Entry 8 - Lecture notes, Somers Town

Somers Town, Directed my Shane Meadows and funded by Eurostar.

A British film is normally low budget, about ordinary people, includes domestic themes and really focuses on class e.g. Ronnie Barker

The British new wave was at the end of the second world war and focused on the working class. Between 1959 - 1963 Tony Richardson along with other directors created new wave films. It broke taboos such as adultery and criminology. It also changes the working class too, as children could go to school etc.

The British/French new wave believed in a sense of place and portrayed it through settings etc.
There was also the strong sense of leaving your identity behind. e.g. Billy Liar 1963. In the film "Taste Of Honey" outsiders were apparent. Such as; Black characters, Gays, Pregnant teenagers etc.

Television began depicting true images of the working class also, with soaps such as Eastenders coming on our screens.

Now there is the Brit Grit/Brit film also known as the new new wave.
These include directors like Mike Leigh with "Vera Drake" and Ken Loach with "Looking for Eric". There was films such as the "Full Monty" and "Billy Elliot" which went with the theme of changing identity, as Billy wanted to be a dancer and full grown men stripping. Both of of these were seen as woman's jobs.

Most new new wave directors are from working class and many of them show the working class in a more three dimension view, as the new wave directors in the 1950's were dealing with identify and immigration, which still occurs today but in a different fashion.

SOMERS TOWN
The theme of the Eurostar runs all the way through this film. Changing identify as the boys are always trying to re-event themselves. The theme of immigration as Marie (French) joins the two boys but does tear them apart in some sense. The Sense of the British re-eventing themselves, new British identity.

Entry 7 - Once a upon time in the west (1968)

Developing an Opening sequence

Non digetic = Music that is played which is added e.g. Music sounds FX

Digetic = natural to the film e.g. Voices, wind, doors opening

Once a upon time in the west (1968)

Door opening creates anticipation and tension/suspension
chalk on on board creates the atmosphere of being uncomfortable
Footsteps shows a powerful character
The sound of birds (digetic) shows an alarming situation possibly about to happen
The wind creates tension, desolate surrounding
coats flapping of the character symbolises something to with the west.

Camera Angles

Pan up of the cowboy slowly showing a powerful character
zoom out of the chalk board
pan round showing the desolate surrounding and the only characters there

Symbols

Hat suggests cowboy - very conventional but unconventional for there to be a black cowboy
Hat of the venerable character - train conductor's hat, motivated symbol
cowboys wearing darker clothing suggests a bad cowboy, hides himself at times

Editing

moves to the digetic sound
focus's on the man and then switches to the cowboy suggesting a fight.

Entry Number 5 - Final Cut Express (Week two)

This week on Final Cut Express we learnt how to capture clips of our footage.
We did this but rewinding or fast forwarding by using the 'J' and 'L' keys and then pressing "Capture Now". By doing this we can look at a certain bit of footage and then pressing 'Esc' we end the clip.

Remembering to name our clips was important as otherwise all clips would be hard to identify and plus it makes it very unorganised, making it harder to work.

Another think we learn was how to import music and and how the wave lengths work. Wave lengths help us to know which clip will fit to the music. We also learn by pressing 'N' on our keyboard, you can hit it in times with the beats which helps you know what pace you should do your clips at.

We got showed an example of this when there was the same footage but with different types of music. The first video had fast moving people which worked with the music well. The second clip has 5 split bar across the screen which represented the 5 beats in the music.

Entry number 4 - Opening scene to "No Country for Old Men"

In what ways does the opening to “No Country for Old Men” confirm to the conventions of a thriller?

This thriller film is directed by the Cohen Brothers. They start the film off with a dark, silent introduction and then panning across a desolate scene which indicates there is not where to run or hide making it very isolating.
Once getting into the film you get the typical thriller character of the psycho. He kills the police officer, giving it the typical psycho V the conventional police officer. The scene is ended with just the dead police officer’s feet in shot, this could be significant for the narrative of the film.

New theme of deception and being followed by the Psycho. Another character enters the scene seeming normal by hunting but as the scene progresses he doesn’t seem to fazed by the dead bodies which adds a bit of suspicion to his character. This confirmed a convention to a thriller as his character portrays typical thriller films of gain. Another typical thriller theme is used when he leaves the victim (the Spanish man) in the car, this could be possible entrapment.

The last of the scene is shot with red hue on the dusty landscape which is normally associated with blood and death. Finally many of the scenes are shot with a point of view shot which created tension which is another convention of a thriller.

Entry number 3 - Thriller Films

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(genre)
Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film, television, and gaming that includes numerous and often overlapping sub-genres.

007 Casino Royal (2006)
Oceans 11 and 12 (2001 and 2004)
The Knowing (2009)
The Final Destination (2009)

The Fast and The Furious (2001) - An undercover cop infiltrates an underworld subculture of Los Angeles street racers looking to bust a hijacking ring, and soon begins to question his loyalties when his new street racing friends become the prime suspects.
I really enjoyed this film as it kept me in suspense the whole way through. I loved the effects of it considering it was done in 2001. As I recently started media I begun looking at the shots of the camera; I liked the way it shot the cars racing, especially when angling the camera up.

Entry number 2 - Final cut express

Final cut Express
It is a non linear programme used for advanced editing. It lets you edit footage captured in popular formats like AVCHD and DV. (Using DV tapes is perfect as they only store a hour max so that means the software can store it.)

When using the programe you can create the perfect outcome by using audio tracks etc. You can play back your footage using the 'space bar' for play. Also using the 'J', 'K', 'L' for fast forwarding etc. This is useful as you have two screens of footage which makes editing simple.

The time bar at the bottom measured in seconds, this for when putting in audio tracks and so you can see how long a frame is at a time.

Organising work is made simple as just clicking on a drop down menu and creating a bin makes work more organised. This makes you clips easy to get to, especially if you label them like '01' instead on '1' so they go in order.