If, i had to pick my favorite one out of the two i would lead slightly towards 'The Experiment' because of the editing, which i found looked really professional, and narrative concept.
Labrat
Film Language:
Mise-en-scene:
At first, he is dressed like a normal teenager, and also gives information that highlights this (like this age etc.) which helps the audience identify with the character, presuming that these productions where aimed at a teenage/young adult audience. This however is changed as the narrative developers and he puts on the costume of the lab coat which added to making the video seems much more professional, which is also done through the prop of the chemistry set, and highlighted the importance of chemistry to the character. The fact that identification and professionalism is created through just the costumes makes this production extremely well made in my perspective.
The actors expressions and body language are also really good as they highlight each emotion successfully to the audience, when the character is tense and when the character is relaxed whilst telling his story, and how he is fully occupied with his passion of chemistry is all quickly highlighted. This is done simply without making it seem overly dramatic which i think also helps in professional looking pieces of work.
The setting is in a school environment which not only has a practical use of making it easier to shoot but also helps the audience, again, to identify with the character.
The positioning of the protagonist and props are also carefully thought out as when it comes to the chemistry set that is the only thing in shot highlighting his focus and when he is in shot its only him making it easier for the audience to pick up his emotions.
The mise-en-scene overall helps the narrative to set the mood of seriousness and highlight the struggle and passion of the character all within 2 minutes. The theme/genre is also highlighted which i presume to be slightly sci-fi and drama
Cinematography:
Loads of close ups are used especially of the props, such as the camera and chemicals. This almost acts like a point of view shot and highlights the focus the character has regarding these objects. For things such as the camera, it quickly helps the audience to piece together what is happening in the scene without needing too much elaboration which helps to save time in the short 2 minutes clips.
There are also close ups of the protagonist which helps to highlight his emotions thus helping the audience to identify with him. (extreme close ups also serve this purpose and also allows room for you to show of your focus skills with the camera)
Medium shots are also used when he's speaking to the camera and in the library which allows for an easy transition between the shots but also helps his body language convey a message and not just his facial expressions (which helps when you don't have professional actors). Moreover the MS help to convey the setting/location of each shot without another shot to highlight it, this again also helps to over complicate the scenes as well as save time in the 2 minute production.
There are some high angle shots, eg whilst he is on the computer,to highlight the moments where the protagonist feels upset/hurt/vulnerable which helps to create sympathy with the character. Whereas low angle shots are used whilst he was in the 'lab' to highlight that is where he feels most dominant.
Sound:
Diegetic sound of the birds is used in the opening which helps to quickly set the scene. This is then followed by non-diegeitc music which helps to set the mood of the scene to being more serious and soft, this is played behind the voice over of the diegetic sound of the teenager speaking to the camera which adds, again, to the seriousness of the scene and helps to evoke sympathy in the audience.
This parallel sound used helps the audience to pick up on the mood of the scene and therefore helps the identification process.
Editing:
The main transition used where straight cuts which helped to give difference perspectives and allow it to be easier to edit the shots together.
Fade in/out where used to highlight the memory sequencing which conveys to the audience that its a flashbacks which prevent confusion.
The beginning was mainly continuity editing as it helped to create a narrative and highlight a main sequence of events however towards the end this slightly became more like a montage as it showed various shots of the chemicals (which i think looked really good and gave them a chance to show of a bit)
MCCAT :
The overall use of the media language techniques was really good, even though there was a simplicity to the cinematography it helped to create a clear and simple narrative which was easy to follow without having too much editing disrupting it.
The conventions of the genre (sci-fi/drama) did come out through the mise-en-scene and the narrative and was highlighted also through the music choice at the end also. The drama element was also added to by the shot of him recording himself which is usually iconic of most sci-fi/drama/documentary types of films.
There was a lot of creativity, especially towards the end as it moved slightly away from that typical story line of most teenage dramas and a lot of creative shot types where used regarding the chemistry equipment.
I found that there was a lot of attention to detail as what was meant to be shown was the only thing that came into shots and not too much was going on on each shot. Moreover they made the shots look artistic and well thought out.
The technical proficiency was highlighted through the flow of editing, and the use of editing to highlight the flash back sequence. Moreover the opening shots of the grass and the ending shots of the chemicals showed how well they can use other effects such as sound, text on screen and focus.
The experiment
The experiment
Film Language -
Mise-en-scene:
The facial expressions and the body language of the characters is always clear to the audience through the choice of camera shots. This is extremely useful as it reflected how the character feels continuously adding to the story the narrative begins with. The constant show of emotion helps the audience to quickly identify with the characters in the 2 minutes of the opening.
The setting of the forest helps to create the idea of isolation and signifies the dying of relationships and the human race which is all what the narrative is based around. The other settings such as the run down house helps to also create this idea of destruction and everything ruined. Whereas the memories take place in parks etc. which give them much more of a happy and joyful feel contrasting with the current locations and the mood that is created alongside it. This helps to convey the narrative and create identification with the protagonist, as the audience can visually see a reflection of how the character is feeling.
The overall dim setting of the current state and the bright lighting of the memories helps to contrast the change that has come about, and the body language and expressions help to reinforce this change. This helps to convey the mood of the character and develops the theme of isolation and change which is usually a clear indicator of science fiction movie/teen drama genre.
Cinematography:
Text on screen is used to introduce the narrative which is usually a convention of the sci-fi genre in setting up the narrative and making it seem futuristic with the graphics in the background paired with the radio like voice over.
extreme close ups are used a lot especially in the start which gives the audience the change to piece together information of the protagonist whilst the narrative develops which helps in squeezing in a lot more in just 2 minutes.
medium shots are used to reflect not only the expressions and body language of the character but also the surroundings which work together the create the idea of things such as isolation and fear which helps the audience to identify with the protagonist a lot more easily.
point of view shots are used to again help with identification as the audience are literally being put i the characters shoes and are forced to feel the same distortion and panic as the character.
pan whilst she runs in a long shot is used to help the audience get a sense of the face pace nature of the scene which helps to create suspense in the audience through the single action code of her running. The tracking shot is also used for this purpose as well as the pan around the protagonist to create the sense of distortion.
close ups are used to help had focus to certain important things such as the photos and really reflect the emotions of the character.
Sound:
Radio over graphics creates the sci-fi genre feel to the clip straight away.
Voice over on video of the girl helps to put into place the narrative, as the images are in synergy with what the man in the voice over is saying.
Non-diegetic music which is eiry is played in the background to help unsettle the audience and put them in suspense, this helps to create the certain mood for the scene and helps the identification process as they feel a fraction of how the protagonist may be feeling.
her own voice over with the images of the current destruction are in synergy with each other which also creates identification and highlights the narrative clearly.
Diegetic sound of the videos of her memories highlight their importance and clarity to the protagonist.
Change in sound to more dangerous non diegetic music helps to shift the moon of the audience.
diegetic sound of the struggle again highlights its clarity and importance to the narrative.
Editing:
A lot of straight cuts are used to help create a sense of tension when the pace is slow. The form used is continuity editing as it helps to create the narrative in a clear logical way and is much easier to create in the production process.
Effects such as blur and tint where used to help create the mood of distortion and understand when there where much more deeper flashbacks taking place.
MCCAT -
The overall Media language techniques used where clearly and strongly used and i think the best aspect was the cinematography and the editing as the effects and shots used helped to evoke a certain emotional response in the audience and stayed close to the conventions of the specific genre.
Conventions where played close attention to especially by the sound choice of the voice overs and the narrative choice and the way they used text on screen to highlight that sci-fi genre.
Creativity was a strong point of the production as it wasn't like the other pieces of work at the media awards and the narrative was unique but still showed the key conventions of the genre.
Attention to detail was also a strong point as they made sure the feeling of isolation was crated in the parks and that the setting of the house looked properly destructed.
Technical Proficiency was extremely well as they edited it so well with the key conventions of the sci-fi genre with the certain radio like voice overs, the graphics used behind the text on screen, they where all cleverly put together and in time with the voice over.
Summery:
What makes a good practical production.
Firstly, i believe that a lot of planning must be put into make each production. Both the videos i chose seem to be carefully thought out before hand and therefore have a clear narrative and shots that take place at each transition helping to serve a purpose which is vital in that part of the scene.
Also, the productions i choose are simple and clean. By this i mean that there isn't too much going on, in order to make a good practical production you must not get carried away with trying too fit in too much into the 2 minute frame you have been given. However, this said, the productions that had too little going on weren't too pleasing to watch either and therefore a good piece of work must have a good balance on how much is going on and being told in each given time frame.
Another thing which is consistent in the productions that i enjoyed where that the cinematography and narrative are extremely important in order to keep the audience watching. This doesn't mean other aspect should be forgotten, such as the sound and editing, however it indicates that if we don't over complicate these aspects and keep them simple it is more likely to result in a good end production.
On of the major things, however, are keeping to the brief and task at hand. All the productions that where nominated had been a 'silver lining production' and presented on channels aimed at young audiences and the narratives where done so that they would attract this younger audience.
On of the more practical things are that all the productions we saw had a short period of time to present a gripping introduction into the screenplays and in order to do this they used cinematography smartly so the audience can piece together part of the narrative and the scene doesn't have to take extra long in explaining a simple part of the narrative (again this is achieved through carefully thought out planning before hand) Another important aspect is the locations, most the productions (excluding the Las Vagas one because well that's just too hard to aim for) took place in easy to access locations which means that if the shots or something else technical goes wrong you can always go back and re-shoot easily (trust me i learnt the hard way at gcses)
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