Research into Generic TextsFor our first ideas we had a basic idea of plot lines. Our Russian/Robot sequence ---we are yet to find a video to take inspiration from... BUT for our second idea of a Venetian masked ball, I found many videos on You Tube that pointed us in the right direction... Eyes Wide Shut (masked ball) -
https://bac.hurtwood.net/owa/redir.aspx?C=9edeceded4f84ce0a83448933074538b&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.youtube.com%2fwatch%3fv%3dTHNzuF33tZo
- this video sends our idea down a more religious route... but the basic idea of someone looking for another person stays with our initial thoughts. Phantom of the Opera-
https://bac.hurtwood.net/owa/redir.aspx?C=9edeceded4f84ce0a83448933074538b&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.youtube.com%2fwatch%3fv%3dRxKjDUrmecA
- this video is purely to show the sort of atmosphere we want, but we are undecided as something as extravagant as this may be difficult to achieve. But these ideas are not as strong as our final idea; we really liked the way L.A. CONFIDENTIAL was shot, highlighting greens and reds. We also liked the idea of having an attractive woman being the focus of our enigma possibly dressed in a burlesque inspired outfit-. - We also wanted this sequence to have similarities in the way in which Quentin Tarantino works, he uses the basis of Film Noir, but changes it slightly making it unclear which time period the film is being set. He uses quirky images to create an enigma.
PLANET TERROR- https://bac.hurtwood.net/owa/redir.aspx?C=9edeceded4f84ce0a83448933074538b&URL=http%3a%2f%2fuk.youtube.com%2fwatch%3fv%3d3-Xh0iafCCY
When researching for the thriller, we discovered some of the specific conventions and functions of opening sequences. The mode-of-address is often edgy and mysterious, or completely random with a balanced equilibrium so the shock of the negative force often has more impact on the audience. The lighting is generally low key to create voyeurism and add to the tension. The font for the titles is always white and small, on a black background. The music is often slow, a mixture of high and low notes with piercing, tingling noises that create uneasiness and suspense. The pace is often slow and there is often a brave choice of editing such as a voyeuristic long shot. The opening sequence has to give us an idea of time and place and introduce a psychological setting and mood and introduce the characters. In our text, our psychological aspect is sexual taboos and violence and these two themes sit very competently together. We wanted to touch on gangsters and prostitution in England in the 1950s.
Thriller Shoot Planning
Location and Set
We had to find somewhere that was realistically 50s looking, or simple enough that we could use clever props to make it look 50s. We first decided that we would use Cornhill Manor but the paneled woodwork on the walls would not work to create our shadows. So, we decided on Ewhurst, as it looked 50s had easy to black out windows, bare walls perfect for projections/shadows and a door in the place we had planned on our storyboard. It was also close by and made it easy to transport the props and equipment there without fuss. The set was constructed purely using props.
CastingBurlesque Dancer- Hannah Templeton-CoxClub Owner - Jason Gilford
It took us a long time to decide who we wanted for our burlesque dancer, we didn’t want to use a student as they looked too young but we didn’t want to use someone who looked too old. There was also the slight factor of looks and we tried to get someone who looked from the 50s, especially someone who was comfortable in a corset and lingerie. Hannah is my AS Theatre Studies teacher and at the last minute I thought she would fit it perfectly and could not believe I hadn’t thought of her before. She agreed immediately and looked great in costume and as she has done professional work before, she worked really well and easily on our amateur production set.
Jason looks quite 50s and had experience acting in thrillers before and as he is our class teacher he knew exactly what we wanted from him.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Inspiration and rejection
Inspiration and rejection
We each had specific ideas about what we wanted from our thriller, but for me it was always a gangster, Sin City type storyline with typical Frank Miller/Tarantino direction styles and enigmas; stories that do not appear to have a specific story line straightaway and are carried by the characters and audiences questions. We rejected ideas about Russian communist robots as we thought the idea would be too complicated to get across in 2 minutes without money and good props/costumes. Our next idea was a sort of Tropic Thunder style (well, in as much as filming a film during the film) and having a ballroom full of masked people (think Phantom of the Opera and Eyes Wide Shut), with a director and camera man on set, them someone is murdered during the break. But again, location, complexity and money stopped us from this idea. But, we did like the idea of a twisted relationship between people and we watched Planet Terror and liked the idea of a stripper/dancer. So we came together and mixed all our ideas and came up with a gangster/burlesque club in Britain in the 1950s and we’ve made brave choices with long shots and shadow use and we think it works.
We each had specific ideas about what we wanted from our thriller, but for me it was always a gangster, Sin City type storyline with typical Frank Miller/Tarantino direction styles and enigmas; stories that do not appear to have a specific story line straightaway and are carried by the characters and audiences questions. We rejected ideas about Russian communist robots as we thought the idea would be too complicated to get across in 2 minutes without money and good props/costumes. Our next idea was a sort of Tropic Thunder style (well, in as much as filming a film during the film) and having a ballroom full of masked people (think Phantom of the Opera and Eyes Wide Shut), with a director and camera man on set, them someone is murdered during the break. But again, location, complexity and money stopped us from this idea. But, we did like the idea of a twisted relationship between people and we watched Planet Terror and liked the idea of a stripper/dancer. So we came together and mixed all our ideas and came up with a gangster/burlesque club in Britain in the 1950s and we’ve made brave choices with long shots and shadow use and we think it works.
Thriller Research - Clips and analysis
Thriller research
Here are some links to a few clips of generic texts that are research for our opening sequence.
LA Confiential: We wanted to capture the style of this piece and have used ideas for costumes and characters for our opening. We've also set our piece in a similar time period in America http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XfRdagD7Tw
Pulp Fiction: We want our opening to be in the style of Quentin Tarantino and re-create the way he uses quirky ideas and images to throw the audience and create enigma.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAULRFV5-AM
Planet Terror: The colours and the dancing from the opening sequnce. Tarantino connotes his time period by props and costumes and we are never sure of the time period. It is a more contemporary film noir.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgPnvAZoTx4
Sin City: For the style, the characters and the setting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5BwnPJ0sos
The Godfather: Operatic Grandeur. Respect, gangsters. Murder (head in suitcase, with blood dripping out), smoky rooms, cigars, societies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNMDi0JByK0
Chinatown (1974): Crime, Mystery, time period, colours, characters, enigma and human relationships. Darkest of film noirs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yJJWXhXbuI
Fargo (1996)
In the opening sequence of Fargo, there is use of long takes, wide shots and a dramatic metaphorical mise-en-scene.Fargo opening shots create a sense of isolation. This is a psychological concept that disturbs and makes the mind feel uneasy. It also creates a sense of great hardship, due to the weather conditions. Lots of things shoot into the mind subconsciously, such as being buried in the snow, freezing to death or getting lost. In American movies, landscape is very important, as it shows us the vast open expanses of land.There is a juxtaposition with the colour as we have gone from black to a complete white -out.Thrillers often use this to add to the suspense. The sleet adds to the enigma You can't see anything so questions are posed in the mind of the audience, who's in the car? What type of car is it? Where is the person in the car going?The long take creates tension and anticipation. The slow driving and the choice of music, gives the car real importance, as if it was on a procession.Link to opening sequence.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEYPIO8DlY4
Cape Fear (1991)Strong and simple imagery is used in this opening, for example the use of water (lake) shot with chiaroscuro lighting. The psychological fears such as drowning are raised and dark, deep water creates a lot of primal fears. Instead of cutting to a scene or a character, dissolves are used which makes people and objects very ominous. This creates enigma as we cannot see them properly. The eye that dissolves in and out creates voyeurism.Link to opening sequence
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwhVBVcQfpE
Here are some links to a few clips of generic texts that are research for our opening sequence.
LA Confiential: We wanted to capture the style of this piece and have used ideas for costumes and characters for our opening. We've also set our piece in a similar time period in America http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XfRdagD7Tw
Pulp Fiction: We want our opening to be in the style of Quentin Tarantino and re-create the way he uses quirky ideas and images to throw the audience and create enigma.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAULRFV5-AM
Planet Terror: The colours and the dancing from the opening sequnce. Tarantino connotes his time period by props and costumes and we are never sure of the time period. It is a more contemporary film noir.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgPnvAZoTx4
Sin City: For the style, the characters and the setting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5BwnPJ0sos
The Godfather: Operatic Grandeur. Respect, gangsters. Murder (head in suitcase, with blood dripping out), smoky rooms, cigars, societies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNMDi0JByK0
Chinatown (1974): Crime, Mystery, time period, colours, characters, enigma and human relationships. Darkest of film noirs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yJJWXhXbuI
Fargo (1996)
In the opening sequence of Fargo, there is use of long takes, wide shots and a dramatic metaphorical mise-en-scene.Fargo opening shots create a sense of isolation. This is a psychological concept that disturbs and makes the mind feel uneasy. It also creates a sense of great hardship, due to the weather conditions. Lots of things shoot into the mind subconsciously, such as being buried in the snow, freezing to death or getting lost. In American movies, landscape is very important, as it shows us the vast open expanses of land.There is a juxtaposition with the colour as we have gone from black to a complete white -out.Thrillers often use this to add to the suspense. The sleet adds to the enigma You can't see anything so questions are posed in the mind of the audience, who's in the car? What type of car is it? Where is the person in the car going?The long take creates tension and anticipation. The slow driving and the choice of music, gives the car real importance, as if it was on a procession.Link to opening sequence.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEYPIO8DlY4
Cape Fear (1991)Strong and simple imagery is used in this opening, for example the use of water (lake) shot with chiaroscuro lighting. The psychological fears such as drowning are raised and dark, deep water creates a lot of primal fears. Instead of cutting to a scene or a character, dissolves are used which makes people and objects very ominous. This creates enigma as we cannot see them properly. The eye that dissolves in and out creates voyeurism.Link to opening sequence
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwhVBVcQfpE
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Evaluation questions
1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The opening sequence of Review is predominantly a long take/wide shot and research into both Hollywood and low-budget thrillers use long takes to create enigma and suspense, for example in Fargo (1996). The opening sequence of Fargo, there is use of long takes, wide shots and a dramatic metaphorical mise-en-scene. Fargo opening shots create a sense of isolation. This is a psychological concept that disturbs the audience and makes the mind feel uneasy. We also obeyed the rules of having a powerful male figure, dominating the frame, wearing a suit, in an office; satisfying the audiences’ expectations of a Gangster thriller. Revue is conventional of British Director, with a British Crew but with Big Studio backing e.g. Warner Brothers backing Guy Ritchie’s RocknRolla. It has clear references to the time period e.g. 1950s magazines, projector and film reel. The titles used are the conventional small white writing on black background like a Hollywood Studio would use. We have developed the style of Quentin Tarantino who we originally planned to imitate but instead of using his signature brighter, blocker colours, we have used a softer more gold light.
The camera remains in the same place, position and angle throughout the sequence to create an uncomfortable intensity for the audience which is conventional for a real media product. We obey Tristin Torodov’s theory of the opening act of a film and put across a balanced equilibrium – normality. The film is a typical film noir which involves crime, gangsters, sexual taboos, twisted relationships and macguffins (twists). Film noirs tend to portray “spider” women, who weave dangerous paths for the troubled men. We wanted to put this across ion our thriller so we have an attractive, scantily dressed woman and a sleazy man who communicate without conversation and draw the audience into their world.
2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?
By definition, all media texts are representations of reality and are entirely artificial versions of the reality we perceive around us. The “re-presentation” by the media and interpretation by the audience is known as mediation. Mediation is the way in which the reality is selected, shaped and presented by the agency to the audience. This is connected with the concept of stereotypes which reinforce common ideas about people. They can be dangerous and often negative (especially in the thriller genre) and a wide section of society is branded by a few signs. For example in our media, the man is represented as a sleazy, gangster type as he switches on a porn film and this is before we connote anything about his owning the Burlesque club. The woman is immediately branded a prostitute or burlesque dancer as she is wearing a corset and underwear. Simple stereotypes can be communicated quickly and cheaply and get the idea of the characters across within the first few moments.
Our media represents the under-ground networking of the 1950s, with dancing girls and drinking, rowdy men (heard offstage). The night clubs then were still seen as obscene and dodgy so this adds an element of excitement to the piece and we see the dark, sexual taboos and dangerous obstacles that arise in this world.
3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
We feel our film could go either way and be a small, low-budget British film, focused on character development or a high-budget Hollywood film with British Director and Crew bought in for realism and typical British voyeurism and intrigue. We feel this because of the brave choices made with the editing that is typical of English films (like the long shot) that an American Director probably would not use as he wants the pace and action of the film to be constantly on-the-go.
Revue is conventional of British Director, with a British Crew but with Big Studio backing e.g. Warner Brothers backing Guy Ritchie’s RocknRolla. They would bring the big advertising campaigns (viral and otherwise) to make the product known to audiences. This can be difficult as if the film is marketed wrong then the film will flop as the wrong people will be informed of the film and the people who would watch the film will be insufficiently informed. This would then result in fewer people knowing bout the film and thus less people watching the film as they do not know about it, and so the film will make less money.
4) Who would be the audience for your media product?
Thrillers are generally particularly popular with the under 25s but we personally our aiming our product at a wide scaled male population due to the violence and explicitness of some of the scenes that would occur later in the film. Most probably lower middle class to upper middle class men and students. The movie would be rated 18 and have a psychological, adult storyline that children would not understand or be frightened by. Our movie would be also being aimed at the C2 demographic due to its psychological style. The film would also be aimed at film buffs that don’t go to the cinema that often but visit film festivals. A good time to release the film would be around September or October, as it is not a specific seasonal setting but as it is a small budget feature, by releasing it at this time, its short run in the cinema would provide perfect timing to bring the film out on DVD for the Christmas period. As a low-budget feature, we would be looking to make between 500,000 and 1,000000 because we have lower advertising costs equalling decreased awareness about the film.
5) How did you attract/address your audience?
What we intended in our film was to create a mode of address that was serious yet mysterious and intriguing to our audience. By following the typical British Film convention of following character development rather than action scenes, it appeals to the intelligence of the films viewers. We have done this by giving the piece an enigmatic tone and dangerous, edgy quality that asks for the intelligence of the audience and for them to appreciate the creativity of the product as a whole as well as to enjoy the film as it was primarily created for. The avid film buffs and festival goers the film was aimed at would appreciate the creative side of the film.
The use of enigmas and lack of clarity for the audience are both affective and appealing as nothing is given away in the opening sequence. We don’t attempt to force feed our audience information and the sequence allows them to relax into the film whilst keeping them wondering what is going to happen. The thriller is mainly psychological but contains elements of gangster thrillers and a strong acknowledgement of film noir, so technically, this film has scope to attract a wide range of audiences. We have also attracted the majority of our audience by casting a young, attractive, scantily dressed blonde to allure the male population. Another aspect we have addressed is the historical and political setting of our film which would attract admirers of the 1950s and even, perhaps modern audiences that are interested in burlesque, made popular by Dita-Von-Teese.
6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Whilst constructing our thriller sequence, I have learnt the detailed effects on Final Cut pro such as how to change the opacity of the YouTube video and to create fluidity between the video and the titles by using fades in and out and over-lapping the YouTube image with the captions to produce smoothness. We did a sound workshop and learnt that to create realistic sounds it was all about layering. We have several recorded folly sounds such as the clinking glasses and we found the sounds of the club, footsteps and knocking on a wooden door on the school sound bank. We then had to layer this with the music, which has been changed over time as we learnt more about linking the signs of the product and creating an overall package. We played around and discovered how to muffle the sound when the door was shut and then raise the level when the door was open so you could hear the cheering crowds over the music.
At the start of the product we didn’t really have a detailed knowledge of camera use but when filming, we learnt how to focus the camera properly and keep things in shot properly and how to balance the shot in a professional way.
7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I have learnt how to competently use Final Cut Pro and how to layer and create fluidity within a sequence. I have also learnt the correct order of titles and how to construct a conventional thriller with different types of techniques such as titles. I have also learnt how to use a camera, and studying in class different angles/camera movements and how you can use them to connote different meanings has helped me develop my knowledge of using a camera. Also, we have now learnt target audience, different institutions and how to market a product.
In our preliminary task we just used the lighting in the room and did not add in any effects or sounds so I have developed onto using folleys and other types of sound as well as using a score and recording sounds and placing them over the top. When it comes to sound, it is all about layering. When recording our final product we used professional lighting and we figured out where to put it to make it look more natural. Overall I think I have learnt a great deal about the media in the progression to my final task and have developed my skills in all areas.
The opening sequence of Review is predominantly a long take/wide shot and research into both Hollywood and low-budget thrillers use long takes to create enigma and suspense, for example in Fargo (1996). The opening sequence of Fargo, there is use of long takes, wide shots and a dramatic metaphorical mise-en-scene. Fargo opening shots create a sense of isolation. This is a psychological concept that disturbs the audience and makes the mind feel uneasy. We also obeyed the rules of having a powerful male figure, dominating the frame, wearing a suit, in an office; satisfying the audiences’ expectations of a Gangster thriller. Revue is conventional of British Director, with a British Crew but with Big Studio backing e.g. Warner Brothers backing Guy Ritchie’s RocknRolla. It has clear references to the time period e.g. 1950s magazines, projector and film reel. The titles used are the conventional small white writing on black background like a Hollywood Studio would use. We have developed the style of Quentin Tarantino who we originally planned to imitate but instead of using his signature brighter, blocker colours, we have used a softer more gold light.
The camera remains in the same place, position and angle throughout the sequence to create an uncomfortable intensity for the audience which is conventional for a real media product. We obey Tristin Torodov’s theory of the opening act of a film and put across a balanced equilibrium – normality. The film is a typical film noir which involves crime, gangsters, sexual taboos, twisted relationships and macguffins (twists). Film noirs tend to portray “spider” women, who weave dangerous paths for the troubled men. We wanted to put this across ion our thriller so we have an attractive, scantily dressed woman and a sleazy man who communicate without conversation and draw the audience into their world.
2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?
By definition, all media texts are representations of reality and are entirely artificial versions of the reality we perceive around us. The “re-presentation” by the media and interpretation by the audience is known as mediation. Mediation is the way in which the reality is selected, shaped and presented by the agency to the audience. This is connected with the concept of stereotypes which reinforce common ideas about people. They can be dangerous and often negative (especially in the thriller genre) and a wide section of society is branded by a few signs. For example in our media, the man is represented as a sleazy, gangster type as he switches on a porn film and this is before we connote anything about his owning the Burlesque club. The woman is immediately branded a prostitute or burlesque dancer as she is wearing a corset and underwear. Simple stereotypes can be communicated quickly and cheaply and get the idea of the characters across within the first few moments.
Our media represents the under-ground networking of the 1950s, with dancing girls and drinking, rowdy men (heard offstage). The night clubs then were still seen as obscene and dodgy so this adds an element of excitement to the piece and we see the dark, sexual taboos and dangerous obstacles that arise in this world.
3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
We feel our film could go either way and be a small, low-budget British film, focused on character development or a high-budget Hollywood film with British Director and Crew bought in for realism and typical British voyeurism and intrigue. We feel this because of the brave choices made with the editing that is typical of English films (like the long shot) that an American Director probably would not use as he wants the pace and action of the film to be constantly on-the-go.
Revue is conventional of British Director, with a British Crew but with Big Studio backing e.g. Warner Brothers backing Guy Ritchie’s RocknRolla. They would bring the big advertising campaigns (viral and otherwise) to make the product known to audiences. This can be difficult as if the film is marketed wrong then the film will flop as the wrong people will be informed of the film and the people who would watch the film will be insufficiently informed. This would then result in fewer people knowing bout the film and thus less people watching the film as they do not know about it, and so the film will make less money.
4) Who would be the audience for your media product?
Thrillers are generally particularly popular with the under 25s but we personally our aiming our product at a wide scaled male population due to the violence and explicitness of some of the scenes that would occur later in the film. Most probably lower middle class to upper middle class men and students. The movie would be rated 18 and have a psychological, adult storyline that children would not understand or be frightened by. Our movie would be also being aimed at the C2 demographic due to its psychological style. The film would also be aimed at film buffs that don’t go to the cinema that often but visit film festivals. A good time to release the film would be around September or October, as it is not a specific seasonal setting but as it is a small budget feature, by releasing it at this time, its short run in the cinema would provide perfect timing to bring the film out on DVD for the Christmas period. As a low-budget feature, we would be looking to make between 500,000 and 1,000000 because we have lower advertising costs equalling decreased awareness about the film.
5) How did you attract/address your audience?
What we intended in our film was to create a mode of address that was serious yet mysterious and intriguing to our audience. By following the typical British Film convention of following character development rather than action scenes, it appeals to the intelligence of the films viewers. We have done this by giving the piece an enigmatic tone and dangerous, edgy quality that asks for the intelligence of the audience and for them to appreciate the creativity of the product as a whole as well as to enjoy the film as it was primarily created for. The avid film buffs and festival goers the film was aimed at would appreciate the creative side of the film.
The use of enigmas and lack of clarity for the audience are both affective and appealing as nothing is given away in the opening sequence. We don’t attempt to force feed our audience information and the sequence allows them to relax into the film whilst keeping them wondering what is going to happen. The thriller is mainly psychological but contains elements of gangster thrillers and a strong acknowledgement of film noir, so technically, this film has scope to attract a wide range of audiences. We have also attracted the majority of our audience by casting a young, attractive, scantily dressed blonde to allure the male population. Another aspect we have addressed is the historical and political setting of our film which would attract admirers of the 1950s and even, perhaps modern audiences that are interested in burlesque, made popular by Dita-Von-Teese.
6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Whilst constructing our thriller sequence, I have learnt the detailed effects on Final Cut pro such as how to change the opacity of the YouTube video and to create fluidity between the video and the titles by using fades in and out and over-lapping the YouTube image with the captions to produce smoothness. We did a sound workshop and learnt that to create realistic sounds it was all about layering. We have several recorded folly sounds such as the clinking glasses and we found the sounds of the club, footsteps and knocking on a wooden door on the school sound bank. We then had to layer this with the music, which has been changed over time as we learnt more about linking the signs of the product and creating an overall package. We played around and discovered how to muffle the sound when the door was shut and then raise the level when the door was open so you could hear the cheering crowds over the music.
At the start of the product we didn’t really have a detailed knowledge of camera use but when filming, we learnt how to focus the camera properly and keep things in shot properly and how to balance the shot in a professional way.
7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I have learnt how to competently use Final Cut Pro and how to layer and create fluidity within a sequence. I have also learnt the correct order of titles and how to construct a conventional thriller with different types of techniques such as titles. I have also learnt how to use a camera, and studying in class different angles/camera movements and how you can use them to connote different meanings has helped me develop my knowledge of using a camera. Also, we have now learnt target audience, different institutions and how to market a product.
In our preliminary task we just used the lighting in the room and did not add in any effects or sounds so I have developed onto using folleys and other types of sound as well as using a score and recording sounds and placing them over the top. When it comes to sound, it is all about layering. When recording our final product we used professional lighting and we figured out where to put it to make it look more natural. Overall I think I have learnt a great deal about the media in the progression to my final task and have developed my skills in all areas.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Editing and Product
Editing the project
We all have specific ideas about what we think looks good and have tried many different combinations of video effects to create an authentic 1950s feel. Our main problem with editing has been the projector video of the dancing burlesque girl. We at first had her filling the whole screen but realised this was pointless as you could not see anything we had shot originally. We then fiddled around with her opacity and found that if she was too light then you couldn’t really see her and she looked like a ghost and if she was too dark then you couldn’t see through her.
Whatever we tried, somehow she did not look right but then we started fiddling around with the size and placed her directly in front of the projector so it actually looked like a video was being projected onto a wall (as intended). The next problem we had to overcome was now, the projected video was in a white square, hiding the projector and looking like a solid block of white in the middle of the screen. Again we lowered the opacity so you could see the projector light shining through her and experimented with video effects to change the shape of the inner frame. We decided on soft-blur and oval so you could not see a distinct shape but just the girl’s projection.
Specifically, we are having problems with the flickering of the projection and even with the flicker filter on highest it does not look authentic. When we have finished on Final-Cut Pro, we are going to add extra flickers to the project to make it seem realistic and time-related to how moving pictures were at the time. The background colour of the projection is white, so at first we went against the typical thriller conventions of white writing on a black background and reversed it, but after making the girl smaller, we found it looked odd to cut to white so converted to the typical convention and found it looked a great deal better.
Rhythmic and Temporal relationships
We have gone for continuity editing as we wanted to create a narrative and we have employed hidden cuts to sow together time for the appearance of continuity.
Graphic relationships
We used lighting to create shadows and our titles mixed with the YouTube sequence, the patterns of light and dark of the image appear underneath the title like looking through a keyhole.
FINAL CUT OF 'REVUE'
AUDIENCE FEEDBACK
Archie: the continuity is very good. the sound really adds to the character and the sets the age very well. good use of costumes and props.
Greg: The long take really explores the magic of film. The camera points in one direction but infers loads of different things and creates different dimensions.
Tor: The costume and props in the mise-en-scene are effective in setting the time and creating an atmosphere. I liked the editing where the projector was superimposed onto the frame as it conveyed the idea of multiple places.
Tom: i liked the superimposing of the dancing girl. it worked very well and set the scene. it was interesting in the way that the camera never moves throught the sequence. i liked the use of the rule of thirds.
Gio: I think Revue has been one of the best sequences I've seen. This since the superimposing of the girl dancing was very well framed onto the screen. Also the sound bridge between the conversations on the background and the music worked extremeley well.
My Analyisis of Audience Feedback
I'm very happy with the audience feedback and glad that the long shot has been mentioned as that was one specific thing we set out to do, a long shot creates tension and enigma therefore adding to the feel of the piece. Also, the mention of the framing of the Youtube footage dancing girl was important as we worked hard to create the right opacity, position and shape of her. I wish someone had mentioned how seamless the editing was within the long shot but then again it is perhaps good they didn't as it was supposed to be unnoticed!
When creating a product you set out to make a believeable concept so it is good people have mentioned the mise-en-scene and the costumes as we wanted them to be as authentic as possible. Greg mentioned the way we created "different dimensions" and this is exactly the reading we wanted. We wanted to create a world where people were intrigued, scared and curious about what was going on behind the door. Overall, the audience feedback has been fantastic and our prefered reading has been achieved.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Projector Video
Here is the link to the video we originally wanted to play on the 1950s projector.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NHatuqbWxc&feature=related
Unfortunately, We were unable to download this paticualr video but are in the process of downloading it again so we can use it as the substitute video had too may close-ups and does not fit with the continuous long shot that was used throughout the shoot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NHatuqbWxc&feature=related
Unfortunately, We were unable to download this paticualr video but are in the process of downloading it again so we can use it as the substitute video had too may close-ups and does not fit with the continuous long shot that was used throughout the shoot.
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