Building a scene

Building a scene!

Shot's build the scenes. Scenes according to how they're organised/ arranged build the plot as well as story for the 'Narrative' 

When it comes to building a scene, a lot of different shots are used by the editor to create a sequence. Shots are generally put together into sequences but then are turned into a collection of scenes. The difference between a good and bad film that the use of shots and how they are turned into a scene, and then how they are ordered together. 

Moving the Story Forward:
Every scene should be, in some way, set up by the previous scene, and should move the story forward for both the plot and the development of the characters. Each scene sets up the next scene, until the screenplay reaches its climax. This cause and effect relationship hooks in the audience. Every scene should have a payoff - can think of this as being the:

Constructing a scene:
Scenes should be made as tight as possible.
- Guidelines for scene construction:

A scene should be begun as close to its end as possible. It should increase either the drama or the comedic effect. It shouldn't include anything superfluous. A scene's length should not run more than two pages. Action scenes should be contrasted with dialogue scenes; heavy scenes with light scenes. The audience needs time to breath: varying the texture of scenes afford them this. 

Pacing:
As a writer builds towards the climax of the screenplay, the pacing of scenes should increase or decrease accordingly. 

What the mood should entail within a scene:
Each scene should convey a sense of the dominant mood or emotion.
This can be tied into the character's goal, emotional state, and attitude at that particular moment. Tying what the character thinks and feels and what he/ she wants out of the particular unit of action the scene encompasses will give the scene direction and the dialogue subtext.

SHOWING VS. TELLING
Avoid using talking heads to move the story forward, for exposition of the plot, or even backstory. Always use visuals over straight dialogue. Film-making's strongest draw is what we can see on screen, using strong visuals will have greater impact. 

Conflict:
Some sort of conflict should always exist, even in less dramatic scenes. The conflict can be subtle; there should be enough emotional subtext to make it interesting. 

When filming it is important to use more visuals then dialogue to tell the overall story this can be more appealing to the audience and engage them more. Lastly there must be some sort of conflict that the character must overcome. 

Scripting

Scripting!

The film script:
In the vast majority of cases, a screenplay or script will be developed as part of the preparatory work prior to filming. In many cases the script represents the very first stretch of a film's journey. A script of screenplay can be an original work or an adaption from an existing piece of writing. In the film script, the action of the scene is described together with the movement, actions, expressions, and dialogues of the characters. Industry film scripts observe strict formatting rules.

Within film industry scripts are generally known as the first part of a film journey, it is one of the first envisions of film. Scripts can be original work or previous work that has been adapted. An example of this would be 'Charlie and The Chocolate Factory' (2005) which was a remake of 'Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory' (1971). 

There are usually six types of paragraph in a screenplay:

- Scene Heading
- Action
- Character
- Parenthetical
- Dialogue
- Transition

Scene Heading:
- A scene heading always consists of at least three elements:
1. an interior or exterior indicator (INT. EXT.)
INT.
EXT.
2. a location or setting
INT. Classroom
EXT. Yard
3. a time of day 
INT. Day
EXT. Night - Space

When together:
INT. CLASSROOM - DAY
EXT. YARD - NIGHT

Action:
The action tells the reader what happens on the screen. A well written script tries to create in the reader's mind the three-dimensional experience of the film. This means describing images, sounds, actions and speech in such a way that scenes unspool in the reader's mind's eye in a fashion that is as close as possible to the way they will on the screen once the film has been shot and edited. 

Character:
- The character element introduces the character about to speak.

Parenthetical:
- Occasionally words appear in brackets beneath the character name and above the character's dialogue which provide extra information relating to the character's delivery of that dialogue. 

Dialogue:
- The dialogue element is selected to present the words spoken by a character in a scene.

Transition:
- Transitions are used to indicate special information about the nature of the change from one scene to another, for example a straight cut, a dissolve, a fade to black. 

Editing

Editing!

In a somewhat contradictory sense, editing begins some time before the first day of principal photography.

Normally, during the pre-production phase some sort of blue print is created envisaging how the visual and aural parts will assemble to make up the whole. For many filmmakers this is the storyboard, a document which imagines how every unit of action will happen in sequence thus constituting the entire visual and aural narrative.

The storyboard for many filmmakers is the edit imagined in advance. 
The storyboard thus constitutes a highly functional document, signposting key editorial techniques which are going to be put into effect in the post-production phase, such as shot-reverse-shot sequences, eye-line matches, graphic matches, super impositions, elisions etc. 

Prior knowledge that such techniques will be in operation at the editing stage, causes directors, script continuity supervisors and DOPs to give due consideration to these elements during filming. 

In order for an action match to be possible in the edit, a piece of action, filmed from different camera angles and with different shot sizes must be identically realised in each. The rhythm and pacing of the movement must be the same; position of body parts and items of costume must be the same; other mise-en-scene elements also visible in the frame must be the same. 

Inter-cutting can set up juxtaposition between parallel story lines, strengthening the impact of each by highlighting difference.
When used to draw two story lines together, this can be structured to create tension and heighten identification with a character. 
When an action match is used for inter-cutting, it can highlight parallels/ contrasts between characters in different situations. 
Eye-line matches provide insight to a character's point of focus and give clues to interior thoughts. When a character is shown in the final shot of a scene, it is often the character with whom the audience is expected to identify. 



I generally feel that the video above is a perfect example oh how to add in transition effects to make your editing look better. 

Building a story

Building a story!

When it comes to building a story for your film you have to ask yourself certain questions, they are What is the story really about? What kind of setting are you going to want to establish? Will the setting help with the meaning of the film? When asking yourself these questions can further your overall knowledge on your own story, which can overall add deeper feeling and connection to it. Furthermore when creating/ building a story you must keep to certain codes and conventions, such as having the main character interesting, as well as the opposite character also being interested  so that the audience wants to stay involved. You can have an external antagonist, as long as you are still creating initial conflict for the main character. 

Carrying on when building a story you should not include too many locations, because it can generally become confusing for the audience. Plus there should not be too many events happening because once again it can become quite difficult for the audience to follow and understand, it would be quite easy and structurally right for you as an individual to use one key event. Furthermore, you should be placing your character within an unpleasant position, you would do this so that they would then be able to resolve it, which would inevitably make up the story. The best way to actually engage your audience would be by placing the main character within a difficult position, which would make the audience feel the overall emotion which would be compassion for the actual character which would then generally connect the film and the audience together. A way of putting a character within some difficult situation would or could be by using dilemmas, this means that the character would have to choose, this generally could be done with anything for example family friends, jobs etc. You would be able to make it personal for a individual character, which would inevitably entice the audience. Dilemmas, when using them you should definitely make both routes difficult this would be so that it makes the decision more intense. Another way into engaging towards the audience would be by using conflict, such as arguments/ disagreements, these are generally a perfect way into engaging the audience because it is very realistic, and everyone generally likes drama. 

Sound

Sound!

Sound is such an important and fundamental part of a production, it can enrich the sensory experience of art. The reason behind why sound is used is generally so that the sensory experience can be increased for the viewer. When bringing sound and video both together this generally creates different emotions, for example classical music would give off a sad, scary emotion and feel etc. With emotion to the scene, and this is called parallel music. As well as the sound enhancing the overall footage, it can also do the complete opposite, by this I generally mean that wrong sounds that are used at certain points can create irony and jar the audience, which some directors would want, this tends to be known as contrapuntal music. 



Within the clip it shares intimidating, powerful music which is played to add a scary or just a pattern which fits with the footage in that particular scene. When watching how this is done where different sounds are being heard, this generally means that there is sound that the audience can hear, sounds that only the character within the film can hear. The two names to separate the two are diegetic and non-diegetic. Diegetic sound is generally what both the audience and the character can hear, it is sound that is within the story world. An example of this would be character dialogue. Non-diegetic is basically sound that the audience can hear, examples of this would be narrator voice, mood and music etc. 

Camera

Camera!

This is generally one of the most important elements within filming, the reason for this would be because the camera is used to capture each individual scene within film, directors would say that variation of shots are crucial for a film, this would be because the editor would work with many different shots such as angles and different sizes to then be able to capture the whole scene and keep the viewer interested. 

Shot sizes/ distances
- Extreme close-up, Head Closeup, Big Closeup, Closeup, Close Shot, Medium Close shot, Medium Shot, Medium Full Shot, Full Shot, Medium Long Shot, Long Shot, Extreme Long Shot. 

Extreme close-up: 










An extreme close-up would generally be used by a director to give that intimate feeling between the character and the audience, plus this would generally increase the suspense. The camera shot which would be used within all genres because within most of the genres you would want the character as well as the audience to have some sort of connection. 

Head Closeup:

Big Closeup:

Close up:

Close Shot:

Medium Close Shot:

Medium Shot:

Medium shots would potentially be used by all directors so that they would be able to capture the characters overall facial expressions as well as body language which would then tell the audience a lot just by looking at the shot. An example of this would be sarcasm would be shown through facial expressions which would cut out the dialogue and therefore increase the overall visual experience. 

Medium Full Shot:

Full Shot:

Medium Long Shot:

Long Shot:

Long Shots are used for directors to be able to capture pretty much a whole scene, not just a character, a long shot makes the audience understand the location and exactly what is happening in terms of the setting in which the character may be in. This is one of the most used camera shots generally due to the fact that it is crucial for the actual director to be able to make the audience understand the overall setting. 

Extreme Long Shot:

Angles
- High angle, low angle, slanted/canted/dutch angle, eye level, bird's eye view, worm's eye view, over-the-shoulder, POV

High angle:



High angles tend to be chosen to use by the director to generally symbolise weakness, this this camera angle it is normally used from another characters POV. The Director would usually use this on smaller victims or heroes. 

Low angle:



Low angles would generally be used to show dominance, the shot is generally often used when the characters are bigger and stronger to the opponent character. Within the image you can pretty much see the two characters looking down at something, this shows at the time within the film that they were dominant in that specific moment in time, as the roles could potentially change later on within the film. 

Slanted angle:



Canted angle:



Dutch angle:



Eye level:



Bird's eye view:



Worm's eye view:



Over-the-shoulder:



POV (Point of View):



POV shots are used by directors to show the overall character's point of view which normally directs the attention of the audience to one particular subject. Within the image in which I have chosen the Director is generally wanting the audience to look into the distant blue sea and through the visual would give the audience the experience in which the characters are feeling. 

Movement in-camera
- Zoom in, zoom out, pull focus

Zoom in/ out:




Pull focus:



Camera movement
- Crane, Jib, track/dolly, pan, tilt, Steadicam, handheld

Lighting

Lighting!

I feel that within filming lighting needs to be considered as crucial as it generally sets the mood for scenes, plus it also can give a more in-depth and emotion to the overall shots. When filming it is crucial to understand that lighting must be used, by this I generally mean that natural lights cannot always be as practical, so mechanical lights would be used a lot. Furthermore, when creating the script ensure that you can identify the time of year and the weather patterns, otherwise the scene would not look as you would of envisaged them to look like. 


When shooting you have to take into consideration that without light there is no image, but you have to be careful with the light in which you are using. Carefully controlled lighting can direct the attention of the viewer onto a certain object, character and or event etc. Furthermore it is generally important to understand how lighting can change the emotion and mood of a scene, hard light shapes sharp shadows, for example sun, candles, unfiltered tungsten lamps). With soft light casts softer shadows for example, an overcast weather, lamps with diffusers, and certain surfaces which would reflect light. 

Contrast latitude is the actual film of different contrast densities. For example with low key lighting this is when high light contrast is being used with dark shadows as a pool of light. However, with high key lighting this consists of low contrasts of light, which when evenly spread, the lighting so that the whole set would be lit, this tends to be linked with daylight, comedy and vast majority of studio shows. 

The lighting used within film doesn't always consist through natural sources, mechanical light plays a huge part which generally matters depending on the overall situation of the scene and light needed within that scene, there is different types of equipment which can be used for example; Tungsten Lamps, these are quite common use of a professional standard light, with a range between 150W to 24,000W and with a consistent colour temperature of 3200 degree K which generally generates a lot of heat. You can also get reflectors which will change how the overall light appears for example when the reflectors softens the light, silver reflectors harden the light, mirrors harden the light and gold reflectors would add warmth to the lighting. As well as all the equipment in which you have, different set up's you can use to provide the most efficient and best lighting. An example of a good set up would be the 'three point lighting set up'. 

Key light is generally the brightest light which casts the main shadows which can be hard and or soft. Fill light tends to be used to fill out the shadows by doing this you must ensure that it doesn't create its own shadows. Back light is generally used to create bright outlines around certain subjects, it tends to be used mainly for the use of being able to separate a subject from the background. Clothes lighting is used to add additional key lighting which adds shape and brings out the different textures of the costumes as well as make-up. Kicker adds additional back light. Eye light which adds shine to the characters eyes. Background light is generally used to cover light that isn't wanted/ working within the background. With motivated light this is just like motivated shots, by this I literally mean that each light used must be justified, so if the use of the lighting motivated certain shots then this would add depth to the scene. However if it is not motivating then the shot would seem unrealistic. De-emphasise areas without light, this would make the viewer focus on certain subjects, this would show that you can be as telling when you aren't using light as you do when you are using light. 

Within this shot the lighting is directed to the main character but in theory there isn't enough light to then show the character which is in the background, this would then be used to show who is good or bad. The light on the women is generally to show that she is good or that she is about to be a victim with the darkness on the male to show that perhaps he is bad or an antagonist. 


In this particular shot the lighting is directly onto the eye of the character, this is generally used to show emotion and create suspense for the audience. The lighting is mainly used for the emotion when a character is sad or depressed. But within some films it is generally used to create suspense by the eye of a character you don't know, meaning you also have no idea what they look like. 


Within this shot of Leonardo DiCaprio the lighting is used within the picture to centre the attention towards the main character, but with general clear emotion and overall body language of the character within the background. 

Endings

Endings!

(Open and Closed)

Open Ending:

With an opening ending this is one that leaves the major conflict initiated by the suspense of the plot being unresolved. Meaning it leaves the audience with a definite sense that the story is unfinished and may be continued after the section of the narrative which was also seen.



I feel that Inception would generally be a perfect example for an open ending as the narrative for Inception is about dreams and how they attempt to extract a piece of intel from someone. As they get deeper within the dream they go harder to tell whether it is reality or not. Christopher Nolan actually uses this concept to end Inception as Leonardo Dicaprio's character actually gets his kids back but his symbol of the spinning top tells him whether it is a dream or whether it isn't. From what we as the audience can see the spinning top doesn't stop spinning but from seeing it, it is cut to a black screen which generally leaves the audience in an opening ending and them it makes them think whether he is actually within a dream or in reality. 
Closed Ending:

However, with closed endings this is by contrast, do just what the phrase actually suggests and brings closure to the actual story which presents a definite end to a story which was being told. 



Furthermore, looking into 'The Revenant' I definitely feel that it has a closed ending scene which generally allows the audience to be able to notice that the film is at a closed ending rather than an opening ending and that the storyline is closing for the film. After the initial final fight with Leonardo Dicaprio and Tom Hardy, you can see a ghostly figure spawn which is later found out to be Dicaprio's wife within the film which indicates to the audience that he is dying. On top of this you can actually hear heavy breathing when the screen goes fully black and this tells the audience that he potentially is about to draw his breath. 

Realist / Anti Realist

Realist & Non Realist!

Realist Narrative:

When looking into realist narrative, this draws its power from the portrayal of real events. With realist narratives this generally focuses on life that we know and is bound by the same rules that our own lives are bound by. We do not expect a male character in a realist narrative to suddenly zoom up into the sky, unless of course he would be wearing a jet pack. Furthermore, realist narratives often focus on the kinds of issues and challenges that face ordinary people in their everyday lives. 


Non-Realist Narrative:

Now looking into non-realist narrative this narrative tends to have the freedom to be able to indulge with the presentation of events in which could never happen within an ordinary individuals life. Superhero films tend to have their own realism, and internal logic that establishes the "special powers" possessed by the characters which actually govern what the protagonists and antagonists can and can't do. Even with given realism, they still are not what we would describe as 'realist'. In everyday situations an ordinary person would not be able to stretch their arms around a building or go invisible. ('Fantastic 4')

Non Linear / Non Sequential

Non Linear!

A Non-Linear narrative is generally the one which doesn't proceed in a straight-line, step-by-step fashion. A Non-linear narrative may present events in an order but may not be the chronological one. Within a crime plot, a writer may place a story's ending before the beginning and middle acts.

An example of a non-linear narrative would be 'The Prestige':

Flashbacks

Flashbacks!

Flashback narratives aren't to be confused with non-linear narratives - which begin at a later stage within the story and then jump back almost immediately to the very beginning of the actual story which then proceeds linearly from there and is usually proceeded past the supposed "ending" which is shown at the beginning.

Realist, Realism, Realistic - What are the differences?

The Realist narrative generally aims at the representation of life as we know it. Phrasal terms such as "social realism" extend the idea and focus on certain issues which confront the everyday actualities of our own lives. The vast majority of films are made for mainstream audiences aiming to be more realistic, this is to say that they aim to preserve an internal logic which is established early on within the film. In order for the realism to be maintained the rules which are established at the beginning of the film are governing the way in which the film works and cannot be broken later on.

Flashbacks were a predominant feature within the television show 'Lost'. In pretty much every episode there is a fragment of where a character remembers something from their past and it shows the audience how they actually got onto the island. Flashbacks can be useful as it generally allows the audience to be able to see into the characters past and allows any loose ends to be tied up within the overall narrative.

Here is a video example from (Lost) of a Flashback scene:

Linear / Sequential

Linear!

Linear is a narrative in which one which runes within a straight line, usually delivering events in a chronological order. An example of a linear narrative would be soap opera's. Soap operas tend to rarely jump around in time, either forwards or backwards. Most soap aim at actuality which represents real life as it is lived and experienced. 

A narrative includes a plot, characters, setting as well as climax and resolution. 

Genre

Syllabification: gen-re

Definition of Genre:

Genre is a category of artistic composition, in music or literature, characterised by similarities in form, style, or even subject matter.


Here is a video explaining 9 different conventions within genre:



Genres:
- Period
- Dramadoc
- Crime
- Soap
- Comedy

Period drama - This is a period piece in which elaborates costumes, sets and properties which are featured in order to then be able to capture the ambiance of that particular era. 
- This term is usually used within the context of film and TV. It's an informal, crossover term which applies to several genres, this is generally mostly heard within context of historical dramas and romances, adventure films as well as swashbucklers. 
- This shows that the audience isn't just attracted to the lavish costumers but by the content as much so. 

An example of a period drama would be:

Downtown Abbey



An example however for a short film period drama would be:

Lacey



Drama documentary - Within TV programming, alongside theater, a documentary drama which overall features dramatised re-enactments of actual historical events. 
- A documentary drama could be either filmed or written. Additionally, within the core elements of its imminent story, a docudrama generally looks to strive to adhere facts from the past, while doing so also allowing a higher or lower degree of a sense of pause in peripheral details, and where any gaps in the historical record. 
- Producers of documentary dramas tend to sometimes choose to film their events in which are reconstructed in the actual location in which the event previously occurred. 
- With dialogue this could include words from persons, which were previously recorded in historical documents. 

An example of documentary drama film/ short film would be:



REWORD THE FOLLOWING!!

Crime drama - Crime drama films are films in which focus on the lives and activities of criminals and, or even the men and women in which pursued them. 
- The approach however to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals to some what real-life criminals. Or the far-fetched imaginative criminals in which they can come up with. 
- Criminal acts are generally almost as glorified within the movies as successive generations of viewers become inured to the nastiness of the crime focused on. 

An example of a Crime Drama film would be:



However, an example of a Crime Drama within a short film would be:

Soap Opera:

A soap opera, sometimes called “soap” for short, is an on-going, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming.

Historically, soaps were radio series broadcast in weekday daytime slots, usually five days a week, when most listeners would be housewives; thus the shows were aimed at and consumed by a predominantly female audience.

An example of a Soap Opera film would be:



Whereas, an example of a Soap Opera short film would be:

Comedy:

Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film, and television that combines elements of comedy and drama, having both humorous and sometimes serious content. 

An example of a Comedy film would be:



An example of a Comedy short film would therefore be:

The filmmaker actually does the encoding whereas the audience does the decoding -Codes and conventions- repeated elements through each example within a given genre and audience expect to see. Codes and conventions of genre.

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Bibliography:

"What Does Genre Mean?". prezi.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 25 Jan. 2017.
https://prezi.com/yjpl3p0h0e8k/what-does-genre-mean/

"What Is Genre?". YouTube. N.p., 2017. Web. 25 Jan. 2017.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuZ1edldKnk