2nd Camera Lesson

In the second camera lesson we learned about the one hundred and eighty degree rule, and how to shoot video so that you can edit it easily.

The one hundred and eighty degree rule.

The first thing we learned about  was the one hundred and eighty degree rule, the rule means that you basically make a imagery line across the line of action, and make sure you keep to that side of the action, so that when you go to edit your video you keep the perspective of the characters, and props the same. If you do not follow this rule, then it will look  like your actors are moving between shots, or that your character are talking in the opposite directions. If you want to cross the line of action, then you have to physically show  the camera moving across the line, this will remove confusion. If you wanted to add confusion, and discombobulation you could break the rule, and make cuts across the line of action.

When shooting the footage it is better not to check the footage that you have shot, because you will be wasting money, because of the time that you will have to have every single person on, and off set being paid extra for working longer.

Class mate getting a low down shot of subjects feet.

To shoot video for editing, we got the actor to perform the same action for every shot we got, we shot a long shot, a close up of his phone, shoes, face, pocket, and his shoes so that we could capture the action. In editing I will piece all of the scenes together, and make the scene have meaning, and connotations.

Film Poster Analysis-Orphan

Film Poster For Orphan 

In this essay I am going to analyse the film poster, for the film “Orphan”. Orphan is in a hybrid genre, and is in the genres of horror, mystery, and thriller . The film was released in 2009 by the media institution Warner Brother.

The film is horror, mystery, and thriller. A convention from the poster to show that the film is a horror, is the fact that there is a close up of the girl, this makes us feel uncomfortable, and make us slightly scared of her. The convention which allows us to see that the film is a thriller, is the fact that the girl is wearing a choker, this has a sense of mystery to it. Finally the part of the poster that lets us see that the film will be a thriller is because, although you can see that there is a scary girl on the picture, she is not doing anything violent, this connotes that it is going to lead us to a story that will unleash her hidden past.

The poster has a lot of mise-en-scene, it has this to allows the audience to know what the film is about without telling them directly.  The poster has a green background, green has the connotations, of nature, youth, and envy. The film is a girl who lies about her age, she is acting as a younger girl when in fact she is much older, this is why the connotations lead us to believe she is much older. Esther is wearing  typical school clothing, but it is rather formal, and  unusual, this connotes that she is evil and assists with the convention that this film is going to be a horror. Esther is wearing a large choker, this connotes that she has something to hide. Even the name of the film ‘Orphan’ has the connotations of having something to hide, a dark unknown history. Esther is staring directly at the audience, this makes the audience feel uncomfortable, wherever the audience looks at this poster from the girl is always looking at you, this makes it personal, and makes the audience have a deeper look, because they are curious, and uneasy about a girl staring at them. The font used in the title appears to be scratched, this connotes violence, and struggling, this makes the audience aware that the film will have a horror twist to it. The girls eyes are black, this connotes that she is evil, powerful, unknown and is the antagonist, this makes the audience have negative connotations towards her. 

The target audience would be a mass adult audience, this is because it only has mild horror, has elements of humor, and is generally mild in all of its potentially off putting parts. Although this film would have a mass audience, children would most likely find it offensive or scary.

I believe that the poster was effective at conveying the general feeling and mood to the film. The poster is interesting, and slightly scary at the same time. Because this is traditional media, the media institution has to make shore people will stop and look at the poster, and not just ignore it, this poster makes you stop to see a nicely dressed little girl, but on further examination of the picture, the audience can tell that there is something not quite about this girl, with the line ‘There’s Something Wrong With Esther’ this makes the audience aware that Esther is not a normal girl, this makes the audience curious about what such an innocent little girl could be hiding that makes her so bad.

1st Camera Lesson

Friday 18th September-Camera Lesson

In this lesson we learned about how the cameras, and tripod works, and assemble. 

To attach the quick release onto the camera, I had to slide the plate onto the top of the camera until it clicked, then i had to tighten it up, so that the camera did not move.

  

Completed Tripod setup

   As you can see to the left   the tripod is opened, to do this we have to unfold the tripod, unclip the three retaining clips, place a foot on the base, and lift up to the desired height, then you must tighten the clips again in order to secure it in place. There are also additional clips which allow you to greater increase the height of the tripod.

This is the camera on the tripod

We were shown three cameras, two Sonys', and a Cannon. Both of the Sonys' had zoom lenses installed on them, so in order to focus on a subject we had to use a tape measure. To do this we measured the distance away from the lens (indicated on the camera, to the subject. If the subject was 4 feet away, then you would rotate the focus wheel to the red '6'. 

Picture showing the location of the white balance button. 

When going inside and out often the light is different, when you are outside the light is more blue, and when moving inside it is more yellow. To balance the white we must point the camera at a white surface, in the intended filming environment, and then press the white balance button, situated just to the right of 'present'. 

Student attempting to 'bubble' the camera.

To 'bubble' the camera you must first loosen the nut under the tripod, then look closely at the florescent green part, you must make is so that the bubble inside is in the middle, then tighten the bolt, so that it is tight.

  In the right image you can see the three main wheels, for controlling the camera. The zoom allows the user to see a smaller area without degrading the image quality. The focus is for making the video crisp, and in the correct focal range. The exposure controls how much light is allowed to enter the sensor on the camera, this controls how exposed the image is.

 

Comparing Camera Angles In The Hangover, Dumb And Dumber, And Saving Private Ryan

The Hangover is about some middle aged people waking up in a large hotel room, with the weirdest things going on, with no recollection of what had happened the previous night.

Dumb And Dumber begins off with a man who appears to be driven in a limousine, he then asks a woman where she is from, she reply's 'Austria', he then speaks in a Australian accent, and then continues. He then jumps into the front seat and put on his hat, revealing to the audience that he is the driver.

Saving Private Ryan Introduces us to many soldiers looking worried, and trembling, with fear and cold. It then goes on to show us the massacre, that killed so many of the troops. 

Dumb, and Dumber Establishing shot

The Hangover establishing shot

Both Dumb And Dumber, and The Hangover start with a establishing shot (above). The establishing shot allows us to, see where the scene will take place. Whilst in Saving Private Ryan all we see is a view of the sea with all the metal pieces (below). This image is powerful because there is no violence yet, and everything seems, calm which is a contrast to the rest of the scene.

Saving Private Ryan

The Hangover has a dolly shot, this reveals the carnage that has happened. Whilst in Dumb And Dumber, there is a medium shot. Saving Private Ryan, has a extreme closeup of a canteen of water, this is powerful, because you can seethe mud, and pain he is in.

Both The Hangover, and Dumb and Dumber use close up shots, this allows us to feel close to the character, and allows the audience to feel as if they were in their shoes. Both The Hangover, and Saving Private Ryan use handheld shots, this is to make the audience feel sickness, in The Hangover the character is feeling hungover, and there is a shot that appears to be in a fixed position in accordance to his body, but the whole background is moving, this makes us feel unwell. In Saving Private Ryan many people are throwing up, their are camera shakes, the shakes makes the audience feel the boat crashing up upon the waves, and allows them to feel empathy for the men.

Saving Private Ryan, camera shakes to stimulate sea sickness.

The Hangover, fixed camera with shakes, to stimulate the feeling of a hangover

Close up view on Dumber, and Dumber.

From the font that is used in each film we can see the mood of the film, Dumb And Dumber, uses a childish and playful font. Both The Hangover, and Saving Private Ryan wait long until the first scene to use the opening credits, but they are in a more serious font, portraying that the rest of the film us going to have a more formal look to it. 

Dumber and Dumber

If you would like to have a look at the opening scenes for yourself, the videos are below.

Tension Within A Thriller

Tension Within A Thriller

The woman is looking at photos of someone and comparing it to some low def CCTV footage, she then discovers that someone is looking for her. We can tell that she is professional and trained for attacks, as we can see that she outsmarted the man that has been sent. We can tell that the man has bad intentions, from the fact that he forces his way into the building, he is also holding a loaded gun, which suggests that he will shoot the woman.

Woman finishing a document. 

The above photo is a extreme close-up, this allows us to get up close to the character. The extreme close-up helps us to understand that she is a protagonist.

Protagonist noticing that the antagonist has entered the building.

In the above photo we can see the woman's reaction the realization of the man entering the building, she looks worried, but still confident, this promoted the fact that she is professional, and smart. 

The antagonist looking for the woman.

From the photo above you can see the antagonist looking for the woman. He is attaching the silencer to his gun, which suggests that he is about to kill the woman, this makes us dislike him, because from what we can see the woman is innocent.

The opening sequence builds tension, it does this by adding eerie music, the music suggests that there will be a impending danger, this keeps the watcher fixed to the screen, expecting the woman to get hurt, but it has a twist to the ending. The whole scene gets faster and faster until the end, this makes the viewer aware the whole scene is building up to a big event.

The antagonist forcing entry in to the building.    

During the opening we can see two characters, a woman, and a man. We are led to believe that the woman is the victim, and that she will get hurt. She manages to outsmart the Man which makes her seem powerful, smart, and professional. Whilst the man seems stupid, and easily outsmarted, but we are still aware that he is dangerous, and will be violent. 

During the scene when the antagonist is trying to find the woman, she moves fluidly, and dynamically, this allows us to believe that she is smart, and trained what to do in such a situation. The suspected assassin is moving in a sluggish way, he seems over confident, this suggests that he has done this sort of activity before, and further adds to the viewers assumption that he is a antagonist. 

We can make the assumptions of the man because he wears dark clothing, has a non varied facial expression or emotion, he is also slow moving, which suggests that he has bad intentions.  The woman is wearing bits of white, which suggests that she is good, and has good intentions. She is dynamic which suggests that she is smart.  

Spy (2015) Film Review

Spy Film Review

"Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) is an unassuming, deskbound CIA analyst, and the unsung hero behind the Agency's most dangerous missions. But when her partner (Jude Law) falls off the grid and another top agent (Jason Statham) is compromised, she volunteers to go deep undercover to infiltrate the world of a deadly arms dealer, and prevent a global disaster." © Fox

Spy is a gripping comedy, it appears to be a serious film in the introduction, until Jude Law (the spy) accidentally sneezed and shot a person with important information regarding the location of a hidden bomb, to be sold on the black market.

Jude Law accidentally shooting the only person known to have any knowledge about the location of a bomb.

After the first scene the film focuses on Susan Cooper, the "unassuming, desk bound CIA analyst". She is frowned upon by her bosses, and is regarded as foolish and unimportant, but Jude was killed whilst on a mission. The 'bad guy' knows all of the field agents identity, so they need someone to replace him who is not on the radar, so Susan is picked to participate in a field mission.

Susan seems to really do well as a field agent, and impresses her boss who used to look down upon her as just a boring, and uneducated office worker. Susan blended in well and gathered some precious details regarding the position of a bomb, that was planned to be used to wipe out the whole of New York off of the map.

The film is directed, and written by Paul Feig, who 
showed some impressive skills on this film, with a gripping story line, but it lacked a proper indepth view of anything, often making me wonder what could of happened, or how does that work?

I found it weird that the film uses such explicit language, and has such childish jokes, the whole film seems like a family film but with the addition of some swearing. Funnily enough the film poster has a childish finish to it, with a middle aged women in the air in a karate position. 

The shots used were beautiful, with some nice aerial clips. Overall the film was very watchable because of its frequent use of well executed shots, and superb timing. 

I personally enjoyed the film, because of its wittiness, but I can see other viewers potentially annoyed abut the frequent use of bad jokes, and slapstick. 

The film has many famous actors, such as Melissa McCarthy (often plays middle aged, crazy woman), Jason Statham (usually a serious spy, or criminal, with a change in this film with his sarcastic approach), and Miranda Hart. All of the actors performed to a very high standard and allowed the audience to sit down and watch it easily. I would probably call the film the film version of a easy read!

Spy has not currently won any awards, although it is a new release and the film just might have some awards coming its way.

Overall I enjoyed the film thoroughly, although it was a bit cheesy at times, making it hard to take some of the dramatic parts serious. The film seems like it was made for children, but the explicit language used suggests that it is targeted at mature audiences. But overall the film was interesting and worth watching, but I would not recommend going to the cinema to see the film, because it a bit too standard compared to some of the big box office names.


Official Spy Trailer