Evaluation for sound Ben Volonakis

The role I played in the project was in charge of sound. Sound can do anything to a series of shots, it can build suspense, or throw you right into the deep end of pure immersion and you do not resurface as you are submerged in a storm of sounds and vision.

The genre chosen for our project was a war film - In terms of sound, this genre demands sounds to be loud like a battlefield - this meant that it was going to be an attack upon the senses, and to engage the audience within the fight, with gunshots and shouts and rustles etc. Many of which were picked up by the camera originally, but in some areas, the sound was buffeted by the wind, or just was not clear enough.To correct this, I added mp3 sound effects of gunshots, and cut sound or, using final cut's timeline, lowered the sound levels in places so it couldn't be heard so it could run smoother than straightforward cutting.

The timeline resembles what I wanted it to be - a huge collage of sound to emphasize confusion and danger with gunshots and ricochets and shouts and cries from the soldiers. To accompany the editing done by the editor, I wanted to make the audience feel like the soldiers were in trouble and threatened by the German MG42 position by including constant gunfire from the MG42 with powerful shouts by the Germans to intimidate and be generally and conventionally scarier than the ‘goodies’ of the scene. 

In research, I watched many war films like ‘letters from Iwo Jima’, ‘days of glory’ and sections of the ‘band of brothers’ movie; specifically the battle of Brecourt and Carantan, where I was inspired to go against my previous urges to include a mix of soundtracks, as this would just take away the sheer realism that the rest of the group had tried so hard to create in the project. In fact, without the use of music it created much more interest and belief in the film, whereas they would probably note the music, and that kills the belief a small amount, but in a war film, you must make sure that the audience bond with the characters upon the screen – and therefore the more realistic, the better.

The only thing close to music was an ambient and atmospheric drone to build tension – it also acts as a foreshadow to action, and the change in music from silent rustling and hushed whispers in the night scene brings the audience in that extra bit closer, and makes them pay attention to what the squad leader has to say. The drone also has a dark edge to it, strengthening the foreshadow of death and warlike destruction mentioned before.

War films are generally action packed, with so much action that adrenaline kicks in, and you are on the edge of your seat, completely engaged with the film – and sound could be used to channel extra excitement through exaggerating peaks and still keeping some buzz from action in troughs in the storyline. What I expected, and what I am sure we achieved is that there is never a dull moment within the battle, thanks to the ongoing gunshots and ricochets which makes the soldiers seem as if they are surrounded by deadly bullets. 

In many war films dialogue is not a huge feature - the focus is more upon the guns, the soldiers and who gets killed or kills. Again, me and my group fighting yet another urge to fit a longer story so the audience is lead through a bit more talking than the average battle. However, we had to fit the whole sequence into 2 minutes, so, using sound bridges and shouts without the audience having to see every word come out of their mouths, It makes the sequence more compact and easier to gain impact. and it also adds depth and makes the sequence flow without breaking up the action for a soldier to say something. with action flow, you have to let it snowball, or it will not reach a climax, and that will make it somewhat more boring.

In a nutshell, the sound I wanted to add was an exciting, action filled, noisy, atmospheric ball of sound that is thrown into the ears of the audience from the second the play button is pressed. I wanted a thrilling war atmosphere to accompany and compliment the editor’s, director’s and the cinematographer’s work to add that extra quality to the sequence. 

Evaluation For Cinematography

Melissa Pitout

Our film was based on world war two, where we had the British army land on the German land and invade them the next day. The sequence we shot would be taking place at the middle/ soon after the beginning of the film, because it shows the British landing on Germany and the start of the invasion soon after taking place. During this sequence one of the German men is shot by one of the main protagonists in the sequence, this would help the audience get more of an idea of what else is going to happen in the film. For this scene I wanted to create a lot of tension and a build up of suspense, as well as anxiety in the sequence.

As my roll in the group was the cinematographer, I looked at other war films to pick up ideas on what we could do in our sequence, to give of a more intense effect. The two main films that influenced me were ‘Saving Private Ryan’ (Steven Spielberg), and ‘Band Of Brothers’ David Frankel. These two films influenced me because I thought the use of cinematography, was highly effective and got the audience involved the whole way through.   

 For cinematography, I was influenced by a lot of the camera work used in ‘Band of brothers.’  I liked a lot of the camera worked in the first few sequences. As it enhanced the effect it had on to the audience.
The first camera shot that I really liked in ‘The band of brothers,’ was the use of a mid shot, looking as though it was coming form another soldiers perspective (, image 1 below shows this). This shot used hand held camera movement, which involved following the rest of the soldiers from behind.  I thought that this influenced the genre because it got the audience more engaged with the action taking place, as the shot made them aware of how characters are feeling during this time; tense and scared. It also increased the pace of the sequence, which linked in with the narrative sequence. I liked the effect that this had on the audience, so I decided to use this in our own sequence. The next shot that influenced the sub genre, was a close up of the soldiers feet, also being used with held hand camera movement and it was also combined with a quick paced cut, this helped the audience feel tense, and we wanted to have the same effect be used in our film, so we were highly influenced by this shot, and used something similar in ours. 

Image1- ‘Band of Brothers’                              Image2 –‘Band of brothers’

    

I have developed my narrative through the cinematography, by using close up shots as well as well as the use of mainly held hand camera movement, to give the sequence a distorted feel to it. This way, it fitted in with the narrative, as war films are needed to be quick paced, in order for the audience to see everything going on in the sequence. However, we also used a range of slower paced camera movements at the beginning of our sequence. A close up shot of the binoculars, and a steady camera zoom out to see the soldiers face. We wanted to use steady pace movement at the beginning of the sequence and make the movement quicker to develop the speed of the tension within our sequence, to highlight the narrative structure. These shots such as the steady close up, also helped to introduce certain characters, as well as show importance of our characters used as individuals, this close up that was used was influenced by Steven Spielberg’s ‘ Saving Private Ryan,’ as this shot showed the importance of the character as an individual, but soon after this shot came a long shot, which showed the audience the importance of the characters as a group. We used a similar technique in our sequence, to show the significance of teamwork in war films.

Images below influenced by saving private Ryan- Steven Spielberg (similar shots used in our sequence to develop the narrative structure, in our sequence.  

 

 

In order to develop our narrative in our sequence as a group we would discuss what we thought would look good for our narrative, and talked about band of brothers and saving private Ryan and used similar, ideas to give off the same effect, this then would engage the audience more, and keep them interacted with what was going on.
We also talked about camera shots and what camera angles would look best where in order to keep the narrative simple but complex at the same time. For example a high angle used in our sequence to suggest weakness for the character, and quick paced camera movements to illustrate the genre. We would then watch what we have done and see if it needed to be re-done, and what transitions would look god to help increase pace, or slow down pace, but for the transitions to fit in with the camera movement. We also talked about weather or not there should be use of slow motion in some areas, and the use of fades combined with this in shots such as a character falling down after being shot to give off a bigger effect.

                                 When it came to adapting and changing our planed on the day of filming, we ran through the whole sequence      and talked about what camera angles would look best where. We then filmed the camera shots, angles and      mo               movement, and watched back our sequence, and discussed whether or not the camera movement looked good en               enough or not. If it didn’t we re-filmed our sequence and tried something different, until we thought the sequence      flowed. 

I wanted the audience to be greatly effected by the use of cinematography that we used. As there was a great range of different camera shots and angles in the sequence. I wanted the audience to engage with characters, and get a sense of how they feel is specific parts of our sequence. For example a close up used to introduce a main character, and long shots used to show the importance of the group, a similar effect that Steven Spielberg used in ‘Saving Private Ryan’.
I think that it would be important for the audience to engage more with the characters as it gets them involved, so the use of cinematography for our specific genre is highly important.  

When we got our feedback, we were rather happy, many of the people in the classroom said that the cinematography was effective, and that our sequence had many different camera angels to keep them interested throughout the sequence. Some people said that it would have been nice to have a few more close up shots of the amour to get the full detail, which might of added a slightly bigger impact on the effect of suspense. They also said that it would have been nice to have more panning camera movement to get a bigger view of the surroundings the characters were in, instead of using a hand held movement throughout, to illustrate the establishing shot.
Many people said that although we used a lot of hand held camera movement, it was rather effective, and it increased the pace of the sequence, which, had a build up of suspense.
An example that someone liked was the use of the mid shot of the shoes running and the camera following, as it looked like it was from another soldiers perspective, and the hand held camera movements made it look more realistic, and it gave them a sense of anxiety   

Sequence and Director evaluation - Screenshots Needed

AS Film Sequence Evaluation - Screenshots needed

   The part I played in the process of creating our short film was that of director. This meant that I had to brief the actors on the day of filming to create a chosen effect during scenes, and help choose the appropriate setting along with choosing some of the props. This also meant being in charge of the ‘Mise en scene’. The most prominent emotions that I wanted the characters to portray during filming were desperation, unity, a level of discipline, and specifically in the last segment of our sequence, I wanted to show fear and weakness in the character who cannot bring himself to shoot the final German soldier. I then wanted to have that contrasted by the ease in which the officer who is with him, guns down the fleeing German, to show the greater experience and power in military hierarchy.

   The genre of our film is War and this meant that I was given some specific requirements to include in my direction. First when we found our filming location, I went to see it with another member of the group to think about where the scene would take place. To one side of the area there was an obvious train track, so we had to structure the filming on the other side of the field near a small grouping of trees, used as the forest in our first scene. I also talked with our editor, who was luckily part of a re-enactment group about authenticity of props we could use to give the audience a more realistic performance, allowing them to focus more on the emotion of the piece rather than the authenticity. On the direction of acting, I watched several war films including “Hurt Locker”, “Letters from iwo jima” and “Saving private Ryan” to get an idea of common emotions. The discipline and control combined with the subtle desperation of the soldiers when things on the battlefield get tough was a common factor through all of them, and as I said earlier, these were my primary intentions.

   Being the director, I had a large impact on the narrative, as along with the other members of the group we watched a number of assaults from “Band of Brothers” films. After I put forward to the group my intentions, and we adapted a storyboard we had all contributed to, to have moments which could make these main emotions obvious.

   With the attitudes of the actors set, I wanted the audience to respond in a similar pattern to the change of the soldiers. At first, the drop and the alerting of the Germans should make the audience feel on edge, but the calm and direct nature of the higher officer should make the audience feel relieved. This feeling of relief and confidence should carry on into the next scene where I tried to tell the actors to seem focused and ready for the mission they were being briefed on. When the attack starts, the audience should feel excited with the action going on, seeing the aggressive Germans opening fire, and the soldiers embarking on their flanks. When the two officers towards the middle of the scene get shot down simultaneously, the concern that I made the officer show, and the further opening of fire, were intended to give the impression of desperation, and for the audience to feel the desperation whilst watching. When the grenade is seen being passed down the line, the feeling of anticipation should be at its key moment for the viewers, and as the soldiers approach during the action, the anticipation should continue. However, when the rookie soldier is seen to pause, I directed him to shudder and hold his gun, building tension for the audience, and have the return of desperation as the German sprints away. But then a huge relief and feeling of triumph should return when the officer with the rookie soldier shoots the fleeing German. I directed the officer to deliver the last line of “Next time, don’t hesitate” with a stern but understanding tone, to give a lasting effect of sympathy and relief when the audience see the relief in the rookie.

   Most of the feedback that I gained about my work was good, as it showed the viewers had understood my intentions. The fact that I have been involved in theatre in the past and directed in musical events in and out of school helped me describe what I wanted from the actors clearly and precisely without confusing them.

editing tasks for week

Tasks to be completed by editor by the end of the week

 Day 1.  to have a whole rough cut with all shots needed in sequence including small editing snips
 Day 2. to have sound fitted with the editing so it makes sense and wind got rid off so there is no disturbance
 Day 3. to have shots and meanings that i have discussed with harri are in the sequence and the rest of the group understand the story and cuts i have made.

Sound Aims to be done by the end of the week.

As soundman, Im going to look at including non-diegetic sound like music, and diegetic sound like shouts, gunshots and more detailed sounds like rustles etc.
But what we also must acheive is do get rid of the annoying wind in some scenes. Other than that, most of the main sound aims are on track to be done by wednesday. by thursday music can be added and the wind sound will be gone. magic. working with mitch, we can sync up the sound lag.

Director

To do:

• Help with the editing to allow the parts that I thought were best directed to feature prominently in the finished sequence
• Start writing my evaluation of the aspects of directing that went well and had room for improvemeny

Notes on evaluation so far:

• I shall upload onto here some of the directed shots I was heavily involved with, and also screenshots that inspired me from other films I have looked at
• I was proud of the work done as the storyboard was accurate to the final product, and the acting was realistic and appropriate
• I thought I could have tried some different directions on a certain shot, but we managed to cope with the shots we have got

To be continued...

Aims for cinematography this week

Things needed to be done for cinematography  

• Although i have finished with the actual filming, i will need to help out with the editing, and see if i am happy with the camera shots in the order they are in, in order to see if the sequence flows. I will also help the editor, perhaps with transitions, and suggest what transitions look better when moving into different shots. 

• I also need to start my evaluation this week, on cinematography, and talk about where i got my ideas from, and why i chose those particular shots, as well as why i chose the camera shots from particular sequences. 

Shots that we really liked in the sequence
and we thought we effective: 

• We liked this close up shot of two because it introduces the audeince to the characters.It also gives the audience a feel of relationship within the characters. It also then creates sympathy for them, and gets the audience more involved with what is going on in the sequence.  

I liked this mid- long shot because it got other characters involved within the frame. It then shows the importance of all the characters and the role they play in the short film sequence. 

The use of this mid shot was used to create sympathy for the characters. As it enhances the friendship they have, and the team work needed in the film extract. It also engages with the audience more as the camera movement is held hand and the camera moves closer to the action taking place. This makes it almost look as though the camera is from another characters perspective., having a larger effect on the audience as they see how importance team work is in the genre.