Preliminary Exercise.

Continuity editing is editing film/shots so that they seem to flow uninterrupted, from shot to shot. They can also include 'cross-cutting', where a scene cuts between two different settings where action is taking place at the same time, to make the same scene, in the final product. 

The 180 Degree Rule.

The 180 degree rule, is a basic guideline, that states that two characters/elements in the same scene should always have the same right/left relationship to each other; for example, if the camera passes over the imaginary line, it becomes a reverse angle, making the scene look odd. If the camera is filming over the left should of one character, it would have to film over the other character's right shoulder, to make the scene look ordinary. 

The Match on Action. 

The shot was quite difficult to achieve, because you had to have the timing precise, otherwise the door would be opening twice. 

Match on action is to connect two shots cut together by having a character finish an action in shot B begun in the shot A. For example: Shot A - close up of door handle, opening door. Shot B - Actor walking through door, mid shot. 

Shot/Reverse Shot.

The alternating of two shots to show interaction/conversation between to characters or objects in each shot; for example, shot A is speaking and shot B shows the character who he/she is speaking to.

Overall I think that Tom & I edited our preliminary well. I'm most proud of our Match on Action shot because it flows naturally. 

Rob captured all the scenes really well. Tom B and Tom H were helpful, and took direction good. I directed - I could've been more thoughtful with how the shots were placed, but overall i am proud with the final product. 

feedback

more excellent work!

Case Study Of Catch Me If You Can

Catch Me If You Can is probably one of the most creative film openings I've ever seen. 

It has a lot of smarts and cleverness behind it.

The opening begins with a fade from black into a blue, night sky with the company's name, "DreamWorks Pictures, presents", printed to the left of the screen. There is also an anonymous figure to the right. The animation assumes it's in a airport. 

However I cannot make out what fonts were used. I have tried to research but I cannot find any websites that agree on the font. Personally it looks like Helvetica, for the large font, and the smaller font could be American Typewriter.  

Whenever the animation moves on, sound follows with it; for example, more font will appear and the tempo will increase, or another sound is added to the composition. 

The next title is "A Kemp Company and Splendid Pictures Production"- more characters are added to the animations (pilots). 

"A Parkes/ MacDonald Production". More pilots walking through the terminal. The anonymous character is watching the pilots from the far left. 

"A Steven Spielberg Film". Anonymous figure follows the air hostesses. 

This shows all the companies that are involved with making this film. It is important that they are shown first so the audience can become familiar with the company names; for example Steven Spielberg created movies such as Jaws and E.T which were huge/ popular box office stars.

Actors now begin to be introduced.

A common airport sign, normally signaling to a gate number, with a pointing arrow, points down to the anonymous figure, when "Leonardo DiCaprio" appears on screen. We now know the anonymous figure, that has been watching the pilots, is infact the star of the movie.

Leonardo goes through the clever font, and comes out the other side in a new disguise - a pilot. He then carries on walking through the terminal. 

"Tom Hanks". Hanks plays the detective in the film. In this shot, the figure has the connotations of a detective (sunglasses, suit, newspaper, hat). 

The airport sign arrow also is pointing down on this character. Hanks is looking at DiCaprio, as he is the suspect. 

It then cuts to many anonymous figures, mostly pilots and air hostesses, and Hanks looking out for DiCaprio. The arrow sign the points to one of the pilots.

We find out that it is DiCaprio; he then goes up some stairs, which disappear as Hanks runs towards them. 

"Catch Me If You Can" then appears. The font is in black, except for "Me" which drifts off and turns into a cloud as a plane flies past. 

The music used is based around the tempo. It is very fast and then slows down slightly, while the animation acts out every tempo change. It is quite slick music, and fits the animations incredibly well. 

A plane makes the transition onto a freeway. "Christopher Walken" - All cars are grey, except for the yellow taxi, which are main character is in.

A blue, police type car, follows the taxi off the freeway, as the title "Martin Sheen" appears.

The Taxi makes the transition, where DiCaprio dives into a swimming pool. A lady's legs, in high heels represent the actress "Nathalie Baye".

There are more women in the background, sunbathing by the pool side. 

DiCaprio swims from left to the right side of the pool. "Amy Adams" is represented by a woman sitting on the right of the screen, close up. Amy Adams plays a main lady in Dicaprio's life, in this film. 

Therefore there is relevance for her being close to the audience. Tom Hanks is also, still searching for DiCaprio by the pool.

Dicaprio goes hides behind a giant, high heel stiletto, and comes out the other side as a doctor. He goes into a lift where there is a female nurse.

As the lift goes up, the titles come down, displaying the names "James Brolin; Brian Howe; Frank John Hughes", on the right, in green, against a black background. 

On the left of the screen, in a darker green, the audience can see some steps. Showing the battle of DiCaprio in the left, and Hanks tracking him on the stairs. 

More names are introduced, above the lift (central); "Steve Eastin; Chris Ellis; John Finn".

As the nurse goes to kiss, DiCaprio, he runs out of the lift, right, as Hanks walks in, left. 

Dicaprio changes from green screen/doctor to orange screen/student/ business man. He walks into a room where two women are typing (secretaries).

This is to represent "Casting by Debra Zane, CSA." and "Casting Associate Terri Taylor". This is really clever, because the animation shows people typing and represents the roles of these jobs. 

As DiCaprio transits to middle door, between the two secretaries, "Co-producer Devorah Moos-Hankin" appears. 

"Based upon the book by Frank W. Abagnale with Stan Redding". The animated character runs past a bookshelf, papers fly off as he runs past. 

The scene representing the bookshelf is surprisingly clever because the titles are about the book. 

Two files displaying "Titles by Kuntzel Deygas" appear to the left of the bookshelf, as the flying paper, displays Hanks, appearing in what looks like a broken mirror, but is actually the paper falling.

Dicaprio appears in a pink snow scene, he goes behind the consistent black transition line, and comes out the other side as a waiter. 

The waiter walks off through the party. "Music by John Williams" is displayed on the piano. 

The music turns slightly more elegant, and fancy, as Hanks turns up at the party. Many guests surround him - "Costume Designer Mary Zophres" 

DiCaprio enters the revolving doors, while Hanks' reflection appears in them. This title is for "Film Editor Michael Kahn, A.C.E" 

Dicaprio jumps onto the next title, as the font for the first 'P' in 'Oppewall'  is adapted as a rope - "Production Designer Jeannine Oppewall"

The rope is disguised for the mirrored lines on the title "Director of Photography Janusz Kaminski, ASC". A shadow runs through the lines. Door opens to the left, displaying Hanks.

Close up of interrogation lamps - "Co-Executive Producer Daniel Lupi". Three other lamps are in the background; one lights up showing DiCaprio's silhouette underneath.

In another frame there are two more interrogation lamps; under green light, Hanks' character is shown talking on the phone.

"Executive Producer Barry Kemp Laurie MacDonald" are linked and held up on a hook. While DiCaprio jumps, disappearing in the background.

As you see DiCaprio reappear he has landed on the title "Executive Producers Michel Shane Tony Romano" - the font links making three interrogation lamps. 

As lamps light up, green, Hanks walks underneath them. 

The next title is published among a starlight sky "Produced by Steven Spielberg Walter F. Parkes". Hanks is large than Dicaprio and is fairly close behind him at this point.

As both characters run, the final title "Screenplay by Jeff Nathanson" displays, as the title fades to black. 

End Sequence

Juno Film Opening.

The task was to recreate the film opening to the film Juno. 

Here is the real film opening.

When Nick first showed the class the clip from Juno, I was excited because it looked really fun to recreate. After watching the clip, Nick split us into five groups. I was in a group with Tom, Angelica and Louis. We then split into another two groups. Tom and Louis started to work on the storyboard, while Angelica and I started noting down all the frames. There was about 30-40 frames. We also timed all the frames, and compared them with the boys. Also we noted down the camera shots, and where the actress was on the camera, for example Close Up/ Left. 

Planning was fairly difficult because the shots had to be exact, and if they didn't match up, then the video wouldn't be as effective compared to the real one. 

We also gave roles to members on the group. I was Juno; Angelica and Tom were on camera, and; Louis was the director and made sure the camera shots were exact. 

The props needed were red hoodie, converse, juice carton and also the guitar/ television/ box. 

Unfortunately Louis missed the day of filming because he was ill. 

After filming, we started to edit the footage, on Final Cut. Angelica, Tom and myself all edited on one Mac on Friday, but on Tuesday, Angelica and Louis started to edit on there own, while Tom and I finished editing. We soon realised we had missed a shot out. We were quite stuck with what to do, so we went outside to re-film the shot on my mobile, but the connection failed, so we made the decision to leave it out.  

We used the blade tool to crop the horrible/funny outtakes and also to get the right camera shots. We used fade and other video transitions to move the piece along, and try to mimic the original. The main transition we used was 'Wipe'. 

We downloaded a Juno styled font (Green Piloww) to create the titles. However we didn't manage to finish all the titles because of time. The font worked really well; I just wish we had a chance to finish it. 

The other effect we used was 'Flop' which opposites the image, for example images on the left of the frame will appear on the right.

I am really pleased with the outcome. I think we worked really well as a team; we had lots of fun which was really nice to have and made the group more confident. I like the way the film was shot, and definitely the final outcome. 

However, it was really difficult to get all the shots, because Louis had the storyboard and wasn't in on the day, therefore we had to rely on my shot list, so not all shots were exact. 

In the future, I will produce a storyboard as well, because then we always have a back up. 

Our Own Personal Pies.

When Nick first told us about this idea, we all thought "why can't we just tell people about ourselves instead of making pie charts?" But in the end, they turned out very individual. 

To create the pie charts, I used a software called "keynote". I have never used this software before, but it was really simple, yet effective. 

First I opened the style of slides I wanted, which was 'Pinstripe'. The I clicked on 'Charts'. I entered my data, and the percentages etc. I chose to do % of life being musical, and % of life living in places. 

After the basics were on my pie chart, I decided to decorate the pies. The musical one has a "retro" pattern, with the clashing colours. The other pie had my favourite colours on it, because where I have lived represents a huge part of my life, personality, and individuality. 

 

When Nick told us that one of our topics was about our identity, I was proper excited. 

I've already learnt so much about my classmates, that I didn't know before, from our 'Personal Pies'. I can't wait to find out more about our topic.

Postcards.

Unfortunately I couldn't complete the postcard task because there was complications with the train line, and i was unable to get to Long Road. 

However, I was told that they class had made postcards to promote the Creative and Media course. 

Here is Angelica's Postcard. 

I really liked this postcard because it was colourful and eye-catching. It also has the film strip, with pictures in it - very media iconic. 

I was quite gutted about missing this lesson, because I would've liked to create a promotional postcard and also learn more photoshop skills.

Feedback

This blog will be the evidence of your research and planning for the AS coursework, so there needs to be lots on it and lots of detail to it.

Did you miss the postcard task? that should be on here.

Very good points on the two clips, though some of your text is missing when it displays in the browser- you might need to edit again

pete

Student Film Opening.

This student film is called "Scapegoat"; the genre is horror.
I thought this was an amazing film opening because of the shots used. The camera work was really effective, especially the shot at 00:28 when it fast forwards while the boy is walking. This is a usual type of shot for horror films, because of the creepiness.

The only negative point about this film was the end title "Scapegoat" because it wasn't as powerful as the whole sequence. If the font was different, and on a black background it would've been incredibly powerful.
Overall this piece was really inspiring and showed the complete intensity of the opening.

Film Openings.

The three film openings I watched were: Blade; Catch Me If You Can, and; Sorority Row.
The opening scene for Blade was set in a club, full of vampires, at a 'blood bath'. Six characters are established.
The opening/ title scene for Catch Me If You Can is really clever. It really shows what the film is going to be about.
I have chosen to write about 'Sorority Row'.

My first impression of the setting was eery, because of the falling leaves and quiet location. You hear a girl scream, but you soon realise that it's not a terrified scream, but a playful one, as she claims her top has been stolen.
The mood completely changes as the camera enters the house- it is a college or university party. The camera is used as a 'Point of view' shot. It seems as we are walking through the house.
The party seems chaotic and messy, but everyone seems to be enjoying themselves.
Five characters are established. Ellie - red head with glasses. She is called upstairs by another girl for a "sorority meeting".

We then see another girl (Cassidy) making her way to the room; going through all the typical sorority house party stereotypes, eg fights, drunkenness, and sexually situations. She is then greeted by another sorority sister (Jessica).
We soon find out that the "sister's" don't actually have much in common, but are friends because they belong in the same sorority.

We find out a bit more about the characters. Claire looks really girly and is referred to as the "multi-cultural" character; "Chugs" looks sporty and I think that the name is a nickname for drinking a lot. Chugs also "doesn't give a damn about what anybody thinks" so she is probably reckless. Ellie seems quite geeky and is referred to as "a spell checker with a nice rack". Cassidy looks normal and "real". Jessica is the leader; she seems really rude and bitchy. However these are the five main characters and they have all been established within the first two minutes.

I found the line "Theta Pi we honour thee; from; life to death sorority" interesting because the genre of this film is horror/thriller, therefore the mention of life and death is a key element.

The reactions to drinking the shots also defines the characters, for example Ellie reacts as the drink is disgusting, while Chugs can easily drink it, with no horrible after taste etc.

Another character is established - Megan. The audience soon finds out that they are pulling a practical joke on Megan's Ex-boyfriend.
The line "You cheat on one Theta, you cheat on every Theta" is one of the most interesting and important lines, as it gives the audience a motive for the girls pulling the practical joke. Therefore it also is a perfect mood to leave the opening scene in, because it shows the girls wanting revenge, and sets the mood for the rest of the film.&
Overall I liked this film opening because it was very realistic. It introduced the main characters, the location and a large amount of the plot. Unfortunately I watched Sorority Row later, and this clip is not the full version of the opening. The actual opening has titles and shows a lot more about the characters and sorority life. The titles were plain, white font and were clear on the dark background. Chugs is introduced more, as a strong drinker, with a lot of bite. Cassidy is also seen doing a dance routine with some other Theta sisters.

Cityscape Opening.

On Tuesday Pete gave us the task to make a film opening. 

We learnt how to use Final Cut. 

We uploaded the music and then made the moving images work with the music. 

Then we learnt how to create titles, and the different effects to go with the title. 

This is what Max and I created. 

Moodboards.

On Friday the class watched a clip from the film Shifty.
They created moodboards to represent the clip.
Here is an example of what they did.

This was Max's Moodboard.