Wednesday, 26 September 2012

How Has Media Affected My Life





Media In My Life


Media these days is widely internet based, it has a wide reaching influence accross many different industries from advertising to personal scandals such as the Kate Windsor (topless photos) scandal which has been often brought up in the news recently.

Media has been a key part in my life as I use social networking sites daily (such as Facebook and Twitter) in order to communicate with my freinds accross various platforms. These social networking sites offer a direct messaging service which i am always using to have a chat. This media allows me to stay up to date with whats happening around me and allows communication over internet servers.
Another way that media has majorly impacted my life is in work. As i make videos for clients for money, media has become a major player in turning a free time hobby into a source of income. As internet phenomenum such as Youtube grows, demand for motion graphics increases as the number of users does. I also use promotional videos to promote what i do, increasing my audience furthermore.

From newspapers i read to the television that i watch, in my free time i am always using media to stay connected with the outside world, to keep up to date with the news and whats going on.

Horror Conventions

Opening Conventions

Audience





Use of Sound





Establish Genre





Establish Setting / Scene








Tuesday, 25 September 2012

Horror Timeline : 1910 - 2010




Horrors through the years have definitely changed with the times, whether they be subjected around recent tragedies or fears of the generation horrors all have the same thrilling effect regardless of the year they are released in.



Decade 1910 - 1919










 



The Golem was made in 1915. The plot is based around an antique dealer finding a Golem, and it being brought by a Rabbi. The dealer who resarects the Golem finds out that the Golem has fallen in love with his wife - she doesn't love the Golem back so he goes off on a series of murders. The silent film is of a german release and is produced by Hanns Lippmann and does contain german intertitles. The film originally titled 'Der Golem' meaning the same as the english title but in German is in only black and white; the theme of the story being a clay jewish servant becoming deadly.


Decade 1920 - 1929













 
Nosferatu was made in 1922 and is yet again another German made silent movie which is based on a vampire secretly moving into a house and being found out whilst he is trapped. The development of horror from Golems to vampires is a leap taken to stay 'in time' with the people's most feared subject. Vampires were commonly feared during this decade as the Germans believed that if someone was to die in a random incident or commit themselves to suicide they were to become known as a vampire, this was taken to their grave and was thought to haunt their families through generations. This is why the Germans in this particular age would have found a film about vampires living in their house very haunting. 

Decade 1930 - 1939















Dracula was made in 1932 as vampires continued to rule the themes of horror for yet another decade but more movies like King Kong and Frankenstein were being released, so the bloodsucking vampires were making way for monstrous monsters in the new most spine-chilling horror decade yet. As times changed from vampires to monsters people became more and more interested in the development of scientific discovery, and as folk knew not much of this subject it embedded itself as the new horror theme (because people weren't educated fully in this field to understand how it all works).

Decade 1940 - 1949













Cat People was made in 1942 and is all about a Serbian immigrant fearing she will turn into a cat if she becomes intimate with her recently married husband. The film was such a thrilling success that a sequel was planned - but never carried out. The film was widely seen as a fearful horror as the beliefs of the film reflected reality in reality, as the word 'divorce' often used in this film was seen as a cursing word to the vast catholic community. The film industry was still working on colour graphics in this decade, however monophonic sound was starting to be produced - this added to the horrific viewing experience the audience had to endure.


Decade 1950 - 1959














Godzilla was made in 1954 (post world war two) when nuclear radiation was becoming a continuously overused type of horror. This new and frightful scare was a fear to all as people actually believed that this would happen if there was a nuclear attack! The film involves an American weapons testing facility leaking and producing an unstoppable dinosaur-like beast. The film was originally released in Japan and was too in black and white, with again mono-audio to improve the fright for the viewers.


Decade 1960 - 1969














Carnival Of Souls was a United States, green tinted black and white movie made in 1962 in which a woman becomes drawn to a very mysterious and abandoned carnival. When she rises from the dead she meets a very peculiar ending. The new horror era of rising from the dead has begun! In this decade films about characters rising from the dead and haunting / possessing their targets. This new demonic / supernatural sub genre of horror has developed and become the present days fright - all originating from this decade.


Decade 1970 - 1979














The Exorcist was one the first classic horror films to be made in full Metro colour (released in1973). This new age of horror involved the demonic possession of a young 12 year old girl. This horrific new horror sub genre (demonic) has overtaken the rule of monsters and vampires and replaced it with things that can supposedly happen to anyone, hoping people will find this most nerving in turn giving a better thrill. The Exorcist was the first of its kind and sprung a whole new idea of horror.


Decade 1980 - 1989














In The Shining (
made in 1980) a family who make their way to a hotel to retreat for the winter have their father influenced by spirits and violence which leads to his son having future seeings and flashbacks. This decade of film has such a believably realistic feel to the films there is no wonder this generation of horror had evolved to Thriller / Slashers (like The Fog, Friday The 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street). Full colour images were now peaking and still single channel sound.


Decade 1990 - 1999














Se7en was made in 1995 and was another advance in horror film evolution. The 90's brought us the Dolby Digital sound system which enhanced the thrill of watching horrors significantly, the homicide detective film with sin related evil portrays the 1990's as a decade which uses the (widely practiced) church and Christian beliefs to distinguish good from evil and sometimes intertwine the two. Strong ethical beliefs are 'tested' in these horror films as new age demonic and satanic type horrors were released as people wanted to watch what they could mentally challenge - such as demons and Satan.


Decade 2000 - 2009












Monday, 24 September 2012

The Happening - Opening Credits Analysis (Sound and Mise en scène)



Click here for a timeline of The Happening's opening credits.

All annotations are for images below the text describing it. 

The very beggining of the film starts with the titles of the production companys: 
The 20th Century Fox Intro is at the very start of the film and plays the well known accompanying tune. The rotation of the text on the cityscape background with the spotlights shining over the text making the name of the film cooperation seem valuable and commendble.




The 'uTv' motion pictures title starts with a hand dipping 3 fingers in blue green and red paint and wiping the fingers over a rotating glass paine to reveal the utv mtion pictures text. The black background has been used as the film following it is a horror, the affect would not be the same were it white. 






The Spy Glass Entertainment title uses 3D rotation around a shiny gold telescope, and then zooms out and fades to black leaving this logo shown below. No sound is used in this title, building the suspense of whats to come.


General:
The opening footage to this film is broken intro with a straight cut from black with a fast fading in of non-diegetic music in a minor key to accompany the motion of the clouds. The image below shows what is a lapse of cloud movement, some of the shots have an uneasy feel to them as they are played in reverse to give a strange 'growing of clouds from nowhere' which foreshadows what is later happening in the film (the wind comes out of nothing and makes people commit themselves to suicide). Towards the start of the series of time-lapse shots the sky is a light blue colour, but as the opening credits advance the sky becomes closer to very deep blue / black suggesting evil, darker things are to come.
Whilst in the background the clouds are moving, the foregrounds presents text (fading in on every fourth beat of sound presenting a consistent pattern which juxtaposes the use of reversed cloud footage giving a irregular viewing experience used often in horrors) which are coloured and beveled in white to match the cloud coverage so on fades in and out the clouds reveal the text a gradient wipe even though it is just a simple transparency fade. 
Sound:
The string score that starts on the straight cut from black opens with a strum of a harp and low pitch screeching in the background to fill the silence, as this continues the harp is replayed in an  uneven, scales of the stringed instrument developing the unsteady pattern of the credits. The piano then begins the riff which is constantly played back making the first entry for the main actor of the film 'Mark Wahlberg' suggesting much is happening around this character (the 'start' of something). When the film title is shown on screen, another stringed instrument is playing a very similar riff which conjointly builds up the suspense and starts to develop the music into a build of tension as more instruments add to the composition. The piece composed by James Newton Howard has a slow rhythmic flow which as the credits progress with the darkening of sky also builds up with percussive instruments and sound effects such as wind whistling, all contribute to the crescendo of sound as the now faster moving clouds cut to black.   




Camera:

The scene opens with a low angle tracking shot of a dog to then lift the camera up to a high angle (wide) establishing shot of central park from slightly above eye level. The camera reveals the tree-lined pathway through central park with a massive crowed of people filling the path. The   camera shows an ordinary day, with no unusual things going on.

Sound:

The diegetic background ambient of people talking, city noises (such as car horns), wind blowing leaves and gentle start to a build up of synthetic violin notes. The long, dragged out notes slow the rhythm of the shot allowing us to concentrate on the style of film, allowing us to pick up subliminally all of the typical horror conventions. The dialogue we hear is what we would expect to hear on a busy day in central park, with children screaming, parents talking to the loudly and the laughs of people close to the camera's position.



This image below shows the camera movement from the frame above where tracking shot of the dog reveals the establishing shot of central park.





Camera
This very wide shot is a cut away which foreshadows what later happens in the film (the wind blowing the trees making individuals commit suicide).  The ring of trees which surround the footage of the skyscrapers are a metaphorical image for the closing in of the trees on a subject.   This cutaway shot is clearly lit with natural outdoor light and also shows the overcast skies above so in this case this could also be classed as a weather shot.
Sound
Throughout this shot the noise from the previous frame is continued but the sound of leaves swirling and wind picking up become a more primary sound to accompany the footage. The parallel and diegetic sound the wind is clearly accompanied by the visualisation on screen (by the exaggerated movement of the trees),




Camera:
A very slow zooming wide shot opens the action with these two characters on screen. The use of lighting is carefully thought about as the dark side of the frame (the right side) is the side that the 'possessed' girl is sitting and on the side with the most light is her friend who has nothing wrong with her. This use of darkness foreshadows what happens later on in the scene. The two subjects of the shot are the only people in the frame. Even though in only a few shots before we could see swarms of people wandering around the park, in this shot we see no one but the two girls subjected in the shot.
Sound:
The diegetic sound of wind whirling becomes an addition to strings as soon as the transition from the previous shot to the one shown below is made
Edit:
The straight cuts which link this shot to its predecessor and its successor add a more natural flow to the scene as there are no unrealistic transitions making the screen rotate or a linear wipe before changing shot. This adds realism and makes the cut seem like a blink - tying the scene up neatly.





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Camera:
Extreme close up shot of hair and hand grabbing a hair pin and pulling it out of her hair. The use  of the extreme close up reduces the field of view of the viewer and limits their vision to the surroundings which furthermore disorientates the viewer as no other detail except for the hand and hair are clearly noticeable. The slow movement of the hand matches that of the very slight camera movement which adds to the realism in the shot which improves the viewing experience.
Sound:
As she reaches for the hair pin, a crescendo of sound as if the previous ambient background noise is 'swirling' into a mess of non-diagetic sound as screeches and double beats are used in uneven patterns  (to give the effect of an unsteady heartbeat which makes the viewer feel uneasy and on-edge). This atmosphere is intensified by the use of high pitched strings and other inconsistently applied synthesized sound scores. Throughout this shot, there is no dialogue as the viewer's attention is focused on the subject of the shot and what they are doing, not what they are saying. This adds to the suspense of the moment as no clues are given away from speech as to what will happen next. As the transition between this and the next shot is in progress, a bicycle bell is rung twice (second ring in a lower pitch to the first as if it were: 'ding dong'). The almost bell chime-like sound foreshadows what later occurs in the film when the main actor approaches an abandoned house.
Edit:
The straight cuts which link this shot to its predecessor and its successor add a more natural flow to the scene as there are no unrealistic transitions making the screen rotate or a linear wipe before changing shot. This adds realism and makes the cut seem like a blink - tying the scene up neatly.






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Friday, 21 September 2012

Saw III - Opening Credits Analysis (Sound and Mise en scène)


The film starts with an introduction to the institutions. In SAW III the Lionsgate introduction is the first one presented and is backed with background lightning sound effects which are diegetic and parallel to the images of lightning flashing up on screen. The title then fades to black. 


Fading in from black the Twisted Pictures institution title has a very horror specific introduction to SAW III. It follows the Lionsgate title as it too has elements of light flickering whilst the barbed wire is tangling around text which scratches it, revealing scratched and scary text with a spike going through it. 



After all of the institutions have faded from black the blurry lighbulb turns on and appears whilst the camera moves in an uneasy and wavey motion. Between these shots the text which contains the directors name appears in a yellow/grunge coloured font with a green glow, matching the colour of the set. The light flickers on and off as the blur (obviously added in post production) blurs in and out of focus. The two effects a linked with eachother, as they happen at the same time.

The camera then cuts to black to reveal the text which i talked out about to reveal the institution of Twisted Pictures. During this sounds of creeking and metal chruning play in the background to make the audience feel uneasy.



 Through a blur transition, the shot 'whips' from left to right and back again showing the viewer what the room looks like through the actors eyes, this is otherwise known as a POV Shot (Point Of View). Accompanying this, screetching sound effects make the viewer feel uneasy and out of place. The colour of the room is a bold, deep green which has semeotics of jelousy. The character whos postition we are looking from is jelous of people who are safe and at home.


This is the same shot which follows to reveal his face in a mirror that is fixed to his chair. The close up shot (from the mirror) shows all of his emotions; for the first time we get to see his face. The moment of realisation (when he looks in the mirror) is accompanied by the diegetic sound of the metal clanging on the mirror.

For the first time in this scene the viewers get to see an establishing shot, this removes some of the confusion that the director tried to acheive earlier on to make us feel like we were experienciung what he was.  

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Taking our own Shots: Camera Angles

























At school on the 21/09/12 our class set out to take some photos of typical shots to help give us a better idea of the style of shot and subject positioning. I have used a photo manipulation program to develop the still images into horror film style with screen letter boxing, 'cool' colour correction and blurring of what should be unfocused areas. I had to blur the areas that should not be in focus as i had taken the photos with an iPod touch fourth generation, which has multi-point focus so everything in the screen is supposedly in focus. The blurring of imaging also add field of depth which adds to the 'reality feel' of the shot. All of the photos were taken in day, i want to make this clear as some of the colour corrections may darken the images to give a more spine chilling effect of horror genre


The extreme close up shown below almost gives an artificial feel to the shot, in that it completely magnifies what the human eye would see in reality; the zoomed-in style shot takes all the the viewers attention off of the background and focuses their attention on the subject of the shot (in this case the face) making the viewer concentrate on them. I have used a radial blur to block out the background on the right (as this shouldn't be a point of focus for the audience) and have added a 'cool' colour correction instead of warm. This is because as we are studying horror in class and it seems fitting that I continue the theme in my shots.
The eye near middle of the shot is grabbing, as the high contrast of black (iris and pupil) contrasts with white background of the eye (the sclera) making it stand out - thus attracting our eyes to this actor, and not the blurred out background. Natural lighting is used in this image as this was considered most appropriate, the shine of light coming off of only the nose shows that the lighting of this shot isn't that off artificial as that would have reflected in the eye of the actor used and made the shot look 'fake'.

















This close up image (shown below) is a magnification of the subject of the image who is placed left-centered shot. It takes us into the mind of the individual as in reality we only let people we know and are comfortable to be with get that close to our face. This camera shot allows us to become intimate with the character on screen and bond with them through this. The use of low saturation in the colour correction gives a more grey scale look to the shot, taking most of the colour from view this gives us the impression not everything in this scene will be represented as happy and 'all in bloom' , it may have a dark, evil and corrupt side to it .
The actor presented on the white background makes them stand out from the rest of the frame, presenting them as the favorable character (as white background will portray the character as angelic and superior as actor Jim Carey is presented as God in Bruce Almighty in this image). Lighting in this frame comes from an overhead recessed lighting source (where the bulb isn't seen and is given out through a beam of plastic) which lights up the whole of the characters face on one side, this could suggest that the character has multiple personalities or spirits within as the other side of his face is heavily shadowed towards the center of the frame which makes this even more noticeable.
















The mid-shot (shown below) shows the actor in the right third of the screen, this off centered technique allows the viewer to see behind the actor for if there were to be something behind them, and not leaving the shot dull and uninteresting as if the subject was centered.  The medium shot shows above the waist which is all we need to see to get enough detail about them. If we were to look at the actor we would only take notice of the top half of him so replicates what the viewer would see if they were there in that moment. Ceiling lighting lights up a path of lights which seem follow the subject - suggesting that they are superior and leaving good in their trail. This medium shot gives a strong sense of depth as the subject is shown waist up and infront of a long corridor
















This very long shot allows us to see the length of the hallway with the actor's shadow reflecting on the shiny floor vinyl. The use of lighting allows reflections to cast onto the floor which adds to the confusion and disorientation of the shot, a common technique used in horror to make the viewer feel uneasy. Long shots are generally used to show the whole body of the subject of the shot so this is one of the many variations called the very long shot.
















The very wide shot of the car park shown below is categorized as a very wide shot over an establishing shot as an actor is actually in the shot somewhere (hard to see but near the middle of the screen to the right). This shot shot is naturally lighted as lighting it otherwise would be very hard as the area is so huge. The post shooting colour correction includes a blur vignette to soften the harsh contrast between black and whites and an orange hue tones the image to warmer colours. The use of warmer colours like this could be used towards the end of the horror film when the story line is being resolved or good overcomes evil. The shot is broken up into two thirds land and horizon and one third sky, adding complexion and sophistication to
















This establishing shot (shown below) shows the whole of our school playing field, it's the type of shot would begin a scene, establishing the whereabouts of where the scene is set. The shot shows the full width of the field, and uses the trees in the background to darken the scene. I added a dark, vignetted colour correction, which furthermore adds to this mysteriously powerful shot. This establishing shot reveals enough to know where the 'action'  is happening but at the same time does't reveal too much as the darkness conceals the details of the shot. The only lighting used is the natural lighting of the sun, which makes the shot seem 'not setup' thus giving the audience a more true and powerful viewing experience. The white light coming from the sun in the center of the frame contrasts with the trees before it, giving a large contrast in colour. This high contrast that we can see from left to right all the way across the shot does not focus our attention on only one spot but over the horizontal class of white on black - 'keeping our eyes busy'.
















This high angle shot makes the audience feel that this character is less significant as she is being 'swallowed up' by the surrounding image which is elevated above the actress. This shot gives us a general overview of the shot, as we can see the subject of the shot and whats behind them. However what the high angle shot in this case conceals is where the actress is looking, this makes the viewer wonder and question what they are looking at or for. I have again used a high contrasting, low saturation vignette colour correction. This is the typical horror / thriller look is used to create a cold and tense atmosphere which keeps the audience on edge. Natural light which is reflected off of the tiles on the left hand side of the frame looks artificial in that it is exceedingly bright - this bright white reflection of light juxtaposes the dark tiles and gloomy grass that it borders, creating a clash of supposedly good and evil of which the actress is seperating.
















This wormseye shot gives a sense of character insignificance as the worms eye shot has a point of view feel to it, as if the subject of the shot is superior to that of the character who's position we are looking from. This camera angle makes the subject of the shot seem strong, mighty and overpowering as we have to 'look up to him'. The light on the right hand side of the shot lights up the frame and gives the subject of the shot a dark shadow on the side nearest to the camera.









A Canted shot is where the camera is tilted to suggest instability, this is very commonly used in horror as this can overlap the effects of a POV (Point Of View) shot, almost seeming to be the eyes in what in this case could be some kind of spirit or force as the actors positioning and facial expressions show they aren't aware the 'eyes of the camera' being there. The parting in the trees matches that of the actors which suggests there is a gap somewhere socially between the characters on shot. The slight camera rotation is significant enough to notice there is abnormal activity occurring in this shot, portraying the same abnormality in an apocalyptic or possessive sensation for the viewer.
















The POV shot (Point Of View Shot) shown below is commonly used in horror movies to give the viewer a closer feel the the actor, this action can make the viewer feel closer towards the thoughts and sights of the characters whose perspective we are seeing from. The lighting used comes front the front of the actor, so in this particular frame comes from the top shadowing the palm and under the hand. This us of artificial light infact makes the shot look more realistic as the shadows cast look legitimate. The use of the ring binder in the shot (towards the very left of the frame) gives a very high contrast of white and black - improving the overall finesse of the shot as horror movies have strong colour schemes like this to exageerate the difference between dark and light.
















This over the shoulder shot is a variation on the medium shot, in which we can see over the actors shoulder and by the side of their face, revealing another actor standing in front of him. The use of the rule of thirds again adds character to the shot, allowing the viewer to see a more structured shot than that of a centered subject. The vignette wraps the shot nicely and makes the hallway on the right of the frame seem darkened out, thus rendering the impression that 'dark lies within' this area. Lighting as we can see illuminates the back right side of the shot casting shadows to the forward left. This clever lighting technique portrays the actor in the white shirt and black tie to be the definite target of the shot, as the actor whose shoulder we oversee is darkened out of the frame. The use of the over the shoulder shot here helps the viewer establish what the actor will see from the position shown in the still, giving a very strong character bond between viewer and character - improving the way we feel about what we see on screen.
















By Rhys Mcevoy
AS Media
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