Media city!

Recently I went on a geography trip to Manchester with our school. We visited Salford Quays which is famous for the television studios it holds there.

We got to see where the blue peter garden is filmed. Which was actually quite shocking, as from the angles it is filmed at it appears much larger than it actually is. 

We also saw the ITV studios, the BBC studios and the CBBC studios. Where the nations favourite shows like strictly come dancing, BBC sport and jeremey Kyle are filmed.

Testing with lighting

Today we completed one of the extra tasks to prepare ourselves for our main task, the creation of a thriller. For this task we experimented with different lighting and shadows.

I decided I'd go out and take some photos of natural scenery, to explore the use of shadows and the effect the light and dark can have on what we see.

On this shot we have the natural light shining through the full trees. Creating dark shadows and beams of light. Creating a quite romantic, intense scenery. I could see scenes from films like twilight and lord of the rings being filmed on sets like this.

Here I experimented with light and reflections. The reflections of the trees and sky created by the light create a beautiful and magical appearance to the area.The reflection of the trees give the water great depth and mystery and the crispness of the reflection creates an interesting, aesthetically appealing set for audiences.

In this shot we again used an artificial lighting. This creates more darkness and uncertainty in the face

In this shot we used an artificial light in order for the audience to be able to see the person but it still creates depths and shadows, making the eyes stand out in the shot.

Textual analysis of Sherlock

This is my textual analysis of the hit TV show, Sherlock. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. This programme is based upon the great stories of Arthur Canon Doyle, but have a modern twist to bring it in to the current world. I will be analysing the opening scene to 'the hounds of Baskerville' Which is series two, episode two.

Firstly we get an establishing shot of the surrounding area. This helps inform of us of what could take place and where the original issue began. We are firstly introduced to a bright woodland area. We originally feel quite comforted and calm with the beautiful scenery but then the scene suddenly changes to red to represent calmness turning to chaos.

the establishing shot:

The edited shot:

Here they have used a close up to represent the desperation of this unknown character, we can see his hands trying valiantly to grab on to something to try and save himself and it's quite traumatic for the audience to watch an intense struggle. This also would make an audience want to carry on watching as we don't know what's happening or why! Also they have edited this shot by putting a red hue over the image, creating connotations of danger, blood and fire. They have also blurred out his hands and focused on the crumpled leaves, possibly to show his life fading away. The leaves could represent the young boy who we saw at the beginning and the grabbing hands could represent the character desperate to hold on to his life and his child, but the fade shows he is failing and it is slipping out of his grasp.

They use a lot of cutaway shots and fast editing to build incredible amounts of tension and panic in the audience. We see the young boy running from the situation ( the camera tracks him) and we see lots of different angles of the man being attacked. They are edited so quickly that it makes it difficult for the audience to get a grasp of what is actually going on in this scene, creating a lot of anticipation.

There are a lot of sound effects used on this clip. We hear a savage dog which could be quite intimidating for an audience. We gradually hear the pace of the soundtrack speeding up which increases the anticipation and curiousity to know what is going to happen. To conclude the opening scene we hear a child's scream which is quite dramatic and intense.

Textual analysis of The Bone Collector

This is my textual analysis of the film 'The Bone Collector' starring Angelina Jolie and Denzel Washington.

 

Firstly the typography is very old fashioned and reminds me of old American style films. I think the writing style is quite typical of the 1990's. It is also quite sharp and clear fitting with the style of the rest of the opening credits. The writing is also in a cool shade of blue, making it stand out from the old fashioned black and white background images.

The images and writing we see on the opening credits could be vital to our understanding of the film. We see words like "cop convicted" "scene of the crime". The "scene of the crime" writing looks like it is printed on a book, which could foreshadow that events that may happen in the film could be based on a book or the book could be vital to the plot. 

The name here could represent a character to come.

At the beginning of the title we see an image of a man in a suit carrying a woman limp in his arms. This could represent the gender empowerment or issues that may be presented in this film. We have a lot of similar shots of a man in the same suit, maybe to subtly present to the audience that the rest of the plot will revolve around one man who has committed many murders. 

There are also a lot of flashing lights and blurred images in the opening credits. A lot of cutaways are used to present the movement through history and time. They have also used an opacity so they can layer images on top of each other, creating a cautiousness and uncertainty for the audience. In this particular image we see a mans hands with gloves on under the title of the film "the bone collector". Here it becomes clear to us that these pair of hands most likely belong to the killer and that he is the "bone collector". The use of white gloves creates a medical feel to the film as they are usually used in hospitals or labs. Maybe it could also be presenting the different characteristics of the killer, by wearing the gloves it makes him seem very cautious and intelligent, as he knows not to leave traces of himself behind.

The soundtrack to the credits is very eerie and melancholy. It has no detectable instruments helping to maintain that uncertainty. Slowly as the credits progress, more noises and layers of instruments are brought into the soundtrack to create anticipation and build the tension, At the end of the credits just before the main film begins, we hear an intense deep scream of a man. It sounds like a psychotic scream of anger which could also tell us about situations to come or maybe it is to inform us that the killer is psychotic.

 

Textual analysis of Seven

This is my textual analysis on the opening scene to the famous thriller, Seven. Staring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman.

 

There are many camera angles and shots used in the opening of this film. Firstly we see Morgan Freeman in his flat. The director has chosen to use a wide shot to show Morgan and his surroundings. I think they created this to show what type of person Morgan Freeman's character is. The white, fresh, clean look of the apartment walls and kitchen units creates a wealthy and organised feel to Morgan's character. I have also noticed whilst on the subject of the characters home, that he holds no personal possessions or items of value, or they are not presented for everyone to see. Which could present the character as quite private and secretive. The crispness of the white could show solitude and content in the way he lives his life. Maybe the character doesn't feel like they need many possessions or personal belongings in their life, like they are not really relevant to him.

 

We get a high angle shot to show the victim on the floor, surrounding by deep red blood. This represents darkness, the deepness of the red shows the intensity of the situation and the danger surrounding it. This could be why the blood is in a pool around the victim, to present the danger surrounding the victim.

 

The low angle shot used when Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman are walking down the busy city street tells us a lot about the two characters and how different they are. Firstly, we learn how cocky Brad Pitt is. He is presented as arrogant and very self involved. He constantly interrupts Morgan's character when he is trying to make him knowledgeable and welcome to the city. He moves around Morgan to momentarily make himself appear larger than him:

 

 

However, whenever this happens Morgan smoothly moves around Brad in order to take back power and domination of the conversation. Proving that his cool behaviour can create an intense and powerful character.

 

 

Here the tracking shot presents the dominant side of Morgan's character. Over powering and undermining Brad's behaviour. The fact that Morgan's reaction is very subtle presents to the audience that we don't really need to take much notice of what Brad's character is saying as it has not had much of an impact on Morgan's character and we get very little reaction from it. 

We learn a lot from the mise en scene of this section of the film. During the opening title we learn different things about the killer to prepare us for what is to come. Everything the killer is doing is very precise and articulate, he sees pages together and pins things.Showing his great psychotic attention to detail.

 

 In one particular section of the title sequence we see that the killer highlights/ crosses out certain words of phrases. The words pregnant, intercourse and transexual are crossed out. Later on in the title we see the killer cut out the word god. Presumably we could assume from this that the killer is a religious character and has a hatred for anything that goes against god. 

 

 

 

There are lots of different sounds and noises used in this opening title. Firstly there is use of sirens, which creates alarming thoughts for the audience that something has already gone wrong. Secondly we can hear the rain and the thunder. The use of weather here creates a very mysterious and melancholy feel to the scene. Also the soundtrack to the title sequence sounds like high pitched electrical surges which is discomforting and disturbing for the audience. The disturbing electrical surges could represent the disturbed, psychotic but genius mind of the killer. They are very disjointed and discorded sound effects, creating a real sense of discomfort and anxiety about what the audience is going to see.

 

The editing in the opening title is very clever and precise. Maybe to represent the inner workings of the killers mind. The style of writing and the typography used is very scratchy but still clear to read. The style itself is not appealing to read so immediately creates that uncertainty and discomfort.

 

 

There are flashes of light and fast editing to combine a number of short snappy clips together. There are a lot of cutaways used to represent the moving of time and the intensity of the situation. We see close ups of what the killer which could assist the cutaways in presenting the sort of issues that will be raised and addressed in the film. The editing is very fast creating anxiety and curiousness.

Photo editing and camera shots

Recently I've been practicing with camera angles and shots in my spare time when I have visited new and interesting places. I have also edited some photos to create collages or to make the photograph more visually appealing.

Brainstorming

Today in our media lesson we produced a mind map of creative ideas for our main  task, the thriller. We have come up with a large range of ideas that we think will work excellently. We want to twist the typical stereotype of a thriller and create something new. Also we want to change the empowered man (typically seen in a thriller) but instead, create a strong empowered woman in our thriller who creates all the danger and drama. I adore Lana Del Rey videos that are full of short clips of different scenes with vintage effects put over them, so I would love to incorporate this in to our main task.

Preliminary evaluation

Preliminary evaluation from GeorgieBrough

Contents of a thriller

     

The thriller is a broad genre of literature, film, gaming and television. It includes numerous, often overlapping sub genres.The contents of a thriller usually include fast paced, frequent action, and resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more powerful and better equipped villains. Literary devices such as suspense, red herrings and cliff hangers are used extensively.

Types of thrillers:

Spy thrillers- typically a government agent who must take violent action against agents of rival governments.

Political thrillers- have features of conspiracy thrillers.

Military thrillers- normally uniformed military officer.

Conspiracy thrillers- hero confronts large powerful group of enemies.

Forensic thrillers- forensic experts.

Psychological thrillers- conflict between the main characters is mental and emotional rather than physical.

Horror thrillers – in which conflict between the main characters is mental, emotional and physical. 

Characteristics of a thriller:

Thrillers are usually mystery stories, but are really distinguished by the structure of their plot.

Thrillers occur on a much grander scale: the crimes that must be prevented are generally serial or mass murder.

Thrillers usually include a sense of jeopardy and violent confrontations are standard plot elements.

Climaxes are often used in thrillers to represent the ending or an abrupt ending that doesn't explain what happened.

Conventions of thrillers:

In a thriller the general character confrontation is between a Protagonist  and an Antagonist.

The Protagonist is usually at the mercy of the Antagonist. 

The plot and characters are usually binary oppositions (complete opposite).