A mother not knowing the way to teach her
son (Tre) how to be a disciplined masculine man with a pure heart, hands him to
her ‘ex’, also the father. This task is frightening as well as complicated due
to the neighbourhood they live in, where police helicopters fly over the hood
looking for thieves and criminals who cause trouble and perform socially
unacceptable acts. Never the less, the father is determined to teach his so how
to take care of himself when it comes to violence, protection through sex and
the ability to take responsibility. These moral codes of conducts come into
play seven years later when the neighbourhood is scattered with crime and
violent gang members who strike fear upon the civilians. Dating a catholic girl
who has high aspirations in life when she flees the hood, Tre plans a future
that has similar goals. Ricky, Tre’s best friend is in high school, married and
already has a little child. He too has high aspirations buts it involves becoming
a professional football player by getting a scholarship, his mother was more
proud of him than anyone else in the family. Doughboy who is Rick’s older
brother has already spent time in prison and lives life as it comes by, and
tends not to plan for the up coming future.
One late afternoon a scrap between Rick
and one of the gang members in the hood leads to an unnecessary murder on Rick,
shooting him regardless. As Doughboy and his crew seek revenge, Tre has some
emotional and moral conflict if to go and help to even things out or to stick
with his fathers code on how to be a real man. The decision he makes could
determine his destiny.
To start the preliminary task you had to create a shot-list where we track the types of shots already filmed. This is an effective way to plan a production because it shows you already thought about what you are going to film, it generally is productive due to the fact it doesn't keep you wondering on what was filmed or wasn't film. My shot-list was effective because it kept the work flow going and didnt make me try and find out what shots were missing from my final production. The other work for the pre-production was to complete a story-board sheet of paper. The is where you visually show the things you will film which may contain the setting, costume,camera movements and even transitions. The written side of it is that you add bullet points regarding what the dialogue is, the soundtrack playing or even text on screen. The story board for my preliminary production was very useful as it allowed me to have a rough visual overview on how the final production would look like, how effective it is and its effect. Final part of pre-production needed for anything that requires acting, its the script piece of work. The script is crucial for this production because it contains acting and speaking in role and the script establishes what the actors do or say.The script for my pre-production was successful due to fact all the actors including myself knew what was going to happen abnd when to happen, including what is the right moment for the actors to speak. It generally keeps things organised.
Strengths:
One of the main things that was very good from this production is the way the audio wasn't affected by the out door filming, this is due to the placement of the microphone me and group member decided to do. Usually outside when filming you hear lots of distorted sounds especially ones when the wind hits the microphone. The non-diegetic sound was also successful because of the was it gave a professional feel to the clip, the soundtrack collaborated very well with the image itself. The effects of the soundtrack was also a strength as it sets the mood and give a parallel concept to the clip. The mise-en-scene was quite successful as well because of the unique setting it was shot in, so are the facial expressions which made it look believable for the audience. When editing another aspect that contributed to the final touches of the production is the slight speed-up clip when the protagonist gets kidnapped. finally some of the performances were convincing in the matter it felt real and was rehearsed, although not all characters.
Weaknesses:
The weakness could of easily been prevented as they are minor mistakes in the overall production. One weakness is the poor performance by the person who played the 'messenger' as his acting wasn't as convincing as the other characters which put the performance level off balance. the other error was the some sort poor camera work when some areas of the production was out of focus and that could of easily been prevented if it was practised more.
WWW: Clear, focused analysis, using media terminology. EBI: You need to develop you're points/ answers,especially in Q2. More discussion of the effect of techniques + linking this to different theories. Learner Response:
Question 2 - Camerawork
Camera work or what its commonly known by cinematography is the art of camera movement and types of shots. Kicking off the scene with an extreme close-up of the match sticks provides enigma codes in the audiences mind as defined by Barthes's theory. Then to follow that, the next cut of the person holding the match sticks. The camera view and angle which is a low angle represents the protagonist as weak and hopeless, in addition to the the way he looks. Later when he throws the cigar at the flammable liquid you could see a tracking shot that follows the fire. What interrupted the tracking shot is when another character "pee's" on the fire to put it out. The next cut was of the antagonist which is shown in a very low angle, this presents him as being masculine and threatening. The audience at this point in the scene feel intimidated and get enigma codes again from Barthes's theory. This is because they do not know who he truly is or know his identity. As the antagonist marches down the steps the camera kept his head cropped out of the shot caused the viewer to be uncomfortable because they want to know who he is. In addition as the camera was tracking or following the antagonist going down the stairs this gave the audience a sense of identification bacause it gave us a first person view from the protagonists eyes. As the antagonist arrives in-front of the protagonists,this is the another clip of personal identification is because the gun from the antagonist pointed at the camera.
Slow paced editing introduced the clip; this effect is
used to create suspense. The character is informing what’s going on in the shot
and scene, and the shot used was a medium-shot.
Then this shot changes to a close-up
of the characters feet and it doesn’t have a jump cut just for the reason it doesn’t want to distract the viewer
from everything that’s taking place, it sort of follows a mood flow. At this
stage you could identify that Todorov’s
theory of equilibrium is presented. Later you see a point of view shot
which gives personal identification
with the character, this theory is commonly known asBlumber
and Katz’s theory of personal identification.What you see next is a straight cut in the sequence but this
time leading to the protagonists
face as close-up. The cinematography places a role here in camera movement and it shows a pan movement clip of the walking protagonist character. Straight after
we see once more another straight cut displaying another man walking. Suddenly
a jump cut comes in, reverting the audience’s
interest back to the protagonist but
as an extreme close-up of his eye. Slowly
a clip of the office area is shot in a
birds eye view and is played in slow
motion building tension slowly, it could also be an establishing shot as it forecasts everything in the current
setting.
The camera movement of a tilt
was used as well as a straight cut to continue the scene in the same mood and atmosphere,
if focuses on the man with the grey suit as a medium close-up. It then straight
cuts once more to the establishing
shot of the office explained before. We return to the protagonists extreme close up of the eye, it is then emphasised when there is point of view
shot but starts off being blurred then focuses onto a piece of paper. This is
another identification technique. At
this stage the pace of the sequence and editing seems to be getting faster.
This implies that there will be a build up of suspense, which is an action code according Barthes’s theory. The pan shot is also
added, this section of the film could also argue is an enigma code as it suggests there will be something happening. The
man in the grey suit appears again suggesting that he has an effect on the narrative. The paper becomes important
as the camera focuses on it once more.
As the character puts on
his mask and commands the other members to do the same shown al through straight cuts to continue the narrative smoothly, it follows on with
the action and enigma codes of Barthes’s theory. There lighting was interesting as
there wasn’t many light sources such as a light
box but they rather wanted to make is seem more natural. As more clip pass
by you can easily tell the atmosphere is getting more intense which results in faster paced editing to fit the style
and mood, which basically are straight
cuts consciously. What enhances the pace of the editing is the when the
character throws a punch in the fight the scene and to match the action the director is forced to make
the decision to speed up the amount of cuts. It tends to consist to have medium to long shot to get the full on visceral pleasure of the action
occurring.As punches are being thrown and objects breaking
the entire place the clips slow down just so the viewer can understand what’s
going on. A sense of diversion is injected
into the viewers mind just because of the cinematography
and the use of action steady camera
shot. The Pace is restored again when they attempt to kills the security
member, it was restored by conventionally
increasing the amount of view points,
shot and increase the number of cuts in the scene. A great example of this the
use of the birds eyes view and the tracking shots that follow the
characters which automatically create more tension. Which are Enigma codes.
