Ben Smith's Blog

Intro to Storytelling Introduction:- 3 Acts The 3 acts are the main recipe for a film/book made up of these three crucial steps; 1st Act beginning: Is the setup for a strong hook and sets the characters up for what happens next. Also, it grabs the viewers’ attention very quickly. 2nd Act Middle: The middle of the film/book is the longest act with plots, turning points and confrontation. This keeps the story moving and successful. 3rd Act End: The end of the story will always have a resolution. This could be an emotional, fearful or happy ending e.g. E.T goes back home and leaves his friends on earth. This is a sad ending which in turn makes the viewer emotional. GTA 5 is an open-world game by having 3 main protagonists Trever, Michael and Frankling where they go on missions like robbing banks, killing people and taking people away. The theme of this game is identity, friendship and revenge. The premise of GTA 5 take risks to get rewards A premise is a ...

The Horror Genre Contextually In this essay, I will be discussing the context of horror film from the 1920s to present day from silent horror to present day and how it has changed the horror industry so much from how it used to be German expressionism in horror started in the early 1900s such as ‘Son of Frankenstein’ by using lighting and camera angles to intensify people’s reactions from seeing a horror movie from that time as it was new in the world. This took the world by storm and it brought more film directors to the genre. These directors such as Fritz Lang, Robert Wiene and F.W. Murnau portrayed the state of Germany at that time. At that time Germany was a poor country and this was conveyed by the use of dark lighting and dark and moody atmospheres. The basis of horror films was set by “The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, which is viewed as the template of all horror films. In the 1930’s Hitler came to power which led to many German directors and filmmakers departing from Germa...

Horror Questionnaire This questionnaire is created to verify the information supplied by “trends.com” and “livescience.com” Answers XONN Q.1 What gender are you?                                                                                            Male: xoxN                                              ...

Dynamic Microphone Sound waves cause a movable wire or coil to vibrate in a magnetic field and thus induce a current, to then be converted back to sound. It is used for vocals and amplifiers and all-purpose recordings. Advantages to a dynamic microphones  Rugged and able to handle high sound pressure levels, like those delivered by a kick drum Provide good sound quality in all areas of microphone performance They do not require a power source to run They are relatively cheap. Disadvantages to a dynamic microphone: Heavy microphone diaphragm and wire coil limits the movement of the assembly, which in turn restricts the frequency and transient response of the microphone Generally, not as suitable as condenser microphones for recording instruments with higher frequencies and harmonics, such as a violin. Summary: Dynamic microphones can be used for many applications, produce an excellent sound and are suitably rugged - great for travelling on the road. They a...

Analysis of Fast and Furious 8 1 vs 3 car scene Effects in the movie People screaming- Foley effect Smashing glass as the car drives through the shop- Foley effect Tyres screeching- sound effect Dialogue- Driver talking on walkie talkie (mid-range) Music- Dramatic music as background (faint) Clicking noise for the switches (Foley) There are a lot of crashing noises/ The use of Shaun’s footsteps when he is running away (loud). This is to emphasise that he is running away. A brief analysis The dialogue of the actors amongst all the engine noises makes the viewer feel that there is a lot going on and everything is hectic. At 03.44 the dialogue becomes louder than the car noises to draw attention to what is being said. There is a lot of sounds to do with the pedals. At 4.10 the dialogue changes and the cars are overpowering the dialogue and the overall atmosphere. Location vs studio-recorded audio. Location - Engine noises, tyres screeching, cars crashing...

Cinematography: Cinematographer:- Jonathan Sela (Fast and Furious Hobbs and Shaw) Lighting The lightning in Fast and Furious Hobbs and Shaw is outstanding. Some scenes are very vivid examples of this when explosions happen. When explosions happen they are mainly in the dark or against a dark background. This gives the explosion scenes more emphasis for the viewer as the bright orange and yellow stand out from the black background. This is also a good contrast. Composition The composition in this film is the use of a variety of wide and close up shots. This gives the effect, to the viewer, as dramatic and intense scenes throughout the movie. The wide-angle shot is used to emphasise what is happening in the whole scene, whereas in contrast, the close-up shot intensifies the scene dramatically as the character is focussed on Camera movement The movie has a lot of smooth camera movement and makes good use of tracking shots. This helps to entice the audience and gets ...

Deconstruction of Annabelle Comes Home The doll in this film is a symbolic technique. This symbolises a character in this film. The film shows lots of use of dark lighting/editing. This is another symbolic technique that is used throughout the film. The use of the wheelchair and the rocking chair are also symbolic techniques. This could symbolise the good side of Annabelle and the doll is the evil side. The film uses techniques such as zooming in on the doll. The film also uses lots of close-ups to intensify the surroundings Another technique that the film uses is shaky cam. This is to make the viewer feel that they are there.

Horror Ideas  Today we were put into our filming groups, it consisted of  Jed, Raheela, Jamie and Remmy and we discussed our horror story ideas. We came up with two unique ideas, however, we thought that the first idea we came up with was easier and more practical to produce, due to the amount of time we have to work with. Our silent horror is about a man that walked home from the pub, on the way home, he goes down a specific route. On his route home he reads a newspaper with someone that is notorious for committing acts of crime, specifically murders, a few moments pass and suddenly, he has visions of a person in a boiler suit wearing a crooked white gas mask, wielding a huge axe splattered with a mist of red paint with a grey tip, that executed the murder. Further down the road he goes down is cornered off with neon yellow tape, covered in bold writing saying "POLICE DO NOT CROSS" due to a murder that took place a few hours ago, police investigations are still underw...

Introduction to cinematography What is cinematography? The art of photography and camerawork in film making.  and the way in which lighting, camera filters and lenses are used in shooting a movie scene, to create an overall  artistic effect.  Shots 1.    Close up 2.        Medium shot 3.        Extreme long shot 4.        Establishing shot 5.        POV (Point of view) shot 6.        Low angle shot 7.        High angle       Video 1 (Cinematography 101) 1     Story and emotions. 2         Manipulates 3         How we show the action to the audience. 4         Communication 5         Cinema= Language 6         Words and meanings 7 ...