Initial Coursework Ideas

We have only just started thinking about our coursework and haven't come up with a full outline or storyboard. This is a video of us showing some initial ideas to the class to see if we feel comfortable with this idea or want to change. We are also walking through the ideas as we are encouraged to get on our feet and imagine we are filming sequences rather than just talk about them / draw them, as the different visual perspective gives a clearer idea of whether they will work or not.

 

 

Practise Film Sequence

In this task, we are practising the key skills we will need for our coursework - storyboarding, filming and editing. We were told to film a short sequence leading up to a murder from a film. this made us concentrate on some of the key things we will need for our openings - a focus on atmosphere.

Evaluation of the Murder Task

Planning and Storyboard

As a group we thought carefully about our Storyboard before filming our main piece. We did not stick to the original plan that we as a group drew out; but it still turned out to be better than expected. I found planning our storyboard was my least favourite part of this task, as I am not a confident drawer. However in my group some of us preferred to draw and in other cases some us who would rather act, this came in our favour giving us all an even share of the task. From planning our storyboard we had gained the knowledge on how beneficial planning is before filming.

Acting

Acting was my favourite part of this task, our acting went reasonably well and helped our film clip become very realistic. Overall I thought our acting could have been improved, if we had taken more time and initiative to rehearse our lines and plan what we wanted to do, this has been an important factor, which will  help us tremendously for our final piece.

Selecting Shots and angles

We opened our film with a two shot of the two main characters, also using the rule of third by having the characters on the edge of the frame. The main reason for this is to make the audience aware of the location and the action that is taking place.

Using an over the shoulder shot of Shannon storming off also helped us create our mystery murder scene. However we could of also taken this shot from her POV, allowing the audience to sympathise with the character.

This was a POV shot from the murderer’s perspective. Allowing us to see what the character is seeing, it’s also helps us to sympathise with the victim and helps us experience what they are feeling. I thought this was a very good shot and hope to use it in my final piece, as it sets that sense of mystery.

  

After filming the argument we used a close up, allowing us to see the character emotion and her reaction.

  

This was a shot of the murderer used, also allowing the audience to see someone possible moving into the frame. The murder was never revealed in our task.

  

This shot helps us sympathise with the character, as only the audience knows what is going to happen, however the victim is completely oblivious to what is about to happen. However this shot could have also been very effective from behind the victim.

Overall I think our shots were well selected, I would definitely use some of these shots in my final piece.

Use of sound

Sound was an important factor in our piece, allowing us to create a creepy and mysterious surrounding. We used a use of ambient sound helping to create verisimilitude and a sense of a mysterious atmosphere, for example the murderer crunching the leaves with his foot and the school bell ringing in the background. We had a decent use of dialogue between the characters, helping the audience get an impression of each character. Adding non diegetic music and sound effects in the background helped us achieve what we had intended to do, establishing the time period, creepy atmosphere and the characters. Overall our use of sound was used very well, however we could of improved on the dialogue as the voices were not always clear throughout. For example filming the sound and dialogues at a different stage and putting them together as a whole.

Editing

Watching our film back, I noticed that there was a lot that needed to be edited as it stopped and started all over the place. I enjoyed editing our film and learning new ways of cutting out unwanted sections. We used the editing technique of cross cutting in our film, this was very effective as it built up tension and it linked everything together. Another technique we used was fade to black as this transition told the audience a feeling of finality and conveying a death. The main character was given a lot of screen time this was an indicator of how important this character was. Another technique we used was slow motion, this is when the murders foots steps appear, which gave a sense of time passing very slowly at the dramatic moment of the killing. Overall our editing was very sufficient and we could of improved on it more if we had spent more time planning what editing techniques we were going to use when planning our storyboard.

Use of Mise-en-scene

I was pleased with our location as a high use of verisimilitude; this was also a very realistic location. Our costume and make up could have been improved, however the school uniform used fitted our scenario well, and we will need to spend more time on this next time as it can be used to show power. We covered the murderer in a hoodie, this fitted in well with the typical stereotype of a killer. Our key prop was the log in which was used to kill the victim; this also told the audience that the killer was very ruthless.

Practise Film Sequences

Although I planned and filmed with Lewis and Sarah, I edited separately and so have a slightly differnet version of our practise film sequence. We did this to practise for the coursework as we had to go through the same stages - planning, storyboarding, filming and editing. however, we did not have much time to do this and we were told to end the sequence in a murder whereas we will eb able to choose our ideas for the real coursework.

Evaluation of murder scene

Planning and story boarding

We planned out our storyboard well and thought about everything carefully before we wrote it down. However when we were filming we did sometimes forget to look at the story board and ended up forgetting to put shots in and added new ones so we didn’t follow our storyboard which left gaps in our scene.

Acting

The majority of the acting in our murder scenes was good and created a mysterious and scary feel to the scenes we filmed. Although in some scenes I began to laugh, which made it difficult as we had to take more shots and cut out more parts. I will try hard not to do this when filming for our coursework as it is disrupting and it makes the filming look unprofessional.

Selecting shots and angles

We started our murder scene with a panning shot of the Stations of the Cross which were on the wall in the chapel to create a sinister and eerie atmosphere to our piece. This was effective as it showed the audience that the location was a chapel and showed the audience where the murder would take place.

We took a POV shot of me entering the chapel and looking behind me to make sure I hadn’t been followed. We did this to create the effect that I was being watched from high above. This also created the impression that I was vulnerable as my stalker was high above so could easily see what I was doing but I couldn’t see them.

We also took several different shots of Rebekah running, but we cut out her own body and we only filmed her feet to make the identity of the person unknown and so the audience didn’t know why she was running in the first place. We took a couple of these from different heights and at canted angles to show how frantically she was searching for someone. This added tension, speed and excitement to our film which made it more interesting to watch. I liked the shots and angles we used as they made it enjoyable. I would use the same techniques in my coursework.

Editing Decisions

Watching our film back after we edited it showed us that we hadn’t done very well in some areas. For example some shots started and stopped abruptly making it look messy. However for the first time ever filming and editing I think we did well. However would work to make this not happen in my course work.
We used slow motion effectively at the parts when we were slamming the doors as it built up tension and emphasised the sound of the door slamming shut. This was a good decision as it made it look professional and made it much more enjoyable to watch.

Use of mise en scene
We were pleased with the choice of location as the chapel provided us with a quiet and eerie place to film and it was quite original. It added atmosphere to our film.
We didn’t plan props very well in the group as we wanted to use a fake gun but we had no idea where we could get it from, so we ended up getting rid of the idea which was pretty much vital for the scene. For my coursework I will change this as it was essential to the film. Also when doing my coursework I will consider assigning different costumes to different characters to make it more realistic.

Use of sound

We used the same music throughout the murder scene as it worked well with all the shots. It sounded spooky but holy as well which worked with or location; the chapel. The music made the film seem a lot more professional and added extra terror to the scenes. At the scariest points in the film we increased the volume to make it even more frightening and thrilling. Yet I would’ve liked to add different music if  we had more time.

In conclusion I think that our Murder scene turned out very well considering it was our first time filming and editing. I was extremely pleased with our choice of location as it made it even scarier. I also liked our camera angles when filming although I would change some of the editing and focus on getting all props and costumes in time to film.

Practise Film Sequences

Here we are experimenting with filming and editing techniques. We planned and filmed a short film sequence ending in a murder to act as practise for our coursework. Although we did not have as long to do this as we would for the real coursework, we still learned a lot from doing it and made mistakes we will try to avoid next time.

Evaluation of Murder Scene

Planning and Story boarding

We spent a long time on our planning and story board, making sure that we had fully decided what we were doing, where we were shooting the film and who was going to be playing the parts. We used our storyboard as a true guideline of what we were going to be doing, and stuck to it as much as we could to ensure that we got the shots we wanted, in the time that we had to shoot the clips. However, we didn’t shoot every clip on the story board (in this case it was the murder itself) as we wanted to create a cliff-hanger ending, leaving the murder down to imagination.

Acting

With our murder film, we decided to use short, quick shots that implied movement rather than having a shot of me walking over to the door for example. We would have one shot of me looking down the stairs over to the chapel, a quick change in shot to Rebekah running, and then back again to me at the door. This shows that in the time of being off camera, have moved. This was the case for most of our shots so acting was not really a problem. With the murder itself, we decided that it was quite a difficult scene to act out, so we left the murder down to imagination as a poorly performed murder may ruin the mood of the overall film.

Selecting shots and angles

We decided to start our piece with an establishing shot of the chapel to show the audience the main setting of the film and also to show where the murder is going to take place. For the characters, we decided to use a close up at the very start to let the audience know who the murderer is. We then used a POV shot from a high angle of the murderer looking down on the victim; this creates a sense of power and makes the victim seem small.  We only used a canted angle once during our film, but I think that we could have used more than one to create a greater feeling of chaos and confusion.

Location and lighting

I think that the location we chose was perfect for a murder sequence as the chapel is a symbol of peace and tranquillity, so when put into a film about death and violence, it seems very unnatural and scary. Also, the chapel is a very quiet, secluded location so it makes the victim seem helpless. Lighting was an issue as we could only do our filming during the day so most of our shots were in broad daylight. This was not ideal because of the film was darker; it would have been much more effective and creepy.

Editing Decisions

When editing, we decided that in order to make the transition between clips smoother, we would use a lot of cross cutting to establish two separate stories and improve the flow of the film. We put in some non-diegetic music over the top of the clip, to add to the mood of the sequence and to set the scene. This created an eerie atmosphere and fitted in to the location and theme of the film. We changed the volume levels of some of the diegetic sounds to make it clearer and more natural.

Sound

The only sounds used in our murder sequence were sound effects and non-diegetic background music. There was no dialogue in the whole of the clip so the story was only portrayed using visuals rather than sounds. We were thinking of adding some clips in silence to add to the mystery and to build suspense as the only thing the view can detect is visuals. If I was to do it again I would probably add in some dialogue and have more scenes of silence to add to the eeriness of the film.

Lewis

Evaluation Of Murder Scene

Planning/Storyboard

 As a group we came up with our storyboard quite swiftly as we each contributed with many imaginative ideas. We used it well as a guide and followed each scene as planned, unfortunately we didn’t get to film the end to our story board, simply because we couldn’t access the setting where we needed to film the actual ‘murder’, On the plus side the film did become more mysterious and fitted together unexpectedly without the key scene. But on the other hand we didn’t actually get to film the ‘murder’ scene, which we needed to make it the title we were given ‘a murder scene’.

 Acting

 Our actors/actresses, Lewis, Shannon and Bekah did really well considering it was our first ever filming session, they got into their character roles and performed exceptionally! We chose our actors based on ‘who looked the most’ either, like a victim, who was Shannon, the murderer, Lewis, or the friend who was attempting to save Shannon, Bekah. We felt they each looked in character to perform their roles.

 The only thing we needed to work on for the next filming session, is to forget the camera was there. A lot of the scenes Shannon looked at the camera, which made it less realistic considering the victim wasn’t meant to know the murderer was after her.

 Selecting Shots And Angles

 We started our first scene with a close up on the inside of the chapel door, we chose this because we felt its quite stereotypical to have a door in a murder scene as it builds up tension for the audience and sets a mystery sort of look for the film. We also finished the film off with an action shot running towards the door. We wanted to make the door significant because it was the way into the murder.

 We shot many POV shots from the murderer as we felt if he was anonymous for at least a few scenes this would build up more apprehension for the audience. We then did an extreme close up on Lewis’ eyes, I felt this was a good shot because eyes tend to be quite scary in a murder film, plus it wasn’t a full identity of Lewis, just part of his face to show he was watching Shannon. Which made the scene more creepy.

We did a few action shots of Bekah running trying to find Shannon and added a canted angle in one of the running shots to show the importance of Bekah running to find Shannon, not about her identity. This made it even more mystifying as the audience wants to know who this person is running.

 I believe our choice of shots and angles were used well, however I’d like to add even  more of  variety of shots for my coursework.

 

Editing Decisions

 It was quite hard to edit our scenes at first as we filmed some scenes at the start of our roll of film and some at the end of our roll of film, therefore we didn’t have all the scenes to look at together to decide where and what to do with them. Thankfully we eventually got all of our shots onto the computer and started editing.

 I found it quite easy to edit each of our shots because each shot we filmed, we kept the camera rolling for a few seconds extra to make sure we had the shot complete and it wasn’t too short which would make it look unprofessional and strange.

 We mixed up the shots of Lewis spying on Shannonand Bekah running, which made it more effective and exciting to watch.

 If we had more time I would have liked to of added slow motion into some shots, e.g. the one of Lewis standing inside the chapel and the door closing behind him, as it would make it look more scary and as if something dreadful was going to happen next. I think slow motion is key in a murder scene as its authentic for a murder mystery film.

 On the last shot we faded to black to almost give an ellipsis to the audience, I think it fitted well as it would make the audience effectively wonder what will happen next.

 Use Of Mise-En-Scẻne

 I was really pleased with our setting, it suited our story just right. A chapel can be quite scary as it is, a Chapel with a murder, is even scarier, perfect for a murder scene. The only bad thing about the chapel was that they have glass windows, so when the door was closed in on shot you could see me filming from the glass, which obviously looks less convincing and unprofessional. Next time if there is a window or glass window we should really try to avoid it or think of a possible solution, maybe a slightly different angle to not be shown on film. By this we found that editing cannot correct poor filming. We used outside to film Bekah running, that was successful when it came to editing because we cropped and moved different scenes to make it more apprehensive, they went together confidently and smoothly.

 Use Of Sound/Music

 We used an orchestral type of music which was loud and suitable for the setting which was inside a chapel, and obviously for a murder scene it suited easily. We didn’t have enough time to change the music with the running scene with a more upbeat yet apprehensive sound which we wanted to do. We also wanted a scream at the end of our last scene when it went black, we left it too late to either invent a scream or search for one. There were a few noise disturbances but we managed to eliminate them which made the scene more realistic. For next time I would definitely make more time for the sound adding because the sound/music almost makes the film by setting the emotion and scene, without the music I think our film wouldn’t have been as successful as it was.

Sarah

Analysing Film Openings - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Scene Summaries- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One

The first thing we see on the screen is a misty night sky, and emerging from the mist approaches the Warner Brothers logo covered in rust. As it gets closer to the audience the sound of scratching metal begins and the volume increases until it is extremely loud, then stops suddenly and goes straight to an extreme close-up of what seems to be a significant character’s eyes. This creates a disorientating effect as we do not know where we are all we can see is the strong portrayal of emotion through the characters eyes. Also he is looking straight into the cameras lens, creating transparent editing.

As the diegetic sound of the man speaking can be heard, underneath it a non-diegetic hum sound creates a heartbeat. The non-diegetic sound under the serious voice of the character creates a tension and anxiousness in the audience.  The shot then changes to reveal the whole man’s face. This allows us as the audience to make a judgement on him and to reveal his identity. Shallow focus is used, as you can see the blurred figures standing behind him in the background, blurred so you cannot see who they are creating an element of mystery.

We can now see the man very clearly. The use of mise en scene in characters works well here as you can see the man looks as though he could be in high authority. Also he seems to be making an important speech due to the large emphasis on the words and the emotions the audience can feel while he is speaking. All of a sudden the shot changes to a POV shot of the same man from behind with large, bright flashes of lights from cameras in front of him creating a silhouette. It looks as if the man is standing on his own watching all this happen making his character look extremely vulnerable. The flashing lights also cause the audience to question why he is having pictures taking and who he actually is. This first scene leaves us questioning him and the situation he is in.

The next scene jumps straight into a graphic match, as the character, Hermoine, is looking straight at a newspaper after the man who was speaking was assumedly having his picture taken by the paparazzi for a newspaper. This creates a link, making the transition from the scene before smoother and less abrupt. A POV shot and a close up is used to show the significance of the newspaper, especially the heading ‘Muggle Family Murdered’. The close up shows us that this has some importance to the character or some sort of meaning to her and the letters are bold and large, grabbing the audience’s attention. There is then an establishing shot of Hermoine standing in the centre of the room. The lighting and colours make her and her room seem very dull, as she is in the human world however in the first shot of the man speaking the colours are brighter and create a more majestic look as they are not in the human world. The use of colour shows us when we are in the different locations, the wizarding world and the human world.

Straight after the shot of Hermoine in her room we go straight to another POV shot of someone looking out a window at a high angle, looking down on a Father and a boy. As they are being looked down on from a high angle it makes them look smaller and more susceptible. We then find out who is looking at them as a close up is used on Harry Potters face to show what he is feeling. It also almost tells us how he feels towards the people as he is hiding when looking at them and looking down on them. This then cuts straight into an establishing shot, showing us a change in location. The colours used are a different tone, telling us we are in the wizarding world. The shot then changes to a shallow focus shot of Ron in the foreground and his home in the background. This draws our attention straight to Ron and his facial expressions. It shows the audience what he is feeling, worried and unsure. Also the house in the blurred background’s door allows us to look slightly inside the house which is lit dimly and you can see his mother and sister bustling around. It looks homely and cosy allowing us an insight into Ron’s home making the audience more familiar with the character. The last shot we see is a POV shot of Hermione’s Mum and Dad from behind. They are oblivious to anything that is going on. The camera men move the camera closer to show that Hermoine is coming up behind them. This leaves the audience on the edge of their seat as they don’t know what she is about to do.

The use of POV shots in the extract creates a personal story to each one of the characters. We can see what’s important to them at that time, how they are feeling and the emotions portrayed clearly on their faces as they do not speak that much. Also the producers use cross cutting very effective as it shows us that there are four different stories going on at the same time. The scenes with the old man, Hermoine, Harry Potter and Ron show us four different things that are happening at the same time.  It also creates an impression that there is a lot happening at the same time. It shows the audience a series of events leaving them on the edge of their seat or questioning what’s just happened.

Screen Shots- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part one

1)      The emerging Warner Brothers logo from the mist covered in rust. As this approaching the volume of the sound of scratching metal increases. This creates a ‘bomb under table’ effect as the sound climaxes so the audience expects something to happen as the volume is getting louder.

2)      The extreme close up of the man’s eyes tell us the age of the man and how he is feeling. As you can see the eyes are squinting and the voice we can hear also supports that this man is being very serious as he is talking about a serious matter. It also creates a disorientating effect as it leaves us to question where we are.

3)      The extreme close up of the man’s eyes tell us the age of the man and how he is feeling. As you can see the eyes are squinting and the voice we can hear also supports that this man is being very serious as he is talking about a serious matter. It also creates a disorientating effect as it leaves us to question where we are.

4)      This shot shows the extreme light created from the flashing cameras. As you can see it makes him look solitary and vulnerable as the bright lights expose him. The silhouette created from the flashes creates the illusion of mystery as we do not know his position. But the silhouette makes him look powerful.

5)      The close up of the title ‘Muggle Family Murdered’ shows us that there is some meaning or importance of that headline to the character who is reading it. The large thick font grabs the audience’s attention. Also you can see that this is no ordinary newspaper as the images are moving, showing that this film is not solely based on reality. It shows the genre of the film is fantasy.

6)      The mid shot of Hermoine in her room shows us how she is feeling and her surroundings. This shot is important as it shows us the dull colour scheme of the ‘Muggle’ world that she lives in.

7)      The two shot of Mr Dursley and Dudley is a two shot and it shows forced intimacy. Mr Dursley wants to get away from Dudley and by putting them in the same scene it shows his aggravation. Also you can see that this shot has been taken from a high angle to make them look small and irrelevant. The high angle also shows how Harry feels towards them.

8)      This shot is of Harry looking out the window. The effect that the shot has of being taken from outside the window showing us what’s inside makes us question why he is hiding from them and why he is looking at the family in the first place.

9)      This is an establishing shot. It shows us that we have changed location. It also shows the abnormality of the house that we have come too as it looks extremely comical but the mood in the scene is solemn.

10)      In this shot you can see they have used shallow focus to draw the audience’s attention to Ron’s posture and facial expressions so we can figure out how he is feeling. This shows that this must have some sort of importance to what is actually going to happen so it makes us as the audience look closely.

11)      The last shot we see is a POV shot prom Hermione’s perspective of her approaching her mum and dad. They are completely oblivious that she is coming up behind them. We can see this as they make no hesitation to turn around. This creates the effect of the ‘bomb under the table’ effect as we are waiting desperately for what Hermione’s actions will be.

Ideas

This is a great sequence to analyse to look at how to create tension. The non-diegetic sound really helps this, so we will have to look into whether we are going to use music or something mroe orchestral. The use of camera angles and distances we are not expecting - being behind people or closer in than expected - also works to make the viewer feel tense.

Analysing Film Openings - Pirates of the Caribbean

Scene Summaries- Pirates of the Caribbean, the Curse of the Black Pearl

The film starts with a screen of the title of the film; Pirates of the Caribbean. The text is made by sparks of fire and turns gold on a black background. Non-diegetic music is played while this is happening, creating tension, as the music is a low spooky hum setting the atmosphere and the emotions for the audience for the first scene. The screen then fades to black and goes straight to an establishing shot of a misty sea. The establishing shot tells us where the scene is taking place, which in this case is the sea. A majestic boat then emerges from the mist slowly, creating a mysterious atmosphere.  The fact that the boat is so elaborately decorated suggests to the audience that the people on this boat are wealthy. The non-diegetic sound is carried on playing throughout the scene, underneath all the other sounds. All of a sudden we hear the diegetic sound of a girl singing a pirate song. As soon as we hear this sound the audience looks for the girl because at first you do not notice where she is. The camera films her by using the rule of thirds by keeping her on the left hand side of the boat, making the scene much more interesting. This effect makes the audiences attention focus on her, showing that she may have significance in the story. This is a sound motif, as we know that as she is singing a pirate song we know that she is going to have some sort of connection with the pirates. However the song is unexpected as her costume makes us judge her as an upper class girl as she looks like she is wearing an expensive garment, and pirates are associated with being unhygienic and shabby so this makes the audience ask themselves questions. Also pirates didn’t have such exquisitely decorated ships so we are left confused on whether she is a pirate or not.

We then go to a POV shot of the girl from behind, and the camera gets closer to her creating a ‘bomb under the table’ effect. We know something is going to happen, but we are left anticipating when it will happen. We are anxious and are left questioning who is approaching her, which creates an element of mystery. It then directly changes to a shot of the girl turning around and we see her scared expression preparing the audience too see something awful. Then the shot changes to show who was approaching her. The character shown shows the contrast between the wealthy people on the ship and the lower class people on the clip. The man who was approaching her looks dirty and his clothes aren’t as elegant as her. From his appearance we assume that he works on the ship. The element of actors in mise en scene comes into play here as you can see he has been casted in this role as he has an accent and uses colloquial language differentiating him from the other characters. Also he looks lower class, so the casting has made the character believable. The man tells her that pirate songs are ‘forbidden’ on the ship. This clears up for the audience that she is not a pirate, but then leads us to wonder why isn’t she allowed to sing pirate songs. We then see another contrast in casting and costume as two men; supposedly the owners of the ship appear on the screen. The clothes they are wearing notify us of the time period they are living in as people do not dress like that nowadays. It also creates a huge contrast between the other men who work on the ship as their costumes are pristine and smart.

Double entendre is used when one of the men who own the boat speaks to the girl about pirates. We as the audience know what he is speaking about when he says “Short drop, quick stop” and that is clarified when the man who works on the ship pretends to hang himself. This shows us the naivety of the girl, as she does not fully comprehend what is happening. This also tells us that the man doesn’t like pirates at all, which confuses us as the girl was singing a pirate song at the beginning.

The next shot creates a great mysterious feel to the shot. We see an umbrella floating along the sea alone. A shot is then taken from a low angle of the girls face. This shows her interest in the umbrella automatically making the audience interested in it.  The director used the rule of thirds and a POV shot for this part, as the umbrella floats to the right hand side of the screen and then out of the sight of the girl .This therefore makes the audience question where the umbrella has come from and where it has gone and leaves them completely oblivious to what happens next as the umbrella seems so harmless.  It makes them watch the shot differently because the umbrella was not directly in the middle third.

The next shot begins with a low angle shot of her shocked face. We do not know what she has seen making us feel anxious and making us wonder what she is seeing. A POV shot is then used to show us what she is seeing. The rule of thirds is used again in the same way the umbrella was filmed. We see a boy floating across the sea on a piece of debris. The POV shot used shows significance of his character and shocks the audience, as you wouldn’t expect to see that in the sea. The non-diegetic music becomes louder telling us how we should be feeling and setting the panicked atmosphere. Transparent editing is used as the camera goes to the boy in the water and the camera is half submerged in the water making the audience feel as if they are floating with him. As the waves lap against the camera, sound perspective is used as when the water covers the camera we hear the waves more loudly just as the boy would be hearing it. This makes the audience have a connection with the character and raises their concern for his safety as they now know what he is hearing and feeling, .The camera then goes back to show the girl emotions and shows her shouting. A group shot is then used of all the men panicking. The group shot is effective and shows that they are all feeling the same; panicked and worried. This leaves audience in question as we do not know what action they are going to take.

1)      The film starts with an establishing shot of the front of the ship and the sea. The establishing shot shows us where the scene will be taking place. This shot also shows us the immaculate golden decoration of the boat, suggesting it is owned by a rich person. Due to the mist we can only see a bit of the boat, making a tense atmosphere and creating a mysterious feel.

2)      In this shot we realise the little girl for the first time due to her singing. The rule of thirds is used as she is not in the middle third making the shot more interesting. By putting her on the left hand side of the screen makes the audience follow her singing voice to her making the audience watch the shot in a different way and drawing their attention to her.

3)      This is a POV shot of the girl from behind. The camera moves in closer to her creating the impression that someone is coming up behind her, making the audience tense and on the edge of their seat.

4)      This shot confirms that there is someone coming up behind her as we see the hand emerge from the front of the camera ready to grab the girl. We don’t see the identity of the person so we do not know what is going to happen and it makes the scene feel mysterious.

5)      This shot causes the audience to jump as the man grabs the girl by the shoulder and she gasps, making the audience think that something terrible is going to happen to her, but we then see who the man is who was approaching her; a man who works on the boat. His costume creates a large contrast to hers as her dress looks exquisite and pristine and he looks shabby and dirty. This shows us as the audience the divide between classes on the ship.

6)      This shot allows us to judge the character, as we haven’t had much of a chance to yet. Shallow focus is used to show what he is saying and what he is doing is significant. This tells the audience that he may be a significant character and makes us watch him more.

7)      This close up and shallow focus shot allows us to focus on her face to see how she is feeling. We can see she looks intrigued as she has seen something but we do not know what she has seen yet. This leads the audience to speculate. The use of shallow focus makes us focus on her and nothing else happening in the background or her surroundings.

8)      The rule of thirds is used in this shot at the umbrella does not appear straight away in the middle third, it appears on the left hand side and then floats down diagonally to the bottom right hand side. This makes the shot more interesting. Also the audience concentrates on the umbrella as you do not usually see an umbrella floating around in the sea, meaning something big is going to happen if there is one. Also it is the only thing floating around making us pay attention to the umbrella and nothing else around it as everything surrounding it looks dull in comparison.

9)      This shot is an example of transparent editing as it is almost as if the camera isn’t there. The water laps against the camera to make it look as if we are in the sea with him and it makes the scene and the situation look more realistic. In this shot sound perspective is used because we can hear the waves loudly when they move around and we can hear the sound of being submerged under water when the camera is covered by the waves.

Ideas

This sequence has a good moment in it where you make the audience jump even though nothing is really happening - the hand on the shoulder. We might be able to create a similar efect when the mother comes home.

This also reinforces the importance of music / non-diegetic sound in creating atmosphere.

This sequence shows that you can have quite a slow beginning with a lot of establishing shots and leave the sound to do the work of creating the atmosphere.

Different characters are established quite quickly and clearly here - we need to do the same wiht our characters so we will need some dialogue as this is the easiest way of establishing what characters are like.

Analysing Film Openings - Bridget Jones' Diary

Scene Summary- Bridget Jones’s Diary

The film starts with five starting credits one after the other. However, the non-diegetic sound played throughout the first scene was playing over the credits to set the mood for the scene. The music is comical and describes Bridget’s personality.

The film doesn’t start immediately, making the opening feel calm. Also the music playing tells us that it’s not going to be an action film as it is not tense. The film starts with a mid-shot of Bridget. The mid shot shows where we are and also shows the emotion that Bridget is feeling. She looks quite fed up but we can also make a judgement on her character as we have never seen her before. The mid shot also tells us what time of year it is as it is heavily snowing us telling us it is around Christmas time. Whilst this is all happening a constant voiceover speaks throughout the scene. The voiceover tells us Bridget’s thoughts at that certain time so that the audience have a connection with her and to get to know her character more. She speaks of not having a boyfriend and we can tell that this is going to one of the main themes of the film. We can also tell by the way she says it how she feels about the things she is speaking about.

The next shot uses the rule of thirds and an establishing shot. The establishing shot shows us her mother’s house which looks quite large and elaborate with several oddly shaped hedges. This suggests that her mum may be abut strange and adds to the comedy. In the next shot when she speaks her mum transparent editing is used as their conversation is filmed over the shoulder, a popular type of transparent editing. This engages us in the action.  We also see an excellent example of casting as the mum looks old and like a mum should. She speaks in a posh accent and wears old fashioned clothes. We see a contrast as Bridget is impolite and is wearing very casual, dull clothes and doesn’t speak in a posh tone. Also Bridget looks like a victim and so she is as unlucky things happens to her.
We see a two shot of Bridget and her mum showing forced intimacy as Bridget’s mum is being very critical of her. The next shot we see is of Bridget storming off up the stairs. This is filmed from a high angle as we can see everything that is going on and we can see the emotion of the two people involved, and it also makes Bridget look smaller and irrelevant which she feels she is herself, showing the audience how she feels about herself.

When Bridget changes her costume we see an even greater contrast between her and the other characters involved. This shows the audience that Bridget always seems to be out of place, making us feel sympathy towards her. Her choice of costume also makes her look undesirable as it is an ugly outfit to differentiate her more from everyone else. This is comical because all she wants to be is desirable so she can get a boyfriend but nothing seems to be going her way.

The last shot we see is a POV shot from Bridget of her drunken uncle swaying towards her and the camera sways with him telling the audience that he is drunk. Also we see his overjoyed expression and the audience immediately know that he has had too much to drink. Transparent editing is also used when Bridget is hugging her uncle as we see her forced intimacy with him from her strained facial expression, notifying the audience that she doesn’t seem to like him very much.

Screen Shots

1)      This midshot shows us the time of year it is, where we are and shows us the most important character in the film. We know this as she is Bridget Jones, and also the camera follows her movement.  This shot allows the audience to comprehend what is going on and where we are.

2)      This shot is an establishing shot. It shows us the area Bridget is in and where her mother lives, but also tells us a lot about the place. We can see that it’s quite isolated as there aren’t many people around and also by the looks of the houses it looks quite old.



3)      This is another establishing shot, but this shot also uses the rule of thirds to make the shot much more interesting. The establishing shot shows us her mother’s house and shows us the weird shaped hedges, suggesting to the audience that her mum is quite odd. The rule of thirds makes it much more interesting as it allows us to look at Bridget walking up to the house and the house at the same time.

4) Transparent editing is used in this shot in a conversation between Bridget and her mother as it is filmed in the classical way with the camera over the shoulder. This makes it look realistic and makes us feel as if we are watching a real conversation. 

5)      This shot shows the weird personality of Bridget’s mum, and it also shows good casting. Bridget’s mum looks old and dresses in old fashioned clothes making her look like an older mum. She fits the part perfectly making it more realistic for the audience.

6)This two shot shows forced intimacy between Bridget and her mother. You can see both their emotions in this shot showing us that they aren’t getting along. This tells the audience that the relationship between Bridget and her mother is very critical.

 

7)      This shot is taken from a high angle to show Bridget and her mother’s expression and to also show how Bridget feels about her mum. The high angle also makes them look quite small and comical.

8)      This is a POV shot of Bridget’s uncle. When he is swaying towards the camera, the camera sways as well to show that he is drunk. This is effective and it shows the audience how he is feeling as the screen is moving a lot.

9)      Transparent editing is used in this shot when Bridget is greeting her uncle as we see her forced intimacy with him from her strained facial expression, notifying the audience that she doesn’t like him very much.

Ideas

We have almost ruled out rom-com - we only have one actor who would feel comfortable in the role easily available and creating comedy is difficult. Because very little happens in the first two minutes, we are not sure we could create enough humour without adding in too much action.