Trailer Review

Mission: Impossible- Ghost Protocol

By watching this trailer the audience can conclude that is Ethan is the protagonist and that is an agent involved in a mission of nuclear bombs, in which if the he gets caught he can be accused of terrorism. Through this trailer, many areas are fundamental in order to present a story within a complicated plot and make it easy to comprehend it.


The trailer starts with narration of a character explaining events that occurred in the past and are responsible for the mission in the present. Then there is a different voice; not of any character, on the contrary is voice of the narrator of the trailer. Both voices basically reveal background information and state the plot. In addition that foreshadow the characteristics that the protagonist has in order to face such difficult task. Despite the voices of the narration, words appear on this trailer and its meaning really emphasizes what the film is about and at the same time is a different way to project the content of it.


Another aspect of this trailer is the cinematography in it. Given that the fact that the genre is action, the shots need to be LS in running scenes and MS in fighting scenes because the audience needs to see what's happening. However, there is variety of shots in this trailer, and they change very fast. It goes from LS to MD and then to CU in a short period of time. Also, there very interesting LS and they captivate the audience because it offers a wide angle and is usually used as a establishing shot and it has a great view of the setting. Lastly there is nice effect when the camera pans from side to side or tilts up and down; it adds interest in chasing scenes and creates a clear view of the action.

Although the previous areas are important, the editing part is especially crucial in order for a trailer to transmit the right idea of the film and captive the audience to go and watch it. The fade in and fade out effects are simple, but give pause to the story, which is good because in an action film everything occurs fast. Furthermore, the selection of scenes and dialogues between characters are good because it's a different and its direct way to show characters' personality. However, the essential part of the editing in action film is the speed of shots in between. They need to be extremely fast in order to create excitement. Many times the cutting is so fast to the point where the audience can't distinguish what's happening and this is good because it creates interest and increases the intensity, but it needs to be use carefully and shortly.

Finally, the sound plays a significant part in the trailer; it creates emotions in the audience. Depending on the sound, for example the music; the audience's feeling can go from vulnerable to excitement and when the music is gone, the silence would just stop the heart beats all of the sudden and return it to normal beating. Lastly the volume of sound effect always imply something and is related to the intention that the of scene wants to project.

Run Lola Run Presos Critique

My section of the film was Setting. The way I interpreted was about how setting influenced the film's development in the aspect of showing/transmitting emotions to the audience. Overall the film is filmed in an urban city and adds to the theme of time, speed, and excitement. The film was analyzed as a whole and examples such as the casino show the director's choice of setting in order to create suspense because the time period left is short and the casino is all about luck. I also explained that the setting give the audience a certain impression and the perfect example is Lola's bedroom. The disorganization, ugly dolls and things on the floor show Lola's aggressiveness, intense, and anti feminist personality. In conclusion I think that my presentation was complete because of my good, detailed examples and connections with the film. However, film language was not used often because it didn't apply to my section; setting is more about what's behind and the effect it creates on the audience rather than what film techniques.

Strengths in my presentation were my examples and the analysis of Twyker choices of setting. on what it shows about characters and what transmits to the audience.

The challenges I had were about explaining the importance of setting. For example how obstacles in this case the ambulance affects the direction of the film. As for areas that need improvement I guess that my film language could be develop a little more.   

Segments Critiques

New Staff Piece Analysis

Pre-production
The idea of this segment was based on the new school year, new students and consequently the incorporation of new teachers as well. There was little research given that the teachers’ schedule was in a piece paper. The way teachers were contacted was throughout e-mails asking if they could collaborate and when would be the best time to do it. Also the questions were shown to them before the interview so that they can be prepared. 

Production: Quality
The audio quality was excellent because the location was very quiet. The locations were inside teachers’ classrooms but with different angles. There was also B-roll and this was obtained during passing periods and teachers’ classes. It showed the variety of students in CAP and it also showed the teachers teaching and interacting with their students. The shots were from a diagonal angel with the purpose to make it more interesting and also most shots were MS, MCU, CU & some LS. The camera moves were smooth and slowly to avoid rough movements/cuts. The interviews had great lighting balance, but the B-roll, especially inside the classrooms, it was sort of dark and more lighting would have made it perfect. Finally there was zooming in and panning only for the B-roll.






Script
In the beginning of the segment the voice-over explains that there are some changes for this school years and encourages students to meet the new teachers. The way it captures the audience attention is by not revealing all the name of the teachers all at once, on the contrary one by one. This piece informs students about who they are, what they think about education and what they like about Capuchino. As for the closing the voice-over back-ups the teachers’ ideas and suggests students to welcome them.

Editing
The connection between the B-roll and the interviews was good however there was a part where a teacher expressed her point of view and because there was no B-roll of her, it was replaced with B-roll of another teacher. Also there were no transitions for audio and video, but all cuts were clean and smooth. Given that it was a Segment animations was unnecessary and still images fitted perfect. Finally, the names of the teachers were highlighted with the purple line effect which made it looked more professional.

Overall
The segment was good because the content was informative and along with the camera and audio work the piece improved. My favorite part about it is the closing; the images of teachers waving and smiling. Something I would have liked to improve is the editing, even though is good if the segment was edited differently the segment would have had a different perspective. Lastly something I learned is to spend more time into the opening because that's the fastest way to grab attention from the audience.