Friday, 14 January 2011
Tuesday, 4 January 2011
Deconstruction of The Shinning, 1980
Director - Stanley Kurbick
Budget - $22,000,000
Box Office Takings -
USA - $622,237 (no UK viewable)
IMDb - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081505/
Deconstruction: In the opening 2 minutes, we follow a car travelling through a remote rural area. We see little buildings, mainly trees abd mountains this emphasizes the remote aspect and signifies isolation, that whoever we're following is far from help. Mainly birds eye view shots are used making the car look much smaller connoting vulnerability.
The music used is the signifier for what genre the film is. The non-diegetic music increases in volume as the car travels this makes it more tense and makes the audience feel its leading to a climax.
Still following the car the titles begin to run over the shots, the titles are in capitals, sans serif and in a powder blue colour. This colour could connote several things, the colour itself doesn't really fit in with the context of the genre, powder blue is normally associated with oceans and calm and relaxed. However the powder blue could be used to emphasize something out of the normal, which could relate to the plot of the film.
Nothing really occurs in the opening of this film however an idea of the setting is relayed to the audience with the contrast of a relaxed 2 minutes with the tense music.
Story Line: A man, his son and wife become the winter caretakers of an isolated hotel where Danny, the son, sees disturbing visions of the hotel's past using a telepathic gift known as "The Shining". The father, Jack Torrance, is underway in a writing project when he slowly slips into insanity as a result of cabin fever and former guests of the hotel's ghosts. After being convinced by a waiter's ghost to "correct" the family, Jack goes completely insane. The only thing that can save Danny and his mother is "The Shining".
Trailer:
Budget - $22,000,000
Box Office Takings -
USA - $622,237 (no UK viewable)
IMDb - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081505/
Deconstruction: In the opening 2 minutes, we follow a car travelling through a remote rural area. We see little buildings, mainly trees abd mountains this emphasizes the remote aspect and signifies isolation, that whoever we're following is far from help. Mainly birds eye view shots are used making the car look much smaller connoting vulnerability.
The music used is the signifier for what genre the film is. The non-diegetic music increases in volume as the car travels this makes it more tense and makes the audience feel its leading to a climax.
Still following the car the titles begin to run over the shots, the titles are in capitals, sans serif and in a powder blue colour. This colour could connote several things, the colour itself doesn't really fit in with the context of the genre, powder blue is normally associated with oceans and calm and relaxed. However the powder blue could be used to emphasize something out of the normal, which could relate to the plot of the film.
Nothing really occurs in the opening of this film however an idea of the setting is relayed to the audience with the contrast of a relaxed 2 minutes with the tense music.
Story Line: A man, his son and wife become the winter caretakers of an isolated hotel where Danny, the son, sees disturbing visions of the hotel's past using a telepathic gift known as "The Shining". The father, Jack Torrance, is underway in a writing project when he slowly slips into insanity as a result of cabin fever and former guests of the hotel's ghosts. After being convinced by a waiter's ghost to "correct" the family, Jack goes completely insane. The only thing that can save Danny and his mother is "The Shining".
Trailer:
Deconstruction of 'Halloween',1978
- Directed by John Carpenter
- With a estimated budget of $ 320,000
- Made $47,000,000 (USA) ( No UK figures given)
The film begins with the credits. To fit in with the context of the films title the only visible object you see whilst the titles roll is a pumpkin which connotes a halloween theme to the film.
The pumpkin progressively increases in size as the credits roll, the light inside the pumpkin also creates an eary effect. The tense music played increases in tempo and volume as the credits continue, the music creats more suspense as it changes the audience heart beat with the rhythm.
The titles themself change in colour from a yellow to a red. These colours can be symbolic for evil and hell.
The credits end 1min 59 secs, the pumpkin has now zoomed in so that all is visible is the the eye and nose of the object, which also emphasizes the presence of the flickering candle overall creates an evil image through the use of the pumpkin. This is quite a low budget opening and appears so to the audience however the preferred reading has been created and the audience are aware of what film it is.
The film opens with exposition by the name of a town being shown, it denotes a small town. The titles are down in white against a black screen this is a prime example of binary opposites, white and black are seen as good and evil however in this case the small amount of white can signify the small amount of good in the film compared to the vast blackness surrounding it, signifying the evil in the film.
A background noise of a children rhyme connotes what we might see in the opening of the film, its then followed by anchorage to the film, setting the date, '1973 - Halloween'.
The film proceeds with a shot of a detached white house which signifies the class we're looking at and the neighbourhood the events are going to take place in, it also creates an illusion of isolation and vulnerability. This shot has a blue tint to it, which signifies a full moon connoting supernatural or cold hearted atmosphere. This first scene is shot in the point of view of a character, who it is isn't shown till the end of the scene.
We see the figure watch through the window of a young couple together. The couple then leave the room and go upstairs.
The music then begins, a single instrument, a piano. As we watch the mystery person walk through the house the young man returns downstairs replacing his top, this signifies that the couple have has sexual intercourse. And horror code and conventions normally revolve around the idea that a girl has sinned therefore she should be punished, this can be seen in this film as the referred sexual intercourse is her sin and therefore she will be punished.
The mystery person picks a mask from the floor which he then covers his face with, this creates a smaller view for the audience to watch through. This creates more suspense and tension as the shot is emphasized again as a point of view and the audience begin to fear that an event is about to occur.
Sunday, 12 December 2010
My Coursework Pitch
My idea for the 2 minute opening coursework task was a horror, the film When A Stranger Calls and the book The Babysitter gave me inspiration for my idea.
There have been two versions of When A Stranger Calls, one in 1979, Directed by Fred Walton.
And the re-make made in 2006
I would like to open the film with a throwback to the black and white hammer horror classics, with a twist of emphasizing the gore in colour to show reality and to create a dramatic effect on the audience, this means the last shot will be in colour.
In the opening 2 minutes we see a babysitter finishing a bed time story to a child.
Later we see her on the phone to her boyfriend as she invites him over, saying the parents won't be back till much later. A reference is made signifying the girl is sexually active.
After the call she starts to hear noises upstairs. Interposed shots used of the girl downstairs as you hear a scream from upstairs.
The babysitter goes to the girls room and finds the bed empty and blood on the bed and floor, this shot will be in colour.
There have been two versions of When A Stranger Calls, one in 1979, Directed by Fred Walton.
And the re-make made in 2006
I would like to open the film with a throwback to the black and white hammer horror classics, with a twist of emphasizing the gore in colour to show reality and to create a dramatic effect on the audience, this means the last shot will be in colour.
In the opening 2 minutes we see a babysitter finishing a bed time story to a child.
Later we see her on the phone to her boyfriend as she invites him over, saying the parents won't be back till much later. A reference is made signifying the girl is sexually active.
After the call she starts to hear noises upstairs. Interposed shots used of the girl downstairs as you hear a scream from upstairs.
The babysitter goes to the girls room and finds the bed empty and blood on the bed and floor, this shot will be in colour.
Complete Pre-lim Task
I worked on this task with Maddy,
The first edit of our video....
However after completing the first edit, we agreed to edit several things.
We realised that the clips didn't run smoothly and the cut between shots were very obvious, we then edited some of our clips to make the transition smoother. We also decided that we would get rid of a clip of Maddy coming through the door as we were unable to make the transition from her entrance to her sitting down perfect, therefore we used a clip not shown in the first edit, from a different angle to show a perspective of her sitting down without the concern of the clips not fitting together.
Final Edit...
If I could change my final edit I would have made the story line more interesting instead of the simplicity used in this one and would have also tried to use a shot that broke away from the 180 degree rule to show the contrast in the type of shots.
Overall I was happy with my final edit, it had completed the task given but with more time I would have liked to have made it more original and creative.
The first edit of our video....
However after completing the first edit, we agreed to edit several things.
We realised that the clips didn't run smoothly and the cut between shots were very obvious, we then edited some of our clips to make the transition smoother. We also decided that we would get rid of a clip of Maddy coming through the door as we were unable to make the transition from her entrance to her sitting down perfect, therefore we used a clip not shown in the first edit, from a different angle to show a perspective of her sitting down without the concern of the clips not fitting together.
Final Edit...
If I could change my final edit I would have made the story line more interesting instead of the simplicity used in this one and would have also tried to use a shot that broke away from the 180 degree rule to show the contrast in the type of shots.
Overall I was happy with my final edit, it had completed the task given but with more time I would have liked to have made it more original and creative.
Monday, 6 December 2010
Pre-Lim Task.
Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.
Match on Action- connects two shots cut together by having a character finish an action in the second shot begun in the first shot. For instance, if a character lights a match in the first shot, the same character will draw it up to a cigarette in the second.
Shot/Reverse Shot- After an establishing shot, the shot-reverse shot refers to the close-ups used when two characters are in conversation. (Because we have already used an establishing shot, we now know where the characters are in relation to one another.) First both of the actors engaged in a conversation are shown in a two-shot then the camera cuts in to mid shots and close-ups of one actor and then the other, usually from a position 'over the shoulder' of the other actor.
180-degree rule-The 180° rule is a basic guideline in film making that states that two characters (or other elements) in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line.
Match on Action- connects two shots cut together by having a character finish an action in the second shot begun in the first shot. For instance, if a character lights a match in the first shot, the same character will draw it up to a cigarette in the second.
Shot/Reverse Shot- After an establishing shot, the shot-reverse shot refers to the close-ups used when two characters are in conversation. (Because we have already used an establishing shot, we now know where the characters are in relation to one another.) First both of the actors engaged in a conversation are shown in a two-shot then the camera cuts in to mid shots and close-ups of one actor and then the other, usually from a position 'over the shoulder' of the other actor.
180-degree rule-The 180° rule is a basic guideline in film making that states that two characters (or other elements) in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line.
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