PLANNING: TRELLO

I have created a Trello which is a very useful organizational, online tool that will help me keep track of my work. I will update once a month or as I go along with my work.


Here is a screenshot of my Trello:

THE BRIEF

I am doing the video brief:

Main task: the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.

All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source.

RESEARCH: THE ART OF THE TITLE

I have selected an interesting film opening from The Art Of The Title and plan to analyse it here.

Art of the title

Starting off as a thriller novel, ‘Gone Girl’ was adapted into a film in 2014, the production companies are Regency Enterprises and TSG Entertainment. It is set in present day. Throughout the clip is a monotone, eerie sort of music which sets the scene and style of the film. As well as this, at the beginning there is a voice over of a man speaking in a low and slow voice somewhat making it darker. He talks about how he always thinks of his wife’s head and ‘cracking her lovely skull’. This makes it clear to the audience what type of film it is.

The two main characters’ names are presented right in the centre of the screen with a black background with their names in white. I feel this is done to create more of an impact and a lot more of the focus is drawn to the names. After that the title of the film appears ‘Gone Girl’ in white bold writing against the background of a harbor. As the background image becomes brighter and more in focus the title of the film fades out. After this, the other actors and people who helped out with making the film are presented in the bottom corners of the screen, for each new name there is a new scene/background. Each of these backgrounds are outside, rather gloomy and with no sign of people.

From the outset it is as though there is this murky grey filter on the image which gives the audience and idea of what the film will be like. It is set in suburban town in the USA, however also very depressing as the music track is very slow. There are not any people around and the only bit of talking was at the start which lasted around 10 seconds, however I feel it is very captivating.

I believe a way that the audience is drawn into the film is because it is set in the present so they may feel they can relate to it more. In addition, it is aesthetically pleasing as it has pictures of meadows and lakes and harbors but there is also a more eerie side as it has shots of abandoned shops and dark alleyways making it seem more interesting to the viewer.

PRELIMINARY EXERCISE

 Continuity task: filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room, sitting down in a chair opposite another character with whom she/he exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180% rule.

With my group, I filmed and edited my preliminary exercise.

Patient Diagnosis

Whist making our short clip in my group of 3 about the hypochondriac patient, we wanted to make the build up to when he met the doctor as dramatic as possible.

In order to achieve this, we used many different shots, varying in close ups, long shots and towards the end we included some over the shoulder shots.

We incorporated two long shot/ full body shots in the shot film when the patient is on his way to meet the doctor.

One of the long shots was of the patient running up the stairs in urgency to get to the doctor and the second one was when the patient entered the room and strode over the room to sit next to the doctor.

The effect of these shots is to emphasize his distress as we are able to get his full body in, meaning we are able to study body language and facial expressions making it easier for the audience to understand how he is feeling. 

Another type of shot we included was close ups.

The close up that we had was of the patient’s feet and them running up the stairs, the camera had no other focus.

By having a close up of just the feet it shows us he is striving to get somewhere and that he has a clear aim/ goal. It should be the only thing that the audience is focused on as well as it is the only ting in the frame, in turn making it more captivating.

Our last shot was an over the shoulder shot.

This was used when the two were conversing and the possible outcomes the doctor had for the patient’s problems.

Over the shoulder was used as I believe it makes it a more interesting shot as you are still able to see both characters when they are taking to one another. As well as this, by having an over the shoulder shot, it is closer in on the face. This enables the camera to capture facial expressions the patient expresses when explain his illnesses and the reactions that the patient has when talking to the doctor and hearing what he has to say about it.