7even textual analysis

 

Camera shots

There is a  medium shot of the Morgan freeman and Brad Pitt when they first meet I believe that this shot is intend to show the interaction of the two characters, this allows the audience to understand what type of relationship the two characters will have through the film, and this begins to show a storyline.

 

The is an element of slow push zoom on the metronome, this gives the effect to the audience that time is slowing down and this signifies the detectives (morgan freeman) mind set as being harmonious, this is a key mind set to have as a detective, this extends the narrative by adding information to audience about the central protagonist. 

 

The quick pan from the dead body to the blood connotes that in the film there is going to be an element of bloodshed, this supports the genre of "7even" being a crime thriller because in this particular genre bloodshed is common action code used. I believe the director used the pan to show the bloodshed to engage the audience into the film by shocking them with the graphic image.

 

Editing

There is an evident editing style of a montage, I believe the director used a montage for the titling scene to show that a period of time has past within the narrative and so that the audience will have an introduction to what the film is about.

 

When the title scene is shown, I saw the speed of editing is fast paced, I believe that the director intended the fast paced titles to grab the audiences attention therefore engaging the viewer into the film. 

 

Sound 

The distorted sound when the title scene is shown signifies that the sub-genre of "7even" is horror, this will widen the audience of this particular film because it will appeal to more people therefore creating a bigger viewing, and generating more money for the film company.

 

In the opening scene there is diegetic background noises of police sirens, this shows that the detective lives in a run down area because if there are frequent police sirens then that means there are frequent crimes, which is clear evidence that the area is run down. I think that the director intended the police sirens to signify Morgan freeman's job role as a detective.

The dialogue exchanged between Morgan freeman and brad Pitt shows who is the more superior character within the film because Morgan asks all the questions which shows he has control over the conversation and to finalise my point brad Pitt says to Morgan "your the one calling the shots"  this is clear evidence that Morgan has the power over brad.

Mise en scene   

When the detective is investigating the crime scene the setting is in low key lighting, this creates an eerie effect to the audience and I believe this connotes that there has been dark actions taken place which will intrigue the audience because they will question who has committed such sinister actions. the low key lighting is also linked with the bad weather because they both imply sinister actions.

I think that the prop; the metro dome, is an important prop within the film because it implies to the audience that time is an important element with this particular film. I think this will make the for more interesting to the audience because it will create deadlines within the film, therefore creating a sense of excitement.

The proxemics of the Morgan and brad walking down the street represents that the older you are commonly the more power/wisdom you have because, Morgan is walking down the street by himself as brad follows behind him asking questions the proxemics clearly show that Morgan has more power/wisdom because he is being followed. this connotes that Morgan will be a mentor to brad within the film. Morgan Freeman's white hair, suggests that he is at an old age which is commonly linked with wisdom within films.

Morgan freeman's, smart clothing and neat bed give the audience an insight of what his characters personality is like, for example I get the impression that he is a very methodical man, this suggests that he is positive character within the narrative of the film.

       

  

PRELIMNARY LOCATION



This is the location I have chosen to use for my preliminary task. 

My reasons for using this particular location for my prelim is that it is a small compact area that prevents natural light, this helped my group create an eerie effect from the low key lighting. The drum kits was removed to free up space, because they are an irrelevant prop for what we filmed. We used the two blue chairs to film the shot reverse shot. The room is a music practice room and this helped block out the background noise, so the dialogue could be heard more clearly.     

what I learnt from utopia

So what is utopia?

Utopia is channel 4s flagship television series, Utopia will follow a group of people who find themselves in possession of a manuscript of a cult graphic novel. The tome is rumoured to have predicted the worst disasters of the last century and the group soon find themselves targeted by a shadowy organisation known only as The Network.

The case study

As a class we studied many different elements of utopia, from pre to  post production, and this has helped me develop my media skills and terminology within media.






colour correction


Utopia is well known for having a comic book effect which was achieved by colour correction in post production. I was inspired by this work, so in my preliminary task I attempted to mimic the style of colour correction. I learnt that importance of colour correction and how it can change the audiences perception of each scene.




engaging with the audience
through utopia I learnt the different ways of how a media source can engage with an audience for example through social media, broadcasting, on demand. this taught me the different conventions of showing media to the audiences.


representation
In utopia we was introduced to how characters are represented in media, for example we looked at the antagonist and how he is portrayed to the audience. We looked at the following media elements that show representation;
- camera shots/movements
- sound
-mise en scene
- editing
Being introduced to representation will help me in my final exam because the is a question of how a theme is represented.  
 

Action video - Toilet Knife scene - AS portfolio

For our first practical task we was asked to create a short video involving a fake knife scene. The task aimed to introduce basic media skills such as camera angles and editing. we used our phones to film and I edited the video on "iMovie". The task also aimed to indicate to the teachers how experienced we are in media.

How Utopia got its comic book effect

Channel 4's flagship television series, "Utopia" is well known for being quite peculiar. In the way the story line is presented and the way it is created. one aspect of this peculiarity is the colour contrast of the tv series. The reference to the comic book effect comes from Marc Munden's  idea of replicating graphic novels bold aesthetics and Munden turned to the Technicolor palette of 1950s Hollywood.

one aspect that gave utopia its comic book effect is in the post production stage, colourist Aidan Farrell and Munden, carefully colour corrected each shot, using certain colours like yellow, cryan and magentas, where as the typicall coulours used are greens, blue and reds. A few examples that Muden and Farrel coulour corrected in post production are making grey british skies blue, making  grass greener and turning blue vans yellow.

Preliminary task and 180 degree rule/Match on action/Continuity  

Preliminary task
For our preliminary task we was asked to create a short video the includes the following; a character walking across a room, sharing dialogue with another character and then leaving the room. the way the scenes are shot is open to our interpretation and the genre of the video is our decision as well.

The genre that I have decided to do for our preliminary task is thriller because I believe it would be good practise for when we do our final task, which is creating a opening scene to a thriller.

 In order for our video to be successful and organised, we created a storyboard to follow when we begin  filming. a storyboard is key to creating a successful media source because it helps you share your vision to the other workers in your group and its the best way of planning a video because all aspects of the video can be noted and visualised. one other aspect of using a story board is that it helps identify problems that may occur when shooting the video, this can speed up the process of filming because the filming time can be used effectively.


This the story board that i created for my preliminary task.

180° rule
The 180° rule is a cinematography guideline that states that two characters in a scene should maintain the same left/right relationship to one another . When the camera passes over the invisible axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line and the shot becomes what is called a reverse angle. 









Match on action

Matching on action refers to film editing and video editing techniques where the editor cuts from one shot to another view that matches the first shot's action. A common example is a man walking up to a door and reaching for the knob. this good match on action editing is commonly unnoticed because it allows the film or video to flow in a sequence

continuity

The system of editing that developed in the early 20th century to provide a continuous and clear movement of events/images in film. the image to the right is an example of bad continuity because one of the props the previous shots has changed without explanation. bad continuity can break the four walls of the imaginative world that film and animation try to create.