Film Opening Research #1 - "Get Out"

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?

• First, the film shows Universal Studios, then Blumhouse Productions, and lastly OC Entertainment in the opening sequences to the film. Then after the movie had started with an opening scene, the names of the directors and leading actors were shown along with the title of the movie, ‘Get Out’.

What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?

• Throughout the opening sequence when the titles are presented, there are scary images and scenes that are shown. Behind the Blumhouse Productions title, a creepy room is shown where a chair is floating and a man is breathing frantically as if he is scared of this haunted room that also has a possessed child in it.

What connotations do the images carry?

• The images carry mysterious and scary connotations that imply that the movie will be full of frightening suspense.

How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?

• The outset of a movie heavily reinforces the genre of the movie, as a man is walking alone in a neighborhood in the night when a mysterious car pulls up to him and continues to follow him through the neighborhood until the driver comes out and puts a bag over the walking mans head and kidnaps him.

How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?

• The film establishes an enigma by jumping right into a scene where there is a character and setting that is new to the viewer, and the reason for the man being in this neighborhood is a mystery, as well as him being kidnapped is a mystery to the audience.

What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?

• The film possesses intense and scary orchestra music that adds to the suspense of the opening scenes, as well as a mysterious plot from the very beginning of the movie that adds suspense as the audience already wants to know what happens next and what the reason for the kidnapping was.

How has technology been used effectively?

• Technology was used very effectively by using close up shots to first show the character and also long shots which established the setting that he was in. The transitions were also very clear and slick, for example a shot of the car being parked transitioned into a shot of the man who was driving the car sneaking up behind the man walking and then kidnapping the man.

Genre Research #2 - PowerPoint

My Favorite Genre - Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar13OuT2c4g

My Favorite Genre - Power Point

Film Viewing Practice Essay

After watching a short portion of the film, "Agent Carter", there were several techniques used throughout the clip that are crucial in order to form an effective film. As the clip progressed, elements in mise-en-scene were very prevalent as the setting gave a strong sense of the tone of the overall movie, lighting was also vital as it was shown with the transitions from and between various shots, setting helped determine where the movie was occurring and also the time period, and costume helped clearly distinguish the characters, ranging from a superhero in a suit being Captain America, all the way to classy businessmen in the office. Sound was very important, as background music was the main feature during many cases to set the tone of the scene and also to build emotions that would later be conveyed in the clip, for example, suspense is built due to the factors of a mysterious and slow background sound along with dark lighting and camera movement that was gradual and therefore had the effect on viewers of the need to see more and anticipate the next event. Editing techniques were also used through the clip such as parallelism and simultaneity in different instances.

Mise-en-scene was very important as well, setting was shown throughout the scene as it serves a vital purpose to supernatural movies, one being "Agent Carter". Setting sets a state of mind and an overall vibe to the audience, giving an idea of where the movie is taking place and what period in time the film is supposed to take place in. In "Agent Carter", the audience is able to determine through setting that although humans are the characters in the scene, there are some aspects throughout the scene that  show various non human activities such as advanced technology, which gives an overall perspective to the viewers. Lighting is also demonstrated, giving emotions within the scenes, such as a sense of mystery. Mystery is an emotion shown because the lighting will often scale from a low-key to high-key tone, this is seen in the scene with the woman at the control panel in the chair. The lighting tone goes from darker to lighter, creating a sense of mystery within the audience, allowing the scene to create suspense and constantly encourage the viewers to anticipate the next move. Costume is crucial as well, the scene includes supernatural aspects such as super heroes, who are represented through their super suits and costumes which allows the audience to distinguish super heroes within the scene from other civilians who are seen to be in regular attire. Lastly, staging and acting in the scene voice a  unique sense of expressions amongst the actors and the various characters. This allows the audience to form connections between characters and feel as if the events are truly occurring due to a good performance style.

Sound was a crucial aspect to the clip, background music was able to set the tone and allow the audience to foreshadow the upcoming mood or action of a certain character or as the scene in total. Emotion is very important in all filming, it allows the audience to form connections between characters and also to develop a knowledge as to what is going on and what can possibly and potentially occur. Emotion creates true feeling, transferred from the actors and the filming aspects such as sound, to the viewers who can take out emotion from the recording, in some cases being tension and then ranging all the way to a sentimental feeling evoked from the filming. In "Agent Carter", background music was the driving force behind the emotions of the scene, suspense was often shown as the music had a mysterious and slow tone. The background music played a vital role but also collaborated with aspects such as camera movement and shots to further evoke emotions from the scenes. A long shot can build upon the suspense, as it drives the audience to want a more up close and personal shot which can show more detail and reveal more about what is about to come. A mystery to the film watchers can go a long way and truly move the message of the film. In the specific scene we viewed, many features were able to work together in order to present this feeling which was something the audience was able to build upon and find as valuable to the message as a whole and how good the filming appears to be.

Additionally, there were a few master edit techniques used within the clip that expanded upon the message in "Agent Carter". Simultaneity was one technique used in the scenes, this presents a unique effect on the filming. Simultaneity is used whenever there are two events that are being switched between the filming and that have something to do with one another. Cross cutting between these two different events will end up to be important because they will eventually meet up with one another and confront each other with a full head of steam, creating either a major problem or solution to the audience. In the beginning of the clip that we viewed, Peggy is attempting to help a man and free him of his rising issue while the other scene that is being relayed to is a man flying a plane and is attempting to successfully pilot the plane. Parallelism is a master editing technique used to connect two unrelated scenes by switching between them and focusing on similar features and associates the viewers understanding of two different events. This is a device used in "Agent Carter", which can be seen when a mission on the zodiac is being exposed to the audience and is being requested and must be fulfilled by the headquarters.

In all, "Agent Carter" was beneficial in viewing the many aspects in filming. The techniques that we have learned so far in the year have been put into a clip, seen here in "Agent Carter". They are collaborated with such great depth and smoothness. There is no rugged switch between one film element to the next, but rather it is a smooth transition from one to the other which allows the film to be so effective and hold all of these elements with effectiveness.

Film Elements Graphic Organizer

Mise en scene in Professional Film

In order to discover mise en scene in a professional film, I watched the 2018 Marvel film, "Black Panther".

Various examples of space were seen throughout the course of the film and they each were used in specific times. Both deep and shallow space were used in times of battles in order to show both the point of view of a spectator and that of the subjects engaged in battle. Frontality was common in the film in times of suspense, when Black Panther was on missions and had his body suit equipped, the camera would often face him as he was talking through a microphone to his sister, Shuri who is the Wakandan technology expert. Shuri is also often shown with frontality when she is communicating with T'challa, her brother. For example she controlled a car by using a hologram, and then in real time the car would act as if she was inside driving it. Offscreen space was the most crucial spacing technique as there was often narration occurring that conveyed a message, or in times of battle when Black Panther was soon to make an entrance.

Lighting played an important role in the movie as it helped add an effect to many scenes. Lighting was used within the armor of the Black Panther's bodysuit, the vibranium was used on T'challa as it would build up all of the energy that had been forced upon it, and would release the energy it had formed onto the target. You were able to see this coming due to the lights that appeared on the armor where the energy was being stored. Low-key lighting was another factor in the film which was used when the plane of Wakanda was flying over Chicago and reflected an image of a panther through the clouds that was seen on the ground in a mysterious fashion. High key lighting was used in the scenes at Warrior Falls, where battles occurred over a steep waterfall that were occurrent when somebody wanted to fight the King in order to overthrow him as Black Panther. The sun here was reflected upon the subjects in order to create an equilibrium in color and lighting.

Staging allowed for the film to be controlled into the different sides of conflict in relation to the world, and also the overall affect of acting on the movie. Performance style was exemplified as thick accents were apparent throughout the entire movie because they showed the origin of which a specific character was from and furthermore who they stand with. The people of Wakanda had a thick African tone of speech that distinguishes them and their support to the Black Panther and the safety of Wakanda whereas American and British accents are apparent and are seen to be the opposition to the secrecy of Wakanda. Blocking was also very contributive to the overall message of who the people of Wakanda were and what they stand for. They respected their King and supported the idea to maintain their hiding spot in the world who believed they were one of the weakest nations on Earth, therefore they served to him and supported the causes that he did.

The setting of Wakanda was what made the most prevalent issues in the movie. They were a nation of secrecy who contained the world's most advanced technology and the richest resources in all of Earth, but it was all invisible to bystanders who saw the ground of Wakanda as a poor and deprived nation. This allowed for the problem to arise that would challenge T'challa throughout the movie as to if he should reveal the true identity of the nation and bring wealth to the world. T'challa has a prominent villain, Killmonger who forces the decision upon the Black Panther due to Killmonger being a Wakandan who is challenging the throne and was not raised in Wakanda so he therefore goes against the beliefs of the nation.

Costume was arguably what made the movie so enjoyable to the world. Various body suits and pieces of armor and jewelry showed the tradition that is presented as unique to Wakanda, but is very original and was derived from designs in African culture. Although there was a strong sense of African originality within the costumes, a superhero effect was also very apparent due to the fact that Marvel was the maker of the film and their movies come from a series of comic books that are being constructed into professional films. Uniforms of the warriors showed great detail and also showed the hierarchy of Wakanda through more advanced costumes belonging to those who hold greater power. Makeup was also very significant in the costumes because it added onto the culture that was shown in the body suits and it adds a tribal vibe to the nation as a whole. The makeup also added onto the knowledge that we acquired about different characters. For example, Killmonger who is the enemy of both T'challa and the kingdom of Wakanda has marks that cover his body and are seen as bumps on his skin which represent the number of people that he has killed.

5 Master Edits with Sound

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns1yIlzIUpQ

We added music, non-diegetic sounds, and direct sound in the edits.
By adding music in the last edit, it creates humor and understanding of what leit motif is. In the symbolism edit, we added Ms. Keegan explaining that we must wear our badges. We added gasps and a 'wow' sound effect in the contrast edit, which is non-diegetic, as a crowd reacts. Whistling in the simultaneity edit shows that I am going somewhere casually but then get yelled at by a teacher which is a sound that is added to the edit. The last edit with added sound represented parallelism, I am shown walking in the edit and there are sound effects of somebody walking on a carpet that are added.

5 Master Edits in Professional Film

To complete this assignment, I watched three movies. I watched "A Beautiful Mind" first and I was able to find both symbolism and contrast. I also watched "The Bourne Ultimatum" and I extracted both parallelism and simultineity. Lastly, I watched "Jaws" in order to find the famous example of leitmotif.

Symbolism- In this scene of "A Beautiful Mind", symbolism was shown as the tie that a man was wearing was noticed by the main character, Dr. Nash. Nash originally sees the tie which has stars as a design on it, he then viewed the reflection of the glass onto the lemons and lemonade which all reflected back upon the stars on the tie of the man. The illusion symbolizes the main character's great intelligence and the way his mind functions in noticing such intricate things.

Contrast- This moment is also from the Ron Howard film, it showed the main character, Dr. Nash who is a genius yet very emotionally unstable, having a drastic mood swing from being distraught to laughing in relief. The contrast is shown as Nash puts a gash in his own head and slams his roommate onto the floor as he is angered by his inability to make a groundbreaking discovery, and then is relieved and begins to crack up in laughter after his friend/roommate throws his desk and all of his work out of the window that Nash had been working endlessly at. (Part 1 on top and Part 2 on bottom)

                                              

 

Parallelism- The second film I viewed showed me a good example of parallelism as the main character, Jason Bourne has a series of flashbacks dating back to when he was being forced into the life of a spy and man on the run. Meanwhile he was in Moscow, Russia running away from authorities as they were out to kill him. He made it to a room where he was attempting to heal his wounds inflicted by the Russian police, and was continuously remembering traumatic experiences he went through. The parallelism is shown as in his flashback he had a black hood thrown over his face, and in real time he was splashing water into his face and fighting off a Russian policeman who had discovered his position.

Simultaneity-  This excerpt from the movie shows simultaneity due to the various points of views being shown in the scene where the specific side is being fooled. The police are after the reporter, Simon Ross who allegedly had information on a secret organization and a prime suspect who had been on the run, Jason Bourne, who is also the main character of the movie series. Bourne is giving Ross directions over the phone as he commands Ross to go to the bus stop and pretend to talk to a random man, and when the man gets on the bus he creates a diversion for Simon Ross to escape the area. The police eventually go onto the bus and drug the innocent man who was used as a pawn. This shows simultaneity as the police are misled as they enter the bus and attack a man who was innocent and meanwhile they are letting Ross escape due to the mishap.

Leitmotif- The famous film "Jaws" was used for leitmotif. The background music in the edit is apparent in the movie whenever the shark is near and ready to attack and kill its prey as it eats the child in the film leaving a pool of water within the ocean.

5 Master Edits

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr6pFRBu2L8

The first edit is called Contrast and that is where a scene drastically changes.
The second edit is Parallelism where two unrelated scenes connect.
The third edit is Symbolism where an object in a scene can have a meaning for something other than itself.
The fourth edit is Simultaneity where two or more events are happening in the same reference.
The fifth edit is Leitmotif where a reoccurring musical theme is connected to a subject or object. 

Camera Angles Review - Series Episode

In order to make this blog, I extracted shots from Season 2: Episode 9 from the popular television series, “Shameless”.

The first shot that I picked out from the episode was an over the shoulder shot, this shot resulted from an emotional scene in the show where the daughter Fiona Gallagher is looking back to her mother Monica Gallagher. We are viewing Monica from a couple feet behind the perspective of her daughter Fiona, who has her head turned around her shoulder and is facing her mother. This was an emotional moment because it showed Fiona looking back upon her mother even though she was avoiding eye contact and did not want to look at her mother’s face due to a harsh relationship between the two. Monica, the mother, abandoned her family a few years back and had returned to her past household in this scene. Fiona who is the oldest child, had to drop out of high school in order to take care of her 5 younger siblings with minimal help from her alcoholic father named Frank. Monica is attempting to win back the heart of her oldest daughter in order to once again become accepted by her own children, who now obey Fiona. This camera angle helps depict the feelings of how they both are feeling, and is touching because it is apparent that Fiona wants to accept her mom but does not want to get hurt once again.

This shot is an example of a two shot, where Phillip Gallagher is speaking with a professor that he knows through a series of unfortunate events, but has grown to be close to. Phillip paid this professor a visit and they are seen here having a conversation on the campus from the distance of a close shot. This scene was enraging to me due to the current situation that Phillip is in and how he is asking around for support even as he is making a terrible decision in his life. Phillip’s girlfriend, Karen got pregnant and Phillip chose to dropout of his senior year in high school in order to help his girlfriend. He is a true genius and has so many people that have high expectations of him, but he chose to drop out leaving him no chance of a bright future. He is asking the professor for a job, but his request is instantly declined because he had not yet received his high school diploma. His girlfriend is still in high school and has not dropped out, so it is proven that Phillip has on option to stay in school so he can eventually get a better job in order to support his baby, but he chooses to take an unfortunate situation and turn it into an even worse one. This camera angle was able to express to me the importance of this conversation, which is that nobody is willing to help Phillip if he isn’t willing to help himself first.

This final shot is an example of a long shot. Karen is seen here approaching the house of a man that she had been with in the past; this scene upsets me because it shows her taking a turn for the worse. The reason she is going to his house is in order to lie to him and tell him that the baby belongs to him, and that she will need money in order to support it. He quickly hands her all of the money he can find but is in a rush because his wife is in the house and she is not aware of his situation. This shot is able to set the tone of the situation because it shows Karen waltzing into a peaceful environment, just to drop a bomb on somebody in order to use them and take their money, which is the only positive aspect she sees in having a child. It is visible that there are toys outside belonging to children, and the long shot is able to help capture the subject’s surroundings and furthermore the specific details that add to the scene.