Continuity Task: Planning and Storyboarding!

These past couple of weeks we've been working on our preliminary; designed to gauge an understanding of where we're at in terms of our ability and filming skills, the task has been subjuect to a lot of stressing out. The short film has to last around 60-90 seconds (not long!) and the focus of the task is not so much about the concept or the script, but about our ability to work as a team, creating a shotlist and (eventually) a storyboard, and film/edit our film into a clean, smooth product. There were several guidelines that we were given by Mr.Michie to give our film a focus, and it's imperative that we acknowledge these rules, given that it is these guidelines that are going to get us a good mark. They include the following:-

-You must not break the 180 degrees rule

-You must include a shot reverse shot 

-You must include a variety of appropriate camera angles

-You must edit so that continuity is apparent and meaning is clear

-You must include more than one location

-You must include some interaction between characters

-You must include some non-diegetic sound

On the surface of things, the task seemed pretty simple; however, creating something that follows all of these guidelines, as well as making the piece engaging and flowing,is much harder than it once seemed. First of all, we went about discussing the 'concept' for our film. We decided unanimously; we all agreed that the concept needed to give us the ability to use various locations, shots, angles etc. Therefore, we decided upon the idea of an angered student, who realises that his pencil case has been stolen, and looks around the school angrily, attempting to find the 'pencil case thief'. It's pretty infantile but, as I say, we thought the content would give us the ability to 'show-off' our film-making skills. We then went about the casting, and decided without too much discussion: I would play the angered student, opposite Jacob Smith who would play the innocent 'thief'. We then thought of locations: the corridors of the 6th Form centre conformed to the stereotypical idea of a 'school' setting that we wanted. Then, after this, we needed a setting for the confrontation between the two characters; we decided that the Drama studio wouldhave the appropriate lighting for a suitably dramatic face-off. Also, the room's walls are black, which acts as a metaphor for the raging anger our protagonist feels. So far, so good. After, it was down to business: the shotlist-

1) Long shot of person A approaching the doors of the 6th form centre,with an air of malice/anger (pan).

2) Close-up of the door being opened aggresively.

3) Medium shot of the back of the protagonist, looking around hurriedly.

4) Cut to the Drama studios; establishing shot of B (isolated/alone) writing an essay.

5) The door to the studios opens; person A enters, acknowledges his victim; smile crosses his face.

6) Over-the-shoulder shot (at a low angle) of B looking at A; conveys weakness of B; A approaches B.

7) Shot-reverse-shot of person A yelling 'Wheres my pencil case?!'; cut to B's fear/anxiousness; cross back to an even more infuriated person A.

8) Over-the-shoulder shot (at a high angle) of A looking at B; conveys dominance of A; B says 'Please, I really, really need it!'

9) Slow motion shot of A snatching pencil case of B; close-up.

10) Transition- screen cuts to black.

11) A leaves using the same door as before; long shot; distant wailing can be heard.

I was pretty happy with this, it had the potentitial to convey our ability, demonstrating a wide range of shots, angles whilst still being (hopefully) engaging. Next part was the storyboarding, which was inevitably full of heated-debates. I say 'inevitably' because everyone envisioned the shotlist in a slightly different way: which is good. If this process went smoothly (which it didn't) I genuinely don't think we'd have a storyboard of as high a quality. Together, we visualized the shotlist, bringing it to life, as well as considering, dialogue, non-diegetic sound/ diegetic sound, as well as the shots length. The storyboards can be found below:

Entering Chikara centre angrily



Arguing... Finley style

Leaving a bloodied Jacob, pencil-case in hand

For all those keen readers, you'll realise that the shotlist and the storyboard is not identical and I think this important; as good a shotlist you may have, it can be improved upon, especially when you're actually visualizing your shotlist through a storyboard: you realise that maybe that shot didn't work quite as well when actually putting pencil to paper. I guess thats something I've learnt throughout this process: all good practice before the real thing. So there you have it; we've basically constructed and built a minutes-worth short film that (at this stage) looks good, ready for filming. I'm happy with the progress that we have made, our group dynamic being more productive and efficient, and, quite simply, this bodes well for our final piece. So I'm looking forward to filming, which I'll blog about very soon...

Learning More About Storyboarding!

In one of our previous lessons we received the help and knowledge of a previous Media Studies student, who has since gone on to become a professional animatic storyboarder. Given that we are currently in the process of storyboarding our continuity task, I felt that the information she could offer regarding storyboarding was invaluable, and her advice could then be used to improve upon my own work and  storyboarding skills. We begun the lesson by looking at her own animatic storyboard; the purpose of this was envisioning what the sequence would look like before filming too place, pointing out the various shots, angles and movement of the characters, as well as establishing any flaws that can then be smoothed out.
The clip (entitled Full Circle) can be found below and is around halfway through the playlist:-

*Copyright Disclaimer: I Do Not Own This* 


After this, she discussed her top tips when storyboarding. For instance:-

- Ensure that you have thoroughly planned your sequence in your head; a detailed shotlist should have bullet pointed the various shots you are going to use. This care makes the storyboarding process smoother and more efficient and organised.

-You shouldn't be too worried about the chronology of your storyboard. Ideas can be jotted down on scrap paper and can be moved around if need be to establish where each shot goes.

-Finally, the 'Rule of Thirds' should be acknowledged. The frame of your shot is segmented into three parts; if you want to establish a protagonist, they should take a centralised position within the frame, as opposed to characters who are unimportant being positioned on the sidelines so to speak.

We ended the lesson by viewing a comparison between a cartoon's animatic and the final result itself. This emphasised the importance of storyboarding and how storyboards don't necessarily need to look identical to the final product; (for instance there is no movement of the characters):

*I Do  Not Own This*


Overall, this lesson gave me a better understanding of storyboarding and it's complexities. I also learnt about animatics, and how they act as the middle-ground between ideas and the actual final product; I alsop received advice on how to improve my storyboarding (from no less than a professional storyboarder!) I now feel more confident with storyboarding and I have now grasped it's importance to the film-making process...

Learning The Basics #1: The 180 Degree. It's Kinda Simple Once You Get Used To It...

The 180 degree rule is something we have been discussing recently in our lessons; it's absolutely imperative the rule isn't broken, otherwise it feels disjointed, confusing and generally just headache-inducing. Having said that, up until recently I didn't fully grasp the rule and I felt I needed some further research- in other words, what you are reading now! The 180 degree rule is there to create spatial awareness, unconsciously making the audience aware of where characters are in relation to one another without actually having to view the set in it's entirety. When filming, it's important to imagine an axis between two conversing characters:

Note that the axis goes straight through both of our characters

As you'll notice, the imaginary axis goes between both our characters. The director must then make the decision of where to position the camera for the first shot, thus determining what side of the axis said camera will REMAIN. Once this decision is made, all shots must come from that one side of the 'semi-circle' per se, other things will get really, really confusing for the audience to watch. Take a look at this summary diagram:

Pretty Self-Explanatory

Yes, it really is that simple. But, and I stress but, the 180 degree rule is unbelievably important if you even want to get close to an A grade. Therefore, as film-makers, we've got to constantly bear this in mind whilst filming to ensure we can get a product that looks professional and well thought out. I can apply this research to our Continuity task, and I feel as though I now have a complete understanding of the 180 d. rule.

A really helpful video (ie. understand what seemed like a very confusing concept in 5 minutes) explains the do' and don't s of the 180 degree rule- enjoy...

* I do not own anything, the video is being used for educational purposes*

Storyboarding

Storyboarding is important. Very important, it seems. In our past Media Studies lesson, we explored storyboarding as a film-making process and it's significance in regards to making a film that is of a higher standard. An inevitably long, monotonous process, storyboarding is ultimately incredibly significant:

- It links planning to the actual filming process itself.

- Storyboarding allows the director to revise the sequencing and narrative of the film.

- Gives the director room to make mistakes, allowing improvements and revisions.

- Unites the entire production crew in the sense that they all have one vision of the film before the filming.

- Storyboarding can be effective for pitchng an idea to film production companies.

- Helps give the director an idea of timing and sound, both diegetic and non-diegetic.

As you can see, it's kind of imperative to the film-making process. Following this, we then analysed a behind the scenes video from M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense. It gave me an insight into the ways in which storyboarding was used on a big-budget Hollywood production and how it was incredibly useful when structuring the layout of scenes, particularly for the sequences that required extra preparation. I came to the realisation that as long-winded the process might be, benefits that can reaped from storyboarding are priceless, especially if you're on set, with limited time to film and a budget to retain. 

Overall  I've learnt about the importance of storyboarding and the role it plays within the fimmaking process. I can apply this learning now to the storyboarding for the continuity task...

The Sixth Sense Storyboard

What Have I Learnt So Far in Media Studies? (Spoiler: A Lot)

Media Studies has been a steady learning curve since the beginning of the course. I've learnt about media terminology that was previously alien to me (Binary Opposition, anyone?) and I've understood the significance of the concept of genre and the various sub-genres/ hybridisations that all originate from genre. Moreover, I've practisced essay writing, from gender portrayal to binary opposition, and I genuinely feel more confident with my essay writing skills, developing my ideas and explaining myself in a more sophisticated, succint way. These skills tie into our cousework task, a task in which we ultimately have to create a two minute thriller opening. This task has covered the entire spectrum of the film-making process (research, planning, story-boarding, scriptwork, casting, the whole lot) and this task has put into practice the theory work we have been doing, analysing various clips with Mr. Michie, from Jane Eyre to Merlin. I suppose Media has given me a new perspective on the way film and television is produced; I'm now analysing the effects of editing, lighting, sound and mise-en-scene when I go to my local cinema, something that I never truely appreciated before. I've definitely improved, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the course, further developing my skills as I continue further into the world of Media Studies...

Genre is such a broad concept; within our first lessons we grasped a fundamental understanding of genre before delving deeper, exploring the numerous sub-genres and hybridisations. We discussed why genre codes and conventions define the genre of a media text as a whole, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of genre conventions: whilst conventions fulfill audience expectations and are easier to market, it's important to note the need to break away from cliched values and avoid the trap of following genre conventions to the extent where it becomes dull. We filmed this discussion within my coursework group. Also, I absorbed a lot of words I had previously never used (connoting, singnifies, the list goes on...) and from this I then found that I could use these words within the apprpriate context in my notes and essays. We also looked at thrillers and took the first steps towards creating our thriller films. The research was initially about looking other openings (and other clips) to thriller films. I was able to analyse a lot of these, including the unorthodox ending to Requiem for a Dream as well as the title sequences to political thriller Homeland and Casino Royale. I also evaluated the work of my peers, including Jacob's analysis of the opening of Taken as well as making a Vlog of my reaction to the opening of The Beach:



As well as this, we've been doing a lot of clip analysis to futher develop our exam-based skills. For instance, we worked within our class to look at various clips (Merlin, Doctor Who and Jane Eyre amongst others). We then took notes in relation to the question (the portrayal of gender, how editing/sound had been used). I took notes covering all bases including editing, sound, mise-en-scene and camera angles. These types of lessons helped me to understand the importance of all of these aspects and how they had been used to contribute to the sub-text of the clip, ie. the weakness of males within the Primeval clip. I then had to use this understanding to complete exam-style essay questions. This helped me to prepare myself for the 'real thing', using my notes as well as media terminology and the advice of my teachers to produce work that I was pleased with. Although I was pleased with my results (including a B in my 'Titanic Binary Opposition' essay) I acknowledge the targets that I was given and since then I've endeavoured to work on those targets to improve my essay-writing ability. By continuing to complete and practisce essay questions (which have been previously used in actual exams) I feel more hopeful for the written exam which once seemed a  fairly daunting prospect.

Practising Our Storyboarding...

Storyboarding is undoubtedly of paramount importance within the film-making industry; with this in mind, we were put into pairs and assigned the task of creating a short plan of a chase sequence within a fictional horror film entitled: 'Terror In The Night'. Working alongside Jess Mockler, we considered carefully what we were going to include our storyboard (which was to have a maximum of ten frames). This practice task developed my understanding of storyboarding; also, it awakened me to the many subtle decisions that need to be made from shot to shot. For instance, camera angles, mise-en-scene, editing, shot length, the sound (diegetic and non-diegetic), as well as the dialogue we are to include. In short: there was a lot to decide upon. The results can be found in the images below:-

Opening Shots: Introducing the premise of the story, as well as protagonist/s and antagonist/s

Notching up the Intense Atmosphere... Use of close-ups, panning shots

The storyboard covered three factors: a rough visualization of the shot, the type of shot and it's duration, and finally an analysis of sound and dialogue. Myself and Jess wanted to cover the codes and conventions of a horror: clichéd characters (see screaming damsel in distress), shrieking violins (straight out of The Exorcist), extreme close-ups of a crazed psychopath as well as corny dialogue such as 'I found you...' in a rasping voice. Essentially, the task was trying to acquit us with the practice of using storyboarding and understanding first-hand just how important this very visual style of planning is. We can apply this task to our actual storyboards for our final-piece, and we can adopt this film-making form of planning to understand (completely) the shots we are aiming for as a group, as well as giving us an idea of what shots/sounds we are planning to use. Overall, I found this task very helpful, and gave me a more complete understanding of the significance of story-boarding with film-making. Got to practice my drawing skills though I think...

Analysis of Melissa's 'Art of The Title Sequence'...

Our group have been discussing the importance of the opening titles themselves; one must create an opening titles sequence that is engaging, intruiging the audience yet still giving out little information, luring the viewer in. With this in mind, member of our group Melissa Kerrison has been analysing titles sequences, in particular the political thriller Vantage Point, relevant given that our opening is to follow a similar sub-genre of thriller. Here is what she studied:-

 *Following paragraph is work of Melissa Kerrison http://melissakerrison.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/the-art-of-title-sequences.html*



Poduction Company Logo



''I've been researching the art of title sequences. One of the title sequences I looked at is called 'Vantage Point.'  I chose this as it's a political thriller and I noticed that the first credit's transition lasted 5 seconds and when it was completely on screen, it stayed for around 4 seconds. The second one was a faster transition but stayed for the same amount of time as the last one- 4 seconds. The font is white and silver over a black background, making the credits stand out. A transparent red circle moves across the second title, looking as if it's a laser from a gun. The font for the first picture is big and bold making it clear to the viewer, whereas the second font has two different fonts- 'columbia pictures' in block capitals, and 'presents' in a smaller font, making the name of the company seem more important. The credits are spread out in the opening, and come up seperately. The name of the film is completely different to the other credits, below you can see the transition is made up of different lines and blocks of black shapes, and they all come together to form 'vantage point' the font colour is black and it has a yellow/gold background. The transition takes about 8 seconds and once it's completely shown, it's on screen for about 3/4 seconds.''

 

Intense, Bold Titles

 



 

You have payed to see 'Vantage Point'. Hint: the title of your film is kinda important



 

''Looking at this has helped me understand that the credits actually take up quite alot of time, and realise the lack of time we have to include our opening on top of the credits. It's also given me an insight into how long the credits are usually displayed for and the time the transitions take etc.''

What Can I Learn From This? :-

-Length of Titles/Transitions: Two minutes is a relatively short ime and the length the titles were up on the screen for (eg. four seconds) emphasised the importance of our groups new-found mantra: 'Less definitely is more...' The opening doesn't need to be plot heavy, it simply needs to entice the audience. Thats it, really.

- Gimmicks: The circle of red (which is presumably a laser on the top of a gun) reinforces to the audience that they have payed to watch a thriller. Also, it links into the title of the film as well as perhaps foreshadowing an event that is to happen later in the film. Clever stuff.

-The difference between colour/font of the actors/directors names as opposed to that of the films title: The title of your film is pretty important; it's significance in this case is shown through the titles centralised position, the length of time on screen as well as it's font and bold colours. 

Finally, Meilissa found a piece on the title designer's inspiration for the opening. It's interesting to find out the thought process for it. Flashing up names can seem tedious, but it's the various ideas he has (eg the red motif) that make it such a brilliant opening sequence:-

Lets hope our group can emulate his success by making a thrilling opening to our film...