Continuity Task 2 (BLK)

My sequence is an extract from the film "Man of Steel". The sequence I will be analysing starts at 0:11 till the end of the clip. A film based on the extremely popular Superhero from DC comics. in this sequence the main character, Superman, is being interrogated by the US Military as well as Louis Lane. Many techniques are used to show continuity in this sequence.

At the very start of the sequence we get a long shot of  two characters sitting at a table in the centre of the room. This automatically tells the audience the setting for the scene. The One-Way mirror is in shot as it is used later on in the sequence.

The shot then cuts to an over the shoulder shot of Louis Lane. This shot could be seen as an eye line match as they we are seeing Louis from almost Superman's perspective. The shot then cuts to an over the shoulder shot of Superman but now from Louis side. This is done to allow the audience see Supermans as he replies. The next shot is extremely similar to the first over the head shoulder shot of Louis however it is slightly zoomed in. This means that this is done from the same set up as the first shot but with different framing. A back and forth then occurs from the same set up and over the shoulder shots however with different framing.

The next shot cuts to a mid shot of a third character being introduced however form a different unknown destination. It is then revealed in the next shot, which is an over the shoulder shot of superman and Louis sitting at the table, that it is from the one way mirror seen in the very first master shot. The following shot shows a similar shot to the previous one however from the opposite side of Louis and Superman.This then cuts to other characters within the one way mirror to show their reactions, all of which are medium close up shots. This then cuts to a back and forth between medium close ups of superman and the third character as they converse.

After that the shot shows a completely different set up behind both the third character and the table. This shows the scene from the surrounding characters point of view as well as displays continuity by showing how each characters positions within the setting relate to each other. This set up is then abandoned in the next shots as they follow the previous set ups of medium close ups of Louise Lane and the other unnamed characters.

The last shot then shows Superman get up and begin to walk towards the mirror. As he is walking the shot cuts to the other characters backing away. The shot then cuts back to a long shot of superman still walking however he had covered some distance from when the characters began to walk away. This shot and the ones discussed above show continuity within the scene

Evaluation of AOTT Activity (DYM)

• Our film was about a pupil with memory loss that was a serial killer however, he managed to keep his incidents on the low key leaving fellow students and teachers clueless. In the film opening we see our main character look into the mirror. From there he has a series of flashbacks to his previous victims and how he killed them.
• In our film opening we managed to introduce our main character. We also showed the audience the deaths of his previous victims. We heavily implied that these were flashbacks by adding a sepia filter. Many settings are shown that shows the film takes place within a school. Settings such as the bathroom and field were heavily featured. 
• The titles don't directly related to the main film idea but instead who worked on the film. Many actors/directors etc were mentioned in the titles giving the audience an idea of who worked in the film and what they did exactly.
• The expected audience reaction is mild shock. This is because of the gore and violence used within in the film opening as well as how the back story of the character massively contrast on what the audience see at first. At the end of the opening audience should be intrigued to see what happens next as well as they should have a slightly greater understanding of the main character. I think our opening is fairly ambiguous to start off with however it becomes more clear who the character is as the opening goings on. At the very ending of the opening it is still unclear what the characters further intentions are and thus slightly ambiguous.
• in our opening we included various techniques so it is recognisable as a film opening. The first technique we used were titles/credits embedded within a few of the shots. This shows the audience who exactly worked on the film. This is extremely common in film openings. Another technique we used is a variety of angles and shot types. for example the mirror shot and the extreme close up are extremely different. The mirror shot is usually used within the horror/ thriller genre and thus connotes our genre well. A final technique we used was including a title card shot. This is extremely vital for an opening sequence as it gives the audience the film name. 
• I think our film opening is fairly effective as a film opening. We managed to use a variety of techniques as well as including titles. The titles font could have been improved to give a more professional look however they served their purpose well. To conclude our film opening was reasonably effective. 

Film Opening Analysis and AOTT Research (DYM)

1) The film is Kung Fu Panda and its genre is action comedy

2)The opening sequence takes place in a fictional version of China that is inhabited by animals, mainly rabbits,. The opening sequence however does not reveal a time scale.

3) In the sequence starts of with a "Legendary warrior whos kung fu skills were the stuff of legend" travelling China in search of "worthy foes" The warrior then ends up fighting many enemies whilst a voice over ,describing the fight, plays. The warrior then befriends the heroes of China "The Furious Five". Just as the warrior and The Furious five begin to fight an army it is revealed that it has all been a dream sequence by Po, an ordinary Panda who works in a noodle restaurant. 

4)I think all the events directly link to each other in the sequence. As it is a story instead of a cluster of unrelated images seen with other titles e.g. Skyfall

5)The Furious Five characters are revealed however they are a fictional versions of themselves in Pos dream. The characters aren't properly introduced till later in the film due to the opening sequence being just a dream. 

6)None of the story is revealed to the audience other than the setting which is China. This is because the opening sequence is revealed to be just a dream.It is withdraw as it leaves the audience questioning what will happen next as what they thought they knew about the film was a lie. However the opening of the sequence could be seen as foreshadowing as the characters dream eventually becomes his reality. 

7)At the start of the film the audience would need to know the overall genre of the film in order to understand that most of the scenes are not to be taken seriously. 

The first opening sequence is from Kung Fu Panda and the second opening sequence is from Skyfall. Despite both films being from contrasting genres they have many similarities and of course differences. Kung fu Panda uses extremely bright colour schemes such as orange, red and yellow where as Sky fall uses dark colour schemes such as black, dark blue and dark red. This is expected as Kung Fu Panda is targeted to younger audiences where as Sky fall is targeted to more older viewers. The openings are simmilar in the fact that they both use animation as well as the fact they both take a different style to the rest of the movie. Kung Fu Pandas opening is done with 2D animation where as the rest of the movie is done in 3D. This change in style from opening sequence to the actual film can be seen in Skyfall. Such as the opening uses a mixture of CGI and animation where as the rest of the film is live action. Due to the above both openings have similarities and differences. 

Continuity Task 1 (BLK)

Continuity Task 1: Evaluate+Reflect

1) We were given the task of making a short video displaying an accident. The story starts off with a person, Person A, walking into an elevator. Already inside of the elevator is another person, Person B, The shot then cuts to the digital dial of the elevator going down. Then Person A walks out of the elevator whilst Person B is left on the floor. this heavily implies some sort of accident occurs within the elevator.

2)We attempted to create narrative flow through a variety of techniques. The first technique we used was using establishing shots in order to let the audience become familiar with the setting despite the limited time. This can be seen with the shot were Person A and Person B enter the elevator. Also we tried to overlap shots so that the narrative flows from one shot to the other. This can be seen with the shot of Person A walking towards the elevator and the next shot of Person B inside of the elevator.

3) I don't think we achieved full continuity in our task.as some of the shots did overlap correctly. this can be seen in when Person A starts to walk towards the lift but in the next shot seems to be further away thus continuity was disrupted. Also the shot with the digital monitor did not show continuity. This is clear as we did not specify what characters point of view this shot was coming from. As well as the fact that the monitor was not seen before so it has no connection to the lift to the audience. 

4) In hindsight we would have planned the shots better in order to achieve full continuity. A shot that could've been used was a shot of each other in the lift from each others perspectives. Also I would make sure each individual shot links directly in with each other. This would effectively get rid of the break in continuity within the shots.

My Film Still Analysis (BLK)

The shot is a closely packed mid-close up shot. The lighting is quite dark except from one source of light. It signifies the horror genre due to this. Also due to the shot being packed not a lot is being given away to the audience this helps add mystery and atmosphere.

In order to achieve this effect we turned off all lights to emulate complete darkness. We then used portable lighting in order to create a single source of light. In order to capture the tight shot we moved the camera as close as possible.

We were trying to communicate a closed off area through the darkness which hopefully the audience will interpret as horror

The shot was framed well as well as lighting. I think it manages to connote the genre horror quite well

I would change the camera we used in order to blur the background better so more focus is on the subject