Today we talked about genre and how we can identify genres. This could be through particular types of characters (I was joking when I said that Gandalf, Dumbledore and Obi Wan Kenobi were the same person, but they are remarkably similar!) , settings, stories even down to types of camera movement and music. It is important that we can identify these genres but more importantly how film makers make the audience aware of the sort of film they are watching.
If an audience doesn't feel as if they know what type of film they are watching they can become a bit twitchy and feel uncomfortable. It may seem like a criticism but it is very rare when we can't guess what is happening in a film. This is because films tend to stick to well worn stories. We still watch them because we like the idea of familiarity. This is also true as to why we like sequels - we actually want them to be the same as what we've already seen!
A couple of things more: I found this tonight (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aLzh3gmCoWdo) which has worked out what the most successful films are if you tweak the prices so that they're all the same (eg. a ticket in 1939 would cost the same as one in 2009). Just take a look at how different the films are!
Lastly, I'm planning on taking you lot to Bradford on 24th November to the National Media Museum (http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/), while we're there I hope we can catch A Christmas Carol in 3D at the IMAX. I'll get more details to you in September.
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Wednesday, 1 July 2009
Today's Lesson 01/07/09 - Sound
Today we talked about the importance of sound. We noted down the difference between diegetic and non-diegetic sound. The main part of the lesson was built around the importance of sound in a horror sequence. We looked at a few minutes from near the end of Halloween.(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077651/)
What became clear was that the film is much, much less scary if you only see it. The sounds, especially the music really add to the tension of the scene. Oliver noticed how the score sounded a bit like Psycho (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/).
What also interesting is, that with only hearing the sound we could still tell what was going on. Seathera noted that she could imagine a tracking shot being used as Laurie (the main character) searched the house. She was right. In fact it a lot of horror movies use tracking shots and POV to great effect.
One other point; we briefly mentioned the difference between scary and gross. 'Halloween' is scary, whilst something like Saw is gross (another term used for these films is 'torture-porn' because they sort of enjoy, and ask the audience to enjoy watching the really gross-stuff). But which is scarier? The scariest bit in the 'Halloween' clip is when the villain's mask appears from the shadows.
Homework: watch a sequence from a film you know well with the sound off. How does it affect your viewing of the scene? Write some notes in your blue film diaries.
What became clear was that the film is much, much less scary if you only see it. The sounds, especially the music really add to the tension of the scene. Oliver noticed how the score sounded a bit like Psycho (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/).
What also interesting is, that with only hearing the sound we could still tell what was going on. Seathera noted that she could imagine a tracking shot being used as Laurie (the main character) searched the house. She was right. In fact it a lot of horror movies use tracking shots and POV to great effect.
One other point; we briefly mentioned the difference between scary and gross. 'Halloween' is scary, whilst something like Saw is gross (another term used for these films is 'torture-porn' because they sort of enjoy, and ask the audience to enjoy watching the really gross-stuff). But which is scarier? The scariest bit in the 'Halloween' clip is when the villain's mask appears from the shadows.
Homework: watch a sequence from a film you know well with the sound off. How does it affect your viewing of the scene? Write some notes in your blue film diaries.
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