Hancock - Dinner Scene

This clip helps me to make a point in relation to my rationale as I think that it isn't what you expect a superheroes "backstory" to be. This shows that Hancock is different from the other superheroes and it also helps us to understand why he is was a "bad superhero" because he himself doesn't seem to think that he is a good person, showing that he isn't perhaps a very confident person which is not what we expect to find in a superhero. Hancock's backstory is also not what we would expect from a superhero, as he doesn't know who he is or how he came to have these powers. This film has a different take on superhero's which is the reason why I have chosen it to be one of the films that I am going to study.

Production Journal

As editor and cinematographer, my job was to get the footage that the director wanted and try to edit it together in the way that the director visioned their film to be. My challenge was the create an effect of sadness and sympathy towards the main character, Ivy. In the making if the film, we went to several different locations, including one location in which we filmed the scene when the younger Ivy, played by Milly Friend, got hit by a car. This place was a good location to film at because it was not too busy, and we could take a couple of different shots of the crash scene without being interrupted. It was also a good location as we could get the crane out and take different shots using that. This scene was inspired by a real life event that happened to the director and her family, Chloe and Milly Friend.

In my role as editor and cinematographer, I aimed to keep the films colouring, quite light to create a the sense of "It was all a dream." This kind of lighting was also used to make get the effect of a flash forward, to what would've happened in the future if this unfortunate turn of events hadn't of happened. For the older Ivy's character, we wanted someone who would be able to act exactly how the director visioned them to. So we thought p that the director herself, Chloe Friend, would be good for the role as she knew exactly what she wanted to get out of the character, Ivy.

During the editing for the film, we realised that for the proposal scene, the sound of the wind, overpowered the sound of the actors talking. I made this mistake during filming by not putting the mic closer to the actors. But in the end the scene worked very well, by editing it together so that only one line is said and the rest of the scene has a sort of montage theme.

On the first day of filming, everything was filmed at our school. This was an advantage as we knew where good places to film were. A problem we had was that the place that we were going to film the office/work scene at, we found was too smaller space to take the shots. So we found a different location around the school and it worked very well for this scene we were trying to produce.

Through this experience I have learned to plan ahead in a lot more detail, so if there are any problems, they can be resolved quickly.

Rationale

Rationale -

Hancock, The Amazing Spider-Man and Iron Man are the films that I have chosen to focus on for my Independent Study. I have chosen these three films because I would like to study what the continuing appeal of the modern day superhero is, comparing them to the older superhero, fantasy films showing how they have changed over time but have still maintained immense popularity.

MY THREE FILMS

The three films I have chosen for my Independent Study are:

• Hancock
• The Amazing Spider-man
• Iron Man 

Goodfellas evaluation

Mise en Scene Goodfellas Evaluation 

In this picture the dominant might be the pink table cloth, as I think it clashes with the rest of the restaurant. The colour of the table cloth is a more pink like colour and then the rest of the restaurant is more of a red shiny colour. To me this is the thing that stood out the most because it doesn’t match the setting. 

The other thing that might catch your eye first is the lady in the blue dress, as everything thing else is more pink or red and she is in blue. This suggest that maybe she wasn’t expecting to go to that kind of restaurant of maybe she doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the group. Or the flowers might be the dominant, they are right in the centre of the shot, they are big and flamboyant and they look like they are separating the two couples - the boring, unhappy couple on the right and the fun, happy couple on the right.

The lighting key is quite dark. I think this is because they are trying to send out a romantic signal. This doesn’t work because the mood between the characters kills the romantic mood. This only light part of this shot is the lamp in the middle of the table which doesn’t help with the lighting very much. This suggest that the restaurant they are at isn’t very expensive and the owners haven’t spent that much money on the appearance of the place. 

The shot and camera proxemics - This is a medium shot, showing the humans figure from the nee’s or the waist up. This is used so you know they are sitting at a table and you can see where they are sitting around the table.

This camera angle is a neutral shot. This is to create the effect that you feel like you are at the same level as the characters at the table. 

Colour values - The dominant colour in the is the pink table cloth. I covers the middle of the shot and is a different colour to everything else in the shot. This table cloth looks tacky and cheap. Also the women’s dress because she is i blue and everything else is in pink or red. 

Lens/filter/stock - a wide-angle lens was used because it takes in a broad area and increases the illusion of depth but sometimes distorts the edges of the image.

Density - There is a lot of visual information in this shot. You can see that there is one unhappy couple and one happy couple. The women in the blu dress, you can tell that she is not happy with here date, they are sitting further away from each other. The couple on the right are sitting closer to each other and they are laughing and look like they are happy to be in each others company. You can tell they are at a cheap restaurant because, the colours don’t match each other (pink and red), also the flowers in the middle of the shot, suggest that the restaurant doesn’t have that many decorations so it is filled with big flowers to cover more space. 

Composition - The screen space is segmented an organised so you can see everything in the background and you can see all the characters sitting at the table. This suggest that it was trying to show how different the couples are. 

Form - This is a open shot. It shots them in the restaurant and what is behind them, but it doesn’t show the whole restaurant of everything in it. 

Framing - The framing is quite tight but the characters have room to move. They could move their heads without being out side of the shot, but if they stood up, only half of their body would be in the frame. 

Character placement - The characters occupy the left and right part of he frame. This suggests that they would like to be more alone together without the other couple getting the in way. Or it might suggest that the two couple don’t know each other very well. 

Staging positions - The characters are positioned in relation to the camera, so that you sort of feel like you are at the same level as the characters, like you are sitting at the table with them, which if the women in the blue was not happy with her date, then it makes you feel like you are there as well so you fare annoyed with the guy who isn’t paying any attention to his date as well. 

Character proxemics - The characters are positioned in relation to each other so that they couples can learn about each other and have their own conversation without the other couple interrupting. It might suggest that the couple of the left don’t really want to talk to the couple on the right because they are boring and aren’t talking. It also symbolizes that the fun couple are on the left side and the boring couples are on the right side. It is filmed at a social distance so you get the feel that its just a social gathering. 

Holiday independent study

Independent Study – IB Film Studies 

Romantic Comedy 

Films to watch this holiday 

When Harry Met Sally

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGX6oAF2ZjM

Amelie 

Make Notes on the above films:

Plot 

Characters 

Filming styles 

The plot – Harry and Sally have both finished college at the University of Chicago and they are traveling from Chicago to New York together. Whilst driving, they take a break in a diner. As they are about to leave Harry says to Sally, “You're a very attractive person”. Sally takes this as him coming on to her even though he is going out with her good friend Amanda. Harry argues with her and to settle the argument, Sally says to him “Harry, we are just going to be friends okay.” After this, Harry states that they could never be friends because men and women can't be friends because sex always gets in the way. They then arrive in New York and go their separate ways predicting that they will never see each other again. 

The film skips to five years later with Sally and her boyfriend Jo, kissing in the airport. Harry passes them seeing Jo's face remembering that he knows him. They have a conversation then Jo introduces Harry to Sally not knowing that they have met before. Sally remembers Harry but he can't place her. It then turns out they are on the same plane and Harry recognizes her and they have a conversation about how Harry is getting married. Then when they get off the plane they go their separate ways again. 

The films skips five years again to Sally talking to her friends and you find out that her and Jo have broken up. The next scene is Harry talking to his friends about how he is getting a divorce from his wife because she is in love with someone else. The following scene Harry and Sally see each other in a book store and ask each other how their loves lives are. They talk about why they have split up with their partners and become friends. Next is goes through a montage of clips of Harry and Sally when they are together with a voice over of those two having a conversation. They get onto the subject of how Harry misses his wife Helen but how Sally doesn't miss Jo. Harry and Sally then try to set each other up with their best friends, but this doesn't work because their friends end up liking each other and eventually move in together. Whilst getting a present of their friends, Harry and Sally run into Harry's ex-wife Helen with her partner Ira. Harry gets quite upset and takes his anger out on Sally. They then have an argument and fight about how Sally hasn't slept with anyone since she broke up with Jo which makes Harry think she isn't really over him. They then make up when Harry says sorry to her. After this Sally calls up Harry crying about how Jo is getting married, Harry rushes to Sally's house and listens to her and tries to make her feel better. They end up sleeping together. Harry feels scared about this and doesn't like it but at first Sally is happy, then Harry leaves her house in a hurry which makes her think that it was a mistake too. They don't talk in weeks until their best friends wedding where they have an argument about that night. They don't talk for ages until Harry tries to call Sally but she doesn't answer. She ignores all of his phone calls but then she picks up and he says he just called to say sorry and then asks her is she would like to be his date for a new years eve party. Sally says no and ends up being dateless at a new years eve party and Harry is at home alone. He then goes out into the street and she is dancing with someone who she isn't attracted to at all and who she doesn't like that much. Harry then realizes what he feels about Sally and sprints to the party before she leaves. As Sally is about to leave, she sees Harry in the door. He goes over to her and tells her how much he loves her. She tries to run away but they end up kissing. In the end it has Harry and Sally sitting together telling the viewers how they got married a month later. 

Characters - 

Harry (Billy Crystal) – Blunt, a bit of a drama queen, cowardly, nice, funny, thinks he knows everything.

Sally (Meg Ryan) – a feminist, stubborn, strong minded, kind, blunt.

Marie, Sally's best friend (Carrie Fisher) – desperate for a relationship, weak minded. 

Jess, Harry's best friend (Bruno Kirby) - strong willed, very opinionated.