Sweded

Sweded is the summarized recreation of popular pop- culture films using limited budgets and a camcorder. The process is called swedeing Upon completion, the process has been sweded. It comes from the film, “Be Kind Rewind” as the character Jerry accidentally erases all the videotapes at the rental store so the pair remake all of the movies themselves. These became so popular with customers and they were told that they took longer to arrive and costed more as they came from Sweden. This is why they are referred to as “sweded”.

This is our version:

In our version, we used shots such as wide shot, close up, medium, high angle and low angle shots. For props, we drew on pieces of cardboard, for example; a dinosaur, a helicopter and gates. The arrangements were; Sam on camera and Gabriel, Yoseph, Cesare and I acting. To rein-act the helicopter flying into the scene, we drew the set on the cardboard and the helicopter, and made helicopter noises whilst playing the intro music. This added humour to our piece and was enjoyable to make.

What Is A Thriller

A thriller is an exciting film that has a mystery and intrigue. There is an enigma to be resolved that will change the equilibrium. A common feature in the film will be a death, kidnapping or assault that will lead to a chase involving the heroes and villains. Binary opposition is essential in this process as it enables the audience to determine whose side they should be on. Another common convention used in the thriller is the anti-hero, a character that is flawed and put in a position that they don't necessarily want to be in, but ultimately they save the day. Watching a thriller generally involves willing suspension of disbelief - we know the idea is ridiculous but we buy into it for the duration of the film.
Different types of Thrillers include:

Psychological - A thriller story which emphasises the psychology of it's characters and their unstable emotional states. For example; Trance, Seven, Inception, Shutter Island, American Psycho

Sci-fi - A thriller story associated with science fiction and a futuristic setting. For example; Alien, 2001, Children of Men, Terminator

Action -  They deal with semi realistic storyline's all though most of the weapons or dooms day devices may be a bit far fetched, the plots of most Action thrillers are the same which contain terrorists, complete and utter Psychopaths. For example; James Bond films, Bourne, Speed, Source Code, Die Hard, Hurt Locker, Hanna.

Crime - These thrillers focus on crime, and are usually from the criminal’s point of view. Physical action and eluding the police take the place of gathering evidence and trying to discover the criminal. For example; Sherlock, The Usual Suspects, Pulp Fiction, The Dark Night, Memento.

Conspiracy/Political -  The protagonist must confront a large, powerful organization whose threat only he sees. Usually he must do so alone. For example; JFK, Klute, Z, Capricorn One, Missing, The Insider.

Preliminary task

First, we set up the tripod and bubbled the tripod. We then placed the camera on the tripod and put the battery in the camera. We turned the power of the camera on and white balanced the camera, then focused it so that it would film correctly.

We filmed the sequence in the hallway of our school as the surroundings of the shot looked great and there was a turning on the left where one of us could walk through to leave in the end of the script. We did not use any props or music or costume, just ourselves in the clothes we were wearing on that day. The shots that we used were a wide shot, over the shoulder shot and close up shot as those were the shots best used for doing the preliminary task using the 180 degree rule.

Moreover, we worked quite well and cooperatively as we had one two people working on the camera together and two people acting out the scene which was probably the best way to do it.

However, we did have to improvise as the area we were first filming at was invaded by a teacher at our school telling us not to film by the staff toilet as it was a public area for teachers so we had to change the place we were filming at. One of our actors also forgot their lines so they held made up/changed lines and we went along with it.

We filmed the scene multiple times using different shots and when editing, we cut the repeated and bad parts so that we showed all the different shots in one scene with all the different lines that followed after each other. For example, the first line was filmed using a wide shot and the second line was filmed using an over the shoulder shot etc.

Editing was fairly easy to master as we did it as a group and discussed together which scenes we liked and thought were best. One of the boys in our group had edited clips before so he was familiar with the software in which we were using. This made it easier for us as he knew what to do.

Furthermore, we learned which angles we can film from and which angles we can't film from. I also learned that working as a group makes things easier and when editing, copy a scene first before you cut it.

I would make the other person acting with me learn his lines so that it wouldn't have been as much of a struggle and wouldn't have taken up so much time re-filming shots. That would also have allowed us more time to edit, instead of taking up time from another lesson.

Textual analysis of opening of Kill Bill Volume 2

During the scene where the men put her in the coffin, the light dims out when the nails go in , the music fades to a gradual stop and the torch light turns off as we hear the non diegetic sound of the car going away which indicates that all hope is gone. The very fact that this actress looks so beaten up makes us think that she is weak and will not be capable of escaping from them. There are a lot of eye-line match shots between her and the men holding her captive which switch between both of their views and from her view, they are dominating above her which creates a binary opposition making her look weak and them powerful. The men are above her on eye-line match when they put her into the coffin and one of them says, "This is for breaking my brothers heart." We now know that he is in control. The diegetic cricket sound highlights that they are in an isolated area so no one would be able to save her. The sound suddenly shifts to a non diegetic western type of music so that we pick up a sense of the setting. We then hear diegetic noises as they bolt her into the coffin and once the coffin is bolted we hear destruction and amplified breathing noises from the actress to initiate that she is distressed and feels as if she is going to suffocate, therefore we believe that she will not survive.

Once she is stuck in the coffin, the camera is tight on her face to make the space around her look smaller. There is a darkness in the coffin proving that there is nothing in the coffin apart from her and we can only hear diegetic sounds of her breathing which connotes her isolation. Also, as the torch light is on her face, we are able to see the state she will be in when she dies. However, the mariarchy music returns, revealing that there is still hope for her to escape. There is also a non diegetic sound of slow thumping and a heartbeat which implies she is a lot calmer and is in control. The cutting shots from her eye-line view to her boots portray the progress she is making and now that the camera is taking shots at different angles whilst panning around, it makes the coffin look more spacious, therefore it is easier to for her to escape and is less of a tight space.

We start to realise that she is managing to escape as the music speeds up in pace and has more cuts with a beat that sounds as if she is breaking out, nearly escaping. This makes us have faith in her that she will save herself as the music gets louder. The shot switches from her face to the ceiling of the coffin which presents her achievements and concentration of escaping. The camera is then placed at a low angle on her in the coffin to indicate her power and strength as she overcomes being trapped. Although the lighting is dim, the torch is still shone on her face which lights up the coffin and this golden lighting gives us hope, making her look more angelic than previously.

As she smashes through the ceiling of the coffin, we hear a lot of diegetic sounds from the soil crashing into the coffin which heightens the tension of the scene. There is then an establishing shot back at the scene where she was first put in the coffin so we know where it is set. Finally, the music comes to a stop as her hand thrives out of the soil in a victorious grasp in the air, with the camera zooming in.

Textual analysis of opening of Scream

Sound
During the opening of the film, sound has a major part in building up tension and allows us to categorize the film as a thriller. At the start there is a lot of sounds taking place. There is a constant non-diegetic heart beat mixed with a diegetic phone ring which is suddenly stopped by a non-diegetic scream and knife-stabbing sound effect. The diegetic cricket sound effect playing in the background gives us the idea that the house is in an isolated area so we know that when the character is put in danger, she will have no where to go. In the conversation between the female character and the man on the phone, he says, "So I know who I'm looking at." As he says this, the sound shifts to a dramatic, eerie, non-diegetic track, which increases the tension. As she turns around to check outside, there is a diegetic sound of a dog barking to signify that someone is outside and it heightens the sense of danger. After she hangs up the phone, he rings back and this time the volume of the eerie music increases, along with the sound of boiling popcorn and the phone ringing. Additionally, there is a sort of booming sound which seems as if it is symbolising her fast paced heart beat, or his footsteps tracing him getting closer to her, both of which build up tension. Near the end of the scene, the non diegetic sound starts to speed up which suggests that she is going to try to run away, However, she gets stabbed and a different non diegetic sound plays with an angelic tone which signifies her innocence and that she is dying.


Camera
The camera also plays a significant part in this scene. At the start of the scene, the camera tilts down to the house from a high angle in an establishing shot to symbolise the isolation of the house she is in, therefore she will have nowhere to run to quick enough if anything bad were to happen. This also connotes that she is being watched by someone as it moves down onto the point where she is. The camera starts tracking her as she walks through the house on the phone which points out that she is alone in a big, dark house so she is quite vulnerable to anything at that moment. The camera makes a fast zoom into her face whenever she gets scared to signify that she is in danger and does an eye-line match with her when she sees all the fog outside with no one else there to highlight the danger as she is alone. As she paces around the house frantically, the camera makes a tracking shot, following her at a fast pace to create a sense that she is being followed. The camera makes a close up shot of her face when she cries so that we feel sympathy for her and makes a wide shot when she hides from the man to show her vulnerability. Whilst she is lying on the floor after being stabbed, the camera shows a dtilt angle on the screen from the floor to signify her weakness and as this gives a low and uncomfortable feeling to the audience, we know that she won't survive.


Editing
For editing, there are a lot of switches between shots and it keeps cutting to the woman's eye-line view to a shot of her, along with the sound increasing in tempo which creates tension so we hear it as she sees it. There is an edit of a match on action cut as it cuts from one side of the windohe other as the murderer's face pops up at the window. \This is especially effective as it shows both the frightening mask of the murderer and the terrified facial expression of the actress. We also catch a glimpse of the masked murderer's reflection in the glass. At the end of the scene when the actress gets stabbed to death, we watch this in slow motion which heightens the effect of the murder.


Mise-en-scene
The darkness of the lighting on the house in the woods depicts an isolated area which tells us that the film is a horror. As the female character is blonde and dressed casual, this portrays her naivety as she is engaging in conversation with a with a psychopath.

How genre, narrative and characters are represented in Skyfall

During the opening scene of Skyfall, we are presented with the hero named Bond through the tracking shot, which follows him as he enters the room. We understand that the situation is serious as there is a medium close up on Bond, showing he will do anything to save Britian. We also know the seriousness of the situation as we are shown a dying body in a dark room, with slight natural beams of light focusing on it. The light from outside has a yellow wash to it so we realise that they are not in London. As there a non-diegetic sound in the background, this builds up tension along with the dying body and helps us realise that the genre of the film is action thriller. We know that the main character is the hero due to the slow paced movements of the camera following him around the room, and the fact that we are shown how he tries to help the dying body in an over shoulder shot as he presses on the wound. As he leaves the dark room, he enters the light of the outside which symbolises the binary opposition.

Further on into the scene, we are introduced to the villain through the fast paced car chase. There are many edits where camera time is on Bond and Eve and suddenly switches to the villain in his car. As it keeps switching between the good people and him, we automatically know that he is the bad guy in the film. There is also a lot of cross cutting from the chaos in this car chase and the calm setting in the office where the mother figure and donor are helping and giving information to Bond and Eve. As there are only non-diegetic sounds in the car chase setting, this makes it seem more chaotic and so we know that this is a mission to defeat the villain. The setting around the car chase is stuffy and busy to make the situation seem more chaotic which clarifies that this is an action thriller film.

We meet the helper named Eve with a shot of her pulling up in the car and letting Bond get in the car. As the music shifts to a non diegetic, middle Eastern sound, it is clarified that she is not dangerous and is there to help. The music change also helps us to understand where they are and where the film is set at that point. During camera time on Eve, we see a shot of her smashing the car's front window as she can't see through it. This suggests that she is resourceful and we want to side with her.