December feedback

You have filmed a short section of your film but have not put together a significant edit as yet. 

You also need to document the creative process and show planning on the web-log.

Use the foundation portfolio booklet as a guide to help you publish all the pre-production documentation.

If you need help and guidance with the filming please ask and  I can help you with it.

Your initial enthusiasm has waned and you need to film and edit in the next week to achieve the Christmas deadline.

Representation

Representation

Representation refers to how the characters are represented within their roles in a film. For example, considering the aspect of gender, a femme fatale would be represented as a mysterious, cunning and controlling character whilst pretending to be innocent, sensitive, classy woman. By acting in such a way men would be attracted to the femme fatale as she seems to be rather sweet and beautiful when in fact she is playing them to either gain power, money or to get away with her actions. A femme fatale are popular in film noirs due to the unexpected twist of the woman being a villain as men used to be seen as more powerful, controlling and dominant whereas it's actually the woman/femme fatale that has the most power, control and is more dominant because she has men wrapped around her finger, doing whatever pleases her. By putting on an identity she manages to win the men over which helps in favor of her acts if she has committed a crime, for example, murder. If detectives in film noirs fall for her, that is exactly what she wants/has planned so they think she would never commit such a bad/vile crime. A metaphor can be expressed, the woman being a spider creating her web and the detective being the fly, which shows her plans to real them in to win them over. Also The Black Widow spider could be used to represent the femme fatale as they tend to real them in to get what they want and then kill them off, acting like the Black Widow spider would when hunting prey. This shows how selfish and self centered femme fatale's are, willing to whatever possible to get what they seek/want. Women would be seductive to men which would of lead them into her trap, focusing on beauty and what men want.  

The femme fatale usually dresses rather classy so people would think she is of a higher class than she may actually be and can be trusted. Men would be attracted to such a women, if she dresses and acts in this way, men will be charmed by her beautiful, intelligent and sweet personality but of course it's all an act. 

During the 1940's women were thought to be not as well off as men, were just here to please men and were seen as sweet and innocent, this is completely the wrong judgement and such films proves this. Women can be just as dominant and controlling as men, gender does not interpret peoples personality. As men thought women were all like this they wouldn't of even considered a woman being able to commit such terrible crimes and wouldn't think they were capable of being so sneaky and cunning. 

November feedback

You are working at level two for research and planning 

Your script shows an awareness of codes and conventions of the genre and character types.   You would need to suggest how you aim to subvert these representations.

I understand that you are keen to make a film in the horror genre.  For this you need to take responsibility and show initiative.  Produce a script and storyboard showing an awareness of codes and conventions.

To reach 3 level you must;

Script

Storyboard

Pitch a strong idea

 Targets for November

Film

Edit

Consider sound and titles to add meaning and atmosphere

Manage your time effectively

Film Noir script.

The Big Apple

Establishing shot of New York City. Voice over is used. "I've seen everything you could have possibly imagined but today was definitely the worst case I have ever worked on."

INTERIOR. DETECTIVE HARPER'S OFFICE - EVENING

On Video: Detective Harper is sitting at his desk, drinking whiskey and smoking a pipe. 

Close up of phone ringing.
Detective has one more puff of his pipe and then places it down on his desk.
Wide shot showing the majority of the room in which detective Harper picks up the phone.
Mid shot of Detective Harper on the phone.

Victoria (Female character - villain) :- "Detective, my name is Victoria, I need your help!" (Sobs)

Detective Harper:- "Hello darling, I'm detective Harper, whatever's wrong?"

V:- "My husband's, my, my husband's had an accident..." (Sobbing still)

DH:- "Why don't you tell me what happened, honey?"

V:- "I'm not sure what happened detective... (sob) I walked in and he, he, was just lying there motionless on the floor" (Sobbing)

DH:- "Don't worry sweetheart, I'll get to the bottom of this."

Close up of whisky in the detectives hand.
Detective sips whisky.

V:- "Why thank you detective!" (Sobs)

DH:- "Anything for you my dear, you have a nice day now."

V:- "And you detective."

Wide shot showing the majority of the room.
Detective Harper hangs up, drinks the remainder of his whiskey and places the empty glass on the desk. Detective Harper then leaves the room.
Mid shot to long shot when the detective gets up to leave the office. Pan when the detective walks out of the office.

Over shoulder shot of the detective walking out of the building.



Exterior - Outside of the work building.

Detective stands under a lamp post just outside of the building. Single light used, the street lamp.
Detective is waiting outside waiting for his partner Detective Armstrong to discuss the case.

Detective Armstrong walks up to Detective Harper and is also wearing a suite and a hat but is also carrying a briefcase. Detective Harper smokes is pipe and then greets Detective Armstrong.

Close up of him smoking the pipe. Over the shoulder shot is used when Detective Armstrong is walking towards Detective Harper.

DH:- "Pipe?" (Harper offers Armstrong the pipe)

DA:- "No thank you, what's this case you were on about then."

DH:- "Her name is Victoria, she called about her husband... She got home and he was just lying there. She's a sweetheart, rather beautiful too. She had a sweet English accent, in which was soft to the touch. She was very upset, very dramatic too but I calmed her down."

DA:- "If you ask me it all sounds a little suspicious as you say she was being very dramatic."

DH:- "She's a darling, she clearly has nothing to do with this."

DA:- "I'd still look into her alibi, she's not to be trusted."

DH:- "I know what I'm doing detective, she's innocent and does not need the added stress of a detective questioning her about her alibi when she has nothing to do with her husbands death."

DA:- "Just keep your eye on her."

DH:- "Oh I will, don't you worry. I must be off now, have a good evening detective."

DA:- "Keep me informed."

Shot reverse shots used during the conversation.

Both detectives walk off in different directions.

Wide shot/establishing shot used to show both detectives walking different ways/on different streets

Feedback on progerss

Analysis of the codes and conventions of film noir is thin and needs detail. Use images to support points made.

Analysis of opening sequences shows promise and demonstrates an understanding of the task.

I need you to apply yourself fully to ensure that you cover tasks thoroughly in order to achieve your obvious potential.

Film Noir

Film Noir

Film Noir's contain many codes and conventions such as;

-Lighting

-Sound

-Characteristics

-Narrative

-Mise-en-scene,which is everything used within the film. E.g. Props, locations, costume etc...

-Language

-Use of language 

-Iconography, which is aspects of films that make the film/the genre. 

Film Noir's usually contain one light source as company's who made Film Noir's didn't have enough money to purchase more advanced technology and only had a certain amount of equipment. Due to this they would of used a single street light, a single spotlight or no added light at all. Also due to the lack of lighting this meant there were a lot of shadows within the films. The lack of lighting did cause problems as some scenes were very dark meaning you can't see things within the scene very good which wouldn't make the audience very satisfied. 

Prop wise a male usually smokes cigarettes or a pipe and usually pours themselves a glass of Alcohol/Whiskey. Detectives within Film Noir's tend to carry an identification badge to show other detectives to prove who they are. 

A detective usually wears (costume) a suite and a hat and tends to carry a police badge and a gun with them. A man wearing a suite usually gives us the impression of them being of the hierarchy. A women in these kind of films usually wear a sophisticated dress with a typical pearl necklace and wear makeup to make them more attractive and feminine.

The analysis of the language the men usually use within these old Film Noir's is rather patronizing towards women. For example, 'darling' , 'sweetheart', and 'good girl' all of these quotes are what the detective says to the main female role within the film to patronize her as it is like he thinks he is more superior than her because she is a female. The fact he calls her a girl instead of a woman is almost annoying in a sense as he doesn't see her as a grown, mature female which is in a sense a little sexist. It's almost like he is describing her as childish and soft as he doesn't say women when really she is the complete opposite and is in fact the villain, as the main women character within a film noir turns out to be the villain/killer. Females were seen as unequal and less valued/important than men so the men in these films are seen as big headed and rather rude in our perspective due to attitudes towards women nowadays, they are seen as equal to men and are valued the same. 

Whilst on the subject of women, the women in these films act innocent and a little seductive towards the men to get away with their crimes they have committed and to seem like they are the victim within the situation, where as really she is the villain. For example she is like a spider building her web (building her relationship with the detective) and creating her trap to catch the fly (the detective).

 

Composition (sound tracks) is usually used to create tension as the plot builds up to keep the audience engaged and to create an effect. For example, they may put a sound track over as action is taking place to make it more tense for the audience. 

Friday 26th Septemeber

Blue Velvet opening scene

Blue Velvet is about a man who lives in a town called 'Lumberton' which is a typical American town. Or is it? The city/town is a nice, quite, peaceful town in which nothing bad happens until a young man finds a human ear by a shed in a near by field. He takes it to a detective who confirms it is indeed a human ear and gets a team together to go and search the area. The film is based on finding the man who found the ear deciding to solve the case and hunt down the murderer even though he has no experience at all. 

At the start of the opening scene we are shown slow motion shots of some flowers, red roses which could represent love and warmth and yellow tulips which portrays the idea of happiness. In the flower shots it also shows the lovely clear blue sunny sky which just makes the town look nice, peaceful and safe. We are then show a slow motion shot of a fireman standing on the edge of a step on a typical, red, old fashioned firetruck waving to members of the town. This portrays the idea of safety again and makes you think that nothing bad really happens in this town. Again another sign of safety is shown as we see a lollypop lady guiding children across the road. This is all very ironic due to the fact that someone has been murdered and someone has only just found an ear to someone who must have gone missing yet no one seemed to have noticed. This town is supposed to be safe, so people think but clearly it is not.

Not long after we see an old man have an accident as he drops to the floor due to something wrong with his neck, it seemed he had health issues. We have just been shown calming, wonderful, peaceful shots of nature and safe scenes and now we are seeing a man pass out in the garden whilst watering plants... This shows danger but nothing was suspicious about it as the man had health issues and doesn't actually die as in the film he is shown at the hospital recovering. There was nothing suspicous about the elder mans death which still doesn't make us think this town has a dark side to it. Pathetic fallacy is used as it is lovely and sunny but then the man has an attack, this could of been used to engage the audience. On the other hand it still shows that there could be something darker about the town and we just haven't seen it yet. After the man drops to the floor graphics are used to show the camera zooming into the ground which leaves us looking at a swarm of cockroaches crawling all over eachother. All we can hear is the sound of the cockroaches crawling and rumbling noises, this has been used to minipulate the audience and to also show that there IS a darker side of the town as beatles are often seen as 'creepy crawlys' and horrible. 

Media extract, 'Seven'.

Tuesday 23rd September

Georgia Turner

               Media extract - Opening scene to 'Se7en' (Seven)

Genre:- Drama | Mystery | Thriller |

Seven is about two detectives solving murders to hunt down a serial killer who uses the 'seven deadly sins' for representation. 

Just by reading the title 'Se7en (Seven)' we can pick out the number 'seven' (7) which gives us a clue about the seven deadly sins. Looking for a deeper meaning, the seven portrays the idea of there being 7 deaths/murders in total, representing each sin. The seven deadly sins are; Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed and Sloth. 

At the start of the opening scene we see the main detective 'Somerset' who is played by Morgan Freeman. Somerset is getting ready for work, putting a suite on and getting his belongings. Somerset is wearing a black suite which could represent death and a sense of mystery due to the suite being a dark, dull colour. This is slightly ironic due to the fact the film is about solving murders and is in the genre category 'Mystery'.  When Somerset gets his belongings for work he picks up a badge and a gun, everything we have seen portrays the character of a detective due to the suite, the badge, and the gun. He also lives alone which could show that due to his job he may not be able to trust people and may not want to let people in. Somerset then walks into the scene of the crime and the first question he asks is, "Did the kids see it?" This shows that Somerset doesn't just care about hunting down the murder but is concerned for others safety and is caring towards others it has affected.

A short while after the opening scene the two main detectives walk out of the building and it is raining. Pathetic fallacy is used to create a link between the vibe as there has been a murder, as rain leaves a sad, depressing mood which links to the main event. The city in which the film is set is supposedly drenched in sin, therefore the rain could be a metaphor for the city being drenched in sin. Somerset is wearing a hat and has his hands covered under his coat which could portray an idea of him not being soaked in sin while the other main detective Mill who is played by Robert Pattinson is getting drenched in sin. This tells us a lot about what type of people they are, for example, we can already make out that Somerset is a nice man who cares about others and we don't know a lot about Mill as he seems to be a mysterious sort of character.

The opening scene finishes when Somerset goes to bed after a day of working on the murder scene. We can pick out a variety of things from this scene such as, Somerset has put his clock on and we can hear it ticking constantly. Somerset may have done this to relax and ease his mind to escape from reality as we can hear shouting and car alarms in the background (diagetic sound) coming from the city.

At the end of the extract it shows us the titles which includes some amazing graphics and images which could portray some ideas linked with the murder himself/herself. During the titles it gives us visual clues such as, picture of the victims of the serial killer, pieces of hair maybe off the victim etc. It also shows us someone using a blade to cut the skin off their fingers, this portrays an idea of maybe the murder doing this in an attempt to cover up his actions as he will be able to get rid of his fingerprint he had during the murder of the victims. We then see some files which seem to be about the deaths of the victims with photos and information, this could of been a way for the murder to log/record each murder and how he did it which would also explain the other clues given during the titles too.

Feedback 1 - Miss Spencer

I can see you have worked hard on this Georgia,although it is not the opening sequence it is a clip used by OCR in an exam on textual analysis and therefore relevant. You are creating an opening and you need to investigate what elements are often found in each genre.

. I can see from this analysis that you have discussed the correct elements, uploaded relevent screen shots etc, so as long as you apply this to the correct part of the text you are on the right track.

Can you follow the instructions below to successfully analyse an opening.

•  Think about the questions below, ensure you are addressing all of them.
•  Embed JPEG images throughout you analysis (stills from the film) and a video of the opening sequence in order to illustrate your analysis.

  Study the opening sequences of any film from the Thriller, Horror, and Romantic comedy genre. E.g. Seven, The Dark Knight Rises, Halloween, Notting Hill, Love Actually etc. Analyse how the sequence has been constructed through its use of: Camera angles, shots, movement, Editing, Sound, Special effects and Mise-en-scene etc.

· In terms of editing how have the separate images been put together - Think in terms of frequency of cuts, fades in/out, jump cuts, dissolves etc.

• What visual images appear on screen throughout the sequence? And what do they mean?
• · Describe what narrative (story) is being displayed in the sequence from start to finish.
• · Describe what kind of music; diegetic/non-diegetic/incidental/ambient etc. is being played over the sequence.
• · How and what titles are being displayed during the sequence and in what order.
• · What kind of characterisation is evident? - Age, gender, relationships etc. 

Media extract, Spiderman.

Thursday 18th September

Georgia Turner

      Media extract

                 Spiderman

Spiderman

There are multiple Spiderman movies, there are also, comics which were created by the ‘Marvel Comics Studio’, and games too which are very popular, when they were released the company made an even bigger income than the film did. Spiderman was originally aimed at young children but due to some of the scenes containing violence meant the age limit had to be PG13. This caused some problems with the age range they were aiming for but the Spiderman movies became popular and had a large audience. To overcome the problem of the age rating they had it pushed down to 12 enabling children age 12 to see the movie, unless they had a parent with them. Spiderman is about a teenager who gets bitten by a spider at a sector within a science laboratory where his father used to work specifically on the type of spider that Peter was bitten by. Being bit by the spider caused Peter to gain the genetics on the spider. E.g. Spider webs, speed, etc… Peter decides to use his ‘gift’ to help with criminals/problems that arise within New York city.

In this extract many different types of camera shots and sounds have been used to create the scene from the extract. We first see an establishing shot of New York city where the scene takes place. This is done to set the scene. During the start of the Spiderman extract we see Peter Parker walking down a street in New York City, in which we can hear sirens which automatically tells us that something bad has happened and that Peter Parker is near the action that is taking place.

We see a crowd of people pushing and shoving one another which also indicates that something bad is happening at the scene but it also indicates that someone is in the centre of the crowed and may be injured/dead. Peter Parker pushes through the crowd to see his uncle lying on the floor with blood on the pavement and a bullet wound in his chest. Peter is looking down at his uncle who has just been shot by a thug. A reverse shot is used, this is when you switch the camera from each character. E.g. Peter Parker, Uncle, Peter Parker. The close up of Peter has been used to show Peter Parker's reaction to his uncle's death and to show the emotion within him.

A close up of Peter Parker’s and Uncle Ben's holding hands is used to show his uncle is slipping away. When Uncle Ben dies his hand falls and is no longer holding Peters. This makes the audience feel sympathetic for Peter and keeps the audience engaged. We then know that Ben has passed away even before we see a shot of him actually dead.

After we see Peter grieving next to his dead uncle, Peter then rises and tension is created as non-diegetic sound is used, the Spiderman theme tune plays which is tense music usually used to build up to an action scene, so we know from the tension within the theme tune that Peter is going to react to the situation. Peter then starts to chase the criminal who shot his uncle. Peter is on top of a very large/tall building observing what is occurring below him. A point of view shot is used whilst he is looking down at the scene to show that Peter lives on the edge of danger and shows he has little fear. This shot also exaggerates how high up Peter is so adds a sense of fear and tension towards the audience.

We then see Peter Parker swinging from building to building following the car in which the criminal is in. This could represent the Spiderman game made where Peter swings through New York City which would promote their game. When he is swinging through the city point of view shots are used to make it feel like we are in his shoes and get to see what he sees. Amazing graphics are used showing this part of the scene as we see Spiderman in his true element and what is different about him (his webs allowing him to swing).

A low angle shot is then used showing a car collision. A car loses control and crashes into a post and items on the pavement. Although the collision doesn't seem severe, because a low angle shot is used it exaggerates how bad the accident really was and makes it look a lot worse than it actually is. This is because we are looking up at the car crashing into the post and items on the side walk, so as we are looking up the scene/crash everything in the shot looks bigger. This has been used to grab the audience’s attention and to get a reaction from the audience.