Friday 17 December 2010

Acts of Repulsion - Coursework Pitch

The idea for the name of my film opening came from researching different slasher film names and mixing them about slightly. My film idea came after watching Hostel and Friday the 13th; it's basically a film opening that combines these two films together. The opening shot is an establishing, medium-high angle long shot of 3 friends having fun drinking & smoking around a small bonfire. There is then a panning shot of them stood talking and still drinking around the fire. They then decide that its getting too late and they're all tired so they retire to their tents. There is then a medium shot of one person closing their eyes and trying to go to sleep, and a light is seen shining outside, a muffled scream is heard and then the shadow of a body being dragged past the tent is seen in torch light. This alarms both the people still in their tents and they call to one another and decide to go out to investigate; they go outside and seen a shadow on the floor by the remaining glowing embers of the fire. They walk slowly towards the object and as they get closer they realise that it's in fact a body; they turn it over to see the face and they realise it's their other friend. There is then a low angle shot looking up at the two friends reaction to finding the body. They decide quickly that they must go get help because there may be a killer around; they stand back up and turn around to see a large hooded figure standing menacingly with a large axe in his hands, which is dripping with blood. They screen goes black as he swings it towards them.

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 - A match on action, a technique used in film editing, is a cut that connects two different views of the same action at the same moment in the movement. By carefully matching the movement across the two shots, filmmakers make it seem that the motion continues uninterrupted.

Shot/reverse shot - Shot reverse shot is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other.

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.

Wednesday 3 November 2010

Top 10 Tips I've Learnt From My Microdrama

1) Use your time wisely so you et done everything you need to get done.
2) Preparation and planning is important - I need to make sure I have the time sheet, call sheet and any other relevant paperwork to ensure I can get the filming done efficiently.
3) How to work a camera and tri-pod.
4) How to work i-movie and trim dow clips to the shots I need.
5) I've learnt editing skills on i-movie, and how to add and trim soundtracks to the clips.
6) Relatively skilled actors are needed for realistic shots.
7) Choose location well to shoot the shot in.
8) Remember to remind person on camera to leave a 2 second gap at the start and end of the shot to make sure it's all on camera.
9) Make sure we have the script sorted and out and that the actors involved in the shot have rehearsed it.
10) Make sure to include a variety of camera angles and shots to increase interest and add more drama.

Wednesday 13 October 2010

Top 5 Favourite Films

1) Shaun of the dead - directed by Edgar Wright in 2004, budget of $4,000,000, made a box office in the UK of £1,603,410 and in the USA $3,330,781. I love this film for the pure comedy gold whilst being incredibly gory (at parts) i.e. it makes comedy out of people being ripped apart by a horde of zombies. 

2) Dark knight - directed by Christopher Nolan in 2008, budget of $185,00,000, made a box office in the UK of £11,191,824 and in the USA $158,411,483. The action in this is incredible. It is not the 'sterotypical' gun-violence associated with action films, but a fantasy-style action-thriller with comedy at parts.

3) Spider-man 3 - directed by Sam Raimi in 2007, budget of $258,000,000, made a box office in the UK of £11,827,013 and in the USA $151,116,516. With a budget this large, and based as a fantasy action film, this is a sure of favourite mine. I love the story-line in general throughout the trilogy of spider-man films.

4) Saving private Ryan - directed by Steven Spielberg in 1998, budget of $70,000,000, made a box office in the UK of £2,704,522 and in the USA of $30,576,104. Great film in general, out of all my choices is the most action-based with frequent gun fights throughout the film and exciting action.

5) The hangover - directed by Todd Phillips in 2009, budget of $35,000,000, made a box office in the UK of £2,249,747 and in the USA of $44,979,319. This film is one of my top 5 because of the insane hilarity which is almost a constant throughout. It is second comedy to only my number 1 choice.

Friday 8 October 2010

My Coursework Task


THE BRIEF
Your mission is to carry out the following brief:
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.
Main task: the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.
All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source.

The coursework is worth 50% of the AS (same at A2) and the marking (detailed later) is divided into 3 sections:
RESEARCH AND PLANNING: 20%
PRODUCTION: 60%
EVALUATION: 20%