Prelim Task Evaluation

The location the boys decided to film in was the media classroom. for our task, the classroom created a great office feel with the desks and chairs and general coffee cups and other bits and pieces. the light was also nice up against the white board, creating nice shadows and 3 D feelings. the 2 tear lighting was well used around the desk and chairs, also catching the background desks as well, making the scene more realistic. I was in charge of set arrangement and getting the actors into place, creating a believable scene, I also had some good ideas for the shot choice, such as follow shots and the CCTV camera shot when the victim scribbles help, in the hope of someone seeing on television, this turned out to be our favorite shot as a group. but overall, i worked on all areas on the set which will set me in good steed for making my thriller in January.

My thoughts towards lighting where that the two tired lighting system created a verisimilitude of a classroom. This gave a real life feeling to our scene and made it all generally more believable. This proved effective as the scene was given a really realistic feeling, this worked as it was believable.

We set the camera up correctly by attaching it onto the tripod, we leveled the camera on the tripod and then checked the white balance, aperture, that the rule of thirds was apparent and made sure the shot was only of the intended set. We repeated this after every shot to keep the high standard of filming (for example, we made sure the lighting equipment was out of the shot). We decided to have 2 over the sholder shots, a close up shot, wide shots, a twin shot and a mid shot to set the scene from various different angles.  

We used a story board to plan out our sceen shots, we started with a wide shot, moving into 2 over the sholder shots and 2 reverse close ups. After we did the basics on the story board, we got quite creative with our shots, getting under the table, up high and even outside the room, to film what a passer bye would see, all adding to the realism of the piece. We conformed to the 180 degree rule, being careful not to break it and keeping it in our minds at all times. Lastly we used appropriate terminology to get everyboady ready for the next shot or take. Saying ‘stand by’ made everybody focus and turn to there jobs on set, saying ‘action!’ made it clear for everybody that the camera was rolling and that everybody should be as silent as possible. The actors would then know to be in character and act in the ways that I told them, using the ideas that I gave them to create a realistic scene.

Summarizing what I have learnt in practical film making, I felt that I learnt what it is like to be on a professional set and that I am capable of doing each job on set.

Introduction to Video Camera

I learnt how to successfully use a video camera. I learnt how to set up the tripod, creating a solid base under the camera. You attach the handle to the side of the camera making it  Linked to this is the spirit level, stabilising the camera and making it’s weight centred over the supporting tripod. This concludes the basic set up. Now, with the camera on, u must set the frames to 250 and check to see if the white balance is correct for the specific light needed in the shot. You can do this by using a white piece of paper and holding it still in front of the camera. You then zoom right in and use the white balance button to synchronize the tone. For a tracking shot, you need  to lay down the tracks for the movable tripod to move freely on.  They have to be a certain width apart for the camera to move freely with out jolting. Lastly you focus the lens on the for the required shot, zooming in and zooming out.

What Is a Thriller?

Whilst looking at the thriller genre, we studied the films 'Children of Men' and 'The Usual Suspects'. after looking at these films, we discovered that sound, mise-en-sene and editing camerawork all contribute to creating a successful thriller. mise-en-sene, (meaning everything in the diagesis) is used to clearly tell the audience the plots of the films and also what is important to the narrative of the story. camerawork is used to make sure that the audience always notices the small hints which class the film as a thriller. editing also character's reactions to thrilling occurrences throughout the film. lastly sound, whether it be diagetic or non diagetic, all combines together to make the viewer feel a thrill. for example, the diagetic sound of women crying when watching the radio broadcast, makes women especially watching the movie, think about how painful it would be to not be able to have children. Ambient sounds like background footsteps, synchronous sounds such as a creaking door and asynchronous sounds such as voiceovers are all effective also.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NikEQy1XxDE

This is a link to the official Children Of Men trailer.

Composition

Photography brings a visual language that is universal in understanding. We must then understand its vocabulary which consists of shapes, textures, patterns, lines, colours, shade of light to dark and sharp to blurry images. Just as we must learn to arrange words in a coherent order in order to make sense when we write or speak, so too must we put visual elements together in an organized manner if our photographs are to convey their meaning clearly and vividly.

Composition means arrangement: the orderly putting together of parts to make a unified whole; composition through a personal, intuitive act. However, there are basic principles that govern the way visual elements behave and interact when you combine them inside the four borders of a photograph. Once we have sharpened our vision and grasped these basic ideas of principles, then we will have the potential for making our photographs more exciting and effective than ever before.

About Myself

Hi there, my names Jake. before hurtwood i was a pupil at Milton Abbey School in Dorset. i have never studied anything to do with Media before but i am really enjoying media and the idea of creating films. From this year, i am hoping to gain knowledge into what goes on behind the camera insead of infront of it which is more familiar to me. i enjoy listening to music and playing guitar and songwriting. my favorite bands are Foals, liberteens and the Smiths. A recent film i enjoyed was Snatch featuring Brad Pitt. i thought his role as a gypsy boxer was a great display of acting.