Music Video: Pulp - Babies

This video is absolutely genius. Simple but clever [captions] are shown between shots at appropriate moments. The video itself would be so conventional without these, following a narrative, using typical band shots etc, but what makes it so cool is that the captions are used at the most obvious moments and it transforms it into a brilliantly original video. 

Back! :)

Right. I'm back. :) Here's a list of things I've done on holiday (for the coursework!) :

• Decided on 2 possible music videos: "Cancer" (as you knew) and "Heaven Help Us"; both by My Chemical Romance
• Further planned out the "Cancer" video on paper - each scene is now complete, and there will now be an Intro, possibly an Interlude, and an extra ending, with (sort of) original content created from the music.
• Tested mise-en-scene ideas - mainly make up, lighting and costume.
• Planned out "Heaven Help Us", although I'm not sure I'll being doing this one for the main project, maybe just a side project.
• Practiced various shots including shallow focus (and the switchy-inbetween focus - I will find the proper term from my notes and update!)
• Filmed at various locations as a Recce (seaside, park, caves, vintage-style funfair etc.) to get an idea of which locations would work - I found the perfect set for the second verse of "Cancer" - my Grandma's spare room!
• Requested permission to use "Cancer" - I'm awaiting a response :)
• Investigated example coursework including this: FINAL 153
• Began researching digipack structures
• Filming the intro and the second verse for "Cancer" (the overall lip sync I'd filmed previously)
• Been debating making a webiste completely from scratch (as it'll be all my own work) or using a website builder (so it has cool effects) - not got very far with the decision though :/

When I get back to school on tuesday, I will upload and moderate my footage, choosing the most relevant clips to show the shots I've practised and the sections I've filmed. I'll need to use GarageBand to try and edit sections of the song, as for the Intro and Interlude, I want to slow down and repeat the first piano chord, plus a pencil writing sound effect I will create, both playing underneath the voiceover I have scripted. This will all make much more sense once I've uploaded the planning I've done on paper (although, I may have to explain it a bit better, as it's a tad all over the place at the minute!)

Holiday

I'm going to my Nan's for a few weeks, and I'm going to have rehearsals for We Will Rock You (School's version) so I'm probably not going to be writing many posts until after those (I have no Internet at my Nan's house). I'm writing bits on paper here and there that I'll type up, and saving videos in my YouTube favourites to analyse. One good thing is the different scenery opportunities I'll get from my Nan's (in Somerset). I'm going to film various scenes, in a kind of non-commital way, so I can later edit the contrast, filter and sound to create any desired effect (within reason!) I'm going to use my time to practice and plan out my projects.
Back in a few weeks!

Short Film: Prelim Textual Analysis

Here is mine and Sarah's final prelim (I will update with the not-ruined version!) :

We began this idea as a simple "Day In The Life" of an average student. However after covering lessons, friends, common room, and the shop; we ran out of ideas. So we decided to go crazy and have some fun and made our student into a teacher poisoner! After having a lot of fun filming those sections, we thought it could do with a bit of depth rather than mindless killing for the sake of a laugh, so we made Amanda (the student, played by me) into an unfortunate schizophrenic. We aimed to shock the audience with the initial switch from normal to mental, then to confuse and conflict them from their laughter at the either highly comical, or intensely shocking deaths (depending on outlook, and reaction to the music), straight into a sad scene designed to create sympathy for her.

Camerawork: We tried to use a variety of shots to create a visually dynamic experience for our audience (especially important as our film was 5mins30 over the minimum time!)

Sound: The sound was a very important part in creating atmosphere and expressing Amanda's emotions.

Mise-en-scene: We thought about which items to use as part of the mise-en-scene. We debated over the science lab coat, but in the end decided to go with it, as no matter how over the top it looked, we weren't sure everyone would follow the poisoning as well without it.

Editing: I had a lot of fun as the Editor alongside Sarah helping me choose transitions etc :)

tbc XD ...

Film Trailers: Conventions and Uses

Although I doubt I'll be choosing this as my final project, I have investigated some conventions of film trailers, and how they use them to persuade their audience to see the film:

• Titles - although the film title is generally revealed last, alongside the release date, once the audience has formed an opinion and (hopefully!) would want to know the name so they can go see it.
• Credits - all of the famous and rising stars in acting and producing/directing etc will be made apparent, whether through image or captions, to appeal directly to fans of those people. Generally the more well known names, the better the film will do.
• Voiceover - used to introduce the film, usually in a booming male show voice. Often used are generic phrases such as "The Greatest Horror Film...Of Our Time" (quoted from "The Woman In Black" trailer, which I will analyse)
• Montage - gives an idea of what the film will be like, showing the most exciting parts without completely giving away the storyline, will give an impression and a vague understanding with (hopefully!) increased expectation. Includes highlights to give an overview of the film.
• One-liners - to grab the audience with clever lines and funny scenes.
• Cliffhanger - leaves it at a tantalising end so the audience will feel the need to watch it just to see what happens.
• Music soundtracks - gives a film its own identity, creates atmosphere, often repeats theme music so the audience will remember and recognise it, in a hope to grab their attention to then go and see it.
• Editing - edited to fit each genre, lighting, contrast, music, volume, silence etc can all be very valuable tools in creating atmosphere.

Short Film: Ideas

During class, we came up with a list of ideas for a short film and where to get ideas from.

Here's the list:
In the lesson we listed some ideas for the short film task:

• Love - Cute/Old/Obsessive
• Comedy
• From a film you've seen
• Songs - Lyrics
• Kids
• Crime - Twist in the tale
• Death - Murder
• Sentimental
• Betrayal
• Poems - William Blake - Innocence vs Experience
• Shakespearean story/tale
• Rework a fairy tale - Canterbury Tales
• Old people
• Other stories/books - make it modern

We also thought of what problems would occur with doing a short film:

• Have to write a screenplay - one thats interesting
• Continuity issues - hair change/clothes changed/nails/makeup etc
• Time
• Deadlines
• Having too much in the film - too many camera angles/sound effects etc
• Planning
• Talent - actors ill/unwilling/lazy
• Organisation

Short Film: Finished

We have finished our short film. I am pleased with the outcome, however when I came to export it, it hasn't quite worked. The video itself is fine, but twice during it, there is a random sound of me talking to Sarah. Its only about a second long, but its enough to ruin the film and distract from the story. 

I went back to iMovie to find the sound file to delete it, but it isn't anywhere on the storyboard (I'll screenshot it). I don't recognise the actual clip, so I'm presuming its from one of the unused sections of film. It's definately not from the actual film; and no matter what format I exported it in, it wouldn't work without the extra sound. 

It's repeated in two parts of the film, but I can't get rid of it at this moment. I'm going to try screen recording, or if worst comes to the worst, literally record it on a camera from iMovie (where it works perfectly) and upload it seperately. But for now, here is the flawed version: