its a party.
Unit 6: Exploring visual production and technology
The reflection i got was really well received i got notes on the animation i did, and how it was used, people seemed to like the audio i did with the sound effects and audio. this has helped me know what i can do thats good and what i can improve upon. This has helped me get a more in-depth look into film making.
Good things –
Animation, Ideas, Acting, Effects
Bad Things –
Complicated, Some effects were off, Animation was simple
Target demographics are what an indistrty will aim a product at. This covers just about any product we buy – take mens razors for example or beauty products. This goes beyond male and female demographics however, as there are lots of catagories both products and people can fit into. Im going to use the film Into the Spiderverse as an example. Its statistics on IMDb suggest the film is aimed at fans of marvel movies, seeing as its a spiderman film. This means it already has a wide range of fans as the marvel and spiderman univerce is one of the most popular in the world. While we would normally assosiate superhero films with younger boys and men, as times gone on these things have branched out to older generations and a more female crowd. This can be seen with one of the lead characters in the show being a female. This means the advertising for the film would let people know of these characters and show them before and after other maybe similar films. Another thing to note about the advertising is that they used a lot of online streaming services like Youtube and Twitch to reach an audience that likes seeing these kinds of things. The advertisments were bright and poped out with the animatic style of the film, making them ever more noticeable as well.
16/01/19 –Â My filming started around this time. I was looking at the brief and i saw the 25th coming up when it was due in so after a lot of the preparation i did i decided to start the first shots inside my house. This is all i set out to do for the time being, as i knew i also had the weekend coming up to spend more time going out and filming. I ended up getting a fair amount done inside, coving the first few scenes of my film. This means i made significant progress and knew i only now had to go and film outside as well as another brief scene inside once again. As for problems, i only had one, when i was filming a mirror shot, it was difficult to get everything i wanted in as ill be animating over it as well, so i needed a fair amount of space to do that.
19/01/19 – Now with it being the weekend i was able to have more room to film the parts i needed outside. With the help of my brother acting as a cameraman i walked down to the location i wanted under the bridge and after a few good takes i was able to once again get what i set out for. i had a few problems as i was having to wait for a couple of minuets to get a shot of the train going by and making sure the light wasnt too intense. After this, i did go back and film the last of my footage back inside, again without any problems, leaving space for the animation later on.
22/01/19 – After importing all of my footage into premiere, i soon realized i didnt have enough content for 5 minuets of film. therefore i came up with a plan to film more and implement it into my film without it breaking the flow. i had an idea to fill out time by adding in a reason for my character to go out as well as adding a flash forward of sorts in which my character visits a therapist and explains his problems through daily life. I had a few problems choosing where to go to film it as i was in college at the time as i needed help from Bruno, but other than that, the filming went fine.
24//01/19 – Here i can start filming the parts for the Therapist, as we have free time in ISP to use separate rooms and use a camera to get shots of us both. I plan on writing out a little script to seamlessly slip it into the edit of the shots ive already done, going back and forth between scenes of the breakdown of the character and the therapist. I plan to film as much as i can, how much this will be however i cant really say at the moment, but im hoping with both this and the extra section i filmed on the 22nd i should now have a long enough film to fill the time gap. After filming these scenes i think it will be a highlight of the movie, i managed to capture a darker scene in which ill mix and match in-between shots when i need to. We did have a few problems when setting up lighting however, as we had to get a lamp to sit on the edge of the table and point in certain directions.
31/01/19 – For the last parts of my footage i decided to go to Redhill park in my ISP time, i managed to get some landscape shots to intercut within the new scenes I’ve done. When going out i planned to get some wide shots focusing on the smallness of the character and having a large imposing drawing to put onto of the footage. With the help of bruno i got the shots i want, and more than enough footage to cover any more space i might have left for the film. This part is more of a generic “whats happening” more than directly following the plot, this along with the shots of the landscapes will create a ghostly mood as I’m hoping.
My idea is to have animation in with reality, with the idea of Mental Health as the main topic. Ive always had an interest in animation, thats partly why i joined this course. I want to develop these skills and show what i can do with them. The idea behind my story is going have the the character experience animated fire and distortions to them, as they descend into madness. Its going to be all in the characters head, so it gives me an excuse to use animation in this way, as its not real. i don’t exactly want it to be scary, but i want it to tell an emotional story and give the audience distress. I had gotten the idea from the music video “Dorks – Aesop Rock” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZVlSqjjkic in which by the end of the video, theres a low frame rate creature that comes and interacts with real life. I really like the ascetic of a janky looking animation style, and it really goes along with my themes. I want to note that i do want to represent mental health in a more extreme way, i want to respect people who have experienced horrible symptoms like this and make it seem very real and relatable. i plan to do this by messing with conventions of film making in general and show the audience something themselves, not the character. While i do want the audience to experience this with the character, the audience may know more than the character at times so they can sympathise with them.
Conventions of thriller films usually have violence as a source of excitement and narrative, while i do want to create this disturbing narrative i don’t want to do it through violence, more through the decent of the character as they experience these worse and worse things happening to them. One convention i will tend to follow however, is the darker style and mood of the whole project. The character will be easily disturbed, constantly wearing black clothes in a dark environment. This will be something ill have to do with moderation however, as i can’t make the film too dark or confusing as i want it to be able to be comprehensively seen and followed. with this dark look, i can use contrasting colour bring out certain aspects of the video and contrasting colours on top of this.
As for sound conventions, it mentions a slow, quiet sound track. i want to use a brooding, low humming toned sound in the background to make things seem uneasy and suspenseful. Unlike with the violence conventions, the sound conventions work with what i want to use really well. it fits with my theme of impending madness and the character gradually getting worse. i can make this more apparent in scenes by upping the sound, or singling aspects of the audio to make them seem more apparent. I want to use odd camera angles in my film to make the audience feel the uncertainness that the character is feeling as well. Id like slow, looming shots and for them to pan with the music, and use the angles to change the lighting in a way that covers the persons face, and highlights parts like the eyes so we can see the emotion on the characters face.
Considering I’m wanting to make my story feel real and alive, I’m going to have my setting and locations as areas someone would actually go to, so somewhere local would be good to have. Rather than a woods like my music video, id like to use a more suburban setting, something possibly dilapidated to go with my genre.
I think it would be best to use something local so i can transport equipment and visit it when i need to. This dilapidated house is something i considered with my music video, but it turned out i didn’t need to use it. However this doesn’t mean i forgot about it. I had always thought i could use it for another project, and seeing as I’m doing some filming for a thriller genre, this really seems to fit the mood and reflect the characters degradation as time goes on.
The good thing about this location, other than its convenience and look, is that the land isn’t owned by anyone, its not a place people go and is literally being left to rot. The place is overgrown and it doesn’t necessarily matter whether i film this in the day or night, as the film is going to have a dark tone in my edit. of course i dont want to purely rely on colour grading, but the video will likely span a few days in the characters life.
This is another location i can use for a dark time in the characters life. Its just up the road from the other location, and again is easy to get to. I find it quite hard to be able to get bridges like this locally, especially ones as special as this. I find it to be quite beautiful a night, its very dark, but with a contrast of the cars headlights passing under it, it can create quite a mood with the right music and filming. On top of this, there is also a train that runs along the top of the bridge. Im not sure where it comes from, and I’m to sure where it goes to, but in the night, with the silence dim lights, it really makes the spot fell unique.
I had some ideas of transitions i can use in this tunnel, in which the character is sitting on one side of the tunnel, being filmed from the other side, when a car passes by the camera can change angle and zoom in to focus more on the character than the establishing environment of before.
Since i pass both these locations on my way to and from college i can take ideas of shots might want to use any time I’m going to or from. This will give me a better understanding of the lighting or angles i may want to use when properly doing it, as well as showing me any problems i might run into. I have got some shots of the other location from the music video project, but i haven’t seen them at night, so it would be good to get some contrasting shots showing both day and night so i can find which might be better for me.
Like before, i plan on using a Cannon 350D or Huawai P20 Pro, as these are the two best cameras i have available to me, the have the best resolution them and allow me to change the aspect ratio in editing, while still maintaining a good resolution. Of course I’m familiar with these cameras, but if neither are available to me when i need to film, i can always rely on borrowing one from the college. This is another camera I’m familiar with, i can also borrow a tripod with this if i need any still shots, as i don’t have one of my own. I can also just borrow a tripod if i need it and use it with my other cameras, but its not really necessary.
Unlike the last project i will be needing to work with someone else, and direct what they can be doing. for this i plan on letting the other person help me with sound. This can be in the soundtrack or perhaps getting background noise that i can dd in later in the edit. After looking through the conventions of Thrillers, it mentions how it amplifies certain sounds like footsteps and door creaks, which would be a good task to put my partner to, as we have done something like this before in a previous project, in which we had to collect samples for an animated clip and edit them to the video. This means i also have practice when arranging the sounds and editing them accordingly like slowing them down or changing the pitch etc.
Actors are also needed in this project, and i do plan on acting in it. I don’t exactly hate acting and i can do it if i need to. I don’t plan on speaking throughout the film so i just have to focus on body language and facial expressions to get across what i want. This is another good aspect of being the actor, as i know the kind i thing i want to do, and its going to be easier than directing someone in a way. As much as i would like to have someone else acting in it, there isn’t too many people who would do it. However it is always an option to possibly have my partner be the actor instead of doing sound. They could also possibly play a role in which they interact with the main character, or as a background character. This can amplify the idea that people know and worry about the main character going through a troubling time.
I don’t plan on using any props for this shoot, as a lot of it will be done in editing and animating after the fact. This will mean i won’t have to do as much filming as everyone else, and it won’t need to be as in depth as others who may be using props.
This means i might have more time to edit and animate when i need to, as it is quite a time consuming process. I can speed this up however by using a drawing tablet i can bring from home, making the sketches more accurate as something i want, as drawing with a mouse can be difficult. I have a lot of experience with a drawing tablet as I’ve been using them for years, and i plan on doing most of the animation in after effects like the small section i did with my music video.
My music video will be a thriller, revolving around someone who is dipping into madness. The character will portray signs of mental health disorders like schizophrenia, extreme paranoia and depressive states to make the audience fell for the character. I wanted to work with things like mental health disorders as its something I’m quite familiar with from both my work and personal experiences. Its something i think i can use to really make the audience feel uncomfortable and give an impact as a short film. Ill be animating over what the character sees in their head, possibly in after effects as I’ve used it before. this will hopefully be the main draw to my film. I currently have two locations in mind, both being local to me, as i walk by them everyday going to college and have considered using them before for previous projects. I want to go and take some test shots at night and day, and compare how i can use the lighting to my advantage in the style of film. I have had some ideas for seamless transitions and using headlights of cars to bring light to the scene. As for the equipment, i will be using the same cameras i had used for the music video project as I’m familiar with them and know that the resolution is something i can work with, i am able to get a tripod from the college if i need to, but its not necessary. Ill also need to consider my partner for the project, and i was planning on letting them do sample sounds for the conventions of the thriller genre, or filming some scenes when i can’t. other than that, they could be a background character or the main character. I plan on working more on the editing and animating than the filming itself, as animating will be quite time consuming. Luckily however because I’m animating it won’t require as much filming as usual, though its never a bad idea to get more than intended. I will likely be the one acting in it, but whether i also get my partner to help with that is still up to debate. This means ill have to have a cast and crew list for two, possibly three people as well as a shooting schedule on the days everyone is free. Luckily though if my partner is just working on individual sounds, i won’t have to be physically with them. Of course i anticipate having problems like the light fading quickly because of the season, and not being able to get the right shots i need. I do also worry about the animation, as confident as i am, if i loose any of it at some point it can set me back quite far.
Ive taken a look through some older FX and how they’ve evolved over time in the Thriller genre, Starting with films like “Looker” made in 1981 where they used an uncanny valley feel to show a GCI person to be real. Around this time we also used more practical effects like makeup and props to make people into monsters like “The Howling” also made in 1981. As we move up to more present day FX like “Inception” released in 2010, another Thriller that used camera perspectives, CGI and practical effects, more of which that i can use now, as opposed to older out of date effects. i can take things like the odd camera angles to show uncertainty or to make things feel off. I don’t think i can be using things like CGI or makeup, but i can use animation to fill these parts that i can’t. I mentioned before how i used Aesop rocks – Dorks as inspiration for the animation style, how it was out of sync and didn’t have the same frame rate as the video itself, making it look clunky and a bit uneasy. Another things that does this well is the film “Waltz with Bashir” made in 2008
This film is quite dark and brooding, and has a way of animating that makes the audience feel as if its real without being real. It seems to be rotoscoped a lot of the time, but at the same time the dark black shadows that bleed into the line work, as well as the odd colour palette and dilapidated environments give the audience a movie that takes itself seriously, and shows the passion it has for the product it wants to become.
Open with character sitting on bed extreme close up of eyes, small pops in iris and around eyes, character hits face attempting to stop in. switch to pov shot, character getting up, slowly bringing arms up and watching things creep up them. Switch to close up of face, creeping up to head, stretching trying to get away, panicking intensifies. hum in background comes to a halt it reaches the persons eyes. Calm silence, as person calms down, far shot, cartoon skulls in background mock the character as he leaves the room. Door shuts and quickly cuts to character sitting outside, fetal position with head in arms, things being to creep over him again. slowly looks up, switch to pov again with a drawn flower in front of him, reaches out in pov, flower explodes. dutch angle. character get depressed. walks home, passing busy road, stands and looks at it for a while as words like ‘JUMP’ come on screen. finally cracks and grabs a letter and pulls it towards himself. squeezing it in his hand, the letter squirms about before popping. character faintly laughs to himself and opens his hand, nothing is there. Use quick VHS RGB cuts to portray the person cracking slightly. Music starts playing quietly as character begins to put headphones in, getting loud by the time theyre in. intense music plays as he begins to walk, brushing hand across a wall, leaving drawn marks on it. Feet also leave marks on ground. flicks hand/fingers to beat of song, drawn snaps and flicks etc. showing the character is beginning to be able to control it. walking back at night, someone comes to attack him/mug him. The drawn creature then kills the person trying to mug him, show only legs when he kills the person as its a 12a. character freaks out as he realizes what happened, tries to run away but the creature grabs him too, gets away, hides in a corner or behind door. creature starts to crawl around his arms again, repeating shot from the start in pov, same close up as before as it crawls up his face. music muffling- cut to black
I found this when looking online as a guide to go by with themes for 12a movies. and can always adjust in filming if the scene might be a bit too over the top. However generally since im not using fake blood or dwelling too much on the bad mental health- as it more of a suggestion that these drawn things are his mental state.
•   Theme – Mature themes are acceptable, but their treatment must be suitable for young teenagers.
•   Language – The use of strong language (eg ‘f***’) must be infrequent. Racist language used as abuse is also a concern.
•   Nudity – Nudity is allowed, but it must be brief and discreet if there is any suggestion of sex.
•    Sex – Sex can be suggested. Sex references may reflect what 12 year olds are likely to have heard about from school, but there should be nothing unsuitable for young teenagers. Frequent rude sex references may not be allowed.
•   Violence – Violence must not dwell on injuries or blood. Sexual violence may only be implied or briefly and discreetly indicated.
•   Imitable techniques – Dangerous techniques (eg combat, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on things which can be copied or appear pain or harm free. Easily accessible weapons should not be shown as glamorous.
•   Horror – There can be some threat and menace, including scary scenes which are intense or last a while. Only occasional gory moments can be shown.
•   Drugs – Any misuse of drugs must be infrequent and should not be shown as glamorous, or attractive, or teach viewers how to take drugs.
•   Discrimination – The film or DVD as a whole must not approve of language or behaviour that would offend a person’s religion, colour, gender, sexuality or disability. Aggressive use of this type of language and behaviour is unacceptable unless it is clearly disapproved of.
This is the story template for my own story.
This is the practice we did using the templates with different genres.
My storyboard helped me get a base for the kind of shots and how the story is going to play out. while i did have a basic outline of a narrative in mind, this helped me flesh it out to a comprihencable shot list, in which i now can follow when filming.
Seeing as this project both focuses on creating an original short film and directing people to help us with it, i found the best way that someone could help me would be through sound. its important to note that there wont be any spoken dialogue during my short film, therefore i want to use loud, intrusive sounds as the thriller genre represents to get across emotions and the way the characters feel. Me and two others came up with a three way system to help one another, with each person both getting and giving help.
At the beginning i wasnt too sure what sounds i would have needed, this was until i made the storyboard and script which helped me lay out a good idea of what id be doing in my film as a whole, and where certain sounds would come in. I need a few samples of whispers, traffic and general background noise, as well as some copyright free music. The person that will likely be helping me with this would be Zak, as he is very familiar with sound and music, and i expect i wont have to ask for anything more from him, although seeing as im directing, some directions to follow are necessary.
Another positive with doing just assistance with sound is that we dont physically need to meet up and plan times where we need to do certain things. it can all be done online with samples sent to me and me writing back saying if they were what i was going for.
At this point ive begun filming and know just about what sounds i need to get off the person im directing. The sounds ill need will have to be something to the effect of
Ive now started editing the piece together, and found quite early on that i didnt have enough footage, ive written all of this up in another worpress post, but after shooting some more, and getting my drawing pad to work with the Mac i was able to start editing the rest of the new filmed footage and began animating over it.
04/02/19 – From today I’ve done about a third of the animation, while i do find it fun and interesting to do, it can be tedious at times, however i know by the end it’ll be something i can be proud of and that’ll be different to others movies. I’ve mainly used white pen to draw these scenes, and used things like hit sparks/effects and skulls that the character is battling with. I know this will be the most time consuming part of this project, but i know i can get it done relatively quickly and definitely all finished before the deadline.
Currently i do think it looks alright, sure if i had more time and knowledge of after effects i might be able to make it cleaner, but this is the first time I’m doing something like this and I’m alright with it not looking the best, as ill improve from this and over time.
11/02/19 – Ive now finished the entire animation process. After getting to know the software from before, i could easily start up and begin animating once again. I also played around with the ‘Write On’ feature instead of ‘Single Frame’ like i was using before. This allowed me to not only get a different effect but also save a lot of time, where i only has to do a few frames rather than 100+. While this is more static, i only used it with words, so having these words jumble about while trying to be read seems counter active.
After looking through the video time and time again, i kept adding in more little animations around the character to make the film more engaging. this wasn’t time consuming at all and just made the overall piece look more refined.
Ive cut my film to be as comprehensible as possible while still having an air of mystery. As well as this I’ve used conventions of thrillers to guide me along making this. for example I’ve toned down a lot of the shots to be desaturated and gloomy. Along with this I’ve edited the film quite slowly. Its not particularly intense until certain music quest hit
and the editing gets more sporadic. I feel this keeps the edit quite tense overall even in its 
down time, I’ve gone trough transitions and used long black screens in between scenes to both separate them as well as and lead them into each other with their own presence
and intensity. Ive used a lot of quick fade to white transitions to create a flash in heated situations as well to contrast the slow black fades from time to time.
I ended up doing most of the sound last, after the animation and edits. This is because i knew what i was going to use and where they would each go. of course i could always edit space if i need to for certain audio. I used a couple of tracks for the background music as well as various sound effects like doors creaking, footsteps and squelches etc. This all brought the film together really well, i only had to shape and move a few scenes to make t so the audio flowed in and out nicely.
I did have to make a few adjustments to the spoken audio and background noise as i used a few different cameras on this shoot so audio varied however it was a simple fix to make some things louder and others quieter.
After finishing the short film I’ve definitely learned a few things. I think its best to plan more than i did in this. While at the start i thought it was enough, it clearly wasn’t so its something not to be taken lightly when doing other projects. I think next time i should plan more around the script as its still something I’m confident in and i can plan time stamps for this next time.
Another thing that can go better next time is maybe the animation. While i am proud of the way it turned out it definitely could look smoother next time with the experience I’ve gained doing this. along with this i could get more done next time now that I’m familiar with what I’m doing and i know how to do it. The drawing pad i brought in definitely helped, but did run into a couple glitches along the way with after effects. This was that sometimes the pen would be registering as being constantly held down, however i found out at the end how to fix this problem, as holding down once again with the mouse would fix it. While i did only run into this problem 3 to 4 times, it did effect progress and i was afraid of loosing progress if the program suddenly shut.
After the initial filming sessions and learning i had to fill out space i began thinking of other things i could do. After adding the therapist, i added a scene in which the character is just walking into nothingness and seems defeated by everything happening. This is the source of the intensity that comes later in the film, as its confusing and ramps things as it goes along. Speaking of which i am proud of the way the sound came out. I mentioned earlier i wanted to amplify the sound to be a focus of the film as they usually are for thrillers. with the sound being quite strange they might stand out in certain places which id like to apply.
AMC. (2018). Visual and special effects in Film . Available: https://www.filmsite.org/visualeffects23.html. Last accessed 18th Dec 2018.
bbfc. (2018). What is a 12A? What is a 12?. Available: http://www.cbbfc.co.uk/12. Lastaccessed 18th Dec 2018.
Mindmeister. (2014). Conventions of a thriller genre. Available: https://www.mindmeister.com/685037204/conventions-of-the-thriller-genre. Last accessed 17th Dec 2018.
Olivia Waring. (2016). Forget Walt! These 15 non-Disney animated classics provide all the 2D action you need. Available: https://metro.co.uk/2016/06/23/forget-walt-these-15-non-disney-animated-classics-provide-all-the-2d-action-you-need-5960622/. Last accessed 18th Dec 2018.
Comedy films are some of my favourites. Although they’re very hard to get right. Comedy is very subjective, so targeting a comedy film at a large audience is a difficult task, if you want something for everyone then theres going to be a lot of different types of jokes in there, which in turn can make the film seem a little lack lustre. This is why we usually see a lot of different types of comedy films, whether this be dark comedy, slapstick or situational comedy so the people who want to see a certain type of humour that they enjoy, get what they want, without any other type of comedy that they won’t be interested in, sullying the film. I definitely have my own favourites, and i personally think comedy types that rely on timing is a very important aspect of humour in general, without comedic timing, jokes and scenes can fall flat. I do have personal favourites who it comes to comedy, and these are because they’re done by one of my favourite directors Edgar Wright who created movies like “Hot Fuzz” and “Sean of the Dead” which use techniques I’ve only seen from Wrights movies in the form of symbolisms and foreshadowing as well as timing scenes with music and things happening around the characters.
Slashers are infamous for being cult classics and even becoming tongue in cheek films as the years went on. These types of films come under a subcategory of horror, along with things like splatter movies that emphasise violence and gore for the sake of entertainment. We view them for the same reason we view horror movies, for a rush of adrenaline that comes from feeling scared. Contrary to horror films, slashers don’t focus too much on suspense and build up, but the action of a chase and offing of a character in creative and strange ways. Its a lot of blood, and an overemphasis on gore that reaches out to an audience that thrives on seeing these different and brutal killings of characters, in which each iteration tries to one up its predecessor. Like i mentioned before, some of the later slasher films became actually quite funny, after seeing he success and and kickstart of the “Evil Dead” series, which also began the cabin in the woods troupe, along with films like “Friday the 13th” which came out in the peak of slasher films and rode the popularity out for 12 films, spanning from 1980 – 2009.
Possibly the most common genre of film is action, they’re engaging and relatively easy to write and produce. Action films have a ton of sub-categories and appear in nearly every film, nearly every film needs a point of tension and climax that can be linked to a bit of action, to get the audience engaged and entertained for a payoff that a film might possess. Primarily action focused films have similar troupes they follow; explosions, fights, confrontation, anything that gets the audiences hearts racing and their eyes stuck to the screen. Luckily for action films, it can be altered in a lot of ways, so getting a with range of audience is very easy, action can be engaging without being too violent. take the  transformers series for example where theres practically no blood or death shown to the audience, but theres still plenty of explosions, destruction and fights. Of course action films aren’t for everyone, but they appeal to a lot of viewers who are casual fans of a series or show in which action will be in there at some point. its such a broad subject, with many niche and more focused categories in it for many other type of audiences to bring in from fans of other genres.
Animated films are some of the most high production films to create, and often take a long time to do, dependant on the people making it and how the animation is done. Like other genres, there are obviously also sub sections to this, like 2D, and 3D types, along with putting these in with live action sequences. Primarily when we think of animated films, we associate it with comedy and lightheartedness. although due to the nature of animation, we can do anything we want with the reality that we create. characters can warp and change as we like, as well as the world around them. This is why we may also see animation and CGI in more serious and horror films.
These films are meant to take people out of reality and into the world that they create, there are a lot of different types of sci fi films, some use things like space travel and the idea that we don’t know a lot about it to create scenarios and stories. Other sic fi films include things like future tech, or a reality that we see to be the future. This is something that really interests me in sci fi films, i really like seeing the realities and scenarios that the writers come up with. There are so many ways we can come up with our own science fiction. Another thing that really interests me is the amount of CGI used in these films, an coming from an artists background, CGI really interests me as it can warp reality in a way that animation can do but while also mixing it with real life. As time has gone on CGI has got better and in turn so have some sci fi films. Sometimes however sci fi films can get too confusing for audiences to jump into and stories can get quite convoluted if these films have their own worlds they have to hold to.
Predator was revolutionary when it came out, and also went on to spawn a good few sequels and changed how thrillers and actions films at the time were being done. I personally think Predator is still amazing to this day as it uses suspense and the idea of hiding the creature for a majority of the music to make us feel that uneasiness as the movie progresses. Another great thing about the film is that idea of the movie progression. Over and over we see more people get taken and mutilated in the confusing rainforest, the set pieces and degrading outfits as they wear down make us empathise with these characters and feel more to see them get killed off.
Seeing as the predator themselves doesn’t get their helmet off until the very end makes it that much more impactful when it does. The strange noises it lets out and the red blurred vision is something were not familiar with and it intimidates us to see these things unfold as he hunts down the very last survivor. It gets our blood pumping and gives us this sense that maybe nothing can kill this thing.
Something maybe not so good is that the movie has shown its age in recent years, but it is getting a reboot soon enough. Some of the props and outfits aren’t as good as our CG that we have today, but this by no means makes it a bad thriller movie.
I feel as if Kill Bill isn’t just another Tarantino film. It nearly encompasses him as a director as a whole. I love he way it uses comedy to contrast the films violence and this is something not many thrillers will do. Although Kill Bill isn’t just a Thriller, its still rare to see comedy in something like this. Comedy is inherently difficult to do and to add it into something like this really takes skill. It teeters on the edge of being a B-movie almost, but it much to high quality to be one, its almost like its parodying these films.
Kill Bill creates suspense with these large scale fights where people seem as flimsy as paper, countless guards get hacked up in the fight towards the boss. This builds suspense as the fight carries on to go with the hype of the brutal fights, and when we get to the boss we know its almost an even playing field as the two battle it out, just as well choreographed as the fights before. The only real problem i have with kill bill is that the two films carry on one after another, meaning youd likely have to watch them in succession. 
We can’t use someone else’s music in a film or project and release it as a separate product without first acquiring the correct laws to the music. If you don’t do this, it can affect your work in a major way. You won’t be able to earn any money from the product and the company or record label that owns the piece of music you used, can take any revenue you might have owned from the project before. Â There is some leeway when it comes to this kind of thing however, as you are able to use a small sample of a track for free, this would be around 10 to 15 seconds. Any more than that and the company that produced the song has the rights to acquire the product you have.
Getting permission isn’t too difficult, but t can take time and money. To acquire the rights to use someone else’s music, you have to agree that it will only be used in that one project, and it has to be approved to be used at that time. Another thing to note is that it needs to be approved by multiple people in a company. To do this, you need to go through the process of getting a “sample clearance”.
This is to get the permission of both the owner of the song and its lyrics and content, as well as the permission of the owner of the master recordings and record label. This will cost money however, this can vary widely from artist to artists, likely depending on how popular they are of an artist, but it is never likely more than $100 for an independent artist, but can go into the thousands for more major artists and bands. we can acquire the rights for these things with companies like PRS and MCPS, who handle things  like the royalties and copyrights for a music product.
Copyright effects a project as it can hinder what you want to use. If you’re a small time film maker, you won’t have much money to work with to afford the ends of music you may have wanted. If you happen to ignore or forget to acquire the laws it can end in a lawsuit or fine that may be even worse if your project happens to become big, although companies won’t really bother if the project doesn’t get to big.
Bitable. (2014). How to get permission to use a song. Available: https://biteable.com/blog/tips/get-permission-use-song/. Last accessed 4th Dec 2018.
copyrightsevice. (2017). Copyright laws sheet. Available: https://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/p01_uk_copyright_law. Last accessed 4th Dec 2018.
Ascap. (2016). How To Acquire Music For Films. Available: https://www.ascap.com/help/career-development/How-To-Acquire-Music-For-Films. Last accessed 4th Dec 2018.
I believe we finished with about 4 different close up scenes through out our video, we started with close ups of each of us using different scenarios that were provided on the sheet, and some that weren’t. The expressions and focus on the characters were easy to see due to the close angle and ended up looking quite good, despite us not having any sort of script or costumes.
The establishing shots were used when a killer is confronting someone, and also when an ‘attack’ happens. These shots are done quite far away from the subjects, so they can show a scenes area, and where its set. We only had two people in each establishing shot, as by that point we had a loose story we began running with. These shots were both done outside, along with everything else after them so getting the light and positions was something we all had to try to deal with.
These extreme close ups were used when the action started kicking in. We used a close up on my face when getting attacked, and then Zak’s hand when i started adding the power effects. Our movie is by no means serious, so it was fun trying out and making effects work for the first time. The way that the extreme close ups are used on not only peoples faces, but also to focus on someones hand, diversifies the way things are used, so we got to experiment more with this shot type.
The high and low angle shots were used in tandem, to make a scene look more intense as it were. We used them when Zak’s character was running away. The way we shot them was quite difficult however, as for the high angle, we helped the tripod up, seeing as we had nothing to rest it on, and definitely no crane to help us. For the low angle, we had someone lay down and angle the camera up so Zak could run past it and we had those two different angles to make the running away sequence look a bit more visually interesting. When using it again, id like to use it on a characters face, and experiment with different ways they can be used to change the emotion of the shot.
Mirror shots are used to show a characters expression in a more unconventional way, its not just a medium shot or a close up, but its done through a reflection. These shots are tricky to get as you don’t want to get the camera in the reflection. In the shots we used, we didn’t use a mirror, but black glass, so the reflection was clear. We did both a close up and medium shot of Zak, the first one getting an expression, and then another getting a confrontation between two people. In both shots, we got the camera full out of the reflection.
I used the over shoulder in one angle, that contained all three of us, so it was difficult setting up the framing of us all, since no one could see through the lens. in this shot, its over my shoulder, and i jolt the arm on the camera forward, to the other two subjects. This scene is right after the mirror shot, so it takes place in the same area. We can see my character, point forward and the other two in the background react to what i did.
Im really happy with the way the tilt shots turned out. The happen in the climax of the movie, in a small fight scene of sorts, we decided to tilt the camera when a punch followed through. This not only gave more of an impact to the hit, but also made things more interesting and exciting. it varied up the film a bit from the more bland strait shots and while it didn’t make things more eery, it definitely made it more fun to watch. on top of the sound effects and music. We just prepared the characters by quickly doing a choreographed fight scene where they each get a hit in before the scene closes.
The dolly zoom was our last unique shot. It was also the most difficult to do, as we couldn’t control the rate it zoomed in, and it was difficult to move back fast enough on foot with a steady hand. It would be easier if we had some sort of rail to use, but obviously we didn’t have that kind of equipment. So we did our best, and while it is shaky throughout, the point gets across and its good to get the experience of using a shot like this. There are other things we can use, for example anything on wheels. clearly it wouldn’t be as good as a rail but it would do. The shot actually contained me being startled or surprised and seemed to fit with the type of shot.
An establishing shot is something at the beginning of a movie to set the tone, mood and a location. Its usually done over a large landscape maybe with a drone camera or on top of a tall building. I’m the shot here we can see a night castle with contrasting yellow and orange lights illuminating certain parts of the image. The shot i got was from harry potter, directed by David Heyman released in 2001
McGregor, L. (2017). The Filmmaker’s Guide to the Establishing Shot.Available: https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/filmmakers-guide-establishing-shot/. Last accessed 20th Sep 2018.
 Extreme Close-Ups are used for dramatic scenarios, and to give focus on characters emotion, and to show that its the most important thing on screen at that time. It can also be used to remind the audience of an object or image that might re appear later. In this image from ‘The Revenant’ directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu in 2015 we can see that the focus is purely on the numb expression of the character, focusing on his scars and wet hair.
Jennifer, S. (2005). Extreme Close-Up. Available: http://www.tboake.com/manipulation/Mosiadz/Mosiadz/page2.html. Last accessed 20th Sep 2018.
While Close-Ups and Extreme Close-Ups are somewhat similar, the main difference in the two is that regular Close-Ups she detail in the foreground and are just to mimic the proximity of an intimate zone, usually face-to-face. the viewer is again focusing on the emotion of the character. This image is from ‘Mama Mia’ a 2008 Romantic musical directed by Phyllida Lloyd.
Oxford Reference. (2018). Big Close-Up. Available: http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095505100. Last accessed 20th Sep 2018.
There are a few types of Medium shots, namely a Medium close-up, which tends to be 3/4 of a person, a regular medium shot and then a Medium long-shot. All of them may be similar, but using them in ways can convey a range of emotions and feelings for the audience to experience. Interestingly enough, the medium shot comes from western movies, seeing as medium shots are from the characters things up, it would tend to show a cowboys holster. as presented from the image here from the iconic “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” made in 1966 by Sergio Leone.
Dise, J. (2016). Filmmaking 101: Camera Shot Types. Available: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/video/tips-and-solutions/filmmaking-101-camera-shot-types. Last accessed 21st Sep 2018.
High and low angle shots are used to make dramatic scenes even more engaging. they make the viewer feel both empowered and more powerless depending on who they’re being used and with who were sharing the angle with. they can make us feel closer to a certain type of person while making us resent the other. We have a shot from “the shining” which shows us looking down on a child. Its an interesting scene because it contrasts what we think and feel. As the scene progresses we begin getting more and more uncomfortable, more intimidated. Which is contrasting because if were at a high angle, we should be the ones feeling in power. This and many other reasons is what made the scene so powerful and why The Shining was so well directed by Stanley Kubrick.
Jennifer, S. (2015). Hight angle and low angle. Available: https://www.tboake.com/manipulation/Mosiadz/Mosiadz/page3.html. Last accessed 21st Sep 2018.
 A Dutch angle or Tilt shot is a technique used by filmmakers to create a feeling of unease or discomfort. Tilts can be used from about 5 Degrees up to 90. With ranging degrees of intensity. This technique is also named the “German angle” due to it being used first in many German films in the early to mid 1900’s. I have a shot here from “Star Treck Into Darkness” where we can see a 15 Degree angle is being used to crate tension while also using a close up on one of the characters faces to show discomfort. This movie was created in 2013 and directed by  J. J. Abrams
Zhang, M. (2015). The Dutch Angle: Tilting the Camera for Dramatic Effect. Available: https://petapixel.com/2016/05/12/dutch-angle-tilting-camera-dramatic-effect/. Last accessed 21st Sep 2018.
A panning and pedestal shot are ways of moving a camera vertically and horizontally to show landscapes and connect with the character to go along with their vision. While Pedestal shots can be done from a stationary place on a tripod, panning shots sometimes need to use rails or dollies to follow what they need in an enclosed space. There’s a shot here from “Mr Robot” directed by Sam Esmail which presents the main character looking round a city for the first time, experiencing it with us, and showing the city to us.
Cassidy, K. (2017). Camera Movement Techniques. Available: https://www.videomaker.com/article/c10/14221-camera-movement-techniques. Last accessed 21st Sep 2018.
 Crash and Zoom effects are old techniques, but there’s one specific filmmaker who has brought them back. Quentin Tarantino. While others now use it, Tarantino is infamous for it. His movies have all been tongue in cheek, and this just adds to it. they’re used comically most of the time, and mimic graphic novels and comic books that zoom in and focus on a target. in movies like this shot from “Django: Unchained” Directed by Tarantino in 2012, the camera ubrutly zooms in into an extreme close-up before settling onto a character. These shots arent used for immersion, it doesn’t mimic life like tracking shots, its there for an entertaining value only. And because of this it might be one of my favorite shots to see in movies.
Kelly, D. (2015). 6 CAMERA MOVEMENTS AND WHEN TO USE THEM.Available: https://www.metfilmschool.ac.uk/news/2015/10/7-camera-movements-and-when-to-use-them/. Last accessed 21st Sep 2018.
Dolly ZoomThe Dolly zoom, also known as the vertigo zoom is a technique where the camera both zooms in and moves back at the same time. The effect gets its name from the film “vertigo” as thats the film that pioneered it. Its hard to present the effect without motion, but this still is from the film Vertigo, Made in 1958 and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The dolly zoom is usually done on a rail, so the camera operator can pull back while zooming in, giving an odd effect that is quite unique to film making, but also very powerful
Hardy, R. (2014). Everything You Need to Know About the Dolly Zoom.Available: https://nofilmschool.com/2014/01/everything-need-know-dolly-zoom. Last accessed 24th Sep 2018.
Harvey's Media Fiasco 