Thursday 8 October 2015

Film Studies Task

For my essay I will be studying the Director, Stanley Kubrick and analysis a scene from The Shining, along with referencing other films he has directed such as Full Metal Jacket.

Within the scene I will be analysing the mis-en-scene, camera work, editing and sound whilst also talking about Kubrick and how he could be considered an Auteur director because of his consistent style and camera work he uses for his films.

Monday 5 October 2015

The Shining and the meaning behind the ending.

Jack is a reincarnation made by the hotel to undergo its bidding, taking the form of a previous hotel guest who stayed there in 1921 and butchered his family, the hotel recreating the same event that happened in previous years for generations.
   Kubrick wouldn't have used the line "always been the caretaker" when the butler is talking to Jack in the bathroom scene, without it meaning something. This line and the line about the butler, Delbert Grady and how he has "always been the butler", is evidence or at least a hint from Kubrick that the hotel keeps bringing them back to life as new people. The line about Jack always being the caretaker in a sense is that the  photograph will last forever and he'll forever be seen within the image as well as through the reincarnations of the previous hotel guest who butchered his family.

Wednesday 16 September 2015

Spaced Analysis

Spaced (Series 2 episode 5)
- Edgar Wright - finding visual hour through framing, camera movement, editing, goofy sound effects and music.

- Temporal relation - showing the protagonist thinking about playing video games all night until morning - he was sat in the same position but we could tell time was passing as it started off dark and gradually got lighter till morning. This was also accompanied by sound effects such as birds to symbolise it was early morning.
- Repetitive shot used for the montage to show that the characters were drinking a lot as the night was going on. Birds eye angle of the drinks being placed on the table which was accompanied by the two characters laughing and progressively getting more and more drunk, which is when we went back to the birds eye shot of the drinks.
- The low angle looking up at characters was used a couple of times to show their status/power such as when the main protagonist runs into a group of youths. To show that he was scared of them the low angle was used to show that they are bigger than him and could fight him.
- Dolly counter zoom & low angle was used to introduce some of the characters and to show there was tension between two or more people in the scene.
- Flashbacks to show the story between two characters- helps to inform the viewer why they've got tension without dialogue.
- Whip pan used to change the scenes - smoother motion when a scene finishes.
- Use of Shot Reverse Shot to help show the audience if a character has identification with an object or a person.
- Slow motion and quick editing of shots for the fake gun fight scenes, which was also accompanied by a dramatic sound track to make the fight seem more intense than it actually was. There was rhythmic relation between the shot and the action that was happening within the scene.
- Montage was useful as it cut out the parts that weren't necessary to the show to make it more punchy and entertaining to watch.
- Non-linear narrative as the story started off with how the main protagonist and his friend ended the night and then we suddenly jumped 6 hours before and were told how they ended up in that situation. Also there were many flashbacks used within the show to aid the storyline and the audience's understanding of the characters.
- Influences from different films within the show - Music played when the people were having a fake gun fight scene was Platoon. Also references to The Shining when they're sat outside the house.
- Diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. Within the fake gun fight scenes, the actors started off making their own sound effects for the guns and as the fights progressed this changed and sound effects of real guns were added over the top of the video.
- When the characters were talking about the plan for the night - this was done by using still photographs which was then accompanied by the narration of the night by the actors.
- When the coin was thrown up to decide what was happening on the night we didn't see the coin land all we saw was the money being slammed onto the bar - which tells the audience that the main protagonist won the coin flip without having any dialogue or having to watch the coin land.
- Dramatic music was used to create tension in areas that wouldn't necessarily need it - such as the meeting of the youth in the toilets and when the man picks up the keys off the table when the main characters leave the pub. This is usually accompanied by low key lighting to add effect.

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Lecture Notes - 15th SEPTEMBER

Cinematography
- Visual aspects of a film's language.
- Camera movements can give a clear indication of emotions and give audience clues as to what's happening.

Types of shots
- Long Shot (LS)
- Extreme Long Shot (ELS)
- Full Shot (FS)
- Medium Shot (MS)
- Close Up (CU)
- Extreme Close Up (ECU)
- Insert Shot (IS)- Relevant object, not people
- Point Of View (POV)

Movement
- Pan
- Tilt
- Steady Cam
- Rack Focus
- Dolly
- Crane
- Arial
- Hand Held
- Over The Shoulder
- Dolly Counter Zoom

Angles
- Birds Eye
- Low Angle
- High Angle
- Dutch Angle
- Eye-level
- POV

Rear Window, Hitchcock 1954 (opening scene)
- Master of mis-en-scene - Everything is planned and has a purpose - no accidents in terms of the visual
- People making breakfast/milkman/man shaving/ people waking up - early morning
- Photographer for a magazine - main protagonist likes to capture things such as car crashes/rockets setting off etc.
- Heat wave - Insert of the thermometer/man sweating
- POV watching neighbours getting ready /morning routine
- Brown earthy tones within the room and main protagonist's clothes - he has become part of the apartment he lives in because of his broken leg

Atonement
- War - on the beach waiting to be rescued
- One long continuous shot and multiple frames
- Feel as though you are there with the soldiers experiencing what they are experiencing
- Soldiers have been defeated at war
- Exploring the scene with the characters

Transitions/Edits
- Cut - instant transition
- Fade in/out
- Dissolves
- Wipe
Aspects of editing
- Relationship between shot a & shot B
- 4 editing relations
* Temporal - Montage/Flashbacks/flash forwards - match cut - show passage of time within a film
* Spatial - 180 degree line? Shot Reverse Shot? Identification/Parallel editing
* Rhythmic - Editing is related to the pace of action etc. fight scene - quicker editing
* Graphic - Object matches between cuts/ Graphic match in shots

Kuleshov Effect
- Effect of juxtaposition
- Discovered that depending on what follows after shot 1, will change what the audience feel for the specific character etc.

Ellipses
- The shortening of the plot duration of a film achieved by deliberately omitting intervals or sections of the narrative
- Marked by an editing transition - period/gap of time from a film's narrative

Context - When it was made, where it was received, on individuals bias or experience
- social/political/censorship/artistic conventions/ financial constraints/ technology
- Knowing the conditions behind a film's making