Lighting exercise

Lighting


There are many types of lighting used in movies these include; The key light, The back light, The filler light, Under lighting, Top lighting, Low and high key lighting,Film noir,
The key light is the brightest and most influential lighting.
The back light helps contract the effect of the key light and makes a silhouette.
The filler light helps soften light shadows and makes the person on camera look more youthful.
Under lighting is when the main source of light comes from below the subject, it is mainly used in thrillers and horrors.
Top lighting is when the main source of light comes from above the subject it gives the person on camera a more glamourous look.
Low key lighting is created by using key and back lighting this creates a sharp contrast between bright and dark colours, it also creates distinct shadows. Low key lighting is also known as the CHIAROSCURO.


This is a scene from the 1922 film Nosferatu where low key lighting is used to make a sharp contrast between the dark and light colours in the scene.
High key lighting is made by using more filler lights this makes the lighting seem more realistic to the  viewers.

This is a scene from the film Suspicion where lighting is used to create tension and highlight the milk.

Sound exercise

In this film we were trying to create a mysterious atmosphere where the good guy seen walking at the start of the scene is taken by a psycho killer seen leaving bloodied up at the end.
In this scene we tried to used diagetic and non diagetic sounds. These were the car sound which cant be seen and the door closing. We also used a sound at the end which didnt fit in with the scene, this didn't however create the effect that we were hoping for.
The best sound effect was when the door closes as we fitted in the sound just perfectly so that the audience hears it just as the door closes.
The car at the start of the scene didn't fit in very well however as we are new to the editing software this was the best that our ability allowed us to do.
I think the sound effects were used quite well and I am happy with the scene.
Overall I think this was a good attempt as it is our first time using the microphone and we are still getting accustomed with the editing software, I am happy with this scene as all of our problems can be fixed with practice.

Psyco

Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock.
The story line of psycho shows us a woman called Marion running away with money that she stole as she is fed up of her life. She wants to get married to her new lover called Sam who she cannot marry as he has to pay out all of his money away in alimony. This is the maguffin as it is part of the story but it isn't the most important or recognized part of the film.
The main part of the story is where Marion decides to stay at The Bates Motel where she is killed by Mrs Bates who we later find out is Mr Bates dressed up as his dead mother.
This film starts with a red herring straight away as we are initially let to believe that the story is about Marion stealing the money and showing her escape and bring the money to Sam to start their new lives. It doesn't look like a thriller when the film begins.

In this film there is a lot of suspense as the audience know there will be a murder but they do not know how or when it will occur.

Thrillers are known for their fast paced and frequent action, the car shower scene is a good example of this.

In Psycho there is no hero, there is just a villain who is unsuspected throughout the whole film, during the film the dead mother is the suspected villain who no body ever sees. Hitchcock chose Norman Bates as the villain as he wanted to avoid cliche and chose an unlikely villain living in the most unlikely of places. There are many different devices used in this film such as multiple Red Herrings an example of this is the shower scene and the final revelation about the mother, who is really Norman. The viewer would be shocked the first time they see the film as they expect Marion to be the main character throughout the scene and do not expect her early departure. When Marion is killed it is apparent that the main character is actually Norman Bates, this seemed strange early on in the film as Mr. Bates seemed an uninteresting character but suspicion builds as the story line continues.

Suspense is built up in the film by using long terms of low paced action and low level violence shown on screen so the audience are always expecting something to happen. Psycho is a very villain driven plot as much of the film is trying to figure out who the real villain is, at first it seems to be the mother but as the film progresses we finally realize that the villain is actually Mr Bates.

Film Language

Genre is the way in which we classify a film, films in the same genre are considered to be similar in form and and type.


Narrative is the story/ sequence of events, often referred to as the plot. Narrative structure is the way in which the story is presented to the audience. The most popular form of narrative is Linear.

Linear structure is when the story is shown to the audience in the order that they took place.

Non linear narrative is when the sequence of events is shown in a jumbled way, so it will go back and forth to different parts of the story.

Micro sounds include setting, props, clothing and movement.

Micro elements include editing techniques and narrative.

Media A level North By Northwest

Media A Level North By Northwest
The hero in this film is played by Carry Grant who was a very famous and well known actor throughout the 1950's.
This trailer will appeal to the audience because it gives us an insight to the story without giving everything away but it also shows the high amount of fast paced action that is in the film. The audience will feel that this is an exciting and genuinely thrilling film.
The story shows a man who's identity is mistaken for a government spy and he is chased across the country as he looks for safety and new ways to evade his pursuers.
In North By NorthWest the hero is up against villains who are much better equipped than he is so he must use his intelligence to outsmart his pursuers.
In North By NorthWest devices like suspense, red herrings and cliffhangers are used a lot. A Red herring is used when the woman shoots the man so it looks like he is killed however later on in the film we learn that she shot a blank and that he didn't really die. A Cliffhanger is used right at the end of the film where the two main characters are trying to escape the villains on mount rush more and the film ends just as it looks like the woman is going to fall and die.
The crop duster scene is iconic as nothing as big as that had ever been seen before and it is such a big impact on the way action scenes were filmed in the future, many people from all over the world will recognise the famous crop duster scene.

“A thriller is a villain driven plot, whereby he presents obstacles the hero must overcome.” This is true with North By NorthWest because we see the very smart villains out smart the hero in many occasions but then you see the hero come up with new ways to overcome the challenges that the villains have thrown at him, however the villains and the hero are evenly matched as  at the end they're both at the same place and they are both pretty evenly matched.

“Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action” This is true in North By NorthWest as the auction scene shows when there is lots of commotion and the hero finds a smart escape plan.

As Media Studies- Written Assignment (Camera Angles)

My Video

In this video the story we were trying to portray is the good guy being chased down by the bad guy. In the end the bad guy kills the good guy and walks away as if nothing has happened. The bad guy is a serial killer who is on a rampage. The baddy hits the good guy with his signature murder weapon, which is a big rock!

In this video we tried to use every camera successful angle that was listed however we do not think we captured a tracking shot and a tilt shot this is because we couldn’t find a place to use them in the atmosphere that we was trying to create and we couldn’t find a suitable place in the story line where those camera angles/ shots would smoothly fit in.

We chose to do the shot types and camera angles that we did because it fitted in with the mysterious atmosphere that we were trying to recreate. I think that the angles and shots we used made the scene come across how we wanted and all of the angles and shots in the right places. The shots and angles that we used made our scene look smooth and professional.

In some the shot was a little shaky, this is because this is our first time ever filming and we were still trying to get used to the equipment, which was provided. However towards the end of the video the filming gets a lot smoother as we became more comfortable using the equipment provided.

In the beginning of the scene as we were trying to get used to the equipment you see a pair of feet running however there were supposed to be 2two this did not come across in the video as the first persons feet was out of frame. After this point though our framing was relatively successful. You don’t ever get to see the murderers face as this was deliberately cut out to keep the mysterious atmosphere.

Overall I think our scene was very successful as for our first attempt we used to correct angles, shots and the scene was pretty smooth and nice to watch. You can see how the quality of filming improves as the scene goes on this is because we began to get comfortable with our equipment. To make the scene better we could have framed the earlier shots better as some aspects of the shot were cut out or even missed out completely but overall I thing that as a first attempt our scene was very successful indeed!