Continuity task details

Basic plot for continuity task

Scene 1
Girl 1 and 2 in changing room
Girl 1 searches into her bag for a missing object
Looks up, says to Girl 2 "have you seen my necklace?"
Girl 2 replies "no sorry"
Shot of Girl 1's face

Scene 2
Girl 1 walks downstairs and through a door
Girl 1 walks towards a classroom
Shot of Girl 3's pocket with a necklace hanging out then zooms out to reveal her face
Girl 1 enters room
Shot reverse shot of Girl 1 and Girl 3
Girl 1 "is that my necklace?!"
Girl 3 replies nervously "err no..."
Girl 1 walks towards Girl 3 and slaps Girl 3
Girl 3's face turns away
Girl 1 "dont lie to me"

Shot List

1) Mid shot of 2 girls in changing room
cut to a close up of Girl 1 showing her bag and her hand searching in it
cut to close up of Girl 1's face - "have you seen my necklace?"
cut to Girl 2's face - "no sorry"
cut to Girl 1's face   (shot reverse shot)

2) Cut to a long shot of girl walking down stairs and pan across as she walks towards the door (Girl 1)
cut to girls hand on door handle (close up)
cut to a medium shot of Girl 1 walking in classroom zoom in on her face
cut to a mid shot of Girl 3 zoom in on her pocket
cut to Girl 1's face close up - "is that my necklace?!"
cut to close up of Girl 3's face - "err no..."
cut to medium shot of Girl 1 walking foward - tracking- close up of Girl 3's face - *Slaps face*
Girl 3's face turns away from the camera to a close up of Girl 1's face = "dont lie to me"

Initial continuity task ideas

"Our group has been given the assignment to create a short video of up to 90 seconds long. Within this short extract, we must think about the following:

• You must not break the 180 degree rule
• You must include a shot reverse shot
• You must include more than one location
• You must include a variety of camera angles
• The video must be edited to show continuity and clear meaning within the extract
• You must include interaction between two or more characters

First our group started to brainstorm simple ideas that could be possible filming in appropriate settings. We quickly came to an understanding that we wanted a character to lose a valuable item which then could give us a short plot for the rest of the video. We then agreed to have the first shot in a changing room where the first character cant seem to find her necklace. The next few shots would consist of a her leaving the changing room to her classroom where she confronts another girl who has stolen her necklace. We shortly agreed this is what we wanted to do as the task is very brief and doesn't focus much on a gripping plot. This worked well for our group as we where then able to think into more detail what specific type of camera angles we could use for certain shots; of which we created a storyboard." from Scott's blog

Progression of ideas

Our main idea for the opening sequence is a psychological crime thriller. Below is the image of our initial plot for the opening sequence.













However, after discussing we moved on to this plot instead:

• Man lies on table-looks at hands and sees cut
• Flashback-man runs from killer-killer catches him-they struggle, man punches killer but killer punches him again harder
• (reality) man looks around and sees syringe on table
• Flashback-continue of struggle and man gets injected in neck
• (reality) man lying on table-overpowered by red & blue lights-sirens muffling his heavy breathing and non-diegetic sounds
• Fog lights and credits
• Blood splat and film title
• 
  

Premiere Pro practice

In my last Media lesson I learnt how to use Premiere Pro which is a type of software which allows you to edit a videop file. I found this task very difficult because I have no experience with working with Apple Macs let alone Adobe, so remembering all of the different elements of the programme was complex. However, I wasn't expecting to enjoy the task due to this but was surprised as I found it very fun and would be willing in the future to take on the task of editing the opening sequence that we make ultimately. On the other hand, I only managed to edit the clip and didn't complete it as I didn't have time to do the sound or titles however I feel confident that I could do this on a later date.

Research on silent movies

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, mime and title cards. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as film itself, but because of the technical challenges involved, synchronized dialogue was only made practical in the late 1920s.

Acting techniques
Silent film actors emphasized body language and facial expression so that the audience could better understand what an actor was feeling and portraying on screen.  

For the first twenty years of motion picture history most silent films were short--only a few minutes in length. At first a novelty, and then increasingly an art form and literary form, silent films reached greater complexity and length in the early 1910's. The films on the list above represent the greatest achievements of the silent era, which ended--after years of experimentation--in 1929 when a means of recording sound that would be synchronous with the recorded image was discovered. Few silent films were made in the 1930s, with the exception of Charlie Chaplin, whose character of the Tramp perfected expressive physical moves in many short films in the 1910's and 1920s. When the silent era ended, Chaplin refused to go along with sound; instead, he maintained the melodramatic Tramp as his mainstay in City Lights (1931) and Modern Times (1936). The trademarks of Chaplin's Tramp were his ill-fitting suit, floppy over-sized shoes and a bowler hat, and his ever-present cane. A memorable image is Chaplin's Tramp shuffling off, penguin-like, into the sunset and spinning his cane whimsically as he exits. He represented the "little guy," the underdog, someone who used wit and whimsy to defeat his adversaries.

Films from the Silent Era

YEAR	FILM	DIRECTOR	COUNTRY
1915	Birth of a Nation	D. W. Griffith	USA
1919	Broken Blossoms	D. W. Griffith	USA
1919	The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari	Robert Wiene	Germany
1922	Nosferatu	F. W. Murnau	Germany
1922	Nanook of the North	Robert J. Flaherty	USA
1924	The Last Laugh	F. W. Murnau	Germany
1925	Strike	Sergei Eisenstein	Russian
1925	Potemkin	Sergei Eisenstein	Russian
1925	The Gold Rush	Charlie Chaplin	USA
1925	The Street of Sorrow	G. W. Pabst	Germany
1926	Metropolis	Fritz Lang	Germany
1927	Sunrise	F. W. Murnau	Germany
1929	The Blue Angel	Josef Von Sternberg	Germany
1930	All Quiet on the Western Front	Lewis Milestone	Germany
1931	M	Fritz Lang	Germany
1931	City Lights	Charlie Chaplin	USA
1936	Modern Times	Charlie Chaplin	USA

15/11 genre ideas

The genre that our group are considering at the moment is:

Silent mystery crime thriller

This is because our ideas definitely encompassed the idea of a crime but with elements of 'the unknown' and audience interpretation within it also, so we decided on a hybrid of genres instead of deciding between the two. The reason for a silent movie is that it unique and would be interesting so that emphasis can be put more on sound and body language. As well as this, the movie will be a modern silent thriller which is very unique and hasn't been done before.

Brainstorm of Ideas

The following brainstorm shows our initial ideas as to the type of opening sequence that we want to make. These includes details about whether or not we want to do a hybrid or sub genre, and also initial ideas about sound, lighting, mise-en-scene, editing, shots and also location and plots. However, these ideas are rough and need development and a final decision will need to be made soon as to the choices on this brainstorm.