Editors film sequence evaluation

For our film sequence I was in a group with Hannah, we chose to do a mystery/crime film, for research we watched the classic Alfred Hitchcock film, “Rope” (Hitchcock, 1948), afterwards I watched and studied the climax scene of “Insomnia” (Nolan, 2002). I personally felt that studying these two very different films has given me a very broad view of the genre, which I feel has helped me stay within the boundaries of the genre when it comes to editing as, despite being the same genre they had extremely different editing styles, “Rope” had a very interesting and unique style in which the film features 10 minute long shots, with half of the shot changes cleverly disguised by the camera being blocked by an object during these shot changes, this was because the film was based on a play and Hitchcock wanted to preserve the feeling of a play. Although I liked this editing technique, I chose not to use it when editing our sequence, this is because I felt that using the editing techniques of fast cuts to build tension from insomnia to be more relevant to the feeling I wanted from this sequence.

Before we went out with the camera in order to get our shots completed, Hannah and I did our best in order to make sure that we had studied most of our storyboard to make sure that we knew approximately what we wanted our final product to look like, after we had our first batch of sots, we put them together in a final cut and we re-drafted our storyboard to include more shots that we felt would improve the quality of the cinematography and the editing, then Hannah got the other shots and I began the rough edit, after I played around with the clips in final cut, I found an effective way of editing the shots together so that the camera was constantly switching from the detective to the suspect which I got the idea from the constant cutting between the three central characters in the end sequence of insomnia.

My film studies teacher said that my editing style was similar to that of the recent crime film “the girl with the dragoon tattoo” (Oplev, 2009).

When I looked at editing I chose to do a style more similar to that of insomnia over rope because of the feelings it produced, rope had a feeling of gentle tension and awkwardness which, although I liked I felt it was not the sort of feeling I wanted our sequence to have. Insomnia had an editing style that built up strong tension and concern among the audience as the characters fought. I decided that I wanted our sequence to give a feeling of tension and concern over the characters, for this reason I used short shots in the editing process and I made sure to cut up long shots with either alternative angles or sometimes views of the other party to build a fast pace and strong feeling of tension.

I am extremely pleased with my final short sequence as I feel that I have produced a quality piece of work and have learnt something about how editing in the film industry. Overall I am satisfied with my coursework.

Film Sequence Evaluation

Our film extract was filmed under the genre mystery. The sequence was for the opening of the film. During the opening, the audience are introduced to the two main characters, the detective and the suspect. The narrative of the sequence is that the suspect is unknowingly being observed by the detective, who is following her. This sequence is to set the scene of the film and allow the audience to begin connecting with the detective and allow them to become interested in who the suspect is and why the suspect is being followed. The microelement I focused on was cinematography.

targets for this week

this week our targets are to:
Fred:
Finish rough cut,
Record sound
Hannah:
Film shots of the street to set the scene,
Re-shoot shot of Ruth walking from low angle
Both:
get an idea for what we want for the sound,
get shots of what has inspired our work

How I will contribute to our aims for this week-
-Hannah and I will go through the shots that we've taken and use them to help us improve our storyboard and we can do our best to use mainly the best shots we've done in the final cut.
-I will begin editing for a rough cut based on our storyboard.

Aims for this Week

-Improve story board- when filming we found that we needed to tweak the story board because it was difficult to carry out some shots.
-Finishing filming remaining shots- we need to add to what we filmed earlier and add the new shots drawn out in the story board.
-Rough Editing
-Find music for film extract

Cinematography

This shot is from Episode 2 season 2 of Skins. I want to use a similar shot for the detective when he is watching the suspect so that the detective looks powerful in the sequence but is clearly observing from a distance. I also want to film the suspects from above to show what the detective can see.  The shots together will clearly show the statuses of the characters.

Cinematography

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmFDnhoYI3E

In the episode ‘Partners in Crime’ from Doctor Who I like how the opening sequence as been filmed. Although it is much more upbeat than the sequence we are intending to create, I like the angles and camera movements that have been used. The camera movements, following the characters walking, are similar to the shots I want to use for when the detective and suspect are walking down the street. The pace of the walking with the pace of the music works well together.

The camera movement of the shot in front of the character Donna to the low angle showing the back and the building is an interesting way of introducing the main building, I would like to incorporate this idea when making our film extract.

Risks

1.     Traffic is the main risk while making the film extract, as we will be filming in and around a car park in the centre of town. To try and avoid this problem we will be filming early on a Sunday morning.

2.     While filming in the car park we will need to be careful to avoid any cars that may drive through. As we are using some people to act we will also need to make sure that they avoid cars while filming too.

3.     We will also have to make sure equipment such as cameras do not get wet while filming so they do not get damaged. We will be filming some parts outside so will need to avoid rain by checking the weather before filming.

4.     The area we are filming in is very small and the people who are acting are familiar with the area so there is little chance of anyone getting lost however we need to stay together to make sure we do not get separated. We can use mobile phones to contact anyone if we get separated.

5.     Another risk is theft as we will be using equipment such as cameras to film so we need to make sure that someone is looking after the equipment at all times.

6.     Some shots will be taken from high angles or on staircases. We need to be careful when filming in these places as people could trip and fall or equipment could get damaged.

Costume

Detective-  smart/ casual outfit, professional look. Long coat, shirt, smart trousers, leather shoes.
This outfit will clearly show to the audience that this character is the detective because of the smart, professional look, typical of a detective.
Suspects- Hoodies, casual look. Faces will be hidden throughout the scene to keep their identity hidden.
The hoodies worn by the suspects will contrast with the smart costume of the detective. The audience will be able to tell that they are the suspects and would feel suspicious about them because of their hoodies as these are often seen as a means of concealing ones identity.