My second camera lesson

In our second camera lesson we learnt about the 180-degree rule. 
The 180-degree rule is all about; the audience at home watching the TV, (something you have filmed) they can only see what you are showing them on the screen. We learnt that while filming we need to let the audience know the geography of where people are positioned and which way the actors are facing. We were shown an example of when the 180-degree rule comes in to filming, a toy motorbike was being pushed from the left hand side of the screen to the right, but if you crossed the 180-degree line it would look like the motor bike was traveling from the right hand side of the screen to the left, so it looks like the motorbike has changed direction which could confuse the audience at home. Another example that was given to the class was sports matches, they are always filmed on the same side of the pitch, reason being because if you crossed the 180-degree line half way through the game it would look like the players are scoring into there own goal! Finally the last example we had was people having conversations. If the camera starts off, for example with a woman on the left and a man on the right, if you were to cross the 180-degree line you will notice that now the man is on the left and the woman is on the right, they are looking in different directions.

The next part of this lesson was understanding how to shoot a sequence. A sequence is a series of shots that when you put them together looks like it happened seamlessly. You first start off shooting the whole section in wide angle. We needed to have the camera roughly the same height as the actor, then make sure the camera is secure after adjusting it, you do this by making sure the bubble is in the middle of the black circle. The director says ‘stand by’ and the camera crew is to repeat back ‘standing by’, the director will then say ‘role it’ which will indicate the camera crew are to press the record button and say ‘rolling’, the director will then immediately say ‘action’ and the actor will start acting the scene, when the scene is finished the director will shout ‘cut’ which informs the camera crew to stop recording. You repeat this process with all different camera shots making sure you have grasped every aspect of the sequence.

We then took on the task of shooting our own sequence in small groups of four. We used all the elements and information that was given to us during the lesson and filmed about five shots. I was filming the sequence and we had two actors and one director. I liked learning about all the different ways you could film shots without needing to cross the 180-degree line.

Review of a film poster

The first thing that struck my attention to this poster was the man standing in the middle. He looks dark and mysterious; by the man being the main focus we already know as an audience that he will be playing a key roll in the movie. We are informed that Leonardo Dicaprio will be playing the main part in this movie by his name being placed at the top of the poster. This will encourage Leonardo Dicaprio’s fans to go and see the film which will increase the viewing numbers for the movie because the public will believe that a well known excellent actor would only put his name to an excellent film.

The title of this particular movie catches my eye too, as it shown in the colour red, which suggests danger and violence. This is in contrast to the black, blue and white colours in the background. I think that the colours they have used on the poster signify that the movie is going to be dark and intriguing. Underneath the title there is information about the director; it quotes ‘from the director of The Dark Night’. This line is a great selling point because it will attract fans of the famous movie ‘The Dark Night’ as we associate Christopher Nolan with some of the best movies, which will give this movie a high expectation. We are also given a quote from the movie which is placed centre top underneath Leonardo Dicaprio’s name drawing attention to it straight away. It quotes ‘your mind is the scene of the crime’ which gives us a sense of what the movie is going to be about and in this case it will be about your mind and how is works.

On this poster we see a storm in the background suggesting there might be destruction or anger in this movie. We are given the idea that the movie will be set in the city as there are very tall buildings surrounding the man in the centre of the frame. The tall contemporary buildings suggest that this movie is set in the modern day. I think that the man in the poster shows a very high status, he seems grand and important, by him standing in the middle of the poster suggests that he is the main character. My immediate instinct is to think that the man on the poster is Leonardo Dicaprio; he wears a navy blue suit to show he is a businessman or someone with authority. The actor looks like he is in control of his surroundings putting us in a position to think he is in charge of the storm, rather than being afraid of it, his stance is very sturdy which shows that the character has power. The shot used to take this picture for the poster was a low level long shot. By making the shot come from low down it helps to create an elusion that the character is higher up than anyone else and therefore superior. The denotation on the poster is that the character is facing away from the audience but the connotation could be that perhaps he is hiding from the world and is holding many secrets.

I think the genre of this movie is going to be an action/thriller. They have made the poster appealing for marketing and for the target market (audience). I can tell this movie is a action/thriller because the surroundings are intense and I can not quite make out what the character is holding but I think it could be some sort of weapon.

I think the water on this poster suggests to the audience that the main character is into something deep, the water is up to his knees; suggesting he is perhaps in danger but not drowning (not up to his neck in water).  It makes you wonder what the significance of the water will be, possibly a flood in the city or perhaps this is just representing something that is overwhelming for the character.  

Finally at the bottom of the poster we are informed when the movie will be released to the general public in the IMAX. This would be done well in advance to encourage people to book their tickets before the release date, so that the film company can estimate how much money they will make on the first screening day.   

My first camera Lesson

In my media class today we learnt the basics of how to set up and use a camera. The whole class was given three different types of cameras. There was a Sony NX5, a Cannon DS and also a Sony FS 100. The Cannon DS was the only camera out of the three which didn't have a zoom effect. We were first put into groups of three or four and we had to stabilise the tripod which the camera was to be held onto and to make sure the tripod was straight we had to make sure the bubble was exactly in the middle of the black circle. Each person in the group did this so we could get the hang of it so when it came setting it up by ourselves we could do it without struggle. Our class was then shown how to get the camera onto the tripod, this is done by holding down the button which was on the left of the tripod then sliding the camera through until it reaches the end then you secure the camera using a lever on the right side of the tripod. I was using the Sony FS 100 and we learnt how to zoom in using the wheels on the end of the lens, I thought this was an easy process because the zoom wheels were simple to move and easy to notice on the camera. I learnt that to really focus on an object you have to zoom in as far as the camera lets you and then focus the camera, then only after do you zoom out and have a fully focused image. We then went onto talk about how you can control lighting in the room when taking a camera shot, the button we used for this was called white balance. This particular button helped all the colours in the shot to be the true colours. We had to zoom in fully on any white object and then press the white balance button, this process gave you a number and you then zoomed out again and the colours in the room should be perfect and true when on the camera. We learnt that you can also do this when you are outside.

These are some of the pictures I took during the lesson:

Compare and analyse 3 movies

The movies I have chosen to compare and analyse are 'Mr and Mrs Smith', 'Ocean 11' and 'The Hangover'. I chose these 3 movies because they are all similar in someway but also very different. 'Mr and Mrs Smith' and 'Ocean 11' are very much action films with some comedy throughout the movie, and 'The Hangover' is a hilarious comedy.

I looked at 'Mr and Mrs Smith' first. It starts off with a medium long shot of Mr and Mrs Smith while they are having a session with their psychiatrist. This medium long shot gives us details of their physical characteristics. The camera isn't not moving, it focuses straight on the two main characters. When the video reaches 1.38 minutes the camera shot changes to an establishing shot showing the audience what was happening 5 or 6 years ago which sets the scene. Then it changes back to a medium shot at 1.46 minutes showing more detail on the male character. The camera movement is moving left to right and zooming in on the character, so they are using a zoom and pan camera movements. At 1.58 minutes the camera changes to an over the shoulder shot to show that the main character is having a conversation and the audience gets to see who that person is. The camera then changes angle again at 2.01 minutes to a close up shot of the main male character, this helps the audience understand how the character is feeling at this particular moment in the movie as you can see his expressions very easily because you are close up and personal! Then the camera pans out to a medium shot of the guard, then back to a medium long shot of the main male character. The camera being used in this scene I think is a hand held camera because when moving back and forth from one character to the next the filming is quite shaky, this creates tension within the film and tells the audience something is about to happen. Then at 2.16 minutes the camera angle changes to a close up shot of the main female character showing her facial expressions and reactions. The camera then tilts down the body of the main female character showing the audience what she is doing. Then back to a close up of the main male character indicating he has spotted her, then showing a long shot of the female main character making eye contact with the male character, this shows her stance and her attitude and also her surroundings. Then a medium long shot and a close up was taken of both the main characters showing they are making eye contact and showing they are thinking the same thing. The camera then changes to a close up shot at 2.35 minutes as the 2 main characters come together, then as the scene is ending the camera zooms out changing to a long shot, which shows their body movements and gestures and also their surroundings.

Ocean 11 was my second choice of a movie. It starts off with an medium shot of the setting to show the audience the type of area the scene is set in. Then at 0.33 minutes without the camera moving the main character enters the scene, staying on a medium shot. It stays on this type of shot for a long time but at 1.29 minutes the camera angle changes into a close up shot of the main character showing his facial expressions and features to the audience. The scene then changes to a long shot at 1.39 minutes of the main character and his surroundings informing the audience where he is. The camera is firstly directly facing onto the character but then changes to a low angle making the character seem important and powerful and the audience seem small. At 1.51 minutes there is a close up of a envelope to show the audience what the character is doing in much more detail. The camera then tilts up the body of the main character slowly and ending with a close up on the face of the main character. Then changes to a medium shot, the camera is then following the character which gives the affect that the audience is following him, this is done using a tracking movement and it is a close up shot, but then at 2.11 minutes the camera changes to roll in front of him showing the audience his expressions and movement.

The Hangover is the last movie I will be analysing. It starts off with a medium shot showing the movement and the scenery to show the audience what is happening, then a close up shot of the wedding cake which tells the audience what is going on or what is about to happen (a wedding), the camera zooms out from the cake indicating that there is more to see and the camera is taking you somewhere else. We are then shown a long shot of the crew setting up the chairs for the wedding and the camera is panning to the right. We are then introduced to a character in a close up shot, then shows the bride on the phone in a medium shot. The camera stays on a medium shot until 0.53 minutes when the camera angle changes to a long shot showing the audience the room and the characters, but then at 0.56 minutes it changes back to a medium shot. We are then introduced to one of the main male characters in a close up shot, then a close up shot of the bride, this tells the audience how the two characters are feeling, this is filmed with a hand held camera. At 1.19 minutes the camera angle changes to a long shot of the bride and this also shows the surroundings of the character, but then as the character moves closer to the camera the camera angle changes to a medium shot. As the conversation between the male and female character gets more intense on the phone the camera shots gets closer to both the characters, so at 1.31 minutes the camera changes to a close up shot. We are then shown various extreme long shots of destinations of where the male main character is and where the female (bride) character is.

In both 'Mr and Mrs Smith' and 'The Hangover' there are a lot of different camera angles that I could talk about, but with 'Ocean 11' there are not that many camera angles or camera movements. 'Mr and Mrs Smith' and 'Ocean 11' both start off the same way, you not seeing the person the main character/characters are talking to, you only see a straight up medium shot of the character/characters.

Tension within a thriller

This thriller is all about men in a van wearing masks, they have guns and look like they are going to attack someone but don’t want to be recognised hence the masks. The men look like professionals as they are wearing suits and masks, which suggest that they have done this before and know what to expect and how the situation should be handled. They end up saving the young boy in the back of the car from the driver, which they held guns at but intentionally did not shoot. 

The opening sequence to this thriller has a lot of tension, there is no music involved so there is just the sound of silence, and only the background noise’s for example the sound of the engine and the honk of the horn at the end of the beginning section. The camera also focuses on the faces of the men close up and also on the gun they are holding and setting up. 

In this thriller there are 3 characters; the men in the masks, the driver and the young boy in the back on the car. We start out thinking that the men in the masks are the villains as they are hiding their identity under their masks. This is misleading though because we finally find out that they are saving the young boy, although they are also carrying guns which are illegal. Before we see the young boy we have an idea that the man in the car is an innocent but as soon as we realise there is a young boy in the back tied up we immediately turn on the driver as, as an audience we normally feel sorry for the younger generation in films because they are known as the innocents. 

I think the rest of the film will go onto the follow the story of the men in the masks especially the one we see at the beginning without his mask on, as he was the only one giving his identity away to the audience. I don’t think this film will have a ‘hero’ or ‘good people’ in it as the men in the masks give the impression that they are not ‘good people’. I think throughout the film we would meet more people trying to get the men in the masks back from their goal to rob a bank. The young boy is needed by the men because he can unlock any codes, which would help while trying to rob a bank. Each of the men in the group has different skills and is used for different parts of the robbery. I visualise main man we see at the beginning of the thriller being the father of the young boy which suggests why the men in the masks try to help the young boy escape the driver and this also links with why the young boy runs into the van once he has been saved by the men.