Thursday, 18 September 2014

Classwork: Film using only still pictures.

We have made a film made up only of still pictures, and the aim was to convey someone delivering bad news to another person. I believe that this film has some interesting shots, and the cuts between the character running and the character waiting create a sense of tension. The full movie can be seen here. Apologies for the blank screen at the beginning.


Friday, 12 September 2014

Classwork: Camera Shot/Movement

We have been looking at camera shots and movement, and how they influence the viewer's interpritation of what is happening in a scene. We looked at clips from the films 'Caino Royale' and 'Superman Returns'. I have also found examples of how the camera shots/movement are used to similar effect in the film 'Submarine', by Richard Ayoade.

Casino Royale:

We looked at the parkour scene at the beginning of the film, the full clip can be seen here:
Casino Royale Parkour Scene

In this clip, the camera follows the chase, to give viewers a sence of being amongst the action. There is an example of a reverse angle shot near the beginning of the clip, that gives us a chance to view whats going on through the character's point of view. This adds to the suspence.

The shot pans round, giving the impression that we are seeing the scene through the character's eyes.

We then follow the chase, and we are shown medium close ups of the characters, to let the audience feel part of the chase, and this also adds to the tension, as it would seem less real if we were watching from a distance.


We are also shown a number of arial shots, which lets us see the whole picture. It is used when the two characters are climbing the scaffolding and on the crane.
In this scene, the close ups and reverse shots are used to let the audience feel part of the action, and are to make sure the scene is as exciting as possible. This is in contrast with the scene from Superman Returns.

Superman Returns:

We looked at the 'In love with superman' scene. The full clip can be seen here:
In Love With Superman CLIP

In this clip, we are shown many close ups of the two characters as they talk, and the reverse shots create the feel that this is a flowing conversation. When the conversation gets serious, we get an even closer shot, showing only the actor's head and shoulders. The character asking the questions remains in a medium close up, which gives the impression that this is an interigative conversation, and that the character in the close up is under pressure.




Submarine:
In the scene under the pier, the close ups and reverse shots are used to show the same idea; that the characters are having a serious and flowing conversation. However, in this scene, the camera looks straight at the character Oliver Tate, breaking the fourth wall,  instead of of the slightly side on view we get in Superman Returns. This is because the film is meant to be a representation of a film that Oliver has made up in his imagination of his life. This is typical of the unusual style that Richard Ayode uses in this film.