Shot sizes and sequences

Telling Lies

Telling Lies is a short film that is created using only words written and directed by Simon Ellis.
It is a dramatic animated comedy that is used to show thoughts a feeling without the use of characters.
During this film many phone conversations take place between a series of voices.
I enjoyed this film because the way it took place was very creative. Each characters speech was written in a different colour which may have portrayed how the character was feeling. For example one characters speech was written in orange which may portray that they were annoyed or angry throughout.
However during the conversation some of the writing was replaced with white writing which showed what the character was actually thinking whilst they were talking rather then them actually saying it. This white writing showed when they were telling a lie and it was white to show it was a white lie; a lie that's told to avoid hurting someone or confrontation.
The writing was also bigger when someone was shouting which was a great way to show someone's reaction without actually seeing a character or body language. I think the use of the white writing was really useful because usually in a film you do not know whether or not a character is lying or how they are feeling so by doing this you were able to see clearly what a person is thinking.

Love Does Grow On Trees Thoughts

Love does grow on tree's is a short film written and directed by Bevan Walsh.
It's about a young teenage boy who discovers pornographic magazines and girls at the same time and is stuck with the dilemma of which to choose.
The genre is coming of age because it shows how he changes from a child into a teenager, which is the same transition that all boys go through.
I think that the film was effective because there was a clear difference between the magazine photos and the teenage girl he meets at the bus stop. On all the photos from the magazines all the women are portrayed to be sexual beings which is an unrealistic representation of women in everyday life. Before meeting this girl he may have imagined that all women are like this and would have put an unrealistic image in his head.
I like the sound effects that were used when he discovers the images that are falling from a large tree because the music made it sound like a fantasy or as if he were dreaming which gets across that these women in the photos are more likely to be found in dreams rather than in real life.

Ralph review

Ralph is a short film written and directed by Alex Winckler that lasts for 12 minutes 37 seconds. It is about a young boy who travels to France alone in search of his friend whom he claims to be in a complicated relationship with. He spends a lot of time at a cafe outside of the train station and meets someone new.

Ralph is played by Ralph Laurila, Julie (Waitress) is played by Julie Dray and Claire is played by Emily Seale-Jones. Claire is who Ralph has travelled over to France to visit and Julie is the waitress who he meets at the cafe.

The film is a romantic drama that includes the main themes of loneliness, love and friendship. All these themes seem to be used at different times throughout the film; loneliness is portrayed mainly at the start when Ralph first arrives in France because he has come alone and cannot speak French. Love is also a theme that is shown because he is very eager to get in touch with a friend who he has come to visit; love is the only theme to be shown throughout because there are constant reminders to why Ralph is in France, this reminder is usually Ralph making phone calls and looking back at the piece of paper which has all the numbers he has tried. Friendship is shown nearer the middle of the film when he makes friends with the lady at the cafe. This budding friendship then drops the theme of loneliness because Ralph is no longer in an unknown country where he doesn’t know anyone

Camera shots are used during this film in different ways. Mid shots are probably the most used shot. I think this is used because then you are able to see the emotions of the characters clearly but you can also tell things from their body language. Body language is shown when Julie is talking to her boss, her shoulders are usually risen which shows that she is tense. Close ups are used a lot when the other characters around Ralph are talking French this helps the audience to understand how Ralph is feeling. When the other characters around Ralph are talking he looks confused which some audience members may be able to relate to if they also cannot speak French.   Over the shoulder shots are only used when conversation takes place between Ralph and Julie. These are used to establish the positions between the two characters because at some points Julie is kneeling so they are showing things from Ralph’s point of view.

Dialogue is a key and a very dominant aspect throughout the film. What the characters say helps you too understand what is going on during the film and is used a lot more than things like body language to show how they are feeling. When the characters speak in French they do not use any subtitles which I think is effective because it makes the audience feel as if they are in a foreign country and it puts the audience in the position of Ralph. Not very many sounds other than dialect are used during the film; the only sounds that are used are just what is happening in the area, for example the sound of cars can be heard however these sounds are not quietened down even during speech which I think is a very clever and effective way to put the audience in the scene.

In my opinion I think this film has defined the characters very well within the short time, you can create an opinion on all the characters. I liked the open ending because it allows the viewer to decide for themselves what happens next.

Narrative, Genre and Mis-en-scene

The Walking Dead Review

The walking dead is an increasingly popular American post-apocalyptic horror drama developed by Frank Darabont into a television series. Adapted from a comic-book series of the same name by Robert Kirkman, this horror drama follows the survivors of an apocalyptic holocaust who are searching for a safe haven while being tracked and menaced by zombies.

The plot focuses primarily on the dilemmas that a group faces as they struggle to maintain their humanity during the day-to-day challenges of surviving in a hostile world. This includes battling the zombie hordes, coping with casualties, and dealing with predatory human survivors.

The first season mostly takes place in the Atlanta metropolitan area, where sheriff's deputy Rick Grimes played by Andrew Lincoln emerges from a coma to find his town abandoned with few people but far too many flesh-eating "walkers" who have died and come back to life now feasting upon the living.  Holding out hope that his wife Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) and young son Carl (Chandler Riggs) are still alive, Grimes embarks on a frantic journey to find them, and encounters many other survivors and obstacles along the way.

The second through fourth seasons are set in the surrounding countryside of northern Georgia, as the survivors search for security away from the shuffling hordes of predatory "walkers" or "biters" (as the zombies are referred to in the show), who eat any living thing they catch, and whose bite is infectious to humans. Without screaming or sobbing the characters have moments when they transmit a sympathetic sense of emotional devastation.    

The way the zombies have been made to look captures the simple desolation of an empty city at the end of the world; the zombie makeup is gruesome, skin hangs off their bloodied faces, mouths ripped apart (yet still chomping pointlessly) and chunks of their faces missing whilst they are strewn within the wreckage of cars and bloody chaos, but all this detail just makes the whole show more captivating leaving the viewer wondering where the next horde of wandering zombies will appear.

The world as we know it is gone, and in its place, for now at least, are only two things to think about: the ferocious onslaught of ravenous eaters of human flesh; and the struggle, sometimes with other humans, to live another day.

In my opinion this television series has pushed the horror genre into an area that allows it to be explored further. Darabont portrays aspects that would not usually be used throughout classic zombie movies or other television series; they use things such as empathy that really helps you to understand the characters feelings of each other that creates a final opinion of each and every character for you. It’s even able to create an emotional attachment between the viewers and the characters where the emotion quickly breaks out as you watch the characters fall into the limp hands and mouths of the zombies.

About Me Video Evaluation

What went well : I think that in my video the camera quality was quite good. For this I used my phone which had a clear outcome The lighting also helped to improve this because it was not too bright but it was also not too dark so you could easily see me without the light affecting the camera. Although I could have spoken up I still feel that it was easy to understand what I was saying. I also managed to fit a range of information in under one minute without rushing.

How I could improve : In my video I feel that I could have spoken slightly louder so my voice was clearer when the video was being played back. I also think I could have been more creative with what I did whether or not I was in the camera shot. For example I could  have used writing and pictures to explain my answers because I did not necessarily enjoy being in front of the camera but in this case due to my decision of being in front of the camera I could have been more creative with the shots and backgrounds depending on what I was saying. 

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