Foley

The Foley Technique, named after creator, Jack Foley, is the process of recording sound and adding it in during post production. Footsteps, clothes rustling, doors opening/closing, hitting and walking are usually added through Foley. Foley artists must watch the footage that they are adding sound to, this is to ensure that the sound effects are in time with the visuals. We want to use Foley to add multiple sound effects, for example, we want a ticking noise to play at various moments in the film opening as well as the sound of running water whilst the character develops photographs in the darkroom. We may add footsteps if the camera doesn't capture the audio well enough. Below is a video showing Foley artists at work:

Filming - Day 2

We continued filming in the dark room today so that we could finish a few more shots of our title sequence. It was a successful shoot and we managed to film two more of our titles. The lighting in the darkroom is an ongoing issue, it has been difficult to get enough light in order to read the cut out letters that form our titles, however, we realised that colour played a large part in the legibility, with red and pink not showing up on camera under the red lights. We swapped these red letters for others in order to overcome the problem.

Here is one of our shots. Our title appears on the wall whilst the light flickers in the dark, providing brief flashes where the words are legible. This helps to create an uncomfortable atmosphere and is in keeping with our genre of psychological thriller. The idea of 'flashes' is a recurring theme throughout our two minute film opening as we plan to have extremely quick flashes appear of one of our character's victims. The  flashes also hint at our character's unstable mental state.

Another one of our titles appears on a cupboard as the main character opens it. It was quite difficult to light this shot as the words needed to be legible, however, too much light caused a reflection on the glossy magazine surface when the cupboard opened. We managed to overcome the problem, we had to compromise, meaning that the shot was slightly darker than we had intended.

 

On the left shows some clutter that we needed to get out of shot as we felt that it was too distracting. If we need to re-film today's footage or get any new shots, we will need to ensure that we remove these objects again for continuity. On the right is a poster that we had to remove from the cupboard in order to place our title, there were many more posters in shot that we had to remove as, not only were they distracting, but it didn't make sense for a professional photographer, like our character, to need instructions on how to develop photographs all over the room. Here is our vlog from today:

 

Heinz Advert

This Heinz advert is a great example of jump cuts and various other techniques. Each shot is extremely still, with no movement of the camera, this helps to make the overall look of the advert clean and polished, this is enforced by the seamless and smooth pans and tilts. The jump cuts make it feel fast paced, with each shot only lasting between one and two seconds, this is an idea that appeals to our group as we want to film in a coffee shop and, in order to capture the busy atmosphere, want to include several quick shots. This advert has provided a lot of inspiration due to the various shots, some wider than others and some really close-up, this helps to keep the viewer interested, I also like the way depth of field has been shown, with objects becoming more out of focus the further away from the camera they get.

Breaking Bad - Shot Inspiration

Whilst watching the television series 'Breaking Bad', I noticed some very interesting shots that I would like to include in our two minute film opening. The camera has been placed in various objects, looking out at the character, almost like a point of view shot from an inanimate object. I think that, by including a similar shot in our opening, we will have a wider range of camera angles, making it more exciting and making it stand out. I think that this type of shot will fit in well in the darkroom scene where the main character is developing photographs as she will be interacting with multiple objects, for example, pouring chemicals and opening cupboards.

 

 

 

First Day of Filming

We started filming today! We're really pleased with the shots that we got, considering this was our first time. We focused only on our title sequence as we needed access to the darkroom, something that we don't have outside of school. Hopefully we will continue filming tomorrow and will complete the title sequence by the end of the week.

Our Storyboard

Here is our storyboard for our two minute film opening. We feel like we have included a wide range of camera shots and angles, hopefully making our opening look more interesting.

 

 

 

 

 

Test Filming

We thought that it was crucial to carry out some tests so that it will be easier when we start filming. As the darkroom has limited light it is sometimes difficult for the camera to pick up details, resulting in a silhouette-like image. In our test, we experimented with different lighting, primarily using the torches built into our phones, we think that this is the best option as the light provided is not too bright. At 0:41 in the video we were trying to capture the ticking sound of the timer as this is an element that we would like to include in our two minute opening, I think that the camera captures the sound quite well, we are hoping to add the sound during post production. At this point in the video, we also experimented with strobe lighting, we quite like the effect as it is quite uncomfortable and disorientating for the viewer which helps add to the mysterious atmosphere that we want to create. We then practised a few shots to ensure that the lighting was okay. Lastly we tested one of our titles, we are hopefully going to film the full title sequence tomorrow.

Conventions of a Psychological Thriller

It is important that we look at existing films of the same genre and to research the conventions in order to create a film that conforms to the genre of psychological thriller. I have found a helpful presentation on SlideShare that contains a lot of useful information that can inspire us when planning our film opening:

 

Title Sequence Update

Jane has wondrously cut out our first title! There'll be plenty more to come soon!

  

We have decided that we want the following titles to appear in our opening:

 

.Starring Emily Field

.Directed By Elle Nash

.Edited By Charlotte Huckett

.Written By Jane Kaprata

.Production Design By ......

 

The names may not necessarily appear with the roles shown above but we are definitely going to use our own names, we'll need to think of a fifth one if we plan to do five titles.

 

I really like the magazine cuttings as I feel that the lack of consistency in font style and colour reflects the character's dissociative personality. There is an element of chaos and mystery that I find very interesting.

 

I have researched on Wikipedia and watched multiple title sequences to find the correct order in which titles should appear (I have highlighted the titles we want to use):

 

.Name of studio

.Name of production company

.Producer's name

.Starring

.Casting by

.Music by

.Edited by

.Production design by

.Directror of photography

.Produced by

.Written by

.Directed by 

Dissociative Identity Disorder in Film

A character suffering from dissociative identity disorder has been portrayed in many films, here is an article listing 'The 15 Best Movies About Multiple Personality Disorder'.

One of my favourite films on the list is 'Fight Club', a film about an insomniac who meets a soap salesman. The two men start a 'fight club', allowing people to fight recreationally, the club eventually becomes an anti-materialist, anti-corporate organisation. We later learn that these two men are dissociated personalities in the same body.

Throughout the film there are extremely quick, 'blink and you'll miss it', flashes that appear on screen. I think that these flashes show the fragile mind of the character, adding an element of confusion for the audience. This is an idea that our group was inspired by, we hope to incorporate similar flashes in our two minute opening.

Dissociative Identity Disorder

As our main character that will be featured in our film opening suffers from dissociative identity disorder (formerly known as multiple personality disorder), I thought that it would be necessary to research the disorder in order to create a lifelike, believable character. The following two links were extremely informative:

http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/dissociative-identity-disorder-multiple-personality-disorder

http://psychcentral.com/lib/dispelling-myths-about-dissociative-identity-disorder/0009785

Below is a summary of the main points.

Dissociative identity disorder is a mental process which produces a lack of connection in a person's thoughts, memories, feelings, actions or sense of identity. It is thought to be caused by a traumatic experience, the dissociative aspect being a coping mechanism.

Symptoms:

.The presence of two or more distinct or split personalities, each of which have their own age, sex or race.
.Inability to recall key personal information
.Depression
.Mood swings
.Suicidal tendencies
.Sleep disorders
.Anxiety, panic attacks, phobias
.Amnesia
.Time loss
.Trances
.'Out of body' experiences

DID is treated with therapy, psychotherapy and hypnotherapy. There are no medication treatments.

0.1% - 1% of the population suffers from dissociative personality disorder.

It is possible to not know that you have the disorder.

The main symptoms that our group has decided to focus on are amnesia, time loss and trances. This is because we want our character to be confused and unaware of her other 'life' as a killer.

Female Killers in Film

The plot of our film is a young, female photographer, suffering from multiple personality disorder, that is also a serial killer, her victims being primarily male. We are hoping to subvert gender roles and the usual character types seen in films.

In IMDb's 'Top 22 Horror Movie Serial Killers', all but one of the characters are male, demonstrating the proliferation of dominant male characters, all of which are seen, especially within the horror/thriller genre, as powerful and threatening. Women are usually portrayed as victims, being submissive and fragile, the characters in our film completely break away from these conventions, the female lead exerting her power and preying on males, showing their vulnerability.



 

Freddy Krueger -
A Nightmare on Elm Street

 

Hannibal Lecter -
Silence of the Lambs

 

Jack Torrance -
The Shining



        












Female killers in film are presented very differently to their male counterparts, in almost all cases, the women turn to crime after experiencing a trauma, the most common being sexual abuse. Vengeance is a recurring theme in these films, the female characters seeking out their abusers, this shows that even in films with a female lead, men still have important roles. The men are still shown as dominant in these abusive situations, however, the women are able to retaliate and a more sinister side of them is brought out. Below are a few examples of female killers in film that adhere to this archetype:

Jennifer Spencer (Sudden Impact) -
After she and her sister are raped, Jennifer Spencer seeks revenge and murders one of her attackers.

Aileen Wuornos (Monster) -
A prostitute kills a client in self defence after being raped, she then goes on a killing spree, murdering clients and stealing their money.

Mallory Knox (Natural Born Killers) -
The film is about Mallory Knox and her husband Mickey, two serial killers. Mallory had a neglectful mother and sexually abusive father, both of whom she murdered after meeting Mickey.

Mrs Mott/Peyton Flanders (The Hand That Rocks the Cradle) -
After her husband commits suicide following sexual assault allegations, Mrs Mott also loses her baby. She seeks revenge on the woman, and her family, that made the allegations by becoming her nanny 'Peyton Flanders' and attempting to kill her. Mrs Mott's attempt is unsuccessful, killing another woman instead.

Carrie White (Carrie) -
Carrie White is relentlessly bullied at school and seeks revenge at her prom after being drenched with blood, killing the majority of students and staff in attendance. She later returns home to her abusive mother who stabs Carrie in the back, Carrie then uses her telekinetic powers to murder her mother also.



We want our character to differ from these female killers. We have decided that we don't want our character to have an abusive past or be looking for revenge, we want her motive for killing to be simple - because she enjoys it. I think that this makes her more fearsome and intriguing as there isn't a clear reason for her violent side, making her a more mysterious character.

Title Sequence Ideas

As a group we have decided that our opening credits will appear in a sequence of their own, this will take place entirely in the dark room. We want to incorporate our titles in real life - having them appear physically in the fictitious world of our film instead of adding them during post-production, we hope to use letters cut out of magazines and placed in various locations in the dark room.

Saul Bass was an American graphic designer and award winning filmmaker, he designed many title sequences during his career, some of which are thought to be among the best in the history of film. Here is a useful link to a website that contains stills from all of the films he has worked on:

http://annyas.com/screenshots/saul-bass-title-sequences/

Two of his sequences particularly stand out to me as they follow the same idea of physically including the titles. In 'West Side Story', the titles appear written on a wall whilst in 'That's Entertainment, Part II' they appear in various ways, such as in books, written in sand or on an old cash register.





“For the average audience, the credits tell them there’s only three minutes left to eat popcorn. I take this ‘dead’ period and try to do more than simply get rid of names that filmgoers aren’t interested in.
I aim to set up the audience for what’s coming; make them expectant.”

I really like this quote from Saul Bass as it emphasises the importance of a title sequence. They should be exciting for the audience and serve as a 'taster' for the rest of the film, in terms of style and content. It is for this reason that we chose to use magazine cuttings, we think that they add an element of mystery that is in keeping with our character's personality, they are also more interesting to look at instead of plain text in the bottom corner of a frame like in many films.

Another film that served as inspiration was 'Napoleon Dynamite', below are stills from the title sequence:

I think that this is a very interesting and clever way to incorporate titles. The bright colours and trivial subject matter help to create a humorous atmosphere, although this is in contrast to the mood we wish to create, it still helped us to generate ideas.

Mac 4 Update Vlog

National Portrait Gallery Vlog

A very quick vlog about my trip to the National Portrait Gallery:

Our Idea

Today, we started to generate ideas and build on our existing one, we now have a clear idea for our two minute film opening. Our film follows a young girl, who is a photographer, that also suffers from multiple personality disorder, this causes her to take on another persona as a serial killer but being unable to remember it as her 'normal' self.

A brainstorm of our ideas

Our title sequence brainstorm

The opening will see her doing routine tasks, such as sitting in a coffee shop and taking and developing photographs, creating the illusion that she is a normal girl. As she takes the photos, an extremely quick flash of an image will appear on screen showing a crime scene and/or one of her victims. We want these flashes to be confusing for the audience to reflect her mental state and obliviousness to her crimes.

We have started to think about filming locations, we definitely want to film in the darkroom as it is quite mysterious due to the lack of light, we also feel like it offers a lot of opportunities for interesting shots and angles. This choice was partly inspired by the film 'Se7en', in which the killer's apartment has a darkroom. During the darkroom sequence, we also want to add our titles.



Our Darkroom (shown with both normal lighting and red lights)

 

 

Movie stills from 'Se7en' showing photographs in the darkroom

We have decided on a name for our film, but this could change if we think of something even better. We have chosen the title '4 Minutes', a reference to the time it takes to develop a photograph, however, it could also refer to the time it takes for the main character to carry out her crimes.

We want there to be a big emphasis on sound in the opening two minutes. We have decided not to include dialogue in order to create an unsettling silence. Whilst in the dark room, there will be numerous sounds, for example, the pouring of chemicals, a running tap and opening cupboards. We also want to have the very clear and distinct sound of a camera shutter as she takes her photographs. The sound of a ticking timer will also play throughout the opening, a reference to the title, but also in order to create an uncomfortable and uneasy atmosphere. We are planning to add in most of the sounds during post production through the use of Foley, this is to ensure that the sounds are not muffled and so that we do not have to worry about capturing the sounds during filming.

We liked the idea of having a close up shot of a timer
 counting down 

I like this shot as it is from an interesting angle and
emphasises perspective

We wanted to have a shot of some film strips and to also
include the titles in various interesting places

 

City of God

Today I watched the Brazilian film 'City of God', directed by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, and it was absolutely amazing. It gave an honest look at the gripping story of gangs in the City of God, a slum outside of Rio de Janeiro. The opening scene perfectly captures the energetic atmosphere through the use of the recognisable Brazilian music as well as quick shots, both of these elements setting the scene and creating a fast paced, exhilarating and flamboyant setting. We explore the bustling streets of the slum as we follow Li'l Zé, the film's antagonist, and his gang that includes children as young as eight, guns in tow, as they attempt to catch a runaway chicken. This sequence adds a humorous element creating a very obvious contrast to the serious subject matter. The chase comes to an abrupt halt as we are introduced to the film's protagonist, Rocket, a photographer, who stands in the street, staring wide-eyed at the gang, at this moment, police arrive on the other side of the street and Rocket is caught between the two sides, both of which now have their guns drawn. Rocket provides a voiceover narration throughout the film as he explains his story, and the stories of those around him, even that of a single apartment's journey from family home to drug den. He addresses the audience directly, making it feel like a more personal experience and transports the viewer into Rocket's world. The film jumps through time quite often in order to provide background information about certain characters so that current events make more sense, the first example of this comes at the end of the chase sequence. The camera swirls around Rocket and we travel to the 1960s where we find him playing football as a child, this juxtaposes the built up setting in the present and the remote town of the past. The transition between the dull grey colours of the slum to the bright golden tones creates an interesting visual and really emphasises the changes that have occurred. There is also the obvious difference between the children shown in both times, whilst the children of the 60s play football, in present day they roam the streets with guns, growing up surrounded by violence. The opening scene sets up many of the ideas that are explored throughout the rest of the film and introduces the audience to two of the main characters, all while perfectly setting the tone of the film. I really enjoyed 'City of God', not only because of the enticing story but also because of the beautiful cinematography, I think it is definitely a must-see film.

BFI Visit and Vlog

Today we went to the British Film Institute for a study day. We received talks from Pete Fraser, the chief Media Studies examiner, about what makes a good film opening. He listed the key features as:

.Genre
.Narrative
.Character
.Atmosphere
.Setting

I think it was very useful to learn about these features as our group can start to think about them in more detail to create a good film opening. We were also shown examples of previous students' work, highlighting the good points and things that needed improvement. I think that it is important to view work from your peers, as well as from the industry, as it helps you to set realistic goals as you are aware of what can be achieved with the equipment available. I also found it beneficial to learn about commonly used, cliché ideas, this will help us to conceive an original idea as we will be able to avoid these clichés.

We also received a talk from Hannah Rothman, an associate director that creates trailers for films. I enjoyed finding out more about different jobs within the media industry, specifically in film, as she described the process of creating a trailer and what it is like working as a team and with clients. Here is the trailer for 'The Selfish Giant', a project that Rothman worked on:



Lastly, we received a talk from Dexter Fletcher who has had experience in both acting and directing. I though it was interesting to learn about both of these aspects of film making and found it an invaluable experience to listen to a director talk about his film and explain the ideas behind it. We were shown the openings of two of his films, 'Wild Bill' and 'Sunshine on Leith', unfortunately I could only find a promo and trailer for the films respectively:





Here's our vlog from the day:

Se7en Opening Credits

In today's lesson, we started watching the film 'Se7en', directed by David Fincher. Below are the opening credits.

I really like the opening credits because the use of non-continuity editing, a montage, and the various editing techniques immediately set the mood for the rest of the film, I think it has captured the atmosphere of the film very effectively. The sequence is extremely unsettling, due to the imagery and the jump cuts and flashing images, making it disorientating for the viewer. The jolting titles also help to create an agitated and unhinged atmosphere. The close up and extreme close up shots make the sequence feel uncomfortable as the viewer gets to see an intimate view of the subjects.

Overall, I think that the opening credits, and the film as a whole, will provide a lot of inspiration when we start thinking of ideas for our film opening as we are planning to do a psychological thriller, the same genre as Se7en. I really like the idea of using jump cuts and/or flashing images to create an unsettling atmosphere and we will definitely consider using these techniques in our film opening.

Mac 4 Gogglebox

Creating our Gogglebox video has been very helpful, providing us with inspiration for our film opening. It has widened our knowledge of many of the technical elements of film making, especially camera shots and angles. Editing the video has also given the group more practise on iMovie, hopefully saving us time when we edit our film opening as we would be familiar with the software. We learnt how to use the 'picture-in-picture' function, allowing us to play two clips on screen at once, this could be an interesting technique to use in our opening.

Mac 4 Update Vlog

Gogglebox Vlog

We finished filming our Gogglebox inspired video today and, as a group, I think we're quite pleased with the result. All we have to do now is edit it so hopefully it will be uploaded soon.

Blogger App and More

I've just downloaded the blogger app and am testing to see if it works. I am really excited about it as I will be able to blog wherever I am.

Also, I have downloaded the IMDb app. It has a lot of interesting and useful information on it and has details on what films are out right now, what films are topping the box office as well as details on upcoming releases. IMDb's top 250 films list should be useful when looking for inspiration for our film opening. The app also shows what films and T.V series are popular right now and has a news section so that users can stay up to date with all things film related. Overall, I am really impressed with the app as it gives people access to so much information wherever they are.

Mac 4 Vlog Update

Market Poll - Further Analysis

After looking at the results of my survey, I was able to create a profile for each demographic. I did this by looking at individual answers then calculating an average. The profiles are shown below:

Female:

Age	Favourite Film Genre	Least Favourite Film Genre	Age Certificate	Importance of Film Openings	Most Important Elements in Film
15 or Under	Action	War	12A	Not Very Important	Mise-en-scene
16 - 20	Crime	Historical/Horror/ War/Western	15	Very Important	Mise-en-scene
21 - 25	Adventure/ Comedy/Drama	Action	15	Important	Camera Angles and shots/Editing/Sound
26 - 30	Action/Drama/ Romance	Musical/Thriller/ Western	12A	Important	Mise-en-scene/Sound
31 - 35	Comedy	War	15/18	Very Important	Mise-en-scene
36 or Above	Romance	Horror	15	Important/Very Important	Editing/Sound

Male:

Age	Favourite Film Genre	Least Favourite Film Genre	Age Certificate	Importance of Film Openings	Most Important Elements in Film
21 - 25	Action/Comedy/Drama	Romance	15	Very Important	Sound
36 or Above	Comedy/Science Fiction	Western	15	Important	Camera Angles and Shots/Sound