AS Media Studies

What is required of me?

• Contribution (class discussions, blogs, written and practical work, homework)

• Collaboration (working independently and in groups, sharing ideas, fair distribution of responsibility)

• Creativity (be courageous and imaginative with your ideas)

• Courtesy (no phones, no gum, no talking over each other)

What is Media?

Reading the Moving Image – Film Language

• Learning to read and speak the language of film – film as a text

• Terminology• Purpose• Processes• Analysis• Commentary• Production• Conventions (not rules)• http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/gramtv.html

SOUND (music, dialogue, silence, sound effects, real sound)

CINEMATOGRAPHY (the look of the film; types of shots; colours, lighting, locations where action takes place)

PACE AND EDITING (speed of action, length of shots)

MISE EN SCENE (what you see on screen; the casting of the characters, their clothing; the details of the environment; props)

• Write the tagline for the film in 8 words or less

• GRAVITY:

• Write the tagline for the film in 8 words or less

• GRAVITY: Don’t play with guns, it’s not fun!• GRAVITY: You don’t know where the bullet will fall.• GRAVITY: Don’t let others pull you down.• GRAVITY: What goes up must come down. • GRAVITY: Once it draws you in, there’s no way out. • GRAVITY: What goes around comes around. • GRAVITY: Don’t let the trigger drag you down.

Reading the Moving Image

• Mise en scène (setting/location, costume, actors, props)

• Sound (diegetic and non-diegetic, sfx)• Editing (post-production, CGI, gfx, colour

grade)• Cinematography (shot size, angle, framing,

focus, lighting)• Directing

Reading the Moving Image

• Mise en scène (setting/location, costume, actors, props)

• Sound (diegetic and non-diegetic, sfx)• Editing (post-production, CGI, gfx, colour

grade)• Cinematography (shot size, angle, framing,

focus, lighting)• Directing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Eak_lmYEps

Mise en scène – the composition of a shot and everything in frame

• Setting

• Wardrobe

• Props

• Acting

• Placement

Diegetic sound

Sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film: voices of characters sounds made by objects in the story music represented as coming from instruments in the story space ( = source music) Diegetic sound is any sound presented as originated from source within the film's world Digetic sound can be either on screen or off screen depending on whatever its source is within the frame or outside the frame. Another term for diegetic sound is actual sound Diegesis is a Greek word for "recounted story" The film's diegesis is the total world of the story action

Non-diegetic sound

Sound whose source is neither visible on the screen nor has been implied to be present in the action: narrator's commentary sound effects which is added for the dramatic effect mood music Non-diegetic sound is represented as coming from the a source outside story space. The distinction between diegetic or non-diegetic sound depends on our understanding of the conventions of film viewing and listening. We know of that certain sounds are represented as coming from the story world, while others are represented as coming from outside the space of the story events. A play with diegetic and non-diegetic conventions can be used to create ambiguity (horror), or to surprise the audience (comedy).

Another term for non-diegetic sound is commentary sound.

Friday 21st September 2012

Film Language

LO: To explore mise-en-scène within film.

Mise-en-scène

• The arrangement of everything that appears in the framing – actors, lighting, décor, props, costume – is called mise-en-scène, a French term that means “placing on stage.” The frame and camerawork also constitute the mise-en-scène of a movie.

• Even though many professionals are involved in its creation, the director is the one that oversees the entire mise-en-scène and all of its elements. Not just that, but during the early stages of pre-production, the director or his AD sits down with set designers, prop masters, location managers, costume designers, and scenic artists to determine the look and feel intended.

Mise en scène – the composition of a shot and everything in frame. Things to consider…

• Setting – location and environment where action takes place, colours used to light the action, exterior/interior, time of day

• Wardrobe – importance of costume for certain characters, make-up, hair

• Props – what is visible in the frame, where are they (in/out of focus)

• Acting – positioning of actors, interaction with each other, casting

• Placement – how all of these things are positioned within the composition of a shot

• Effect – on the audience: mood; tension; atmosphere; emotion (pathos); implicit/explicit meaning

Editing

• Post-production

• GFX/After Effects

• CGI

• Colour grade/rotoscoping

Cinematography

• Shot sizes

• Camera angles

• Cranes, jibs, dollies etc.

• Lighting

Think of a film you have watched recently.

Write down the story as quickly as you can.

Tuesday 25th September 2012

Film Language

LO: Exploring directing within film.

Keywords:StorytellingNarrativePlotAesthetic

Plot, Narrative or Story?

• A story will have a beginning, middle and end. On film, these can unfold in a different order.

• A story is a series of events recorded in their chronological order (linear narrative).

• A plot is a series of events deliberately arranged so as to reveal their dramatic, thematic, and emotional significance (linear/non-linear narrative).

Non-linear Films

• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnSgSe2GzDc

• Memento http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vS0E9bBSL0

• Pulp Fiction http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZBfmBvvotE

• Iris• Slumdog Millionaire

Directing

• The art of good directing, or good storytelling, is the ability to plot a story in the most compelling way for an audience.

• Plotting a filmed story means deciding which events, characters and settings will be seen in the film, what will not be seen, and how these elements will be presented to gain maximum dramatic effect to engage the viewer.

Directing

• With the story plotted out, the director then needs to make decisions about how best to represent the story: camera angles, costume, settings etc. create a cinematic world which needs to draw the viewer in to what is happening on screen.

• It is the director’s job to ensure that all the filmic elements (mise-en-scene, sound, sfx etc.) are drawn together to best suit the story being told.

The Bourne Ultimatum

• Watch this extract from the film; it shows a story within a story.

• Jason Bourne has learnt that journalist, Simon Ross, is investigating his past and contacts him to find out his source.

• This sequence shows the CIA hunting down Ross. Unbeknownst to them, Bourne is also at Waterloo Station.

• This clip shows the conflict between the CIA and Ross, the CIA and Bourne, Ross and Bourne, and the assassin with Ross and Bourne…..

In pairs, answer these questions. Write your comments in your books.

1. How does the editing drive along the conflict?

2. Describe the way the sequence is shot and the way this helps to build tension.

3. The viewer is omniscient and omnipresent (all-seeing). Given that we see all of the action taking place, how does this add to the tension for the audience?

Tuesday 2nd October 2012

Film Language

LO: To understand what cinematography is within film.

Keywords:Cinematography

Cinematography• From the Greek, kinema, meaning ‘movement’ and graphein,

meaning ‘to record’.• Mainly to do with the camera and lighting departments, the

person operating the camera is the cinematographer. They will work closely with the Director, Gaffer and Grips.

- Director of Photography (DOP)- Camera Operator- Focus Puller- Clapper Loader- Lighting dept. (Gaffer and Sparks)- Grip dept. (Riggers)

DOP

• Deakin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0-dXh_IsiQ

• Cam Moves Tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSzjUQ-OsSU

• Video Maker http://www.videomaker.com/video/watch/tips-and-tricks/473/3-point-lighting

Lighting

Lighting

• Key light: brightest, main light on subject

• Filler Light: softens the harsh key light, eliminates harsh shadows

• Back light: counters the key light, helping to add depth of field and makes the subject look more ‘rounded’

Under Lighting

• Main source of light comes from below the subject, mainly used in horrors.

Top lighting

• When the main source of light comes from above the subject, highlighting features to create a glamorous and flattering look in a star.

Back Lighting

• When the light source is behind the subject, creating silhouettes.

Low-key lighting

• Using only the key and backlights, a sharp contrast of light and dark is created, forming deep shadows.

High-key lighting

• More filler lights are used to create a bright, daylight effect.

Colour

• Denotation: What you see

• Connotation: What you think of

• Schindler’s List http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1VL-y9JHuI

Movie Stills to Life

• http://iwdrm.tumblr.com/

Montage

• Rocky http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=632hVDL_N6w

• Top 10 http://www.itsfilmtastic.co.uk/the-10-best-movie-montage-scenes/

• Requiem for a Dream http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJNzlQoh8zI

• Team America http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFrMLRQIT_k

Storyboarding

Graphic Match

Friday 12th October 2012

Film Language

LO: Learning how to read a film extract and analyse it.

Keywords:ComplementJuxtapose/Juxtaposition

Homework (write in your diaries!!)

• Due next Friday 19th October• 750-1000 words• You must complete a reading of a film extract.• Any film and any section of it. Try to choose an extract which

will allow you to talk about as many features of film language as possible.

• No more than 3-4 minutes, so that you can analyse in detail. • Always comment on why the film language has been used in

the way it has (genre, mood, audience, building tension etc.)

Remember to comment on:

• Mise en scene• Sound• Colour• Lighting• Cinematography• Editing• Costume• Acting• Narrative

Sound

• Diegetic (belonging to the film’s world) and non-diegetic (fake sound added in post – v/o or music)

• Sound bridge – sound from one scene continuing into another, to bridge the gap between scenes, creating a smooth transition and enhancing continuity

• Parallel sound – sound which complements the image• Contrapuntal – conflicting/contrasting with the image

(juxtaposition)• Dialogue – conversations between characters, monologues• Sound effects (sfx) – extraneous sound, can be diegetic or

non-diegetic, voice, accent

• Hunger• Slumdog Millionaire• A Clockwork Orange http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=v90KPJ6n4Ew&feature=related

• Reservoir Dogs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPFJupeaCuA&feature=related

Costume, Hair and Make-up

• These all play a large part in mise en scene, as they can instantly tell us things about a character’s personality, social status, job etc.

• Costume: can tell us a lot about when/where the film is set, how important the character will be, the genre of the film etc.

• Hair and make-up: complements the costume and can tell the audience a lot about a character’s state of mind

Acting and Casting

• Casting: why have certain actors been cast in certain roles?

• Acting: body language, facial expression• Stereotypes

Storyboard

• Create a storyboard with directions for camera movement and shot size for one of the following:– An opening sequence for a film called ‘Eagle’s Path’

about a family living in an isolated cottage, set in the highlands of Scotland.

– An extract detailing a chase scene from a comedy film called ‘Whoops! There Goes Another One!’

– An extract from the climax of a film called ‘Trolls’ in which the final battle takes place between these creatures and the heroes.

Motion Control

• Phillips Carousel Joker Robbery Scene http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0MjC4mh0aw

• Phillips explained http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wBZuxeApe0&feature=related

• Matrix

Next week – editing, cgi, graphics, 3d, soviet montage

Friday 9th November 2012

Film Language

LO: To re-cap on all the elements of film language.

Low-key lighting

• Using only the key and backlights, a sharp contrast of light and dark is created, forming deep shadows.

High-key lighting• More filler lights are used to create a bright,

daylight effect.

Back Lighting

• When the light source is behind the subject, creating silhouettes.

Deep Focus

• Is when the depth of field is large.

• The foreground, middle-ground and background are all very clear and in focus.

Shallow Focus

• Is when the depth of field is small.

• Only the object in the foreground is clear, the rest is out of focus.

Denotation and Connotation

Montage Theory

Lev Kuleshov was among the very first to theorize about the relatively young medium of the cinema in the 1920s. He argued that editing a film is like constructing a building. Brick-by-brick (shot-by-shot) the building (film) is erected.

• Sometime around 1918, Russian director Lev Kuleshov conducted an experiment that proves this point.

• He took an old film clip of a head shot of a noted Russian actor and inter-cut the shot with different images.

Montage

• Rocky http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=632hVDL_N6w

• Top 10 http://www.itsfilmtastic.co.uk/the-10-best-movie-montage-scenes/

• Requiem for a Dream http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJNzlQoh8zI

• Team America http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFrMLRQIT_k

Film Language Test – Take #2

45 minutes

AS Media Studies

G321 Foundation Portfolio

(50% of total marks)

Portfolio of work: Blog, Thrillers (Peter)

AS Media Studies

G322 Key Media ConceptsSection A:

Textual Analysis and Representation (25% of total marks)

Exam: Candidates are required to answer one question based on an unseen moving image

extract.