Seems right to make one final post here in my final ever day of Media Studies.
It's been an awesome two years in the first ever Rathmore Media Studies Class.... or more fitting... 'The Opportunistic Flip Floppers 2008'.
Memories:
- Watching 'Outfoxed' and other class stuff in the beginning such as the opening of 'No Country For Old Men.'
- Getting to know the Macs, thinking they were SO awesome at first!
- The trips to the Apple Store, then dinner, then to the QFT to see a movie.
- The speakers Mr Tierney would bring in from his entourage of contacts, and sometimes getting free stuff like CD singles!
- Isolation Video.
- Preliminary project in the library.
- Dave 16!!
- Other random movies like Torin on the bench and me, Dan and Maria in the music corridor.
- Maria leaving after the first week of Upper Sixth. :(
- Tea/coffee/sweety/biscuity Fridays in Upper Sixth!!
- Filming movies for the school like the Irish Speaking, Break Dancing African Guy!!
- Open Your Eyes music video.
- Hide From The Cold music video.
- Watching Jingle All The Way at Christmas.
- And many more. :)
And so, from Chris in the embarrassingly named blog, 'The Snake Pit'...
Goodbye Media Studies!!
Monday 10 May 2010
Monday 26 January 2009
Audience expectations for our movie genre.
As of yet we have yet to decide solidly on our movie genre, but a lot of the more prominant ideas that have been thrown about have been for an action/thriller style with a possible hint of comic book/supernatural aspects. If we decide to include the latter, then our audience would no doubt expect a darker style production from the likes of Sin City or Daredevil. However, if we decide on going for just pure action/thriller, then our audience would expect a fast paced, high intensity opening and trailer that would include a lot of dynamic and ambitious camera angles and techniques, which would make the audience thirst to see more of the movie.
Either way, we hope to make our opening and trailer as fast paced and exciting for our audience as possible, and try to almost decieve them of our non exhistant budget by making it seem as professionally done as possible. It will no doubt be our most ambitious task to date.
Either way, we hope to make our opening and trailer as fast paced and exciting for our audience as possible, and try to almost decieve them of our non exhistant budget by making it seem as professionally done as possible. It will no doubt be our most ambitious task to date.
Great Openings/Trailers to movies.
Although our group haven't completely decided on a movie genre, a lot of the ideas thrown around have been action/thriller and maybe a comic book/supernatural element. So here are some examples based on these concepts:
Mortal Kombat Opening (watch from 0.40 on)
Lord Of The Rings Opening
Sin City Trailer
Daredevil Trailer
Cliffhanger Opening
Terminator 2 Opening
Mortal Kombat Opening (watch from 0.40 on)
Lord Of The Rings Opening
Sin City Trailer
Daredevil Trailer
Cliffhanger Opening
Terminator 2 Opening
Tuesday 20 January 2009
Preliminary Continuity Task Evaluation.
For our preliminary project, my group and I were given the task to draw up a storyboard and a script, then record and edit a scene to give the impression of complete continuity. In doing this we had to record a conversation between two characters, including one of the character’s entering, one of the characters exiting, and as many relevant camera angles as possible, including reaction shots and an eye-line match. We then were to edit it to give the impression of constant continuity, and evaluate the experience.
We chose our actors, former drama students Aidan Bannon and Laura McCrory, and told them what they were to do while we filmed. This required a lot of patience on the part of both the actors and the directors, as it was very time consuming having to record, stop and re-record constantly, as we tried to get in as many shots as possible, trying to stick with the original plan of the storyboard, while also coming up with the odd new idea, as we found out that some shots looked better on paper than on camera. The actors were very good and dedicated, learning their scripts in a heartbeat and asking their teachers to get out of class so as to help us record, but they quickly found out that a media studies project is very different than a drama project. At first they thought that what they did was most important, and their lines were essential, but they were soon to find, as we shot a seemingly irrelevant ‘walking through the door’ in about five different ways, that the camera work was the primary focus, not the people in the camera. And as such they gained a deeper understanding for all the overlooked detail that goes in to the ‘other side’ of the camera, as did we. We had no idea how long a seemingly simple preliminary exercise would take. At the beginning, we pretty much expected it to take no longer than 15 or 20 minutes to record the whole thing, especially since we already had a storyboard drawn up showing us what we were to record. But because every little detail was of vital importance, we found ourselves having to spend a lot more time on the recording than we anticipated. Complications such as first years seeing the cameras and interrupting our work asking ‘Are you doing a survey??’ or going ‘Record us! Record us!’ arose. We then had to completely re-record our project after half finishing it, because the classroom we were using had to be used for class and we wanted to complete the filming as soon as possible.
So we relocated our project to the school library, and this time around it was a lot easier, as both the actors and directors knew exactly what to do. We finished recording after a combined one and a half periods (40 minutes) working on it, not a bad time considering, but certainly a lot longer than we expected. We recorded much of the exercise at least twice, giving us various examples of certain parts so as we had a variety of shots to choose from depending on what looked best, and we recorded the main conversation constantly with two cameras, which they re-did multiple times either because of mistakes or just to try things a different way, which turned out to be the best thing as we were able to later mix everything up so that we had the best of everything.
When we finally finished the recording, we thought that the worst was behind us..... Little did we know how complex editing a continuity task would be! This was undoubtably the learning curve of the entire exercise. We thought that once all the footage was collected, only minor touches would need to be added and then we would be finished, but we soon realised the extent of the difficulty in making every detail seem completely fluent. Simple things such as changing the camera angles of a walking person from the front of them to the back had to be PERFECTLY timed so it wouldn’t look like they skipped a step or were slightly further forward than before the camera change, and such. So more complex aspects such as fluently fitting in the numerous camera angles for walking through the door (such as eyeline match, close up shot, behind angle, long shot, pan angle) took a considerable amount of time to perfect, as we often had to continually go back to it after spotting something that didn’t look right, then work out how we were going to edit it to get it right even if it meant having to cut out a shot which we, at first, thought would look good.
Then the conversation itself took an extensive amount of time. We soon realised that it was a stroke of luck that we thought about recording it from two different camera angles at the same time, as it turned out to be essential in making the conversation look believable. At first we thought we only needed to change the angle every now and gain, but this presented a problem in itself, when the times where it wasn’t changed and the person whose back was to the camera was speaking, it began to look more out of place than at first. So we had to eventually change the camera angle to the face of each person, every time they talked, which made the product look more complete. However, in doing so we had to search every take of the conversation and carefully pick out the best bits and put them together to give the best looking finished result. However, during the course of all of this we discovered another problem. The light and sound of one of the cameras was different than the other one, giving a very amateurish feel to the footage when you saw the cameras constantly changing back and forth, with different settings for each one. As a result, we had to concentrate on one camera, and spend a good deal of time trying to make it as alike to the other camera as possible, editing the lighting on IMovie and the sound on Garageband (one of the most difficult challenges of the entire project.) After spending about a week and a half’s worth of pure editing, we finally settled on the decision that we could not do any more to the product to improve it, and we ended up with our completed preliminary task.
I am very happy with the final result of our task. In my opinion, our hard work has payed off, as we now have a very well done example of continuity. In this task I have learned just how much work goes in to a seemingly simple task of making a fluent piece of footage, and that precision and perfection in the camera work is as, if not more important than what the camera is recording, and I now truly understand the extent of the work that must go in to the editing of a piece of footage. This task has made me a lot more confident both with a camera, and also in my editing skills with aspects such as IMovie and Garageband, and it has prepared me for my coursework with new found technical and time management skills.
By Chris Mohan.
We chose our actors, former drama students Aidan Bannon and Laura McCrory, and told them what they were to do while we filmed. This required a lot of patience on the part of both the actors and the directors, as it was very time consuming having to record, stop and re-record constantly, as we tried to get in as many shots as possible, trying to stick with the original plan of the storyboard, while also coming up with the odd new idea, as we found out that some shots looked better on paper than on camera. The actors were very good and dedicated, learning their scripts in a heartbeat and asking their teachers to get out of class so as to help us record, but they quickly found out that a media studies project is very different than a drama project. At first they thought that what they did was most important, and their lines were essential, but they were soon to find, as we shot a seemingly irrelevant ‘walking through the door’ in about five different ways, that the camera work was the primary focus, not the people in the camera. And as such they gained a deeper understanding for all the overlooked detail that goes in to the ‘other side’ of the camera, as did we. We had no idea how long a seemingly simple preliminary exercise would take. At the beginning, we pretty much expected it to take no longer than 15 or 20 minutes to record the whole thing, especially since we already had a storyboard drawn up showing us what we were to record. But because every little detail was of vital importance, we found ourselves having to spend a lot more time on the recording than we anticipated. Complications such as first years seeing the cameras and interrupting our work asking ‘Are you doing a survey??’ or going ‘Record us! Record us!’ arose. We then had to completely re-record our project after half finishing it, because the classroom we were using had to be used for class and we wanted to complete the filming as soon as possible.
So we relocated our project to the school library, and this time around it was a lot easier, as both the actors and directors knew exactly what to do. We finished recording after a combined one and a half periods (40 minutes) working on it, not a bad time considering, but certainly a lot longer than we expected. We recorded much of the exercise at least twice, giving us various examples of certain parts so as we had a variety of shots to choose from depending on what looked best, and we recorded the main conversation constantly with two cameras, which they re-did multiple times either because of mistakes or just to try things a different way, which turned out to be the best thing as we were able to later mix everything up so that we had the best of everything.
When we finally finished the recording, we thought that the worst was behind us..... Little did we know how complex editing a continuity task would be! This was undoubtably the learning curve of the entire exercise. We thought that once all the footage was collected, only minor touches would need to be added and then we would be finished, but we soon realised the extent of the difficulty in making every detail seem completely fluent. Simple things such as changing the camera angles of a walking person from the front of them to the back had to be PERFECTLY timed so it wouldn’t look like they skipped a step or were slightly further forward than before the camera change, and such. So more complex aspects such as fluently fitting in the numerous camera angles for walking through the door (such as eyeline match, close up shot, behind angle, long shot, pan angle) took a considerable amount of time to perfect, as we often had to continually go back to it after spotting something that didn’t look right, then work out how we were going to edit it to get it right even if it meant having to cut out a shot which we, at first, thought would look good.
Then the conversation itself took an extensive amount of time. We soon realised that it was a stroke of luck that we thought about recording it from two different camera angles at the same time, as it turned out to be essential in making the conversation look believable. At first we thought we only needed to change the angle every now and gain, but this presented a problem in itself, when the times where it wasn’t changed and the person whose back was to the camera was speaking, it began to look more out of place than at first. So we had to eventually change the camera angle to the face of each person, every time they talked, which made the product look more complete. However, in doing so we had to search every take of the conversation and carefully pick out the best bits and put them together to give the best looking finished result. However, during the course of all of this we discovered another problem. The light and sound of one of the cameras was different than the other one, giving a very amateurish feel to the footage when you saw the cameras constantly changing back and forth, with different settings for each one. As a result, we had to concentrate on one camera, and spend a good deal of time trying to make it as alike to the other camera as possible, editing the lighting on IMovie and the sound on Garageband (one of the most difficult challenges of the entire project.) After spending about a week and a half’s worth of pure editing, we finally settled on the decision that we could not do any more to the product to improve it, and we ended up with our completed preliminary task.
I am very happy with the final result of our task. In my opinion, our hard work has payed off, as we now have a very well done example of continuity. In this task I have learned just how much work goes in to a seemingly simple task of making a fluent piece of footage, and that precision and perfection in the camera work is as, if not more important than what the camera is recording, and I now truly understand the extent of the work that must go in to the editing of a piece of footage. This task has made me a lot more confident both with a camera, and also in my editing skills with aspects such as IMovie and Garageband, and it has prepared me for my coursework with new found technical and time management skills.
By Chris Mohan.
Monday 1 December 2008
Spooks Analysis
It is clear from this extract that with the lower class, the camera angles are generally closer knit, with more two shots, close up reaction shots, ect. This can be interpereted as just in keeping with the smaller set, but can also highlight the more family orientated, close knit bond between the characters, actual love and caring, rather than the strict seriousness and business of the higher class agents. In the agent, higher class scenes, the camera angle changes more frequently, and from generally more separated angles, such as quick close up, long shot, eyeline match to areas of significance such as computer stills or photographs, which all culminates to build generally more fast paced, intense scenes, once again highlighting the contrast between higher class business life and lower class family life. however, this kind of shot is given to the lower status characters when they are being chased, showing that faster paced camera angles signify importance and excitement. This importance and excitement is with the higher class people all along, but is only given to the lower class people when they are in danger. It's at times like this when there are uber-quick camera angle changes, from extreme long shot, to quick pans scans of the car driving, to eyeline matches of important actions to close ups of reactions.
The different lighting used in each social status setting is also significant. In the lower class one, everything is lit equally, but still rather dully. This gives the sense that everyone in this setting is equal, both to each other and the viewers, albeit if it also proves that their lives are routine like and rather duller than that of the higher status people, whose lighting is a lot more detailed. The background tends to be darker for them, but with the lighting a lot brighter and more intense on the central characters, highlighting the more important, interesting and unpredictable nature of their lives.
Music is usually used in the background of the higher class scenes, usually that of intense, drummy, atmospheric music, and then when it cuts to lower class scenes the music isn't used. The only time fast paced intensity is used in regards to the lower class people is in chase scenes. This is where fast paced, violin chase music being played in the lower class scenes. The music played in these scenes strengthens the audience bond and conection between themselves and the lower class people. But even then the music is only played because they are being chased/led by upper class agents, almost as if music is merited with class and general social status, signifying importance. The chase music being played for the lower class characters still runs when the scene changes quickly to the upper class characters, showing they are still in danger and keeping audience sympathy for them in tact. The music only stops when the lower class characters reach temporary safety. The audience dont even see the characters reach safety, they just sub consciously know the characters have reached it when the music calms down.
All of this is edited so that the contrast between the different social classes is clear, without any significant help from the dialogue or even set.
The different lighting used in each social status setting is also significant. In the lower class one, everything is lit equally, but still rather dully. This gives the sense that everyone in this setting is equal, both to each other and the viewers, albeit if it also proves that their lives are routine like and rather duller than that of the higher status people, whose lighting is a lot more detailed. The background tends to be darker for them, but with the lighting a lot brighter and more intense on the central characters, highlighting the more important, interesting and unpredictable nature of their lives.
Music is usually used in the background of the higher class scenes, usually that of intense, drummy, atmospheric music, and then when it cuts to lower class scenes the music isn't used. The only time fast paced intensity is used in regards to the lower class people is in chase scenes. This is where fast paced, violin chase music being played in the lower class scenes. The music played in these scenes strengthens the audience bond and conection between themselves and the lower class people. But even then the music is only played because they are being chased/led by upper class agents, almost as if music is merited with class and general social status, signifying importance. The chase music being played for the lower class characters still runs when the scene changes quickly to the upper class characters, showing they are still in danger and keeping audience sympathy for them in tact. The music only stops when the lower class characters reach temporary safety. The audience dont even see the characters reach safety, they just sub consciously know the characters have reached it when the music calms down.
All of this is edited so that the contrast between the different social classes is clear, without any significant help from the dialogue or even set.
Thursday 20 November 2008
Sound and Editing.
SOUND
Diegetic Sound: This refers to the sound in video and film that is implied to be present by the actions of what is going on through out the footage in the film. This wold include the voices of the dialogue between characters, the sounds of the objects in the film and the music from sources such as instruments and radios etc.
Non-diegetic Sound: This is sound from a source that is not on screen or implied to be present through the actions on screen. This could range from music played over the video, commentary and dramatic sound effects.
Synchronous Sound:
This is when the sound is synced with what is viewed on screen, these can be recorded during shooting but sound effects are normally added after.
Here is some great Synchronous sound from the legendary PC game Quake 3!
Asynchronous Sound:
This is when there is a difference between what we hear and what we see on screen, it is often coupled with eye line matches as the character hears the sound, to create a sensation of tension or surprise.
Sound Effects: This refers to the use of sound to produce particular meanings in film, television and radio. Sound effects are very important in conveying meaning to the audience in a very quick and economical way, such as the sound of a car crashing, which instantly conveys a sense that something significant had happened.
Here is a great example of sound effects in a horror style. Listening to them gives you a perfect idea of what genre it is....
Sound Motif: This refers to sound effects that are associated with something in the film, be it a character or a place etc. These are used to connect the audience emotionally with something such as the actions of a particular character. These are often used to shape the story but are sometimes hard to create and convey across to the audience.
Dialogue:
This is when there is a reciprocal conversation between two or more characters.
Voiceover: This is when the voice of someone, usually the main character, is played over footage where the character is not speaking. This can be used to give a summary of events of the thoughts of a character. Recorded over a scene, sometimes by a 'voice artist'.
Here is some classic voiceover- from the opening scene of Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. In this case, the voiceover is done by the mystical elf, Galadriel.
Mode of Address/Direct Address:
When the name of a character is used to secure their attention this is direct address, use of a vocative form.
Sound Mixing: This refers to the process by which a number of sounds are combined to create a more more appropriate sound with a multitude of channels.
Sound Perspective: This Refers to the apparent distance of a sound. Clues to the distance of the source include volume, balance with other sounds, frequency range (higher frequencies lost at a distance) and the amount of echo / reverberation. these are normally used to match sound and picture.
Here is a simple, yet effective way of showing sound perspective.
Score: This is a term used to describe the music in film. However a film score differs to a film soundtrack as a score tends not to include the songs from inside the movie or film compared to a soundtrack, that does. These can be written especially for a piece of video, such as in Lost with the composer Michael Giacchino.
Stings: In radio, a sting is a short piece of music between other content.
Incidental Music: This can commonly be described as background music, it adds atmosphere to the action. It may take the form of something as simple as a low, ominous tone suggesting an impending startling event, or, to enhance the depiction of a story-advancing sequence, It may also include pieces which will provide the main interest for the audience, for example overtures, or music played during scene changes, or at the end of an act, immediately preceding an interlude
Ambient Sound: This is similar to incidental music and relates to the sound that would be in the background of the scene but would be more diagetic sounds that would be heard in the actual location and adds to the reality or the action of the footage and helps connect the audience with the piece of film.
An example of ambient sound.
EDITING
Transitions: These are the way in which two clips are joined together, the most common is the cut but they vary from, crossfades to wipes and digital affects. Here are some examples
Dissolve: This is also known as a cross fade, this is where one shot gradually fades into the next.
Fade in/out: A video fade is when a shot gradually fades to (or from) a single colour, usually black or white signalling the begining or end of a scene. The timing of the fades indicates the importance of the change in time and/or location between scenes — a slower fade with more time spent on black indicates a more significant end/beginning. A fairly quick fade to and from black could indicate a time lapse of a few minutes or hours, whereas a long drawn-out fade indicates a much bigger change.
Wipe: A technique in film and video editing whereby one image is replaced by another, typically by a line moving across the screen.
Superimposition: In film, this is to lay or place an image or a piece of video on or over something else.
Takes: This refers to the attempt at filming a particular scene or a portion of narrative. As is now well known from the popularity of out-take programs on TV, the production of the final take my involve many attempts.
These takes can be either categorized as a long take or small take, referring to the amount of time that passes while the camera is rolling.
Slow Motion: This is a special effect produced by the increasing the speed of film run through the camera, so that when the film is projected at the standard rate of twenty-four frames per second the action appears to be slowed down.
Ellipsis & Expansion of Time: During brief, dangerous events, (i.e. car accidents and robberies) many people report that events seem to pass in slow motion, as if time had slowed down, the expansion of time aims to recreate this and can be enhanced using slow motion, different angles and time remapping.
Visual Effects: This is the artificially created (trick) images in film, often to create the illusion that an action that cannot be performed naturally - a man flying or a famous building being blown up - is actually happening.
There are three categories of special effect: those done on camera, those done on set and those carried out in post-production.
Diegetic Sound: This refers to the sound in video and film that is implied to be present by the actions of what is going on through out the footage in the film. This wold include the voices of the dialogue between characters, the sounds of the objects in the film and the music from sources such as instruments and radios etc.
Non-diegetic Sound: This is sound from a source that is not on screen or implied to be present through the actions on screen. This could range from music played over the video, commentary and dramatic sound effects.
Synchronous Sound:
This is when the sound is synced with what is viewed on screen, these can be recorded during shooting but sound effects are normally added after.
Here is some great Synchronous sound from the legendary PC game Quake 3!
Asynchronous Sound:
This is when there is a difference between what we hear and what we see on screen, it is often coupled with eye line matches as the character hears the sound, to create a sensation of tension or surprise.
Sound Effects: This refers to the use of sound to produce particular meanings in film, television and radio. Sound effects are very important in conveying meaning to the audience in a very quick and economical way, such as the sound of a car crashing, which instantly conveys a sense that something significant had happened.
Here is a great example of sound effects in a horror style. Listening to them gives you a perfect idea of what genre it is....
Sound Motif: This refers to sound effects that are associated with something in the film, be it a character or a place etc. These are used to connect the audience emotionally with something such as the actions of a particular character. These are often used to shape the story but are sometimes hard to create and convey across to the audience.
Dialogue:
This is when there is a reciprocal conversation between two or more characters.
Voiceover: This is when the voice of someone, usually the main character, is played over footage where the character is not speaking. This can be used to give a summary of events of the thoughts of a character. Recorded over a scene, sometimes by a 'voice artist'.
Here is some classic voiceover- from the opening scene of Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. In this case, the voiceover is done by the mystical elf, Galadriel.
Mode of Address/Direct Address:
When the name of a character is used to secure their attention this is direct address, use of a vocative form.
Sound Mixing: This refers to the process by which a number of sounds are combined to create a more more appropriate sound with a multitude of channels.
Sound Perspective: This Refers to the apparent distance of a sound. Clues to the distance of the source include volume, balance with other sounds, frequency range (higher frequencies lost at a distance) and the amount of echo / reverberation. these are normally used to match sound and picture.
Here is a simple, yet effective way of showing sound perspective.
Score: This is a term used to describe the music in film. However a film score differs to a film soundtrack as a score tends not to include the songs from inside the movie or film compared to a soundtrack, that does. These can be written especially for a piece of video, such as in Lost with the composer Michael Giacchino.
Stings: In radio, a sting is a short piece of music between other content.
Incidental Music: This can commonly be described as background music, it adds atmosphere to the action. It may take the form of something as simple as a low, ominous tone suggesting an impending startling event, or, to enhance the depiction of a story-advancing sequence, It may also include pieces which will provide the main interest for the audience, for example overtures, or music played during scene changes, or at the end of an act, immediately preceding an interlude
Ambient Sound: This is similar to incidental music and relates to the sound that would be in the background of the scene but would be more diagetic sounds that would be heard in the actual location and adds to the reality or the action of the footage and helps connect the audience with the piece of film.
An example of ambient sound.
EDITING
Transitions: These are the way in which two clips are joined together, the most common is the cut but they vary from, crossfades to wipes and digital affects. Here are some examples
Dissolve: This is also known as a cross fade, this is where one shot gradually fades into the next.
Fade in/out: A video fade is when a shot gradually fades to (or from) a single colour, usually black or white signalling the begining or end of a scene. The timing of the fades indicates the importance of the change in time and/or location between scenes — a slower fade with more time spent on black indicates a more significant end/beginning. A fairly quick fade to and from black could indicate a time lapse of a few minutes or hours, whereas a long drawn-out fade indicates a much bigger change.
Wipe: A technique in film and video editing whereby one image is replaced by another, typically by a line moving across the screen.
Superimposition: In film, this is to lay or place an image or a piece of video on or over something else.
Takes: This refers to the attempt at filming a particular scene or a portion of narrative. As is now well known from the popularity of out-take programs on TV, the production of the final take my involve many attempts.
These takes can be either categorized as a long take or small take, referring to the amount of time that passes while the camera is rolling.
Slow Motion: This is a special effect produced by the increasing the speed of film run through the camera, so that when the film is projected at the standard rate of twenty-four frames per second the action appears to be slowed down.
Ellipsis & Expansion of Time: During brief, dangerous events, (i.e. car accidents and robberies) many people report that events seem to pass in slow motion, as if time had slowed down, the expansion of time aims to recreate this and can be enhanced using slow motion, different angles and time remapping.
Visual Effects: This is the artificially created (trick) images in film, often to create the illusion that an action that cannot be performed naturally - a man flying or a famous building being blown up - is actually happening.
There are three categories of special effect: those done on camera, those done on set and those carried out in post-production.
Wednesday 1 October 2008
HOLLYOAKS!!
http://www.channel4.com/catchup-player/player.htm?brandId=hollyoaks&contractId=44579&episodeId=179
In this episode, which took place on Friday 5th September 2008, a very sinister story of drugging, deceit, violence and madness is poetically merged with the trvial story of the reuniting of gay former lovers John Paul and Craig.
Around the 8.30 mark of the second half, the scene changes back to the two guys who have been talking throughout the episode (as I am unfamiliar with the names I will refer to them as 'Red Shirt' and 'Mad Man'.) Red Shirt appears to be sweating violently, and is losing all sense of focus as Mad Man watches on with a calm expression. Red Shirt stumbles off his chair, saying 'I think I'm gonna be sick', but after barely making it to his feet, he collapses, and Mad Man catches him. As Mad Man holds him, he softly tells him of how and why he drugged Red Shirt, beginning to cry maniacally in the process, as sinister out-of-tune-violin music plays increasingly louder in the backround and vomit spurts uncontrollably out of the semi-conscious Red Shirt's mouth, in the culmination of the massive crescendo of a horror movie-like scene.
All of a sudden the scene changes to a bed with the semi-naked John Paul and Craig (who have just been reunited after a year apart from each other)lying beside each other, blissfully pondering their love for each other, and how and why John Paul will be breaking the news to his curent boyfriend Kieran, who I THINK is Red Shirt. The essence of this second scene is the two lovers saying to each other how they have always been the ones for each other, and John Paul putting his trousers on as he gently ponders breaking the news to his soon-to-be ex-boyfriend.
I thought this was a classic example of Hollyoaks typical style of mixing sinister, serious storylines with every-day, trivial storylines. It mirrors every day life, how in one house two lovers blissfully reunite, when just down the street a mad man is drugging someone thought to be his friend, which could lead to a murder situation.
But hey..... THAT'S LIFE, THAT'S ALL PEOPLE SAY!!!!
EDITS:
Camera- For such a dramatic scene as the drugging scene, the camera was changing angles rapidly as the action started to build up and intensify. Even in the part where the two are lying on the floor in one position, the camera keeps in tune with how dramatic this part is, flickering on and off in to black and white images/flashbacks of Mad Man putting the drugs in Red Shirt's drink and back again, as the camera changes from close up to long shot at any given time. Whereas in the lovers reuniting scene, the camera is calm, focused and oftn remains in the same place (long shot) unless there is substantial movement from the characters.
Editing- In the drugging scene the camera is flickering on and off in to black and white images/flashbacks of Mad Man putting the drugs in Red Shirt's drink and back again, telling a story without the dialogue having to change, which was artistically done.
Sound: In the drugging scene, a crescendo of out of tune, increasingly fast out of tune violins play as the action intensifies, until they are going all out in volume and speed as the final horror of this extreme scene is unvieled.
Mise en Scene- these two scenes contrast expansively as the drugging scene is horrific, the camera flickers from angle to angle, colour to black and white, with terrifying out of tune violins building in a crescendo to unveil the horror the scene entails, and all of this compared to the calmness, the lovingness, the stillness of the aftermath of the reuniting of the two lovers makes for quite a contrast of styles and situations, creating a perfect example of the clasic Hollyoaks style of mixing extremely fast paced, serious scenes, with every day, trivial, calm scenes, much like life.
In this episode, which took place on Friday 5th September 2008, a very sinister story of drugging, deceit, violence and madness is poetically merged with the trvial story of the reuniting of gay former lovers John Paul and Craig.
Around the 8.30 mark of the second half, the scene changes back to the two guys who have been talking throughout the episode (as I am unfamiliar with the names I will refer to them as 'Red Shirt' and 'Mad Man'.) Red Shirt appears to be sweating violently, and is losing all sense of focus as Mad Man watches on with a calm expression. Red Shirt stumbles off his chair, saying 'I think I'm gonna be sick', but after barely making it to his feet, he collapses, and Mad Man catches him. As Mad Man holds him, he softly tells him of how and why he drugged Red Shirt, beginning to cry maniacally in the process, as sinister out-of-tune-violin music plays increasingly louder in the backround and vomit spurts uncontrollably out of the semi-conscious Red Shirt's mouth, in the culmination of the massive crescendo of a horror movie-like scene.
All of a sudden the scene changes to a bed with the semi-naked John Paul and Craig (who have just been reunited after a year apart from each other)lying beside each other, blissfully pondering their love for each other, and how and why John Paul will be breaking the news to his curent boyfriend Kieran, who I THINK is Red Shirt. The essence of this second scene is the two lovers saying to each other how they have always been the ones for each other, and John Paul putting his trousers on as he gently ponders breaking the news to his soon-to-be ex-boyfriend.
I thought this was a classic example of Hollyoaks typical style of mixing sinister, serious storylines with every-day, trivial storylines. It mirrors every day life, how in one house two lovers blissfully reunite, when just down the street a mad man is drugging someone thought to be his friend, which could lead to a murder situation.
But hey..... THAT'S LIFE, THAT'S ALL PEOPLE SAY!!!!
EDITS:
Camera- For such a dramatic scene as the drugging scene, the camera was changing angles rapidly as the action started to build up and intensify. Even in the part where the two are lying on the floor in one position, the camera keeps in tune with how dramatic this part is, flickering on and off in to black and white images/flashbacks of Mad Man putting the drugs in Red Shirt's drink and back again, as the camera changes from close up to long shot at any given time. Whereas in the lovers reuniting scene, the camera is calm, focused and oftn remains in the same place (long shot) unless there is substantial movement from the characters.
Editing- In the drugging scene the camera is flickering on and off in to black and white images/flashbacks of Mad Man putting the drugs in Red Shirt's drink and back again, telling a story without the dialogue having to change, which was artistically done.
Sound: In the drugging scene, a crescendo of out of tune, increasingly fast out of tune violins play as the action intensifies, until they are going all out in volume and speed as the final horror of this extreme scene is unvieled.
Mise en Scene- these two scenes contrast expansively as the drugging scene is horrific, the camera flickers from angle to angle, colour to black and white, with terrifying out of tune violins building in a crescendo to unveil the horror the scene entails, and all of this compared to the calmness, the lovingness, the stillness of the aftermath of the reuniting of the two lovers makes for quite a contrast of styles and situations, creating a perfect example of the clasic Hollyoaks style of mixing extremely fast paced, serious scenes, with every day, trivial, calm scenes, much like life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
