Stencil Fonts

Because mine and Ellens film genre is War Films when looking on IMovie credits and pieces of writing are very important, so I thought about doing army stencils for ours as it would link into our piece of work really well.
When the credits or starting credits happen a drum beat could appear in the background or it would be really good if we could have the actual army beat/theme tune in the background. This tune always appears at the end of their adverts.

Here is a link to a website which do army stencil fonts:
http://www.1001freefonts.com/army-stencil-fonts.php

I really like the effect of this one as it is bold and is very eye catching like a statement. I find this stencil is used a lot in war films or on adverts so it is a well known stencil so people will automatically think 'that comes from the army'

This one isn't always used as much and doesn't have as much recognition but the spray paint effect of colouring in letters make it seem more teenage style but also that something isn't clear and it comes across quite anonymous and miss guided like something is trying to be hidden up which I think could work really well with the film.

Film Analysis 3

Black Hawk Down -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-a8PG83SLE

I really like the start to this film as it so different to other war films. The non diagetic music adds so much tension to the film it grips you in straight away but also reflects the culture when see a slow tracking shot of the african man. The start of the film uses shots of writing starting with 'based on a true event' which automatically grabs the viewers attention and also uses a blurry effect on the writing which gives of an un-stable worrying effect as somethings not paticularly right. I like how they have used fade in and fade out short clips of what is happening as it only shows a bit of the scene which makes you want to see more but also to show you how a lot of things are occuring during this time. The scenes aren't that clear where you see peoples faces straight away or what they're doing it's quite anonymous and mysterious to what has happened or what is going on you just have the context to tell you what is happening and the music to show that it's a sad time. Using only that to tell a story, I quite like.

Film Analysis 2

2) Saving Private Ryan - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZgKo46X8CI

The opening of the film starts with a long wide shot with diagetic sounds of the waves but the camera angle appears to be a bit to the side which shows that something is going to happen which isn't going to be the right state of mind as camera angles like that are usually used when people are drunk or hurt or not in the right frame of mind. The diagetic sounds add tension as it's very harsh sounds and your waiting for something to happen. It then moves onto a tracking shot of the boat with the men on, this also isn't a stable camera angle which shows that they're going to war and how they're feeling uncomfortable but also sea sick from the waves. I could use this when my character in my film is running to show what he's going through but how he is feeling. The colours are very dull which reflects the mood of how they feel and what is about to happen (pathetic fallacy). Then close up shots of each person to see how they're reacting. I think the close up shots are good as they can capture the emotion of what that paticular character is feeling and going through.

My 180 degree rule (Evaluation)

Here is a link to my 180 degree rule > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZHdyNH5zts

Evaluation
I was pleased with my 180 degree film especially when learning about IMovie and the effects we could do because I think sometimes certain effects are needed for films and they make it better.


Positives: What went well with my film I think were definately my actors (Harry Tully and Ollie Biggin) as they improvised the whole scene and acted very professional but it was exactly what I was looking for. When editing the shots for the film I used a medium room voice which made everybodies voice much clearer and sharp but also gave it a little echo effect which I think went really well for my genre of my task as it made more tense but also reacted sometimes police interviews you see on drama shows. I used a vignette throughout the whole of my task as the dark circle made it seem more mysterious but also that it is pin-pointing on one person in pecific which was Max (Ollie Biggin). The slow motion effects and music I think went really well with the pace of the task. Camera angles and shots were done well such as the angle facing both of the two characters as you can see both of them clearly and how they both react to what eachother say.


Errors: I would have liked to work in a different room where it was just a small room for two people to give it more tension but also to give it more of a realistic effect because in my task you can see people in the background at one point and hear another person at the end. Some of my cuts aren't as sharp as possible they do give a good effect as you could see it being a long interview and skipping out bits by doing the dissolve effect but I think they could have been sharper. My credits at the end need to be a bit longer instead of around three seconds so people can see who were actually involved but also make the writing longer when it flashes onto the character saying their name such as 'Max'. It wasn't as long compared to 'The Interviewer'.

Film Analysis

1) We Were Soldiers - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-o4ied3M20&feature=related

The link I have put up there ^ is the first part to a film with Mel Gibson in called We Were Soldiers.
The start of the film starts with a flash back and the main character narrating what is happening. Diagetic music is added from the whistling of the wind against the trees and also wildlife sounds to add to the effect of reality but it also gives the effect of being alone and out in the big wide world all by yourself. It then disolves onto the next scene of the soldiers walking starting with a wide shot of their feet then moving up this gives the effect of them looking powerful and strong as the shot moves up onto their body to make them seem strong and important. The colours range from green and browns to add to the effect of war but also being in a deprived dusty area with a lack of water. They then use the effect of the blood splat the explostion to make it come across as realistic as possible. They then use a range of quick scenes of different people who are in the explostion to show how everything has to be quick but also how everybody has different reactions and responsabilities in war. Not everybody is shooting and running but people get shot and people need to help their team mates back to campus if their is an injury or they have to try get away from the enemy.

My film

When making a film you want to make it the best you possibly can and you have all these visions of it  looking perfect especially looking at films now a day but it's actually creating it and making it different for it to look good. When thinking about my film which I am doing with Ellen, I instantly thought of some ideas and so did she but they all seemed to be so clichue which I think everybodies is at first.

Later on that day I did a mindmap on possible thoughts of our film and here it is...

-

I came up with maybe doing a documentary style of film as that isn't always used so much now a days so that would be different and not clichue. I watch a lot of documentaries on BBC 3 or channel 4 as they are interesting but so realistic so I want to bring that into mine and Ellens film. I thought of recent issues in modern day and thought about the problems with Afghanistan we face so I thought about doing it on a young man who wants to go off to war but then has seconds thoughts.

Top 10 most realistic war films (modern day)

I researched on IMDb the most realistic war films to link with my film but I made sure it was modern day so it could link to the most recent dispute with us - Afghanistan and it would link with my inspiration of the documentary on BBC3.

1) Black Hawk Down (2001)

  

2) Saving Private Ryan (1998)



3) Inglourious Basterds (2009)



4) Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)



5) Full Mental Jacket (1987)



6) A Bridge To Far (1977)



7) The Longest Day (1962)



8) Hamburger Hill (1987)



9) Platoon (1986)



10) We Were Soldiers (2002)

Inspirations on my film

Where I got my inspiration for my film was the BBC 3 documentary on Young Soldiers.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b014f74k

The programme was really interesting as you could see what the soldiers would do on a day to day basis before going to Afghanistan and all the pressure they are under but also how they cope personally and how their families cope.
I will make sure I will try to catch the emotion and the personal effects of my main character himself but also the family and friends so it comes across as realistic as possible.
My film will include him looking it up on the internet and sending off his application, him telling his parents/family/friends, then him about to go off to camp to start his training programme but he will have doubts and start to realise how he will miss his family and friends loads and decides to run away but what will happen after that?...

Inspiriations of 180degree rule

When I thought about doing an interrogation scene my first thing I thought of were TV Dramas such as The Bill using the 180degree rule but also the camera angles such as extreme close ups to see the emotion or panic or even smug look on their face.

Using expressions such as 'your nicked sunshine' and all different types of body language so I wanted Harry (the interviewer) to be very smug and confident and this can be shown by body language such as Harry leaning back in the chair smiling, very calm and still and this would be in contrast to Ollie who would be sad up right, quite rigid (moving) and quick short answers.

180degree rule

For my 180 degree rule video I made one but realised I did it wrong because instead of keeping the camera between an 180degree rule I went over it so I re-did it during my free and my theme was Interrogation and it went really well.

I looked around the school for good locations and decided my media classroom as I can film them walking through the door but also at the interview on the seats and the table but still using the 180degree rule!
I used my two class mates Harry Tully as the interviewer and Ollie Biggin as the person who got interviewed. It went really well because they stayed professional and improvised really well instead of having a script.

Apple

Today my day consisted of a media morning and James from Apple came to my school to learn us all about IMovie which I will be using for my coursework and preliminary task. We learnt all ways you can edit your movie by adding music, transitions, cropping, titles/credits and loads more.

It was a lot of fun but very interesting because it felt like our coursework was actually about to begin and our ideas could start happening because if I wanted a lightning sound or rain, IMovie would create this so I could use it. But a main objective was to make it as realistic as possible and not edit to much to take away it's content.

Genres

I researched a couple 20 people from Marlwood School and asked them what was their favourite genre. It was out of

• Romance
• Comedy
• Fantasy
• Horror

We found out that the most popular genre was comedy and horror so that will be taken into account with our film.

Preliminary exercise: Continuity Task

When researching the task for film this was a website we found which told us what had to be done...  http://www.slideshare.net/satmedia/preliminary-exercise-continuity-task

This meant involving and editing a character opening the door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom he/she then exchanges a couple lines of dialogue.

Task should demonstrate -

• Match on action
• 180degree rule
• Shot/Rever shot

Film: Preliminary Tasks

When filming certain techniques are used for certain effects and a common one use a lot in any type of film is the the 180° rule. The 180° rule is a camera rule which states that two characters (or other elements) in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line. The new shot which is from the opposite side, is known as a reverse angle.

My preliminary task: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZHdyNH5zts

Getting Started

I already do a photography blog for my AS coursework and love it so this is my new media blog! It is so much easier than having to do things in a book and wasting time. At the moment I am looking at doing either a Film or Magazine approach for my coursework but I think I am more steering towards Film.

I have had one idea in paticular but I think it was a bit to Cliché when talking to my teacher about it so I have mindmapped lots of different ideas instead of the easy, stereo-type way.