Development of skills from AS to A2 - Maisie

Skill area	Your evaluation of your own skills in this area – strengths, weaknesses, and things to work on. Be precise, giving examples or evidence  (e.g. on camera, discuss particular techniques such as focus pull)	Your teachers’ evaluation
Your use of Digital Technologies: how skilled are you in these areas? This includes your use of camera techniques, your use of Blogger, your use of Prezi (if you used it), the internet (used for research for example) Final Cut editing techniques, GarageBand, Photoshop (if you used it), social networking (if you used it)	I was given responsibility of the camera during the course of filming, so I developed my skill for filming in different ways that would be appropriate for our thriller; the framing was poor, because the subject wasn’t in the middle which left us with a lot of unwanted and unused space. I had to focus on that to get it right, which helped me develop my skills as a filmmaker and helped the opening look more professional. I also used Blogger at lot because I had to document our planning, showing what we were doing for costumes, setting, camerawork. One post that I feel is very strong is my evaluation because I used a lot of screenshots to help illustrate it and give it more structure. I also used a lot of media terms and language to try and help me get more marks. The internet helped with the research because we had to get inspiration for our opening, so I researched Pearl & Dean to get some demographics of real thriller films, such as Inception, that were relevant and would be accurate for our audience. I had already had a lot of experience with editing before this course, so I had a few skills and I was quite quick at it. Using Final Cut helped me understand to importance of continuity and how it shaped the film. I also held responsibility for the captions and credits which were at the beginning of the film. My attention to detail has helped with developing my skills for the A2 year. The sound editing also aided this. The main type of sound we used was non-diegetic (mainly music) and we had very little dialogue. I knew that music would be very effective so we used quite high tension music that was parallel to the image. The diegetic dialogue was kept as minimal as possible and we only used it where it was necessary and to help the audience understand what was going on (the main character explaining what she was doing). The cross cutting came out well and we felt the audience understood it after I put it on Facebook to get some critical and positive feedback.	You made excellent use of the blog and achieved high marks for this. Your work with other dig technologies was conscientious and showed good progression.  You did make real improvements in your film making skills, and the end result showed proficient work. You were careful and diligent with all the editing of the final product, including the use of garageband. ·         Continue to pay attention to framing and adopt a more experimental approach to the short film. Aim for variety, interest and engagement of the spectator ·         Widen your range of knowledge about sound types and design. Improve sound recording ·         Aim to be experimental where appropriate with editing. Seek new ways of creating narrative and meaning using different types of transition. ·         Make better use of social media to gain audience feedback, and integrate this more effectively into your developing products
Creativity: In what ways did you try to be original? How successfully did you balance the use of standard conventions of thrillers with the aim to be different or original? E.g. consider  techniques used, narrative, character, mood, sound, themes, titles etc Research and Planning: How thorough and effective was your research into real media texts? How actively did you use your findings to create your own ideas? How well did you record your findings? How individual was your research? What was your role in planning and what was effective or not so effective?	Creativity We wanted to create a connection between characters through cross cutting, which we had seen in other thrillers such as Hunted. The cross cutting added to the narrative which tells the story of how the characters are connected and how they eventually meet. We also used music that was parallel to the image; high tension music when the protagonist finds something interesting. Our title was supposed to mimic the flashes of ‘insanity’, reflecting our main antagonist, however it didn’t prove to be very effective. In most thrillers, the main character is portrayed by a strong male. I wanted ours to be different and switch the stereotype around, so we’d have a strong female lead. I wanted this because females have never properly been given full roles in films or in TV, so I wanted to do something different that would have a positive representation of the female gender. I really hope I can include this in my A2 film, because I think it’s very important that we address this in today’s media either male or female. Research and Planning For the research and planning, we had to watch several thriller openings so we could get some inspiration; examples include Inception, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Usual Suspects etc. We looked at how the characters were introduced through camerawork and there was a lot of cross cutting and close ups. We also found that some characters were kept hidden by restricted narration (the camera doesn’t show the villain’s face in The Usual Suspects). I wanted to incorporate this into our opening, so we used restricted narration on our antagonist to create an enigma for our audience, which worked. I recorded my individual research and findings in posts on Blogger; I created posts which included break-downs and studies on actual thriller openings. I studied Inception and noted aspects such as focus pulls and shot/reverse shots, which we included in our opening. I used screenshots from the clips to illustrate what I was explaining, and different colours in the text to show the camerawork, sound, MES and editing. This helped me look at our opening in more detail, which then led to paying more attention to the finer things that made up our thriller. This skill is also something I want to include in the making of my A2 film. My main role in the planning stages was writing out the synopsis, script and character profiles. These weren’t too difficult to do, because I’m very used to and skilled in creating stories and fictional characters. In the synopsis, I thought about all the thriller openings we’d watched and researched. The main one I’d had in mind was Misery, because I felt it had a very twisted and interesting story and one that I really liked. I used that and also elements from the popular television show Sherlock in the script, as our thriller was based around a top detective. These are skills I’m aiming to use a lot during the A2 course, because it will evidently make the film better and using them more will help me develop them further. We also put a lot of effort into making our two animatics and storyboard. We spent a lot of time recording our voiceovers and making sure we were including everything. The voiceover animatic helped us sculpt and structure our opening better and I had more of an image of what we were going to do. I will be applying this depth of detail to my A2 film so it can be the best it can.	·         Use mise en scene appropriately and creatively throughout – you did this before, but short films demand different skills and range of mise en scene. Decide early what style you favour for the short film (eg genre), and try add something original to this, as short films often do. ·         You made very good efforts as a group to be original in your thriller, in terms of character. Continue to do this if you can, and be bold with ideas as this format really suits experimentation of all kinds, as long as your spectator can understand! ·         Your analysis of this stage is excellent, and already shows that you are able to critically examine your own work to make improvements. This is a great basis for A2. Start researching short films now , because although they are short, you’ll find that it takes a long time to seek out films that are useful or inspiring. Try to improve this aspect of research – always consider what you have learnt by watching and analysing the film. ·         Continue to use media language terms to analyse, as that will also give you material for qn 1b in the exam. ·         Planning was good, but you did fall behind as a group on this at times. Try to make sure that you are fully aware of the tasks you have to complete and by when. Aim to start the storyboarding early, as you may have to plan 60+ shots!
Post production: This refers to the entire editing process (sound and vision). What specific skills have you individually developed in this area? What do you need to work on? How successfully did you work on sound and vision together?	The title of our film was quite poor because it was quite short and at first, didn’t really look like the title. However, once the opening got going, it would then become apparent that it is the title. This lesson will help me with my A2 project and help me with making the title look better and relate to the appropriate genre. The filter over the top of the image helped give the opening that thriller look; it was very bleak and dull, which really fitted what we intended for our film. The use of post-production filters will help me get a better understanding of different genres, and ultimately aid me in making my A2 film more realistic in whichever genre is chosen. The main problem that came across to us was some sound editing; we’d used a sound from GarageBand to put over a pencil towards the beginning of the opening. The Foley didn’t quite fit so we had to lengthen it and make it quieter in places to make it sound more authentic. I didn’t want to use any font that would be too clichéd because we wanted our opening to be as accurate as possible, so I used a normal clean font in capitals and it looked really good after I’d added some fade effects. Also, another sound we used was a dull thud that either signalled something significant or a change in location. In some places, it worked very well and added to the tension, but other times it sounded very weak. We could have either used a better artificial sound or created our own Foley that probably would have been louder and more effective. I will be looking out for this and avoiding this problem in my A2 film.	As before, this is an area where you can really improve. Your work was very diligent and conscientious at AS, and good results achieved, but you can develop new techniques in vision and sound editing and be bold and experimental.
Using conventions from real media texts: Which specific conventions of the thriller genre did you choose to use in your product? How successfully did you use them? What were the reasons for not being able to use them?	I wanted to keep it realistic as possible, so I wanted it to have all the necessary conventions in it like low-key lighting, restricted narration etc. However, we didn’t use any sort of weapon such as a knife or a gun, which is very iconographic for a thriller. I decided not to I wanted our thriller to have a lot of tension without violence (I didn’t feel it was necessary). The tension would evidently build up to some sort of climax which we showed in our opening. I feel my judgement on this and my decisions will help me with my A2 work. The lack of weapons and violence turned out to be quite successful and gave our opening an edginess. I hope to recreate this in my short film. Another reason why we didn’t use any form of weapon, was that we didn’t want to stir up any unwanted attention; teenagers with guns and knives would not have helped with our filming.	You did well with conventions in our view. With the short film, you need to pay attention to the narrative shape of these films, and decide early on how you want the film to work in relation to time. This is the difference between plot and story. Visual conventions will be affected by your choice of style or genre, so be clear about this in research stages, and then use conventions and adapt to be original as far as possible. WELL DONE!

Representation of Gender and Age in 'Never Forget' - A2 - Maisie

Never Forget.mov

• older man with diegetic classical music in the flat - MCU shows a traditional representation, sophisticated. Costume shows he is distinguished and is possibly quite wealthy; bow tie, cufflinks etc
 

• younger woman with the loud pop music in the club - modern representation, youthful, confident. Similarly to the man, she is wearing expensive-looking clothes, hints a connection

• parallel editing - sound bridge of phone ringing also establishes connection between characters. Lock screen on the phone confirms the connection (picture of man and the woman) indicating a romantic relationship. When the woman holds up her mirror, the camera focuses on her ring, indicating that the two characters are married

• when she's on the phone, the camera and editing show flashbacks to the previous night where the woman explains that she 'stayed in' , whereas the audience can see that she is lying (the coloured lighting of the club and the muffled diegetic music gives an effect of a fantasy moment - a memory). This creates unrestricted narration and puts the audience in a position of dramatic irony because they know more than the man does. This positions the audience to have a negative view towards the woman and as they see her flirting with another man, it shows that she is unfaithful 

• when it cuts to a BCU, her facial expression shows worry and guilt - she has to lie on her feet over the phone and she is nervous that he'll find out. Her body language shows she's restless and uneasy about the situation 

• jump cuts during flashbacks - shows that it's a fragmented memory, it happened very rapidly and shows time passing

• focus pull on man when he sees the woman leave the club - his facial expression shows that he is distraught knowing that his wife cheated on him. This changes the overall perception and changes the audience's position now they know that he knows what the woman did, so they feel empathy for the man

 

• the camera cuts to a CU of the man's heartbroken face - this signals some kind of change or that something is about to happen

• when the man says 'this is all your fault', the ambient noise is lowered to give his voice and the words more emphasis, as this is the climax of the film. He says them with a harsh tone, a contrast from the calm tone previously spoken throughout the film. The camera focuses on his mouth through an ECU, giving his words even more emphasis

• the man falls from building past the camera - the sound as he hits the ground is off-screen, to give the situation more of a shock effect. The shock from the audience is reflected in the woman's facial expression seen at a low angle which could give her status. This shows that the man was at his lowest and the woman could be seen as being above him, because the turn of events were more in her favour (feels she was able to cheat on her husband without him knowing, whilst the man is helpless). As a result, the traditional stereotype of the male being the dominant gender is challenged, because he feels powerless in this situation

Key:

• Blue = mise en scene
• Red = sound
• Orange = editing
• Green = camerawork
• Purple = representation

Representation of Gender, Age and Class within 'Never Forget' - A2 Jack

'Never Forget' hyperlink:

 Never Forget.mov

• The slow pace shots of the female protagonist contrasted with the fast pace shots of the male protagonist creates the representation of the man being very comfortable in his surroundings, feeling as though he has higher power. The fast pace of the female creates the representation that she is perhaps living a fast paced lifestyle and appears very cautious and anxious.
• Looking at costume, hair and make up, the male appears very smartly dressed and of a high social class, similar to the female. Though the use of the bow tie here is very interesting, with the colouring being red, which represents the colour of drama and danger.
• Within the shots of the female protagonist, diegetic parallel background noise is used contrasted with the diegetic contrapuntal music in the background of the shots of the male protagonist. This creates the representation that the female is perhaps less prepared for the evening she is going to spend with the male.
• With use of the prop of the mirror, spectators see the female protagonist checking her hair and make-up, which again, looks rushed. The shallow depth of field shot of the mirror allows the focus to be on the mirror rather than the protagonist creating the representation that she is distant.
• Throughout the extract, a range of shot sizes and angles are used with the shots of the woman showing that she is perhaps 'all over the place' both physically and mentally. Ranging from close ups to extreme long shots, the juxtaposition of this technique with the constant medium long shot of the male creates the representation that she is on edge and he is more relaxed in the moment.
• The big close up at mid angle of the male protagonist towards the end creates the sense of something dramatic

Representation of Age and Class in 'About A Girl' - A2 - Maisie

About A Girl File 

• song and silhouette at the beginning signals overall feeling and mood of the film - she wants to move on, doesn't want anyone else. Restricted narration of seeing the girl's face, shows her independence 

• her accent establishes where she's from - working class, poverty stricken. When speaking to her dad, she's very confident and talks back to him. Sometimes forgets the names of simple things, uneducated, reflects working class area. When they're in the cafe, the dad says 'you can't come and live with me' showing that the parents have split up, so the girl comes from a broken family. The two shot is very wide, showing the distance between them as a father and daughter, backed by their heated conversation

• as she explains her family and parents, she speaks very lowly about them - links back to the song, doesn't need them 

• the setting/her clothing also shows the area where she's from - graffiti, dark lighting, rubbish, a shady and dark town, working class/poverty. She's wearing a white coat, not a fashionable hairstyle, large cheap earrings, shows she comes from a poorer family. Large aspirations, very common for children from working class families. Says her mother eats cheap food and the father doesn't work, establishing they live off low income from benefits

• the swearing linked with her age shows how independent she is - most 13-year-olds don't swear due to a good upbringing, but it shows that her parents aren't a good influence. She is very rebellious, links to her apparent independence, wants to be famous and 'show everyone', doesn't want to be what she is now

• facial expression and body language - she speaks loudly and confidently, and her posture is confident, shows she wants to be independent and she's quite cocky, feels she can fend for herself

• singing on the bus - loud, confident, no adult supervision, shows their independence. Girl looks like she's in charge, show's she is independent but still powerful 

• editing and handheld camera - the jump cuts throughout her dialogue show her rapid thoughts, reflecting how a teenager thinks. The sound is continuous, however the jump cuts show different locations. This contrasts the shots in the flashbacks; all one shots, minimum of one cut. The handheld movement implies that someone is watching her, a possible friend, and this incorporates the audience. The camera is held at a low angle, which gives her dominance and adds to her confidence and independence. No music, just her speaking, all focus on her dialogue

• underwater shot of bag - the ambient sound of the canal is eerie and adds to the dark mood. Worm's eye view of baby falling down to the bottom of the canal, blood, shocking to audience, reveals more about her, challenges the audience to feel either sorry for her or no empathy because it's her fault that this happened

Key:

• Blue = mise en scene
• Red = sound
• Orange = editing
• Green = camerawork
• Purple = representation     

Representation within 'About a Girl' - A2 - Jack

• Extreme long shot creates a sense of distance and along with the low angle creates the representation that the protagonist has her 'head in the clouds'. With the sky behind her the spectator hardly sees the protagonist, although we can't see her facial expression, it is clear that she is in a dark place, literally and metaphorically.
• With use of handheld camera, the spectator gets the impression of being the protagonists friend as though they were walking along beside her. The handheld technique also creates a representation of a fast pace life with many 'ups and downs'.
• The dialogue used by the protagonist represents her of being of a working class.
• Along with her costume, hair and make up, this again is apparent. Emphasised mainly through setting, props and décor, for example, the graffiti, dirty canal, etc. it is evident to the spectator that the young girl unwillingly lives in a working class place "I've had enough".
• Through the diegetic sound effects such as the dog barking, this ambient noise represents the area as rather overcrowded, with the repeated dialogue of "I've had enough" and the protagonist walking along the deserted canal it represents the girl as though she is in search for a better, more relaxed lifestyle.
• Throughout the entire short film there is de-saturation of colour to represent the lifestyle as dull and dismal.
• With the extreme long shot, two shot, of her dad and the protagonist, his bright clothing juxtaposed to her more bland costume represents the distance between the two.
• Through the camera movement of zooming out, this shows just how lonely the protagonist is and how isolated the setting is representing the protagonist as perhaps alienated.
• The mid shots used are common and allow spectators to see facial expression of the protagonist, some extreme long shots are also used to show body language. This, however, represents the protagonist as rather un-phased by the trauma that is her life, with limited facial expression and body language.
• With use of the large depth of field, we see the protagonists mum who, again appears un-approachable and distant from her daughter. The shallow depth of field helps to create this representation.
• As we begin to see more of the sky behind the protagonist there could be use of pathetic fallacy, with the weather being gloomy and sombre, this could represent the emotions of the protagonist.
• Cut transitions are used throughout and create a sense of simplicity, also being used for flashbacks to manipulate time. This creates the representation of the protagonist of having a rather basic and unhappy lifestyle.

Criticism - Jack

My main criticism of our thriller opening is the recording and editing of sound with images appropriately. Within our opening the sound effects we chose to edit in (e.g. foleys) did seem to be rather out of time after re-viewing it at a later time. Looking at mise en scene our sound effects could have been more realistic in terms of pace and time, to create continuity throughout our opening. 



One example of where our sound effects were not used to the highest standard possible is with the pencil shot at the beginning. Looking back, the sound does appear to be too loud to seem realistic and the pace is a bit too quick.



Another aspect of the sound within our thriller opening that could be assessed and completed differently is the use of diegetic sound, particularly dialogue. If we were to use a voice recorder or attachable microphone rather than using the camera to pick up the sound the diegetic sound could have been much more crisp and clearly understood. 



For example in this close up, low angle shot, we could have used the voice recorder not only as a prop but also as a microphone. This would also ensure that only the voice of our actress could be heard and there was no background sound.


Looking at our use of recording and editing of sound with images, I would say that we did very well and used techniques appropriately. However, with other areas being used to a higher standard (e.g. mise en scene and visual editing) these aspects do stand out more predominantly.


 

Jack's Evaluation on Thriller

Evaluating your own Foundation Portfolio Thriller Opening.

 

Assessment Criteria	What went well	What did not go quite so well
Shooting material appropriate to the task set;	The short film related very much to the genre we were trying to convey – Thriller. The film was very suitable for the audience we produced it for.	Some extra materials could have been used in order to adapt to the thriller genre as much as possible, e.g. detective coat.
Controlled use of the camera	All shots seemed an appropriate size and the movement on some was very smooth, e.g. beginning panning shot with actress writing.	Camera could have been less shaky on shots such as the crabbing shot outside in the evening. Shaky shots could have been used more obviously to enforce the meaning of the actress awakening from unconsciousness. Towards the end the lighting is very bright, for this reason the white balance could have been changed in order to show the facial expression and body language of the actress to as large an extent as possible.
Attention to framing	Subjects were nearly always framed in the centre of the shot. In some cases the subject was intentionally away from the centre of the shot e.g. when the actress is on the phone saying she found him. This allows the shot to continue on to the shot of the actor away from the centre.	Some shots may have needed to be pans or tracking to keep subject in centre, e.g. the actress walking under the street light. Composition and angles could also be changed as some were unintentionally canted.
Variety of shot sizes	The shot sizes were very appropriate to the genre as shown from our research into other thriller films.	Some shots may have needed to be larger or smaller to focus on the point we were trying to get across, e.g. close up of phone could have been larger to set the scene.
Close attention to mise en scene	Dark colours and low-key lighting was suitable for the thriller genre.	The costumes used and setting, props and décor could be altered to ensure the mise en scene is constructed for the message of the story, e.g. detective coat could have been worn alongside the dark colours.
Editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer	The use of dissolves at the beginning really emphasise the time passing – manipulating time and creating an on-going story. The use of match on action also helped to manipulate space, as with the actress walking through the door.	Editing could have been used to make the audience feel how we intended them to feel – scared and on edge. The use of dissolves, fades, etc. may have been to light and continuous, with use of cuts the pace could become more sharp and fast paced.
Making selective and appropriate use of shot transitions, captions and other effects	The use of titling and captions related very much to the meaning of the film opening – creating a newspaper and dramatic font. Transitions and other effects communicate the meaning of her search being a lengthy process.	Captions and titling could have been used alongside the newspaper theme, with a font more generic of a newspaper. Transitions could have been more relevant to the genre to communicate meaning of a fast paced and non-stop process, e.g. with cuts as cut transitions were used majorly in the film openings we researched.
Recording and editing sound with images appropriately.	Non-diegetic sound fit mainly around the genre and created a mood and impression on the audience. Foleys were recorded well and were edited in time with the image.	Sound effects could have been more realistic in terms of sound and pace, e.g. with the pencil at the beginning the louder sound seems rather unrealistic and the pace is a bit too quick. Diegetic sound could also have been used – in terms of dialogue – through recording of a voice recorder to ensure that only the  actresses voice was heard clearly and no background sound was picked up.

Criticism - Maisie

One main weakness of our thriller opening was the title. It was filmed by moving the camera over the newspaper headline, and then putting a negative filter over the top so it could 'flash'.

This could have been a more effective title if we had taken more time to make it look more professional; we could have made an actual title on Final Cut Pro so it wouldn't have looked so rushed.

Also, the actual camera movement was quite shaky because it was handheld. This was a difficult shot to film because the camera had to be held over the newspaper facing down, so it made it quite awkward to hold.

To prevent the unsteady movement, we could have used something to slide the camera along on. In addition, we could have stuck the newspaper to the wall so it would have been easier to film and the camera would have been easier to hold.

Maisie's Evaluation on Thriller

Evaluating your own Fou8ndation Portfolio Thriller Opening.

Assessment Criteria	What went well	What did not go quite so well
Shooting material appropriate to the task set	Appropriate to thriller genre; restricted narration (silhouette), low key lighting, acting was good (used production arts students)	Too dark in some shots so difficult to see image, needed better artificial lighting, some shots were too long which was wasn’t necessary
Controlled use of the camera	Limited handheld movement (POV, tracking shots), mainly shot with a tripod to keep it steady, post production filter used to give a better thriller atmosphere (desaturate), focus pull to show wavering consciousness	Title was shaky, could have used something to make it smoother (steadycam)
Attention to framing	Subject was almost always in the centre, if not something was filling the space (tried to limit the amount of empty space), some POV shots, camera goes behind lamppost to give a sense of her being watched (significant to genre)	Subject goes out of the middle of the frame so a tracking shot would have been better than a crab shot
Variety of shot sizes	Lots of close ups, long shots, medium shots, relate to the genre (close ups convey emotion, long shots to establish setting)	Possibly some wider shots to show more of the setting
Close attention to mise en scene	Appropriate clothing for female character, fitted her character profile, realistic setting, good use of props (put time and effort into making them look as realistic as possible)	Male character could have worn something that suited his character better, some parts filmed at college
Editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer	Shows cross-cutting which establishes connection, dissolves showing time passing, ellipsis (researching), high frequency of cuts to give it more pace, good continuity	Could have cut down on some longer shots, loses pace towards the end due to drawn out shots (walking down the street)
Making selective and appropriate use of shot transitions, captions and other effects	Only used captions where necessary (beginning credits), appeared in the right places, looked professional, newspaper title had relevance to the story (well made, authentic)	The title of the film could have been shown better, wasn’t very obvious, filmed very quickly
Recording and editing sound with images appropriately	Appropriate dialogue, attention to detail/smaller sounds, created own Foleys (chair), dialogue helped the story and helped it make sense, non-diegetic music used was parallel	Sounds could have been louder, didn’t quite match the image, wasn’t very convincing, some ambient noise, some effects were overused, dialogue needed editing due to some mistakes during recording, possibly needed more music to convey emotion