The Searchers

Induction

•How does the building and landscape frame the action? Why is this important?

In this clip it shows a clear use of mise-en-scene by the use of landscapes. As you can see it is set in a desert which makes it clear to the viewer that it is a western film. There are also other aspects that come into this, which include mostly include props and costumes. This is all clearly shown in this frame mostly by the landscape which gives the initial indication of what genre it is. This is important to have the appropriate landscape so that the viewer knows what to expect.

•How and when is the rule of thirds used? How does this affect the image?

The rule of thirds is used by separating the shot with a 3x3 grid, it is used so that the focus isn't in the centre of the screen, and is normally just off to one side. It draws the viewers eyes to the composition rather than just the centre. This is used to build interest as there is no specific subject of attention because of the way it is positioned. Having the objects centred around these points draws attention to them, this is used when Ethan is coming home and you can see that he is positioned on the points which makes him the focus to the viewers.

•When is leading line used? Why is this? What does it tell us to look at?

Leading line is where there are lines which leads to the main subject of the image. It creates powerful images with a strong visual impact. It helps draws the main focus to the main subject. The leading line is Ethan as he is the main focus in the frame because as a viewer we are intrigued to find out more.

Sherlock Transitions

Pass by effect- transits from one scene to another or a person or object moving from one place to another on the frame. The consecutive scene appears as one moves out

A door opening from a scene to another location that has no relevance or connection. It makes the viewer feel the intensity of the situation.

tilt shift effect- normally used in shots with lots going on like a city, and it focuses on a specific part of the frame

sounds- moving into another scene, the sounds will overlap nearing the end of the scene and then will cut directly to the next scene.

Frame within a frame- directing our ideas the main focus of the screen. Car scenes are usually filmed outside the car to make you feel like a listener which makes you feel more distance, but if they are talking about personal lives it tends to be filmed in the car.

spin cuts- could be a physiological way to get into a characters mind, could also show the temporal difference between the scenes

Light- brings tension to scenes

jump cuts- Cutting between scenes that are happening at the same time

Transitions

Painting transition- taking a painting turning it into the footage or the footage turning into a painting

action transition- the same action in different locations

scene jump- overlaying 2 scenes together

shatter punch- looks like punching the camera and then it shatters

Frame fall- looks like falling into a different frame

the pinch- looks like you are pinching the camera and changes into a different shot

In his dark room he is finally alone
with spools of suffering set out in ordered rows.
The only light is red and softly glows,
as though this were a church and he
a priest preparing to intone a Mass.
Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh. All flesh is grass.

He has a job to do. Solutions slop in trays
beneath his hands, which did not tremble then
though seem to now. Rural England. Home again to ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel,to fields which don't explode beneath the feet of running children in a nightmare heat.

Something is happening. A stranger's features
faintly start to twist before his eyes,
a half-formed ghost. He remembers the cries
of this man's wife, how he sought approval
without words to do what someone must
and how the blood stained into foreign dust.

A hundred agonies in black and white
from which his editor will pick out five or six
for Sunday's supplement. The reader's eyeballs prick with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers.
From the aeroplane he stares impassively at where
he earns his living and they do not care.

Framing is the presentation of visual elements. It is the way you draw attention to the main subject by blocking out the other areas so that the viewers attention is on the subject. It is the focus on the placement in relation to other objects in the frame.

Leading line- drawing the viewers eyes to a specific part of the frame. It consists of some type of line that will attract the viewer to look at which leads to the main focus of that shot.

Rule of thirds- an imaginary 3x3 grid where you put the main elements along these points and that is where the viewer will look. It acts as a guide to for framing the image.

Transitions- the way the shots change into another. This could be the dissolve, the wipe or the fade, there are many different transitions that could be used which affect the way that scene is perceived.

Editing- Editing is the assembling of shots together, and cutting the shots down to make them shorter.

Lighting- lighting is important in film as it sets the scene and the mood. It also reflects the genre of the film and it allows the viewer to have an understanding of how to feel emotionally.

Compositing animation and live action- compositing is the combining of visual elements from different sources to make it seem all one scene. Live action shooting for compositing is used, using a green screen.

painting effect

cc plastic effect

roughness, dust

cc vector blur

brush stroke effect

composition save frame

bring jpeg into project

bring in footage of newspaper

mask out where picture will be

extract effect to footage and jpeg

Reflection on Induction Task

What poem did you use as inspiration for your induction project?

I used War Photographer as inspiration for my induction project. I decided to choose two parts of it more specifically as I had an idea for what I could film and then edit whilst using the different transitions, as this was the main focus of this project.

Which processes did you use in After effects?

I used masking in after effects for both the transitions that I created. The first transition was the pass by effect, so as Alexis walked across the camera the other shot would be revealed. I thought that this was a very interesting transition as it is very simple to do but it effective for the viewer. I learnt about this transition in the Sherlock video and thought that this would be a good approach for my own video.

I then used masking in the other transition as this one I wanted to create the “painting” transition that I found when watching a video on the different transitions that you could create using Adobe after effects. I changed this effect so that it was more suitable to my poem but used the general idea for the final transition. I had to mask out Peter so that once I put the image in the background it looked more realistic. I also had to mask out the image to put in the newspaper. I had to put a lot of effects on this to give it a good overall effect, which included cc plastic effect, and cc vector blur to give it the look that I wanted.

How effectively did you use each tool?

I used each tool very effectively as when masking around an object I was able curve them so that it was more accurate when going around a curved edge. I was also able to feather so that if the masking wasn’t accurate then I was able to feather so that it blended better making it look tidier and more professional.

How could it be improved?

If I had more time, then I would have spent more time masking as I think that there are points that need to be adjusted. It was also quite time consuming to create the transitions as I hadn’t had any previous experience using this software so when I had to create the transitions is was a lot of trial and error and trying to adapt the videos to my own work. I would have wanted to make more transitions, as the overall video is quite short.

Which aspects are most successful?

I added the title of the poem at the beginning and I added an effect to it to make it more interesting. I thought that this was successful as I liked the overall finish of this part. I liked when the clip turned into a picture in the newspaper as I thought that it looked interesting and I hadn’t seen this transition before.