Monday, 11 April 2011

Production Work Self Assessment


Planning Our Sequence


Once we had an idea we filled out this sheet to write down what we believed was going to be in our sequence.

Shooting Schedule

This is our shooting scheduel. We did this to plan out when and where we were going to shoot. This was very helpful as it made the group more organised.

Sunday, 10 April 2011

Evaluation

Here is mine and Carmen's evaluation!

ELLA Ti (7162) this side of screen --> Carmen K-E (7092) this side - right as you look at screen!

Question 1




Question 2




Question 3




Question 4




Question 5




Question 6




Question 7

Group Brainstorm


Our group completed a brainstorm, this was done to help us write down our first initial ideas for our project. I believe this helped as it brought our ideas together.



Pillow Talk and Fringe Essay

“How are the sequences from ‘Pillow Talk’ and ‘Fringe’ different. Discuss the differences in pace and style of editing as well as the effect the editing has on meaning/ the audience’s reception of the extracts?”
During this essay I will be comparing the differences between ‘Pillow Talk’ and ‘fringe’. I will be looking at the pace and the style of the editing, as well as the effect this has on the meaning and audience.
Pillow Talk was produced in 1959 by the director Michael Gordon. This Oscar winning film features many well known ‘older’ stars such as Rock Hudson, Doris Day and Tony Randall. Whereas Fringe is a newer and more modern American science fiction TV series in which mysteries are solved. Both Pillow Talk and Fringe have differences and similarities.
Firstly I will be comparing the frequency of cuts within Pillow Talk and Fringe. The paces of the cuts in both extracts are very different. By looking at the frequency of cuts in each extract I can see how technology has developed over the years. By the time Pillow Talk has cut once, Fringe has had 8 cuts. Pillow talk has longer cuts and is very slow moving, where as Fringe is a faster moving cuts which are very short. I believe this is mainly due to technology, but as well as the genre. For example Pillow Talk is a romantic love film, which should be fairly slow moving, however Fringe is in the genre of a sci-fi which constantly on the move, getting jobs done. On average Fringe cuts every 2-4 seconds, however as it reaches the end of the extract, there are longer clips before a cut; the longest shot is for 10 seconds. Whereas pillow talk cuts on average every 9 seconds, the quickest shot lasted for 4 seconds, which is Fringe’s average time.
The style of editing is also very different. In Pillow Talk the camera shots are very basic, I think this is down to the lack of technology in 1959. The camera shots are mainly mid shots which show people and background. However there are a variety of camera shots in Fringe for example mid shots, close ups ect.  By having a variety of camera shots makes the extract more interesting to watch as an audience which keeps people hooked. However the two are similar in the fact that they both have similar cuts. During Pillow talk there is one fade and one split screen, the rest of the cuts just go straight to a different shot, which is very similar to Fringe. I believe this is an easy and effective way to move to a different shot and it is still widely used in modern extracts as well as older extracts.
I don’t particularly think that the editing effects the audience’s emotional response much, as not many people would be looking out for certain editing techniques because they would be so involved in the film/TV episode.  I believe colours effect the audiences emotional response more so that the editing. As certain colours can attract people and also put them off e.g. yellow would make the audience want to watch the film because it is a bright, bold, interesting colour, however if grey was used it could put people off or even put them in a

bad mood because it is a dull boring colour. I also believe the audience would be more interested in the actors/actresses staring in the film/TV programme. But editing is essential when creating a film or TV episode, and means the film/ programme could not happen without it which does make the extract better as editing makes everything run smoothly.
Different aspects that make up the film attract different audiences for example younger people would prefer to watch the Fringe extract rather than the Pillow Talk extract because it has a faster more upbeat and current pace of editing, whereas Pillow Talk would attract older people because the style of editing is slower, therefore they can take their time whilst watching the film/programme. Not only is age a difference between the two extracts but also likes and dislikes through genre, some people prefer comedies whilst others could like drams more, this also has a large effect on the audiences emotion response, because for example they might go to see a sci-fi which is the genre they don’t particularly enjoy, therefore they will already have doubts about the film before even seeing it, which gives the film an unfair advantage. Word of mouth also effects the audience’s emotional response because a friend could automatically give the film a bad review when they could have not been concentrating ect.
Editing also effects how the characters are seen. Editing makes the episode/film less unfair on characters because it allows a number of characters to be seen at one tim, when in different places. In fringe there are mainly single shots, however in pillow talk editing really does help the film. At one point editing allows two people to be seen at once whilst both in different places.
Conclusively editing effects films/eposodes. Editing allows the whole process to run together smoothly, without it the film/episode would not be well put together. Editing can also make the film/episode unique by different techniques.

Saturday, 2 April 2011

Tenth Day Editing And Class Critic

This was a two hour lesson. For the first hour we sat down as a group (the whole class) and watched each others opening sequences how there were so far. Some people's including my group opening sequence was not finished as there was still a lot of editing to do. We watched each others films and we wrote down on a sheet what we believed worked well and what they needed to improve on. This was very helpful for our group as we got to see what other people thought of our work so far as well as what we needed to improve on. At first our group had no confidence when it came to standing up in front of the class to explain our film and show it as we believed it would be probably really rubbish compared to the other groups work. However we managed to stand up and show what we had completed so far. By watching other groups work we soon realised that all of our work was roughly on the same level which was a great confidence boost for our group as we were happier with the work we had already complete. The class critic told us that we had some excellent shots for example when Liza opens the fridge to the camera and also the the camera is rested on the floor of the alley way and Liza walks past and is followed by the stalker. The group told us that we should improve on speeding up the pace Liza walks at when she is going down the alley way stairs, also to put the credits in between the point of view shots and also to sort out the music.

After the class critic we got to work on what we needed to improve on with the editing. Harry continued editing the heart beat soundtrack and transferred the soundtrack from memory stick to the group's computer. Meanwhile Myself and Carmen looked for a soundtrack, we eventually found one however took a while to do as we had to transfer an 4ma to an mp3.

I believe tenth day editing went very well as we added suspense music. But the class critic was especially helpful as it made me really motivated and want to carry on editing.

About me


Hi :) My name is Ella Tibbott and I am 17 years old. I am currently studying for my AS levels at West Hatch High School. I took media, Geography, ICT and Art as my four AS levels. I took Media as one of my subjects as I found it very enjoyable and fun whilst studying it for my GCSE'S also at West Hatch therefore I believed I would also enjoys studying it at Sixth Form. So far I have enjoyed media as it allows me to be creative and imaginative which is what I enjoy. A few of my interests are going on holiday, going out with my friends and doing exercise. However I dislike the sea and the amount of school work I have at the moment. I hope you enjoy looking at my blog!

Analysis Of Opening Sequence 5- The Mummy

The Mummy was made in 1999 by Universal and was directed by Stephen Summers.

The narrative functions are:
  • The opening sequence starts with a back story.
  • The setting is Ancient Egypt.
The conventions displayed are:
  • There are not many credits however are a few.
The characters introduced are:
  • Imnotep- who is the man who kissed the woman.
  • Pharo Seti.
  • Anuck'sunamun- who is the girl and is one of the main characters.
Cinematography-
  • Rich, royal colours are used.
  • Most of setting is gold.
  • There is a silhouette which is caused by back lighting which shows someone getting killed, this brings the rating down.
Cameras/editing:
  • Graphic match.
  • Grand music- building up.
  • Camera sweeps across.
  • Shows how big and grand the setting is.
  • Also flashbacks.

Analysis Of Opening Sequence 4- Zombie Land

This film was directed by Ruben Elescher and was made in 2009 by Columbia.

The narrative functions are:
  • Humerus.
  • However is still in the genera of horror.
  • The opening sequence gives the audience an idea of the film but does not give everything away.
Conventions displayed are:
  • The credits are given through music and slow motion shots.
Characters Introduced are:
  • We hear Jesse Einsenberg.
  • Who plays a character called Columbus.
Cinematography:
  • Shows the setting which is buildings.
  • The variety of shots shows the audience that the film is going to be action packed and interesting.
Cameras/editing:
  • One shot is upside down camera which shows the world as it is.
  • The screen fades into black before the titles.
  • Rock music is also played which sets the scene and also goes with the genera.

Analysis Of Opening Sequence 3- Cleaner

The Cleaner was made in 2007 and directed by Renny Harlin.

The narrative functions are:
  • Establishing Samuel. L Jackson and shows what he does which is linked to the title of the film as this is his profession.
The Conventions displayed are:
  • There are credits in this opening sequence.
  • Also the credits are shown on images.
Characters introduced are:
  • Samuel L. Jackson- he cleans bodies left overs.
  • Ed Harris.
  • Eva Mendes.
Cinematography:
  • Washed out colours.
Cameras/editing:
  • There is a voice over which is non-diagetic.
  • The camera angle is low down.
  • Talks to the camera for one of the shots.

Analysis Of Opening Sequence 2- The Prestige

This film was made in 2006 and was distributed by Warner Brothers.

The narrative functions are:
  • The Prestige does not start at the beginning of the story.
  • And is a build up of what happens.
The conventions displayed are:
  • That there are no credits in the openings sequence of this film.
The characters introduced are:
  • Chris Bale- Alfie Borden
  • Hugh Jackman-Magacian Angier
  • Michael Caine- Engineer cutter
The Camera/edits are:
  • Only flashbacks are shown in this opening sequence.

Friday, 1 April 2011

Storyboards

Ninth Day Editing

Carmen and me worked together to get all the shots together and in order in final cut. We managed to put all the house shots in order apart from one missing shot from over Liza's shoulder, as we had filmed this previously but found that the camera was too shaky. Therefore Carmen and Harry went off to another class room to re shoot this shot, whilst Myself and Harry carried on with the editing. Carmen and Alex came back after roughly 10 Min's and we uploaded the shot onto the computer, this shot was a lot better than the previous one we shot as it was less shaky and the shot of the phone was more visible.

Eighth Day Editing

For this hour we all worked together to use final cut and worked on editing the scenes, especially the alleyway scenes. In this lesson we managed to complete a lot of work which was good.

Seventh Day Editing

For this lesson we worked together to create the credits, although we did not manage to put the credits in our opening yet but will be hopefully be ding this soon. At the start of the lesson Harry finished the soundtrack and sounded really good, hopefully this will fit in well with our alley way scene.

Sixth Day Editing

This was a double lesson so he had 2 hours to do as much as we could. We worked together for the two hours, each taking a turn in using the mouse to use final cut, however we all put our input in when we was deciding on the editing. This session was good as we worked well as a team to communicate with each other, it went very well and we got a lot of work done.

Fifth Day Editing

On this day I worked don the credits whilst Carmen updated the group blog. Alex and harry finished the soundtrack together. I admit this lesson could have been more productive.

Fouth Day Editing

This was a double lesson so that meant we had 2 hours to get as much done as possible. Harry carried on with the soundtrack whilst Alex worked on final cut to put some more clips together. Whilst the boys were doing this Carmen and myself worked on the group blog to improve it. For the second hour myself and Carmen had a go at editing whilst Harry carried on with the soundtrack and Alex worked on the production logo. On final cut Carmen and me started to cut some of the shots and putting them together.

Third Day Editing

For this lesson Alex was working on the production logo whilst Harry worked on garage band to make the soundtrack for our alley way scene. However Carmen and I worked on final cut to get some of the clips together. Me and Carmen are good friends and it is good working with her as it means we can get a lot done between us.

Second Day Editing

In this lesson we all worked together to get as much editing done as possible. We came together to decide on sequences that should be added in and taken out. Overall this editing session went well and we were still getting used to the software.

First Day Editing

For our first day editing, we started of by using final cut however none of us were particular used to using this software, so it took us a while to figure out how to work it. Alex was the person who picked it up the quickest, he then showed us some of the tools we could used to edit, by the end of the lesson we had an idea of how to edit which was good. By beginning editing it was clear to see that it would take a lot longer than expected as it takes a long time. We edited a bit of our footage from when Liza walks out of the station and round into the alley way, it would have been nice to get a bit more editing done however as this was our first day editing we needed to figure out how to use the software properly.