Wednesday, 30 November 2016

Narrative Structure

Narrative structure- The way in which a film is structured, either chronologically or with jump cuts or flashbacks. If a film is in time order, this would make it a linear narrative structure. However, if the film cuts between multiple narratives happening simultaneously or has flashbacks, this would make it a non-linear narrative structure.







Our film opening is going to have a linear narrative so it easy for our target audience to understand our storyline and so that they can feel the tension created in our opening. We think that using flashbacks isn't going to be effective as we want our film opening to be fast-paced and to keep the audience intrigued as what is going to happen next in our opening. Therefore, our film opening will flow continuously and keep our audience interested in it until the end.

Tuesday, 29 November 2016

Mise-en-scene Key Terms

Camera shots and angles

Match on action - a character/vehicle leaves the frame on the left, then enters the next shot on the right to maintain continuity

Aerial shot - a shot directly above the scene to show a clear view, often used to emphasise a spectacle.

Close up (and variations) - close ups (extreme, big and medium) are used to draw the audience closer to the scene and involve with what is going on. They are mainly used  to observe reactions and emotions, like happiness, elation and tension

Crab shot - a camera shot inside of a confined space

Crane shot- a shot in which the camera is positioned onto a specially-manufactured crane that can be lowered or raised

Establishing shot- a shot that is normally used at the start of a film/TV show or a new scene in a film to constitute the relationship between the set and the characters in that scene

Head on shot- a shot were the action goes directly towards the camera (mainly used in action/war films to increase tension

High angle- a shot were the camera is positioned above the subject(s), often used to make them seem vulnerable or powerless

Long shot- a shot were the camera is positioned in the distance from the subjects being filmed

Low-angle shot- a shot were the camera is placed below eye-level of the subject(s) being filmed

POV- a camera shot from the perspective of the character used to create realism and involve the audience in the scene

Reaction shot- created for an interview between 2 people, commonly used to display an interviewer reacting to their respondent's answers

Subjective shot- a shot where the camera is positioned as if it looking through the subjects eyes

Tracking shot- a shot where the camera moves along rails to follow the subject/character

Two shot- shot of 2 people, normally a medium close up/medium shot. It shows the spatial relationship of 2 people, who often are in a conversation. Commonly used in TV soaps.

Wide shot- can be used as an establishing shot of a set/location or of a large crowd.

Transitions/Editing

Crosscut- a moving image edit involving a number of cutaways and also cuts back from a sequence of narrative action to another one taking place at the same time

Cutaway- a short shot that briefly interrupts the primary action of the film by displaying a related action, thing or character, not necessarily part of the current scene

Jump cut- a sudden, disorientating transition in the middle of a continuos shot in which the action the is obviously advanced in time and/or cut between 2 similar shots, normally done to create discontinuity for artistic effect

Dissolve- a type of transition when one image dissolves into another image

Match on action- emphasises continuity of time and space by matching the action of the previous shot with continuation of the action

Visual effects- the enhancement or removal of certain elements within a scene

Parallel editing- when two locations are cut together to imply a connection between the two sets of events

Montage editing- several images juxtaposed together to create meaning

Graphic match- an effect in which two different objects of the same shape are dissolved into one another

Juxtaposition- placement of two, often opposed, images on either side of an edit to create an effect

Continuity editing- type of editing that aims to create a sense of reality and time moving forward. Also nicknamed invisible editing referring to how the technique does not draw attention to the editing process

Eyeline match- type of editing that maintains eyeline on level when cutting from a character to see what the character sees

Flashback- scene or movement in a film in which the audience is shown an event that happened earlier in the film

Slow motion- indicates intensity or importance of an action scene

Credits- information at the beginning or end of a film giving details of cast and crew etc.

Linear narrative- style of storytelling in which events happen chronologically

Lighting/Sound

High key lighting- lighting that appears to be natural (but infrequently is). A three point system is used to decrease shadows and be flattering to the character

Low key lighting- lighting system which intensifies shadows and gives a moody or scary effect

Back lighting- when a character is lit from behind, thus silhouetting them

Diegetic sound- sound that can be heard by the characters within a scene/ sound part of the imaginary world

Non diegetic sound- sound that cannot be heard by the characters and is not part of the storyworld in the film. Can be musical soundtrack or voiceover

Score- Musical component of a film's soundtrack, usually composed specifically for a scene

Sound effects- sounds that are added to a film during the post-production stage

Sound motif- sound effect or combination of sound effects that are affiliated with a certain character, setting, situation or idea

Sound bridge- can lead in or out of the scene. Can occur at beginning of scene when the sound from the previous one carries over briefly before the sound from the new scene begins

Dialogue- words spoken between characters

Incidental music- non-diegetic sounds which add atmosphere to an action or revelation

Ambient sound- background sounds that are present in a scene or location. It provides audio continuity between shots, reinventing an unnatural silence when no others sounds are present and establishes or reinforcing the mood of a scene

Sound perspectives- sense of a sound's position in space, yielded by volume and pitch. Used to create a more realistic sense of space, with events happening closer or further away

Voiceover- when a voice (often of a character in a film) is heard while we see an image of space and time in which that character is not speaking. It is often used to give a sense of a character's subjectivity or to narrate an event told in flashback

General terms

Mise-en-scene- everything that is a scene e.g. costume, props, lighting etc.

Location- place where the scene is being shot

Set design- the decoration of a set that expresses certain characteristics

Costume- clothing of the characters connotes different things about them

Iconography- visual style of a film/TV show

Props- things used by characters in particular scenes

Proxemics- physical distance between characters

Physicality- physical presence of a character and what they bring to the role

Gesture/posture- physical movements of characters and what it says about them




Planning - Script

This is the script that we produced in our group for our film opening. In our film opening, an exchange of a mysterious package takes places at a sketchy setting, only to be hijacked by an unknown perpetrator.



INT. CAR - DAY (1)
                                                 
                     Driver of the car adjusts front mirror to align with subjects face in the  
                                  back seat, as he travels towards the exchange. 

                                                               DRIVER 
      
                                                         Where you off to? 

                                                                DEALER 
                                                Just another business meeting. 


                                                   EXT. STREET - DAY (2) 
                            
                          Low angled camera shot of the cars passing through the street. 
                                  No characters are shown. 1-2 second shot. 

                                                EXT. UNKNOWN LOCATION - DAY (3)

                          Extreme close up of a phone showing a time and location. You 
                             don't know who is receiving this text or who its came from. 

                                                                                         Fade out: Blackout to:

                                                TITLE SCREEN: THE EXCHANGE 

                    Black screen as the title of the film appears suddenly in bold, jumping 
                                                out towards the camera. (5 seconds) 
       
                                                                                       Dramatic music fades in:
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                      Dissolve to:

                                                EXT. IN THE TOWN - DAY (4)
               
                      Tracking shot of the interceptors feet as he walks towards the 
                      location he's just received. Extras in the background as he walks 
                      through the street. Dramatic music becomes added to create tension 
                      and add anticipation to the audience. 
                                                
                                                INT. CAR PARK - DAY (5) 
                                                 
                Close up of a car pulling into the undercover car park to complete the 
                exchange. The music gets higher in tension and opening credits appear 
                on the side of the screen over time, gradually introducing everyone 
                involved in the film.

                Camera cuts to establishing shot of the car park with two cars facing 
                each other ready to do the exchange. The camera then zooms in onto
                the cars gradually.

                Camera cuts to a shot of the subject in a low angled shot, showing their

                feet as the step out of the car. The music begins to increase in tension
                as the audience see the briefcase for the first time. Tracking shot of the
                subjects feet as he begins to walk towards the deal.

                 As the receiver of the briefcase and the giver meet there is a over the

                 shoulder shot as the character passes the briefcase over, the camera
                 doesn't show who receives the briefcase during the exchange.
                                             
                                                EXT. STREET - DAY (6)

               High angled long shot of the subject walking away from the deal,

               music still continuing, camera slowly zooms into the subject and begins
               to track him, as if someone is stalking him.

               Cut to mid shot of the subject walking away with the briefcase. The

               subject walks past the camera and then the camera focuses on a person
               following him in a suspicious way, the subject is unaware of this.

               Cut to side shot of the characters as the subject becomes aware of the

               follower and he begins to up the pace to try and get away from him.
               Camera doesn't move, the characters pass by it.

                                               EXT. ALLEY - DAY (7)


              Close up of the subject's face with the briefcase held up to it, he's hid

              behind the wall trying to lose his follower and get away with the
              briefcase. Shows the emotions of the character.

              The camera remains in a close up of the subjects face, the interceptor/

              follower grabs the subjects face and covers their mouth.

                                                               DEALER


                                                              (Screams)


Cut out to blackout.

Planning - Storyboard





Monday, 28 November 2016

Planning - Initial Ideas


These are both sides of a mind map showcasing our initial thoughts and ideas for what genre to do for our film opening and also the possible actors and locations that will be involved in our film opening.

Saturday, 26 November 2016

Planning - Choosing an Idea






In our group we discussed many different ideas for our film opening such as horror and action thriller. By looking at previous film openings as examples, we gained some inspiration from them in terms of choosing a genre for our film openings. In our group, we finally settled on making our film opening an action thriller because we felt that this was the best genre for us to conform to the codes and conventions of it.




Our research into similar movies such Dark Knight and Heat benefited us because it provided us with inspiration for possible storylines for our film opening. This helped us settle on a linear narrative storyline with inspiration from the film Heat, which involves a similar plot line to our film opening.

Tuesday, 22 November 2016

Action Thriller Conventions

The action thriller genre is present in films such as Casino Royale (2006) and The Dark Knight (2008). The aim of this genre is to intrigue the audience and to keep them interested in the film with the use of violence and fast-paced action scenes.

General conventions
  • An action thriller film usually has a male protagonist that has to prevent an antagonist, who is usually a terrorist or psychopathic criminal mastermind, from causing mass destruction or death in a metropolitan setting.
  • Films with this genre usually have a plot twist to surprise the audience 
  • Low-key lighting 
  • Fast-paced music
  • Jump-cuts
  • Cross-cutting
  • A love interest of one of the protagonists is usually captured, threatened or killed by the main antagonist
  • The film is usually based on a real-life event or a scenario that could happen in the real world

Character and Setting conventions
  • The protagonist is usually a male working for a secret service or police force. However, in more recent films such as The Dark Knight Rises (2012), the protagonist can also be a vigilante that wants to bring a criminal to justice.
  • The antagonist is usually a criminal mastermind or the head of a terrorist organisation with intentions of causing mass destruction or death for their own personal gains.
  • The film will usually take place in a setting that resembles a metropolitan city in the USA to make the story seem more realistic and broaden the appeal for the audience watching the film.
  • The antagonist will usually be from a foreign country to the USA, for example, in most Hollywood films, the main villain would have a British accent.
Camerawork conventions
  • Establishing shots of the metropolitan setting may be used at the start of the film so the audience knows that the majority of the action will take place across different parts of the city.
  • Tracking shots would be used when filming car chase scenes to track the movement of the protagonist's vehicle
  • Low angle shots with low-level lighting could be used to restrict the identity of the antagonist in order to create mystery and enigma surrounding the character
Editing conventions
  • Cross-cutting would be used to show two different narratives of the protagonist and antagonist happening at the same time but in different settings. This would end in a conflict between the antagonist and the protagonist meeting at the same setting.
  • Jump cuts in certain scenes would be used, for example, flashbacks that give us a background story on a certain character. However, they could also be used to unsettle the audience watching the film
  • A graphic match would be used to show a confrontation between the antagonist and the protagonist
Music and Sound conventions
  • The soundtrack of the film usually speeds up to create tension or during important/key scenes 
  • Most of the diegetic sound in action-thriller films is dialogue between the characters, gun shots and car noises such as the engine revving and the burning of rubber against tarmac when characters perform handbrake turns during car chases

Peer Feedback on 60 Second Pitch












Thursday, 17 November 2016

Mood Board


This is a mood board showing the conventions of the chosen genre for our film, which is action-thriller.