Preliminary Task Review

We had a few problems emerge with the file format of the footage and we lost some, which meant we didn't have as much footage to pick from when editing our footage together as we would of hoped for. Which meant we had less of a choice in what footage we wanted to use.

Overall I'm quite happy with it because we managed to get in a good variety of camera angles and we put in a few transitions to make it fit together well, we just didn't have as much footage we wanted to work with. But what we got in our final outcome worked quite well, I think so anyways.

So from our preliminary task we found which shots/angles worked well with what, what transitions looked professional, how the camera's worked, how the lighting is never how you want it to be and who in our group could act.

Preliminary Task Filming and Editing

So like we had planned, we had plenty of time to get our footage and some extra just in case any original footage was lost. Some shots we had planned to do were too difficult to pull off, as we wanted to get a shot of a garage door opening or closing, but the Sun wasn't helping us at all, as almost every shop we tried didn't look that great, so in the end we had to go to 'plan B'.

We were hoping to use this sign as part of the credits but changed our mind at the last minute due to lighting (again). But we had got most of the shots we had planned to, which was good as we had quite a variety of them.

This is the inside of the warehouse we used, it had tools, desks and paper work lying around, so it looked like a work place which was what we wanted as we didn't want it to look like some random abandoned building in the centre of town. We also had the privilege of having two cameras so we could capture one piece of footage from two angles/locations, which meant we would have better continuity.

We started uploading straight after we got back, but we found we couldn't upload the footage from the SD card, so we were having to move it to a windows computer, change the format online, then put it back on the Mac. We don't know why this happened, it just did.

Preliminary Task Plan

This week we've been planning our prelim task, and we got into groups. I'm working with Tom Donley and Duncan Morris. We hope to get out and film next week, on the 4th October, 2011, it's a Tuesday, we should have around three hours to get the filming done then come back, download it and hopefully make a start on editing it on the Macs.
We have it all mostly planned out, as we know the idea we want to have (Drug deal / Suspicious gang activity). The location, in my opinion, will work really well as we have found a warehouse type building behind a DIY shop in town, which will hopefully make it look very shady and cliche.
We will also have about 3 hours to film, between two lessons on Wednesday, so we should have plenty of time to get what we need, plus some extra (just in case).

Psycho Shower Scene Analysis

The scene begins with Marion Crane (Anne Heche) stepping into the bathroom and she then appears to be disposing of some important documents. This shows us that she is a suspect character and is potentially up to no good.

The camera is then at mid-shot on her feet, showing us she is entering the shower, this shows the audience that she is about to meet her end, as most will have seen the original film. This gives the audience a knowledge not possessed by the characters, inducing a sense of foreboding within them.  The close up nature of most of the shots of Marion inside the shower creates a sense of claustrophobia.

Many of the shots inside the shower are POV shots (point of view) through Marion’s eyes, some of which are focused on the shower head, showing us she is ignorant of anything beyond the shower curtain.

In this scene, the angle switches to mid-shot, with Marion in front of the curtain with the silhouette entering the room and moving slowly towards her. The way that the killer is presented in silhouette dehumanises them, adding an extra layer of menace. The slow walk towards Marion shows a calm and collected mindset that the audience finds un-nerving.

It switches to a close-up, POV of this new character, the murderer who we deduced to be a woman because of the finger nails and hair, swiping the shower curtain aside. Then a close up reaction shot is centred on Marion’s face, whilst shaking, showing the despair and panic behind the shower curtain. Brandishing a knife posed to strike, the killer plunges the knife forward towards the victim; all the while the camera is following the knife into and out of Marion’s chest.

During this scene there are about 40 shots, which quickens the pace and it shows the audience what’s happening without using one long shot. Followed by a high angle shot, showing the struggle between the two and the small space in which Marion has to defend herself. Because of these camera angles, we do not see any intense violence, just the after effects of it (blood and Marion sliding to the bottom of the bath tub), these are some of the shots used in Hitchcock’s classic.  

Shots of a storm with clashes of thunder and rain, this builds an atmosphere of violence and evil, or it could show the cleansing of the thief (Marion) in the bathroom.

As the killer vanishes into the distance of the next room beyond the bathroom, Marion tries to stable herself by grabbing anything within her reach, as a close up shot shows when she clutches on to the curtain trying to somehow clutch back on to life. As she drops, the camera focuses on the curtain hooks snapping off the rail, this could be showing her life slowly fade away, as she falls from the bath tub onto the bathroom floor.

A close up shot on the blood draining down the plug dissolves into a shot of Marion’s pupil; all the while the camera is spinning 360 degrees and moving away from her face. This is to shows us that not only the blood is draining, but Marion’s life is fading aswell.

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Media Terminology

These are some of the important terms we will need to know:

Major genre - A dominant, important category, it should be obvious and

easy to define.

Sub genre - A minor category or subdivision that is closely related to its

major genre by being a specific type in its own right.

Hybrid genre or generic hybrid - A combination of major genres that sometimes creates

another type of film e.g. horror/western.

We identify genres by looking at generic codes and conventions.

Mise-en-sene - What we see in the frame of the film e.g Characters, props, setting etc.

Signifiers - Something that will represent something else e.g Red clothing -> Evil.

Conventions - Thing you would expect e.g Action Film -> Guns + Explosions etc.

Denotation - Primary meaning of something

Connotation - Secondary meaning of something