DYM HOMEWORK feedback

This is a competent summary,although quite brief: technically, you list the shots types but do not always give specific examples, and you have not mentioned the connotations of the title credits in "Seven".

DYM Homework Notes

A Comparison of Two Opening Sequences.

LEGALLY BLONDE:

- Woman brushes hair, gets ready, ECU's.
- VLS of woman cycling, plenty of WS so we can see scenery.
- Mainly character is extremely girly.
- Expect romance, comedy. 'homecoming queen' etc.
- Loads of group shots, expect it to be about students and school life.
- WS show perfect surroundings, expect a storyline that's very fun, not too intense.
- Plenty of buildup to main character, Elle. Lots of pink etc, comes accross as ditsy but well liked by her friends.
- Perhaps 'too perfect?' We expect something might disrupt this very soon.

SEVEN:
- Main character, male, black, 50's? Smartly dressed.
- Expect drama straightaway, thriller, low key lighting.
- MS, LS, WS, dingy surroundings visible.
- Plenty of slow zooms, build up tension.
- Expect crime based, ECU's of film strip, articles, evidence etc.
- Ordinary beginning, man getting up and getting dressed. Can tell he's a detective, ECU's of his possessions, very organised.
- Straight into storyline, "crime of passion." Blood etc visible.
- Det. Mills clearly introduces himself. Main focus on two very different characters. One is laid back, younger, less experienced (Pitt). Other is more alone, bitter. (Freeman)
- Expect movie to take place over seven days, the number seven will be a very important number. Day of week appears.

BLK hwk feedback

An excellent evaluation Natasha, in all respects. Well written using a high standard of terminology, including some technical terms. Very thorough and reflective.

Don't forget to post your still to complete the task.

A great start!

BLK Homework Evaluation

1. Describe your shot and identify in what way it could be seen as representing 'horror'.

- The shot is a MS of a caucasian teenage female directly addressing the camera.

- The shot is quite dark with a small light source coming from the far right, leaving half of the female's face in darkness. The light source is artificial.

- The female teenager has pale white skin and long mouse brown hair. She is wearing all black although her clothes are overshadowed.

- She seems to be tightly gripping the bars of the gate in front of her, attempting to look through the bars. She is standing still and looking intensely at the camera.

- In the background a brick wall is visible as well as the gate in front of the female, although most of the surroundings are in darkness due to the lack of light.

- Darkness is usually associated with evil, leading the onlooker to believe that the shot is from a scary film.

- The female's face is partly in darkness, leading the onlooker to wander if she has a secret or a dark past.

2. What did you actually do to achieve the effect?

- Firstly, we ensured all other light sources were off and we closed the curtains, ensuring our surroundings were as dark as possible so the pad-light would be as effective as possible.

- After experimenting with the pad-light, we closed the doors over the light a little as when they were completely open, there was far too much light on the female's face.

- To achieve the half shadow effect on the female's face, the light was held above her head on her left side (right hand side on screen)

- We had to be careful to ensure the light did not end up in the actual photo, and in the end we captured a successful photo.

3. What is successful about your shot?

- The fact that half of the female's face is in darkness gives the shot a more eerie feel, as though there are dark secrets to be discovered, making the shot look scarier.

- I think that the surroundings look convincingly real (even though the shot was taken indoors with stage props)

- The female looks scary and is obviously the main character of the 'movie.' It is also obvious what type of character she is (dark, possibly mentally disturbed) due to the use of lighting, props and darkness.

4. What would you do differently in hindsight?

- On the gate, you can see on the top left hand side there's a piece of string hanging that might distract the onlooker. If we had paid more attention to detail, we would have removed this.

- There's also a small light in the very top right hand corner of the shot which we would have removed.

- I might have put the female in a short sleeved top rather than a long sleeved hoodie, personal preference.