Analysis of Preliminary Task

Preliminary Task

Discuss the ways in which Primeval constructs the representation of Gender

Camera shots, angles, movement and composition:

• Locating to the barn, the camera starts out reversing between two shots, we clearly see closer independent shots of the women in the coat so audience members can seek further into her personal facial expressions, however, when we meet with the facial expressions of the male character, the shot is angled at a lower angle and further away to highlight more superior dominating stereotypical behaviour. Camera angles play a huge contribution to giving characters correct status, for example, at the beginning of the sequence the women is at a higher level on the digger and differently the man is at a lower level to show the women holds the power and we are positioned to look at both characters through that perspective.

• Similarly, when the man is running away from the creature, the camera is purposely positioned at a low angle looking up at the creature to make it look bigger and stronger than the man, this gives an unusual impression that the man is weak and more inferior. However, Abby is located to be stronger than both the characters as she confidently holds the higher status from the camera being at a low angle in the frame. All the different cameras give us an insight into representations of gender. Examples of this are when we are looking at the man from a higher angle looking down at him; we could argue his representation of gender is not traditional as he is positioned to be powerless and vulnerable. However, the woman is always positioned from a low angle looking up, conveying to the audience the connation’s of power, underlining unconventional representation.

• Differently, when the woman in the coat is lying on the floor later in the clip, it shifts the common status to show she’s weak as the male characters are looking down at her as well as the camera is. Comparing the two women, we clearly see Abby is strong, powerful and conveys an unconventional representation of gender, where as the lady in the coat is weak and the camera looks down on her giving us ideas she holds a traditional representation of gender. Abby is also purposely the only women working with the men, showing four men and one women almost representing female positions. The composition of all the characters standing in the frame together, allows audience members to seek males having traditional status. For instance, the man with the gun trying to save the women in the coat is positioned right at the front of shot and everyone else is gathered behind him, suggesting he is the natural leader and a good attribute for the male traditional representation of gender.

Sound:

• Firstly, when Abby is positioned on the digger, we are met with the strong use of pleonastic mechanical sounds of the digger to build immediate tension; this also highlights how big and dangerous the machine is and the loud struggle. Audience members normally associate male characters to be approaching the difficult, dangerous job. The effective use of diegetic sound of linguistic dialogue quoting “Abby, stop stop” indicates he is pressuring the female character to do all the work, which audience members are not typically used to and also from his high pitched vocal tones this suggests he is in a sate of panic and fear. We are secondly forced to listen to a loud, heavy sound track to highlight how dominant and alarming the creature is, this helps the audience to understand the difficult problem the women has to sort out.

• The women with the coat is in danger so the music is at a very fast pace to build the tension and this is also seen through the mans protective normal body language, this could highlight she is a damsel in distress. We hear Abby quote “are you okay” her low pitch and slow pace can similarly be related to a male’s voice. Similarly, when the weak man is running away from the creature, he’s repeatedly using diegetic sound to scream ‘Abby’ which highlights consistent fear and dismay from a man almost suggesting he needs help the way he’s delivering his line and not the women. One could argue he’s pushing her forward and he’s trying to hide behind her back in a sense.

Mise en Scene:

• Through the effective use of costumes and appearance, we usually associate women to have long hair, maybe wearing excess of makeup and commonly caring about their appearance. Although, Abby in the first scene does is completely opposite as she has short hair, is wearing a black leather jacket and looks very similar to the man in the drama. Abby also shows no aspects of elegant behaviour through her gestures and body language, instead we are forced to see her strong man like behaviour. However, the female character falling into the haystack has her hair elegantly up, wearing makeup, wearing a smart coat and boots and her body language is shown to be delicate and smaller actions. She also immediately quotes when she gets up “My best coat” this portrays to audience members she cares most about her appearance, highlighting this is her main priority, so she is a typical representation of a traditional female character by caring more about her personal problems instead of caring about others.

• When the man is running away from the creature, he runs to a prop including a long rope of stairs, this prop helps to show his clever thoughts of running to a higher level although the creature manages to catch up. Also, Abby arrives with a big gun suggesting no fear of props and similarly in the barn scene, Abby is standing with the male characters holding a gun; the use of the prop shows her strong, brave male behaviour representing her as having traditional attributes to a male character. By using three expensive cars as props it highlights the upper class appearance of the characters and their man like belongings.

Editing

• At the beginning of the scene, small short cuts were shown and not a lot was happening but it increasingly sped up when the character was chasing the man conveying he was frightened and the pace picked up. There was also slow motion as the lady fell highlighting the fact she was weaker and needed rescuing and it was slow when the man arrived to save her reinforcing gender roles.

Initial Thriller Ideas

As I am now embarking upon our thriller opening sequences, I have constantly been thought tracking and producing initial ideas. Initially thinking of ideas irrupted some challenges as these ideas need to be creative and successfully completed within the time frame. When thinking of ideas, I notably considered the many things I have beneficially been taught in studio lessons as well as in lessons.

Camera Shots, Angles and Movement

Establishing shot (E.S): This shot allows the audience to know an overview of the setting and location of the film.

Extreme Longshot (E.LS):This is used to set the scene and to provide context, however does not give much information on the characters.

Long Shot (L.S): This shot shows a clearer, full body shot to identify the characters and their costumes.

Mid Long Shot (M.L.S): This shot captures one’s body from their thighs upwards to show more personal detail.

Mid Shot (M.S): This shot could be appropriately used for a convocation.

Close up (C.U): This shot allows the audience to pay particular attention to seek into characters personalities. This shot could similarly be used to highlight props or gestures portrayed.

Extreme Close Up (E.C.U): This extreme shot is used to intimidate the audience and give an insight into more specific detail.

High Angle Shot: This shot is used to make the object look inferior, making them look small and powerless.

Low Angle Shot: This particular angle allows the character to look superior and gives them status.

Point of view shot (POV): This shot shows a view from the subject's perspective, this gives audience members a further impact on the characters position.

Over the shoulder shot: This is shot from behind a person who is looking at the subject. It helps to establish the position of each person, commonly used during a convocation.





Canted Angle (Dutch Angle):This angle is usually tilted and used to confuse the audience, making them feel dizzy.

Pan: The camera lens remains firmly on its axis, moving from one side or another. (Looking to your left and then to your  right)

Zoom: This involves changing the focal length of the lens to make the subject appear closer or further away in the frame.

Tilt: This movement consists of the camera lens moving up or down whilst keeping its horizontal axis constant.

Track: The camera moves either left to right or front and back, while keeping the subject centred (moving alongside the action or subject.)

Use of sound in Horror/Thriller sequences

I chose to study the thrillers ‘Thorns’ and 'Falter' as they both successfully use sound to achieve specific effects for the audience. It is of high importance for sound devices to be used correctly in thrillers as this allows the tension to build and the audience to grasp the meaning.

For example in the sequence ‘Thorns’ the clip is introduced with a non-diegetic sound of a mellow dramatic, dark, dull sound track of mysterious music to allow the audience to consider the mood and atmosphere in the sequence. The effective use of weather overlapping the music is portrayed to highlight an ambient diegetic sound of the wind howling, the effect of this is to create a sinister feel immediately as the sequence begins. After 8 tense seconds of diegetic howling and high pitched muffled tracks, we are met with a pleonastic sound effect of a door suddenly opening, alongside as a pleonastic sound of an actors footsteps heavily walking

in to heighten the mood and sound. The muffled, low howl is constantly heard throughout the sequence to seek mystery at all times and to allow sound bridges through gestures. We are continuingly met with loud pleonastic sounds of the actor slowly slicing the stem with a knife a few times, the effect of this is for audience members to become more alert and start questioning ideas. Importantly observing, the non-diegetic sound track increases in the background when the actor brushes the black paint, suggesting we normally associate to black to tense dark situations, so the increasing sound enhances this. The diegetic and pleonastic sound of a clock ticking is used to accentuate the silence of the room and suggests ideas that time is important. The soundtrack then builds in pace and volume as the actor cut his finger, the effect of this is to allow the audience to realize the main focus is on his finger at this point. Continuing, ‘thorns’ uses a strong diegetic sound of a mobile phone ringing and loud vocal tones quoting incorrect words, this creates tension and the characters dialogue to help audience members to seek his personality. We finally hear the sound track increasing as the actor is hanging the black rose to build tension to the atmosphere and to heighten the mysterious climax.

Similarly I studied the use of sound in ‘Falter’ as it is similar to ‘Thorns’ in many ways but portrays a completely different message; I appreciated how sound can be used in so many different ways to achieve certain effects. ‘Falter’ immediately uses a low muffled diegetic sound of an ambient train moving this sound set the sequence and instantly creates tension. By using a sound of a train passing, it makes the audience more alert and the effect of this is to promptly heighten the pace. We are met shortly after with the sounds of the characters struggle and rustling of his feet and body. The effect of using a pleonastic sound of the actors foot dragging against the floor adds to the tense atmosphere and enhances the tension portrayed. Heavy diegetic breathing exaggerates the use of suspense and we can clearly see the actors intensified battle through short breaths. This thriller is closely compared to ‘Thorns’ as I wanted to find two thrillers using the same diegetic sound effect of a mobile phone ringing. In this sequence, when the mobile phone rings, the pace and volume increases within the clip and the diegetic ringing is made clearer for the audience to feel more alert and this builds curiosity. The strong gestures lead to the diegetic and pleonastic sounds of the characters clothes rustling and the chair hitting the ground, the effect of this is to exaggerate the struggle the two actors are battling for and this makes members of the audience feel more tense through sudden, sharp sounds. I recognized ‘Falters’ uses a low heartbeat to purposely add tension to the building of the actor’s death but also observe when he dies the subtle heart beat stops. The effect of the heartbeat is to allow sound bridges to be noticed but also to have a continuing base.

Both clips use strong diegetic sound for effect and similarly use clear pleonastic sounds of characters gestures and sounds. Although ‘Thorns’ uses soundtracks as a stimulus, however ‘Falter’s’ does not. In contrast to ‘Thorns’ there was no vocal dialogue heard throughout the whole sequence, the effect of this creates a huge impact on the use of silent communication. For example, when the actor answers his phone, it allows the audience to appreciate his non-verbal communication through his successful facial expressions and body language creating mysterious building tension. However, both thrillers successfully heighten the tension and suspense throughout and achieve the most beneficial climaxes.

In thrillers, the conventions of the genre are normally created to identify some characteristics. For instance, the aim of thrillers is to create suspense, tension and excitement for the audience. Violence is central to most thrillers and the location set is normally in a dark, mysterious areas. Usually it will be rational rather than supernatural. Personally, I feel both the thriller sequences successfully are genre conventions and I learnt through both the thrillers, specific sound creates specific effects, for instance, breathing.

The sound in both clips have added a huge impact in building tension, although silence is very powerful, the use of sound helps the clip heighten mystery and even alarm spooky aspects. The sound has been very effective and has grasped the audience in both clips. I appreciate the successful use of sound devices in both thrillers and I understand how important sound is, showing how one small sound can portray a huge message.

'Thorns'- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZIPyLfzPqo&list=PL_P5ZEHuHS2Zm0WOOaHx30LbQmrPJHhew&index=12

'Falter' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rafCcqHcOI&list=PL_P5ZEHuHS2Zm0WOOaHx30LbQmrPJHhew&index=9

Studio Lesson 4: Preliminary Task

Yesterday, we were not introduced to anything new, instead we were asked to create a task including shooting all different angles and producing a build up of tension and suspense throughout a sequence. We were put into groups of 4, my group included Georgia, Cesca, Jess and myself. Jess and I were playing actresses in this sequence and Georgia was made the director, following by Cesca being the camera director. Personally, I feel my group worked very effectively together and successfully achieved many positive outcomes.

We were given a stimulus to follow, involving a sheet with specific angles to include, however, we accurately went beyond this task and filmed different shots and angles to create originality and to help include our initial thoughts. We used a Sony NX5 camera and placed it correctly on a tripod and quickly began our filming. Fortunately, placing it on a tripod was fast and easy as we have had lots of practice and therefore this does not waste any time. I understood we needed to include shots, technical terms and many more points we had learnt in previous lessons to create a successful sequence, for instance, remembering the 180 degree rule and quoting directors dialogue.

Firstly, throughout filming the rushes we learnt it is vital that we film the whole scene from start to end for all the different angled shots. This is very useful and effective when starting to edit our sequences as we will have a number of different shots but all producing the same amount of time and subject; for example, when we want to match up two different shots it will allow smoother transitions and will be achieved in a much quicker time. Our filming was introduced with a wide shot of the scene as it is very important to set the scene. Continuing, we directed our first sequence to have myself walking in through the door, and immediately quoting the first line of the scene; we initially intended myself to straight away start speaking to add quicker pace and sudden tension.  Secondly, we filmed many more shots, including over the shoulder shots, close ups, extreme close ups and more wide angles, however, I think we should of shot a long shot of the characters feet walking in and out the situation. I learnt by including extreme close up shots it allows the audience to appreciate the characters facial reactions and how they are feeling through expressions. Similarly we shot a close up of the hockey stick being snatched out of the character ‘B’s’ hand to enhance the tension and exaggerate the viewers response.

At the beginning of shooting we considered how to include different new sounds and techniques learnt. For instance, at the end of our rushes we used a pleonastic sound of the door slamming behind me to create suspense and continue to build the tension in the shot. For our use of location we directed our sequence to be filmed in a classroom and decided to include a hockey stick as our prop to achieve mysterious thoughts and to maybe seek more tension. We used post it notes with ‘x’s on to increase the continuity of the scene and to allow correct direction from the director at all times.

We completed this task in order to help us to continue to practice our skills to lead up to our thrillers and to feel more comfortable within shooting the rushes. Personally, I feel this preliminary task helped me to understand the contrast between the first lesson of filming and this lesson, as I felt more confident using the devices and technical terms; this was therefore very beneficial and made me feel more eager to continue practicing and filming in future.  In my opinion, we didn’t run out of time, we didn’t get distracted easily and we worked effectively to achieve the best outcome possible, this was helped my correct team members in my group with their attitude and discipline towards the task. To prepare for next time when filming rushes I would continue to work quicker and practice the different filming angles in my own time.  

Studio Lesson 3: Editing

In our 3^rd studio lesson we were taught the basics of editing our previous sequence. We were introduced to a new programme called ‘Adobe Premiere.’ This is a very important video editing software application allowing us to seek many new techniques and ideas.

We were firstly shown how to find our specific work and then how to deal with it. Primarily you launch the programme ‘Adobe Premiere’ and open the window at the top left to add a folder files where fortunately this allows us to collect all our relevant information in this project window.

Key factors we then learnt are there are two video screens, a timeline at the bottom of the screen going from left to right. The two channels are highlighted with ‘V1, V2 and V3’ meaning video channels and similarly ‘A1, A2 and A3’ for audio channels. We also got taught about ‘bins’ this name is associated with the word folders. ‘Bins’ appeared in old film terms to highlight waste labels. To launch a new bin you press ‘folder’ and then ‘new’, and lastly ‘bin.’ This is a prime important section from the premiere.

Secondly we learnt about a new term called ‘rushes’ meaning footage. The word rushes originates from another film making term which simply means at the end of a shoot the footage would be rushed off and be developed over night for the producer and director to figure out what’s going on the next day’; in America it is known as ‘daily’s’ as the footage or rushes are developed in one day. Continuing we look at rushes shoots and then clicked on an icon-populating window, this allows us to fully watch our footage. I learnt if you click on words you can rename things and press play to start the footage or press the space bar. The blue bar allows you to play back footage or scrub forwards and backwards through these rushes.

I remembered Matt saying for a head start towards our thrillers or bigger projects as film working is very much a team game, so therefore we were hinted about ‘log shots’ which allows one to save items as this will always take you back to the main source in case the editing fails. I learnt about two principles of cutting, for example, ‘last moment in’ and ‘first moment out’, this helps us when we find a moment of action happening. For instance, (I) highlights a blue marker to select your chosen part and (O) for ending it. Progressing on, you drag the picture down onto my timeline and you can zoom in and out for closer detail using the ‘+’ and ‘-‘ on our keyboards. Finally, we were asked to find moments when there was some big motion happening and cut a movement in to allow smooth transitions and continuity slipping (matching up two shots.)

Personally I found the lesson very effective and it helped me to gain an understanding of the concept of editing and heightened the enjoyment of learning new things and working on our own sequence. From this successful studio lesson I gained a lot that I can effectively use in the future for personal editing work, for example in the upcoming ‘Preliminary Task’ and ‘Thriller sequences.’  I am excited to learn many more

tricks and aspects of ‘Adobe Premiere.’

Progressing on, I primarily thought of how to use my new editing techniques in forthcoming work, for instance in the ‘Preliminary Task’ and ‘Thriller sequences.’ I will use the clever smooth transitions, cutting and continue to develop my skills on ‘Adobe Premiere’ by practicing.