Camera Shots
Firstly in my preliminary task we used 180 degree rule so that it would make sense for the audience, along with using long shots, mid shots and close ups. A long shot was used of Jared walking towards the door with a close up of Jared's hand on the door when opening it which showed the audience the door was the main feature and was part of the match on action editing technique.
Mid shots were used within the conversation between Jared and Peter to show the audience and to engage the audience on what their conversation was about. Shot reverse Shot was used between Jared and Peter, to emphasis the conversation and so the audience engaged on what each character was saying in the conversation.
My main improvement from my Preliminary Task to our feature film opening was the variety of different shots used, from extreme long shots, long shots, mid shots, close ups and panning.
After the Preliminary task I understood that the more variety of shots within my film will be better. An extreme long shot was used when Charlotte froze when seeing the 'popular' group, this connotes the tension and hatred between each group followed with a long shot afterwards showed the emotions from Charlotte. Another long shot of the 'popular' group staring and laughing at Charlotte connotes the awkwardness between both groups. This is followed with a close of Charlotte showing her emotions but the close up emphasises the next part of the film is a flash back which is shown with a transition. This suggests and tells the audience why there is hatred and tension between the 'popular' group and Charlotte. A close up of Yasmin after the flashback with hatred in her eyes emphasises that Yasmin and Charlotte don't get on...just because they like the same boy.
At the start there is a close up of Charlotte's phone and iPod, this connotes that Charlotte is stereotypically obsessed with phone and music which is stereotypical for a teenager.
Mid shots are used to show Charlotte getting out of bed which connotes a stereotypical teenager in the morning before school with the use of panning up Charlotte's body when she gets out of bed and stretches with a smile on her which suggest Charlotte is happy. Close up on the bowl of cereal and the glass of orange juice connotes that this is stereotypical for a teenager to do in the morning before school.
The throwing of the pj's on to her bed connotes that Charlotte is now getting dressed for school, with the emphasises of her throwing them on the bed and not just a still mid shot of the pjs on the bed make the storyline more realistic which engages the audience.
With my film a voice over is put throughout the title and opening sequence, which explains to the audience the story line and makes it clear to the audience who each character is and who they are to Charlotte. Match on Action was also used within my film to Charlotte walking out of her front door onto her drive which connotes she is walking to school, I did this because before she walks through a door, therefore doing match on action explains to the audience it isn't the same door and that Charlotte is now on her way to school.
In my Preliminary Task I didn't focus as much on the framing as match on action, shot reverse shot and 180 degree rule had to be included, however, a storyboard was still produced for us to work with which told us what was needed in each frame and how long for. However, the story board was very brief and not detailed as it was simple to what needed to be included in the Preliminary Task. With this, their was consequences, with posters on the wall behind the characters and mise-en-scene that wasn't needed, as this was there this took the attention away from the characters.
However, within my feature film opening I focused a lot more on framing to the extent of planning with full detail what props I needed, how long the shot was being filmed for, what characters was needed in each shot and why the shot was being filmed which was important as I needed to ensure it fitted in with the genre of 'Teenage Angst'. This was also important as the shots would engage the audience in and give an understanding to the audience of the story line and where it is set to the relation of the characters. For example; the setting of Charlotte's bedroom connotes she is girly girl, with the pink and green quilt cover and curtains, perfumes and jewellery. With all this planned, made it easier and quicker to film as I knew what needed to be filmed down to the last detail
Mise-en-scene
Mise-en-scene was focused more in my feature film opening than in my Preliminary Task. The lighting in our Preliminary task stayed the same throughout, with using high key lighting connotes the positivity of the characters. However, with a location and setting of the office door given to us with us having no choice, the lighting was a decision we was involved in, therefore, when filming my preliminary task I had to deal with the lighting I had within my location.
However, lighting in my film was more important, within the title sequence it needed to be high key but a little dark at the same.
This was because the high key connotes the happiness of Charlotte, however with it being a little dark connotes and gives the atmosphere of it being early in the morning which is stereotypical for a teenager to get up early to get ready for school.When Charlotte was with her three best friends, the lighting needed to be high key to set the happy atmosphere between them and to connote to the audience that Charlotte's friends make her happy.
When Yasmin and the 'popular' group are introduced, low key lighting was used to connote the negative atmosphere between the two social groups.
Costume wasn't important in our Preliminary Task as nothing was being portrayed by the way the characters dressed. This was because it was based on Jared walking through a door and having a conversation with Peter about how they both are, there, personalities weren't needed to be shown through costumes.
However, in my feature film opening, the costumes were very important. As the 'popular' group were in sixth form, this connotes their age group but also suggests they wear there own clothing, with the popular group wearing fashionable and designer clothes is stereotypical for the 'popular' group of the school. With Charlotte being in year 10 suggests shes doing her GCSE years, therefore with Charlotte being in school uniform this connotes not only the different social group but also suggests the storyline of Yasmin bullying Charlotte as she is younger, still in uniform therefore can be seen with less power.
Props
Within my Preliminary task props such as chair and table, which is easily accessible for my preliminary task as the location was chosen with the consideration of a table and chairs needing to be behind the door as Jared has to walk through the door and sit at the table on a chair with Peter to be able to have the conversation. Therefore, with the location set up with the props ready, props wasn't really considered within my Preliminary task.
However, within my feature opening film, props were essential to my film to ensure the storyline makes sense to the audience. The first set of props I used in my film was Charlotte's phone and Ipod, this connotes the stereotypical of teenagers being obsessed with their phones and music.
The bed within the scene of Charlotte's bedroom was used to stereotypically connote to the audience that Charlotte is a girly girl through the colours in her duvet set and curtains. Slippers were used to put on Charlotte's feet to stereotypically build up the routine of a teenage girl getting ready for school.
The next prop I used was a bowl, this suggests Charlotte is getting her breakfast and is later on seen eating her breakfast from the bowl, this is stereotypical for a girls routine in the morning to get ready for school. Another prop was orange juice I used this because it is a stereotypical breakfast drink therefore this suggests that it is the morning and Charlotte is getting ready to go to school.
The prop of Pj's were used to represent the time of day which is the morning and to connote she is getting changed as they are slung onto her bed, Charlotte also uses hair grips which represents Charlotte as caring about her appearance which is stereotypical for a teenage girl.
Charlotte, Sophie and Courtney and all wearing similar green long coats, this connotes they follow fashion which is also stereotypical for a teenage girl. Bags are used to suggest the girls are going to school.
Yasmin is introduced in her car, this is stereotypical for a teenager as teenagers like to show off that they can drive just after they pass, this also presents her as being the 'popular' girl as the other 'popular' group are stood waiting to greet her.
Setting/Location
However, in my feature film opening setting/location was personally to me the most important thing to consider within the film. The first setting within my film was Charlotte’s bedroom, where I made sure the Charlotte’s bedroom has the iconography of a typical girly girl teenage bedroom. The flowers and pink and green colours connote the stereotypical bedroom of a 15 year old teenage girl and also with the perfume, slippers, her phone and IPod to also represent Charlotte’s personality. There is also a short scene within the kitchen of Charlotte’s house where Charlotte gets her breakfast and a stereotypical breakfast drink of a glass of orange juice. This suggests the stereotypical routine for a teenage girl when getting ready in the morning for school. Another setting used was a field behind Ernulf sixth form, this suggested Charlotte was walking to school with her three friends. This scene was mostly used to introduce her three best friends, Sophie, Katy and Courtney. Next to field, I used the setting of the car park behind Ernulf Sixth form to introduce the ‘popular’ group, this setting was appropriate as Yasmin drove up in her car to connote her popularity. There is also a flash back of Yasmin and Charlotte bumping into each other in a corridor full of lockers within a school, this suggest to the niche audience of how they can relate to my film ‘Love Triangle’ as it’ll be the same target age group as the characters.
Mode of Address
Within my preliminary task, mode of address wasn’t very important as it was only 15 seconds long with little dialog. With my preliminary task, we focused mostly on the editing side to adjust and adapt to the editing software ready for when it came to editing our title sequence and opening scene, with this, there wasn’t much focus on the script. Within this, I learned the dialog is important within a short film, because in the preliminary task no emotions were shown and personalities weren’t built throughout. In my feature film opening the filming and editing parts are important.
Mode of Address in my film ‘Love Triangle’ are introduced throughout with a non-diegetic voice over of Charlotte, the voice over was important for my film, as there was no diegetic dialog, therefore the non-diegetic voice over, needed to explain what was going on but in a way that engaged the audience. Therefore, the voice over was written as it was telling a story to engage the global audience. Within the voice over, the tone of Charlotte’s voice was very important, with the voice being happy in the title sequence and when talking about her three best friends, however, the tone of voice needed to change in the car park scene and the rest of film when explaining Yasmin and the situation between them. This represents the social group and who Charlotte is comfortable and uncomfortable with.
Within my preliminary task, there was gestures, with little information this made me realise how important they are in a short film as they can help tell the story. The gestures of Charlotte in the title sequence represent her happy bubbly personality when she is at home, through when she is smiling and happy throws the quilt off her body so she can get up and out of bed. The way Charlotte is holding her bag on the way to school represents her as trying to become popular with the ‘look at me’ style of holding the bag. With the gesture of Joe putting his hand over his mouth when staring at Charlotte suggests he is laughing at her is part of the ‘popular’ group as he is joining in. The gesture of Blake and Yasmin holding hands represents them as the ‘popular’ couple and presents to the audience that they are couple. Within the scene in the corridor of school, Charlotte walks in, with her head down, this gesture represents her of being in a low social group and not popular and suggests she isn’t popular. When Yasmin bumps into Charlotte in the corridor she walks off with a little smirk on her face, this suggests Yasmin is pleased with herself. Right at the end, Charlotte walks off after being humiliated by the ‘popular’ group, while Charlotte is standing there alone, frozen and shocked, she fiddles with the fence, and this gesture suggests that Charlotte feels uncomfortable, unhappy and awkward.
Editing
During my preliminary task, editing was the main focus for us to understand first cut pro programme to enable the best editing skills ready for out title sequence and opening scene. Throughout learning all new editing techniques throughout our preliminary task, I wanted to use them accurately and most effectively as possible within my feature film opening, these were, match on action and shot reverse shot. Match on action was used to build continuity within filming and also shows how the cuts fit together making the story make sense and the cuts not to jump. With this to be accurate the clips had to be cut down to a matter of seconds and to make sure they were cut at the right places to ensure the filming flowed, which can also portray different camera shots. The match on action was used in my film when Charlotte leaves her house to go to school, when opening the door to missing her walking out the door and cutting to her walking away from the door. Also with my preliminary task, I focused on sequencing which was important as the filming had to be in chronological order. This was because it was a conversation; therefore, it was important the conversation was chronological for it to make sense as Jared and Peter were asking how each other were. With this being successful in my preliminary task, I followed this skill through with my feature film opening with a story board planned to ensure this. With the chronological order of Charlotte getting ready for school, leaving for school, meeting her friends which gave Charlotte the opportunity to introduce them, to leaving it with introducing the ‘popular’ group and the hatred between not only the social groups but also Yasmin and Charlotte. It was important this was chronological or the audience wouldn’t have understood the storyline.
Another improvement and development from my preliminary task to my feature film opening was the effects such as; transitions and animations used. With my preliminary task simple and easy to edit, it didn’t include transitions and animations, therefore, adding them into my feature film opening would be a challenge. However, once I started and adjusted to the software, it was easier than I thought it would be.
The first transition I used in my film was a star transition from the company production logo to the word ‘Presents’, this transition was most suitable as it linked in with the company logo of ‘Star Production’, the slide transition was used on the word ‘Presents’ so it slide up and off the title while the title of film ‘Love Triangle slid in from the left onto the screen. To introduce Charlotte’s best friends and Blake, I used the animation of a scribble circle in a bright blue which connotes a happy mood to indicate which character was being spoken about in the voice over clearly. A pink scribble circle was used to indicate who Blake was while Charlotte explained who he was in the voice over. I used the colour pink to suggest happiness although Blake isn’t with Charlotte, he still makes her happy. I used scribble circles to make it clear to show what character was who as it looks like Charlotte has drawn them herself. For this to look realistic, I drew the circles in Photoshop quickly to make it look like someone has drawn it, I then in first cut pro, changed the colour to suit the mood and put a transition of clockwise on it, so the circle had the effect of being drawn on the screen. I also used a ‘blur’ transition on a close up of Charlotte’s face which connotes the flashback that happens afterwards and I also put the transition after the flashback which then went back to a close up of Charlotte which suggests Charlotte was thinking it which represents it was a flash back. Within the flash back, I changed the colour to make the lighting low-key which connotes the negativity between Charlotte and Yasmin. The corridor scene is Yasmin bumping into Charlotte and when they hit shoulders, I slowed the filming down to create an effect of tension. This was effective as it made it clear there was hatred for them, it explained the reason of why they didn’t get on and it made it clear the Yasmin and Charlotte made eye contact. I also added an effect which blacked out the corners of the screen which also added to the effect of it being a flashback.
Another
development and improvement from my preliminary task to my feature film opening
was titles. With my Preliminary task being simple and short titles wasn’t
considered at all. However, within my feature film opening, titles were very
important and the size, font and positioning of them would be effective to the
title sequence and opening scene. My film started with the production logo
company which is stereotypical for a teenage angst film, followed by the word
‘presents’. The next title is the name of the film ‘Love Triangle’, originally
I wanted the title just before the opening scene started, however, once it was
filmed, put into chronological order and edited, it looked best on the first
screen next to the phone and Ipod on top of a white background. The iconography
of the light purple love heart with the title, connotes romance within the film
and the title ‘Love Triangle’ is a cliff hanger and can have a variety of
different meanings which engages the audience. The title is curly which is
stereotypical for a teenage angst film and is in the colour purple to connote a
girly girl film. The next title is ‘Directed by Faye Prout and Jared Taylor’
with the ‘Directed by’ in the curly girly font and the names in serif font to
show that it is important with ‘Directed By’ a little bigger than the names
makes the role of the people important. This title is positioned in the bottom
right hand corner while Charlotte is being panned up her body, while editing
this title suited this position and was effective on top of the filming. The
next title was ‘Produced by Naomi Page and Faye Prout’ which was positioned on
the wall to the right when Charlotte grabs her dressing gown and walks out her
room, this positioning was effective as it was placed within the filming to
make it look natural and not layered onto the filming. ‘Produced by’ is also
bigger than the name as the role is the most important information, in the
colour pink and purple which is a stereotypical favourite colours of a teenage
girl. The next title is ‘Filmed By’ which was position on the banister of the
stairs which was located there to naturally fit into the filming, it looks
effective as the dressing gown flies by and the title appears. The titles of
the names of who filmed the film, was placed on the door on the right using the
effect of a ferries wheel in the colour green which was effective on a white
background. My next title was ‘music by’ which was placed at the bottom right
screen when Charlotte is pouring the orange juice into a glass, the size of the
title is as big as the gap from the bottom of the screen to the bottom of the
glass, which makes it clear to size, in the colour blue with a strip of white
through the middles, this suggests teenage angst genre as blue a stereotypical
favourite colours for teenagers. My next title was ‘Jared Taylor and Ollie
Aveling’ which was positioned on the side of the breakfast bar in the kitchen,
the size is to fit the edge of the kitchen bar and I positioned it there as it
looked natural into the filming which is what I wanted from watching Easy A as
I thought the titles on the title sequence and opening scene were effective.
The title ‘Edited By’ was positioned on the wall on the left side of the screen
when Charlotte bounced up the last few stairs to represent Charlotte going back
up stairs. The title was big as it was a role and these are bigger than the
names, this title was also blue, however a darker blue with a light blue strip
in the middle. The next titles of ‘Faye Prout Naomi Page Jared Taylor and Ollie
Aveling’ was cross sectioned to fall down with the pjs, I positioned them like
that, because it looks effective and naturally fits into the pjs being thrown
onto the bed. ‘Faye Prout and Naomi Page’ are in a light green to stand out on
the leopard print dressing and ‘Jared Taylor and Ollie Aveling’ are in a bright
yellow and orange colour to make it stand out on the black t-shirt and also
suggests stereotypical teenage colours. The next titles are the names of Charlotte’s
best friends, with these titles, I used a bubble writing style to represent a
teenager, with a glow of blue so it looks as if the writing is coming from the
blue scribble with a fill of pink for ‘Sophie’ to present pink as Sophie’s
favourite colour as it a stereotypical favourite colour for a teenage girl. The
next title it ‘Katy’ also in bubble writing style font, with the blue
background glow, with the filling of purple, this suggests Katy’s favourite
colour is purple which a teenage girl’s stereotypical favourite colour is also.
The last name is ‘Courtney’ which also has the blue background glow, with the
fill of a darker pink which is stereotypical favourite colour for a teenage
girl. The next title is ‘Blake’, with a background colour of pink to have the
effect of the name coming out of the pink scribble circle with the fill colour
of blue as this is a stereotypical favourite colour for a teenage boy. These
character names were all positioned above the scribble circle with the effect
of the writing looking like it coming out of the circle but to make it clear
what the character was called.
Excellent Faye, a really detailed evaluation with excellent use of media terminology throughout.
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