Christopher Doyles masterclass in cinematography-

From watching this clip i learnt that cinematography plays a huge part in setting the mood and creating feelings in the character. Lighting, camera and the way the scenes are filmed can change a scene entirely which is why it is so important. When Doyles made the film 'Mood of love' he was going for a very lonely,iscolated energy he wanted to portray therefore he found a setting in a dark eerie road where the light was very dim and atmosphere very mysterious. The wall in the background which was falling apart gave him a sense of lonliness which he wanted for his film which is why he chose to film there. This setting played a huge part in creating the effect of loneliness and isolation he wanted.


Krzysztof Kieslowski -

He talks of how camera plays a big part in the film. He speaks about how his close ups in the film represent the heroins view point to the audience. These close ups help establish that she looks at the smaller things instead of focusing on bigger things in life. She is trying to make her world smaller. Just by using these close ups we gather all this helping to set a isolated theme where rejection is a huge element. The girl rejects everything around her as it does not interest her. She is in her own world where nothing else seems important. This could be relevant in my film as my main character Rodney is very 'in his own world' and quite iscolated. We could use this method of filming smaller things from Rodneys point of view in order to portray him in his own fantasy world where anything can happen. He could be shown as a daydreamer.


Cinematography of my own film-

I imagine my own film with very quick, sharp cuts in order to portray the 'hyperactiveness' of the situation where everything is moving along in this boys world. There is excitement and there is a very hectic busy atmospohere we would like the audience to notice. We will also use very high key lighting in order to show the innocence and harmfulness of the story.Although it has a gothic element to it and there are vampires, it is not serious, it is merely a little boys adventure where life is easy and simple and he truely believes he can take on these vampires by himself. There is a huge element of innocence and our film is purely for entertainment. The high key lighting will show this as everything seems light and 'safe'. When we shoot scenes with Mr Vamping in we have decided to use low key, dull lighting to show a dark,sinister side to him.This creates a mysterious atmosphere so we know there is something not right about him. The surroundings for Rodney we decided will always be quite messy and out of place in order to reflect his clumsy character and create a childish atmosphere to the audience.

The main character from 'Home alone', 'Kevin', is very similar to our main character 'Rodney'. After looking at various clips of the film as well as the trailer i have found a number of useful ideas i can take note of for my own film and the portrayal of 'Rodney'. In one of the scenes of the film Kevin says 'This is my house, i have to defend it'. After this we are shown a series of shots of him setting up traps and making a plan to outsmart the adults. As there is a scene quite similar to this in my film when Rodney vows to 'defeat' his 'vampire' teachers and comes in the next day prepared and with a plan i looked carefully at tips i could use to make our own film more effective. Heroic music is used throughout the scene giving a mysterious illusion of fantasy and adventure showing a little boys world where he can outsmart adults with his own courage and outrageous ideas. This is exactly what we were going for in our own film. We wanted to create a simple film of a lovable boy which is imaginative and in some parts unrealistic, however, is able to get the audience lost in this boys world with him. I deicded to also include music to show this, however, as a huge theme is comedy i chose to use heroic music to also create humour as Rodney is shown as quite a comic figure. We would like the audience to laugh at his 'dopeyness' but at the same time admire his lovable nature. There is also another scene in which Kevin is sad and lonely. He feels forgotten and down. Rodney feels rejected and upset that noone will believe his claims and he walks around the school alone. In 'Home alone' sad music is used to reflect Kevins mood and i think depressing music should be used to create empathy for Rodney in our film too. Not only does this create empathy for Rodney, but alos creates sympathy towards him as he has no friends and no one believes him. This makes him lovable and the audience will warm to him.

The film 'Queen of the damned' has large gothic elements about it, as well as being a story about vampires which is why i chose to look at it. I observed that in the film the vampires are portrayed with a sharp, sleek, smooth air about them making their character more mysterious and unknown. This gave me tips on how to present Mr Vamping, the teacher/vampire character from my own film. I noticed the dialogue and speech of the vampires was wazs very cold and deep as well as being sharp and well spoken. This gives a gothic vibe and atmosphere which would be ideal for my film when Mr Vamping is in the frame. This creates a huge contrast from Rodneys character which we wanted. The vampires in the film also seem to have a very peircing look about them as though they are looking through you. This will be very useful for Mr Vamping as it will give the impression there is something not right about his character.

I chose this childrens Tv series 'Mona the vampire' as it was about vampires and the supernatural but also because it is targeted at children, therefore it fits in with the 'non-serious', 'unrealistic' element that my film also shows. It is for entertainment purposes only. The tv show revolves around a young girl who is deluded into believing the adults in her town are supernatural creatures up to no good who she must help defeat in order to save society and the world. This is exactly what my main character Rodney feels is his mission throughout the whole story. They also share the similarity that none of their fears are correct and it is merely in their head. I decided to look at how Mona is portrayed as she is so similar to Rodney, however, i found she is a more confident character which is unlike Rodney. I looked at her friend Charlie who is her sidekick and realised he was very much alike with Rodney. I observed his body language and facial expressions and noticed that he always rubs his arm nervously and had a permanent sense of fear in his tone of voice. This would be good to apply to Rodney as he is also very shy and nervous too.

The film 'Son of Rambow' shares the theme of comedy and has two young boys as the main characters. In the film the boys peform a lot of 'stunts' for their action movie which results in them getting hurt. This is shown in a comic way however, as the boys always get straight up again after and brush themselves down. Not only does this show them as lovable, but also quite clumsy and as typical young boys. I could use their attitude to portray my character 'Rodney' as being your typical clumsy character who is always falling over or getting into some kind of mess. By showing Rodneys quick reactions when he falls over or does something clumsy at various points in my film it develops his character further, showing the audience this is a normal thing for him to do. It also makes the audience warm to him. One of the main characters, 'Will', is very alike Rodney in the fact he just wants to be known as a hero. In one scene, he bursts through the door and declares 'I've come to save you Rambow'. The camera then cuts to an old man in a womans costume creating humour as he is obviously not as heroic as the thinks. This is extremely similar to a scene in my own film where Rodney marches through the door wearing his garlic necklace and holding his carrot stake then steps in a decorative pumpkin laying next to the door. His cool image is ruined by this and he is made a comedy figure to laugh at. I notices that in 'Son of Rambow' Will is positioned very 'macho' with his hands on his hips as though he is about to save the day. This is contradicted by his small, skinny frame creating humour. I decided to use this in my own film as i think it will be very effective and funny.