Filming considerations 180 degree rule

Whilst filming we should be aware of techniques that will enable us to produce a professional, dynamic film.


The 180 degree rule states that two characters within the same scene should always maintain a left right relationship, they must always be facing the same side. Crossing over the imaginary axis between the characters will disorientate the audience, and could break the flow of the sequence.



This scene from the dark knight demonstrates the 180 degree rule, in an interrogation of the joker.

Laura Mulvey

Laura Mulvey's male gaze theory is something I have considered whilst making our short film, it states that there is unequal relationship between women and men in film, with women being viewed purely as sexual objects - men view, women are viewed. I have demonstrated the difference below.



Mia from fish tank opposes this theory, as her character is not supposed to be visually admired and gazed upon but instead developed through her personality and life troubles.
As opposed to Mias mother, whos is extroverted and designed for male attention as well as her personality and characteristics.

PHOTO HERE

Making our posters

When making our posters we used a vairety of editing techniques to achieve the results and effect desired.
Poster 1 -

• Desaturated the image creating the black and white effect
• Picked up the contrast, darkening the shadows surrounding the character and brightening the highlights such as the door
• Created a new layer and pasted another image from the same scene over the top, one where the character is closer to the camera
• This new layer containing the image then had its opacity lowered, to around 60%, giving a see-through effect
• Duplicated this layer and used an effect called 'motion blur' to achieve a sense of movement 
• This duplicated layer then had its opacity lowered to 45%
• The copy was set to bold, and given an overlay 'blend mode' creating the white glow surrounding the text
• Duplicated this layer, and set the duplicates opacity to 40%

Summarised we used numerous layers with different opacity settings to give the effect of motion, and blur whilst desaturating to make the image black and white.


Poster 2 -

• Picked up the contrast, darkening shadows and brightening highlights, which in this image as it is not black and white enhances the colours
• Made a new layer and pasted another image from the same scene where the character is nearer the foreground over the top
• Changed this layers opacity to around 60%
• Duplicated this layer, used the effect motion blur, and changed the duplicated layers opacity to around 45%
• The copy is bold and set to an overlay 'blend mode' creating the white glow
• Duplicated this layer, setting the duplicate at around 40%

Summary - The same steps followed as before with the same images, except no destaturation which gives a completely different effect through altering the contrast of colours.

Poster 3 -

• Opened the desired image
• Duplicated this image four times, making the scale of the image larger each time
• Each layer was then set to an opacity of 40-60%, giving the effect of movement, in this example 'swinging'
• The copy was made bold and given a black edging
• Duplicated the layer, altering the duplicates opacity to 40% and giving it a motion blur effect

To summarise we layered four progressively larger duplicates of the character swinging, altering the opacity


Poster 4 -

• Made our chosen image, of the character swinging black and white by desaturating it
• Using a different pciture from the same scene, where the character is closer to the foreground, we pasted this new image on top of the original, and destaurated it
• This layers opacity was then set 40-50%
• The same image was duplicated and its scale made smaller
• Its opcaity was  then set to 40-50%
• The copy is bold black, with black edging around it
• Duplicated this layer and set its opacity to 40%

Summary - Layering of different images from the same scene to show the character in different positions, the opacity levels where then altered to make it fluid.

Chosen Name

As you can see from our posters, we decided on the name 'Swing life' for our film. We chose this name because it holds meaning both literally and metaphorically. Our character releases her pent up anger and distress through using a swing at her local park, so often that it dominates a large proportion of her life as she has no one to confide in. Metaphorically swing life represents the ups and downs of her life, as our character is always extreme. Shes either delusionally discussing her lifes issues in a euphoric matter, or utterly depressed about the traumas she faces.
I feel we have chosen a title with depth, as it can be read into on numerous levels and I feel its thought provoking. This was not on of our original name choices, but one we developed when creating our poster. After receiving feedback on our names we decided not to use any of them because they made obvious assumptions about our character and her lifestyle, whereas swing life can be interpreted in a number of ways whilst being vague.

Poster 4

This poster uses images from the same scene as the previous, but different photographs. We also chose to make this poster black and white.




















The representations of light and images are the same as before, but the difference in the images is that instead of the boldest image being further away like in the previous, its in the foreground. I'd prefer this poster if the image wasn't so bold in the foreground, I find it to be quite overpowering and distract from the message we are trying to portray. The blur added to the layered images makes the character appear dominant, filling the frame completely. Based on rule of thirds, I would like the character to nor dominate the image so much, for space to be around her as this allows the audience to think about the space and could create a sense of lonliness and fragility.
I do like the black and white because a gradient effect is created, with the bright white lighting at the top going down to dense black surrounding the copy. This gradient effect could represent the highs and lows of the characters life, and the different sides of her. The fact that shes swinging into the light also depicts the joy she feels when shes swinging, as she swinging in a 'high point'. I do however think the colour on the other poster is more effective than this gradient, due to the gentle, pastoral feel we have previously created.
I would rate this poster second out of the posters we have created, as I like the gradient effect and the actual scenes the images are taken from.