Mise en Scene

Mise en Scene is everything included in the shot. This includes:

• Props
• Setting
• Location
• Lighting
• Costume, hair and makeup.
• Facial expression/body language
• Colour

In our set-up, we had to consider all of these things. We decided that in order for our piece to be believable for the audience, we would have to make it as realistic as possible. To do this we decided on the following things:

Props-In our scene we wanted all of the props to fit in and be believable in place. So we decided that we should have objects that would be in place in an ordinary office. We decided that these would include a laptop, a coffee mug, folders and paper work etc. and, in the modern-day part, the brown paper package that we were given, to include in our short-film.

Setting-Our setting was given to us in the script. It stated that the scene was set in the reception office of the law firm of "Simon and Garfunkel". We knew that it had to look like an office, and so we decided that our setting would be a small office in our school, which had a desk and seats in there.

Location-Our location was the small office at the top of our school. We believed that this was a good location, as not only was it a good setting, but it was also a good location, as it is on the top floor, so there is not much commotion around the area, so we should not be disturbed whilst filming, so this should make our sound quality much better, and means that we will be able to have more un-interrupted takes.

Lighting- The lighting in the room was mainly from the artificial,_____ lights in the room, we also played with opening and closing the blinds, as we wanted some more natural light in the room, to balance out the artificial lighting, but in the script it states that it is raining outside, whereas at the particular moment of filming, it was not. We tried to make it look like it was raining by spraying the window with water, but the effect was not very realistic. In the end, we decided that we would slightly close the blinds, so that we could still get the natural light that was desired, but also that we could not the window pane clearly enough to be able to spot that it was not actually raining.

Costume, hair and makeup.- For the receptionist, we decided that we wanted her to look more professional, and so she should look like the typical, quite cliche'd woman. We portrayed this by dressing her in quite formal and smart clothes, that would be quite fashionable in a modern day office, which also shows the time setting, her hair was tied back in a slick ponytail, and the make-up was neat. The other, whom would actually end up to be the "good guy", was portrayed as the slightly less typical portrayal of a woman, quite edgy and not perfect.We portrayed this by dressing her in  more edgy clothing, such as converses. her hair was roughly pulled back in a messy ponytail, and her make up was not done very neatly.

Expression/body language.- as a lot of the shots are either point of view shots, or close-ups, there was not a lot of body language included. There were a few shots, such as when BAZ stands up and looms over ANNA in a threatening manner, that show that she was more powerful, but other than that, it was mostly facial expression that was key.

Colour-

Filmatic Time

We learnt that, in editing, the film clips can be manipulated in order to "slow down", "speed up" or keep in "real" time. These are known as "expanding time" and "shrinking time".

Real Time:
In a clip, if the action shown happens in 2 minutes, then the time it would take to happen in real life would also take 2 minutes. For example, if a clip shows somebody getting into their car and going on a ten minute journey, then it woud take that long.

Expanding Time:
This is used to make time seem as if it is taking a while, and dragging out. It makes the scene (seem) much longer, as extra shots are added in, such as close ups of things like the subjects' eyes, tapping fingers, a clock ticking etc. For example it is often used when someone is bored/waiting for something, and is becoming impatient. If time was expanded in a clip, if the action being shown would normally take 30 seconds to complete in real life, it may take 90 seconds to show in the film, and can be used to build suspense and tension.

Shrinking Time:
Shrinking time is used to make the time the action is happening seem as if it is going by more quickly. It is not decreasing the action time. For example, if the action shown woud normally take 5 hours, the clip shown could cut this down to about 5 minutes, and would only show the "highlights" of what happened. For example, if someone got into a car, and drove for an hour, the editior would shrink this time, and only shown the subject getting into the car, driving for a very short period of time, if any, just to establish with the audience that the journey has happened, and the subject getting out of the car. This relies hugely on the audiences' assumpion that the actionhas happened without them being shown. It can create a sense of urgency and panic, and uses lots of quick, different shots being edited together.

Editing

Although the rest of the production process is also extremely important, the editing stage is vital, as without it, you would just have a load of separate clips, and would not have a proper, structured and flowing film sequence. I the editing process, all of the footage that has been recorded is sorted through and the most suitable clips are selected to make it to the final cut. These are then pieced together much like a puzzle, and then edited to ensure that they flow together swiftly and create the right mood etc. for the film. 

Slumdog millionaire: 
We were shown the following clip from the film "Slumdog Millionaire". 
We were then asked to watch it again, considering the following the question:

"How does the Editor create a sense of Chaos that is occuring in the Riot?"

In our group, we decided that the ways in which the editor achieved the chatioc atmoshpere in the clip by the following:

The Transitions:

• By using quick and choppy transitions, the editor creates a sense of confusion, which adds to the chaotic atmosphere that he is trying to achieve.
• By showing the audiene lots of different quick flashes of what is going on, you are showing the full impact of what is occuring, rather that just part of it, which shows the extremity of the situation.
• Due to the fast transitions, the filmatic time is shrunk, and so the action seems as though it is sped up.

The use of Flashbacks/forwards:

• There are three different narratives in this clip: The actual riot, which is a flashback. When he is in the police custody, being questioned. When he is on the gameshow, and is having the flashbacks to fetch the answers to the questions.
• The use of the different narratives creates a sense of chaos, as there is a huge contrast between the scenes in which the riot is happening, and the other two. In the riot scenes, time is shrunk, making it all appear to happen very quickly; whereas in the police interview scene, time is expanded, to make it seem as if time is going by very slowly,and on the gameshow, it is shown in real time. 
• The contrast between the three time frames results in the riot scenes looking extreme next to the other two, and so creates a sense of chaos.

Different effects:
At some points in the clip, the editor uses different editing effects. Some of these include:

Slow motion:

• The editor slows down the action in some of the clips. This creates the impression that the two young boys, whom are the protagonists of the scene, are extremely shocked, and so cannot take everything in.
• It aso makes it easier for the audience to take in all that is happening, for exampe, the part where there is a man being set on fire is in slow motion. This creates a sense of chaos, as it give the audience the chance to proccess the information that they are being shown, and so they can whitness the chaos and extremity of everything.

"Shimmery" effect:

• The gentle "shimmery" movement of the camra was added in post-production and editing, and, we believe, has been used to draw attention to the subject; the Blue God Rama. This is because the god is symbolic of courage and bravery, wich could be interpretde as what the two boys need. It is also drawing attention to the God, as the question that he is being asked is in relation to the God.

All in all, the way in which the editor creates chaos is very effective. The use of all of the different effects captures and keeps the audiences attention. But also creating te required and desired effect.

The Perception of Women in the Media

In class, our teacher asked us to come up with as many female singers/ bands as we could in 10 minutes. The list i came up with are :

• Hayley Williams  - Powerful, inspiring, beautiful Unique, Artistic, Quirky
• Amy Lee - Unique, Beautiful, unconventional Gothy, dark
• Lucy Rose -Unique, Passionate Unique, Delicate
• Joan Jett - Original, Rebellious, unconventional Edgy
• Adele- Powerful, Inspirational, Classic
• Gwen Stefani- Unique, inspiring Quirky
• Imogen Heap- unconventional Rocky, Indie, Edgy
• Little Mix- Mainstream Cliche 
• Cheryl Cole- Untalented (as a singer) skinny, (typically) beautiful. Cliche, expensive
• Aretha Franklin- Soulful, Powerful, inspirational Classic, simple
• The Saturdays- Attractive, Catchy big budget, simple
• Girls aloud- Pretty(typically), Cliche Eye-catching.
• Britney Spears- Cliche Very posed, big budget.
• J-Lo- Hip-hop Cliche, glamorous
• Christina Aguilera- Beautiful, SoulfulGlamourous
• Birdy- Alternative Quirky
• Beth Ditto- Unconventional, talented Alternative
• Cassadee Pope- trying to be like other bands, talented Punky

The one's highlighted in green are artist that i actually like, the others are just very popular artists that sprung to my mind, as they are always mentioned.

We then had to come up with at least one word that came to mind when we thought of these artists. These are written in Red.

We then had to think up a word to describe what we thought would describe their album cover. This is written in Green.


In our film, we have our two main characers, both female, and so had to take into consideration when filming, how thye should be portrayed to the audience. We took into consideration that they were two very different charcters, one a receptionist for a law firm, and the other a normal, undefined character. We decided that in order to portary this difference clearly to the audience, we would portray them at the opposite ends of the spectrum. For the receptionist,  we decided that we would portray her as being the "typical" woman percieved in the media, with her being typically beutiful, her appearance being very polished and cared for. Whereas for BAZ, we showed her as the edgy, quirky and rebellious end of the spectrum. As it was a psychological thriller genre that we were trying to portay, we decided that we should include a twist ending, much like those those used by M. Night Shyamalan. We wanted to portray the receptionist, whom would end up to be on the "bad guy's" side, to be the typical, quite cliche'd woman, so that she felt familiar to the audience, and so they would percieve her as the lead protagonist, and would feel comforted by her presence. The other, whom would actually end up to be the "good guy", was portrayed as the slightly less typical portrayal of a woman, quite edgy and not perfect. This slight unfamiliarity causes the audience to feel slightly weary of her, but then within the twist, she becomes the character that the audience takes side with and roots for.