Unit 22 - A1 - Open Vs Closed Endings

Unit 22 - Assignment 1 - Task 3

Narrative Endings

Open ending: An open ending is a film which has a cliff hanger and questions aren't quite answered and they tend to leave the audience guessing what's going to happen next.

Closed ending: A closed ending is a film which has an ending and every question is answered and the audience understands everything that's happened.

Existing Open endings:

• Fifty Shades Of Grey
• The Hunger Games Catching Fire
• The Dark Knight Rises
• Avatar

Existing Closed endings:

• Southpaw
• Scarface
• Rocky
• The Godfather

Avatar

Advantages to open endings: 

• There are many perks to open ending films. The advantages to the open ending's are limitless. One of the advantages to open endings is that it allows the viewer to create their own ending. Sometimes the viewer isn't too pleased with the director's ending so with open ending's it allows you to make up your own ending with your own imagination which allows you to feel good about yourself. An example of a film that was successful from an open ending would be Avatar. This film everyone believed there would be a sequel but it never happened. People made their own endings and this is why it became successful. 

• Another advantage to open ending films is that it allows you to have discussions with your peers over what you have seen. You can discuss what scenes that you liked and which scenes that you didn't like.You can also have a debate about how you believe the film should of ended so you are able to share your opinions. This is a huge advantage of open ending films because it gives you something to talk about. 

• I believe that the target audience for avatar is from 12+. This is because it is a quite a gruesome film which is more appropriate for people over the age of 12. It isn't for the younger generations' eyes.

The Dark Knight Rises

• The Dark Knight Rises was a film which followed a linear structure throughout the whole film and the audience believed that at the end he died. However the final scene showed Alfred staring at Bruce Wayne who was supposedly dead in a café. The advantage of this is that it keeps the audience guessing and it makes them wonder what's next. 

Scarface

Advantages to closed endings:

• One of the advantages to closed endings is that it gives the audience closure. Sometimes when a film doesn't have an ending and it's left at a cliff-hanger it can play with the viewers mind. However if there is a closed ending you receive closure from the film and this stops you from losing your mind from trying to figure out what could of happened. An example would be Scarface, At the end of the film he gets shot in the back and this gives the audience closure because if he survives the audience will start to wonder what's next for him, 

• Another advantage to closed endings is that the audience don't have to wait for another part to come out. Films that have open endings always leave the viewers wanting to see the rest but sometimes they don't even produce another film which leaves the viewers frustrated.

Southpaw

• Southpaw follows the story of a professional boxer who is unbeaten in 43 professional fights. There is one guy that wants to fight him but that fight doesn't seem like it's going to happen. At a ceremony his wife dies and this guy had something to do with it. The boxer was forced  back into the ring and he lost his first fight. He loses his mind and drives into a tree. He loses custody of his daughter and he also loses his mansion. He has to prove that he can take care of his daughter. He begins to go to a gym where the trainer had a boxer that defeated him but he paid of the judges. This trainers begins to train him and he gets a fight to avenge the death of his wife with the guy that had something to do with the death of his wife. He wins the fight and wins his world title back. The advantage of the close ending here on the audience is that they get closure and they get happy at the outcome in the end.

• I believe that the target audience for this film is 12+. I also believe that the gender that there is so specific gender that this film is aimed at. Due to it's aggressive nature it may not be influential for younger children to view.

Unit 22 - A1 - Technical Features

Unit 22 - Assignment 1 - Task 4

Technical features

There are many shot types in films which we don't tend to notice. As viewers we just watch films but we never consider the types of shots that are taken whilst filming. We just get the luxury of being able to view the final piece of a film production, but we never consider the types of shots that are taken for these films. Also when filming we never acknowledge the types of angles in which films are shot. There are mainly two common angles. As viewers we only see what is in front of us but we don't consider the type of angle in which a particular scene has been shot in. I believe one of the reasons we don't tend to notice shot types is because the editors edits the scenes in such a good way that the shot types are barely noticeable for the audience. Also the audience are so drawn to the film that they don't look at the shot types that are being used. This can come down too how good a film is. If the film is good the audience will be enjoying themselves so much that they will not be aware of the shot types that are occurring in the film.

Extreme Long Shot: An extreme long shot is a shot which is taken from a very far distance. The people in this shot type are difficult to see clearly.  An advantage of this shot is that it establishes the setting and you see more clearly the surroundings in which the person is in. It also tells the audience about the type of environment that the person lives in and what their day to day life looks like. An example of an extreme long shot would be in the film 'The Dark Knight Rises'. In the image below you can see that they have established the scene and the main character even though it is difficult to see him it shows the audience the environment he's surrounded in.

Very Long Shot: A very long shot is quite similar to an extreme long shot. However with this shot type you begin to see the person a bit more clearly. Their whole body is viewable. An advantage to a very long shot is similar to an extreme long shot is but you can see the person more clearly. As you can see in the image below, it begins to focus more on the character and the setting in the imagine begins to get smaller. Difference between an very long shot and an extreme long shot is the character becomes more visible to the audience.

Long shot: A long shot tends to show the whole human figure much closer. With this shot the setting becomes extremely small and we begin to just focus on the human figure more. An advantage of the long shot would be that it can create excitement for the viewer because you get to see the person extremely clearly. You can see the person's face with this shot. The long shot is also used to set a scene in a film. As you can see in the image below the scene is set and you can see the character more  then anything else.

Medium Long Shot: A medium long shot is a shot in which you can only see the human figure from knee's upwards. An advantage of this shot type would be that you get to focus on the upper body more. An example would be in The Dark Knight Rises where he goes to get his batman suit. You can focus on the physique of his upper body.

Medium Shot: A medium shot is a shot which is shown waist upwards. This shot type completely cuts out the lower body. This shot type is commonly used in interviews. The advantage of this shot would be that when watching a film it will direct the viewer to clearly show the subject of a scene. An example would be in The Dark Knight Rises where Batman is just in the middle of the road. This image suggests that he is confident and very relaxed due to his body language.

Close up: A close up is a shot which is only shows the face of a character. The whole body is cut from this shot and you can only see from face upwards. An advantage of this shot would be that it allows the viewer to analyse the facial expressions in more depth and the viewers are able to see the emotions the characters may be experiencing through these emotions. An example of a close up would be an image of the joker with a slightly blurred batman behind him. This image creates quite a sinister atmosphere, This shot is at eye level with the joker which makes the viewer feel slightly intimidated by him.

Crane shot: This is a shot type in which the camera tends to move about freely. This shot type is mostly used to establish the setting. An example of a crane shot would be in Eastenders when someone is leaving the square they film from a birds eye view. An advantage of this shot would be that the viewers gets to see the surroundings.

Camera Angles:

High Angle Shot: This is an angle where the camera is placed above the character/object to minimize it's significance. The advantage of this angle would be that it allows the viewer to look down at the object/character. This engages the viewer and it also makes them feel like they are part of the film. High Angle's are used commonly when parents look down at their children in films.

Low Angle Shot: This shot is the complete opposite to the high angle shot. This angle is shot from below the person. This angle tends to show the upper body of the character. It also tends to show the power and authority of the character. An example of of this angle would of be in the Dark Knight Rises as the director uses low angle shots on the joker to show off his power. It can effect the audience because it makes them feel like slightly intimidated by him.

Camera Movements:

Dolly Shot:  This is a movement when the camera is placed on a dolly track. This helps to follow a scene. This camera movement would be used often in a chase so it can keep following the action. An advantage of this shot would be that it allows the audience to follow the action and keep them engaged. This is effective because it allows the film to also have a flow to it and it will help the film run smoothly.

Tracking Shot: This is a movement which is similar ti a dolly shot. It tends to follow the action that is taking place in the scene. The advantage of this would be that it helps the viewers keep up to speed with the action. This allows the director a lot of freedom. Due to a tracking shot they won't have to keep setting up again, the tracking shot allows the film to flow and it saves time.

Sound techniques:

In films we don't tend to notice how much affect sound has on films. Without sound a scene can seem very boring. However with sound it can the scene seem more dramatic and it can also build tension.
Sound can help to create a mood within a particular scene. There tends to be two sounds that are used in films. These sounds are diegetic and non-diegetic. A diegetic sound is a sound which the audience and the character can hear whereas non-diegetic sounds, only the audience can hear. An example of a diegetic sound would be a glass smashing and an example of of a non-diegetic sound would be music in the background which the character won't be able to hear.

Voice over: This is a common sound that is used in films. This is used to narrate to the audience. This has a huge advantage because it helps the audience understand the situation that the character is in right now. It also helps them understand the characters background. The voice over allows the audience to understand the story more clearly and why the character is there in the present day.

Sound bridge:  A sound bridge is commonly used in films when they attempt to bridge with two scenes. This means that they will use music to connect two scenes which have a similar mood. For example if there is happy music in the background they will show happy images. This will help the audience understand the connection in the scene.

Foley sounds: These sounds are usually used to add a sense of realism to a scene. These sounds are usually done during the editing process by a foley artist. An example of this would be if there was a gun fight. Without the sound of the gunshot the scene seems boring. The advantage of this is that it intrigues the audience.

Direct address: This is when a character is talking to an audience directly. This can be known as a monologue. This sound is usually used so that there is interaction with the audience. It allows the character to express itself and it allows the audience to think that they are part of the film through this interaction.

Editing Techniques:

As viewers when we watch films we only see what is in front of us. We never wonder how many mistakes may have been made during filming. There is so much editing that happens during post to ensure that the film is good enough to release and show to the world. There are loads of examples of editing techniques.

180° degree rule: This is where there is a guideline between the relationship of 2 characters in a scene. The advantage of this technique would be that the audience stays focused.

Reverse shot: This is when one character is shown looking at other characters. These characters are shown back to the audience as looking at the first character. This tends to make the audience believe they are facing each other. An advantage of a reverse shot is that it intrigues the audience.

Weekly Production Log 1

This week we have been finalising our storylines and finishing off our storyboards for our film. Unfortunately we haven't been able to film any of scenes which we have written down on the storyboard. This is because we were given a faulty camera which didn't work unless the charger was plugged in. This did us no favours we were not able to get access to the charger. Also we couldn't film during this week because each group member was busy on the day in which another group member was free. Unfortunately during the week no group members were available on any dates therefore we were not able to get any filming done.

However in this week we managed to write our script and get half of it done. This helped us understand which scenes we could film during the week.

Unit 22 - A1 - Narrative Structures (Linear/Non-Linear)

Unit 22 - Assignment 1 – Task 2

Narrative structures

A man called Tzvetan Todorov created a theory which had stages to it. What he believed was these stages showed that most films followed the same pattern or path. He called the theory ‘uses and gratifications‘. Here are the 5 stages to his theory.

•       Equilibrium: Setting is established, key characters are introduced and the storyline is set up.

•       Disruption: Oppositional characters appear and the story takes a particular direction.

•     Recognition: The lives of the characters and events are interweaves. Tension tends to build         through this long section.

•     Repair: The highest point of tension, the climax of the film.

•     New Equilibrium: Matters are sorted out, problems solved and questions answered.

An existing film that shows each 5 stages of Todorov’s theory is ‘ Shrek 2 ‘. Below I will illustrate how each stage is used.

Equilibrium: The equilibrium is conveyed in the opening scenes of this film. Shrek in the previous film has fallen in love with Princess Fiona and they are on their honeymoon. They’re both extremely happy, the disruption soon comes when Fiona’s parents invite Shrek and Fiona to their kingdom in far far away.

 

Disruption: The disruption during the film is conveyed when they are invited but Shrek doesn’t

want to go her parents because he is happy with the life that he’s got. He decides to go and he isn’t impressed by Fiona’s father who instantly dislikes him. An example of the disruption would be when they first meet. Below you can see the dislike on her father’s face, this denotes that there is a change of direction is the story.

Recognition: The recognition in this film is conveyed in many scenes. Tension continues to build up between Shrek and Fiona's father. An example of a scene in which recognition is shown in when they are having dinner. This scenes shows Fiona's father not being impressed with Shrek's table manners. The imagine below shows the tension judging by his facial expression he is not happy.

Repair: The repair in thus film is shown various times. Shrek is locked in a room by the fairy godmother and Prince Charming pounces at a vulnerable Princess Fiona. This is the highest point of climax because Fiona is lied too and Shrek loses her. The imagine below shows Shrek's trying to gain Fiona's attention but it isn't working. His facial expression shows that he's in disbelief and its hurting.

New Equilibrium: The new equilibrium in fairlytales are always happy endings. In this film Shrek manages to stop Fiona from kissing Prince Charming and he wins her back. The image below shows them getting back together and sharing a passionate moment. The new equilibrium is established, everything is sorted and now they embark on a new adventure.

Linear Structure

• Linear: Linear is when a film follows a story from beginning to middle to the end in chronological order, it has no flashbacks. 

• Non-Linear: Non-Linear doesn't have a specific order. The story isn't straightforward there can twists and there also tend to be flashbacks. 

Examples of Linear:

• Big Momma's House
• Cinderella
• White Chicks
• Karate Kid

Examples of Non-Linear:

• Scot Pilgrim Vs The World
• Slumdog Millionaire
• Titanic
• 21 Jump Street
• Fast and furious 7

Linear

An example of a linear film would be the film 'Karate Kid'. This film follows the whole linear theory. There are no flashbacks and everything in the story is in chronological order, there are no twists, the film just occurs in perfect co-ordination. 

This film follows the story of a boy who lived in USA but has just recently moved to China.He struggles to settle in to his new country, He finds it difficult to make any friends at school and there is a group of boys who feel the need to constantly bully him. He struggles to cope and ends up blaming his mum for moving to China. However during one attack by the boys the maintenance man comes to his rescue by producing karate. The boy is so intrigued by this that he wants to take up karate but the maintenance man refuses to teach him. The link below shows this scene. There is where the beginning of the film is as learns about the art of karate. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zETEdwV4ko


Towards the middle of the film the boy is threatened more and he begins to hide. The group of boys attend a karate training session. The maintenance man goes with the boy and he make an agreement with the trainer that his boys will leave him if he agrees to participate in this karate tournament. The maintenance man tells the boy he will train him. And the training begins. This is where the story takes a change in direction. Although it takes a change it direction it is still understandable and predictable, it's as if the audience expected it. 

Every film has it's ending, The ending in linear films tend to be understandable. The audience should be able to predict what's going to happen. In this film the boy wins the karate tournament. Linear films always have a chronological order. This film shows this because everything made sense. In the link below you can see the final scene.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=939kXCYK98U

I believe that this films target audience was for children and adults. I also believe that the ethnicity for this film is every ethnicity because it is a film about bullying and martial arts which can apply to anyone. I also believe that there is no specific gender for this film and that everyone can watch it.  I believe the linear structure was beneficial because it made sense for audience. This helped the audience because they were able to understand the story more whereas with non-linear it can leave the viewers confused.


Non-Linear

An example of a non-linear film would be 'Fast and Furious 7'. This story follows an on going franchise which has been going on for about 15 years, This film follows the main character and his crew who attempt to take down a villain that killed one of their friends in Tokyo. The story leaves the viewers quite puzzled. There tends to be quite a few flashbacks.

The Franchise had left viewers extremely puzzled when one of the crew members died in film number 3 but he still starred in film 4,5,6. In 7 they bring back a scene from number 3 which is a flashback. This already confuses the viewers because the story doesn't make sense. You can see below in the link this scene.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zml7qQpL8Yo


After this the film progresses and everything seems to make sense. The whole story was coming together and it began to make sense. However just as things began to make sense there is another flashback which teaches the audience something. This is where non-linear narrative comes into use because the story isn't in order and there has been a change. At this stage the audience find out that one of the main couples and married. After that the flashback begins. After that flashback the film comes to an end.

In terms of appeal to audience I believe that non-linear can be beneficial for the audience because there are some questions left unanswered from previous films and with these flashbacks it allows the audience to fill in these blanks that they've been thinking about for years. I think that the ethnicity for this film is every ethnicity because the film doesn't have any racial message to it so it's for everyone to view. I also believe that there is no specific gender for this film.. Anyone from the age of 12+ should be able to view it.

Unit 22 - A1 - Single Vs Multi Camera Productions

Unit 22 - Assignment 1 - Task 1

Single Vs Multi Camera Productions

Dear Short Film Festival. I believe that there are many reasons why a single camera production would be beneficial for you. The advantages to a single camera production are limitless.



Advantages:



One of the advantages of a single camera production is that is extremely cheap and affordable within your budget. There are 4 pieces of equipment which are extremely necessary. Luckily the equipment comes in at an absolute bargain of a price. The first piece of equipment which is compulsory is the digital camera. This piece of equipment is needed because without the camera we can't film anything. Luckily for you the digital camera only comes in at £250 per day. You have to admit that is an absolute bargain for such great quality. The next piece of equipment which is necessary is the lighting. You'll be happy to know that the lighting comes in at a very cheap price being £50 per day. That's not all! The equipment does get cheaper. The next piece of equipment which is needed is the dolly track. You'll be ecstatic to know that the dolly track comes in at only £31 per day. Such a low price for amazing quality. The last piece of equipment which is obligatory is the camera man. Now the camera man happens to be the most expensive piece of equipment coming in at £500 per day, however with that £500 you are getting the best of the best, you won't find better quality anywhere else, it would be worth every penny. All together it would add up to £831. That is an extremely low and affordable price for such quality. There are also some small costs that will needed. We will need £23 per hour to rent an editing suite during post-production.

Another advantage of a single camera production is that it is easier to mend errors. Nowadays in films it's very rare that an actor can get a scene right the first time. Sometimes they can never get it right due to little things. With a single camera the scenes don't have to be shot in order therefore if one scene has an error it won't effect the other scene..

Another advantage of a single camera production would be that it is much easier to focus on one thing. This has a big part to play with the audience because it determines their mood towards the production and it also helps them understand what is important and what they should be focused on. An example would be the actors. The audience would have to watch closely to understand what is happening.



One huge advantage of a single camera production is that the scenes don't have to be shot in order. If one scene has some mistakes it won't affect the other scene. We can film different scenes at any time of any day. Then edit these scenes together and make it look like they were shot all in one day. This means that the actors won't get tired and they will be able to rest so they can come back and be re-energized for the next day.


An additional advantage of a single camera production for the director is that there is no limits on space. Because there is only one camera there will be much more available space and this is useful for the director because it becomes less compact which gives the actors some sort of freedom to use what they have around them.



Final advantage of a single camera production is that it has portability. Due to this it is much easier to move around and set up all the equipment again when needed because it is only a single camera. This means that it will take less to film a scene. It will just make it much easier to film different segments of a film. An example of it's portability would be if we were to change locations then we would only 1 lorry instead of 5 because there is less equipment therefore it would be less consuming.

Having said all these advantages and perks to single camera productions, there are also disadvantages to it.




Disadvantages:


One disadvantage of a single camera production is the different angles of which the scenes have to be shot at. Different camera shots and angles can be very effective depending of the specific type of film we are producing and it's genre. Also because it's only one camera it is more difficult to cover all angles.

Another disadvantage of a single camera production is that it may take longer to edit. Depending on the length of the film. There will be a lot of footage from scenes which have been shot on different days but they will need to be edited so that the film makes sense and everything is in order. There tends to be tiny mistakes which aren't noticed until after the filming is done. When these mistakes are noticed they take time to remove by editing. Also because you are shooting with one camera, you are have edit every shot one by one whereas with multi-camera you could shoot different angles at different times.

Another disadvantage of a single camera production is that there are less realistic reactions. Due to one actor being filmed at a time, the reactions aren't as natural. This is because the actor won't have anything thrown at them by surprise to make them react.

One huge disadvantage of a single camera production is that there is a lot of repetition. Sometimes the same shot will be repeated 3 times so that you can capture each angle because you can only get one at a time, however if it was a multi camera you can capture everything all at once.

Final disadvantage of a single camera production is that it takes much longer to film. Due to the fact that there is only is one camera it will take much longer because the scene's will be shot on separate days whereas with a multi camera you would be able to shoot scenes quicker because there is more than one camera so each camera can focus on a different scene.


Although  I believe that a single camera production is better, a multi-camera production also has it's perks.

Advantages:

One of the big advantages of a multi camera production is that it is a much quicker process. Due to a multi camera set up you can record multiple shots and angles all in one swift process.This is a necessity for films that can’t take their time in filming if they have to output their film on a regular basis.

Another advantage of a multi camera production is that it can also be cheap. This is because with a multi-camera production you can produce a film in a shorter time period which can make it cheaper to set up. It’s generally just less time consuming

A huge advantage of a multi camera production is that you can capture an actors best performance. This is because unlike single camera you don't have to keep repeating the scene. By repeating the same scene it can affect the actors performance. By continuously doing the same scene they made lose interest in the scene and they won't as much effort in to it. Performers tend to put all their effort in to the first few attempts. The acting getting worse as they are being forced to do the scene continuously.

Final advantage of a multi camera production is that there is much more coverage. This is a good thing because the director might pick up on things to extend the film and make it better for the viewers.

Even though there are many perks to a multi camera production it also has it's flaws. 


Disadvantages:

Ironically one of the disadvantages of a multi camera production is that it takes longer to set up even though it's a quicker production. This is because there is more equipment, there's 4 cameras instead of 1. There will be more lighting which will also take long to set up.

Another disadvantage of a multi camera production is that the aesthetic isn't very good. Unlike a single camera where all the equipment is reset after each shot, you must stand by the aesthetic from the start because the equipment is already set up.

Final disadvantage of a multi camera production is the locations. Most directors tend to shoot scenes and get their footage all on set rather than a real location. Due to this it will make the film seem less believable to the audience.

Existing Single Camera Tv Shows:

• C.S.I
• The Pacific
• Sex and the City 
• Spaced
• Lost

Existing Multi Camera Tv Shows:

• X Factor
• Britain's Got Talent
• American Idol
• Late Night With Jimmy Kimmel
• Match Of The Day

For example X Factor would be more suitable for a multi camera production because they need to focus on everything around the room such as the judges, the audience, the singers whereas with single camera they would only specifically focus on one thing and that one thing only.

Another example would be C.S.I. This would be more suitable for a single camera production. This is because in this show they tend to focus on one particular thing during a scene. This helps keep the audience engaged. However if this was a multi camera production you would see more things in scene which can drag your focus away from what is important.


In terms of appeal to audience, most audiences prefer to watch Multi Camera productions. This is because the audience is able to see many more things due to their being more camera's whereas with single camera it can bore the audience because they will get tired of focusing on the same thing. However i believe that it would be better to do a single camera production because it meets the whole criteria of a short film festival.