Silence Of The Lambs

The film 'Silence of the Lambs' raises the curtain with a subtle yet effective showing the desolation of a frosty woodland with many bare trees which suggests it is set early morning. The long-shot establishes the setting and expressing its significance to the story.
We are immediately invited with non-diegetic sound in the back while viewing the scenery. As the camera pans down the orchestral, violin led music slightly changes giving us a sense of worry. This compliments the landscape as we get a closer view of the lower ground where it seems as though fog fog is almost suffocating the area.
The dull and foggy atmosphere suggests isolation which jars the atmosphere as well as the soundtrack as it begins to take over. 

We come to discover some movement at the bottom and establish that is it a character. The exposure of the character from the middle of the shot implies that she is a main character and is important to the story. We see her from a high angled shot which imposes the idea that she is being watched. The camera tracks backwards to show a close view of the young woman coming up, pulling her way up with full efforts which makes the audience think about her character and the situation into greater depth. As she stumbles along, she looks around her which gives the impression that she may be getting away from something or someone. The film making and director played upon the unknown very effectively as we see the character from a medium close up wearing jogging bottoms and a baggy jumper which makes us think about how gender is represented  
As she begins to run, the camera tracks her from behind and then tracks her feet from the side to show her speed. This all builds upon preparation to make us assume that she is a victim being chased, which is also done with the diegetic sound of an eagle in the beginning which is the bird of prey. We as the audience feel augur and assume that she is a victim because of all the previous factors but mainly due to her gender. We think that she is being chased as she is a girl, however, the film makers play with the audience's narrative expectation where it reconsiders her character and we realise that we misunderstood her and she is in fact training for something. Our representation of the female gender is reconsidered, making us wonder whether she is actually feminine when she climbs the obstacle frame with confidence.

Through the script, we learn more about her character in a subtle way when she is called from behind as starling- her second name. The mis-en-scene is very interesting as she is not wearing very girly clothes but is wearing sweat pants and a baggy jumper. She is not a typical female character as she is not very glamorous and seems almost masculine. We also begin to determine the setting as an assault course which is also hinted through the officers F.B.I cap. During the speech between the officer and agent starling, the music fades out but picks back up as she carried on running into the building. The viewers can see that she is a main character as the focus throughout the beginning is 'Starling' including long-shots, mid shots and close ups of her in the middle. She is very rarely in one third of the shot. 

The camera pans and tracks her as she moves through the building towards the office where she has been called. The viewers carry on learning about the character before she has a big speaking role. Her clothing tells us that she is not a typical girl and stands out as she is petite and one of the very few women amongst many men. Her confidence is expressed when she is in the elevator surrounded by a large group of bigger men and is not the slightest bit affected. It shows that she is not your ordinary girl, she's tough and a protagonist by the way she walks with confidence and through the respect she is given by her boss.
We see her walk into Crawford's office and look around with boldness while the camera pans around her following the 180 rule. As she turns around, she pauses along with the camera to show the shock that she has experienced. Her body posture changes as she releases her arms from behind her back and the camera moves closer towards her into a close-up, showing the seriousness of what she has seen. 
We see what she see's from a point of view shot and assume that her facial reactions are the same as ours- shocked. We are shown newspaper articles of a murder, files and jarring image's on the wall of dead people with their skin ripped off. We see Crawford enter the office as the camera pans around Sterling to show him take a seat from behind her shoulder. The tone in which her leader/boss talks to her shows that she is well respected and trusted to be given such responsibility. There is evidence of shot reverse shot and point of view shot through their conversation with a few shots from behind the shoulder.

There are not many special effects that have been used, however, the editing of continuity is efficient and professional. The main elements of special effects or editing in the beginning are the titles. It is shown in a simple format that stands out as it is places above the moving image. Diegetic sound has been used with the sounds of helicopters, movement of people, faint gunshots and of strong breathing while Starling is running.
I watched until this point of the opening (6 minutes) and noticed that there are a few codes of enigma. We think about many things and I feel that the main matters of enigma are:

• Why is she running?
• Why is she being called to see 'Crawford' and who is he?
• Why are there murder articles and images on the wall?

Sound

I learnt a lot about sound and realised that it is just as important as the moving footage and editing. We did a small experiment in class and listened to some clips without seeing the image which made me notice how hearing some sounds and not being able to see it builds tension and anxiety. We also tent to associate sounds with what we've heard and seen which also makes links between sound and emotion.
Here are some sound related terms:
Soundtrack- All sound heard on a film including the score, songs, dialogue and sound effects.
Diegetic- The world of the story (as opposed to the world of the audience). This is a world of a story that is not ours
Diegetic sound- Sound that has its source in the world of the story. For example, when a car turns on or when two people are talking.
Non-Diegetic sound- Sound that comes from a source outside the world of the story. For example, background music.
Synchronous Sound- Sound that matches the images on screen such as when someone's mouth moves while they're talking.
Asynchronous Sound- Sound that does not match the images on screen such as dialogue playing without the mouth moving (thoughts/fashback sounds)
Score- Music created to accompany a film.
Foley- The technical process by which sounds are created or altered for use in film. 

Order Of Credits

Today I looked at a few title sequences and the beginning of movies. I realised the importance of the credits at the beginning and the order.
1. Production Company Presents
2. Name Of Studio
3. Name of Director
4. Lead Cast
5. Title
6. Supporting Cast
7. Casting Director
8. Music Composer
9. Costume Designer
10. Associate Producers
11. Editor(s)
12. Production Designer
13. Director of Photography
14. Executive Producer
15. Producer
16. Writer(s)
17. Director

Associate Producer: Usually people in production companies who have played a  significant part in the development of the script, screenplay, packaging process, or who have contributed important ideas that may help the production.

Enemy of the state- Tony Scott 1998

This small clip is a sequence of the film Enemy of the State. The aim of this sequence is to show different scenes of the movie, create tension and suspense. It is made to grab the attention of the audience which is done very effectively by editing music into some of the scenes. It also grabs the attention of the audience by playing key parts of the movie which allow us to put it all together and know the basic story line of the movie. I feel that the way they show clips of sections makes the audience engaged and then changes to a different scene to make them want to watch the movie to see what happens in-between. In addition to this, some scenes are a lot faster which increases suspense such as in the last clip where we are fully engaged as there is dramatic irony because we (the audience) know that they are about to get caught, unless, there is a twist.

In this clip, there are a few close-ups and medium close-ups. Most of the close ups are focused on significant objects which is an insert we are supposed to notice. They show the man handling objects quickly as though he knows what he is doing to engage us and ask questions in our head such as 'what is on there?', 'what is he going to do with it?' and 'will they get caught?' 
Here are some clips of a few close ups on the hands and objects to show the importance of them.

In this scene, we see the two men from a distance while the camera pans around them suggesting a sense of anxiety and uncomfort. The panning camera implies that they are being watched constantly and they can't escape it.

While the men are in the small warehouse, we feel a sense of foreboding. This may reveal that our narrative expectations are fairly basically prepared. 
The scene builds tension further through the mis-en-scene. They seem to be represented as fairly rough characters through their clothing, posture and setting. The characters are wearing dark/black clothes which usually suggests under cover work and the feeling of wanted to be hidden. In addition to this, the various electronics suggests that it is a hide out and a way of escaping from the view of society. The small warehouse feels almost claustrophobic and all around them as with the real world outside. 

This shot where both men are shown from behind the grill wires propose the idea of being trapped in a cage still being watched by someone. This also imposes that they are trapped in a small space and it will be difficult if not impossible to get out.

There are also close ups and medium close ups of the characters. Medium close ups can shoot from the tip of the head down to just above eainly the face and possibly some of the shoulder.

Here are some images to show this.

In this sequence, from 02 seconds to 1.03 seconds, the two men are talking with the camera in a very effective position. The shot is over the shoulder which allows us to view the face of whom is talking.

In the scene, we see that there is a lot of tension as they are replying and talking to each other very quickly.
The fact that the older man swears suggests lack of patience and increasing tension. I learnt through my preliminary task that the scene would have been shot twice and the edited to show point of view with continuity.
I think this works well as the scene is supposed to create tension with the speed of their dialogue, script and also does so with shot reverse shot and efficient match on action.

The Birds

                             

In this scene of 'The Birds' we see Ms Brenner finding a dead body. Throughout this clip, there are roughly 16 shots.

Shot 1: This shot is a long-shot which slightly pans which allow us to watch Ms Brenner go towards the door from a distance.
Shot 2: This shot is a mid-shot of her knocking at the door and looking through the window creating tension. In the same shot, she opens the door herself and begins to walk in.
shot 3: This shot is a mid-shot once again and is a continuity of the previous shot where she is walking through the door. She walks through the first door and comes out through the second. I perceived this shot as slightly jumpy as I did not know there was a second door the first time I saw it. In the same shot, we see her walk through the door and suspiciously look around in the kitchen. It Zooms into her face as a close up where we see her face is worried. She peeps over a wall slightly. 

Shot 4: This shot is a mid-shot once again of Ms Brenner as well as a continuity (match on action) of shot 3 as we now see her peep over the wall from the other side at eye level. She then comes through and slowly and cautiously walks down the dark corridor. The camera stays put as she walks down, creating a long-shot. She suspiciously leans and peaks through a room.

Shot 5: This show is a mid-shot of Ms Brenner from the inside of the room as continuity from shot 4. She then walks through the door and into the room at eye level, mid-shot. There is evidence of rule of thirds which suggests that there is something in the room for her and the audience to see.

Shot 6: This shot is a simple still shot of the room. We can see the room as a mess with a broken window and shelf, ripped curtains and various items knocked over.
Shot 7: We Come back to see Ms Brenner at a close up looking very worried and concerned. She slowly comes through the door and looks around. Her eyes widen which hint to us that there is something very shocking in the room.
Shot 8: We once again see the messy room from a different angle. The show is shown in a way that makes it look like Ms Brenner's point of view. Once again, The window is broken, the lamp has been knocked over, the image on the wall is no longer straight etc.
Shot 9: This shot views back to Ms Brenner, similarly to shot 7. She comes through the door slightly more looking around once again until her eyes widen with shock again which anticipates us to watch on.
Shot 10: This shot shows us the feet of someone from a high angle. We also see a part of their leg where there are rips in the white trousers and traces of blood and cuts on the legs and feet.
Shot 11: This shot goes back to the woman as a close up who looks even more shocked and almost scared.
Shot 12: This shot is a long-shot at a slightly high angle of a dead man on the floor with blood all over him, ripped clothes and his eye balls taken out.
shot 13: This shot reaches a fearful stage in which we see a close up of the dead man on the floor in more detail where we notice more cuts, blood and the eye sockets.
Shot 14: This shot is the peak of the clip where the audience is most likely to be fully engaged. We see the man at a sudden extreme close up with his eyes  pulled out which almost makes you jump. The man is them shown with sudden close ups getting closer and closer which seems to break the continuity.
Shot 15: In this shot, we see Ms Brenner run out of the room and run back down the corridor in horror at a long shot. She runs towards the camera indicating that she is running away and is going to exit the area. She runs through a door which we saw was a room at the beginning from where she came.
Shot 16: This shot is a long shot of the house. We see the clothing of someone in the last third of the shot with Ms Brenner running out of the house and towards the man and camera. The Camera tilts up from a low angle to show a man in a cowboy hat looking confused as Ms Brenner runs and holds onto his shoulder in fear, disgust and horror as if she is about to throw up.

Preliminary video

PRELIMINARY THRILLER TASK


This is a video clip of my complete preliminary thriller task. I was happy with my video because i learnt how i could improve it, make it better and keep continuity. I also learnt about small factors that can affect the film such as lighting and environment which i can now be aware of.
I hope you all enjoy this short clip.

Preliminary task

BASIC CAMERA TIPS

We used some of these tips to help us plan how we could go about recording our preliminary movie clip. Looking at this, we had to make sure we had continuity.

The image below shows the 180 degree rule which we constantly reminded ourself about the keep continuity.

This image shows the 180 degree rule we we tried to keep to ensure continuity.

To come up with the idea, we brainstormed different ideas and roughly acted a few out in rough to visually see how it would work. We didn't plan out the the idea very effectively but we planned the basics and then added into it. George planned the scenes through a story board while I wrote out the script. 

The shoot was hard to do alone, especially with over the shoulder shots which is why we had to get some help 

We did the preliminary task to get an idea of how to shoot using all the different techniques while using them with the mind set of a director.I learnt how to effectively create match on action, record from my point of view and many others while considering basic techniques such as good head room, rule of thirds and panning.I learnt how to create the video with continuity. Although i learnt all these new skills while combining them with the ones i already knew, there were a few mistakes with my editing. I had difficulties trying to create match on action and making it blend together in some areas. You can see it is fairly jumpy in some areas which i tried to cover up by using the pen tool to fade it out in a specific place at a certain level. I learned that i should give some lea-way when recording so i can crop some sections and match different sections more effectively. I also think that the sound and noise in the background makes it slightly unclear and rough. I could cover it up or take the sound out. I could pre record our voices and match them in.

This screen shot of my final cut sequence shows my match on action where i open the door from the outside and where i've matched it to where i walk into the room.

In the screenshot below, you can see where i have added an effect of a grey colour and a bad TV effect to create a cctv style camera shot. I then changed around how fuzzy i wanted it to be.

I used a few effects and changed them around slightly to how i wanted them as you can see in the screen shot above. i also used typography at the beginning to show the title in a way to make it seem like it is typing.

This is a screen shot of my sequence to show where i have the video clips, audio, effects, typography and where i have used the pen tool to fade in and out.

Preliminary task

As we started our preliminary task I was really exited with loads of ideas on what to do. We decided to try out something slightly more simple so we could show techniques like match on action and the basic camera skills we learned.
We started off by creating our script, directions and a story board. 

Although we made this story board, we slightly changed it and added a few scenes that we thought of while recording. 
While recording, we filmed all the dialogue several times in various ways. For example, point of views, over the shoulder shots and a cctv style recording 






We started recording our short preliminary movie and thought closely about techniques such as match on action.
Here is a small collage showing different parts of our process.