Storyboard Blog

            The director of these few shots from 300 followed the camera rules quite well. The 180 degree rule was completely followed in these shots. In the first there is not really a clear establishment of a line. However, in the second shot the close up of the captain clearly shows his eyes looking off in the distance and a line is set for the following shots. The camera stays on the one side of the captain and Leonidas in shots 2 and 3. In the fourth shot, a wide shot is used to view all of the Spartans in the setting, but the camera still stays on the established side while switch to another degree so that we can see what the men’s attention was drawn to in the second shot. In the fifth shot, the camera continues to remain on the same side, but moves to a degree where we can see the Spartans head on again.

            The Rule of Thirds seems to be mostly followed as well. It was a bit difficult to tell in one or two shots because the version I viewed was in fullscreen rather than widescreen. If it had been viewed in widescreen, some of the objects or people would be more clearly observable in a third or not. In the first shot, the two men appear to be in their own left-right third. In the second, the captain is shown in a close up and appeared to be in the middle-left of the screen (if in widescreen he would have been more in the left third). In the third shot, a close up of Leonidas is shown and he is clearly in the left third. For the fourth shot, the view of all the Spartans is shown and most of them appear to be in the left third along with the bottom third while the arrows occupy the top and left thirds. Finally, for the fifth shot, there seems to be no true focus of where our attention should be, so the Spartans occupy the entire frame with no real organization.

            Lastly, the 30 rule is followed with shots 2 and 4. In shot 2, the camera does not change degrees but does do a close up of more than 30% on the captain. Also, in shot 4, the camera zooms out in a wide shot more than 30% on the entire group of Spartans. Whenever the camera performed a zoom in or out or degree change, it was 30 or more percent of the previous shot or 30 degrees or more from the previous spot .

            Altogether the director of these shots from 300 followed all of the rules of camera actions. 

Song Deconstruction

Song 1: Land of Confustion

by Genesis

Song 2: Land of Confusion

by Disturbed

These two songs are obviously very much alike. However, their differences make them both very unique. The original by Genesis has a softer feel with more layers of sound and more depth. Their song includes more synthesizer riffs and harmonies along with more height. The synth produces multiple pitches of both low and high frequencies throughout the entire song. The groove is very pulsating with the low pitch synthesizer rhythms during the verses. The amount of synth honestly gives it a nearly electronic groove to the song. Another small effect is that the drums have an echo effect on them the entire song. The intensity of the song does not seem overly expressed. It is at a comfortable hearing level with simple timbres and medium guitar gain. Overall the song uses the techniques of sound and music very well with a deep and heighted design.

            The cover by Disturbed uses the same basic notes, rhythms, and lyrics. However, they have changed which instruments produce which rhythms and note. In this version, the beat comes mostly from the guitar. It is pounding down the same exact rhythm from the synth in the verse, but is much heavier and complex in timbre with much distortion and gain. The song is not as deep as the Genesis version. Although it uses the same notes and rhythms, the ambiences from the synth and such are not present and the guitar and vocals are the main focus anyways. They emotional structure is also a bit different. In the Genesis song, the structure seemed to be between eerie or intimidating feelings and happy ones. In the Disturbed version, they switch the eerie feel to and angry or heaviness feel contrasting with a feeling of lightness or ease. This is reflected in the heavier groove of the guitars, which are more metal/rock quality and in the louder intensity of the song, which I believe makes up for the lack of depth.

            In my opinion, the Genesis song is more creative and holds a more intelligent design; however, I relate more to the “impact” and heavy feel of the Disturbed song. The lyrics are placed and should be interpreted in an angry or aggressive manner and their style simply represents those feelings more accurately.