SCENE 1 - ANALYSED

When editing any film I always aim to begin with a striking, eye-opening shot to capture the audience's attention. I therefore decided that the opening shot (shown below) best captured my vision of a strong opening. By cutting from black to reveal Jack laying by the lake, the audience are faced with many questions that need answering.

Shot 1 / Shot 2

I then wanted to explore the surrounding environment the main protagonist was in, so I cut to a static shot of the lake. Subtle movements in the image (an insect flying off the water) add to the overall atmosphere of the film. 

Shot 3 / Shot 4

Thirdly, I cut to a CU of Jack's hand in the water. Whilst colour grading the image I wanted to bring out the grit and dirt on Jack's fingers. I specifically ensured not to show the main character's face throughout the first half of this scene, as I wanted to maintain the levels of enigma this creates. 

The fourth shot (displayed above) wasn't initially meant to be in the edit, but due to the obvious dirt on the image shown below, I decided to replace it with the one above instead. 

Scene 5 / Scene 6

The pacing of this scene remains slow and subtle throughout to parallel the vast, calmness of nature. I also believe the pacing creates a sense of eeriness and terror due to Jack's circumstances, walking through the woods alone.

Cutting from a CU (shot 4) to a LS (shot 5) best portrays the secluded environment Jack is in. I then cut to a LS of the tops of trees, to act as a bridge for the next sequence of shots.

Shot 7 / Shot 8

Shot 9 / Shot 10

Shot 11 / Shot 12

Shot 13 / Shot 14

The woodland sequence was intentionally broken up to parallel Jack's fragmented state of mind. The jump-cuts and eerie atmos/sound effects work together to convey an unsettled world. The final shot originally featured the unknown man dragging Jack's body off-screen, however I felt it was more subtle and effective to cut to black as he bends down to grab his boots, this tells us that he is more than likely going to drag his body off anyway, and that we needn't see it happen. In my opinion it's more effective to make the audience think in some circumstances.

The video of the scene is shown below-

00:00 - 01:10



Home Away From Here from SHU Film & Media Production on Vimeo.

SCENE 10 - ANALYSED

The final scene I believe is one of the pinnacle points in the film in which Jack is freed - emotionally and psychically. He escapes from the torturous terror of the basement and enters the light. I purposely attempted to create a harsh lighting effect when he emerges from the basement, transitioning from black to white.

Myself and Joel collaborated on creating a poignant atmosphere, to connote freedom and highlight Jack's emotions. The atmosphere would in-turn relax the audience until the striking/pivotal moment at which Jack takes his own life by slitting his throat. There were many takes of Jack walking through the fields however I believed in being strict with the edit, to not drag out the sequence longer than it needed to be.

The throat slit itself was difficult to cut, as the original takes were all very, very poor. The prosthetics on Jack's neck were clearly visible and the throat slit/blood pouring effect Amy created did not work as intended. I believe she should have tested this out before the crew ventured out to the week-long shoot on location, however perhaps due to the limited time available this was not possible. Because of this, I was forced to create a slit-second cut of Jack's slitting his throat and the blood spurting out.

I downloaded an 'Action Essentials' package that featured blood bursts with a black, blank background. This allowed me to easily overlay the footage and crop it to the correct size and place I wanted it to be. I then experimented with the contrast and saturation to create the rich, deep red effect that blood actually is. Afterwards, the director brought in an animation student to see if he could create a proper, more professional looking blood effect animation. However the results were not as good as we thought they'd be, the effect appeared 'cartoonish' and was clearly after-effects than real-time. The shot is displayed below and the decided effect used in the final film is at 11:47 (also shown below).

https://vimeo.com/97598894 (Last accessed 25/05/2014)

 We reverted back to the original cut/effect that the director and I created.



Home Away From Here from SHU Film & Media Production on Vimeo.



The final crane shot I believe was a satisfying shot to end on. Unfortunately the quality of the shot wasn't strong enough as the camera didn't pan out as heigh as I wanted it too, however faults aside I still believe ending on a shot of Jack was an effective way to bring the film to a close- a connection between the audience and the main protagonist is created.

DaVinci Resolve Lite

 Whilst undertaking research on various software available for colour-correcting, I came across DaVinci Resolve 10 Lite (DRL) which is a free version of the popular Davinci Resolve software. I watched various tutorials on the basics of colour-correcting in DRL and weighed up the pros on cons of using the software. I was informed that the software features a relatively high learning curve, and by the point in which I received this information I had already coloured approximately one third of our film within Final Cut Pro 7. Therefore I decided the best option would to carry on colouring Home Away From Here within FCP7.

The director and myself are both happy with the results FCP7 has produced so far, however I have concluded that any future projects will be colour-graded using a different piece of software (DaVinci Resolve Lite or Magic Bullet). This semester I have discovered the power and importance of colour-grading films. A professional production requires this process and if I am serious about furthering my experiences in the field, then I will take it upon myself to learn and experiment with the different software available.

THE DARK KNIGHT - BANK ROBBERY ANALYSIS

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/

A wide variety of cinematography techniques and clever editing are used in the opening scene of The Dark Knight (2008), directed by Christopher Nolan. The whole scene evolves around suspense. This is cleverly brought to life through the use of non-diegetic sound, different camera shots and the slowly increased pacing of editing.

Immediately, an extreme long-shot is used to convey the scene's location. The camera zooms into a building with many windows, creating the idea that each window contains a different story and that anything could happen. A sharp cut is then used, followed by an OTS shot of two masked criminals, this shot is effective because it allows the audience to see what's happening from the characters' perspective, it also makes it seems as if we're there. These shots tie-in with the genre of the film (action/adventure); the use of dramatic/big camera shots are expected in movies such as The Dark Knight.

An aerial shot is used to broaden out the size of the operation that is about to take place. It also emphasises the height at which the criminals are at and makes the audience feel unsettled and potentially fearful. I believe this is the response the director was hoping for- to create a compelling and successful scene within the film.

More zooming in, OTS shots are used on the villain's masks/gestures, creating a great sense of enigma and making the audience wonder who'm they are. Jump cuts are used to great effect, they are used to show the parallel action taking place. CU shots/MCL shots are used to show the character's body language/blocking, whilst still allowing the audience to be acquainted with their surroundings.

Tracking shots track the character's movement across the area and whip-pans are used to increase the sense of urgency, action and unsettled atmosphere.

Finally, low-shots are used to make the criminals look big and menacing, subsequently making the audience feel small and insecure.

The pacing of editing in a scene can help determine what genre of film it is. For example, in an action/adventure film such as The Dark Knight, it is expected that the pace of the edit will be frantic, fractured and urgent. The pacing of the edit in this scene builds gradually, beginning with slow-cuts that slowly build up suspense and anxiety. The 4-minute long sequence features many jump-cuts to help create a continuous, un-interrupted scene that allows the audience to immerse themselves in.

Overall, the variety of camera and editing techniques used create an effective sense of enigma, suspense and urgency. I am taking this (and other) research on-board as it will hopefully aid me in my future productions.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3-ClsRE9Yk (Last accessed 22/05/14)

CUTTING TO BLACK

Home Away From Here from SHU Film & Media Production on Vimeo.

VIDEO (shown above)-

TIME - 6:20 - 6:35

This short sequence features Jack fleeing the house and running away from his family. Initially, I created a cut that showed Jack running through the yard and into the field by cutting together various different angles. Upon watching it back, the sequence didn't appear to gel together effectively. His acting/running style appeared odd therefore I decided to cut to black two or three times and use jump-cuts. This fragmented effect broke up the style of the edit and added an extra layer of suspense to the scene. Joel cleverly cut out the sound of Jack breathing when the screen went to black, similar to the effect used on Saving Private Ryan during the opening beach assault when the camera dips into the water and above it.

HOME AWAY FROM HERE - TRAILER

Below is the trailer Luke Harrison (director of photography) has created for our film Home Away From Here.



https://vimeo.com/91461100 (Last accessed 15/05/14)


Due to my hectic post-production schedule I was unable to create a trailer myself (as much as i wanted too). Overall I am impressed with the trailer, it appears to follow the traditional conventions of a horror/thriller trailer with the quick fade-outs, eerie atoms/sound effects and use of shots that create enigma. Whether this is a good thing or bad thing is another matter, as the director does all he can to shy away from the stereotypical conventions seen in most horror films today.

FINE CUTTING

Below is the feedback I received from my director after discussing the edit for Home Away From Here.

• Longer pause when family exit after soap torture

• Edit "I don't know what you're talking about!" scene as his response is too confronting.

• Trim the shot in which Jack exits the basement (shot number 2)

I will now take these requests on-board and alter the edit. I agree with the points Jordan has made, as the scene in which Jack shouts "I don't know what you're talking about!" is too confronting and doesn't fit within the piece. He has suffered ruthless torture and the crew decided it was unnatural that someone would act in this confronting way. The soap torture scene/shot also needs extending because the family must exit, and the mother must head downstairs to begin reading her book. This continuity is required, as shortly after this shot Jack escapes from the house and the audience see the mother moving up from her chair after reading a book.