FINAL EDIT OF MASH UP

EVALUATION..

The mash up consists of a few clips from the film Taken, put together in the style of Christopher Nolan. The way I did this was by watching trailers from his films to get an idea of how he edits his scenes and what I found was that he has very clear trade marks which he uses in most, if not all, of his films. After i picked these things out, i then went on to research other directors such as Mike Figgis and Tim Burton to see the differences between the directors narrative styles.

Once I researched into the Nolan's work, I then went on to picking an action film which I thought would be easiest to 'mash up' and edit. What I found was that the film Taken would work well as it is not too complex and has a simple, linear narrative therefore I would be able to edit the scenes to create a whole new sequence. I went on to watching different trailers of Taken to get an idea of how Pierre Morel directed the film and how different it would look if it were to be directed by Christopher Nolan.

The trade marks of Nolan which i found to be most useful were; blanked out scenes and silenced action shots covered by a running soundtrack which increased in intensity. As well as this, I wanted to use the scene from TAKEN where he is on he phone to the kidnapper and use his voice running in the background covered by action scenes throughout. The reason I did this was to create a different effect as his voice is calm whereas the scenes of violence would contrast with this.

The music that I used to cover the sequence is taken from Nolan's film Inception, the reason I used this was because he uses one artist (Hans Zimmer) to create all the music for his films. Therefore by using his music, it would create more of an atmosphere similar to Christopher Nolan's other films. I used two different soundtracks from Inceptions because the start of the sequence I wanted to start of slowly and gradually build up the pace therefore the second soundtrack I used was of a faster pace and created a better atmosphere and tension.

Nolan always puts his title sequence at the end of his films as a finale and it makes the film seem much more powerful. Therefore I put the scene of him saying 'I will kill you' just before I blacked out the screen to give a shock factor to make the audience think the sequence has ended. I then added 'TAKEN' and zoomed it into the screen as Nolan does, after this I put a scene of the main character making a witty comment just as Nolan does to end of the 'mash up'.

SCREEN SHOTS

IDEA FOR FILM!

Through a lot of researching action films, i came to the decision of using TAKEN because it is a simple story line with a linear narrative therefore it would be easier to 'mash up' and switch scenes around. Using this, i will be able to apply Christopher Nolan's film styles to give a different vibe and atmosphere to the film..

The trailer above shows a summary of the film as the narrative of the trailer. It gives the audience an idea of what to expect of the film. In comparison to Christopher Nolan, Pierre Morel who directed Taken has a very different directing style in the way that he gives the audience more to expect rather than letting them anticipate which is what Nolan does. Christopher Nolan does not tend to give away the story line but instead shows an intense 2 minutes of footage to hook the audience not knowing what they will be expecting.

In order to edit this film, I will be taking scenes from Taken and putting them together following the main trade marks of his work focusing on The Dark Knight Rises trailer. As well as cutting the scenes up, I will be adding music from Hans Zimmer to give a better effect to the film sequence.

My rough idea for editing is..

-Establishing shot
-Clips of main actor walking around
-Main actor speaking 'i dont know who you are..'
-Continue on to action clips but muting the action scenes and adding a soundtrack to the background
-Black out
-'I will kill you' (last part of the main actors sentence while on the phone)
-Directors name
-Increased music
-Text dates, names etc.
-Title
-End shot of characters talking (Witty Remark)

TIM BURTON

TIM BURTON who is another director, but with a very different narrative style to Nolan and Figgis. He mainly creates movies about fictional characters and cartoon characters. A similarity to Nolan is that he uses a lot of dull colours and a lot of black within his films. As well as this he made one of the Batman films but based it more on the cartoon version rather than the new, flashy style which Nolan created. Tim Burton is most known for his use of cartoon's for example; Corpse Bride and Mars Attacks.

                              

MIKE FIGGIS

MIKE FIGGIS has a very different directing style to Christopher Nolan as you can see from these 3 trailers. He shows more realistic scenarios and sequences as apposed to fantasy and make believe such as the Batman trilogy. As well as this, Figgis works on documentaries and his film Timecode (video 2) is split into 4 stories all put together.

There are many differences between the two directors, mainly the idea of the dark atmospheres and the way the main characters are portrayed withing the movies. As well as this, Nolan does not tend to make horror movies whereas Figgis seems to include elements of horror and suspense within his films.

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN'S MOVIE TRAILERS..

 

SIMILARITIES:

EERY BACKGROUND MUSIC

TITLE SEQUENCE LAST

FADES TO BLACK

COLD ATMOSPHERE

DARK THEMES

STARTS OF SLOW, FADES TO BLACK AND THEN SPEEDS UP (ACTION SEQUENCES)

DIFFERENCES:

MOMENTO- NO FLASHING TEXT, SEQUENCES REMAIN EQUAL THROUGHOUT AND SCENES ARE LESS DRAMATIC

The trailer which I find the most effective is The Dark Knight Rises and I will be basing my mash up on. The reasons for this are; the way he Nolan doesn't use any of the noise from the action sequences which is more powerful as he silences the sequences but adds a soundtrack over the top. the effect of silenced action shots creates a different atmosphere as the audience expects to hear sounds of expolosions, cars and gun fires but by placing a soundtrack over the top which intensifies gradually creates a tension throughout. The way Nolan edits his films leaves the audience in intruige and leaves people thinking, especially films with non linear narrative (Prestige, Inception and Momento)

The trailer starts with an establishing shot (which Nolan uses at the start of most of his films) and starts off slow which then, gradually, shows a small summary of the storyline with silenced action shots covered by a soundtrack. Halfway through, the screen blacks out which is where the action scenes become intense and soundtrack gradually increases in pase and intesifies throughout to create tension. As well as this, Nolan uses harsh cuts when showing the next scenes rather then fades to match the way the audience views scenes when they blink their eyes. For example each blink will show a different scene, this creates the effect of fast paced action shots. Nolan will always add the title of the film at the end of his movies and the same in the trailers, therefore the title 'The Dark Knight Rises' will appear, the screen will blackout and there will always be a short scene with a character giving a philosophical monologue.

Nolan uses Hans Zimmer to create music for his films and which are used within these trailers and I will be using one of these soundtracks when creating my mash up. By using this music it will be much more similar to Nolans trailers therefore the audience will be able to tell the difference between the original trailer and the new edited version which I will be creating.

RESEARCH ON NOLAN'S NARRATIVE STYLES

Christopher Nolan, who is a writer/director who is best known for 'The Dark Knight' series. These are a few of his trade marks;

 Begins his movies and introduces his main characters with a close up of their hands performing an action. Usually starts films with a flashback or a scene from the end of the movie

Films conclude with the two central characters discussing the preceding events and the results which have stemmed from said events.

Non-linear timelines (Following (1998), Memento (2000), The Prestige (2006)) The storyline in his films usually involves a determined character seeking vengeance over the death of a loved one. (Examples: 'Guy Pearce' in Memento (2000), Christian Bale in Batman Begins (2005), Hugh Jackman in The Prestige (2006) and Aaron Eckhart in The Dark Knight (2008)).

Frequently uses hard cuts when transitioning to the next scenes. This is most prominent in his films from 'Batman Begins' onward, especially in 'The Dark Knight', where, in some instances, the hard cuts he uses will go so far as to nearly cut off character's lines in order to quickly and efficiently get to the next scene.

 His protagonists will often resort to tactics of physical or psychological torture to gain information Employs non-linear storytelling techniques, often flipping around the three acts of a movie to tell the story in an interesting fashion.

 Typically ends his films with a character giving a philosophical monologue

 Displays the title before the end credits (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Inception)