Our teachers each lesson give us different information about analysis techniques, editing etc. and all the information can become very overwhelming. So to help us to be able to remember all this information for our filming projects and analysis projects in the future we are given acronyms for this information. This will be useful when it comes to revising for my exams and for future exercises. Here are the 2 main acronyms that we were given to remember:
For Mise en Scene...
Costume Lighting Actors Make-up Props Setting
For video analysis...
Describe
In detail
Setting
Themes
Icons- significant props
Narrative
Characters
Textual analysis- camera, editing, sound and mise en scene.
Film editing practice task:
In lesson I used clips from the bond films and dancing animals to practice my editing skills. This will help me because it will help me gain skills for when I begin to edit more footage and to help me get used to putting effects on clips and transition them together.
This exercise really helped to develop my skills for editing and i learnt how to add sound and music to footage and how to upload to YouTube. This is an important skill to have for the future because I will be making many videos and needing to upload them YouTube.
Below are some of the big film production companies logos. Including: Walt Disney, Universal, DreamWorks and Paramount. Looking at these logos helped me to design my own logo because I have seen that it is important to have a design that really catches someones eye.
So here is my own logo design...
We were asked to design a logo for our film production company and so I decided to go with the name Action Antics. I decided with this name because it is very catchy, this is because of the alliteration from the two A's that helps the film title flow. I also chose 'action' antics, because my film production company will mainly produce action films.
I decided to use the image of a video tape, which is what your eye is automatically drawn too. I chose this image so that instantly when you see the tape, you know that it is a film company.
I completed a presentation of these question to help me to understand what the difference is between low budget and high budget films, production companies for the films, genre and audience.
Today we were asked to present our film in front of an audience and to be filmed, this is to help get us used to presenting pitches and improving our communication. And to make us feel more confident when we come to presenting other ideas.
The things I enjoyed about pitching our film idea was that I got to present to people all the unique ideas that me and Connor had come up with. Also I enjoyed being given a genre and audience because it was a challenge which helped me think more independently and piece together different ideas. Lastly I really enjoyed working with someone different, for this pitch it was Connor and we got to help each other if the other one of us was stuck when presenting. And it was good bringing different ideas to the table and then discussing which ones fit well with the concept and specification for our film.
Although I did not enjoy being under pressure, in front of a camera and my class. But I think this was because it was my first presentation and first time of being filmed, so after being a couple of times i'm sure i will get used to it.
Today we learnt on how to analyse sound and editing when watching a clip or a film. Here is what you need to think about:
Camera
- Frame
- Angle
- Movement (In Media it is useful to create acronyms foranalyasis techniques etc. because it helps you to remember them.) Editing
- Transitions
- Order of narrative (past, present, flashbacks)
- Pace
- SFX (special effects)
Sound
- Dialogue (What-how)
- Music
- Diegetic sound/ non-diegetic
We also learnt about how films are made and what needs to be considered when making a film, like who the film is aimed at and how you will advertise the film when it is released. These are what need to be thought about when making a film:
Characters
- Protagonist/antagonist
- Who will you cast as each of you characters
- Supporting Characters Mis en Scene
- Has to fit genre
-Setting Audience
- Given to you- what would they want/expect Plot/Narrative
- Binary opposition (The five stages)
This is a photo to show the big six that contribute to the film industry.
So as stated above in this chart the Big Six which are the main productions companies globally. These are:
- Sony =
- Warner Bros =
- 20th Century Fox =
- Paramount =
- Disney =
- Universal =
Anything up to 2 million dollars is a 'small budget'
Usually films that are around $250 million are classed as 'high budget films'
Whether a film makes a profit or not is merely down to what time of the year the film is released and whether it suits the audience that the company are aiming for.
The mini majors
These are the two mini majors;
- Lionsgate
- MGM
The best time for films that usually get awards is... Mid October- February (Academy Award nominations).
Also the best time to release children films are from half term until Christmas.
Films are mainly aimed at 16-24 year old, through research it has been discovered that this is the age group that most go to the cinema.
Camera
In this opening scene of Boyz N The hood the scene and shot is always in the middle of screen, which shows that the characters and the props are the focus. There is a part of the film where the camera is focused on blood and then dissolves into the shot where shown is a picture on the wall (of a child in a grave drawn by a child).
Sound
The sound throughout the film is very aggressive and contains a lot of swearing. Which represents that the characters are young and fairly aggressive. A dog in the background as a parallel sound, and also the music is fast paced. Then seamlessly the sound goes straight to the school. Editing
The scene is edited to be very dark and black which makes the scene to be mysterious. In the fight scene in the opening scene there is a child in front of the fight scene, which shows the fact that children in the society nowadays see things and experinec they should not have to go through at their age. Becuase the symbol of a child is associated with youth and innocence but this is contrasted with the violence and danger. And also this child is seen to walk away from the scene not being affected and just carries along walking down the street, this shows that the young child must see this sort of violence reguraly so has become the norm. Mise en scene
Also in this opening scene for young children they are seen hearing shots being fired and seeing a crime scene with blood, which shows the contrast between innocent youth and how the children in this scene have had to mature quicker due to seeing things that no young child should have had to see. Above these are photos from the film opening of boys in the hood and the film poster for the film, to help give you an idea of what the film looks like.
Representations included in Film openings... Class
- Lower-class people are seen as being thugs and being violent and living in rough areas.
- Middle-class people are seen as the majority of people and seen as the 'norm', living a normal life.
- Upper-class people in society are stereotyped as being posh and pompous. Also seen as earning a lot of money and wearing nice clothes, jewelry etc. Age
- People are judged for age
- Teens are stereotyped to be thugs and being irresponsible
- Elderly people are seen as being vulnerable
- Middle aged people are stereotyped as being kind and caring. This is because this is the age group which makes up these stereotypes. Ethnicity
- People are judged about their race, color and religion. Gender
- Male
- Female
- Transgender Sexuality
- People can be either straight, bi-sexual and homo-sexual. Some people are judged for their sexuality.
Today in lesson we were asked to analyse the representation of a film opening of our choice, the film opening I choose was Step Up: Revolution, here is this clip...
In this film opening what is being represented is freedom of being able to express yourself wherever and whenever you want. This is being represented along with the use of youths and how younger people are shown as being reckless and disruptive in the city. This is put across by the youths that are seen parking and getting out of cars and jumping across all the cars on the busy streets of California, people of the public are seen being angry at the disruption caused, you can see this on their facial expressions and body language. This representation of modern youth is made to seem natural, because in society and the media older people see youths as being disruptive and disrespectful, so in this clip it is an accurate representation of how youth is represented in the media also.
The Dyer theory helps to explain how youths are represented, when you think of teens and people in their early 20's we associate them with being foolish, intimidating and disruptive, this is called a stereotype. And this means that us as the viewer automatically feels a certain way about a character, before they even meet them just by stereotypes. An example of the use of the dyer theory in this film opening is that the young dance crew, who are wearing caps and edgy clothes (which stereotypical youths would wear, so the viewer instantly knows that the characters are young) are seen jumping on strangers cars. This represents that the media nowadays believe that the younger generations are damaging and mistreating the world they live in. Almost like how they are damaging the cars.
Whose representation it is, i think is maybe an older person maybe who is middle aged. Because generally the people who have this stereotype of the younger generations are older people. But then in some scenes of the film opening it reflects the interest of the younger people who are dancing because they are almost trying to put across that they have to cause disruption to be able to be seen and taking seriously by older generations. Because younger generations are seen in society as not as knowledgeable or as powerful as their elders, so they are trying to prove them wrong by causing disruption and showing them the dancing talent that they have.
People make sense of the representation in this opening scene because they already associate this stereotype of teens and so can see that the editor is trying to represent youth and how younger generation want to have a voice too. Considering Barthes concept in this idea of youth it shows that his idea of myth does not occur in this clip because it is trying to show that life is not easy and that it is not all like a fairy tale. And making reference to Mulvey's theory on male gaze towards a women is shown is this clip but in a more modern approach, when there is a scene where the females are dancing and male onlookers on the street are admiring them dancing. But there is also women watching the females dance which could represent equality and that women in the modern world are not there for a males pleasure.
There are few uses of semiotics in this film opening, one of these signs is the use of cameras which represents how the dance crew want people to see them and want to make a statement to the entire internet. Through this film opening I have learnt about the overall representation of the signs and there meanings. I have learnt that the characters want to make a statement that even though they are young they can use the power of technology to gain more attention and be more powerful.
I believe I have received the meaning of the film through negotiated meaning because when me as the audience watch the clip it shows younger generations as being rebellious and disruptful so I automatically feel a certain way about the characters before even have the choice to make my mind up for myself. Also before I've even watched the clip the piece in the title that says "revolution" already makes us feel that the characters are going to be rebellious. This is the theory of Stuart Hall who believes that the text influences the audience and alters their opinion.
This is my view on the representations in the film opening of Step Up: Revolution.
In our lesson today we looked at how films are made to captivate the viewer!!!!!
Enigma Codes
The creator of the enigma codes was Roland Barthes. He highlighted that films like to give audiences questions, that they will want answered. This is so that the viewer will want to watch more.
Claude Levi-Strauss
Claude Levi-Strauss introduced the idea that in films they use binary oppositions, which means two opposites put together (e.g. A good character vs a bad character).
Narrative
Tzvetan Todorov was the creator of the narrative theory which is the narrative and narrative structure and how they affect our perception of films.
There is 5 steps to the narrative theory, here they are:
Step 1) Equilibrium- the setting is established.
Step 2) Disruption- The story takes a particular direction.
Step 3) Recognition of disruption- Characters and events are interwoven.
Step 4) Attempt to repair disruption- Try to solve the issue.
Step 5) Reinstatement of equilibrium- Matters are sorted out, problems are solved and questions answered.
In the film opening for Harry Brown teens are preserved as being thugs and being very aggressive. They are seen exchanging drugs, riding motorbikes and shooting innocent people. This is to represent how the society feel that all teenagers are like this.
The opening is split into two parts, the first half is set on an underground in a rough part of London at night which makes it more eerie. The second half is set in a park, which is thought to be a safe happy place is replaced with a dangerous, violent place.
The theme is a thriller and a significant prop in the film opening is the gun which represents violence. The speech in this clip is very aggressive and is mainly swearing. There is a gang of teenagers and a women with her baby, yo6u are left feeling sorry for them. The shots are fast cut, with lots of shots that have been edited.
In the film opening of clueless it shows a rich teenager girls everyday life and where she is placed in society. And how she believes she is better than everyone else. This represents the hierarchy of the middle class and upper class in society. The setting is in a teenagers American style house and at a pool party and also at a high school that the school attends, it is set during the daytime.
The main themes throughout the film opening is a teen comedy and a few significant props throughout are shopping bags and material items (E.g. car, expensive clothes and a big house). This represents how the teen girl is spoilt and has a lot of material things, maybe these are to distract her from something bad going on in her life.
There is a lot of speech in this film opening, from the most showed character which is the teen girl. It is mainly narrative, because she tells us all about her life as the video plays. I think they may have maybe choosen a blonde girl to play this part, to be ironic of how blonde haired girls are associated with not being very bright. So it is being very stereotyical.
Denotation... what we see when we look at an image (what it is).
Connotations... what we understand from this image (what other meanings it has).
Divergent poster semiotics:
In this film poster of the amazing action story "Divergent", the semiotics help you establish what the film is even about before you even watch it. One example of this is in the camera angle the 2 characters are shown looking over a city, so maybe this shows that they are more powerful than the city believe. We automatically that this will be an action film without even watching a clip of the film because the male character is seen carrying a gun. Also it shows that he is orotecting the female character because they have theur backs together and so is almost lije saying they have each others back. In the title it has an effect that it has been cut in half by a laser, which highlights that there may be some sci-fi in the film because of lasers etc.
There are many denotations from this image, but what i can see from this poster is that there are two main characters and they are looking over the city. The way they are posed makes me think that they are ready for battle. I can also see that the sky is a variety of colours and the sun is setting which makes it dark and mysterious.
Today in our lesson, me and Sarah were paired up and set a task to take photos that represent different film genres. The first genre that is seen to the photos above and to the right is Action/superhero. The genre that you can see to the left is comedy, we helped this be perceived by laughing and seem as we are having fun and socializing with each other.
Today in lesson we were asked to do research on film openings and to gather some examples of interesting film openings to analyse. Here are a few I choose to analyse, my first film is Sky fall which is one of the most well known James bond films.
In one of he first scenes of the opening the most reoccurring character of the opening is looking into his own eyes which makes me think that he is looking into his own future, almost from another perspective. The theme which I picked up on throughout the video is fear, this is shown though the fear of being attacked or even killed. They achieve this by putting lots of obstacles in the way of the character. This makes me think that the film will almost be like a mission to gain something at the and, but must fight through a lot of obstacles to get there.
A significant prop which reoccurs all throughout the film opening is a gun, I believe this signifies that the film will be an action film which is thrilling, including lots of danger. It includes many different camera angles, which could be a metaphor for the character looking at the situations ahead in a different perspective of other people.
In the first half of the film opening the location is underwater. This shows that the setting is dark and mysterious. With lots of dull, grey and black colors to help represent this.
Napoleon Dynamite opening credits
Also another film opening that i decided to analyse is Napoleon dynamite which has unique and quirky opening credits. One of the reasons for saying this is that food and everyday objects are used against various surfaces in which names and information is written on. The everyday objects make me think that maybe the film was created on a low budget and that was all that was accessible.
We do not see the character directly but we do see a high school ID card which the geeky teenage boy is included on, this also tells us that he goes to high school. So maybe the theme of the film will be about his life as teenage boy at high school.
A significant prop that I spotted was a couple of sketches of gladiators which i believe signifies how the character dreams a lot to be a certain way. The song that plays throughout the film opening, is all about friends, so this makes me think that he thinks a lot about friends and maybe does not have many.
