storyboards...

Today in media we worked in small groups and began to create a storyboard for our continuity excercise. I learnt that a storyboard is a graphical representation of camera shots for a film sequence. After the script for the film has been written the next step is to draw up the storyboard, the storyboard tells the story of the film panel by panel. A storyboard is created to give the director something to follow when filming begins. We also learnt that a storyboard should have information about which characters are in the frame, whether or not there is any dialogue, how long each shot should be, camera shots and whether or not there is any music or sound. As a class we also looked at an example of a storyboard called "P is for Psycho" so that we could have something to help us with the process of creating our storyboards.

Saul Bass opening sequence

In the opening sequence for catch me if you can the music connotes a chase or an adventure, it is quite mysterious and there is the use of trumpets to try and create the theme of an adventure. The music is quite repetative but there are some slight variations in it for example when the stairs appear the music gets higher and then an the taxi's appear it gets slower, it sometimes gets lower in parts aswell, to give the idea that the chase is still going on. The colours used are all very bright, mainly made up of blues and yellows to show that the film is not a horror or thriller genre it is more of an adventure theme. The images are of animated characters mainly a man being followed and trying to hide. The mans appearance keeps changing so that he can sneak off and disappear from the person that it trying to catch up with him. The graphics used for the films title "catch me if you can" are all in black apart from the word me which resembles a white cloud which then begins to float of, this connotes that the man in the film is always 'floating away' and dissapearing. The graphics make up many different scenes e.g the swimming pool, the taxi's and the plane to show the different ways in which the character keeps excaping in the title sequence. The title sequence is very good at showing the audience what the film is going to be like and what it is about e.g the chase. The audience are also able to tell from the title sequence what type of genre it is due to the images and music, in effect the title sequence is short preview of what is to come in the film.

Media lesson

During one of our recent media lessons we watched the opening sequences of two Saul Bass title sequences and analysed them, these films were Vertigo and Psycho. The things we were asked to comment on were Image, use of camera, colour, graphics and music.


In the opening sequence for Psycho the music is very dramatic and discordent. The type of instruments used are the strings and orchestrals. This fits is very well with the graphics which are quite plain but fast. The font is also quite plain but stands out very well against the backround.

In the opening sequence for vertigo the music is very slow and mysterious but it is also very dramatic. The graphics used are graphics that resemble an eye. The camera does a close up of the womans face and then goes into a big close up of her eyes. This image fits in very well with the mysterious atmosphere given off from the music.

Psycho shower scene

During our most recent media lesson, as a class we watched the very famous shower scene from psycho. Whilst watching this we were also asked to make notes on things such as the creation of suspense, use of music, camera work and editing.
There were about 40 - 45 cut edits in the scene, the edits start off quite slow with the woman getting into the shower and then become faster and faster as the music begins when the curtain is pulled open.
The music used in this scene is very dramatic and high pitched with the use of violins to create a frightening and tense atmosphere. There is also a use of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds.
The most important uses of camera are when the woman is in the shower and the camera does a long shot of the woman so that you can see the killer coming closer towards the shower, another important use of camera is when the camera zooms into the plughole and then zooms out of the womans eye.

In media so far...

During our media lessons so far we have been studying some film productions by students from different comprehensive schools and some of the students work from local colleges.
We have been looking at the different camera movements and positions and discussing how each shot would have been created.
We have also learnt about a lot of different principles used when filming including :-
1) Match on action - This is used to create the impression of continuity throughout the filming. It is basically cutting and editing the shots and putting them back together.
2) Shot reverse shot - This is when two characters are having a conversation. One character would be facing left and the other would face right. This means that you are able to edit between a character talking and a character listening.
3) 180 degree rule - When using this rule you are taught to imagine that there is a line drawn across the room cutting the room in half.

The work of Saul Bass!

Saul Bass was an incredible graphical designer born in 1920. He was very famous because of the work he did with Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger and Martin Scorsese. He created a lot of famous sequences, the first of which was the title sequence for "The Man With The Golden Arm" in 1955. His other well known title sequences include Psycho, Goodfellas, Vertigo, Casino Royal and The Age Of Innocence. He is also well known for designing logo's and film posters in America.

My first post!

Hi im samantha and this is my first ever blog.
Im really excited to be starting my A Level media course.
It is a whole new experience doing my work through a blog and so far i am really enjoying it....I am really looking forward to completing this blog :)