Independed film analysis- Donnie darko

Independent film-'Seven' Textual Analysis

This is my analysis of the film 'Seven' including exaples of different sound, editing, camera shots, and mise-en-scene

Conventions of thrillers

Conventions of thrillers from LauraKN

Binary oppositions-

Levi Strauss belivied that the way that we understand different words depends on understanding the difference in the words rather than any meaning that they contain. 
An example of a binary opposition that could be used in a thriller could be good v bad which would show how people such as the good are affected by the bad and maybe how they end up being the victims. Another that could be used in a thriller could be war v peace which could be used in a political or a war type of thriller. 

I think that when it comes to making our own thriller, we will try and include a opposition to create a more dramatic feeling for our audience as they will like to see the difference in things and how this brings out thriller together.

Propp's character types theory-

Propp's discovered that there are 7 different character types that characters fall within... 

1.  The hero. Traditionally the hero or protagonist in a film is played by a male character who is able to defeat everything in the end.
2. The villian. The cause of disruption and disorder who is the enemy of the hero. The villian is usually the threat to the heros saftey.
3. The dispatcher. The person who sends the hero on a quest/jeourny. The person is usually like a farther figure tot he hero.
4. The donor. Gives something to the hero for help (Skill/object).
5. The helper/helpers. heros assistant or assistants.
6. Heroine. usually a passive and vinrable character who is threatend by the villian and needs the support of the hero.
7. False hero. Intentially seems to be good but then is revealed to be not what people think they are. These characters usually decive other people and can be manipulative.

I think that when it comes to making our own thriller that it will be good to use some of these but also to break some of the stereotypes to make our thriller more unique.

Textual Analysis: Art Of The Title Task (Coraline)

This is my Art of the title textual analysis task of my chosen opening credits (Coraline).

I used these particular opening credits as I think that they are intresting to the viewer by including  details such as different shots that set a scene about the overall film. 

This textual analysis of Coraline includes the different fonts used and why they are used, also the movement of the titles and what effect it has on the viewer. It also includes the different shots used, how it's effective, and the order of the titles.

Coraline presentation (using art of the title) from LauraKN

Preliminary task evaluation, Feedback!

This is our feedback from another group including what they think we did well and what they think we could have improved on to make it better. 

Preliminary Task Evaluation

Here is the evaluation powerpoint for our preliminary task. It includes what we learned during the making of it, what we think we did well on, what we think we could have improved to make it better, feedback from another group and an evaluation of what i actually did to contribute to the finished product.
Thankyou and enjoy :).

My Feedback From The Other Group Will Be Posted After This...

Prelimanary task evaluation from LauraKN

Preliminary Task

Final product...

This is our finished preliminary task that we have edited and uploaded onto YouTube.

Hope you enjoy :).

Preliminary Task Story Board

This is a story board that we drew for the planning of our preliminary task. We drew what we would have liked  the different shots to look like on the screen and wrote what type of shot we would be using. We also wrote what was happening in the frame at that particular moment to help us when it came to filming, which helped us know exactly what to do to get it right and refrain from missing anything out from what we wanted to put in.

My next post shall include the final edited Video.

Practice lighting task -Preliminary task

This is our practice lighting task that I did in a group with Sophie and Courtney. We used different spaces, lights and lighting techniques to create different effects which should be useful in our Thriller opening task.

3-point fill lighting

The goal of three point lighting is to create the illusion of a three dimensional subject in a two dimensional image.

Here is our groups example of where 3-point fill lighting. This technique creates soft shadows and focuses on the subject which is being lit up by the three lights, making the background look hazier.

Chiaroscuro lighting

This is lighting including the use of strong contrasts between light and dark.

Here are our group’s example of chiaroscuro lighting. The pictures show the contrast between the harsh lighting and the dark which create shadowed effects and makes the picture look as though there is few light to illuminate the subject, (This is commonly used in thrillers).

High key lighting

Backlighting is when the scene has been lit from behind, usually by the form of some natural light where it can be used to create a silhouette.

Here is out groups example of a backlighting image. We have used the natural light from the window behind to make the subject darker. This can be comonly used in thrillers to create the effect of the unknown. (For example there may be a strange figure who's face can not be seen because of the harsh lighting behind it).

Artificial lighting

This is a man made light source which uses bulbs or florescent lights which are usually more bluey grey or a harsh yellow and orange clour.

Here is our group’s example of the use of artificial lighting. As you can see we used quite yellowish lights to make the subject look slightly a different colour. I think that this also makes the photos more mysterious for the viewer.

Natural lighting

Natural lighting can be either, as the name suggests, natural light coming from a natural light source such as the sun. However natural lighting can also refer to light that has a light yellow or white hue. Natural lighting is used in a combination with other lighting effects such as 3-point fill lighting.

Here is my own example of some natural lighting, as you can see, contrasts between darkness and the light are not really used and the photo looks very natural. This could be used in parts of a thriller when everything seems normal until plots start to unravel.

High key lighting

High key lighting uses harsh, bright lights to reduce contrast in a scene. This gives the scene a white-washed, clean look that has no shadow in the frame.

Other shots we took!

Here are for more shots that we took, using different spaces for different types of light. An example of this was when we used the music store cuboard to get a pitch black room, we then used lights at different angles and in different spaces to  illuminate things that we wanted to be in the light.

We also held a light up against the side of the face as shown below, this created a shadow onto the wall and made the photo look more dramatic 

Preliminary task planning

Hi everyone,
In my preliminary group task includes myself, Sophie Smart and Courtney Pearson , this task is based on  continuity which is using editing to make everything seem more real and in a chronological manner, this will give the impression on continuous filming even though the different shots will have been shot apart from each other. This will also needed to be edited well so that there are no errors which make it less realistic to the viewer.


The idea of our plot is for one person to be the 'Bad Guy' and the other one trying to save the world. In this the 'Bad Guy' will be trying to hack a computer and plan world domination but the good person stops them. 


Myself and Sophie will be taking part as actors in the short video and Courtney will be filming.


This video will demonstrate-

• Match on action-  This includes editing techniques where the editor cuts from one shot to     another that matches the first shot, making it look like it still in the same place and time.
•  shot/reverse shot- This is
• the 180 degree rule.

Practice Camera Shots

These different shots that we used were about the first day back at school...

This shot is an establishing shot of the whole courtyard and it shows what is seen when you first walk into the front of school, it is used to show the setting.

This shot is a shot/ reverse shot which shows a conversation between two people and the reactions on their faces. This shot is used as it shows the reaction to seeing friends at school.

This is an high angled shot that shows somebody sitting down on her first day back at school, the shot from above her head makes her look smaller as she is probably tired on the first day back.

                                                

This is a tilt shot which is showing movement of the lawn mower.

This is a long shot and shows the person at a distance and she is being overpowered by her surroundings, this shot shows how big the school is against her.

This is a low shot which makes the object which is the sign seem bigger, this could also make the people seem smaller and more overpowered  in the school enviroment.

This is alos an extreme close up of an eye, it shows the detail and how Niamh was feeling a bit tired at the end of her first day back at school.

Self Introduction

This is me!

Hello I'm Laura and this is my AS Media blog.

I have personally had some experience with video cameras and editing videos before but I am looking forward to getting more used to editing , using different methods and learning new things about editing my own videos. I am also looking forward to sharing all of my ideas with other people such as the people that will see my blog, and I hope that they enjoy everything that i come up with.

I am very interested in films, music videos and YouTube so I am looking forward to seeing how they are exactly made and how I can produce my own whilst getting to grip with the new equipment that I will be using during the process.