Friday 16 October 2015

Camera Angles

The 7 Areas of Textual Representation

You need to understand how the technical elements (in the last post) create specific representations of individuals, groups, events or places and help to articulate specific messages and values that have social significance. 

Particular areas of representation that may be chosen are:
  1. Gender
  2. Age
  3. Ethnicity
  4. Sexuality
  5. Class and status
  6. Physical ability/disability
  7. Regional identity

The 4 Key Areas of Textual Analysis


Camera Shots, Angle, Movement, Composition
  • Shots: establishing shot, master shot, close-up, mid-shot, long shot, wide shot, two-shot, aerial shot, point of view shot, over the shoulder shot, and variations of these.
  • Angle: high angle, low angle, canted angle.
  • Movement: pan, tilt, track, dolly, crane, steadicam, hand-held, zoom, reverse zoom.
  • Composition: framing, rule of thirds, depth of field – deep and shallow focus, focus pulls.
Editing

Includes transition of image and sound – continuity and non-continuity systems.
  • Cutting: shot/reverse shot, eyeline match, graphic match, action match, jump cut, crosscutting, parallel editing, cutaway; insert.
  • Other transitions, dissolve, fade-in, fade-out, wipe, superimposition, long take, short take, slow motion, ellipsis and expansion of time, post-production, visual effects.
 Sound
  • Soundtrack: score, incidental music, themes and stings, ambient sound.
  • Diegetic and non-diegetic sound; synchronous/asynchronous sound; sound effects; sound motif, sound bridge, dialogue, voiceover, mode of address/direct address, sound mixing, sound perspective.
Mise-en-Scène
  • Production design: location, studio, set design, costume and make-up, properties.
  • Lighting; colour design.

Camera Shots, Angles and Movement

Camera Shots
The Vampire Diaries-Caroline and Klaus Scenes
Over The Shoulder Shot
Over the shoulder shots are used(0:36-0:48) to highlight the stream of conversation and make the audience feel connected. The behind the shoulder shot creates intimacy between the characters and the audience.


Establishing Shot
At 2:11 an establishing shot is used to portray the context of the scene and reveal important characters and objects. It establishes the time and location of the scene.


Close Up Shot

This set of close ups(4:33-4:57) create atmosphere and emphasises the mood of the characters. The close up exposes the emotions of the characters and makes the audience feel closer to them.




High Angle Shot
This shot can make the subject seem vulnerable or powerless, this can be used in assistance with the male gaze as a woman could be looked down on to give the male a feeling of power over her. This shot can also be used to emphasise the level of elevation between one character and another.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V1uE1-wTPs
Low Angle Shot
This shot is often used to connote power with the character in the shot. It develops fear in the audience as this shot makes them feel vulnerable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V1uE1-wTPs


Point of View Shot
This shot is a way to put the audience into the shoes of the character. It can make the audience trust the character and connect with them emphasising feelings and creating a more dynamic experience.
http://www.tubechop.com/watch/7025625
Extreme Close up
An extreme close-up is when what is being viewed is very large, usually this is a part of someone’s face.
http://swf.tubechop.com/tubechop.swf?vurl=fuEG_PSb_Ts&start=8.86&end=11.65&cid=6953461
Camera Movement


Tracking Shot
This shot allows the audience to feel involved in the movie. Its away of maintaining movement in the movie and is used often to follow a character.


Tilt Shot
The tilt shot moves vertically, it is often used to show the significance of something e.g the height of a building.


Zoom
This shot does not require the camera itself to move at all. Zooming means altering the focal length of the lens to give the illusion of moving closer to or further away from the action.


Arc Shot
This shot is similar to the tracking shot, but it moves around the subject therefore it can emphasise a characters body language or anything significant.


Crane Shot
A crane shot is achieved by mounting a camera on some type of crane device. This allows the director to achieve any shot he wants without too much struggle.


Pan Shot
A pan shot is a camera movement which follows the action, or reveals previously unframed space, as it moves horizontally. Pans occur in varying speeds for dramatic purposes.

The British Film Industry and America's Influence


  1. What % of global box office was the British film industry responsible for? 15%
  2. What was this % in 2009? 6.8%
  3. What might this change indicate about British film? It is getting bigger and more successful.
  4. What films have been responsible for this change? Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 and The Kings Speech.
  5. What % of the British film industry makes a profit? 7%
  6. What % of Hollywood films make a profit? 17%
  7. How does that % differ between £2m and £10m budget British films? 4% of £2 million budget films make a profit, whereas 17% of £10 million budget films are likely to make a profit.
  8. What might we infer from this difference? The more money spent on a movie the bigger the profit made.
  9. Which age group makes up the largest % of UK cinema goers? Aged 45 and over.
  10. Why do you think this might be? They have the money and time to go out more often than a younger group, there are not any movies that 45 year olds are restricted to see because of their age.
  11. Which 'type' of film has seen an 18% drop in attendance? 3D
  12. Within that 'type' which genre has seen the biggest fall? Big Family Films e.g. Madagascar 3
  13. What did Charles Grant put this decline down to? Families need to economise.
  14. Who is Paul Greengrass? A British film director.
  15. How did he describe the British film industry? A success story.
  16. What did a BFI spokesperson say was the point of less profitable low budget British films? That they are successful and beneficial to the industry for other reasons like skills and training development and for artistic and cultural importance.
  17. What was the budget for Filth and how much money did it take? Less than £2 million and it made £4 million in profit.
  18. What advantage did James McEvoy feel £100m films have over low budget films? They have a massive budget to sell the film if it's not very good.
  19. What is VOD? Video On Demand, e.g Netflix
  20. What % increase did VOD see last year? 50%
  21. What impact might VOD have on distributers and Studios? They might become less important
  22. What impact has it had on Blockbuster rental stores? It has caused them to lose lots of money and even close a lot of stores down.
  23. What was unique about Ben Wheatleys 'A Field In England'? It was the first UK film to be released simultaneously in cinemas, on DVD, on TV and through video-on-demand.
  24. What does director of The Machine Caradog James think is the toughest part of film making? Making a good film really reach the audience.
  25. Why have rules been relaxed on what makes a film 'British'? To help encourage investment in the UK film industry.
  26. How has the use of visual effects in films been encouraged? The points for visual effects has been increased.
  27. Name five of these rules and link them to The Kings Speech, Kill List, The World's End:
    •film set in the UK     
    •lead characters British citizens or residents          
    •British director, scriptwriter, producer, composer, key staff, crew
    •Original dialogue recorded mainly in English language            
    •Film based on British subject matter or underlying material                                                             
    •The three films above fit most if not all of the above criteria, and are therefore qualified as British films
  28. What rules has chancellor George Osbourne announced for tax on British films? That tax relief would be increased from 20% to 25% on the first £20 million of qualifying production expenditure.
  29. What is the highest grossing film in UK box office history? James Bond: Skyfall
  30. How much has it taken and how many screens was it available on? Globally it has taken $870 million(£540m)


American Influence - Variety links

Why has Sony opened a Digital Motion Picture Centre at Pinewood studios? It is used to provide hands-on training for cinematographers and other crew members to help them get the most from Sony’s 4K cameras.


What benefit might this have for the British film industry? Evolved technology and allowed more people to be highly trained.
Where else have they opened facilities like this? Culver City in Los Angeles.

How many films have been produced using the F65 camera? 30 feature films.

What has been the consequence of Blockbusters to US film production? The studio of the future, some CEOs predict, will embody a streamlined distribution and marketing mechanism leveraging a limited flow of features through global revenue streams. The conceit of developing scripts and nurturing filmmaking talent will be history.

How big a loss to Sony expect to post? $181 Million

Which films are responsible for this? After Earth and White House Down.

How is Lionsgate different to Sony? Lionsgate has no physical studio to support and a more modest overhead than the majors, can register enormous grosses with a franchise like Hunger games.

Why is "the new mandate to avoid niche products'? The belief that blockbusters alone represent a sound investment strategy is in itself driving up the cost of blockbusters as well as superstars. While business strategists traditionally have argued for diversification, the new mandate is to avoid niche product because the niches are getting narrower.

Tuesday 13 October 2015

The 'BIG SIX'

20th Century Fox:

They parent company/organisation is  Fox Filmed Entertainment group. Rupert Murdoch owns the  production company. He also owns television stations and other media aspects.

20th Century Fox controls:
Blue Sky Studios
Fox Star Studios (India)
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Fox Television Studios
20th Television
20th Century Fox Television
20th Century Fox Japan
Fox Studios Australia
TSG Entertainment



Market Share: Ranked 4 the Box Office by Studio and has an 11.2% share.


Films that are associated with them:



  • Avatar (2009)-$760,507,625
  • Titanic (1997)-$658,672,302
  • Star Wars(1977)-$460,998,007
  • Cast Away(2000)-$233,632,142

Columbia Pictures -

Parent Company - Sony Pictures Entertainment

Who owns it? - Sony
What else do they own? - Sony Mobile Communications, Sony Computer Communications, Sony
Music Communications and Sony Financial.
Companies they control? - They control a lot of Japanese film companies and also Sony as well.
Market share? - Ranked 5th in the Box Office by Studio and has 6.6% market share.
Films associated with them? -
The Other Guys (2010) - $170,000,000
The Bounty Hunter (2010) - $136,300,000
Spider-Man 3 (2007) - $336,530,303
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) - $262,030,663
Skyfall (2012) - $1 billion
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013) - $274,300,000
Annie (2014) - $204,000,000
Chappie (2015) - $13,300,000

 

 

Paramount Pictures -

Parent Company - Viacom
Who owns it? - W.W Hodkinson, Adolph Zukor and Jesse L. Lasky.
What else do they own? - Paramount Home Media Distribution, Insurge Pictures, Paramount Famous Productions, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Animation and Paramount Television.
Companies they control? - Melange Pictures, LLC
Market Share - Ranked 6th in the Box Office by Studio and has 6.6% market share.
Films associated with them? -
Mission: Impossible 2 (2000) - $215,409,889
Zoo lander (2001) - $15,525,043
Jackass: The Movie (2002) - $64,282,312
Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) - $67,312,826
Mean Girls (2004) - $86,058,055
Transformers (2007) - $5,849,647
Paranormal Activity (2009) - $193,000,000
The Lovely Bones (2010) - $44,114,232

 

 Universal Studios -

Parent Company - NBCUniversal

Who owns it? - Carl Larmmle, Pat Powers, Mark Dintenfass, William Swanson, David Horsley, Charles Baumann, Adam Kessel and Jules Brulatour.

What else do they own? - Universal Animation Studios, Focus Features, Illumination Entertainment, Working Title Films, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and United International Pictures.
Companies they control? - Universal Pictures, Theme Parks and Resorts.
Market Share - Ranked 1st in the Box Office by Studio and has 26.8% market share.
Films associated with them? -
Gladiator (2000) - $187,705,427
The Fast and the Furious (2001) - $144,512,310
Jurassic Park III (2001) - $181,166,115
Shaun of the Dead (2004) - $13,542,874
The Incredible Hulk (2008) - $134,533,885
Mamma Mia (2008) - $609,800,00
Jurassic World (2015) - $651,193,850
Ted 2 (2015) - $33,000,000
Walt Disney Pictures -
Parent Company - The Walt Disney Company
Who owns it? - Walt Disney and Roy O. Disney
What else do they own? - Walt Disney Studios, Disney Music Group, Disney Theatrical Group, etc.
 Companies they control? - Disney Studio Motion Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios and Disneytoon Studios.
Market Share -
28.92% Films associated with them? -
The Avengers (2014) - $623,279,547
Finding Nemo (2003) - $380,529,370
Toy Story 3 (2010) - $415,004,880
ron Man 3 (2013) - $408,992,272
Monsters. Inc (2001) - $289,423,425
Frozen (2013) - $400,738,009
Alice in Wonderland (1998) - $334,191,110
Inside Out (2015) - $354,363,926



Warner Bros -
Parent Company - Time Warner
Who owns it? - Jeffery Bewkes
What else do they own? - HBO, Turner Broadcasting System, Warner Bros.
Companies they control? - Interactive Entertainment, Warner Bros Television, Warner Bros Animation.
Market share - Ranked 3rd in Box Office by Studio and a 16.3% market share.
Films associated with them? -
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) - $317,575,550
Scooby Doo (2002) - $153,294,164
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) - $879,000,000
Terminator 3 (2003) - $150,358,296
The Matrix Collection (1999-2003) - $1.632 billion
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) - $249,538,952
The Polar Express (2004) - $307,500,000



Monday 12 October 2015

Ex Machina

Why Did Ex Machina Succeed at the Box Office?

Ex Machina is a British film produced by DNA films and Film 4 producers. Ex Machina tells the story of a computer coder, Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson), who wins the chance to spend a week at the house in the mountains belonging to Nathan (Oscar Isaac), the CEO of the company he works for. The film was successful at the box office which could be argued as unexpected as the film doesn't obtain many features which are known in very successful movies. Due to the small budget ex machina had it held risk as to whether it would succeed, hollywood blockbusters do not face this risk. Mark Kermode explains in his video 'Kermode Uncut: Transformers 3 and the Truth About Blockbusters' that due to the amount of money spent on producing and advertising the film to turn it into an event that people want to become part of and the media buzz encourages people tow atch the movie. Ex Machina had a small budget of $15 million and made $36.9 million, making a healthy profit of $6.9 million.


The movie was directed by Alex Garland he is a respected writer and producer, now known for Ex Machina(2015) and 28 Days Later(2002) and Dredd(2012). The success of Ex Machina is suprising as it lacks the conventions of Hollywood block busters which are always successful. The movie lacks thrilling action scenes, it doesn't have any explosions or car chases which could make the film seem boring to many. However, Ex Machina is a cult film aimed at 'flim buffs' therefore effectively appeals to its target market. Unlike other movies, this film includes full frontal nudity. Most films would aim to avoid this to appeal to a bigger audience and obtain a low age certificate whereas Ex Machina has a more specific target audience. Ex Machina has an age certificate of 15, this removed the film from being a quadrant. Alongside the element of nudity, there is also a scene that involves a stabbing which contributes to the film being less appropriate for younnger viewers.. Another convention the film lacks is a 'happy ending' there is no closure, it leaves the audience able to create their own ideas of what goes on beyond the movies ending. A movie that conforms to the traditional conventions of a hollywood blockbuster is 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' that took $459,005,868 at the box office. This movie was very successful as people had confidence that the movie would be an enjoyable watch shown through different advertising methods. 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' is packed with well known actors and actresses, exciting fight scenes and explosions therefore very different to Ex Machina. Also, many movies like 'Avengers' use a lot of special effects and CGI to create a more visually impressive movie but Ex Machina succeeded without using a great deal of special effects.


The way Ex Machina differs from other successful Hollywood movies is an attraction for its target audience. The lack of explosions and fight scenes reflects realism yet cleverly contrasts with the unordinary sci-fi plot of the machine Ava. Throughout the movie, it is unknown about what is going to happen and this makes the movie more intriguing for audiences as there is no giveaway. The pace of the movie is slow, it uses long takes and slow editing. Due to it being an independent British Film it is outside the Hollywood scene and lacks the budget. This forces a reliance on the script as it doesn't use computer generated imagery, this appeals to audiences as they feel trusting that the script will be powerful, this could have played a part in the films success at the box office. The film stared Domhnall Gleeson as Caleb and Oscar Isaac as Nathan who are both going on to feature in the new Star wars film later in 2015. Ex machina also stared Alicia Vikander as Ava.


Although Ex Machina was marketed using minimum costs (it relied hugely on viral marketing)it still impacted the films success.The audience the film attracted and targeted was mainly film buffs. They attracted this audience by creating a Tinder account for Ava it allowed members to talk to Ava online and when they agreed to meet her, they would direct the person to the Instagram account for Ex Machina. They mainly targeted SXSW attendees on the weekend of its festivals release. This mathod of marketing was small but effective as it linked to the target market of the movie. Also, a website called Avasessions.com was created. Fans could access the website and have their portrait drawn by Ava and feel closely connected with the movie, the people interested in this would be likely to enjoy a movie like ex machina and therefore the film was able to attract its precise target market through simple but beneficial marketing. People that rarely attended the cinema would not have heard of Ex machina due to its little marketing and advertisement.


The main genre is Science Fiction, this is appealing to certain audiences as they look for meaning and futuristic elements in films. However, this genre does not easily associate with other genres that are considered more popular therefore limiting the target audience. This could reduce the success or increase it because it is so clearly a sci-fi movie that the genres fans would like a movie that is purely sci-fi. The film was shot twice to create the look of Ava’s robotic form, one shot was taken with the actress and the other without. This extra time taken would have been appreciated by true film buffs and likely to be a contribution to the films success at the box office. Sci-fi films have been increasingly popular, they tend to do well as they always contain generic conventions like futuristic elements, robots or other technologies. This makes the genre reliable and predictable yet very diverse and the extraordinary plot allows room for unexpected and new ideas within different movies.


There were few filming locations used, the main one being a real house in Norway. The images of Norway are very intense and beautiful, the pictures filmed of the mountains could have attracted people to see the movie and it looks visually appealing. Pinewood studios and Buckinghamshire in England were used to film. The movie was released into cinemas at the same time as 'Avengers: Age of Ultron', Ex Machina began on only around 5 screens but then that number increased as the Avengers movie slowed down. It eventually got to 500 screens, this large amount of screenings would have played a part in the success of the film. The movies worldwide box office figure was $83,128,313. In the US in May 2015 they made $16,705,000.  Then in the Netherlands they made €89,727 on 6 May 2015. In Portugal they made €29,501. Looking at these figures it is clear that the USA took the most money for the film which could reflect the impact the marketing had on the film, the marketing helped the success of the film.


I think that Ex Machina was successful at the box office because of its intense plot, minimalistic conventions and difference to other films. Its lack of computer generated imagery would have attracted audiences as they would be hopeful of a strong script. Minimalistic conventions separate the movie from Hollywood blockbusters as it is outside of the Hollywood system so this would effectively attract film buffs. Finally, I think because the movie lacks action and closure it is different from other films and would stand out more therefore attract audiences to see the movie.

Tuesday 6 October 2015

Luther

One of the points that I noticed within the clip is the interior and exterior environment. The exterior environment includes a busy road. Their placement in the frame creates the image that they are small and insignificant compared to the tall buildings. The colour scheme is very bland and dull which links to the British weather(where they are from). He is leaning against the bar to look very relaxed in her company, this reflects that they must already know each other fairly well but doesn't reveal the history they have had.
Moving into the scene they go into her flat; it is very bland and lacks home comforts which doesn't conform to the stereotypical female flat. Also, there is are a lot of books and a black hole diagram, these could be a clue as to why she does for a living. There is also a telescope which is faced down to show she likes to watch people from a far. Her flat is quite masculine which foreshadows the power she has like a man would stereotypically hold.
The woman is dressed in business attire, she looks well put together with neat and tidy hair and well done makeup. Her lipstick is very noticeable which relates to her apparent seduction towards Luther. Luther dresses in smart but casual clothes as he is a policeman so he has the right balance. His choice dull colours reflect that he doesn't feel the need to openly express himself he is a private person.

Skins

In the opening scene to the episode 'Tony' of Skins the first shot if of Tony is a crisp tidy bed, this is odd as normally after a nights sleep covers would be far from tidy. Tony has a fairly bland tidy room which doesn't conform to stereotypes of teenage boys having messy cluttered rooms. The posters and colour in his room looks normal at first but looking deeper his calender is a famous artist Escher. His poster is of the movie 'Blow Up' directed by Antonio, this is a very old film. Also, we see Tony reading 'Nausea' which is unexpected for his age. Tying this together, Tony seems pretentious.
The scene portrays his morning routine, we see he cares about his appearance and it appears that it could be like a ritual as he is very tidy and organised. 

Monday 5 October 2015

Research The Amazing Spider Man 2-Notes

Pre production:


  • The movie is a remake of the original Spider-man sequel it is also an adaptation. 
  • Director: Mark Webb
  • Studios: Marvel Enterprises, Avi Arad Productions, Columbia Pictures and Matt Tolmach Productions
  • Budget: $255million
  • Stars: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Jamie Foxx
  • Development of the film began with the cancellation of Spider-Man 4 in 2010.
Production:

  • Some filming locations in New York, a lot filmed in studio
  • The film was the first Hollywood production to be filmed with the Red Digital Cinema Camera Company's RED Epic camera and was shot in 3-D at 5K resolution.
  • Webb wanted cameras small enough to fit on the rigs and swing around very fast, saying that the "RED Epic cameras were the right cameras to do that."
  • The movie uses CGI in big scenes such as when Electro realises his powers, the scene is made up of computer generated imagery to create a visually appealing Times Square. Perhaps the greatest meeting of fantastical and physical in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is Spidey’s fight with Electro in Times Square. This sequence took over a week to shoot, with time split between Times Square and a Long Island soundstage. And between the shooting, pre-production, and post-production work, the scenes took about one year to complete.
  • Problems: 
Post production
  • Like its predecessor, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 leans heavily on digital effects, but the FX team at Sony Imageworks is committed to keeping the action as real as possible. 
  • Electro’s look consists of three key elements. He has “e-skin” that depicts electric-like veins pulsing beneath the surface of his skin. For his special powers, Electro fires “e-blasts” which are lightning bolts which pre-charge within his clenched hands and, lastly, Imageworks also had to show how much impact a high-voltage character would have on his environment.
  • Aside from all of the associated VFX work for Electro, Houdini was also used to handle a range of VFX for the film. Imageworks VFX Lead Charles-Felix Chabert led the Destruction team who created everything from the large-scale destruction sequences of Times Square and The Power Plant, to smaller set pieces like Electro flattening the Oscorp Office.
  • Relies on special effects as it uses animation for certain scenes.
  • The film was shot in 3D so it didn't need to be added afterwards.
  • The Amazing Spider-Man 2 filmed re-shoots and additional scenes around New York City (though none of the major cast took part in the filming).
Marketing
  • Trailer- gives the audience a taste of the film without releasing to much information therefore leaving them wanting more.
  • Poster- can be very effective, a carefully designed poster can portray action and excitement in the film.
  • Interviews with the cast- This method of marketing gives the film a more friendly vibe as the audience can feel a connection with the stars. This will also please fans of for example Andrew Garfield and promote the movie on prime time TV. They did an interview on The Ellen show which is watched by millions.
  • On December 8, 2013, it was announced that new footage from the film would be presented during New Year's Eve festivities at New York City's Times Square.
  • On July 17, 2013, Sony released a clip from the film with the first released footage of Jamie Foxx as Electro to encourage attendance at their panel at the San Diego Comic-Con International.
  • London Premier: April 10th 2014
  • UK Premier: April 16th 2014