Saturday 24 November 2012

Saul Bass write up


Saul Bass was an American graphic designer. He is one of the most recognised and revolutionary title sequence and poster designers in the film industry. Before Saul Bass' work title sequences were often very basic and reminiscent of end credits; where the names just roll up on a plain background. Bass' colourful, simple geometric shapes were often symbolisms which, even on their own delivered a powerful messages. His work changed the way title sequences were viewed forever, as from then on they were much more creative and visually stimulating.



Saul Bass was born on the 8th of may 1920 and he studied at the Art students league in Manhattan later in his life. He then worked as a freelance graphic designer in his early career, before he worked on bigger films. He was so popular because he had the ability to capture the mood of the whole film using only simple shapes and lines. He has designed posters for many famous films and they all have a similar look making his work iconic and easy to spot. He also ended up producing over sixty title sequences. He had many great collaborations with familiar and famous directors such as Alfred Hitchcock and Michael Scorsese, making his work more widely recognised. He changed the way people viewed title sequences by making title sequences something that not only stated names of crew and cast and the name of the film, But something that presented them in a creative way. Often Bass' title sequences held metaphors that suggesting what would happen during the film, or it being a synopsis of the while film itself.


Thursday 22 November 2012

Monday 19 November 2012

Notes on the genre: horror.

Our genre for our film 'Hypnosis' is horror and so we had to look into the codes and conventions of horror films. This is so we can make the best title sequence as possible, ensuring we follow all of the codes and conventions.

The typical iconography of a horror film is:
Props:
  1. Knives
  2. Mask,
  3. Crucifix
  4. Sharp objects that penetrate or dismember
  5. Cloak 
  6. Blood
  7. Two-way mirrors
Iconic elements:
  1. Full moon
  2. Graveyards
  3. Large houses
  4. Fog
  5. Macabre
  6. Bad weather
  7. Coffin 
Typical settings include:
  1. Suburban areas
  2. Forrest/woods
  3. Forbidden places 
  4. Cellars
  5. Enclosed spaces
  6. Deserted areas
  7. 'Off-map' locations
  8. Country lanes
Typical characters that appear in theses films include:
  1. Villains that never die
  2. Virginal character
  3. Sensitive guy
  4. Social outcast
  5. Final Girl
  6. Monster/Human Monster
Typical narratives:
  1. Revenge
  2. Possession/Demon
  3. Slasher
  4. Paranormal/Ghosts
  5. Psychological 
  6. Road trips to secluded place
  7. Obsession
  8. Virus/Apocalypse 
Typical Style elements:

  1. Sequences of suspense
  2. Close ups
  3. Hand held
  4. POV
  5. Over the shoulder
  6. Dutch tilt
  7. Dark lighting 
  8. Shadow
  9. Silence/Loud noises
  10. Dramatic music
  11. Parallel music
Typical Themes:
  1. Man V Nature
  2. Entrapment
  3. Religion
  4. Science 
  5. Breakdown of society

Film Pitch


Sunday 18 November 2012

Lesson Three: Preparing our pitch.

 We prepared our pitch for our film idea using Prezi. We all contributed to presentation, Kate did the typing of all the different sections of the prezi such as; the narrative, target audience, cast list etc. Dylan did the research into other similar films, he looked at their budgets and worldwide profit so we could base our one on it. Finally, I did some research into fonts that we could use for our film and created a small animation as an example of what it could look like. I also helped with the research into similar films and contributed with what we wrote. 

Lesson Two: Coursework groups and ideas

We were asked to get into our coursework groups, I went with Kate and Dylan. We discussed our film ideas that we came up with over half term and decided on Dylan's idea of an invisible killer who can control minds as we had a few ideas for the title sequence and we all liked the idea. 
We developed his idea further into something that we believed we could easily work with. 

Lesson One: Type Fonts

We started to look at type fonts and the importance of it in the film industry. We were shown different type fonts and had to identify what film they came from. This confirmed to us how iconic certain fonts can be. Then we had to analise a second title sequence as part of our research and planning. Finally, we  learnt about the important codes and conventions of title sequences preparing us for our coursework.

The Art Of Film Title Design Throughout Cinema History

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/10/04/the-art-of-the-film-title-throughout-cinema-history/

1. "Words and lettering played an enormous role in films of the silent era. Film titles made their appearance in the earliest silent films..."

I picked this because i found it interesting how far back title sequences go and were developed. I thought it was cool how these film titles could have been the early development of todays title sequence. 

2. "Over time, the very appearance of white-on-black title lettering became a visual trope..." 

I picked this because I found it interesting how popular white text on black background was so popular and now that I think about it, if I saw a white title on black background it would automatically strike me as an old fashioned film title, showing how iconic it was. 

3."Maurice Binder worked on the title designs of 14 films about Agent 007, including the first episode, “Dr. No” (1962). Binder created the famous gun-barrel sequence, which became a signature for the Bond series"

I picked this because I found out how far back the famous gun-barrel look on bond films went. It's interesting to think how these creations last so long and become icons in film. 

4."The revolutionary title sequence for “Se7en” (1995) by Kyle Cooper was named by New York Times Magazine as “one of the most important design innovations of the 1990s”

I picked this because I thought it was interesting how important this title sequence was in the history of the film industry. If interesting to think what title sequences would be like today if that title sequence wasn't around. 


 5. One thing these individuals have in common is a drive to find a strong metaphor and tell an exciting story with their sequences.
This is referring to the disney and pixar title sequence creators. I picked this because I learnt that all of their animated movie title sequences have a strong meaning in them, and I think that the way they have done this is clever as it must be difficult to create this in an animation. 




Halloween 3 analysis





At the beginning of the Halloween 3 title sequence a flickering effect is visible. This reminds me of a old fashioned television and therefore suggests that something is going to be portrayed to television viewers. Also, it could suggest that a television has some sort of importance somewhere in the film. The flicker is also symbolic for mystery as you can not see what is actually going on and therefore it will be hard to work things out.

The music in the first part of the title sequence is very high and quite distorted, and doesn't seem to fit in with the film's genre. This could suggest that this film may be unexpected and have scenes that you have never seen before in horror films. The blue text and the orange background are quite contrasting colours connoting that things wont match up in the film, also suggesting mystery.

The music changes into a quite low hum which sounds dark and mysterious suggesting what the mood and tone of the film is going to be. The music conveys the genre the most due to the distorted and mysterious/atmospheric music making the whole scene more creepy. It makes the audience quite tense as they can't tell what it happening and the music adds to this tension.
Another point is that throughout the whole of this sequence, something is slowly being revealed to us using the orange lines. We don't find out what it actually is until the end suggesting that this might be the case in the film; that small parts of a mystery are shown to us throughout the film but we don't find out the answer to it until the very end. The fact that the orange lines are then being cut out again could maybe suggest that there maybe stabbings in the film as the cutting of the lines could resemble a character being cut.

The colour orange shown throughout the sequence is always linked to halloween, which is the name of the film too. So, if someone didn't know what the film was called the colour orange could suggest the theme of halloween to them. This along with other features too, such as the music and the fact that the end image is of a jako lantern.











as you can see here, the building up of the orange lines create a jako-lantern, shown at the end.





Saturday 17 November 2012

Captain america analysis


 Captain America: The First Avenger

 We instantly know as soon as we start watching the title sequences that it will be set in wartime as we are shown an iconic poster of Uncle Sam pointing at us. At that point we will also know that it will be set in America as this is an iconic American poster and Uncle Sam is an iconic American figure. The music played sounds quite heroic suggesting it could be about a war hero. It also sounds adventure-y connoting it could have adventure features. It’s quite an upbeat song that doesn’t sound dark which suggests that it’s not going to be a dark film. The music could be considered quite fanfare like, which is associated with wartime and going to war linking in with what I said earlier.

Near the beginning a shot of three hands are held together in the middle, which suggests teamwork. Also, they are all wearing different costumes; one is wearing a work glove, one is wearing a suit and one is wearing an American flag costume, which could also suggest that people from all different classes are coming together and working together. This could suggest an underlying theme of the film too – teamwork.

Carrying on with the theme of war, we are shown a number of army looking aeroplanes, suggesting/foreshadowing that there could be some action scene involving aeroplanes somewhere throughout the movie. The fact that a woman saluting is shown could suggest a romantic element perhaps, and the fact that she is saluting could suggest she is part of the team/army.


Around the middle of the title sequence we are shown a hand in a glove with a wrench, this could suggest that there is some sort of manufacturing element somewhere in the film. Also the fact that it is working on the 'O' in the word 'production' suggests the making/ manufacturing of something which could have significance during the movie. The significance of the 'we can do it' poster could be significant as it could relate to the teamwork feature again and the fact that it's a woman could suggest that a woman succeeds in doing something important. The showing of many flags of the world could connote that many countries are involved throughout the film, and the fact that the USA flag is at the front shows that it is the main country and maybe the most important throughout.
The fact that an explosion illustration is shown could foreshadow events that happen later in the film. Not only this, the colour red, used on the person at this point signifies danger and evil, but it could also suggest a romantic element in the film.
'what about a nice hot cup of freedom?' could signify something in the film, perhaps someone gets a sense of freedom from doing something. The fact that this is shown could maybe show that it's important.

The fact that all the different parts of the title sequence join up in some way could show a sense of merging between characters and that different people will join up together.
Overall, I think most of the things shown in the sequence were shown for foreshadowing purposes, to subtly let the audience know what might happen during the film. Also, to set the setting, the period of time and the genre.  

Friday 16 November 2012

Fight Sequence with foley sound

Kate, Dylan and I created this fight sequence. Dylan filmed on the day, while Kate and I starred in it. After we'd filmed we all took turns to edit all the clips together, then we all helped with creating foley sounds, and then Dylan and I edited in the foley sounds.

This is the final video with foley sound added in to enhance sounds, such as punches and slaps. We used food items such as meat, carrots, celery and a melon to re-create or enhance the sounds in the clip. We used a range of camera angles for effect too, to make the video more interesting. Doing this, we learnt how to create effective foley sounds, to make the sounds in the video more realistic. We also improved our editing skills and knowledge of using final cut pro.