Mise en Scene Stills

This is a screen capture from The Book of Eli, My aim was to comment on the Mise en Scene I could find in the photo and why it's placed there by the director. 

This is another photo from The Book of Eli, This photo was more interesting to analyse as it is a much more intimate and has softer lighting creating a vinnette around the corners of the shot. 

This is from the post apocalyptic film 28 Days Later, This was also difficult to analyse as the camera angle is canted and is usually used to add pace although this coming from a calm scene.

This still is taken from The Road, Again another intimate scene however the tone is different as it is between father and son, I feel it shows the remains of humanity even within the apocalypse. 

Why do audiences like post apocalyptic films

"we as humans like to be right. There is a certain I-told-you-so kind of satisfaction that comes from being right, no matter how terrible the event we were right about. People have been saying for years that certain habits of the human race (coal, gasoline, plastic dolphin-killing rings, etc.) are going to be the downfall of our planet. To see that scenario played out on a screen, be it in a movie, video game, or television show, can be intensely satisfying."
Smith, S (19/09/14) Available at: https://www.themarysue.com/why-do-we-love-the-apocalypse-so-much/ [Accessed at:18/12/2016]


From looking on YOUGOV and other websites and blogs I have concluded that audiences enjoy the idea of the destruction of society and the primal instinct of survival. Because of this I want to include this into my Film opening.

Production and Distribution

Production is the process of making the films and distribution is promotion and the task of getting them into the cinemas where audiences can watch them. 

Who holds the most power in what films get made and seen?
Some people believe that the audience has all the power, as film makers need to cater to their wants and needs in order to create a film everyone will want to go and see. However, some people believe that if you spend enough money on advertisements on the right places of media, people will be intrigued and feel pressured to watch your films, converging with the beliefs that this is still a competitive industry and the bigger you are the better. 

What does Distribution entail?
Distribution is the proccess of releasing films to an audience and receiving feedback. 

What is above the line production?
Above The Line Production is advertising where a lot of media is used to promote brands and reach out to their target audiences/consumers. This includes media, television, radio advertising, print and also the internet.

What is below the line production?
Below-the-line production is an advertising strategy in which companies use one of their products to be promoted in different ways. Types of below-the-line advertising particularly include direct mail campaigns, trade shows and newspapers/magazines, and targeted search engine marketing.

What might a small UK company face when trying to get a film shown?
 The well known American 'Hollywood', overpowers a small based UK film as it has a higher popularity. And has more money put into it in order to create a higher quality of film, consumers would much rather go and see, They will also struggle to earn a profit. 

In what format and why are films shown in Cinemas?
Many cinemas use a system called DCP which is literally a USB pen that gets shipped around inside a case. It improves accountability on behalf of cinema-pirates, as each Pen has a certain number of licences on it. A slightly more old fashioned variation of this is large portable hard-drives, but these are being phased out of circulation too.

Cinema listing for The Odean in Mansfield

Sunday 11th December

Fantastic Beasts and where to find Them
Standard: 16:00  17:30  19:00  20:30  

Mona
Standard: 12:15  14:15  15:00  17:00  18:00

Sully
Standard: 12:45  15:15  17:45  20:15

Office Christmas Party
Standard: 16:30  19:00  20:15  21:30

Allied
Standard: 18:30

Monday 12th December

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Standard: 13:00  14:30  16:00  17:30  19:00  20:30

Mona
Standard: 12:15  14:15  15:00  17:00  18:00

Sully
Standard: 13:30  15:15  17:45  20:15

Office Christmas Party
Standard: 13:30  16:00  18:30  21:00

Allied
Standard: 15:45  18:30

Over one weekend there are 39 screenings, In total Mansfield Odeon show 9 films a week, 8 of these films are being screened more than once a day, and only 11.1% of these films are a unique one time screening, Film distribution in the UK has a pattern of showing the films that have had more advertisement and hype over them more than the films that probably didn't have as much money put into them. 

Another look at The Book of Eli opening

I watched the opening again as I want to take this film as inspiration for mine, This is what I found the second time round

The Book of Eli

• Mise-en-Scene- Secluded  forest-dull, lifeless emphasised with the dead body that is then shown in the tracking shot. Falling leaves- sound effects, low key light (blue, green and black, representing decay or death).
• Sound- Diegetic heavy breathing not noticeable at first as It blends in with the soft music playing in the background (non-diegetic), leaves hitting the ground- sound effect, volume control, when we can hear him breathing.
• Camera- Tracking shot through the forest- showing a dead body on the floor, then a close up on a gun making the audience aware that this was a suicide and the world isn't how it used to be, point of view shot from the cats perspective (rare and not seen very often) and an extreme close up of o gas masked face, also giving the audience context to where the breathing is coming from.
• Character- One character, no dialogue creating mystery and gives him an ominous demeanour, heavy clothing implying he needs to keep warm, camouflage depicting that he needs to be able to hide from something- makes the audience question why and what has happened to the world.
• Gender- male, converges with the hunter gatherer stereotype as he is having to kill and collect food, gives the world much more of an animalistic, primal feel to it.

Preliminary task

This is the final result of my preliminary task, The only criteria to this project was that I had to include a shot/ reverse shot, a sat down conversation using the 180 degree rule, and an action match.

I started off this project with a different idea of how the final product would end. I expected that the plot would be much easier to understand. As you can see by the video, it starts off with a POV shot of the 'murderer' following a girl. and then having the main character find her after the crime had been committed. This then cut to the next scene where my sat down conversation takes place and the audience learn that maybe this wasn't a one time thing, because his boss says that hes been late before. This was done in the hope to create mystery surrounding the main character but also reveal more of the story line to the audience. When being filmed these scenes were the other way round, as the main character was meant to be shown at work, bored, and waiting for the time to pass, as he was walking home from his dead end job, his alarm will sound and his whole persona will change to panic, this adding pace and tension to the text. however this was too difficult to put across to the audience with the maximum time we had been allocated for this project.

The filming process got more challenging as I went along. I started with the action match, which was the easiest shot to produce. As long as you keep it within your continuity and make sure little things like opening the door with the same hand and having your head up or down in both shots were the same, as it makes the whole thing much more believable and smoother when it comes to the editing process. One of the shots I struggled with the most was the 180 degree rule as when I was shooting it, I broke it the first time. Because of this my group and I had to go back and re-film it. One thing I was certain of however, was to film in the same room as the action match, in order to preserve the continuity and continue that streak of believably. After correcting this mistake I was happy that I had successfully completed all of the given tasks to complete. This meant that in the scenes with the murder I would be able to include other shots and show off my skills and knowledge.

When filming for the next scene I was adamant  that I wanted to include a dutch angle, this is because it creates pace and tension, and shows to the audience that either something has not gone to plan or some sort of moral code has been broken, in this case it was taking the life of another person. This also made the murderer seem much more dangerous. The next few shots I also wanted taking from different angles so that when it came to the editing process I could cut them and make it very fast paced and make the whole scene seem more action filled. One aspect of the task I wish I had changed was the costume, I feel that The main character should have been wearing smarter clothes to symbolise hes at work and not at school, His shirt could have been un-tucked implying how low his quality of life is at that moment. and showing to the audience that he too doesn't love his job and could maybe make them feel better about their lives as they're not as bad as his, giving them a cathartic feeling.  I also feel that the murderer could have been dressed in more intimidating clothing as in the film, he converged with the stereotype of teenagers in hoodies, rather than a mass murder.

when editing, i was grateful to be using premier pro as it is easy to use and gave my work a polished, professional feel. I now know for next time that i need to take as many takes as I can so that I have a range of choice for when I am editing, and that I need to consider how I can manipulate the shadows in order to bring focus to certain object with mise-en-scene.

Post Apocalyptic film success

This is the IMDb statistics that I found telling me the box office numbers for each post apocalyptic film I am looking at. This helps me as the film that made more money will be the one that audiences enjoyed the most and that I should use to take inspiration from.
The book Eli

Box Office

Budget:

$80,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,232,001 (UK) (15 January 2010)

Gross:

$94,822,707 (USA) (7 May 2010)

The road

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$1,502,231 (USA) (27 November 2009)

Gross:

$56,692 (USA) (11 May 2012)

28 Days later

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,500,079 (UK) (1 November 2002)

Gross:

$45,063,889 (USA) (24 October 2003)

I am Legend

Box Office

Budget:

$150,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$77,211,321 (USA) (14 December 2007)

Gross:

$256,386,216 (USA) (4 April 2008)

Maze runner
Box Office

Budget:
$34,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:
$32,512,804 (USA) (19 September 2014)
Gross:
$102,413,606 (USA) (23 January 2015)

Music

Sound Terminology

• Ambient sound-The sounds of the location e.g. water noises near a river, cows mooing in a farm etc.They tell us what kind of place we are in and if we see how characters react to these sounds it tells us a lot. Noisy cars, horns, people, traffic represent a region as being busy and urban, not very homely.
• Asynchronous sound- Is where the sound is either out of sync with the visuals or is unrelated to the visuals. Sound that is just out of sync would make the viewer feel disoriented and would make the characters and scene seem strange. Sound that is unrelated to the visuals may be there for emphasising something. For example, in the Godfather film, we see a man murdering people in cold blood, but hear the sounds of a priest christening a baby. This contrast emphasises the loss of innocent life.  
• Contrapuntal sound- Sound or music that seems strange in comparison to the scene we're seeing. For example in the film the shining, during beautiful scenes of winding roads and the countryside on a sunny day, we hear scary, ominous music. 
• Dialogue-The words the characters say. Usually thoughts and feelings, however because we can hear the character, we can hear their intonation e.g. If they speak softly it implies they are weak and emotional. Dialogue also helps the audience decipher where the character is from and if they are different to the other characters. 
• Direct Address (Breaking the 4th Wall)- Where the character talks to the audience directly.  This breaks the reality for the audience, however it helps us to see that character as an equal, a friend and someone to sympathise with.  
• Diegetic sound-Sounds that the characters can hear. This includes the words the characters say, background noises like traffic and crowds and even music, if it is through a radio or at a party/ club. Diegetic sound can set the mood of the scene, and can influence a characters behaviour and emotions.
• Non Diegetic sound- Other sounds that the characters can not hear and is added in, in the editing process e.g. The musical soundtrack, a voice-over etc. Non diegetic  music sets the scene, the time period, as well  as the atmosphere. A voice-over allows the audience to hear someones thoughts and empathise with them.
• Pitch-Low pitch described a sound that is deep and low(e.g. thunder) and high pitch describes a sound that is higher and lighter (e.g. a phone ringing).
• Rhythm- Describes the beat of the music. Sound or music with a slow rhythm is often used to depict calmness and peace. Sound or music with an irregular rhythm is used to confuse the audience and make them feel uncomfortable. 
• Voice-over- The use of a voice, over images, perhaps as an introduction, a linking narrative device for or to comment on action. It allows the audience to see inside the head of a character, helping us to empathise with them. 
• Sound Bridge- A portion of sound that covers a cut, normally to link two scenes together. For example, if you were to see a woman talking about how much she missed her boyfriend, and her voice continued  as a sound bridge on top of the shot of him, even if just for a few seconds, it emphasises that he is the man she was talking about. Sound bridges are usually from diegetic sound to Non diegetic sound or the reverse, however sometimes if the sound bridge connects two scenes together, it can also stay as the same medium of sound e.g. Diegetic and Non diegetic. 
• Sound Motif- Sound that represents a certain character e.g. The jaws theme tune for the shark.
• Sound Effects- A sound accompanying an action, sometimes musical. For example in the film psycho, short sharp violin noises accompany each stab of the knife during the shower scene. This emphasises the violence of each stabbing motion and makes it more dramatic. 
• Soundtrack- Music from a soundtrack (all the sounds) or the score (Just the music) emphasises the themes and emotions of a scene or character.for example high energy dance music with loud crashing tones will emphasise someones youth,  girly soft piano music will help us see a woman as stereo-typically delicate and feminine. 
• Synchronous sound- Is sound that is in sync with the visuals and was filmed at the same time.