Shot Log

Drive Shot Log

Doing a shot log shows me what you can achieve in an opening sequence, this opening was 2:30 and there were 15 shots between that time. In this particular opening there isn't much action but you're introduced to the protagonist. A lot is achieved, the setting and location is shown and we are also given an idea of the style and tone of the film. This opening also gives us an idea of how long each shot is and helps us understand how our own opening sequence for our film will be laid out, including the title and possibly credits.

Shot no.	Location	Type of shot	Camera movement	Description	Duration (seconds)
1	City	Extreme Long	Zoom in / Pan	Night, shows city buildings, Title	11
2	Car	Mid	Still	Man starring into distance	12
3	Car	Close-up	Moves with car	Man driving	17
4	Car	Long	Still	Shows the mans view	10
5	Car	Close-up	Still	Man driving	11
6	Motorway	Long	Pan	Shows car on the motorway	13
7	Car	Close-up	Still	Man driving	7
8	Car Park	Mid	Pan	Car moving then parking	5
9	Car Park	Close-up	Follows man	Man walks to lift, woman walks past	5
10	Lift / Car Park	Long then Close-up of lift door	Still	Woman walks away, lift door closes	4
11	Apartment	Long	Still	Man opens apartment door	5
12	Apartment	Mid	Follows man then Still	Man walks towards a window	10
13	Apartment	Mid then Long	Still then Pan	Man drops his bag and leaves	12
14	Road	Long then Extreme then Long	Zooms in then out and follows car	Car driving along the road	20
15	Car	Mid	Still	Shows the mans view	12

127 hours opening sequence analysis

127 hours

Camera:
- Mid-shot of man in the house, shows us how he lives.
- Close-up of the water and drinks, shows us that they are symbolic.
- Close-up of the pen knife being left behind, the camera focuses on it for a few seconds which indicates that it is something that the man needed.
- The long shot of the motorway makes us aware of his location and also tells us that he lives in a city area but he is getting further away from the city.
- Some of the filming goes into a documentary style of filming and we know that the film will follow this character.

Lighting:
- Low-key lighting, chiaroscuro, room only lit by lamps.
- Backlighting creates a silhouette of the man and the tap, we still don't know who he is yet.
- High-key lighting showing objects in the fridge, very unnatural white light which is common for a fridge.
- The motorway is lit by the car lights and it is clearly night.
- Half the man's face is lit up when he is in the car, you can clearly see he features now.
- The roads signs are lit emphasising how remote it is.

Sound:
- Non-diegetic music to start, rock/pop song, fast beat.
- Also diegetic sound of his actions, for example the tap running, fridge opening, phone ringing.
- Without the song in the background these actions would be dull and seem slower paced, so the music helps catch your attention.
- The music slows to a drum beat when he listens to the voicemails, but they aren't very clear and he doesn't listen to them carefully, suggesting that he isn't interested in them.
- Song speeds up again when he's in the car.

Editing:
- Starts with the screen split into 3 equal sections, showing a montage of a big crowd dancing, out of context to the next scene in the man's apartment.
- High-speed editing gives us a sense that he is rushing and is careless.
- Match on action opening fridge and shot reverse shot as he takes the items out.
- The screen splits into 3 sections again showing the dripping tap from 3 perspectives, suggesting it is symbolic.
- Still split in three, with a montage of the busy road and the man in the car.

Mise en scene:
- As I have seen the film before I noticed that this opening contains many symbols that link to the film as he is packing all the items and forgetting some items.
- He is packing very quickly showing us that he is in a rush but also that he isn't organised.
- The director foreshadows by using the pen knife as the man is so close to getting it but just misses it, the close up emphasises its importance.
- Water is something that the man doesn't have enough of during the film and the focus on the tap dripping symbolises that the water is a necessity.
- The remoteness of his location is shown by the drop in the number of cars on the road and the signs showing how far from the city he is travelling.

The Usual Suspects opening sequence analysis

The Usual Suspects

Camera:
- Close-up of matches being set alight, dramatic, catches our attention.
- Mid-shot of man, gives idea of the setting.
- Shows the path of the fire, indicating its significance.
- Tilt up to spooky man on the balcony, tilt down as he walks down the stairs.
- Shots are below the shoulder hiding his identity.
- Close-up of shoes still not showing man's face.
- Close-up of another man smoking.
- Close-up of with the lighter in the middle of the shot, with the gun just visible in the corner of the screen.
- Long shot of the boat showing us the location.
- Close-up of fire.

Lighting:
- Low-key lighting with only the matches lighting it up.
- A lot of chiaroscuro.
- Fire creates very yellow light.
- White light on the boat doesn't light much and creates a silhouette of the man indicating concealment of his identity.
- Hand lit by lighter.
- Small lights all over the boat making it visible but dark.

Sound:
- Diegetic sound of matches being lit, water running and fire spreading.
- String sound when camera tilts up.
- Both diegetic and non-diegetic sound.
- Dialogue at 1min 14 secs, low raspy voice with strings in the background.
- Strings get louder when the gun is fired and then speeds up when the fire is lit.
- It ends with a police siren in the background.

Editing:
- Low speed, continuity editing watching the fire being lit.
- Continuity whilst man is walking.
- Shot reverse shot looking at the hand of one man and the face of the other.
- Montage of different parts of the boat.
- Cigarette being dropped is slowed down to build tension.
- High speed editing at the end.

Mise en scene:
- Fire could be symbolic as it is emphasised a lot in the opening, the director uses many close ups for example.
- It's a rusty, old boat and it seems to be cold outside.
- The man lying on the floor looks as if he has given up on life and has a very blank facial expression with little emotion, as if he knows his own fate.
- The other man's identity is very hidden, techniques such as backlighting are used to create a silhouette and the light is very low so you cant see any distinctive features.

Silence of the Lambs opening sequence analysis

Silence of the Lambs 

Camera:
- Close up of woman's face, indicating that she is an important character.
- Mid shot shows the surroundings and sets the scene.
- Camera pans tracking her every move.
- Close up of man's face, showing us his FBI cap.
- Long shot of many people training.
- Zoom into the woman again.
- Camera focuses on the woman but every other person in the background is blurred suggesting they aren't at all significant.
- Pan across the room, woman in the middle of the frame.

Sound:
- Non-diegetic orchestral sound as she runs.
- First bit of dialogue, music starts quieter then louder.
- Diegetic sound of her running.
- Music stops as she goes inside and there is only diegetic sound, for example the lift opening and closing.

Editing:
- Low-speed continuity editing
- Very long shot at the beginning, with little editing, the camera is doing most of the work, for example panning.
- The editing speeds up but it is still low-speed.
- Continuity editing, each scene flows easily.

Lighting:
- Natural, outdoor lighting, monochrome shades of (grey, black and white), dull, the trees aren't very green, sense of seriousness and authority.
- High-key lighting indoors, not many shadows.

Mise en scene:
- Serious facial expressions, hard working, not distracted.
- Not bothered by her appearance, e.g. scruffy hair.
- Resilient character knows what she's doing.
- Close up of the FBI hat indicates the setting and the man's status.
- The words "hurt, agony, pain, love-it" show that it's a hard core training ground.
- Very ordered, tidy, bland building.
- Some wearing suits, some wearing a uniform, she's wearing a sports kits, quite out of place.
- Contrast between the orderly men in bright orange outfits and woman.

The conventions of a thriller

Definition:
A thriller is a genre in a book, play, TV programme or film with an exciting plot that uses suspense and tension to engage the audience.
Thrillers contain moments of suspense and tension which are emphasised by many techniques, for example, high-speed editing, extreme close up shots, loud, dramatic music, low-key lighting etc.

Examples:
- The Sixth Sense
- The Departed
- No Country for Old Men
- Blackswan
- North by Northwest

Sub-genres:
Action thriller - visually appealing genre, more commonly shown in films than books, fast paced with lots of high-speed editing, often vehicles, such as cars, are used and there is usually a chase scene. Example - Taken



Crime thriller - often solving a mystery eg. murder, disappearence, kidnapping. Has an unexpected twist at the end, slower pace than an action thriller.
Example - The Girl on the Train



Psychological thriller - plays with reality, you usually see the film from the point of view of a character with a mental illness, the real world is often shown at the end.
Example - Shutter Island

Pratical Task Reflection

‘The Package’

Our task was to produce a short film titled ‘The Package’ including tension and suspense, to give us practice with sound, camera and editing. We came up with a short storyline and had to plan the shots and were limited to the school grounds.

We started filming swiftly and we got half of it done by the second day but then the SD card got misplaced by someone in our group so we lost all our footage which set us back a lot. So we definitely learnt from that mistake. But re-filming the shots we lost was easy, as we knew exactly where to place the camera and what to do.

Once we had finished filming and downloaded our shots onto the computer we noticed the other mistakes we made, as they were more obvious on a bigger screen. For example in a few shots it was clear that the tripod wasn’t set up straight, so the corridor looks like it’s slanted, but this highlighted to us the importance of checking the spirit level before we recorded every shot.

A positive of the task was that it gave us some editing practice and we used techniques such as match on action and continuity editing. Overall the task was very useful and we now won’t repeat the same mistakes we made.