The Stepfather analysis - Hurtwood

In Media at the moment we are studying a thriller called 'The Stepfather', which I have never seen. We were asked to view the first 3mins of the opening scene and write an essay.
Below I'm going to pin-point some important frames that can express the story.

This is the first clue as to what the location looks like and possibly where it is. It is apparent that the house is well maintained and therefore implying that the family is fairly wealthy, also considering the size of the building we get an idea of how many people live in this household. In addition to these points we can also get a clue as to what time of year this film is set in, considering that there is snow around and also Christmas decorations like the reef and the brightly decorated tree we know that it is Winter time; a time of happiness and family time.

In this above shot we understand the characters personality and possible addictions as shown by the placement of these grooming tools. As we can see they are are placed very accurately and percise which implies that this man is very controlled and maybe even obsessive. This makes us as the viewer question his sanity and makes us concerned about who this strange man really is.

As the man continues to change his appearance and the intensity of the music and clip increases, he unintentionally cuts himself when he is shaving. Despite this action though the man does not flinch at the pain and continues to solve the problem with little frustration, which I find very strange. It suggests that the man is maybe used to pain which in turn implies that he has been in harm often, is he a bad man!?
Of course he is changing his appearance so there is something strange going on with this man.

This Long-shot above is very affective, it is the point of which we see his final transformation. He is a changed man. Also it is a low angle shot which emphasizes his importance and possibly the power he has not only towards other characters but possibly the audience also.

This close-up on the family photo's implies that this house is indeed is a family home however the facial expressions of the people contradict the non-diegetic music that is overplaying. From this shot the audience see the happiness of the people yet they are unable to truly 'feel' the happiness.

Another part that shows contradiction is when the male character turns on his music, the diegetic sound that comes out is a Christmas carol 'Silent Night'. This however does ease the tension in the atmosphere a little, but obviously it is surprising because we've just seen this strange man changing himself, along with uncomfortable music and then suddenly it just changes to this. Everything that is going on is all very odd and unusual.

Preliminary Shoot - Hurtwood

Yesterday in my Media class myself and my group did our first practical assignment which involved us to film a short conversation between two characters.

Luckily we were all familiar with the camera's from our lesson a few weeks ago so we were set in that however we just needed to figure out our smaller location - which all worked out brilliantly in the end. 

The script we were given was very simple and straight forward and only involved us needing an entrance door and two willing actresses :) Once we solved this we got started. 

I thought as a group we worked well together, taking it in turns to take part at different roles each time we shot a new sequence. 

The final clip is made up of 5 different shots, a wide shot, 2 close-ups of either character and then 2 over the shoulder shots. As we had enough time at the end of the lesson we decided to also film a close up of the door handle opening and also a low angle shot of one of the character's to emphasise the power of her role. 

How did we do this?

Well we in fact shot the same performance 7 whole times. This is for a few reasons. Firstly when we come to editing we'd definitely have at least some clip for sure, secondly it will be easier to cut in and out of each clip at certain times. Also if there are any problems that we may not have originally been aware of we'd have the option to fix it with various clips that we have. Additionally it quicker and easier to keep rolling through rather then stopping and starting constantly. 

I actually really enjoyed being behind the camera properly for the first time and also learning some new 'command' words. The whole experience has made me more excited  and ready to get stuck into more practical and hands on work. 

VERY IMPORTANT RULE  that I learnt

This is the '180 degree rule'. This is when the two characters/actors have to obey the rule of there being an invisible line between them and the camera must not cross from one side to the other. If this is not followed then it can confuse the audience because it makes the characters suddenly look out of place, or somehow magically moved sided of the room. It realistically will not make sense, so it is extremely important that this rule is followed when filming.

Shot Types - Hurtwood

Part of my work over the past few days has been to get to grips with different camera shots. They seem pretty basic but when you discover that in fact many of them have multiple names that’s when things get a little trickier.

So firstly I’ll start with a Big close-up (CU)

 

This includes the head or even only part of the head. This is used to show emotion and facial detail, which in turn helps the viewer to really read their emotions. This is usually reserved for passion or conflict.

 

Then a Close-up or Close shot (CU)

 

In this shot you see only the head down to the tops of the shoulders. This reveals more of the characters personality therefore more intimate with the viewer and also more powerful. Close shots work to increase the audiences identification with a character.

Medium close-up

 

This shot involves the character revealing their head  to their shoulders. This is a useful ‘all-round’ shot.

 

Mid-Shot

 

The characters head to waist is shown. This provides clothing and body language to be seen by the audience which additionally helps the viewer to understand and relate to the audience much easier.

Medium-Long Shot

 

With this shot the viewer is able to see the characters head to waist. Like before it provides additional physical information however it is less detailed then previous shots. Also you get a better idea of the location of the character too.

Long Shot

 

 

This provides a full image of the character. Maximum information of the character however less detailed then previous. Contextualizes character in their location and this can be used to distance audience from events or even suggest loneliness or isolation.

 

Wide Shot or Establishing Shot

 

This shot tends to be used at the beginning or at the end of a scene. It helps to make clear the location and physical geography of the space; additionally sets up an atmosphere.

Over The Shoulder (O/S)

 

The over the shoulder shot helps to create a dynamic between the character and what they are seeing.  The viewer see’s the perspective of the character. This shot can also be used to suggest that someone is being followed or possibly watched by an unseen presence :S

Two Shot, Threes Shot etc.. (2/S, 3/S)

 

This is where there are multiple characters in a frame.; you get a sense of how they relate to one-another. The opposite to this is to keep characters in separate frames to suggest a lack of common ground or interaction.

 

Point of View (POV)

 

Provides perspective from a particular character’s point of view, looking onto their cast members. The director manipulates whose eye the audience experiences the story from. Also sometimes it can be when the viewer is being spoken to directly; this is used a lot in programs like ‘Peep Show’


High Angle

The camera points down from above eye line, looking down on someone. This affect can indicate low status or vulnerability.

Low Angle

 

When the camera points up from below the eye lone, looking up to someone. It can indicate high status, indicating someone being powerful or intimidating.

Learning to use a 'proper' Camera ;D - Hurtwood

BEASTLY camera!
This is the camera that we were working on, known as the Sony NX5. The first big filming camera that I have ever set my hands on.

The First thing I learnt, and was very surprised by, was discovering that when filming the camera is in fact taking 25 still photo's (Frames) per second and when we watch the video back it is the process of them all being played back at a really high speed.

On the lens there are three controls: Focus on the outer ring, Zoom on the middle ring and exposure on the inner ring.

These are all very important controls that are used for the majority of the time and learning how to use each one individually is much easier then you may think.

Moving onto the screen of the camera:

IMAGE


The top left we see the battery bars showing how much life there is still on the camera. Top right there are some numbers:
01 : 15 : 13 : 02 
Hours : Minutes : Seconds : The Frames (goes up to 14 - 0 is counted as one)
This is showing the amount that has been filmed on the camera. It's known as   the 'Time Code'.

First Aim of the Year - Hurtwood

So the aim of my year is to obviously get a good grade in my AS Media Studies class - which is all quite exciting becasue I've never done anything like this before (Except pick up a camera).

The first challenge of the year is creating our Thriller.
A thriller Director that I really like, would be 'Alfred Hitchock'.  I was first introduced to his work by my mum as it was one of his early creations that was her favourite (and most scary) childhood thriller --> 'The Birds'.
This was the first 'ScArY' film that I saw. However now I question how sane I was back then. Now? Not scary at all :P

One of my favourite thriller's would be 'The Decent'.

I count this as my first thriller ever seen. I was 10 years old, at a sleepover and I can tell you now I didn't sleep soundly for a number of days following :S I don't like caves anyway and thisbhas made me hate them even more!!!!!
Sadly - I haven't rewatched this movie and I really should consider doing that.

First Blog on Media Studies - Hurtwood.

This is my first Blog I've written whilst being an AS student here at Hurtwood House
I am currently Studying Media Studies, Textiles and Art and Since I've only been here for 3 weeks work seems to be going fine.

Blogging on here isn't my first time, However I am still unfamilar with some of the uses available but hopefully over time I will learn to understand how to find all the little secret bits and bobs and be great at it :D

Would love to have a hand, but you learn from your mistakes so here I go.......

Preliminary Completion - Hurtwood

Considering this was our first time shooting and editing I am quite impressed with what we've produced.
The way some shots are edited together don't flow particularly well because of the major difference of how they are shot however I like the range of shots that we tried to include as they represent and reflect the character quite well.

Overall I think that it was a really good experience to have and I learnt alot in the ways of how you use a camera and also how to use the editing program.