Mise en scene notes

The arrangement of everything that appears in the framing of the shot, the actors, lighting, décor, props, costume – is called mise-en-scène. 

Décor

Décor refers to the decoration or decorative styles, comprising mainly of the set and props used in a movie. The director must be savvy to fathom how objects may bear significance in a deeper level, while also emphasising themes, creating meanings, and provoking thoughts.
For example An early scene from The Graduate opens with a close-up of Benjamin Braddock alone on his bed. Behind him is a fish tank, which may symbolically represent Ben’s entrapment in a life that he doesn’t want. Later in the movie, Ben finds himself at the bottom of a swimming pool, thus further elaborating on that concept.


Lighting

Unarguably one of the film elements that has the greatest power to evoke emotions, lighting must be manipulated by the director to accommodate his or her desires for the movie. The two broad types of lighting approaches are: low-key lighting and high-key lighting.

High-key lighting is often seen in romantic comedies and musicals, encompassing an even lighting pattern and avoiding dark areas in the frame. Everything looks bright with little to no shadow at all. High-key lighting has little dramatic effect, and it is often used in a scene with no tension.

Low-key lighting is often seen in horror movies and thrillers, comprising of a lighting pattern that has both bright and dark areas in the frame. The chiaroscuro (Italian: bright-dark) technique, long used by painters, is characterised by strong contrast, often employed to unnerve the audience.

Costume

The obvious purpose of costuming is to dress an actor according to his character. Lawyers wear suits, nurses wear scrubs, and a drifter could wear worn out shoes, ragged shirt, and baggy pants.

But, more than that, costuming can also be used to establish someone’s hierarchic level. Regimentals, for instance, bear the status of the person who wears it. And even the color may distinguish an enemy from a friend

John Hughes - Auteur Notes

Quote about John Hughes from Easy A


''Though his stock in trade was broad, he had a particular gift for the speech and emotions of middle-class suburban youth, who were portrayed in his films with a complexity and respect rarely afforded to them in major Hollywood features''

This quote shows that John Hughes is an auteur because you can identify his films, by the way he showcases the emotions of teenagers in the 1980's, he shows the struggles and problems that they are dealing with and gives them a voice. 

John Hughes casts Molly Ringwald as the main female actress in most of his films (The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles) this also suggests that he is an auteur because you can identify one of his films from seeing the same cast. 

His cast were named The Brat Pack which were Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald. So when you see this cast you know that you are watching a John Hughes film. 


My two John Hughes films are Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Breakfast Club

Supporting films are Sixteen Candles and Pretty in Pink

My comparison films are Mean Girls and Clueless

Analysis of scenes...

The Breakfast Club - Getting to know each other
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm0oAv2moOw 

20 seconds into this clip we have been introduced to the characters and we can identify who and what type of individuals these people are by Hughes use of custumes and this shows their statuses amongst their peers, we already have an idea of his interest and hobbies outside of detention. Even the simplest stylistic choices employed sharpen the audiences understanding of who the characters are and what they are about. We see that it is set in a high school library, where the characters were confined. Between the florescent lighting, the uncomfortable chairs and being surrounded by books, the scene becomes relatable to the target audience. He uses this very average scene as the backdrop for the unusual activity which happened within its confines. The simplicity and the mundane nature in which the movie occurs is used as a comparison between the sometimes boring and confining nature of high school, the the extraordinary events and conversation that occurred within.  Nearly every prop within the film is used to clarify the kind of status the characters have within a high school setting.

What is an Auteur? 

An Auteur is a theory that the directors films can be easily identified by a constant visual style and mise en scene and also the cinematography that the certain auteur uses so you can easily tell who's film you are watching by their style. 

We are now justify to argue that John Hughes is an auteur. 

JOHN HUGHES THE AUTEUR

"Hughes was smart enough to take teenagers and their problems seriously - and remember that at that age everything is life or death." This quote argues that he is an auteur because his films make the audience take into account what teenagers are going through. 

 

Sound Testing

Sound testing for dans lesson

Editing

Editing

Shot transition-cut, fade, dissolve

Parallel Action-2 things happen @ the same time

Montage-lots of shots to send a message

Modern- showing narrative quicker

Shot duration-long time/short time

Armageddon-in a 68 shots in the first few seconds of the clip

Rocky IV-The editing techniques show that rocky is reflecting on past events and good times he has had in his life, it's an editing montage, there is a long shot duration, there's ambient sound in this scene, it gives you an insight into this characters life. It makes the audience feel like we are preparing for something, we have slowed down actions it makes us feel sorry for the character.

Unit 26 Film Studies - Sound and Editing

Diegetic sound in a film- dialogue, ambient sound, (natural background).

Non Diegetic- Added on after, soundtrack/music.

VO-voiceover.

Sound bridge - Goes over into next scene.

Contrapuntal-When the music doesn't fit the image playing on screen.

Sounds from film scenes

The Matrix-Diegetic dialogue, Diegetic ambient sound, non Diegetic soundtrack, sound bridge

500 days of summer-Sound Bridge, Contrapuntal, Diegetic Ambient sound, non Diegetic Soundtrack.

Mean girls-dialogue, Diegetic ambient sound, non Diegetic voice over, Contrapuntal

Casino Royale-Diegetic ambient sound, Diegetic dialogue

Light homework

In today's lesson we learnt about different light techniques, here are two different videos to give you an example of hard light and soft light 

This is my example of soft light, its cosy

This is my example of hard light because it has alot of exposure

Types of Production- light

Types of Production

Single camera production - 

• On location
• fictional based dramas
• feature film
• documentary 
• TV drama 

Multi camera production - Corrie would be a multi camera production, they shoot this from multi different cameras at time. They only try to shoot one scene and get it right to save money because it is filmed in one day and can't afford to make mistakes. Also The News is a multi camera production its a live broadcast, this is not edited so they just cut to different cameras. 


Light - Light is everything we see, once you understand light you begin to understand the video. 

Soft light - Diffused light, makes everything look 'cosy' this type of light is usually used for love films etc.

Hard light -  Create more shadow and add more volume and depth, this light could be used for horror films etc. 

Light behind you - illuminate the object.

Tonal Range - Bright parts are the highlights, if things are too bright then you loose information. You have to get the right balance of light, lower your exposure, details are in the highlight. 

Midtone - Exposure needs to be somewhere in the middle, effects the majority of the image. 

Shadows - If you want detail in the highlights you need to have a low exposure to make everything more darker. 

Exposure - We expose the lens to light, we allow light to go into the lens. We have control light with this. how much light we expose the lens too. 

Iris/Aberture-control how much light the sensor is controlled too.  

Narrative and Genre Presentations

NARRATIVE
is the structure of the 'storyline', the character types and enigma codes. 

There are different types of structure:

Linear and Non Linear

Linear means 'straight line' so there is a 3 act structure 'BEGINNING-MIDDLE-END' 

Non linear means not in a straight line think 'PULP FICTION'

Structure

Another way of describing the structure is

• EQUILIBRIUM 
• DISEQUILBRIUM
• NEW EQUILIBRIUM

Equilibrium is how the film starts 

Disequilbrium is the problem that happens in the film that the characters have to then spend the film working out how to fix. 

New Equilibrium happens after the CLIMAX of the film, the final battle, confrontation that happens in order to solve the problem and life can return to normal and the RESOLUTION can occur.

Character types

Hero: Saves the day 

Can sometimes not be the knight in shining armor, they can have a conflicted or complex past, not be moral or ethical but save the day in the end, more of an ANTI HERO.

Victim/Damsel/Princess:Anyone that needs saving

Villain: The cause of problems, the aggressor. 

Enigma Codes

Enigma means puzzle, an enigma code is anything in the film, that is a puzzle to the character and audience. We have to go on the journey with the character to solve the puzzle. An enigma is anything that keeps us guessing, it could be a clue, or larger, like the enigma of how the narrative will ever resolve?

Privilege Spectators 

When the audience knows more than the characters in the film. 

TASK

The film I choose to watch was Psycho

This was my favourite scene


The equilibrium the film starts with Marion Crane robbing the bank she works in and goes on run and this also happens to be the disequilbrium of the film because the characters are then trying to find out where she went with the money and what happened to her. The climax of the film is when they put Norman Bates in prison when they find out he is the murderer and not his mother, because we found out he is mentally insane, thats the problem that needed to be solved.

CHARACTER TYPES
The heroes are the police officer Sheriff Al Chambers and Marion's sister Lila Crane

Norman Bates is the villain, and victim is Marion.  

ENIGMA CODE

The enigma code that the characters are trying to solve in this film is where Marion has gone with the money she stole, and what keeps the audience guessing is that you don't know who the killer is you think that its Norman's mother, but in fact we come to learn its actually Norman. 

This makes you feel scared, nervous and anxious

The narrative isn't a traditional horror story and isn't expected for this genre, in my opinion at the start it doesn't seem to a horror it seems like love/thriller then slowly turns into the horror genre.

GENRE

Means type...

• Horror
• Sci Fi
• Romance
• Drama
• Comedy
• Action
• Fantasy
• etc

Generic Conventions

• Die Hard is a generic action film because it uses action props such as guns and the narrative contains many fight scenes between hero and villain
• When you see things you expect to see in any type of film, lets say a horror, you seeing the generic conventions
• You recognise that a film is a generic because of the sheer number of times you have seen this genre of film use these conventions

How to identify generic conventions

You are looking for:

• Typical narrative (storylines): structure of the story and character types.
• Typical Micro elements: light/costume/font/colour/props etc
• Typical themes: good vs. evil/crime and punishment/achieving goals etc.

TASK

Horror Genre

My mental list of all the things I expect to see in this genre...

• Special Effects 
• Make-up e.g. Blood 
• The main villain of the film murderer/ghost/supernatural being
• Victims who get killed
• The hero who survives the film and beats the villain
• Dark lightening 
• Intense music

Hybrid

Some films are not simply a horror or a comedy, they seem to use generic conventions from a number of different genres, these are called hybrids, for example...Shaun of the Dead which is a Romantic Zombie Comedy.

Another example that I can think of is From Dust Till Dawn, this is a Crime Fiction, Thriller, Comedy, Horror and Action Film.

Typical or Challenging conventions...

• You can normally prove that a film is a generic by giving micro element examples but sometimes films do these you don't expect that genre to do and this is called challenging conventions. 
• It is good for films to do things that audiences don't expect, it stops the films from becoming repetitive and boring.

Audience

The Shining

What did the critics and the audience say about it?

Here is a review from a member of the audience

This movie just scared the life out of me, which is what still happens every time I rent the video for a re-watch. I have seen The Shining at least six or seven times, and I still believe it to be simultaneously and paradoxically one of the most frightening and yet funniest films I've ever seen. Frightening because of the extraordinarily effective use of long shots to create feelings of isolation, convex lens shots to enhance surrealism, and meticulously scored music to bring tension levels to virtually unbearable levels. And "funny" because of Jack Nicholson's outrageous and in many cases ad-libbed onscreen antics. It never ceases to amaze me how The Shining is actually two films in one, both a comedy AND a horror flick.

Here is a review from a critic 

Though it deviates from Stephen King's novel, Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is a chilling, 

often baroque journey into madness -- exemplified by an unforgettable turn from Jack 

Nicholson.


In your opinion how good were the actors performances?

I thought Jack Nicholson's performance was amazing in this film, he played the role of a mental creepy psycho like I have never seen before. This role has been given to many different actors, in many films within this genre and I don't think i've ever been as creeped out by an actors performance, more than Jack's in this film. 

Shelley Duvall played Wendy, Jack's weak vulnerable wife with no back bone very well. I liked how she seemed to be the victim with the camera shots looking down on her, when actually she was the one with more power. At the start of the film her performance annoyed me, the fact that she acted quite like a mouse, quiet and didn't stand up for herself and throughout the film I was hoping she would become some sort of heroin. 
During the scene where she is stood on the stairs and hits Jack with the bat, that was the moment I was waiting for with this character, and I began to love her performance. She came across as weak but still managed to run away and defend herself from her husband trying to murder her. 

In my opinion Danny's performance was also a great performance for a child actor, it must be hard to stand with a knife and repeat the words "redrum, redrum" over and over at such a tender age. His performance was really creepy the way he would talk to his finger and talk in a freaky voice and say he was talking to Tony. Although the quick camera shots to his face screaming did make me cringe and I did find them a bit cheesy and unrealistic. 

Overall I found the main actors performances in this film really great, but my favourite performance was by Jack Nicholson due to his unbelievably creepy performance. 


Give specific examples of innovative or unusual cinematography and mise en scene

The mise en scene that I enjoyed of this film was the facial expressions that Jack portrayed, he was either completely blank with no emotion or laughing and happy in situations that he shouldn't be happy. His emotions were mixed up, he was experiencing happiness when trying to murder his wife and son, and unhappiness when he got the job he had wanted at the start his facial expressions were completely blank. I think the director did this because it would make the audience fear that someone could be that detached and not in touch with themselves.  Also in the gold room Jack looks straight into the camera, as if he is looking into the audience and speaking, in my opinion I found this very frightening just that this mental man was staring at me with that evil face, to me it intimidates the audience which adds fear and tension. 

The make-up for the two young girls being murdered had a lot of blood, and the blood washing through the hotel through the lift, this effect of adding so much blood makes you think about how many deaths and murders actually happened in the hotel for it to have so much blood. Also the crazy old woman in the bath it looked as if her skin had melted off, I thought the make-up effects were very good for that time in film, I thought it looked very realistic. I thought the director shows this because the two pretty innocent girls were in clean dresses and suddenly they are chopped up covered in blood saying "let's play forever" and it scares the audience that something so innocent could turn so evil. 

The cinematography of this film which I enjoyed were the different camera shots and how it cuts to different months so you can experience the 5 months they spent in the hotel quicker than it actually was but enhancing the moments the audience would of wanted to have seen. Also whenever we are with Danny on his bicycle  we are always put on the same level as him, so we feel like we are in his shoes, as vulnerable as a small child and this is use of good camera work because the audience will feel just as scared as Danny. 

Also at the start of the film, there is a wide-shot of a moving car driving and there are shots of beautiful colours and nature, the colour wash is bright and as the film develops the colour wash turns more grey and darker, it turns winter and nothing is bright anymore. This becomes more scary for the audience because they feel that the characters are trapped and isolated. And it makes them feel that it is only going to become more of a scarier atmoshphere. 

Sound & Listening tracks

Sound track

We know what genre means type and we know we can prove what genre it is from looking at examples from the micro elements, we know that films can be more than one genre so they can be a hybrid, another phrase you may hear are generic conventions.

Generic conventions is just a label, its a title for the things you expect to see, so if you expect to see blood as a special effect that's a generic convention of a horror film, if you expect to see a gun in a film that's a generic convention of an action, it's typical things you see if the different genres of films.

Narrative deals with structure weather it is a linear or a non linear if there are multi strands in that narrative. It also deals with character type like heroes, villains and victims. Another thing that narrative can discuss are enigma codes. Enigma codes are puzzles, things in the film that have to be solved in order for you to understand the film. In a film there can be a lot of little engimas or a large engima which the whole plot of the film is revolved around.

Enigmas make the film more interesting for the audience, always keeping them thinking for example the audience thinking during a horror film weather or not they know who the killer is or if they know how the film will end, leaving the audience to guess the answers, which makes the film viewing more enjoyable and entertaining.

Looking more at sound of films in more detail, there are two main types...diegetic and non diegetic. Diegetic sound is sound that is part of the film world, for example dialogue is a major part of diegetic sound, listening to the characters talking and interacting. If the film was set in an office the clicking of keyboards, phones ringing in the background etc. all of the ambient sounds are DIEGETIC SOUNDS.

Non diegetic sounds is sound that is not recognized in the film world, so a voice over or background music anything that is added on after, normally sound tracks and voice overs. Contrapuntal sound is also a sound is a sound that doesn't fit with the image, for example a sound that isn't meant to fit with the moving image.

Sound bridges help sound lead onto one sentence to the next, is it fast or is it slow paced, what type of instruments are used? This helps the audience understand how they should feel whilst watching the film, it also gives a hint at what genre the film is.

FILMS THAT HAVE WON AWARDS FOR SOUND. 

Les Misérables

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0obQ_a6Cm-c

This film won an award for best sound mixing, this sound mixing and the structure of the sound makes the film more cinematic and more detailed, this makes the audience feel more involved with the film and feel like they are there with the actors, it makes the songs they sing more enjoyable.

Video Editing = unit 16 + 21

Final Cut Pro = Non - Linear Editing 
Professional - Video Format - Audio Format
Non - Destructive - FCP - doesn't harm the original footage
Non Linear Editing - Don't have to edit the footage in order

WORKFLOW= The order in which you will work
Film = creates clips = Video footage
Memory card = Drag clips onto blue BTEC drive
Ready to edit = drag the clips to the scratch drive  

Saving Private Ryan Task

The first frame shows a mid-shot of the soldiers being sick on a boat, the colour wash is a grey colour which makes the audience feel depressed, there is a tracking back. In the background you can see other boats.  Then we see a mid-shot of the driver of the boat, then we get a close up of Tom Hanks he's on the left side of the frame his facial expression shows fear and sadness looking off into the off screen space, on the right hand side of the frame you can see another boat with soldiers on and this boat is out of focus. We see a close up of a soldier, you can see that they are wearing their camo uniforms to blend into the scene, the colours of the costume fit into the grey colour wash and add to the atmosphere. and we can see fear on his face, the lighting is dark in this scene this gives it a depressing atmosphere. We then see a low angle shot of soldiers coming off the boat and getting shot. We then see a close up of a soldier being shot in the head and the special effects show blood flying out the back of his head. There is an over the shoulder shot of a german shooting the soldiers coming out of the boat.

On the next scene you see a low angle mid shot of dead soldiers and soldiers escaping from the bullets with a blue colour wash, you see props sinking to the bottom of the ocean. such as guns, helmets and bullets and a bullet proof vest. You see a mid-shot of bullets shooting through the water. You can see soldiers drowning in the ocean with a wide two shot. There is a wide shot of bodies being blown into the water.

SOUND

Who does what?

Sound Recordist - It is their job to record sound on location with a boom pole

Sound Mixer - Person who mixes (balances) the sound during post-production

Foley Artist - Person mimics/Recreates sounds that are happening on screen

Composer/Score Writer - Person who composes the music

Sound Designer - Person who designs the sound

What do we record?

Dialogue - Individuals, Groups

Background/Atmosphere - Animate (e.g people walking around, something that moves) and Inanimate (e.g knock on the door, something that doesn't move)

SFX - Sound Effects for unrealistic sounds and real world sounds, Foley is for sounds created in a music studio.


 There are two types of sounds- 

Sync (when the audio is in time with the video) MUST be in sync/in time with the video so that we can understand the video.

Non Sync (when the audio isn't in time with the video) DON'T need to be in sync with the video to be understood.

Sound mixing- Balancing all your sounds.

Wild track - a recording of background sound from nature.

Where you record is important, its called your environment, how do we control what we record?

On Location - Tips for Shutting out Sound

• Choose the correct microphone
•  - Lavier (clip mic)   
• - Shotgun mic
•  -Omni-directional 
• -Directional/cardioid
• Mic Position - Has to be Above or Pointing Down
• Use Muffler/Dead Cat
• ADR - Additional Dialogue Recording

In the Studio

Perfect Acoustics

Sound Control

Additional Sound Recording

Mixers, Recorders and Monitoring

Field Mixer - Plug the XLR Cable into the microphone into the field mixer and you can adjust the levels (volume) of the sound. Mixers don't record sound, they mix the levels to increase or decrease the volume to give it a better effect. 

SCREAM REMAKE

  

Link to youtube clip

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEjmOpOAVOg&feature=youtu.be