Tuesday 24 February 2009
So what's next?
We are currently in the process of making a question are so we can carry out some market research so we can get an idea of what our story line should be.
Hermeneutic Codes
For us to give our film a convincing story line we have studied Hermeneutic Codes.
The opening sequence I have chosen the is the first 2minutes of the 2001 thriller vanilla sky, I will address the hermeneutic code theory of how film story lines are constructed. The hermeneutic code is one of six codes laid out by Roland Barthes.
The very start of the opening sequence is an ariel shot of an expensive looking new york apartment this is already maintaining the audiences interest in the film. The camera then cuts to a room it's a simple but hight class looking room, as the camera pans a flat screen tv is seen again this holds the interest of the audience it also teases the audience showing them expensive brand new technology. The camera carries on panning and ends up looking at the main character asleep in bed in the shot an expensive looking music system beside the bed is seen again teasing and holding the audiences attention.
The character, played by Tom Cruise awakes and turns the tv off and the TV sinks into the floor this is a key hermeneutic feature called equivocation meaning a mixture of truth and snare and futurist items. The TV sinking into the floor shows future design and wealth. This grabs the audiences attention again by making them think is the film set in the future. As Tom walks across the room the camera follows him he appears to be an average Joe character living a millionaire life style. It cuts to the bathroom and the character shows how vain he is as he plucks his grey hair. This questions the audience, as they don't know who he is or what he does, is he a model or a playboy millionaire. Again it cuts to a shot of him getting dressed still holding the audience as they want to find out who he was. Once dressed he picks up a rolex watch a stereotypical item of wealthy people, as he picks up the watch he also picks up a huge wod of money confirming his wealth. It cuts again to a shot of him walking out his apartment the camera is fixed and captures how big the apartment is.
The hermeneutic code is still in full use as the shot cuts to a shot of Tom in a Ferrari as he goes to pull out of his car park he looks left and right and the street is empty. A very unusual sight for the centre of newyork this again keeps the viewers interest. As he progresses through the city every street is empty he arrives at times square (the centre of newyork) and even that is empty. The empty city and the not know who he is keeps the audience interested and forces them to keep watching. He gets out the car and starts running, the shot jumps back to the first shot of the scene, exactly the same as it appeared at the start and as it pans down to the bed he jumps awake and the previous scene is represented as a dream.
This is where the two minutes were up. In the scene the audience is taken on a ride of suspense and interest. The opening sequence really sets the tone of the film. The sequence sticks to every rule of the Hermeneutic Code. AS the film progresses it still sticks to the code right up till the end.
The opening sequence I have chosen the is the first 2minutes of the 2001 thriller vanilla sky, I will address the hermeneutic code theory of how film story lines are constructed. The hermeneutic code is one of six codes laid out by Roland Barthes.
The very start of the opening sequence is an ariel shot of an expensive looking new york apartment this is already maintaining the audiences interest in the film. The camera then cuts to a room it's a simple but hight class looking room, as the camera pans a flat screen tv is seen again this holds the interest of the audience it also teases the audience showing them expensive brand new technology. The camera carries on panning and ends up looking at the main character asleep in bed in the shot an expensive looking music system beside the bed is seen again teasing and holding the audiences attention.
The character, played by Tom Cruise awakes and turns the tv off and the TV sinks into the floor this is a key hermeneutic feature called equivocation meaning a mixture of truth and snare and futurist items. The TV sinking into the floor shows future design and wealth. This grabs the audiences attention again by making them think is the film set in the future. As Tom walks across the room the camera follows him he appears to be an average Joe character living a millionaire life style. It cuts to the bathroom and the character shows how vain he is as he plucks his grey hair. This questions the audience, as they don't know who he is or what he does, is he a model or a playboy millionaire. Again it cuts to a shot of him getting dressed still holding the audience as they want to find out who he was. Once dressed he picks up a rolex watch a stereotypical item of wealthy people, as he picks up the watch he also picks up a huge wod of money confirming his wealth. It cuts again to a shot of him walking out his apartment the camera is fixed and captures how big the apartment is.
The hermeneutic code is still in full use as the shot cuts to a shot of Tom in a Ferrari as he goes to pull out of his car park he looks left and right and the street is empty. A very unusual sight for the centre of newyork this again keeps the viewers interest. As he progresses through the city every street is empty he arrives at times square (the centre of newyork) and even that is empty. The empty city and the not know who he is keeps the audience interested and forces them to keep watching. He gets out the car and starts running, the shot jumps back to the first shot of the scene, exactly the same as it appeared at the start and as it pans down to the bed he jumps awake and the previous scene is represented as a dream.
This is where the two minutes were up. In the scene the audience is taken on a ride of suspense and interest. The opening sequence really sets the tone of the film. The sequence sticks to every rule of the Hermeneutic Code. AS the film progresses it still sticks to the code right up till the end.
Half Term fun location hunting
In half term me and the group went out to do some location hunting, we found 3 locations that we hope to use. Here are some photos we took.
This is a possible location for our forest scene.
A possible location for our 'chase'
More Forest
See link for more photos.
http://gallery.me.com/oliclubb#100039
This is a possible location for our forest scene.
A possible location for our 'chase'
More Forest
See link for more photos.
http://gallery.me.com/oliclubb#100039
Brain storming for final film
We had a brain storm prior to drawing up story boards and location hunting, in the session we agreed on what we wanted to achieve. We used apples Keynote
Preliminary sequence analysis
For our sequence there were four of us in the group, me and another started in the sequence and the other two filmed, before we started filming we spent a lesson brain storming ideas of what we could do we decided on a short clip of a man trying to change the world, the sequence has a small amount of dialog between to characters. After we had done this we then story boarded our sequence we did 12 frames, which were very detailed.
We shot the sequence in our school, this was the easiest and quickest way for us to shot the sequence as it didn’t involve spending time trying to find the right location. Shooting in the school also meant that if we needed to re-shoot a scene the environment wouldn’t of changed.
All we used to shot the sequence was two mini DV cameras and nothing else. The DV cameras were the only cameras available to us, although they have a low sound and picture quality it’s very easy to upload our sequence on to the Macs. The DV cameras also gave our sequence a good amateur feel. By not using tri-pods the sequence adopted the feel we wanted.
Our editing went very well as our continuity between cuts was excellent. Final cut pro was amazing as it meant we could edit the sequence to how we wanted it. The camera work went really well as we didn’t have to re-shoot any thing we had got all the shots we wanted and we wanted them. We didn’t face to many difficulties the only one was finding a key to the room we wanted but we found the key pretty quickly and didn’t waste too much time. Of course it would have been a lot better if we had arranged this first.
Overall the group and I are very pleased with our preliminary sequence because its turn out very well and is made to a high standard for our first major piece. To improve the seqence we could of used better quality cameras and better sound capturing equipment.
I have learn a lot of lessons from the sequence, I think for my next film i will use a tri-pod as it greatly improves the quality of the shot. I have also learned how to use final cut pro which I am still learning how to use. I have also learn that storyboards are key as they meant our sequence was easier to shot and quicker.
Here are a few screen shots of us editing our sequence,
We used final cut express
Here you can see the time line where we added non-diagetic sounds.
As you can see we have changed the out put volume of the music so the dialogue can be herd.
And finally we faded the sequence out to end the film.
We shot the sequence in our school, this was the easiest and quickest way for us to shot the sequence as it didn’t involve spending time trying to find the right location. Shooting in the school also meant that if we needed to re-shoot a scene the environment wouldn’t of changed.
All we used to shot the sequence was two mini DV cameras and nothing else. The DV cameras were the only cameras available to us, although they have a low sound and picture quality it’s very easy to upload our sequence on to the Macs. The DV cameras also gave our sequence a good amateur feel. By not using tri-pods the sequence adopted the feel we wanted.
Our editing went very well as our continuity between cuts was excellent. Final cut pro was amazing as it meant we could edit the sequence to how we wanted it. The camera work went really well as we didn’t have to re-shoot any thing we had got all the shots we wanted and we wanted them. We didn’t face to many difficulties the only one was finding a key to the room we wanted but we found the key pretty quickly and didn’t waste too much time. Of course it would have been a lot better if we had arranged this first.
Overall the group and I are very pleased with our preliminary sequence because its turn out very well and is made to a high standard for our first major piece. To improve the seqence we could of used better quality cameras and better sound capturing equipment.
I have learn a lot of lessons from the sequence, I think for my next film i will use a tri-pod as it greatly improves the quality of the shot. I have also learned how to use final cut pro which I am still learning how to use. I have also learn that storyboards are key as they meant our sequence was easier to shot and quicker.
Here are a few screen shots of us editing our sequence,
We used final cut express
Here you can see the time line where we added non-diagetic sounds.
As you can see we have changed the out put volume of the music so the dialogue can be herd.
And finally we faded the sequence out to end the film.
Preliminary Task storyboards
Before we started filming our preliminary task we had to story board the scenes we wanted to shot.This was a great help as it meant filming was very easy.
Analysis of opening sequence
In order to understand the conventions of opening film we studied the opening sequences of films in a similar genre to the one we tried to create.
I’ve looked at the first 2 minutes of Panic room. The first thing you see is the indent of Colombia distribution. It then fades into an establishing shot of the new your sky line, there is non-diagetic slow tempo classic music playing the music helps create an atmosphere of fear and anticipation. The audience can also hear the sounds of New York, car horns and the general sounds of a city can be heard. There are credits on screen that introduce key actors and companies that are in the film. The credits have been edited in and don't add any to the feel of the film. During the opening sequence it cuts to about 10 different shots of the city, all the shots are long shots. Some of the shots are high angle and ariel shots these confirm to the audience that they are in New York the shots, joined with the music create a very eerie presence. The opening sequence tells the audience that the film is going to be action packed.
The music is slow tempo, low-pitched classic music. It has what sounds like deep string instruments, which give the sequence a real feel. Between each shot there is a quick cut but because it is shot in slow motion the cuts seem quite naturally and you don't notice them the music also contributes to this. As I have said it is shot in New York, the location for the film is inner city New York leading the audience to believe that the film may have a darker side acting to the audiences stereotypical view that films shot in inner cities will be darker and have a crime element to them, which the film has.
After the 10 shots of the city it cuts to 3 characters walking down a street, the area looks like the upper class area this scene is totally different from the initial shots. There is one obvious dominant character as she is doing all the talking and the audience is lead to believe she is that main character but in fact she isn’t, this is not typical of most films as the key characters are shown or have a big part at the start off the film.
All of these features help to convince the audience that some thing bad is going to happen, the music is the main contributor to this as the music rises in volume and pitch to create suspense.
I’ve looked at the first 2 minutes of Panic room. The first thing you see is the indent of Colombia distribution. It then fades into an establishing shot of the new your sky line, there is non-diagetic slow tempo classic music playing the music helps create an atmosphere of fear and anticipation. The audience can also hear the sounds of New York, car horns and the general sounds of a city can be heard. There are credits on screen that introduce key actors and companies that are in the film. The credits have been edited in and don't add any to the feel of the film. During the opening sequence it cuts to about 10 different shots of the city, all the shots are long shots. Some of the shots are high angle and ariel shots these confirm to the audience that they are in New York the shots, joined with the music create a very eerie presence. The opening sequence tells the audience that the film is going to be action packed.
The music is slow tempo, low-pitched classic music. It has what sounds like deep string instruments, which give the sequence a real feel. Between each shot there is a quick cut but because it is shot in slow motion the cuts seem quite naturally and you don't notice them the music also contributes to this. As I have said it is shot in New York, the location for the film is inner city New York leading the audience to believe that the film may have a darker side acting to the audiences stereotypical view that films shot in inner cities will be darker and have a crime element to them, which the film has.
After the 10 shots of the city it cuts to 3 characters walking down a street, the area looks like the upper class area this scene is totally different from the initial shots. There is one obvious dominant character as she is doing all the talking and the audience is lead to believe she is that main character but in fact she isn’t, this is not typical of most films as the key characters are shown or have a big part at the start off the film.
All of these features help to convince the audience that some thing bad is going to happen, the music is the main contributor to this as the music rises in volume and pitch to create suspense.
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