Analysis: Inception

A skilled extractor is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible.

From 0:00 - 0:11 we see a dark background that appears with the words 'Legendary Pictures' and fades out then it follows with a fade in of a maze that appears with the words 'Synacopy' from 0:11 - 0:18 so for 7 secs. From 0:00 - 0:18 there is a presence of dark music maybe foreshadowing the film.
Then we are straightly taken to the context of the film on a expectant beach as there is a medium close-up of waves between 0:18 and 0:30 and then there is another but different medium close-up shot of waves between 0:30 - 0:32 so this altogether takes 14 seconds and in this period we here wave sounds.
We are then awaken by the first character who is a man that is vaguely seen by the camera and he lifts his face only so ever slightly. There is this soft close-up of his face which is interrupted by a sharp sight of the waves which is between 0:32 and 0:37 so 5 seconds and there is a slight quiet waking up noise. Between 0:37 and 0:40 (3 secs), there is a point of view medium close-up of a little boy throwing sand away from his face and there is a blurred sound of children playing. From 0:40 - 0:45 we see a man that lifts his face up even more slightly which is a close-up. Between 0:45 - 0:47 for 2 secs there is a point of view cutaway of a girl that is running to a boy who is playing with a sand castle. From 0:47 - 0:52 is reverts back to a close-up of a man lifting his head upwards and moving his fingers slightly. Then 0:52 - 0:53, there is a point of view shot and a medium shot if a girl running away and there is a slight scream as she does that.Then from 0:53 - 0:58, the same man drags his head down back to the sand and water (close-up). Between 0:40 and 0:58 we have a mystical curiosity music soundtrack playing. We then see the back of that same man but a gun is poking him from the back and this is from 0:58 - 1:00 but we can only hear waves.

At 1:00 - 1:01, the sunlight blocks the visual of the characters face but between 1:01 and 1:02 we see the man that has poked the first character in the back and he seems to have an Chinese/Japanese/Asian appearance and here he is blocking the sun and he is wearing dark clothing. Between 1:02 - 1:05, the second character moved a lot of the first male characters clothing upwards in which we see a gun (this is a point of view and over-the-shoulder shot). Between 1:05 - 1:07 the same character calls his presumed superior which is a low mid shot and between 1:07 - 1:12, there is a very wide shot of the superior responding and entering the building. This might be considered as a point of view shot. Then from 1:12 - 1:23, there is a translation on the bottom of the screen and we are taken what is speculated to be inside the building the superior entered and it is a long room with a table in the middle with 2 (assumed) guards and a character sitting on a chair (long shot and a mid shot). Between 1:05 and 1:23, Chinese/ Japanese/ an Asian language and dialect is heard. Among 1:23 and 1:28, there is a mid shot of putting a gun on the table and the character sitting on the table about to pick up a glass of wine when suddenly at 1:28 - 1:30 there is a cut-in of the character putting the gun and a plastic object on the table. Again, there is Chinese/Japanese/an Asian language is heard. Between 1:30 and 1:37, there is a medium shot of the character sitting on the table backing his hand away from the glass and turning his head. 1:37 and 1:41, there is a mid shot of bringing the first male character by his shoulders/dragging him and there is a sound effect of the feet of the first male character and the guards' weapons. From 1:41 - 1:49 there is a cut in of a guy's hand eating his food (noodle soup etc...) with a fork and the sound is of his slurp. Between 1:49 and 1:55, the original character that sat on the table starts to speak English. From 1:55 - 1:56, there is a movement of his head which is a close-up and from 1:56 - 2:00, there is a cut in of the hand movement from the gun to the plastic object.

What went well with the film opening is that I was kept on my feet until 1:12. This was because there was constant hazy movement between the mysterious male character, the children and the sergeants. The POV shot and the hazy effect stood out and made the audience feel like the male character when watching the children. Also, the huge amount of enigma was inflicted until 1:12 which is hard to do, the essence of not knowing made it enticing to watch the film opening.
What they could of changed is the Chinese/English speaking male character that was originally sitting on the table and first original male character coming into the room scene. There was no plot to it so it felt like i was not watching much and it seemed quite boring after that because there was nothing to watch apart from them talking and eating. The long shot of the 2 guards and one person sitting on the table wasn't as spectacular.

To entice the film opening a little more, they could of revealed more. As everything was a haze and nothing was given away, they overdid it. So revealing why they were here or how they could of helped the audience to not only understand what is going on here but enjoy the first few minutes of the film rather than bore them

Analysis : Inglorious Basterds (Video)

In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers coincides with a theatre owner's vengeful plans for the same.

Between 0 seconds and 0:12 secs, there is the logo of 'Universal' where we start with the Earth and the stars and then 'Univeral' comes across the Earth. Then the 'Weinstein Company' appears from 0:12 - 0:24 for 22 seconds and there is no sound until this point. Then 'Company Titles' appear from 0:24 - 0:32 which is for 8 seconds and after that between 0:32 and 0:36 there is no visuals at all! Then it starts again at 0:36 to 0:40 which is for 4 seconds where the visual is the directors name : Quetin Tarintino and there is a black screen behind the writing. Then the film title appear in a different typeface (like someone who would write the title) 'Inglorious Bastards' which occurs between 0:40 - 0:46 so for 6 seconds. Then from 0:46 - 1:46 the cast appears but there are different sections of cast for example, there is the 8 starring main case which is written in yellow western typeface and is fro 0:46 - 1:14 so for 28 seconds and then there is the co-starring cast which has like a calibri typeface which is yellow as well from 1:14 - 1:23 so 9 seconds. Then, there is the Guest starring cast from1:23 - 1:46 so 23 seconds which is normal white but a different typeface.
Then from 1:46 - 1:58, we see the writings on a black screen 'Nazi occupied France'. From 0:20 - 1:58 a soundtrack is playing, it seems like a traditional piece of music and you know it sets the scene and gives context as  that type of music would be played in WWII and the music fades out by the end. From 1:58 - 2:00 we see the year '1940' on a black screen.

I think the opening sequence sets the scene in a clear and obvious way which really helps the audience understand where we and be prepared for what's coming up.The music really helps us to set ourselves into the mood so we are prepared for what happens. Also, there is subtle transitions between each credit of name so you feel patient and relaxed and you get the chance to know who is in this film rather than normal films which speedily race through the names.
Although, I think the credits went on for too long just to drag things out which was boring and it made me almost turn off the film. This is very a negative thing and a tip to not drag on the credits because it turns away the audience. 

They could have made more location shots instead of having a black and white background and put the names on the side of the screen with transitions.

Learning Task : Enigma

The definition on Google of Enigma is:
A person or thing that is mysterious or difficult to understand.

We came up with key ideal connotations of Enigma firstly which were:

1) Wanting to get somewhere
2) Mystery
3) Curiosity
4) Strive
5) Unknown
6) Questioning the Unknown
7) Break it by unrevealing
8) Suspense

In class we decided to create our own definition which incorporates all these elements:
The mysterious strive to question the unknown suspense to therefore reveal.

We also discussed about how you create it and these are some ideas we came up with.

1) By stereotypes
So we purse stereotypes such as murders are psychopathic white males, aged between 18 and 32,  and normally anti-social and struggle to 'hold' relationships with family and friends. 

2) Editing

3) What it can be? 
So is it an object (Click here for the RED BOX where enigma was made), phrase that is repeated, a person (commonly found in films/books) or an idea.

4) The UNKNOWN
Maybe not knowing something is what builds enigma (much like the movie clip underneath)

5)Shrinking Time

6)Excluding/Including certain elements
For this picture:

you could say including just seeing the lips is enough to understand but create suspense
But for this picture:















you could say excluding the eyes and anything above the top of the nose creates the suspense.

7)Hidden Meanings
In the clip below, we have a hidden meaning that hasn't been presented yet and therefore it creates suspense.

8) Lying

We in particular looked at this Bourne Identity clip due to the suspense as you have no clue what's going to happen. You have an idea of the strange fast-paced story and you know something if going to happen but you have no clue what. If you get that feeling when you watch this clip, then you are inflicting enigma.

Learning Tasks : Editing: Cinematic/Real Time, Shrinking Time, Expanding time and Finding Rhythm

Cinematic/Real Time

Time that a given sequence takes to play on the screen as opposed to 'real time'. In film time can be compressed or expressed.

When Match -On-Action happens, Cinematic time is the same as real time.

Shrinking Time

Through a series of fast paced cuts we can see things that would take a long time in a few minutes or seconds. Instead of watching a character get in a car and drive for 20 minutes we see them get in and then get out, letting us assume that the journey has taken place.

This can also confuse the audience if the film has constantly shrunk time and we have no ability to process what's happened.

Expanding Time

The editor can expand time by adding additional detail. For example, someone is sitting I a chair waiting for the phone to ring. In real time this might only last half a minute. But the editor can build up tension by including shots of the person's eyes, taping fingers (to show impatience) etc..., drawing the scene out to a minute or more. We are looking at 'film' time, not real time

Finding Rhythm

Editing sets the rhythm or pace of  scene. This could be dictated by either the music used behind a scene or the mood that the editor is trying to create and the pace that you edit. To build up tension in a scene you might cut from one shot to another very quickly. However, in a relaxed scene the editing will progress at a much slower pace, dwelling longer on each shot.

For example, watch between from 17:16 - 19:45

Cinematic : When watching this film, you have one part where between 18:54 - 19:24. The comparison between filming it and real life is the same. The Millionaire setting only took 30 seconds and it would only occur for 30 seconds in real life. This has an impact on the audience as you get to relax a bit and take in what you have previously watched to understand what is happening. As if you were taking a bit of a break from the tension of the film.

Expanding : Between 16:09 - 16:25, time expands to tell the context of the story. So you know that it is a developing country and it may be India because at those days and still now people used to clean their clothes in the same place they bathed in and played it so it was very unhygienic. Not only is the context created but the character characteristics are presented. We see the little boy and a women who we can only presume is his mother so we know something about the people in the shot.

There isn't any spacial area which hints the lack of hygiene.

The use of the pool playing maybe creates a happy connotation compared to the surroundings

They are cleaning the clothes in the same place where the children are playing. 

We see a female character looking at another person.

The other person in a child which is playing to his hearts' content.

Shrinking: We saw it between 16:25 - 16:40. We can see the mother's reaction shot of the train as if it is foreshadowing something. This quick shot of the mother and the train shrinks time and gives this tension building curiosity that makes our hearts start to race.

Looking away as she may hear something strange

Normal 'Indian' packed train that passes by with people walking beside.

Curious about behind what's in the train. (Between the first OSS shot to the mid-shot, timing wise it has been about 1-2 seconds)

The mother might of understood what's happening and that has reacted to it which again looking at someone.

The coincidence of her heart beating fast and looking at her child may suggest he will be apart from her or she will part away from him in some way.

She looks again at the train that's passing by. 

Then the fear comes to life after the train passes by and a lot of angry men come out screaming.

Learning Tasks : Sound

We did sound in class and looked at particular terminology such as :

Diegetic Sound - Any sound, voice or piece of music that comes from within the world of the narrative.

Non-diegetic sound - Sounds, such as music or a narrator’s voices that come from outside the space of the narrative.

Soundtrack - a recording of the musical accompaniment of a film

Theme music/tune - a piece that is often written specifically for a television programme usually played during the intro, during title sequence and/or ending credits.

Sound effects - a sound other than speech or music made artificially for use in a television programme.

Ambient sound – atmospheric sound and noise pollution. Background noise.

Dialogue - a conversation between two or more people as a feature of a television programme.

Voice Over - a piece of narration in a television programme not accompanied by an image of the speaker.

Sound bridge - When the scene begins with the carry-over sound from the previous scene before the new sound begins.

Parallel sound - When the sound we hear goes hand in hand with the image on screen.

Contrapuntal sound – sound which does not fit with the scene or images you are watching

Direct Address – when a character or narrator speaks directly to the audience.

Then we started to put it into context with theme tunes and how it makes us feel and the programme that we expect it to target.

Fresh Prince Of Bel - Air

Makes us feel : Happy, bouncy, jumpy, joyful, dancing mood, hyper and upbeat.

Type of programme we would think it would target : Rap - 'chavvy' and stereotypical black, young people, funny audience, American origin (by accents), West Philadelphia and Bel Air.

The A-Team

Makes Us Feel: Heroical, Happy, Calm, Safe, Dangerous, Upbeat, Dancing mood, Hysterical, Funny? and proud

Type of programme we would think it would target: Heroic people/characteristics, American/English origin, for English older/middle men, action and associated armed force.

Doctor Who?

Makes Us Feel: Mystical, Curious, Annoyed, Synthesised.

Type of programme we would think it would target: Men in their early 30's. People who are into scientific things. American/English/Australian audiences.

Eastenders

Makes Us Feel: Calm, Homely, Christmasy, Family and Swaying

Type of programme we would think it would target: for family and English Origin

HollyOaks

 

Makes Us Feel: Upbeat and Annoyed

Type of programme we would think it would target: American/ English Origin and Family or young teenagers

Preliminary Task : Review On Questions

After the preliminary task we still had concerning questions that weren't answered such as the below :

How to colour grade a video? 

So how do you make a colour effect on a video? There are tv programmes where in one shot the effect is 'sepia' and you don't realise it much like the photo below. You make think it's the sunset but it may be lighter and look white and the 'sepia' effect allows it to have a sunset look

How do you make a voice over?

How to add music on final cut pro?

This may be obvious but really if you have more than one type of music can you add it?

What is the main production of film?

After having our own idea of how a film production works, what is the real process of a film?

How do you get special effect on Final Cut Pro?

How to get a split screen affect on Final cut pro?

When I mean a split screen I mean this :

Between 3:34 - 3: 50

So having 4/2 videos on one screen.

How to make a realistic script?

Maybe to make a realistic script you need experience in the field so you can make it believable but if you don't have enough experience then do you 'wing it?'

Preliminary Task : Review On Theory

We used a lot of theory to help create the task as well:

Making Fake Blood + Scars

We learnt about making fake blood and scars using simple equipment but not everything turns out the way we want it to so we had to scrap the scar idea and work with blood using honey and red colour poisoning

Script Writing

We had to write a script which we wanted to make criminal themed. We got ideas from shows like, Criminal Minds, NCIS and CIS to grasp the concept of how to make it life like and as if this task we like someone had died.

Scene 1

(Door slams Lauren walks in)

Sophie - Who's there? (Feeling anxious and paranoid)

(No answer)

Lauren - (goes to shake hand) Hello my name is Inspector Amber Watkins, please take a seat.

Sophie - (ignores friendly gesture and looks away) no speech

(Lauren sits down and waits for Sophie to respond to orders) (Not bothered facial expression)

... Pause of silence

(Lauren sorts out papers and puts recording on table)

(Sophie continues to fidget and breathing heavily)

Sophie - I did nothing wrong, they did it.

(Lauren looking emotion less)

(Lauren starts recording)

Lauren - At 16:37 Nicole parsons was found dead in the back garden of Madison bloom, what is your take on this?

Sophie - (mumbling to herself) I didn't do it, i did nothing wrong.

Lauren - where were between hours of 4 and 5 o clock Saturday evening?

Sophie - I was with them

Lauren - (looking angry and concerned) who is ... them?

Sophie - (walks into spotlight) Their my friends ... erm ... (hesitates) My friends ... (screams) Don't you believe me? (Slams hands on table)

Lauren - Calm down (reaches for Sophie’s hand)

(Sophie moves hands, and walks backwards)

Scene 2

(Sapir grabs Sophie’s shoulders)

Sapir - Hello there (sly face)

Desiree - so how yah been Madi?  Killed anyone lately?  (Grins repeatedly) (Sly face)

Sapir - Yea Madi, Killed anyone lately? (Touching her hair)

Sophie - (faces windows) I didn't kill anyone ... You did it ... Why don't you guys just own up? (Controlling voice)

Desiree - So what if we killed her? No one will find out! (Flicks Sophie’s hair) (walking around her)

Sapir - Technically (emphasis on the 'Y') you killed her, because you hand the knife. We didn’t tell you what to do.

(Sophie should be silent, but looking angry)

Desiree - whooooa is someone getting angry? (Laughs and pokes her)

Sapir - Is someone going to throw a tantrum? (Laughs and pokes her)

(Sapir and Desiree push Sophie around)

Sophie - (screams) stop it, stop it ... I didn’t do anything, it wasn’t my fault ...

Scene 3

(Lauren scared and very worried)

(Lauren looks at Sophie whilst she is getting knocked about)

Lauren - Who are you talking to?

Sophie - (Realised she is alone) I was talking to my friends.

Lauren - Where are your friends?

Sophie - They are right here.

(Sapir and Desiree make a mess)

(Sophie wide eyed and scared)

Lauren - Stay here I'll be back

(Lauren sprints away)

(Sapir appears and drags Sophie head to the table)

(Sophie bends down)

Sapir - This is for your own good

(Sapir’s passes Desiree the hair) (Desiree wraps round hand)

Desiree - This is what’s best for you...

(Slams head on table)

(Sophie collapses on floor)

For the second take, we made it more simple and tried to make it as if 2 people were naturally talking. I know a script doesn't seem natural but the script that we made was more of a guideline so when editing it wouldn't seem weird.

Enter Room – Shot 1

P1 : Hey What’s up?

P2 : Nothing Much, are you going to Poppy’s party?

P1 : Mm.. I don’t think so. Do you remember what happened last time?

P2 : YES! I was such an awesome night but oh I remember what happened between you and Jade.

P1 : Yer, I know right, she was well out of order.

P2 : It wasn’t even her party, she shouldn’t of even started a fight with you.

P1 : yer exactly. She got thrown out so that’s fine with me.

P2 : you should just come, I bet she won’t even be there

P1 : Well I have so much work so. (Interrupted)

P2 : No, you’re coming and that’s final

P1 : Fine, but you owe me.

P2 : We should go shopping

P1 : Yehhh. I have been dying to buy this awesome jacket.

P2 : Oh My God, is that one from the shop in town/Topshop?

P1 : yehh, we should go on Friday

P2 : yeh, I can’t wait, the parties going to be epic.

P1 : Yeh, but if Jade is there, then I am leaving!

P2 : Ok fine, that’s fair

(Bell Rings)

P1 : Got to go to Psychology bye

Storyboarding

We storyboarded to make it easier for us to create the task so we knew the direction and simple camera shots we were going to make.

Choosing the Right Location

For the first take, we thought a dark atmosphere like the drama studio could be effective as we could make anything of a small dark rooms and it may look like a real investigator room. But unfortunately after watching the clip, we decided it looked to drama based.

The second take was simpler as we knew when talking to friends you tend to just talk to them in a room with a few friends etc...

Using free time effectively

When using your own free time you have to use it effectively and not get surrounded by distractions. 

Match On Action

Match On Action is more of a theory based as it doesn't require any technology just the use of remembering where things were and trying to keep it that way. For example, we had a box in the first take to represent a recording machine and because it stayed there we had match on action because it never moved. Same for the second take as the laptop was always the way it was so we didn't need have much hard work on having match on action

Preliminary Task : Review On Technology

We used a variety of technology objects to create this preliminary task. The below picture states the tech used:

Camera Shots

Firstly, we used camera shots - which I had previously blogged about - to create the tension of the first take of the preliminary task.

 

We had used the idea of the cut-in to help the suspense as we cannot see the character yet and only the fact that she is trembling which already makes you tense. The use of the mid-shot was again to create tension because we still didn't want to see the face of the first character but also, to set the scene as the audience don't know where this is. Maybe because the layout of the scene wasn't clear enough that made the task very 'drama piece' like and didn't have this dramatic effect. Finally, we see this short sight of the offender which is more of a mid shot to close-up which has a bigger effect than the other shots because we see the face clearly.

Our second take of the preliminary task we only used 2 different types of shot and it was much clearer on how we made it. We used a mid-shot (the 2 top pictures) but in different angles and a close-up (the 2 below pictures) but in different places.

Final Cut Pro 

I learnt alot about Final Cut Pro and the techniques such as: cutting video clips, renaming clips, reversing a clip, how to create credits and rendering it.

This was more of an exploring task, we had a brief from our teacher about cutting which was useful then we were set to do it our own way and to explore Final Cut Pro and it's short cuts. 

Use of Apple Software

We had to use and learn about the apple software as it is different to what I have at home (windows). 

I learnt the use of the 'cmd' button and what to use it with to copy, paste, cut etc... 

  

Also, apple is different with the way it is presented. With Apple software, the tab on the top is used for the files, programs and copying and paste as well but on Windows you use the 'start' button or icon to get all your programmes etc...

Exporting Videos onto Pro Res.

 We not only learnt about the Apple software but we learnt about exporting video to 'Pro Res' format. Final Pro Cut uses many formats of videos but 'Pro Res' is the best format as it puts the videos onto the video list efficiently. So by using converting videos from MP4 (or anything else) to Pro Res, we can start our editing quickly.

Linking Footer To Header/Continuity

By linking the footer to the header we can achieve continuity. In the first edit, we didn't achieve continuity as everything was off balance and in the second edit, we had made it clear that she was walking towards people. 

Match On Action (see Theory Post)

Effective Lighting

The first take of the preliminary task consisted of lighting which was one thing that we wanted to do. When the voices and people are present we wanted it to look very dark and when the officer was there we wanted it to be light (seen in the pictures below). To do this we had a chance to play around with the lighting board.

Using YouTube to find instructions

To understand how to reverse the clip which we did between 1:05 - 1:07 

            

We had to use this video to help us reverse the clip