Finished magazine cover

Editing/creating

After taking the individual photographs it was time to merge them together to great one image for our magazine cover.

This was done with a size control panel on the programme photo shop.

We took the individual photographs and decided that the side of he person that had  the blood spatters needed to be in shot.


Because Emma was the main character that answered the phone call, she needed to feature in the centre.


 I feel that the attention is not taken away from the other characters and the sides because the blood draws in the eye in to the expressions.


After merging together to create one image:


 

Once this had been done, it was noticeable to that the light was different in each photo. The photos were taken in the same place but the light my have differed due to the time of day and the position of the light.

To change the lighting, the levels of transition needed to be experimented with. This was done using an adjustment panel.(on left) 

 

After the light adjustment the brightness of the blood and the colour of the eyes stood our largely. This was a great result, as it created a piercing effect. When the light changed it also created a shadows that gave the image an harrowing, eerie feel.  

 

It was then noticeable that this image would be to large for a magazine cover, it needed to be an A4 size. So it needed to be cropped down to size. The image of Emma in the centre needed to be cropped down, so her elbows were removed.This meant that

the images on either side also needed adjusting.
Just a simple zoom in reduced the size of the

photos.



After the images had been cropped (A4 size)



Once the size and the light adjustments had been modified, the effects and features were able to be added. To effectively create a poster that would meet the genre of our film, the balance and levels of light needed to be darkened to give the surrounding picture an eerie, horrifying feel. This was controlled by a colour filter that had to be tested at different levels, this we a process of elimination, trial and error.

 

After the colour balance was at an effective level, it enabled experimentation of boarders, shading and titles.

After different boarders were selected, overall we felt that the pictures looked more effective without a boarder as some of the boarders overwhelmed the picture and made the intensity degrade.

 After experimenting with different fonts and styles of titles none of the above really made the right, bold impression we wanted. Experimenting with bright red,blood writing, made the magazine cover look as if it was a poster but gave a frightening feel. After this experimenting it was clear that a large bold title, without a surrounding boarder would produce a realistic magazine cover.

When adding the block title it was clear that this was the right decision and really started to bring the magazine cover to life. Although the title was red it didn't quite stand out enough to be picked out from the crowed. We wanted people to instantly see and want to read about our film. To get this boldness the redness of title needed to be enhanced.

The title was simply selected and the brighter red was chosen. After the title was completed, the next feature of the magazine cover needed to be added. This feature was the title of our film and the tag line advertising it. We decided that the blood writing would be good for the title of the film, it stood out,putting a black boarder around the name juxtaposed with the white surroundings, i thought it really caught the eye of the viewer.

The tag line and advertisement was then added but this made the black surroundings of the film title become larger and the black box distracted the audiences eye away from the photograph. With the text decided on, the surrounding box needed to be changed, a red blood effect was in keeping with the, poster and the genre of our film, the red blood spatters match with the blood on our faces and the colour of the magazine title. This all then tied in perfectly and gave a realistic

style magazine cover.

It was then time to add the finishing touches. This consisted of 2 main features needed on a magazine cover, the bar code in the bottom right corner, also the enticing page numbers of the main stories and the competition give away.

Photos

After deciding that we was going to use images of  the characters (us) we needed to take the individual photographs of each character.

  

We used the fake blood on our bodies before, rather than adding it in when editing, we felt that this would give a more realistic effect.  Emma's prop in this image is the telephone this featured in the film, we feel that giving away a slight part of the plot will grap the audiences attention to go watch our film. We also wanted to give some dramatic effect so we all pulled a terrified expression, not only does this shock the audience into reading on but gives the genre of out film away.

Magazine cover ideas

As a group we came up with some drawings of what our magazine my look like. We came up with ideas for images, titles and text.

This is one of my ideas i came up with, i originally drew this up on paper but feel that the image didn't really do it justice so i decided to create it on the program paint.

Amy's Idea

Amy used the same techniques found when researching and had the idea to use the same image from the poster on the magazine, to really enthuses the Gore factor.

 

Emma's Idea

Emma also used the techniques found in research but came up with the idea to feature each character in the magazine cover, this was to show another angle and give another view of the film, hopefully enticing a larger audience.



After discussing the ideas we had come up with we decided that it would be best to use elements from each others posters and bring them together. We decided to use the image from Emma's magazine design.

Magazine Cover deconstructions

 

To enable us to create a magazine cover, as individuals we needed to research current magazine covers and as a group we needed discuss ideas. For research purposes i have decided to deconstruct a horror,thriller and comedy magazine cover.

Shock Horror:

 This magazine cover has an overall colour scale of black, white and green.

The main selling points of the cover are in large block capitals. The title and the main features in the magazine are in large green text, this makes them stand out to the audience. The grey scale of the large picture brings another dimension to the cover. The expression on his face with those big black eyes draws the audience in making them wonder, why is his expression like that and what is he looking at. His name is in bold writing with a black surrounding making the text stand out from the green shapes in the background.

The cover also has two smaller images that are less obvious but are in great contrast with the rest of the magazine.

It also has a few tag lines that give a taste of what is inside the magazine, this opens the magazine out to a wider audience.

Empire (The Dark Knight):

This cover has a green,red,black,white and purple colour scale. The colour of the magazine seems to be coordinated with the main image on the cover. This title Empire in large red capitals is covered by the image but this magazine is so well known the producers feel that they can do this and the public will instantly know what magazine this is.

Again the name of the person/character in the image is in large bold text that stands out on top of the image. This magazine cover also has smaller text explaining the main features in the magazine, to entice the audience. The black surroundings of the image give the cover a dark,scary feeling this could be giving away the genre of the film featured. It also gives away the personality of the character. It has language like 'world exclusive' and 'PLUS!' this entices the audience to buy the magazine and is crucial for marketing and advertising.

Entertainment (Hangover 2):

This magazine also has the same features but because it is advertising a comedy it has a bright, light background and the title of the magazine is in a bright yellow. Like the magazine Empire because Entertainment weekly is so well known and popular they feel that the title isn't as important. The title of the film is surrounded by a red highlight so it stands out in contrast against the blue background. It gives away what may be in the film through the text under the title. It also has small text on the left revealing what is featured in the magazine.

The image is of the 3 main characters in the films, these are very famous actors, being seen in a different light, the actors are well known so the names of them are not shown. Although some of there characteristics are coming through the image and the way they are behaving. This cover has less text and does not feature any tag lines or competitions to sell the magazine. It entirely focuses on the image and the film on hand.  

The magazine covers that i have deconstructed have very similar characteristics, they all contain large titles, give aways on the main features, bar codes, marketing marterial and large images.

After we all completed our magazine deconstructions we had a group meeting about what we had found. We thought that bringing a little bit of each main feature in the magazine covers will result in a realistic, marketable magazine cover for our film.

Editing/ Final poster

Editing the poster to make the most effective image:

To make the hand prints stand out more against the light, the door and the darkness outside, we would need to adjust the light settings.
To do this, we created an layer then selected the adjustment 'Selective Colour'. We then reduced the amount of cyan in the red coloured areas of my image, and increased the magenta, yellow and black.

 

We had to play around with adjusting the colours and see what looked best, as any artist would do. If we added too much cyan with magenta, it made the hand prints look purple, so we had to balance each option in with each other or it would not only affect the red in the photo, but the rest of the colours. This involved a lot of trial and error.



After creating the layer



After modifying the settings in the image, we were pleased to see that the reds in the image were more bright and effective. This is exactly what we had in mind as beforehand the blood looked too orange and thin. By making the layer to adjust the colours, this made even the streak marks of the fingers stand out.   

With the right balance it was then time to add the main parts of the poster, i.e. the title,tag line and producers.

We wanted the title of the film to stand out in bold letters to enthesise what the film is called as this is very important. We placed the title at the bottom of the door to show as much of the image as possible. We also took this from our inspiration gained previously. We used methods seen in other posters, such as the a tag line in small letters to gain dramatic effect and the name of the producers at the top.

Final poster:

Photos

After designing the final film poster, we needed to take the photographs that would be used in the finished product. We thought that to create the effect of the blood hand prints on the inside of the door we needed to make this effect ourselves. So we made some fake blood and covered my hands with it. I then pushed them against the the inside of the door in the position we wanted and dragged them down to create the gripping effect.
 After the first attempted at the hand prints we took some pictures and realised that the hands were not bold enough. So we layered up my hands again and i did the same process. This then made the had prints stand out more. I then laid on the floor behind the door with my had pushed against the glass (still covered in blood). The Photographs where then taken from the out side of the door with the light from the house shinning through. These photographs were then saved for editing.

Final idea

All the horror/thriller posters that i have researched and deconstructed are very similar in that they have a main focal point that entices the audience to ask questions about what and why. The fact that the posters are simple shows how effective they can be. The producers don't want to give too much away. In all of the posters the title has been placed at the bottom of the poster to give the image more enhancement. Allot of the posters researched contained hands and blood. In most cases the poster will have a tag line, that will feature in the film. This will entice the audience further and will create more dramatic effect.

After considering all of these elements and methods used we aim to create something with the same effect.

As a group we thought about these things that needed to feature in the poster for our film. We had a group descusion about what we wanted our poster to look like and drew up some ideas. We considered the surroundings of the house and the plot. After seeing some posters that used frosted glass or a distruaght image behind a window, i realised that the back door of my house would be perfect for this effect. After deciding that the door would be used, we disscussed further what image we wanted to create and drew up ideas. We all brought our ideas togther and came up witha final design.
We came up witha basic drawing on the program paint, this is what the finished product may look like:

Film poster deconstructions

Red Riding Hood

This poster has a main focal point (red riding hood). The first part of the image that stands out is in contrast between the dark background is her cloak and the title. The slight hint of blood on her dress gives the impression that this film is going to be scary. This is a very different take on the bed time story of red riding hood. The fact that the text is at the bottom of the poster, does not take the viewers attention away from the image. The branches on the trees are sharp and pointy this gives the impression that where ever this girl is it doesn't look safe.

After focusing on the main part of the image the viewers eye is draw to a small white text that states: 'BELIEVE THE LEGEND, BEWARE THE WOLF'  this acts an open question that entices the viewer to go watch the film. The poster also doesn't give away anything about the plot of the film, it leaves the viewers mind totally free to ponder over what the film may contain. Its very important for the release date of the film to be on the poster as the audience know when to go and watch the film. I feel this film poster is effective and meets the requirements in enticing and audience.

It is very important for the poster of the film to be effective as without any advertisements the film company would not make any money to cover the costs of making the film,or make any profit and the film would not be successful.

One missed call:

The contrast of the white face on a black

 background immediately grabsthe         

audiences attention. When the audience first take a look at the poster, it looks as if a man in a mask but with a second look, the man's eyes are actually two open mouths and noses. The mouths are wide open that gives the impression of them screaming in terror. This is to get the audience to to look deeper into the picture, this gives a sense of mystery as they audience question what is happening/going to happen. Due to the frightening appearance the audience immediately assume that this is a horror film. 

"WHAT WILL IT SOUND LIKE WHEN YOU DIE?" The text at the top of the poster is written in red, making it harder to see over the black poster making the audience look even deeper. When the enticement of the man's face has passed, the text then stands out revealing a more of a closed question, aimed directly at the audience, the audience will want to know what will it sounds like when the characters die.

The usage of the phone against the ear shows that the film will centre around the telephone. The thought of this person being on the other end of the phone is a horrifying thought. Adding a prop to the poster gives the audience something further to think about and question. The use of the telephone gives away a little of what the plot may be about.

I feel this poster is effective in the ways in which it draws the audience in. This is another of many inspirations for my group's poster as it is very simple, but conveys the important plot message without giving too much away.

The Uninvited:

This entire poster is cleverly made up from a window frame.This then entities the audience to look through the window to see whats happening. The fact that this window is frosted and the girls figure behind it is distraught raises more questions, in that they will ask who,what and where. Her hands are pressed against the glass that give the impression that she is running from something trying to escape or looking into through the glass at what is happening. The audience will want to know what she is running from or watching. 

The colours of the poster are very simple in just black and white tones this gives the feel that the film is going to be dark and eerie. The title of the film is situated at the bottom of the poster like in the other two previous posters. The text states' from the producers of'... this shows that this has been made by people that have had success with other horror/thriller films. This then widens the audience to the people that have seen the other films stated. If they liked the previous films made by these producers, they feel they will like this one.

I feel this poster is successful in enticing the audience into wanting the watch the film.

Finished trailer

Editing

To begin the editing process we first needed to select the best shots that we had taken and delete any unnecessary ones.

Conversion of files

Once we had selected the right shots we then had to convert the video files so that they became compatible with iMove maker. Unfortunately the iMove program shortened our shots and made them become a worse quality then we already had. So we decided that we would attempt to edit our trailer on Adobe premier elements.




After converting the files into MP4 format it was ready to be transformed into a trailer. We wanted a classic trailer feel so this meant clips of action in transition with text that faded in and out with each other.
To do this the fade option was selected and fade video in was selected before a clip and fade out was selected after the clip.
With fade selected we could then adjust how much we wanted each clip to fade in and out, this was important as some clips needed a longer fade than others. This was in order to match the fading in and out with the  background music we had selected. It was decided that fading would be used with every clip as it shows that the plot is separated as it is only a trailer and the main parts of the plot are shown.If the fading wasn't used then there would an abrupt start and ending to each scene, this would make the trailer look unprofessional and choppy.

Once all the clips were placed in order the length of some clips needed to be shortened due to the quality and the action in the shot. We took the fact that clips would be edited and shortened into consideration when filming, so some clips were longer than needed. The trailer needed to be action packed so the clips needed to be short and get to the point of the plot. The length of the clips  also needed to be matched to the music as the music changed in pace and pitch in certain parts to build tension.

The dialogue/audio was very quiet in places, in particular when answering the phone. The audio and the background music causes a problem as the duologue was drowned out by the background music. To make sure that this wasn't a problem the button properties and the volume of the audio was heightened. This was then played through once to check the background music against the audio. This was repeated on several clips where the audio was quiet.

It was important  build tension and to end the trailer on a climax  so that the audience are left feeling like they want to watch the film.  For the last scene we decided to take the sound effects from another part of footage that we had taken. This was the dial tone from the caller, this created an anonymous,eerie effect that would work well to build tension. To do this an unlink audio from video option was selected and the clip was removed from the audio this meant the audio was now placed over a blank screen. The background music was altered once more to a lowered volume so that the dial tone could be heard. By changing the length of the background music we was able to match it up the scream to the end of our trailer, then the title of our film 'COLD CALL-' and the release date 'Coming Halloween 2012' could appear just after the scream. The bold red text stood out perfectly with a shocking burst. It was clear to the point.

The editing overall consisted of lengthening and shortening clips to fit the background music at appropriate times, creating a build up to a climax and  considering the amount of the plot we wanted to reveal to the audience.



Music :

As a group we debated on the style of background music we wanted our trailer to contain.  We wanted sound effects that created a climax and built up tension throughout the trailer. We researched instrumental music that was eerie and spooky. We researched but nothing seemed to fit what we wanted, we looked back over last years music and realised it would be perfect for what we needed. After this we noticed that only a small section of the trailer will contain the music but none the less it worked and gave the effect we wanted.

Title ideas/ Final Title

As as group we came up with several title ideas for our final idea. We needed something new and original that had the edge for our thriller. We wanted something simple and short that was to the point and memorable.   
All our ideas need to be based around the plot and the main points in the plot. The main feature is the telephone call so we needed a name that expressed this.

Initial Ideas: 

The call

Dial Tone 

Caller 




Final Idea :

The title of the film is very important, and after a discussion of the 3 title ideas we thought that they didn't grab our attention enough and didn't have the right sort of vibe we wanted to give off.

After some research we came across the term 'cold calling' this is used in marketing via telephone, unexpectedly. The word "cold" is used because the person receiving the call is not expecting a call or has not specifically asked to be contacted by a sales person.

After the discovery of the perfect definition we decided to name our film 'Cold Call'

Cold call is simple but effective and has an edge when saying it! The name says everything we needed it to and we feel it will become very effective throught the work we produce.            

Filming

Filming : 30th January

This date was important as it was the only night all of our group where free to film as we all have work and other sixth from commitments. This meant that we needed to shoot all the footage for our trailer that night, so the pressure was on to get each shot perfect, with as little takes as possible.

The filming was taking place at my house and everyone arrived at 6pm after collecting the camera equipment. We also had the fake blood left over from the poster and magazine shots, this would be used later on for the gory scenes. Along with the filming equipment we also had our story board sketches to provide a structure in what shots we needed to take. We figured if we needed any extra shots to fill in the structure we would experiement in the rooms of the house, see what worked well and improvise any shots.

The first few shots where taken in the living room, the lights were low and the TV was flashing with the scenes of a scary movie. We experimented with the light in the room turning main lights on and off and moving lamps around. We found that the lighting in the room was limited where the camera needed to be positioned, so the camera was placed between the TV and the lamp. This give good lighting effect. The shadows from the lamp and the TV flashed up on our faces as we watched intently.

Three shots where taken in this environment:

1. Watching a scary movie and being frightened.
2. falling asleep, being woken by the phone
3. One of the girls going missing,the other two realising and going to search the house.

We took each shot two or three times until it gave the effect we wanted. In the first shot we wanted to keep it sciolent to bulid tension in the atmosphere. After the first two shots we thought that diolague needed to be introduced to reveal some of the plot and intise the audience to keep watching. For shot two the camera needed to be positioned on the oposite side of the room, this ment experimenting with lighting once more. Then shot three (mid shot)of Emma leaving the room to answer the phone call is the last continuouse shot ended on a clif hanger 'where did the girl go?'.

The next scene was taken in the dining room and was a simple shot of Emma's character walking towards telephone and answering it. This was done quite quickly but we had to make sure her expression, body language, voice and the way she answered the phone gave off the correct impression.

Some of us found if hard to keep a straight face when performing these shots as something kept going wrong either with the ringing of the phone or the answering of the phone, this become quite time consuming and restricted our time plan.

After watching back the scenes we had filmed we thought that it was becoming to much like a film opening, we had taken long continuouse scences, but we needed quick shots of action to build up the footage for a trailer. When discussing this we decided it was best just to move on the action shots and get them done in short bursts.

My Uncle (Ben) had kindly volentired to act as the suspisouse figure in our trailer. He had read over the plot and the story board, however we still gave him a large amount of instruction in what he needed to do,how he needed to perform and where he needed to do it. He had worn a black hooded jumper to characterise the dark figure. We took shots of me walking up the stairs, shortly followed by Ben. We found this type of shot to be very effective and took severall shots of him creeping past door ways and walking around the landing. We captured this at different angles, this was wrapped up in a few shots and was perfect for flashing images in out edited trailer.

The next shots we took where of Me discovering Amy's body and Emma discovering my body. We used the left over fake blood. Amy propped herself up in the corner of the smallest bedroom and i walked in, turned the light on and discovered her body. She had blood dripping from her mouth. We took an aditional shot of her coughing and splutering in pain. We had to take the shot of me discovering her several times experimenting on how i would position myself.

The next shot was a single shot of me being then dragged into the darkness of the bathroom by the dark figure. We didnt use the tripod for this shot as we wanted to give it a real shocking edge. 
After this a shot of Emma discovering my body coverd in blood in the same way. We experimented with my body in different positions and how I would be discovered. We had to take this shot several times until we took the perfect shot.

These where the main shots we needed for our trailer but we still needed to fill in the contextual gaps. We decided that this wouldnt take long so we would film then another night as not all the group was needed for this.

As everyone had commitments Amy and Emma decided to go off and take the shots of a mysteriouse caller. They used Amy's Boyfriend and one of his friends, they played around with pitch tone and diologe until they had a range of shots to experiement with when editing.


Filming : 1st February

After taking the main shots we needed, when editing them togther we noticed that some more short shots of the surroundings needed to be taken. Me, Amy and Emma came togther late that night to take these shots.

We took some experimental shots around the house, looking into dark rooms, opening doors and reflections in mirrors. We took these to fill some of the gaps and create tension through out the trailer.

We also realized that the main door scene needed to be taken, this was very important as it was the focus of our poster and featured in most of out planing. Emma was the main character (protagonist)so it was in her intrest to perform in the door scene that would be the important finale of our trailer. She covered her hands is fake blood and ran at the inside of the door sliding down as she hit it. We made sure that she would get the right timing and speed of the fall to the floor. It was also crusial that she was wearing the same clothes as before or we would lack continuinity.Me and Amy stood out side the door and filmed the shot from the outside just like we did when taking the pictures for the poster.

This was all the filming done, all the major scenes where shot and it was now time to bring it all togther and create our film trailer. The next step was editing and deleting any shots not needed.

Filming Plan

Location: The filming will be situated in my house. As a group we disscussed whos house would be most suited to the style of trailer we wanted to produce. We decided on my house as it is an old victorian house, it has the most suitible rooms for the shots we want to film.

My house

The bathroom where i am found dead



The back door where Emma dies and our poster photos where taken



The stairs & landing

The half painted stair case really gives the house an eerie, dangerouse feeling.
The angle of the strais is very steep and ideal for capturing people at the top.

The landing

Also the half decorated landing gives this same eerie effect, the rooms are very close and dark
this makes them a great place for people to disapear.



The bedroom where Amy is found dead

This bedroom is an L shape and had a perfect corner for revealing Amys dead body.

Props/costume: As our plot is based around a sleep over we thought it was best that the characters were wearing pajamas, But not just plain pajamas, we thought it would have more effect if each character had a distinced patterned pajams on, to define each character as an individual and would represent them when they are being killed in the dark house.
We also thought it would be best for the killer to be dressed in black clothes, do create a dark shadey character creeping around the house.

The props in general are the funiture around the house to create the typical/normal, realistic house setting. We want to give the feeling that this could happen in any house to anyone.

The main feature of the plot is the telephone, this will feture highly in the trailer and the magazine cover for our film. We wanted to use an iconic phone, that was big and bold to give the most impression.

Another prop that the trailer,magazine cover and poster couldnt go without was the fake blood. With any horror or thriller movie blood is fetured without a doubt.
We wanted to make the blood as realistic as possible so we researched some videos on the proccess of making it.

If you have any problems when playing this video i have also put a link to the website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0rbtQGQ4iE

We took all the measurments and ingredience into consideration and made some fake blood of our own to use in our poster, magazine cover and trailer.

The script:

KEY:

Blue: Still text on screen
Black: Dialogue
Red: Actions
Green: Description of scene/what's happening

Your home is your safe place…

3 Girls on a sofa watching a scary movie. Emma jumps and screams, her hands covering her face

Emma: Turn it off, turn it off!

Chelsea: For God’s sake! *Throws remote on floor*

Amy: It’s not real you know!

Cuts to girls on the sofa sleeping. A phone ringing in the distance wakes Emma up. She stirs and walks to the phone.

No one’s going to hurt you…

Emma picks up the phone.

Cuts to man on the other end – only the bottom half of his face is shown.

Andrew: Where’s your friend?

Cuts back to Emma on the phone.

Emma: What? Who is this? *Phone goes dead*

Scene cuts to Emma shaking Chelsea awake.

Emma: Chelsea, Chelsea, wake up! Where’s Amy gone?!

Chelsea: What?! Hold on, I’ll go look for her. You stay here.

Emma: Be careful!

Chelsea: Whatever!

…Or are they?

Scene cuts to Chelsea walking up the stairs. A figure is seen following her.

Chelsea: Amy! Are you in here? *Falls against the table*

Amy is propped up against the wall, coughing and spluttering blood.

Scene flashes to door slamming and Emma screaming as she runs upstairs.

Flashes to Chelsea in a bath tub, cut from the throat.

Chelsea: Run…

Flashes to Andrew, calling a different phone.

Andrew: You can’t run.

Scene flashes to various images of Emma running throughout the house, being chased.

Do you know who’s in your house?

Cuts to a figure running towards a door, bloody handprints suddenly slapping on the glass and sliding down until they collapse.

Still image of the word ‘COLD CALL’ and cinema release date

Story Board

Camera angles

When filming there are 3 main camera angles to consider:

1. The framing and length of the shot
2. The angle of the shot
3. Is there any movement involved

Another thing to consider is of course how far away the subject is from the camera. This can determine the shot, angle and the way the camera will need to move in order to make the supposed clip effective to the audience. A change between two shots is called a CUT SHOT.

Camera Shots


Extreme Long Shot

This shot can be taken from anything up to a quarter of a mile away. This shot is usually used to show the audience a scene-setting. It is normally used to show an exterior. For example, a building or landscape.

This shot will work most effectively with certain genres of film. An action or thriller film could be used as an example, this is because rather than giving specific detail to an individual subject, it focuses on the general impression of the scene being filmed.





Long shot This shot is mainly used to show an entirity of a subject or in a 'life size' matter. It also corresponds with the audience and the cinema screen, in terms of the size the viewer is able to see. This shot is normally includes a full shot, with the entire screen showing the human body. With the head near the top of the frame and the feet at the bottom. Whilst the main focus is of course the character there is still a lot of attention to the background detail.

To the left, we can see the person in the shot is the main focus, and can see their entire body. Yet we can see that he is also playing golf and is situated on a golfing course.

 

Medium Shot Contains a figure from the knees/waist up and is normally used for dialogue scenes, or to show some detail of action. Variations on this include the TWO SHOT (containing two figures from the waist up).  Background detail is minimal, probably because location has been shown earlier in the scene,the audience already know where they are and now want to focus on dialogue and character interation.

                                     

Close-Up This shows very little background, and concentrates on either a face, or a specific detail of mise en scène. Everything else is just a blur in the background. This shot magnifies the object  and shows the importance of things, be it words written on paper, or the expression on someone's face. The close-up takes the audience into the mind of a character. In reality, we only let people that we really trust get that close to our face i.e mothers, children and lovers. So a close up of a face is a very intimate shot. A film maker may use this to make us feel extra comfortable or extremely uncomfortable about a character, and usually uses a zoom lens in order to get the required framing.

                          

Extreme Close-Up An extreme version of the close up, generally magnifying beyond what the human eye would experience in reality. An extreme close-up of a face,would show only the mouth or eyes, with no background detail whatsoever. This is a very artificial shot, and can be used for dramatic effect. The tight focus required means that extra care must be taken when setting up and lighting the shot - the slightest camera shake or error in focal length is very noticeable.

Camera Angles:

The Bird's-Eye view: This shows a scene from directly overhead, a very unnatural and strange angle. Familiar objects viewed from this angle might seem totally unrecognisable at first (umbrellas in a crowd, dancers' legs). This shot does, however, put the audience in a godlike position, looking down on the action. People can be made to look insignificant, ant-like, part of a wider scheme of things. Hitchcock (and his admirers, like Brian de Palma) is fond of this style of shot.

High Angle: Not so extreme as a bird's eye view. The camera is elevated above the action using a crane to give a general overview. High angles make the object photographed seem smaller, and less significant (or scary). The object or character often gets swallowed up by their setting - they become part of a wider picture.

Eye Level: A fairly neutral shot; the camera is positioned as though it is a human actually observing a scene, so that eg actors' heads are on a level with the focus. The camera will be placed approximately five to six feet from the ground.

 

Low Angle: These increase height (useful for short actors like Tom Cruise or James McAvoy) and give a sense of speeded motion. Low angles help give a sense of confusion to a viewer, of powerlessness within the action of a scene. The background of a low angle shot will tend to be just sky or ceiling, the lack of detail about the setting adding to the disorientation of the viewer. The added height of the object may make it inspire fear and insecurity in the viewer, who is psychologically dominated by the figure on the screen.

Oblique/Canted Angle: Sometimes the camera is tilted,i.e is not placed horizontal to floor level, to suggest imbalance, transition and instability it is very popular in horror movies. This technique is used to suggest POINT-OF-View shots,ie when the camera becomes the 'eyes' of one particular character,seeing what they see a hand held camera is often used for this.

Camera Movement

Pans

A movement which scans a scene horizontally. The camera is placed on a tripod, which operates as a stationary axis point as the camera is turned, often to follow a moving object which is kept in the middle of the frame.

TiltsA movement which scans a scene vertically, otherwise similar to a pan.

Dolly Shots

For this shot the camera is placed on a moving vehicle and moves alongside the action, generally following a moving figure or object. The camera might be mounted on a car, a plane. A dolly shot may be a good way of portraying movement, the journey of a character for instance, or for moving from a long shot to a close-up, gradually focusing the audience on a particular object or character.

Hand-held shots

The hand-held movie camera, commonly used in news reports. This aesthetic took a while to catch on with mainstream Hollywood, as it gives a jerky, ragged effect, totally at odds with the organised smoothness of a dolly shot. Hand held cameras denote a certain kind of gritty realism, and they can make the audience feel as though they are part of a scene, rather than viewing it from a detached, frozen position.

Crane ShotsBasically, dolly-shots-in-the-air. A crane (or jib), is a large, heavy piece of equipment, but is a useful way of moving a camera - it can move up, down, left, right, swooping in on action or moving diagonally out of it. The camera operator and camera are counter-balanced by a heavy weight, and trust their safety to a skilled crane/jib operator.

Zoom Lenses

A zoom lens contains a mechanism that changes the magnification of an image. On a still camera, this means that the photographer can get a 'close up' shot while still being some distance from the subject. A video zoom lens can change the position of the audience, either very quickly (a smash zoom) or slowly, without moving the camera an inch, thus saving a lot of time and trouble. The drawbacks to zoom use include the fact that while a dolly shot involves a steady movement similar to the focusing change in the human eye, the zoom lens tends to be jerky (unless used very slowly) and to distort an image, making objects appear closer together than they really are. Zoom lenses are also drastically over-used by many directors (including those holding palmcorders), who try to give the impression of movement and excitement in a scene where it does not exist.

The Aerial Shot

An exciting variation of a crane shot, usually taken from a helicopter. This is often used at the beginning of a film, in order to establish setting and movement. A helicopter is like a particularly flexible sort of crane - it can go anywhere, keep up with anything, move in and out of a scene, and convey real drama and exhilaration - so long as you don't need to get too close to your actors or use location sound with the shots.