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.
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-diegeticsound 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.
This research will help me when I'm writing my essay as each time I want to use these words I'm unsure about the actual context of the words. Therefore, by looking up these words I am able to use them in the correct way, helping my essay writing.
On the 22nd of November I presented to the class a power point on 'Splice'. I gave out a sheet so that everyone could be a part of the presentation and keep alert at all times, and also so that I knew people were listening. I think that my presentation went well and also gave people ideas for their opening title sequences.
This is the sheet I produced and gave to everyone whilst presenting my presentation.
Doing this presentation helped me to understand on a new level about this film and its title sequences, and also helped me to become a little more confident when I do individual class work.
Auteur: The author/Director who stamped a film with his or her own personality.
Diegesis: includes objects, events, spaces and the characters that inhabit them, including things, actions and attitudes not explicitly presented in the film but inferred by the audience.
Editing: The joining together of clips of film into a single film strip.
Flashback Flash Forward: A jump backwards or forwards in diegetic time
Focus: Refers to the degree to which light rays coming from any particular part of an object pass through the lens and re converse at the same point on a frame of the film negative, creating sharp outlines and distinct textures that match the original object.
Genres: Types of film recognized by audiences and/or producers, sometimes retrospectively.
Mise-En-Scene: All the things that are 'put in the scene': the setting, the decor, the lighting, the costumes, the performance.
Story/Plot: Refers to all the audience, infers about the events that occur in the diegesis on the basis of what they are shown by the plot.
Scene/Sequence: A segment of a narrative film that usually takes place in a single time, with the same characters.
Shot: A single stream of images, uninterrupted by editing.
Mise-En-Scene
Decor: the objects contained in and around the setting of a scene
Lighting
Three-point lighting
High key lighting
Low-key lighting
Space
Deep Space
Frontality
Matte Shot
Off Screen Space
Shallow space
Costumes:refers to the clothes the actors wear.
Acting
Typage
This research will help me when it comes to evaluating and creating my blog posts as I can use the proper terminology for everything.
When filming, the director needs to make sure that they have a variety of shots suitable for the audience. This is so that the audience can see a variety of different views, instead of just one. The different shots help the audience connect with the characters and also keeps everyone interested. Different shots include:-
Long Shot: A shot where the camera is or appears to be distant from the object to be photographed
Extreme long shot: A wider frame value in which subjects in the frame are small; a building, cityscape.
Panning: Where the camera stays in the same position, static, and just moves around.
Medium long shot: A value of framing that almost shows the full subject
Medium Shot: A value of framing in which the subject is a bit smaller than a medium close-up; a human figure from the waist up.
Master Shot: Usually a wide shot that covers the entire action of a scene
P.O.V shot: A camera shot that reveals what a character is looking at sometimes following a shot showing the character’s eyes or followed by a shot showing a character’s expressive reaction (Shot Reverse Shot).
Shot - Reverse angle - Shot: A series of shots edited together that alternate characters usually during a conversation scene.
Close up shot: A value of framing where the size of the subject is relatively large and fills most of the frame. For instance a person’s head seen from the neck up, or an object seen in detail.
This research has helped me understand what kind of variety we need when filming our opening sequence. It shows how we are going to keep the audience interested and could also be quite a challenging task for us. This has influenced my work because I know that I will want to try them out, therefore giving us variety.
Alice and I decided to watch some Horror openings whilst Avey and Rhiannon were absent today. The second film opening we decided to watch was The Grudge - Unsuspecting suicide from the year 2004. This film is different from the normal horror, as it was set in broad daylight. This also makes me think more about the setting, because instead of being filmed in a secluded area, its obviously in the middle of a busy city.
Set in the day
In the middle of a city - All silent except for the non-diegetic sound of cars.
Traditional girl and boy - except boy is the one who dies
Man commits suicide by jumping off the balcony - different because he didn't get killed but brought it upon himself
Lots of people around - busy day - wanted attention
Alice and I decided to watch some opening scenes of Horror films today. 'Candyman' was the first one we decided to watch.
Told a story at the beginning
Death of girl from saying 'Candyman'
Set at night - spooky - dark
Screaming - Non-diagetic sounds
Blood (Prop) coming through ceiling to show the genre of the film - horror
speaking over the scene - explaining the story of the candyman
quick cuts, not long.
This shows that the beginning of each film can go straight in to telling a story and don't need to have the title sequences straight away. This has influenced my opinions as they don't need to have sound and this will make me think more when I'm filming my opening scene.
This is our Continuity task. Alice, Avey, Rhiannon and myself decided that it would be good to do a mystery sort of opening. We had a range of ideas, but went with this one as it seemed more effective and was one that we could actually film.
We brainstormed our ideas before we decided on what we actually wanted to do. Although this was effective, it didn't get all our ideas down and seemed messy at points. We used a Sony camera to film our opening sequence. The first shot we decided to film was a panning shot from the locker outwards, with Averielle walking in and opening it, therefore realizing the note for the first time. We also filmed a close up of her face so that we could get her reaction. We then filmed her closing the locker, walking away and up to another door. Averielle then took hold of the camera, filming a P.O.V shot of the door handle and her opening it. After that, you see the S.R.S. between Averielle and Rhiannon with Dialog. The script was very short, as we didn't anything to be given away within the conversation.
Averielle: It's you
Rhiannon: You got my note then
Averielle: I don't know what your talking about. (Lying)
Rhiannon: I know you do, otherwise you wouldn't be here right now.
Averielle: You don't have any proof
Rhiannon: We'll see about that
Averielle then turned round to walk away, and walks out the door. We then added some sound onto this - a song - and we had a high angle, tracking shot to view where Avey was walking, and then we panned in onto the student ID, which was our proof.
We did this because we thought it was a good idea, and we also thought it would be easy to film within one day. This was also our first idea, and we thought it would be an interesting thing to create.
Our group mostly filmed within the ILP day of media, and this was effective because we had the same background noise. However, at one point we broke the 180 degrees rule, so today we went back and filmed the facial reaction in the locker, and the POV shot.
Averielle played our main character, whilst Rhiannon was also filmed as the victim. Alice and I filmed and directed, and Rhiannon also got the opportunity to film.
Rhiannon edited part of our final extract, but as she wasn't in today, Alice and I edited most of the video with Averielles part help. We filmed all of our clip in school.
We did encounter a few problems whilst filming and editing. Firstly, we couldn't find out the 180 degree rule, and made sure that we tried to not break it. Secondly, some of the shots within the video do not all fit together and make it jumpy. Another problem we encountered was the fact that we didn't film it all on the same day, therefore sound was different in the background, this is clear in the video, but we decided that there was nothing we could do about it. Also, as Rhiannon had edited some of our video, when she was off ill Alice and I had to figure out how to edit again, which took us a while to pick up on. If i were to redo the video, I would make sure that I filmed everything at the same day if it were possible, and when I'm doing my final task I might consider recording the audio separately, then putting it onto the video.
Overall, I think our group worked well together and we managed to create a good Continuity task. I don't think that we broke any of the rules, and I think that our overall product turned out quite well. Doing this has influenced our final task as we now know how to film the video and how difficult it is. We will make sure to film in different ways and be creative within our shots. Also, We all know how to edit now so that won't be as much of a problem as it was for this task.
Avey, Alice, Rhiannon and myself decided that we needed to do a brainstorm of all our ideas. This shows our ideas for the genre - which we decided is going to be 'Horror Thriller' - and looked into plot ideas. We decided on the picture plot, as it seemed like the one we could adapt into being a horror thriller. We looked into setting ideas, camera shorts, characters and clothing and props which we might need to use. Heres our first brainstorm:
After looking into a few different ideas, we thought it would be best to make a final idea brainstorm, featuring just the Thriller Horror ideas rather than any others. We wrote down the main plot of our story, the characters we were going to use - we decided to change the characters around and instead of having the traditional male killing female, we were going to use the female targeting the male - the clothing that our characters were wearing, the props that we would need - and will continue to add too - and the settings. Here is our final idea brainstorm.
We decided to do a 15 age rating as we decided that was the main age that we had been researching. This gave us enough information to base our Thriller opening around, and we decided that we wanted to do a Thriller horror as this was different to what other people were going to do. We also decided that we aren't going to have too much dialog within our opening, as it will be easier to get across that we are doing a thriller horror and our music will be able to fill the space that is free from dialog.
As we are planning to do a horror thriller, we thought it would be best to look into the Codes and conventions of a traditional horror thriller. Here are some of the slides Alice found online, and also a quote by James Patterson that Mr Ford decided to show us.
Camera Angles:
Extreme Close ups (emphasize the subject)
Tilt (to create disorientation)
Establishing shots (showing location, stereotypically isolated buildings e.g. mansions or forests)
Handheld (looks realistic, making it feel more believable)
Long Shots (help show the danger or what the lead character is surrounded by, usually isolated)
Tracking (where the camera moves at the side, following a character)
Dollying (where the camera follows the character from in front or behind, to make it feel as if the character is being followed/stalked)
Point of view shot (so the audience can see what the character sees, to feel as if they are looking through their eyes)
Codes and Conventions:
Atmosphere is usually sinister and location often appears dar and isolated.
Montage editing and quick shots in the trailer to increase tension and suspense. Often previews best bits to engage the audience and encourage them to see the film.
Dark music to help increase a frightening atmosphere.
Lead character often ends up surviving and slaying the antagonist character.
The antagonist usually has a pattern in the way they work or kill.
Usually good against evil.
Plot frequently involve themes of death, the supernatural or mental issues.
Below is a quote about thrillers by James Patterson. It shows what gives a variety of thrillers and what things are in them. It also explains what a thriller shows, or what emotions it should bring up.
The opening sequence of Splice is ambiguous and intriguing and doesn’t give you any idea of what the film is about. The camera is travelling in what it looks like underwater bubbly substance, and goes across an unknown object that seems to be of a green colour. The use of tracking makes the audience feel like they are looking on the surface of this object and are exploring it so that they can find out what it looks like themselves. Because we don’t know what it is, the audience may become fearful or wary of what the object may actually be. The green colour of the object may suggest that the object is unknown, perhaps an alien. All the shots are close up, except for the end when we start to see the object move, indicating it is alive. The use of close up helps the audience get to know the object, but may also make them fearful of what is around it. All the shots are dark, which creates a scary sort of tone, and the only source of light is when we are looking at the item. This shows that there is a sense of unknown within the object.
The only sound that can be heard is music, which is non-diegetic. This music is slow, with some fast parts where the music builds up on itself. The main source of the music is piano, which creates a spooky sort of tone but also makes the object seem unknown. The music is quite jumpy and builds up a sense that something may happen within the film to this item that the music is based around. The music doesn’t give anything away, which would make the audience question their actions and what’s going to happen. As the object starts moving, or beating, the music builds up as to make the audience think that your actually going to see something happen, but then it quietens down again and the audience realises they have to wait for something to happen.
The titles in the title sequence are a mixture of typewriter text that has been superimposed over the opening scene, and text that is built into the green object. The actor’s names have been placed into the green object, which implies that the characters have something to do with the creation of this underwater animal. The crew names, such as the director and editor, are in typewriter text superimposed over the opening scene and this shows that the crew perhaps has something to do with a report on the creature. All the texts that are in the green object are just made into 3d, and give the audience something to question.
The editing in this scene makes sure that the cuts are not jumpy and are continuous. The editing does not play a big part in this title sequence, as you don’t need to look too much into the cuts as there are none. The biggest piece of editing is the titles that are built into the green creature.
From watching the opening of ‘Splice’ I have realised that it’s okay for title sequences to be ambiguous and you don’t necessarily have to show the characters within the storyline. I also realised that although you are not seeing any characters as such, you can still follow a story line. I see that you shouldn’t put too much into the opening sequence, but also not to make it too long otherwise the audience may become bored. I have also learnt that the titles need to fit in with the sequence and cannot be a random font.
The video I used does not seem to come up when I search, as the Embedding code has been disabled.
In our lesson, we decided to look at 6 different past thriller openings from 6 different groups in a certain year. We did this so that we could learn about the different ideas; see what things are going to look like once we have completed the task. It also enabled us to see the mark scheme, and gave us an opportunity to mark the videos so that we could see what we needed to do to get the highest possible marks.
We watched 6 different thriller openings and these were called:
-Final Fate
-Root Cause
-Revelation
-Domino Effect
-Room to breathe
http://youtu.be/-GbJ5Vlzk3U
-Unrequited love
http://youtu.be/GeIdkbi8q5E
Because we marked the openings ourselves, we got to see firstly what we thought they would be. Our group found that we got certain ones spot on, and others were completely wrong.
In the mark scheme, I discovered what kind of things our thriller opening would be marked upon. There are 4 mark bands, and we’re planning on achieving either a level 3 or a level 4. To achieve these, we must do the following bullet points either proficiently or with excellence.
·hold a shot steady
·frame a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate
·use a variety of Shot distances
·shooting material appropriate to the task set
·selecting mise-en-scene including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting;
·editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer
·using varied shot transitions and other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set;
·using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set;
·Using titles appropriately.
I think my group will be able to achieve this as we can work well together and all bring different values into the film. We all can achieve something well, and this means we can feed of each other’s ideas and achieve the highest possible mark for what we want to do.
Representation has two different meanings and can each mean a different thing.
·The action of speaking or acting on behalf of someone or the state of being represented.
·The description or portrayal of someone or something in a particular way or as being of a certain nature.
Representation is how social groups, different subcultures, occupations, ages, social classes -and places are portrayed in the media and how the audiences interpret these portrayals.
There are two types of representation.
A Micro Analysis
This basically means what you think of something and whether it is a positive or negative thought.
When looking at micro analysis, you can ask yourself – what is actually trying to be shown? Or more directly, what is missing from the text?
You can also look at the normal ‘stereotypes’ and find if the characters themselves fit into a stereotype or whether they break or challenge that certain category.
We also looked at Media language – called Macro Analysis.
This brings in:-
- Your understanding of media.
- Your understanding of the camera
-Angle
-Distance
-Position
-Movement
-Mise-en-Scene
-Editing
-Sounds
-Semiotics – whether it’s symbolic, iconic, and what it connotes and denotes.
This has helped me understand what I need to look for when I’m studying an opening title sequence or what I need to think about before I start to film with my group. It will help me understand more on what I need to look out for and write about when I go into the exam, as before I was unsure what kind of things an examiner would be looking for and now that I’ve done this lesson I know the basics on the exam paper.
