Initial film ideas

the case

Genre: crime/murder investigation.

Basis: Two detectives solving mystery of a man pushed off bridge and had hand cut off for what the detectives find out was a briefcase(The case) which will become a point of question for the audience as they won't find out what is actually in the case until much later.

V for vendetta

The opening scene is very effective, it starts with the sound of a news reporter on the television who is describing the current events around the world and showing the audience how things have changed, but the audience quickly realises that things are very different as the reporter starts becoming more extremist and racist, this is very shocking for the audience as we are not at all used to reporters,resposible and trusted people, being so inappropriate. The scene contiues on and introduces two charicters and immediatly starts showing contrast between these significant two characters, as they both appear to watch the same show while getting ready to go outside, this would make it look like they might be meeting somewhere but the difference in clothes suggests one could be going to some kind of party while the other looks like he might be preparing for a fight. the camera is in a first person view of the main protagonist putting on his mask and looking at a mirror this would add mystery to man and make the audience wonder why he wears it and what is underneath, it also portrays him as guy Fawkes which would make the audience believe he is some kind of revolutionary. As the TV anchor says the word Judgement there is a quick cut away to V putting swords on, this could be suggesting that the TV anchor has something he is going to be judged on it could also suggest however that V is Judgement for all people who have done something wrong.

Scream

The initial 5 minutes of the film are set relatively innocently with the man on the phone mysterious with now immediately obvious threat, but the audience would already know that he is the killer, he tries to get to know the woman and he seems to try and befriend in an attempt to get her to let him in. He also seems very calm and friendly which shows he is trying to befriend her, However as the scene progresses the killer becomes increasingly threatening and he actually shouts at the woman trying to get her to do things, the killer is also trying to learn more about her, this could be to try and learn about her fears and her hobbies such as she likes horror movies. Then as he starts to get annoyed with her, he starts playing with her by doing things to make her more spooked like knocking on her door, which makes her terrified and more likely to do something he wants. As the scene closes she is told to turn on the garden lights, after explaining she has a boyfriend, this could lead to the killer showing her boyfriend dead.

The Girl in the film is expecting a quiet night in with her boyfriend, watching a scary movie, she quickly becomes agitated by the man on the phone as he insists on talking to her, she seems to play it cool and answers his questions, but it is clear she doesn't want to talk to him. However as he becomes more threatening she becomes scared and begins to panic, as she locks the doors and begins to look for him outside, this suggests to the audience a sense of fear and mystery as she doesn't know where or he is and the scene shows a growing tensions.

Continuity editing

180 degree rule

The 180-degree rule is a guideline regarding the on-screen position between a character and another character or object within a scene. The axis runs between the characters and by keeping the camera on one side of this axis for every shot in the scene, the first character will always be to the right of the shots position, while the second will always be to the left of the shots position to avoid disorientating the audience.

this rule should also apply to a character or object moving, for example, if a man was walking and being filmed from the left side and so walked off frame to the left , the man should come back onto frame in the next shot from the right and continue to be filmed from the left. this always applies unless the director wishes to create a sense of time passed between shots.

In a dialogue scene between two characters the camera may be placed anywhere on the green 180° arc without disorientating the audience even when one of the characters is not on screen. Shifting to the other side of the characters on a cut, so that the two men have switched positions may disorient the audience.

shot reverse shot

Shot reverse shot is when one character is shown looking at another character ,and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other.

Match on action

Matching on action is where the editor cuts from one shot to another view that matches the first shot's action. Matching on action gives the impression of continuous time when watching the edited film by having a charicter or object begin an action in one shot and carry it through to completion in the next .

Saving private ryan

Establishing shot on Omaha beach from a low angle making the tank traps appear massive and scenes continue to introduce what is happening. Extreme close up of characters hands shows that he is nervous and supports the idea that they are soldiers going into a battle. Camera moves out form the main character to introduce the audience to the men ahead of him on the landing craft this adds humanity to each character and has the audience relate. Audience are shown close ups of the men showing them as praying and scared. Throughout the scene the pace of the shots is slow as the soldiers are waiting for the landing and adding a slight air of surprise as people the audience has just been introduced to are gunned down.The costumes in the scene only really serve to show the audience that the characters are World War 2 US soldiers. Lighting in the scene is initially bright and sunny but, as the soldiers get closer to the landing and to demise, the lighting gets darker and more miserable predicting how the scene will end. Props Just show the audience the setting of the film.

Dark knight

Dark knight

Shots and actions

Single long establishing shot sets the scene in a city and then surprises the viewer by having a window smash, which tells the viewer that trouble, is occurring. Scenes cut between two events continuously throughout to give the impression the events are occurring at the same time. Close ups show the two bank robbers talking which is used very effectively to show this as there is very little suggestion they are talking otherwise. A mix of medium and close ups is used to show detail of the actions of the thieves, this draws attention to what they are doing and expressions of the characters. At the beginning the clips are fairly long but speed up as the action starts.

Mise en scene

The thieves’ costumes add an air of mystery to them and raise questions among the audience as well as making the thieves easily identifiable from each other. The lighting of the main customer area in the bank is well lit as expected while the areas the other thieves are in has lower level lighting to show they are outside of the area they should be in as if they are ‘behind the scenes’ of the bank.