mrmojorisin7101-blog

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GAP - Colchester United

For my GAP project, I worked with fellow classmate Adam, and we filmed a Colchester United under 23s match. We both felt the shoot went really well, and we were both pleased with the footage we captured from the match. I returned the camera equipment the next day and put it on a hard drive for later use. Adam then moved the footage from the hard drive to his own usb and edited the footage at home. Having seen the edit Adam produced, we are both really happy with our final video, which is 3 minutes in length, and shows different angles of footage and also editing techniques. To finish the GAP project, I just need to improve and finish the power point for the video, and we will be then be ready to present in front of the class and show our video.

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Film Analysis #2 - Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now is a film released in 1979 based of the Vietnam War. The film stars Martin Sheen, Marlon Brandon, Dennis Hopper and a host of other actors such as Robert Duvall & Harrison Ford. The film is directed by  Francis Ford Coppola and is considered as one of the greatest films of all time.

Plot

Captain Benjamin L. Willard (Martin Sheen) is tasked by American Colonels to terminate former U.S.A colonel Walter E. Kurtz (Marlon Brando), who is now deemed insane and has started his own cult/army deep in the Cambodia forests. Willard is given a crew to assistant him in his mission, that includes Chief, Chef, Lance and Mr Clean. The four travel the Vietnam and Cambodia region by river, and meet various other characters along the way, one being Lieutenant Colonel Will Kilgore, played by Robert Duvall, who will do anything to be the Vietnamese and shows no mercy to the innocent Vietnamese people. Willard learns more and more about Kurtz on his journey to him, a journey which shows Willard’s mental state breaking like Kurtz’s. On one part of the journey, the group are ambushed by Vietnam soldiers and kill Mr Clean, who minutes earlier had just received his first letter from his mum. The group bury him in the water. Chief would then be killed by a spear thrown at him a little later on. With just Willard, Lance and Chef left, the group has been decimated as they head towards Kurtz. The trio arrive at the Kurtz’s compound deep in Cambodia wilderness. Willard tells Chef to stay on the boat while he finds Kurtz. Willard and Lance our greeted by the sight of Kurtz’s army, who don't attack but just stare. We are then introduced to Dennis Hopper’s character (No name given), a American photographer with manic and rational behaviour - and under the trance of Kurtz. Willard and Lance our captured and locked in captivity, which is where he gets his first meeting with Kurtz. While locked in chains, Willard is given the decapitated head by Chef, which was done Kurtz’s army under his command, as Lance is slowly but surly falling for Kurtz’s leadership. During a sacrificial ceremony at night, Willard escapes his captivity and murders Kurtz. He leaves the compound with Lance and they head of on the boat.

Analysis

Filming

Director Francis Ford Coppola started filming Apocalypse Now in March of 1976, and didn't finish till May of 1977. Their were many reasons why filming took as long as it did with the main reasons being Typhoon Olga destroying most of the sets in May of 1976, Martin Sheen having a heart attack on set in early 1977, Coppola going massively over budget, despite Coppola using £30 million of his own money to fund the film, and also the crew and cast getting drunk and taking LSD pills after filming everyday. It’s a miracle that Coppola managed to actually film anything while out in Manilla and the Philippines , but amazingly Coppola indeed film enough, so much so he had 240 hours footage for just a 2-30 hour film. Many of the shots Coppola captured were decided on the day and most pre-production paperwork went out the window. Despite all this, Apocalypse Now was released in 1979 to a critical reception and ended up being the big the winner at most award ceremonies.

Editing 

Not only was the film praised for his cinematography, but also its editing. With editor Richard Marks receiving huge praise for his work. Not only did he have to contend with 240 hours of film into 2-30 hours, he also had to compete with Coppola and many producers on what the best edit for the film was. Coppola was unhappy with Marks’ edit of the film and created his own, which was a much longer at 4 hours. However, critics loved the film and it was given the prestigious Palme d’Or award in 1979. Marks is also the creator of one of the best intros in film. The beginning of Apocalypse Now is deemed as iconic and legendary. The intro, which last 6 minutes using shots of a Vietnamese Jungle being blown up by US helicopters, while Martin Sheen’s character of Willard fades in and out of the shot. The Doors’ song - The End - adds even more oomph to the intro as Jim Morrison’s eerie lyrics capture the scene being told on film.

My Overall Thoughts 

Apocalypse Now is one the greatest films ever produced, and arguably the best War film ever. Coppola captures perfectly the effects and horrors of the Vietnam War, and serves as a perfect reminder to why War is never good. The all star cast also contribute to make the film as great as it is, with Sheen portraying a broken, lost and also relatable to many soldiers to many, but main credit has to be given to Marlon Brando, who despite only being in the film for the last 30 minutes, while also being overweight and not learning his lines, gives a remarkable and vintage performance in his character of Kurtz, with also the his iconic final line - “the horror..... the horror” cemantiting it’s place in cinema history. Apocalypse Now is a film which should be viewed at least once in a persons lifetime, no matter if they have no interest in the subject of war or not. It is a true  cinema great and one that will always be regarded as one of the best films of all time.

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Production Diary - 4/10/18

Today we filmed the advert for Anthony’s Nescafe commercial. We started at 9 am by completing our risk assessment and production schedule, after completing these 2 important requirements we started filming. We filmed in one of the college rooms to start and then the one of the canteen’s. We then traveled in Anthony’s car to his flat in Harwich, to finish filming. We were done by 12:30 which really impressed me and the group. My role for the day was production assistant and runner. This involved creating a call sheet in post-production, and carrying and buying props in post-production.

What Went Well...  

In my opinion, I felt the day went really well and better than expected. We managed to film all the necessary shots by 12:30, which surprised me considering the amount of shots we had to film and the locations we shot in. I felt I did my job very well on the day. I felt everyone did well in their roles on the day, and also on the pre & post-production days when we had to plan the advert, and then edit the advert.

Even Better If... .

I would of liked to contribute a little more in the production of the advert, in terms of either operating the camera or a bit of editing. But, I understand that my role was just to be a production assistant in this certain production, and so next time I would like to have a different role.

What Would You Do Differently...

I would of not done anything different for the production of the Nescafe advert, as I was very happy with the advert we produced, and I can’t think of anything I would do different, without changing the advert completely.

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Film Analysis #1 - Fight Club

Based on Chuck Palahniuk’s 1996 novel, Fight Club is a 1999 film directed by David Fincher and stars Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter. 

Plot

The plot of the film is based around Edward Norton’s character ( The Narrator ) and how he struggles with insomnia and compulsive buying of Ikea products. The Narrator meets Marla Singer ( Helena Bonham Carter ) at various support groups, which they both agree help with their mental disorders, but the Narrator can’t cry and release himself while he knows Marla is there, due to her being fake and not needing to be there, the same reason as the Narrator. The two agree to go on separate days of the week to make sure they don’t see each other. The Narrator later meets Tyler Durden ( Brad Pitt ) on a plane, where Durden gives the Narrator his number for future reference. The Narrator’s flat would later blow up ( by his own doing, although at the time this is unknown at the time ) and calls Tyler to meet him. We then move forward to the two main characters in a bar, which is where the concept of Fight Club begins. The Club rapidly grows across town and start to perform even more daring acts than just fighting, most of which are done to attack the media and corporate sectors of society. As the group grows and grows, Tyler all of sudden leaves town without telling anyone. The Narrator goes on a goose chase across America to find him. This is where he finds out the true identity of Tyler ( !Spoiler Alert! ) and that is the Narrator is Tyler. The two get into a heated argument about who’s who, with Tyler angry that the Narrator has worked out who he is. This reveal takes us to the end of the film where the Narrator kills Tyler buy shooting himself and produces to watch the destruction Tyler has caused with Marla. The film ends with a shot of the Narrator and Marla ( who formally hated each other ) holding hands as Tyler’s bombs go off destroying all bank companies, wiping all the towns debt in the process. 

Analysis

Editing

Fight club is a film that should be viewed multiply times before analysing, this is due to the complex nature of the plot and also clever use of directing and editing. Arguably, David Fincher’s best directed film, Fight Club always keeps the audience’s attention due to dynamic shots and also smooth transitions from one scene to another. Good example of editing done by film editor James Haygood is seamless transitions he makes while the Narrator tries to find Tyler towards the end of the film. Haywood uses a variety of different shots of the Narrator and planes to show the desperation of the Narrator and also to allow the film to continue a fast speed, which is crucial for Fight Club, due it’s film time being 2 hours 30 mins, which seems to go rather quick due to the fast and smooth running of the film.  

Filming 

For the film, actors where heavily choreographed for the fight scenes, and where told to “go full out” by Fincher to capture realistic effects. Not only these, but Fincher’s uses of camera work allows for realistic fights to commence. Many of the fights are from P.O.V. of the fighters themselves, which creates the illusion that the characters are actually knocking the stuffing out of each other, when in reality, the choice of camera angle is creates this. Their are also dynamic shots used ; such as a moving camera shot of the fight from the above the crowds heads. The first fight we see in the film, is mainly from a wide shot angle. We see both the Narrator and Tyler fighting each other across a wide shot, done to show how this first fight would expand itself into Fight Clubs across America. Filming lasted 138 days, during which Fincher shot more than 1,500 roles of film ( three times the average for a Hollywood film. Overall production included - 300 scenes, 200 locations and 70 sets constructed.

My Overall Thoughts

Fight Club is a complicated film, that is more than just about fighting. The film explores themes of mental health and addiction through the uses of 3 characters and where they live and what they wear. The Narrator lives in a small flat to fit his anxiety and hate of others, and also his fear of leaving everything and having to start again, the Narrator also only wears smart work clothes throughout the film, showing his fear of wearing anything different incase he stands out. Tyler lives in an old abandoned house to show he lives a broken, lavish lifestyle which is still good for him and he's happy to live in, Tyler is also found in a lot of expensive and stylish clothes throughout the film, showing how he wants to stand out and be unique from the crowd. Marla like the Narrator lives in a flat, except Marla’s is unmaintained and only contains a bed and cupboards, showing a lack of desire to live and be healthy. Marla also wears just black clothing in the film, which can be seen as death and depression. The whole point of the film is to show how male masculinity is toxic in the world, and how all men aspire to be the best looking and coolest they can be, when not all men need to be or want to be. The film highlights mental health as its main theme, showing all the problems with today’s society, and how everyone has to fit into the media’s agenda or just be discounted for and forgotten about. The film shows the sad reality in which some people actually live in and goes to show that no matter how hard you do try to popular and fit in, sometimes you're just not meant to be. Many of the quotes from the film can still be used to summarise the world we live in today, showing that the film has not aged since its release. David Fincher’s 1999 classic is seen as one of the greatest films produced, and has gained a mass cult following since its release, its certainly my current favourite film and one I recommend everyone to watch. In the words of Tyler Durden - “Stop trying to control everything and just let go”

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Edits (Cuts & Transitions)

Last week we learnt about cuts and transitions used in film. I found it very interesting and was surprised by how many cuts and transitions their are. To put our new found knowledge into action, my group went out and filmed a series of of shots, which could then be edited into different transitions. Our edit is complete and we have managed to pull off most th transitions successfully, with our wipe transition being the best edit. Cuts and Transitions allow for a smooth and easy on the eye viewing for the audience, and are very important for a film/TV show production, especially if they want to be successful. Creating certain transitions can be tough ( such as a Iris transition ), but that is part of the learning experience and hopefully me and my group can master all the edits for future editing.

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Chase Sequence

Over the past two weeks, I have learnt about Chase sequences - from the production to the filming and also editing. In my group, we first created a storyboard to map our ideas and shots we wanted for the sequence, after this was completed, we went out and filmed in our desired locations. We managed to film a lot of footage and was surprised with how much we actually filmed. We have not completed our edit of the Chase yet, but so far I’m pleased with how it’s looking, considering it’s my first unit I’m happy with how much my group has produced and how editing we have done, I’m looking forward to the finished sequence.