Sofia’s Media Blog

I used several videos that I had shot with my phone over the past month, and edited them together, using the app Filmmaker Pro on my iPhone 8.

I used Youtube to research different editing techniques used, specifically their use in films. Editing in film https://youtu.be/nnXEIlCrEgA Match cutting https://youtu.be/6_u0LKmga5U Crosscutting https://youtu.be/KmptU7vEkNU Continuity editing https://youtu.be/OqWbKFWgGyw Non continuity editing https://youtu.be/822qdKqae1A Shot reverse shot https://youtu.be/5UE3jz_O_EM

The research I did regarding different aspects of the camera, like camera shots, movements, and composition, as utilised in films is as follows. Different types of camera shots (wide shots, long and mid shots, close ups) in film https://youtu.be/ElHyihg2dfI Panning camera movement https://youtu.be/0P5nPMXtz6w Camera composition https://youtu.be/wsI8UES59TM Framing https://youtu.be/ypY9OaKCfRU https://youtu.be/01E5otZCpqw Focus pulls https://youtu.be/FPGQ_k80MoE https://youtu.be/59nOmGEDGcc Depth of field https://youtu.be/AoK2AqdJjiw Extreme wide shots https://youtu.be/GRD7f2Wo0CM Extreme close up shots https://youtu.be/W_-D-yzzbxE

We were split into groups of four and tasked with writing a pitch for a horror film, phrased in such a way so as to pique the interest of a hypothetical studio which was our class whom we had to present to. This was what my group came up with: ‘ A single mother plagued by the suicide of her son begins her descent into madness when she decides to punish anyone who reminds her of him.’

Every film ever made has furthered ideas about certain social groups or issues, i.e. has contained representations of them born through how certain characters are presented through camerawork and mise-en-scene, their behaviour, etc. This representation begins with the film opening which provides the audience precursors to the social groups or issues which will be represented in the film by introducing characters of a certain race, gender, sexuality, and situating them in a particular narrative and setting through which the film sheds light on certain social issues like racism, sexism, xenophobia, or issues pertinent to a specific culture or country. For example, as linked below, in the opening of the film Get Out (2017), directed by Jordan Peele, two characters are introduced, a black man and white woman, telling the audience that representations of them will be constructed through the unfolding narrative of the film as it progresses. Moreover, because the social group being represente...

Every film opening is different according to the certain genre the film belongs to. However, film openings are similar in terms of certain elements, according to their genre, and irrespective of genre, all film openings share a common purpose which is to capture the attention of the audience. For example, films of the thriller genre  foreshadow the plot of the rest of the film in the first few minutes of the film opening.  In ‘The Dark Knight’, directed by Christopher Nolan, an action thriller, the audience are introduced to the Joker, the protagonist, through a bank robbery, making it clear to the audience that the Joker is a character that they should fear as he and his group terrorize and kill civilians, and has a role vital to the film's plot. Moreover, in the film Se7en, directed by David Fincher,   the opening is a montage of  clips that are not in a chronological order which gives  the audience  the impression that this person is doing many diff...

The term "genre" has been used to organize films according to type since the earliest days of cinema  and t he genre of a film can be determined through the micro elements used like camerawork, editing, mise-en-scene, sound, that are specific to every genre i.e. every film genre has conventional ways in which camerawork, editing, etc are done and contains settings, narratives and characters associated with the genre which enable the audience to determine the genre of any film they watch. For example, films in the horror genre are conventionally set in dark places with low lighting, feature antagonists of the macabre and supernatural variety which make the life of the film's protagonist miserable and difficult.

Something that we overlooked and did not account for while filming were the noises in the background, a lot of which we thought the camera would not pick up but after filming, while looking through the footage, we could hardly hear the dialogue between the two actors in this first version of the video so we ended up muting the video and putting ambient music over it during editing. As a result of this, our video also ended up being half the time limit specified because we were unable to use most of the footage due to the background noise. I learned that during filming, it is important to do a test shot and video to ensure that there is no background noise and no problems of the camera being out of focus.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z4H4ZPYdBb2ObKH8HJ7uHN23BZvNTJll/view?usp=drivesdk This was the first assignment given to us by our media teacher and the brief was to make a thirty second video of two people in dialogue while employing the elements of camera shots we had just learnt.