Dexter Activity Evaluation

During our last lesson we created a series of tiles to go into the opening sequence for Dexter. Olivia and I made this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28LSXtw0AaA&feature=plcp

1. Summarise the conventions of title sequences that were most important to this task.

• We found it was important to to include as many different roles in producing the show as possible
• We used a font and font colour which fitted the themes of the show
• We used visual ques to time our titles

2. How did your group plan to edit the title sequence? (consider timings, industry requirements etc). 

• Olivia and I started with the last title, as we had come up with a good idea for this as we watched it (the title disappearing as he walked by)
• We then went to the beginning and started to inset titles we thought it was appropriate 
• We tried out different effects to see which looked best

3. Explain the creative decisions made by your group.

• We tried to make the effects fit the tone of the show
• For example we used the font "Cracked" which gives a spooky feel to the sequence, while being legible
• We used a red for the font colour mostly, only using which when the Red was too similar to the background to read

 4. How does your re-edit compare to the original?

• Our edit contains less information
• It has a similar animation on the shot with the sink
• Generally our titles have more animation 
• Their titles use a more formal font
• Their titles a consistently Red (in a lighter shade than our red font)

Prelim Task Evaluation

Our task was to create a short sequence in which a person walks through a door, across a room and sits down across from another character before exchanging a few lines of dialogue. We decided to call ours "Wrodland Mars":

1. Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?

• For this task, I worked with Yadash, Chris, and Jack
• We all worked quite cooperatively on most tasks, splitting them all rather than assigning different people different tasks, discussing most of them, such as the shot list, the script and the  shoot schedule (see picture)
• This worked well as nobody felt as if they were given harder tasks than anybody else
• After discussing every frame, Jack drew the storyboard as he was the most artistic.

2. How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use? What theories did you try to take into account?

• We started by brainstorming, which was mostly a verbal process.
• After coming up with our initial idea of a hitman receiving an order, we started to move on to the details- Who was the hit? How would we incorporate a match on action, a shot reverse shot and show use of the 180 degree rule? What would the dialogue be?
• Next we drew up a quick sketch of the media department and put dots at the different shooting locations we could use so that we could then plan things shot by shot (seen left)
• We decided where we would put the opportunities for a match on action, shot reverse shot etc. 
• We wrote up a brief script, and used this to create a shot list, from which we made a storyboard

Our Script

3. What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?

• In planning we used almost no technology, only a camera which we used to take pictures to be used as evidence of our planning
• We used a camcorder when shooting to frame, film and playback our sequence.
• We used a tripod to support the camcorder and help achieve smooth pans
• While filming we experimented with a pag-light for lighting effects, however decided not to use it because it proved ineffective for lighting in the room we were in.
• We used computers in post production, using Adobe Premiere Pro for non-linear editing.

4. What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?

• Timing was important throughout, we had to plan how long we would spend on each shot while planning, and had to try and stick to those timings when filming, and while editing we found ourselves rushed due to the time limit while editing.
• While planning we took what the lighting would be the next day, noting where the sun would be in relation to the windows while shooting, this proved problematic later when we had to change our shooting location as it forced us to rely on a pag-light for our desired lighting effect before deciding to forget about all together.
• While shooting we were very conscious of what it would be like editing, making sure to get spare shots where possible to allow for good match on actions

5.How successful was your sequence? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently?

• I am extremely pleased with our sequence, I think it flowed and definitely portrayed genre well, giving off a clear sense of spy/thriller.
• I think the framing was usually spot on, with the exception of the shot of the gun sliding across the table, in which the gun actually goes out of shot at the end of the clip, however in the other take we took of this was also out of shot, this was due to the impracticality of seeing the camera when it was so high up. I do think that we remedied this by making sure to only cut briefly to this shot.
• If I was to reshoot this, I would take more shots, and be more aware of where people start talking, because while editing we discovered we would find it hard to use our master shot as the conversation earlier in this shot than in any other shot (as it started before "Wrodland" sat down.)

6. What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework, do you think?

• I have learnt how to effectively use continuity and the 180 degree rule to create a flowing clip
• I also learnt that remembering to take note of framing will result in a better clip, and that time management is very important
• This will be useful when planning in the future coursework as we will know what to look out for and plan for in the future, for example we had a last minute change in location during this shoot, we will know to plan for this if there were to be a change in shoot location in the future.

Scott Pilgrimm Vs The world opening credits sound analysis

Our task was to analyse the sound in an opening credit sequence. For this I chose to look at the 2010 film Scott Pilgrim vs the World. I chose this because the audio and visual style of the opening credit sequence sets the tonne for the whole movie as well as identifying the target audience
http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/scott-pilgrim-vs-the-world/

The film starts with the Universal logo and theme tune, however it has been twisted into being 8-bit, which connotes early video games which had 8-bit styles and theme tunes due to the technical limitations of the times they were made. This 8-bit style will remind people who grew up in the 70s and 80s of their childhood video games such as Mario, Zelda and Tetris, as well as well as appealing to young people who also would have known of this cultural code.

The audio then becomes a voice over which reads out the words on screen saying "Not so long ago, in the land of Torronto, Canada..." this is a clear reference to the classic "Star Wars" movies, who's credits start with "A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away" however unlike the star wars movies this opening uses a voice over instead which is used in order to speed up the transition between setting the scene and the opening credit sequence, setting the pace for the movie. Imminently after this, the camera roles down onto a house, while the sound of a harp plays. The harp is another homage to fantasy games, such as Final Fantasy or zelda, and the deepening tune to this harp give as sense of falling, which adds effect to the camera's tilt downwards.

While the camera is still on the outside of the house, the audience hear the first line of diegetic sound in the movie, which is the words "Scot Pilgrim is dating a high-schooler?" immediatly after which the camera cuts to a wide shot of inside the house. This creates an effective audio bridge, hooking the audience into the conversation.

The conversation continues,  and as Scott assures the others that he is 22, a visual prompt comes on screen saying "Scott Pilgrim, 22 years old, Rating: Awesome" which seems like something you may find at an intro to a video game, or on a baseball card, again targeting the audience's cultural codes. These continue to pop up and reference the audio throughout this sequence

As the conversation continues there is a ring at the doorbell, accompanied by the words on screen "Ding Dong" in a comic book style, this is introduces a technique used throughout the movie which is to write onomatopoeic sounds on screen at the same time as they're sound is played in the audio. This creates the comic book style which appeals to the fans of Scott Pilgrim who would have read the comics. As the band starts to play, the comic book style effects start to appear on screen again.

As the credits start to role in, they have an effect which plays every time the bass drum beats, making sure the audio and visual elements of the movie are closely linked. When the sequence cuts to credits and the song continues to play, these effects continues to play on beat, creating a psychedelic experience.

BLK Homework 4 - Analysis of Film Clip

Our task this week was to pick a film clip and then analyse is use of continuity editing within this clip. The clip I have chosen to analyse is a clip from the 2010 movie "The Social Network" which is about the creator of Facebook. In this clip Mark is being questioned in a court case involving a similar website which he was involved in.


The narrative in this clip takes place across a large table, however despite this, the 180 degree rule is followed constantly. Between the time codes of 0:22 and 0:40 the camera continuously cuts back and forth between the two characters, during which time the 180 degree rule is not broken. Through the rest of the clip the camera cuts away from the conversation a few time and onto the reaction of the people in the room among other things, however the camera always cuts back to a setup which the audience is familiar with, allowing for the audience to see reactions while leaving them thoroughly involved in the conversation. Similarly  when the camera follows Mark Zuckerburg's eyes at the start of the clip, it cuts straight back to the previous shot, allowing for the conversation to continue flowing.

 In the first 4 seconds of this clip the layer raises a piece of paper, this paper makes a noise while being raised, despite being out of shot at the time, and when the camera cuts to the piece of paper being held up, the paper is at a position in time that it seems like the sound in the previous shot has been matched on perfectly to the video in this one. This makes the raise of the piece of paper seem natural and makes it flow.

Similarly between time codes 0:09 and 0:011 Mark Zuckerburg turns his head, the cut is a perfect match on action as he continues to turn his head, this makes it seem natural, and flowing, allowing for this pause in the fast paced narrative to be just enough to indicate the characters displeasure at being in the room but not long enough to stop the narrative entirely. If the match had been to quick, it would have seemed that Mark was turning his head quickly as if there was no pause at all, this would have broken in the narrative because the next 30 seconds which is a key part of the movie are devoted to digging into the significance of this pause. However if the cut was mismatched in the other way this head turn would have seemed to be the character almost shaking the head as he would have been seemed to have been doing this action twice.

BLK Homework 3 - Continuity Clip

During one of our media lessons we were told to make a short clip featuring "an accident," the twist being that we had to make the clip 6 shots long and we weren't allow any editing, just to record to the tape as we went. This meaning every take had to right first time. This was the result


What went well:

• The sequence made sense
• We effectively used a master shot, by leaving markers on the ground where the tripod legs needed to go to take the shot.
• We also used this master shot as an establishing shot, giving a sense of space and setting the scene
• The OTS shot of Alex picking up the phone puts the audience in the scene
• The cuts tended to flow

What didn't go so well:

• The cut between the first two shots was a big jump, this may have confused the audience a bit
• In the second shot there are two people who disappear before the third
• The clip isn't that funny
• Cut between the last and second last shots isn't a match on action, it looks like both Alex and I have walked backwards  
• The acting wasn't great
• The establishing shot let the audience know what would happen in the end, ruining any surprise

Barthes' codes film opening analysis.

For this homework we were told to use Barthes' 5 codes to analyse a film opening, after a lot of searching for a film opening clip which included credits, I decided to analyse George Romero's Night of The Living Dead.

Here are the different codes which I found in this film:
Enigma Codes

• Why should the day the time changes be the first day of summer if weather acts irregardless of season?And why is this significant enough to be the opening words of the film?
• Why does the radio start working again?
• Why is this person attacking the siblings?
• Why do these siblings argue so much and why does the Johnny start to wind Barbara up?
• Why is Johnny such a rush?

Action Codes

• John decides to wind up his sister
• The man in the grave yard attacks and kills Johnny
• Barbara falls
• The man breaks the window
• Barbara crashes the car

Semiotic Codes

• Winding empty road represents an isolation, and the sense of being in the middle of nowhere
• A graveyard represents death and solemnity (which contrasts with Johnny's behavior in the graveyard.)
• Lightning in the distance represents the incoming storm.
• Barbara discarding her shoes in favor of speed represents her urgency and desperation to get away
• Barbara locks the doors on the car, showing her fear and sense of entrapment.

Cultural Codes

• By showing the American flag the audience understand that this is probably set in america
• The narrative assumes that the audience understand that the characters have come to commemorate the death of a loved one
• The knowledge of how radios don't turn on by themselves and how static on the radio indicates something not working properly is shared knowledge
• It is understood by the audience that Johnny is dead
• It is understood by the audience that Barbara assumes safety when the care is locked

Symbolic Codes

• Barbara and Johnny's arguments could symbolise a broken family, or just show their relationship as brother and sister
• Johnny's urgency to leave could symbolise fear or it could show that he is just in a rush and thinks this is a waste of his time
• The lightning and oncoming storm could foreshadow the things to come, or just be a reason for Johnny's eagerness to leave
• Johnny's debating over the wreath could connote his reluctance to spend time and money or it could just symbolise his dislike for this activity
• The shots of long roads at the start could  be used to show a long journey, or represent isolation