Video Lighting Basics - Three Point Lighting

The three point lighting are Key light, Fill light and back light.

the key light is the key for the set up it is the main source for illumination you point it at a 45 degree angle from the right set up. You want to add definition from the head and shoulders. When you place it in the correct angle you can see the difference in shadows.

To fill light is to fill in the shadows you have the camera in a 45 degree angle from the opposite light. You want to make sure the fill light is less intense. You can move it away so it is not as intense. You get even light from both and makes it more soft.

The backlight is placed behind the subject, you place it above so it only goes on the subject, it has to be a low intensity to create a rim on the shoulders and head. It creates a better image and illuminates the scene.

We could use the key light to create the shadows to make it more intense when he is getting possessed. As our idea is based on light and getting exposed lighting is key to our film. By using all the lights it will create a better effect on the character and it will show a more psychological setting. At the end to create the bright light we can use a key light but place it in front of the victim to create him going into the light. Example its like 'deer in the headlights'.

Make-Up considerations for our film

The pictures above show how we want our actor to look in the film. This is quite rough with bags under his eyes to show that he isn't feeling right, wither tired or depressed? He is going to wear quite simple or dirty clothing to show that he either cant be bothered or that he has previously been involved in something to make him look that way.

Here are two videos that will help us to achieve this:

•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEZIlYn2Wo0&feature=related

film outline

I have written the film outline so it is more clear to work from. 

This is the outline for our film, split into 10 segments.

This is the Shot List.

PITCH

Se7en and Kyle Cooper notes

True Blood notes on open title sequance

Film Outine for horror film

Storyboard template for opening titles

2 3 

1

MOVING PICTURES (STORYBOARDING) THE SIXTH SENSE

What is the purpose of storyboarding?

How can you show lighting? Camera movement? Angles?

a nightmare on elm street and script example for layout.

This is a script taken from a nightmare on elm street, this script has no dialouge written on the sheet, but it does say the stage directions. what the character is doing, shot angles and props being used. 

this script is telling the actors in details what is happening in the shot and when so they can visualise the set and location and then get in character. 

This is a script with dialouge, it shows the stage directions so the actors know where they are going. It shows how to set out a script in the correct way. This script shows locations also details where the location is. Name of the character in BOLD and centered. Off camera dialouge, this is where the character says dialouge but are not in shot. Any editing decisions made and voice overs used.

Second sheet with ideas on for title sequence

Grid of title ideas

Textual Analysis Grids

Laurence's Textual Analysis

Peter's Textual Analysis

Rachael's Textual Analysis

Here is our textual analysis' we did for homework. We had to watch three different films and analyze them answering the questions on the sheets.

IMDb User Ratings for True Blood

This shows that people in general aged 18-29 are the most likely to watch 'True Blood' according to the user ratings on IMDb. Males are the second most likely to watch this.

Comments from others about our pitch

Here are the comments from other groups based on our pitch feedback. There were some good ones and some not so good ones but by using these comments we can correct our ideas and hopefully learn by them.

Nine frame screen grab of 'True Blood'

This is a nine frame picture of the title sequence from 'True Blood'. It was taken from the website 'Art of the title'. We can think about what to put in our titles by looking at examples like this.

Kyle Cooper

Kyle Cooper is a title designer and has worked on over 100 title sequences including titles like se7en, dawn of the dead, spiderman and superman. Kyle says that the title is the most important part of a film as when you are watching a great title sequence, 'you forget about everything else'. Kyle likes to use animations in his title sequences and enjoys using weird things like micro-organisms in them. This is good because it is original and not many people would use things like that when designing title sequences, which is why Kyle Cooper's title sequences are always the best!

Se7en

The opening sequence to this film is very good as it instantly shows the story line  to the audience. It also shows the genre of the film as a psychological horror as there are clips of strange and abnormal things going on, for example, the subject is developing pictures of what looks like human experimentation, taking clips out of newspapers and shaving his fingertips to stop fingerprints from getting onto any of the things he is doing, which seems rather suspicious.

YouTube Video- Film Opening analysis

http://www.youtube.com/user/bilboroumediastudie1#p/c/83C2CB4179C3E140/1/zFzUtnVoqUA

The 'crazy man' comes on screen and is in the bathroom, the wife and the husband are talking  about the husbands achievements and then the husband promises the crazy man something, but then the crazy man shoots him and then he carrys on his normal life but is actually dead. Fear has been created by the ghostly effects used in the film. It is set in an apartment where the lighting is quite dim. We see both the threat and the victim.

'Narrative Ideas For Our Film'

1) the 3 characters that we have chosen for our film are;
- Older Males
- Character profile: one who gets posessed.
- Female
- Age: 16
- Character profile: fragile female.

2) The Narrative for the opening is flash backs from a young man that was possesed by "the light".

3) Standard casual clothing for the 2 non possesed characters. A slightly worn and torn costume for the possesed character.

4) lighing and setting we are going to create a scary feel in an abandond place.

Laurence's wordle based upon the plot of the film "Jacob's Ladder"

I made this using the plot of the film I analysed for homework. I got the plot of "Jacob's Ladder" off wikipedia by copy and pasting it into the wordle website. The colours reflect the armies colours as the film is about the vietnam war.

Peter's horror wordle based on Silent Hill

This is my wordle that I have created based on Silent Hill. I got the plot of "Silent Hill" off wikipedia by copy and pasting it into the wordle website. This wordle identifys the key words and will help what makes a good horror Film such as; Cult, Dark, Ritual, Burned and Silent.

Rachael's horror wordle based on sixth sence

This is my wordle that I have created based on Sixth Sence. This identifys the key words and will help what makes a good horror Film such as ; Ghost,Dark,Dead,Terrify etc...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSXwwrHFaeg&feature=related

This is the Youtube link for the True Blood opening credits.


The opening sequence to true blood is very clever, it uses many different clips of weird things that kind of relate together with some directly related to blood. Some of these clips are almost surreal as it is quite hard to tell what some actually are. By using these clips together it makes the viewer concentrate on what is actually happening and will then cause them to concentrate when the actual programme starts.

AS Media Studies Half-term Homework Assignment Jordan Milner

1. Use of the camera.
Our preliminary assessment shows that we can hold a shot steady. This is shown in that all shots but one the camera is steady which is due to the tripod we used to film our shots. The final shot is our only shot that isn't as steady and this was due to us filming in the forest therefore the ground was quite level and there was a high wind that day. It wobbled slightly when we used the pan movement upwards.


We managed to frame all of our shots properly and everything that needed to be included in our shots were included for example to shot of the character stumbling in the forest, that was filmed from over his shoulder and included in the shot was his head and the forest in the background. 


Our 47 second clip followed almost exactly to the clip of the original except our shots may have been slightly longer and we included all the different shot types that were included in the original.

2. Use of Editing.
In the main we managed to follow the rules of continuity pretty well except for one mistake which we realized after we submitted our film clip. This was that at the beginning when the character opens the door we did a close up of him turning on the light switch, it then goes back to a long shot but the door is closed and we forgot to show the character closing the door or to leave the door open. It didn't take us long to split and trim our clips as it was quite straight forward and all we needed to do was delete clips that we filmed a few times and to trim down the clips we did need to use because they were too long.


3. Selection of Context.
The only prop/costume we needed for the film was a dressing gown and we managed to get one and looked fine so we showed we can choose appropriate costume, make-up and props were not required. We used a bedroom to film most of the clip just like in the original youtube video however our location didn't have a mirror in it but instead we used a window which worked fine. We also filmed the last few seconds of the clip in the Wollaton Park woods which was perfect and looked really similar to the woods in the original video. So our locations were appropriate but it would have been better if we could have found a room with a mirror in it. We used an actor called Alex Preston who is actually really experienced for his age at acting as he goes to drama school and was an extra in the Batman cast and he did well because he was calm and did exactly as we asked him really well.


4. Self-assessment.
To help complete the film i chose our actor because i knew of his experience so i knew that he would be a good choice. I helped the group with using the camera and filming the shots and had input into how much zoom/focus etc was needed in any of our shots and made show our two locations were right to use. The 3 of us took it in turns to edit our film and I did some of the splitting and trimming. To improve the finished film I think we could have identified that the camera was wobbling in the last shot and re-filmed that shot so the camera was steady and we could have included more shot types and camera angles such as a high angle maybe. When it comes to my final coursework film i would make sure all of my preparation work is done straight away and on time so i know what I am doing when it comes to the filming and it will give me more time to film and cut out any silly mistakes.


Jordan Milner 1JT

Final Coursework Group

Laurence Williamson, Rachael Biggs and Peter Richardson. We are going to make a psychological film and here is our planning mind map:

AS Media Studies- Half-Term homework Assignment, Laurence Williamson

1. Use Of The Camera

Our finished work shows that we can hold a shot steady. It shows this as there are no unsteady shots in the film, this is due to the access we had to a tripod which made it all a lot easier as it saved us from handheld filming. The only shot that is slightly wobbly is the final shot where we filmed in the forest and panned the camera upwards towards the end.

We framed each of our shots correctly as everything that needed to be in the foreground was in the shot, for example when there is the close up of his face, that is the only thing that needed to be in the shot, and when there is the over the shoulder shot in the forest, it is just him and the trees in the shot and that was all that was appropriate.

We used a variety of shot types appropriately, and found it quite easy. We followed the YouTube film that we remade, as when there is a close up face shot in the original, we made sure we had the same shot in ours and when there is a full body shot, we had the same shot too etc.

2. Use Of Editing

Our finished work shows that we can apply the rules of continuity well, apart from one error which we noticed after filming and editing, which is when at the beginning when he opens the door and then there is a close up of him turning on the light switch and it goes back to a full body shot and the door is closed, but it never actually showed him closing the door. But the splitting and trimming of the clips worked very well as I believe that everything flowed together.

We didn't use any editing transitions in our remake, we just put the shots together which worked better than using editing transitions as it made it seem more professional.

3. Selection Of Content

Our finished work shows that we can select appropriate costume for our film genre as all we needed was one dressing gown, which is the only bit of costume used in the original film.

We chose appropriate locations and settings for our film as we followed the YouTube clip as closely as possible. This was by making sure that we used a bedroom, although we couldn't get hold of a mirror so we improvised by using a window. The other location was in the woods and fortunately the two locations were in walking distance of each other.

The actor we chose was brilliant as he was well experienced and got into the character and storyline straight away, his body language, walking movements and his face movements on the close ups were excellent and added that little bit extra to the story.

4. Self-assessment

I contributed to the completion of the film by helping plan the whole thing by adding my opinion to the selection of the actor and the location. I also drew up the planning storyboard. I mainly had control of the camera during filming, using help from Jordan and Matt to decide on focus and exposure and the white balancing of the camera. During editing I gave my opinion to what was being done and added music to it at the end when all of the video editing had been completed.

I think we could improve the finished film by using a few more different shot types to make the film flow just that little bit better as there are a couple of bits which drag, and this could have been avoided by using another shot type.

When it comes to our final coursework film, I don't think there is anything we would change about the way we have done it, apart from maybe planning a little bit better and being a bit more organised.


Laurence Williamson

Planning Sheet

Test Shot Photo's

Jordan's Recee

This is my Recee!

Laurence's Recee

This is my Recee

Assessment Film

This is our 40 second remake of the Psychological 1 video that we posted a few days ago. We all think it went well as it flowed and we managed to get it all filmed in one take! There was one continuity error where he opens the door and turns the light on, the door should still be open, but when it goes back onto him from a close up of the light switch, the door is closed. There is also a jump as we moved the camera down the 180 degree line at one point.

Composition Exercise Film

In conclusion we think that our film its quite good, however it does have a few small mistakes. Our film does jump on a few occasions but we framed it well following the rule of thirds and we successfully included a varied amount of shot types.

It jumps quite a bit because during editing it was hard to split the videos in the correct places to make it flow well. 

Matt's Recce

What Is The Location?

The pictures that I took for the recee are In different wooded areas around Nottingham including Bramcote Park, Manor Park and the Arboretum.

What Would You Film Here?

If I was to film In these locations, It would be filming a section of the previous years film that we have to recreate.

Public Usage?

All of the areas that I have captured are public areas, so there would be people walking through so I would have to make sure that when I start filming that nobody would walk Into shot that wouldn't be supposed to.

How Well Lit Is The Site?

All of the locations that I captured are open, outside spaces with plenty of light.

Where Does The Light Come From?

The light that would be In the shot would be coming from the sun.

Will You Need Extra Lighting?

Depending on the weather and the amount of daylight on the particular day would give me an idea whether I would need extra lighting or not.

How Will You White Balance The Camera?

To white balance the camera I would use a piece of clear, blank A4 paper.

Are There Any Background Noises?

In these locations there would be a certain amount of background noise due to the surrounding nature In the bushes and trees by the particular filming location. etc.

Are These Natural Or Man-Made?

The background noise would be natural as It would be produced by the surrounding wildlife.

Will These Affect The Shoot?

As long As the background noise wasn't too loud then It would not affect the filming process.

Electrical(Power Lines etc)?

At manor park there are some power lines near but It would not affect the shoot.

Trip Hazards?

Apart from twigs and rocks on the floor there are no major trip hazards In the areas.

Fire Hazards?

There are no fire hazards In these areas.

Machinery?

There Is no machinery In these areas.

Potential For Street Crime?

There Is no major threat of street crime In these areas.

Permission Required?

No.

Site Evaluation

Suitability - 8/10 

Public Usage - 10/10

Power Supply - 0/10

Space To Move - 10/10

Lighting - 10/10

Sound And Noise - 5/10

Health And Safety - 5/10

PSYCHOLOGICAL 1

http://www.youtube.com/user/bilboroumediastudie1#p/c/FB4935AAFE681B78/6/38xV9Bhf-Cc


We are going to remake the clip from 1:18-2:00. This is because it seems to be the best bit to do as it changes location.

Continuity Exercise

We achieved a smooth transition between the multiple shots we filmed with no jumps inbetween each shot. The skills of learning how to use the cameras the week before helped us to film the sequence and our film from the week before showed us what we did wrong and how we could progress from It. The majority of our shots were framed correctly apart from one where Laurence was slightly out of frame. We included the same amount of shots that was planned on the sheet given to us by our teacher. The sequence flows to a certain degree and has no jumps In It which makes the sequence have a better feel to It. If we were to film the sequence again we would take more time In framing each shot, making sure that everything Is In proportion throughout each the shot.

First Camera Exercise

This is our first time using the cameras and editing the clips on iMovie.












Have you framed your shots properly? 


All the shots were framed properly according to the sheet we were given, apart from one where the camera is facing the door and it is a bit lob sided.

Have you included the number of shots you planned? 

Yes, as we planned to take 9 shots, and 9 shots we did take. 

Does your piece have pace/atmosphere?

We would say it has pace to it, but not so much atmosphere, it has a certain flow to it. 

How could it be improved?

It could be improved by ensuring that all the shots were framed properly, as one shot is slightly off center.

Does it make sense/flow? Does it jump?

We had to crop quite a lot of shots as they were causing the flow of the film to jump a bit in places. This was easily resolved by cropping and now it flows well and there are no jumps at all. 

Until next time. .  .

How we will be assessed

We will be assessed by choosing 30/40 seconds of a previous students horror film and recreating this in our  own groups.


The section of the film we are going to choose is from the Psychological 1 film where the actor opens the door and looks in the mirror and ends up in the forest.


At this stage, our actors are unknown along with our location for the film.

First Post

First blog on the blogger blog.

Over the next couple of weeks, we will be learning about the equipment we are going to be using whilst making our films in Media Studies. Also we will be learning about Camera Framing and Shot Types, Continuity, Storyboarding and Genre Conventions.