film research

13 Tzameti


Black and white effect creates tense atmosphere, film noir

European, subtitled and cultural differences in film

Sounds are heavily emphasised, there is little dialogue so footsteps, bike bells etc. are given increased volume.

Smoke more visible in the black and white

Blurred focus at times leaves viewer disoriented.

Evocative music - reinforces enigma, off beat.

Meaningless, awkward conversation as the meaning is in the  visual, in this case a slow start

Panning shot of loading guns and spinning cylinders

Series of close-ups - showing nervous men, 360 degree pan showing men with guns

Uses lightbulb as a reference to build tension (when it goes out they shoot) - shots between men and lightbulb increasingly shorter.

Ignores conventions of time - even though all shoot at the same time it shows reaction one after the other.

Close ups of eyes to show intensity and fear

Contrast between men gambling - professional, rich in suits and pawns putting lives on the line.

Tension builds as fewer people remain in competition, feature we will us in poker film. As competition goes on rivalries build and so does intensity builds. Stakes raise and chance of success raises.

In poker stakes will raise and chance of main characters success will be made to look unlikely but will prevail in the end.

Harsh, brash and impatient organisers shout - reinforces illegality.

Main characters left in are often recognisable - 13 has an obese character thus making the audience able to follow it more easily.

Duel like the last leg of poker - shows two shot initially then - other the shoulder shot of both - moves in closer with OTS - pans audience reaction. (Close up/extreme close up could be used to show intensity.

Second duel, mid shot of each then into close ups.

Attention paid to eyes and reaction - like our poker idea, main character in 13 is novice.  Scared, shivering compared to the composed experienced gambler (shooter) yet he still wins., despite disliking activity.

When packing money the character feels guilt but the packer is clinical, little emotion.

Sweat is a clear signal of nerves and fear, accompanied by a slouched walk, fixed eye and facial expression

Ancillary task

For the ancillary task, we have chosen to create a film poster and a review in a magazine as the two types of advertisement for our clip. The reason for this is because we feel that creating thee would be easier than producing a radio advert, and because of this, we feel we can construct a better final product. In order to complete the tasks effectively and efficiently, we will have to familiarise ourselves with different programs, and study how other films publish their advertisement, this would be important to enable us to select the appropriate shots from are film that would be suitable. Also we would have to be building the poster during filming so we have the shots from the actual film, or we could think about using a shot not in the film but shows the characters personality. For example our character could be holding a pack of cards as it is a gambling film.

Inital short film idea

As a group we have discussed and concluded a new concept for our film, which we believe will be a stronger idea than our initial music video. The new concept will embrace the old-school film noir, our main character will be involved in a private and dangerous cards game Texas Hold.  However, in our film we will aim to create reasoning to why our character is in the game to evoke symphony from the audience, and therefore will take the viewers on the side of the main character, willing him to win. We believe this would be effective as we would then be able to create tension and suspense, as there could be times when he could be on the back foot of a vital hand. Our concept is different to other films of this kind, as we aren't heading in the general direction of gangsters, and greed for money, as we feel that our idea will get more of a response from the audience.

Although the stakes for our character is high, he will be shown as an inexperienced gambler, who occasionally plays the game in his flat at home with his friends, but is then shown holding Ace of spades and an eight of clubs, as the hand begins to unfold, he will state the words 'i wasn't always this lucky' as it becomes evident that he will hit a pair of aces on the flop. As this occurs we will be interested in experimenting an effect to signal a flashback to a time of bad luck in his life, possibly depicting him being beaten. In doing this, we will try to parallel narrative the plot to combine the flashbacks with the card game when he is shot at the end.

We believe that it would be a really great idea if we could successfully attempt to use 'after effects', which would effectively stop time. if we could use this effect, it would allow the main character to move around the table as the other players of stationary, in order to cheat and look at their cards, in doing this the character would wish say 'if only it was this easy'.

As we see the rest of the hand unfold it reaches a dramatic climax with the river (last card) revealing a an eight of spades, creating the infamous “dead man’s hand” aces over eights (two-pair). His opponent most likely is winning until the last card to increase tension.

The  character stuffs a briefcase full of money and we see him exit with his winnings, as he moves towards the camera he reveals “you see I make my own luck” revealing two aces in his sleeve. Then an abrupt ending, the main character is shot from behind, cutting straight to black to conclude the short film. We still have to consider the aggressors motives but by the fact of having him reveal he was cheating the audience will believe that is the ending twist and his death will come as a surprise.

To create the best possible film, it will be vital and necessary to research blockbuster films with a similar plot to ours in order to find out how to make a card game exciting, the films that we will research would be the ones that have successfully use tense and gripping card games such as “Rounders”, “21″, “Dr.No” and “Casino Royale.”

short film analysis

An Ode to Modern Democracy and The Hairdresser; http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/films/p007qsdh



This short clip shows a skilled hairdresser, cutting the prime ministers hair. The clip is narrated by the hairdresser throughout, and she is deliberating whether she should give the prime minister a bad haircut. She talks a lot about  democracy and history, and she wants to make history by not giving the prime minister the specific style, and instead giving him a ridiculous cut. This is shown at the end of the clip, as  the hairdresser begins to fully shave his hair, making it a lot shorter than he would have wanted. This is surprising as a viewer as the hairdresser is actually ruining the prime ministers hair, this is surprising because although she was debating to herself whether to do it, and she even visually imaging the prime minister with a outradious hairstyle, to really put it into action seemed a drastic approach to something that would get her seriously in trouble.    



The hairdresser in this clip is shown to be living an average life, thus why she wants to make a name for herself. the mise en scene shows a clear separation and contradiction in the social class of the two individuals. The clip shows typical stereotypes of a working class hairdresser, she has her hair tied back in a ponytail, she is chewing gum while she is working, and when talking her attitude seems blunt and to the point with him. In terms of verisimilitude, there is clear visual indiction that we are in a hairdressers, there are scissors, hair brushes, chair and various equipment which gives the audience an instant understanding of the setting. Clothing is also another interesting contradiction, the hairdresser is seen wearing very casual clothing, she is shown wearing leggings, saddles with plasters on her blistered feet, large looped earing and a clear use of make up, this backs up the suggestion that the clip is showing a working class woman, who is shown in an seemingly unlikely and surprising situation cutting the prime ministers hair, who looks sharp and well-groomed wearing a clean, expensive and spotless suit.

The narration is an interesting aspect of the film which I believe works well. Throughout the clip, it uses a voiceover to describe her feelings inside her head as she is cutting his hair, this gives the audience a better understanding of her background and feelings towards things, and it also has a effective usage as it keeps the audience guessing throughout as to what she is going to do. Although, the pace of the film is seemingly slow, the effect evidently helps to continuously grip the audience until the end.

There is a clever use of animation used it some parts of the film. This type of effect showed a range of media technical aspects, which would be interesting to experiment with when creating our film. In this clip, they use the animation to enhance the amount of protection given to the prime minister with animated police men with 'ten inch thick walls'. This type of animation suggests that the prime minister is seen to be untouchable, therefore this adds to the temptation of the hairdresser to ruin his hair when his guard is down.



Establishing shots to make the audience aware of the location being inside the prime ministers house and the hairdresser has come to him to set up her equipment. In the film many mid shots are used of the hairdresser as we focus more on the narration. It also cleverly changes focus on some panning shots to change the attention of the audience from the hairdresser to the prime minister. At the end a birds-eye-view panning shot is used to take us away from the action as the hairdresser finally snaps.