Genre Research

Inside Man

Genre: Heist Thriller

The music first starts with a remix of a bhangra and hip hop track, which goes on throughout the production logo introduction. The music starts to fade out and the frame of a head and shoulder shot of a man cuts to the screen. As the man introduces himself, we see he is a very composed character, this was shown by his carefully selected script. This taught me script is important because the words he spoke immediately told me he was a calm and collected character as he we immediately see he is the main character. For example, he says ‘Pay strict attention to what I say because I choose my words carefully and I never repeat myself’. The background of this shot is pitch black and there is a slight glow on his face, this emphasises that he has no emotions [no regret, sympathy etc]. He has a simple black top on with white stripes; I think the stripes may represent the bars on a jail [which he mentions in the introduction]. His unshaven face shows he hasn’t had access to luxuries for the past week or so, again this may relate back to the ‘jail’ speech. The background then starts to fade in showing grey brick walls and the illusion of him backing back to the wall, this could be to indicate that they are closing in on him or it shows the end to his interrogation. His speech ends and as he stares at the camera the music from the beginning fades in and also his face fades out into an image of a bridge.

Are We There Yet?

Genre: Comedy

'Are We There Yet' starts with upbeat music; this introduces the movie as a lively film. We see a guy come out of an expensive car; this implies he is quite rich. When we see him come out his clothes reassure the idea that he is wealthy as he is wearing a beige jacket [Suit]. As he walks up the path to the house, a little boys over voice says ‘Mom says we have to be polite to her dates and we will be .. If he makes it to the door’. This immediately tells us that the child is going to attempt to sabotage the mothers’ relationship; this reinstates the idea of a comedy film. The lighting also connotes the film will be have a comic side to it as the Christmas and porch lights illuminate the area, this also represents the ‘joyful’ season. A low angle shot shows us a string readily placed for him to trigger something [or trip over]. This is a typical convention that represents ‘practical jokes’, there are many of these ‘joke’ conventions, like, water balloons, marbles etc. Another convention used was the idea of the children outsmarting the adult by humiliating them without violent ways. This status difference is shown when the children as higher up [at the window] while the ‘guy’ was lying on the floor, covered in glue, looking up at them [high angle shot]

Clever Editing - Mirror Scene

 

- I done the camera work on this piece

What I Learnt:

-When filming the same piece but in different angles the actors movements/gestures have to be exactly the same, this is then benfits the editor as they are able to make the film run smoother.

-  Again, when filming the same shot but in different angles, its important to ensure that the costume stays the same [same outfit, same positioning]. Otherwise it makes the editing more difficult or will make the film look messy.

The Chase

 - In this video I helped Abdul with the filming

Improvement: 

- I believe the film needed some music/sounds because there are too many silences and sudden background noises. So I think some fast, comic music during the chase would have suited the clip as it was meant be humorous.

- I also think some more use of effect would have made the clip funnier. Maybe have the chase scene in different pace [slow motion, fast pace etc].

Quiet Task

- In this video I done the camera work and helped with the editing

Improvements:

- Looking back at the video I think some intense music in the ‘interrogation’ should have been added and dramatic music when he gets locked up. I also think the background noises should have been deleted as it stops the entire 'suspense' mood.

What I Learned:

- When editing this clip i had some difficulty with one of the transitions; the clip before it [close-up of the eyes] was too short so the transition would not work. To solve this I created a freeze frame of the clip and make length of the frame longer to fit the transition timings. This problem taught me to make sure clips are quite long just to ensure that transitions can work around them, this will save time.

One Perspective

- In this video I helped with creating the story board and helped with editing

Improvements:

- Make sure when you stop mid-way during a scene to make sure you start at the exact same positioning, this will then help make editing easier.

What I Learned:

- While editing I learnt how to extract sounds from the original clip and also learned how to upload music from an external source.

- I learnt how to get revert a trimmed clip back to its original length

- I also learned that when filming if you stop mid-way it is essential that you ensure you begin from the exact same place you stopped at because we had difficulty when editing to put the clips together and make the whole scene run smoothly.

The Test

I helped create the storyboard in this clip.

Improvements:

- Ensure camera is lined up with background [lined up]

- Cut out background noise and add sound effects [music that builds up tension]

- When there’s a close up of their faces make sure the camera is still and not shaking.

What I Learned:

- When filming ensure that the camera is straight [line up camera with surroundings to make sure, i.e. door, window]

- When filming i learned that the storyboard we made was too brief, it needed more detail and annotations, this resulted in us spending too much time trying to figure out what shot to film next.