Learning Aim A:
Film Production "Fiction"
Research:
HORROR
MISE EN SCENE
Within the Horror genre, we commonly see a range of different conventional aspects that contribute to creating this genre, to ensure the audience understands the intended message of the genre. For settings, we normally see a range of various locations used, such as churches, schools, and abandoned houses. The use of these locations commonly being utilised in modern day horror films establishes and enhances the eerie and ominous tone aimed at the audiences, to effectively do its job in evoking fear in the audience. Another element towards the conventional features of this genre is the use of lighting and colors used, as we mainly see a use of low key lighting shown in horror based films/shows, which does its part in setting an atmospheric tone as well as, being used to evoke fear in the audience through the use of making the main subject the only main focus of the scene, by blacking out the background features of the shot, which has an effect of making it seem like its only you and the character present in the moment, while also preparing the audience for an unexpected jump scare. The usage of costume shown by the characters is a crucial part of this genre, as this factor often helps the audience differentiate the characters role within the film on being a good character or a bad character, as costume is also an element that defines the characteristics of a protagonist. An example of this illustrated would be through the character of Freddy Kruger, as he is heavily known for wearing a red and black shirt, with a black hat and knives on his hands, with his disfigured face. The use of his costume makes it clear that he would be the antagonist of the film he is in through his distinctive features. The use of facial expressions used in this genre as well as body language shown is a key element of the genre as it helps the audience recognise the fear being portrayed in the characters on screen as well as off screen through the audience. The main facial expression you are going to see in a horror film is of someone screaming or someone with a terrified look on their face, this illustrates the reaction the film wants you to have and in turn makes the film scarier. If children are involved, you will usually see them crying because they are scared (this may happen with adults, but it is less likely to happen in a horror film). The expression of the villain is typically happy especially when they have done something disturbing like sawed someone's leg off or killed someone (most horror villains are sociopathic in this way). Body Language depends on situation and character, most characters will be quiet on edge when there is tension or danger, and they will be more relaxed if there is no current threat (this would usually be in the beginning of the film.
CAMERA TECHNIQUES
Within this genre the use of camera techniques plays a heavy role in the influence of the audience's emotions while watching. some camera technique that would be used in this genre would be the handheld camera technique, which is a technique we see commonly used in most horror films today. The effect of this camera shot evokes a sense of reality, as it makes it feel like you the audience are personally there experiencing what is being momentarily shown in the story, through the effect the handheld motion the camera gives during different scenes. This shot would normally be shown while a character is running away from someone, a fight scene, making the audience see the fight from a unique perspective, while also trying to simulate the actions of the fight through the camera. Another usage of this camera technique in a scene would be when a character is trying to record themselves on a camera and the audience views the character from the camera's perspective. The Close-up camera shot is another camera technique used within this genre, with the main purpose of catching the characters facial expression of an event through making the character or object the focus of the frame, as well as showing several types of props like knives and baseball bats, which are all associated with the genre. The effect of this camera technique to brings emotions to the scene as the audience would get to see and feel the emotions of the character being shown within the scene. Another camera technique that would be used in this genre would be point of view shots. This camera technique allows the audience to see everything being shown from the character's perspective, which would be used when a character is seen running from someone or when the antagonist of the story is creeping up on its victim. The effect this camera technique would be conveying towards the audience, would be a realistic and involved effect as this shot makes the audience feel everything that is being shown by using the camera to replicate an event that the audience would be a part of to evoke fear in the audience.
SOUND TECHNIQUES
Sound techniques are a role that heavily contributes to the horror aspects of the genre as we see how impactful/influential they are towards the audience emotions. A technique that we would see used in this genre would be the use of score and soundtrack sounds we hear, as they are sounds, we hear throughout the film, but could be altered into pausing, or fading out to create a dramatic effect e.g., jump scares, using the silence to create an anticipated event that would be used to build up suspense to create a dramatic effect to scare the audience. Dialogue would also be used in this genre to capture conversations between characters within the film.
EDITING TECHNIQUES
In this genre, there would be a lot of editing techniques utilised as these techniques would often be used to build up pace within the scenes of the film as well as establishing tone. Quicks cuts would be a prime example of this as this technique is commonly used to quickly convey a lot of information, or to imply either energy or chaos towards a scene. Whereas in contrast, long takes would also be a technique widely used within this genre as they would be used in scenes where a character is exploring something, or while the antagonist is stalking another character, being used as a build up towards a scare of the audience. L Cuts is also a technique that we would see being used within this genre typically around the beginning of the film when character is explaining certain events of the film to offer context. Cross cutting is a technique used to cross between scenes, suggesting their relationship commonly used to convey an intensive scene, which would keep the audiences on the edges of their seats as these shots would be switching in a quick pace.
CHARACTER/STEREOTYPES
The horror genre is composed of 9 predominate roles which most films follow. The first Hero Protagonist, always a male character of a strong and a masculine build stereotypically male, which reinforces the stereotype of males being the source of strength and leadership. This character shows little emotion throughout the film and stays strong and supportive to the rest of the characters, in most recent horror they have started to use female as the hero characters making it challenge older traditional conventions while also subverting the stenotype of women being weak through making them the protagonist of the story. The Villain Antagonist, they have many forms like a serial killer, ghost, monsters Zombie, werewolves etc. If they are human, they always wear a mask so the audience cannot make a connection to them, and this then plays on the fear of the unknown. The fear of the unknown also applies to monsters and demons, these characters are much tougher than the other characters as they are often stabbed or hit with an object, and they keep getting up again, this character has the most impact on the audience and strikes fear in them. The Victim, the role is mostly played by a woman, that normally reinforces the stereotypes of women being hopeless and needing the assistance of other supportive characters. This character is portrayed to be stupid and annoying and is not usually the first to die but will be killed, which also reinforces the dumb blonde stereotype associated with women. This character is used in horror movies to build suspense as the character is jumpy and easily scared. The Non-Believer, the role can be played by a man or a woman, however, are usually the second person to be killed. Typically quotes “There are no such things as demons” and “No one in their right mind would come out here” O After saying these sorts of lines they are killed, or someone is killed which starts the killing spree. The Loved up Couple, they are male and female characters, that have separated from the group when they are killed or one of the others is killed, at this point the audience are often shouting at the characters and are frustrated at how oblivious they are. They have an impact on the audience, as they get frustrated at them, putting the audience on the edge of their seat, building up tension further. The Helper, this character as the title suggests “Helps” the hero with tasks, is like the donor, appears at a critical moment throughout the film. The Donor, this character often gives the hero something special to help with their quest of task. The False Hero, this character pretends to help the hero and the group, but it turns out later that they are helping the villain (Antagonist), this character can sometimes be mistaken to be the hero.
https://www.slideshare.net/Morgan-R/horror-character-stereotypes-16751353
STOCK SITUATION
The stock situation we normally see within the horror genre is where the story begins to introduce the side characters and the setting where the story will begin to take place in. Where they would also establish who the main character of the story will be, which would stereotypically be a white male, who exhibits his unique personality traits that would differentiate from other characters. Examples of the protagonist's traits would be confidence that he would be demonstrating a diverse set of views, as well as his fearless attitude. A certain event will occur that would cause a disruption of the natural order established in the beginning, which would normally be a death of a character that is careless which would stereotypically female. Where the main protagonist and his friends would also recognize the problem. They then try to tackle the situation by confronting the antagonist of the story, where they are unsuccessful and start to struggle and escape, for them to then devise a plan for this problem to be eradicated, where they are successful/unsuccessful depending on the film, where the film ends.
ACTION
MISE EN SCENE
Within the Action genre we see the several aspects of conventions that contribute into composing the genre, into making it clear and visual to the audience of the ownership this genre belongs to. In this genre the types of costumes we commonly see is casual/smart wear as these types of clothing's convey a sense of reality towards the audience. Costume for an Action film also really depends on the type it is, as some action films have superheroes, or if it is just the classic normal Action film consisting of guns, knives, and face to face combat. The lighting used, in an Action film is typically low key lighting as this type of lighting is to reinforce the naturality of the film better resonate with the audience. As well as the fluid high key lighting used through most of the film, low key lighting is also used to represent danger within most films in this genre as it establishes a more serious matter or the darker, and emotional side to the story for the audience to recognise. However, towards the end of an Action film the lighting could become high key because of the resolution of the problem which would suggest the restoration of the natural order of the film. The main props of an action film mostly consist of guns, knives, bombs, big vehicles, helicopters, and planes (if in a realistic action film). Whereas with If a super hero film, you would be seeing a use of unrealistic props. The use of the more unrealistic props used with the superhero action films are made to reinforce the fantasy elements to the audience, whereas the normal type of actions films we would see without any unrealistic enhancements would be made this way to again reinforce realism of the film. The settings in action film are very varied, as you cannot pinpoint one location. The most common locations we would be seeing would be very populated urban areas and countries that are popular, like America and England. Examples of action films set in America & England include, Terminator, Die Hard and Skyfall. Films want to be set in iconic cities because if a film were set in unknown locations that nobody is heard of which would decrease the likeliness of the audience watching the film. The type of nonverbal communication we would be seeing within this genre would be established through the intense dynamic, meaning we would be seeing straight and more focused facial expressions rather than smiles and laughing because of how there would be a mission or a specific task that the characters would be involved in, where would be needing to move from place to place to ensure the task is completed. The use of this brings in energy towards the audience making then intrigued and, on the edge, of their seats, while also understanding the type of mood displayed by the characters on screen.
CAMERA TECHNIQUES
When talking about this genre there would be a wide range of different camera techniques used in this genre. The handheld camera technique would be used within this genre, as this is a technique where the scene is shot from a handheld motion making it seem like someone is just unsteadily holding the camera to capture a scene. This type of camera technique would be used to capture fights, a character chasing another, or a character looking for a specific thing. The use of this technique allows the audience to follow along as well as, connecting with the scene. Establishing shots would be a technique used within this genre, to establish the first opening of the film, as well as introducing the different location shown within the film. Pan techniques would be used to also work like the establishing shot to introduce a specific location. Two shots would be used to show the emotional reactions between the subjects, typically in dialogue. The effect of this technique makes the audience connect more with characters within the scene as this shot, makes it seem like the audience is also involved with what is being displayed in the scene. Close ups would be used to capture facial expression of characters or an individual shot of an object that the film would want the audience to see. As well as this technique, a reaction shot would also be used to capture facial expression of a character, based on an event that may have occurred which is only shown to the audience after we see the characters facial expressions. The effect of this technique would be used to set a dramatic tone for the specific scene, or the film, as this technique could be placed in the beginning of the film to where it cuts to an entirely different scene which could leave the audience confused. Shot reverse shots would also be used within this genre as we would be seeing a range of different dialogue between characters.
SOUND TECHNIQUES
For action, the type of sound technique we would be hearing would be, a use of none diegetic sounds such as soundtracks as well as scores. The use of these techniques within action films sets tone for the scenes, as this factor could influence the audience's emotions using either down beat or upbeat types of scores and soundtracks, to establish the mood. As well as having an influence on the audience’s mood, this factor would also indicate to the audiences the character's role within the film from either being a supportive character/protagonist to a villain. Non diegetic sounds such as dialogue, and sound effects would also be used within this genre to capture the different conversations from different characters. Foley sounds is also a technique used within this genre as well as other, which is the reproduction of everyday sound effects that are added to films, videos, and other media in post-production to enhance audio quality.
EDITING TECHNIQUES
Within this genre there would be a range of different editing techniques that would be used into composing the final product of the film. Some examples of this would be with cross cutting, which would be utilised to capture action occurring at the same time, and often in the same place. An example of this being used within an action film would be of a character running to a specific place where the antagonist had placed a ticking bomb, therefore switching with the character to the timer's countdown, to further enhance the urgency of the scene. Quick cuts would also be a technique used within this genre, typically in intensive scenes that would be used to attain the audience's attention, while also supplying energy to the scene. In contrast to quick cuts, long takes would be utilised within this genre of films, commonly to introduce characters as well as to capture a side some sort of dialogue. We would be seeing a use of cutaways, which are supplementary shot that “cuts away” from the main action to indicate something else in the space, such as an object or location. The effect of this technique would be to get the audience to shift focus from the previous scene to the next.
CHARACTERS AND STEREOTYPES
Within this genre the main character of an action film would be a stereotypically a big strong confident man that would be portrayed as the lady's attention grabber, and good looking. These people are the heroes and the "good guys". Then you have the villains "bad guys". These characters are also strong and confident however their motives are different, often being a direct parallel to the protagonist of the story. And finally, we have the damsel in distress, which would stereotypically be a woman, however, could be an object. This character is important because if it/they did not exist then there would be no objective to for the heroes of the story.
STOCK SITUATIONS
The stock situation for this genre we would be seeing would be start off with a calm, where everything is nothing out of the ordinary. However, some action films would just start off with the action where we the audience would be introduced with no context to what is happening but the scene we are seeing. An example of this would be with the movie unchanted, where the opening scene is with the character is holding onto storage carriers falling out of a plane. The use of films doing this does its part in enticing the audience, straight from the beginning to ensure they would be wrapped in with the story, wanting to know what happens next, but also supplying the audience with questions like what happened for the character to be in the situation we would be seeing. The next part we would be seeing after this would be where the main character is obstructed with a specific problem, being a kidnapping of their loved or the villain has done something that could affect a vast number of people, or object being the price where the characters would need to find based of leads, this would also be the time where we would be introduced to the villain of the story. Followed after the introduction of the obstacle of the story the audience would then be introduced to the helpers of the story, where we would find out how they also share the same motives of the protagonist, where they would compose a plan to takes down/pursue their objective, where they would be unsuccessful, which they then try again to and are successful. Where the natural order is restored to how it was originally or depending on the film left on an enigma for an open interpretation by the audience.
SOURCE USED-https://prezi.com/rdihjqekl85e/film-analysis-of-action-genre/
ROMANCE
MISE EN SCENE
Within the genre of romance the types of settings we usually would be in a school or workplace however other shots may be included from a shopping centres, houses, or park. These are all realistic places which fits in with the genre of realism. For props we would be seeing flowers (typically roses), hearts, rings and jewellery, chocolates, wine, and love letters are all stereotypical props in a romantic film however other props may vary depending on the storyline. All props are realistic as the genre of romantic comedy is always a naturalistic style. Costume of the characters within this genre would mostly be naturalistic in romantic films. The costume of characters also depends on the setting of the scene. for example, if the scene involves the protagonist at his/her workplace they may be dressed smartly ire shirt and tie or dress and heels. Sometimes, when the protagonist is a female, they dress sexily in the film to try and get attention from the "romance character". If the romantic comedy is targeted at teenagers, the characters may go to school so might wear a school uniform or casual modern outfits. For Nonverbal communication, the use of body language expresses characteristics/personalities of certain characters. It demonstrates if they are reserved, open, shy, confident etc. Body language is essential in figuring out a character in a film. In romantic comedies especially, body language is significant in showing character's emotions/interactions with other characters/feelings towards other characters. The use of facial expressions is important towards the romance genre to demonstrate the mood of the scene, and feelings/interactions with two or more characters, which would work with the body language to also create this. For lighting in this genre would mostly always see high-key and bright utilised, as most of the shots are set in the daytime. Similarly, would also see lowkey lighting used if a couple are on a 'date' a restaurant or bar, the scene is often lowly lit by candles and lamps. The use of color plays a significant in romantic films as this is an element that plays a role in the audience's emotions. The conventions of colour used would often give the idea that the scene is bright and vivid in colour. Especially in daylight scenes, the colour is quite often slightly saturated to add cheerfulness to the light-hearted genre of film.
CAMERA TECHNIQUES
Within this genre there would be a range of different camera techniques used into reaching its intended effect. An example would be the two shot camera technique, which is when there are two subjects that are the focus of the shot. We would be seeing this technique being used when the protagonist of the film is talking with his/her lover, with the main purpose of capturing the dialogue between these two characters. The use of this technique makes the audience feel more involved with what is being said as its only you and the two characters. Long shots/establishing shots would be techniques used within this genre, as they would be establishing the locations of the films, to introduce the audience on where the film is going to take place in. Medium/close shots would be heavily used to capture and signify emotions while also being used emphasis the significance of an object.
SOUND TECHNIQUE
In this genre there would be a wide use of different sound techniques. Some examples of these would be the use of diegetic and none diegetic sounds. Being soundtracks/scores, which would be responsible for the type of music the audience would be hearing within the film, the of these sound techniques, is used to inform the audience about the type of atmosphere/tone the specific scene would be, as sounds play an influential role in the moods of the audience.
EDITING TECHNIQUES
Within this genre there would be a range of different editing techniques used, some examples of these techniques would be a long take, which is long continuous shot of subjects of a scene. An example of this technique being this being use would be while the two characters are in an argument. The use of this technique makes sure the audience whipped into what is being shown. Fade in and fade outs which would typically be used in the introduction of a scene/ at the very beginning of the film, as well as the fade out being used at the end of the scene. The main purpose of these techniques is used as introductory/closing techniques to indicate the closure/opening of a scene towards the audience. The split screen technique would be used within this genre, as this is when the scene displays two characters to the right and the left side of the screen, commonly doing the same actions. This technique would commonly be used to introduce the two main characters, which would have the two characters doing the same actions, as well building up to a meeting they eventually end up having. The shot reverse shot technique would also be used within this genre to capture direct dialogue between the characters, through bouncing between character to character. The use of this technique indicates to the audience who would be talking.
CHARACTER/STEREOTYPES
To compose a conventional romance film, the film would need to include a range of characters with each anointed roles and stereotypes that we would be seeing within a range of different films within the genre. An example of these portrayals would be through the female character, typically the main protagonist of the film, who would be a stereotypical schoolgirl or worker, who would be the either considered as an independent character, or the goofy character, that would not be regarded as of a high status compared to others, also would be surrounded by her friends of the same nature. The next character would be the male love interest of the main female protagonist, who would be stereotypically handsome, of high status being popular ladies. There would also be the main characters best friend/ex best friend or rival, who stereotypically a female, but in some cases being homosexual male for the best friend, while the ex best friend/rival being a female, who was once very close to the protagonist. The current best friend of the protagonist would act as the supporter of the protagonist, while the ex best friend/rival would be portrayed as the antagonist, with the object of making trouble from the main protagonist, while also having the same love interest or already with this specific character.
STOCK SITUATION
The stock situation for the romance genre would be set with the dorky protagonist fantasising about her crush, to her friends, despite the low odds. Who would be the character with the most lady attention and attractiveness, who would commonly be seen as a character out of the protagonist’s league. to her friends, despite the low odds. Despite the unlikely odds these two characters end up coming together as a couple, where they would be put into trials, where the male character would be do a specific action that would cause the relationship to end for a brief period, where the main character, recognises his mistakes and goes above and beyond to get the girl again where he becomes successful, to where the story comes to an end.
SOURCES USED-http://bc12media2018group9.blogspot.com/2017/11/mise-en-scene-romantic-comedy-research.html
COMEDY
MISE EN SCENE
Within this genre of comedy, the use of costume we would be seeing would not be a specific type of costume used throughout all films but may vary from film to film, depending on the plot. However, the typical costume we would be seeing would be casual clothing's that may include a use of vibrant colouring like yellow and green to enhance the characters personality as, these two colors are colors that convey an upbeat type of toning as yellow connotes joy, and happiness, while green is a color that brings energy. A great example of these colors being used would be the clothing and make-up used on Jim Carrey in the film, "The Mask". Props in comedy films can vary in accordance with the tone of the film. Although, the most common kind of props are usually whacky or wild-seeming as to add to the "crazy" theme that may be involved with the film. The type of setting we would be seeing within comedy film would be houses and schools, as these places would often be viewed as bright and connected, which is to be aimed within a comedy film. These settings would also express a sense of comfortability as the audience would be able to easily relate with the settings used, which would be successful for usage as it would emphasis realism aspects of the film. The type of lightings we would be seeing within comedy films would be high key lighting where the frame is well light for the characters to be easily viewed, because of how these lights would be portraying a positive and upbeat mood for the audience. This type of lighting would be also used to make sure the audience are able to be viewing the characters and their actions, as the main point of focus, as the whole point of comedies is to make sure, we are hearing and seeing what is being shown to evoke the comedy/funny aspects from the film. The use of NVC used within this genre would be used to further evoke the funniness of a scene.
CAMERA TECHNIQUES
Within this gene the type of camera techniques that would be shown would be two shots, which is when there would be two characters directly in the scene as the main point of focus. This camera technique would typically be used within dialogue between the two characters within the scene and would be used commonly in the comedy genre to fully express the humour of the scene to the audience. Close ups would be used to capture the specific characters facial expression, for enhance in comedic effect. Mid shots would be used also to capture the characters facial expressions but also to the actions of the character. The zooming camera technique would also be a camera technique used as this would be used to create a dramatic effect through zooming into the character. RA
SOUND TECHNIQUES
For sound techniques, there would be a wide range of diegetic/non diegetic sounds utilised within this genre. Examples of the non diegetic sounds we would see would be the use of voice overs, which would be used break the invisible fourth wall with the characters, and the audience. The use of this technique would commonly be used to narrate a story or explain a situation briefly where the scene along with the characters would be frozen. The effect of this technique used in comedies would be done to offer context on scene in a more comedic way. Another example of non diegetic sounds used would be sounds effects, of artificial laughs we would be hearing in most comedies. The use of this makes the joke seem more funnier than it is, which would sway the actual audience to laugh. However, the diegetic sounds we would be hearing within this genre would be dialogue, which would be used to capture the characters conversations. We would also soundtracks soundtrack which would be more upbeat and positive as opposed to the sinister tracks that are used more often in action films or thrillers.
EDITING TECHNIQUES
Within this genre there would be a use of a range of different techniques used, some examples of this would be fade ins and fade outs, as they would be introducing the and ending the scenes. We could see a use of cross cutting to emphasise a fake rivalry between characters, with the use of zooming to evoke the comedic aspects, maybe being used to replicate other films action through bouncing between character to character. Wipes would be used in this genre to introduce action between characters elsewhere within the duration of the film.
CHARACTER/STEREOTYPES
In the Comedy genre the type of representations of characters and stereotypes we would be seeing would be, a gender stereotype of males always portraying the role of the dumb character who is infamous for receiving corrections while often appearing as irrational, and full of access energy towards his actions and would tend to be the main comedic aspect of the show. This character would typically be corrected by the female character, that would be seen as the smart and resalable character, working as the balance between in genre. The main character within this character would normally have a specific characteristic, like a speech impediment or unusual hair that would be used to help the audience to differentiate and recognise the characters significance towards the audience, to enhance the comedic effect of the character.
STOCK SITUATIONS
Within this genre the type of narrative structures we would be seeing would be of reunion of a class or an arranged outing with a group of childhood friends typically to a different country where they would be faced countless problems which would be portrayed in, comedic and funny way rather than a serious situation, where we would be seeing the characters portray their individual characteristics, and features to amuse the audience.
http://callummclaughlin.blogspot.com/2015/09/genre-conventions-mise-en-scene-comedy.html
DRAMA
MISE EN SCENE
In this genre the type of conventional aspects we would be seeing portrayed within this genre would firstly be the type of settings the we would be seeing, being schools, work spaces, houses and just general socialisble places, as this genre mainly focuses on the interactions with the different characters and the relationships as well as conflict, compared to the action genre where there would be a wide percentage of fighting and unrealistic aspects. When it comes to the type of costume used in this genre we would be seeing a use of casual clothing used for the modern day type of films/Tv shows we would be seeing today. However, depending on the type of surroundings/social status the film/show is based in, this may differ for example with the show Dynasty on netflix, we see the use of formal wear in the characters costume as the show is shown to be based around people of high social status of being highly wealthy. The type of lighting we would be seeing would be a mixture of high key and lowkey lighting, as the main point is to make sure the characters are fully visible at all times for the audience, but this could also replaced by lowkey lighting in some specific scene to emphasis a mood being conveyed, maybe as a result of a characters actions. The type of props we would be seeing would be everyday items we normally would have. However, some there would be a use of weapons and drugs such as guns, knives and bats depending on the type of drama film/show it is.
CAMERA TECHNIQUES
The type of camera techniques we would be seeing within this genre would be a lot of shot reverse shots of characters in dialogue, Establishing/long shots would be used to introduce different locations scenes would take place in. Close up would be used to capture emotions of characters, as well as being used to focus on specific objects. Medium shots would be used to do the same job as close up shots, but would also capture the actions of the characters while expressing the specific emotion. Over the shoulder shots would also be a technique used in this genre. It informs the audience about who a specific character is talking to. A use of two shots would also be utilised when capturing a different perspective of dialogue between characters. Long Takes would be used more as these conversations between characters would be a priority.
SOUND TECHNIQUES
Within this genre the type of sound technique we would be seeing would be soundtracks/scores, as these aspects bring energy to scenes as well as more diegetic and the use of non diegetic sounds that would be coming from the film/show as well as artificially made (sound effects).
EDITING TECHNIQUES
Within this genre the type of editing techniques we would be seeing would firstly be a use of long takes rather than quick cuts, as this genre would be more focused on the limited actions and dialogue of characters within the film/show. We would be seeing fade ins and outs, being used to introduce and close scenes. L cuts and J cuts would be used as transitions between footage within scenes instead of traditional transition effects, like a fade or cross dissolve, because they help the audience keep visual continuity. The cutting on action technique would be another technique we would see being used in this genre, to direct the audience to the point of “action”. Which would be a character simply opening a door and we see the change in camera angle to the characters hand opening the door, or maybe an fight that has occurred where the camera angle would change from what it was originally showing to the character’s fist hitting someone. Cross cutting would be used to show a linkage between two scenes happening at the same time.
CHARACTER/STEREOTYPES
This genre would normally follow a common structure of character roles and stereotypes connected with this. The first type of characters the audience would be introduced to would be the protagonist, who would be seen as confident, handsome and strong, and likeable or the opposite where they gradually gain these qualities. We would then have the antagonist, an opposer of the protagonist from a fallout with the main protagonist or just apposer for no specific reason. We would then have the side characters, who would be helpers/friends of the protagonist, sharing the same views. The love interest, who would be a character that would gradually fall for the protagonist, or a character that has always liked the protagonist.
STOCK SITUATION
The type of structures we would be seeing within this genre would not always move in one specific linear flow where all the events are just in one string but, could be shown in a non linear flow where the of the film/show is disrupted with flashbacks, and brief flashforwards, which would be used to add more suspense and energy towards the film/show. An example of the type of narrative we could see within this genre could be of a character being born into a highly wealthy family where he didn't have the leverage of having a typical childhood like others his age. Where he then finds a friend in contrast to him being of lower class where the main character would get to epierience things he never could do before and people his age were doing. This would then be led by a certain disruption that would not allow the character to experience what the characters were doing, to then a solution where the problem is acknowledged and changed into a way that would give a positive close to the story or in some cases a tragedy that would set an enigma for the audience to question.
SCI-FI
MISE EN SCENE
For Mise en scene in the Sci-fi genre the type of setting we would be expecting to see would be space settings in different planets, post apocalyptic settings where humanity is either on the brink of extinction or already are, or dystopian settings. As these locations convey a sense of mystery. The types of props we would be seeing would be unrealistic as they would be fitting towards the type of threats that would be present within the film. For costume we would be seeing over the top uses with the different characters, which would allow the audience to grasp a brief understanding of the type of character role they will have in the story. For example, the use of darth vader's costume from star wars, as we see how he is clothed all in black which gives connotations of mystery and evil intentions, which is not hard for the audience to recognise just by his costume of his character role in the story as the protagonist. The type of lighting we would be seeing with this genre would mainly be a usage of lowkey lighting and high key lighting depending on the type of film, for example a movie with a post apocalyptic and dystopian setting would be shown in low key lighting to convey the type of depressing mood they would want to express to the audience. Whereas with the out of space settings we would be seeing a usage of high key lighting with the sunset coloring, to make it seem grand and big.
CAMERA TECHNIQUES
Within this genre the type of camera techniques we would be seeing would be Extremely long shots, which could be used if the movie/show is taking place in an out of space setting, where there would be shots of a specific planet to set the scene. Birds eye views would be used of unrealistic flying vehicles, to offer different views of what was happening in the scene. Close ups would be used to capture the characters emotions for the audience to see. Dolly shots would be used to act as an unspoken cue to inform the audience about something that is happening/about to happen. Worms eye view would be used to capture a different perspective of something from the floor looking up. We would be seeing tracking shots being used when following a character's movements. Over the shoulder shots would also be used to capture dialogue between characters.
SOUND TECHNIQUES
The sound techniques we would be seeing within this genre would be hearing in this genre would be a increase use of score non diegetic sounds rather than soundtracks because of how they do a better job at absorbing their audiences into action of the scene by emphasising the otherworldly and alien aspects using tonal effects. The use of foley Sound effects would be heavily used as the Sci-fi genre would be built on a range of different unrealistic sounds that would only be able to be achieved in the film artificially.
EDITING TECHNIQUES
The types of editing techniques we would be seeing within this genre would be Quick cuts, which would be used to embrace the action and urgency aspects of the genre. Cross cutting usages would be used in this genre between characters that may be witnessing the same events that link with each other at the same time in different locations, where we would be seeing a switch between the two characters being shown. Shot reverse shots would be used, showing two characters within dialogue. Cutaways would be used to shift the focus of a certain scene to another event. Long takes would also be a technique used in this genre, to entice the audience in what is being shown but, could also be used to capture long dialogue between characters, which would be done to make sure the audience take in everything being shown within the scene.
CHARACTERS/STEREOTYPES
The type of characters we would be seeing within this specific genre would be, the protagonist a character that would be the embodiment of hope of the characters within the story stereotypically male. The next character would be the soldier/fighter character stereotypically male, who would normally be an helper/side character of the story however, could sometimes be the main protagonist of the story. This character would normally be the strongest character and the character that would never stray away from inevitable conflict being thrown at him. The next character would be the rogue character, who is portrayed to be the sneaky and disreprentable character that would not always have the same motives as the protagonist, but would be a supporter to the main character. The scientist would be the next character we would be seeing who would be a helper towards the protagonist. This character would be someone concerned with abstract knowledge and the strategist towards the group's plans to overcome the main opposing And the antagonist, the character that would be the main force for the main characters will have to challenge and overcome.
STOCK SITUATION
For this genre, a common stock situation we could see would be, a post apocalyptic era where there is little to no humans left on earth due to a radio active bomb that accured a few years prior to the present time of the story. Where the main character is left alone and is forced to scavenge for supplies and food in order to survive, where he later finds out he is not alone, and finds helpers who then inform him of a way to restore humanity to what it once was by completing a specific mission, where they set of to face this mission and are successful or unsuccessful depending on the story and left on an eligma to where the story comes to close.
FANTASY
MISE EN SCENE
Costume and Make-up Within fantasy they rely heavily on costume and make up as they are trying to create a sense of realism within a fantasy world. This makes the film more tense and sane as the audience can believe the idea of a ‘another/fantasy world’ does exist or conclude that the costume and makeup add to the effect of creating a realistic fabrication of another world, intended to look unrealistic as well as realistic at the same time, to establish tone. Props Similarly to costume and makeup play an important role in creating a believable fantasy world. A prop used in films of this genre helps contribute to the visual perception and understanding of theme within the film. Typically, within fantasy the main use of props are weapons, but these weapons customarily have a supernatural power, for example in Harry Potter with his wand is used as prop to symbolize power as this as his weapon that displays his supernatural magic. o this it also adds to the thriller culture of the film as the devil is identified to be linked with evil and horror Generally, the type of props used within the fantasy genre it could be sometimes dim but predominantly high key and consistent of a range of different colors, as the fantasy element of a film mainly focuses on the action consisting of the supernatural elements or just unrealistic aspects that would have a wide and heavy inclusion of diverse colors. Exterior Predominately fantasy/thrillers have other worldly exterior locations, so they reflect the illusion of the new world they are trying to create. Fantasy makes use of open spaces in the exterior locations, often making a person or supernatural creature look detached and unusual to the real world.
CAMERA TECHNIQUES
Within the fantasy genre, we would be seeing a diverse usage of camera techniques, to offer different perspectives as well as, to effectively evoke the out of world touch this genre holds. The use of Tracking shots would be used, commonly used to track the action within the specific film, as well as the characters. A consistent use of establishing shots would be used, to introduce the different unique locations, that would be supplied within the film, as they would normally be places the audience has not seen, which would help them to grasp an idea about, where everything is going to be taking place in. Quick cuts would also be used, mainly to capture the action element of the genre. As well as these techniques used close ups, mid shots and long shots would be used, as these are common techniques used within this genre as well as others across.
SOUND TECHNIQUES
The Fantasy genre would predominately consist of a use of SFX sound techniques as well as folly effects, as the sounds used within this genre would not be sounds, we naturally hear, due to its unrealistic element, therefore, would be artificially composed to ensure the conventional aspect of the “New World” is effectively enforced and conveyed towards the audience. The use of scores and soundtracks would also be used to influence the mood of the different scenes within the film. Along with this sound a range of other diegetic and nondiegetic sounds would be utilized within this genre, to meet its cinematic appeal.
EDITING TECHNIQUES
The use of editing techniques shown within this genre would be a use of quick/long takes to ensure the pace of some of the scenes, as well as through the long take, which could be used to ensure the audience is fully able to rasp what is happening within a scene. L and J cuts would be used as introductions to different points of the film, a use of smash cuts could be used, as well as elliptical editing, to also highlight parts of the location of the film for the audience.
CHARACTERS/STEREOTYPES
This genre would consist of 10 character roles, being firstly the protagonist/hero, despite not volunteering to hold this role, this character matches all the requirements to be the hero, shown through how unique and determined features, differing from other characters of the aspect of sharing the same ideals. The antagonist would be next, being the character that is a threat to the protagonist being the opposer and troublemaker of the film who is eventually beaten by the protagonists. The sidekick would be the next character within the fantasy genre, who could as well be the Hero because they would to some extent share the same characteristics as the protagonist. However, the only reason they would not be the actual Hero would be because he has been anointed in some way as the person who must solve the conflict. And yet, the Hero usually wouldn’t get close to a successful resolution if not for the Sidekick. The mentor would be next, the character that knows all about everything going on, who would normally be the character that formulates the plan for disruption. The love interest would be next, who would be the character that helps to humanize the Hero by showing a more vulnerable side to them, or they can help raise the stakes when they’re threatened or in danger. The other Hero, while this character helps save the day, they are not quite a Sidekick, their goal is more to solve the conflict, not to support the Hero. Because of that goal, they do protect the Hero at all costs and help guide them through the journey, but they are more skilled than the Sidekick and generally have a knack for knowing just what to do.
RESEARCH:
NARRATIVE DEFINITIONS:
ENIGMA CODES
More commonly known as enigma codes, this narrative technique is used by mystery writers who want the reader to keep on guessing who committed the crime until the final reveal at the end of the story.
LINEAR
A Linear is where a specific structure goes all through, from the start to begin without any type of disruption in a chronological flow.
NON-LINEAR
A Non-linear is the opposite of linear, where a specific thing does not follow all the way through but has free movement to disrupt the chronological flow.
MULTI-STRAND
A multi-strand Narrative is where there is more than one main character, with multiple plots shared out between the characters rather than just one.
SERIAL NARRATIVE
This is the story of the writers, ideas and reaction of his or her audience.
FLEXI NARRATIVE
This is a more complex narrative structure with layers of interweaving narratives. Which makes the audience want to keep on watching and challenges the audience with twists and turns.
EPISODIC DRAMA
This is when a narrative is shot in small chunks rather than creating one lengthy and slow build-up of tension, which often happens in chronological order.
UNRESTRICTED NARRATIVE
This is when the audience knows more than the character. Which is done to create suspense and tension.
RESTRICTED NARRATIVE
This is when the audience is only seeing the point of view of a single character, Making the audience know only what the character knows and nothing more.
LEARNING AIM A: CORE ASSESMENT
FILM ANALYSIS
THE SMILING MAN
This short film starts with and low angled establishing shot of a house the audience could presume the story is going to take place in. This is then led by a dip to black, which leads to a slow panning shot, which would have been included to further introduce the scene to the audience and also establish the setting where the main action is going to be taking place. Around the end of the panning shot introducing the setting, we hear diegetic sound coming from the TV while also seeing a little girl sitting down watching. This is the first character we see, which suggests that she would be the main character of the short film, as this is something that is done across all genres which could link with Neal’s genre theory of all films sharing similarities as well as having their aspects unique to their specific genre, because of how we mostly see the portrayal of the main characters being introduced first within the film, as mentioned before, which is a repetitive occurring we see used throughout most films. This element would also be done to inform the audience of who they should be rooting for as the film progresses. When first seeing the character, she is shown to be highly engaged in what she is watching, which we can presume through the nonverbal communication she is displaying, as we see her eyes enlarged, which is a common trait we see children doing when they are highly engaged in a specific subject. We then see a reverse shot from the introduction character to a point of view shot of what the character is watching, to again the main character, in in a close up shot, to a point of view shot of what is being shown on the screen, to then a cut to a stationary shot the character watching the tv. The use of the combination of these shots builds up suspense for the audience and sets the tone as we don’t know what is going to happen. While in this stationery shot, we see a moving shadow in the left top corner of the shot, with a chilling non diegetic score sound that perfectly aligns with the duration of the shadow being shown, the effect of the alignment of the sound and the shadow changes the original mood from normal to now ominous and mysterious, as the audience does not know what this is and why it is there. This would also link with Todorov's narratology theory of all stories following five stages, where this part of the story would act as the disequilibrium, where the calm (Equilibrium), being the protagonist sitting down watching the tv, is disrupted by a certain event, which would be the brief showing of the mysterious shadow in the top left corner. We then see the close up shot of the character shifting her focus from what she is watching to where the shadow was, which we can tell from the movement of her head and eyes to the spot of the shadow. This is done to answer the enigmatic questions the audience would have had from the appearance of the shadow, as she then starts to get up and walk towards the area of the shadow, shown through the slow panning stationery shot. The non diegetic sound then starts to gradually fade as the shot changes to zooming in a shot placed in a different capturing a different location of the house. The use of the gradual fading sound of the tv creates a sense of realism for the audience as we hear how the tv sounds and appears further than it originally as a result of the change of camera location however, the sound is still heard, how we would hear it as if we are there in the corridor of the house. The zooming in shot shows continuity from the previous shot of the character getting up to look at the shadow, as we see the character come out of the room. We also see the red balloon placed directly in the centre of the shot/corridor, where the main character starts to walk towards this, out of curiosity where the shot switches to a close up of the character looking at the mysterious bag, as well as another close up, shot elaborating on the bad as it only shows the bag, with the purpose of the audience seeing what is within it. The use of us not being able to exactly grasp what is within the bag would have been made to enforce the fear of the unknown and set an enigma for the audience, as we are offered no context on what is being shown. As the character walks towards the balloon, we hear diegetic sounds. The sound of the character's footsteps overlaps the sound of the tv as the character closes the distance between her and the balloon, which would have been done to create a build up between the object and the character. As the character begins to pick up the balloon, we start to hear the score used, where the scene cuts to the character's face looking at the bag, to the close up of the bag, as mentioned before. As the scene shows the close up of the bag, we hear how the sound of the score increases as we see more of the contents within the bag, which would have been included to further enforce the dramatic effect of the bag. The scene then introduces another perspective of the protagonist looking at the mysterious bag with a close up shot, which leads to a slow panning shot, showing us an unknown hand placing, this time blue balloon where we also see the reaction of the character looking back just after the placement of the balloon, down the steps. The use of the audience this time seeing the hand responsible for the placing of the balloons as well as the shadow we first saw, while the character was watching tv, again reinforces the fear of the unknown and sets another enigma, as this would be offering the audience the same questions they would have had before, as well as a new question of whose hand it was, that placed the balloon, as we are still offered no information about what a exactly is being shown. These two techniques would be something we see commonly used throughout the different films within this genre, as an essential element of this genre is to leave the audience guessing to ensure the audience is on edge about what happens next. In this scene, we also hear the dramatic score of when the character was investigating the bag slowly fade, as the slow panning starts to take place, where we hear the repetition of the same sound we heard while the shadow was first shown however, with a more based sound, as we see the unknown hand place the blue balloon. The use of this would have been done to remind the audience of the previous presents, of the mysterious being the audience was introduced to in the beginning through the shadow. The next shot shown is a low angle shot of us looking at the character from down the stairs, where the non diegetic sound briefly comes to a stop and is replaced by the diegetic sound, while the character is looking at the balloon, and proceeds to walk down the stairs towards the balloon, where the dramatic sound is slowly reintroduced as the character draws closer to the balloon, as the sound increases with each step of the character, to create a build up of suspense, which would convey a sense of anxiety felt by the audience as we are waiting to see what is attached on the bottom of the second balloon. After the character picks up the balloon to see what was attached, the non diegetic score stops as we find out what was attached to the balloon, which would further confuse the audience as it is still unknown what is within the bag. We then hear and see a creak in the door within the house, where we then see bounces of shots between the character and the creaking door, as the character as well as the audience would be baffled to why there would be a door creaking as a house, while there were no shown interactions with the door, however, this technique would have been used to emphasis the effect of what is to come. As the bounces continue, the last shot of this shows the unknown hand we previously saw, playing with the character's hair, with a loud dramatic sound that aligns with the introduction of the shot. This part of the movie would have acted as a jumpscare towards the audience, because of how the audience would not have anticipated this through the usage of the ‘silence before the storm’ used by the eerie loud score we heard, shown through the bounces of camera techniques leading up to this point, to further convey the brief scariness of the scene. After this shot, we then see a high angle shot of the character, with the balloon in hand, turning around as a reaction to the hand we saw playing with the character's hair, where she sees nothing and continues to walk towards the next set of stairs. This point as well as when we saw the mysterious hand place the balloon, would work as dramatic irony, because how the audience has seen a part of this mysterious being, and are fully aware the character is not alone. Whereas the main character still appears to be confused and unaware of the presence of this character. Within this high angle shot the eerie score starts to fade out and lead to a more mellow two piano key score while we see a reaction shot of the character finding another balloon, shown with a brief point of view shot. The scene then returns to the high angle shot of this time the character walking down the stairs, to another positioning of the camera still in a high angle showing another perspective with the mellow score still heard. As the character starts to draw closer with the balloon, we hear a repeat of the score playing increase to a high and then a low, which would have been included to sway the audience's emotion as the character draws closer. Once the character gets to the balloon, a close up of a once again unknown bag is shown, with a dramatic high score, which then gets down to the original level it was on while the character briefly looks at the bag, to then be interrupted by the echo of an unknown object falling, where we then hear the close, of the recurring score sound, as the scene emphasizes the focus of the diegetic sound from the actual moment. The use of this again reinforces the silence before the store aspect of the film, conveying what is to come as well as confuses the audience as we don’t know who/what caused the falling of these objects. The next shot we then see is a mid shot of the character walking towards the falling objects in the kitchen area, how the character's eyebrows have frowned, and the direct eye contact she maintains with the kitchen area as she begins to draw closer suggests, that she would be disoriented at the fact of this occurring. This shot is then followed by a point of view shot of the area of the fallen objects, where we then see the same unknown hand, we saw placing the balloons, briefly appear again behind the counter, which almost seems like this strange being is teasing the character as well as the audience as we still don’t know this character's main motive is. We then see a close up shot of the footsteps of the characters briefly coming to a stop as a reaction to the appearance of the character's hand, to then another point of view shot of the strange being this time partly revealing himself to the character, where we are the reintroduced to the eerie score, that would gradually increase as the shots go on, creating an expansion of tenseness as the character, begins to further explore the next area of the house. After the next few shots of the character walking towards the kitchen, we then see the usage of the overhead shot showing both the main character and a part of the strange being, being used to offer a different perspective of both characters in the scene, while also establishing the ominous and suspenseful tone. The next shot shown right after this shot is a close up shot of the now known antagonist, we can conclude by the character's makeup of costume shown, as we see through the evident differentiation between this character's costume compared to the protagonists, which would link to Steve Neale's Genre theory, as it is highly common for us to see the antagonist of the story appear to have some solid and recognizable features that differ from other characters throughout the different films within this genre. Some examples would be the character's black long nails, the skin of the character, and the character's pointed teeth, which all make it easy for the audience to identify the character's significance/role in the story. The use of the coloring of the character's costume could work as a subverted generalized concept of good and evil, as we commonly see the representation of white symbolizing good and purity while black in contrast symbolizes evil and darkness, which through this film is shown to be swapped, through the assumption of the character's appearance. Followed by this shot is a shot reverse shot of the protagonist and the antagonist, looking at each other, while also letting the audience see the reaction the protagonist has towards the antagonist. Through the reactions shot of the protagonist, there is a stereotype subversion of how we would expect to see a child act while encountering this type of character, as this character is shown to display little to no type of emotion to the situation she is in, which is not the type of way we would be expecting someone her age to be reacting. However, this would have been done to enforce the stereotypical horror protagonist traits of being a brave character, that is not easily fazed, as well as being done to help the story progress. A hand held shot, to then zoom in/zoom out, of this shot then showed the antagonist doing some unknown gestures leading to this character mysteriously bringing a ball to his hand is then shown, with the alignment of the score piano score we hear, which further conveys the unsettling tone of this scene. We then see a close up of the character's facial expression as a result of the antagonist showing her the ball, which again would be a subversion of the character's attitude. We then see a close up shot of the antagonist dropping the ball, to then a stationary side shot of the protagonist picking the ball. Later, through this scene we see a close up of the antagonist wiping blood off the floor, then rubbing it on his face, with a large smile that comes. The use of this would act as the fear of the unknown as the audience would not know who the blood belongs to as well as if it is even blood. We then get a close up of the antagonist wiping the blood from the floor, offering the audience clarity along long with fear, as we now know what exactly was on the character's face however, the audience would also be expressing a sense of anticipatory fear, as we still do not fully know his full intentions but, could infer he is a danger to the protagonist. Which would link with Levi Strauss's structuralism theory through character opposition we see through the antagonist's display of evil intent portrayed through the character's actions shown, compared to the protagonist, an innocent girl victim of the antagonist's schemes, and unaware of what exactly is happening. After the next few shots, we then see a close up tracking shot of the antagonist, mischievously laughing too then moving to show, what was behind him, being a dead body. As the character gradually moves, the camera’s aperture goes from f/7.1 to an f/22, which creates a blurry to clear effect, commonly used in most films to emphasize the dramatic effect of a reveal of something, which we see utilized through this film dramatically expressing the reveal of the dead body in the corner. Once the protagonist sees what the antagonist is showing, we see the drastic change of facial expression from neutral to giving a hard gasp with her eyes wide open, inferring that the character on the floor may be the protagonist's relative or someone very close to her. A close up of the almost dead character is then shown, of her giving what seems to be an unsettling last gasp of air, as she offers direct eye contact with the audience, making it seem like the audience is directly connected with the scene. We then see a continuation of the main character's facial expression as a result of viewing the character, further enforcing how impacted by this sight the character is. After a few more shots, we see the antagonist once again swipe blood off the floor and apply it to his face, now clearly showing the replication of a smiling face linked with the title “The smiling man”, while giving off an eerie laugh, coming closer to the protagonist to then hushing the protagonist, Which would leave the film with an enigmatic tone, (disequilibrium)as we would not know what happens next, which offers the audience with open interpretations of what could happen next.
FAUVE
This film begins with an L cut with diegetic sound of the surroundings while displaying the pre credits of the film, where the scene starts with an establishing canted angle shot establishing shot of what seems to be, the inside of an abandoned train, which we could infer through the diegetic sound of the buzzing of the fly we hear and later see, which could also be associated with the uncleanliness of the bus because of how insects are stereotypically portrayed to be dirt attracted and pesty creatures through their appearances in different places. The discoloring of the carpet floor would also link with the abandoned aspect of the bus, as discoloring often occurs when there is no maintenance to a specific object. After some time within this shot, the silence is disrupted by a loud bang along with a character saying, “Open up”, which would have been included to formally start the film, along with setting and establishing a mysterious mood setting an enigma, as we don’t know why this is happening, who the characters are, while also bombarding the audience with other questions. When this occurs, the shot begins to slowly zoom in, being used to direct the audience to the main point of focus of the scene. The enigmatic code then ends as we hear characters laughing along with the introduction of the first character we see, which would shift the tone from mysterious to then a playful mood as can now infer the characters are friends playing together. We later see the next character introduced while in dialogue with the first character, playing together in a competitive playful manner evident through their tracking of scores, firstly shown at the first sighting of the first character, to then when they go outside of the original room, they were in, to the next setting, where the close up shot shows them having a staring contest where one of them loses evening out the score from 2-1 to 2-2. The characters then walk out of the place they originally were, where the title of the film is shown directly in the middle of the screen. Todorov’s narratology theory would be applied to this part of the story as the equilibrium of the natural order has been established through the establishment of the mood as well as the introduction of the characters of the film. The use of the absence of the non diegetic score sound conveys the reality of the film, as we only hear the diegetic natural sounds, which makes the audience solely focused on the actions of the characters as well as the dialogue. Through the costume of the character, we can assume these characters are of lower class status, as we see one of the characters is only wearing jogging bottoms without a shirt, which seems to be old and worn out. Whereas the other character is shown to be somewhat in contrast with the first character mentioned, as he is shown to be more properly dressed in comparison, which could have been done this way, to offer information about the character's personality. A tracking hand held shot is then shown of one of the characters running to then climbing up, what looks like to be an abandoned train. The use of the abandoned train placed in this area can suggest the area they are in is solitary, further connoting the class of the character, as lower class, as we can see the way the characters seem to be familiar with the area, being a place, we can infer they are regularly attended. to then another shot low angle showing a different perspective of the character on the abandoned train once on top, to then another tracking shot of this time the protagonist proceeding to climb up the abandoned train, where he then met by the other character where he then pours water on him and gives up on climbing. The use of the descriptive combination of these shots conveys a sense of realism to the audiences, as it would make, us feel like we are part of the scene, enforcing the adventurous element of this film. After this the next shot we briefly see a high angle of one of the characters throwing rocks at the other on top of the train. The use of this shot further emphasizes perspective, as it again makes it feel like we are part of the scene, getting rocks thrown at us. The following after this is a shot reverse shot of the character throwing the rocks to the other character on the train, to the character on the train. Through this part of the scene, we see the stereotype of teens portraying reckless behavior applied, as we see how they are one of them is throwing rocks at the other, while one is on the top of a train, which could be perceived as dangerous, as they both have the strong possibility of getting hurt. As the film progresses, a long take shows the two characters in dialogue, while walking on a path is shown. The use of this technique makes the dialogue the focus point of the scene as the long take smoothly draws us into focusing on the space through the continuous look at the setting and moving parts. The next shot shown is a two shot as well as a reaction shot of the characters looking through the window, to what looks like an abandoned house, to than a long shot of the two characters still looking through the window. The use of the characters looking through the window to see what is within again enforces the adventurous aspect we see within the drama genre, as we see the reactions of the characters once they are looking through the window. The use of the initial two shot of the characters looking within, would have supplied the audience with questions of what exactly they were looking at however, this factor came to a close with the usage of the long shot of the wide angle, as we partly see what the characters were looking a. After the shot is shown, we see the 180-degree camera rule applied with an over the shoulder shot of one of the characters, where it switches to the over the shoulder of the other character, while their attention is drawn to the sound of an upcoming vehicle. This technique would have been used to establish their placement in the scene, but also offers a perspective of the scene, while making the audience perceive a sense of connection with the emotions of the characters. Right after this shot is a stationary long shot which shows the characters looking towards the sound they heard in the previous shot, to then running away out of frame, as the shot shows the unknown bus driving towards the characters. This part of the scene would link to Todorov's narratology theory of the disruption of the story (disequilibrium), as we see how the appearance of the bus dramatically affected the mood from playful and calm to then tense and disoriented, expressed through the characters shown reactions. Based on the character's reactions and dialogue once they see the bus, we can infer their reaction is a result of a previous encounter they may have had with the bus or a known reputation the bus may have, that we the audience are not aware of, as their reactions are in a contradiction to how a regular person would react to a bus. Which is a common element used across a range of different genres as well as the drama genre, to emphasize suspense, held within the scene. The next shot to be shown is a tracking shot of the characters running away, to another tracking shot going down a hill. The use of this shot further emphasizes the effect the bus has on the characters. An extreme long shot is then shown of the characters from afar still running down the hill but used with the effect of introducing the new setting of the scene, to the audience. A mid shot of the characters in dialogue is then shown, of them confirming the whereabouts of the bus, which they conclude is gone. Shortly after this, there is a quick shift of mood from the situation they were just in, to then their ongoing game, we see through one of the characters resighting the scores of the game. The use of this would enforce a sense of closure towards the audience, as we now know the characters are safe and are no more in trouble. Within the next shot, we see a close up of one of the character's feet almost submerged in the mud while also picking up the mud to throw at his friend, which we see a panning shot going up. A long shot is then shown of the character falling over to then him emphasizing to his friend how he is stuck to where we see the friend still referring to their game and refusing to help the other character. We then see two shot bounces off the character, struggling to get out to than the other character still playing around, to where we see the character finally free himself of the mud. The use of this part of the scene would have made the audience question if the character was stuck as we see the change in attitude the character portrays, as well as the character's facial expression as he desperately tries to reach out of the mud. We then see the character despite the struggle, get out of the mud, to where we see a mid shot of the character and his wide smile gradually fade as he somewhat realizes how his friend may have been stuck and goes to assist his friend. As the character goes to help his friend, the other character pushes him into the mud, where we see a two shot of the character now in the mud as well as his friend laughing. The use of this part of the scene would have made it clear to the audience that the character being stuck in the mud was a hoax and was just a way of the character continuing with the game to up his score, which we could clarify with the character saying, ‘who’s winning’. A long shot/long take of the character in the mud, gradually being pulled is then shown, where we see the change in tone once again, with dialogue, as this character, in contrast to his friend, empathizes with the severity of the situation he is in through the use of tone we hear through the character's voice, as he is trying to inform his friend of him being stuck, which is disregarded by his friend through the characters influence of the game. The use of the long take technique used within this shot would express a dramatic effect on the audience as the long continuation of the shot establishes a further connection with the characters along with highlighting the situation they are in, while also enhancing the point of focus, being the character in the mud, which would evoke edge of the seat response from the audience while also supplying questions, as there is a slim possibility that this could be one of the characters' schemes, as this is something we have seen before from the initial beginning of the film, but could also dominantly be real, with the character being in genuine danger we can infer through the characters actions and dialogue. A shot reverse shot is then used between the character's friend to then the character in the mud, displaying the character, not being able to tell if his friend is stuck or not, through the character's tone of voice as he asks his friend to come to him out of the mud, where the camera switches to the character in the mud where he again emphasized that he is stuck, and can’t get out. The use of the un surety within the voice of the character, as he begins to become aware of the situation he and his friend are in, creates certainty of the character's realization of how dire the situation could get, as he later starts to try to help his friend by trying to walk to him where he is overwhelmed by the suction of the mud as he also struggles to free himself, where he eventually accomplishes and loses his shoe in the process, to then again try to help his friend by using a near branch stick. The Narratology theory would be applied here as it is certain that this part of the film would act as the recognition of the present situation they are in, being a character in heavy risk of danger, due to the pulling of the mud, where we are now starting to see the characters change in attitude as a result, as he acknowledges this aspect. As the character frees himself from the mud, we see how he loses his second shoe, however, does not show any concern for his shoe but is fully intent on saving his friend. The use of this can again reinforce the character's social class group as a lower class as he does not show any type of regard for his shoe, whereas the stereotypical reaction from someone within the higher class/middle class would be in opposition, as they would at least show little concern or acknowledgment of what they lost, which we see in contrast to the character within this film as he does not even question, but gets right to helping his friend, which could also reflect on the character's ideals he holds of friendship as we see the way the character is trying to put his all into helping his friend, despite the miniature sacrifice. After a few shots, the use of a stationary shot and tracking shot to show the character running for help, evokes the urgency aspect of the scene, as we are now dependent on the character's retrieval of help before his friend is overwhelmed by the mud. This point of the scene also sets an enigmatic effect as we don’t know if the other character has been overcome by the mud or not. Through the next shots, we eventually see the character discover the bus, previously shown chasing the characters around the beginning of the film. Where we see the character non hesitantly shouting for help while also trying to grab someone's attention, which contrasts with the initial reaction that this character had when we first saw the appearance of the bus. Despite the efforts, we later find out that there is no one within the now deserted bus, through the high-angle shot. This point of the scene would link with the semiotics theory, as our initial thought showed the brief shot of the bus would have indicated that we may be seeing a potential character role of “The helper”. The narratology theory would also be a theory applied to this part of the film, being the “Attempt” to repair the damage, which we see through his efforts of retrieving help. An f/14, stationary aperture shot is shown of the character again shouting for help, to then running off, to then another stationary shot, where we see a continuation of the character running, towards the direction of his friend. The use of this effect of the aperture shot ensures the audience is fully aware of the change of focal point of the scene while offering a different perspective. Once the character reaches the area of his friend, we see a brief reaction shot of the confusion displayed on his face as he examines the area, where an over the shoulder shot is shown, with the intended purpose of offering the audience a view of what the character is looking at, as well as the informing us that his friend has been overcome by the pulling mud. A long shot to then a slow panning close up shot of the character is then shown of the character, still examining the area in disbelief, as the realization of the disappearance of his once dear friend overwhelms the character, as his breathing pattern starts to disorientate and louden. As the scene begins to close, an introduction of a base score gradually increasing is heard, with a dissolve that introduces the next shot being an extreme long shot. The use of score establishes the downbeat tone set by the death of the character's friend, which connects the audience with the scene, as the use of elliptical editing is shown with, different parts of the character's unknown journey, with no dialogue, which is done to make the audience reflect on everything that has happened so far. The score then closes as an indication of dialogue or an event, which is then shown with the low angle of the character walking along the road, where we see a car gradually approaching, where we see a woman slowing down her speed to match the characters pace to ask, if he is okay, and if he needed help, to eventually offering the character to come in the car to be taken to where he was trying to go, which he does. Before they drive off the woman asks some questions, to grasp an idea of the character, where she eventually finds out the area in which the character lives at. After this the character begins to ask more questions, to still no response. The use of the character's silence suggests just how heavily impacted the character was by the loss of his friend, which is also enforced through the next part of the scene where the character has trouble saying what he wants to say, where he manages to only say 3 words before he is disrupted by the commotion of the driving. While the character starts to talk, we hear the reintroduction of the diegetic score sound we heard before, which gradually picks up pace as the character gets close to saying what he wanted to say, which would have been used to dramatically enforce the anticipation of the character's speech. A reaction shot of the character looking out the window, where we shortly see a close up of a fox, to then a close up of the character, looking at the fox, with overfilled tears in his eyes slowly drifting down his face. The use of this scene would have impacted the character, as his friend mentioned several times that there was a fox, behind this character, however, was not acknowledged as the character thought it was part of his friend's scheme to get more points in the game. Therefore, through the present sighting of the fox, he would have now realized that his friend was not lying and would be left, with the thought of him potentially telling the truth about seeing the fox. The use of the fox descending into the horizon could symbolize his friend being at peace, as horizons are commonly used across all films, to enforce a soothing and mellow toning towards the audience, Linking with Neals genre theory as we see this commonly within a range of different films. The ending of this film ends with a sentimental tone as we see the character crying, as he witnesses the fox from afar, the use of this part of the film acts as the resolution/new equilibrium, as we see how the character has accepted the loss of his friend.
LEARNING AIM B :
DIFFERENT SECTORS
FILM TREATMENT:
FINALISED NARRATIVE
SHOT LIST
RISK ASSESSMENT
STORYBOARD
SCRIPT
Video Log Sheet
SHOOTING SCHEDULE
SOUND LOG SHEET
LOCATION RECCE
EQUIPMENT BOOKING
Logs
SOUND LOG
FINAL PIECE
Evaluation
My short film short film starts off with two slow establishing shots of the scenery. The use of me deciding to include this shot as the initial opening shot was to introduce the film/area the film is going to take place in, to the audience. As well as the establishing shot being shown, a score is also heard, behind the display of the two establishing shots. The use of the score being included along with the establishing shots, was used to evoke a mood and set tone for the audience to pick up on. Which was enforced with the sounding of the score sound I decided to utilise being a kind of earie mysterious styling, to fit into the conventional aspects of the genre, as well as ensuring I was able to replicate the type of tones felt in traditional conventional horror films, which I am intending to go for. The next shots shown after this is a long shot, wide angling of the characters coming off the minibus and into frame. The use of the long shot/wide angle shot centers the characters within the frame to be directly visible for the audience to clearly see. The usage of the long shot/wide angle shot was also used to fully introduce the characters of the story through all characters being able to fit on screen because of the usage of the landscape angling. As this this shot is introduced, the score comes to a brief close. This was intestinally done to indicate to the audience of the dialogue between the characters, that would be gradually heard, as the shot progresses. Led after this shot is a two shot of two of the characters talking to each other, which is followed by a shot reverse shot of the characters replying and bouncing of each other, through the usage of close up shots and two shots. The use of the shot reverse shot being included to my short video, was to set the conversational dynamic between the characters, to offer brief insight of the characters personalities, as all characters within this point of the short film, which would have contributed towards the general conversation. The inclusion of the close up shot/two shot of the characters was also used to enforce the point of focuses of the scene being of the characters within their dialogue. Lead after this shot is the reintroduction of the score, we hear initially at the begin. The use of me reintroducing the score sound was to indicate the end of the scene, towards the audience, as the story progress onto the next scene. Which also applies with the two following establishing shots of the scenery, shown as the video continues. The score then fades out as the next scene is now introduced with the character talking about the cabin, which again indicates the introduction of dialogue and characters interactions that is to be seen. After the show establishing shot, a tracking panning shot of the character running to the cabin is shown to then a stationary close up shot of the other characters walking past is then shown. The use of the combination of the shots offers a different perspective from the character running with a panning shot to then, the stationary shot which gives the brief sense of energy, rather than using one continuous shot to show all the characters running towards the cabin. The next shot shown is a brief close up shot of the character opening the cabin door, to then a mid-shot of the character walking into the cabin, followed by the characters two friends. After this shot the next shot shown is a brief panning establishing shot. The use of this shot was to offer brief insight on the appearance of the inside of the cabin, which was done to ensure the audience felt a sense of inclusion with the story. A shot reverse shot is then shown of the characters engaging in dialogue, through close ups. The use of the choice of camera technique, allows the audience to effectively, hear and focus on what it is exactly the characters are saying. The use of the nonverbal communication used within this scene through one of the characters banging the table, could offer a brief description of the characters personality of being somewhat self centred and outgoing through the way the character inserts himself into the conversation through, a disruption, when he says ‘Did you hear about the demon in the forest’. However, we see a contrast between him and the other character as the other character quickly closes the question asked, which express a sense of maturity, shown by the characters response, as well as opposition between the two. A reaction shot is then shown of the characters reaction to the sudden burst of screaming that suddenly comes from outside of the cabin. To enforce the effect of the characters reaction to the screaming, the j cut editing technique was used to convey the effect of the screaming coming from the outside of the cabin, while the audience sees the reaction of the male characters within the cabin, anticipating the next shot of the short film. followed by the reaction shot of is the male characters reacting to the sudden screaming, a long shot/panning shot of the female characters is shown as they approach the cabin. The effect of this shot was included to the video to act as a further introduction towards the female characters as they join the other characters within the cabin. Through the screaming of the female characters as they start to make their way towards the cabin, a stereotype of teenagers being loud is enforced through the way the characters are shown making a scene while trying to make their way towards the cabin. The use of this stereotypical aspect being included within the short film was intestinally done to effectively portray the conventional characteristics that is seen with teenagers within traditional films, across different genres. Which would apply with Steve Neal’s theory of films/tv shows consisting of similarities as well as differences to effectively indicate towards the audience of the type of category of genre the film would belong to. Lead after this shot, we see all the characters now interacting with each other, to then a close up shot of one of the characters suggesting they all go to the campfire, to where they all agree. After this part of the scene, a dip to black transitioning technique is used, to indicate towards the audience of the close of a scene and the start of a new one. Which is shown also with the use of the establishing shot displayed of the scenery, with the introduction of a now new score sound, then what was previously heard. The main effect of the usage of the score, was to ensure I was able to deliver and establish mood for film's emotion, as the scores sound conveys a sense an exploratory type of toning, which I thought worked well with the type of scenery used within the establishing shot, which would be easy for the audience to recognise. After the displayed establishing shots, the inclusion of the dip to black is used at the end of the shot to introduce the next shot being the mid shot. Leading up the introduction of the mid shot the score can be heard gradually fading out, to then not being heard at all, as the score starts to be replaced by dialogue of the characters. As the scene progresses, the loud sound effects heard of thunder, right after the character chants their spell which was intestinally done to symbolise the sense of the natural order being disrupted. Straight after this shot, is a straight panning shot, of the reflection of the demon. The use of the demon's costume’ s being black, acts as the embodiment of evil as black symbolises death and mystery, which worked well with the role of the character, being a demon. The use of this shot appearing briefly after the show shot sets an enigma for the audience, about who it was they saw and how they are going to play a role towards the story. while this shot is shown, a plain deep base sound is used, for the whole duration of the shot. The use of this worked with the visual of the shot to convey the ominous tone to the audience. After this shot has passed, the tone is brought back to normal as we see the characters in the initial spot, back to the cabin. As the scene progresses, the reintroduction of the deep base score returns briefly, which was done this way to set a sense of suspense, for what is to happen. As the scene progresses the use of score sound heard within the shot of the character being possessed works with what is being shown to set an eerie tone for the viewers. For this part of the scene, I used a total of 4 shots, which I cropped and stacked on each other to create that cross cutting effect, where I then added Vr leaks transitioning technique, with the purpose of supplying energy to the scene. As we get the point of view shot of the character walking, I used a build up score sound which was used to create anticipation of what is to happen next through setting up suspense. This score sound is then followed with a loud sound, that comes right when the character turns around, to where we see the face of the demon to then pitch black. The use of this part of the scene sets up and enigma for the audience, as the scene cuts to black, leaving the audience with many questions. Followed after this shot, is the inclusion of another score sound which, was more downbeat, to express the tone of the scene, with the audience as well as the characters on screen. Through the characters facial expressions, it was clear that there was some sense of trouble they all shared and felt, therefore to express the tone of emotion felt by the characters on screen I made sure to take away the sound coming from the original video, and just let the score sound play over the clips, to ensure the audience was clear of the tone at that specific point of the short film, through the close ups of the characters, to then the gradual fade out as one of the characters breaks the silence. Which I intestinally did to indicate the start of dialogue between the characters. As the scene progress, we see the appearance of the demon character looking into the distance. The use of this shots reinforces the ominous tone felt expressed with the initial appearance of the character, leaving again the audience to question the demon's motive. While this shot is displayed, I included a paced score sound which gave the shot more energy. As the scene progresses the use of the build up score sound is used as the demon draws closer to the character. The use of this sets up suspense. After the demon kills the character, I included the cross cutting editing technique along with a heartbeat sound effect, which was done to dramatize the death of the character. With this shot, the prop of fake blood was used by the character to show the character having a nosebleed. The effect of the usage of the prop was included to capture the supernatural element the demon had towards the story.