Vox Pops

Vox Populi (latin) means voice of the people.  They usually have the interviewees shown in a public place and are supposed to be give spontaneous opinions in a chance encounter.

Vox pops are often used on news programs to show 'balance'.  They are often introduced by the interviewer saying 'Opinion was divided on the streets...'

Dreams Of A Life

 

Dreams of a life is a Dogwoof film made by Carol Morley.  The film was made to tell the story of Joyce Vincent's life before she died in 2003. 
It was found that she was a very well liked and attracive young woman who had a very mysterious past.  After having few jobs and dissappearing from her friends lives she died in her flat located in Woodgreen.  She was found 3 years later, in a skeletal state, infront of the tv which was still on.  The only way that she was identified was by comparing dental records. 

The film explores Joyce and what she was like.  It includes interviews with her old friends and people that had worked with her. Also, it includes clips of Zawe Ashton playing the role of Joyce Vincent and what may have happened during the lead up to her death. 

The film was made on a low budget and was shown at a film festival in 2011.  It has changed many peoples lives as it is made to linger on the mind.  It makes the audience think whther someone would miss them if they or someone they knew went missing. 

The movie was advertised in newspapers and various interviews were done with Morley and Ashton.

Speed of editing/style of editing

In films, the length of a scene may vary, however, the length of a sequence establishes the pace of the film and the speed of editing can help to show the mood of what is on the screen.

To make the audience to feel anxiety or suspense then the shots will change very frequently and the editing will be quick.  An example of this is The Bourne Ultimatum.
If the film starts to have a relaxed mood then the scenes will last a lot longer and won't change as much, this happens in romantic comedies.
At starts of films, the editing must be slow as the audience needs to understand where they are and what is happening on the screen and it is slow to introduce main characters, however as the film progresses the editing may get quicker and scenes become shorter.  For example, the opening to Spiderman and an action sequence from later in the film are at different speeds.

For trailers, the editing needs to be really fast as they need to have as much detail from the film as possible.



The style of editing is how shots can  be linked together.  The movement from one shot to the next is called a transition.

Straight cut:
It is a common and invisible form of transition.  It is where one shot moves straight to the next without the audience realising.  It helps to retain reality and they do not break the viewers suspension of disbelief.

Dissolves:
It is when one shot fades off the screen while another fades on.  The audience is able to see both the shots at the mid-point of the dissolve.  It is mainly used when the film maker wants to show a connection between two things, such as characters.

Fades:
This is a gradual darkening or lightening of the image until it is black or white.  It is often used to indicate the end of a section of time and it can show the passing of time.

Wipes:
It is when image is pushed off the screen by another, they can be pushed either left or right.  It is common for the image to be wiped to the left as this is more consistent with the sense of time moving forward.  It is used to signal a movement between locations that are at the same time.

Jump cut:
Jump cuts are where the audiences attention is brought into focus on something suddenly.  It occurs when breaking the continuity editing, which is known as discontinuity.  It is as if a section of the sequence has been removed from the film.

Graphic match:
This is where the film maker is able to choose to place certain shots in a specific order to create a smooth visual transfer from one frame to another.  When two consecutive shots are matched in terms of the way they look this is called a graphic match.

Montage:
This has lots of images that have been quickly edited together.  The rapid cuts force the audience to consider the connections between the images.  They are often used to reflect chaos, tension or disturbance.

Analysis of past pupils work

The Catalyst

This past thriller had a very professional ident as the colours of the font matched the sky in the background.  However, I think it would have looked a little better if it included some sort of animation.
The start of the film draws the audience in as the character is seen breaking into a house by using a knife.  This is a very good way of making the audience want to carry on watching.  As the film progresses the speed and action starts to increase.  By making it fast paced the audience will be intrigued by what will happen next.  The continuity editing is also very well done, however when the man shoots out of the window you can see buildings in the background but the person he is shooting is in a completely rural area.  Although, i did think that seeing through the gun was a very good way of seeing what was happening.  The music also fit the thriller well as it made the whole thing very mysterious.  All together I feel that it was very well done but a few changes could have been made to make it an excellent start to a thriller.





The Routine

This past pupils work was very well done.  The ident at the start was well done and looked professional as well as all the shots throughout.  Continuity was well done all the way through the thriller, there were no errors with different objects or mistakes with costumes.  The start of the thriller was very unique in the way that it would replay the character's morning routine and the way the editing sped up showing how it never changes.  This was very effective and when it was different all of a sudden, people were aware that something bad was about to happen.  The music at the start was able to show how everything was normal and happy by the way it was upbeat, but when the music no longer played it also gave the effect that something was going to happen.  Moreover, the camera angles from when the character is thrown to the floor are very well done and the way the background changes.





Waking Up

This opening to a thriller wasn't the best as they had edited as if it is a trailer to a thriller.  I didn't think the scenes went together very well and so I thought continuity wasn't all that good.  However, the actual camera shots were well done.  If the pupils had made the continuity better then it would have made more sense and the audience may want to carry on watching.  However, I found it disjointed.
However, the ident was professional and The design was very unique.

Opening Title Sequence

There are many titles that are featured at the start of every movie.  They include:

1. Ident - Production company (Galaxy Productions)
2. Production company Presents (Galaxy Productions Presents)
3. A film by -  Director (Ropa)
4. Male Actor (Chris Sullivan)
5. Female Actor (Kamie)
6. Title (Hunter)
7. With... (other actors)
8. Editor, Cinematography, Music, Screenplay (me, Ropa, Kamie)
9. Producer (Kamie)
10. Director (Ropa)