continuity editing VS montage editing

There are two types of editing, continuity and montage, these vary with what type of film you are going to be making.

Continuity editing is the predominant style of film editing and video editing in the post production process of filmmaking narrative films and television programmes. Its purpose is to put scenes together in chronological order so it provides a continuity narrative. Hollywood movies tend to use continuity editing a lot more than montage editing.


Montage editing is a different to continuity editing and is commonly used in Avant garde/art films. It involves a mixture of scenes that clash with one another therefore bringing another meaning to the shots that follow. An example of this is Kurt Cobains Eraserhead. It is a fast paced that compresses time and conveys a lot of information in a small space of time.

genre worksheet

storyboard

As my storyboard isn't very clear on the writing part, I will write out each of what the boxes say.

1) This is where the news report is talking about a girl's one year death anniversirry. The news report urges all parents and children that are going trick or treating to be careful and stick together. The news report also explains how a story hasn't been pieced together still and the killer that did this is still out there. A hotline is then shown on screen for anyone with any information.

2) The next shot is the beginning of a series of shots showing the duo killers beginning to stalk another young girl, angie. The shot shows angie walking in to school, but in the corner of the camera, the stalker/killer is watching her.

3) The next shot is continuing on from the series of shots showing the stalker following her everyday routine. This shot shows her at the park, having fun, completely unaware of the stalker staring at her right behind her.

4) This next shot is a shot of her normally walking in to her house and the stalker is still watching her, once again she is completely unaware.

5) The next shot shows the stalker walk up to Angie's house and knock on the door that she just went in, with a knife in his hand. To make this shot exciting we used jump cuts and special flashing effects and knocking sound effects to make it more intense, the stalker then turns round and stares at the camera.

6) The stalker has killed angie, we know this because then the stalker is walking away from her house with a bloody knife. We see no sign of angie.

7) The next shot is a quick newsflash, using the green screen and it is an emergency breaking news. It states that a little girl has been killed, it has the same MO as the little girl that was killed a year ago today, it talks about how they believe she was being stalked ad urges all parents and children again to be careful and call the hotline if they know anything or recognize anything dodgy.

8) Sadly there is a slide saying about Angie's funeral, the last shot is the stalker/killer still stalking her even though she is dead. He is stood over her grave laughing, the credits then begin to roll.

initial idea 2

horror idea 2

1) news report on a street, explains about the death of someone a year ago. Explains that the mystery is still unsolved and warning parents to look out for their kids.

CUTS TO

2) body of child/ or close up of a graveyard

3) shot of houses/sweets/banners/kids - letting people know its Halloween - happy music

4) MUSIC CUT - creepy daunting music, woods shot, sky/ mask appears behind trees. Long shot then gets closer and closer.

5) POV shot, knocking on the door

horror movie draft initial ideas

horror movie

•  weird stalker/creepy man, beginning staring at a computer screen
•  fades out, ends with shutting computer screen
•  digital fuzzy camera broke

                                                      OR

- flash to family, Halloween                                                     - use captions to ell the story,
, getting ready, sweets, costumes,                                           keep it as minimal, creepy still.
decorations.



- filming in the woods, head camera                                      - woods filming, appears in
his point of view, following children                                          different places, quick shots,
                                                                                                  point of view cameras.

• opening caption "a year ago to this day..."
• a shot of grave/dead person in somewhere
• another caption.. a mystery still unsolved
• POSSIBLE - shot of house decorating sweets/ houses HALLOWEEN. a "Halloween special"
• Shot of the woods, behind trees, flashshots of man, close up of mask

short film beginning ideas

http://aso.gov.au/titles/features/romeo-and-juliet/clip1/

for the beginning of my short film, I wanted to have a news report reporting a death that is still unsolved however I didn't know what t say or where to film it! I was looking at previous ones and came across this romeo and Juliet scene where it begins in a TV news report from far away and slowly gets closer. I think this could work with the green screen and then we have an old fashioned big TV in which we could reflect my face on to it to make it look more professional and like im sat in an actual studio. This is better than my original idea of doing a news report in the middle of the street because with the green screen and technology we can make the lighting perfect and make it look a lot more professional! The youtube clip above is where I got my inspiration from.

questionairre and target audience

here I done a questionnaire to find out what my target audience was going to be for my short film. Results shown that it was a split between male and female, either would watch it, obviously there was more film watchers which was a good thing. Also they prefer watching films at home rather than the cinema. The age groups were all very similar so we could choose any really, our target audience is over 18 year olds due to it being a horror, which on our questionnaire was the preferred genre of all of them. The audience we were looking at only watched films weekly so that is quite often.

difference with qualitative and quantitative data

 

 

 

 

QUALITATIVE
- text based
- more in depth information
= unstructured or semi structured response options
- no statistical tests
methods include focus groups and in depth interviews
- less generalizable
- more subjective


QUANTITATIVE

- number - based
- not as in depth but covers a wider range of information
- fixed response options
- statistical tests are used
- more generalizable
- surveys, structured interviews and observations
- more objective

when looking at research for my coursework and looking for ideas with my short film I would choose qualitative data as I need to look for detail and existing films to analyse.

 

textual analysis

textual analysis short film - pudding bowl

Pudding bowl – directed by Vanessa Caswill – textual analysis

Lilly trkulja

 

Camerawork

There were a variety of shots used throughout this short film and I believe they represent different things. The first shot I noticed was a mid - shot, I think this shot was used to really emphasise that there was something odd about her brother. This is a shot of him sat Blankley staring at her, I think this shot was held for quite a long time, therefore the audience may believe there’s something mysterious about him. I also like the use of the low angle shot, when her mum is cutting ivy’s hair off, this really emphasis how much hair is being cut off and it’s portrayed in a unique way but I think its effective and works and it’s such a simple shot to use! Another shot where the low angle was used was where the mother is staring down at ivy shouting, I think in this case it represents the power that her mum has over ivy and we almost feel sorry for her as she looks helpless sat on the floor. I like the use of the panning/tracking shot when she is pretending to be this lady on a bike, it’s like she’s in the fantasy world and I think the tracking shot following her on the bike works well here.

Editing

I liked the use of the jump cuts used when her mum is cutting off her hair, this is fast paced and exciting and I think it works well because it’s got shouting along with it, it’s like the more she shouts, the angrier she is getting, the more hair she is cutting off and it keeps us watching because we want to know if her mum will calm down. I’m not sure what the technique is called but I like the switch to the imaginary world of her riding the bike, and the hazy, colourful effect on this, I think this fits well with the 50’s/60’s theme that the whole film is set around too. Then to get back to the normal scene they used a fade which I think was smooth and neat. They used a slow motion technique when the hair was being cut off and I think this is effective as it goes silent and we see the last of the hair fall to the floor slowly, I think this then makes us excited and nervous to see what ivy is going to look like.

Sound

There isn’t much dialogue in the beginning however they do start with a classic 50’s/60’s themed music which I think is good as it then relates and we know exactly what time era it is going to be set in. I think the music works well with the photographs and magazines ivy is cutting out, it all links. After ivy had her hair cut, there is a non-diegetic gentle, quiet piano playing a few notes and it shoes ivy staring in the mirror. I think the piano is effective as it isn’t a full on sad song but it makes us feel really sorry for ivy! I think the sound works well here. After ivy becomes happier and goes to get revenge to her brother we then hear a happy, exciting song being played, upbeat and as the audience we then feel hope towards ivy and are almost cheering her on.

Mise en scene

I think from the costume it tells us a lot about ivy, the old fashioned little dress and the big geeky glasses straight away we assume she is a lonely little quiet girl that keeps herself to herself. Later on in the film there is a scene of ivy putting her mums wig and lipstick on, I think this demon straights the typical stereotype of the little girl wanting to be like someone, this is then reflected as throughout we see the picture of the lady she cut out in the beginning and we link the two. The lighting when she is pretending to be the lady on the bike it bright and sunny and she looks pretty and flawless and the boys are running after her may contrast with how ivy really feels.

When watching this short film I realised that my short film doesn't have to be too complicated, a simple storyline is effective. Also I don't need many different locations or tons of characters to make it a successful short film.

short film VS feature film...

primary and secondary research

primary research - also called field research, involves a collection of data that doesn't already exist. Examples are things like; surveys, focus groups, letters, email, social media.

secondary research - use someone else's findings to help your research. Examples include; newspapers, internet, books, lectures, TV programmes, apps, radio, textual analysis.

There are positives and negatives of all of these. I have chosen a few research methods I am going to use for my coursework. I think the research method I am going to be using most is the internet, this is accessible at home and in school, it is easy, quick and gives you a wide choice of things to look at. The internet comes in really handy when wanting to find existing clips to analyse and get ideas from. I also think one of the main research methods I will be using is television, it is easily accessed and as my film genre is going to be horror, I can look at the horror channels for idea and inspiration. However there is the possible situation of the TV having a power cut, which is highly unlikely. Another research method I think would come in handy is a questionnaire/survey. I think I could use this with people in my school and find out things like what would they want to see in a short horror clip? I think this would be useful to find out the film review page, get some honest opinions to write about. They are quick and easy to make and cost nothing. The last method I think I could use is the industry websites, these provide reliable information however this information could be from a biased point of view.

There are still a few research methods that I wont use but I could consider for the future. For example, phone calls, they are quick, easy and straight to the point. Emails are a more direct and personal way of researching and finding information out however they are time consuming waiting for someone to reply. Magazines and newspapers are a quick and easy way of getting hold of however they could possibly be unreliable. I wont use letters as a research method because I think they are old fashioned and there is the possibility they could get lost, also I don't think they would help my coursework. Textual analysis I think is an interesting method to use but it means you may interpret things wrong. I am going to practise this with short films, it just wont be my man method of research.

codes and conventions of short films

history of the cinema

history of the cinema..

 

The IMR

The key code is the international language of film or Institutional Mode of Representation (IMR)
IMR is the style of films that developed during the Classic Era of Hollywood.
Elements of IMR are:

• Invisible camera and editing
• Psychological realism
• Linear narrative
• Continuity editing
• Codes of sound and image mean the same in every film

The Primitive Style

All cinema started with the primitive style which was very simple and like normal life, some features of Primitive Style are:

• Frontal staging
• Tableau style - long shots
• Exaggerated gestures
• Hardly any camera movement
• No point of view shot
• Silent, unsophisticated - more like melodramatic mime (e.g. Lumiere Brothers 1895)

D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation in 1915 is a great example of a morally wrong film but applied great film making at the time, for example the use of long shot to close-up. It was also the first very long film - lasting 3 hours long!


The Jazz Singer by Al Jolson in 1927 was the first ever film to feature sound.

Classical Hollywood Cinema (CHC)

Bordwell and Thompson had a theory there are 6 principal characters of CHC, these were:

• Individual characters as casual agents
• Desire
• Change in characters
• Appointments/deadlines
• Opposition that creates conflict
• Closure

Markers in Cinema

A marker provides information to the audience quickly and economically. Markers can provide information about:

• Location - Geographical marker
• Time/era - Temporal/historical marker
• Genre - Generic marker
• Information about a character - Character marker

narrative structure

A narrative is a spoken or written account of connected events (like a story). There are also different forms within narrative structure..

- linear; linear narratives follow a straight line, starting at the beginning, then to the middle and then the end of a story.

- open; open narratives are usually found in television series. It is difficult to define the beginning, middle and end of a story in an open narrative. it also has more than one story line.

- closed; a closed narrative structure is most commonly found in movies, They contain a clear, beginning middle and an end. The audience are aware they are watching a complete story, watching a film knowing what the ending will be. 

- circular; a circular narrative is a story that ends in the same place it began.

difference with story and plot

short film analysis

short of the week - film analysis

my favourite genre!

inner and outer form

Inner form (thematic)

Themes, morals, messages, characters, typical storylines.

Outer form (iconography)

Location, mise en scene, colours, marketing. e.g - film posters

Examples:

sci - fi inner form; good VS bad, save others worlds, a mission to complete, seeing into the future, space, time travelling.

sci - fi outer form; futuristic, location, metallic colours, technology, gadget's, aliens, other worlds.




horror inner form; ghosts, demons, possession, children can be the victims, documentary based on real life events/ true story.

horror outer form; blood dark places, not a lot of lighting, maybe a candle light, dolls, knives mirrors, babies, toys, clowns, red, black.



rom com inner form; happy, friends, fall in love, romance, typical high school crush,humorous sidekick,

rom come outer form; American, graduation , prom, cities, big well known buildings, teenage parties, train stations.

film genres

There are many different genre's in film. Here are a few in my spider diagram. I am going to be looking at the theory about genres by Rick Altman. He suggested that in order to fully understand the concept of a genre you need to take a 3 point approach.

1) Semantic - The semantic approach is looking at the things that make up a genre. Examples of these are you're typical costumes props and settings. In my genre of horror you would expect the setting to be dark and unnerving, the costumes to have masks, blood, knifes, all in black, the settings would be places like haunted houses, the woods etc.


2) Syntactic - This approach is the deeper structure of the genre which would be things like the themes, narrative and characters relationships. For example in my genre of horror the themes would be death, revenge, isolation. The conventional narrative would be something like a psycho killer is out to stalk or kill an innocent person. The character relationship in my film isn't really linked however could be something like the protagonist had a bad past with the killer.

3) Pragmatic - Rick Altman realised that the genre of media text can be interpreted differently by different members of the audience. This means when developing your genre you need to keep in mind that the audience will not always understand the genre as other members of the audience might. Everyone interprets a genre differently and that's the fascinating thing about film and can work and be amazing or wont work and wont be a success.

introduction to A2

Introduction to A2 media.

for this years media coursework I am going to be creating a short film that will last approximately 5 minutes. I will also be creating two of the three following things to go alongside the short film

- a poster for the film

- a radio trailer of the film

- a film magazine review page featuring the film