Question 7:

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the final product?

When we were given the objective of filming the preliminary task, we were asked to film a walking scene which leads to a conversation in the restricted area of our school (Norwich City School). The planning was really quite simple. We had to create a floorplan which involved each the positioning of the camera in order to get the right camera angles and also to write a short script for the two characters. Then after filming we had to edit all the scenes (Cut the scenes) and put them together to create a continuous short clip. We also had to keep in mind not to break the 180-degree rule when filming the conversation and that concludes the preliminary task. 

Floorplan 1

Floorplan 2

Whereas when we were filming 'Kremlin' our thriller opening we had to research and prepare thoroughly. First, we had to come up with some kind of a story subsequently, and most critically,  we needed to decide what we wanted to establish in our opening. Genre, characters, plot, theme , tone/mood or location. Therefore, we needed to conduct a great deal of research of different real media clips to see how they had established and how they achieved the result. We then had to come up with character background information and think of the mise en scene and props and different camera techniques in order to properly establish our characters. Furthermore, we decided that we needed to establish the location that would ensure the audience believed this was a British gangster film. This resulted in us needing to visit and select from various locations to ensure we had the best chance of success. Choosing the right floor plan was a 'must' because we needed to know where we would position our camera in order to establish a certain something either the character or the transaction of the plot devices. When thinking of camera angles and positioning we had to keep in mind where and when we would place our titles, and in order to accomplish this we had to research a few films and note down at what time of the sequence and how they had placed their titles. After successfully filming the scene. We need to choose the correct font that would connote and establish the gritty violent genre of our opening.

Shot reverse shot

Overall I have learned various camera techniques such as shot reverse shot when filming a conversation this technique created the smooth continuity between two people talking. Also the 180 degree rule was something I have never heard of before, but when learning about it I realised the significance of the camera positioning and how important it is when trying to film a conversation. When breaking this rule the scene instantly starts to look disoriented and not just not right, the position of the characters change when breaking it and in order to create a sense of understanding of the position of the characters in set 180 is highly important. I also clearly understood that when filming a scene the critical importance of using a variety of shots , as it creates a totally different meaning depending on what type of shots and angles you may use. For example, lower angle shot of a person instantly creates a sense of power and authority or perhaps how close-up make the scene seems much more intense. The variety of shots and how you present them by itself can establish the tone, pace, and narrative of a film.

180 degree rule

Furthermore, it made me understand how important team work and detailed preparation are, especially when working with a group because then you need to bring maximum efficiency to the table and when time is limited that is exactly what you need. A good example would be when Conner and I were editing the final cutI we gave each other precise objectives with deadlines;

for example, he would take care of the titles whereas I would edit the sound. We gave ourselves specific jobs to do which meant that we both knew exactly what we had to do and it saved us a lot of time. However, there are also disadvantages when working with a group because then you have to rely on your team mates and if somebody for whatever reason forgets something or is late the whole process and production can be put on hold and of course in a professional production 'lost time= lost money'!.

TEAMWORK IS KEY!

Question 6:

Question 5:

There has been some kind of an error when uploading my word document onto "Issuu" and it has failed to display the two shots that I have chosen from my real media examples. These are supposed to be on my evaluation.

Pulp Fiction - Suitcase (Macguffin) 

Inception - "Totem" (Cliff hanger)

Question 4:

Who would be the audience for your media product?

In order to discover the audience for Kremlin, I had to check the rating and reviews of similar films with either a gritty violent gangster theme to it or a political thriller subsequently the marketing could target these 'groups' resulting in higher exposure/sales revenue. My research reached the conclusion that primarily men aged 18-26 may enjoy the Kremlin because of the gritty violence in the movie along with the conflict between British gangsters and the Russian corrupt government and its involvement with the head of Russian mafia. Which will give them the thrill that they may be seeking. However, it may also be very popular with a much older male audience. This is due to the history of the cold war and an almost obsessive interest many have in any film that includes the 'mysteries' of espionage particularly conducted by the  CIA , KGB or MI5 . However even though the film will heavily relate more to the male audience females may want to enjoy the film because of the love affair between Chantelle and her boyfriend who is a member of the British mob. 

In order to predict the audience for Kremlin, I had to search for very similar films and look at the ratings and reviews. For example 'The Constant Gardener' is a perfect example as it has a similar theme to Kremlin. Summary of the film is "A widower is determined to get to the bottom of a potentially explosive secret involving his wife's murder, big business and corporate corruption" it is put under the genre of 'Political thriller' which is part of the overall theme of Kremlin and plus with the love story in the background.

As you can see the majority of the audience are males 73,535 our of 92,870 votes on IMDb rating report. The dominant age group is 30-44 of 48,924 votes which is to be expected because the political side of the story is more favourable to the older group. However because it is a thriller and a number of the audience may also enjoy the political theme from the ages 18-29 also enjoyed the film and are the second highest age group with 29,398 votes out of 92,870. This can tell us that Kremlin may favour the males in general and perhaps favour the older males ages 30-44, due to it being a political thriller. 

M/F/A Ratings The Constant Gardener

However because Kremlin also has British and Russian mobs involved the audience will most likely defer to 'The Constant Gardener'. Another film which is similar to Kremlin in a few aspects is 'The Godfather' because it is solely about Gangsters and Mobs which is a big part of the theme in Kremlin. Summary - The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son. I chose this film because I want to find out the likely audience for a film involving 'Gangsters and Mobs' and therefore, because 'The Godfather' is the greatest film which surrounds the topic it would also be a perfect choice to analyse the audience ratings and statistics.  

A majority of the audience are male 798,274 out of 912,180 clearly dominating the number of females in vote ratings on IMDb. The males also enjoyed the film more average ratings of 9.2 as opposed to females with  the average of 8.9. The film appealed more to the age group of 18-29 with 428,848 number of votes, however not by much as ages from 30-44 who also voted a high percentage with a total of 365,022 votes. This gives us further confidence that Kremlin will appeal heavily towards the male audience, but the age group will be quite extensive as Kremlin's theme involves both politics and the criminal world of gangsters and mobs. On the basis of this I see that the audience's age group will most likely be males aged 18-44. 

M/F/A Ratings The Godfather

Mark - Age 22

Mark is a 22-year-old that loves films involving the mafia or gangs. He enjoys them because he knows that the criminal world is indeed out there and these type of films can show the life of a British gangster that live among him. He also enjoys them because absolutely anything can happen, the plots are usually very interesting and great, he also never knows what to expect as every day may be the last for the characters.The stories from the underground/criminal society are almost unlimited. The violence, the twist and plots give him the thrill that he wants. When watching a gangster film he usually gets to know the character very well and for mark it is almost as though he is place in their position and he has the opportunity to experience the hellish end or the survival of it, from the characters point of view. 

Peter - Age 44

Peter was fortunate to be brought up in an area of London where he has easy access to some 4cinemas. Additionally going to the cinema each week had been part of his normal family life for as long as he could remember. But his real interest, which almost developed his hobbym in any films with an espionage related flavour especially those linked to Russia. this started with a student exchange when he was 17 and his school played host to student of the same age from a school in West Berlin. Peter spent many hours listening to stories of how people escaped either under or over the Berlin Wall. Later with the fall of the wall in 1989 he visited both East and West Berlin and met up with the same students. The addiotional 'fuel for this hobby' was that he was intrigued by the assignation in the heart of London of the Bulgarian dissedent by the KGB with a poisoned umbrella tip and more recently the murder, again by the FSB (old KGB), of Alexander Litvinenco plus, over the coming years there were some 12 James Bond films released that became a 'must see' films. 

Peter was also an avid reader and a fan of Len Deighton's books based on the MI6 agent Harry Palmer played by Michael Caine in The Ipcress File, Billion Dollar Brain and Funeral in Berlin. All of this plus his admiration for the gritty and violent crime thriller 'Get Carter' which also stated Michael Caine makes Peter and many other males of his generation an ideal target audience

Question 3:

Thriller Opening Final Cut

Question 2:

Question 1:

Q1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? 

Lighting and Sound

In our media product the lighting played a huge part in creating a dark and enigmatic atmosphere. The colour pallet is very bleak which adds to the city's dark and almost depressing culture almost as though criminality is an inherent part of normal city life. In the film "Essex Boys" the director Terry Winsor creates the same 'British gangster' effect as he also used very bleak and deep colours emphasising the depressing nature of the city. Through the utilisation of chiaroscuro lighting and key lighting throughout the tunnel scenes we also created a noir atmosphere. Furthermore the shadows and silhouette emphasise the hidden identity behind the characters and bystanders creating an evil within the characters and overall setting of the location. In the noir film "The Third Man" chiaroscuro lighting is also extensively used to connote the darkness and corrupt nature of the characters. The use of shadows creates a sense of distortion and entrapment which also goes well with our dark underground location with walls covered in shadows. All of this adds to the confusion and connotes a trapped location which is significant as it is necessary to show that Chantel, who is anxious almost paranoid to grab the money and flee, has nowhere to run.

Essex Boys - Colour Palette

Kremlin - Colour Palette

In tangent with the lighting the sound used in our opening thriller was minimal specifically no use of sirens and traffic noise as then it would feel as though the city is ‘alive and well’. We wanted to create the opposite like that of almost a ghost town where, because few people leave their homes, shady and perhaps even criminal activities can be conducted in the open without any fear. To enhance this ‘ghost town’ feeling we added the sound of a not so distant train passing through, further creating an image to the audience of the location being a derelict place where trains have no need to stop and nobody goes in or out of the city. We also used the sound of a heartbeat which emphasises the importance of the transaction and later on the suspense of Anton's character being the victim of a cunning trick.

At the end of the clip, when Anton picks up the phone to call his ‘henchman’ to do the dirty job for him, we added an electronic sound to further emphasise the dominance in his command as though he is controlling a computer and his henchman is programmed to obey his orders without question. This idea came from the film "The Matrix" which uses an almost identical sound extensively throughout the film when characters are either being teleported into the virtual reality or when the character is communicating by telephone.

Camerawork

Throughout our opening thriller we used a variety of camera angles and shots to emphasise the character and the location and thus the potential immorality of both. Our entry shot is a mid shot of Anton so by hiding his face we hide his identity which implies that Anton is no ordinary person but is a shadowy character. The film ‘Sin City’ successfully utilises this approach when the lady in the red dress walks into the shot with her back towards the camera thus introducing an individual of a yet unknown character however the sophisticated red dress does in fact give an indication of her overall persona. Similarly with our introduction of Anton with the help of his costume, pace of movement and props the audience can already start to make assumptions that Anton is a person of power, authority and importance. 

Opening Shot.

A clear shot of Anton slowly walking from the light into the dark under path filled with shadows emphasises the transition from good to evil and it coincides with when Anton's face is revealed and therefore that he is a corrupt or even dangerous character . The title of the film is also in the shot creating the emphasis that it is just the beginning of a steep slope into an intense and ‘dark thriller’.

We used a conventional technique in thriller films of having a few close-up shots of the characters legs and feet as we saw this is a great way to develop a character starting from small details such as the shoes and how the person is walking. The shot of the feet is seen in many other thrillers such as the ‘Peaky Blinders’ and ‘Kill Bill’ where both use an intense walking scene so we felt this would have the same value in our walking scene.

Anton

Kill Bill

The comparison between Anton and Kill Bill shots is that they both add to the characters personality and perhaps their race and ethnicity

Peaky Blinders

Chantel

Whereas Chantel and Peaky Blinders are both similar due to the following sequence of shots, first it is the shoes and then slowly you work your way up through the props and costumes and eventually to the character’s faces.

In "Pulp Fiction" most of the movie is based around the suitcase which acts as a magufin, the audience never actually finds out what is inside the suitcase however it plays a massive role in the film. We see the suitcase again and again but it has no physical meaning. In Kremlin we also use a suitcase in a similar way, the audience knows it is important but in the opening they never find out what’s actually meant to be inside. It is important because whatever it is inside is highly valuable to Anton as he is prepared to hand over a large amount of money for it,  even more so to pay it to some British thug who probably does not deserve it and hypothetically who will use the money for further criminal activities whether drugs or guns. However Anton does not care, he just wants to reclaim the unidentified objects inside the suitcase and is willing to do anything for it as quick as possible. The essence of success to Anton is not just to obtain the suitcase but also the speed of the transaction.  This is the reason why he does not waste time to murder or rob the female thug on sight; as in the film "Collateral" directed by Michael Mann, even though later on we see that he has the power to do so. Because we established that the suitcase is of real importance we used close-up shots of the suitcase throughout the opening of "Kremlin".

Close-ups are important in order to establish characters as it shows details of the person that the audience may not spot or realise that they are there which can be important in order to fully understand the character. Most and formost obviouse one is the facial expression. In Kremlin, Chantel's facial expression revieles that she is slightly worried and perhaps paronoid as she keeps looking left and right in order to observe her surrounding and so that everything goes smoothly and nothing will interfere with her rendenzvou with Anton, this further connots the feeling of entrapment and is almost as though she is searching for escape incase something should decidevely go wrong. Whereas Anton is a confident character he is not worried he is taking his time and is staring straight at the camera, his boldness of looking straight into the camere is as though he is trying to intimidate the audience with his powerful pitch black eyes. He does not need to look left or righ he feels totally safe almost like he is unstoppable - with the simple attitude that when goes to a meeting he always get's there and achieves his objective. Quentin Tarantino director of 'Kill Bill' uses the same technique when the Japanese Boss walks around the corner.

Fonts
Our idea for the fonts came from the film "Se7en" Directed by David Fincher, in his opening sequence his font is very scratched and psychotic like giving the idea of a psycopath which is exactly what the movie involves around. We wanted to use the scratched font in a similar way. Not in order to connote a violent psychopath but to connote the mystery in the film and emphasise the secrecy of the object inside the case and the characters and its almost as though the director wanted to scratch the titles away aswell so that nobody finds out.
However the actual title of the film which is Kremlin is very bold and is written with Russian lookalike letters which fits perfectly with the Russian Themed Title. Anton is in the title shot which instantly connotes that he is Russian and perhaps is working or is involved with the Russian government which also further develops his identity.

Rough Cut Thriller Opening

Characters, costumes and props

In our thriller opening we have two main characters. Chantel which is representing a classic British street gangster, or also known as a thug. She is in cahoots with her boyfriend which is also a partner in crime. Living in a cycle of poverty and deterioration on top of drug addiction. Her blindness towards the danger of being arrested and loosing her life is being strengthened by their love. Because of this she is being manupulated to do the dangerous and risky "work". In which results in her being strunggled to death. The actor which will be playing "Chantel" is Kamaljeet , she will be wearing a cap with filthy hoody with ripped jeans and a pair of trainers. She will be carrying a suitcase which have confidential documents containing 'state secrets' which are worth hundreds of lives and billions of pounds. In her hoody's pocket will contain a flip knife , in case of an "emergency".

Our second main character is called Anton , he is second in charge of the Russian mafia, he does all the dirty jobs for his boss. He will be wearing a black suit and a shirt with polished leather boots. He walks with confidence and uses appropriate hostile actions towards those who oppose their "family". He does not mess around and waste time needlessly. Anton will have an umbrella in one hand and a suitcase filled with money in the other. He has a gun in his holster and hes prepared to use it at any costs. Anton would be describe as a violent and ruthless along with loyal to his family.

Thriller - Pitch / Treatment

The sound of traffic starts the scene. shot of a busy street and a cut to a lower close up of a male holding a suitcase. The male figure dressed in smart clothing with a umbrella in one hand the case in the other. cut to the thug who is wearing dirty and torn clothing a hoodie and some tattered jeans walking as well, although constantly fidgeting. glaring back every so often. the sound of a busy street is constant in the background.overhead shot of the suited man walking through the underpass towards the hooded figure who is also walking through the underpass. the closer the suited man gets the more paranoid the hooded person looks. The facial expressions of the suited man do not change throughout, the sound of his footsteps echo while he is walking. 
Both cases are exchanged when the two finally meet, is a quick transaction taking mere seconds.
The hooded one starts to sprint away once they obtain the case. the suited man however doesn't looks back.
the suited man is seen taking his phone out of his pocket and calls an unknown number.
The following shot is taken from a random persons perspective looking at the thug running down the street and across a road.
Anxiously the thug calls someone and with a stutter says that "the task was successful"
Out of nowhere hands appear and put a bag over the thugs head and the scene ends

The opening of the film uses British gangster elements such as locations and costumes takes influence from Se7en and Layer Cake. Film noir elements are also incorporated such as the intelligent character dressed smartly. It establishes both characters by showing they are the opposite of each other. There is not much dialogue with the location and characters used to establish. Enigma is created through camerawork. Taking inspiration from Alice Creed the cinematography will be slow and continuous to represent the passing of time.

Filming Locations

Thriller planning

What do directors seek to establish in the openings of thrillers?

 The opening of a thriller film definitely plays a massive role if not the most important one, as the opening of thrillers needs to establish either the character, genre, plot, theme , tone/ mood or the location to the audience in order to catch their attention, interest  and to give them the urge of pursuing further. Different directors choose how they want to open their thriller and what they want to establish when making an opening. As we can see from the cobweb some may want to establish one or several parts more than the other depending on the film. However directors tend to establish the genre, character and theme more often.

 For example, David Fincher, the director of the film "Se7en" establishes character very well in his opening scene. The director uses mise en scene perfectly well to establish Detective William R. Somerset's character in the pre title sequence. Firstly, the scene of Mr Somerset in his own quite minimalistic kitchen , there is a chess board which indicates that the character is intelligent and is engaged in games which involves concentration and deep thinking.

Figure 2: Kitchen

The next shot shows Somerset adjusting his tie with his spotless white shirt on, which gives us an opinion of him being a working man. Then the director shows us five items which are perfectly aligned with each other, each of the items tell us something about his character.
 The first item is a paper rose which (we can assume) he carries with him at all time. This could be a reminder of someone of importance to him for example his wife, which may no longer be by his side, presumed dead, therefore the rose emphasizes his deep love for his wife. The next object is a golden badge which shows his superiority and his high status of authority. Next to the badge there is a very nice looking pocket knife which acts as a 'Chekhov's gun' and gives a sense of violence to the character which may be accumulating inside him or, maybe just adds a sense of the anger within him. However we learn that this isn't a tool for violence , but  a key. In fact Somerset is the key holder to something big.

Figure 3: Personal Items

Then the next two items are an expensive looking pen which further emphasizes an intellectual individual and his gun which emphasizes that he's also a deadly enforcer, but the gun is in its holster, which could signify his caution to use violence. (In contrast , if this was detective Mills' gun it would probably be shown tossed carelessly on the bed free of its holster.). This variety of objects show that he is a complex character and also gives an indication to the enigma within him. The fact that they are perfectly aligned with each other ,connotes that he maybe a perfectionist who manages his things in a tidy manner. This almost obsession is supported by his fastidiousness shown his removal of a minute dust speck from his coat. 

The metronome symbolises time running out which is very significant as the film's plot is focused on a seven day deadline. It also shows that he is ''mentally disturbed' as he needs the metronome to fall asleep . Additionally the metronome is a method of blocking out the disturbing sounds - sirens and rain -  which can be seen as the city's 'sins' which relate to the film's theme "The seven deadly sins".

Figure 4: Metronome

Furthermore, through the dialogue the director gives the audience a greater insight into his character. At the time of the investigation of the murder scence he asks his colleague "Did the kids see it" which shows sympathy towards children which might be his 'soft spot' whereas his colleague does not care and replies with the happy thought of Somerset's retirement which gives some back round information that he is soon to retire.

Figure 5: "Did the kids see it"

This shot is an example of how the main character thinks and differs from his collegues Mr Fisher does this by blurring the colleague whilst the main character is largely in focus in the foreground.

Location

Terry Winson the director of 'Essex boys' establishes location very well as it is gives a feeling to the audience of the theme and tone of the film through its location, "Essex". Essex being a gloomy urban and industrial location is a perfect set for a British gangster film. Whereas dark and mysterious location would be a perfect fit for a film noir , such as "The Third Man".

The first shot to the film is a man opening his garage with an fairly old car in it. The shot simply gives an idea that this film is going to be pretty dark and not very positive spirited. The vague spotlight can be a metaphor for the small amount of hope and happiness in the city, and the silhouette of the character also emphasizes his dark and possibly depressing life.

 The use of saturated colours on the palate with grey and black colours being the dominating ones emphases the emptyness and hopelessness of the location, this gives a bleak tone to the audience as the film is being devoured by the negative and dark colours.

The use of vanishing points also shows the never ending hopelessness. Even in this shot, even thought its much brighter it still has the effect of bleak colours. This way Terry is engaging the audience in the location and by doing so, is also perfectly establishing the tone and theme of the film. The audience now have an idea of what to expect throughout the movie. Without establishing the plot. This just shows us that, you can establish one factor but also giving a slight sense of other factors without actually doing so, which gives the audience a sense of mystery and curiosity.

However you may also establish every single element in the film character , genre, themes, location, tone/mood , plot and genre. If done effectively this could instantly attract the audience if its their sort of movie. The opening to "Disappearance of Alice Creed" has it all. The character is being established throughout the opening, we get the idea that one is more dominant and serious than the other, the director does this by small detail in action for example in the van when one of the mans hands start to rattle the other man just through his facial expression tells him to stop. The director also establishes important's of the characters by constantly blurring one of the characters out in the backround while the other is focus in the centre of attention.

 The director directly establishes the genre and the plot of the film through the title "Disappearance of Alice Creed" and also gives us hits in the opening of them carefully preparing as they planned for the abduction of Alice. The theme and the tone is established through their choice of objects 

 We can clearly see that its going to be a dark and a bit psychotic film. The Knife, gun and handcuffs being a key objects to a thriller film acting as a McGuffin and being a plot device.

Ironically location is also being established in this film by showing that they are in a discrete place and that this could actually be happening anywhere. The only things we know is that there is a forest, supermarket and an old car dump.

This will influence and help my choice of what I would like to put in the opening of my thriller film. I will now have example of  from different films and I may choose to use some of the techniques from them to establish my character, genre, theme, location, plot and tone/mood. I have also learned that most directors tent to establish character , theme and genre as appose to tone/mood , location and plot. So therefore I might choose to do the same, and I will want to establish the character very well as I think it is a key element to an opening of a thriller film, and less on the plot because it is very hard to fit the plot in just two minutes.

How does the director establish character in Se7en ?

How does the director establish character.

The director uses mise en scene perfectly well to establish Detective William R. Somerset's character in the pre title sequence.

Firstly, the scene of Mr Somerset in his own kitchen , there is a chess board which indicates that the character is intelligent and is engaged in games which involves concentration and deep thinking. The next shot shows Somerset adjusting his tie with his spotless white shirt on, which gives us an opinion of him being a (hard) working man. Then the director shows us five items which are perfectly aligned with each other, each of the items tell us something about his character. The first item is a paper rose which (we can assume) he carries with him at all time. This could be a reminder of someone of importance to him for example his wife, which may no longer be by his side, presumed dead, therefore the rose emphasizes his deep love for his wife. The next object is a golden badge which shows his superiority and his high status of authority. Next to the badge there is a very nice looking pocket knife which acts as a 'Chekhov's gun' and gives a sense of violence to the character which may be accumulating inside him or, maybe just adds a sense of the anger within him. However we learn that this isn't a tool for violence , but  a key. In fact Somerset is the key holder to something big.

Then the next two items are an expensive looking pen which further emphasizes an intellectual individual and his gun which emphasizes that he's also a deadly enforcer, but the gun is in its holster, which could signify his caution to use violence. (In contrast , if this was detective Mills' gun it would probably be shown tossed carelessly on the bed free of its holster.). This variety of objects show that he is a complex character and also gives an indication to the enigma within him. The fact that they are perfectly aligned with each other ,connotes that he maybe a perfectionist who manages his things in a tidy manner. This almost obsession is supported by his fastidiousness shown his removal of a minute dust speck from his coat. 

The metronome symbolises time running out which is very significant as the film's plot is focused on a seven day deadline. It also shows that he is ''mentally disturbed' as he needs the metronome to fall asleep . Additionally the metronome is a method of blocking out the disturbing sounds - sirens and rain -  which can be seen as the city's 'sins' which relate to the film's theme "The seven deadly sins".

Furthermore, through the dialogue the director gives the audience a greater insight into his character. At the time of the investigation of the murder scence he asks his colleague "Did the kids see it" which shows sympathy towards children which might be his 'soft spot' whereas his colleague does not care and replies with the happy thought of Somerset's retirement which gives some back round information that he is soon to retire.

Annotate the images from the video: how does the director use composition to create meaning in the scenes from Drive?

Due to the director’s choice of filming and the use of the “quadrate technique” almost every shot has a composition of balance. Top with bottom, left and right. Due to this the director can create conventional ordinary scenes into an unconventional and mind triggering scenes.

1. In the first scene the director used a technique which shows two different perspectives of two different characters, and in stead of using two different shots or having to different scenes or splitting the screen he uses one camera which captures both points of view on each side of the screen (Left – Right). By doing so the image comes alive and keeps our eyes busy and entertained even though we might not realize it.

2. The next scene uses the same technique but instead of using left and right it uses top and bottom. The top shows the triangle of characters which are having a conversation and is giving us a sense of their character and their relationship between one another through the shoulder movement and context of the conversation . Whereas the bottom part of the screen also has a story of its own and is giving a bigger insight on the characters through the body movements and specifically through the hands.

3. In this scene the character is on the top left of the screen and the audience will assume that the next character will appear next to him in top left , however the director makes the character appear bottom left , which creates a sense of disturbance and confusion of the moment.

 4. The next scenes show a sense of balance of “power” between the two characters and shows that they both have the same ambitions. The director does this by having the two characters in the same quarter of the quadrate which emphasizes their balance and both of them are looking at the same corner of the quadrate which shows their aim. 

How does the sewer scene from The Third Man use framing and composition techniques mise en scene and cinematography to create meaning and metaphors

Figure 1

Figure 1 has been taken at a slightly tilted angle which gives a sense of confusion and perhaps nervousness as the adrenaline is rushing through his blood. Also because of the tilted shot it makes our main character seem as though hes struggling to escape and slowly falling out of his way and therefore has to hold onto the rail in order to keep calm and focused. Furthermore the director uses the quadrant technique which creates a balanced frame between good and evil and despite them being close to each other , neither of them know where each of them are which also shows confusion and desperation. Top left of the frame we can see that next to him is a ladder going upwards, with light coming through which may emphasize hope or 'heaven'. On the top right of the frame , next to 'hope' there are stairs which are leading to complete darkness , almost as if it is leading to 'hell', with the bold dark rail shadow emphasizing evil within the way and acting as an arrow pointing towards despair by his own desperation and temptation.

Figure 2

In figure 2 the director uses German expressionism composition ,through a lot of sharp and angular shapes with very random chiaroscuro lighting surrounding the scene which creates a angry and uncomfortable atmosphere almost as though hes trapped behind bars in a prison, Also due to the frame being covered by approximately 1/6 of the frame with a pole , it creates a very claustrophobic amount of space which creates a sense of anxiety and paranoia while he is slowly crawling up not knowing what to expect. With the high angle which the director has chosen it makes the character look powerless and full of despair with the help of dark shadows in the background.

Figure 3

In figure 3 the use of quadrant between the upper frame and lower frame creates a sense of balance between good and evil , good being on top having the superiority of looking down on evil and evil trying to escape from "Gods" judgment. By doing this is creates a sense of morality between the two parties. The fact that evil is being careless of not being observant means that he is in desperation and has no time for being careful. Also because of the two parts of the frame upper and lower it gives more details to the audience as our eyes are looking at both scenes and instead of having two different scenes the director fused them into one which creates a much more interesting shot and furthermore creates a sense of confusion. Also , because of the cameras framework and it being a mid shot with walls taking up most of the framework it creates a claustrophobic moment and emphasizes our characters desperation to get out while paranoid and anxious. Chiaroscuro lighting with dark shadows adds to the disorientation to the shot and not giving us clues to the sewers massive maze.

Figure 4

In figure 4. Intense chiaroscuro lighting plays a massive role in this particular shot. Due to our character blocking the light, it instantly connotes the loss of hope. He has nowhere to run and is facing the 'good' straight on and perhaps being 'purified' by the good. Unique lighting on the walls of the tunnel has created a German expressionism like composition which gives a tense and aggressive atmosphere which is surrounding the character. This shot has a different vanishing point in comparison to the rest of the sewer scene as now it is leading to the middle of the frame and may emphasize clarity and an end to confusion and distortion, where as in the other scenes the director used vanishing points in an odd angle and position in order to create a confused scene. Also the dark shadow besides the character symbolizes the clear view of the evil inside him. The dark shadow that is cast upon the water beneath our characters feet can also be interpreted  as though there is an even greater evil which is flowing underneath the city.

Anton and Ruth's Preliminary task.

Preliminary task write up. 
 Our task was to film a walking scene which included a door opening and  then lead to a conversation between two people. We had to make a floor plan with all the different camera angles and we had to create some kind of a script for our dialogue. At the end of filming we had to edit all the scene and put them together to create a continues short clip.
 We worked in a group of three and each of us contribute to the task. We all had different ideas for a story board ,floor plan and a script which was proven to be quite difficult to come up with and so we kept that for the end. We all thought of different camera angles which we could potentially use and concluded in a final decision which everyone agreed upon. We rehearsed the walk and took a few shots in order to see how it would actually look on the screen. The location that we chose to have a conversation was a pagoda which made filming it sitting down a bit problematic because we either kept breaking the 180 degree rule or the pole kept getting in the way. So we decided to film it while standing up. Which solved the 180 degree issue. However that was our only problem duo to our team work which in the end resulted in success. If we had more time to plan this task it would probably have resulted without any problems and a much more improved version of this clip. Because we relied on natural light where as we could have added extra effects and include shadows to emphasize the anger and power in Ruth's movement and actions. Also due to the location we did not have the control over sounds in the clip as it was outside and the sounds of the wind and children playing.

 We tried to incorporate the following techniques such as lead and nose room so that the audience sees that she is determined to a specific location and also head room to give a sense of power. We used a variety of camera angles to show the continuity of the clip in order to make it look more smooth to the audience without making anyone confused . The 180 degree rule was a bit troublesome in the location we chose. As the pole kept getting in the camera's way, and even though when we did break the 180 degree rule we personally thought that it looked interesting and cool. However that was not part of our task and therefore we kept it plain and simple. We used a electronic door in order to show that she is the powerful out of the two characters the door open for her! Not, the other way round.
 I have learned a lot during the process of making a short clip. I learned that in order to get a good clip, you really need to put effort and time into your planning other wise you just make mistakes throughout and it is very time consuming which in our case we did not have much. I have also learned that there are actual rules to filming a conversation such as the 180 degree rule. I never realized that filming from different sides of the scene at once can create such a confusing and create a distorted sense of location and also due to the different camera angles you can create a great sense of power depending if it low or high angle. I was reassured  that tripods are actually needed and it is very hard to keep the camera still. All of these thing will help me in my future clips and probably the most important thing was planning , because i realized what chaos it creates when you are not fully prepared.

How do directors film a conversation?

                         Breaking Bad - Gus vs Walter

In this great scene from Breaking Bad the director decided to use a very simple but effective way of filming a conversation consisting of 4-6 camera angels.In the beginning the director decided to start the conversation from a slightly odd and quirky angel, he may have done this in order to give the audience a different perspective, to show the full picture of the location and surrounding. He then switches to a classic 'master shot' which shows both characters from the side facing  each other, they are equally spread out in the shot in order to show the equal power level between the two.The director  will switch back to the scene from time to time to show continuity of the conversation.

The director uses the 180 degree rule throughout the conversation which creates spatial awareness, most conversations are filmed following this rule. The 180 degree rule is where all the cameras are on one side of the scene, there is an invisible line which cuts through the scene and cameras are only on one side of the line. This method creates a clear and understanding conversation , where each character is in there specific position and they do not switch throughout which stops the audience from getting confused.Another general method of filming a conversation is using the rule of thirds this is method shows a more detailed and a more individual  show as it is focus on one character instead of two , the two shots are relatively the same for each character the only difference is the distance of close ups. The closer the show the more intense the conversation gets. In the scene of breaking bad you will notice that as soon as Gus stops being a manager and gets to the point, the camera zooms in on his face to show the intensity and seriousness. The fact that we also see from over the shoulder also gives a sense of idea how the character sees the other person from his perspective
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                                                Godfather

In this scene the director only uses 3 different shots and most of them focus on Vito Corleone as he is the main and most powerful character. The director used head room and nose room to show hes power in this scene. The shot switches back to the end of the room to show the surroundings as Vito stands up which may give a sense of tension and suspense. As Vito walks to the other character the camera follows him which may emphasize importance. When the Vito is talking to the character the director uses a high angle and vise versa.  
      
Why is 180 degree rule important? Why might a director break it?

The 180 degree rule is important because it gives a sense of where characters are in relation to each other which in turn allows to understand the staging of the scene without having to actually see the whole set. It creates spatial awareness The 180 degree rule also makes in much easier for the audience to follow the conversation instead of being distracted. A director might break the rule if he wants to make the scene disoriented or perhaps it might break up the scene into different sections instead of one long conversation. Directors are geniuses of their own master piece and they can make it work for their own personal desire which a normal audience wont understand.  

Peaky Blinders

Part 1 

• Here, the audience are given a reflected image inverted from a very calm puddle and the audience can only see a group of men walking slowly but aggressively towards us with leaving the light behind which could be symbolic for example it could mean that their "happy days" are in the past, this may intimidate the audience and the individuals at the destination that they are heading to. The flame also adds to the effect of 'evil' and 'anger'. However we cannot see clearly who these individuals and due to being a mid shot we can only see the upper body which leaves us in the "dark" of the lower body. The audience does not know if they are carrying anything.

Part 2

• The inverted reflection gives a sense of distortion to the shot, gives a surrealistic image of the men in black as they are about to bring 'darkness' to the scene. The effect of the still being unclear makes the audience wonder who the mysterious men are. It intrigues the audience and give a sense of suspense as well as foreboding. The flame in the background also adds to the creation of a violent 'atmosphere'

Part 3

• This specific shot shows the destructive power of the gang. The puddle, what used to be like a peaceful mirror , is now distorted by the brutal boots of the determined and angry gang.The low angle of the shot tells us their strong and powerful presence in which no one is dared to look down upon. The darkness which is present in this shot is due to the gang's covering the light with their black uniform.