Foleying Task (Priest)

Foley challenge (Priest) from Fabian Harrison on Vimeo.
This task will help us look at our film noir and point out all of the different sound effects we can recreate using foley. I though this was a useful attempt at recreating foley sounds, but I will do more research once have the final footage to look at all of the different sounds we need.

Cape Fear (Activity 3-Opening Title Sequence:Structure and Style)

Camera and Colour and Lighting

The camera films a tide or sea rippling using a yellow filter which changes to blue this identifies this to be the main theme of the film. At around 0:38 seconds and shot if an eagle is layered on top of the sea rippling. Around 1 minute you then see a close up of someone's eyes at the top to show a sense of mystery as the camera only gives this persons eyes to let the audience who they are. At 1:23 you see a knife or something similar which could be a match on action slightly as see someone's teeth possibly screaming (could this be a victim?). You then see a man tilting this head up in with a close up. Around 1:54 a canted angle is used to show something strange and it looks like it is a low angle which could be a PoV shot of the victim looking at the killer. Around 2:18 the middle part of the surposable killers body is positioned in the shadows which shows another sense of mystery. At 2:28 a drop of blood drips and blends in with the sea as it turns the sea red as the blood drops this shows that death is awaiting. A close up of the surposable killers/victims eyes adds to the mystery again changing from red to grey to black and white then in colour a reverse zoom from the girls eyes show her top part of the body as she gives dialogue.The images in the background blend with river to make the image look distorted but still relating to sea.the surposable killer is also seen only partially in the light showing a typical trait in film noir but also a killers trait of lurking in the shadows and hiding adding to the mystery.

Characters and Narrative

The main character for the title sequence looks like there is a narrator, who is the girl at the end and we are seeing the story from her perspective. There is also a murder and a victim/victims. The story could be about a murder mystery, however I think judging on the sea side featuring though out the opening title sequence it might show relevance or be a location to the narrative. And eagle my show some symbolism as they are a bird of prey and a predator which could be a graphic match slightly to the killer there victim and the eagle killing its prey.

Sound

Amplified diegetic sounds are heard for the rippling of the sea up to 0:24 seconds where a loud burst of strings cut in, the strings then die down but sounds creepy to create tension/anticipation of what's going to happen, scratching on the string are used to act as something unnatural and spooky a timpani roll is added to change build up and create a loud burst to create tension and to show a transition to where bad things are going to happen, the orchestra is loud and the wind instruments are playing held notes until it dies down again, the strings rise to create tension when the surposable killer is shown with a close up to show that they are the bad person the melody continues to rise in a sequence to implicate gradual worsening, the orchestra dies down to let the dialogue come through.

Editing

Transitions are used which blend in shots from sea to characters by merging to shots at the same time and layering them on top of each other, some parts play in slow motion with the surposable killer laughing to add to the suspense. Ripples not the same as the sea ones create bubbles which makes it look like an hallucination occurring, showing that the killer might be a psychopath as it includes a mixture of contrasting colours in bubble shapes. Some parts include the ripples of the sea to transition shots such as the universal logo and the sea to link them smoothly.

Titles

Universal studios logo is used at the start before the ripples vanish it away. With the iconic flash of light coming from the sun behind the earth, and universal logo rotates around the world while the worlds spinning. The type face of the credits shows the top half of the text slightly I front of the bottom half looking a bit pixelated and could add to the disjointed nature of the opening sequence.

Different Narrative Structures (OTS Little Red Riding Hood)

Narrative structures from Wil Allen

Random Narrative Task

Little red riding hood (film noir)-Opening Title Sequence

For the actual piece of coursework I'll be working with Jack Cullum and Fabian Harrison. Originally we were going to do a fairy tale themed film noir, even before we did the fairy tale film noir continuity task, but doing the task before allowed us to practise filming and also practise using a fairy tale narrative combined with a film noir narrative. We have roughly assigned all roles, me being in charge of sound (I will work harder in the sound this time as I will have a bit more time to compose a piece of film music) I am beginning to get inspiration for other sound tracks, I will also do multiple genres of music, one being a folky acoustic piece for when Red Riding is walking through the the woods, I will also do some synthesised and string work, as well. I will also be in charge of props and foleying, so I'm pretty much in charge of sound which works well as I do A level music, so I makes sense me being charge of sound. Jack's incharge of the the practical as he has a image in his head on how he wants the opening title sequence to look, but I am giving him suggestions on what we could do. I think it'll be really fun working with Jack and Fabian because we are good friends and I think we have a good piece of work come out of this as we have good people with helpful skills in our crew.

Hansel and Gretel (Neo Noir)-Continuity Task (Evaluation)

Overall we gained some good feedback from the audience for our Hansel and Gretel themed film noir feature. However I think that the things we could improve, would be to make the narrative a bit more clearer, which was said one member of the audience when they gave us feedback.

Again I would say when I do the Little Red Riding Hood opening title sequences  I will spend a lot more time on the sound as we didn't have enough time to compose a really good soundtrack as our main priority was the editing and the actual recording. I found this task useful because it allowed me try and create the camera angles that I learnt in the lesson as haven't done any like this before so it was really helpful.

I worked with Adam and Jude during this practical and it was nice to work with people that I don't really talk to as much, but I feel that we as a group need to be bit stronger and make sure everyone has an official role, as that would saved time, especially skill considering (for specific jobs who specialise in that area).

The task took bit longer than expected  as we tried different locations; for the witch's house scene, we started recording in the drama studio, but as we ran out of time and we weren't allowed in school, becuase it was half term, we descided to recorded the scenes but at Jude's house, we all thought this was a good descision as (not meaning this in a horrible way) Jude's house looked quite old fashioned which suited the authentic style to our short film.

I also would say we need to focus on the lighting, especially in the shot where Jude's says "where did you get these" you could see him at all, which we didn't notice at the time but realised as we watched in class. Also when me and Jude have a conversation on the phone together the editing could of been a bit precise as there a lot of pauses between each bit of dialogue, which looked unprofessional.

I liked watching the short film, eventhough some parts made us a bit apprehensive (such as the eyeline match, short reverse shot) as we didn't know how the audience would react, but they seemed to enjoy it. But all of the things we felt apprehensive with were all the bits we experimented with. Next time I think we should do a bit more planning because we didn't have clear idea of what to do we had faint ideas that we thought would be really good to do for example we were going to have the witch's house burn down but we didn't want to be too dangerous and accidentally hurt someone but we also had some parts where we questioned ourselves, from when Hansel was in the oven and we Gretel came to save him we had to come up with something on the spot so we descided to have a phone conversation between Hansel and Greatel but it was luck that we kept the neo-noir conventions as we would of been stuck on how to link the scenes together and help the narrative flow a bit better

But from this task I learnt what to do and what not to do in the next practical for our actual piece of graded coursework

Hansel and Gretel (Neo Noir)-Continuity Task (Bloopers)

Hansel and Gretel (Neo Noir)-Continuity Task (Script)

Script

Characters

Hansel=Jude

Gretel=Wil

The Witch=Adam

Dad=Wil

Mum=Adam

Opening title sequence

Hansel: So i guess you want to know how i got here, well it all started when talking to my parents.

flash back to house

(Hansel enters room with parents)

Hansel: Hi mum and dad

Dad: You see this jar it's empty you and Gretel need to get some sweets

Hansel: But what-

Mum: Head to the forest and don't come back unless you have any sweets

(Hansel leaves room)

Flashback to forest

(Hansel and Gretel walking in the forest)

Hansel: Why did mum and dad tell us to come out here, we are never gonna find any sweets out here

(Gretel nods)

Hansel: Before we left i brought some bread just incase we get lost

Gretel: Cool, i also brought dads gun just to be on the safe side

(Hansel and Gretel are being watched)

Gretel: What was that?

Hansel: Come lets go I don't like this

(Hansel and Gretel continue walking)

Hansel: The path splits into two ways, I can see a house down there

Gretel: I think it could be riskey

Hansel: They could have sweets that's what we need 

Gretel: I could be dangerous, we shouldn't go there

Hansel: Well I'm going this way

Gretel: Fine!

(Hansel walks to witch's house)

Hansel(Narration): She looked gorgeous standing there, so I guess that's what I gave into 

(Walk into witch's house)

Witch: Take a seat

(Pulls out sweets)

Witch: You looking for these

Hansel: Where did you get these?

Witch: Does it matter?

Witch: Go ahead

(Hansel and the sweet's eyeline match)

(Hansel eats sweets colour transition)

(Witch grabs Hansel)

Witch: Come on

Hansel(stutters): Wait I.I need Gr. Gretel

(Hansel in the oven)

Hansel(Narration): So, now you know how it happened my sister off somewhere, safe, and not in life threatening danger, and me stuck in a furnace,waiting for death

(Gretel ring Hansel)

Hansel: Hello

Gretel: Hansel, I shouldn't have left you

Hansel: Gretel there's no time for that I need you to save me

Gretel: (Gretel pauses) Wait what?

Hansel: Come to the house quick

Gretel: Ok I'm on my way

(Gretel walks in witch's house)

Witch: Who are you?

Gretel: I'm looking for my brother Hansel

Witch: Ha, your too late

(Gretel shoots 2 times and kills the witch)

Hansel: Gretel over here

Gretel: Hansel

(Gretel saves Hansel and they hug)

Gretel: We need to leave 

Hansel: We get those sweets first

(Hansel picks up sweets)

Hansel: Now we can leave

(Hansel and Gretel walk back home through the woods)

Making of Hansel and Gretel (Neo Noir)-Continuity Task

For this practical I worked with 2 different people Adam (who played the role of the witch and the mum) and Jude (who played the role of Hansel). I found this task a bit difficult as we were recording and we had to use dialogue, but the challenge allowed me to gain experience with the camera and filming different shots, for example I filmed the shot reverse shot, PoV shot and close up. We also had some help with our friend Lawrence who recorded the scene when Hansel walks into the room with parents, as part of the continuity task. I was working on the sound, we didn't want to to follow the rules of a typical film noir of having a bluesy track, but we kept the dramatic emotions of a film noir piece, if we had more time I would of been able to make compose a slightly developed piece but as we had to edit it as well and the continuity task was our main focus we described to stick with what we had.

Originally we had the witch's house scene in a drama studio but we decided to change location to Jude's home as I looked more like a home as it had more realistic furniture to add to the authenticity. We tried a lot of different places to shoot such as the photography studio, the woods next to our school, Jude's home and the stairway leading into the art block this gave the narrative a sense of direction instead of just staying in the same place.

Even though this piece isn't perfect, I feel like I have learnt a lot of different techniques and learnt how to film different shots and how to edit properly an putting all the things we have learnt in class to the test. And even though we filmed the sweded film, I got a better understanding of media techniques, and a good practise to when we do are final piece of coursework of an opening title sequence of a film noir feature film.

We experimented with our shots and tried things which were probably a little cheesy such as the scene when we did and eyeliner match back and forth of the sweets and Hansel's face and the witch slid the sweets across the table to Hansel  it was slightly cheesy but we thought it worked. The match on action scene took a couple of attempts to get it right as we had to constantly look back at the positioning of Hansel's body as he walked thought the doors up the stairs and when he walked into the room, however we did another one when the  witch and Hansel walked into the kitchen of the witch's house. We had to improvise some of the dialogue multiple times to make sure what we are saying fits with what is happening in the scene. We also had a lot technical problems to do with exporting files and computers breaking, and also to do with different softwares as I starting editing it and exported not bowing that the audio will just blend in with each other so we couldn't of adjusted some of the volume in parts to make way for the dialogue ado we started it again, and because we started the editing again I thought I might as well compose 2 songs separate songs  to create tense and a somewhat relaxed atmosphere, I would of like to composed something a bit better, but there were other important things to be done.

When doing the scene when Hansel has a "sugar rush" we faded the clips in and each clip change colour which contrasts with the black and white themed film noir, but we wanted to include that scene to add tension and make the film have parts of a faster pace to again contrasts with the more relaxed parts in the woods. When we were in the woods we tried some different things out when we were lost and being observed by a stranger ( who is actually the witch waiting for their arrival ) as a little part to boost the narrative to flow in the right direction to include the witch in gradually. 

The voice overs were done by Jude,as the prevolence is set on Hansel this worked because we couldn't of had all the characters in at the same time all the the time as we had to get a camera operator to do zooms is and tracking. The shot with the phone call of Hansel and Gretel was a way to get Gretel in the story a bit more and we wanted to have a powerful woman to play the girl next door (even though I played her) and save Hansel. We also used a variety of shots for when Gretel arrives at the house (a grip would of been better to track and keep the camera sturdy such as an over the shoulder shot and a POV shot for when Gretel shoots the witch. While in the woods when Hansel argues with Gretel, a shot reverse shot is used. Inside the home the 180 degree rule is used, as we get a medium shot of both of them walking in framed with the door then we visit the other side watching them face the camera continuing to walk in and then they exchange dialogue about the sweets. 

Hansel and Gretel (Neo-Noir)-Stills

Hansel and Gretel from Wil Allen

Making of Hansel and Gretel (Neo-Noir)-Stills

The process of this activity took a fairly long as we were constantly trying out different shots for example:

These are some of the examples we tried we tried low and high angles shots for this still, and in the end we found that we wanted to get something a bit more dramatic by using low angle shot gives a expressive feel than a high angle shot.

Besides that we experimented with the lighting but because we outdoors for half of the shots we had to do all the lighting during editing, as we couldn't of brought lamps and the light we could of used was natural light. We were also deciding if we should of keep it in black and white, like a traditional film noir, which we did but some parts like the flame didn't stand out well, so we left that part in colour. And we also left in colour during the shot when Hansel (Jude) eats one of sweets and we even raised the saturation, just to show that he is going crazy and he isn't in control.

During editing, we reduced the saturation on most of the photos. And we (poorly) edited a housed in a shot, this was quite difficult as we had to find a photo of a house that would fit into the scene, next we adjusted the lighting and saturation so it is the sames the shot underneath, as Hansel's hand was covered by the house, we had to 'cut his hand off' from where it was covered, made a copy that and place it above the house. We also edited the wall in for the witches' house as the wall before didn't as well, it badly edited, but as time goes we our editing will get better, as we are were a little inexperienced with the software.

For mise-en-scene, we went and brought some bread, which we used for making the trail back home, just like the Hansel and Gretel story.We brought some sweets which Jude used for his scene when he get manipulated, and we also used it for when we were walking back home scene. Me (Gretel) and Adam (The Old Lady) both brought which we used for our characters, as we didn't have a female in our group so we descided to dress up as girls ourselves, but instead of making us having to wear a full girls clothing, we wore normal stuff as the clothes we were wearing a typically clothes for both boys and girls for this time, which is one of the reasons we made it neo-noir.

Ant Man (Activity 1-Creating a FilmSynopsis)

Marvel's Ant-Man, Scott Lang  (Paul Rudd), after coming out of prison for a robbery, to get money to raise and look after his child, realizes that he doesn't want be a criminal for the rest of his life, however after being forced to do so by his friends and his will to look after his child, discovers a suit which transformed Scott  into microscopic creature (Ant) doing this he ends up in prison again, unexpectedly Hank Pym (Micheal Douglas), the creator and owner of the suit and founder Pym technologies, breaks lang out of the cell to get him to help Hank get the particles back from Darren Cross, Yellow Jacket, who is using them to create a micro-weaponised suit.

Ant Man (Activity 2-Freeze Frame)

In this shot I can see 2 people, one could be a villain and other good guy, or they could both be bad/good guys having a conversation of some sort. In the frame the 2 actors are positioned behind the desk with all the clutter and scientific equipment on it, the guy is positioned on the left which could mean that he had just entered through the door which implies that the room belongs to the man on the right. The artificial light with no natural light represents that they are either in a secret basement of sorts or it is in the evening, the light is supposed to revealed the characters expressions, as if the actor on the left had discovered something. The camera shot is a medium shot as the subjects are quiet close the camera which could mean that there's a serious conversation happening between these 2 actors, the angle is straight and its isn't canted at all. This frame tells a lot about the characters, The person on the right, as stated before is probably the owner of this room as the guy on the left is the closest to the door, but all the science equipment implies that he is wise and clever and knows how to operate science technology, but as the room doesn't look like as expensive or to the standards (as it is small and looks old fashioned and worn) as a typical lab, it could mean that the character on the left is either fired/got turned down by a science company, so he has to do his work in his home.
I think the camera is just in front of the desk to get full aspect of his room and to get the conversation happening in front of all the science equipment. In the room i think there's probably 3 cameras, 1 for over shoulder shot of both characters and the one in front of the desk as it is a conversation happening between these characters 2 show perspectives, By doing the desk shot allows the audience to analyse the film to find out more about the character on the right. Like I said before if the camera done an over the shoulder shot for the actor on the left might interesting because you'll see the conversation from the actor on the left's perspective and you'll see more of the room around him.The camera moves to the perspective  of the person who is listening to the other character talking an changes for long dialogue but when there's quick sentences, the shot in front of the desk is used. The time is likely be in the evening as there is only artificial light coming in and again for the same reason it is probably a basement due to the lighting, the setting is possibly quite serious as there is nothing t distract the audiences as the colours are dark and not vibrant which will draw the attention to the more clearer parts which is off the 2 characters talking about something important in the plot.The characters are positioned at the same height which shows there isn't something that means one has a higher status. But I would say the focus is on more the guy on the left as you can see most/all of his face rather the guy on the right which could mean the guy on the left is the protagonist, but we can see they are both on the same side as they are close together in the frame which means they have a relationship, these characters are both the good guys.
The attention is maintained by the lighting being always on the characters faces which pin points audiences to them and so they'll focus on what they are saying. From what the protagonist is wearing, a black T-shirt which could show he has had a dark past and is trying to make it right, as it is a superhero movie a T-shirt is a common piece of clothing for someone his age so he'll appeal to people in the audience, however for the man on the right, he is wearing a 2 piece which could mean he a practical man, yet wise and clever, and he is wearing glasses as well which stereo-typically symbolizes being highly educated/smart. Both characters give a relaxed vibe as the man in the right having his hands in his pockets and his jacket taken off means that he isn't to look overpowering, and the man on the protagonist looking defenseless and not looking like he is about to attack the man (not threatening), with his hand by his sides. Like I said before they are likely to be friends from being on the same level or they have a connection in someway but both are equal in status maybe the protagonist is higher up in status stereo-typically because he is younger and middle aged. The protagonist is the main focus of the frame as you can see a full facial view of him whereas you can't really see the other characters face, so the audience draws attention to him. This frame is crucial to the narrative as it shows the audience mostly a bit more information of the guy on the right as you are in his room so this scene is probably where talks about his plans and his past. 

Ant Man (Activity 3-Opening Title Sequence:Structure and Style)

Camera

The first shot we see is of a building and it is slowly zooming in. Then we track a character from the bottom so there is a sense of a reveal of who this character is. A POV shot used as supposedly the main protagonist walks through the door to see all the characters in the room, around the desk, with a slight over the shoulder shot with a wide shot of the characters. This emphasizes that this likely to be the main protagonist is one of the main characters as you see everything from his perspective. All of the characters get a close up, occasionally you get a close up, with an over the shoulder shot from the main protagonist. As the main protagonist attacks the 'antagonist' (likely to be) a medium shot is used to see the other characters restraining the protagonist.

Colour

The opening scene is in full color but a seepier is used to make it look a bit more old fashioned, as it is set in 1989. All the men are wearing black suits which could mean this is a highly authorized building and formal, inside he building a lot of silvers and blues are used which shows it is strongly secured and it is a heavily technological place. The colors stay the same throughout the scene.

Character

There are 4 characters 'Hank Pym' ( the main protagonist in this scene), 'stark' (the supposedly leader of this cooperation), The girl 'Carter', and the antagonist 'Carson'. Carson is likely to be lower down authorities wise as he is sitting down and the rest are standing, usually this represents the authority because he is smaller, and he is looking for a big achievement to raise his status, it could mean he is actually the boss and doesn't feel the founder of the cooperation shouldn't have that respect because he is keeping his creations a secret.

Narrative

The opening title sequence draws the audience in by being vague with there conversations, Like what is the scientific creation that Hank came up with? What happened to Hank's wife? this is the overall enigma of the story. obviously this like flashback is just to give the audience a gist of what is happening but not too much information, so you want to know what happened between Hank and his cooperation once he left and what is going to happen between him and Carson.

Sound

Outside you can hear cars or some sort of vehicle which represents how modern the building is. Strings and horn are being played and giving off a dark feel as Hank walks in through the doors and are help which is typical in a piece of film music, this changes dynamics during and in between dialogue with the occasionally loud bursts especially when Hank attacks Carson, which make the atmosphere seen quite dramatic. Non-diegetic sound can be heard when the sliding doors open and close. Carson talks differently when Hank leaves he is quite aggressive mainly because he feels intimidated by Hank but secrets to get information from so he acts a bit differently. The music then changes to slightly cheesy foreign music when the titles comes up this is just used to change the mood. The music cuts out just before this and fades to black for a second.

Settings

There are 2 setting 1 outside the building and 1 inside, even though its modern its an authentic looking business room with scenes and smart technology for doors. Its quite a big room which could mean that these people are wealthy. but a lot of technological screens are used which represents a typical office in our time but maybe not in 1939 which seems unbelievable.

Audiences

This movie is definitely aimed for the film fanatics and viewers/fans of marvel film/comics. This is quite a popular film and will be available to most countries to watch, mainly in Britain and America. And for the same reason mainstreamers will like the is movie and go and watch it as well. There will probably like action and adventure films as well as some Sci-Fi films.

Titles

The opening title sequence only featured 1 company logo, Marvel studios, and showcased the iconic logo off with the typical flicker of the comics and displays the Marvel logo also used in the comics, with a bold text all in capitals, which helps the logo stand out, and also the red is used which is a typical color for marvel to use in their comics and their films. By doing this it cleverly likes into the film of superheroes, so it seems like you are flickering through a marvel comic book

Film Noir Analysis

Film Noir is a film genre set in the 1930s which originated in America. Some of the most popular film Noirs include Casablanca, released in 1942,which is about an expatriate who is reunited with a former lover,and set in the early times of the war. A lot of smoke and shadows associated with these films to to add the mystery of the characters, this might of been on accident to give this effect as people didn't know th problems of smoking back then. Even though most film noirs are in black and white, colour was available , but the producers chose to have it in black and white as the lighting contrasted with the  Sunset Boulevard, released in 1950, which is about a screen writer who writes a screen play for a silent film star.

 

The third man, released in 1949, when a pulp novelist goes to post-war Vienna to discover his friends mysterious death. 



However there are many modern Film Noir feature films called Neo-Noir. Such as Sin City, released in 2005 and Misfits, released in 2009 in series 4 episode 4, where they did a Noir special. 


Neo-noir show the key features of film Noir which has a modern interpretation to an old classic, and sometimes adapts and distorts the typical themes of a Film Noir feature film. Film noir's were set post war, so that is why it was so violent because that is what the people were used to seeing. to the historical background white males where the most powerful in this time so it was unlikely to see a black person / woman to take the leading roles. woman where seen as the entertainment for the men and to seduce them, hence why a lot of the women had to entice the men to get then to do what they want. Film noirs feature an everyman (the average man, who is troubled by his past, and usually finds himeself in a mess by the end ny the femme fetale),a femme fetale (A manipulative women who gets what she wants by having sex with the men, the men normally do her dirty work and from the heartless woman she is then puts all the blame on the man when the police arive or gets another man to kill him) and sometimes a villain or a bad guy of some sort ( usually have connections with the femme fetal or out to kill or gets by the everyman).

The Killers Analysis

The Black Dhalia Analysis

Neo-Noir Analysis

Neo Noir from Wil Allen

Film Noir- Narrative structure task

Media And Me - Vimeo

My Top 10 Films - Prezi

Roles In The Film Industry - Emaze

Audience Analysis - Voicethread

Making Of Swede Film (50 Shades Of Grey)

Making Of Swede Film (50 Shades Of Grey) from Wil Allen