Applying sound to our movie

We downloaded sound effects and background sounds to our movie using Garage band, first by downloading the relevant tracks to itunes and imported them to to Adobe Premiere Pro. We first discussed which sound would fit in with which clip without it seeming unconventional, cliche or awkward to cut. The fade tool was very useful in creating are soundtrack as we wanted it to seem as smoothe as possible. None of us had used the sound software so it did take a while to get the hang of it, we debated which sound loops where most suited as there where multiple for each mood. Although it was tricky we managed to complete it in a decent time, although we did take longer in a certain scene where the victim (Izzy) gets taken. We where unsure if we should use a scream as a recognition to her friends that she has been murdered, or the attackers voice or even the dropping of weapons. We branched out on other free sites for a better variety of choice but and when applying each to the clip, we realised that the only realistic scream was too long, the dropping of a weapon sounded like it was inside the cabin rather then out but the sound loop of the killer laughing at his sick antics, really fit the scene well. We used an acoustic sound to be used at the start of the sequence inside the cabin when everything seems fine, making it light hearted, sweet and innocent, but the classical scent made it have a creepy twist.

opening sequence analysis

Juno

I love this opening sequence as i think it is so different to others, its not conventional or mainstream but the use of animation makes it so individual. The music is like modern american swing music, it is friendly and inviting. The actual film is very simple in terms of what it shows; a small area of  teenage girl walking around with a bottle of orange juice. The simplicity is sweet and it makes it look like an independent movie unlike most high budget movies that use multiple locations and extreme situations. In this clip we are not expecting dramatic moving images as the sound confirms the  sweet simplicity and locality of the film.

Sound research

Legally Blonde

The sound is immediately compatible with the genre. The tone is very upbeat and the singer; being a young woman represents the character with the mood of the song and the lyrics such as "They tell me to act my age", this is well related to the obsession with pink that is represented dominantly throughout. The music also relates to the genre of the film, mostly being a 'chickflick'. A very positive approach to a feel good movie is represented through the music. It is not just the music that makes this opening sequence so original; the use of glowing pink font shaped in a curvy feminine fashion makes the movie less formal. Although there is a lot of different moving image in the opening sequence you would expect it take the attention off the design of the film, however realistically all together they are matching and made very smooth throughout. 

Initial idea planning

Our First idea was a love story. A boy and a girl who cant be together run away from home, but it is a challenge. The Cliffhanger ends when they both get caught by their 'enemy'. The audience does not know if they will escape but the film leads to lots of anticipation and tense feelings from the audience.

Ashes to Ashes analysis exam prep

Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs the representation of Gender

In filming, the camera spends more time on the male characters apart from Alex Drake. in the boat for example, there us a lit of close ups of the males as they try and flirt with Alex, some of these being point of view shots, making the audience see what the woman sees. This might be because they want to represent men as greedy, dirty and arrogant, the close ups make them much more un-appealing, this is a bad representation of the make sex. The camera also uses tilt of Alex starting from her feet up till her face, this lets the audience explore her demographic,; as she is dressed as a prostitute. The use of red colouring and heavy makeup shows women in a exploited light which is a negative representation. 

however, in the scene where the man is holding her neck the cops sarcastically call her 'smart' this might have been used to show the inner depth of a woman who works as a prostitute. The emphasis and dialogue regarding her clothes highlight her as an 'object' rather than a human, the officers sarcastic remarks make her intelligiance undermines. the zoom inn of the clown looking character and the echoed voice makes him seen a villain, as we are dominantly shown the character of Alex, we assume this male is evil; negatively representing males.

The sound used is very repetitive, at the beginning during the fast cut editing the sound is deep and repetitive without taking away from the visual storyline. muic is significant in the scene where Alex has time to establish herself in the tilt camera movement. They use choir music of a powerful woman, to show her realisation of the apparant transformation of characters, this is a powerful representation of the inner beauty of the woman. Another important piece is when the officers role up in their car, the music is rock it is low key but 80s style music. This created an informality of the officers presence, their sunglasses are also very informal, making the audience struggle to see then authoritatively. The language used by the males towards Alex such as 'slut, prostitute' etc shows a complete disregard and respect towards Alex, representing men as the dominant sex over the confused damzell in distress.

Titles Analysis BBC

Art Of The Title

An Education (2009) The opening sequences using animation as well as real life images, types of animation used are related to 'Education' such as maths angles, shapes, science equipment, skipping ropes, textiles, paper shapes, music notes, bar charts etc. These are used by themselves at the start of the sequence, using white outlines on a black background. However they start to use fade and overlapping techniques with real life images. The fact that the animation looks drawn makes it seem a lot more creative and suitable for a younger audience. The real life images used are girls of around the age 15, doing formal ballroom dancing with partners, placing books on there head as an elocution lesson, playing lacrosse, cooking and many more. The pupils are showing typical pupil characteristics, having fun in the playground and looking bored and hopeless in lessons. The music is very upbeat high pitched and used drums and trumpets in a very repetitive, positive and almost comedic light. The titles are placed in different areas of the screen making it less predictable and more dynamic. The sequence looks like it is set in a Grammar School in the 60's due to the uniform and activities shown on screen, the music and the realistic attitudes make the genre comical.

Signs 2002: Sound

The music is very important in this sequence, at the start it is silent, introducing the main actors of the film. However it quickly starts being powerful, with sound of the violin, this transition is made through a fade to black. It is very fast paced, as though they are on a mission or there is a mystery. Especially in the middle of the sequence, the more deviant notes are represented with a change of title, keeping up the tension and making it flow. The font is black, in a simple but bold and sharp format. The simplicity of it matches the genre of horror or an old fashioned action film. 

Feed The fish

Feed the Fish Evaluation

Me and my group discussed themes for the feed the fish film, and eventually decided on British Gangster with the use of irony. We use inside and outside when filming, we felt this would make it more mundane and widespread. The kitchen scene was the prime example of when we wanted to include irony where 'feed the fish' meant edible fish fingers. However to give it variety would put a story line behind it with impressionable dialogue that made the film more complex and less comedic. We all brought in suitable clothing on the days of filming, mostly being formal to fit the 'gangsters' role.

We had to ensure that we all were available through certain days of the week such as lunch times and after school. Rosie brought inn her own camera with good lens to make sure the film was high quality, and I think this really benefited the film after editing; as it made it look more professional. We all worked well in a group, almost everyone took part as characters or through filming, so the morale was fairly good when the task came along. Everyone had opinions on what they thought it should include and luckily we were all very appreciative of each others ideas.

Before shooting each clip we verbally planned the camera angles we wanted to use, however when it came to filming we had a few jump cuts from where the acting needed to be cut. We used the computer to display a rainbow fish at the end of the film, this was with the aim to make it humerous and also use some sort of visual technology to make it seem less simple. Furthermore, we filmed a scene after school one day with Rosie's car, filming inside and outside and zooming up on details to cause tension and excitement. However when it came to the editing we didn't feel the scene was relevant or compulsory for the film, other factors also included the weather change from mid day to dark which didn't fit in with the time frame planned, so we decided not to use it.

During peer assessment when the class had to watch each others film, we received lots of constructive criticism. They felt there was one or two jump cuts which should have been prevented, they also thought that the part with dialogue in it was not steady and appeared to be shaking. Furthermore the lighting was far too bright in most scenes and it gave it less high quality, although it was very hard to avoid in the time scale we were given. It was also noticeable that the frames were cut, however we explained that during editing we could not flip the shot without it being cut.

Moreover, they stated that there was lots of irrelevant background noise, however this could not always be prevented as we had to use available rooms that could not drain background noise. Although at the start of one shot someone said 'cut' which should definitely have been noticed and re-shot if we had more time.They also felt that there was no symmetry in the camera angles and needed more suitable and variety shots. There is also one scene that we had to use two different characters for one person, although there was effort to avoid this being noticeable some people still noticed this error. On the other hand there was some postitive feedback from peers, some saying that the acting was at very high standard and are use of clothing and accents were very entertaining.

Overall I think the film went well, we worked well as a group and the film came out in good quality. If i had the chance to do it again I would make the actors/actresses freeze when camera angles needed to change, as it would reduce jump cuts to make it look more smoothe. All critisisms given by peers I would avoid doing again, but this task has been very useful in learning and progressing.

Harry Potter

My Harry Potter Sequence

In my Harry Potter sequence I used dark and mysterious music for the extract because I think the theme and genre of film is very magical and threatening. The Dementors that are introduced at the beginning of the sequence made me use more of a terrestrial sound during some parts of the sequence, and highlighted the wind sounds to show darkness and an 'out of this world' experience.

I used very simple music for this part in particular because I wanted to make the action very significant. Also because the profile of Harry is very underwhelming and lonely, I felt it was a parallel sound.

I wanted to use very irregular sounds for the Dementors sequence because it creates a mystical effect and changes the whole feel of the opening to a much more hostile environment of fear and tension. I feel the sequence was a lot more horror until the Dementors sequence came on which became depressive and mystical.

I felt that the short amount of editing I did was very effective, the timing from the land shot to harry walking up to the park has accurate timing. As the Warner Brothers slowly erupted and the Harry Potter thundered in letters, I used very deep tones to highlight the darkness of the theme. Using more than one sound in this part in particular benefited the sequence as the moving image was parallel to its sound.

I found garage band hard to use as it was very technical and detailed. They had a large variety of sound but it was very time consuming finding one specific sound as there are so many themes to choose from. I found lengthening the sound very difficult as I had to split it when there was no solution, this was a negative attribute to my sequence as it made the music jump start instead of flow. 

I thought for the first time I did well, however in comparison to others I feel it was a lot less advanced and I could have done a lot more in the time we had available. To improve it I would get dialogue for the talking scenes which would make it seem a lot more advanced and do more sounds from the swing scene on wards.  On the other hand it was a very helpful experience and a vital tool of sound editing in media.

Phantom Of The Opera

Phantom of the Opera opening

The scene starts in black and white and this masculine character (antagonist) is smartly dressed. We hear slow deathly music that sounds heavenly yet scary, the music then stops and we hear dialogue; an auction. They proceed to speak formally in old English. As the draped, sheltered chandelier is unveiled and it starts to rise, we hear the music is deep and threatening, it is repetitive and continues through the whole opening. However, the tones change depending on the mood of the scene, for example, as the camera rises and the colours change the beat increases its pace giving a sense of magic and nourishment. He stands on the second floor of the dusty and unkept theatre as the music pauses. He looks out to see a diamond chandelier layed on the floor. Echos of wind flourish around the scene, this is significant because it replicates the subliminal message in that the theatre is being washed away and is eroding itself by sheer abandonment. More characters emerge, also dressed in Victorian clothing and fresh suits, big grand hats like the businessmen of them times. A woman has dark clothing with a black hat and veil, as if it was the funeral of the theatre. 

As the scene continues the camera which was originally screened at birds eye view, gave the character a lot more power over the surroundings as he looks down upon the action. It slowly changes to a low angle. this technique makes the atmosphere a lot more tense and scary, increasing its significance. Scanning the theatrical chairs as the colour changes to a strong red; this creates a strong and powerful feel to the theatre. As the dust floats over the interior of the dead playhouse everything becomes colourful in reds and golds making us feel royal representing wealth. The lighting is bright and florescent demonstrating 'the rise of the dead' the modernization of the run-down theatre appears by a flashback.

The whole scene becomes a lot more realistic when we see the exterior of the theatre. The natural lighting is a lot less intense and creates realism, we see carriages and middle class citizens walking the streets in a busy area. We see children and adults rushing around the pockets of the theatre in a rush, creating masks and doing arts, the lighting is a lot darker then before but is feels a lot more warm to the black and white scene we saw at the start. This is a massive contrast to the middle of the opening where it seems a lot more wealthy and higher class,it almost seems magical when the chandelier rises and the theatre gradually grows richer.                                        

However seeing graft by the people when supporting the fresh opening of the theatre it gives us a completely different feel. We see workers dressed very casually, then we see dancers dressed in glowing costumes and frocks. All of these contrasts work together to show the value and importance the theatre has to the people. Its popularity towards the end with the crowding contrasts the lonely disserted theatre at the start of the opening, like its being brought back to life with intensifying passion from the people and the soul of the theatre.

Max Payne Opening

Max Payne Opening

The opening motif starts with 20th Century Fox and then we see visual darkness but we hear a voice over of deep tone, this is a soundbridge. The next scene is visual aswell as containing voice over, the diegetic sound of heavy breathing and gasping for air aswell as underwater sound, this being bubbles and the swaying sounds of the deep sea; as we get a good vision from beneath the water. It tones down as background noise while the voice over continues at the same pitch. Furthermore it continues to a quick scene change to a dark shadowed door and we hear a baby crying in distress, the visual dullness makes the sound parallel, the darkness and music confirms that the crying is bad.

In the same scene we hear a clock ticking with a repetitive beat, this builds tension and makes the audience feel on edge, highlighting the theme of time. Again the scene quickly changes to the first visual scene of Max Payne's in the underwater, with bubbles. Overlapping the scene is non-diegetic voice over. The opening changes again from panic in the sea to a relatively quiet house environment as Max Payne opens a squeeky door, this sound is commonly used in horrors to make the viewers apprehensive of what is about to occur.

Furthermore, we then hear the clock ticking again in a dark room where a woman is lying silently, the sound is repetitive and daunting outlining the negative image. It then moves on to an outside scene with Max Payne in a close up, the background is dark and silent. We continue to hear the sound bridge of the clock ticking as we see a slow image change. The image scene is of baby toys around the child's room, with a soft high pitch tapping noise from the slow clashing of the toys. Again the scene goes back to the underwater, however the sound this time is a lot more peaceful like Max when he is slowly sinking, this is an example of parallel sound. During the there is still a voice-over. Next the soundbridge from the opening is repeated with voiceover with exact tone. The last few seconds are a lot more understandable and the story practically begins as the busy street sounds of diegetic police sirens wail.