Idents Research

Whilst Editing our production we encountered a small problem, we didn't know what order the Idents came in for a typical Action or horror film. I decided to do some research into typical action Idents which included the ordering. The Idents give credit to various companies and individuals (most typically the director, lead actors, producers and cinematographers) who play a key role in the production and distribution of films and it's even more typical in the action genre, as they are often straight to the point early on, so it gets them out of the way.
This website helped me get an idea of what is typical at the start of an action movie.
http://newenglandfilm.com/magazine/2012/08/credits

Technical Research- Spatial

One example demonstrating spatial relationships is the Establishing Shot. An example of an establishing shot is in Christopher Nolan’s vision of Batman, particularly The Dark Knight (2008). The scene opens with an establishing shot of the City’s skyline, then zooming in on a window which is then smashed. The camera shot then changes to an over the shoulder shot with the guy who’s just caused this change of mood. This is a typical convention of an action film as it sets the scene and introduces the audience to what is going on.

Another example demonstrating special relationships is the Shot/Reverse Shot. The Shot/Reverse Shot is a technique in which the camera shot alternates between two or more people having a conversation and it shows both sides of a conversation. There are several ways in which this kind of shot can be achieved, with the following camera shots being used; angled shots, left/right alternating shots, over the shoulder shots and often a combination of the three. In Bad Santa (2003) there is a scene which implements this editing technique, where two of the characters are quite relaxed and lethargic while another is quite stern and agitated and using a close up camera shot it shows the contrast between the different facial expressions of the characters.

Technical Research- Spacial Continuity

Eye-line match is an editing technique which is associated with the continuity editing system. It focuses on the base that the audience will want to see from the perspective of the character. An example of this is type of editing is frequently used in Rear Window (1954) by Alfred Hitchcock, one of my influential figures. One scene in particular the protagonist, played by James Stewart, is in his apartment, continuously looking out of the window. The eye-line match shot shows him looking away from the camera and then will cut to a shot of him looking out of the window from his perspective. This type of shot often demonstrates the 180 Degree System as it the shot of the character is around 180 degrees to the shot of their perspective.

A Cutaway shot is when continuously filmed action is interrupted by something else. It is typical for in films when a cutaway shot is used for it to be cut back to the first shot, though this doesn’t always happen. The cutaway shot isn't used usually to create anything dramatic and instead is used by the editor to lengthen a scene. 

Technical Research- Temporal

Match on Action is a type of editing used in continuity editing. It involves having two alternate views of the same action, which are cutting between each other simultaneously. This allows the action to be been from multiple angles, without jeopardizing the scenes continuity nature. A common example of when Match on Action is used is when someone is opening a door.

 

Parallel Editing , also known as Cross Cutting, is another technique which alternates between two or more scenarios which are taking place simultaneously in different locations. It is a typical for this type of editing to be used in a scene where the two scenarios come together.

Technical Research- Alternative Transitions

Superimposition is the editing process in which frames are overlapped to create a layered transition between two scenes. In Japanese cinema a similar technique called “Kanji” which is a more traditional way of superimposing over films. A good example demonstrating this comes from Sukiyaki Western Django (2007) an old looking Quentin Tarantino says the Japanese proverb “Life is all about goodbyes” with the exact same words superimposed on the screen in Japanese.

Technical Research- Alternatives to the Continuity System

In-Camera Editing:

     Long Takes are basically just one continuous shot that doesn’t cut for a while. Long takes are usually done with a moving camera and are more common in high budget blockbusters where the camera is attached to a helicopter or a large crane. The high price of this kit means lower budget films don’t have this type of shot, unless it’s at the back of a vehicle or a camera being manually panned around originating from an establishing shot. The objective of a long take is to build up suspense or to capture the attention of the audience without cutting.

One famous long take comes from Forrest Gump (1994), Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the camera follows a feather which is blowing in the wind. This feather lands on the foot of protagonist Forrest, he then picks up the leaf and puts it in his suitcase. This connotes two things, that he is a ‘bit off’ for putting a feather in his suitcase and that the feather represents what is going to happen to Forrest in the movie. As a feather just goes where the wind takes it, until it settles on the ground; Forrest seems to blow aimlessly through life with fate deciding where he should be. Until he settles and gets what he’s always wanted.

 Another film which uses a long take is at the beginning is, Action/Adventure, Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). The long take consists of Thor in a chase scene which changes to a brief fight scene and back into a chase scene but this time with Captain America giving chase. He then takes out a couple of enemies and Thor destroys a tank. Hulk catches the tank, throws it and starts beating some other guys; all the heroes then are in the same shot apart from Iron Man who flies past them heading towards the Castle. As this was a high budget film this expensive shot was possible though, it would’ve required a lot of planning and skill to get it looking as good as it did in the final film.

       A Jump Cut is an example of how shots can be edited so that one shot is interrupted but the flow is maintained. This means that the characters in the scene will remain the same and it will show an alternate view of what is going on. This is a very common shot that will be demonstrated in every film you see, no matter what the genre. 

Production: Costumes

JAMIE: For Jamie, we decided to make him look as normal as possible, so we got the character to wear a casual jumper, a pair of black jeans and some trainers. We wanted the normal look as we wanted the character to look like a normal member of the public, to relate to our audience demographic, allowing them to put themselves in the characters shoes. We wanted the villain to be the opposite but capture the members of the audience in their own right.

VILLAIN: For the villain, we wanted him to be visually disturbing. We achieved this by making him wear dark clothes so he looked mysterious and unnerving. We also gave the villain dark eyes to make him look twisted and mentally unstable. The villains hair is also very wild and is comparable to a stereotypical 'mad scientist'. His blonde hair contrasts with his dark attire to make him stand out.

Influential Figures- Updated

Filming Location

This is Tom's Garage. Inside his garage is where we filmed our production.