Styles of editing/continuity editing

Styles of editing/continuity editing
There are many different styles of editing when it comes to films and movie producing. As well as there are many different types of transitions/cuts throughout the whole of a film.

Dissolves:

A dissolve is when a shot fades off screen whilst another shot fades within the screen and takes jumps in its place. The reason in which this is done is because the audience will be able to see both shots on the screen at one time during the midpoint of the dissolve. This type of transition is usually used if the director of the film wants to show a communication/connection between two objects, characters or places.

Straight cut:

A straight cut is the most standard form of transition. As well as, editing which can occur in all films. Additionally a straight cut is when one shot moves instantaneously to another without attracting the audiences attention, straight cuts are not visible to the audience as people do not generally spot when there on the screen. Likewise the audience don't worry about straight cuts. This is because they just keep an eye on the movie which is typical. Nevertheless this helps to maintain reality for the audience.

Fade:

The fade shot is when the screen starts darkening or whitening. As well as the image starts to get lighter or darker until it gradually becomes full black or full white. However, one shot will only fade until there is absolutely nothing that can is visible apart from the colour in it which faded to. The fade shot is often included to show how time goes by within a movie or a film.

Wipes:

The definition of a wipe is when one image is token off screen by another image. Furthermore, the image can be pulled off screen this could be to the left or to the right. However it is more likely to be pulled off screen to the left side of the screen due to the fact that this is better associated with time increasing.








Jump cut:

The jump cut transition is when the audiences attention is grabbed and took onto something unusually and then it jumps to the object. It then appears like apart of the film has been missing.









Graphic Match:


A graphic match is when the maker of the film decides to choose to place a shot in a certain order one by one. This is done like this to create a fine visual transfer from one object straight to another. The two key objects that have all the attention appear to look similar as this invents smooth transaction. As you can see within this video one thing is going straight through to another.

Sound exercise

Sound Exercise/Media Studies

In this sound exercise we have worked on diegetic and non-diegetic sounds and how to fit in these sounds with the type of scenery that we are associating with. Diegetic sounds are often used within the world of text this is shown by having music played within a source of text or a radio. Non-Diegetic refers to everything that is outside of the world of text and this could relate to a voice over or a voice cover.

However, this could also include a soundtrack in the back round for example: the camera is being used from behind a window and there is music being played this is used for the introduction and the people that are outside the world have no clue that the music is being played therefore this is Non-Diegetic. Furthermore, Diegetic sound has been used when the gunshot had been fired as the people involved in the scene can her the gunshot and also Diegetic sound is used when the two characters can here the police sirens.

cinematography filming exercise

Firstly, this is a short clip that is a piece of cinematography filming exercise. During this cinematography filming exercise we used a different variety of shots. The different types of shots that we used are over the shoulder shot, close up, medium shot, low angle shot, high angle shot, and wide shot. The shot that was used the most was the over the shoulder shot. However, the over the shoulder shot should the effect of there being an argument within this scene and we used the over the should shot so that the audience will understand the scenery and what is going on within the film.


Moreover, we used plenty of shot reverse shots and over the shoulder shots to show that there is a conversation going on between the two people and we also used a close up shot on the women's eyes as they where angry, this shows the audience that there is some hate going on between the two people. Furthermore, the body language of both these people is expressed within the conversation for example: when the women has her hand in the air with her two fingers pointing towards the other character and just by looking at both of the characters body language it is showing what the scene is about. This shows there they are both having an argument as one person is being rude to the other person. Likewise, at the very start of the cinematography filming exercise


Finally, the denotation of this film scene is an argument between two friends at a school and the audience will not be able to tell how it is going to end; as one of the characters being the boy is wearing black and white colours, the black colour showing sadness and the colour white showing emptiness as the male character could be felling upset and empty in side. Consequently the female character is wearing a mix of beautiful bright colours and the dress is similar to rainbow. Nevertheless, on the dress the colour that stands out the most is pink, pink shows the symbol of a female and gives a connotation of a flower but as the dress has plenty of other colours on it the flower has not got its original colour to it and it may have been destroyed just like the friendship between these two characters. Also, as the scene is set in a school it shows they that are in school and a problem has happened between them.

Genre

Thriller is a genre of Literature, film and television programming that uses suspense, tension and excitement as its key elements. All thrillers heavily stimulate the viewer's moods, giving them a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and terror. Most films that are involved in this genre always contain the emotion of an adrenaline rush and contain rousing and fast paced tension.

Additionally, a thriller will always provide the sudden rush of emotions, excitement and exhilaration that drive the narrative, most times subtly with peaks and lulls. As well as, at a constant breakneck pace. This keeps the audience on the "edge of their seats", akin to a sensation of hanging from a cliff, as the plot builds towards a climax. Also, a thriller is usually a villain-driven plot, whereby he or she presents obstacles that the protagonist must overcome.

Furthermore, the common sub-genres are the following; psychological thrillers, erotic thrillers, crime thrillers and mystery thrillers. Likewise, another common sub-genre of thriller is the spy genre which deals with fictional espionage. Some of the following are examples of thrillers are the films of Alfred Hitchcock. Equally, the horror and action genres often overlap with the thriller. Nevertheless, thrillers will contain scenes of and tend to be psychological, threatening, mysterious and at times contains large-scale villainy such as espionage, terrorism and conspiracy. Consequently, there are some popular genres in the world of media which are comedy, action, sci-fi, fantasy, horror and thriller.

A certain genre can inform someone of what is going to be involved in a piece of music or film. An example of this can be, movies that keep you on the edge of your seat and make you get scared by having "Jump scares" or give you that "Want to look away" felling, would be categorised into the genre of horror. Nonetheless, movies that get to your emotions are listed as romantic films.

The brief

Brief:

 Foundation Portfolio: The Brief 

You have been asked to produce the titles and opening sequence of a new fiction film in thethriller genre.

The sequence should last a maximum of two minutes.

You may work in a group of 2 - 4 students.

As acting is not assessed you are free to use actors that are not members of your group.

The film is worth 60% of your coursework grade.

The accompanying blog is worth 40% of your coursework grade

Together the Foundation Portfolio is worth 50% of the overall AS Level.  

Welcome post

Hello, welcome to my AS media blog. I am Billy Martin aged 17 i live in Barking and Dagenham and i currently study at Robert Clack Sixth form. I thoroughly enjoy media lessons and i find them really interesting.

Modern Thriller Openings

Unknown

First of all, Unknown is a film that comes under the category of a modern thriller and this happened to be published in 2011. Additionally, the film is about a man who wakes up from a long coma, that he ended up in from an incident from a car accident, to only discover that his life, his wife, his everything had been taken by someone else that he doesn't know. As well as, no one believes him and that is including his wife, with the help of a young woman, he sets out to prove who is, yet he finds out a terrible truth about himself that he forgot.

Secondly, the director of this film is Jaume Collet-Serra. Not to mention the writers of the film were Stephen and Oliver Butcher, who just so happened to have worked on the screenplay of the movie. Last but not lest the stars of the film are Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger and January Jones.

Thirdly, the trailer of the thriller "Unknown" is used to give the fans and the viewers a little taster of what the film is going to be about. Also, this trailer is used to show people who the people are that are going to be acting in it for example: Liam Neeson being the main character will make the fans and viewers think that the film is going to be interesting because he is a very well known actor. Furthermore, in the trailer we see plenty of technical skills used that give the audience a thrilling effect. Also, at first we see the start of the trailer with Liam Neeson and his wife arriving in Berlin, Germany, then there has been a use of fast paced editing to show that there is action and a strong use of danger. There is also a part of the trailer with an effective use of a rolling shot to show the confusion between the two characters, and as the trailer progresses we see there has been more use of fast editing to show us the dangerous uses and the action used within this film.


In addition, this film has efficient characteristics which happens to make it an interesting thriller, this is due to that fact that of the moments of such highly used tension and drama. A great and useful example of this is the scene that is set at the hospital when Liam Neeson is trying to grab the scissors to get himself out of the stabs on the hospital bed as well as leading to him murdering the evil doctor. Fast and effective editing was used to show that there is a scenes of danger and a limit of time that he must get the scissors to escapes before the murder comes in.

The Birds

Within this post I am going to be speaking about a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock named "The Birds"

The film "The Birds" is a thriller that has also been notified as a horror. The film its self is up to 119 minuets long(1 hour and 59 minuets). The writers of the film are 'Daphne Du Maurier' who wrote the story and 'Evan Hunter' who wrote the screenplay. Also, those who stared in the play are 'Rod Taylor', 'Tippi Hedren' and 'Suzanne Pleshette'. However, within the trailer there are certain aspects that are used to show that it is a thriller. One of the aspects are the change of mise-en-scene. At the beginning of the trailer it starts of with light and bright colourful colours and then towards the end the colours turn dark. This shows that the film is unknown to all due to the fact that isn't many hints that this film is going to be a horror or a thriller. Take a second to think why would your average every day crow and seagull want to attack humans that have done absolutely nothing to them. Could it be the fact that the birds feel there are being invaded by humans or could it be a curse?  

Firstly, the film 'The Birds' is about an external threat from nature. Often in Hitchcock's films there is nowhere to hide for example: In this film the setting is in a town called 'Bodega Bay'. This shows that Hitchcock represents the town 'Bodega Bay' as a dead end(No where to hide). Furthermore, the thriller conventions that are used within this are a mysterious use of cinematography for example: when the birds are chasing the children the speed of the editing is increased. As well as, when the people are inside the café hiding away the speed of the editing is decreased due to the fact that the people are very scared and upset that "The Birds" are killing people. Moreover, Hitchcock stated "resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more powerful and better equipped villains". The question is 'Is this true of the birds'. Truly speaking this quote is very true due to the fact that the people couldn't come up with a correctly plan as to solving the mystery of the killer birds. During the film another thriller convention that is used is 'suspense'. This film has used one of the most successful suspense scene's of its time and possibly of all time. This film is full of dramatic and tense moments for example: sound is very quite and then a minuet later you h ear a bird and then all of the birds at the same time attack the building. This causes an effect on non-diegetic sound as the sound refers to the birds attacking. Nonetheless, it also refers to the tension of the music when it is being played to make the scene seen more dramatic.

Secondly, there are more specific techniques that are used that show the thriller conventions. Another one of the techniques are 'Dramatic Irony'. This is used when the audience know that "The Birds" are going to attack the people and the people don't know that "The Birds" are going to attack them. Also, another example of when 'Dramatic Irony' is being used is in the schoolyard scene when Tippi Hendren does not know "The Birds" have been gathering around the schoolyard. However, the audience knows. This suggests that we have knowledge denied to the character. Additionally, in the schoolyard scene the underlying score of the innocent child's song is in contrast to the evil in nature. Tippi Hendren's character is only guilty of taking nature for granted. Similarly, in the scene outside the café the high camera angle is like the glaze of a pitiless god who cannot be bothered to intervene.

Thirdly, the famous quote stated by Alfred Hitchcock "A thriller is a villain driven plot. Obstacles are presented that the hero must overcome". This indicates that "The Birds" are the villains and the people are the hero's. Nevertheless, are there any hero's? Due to the fact that the mystery is unsolved as to why the birds had plot the attack on the humans. The thriller technique that is presented by this is the 'MacGuffin' as it turns out there is a 'catch 22' you may have noticed that wherever Tippi Hedren goes the birds go. This could mean two things! This could mean that its Tippi Hedren's fault that the people where killed by "The Birds" because she is an attraction to them or it could mean that Tippi Hedren is the villain and "The Birds" are the hero's. But weather or not that is the case the mystery is still unsolved.

Additionally, did you know that the scene where Tippi Hedren is savaged by birds near the end of the movie took a week to film. This is because the film was shot realistically as they needed to collect all of the birds and get them in one spot. Equally, "The Birds" were attached to her cloths by long nylon threads the so that they couldn't get away. The film features 370 effects shots. The final shot is a composite of 32 separately filmed elements. Within the film there are a very wide range of shots that are used for example: there is a close up on Tippi Hedren's face when she is bleeding due to the attack of the birds. This gives a dramatic effect as it focuses on the damage which the birds have done to her. Also, there is a lot of high angle shots. One of the main high angle shots is the one when all the people in the town are by the café and the petrol leak gets set on fire and there is a mighty explosion. There are plenty of other shots that where taken but they where two of the main ones. In addition, a number of endings were being considered for this film. One that was considered would have showed the Golden Gate Bridge completely covered with 'Birds'. However, the film doesn't finish with the usual "The End" title because Alfred Hitchcock wanted to give the impression of unending terror.

Finally, Alfred Hitchcock uses a famous quote and saying that he invented being 'Dip your toe into the lake of fear'. Nevertheless, when the audiences left the UK premiere at the Odeon, Leicester Square, London, they were greeted by the sound of screeching and flapping birds from loudspeakers hidden in the trees out of peoples way to scare them further. During the making of this film Tippi Hedren was actually cut in the face by a bird in one of the shots. Also, there is no musical score for the film except for a short electronic music sequence and the children singing in the school. Also, Alfred Hitchcock's thoughts of this film where that mankind has abused birds throughout history. We are shown 'Deliberate irony' in the café scene with the elderly 'bird loving' lady. She interrupted by an order for three southern fried chickens. In addition, one of the other characters initial reaction is to shoot "The Birds" and kill them. Hitchcock said that in the film "The Birds" the usual 'safety nets' such as (Science/religion) are denied to us. This indicates that we are on our own.

Psycho analysis

The film "Psycho" is a thriller that is directed by 'Alfred Hitchcock' and was set in the 1960's. Also, Psycho was written by 'Joseph Stefano' who was in charge of the screenplay and 'Robert Bloch' what wrote the novel. Furthermore those that stared within the play are 'Anthony Perkins', 'Janet Leigh' and 'Vera Miles'.

Firstly, within this film Hitchcock thoughts were that the audience know that there is a murder within the house. However, the audience don't know when he/she will attack again, but in order for them to be suspenseful they must know it could happen any minute. As well as, Hitchcock stressed that as the apprehension increases there is less and less violence on screen.

Secondly, in this film there are many thriller conventions that are used. This film has a sudden twist to it, as this time the external threat is from a crazy man, A.K.A: a deranged mind. Thrillers are currently characterized by fast pacing frequent action. Therefore, there are some examples in the film "Psycho"; when the women is standing in the shower and is naked due to the fact that she is taking a shower, the past of the scene starts to increase immensely, this then shows that something terrible is about to happen. Also, another example of this film being characterized is at the point of the staircase when the police inspector has been stabbed and fell down. The past beings to build up as the creates the tension between the killer and the inspector as the increase of the speed and frequent action represents danger. Another example is when the car is being drowned in the lake and it takes its time to sink, the pace of the film is decreased and the frequent action is changed as the car is taking its time to sink.

Thirdly, throughout the film "Psycho" there is an unknown mystery up until the very end. We know this because, resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more powerful and better equipped villains. This indicates that the murderer within this film is very powerful due to the fact that he/she managed to kill two people being the inspector and the first women who stayed in the motel and it was the women who had been killed and her lover was the person who found out who the murderer was and therefore i fill that if there had to be a hero the hero would be the man who had stopped the killer from killing the girl who had died sister. Therefore you have to give him credit as well as the police catching him.

Finally, the mise-en-scene was well presented within this film as it was set in black and white. Black represents darkness, light-less, scariness, dampness ETC. Therefore this shows the the film is going to be about an unknown danger and a un-solved mystery. Also, the film is set in the United-States of America and was set in the 1960's. The body language of the killer was very invidious as at times you couldn't tell what sort of mood he was in. The title 'Psycho' was shown in the film by the murderer. At first everyone had thought that the murderer was his mother. However, it was an overall inverse operation, due to the fact that all viewers were made to believe that his mother killed the girl and the inspector. Nevertheless it was the man who worked within the motel and he was pretending to be his mother. Nonetheless, she was died already and he just wanted to take after her and live her life.

Media theorist

Media theories blog 2

Media theories and theorists

Traditional Hollywood narrative structure:

This is a three act structure and this is the typical Hollywood narrative. The first part of the structure is set up and that is 25% of the structure. Furthermore, the middle part of the structure is conformation and this is 50% of the structure. Additionally, the final part of the structure is film time and this takes up 25% of the structure. In addition, Linear also known as chronological has few and if any there will be sub-plots and tendency used towards closure at the end of film.

Tadorov- Narrative theory

Tadorov in 1969 had produced a theory in which he believed to be applied to any film. However, he believed that all films followed the same narrative pattern. Furthermore, they all went through stages of narrative. Each stage had a different meaning to it. There are five different stages the narrative can progress through stage 1); this is a state of equilibrium in other words its perfect and all is as it should be. Stage 2); this is a disruption of that order by an event. Also, Stage 3); this is a recognition that the disorder has occurred. As well, Stage 4); this is an attempt to repair the damage of the disruption and the final stage which is stage 5 is a return or restoration of a new equilibrium.

Tadorov shows a great representation of an equilibrium in the film "North by North West". This is because at the start of the film all the people that are featured in it are living there everyday normal life. Then there is a mysterious event that happens including a man and a women getting into a problem. Next, the problem starts to repeat its self and the story gets bigger and bigger and the problem increases. On the other hand the man takes action for it

Vladimir Propp-character types

Vladimir Propp- character types are analysed traditionally for folk stories and there are eight different key character roles. The eight key roles that there are, are Hero/Villain/Helper/Donor (this is the provider)/ Father/Dispatcher/Princess/False Hero.

Representation of women in film

The ‘Male Gaze’ is a tenure conversed by Laura Mulvey in her essay, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”. This is used to designate when the audience is put into viewpoint of a (Heterosexual) man. However Female characters are sexualized and the camera may zero in on female genitals that are measured as being sexual. Furthermore, in 1975 Laura Mulvey showed representation of women in film by showing “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”. Likewise the representation of women is show in the film “Rope”. This is presented because of the male gaze. This is where the women were viewed as the objects of male erotic desire, this is shown in film and by the audience. Also, Men were seen as active and Women were seen as passive. Similarly, Women do not have agency, this indicates that they do not move the plot forward. Equally, the audience is forced to identify with male gaze. Therefore, the cinema reflects a ‘Patriarchal’ society as the cinema is dominated by men.