One Shot Film, Practice.

Yesterday we began preparations for our practice one shot film, we were given instruction that the film could have to been made with the camera being static and that we were allowed only 1 move. Chris split us into group and we went out to choose our location. We had two options either the arboretum or the graveyard, we decided to go with the graveyard and began thinking of ideas, and few that floated about where either showing the life and death of someone. a chase scene through the graveyard, or the idea that we eventually settled on have the camera facing down a path and having our main character walking towards the camera and people running from the cameras pov, a sort of judgement day scenario, our main character would be oblivious to the goings on around him, e.g. screams and at one point someone will run towards him and try warn him but he just shuns them away. having come up with some initial ideas we met up the next day a hour early and put the finishing touches to our ideas.
              Having all our ideas down and a good idea of what we wanted to do we set out with camera and filmed our scene, we recruited some people from another group so that we could have more people fleeing in the film, we found a suitable location waited for no one to be around and began filming, before hand we made sure everyone knew what they were doing and which direction to run in, we had to make sure each person also didn't stop running until they were out of shot to make it look realistic, Harry played the main role and slowly walked towards the camera ignoring the people around him, before hand we also filled in a risk assessment to make sure the area was safe. we were lucky enough that nothing went wrong and we completed our film in 1 take, and it received a good reception from Deborah and the other groups, it was a good taster into what the actually project will be like and we are now in the process with coming up ideas for our actual film.

Rule of Thirds

The rule of thirds is a compositional rule in visual arts such as painting, photography and design. The image in question should be divided into nine equal parts and that important parts, for example of a photograph should be placed on the lines or intersections. This is done because in creates more tension and energy within the photo as well as drawing the viewers eyes to the parts of importance. The photograph above demonstrates the rule of thirds, the horizon sits on the bottom most line and the tree is placed on the vertical right line. For the photograph to work it is not essential that the points of interrest sit on these lines but, any parts on the photo that wish to be made more direct to the viewer should sit near the lines. Here are some examples to display the rule of thirds in use.

Mr. Nice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eERUqYM8_zo

Last week i watched Mr. Nice at the cinema, it tells the story of Howard Marks and how he became the most wanted drug dealer in the world and is directed by Bernard Rose. It follows Marks (Rhys Ifans) as he grows up in Wales and is accepted to Oxford University this is where he has his first encounter with Marijuana and he begins to regular smoke it, before this stage though Rose uses clever medium close ups of Howard and teamed with Ifans' facial expression it shows a real shy side to the character his posture is always good and he is always polite, this shows how the drug smoking has a massive change on Howard as a character in the scene directly after his first encounter with drugs his posture has changed from up right, to laid back and relaxed his clothes have also changed and he is surrounded by women.
                   However after a accident with LSD he chooses to quit drugs and knuckle down and study, he successfully graduates and becomes a teacher with his girlfriend, putting drugs out of his life. Some years pass and he comes into contact with and old friend from Uni who is rich from smuggling and selling drugs, and a phone call from him 2 weeks later saying he wants Howard's help tempts him back into the game and he begins smuggling drugs from Europe and sells them in England. Howard begins to smuggle more and more drugs without any trouble, and makes more and more money, he comes into contact with Jim McCaan (David Thewlis) a Irish member of the IRA Rose uses a high angled close up shot here to add a sense of mystery to McCaan as we are not sure of his part within the film, However with his help Howard begins bigger deals and becomes more noted by the authorities.
                As the film progresses the viewer follows the ups and downs that Howard encounters, from trouble with the law to buying homes across the world. What i enjoy about this film is how although in today's society drugs and portrayed and being very bad, but Rose puts the viewer on the side of Marks and you really want him to succeed and want him to become rich and not get caught. I think Rhys Ifans is perfect for the role of Marks he brings a real comedy to the film and makes it really enjoyable, although it starts off slow i think the film is a real feel good movie, and Rose uses some excellent close up shots of many characters to portray the role in the film, teamed with a good soundtrack which matches the pace of the movie, and think this film will be a hit

Buried

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1Yyhxq56Xg

I recently watched Buried at the cinema and found it a very interesting film. directed by Rodrigo Cortes and starring Ryan Reynolds, it tells the story of a trucker who was hired to deliver supplies to troops in Afghanistan, however his convoy was attacked he was captured and buried alive held at ransom for £5 million dollars.
            The film starts in complete darkness and only the breathing of Ryan can be heard as he regains consciousness, he breathing becomes increasingly deep and erratic realises the situation he is in. As the story unfolds he finds he has a phone with hi and receives calls from the terrorists who have buried him and manages to contact some help, the whole film is confined to the coffin Ryan is in and i think Cortes did a brilliant job in keeping the viewer and the verisimilitude going throughout the film, you are constantly on the edge of your seat with unexpected outcomes happening throughout the film.
           Cortes using some very good camera angles to convey the claustrophobia of the coffin, Close ups are frequently used from all angles to show how small the area is as well as POV shots to put you right in the perspective and Ryan performs brilliant to make you believe he is actually in a desperate situation, also many ups and downs through the film happen when al hope seems lost Cortes adds another element to the move which could change it all round. the film draws to a close with the coffin slowly filling with sand and leaving the viewer hoping the the rescue team get to him in time.
            With such a simple plot and a small budget i think the films performs amazingly and is up there with many of the big blockbusters, and i am looking forward to watching more of Cortes' work.