Film Editing

Last lesson we had to go on the macs to edit the film for the continuity exercise which we filmed during a previous lesson. I thought that it would be quite difficult to learn how to use the software, but it was easy to get used to; although quite frustrating, at times, to cut out the correct part so it would flow properly. When we were actually editing it was simple and you could see the continuity. With some help, we managed to use audio and made it look like an actual movie clip, which was fun and looked more skillful that I thought it would. I enjoyed this task, even though at times it was frustrating, but it was overall fun to play around with and set your mind to.

Pre- Production Magazine

In the lesson we were asked to design a magazine cover and contents page to do with anything related to the school. We had A3 paper to design it on, in detail. To do this, we needed to think creatively of a title for our magazines but it had to link it to the school, so I chose "Time To Pretend" as my magazine would be about drama, media and music so the title is well suited for those subjects; simple but creative. For ideas for our magazine covers, we looked at other popular magazine covers which had the same sort of style as those we were thinking of. I looked at NME, Spin and Kerrang magazine, for colours and layout. Here is an example of an NME magazine:

We had to think carefully of what colours and fonts to use as we could only choose a maximum of three colours and three fonts to add onto the cover, including the title. We needed to be careful especially with the fonts used, as they needed to be clear, bold and stand out, so I tried not to have any soft edges, as that would give off a different vibe. The three colours I chose were green, blue and black. When designing it on the paper, I found it hard as I wasn't sure what font I was going to do, and until I had the picture ready, I didn't know which colours would be appropriate to use to suit the model and context of the magazine. We needed to draw a picture on the front for detail, but I thought it was difficult as there was no way of being sure which pose the model would use until we actually took the pictures.

Hot Fuzz Introduction

From the introduction of Hot Fuzz, you straight away are shown that Nicholas is a policeman in London, so you can infer that he is powerful and well off. He is shown to receive medals, showing that he is courageous, strong, brave and extremely good at his job- so others may be jealous of him. Usually Police officers are together as a force but he is seemingly a competitive individual.  
There seems to be a "halo" of gold light around him and he is always framed in the centre-showing his class, status and importance. His forceful march shows that he is very serious about his job and their is an air of stern authority about him.
The name "Nicholas Angel" links to his personality as the short name for "Nicholas" is "Nick" as you can get taken to the "nick". But there is also a connotation of Saint- relating to Saint Nicholas. The word "angel" also of course relates to perfection. 
A low angle shot is used often in the introduction to signify his power. There is a fast paced montage to show that he is always on duty, suspecting people and always moving on. Arrogance and lack of emotion is insinuated with the editing used. The music playing throughout is "Goody Two Shoes" by Adam and the Ants-implying the repetitive nature of his job.

5 C's

Camera angles
Some of the camera angles used to tell the story are:

• Close up                        
• Extreme close up
• Panoramic
• Mid-shot
• Long-shot
• Low angle shot
• Over the shoulder shot
• Point of view shot
• High angle

An example of a mid-shot is:



This is used to show some of the character's surroundings, interaction and their body language. When you're having a conversation, this would be the part of the person that you could see, so is seen as a "comfortable" shot.


An example of a long shot is:


This is generally used to show the audience the setting of the film, providing them with extra information. 


Continuity
Continuity refers to when there are visual errors. This is when things happen such as, a character is wearing Converse one moment, and then Vans the next.


Cutting (aka editing)
If it wasn't for this, films would be never ending, as they would be in real-life time. Because of editing, directors are able to change location when they need to. It is used to quicken or slow down the pace of a film. 


Close-ups
Close-ups are when a character or object is closely framed. They are mainly used to make the audience focus on the character's facial expressions or an object's detail, but they are used for many reasons in television and film. Along with mid-shots and long-shots, this is the most regular shot used.


Composition
Composition is how props, characters and setting is placed and arranged to how they are needed to be.


Montage
A montage is when a long period of time is cut down so time passes quicker.


Here is an example of a montage, from one of my favourite films Stand By Me:

Pre- Production

For continuity practice, I had to make a story board to show a person walking down a corridor, opening a door and walking into a room where a person was waiting for them, to have a conversation. This had to be well explained and clear as it would be someone else who was going to be filming it. In this storyboard, I had to show which shots would be used at which points, and explain what was going on in the scene, numbering which section of the storyboard would go where, when filming.
Ifound it hard to decide what to put in the storyboard as it was difficult to know exactly what shots were to be used and in what order, as you had to know beforehand.

How Does Wes Anderson Use Props