Lighting

Key Lighting:
"The key light is the first and usually most important light that a photographer, cinematographer, lighting cameraman, or other scene composer will use in a lighting setup. The purpose of the key light is to highlight the form and dimension of the subject. The key light is not a rigid requirement; omitting the key light can result in a silhouette effect. Many key lights may be placed in a scene to illuminate a moving subject at opportune moments." 

Fill Lighting:

"Fill light (often simply fill) may be used to reduce the contrast of a scene and provide some illumination for the areas of the image that are in shadow. A common lighting setup places the fill light on the lens axis, roughly perpendicular to the key light. The fill light is often softer and, by definition, less intense than the key light."

'K' = Key light. 'F' = Fill light

Back Lighting:

"Backlighting refers to the process of illuminating the subject from the back. In other words, the lighting instrument and the viewer are facing towards each other, with the subject in between. This causes the edges of the subject to glow, while the other areas remain darker. The backlight can be a natural or artificial source of light. When artificial, the back light is usually placed directly behind the subject in a 4-point lighting setup.

A back light, which lights foreground elements from the rear, is not to be confused with a background light, which lights background elements (such as scenery)."

High Key:

"High-key lighting is a style of lighting for film, television, or photography that aims to reduce the lighting ratio present in the scene. This was originally done partly for technological reasons, since early film and television did not deal well with high contrast ratios, but now is used to suggest an upbeat mood. It is often used in sitcoms and comedies. High-key lighting is usually quite homogeneous and free from dark shadows."

Rim Lighting: 

"Occurs when the main light is placed behind the subject so that the subject's face is completely in shadow, but there is a rim of light around the subject's head, like the corona in a full eclipse. Rim lighting is often used when making profile portraits. Rim lighting is the same as backlighting."

Chiaroscuro Lighting:

Chiaroscuro lighting emphasizes the contrast of light and dark to give an illusion of depth and to create volume. The term "chiaroscuro" was coined during the Renaissance to describe its use by painters---"chiaro" meaning light and "scuro" meaning dark. The concept is the same whether the artist is a photographer, a painter, or a lighting consultant for theater or film---light is used to create bold contrast.

What is British film?

The Kings Speech
Story: Tells the story of the man who became King George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II. After his brother abdicates, George ('Bertie') reluctantly assumes the throne. Plagued by a dreaded stammer and considered unfit to be king, Bertie engages the help of an unorthodox speech therapist named Lionel Logue. Through a set of unexpected techniques, and as a result of an unlikely friendship, Bertie is able to find his voice and boldly lead the country through war.
Director: 
Tom Hooper
Writer: 

David Seidler (screenplay)

Stars:

 Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter

Genres:

 Biography | Drama | History

Production Co:

 See-Saw Films, Bedlam Productions

Release Date:

 7 January 2011 (UK)

127 Hours

Story: 127 Hours is the true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston's remarkable adventure to save himself after a fallen boulder crashes on his arm and traps him in an isolated canyon in Utah. Over the next five days Ralston examines his life and survives the elements to finally discover he has the courage and the wherewithal to extricate himself by any means necessary, scale a 65 foot wall and hike over eight miles before he can be rescued. Throughout his journey, Ralston recalls friends, lovers, family, and the two hikers he met before his accident. Will they be the last two people he ever had the chance to meet?

Director: 

Danny Boyle

Writers: 

Danny Boyle (screenplay), Simon Beaufoy(screenplay)

Stars:

 James Franco, Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara

Genres:

 Adventure | Biography | Drama | Thriller

Production Co:

 Pathé, Everest Entertainment, Cloud Eight Films

Release Date:

 7 January 2011 (UK)

Another Year

Story: A married couple who have managed to remain blissfully happy into their autumn years, are surrounded over the course of the four seasons of one average year by friends, colleagues, and family who all seem to suffer some degree of unhappiness.

Director: 

Mike Leigh

Writer: 

Mike Leigh

Stars:

 Jim Broadbent, Ruth Sheen and Lesley Manville

Genres:

 Comedy | Drama

Production Co:

 Thin Man Films, Film4, Focus Features International (FFI)

Release Date:

 5 November 2010 (UK)

Four Lions

Story: Four Lions tells the story of a group of British jihadists who push their abstract dreams of glory to the breaking point. As the wheels fly off, and their competing ideologies clash, what emerges is an emotionally engaging (and entirely plausible) farce. In a storm of razor-sharp verbal jousting and large-scale set pieces, Four Lions is a comic tour de force; it shows that-while terrorism is about ideology-it can also be about idiots.

Director: 

Christopher Morris

Writers: 

Christopher Morris, Simon Blackwell (additional writing)

Stars:

 Will Adamsdale, Riz Ahmed and Adeel Akhtar

Genres:

 Comedy | Drama

Production Co:

 Film4, Wild Bunch, Optimum Releasing

Release Date:

 7 May 2010 (UK)

Made in Dagenham

Story: In 1968, the Ford auto factory in Dagenham was one of the largest single private employers in the United Kingdom. In addition to the thousands of male employees, there are also 187 underpaid women machinists who primarily assemble the car seat upholstery in poor working conditions. Dissatisfied, the women, represented by the shop steward and Rita O'Grady, work with union rep Albert Passingham for a better deal. However, Rita learns that there is a larger issue in this dispute considering that women are paid an appalling fraction of the men's wages for the same work across the board on the sole basis of their sex. Refusing to tolerate this inequality any longer, O'Grady leads a strike by her fellow machinists for equal pay for equal work. What follows would test the patience of all involved in a grinding labour and political struggle that ultimately would advance the cause of women's rights around the world.

Director: 

Nigel Cole

Writer: 

William Ivory (screenplay)

Stars:

 Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins and Andrea Riseborough

Genres:

 Comedy | Drama | History

Production Co:

 Audley Films, BBC Films, BMS Finance 

Release Date:

 1 October 2010 (UK)

I consider that all the films above are 'British' in one way or another apart from '127 hours'. This is because of the american actors in the film and the american location. Whereas the others tend to have British locations, actors, writers or directors. However I do think a film is defined as 'British' by the number of British links in the film and in production.

Working Title Trips notes

Working Title Films - Tim Bevan, Deborah Haywood, Dan Mazer

• Funded by Universal Studios
• To get a script written and finalised they go to several writers, they put their thought across on the script.
• Production package includes script, budget, cast & crew.

• Atonement: art house picture

• More than one company put money into picture – limits liability if film flops

• Piracy – most money lost in DVD market.

• Fact based films hardest to make, "legal minefield". 

Production

• monitor/track film until delivery
• schedule, location, cast, crew
• Rebates - higher in Hungary (25%), (20% britain if cost over 20mil)
• Trying to film places in other countries - "studio space is a problem in the UK", americans using most of it for big hollywood films.
• Atonement shot in 62 days

• Not making drama films - ticket sales for drama dropped over last 2-3 years.

research

http://www.4rfv.co.uk/industrynews.asp?id=124890

Representation of “Englishness” in Midsomer Murders

The main ways in which this “Englishness” is represented in through the mediums of Mise-en-scene, sound and camera movement.

Mise-en-scene plays a massive role in representing Midsomer Murders as being set in a stereotypical English village. These villages are represented as classic, rural settlements. This is reflected greatly by the characters in their appearance and nature in general. Most characters tend to be above forty years old and in the extracts I viewed I did not see any characters or extras under the age of eighteen. This shows that the cast and setting of Midsomer Murders is quite old fashioned. This old fashioned Englishness is further reflected by the characters clothing, cars and houses. The characters clothing is in general extremely old fashioned. Consisting of mainly knitwear and flowery tops for the ladies and checked shirts and blazers for the men. The clothes could also suggest that the people living in countryside of Midsomer are out of touch of fashion and other modern day items found in the city. This is further portrayed by the telephones used. The old fashioned telephones suggest that Midsomer has been unchanged and somehow left in the past, stuck in an era and out of touch of anything that can change that. It also seems that the Inspectors are the only people maybe in touch with the modern world.

            Other props within the Mise-en-scene further emphasises the countryside’s old fashioned past that seems to be present in Midsomer Murders. The mode of transport around Midsomer seems to be bicycling (or tricycling), by horseback (associated with the countryside) or by car which often turn out to be classic vehicles polished (which could represent wealth) to the shine of a mirror or a Land Rover. This all supports the representation that the English are old fashioned farmers living in the countryside.

            The houses in Midsomer once again support this representation of Englishness. Consisting of mainly farms, cottages, and other assorted fancy large houses. This portrays not only the rural side of Midsomer but also in a way suggests wealth amongst its inhabitants. This wealth could be argued to be supported by the accent in the dialect which tends to be proper queens English (posh).

           

Camera angles and movement in Midsomer Murders remains simple. Consisting of mainly medium and long range shots Midsomer ensures that the action is always on the screen. The odd close up shot will identify important details however this is rarely used on the characters. Standard ‘shot reverse shot’ and over the shoulder shots are used in scenes with conversation. Overall the camera angles used are nothing revolutionary however this means they could be partially represented Midsomer itself, representing is as ‘normal’ and maybe suggesting that this is what England is like.

            Camera movement however does much more in terms of representation. The movement of the cameras remain slow and steady throughout. Even in more exciting scenes the camera movement only speeds up slightly. This movement could reflect the lives of people living in Midsomer as being slow paced, easygoing and overall uneventful (despite the murders happening in every episode).

In conclusion Midsomer Murders does not represent Englishness in a very versatile way. It seems almost fixed upon representing it as slow, old, classical, rural and generally locked away from civilisation. It does however strongly support stereotypes about the countryside.

Web 2.0

Web 2.0 refers to the second generation of the Web, which enables people with no specialized technical knowledge to create their own websites, to self-publish, create and upload audio and video files, share photos and information and complete a variety of other tasks. Examples of these websites include Youtube, Facebook and DIGG.





Advantages of Web 2.0 include the fact that viewers no longer have to sit back at view other people's opinions. Thanks to Web 2.0 viewers can now post their view on stuff quickly and easily. As well as this Web 2.0 gives users to share videos, music and other files, with friends and with the whole world, quickly and at a relatively low cost. Web 2.0 has also made internet websites such as Facebook a gold mine for advertising.


However there are disadvantages. This include huge issues with copyright due to people being able to download free music and videos quicker and easier than ever before. Plus because internet users now have the power to change information on the internet, for example wikipedia, the information can sometimes be unreliable.

How does the skins promotional trailer create representation of young people?

How does the skins promotional trailer create representation of young people2

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Narrative Theories.

Vladimir Propp
Vladimir Propp's theory is that stories have similar structure in terms of characters and narrative. According to him there are 8 different character types:

• The Hero – a character that seeks something
• The Villain – who opposes or actively blocks the hero’s quest
• The Donor – who provides an object with magical properties
• The Dispatcher – who sends the hero on his/her quest via a message
• The False Hero – who disrupts the hero’s success by making false claims
• The Helper – who aids the hero
• The Princess – acts as the reward for the hero and the object of the villain’s plots
• Her Father – who acts to reward the hero for his effort

6 parts to the narrative structure:

• Preparation 
• Complication
• Transference
• Struggle
• Return
• Recognition

Tzvetan Todorov

His theory was simple:

1. The narrative starts with everything as it should be (state of equilibrium).
2. The state of equilibrium is disrupted (disequilibrium).
3. A new equilibrium is made at the end of the narrative. 

Roland Barthes

His theory is that a narrative can be broken down into five codes:

1. Action code - Events taking place.
2. Enigma code - Questions raised & answered.
3. Semantic code - Characters & characterisation.
4. Referential code - Information  & explanation.
5. Symbolic code - Connotations of signs.

Claude Levis-strauss

His theory focused on binary opposites of narrative structure and not what order the events came in the plot. Some example of binary opposites include: 

• Good & Evil
• Earth & Space
• Past & Future
• Known & Unknown

Game Show Convergence

'Ultimate Warrior', a game show similar to the hit UK TV game show 'Gladiators', would be a team based game show designed to test your physical and mental strength to its limits. The show would consist of a mixture of outdoor tasks and live indoor events presented to a live audience. There would be three teams consisting of four members competing for a place in 'the final show down' which is were the best of the best compete for the 'Ultimate Warrior' trophy and a cash prize in the showdown.

Teams would be able to apply to compete in the game show by filling in information about their team and submitting it on the 'Ultimate Warrior' website. Participating teams would need a required standard of health & fitness and if selected would go through to trials where the best teams would be chosen. The selection process would be made in advance of airing the show therefore TV ads and other marketing strategies would be needed to advertise recruitment for the show. After this the teams would start a two week course which would train them for the extreme indoor live events.The show would be broadcast live with clips within the show of the outdoor events and the teams training leading up the show.

This show could be converged in many ways. First of all the show would have its own computer game and applications for consoles, PC's and iphones. The computer game would feature taking part in the show virtually. Another way the game show will converge is the website which hosts endless possibilities for convergence. For example teams apply for the show through the website. The website will also have many unique features: The show will be able to be viewed live through the website as well as having unique and exclusive camera views not seen on the television version (for example, POV shots from the helmet cameras). The website will also have sections showing exclusive fact files on all the teams showing their strengths, weaknesses and performance in recent shows. The website and iphone app will feature a video section showing the best clips from previous episodes and sneak previews of events and tasks of the next episode. Once the teams for the 'Ultimate Warrior' showdown have been finalised the show will host a competition for viewers at home. You, the viewer, would be able to predict the winner of the show by either pressing the red button, calling in, texting in, or entering online. The lines would open for voting at the end of the qualifiers and lines would close before the start of the quarter finals to ensure that all votes were fair. The people successfully voted for the winner would then be entered into a prize draw, out of all the successful voters, for a cash prize.

Production: The show will be filmed in both a large studio/arena and specialist outdoor areas depending on what the task for the show is.

Distribution: The show will be distributed in two main ways: Online via the website or television. A likely TV channel to host the game show would be ITV because of such shows as 'Beat the Star' and 'Gladiators' being presented on this channel. It would also be distributed in high definition.

Marketing: 'Ultimate Warrior' can be advertised in many ways. TV would be the most likely way of advertising the show and need for contestants. These would most likely be short clips with the name and logo of the show. Once the game show is aired, advertisements for the next series applicants will be aired at the end of episodes. The show will also be advertised on popular websites such as youtube, facebook, twitter and of course the website of the television channel hosting the show.

Technologies: A wide range of cameras would be needed to produce this game show. For example tiny cameras would be needed to be fitted to the helmets of participants along with HD cameras. The game show would also utilise other technologies such as iphones and gaming consoles to broadcast shows and other media such as apps, games. Another major technology that will be used is the internet website where everything about the show will be shown.

Laura Mulvey: The Male Gaze

Laura Mulvey created the term 'Male Gaze' in 1975. She believes that the audience has to view the characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male and that women are only represented in a way to provide visual pleasure for men. For example a scene may linger on the curves of the female body. This term was originally applied to film, more specifically the classic Hollywood style film, but can be applied to all branches of media.

Example from the film 'Transformers'

Isolation Evaluation

Isolation Evaluation

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What is TV drama?

TV drama is a large genre. Its fictionalised action in narrative form at its simplest. TV drama splits into many different types and it is important to understand how and why this is.


Examples of TV drama include: Eastenders, Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Doctor Who, Casualty, Holby City,  Being Human, Hotel Babylon, Ugly Betty, Misfits, The Event, Desperate Housewives.


Shows like Midsummer Murders, Lewis and Foyle's War are all crime dramas. I believe the reason for this is because crime and murders provide a perfect storyline for TV dramas, due to the scenes of action and the prospect of a mystery. 


Different kinds of TV drama include: Action & Adventure, Biographical, Classic & Period, Crime, Historical, Horror & Supernatural,
Legal & Courtroom, Medical, Musical, Political, Relationships & Romance, Sci-Fi & Fantasy,
Soaps, Spiritual, Thriller, War & Disaster, Western.


Genre means 'Type'. Therefore a TV genre refers to programmes which can be categorised by 
things there share alike. Many genres break down into sub-genres, for example crime drama. TV
drama has given birth to a number of sub-genres. What started out as a drama on television, 
single plays, quickly evolved into different kinds of dramas such as costume dramas, soap operas
and crime dramas. This took place in the 1950s as the BBC was evolving and ITV first began 
broadcasting. 

Media evaluation

Media evaluation

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Rough cut feedback - via YOUTUBE

We have published a rough cut of our thriller opening onto youtube in hope of getting some feedback from people around the globe. Here is the link.

Script

We have decided to not include any script in our opening. This is because we feel it would take away the tenseness of the situation and maybe prevent the effect we are trying to produce. We could have included speech in the scene within the main characters home however we decided as a group that this would take away the sense of being lonely and isolated within your own home and life.

Music

We have finally decided on a track for our thriller opening! We found it on www.freeplaymusic.com and it is called 'Gather Around' and features some creepy string sounds along with some quite fast paced drums. It fits out production perfectly, sound and length.

Survey results

Survey results

Age: The age of our audience is important because different ages have different tastes and preferences of movies, specifically thrillers. We have learnt from our data that our audience is predominantly aged 15-17. This matches to our thriller as this is our intended target audience.

Favourite genre of film: We asked this question to establish a link between age groups and what films they enjoy. From this we can learn if our target audience enjoys thriller films or not. From learning the most popular genres of film we can incorporate things from more popular genres, for example comedy, into our thriller movie to make it appeal to a wider audience.

How often do you watch films: We asked this question because people who watch films more often will have more of an opinion and have a deeper insight and better knowledge. We have learnt from this data that most people watch films once a week.

Preferred method of watching films: We asked this question to find out which method would be best to release our film on to. When filming our opening we can gear it towards cinema by using effects that work well in the cinema like sound and a bigger wider picture.

Most frightening situation: We asked this question to find out what situation the audience would least like to be in alone. The choices were from city, house, forest, town or village and other. We learnt that being alone in a forest at night is the location that people would least like to be in (85% of vote) followed by a city (15% of vote). We can apply this knowledge to our planning and set our opening in the most scary location so that viewers can relate to the fear experienced by the actor.

Most frightening weapon: We asked this question to find out what weapon the audience would find most frightening to be threatened with. From our results we can conclude that knives are more frightening (45% of people said this). This was followed by the hatchet (30%), gun (15%) and heavy metal chain (10%). From this information we can conclude that the audience feels much more threatened by sharp objects. This is important because the killer in our production needs to be able to strike fear into the audience, one of the main ways of him doing this is by killing people with a menacing weapon. We can apply this to our planning by equipping our villain with sharp weapons.

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Storyboard continued...

Here is the second sheet to our storyboard.

Storyboard

we started this on paper, in pencil, and then altered it by adding colour on photoshop.

Audience research survey

Today I produced, with help from Jamie, an audience research survey. The aim of this survey is to gather information about what the audience opinions and preferences are when it comes to films. We may also be continuing the audience research soon by getting feedback on music for our chase scene.

Below is our survey: