Pre-Production Planning - Ella

Synopsis:

• Set in a workshop person fixing motorbike
• Mystery hand turns fuel off/cuts wire (close up) don't see who did it.
• Hear something like a spanner dropped, when characters back is turned - looks back but thinks nothing of it.
• Goes out - either gets a phone call to go somewhere, or looks at calender
• Breaks down in the middle of no where. 

Script:

• No dialogue
• Possibly hear radio/music in workshop/through headphones.

List of roles:

• Actors
• Filming
• Musician
• Drawing storyboard

Locations available:

• Farm
• old garage workshop (private yard)
• busy office-London

 Prop research:

•  Torches - lighting.     

Health and Safety:

• Safety using the bikes etc...
• Lighting stands
 

Lighting decisions:

• Low key lighting to show dusk
• Use of torch when stopped looking around

Sound:

• When the character is left stranded the soundtrack goes from loud/bass to quiet and eery.
• Sounds of bike - amplified. 
• Music through headphones/radio

Opening - Inception (Ella)



Shows close up of character lying on beach



Shows a character who has power over character (standing over/ looking down)

Introduction to new setting



Low key lighting (contrast)

Close up of significant object

Sound

• The diegetic sounds such as the waves crashing is amplified which creates the atmosphere that he is obviously near the sea.
• The use of the soundbridge links the two locations together

Mise en scene

• The lighting is high key on the beach which reflects the mood which emphasises and shows the contrast between the two settings: the beach and the dark room
• The costumes of the characters in the dark room shows the formality of the situation as they are dressed in immaculate suits, this builds tension as the audience can see how serious the sitation is for the character.

 Editing

• The use of slow, straight cuts prolongs the suspense so even more tension builds up, it also mirrors the slow waves washing over the character
• There is a shot which slowly tilts up to the building on the rocks which is followed by a straight cut and a new setting is introduced. But the editing helps the audience link the two locations.
• Parallel editing is used to show the character looking up and to what he is looking at - the children playing. This allows the audience to feel more involved as they see what the character sees and the character.

 Camera Work

• There is a close up of the spinning top which foregrounds the object to the audience as being significant in the film.
• There is uses of match on action which allows the facial expressions of the characters to be seen so the audience can see the characters reactions.

Opening - Deja Vu (Ella)

Laughter

Quick action

Fade cut

LS/High angle

Camera Work

• Most of the opening shots are long shots of people rushing of the bus and the birds eye views of the harbour to establish the setting.

Editing

• There are lots of quick cuts which creates suspense and urgency.
• The opening titles gives the appearence of survilence and some titles are paused mid action which shows the urgency.
• A few of the cuts are fade cuts from the birds eye view/high angle of the harbour to the inside of the ship.

Sound

• The sound track is almost contrapuntel when the people waiting to greet the sailors as they appear happy and laughing yet the soundtrack creates suspense and is upbeat.
• The sound of the people and the cars rushing past is amplfied to emphasise the fast action.
• To emphasise they are near the sea the sounds of seagulls and the ship horn is amplified.
• There is no clear dialogue to explain what is happening which raises questions as it is not clear what is happening.

Mise en Scene

• The lighting is fairly bright creates a sunny day which allows the facial expressions to be easily seen.

Opening - Donnie Darko (Ella)




Dark opening shot



Tracks towards character on road





Circles the character



 

Shows the character in relation to surrounds


Sound

• There is a gentle, melodic soundtrack but it seems like he is alone, and is only surrounded by nature which is told by the noise of the birds.
• There is also no dialogue which doesn't give any information away so it raises questions to the audience.

Camera Work

• There is an extreme long shot which tracks in to show the character in the road, this builds suspense and raises questions
• The camera also circles the character which draws attention to him and raises questions.

Mise en Scene

• The lighting is low key and shows early morning of the sun rising in the distance. Everything appears dark and is mostly silhouettes of objects like the trees. This creates and eery, mysterious atmosphere.
• The setting is empty and desolate just a road through a mountain view, which makes the character seem isolated and alone.

Editing

• There are very few cuts and is simply a long shot which tracks into the person who had fallen off his bike.

Opening - Awake (Ella)

 

Facts about the anesthetic stage of surgery. (Opening)


  

Cuts to pictures in room (CU)



Surgeons operating (LS)

 

Camera Work

• The camera focuses on a few ornaments on the room with a shallow depth of field. The shallow depth of field questions whether the ornaments are signicant to the character.
• The shots of the pictures on the wall is a point of view shot as it shows the view through the characters eyes, this is because it is handheld and shows how he is panning the room, stopping at certain pictures.

Editing

• There are straight cuts to each of the pictures. Then as the narrator describes the death of a patient it cuts from a close up of his face (to show his emotions), to the surgeons operating and to the patient lying there, which allows the audience to get a fuller picture of what is going on.

Sound

• There is a soundtrack of a gentle melodic piano in the background, which is mysterious and emotional which is emphasised by the narrator who seems to be talking through his surgeries and about death. Also the content of what the narrator is saying shows how emotional the surgery was for him.

Mise en scene

• The setting (operating room) and costume (blue surgeon coats) clearly show the profession of the characters being surgeons and doctors

Opening - No Country For Old Men (Ella)



Shows the sun rising over the mountains (morning)

Midday-ish, pan over to car showing off desolate landscape

Close up of important prop

Shows the killer in dark background, focus on police officer

Camera Work

• Long shots of empty, desolate landscapes which gives the feeling of isolation and seclusion.
• The close up of the oxygen tank, which are on the front seat of the car, suggest to the audience they could be significant in the rest of the film

Sound

• There is no soundtrack and only a narrator, which allows the audience to consentrate on what he is saying and focus on empty landscapes, and question whether they link together. It also makes the film more personal as it feels they are speaking to you, and sharing information with you, which may help understand the film. The sound bridge over the top also connects the settings together and trys to link it to what he is saying.

Mise en Scene

• Most of the long shots are low key lighting it emphasises their desolation. The lighting shows the rising of the sun over the mountains which again shows that even as time passes by not much happens until it is cut to the shot police office.
• The costume of the actor in the police station shows his profession - that he is a police officer, which is reinforced by the setting and props, such as when he is strangled by the handcuffs!

Editing

• The cuts are quite slow at the beginning and just cut to a new landscape with the change of the position of the sun. This creates suspense as having to wait for the action the narrator is talking about.
• As the action increases so does the speed of the parallel cuts - when the police officer is stangled it cuts to the expression of his face, to a long shot of him struggling and to the handcuffs tightening around his neck.

Evaluation - Ella Blunden

Bright lighting

Same shot as above but darker

Framing - not straight + cuts of characters legs yet lots of free space

Good point of view shot showing through the characters eyes

Camera Work

• Had some hand held camera work which showed the setting through the characters eyes.
• Variety of shots including tracking shot of the charcter walking through the corridor.
• Framing could have been tighter so character was more evenly spaced between the frame.

Editing

• Could have been smoother edits (too jolty) - so they match up

Mise en scene

• Lighting could have been used more effectively to create an atmosphere and to add continunity.

Sound

• Take out unneccessary background noise
• Could have used garage band to add soundtrack and/or diegetic sound

Continunity errors

• The most obvious being complete change of character between cuts
• The lighting could have been more consistant.
• When opening the doors it was obvious in the change of settings because of type of door and change in lighting.
• The speed the character opened the door - changed inbetween cuts.

Prelimary Video