Post 11: Advanced Production Skills Workshop 1

Last lesson, we were taught the style of 'Film Noir'. Film Noir is a style of film, created by Nino Frank in 1946. Although there were films made with the Film Noir style, this concept wasn't created until 1946. This style reflects American trends, in using Crime and Detective films, which was a contrast to the optimistic musicals and comedys that were around at this time.
This style was named film noir because of the dark, mysterious theme presented as such (left) in every sense, mood, point of view and tone.

A typical Film Noir story countained a cynical, heard-heartened, dis-illusioned man who encounters a beautiful, promiscuous, amoral, seductive "Femme Fatale" which literally means fatal female.
The female character would manipulate the man into commiting a crime, but they were often 'destroyed' by their plans, as they would fall in love with the man, and consiquently ending up with nothing. So, although Film Noir broke the convention that women were weaker than men, they still loose everything, and they suffer.


The Importance of Shadows in 'Film Noir'.

In class, we watched 'Rebecca', which show's us the importance of Shadows in film noir. Shadows created the illusion of mystery and show's the scale of importance on characters, shadows can created a special awareness, which makes the audience aware of the main character, by casting a shadow on everything else in shot.

There are two main types of shadows in Film Noir, Cast shadows and Attatched shadows.
Cast Shadows are the type of shadow when you put something in front of a light source and it casts a shadow, like a typical shadow from a person or object.
Attached Shadows is when a person or object is lit to highlight their importance, thus creating a shadow on anything that isn't of importance.

In class we also watched 'Lemon' by Hollis Frampton. In this video, Frampton play's with light on a lemon, to show the shape and texture of the lemon from different angles of lighting, and the different shadows that are cast upon it.

After watching this, we got into groups and created our own version of 'Lemon'.
After a few failed attempts, where are hands were seen in shot, which we had to correct, we created

Post 10: Job Roles Research

Task 1: Director: During Pre-Production, their job is to read over the script and to organise run-throughs with the actors, they are in charge of casting the actors, creating a shooting schedule and a call sheet. They are also in charge of a shotlist with help from the cinematography department.

During production, their job is to get the performance they want out of their actors.

Camera: During pre-production, along with the director, they are in charge of creating a shotlist. This department also create the storyboards, an equipment list and they book the equipment that will be needed for shooting.

Production: Their main job role is to film! They are in charge of deciding shot sizes, setting up the camera, framing and the composition of each shot.

There is a link between the Lighting and Sound department, as each roles share similar tasks.

Lighting and Sound: In pre-production they share the tasks of creating a risk assesment, the share the equipment list and technical recce's with the camera department. The sound department is in charge of soundtrack and any music they want to have permission from the labels and copyrights, the microphones, any voice overs they want to use must be done before production, special effect sounds and guide tracks.

In Production, they set up the lighting and sound equipment, the sound department monitor sound levels and positiong microphones.

Production Design: This department puts costume, makeup and set together. In Pre-Production, they are in charge of the location recce's, purely because it is important for the set designers. Then there is costume design, hair and make-up deisng and set designs or moodboards.

In Production they are in charge of continuity, i.e. taking pictures of the characters in costumes and make-up so they get it exactly right for the next shot, and monitoring the script.

Post 9: Script Feedback

When Becky Knapp came to visit again, she told us to assess each others scripts. We all had a look at everyone's scripts, and we had to give critical feedback on how they could be improved. Becky also had the chance to look at our scripts and gave feedback.
This feedback gave us the appropriate information to start improving our scripts even further.

My version of my script:


The general feedback I recieved was positive, my peers said they enjoyed my script, but was confused as to what genre it was. The format of the script was wrong, it was in the wrong font and I didn't have a front page cover for it.
When Becky talked to me about my script, she said there was some genre confusion, between comedy and drama. For a short film, she said it would be wise not to have the both, as we don't have enough time for character and plot development in the space of 5 minutes.

After this, we decided to work on Jenna's script, as her's was easier and more developed, so we could produce a better short film in the time we have.

Post 3a: target progress

1) Naturally, I am a creative person, but throughout the year I have been trying to push the boundries on my creative skills. I have shown this through script writing for my short film coursework. First of all, the idea for my script came to me in a lesson, a little bit out of the blue. But after hearing feedback, it changed significantly. So when it comes to my creativity, noticeably, I have been pushing myself more so this year, but can still use some work.

2) My second target was to keep up to date with homeworks and blogger deadlines. So far, I have been on time with my homeworks, and my bloggers haven't been too bad. There are times when my blog posts aren't completely finished, but they are still done to an extent. Last year, I was lazy with my blog posts and homeworks, which meant when it came to doing them, it was all last minute. Now I feel up to date and confident that my work is done.

3) When we were first told to use photoshop, I had no idea how to use it. So I was asking for help all the time. Since then I have used photoshop on many occasions, here is an example of this independent work:



4) I feel that my blogger has improved significantly during the course of the year. It is much neater, and more organised, and I am also fairly up to date, if not a few minor things missing. But compared to last year, I have become more organised and committed to making my blogger look presentable.

5) I haven't had the chance to really show my improvment in my interpersonal skills yet, as we haven't started on the coursework. But I have improved on taking all feedback on board.

Post 8: Decisions and Revisions

Thought process: My original plan came from an idea about a man who was an alcoholic and he had a girlfriend, but something happens, which makes him change his life around. But it was more like making it up as I went along.

Feedback I got: Some people said they liked the sound of It, but it was said my original script didn’t really have a resolving ending. Then I got some feedback saying how I could change it to a proposal at the end, and this is where my idea came from for my new script.

I researched different ways people have proposed, so I could get a realistic idea of how my character Henry might do it. Then I watched a series of short films which shows people trying to propose, so I could get an idea of how Henry might act.

My basic plot outline is that Henry is living with his girlfriend Eileen, and he decides that it is time for him to propose to her, but he has terrible confidence issues, and doesn’t quite know how to do it. Every morning he wakes up and practices in the mirror of how he might say it. He attempts a few times, but each time he does it fails. So he goes back to basics, and decides to propose to her where they had their first date. But Henry is so nervous, he decides a drink might calm his nerves, the only problem is, is that he has to drive to this place, and he ends up having too much to drink. Whilst driving, Eileen finds out he had been drinking, and they have a fight. Henry is drunk, so he can’t concentrate on the road properly, and they end up crashing. A few weeks later, Henry is waiting for Eileen outside the hospital, and he is proposing to her, but we never get to hear her answer.

When we watched 'Signs', a short film, in class; I decided I wanted to base my character Henry around the character in this film. He shares a lot of the same qualities as him, they both have confidence issues, and both want to ask the girls they like an important question, but doesn't know how, and when to do it.

First draft of script: Turmoil

Latest draft of script: The Proposal




























































For my latest script 'The Proposal', I got the titles idea from 'Donnie Darko' who reminds us of a time, and how much time is left, but we don't know what's going to happen at that time. This is similar to the titles in my script, as the date and times are leading to the crash that leads Eileen in a critical condition. I decided to change the ending. Originally, I was going to have Eileen come out of the hospital escaping with minor injuries to find Henry proposing. But I feel that this ending is better, as it not only leaves tension for the audience, but leaves tension for the character Henry as well. I decided to end it on the note that Henry had wrote a few days ago, as it leaves tension for both the audience and Henry, this may also make the audience want to watch on to see her reaction.








Independent Research:




As well as getting inspiration from 'Donnie Darko', I researched into ways of proposing. I read many magazine articles to find realistic ways of proposing. Most top answers included having 'Marry Me' spelt out in rose petals, putting the ring in a glass of champagne and creating a webpage that their partner will see. This gave me my main idea's for the way Henry was to propse to Eileen.

Notes on Audience theory

http://www.theory.org.uk/tenthings.htm


Passive audience- Negative theory issues of moral panic.

We are fed the information and we accept it.







Active Audience- We think we've got control!


Some may think that this isn't possible because:

• we can only watch what is presented to us.




• Watershed?




• BBFC




• Pegi




• Ofcom




• Self-regulating




• Parents.

Dominant Hegemonic Position- Audience agree's with preferred meaning.

Oppositional Hegemonic Position- When the audience understand preferred meaning but doesn't agree with it.

Negotiated Hegemonic Position- Audience has opposed or adapted preferred meaning.

Abberant decoding- Audience reads texts in a different way.

Audience theory:

· Genre theory and effects theory is still in debate, as no one is able to tell how an audience will react to a film and the genre chosen for it.

The Hypodermic Needle Model:

· This theory was introduced to try and explain how mass audiences may react to mass media.

· This theory was developed when the mass media was still fairly new.

· It suggests that the audience receive the information passively through the media text, without any attempt to process the data for themselves, i.e.- the media text is fed into the audiences brain.

· The theory suggests that we are manipulated into what the media producers want us to hear or believe. It suggests that the audience is passive.

· This is where the idea that the media is ‘brainwashing’ us.

Two-Step Flow:

· This theory suggests that the audience are influenced by ‘opinion leaders’.

· The information that they learn from these opinion leaders are passed onto others, and this is how the two-step-flow works.

· *very much like word of mouth*

· Doesn’t have to be a person

· We create a pre-conceived opinion of the film.

· This theory diminished the power of the media to their audience and decided that social factors are also important when considering a mass audience.

Uses & Gratifications:

· In 1948, Lasswell suggested these media functions for the media audience. Surveillance, correlation, entertainment and cultural transmission.

· An audience’s need. Reflecting what the audience want. Active audience.

· 60’s- Bulmer and Katz expanded this theory and published their own. They stated that that individuals may choose and use a text for these purposes (i.e. uses and gratifications) :

1. Diversions- escape from everyday routine

2. Personal relationships- using the media for emotional and other interaction (e.g. Relating soap opera’s for family life)

3. Personal identity- finding YOURSELF reflected in texts, learning behaviour and values from these texts.

4. Surveillance- Information that could be useful for living.

· Since then, the list for uses and gratifications has been extended, especially since new media has been introduced.

Reception Theory: 80’s

· This theory explores the way in which the audience receive and interpret a text and how their circumstances affect their reading. (i.e. Gender, age, ethnicity)

· This theory is based on Stuart Hall’s encoding/decoding model of the relationship between audience and a media text.- The text is encoded by the producer, and decoded by the reader.

· By using recognised codes and conventions, and by considering audience expectations, relating to aspects such as stars or genre’s, producers can position the audience. This is known as ‘preferred reading’.

The Advantages and Limitations of a Focus on Audience in Media Studies- Philip J Hanes

‘A text does not have a single meaning, but a range of possibilities which are defined by both text and audience.’- (Hart, 1991)

Andrew Hart is among many writers, theorists and researchers who identify and value the existence of the audience in relation to the media.

Supporters of the Effects model assume the audience is passive in the receiving and interpretation of media texts.

-*The Frankfurt school considered society to be composed of isolated individuals who were vulnerable to media messages. This school believed in the hypodermic syringe theory.*

The followers of the hypodermic model of Effects adopted a variation of Marxism, emphasising the dangers of the power of capitalism, which owned and controlled new forms of media.

However, other factors are presented in society, like personal religion, gender and age.

· The Effects model is considered to be an inadequate representation of the communication between media and the public, as it does not take into account the audience as individuals with their own beliefs, opinions, ideals and attitudes:

· “Audiences are not blank sheets of paper on which media messages can be written; members of an audience will have prior attitudes and beliefs which will determine how effective media messages are.” (Abercrombie 1996)

In this, theorists were not asking how the media affects the audience, but how the audiences were using the media, and receiving it.

They suggested that audiences have specific needs.

The audiences in ‘uses and gratifications’ were seen as active, as opposed to passive audiences. U&G recognised that audiences have a choice of what media they can consume.

Despite this, U&G have limitations. This theory STILL suggests that the messages are viewed by all the audience in the same way. It does not consider how the messages are interpreted.

*The Uses and Gratification model assumes that the audience’s wish for satisfaction results in a media output to fulfil their desire, rather than acknowledging that audiences have to enjoy whatever is produced by the media.*

Screen Theory:

In the 70s, the academic journal Screen suggested that audiences were positioned by the media text

Screen theory suggested that all media texts have a "mode of address”. This suggests that media texts address its intended audience in a particular way, creating a relationship between the producer and the audience.

An example of this screen theory is that films are usually shot to suggest reality. A way of suggesting this reality is by using unusual shot’s and camera angles.

It is suggested that viewing is done in groups of family. This is why channels choose not to view any sex, violent, or drug scenes before a certain time, as it is assumed that the younger audience are not watching tv at this late time.

The mode of address is vital in constructing and audience’s thoughts about an issue raised in the media. *Just because producers of media texts have a certain opinion and meaning does not mean that this meaning is obvious in the text*

Semiotics- study of signs. (Codes)

Structuralism- study of formal structures. (Conventions)

The existing methods of studying audience do not measure how and why the audiences differ in their viewing. For instance the audience watching one episode of a serial will not necessarily watch the following episode or, indeed, any of the other episodes. Additionally, the existing methods do not consider what meanings the actual audience is constructing. Questionnaires are limited by the questions that they ask and audiences will be trying to answer what they think the researcher is trying to find.

Negotiating reading- we interpret something different to others. Adapting a preferred meaning.

*Laura Mulvey*- “Male Gaze”

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Post 7: Creating your own script

At the beginning of the lesson, we were told to talk about yesterday evening in one minute. Most the people in my class, including myself, chose to tell the story in chronological order in first person narrative. What we told was a story, we chose to talk about the exact events that went on in our evening. when we asked our teacher to do the same, her story was a narrative. She chose to talk about her events in detail, as though she was telling us a story from a narrative point of view, rather than a series of events.

In class, we were shown a picture of this yellow fish

We were told to write a story around this picture, in 2 minutes. This is my story:

"A man called Fred had recently moved from his home in Shropshire to a faraway place called Yemen. He missed his family dearly, so he decided that he needed something that reminded him of his home. Back at home he had a fish called Steven, so he bought a fish and called it Steven. In every way it was the same, it was yellow and it swam about and it was all lovely. He shared many fun times with his fish, him and his fish went to the cinema, and even went bowling. One day when Fred came home, the fish had gone, someone had robbed him. Fred was distraught as he grew attached to the fish, and therefore moved back home with his family and his previous fish love Steven. Eventually, Fred stopped having these strange delusions about the fish called Steven and he lived happily ever after."

We were shown this powerpoint in class to help us develop our ideas on Narrative.

http://klsmediadepartment.blogspot.com/2010/10/narrative-theory-powerpoint.html

To have a 'good' short film, you must start off with the basics. A world, a character and a problem.

Then you must consider what is driving the character. They must have a want, a need and an obligation.

Signs

In class we watched a short film called Signs. The film starts off with a man, at this point I created an analytical spider diagram.

MAN:

Quiet/shy
Desperate
Intelligent
Unfulfilled
Lonely
Socially inept

The world in this short film is a life based around work. The man has moved from the countryside in Austrailia to an ambitious job promotion in the city. The character is a man who is living an unfulfilled life without friends and family. The problem is his lack of confidence to talk to new people.

The want that is driving the character is a relationship, he feels he wants to be close to someone, this is proven in the scene where he smiles at a girl, but doesn't find the confidence to talk to her. This is his need, his need is the confidence he wishes to find. The obligation is to fulfil his parents desires, we can tell this from the phonecall he gets from his parents in the country telling him how proud they are of him.

These targets that are set for a 'good' short film are all fulfilled in this short film, as he overcomes his conifdence issues, and eventually plucks up the courage to talk to the girl he has been comunicating with through notes.

Part ways through the film, it was stopped so the class could guess what might happen next. There are a few times where we got it spot on, but there were a few where we were completely wrong. We are conditioned to think what the most typical response would be. But the film successfully keeps the audience interested in the film, by putting in little twists that we weren't to expect.