Through my revision task for my AS exam preparation I came across the concept of slow film movement, and decided that at A2 would be an element which I would do some research into to gain inspiration for my short film. Slow cinema or sometimes called "contemplative cinema" is specific genre of art cinema film-making, and it is a genre that emphasizes long takes and is often minimalist, observational, and with little or no narrative. Greek director Theo Angleoplioulos has been described an an "icon of the so-called Slow Cinema movement". Some examples of films within this concept is 'Two years at Sea' (2011) a film directed by Ben Rivers and 'Le Quattro Volte' (2010) a film directed by Michelangelo Frammartino, which converges a beautiful combination of an old mans struggle to continue his goat hearding life, the birth of baby goats and the lives of the simple people in the hills of Calabria, Italy, therefore through the use of beautiful imagery the audience sees the stages of life.
The Guardian contrasted the long takes of the genre with the two-second average shot length in Hollywood action movies and noted that "they opt for ambient noises or field recordings rather than bombastic sound design, embrace subdued visual schemes that require the viewer's eye to do more work and evoke a sense of mystery that springs from the landscapes and local customs they depict more than it does from generic convention". The AV festival held a Slow Cinema Weekend in Newcastle, UK in March 2012, including the films of Rivers, 'Lav Diaz', 'Lisandro Alonso' and 'Fred Kelemen'. Through my research of this movement I came across a post by Robert Snow on the concept (http://robertsnow.wordpress.com/2011/09/25/the-case-for-a-slow-food-movement-for-movies/), he argued that too many films bombard the audience with "high calibre action and incomprehensible visuals", and stated that films that take time building the tension and carefully blending drama with action is more powerful as the audience has a more intensive connection with the characters. He refereed to it as the slow food metaphor, whereby he looked at the slow food movement which began in 1986 and was founded by Carlo Petrini, who tried to slow down how people eat, as they saw food less as a fuel but more of an experience that is meant to be savoured. He used two films that both represent this form of slow film movement, 'Drive' (2011) directed by Nicolas Refn and 'The American' (2010) directed by Anton Corbijn. Both films present long sections of slow and quiet action.
The main question to be asked however is what have I taken from my research into slow cinema and the slow film movement, well as I am creating a silent film the visual image is a very symbolic element and it is vital that through creating longer shots, slowing the action down I feel that the audience will be able to have a more intensive connection with my protagonist character, and through observation be able to make there own interpretations of the film rather than being over powered by specific dialogue or extreme visuals that the audience would be unable to relate to. This although I feel is controversial element to include within a five minute short where after all time is enemy is an element which will create a difference and for my film, the longer takes will symbolise the thought process of the mind of both the character and the audience working out the meaning of the shoes, of the male and of the labels.
Lovefilm reported that 'The Artist' sparked a boom in curiosity about early cinema, with a 40% rise in number of people streaming silent films on its site in the week leading up to the Oscars and therefore demonstrating how this old cinema style , and I am too grasping onto this concept of the silent era through the creation of my short film and therefore felt that a little bit of research behind the term 'silm film' is a productive task! A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films the dialogue is transmitted through gestures, mime and titles cards. The first projected primary photo-movie was made by Eadweard Muybridge between 1877 and 1880, the first narrative film was created by Louis Le Prince in 1888 (it was a two second film of people walking in oakwood streets garden), it was in the "silent ear" (1894-1929) that the art of motion pictures grey into full capacity, however in the late 1920s silent films were replaced by "talking pictures". The visual quality of silent films especially those produced within the 1920s were often high however there is a widely held misconception that these films were primitive and barely watchable by modern standards. This misconception comes as a result of silent films being played back at the wrong speed. May silent films exist only in second or third generation copies, and are often copied from already damaged and neglected film stock. Through research the term 'silent film', I cam across the film blog of the guardian and one of the posts consisted of what they thought are the top five silent films ever (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2012/mar/02/top-five-silent-films) :
UNDERWORLD
Director : Josef Von Sternberg
Release Date : 20th August 1927
Production Company : Paramount Pictures
Film Summary From IMDB : "Boisterous gangster kingpin Bull Weed rehabilitates his former lawyer from his alcoholic haze, but complications arise when he falls for Weed's girlfriend."
SHOW PEOPLE
Director : King Vidor
Release Date : 20th November 1928
Production Company : Cosmopolitan Productions
Film Summary From IMDB : "Colonel Pepper brings his daughter, Peggy, to Hollywood from Georgia to be an actress. There she meets Billy who gets her work at Comet Studio doing comedies with him. But Peggy is discovered by High Art Studio and she leaves Billy and Comet to work there. For her new image, she is now Patricia Pepoire and ignores Billy when he sees her on location. When she is not longer wanted by the little people who do not understand "ART", she plans to marry Andre to get a fake title. Billy will not let her go without a fight."
SHERLOCK JR
Director : Buster Keaton
Release Date : 21st April 1924
Production Company : Buster Keaton Productions
Film Summary From IMDB : "A film projectionist longs to be a detective, and puts his meagre skills to work when he is framed by a rival for stealing his girlfriend's father's pocketwatch."
THE LAST LAUGH
Director : F.W.Murnau Release Date : 5th January 1925 Production Company : Universum Film Film Summary From IMDB : "An aging doorman, after being fired from his prestigious job at a luxurious Hotel is forced to face the scorn of his friends, neighbours and society."
THE HEART OF THE WORLD
Director : Guy Maddin
Release Date : 7th September 2000
Film Summary From IMDB : "Nikolai, a mortician, and Osip, an actor playing Christ in a play, are brothers in love with the same woman. Anna, a state scientist and said woman, is in love with both brothers and studies the Earth's core, the very heart of the world. She discovers that the world is dying of heart failure and only has one more day remaining. Meanwhile, Akmatov, a bloated, capitalist bureaucrat lusts after Anna and tries to make her fall into her bed."
My class teacher gave me this film ('The Red Shoes') to research in order to gather some inspiration, it is based on the fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson. It is about a girl called Karen who is adopted by a rich lady after her mothers death but grows up vain. Before she was adopted Karen had a round pair of red shoes, and now she tricks her adoptive mother into buying her a new pair of red shoes. Karen wears these shoes repeatedly to church without paying attention to the service, ignoring the anger of her adopted mother and disapproving stares at her wearing these red shoes to church. When her adoptive mother become ill, Karen deserts her preferring to attend a party in her red shoes. A mysertious solider appears and makes a strange remark about what beautiful dancing shoes Karen had, soon after Karen begins to dance and can't stop, the shoes take over, she cannot control them and they are stuck to her feet. Karen can't attend her adoptive mothers funeral because of the shoes, an angel then appears to her and condemns her to dance even after she dies as a warning to vain children everywhere, Karen begs for mercy but the red shoes take her away before she hears the angels reply. Karen in despair finds an executioner and asks him to chop off her feet, when he does the shoes still continue to dance, thinking she had suffered enough for the red shoes, Karen decides to go to church in order for the people to see her, but the red shoes dance before her barring the way, this happens the following week too. She now does not dare go to church instead sat at home alone and prayed to God for help, the angel reappeared and gave Karen the mercy she asked for he heart becomes so full of joy that it bursts, her soul then goes to heaven where no one mentions the red shoes.
The 1948 Film Plot
'Red Shoes' is a British film that focuses on a ballet dance, it was produced in 1948 by the team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, who are collectively known as The Archers. The film employs the 'story within a story' device, as it is based on the fair tale 'The Red Shoes' (Hans Christian Anderson). It is about a pair of enchanted crimson ballet slippers, the narrative followes the three characters; the young, beautiful socialite Vicky Page who holds a great love for ballet, he lover Julian Craster and her directorial director Boris Lemontove. Within the film Vicky attracts the attention of the famous director Lemontove and is promised by him "You shall dance, and the world shall follow", however this is only the basis that if she dances he will control everything else. On this basis Vicky rises to fame as the prima ballerinas in a world class Ballet company, however when Lermontov discovers the relationship between Vicky and Julian he dictates to Vicky that she must chose and must give up either Julian or her dancing. He is shocked however when she chooses Julian over ballet and leaves the company, and convinced that she will return to him in the future.She does miss the dancing, and when offered the change to dance in 'The Red Shoes' ballet show, she tries to resit but eventually gives in. Julian is furious at her choice as it appears that Lermontov has convinced him to leave him, Juilian then chases after her arriving as she prepares to dance 'The Red Shoes' ballet. Vicky tries to explain how she has missed her ballet, but did not want to leave him but when Lermontov enters he reinforces the apparent betrayal pf Vick, so Julian gives her the ultimatum, dancing or their marriage.Vicky is so distresses at the rapidly escalating tension and competition between the two crucial men in her life that all she can do is cry broken heartily, unable to contemplate losing either part of her life. Lermontov takes this as a victory and gloats, which causes Julian to leave, when lermontov comforts her a little he promises "...And from now onwards you will dance! Like never before". However whilst being escorted to the stage, still wearing the red shoes Vicky is seized by an irresistible impulse and runs out of the theatre, completely distraught she throws herself off a balcony in front of the approaching train. Julian cradles her crushed body and obeys her final request to "take of the red shoes..." Lermontov shaken and knowing his part in the tragedy appears to the audience and announces that she will never dance again however the company performs 'The Red Shoes', with just a lone spotlight taking the place of Vicky onstage. The performance is ghostly with the hidden meaning of "life rushes by, but the red shoes dance on...!
Thoughts...Thoughts...Thoughts
The reason why I focused on the original fairytale and later the film is because similar to my idea of the main object within the film being shoes, the object that is continuously present within my film is different peoples shoes. By analysing both he fairy tale and film production, I have been able to establish an idea of how if need I could incorporate my idea of focusing on a person shoes into a more structured narrative. I have also found both from here and the advert research that I conducted that the primary colour red is used for the central shoes, this I feel is because as a colour it not only is bright and eye catching but also can hold lots of meaning, from love and romance to evil and horror, it is a diverse colour and one which I am going to incorporate in a pair shoes within my film.
Next week I am planning to start a bit of filming, as I thought the half term week would be a perfect time to have a play around with the camera allowing to to assess what works and what could do with being taken back to the drawing board so to speak. Therefore during the lead up I have been analysing different media products, gaining inspiration and developing ideas of what I could incorporate in my film. Although it was not adverts that initially inspired me for my idea, I have noticed that the main camera focus for these advert is shoes. One such advert is the Macmillan 2012 cancer advert, and it was when watching this advert one day that I realised it was similar to my idea of using the camera to follow peoples shoes. This I thought was very powerful focus within an advert about cancer, as the main physical association is the hair loss and I feel by focusing on the shoes the attention is drawn away from the physical side of cancer but more on the words that are stating the emotion help and support given. I was also inspired by how they used a range of ages, focusing on both young and old, this detail was all gained through the shoes of the people.
Within the advert I was especially drawn when the bright red shoes came on, I felt this was very powerful as it gave the message that all women love to have nice shoes whatever physical state they are in we all deserve to have the pair of shoes that make us feel great. Just from the focus on these shoes I developed an idea of about the personality of the woman behind the bright red shoes, and this helped me to develop the idea of when filming the busy London streets I would like to have my actress among all the dark shoes where a pair of bright ones.When thinking of this idea I remembered the Clairol nice and easy hair colour advert whereby she buys a pair of bright red shoes, with the message being for the person to "be a shade braver".
One of the most inspirational directors behind stop motion is Jan Svanmajer. He is a czech filmmaker and artist, who work spans several media. As a self-labelled surrealist he is known for his surreal animation and features, and as a director he has greatly influenced other artists such as Terry Gilliam and The Brothers Quan, as well as many others. As a child he was given a puppet for Christmas, which is turn became an early influence on his later artistic development and it was under the influence of theoretician Vratislaw Effenberger that he moved from the mannerism of his early work (example = 'The Last Trick' 1964), to more classic surrealism, this was first manifested in his film 'The Garden' 1968. Over the several decade of work he had developed a reputation for his distinctive use of stop-motion technique, and his ability to make surreal, nightmarish yet somehow funny pictures. The trademarks of his work includes; exaggerated sounds, fast-motion sequences for when people interact, inanimate objects being brought to life through stop-motion, especially favouring in terms of stop-motion clay animation. Many of his short films (example = 'Down to the Cellar') are made from a child's perspective, whilst at the same time having a truly disturbing and even aggressive nature, so much so that in 1972 the communist authorities banned him from making films, therefore many of his later films were suppressed. However today he is one of the most celebrated animators in the world. Among his best work is his feature film 'Alice' (1988), which incorporates stop motion alongside live action, this especially inspired me for my second idea where I wanted to corporate stop motion along side real life action, focusing on the idea of separation and a mother leaving a child, this I wanted to mirror through the use of stop motion of the child leaving her doll. Below is the full film of Jan Svanmajer films Alice :
As a form of animation, stop motion is created by physically manipulating real-world objects, photographing them one frame of film at a time, allowing the illusion of movement to be created. There is many different types of stop-motion animation (the types are usually names after the medium that is used to create the animation).
PUPPET ANIMATION
This typically involves stop-motion puppet figures interacting with each other in a constructed environment, therefore this is contrasting to the location which is used for model animation, as this usually involves interaction in the real-world. The puppets are created with an armature inside which enables the structure to keep firm and steady during the movement and photographic stages, as they are constrained to move at particular joints. One of my favourite directors Tim Burton, who is behind the creation of 'Edward Scissor Hand' among other inspiring quirky, and at times dark films is a key example of director who applies puppet animation, two examples being 'Nightmare Before Christmas' (1993) and 'The Corpse Bride' (2005). Other examples are 'Coraline', a film directed by Henry Slick (2009) and the American stop-motion animated comedy series 'Robot Chicken' (2005-Present).
PUPPETOON
Unlike traditional stop-motion where the puppets are made with movable parts, which allows them to be repositioned between frames that in turn creates the illusion of motion, in puppetoon animation the puppets are rigid and static, therefore between each frame a different, near-duplicate puppet is used. Therefore meaning many separate figures are used for each frame. The technique was created by George Pal, and through the technique he made the series puppetoons in the 1940's and was awarded an honoury Oscar for "the development of novel methods and techniques in the production of short subjects known as puppetoons" (however from 1950 he started making live action films). George Pal's puppet films were memorable because of their use of replacement animation; they used a series of different hand-carved wooden puppets for each frame
CLAY ANIMATION
As a term is can be referred to as claymation. Figures are created using clay or a similar material such as plasticine The figures may have an armature or wire frame, to create a skeleton which can be easily manipulated in order to pose the figure in between frames. Alternatively the figures may be formed entirely out of clay, in turn morphed into a variety of shapes between the frames. There are a variety of examples of successful use of clay animation. Such as 'Morph' shorts, Morph being an animated plasticine stop-motion character who appeared in one minute "shorts" which would be inter-speared throughout the show, it was produced by Aardman Animations (which is also famous for Wallace and Grommit). Morph has also now been joined by a cream-coloured animated plasticine stop-motion character called Chas. Within the shorts the characters could change their morphology (example = becoming spheres to move around), they could also mimic others animals or objects. From 1944 to 2008, Morph and Chas appeared in the children's TV series Smart. Other examples of clay animation in shorts is the 'Wallace and Grommit' shorts. The series consisted of four short animated films ('A Grand Day Out' 1989, 'The Wrong Trousers' 1993, 'A Close Shave' 1995 and 'A Matter of Loaf and Death' 2008) produced by Aardman Animations, Wallace and Grommit as characters were moulded from plasticine with metal armatures.
CUTOUT ANIMATION
This stop-motion technique is produced by moving two-dimensional characters or shapes, which are cut out from materials such as paper, card, clothe or even photographs. The world's earliest animated feature films were cutout animations. Today however cut-out animation is frequently produced using computers, with scanned images taking the place of physically cut materials. A main example of how cutout animation has developed in in the series 'South Park' originally it was made with paper cutouts before switching to computer animation. However one famous animator Yuriy Norshteyn is still using traditional cutout animation today, and had done throughout his career in his short films such as 'Hedgehog and the Frog' (1975). A more recent example, is the children's TV series 'Charlie and Lola'
SILHOUETTE ANIMATION
This is a variant of cutout animation, in which the characters are only visible as black silhouettes. This is established by back lighting articulated cardboard cut-outs. As a technique it was inspired by European shadow play and silhouette cutting. Examples of silhouette animation 'Princes et Princesses' (2000) and 'Tales of the Night' (2011), by produced by Michel Ocelot.
MODEL ANIMATION
This referred to the type of stop-motion animation which is designed to interact with and exist as a part of a live-action world, in order to create the illusion of a real-world fantasy sequence. In order to blend the stop-motion characters or object with live actors and settings inter cutting, matte effects and split screens are employed. It was pioneered by Willis O'Brian and first applied to the film 'The Lost World' (1925), as well as his other films such as 'King Kong' (1933)
OBJECT ANIMATION
Object animation is a form of stop-motion animation that involves the animated movement of any non-drawn objects such as toys,blocks and dolls. It is considered a different form of animation that is distinct from model and puppet animation as these two forms of stop-motion usually use recognizable characters as their subjects, rather than just objects such as Lego bricks or construction toys. Object animation is often combines with other forms of animation is order create a more realistic effect (example = a toy car can be animated but is more often animated with a character easily seen driving the car). The use of animated objects in film has been present since the early days of cinema, an modern object animation example is 'Robot Chicken', which combines object animation with a variation of puppet animation.
GRAPHIC ANIMATION
Graphic animation consists of the animation of photographs and other non-drawn flat visual graphic materials such as newspaper and magazine clippings, which are sometimes manipulated frame-by-frame in order to create movement or at other times the graphics remain stationary, whilst the stop-motion camera in moved in order to create on-screen action. An example of graphic animation is in Jan Svankmajer 1967 short 'Historia Naturae'.
BRICK FILM
This is a sub-genre of object animation, as it involves using Lego or others brick toys in order to make an animation. As a form of animation, it has recently had a boost in popularity, due to cheap cameras and animation soft wares available, people can have there own go at animation and then post it on sits such as YouTube. Brickfilm can also contain a mixture of stop-motion and live action.
PIXILATION
This animation techniques involves the use of live actors as stop-motion characters, therefore the actors are used as frame-by-frame subjects in an animated film. The actors repeatedly pose whilst one or more frames is taken, they change pose slightly before the new frame, therefore the actor becomes a living stop motion puppet. Pixilation allows for a number of surreal effects, including disappearances and reappearances, allowing people to appear to slide across the grounds and other such effects. There is many examples of pixilation such as 'Angry Kid' shorts and 'The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb' by the Bolex Brothers. Jan Svankmajer made a numerous number of pixilations, but one of the most famous is the pixilation 'Food' (1992).
Whilst researching short films, I have discovered that many short films do incorporate stop-motion, whether this is just a small element alongside 'real' action or whether the whole film is created through stop motion, I therefore have decided to rsearch this technique in order to make a decision on whether I will include some in my final short film or not. Stop motion can also be refered to as stop frame, and is an animation technique which physically manipulates an object, in order to make it appear as if it is moving on its own. The process involves the object being moved in small increments between indivdually photographed frames, therefore creating the illusion of movement when a series of frames is played a continuous sequence. Due to their ease at reposition dolls are often used. Clay-animation involves stopmotion being used on plasticine models however not all stop motion requires figures or models, it can use any thing from humans, to household appliances to even post-it notes :
As a technique stop motion had a long history within film. It was first used within Smith and Blacktons 1897 film "The Humpty Dumpty Circus" whereby a toy circus of acrobats and animals comes to life. Wladlslaw Starewiucz who aiminated 'The Ant and the Grasshoper' in 1911, is said to be the greatest eurpoean stop motion pioneer :
A company known for its work with stop-motion animation is Rakin/Bass Animated Entertainment (which has been owned by Warner Brothers Studios since 1974). Since the 1960's it has been been making many stop motion Christmas specials such as 'Santa Claus Is Coming To Town', 'Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer' and 'The Year Without Santa Claus'. Rakin/Bass features are recongizable by their visual style of doll-like characters with spherido body parts, and ubiquitous powdery snow using an animation technique called "Animagic".
The term narrative was defined by David Bordwell as "a chain of even in cause-effect relationship occurring in time and space". Although causality (and time and space) is central to narrative, film also make use of different principles, such as parallelism (this is where two separate lines of actions are inter cut in order to allow the audience to compare and contrast the action). With network narrativesm which show parallel lines of action and conceal causal links are increasingly more popular within film. Narrative meaning is created by establishing that something is a part of a whole and usually that something is the cause of something else. It is usually combined with humans actions or events that affect human beings. Narrative Structure is generally described as the structural framework that underlies the order and manor which a narrative is presented to a reader. The narrative text structures are the plot and the setting. Within film as a structure narrative can be divided in three sections, which is referred to as the three-act structure, which are the set-up, conflict and resolution. Below is a video explaining the basic elements of a plot and narrative structure and also an outline of the three-act structure :
The Set-Up : This is where all the main characters and their basic situations are introduced, it contains the primary level of characterization, by starting to explore the characters backgrounds, and personalities. Also within the set-up a problem is introduced in order to drive the story forward The Conflict : This is the main action within the story, it begins with the catalysts in order to set things into motion, and is the part of the story where the characters go through major changes in their lives as a result of what is happening, it therefore allows for character development The Resolution : This is where the character is forced to confront the issues that have arised during 'the conflict' sections, and therefore allows all the element of the story to come together and inevitably leads to the ending.
Within my AS I feel that this was the part that I had not explored enough, I feel rather than trying out a variety of shots, my piece Incorporated and repeated shots throughout, therefore for my A2 piece it is an area that I am keen to focus on, especially as I have no fixed narrative the camera shots will be key importance in whether my film works and attracts the audience or not, Overall there are fourteen key camera shots that are used through the creation of a film, and this is done to add in diversity to the film and at times draw the audiences eye on a specific subject or object.
Extreme Wide Shot = This type of shot as be taken up to a quarter of a mile away from the subject, and is generally used a scene-setting, establishing shot. This type of shot normally shows an exterior (example = the outside of a building,a vas landscape), it can also be used to show scenes demonstrating thrilling action (example = a war or disastor film). The shots is meant to give a general impression rather than specific, therefore there will be very little detail visible within the shot.
Very Wide Shot = This shot can also be used as an establishing shot, however within this shot the subject is just viable but the emphasis similar to an extreme wide shot is still on the environment rather than the subject
Wide or Long Shot = Within this shot is shows the image as approximately "life" size ie corresponding to the real distance between the audience and the scene in a cinema (example = the figure of a man would appear as six feet tall). This category includes the full shot, which shows the entire human body, with the head near the top of the frame and the feet near the bottom. Although focus in this shot is on the character, plenty of background detail still emerges.
Medium Shot = This shot shows some parts of the subject in more detail, as it contains the subject from the knees up, however the shot still allows an impression of the whole subject to be gained. Within a film it is normally used for dialogue scenes or to show some detail of action. Within the shot background detail is minimal, as the location has been establish earlier within the scene, allowing the focus to be on dialogue.
Medium Close Up Shot = This is halfway between the medium shot and the close-up shot, more focus is on that subject than in medium shot, and the shot tends to cut off just below the subject shoulders.
Close Up Shot = Within this shot very little background is shown, rather it concentrated on either a face or a specific detail of mise en scène by it taking up the whole of the frame. The shot magnifies the object and therefore shows the importance of things (example = the expression on someones face). The close-up takes us into the mind of the character, as in reality we would only let people that we trusted get that close to our face (example = mother, child, partner) therefore a close-up of a face is a very intimate shot. A film-maker may use this shot to make us feel extra comfortable or extremely uncomfortable about a character. A zoom lens if often used to get the required framing
Extreme Close Up = This is an extreme version of the close-up shot, it magnify's an object beyond what the human eye would experience in reality. It is a very artificial shot, and therefore can be used for dramatic effect. The tight focus that is required means that extra care must be taken when setting up and lighting the shot, as even the slightest error (example = slight camera shake or error in focal length) is very noticeable.
Cut Away Shot = This shot is taken of something other than the current action that is going on within the scene
Cut In Shot = This shot shows the audience some part of the subject in detail, it is usually used for another part of the subject to the face, such as the hands (within my AS piece I used a cut-in shot to demonstrate the police inspectors watch)
Two Shot = This involves the use of a medium shot, however two characters are involved in the shot. This shot can also be adapted to use three characters, which is called a three shot however if there is anymore than three characters within the frame the shot becomes a long shot
Over The Shoulder Shot = This shot is taken from behind one character therefore shows the back of their head slightly, it shows this secondary character look at the main subject, and is a bit more of an interesting shot to just a long shot of the character. This shot is commonly used in documentaries, however is also applicable to short films, such as in "My Beast Friend", the audience looks over the shoulder of Fluff looking at Ed as the main subject.
Noddy Shot = This shot is of the interviewer listening and reacting to the subject. It is often used in documentaries however can also be applied to drama and other situation films
Point-Of-View Shot = This shot shows the view from the subjects perspective. An example of the successful use of this shot is within the Channel 4 TV series 'Peep Show'
Weather Shot = This shot involves the subject rather than being a character is the weather, the camera usually focuses on the sky but can be used for other purposes
Editing is a stage that often begins as soon as the film has been shot, and is the process whether all the sound and images that have been shot are organised into a narrative order, the transitions of shots are also planned. Before the final film is developed, a rough cut is created just by the editor, it is during the production of the final cut that the sound effects and musical score is added. Editors use computers and nonlinear digital systems to compile a film. There are a number of different editing techniques that can be applied during this process
Cut : This is where a visual transition is created in editing, in which one shot is instantaneously replaced on screen by another Continuity Editing : This is the most
common type of edit and helps to create a sense of reality and time moving
forward. It is a technique that is also referred to as invisible edititing as
it does not draw attention to the process. This process is often Linear
Narrative which means events happen in chronological order (example = wake up-get dressed-have breakfast-go to school) Credits : This is the text that gives detail of the cast and production crew, it comes at the beginning and end of films, typically within a short film however they only come towards the end Cross-Cutting : This involves cutting back and forth between two or more events or action which is taking place at the same time but in a different location. It therefore interweaves one narrative action with another. It helps to suggest to the audience that the events are happening simultaneously, therefore in parallel with each other and can be used to built suspense within a film or show how different pieces of action are related Cutaways : Cutaways consist of shots showing the reaction of one character to another, and involves a cut away from the primary subject to something which is seen as equally or more relevant at the time. It is often used in order to compress time in what appears to be seamless manner Cutting Rate : Frequent cuts may be used as deliberate interruptions to shock, surpise or emphaise Eye-Line Match : This involves the matching of eye lines between two or more characters to help establish the relationship of proximity and continuity. It can also involve cutting from the character to what the character is looking at (example = the character-the table which they are looking at) Flash Backs and Flash Forwards : This is a scene or moment within a film where the audience is shown as event that has either happened earlier (flashback) or something that will happen in the future (flash forward). There are many examples where this has been used within film such as 'Amored Perros' and 'Lost', I also applied flashbacks to my AS piece through the use of "home footage" Montage Editing : This involves scenes where the emotional impact and visual design is achieved through the editing together of many brief shots. Therefore it is where different shots which are sometime unconnected are edited together to create meaning. Fast Paced Editing : This is the rapid
succession of many shots, which are usually less than two seconds each. This
type of editing is used to emphasis tension. Slow Paced Editing : This is opposite of
fast pace, it involves long shots which tend to have dialogue. A shot can take
from 10 to 15 seconds each. Fade and Dissolves : These are gradual transitions between shots. In a fade the picture gradually appears from the fade in or it can disappear to fad out onto a blank screen. A slow fade-in is a quiet introductions to a scene and a slow fade-out creates a peaceful ending. Time lapses are often suggested by a slow fade-in or fade-out. A dissolve involves fading out one picture while fading up another on top of it. The impression is of an image merging into and then becoming another. A slow mix usually suggests differences in time and place. De focus or ripple dissolves are somethings used to indicate flashbacks in time. Split Screen : This involves a division of the screen into parts, which in turn can show the viewer several images at the same time (this can sometimes be the same action from slightly different perspectives or sometimes similar actions at different times). It can help convey the excitement or frequency of certain activities to the audience, but also can overload the viewer which can be what the director is deliberately aiming for.
A director may chose to move actionh along by telling the story through a series of cuts (this involves going from one to another) or the camera could be moved along with the action to tell the story. The actual movement of the camera takes a great deal of time, and can make the action seem slower. When thinking about camera movement it is not only the style that must be chosen but also the method of actually moving the camera, altogether there are five key camera movements :
PANS
This is where the camera pivots horizontally from either right to left or left
to right across the scene, this movement can allow a set or scene to be
revealed. For this movement the camera can be placed on a tripod which acts as
the stationary axis point, the camera is then turned to either follow a moving
character or object which is kept in the middle of the frame.
TILTS
This moveent is similar to a pan movement,
however this time the camera scans the scene vertically by moving up and down
DOLLY SHOTS
This is also known as tracking shots. It involves the camera moving alongside the action, generally the camera follows a moving figure or object. More complicated dolly shots will involve a track being laid on set for the camera to follow, the canera nay also be mouted on a car and for those creating short film so low budget shopping trolleys can even be used! A dolly shot is a good way of portraying movement, for example the journey of a character or for moving from a long shot to a close-up, which in turn gradually focuses the audience's eye on a particular object or character. This type of movement is common in documentrarys as it portrays the journey of the character.
CRANE SHOTS
This is basically dolly-shot-in-the-air. A crane is a large havy piece of equiment, but is a useful way of moving a camera. A crane can move up, down, left, right, swooping on on action or moving diagonally out of it. THE ARIEL SHOT
This is a vartiation of a crane shot, and usually taken from a helicopter. This is ofen used at the beinging of a film, in order to establish the setting and movement. A helicopter is seen a flexiable crane, as can go anywhere and keep up with anything, and covery real drama and exhilartation.
The camera angle mrks the specific location at which the camera is positioned to take a shot, a scene itself may be shot from several different angles. This is in order to give a different experience, and at times different emotional information to the audience, as the different camera angle will have different effects on the viewer and in turn her they perceive the scene that is shot. There is five different camera angles, which helps guide the audiences judgment about the character or object within the scene :
Eye Level Angle Shot = This a fairly neutral shot; with the camera being positioned as though it us a human actual observing the scene, therefore is positioned at human eye level. Within in this shot therefore the camera is placed approximately five to six feet off the ground.
High Angle Camera Shot = This is not as extreme as a birds eye view shot, however the camera is still elevated above the action, within high budget movies this is done by using a crane in order to give a general overview (however similar to myself short low budget films have to find alternative methods). High angle shots makes the object or character seem smaller and therefore less significant. The cameraman is raised above the action in order to get a high angle shot.
Low Angle Camera Shot = This shot involves the camera being placed to look up at the character, therefore increases the height of the character (a favoured shot for making shorter actors seem taller such as Tom Cruise or James McAvoy). This type of shot gives the character on screen the dense of dominated power. Within a low angle shot the only background setting tends to be just a celling or the sky, as this lack of detail in the setting can help add to the disorientation felt by the viewer within certain film genre's.
Birds Eye View Angle Camera Shot = This shows the scene from directly over head, therefore unlike the eye level angle shot creates a very unnatural and stranger shot. Within this shot familiar objects can be made to seem at first totally unrecognisable (umbrellas in a crowd). This shot does however out the audience in a godlike position, as they look down on the action. Within this shot people can be made to look insignificant. Hitchcok and admirers of his such as Brian de Palma is fond of this style of shot.
Oblique or Canted Angle = Sometimes the camera is titled in order to suggest imbalance, transition and instability (therefore a popular angle in horror movies). This technique is used to suggest point-of-view shots, and a hand held camera is often used for this angle.
The fourth wall is an imaginary "wall", it was first established by live theatre
and has been adapted for film and TV. In theatre a three-walled box set in a
proscenium theatre through which the audience can see the action of the world in
the play. The idea of the fourth wall was made explicit by Denis Diderot, it
spread within the 19th century threat with the advent of theatrical realism,
this extended the ideas to the imaginary boundary between fictional work and its
audience. Shakespeare would often break the fourth wall, but it was also present
during Ancient Greek theatre.
Within film and TV to "break the fourth wall"
means speaking directly to the audience through the camera, it is a considered a
technique of meta fiction as it de-constructs the boundaries normally set up by
works of fiction. When a character breaks the fourth wall it means that they
have acknowledged their fictionally either indirectly or directly addressing the
audience, it can also be seen by the character interacting with their creator
(this is more indirectly breaking the fourth wall however). To "break the fourth
wall" successfully is difficult and is not used by many directors, therefore as a technique it is commonly used within short films, if it is used it tends to be within a comical film/TV series, below is a few examples of shows/films that have broken the fourth wall :an professional example is the BBC comedy 'Miranda' which I feel is a successful example of breaking the fourth wall, it allows the audience to feel as though they are experiencing Miranda's life and feel as if each joke she tells she allowing the audience in on the secret, therefore by breaking the fourth wall it keeps the audience attention by allowing them to feel included in the comedy side :
"Miranda"
"Miranda" I feel is a key example of the successful use of 'breaking the fourth wall. It is a comical sitcom that was launched in November 2009 and has been running for two successful series, it started with 2.63 million viewers and by the end of the second series it has reached 4.1 million viewers. It is based on Miranda Harts semi-autobiography and won the 'best new comedy' award at the Comedy Awards 2011. The reason why I feel they have captured the technique successfully, is because as an audience member I feel drawn into the action, I feel as if she is letting me in on all the jokes some of which not even the other on-screen characters to see, therefore Miranda is directly addressing the audience member, this especially shown at the opening of the "Teacher" episode which is above.
'Said Susan'
'Said Susan', is a short broadcasted on virgin media shorts. It is about a woman called Susan who narrates her life, at first we think its just to the audience but then towards the end we are introduced the character Darren, and learn that actually he can hear all that she is saying about him and her life. Therefore this is a key example of "breaking the fourth wall" as the majority of the film Susan is talking directly towards the audience, and it is only at 1 minute 12 seconds that we are introduced to the secondary character Darren where dialogue with the character, in incorporated with direct speech towards the audience.
We have once again explored the elements of sound, however we have developed out knowledge from AS by focusing on Foley Sound. Foley is a term that describes the process of recording sound affects separate to the action, this sound is created by a Foley artist. It is added to the film within post-production, and the reason is to enhance the quality of audio for film. The Foley sound is all created within a Foley-studio, which is where the Foley progress takes place. The term "Foley" is originally named after Jack Foley, who lived between 1891 to 1967, he was a sound editor for Universal Studios in the 1950's , and became a famous for his advancements in synchronized sound effects.
Foley sound is either used to complement or replace audio which was recorded on set within filming. A Foley artist will use creativity in order to make the audience believe that the sound affects are actually real, therefore the audience should not actually know that the sound was not actually part of the original filming process. The reason why Foley sound is used is because during the actual production the original sound can be obstructed by noise such as from the weather or not actually convincing enough to underscore the visual effect or action (example = many crashes and explosions are actually added during post-production). By adding the Foley sound during post-production an editor has complete control over the noise, its quality and the relative volume, therefore adding depth and realism to the audio quality. Foley sounds also feature within scenes where the dialogue is replaced through the use of automatic dialogue replacement, this therefore meant the need for Foley rose dramatically when films began to be distributed internationally, due to the all the audio had to be replaced for dialogue within the given language this also meant all the sound effects were lost so had to be duplicated.
In order to explore the element of Foley sound we created a one minute film (as we thought we better add some element of media as we are after all doing media studies!). We were given the task of constructing an original film, which had to include a piece of diegetic and non-diegetic audio, an interior and exterior location, five elements of Foley sound and cross-cutting editing. My group consisted of me, Caitlin, Georgie and Nicole. Firstly we had some discussion on what we wanted to do and we decided to reconstruct a spoof horror, we then had to think about how we were going to ensure we corroborated all the elements needed. Our storyline consists of following a girl doing her homework, she then gets a phone call of an unknown caller and when she answers the only response is deep breathing, she then hangs up in frustration and hears a tap on the window, turning round she is met with a strange male character pulling a "scary" face. One of the boys in year 13 was very kind to do his scary face for our film, and in order to save time looking for actresses Nicole volunteered to be the female character. This is a list of how we incorporated the necessary elements:
Non-Diegetic Audio = Our sound track used to overlay our title
Diegetic Audio = The telephone conversation between the two characters
Interior Location = The girl sat inside doing her homework at the desk in front of a door
Exterior Location = The male character stood on the outside of the door where the girl is sat in front of
Five Foley Sounds = Sound of girl walking up the stairs; Telephone ringing; Tapping on the window; Girl saying "hello"; Sound of pen writing on paper
We were given, an hour to film and then half an hour to edit before the big showing (which involved lots of giggles) in front of the class. Here is our "talented" Foley film for you to enjoy (and also have a few giggles at):
Though many see film as essentially an visual experience, people should not underestimate the importance of sound within film. A meaningful sound track can be as complicated as the images on screen, and can create an direct effect from the audience (example = an emotional piece, holds much more drama and realism when accompanied by a meaningful sound track). However the sound within film does not necessarily have to match the image or be continuous. Directors such as Robert Altman are famous for their complex use of the soundtrack, by layering multiple voices and sound effects.
NON-DIGENTIC SOUND
This is the sound that can only be heard by the audience, it can be in format of narration of a sound track. The source of sound therefore originates from outside the film world, meaning that the characters do not react to the sound at all, it is only us as audience members who can hear. An example of non-digentic sound is the short film 'Through Movements'
DIGENTIC SOUND
This is the sound that originates from a source within the film world, therefore can be heard by characters within the scene and in turn they react to the sound. However there is also an distinction that can be made between external and internal diegetic sound. An example of external sound is a character speaking out loud, because it is out loud any other character can hear him, whilst as an example of internal sound is sounds that only revolve in a characters head so that no one else within the film would can heard them. Most films include diegentic sound, and an example of the use of both internal and external sound is the virgin media short "The Ex Factor".
SOUND BRIDGE
A sound bridge can lead in or out of a scene. They can occur at the beginning of one scene when the sound from the previous scene is carried over briefly before the sound from the next scene begins. Alternatively they can occur at the end of a scene, when the sound from the next scene is heard before the image appears on the screen. Sound bridges are one of the most common transitions in the continuity edit styles, as one that stresses the connection between both scenes since they mood which is suggested by the music stays the same. Sound bridges can also be used however as a creative method, such as romantic music being played to imply possible new relationships within the film. Over all a sound bridge adds to the smoothness of the continuity, by running sound from one shot across a cut to another shot to make the action seem uninterrupted.
NARRATION/VOICE OVER
This when commentary is spoken off screen, it tells the narrative of the film whilst it still continues however within the image the character is not speaking. A voice-over is often used to give a sense of the characters subjectivity or to narrate and event told in flashbacks. A voice over can be used to; introduce particular parts of a programme, to add extra information not evident from the picture, to interpret the images for the audience from a particular point of view or to like parts of a sequence or programme together. A voice-over can also be used in a non literal or iconic way, where the words that a character states do not seem to match the action they perform. Within my AS piece I incorporated a voice-over of the mother whilst a flashback was being shown. An example of a short film that just uses non-diegentic narration is the film 'Love Sick'.
SYNCHRONOUS SOUND
This is when sound is matched temporally with the movements occurring in the images, as when dialogue corresponds with lip movements, meaning that all synchronised sound is diegentic. The sound can come from both on-screen and off-screen sources, but in order for the it to be synchronised all the sound must work with the scene therefore be in realistic hearing range. ASYNCHRONOUS SOUND
All non-diegentic is asynchronous, this involves sound which is not synchronised with the visuals, however it can also be diegetic sound if in reality the sound would not be able to be hear and seen in the event simultaneously. There are two common uses of why asynchronous sound is used within films; bridging a cut in order to create a sound bridge and also to create a meaningful juxtaposition.
SCORE
This is music that is specifically composed to accommodate an image, it not only can enhance the mood or atmosphere but also can be used thematically (example = within pantos a score is used in the form of a musical tune to represent a character such a wicked sound to represent the villain). The music can be discordant or melodic depending on the desired emotional effect being created for the audience.
MUSIC
Music helps to establish a sense of the pace of the accompanying scene. The rhythm of music usually dictates the rhythm of the cuts. The emotional occurring of the music also reinforces the mood of the scene. Background music is asynchronous music, which accompanies a film it is therefore not normally intended to be noticeable. Conventionally, background music accelerates for a chase sequence, becomes louder to underscore a dramatically important action. Through repetition is can also link shot, scenes and sequences. Foreground music is often synchronous music which finds its source within the screen events (example = from a TV in the scene). It may be a more credible and dramatically plausible way of bringing music into a programme than background music. An example where only music is used to create an emotional response from the audience is in the short film 'Beau'.
