As a task we had to film a scene from a feature length film. We started by creating storyboards following a brief and a script. The script was short because it only had two lines and the brief was describing the scene, characters and showing the stage directions but did not say what shots to include. Another thing that made the task harder was that we didn't know the name of the real film so we could not see how the scene was directed or filmed. When we actually got to filming, we based it off of Charlie's story board. Charlie acted as a director, I was the camera man and Liam and Ollie were actors. However everyone decided on which shots looked best. The editing was done by myself and then refined by Ollie with the addition of music and sounds. When we were actually filming, we didn't follow the storyboard exactly because we realised that some shots were not possible or didn't look very good so we changed them while filming. It was very easy to film because we had planned most of it, however we needed to decide on locations just before starting to film. Some shots we used were based off of the shot types and angles that we had studied from the blog post before. Comparing the video to the original scene, we focused more on creating the scene than adding suspense to the chase scene. Also, we didn't really create a chase scene at the end unlike the original scene. The original scene used some dolly shots, however we were unable to do that so we used handheld shots and panning shots. We took care with our camera movement to make it as smooth as possible and shorter shots but in the original it seems that they have used shaky, longer shots. We made the choices we did because we felt that it was important to set the scene and introduce the characters, but we didn't really focus on the chasing scene which we should have done. The original clip focuses a lot on the chasing scene, however we hardly included one. I would add a longer chasing scene if we were to re-film it. To improve the original I would smooth the shots out so they weren't shaky or all over the place and i would make the shots a lot shorter. And as for ours, I would make the chasing scene longer. I liked the fact that we managed to do what we did on a very low budget. They used a lot of long shots in the original for running, however we used a lot of close up and mid shots. The meaning we used is the same as the original. The main character is being hunted down by a gang and eventually gets chased by one of their members. The member punches the character in our film but slashes him with a knife in the original. This could mean the gang member was trying to kill the character but we was only trying to harm him in our film. The setting of the original scene is firstly set indoors and he gets the papers out of a locker instead of his pocket. Ours isn't set like that however, it is all outdoors but theirs starts indoors and then they go outdoors. In my opinion this doesn't make any difference because they are still very similar settings (schools and colleges). The mood of the films change at the same time. For example, the mood changes in the original when he finds the papers and it's the same with ours. This scene features the main character of the film, Marty McFly, who has just travelled back in time from 1985 to 1955. In this scene Marty enters a cafe and coincidentally sits next to his father as a teenager. Marty doesn't realise his dad is sat there until the local bully, Biff enters the cafe. As Biff enters, the camera is framed at the doors with him and his gang as the subject. He calls out "McFly", which is Marty and his father's surname. Marty looks up in amazement, still not noticing that his father is sat next to him. He is looking up to emphasise Biff's height and the camera is also tilted slightly upwards, to display how the bully is seeing him slightly. As Biff walks over to his father Marty realises who is actually sat next to him. The camera shot turns to a close up but zooms in closer to his face to show a change in facial expression. His facial expression changes from amazed and slightly scared to realisation that his dad was picked on as a teen. As Biff walks over to George McFly, the camera follows him (Biff) to show authority and to say that Biff is the leader and that everyone is scared of him. The scene also features a lot of over the shoulder shots because of the amount of dialogue between all of the characters. Then Biff realises Marty McFly looking at his father in such a funny way, so his gang comments on his body warmer calling it a life preserver. The reason they call it a life preserver because it is set in 1955 and body warmers were not worn in that time. As the gang leaves the cafe, the camera zooms on Marty and George to make them the main focus. In the background, you can see the gang through a window jumping in a car and driving off. As this happens, Marty is staring at his father in disbelief as his father eats his food. This shot is called a two shot and it allows you to see the relationship between both characters. George McFly is casually sat there minding is own business and eating his food, while Marty McFly is on edge and very freaked out. A locked down shot is a shot that is very rarely used in films. It is used to make the audience feel uneasy and to give them a hint that something bad is about to happen. A locked down shot is when the camera remains stationary, usually placed onto a tripod with the pan and tilt tightened so there is no movement. It would be used when there is dialog between two characters or when there is action in a scene, however the camera remains in the same place and some action happens off camera. This would make the audience feel unsettled because they would want to know what is happening off camera. ![]() Recently I attended the Encounters Film Festival which is a worldwide festival designed to spotlight new and upcoming film makers. During the two days we spent there, we watched a great number of short films and animations. One film that really stood out to me was a British film named "Patriot". Personally, I connected with this film's meaning and I realised the message the film maker was trying to convey. The film starts off with a family from London who are joined by members of their community. A young girl is singing, this girl's name is Hannah and she is the main protagonist in the film. Her family and members of her community are all very patriotic. The opening scene is set in a back garden decorated with England and Union Jack flags, this gives the audience the idea that the entire community loves their country. We do not know why all of the town is there, and as an audience we do not know their plans, however we do know that they're all planning to do something. The second scene sets place in the kitchen; Hannah has been ordered by her father to get her food from the barbecue so she enters to give her father the food. He instantly orders her to leave the room as he and a few others are "talking business". We can tell that they're talking about how to act when they get to wherever they're going. Hannah is angry because her older brother Jack is allowed to stay in the room so she argues with her dad. Despite this, her brother Jack pushes her out of the kitchen which angers Hannah. Hannah leaves the house and jumps onto her bike which is against a wall outside of the house. As an audience we know that she has decided to run away to punish her family for being so cruel. Her father's ideas about the country have clearly been spread to Hannah as she is wearing an England flag as a cape while riding her bike. Finally she arrives at a corn field, passing people who are picking the crops. The people picking the crops are of a different ethnicity as Hannah, therefore she scowls at them. As she runs through the corn field she gets to a caravan park. She's very curious to who lives there, so she opens the door to one of the caravans and is about to step inside until a boy steps out of the opposite caravan eating something. Hannah feels she is superior to the boy due to her ethnicity and origin. After staring at the boy she says "pick fruit in your own country". A lot of her dad's ideas have definitely rubbed off onto her and she is using her prejudice ideas against people. Hannah runs away. She is scared of the boy and didn't realise what the people who lived in the caravans were actually like. The boy chases her and Hannah trips, cutting her leg badly. The boy says "are you scared?" and Hannah replies "I'm not scared of anybody." Hannah still feels she has the upper hand when talking to this boy so she mentions her dad and how though and strong he is. However the boy has a cocky attitude and says "if anyone comes near me I'll kill them". Hannah doesn't want to be talking to him any longer because she realises that he's pathetic and cocky. She walks over to her bike to get back on but when she looks around the boy is pretending to be a boxer. The two characters at this point try to impress each other. Hannah realises that the boy can box so can't be so weak afterall but I felt like the boy wanted to be impressed too. He asks "do you box?", she replies "sometimes...". He holds up his hand for her to give him a demonstration but she isn't impressive at all. In my opinion, after this point in the film is where the two characters really connect. The boy teaches Hannah how to box. After this happens, Hannah falls to the floor and the boy jumps on top of her. He remains on top of her and she tries to get him off. This reminds me a lot of play fighting but can also been seen as a form of flirting. During this moment, a car pulls up beside them and Hannah's brother steps out. Hannah pushes the boy off of her. Her brother is outraged seeing a boy from a different community flirting with his sister. He shouts at Hannah and demands for her to go home. After Jack leaves, the boy runs back to the caravans, followed by Hannah. Hannah was embarrassed being seen with with a "gypo", as her brother said. But when she finally reached the boys caravan, he had locked himself inside of it. Due to her embarrassment she wanted to show that she wasn't really friends with this boy otherwise her father would not be pleased. She starts bagging on the doors and windows but the boy doesn't answer but pulls the blinds closed. Hannah grabs a rusty metal pole from outside of the caravan and starts hitting the caravan. Then she smashes a window which angers the boy. He steps outside and shouts at her. As part of the audience, I and everyone else was stunned when she hit the boy over the head with the pole. I think that she did it because she was ashamed of connecting with him, and her father would never allow their friendship. She then cycles home. To conclude, I think the message of this film was to emphasise the damage that British citizens can cause to other communities. It also shows how ideas can be carried through upbringing. For example, the father had a dislike for anyone foreign or for immigrants and this quality was also shared by his children, Jack and Hannah. The only criticism I would give the film is that the acting was slightly weak in places but other than that, I thought the film maker had done an amazing job of giving the film a hidden meaning. |
Will TownsendA keen videographer and photographer. Currently studying Level 3 Creative Media Production at SGS WISE Campus, Bristol. Archives
November 2015
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