Media Stuides 2009-2011

Halloween

Halloween’s opening sequence is mainly made up of a long POV shot, the establishing shot is of a detatched house which instantly looks mysterious and creepy, the character then approaches the house still with a POV shot which is moving up and down as the character walks, the character then moves around to the side of the house and looks through a window to see a girl and a boy on a sofa, they then move upstairs, the male then exits the house and the character enters into the house and moves to the kitchen still all in a POV shot, he then takes a knife from the drawer, at this stage you get a view of how tall you would expect the character to be as he looks like he towers over the drawer which you would expect to be a fully grown male, the character then moves up the stairs with his knife, as he enters the room the girl turns around and sees the character who is about to knife her. The character then knifes the girl vigourously and then leaves the house, still all in a POV shot, as the character goes outside you see his father say ‘michael’ and it is revealed that the character is around an 7 year old boy. Throughout this whole sequence there is a soundtrack playing, this soundtrack fits the genre well as it is very mysterious and makes you think something is going to happen.

Casino Royale title sequence

It opens in the traditional bond way, with bond appearing in the middle of the circle then turning and firing the gun, at this point a blood effect runs down the screen and from that the opening credits begin with ‘Albert R Broccoli’s EON Productions LTD presents’ then after that there is many visual effects going on and ‘Daniel Craig’ appears on the screen. The song You know my name by Chris Cornell has been playing since Bond fired the gun shot at the start, it is quite a fast paced song which fits the speed of which the sequence is running at. After the title of the film is introduced the focus is diluted on the credits as there is alot of action going on in the background as they are rolling, it then continues for another couple of minutes of visually pleasing Bond actions with the credits rolling, as it reaches the end Daniel Craigs face is shown which then turns to a silhouette and then it breaks up and covers the screen in black and this is the end of the sequence, at this point the song also finishes.

RockNRolla

This sequence opens up with a pan across some large room which appears to be a warehouse, after it has panned it stops and the warner bros. logo appears like it has been spray painted onto a wall, after this there is more camera movement and it appears at another wall which then Dark Castle Entertainment appears at this stage, after another couple of seconds movement it stops and Warner Bros. Pictures Presents appears then again the same for Dark Castle Entertainment, it then moves on to say ‘A Guy Ritchie Film’ the screen then turns black then gradually fades back in and the camera starts zooming into a character which has appeared and shows him doing drugs which sets the tone for the rest of the film fitting the genre, after this there is a very fast paced section showing alcohol sex and violence again setting the tone of the film.

Pulp Fiction

Pulp Fiction is a very strange opening to a film, it opens straight into two characters being shown in a two shot engaged in dialouge, it shows who you would first expect to be the main characters having breakfast in a diner, the whole scene revolves around the two characters conversation of talking about robbing banks and other places which leads you on to believing they may be the criminals of the film. As the scene continues you see camera shots which could be either a POV or over the shoulder shot its then a continuation of these and shot reverse shots. The action then begins briefly then you are directed away to the opening credits, which is joined by a fast tempo song to match the action which was just starting, the credits open with ‘miramax films present’ and then the directors name ‘Quentin Tarantino’ is introduced, after this the name of the film comes onto the screen in very large writing and then starts reducing in size whilst the actors names are written over the top, the title of the film remains visable throughout the whole sequence.

The Godfather

The Godfather opens with a fully black screen to start with and music playing in the background the music is mysterious which sets the tone for the film, the film title then shows up on the screen in white writing with the name of the producer above it. After this it opens with a close up of a characters face who is talking to somebody, however you cannot see who he is talking to at this point, as it continues the camera gradually moves backwards and another character appears but you are unable to make out any of his features as he is shown in the shadows. The dialogue continues and then the character in the shadows speaks out. As the first character shown moves around the desk at this point it becomes apparent there is more than 2 characters in this room, the camera then moves to another position to give a larger view of the room and you can see there is infact 4 characters in the room. All of this scene revolves around the two characters having a conversation and the film credits do not appear in this very opening part of the film.

This is my short piece of film for the Preliminary exercise, it was done to a brief, this was: A character must walk through a door, walk towards a desk then pass over an item and exchange a couple lines of dialogue, it was also supposed to be around 30 seconds long however we didnt reach this target as we found that gettin enough footage for the 30 seconds was harder than expected.

As already stated, the main problem which we encountered was reaching the designated time allowance, 30 seconds turned out to be alot longer than we expected, our film after editing was 19 seconds long which cut beneath the time allowed by a fair distance.

A strong point of the filming i personally thought was the shot selections, although they may not have been done perfectly they were a good selection of shots such as the close up of the chair and the over the shoulder and shot reverse shot sequence.

Another bad point was that we had to re-film all of one days work due to a large continuity error, this was the clothing, two actors within the sequence had both switched clothes which was a big mistake meaning that all our work was effectively ruined and had to be re-done.

One final good point was that the fade at the end was a success, although it was not part of the brief to add in effects, this served its purpose well and closed off the sequence nicely.

The toolbox contains various different tools which are available for your use on the timeline. The default tool is the selection tool. I shall now explain all the other tools which you can use in adobe premiere. selection toool: The default tool, used to select clips in the timeline. Track select tool: Select all clips on a track from a given point, or select multiple tracks. Ripple edit tool: Adjust an edit point and move other clips in the timeline to compensate. Rolling edit tool: Adjust an edit point between two clips without affecting the rest of the timeline. Rate stretch tool: Change the duration of a clip while simultaneously changing the speed to compensate. Razor tool: Cut a clip (or multiple clips) into two clips. Slip tool: Move a clip’s in and out points by the same amount simultaneously, so the rest of the timeline is not affected. Slide tool: Move a clip back and forth in the timeline, while simultaneously adjusting adjacent clips to compensate. Pen tool: Create control (anchor) points. Hand tool: Drag the timeline view left and right. Zoom tool: Click in the timeline to magnify the view, or drag and select a rectangular area to zoom into.

Adobe premiere is split into varioius larger different panels in the main interface, with some other smaller panels included, i shall explain each of the panels in the following paragraphs.

First, the project panel, this is located down the left hand side of the screen and this is where you store all your work to create the final video for example, you could place audio clips, video clips, titles etc into this panel. Items are automatically added into the project panel when you import them to give you easy access to them. It also includes sequences which is a built up piece of footage in a particular time line.

Next is the monitor panel, in this panel you can view your video clips, it is the main focus on the screen covering the most room. The monitor panel is split into two different screens, the source monitor [left screen] and the program monitor [right screen]. On the source monitor you can preview your video clips and make adjustments before you add them to a timeline. The program monitor shows you the active timeline. There is a set of controls under each monitor which allows you to set edit points.

The 3rd panel is the timeline panel. This is where your video begins to come together this is done by placing your footage onto the timeline then rearranging to the specific order which you want. There are various things you can do with the items in the timeline, these are: adjusting your editing points making them as long or short as you want, adding more layers into your video eg titles and superimposed images, multiple layers of audio eg music + voiceovers and finally add transisitions and special effects.

The other smaller panels include: info panel, history panel, audio panel, audio mixer, effects panel, reference monitor.

Info panel - provides information on your currently selected object, it gives you information like the type of media eg movie, the duration of the clip, the FPS and resolution, audio in Hz and bit, when that specific piece of footage starts and ends then finally the Cursor.

History panel - Displays a list of recently performed actions. Allows you to move back through multiple undo levels to previous versions.

Audio mixer - Gives you control over the audio levels for individual tracks. Includes automation options.

Effects panel - Drag video and audio effects and transitions from this panel to the timeline. Effects and transitions can then be modified with the effect control panel.

Effects control - Controls various parameters for each effect which has been applied to a clip.

Reference monitor - A handy technical monitor for advanced users, giving you precise information about video clips.

Adobe Premiere is a software used by both amateurs and professionals depending on the scale of the professional project. It can be purchased alone or with other software made by Adobe such as photoshop and after effects.

How does it work - You import your footage from a source such as a video tape onto your computer harddrive. When this is done you can then start editing your footage to get the desired finished product which can then be exported back onto a tape or disc.

How good is premiere - As already mentioned it is used by both amateurs and also professionals however some professionals at the very top of the television broadcasting will opt to use a more powerful piece of software. It is an easy to use package which you can pick up fairly easy making it suitable for all users.

Premiere enables you to import your videos, audio and graphics which then using the package allows you to edit and manipulate them, using the timeline enables you to rearrange your shots into the correct order for your piece of footage, whilst doing this you also have the ability to add in special effects and titles. Once you are happy with your footage you can then export it onto Dvd Video tape recordings etc.

Although Premiere is useful for many things, it does have some downsides, firstly, the title maker isnt very advanced, fine for average standard footage but if you are wanting the best then this would perhaps not be the package for you. Another downside to Adobe premiere is the audio mixing and effects, for serious editing you would need to be looking at purchasing another package to enable you to have a wider variety.

Premiere is a mid range product, not the cheapest on the market so if budget was the main concern then there are products which you could purchase for cheaper however if you have no limitations to budget there are many higher standard products out there on the market. However Premiere is a cost effective product for most of your editing situations.

Video editing is a process used which enables you to rearrange your footage into the desired sequence to create a new piece of work. Editing is known to be part of the post production process.

There are various aims and goals which you are trying to achieve when editing the first at which i will look at is: To remove unwanted footage, this is the simplest and most common part of editing, you can find that many videos will be vastly improved just by going through this process. The next goal i will highlight is choosing the best footage, you will often shoot too much footage for what you actually need, and multiple takes of the same scene, during editing this is when you decide which ones are best and those which dont make the standard your aiming for can be removed. Next is creating a flow, you need to make sure that the video is fitting the purpose, making sure that if the aim is to tell a story, then it must flow correctly making sense to the viewer. Another part of editing is to Add effects, graphics, music, etc, this is the parts which make it more appealing to the viewer and give off a ‘wow’ factor.

There is more than way one of editing a video, each has its positives and also negatives, however the most common way is to use digital non-linear editing.

Film Splicing - This is a traditional method, it involves cutting up the film then rearranging to your desired set up. A splicing machine allows film footage to be lined up and held in place while it is cut or spliced together.

Firstly i will look at how to choose the right microphone for the specific job which you are trying to do, there are various things which need to be considered when doing this, Directionality is a key part of what you need to consider, you need to decide which type of directional pattern best fits your needs, when close by to a sound source it is generally better to use a less directional microphone instead of using a  hypercardioid from a distance. Frequency also needs to be looked at, you need to make sure that the frequency responce is appropriate for the intended use. The general rule to follow with Impedence is that: a lower impendence is better than a high one. To stop you from receiving unwanted noise from the microphone you will find in the higher quality mic’s that they are wrapped in foam to block out any noise from reaching the diapragm or another method could be suspension, a lower quality mic will just send the noise straight into the diapragm giving you undesirable sounds.

Now i will move onto the Positioning of a microphone, this is an absoloutely key part of the noises you want and reducing the noises which you dont, this obviously means you position it close enough to get a good quality sound but far enough away to avoid the unwanted sounds. If two microphones were placed in different locations then picked up on the same sounds, this causes an interference known as phasing effect. There are many unusual ways which you could use a microphone it doesnt have to conform to the usual techniques, you could put a microphone in any position assuming it is not in risk of falling or another hazard.

It is important to maintain your microphones, there are many common sense rules which you should obeye.g. avoid very high temperatures, dust, dampness, high humidity, physical shocks, etc. You shouldnt blow into mic’s they are designed to respond to your sound waves not to the wind. You may damage the mic if you were to tap it on the head once again this is common sense practice. There are various other ways you can maintain your microphone: Safe noise levels, careful with phantom power, keep leads out of the way for the safety of people and finally, have your diaphragm cleaned.

Audio Monitoring and Metering

this is using a visual display to monitor the audio levels. This helps maintain audio signals at their optimum level and minimise degradation. Whichever type of meter you use, its important to look at two characteristics: The scale which defines which units are being measured and The ballistics of the meter which determine how fast it responds to sound and returns to a lower level.

There is a variety of different shots which are used within film  these could range from an extreme wide shot right up to an extreme close up there is also other things which need to be taken into consideration which could be how much space left between the top of the head and the top of the shot.

Extreme Wide Shot (EWS) - This is your establishing shot, it is so far away from the focus that the main focus isnt visible, it gives a sense of where the film is going to be set.

Very Wide Shot (VWS) - This shot is also an attempt to set the scene although it places the subject of the shot into the focus.

Wide Shot - able to see the basic environment of the shot although the subject has become the main focus of the shot.

Mid Shot - Gives a good shot of the subject allowing you to see the detail of the people

Medium Close Up - half way between the mid shot and the close up, shows the top of the chest and the whole of the head, very little gap between the top of the frame and the head.

Close Up - a certain feature or subject takes up the whole frame

Extreme Close Up - gets in very close to the subject so you can see the precise detail which the producer wants you to see.

Cutaway - A shot of something other than the current action.

Cut in - Shows some part of the subject in detail.

Two-Shot - A comfortable shot of two people, framed similarly to a mid shot.

Over The Shoulder Shot - Looking from behind a person at the subject.

Noddy Shot - Usually refers to a shot of the interviewer listening and reacting to the subject, although noddies can be used in drama and other situations.

Point of View Shot - Shows a view from the subject’s perspective.

Weather Shot - The subject is the weather, usually the sky. Can be used for other purposes.