key elements of the horror genre which help to distinguish from the typical everyday settings that are seen in most music videos, the fact that its set at night also helps to create a more haunted music video.

One key aspect of what makes the music video a success is the link between on screen visuals and sound, during the video we hear and see dialogue when Micheal Jackson mentions the door slamming and then immediately after a non diegetic door slam sound effect plays this adds continuity to the video as well as making the audience jump. We also hear an eary screeching sound effect suddenly implemented when we see a change on screen when the zombies awake from the grave which is used to add to the haunted atmosphere that seeing the zombies awake creates.

The frequent use of close ups of Micheal Jacksons face also help to emphasise his change from being normal to zombified and the close ups of him make it clear to the audience that the girl is in danger. another important camera shot within the extract is the wide shot which is used to show the choreography and manages to incorporate all of the zombies dancing and emphasise that they are taking over.

Group Members

Centre name: Thurston Community College

Centre number: 19307

Group: SCFM Inc.

Members:

Candidate name: Charlie Clark

Candidate number: 5397

Candidate name: Servais Coulber

Candidate number: 5415

Candidate name: Freddie Denny

Candidate number: 5431

Candidate name: Maxime Curdy

Candidate number: 5422

Final Film

Evaluation Question 1

Evaluation Question 2

Created with Padlet

Evaluation Question 3

Question 3 Evaluation

Evaluation Question 4

Evaluation Question 5

Evaluation Question 6

Evaluation Question 7

Max's A.S. Media Foundation Portfolio Evaluation

Question 2- part 1

I just made a new Voki. See it here:

Question 2 - part 2

I just made a new Voki. See it here:

Taken Opening Sequence Analysis

The first scene of the film is a flashback scene, in which we see the protagonists daughter at her 5th birthday. From this scene we can gain a lot of knowledge about the film, the emphasis on the number 5 from the camera is used to show the daughters vulnerability, and also we hear some slow paced edgy music playing in the background which hints at some sort of disturbance which could go on to affect the girl later in life, the fact that the soundtrack doesn't fit with the theme of celebration that we are seeing on screen was no doubt done on purpose and it will help to immediately engage the audience and get them questioning it, there are also plenty of jump cuts used which also help to represent the distorted feeling that this flashback scene gives, these are often used within thrillers to disorder the plot.

The clip then cuts to a close up of Liam Neeson, who plays the main protagonist, sat in a dark room with bleak surroundings on his own, looking like he is contemplating. This gives us enough information to realise that he is the girls dad and the fact he is on his own surrounded by darkness not only foreshadows sinister events that await him, but also the fact that he clearly misses spending time with his daughter. We can also tell from his plain clothes and car that he doesn't have much money and is possibly poor.

During the scene in which we see the protagonist arrive at his daughters party the diegetic sound in the background is very harmonious and contrasts what we would expect from typical thriller films. We also see the protagonist has taken more pride in his appearance for his daughters birthday which could show us that he values what she thinks of him a lot.

As the opening continues we then get an insight into the characters alternative life, when he is with his friends, and we learn that their jobs are of a violent and dangerous nature. The contrast between day and night in the opening is also effective as the fact he acts like a normal person in the day and only does his dangerous jobs at night shows to us he is hiding this part of his life from his family, and the fact he is shown to be more relaxed and at home at night also shows that this is the thrill seeking life that he desires. At the end of the opening, we also see the protagonist involved in a fight scene whilst he is working as a bodyguard protecting a music star from getting stabbed by a man dressed in black, this helps to not only suddenly increase the pace of the action which will no doubt keep the audience occupied but also continue to allow the characters backgrounds to develop, as we realise that the main protagonist is excellent in combat situations.

Thriller opening scenes - Max

Understanding sound in film

Sound in the past

Sound is an integral part of films now a days however sound has not always been implemented into movies. The first film to have sound included was the 'Jazz Singer' released in 1927. Silent films soon started to dissipate as the sound infused movies made a hit with audiences. This was because the audience can hear their favourite stars speak and tones of scenes can be created through sound alone; for example a scary scene would often be quiet with only certain concepts creating sound such as footsteps.

However critics at the time took longer to liken to the concept of sound in films as they stated that something was lost through music and sound. They believed that films became less cinematic and visual creativity was hampered, which is true as sound was very hard to record and use. They did not have the technology to record sounds and add it into the film after the shot had been filmed until the late 30's. This meant that all sounds had to be created and used at the same time as the shot was being filmed. Live bands often had to play whilst the shot was occurring. Certain shots could not be filmed as they had to concentrate on implementing sound and music; exciting geographical shots such as mountains and rivers were now harder to film as it was very hard to get a live band playing in such exotic areas. Background noises like wind and water were also a hassle to overcome when recording. 

The directors wouldn't be able to speak to their actors and give them advice as to how he wants them to act as their voices would be picked up in the recording. 

In modern day filming, sound and music can be carefully recorded and introduced to any part of pre-filmed footage. Silence is now very rare in films. Jean Luc Godard believed that in film, "no such thing as silence. Even when characters don't speak, there is always background noise." His 'Band a part' film in 1964 draws attention to this. 

Types of sound:

Diegetic sound - Sound that is involved in the film and is apparent in the characters world. For example a gunshot from a gun a character just fired. 

Non-Diegetic sound - more or less the opposite to Diegetic sound, this is sound that is not apparent to the characters but still involved in the film. For example background music/sound that may add a certain atmosphere or suspense. 

On-screen sound - The source of the sound can be seen in the frame. For example dialogue from a character which is in shot. 

Off-screen sound - The source of the sound cannot be seen in the frame. For example dialogue.

The Purge - Trailer Review

The Purge

I decided to watch a few trailers of thriller films to get some inspiration and ideas of what thriller films look like. From 'The Purge' trailer I learnt that thrillers are mainly dark and gloomy, this sets the mood of the whole film as quite depressing/scary. Although this is just a trailer, I can see that the editing is very fast paced during the most exciting scenes to keep the audience on edge. Music used in thrillers varies from creepy, high pitched music to loud, fast, action music. From thriller trailers you can see that the majority of thrillers start with a few normality scenes to show the audience what life is like before the actual story takes part. This would be a problem for us as we need to create a thriller opening and we can't just have a normality scene for our whole film. Therefore we will need to make it out of chronological order, showing part of the actual story first then the film would go into a normality scene after the first two minutes. This could actually work in our favour if we were to make the full film as it grips the audience at the beginning with the action and also leaves them thinking throughout the rest of the film 'I wonder how that is going to link to the action we saw previously.'

The props used in this film are somewhat horror-like (the masks and knives etc) however, the typical thriller prop, the gun, is seen a LOT throughout the trailer. 

Costuming is very subtle in this film as it is supposed to represent normal people 'letting off steam' so they wouldn't be wearing the typical thriller genre style clothing for a villain (All black). 

Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Title Sequence Analysis

Nearly all of the shots used are close ups often showing the person in distress or close ups showing the person being set on fire or chained, which helps to signify to the audience that not only will violence be one of the main themes present within this film, but also most likely some form of torture as the close ups present the isolated character as helpless. The dark lighting emphasises the dark and sinister themes of evil which are a common convention in thriller films, along with the use of the colour black. We also hear the use of an effective soundtrack in the background in which the long screams are used to effectively resemble those of the black character in shot, which backs up the fact even more that they are being made to suffer. We also see a mid shot of a skeleton on fire which often hints at death being a strong theme of the film.

        

The lack of light around the character presents her as vulnerable and isolated, and the shots of her getting sucked into the black liquid and drowning under water emphasise the overwhelming situation and perhaps the lack of hope that the character has in terms of survival. The editing is also of a fast pace which hints at the fact there will be lots of suspense, violence and plot twists witnessed within the film, and when all of these factors are combined they help to set a definitive eary mood for the film which is similar to that in most thrillers.

Green Lantern (HOMEWORK)

Green Lantern

Institution

Martin Campbell, director of successes such as Casino Royal, Golden Eye and The Mask of Zorro, directed a ‘flop’ of a film, Green Lantern. Green Lantern was created under the production company ‘Warner Bros.’ who are obviously very well known as they produce many films such as the Harry Potter series, Scooby doo, The Hobbit etc. and was also distributed by ‘Warner Bros.’.  From its release (June 17^th 2011), Green Lantern has only taken in a total gross of $219,851,172, which is only $19,851,172 profit as the budget for the film was $200,000,000. In its opening weekend, the film took a gross of $53 million.

Audience

I think the target audience for this film is from 13 – 20 year olds. This is because the trailer for the film makes it look very action packed, which is something a boy of this age would like. I think the poster makes it clear that it can’t be aimed at below 13 as it looks fairly dark and mature. However, it wouldn’t be aimed at over 20 as young adults would be expected to want to watch more mature films. This target audience would be attracted by the whole super hero genre as it is exciting and full of action. An audience would expect to see a LOT of action, cool effects, cgi, exciting plot etc when they go to see a film of this genre as films such as Spider man etc have set the bar very high.

A lot of the critics reviews have given ratings from 1-3 stars. “It often feels like there are two separate stories featured in this comic book flick but neither of them is particularly interesting.” - John Hanlon. “Across the board Green Lantern is an average experience. There is zero character development, an overly confusing plot and way too much dodgy CGI assaulting the screen.” – Benjo Colautti. Overall, reviews for this film are very poor, comments on the poor CGI and lack of character development constantly appear.

Genre and Conventions

The overall genre of Green Lantern is action/adventure. Primarily it is in a smaller ‘Super Hero’ genre. The film has lots of conventions of action adventure such as explosions, special cgi, a protagonist and antagonist, normality scenes etc. Since it uses so many of these conventions of an action adventure film, Green Lantern is quite clearly a conventional action adventure film. Despite the digs at its character development (which isn’t a key feature in action adventure films) Green Lantern has many other traits of action adventure films.

Evaluation Question 6

Past Student Example 1 - Charlie

Lewis, Chris and Declan

The way this group have presented their evaluation is good because every question is on one Prezi in order. This is a very good idea as we don't have to search through different PowerPoints and videos to get the right question. 

Question 1 is laid out very well as we can clearly see what each section of the Padlet includes. They have written a lot for each part, how they used Mise en Scene effectively with the Thriller Film conventions. They speak about their use of lighting and sound etc. and how they are also conventional of a thriller. They have included clips and images on the padlet which break up the text and help them explain their points more.

Question 2 has its own large section on the Prezi talking about how their media product represent social groups. They have written a lot for each section and laid it out very simply, splitting up each section.

Question 3 is presented using PowerPoint presentations, this is a great way to present the answers to this question as they are easily divided and you are able to include images and videos to help express your point.  This group have included images of the company logo to show which companies they do and don't think would produce their film. The thing I like the most about this answer is that they have thought of alternate was to distribute their film such as YouTube. They have mentioned this as it is free to upload and anybody can view it while you are able to see how many people and what age group have view it.

Question 4 is rather like question 1 in the way it is laid out. They have split the text up and added images and video to make it more interesting so we don't have to sit and read one massive block iof text. However, the way the text is laid out is fairly confusing as there is no real order to the sections so we don't know what to read next.
Question 5 is laid out like question 3, using a sort of powerpoint style software. In this they talk about their use of sound and shots and how they are effective. They include screenshots from their film to help us understand better what they are talking about. They not only talk about the surveys they carried out, but also where abouts in the film they used certain techniques.
Question 6 is presented using a video podcast. This is effective because we can see what they are talking about while they say it to make it easier for us as we don't have to flick between image and text. This question is about the technology they used in their film and they not only talk about they editing software etc, but also the camera and social media they used to carry out their research.
Question 7's layout is confusing at first but is a very exciting and interesting way to present the work while splitting it up into sections. However, they have not included any images or videos in this one so it is a more boring read.

Past student evaluations

Past Student Evaluations

Charles Level 2- One of the weaknesses of his evaluation is his use of technology programming for each question. The fact that he used bubbl as his technology for question 1 meant that he limited his options as he wouldn't be able to add any screen grabs or images and given that question 1 is one of the longer questions this is a mistake that we will definitely try to avoid. One of the strengths of his evaluation is that he has managed to use a different form of technology for each question, despite using a blog post for question 7.

Molly Level 4- This groups evaluation is done to a really good standard, they have used a variety of different technologies for the right questions and have managed to put thorough detail into all of the questions. They also ensured most of their questions were easy to navigate and were visually interesting by including features such as images screen grabs to back up what they were talking about. This is an evaluation that we will definitely be taking guidance from.

Joe Level 3- Whilst this group do manage to use a variety of technologies, a lot of the questions lack a response detailed enough to gain a level 4, particularly the longer questions such as question 1. One other positive of this groups evaluation is that they do make it interesting to read by using lots of images, backgrounds etc which we will be looking to implement within our evaluation to make sure its interesting for the viewer to read.

Zombieland Title Sequence - Charlie

ZombieLand Title Sequence Analysis

I really like the title sequence for ZombieLand. I love the way the titles arent just displayed on the screen without purpose, they are used effectively and move with the action of the shot. E.G. When the man smashes the glass and the title smashes with it. The titles are also in interesting places in the shot and it changes with each title to keep the audience entertained. Also, throughout the title sequence there is slow motion action shots of zombies attacking humans. These shots entertain the audience as they are funny and also tell the audience a little bit about the film before it even properly starts.

Production Schedule

Production Schedule

Our production schedule was very hard to create as we were all very busy over weekends. However, we did manage to get a day in the half term to film all the outside shots so we could make sure the lighting stayed consistent throughout the film with little changes in weather etc. On that day we managed to get all the shots we needed with little hassle, only a few sound issues which we were able to sort out in post production. We then were able to have one more filming afternoon to film all of the indoor shots. However, the time we filmed this was nearing winter so the evenings got very dark so we  were not able to re-film any outside shots. This wasn't too much of an issue as we had planned for this in advanced by filming all outside shots in one day. The indoor shots took between 3-4 hours of filming in the warehouse, we were able to keep constant lighting throughout as it was electric lights.

Post production was the main chunk of work we had to put in to the creation of Deception. We spent every media lesson for the best part of about 5-6 weeks editing our film to the best of our ability. We had some experience with editing due to doing a preliminary task before hand where we were able to learn the basics of Final Cut Pro X. In Post Production we were able to fix all the sound errors we could and cut all the shots together to make our first draft. We would spend some lunchtimes and free periods editing the film too to create the best outcome we could in the little time we had. Our main challenge was keeping the film under the 2 minute and 12 second time limit.

Past Student Example #3 - Charlie

PlanetEclipse - Sequence

Camerawork: 

-Starts with a wide angle shot which pans around to show the guy walking alone. Sets the scene and shows he is alone.

-Long shots used throughout the walking scene to show he is alone and also his location.

-Close Ups used to show is facial expressions when drinking the water.

-A zoom from mid shot to close up on his face is used at the end to show to shocked/confused facial expression.

Editing: 

-Cuts are used to implement the title into the film halfway through. 

-An action match is used when he opens the door from one side and closes it with the camera the other side. 

-The editing is continuous throughout the walking scene as it shows where he is going without skipping parts so the audience isn't confused.

Sound:

-The only sound that is used in the film other than natural sounds is the voice over. This is a commentary about faith.

Mise en Scene:

-The man is wearing normal everyday clothes to show he is just an average guy.

-The lighting used is natural which looks typical as it is quite dull.

Strength:

I like the use of the continuous editing in this film as it all seems to slow very well without many jump between shots so we know where he has been and we aren't confused.

Weakness:

I think the narrative was very unclear as I couldn't tell what was actually happening throughout it. Also I was unsure how the voice over was very relevant to the film itself.

The Dark Knight - Opening Analysis

The Dark Knight

Camerawork:

Close up on masks, creates mystery - who's behind them?

High angle, long shot on man going across the zipwire - shows how tiny he is compared to his surroundings, this creates suspense which is key to thrillers. - Will he survive?

High angle point of view looking at the man on the floor from the jokers POV, this shows his vulnerability and how little power he has.

Editing:

Cross cutting between opening the vault, in the car, and on the roof. This creates tension as we don't know whats happening to the other groups.

Slow paced at the start, this builds up tension for the climax.

Gets fast paced as the gun sequence is happening, this makes the film more exciting and keeps us on the edge of our seats.

Sound:
Dialogue used creates mystery as the characters don't even know who they're working for.
Deep, slow music is used to build up the tension at the start.
Sonically enhanced sounds - Gunshots are used to keep the audience awake.

Mise en Scene:

Clown masks used which makes them appear more scary and creates mystery, who is behind the mask?
Guns are used as props as they are very dangerous but not gory which links in to thriller films.
Antagonists are wearing black which links to thriller conventions however, they wear silly clown masks which breaks stereotypes of antagonists in thriller films.



The Dark Knight uses lots of techniques to create tension and mystery, these are key elements of thriller films as thrillers are usually confusing and very exciting. So using mystery and tension supports these conventions.