Opposite shot ideas

The picture below is a list of the opposites between men and women. We will be using this at the beginning of our intro:

Film Noir - Research

We have decided to focus our thriller on the sub genre ‘Film Noir’. To gain more of an understanding of the sub genre I have decided to do some independent learning which will help when planning our intro. I suggest my group reads this as i believe it will help them out a lot!

Here are some screen shots off the information I have found:

Codes and Conventions:

From my research I have learnt the specific codes and conventions and where it originates from. To make our ‘Film Noir’ as traditional as we can, we will need to evaluate my research and see what is helpful and what we can  use within our intro to make is as traditional as possible. However we want to make our intro as original as we can by avoiding clichés. To do this we will have to do analyse and watch some Film Noirs. 

Hannah Vincent - History of Thriller.

Hannah has structured her post in short sentences, more like points. This is a great way as it makes her research a quick easy way to find out about the History of a thriller. I have found out that when thriller genre was first introduce there was a fine line that film makers had to restrict themselves when making a thriller. I also found interesting that the genre thriller first developed from novels. This first novel made was Little Red Riding Hood in 1697. Overall a good easy post to get facts and information from quickly.

Connor Barbors blog - 'Goodfella's'

Connors research on ‘Goodfellas’ is really helpful. From reading his post I have found that when making a mafia film you need to be accurate on your clothing and lighting. Also Connor mentioned that there weren’t many cuts, mostly long shots which is something we need to research on to see if all mafia films are like this.  Furthermore Connor mentioned how there were many low angel shots which would have made the character be portrayed as more dominating.  Something we could use.

Connors notes on ‘Goodfellas’ has helped me to understand some of the specific techniques we will have to use when making our own opening. However this is just 1 analysis of a mafia film so in order to create our own mafia film we will need to research more films to make sure we get it right.  Connors evaluation on ‘Goodfellas’ is really effected and can help anyone who is thinking about their thriller being a mafia thriller.

Planning Discussion

Discuss the way social status is represented in this extract from Merlin. Make specific reference to the following:

·         Camera

·         Editing

·         Sound

·         Mise-en-scene

The extract begins with the camera panning around the inside of the castle, straight away implying the high status of the setting. Merlin is immediately revealed to be the protagonist by being centralised with a mid shot. We see that Merlin is wearing old, ratty clothes that symbolises his lower statues making it clear that he shouldn’t be there. Merlin then starts to look around. This is made intense through the use of non-diegetic sound of whispering. This creates an ominous tone. Merlin then looks at the door emphasising that he shouldn’t be there reinforcing his low statue. There is then an intercut of the protagonist point of view of a book. This then intercuts to a long shot to a women wearing purple. The camera zooms in to the women, to a mid shot. The women’s clothing highlights her status, purple denoting royalty and wealth. The diegetic sound of footsteps creates suspense to the audience as Merlin rushes around reinforcing the fact he shouldn’t be there. The camera then pans around the room catching the women. The over shoulder shot supports her class as we see the contrast of their clothes and there dialogue how even though they are still eye level implying that they are equal she dominates him through dialogue using a patronising tone towards him. This reminds the audience that Merlin shouldn’t be there making them feel suspense.

Further more in the extract as Merlin leaves the castle; the non-diegetic music comes to an end and the bright light of the sun insinuates that the castle was bad and that Merlin is safe now. As Merlin gets into the street, the diegetic sound of people talking and the clothes they are wearing presents to the audience that Merlin is with his peers. They all display low status through their clothes and the panning around the setting demonstrating the dirty conditions they live in. The camera then watches Merlin walk away from Arthur using a long shot. Even though Merlin is further in front of Arthur they are still at eye level contact connoting that they are equal. Arthur is then shown to be in centre screen portraying him as the Antagonist. Arthur’s class is presented through his silver armour juxtaposing with Merlin’s clothing which reflects the contrast in status. Arthur’s status is then reinforced as Arthur and his knights are wearing red which symbolises his status and his importance. The red also indicates that something bad is going to happen, creating an ambiguous tone. Also preparing the audience for something bad to happen making the audience feel sympathy for Merlin as because of the difference in status implying Merlin is going to get hurt. The antagonist has the high status however the camera focuses more on the protagonist reinforcing Merlin importance. Merlin uses of dialogue illustrates that although Arthur has the better status, Merlin isn’t scared. This is shown through the dialogue ‘You can’t talk to be like that’ connoting that Arthur is shocked at what Merlin said. However Arthur and his guards are still mocking Merlin even though he has made it clear that he doesn’t care about the social status differences.

As the fight begins Arthur throws Merlin a weapon. Merlin falls to the ground and for the first time we see Merlin’s true status is shown as he falls to the ground through the use of the high angel camera emphasises his low status. The non-diegetic music then commences making the scene more intense as it’s upbeat. There is then a shot reverse shot from the fight, to an old man looking out for the window back to the fight. The man’s face looks disappointed which makes the audience curious of the man as they don’t know who he is. Arthur then goes to hit Merlin and hits a cabbage. We get an extreme close up of the weapon hitting the cabbage stressing the strength of the weapon denoting the strength of the weapon. This stresses to the audience how serious this fight is. However as Merlin falls to the fall, the high angel camera appears Merlin to be weak yet we get an extreme close up of Merlin’s eye change colour. The colour change is symbolic for magic and for danger. The non-diegetic sound is indexical for magic too. The close up of the protagonist face show him to be proud. The panning across the room from Merlin’s point of view creates an exciting tone as Merlin is secretly dominating this fight through the use of his powers.  The Protagonist moves a box and we see a close up of the antagonist stepping on it. In addition to this we the facial expression of the antagonist face  looking annoyed and in pain which is then contrasted with the smug look on the protagonist face. Merlin proves his dominance here indicating that status means nothing. Once again the camera pans across the room and Merlin moves a piece of rope causing Arthur to fall over. For the first time the audience sees Merlin from a low angel and Arthur for a high angel Making Merlin’s status look better then Arthurs. Merlin looks into the crown pleased with winning and catches eye contact with the old man who appears to be low status as he is wearing ratty clothes with dull colours such as Brown. This disappointment in his faces makes Merlin distracted. Arthur then gets up and hits Merlin with a broom. For every hit there is an non-diegetic Foley sound emphasising how hard Merlin is being hit. The antagonist puts the protagonist back in his place which is lower than him.

In addition to this after the fight Arthur sweeps the floor that Merlin is lay on which is symbolic for brushing him off. It also portrays Arthur to be arrogant. Once again Foley sound is added to reinforce how symbolic it is. Arthur’s guards grab Merlin yet Arthur tells them to ‘let him go’. The dialogue implies that Arthur has respect for Merlin as he is confident. The guards reinforce Arthurs highness is society and the difference in status between the two of them.  However they are still at eye line level showing that they are equal to one another. The shot cuts to Merlin and the old man, assumed to be his teacher, having an argument. There is a shot reverse shot showing that they are both equal to each other in society. There facial expressions imply that this fight is more meaningful.  Merlin’s dialogue ‘I’m just a nobody and I always will be’ connote that Merlin is actually affected by being so low in society and that ‘magic’ is what makes Merlin status higher. Merlin’s facial expression connotes to the audience that he is feeling guilty for unsatisfying his teacher. This is emphasised by shouting at each other and having no non-diegetic sound which makes it more serious. The ending shot is off the teacher establishing that the teacher is dominate even though that they are equal class and are both low status.

My progress so far as an A Level Student

As I didn’t take media as a GSCE I didn’t really know what to expect.  I have found I’ve had an OK start to the course however I didn’t realise how hard it would be.  I’m confident with the effect of camera angles, and lighting and how editing can change the genre of a piece. I can understand why the POV (Point Of View)  is how it is and support my point. I have the basic understanding of structuring an essay and I’m good at answering the question yet when it comes to analysing Camera, editing and Mise-en-scene even though I understand why it’s done i struggle with analysing it in a technical way. I find i answer the questions like an English essay using the wrong terminology. I need to learn the difference between the two and work on the definitions of the terminology. By doing research i have learnt the difference in age rating 15 and 18. This will help not only me, but  my group as a whole when it comes to making our intro as it will help us decide how restricted we want it too be. I feel like my strength in the group is organisation. I often write down what needs doing on a whiteboard and as a group we decide who does what. However i often forget to blog what we have done which i need to work on.

My targets: To understand the technical terminology when essay writing. This will include revising over key words and learning the full definition. Also i need to Blog more and in more detail.