Tuesday 16 December 2008
Sunday 14 December 2008
Editing Practice Pt.2
Our teacher wasn't in for today's lesson so we had another media teacher with us today. As he isn't our regular teacher, the lesson got off to a bit of a slow start because he wasn't aware of what hard drives we had saved our film clips to. However, after a while we were settled into our groups and loaded up the clips on the computer.
We weren't sure of which scene to start with as their was a clip where someone's hands was shuffling cards and dealing out then stopped or there was a clip where someone shift-looking was walking down a corridor and about to walk in to where the game was being held. We decided on the hands shuffling the cards as this was a good way to open the scene, when then cut to the person walking down the corridor and we had close-ups of him pausing before he entered and a one of him where we can see a gun being hidden in his trousers. The scene then cuts to the rest of the card players being dealt cards. There are then a lot of close-ups of the two male characters and their facial expressions; we tried to show that their was mistrust amongst them. The scene ended when the person with the gun shows the other male character his gun and cuts on his shocked response.
It was very hard to do because we had to get our timing perfect, whereas with the practice clip we had in the other lesson, it was filmed with extra time between when the director said cut and the end and the beginning so it was easier to link the shots together. In our scene, some of the shots were cut very sharp and there isnt alot of continuity near the end; this was because we were running out of time and we thought it would be better to finish editing than leave it half finished.
When it comes to the real thriller scene I've learnt to carefully plan every scene and know why each camera angle is being used and what effect we are trying to create. Using time carefully because we thought we had alot of time during this practice and in the end everything was rushed and even though I was satisfied with the scene it could have been much better. Also because our shots weren't perfect and weren't planned it was hard to cut and put them together so this took up alot of our time which meant that we didn't get to put in music over the scene like the other groups did.
We weren't sure of which scene to start with as their was a clip where someone's hands was shuffling cards and dealing out then stopped or there was a clip where someone shift-looking was walking down a corridor and about to walk in to where the game was being held. We decided on the hands shuffling the cards as this was a good way to open the scene, when then cut to the person walking down the corridor and we had close-ups of him pausing before he entered and a one of him where we can see a gun being hidden in his trousers. The scene then cuts to the rest of the card players being dealt cards. There are then a lot of close-ups of the two male characters and their facial expressions; we tried to show that their was mistrust amongst them. The scene ended when the person with the gun shows the other male character his gun and cuts on his shocked response.
It was very hard to do because we had to get our timing perfect, whereas with the practice clip we had in the other lesson, it was filmed with extra time between when the director said cut and the end and the beginning so it was easier to link the shots together. In our scene, some of the shots were cut very sharp and there isnt alot of continuity near the end; this was because we were running out of time and we thought it would be better to finish editing than leave it half finished.
When it comes to the real thriller scene I've learnt to carefully plan every scene and know why each camera angle is being used and what effect we are trying to create. Using time carefully because we thought we had alot of time during this practice and in the end everything was rushed and even though I was satisfied with the scene it could have been much better. Also because our shots weren't perfect and weren't planned it was hard to cut and put them together so this took up alot of our time which meant that we didn't get to put in music over the scene like the other groups did.
Editing Practice Pt.1
In today's lesson one of the technicians showed us how to use the editing programme. There was an example of a dozen shots together that we used to practice cutting and attaching shots together to make them one scene. I thought at first this would be easy and wouldn't take long, especially as we were given more than enough shots to make a good scene with. However, it was a bit difficult to make some of the shots link continuously together; we had to try and cut a some shots a few times to keep the continuity. In the end we were satisfied that we could all use the software successfully.
In the last part of the lesson, we uploaded our shots from the card game we filmed last lesson. We were then shown how to make cuts of our film; this wasn't hard at all and only took about 10 minutes at most. We have a lot of medium close-ups combined with some close-up shots and putting them together will be a good way to create tension - next week we will try this.
Overall, the lesson was useful and beneficial to the group; we will hopefully be successful when it comes to putting the shots we filmed together.
In the last part of the lesson, we uploaded our shots from the card game we filmed last lesson. We were then shown how to make cuts of our film; this wasn't hard at all and only took about 10 minutes at most. We have a lot of medium close-ups combined with some close-up shots and putting them together will be a good way to create tension - next week we will try this.
Overall, the lesson was useful and beneficial to the group; we will hopefully be successful when it comes to putting the shots we filmed together.
Friday 12 December 2008
Sunday 7 December 2008
Video Camera Induction Lesson
In today's lesson we were put into groups for our thriller coursework and I was pleased with who I was working with; everyone is euthusiastic and well all get on well with each other so hopefully we'll produce some really good work.
Also today, one of the technicans gave us a clear, step-by-step presentation of how to use the video cameras. They were very precise and made the whole process very easy to understand. We all took in in turns to put the camera in the battery, put the tape in and use the tripod. We were also given basic do's and don'ts to follow, for example, don't get the camera wet etc.
We were then given a brief to film a card game and create tension through different camera shots, editing, mise en scene etc. We had about an hour and a half to do it and we needed a minimum of 12 shots. We first of all made a storyboard to show each shot and explain briefly why we were doing it and what mood we were trying to create.
However, we were planning for about 20-25 minutes and we were still only up to 4 shots which was very frustrating., especially as the other groups had begun filming. As the time was running out, we just decided to start filming and improvise the scene, playing close detail to medium close-ups of people's faces to show the mistrust amomgst the players.
Overall the lesson was very productive as I learnt the basics of camera work and I also learnt that there is a lot more work that goes into filming than just pressing record.
Next lesson, we will begin editing what we recorded and hopefully it will be a success as well as a learning curve.
Also today, one of the technicans gave us a clear, step-by-step presentation of how to use the video cameras. They were very precise and made the whole process very easy to understand. We all took in in turns to put the camera in the battery, put the tape in and use the tripod. We were also given basic do's and don'ts to follow, for example, don't get the camera wet etc.
We were then given a brief to film a card game and create tension through different camera shots, editing, mise en scene etc. We had about an hour and a half to do it and we needed a minimum of 12 shots. We first of all made a storyboard to show each shot and explain briefly why we were doing it and what mood we were trying to create.
However, we were planning for about 20-25 minutes and we were still only up to 4 shots which was very frustrating., especially as the other groups had begun filming. As the time was running out, we just decided to start filming and improvise the scene, playing close detail to medium close-ups of people's faces to show the mistrust amomgst the players.
Overall the lesson was very productive as I learnt the basics of camera work and I also learnt that there is a lot more work that goes into filming than just pressing record.
Next lesson, we will begin editing what we recorded and hopefully it will be a success as well as a learning curve.
Friday 5 December 2008
The Shining
While watching the film The Shining there were various elements used to create suspense and tension. One of these scenes was when the main male character was in one of the hotel rooms and he found a naked woman in the bath. He started to kiss her but then as he looked into the mirror he abruptly stopped as he noticed that her skin was partially wasted away and she looked like an scary, ugly old woman. This made me jump because similiar to the man's knowledge we the viewer also saw her as a beautiful young woman so when it turned out that she wasn't, it was a very intresting scene to watch.
Three Examples Of Scary Elements
Firstly, i feel sound plays a major part in causing a horror factor, as i feel the louder and more bassy the music is the more ear is created . The editing is a major element in causing thrill, as the use of quick cuts keeps the audience on edge with there hearts racing. The main scene which caused me to jump was where the main character was in the bathroom and what first seemed to b a beautiful young lady transformed into a beast. The shot where this was revealed was unexpected and the lead up was so calm. so the change of pace was effective in creating a thrill.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)