Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Sweded

For 2 weeks, me and my group, Shani, Yssy and Abi, have been working on a sweded film project on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Here are the links to our marketing and our youtube videos:

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/harrypottersweded


Twitter:
https://twitter.com/HpSwede

Our Harry Potter Swede trailer/bloopers:

THE ACTUAL VIDEO WILL BE LIVE ON THIS LINK!

CLICK HERE TO WATCH!

Overall, i'm quite proud of our final swede. When we were looking through the footage, i didn't expect for our final swede to turn out this good. It definitely wasn't what i expected. Although i'm not sure whether we made the characters and the plot clear enough. However as long as it entertains people and they understand roughly what is going on, i'm satisfied.







Sweded Film

A sweded film is where a famous movie/trailer is recreated as a summary with a very low or no budget. There are usually around or under 4 minutes long so they are only able to include a limited number of scenes from the actual movie; those scenes tend to be the most iconic ones. Sweded films are usually unedited with only a single take per scene; usually ending up with a very comical result.

 

My favourite sweded film is:

 



 

 

It covers all the main scenes and is very enjoyable. Despite having a very low budget, they used a very creative way to recreate the scenes. They were also very professional about it, since they did not laugh during the recordings and took it very seriously.

Prelim Evaluation



Our brief was to plan, film and edit a continuity sequence of a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair to exchange dialogue with another character. In the exercise, we had to include demonstrations of match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180 degree rule.



Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?

The people I worked with were Yssy and Josh B, the main character is acted out by Josh and the other character is acted out by Yssy and I did most of the camera work.

How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use? What theories did you try to take into account?

We had a few problems trying to think of a plot to plan our sequence on since the initial idea we had was impossible for us to do with the limitations we had since we had to record in school. However once we got over that fuss, we decided to alter the initial idea we had of a comical spy-like sequence so it would be easier for us to film without any injuries. While we were planning out the sequence, we definitely remember to keep the continuation going throughout the whole thing. To do this, we remember the theories that were mentioned in the brief; which were match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180 degree rule. Before the shoot, Josh made a floor plan and finished our storyboard, however we didn't do a walkthrough or blocking in the area we were going to film in, so we had a few troubles during the shoot.

What technology did you use to complete task, and how did you use it?

For the filming, we used the Canon HV30 camera and the Senheiser HD 201 headphones to check the sound. We also had a tripod to hold the camera steady so we wouldn't have shaky framing. For editing, we used the software Adobe Premiere Pro. We captured the footage, then dragged the clips of it that we wanted into the timeline so we could edit the clips into the sequence that would work suit the brief as well as making sense.

What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?

The factors we had to take into account when planning included the space in the area of the scenes, which we didn't take into account, since we didn't do a walkthrough of our sequence. Also, since the hallway was needed by other groups, we should've made a schedule for when they are able to use it and when we will be using it. However since that wasn't planned out properly, during the shoot we had clashes with the other groups. For shooting, we needed to make sure we had enough space, which we didn't do because we didn't block the area, so we didn't realise the office we used was smaller than we expected. As for the editing, we had to take into account of the time, since we ran out of time and had to have a bit more time than other people.

How successful was your sequence? Identify what worked well, and what would you improve?

In the end, I think our sequence turned out fairly good. Except we thought we were able to include music, but we weren't able to and didn't have time anyway. If we were able to include the music, the sequence would be better and the atmosphere would be built better. Surprisingly, we were able to edit the match on action pretty well, since you wouldn't notice it. And we had to use an ellipse to cover up the mismatching scenes we had

What have you learnt from this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework, do you think?

I have learnt to make better judgements during the planning, otherwise it would leave me and my group in a situation where we would need more time to shoot and edit. Our organisation will also have to be better, since I wasn't that great at the organising in my group. 



Art of the Title grid analysis

Summarise your film idea. Provide a brief synopsis and outline what happens in your film opening.

Our film idea is in the genre, psychological thriller, and is about a teenage boy who has extreme paranoia, hence the film title 'Paranoia'. In the film opening you see, at the beginning, just a normal school boy. Then as the film opening progresses, it reveals that the boy is all alone, let alone being in school and by the end, the screen cracks as well it getting darker and darker, showing his mental distortion.

What kind of information has been included in your film opening?

In our film opening, we've included the credits of the important people. For example, who it's written by, the director and music composer. Also we've included hints of what kind of person the main character is. We've included that he a very secluded person despite being in school, which is usually full of people and a place where people meet their friends.

How do the titles link to the main film idea?

The fact that our title fonts(Plane Crash) are slightly eroded gives the idea of a distorted mind. This fits the concept of our film since our film itself is about a boy with paranoia which so it shows that his mind isn't stable.

Identify three things that you included in your grid that are important in the construction of an opening sequence and explain their role in understanding the film

• We've included a font that is able to connote the genre of the film just by the look of it. Most film openings have fonts that express the genre of the film. For example, in the opening credits of 'The Conjuring', the font used is very sinister showing that horror genre.

• We have used long shots to express his loneliness in the shot of him in the assembly. 

• The darkening of the shots as it progresses to the end of the opening sequence signifies that the film is going to have a sombre tone.

How effective is your film project as an opening? Explain your answer.

In my opening, I think the film idea was good. It had a really strong enigmatic ending to the opening title, which just makes the audience question why the screen cracks, even though they get a slight understanding of why, but doesn't have the whole story. 

Opening Sequence Continuity Analysis

• Starts with a close up of the main character in a conversation, and using the 180 degree rule, we are switched between both characters points of views.
• A mid shot is then used to introduce the next character and a straight cut is used to jump from a close up to a mid shot.
• It zooms from a mid shot to a two shot close up is used to show the secrecy then back to a mid shot of the two characters. This is as if the audience is drawn in to the secret as well.
• A master shot is then used to establish and how the inside of the room to the audience, the room where all the 'magic' happens.
• The 180 degree rule plays quite a big part in this scene, since the girl is introduced to the other characters as well as the characters being introduced to us.
• The zoom out slowing changes the perspective of the audience to the perspective of the girl.
• As the graphics of the title start showing, it goes to the actual credits of the film.
• The credits roll for about 1 and a half minutes, then goes back to a direct addressing close up shot of the girl to emphasise her reaction.
• The fast pace editing after that point, fits well with the music and also expressed the feelings of the girl.
• Then an extreme close up is used when she slowly says her lines, which links to the previous shot.

Accident Sequence

This is the accident sequence we made for our blog. In this, we specifically cut on action so that it would create a continuing action through different shots, however it was hard because we weren't able to physically film the actor falling out the tree since we didn't want any actual injuries. So we used the cut on action technique to film the actor falling from the tree to the floor, from a medium close up to a long shot.

We could've used a variety of shots instead of using a lot of close up shots. Since this causes confusion for the audience we should use a more varied shot type so the audience can focus on the things that are more important in the shot. We could've been able to make it better if we were able to have a bit more time on planning.

The Prestige

• The film of the opening sequence I'm going to analyse is called 'The Prestige', which is a thriller drama mystery.
• The story takes place in London 1995, as you can tell from the characters' attires as well as the accent of the narrator.
• As the narrator talks through the three main parts of a magic trick, the clips are shown corresponding the explanation of the three parts. Until it comes to the third part, the hardest part, called 'The Prestige'. When the third part is explained, the clips show one magic trick going right and another life-threatening. Once it shows the drowning of one of the main characters, it goes on into the court scene where they debate about the death of this magician. The order of the events in the opening sequence is really significant as it is repeated again throughout the film. And the contrast between a simple magic trick that goes right according to the three parts and one that kills the magician itself, shocks the audience and allows it to be engraved in the minds of the audience so when they film progresses, the audience will start to understand how the plot unravels.
• The events that occur in the opening sequence link together very distinctly without any further explanation needed.
• The first character that is shown is Cutter(Michael Caine), the mastermind behind the magic tricks of the victim that drowned who was Robert Angier(Christian Bale), one of the main characters. We were also introduced to the other main character, Alfred Borden(Hugh Jackman) who was the man being accused of setting up the trap and murdering Robert Angier. All this information is shown clearly throughout the whole opening scene, especially the court scene.
• The information provided to the audience in the opening scene is only enough for the audience to understand that a magic trick has gone wrong and it was possibly a murder. Not much of the whole plot is revealed; the whole story plot itself is a twist. No one would ever think of what the ending would be like despite knowing the genre conventions and watching the opening scene. Since it's about magic, and like a magic trick, a secret cannot be told, so they have made the opening scene very open ended, so that it could only be revealed what is happening, near the end of the film.
• In my opinion, the audience must know that who the main characters are, even though in the opening scene, one of them dies. That scene is very significant in the film in many ways, so if you do not remember the main characters as well as that scene, then the whole film will be very confusing for the audience.