Stop Motion

Jan Svankmajer (1971) - Jabberwocky

Directed by Jan Svankmajer, this surrealist live-action adaptation of Lewis Carroll's poem The Jabberwocky is, for the most part, centered around the travels of a surprisingly mobile wardrobe. After a brief trip the forest, the wardrobe's doors open to reveal a strange Victorian playroom supervised by an older, bearded man with glasses inside of a photographic portrait. As the wardrobe "grows" a variety of strange looking jars, the toys inside come to life just as maggot-infested shrubbery furiously begins to sprout across the room. This sets the premise for a variety of odd scenes involving a cat, a tea party, dismembered dolls, and a continuous effort to deface the portrait amidst a reading of The Jabberwocky.

I feel the stop motion by Jan Svankmajer are both fascinating and repellent, and Jabberwocky, one of his finest works, is no exception. Svankmajer is not a creator whose goal is to provide comfort; having lived through a repressive communist regime, his work is filled with anger, irony, melancholy, and darkness. Yet it also has its share of humor and even, on occasion, optimism; more importantly, Svankmajer has genuine brilliance, both as a craftsman and an artist, and this is especially true in Jabberwocky. What this short film means is subject to debate, as are the best surrealist works, but meaning is secondary to the associations that each viewer brings to it.

The stop motion is, as usual, excellent and the imagination behind it is stunning. Walking wardrobes, dolls eating dolls, sailor suits riding rocking horses -- Svankmajer plays with these images in a way that makes them unforgettable. Jabberwocky is thrilling and disturbing, a surrealist treat.

Aardman (Wallace & Gromit) (1993) - The Wrong Trousers
The Wrong Trousers is the second short film to feature the stop motion antics of eccentric inventor Wallace and his dog Gromit, the wrong Trousers sees the pair become unwitting accomplices to a jewel theft. The trouble begins when, struggling to make ends meet, Wallace decides to require to let in boarder. At first, Wallace and his new tenant get on famously; so, the penguin forces Gromit out of his room and into the doghouse. However, the bird isn’t what he seems: Gromit discovers that the penguin is really the famous thief Feathers McGraw. Feathers has his eye on Wallace's latest invention- a pair of mechanical trousers that can be programmed to mechanically walk on their own. Believing the device will assist him steal a world-famous diamond at the nearby museum. When Feathers attaches Wallace to the trousers, Gromit must find a way to prevent the malicious penguin and save his friend.

This Oscar-winner for "Best Animated Short" works both as a humorous parody of film noir and as an exciting, action-packed adventure in its own right. It combines skillful visual design and excellent animation with ingenious and humorous storytelling.

I enjoy watching animation and feel its makes unbelieveable things come to life, this is a great way of bringing out the imagination of your audiance and making unbelievable things unforgettable. This is my online prezi about stop motion and the techniques/how its developed over time:

Jaws Opening Analysis

The music at the beginning is iconographic. The audience are introduced to a sound motif, which is alarming and ominous to the audience as it is only played when the shark is nearby or on scene. It is a crescendo/ staccato sound which is iconic to Jaws, its used to create tension and a scary atmosphere.

The characters in the beginning are established around a fire situated on the beach. Drinking, smoking and playing music. The characters actions are one of a hippy nature, which indicates their young and carefree personalities. Usually in a film, these kind of teenagers are the ones to be targeted on as victims in the film and happen to be disposed of one by one. So the audience are introduced to a stereotypical but familiar environment but are already bracing themselves for an act of violence/shock, especially when the girl and boy are running away together far from the safety of the group. The audience will initially question the need for safety towards the young teenagers, as one they are under the influence of drugs and alcohol and two the girl is running away naked therefore she is asking for some sort of confrontation.

There is a cross cut between the lady being killed and the man who is drunk on the beach. The film also consists of jump cuts, graphic match and fades. The editing styles mean that it adds to the tension and drama.

 

Shot types: at the beginning the camera pans along the characters. This creates a great establishing scene amongst the youngsters. The director is trying to create an atmosphere one of a predator picking its prey. The shots consist of various close ups, great for the audience to analyse and establish the surroundings and characters. The film contains a shot reverse shot, which engages the audience into the film as they feel that they are involved through the use of psychological camera positioning.The most effective shot of that scene is the worms eye view which is established as if it’s the point of view of the shark. The female character is positioned as a venerable object therefore the audience knows that something is going to happen between the binary oppositions.The opening sequence also consists of a few long shots.

The titles open with Jaws with a black screen. There's a studio logo – which is a sense of institution. Typography of Jaws/Credits. Red – connotes danger and blood which foreshadows what is going to happen later on in the film. I like this use of titles because its very simple but effective. In my film I will use the simple design but instead of colour I will make my title animate to connote a feeling. For mine the first letter of the title will spin to connote the confusion and sense of spinning in circles to show the characters current problems/feelings.

The Jaws opening sequence underlines two types of narrative theory's which is an important element of a successful film opening :One of the elements is Barthes's five codes theory- Enigma code. The musical motif at the beginning makes the audience feel threatened and also curious, as to what is going to happen next as the audience already are feeling in suspense. The second element of the narrative theory is the popular and vastly used, Binary Oppositions. This theory is founded by Levi-Strauss. In this case, Jaws, have the binary oppositions of good vs.. evil and human vs. sharks.

Editing Styles In Psycho

Editing and Sound in Alfred Hitchcock’s - Psycho 

We know that Hitchcock’s purpose within the very renowned shower scene (shown in the YouTube video above) in psycho was to shock the audience with not solely the event of the murder itself however additionally the brutality of Mary’s murder. He dramatically switches the pace of the scene from the slow entrance of the dark figure to the short cuts of the murder.

Hitchcock exaggerated the utilization of cutting was an intentional relation to the cutting of poor Mary. In any case, the slow entrance and fast cuts remains a really effective cinematic jolt to an audience. The noise of the shower drowns out any sound. The door is then slowly and carefully closed and we see the shadow of a woman fall across the shower curtain. Mary's back is turned to the curtain. The white brightness of the bathroom is almost bright however also we plain with the whitewash walls. Suddenly we have a tendency to see the hand reach up, grasp the shower curtain, and rips it aside.

Then it cuts to Mary as she turns in response to the feel and sound of the shower curtain being torn aside, a glance of pure horror erupts in her face and a low terrible groan begins to rise up out of her throat. A hand comes into the shot. The hand holds a huge knife. The flint of the blade shatters the screen to an almost total, silver blankness.

The dynamical is an effect of a knife slashing, as if tearing at the actual screen, ripping the film. Over it the slashing gulps of screaming then we hear silence, which is interrupted with the dreadful thump as Mary's body falls in the tub.

A reverse angle is used as the blank whiteness, the blur of the shower water, the hand pulling the shower curtain back the audience then catches one flicker of a glimpse of the killer. A woman, her face contorted with madness, her head wild with hair, as if she were wearing a wig. Then the audience sees only the curtain, closed across the bathtub, and listen to the rush of the shower water, above the shower-bar we see the bathroom door open once more and once a moment we hear the sound of the front door slamming.

The use of the POV shot

The murder scenes in psycho shows how the film situates the spectator through point-of-view shots and direct address, first, how the murder of the protagonist inscribes licentious sexual behaviour onto her body, and, second, how we could inscribe gender onto a body because of misperceptions. When a shot's framing prompts us to see it as a character's vision, it's known as a point- of-view (POV) shot. Camera movement are often a powerful cue that we are watching a POV shot as a result of the camera eye acts as a surrogate for our eye and our attention. The point-of-view shot is vital because it allows the spectator to see with that character through a system of cuts or glances. In different words, as a result of the POV shot most frequently cuts between the character and his or her view, the shot constructs the spectator's awareness of space. For example, the first shot below from psycho shows the protagonist, Marion Crane, rummaging through her motel room window. The second shot shows Norman's house behind the motel, which Marion was looking at. The third shot cuts back to Marion to close the cinematic statement: subject of the gaze / object of the gaze / subject of the gaze. A second style of editing is direct address, the instance that the character looks directly into the camera and acknowledges the presence of the spectator. Direct address editing performs two functions. First, it establishes identification with the spectator by creating eye contact. Second, it objectifies the spectator. In different words, the editing causes suspense or anxiety as a result of the character seems to have discovered that he or she is being watched. For example, the shots below show Marion and Norman looking directly into the camera with nearly the same expression, as if implicating the spectator in the action: into Marion's crime of stealing money from her employer (which is why she escapes from Phoenix and ends up at the Bates Motel), and into Norman's mother's homicidal tendencies.

Conclusion
To conclude in this scene from “Psycho” editing is used to the producers advantage and is used to make suspense and inevitability. At the start the pace of the editing is the same it has a very steady cut rhythm making the viewer as an audience feel like its normal it makes us feel relaxed, as with editing a suspense scene you want to pace yourself slow then have a build up then a unleash this method was used effectively within the scene from “Psycho”. The editing of a scene will help portray feeling and emotion. The editing during this clip helps make the audience feel suspense and tension, we can see the editor use “Shot-Reverse Shot” when it goes from the women to the killers POV the pace of that section is quick and is over very quickly it might be emphasising the viewers heart pounding with the quick edits. The sound also can help to evoke audience reaction. During this scene it starts very quiet we can only hear diegetic sounds like the footsteps, pulling of the curtain, the sound of the water touch the floor of the shower. It additionally reflects the editors work as well, At the climax when the murder starts stabbing quick cuts and loud music are used to frighten to break the suspense that had been created with the silence and slow paced editing. The sound becomes non-diegetic and extremely loud both the volume and the juxtaposition of diegetic to non-diegetic breaks the tension and creates a daunting moment. Once the stabbing happens the editor chooses to linger in what has just happen holding shots for much longer by doing this one might suggest that the editing reflects the life of the woman and as she is dying slowly the cuts are holding for longer.

Use Of Sound & Camera Angles In The Woman In Black

"The Woman in Black" is a horror movie about the ghost of woman who haunts the town where she died, dressed in black, hence the name "The Woman in Black". The opening scene follows all the conventions of a horror movie.

At first we are only shown close up shots of what are regarded as victorian children's toys. These type of toys are considered creepy as they are very delicate. The dolls that were shown are considered really creepy and scary by many people and find them haunting. Using these props along with the music creates a light but dark feel to the scene. After we are shown three victorian girls who are playing with the toys (a Three Shot).

The girls are looking at the direction of the camera, we the audience are not aware of what they are looking at for it is not shown in the frame, they are staring at the audiance which adds to the unordinary and scary tension. Suddenly they turn and look at the window. The camera focuses on the window suggestion to us the audience what's about to happen as we should work it out knowing it's a horror movie but we are still not sure if what we think will happen happens.

The following shots are just close ups of the girl's shoes showing them walking in a certain direction whilst crushing their toys. From this we know somethings not right. Then the we are shown the faces of the girls which are just expressionless and seem as if they are being controlled. They reach the window seal open the window and jump out. A scream is used. However we are still in the room and the camera zooms out from the window showing the rest of the room. Suddenly we see a ghostly figure in black but it's out of focus.

The opening sequence fits perfectly and does what it's supposed to do, bringing curiosity into the minds of the audience.

The use of music in the opening scene creates a very mystic atmosphere as it is a piece composed of classical instruments that if played in a certain way can sound very demented and dark. These instruments are usually used in this genre as they are very good at creating an on the edge feel within the audience creating suspense which is good within a horror movie as it's easier to scare people this way

Touch Of Evil Opening Camera Angle Analysis

In the opening of Touch of Evil there is a immediate close up shot of the bomb device. Following this close up, the scene progresses, as the use of the crane shot seems to progress and follow the action in the particular frame of the scene. The camera angels are varied because the camera movements and camera angles are varied to give the sense of suspense within the scene.

The use of a close up shot of a person setting the bomb could connote how something tragic is about to happen and gives an insight into the expectations of the narrative as a whole. After the activation, the use of a tracking shot is evident, as the camera seems to follow the assassin planting the bomb in the car boot, which could be an enigma code, as the audience could wonder why the assassin is planting the bomb and who he intends to assassinate. This means the audience are interacting in the films narrative by questioning what s happening.

Although he is the villain, the audience are encouraged to identify with him in the form of tracking shots, as we are seemingly following him and realise his motives and intentions, for example setting a bomb, and planting it. Shortly after this, a crane shot is used to show how the car is significant in the result of the scene. And the audience start to contradict the outcome and future of the carnage.

Immediately, the scene cuts to an establishing shot of the town, the use of a high angle shot is used to show how other charters are unaware of what is about to happen. By using these shots, we are encouraged to identify with the villain, as we are seemingly observing the plan in action.

The use of long shots and medium shots are used to show how the car is being positioned intentionally in a public place within the town, in order to target the people to which the bomb was intended for.

Interestingly, the use of the main subject matter of the car, seems to be left out of view and is zoomed out. To a certain extent, mystery is created, however the audience seem to acknowledge the fact that the car is going to be significant, and could know the consequences and result of the narrative, the car will explode, killing the targeted people and will create a terrible situation. 

King Kong Opening Analysis

Colour:
The colour of the outdoors of New York is very dull and grey, this is to show how the city is currently facing the great depresion. The dull and grey skys also show how the city has a lot of industrialisation which is seen in the opening when the workers are putting tougher the new steel building. Also we see the high amounts of traffic which contibute towards pollution.
Props & Costume:
The intro has the zoo and monkeys that are in cages, this is like a future picture of what will happen to King Kong. All characters see mostly wear fairly smart clothing like suits and dreeses but do not match, this is corrolated with the beckground music lyrics that say "I have just one suit, just one, that all I can wear". This old fashioned clothing signifys the time period and how people look smart for work but can only afford one outfit so have a suit that is useful for all occasions.
Setting & Sound:
The oppening sounds to the titles is very loud and tense, which is played by violins. The setting of New York shows a lot of traffic and pollution as well as poverty. The zoo setting tells us what may happen in the fututre. In the theatre the small auidance also enforces the poverty and despiration top make money. The old style musical song in the background links with the theatre theme.
Narrative and Technical Codes:
Anne is seen as an innocent, feable and weak character with little power although we do see how she has spirit and speaks out in the Theatre. She is very gutsy meaning she trys to face her challanges. She is also treated like a child by the other members of the theatre production in how they protect her but also over power and think she is weak with no future ahead.
Manie- Seen as old, he also acts like his life is over and that he has no future ahead.
Set in the daytime although with little lighting to make New York very dull and has a lot of poverty. We also see the children working on the streets to try and earn money like the newspaper seller. This enforces the theme of poverty.
In the theatre we first meet the main character Anna and lean about her personality and character.

Preliminary Task

This is our Preliminary Task, we have used a girl who is playing the piano but is then harassed/bullied by another student. The preliminary task had to involve some dialogue and the opening and closing of a door. We used a range of shots to improve the overall product.

See Q7 of the evaluation to see how I have progressed from the preliminary task to my final/full product for the 2 minute opening for Questioner.

Use Of Narration

“Forrest Gump” is a drama with comical aspects. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis and released in 1994. It is about a man facing the challenges in his life. The story spans from 1951-1984 (which the historical references prove), and takes place in different locations of America, and Vietnam.

The story is mostly narrated retrospectively, but in the end it is goes chronologically. It is told from a third-person view, but Forrest narrates the story and his thoughts are revealed. The movie starts out in a comical and happy tone, but goes on to be sad further into the movie. Most of the characters have an Alabama accent.

Forrest Gump isn’t the smartest person on earth. He is seen as slow when it comes to understanding academic things and figuring things out. He is a loving and kind person, who tries to protect those he cares about, especially Jenny, the main female character in the movie, who is a childhood friend. Forrest is quite fond of his mother, who had a big influence on him as a child, and shows this by recollecting what she used to say to him, throughout the movie.

Forrest’s life is in disarray. Forrest was physically handicapped as a kid, with his crooked back. Because of his disabilities he was bullied at school. Forrest’s main conflict is with Jenny, who was his only friend during his childhood. He is in a perpetual conflict throughout the movie, as he doesn’t know whether to be in love with Jenny or be her friend. Death is another aspect of life Forrest learns to cope with, as everybody he cares for dies, one after the other. First Bubba dies, then his mother, and in the end: Jenny. However, Forrest accepts death as a part of life, and therefore this does not become a conflict. His problem with Jenny is resolved in the end, when she accepts him and marries him.

The movie begins with Forrest Gump sitting at a bus stop, and a feather falling down to his feet. Forrest picks up the feather and puts it inside a book. Then he starts telling the story of his life to a woman sitting next to him. An interesting part of the movie is that throughout, the people listening to Forrest’s story keep changing. I have annotated the opening of this below:

Forrest tells us about his childhood, when he went to the doctor with his mother. Since he had a problem with straightening his back, he had to use special shoes to make it right. Forrest’s mother, Mrs. Gump, used to tell Forrest that he was no different than anybody else, but this was proved wrong when it was discovered that his IQ was 75, which was below normal.

The movie ends with Forrest’s son, Forrest Jr., boarding the school bus on the first day of school. The feather from Forrest’s book falls out and soars through the sky.

The key theme in “Forrest Gump” is life and not to give up on it; it is about managing the obstacles in your way. Forrest faces all these challenges, but he pulls himself through them. It is like the phrase his mother told him: “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get”. Forrest handled things, as they came. Another theme is accepting yourself for who you are, and for what you do. The phrase: “Stupid is as stupid does” is important here. It means that you are as stupid as the things you do. Forrest Gump was not really stupid in this case. He was dumb, but he didn’t do stupid things.

The movie also deals a lot with death, so accepting death as a part of life is another message.

Some symbolism is already mentioned, but the feather in the beginning and the end of the movie is important. It symbolizes destiny and luck. Forrest came across Jenny many times, after she left him. It was plain luck or/and destiny. Forrest says it himself: “I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze, I think maybe it's both. Maybe both is happening at the same time.”- Forrest Gump

The acting in the movie is incredible and very believable. You can really see that Forrest Gump is “special”. 

The camera angles varied: sometimes there are close-ups, other times you see the character(s) from slightly above, like in the opening.  

The lighting is a bit different for the different periods; Forrest’s childhood, with Jenny, was sunny and bright, while the Vietnam War was dark and cloudy. 

The editing was fast-paced at certain times, e.g. when Forrest’s squad was ambushed in Vietnam, but dwelling at other scenes, e.g. in the school bus, when Forrest was talking with Jenny.

The music played describes the scenes and time-periods in the movie, e.g. when Jenny is about to jump off the balcony ledge, “Free bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd is played (also referring to the fact that she had wanted to become a bird when she was younger).

Love Actually Does Plasticine

Today we were given the task to make the scene from Love Actually when Mikey (the DJ Interviewer) interviews Billy Mack. We could either film it using cameras or make it by stop-motion animation. These was a good way of deciding weather we would want to use cameras or animation for our opening two minutes. I decided i wanted to use animation because i was undecided about what i would do. The actual clip is below:

Using Adobe Premier Pro

In our lesson we were learning how to use Adobe Premier Pro, we have manipulated sound, text and transitions. The techniques we learnt are explained bellow and so is the finished video.

In this picture I have edited the sound of the second video clip. By adding the high pass effect I have removed some unwanted sounds like the background traffic. This means you can hear the puppet better. 

In this picture I have edited the text and images to blur when the come in and out. I did this by adding the Gaussian Blur, I have added key frames making the beginning and end of the text and images very blurred. So the text comes in and our, the part between will be visible.

This obtuse text editor, I added the text and edited it by changing the highlight colour, shadow colour etc. The purpose of the title is not to be distracting but subtle.

This is where I have added the transition, I used the "doors" transition. I changed the length of it and moved it to it was between the two clips. 

This is the finished video for Little Fawn. By using the techniques above I have created the overall video.

Initial Ideas, Plot, Characters Etc For My Film Opening

Ideas-Props, sounds, lighting etc:

This is a video where i am pitching my current ideas:

The lighting in the opening will be fairly dark as in the opening the other character tells the young boy to go to bed meaning it should be reasonably dark. Also when the other character has left the young boys bedroom the camera will move through the window and look out to the sky meaning it should be either pitch black or reasonably dark. If possible it would be really effective if their are some starts or the moon, this would be really effective and add to the opening and the title sequence. 

My Film will be called Questioner 

What are the positives and negatives of film openings?

The negatives are:
Some times a film opening can give away to much information or not enough, although some viewers may think they know a lot of information but it could be done on purpose to make the viewer think this and then be surprised when the truth comes out. This can mean that the viewer can become bored if they think they alredy knows what is going to happen etc. Meaning they will not be interested as much but will be suprised when they find they are wrong.

The positives are:
Film opening give a good introduction to the film and make some of the main storylines evident, this then makes the viewer watch on because they now have some knowledge of the character or plot making them want to carry on watching the film and be intersted in it.

How much is revealed about the storyline, characters etc in film openings?

In a film opening, not much is revelaed. The whole point of the opening is to set the scene and give an insight to the characters, storyline etc. The opeing gives a preview of what is about to happen and normally introduce the main characters and give some main information to the storyline.

Forrest Gump: Opening 2 Minutes-
In the opeing to Forrest Gump there is little information given to the viewer and through the opening all the viewer sees if a white feather flying through the sky. The camera follows the feather until it finaly falls onto the main character. This then shows that we are going to find out more information about this character because we are lead to him by couinsidence but also purpose. This feather then leads us slowly into the storyline. I have examinded the clip below in this video with annotations. Please view the video in the best quality and be sure that annotations are on throught.
PLEASE WATCH VIDEO BELOW:

Please also see myself and Sophie Martins audience research about films and film openings. We asked questions regarding what should be revealed in an opening and what makes a good opening. Please watch the full video, their responses are also written below.