Friday, 7 May 2010

Film presentation evaluation

12/03/10

Today we presented our group films to our clients from the Bath Film Office. We created a short power point presentation that included topics such as: Information on location, accounts of the film making process, problems we encountered, editing our film and what we thought of it overall.

For our group films we chose two, Frankie's and Harriet's, we chose these films because we thought they met the brief and criteria the best out of all of the films. We each presented a section of the presentatio, harriet and frank presented their films and everyone else chose what was relevant to the role they took in the whole process. I presented the filming process section as i did most of the camera work in the film.

I think the feedback we got from the two people from the Bath Film Office was good, overall they liked our film and gave us positive feedback.

Friday, 26 February 2010

Film Sound annalysis

Recognizing Diegetic and non-Diegetic sounds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KCGrf2w2As << link to first video as i couldn't embed it.

This clip is the opening credits and a bit of the first part of the film Edward Scissor Hands. The film credits start with the soundtrack of the film which is music with only simple vocals of no specific words just singing. After this there is a small bit of audio between a little girl and her grandma, describing Edward scissor hands and gives you an insight into what or who the film is about. The grandma is almost being a narrator for the first part of the film so that the audience understands it more. and it kind of helps to describe the plot of the film. The music from the beginning of this film also bridges with this first scene as it carries on fluently into the next scene then slowly fades away.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpEiOjZaBAU

There are both Diegetic and Non-Diegetic sounds in this film the beginning of the extract starts with using Non- Diegetic sounds using mood music e.g. the sound track which sets a calming mood at the beginning. After this first introduction in the scene where the main street is introduced they then introduce some Diegetic sounds including sounds that sound like they would if you were walking through the street for example lawnmowers, cars and people walking on the street. These all add to the calm and content neighborhood atmosphere. There is no voice over in this film, I think if there was people wouldn't take it as serious.

At the beginning the audio also adds tension to the film as the strength and rhythm of the music increases. Midway through the scene where the Avon lady is in the car she turns her wing mirror and you see the castle where Edward scissor hands lives and mood music is introduced which i think is designed to scare the viewer slightly as it's sharp and then eerie which also helps to build tension in the film as you can see the lady intrigued by the castle.

the sound perspective in this scene is simply done, for example, the music at the beginning when the opening credits are shown is the soundtrack so its quite loud and almost as if your in the film, However, the sounds coming from the street sound as if they would if you were walking throught that street in the day time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpEiOjZaBAU << Sweeney Todd-By The Sea

This clip is from the film Sweeney Todd the musical and is a clip of the song By The Sea. There is no narrator to this film either as it is a musical. The clip starts and continues with mainly diagetic sounds as it is a musical it breaks straight into song and has music in the song played by instruments which is diagetic.

The audio of the film explains the plot because the woman is singing to Mr. Todd and explaining what she wants to do with her life. She explains how she wants to move away from london to somewhere thats by the sea, she sings it in a way that she is asking Mr. Todd if he would like to go and he is just blunt and with no enthusiasm. this only really explains some of her own wishes not what really go's on in the plot except for her liking Mr. Todd.

The audio doesn't really build up the tension in this extract, to me it builds up more of a sense of excitement and a wanting to know what she is feeling and especially her feelings towards Mr. Todd.

The music isn't designed to scare the viewer its upbeat, exciting and happy music that is trying to convey Miss Potts feelings and thoughts in the film.

The sounds perspective is coming from the instruments, it's as if theres a band sat near them, there are also sounds coming from the seagulls and other sounds coming from the beach Miss Pott is imagining.

The overall mood of this extract is wishfull thinking as Miss pott is longing to get away from London and take Mr. Todd with her i think it's a happy mood, compared to the Edward Scissorhands film which gives the viewer a sense of mystery and wonder.

Friday, 12 February 2010

Editing bath film footage



Today we continued to edit our films After loading my film onto Final cut pro I firstly arranged the footage into the correct sequence that I needed my film to be in, which makes it easier for me to edit later.

After this I started to select the parts of my film I wanted to use by playing the footage and pressing 'I' for where i wanted to select the beginning part of the film I wanted to use then pressing 'O' when I wanted to select the end of the part of the footage i wanted to use.

After this as you can see above I decided to add some sound to my film, to do this I decided to take some sound clips that were relevant to my film from the media sound collection library nd add them to parts of my sequence where needed.

When the sequence and sound were sorted I then started to think about the quality of my film and how to edit the image to improve it. Therefore I decided to start to edit the colour balance and brightness and contrast. I started by taking each different scene and adjusting the brightness and contrast of each one so that the quality was alot better and the outcome was a brighter and clearer image.

Following this I started to use transitions to make the rougher parts of my film follow on more smoothly from each other; for most parts where I added transitions I used the dissolve effect because I thought it was the most subttle transition and didn't look like rushed editing.

When I finished adding transitions I then added a border to my film to make it stand out more and look more attractive to the viewer.

And finally the last thing I did was add credits to the end of my film, I did this by adding the type effect which allows you to write your credits and choose how they are shown e.g. I chose them to be scrolled down the screen.

Tuesday, 5 January 2010

Edward Scissorhands film reveiw.

Some of the Gothic themes included are the pastel colours used in the film, for example the interior of the castle and the houses the town people live are painted in pastel colours that are quite dull and have a weathered look in to them. This portrays a strong Gothic theme. Continuing from the colour theme the appearance of the castle compared to the rest of the town and also the castle interior have strong Gothic themes with a kind of rugged and unkempt look to them. The castle has classic Gothic features such as the sweeping staircase with Gothic style banisters, the Gothic style arched windows and the stone work such as the decorative pillars and statues fronting the castle.

Edward scissor hands is a variation of a horror theme. The film differs to a classic horror film, although it portrays characteristics from past Gothic films such as the classic Gothic architecture it also shows certain futuristic themes in terms of futuristic like the machine which would be futuristic to people living in the 1800s or in other Gothic time periods but not to someone in the current time period of the film, so the machine that Edwards dad made is still made in a Gothic style but portrays futuristic characteristics also. It also shows Gothic variations through the kind of two different worlds shown, for example the town people are all quite modern and up to date whilst Edward has been in the castle most of his life and seems to be stuck in his own time period for example the way he speaks, dresses and is unfamiliar with modern life outside the castle until he is found by the Avon lady who introduces him to the lifestyle of the people outside.

Johnny Depp's character contradicts that of his looks. This means the way he dresses is completely opposed to the way he is and acts. It is shown in the narrative as the narrator describes Edwards personality as shy, kind and caring and he seems like he only wants to make friends and be normal and help people but he is stuck with scissors and knives for hands and wears black leather clothing with clinking metal parts making him seem quite imposing and unfriendly to the public. This makes Edward feel shy and lonely. So basically the way he dresses scares people away and is the complete opposite to Edwards real personality i think the narrative shows this well.

The two worlds (Suburban, and derelict castle are shown to be very different, the colour reinforces this as the suburban area; where all the town people live is a vibrant, friendly and vibrant place. The colour of the houses and the greenery add to a happy lively atmosphere portrayed.

The derelict castle is very different . The outside gardens of the castle look fairly suburbanised with the tidy sculptured plants and lots of greenery but when you get a look into the insides of the castle it looks, empty, un homely and abandoned. The colours of the castle are very dark, dreary and depressing which i think maybe portrays the way Edward is as he is very timid and hides himself away for the world which relates to the castle; very uninviting if you are looking in from outside the gates. The fact that the suburbs and the castle are portrayed so differently shows the great difference between the two worlds, the normality of the everyday town people and the world Edward is used to living in, living on his own with no one else.