Preliminary Video

Ok, so I have now finally finished my preliminary video. Our Brief: Man opens a door, closes a door, dialogue occurs, the end. So that's what this is:

We set it in our schools music department as this we thought would be the most suitable area and would allow us to create a partial story line. We casted a boy and a girl (Courtney & Ollie) to create a more even mix of actors and so create a more relaxed mood. If we casted two boys/girls, the scene may have been seen to be more of a bully situation (in our opinion). However, with this mix, we consider it comes across as a more friendly environment between two friends. We did 6 takes in all, two in the opening corridor and 4 in the main piano playing scene. We changed the camera position with each take so as to ensure best camera coverage of the action and make the final video more interesting with more camera angles/shots. The idea being the more material we hold, the easier it is to edit into a decent video. The end result we believe is an effective video full filling the set criteria.

Previously in the year, we had completed a similar task with maybe a little more intricacy. It is a scene from the film 'Love Actually' where Bill Nighy is being interviewed about his new song 'Come on and let it snow':

The scene went with great success for us and really helped broaden our ability to blend different shots and audio together into one product. We set it in our schools music studio for extra effect from the real film. We intended to cast two male actors for the roles, but unfortunately we were only able to get one so had to make do with a female actress for the interviewee, which actually turned out just as good.

Extended film opening ideas and thoughts.

This post serves to update current basic ideas for my 2 minute film opening and the more real life technical parts of it e.g. time set etc and methods of creating my video.

For my film opening, it's actually based in two time era's, one at present day during my main character's life and during their past both merged together. For my film opening, I intend for the establishing shot to be set during present day, about half way through the sequence of events which the whole film would then portray with flashbacks inter-twined with it of when the troubles of their life began which the rest of the film would then show. These two sequences would then continue, how the character then continues on from the establishing shot and also where they go from their first trauma scene. By the end of the film, the audience will fully understand each of the characters actions in each situation due to knowing their past and what might cause them to do what they do.

The target audience for this film would be a more mature audience, maybe 15 to 70. Basically, all ages with a comprehensive understanding of how people work and how important past experiences affect future decisions. The venue I would imagine this film being shown in would be a late night, wide scale cinema picture, not quite a blockbuster but a definite multi-viewing film.
I have completed a short target audience research which I have put into a video as shown below:

I asked my interviewee's:
1. What is your favourite film?
My interviewee's showed no definite preference towards one particular film and what type of film I should aim for, suggesting to me that audience's are open to any type of film, meaning I can have free choice.
2. Was it on DVD, at the Cinema, Streaming or on TV?
All of my interviewee's saw their favourite films on DVD, suggesting that DVD is still one of the most popular media sources, rather than the more modern streaming technique, telling me to design my video for DVD release.
3. What is your favourite genre?
Again, there seemed no clear favourite genre among my interviewee's, so suggesting to me that I can have free choice of genre.
4. What do you consider to be typically in the opening 2 minutes of a film?
The general consensus from my interviewee's is that it should be intriguing, provide some form of enigma (a clever idea which makes the audience want to watch the rest of the film) and that should provide an idea as to where the film is going to go.
5. What is your opinion on flashbacks?
Again, all my interviewee's considered flashbacks to be good, so long as they were made obvious e.g. by de-saturating the video, adding a date etc.
6. What do you think of my idea? (As described above)
They all thought it was a very good and interesting idea, all that they thought would be required in a film. For that reason, I think I will take it further into my final 2 minute coursework piece.

While I do not intend to use Stop Motion in my film opening as I do not consider it the correct genre for the media type I enjoy, I have still done some research into it. My attention has been brought in perticular to the work of Jan Svankmajer. My favourite video I found from him:

I thought that this is possibly the most impressive piece of work I have ever seen. I like the close attention to detail he uses in his animation and the way he is able to make the dolls literally come to life. However, bearing in mind the amount of work he must have inputted into just one of his videos means it would be impractical for me to do anything similar if I had any hope of reaching my desired deadline for completion of this task. I also do not like stop animation, while I find it very impressive and have a lot of admiration for, my interests lie firmly within the realm of real time video, just because I prefer that area of film, I find it more aesthetically pleasing. Hence I shall not be using Stop Motion in my final video.

Final Preps:

Now all of our preparations are finished, I am now ready to write up the final idea for my 2 minute film opening! What follows below will be what all filming will be based upon and followed to as a strong guide.

In this post, I am going to incorporate the following points:

• Detailed biography's of the characters
• Who are the actors
• Script
• Plan
• Prop List

Final 2 minute idea:
Well, our main character is a very disturbed girl, and goes by the name of Lucy Maverick (Fionna Monk). She was an ordinary girl for most of her life until one fateful day where her life changed forever. Attending a lecture at one of the most prestigious universities in England, LSE - London School of Economics, taken by Professor Hawk (Duncan Rowe) of the Universities Theory of Maths department she finds herself being drawn into a mysterious and savage world, where numbers are used to control people's lives and are made to commit some terrible acts of robbery, murder and gene side. Our two minute opening begins with that fateful lecture where her life begins to be taken over by the Evil Professor. It generally sets the scene of who our characters are, whats happening and vaguely why.

Lucy Maverick: Born and raised in Oxford, she attended Headingtons School for Girls where she developed a great passion for Maths and the uses of it in real life. With her Father gone, she has only her rather old and senile Mother as family. At the age of 13, she was walking along the streets of oxford late at night on her way home when she witnesses a murder being committed just down the road from her. She is instantly traumatized by this event and lays the groundwork for how she comes to be possessed in the film. Keeping this a secret all her life that she knew anything of this terrible tragedy. Now at the age of 19, the event still haunts her to this day, she still feels responsible for this event, that she did not rush over and help the poor victim. It is not until the end of the film does she reach a form of peace with herself. Achieving an A+ in her Maths and Physics exams at A-Level, she then decided to follow on her skills in maths by attending the London School of Economics where the film begins. We see her right from the start of her year right through to the end.

Professor Hawk: The Evil professor hell bent on recruiting as many servants for her devious scheme of mass murder of all the people he faces to lose too. For about 20 years now he has been hypnotizing his lecture students and using to do his dirty work. He has no morals from a very restricted background, of a very punishing Father and with no Mother to look after him and show him love he is a lost soul hell bent on revenge on anyone who has ever angered him by the cruelest means. Now at the age of 55, he is more dangerous than he has ever been before. It was he who organized the murder in Oxford to which Lucy was an unfortunate bystander. He is a predator of the young and disposable, using them for his own devious ends, hence the name 'Hawk'.

Script: The script is very minimal for the most part of the opening sequence. The only real dialogue spoken is by Professor Hawk during his opening Lecture:

Stage opens to a typical lecture theater. Students are dotted around the seating at irregular intervals. The overall impression is that this is not a popular subject by the lack of students attending. Our main character is seated nearer the top of the auditorium closest to the stairwell, away from the main speaker down below. She is wearing smart-casual clothes, maybe jeans and a jacket and is listening with mild interest at the speaker below. The Speaker in question is Professor J. Hawk. He is an older Gentleman. He wears a formal suit and stands to the left of the projector screen which is taking up much of the main stage holding a small remote which will later be used to control the screen. At this moment, nothing is being shown.

P.Hawk: Ok, quiet down please, quiet down. Welcome to the Theory of Numbers. I am Professor Hawk, I will be taking all of your lectures for this subject.
Numbers can be used to manipulate, intoxify and destroy a computers line of code so that the hacker may gain access to the information stored upon it. The most common examples are up on the screen now.

Professor uses the remote to activate the projector. On the projector screen flash up lists of number codes all in uniform grid pattern, distinctly separate from each other.

Continuing... P.Hawk: These are all examples of codes which can be used to take over a computers data base. They can be used to make it do anything to our will.
Now of course, I am not talking about any particular computer, the computer in question is the human mind. Using these codes, we can use them to break into anyone's subconscious, including this one...

He uses the remote to the projector. Behind him flashes up the symbol for Pi (3.14...)

Continuing... P.Hawk: (With a menacing grin). Pi.

From this point, concentration is now back on our main character as she has a nervous breakdown at seeing the symbol. In the background students may begin to murmur in surprise. Lucy after a few short moments collapses in her seat and falls out onto the stairwell, there may be a few gasps from students as she falls.

End of Scene.


Character choices: 
Fionna Monk (Lucy Maverick): I chose Fionna to play the lead role, not only cause she herself is Asian in origin appealing to the audiences stereotype that all Asian students are some of the cleverest in our Universities, but also cause she herself is quite experienced in acting and came highly recommended to me to play the part. She also fills the ideal criteria for the role. Shes short, Asian but with a strong sense of assertiveness and is very confident in playing her role.

Duncan Rowe (Professor John Hawk): I chose Duncan to be the Evil Professor cause he too has experience in drama and performing, but also he can bring across a real sense of forbidding about him, making the audience immediately feel completely anti his character. His features create a feeling of presence and power and make him ideal for the role.

Prop List: I require very few props in my video, however the few I do are listed below:

• Mobile hand-held audio capture device
• Projector remote
• Projector screen + projector
• Podium
• Maths booklet
• School bag
• Headphones + audio player

Plan: I'm splitting the different sections of the filming processes into weeks, one particular task per week:

Week 1: Organize casting; Find date where both actors can be on one set, book venue for filming, organize extras to act as other students, collect together necessary props.

Week 2: Brief both my main actors on their roles and assign scripts to both of them to learn. Create other material which I would need in the video e.g. power point with numerals on

Week 3: Film the entire of the lecture scene and load into editing software. Film entire of other scenes and also load into editing software

Week 4 & 5: Edit video together, adding in desired audio effects+music.

Week 6: Finalize video and finish.

Use of Film Techniques

In this post, we are looking at various different techniques used in film to help tell the story of the film. These include: Use of Narration, Use of Sound, Camera Angles and Editing styles.

Narration: Narration is used typically to add either a  particular characters perception of the film, or to add an outsider's view of the events and portray to the audience the deeper levels of what the characters are thinking/what they've done while we haven't been watching. They can be set at any time during the film e.g. they may be spoken as if the film events have already happened and gives the audience an idea of where the film is going. Equally, narration can be set at the same time as the film and simply helps tell the story as the film goes on. Basically, it voices the events of the film in more depth than what we as the audience can see or hear from only watching the film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1MoVHrxRIA

Through the opening sequence of American Beauty, the main character (Lester Burnham) tells us through narration, the key facts about him and his family that we as the audience need to know. We learn how he is a run down, very low adult man. He has a wife and child, both of them despise him, and how he has ambitions to change this. His narration is set from his future e.g. he is telling the audience about his past as we watch it.

Another, slightly different use of Narration which is used in films can be found in the film "Big Fish". Narration does not necessarily have to occur only at the beginning of the film. Through out the film, narration is used to tell Edward's story's as we watch them.

The narration of these stories also creates a happier feeling to the film and makes it more of a familiar sensation to the audience, how they had parents/relatives telling them story's of their lives similarly to how Edward is telling his story's to his child.

Sound: Sound I feel is the second most important key element in a film, second only to the actual video. If you ever watch a film without sound, the film itself becomes very difficult to understand/follow/keep interest in. There's two types of film sound, there's diegetic and non-diegetic sound, the difference being diegetic sound is the sound within the film that the characters can hear e.g. the sound of a passing car. Non-diegetic is all the sound which the characters cannot hear e.g. background music. Background music is particularly important. The music can express the feelings/mood of the scene far better than the dialogue/facial expressions of the characters. A film without background music makes the film feel strangely empty. It makes it seem bland and uninteresting. There are awkward silences in the sound when you would expect noise. Its what turns an amateur video to a professional masterpiece. Anyone can film a decent sequence of shots on a given location for a set film plot, but its much harder to get the sound just right to compliment those video shots and to make them work together, with the diegetic sound still coming through clear enough to be audible.

An example of how this perfect blend of sound can be seen in almost every film/TV drama. My favourite is from the film Chariots of Fire.

When Britain has just won the race, the sound is perfectly balanced to capture not only the sound of the cheering crowd, but also the footfalls of the runners and the dialogue from the members of the audience. Then this balance is also continued when the narration of the winning runner comes on over the top. Then the main theme music comes on which takes over the main body of sound, but still the sounds of the crowd and commentators continue in the background, adding to create a much more realistic scene and keeping the audience's attention on the film and not creating awkward silences. This all adds up to create the desired feeling of happiness in the audience that Britain has won the Paris Olympics.

Sound can also be used to break the 4th wall. This is the divide between audience and characters. The 4th wall creates a separation from film and audience and keeps the audience separate from the action. When this wall is broken, it means the characters in the film/media being shown have acknowledged the audience watching the film, like what you would find in a pantomime where the characters are constantly aware of the audience watching them. My favourite comes from the TV comedy show "Two and a half men" in the following clip:

At the end of this clip, Alan looks directly into the camera and says "or can we?(!)". This implies he is talking directly to the audience of the show asking if they could indeed vote on who's dinner was the worst. This includes the audience in the action and makes for amusing watching when we are shown that non of this is real (which of course we realized from the beginning, but is amusing how we are reminded about it).

Camera Angles: "The function of camera movement is to assist the story telling. That's all it is. It cannot be there just to demonstrate itself"-Mike Figgis. The use of camera angles is key to showing the viewer what they are required to see, how they are supposed to see (e.g. from who's perspective) and from where. There are a variety of different camera angles which can be used to change the viewers view point of a situation. They allow the producers to control what the audience sees, how much of it they see and for how long. This can all add to create different emotions/feelings in a particular scene. This video I found illustrates this very well (excuse the music). It visually shows different types of camera angles/shots and what their general use is.

Editing Styles: Editing styles are how two different shots merge together in a film. There are different types of 'cuts' for different scenarios. This video I think illustrates this point very well (again, apologies for the music).

These are the most common cuts within a video and are very few other's worth mentioning which are used.

Film opening analysis

Again, been asked to analyze some examples of film openings I have watched, so here I go:

First example: Inside Man

I believe the opening sequence to this film is perfect example for expressing what almost every film opening does except in a much more obvious manner. It tells you who the main character is (Dolton Russell), where they are ("Could be readily described as a prison cell"), roughly when they are (We can tell this from the modern day shelving and building materials) and also a rough idea of what's going to happen in the film ("Which only leaves us with the how, and therein, lies the rob"). It is a perfect film opening giving the audience all the information they require to understand the rest of the film in a much more unconventionally open manner but also not too much so they still want to watch the rest, which I find to be quite refreshing. Maybe why I like the film so much. Either way, this film is a perfect example as to what information I want my 2 minute film opening to contain.

Second example: The Graduate

In complete contrast to this, the film "The Graduate" is verbally mute, e.g. has no spoken dialogue from the character being portrayed. Instead, the verbal communication we see/hear in Inside man is now shown through visual aids. Such as the fact the graduate (Dustin Hoffman) is shown wearing a formal suit, suggesting to us that he's going to/coming from a prestigious event. In the very first shot of Dustin on the plane, we see him on a white background, perhaps suggesting innocence, or cleanliness against the rest of the world, which as we know by the end of the film he is anything but. Another amusing hint towards the rest of the film shown within the first 2 minutes of the film is when he is in baggage reclaim. As his bag passes through the metal barrier, a sign is shown saying "Do they Match?" perhaps suggesting that this film is a love story between two people which we may think do not belong together. The use of Simon & Garfunkel's 'Sound of silence' is also an interesting choice of music for the first few minutes of this film. It perhaps sets up the film so that there may be some mis-communication between the characters, that perhaps there are some secrets being held that are being held "In the Sound of Silence".

Initial Film opening ideas

Currently, I have had several ideas for what I wish to do for my 2 minute film opening however only a few have really shone through as possible go a heads. For the purposes of this post, I'll only write them up in brief of the plot of these ideas as they are only at this point in time, rough ideas:

Idea 1: This is the most sinister idea I have. We see a guy burning documents in a darkened room. Obviously night time. Once guy has burnt all his documents, another man comes in asking where the documents are. The first man responds saying he has destroyed them. At which point, the second man shots the first in the head and leaves him there lying on the floor.

Idea 2: Perhaps one of the happier(ish) ideas I've come up with is more of a love story base opening. We have a scene of girl and boy standing opposite each other, separated by something, be it a station etc. Then a train passes and after its passed the girls disappeared and the guys narration comes over explaining who she is, who he is and a rough idea of where the film is going to go.

Idea 3: a slight change to idea 2. Instead of the guy narrating, the camera cuts back and forth between him and the girl and how they keep encountering and a psychiatrists office where he's talking like that. In this version we are told the girl is the guys dead wife from 3 years ago.

Idea 4: A blend on both the film "The Graduate" and "Inside man", where we see a girl traveling to an unknown destination, maybe on a bus or train, while a voice over tells us who she is, where she is going and gives us a rough idea of whats about to happen (as this voice over will be made to sound like shes talking from the future after these events).

Well, this is the first part of my planning and I've been asked to answer a few questions, which are as follows:

What is a film opening?
A film opening is the primary/establishing shot of a film, the section which sets the scene for the viewer. It tells the viewer where they are, when they are and who they're with. It basically sets it all up for the rest of the film.

How much is revealed about the storyline/characters etc. in the film opening?
Generally in a film opening, we learn who our main characters, where and when the film is set and also from who's perspective we are seeing the film from, be it our own or a particular character's. In terms of how much we learn about the characters themselves, we learn very little. Yes we learn who they are, maybe their name and where they're from etc. but in general we do not how they have come to be where they are, what their past experiences are or what they are planning to do/how they're going to do it as that's where the film gets it plot. This is also true for the storyline, we only know from the film opening where its set, who's involved with it and a rough idea of when it is. For what's going to happen, we generally know very little. This is because the whole point of the film opening is to draw in the viewers attention and keep them interested as to what's going to happen so as to keep watching the rest of the film.
In general then, we only learn the bare essentials about a film in its opening, only because if we knew more than that, we'd get bored and so wouldn't want to see the rest of the film.

Genre-what types are there?
There are over 20 popular genres in the film industry, examples include:
Action, Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Erotica, Faction (A fuse of factual events and fictional representation of these events), Fantasy, Historical, Horror, Mystery, Paranoid, Philosophical, Political, Romance, Saga, Satire, Science Fiction, Slice of life (A section of a persons life, can be ordinary with no plot at all, just stands to present part of somebody's life), Speculative (A type of fantasy where worlds indifferent from our own are portrayed and how they may run, like a parallel universe), Thriller & Urban. Then of course you have your spin-off's and fusions of these genres to create sub-genres such as Rom-Coms, Horror-Mystery etc.

Recently been asked to analyze the German film "Run Lola Run". Specifically "Why there are subtle changes in the beginnings of each of the three runs?" and "Is the film Run Lola Run a Love Story?".

Below is the video I composed featuring selections of the film with mine and a friend's voice dubbed on top to explain each scene. I've also attached the link to the original film for anyone who does not know the film.

Original Run Lola Run film:

To create the video, I downloaded the original from youtube and edited it on my own software to get the bits of the video I needed. I then compiled a script which myself and my friend would read. I then set up a dynamic microphone to record the voice, stuck the resulting audio file on top of the muted video and presto we have the product we see here. Creation time, about 2 days.

Vladimir Propp

Today we're studying the different types of characters portraid in a film, and how these characters can be significant in building a film by means of their appearance. Below are the different types of characters normally portraid in a film. In every story (or most storys), we have 6 types of characters. Let me run past you8 what they are:

Protagonsits: These people are the heros of the story, the lead narrative whos the one who carrys out whatever quest has been set for them

Antagonst: These are the villans of our story. They try to prevent the Protagonist from completeing his or her quest

Heroine: This is the prize of the protaginists quest. Usually a woman, this is the damsal in distress of the story

Father: This character is the person who supplys the support and guidance to the Protagonist and often offers the reward (The Heroine).

Helper: The aid to the Protagonist. Easiest example of this is Donkey in the film Shrek. They help the protagonist complete their quest.

Donor: These characters give the protagonists something, be it physical or moral/intellectual guidance, to help them complete the final bit of their quest.

Following on from this, we were then asked to write up our own synopsis of a film, mentioning all these types of characters based upon the features of a single picture. I chose this picture (above) to write up my synopsis of a film. Looking at this, it looks like a typical hard-core action film, where the baddy interrogates the goody. The scene here I associate with this idea of thinking and so built up a possible film synopsis for how this scene could eventually be incorporated into it:

The mans name is John Brice. He's 67, divorced with two grown up daughters and just retired from working at the C.I.A. He knows every secret America holds and would be a serious security threat if he talked. Hence why now he's retired from the C.I.A, the C.I.A are trying to retire him. He will have to break every rule he has every abided by to save not only his own life, but also his closet family.

Protagonist: John Brice
Antagonist: Bruce Fawkes (C.I.A Operative)
Heroine: John's Daughters
Father: John Brice
Helper: N/A
Donor: Lewis Day (Old comrade)

Ok, so for today's Media Lesson, we were studying the mark scheme which would be used on our 2 minute film openings and using them to mark previous pieces of work from previous years.
We watched 6 film openings in total. We each gave our marks out of 60 for each piece of work, having examined the piece of work, marking out their strong points and areas to be improved.

Having watched these example works, I have noticed a few techniques and ideas I wish to include in my own work, and also errors that I wish to avoid copying.

To begin with, the techniques I wish to copy:

• The use of smooth panning shot
• Create a story plot which is not too clique, but also engages the viewer and sets up the film to continue
• Use correct lighting for the scene
• Use of appropriate Non-Diagetic sounds/music

Errors I've noticed I wish not to copy:

• Lips out of sync with dialogue
• Incorrect use of Dollies, creating "shaky" shots
• Props, Lighting or setting is incorrect/has inconsistencies.
• Titles on screen incorrectly placed/spelled/font used
• Ensure camera quality is set up correctly
• Final product does not give the impression of a tailor.

Before this exercise, I did not have many ideas for what my 2 minute film beginning would be. Following this however, I now have a vague idea of what I wish to do. I envisage a clock hanging on the wall. The camera pans down to see a almost bedroom scene. It is night, the walls are flickering with light suggesting a fire is burning in the room. Looking round the room, we come to see a man hurriedly burning documents. Stacks of papers surround him. We cut to read one pile before he grabs them too and throws them onto the fire. He is dressed for winter wear, think black coat, cloves etc. His features flicker in the fire light. We hear footsteps outside of someone coming to the door. The man looks round to the door in the corner of the room in surprise, his face blacked out. We hear 4 loud knocks on the door, each one the man reacts to with a jump. He eventually stands up. From the floor, we seem him walk towards, and open the door, where by we do not see who it is who has knocked. Rather, the man stands there in shock looking out at the visitor before (from this point I am undecided but this is my most preferable ending) the picture blacks out and there are a few moments of dialogue from the man before we hear a gun shot (or similar) and the film ends. This I imagine would set the rest of the film up to continue to explain either how this man came to be in this predicament, and why he had to die and who murdered him.

The main strength carried through each example is the casting. Each character seemed to fit their role in the camera. It was either their voice, age, height or gender which suited them for the role. Another is the setting. Each example seemed to be choreographed for a specific location, making it suited to that environment. A particular example of this which I particularly enjoyed, was the video dubbed "The Promise" (Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbBuIIooWgc ). It made good use of the lighting, the setting and the casting of the characters e.g. the way they looked, dressed etc.

A main weakness which showed up in many of the videos was poor or incomplete editing. Where lips where not in sync with dialogue which had been placed over the top of the video. Continuity errors,  where a person or object suddenly jumps from one space to another either between transitions or through cutting of material.

The 5 most important pieces of "Technical skills" I consider to be are:

• Good camera work e.g. quality, zoom, direction etc. As the camera is how the story will be captured and so must therefore be set up correctly for the best emphasis
• Correct setting and Mise-En-Scene, without it, the story seems misplaced or dull. It is not received its full potential.
• Correct recording of sound/capturing of sound e.g. dialogue, music etc. These help communicate the story being told and tells the viewer the mood of the scene and are vital to keeping the viewer interested.
• Editing must be continuous without stopping/breaking fluency. This can break the viewers concentration and bring them out of the film. Editing must be completed successfully without breaking the viewers connection with the video
• Special effects/titles must be correctly used. I myself am uncertain about Special effects as nothing beats the real thing. However, if they are used, they must be correctly placed, look realistic to maintain viewers belief in the film and be of relevance to the scene e.g. a random explosion occurring without plausible cause is not suitable.

Mise-En-Scene analysis

I've been asked to analyze the Mis-En-Scene of an image from Google. For those of you who don't know, Mise-En-Scene is everything in a single camera shot, thats the costumes the characters are wearing, the lighting, the set, props, framing (positioning of items), facial expressions and body language within a single image.

This is the image I have chose to analyze for Mise-En-Scene.

-Lighting: In this image, the girl in the foreground's face is highly lit with light to clearly show her facial expressions so that the audience may easily see what emotions are going through the characters mind, helping the Audience understand the scene. In the background, we see a blurred out image of a figure standing behind her. They too are clearly lit to make them obvious to the people watching. The fact the figure is blurred out makes it seem a sinister scene in that they appear out of focus and mysterious typically linked with danger, the unknown.  Also, notice how only the characters are lit whilst the rest of the set is darkened. This suggests the director wants our attention as the audience to be focused on the characters in the scene rather than anything else.

-Set: Judging by the archways in the background and the double lighting on the walls, we could safely assume this is set in a fairly old house/setting where those details are most commonly associated. To support this, the rug that the mysterious figure is standing on seems to me like a rather old rug with "old style" patterns. We also notice that the rug is lying on a stone flooring, also commonly associated with "older" style houses. However, we do not believe the scene to be set in the time era the house/set is suggesting that this is taking place. The lights themselves are electric and are casting a continuous stream of light and also how the whole set seems very sterile and clean.

-Props: The whole set seems to suggest wealth with the owner. The previously mentioned rug looks from the vague image we receive of it to be of very higher class status, in that it looks very expensive and precious. Also, looking to the right of the characters, we see what could possibly be a piano? This too looks very well kept and again very grand and expensive.

-Costumes: The girl in the foreground of the still is dressed very simply in a patterned shirt. The shirt looks very modern, made from modern materials setting the setting of the scene to be in a more modern time. The shirt also looks rather to big for the girl wearing it by the way the opening is rather large and how the collar is very large in comparison with the girl. This may be a suggestion that what the girl is taking on here is larger than she is. Considering the mysterious, ominous figure standing behind her, I would think this would be a fair assumption. The figure is wearing all black with a Halloween mask to cover their face. This is a typically scary image for a person to take on as they are refusing the person observing them to identify them and so make themselves look and feel scary and forbidding to the audience, so the audience is immediately against this character.

-Framing: The overall effect of the positioning of the characters gives the audience an idea of importance between the two characters. The girl in the foreground is very much in focus to us, taking up much of the screen and standing just right of center, making her the main character in the scene. This also creates a suggestion that the girl is about to have something happen to her. With the figure standing behind her looking typically like they are ready to murder/harm someone, standing in the background, out of sight, mysterious and out of focus this seems a likely prediction for whoever is watching this.

-Facial expressions and body language: If we begin with the girl, her facial features and the expression they're striking gives us the impressions of concern and fear so she is obviously aware of the figure standing behind her. We see this is the partially open mouth, wider eyes and raised eyebrows. Her facial expression is what gives us an idea that something bad is about to happen, with the main character being scared then we too as the audience should also be scared. Her body language, with her arms held close to her sides, standing up straight and with shoulders raised suggests a certain amount of self awareness, that she is aware that she is in the open and may be needed to defend herself so she is trying to make herself look more impressive. This is how we as the audience see that she seems nervous/scared.
For the figure we cannot analyze their facial expression for the mask they're wearing. However, their body language, with hands held together, legs apart and standing taller makes them seem as if they're waiting or are prepared for some form of reaction from the girl. The way their legs are spread makes them seem to have a need to be more steady, suggesting a possible fight about to break out between the two. Their hand being held together, whilst giving the impression that they are waiting, could also suggest they could be conducting a conversation. This gesture is typical for this action. Also, how they are standing taller than the girl suggests they have greater power over her and so wishes to use this advantage and make it obvious.

Media Studies begins

And so begins my blog of Media Studies 2013 at Wymondham High Sixth Form. 9 months of film production, post production and film studying... should be great! Will post results of class work and films/videos created within lesson time, and out. Hope you all enjoy it! I hope I will too.