Action Films - Overwatch

An action story is similar to adventure, and the protagonist usually takes a risky turn, which leads to desperate situations (including explosions, fight scenes, daring escapes, etc.). Action and Adventure are usually categorized together (sometimes even as "action-adventure") because they have much in common, and many stories fall under both genres simultaneously (for instance, the James Bond series can be classified as both).

• Heroic bloodshed: Hong Kong action revolving around stylized sequences and dramatic themes such as brotherhood, duty, honor, redemption and violence.
• Military fiction: A story about a war or battle that can either be historical or fictional. It usually follows the events a certain warrior goes through during the battle's events.
• Spy fiction: A story about a secret agent (spy) or military personnel member who is sent on a secret espionage mission. Usually, they are equipped with special gadgets that prove useful during the mission, and they have special training in things such as unarmed combat or computer hacking. They may or may not work for a specific government.
• Wuxia: A martial arts genre with chivalrous protagonists on fantastic adventures.
• Girls with guns and swords: This is a subgenre of action films and animation, often Asian films and anime, that portray a strong female protagonist who makes use of firearms to defend against or attack a group of antagonists. The genre typically involves gun-play, stunts and martial arts action.

I think 'Alive' comes up the genre of action film, it involves explosions, fight scenes and daring escapes. And because it fits the genre so perfectly I can't fault it. 

RT Podcast

The RT Podcast features every week, it's essentially four people who work at rooster tooth sitting around and talking about anything. They last about 2 hours so it's a lengthy time to give up, but it's one of those things that you can put on in the back ground. You can fade in and fade out and it's still amusing.

Phillip DeFranco

Phillip DeFranco is an American video blogger and YouTube personality. His main channel focuses on news centered on current events, politics, pop culture, and celebrity gossip in which he voices his opinion, often presented in a satirical manner and with frequent jump cuts to create a fast-paced feel.
I personally like his shows because of how fast paced they are, each of his stories have an abundance of images to help the viewer understand who he is talking about. 

The only bad thing I would say is that he talks about American news the most (which I realise makes sense) - but it would be nice for him to broaden his horizons with worldly news. He once talked about Brexit, and I was excited to hear his opinion but it didn't carry on. 

The Revenant

The colour palette for this film is incredibly important, it has been well though out. There are a lot of greys, blacks, blues and dark greens. It adds the feeling that where they are is cold, this film is incredibly impressive visually. The only change in colour palette is when the actors are sitting around a fire. The only bad thing  would say is it's a fairly slow film, in terms of the progression of the story. You need a lot of time for it. 

 These colours personally make me feel uncomfortable, I wouldn't want to be in their position. It seems wet, cold.

You'd imagine due to the warm colour palette that this might be a warm nice scene, but it seems threatening. These men are on horses looking down and a hooded man. Showing dominance.

Sound in Film

Widowmakers 'Alive' features a lot of sound, sound is a perfect and effective way of changing the audiences mood. Regardless of what is on screen.

One of my favourite uses of sound is called 'Soundtrack Dissonance', when the soundtrack doesn't match up to what is happening in the scene. It's inappropriate for what's happening, for example..

In this scene from Reservoir Dogs, Mr Blonde is listening to happy music but he's torturing his victim. The atmosphere isn't tense, it's slightly uncomfortable.

Archetypes

An archetype is a very typical example of a certain person, shared by race or culture.

Young Lovers: It essentially love between young people, normally thought it's doomed to fail. 

Modern: Ross and Rachel is a romantic pairing between Ross Geller and Rachel Green, this relationship is one of the main plot lines of 'Friends' and seem to ne the one true pairing of the show.

Historical: Romeo and Juliette is an iconic story of two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their family feud, they try to be together regardless of their families. Which eventually ends in death. 

International: Based on the Japanese shōjo manga series, Hanazakari no Kimitachie written by Hisaya Nakajo. The Korean series is the fourth television adaptation of the manga, Tae-joon attends an all-boys high school so Jae-hee cuts all her hair off and wears boys' clothes to disguise herself as a boy to enter the school, are relationship blooms between her and the athlete she adores. 

Camera Movement

Script Breakdown

Gilmore Girls is BACK

Gilmore girls was a very popular show back in the early 2000's, it was a story based in a tight knit group within a small community. Focusing on a mother daughter combo, it has recently come back on to the tele screens with a few changes. The entire cast are back, but there are a few modern changes like technology, attitudes. The camera used to film the series and the references within.

The biggest change for me in this is the technology, gilmore girls was rather dated for it's time anyway with flip phones and box televisions. But now it's a case of where they want to put the flat screens and answering their smart phones.

Gilmore girls does alot of walking and talking shots, I can imagine they use a dolly to get around the scene. It's to make the audience feel more involved, like they're part of the conversation.

Dr Strange

Dr Strange was visually stunning, it's the kind of film that couldn't have been made a few years ago due to the level of special effects.

I'm A celeb

I'm a celeb is all about the editing, it's a reality show set in the jungle. It's not interesting for the veiwer all the time, so they need to pick out the bits that are entertaining to watch. Since it's a show that interacts with the audience, in that they're able to vote for what they want the camp mates to do.
They can manipulate what the viewer thinks about the camp mates by picking the content which makes them look good or bad.

I both like and dislike this, 'reality' tv shows aren't about reality anymore.

Overwatch Short Films

I went on to think about the Overwatch shorts produced by Blizzard, each one shedding light on the backstories of each of the characters the gamer can play as. I would be very interested in using one of these animations for my final essay because they're all increidble. Not only is the animation perfect, but it's their subtly progressing a story that I find beautiful. They are professionaly put together. 

I picked these videos specifically because these characters interest me the most.

'Alive' features 'Windowmaker' an assassin after the president. I love the use of colour within this animation, along with the framing and fight scenes. I would associate this film with the genre 'Action' due to the very long fight scenes. It's action packed. I think I will end up analysing this short.

'Dragons' features the Samurai Hanzo, again this short interests me due to its use of compostion and interesting characters. 

'The Last Bastion' features Baston the robot and his emotional fight with nature and technology, it's visually stunning, the story telling with it's subtle composition and framing is flawless.

But that's what's great about these animation, each character is so strong in personality. The back story being brilliant is that much more interesting. 

Cuts and Transitions

Inspired Videos

During our session we looked at a scene from how to train a dragon when the guy is trying to get the trust from the dragon. One of my favourite parts is when the dragon gives the guy the rest of his half eaten fish. The camera then pans back and forth between both of their faces, until the dragon makes a slight gesture that he should eat it. It's lovely and subtle, but since the dragon has slight characteristics of a dog, we are familiar of what his gestures mean.  

This short inspired me to look at some other clips from pixar, the first one being a scene from wall-e. When he find a plant on his deserted planet. The entire films uses hardly any dialogue but gets it's story telling down perfectly through gestures and composition.

Eeva has shut down, through a sequence of emotional clips. Wall-e is having a relationship with her without her really knowing. 

Or the mini movies from pixar

It hasn't been left a mystery to the viewer that Geri is playing chess by himself, but as we can see at the beginning of the short it takes him a while to get around the table. The audience would eventually get bored with watching the same thing, they speed up the transition with Geri in each seat. Because of this, it really looks like Geri is playing chess with himself. Showing separate personality's for both players. 

play pals

Play Pals is a youtube channel with employees from rooster teeth 'Michael' and 'Gavin', youtube videos are all about the editing. Much like reality shows they will film a whole bunch of content and pick and choose what's funny enough to be included. This video just features one view of the game, with voice overs both from Gavin and Michael. Which if you are a fan of them is very amusing.

Sherlock - Forest Scene

This clip is filmed incredibly uniquely, there's a combination of slow motion and a hand held camera. as they're running through the forest. The slow motion is used It can help the audience focus on details that wouldn’t be registered at normal speed. It’s used to show just how fast they are. The shaky camera is used to make the audience feel like they are running with the characters, they get the same suspense feeling like they are also being chased.
It's even possible to think this is a 'Holmes Perspective' view of the battle and escape, even though some parts of it are thrid person and not something Holmes was in a position to perceive. 

An example of 'Holmes Perspective' as he analyses the situation.

Top 10

A beautifully shot gangsta drama, the scenes are crisp and the colour palette is well thought out. The silhouettes in this scene I set on fantastically with how clear each of them are. No dialogue is needed, most of the emotions are formed from the atmosphere, in weather and colours. Along with the emotions of the actors faces. It's intense, even without knowing the narrative it's a stunning scene to watch.

Walking dead - Season 7 Moments

This scene is all about Neegan's speech and the words he uses, about his now being in charge. They're freedom is lost, it's being explained to us. There is a sense of dominance. 

Having grown with these characters for so many seasons it's hard when someone dies, it's harder when the camera zooms in on each of the other characters faces as they're crying their eyes out. There is off screen noises, so we can only imagine what the body now looks like. The camera is constantly looking up, insinuating neegan is dominant. We're at they're level, we as the audience feel the tension.

Rocky Horror Picture Show

He breaks the 4th wall by throwing his cup of water on the camera, and singing to the camera. essentially sharing with the audience a little secret that maybe the rest of the cast shouldn't know.
There are a lot of extreme close ups (with his fantastic make up you would do),

Family Guy

Just a few clips from season 10, family guy is very much about using flash backs to portray the message they're trying to express. They're mostly ridiculous, but this is a key style for family guy. That other shows can imitate. 

The Walking Dead (Possible spoiler alert)

We start off  with a close up shot of ricks face, sweaty and covered in blood. At this moment we don't know why. We hear a voice before we see the face of the man who rick is talking to (we know he's talking to rick because rick looks at after he talks), which adds a sense of mystery. Before we even see the other mans face we see his bloodied weapon come between him and rick, showing authority, also even though he kneels down to talk to rick, he's always just that little bit taller. An over the shoulder shot from rick shows this, even though there are other people about that these characters talk to. They aren't seen, the complete focus is on them. All the weapons come between them.

Even while he's dragging rick into the camper van the people around them are silhouetted by the bright lights around, adding mystery. This could also be because it's a 'sneak peak' for the audience. He drags rick around like a dog, showing dominance.

At the end of the scene the camera pans down to the floor after his line 'the ones who are left' to reveal what seems to be blood and bits of brain on the floor, showing that he'd killed somone. At this point we don't know who.

Analysing this scene makes me feel like a want to analyse the walking dead for my essay, a lot of great HBO shows have brilliant cinematography. 

Researching Clips for my Essay

Here are just a few scenes from films that I personally enjoy, there's a vast range of genre which helps me to decide what direction I want to steer my essay. 

Cast Away is very much a adventure/disaster film, In this scene Tom Hanks is trying his best to open a coconut, it's humorous get gruesome as he cuts his hand on the earth made knife.

Here is a clip from John Wick, which I love. Featuring a mixture of colours/lighting and close ups of stern looks. This action scene shows the concept of the film, he is John Wick do not mess with him.

In terms of camera angles/framing I'm sure a lot of thought went into this theme with the thought of needing to keep the card in shot. So the audience can see it but the security guards can't, keeping us in the loop. 

A classic film, with a very classic scene of Woody getting ready for the museum in Japan. There are a multitude of shots, many close up of woodys face as his 'make up' being being placed. Which I find rather ironic, that close ups are often used to show emotion, but woody isn't able to show any at all. 

Task 4

Find an example of: Villains

Modern Interpretation: The joker is an incredibly famous villain, his psychologically disturbed character has been adapted many times. But even though he is meant to be a bad guy, he still has a massive following.

In the most recent film with the Joker 'suicide squad' the joker was portrayed as a gangsta, which is a completely new interpretation which actually worked really well. He's still as messed up as ever, but with a gangsta twist. 

Historical Interpretation: The witch from the Wizard of Oz is a very PC villian, you can tell she came from a time when television was very PG. Her acting is very over dramatic

Other cultures Interpretation: Studio Ghibli has a very unique way of portraying villains, they're normally very funny likeable characters by the way they look. Her chins do make me laugh.

Within Animation Interpretation: Ursula is an amazing villain, I feel this is because of her character design, her octopus features crawl around the scene in a sinister style.

Eat You Kimchi

EatYourKimchi is a you tube channel that I have been watching for a few years, this is one of there most recent videos. I chose this one in particular due to it's interesting camera shots.
I starts off with almost a wide shot/mid shot of the kitchen Martina is standing in, setting the scene of where they are. You can assume from this (and the title) that they will be cooking, the camera pulls in closer as the writing comes on the screen, these are helpful prompts to help us understand the Japanese translations of the food they're making.

This camera angle is the one I find most interesting, it's a top down view but it's also at a an angle. This might have been unintentional because it was the only was they could put the camera that shows the food cooking clearly. But they're both able the interact with the camera so they can let us know they know we're there. They always talk to the camera like they're talking directly to you.

Impractical Jokers - USA

I've always found that with American shows are edited to be more dramatic than English shows. And most of the time that feels too much, for example manipulative editing. Where they make something see like it happened when it didn't, like many reality tv shows. However there is a reason they cut so much, most reality shows (british or american) are mashing together different moments to create something that didn't happen how they wanted to on the show.

There seem to be a lot of quick cuts between the guys being told what to say, the ones behind the scenes and the public. This keeps the audiences attention. Since it's a hidden camera show the positioning of the camera changes rapidly to each one around the room.

Task 3

We need to storyboard the first verse of a Humpty Dumpty in a genre of our own choosing.

"HUMPTY DUMPTY SAT ON A WALL, HUMPTY DUMPTY HAD A GREAT FALL. ALL THE KINGS HORSES AND ALL THE KINGS MEN. COULDN'T PUT HUMPTY TOGETHER AGAIN."

Framing

In film making, shot compositions, sizes and angles enhance how you tell your story. You may want a close up when two actors are talking, a wide or establishing shot may be appropriate if you want to show that the actors are surrounded by a barren wasteland.

RULE OF THIRD- The rule of thirds is a concept in a video where the frame is divided into 9 boxes, Creating reference points which acts as guides for framing the image.

• WIDE SHOT - A wide shot (WS) reveals where the shot is taking place, it helps orient the audience.

• MEDIUM SHOT - A medium shot (MS) is film making is a standard shot that usually shows a character from belly button to slightly above the actors head. A medium hot is more intimate than a wide shot, but provides more breathing space. 

• TWO SHOT - A two shot can either be a form of a medium shot that has two actors standing or sitting next to each other or an other the shoulder shot where one actor's back or profile is closer to the camera. 

• CLOSE UP - It's usually from an above a persons chest or the nape of a neck, getting close enough to the actor that their face fills up most of the frame is known as a 'tight close-up'. Going in even tighter is known as a 'extreme close up'. Close up's create a sense of intimacy and the feeling that you're involved in the scene. They also reveal emotion in the eyes or hint of a smile. 

SIN CITY - OPENING SCENE 

Sin city is a perfect example of a film using cinematography, it's a film noir based off a comic book. Visually it's been edited that might seem unusual, but it has relevance. 

• Cut away - Cigarettes used as language
• Camera gets closer with each cut (our relationship is with the female character
• At the beginning of the scene the femme fatal turns to the other side of the frame because she is uncomfortable.
• Diagonal rain - Impending Doom
• Femme Fatal constantly looks at the camera showing emotion, however the male doesn't.
• Above shot at the end.

Task Number 2

We were each given a genre of film, for example mine is Disaster Movie. For this task we need to find the definition for it, and decide if it fits. We must also find 2 clips, 1 of what we would expect a disaster film to be like, another is what you wouldn't expect.

DEFINITION: 

A disaster film is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as it's subject and primary plot device. Such disasters include natural, such as floods, earthquakes or asteroid collisions. Accidents such as shipwrecks or airplane crashes, or calamities like worldwide disease. (Wiki, 2008)

EXAMPLES DISASTER FILMS:

You wouldn't expect a disaster film TO be funny, but there are a few out there.

Essay Description

Either find a 1 minute sequence of shots (gaming/animation/film)  OR choose from what is brought in for us. We must analyse the work.

CONTEXT

• Genre
• What was it influenced by?
• Who was it made for?
• Who made it?

ANALYSE

• Concentrate on what seems relevant to me.
• Look at what others say.

CONCLUSION

• Does it work?
• Do I like it?
• Was it successful? 

Frames

FRAME:

• Size
• Rate
• Shape

And Pixel shape are all incredibly important in film language, we know what film/tv is because they have a certain language.

Averages sizes of frames. 

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

TASK:

For our first task had to to find 3 examples of films, games and media sources that we personally like. Dislike, and what we feel hasn't been seen by many people. I found it so hard to just pick 1 film as the one I like, since I like so many, I decided to pick 'John Wick' since an action film was what I was in the mood for at the time.

It was a brilliant film, what I loved about it was the intense fight scenes. I'm very much a fan of fight scenes when the camera just focuses on the fighting rather than flailing around trying to make it seem more dramatic. I also love how realistic it is, ie he shoots as John Shoots as many bullets that would be in the gun before he re-loads. The colour palette is to a very mono tone once he's decided to be  bad again.

PLOT: John Wick (Keanu Reeves) retired from his violent career after marrying the love of this life. Her sudden death leaves him in deep mourning. When sadistic mobster losef Tarasoy and his thugs steal John's prized car and kill the puppy that was a last gift from his wife, John unleashes the remorseless killing machine within and seeks vengeance. Meanwhile, Losef's father -- John's former colleague puts a bounty on John,

The film I disliked was 'Spice World' Featuring the Spice Girls, I love theirs songs but their acting could used some work. Terrible acting with a terrible story line. 

My film that I felt hadn't been seen by many was a Korean film called 'Man From Nowhere', it may seem slow at times. But the story line is worth waiting for. We slowly get introduced to the characters, parts of their lives are revealed over time. For example, the main character is a mysterious man who seems to have a soft spot for the other lead character who is a young girl who we later learn has a extremely troubled life. We later learn why this is *SPOILER* his pregnant wife gets hit by a truck while she is waiting for him. It's a truly thrilling story.

PLOT: A quiet pawnshop keeper with a violent past takes on drug-and-organ trafficking ring in hope of saving the child who is his only friend. 

Brilliant Bake Off

It's that time again, when everyone is glued to the television. To see who has the soggy bottom, and who is able to get the flavours through their sponge. I personally love the back off, but I know that what keeps me gripped (besides the fact it's great) is the editing.
The most noticeable editing I've noticed is when the contestants are running out of time with their bakes they always seem to have nothing done when there's only minutes left. You can assume that they are trying to keep the audience hooked by thinking things aren't going well.

Magnificant Seven

I went to see 'The Magnificent Seven' in the cinema today, the cast are what drew me in to seeing it. ie Chris Pratt and Byung Hun Lee. It had all the characteristics of a classic western, like the close up of guns and the squinting of eyes as they're having a stand off. But what confused me about it however, was the constant blur the camera had, like I was watching an old film. I was put in there randomly, and it sometimes looked unintentional.
The story was pretty average, of save the town from a bad guy (more indepth than that) - but in my opinion. If it didn't have the 'epic' fight scenes I wouldn't be as impressed with this film.

6/10 = Would watch again for the fight scene.

Wallace & Gromit - The Wrong Trousers

In our first lecture we analysed a whole bunch of videos, one of my favourties was 'The Wrong Trousers' with Wallace and Gromit. Nick Park (the creator) is exceptionally great at story telling, and comic timing.
We only analysed the first 5 minutes of the film, but within that he was able to explain the plot of the story very simply, for example. Gromit walks up to a calender and crosses off the day, which happens to be his birthday. We now know this, we have this knowledge, we can see how it effects his reactions and actions throughout the scene.

Introduction

You will build on the specialist animation knowledge and skills established in Year 1. This Unit will allow you to explore film language in greater detail both theoretically and practically within your studio work and related to the projects set within this Unit. You will be required to demonstrate the application of more complex processes and appropriate methodologies related to the exploration and intellectual nature of this level of study. This project focuses on the analysis and application of film language in animation.

The project will stimulate investigation and critical discussions related to your own practice and application of appropriate vocabulary related to this area of study. To enable dialogue, debate and an exchange of ideas you will give presentations as you go through the unit. You will examine different approaches to narrative and different techniques in film making which will feed into your studio projects throughout this unit. You will research a range of films which will help promote your understanding of film language and how it is utilised in animation.

You will consider genres, narrative approaches, medium and methodology of production throughout this project and produce a critical analysis related to the comparison of two distinct and comparable subjects, providing a summary of this in the 1,000 word essay. Working individually you will produce an online research blog that evidences self-directed research, documents learning and reflection as well as evidence of the impact this project may have on your creative practice.

I MUST HAVE:

• 1,000 word essay 
• Research Portfolio

Submission Date: Essay on 2/12/2016

Unit ends: 17/02/17