Thursday 15 October 2009
Subsidiary Task - Film Review
I first opened a custom page in MS Publisher. The size I used was 42cm by 28cm for a double page spread. The background of my page is black and I created two large grey text boxes on the top of this and placed one on either page of my review. I created 2 red boxes on my page, one small in the bottom left and one large in the tiop right, within which I will later place pictures. Next I created a rectangular red box within which I placed 5 star shapes. I filled 3 of these in black and left 2 unfilled. This is the star rating for my films which I mentioned was necessary within my specification that I developed from my review research. When creating the text for my film title I decided that I would do it in the same style as is used on my poster, without the outer glow. The size of my text was 90pt and I placed this in the top left hand corner of my review page, I then moved my star rating and placed it underneath my title.
Filming
I began my filming by setting up scenes 6 and 7. I only wanted to film a couple of shots on my first try as I wanted to make sure that there was less to focus upon so that I could get all aspects right. I filmed the shots from a few different angles to give myself choice for when I later edit my work. Although when I uploaded my filming and looked at it on Pinacle the scene and mise on scene looked good it did not give off the right atmosphere and looked very amature. I have therefore decided that I will now with what I know, go back and film these shots again.
Subsidiary Task - Poster
I began creating my poster by opening a new page in Adobe Photoshop. I sized my poster to be A3 as I found this to be the traditional size for a film poster. I decided to have a black background for my poster as looking at my research this was the most common background colour used within posters of the same genres. I then created the text for my film title. I did this using the text tool and selecting Pristina as my font and using a size of 120.45pt. I coloured my text in a dark red as this went with the conventions I found in my research and it stands out clearly agains the background. I decided to give my title more of an effect I would add a slight outer glow to the text therefore making it clearer. I then placed my text in the bottom left corner of my poster. I added the tag line for my film poster, "she knows what you've been doing" and placed this at the top center of my poster. As conventions say that my film title is to be the largest piece of text on my poster I made this 50.19pt. I had this text in the same colour and font as my film title to add consistancey. The last piece of text I added was the list of actors, director and producer. I made this text white so it was not the same as the title and tag line. The font I used was Gill Sans MT in size 30.11pt. I placed this in the bottom right hand corner of my poster. I may have to move all my text however when I later add my photo.
Wednesday 14 October 2009
Blocking
Before I begin filming I need to organize where I am going to have each of my scenes located. I will need to make sure that my locations are appropriate for the themes of the scenes. I will also need to make sure that all the ‘mise en scene’ can be placed appropriately and there is enough room for my actors to stand and move. My film contains five separate locations.
Shots 2 – 5 and shot 15 of my film will be located within a drama room in my school. I decided upon this location as it will be easy for me to access and there is enough room for me to construct a stage. Also within this room I have the use of the specialist lighting which will come in use as the shots are based in a men’s club type area.
Shots 6 & 7 and 17 – 20 will take place in a friends bedroom. This is a room I have chosen as it has the right dimensions and will be able to have the appearance necessary to create an illusion of being backstage.
Shots 8 – 14 and 21 – 34 I will shoot also shoot in my friends house. This is because it contains all the rooms I need with simple decoration. Also the stairway is on set of stairs straight down which will work perfectly for shot 10.
Shot 35 is a single handheld shot which I will film in Southminster. I have chosen to do this here as I know for a fact that not many cars are ever parked in the street I wish to use which leaves the way clear for me to film.
Shots 36 – 43 will be filmed in Southminster graveyard. I chose this location as it is well sized for what I want to film there and also as it is near the street there are lampposts exuding light nearby but it is also surrounded by trees to create shadows and block views of surroundings which would not wish to be included within my film.
Shots 2 – 5 and shot 15 of my film will be located within a drama room in my school. I decided upon this location as it will be easy for me to access and there is enough room for me to construct a stage. Also within this room I have the use of the specialist lighting which will come in use as the shots are based in a men’s club type area.
Shots 6 & 7 and 17 – 20 will take place in a friends bedroom. This is a room I have chosen as it has the right dimensions and will be able to have the appearance necessary to create an illusion of being backstage.
Shots 8 – 14 and 21 – 34 I will shoot also shoot in my friends house. This is because it contains all the rooms I need with simple decoration. Also the stairway is on set of stairs straight down which will work perfectly for shot 10.
Shot 35 is a single handheld shot which I will film in Southminster. I have chosen to do this here as I know for a fact that not many cars are ever parked in the street I wish to use which leaves the way clear for me to film.
Shots 36 – 43 will be filmed in Southminster graveyard. I chose this location as it is well sized for what I want to film there and also as it is near the street there are lampposts exuding light nearby but it is also surrounded by trees to create shadows and block views of surroundings which would not wish to be included within my film.
Thursday 10 September 2009
My Final Storyboard
After looking at my list of shot types and plot I created my final storyboard. In my storyboard I have included the events to happen in each shot and what technique I will use to display them. I also noted the editing techniques I would use when changing the scene. I have not included information on lighting, music or mise en scene. I feel that to make sure I have the appropriate music to fit the scene this is something that I will need to select after filming during the editing process. The mise en scene I will need to consider before filming however I think that lighting is something I may have to select and adjust during filming to make sure everything that will need to be seen on the camera can but also that the lighting reflects the right time of day in the film and the tone that needs to be set.
Shot List
After looking at my rough storyboards I wanted to make sure that I would not miss any detail from my plot when drawing my storyboard so, I decided to write out a list of the shot types I will use and what will occur within each scene.
Designing My Storyboard
I came up with a second rough storyboard of ideas to show the basic plot and shot types. From this storyboard I can see where I need to go into more depth about the shot types which I will be using. I have also decided that to give my film the length I need to add to my plot therefore I have decided to add in a flashback which will also give the chance to display another technique.
Designing My Storyboard
I sketched out a rough storyboard with the outline of my plot. On this I had 6 pictures with brief descriptions explaining the plot and a few shot types. Looking at this I can see aspects which I would like to develop.
Storyboard Ideas
I have also made a spider diagram of thoughts and ideas for my film to help me create my storyboard. From this I decided on a rough story line which will be my starting point for designing my storyboard. I have decided to use both include the theme of revenge as well as that of psychological. I have decided on lighting techniques and some aspects of my two genres that I wish to include. I also did some character profiling to help me with mise-en-scene when going to film.
Storyboard Ideas
As I will next have to start making my story board I decided to come up with some ideas that coincide with the specification that I earlier developed. I made notes underneath each point on how I could use the ideas.
- Must contain a certain psychological theme.
Paranoia, Mistrust, Bleakness…
- Must use modern music throughout the film.
Rock, Gothic…
- Must end on a cliff hanger.
The killer gets away, Someone may or may not die…
- The villain should not be made obvious throughout.
Have an alternate character to villain for suspicion to fall upon.
- Should be 3 main characters.
The villain, Accomplice, Target, Detective, Scapegoat…
- Should use fading techniques when changing the scene.
Change the lighting, blur techniques…
- The film should have a graveyard/church location within it.
Grave/churchyard in Southminster.
- The villain should be a female character.
Beautiful but promiscuous, amoral, double-dealing and seductive ‘femme fatale’
- Must be set in the past. 1940’s or 1950’s – The main time at which film noir were being made
- Must contain a certain psychological theme.
Paranoia, Mistrust, Bleakness…
- Must use modern music throughout the film.
Rock, Gothic…
- Must end on a cliff hanger.
The killer gets away, Someone may or may not die…
- The villain should not be made obvious throughout.
Have an alternate character to villain for suspicion to fall upon.
- Should be 3 main characters.
The villain, Accomplice, Target, Detective, Scapegoat…
- Should use fading techniques when changing the scene.
Change the lighting, blur techniques…
- The film should have a graveyard/church location within it.
Grave/churchyard in Southminster.
- The villain should be a female character.
Beautiful but promiscuous, amoral, double-dealing and seductive ‘femme fatale’
- Must be set in the past. 1940’s or 1950’s – The main time at which film noir were being made
Film Age Rating Research
Also based upon these film reviews and the films that I analyzed I decided to look up the guidelines for film ratings. I went to http://www.bbfc.co.uk/ and found the guidelines. I decided that my film should be of an 18 rating due to the violence that will be involved. The website defines an 18 rating to be a film “where material or treatment appears to the BBFC to risk harm to individuals or through their behavior to society – for example, any detailed portrayal of violence or dangerous acts, or of illegal drug use , which may cause harm to public health or morals.”
Subsidiary Task – Film Review Research
Frozen River (tbc)
Homicide: Life On The Street’s Melissa Leo is literally on thin ice in this 2008 Sundancer, an atmospheric indie from writer-director Courtney Hunt thrust into the limelight earlier this year by two unexpected but deserved Oscar nominations. The slow-burning tale of a cash-poor mother-of-two who becomes a reluctant human traficker on the US-Canadian border, this gritty yarn – much of which involves two women gingerly driving across the frozen St Lawrence river with illegal immigrants stashed in the boot – at times resembles Thelma & Louise in a parka. As the tough, resourceful Ray, though, Leo quickly shows why she landed that Academy Award nod in a film that succeeds equally as a taut thriller and a female buddy movie. The Geena Davis to Leo’s Susan Sarandon is Native American Misty Upham, who plays Lila Littlewolf, a Mohawk who exploits her reservation’s frontier-straddling territory to sneak undesirables across it. Newly deserted by her gambler husband, Ray’s ideally placed to accompany Lila on these jaunts, nocturnal missions over treacherous terrain. Suspicion melts into grudging respect as the ladies learn they have more in common than they first thought. When things go tits-up, though, will it be every smuggler for herself? Hunt – whose screenplay deservedly picked up River’s other Golden Baldie nod – keeps the action spare and gripping, especially during a sequence when Ray and Lila discover they have accidentally left a baby out in the snow. By its close, though, her film has thawed into something rather different: a touching portrait of solidarity, self-sacrifice and simple human decency. Some might find this a disappointingly low-key ending to a story that had seemed headed in a more dramatic trajectory. Yet it’s in keeping with a feature whose entire ethos – from producer Heather Rae and DoP Reed Morano to cutter Kate Williams – is about sisters carrying the can.
Verdict:
Leo and Upham make an unlikely double act in a finely written, well-played film with a striking plot and setting. Hunt’s clearly a name to watch; Leo, meanwhile, can look forward to finally getting the recognition, and roles, she deserves.
( http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/cinema/frozen-river )
Public Enemies (15)
“I like baseball, movies, good clothes, fast cars and you. What else do you need to know?” What, indeed? The short, fast life of ’30s American gangster John Dillinger is legend: he robbed banks that robbed the public, becoming a media sensation, a Depression-era folk hero and the fi rst Public Enemy Number One of J Edgar Hoover’s new FBI. After breaking out of every jail that held him, he was chased across America by G-man Melvin Purvis and at last famously shot dead by police outside the Biograph cinema in Chicago after watching a Clark Gable crime fl ick. We know this. Michael Mann knows this. And, throughout his “true story”, you can’t help feeling that Johnny Depp’s Dillinger knows it too. He’s a dead man walking from the moment we meet him. Meaning Mann’s movie isn’t a biopic, it’s an elegy – one long dying breath. When we do meet Dillinger, he’s already a Tommy-Gun-blazing master criminal, busting his men out of Indiana State Prison and roaring away under an epic blue-sky to a heroic soundtrack. A better title might have been The Man Who Shot John Dillinger. Like John Ford before him, Michael Mann loves to print the legend, turning cops and crims into duelling demi-Gods. Thing is, John Ford never printed the legend on HD. Armed with hyper-real, hi-def video cameras, Mann and Heat cinematographer Dante Spinotti make mythic movie-drama look like faux-documentary. This is not American Gangster. This is something else. Something much more startling in which ordinary scenes become electrifying experiences as Mann takes an old story and makes it feel new and unexpected. Framed in thrilling deep focus, Depp moves through familiar spaces – banks, restaurants, prisons, press conferences, wood cabins, cars, cinemas – that suddenly feel packed with fresh tension and atmosphere. Despite moving like a getaway wagon, the plot is the least interesting thing about Mann’s latest crime epic. This tale is really about the telling. Beyond the wild chases, daring jailbreaks and bank robberies, much of the movie unfolds in a weird twilight zone between docu-style reality and gorgeous mythmaking. Long before the breathlessly poignant final moments outside the Biograph, an eerie sequence sees Dillinger walking alone through a deserted police station. Better still is the surreal, funny scene in a packed cinema, where Dillinger sits sweating under the hot lights as a giant image of his face appears on screen while a public service announcement asks the packed auditorium to stay vigilant (“He could be the man sat next to you!”). It might be the movie’s best scene – try finding a better snapshot of the fame game’s seductive danger and dazzle. Public Enemies gets its coffee-shop moment, too, FBI hotshot Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) and Dillinger staring at each other through prison bars in an exchange of sharp lines and even more piercing silences. Initially looking too physically small to play a violent bank robber, Depp fills out the role of Dillinger with effortless charisma, authority and – most important of all – star wattage. But this is not Heat: we never sink into the life of Purvis or his rivalry with the gangster. Exploiting Bale’s trademark intensity, Mann keeps him a cipher. Same goes for Billy Crudup’s unctuous J Edgar Hoover and Stephen Graham as the sociopathic Baby Face Nelson. Like Crockett and Tubbs in Miami Vice, these characters actually have almost no real personality at all. But as we watch them attack their work with brutal efficiency, we have to take them deadly seriously. Not least because guns in a Michael Mann movie really sound like guns. Each deafening blam from characters’ pistols, rifles and submachine guns reverberates through your body as if you’d taken the bullet yourself. Public Enemies’ gun battles erupt with sudden, visceral force – never more so than in a woodland shootout between Purvis’ FBI hit squad and Dillinger’s crew, lensed by Mann at the infamous Little Bohemia Lodge where it actually took place. Hot lead thwacks into tree bark. Desperate breath and muzzle smoke fill the night air. Bodies are wrecked by the carnage. But as ever in Mann’s world, the real heat around the corner is the romance that’s just out of reach. From Manhunter to The Last Of The Mohicans to Heat to Miami Vice, Mann’s career is a secret string of beautiful, impossible love stories. Here it’s La Vie En Rose Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard as Dillinger’s girlfriend Billie Frechette. It’s their story that gives Public Enemies its touching, tragic heartbeat, as she and Depp become two lost souls clinging to moments of a freedom they know can’t last. As the man says, “What else do you need to know?”
Verdict:
Call it the anti-American Gangster. And we mean that as a compliment. This superstar crime thriller emerges as something surprising, fascinating and technically dazzling. Don’t expect a Hollywood movie. Expect a Michael Mann movie.
( http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/cinema/public-enemies )
The Last House On The Left (18)
Horror remakes are like spots: they mostly target teens and no one asks for them. Still, Wes Craven’s 1972 exploitationer was ripe for an update. Made for buttons, dated and really not that great in the first place, it’s a remake of sorts itself, based on Bergman’s The Virgin Spring (in turn based on a medieval Swedish ballad). Craven is on board as producer for this rehash, which shares plot, structure and characters with his original: two teenage friends (Sara Paxton, Martha MacIssac) are sexually brutalised by an escaped con (Garret Dillahunt) and his gang of sadists before the tables are turned when the attackers unwittingly seek sanctuary with one of the girls’ parents (Tony Goldwyn, Monica Potter). But beneath the surface, the two films couldn’t be more different. Because despite some shonky acting, ill-advised comedy and a dreadful score, Last House ’72 still felt raw, real – assimilating, distressing news footage from ’Nam to turn viewers stomachs. It was dangerous where this is safe, dirty where this is glossy, genre-breaking where this is generic, influential where this is derivative and political where this verges on irrelevance. Helmed with impersonal polish by sophomore director Dennis Illadis, Last House is a competently made rape-revenge thriller. It’s a tidy little Holly-horror, where motives are clearcut, morality is black and white and retribution is glib and guiltless. Tension is built with workmanlike efficiency and there’s generous gore. But there’s nothing really to fear – and despite reasonable performances, it’s hard to give a monkey’s about any of the characters. In isolation, it’s adequate but throwaway. In comparison with Craven? We’d rather feel sick than feel nothing.
Verdict:
A passable, pointless remake that’s as slick as it is empty. At least they scrapped the jaunty score and cop capers – but if you only watch one shiny, violent revenger this year, make it Taken.
( http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/cinema/the-last-house-on-the-left-1 )
I read through the above three film reviews to gain an idea of the conventions involved within the writing and structure. The first thing I noticed about each review is that at the top of the page next to the film title is a star rating. This gives the reader an idea about the content of the review before they begin to read it. The start of each review gives a brief outline of the film without revealing any of the surprise elements or plot ending. This allows the reader to first make their own decision on whether the film itself would be relevant to their personal preferences. The review structure leads on to discuss how well the film itself is constructed and the acting abilities shown within. The reviews also compare the movies to others of a similar plot line and themes. Each reviews the ends with an overall verdict of the films. The verdict itself seems to be quite blunt using many adjectives to enhance points that are made. All the verdicts are clean cut with a definite conclusive opinion shown about the films.
Specification for film review
- Must have a star rating.
- Must begin with a brief description of the film plot.
- The body of the text must contain a critical analysis of the film.
- The review must end conclusively.
Homicide: Life On The Street’s Melissa Leo is literally on thin ice in this 2008 Sundancer, an atmospheric indie from writer-director Courtney Hunt thrust into the limelight earlier this year by two unexpected but deserved Oscar nominations. The slow-burning tale of a cash-poor mother-of-two who becomes a reluctant human traficker on the US-Canadian border, this gritty yarn – much of which involves two women gingerly driving across the frozen St Lawrence river with illegal immigrants stashed in the boot – at times resembles Thelma & Louise in a parka. As the tough, resourceful Ray, though, Leo quickly shows why she landed that Academy Award nod in a film that succeeds equally as a taut thriller and a female buddy movie. The Geena Davis to Leo’s Susan Sarandon is Native American Misty Upham, who plays Lila Littlewolf, a Mohawk who exploits her reservation’s frontier-straddling territory to sneak undesirables across it. Newly deserted by her gambler husband, Ray’s ideally placed to accompany Lila on these jaunts, nocturnal missions over treacherous terrain. Suspicion melts into grudging respect as the ladies learn they have more in common than they first thought. When things go tits-up, though, will it be every smuggler for herself? Hunt – whose screenplay deservedly picked up River’s other Golden Baldie nod – keeps the action spare and gripping, especially during a sequence when Ray and Lila discover they have accidentally left a baby out in the snow. By its close, though, her film has thawed into something rather different: a touching portrait of solidarity, self-sacrifice and simple human decency. Some might find this a disappointingly low-key ending to a story that had seemed headed in a more dramatic trajectory. Yet it’s in keeping with a feature whose entire ethos – from producer Heather Rae and DoP Reed Morano to cutter Kate Williams – is about sisters carrying the can.
Verdict:
Leo and Upham make an unlikely double act in a finely written, well-played film with a striking plot and setting. Hunt’s clearly a name to watch; Leo, meanwhile, can look forward to finally getting the recognition, and roles, she deserves.
( http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/cinema/frozen-river )
Public Enemies (15)
“I like baseball, movies, good clothes, fast cars and you. What else do you need to know?” What, indeed? The short, fast life of ’30s American gangster John Dillinger is legend: he robbed banks that robbed the public, becoming a media sensation, a Depression-era folk hero and the fi rst Public Enemy Number One of J Edgar Hoover’s new FBI. After breaking out of every jail that held him, he was chased across America by G-man Melvin Purvis and at last famously shot dead by police outside the Biograph cinema in Chicago after watching a Clark Gable crime fl ick. We know this. Michael Mann knows this. And, throughout his “true story”, you can’t help feeling that Johnny Depp’s Dillinger knows it too. He’s a dead man walking from the moment we meet him. Meaning Mann’s movie isn’t a biopic, it’s an elegy – one long dying breath. When we do meet Dillinger, he’s already a Tommy-Gun-blazing master criminal, busting his men out of Indiana State Prison and roaring away under an epic blue-sky to a heroic soundtrack. A better title might have been The Man Who Shot John Dillinger. Like John Ford before him, Michael Mann loves to print the legend, turning cops and crims into duelling demi-Gods. Thing is, John Ford never printed the legend on HD. Armed with hyper-real, hi-def video cameras, Mann and Heat cinematographer Dante Spinotti make mythic movie-drama look like faux-documentary. This is not American Gangster. This is something else. Something much more startling in which ordinary scenes become electrifying experiences as Mann takes an old story and makes it feel new and unexpected. Framed in thrilling deep focus, Depp moves through familiar spaces – banks, restaurants, prisons, press conferences, wood cabins, cars, cinemas – that suddenly feel packed with fresh tension and atmosphere. Despite moving like a getaway wagon, the plot is the least interesting thing about Mann’s latest crime epic. This tale is really about the telling. Beyond the wild chases, daring jailbreaks and bank robberies, much of the movie unfolds in a weird twilight zone between docu-style reality and gorgeous mythmaking. Long before the breathlessly poignant final moments outside the Biograph, an eerie sequence sees Dillinger walking alone through a deserted police station. Better still is the surreal, funny scene in a packed cinema, where Dillinger sits sweating under the hot lights as a giant image of his face appears on screen while a public service announcement asks the packed auditorium to stay vigilant (“He could be the man sat next to you!”). It might be the movie’s best scene – try finding a better snapshot of the fame game’s seductive danger and dazzle. Public Enemies gets its coffee-shop moment, too, FBI hotshot Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) and Dillinger staring at each other through prison bars in an exchange of sharp lines and even more piercing silences. Initially looking too physically small to play a violent bank robber, Depp fills out the role of Dillinger with effortless charisma, authority and – most important of all – star wattage. But this is not Heat: we never sink into the life of Purvis or his rivalry with the gangster. Exploiting Bale’s trademark intensity, Mann keeps him a cipher. Same goes for Billy Crudup’s unctuous J Edgar Hoover and Stephen Graham as the sociopathic Baby Face Nelson. Like Crockett and Tubbs in Miami Vice, these characters actually have almost no real personality at all. But as we watch them attack their work with brutal efficiency, we have to take them deadly seriously. Not least because guns in a Michael Mann movie really sound like guns. Each deafening blam from characters’ pistols, rifles and submachine guns reverberates through your body as if you’d taken the bullet yourself. Public Enemies’ gun battles erupt with sudden, visceral force – never more so than in a woodland shootout between Purvis’ FBI hit squad and Dillinger’s crew, lensed by Mann at the infamous Little Bohemia Lodge where it actually took place. Hot lead thwacks into tree bark. Desperate breath and muzzle smoke fill the night air. Bodies are wrecked by the carnage. But as ever in Mann’s world, the real heat around the corner is the romance that’s just out of reach. From Manhunter to The Last Of The Mohicans to Heat to Miami Vice, Mann’s career is a secret string of beautiful, impossible love stories. Here it’s La Vie En Rose Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard as Dillinger’s girlfriend Billie Frechette. It’s their story that gives Public Enemies its touching, tragic heartbeat, as she and Depp become two lost souls clinging to moments of a freedom they know can’t last. As the man says, “What else do you need to know?”
Verdict:
Call it the anti-American Gangster. And we mean that as a compliment. This superstar crime thriller emerges as something surprising, fascinating and technically dazzling. Don’t expect a Hollywood movie. Expect a Michael Mann movie.
( http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/cinema/public-enemies )
The Last House On The Left (18)
Horror remakes are like spots: they mostly target teens and no one asks for them. Still, Wes Craven’s 1972 exploitationer was ripe for an update. Made for buttons, dated and really not that great in the first place, it’s a remake of sorts itself, based on Bergman’s The Virgin Spring (in turn based on a medieval Swedish ballad). Craven is on board as producer for this rehash, which shares plot, structure and characters with his original: two teenage friends (Sara Paxton, Martha MacIssac) are sexually brutalised by an escaped con (Garret Dillahunt) and his gang of sadists before the tables are turned when the attackers unwittingly seek sanctuary with one of the girls’ parents (Tony Goldwyn, Monica Potter). But beneath the surface, the two films couldn’t be more different. Because despite some shonky acting, ill-advised comedy and a dreadful score, Last House ’72 still felt raw, real – assimilating, distressing news footage from ’Nam to turn viewers stomachs. It was dangerous where this is safe, dirty where this is glossy, genre-breaking where this is generic, influential where this is derivative and political where this verges on irrelevance. Helmed with impersonal polish by sophomore director Dennis Illadis, Last House is a competently made rape-revenge thriller. It’s a tidy little Holly-horror, where motives are clearcut, morality is black and white and retribution is glib and guiltless. Tension is built with workmanlike efficiency and there’s generous gore. But there’s nothing really to fear – and despite reasonable performances, it’s hard to give a monkey’s about any of the characters. In isolation, it’s adequate but throwaway. In comparison with Craven? We’d rather feel sick than feel nothing.
Verdict:
A passable, pointless remake that’s as slick as it is empty. At least they scrapped the jaunty score and cop capers – but if you only watch one shiny, violent revenger this year, make it Taken.
( http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/cinema/the-last-house-on-the-left-1 )
I read through the above three film reviews to gain an idea of the conventions involved within the writing and structure. The first thing I noticed about each review is that at the top of the page next to the film title is a star rating. This gives the reader an idea about the content of the review before they begin to read it. The start of each review gives a brief outline of the film without revealing any of the surprise elements or plot ending. This allows the reader to first make their own decision on whether the film itself would be relevant to their personal preferences. The review structure leads on to discuss how well the film itself is constructed and the acting abilities shown within. The reviews also compare the movies to others of a similar plot line and themes. Each reviews the ends with an overall verdict of the films. The verdict itself seems to be quite blunt using many adjectives to enhance points that are made. All the verdicts are clean cut with a definite conclusive opinion shown about the films.
Specification for film review
- Must have a star rating.
- Must begin with a brief description of the film plot.
- The body of the text must contain a critical analysis of the film.
- The review must end conclusively.
Subsidiary Task - Poster Research
Conventions of horror/film noir posters:
From looking at these posters I have found that there seems to be a common theme on the colors of blacks, whites and reds. Most of the posters also seem to have their image as a close up of a person or body part. The image itself seems to be suggestive of themes in the film itself. Also a couple of the posters included a slogan which suggests themes. There does not seem to be a convention on the placing of text but the film title is generally the largest piece of text on the poster. Also text is mostly kept to a minimum.
Specification for poster
- Must use the colors black and white and other dark colors.
- Must have a close up image shot.
- The film title must be the largest text on the screen.
- The text must use a contrasting color to the background.
From looking at these posters I have found that there seems to be a common theme on the colors of blacks, whites and reds. Most of the posters also seem to have their image as a close up of a person or body part. The image itself seems to be suggestive of themes in the film itself. Also a couple of the posters included a slogan which suggests themes. There does not seem to be a convention on the placing of text but the film title is generally the largest piece of text on the poster. Also text is mostly kept to a minimum.
Specification for poster
- Must use the colors black and white and other dark colors.
- Must have a close up image shot.
- The film title must be the largest text on the screen.
- The text must use a contrasting color to the background.
Subsidiary Task - Poster Research
To help with my own poster design I am researching existing posters of the same genres to see if I could find any conventions amongst them.
Poster for ‘Shutter’
This poster has a plain white background which is a close up of someone’s face connoting that they are somewhat ghost like. The text for the poster is all at the base of the page in black fonts. Consuming the top and center of the page is a picture of an eye from which you can see finger tips as if someone were coming out of the eye.
Poster for ‘The Eye’
Poster for ‘Shutter’
This poster uses dark colors like brown black red. Also, white is used for text to make it clear on top of the background. The heading of the movie is quite small in the bottom right of the poster. At the top of the poster are names of films that the director has also produced. The main aspect of the poster is a close up of a persons face made up of other pictures. With the face in the picture being made from lighter pictures it makes it stand against the back clearly with the eyes and mouth also dark, making them dominant features.
Poster for ‘Stay Alive’
This poster is mostly a red and black background. The text on the poster is in white making it stand out against the darker background. The main focus of this poster is a close up of hands in chains holding a game remote. This reflects the slogan at the top of the poster which says: ‘You Die In The Game – You Die For Real’. The slogan helps to reflect the themes of the film and give the audience an insight of what is to come.
Poster for ‘The Exorcist’
This poster has a plain white background which is a close up of someone’s face connoting that they are somewhat ghost like. The text for the poster is all at the base of the page in black fonts. Consuming the top and center of the page is a picture of an eye from which you can see finger tips as if someone were coming out of the eye.
Poster for ‘The Eye’
This poster has a plain white background which is a close up of someone’s face connoting that they are somewhat ghost like. The text for the poster is all at the base of the page in black fonts. Consuming the top and center of the page is a picture of an eye from which you can see finger tips as if someone were coming out of the eye.
Poster for ‘The Spirit’
This poster uses a black back drop and close up of half of a woman’s face. The hat and glasses she is wearing connotes that she is some type of a detective. He face is a lighter color than the background being in grey allowing the text placed upon her cheek to be black. The other text found on the poster is white and red.
Film Specification
From my film research I have decided to make a specification for the 5 minute film that I will be creating.
Specification for 5 minute film
- Must contain a certain psychological/revenge theme.
- Must use modern music throughout the film.
- Must end on a cliff hanger.
- The villain should not be made obvious throughout.
- Should be 3 main characters.
- Should use fading techniques when changing the scene.
- The film should have a graveyard/church location within it.
- The villain should be a female character.
- Must be set in the past.
Specification for 5 minute film
- Must contain a certain psychological/revenge theme.
- Must use modern music throughout the film.
- Must end on a cliff hanger.
- The villain should not be made obvious throughout.
- Should be 3 main characters.
- Should use fading techniques when changing the scene.
- The film should have a graveyard/church location within it.
- The villain should be a female character.
- Must be set in the past.
Questionnaire Results
Are you…
Male – 48% Female 52%
What age category do you fall into…
10 – 20 – 48% 21 – 30 – 44% 31 – 40 – 8% 41 + - 0%
Within a horror/film noir what theme would interest you most…
Revenge – 40% Psychological – 44% Jealousy – 16%
Within which time period would you like the film to be based…
Past – 72% Present Day – 20% Futuristic – 8%
What location would you find best for a horror/film noir…
Graveyard/Church – 44% Forest – 24% A Characters House – 16% Hotel – 8%
How many main characters would you like in the film…
1 – 12% 2 – 24% 3 – 52%
What type of ‘bad’ character would you like to see…
Male – 8% Female – 56% Supernatural – 24%
Would you like the villain of the film to be made obvious…
Yes – 28% No – 72%
Would you like the editing to use straight cuts between scenes or make use of fading techniques…
Straight Cuts – 24% Fading Techniques – 76%
Would you like the mise-en-scene (everything on the screen) to be simple or intertwined with the plot of the film (e.g. clues to a murder)…
Simple – 20% Intertwined – 80%
What type of music would you prefer to see in the film…
Classic with Lyrics – 4% Classic without Lyrics -24% Modern with Lyrics – 28% Modern without Lyrics – 44%
Would you like to see inter-titles within the film…
Yes – 44% No – 56%
How would you like the film to end…
Conclusively – 24% On A Cliffhanger – 76%
- From my questionnaire results I found that there is not any significant difference between each gender in my demographic. Also I found that most of my demographic are aged from 10 to 20 or 21-30.
- When asked about the theme that would like to be viewed in my film, ‘psychological’ came out with the most votes and ‘revenge’ with one less vote than that. This means that in my film I may combine the two of them as they were so closely selected.
- Due to my questionnaire I have decided that I will be using a graveyard/church location within my film, although I will most probably use a mix of different locations.
- 13 people within my questionnaire checked the selection for the film to have 3 main characters which was more than the amount of people that chose 2 or 1 main characters. By far the most people selected for the ‘bad’ character in the movie to be a female human. It was also made clear in the questionnaire that people do not wish this character to be made obvious through the film.
- Within the editing of my film I will be using fading techniques opposed to just straight cuts due to my questionnaire results. Also my demographic wish the mise en scene involved to be intertwined with the plot of the film.
- For my film I will be using modern music, a mixture of with and without music. Also I will not be using inter-titles as I previously found are used within many silent films. Finally my movie will be ending on a cliff hanger and not conclusively.
Male – 48% Female 52%
What age category do you fall into…
10 – 20 – 48% 21 – 30 – 44% 31 – 40 – 8% 41 + - 0%
Within a horror/film noir what theme would interest you most…
Revenge – 40% Psychological – 44% Jealousy – 16%
Within which time period would you like the film to be based…
Past – 72% Present Day – 20% Futuristic – 8%
What location would you find best for a horror/film noir…
Graveyard/Church – 44% Forest – 24% A Characters House – 16% Hotel – 8%
How many main characters would you like in the film…
1 – 12% 2 – 24% 3 – 52%
What type of ‘bad’ character would you like to see…
Male – 8% Female – 56% Supernatural – 24%
Would you like the villain of the film to be made obvious…
Yes – 28% No – 72%
Would you like the editing to use straight cuts between scenes or make use of fading techniques…
Straight Cuts – 24% Fading Techniques – 76%
Would you like the mise-en-scene (everything on the screen) to be simple or intertwined with the plot of the film (e.g. clues to a murder)…
Simple – 20% Intertwined – 80%
What type of music would you prefer to see in the film…
Classic with Lyrics – 4% Classic without Lyrics -24% Modern with Lyrics – 28% Modern without Lyrics – 44%
Would you like to see inter-titles within the film…
Yes – 44% No – 56%
How would you like the film to end…
Conclusively – 24% On A Cliffhanger – 76%
- From my questionnaire results I found that there is not any significant difference between each gender in my demographic. Also I found that most of my demographic are aged from 10 to 20 or 21-30.
- When asked about the theme that would like to be viewed in my film, ‘psychological’ came out with the most votes and ‘revenge’ with one less vote than that. This means that in my film I may combine the two of them as they were so closely selected.
- Due to my questionnaire I have decided that I will be using a graveyard/church location within my film, although I will most probably use a mix of different locations.
- 13 people within my questionnaire checked the selection for the film to have 3 main characters which was more than the amount of people that chose 2 or 1 main characters. By far the most people selected for the ‘bad’ character in the movie to be a female human. It was also made clear in the questionnaire that people do not wish this character to be made obvious through the film.
- Within the editing of my film I will be using fading techniques opposed to just straight cuts due to my questionnaire results. Also my demographic wish the mise en scene involved to be intertwined with the plot of the film.
- For my film I will be using modern music, a mixture of with and without music. Also I will not be using inter-titles as I previously found are used within many silent films. Finally my movie will be ending on a cliff hanger and not conclusively.
Questionnaire
To find out what the demographic for my movie would be and what they look for in a horror/film noir I made and distributed a questionnaire to 25 people.
This is a copy of my questionnaire:
Film Questionnaire
The film that I plan on making will be a black and white silent movie themed as horror/film noir.
(Film Noir - Typically American crime dramas or psychological thrillers, films noir had a number of common themes and plot devices, and many distinctive visual elements.)
Are you…
Male
Female
What age category do you fall into…
10 – 20
21 – 30
31 – 40
41 +
Within a horror/film noir what theme would interest you most…
Revenge
Psychological
Jealousy
Other - ……………………………………..
Within which time period would you like the film to be based…
Past
Present Day
Futuristic
What location would you find best for a horror/film noir…
Graveyard/Church
Forest
A Characters House (e.g. Dinner Party)
Hotel
Other - ……………………………………..
How many main characters would you like in the film…
1
2
3
Other - ……………………………………..
What type of ‘bad’ character would you like to see…
Human - Male
Female
Supernatural
Other - ……………………………………..
Would you like the villain of the film to be made obvious…
Yes
No
Would you like the editing to use straight cuts between scenes or make use of fading techniques…
Straight Cuts
Fading Techniques
Would you like the mise-en-scene (everything on the screen) to be simple or intertwined with the plot of the film (e.g. clues to a murder)…
Simple
Intertwined
What type of music would you prefer to see in the film…
Classic with Lyrics
Classic without Lyrics
Modern with Lyrics
Modern without Lyrics
Would you like to see inter-titles within the film…
Yes
No
How would you like the film to end…
Conclusively
On A Cliffhanger
This is a copy of my questionnaire:
Film Questionnaire
The film that I plan on making will be a black and white silent movie themed as horror/film noir.
(Film Noir - Typically American crime dramas or psychological thrillers, films noir had a number of common themes and plot devices, and many distinctive visual elements.)
Are you…
Male
Female
What age category do you fall into…
10 – 20
21 – 30
31 – 40
41 +
Within a horror/film noir what theme would interest you most…
Revenge
Psychological
Jealousy
Other - ……………………………………..
Within which time period would you like the film to be based…
Past
Present Day
Futuristic
What location would you find best for a horror/film noir…
Graveyard/Church
Forest
A Characters House (e.g. Dinner Party)
Hotel
Other - ……………………………………..
How many main characters would you like in the film…
1
2
3
Other - ……………………………………..
What type of ‘bad’ character would you like to see…
Human - Male
Female
Supernatural
Other - ……………………………………..
Would you like the villain of the film to be made obvious…
Yes
No
Would you like the editing to use straight cuts between scenes or make use of fading techniques…
Straight Cuts
Fading Techniques
Would you like the mise-en-scene (everything on the screen) to be simple or intertwined with the plot of the film (e.g. clues to a murder)…
Simple
Intertwined
What type of music would you prefer to see in the film…
Classic with Lyrics
Classic without Lyrics
Modern with Lyrics
Modern without Lyrics
Would you like to see inter-titles within the film…
Yes
No
How would you like the film to end…
Conclusively
On A Cliffhanger
Genre Research
Film Noir:
A style or genre of cinematographic film marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism and menace.
( Concise Oxford Dictionary. Published 2001 by Oxford University Press.Inc, New York )
The classic era of film noir is usually dated to a period between the early 1940s and the late 1950s. Typically American crime dramas or psychological thrillers, films noir had a number of common themes and plot devices, and many distinctive visual elements. Characters were often conflicted antiheroes, trapped in a difficult situation and making choices out of desperation or nihilistic moral systems. Visual elements included low-key lighting, striking use of light and shadow, and unusual camera placement.
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo_noir )
Existing movies of this genre:
The Maltese Falcon; Double Indemnity; The Big Sleep; Sunset Boulevard; The Third Man.
( http://digitaldreamdoor.nutsie.com/pages/movie-pages/movie_film_noir.php )
Conventions of a film noir movie:
Film noir is not a genre that I am particularly familiar with. To see more of this genre and learn the conventions I watched the movie ‘The Big Sleep’. Downbeat, black themes are generally shown in the form of detective and crime films. The film noir period was generally that between the 1940’s and early 1950’s, following the war. A wide range of films reflected the resultant tensions and insecurities of the time period. Fear, mistrust, bleakness, loss of innocence, despair and paranoia are readily evident in noir films with the endings rarely happy or optimistic.
Very often, a film noir story was developed around a cynical, hard-hearted, disillusioned male character who encountered a beautiful but promiscuous, amoral, double-dealing and seductive ‘femme fatale’. She would use her feminine wiles and alluring sexuality to manipulate him into becoming the fall guy; often following a murder. After a betrayal or double-cross, she was frequently destroyed as well, often at the cost of the hero's life.
Film noir films were marked visually by expressionistic lighting, deep-focus or depth of field camera work, disorienting visual schemes, jarring editing or juxtaposition of elements, ominous shadows, skewed camera angles (usually vertical or diagonal rather than horizontal), circling cigarette smoke, existential sensibilities, and unbalanced or moody compositions.
Settings were often interiors with low-key (or single-source) lighting, venetian-blinded windows and rooms, and dark, claustrophobic, gloomy appearances. Exteriors were often urban night scenes with deep shadows, wet asphalt, dark alleyways, rain-slicked or mean streets, flashing neon lights, and low key lighting. Story locations were often in murky and dark streets, dimly-lit and low-rent apartments and hotel rooms of big cities, or abandoned warehouses.
A style or genre of cinematographic film marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism and menace.
( Concise Oxford Dictionary. Published 2001 by Oxford University Press.Inc, New York )
The classic era of film noir is usually dated to a period between the early 1940s and the late 1950s. Typically American crime dramas or psychological thrillers, films noir had a number of common themes and plot devices, and many distinctive visual elements. Characters were often conflicted antiheroes, trapped in a difficult situation and making choices out of desperation or nihilistic moral systems. Visual elements included low-key lighting, striking use of light and shadow, and unusual camera placement.
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo_noir )
Existing movies of this genre:
The Maltese Falcon; Double Indemnity; The Big Sleep; Sunset Boulevard; The Third Man.
( http://digitaldreamdoor.nutsie.com/pages/movie-pages/movie_film_noir.php )
Conventions of a film noir movie:
Film noir is not a genre that I am particularly familiar with. To see more of this genre and learn the conventions I watched the movie ‘The Big Sleep’. Downbeat, black themes are generally shown in the form of detective and crime films. The film noir period was generally that between the 1940’s and early 1950’s, following the war. A wide range of films reflected the resultant tensions and insecurities of the time period. Fear, mistrust, bleakness, loss of innocence, despair and paranoia are readily evident in noir films with the endings rarely happy or optimistic.
Very often, a film noir story was developed around a cynical, hard-hearted, disillusioned male character who encountered a beautiful but promiscuous, amoral, double-dealing and seductive ‘femme fatale’. She would use her feminine wiles and alluring sexuality to manipulate him into becoming the fall guy; often following a murder. After a betrayal or double-cross, she was frequently destroyed as well, often at the cost of the hero's life.
Film noir films were marked visually by expressionistic lighting, deep-focus or depth of field camera work, disorienting visual schemes, jarring editing or juxtaposition of elements, ominous shadows, skewed camera angles (usually vertical or diagonal rather than horizontal), circling cigarette smoke, existential sensibilities, and unbalanced or moody compositions.
Settings were often interiors with low-key (or single-source) lighting, venetian-blinded windows and rooms, and dark, claustrophobic, gloomy appearances. Exteriors were often urban night scenes with deep shadows, wet asphalt, dark alleyways, rain-slicked or mean streets, flashing neon lights, and low key lighting. Story locations were often in murky and dark streets, dimly-lit and low-rent apartments and hotel rooms of big cities, or abandoned warehouses.
Genre Research
Horror :
Horror films are movies that strive to elicit the emotions of fear, horror and terror from viewers. Their plots frequently involve themes of death, the supernatural or mental illness. Many horror movies also include a central villain. Early horror movies are largely based on classic literature of the gothic/horror genre, such as Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Phantom of the Opera and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. More recent horror films, in contrast, often draw inspiration from the insecurities of life after World War II, giving rise to the three distinct, but related, sub-genres: the horror-of-personality Psycho film, the horror-of-Armageddon Invasion of the Body Snatchers film, and the horror-of-the-demonic The Exorcist film. The last sub-genre may be seen as a modernized transition from the earliest horror films, expanding on their emphasis on supernatural agents that bring horror to the world.
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_film )
In horror film plots, evil forces, events, or characters, sometimes of supernatural origin, intrude into the everyday world. Horror film characters include vampires, zombies, monsters, serial killers, and a range of other fear-inspiring characters.
( http://www.artandpopularculture.com/Horror_film )
Existing movies of this genre:
Psycho; Alien; The Shining; The Thing; The Exorcist; Halloween.
( http://www.imdb.com/chart/horror )
Conventions of a horror movie:
Horror is a genre I am familiar with due to watching many movies of this film type. Whilst collecting information on horror conventions I chose to view the movie Dracula which is considered to be classic horror. The supernatural is considered a large part of the horror genre which is generally associated with the character types chosen: Zombies, Werewolves, Vampires, etc. Locations such as a church, forest and mental asylum were shown within this specific film and are also often shown in other horror films.
A variety of camera shots and movements are used throughout. There was a use of zoom to move from extreme close ups to long shots or visa versa. The close ups used are to show facial expressions of characters and specific props or items of importance. Master shots are used to give the setting for each scene and include main characters for that scene. Low angles are used before an attack occurs to establish the vulnerability of the victim. Point of view shots are also commonly used within the horror genre, generally from the perspective of the attacker/murderer.
Editing in this film is used extensively, but this is not necessarily considered true for all films of this type. The transitions used tend to be straight cuts or fading. In ‘Dracula’ it uses a fade up to move between some scenes combined with a sound bridge to give a continuous effect. The lighting in this particular type of film is commonly low key using candles as sole sources of lighting. As I viewed ‘Dracula’ I noticed a use of the light alongside shadows to create tension and fear within the audience. Blood is used as a main characteristic of the mise en scene involved in horror movies
Non-diegetic sound seems to be a large part of horror movies helping to build tension and set ominous tones. Music is used throughout to present the moods and atmospheres. Similarly silence can be used to create tones and tension just as well as music. Horror movies also use extreme panning of the sound in the speakers to give an all around effect. Narration is used within ‘Dracula’ to help set the scenes and establish the characters.
Horror films are movies that strive to elicit the emotions of fear, horror and terror from viewers. Their plots frequently involve themes of death, the supernatural or mental illness. Many horror movies also include a central villain. Early horror movies are largely based on classic literature of the gothic/horror genre, such as Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Phantom of the Opera and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. More recent horror films, in contrast, often draw inspiration from the insecurities of life after World War II, giving rise to the three distinct, but related, sub-genres: the horror-of-personality Psycho film, the horror-of-Armageddon Invasion of the Body Snatchers film, and the horror-of-the-demonic The Exorcist film. The last sub-genre may be seen as a modernized transition from the earliest horror films, expanding on their emphasis on supernatural agents that bring horror to the world.
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_film )
In horror film plots, evil forces, events, or characters, sometimes of supernatural origin, intrude into the everyday world. Horror film characters include vampires, zombies, monsters, serial killers, and a range of other fear-inspiring characters.
( http://www.artandpopularculture.com/Horror_film )
Existing movies of this genre:
Psycho; Alien; The Shining; The Thing; The Exorcist; Halloween.
( http://www.imdb.com/chart/horror )
Conventions of a horror movie:
Horror is a genre I am familiar with due to watching many movies of this film type. Whilst collecting information on horror conventions I chose to view the movie Dracula which is considered to be classic horror. The supernatural is considered a large part of the horror genre which is generally associated with the character types chosen: Zombies, Werewolves, Vampires, etc. Locations such as a church, forest and mental asylum were shown within this specific film and are also often shown in other horror films.
A variety of camera shots and movements are used throughout. There was a use of zoom to move from extreme close ups to long shots or visa versa. The close ups used are to show facial expressions of characters and specific props or items of importance. Master shots are used to give the setting for each scene and include main characters for that scene. Low angles are used before an attack occurs to establish the vulnerability of the victim. Point of view shots are also commonly used within the horror genre, generally from the perspective of the attacker/murderer.
Editing in this film is used extensively, but this is not necessarily considered true for all films of this type. The transitions used tend to be straight cuts or fading. In ‘Dracula’ it uses a fade up to move between some scenes combined with a sound bridge to give a continuous effect. The lighting in this particular type of film is commonly low key using candles as sole sources of lighting. As I viewed ‘Dracula’ I noticed a use of the light alongside shadows to create tension and fear within the audience. Blood is used as a main characteristic of the mise en scene involved in horror movies
Non-diegetic sound seems to be a large part of horror movies helping to build tension and set ominous tones. Music is used throughout to present the moods and atmospheres. Similarly silence can be used to create tones and tension just as well as music. Horror movies also use extreme panning of the sound in the speakers to give an all around effect. Narration is used within ‘Dracula’ to help set the scenes and establish the characters.
Tuesday 8 September 2009
Initial Ideas and Research
The brief I have decided to select for my A2 project is the 5 minute film.
Initial Ideas
- Hybrid of the genres film noir and horror.
- Movie filmed in black and white.
- Silent movie with only music for effect.
5 Minute Film.
Conventions of a 5 minute film:
Whilst searching for a 5 minute film to view I came across a 4 minute film noir which I viewed and noted conventions that I observed. This film took place in an office and was a conversation between two men. One man was standing a scruffily dressed whilst the other, a detective, was sitting and well dressed. The detective was telling a story to the other about a femme fatal character, the type of ten shown within a film noir. Three shot types were used through out: over the shoulder; shot reverse shot and mid shots. There was not much mise en scene within this film; smoke was used in the background with low key lighting. A non-diegetic tune was continuously playing through the clip not changing pace or tone.
( http://blip.tv/file/2019824/ )
This 5 minute film was a British gangster film. It consisted of 6 characters in total with 3 main characters. The main characters were always dressed smartly in suits. The film used a variety of angles. It often had the camera behind the actors as they would walk away. Over the shoulder shots were often used as the characters were talking. There was steady camera work used until the fight scenes in which a handheld style was used. Long shots were used often to set scenes and established the characters within the area. In editing straight cuts were used. The mise en scene used blood to accentuate the violence displayed in the scenes. As the film ended the shot froze and the light intensified signifying the end of the film.
(http://blip.tv/file/1952045/ )
From watching these 5 minute films I did not see an established structure that is used. I did however notice that neither film used an excess amount of characters which is probably due to the time available to give them a defined character within the plot. Also some shot types for instance the long shot and over the shoulder shot are used frequently within both. A variety of zooms and angles are also conventions used within the 5 minute films.
Silent Film.
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially spoken dialogue. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as film itself, but because of the technical challenges involved, synchronized dialogue was only made possible in the late 1920s with the introduction of the vitaphone system.
Because silent films had no synchronized sound for dialogue, onscreen inter-titles were used to narrate story points, present key dialogue and sometimes even comment on the action for the cinema audience. The title writer became a key professional in silent film and was often separate from the scenario writer who created the story. Inter-titles (or titles as they were generally called at the time) often became graphic elements themselves, featuring illustrations or abstract decoration that commented on the action.
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_film )
Initial Ideas
- Hybrid of the genres film noir and horror.
- Movie filmed in black and white.
- Silent movie with only music for effect.
5 Minute Film.
Conventions of a 5 minute film:
Whilst searching for a 5 minute film to view I came across a 4 minute film noir which I viewed and noted conventions that I observed. This film took place in an office and was a conversation between two men. One man was standing a scruffily dressed whilst the other, a detective, was sitting and well dressed. The detective was telling a story to the other about a femme fatal character, the type of ten shown within a film noir. Three shot types were used through out: over the shoulder; shot reverse shot and mid shots. There was not much mise en scene within this film; smoke was used in the background with low key lighting. A non-diegetic tune was continuously playing through the clip not changing pace or tone.
( http://blip.tv/file/2019824/ )
This 5 minute film was a British gangster film. It consisted of 6 characters in total with 3 main characters. The main characters were always dressed smartly in suits. The film used a variety of angles. It often had the camera behind the actors as they would walk away. Over the shoulder shots were often used as the characters were talking. There was steady camera work used until the fight scenes in which a handheld style was used. Long shots were used often to set scenes and established the characters within the area. In editing straight cuts were used. The mise en scene used blood to accentuate the violence displayed in the scenes. As the film ended the shot froze and the light intensified signifying the end of the film.
(http://blip.tv/file/1952045/ )
From watching these 5 minute films I did not see an established structure that is used. I did however notice that neither film used an excess amount of characters which is probably due to the time available to give them a defined character within the plot. Also some shot types for instance the long shot and over the shoulder shot are used frequently within both. A variety of zooms and angles are also conventions used within the 5 minute films.
Silent Film.
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially spoken dialogue. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as film itself, but because of the technical challenges involved, synchronized dialogue was only made possible in the late 1920s with the introduction of the vitaphone system.
Because silent films had no synchronized sound for dialogue, onscreen inter-titles were used to narrate story points, present key dialogue and sometimes even comment on the action for the cinema audience. The title writer became a key professional in silent film and was often separate from the scenario writer who created the story. Inter-titles (or titles as they were generally called at the time) often became graphic elements themselves, featuring illustrations or abstract decoration that commented on the action.
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_film )
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