Preliminary Task - Basic Filming Techniques

Preliminary Task

 

What We Did

 

 

The task that we did was to make a short clip demonstrating film techniques such as the 180 degree rule, match on action, and shot reverse shot. We managed to demonstrate these techniques well. Our clip lasted for 30 seconds and we followed the storyboard that was provided to us. The clip, shown below, clearly demonstrates the three techniques mentioned and, also managed to have good continuity and was easy to follow. I was an actor in this clip and I was the person who used the door and talked to the other character in the classroom.

 

 

 

What We Learned

 

We learned how best to use the three main techniques that are demonstrated in our clip.

 

At 0:07 we successfully managed to use match on action. We experimented with different angles and shot types to see what would look best, and we decided that a close-up shot of the door handle was the best, as you could easily follow what the character was doing.

 

At 0:12 we start to see the 180 degree rule and the shot reverse shot in action. We had to have multiple takes in order to achieve this and to make it look as natural as possible. We learned to follow the 180 degree rule by filming over the right shoulder of both characters.

 

The 180 degree rule, shot reverse shot and match on action

 

These three filming techniques are an integral part of the film industry and the production of a film. Firstly, the 180 degree rule is important when there is a conversation between two people and is integrated with the shot reverse shot. It is an imaginary line which is established between two conversing people and the camera should remain at both ends of this line. If the camera goes more than 180 degrees around from the previous shot, it will be more confusing to audience members and may be harder to follow. The shot reverse shot typically is shot over the shoulder of a character, with the character that's talking having the camera on them.

 



Juno Title Sequence Analysis

0:00 - Song begins
0:03 - Main character seen walking down a street, holding a bottle of Sunny D
0:08 - Group of people jog by her in the opposite direction; wearing uniform
0:10 - Transition from live action to an animation style, looks like it has been drawn on paper
0:14 - Title "Fox Searchlight Pictures Presents" comes into centre frame, green; main character walking in front of it
0:18 - "A Mandate Pictures / Mr. Mudd Production" comes into frame, yellow; main character standing to the right drinking
0:19 - Transition to main character's feet
0:23 - "A Jason Reitman Film" written in green; main character is walking with a van driving by
0:27 - "Juno" main title appears, changing colour to grab audience's attention; main character walking towards the camera
0:32 - Panning transition to lamppost, with telephone pole and wires, and birds flying above
0:36 - "Ellen Page" title appears, in orange, with close-up of main character centre-left
0:40 - "Michael Cera" title appears, in blue, with main character walking past a chair and a guitar
0:46 - Camera pans up to above a fence, "Jennifer Garner" title appears in orange, with camera continuing to follow the character as she walks across the screen
0:51 - Shot changes to the camera looking down the street, main character walks away from camera; "Jason Batema" title is revealed, in blue, as character walks; houses and surroundings aren't that detailed, but the main character is detailed. Helps to draw attention to the character.
0:59 - "Allison Janney" title appears in yellow, camera pans across the other side of the street, character seen walking down the street towards the camera
1:02 - Shot changes to mid shot of a store front, "J.K. Simmons" appears in blue as character walks across the frame
1:09 - store front changes, and main character appears standing waiting to cross the road; "Olivia Thirlby" appears in pinkya
1:14 - Close-up of main character unscrewing the lid to the bottle; drinks some of it; "Casting By" appears in orange and "Mindy Marin, C.S.A. Kara Lipson" appears underneath in yellow
1:19 - Close-up of character drinking; "Costume Designer" in orange, "Monique Prudhomme" appears larger in yellow
1:24 - Bird's Eye View of main character as leaves fall to the ground, "Music By" and "Songs By" appear in green, whilst "Mateo Messina" and "Kimya Dawson" appear larger in yellow
1:30 - transition to long shot of a park, main character walks by in foreground, "Music Supervisors" appears in white, "Peter Afterman and Margaret Yen" appear larger in yellow; joggers run by in background in opposite direction to main character
1:37 - "Co-Producers" appears in yellow, "Jim Miller" "Kelli Konop" and "Brad Van Arragon" appear larger in bright orange; character appears to be balancing on something
1:40 - "Film Editor" appears in bright orange, "Dana E. Glauberman" underneath, larger in yellow; close up of character's feet walking
1:46 - Camera pans up to see the back of main character walking; title "Production Designer" in green, "Steve Saklad" appears larger in yellow; black and white picture of background
1:50 - Title "Director of Photography" in blue, "Eric Steelberg" larger in orange; main character walking through a cartoonish forest, with a cut-out picture in the background
1:55 - Title "Executive Producers" in orange, "Joe Drake", "Nathan Kahane" and "Daniel Dubiecki" larger in yellow; close-up of character's face, standing still
2:02 - High Angle of main character, branch of a tree reveals the title "Produced By" in a light blue, "Lianne Halfon", "John Malkovich", "Mason Novick", "Russell Smith" appear larger in red
2:07 - Camera turns around to follow main character; title "Written By" in blue; "Diablo Cody" appears larger in orange
2:15 - Camera pans up from character's feet to a close up of her face, title "Directed By" appears in white, "Jason Reitman" appears larger in yellow
2:21 - Camera turns around as character walks around a corner, smooth transition from animation-style back to live action; title sequence ends as main character walks into a shop

Analysis of Film Company Logos

DreamWorks Animation

The logo for DreamWorks centralises a fisher boy who is sitting on a moon. The DreamWorks writing is underneath, along with the whole logo being framed by white, fluffy clouds below. This logo portrays the impossible, as people cannot sit on the moon like that, nor do people fish above the clouds. This can be reflected in the films they produce, which often portray things like anthropomorphic animals and impossible things that could never happen in the real world. The logo is in stark contrast with the dark sky behind, and along with a bold lettering, the bright glowing logo along with the white lettering helps it stand out to the audience. We took this stark contrast in helping to make our logo contrast.

 

 

Universal Studios

The logo for Universal appears to be very monumental. This is shown through how the earth is in the logo, making the lettering of the logo itself look huge. This can be reflected in how Universal is a major company and by having the earth in the logo, this shows how they have a worldwide presence and can be seen everywhere. The logo itself, 'Universal' also reaffirms how they are seen everywhere and are one of the largest film companies.

 

Metro Goldwyn Mayer

 

The logo for this company, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, illustrates how something like an animal can be implemented into a logo effectively. It gives the logo a strong identity, and when you hear the lion growl, you can instantly identify what logo is being shown without having to look at it. It has a very elegant design, which can put in the audience's mind that this film company has been around for some time. We took inspiration from this logo by adding a silhouette of a wolf, making an animal the centre of our logo.



Se7en Title Sequence Analysis

Se7en Title Sequence Analysis

0:02 - image of a book with the pages open

0:06 - still image of a book with the writing "new line cinema presents" also on the screen

0:10 - image of a pair of hands, distorted and in black and white

0:14 - actors name appears on screen "Brad Pitt". Black background with white creepy writing

0:18 - close up of fingers with blood and mud on them and holding a small silver blade

0:22 - flashing across the screen an actors' name "Morgan Freeman"

0:25 - title "se7en" flashes over a black screen with white font, fades to black

0:31 - shadows flash across the screen as well as another actors' name "Gwyneth Paltrow"

0:34 - close up of a pen writing on paper, 2 images of this image overlapping, so one looks like a shadow. One more actors' name "Richard Roundtree"

0:37 - red filter over the camera, slightly blurry picture with bits of random writing flashing across the screen.

0:41 - image of scissors cutting up photography films and lots of shadows in the shot

0:46 - small photograph of a child in black and white, this is over more photographs and pages of writing

0:50 - close up of a newspaper cutting in a bird's eye view, drop of blood spattered on the page

0:56 - actor's names "John Cassini, Reginald E. Cathey, Peter Crombie"

1:00 - extreme close up of a thumb smudging ink on a page of black writing

1:02 - black marker pen crossing out words on a page, POV shot

1:07 - writing in the background, blood like smudges in the foreground with black marker pen on top of that

1:11 - black background and image of a boy's face (drawing) in the top right corner, black marker pen going through his eyes. white writing "casting by..." in the foreground.
1:14 - red filter over camera, boys face in the same place again but completely crossed out this time with black marker pen and red over the top.
1:17 - top half of the shot has a red filter, images of photo (darkroom) bottom half of the image is upside down with pen writing. Writing in the foreground "music by Howard Shore"
1:27 - close up of dirty thumbs and a line of tiny hooks, writing in the foreground "production design..."
1:30 - books of writing with a page of handwriting on top. Page is upside down
1:34 - photograph in the background, clear filter over the camera which has black smudges. Marks and blots all over it. Reminds me of looking through a microscope at splattered blood.
1:39 - extreme close up of dirty thumbs playing with needles, black background.
1:43 - lots of flashing images and quick cuts.
Last 15 seconds - lots more flashing images, more writing included "produced by..." and "directed by...".
2:08 - film starts, end of title sequence.

 

Clueless Film Opening Analysis

In this film, we are shown numerous conventions that are typical in the teen angst genre. The girl that we first see is portrayed as a very typical stereotype that many people view that teenage girls act and look like. At the start, we see the production company's logo, along with a basic, but colourful title, announcing that the film is about to begin. 

For most of the opening sequence, it is a montage of what teenage girls stereotypically do. We see this main character in particular drive wrecklessly, which shows how she isn't mature and may portray that she is inexperienced in life and may not think about the consequences of her actions. We also see that the main character is shopping, and she is happy. This is a typical convention for teenage girls, as many are seen to enjoy shopping. This can also show that teenagers typically love money, and spending it.

Camerawork

In the opening sequence, we see how teenage girls act. This is helped by the camera shots that are used. Mainly, we see mid shots which give us enough details about the film, and what we are to expect. A long shot is used at the very beginning, which is to help establish where the film is to be set. During the montage, where typical conventions are highlighted, we see a party, where friends are dancing, a pool party with people laughing together, and a cafe where friends are also hanging out.

From these shots, we can clearly see how the target audience is aimed at teenage girls. This is because the content within this opening sequence will be able to be related the most to by teenage girls. This can be explained by the fact that this is what teenage girls do. They hang out with their friends, go shopping, and like to gossip. 

Editing

The editing is done in such a way that it seems fast-paced. This reflects on how the modern day seems to be much more fast-paced than previous years or generations. Many short clips are used to condense a lot of things going on into a very short timeframe. 

Mise-en-scene

The clothes which the characters wear are considered modern and following the latest fashion trends at the time of this movie's production. Part of the opening sequence shows how she picks out an outfit to wear. This shows how teenage girls are very conscious of how they look and appear to others. Not many props are used/seen in the opening, but one of note is the fresh orange juice that the main character makes. This carries through the connotation about how teenage girls care a lot about how they look.

Easy A Film Opening Analysis/Inspiration for Our Film

There are a lot of long shots to establish where the film is set. The audience can easily understand that the film is set in a city due to street lights and buildings. Mid shots are also used in order to tell the audience what city it is set in (Ojai). Even if the audience does not know the place, it is easy to understand where it is set to give the audience a good idea about the setting. We also see close ups of the American flag to establish to the audience what country that this is set in. This allows the audience to understand the type of film to expect as there is a significant difference between films made in the USA compared to other films made in different countries.

The lighting of the opening scene is very bright and cheerful, which shows the audience that this movie has elements of comedy within it, and is generally light-hearted.

Mise-en-scene

Most of the students in the school wear casual t-shirts, jeans, shorts, trainers etc. There are a few exceptions to this, such as the people who are considered ‘popular’ are a set of females who wear, heels, short skirts and dresses. This gives the audience an impression that everyone must dress according to the specific category they belong to in order to fit in.

Sound

The singing in the opening song only consists of ‘da, da, da’ being repeated again and again. This helps to create a fun and positive feel. We also hear people talking in the background along with the school bell ringing to give us a sense that the film is set in a school. The audience expects to hear a lot of background noise as schools are usually full of noisy students.

Editing

Titles appear throughout the opening scene and are plain, white and sans serif. They are very simple and shows to the audience connotations of purity and seriousness which may refer to the narrative. However, the main title for the movie is shown in white and red. Red connotes love and danger, while white connotes purity and innocence. This may refer to the themes in the movie as love, danger, purity and innocence are all covered within the movie.