Monday 19 October 2015

Editing task





This clip is from the film The Birds (1963), which was directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The pace of the editing at the beginning is quite slow, showing a long shot of the female protagonist running out of a diner. The use of diegetic sound at the beginning is also effective as we hear the loud sound of the birds shrieking, however, when she enters the phone box, the sound becomes less potent. This suggests to the audience that the phone box is protecting her from the danger of outside. This only lasts for a few seconds as the sound of the birds slowly gets louder. The use the repeated eyeline match forces the audiences' attention on the chaos outside. The fast pace of the straight cuts back and forth, from her and the car on fire, builds tension. Also, the use of constant juxtaposition makes the audience feel like they are in her position. There is then a high angle shot on the female protagonist, also known as a tilt, which shows her as a helpless, vulnerable, submissive character
It then jumps to another juxtaposition shot, the eyeline match is her looking at a car, which is driving towards her at high speed. It then cuts to a medium close up of her flinching and turning away from the camera. There is then a straight cut focusing on the man in the car, who is being attacked by the violent birds. There is then a jump cut back to our female protagonist, this is a close up and only half of her face is shown as she is hiding behind the telephone stand. This gives the impression that she is terrified and is in great danger. The mans face in the car is not clearly shown, which suggests that Hitchcock didn't want the audience to get too attached to this character as he isn't really significant. After the man drives off, there is another straight cut to the main character, however, all these straight cuts to the female protagonist are no longer than one second shots, this is extremely fast pace, which creates suspension. There is then a long shot of the car skidding, and fire in the background, which again suggests danger. She then attempts to get out of the phone box, with the camera titling up at her. We are then presented with the sound of sirens, which again symbolises some need of help. The jump cut of a close up of her hand, focuses the viewers to see her push the phone box door shut again. There is then another example of juxtaposition, where an eyeline match of her looking and the fire engine pulling up at the gas station. The constant use of this, puts the viewer in her shoes and really get a sense of what she is experiencing. The use of the third tilt (downward) emphasises her subversiveness. We can also infer that because it is a medium close up (different from the other tilt shots) of her, suggests that she is in a state of panic as it looks like she is in a tighter and more confined space. There is another eyeline match, which in cinematography is called a point-of-view shot. There is then a straight cut to a horse and carriage, which like the car earlier on in the scene, speeds towards her. There is then a brief jump cut to a close up of her face/eye. There is then a couple more straight cuts of her, which is then followed by a sharp jump cut to another tilt shot. We then see another jump cut to a mans bloody face, this forces the viewer to look at him as it is unexpected and sudden. The use of the eyeline match, suggests she sees an opportunity to escape. Which is then followed by her opening the door, but with her back facing the camera. As a viewer we want to see what her facial expression is when she is doing this, so this is quite frustrating as an audience memberThere is then another sudden jump cut of the bird smashing into the glass, which has taken her aback. 
Finally, there is then a long shot of the outside of the phone box, where a man comes to her rescue and helps her out of the phone box. There is a frenetic pace for the entreaty of this scene. I think Hitchcock did this to build up tension and make the audience feel uneasy. In addition, there was not any dialogue used in this scene, this may be because Hitchcock wanted to emphasise all the attention on the sound of the birds, which again makes the audience feel uncomfortable as the sound is very unsettling.

Tuesday 13 October 2015

Cinematography


Saving Private Ryan





We are first presented with a medium shot of the American flag blowing in the wind. Panning is then used, which pans up from the back of his feet to the back of his head. This creates suspense, as we are not shown his face instantly. This can be also described as a point-of-view shot as we are then shown a medium shot of his family looking at him from behind. There is then a medium close up of what we presume is his son or son in law taking a photograph. A medium close up is then shown of his wife with the rest of the family being in a medium shot. From this we can infer that she may be more significant then the rest of the family. An establishing shot is then used to show the location. This is also a panning shot as it moves from where the family were walking to a close up of him at the front. We then finally get to see a medium close up of the male protagonist. There is then another shot of the American flag, but this time it is a medium shot, and one of the French flag. The camera then goes back to a medium shot of the male protagonist, which clearly shows the expression on his face. He is looking ahead of him, but the audience has not yet been showed what he is looking at. A long shot of him and his family walking is shown, slowly showing the head stones of soldiers that fought in the war. A crane shot is used to show the hundreds of head stones of the soldiers that died during the war. We are then presented with multiple long shots of the head stones. Lastly, we are shown a medium shot of him and his family, which then starts to zoom in, leaving us with a big close up of his eyes.

Tuesday 6 October 2015

Sound Task



This clip is from Jurassic World. This scene uses diegetic sound such as the rustling sound that comes from when the two boys are running through the grass. Also, the dinosaur roaring and stomping on the ground is another example of diegetic sound as the characters can hear it. Furthermore, there is things like dialogue, the waterfall, and the sound of the two boys jumping into the water, which are other examples of diegetic sound. However, the soundtrack/music is an example of non-diegetic sound. I would say that the soundtrack/music is contrapuntal as it is classical music that is being played. This enhances the level of terror as it is not what you would normally expect to be played in an action/running scene.