Sweded Task

We were given the task of creating a 'sweded' version of a famous movie. We chose Titanic as it contains several iconic scenes which we thought would be fun to recreate.

 

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DEXTER title sequence re-edit evaluation

1. Summarise the conventions of title sequences that were most important to this task.

Creating a successful title sequence involves several important aspects such as timing, font and sizing. The font must be suited to the genre of the film/TV show which follows. If the genre is horror, this should be conveyed using a creepy font. Colour is also important as it allows the titles to stand out. If you have a black background then a lighter colour should be used otherwise they will be hard to see. Timing is important to create a sequence which is enjoyable for the audience to view. If the timings overlap then the audience could get confused and the sequence won't flow. Titles should not detract attention from what is going on in the title sequence so they should not be too big or placed in front of the action.

2. How did your group plan to edit the title sequence?

First we decided how many titles we wanted and where we were going to put them and then we got into the actual editing of the titles. We began by making a rough plan of which shots we wanted to put titles on. We then decided on a font style and colour to fit in with the crime/thriller genre. When we were happy with the design of our titles, we ensured that they were neither too big nor too small and that they were placed where they would be easily visible without detracting attention from what is going on in the sequence.

3. Explain the creative decisions made by your group.

We chose for our titles to be red as it fits in well with the genre as the colour red is often associated with blood and murder. To make our titles stand out, we used capital letters and a font which was easily legible. As I previously mentioned, we put our titles in places where we thought would not take away from the action however where they could be clearly seen. We played around with different effects and we particularly liked a 'twitching' effect however we faced some problems when using this effect and so decided to settle for a fade which ended up working very well.

4. How does your re-edit compare to the original?

Our re-edit shares quite a few similarities with the original. For example, both our titles and the original titles are red. As well as this, both titles are in capital letters. I think that the effects used on the original title sequence are more effective than the simple fade which we used, however, if we had been given more time to complete this task I feel that we could have put some more interesting effects on our titles to make a better sequence. Another issue with our re-edit is that we only included 8 titles whereas the original sequence has a lot more than that.

Sweded Films

The term "sweded" has become a commonly used word for remade, low budget, unedited films since the release of the Michel Gondry comedy, "Be Kind, Rewind". The slang term was fabricated when the film's video store worker main character, Jerry (Jack Black), accidentally erased all of the video store's movies and decided it would be a good idea to make his own remakes of all of the films with the help of co-worker, Mike (Mos Def). After deciding to charge high prices for the amateur DVDs, Jerry made up the excuse that they were imported from Sweden; hence the term "sweded".

Sweded films must be based on a film which already exists, contain only hand crafted titles and be around 5 minutes long. As well as this, all sound effects must be created using only the human voice and no other instruments. Most importantly, for a film to fit into the 'sweded' category, it must be funny.

After watching quite a lot of sweded films on youtube, I have picked out two of my favourites:

The Avengers
I think that this sweded film works extremely well for a number of reasons; the sound effects are hilarious, the props are low budget yet effective, the characters are easily identifiable and the script is funny yet still true to the actual plot.

The Shining

This is a brilliant remake of The Shining. In particular, I love the first scene with the small yellow toy car being pulled along a wall. It is so effective because, in the actual film, the Torrence family are in a yellow beetle driving along a deserted mountain path and I think that this sweded version does a great yet comical job at replicating it. I also really like how the man playing Mr Torrence in this really exaggerates the character as it adds a comedy factor to the film. The use of lego to show the maze is also low budget yet very creative. I think that the use of a mirror towards the end of the film to create the illusion of two girls like the twins in the actual film is very clever. The soundtrack to this sweded film is also very funny as no instruments are used so it fits in well with the low budget aspect of sweded films.

Which film would I like to Swede?

I have had a few ideas of which film I would like to Swede such as Grease, Home Alone, Mean Girls and Cinderella. However I have decided that the most effective would probably be The Titanic. I would love to Swede The Titanic as there are so many iconic scenes within the film such as when Rose threatens to jump off the boat and when Jack drowns. I think that the The Titanic is definitely a realistic film to shoot at school because we wouldn't really need many props other than a blue sheet to replicate the sea and some cardboard to make the boat. When sweding a film, it is good to choose a film which lots of people know otherwise the comedy of it will not be conveyed and I think that The Titanic is one of the most well known movies of all time. 

Prelim Evaluation

Prelim Task Evaluation

1. Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?

We were given the task of working in groups to film and edit a sequence which includes a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. The sequence must also include match on action, shot reverse shot and use of the 180 degree rule.

I was put in a group with Aidan, Ellie and Matt. We found that Ellie and Matt were keen to work behind the camera whereas Aidan and I wanted to test our skills at acting! Due to me and Aidan spending most of the time in front of the camera, we had to carefully decide on each shot as a group before shooting it to ensure we all knew exactly what shots we were getting. This format of two behind the camera and two in front of the camera worked well because we all had an input into each decision that was made. Although I was mostly being filmed, I did have the chance to film a few shots such as the POV shot of the gun at the end however I would have liked to have taken a few more shots.

2. How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use? What theories did you try to take into account? 

We decided to have a group discussion where we wrote the script for our sequence and then we had a walk through to ensure that the space was right for the action which we wanted to film. We all had a strong idea of the sequence which we wanted to create so we felt it unnecessary to use our time creating story boards and lists of shots and set ups. Despite having a clear idea of what we wanted to do, a little more time spent planning would have saved time when it came to the actual filming as we found ourselves spending a lot of time during the shoot discussing what shot to film next. I think we should have at least made a story board to ensure we included all the shots which we needed. 

3. What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it? 

For the filming of the sequence we were given a tripod, a small DV sony hand held camera, a shot mic and headphones. We didn't encounter any issues with the camera as it was fairly straight forward to use as the same button was used to start recording and to stop recording. The shot mic proved to be a slight problem for my group as it picked up a lot of background noise which resulted in us having to film the same shot several times. For the editing we used Adobe Premiere Pro which is an editing software I have never used before. Due to my lack of experience in editing and having never used Premiere Pro before, I was rather daunted by the challenge of editing however I found that I got the hang of it quite quickly and actually ended up enjoying the editing process. Through using Premiere Pro I learnt techniques such as how to cut down clips and ensure there are no gaps between each clip.

4. What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?

Our main cause for concern was space as the brief stated that we must include shot reverse shot and use of the 180 degree rule which meant that the camera had to be moved around a lot. Our first choice of location was the dressing rooms behind the Seward Studio, however, unfortunately it had already been booked so we were unable to use this space. We ended up using the editing suite however we didn't anticipate the number of chairs that we would have to move out of the suite and into other rooms. This proved to be a slight problem as, directly outside our location, another group was filming so we had to be careful not to interrupt their shoot. We should have thought about this issue before hand to give us more time to do productive work rather than waste time moving chairs.

Another issue which we encountered was background noise. Because we were filming in school and over quite a long time frame, end of lesson bells were going off and there was a lot of disruption from passing school children which meant that we had to have breaks in between filming until the noise passed. Fortunately, we were filming inside which meant there was little noise from wind or birds and overall the edit suite was quite a quiet space to film in. 

5. How successful was your sequence? Please identify what worked well and, with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently?

Overall I think our sequence was successful as we fulfilled the brief and made good use of our time. The continuity of our sequence, in my opinion, is good and we stuck to the 180 degree rule and included match on action and shot reverse shot. I think our match on action with Aidan opening the door worked particularly well as we managed to edit it almost to perfection! We included a range of different shots such as ECUs, mid shots and over the shoulder shots which add variety to the sequence. I think that the ending of our sequence is extremely effective as we don't show the actual gun shot but, by showing the gun as an ECU from the point of view of the girl, it is clear what will happen next. The cut to black is also a strong point as it could represent the death of the girl in the sequence. 

What I think didn't work that well is the dialogue when the interrogator is addressing the girl who is seated on the floor. This didn't work that well as you can hardly hear what the interrogator is saying as he is faced away from the camera which meant that his voice wasn't picked up very well by the shot mic. We could improve this by filming the shot from in front of the interrogator to ensure that all of the dialogue is clearly picked up.

6. What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework, do you think?

Due to the fact that I did not take media as a GCSE, I feel that I have learnt a huge amount about filming and editing from completing this task. On the filming side of things, I have learnt that planning is very important as it saves time in the long run and helps create a more organised shoot. I have also learnt a lot about how to film different continuity techniques. For example, when filming a conversation using shot reverse shot you should film the whole thing from one side then move the camera to the other side to film the whole conversation from that point of view to save time and create good continuity. On the editing side of things, I have learnt a significant amount seeing as I had never actually edited a film sequence before this task. In the future, if I was asked to edit a sequence on my own using Premiere Pro, I feel that I would now have the confidence and skills to do so.

Art of the Title Evaluation

1. Summarise your film idea.
'Clarence' is a film about serial killer who operates in schools and targets teenage girls and treats them as babies. We came up with the back-story that the serial killer (Clarence) previously had a daughter who was killed at a young age. This drove him to insanity and he now possesses a hatred for young girls which is why he carries out his brutal attacks.

2. What kind of information has been included in your film opening?
The film opening reveals quite a lot about what the film entails. Shot 1 begins the sequence by showing a close-up of two school girls' photos followed by another close-up of a man picking up one of the photos shown in the previous shot; showing she is the next victim. Shots 1 and 2 make it clear to the audience that these attacks are not spontaneous as the man possesses such personal pictures of his victims. The camera then cuts to a shot of a girl doing her make-up in a public toilet to show how she is just an average, innocent teenage girl. At this point the audience should realise that the girl in the bathroom is the same girl as in shot 2. Shot 5 is a high angle, low lit shot showing Clarence dragging the unconscious girl to his dungeon, revealing that it is most likely situated inside the school. Shot 6 is a shot of children's teddy bears which are supposed to belong to his late daughter which further adds to this obsessive persona which 'Clarence' possesses. Shot 7 shows two girls (the girls in the school photos) sitting in the dark with a disturbing expression to show that Clarence has done something to them however it is not revealed what exactly. What is revealed, however, is that the girls are still alive as we used an ECU in shot 8 of one of the girl's eyes.

3. How do the titles link to the main film idea?
The titles are in a stand-out red colour which is typical of the horror genre. The font which we chose also fits in very well with the genre as it looks quite messy and gives off a creepy vibe.

4. Summarise the expected audience reaction.
Our primary aim is for the audience to know that 'Clarence' is going to be a very scaring film after watching the opening sequence. Although we give quite a lot of the plot away in the film opening, we don't actually show what Clarence does to his victims or what the actual plot of the film is. This creates suspense and leaves the audience wanting to know what will happen next.

5. Identify three things you included in your grid that are important in the construction of an opening sequence and explain their role in understanding the film.

• Lots of different types of shots such as ECUs, high angle shots and over the shoulder shots to keep the audience interested.
• We used a range of lighting to set the scene. For example, in the shots taken in the murderer's 'dungeon', it is very dark whereas in the shots before the girl has been attacked, it is very bright.
• The genre is made very clear through use of titles, lighting and character.

6. How effective is your project as a film opening?
I think that our film opening is effective as it gives a clear idea what the audience should expect to see in the film at the same time as leaving the audience wondering what will happen next. I think that we used a good range of shots to keep the audience interested such as shot 4 where Clarence is standing just outside the door however the soon-to-be victim is unaware of this.
I think we could improve our opening sequence by giving a little less information away. For example, rather than showing the two girls in the dungeon, our last shot could just be the killer dragging the girl along the floor to his dungeon to create more suspense and interest.