Welcome to my blog where you will find a record of background research and planning behind the slasher opening production - Our working title is 'Doctor' Our opening is influenced by Mad House Also you will find my colleagues blog pages where there will be additional information. Please feel free to leave any helpful comments.
As a group me (Curtis Tiplady), Ben Brearley & Tilly Dennis made a short film which was the 'Prelim'. Introducing Curtis Tiplady. Directed by Ben Brearley. Extra's Tilly Dennis.
The task was to create a short film which consisted of 3 camera shots which were, match on action, the 180 degree rule and the shot reverse shot. The video itself was shot in school, which Ben filmed the clip is only around 30 seconds long due to the very short dialogue. After the film was shot we used the macs to edit the video so it ran smoothly.
180 degree rule:
180 degree rule
The rule is that the camera stays in line with the imaginary line, which can be seen in the image of the right. The rule enforces continuity of the film.
Match on action:
Match on action
Technique used for continuity like the 180 degree rule. One shot cuts to a close up of the action of the subject in the first shot as shown in the picture on the right.
Shot reverse shot
Shot reverse shot: This is a technique used in conversations, this is also a continuity editing technique
Budget: $32,000,000 US Box Office: $80,197,993 UK Box Office: £3,297,259 Opening Weekend: $28,309,599 (USA) (18 June 2006) (3,070 Screens) £993,948 (UK) (13 August 2006) (366 Screens)
The length of the opening scene is 2.50 minutes
Titles included in the opening scene: 'Jack Black' - The main star's name comes before the film title itself 'Nacho Libre' - The film title 'Ara de la Reguera' 'Hector Jimenez' 'and Peter Stormare' - Characters 'Richard Montoy' 'Troy Gentile' 'Casting By' 'Jory Weitz' 'and Carol Lewit' 'Co-Producers' 'Damon Ross' 'Ricardo del rio Galnares' 'Costume Designer' 'Graciela Mazon' 'Edited By Billy Weber' - In one full sentence proving his importance to this film 'Production Designer' 'Gideon Ponte' 'Executive Producer' 'Steve Nicolaides' 'Produced by' 'Mike White' 'and Jack Black' - Mentioned for the second time in the opening credits 'Produced by' 'Julia Pistor' 'Produced by' 'David Klawans' Shots Used in Opening scene (opening 20 shots)
1: An OTS, used to show what the character is holding and to also view it from his perspective
2: MS, to show what one may be wearing and to knowledge the audience as we now know he is looked after by a nun
3: CU, to the Tv in which cartoons are on maybe to symbolise the characters young age
4: CU, to a grave so we know this character is something to do with a church
5: CU, as he tears the beads of a Jesus Christ cross to symbolise his religion
6: OTS, of his Nacho Libre vest
7: MS, putting his mask on, to show the scenery around him and the costume designing involved as of his wrestlers outfit
8: LS, in the graveyard again to show his surroundings a LS is used
9: LS, punches statue
10: MCU, to the character lying down, to show his emotion (that he is tired)
11: MS, as he is taken away, this is used to get to grips with the other characters which are obviously monks due to their costume design
12: CU, to the tap
13: LS, used to show the chapel and the hosing down of the boy
14: LS, hit with towels
15: LS, putting his clothes on
16: MCU, taking his mask of a MCU is used to show his emotions
17: MLS, opening of the door to reveal the boy
18: Shot of the table
19: MCU, of the boy
20: MCU, of the monk
The opening scene ends with a transition as the young boy raises his tray of food as his head leaves the cameras view the transition is that of a new shot, the character when he is older is revealed to the audience. We get the sense that the character has been doing that all his life.
The exposition provided to the audience is that a young boy has been raised by monks in Mexico due to his appearance and the shots provided to show religion through the use of mis-en-scene. The boy has been shown to be very enthusiastic about wrestling but as the opening scene finishes the audience sees that the character has not progressed with his life.
Idents: Alliance Atlantis The opening scene lasts minute 10 seconds this tells the audience that this will be a serious drama and the director being Shane Meadows we get this impression anyway, he is an auteur who influences his movies so much. Which is why he has got the title of an auteur.
Mise En Scene used in the opening of A Room For Romeo Brass
A medium long shot i used here for that reason - to show the surroundings
As the films starts you get a mis en scene of a poor rural area which reflects on Shane Meadows again on his low budget films. Over the opening sequence we get music played over the picture which creates a more light hearted atmosphere. An audio bridge is also used in the opening sequence to link the difference in time.
Two shot used to indicate their relationship with one another
Dead mans shoes is yet another film that did not make it into UK cinema but however, yet again got into USA cinema
Dead mans shoes appeared in several lists of best British films and won numerous awards which suggests it may have done well on DVD however obviously not so well in British cinema
An Extreme longshot is used to give the audience a view
of their surroundings and the setting the characters are in
The opening begins with home footage from the past, we can tell this by the use of effects the editor has used to give it the old feel it has.
This then fades to reveal the characters to the age they are now at. The imagery used tells us that the film is set in the north of England as bleak shots are used. The two characters may not be the wealthiest of men. The use of Mis En Scene shows this through their clothing and maybe the camera quality adds to the effect of two less well off men.
A downbeat song is played over the screen play which subtly hints there may be a tragedy involved in this film.
The film opening begins with a montage of American and UK film and TV from the 1980's to provide an exposition to the audience of the time era the film falls into. This is all part of the mis-en-scene and sets up the film they strongly anchor to the audience their political views.
From the initial shots you get the impression that this film is based on working class people from the north as it isn't the plush southern landscape you would expect from a Working Title film. Key pieces of mise-en-scene are shown through the graffiti, old fashioned cars and the very run down look. The opening shot is a tracking shot made to look like it is being filmed from a car which could also be a POV shot from someone maybe sat in the car. Shane meadows has done this purposely to send a message as 'This Is England' titles appear at this point with the backdrop of council houses, to signify that this really is England.
I am going to analyse a 30 second clip of Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999)
I will be analysing 4 key media concept points Camera Shots, Editing, Sound and Mise-en-Scene. Above is the 30 second clip i am going to be analysing. Fight Club has been one of my favourtite films for a few years and i have rarely seen any other film in which i think can compete with it.
Shots, Camera Angles.
The shots used in this scene such as the ikea catalogue scene http://vimeo.com/17056671#t=3 shows a close up of the catalogue with a high angled camera, this goes along with the audio of him saying about all the items he cant resist buying, with the camera being a high angle i think this subtely hints that the character i s earning a decent amount of money which i s why this dominating shot is used.
http://vimeo.com/17056671#t=17 This is then followed by a panning shot across the room, showing the watcher of his surroundings and the setting he is in but this isnt done ovbiously as the introduction to all his ikea items is shown as the main reason for this shot. This is also done at a high angle for the reason i can only think of to be again showing his wealth.
The panning shot continues as the main character walks across his flat http://vimeo.com/17056671#t=29 at a medium shot to again show his surroundings to the viewers.
Mise-en-Scene
We get the impression that the chracter is working a pretty decent job from this scene as he is dressed in a smart attire and he lives in a stylish compartment suite. The little hints such as this rug behind the catalouges http://vimeo.com/17056671#t=9 suggest that he is a wealthy character as he owns such high end products. This is also shown as the scene continues when the panning shot reveals all of his belongings and as a watcher we are not inclined to think that he his poor, we are more inclined to think he is a more up market character. Shots such as http://vimeo.com/17056671#t=13 and http://vimeo.com/17056671#t=21 represent this.
Editing
The editing is very smartly done as the objects reveal themselves into the room as thge camera crosses, this fits in well with the audio as, as he speaks of the 'The clipse personal office unit' or the 'Hovetrekke exerbike' these objects fade into the shot.
Fight Club is my favourite film. The story line is very clever and the casting of the roles are perfect. The writer of fight club Jim Uhlshas created a masterpiece here, the element of truth in his writing is phenomenal and can relate to alot of people which is probably the reason why fight club has 8m likes on Facebook. Any good music has a good soundtrack. Fight Club is no different. However for such a unique film, unique music was needed. The Dust Brothers came through with an original soundtrack that is mindful of the tone of Fight Club.
Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule. Main task: the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes. All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source.
The coursework is worth 50% of the AS (same at A2) and the marking (detailed later) is divided into 3 sections:
RESEARCH AND PLANNING: 20%
PRODUCTION: 60%
EVALUATION: 20%
Your work is marked partially on my observations of your approach and level of organisation, but fundamentally its a DVD and your blog that are marked.
