Lighting

Key Lighting
Usually 'key lighting' is the main lighting type used on a set of a TV or film, it is very bright light and is used to highlight the focal object/character.


Fill Lighting
Generally has the same purpose as 'key lighting' except it is used to reduce contrast (so it isn't so harsh) and is far less intense. It's generally placed in a 3-point set-up to ensure even coverage.


Back Lighting
Pretty much what it says it is, a light that is used from the back (so, almost facing the camera) which often creates a silhouette effect. It creates a strong contrast between subject matter and it's surroundings and creates a greater sense of depth in the shot.


High Lighting
Typically used to create a happy impression in a shot, is typical in sitcoms and happy scenes in films. Removes any strong shadows and reduces contrast to ensure this mood.


Rim Lighting
Very similar to 'back lighting' except instead of having such a strong contrast like a silhouette the 'rim' (outline or whatever) of the image is illuminated slightly so it's far softer. Used to highlight the subject matter also.


Chiaroscuro Lighting
Used to create very high contrast between light and dark to create a sense of depth and add moodiness to a shot. 

What is a British Film?

The Kings Speech

• British historical drama film. Story of King George VI and how he overcomes his speech impedement.
• Actors, majority English. Colin Firth, Lionel Logue, both English.
• Directed by Tom Hooper, also English. Directed Elizabeth I and The Damned United aswell.
• Fits into the Drama genre, it is a fairly basic and traditional style.
• UKFC funded the film, no where else would.
• Distrubuted by: Paramount Pictures (Australia), The Weinstein Company (USA), Momentum Pictures (UK).
• Released: 6 September 2010 (Telluride Film Fesitval, USA), 7 January 2011 (UK).

127 Hours

• Biographical adventure film, based on events of a real man who had to cut his arm off to survive after being trapped by a rock.

Working Title - Sarah Jane Wright

Upon Tim's depart we were introduced to another speaker. She introduced herself as SJ (Sarah Jane Wright), production executive. Her roles at Working Title HQ involve monitoring and tracking films and breaking down the cost of films for Tim & Eric.
The UK film industry are now looking at making a lot of their films on a budget under £20 million to ensure they get a 20% rebate and if they do the same in Hungary (who have fantastic opportunities for sets and locations) they get a 25% rebate.
Regarding Atonement, SJ said that it took 62 days to shoot in the UK and they had to do 7 takes of the Dun Kirk scene with army volunteers. CGI used 'tiling' to create the vast amount of people on the beach.

Working Title - Tim Bevan

On Tuesday 5th April 2011, many a media student from Reepham embarked on an adventure they would never forget. The coach journey was lengthy and food was sparse but a short break ensured the survival of all students and the majority of staff. Upon arival in central London the students took a short trek to Working Title HQ where they assembled and waited. Debra Hayward, executive producer, greeted the students and took them through to a room they call the 'Theater'.
The students sat in excited anticipation and then Tim Bevan arrived to answer their burning questions. Tim briefly explained his roll and the process of producing a film; he discussed the different departments and their rolls also. Suddenly a student asked a question regarding piracy and how it was effecting Working Title directly and the industry as a whole. Tim responded stating:
Everyone knows cinema is the best way to engage and view a film so he doesn't think that cinema viewings will be effected too dramatically. He did specify that DVD sales have been affected badly and in the future he thinks that DVD's will be made available as downloads instead and rather than paying £20 for a DVD people will pay £2ish for a download. He says that he prefers to look optimistically towards the future regarding issues with piracy and how they can be resolved.
Regarding Atonement Tim said that the convergence between the novel and the screenplay was quite difficult but they got in specialist team members to 'intelectually challenge' everything and help with writing. One of these was Tom Stoppard who is a renound playwright and writer. He also said that when it comes to pinpointing genre you kind of know what you're working with in most cases.
Tim then departed.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Working Title

Atonement, one of Working Title's finest films, was one of the top contenders at the Golden Globes in 2008. 

"Atonement in contention for 7 Golden Globe Awards

19th December 2007

Atonement, starring Keira Knightley, James McAvoy and Saoirse Ronan is the top contender for this year's Golden Globe Awards, leading the field with 7 nominations including best picture. The full list of categories in which Atonement has been nominated is as follows: - Best Director (Joe Wright) - Best Actress, Drama (Keira Knightley) - Best Actor, Drama (James McAvoy) - Best Supporting Actress (Saoirse Ronan) - Best Screenplay (Christopher Hampton) - Original Score (Dario Marianelli) - Best Picture Cate Blanchett has also been in the actress in a dramatic role category for her performance as Elizabeth I in Elizabeth: The Golden Age. The 65th annual Hollywood Foreign Press Association Golden Globe Awards will be announced at a ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday, January 13th. Pictured: James McAvoy, Keira Knightley and Joe Wright, who are each nominated for a Golden Globe, at a screening of Atonement at the Toronto Film Festival in September."

(http://www.workingtitlefilms.com/news/view/post/142)

However, is they key to a successful film the amount of awards/nominations it receives? I can understand that it is obviously fantastic to receive recognition for your work but how is the process of the award ceremonies important to the success of an individual film/company. Also, is it the nominations or the actual winning of the awards that ensures success? Some films receive many nominations but never win the awards where as other films receive few nominations but win them all. Out of the seven nominations Atonement received they won two, this is clearly a fantastic achievement but are the 2 wins ranked higher than the 7 nominations? 

In more recent new though, Senna has won a hugely prestigious award.

"Senna wins at Sundance

7th February 2011

SENNA has won a prestigious award this years Sundance Film Festival, collecting the World Cinema Audience Award for Documentary and was one of 12 films from an entry of 796 to make the final cut at Sundance. Director Asif Kapadia was there to collect the award  "This is amazing. This festival has restored my faith in film festivals, Sundance is all about the films, the audience and the film makers. Every single screening is sold out. We were told that no one in the US knew who Ayrton Senna was, that there was no interest in Formula One, that we should forget about releasing the film here, so to win the Audience Award at Sundance is just fantastic, it makes us feel so proud. We hope this shows that there is an audience for SENNA in the US, both fans and people who have never heard of him before and I hope this is just the beginning of a long journey for SENNA in 2011.” 

SENNA, written by Manish Pandey and directed by Asif Kapadia, tells the remarkable story of Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna, charting his physical and spiritual achievements on the track and off, his quest for perfection, and the mythical status he has since attained. This documentary feature spans the racing legend’s years as an F1 driver, from his opening season in 1984 to his untimely death a decade later and has been made with full support of the Ayrton Senna’s family

SENNA has opened  to rave reviews in Brazil and Japan .  The next release is Italy (Feb 11) followed  by Germany ( May 12), Spain (May 20),  before arriving in the UK in the summer. (http://www.workingtitlefilms.com/news/view/post/197)

This story gives a new form of hope to the film industry, after being beaten down by the US who said that it wouldn't show well there, to gain such an amazing international award has installed new hope. I personally do not know of Ayrton Senna but as the director said "This festival has restored my faith in film festivals, Sundance is all about the films, the audience and the film makers. Every single screening is sold out." it is clear that film festivals are important to getting the name of films into the public eye. 

Hollyoaks.

SlideShare isn't working tonight so I'm just going to copy and paste (to prove I've done it) and then upload the nice SlideShare version another time...

Hollyoaks – Case Study 5.1

The episode I chose to study was aired on Tuesday 01 March 2011. The focus of this episode is a young character called Seth who has been rushed to hospital after having a bad reaction to some illegal steroids from his friend Gaz. Seth’s sister Jason (originally Jasmine) is trying to get Gaz to come clean about selling them to him but Gaz is concerned about loosing his job and going to prison again. Elsewhere Ste and Rae have planned a night in to have a curry and watch some movies. The section of this episode I have chosen to study starts at 11 minutes 57 seconds and ends at 15 minutes 19 seconds.

Camera

A good majority of the camera shots are close ups. The shots quickly cut between each character and their head and shoulders fill up a majority of the frame. Some midshots are used but it’s not often and mostly the camera is static. When Seth’s parents and older brother are talking to him they use low angle shots to make them look intimidating, almost the view that Seth would get from his hospital bed. When Jason tries to talk a slightly higher angle shot is used to show that they are not really interested in his/her opinion and they’re often quite rude in the dialogue towards him/her. The angle only changes when s/he stands up and voices his/her opinion. We also see Gaz through open blinds, making a barrier between him and the hospital room, this could foreshadow his fate. When we change to the ‘lighter’ scene with Ste and Rae the camera isn’t as static. It gently moves to the two of them cooking and talking and then moves with Ste as he walks around the frame. The camera continues to follow the characters as they move with barely any quick cuts. This could show that this storyline is a bit more relaxed and ‘lighter’. Close ups are started to use when the characters sit down to eat and start to talk, this allows the viewer to feel more involved with the characters and read their facial expressions more. I feel that the placement and shots of the camera in this short clip help the viewer to interpret the storyline more so. E.g. a smoother shot may make the viewer feel the mood is more smooth and relaxed.

Editing

I have mentioned a fair bit of the editing process in the paragraph above. A lot of the clips are put together to make really quick cuts and give a sense of pace. In the crucial ‘bridge’ between the two storylines there are a lot of very quick cuts between different characters faces and their facial expressions which then bridge into a really smooth shot which stays the same and follows both characters as they move around the frame. This allows the viewer to make a clear relation to the two storylines not being interlinked and the differing pace helps establish this too.

Sound

During the clip of the first storyline pure dialogue is used and the faint noise of people talking in the background ca be heard lightly; I’m unable to tell whether this is diegetic or non-diegetic. However, in the second storyline clip we can hear faint music playing in the background behind their dialogue. I get the impression that the music is non-diegetic because the volume increases as the characters go to sit down in the other room, it also stops suddenly when Ste’s phone goes off. The rest of this clip is pure dialogue.

Mise en Scène

The locations of the two storylines are the most immediate change notable I believe. Seth’s story is taking part in a bright and busy hospital and his actions are public to his family and a lot of other people, in contrast Ste’s story is happening in a small flat where the lights are quite dim and it’s just him and one other character. Ste is in a comfortable home environment where as Seth is in an unusual environment for him. Costume isn’t incredibly different apart from Seth is wearing a hospital gown; this does make him stand out amongst other characters though. Ste and Rae are wearing fairly neutral, warm colours which make their storyline seem far more relaxed and the props and surroundings are true to that as well, there are no incredibly unusual things that stand out. In Seth’s hospital room there are a lot of whites though and the lighting is rather harsh, causing a lot of shadow. The two scenes contrast in terms of the quick cut static shots and smooth shots and also with tone and volume of dialogue. 

Hollyoaks: Storyboard.

Hopefully this is clear enough? Anyway, this is my storyboard to accompany my writing piece which shall be uploaded shortly if it will ever finish processing on SlideShare... it covers 20 seconds over the transition of the two storylines.