Continuity Task- Our Final Film

 This is my groups finished video for the continuity task, I will be evaluating the video in a follow post.

Draft- Ethnicity essay

Discuss the ways ethnicity has been represented in the extract from ‘Hotel Babylon’.

The extract begins with a long shot of a black man serving one of the guests at the hotel, the camera pans right and tracks the black man as he is walking. Quick cuts are used to introduce an extreme long shot of the man walking, denoting the pool in the foreground so the audience can focus on another man getting out of the pool. The two men begin talking and the audience automatically see a difference between the two men, both men are black however one of the men is a stereotypical black man and the other is presented as atypical. The use of mise en scene connotes that one character is stereotypical as his hair is worn in dreadlocks and he is dressed in vibrant swimming shorts, this representation is reinforced by the diagetic sound as he is speaking in a traditional Caribbean accent which denotes he’s from a Jamaican background. The other man is also black however he is portrayed as atypical as he’s wearing a smart suit which signifies that he is a business man and has a high-paid job. The use of camera and editing connotes that there’s a sense of tension and awkwardness as quick cuts and shot reverse shots are used to create pace and to denote both men’s facial expressions. The man dressed in the suit looks uncomfortable, which is reinforced by the diagetic sound as he is slow when replying to the other man and comes across as blunt and slightly worried.  This, therefore suggests that the man dressed in the suit doesn’t want to be associated with the other man because of his background and perhaps doesn’t want to be stereotyped. Although both men are presented very differently, they have equal prevalence during the dialogue and are both shot at a medium angle, connoting that they are equal in the scene.

The extract then continues to a scene with two stereotypical  Eastern European maids who are being paid to strip for one of the guests in the hotel. Similarly to the previous scene, both women although they are from the same ethnical background, are presented differently. Minimal cuts are used in the beginning of this extract which allows the audience to focus on one of the maids, medium shots are used to denote one of the maids facial expression which signifies worry and sadness. The shot cuts from a medium shot of the women to a close up of a sign which one woman’s holding, on the sign there are two red crosses which signify danger, this implies that the women are about to be doing something which they shouldn’t be, however the red could also signify passion and love which could be because of what they are about to do. The non diagetic sound of the music creates a faster pace and connotes that something is about to happen as the music gradually speeds up, when the women enter the room the music slows down and the stereotypical Chinese man in the room starts playing diagetic music which is associated with sex. The fact that the man instigates the music connotes that he is more dominant in the scene and has more importance, however the mise en scene juxtaposes with this as he is positioned lower down on the bed in a position of weakness and the two women are at a higher level than him standing up. However, all of the characters are filmed at a medium shot at the same angle; therefore the camera also contrasts, suggesting that all characters are of equal importance in the scene. Although both women are stereotyped, one of the maids runs out and refuses to strip  for the man, therefore she’s presented as atypical as she’s disobeying the man and the other maid that she’s with. As her character conforms against the stereotype it connotes that her ethnicity is different which is similar to the two men in the previous scene as although there are stereotypes, some characters conform to expectations therefore suggesting that not all people of the same ethnicity are the same. The scene then cuts to a darker setting of a hotel room with a Chinese woman passing a guest toilet roll, she’s presented to be stereotypical as the fact that she has a high powered job connotes that she is smart, and she’s presented to be sneaky though the diagetic sound as she lies to one of the guests. The characters in this extract are heavily stereotyped as each character is stereotypical for their ethnicity, which suggests that the director wants audiences to understand the stereotype, as well as seeing how some characters aren’t stereotyped such as one of the maids.

Additionally, the extract continues and focus’ on two white managers, one male and one female. Similarly to the previous scene there is a lack of editing in the beginning when they are walking down a hallway. Both characters are presented to be high powered and of equal status; they are shot at a medium shot to begin  with, then jump cutting to a long shot, establishing the busy surroundings as they are walking; the audience is able to see people who have lower powered jobs walking around them and moving out of their way, connoting that white, English people are more important and dominant in this scene. The diagetic dialogue reinforces this representation as they both speak in traditional English accents; this is also supported by the mise en scene as they are dressed in smart business suits, signifying business and high power. Towards the end of the extract the managers enter a kitchen where there are British chefs working on one half, and Eastern European chefs working in the other half. The non diagetic music creates a sense of suspicion and foreboding as it creates a fast pace, creating anticipation for what’s about to happen. The Eastern European chefs are dressed in black which signifies danger, evilness and dirt, this juxtaposes with the costumes of the British chefs who are dressed in white which signifies purity, kindness and cleanliness. The binary opposition between the two colours creates an automatic divide between the two ethnicities and connotes that the British chefs are better than the others. When the two head chefs are talking to the managers, quick cuts and shot reverse shots are used to create tension and denote each characters facial expression, which is anger from the two chefs and confusion from the male manager. Both characters are filmed at the same angle which connotes that they are of equal power and are equally as important within the text, this is reinforced by the editing as both characters have equivalent prevalence. Both of the chefs are stereotyped as the diagetic sound of the dialogue denotes the Eastern European chefs accent, this stereotype is reinforced when he gets angry as he picks up a knife and threatens the British chef. The british chef is also stereotyped as he has a traditional british accent and is presented to be angry and rude, similar to the representation of the other chef. 

Continuity Task- Editing

As Oscar and I previously did the editing task together it was good that we could do another editing task as a group as Beth and Charlee also did their task together. As Oscar was the best at editing in our group he was giving us advice when editing it, we all gave our own suggestions and the Oscar did the actual editing on the computer as he was the best at using Adobe Premire Pro

. I was really glad that we had previously edited a video because I knew how to use some of the tools, I'm hoping that when it comes to editing our actual coursework then I will know how to edit a lot better and be able to use the skills I've learned from the previous editing tasks. I'm pleased with our final edit, we managed to complete all of the requirements for the task including sound effects, continuity and not breaking the 180 degree rule; this task has given me a lot of confidence for when it comes to editing our coursework video. 

Continuity- Filming

Last Wednesday we filmed out continuity task. I was only there for the beginning of the filming but we were filming the end. We set up in our location which was in the Chikara centre in the school, we set up the camera and sorted out where we were filming. Although I didnt' do any filming myself, I was behind the camera giving my opinions about how the camera should be angled and reading from the storyboard of which shots we needed to film. I think that the filming was really successful considering it was our first ever time filming as a group. I found it really useful to have the storyboard with me when we filmed as we could look at that so we knew exactly which camera angles to use. We filmed each shot roughly about 3 or 4 times and then afterwards we chose one of them to use for our final shot. The rest of my group filmed the rest of it together.

Practice Storyboard

This is the storyboard which Oscar and I made before we began the continuity task and before we had learned anything about story boarding. We came up with the idea of the story line quite quickly but we didn't make a shot list we made the storyboard straight from our ideas. I think it's interesting to compare this storyboard to our finished storyboard now and see how much we've improved.


 

The story board is quite basic and not very detailed but considering it's the first storyboard I had attempted I think that it's quite good. For the story board for our continuity task and our coursework I think we will need to think a lot more about timings and the shot transitions. In this story board most of the shots are long shots so I think we will need to make sure there's a variety of different shots included. Overall I think that this will help my group a lot when it comes to our coursework storyboard and our continuity task storyboard as it's made me realise that we need to think about and plan the shots before drawing them. 

Continuity Task- Rules to follow

After we filmed I looked back at the list of things which we had to consider when we filmed;

- Not breaking the 180 degree rule
- Using different types of shots and angles
- Using non diegetic and diegetic audio
- Using a Shot Reverse Shot
- Using dialogue between 2 or more characters
- Keeping a sense of Continuity throughout the film
Something which I'd only recently learned before we filmed was about the 180 degrees rule. This is when you can only film something which is around 180 degrees of the camera, it's so that the audience aren't confused by a change of setting and it fits in with the realism.

I believe that we have achieved all of these things as we made sure that we kept thinking about them when we filmed, we will also make sure we follow these rules we're filming our film for our coursework. Overall I think that having these rules helped us because it's taught me a lot more about what we need to be thinking about when we're filming.

Continuity Task- Storyboard

These are images of my groups storyboard for the continuity task. We created the shot list and then began to storyboard, I found it a lot easier to do this because of the lessons which we've recently been having on stroy boarding.

Storyline:
A man is sat in a cafe, he recives a text from his partner which wasn't meant to be sent to him telling someone to meet them in the 'usual place'. He then storms out and drops his food on the floor walking from the cafe to the place where his partner is meeting someone. He then enters a new location and sees his partner kissing someone else. The person then leaves and there is an argument between the protagonist and his partner, which then ends with the protagonist storming out.

Myself an Oscar created the storyboard together whilst Charlee and Beth came up with the locations and the script.

PLANNING- Shot List First Draft

This is our first edit of the shot list, we all came up with the ideas for the shots together, discussing which shots we thought would work best and how we would be able to film them. I think that we did well coming up with the shots together as we could all share our ideas and change any ideas of shots which wouldn't work. Now that the shot list is complete we will be able to start story boarding. After we have finished story boarding then we may need to change the shot list depending on if the shots work well or not. 

First Draft of Shot List

1.close up of the tv
2.over the shoulder shot of the man
3. birds eye canted shot of table with religious paraphenalia and polaroids
4.extreme close up polaroid TITLES(all polaroid shots are)
5.medium shot little boy playing
6.close up of polaroid
7.medium shot empty sofa and tv
8.medium shot of door
9.extreme close up door knob.
10.close up on pile of polaroids
11.medium colse up man walking sideways
12.close up of tv priests face
13.exteme close up sliding down stairs
14.close up polaroid
15.long shot child
16.medium shot walking down stairs
17.exteme close up hands dripping blood
18.close up polaroid
19.extreme close up lock
20.medium shot to the right
21.extreme close up mans eye

Essay feedback (Merlin)

I recently received feedback from an essay question on an extract from the television show 'Merlin'.

'Discuss the way social status is represented in this extract from Merlin.'

- I found this essay slightly easier to write about than the other essays which I had previously written as I felt like I had learnt a lot more about what I needed to include in the essays such as the technical language and more analysis.

- My targets from my previous essay was to avoid descriptions and emphasis the technical aspects and to revise semiotics, particularly indexical and iconography.

- I had got C's on all of my previous essays which I had been very happy with as my target grade for Media is a B so I didn't have that much to improve on in order to achieve this.

- In this essay I achieved a C again. I was happy with this grade but I do think that I could improve as my grade has stayed the same since my first essay which suggests that I haven't improved.

Targets:

- Use the appropriate terminology

- Respond to the question, addressing the question at the opening of each paragraph.

- Be more detailed in the analysis of editing

From the feedback I can see that I have achieved the target to avoid descriptions  however I still need to revise the terminology and address the question. These are things which I will be focusing on in my next essay.

Today we filmed our work for the continuity task. We decided to film at school using two different locations, the Cafe 2000 and the Chikara, as well as the corridor leading from the cafe.

We started firstly by filming the ending, the storyboard was really useful as we didn't have to worry about which shot angles to film at or where the characters would be standing 

Continuity Task- 2

Today we talked about ideas of what the story line could be for our continuity task, as it's only 90 seconds long it wasn't hard for us to come up with ideas. We decided to have it featuring a boy discovering that his boyfriend was cheating on him, this involved a change of locations, dialogue and shot reverse shots which were all required. We then went ahead and started story boarding our film; the story boarding was a lot easier compared to our attempts at story boarding before we had been taught about it, we discussed actors that could be in it as we needed three, we decided that Charlee and Oscar would be in the film and then we needed another boy so we chose someone who isn't in our group, Giles. 

Continuity Task

As part of our exam work, we are required to complete a continuity task, which involves storyboard, script and create a shot list, which we will then film ourselves. I think that this will be really good practice for our coursework as this task is basically a shorter version of what needs to be done for the coursework.

I'm doing this task with my coursework group, Charlee, Oscar and Beth; I think this will be a really good opportunity to see what we can each do and how we can all contribute to our actual coursework.

PLANNING- Storyboarding and Anamatic

As we are moving on to story boarding in our coursework, I think it's important that we learned more about story boarding and how to go about making our storyboard. A professional story boarder, Sophie came in to our lesson to talk to us more about story boarding and anamatic and she showed us some examples of anamatics. This has helped me with the continuity task as we have to storyboard our work before we film, it will also help me when we start doing the final storyboard for the coursework, by this time we will have already made one storyboard and had several lessons about story boarding so I think we will find it quite easy. 

Sophie showed us some of her own work, a storyboard which had been made in to an anamatic, I found it helpful to see this as I wasn't sure what an anamatic was until Sophie explained that it was a timed storyboard which basically showed everything that will be happening in the film, how long it will be happening for, and the order that it will be happening in but shown by drawings. We aren't required to make an anamatic for our continuity task but we are for our coursework so this was very useful to see and to have explained as it will be easier to make our anamatic when the time comes. 

As well as Sophie's own work, she also showed us the anamatic for the title sequence of the Disney show 'Gravity Falls', after we watched this we were shown the actual title sequence. I found it very interesting to see the contrast between the anamatic and the actual title sequence, obviously our piece wont be as detailed or advanced as this one but it was very useful to see what an anamatic looked like and how it helped make the real title sequence. 

This is our anamatic; I didn't find it as hard to make as I thought that it would be. As we had already completed our story board we just took pictures and filmed some of the shots. Then we put it all together and edited it so that the image that appeared at the time was shown for the amount of time as we planned it to be for in our final film. If we were to make this again I would change some parts of the story board and consider making the story board again as I don't think that some parts are as clear as they should be. Additionally I would add in some non diagetic sound, some sound effects and music to give ourselves and everyone else a better picture of what our opening will actually be like. Also, some of the separate pictures on the story board have been photographed side ways, which shouldn't have been done, however we struggled to get it finished in time as we made the anamatic twice as it went wrong the first time.