Prelim part 2-Editing
14:49After successfully filming the scene, I got to edit my prelim task using Premiere pro. I quickly understood how to use it and which buttons to click and when which meant the editing task could be done faster.
I was paired with Nandi for this task and we started selecting which camera angles we wanted for which section and estimated timings for shot duration and then stuck these clips together. A rough clip was made but we felt some camera angles looked out of place and some of the timings were slightly out. After looking at this, we chose new camera shots and we edited shot lengths which added more flow to the clip. After this, I copied and pasted the sequence along the timeline so that when making changes I can compare it to the original and see what works and what doesn't. It meant that there was a copy of the sequence saved so if I were to make changes to the sequence, there was always the original cut to go back to if anything went wrong. In this new copy of the sequence, we wanted to show more of a focus on one character. We made the shot duration longer on this character which lead the audience to feeling more empathy for her in the situation being shown. For the reason this character is being shown more, the audience may feel more of an emotional connection to her making them take their side. We also shorted the shot duration on the demanding character which effects the audience by making them feel more distant from the character and not become emotionally attached. We also thought the footage in the clip at first just showed the dialogue and was quite choppy, we changed this by showing how the character is reacting to what is being said in the scene this adding more of a dramatic effect. A problem we faced was we overlapped the sound in the clips making it out of sync and muffled, we soon figured out how to change this so it wasn't a major problem. Looking back on the footage from the day I still think there is one shot that looks slightly out of place still so if I could make any changes I would choose a new camera angle to replace that clip. When editing my thriller I will make sure I have footage from each camera angle at least twice to ensure that the footage is good enough so when it comes to editing I have more choice as to which successful angles I would want and where. I will also remember that, when I want to change shots dramatically, there is always a saved original clip. I will be more organised with which shot I want and where making it easier when editing as I wouldn't need to experiment as much and then take a long time to decide the order.
Prelim Part 1- Filming
13:36
For this task, we were put into groups and we allocated certain rooms to work in. My group got given the film studio and we placed the set in the way in which we though looked the best visually. We were handed this storyboard to follow:
Our set |
Behind the scenes (taken by Oriana Pooles) |
A behind the scenes video (taken by Oriana Pooles) |
Editing workshop
00:27
In this lesson, we went up to the editing suite and learn the basics of editing using adobe premier pro.
What we learnt:
Command (⌘) S.- SAVE
C- CUT
V-back to arrow
Command (⌘) C- copy
Command (⌘) V- paste
I- Mark in
O- Mark out
Command (⌘) Z- Undo
What we learnt:
Command (⌘) S.- SAVE
C- CUT
V-back to arrow
Command (⌘) C- copy
Command (⌘) V- paste
I- Mark in
O- Mark out
Command (⌘) Z- Undo
Overview of the four sections on Premiere Pro:
Top left: Collection of rushes.
Bottom left: Rushes viewing screen.
Top right: Rushes-chosen-for-editing viewing screen.
Bottom right: Where rushes can be directly edited.
Bottom left: Rushes viewing screen.
Top right: Rushes-chosen-for-editing viewing screen.
Bottom right: Where rushes can be directly edited.
Analysing sound in a Media text
16:57
Sound has existed in film since 1927 and is used conventionally to create a more involving, captivating and believable narrative. First of all, I am going to outline what the types of sounds are. Diegetic sound can be subsided into dialogue, sound effects and ambient sound. Non- diegetic sound is portrayed usually through soundtrack or voice-over. Parallel sound is when non-diegetic sound is used to support what is happening in the narrative; contrapuntal sound, on the other hand is when non-diegetic sound is used and contrasts the images. A sound bridge is when sound connects two scenes and can be both diegetic or non-diegetic.
The movie clip which I have chosen to analyse is a scene from Sin City; the reason for this choice is because its clear the genre of the film is thriller and action and it involves many different sounds- which created different effects. non-diegetic sound is used throughout this clip and is parallel sound. The soundtrack correlates with the action by adding more emphasis on the movements and is used as a way of exaggerating the action.Thereby having the effect of interesting the audience and keeping them drawn in to what is happening. Near the end of the clip, there is narration- this giving us more information and dynamics of the plot with a detailed explanation of what is happening. In this case, the narration gives the scene a slightly humorous aspect to it even though the characters have just killed a number of people. These comments in the voice over create a stronger relationship between the audience and the character, adding interest in the scene.
In conclusion, this sequence is portraying thrill and also humour aspects which is done by the use of sound effects, a voice over, dialogue, and soundtrack. This combination of noises add a hecticness to the scene to go alongside the action. The sound effects have a clear relation to the genre and were used because of this. I imagine they were used so that the genre could be identified easily. Other sounds portray the emotions or status of a character and mainly sound is used to add interest in the scene; if the scene was done with no sound, it may bore the audience. Keeping the target audience intrigued is crucial when it comes to filming because if the audience aren't interested, the product is unsuccessful.
The movie clip which I have chosen to analyse is a scene from Sin City; the reason for this choice is because its clear the genre of the film is thriller and action and it involves many different sounds- which created different effects. non-diegetic sound is used throughout this clip and is parallel sound. The soundtrack correlates with the action by adding more emphasis on the movements and is used as a way of exaggerating the action.Thereby having the effect of interesting the audience and keeping them drawn in to what is happening. Near the end of the clip, there is narration- this giving us more information and dynamics of the plot with a detailed explanation of what is happening. In this case, the narration gives the scene a slightly humorous aspect to it even though the characters have just killed a number of people. These comments in the voice over create a stronger relationship between the audience and the character, adding interest in the scene.
When looking at diegetic sound, in this scene, there is both dialogue and sound effects used. The dialogue is an obvious way of showing the audience the connection between the characters involved and can show clear emotions. Dialogue also triggers of events in the scene. When the female character at the start says “you’ve just gone and done the dumbest thing in your life” you immediately know something is negative is going to happen. The words used help the audience guess what events may occur next. This happens a lot in this scene so that the audience has an idea of what is about to happen next, for example a male character says “watch your step” and straight after, the other character slips over and is stabbed by an object” another example of when this happens is when the man says “don’t pull the trigger, she blocked the barrel, it will backfire” and directly after, the other character does exactly what he is told not to do. This dialogue adds humour to the scene because the opposition even warns the character not to do these things yet he was stupid enough to do them.
Dialogue is effective in the sense that it keeps the audiences attention and initially tells the audience what is happening, similarly to thee way narration gives us information. Sound effects are used frequently throughout this scene for many reasons; there is a lot of pleonastic sounds which emphasises the focus of that point in the narrative. Another example of diegetic sound is the sound effect of metal scraping across other surfaces, this straight away emphasising the action taking place (with more of a focus on it) and also highlights the use of weaponry, large pieces of jewellery and other props or costume in the scene which imply the genre of “thriller”.
A sound effect which stood out to me was when the man is biting his own fingers of his chopped off hands so that he is able to grasp the gun again. this squeaking sound makes the audience feel uncomfortable - well it certainly makes me feel uncomfortable. This connoting the gore and the lengths that the characters go to, to get exactly what they want. Also, the idea that the fingers are squeaking could also add humour to the scene and can make the narrative more fun and easier to watch.
One last example of diegetic sound is the thunder sound. This sound portraying the evil and something bad is about to happen. Also the thunder sound is a common cliche to when villains enter a scene or are aoudad during the scene. This is because it shows their strength and power and their high status as a result of this. the audience may see this in a funny way as such a cliche sound is used but they also might believe that it is effective because is creates tension.
An example of where Parallel sound is used is at the start when the female character enters the scene and is conjuring a plan and taking action- it immediately makes us focus on the character and what they're doing. Sound bridges are used to add continuity to the scene to make sure that the audience know that it is all happening in a chronological order in the same location at the same time and is effective because of this.