Research task movie 2 (Bourne Ultimatum)

Bourne ultimatum

In the first shot we see a close up of the ground with a fast paced walk. By this we can infer that the character is rushing from something. This shot connotes that it is in a cold country we can see this as the ground is snowy. We also hear non-diegetic sound of the music which is also fast pace and sharp, quick cuts connoting a chase scene.

In the next shot we see a long shot. This makes us see more of the character allowing us to see more of what is happening within the scene. The character also appears to be wearing all black clothes. This suggests that he wants to be unseen by anyone and has a dark personality. The character also appears to be limping; this further suggests that the character is running from something with a sense of urgency as he is continuing to run although he is injured. We also hear the diegetic sound of police cars connoting that he is running from the police.After this it pans to the train station and shows how busy it is. This also allows us to see more of the setting giving us greater knowledge of the environment and where the scene is taking place.

In the next scene we see police officers rush out of their cars and the diegetic dialogue to each other whilst attempting to chase the character. This connotes that the character has done something wrong and is a threat.

After this we see the character jump off a train in an attempt to escape the police. We hear a diegetic cracking sound. This connotes that he has further hurt his leg in the pursuit and we also hear the character cry out in pain. This suggests to the audience that the character is in intense pain and he is desperate to get away as although he is in pain, he continues running.

In the next scene we see an establishing shot which then zooms in to focus on a door. This connotes that the character is attempting to get to that room unseen. The main character then enters a medicine room. This makes the audience wonder why he has this room and connotes that he has done something similar before. He then begins to rush around with a sense of urgency as if he has limited time. This suggests that he needs to find some medicine to help with his injury.

In the next shot we see him pull out a gun and place it in the sink. This connotes that he is a dangerous man and could have shot someone explaining why the police are pursuing him. After this, we see the main character attend to a gunshot wound. This makes the audience wonder why he has this and how he got it.

In the next shot we see the main character losing a lot of blood and begins to see oversaturated and slow motion images. This connotes that they are flashbacks to his past. After seeing these he shakes his head suggesting he want to forget his past.

In the next shot we see the two police officers enter the medicine room where the main character is. Through the diegetic dialogue we can tell that the main character is resisting the commands of the officer and then he turns and knocks out one of the police officers and points his gun at another. Through the diegetic dialogue we can find that our main character is merciful as he states “my argument is not with you.” This connotes that he is after a certain target and does not want to hurt or kill anyone he does not have to.

Research task movie 1 (The Hurt Locker)

Hurt Locker

In the first scene it begins with shot quick cuts and a establishing shot. In this shot we see what looks like a dessert which suggests that it is set in a middle eastern country. There is also diegetic sound with an alarm suggesting that an evacuation is taking place .

In the next shot, we see the evacuation. Long shots are used to give the audience a better understanding of the environment where the scene takes place. The clothes they are wearing also suggest that they are in a middle eastern country and there is also text at the bottom of the screen telling the audience where it is set. The non diegetic sounds of shouting and chaos add to the urgency of the evacuation.

In the next shot, there is an extreme long shot suggesting a chaotic atmosphere similar to the previous scene of the evacuation. The diegetic sound of car horns adds to the chaos and urgency of the evacuation and controls how we as an audience see and think is happening. Then, the camera zooms and pans onto what seems to be a robot. The camera movement is irregular as if it is done with military equipment such as a sniper scope or binoculars as it is shaking adding a sense of knowing which you could associate with the army.

In the next shot we see more people being evacuated. This suggests that it is affecting everyone. However, a few shots after we see a mid shot of what appears to be a man not co-operating with the military. By this we can assume that he has very little except his store and if he was to leave he could potentially lose his stock and be left with nothing.

In the next shot, the military truck fills up the whole shot. This suggests that the truck is very large and that a large disturbance has happened as you would not usually see this kind of military vehicle.

The diegetic dialogue of the soldiers and the fast cuts adds to the sense of urgency. The shaky camera makes the audience feel as if they are in the POV of a solider and in the midst of the action.

Once we see the soldiers get out of the truck, we then see what look like another POV of a different solider or a civilian. By doing this we see the action from different perspectives adding to the chaos as it suggests that it is everywhere and affecting everyone. After this there is a quick zoom out and pan which continues to suggest that someone is watching the soldiers.

After this, we see a POV very close to the ground and shaking. The diegetic sound of the ground crunching beneath makes the scene seem unsafe. This combined with the diegetic sound of voices and livestock suggests that there is a full evacuation and the area is unsafe for anything.

After this, there is an extreme close up of two soldiers. This suggests to the audience that the task they are doing is very difficult and requires intense concentration. In the next shot, we see a close up of one of the soldiers. It then cuts to a POV of some people looking at what they are doing and then returns to the soldier and then returns to a POV of another group of people also watching him. This makes the audience believe that the soldier is suspicious of the people watching as they are standing and watching them as they approach there objective.

Research task!

Research task by Max Barnes

I will be analyzing five thriller movies opening 2 minutes for our next film. Films use certain techniques to make sure the audience knows what genre movie they are watching. I will be looking for these techniques which are sound, editing, mise en scene and camera work to translate them to my group’s next film based on a 2 minute opening of a thriller movie. Green writing is sound, blue is camera, yellow is editing and red is mise en scene.

 

First is 'A walk among the tombstones' starring Liam Neeson.

The important parts of techniques used:

Sound

Scene 1:

• Diegetic background noise of city.
• No background music to allow audience to hear quiet voices better.
• Angered tone from voices and door slam.

Scene 2:

• Quiet diegetic music and commentary from a radio.
• Heavy foley sounds, newspaper rattle and footsteps.

Camera
Scene 1:

• Camera pans to whom is speaking
• Depth of field very shallow
• Only (extreme) close-ups used for first scene.
• No establishing shots

Scene 2:

• Starts with a match on action establishing shot.
• Close-ups and one long shot.

Editing

Scene 1:

• Establishing text before first scene
• Filters - greyscale
• Very slow pace
• cuts only

Scene 2:

• whole scene 4 cuts
• continuity
• Cuts only

Mise en scene
Scene 1:

Scene 1 and before

The first part we see is text establishing that we are in New York in 1991. Before the scene has even started there is diegetic background noise of the city as well as radio communications with a woman speaking sounding like a police line, this makes the audience know that police are talking but they do not know why. When the first scene is shown there is a man talking. It shows the two characters in a dirty cluttered car which is inferring that they have not got lots of money to spend on a car. Within the sequence the characters speaking is a key feature to the camera works movement. The camera starts with a close up from behind the driver the shot then pans to the protagonist and this reveals the main character which makes the audience ask questions of who these two men are. The depth of field is very shallow with the steering wheel being blurred. This makes the scene feel claustrophobic adding to the characters grey and depressing world. Throughout the whole sequence there is no music, which allows us to listen to the characters speaking. The protagonists costume was selected to be a long waist coat with smart clothing underneath as it makes the audience asked questions about what the characters occupations are and what they are doing. It also makes the character blend into the world with the grey scale theme previously mentioned. From the tone of the characters voices you can tell they are at a disagreement, this makes people wonder how close these characters are, friends, brothers, detective partners. When the protagonist gets out of the car the door slamming is showing that he's angry as it is the only sound over the background noise.


Scene 2

When the protagonist is in the bar, the camera starts as long shot showing the entire room as an establishing shot, the audience will realize that he is in a New York bar.
The protagonist walks towards the camera and then we pan to him sitting down. The camera is still on the same shot but has changed from long shot to mid close up to show his newspaper with the articles which are important. In this bar there is plenty of diegetic sounds including music and commentary from a radio, to the character picking up newspapers. The pace of the entire sequence is very slow and to keep continuity only cuts were used between shots. The cuts in many thrillers usually speed up throughout a scene to build tension however this one seemed to stay the same and maybe even slow down. Throughout the sequence they use low key lighting and fake natural lighting through the windows in the diner and grey scale filters which could be from camera or editing. This makes the audience see the characters world as depressing and dark. This is common in thrillers as they have dark and depressing themes. Throughout the sequence in both scenes they use low key lighting, such as fake natural lighting through the windows in the diner and grey scale filters which could be from camera or editing. This makes the audience see the characters world as depressing and dark. This is common in thrillers as they mostly have dark and depressing themes. The camera is still on the same one shot but has changed from long shot to mid close up to show his newspaper with the articles which are important.

The first film was an interesting example of the other movies analysis, which are laid out more like essays. They all mostly have repeating themes except for "Gone baby Gone" and "Trespass", I would recommend looking at these two as they have very different opening sequences to the first three movies.

The 2^nd film is ‘The next three days’.

Sound

Unlike in the last movie there is non-diegetic music playing throughout the first 2 minutes sequence. The music is slow and eerie and makes the audience tense. At the same time there diegetic sound which is a man whispering “Help, I can’t breathe” multiple times over 30-40 seconds. The voice is off screen and we have not seen the man in the film yet. The audience will be asking the question “what has just happened?” There is more diegetic sounds effects such as the cars brakes but the music drowns out most of the background noise. Near the end of this sequence the music builds up and the completely drops off to show the audience that there is a new scene starting.

Editing

The first scene keeps getting interrupted by the opening credits making the scene seem longer. The first shot is around 30 seconds if you include the titles which have the sound still rolling, which makes the shot extremely long. The next scene has cuts for continuity and match on action which get shorter when the argument is building.

Mise en scene

In the first scene we see the use of make-up showing blood covering the face of the protagonist. This shows the audience that he was the murderer. The characters facial expression and body language also show that he is panicking when the voice goes quiet suggesting the death of the man. A repeating theme of thrillers is the movie setting at night to hide character to ask the audience ask more questions. This will be thought about in our project when we are in the process of making planning it. In the next scene, in the restaurant, the costumes of the characters suggest that they are two couples meeting as maybe a double date, such as the woman walking’s dress.

Camera work

The first scene the camera seems to be on an anti shake stand in the back seat of the car, I say this because the car is jumping around a lot. However this could be a stagnated car with green screens surrounding it. The camera is an extreme close up of the man’s face. Close ups are also very much repeating in the first parts of thriller movies. In the next scene the camera tracks the women on a mid-shot to long shot which sets helps set the scene for the audience. I have noticed in these movies that they make the audience have many unanswered question at the beginning however they give them the setting as solid information to where the characters are.

 

3^rd film – The Double

Sound

In this sequence there are multiple Mexicans whom seem to be illegally immigrating into the US. There is diegetic tense music playing throughout the scene. There is off screen diegetic foley sounds such as footsteps on and pans in their bag with rattling metal. The music gets more intense when they come across an abandoned car and the leader opens the back to find a body a new sound is added to the music which sound very high pitched. This makes the audience wonder what’s happened and what will happen to the characters.

Editing

The pace of the sequence is well balanced at round 4 seconds per shot, this means that the scene is a normal smooth pace. A repeating occurrence in thriller films is that only cuts are used in the first 2 mins unless there is overlays such as whole screen credits. This occurrence appears in this movie as well, this is mainly because of continuity.

Mise en scene

Costume, hair and make-up has played a huge part in this movies 2 minute opening. These along with the setting helps us understand what is going on this opening (Mexicans crossing the border to US). The three key points of mise en scene show us the stereotypical Americanized Mexicans who have dirty thick clothes, sombreros, straw hats and huge broken hiking back packs. The makeup and hair make the characters seem dirty themselves and have no way of cleaning themselves. This with the setting of the Senora desert in Mexico shows they are going over the border to America.

The next part of mise en scene to look at is facial expression and body language. The characters facial expressions all look fearful and like they are in big danger (Which they are). This makes the audience try puzzle together what they are scared of. Their body language however shows strength and support to one another as they are helping each other walk and climb to the border as a team. This shows the audience that the characters are strong, determined and scared, which was also the case in ‘The Next Three Days’.

Camera

The camera is using a range of close up shots to be able to get the characters facial expressions and focused body language such as someone pulling someone else up the hill. This is to show emotion from and between the characters to the audience which gives the audience the question of what the characters are fearing. However each shot is restricting as there are only close ups of certain characters, which makes the audience find it hard to work out what’s going on too quickly as it is the biggest question at the time.

When the characters find the dead body in the back of a truck the camera is zoomed on their faces and zooms out to a mid-shot with the body in the shot making the audience ask the next round of questions.

4^th film - Gone baby gone

Sound

Sound is very important in the beginning of this movie. Firstly the protagonist is narrating the city and the community after establishing shots of the city. This narration is carried through the whole 2 minute opening sequence and is over laying non-diegetic music. There is also very limited diegetic sound such as cars and trains but they are almost unnoticeable. This opening is very different compared all the others so far. The rest were dark and making the audience ask questions, this is fairly peaceful and having all the answers before the questions, such as location.

Editing

This opening is very slow paced making the audience feel at peace and on a ‘lean back’ viewing approach without any tension. The movie uses dissolve as well as cuts for its shots throughout the sequence. This is a very different opening than we have previously seen.

Mise en scene

Costume, hair and makeup also play a part in the opening of this sequence. This time is to show the poor families in a rough part of Boston. This helps with the establishing shots to show how the audience what the neighborhood (setting) is like.

The next bit is big props such as cars, buses and even a train. These are all used to show the busyness of the city showing that they live on a train track and main road.

The final part is lighting and colour, there’s lots of it. In the other thrillers we have seen off coloured and dark openings but this is based at sunset with 'orangey' yellow lighting making colours really ‘pop’ on the screen while having really good lighting.  

Camera work

As I have previously talked about in the other areas there is lots about establishing shots, as the entire 2 minutes are establishing the setting. This is strange as it does not make the audience ask questions about the characters and film. Instead is giving them information; location, time of day, protagonist. There are however close ups as well but are still establishing the characters such as the screenshot.

The camera does extreme long shots and wide shots which do not restrict the view of the audience unlike previous movies where they had very restricting close ups and maximum distance of mid shot.

5^th film - Trespass

Sound

The sound in the movie has diegetic sounds of the protagonist speaking down the phone, who we cannot see and the sounds of him throttling his Porsche. This is drained out with the dark fast paced music over the top which is non- diegetic and contrapuntal to the sequence.

When he stops the car the music fades out as he is now saying important information to the story. In the next scene of his daughter and wife, there is only diegetic sounds with good examples of foley footsteps of the daughter. This again is because the characters are saying information to the plot.

Editing

I had noticed that the 180 degree rule was broken in the talk between the mother and daughter however it did not brake continuity as it does not confuse the audience and would be completely unnoticeable by an audience who are just watching the movie for entertainment. There are very good examples of shot/ reverse shot in the sequence with 5 shots showing it.

Mise en scene

Lighting and colour are very similar to ‘Gone baby gone’ where by the scene is very bright but with mixed orangey yellow from the sunset effect. This is completely different from how the music is, making it contrapuntal. This suggests to the audience that something bad is going to happen and gives us an unrestricted perspective of the movie.

The props and setting also give the audience the knowledge that this family is very wealthy, Porsche, mansion, gardener(s). This is fairly different to other analysed thrillers with the audience usually seeing poor characters or criminals (or crime fighters) in these movies as the protagonist, showing it can be based on any story or characters.

Camera

The camera work in the first scenes of the Porsche driving through the forest are extreme long shots from a helicopter as establishing shots. However these do not give much information; you cannot see the protagonist, it could be set anywhere in America. After the protagonist stops his car you can see his facial expressions showing stress by having a dolly along his car to his face with a close up.

I know its long but thank you for reading it, it took a lot of time. Please follow our blog and I hope you have a good day! 

The finished product results

As you can see through our blog we have had to do planning which includes props, location of filming and most importantly story boarding, which he had minimal issues with. Then we did the filming trying to stick to the story board. In my opinion and others in the group the filming was a big learning experience that you could not get in a classroom and only from the actual experience. The story board planned for the film to be just under 1 minute at 57 seconds however this was did not happen because of issues we had not foreseen (blog post 'The Filming'), plus the fact that the members who were working on the storyboard had not seen the rooms orientation meant we had to rework this in the filming or the 180 degree rule would've been broken. 

In the editing we had gathered our filming and sound however the sound was not recorded properly (blog post 'Audio and Foley sounds'). Even with this error in our filming we had fixed it for the final product by recording our voices separately and is almost unnoticeable over the film. 

The final product seems to be fairly different to what we had planned originally on the story board. We have all now taken into consideration the issues we have came across during this filming and they will be noted when researching, planning, filming and editing the next project. We have all done our parts of filming, editing and planning, we also have all worked together to get all the parts of the film together. 

We are all now working on our next piece which the research we are doing will be on the next few posts.

Editing

To get sound effects for our short film we used a program installed into the macs and also used our own foley sounds that we recorded.

When I was editing I had to create separate bins for every different shot angle so we could keep confusion of files to a minimal.

Our hole sequence ended up only being 34 seconds long because we had some problems with getting everyone out of lesson for filming so we had to improvise and remove some shots which were not vital towards the editing techniques.

All the music i could find that was not copy righted was either to long or to short for our film and some just did not fit right with what was happening on screen which meant that i have only put in ambient sound so there is never complete silence.

Because we had problems getting people out of class during our shoot we had to re-shoot the footage from the last time as we had to change some actors as well as the camera.

audio amd folly sound

Audio and Foley sounds.

When we initially recorded, our microphone was not working. This meant we had to re-record our sounds including our dialog. This meant that some sounds are slightly out of time or may sound strange. Although we did intend to use Foley sound for things such as walking and a door opening we did not intend to have to redo all of our sound. This meant time had to be taken out of editing to re record the sounds. This will help us in our final piece because we will be more careful with equipment to make sure it is running when we intend to record.

Filming availability

 With our original idea, we wanted to film more parts. However we were unable to do some scenes within our piece as we only has 3 people available as one member was unable to get out of a tutor session. This meant everyone was in the shot and no one (if we wanted to do something whilst we were all in shot) would be able to do anything with the camera. This overall meant that our final piece was not as long as we intended. However this means that we will be able to plan ahead for any issues we may come across in our final coursework.