Hello there, my name is Katie and I am currently studying the OCR H140 Media Studies course at AS Level. On this blog, I will regularly be posting about what I am learning throughout the course, and how I will apply this knowledge the my main piece of coursework, a 2 minute film opening.
In order to ensure that the preliminary exercise ran as smoothly as possible, myself and my partner Rachel had to plan what would need to be done before it came to filming. As we are only a group of 2, we would need people to be featured in it- we chose our close friends Catherine Rochford and Kate Hide. The girls were happy to help us and we filmed in Catherine's kitchen after school on Monday 26th September. Prior to filming, myself and Rachel sat down together and mapped out the details of what we would film, with the scenes being laid out in the form of a storyboard. Firstly, we had to decide who would be our actors and, as mentioned previously, Catherine and Kate happily obliged. Next, we were considering the various locations that were available to us. As this was only our preliminary, it was not vital that the location was relevant to the plot, and, also, only needed to be very basic in order to complete the task. Taking travelling home into consideration we decided Catherine's house would best to film in, as it is quite central and the rest of us would be able to get home safely and easily. Another factor in favour of using Catherine's kitchen is the placement of her dining table in relation to the door- it is positioned quite close and would therefore make it easy to film a character crossing the room. With the permission of her mum, filming took place in Catherine's kitchen. The next decision to be made was what the characters were going to speak about during their 20 second encounter. Like other groups, we decided to use a popular, well known song, and have the characters speak the lyrics to each other like a conversation. The song we decided upon is Carly Rae Jepson's 'Call Me Maybe'. Factors for the song choice included how known it is, the actual lyrics, and how we could use it to our advantage regarding the criteria we needed to fulfill. Once we had decided on the dialogue, we planned out the scenes on a storyboard, as featured below. The storyboard would help us to vary shot types, ensure we have met all the points in the specification, and decipher which scenes are shot in the same location/ position and film them consecutively, rather than in the order they would be edited.
Below is our final video that we have uploaded to the school YouTube channel.
'Breaking the 4th Wall' is a term used to describe the technique when the character in the show looks to the camera and speaks directly to the audience. The name is derived from the fact that, typically, a film set has three walls, with the fourth being the camera; when the character speaks into the camera they 'break' the barrier between the themselves and the audience and therefore break the fourth wall. In the Gaze Theory it is known as the extra-extra diegetic gaze. Examples of films and programmes that break the wall include Miranda, Deadpool, and the recent BBC boxset Fleabag.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge's self written six part series Fleabag, is an adaptation of her award winning one woman play. The show is based around a single, twenty-something woman living in London, who is desperately trying to make ends meet whilst single-handedly running a failing cafe. Over the course of the episodes, we get an insight into Fleabag's life, especially the relationship with her hugely successful older sister, her ever changing love life, and the accidental suicide of her best friend, Boo. Many of the characters featured throughout this boxset are not given real names, including the eponymous character of Fleabag herself. Instead, they are known by a trait which defines them such Bus Rodent and Godmother. This technique consciously highlights their insignificance compared to the other people in her life such as her sister Claire, and best friend Boo. The continual breakage of the fourth wall brilliantly engages the viewers in the hilarious, snarky inner thoughts of the main character, played by Waller-Bridge herself. These scenes provide short bursts of comedic gold, cleverly placed within the ceaseless humour. The life of the other characters continue whilst Fleabag talks to the camera, regardless of the situation, and sometimes remain engaging with her. The use of this technique is also employed to inform the audience what is going to happen next, particularly when interacting with another person; suggesting that her life follows a predictable, standard pattern. Bringing down the fourth wall makes this series all the more funny, and allows the viewers to really connect with the mindset of the main character. Personally, I found this series hugely entertaining, and was hooked from the very first episode. Waller-Bridge's sarcasm and ingenious one-liners entwined with highly relatable yet clearly broken characters makes for side splitting viewing that always have you pressing 'next episode'.
When planning an episode of a television series or film, a storyboard will be created to show each scene shot by shot. This is done in order to ensure that the shot types are varied, and it allows the crew on set to film all the scenes from one location consecutively, rather than in order of editing. Doing this is particularly helpful when filming shots from the exact same position, as it allows the camera be left still, and will therefore capture the shots without having to attempt to reposition it in precisely the same way. As a class activity, we watched a small clip from series 3 episode 1 of 'Luther', the opening of the BBC drama 'Remember Me', and drew out storyboards for each. This task was done in preparation for storyboarding our preliminary exercises, which I will speak about in a future post. We created these storyboards as we watched the clips, but for our preliminary and final piece we will do it before filming for the aforementioned reasons.
As a part of the course, we have been asked to create a short clip called a Preliminary Exercise. The exercise is a continuity task designed to prove we can film and edit a character who opens a door, crosses a room, and sits down in a chair opposite another character whom they exchange a few line of dialogue with. The task must demonstrate examples of match on action, shot/ reverse shot, and the 180-degree rule. This task is to be done in groups and these will be the groups that will work together on the creation of their final piece. We will not be marked on the quality of this exercise, however it does have to be done. Techniques:
Match on Action: this technique is used when the camera cuts from a shot, to a different shot type but following through the action of the previous shot. The cartoon example shows a shot with two people's hands meeting, followed by them shaking hands. Another frequently used example is a shot of someone reaching for a door handle, and then a new shot of them turning it.
Shot/ Reverse Shot: this is an editing process where the scene cuts from one shot, to another, and then back to the first. It allows the audience to see both action and reactions. It is often used when when filming a conversation in order to show both participants.
180- Degree Rule: this is a filming rule which states that the camera/s must film from behind a line. The line is used as a guideline for filming a scene with more than one character, as it allows the characters involved to maintain their relationship regarding their positioning to each other. Without this cinematographic rule, characters will switch sides and continuity would be lost.
To be able to get a high mark on my coursework, I need to ensure that the filming and editing is of high quality. This includes having varied collection of shot types, camera angles, camera movements, and focuses.
Shot Types - the distance at which something is shot from and their purposes
Establishing: an establishing shot tends to be the opening few shots of film/ television Their purpose is to 'set the scene' and give the audience a feel for the location of which the piece is set.
Long: a long shot is employed when a large amount of the setting needs to be included in the scene. It is used to feature the character focused on and the surrounding environment.
Full: a full shot shows the entire subject from head to toe and does not often feature too much of the setting to focus on, making it different from a long shot.
Mid: a mid shot is used to show only a part of the subject, most commonly use to shoot a character from the head to the waist.
Close Up: this type of shot focuses on a smaller part of the subject. It aims to capture more detail than a mid shot and is mainly used to focus on a character's face and shoulders.
Extreme Close Up: similarly to the close up, an extreme close up is primarily used to capture small, minor details that would not necessarily be seen from any other type of shot. The difference between the two varieties of close up is how close they are. An extreme long should would show very little, for example, just a character's eye.
Money: this is a type of shot used to how the character as they are doing something with a prop, and the camera can become the prop. For example, a camera can be placed inside a closed cupboard which will capture the moment the character opens the cupboard door and the audience would view the character from inside the cupboard, rather then outside.
Camera Angles - the angle at which a scene is shot from
Eye Level: an eye level shot is when a scene is shot from face on. The camera would be at roughly the same height as the heads of the characters and gives the affect that the audience is at the same level as the subject.
Low Angle: low angle shots are often used to signify looking up at something. To execute this type of shot, the camera would be placed lower down or at the bottom of the subject and shoot upwards to create the affect that the subject is towering over them.
High Angle: this is the opposite to a low angle shot. It is when the camera is positioned above the top of the subject and is angled downwards to capture it. It is often applied to denote looking down on something or something being below the character in focus. An example of this is an adult looking down at a child or pet.
Overhead: this angle gives the shot a birdseye or ariel view and is commonly used to show someone moving across an area of land.
Undershot: this gives the opposite effect to an overhead view, and is used to show being beneath something and looking up. From this angle, the audience will only see the underside of the the subject focused on. An example of this type of shot is when shooting underwater and the camera sees the underneath of a shark.
Camera Movement
Pan: in a pan, the tripod holding the camera does not move from its fixed position but the camera itself can be pivoted. This type of shot will capture horizontally moving elements of the shot such as people walking or a car going past.
Tilt: very similar to a pan as the tripod does not move, with the difference being that the camera is moved vertically, rather than horizontally. Shots like this will often be applied to reveal a building or a person.
Track: tracking is the process of the camera following the subject around a scene. The camera is usually handheld.
Dolly: a dolly is when the subject of the shot is followed by the camera when the camera is on wheels. This shot type is often employed to move the camera towards or away from the subject.
Zoom: zooming is when the lens on the camera magnifies or minimizes the subject. It is often confused with dollying, but is different as the camera does not leave the fixed position it is in.
Point of View (POV): a POV shot is used to portray to the audience that we are seeing what they would see and that the camera is acting as the subject's eyes.
Conversation Shots
Over the shoulder: this type of shot shows a character from behind the shoulder of another character. One character will be in complete view, whilst only the back of the shoulder and head will be seen of the other.
Face to face: in a shot like this, two characters would be sat in front of each other, looking at one another whilst speaking.
Two Shot: this shot, like face to face, also focuses on two characters involved, but instead of them facing each other, they are side to side and the side of both their faces are shown.
Over the head: this type of high angle shot shows a character from the view of above another, the character in the foreground only has the back of their head showing, whilst the other character is in full view.
Focus Techniques
Manual: A manual focus is when the camera's focus is adjusted by the user.
Depth of Field: This focus technique allows the shot to be blurred in either the background or foreground, to give emphasis to the other one. Depth of field is often used in the same scene, blurring the background, and foreground at different times to highlight one then the other.
Below is the video from YouTube that I used to help me learn the name of, and differences between, the range of shots, angles, and movements.
Throughout this academic year, I will be studying the OCR Media Studies AS level course. I have been interested in the study of the media since year 10, when I took it at GCSE level and achieved an A. I have decided to take this course as it will hopefully lead me into a media based degree and, eventually, a career in the industry.
Over the coming months, the course I will be following is OCR H140, which is divided into 2 units- coursework and an exam. Each of the units are worth 50% of the final grade and each marked out of 100. They are composed like this:
Unit G321- coursework
50% of final grade
marked out of 100
consists of 3 components- a blog (20 marks), a film opening (60 marks), and an evaluation (20 marks)
Unit G322- exam
50% of final grade
marked out of 100
consists of 2 components- Section A: TV Drama (50 marks), and Section B: Institutions and Audiences (50 marks)
