Film soundtracks 9th feb

 Today we watched a pre-recorded lesson in which one of our media teachers, Stuart, taught us about sound used in films and how they are themed and created to suit the images the audience can see.

He first talked about diegetic and non-diegetic sound used in films. We were shown a clip that had non-diegetic music at the beginning of the video, and how it turned into diegetic music when the man walked into the store. The music volume was lowered and had a grainy effect to make it sound like it was coming through the shops speakers.

Another example of sound we studied was voice overs. We saw the differences between a diegetic and non- diegetic voice over. A diegetic voice over, for example, is when a character is narrating writing a letter or reading a message in film. This is diegetic as it is narrating the thoughts of the character. Non diegetic voice rovers can be in film trailers or at the beginning of a film when the actor is giving a backstory to who they are.

We also looked at themed music in films and how films require music and not only images to give a proper story and mood of the moment. For example, the Star Wars films have two major music themes. One of the themes is the Skywalker theme which is used for the Jedi. This theme is a motif as it reoccurs throughout the franchise when the the characters feel hopeful and brave. Another music motif in the franchise is the death Vader theme. This music occurs whenever Darth Vader appears on screen. The music provides an evil tone and atmosphere as it consists of a steady marching pace, similar to an army officer about to go to war, and deeply tuned instruments such as cello’s and drums to oppose the cheerful Skywalker theme that has violins.

In conclusion, music provides the mood and atmosphere needed to emphasise the dramatic or cheerful intent during a scene.

Prop list for new opening sequence

 Mouldy jars

Murky liquid in a jar

Animal parts/ props

Nuts and bolts

Pieces of broken glass bottles

Old music record player

Dirty work boots

Trench coat or brown jacket

Scrap paper with markings and drawings on them

Desk

Desk lamp

Anatomy books on animals and people

Fake finger nails (acrylic nails) in a jar

Pony tail or ballet shoes in a box for a kill trophy

Polaroid picture of a dead girl in the shoe box

Plain brown shoe box

Worms in a jar

Mushrooms and flowers wrapped up in string on shelves

What is story boarding?

 Story boarding is used in media (typically the film industry) to produce a general idea of what the camera men, directors and producers want to include in the film. Story boarding has been used for hundreds of years to produce specific angles and camera shots in a scene of the film before production has started, allowing the people working on the film to visualise and prepare the shot. Each shot/ story board image is labelled with a shot number and has a description written to the side of it. The description depends on how well the story board image has been drawn. For example, images with little detail require a some written detail, while images with good amounts of detail might not need any description at all.

Story boarding is a key and important process when making a fails. It allows the film crew and director to illustrate their ideas to each-other as well as to the producers in preparation to filming the scene/ film. This  helps reduce costs for the film as it gives opportunity to change a shots angle or size while providing a decent representation of the outcome of the shot. 

Saul and Elaine Bass

Saul Bass was a very famous graphic designer and film maker. Was born in the 8th of May 1920 and died on the 25h of April, 1996. He was born in Bronx, New York. After completing Highschool Saul studied ant the Art Students League in New York and then later attended Brooklyn college where h was taught by Gyorgy Kepes, a Hungarian who worked as a film designer before moving to Los Angeles in 1946. Bass studied graphic design and business to set up his own practice and began his association with Hollywood by designing posters for upcoming films. His poster for 'Carmen Jones' impressed the director of the film (Otto Preminger) so much that he was then asked to create the opening sequence to the film. He had a successful 40 year and was considered to be one of Hollywood's greatest film makers. He's most known for his title sequences in the films 'The man with the golden arm' and 'Pyscho'. In 1955 Elaine Makatura, an American title designer (also born in New York), came to work for Saul and after the production of the opening sequence to 'Spartacus' the two got married. Saul and Elaine continued to work and co-produce with each other after their marriage. In fact, after the birth of their children, the two started concentrating on opening sequences and short films. Some of the title sequences the two worked on are; 'West Side story'-1961, 'The victors'-1963, 'seconds'-1966, 'Grand Prix'- 1966, 'Goodfellas'-1990' and 'Casino' in 1995 (their last sequence together). In the mid 1960s, Saul and Elaine decided to focus on their children and film making and moved away from opening titles. One of the  short films the two made together is 'Why man creates'- 1968, which won an Oscar. 

Analysis of the opening sequence of 'Casino';

The beginning of the opening sequence to 'Casino' starts with the ambient sound of the wind as the titles and credits appear on a black screen in white bold letters. The camera footage starts with a man dressed in a flamingo pink suit and white trousers opening a glass door into the street. the sound of his footsteps are amplified against the sidewalk by a folly artist. The camera pans right, following the man across the street. We suddenly hear the narration of the characters voice as he talks about who to trust. In the background of the camera shot we see a car pull away and hear the diegetic sound of the tires along the road as it turns out of shot. The man gets takes out his keys from his pocket and we hear the sound of the metal keys clash against each other as he unlocks and gets into his car. When he starts the car there is a split second of the engine starting before the car explodes. The explosion immediately engulfs the screen and continues to expand as SFX. During the explosion non-diegetic Opera music starts to play, creating a tone and atmosphere of chaos as the music is loud, dramatic and sounds ritualistic. More titles start to appear such as the names of actors as we continue to hear the dramatic classical singing. During the titles appearance, we can see the silhouette of the now dead man fall from on side of the screen to the other. The explosion slowly turns red and transforms into a shimmer of red lines. The colour red representing blood, fire and hell. The sound of fireworks can be faintly heard at a low volume behind the music for a brief period of time. The red shimmering lines then turn into small symbols that move quickly across the screen from the top left to the bottom right, keeping the theme of black and red. The theme of black and red is temporarily abandoned as small circular lights, similar to a glow up sign, move right to left across the screen which could be interpreted as letters on an electronic sign. however, we cannot tell what they are as they too zoomed into the screen. this adds suspension and provides an artistic title opening for the film. More flashing blue lines are introduced onto the screen. This raises enigma codes such as 'what are the lines for?' and 'what do the colours represent?'. The music goes quickly fades into an instrumental for a few seconds as the camera cuts to flashing colourful 3D letters. This now confirms the audiences presumption that the lights are indeed small Led bulbs to a glow up sign. The singers return to the music as the volume increases. Simultaneously, an array of flashing lights march across the screen in a ripple like effect in numerous colours. The music continues and the themes of blue, black and red seem to consistently appear in the upcoming CGI fast paced clips. The image cuts to another glow up sign that has been overlaid several times over with some added transparency. It is now that we can clearly see that the lights are very similar to a casino's. This makes the image seem disoriented, presumably to represent the busy atmosphere of a casino (and possibly the alcoholic drinks served at the casino bar as the image can be seen several times over, similar to when someone is drunk). The image changes again to what looks to be a light up tower. The same falling man re appears on the screen and is tracked by the camera as he goes down the array of lights. The image is then slowly engulfed in flames as the man reaches the bottom of the screen. The burning flames fade out of view whilst a silhouette of what looks to be the same man standing in a casino in different clothes fades into the screen. However, we cant be sure it is the same man as his back is towards the camera. This ads mystery to the sequence and raises more enigma codes like 'why is the man alive again?' , 'where and when are we in the story?'. The non diegetic music slowly fades into silence letting the film begin.

Opening sequence analysis 2

 Joker opening sequence.

The opening sequence to ‘Joker’ starts with a slow zoom in from a corridor into a dress room with the main protagonist in the centre of the camera shots. The camera continues to zoom in slowly and pan around the characters back to his right shoulder so we can see his face in the reflection of his makeup mirror. The camera then cuts to an extreme close up of the jokers face, only having his lips in frame first as he puts on some clown face paint, and then slowly the camera cranes upwards revealing his nose, eyes and forehead

There are then a few shot reverse shows between his hand holding a makeup brush and the close ups of his face. There is then an over the shoulder shot to capture the reflection of the characters face in the mirror to show the characters environment and provides the audience with the location. These shots are handheld to create a more natural feeling to the opening sequence as it is set inside a busy dressing room. The editing is slow for these few shots which makes the transition between the jokers fake smile and his frown more dramatic and shows the audience he hates his job, creating a depressing mood of atmosphere.

Soft piano music comes into play and then amplifies as the camera cuts outside to the busy streets. There is diegetic sound of the piano and the sound of people walking and talking next to passing cars. Warner Bros titles and production company titles start to appear on screen as the camera cuts between extreme long shots at high angles of Joaquin Phoenix dancing on the road with a shop sign, and close ups of him in the street to show is melodramatic facial expression.

After this, a group of boys attack the clown and steal his sign. They run down the road as the camera follows in a tracking shot. We track the boys run across the road as well as the clown in some high and shots and shot reverse shots to show the difference between the hooligans and the desperate clown. As they run into the street we hear the sound of cars bee bing and screeching to a break.

The camera tracks the boys to the entrance of an alley way and then pans as they turn left. we then get a high angle of the alleys that shows the boys being followed by the clown as he screams for them to come back. When Joaquin finally catches up to the young teens, he is suddenly hit in the face by his sign from one of the boys hiding behind a wall. This violence is shown at a front on camera angle to show the hard impact of him running into the swing of the sign. The boys then proceed to beat him up and kick him while he is lying on the ground. This is shown at a high angle, canted shot to portray the clowns weakness and vulnerability as well make the scene more sympathetic.

When the boys run off and leave the clown lying on the floor, we can hear the non diegetic sound of violins playing as the camera slowly zooms out while focused on him lying on the floor. The sound of the characters panting has been amplified to emphasise his injury’s and suffering which makes the audience feel sympathy towards him. The camera proceeds to zoom out and capture his facial and body expression to properly show the audience that Joaquin is severely injured. The title ‘Joker’ suddenly appears on screen in a vibrant yellow to stand out from the grey, bleak background of the alley.

28th jan 180* rule

 In our pre-recorded lesson we studied the 180 degree rule when taking photos or videos. This rule tells the audience who is talking and where the dialogue is directed to. For example, an over the shoulder shot of someone on the right should direct their characters and cameras view to the left of the screen to the other character. As long as the camera is 180 degrees of the straight line between the two focus points the actors/ characters should being viewing each-other at all times any angle within 180 degrees.

Below are some photos of me using the rule of the 180 degrees to direct the figures eye sight to the other figure.

Opening sequence idea research 2

 Recently my group came up with another idea for an opening sequence that is very different to our original idea of the ballerina. The new idea is that a man would go into his office/ study and we would get several different camera angles: low, high, tilt, mid and close shots of his study. Inside the study would be a record player which would provide the diegetic music to create a more creepy atmosphere for the sequence. Throughout the mans study there would be jars with parts of animals or flowers inside of them and books containing images of anatomy. We would also track the man walking around his study without revealing his face. These shots would be of his feet, arms and hands as he waltzes around the room to the music. We think it would be good for the idea to expand into human trophies as well as animal one. For example, there could be a cupboard or draw full of little boxes victims pony tails or bracelets with a Polaroid image of the murder. This entirely depends on how we would manage to get props for this.

Below are some example shots of the layout and idea we want to have in our sequence.