Thriller Sub Genre, Some Editing Techniques

In our last media lesson we learnt some more editing techniques which are as followed:

1. Cutaways
2. Eye-line Match
3. Flashback
4. Match Cut
5. Continuity Editing
6. Cross Cutting
7. Graphic Match
8. Juxtaposition
9. Linear Narrative
10. Parallel Editing

We then watched the opening scene of Shawshank Redemption to see if we could identify the different editing techniques used in this scene. Here is the opening scene that we watched:

The opening to this scene is very dark which adds to the mysterious atmosphere that we feel already in this film. The camera swiftly moves next to the car showing the man inside. The non-diejectic sound of the background music has becomes diejetic sound at 0.28 when the background music becomes the sound of the radio that the man is listening too which adds to the flowing continuity. The camera cuts to want the man is reaching out for and as this happens the radio music is suddenly overlapped by a non-diejectic drone which adds to the mystery of what he is holding, this drone is sustained throughout most of the opening scene.

At point 1.13 we discover that the shot from the start to this point has been a flashback because the shot then cuts to a lawyer questioning the man, that we saw at the beginning, regarding the actions and happenings, that happened at the beginning, in a court room. A cutaway is used here as the voice of the lawyer questioning the man is conceived earlier than the actual image on screen. This technique was used with Parallel editing as where the man was in the car is a totally different place to where the man was in the court room. The first image shot we see of this part of the opening is a juxtaposition image to the last shot of the flashback just before it, as at 1.12 the same man looking messy and scruffy in the car, on the right hand side of the screen now looks very smart and tidy at 1.14, on the left hand side of the screen.
In this shot there are no match cuts ever used, this is because the man being questioned and the lawyer and people watching are apposed to each other so continuity will be a little disarranged. They show us that they are on different ‘teams’ as when a wide shot of the lawyer is used we can see people around him, which could suggest that they think the same as him and may think he has committed the crime but when a wide shot is used on the man being questioned there is nothing but a wall behind which emphasises his solitude and gives us a sense that he is being isolated against everybody else in the room.
At point 2.01 we see another flashback, again used with parallel editing to connect the subject the lawyer is regarding at this time to the present time of his questioning, of the wifes goings on with her secret lover, and we see the reason why the main protagonist is angry and upset and we may even see the reason why they are there in the first place. This shot has both diejectic sounds in addition to the non diejectic sound of the background music and the sounds in the flashback.
In this opening scene flashbacks and parallel editing is used quite often, this could be so that we feel more about the case and so we can make a judgment ourselves or whether it is just so we know what happened to the protagonist before the court session. Also close-ups are used often to show us the persons emotions or reactions to help us make the judgement. At point 3.17 the camera pans over the crowd behind the lawyer to show the reaction on people faces, to see whether they are thinking the same as we are, or just so we see what they’re wearing o we no this is a formal event which also helps to establish the mise en scene.
We then see the judge who is seen from a little low angle to show power then, to keep the continuity in action, we see a match cut of the protagonist replacing the judge but instead we can see that we are looking down upon him, showing an eye-line match from the judge to the protagonist. This also reveals a reaction shot of the man when the judge reveals his sentence, and you can see for yourself that it isn’t fortunate news, because a close up is used we can feel the sympathy for him that is needed for us to connect to the film.

We then see gates opening and another door opening, all quite dark, big and seem to be secure which makes us feel intimidated by whoever is in the room. We can hear from the diejectic sound that a point of view shot has been used which makes us feel more apart of this character even though we havent seen him yet. When we do see him we see that he is a prisoner who is up for ‘rejection’ as the prisoners call it. We then see another eye-line match switching from prisoner to a Man at the table back to the prisoner and so on.  There is no non-diejetic sound here only the diejectic sound of the prisoners’ voice so nothing distracts us from what he has to say, this is used so we can make our own judgment on whether we think that they should reject him or give him another chance. We see that the prisoners’ name is Ellis Boyd from his papers that are marked REJECTED, but when Ellis starts talking to his prisoner peers we see that his nick name is ‘red’
As soon as Ellis starts to walk away from the two men they follow him, and then another one joins. This symbolises that he is an authority figure to the other men as the camera and men are following him, this is shown in a long shot. We then here Reds voiceover which is supplying us with the same effect as the flashbacks did in the beginning of the opening, as they both give us a bit of background information on both the characters. When Ellis mentions Andy Defrein we realise that there is a link between these two characters, whether if the link has been made before prison life, during prison life, or whenever they get out of prison we know that there will be a link between them somewhere.
We then see a bird’s eye view of the prisons grounds which gives us audience permission to look around and judge the place. We are invading their space which makes gives us a bit more importance within the film. This also adds to the mise en scene.

The mise en scene is created by using many of the editing techniques that we learnt, but not all of them, the ones i havent written about and identified are:
Flashback
Cutaway
Parallel Editing
Eye-line Match
Match Cut
Juxtaposition
But there is one more called Continuity Editing technique which is used all the way through the movie to keep the continuity in action. It creates a sense of time moving forward and we get the sense or reality because of this editing technique. It does not draw attention to the editing which is why it is the most common type of editing technique used.

The overall mise en scene in this opening was created by many things: Camera shots, camera angles, non diejectic sounds and diejectic sounds and more importantly on this post i have written about different editing techniques. As you can see editing techniques have a great effect on creating the atmosphere the director and producer wants.

Developing Higher-Mark Blog Entries

In our previous lesson we discuss, as a group, what elements made a good and poor entry. We learnt new things and were asked to use these new things we learnt as well as our previous knowledge to develop a trailer on ‘Kill Bill’ whilst regarding the use of thriller conventions. Below is the trailer we watched:

The trailer starts with the diejectic sound coming from the plane flying low down over a city. The plane looks as though it is about to land which mirrors the fact that as the people land on the ground the film will begin.  This diejectic sound is soon overlapped by the non diejectic sound of the opening titles background music. The opening titles are written in a bold font and bright yellow on a black background. This mirrors the main character wears throughout the trailer and her belongings e.g. motorbike. The font is bold so you could say that this symbolises her personality as being bold also, but, this doesn’t exactly follow the thriller convention ‘titles often reflect an aspect of the pro/antagonist’s psychological state’ but it does represent her as a person and what she looks like. 

The first shot we see is of that of a low angled shot of the main protagonist, in her yellow suit. This automatically gives us a feel of superiority towards her. Because her face is a mystery, being covered up my her helmet, we feel that she, as a character throughout the film, will be mysterious also. Also, because this is the first shot we know, first off, that she is the most important character of the whole trailer and probably the whole film. This shot is followed by a wide angles shot showing us a woman dressed in a white dress being followed by a big crowd of men dressed in black. This helps the mise en scene to set as the costumes we see are showing us, without even knowing the characters ot hearing how they talk to the others, who is the most superior.

The next shot is what looks to be a bar and we can see the women in white walking toward the front with her followers not far behind her. If you look closely you can see Uma Thurman’s character, the main protagonist, in the far left corner of the screen. The next shot confirms this thought and shows a panning shot moving into the back of Uma’s character, shortly after she turns her head which suggests that she has just realised they have walked into the room. In this scene we get a sense of the themes of voyeurism because it looks as though the Protagonists’s character has been watching the women in white to know where to find her,she seems to be seeking revenge.

The following scenes show that there is a crime at the core of the narrative. We see that Uma’s character speaks to us with no words but actions and she becomes even more of a mystery as we still do not know her name. The amount of weapons we see used in the fighting help develop the crime at the core of the narrative and is also apart of the mise en scene. The scene is of Uma’s character fighting in many different situations which suggests that she isn’t new at this ‘revenge’ thing and that she is very good at the fighting, otherwise she wouldnt of survived! It also suggests that she has many enemies because without enemies there wouldn’t be anyone to fight but, as you can see, she has many. This also gives us a sense of themes of mirroring, that of continual mirroring as this doesnt change throughout the trailer, as everyone seems to be fighting each other. In this scene the non diejectic helps build up the dramatic atmosphere, and rise the tension leading up to the fights, as it gets louder, we can hear a second drum beat added and some brass instruments added. 

We then see a brief shot of each main character, whether they have been shown previously in the trailer or not. This shot is used to make us feel more involved with the trailer as we feel we know the character a little more. We know that this part of the trailer isn’t in the actually film because it is in black and white and the characters are looking straight at  us and because they are shown from a low angle it gives us a sense of inferiority towards the characters and we feel they are important to watch therefore want to watch the film.

We see the women in white shout an order at her men in black and they seem to do exactly as she says and surrounds the protagonists. This suggests that she is the most important person around and everyone looks up to her, except Uma Thurman’s character. The lighting in this scene is very yellow which mimics the main protagonists character well, this helps to improve continuity in the shot. The camera cuts to a wide shot of the main characters face and we can see people behind her. It looks to me as if they are the only people but as the camera pans out to a birdseye view and we see that there are many, many people surrounding her. It seems impossible to fight them all but when Uma’s character raises her sword, gets ready to fight and moves a couple of centimetres we see that all of the enemies warriors back off, as if they were scared of her, which shows a sense of importance bestowed upon her. This whole shot in the trailer falls under the thriller convention Extraordinary events happening in ordinary situations as it is normal for you to walk into, what looks to be, a normal bar but the extraordinary part is the fact that she gets surrounded by people wanting to fight and the really unusual thing about it is that she wants to fight back. This is the scene that ends the trailer; the diejectic sounds of the people shouting and swords hitting each other mixes with the non diejetic sound of the film’s theme tune to create a tense atmosphere and leaves us with a swish of Uma’s characters sword leaving us with many enigmas which in turn makes us want to watch on.

Kill Bill comes up very shortly before  the very end. It is in a red font which is a contrast to the yellow font we have seen throughout the trailer. This suggests that Bill and Uma’s character are completely different characters which can be interpreted through the colour of the font. Red symbolises blood which relates with the actual title of Kill Bill.

This trailer leaves us with many enigmas. Some are the following:

• Who is she?
• Who is Bill?
• Why does she want revenge?
• Who are the protagonists?
• Who are the antagonists?
• Is there a link between assassins?

We watch on to find out the answers to these questions and Tarantino uses many thriller conventions to do this which i have identified above, some of which are themes of mirroring, themes of voyeurism, extraordinary events in ordinary situations, crime at the core of the narrative etc..

The overall mise en scene helps set the ‘action thriller’ atmosphere and make it identifiable to us as viewers. We are left with many enigmas which is a bit part of an action thriller and keeps us on the edged of our seats.  The props used help develop the crime at the core of the narrative and the lighting helps the continuity flow better. Many thriller conventions are used as listed above. Another one of these conventions is that the main protagonist looks to be in peril throughout as she is constantly fighting against people she probably doesnt even know. We can see this as special sound effects and camera shots emphasis this and the props add to this a lot. The camera shots used helped us identify who was superior to who. The use of the props in this trailer helps us realise that the fighting in this film is very important, maybe the most important part of it and every fight in this film should be taken into consideration and watched intently. The upbeat non diejectic sounds also helps us keep up with the action in the movie and symbolises that everything in the film it quick and upbeat which, i think, represents the film well.

Thriller Sub Genres

In yesterday’s lesson we were taught 13 different sub genres of a thriller. These were:

1. Action thriller
2. Conspiracy thriller
3. Crime thriller
4. Disaster thriller
5. Drama thriller
6. Eco-thriller
7. Erotic thriller
8. Legal thriller
9. Medical thriller
10. Political thriller
11. Psychological thriller
12. Spy thriller
13. Techno-thriller

We were then was asked to watch the beginning of ‘Deep Blue Sea’ and make notes on the conventions and sub-genres of a thriller that we can identify here. Here are my notes:

• From the 15 minutes that we saw, as a class, we saw that the story line was Carter was the main protagonist at this point, bringing the problem to the surface. She is trying to find a cure for alzheimer diesease by increasing brain shark so they can harvest the protein from it. They use the shark because their immune and defense is very high; they do not catch anything, or develop cancer, old age does not affect them in any way and they do not develop alzheimers therefore would be the perfect animal to help cure it. The problem is that as the shark brain increases so does its intelligence. They have started hunting in packs and eat other sharks. They do not fear boats anymore, like they used to, as we can see when the shark attacks the boat of the teenagers. The shark escaped out of the camp but no one knows who so this is another problem; he might escape again and this time it could be more of them escaping so there are signs of higher levels of thinking which isn’t good because they could out smart us humans, as there is potential for them too, or they might even start killing the humans.
• ‘Deep Blue Sea’ can been seen as a Medical thriller, Eco thriller, Disaster thriller.
• We see that the antagonist here is the shark. The shark plays a very important role in this film.
• We see that the protagonist is Carter and, at this point, she seems to be the main character which, we later find, out isn’t the truth.
• The non-diagetic sound is used to intensify the antagonist and adds to the element of mystery which automatically adds to the suspense.
• The story line, up to the 15 minutes we watched, is: Problem, Party, Problem. This throws the viewer off balance and makes us wonder what is going on, we do not expect something to happen when it actually does or vice versa because of the music, therefore the tension highest then lowers as the atmosphere switches from scared or confusion (problem) to happy (party).
• When we hear that there could be a possible storm coming we get a sense of foreboding.
• There is some sense of conspiracy coming from Carter towards the man as, as she is so fixated on getting this cure, she has become the mans antagonist therefore, for a short period of time, the roles of Carter and the Sharks have switched.
• Carter becomes the ‘anti-hero’ as she means to do good, by trying to find the cure for alzheimers, but she is going about it in a totally wrong way.
• We havent seen this but we have been told the Carter or the two men involved so far are not the main characters as they have previously signified as. Instead the cook becomes the main character and protagonist which surprises you as you were not expecting it. As he is at a low class in the film it in untraditional for a hero to be of this class which draws you in even more.
• So, so far we are focused on the conversations about the sharks between Carter, Samuel Jackson and the other man involved and also the sub – plots which, at this point, are the romance between Carter and the blond man, the cure for alzheimers and how the sharks got out of their cages and what they will do next, if they are getting smarter.

Below is the trailer to ‘Deep Blue Sea’:

 

Another part to our homework, that was set for next lesson, was to identify what sub-genre(s) the thriller fits into and explaining your reasoning, so, here is the trailer for the thriller i have chosen, ‘The Exorcism Of Emily Rose’:

As i was watching this trailer i noticed that it can fit into many of the sub-genres discussed in lesson:

Action thriller

Disaster thriller

Drama thriller

Eco thriller

Legal thriller

Medical thriller

Psychological thriller

  

ACTION THRILLER
The exorcism of Emily rose fits into this sub genre as i feel that the violence used against the protagonist committed by the antagonist is obvious. Even though there aren’t any guns or explosions the elaborate set pieces compensate for it. It contains a lot of mystery throughout the film and in the end we never find our enigma’s answered which adds to the tension and the suspense that keeps the audience watching and drawn in.

DISASTER THRILLER
I feel that this thriller fits into this sub genre perfectly as the antagonist isn’t a person or even an element on earth, it is the devil which could be seen as a natural disaster and even though it doesn’t include earthquakes or volcanoes the whole film is obviously a disaster, as we cannot stop it from happening, which can relate to the earthquakes and volcanoes, or explain why its happening.

DRAMA THRILLER
Even though this thriller isn’t slowly paced it involves a great deal of character development for example at the beginning of the film Emily Rose is a normal girl going to school and then college, living a normal lifestyle, just like you and me and then by the end of it she is practically the ’devil’ that has taken over her life and, unfortunately, dies because of it. This thriller also contains plot twists which through us as viewers but draws us in.

ECO THRILLER
I think that this thriller fit in well with this sub genre as it meets most the terms defining Eco thriller as a sub-gengre. The protagonist has to deal with an usual type of enemy/antagonist which forms the central message or theme of the story. As this thriller was based on a true story (The exercism of  Anneliese Michel) it high-lights real-life issues.

LEGAL THRILLER
I do not agree that this thriller meets the terms of this sub genre but it does include court rooms, lawyers, cases being lost resulting in whether the blame of Emily Rose’s death is blamed on her doctor/priest or not. The parents obviously want someone to blame and it is hard to blame a spirit so they want to blame their doctor/priest for Emily Rose’s death so they take him to court and fight against him. All of the footage of Emily Rose is flash backs and is all used as evidence in court so the whole film is based around what is happening in court.

MEDICAL THRILLER
There is obviously a medical problem with Emily Rose in which medical doctors are involved in the court case as well as working to solve the reason Emily Rose is like this, the expanding medical problem and whether it is a physical reason or a psychological disability that no one else has had before.

PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER
This thriller fits in flawlessly as meets the elements which define psychological thrillers. It has the conflict between the main characters which is not only mental and emotional but there is a violent resolution and a physical conflict also.

 

The overall mise en scene concludes the whole Thriller experience. The lighting used the whole way through the film is dark with hints of blue which adds to the suspense  and fear we feel, it also highlights the death and violence we see. It is often raining in the film which reflects the mood so pathetic fallacy is used in a clever way to make us feel the same way as the characters. We feel like we can relate, obviously not fully, but to a certain extent with the characters as everyday sounds are used all the way through the film in addition to that the thriller is based on a true story which makes us think this could happen to us!

Thriller Conventions

To make a thriller a thriller there are many conventions that you have to use. The main conventions used in thrillers are:

1. A crime at the core of the narrative (often murder, but not necessarily)
There is usually a crime in the narrative or storyline of a thriller, which makes it interesting to watch.

2. A complex narrative structure, with false paths, clues and resolutions.
Thriller are usually made up of false paths or clues that are left for us to put together at the end to make the whole thing more fun to watch.

3. A narrative pattern of establishing enigmas which the viewer expects to be resolved.
In order to understand the film in generall the audience will need false paths, and other things that make up a thriller, to be resolved.

4. A protagonist who is systematically dis-empowered and drawn into a complex web of intrigue by the antagonist.
A thriller always has the protagonists against the antagonist and at some point in the thriller there will be a situation which will include both sets of characters which in some cases the antagonists have more power over the protagonists.

5. Extraordinary events happening in ordinary situations.
Suspense and surprises makes a thriller and is one of the most important conventions of a thriller.

6. Themes of identity.
So we can relate to the characters in the film or know who is the protagonists and antagonists we need to see their personalities and identities in the film.

7. Themes of mirroring.
This shows the audience that there is more than one protagonist or antagonists as this shows two or more people in the same position or situation.

8. Themes of voyeurism.
This is when someone is looking at someone else but that person does not know, usually shown through a point of view shot.

9. Protagonist with ‘flaw’ which is exploited by the antagonist.
This shows the protagonists’ weaknesses and usually shows how the antagonists will act upon them into being the dominant character.

10. Titles often reflect an aspect of the pro/antagonist’s psychological state.
Titles gives the viewers a chance to see what will take place in the film without watching it as they usually mirror each other,which sets the mise en scene.

11. There is often a scene near the end of the film in which the protagonist is in peril.
This is used in all horror films as a horror film wouldn’t be one if someone wasn’t in danger, and it wouldn’t be the antagonist. The protagonist will be in peril throughout the film and little by little will be building up to make the audience tense and anxious as to what will happen next.

12. Mise en scene which echoes/mirrors the protagonist’s plight.
The mise en scene depends on the setting, the characters etc. if the character is happy the setting is not going to be a cold little dark room otherwise this wouldn’t make sense, this would be the setting of a much more depressing mood.

 

In class we watched the opening of saw and identified the thriller conventions in it which included more than 4 in the first 5 minutes! here i will inform you on the main conventions shown in the opening of the first saw movie:

 

Straight away we can hear the sound of water acting as the accompaniment for the opening credits. These credits are on a dark background which is carried on throughout the credits to the start of the first scene, this darkness draws us viewers in as it adds to the suspense because we don’t know what the sound is, where it is coming from or where the setting is. The credits seemed to drift and fade away after being shown and are also the colour blue which mirrors the sounds we are hearing at the same time as these credits are being shown. This also mirrors the start of the first scene as we see, whats looks to be the protagonist, waking up in water.

As it is still dark we cannot see where the man is or even if he is with anyone, until we hear a low husky voice coming from the other side of the room. To me this is a false path because the tone in his voice and some of the first things he says are, to me, suspicious and it isn’t until the light it turned on that we can see that he is a protagonist too, as they are both chained up to the wall. The lights reveal a dirty, old room with two men in, one older, one younger, and , what looks to be, a dead man in the middle of the room surrounded in a puddle of blood. These couple of seconds that we see who is in the room and what is in the middle of the room lead to many enigma’s that the audience expects to be resolved, for example, who are they? where are they? what are they doing there? how did they get there? who done this? who is the man in the middle? how did he die? is there anyone else in other rooms? etc. which will influence the viewers to watch more as they want to find out the answers, so already the film has got the audience hooked. We automatically know that there is a crime at the core of the narrative as there is a dead man in the middle of the room, but we don’t know what happened to him yet; how he died, therefore we still do not know for certain who the protagonists are and who are the antagonists or even if we have seen one or both of them. The camera zooms in onto close up of the body it reveals a gun and a tape recorder which could be seen as clues. We get a sense of importance towards these props as these are the only clues given to us at the time so makes us question whether he killed himself with the gun etc. which could be seen as more false paths.
The themes of identities are shown here when the men first speak to each other. There is a clear difference in age and the older man seems to be much more mature than the younger one as the younger tries to fight out and break free, shouting at what seems to be no-one while the older man tells him to calm down. This gives us a clue of what kind of people we are watching here and is clear that the older man is the most sensible out of the two.
Extraordinary events happen here also as these men are clearly normal men living their normal lives then surprisingly wake up in this horrible room, asking themselves the same questions we are asking watching the film. Mirroring is used here as both the men seem to be in the same situation not knowing why they are there or who they are there with as they are complete strangers.

I think that one of the most important reasons why we are hooked to the filmed already as we find ourselves relating to the characters as we are in the same situation in the sense that we do not know what is going on either, which adds to the suspense.All we know is that the protagonists are in peril throughout the opening scene which can lead to and reveal enigma’s which we feel need to be resolved and can’t stop watching the film until we resolve them.

‘Test Anxiety’ camera shots and angles I used in my edit.

As my group filmed many scenes with different angles and camera shots i had a lot to choose from in my edit. I tried to include a variety of shots in my edit to keep the audience content in watching my edit and so they could see the number of angles and camera shots there are. I also wanted to show the audience that the students were taking a stressful exam so that’s why i used certain shots e.g. the close up of the girls eyes, and also i used quite a cheerless song choice; to show that they wasn’t have much fun!

Below i am going to explain why i used the camera shots and angles i used with a picture example to show, i will also explained why i used the sounds i used, but if you want to watch my video then i have uploaded it in one of my posts below.

The first shot i used was the title shot  just to let the audience know what the video they was watching was called, after this there was a quick shot, that only lasted half a second, of a wide shot of the classroom showing all the students in there, to make it look like an exam. After this i used a shot of the protagonist writing her exam. This shot is at a high angle and close up , to show that the girl feels vulnerable and nervous, this shot also makes the audience feel dominant toward the protagonist. The next shot is an extreme close up of one of the students eyes.  I used this shot as it shows a lot of emotion, in this case, you can see that the student is under pressure and is nervous as she has teary eyes. I also broke this shot up into 4 parts separated by a black shot each one lasting 0.5 of a second, each part with a ‘thud’ sound each time one shot occurs. This gives of the effect that the girl’s heart is beating hard as she looks around the room, this is of importance as it shows that the girl is stressed and agitated by this exam she is about to sit.  The shot after this is the climax of the video as it shows the girls pencil breaking. I have repeated this shot twice exactly the same way but in-between these i have used the same shot but reversed it, to show that this is the most important part of the video. When the protagonist throws the pencil at the angry examiner i used the point of view shot from the protagonist to reveal a wide shot of the examiner.  I have used this shot so the audience knows who threw the pencil and at who. The point of view shot is the camera shot i use throughout the rest of my video   I’ve edited the shots so the viewers are aware of whos’ point of view they are watching, otherwise the video wouldn’t make sense! I have used point of view shots for this as it involves the audience and makes them feel that they are there and it can also make them feel they can relate and compare their own experiences with this one, so the video shouldn’t get tedious.

Overall i have used a number of camera angles in this video to convey the sense of ‘test anxiety’ and i think that the video has had the desired effect, that i wanted, on the audience. Each camera shot or angle i have used are for different reasons and i hope to have portrayed ‘test anxiety’ in the  correct way and in an understandable way to the audience.

Camera Shot Types

There are many type of camera shots you can use while making a film, trailer short video etc. and here are some of the main ones:

Extreme Wide Shot (EWS)
This is an extreme wide shot. The EWS can also be called an extra long shot or extreme long shot. As you can see this shot is zoomed out  a lot to show the audience the whole picture, surroundings and the setting of the film/trailer. This shot is usually used as the ‘establishing shot’ which is the first shot shown to also show the setting and to set the mise en scene for the audience.

 

Very Wide Shot  (VWS)
Next is the very wide shot. This can also be used as and establishing shot to show the audience the setting  and we also get an idea of whats going on but, as you can see, it is much closer that the EWS but not as close as the Wide shot.

 

Wide Shot (WS)
Wide Shot (WS) is also known as a long shot. This shot is the first shot that establishes the mise en scene because there is a balance between the character and that background. Although this is a good thing there is still  lack of connection with the character as we cannot see his/her facial features only his/her height.

 

Mid Shot (MS)
The next shot is the Mid Shot. This shot shows the subject to the audience in more detail, as this shot only shows the top half of the person which is what you would usually see if you were having a conversation with someone which makes you feel more involved. This shot is frequently used on television presenter because the shot works well when information is being delivered. There is also room for hand gestures and movement of the upper body which would be useful in certain shots.

 

Medium Close Up (MCU)
A medium close up is in-between a mid-shot and a close up and there is much less focus on the background so reveals gestures and shows more emotion that the mid shot but obviously it doesn’t get too close like the close up does.

 

Close Up (CU)
A close up shot takes up most of the frame so shows alot of detail and emotion. It exaggerates facial expressions so draws the viewer into the persons personal feelings.

 

Extreme Close Up (ECU)
The extreme close up reveals an extreme close up of features and emotions which makes us focus our attention on their expression more so than the close up as we dont see the surroundings. This shot also creates an element of confusion and suspense and we start asking questions like where are they? what’s going on? so this shot is good for dramatic scenes or maybe a scary film.

 

Cutaway (CA)
A Cutaway Shot is usually a shot that is something other than the current action. This shot can be used as a ‘buffer’ between shots. This will help the editing process and also make it look more interesting to the audience. This shot also gives us a sense of whats around the current setting without using a wide shot or very wide shot etc.

 

Cut-In
A cut-in shot can be used as an edit point on the subject or to show body language e.g. it may cut-in on the hands to show hand gestures. It is different to cut away shot as this shot shows some part of the actual subject, just in more detail, rather than something around a subject.

 

Two-Shot 
A Two-Shot is  basicly a comfortable shot of two people who have equal prominence in the frame. This shot can be used in interviews, presenters hosting shows etc. This shot is good for establishing relationships between people and a good way to follow the interaction between two people without getting distracted by the setting around them. This shot works in the same way as a Three-Shot which is a comfortable shot of three people. A ‘One-Shot’ would just be a mid shot of either person in the two or three shots.

 

Over-the-Shoulder-Shot (OSS)
An Over the shoulder shot helps us to establish the positions of each person, and also get the feel of looking at one person from the other’s point of view without getting to intrucive than a Point of view shot. This shot is also a lot less personal than the point of view shot also.

 

Noddy Shot
The Noddy Shot is ver common in interviews because it shows a person listening and reacting to another. This gives the audience the chance to actually relate to this person as we can compare how we react to how they react which may not be what we expected or the exact same as how we reacted, either way would draw us in and make us want to watch it more.

 

Point-of-View Shot (POV)
The Point of View Shot shows a view from a persons perspective. This shot makes the audience feel more involved with the scene and lets us see the scene through the subjects eyes.

 

Weather Shot
The weather shot is a way of showing the audience what the weather is like and as an establishing shot it can be good for setting the mood, a good (or bad, if the weather is bad) atmosphere and overall the mise en scene. In this shot the sky takes up at least 2/3 of the frame. This Shot is very popular in programmes where the weather is of particular importance for example reporters showing what the weather is like in a certain part of the country.

Test Anxiety

Here is my edit of ‘Test Anxiety’:

Preliminary Task Video

The mise en scene in the openeing of ‘Pride and Prejudice’

In the above trailer of Pride and Prejudice the mise en scene is used in many ways which include: Sounds (music and accents), costume, lighting, setting, characters, props etc. which, in turn, creates the period drama atmosphere which is very important for this type of film, but i am just going to talk about the main ones:

SOUNDS (MUSIC AND ACCENTS)
I think sounds are one of the most important ways to identify what period a certain film comes from, for example if there was an upbeat song with a drum bass rhythm you would no that it would be quite a modern film which is juxtaposed to this trailer, as seen above, as the music is from the classical period, so we know that it is a period drama.
This particular piece of music, used in the opening credits, is Major with lots of semi-quavers and quavers which symbolises the happy theme and mood we get from this trailer.
We can also hear the voices of the characters and it is not hard to notice that the character speak with high class and sound as if they are classed as ‘high’ in terms of social status. These accents give of a sense that the film will be about well-off families, people with big houses and beautiful land, which connect to the ‘setting’ and ‘character’ part of the mise en scene.

CHARACTERS
Everything about the characters in this opening scene suggests ‘high class’; the first characters we see are they on horses, which back in that time would be seen a very high class as horses were expensive, these men are wearing top hats and suits which were only worn by people which’class’. As the men start to talk we realise that they have very strong ‘posh’ accents which show high class also.
The first women we see is Elizabeth, whom is well dressed, walking to her house which seems to be very big. Inside they other girls are fighting and chasing each other around the room which could be seen as spoilt behaviour which, in many ‘high class’ families, the children were spoilt.
We see everyone going to church which is important in period dramas as everyone in these times would be religious and church would be a big and regular part of peoples lives. We can see that everyone takes pride in their appearance and wore their ‘best clothes’ which reflects the importance of church to them. Everyone is very polite and addresses others as Mr, Sir, Mam etc. which shows respect which was very important back then and this also shows that it is a period drama.
Arranged marriages are being spoken of, and this gives a sense of period drama as arranged marriages were very, very common within well-off families. It is quite clear that men are more superior than women because the mother says ‘ and he can just pick whichever one he likes’ but what if the women do not like him? I dont think that matters, but this was very common.
All of these things above add to the mise en scene as we now know what drama it is, which kind of people we are watching etc, just by looking at the characters and hearing what they say.

SETTING
Many period dramas are set in the countryside and this one is no exception. We see lots of green, hills, trees etc. which show us it is the countryside. I think the well-off people lived in the countryside because they could have bigger houses and lots of land with beautiful views which is why this film is set in the countryside, as many period dramas are, to show they are highly classed, which adds to the mise en scene.

PROPS
There are many props in the opening of this film for example, hats, dresses (things to show high standard) which add to the mise en scene as we now know what kind of characters we are watching,  the furniture we see in the house is very old fashioned which reflects the period this was set in and looks to be quite expensive for example the sofas look to be made of velvet which would have been expensive, you know that these were times where the wasn’t any electricity as there are candles everywhere, on the walls, on the tables and as the day is coming to night the fire has been lit and when it is finally dark we see candles everywhere, which adds to the mise en scene as, as viewers, we get a sense of the ‘olden days’ which will make us want to watch the film and show us that it is a period drama.

All of these factors above give us the mise en scene and make up the atmosphere that we need to be hooked to the film and even to know what the film is about for example if none of the above factors were present ,or were the opposite, someone talking to another about arranged marriage wouldn’t be right and we wouldn’t want to watch the film as it wouldn’t make any sense. They all show us that the film is a period drama and they all add to the mise en scene which is needed to make this film a good one.

Viewing Figures Homework

 

BBC 1 6 Sept 2009

1	NEW TRICKS (THU 2100) DRAMA	8.53
2	EASTENDERS (THU 1929) DRAMA	8.33
3	EASTENDERS (FRI 2000) DRAMA	8.17
4	EASTENDERS (MON 1958)DRAMA	7.52
5	WAKING THE DEAD (SUN 2100) DRAMA	6.86
6	EASTENDERS (TUE 1928)DRAMA	6.30
7	HOLBY CITY (TUE 2000) DRAMA	5.26
8	TEN O’CLOCK NEWS (THU 2200)	5.14
9	FILM: FRAMED (2001) (MON 2029)	5.02
10	COUNTRYFILE (SUN 1901)	5.01
11	BBC NEWS (SUN 2200)	4.99
12	FILM: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURS (SAT 2046	4.83
13	THE ONE SHOW (WED 1857)	4.79
14	BBC NEWS (MON 1830)	4.55
15	TEN O’CLOCK NEWS (WED 2200)	4.44
16	TEN O’CLOCK NEWS (TUE 2200)	4.28
17	EDINBURGH MILITARY TATTOO (MON 1858)	4.26
18	THE ONE SHOW (TUE 1858)	4.23
19	CRIMEWATCH UK (WED 2100)	4.13
20	SIX O’CLOCK NEWS (WED 1800)	4.12
21	THE ONE SHOW (THU 1858)	4.12
22	SIX O’CLOCK NEWS (TUE 1800)	4.08
23	SIX O’CLOCK NEWS (THU 1800)	4.02
24	ANTIQUES ROADSHOW (SUN 2001)	3.90
25	THE ONE SHOW (FRI 1858)	3.82
26	BBC NEWS (SUN 1835)	3.76
27	TRAFFIC COPS (TUE 2100)	3.69
28	WOULD I LIE TO YOU? (MON 2159)	3.68
29	SIX O’CLOCK NEWS (FRI 1800)	3.61
30	SEASIDE RESCUE (WED 2030)	3.57

 

BBC2 6 Sept 2009

		Millions
1	DRAGONS’ DEN (WED 2101)	4.04
2	COAST (TUE 1959)	3.92
3	LAST CHANCE TO SEE (SUN 2002)	3.31
4	UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE (MON 2000)	3.08
5	MOCK THE WEEK (THU 2101)	3.03
6	DRAGONS’ DEN: ON TOUR (SUN 2103)	2.69
7	THE CHOIR – UNSUNG TOWN (TUE 2100)	2.65
8	THE FRANKINCENSE TRAIL (THU 2001)	2.49
9	THE BEATLES: ON RECORD (SAT 2036)	2.49
10	SHOOTING STARS (WED 2202)	2.37
11	DAD’S ARMY (SAT 1916)	2.22
12	THIS WORLD – GYPSY CHILD THIEVES (WED 1900)	2.06
13	THE HAIRY BIKERS’ FOOD TOUR OF BRITAIN (MON 1714)	2.05
14	MOCK THE WEEK (TUE 2201)	1.98
15	EGGHEADS (WED 1759)	1.94
16	ECONOMY GASTRONOMY (WED 2000)	1.91
17	QI (FRI 2202)	1.90
18	MASTERMIND (FRI 1959)	1.89
19	EGGHEADS (FRI 1759)	1.87
20	THE FUNNY SIDE OF TV EXPERTS (THU 2132)	1.86
21	TOP GEAR (SUN 1901)	1.85
22	GARDENERS’ WORLD (FRI 2029)	1.84
23	EGGHEADS (THU 1759)	1.80
24	THE TUDORS (FRI 2100) DRAMA	1.80
25	EGGHEADS (TUE 1759)	1.77
26	TRUST ME, I’M A DEALER (MON 1830)	1.77
27	THE HAIRY BIKERS’ FOOD TOUR OF BRITAIN (FRI 1714)	1.71
28	THE HAIRY BIKERS’ FOOD TOUR OF BRITAIN (WED 1714)	1.69
29	CARIBBEAN FOOD MADE EASY (MON 2030)	1.69
30	TRUST ME, I’M A DEALER (WED 1829)	1.68

 

 

ITV1 6 Sept 2009

		Millions
1	THE X FACTOR (SAT 1936)	12.84
2	CORONATION STREET (MON 2028)DRAMA	8.89
3	CORONATION STREET (THU 2031)DRAMA	8.76
4	CORONATION STREET (MON 1933)DRAMA	8.59
5	CORONATION STREET (FRI 1932)DRAMA	8.07
6	CORONATION STREET (FRI 2029)DRAMA	7.59
7	EMMERDALE (THU 2000)DRAMA	6.83
8	EMMERDALE (THU 1900)DRAMA	6.41
9	EMMERDALE (FRI 1901)DRAMA	6.25
10	EMMERDALE (TUE 1859)DRAMA	6.22
11	EMMERDALE (MON 1902)DRAMA	6.07
12	INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL: SPA V ENG (SAT 1647)	5.50
13	HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET FIRE (WED 1902)	5.50
14	AGATHA CHRISTIE’S MARPLE (SUN 2003)DRAMA	5.39
15	THE CUBE (SAT 2039)	5.26
16	REBUS (FRI 2100)DRAMA	4.35
17	WUTHERING HEIGHTS (MON 2100)DRAMA	4.25
18	THE FIXER (TUE 2102)DRAMA	4.22
19	JOANNA LUMLEY – CATWOMAN (SUN 1859)	4.13
20	ALL NEW IT’LL BE ALRIGHT ON THE NIGHT (SAT 2139)	3.89
21	ITV EVENING NEWS (MON 1815)	3.83
22	WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE? (TUE 1959)	3.71
23	THE BILL (THU 2102)DRAMA	3.67
24	NEW YOU’VE BEEN FRAMED! (MON 2002)	3.41
25	COUNTRYWISE (THU 1931)	3.26
26	ITV EVENING NEWS (THU 1830)	3.08
27	ITV EVENING NEWS (FRI 1830)	2.96
28	TONIGHT (FRI 2002)	2.96
29	ITV EVENING NEWS (WED 1830)	2.84
30	ITV EVENING NEWS (TUE 1830)	2.83

When looking for how many soaps appeared in the top viewings of BBC1 and ITV1 i wasn’t surprised to find that 50%, or in ITV1′s case more, of shows watched by the public were soaps. In BBC1 5/10 were soaps and on ITV1 9/10 were soaps.

This shows that audience consumption of such programmes is very large. There are many reasons as to why viewers are influenced to watch such programmes for example:
1. Viewers could see that soaps are in the top 10 of the viewings and assume that they are enjoyable and entertaining therefore will watch the programme.
2. If the soaps are in the top viewings then they must get spoken about outside of the time when the programmes are on therefore if people hear other people talking about them then they night be influenced to watch them also, whether it is for personal enjoyment or just so they can ‘fit in’.

As you can see Coronation Street has the most viewings, out of Eastenders hitting 4/10, Emmerdale hitting 4/10 and Coronation Street hitting 5/10.
Coronation Street can be watched my all ages and this is probably the reason why it is so popular. It uses dramatic cliff hangers and a range of characters personalities which makes you either hate the character or love them. The storylines can be easily related to our personal lives which may be another reason why many people watch it.
But this scenario doesn’t just apply to Coronation Street it applies to all Dramas like Eastenders, Emmerdale, which is why soaps are so popular.
Underneath are clips of each of the three soaps that show this: