Lighting

Lighting can be the difference between a professional, interesting shot and a dull and rookie one. Different lighting can set specific moods, playing to the audiences sub conscious. For example, in a horror film, there is more likely to be a range of darker shades and low key lighting, in contrast a comedy is likely to use high key lighting with bright colours and a warm temperature. Below are a few examples of lighting techniques in film:

Bokeh - Blurring background light sources and focusing on a subject matter in the foreground.

Soft light - Soft pools of light on a part of an actors face.

Light tint - Different tints can be used over a light to give the scene a different look. Matrix uses a green tint in many shots to show futurism. 

Contrast - The use of silhouetting  and high contrast enhances the mood of a shot, making the actors either stand out or difficult to make out depending on what contrasts to what background.

Balancing colour temperatures - using lights of different colour in the same shot can reiterate the location, mood and atmosphere. This is put to best effect in Terminator 2 at the end scene in the steel mill. Orange and blue are used in the same shot to show molten metal and moonlight.

High key - Using brighter lighting so that the characters are easily visible, mostly used in comedies.

Low key - Using darker lighting and colours to set a mysterious and uncertain atmosphere in the shot. Mostly used in horror films.

Hot edges - This technique requires using a soft light on the front of the character (Fill light) and a stronger light on the rear (Backlight) to give the character a hot edge around their body.

Top lighting - When a light source from above shines down on the subject matter, illuminating it from above.

Our film Ideas and Synopsis

Our initial ideas for our opening sequence of a film are as follows:
A film following the life of Issei Sagawa. Issei was a Japanese man who in 1981, while studying in Paris, killed and cannibalised on a Dutch student named Renee Hartevelt.

In a 2011 Vice documentary, Sagawa claimed his desire for human flesh originated from seeing a males thigh while at school. He also confessed to bestiality with his dog while he was a child.
When he was 23, In Tokyo, Sagawa followed a German woman home with the intent to murder and eat her, however she awoke after a small bit of flesh was taken and called the police. Sagawa was areested for attempted rape, he did not confess to his true intentions.
When he was 28, he emigrated to France to study for a PhD in literature at Sorbonne. While in Paris he claimed "Almost every night I would bring a prostitute home and then try to shoot them, but for some reason my fingers froze up and I couldn't pull the trigger." 
When Issei was 32, he invited a classmate to his apartment for dinner with the false intent of translating poetry for a school assignment. Issei had selected Renee for her health characteristics which he claimed he lacked, he said later said he wanted to absorb her energy through cannibalisation.
Issei shot Renee in the back of her head with a rifle, immediately afterwards he fainted. He later awoke and tried to cut into her flesh. He purchased a butchers knife to cut Renee up easily and stored body parts in his fridge for 2 days, occasionally eating various parts of her.
Issei then tried to dump the remaining body parts in a river in two suitcases. However he was caught in the act and arrested by French police.
Issei was jailed for a while in France but after being diagnosed with mental illness he was extradited to Japan where he lived out the rest of his life freely.

Of course the story is a bit more complicated that this and if I were making a full film I would explain it all in detail. However we are shooting only the opening to the film. In this short clip we have the task of identifying Issei, creating an enigma, creating tension and suspense and keeping the viewer interested and keen on watching the remainder of the film in theory.

Our early idea for the short clip is having Issei walking through a graveyard at night dressed in all black. We also want to depict Issei's first victim which he followed home and attempted to eat. A short chase scene and a final scene of Issei hiding in the woman's home should be included. To create suspense, the attempt on the woman's life should not be included in the opening as this will create tension and hold the viewers attention. We were also thinking of having a scene of Issei dumping two suitcases at the beginning to create an enigma, however this idea is dependant on how much time is left after the other scenes.

Rule Of Thirds

The rule of thirds is a well known compositional factor to consider when shooting film or photography. The concept is splitting the frame into 9 blocks by 4 lines as pictured below.

Placing subject matters along the lines or on the intersections between the lines creates a visually aesthetic image. The image becomes more balanced and enables the viewer to connect with it more naturally. Studies have shown that people natural reaction when viewing an image is to look off centre, to the imaginary lines. Placing subject matters along the lines, or at the intersections, works with the viewers natural reaction, rather than against it. Below are a few of my own examples of rule of thirds. I have placed subject matters along the imaginary lines and intersections.

Audience Feedback / Mid Project Review

As our film starts to take shape, it is important for us to obtain audience feedback. We did this by finding people similar to our Audience profile and showing them what footage we have so far and asking for their feedback. We asked for some things they liked as well as improvements they thought we should make. All feedback I am sharing is confidential.

Positives:
- The sound effects when the pigs are shown, this was said to create an enigma as well as dramatic effect. This scene caused our audience to cuss profanities in shock, this shows how powerful our film is in provoking a response.
- Leading lines were used to good effect, drawing the viewers eyes onto the focus of each shot.
- The high angle shots used create effect, making the female actress seem vulnerable, as if she's being watched.

Negatives:
- A lot of the feedback was in relation to our titles and lack of them. The effects in which the title come on screen also needs work.
- While we haven't completed our film, two of the audience commented on the camera sound being heard in the film. This reduces believability and needs taking out of our final piece.
- Because of the timing of our filming, many of the clips seem grainy and out of focus. This gives the film an unprofessional look. However the only solution to the problem is refilming what have done so far at a more suitable time of day when there is a lot more natural light.
- Our actors and their characters lack any introduction or shots establishing who they are/what they're like. To change this, shots and props will be used highlighting key areas of their personalities.

Opening Sequence Analysis (Narcos)

Mrs Elliott, our media studies tutor, has informed us that our main task will be to create the opening/title sequence of a feature length film. Although we haven't been given a criteria for this task yet, I think it would better my odds of creating a decent film if i researched into the topic. In this post I will analyse the opening sequence of Narcos as well as

Narcos is an American crime thriller based around the life of Pablo Escobar, The show aired first on August 28, 2015 as a Netflix exclusive. I have chosen to analyse the opening of this particular show as it has a lot in common with what i am trying to achieve with my own opening sequence. Narcos is based on real events, it is about crime and shows both sides of the story (from the protagonist's view as well as the antagonists). the difference between my envision and Narcos is that I am trying to create a horror/thriller film while Narcos is a crime/political television show.

In the opening credits of Narcos, a spanish song is played from around the same era as the show is set. the images on screen are all either photographs or 2 second long film clips. All the photographs and film is real footage from the time depicting mostly Pablo Escobar and cocaine. There are also photographs of women, DEA agents and money. All of these things make up the show so having them in the opening informs the audience of what they're about to watch. the opening of Narcos shows both sides of the story, both from the the american DEA agents as well as Escobar and his cocaine smuggling army. This is important as it's what I want to do with my opening scene.

In my opening scene, I want to incorporate real photographs of the time period it's set in. I want these photographs to link directly to the film. Because my opening is for a horror/thriller, I want to use disturbing images such as victims bodies and bloodstained crime scenes. This will hopefully set the tone for the rest of the film. I don't want to use music in my opening scene as i feel silence would create tension and dramatic affect.

The Power Of Sound

Sound in film sets the mood/atmosphere, creates realism and believability and also puts meaning behind footage in terms of dialogue. Sound is often taken for granted in film however without it, you would notice. Silent films were once popular, however they would struggle to keep up with today's films with sound.

sound can be edited to film or recorded alongside the film at the same time. It is now uncommon for sound to be recorded (besides dialogue) alongside the film. therefore, many websites have sprung up offering royalty free music and sound effects that are copyright free and therefore safe to edit into a film.

Sound will often change with genre, for example horror films will often hold back on sound to create tension before using loud and unpleasant sounds to incite a reaction from the audience. This is perhaps seen best in paranormal activity.

Rhythm is often used in films in music such as Jaws, but also in dialogue. This is best shown in 'any given Sunday' when Al Pacino's character gives a speech, pausing after every 3 words/sentence. this creates dramatic affect and makes the audience more inclined to listen to him.