Muzzle flash effect research

I have searched through youtube and have found a few different ways of doing it and i have found one that gives a good result without spending hours on it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkGI4Ih0PSY&safe=active

This gives a good lighting for the rest of the scene as well but we would need to find the actual muzzle flash animation.

Film Inspirations

                           Shooter

This film is one of the most extensive recent sniper films. We used this a lot for inspiration as it had dozens of sniper scenes and had very varied shot types. The different uses of scoped in and different perspectives give all the shots different feels which meant we could choose different perspectives to get across our specific ideas. The two scenes we have favored most are the one where he takes a mile-long shot at a can which fires the bullet in while looking at the shooter and then looks through the scope as it hits the can and makes it explode. We could use a similar technique but have a zombies head instead of a can. The other shot we liked was the fast paced scene at the end when he takes out four guards in a matter of seconds from long range. We may have a shot similar but we are in favor of having a more skill based sniper rather than being able to shoot four zombies in the head within a matter of seconds from over 100 meters away.

Zombieland

This film has what we feel has a good representation of zombies and we will represent our zombies in a very similar way. When people get bitten in the film they turn into a zombie within 24 hours. This means that they have a sudden hunger for human flesh and have no longer have any memory of their previous life and only have primal instincts that completely control them. They also do not gain any strengthened physical aspects. They run slightly slower but can run for long distances. They can't sprint and they can easily be sneaked around. They can only die by trauma to the head or by mass damage to the rest of the body. They also have a very nice ratio of humans to zombies where you don't see hordes of zombies everywhere but you also only rarely find other survivors.

I Am Legend

Although we don't like how the zombies are represented, in that they are like vampires and only come out at night or they get burned. We prefer the more conventional zombie representations but there are some ideas in this film that we liked. We are also having the use of a military camp where survivors are gathered, though would be considerably smaller. We have also taken inspiration from the final scene, where Will Smith decides to blow up the large horde of zombies by taken his own life with a grenade. We are thinking of having a similar scene at the end of our opening as it conveys lots of emotion and shows how desperate the new dystopian world is. We do feel they have far to few survivors as throughout the film we are led to believe he is the last human on earth. The zombies are also portrayed with intelligence which we would prefer them not to have.

Jobs for meeting on 17th + next week (21st jan)

Jeremy: Finish of mindmap and clearly outline ideas.

Aidan: take pictures of possible locations.

Daniel: Arrange possible locations that aren't for public use and take photographs of the area.

Final Continuity sequence

Preliminary Evaluation of Continuity Editing Sequence BLK

Media Prelim Task Evaluation

The task was to create a continuity sequence of someone walking into a room and sitting down, and then having a conversation with someone. Our group decided to make it a comical scene where the characters made a huge deal over something very insignificant.

Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?

We were in a group of four for planning and production. This group contained Jeremy, Aidan, Mathew and I. Later on when it came to editing we split into two pairs. I worked with Jeremy. In planning we had multiple meetings where we spread the tasks between us. I wrote up the script, Jeremy wrote up the shoot-schedule, Aidan drew up the storyboard and Mathew wrote up the shots list.

When it came to filming we shared the filming with Jeremy shooting shots with all the actors in and I shot the shots when I wasn’t on set. I acted as the bodyguard, Aidan was the victim and Mathew was the boss.When it came to editing Jeremy and I shared the physical editing equally and both helped each other whenever we needed it.

How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use? What theories did you try to take into account?

In the pre-production stage we brainstormed ideas until we came up with one that we all agreed on, then we came back for meetings to create our storyboards, script and shot list. We tried to take into account props theory to make our scene make sense.

What technology did you use to complete the task and how did you use it?

When we edited using Adobe premiere pro, we used the cutting tool, fade in and video player to cut clips. We placed the clips in and viewed them to make sure there weren’t any continuity mistakes and to make it look good.

What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?

When it came to filming we had our set-ups grouped up so we were more efficient and we also started outside then worked our way in to avoid complications like the school bell going off and lots of children walk through our set. We had a lot of shots to do and we managed to finish with some time to spare. In future I would shoot away from other crews so we don’t ruin each other’s shots and I would also apply more time to filming in case of extra takes or just have fewer shots to shoot.

How successful was your sequence? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/ do differently?

It took a while to get the right clips to be placed in the right places as the clips weren’t named with shot types and weren’t shot in the order they are in the storyboard. Next time I would start by removing poor clips and naming all the shots so we know which ones go where in a more efficient manner. When we came to putting shots in the storyboard order, we found that some of the shots didn’t make sense or should be in a different order. This meant that our videos were slightly different to our actual storyboard. There was one shot were the door is slowly closing then on the next shot it is instantly shut. This would be an ideal shot to reshoot if we had time to.

What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework, do you think?

In the future I would allocate more time for shooting or just shoot less, and then I would have time to make sure we shot every shot perfectly to make sure we removed any continuity mistakes. I would also name all the shots at the start of editing to speed things up. The planning stage would have been better if we had made sure everything was discussed before shooting to avoid confusion while shooting and editing. Overall the sequence was quite successful and it worked well

Dym hwk

Cultural codes

• Jail clothes show that they are convicts.
•  Roughed up hat shows they aren't rich.
•  Dirty clothes show poverty. 

Enigma code

• Who are the men sitting down?
• What is the questioning about?
• Why is he rejected?
• What sort of a "con" is he?

Action Code

• We know the man is in the presence of people with power due to his expression as he walks in.
• We find out it is a jail so expect lots of unlawful activity
• We expect him to be sad when he is rejected

Semiotic Code

• The uniform makes it seem like a jail or a factory with the numbers on the jacket.
• The guard standing by the door makes it seem more like a jail
• The rejection stamp makes it seem like a jail due to the type of file we see

Symbolic Code

• Sadness: Expression on mans face when he exits
• Humble: The expression on the mans face when he is in the presence of the group of men
• Boredom: The looks on the faces of the group of men

Dym title sound hwk

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/i-robot/

In this title sequence there is a use of both diegetic and non-diegetic sound to portray different feelings for the situation that is taking place.

The sequence starts off under water, which we can tell due to the visuals and the distorted noise from passing objects. This would be diegetic noise since that if someone was in the position of the camera they would be able to hear the sounds as well. There is eerie and suspenseful music being played in the background which is  non-diegetic sound and it adds to the feeling of death and danger which is shown later on the scene. The distorted noises also makes the audience feel a little distanced from what is happening as if something is being suppressed. It would be likely for us to find out more later on in the film as to what the scene is about. The proof of the distance is due to it being a dream which we find out at the end. As the robot breaks the glass to save the unknown character sounds become clearer as we pop up above water but we still can't hear everything that is going on. As we take a look back at the girl who will surely drown the sound becomes distorted but a clear alarm is played which is followed by the man waking up.