Diary of editing

Brainstorm for my opening two minutes of a film

 
This is a mind map of a Prezi that will help me to develop my ideas on what I want my film to look like. I have included the type of camera shots and angles I will want to use, to be able to create a snappy film. I have included video links that I can refer back to when planning my film and creating my film, to ensure that I can then use them to create shots similar in my own style. I'm not sure what genre I want my film to be yet, however I will decide soon enough, after I know what the plot of film will be, this brain storm is helping me to think of genre's that I could possibly use, at the moment I'm thinking of either drama, a rom com and adventure. Some of these would be harder to create than others, such as adventure could be hard to film, if it was set in a utopia land, which would impossible to film as a media student with little budget.
I will use this Prezi for my further planning, to make sure that I include some of my original ideas, and I refer back to it to ensure that I am planning in the direction that I wanted to go in.

Match on action-180 degree rule- shot reverse

Match on action
Match on action is an editing technique where it shows two different views of the same action. The editing has to be very precise as if the two shots aren't matched at the right time, it wouldn't work and would look very un-organised.
Here is an example of someone walking through a door, and then we see them come out the other side. It's perfect for linking two environments together whilst following a character.

180 degree rule When taking a shot the 180 degree rule allows the shot to stay on the same side of the action. For example if you had two people sitting across from one another, you should always show them from the same side. If you were to show the two characters from the other side, it would confuse the viewers. Also if you are viewing one character from the right side, you should always shoot them from the right side in that scene. This makes its less confusing for the viewers when the shot alternates between the two characters.

Shot reverse
Shot reverse is when two characters are looking at each other, however on one shot you can only see one of the characters faces, therefore the shot will change to show the other characters face from over the first characters shoulder. This is an easy way of showing both of the characters individually, but also whilst still showing both of the characters in the shot.

Diary of Film

Analysis of opening two minutes of Kick-Ass

How is the genre introduced?
As the super hero attempts to fly down and then smashes into the car, we can tell that it's going to be an action based movie, and then the voice over tells us that it's going to be a comedy.

How are characters represented?
The voice over sounds like a dreamer, but also sounds like he's telling a story, the audience can tell that he may be the main character, as this could be his story.

How is the mood/style introduced?
-The heroic music tells the audience that its going to be about super hero's, then we see a super hero, trying to fly which is unexpected, therefore, we can tell that its going to be a movie where the characters take challenges and try to go against what is normal.

Describe mise en scene?
-We are greeted first of all by flying through the sky, then we see a character who attempts to fly. This shows the links between his dreams and reality.
-Bright sunny location of the city, blue sky- image of a perfect day. Set in New York because of the taxi's and lots of buildings around.
-Bright colours of the costume of the super hero

How is the narrative set up?
-The voice over of the main character tells us that it's going to be his story and by the music also we can tell it's going to be about super heroes. Also it's presented that not all of the movie is going to be serious because of how the character smashes into the car and the watchers all just walk away in disappointed and disgust, and then he goes onto talking about him self and almost making fun out of the character who just died. This suggests its going to be a comedy.

What order are the inter titles?
-Universal-black screen
- Marv - fades into action on screen.
-Marv presents- on screen
-A Marv Films Plan B Production- on screen
-A Film By Matthew Vaughn- on screen


How is sound used?
-Heroic non diegetic music- gets stronger and louder with trumpets-trumpets are powerful
-Voice overs of different people-non diegetic
-Narration of what is presumed to be the main character, telling the audience his dreams and also a -story.
-Heroic music stops once the super hero has smacked into the car, putting emphasis on when he hits the car and how his life is now over as well as his dream.
-The theme tune music fades in, in a stereo like sound, getting louder as the camera tracks round to the number plate of the car.

What camera shots are used and to what effect?
-Extreme long shot of the city to show the location
-Ariel shot, to show us what the hero can see, as well as showing his challenge and the location.
-Long shot of a crowd of people all pointing to the sky, showing how many people are gathering around to see a spectacular thing.
-Low angle from the people point of view to show the man flying down in the air, it also emphasises how far down he is dropping and puts the audience of edge a little bit.
-Point of view shot of what the super hero can see as he's dropping down in the air, puts the audience in his point of view, and can see how much of an adrenaline rush the man must be feeling.
-Mid shot of the peoples reactions- shows how they are just as important as everyone else, where as
when they were in a long shot, they stood more as just humans and individuals who could do anything with there lives. But with a mid shot, all the characters are crowded together and they are all seen as the same type of people again,
-Close up of the number plate saying Kick-Ass, introducing the movies name.

Camera movement?
-Smooth- pans down over city slowly
-Tracks above the characters and smoothly follows him down.
-Tracks towards the car smoothly, but films it at an angle that it makes the audience eager to find out what they're going to see next.

What can you take from this opening and use in 
your film?
-Id like to use the two different types of music to emphasise the different emotions in the film.
Also I'd like any tracking to be as smooth as it was on the movie,

Analysis of opening two minutes of Hott Fuzz

At the beginning of Hot fuzz we are first introduction with the inter titles. First of all we are introduced with  "universal" followed by "working title" these are both on a black screen before we see the actual opening of the film.  This has diegetic music playing over the top of police sirens,

leading us into introducing the first character with a long shot. This is a long shot of the character walking up to the camera looking serious. Then we have an extreme close up of his police identity card. This is when we find out his name is Nicholas Angel. Already we have been introduced to his name, then we find out more about his character during the beginning scene using non diegtic sound, which is a narration of him self telling us about his life. From this we instantly know quite a lot about his character, and we can tell that he loves his job and is serious about it from his facial expression and the way he talks

about his job. This is effective because it gives the audience an introduction the character but doesn't tell us much about what the story line is going to include. This also sets up the narrative, automatically we can tell that the movie is going to be from his point of view and it's going to be a story about him. This includes giving us background information in the narrative before the film has properly started.

During this long shot of the character walking up to the camera we have text on the screen, but very minimal amounts of text. There is text such as "in association with studio canal" and "in association with big talk productions." The text is just giving us the big production names, which means it doesn't interrupt the rest of the opening film.

The genre is a mix between action and comedy. We know it involves action because there is action involved such as explosions and running through different scenarios. Also the sequence is really fast moving, which makes it intense, and there are lots of close ups to show detail, but the shots are still

fast moving. Also the camera moves quickly up, down or to the sides to go into the next shot, which suggests that the movie is going to be related with action. Comedy is also introduced into the beginning sequence. Even though the character is really serious about his job, there are a lot of element of comedy involved. For example there is a sarcastic element to everything. Every thing is rather intense, but there is emphasis put on the wrong things to make it funny. The bike riding course is portrayed as really serious as we have close ups of the wheels breaking on the floor, as well as with the car training. The car has been shown on a race track as to be used for a stunt. This makes it funny because the audience know that this isn't what would actually happen in the police force. As Nicholas
is so serious about little things in his job and trying to make them seem intense makes the whole scene funny. The mise en scene helped to enhance the action side of the film. Everything was well planned, the locations where right and the equipment around them was proper police equipment. Even when they arrested someone they had a low lighted den for the criminal. There were explosions at some point which made the whole scene a lot more realistic and enforced the genre of action.

 There are a number of shots including, long shots, medium shots, eye level shots, high and low angles, close ups and extreme close ups. The amount of different shots and angles is interesting because they swap between them quite a lot, but I think this engages the audience because it makes it exciting and they get to see different shots from different point of view. For example when the eye level shot is used, we can see what it's like from the characters point of view, and it puts you in the action so you can experience the same emotions as the character.

The extreme close ups and close ups focus on piece of detail in particular, and makes the audience

focus on them. These could be key terms in the film and things that you will be seeing a lot or things that you need to remember. Also again it puts the audience right in the action and invades their sense of safety.

The Camera movement creates a big part in creating atmosphere. Where as some camera movement are smooth, others are quite fast,

which makes it short and snappy, which means that they could get a lot of information into such a short period of time. For example the first shot we see is of Nicholas walking towards the camera, and the camera is slowly panning in on him. This creates mystery and suspense , but also everything is calm.

Where as the next shots are fast moving and the camera is panning towards different parts of the screen quickly, making it snappy. Also it blends all of the shots into each other as well. For example there are shots where a transition will be created to go into the next shot where two people will be walking towards each other and they will cross, resulting in the screen going black, and then it will go into the next shot where the two people will carry on walking, and the shot will open up into a different location. This is effective because its a clever and interesting way or going to the next shot and it links everything together. I would like to use something similar in my film, as well as the short snappy shots, so that it moves quickly and it can get into the story quickly.

Anaylisis of opening two minutes of The Book Thief

How is the genre introduced?
-Everything is very calm and showing the setting, the time period and the characters, setting it up to be a drama as we get general knowledge of the situation first, then the little boy dies and this creates a rise in the film, making it a drama.

How are characters represented?
-We are introduced to a sinister mysterious character that we can't see that leaves open a lot of questions and makes the audience think.

-The main girl is sat in the light of the train window, making her stand out from the rest of the people on the train. She's singing, which could be comforting her self which is very childlike. She seems vulnerable because she isn't sat right next to her mother, she leaves a space in-between them.


-She is shown to the left of the frame, and next to her is the window showing how alone she is.


How is the mood/style introduced?
-We can tell that this could be an upsetting film because of the music.
-Everyone on the train looks fed up or ill- people are being forced to be put in situations.

-The style shows everything how it is, for example the people on the train,but also shows everything in a dream state, making the audience question a lot of things.






Describe mise en scene?
-At the beginning its very cloudy and dark which is quite unsettling.

-The white snow then stands out to the audience after being in the dark. The main colours are black and white which contrast against each other, making everything on the screen stand out, and it also suggests that in the era this was set everything was what it is, you couldn't fight against what you had to do.
-On the train it is dark and all the colours are really dull and boring showing little money and depression.

How is the narrative set up?
-We hear everything from the narrators point of view, and we travel along with him and the audience feel as if they are being taken on a journey and have no control over what's going to happen.

What order are the inter titles?
-20th century fox
-Fox 2000 Pictures presents- black screen
-A Sunswept Entertainment production- black screen


How is sound used?
-Soft non diegetic music of a piano- sad music.
-Narration over the top of the music of a soothing but still sinister kind of voice.
-More upbeat music created by string instruments to match the movement of the train.
-Ambient diegetic sound of the train on the tracks moving.
-There's no sound when she realises her brother is in danger, then suspense music is played-non diegetic- creating a feeling of uncertainty and panic.
-Diegetic sound of the mother screaming and the whistle of the train are blended together in one.

What camera shots are used and to what effect?
-Long shot of the clouds-makes the audience focus on the narration and puts them in a dream state like mind.

Ariel shot of the location that's going be shown
- following a train- been taken on a journey.
Mid shot of the main girl, focusing on her facial expressions and when she turns to her mother and brother we can still see her upset body language.

Camera movement?
-Soaring through the sky smoothly, it's quite unsettling and makes the audience feel like their going on a journey.
-Camera moves around the train showing both sides, and it puts the audience in a perspective that they are  looking for something.
-On the train the camera tracks forwards and pans from left to right very slowly as if we are examining the people on the train.

What can you take from this opening and use in 
your film?
-At one point there is a transition from the smoke into the train, I would like to use a creative transition like this so that the scenes link into each other nicely and create a smooth effect.