VISUALS

Production Conventions

AESTHETICS - Elements that the film show on screen, as well as the message/ mood it conveys through virtual communications. 

SPACE AND COMPOSITION - The position of objects/ characters within a shot. (are the 'Rule of Thirds' being applied? Is there an aspect of symmetry?)

ACTING - The task of portraying another character on screen and/ or changing their emotion and actions as scripted. 

TECHNICAL ASPECTS - How equiptment is set up to capture the acction occuring on screen. (Choice of angle, Cinematography practice, Lighting rigs?)

SOUND (INITAL REACTION) - Severly underrated. What sort of atmosphere can you pick out from the sound? Does it compliment visual well?

EDITING - Cutting the clips together. Has the editor put the piece together in a specific order? (quick fire clips from Edgar White projects).

NARRATIVE - The storytelling devise for all forms of media, that create a story from beggining to end. (3 Act Structure).

REPRESENTATION - Representation is the nature of mirroring certain traits including various stereotypes, races, communities, social issues, meditation and visual codes, historicperiod accuracy ect.

Scene Analysis One - Dunkirk

For my first scene analysis I chose the 'Torpedo' scene from 'Dunkirk' staring Fionn Whitehead and Harry Styles. The scene is taken place in a dim lighted lower deck on a ship, this can be established from the first shot. The second shot shows a medium long shot of the main character at an eye- level camera positioning, because we get a little close to Tommy we can see the worry on his face, he looks anxious and scared. Tommy is positioned to the left of the screen, showing a lot of space to the right side of the screen, this way we are getting a feel of other characters and the atmosphere around him. 

At the beggining of the scene all the characters were 'celebrating', most of them (mainly background characters) seemed very calm and safe, Tommy, Alex and Gibson all looked distressed. Once Tommy and Alex appered to be calm we are met with darkness and fear. Fionn Whitehead and Harry Styles were able to show the rollercoaster of emotions between these few seconds in an effective way, I would say they portrayed these emotions extremely well. 

Although this scene is only 180 seconds long we meet the whole 'Three-Act Structure'. For the first thirty seconds of this scene everything is calm, but then we are hit with the sudden distruption, which after around two minutes starts to calm down, still being a background problem though as Tommy and Alex swim off. 

For the main part of it the editing is quite subtle and basic, its all quite similar to a montage, all the shots are placed together in a linear order and are around two - four seconds long. Using different angles and shot types. The editor swapped from under water to out of water a few times on an off to show how each group of characters were being effected in the different atmospheres. 

The majority of sound is Diegetic, ranging from bacground chatter and echos to loud explosions. The sounds defiently does match with the chaotic backgroud, its loud and sharp. I find there is also a lot of muffled sounds, like background talking and the sound when they go under the water. 

The scene uses a lot of medium close ups to capture all the emotion and surrounding area at the same time. The camera movement starts off smooth, following the actors when it is needing to and doing a few panning shots to show the atmosphere. After the corruption happens, shortly after the panning shot showing the quiet region, the camera movement becomes more shakey following the activity of the torpedo.

Scene Analysis Two - Fear (1996)

For my second film analysis I chose a scene from the movie Fear (1996) staring Mark Wahlberg and Reece Witherspoon. This scene is set in a mall/ bathroom stall, these scenes are all shown with natural lighting as it is a scene taken place around mid day. The first shot is a panning medium shot of the antagonist, you can establish he is in a public area from the surrounding area behind him. However, from the second shot you can fully establish the setting of a mall. This is your first few shots of the main characters, close up shots of the antagonist looking irked and long shots of the protagonist looking calm and very oblivios of what is about to happen. 

I think Mark Wahlberg played the role of David flawlessly, he gives off a compelling irritated stalker! David starts of the scene looking agitated as he watches Nicole with her family, as he engages with Nicole he becomes highly intimidating towards her. David is very phychopath like, he plots and plans each of his moves to get what he wants and what he wants is Nicole. I also this Reece Witherspoon did very well in playing the role of Nicole, Witherspoon portrayed Nicoles fearfull emotions as she was feeling frightened of David in the bathroom stall superbly. 

In the first shots David is centred right, showing a lot of back ground space, you can see people walking in the background (all background characters are fuzzy though, allowing the audience to have all their attention on David). When in the bathroom stall there isn't much space due to the close up shots during this scene. This lack of space is allowing you to engage with the characters emotions without bakcground distractions. 

This scene doesn't forfill the 'Three Act Structure' it only carries out Act one and Act two. Act one would be the opening scenes set in the mall, we see the location and the two main characters, this is giving us a feel of how the scene is structured. Act two would start at around one minute, once david is in the restroom. All those shots taken place in the bathroom stall are full of tension. I wouldn't say this scene mets the Act three as the protagonist is left broken not on top. 

We kind of get a pov from David as he is watching Nicole with her family and walking to the restroom, which David is seeing in the moment. I think this is quite cool to do during the editing process, it switches from David to his pov often. While David is intimidating Nicole it flips from character to character frequently, showing the audience both emotions as the scene goes on. Which again I this is a very smart move in the editing process, it is allowing the audience to have a feel of each emotion as it switches. 

There is some intence/ climatic music at the begining of the scene which builds up tension, this sound would be 'Non-Digetic' as the characters can't hear it because it is happening outside their universe. There is dialogue throughout the scene which is obviously 'Digetic'. A few sound effects are included like, phone beeping, car horns and doors opening, these sounds are a mix of sound libary and Foley sounds. 

The camera positioning is controlled by David, it follows where he goes. The camera smoothly moves with David as he walks and it effortlessly follows David's eyes view as he watches Nicole. In the shots of Davids pov it has blured objects on the camera, like railings, people and plants, showing he is hiding/ trying to sneak around. 

The character of David McCall is represeted as the bad guy, he is angry and very intimidating. The character never thinks he is doing harm and thinks manipulating people out of 'love' is okay, hes quite messed up in the way he's harming others to please himself. David is a stereotypical good looking highschooler who thins he can get away with things because of his looks. David and Nicoles relationship is representing an unhealthy, manipulative high school relationship, it covers a 'Social Issue' of mental abuse and assult in a teenage relationship. 

Cutaways

Cutaways are images that mostly focus on a particular objects presence within an enviroment. It can have nothing to do with the main scene's progression but helps to 'pad it' to add other elements of detail which may have been missed out. 

Dailies

The term 'Dailies' is accosiated with the unedited/ raw footage that you record everytime you film something. That something could be clips for a vlog to a £250 million blockbuster masterpeice. 

Dailies can be best described as the foundation building blocks of any films progress. A 'Rough Cut' will be created with this unedited to see if the footage is driving in the same direction as the crew has invisioned. Dailies can consist of shots like; Interview/ Talking Head Segments (A-Roll), 'Main Scene' Action Shots (A-Roll) and Cutaways (B-Roll). 

A-Roll

B-Roll

For this task we were asked to capture every detail of our kitchen in cutaways form for the Channel 4 hit show 'Britains Cleanest Kitchens' hoasted by Gordon Ramsey. I think I did quite well in this task and I got the cutaways done nicely. Overall the task was simple and I found it very easy to do and put together. 

Aesthetics

Aesthetics are elements that the films show on screen normally focusing on a particular objest/ person/ enviroment. Aesthetics within media has the ability to send a message to the audience, which conveys visual comunication that isn't painstakingly obvious from what's being said/ told on screen.

Space and Composition

Space can be used in a magnitude in ways to convey different messages. A shot with extremely wide space around it is probably going to rank under an 'Establishing Shot', a location cutaway which sets up the scene especially if your characters have moved location. Within your normal two- shot conversation between actors it is always beneficial to not have your characters squashed in frame, unless you are focusing on raw emotion that drives a scene forward. 

Composing a Good Scene

Composition of shots within a film is completely down to you, the film makers. A lot of thought and practice goes into creating and crafting all shots you see before you. The Rule Of Thirds is presented within this shot, the rule of thirds is a media concept in which the frame is divided into nine imaginary sections, made to position the frame. Its focus points are the points of the centre square (the bold dots), the focus is always the centre. 

Symmetry in media is used to have a juxtaposed connection of elements, its mostly a stylistic choice that the director/ cinematographer has fitted to blend well with the aesthetics of a film. Symmetry can mark an important event that was made to stand out, emphasizing the shots that need attention. Symmetry in a scene is also visually pleasing, its satisfying to look at and grabs your attention.