'Change of Hands' Induction Task - Evaluation

This short film was made in order for us to better understand different techniques of film production including Mise-En-Scene, continuity, camera operation and editing techniques.

The plot follows an unnamed man in a suit, exchanging a package with a notorious, rival Mob-Boss.

Mise-En-Scene

Lighting

This short relies on lighting to set the tones and mood of the film. The only motivated lighting present within the short is in the shots of one of the subjects walking through the corridors; this was merely because we could not manipulate the lighting in that situation, and we had no other suitable locations available to us at the time. This is, however, not crucial, as the shots in the corridor were used more as filler shots and establishing shots.
 The focus of this short was the exchange that occurred within the dark room. This was were the lighting became vital to the short. We wanted the lighting to be dark, and moody, but also project an air of professionalism onto the characters.
The lighting in this scene is what is known as 'low-key', featuring bright, bold highlights and dark, moody shadows; intended to connote mystery, and unpredictability in the characters. It also looks similar to lighting that one would see in professional environments, such as offices, therefore reflecting the serious, business-oriented attitude of the characters.

Costume

The costumes were also very crucial to achieving the correct tone of this film.

 The short is intended to be a scene from some sort of crime-drama, similar to shows such as 'Peaky Blinders', therefore in order to evoke the correct feel we needed to think more about aspects such as costumes.

Gangsters are often very wealthy (at least the successful ones are), they also like to portray this in their lifestyle, including aspects such as clothing, housing, and vehicles. To make our characters evoke wealth, and power, we needed them to dress as such.
 The main subject (the man we see walking down the corridor) is intended to be the protagonist - evidenced by not only his screen-time, but also his outfit; he wears a blue suit, making him appear more laid back, more chilled out, and a bit more fun (all of which are connoted by blue suits).

 The mob-boss (named 'Big Boss') is intended to be more serious, more stoic, and the main antagonist. His outfit is intended to reflect the gangsters of old, his outfit being comprised of dark colours (mainly grey). 

Camera Angles

Camera angles are used within film and television to connote power relationships between characters; the same is true for this short.

 The use of camera angles is most prevalent during the exchange scene. 'Big Boss' (the man in the woollen coat and hat) is in possession of a firearm, and thus he has the power in this scene (right up until the end), this is conveyed through the shots of him coming from a low angle, looking up.

The shots of the man in the suit, however, are a bit more complicated:
 The first shots we see in the short are of 'suit man' walking down the corridor, holding a bag. These shots were filmed at a slightly lower angle, this was done in order to make 'suit man' appear larger and more powerful. It also indicates that 'suit man' is confident, and knows that he is truly in control of the situation.
 The shots then change when the exchange occurs, as they are all filmed from a high angle, looking down in him, indicating that he does not have the power in this situation.
 But then there is one shot in which all of this changes. When 'suit man' reaches into his bag to remove the package, there is a pov shot from the bag looking up at 'suit man'; this may go over most people's heads, but it is a subtle indication of the change in power in the scene. The next shot features 'suit man' passing the package over to 'Big Boss', and while there is only about half of 'big boss' in frame, the high angle of the shot indicates that this package has tipped the scales of power against him. After a pan and an exchange of information, all subsequent shots of 'Big Boss' holding the package are shot from even lower angles than before, the viewer may just think this indicates that 'Big Boss' is powerful, but it actually suggests that this package has the power in this situation.
 Shots of 'suit man' in this scene remain at high angles looking down, until he gets up to leave at which point the shot starts looking up at him; this indicates that 'suit man' is still not in control until he leaves the room. This is because (as we find out later) the package is a bomb, and if 'suit man' does not leave the room, he will also be blown up.

Continuity

We had to keep continuity in mind when filming this piece, this meant taking various elements into consideration.

180 Degree Rule

This rule usually applies when there is two cameras, but in this instance we only had one to work with. This meant that we had to apply the rule to our lighting sources.

 We had two light-boxes to work with, we ended up putting one on each side of the subjects in order to light up both sides of their face. However, the arrangement of the set meant that we kept having the adjust the positions of the lights whenever we wanted to film the other person. In order to keep continuity in this sequence, we had to make sure that these boxes were not within the field of view of the cameras.

Establishing Shots

Our answer to establishing shots were the shots of 'suit man' walking down the corridor. These were not typical establishing shots, but we felt that showing this gangster drama being set in a sixth form college would be inappropriate for the genre, and thus ruin the continuity of the piece.

Match Cuts on Action

 There were a couple of these throughout the piece, these were: When 'suit man' enters the room at '0:32', when 'Big Boss' places his firearm on the table at '1:04', when 'suit man' pulls out the package and places it on the table at '1:18', when 'Big Boss' inspects the package at '1:33', and then places the phone on the table at '1:40' and when 'suit man' switches out the packages at '1:57'.

Eye-line Match Cuts

There is only one shot I feel like I could justify as an eye-line match cut, and that is when 'Big Boss' places his firearm on the table at '1:04' and the we cut to see 'suit man' looking at that firearm.

POV Shots

There are a couple of POV shots in this piece; when 'Big Boss' picks up the first package and then looks at 'suit man', and (this one may not technically be a POV shot but I'm counting it anyway) when 'suit man' pulls out the package at '1:18'.

Shot-Reverse Shot

This technique is featured once in this short, and that is when 'Big Boss' and 'Suit Man' exchange looks at '0:45'-'1:00'.

 Other points include camera movement - camera pans up at '1:20' and '1:28', when the camera follows the phone along the table at '1:42', and when the camera begins to follow 'suit man' down the corridor at '2:26' - and the cut to black at '2:36' when the explosion happens and the credits begin to roll.

Film Review - How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

How to Train Your Dragon is a heart-warming tale of a misfortunate Viking youth struggling to find his place in the harsh, brazen world of his archipelago.
 The film immediately draws the viewer in with the classic tale of the underdog whom wishes to clamber their way to the top, in the form of “Hiccup” (voiced by Jay Baruchel); who’s name immediately tells you everything you need to know about the character.
 Hiccup is intended to mirror many of today’s youth in that he is not like everyone else, he is small, scared, smart, and a general outcast in his society.

 The film immediately opens with some light hearted, but self-deprecating humour: “This is Berk. It’s 12 days North of hopeless and a few degrees south of freezing to death…”.
 Hiccup – being the narrator of this opening sequence – then goes on to describe the village, explaining that “The only problems are the pests.”, at which point we see a sheep plucked from its field mid-graze. We then learn that these pests that Hiccup is referring to are Dragons. The film then starts a sequence of action in which the village attempts to defend itself from a dragon attack, accompanied by some fast paced, but cheerful music, setting the tone of the film as a family friendly venture.
 What then ensues is a brief description of each of the Dragons featured within the film, plus some of the main characters; a sequence which is sure to excite young viewers.

 The film then follows a typical narrative of the kid whom everyone looks down upon for being different eventually proving everyone else wrong, and showing them a different way of viewing their world.

The film is filled with sentiment, and messages about love, and peace rather than violence and war, and overall sends a good message.
 It is also filled with characters than the viewers can warm to, namely the wide-eyed, sweet, but dangerous character of “Toothless”.

 The problem with this film however, is that it feels like a cliché, lending too much to the regular formula of the underdog story.
 Overall, Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders done a wonderful job creating this family friendly adventure. The world they created for this Dreamworks project feels vast, and full of life.

Rating: 4/5

Induction Task - Photo Connotations

Strength

 Trees have often been used as symbols of strength throughout history, and for good reason.

 Trees are deeply rooted into the ground, able to withstand great forces. It takes vast effort to uproot a large tree.

Poverty

 In 2015-16: 

·         10.4 million people were in relative low income BHC (16% of the population), up 300,000 from the year before.

·         9.3 million were in absolute low income BHC (15%), down 100,000 from the year before.

·         14.0 million were in relative low income AHC (22%), up 500,000 from the year before.

·         12.8 million were in absolute low income AHC (20%), down 100,000 from the year before.

A common stereotype aimed towards people below the poverty line is that they beg for change, or value small, loose change greatly. Therefore small change may connote poverty.

Source: http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN07096

 Love

 This photo connotes love in two, somewhat vague, ways:

 The glasses represent the sense of sight which - 1. along with their pink tint (pink often being a colour associated with love) - represents the old saying "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder".

Fear

 The 'fear of the unknown' is a common saying amongst people, and is represented in this photo by the darkness within the row of trees.

 The viewer is unsure of what lies beyond the threshold between the peaceful, beautiful woods, and the black abyss.

Desire

 This photo connotes the desire of many people to have a life filled with far more luxury than they currently have. A life filled with, greenery, beautiful sunsets, fresh sea air, and large homes.

Danger

 This one is clear; it’s a blade, blades are dangerous.

Wealth

 People with vast sums of wealth often collect fancy, expensive watches. While this photo may not show the brand of the watch, or exactly what it looks like it is still clearly a timepiece. When people think of watches, often, they think of Rolex - a brand known for its fancy watches.

Weakness

 This photo connotes weakness because when we see things that are broken (like this stick) we may think "that clearly wasn't strong enough for"...

 Therefore a broken stick may symbolise weakness.
There is also the belief that acting alone makes one weak, but acting together makes you all stronger. If you bundle a load of sticks together and try to snap them all at once, you’re going to have a spot of trouble; but if you take a single stick and try to snap it you, should, be able to do it with minimal effort.

Loneliness

 Many people experience hardships throughout their life, they may sometimes feel like there is no one there to help them, they feel alone.

 A common escape that these people take is 'the drink'. Many people drink alcohol to escape their problems, becoming alcoholics and often making their problem worse, becoming more and more alone.

Friendship

 The saying goes: "Dogs are a Man's Best Friend". People often adopt pets into their homes to provide themselves with some sort of friendship. The loyalty of dogs is revered throughout society, and is often an argument used as to why dogs are better than cats.

Purity

 If reports over the last few decades are correct (which they are), then humanity is quickly destroying the planet Earth.

 When someone tells you to think of nature, what do you think of? - you think of beauty, greenery, fresh air, and purity. There is nothing purer on this planet than nature, and we should be working to preserve all that we have.

Greed

The technological progress of society over the past 100 years has had significant implications on society, not all for the better. The rise if smartphones has made recent generations greedier than ever. When people have so much available to them just in their hand, they want more and more.

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