Analysis of detective film openings- Sherlock Holmes

Mise-en-scene:  Costume- Period victorian dress, long tweed coats, hats however also religious cloaks shows contrast between 2 cultutures.

Actors: Serious facial expressions, pained look from henchman, possessed look from girl. Shows how Holmes and Watson can be so calm in life threating situations.

Make up: basic make up, victim made pale- to show the supernatural element of the scene.

Props: carriage, cane, hats, lantern, altar, knife.

Setting: Street in victorian London then makeshift temple.

Editing: fast editing, jump cuts, invisible editing. Shows the frantic pace Holmes works at.

Lighting: low key lighting at night. Shows the darkness of the criminal world.

Camera: extreme close ups of Le Strade, Holmes and Blackwood- helps to emphasise the varying emotions. mid shots mix of slow motion then sped up shots to again show the pace Holmes works at but also to show how methodical Holmes is.

Sound: Non- diagetic: Music and Holmes' internal monologue.
          
            Diagetic: hooves on cobbles, dialogue, ritualistic chanting, cries of pain, suffocation.     

 


 

My view on sound recording

For our next scene we decided to have an all audio scene. It took a while as we had to get use to the equipment and then go through it enough times to make sure it was a good quality. This meant mainly working on the actors vocals and positioning around the microphone. I feel it's a good scene and will fit in well with our other scenes.

My view on filming at night

Set up was quicker as we were used to the equipment. However the main issue was positioning the camera so we had enough light to see the actors but also capture the dark, scary atmosphere we wanted. Once we got an angle we were happy with, the finished product looks good and editing has made it look even better. I feel on the whole the film is coming along nicely.   

My view on filming the day scenes

Filming was slow at first as we had to take time to set up, and make sure foliage didn't block the camera. However once that was sorted we ran through the scene trying it from different angles, with the actors trying different vocals. Overall I'm happy with what we ended up with.  

The detective pitch

The reason I've put this up is its the idea we went with and I think its important to show the original idea. The feedback that Pete, James and Jonny got was that:

They were told to think about changing the cast list to make it more realistic or drastic depending on how the actor played the character.

Another opinion was changing the location from the city to the suburbs to add realism as often you don't see a murder in a densely populated area.

When we filmed it we did actually move location to the Ridings estate as its quiet enough to be realistic. But its also built up enough to add enigma. For example did any one see the killing.    

preliminary task evaluation

In a group with:
Charlie Bradley and Danielle Guichard

Write about the preliminary task. What were you asked to do? How did you find each stage of the process?:
At the start of the task we were asked to story board what we were going to film. I found this struggle with drawing and some shots we wanted were difficult to explain, also we cut some aspects. I found filming and acting relatively easy and I became more confident after each take. Editing I struggled with at first but eventually got the hang of it and am now happy with the finished product.

Write 3 things you learnt during the preliminary task:
* I learnt how to edit.
* How to work a camera in a practical task.
* How to keep focus while acting in front of a camera.

List 3 things that went well:
*Filming
*Acting
*Organisation

List 3 things you think could have improved:
*Story boards could have been more detailed and better drawn.
* Editing I feel could have been quicker
*My eye line while acting as I looked at the camera once or twice as well as making continuity bad in some shots.

Has the preliminary task given you any ideas for your 2-minute film opening:
Yes, it's given me a few ideas of what transitions and shots to use. I'm thinking of using a  crime/thriller for my film opening.            

Preliminary task

Storyboard

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcwWVFrFirTeAENk7TEYpWD1TWE_c-WJKKmL6j0kmGt98KSqb0iy2KN1oV6hz_mJU9RoMgBMXVoftDAARIYRuJWi-a6IAK1Gumfobz7XYYyDV5cYs9TYAuhEf7HAOVT0YCDi5VtWMznAo/s320/IMGP1753.JPG For the murder scene we wanted to create a dark, scary atmosphere. To get this effect we used hand held shots, to make it look shaky - connotations of fear. Along with low angle close ups of the Victim falling, because to me it's scarier when you can't see the danger but you know its there. For the detective scene we wanted to show how a calm, picturesque location can play host to something this horrific. But also how calm the police are in these situations.

Props and Costume

Props: Mask Pen knife Fake blood Tarpaulin (or other covering Material) Costume: Henry/David Stone: Smart Casual trousers and shirt, Shows he's a detective not just a regular cop. Connotations of being well off and well respected. James/Dan Cash: Same costume as Stone when he's a detective. Key point is both wear different jackets, this is a convention of the detective genre as in all detective films the partnership wear different jackets to show different backgrounds and how they play off each other. When James is the murderer the costume is scruffy jeans and a hoodie. All dark clothes along with his mask. Connotations of evil and not wanting to be seen. Pete/Mafia accomplice: Dark hoodie and jeans, dark scarf covering his face again connotations of evil and not wanting to be seen. Jonny/Jim Marley: smart shirt and trousers with a tie. Connotations of Wealth and taking pride in your appearance.

Shooting Schedule

Shooting schedule

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The reason we did a shooting schedule was so we could have a clear, easy to follow plan of when and where to film and through using this we found filming was organised and quicker to set up, meaning we had more time to get the shots we wanted.