Digital technology played a large role in the production of
both my foundation and advanced portfolio coursework. When starting my
foundation portfolio, I was first introduced to newer more advanced software
than I had used previously. During AS I learnt the basics of how to use Final
Cut Pro (FCP) and how to film with a cannon 550D camera. During my A2 year and
my advanced portfolio, I refined my skills using this new technology and became
fluent in using the software, making it easier to be more creative and
experimental when filming and editing my teaser trailer. Final Cut was a main
source of technology when creating both my Foundation and Advanced Portfolios. In our As production we played about with the
saturation of the footage to create different moods depending on the atmosphere
we were trying to connote. As the theme of our foundation production was
suicide and revenge, we wanted to connote a cold harsh atmosphere following the
conventions of previous thrillers we had researched such as Face/off and Se7en,
for this we de-saturated a lot of the colouring on the footage. By the time it
came to producing our Advanced Portfolio my understanding of saturation and
colour grading was much more advanced so I was confident in using contrasting
colours in the different scenes to show the dark and light parts of the trailer
representing the equilibrium and the disruption. For example in the scene where
our main protagonist Grace is tied up in the basement we used a blue tint when
changing the colour grade, saturation and exposure to connote the cold and
depressing atmosphere of the scene. The shot was also taken using a lower ISO
speed, underexposing the colour grade to create a more sinister atmosphere.
Although having previously studies media studies at GCSE
level, my knowledge of film production was very limited as I had only studied
it as part of an enrichment course.
Since starting my AS media studies in year 12 I have thoroughly learnt
the processes of creating a thriller film opening and a trailer. As the
assistant director on both projects I have learnt the requirements of the role
including having input into the overall direction of the production, having a
clear idea of the director’s vision and assisting them in making sure it is
realised in the final product. As the assistant director, I also had to check
the cast, crew and set were all in order to ensure filming went as smoothly as
possible and we remained on schedule. I was also responsible for health and
safety on set which is one of the reasons the risk assessments became my
responsibility. I learned a lot being the assistant director as up until this
point I had never undertaken this role.
My learning began with the preliminary task where I was taught the basic
foundations and essential rules of film production such as the 180 degree rule
and the most common shots used in productions such as shot reverse shots, over
the shoulder shots and match on action filming and editing techniques. I was then able to use these shots in my own
work using a Canon 550D initially, which I also had to learn to use as I had
previously only used JVC video recorders.
I learned how to use the Pinnacle Studio 15 HD editing software to edit
the preliminary task as with my previous productions I had only used windows
live movie maker. Both Pinnacle and
Windows were relatively simple to operate in comparison to FCP so learning the
new software was challenging but beneficial because as a result, our opening of
a thriller was to a very high quality. The preliminary task followed a basic
structure with a phone call (incorporating the 180 degree rule) and then a
meeting up; this provided us with a basic understanding of the skills required
for us to build upon for our actual production which was a more advanced level.
The task also involved filming in three different locations; this was ideal
practice for creating narrative across three separate locations which we would
have to do in the production of our opening to a thriller. This also proved
very valuable in ensuring any mistakes made in the preliminary task were not
repeated in the actual production, such as a change of clothing due to timing
issues and having to film on two different days. Also during the preliminary task I learnt a
variety of different shots such as an over the shoulder shot and a match on
action.
Our thriller opening was titled Sweet Revenge; it gave us a
chance to explore how to incorporate binary oppositions (Clause Levi Strauss)
into a thriller like we had seen in Face/OFF and Se7en. We immediately connoted
the binary opposition with the name of our production using the Oxymoron Sweet
and Revenge. I was becoming aware of the importance of Binary Oppositions in
connoting conflict, in films particularly thrillers, so producing Sweet Revenge
was the perfect platform for building both my experience and understanding of
creating Binary opposition within a film. To achieve this we used contrasting
colours for Happy and sad scenes, these colours were featured in the costume,
the colour grading and the lighting. We soon learnt that a blue tint is very
effective in creating a cold, depressing atmosphere while a high key yellow tinge
is most effective in connoting happiness, we used these in separate scenes and
at different points in time within the narrative to contrast with one another
and create the Binary Opposition. An
example from Sweet Revenge would be when Joe and Kym are together (The happy
point within the production) and when Joe is leaning over the bridge, about to
jump. For the scene where they are together we used high key, low contrast
lighting to connote how happy they are both feeling. During the bridge scene we
added a blue tint to the video which changed the atmosphere completely, hinting
to the audience that something bad was about to happen and to strengthen the
empathy the audience is feeling for both of the characters. The blue tint was
also very effective in creating enigma (Roland Barthes) as at this point in the
film the audience has no idea who the characters are or why they are in this
situation.
Moving on from my AS year I have continued to develop
stronger camera and directing skills alongside digital technology as well as
more extensive knowledge of theorists and trailer conventions relating to
particular chosen genres. I have also worked alongside Emma Taylor under her
production company Broken coal productions on several music videos. Through
this practice I have strengthened my understanding of and ability to use
digital technology involved in film production. I utilised websites such as You
Tube and IMDB to research real film trailers such as ‘How I Live Now’ ‘Gravity’
and ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ and adhere to their conventions when
making my own trailer. One particular
convention that I noted was that the trailers follow Tzvetan Todorov’s theory
of narrative structure with an equilibrium and disruption shown up until the
point of the resolution in order to maintain the suspense of the film and
persuade the audience to go and watch the whole film. I have leaned new
techniques such as manual focus pulls to create a more cinematic effect and
also change the subject of the shot without having move the camera. We used
this in both our AS and A2 productions, in the opening of Sweet Revenge we used
a focus pull from a twig in the foreground and onto our characters sat in the
background. In Fallen Grace we tried a different approach and instead pulled
the focus away from the characters in the background and onto a fence post in
the foreground. We found that this
technique added dimension to the scenes so we used it more frequently in Fallen
Grace because of the positive effect it had on Sweet Revenge. We also used upgraded cannon 6D as an
improvement from the cannon 550D that we used in our foundation production this
took some getting used to as the controls differed slightly from that of the
cannon 550D we had used previously however the new camera was very beneficial
as it allowed us to film in low light conditions as the ISO levels could reach
up to 25,600, this came in particularly when filming at night at the house
party during Grace’s kidnapping scene and in the dark classroom scene where Zara
is throwing furniture around in a fit of rage. We had also filmed in low light
conditions in our AS production of Sweet Revenge when Kym puts a knife in her
bag however because we were using a cannon 550 D the ISO levels only reached
3200 causing the footage to look grainy and less professional. We were also
able to use a sigma wide angle lens which made the footage look much more
cinematic and professional which was a clear step up from our AS production. Another piece of equipment that I had to learn
to use was the Zoom H4N microphone as the sound was something I worked heavily
on. We ensured the sound quality was always high by using a Rode wind muff or
‘dead cat’ in windy conditions to avoid the irritating interference caused wind
blowing through the microphone which would cause the trailer to sound
unprofessional.
Photoshop was another program that we utilised and developed
our knowledge of in the Advanced Portfolio, although we had not used this for
our Foundation Portfolio, I had some previous experience on the software but
this expended hugely during my A2 coursework development. For example I learned
new skills like how to change the gradient on the principle layer to have a
fade to black at the bottom of the poster so the important institutional
information could be seen clearly. I also learnt how to duplicate layers so the
gradient can be seen underneath.
Before my A2 production I worked with leading professionals
in the industry, including Fred Reed who is the director of photography at Aardman
studios learning valuable techniques in using light to create specific moods according
to the atmosphere we were looking to create in the scene I was then able to
transfer the skills I had learned to the production of Fallen Grace, this can
be seen clearly in the classroom scene where bright white light is used to
create a happy, positive atmosphere and also connote the innocence of our main
character Grace. Another thing I learnt from working with Fred Reed was the
significance of contrasting one type of lighting with another to create binary
opposition this can be done by contrasting chiaroscuro lighting with high key
and low contrast lighting. We use this technique on the contrasting scenes
between when Grace is happy and when she is distressed e.g. tied up in the
basement. On large budget film sets the lighting colour can be manipulated
using filters to change the colour and strength of the light however with our
low budget it was easier just to change the colour artificially in post
production using final cut pro. One of my roles on the production was to create
the animatics; I am hoping to study and have a career in animation and have
trained with the BFI in animation on residential programme for the best young
animators aged 16-19 in the country. The programme involved working with
several film production companies including Calling the shots and of course, the
British Film institute. I have learned a lot from this experience including new
ways to create animatics and storyboards for films and animation using various
different software packages such as Adobe Flash and Premier. When making the
animatics for the trailer, I transferred the skills and the ability to use
other technology I had learned with the BFI to the production of the animatics
and storyboards for the trailer. I had created the animatics for the AS
coursework before, however my understanding of perspective and creating
representations of the human form were fairly basic I also only had knowledge
on how to edit using Pinnacle and Final Cut but since working with the BFI I
have been able to produce much more accurate animatics with much more shots
than previously using other software packages such as flash and adobe premier.
One particular new method I learned for animation was a ‘boil’ where you run a
series of the same image together during a still to add movement to the scene
and avoid it looking static.
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