Practical Screencraft 2 BAFI201 - Evaluation 22nd Jan

Sunday 22nd January 2017                             Practical Screencraft 2                        Andy James

Practical Screencraft - BAFI201 Evaluation

Part 1 – Film Analysis – Heat

For my practical screen craft 2 BAFI201 project, I decided to focus my analysis for part 1 around the 1995 crime drama film heat, written and directed by Michael Mann, paying close attention to the use of cinematography, the way the characters are presented, the use of background sound which builds up tension but leads to a ceaseless noise inside the bank.

I chose the scene featuring Robert De Niro and his gang as they carry out a robbery in an international bank, as I have an interest within editing, cinematography and sound I decided to research into the different camera angles, a range of high and low angles have been used to show the power statuses of each character, the way that De Niro has been framed in the centre of the image makes myself think back to him being the male dominant lead. The use of tracking shots re-create the motion for me of a CCTV camera, we are given a scope of the room inside the bank as De Niro, the male lead walks into the foyer, we’re then shown the other two male characters as they pick their targets. The editing style for this scene starts off slow with the clips lingering so we get to see the gang as they prepare for the robbery, once the balaclavas are in play, the cuts become swifter, the action and pace of music all combined together help to create a great amount of dramatic tension for us as the viewers.

The dialogue is short and snappy, orders are given out which I thought re-created the commands a director would give to the crew and actors whilst on set. The backing track helped not only to build tension but on closer inspection I noticed that some of the shots were cut to the pace of the music, adding suspense and building tension for the dramatic action sequences which unfold.

The key element from the scene that I would like to use within my film, I liked the way that we heard sounds all the way through as the staff were in panic mode, but the sounds didn’t always correspond to the action that we saw on camera. My idea would be to use lights within an underground bunker, spinning them around in circles to act as the police/army convoy headlights, whilst casting shadows of the characters costume.

Part 2 – Short Film PTSD

For part 2 I created a short film that would consist of the same theme from heat, being surveillance. The lingering shot would help to create suspense and build tension, helped by the sound design. The footage was shot down in a local dungeon to act as an underground war bunker, reinforced by the sounds of explosions going off and the sounds of guns reloading and metal beams collapsing. Acetate lighting used as a way to cast shadows of the actors costume to signify a soldier, the use of a single camera shot because the soldier has found himself trapped, the flashing lights, to try to give off the effect that something is coming towards the soldier but he faces up to it. The sound design of bombs going off were created using fireworks and the sound of dust and debris falling was achievable by sprinkling rice over a piece of tinfoil resting in a plastic bucket.

PTSD – Part 2 Short Film – Roles

Director, Writer, Editor, Sound Recordist – Luke Curno (PCA Student)

Cinematographer – Constantinos Christou (PCA Student)

Sound Recordist – Aidan Wright (PCA Student)

2 Part Film Analysis Submission
Practical Screencraft 2 - 2 Part Film Analysis from Luke Curno on Vimeo.

Bibliography

Heat (1995) Bank Robbery Scene Clip [HIGH QUALITY] Dir. Michael Mann (1995) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL9fnVtz_lc Accessed 17/01/2017 - Published on Youtube 05/02/2009

Link to all my Practical Screen-craft 2 BAFI201 posts http://lukecurnopca.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Practical%20Screencraft%20BAFI201