Mcguffin/MacGuffin

McGuffin/MacGuffin

McGuffin/MacGuffin

Noun

McGuffin/MacGuffin is an object or device in a film/a book which serves merely as a trigger for the plot.

Connotations

Noun

The literal meaning we interpret of something. E.g. a box could be a connotation feeling of excitement, suspense, anticipation and fear.

In class we did some conational work and thought of different things that would come to mind if these objects were to be in a movie. The objects and thoughts are listed below.

 

Extra Gum:

·         Chewy

·         Fresh

·         Cold

·         School

·         Bad children

·         Mint

·         Detention

·         Under tables

·         Blowing bubbles

·         Gum smacking

 

 

Cricket Ball:

·         Cricket

·         Sport

·         Hard ball

·         Hurtful

·         Ashes

·         Cricket whites

·         Stumps

·         Cricket bats

·         Competitions

·         Red and white

·         Bowler

·         Batter

 

Buzz Light Toy:

·         Toy Story 1-3

·         Cartoon

·         Childhood Innocence

·         Joy

·         Space

·         Astronaut

·         Jealousy

·         Friendship

·         Flying

·         Plastic

 

Analysis of Kick - Ass 2

Kick - Ass 2

For my other analysis of different movies I found very hard to talk about the movie opening in a long sentence paragraph, so for this analysis I will write out the times and what happened at this point of time in the opening I will then do a reflection at the end talk about the movie opening if I thought it was a good opening.

Time Line

0:00 - 0:08 > The world starts spinning and then the words 'Universal' appears.
0:09 - 0:20 > The world lights up, 'Universal then appears with the world together in one shot.
0:22 - 0:30 > 'A Comcast company' appears then cuts to darkness, at 0:26 many colours start to enter the screen in ribbon formation.
0:31 - 0:40 > 'Marv' appears in polka dots then last 7 seconds before cutting to darkness.
0:41 - 0:50 > A wide shot of New York City then panned across screen with the writing of Universal Pictures, Marv Films Presents appears under the image. 'A Matthew Vaughn Production' fades in on screen
0:51 - 1:00 > A shot a of a hand reaching in a bag for gun, the hand then loads the gun. A long shot of a nerdy boy standing up right, there is a mid shot of a girl cocking her gun this shot then switches to the wide shot of boy and girl in a land site (construction).
1:02 - 1:10 > There is a over shoulder shot of the boy talking to the girl, the girl then shoots the boy and he then rolls on the floor and there is a mid shot of the girl smiling.
1:11 - 1:20 > Girl puts gun in bag, she then pulls out a bigger gun.
1:21 - 1:30 > Girl loads the gun, there is then a close up on her face.
1:31 - 1:40 > Over shoulder shot of girl looking at boy, the girl then holds the gun and her hands in the air. Boy turns around and girl shoots him again.
1:41 - 1:50 > Cuts to a black out
1:51 - 2:00 > Still in black out

Sound

Throughout the opening there was not many sounds that was expected. During the beginning when the titles faded in there was no sound track at all, as I carried on watching the opening I realised there was only the natural sound (Diegetic)

Reflection

Overall I did not like the opening as it did not reel me in. After watching that opening I was not interested in watching the full movie at all. To be honest it was very boring to watch. Technically the opening was okay, as it varied in different shots but it was still basic. As I think about it I do think the landfill scene went on for a little bit too long and I think they should have hurried and got to the actual movie as it was kind of pointless.

Analysis of Inglourious Basterds

Inglourious Basterds

Directed by – Quentin Tarantino

• The film tells the fictional alternate history story of two plots to assassinate Nazi Germany's political leadership, one planned by young French Jewish cinema proprietor, and the other by a team of Jewish-American soldiers led by First Lieutenant Aldo Raine

(I will be doing this analysis in a time line as it seems to work better with this movie opening)

Visuals and Sound:

0:00 - 0:12 The 'Universal' logo in old fashion (dating the time period) rises on screen. [No music]
0:13 - 0:19 'The Weinstein Company' appears.
0:20 - 0:31 The sound track of traditional music for the time period starts, 'Universal' then fades in on screen
0:32 - 0:40 'Quentin Tarantino' the director name is on screen first it is then followed by the headlining title 'Inglourious Basterds'.
0:41 - 0:50 In a new and unique type face the main characters name is introduced 'Brad Pitt' his name is then followed by 8 other main characters this went on to 1:13.

1:14 - 1:22 The co - starring cast then appear on screen in a little smaller type face.
1;23 - 1:45 All the guest starring actors then come after co - starring.
1:46 - 1:52 The last name reading 'Martin Wuttke' appears on screen and lasts 6 seconds.
1:53 - 2:00 'The Nazi occupied France' came up on screen in white writing.
2:01 - 2:03 There is a wide shot of male character cutting wood, the year 1941 then appears on screen.
2:04 - 2:14 A woman/girl comes into shot but does not stay long .
2:15 - 2:20 Chopping sounds accompanied by the sound of a truck can be heard this creates enigma as there is nothing actually happening on screen.

Reflection

This opening got a little boring for me personally as there was not much visuals and there was only titles and characters names. There is nothing much I can really do to comment on the opening as there was nothing much to see but saying that I do think having the last 20 seconds of the opening was really good as it created enigma and made the audience want to watch more. 

Analysis of Friday the 13th 2009 edition

Friday the 13th 2009

Director – Marcus Nispel

·         Friday the 13th is a 2009 American horror film directed by Marcus Nispel and written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift. It is a reboot of the Friday the 13th film series, which began in 1980, and the twelfth installment in the franchise.

I decided to choose a movie opening from a movie that I had never seen before but also a movie with a different genre from action this will then go on to give me a proper understanding of how different genres perceive their opening.

Visuals and Sound

Between 0:00 and 0:05 there was complete darkness with no sound were as in the visuals the colour red appeared in screen and so did ‘New line Cinema’ logo this lasted for 10 seconds; 015 where the next title was shown. At 0:15 ‘A Time Warner Company’ was shown this lasted 2 seconds taking us into complete darkness and silence. Red clouds started to appear from the darkness and red glass stars start to shoot out of the sky at this moment in time there is background sounds of shooting stars which link with the visuals. 8 seconds later ‘Paramount and mountain’ is shown with the stars surrounding them. This suddenly changes to ‘A Viacom company’ and once again enters darkness at 0:36 lasting 3 seconds taking us to 0:39 where there is a bird’s eye view of red sand dunes, once they appear the platinum sound track commences as the ‘Platinum Dunes’ logo appears on screen shrinking to middle of the screen. At 0:42 the screen starts to shrink this lasts a short 6 seconds this then takes us to a blank screen at 0:50 where 2 seconds later 'Newline Cinema and Paramount Pictures Present' fades in, it is then followed by 'In association with Micheal Bay'. There is a cut to darkness taking us to 1:02 where A Platinum Dunes Production appears on screen this then remains in position for 5 second where it is replaced by 'June 13th 1980'. Trees then appear with a crack of thunder and flashes lightening which changes the colour of the screen. At 1:15 someone is creeping through the trees the name 'Jared Padaleki' rose to the screen, once again lightening flashes and you can hear a woman crying running through the trees. At this point in the opening the woman was still running around through the trees and names kept scrolling up screen with Daniel Panabaker at 1:23 and  Amanda Righetti at 1:28 A man then catches the woman at 1:38, the screen automatically turns white with the name 'Travis Von Winkle' appearing on the same time. At 1:42 there is a mid shot of the woman running from the man this is then accompanied by the name 'Aaron Yoo' again lightening flashes at the trees/woods then become black and white as she is still running, it then cuts to shot of someone watching her from behind a tree. Suddenly two women start fighting in the rain with the name 'Derek Mears' showing up, 1:57 an over shoulder shot of the girl looking at the man cutting to a close up of a John Doe soaking in the rain. Lastly at exactly 2:00 the names 'Jonathan Sadowski, Julianna Guill and Ben Feldman' appeared on screen.

Reflection

As a fan of horror movies I loved  this opening, no it did not show a variety of different shots but did make me want to carry on watching. Something about opening kind of through me off as I was told in class that the directors name always appears first but in this case the first name was 'Jared Padaleki' where as the directors name is 'Marcus Nispel'. Overall it was a good opening but I do have some criticism I don't think every thing should have been in black and white as I could barely tell what was a man and what was a woman it got a bit confusing. I also don't think having the background in black and white and then have the titles in white was a very bright idea as it is very hard to tell who is actually acting in the movie .    

Analysis of GoodFellas

GoodFellas 1990

Director - Martin Scorsese

·         The true story of Henry Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian Brooklyn kid who is adopted by neighbourhood gangsters at an early age and climbs the ranks of a Mafia family.

In class we analysed the opening 2 minutes of ‘GoodFellas’ down below is an image of the analysis that was done and a break-down of what happened.

 

 

Visuals and Sound

Between the 0 seconds and 12 seconds the Warner Bros image appears this then lasts for a bout another 2 seconds taking us to 0:14 seconds at this point of time in the movie there was no sound. 3 seconds later ‘a Irwin wrinkle productions’ fades in, once it hits 0:17 ‘Martin Pictures appeared lasting 3 seconds. Whilst displaying the main characters names wiping across the screen and slowly fading in the middle of the screen the sound of multiple vehicles are heard passing this takes us the sound time of 0:53. Between 0:43 and 0:53 the camera pans the side of the car that was heard. 2 seconds later a subtitle appears in the middle of the screen reading ‘New York, 1920’. Between these times the vehicle sounds had stopped causing the silence throughout these 2 seconds. At 1:00 there is a medium – close up of 3 men; 1 driving and 2 sleeping passengers that suddenly wake up indicating there is a problem.The sounds that heard during these 23 seconds; from 0:57 to 1:20 are sounds of crashing almost the sound of a car breaking down causing slow motion. These men then start dialogue in New York accents. 9 second after there is foot - steps walking and the car door slamming shut when matching the visuals all 3 men get out of the car and check the back tyres, this then goes into a mid – shot of the men faces with a red light reflecting on their faces. Taking us to the time of 1:33 there is sounds of soft banging from inside the trunk of the car, in visuals this is shown in a zoom in of the trunk swaying side to side this then leads to a pan of the characters assembling their weapons. Between 1:43 and 1:56 there is no sound at all but there is a cut in of a hand unlocking the trunk once the trunk in opened there is a man covered in blood finding it hard to move. 1 character then tries to kill him with his knife this quickly turned to a reaction shot of the 3^rd character the 1^st character then pulls out his gun and starts shooting the man in the trunk at 1:54 this once again is then followed by a reaction shot of the 3^rd character. In the final 4 seconds of the opening sequence both in visuals and sound there is shooting bringing it to a close.   

Slumdog Millionaire 0.1 Emotion

Slumdog Millionaire

 

I had not seen 'Slumdog Millionaire' before, so when the clip was shown in class I decided to write down how I felt. The scene below has to be the utmost emotional movie scene I have ever watched. I say this from a personal view point; the thought of losing your mother and then being alone and having nowhere to go can become very sad and depressing.

The Muslim Scene
 

How I felt watching this scene:

·         Shocked

·         Surprised

·         Horrified

·         Sympathetic

·         Miserable

·         Sad

·         Devastated

Exploring Enigma

Enigma

Definition:

Enigma

Noun

A person or thing that is mysterious or difficult to understand.

My Definition and Understanding:

·         An Enigma is an idea or thing that can build suspense and tension but can also be broken by revealing the unknown.

In class we were discussing enigma when we came to the conclusion that you can't have enigma without convention.

Convention

Noun

·         A ingredient of something

·         The way something is usually/typically done.

Below there is a mind map that we did as a class to explore the other ways enigma can be created.

 

 

Reflection:

I personally think the concept of enigma is being surprised. I say this because as the mind map displays; lying is another way of creating enigma and I believe that is true. Enigma is the suspense that is built when we unsure of something so when someone lies, you become unsure because the truth is what you want. Than when the truth is revealed the enigma has been broken and exposed causing the person to be surprised.

 

This may be a more confusing way of seeing the meaning of enigma but to me it is clear enough.

Editing Process

Editing

Definition:

The activity of selecting the scenes to be shown and putting them together to create a film

Extra Information:

Editing refers to how shots are put together into sequences to make up a media text. 

 

Three Main Areas:

When editing there are three areas to help improve the quality of the movie being made 

·         Transitions - How one shot moves to the other. 

·         Continuity - How one shot merges into another.

·         Shot Duration - How long a shot is.

Transitions

Different transitions can easily give dissimilar meanings for audiences.

Types of transitions:

·         The Cut – This transition is where two shots come together.

·         Dissolve – The blending of two shots to communicate a passage of time and/ or location. 

·         Wipes - When the shot changes across the screen.

·         Cross Zooms - When the next shot starts small and gets bigger.

·         Flash Frames

·         Jump Shot/ Cut - Shot stays the same, an object moves.

·         Fade in - Gradual appearance of the image.

·         Fade out - Gradual diminution of sound level.

·         Fade to black - Gradual disappearance of image into black screen.

Shot Duration

Definition - The duration of a shot will usually reflect the narrative content.

·         Short Shot Duration: conveys urgency.

·         Large Shot Duration: conveys detail and intimacy with narrative. 

Continuity

·         The 180 Degree Rule: A rule which maintains that the line of action should not be crossed, in the interest if fluid continuity. You can't cross the line unless you show you are crossing the line.

·         Cross Cutting (Parallel Editing): Alternation between two or more different scenes which are usually developed simultaneously.

·         Cutaway: A brief shot that momentarily interrupts a continuous action by briefly inserting another related shot.

·         Eye-line Match: A common convention to maintain continuity; a character looks at something and in the next shot we see what they are looking at.

 

 Cinematic Time

Definition - The time a given sequence takes to play on the screen in comparison to 'real time action.' In the film industry this time can be compressed or extended.
When we see match on action [is the same as] Cinematic time - is the same as real time.

What defines Editing?

Shrink Time

·        Shrinking time is a chain of fast paced cuts where we as viewer can see things that would usually take a long time be shortened into minutes or even seconds. For example if we were to watch a character get in a car and drive for half an hour we will see them get in and out of the car, giving the audience the impression that the car journey has taken place.

 

Expand Time

·        Expanding time is when the editor incorporates additional frames in the first sequence. For example if someone was running away from another being, in real time this may last a few seconds. But the editor is not responsible for building tension; they may choose to do this by including shots of the person’s feet, the person’s eyes and the chaser. Resulting in the scene to have a longer duration. This would also be an obvious example of 'film' time and not real time action.

Find Rhythm

·         Editing/The editor is responsible for the rhythm or pace of a scene. The music can be used behind the scenes to create mood in films but also interrupt the pace of a film.

Preliminary Task: Questions

Questions

After we completed our first preliminary movie we made a review and divided the sections into – Theory, Technology and questions. This post will focus on the question aspect of the review.

Here are some of the questions we came up with as a group.

·         How to colour grade a video (Movie)?

·         How do you make a voice over?

·         How to add music on final cut pro?

·         What is the main production of film?

·         How do you get special effects on final cut pro?

·         How to get a split screen effect on final cut pro?

·         How to make a realistic script?

Reflection:

After discussing the question we then thought of ways to answer them and as a group we decided that there were many video tutorials on ‘youtube’ that will benefit us in the future. We also said that if there were no videos available then a Media Studies teacher or student that has done this before will be able to assist us and put us on the right guidelines.

Questions on the first Preliminary Task

Preliminary Task: Theory

 Theory

After we completed our first preliminary movie we made a review and divided the sections into – Theory, Technology and questions. This post will focus on the Theory aspect of the review.

When discussing theory we were a bit confused on what would be classed as theory and what would be technology, but this is what we came up with.

·         Making fake blood and scars

As weird as this may seem we did indeed make scars, cuts and bruises for our main character but as it did not go with her skin colour and it was too heavy we decided to abandon that idea and just draw on the cuts and splash fake blood in her face.

·         Script Writing

The script work was an obvious element of theory work so there was no confrontation on this but as we did it as a group we could all have the same opinion on the script.

·         Storyboarding

Storyboarding was another obvious element of theory work as it also included all of us in the group but involved using paper.

·         Choosing the right location

Choosing the right location was very easy at first because of the lighting but then when it came to editing, we then had so much problems we changed the location to a class room.

·         Interpret text into film

I found this kind of hard personally, I say this because all the ideas that were thought of and written out were very difficult to portray film so I believe we struggled a bit there.

·         Using free time effectively.

I honestly think that as a group we did use our time effectively but I also think that what we completed in the short time could have been better. Thus leading us to create a new video.

Review on First Video for Preliminary Task 

Representation

Representation

· To show what something means

· The way we look at things

· How things come across

· Camera shots

· Character representation - How its presented

The sophisticated definition of representation:

- The action of speaking or acting on behalf of someone or the state of being so presented. Their description or portrayal way of someone or something in a particular way or as being of certain nature.

Synonym: Presentation, Portrayal, Image

What type of things could we talk about in terms of representation?

During the lesson we were put into pairs to come up with different things we thought would be ideal for representation. After we came up ideas we then came back to the group and shared/talked about the different points.

Here is what the class thought of in terms of representation:

· Jewelry (religious or just fashion)

· Gender (male or female)

· Skin tone (showing different race)

· Facial expressions

· Clothes/ Make-up

· Posture/Body Language/Actions/Walk

· Dialect/Language and accent

· Intelligence

· Behavior (good or bad)

· How characters interact with others

We then later went on to discuss the 6 main areas of representation, with the input of everyone in the class we did a closer analysis of the areas and key words used to describe them.

1. Gender: How the person wants to be perceived. (Male, Female or Transgender)

2. Age: Age is not only how old someone is but how much responsibilities they have as a person and how much respectthey need as they grow old, it can also be how mature the person is.

 

3. Sexuality: A person's sexual orientation (Heterosexual, Homosexual, Bisexual, Asexual, Pansexual, Demi - sexual)

4. Class and Status: Upper, Middle or Lower Class. Class and status can also be decided on how intelligent one is, how well one speaks and how much power one has.

5. Physical ability and disability: Completion of something based on ability. [With this area we decided to expand a bit more than the others, we thought it would make things easier to break down the different types of mental and physical abilities.]
 

Here is what was thought up:

Mental Disabilities:

- Bipolar

- Paranoia

- Eating Disorders

- Multiple Personality Disorder

- PTSD

- ADHD

- ADD

- Alzheimer’s

- Depression

Physical Disabilities:

- Paralysis

- MS

- VI (Visually Impaired)
- HI (Hearing Impaired)

6. Regional Identity: The identification of where a person is from later determining the stereotype of the area, dialect and accent.