Grids

The dawn of man
What meaning did it create?
What ideas are behind this scene?

Lower angles used, shows importance and power.
Centre of attention, because he is smashing bones, shows he is dominant one/more evolved.
Centre ape has changed, acting telling us it's the first time he has smashed the bones, the idea of using tools for the first time.
Camera follows the bone upwards and then goes to a shot of space, puts millions of years of evolution in one cut, because the bone and the spaceship have the same shape (graphic match).
Evolution - idea we evolved from apes (ape - man)
The framing shows the dominant ape because he is in the centre. Uses close ups on that ape.
Black pole appears and when the apes touch it, it cuts to the bone smashing- could help them to evolve. Pole is black- mysterious, may come from space. Their destiny is going to space.
Black pole comes from space (alien technology), the apes touch it and they learn things, they evolve. This could mean their evolution is caused by something from aliens.
God could have sent the pole, as the sun shot, considering god is supposedly in the sky.
Unusual shots are usually major plot points. E.g. The sun shot.

V for Vendetta

Sci fi, thriller and action to appeal to a bigger audience, mostly boys would watch these films. Appeals more to men because of actions and explosions(stereotypical). Male gaze. natalie's character gains power from V he helps her overcome her fears.
V is a terrorist, usually the antagonist, but not in the film. Masculine, blows stuff up.
Evie is nearly gets raped at the beginning, she is feminine (gets dressed up) by the end of the film she becomes a terrorist, becomes more masculine.
Giving you a female character to focus on, Evie is the hero.
Not a conventional sci fi film, but has parts that it is. This film is trying to get you to think that some of the things are happening now, people are actually controlling things now.
V is a mutant, he isn't actually human. Could be a superhero film, he has a cape, most mutants in films are heroes.
People who disagree with the government are classed at terrorist.
People who are tested on, immigrants, terrorists, disabled, homosexuals.
Thriller, exciting plot, crime(he is a terrorist), espionage.
Usually a thriller, police man(good person) solves mystery, goes through an investigation. Tries to catch V.
Not a normal film, quite complicated, questions are unanswered. Thriller because it creates mystery and ask questions about it. Could apply this to your life, trying to make you think about your own life.
Film is told from Evie and the detectives point of view (more than one point if view)

Who is behind the mask?, someone who doesn't agree with the government because he was in a concentration camp.
Why he is doing all of these things?, because of the detective we fins out his back story.
How did it get like that?, government started gased places secretly, told the people that it was terrorists, offered a solution so they look like heroes so they get put in power. Conspiracy theory.
Trying to make us think about conspiracy theory around our government.
Freedom vs protection
Not an action film but has action like elements  (guns, fights, explosions) usually get slow mo, sound effects (not realistic) if it was real it wouldn't be entertaining.
V is a specialist (assassin), super power from his skills.
Not really an action, not a definable hero, V is a terrorist, he is but isn't a good bad. He tortures Evie, to make her stronger, make her have no fear. No particularly good characters.
Makes you want to think there is no good guy, bad guy.
He destroys the symbol of government at the end, V dies at the end and all of the leaders are dead so all of the people are leaders.
Trying to make us think it's our personal responsibility.

Camera shots

cinematography: To do with the framing, lighting, focus and positioning of the camera.

Deep focus: Depth applied to the area in focus within the frame, needs lots of light. Foreground, middle ground and background remain in focus.

Shallow focus: Narrow depth of field, it implies that only one plane of frame will remain sharp and clear.

Racking focus- makers change the focus on lenses to a subject in background from the foreground, and the other way round. Shifts audiences attention from one point to another

Zoom shot- maker changes focal length of lens in middle of the shot. Appears to get closer and further away at the same time

Rate- takes frames away from the second it speeds up and add more then it slows down.

Angle of framing- film from below or above the subject of the frame, is known as low or high angle.

Level of framing- height at which the camera is positioned

Canted framing- the camera is not level but tilted, used in action films and other that have lots of movement, displays disorder

Following shot/reframing- follows a character with pans, tilts and tracking. Focuses all the viewers attention on the character.

Point of view shot- places the camera where the viewer would imagine a characters gaze to be
Wide angle lens- distort the edges of a frame to emphasise the amount of space in the spot.

Extremely long shot- the scale of what is being seen, is tiny.

Long shot- the scale of what is being seen is small.

Medium shot- what is being viewed is taking up almost the entire height of the screen

Medium close up- what is being viewed is large and takes up most of the screen

Close up- what is being viewed is quite large and
takes up the entire screen e.g a persons head

Extreme close up- what is being viewed is very large, e.g part of a face

Crane shot- mounting a camera on a crane device, the weight of the camera is balanced by free weights at the other end where the camera man controls the shots.

Stedicam shot- for motion tracking shots. Harness that supports the camera

Pan- camera movement that follows the action

Tilt- vertical pan. Moves up, down rather than from one side to another.

Tracking shot- follows action through space in a variety of directions

Whip pan- like normal pan but with quicker movement

how is the camera giving deeper meaning?

Good Fellas clip:
They use panning to follow the characters, tracking shot. There is only one shot, it doesn't cut to a different part, meaning that the man and woman are the main characters. Using one long take shows realism, giving the effect that it could actually happen.
The man has more importance, because the camera follows him throughout the restaurant.
He talks to al of the people he passes by, the owners sit them right at the front near the stage and he goes through the back entrance, meaning he is more privileged that he doesn't have to queue.

Batman clip:
Lots of close ups on the bad guys, don't see batman until later on in the clip. point of view shot giving the idea of what is going on and the surroundings. Following shot, tracking him that he goes up into the sky.
Close ups are mainly to show the peoples fear as the people are being taken one by one. Lots of movement with the camera, not particularly focused on one thing. Intensity of close ups, creates idea of being trapped. Batman is only seen when he wants to be seen, only glimpses to create mystery. Hides within the shadows. Point of view as they look around to see what is taking the others, motion blur.

Saving Private Ryan clip:
Lots of close ups showing reactions on their faces. cameras low down showing they have power until they are shot, they lose their power. Close up of his face. Slow motion as it shows shock when there is an explosion. He is always in focus, extreme close up helps to connect to the character. Low angled shots of camera looking up at the people, showing they have power then losing their power.
Underwater slow motion with no sound so you only focus on the people. See his hands shaking in the extreme close up. Shakey point of view of a solider to make it dramatic, so viewers can relate to it.

Inglorious bastards clip:
Guns under the table symbolising masculinity, phalic objects. More below the surface, secrecy.

Gone with the wind clip:
Panning. shallow focus with all of the dead bodies and injured people. Shows how small she is when it gradually pans out.
Main character is mostly in the centre. She shows more importance.
High up camera, as it gets wider it shows more and more dead bodies and injured people surrounding her.
Flag shows where they are, location, it is ripped meaning there is war, but its still flying showing hope. Bodies in the background of the flag showing they have hope.

Micro (textual elements) :
Cinematography- the way it is shot
Mise en scene
Sound
Editing

mise en scene: citizen kane
Wide shots to make the child look small and alone
Boy between mother and man
Woman close to camera
Man is in the middle
He as influence on her because he is controlling when the pages turn
The father has no influence on the decision, he is furthest away showing this
Boy is still visible, woman stops the father as she controls him and so the camera doesnt change
Father steps in to gain importance, shows strength and camera tilts up to him
And the mother signs, the boy is visible again showing it is about him
She is in front showing emotional connection, she is mainly in shot, the father in background and silent
More space when he talks
Importance when the character is in the middle, power to make decisions.
Blocking is placing the characters, showing the relationships between the characters and decisions.
The mum and dad oppose each other, opposite sides of screen and relationship. Mum is bigger in the shot showing she is bigger in the relationship. The man has come between their relationship and is between them in shot, but the boy is also in the middle of them so he is caught in the middle of the situation.
Move characters determining importance and power.

Mise en scene: limitless

Lighting- dull, not well lit
Props- tablet, alcohol
Colour- dark
Performance- normal conversation
Framing and composition- both taking up the camera, goes behind whoever is talking
Setting and decor- bar
Costume- dark dirty clothes and hair is long and messy, smartly dressed

Blocking:
Positioning of the characters within the shot to do with their relationships with each other.
Is within mise en scene.

Mise en scene: v for vendetta

Setting- normal bedroom
Props- Tv, knives(retro, traditional weapon)
Characters- news anchor,
Costume- smartly dressed
Colour- saturated, dull colours
Lighting- dark (night time)
performance- calm
Framing, composition- centre of the shot,

Totalitarian- where one person or a group of people  controls every aspect of your life. (sort of like a government)

Wall e:
Likes collecting things, has a lot of junk, very dirty, robot is character, rusty
He likes bugs, robot feels emotion because he squished bug,
Robot is basically a rubbish compactor, tidying a landfill, no human life, in the shot he is small to show the landfill is bigger than him, shows he is alone
Very curious of different items in the landfill,
He has no sense of worth as he throws ring away and keeps the box, he is like a child,
He is organised in placing the block of rubbish, neatly stacked, programmed to be organised
He is small in the shot, shows he is alone in what he is doing, no other robots helping, sun was setting showing he was doing it all day

Back to the future:
Characters: typical teenage boy, likes guitars and skateboards, sort of irresponsible . scientist, stolen items, a doctor.
Genre: comedy, because he got blown back into the shelf.
Setting/time and place: in a normal house, lots of clocks, weird machine for dog food.