Visual codes of media

Image analysis codes

Image analysis codes are codes that define an image for it's location, culture, political view etc. Most codes are used in adverts for brands of clothing and automobiles because they give off a good look and view towards the product the are trying to sell. There are many different types of code that are used in media advertising like dress codes for example are used in many adverts to give off an impression of a person or what the advert is advertising e.g. In a stylish super car advert normally it shows a man in a suit looking cool and handsome so that it gives the idea to people that that's what the car is like and how it makes you look.

Other forms of codes are colour codes that can be interpreted in many ways for example in most countries black is the colour for mourning but in some Asian countries they dress in White for mourning. Most adverts use colour codes to subtly give off a motive or impression like in some perfume or aftershave adverts they are completely shot in black and White to show a stylish and classy look. Other adverts are shot with loads or random effects or in negative to give off a zany and original look that appeals to people who believe they are or who are their own person and are different.

Non verbal codes are to do with gesture and body language so they are constantly used in many adverts because they are easy to produce and give off subtle and sub conscious ideas to the watcher for example in food adverts the person advertising it is made to walk' act and to eat in a certain way so that it gives off a positive vibe on the product. Smiling, eye movement, facial expression and body language are the main forms of non verbal codes. Although in some adverts non verbal codes such as intimacy between couples is frowned upon and can raise many issues because it can appeal to certain people and can help them to buy the product but it can be seen as disgraceful and not right for under watershed hours.

Last but not least is technical codes which are used in adverts that are mainly made by companies that are promoting new and high quality products such as: new designer clothing ranges, new expensive perfumes and aftershaves and also new high cost films. Technical codes relate to particular texts and images that give off the idea that they are promoting like for example diesel magazine adverts are always big glossy pics of famous models/actors in a cool pose so that they show what image is associated with their product without saying anything or without having any description.

This is the chase scene from casino royal and it is exactly what we were going for, a full on fast action, park our kind of chase but we have been finding this hard to achieve because of time and because of our actors/stuntmen's ability so we decided to cut this scene and turn it into an ambush.

First draft of key areas of research

Key areas for research

1.The films that really influenced my film opening and helped me to imagine what to do were seven, scream, leon and Dorian Gray. The title sequence and opening to seven is mysterious and informative but only to the observant and strong minded because it has many images and shots that go past very quickly and the music shows u what kind of motive there is in this scene and that's what I want to incorporate into my film opening. In scream the killer is very seclusive and is unknown and that's what I have used in my film storyboard. In Leon there is alot of changing shots and different camera angles and that's what i would like to use in my filming. In Dorian Gray I liked the fact of his immortality and that is what I have chosen for my protagonist's main characteristic.

2.The social groups that will be represented is urban teenagers because it is about a boy of seventeen who has a normal social life and Is going through the average life of a seventeen year old teenager except he has the power of immortality and so he thinks that he can do whatever he wants and no one can harm him and that is why he is shot within the first scene because of some gang or violence related issue. In the late teens it is common to have a serious relationship and for my protagonist it is no exception but his love for her is not
greater then his love for music and thats how I have captured my protagonist within 3 minuets

3.The studio that will be related and working on the film is one me and my partner Freddie sayer made up called Elemental studios and we will advertise it in the opening credits of our film. The distributor will 20th century fox because they are one of the most prestigious film distributors and have done work with some of the greatest films e.g. Predator. 20th century fox is also my choice because they are one of the longest running studios, they have done most of the movie greats and because they have the name that draws people to the film because of their legacy.

4.The target audience age group for my film opening will be 18-late 30s. My film will target the thriller and action seeker side of the film audience who enjoy the theme of my movie and can get sucked into it. As an experienced movie expert and critic I know what my audience would want and what would make them literally beg to see the rest of the film and so will use my wide knowledge of films and tv greats to my advantage so I can create the perfect film for my targeted audience. As for research I will create a questionnaire and ask the targeted age group of the general public for criticism and ideas for my film opening.


By Dylan Bowrey and Freddie Sayer

This opening sequence of Kill Bill portrays what kind of scene we are trying to shoot. The execution of the lady shows us the hopeless situation out victim is going to be in. The sinister and casual movements of the executioner are also what we would like to portray in our film.

Previous Camera Angle Study, minus the pictures

CU- focuses on a characters face during a scene to show details such as emotion.

BCU-  used to display characters face in full detail. Focuses on feelings and reactions.

XCU- used for dramatic magnification, mainly when emotion is being expressed.

LS- displays full body so all actions can be seen.

XLS- gives the setting of the scene at the beginning of a movie.

MS- gives a closer perspective of a person, to show in more detail what they are doing.

MCU- Used to portray an individual.

                     ANGLES

HIGH- gives a different perspective to an individual.

WORMS EYE- when an individual is on the floor, the “worms eye” gives a more latitudinal perspective.

EYE-LEVEl- gives close viewing of the face.

LOW SHOT- used to make a character look powerful or important by making him look bigger.

Camera Shots

The grammar of TV and film

Long shot (LS). Shot which shows all or most of a fairly large subject (for example, a person) and usually much of the surroundings. Extreme Long Shot (ELS) - see establishing shot: In this type of shot the camera is at its furthest distance from the subject, emphasising the background. Medium Long Shot (MLS): In the case of a standing actor, the lower frame line cuts off his feet and ankles. Some documentaries with social themes favour keeping people in the longer shots, keeping social circumstances rather than the individual as the focus of attention.

Establishing shot. Opening shot or sequence, frequently an exterior 'General View' as an Extreme Long Shot (ELS). Used to set the scene.

Medium shots. Medium Shot or Mid-Shot (MS). In such a shot the subject or actor and its setting occupy roughly equal areas in the frame. In the case of the standing actor, the lower frame passes through the waist. There is space for hand gestures to be seen. Medium Close Shot (MCS): The setting can still be seen. The lower frame line passes through the chest of the actor. Medium shots are frequently used for the tight presentation of two actors (the two shot), or with dexterity three (the three shot)

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Close-up (CU). A picture which shows a fairly small part of the scene, such as a character's face, in great detail so that it fills the screen. It abstracts the subject from a context. MCU (Medium Close-Up): head and shoulders. BCU (Big Close-Up): forehead to chin. Close-ups focus attention on a person's feelings or reactions, and are sometimes used in interviews to show people in a state of emotional excitement, grief or joy. In interviews, the use of BCUs may emphasise the interviewee's tension and suggest lying or guilt. BCUs are rarely used for important public figures; MCUs are preferred, the camera providing a sense of distance. Note that in western cultures the space within about 24 inches (60 cm) is generally felt to be private space, and BCUs may be invasive.

                B

We are trying to shoot a small shot like this, showing an unrecognisable and shadowy figure  ready to butcher a victim. We really want to emphasize the shadowy effect on our blog.

One of our shots will look very similiar to this. We want the camera to focus on the barrell of the pistol with the face of the murderer blurred out. The shot is suppossed to be in the perspective of the victim.

We have decided to continue filming during the day due to the fact that we have noticed that we are going to have considerable difficulty filming good quality shots, especially our chase scene, in the same lighting conditions we have previously used. In order to make this change of setting relevant we will put on a title saying "2 days later" giving us reason for the rest of the film to be during the day.

Our title suggests that our soundtrack should be classical and woeful. However we are currently deciding whether to use a track called "machine-gun" the feel of the music relates to our genre and to the sinister plot our opening scene is goings to unfold.

Prop problem

We have been having trouble with a prob that we were going to use in the film. We need a murder weapon and a knife, we decided on a baseball bat because it is quite sinister and painful but we cannot acquire one and it isn't smart having a baseball bat in our filming location so we might have to use a bb gun that looks realistic and we will have to film some of our opening within our school grounds. Me and Freddie are both weekly Borders so it will be easier for us to film out here, there are forests, street lamps and all the props we need at school.

We need the knife for the scene that gives the impression that they are dismembering him and cutting him into small pieces so that no one knows who or where he is. This scene is crucial to the ending of the opening and the whole view/genre of the film so the prop is vital.

When coming up with an idea on how we would film our character rising from the dead, we agreed that we would half bury someones hand in soil, and create finger movement to indicate that the character is still alive.

We are trying to film the scene where our character wakes up in an environment like this. We are trying to create a distant and chilling environment which would use well together with our execution scene.

This picture i found on the web clearly shows that point of view we intend develop in our execution scene. The characters we intend to create wiil look idealy like what we see in the picture, the boos in neat buisness wear and the thugs who are dressed up in rugged clothing.

Effects

We have been looking into other media film coursework we have seen the amount of good effects that have been incorporated into their openings and other classical films like catch me if you can have good visual aspects and effects in their openings. We have seen many openings so we are going to decide on the best 3 opening effects and see if we can find the effect that suits our film or if we can merge other effects into one unique effect.

By Dylan

In our film we ar having trouble with the lighting. When looking at the previous shots taken we found that the viewer would have difficulty seeing our character. We plan to have some extra lighting when viewing the next scene of our film. The ideas we have come up with include car lights or white light lamps.

By Freddie

Props we intend to use in our film. We are trying to make them look as sinister as possible.

more costumes we are planning to use in our film.

These are the costumes and atire of the gang chasing the boy. The combat trousers show that they have a military background and that they may be part of a military organisation that want to capture the boy.

The leather hoodies are for stealth in the dark and also giver off a shine while in light so it blocks their faces in camera shots so they give the gang that freaky unknown look.

From Dylan

Music

Currently we have been trying to decide on the music that we want to use for the opening to our film. We want something thats tension buliding and also has a fast heavy part for the chase so we have been trying to decide between Hellbent which i have mentioned earlier and "machine gun" 16bit remix both have the characteristics of the kind of music that we need to create the atmosphere and tension that will make the scene what it is meant to be.

From Freddie and Dylan

Thriller Inspiration

The following films helped us to make our storyboard in the thriller style and gave us ideas and themes that we then incorporated into our film opening.

The following films helped us to make our storyboard in the thriller style and gave us ideas and themes that we then incorporated into our film opening.

  

žSe7en was one of the main sources of inspiration for our film opening because it has a good use of camera shots, ideas, suspense and action.

žWe used the style of the opening to se7en in our opening because it gives subtle hints of the plot of the film but without explanation

žCloverfield is different from other thriller/action films because it is all done on the view of a hand held camera. This view may be uninformative to the viewer on how, who, when, what but that is what makes the film even better because it gives us that sense of realism because that’s what citizens would see, do and know if that happened.

First draft and first scenes

we have done most of the primary shots for the opening of our film and we are currently deciding on the soundtrack to the production but we think that we will use "Groove addicts Hellbent" as the song.
The beginning scenes are going to be posted shortly on our blog.
stay tuned.

Dylan