Thursday, 7 April 2011
Thoughts On Change
My original plan was to have the movie opening end with my character discovering it was only her dog following her but in the end I realised that it might be better to cut it before that happened and give it more of an ambigous feeling. When I first came up with the idea for my film, I wasnt sure what to do and this was made harder by the fact I was working alone and would have to be mostly self reliant. I was very unsure of things and this lead me to having to experiment and try things out for myself and I felt my confidence grow but in the end I'm still not sure my film was particularly good but I felt I did the best I could.
Inception - Movie Opening Study 3
Inception
Beginning with an ominous music, like metal or an orchestra but it inspires something evil and dark, slowly growing loud like it’s growing closer. Then we cut to waves crashing on a beach, the peaceful sound contradicting the previous music and the backdrop very bright to the black that accompanied the previous music.
Leonardo’s character is seen washing up on shore, a close-up of his face as he slowly blinks his eyes open. We then hear children, rapidly cutting to them and in slow motion watching as they play in the sand, the camera cuts between the two seamlessly before we have a low angle shot of a Japanese soldiers face.
We cut to an oriental Japanese room, with low lighting and an old man seen with his back to us. He wear a suit, indicating power and command while Leonardo’s character is dragged to a seat opposite and given food. At this moment in time we rarely see their faces, only the hands of the old man (Saitou) and Leonard’s bent head.
They begin to talk in low, whispering voices as if something from a dream or blurry memory. Then Leonardo looks up slowly and the tension peaks and before he can say anything we have a sharp cut to a new scene.
Beginning with an ominous music, like metal or an orchestra but it inspires something evil and dark, slowly growing loud like it’s growing closer. Then we cut to waves crashing on a beach, the peaceful sound contradicting the previous music and the backdrop very bright to the black that accompanied the previous music.
Leonardo’s character is seen washing up on shore, a close-up of his face as he slowly blinks his eyes open. We then hear children, rapidly cutting to them and in slow motion watching as they play in the sand, the camera cuts between the two seamlessly before we have a low angle shot of a Japanese soldiers face.
We cut to an oriental Japanese room, with low lighting and an old man seen with his back to us. He wear a suit, indicating power and command while Leonardo’s character is dragged to a seat opposite and given food. At this moment in time we rarely see their faces, only the hands of the old man (Saitou) and Leonard’s bent head.
They begin to talk in low, whispering voices as if something from a dream or blurry memory. Then Leonardo looks up slowly and the tension peaks and before he can say anything we have a sharp cut to a new scene.
Rear Window - Movie Opening Study 2
Rear Window
The movie begins with opening shot through a window, zooming in quickly. This is instantly an ominous set-up as it reflects the movie title. A fast upbeat music begins and everything seems normal. The setting seen is a row of apartment buildings, run down against a murky grey sky backdrop. Then we cut to the scene of a man head, sweating before another cut to a man shaving in his apartment with a piano behind him, again through the view of a window.
We begin to track round to the left, seeing a 180’ view of a man sleeping on his balcony and waking up to the sharp ring of am alarm clock. Somewhat humorously, a women sleeping the opposite direction sits up moments after him. Then a women getting dressed. This implies an invasion of privacy which is backed by upbeat dramatic music which then turns sinister at times very quickly.
The camera then swings back to the man from the beginning, this time with a low tilt shot of him in a chair with a cast on his leg. The camera then pans left and we zoom in on a smashed old fashioned camera and various pictures of war and destruction. This could be foreshadowing for upcoming events in the film.
He then gets a phone call from his boss, talking about the day his cast comes off. Their tones are seemingly casual but as the boss begins talking about how sad it was when he had a good assignment for him. The tones change, intriguing the watcher. What is the job and how does it relate to the invasive previews of his neighbours lives?
Rear Window’s opening is full of suspense and a very good example of a thriller opening.
The movie begins with opening shot through a window, zooming in quickly. This is instantly an ominous set-up as it reflects the movie title. A fast upbeat music begins and everything seems normal. The setting seen is a row of apartment buildings, run down against a murky grey sky backdrop. Then we cut to the scene of a man head, sweating before another cut to a man shaving in his apartment with a piano behind him, again through the view of a window.
We begin to track round to the left, seeing a 180’ view of a man sleeping on his balcony and waking up to the sharp ring of am alarm clock. Somewhat humorously, a women sleeping the opposite direction sits up moments after him. Then a women getting dressed. This implies an invasion of privacy which is backed by upbeat dramatic music which then turns sinister at times very quickly.
The camera then swings back to the man from the beginning, this time with a low tilt shot of him in a chair with a cast on his leg. The camera then pans left and we zoom in on a smashed old fashioned camera and various pictures of war and destruction. This could be foreshadowing for upcoming events in the film.
He then gets a phone call from his boss, talking about the day his cast comes off. Their tones are seemingly casual but as the boss begins talking about how sad it was when he had a good assignment for him. The tones change, intriguing the watcher. What is the job and how does it relate to the invasive previews of his neighbours lives?
Rear Window’s opening is full of suspense and a very good example of a thriller opening.
Pulp Fiction - movie opening study
Pulp Fiction
Pulp fiction opens in café, a normal non-threatening situation from a 180’ degree shot. This is a common trick of the thriller trade, open in a supposedly normal, safe place and then make it non threatening. Two people, a man and a women are sitting at a table and talking about supposedly normal things. A couple on a date we suspect in the beginning, but from the way the man is lounging with his leg put up and a cigarette in his mouth, it’s obvious that this man is disrespectful and a bit of a rough, tough guy while the woman has an innocent, country girl feel.
The man order coffee, using a word for another language as if he’s smart before the waitress informs him that it means man nor female. They begin talking about matters not appropriate for discussion. Murder and robbing a bank with only a phone. This sudden change in pace is common in thrillers.
They then talk about robbing the café, using lots of exaggerated gestures and the man slams the gun on the table which is then zoomed in on, emphasising the gun. We get a bit of tension building now, suspense. How is it going to turn out?
The man then jumps up on the sofa like chair and yells that he’s robbing the café. This was anti-climatic and seemed somewhat cliché for modern day, as it was published in 1994.
The film then cuts to the credits moments after the initial holdup.
Pulp fiction opens in café, a normal non-threatening situation from a 180’ degree shot. This is a common trick of the thriller trade, open in a supposedly normal, safe place and then make it non threatening. Two people, a man and a women are sitting at a table and talking about supposedly normal things. A couple on a date we suspect in the beginning, but from the way the man is lounging with his leg put up and a cigarette in his mouth, it’s obvious that this man is disrespectful and a bit of a rough, tough guy while the woman has an innocent, country girl feel.
The man order coffee, using a word for another language as if he’s smart before the waitress informs him that it means man nor female. They begin talking about matters not appropriate for discussion. Murder and robbing a bank with only a phone. This sudden change in pace is common in thrillers.
They then talk about robbing the café, using lots of exaggerated gestures and the man slams the gun on the table which is then zoomed in on, emphasising the gun. We get a bit of tension building now, suspense. How is it going to turn out?
The man then jumps up on the sofa like chair and yells that he’s robbing the café. This was anti-climatic and seemed somewhat cliché for modern day, as it was published in 1994.
The film then cuts to the credits moments after the initial holdup.
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
Production Schedule
March 4th - script plotting.
March 7th - props and costume.
March 8th - scout out locations, do pleminary shot planning.
March 11th - film scene 3.
March 13th, 9-11 - revise final plan for scene 3 ending.
March 14th, 9-10 - film scene 1/2.
March 17th - upload clips and play around with scene order, point of view, duration, effects.
March 21st - continued editing, progress check upload to blog.
March 24th - start music production, garage band.
March 7th - props and costume.
March 8th - scout out locations, do pleminary shot planning.
March 11th - film scene 3.
March 13th, 9-11 - revise final plan for scene 3 ending.
March 14th, 9-10 - film scene 1/2.
March 17th - upload clips and play around with scene order, point of view, duration, effects.
March 21st - continued editing, progress check upload to blog.
March 24th - start music production, garage band.
Finished Movie
After all the trouble with Final Cut, the movie is filmed, edited and ready to go for the final evaluation. It's a little hard to believe that its finally all done and over with after so much time spent on it, and I'm a little sad that it's over but at the same time relieved. I decided upon the title Silent Steps and I am very pleased with it. The indescisiveness that plagued me has gone as I've worked on this project and I feel more confident in myself.
Editing
My work so far. I have captured all my footage and unloaded it to final cut. I then put it in a general order and ran it through. Due to the fact I was working alone, it was quite hard to know what would work until I tried it. I cut out quite large bits before getting down to the nitty-gritty stuff.
In doing so I realized:
I would need to filter in the alternative view point shots with the main sequence, add in transitions to move from place to place and generally make sure it wasn’t stuttering too much a certain points.
In doing so I realized:
I would need to filter in the alternative view point shots with the main sequence, add in transitions to move from place to place and generally make sure it wasn’t stuttering too much a certain points.
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