Assessment criteria

Final Cut Pro X First Impressions

My first impressions on final cut pro x were that it looked extremely hard to use and required a lot of understanding to be able to use the software. However we had the help of some year 13's at hand to help us if we got stuck and require any help. With this help provided it made using the software a bit more simpler and easier to use.

Final Cut Express First Impressions

When I first used final cut express I found it was rather hard to use and I found it difficult to come to terms with how to use the software and the way to use certain things, such as, using the cutting tool and adding extra effects etc. However once I had the chance to have a play around with the software it started to become a lot more simpler to use and wasn't as difficult to edit videos. Now I can crack on with my work without worrying about not been able to use the software.

The Brief

 

The Brief

Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.
Main task: the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.
All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source.

The coursework is worth 50% of the AS (same at A2) and the marking (detailed later) is divided into 3 sections:

RESEARCH AND PLANNING: 20%

PRODUCTION: 60%

EVALUATION: 20%

Your work is marked partially on my observations of your approach and level of organisation, but fundamentally its a DVD and your blog that are marked.

Sweding Pitch

Sweding
What is sweding?

Sweding is where you take a film and change the aspects of it to make the film comical or a spoof of the original film. An example of sweded film is the film Jurassic Park.

If I were to choose a film to do a swede of i would choose the film 'Super Bad'. I would choose this film as it is mainly based around the three main friends who go out and cause havoc in there own unique way. I believe creating a swede of this movie would not be to difficult yet would show which film it is off and wouldn't require a great deal of props.

My Favorite Film

My favourite film is called Pineapple Express
(David Gordon Green,2008)

Box Office

Budget:

$27,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$23,245,025 (USA) (10 August 2008) (3072 Screens)

Gross:

$101,624,843 (Worldwide) (8 March 2009)

This is my favourite film because it is extremely humorous, full of action and the characters involved in the movie make it a whole lot better as the way they act out the scenes when they are on cannabis (high) is very funny. Also the use of language and quotes used in the movie make me laugh every time i watch the movie.

Official release trailer for 'Pinapple Express'

Film Opening (2) Sunshine

 Sunshine (Danny Boyle,2007)

DVD Cover


   


Box Office

Budget:

£26,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,021,063 (UK) (8 April 2007) (407 Screens)

Gross:

$32,017,803 (Worldwide)          

     

 50 years into the future, the Sun begins to die, and Earth is dying as a result. A team of astronauts are sent to revive the Sun - but the mission fails. Seven years later, a new team are sent to finish the mission as they are Earth's last hope.

 Official release trailer for Sunshine

The company idents featured in the opening scene are:

• Fox Searchlight Pictures

Other company idents not featured in the opening scene include:

• DNA Films
• Ingenious Film Partners
• Moving Picture Company (MPC)
• UK Film Council

In this first scene viewed in the opening of the film 'Sunshine' the director has used a extreme long shot to establish the setting of where the the movie is or could potentially be taking place. Also the first shot shows the sun shining above the horizon which in a way sums up where the title of the movie comes from.

This second shot viewed during the opening scene of the film shows the space shuttle in which is been flown towards the sun in order to help re-ignite the suns energy in hope to save the world. In this scene the director has used a long shot to capture some of the scenery but intentionally to show the mass structure of the shuttle.




This third shot viewed during the opening scene shows one of the main characters sat in showroom of the shuttle ship (icurus II) looking out upon the sun from where he is sat. In this shot the director has used a long shot once again to show some of the foreground and background but mainly to show what the character is viewing.

This penultimate shot from the opening scene shows a medium close up shot of one of the main characters gazing upon something, the purpose of this shot is to show the characters body language, what they are wearing but mainly yo capture how there facial expressions change as the event goes on.

The final shot that i picked out from the opening scene show a extreme close up shot of one of the key characters eyes hiding behind his sunglasses which are been exposed to high levels of sunlight. In this shot the aim was to show the viewers the characters facial expressions and how his eyes begin to water and blink.

Taken Swede

 Taken, The Swede

As a group we collectively created a swede on the original film Taken. We decided on using the key main scenes from the original film to create our swede. To do this we used George's camera to capture the footage of our acting out of the scenes.

 

Official trailer for Taken

Our swede

 

 

 Key scenes

We chose this scene of the film as it shows the two friends waving goodbye as the leave the airport to catch there flight abroad. When we took are video, we decide to use a long shot and a two shot too capture both the characters in the shot and also to establish where they are.



 The next key scene from the movie we re-enacted is when Bryan Millls (the father) is on the phone to his daughter Kim to assure that she has arrived at her destination safely.When we acted this scene out we used a medium close-up-shot on both Jake (Bryan) and James (Kim) to show the body language of the character and there facial expressions. It also shows some detail of where abouts the character is.

Our next key scene we chose to use from the original movie was the part when Kim watches as her friend Amanda is being abducted by some males. This scene is important as it starts the action of the movie to commence. We used to different shot types to re-create this scene. They were POV,OTS and CU. These shots helped capture see things from Kim's perspective and her facial expressions.
 

This scene shows Kim crawling underneath the nearest bed to her and following instructions from her father Bryan on the other end of the phone. This scene is relevant to the movie as it builds up the suspense. When we acted this scene out for our swede, we used one shot type, and one shot angle. These were CU shot and a HA (high angle) shot. The HA shot helped make Kim look vulnerable and weak.

  In this scene from the movie it shows the males who abducted Kim's friend Amanda coming and dragging Kim from underneath the bed she is hidden under. When we shot this scene of James under the table (the bed) we used 4 types of camera shots and 2 types of camera angles. we used a CU to show Kim's emotions, POV&OTS to show what Kim is seeing and a MLS to show the males taking her. The LA shot helped portray the abductors power and the HA shot showed Kim's vulnerability when they catch her.

Our final scene chosen from the movie is when Bryan does his main speech to the abductors " don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that will  be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you ". For this scene we did a CU shot of Jake on the phone to capture the emotions been expressed by his facial movement and to also add suspense.

Breakfast on Pluto

Director: Neil Jordan

Release date: 13th January 2006(UK)

Run time: 129 minutes

Budget+Box office: $3,942,254

Opening Scene Time: 3minutes 25

Official trailer for 'Breakfast on Pluto'

List of the company idents:

                      

 

Shot Types

The first 20 shots viewed in the opening scene of 'Breakfast on Pluto' show various different types of camera shots, different types of camera angles and the usage of various different types of camera movement. In the first 20 shots captured there is a few types of camera shots including, over the shoulder where we view Patricia "Kitten" Braden (leading actor)'s point of view when she is strolling through the town centre pushing her pram. I think that the director (Neil Jordan) decided to take this shot to help create and allow the viewers to understand what Patricia ''Kitten'' Braden is seeing. Also during the first 20 shots viewed the director uses Point-of-view shots (POV), Close Up shots, and a Establishing shot to help set the scene, to give the viewer information about where the scene is set (in this case the scene is set in Ireland in a small town just next to the countryside).

These types of shots were purposely used to help establish who Patricia ''Kitten'' Braden actually was and the background information about the character. The choice of the POV shot allows the viewer to see what Patricia is seeing when she is walking through her town with the pram 1:11-1:24. 
The choice of a medium close-up shot allowed the director to help the viewers see what Patricia looks like and give them a sense of an idea what Patricia may be like and the type of lady she is. Also this shot shows the background and it also shows the body language of the character. 

At the start of the opening scene Neil Jordan has used music all the way through to show the viewer that what they are seeing is the opening scene and the music helps give the viewers a idea of who the character is , and what they may be like e.g. there interests or there background. To end the opening scene Neil slowly fades out the music to address that the movie had reached the start of the story.

Cillian Murphy as Patrick "Kitten" Braden

Plot

A made-up Patrick "Kitten" Braden, pushing a baby in a pram and flirting innocently with construction workers, introduces her life story. The story is set over 30 chapters about Patrick's life story, which is set in the fictional Irish town of Tyrellin, near the border of Northern Ireland in the late 1940's. Patrick's mother abandons him on the doorstep of the local parochial house where his father, Father Liam, lives. He is then placed with an unloving foster mother. The story quickly jumps into Patrick's teenage years, and how he survives after his step mother kicks him out of his home an he runs away with a band, here he meets a man called Billy who he falls in love with. Patrick uses the the name Patricia ''Kitten'' Braden to get around and comes across many difficulties in his life. His main aim is to finally get to London to find his birth mother and to be reunited with her, however things don't run smoothly for Patrick as he finds himself doing various jobs and also been forced into prostitution. Eventually Patrick (Patrica) finds her true love Charlie and move to London after there house is bombed by the IRA, as they flee Patrick bumps into his birth mother at the doctor's office, where Charlie is getting post-par tum care.