Evaluating our photograph representing our film genre:

2a) Describe your shot and identify in what way it could be described as representing your chosen film genre:
The film which our group produced was called 'The Accident,' we explained how our film represented our chosen film genre, drama. The camera shot we took of this particular photo resembles a 'Crane down, Look up' however it also bears a resemblance to a 'Meduim, Close Up.' The photo contains two teenagers, one male and one female looking down at something or someone in disbelief and in shock! Whilst one of the females hand is placed gently onto her chest, the other is seen gripping onto the staircase in fright. This illustrates that she is in a state of shock as her body language looks shifty. On the other hand, the male teenager looks horror stricken and looks as if he is paralyzed, perhaps this has something to do with the image that is in full view of them. It is clear to the audience that someone else is a part of the scene, due to the absurd reactions on the actors face and the fact that they are both looking down on something. The shot of our photo resembles a 'window' through which the audience are able to look into the world which we have created. Since the audience are unable to identify the third member in the photograph, this draws the viewers in as they want to understand what has happened in the scene and why the actors are looking on in shock. In addition, this adds mystery and uncertainty, perfect when filming a movie to fit into the genre of 'drama.'

b) What did you actually do to achieve the effect?

To create a bright effect, the only source of light which was available to us was two small wall lights, gleaming directly onto the front and back of the actor’s bodies. We used the camera’s manual settings to shoot the photo, steadying the camera until the light beam hit the correct spot to create extra brightness and to make sure that the background was visible to display the mise-en-scene so that it did not cast a shadow on the actor’s expressions or body language. The director found it hard to capture a shocked expression on the actor’s faces as minutes before hand we had been laughing with one another, but we finally managed to pull ourselves together and get back into character which the director used to his advantage and using a fast shutter speed, he took the photograph. I had been deliberately asked to place one of my hands onto my chest in order to show me looking down at the ground in disbelief/horror stricken. We chose to do a ‘Crane Down, Look Up’ photograph for the reason that it looked more realistic and to allow the audience to remember that there is a third person in the scene.

c) Identify what is successful about your shot?

One might say that the shot we created was successful because it outlines the film genre clearly. The lightning is distinctive and the actor’s expression undoubtedly suggests shock and disbelief. Without a doubt, each of these sections which made up the final snapshot worked well together to display the typical, classic conventions of what makes up a ‘drama.’

d) What would you do differently in hindsight?

If I were to re-shoot this photograph, I would definitely, without a doubt make sure that the characters expression looked a lot more realistic rather than looking staged. In my honest opinion, I believe that an actors expression gives a way a lot of what the character is thinking and seeing, if the expression looks staged it might be hard for the viewers to understand and empathise with the character. Whilst this is a minor alteration, I think that with just one adjustment the photograph will look far more realistic and proffessional.

'The Accident' - Our Video By Yasmin, Khushel, Harshiv and Ashwin

Self Assessment of 'The Accident'

1a) How successful is the editing of framing/composition of the shots? Refer to specific shots and justify/deconstruct.

After going through the hard work of filming, editing and framing our movie ‘The Accident,’ was produced successfully. It took both me and our group to come to grips with the use of different camera techniques which are used in today’s media industry when editing a film. However, after a few practice shots and a quick go at learning how to use ‘Final Cut Express’ we were on our way to creating a successful film. Before filming our movie, we discussed what camera shots we were going to apply to

our film and how it would benefit and make our film clip look realistic to the audience. The square which encloses every frame/shot of our film became similar to a ‘window’ through which the audience/viewer is able to look into the world which we had created ourselves. Throughout the duration of my film ‘The Accident,’ I wanted the audience to want this to be their reality. However, the one thing we were continually reminded of when shooting our film was that even with the ‘window,’ it unfortunately does not provide the audience with the ability to look around and take in the surroundings and information that we give them; sadly the audience are limited to only the knowledge we provide them through visual imagery.

b) How successful is the editing? Refer to specific examples of cuts and explain how successfully (or not) the audience has been positioned.

I believe that the editing of our film was created successfully, for the reason that we spent a lot of time and effort considering the finest and most professional, realistic way to cut and edit our camera shots in a bid to create a well equipped film. When editing and trimming our shots on ‘Final Cut Express,’ we paid attention to detail and made sure that the shots flowed elegantly beside one another, rather than jumping from different scenes as this would make the film look messy and untidy. The shots that we paid most attention to were the ones which consisted of dialogue in view of the fact that each shot had to be edited extremely well because if even a second of the shot was slightly out of place, this would ruin the rest of the movie making us, the directors look like amateurs.

c) How efficient was the shoot?

When we started filming our movie, we were extremely excited to start as this was probably the first time for any of us where we were given the opportunity to act and direct in our own original film. We jumped straight into the task feet first and began shooting our film. For the majority of the filming we managed to stay in character and film well equipped professional scenes for our movie. However, there were times when we experienced a few hiccups and began to either laugh, trip of get disturbed by the school bell ringing halfway through a scene, but despite all of this we still managed to have fun and produced a great movie.

d) In hindsight, what would you do differently at any of the stages?

If I was given the opportunity to do something differently, I would want to re-create sections of our movie preferably filming in a different environment or setting because when we originally filmed sections of our film, we were often disturbed by other students or teachers passing by. Unfortunately, this disrupted our scenes as segments of it picked up background noise or foot steps from other people. Therefore, if we were given the chance to re-create some of the scenes from our movie we would be able to film in a quieter environment, making the film look more professional and realistic.

The Opening Scene of The Holiday

The Holiday - Soundtrack Timeline

Soundtrack Timeline on the Holiday

Mood board based on the film - The Holiday

Mood Board on the Holiday

I have created a mood board using a  variety of pictures from the famous, popular movie 'The Holiday,' starring Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Cameron Diaz and Jack Black. This film is a romantic comedy highlighting the different aspects of love and how it can tear people apart but also bring people together. The pictures which I have chosen for my mood board, illustrate the main themes of the movie. Considering, every picture is worth a thousand words, hopefully these images will give you an insight into what a romantic comedy is all about!