I have now finished my AS Media coursework and I am really satisfied with it even though I have had a few difficulties and I have learnt so much.
Myself and Emily Peachey have put so much hard work and effort into constructing our opening sequence and we have really enjoyed producing our final opening sequence of our thriller film. It took us a very long time to complete but it was definitely positive and worthwhile.
I would like to say thank you to everyone who helped out with our film making: our media teachers Nina Moore and Alan Fairnie, Lucy Taylor and Emily's dad.
THIS BLOG IS NOW FINISHED!
Wednesday 1 April 2009
Saturday 28 March 2009
Our Film Opening Sequence: ''Cruoris''
This is our finished opening sequence 'Cruoris'.
We spent months on planning and researching our film opening in order to make it. We are positive about how it has turned out.
We spent months on planning and researching our film opening in order to make it. We are positive about how it has turned out.
Friday 27 March 2009
Our Film is Now Completed: Cruoris
Today, we have finished improving our film.
We got rid of the names throughout the opening sequence and changed it. We decided not to have the titles on our actual opening images as it will take the audience's attention away from the scenes as it will ruin the atmosphere. For the names we used the font 'About Dead' after the background goes black.
Lastly, our opening title sequence of mine and Emily Peachey's thriller film is now completed!
We got rid of the names throughout the opening sequence and changed it. We decided not to have the titles on our actual opening images as it will take the audience's attention away from the scenes as it will ruin the atmosphere. For the names we used the font 'About Dead' after the background goes black.
Lastly, our opening title sequence of mine and Emily Peachey's thriller film is now completed!
Saturday 21 March 2009
Making Improvements
Yesterday, we decided to start making improvements to our opening title sequence.
Firstly, we decided to edit scene 10 out where the conversation takes place so it ends with Lucy's character walking to meet her friend. After watching it without this scene, we preferred it better and has improved our opening further.
Secondly, we agreed to change the title of our film to 'Cruoris' which is Murder in Latin. Also we changed the colour of the title from red to white in the black background which stands out more. We definately liked this title as it is not obvious and the audience will not know what this says so therefore this is likely to draw their attention. We used the effect 'wipe' and 'SchoolHouse Printed A' as our font. We agreed that these are suitable for our film.
Lastly, after the sequence is finished the music carried on playing so we edited that out. The music now stops after the title appears.
We will be improving it further next week. All we need to do now is re-arrange the names in different parts of the sequence and we might tamper with the music so it is quiter in some parts. After discussing it, we may leave the music as it is.
Firstly, we decided to edit scene 10 out where the conversation takes place so it ends with Lucy's character walking to meet her friend. After watching it without this scene, we preferred it better and has improved our opening further.
Secondly, we agreed to change the title of our film to 'Cruoris' which is Murder in Latin. Also we changed the colour of the title from red to white in the black background which stands out more. We definately liked this title as it is not obvious and the audience will not know what this says so therefore this is likely to draw their attention. We used the effect 'wipe' and 'SchoolHouse Printed A' as our font. We agreed that these are suitable for our film.
Lastly, after the sequence is finished the music carried on playing so we edited that out. The music now stops after the title appears.
We will be improving it further next week. All we need to do now is re-arrange the names in different parts of the sequence and we might tamper with the music so it is quiter in some parts. After discussing it, we may leave the music as it is.
Sunday 15 March 2009
Evaluation
Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our film opening sequence pursues to the forms and conventions of other existing thriller opening sequences. The genre of our film is of a thriller; based on an obsessive stalker following a girl. We created an opening title sequence using conventions of this genre in order to make it common and well-known to the the target audience. The unknown antagonist follows the girl until the end where he stops and walks away in the opposite direction. We hope this ending will make the audience continue watching the film.
Our opening sequence conforms to the expectations that the audience would have of other films with the same genre. We have used the titles of the main actors, the production company, the director and the producer as the key codes and conventions expected to be seen in the opening title sequence of a film.
Our opening sequence was heavily influenced by "se7en" by Kyle Cooper. We preferred our audience perceiving a potential murderer planning his next murder but the audience do not actually see who the murderer is. This is where we got our idea from. The audience would see that this part of the opening sequence intends to builds up suspense and we was influenced by this and decided to that our sequence would consist of our audience seeing a stalker planning on to kill someone. We have also introduced the possible victim in our opening.
We were also inspired by the fact that the scenes of the murderer were in black and white as this will also build up the suspense and gives it a dark mysterious atmosphere. We intended to build up the same atmosphere in se7en by having the scenes in black and white when the antagonist prepares how to murder the next victim. This would make it clear to the audience that the black and white scenes are somehow associated with the stalker and it will stick in the audience's minds.
During our film opening, some of the typical themes include: Obsession, Murder, Fear, Paranois and Suspicion. These themes give an indication that throughout our opening sequence, it is very alike to the themes of most thriller films. With murder and obsession as being an obvious theme, our film involves a mixture of several themes.
Our opening sequence introduces the characters, the location - this is when the audience get an idea of what could happen throughout the film. Also, the title of our film gives an enigma to the audience of what they could possibly expect to see. We have tried to attract our audience by setting the atmosphere, the mood, the tone and pace . We have edited our opening sequence to cut between the shots of the stalker spying on the victim and the black and white scenes quite rapidly to signify that the pace of the storyline is swift. The audience knows that the girl is possibly going to be murdered so therefore the mood appears to be vague. This is the same for the tone as the antagonist is infatuated with the girl who is completely unaware of the situation around her.
Question 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our media product is aimed at a few social groups, including teenagers, young males and females. Our media product mainly represents teenage girls as the victim looks like a stereotypical modern teenage girl. This is because the girl is dressed in casual clothes and she is listening to her iPod whilst she is walking which indicates that she likes music. At the end of our opening sequence, the audience sees the girl meeting her friend which is what nearly all girls do in their leisure time. This is what we want to put across to our audience. The audience sees the antagonist following the girl and this might make them think that she is being followed for some unexplained reason which could be why this is happening in the first place. We agreed that Lucy Taylor would be the victim as she is viewed as a typical teenage girl which the audience would not expect to see as anything suspicious about. This would also make the audience consider how she got involved in this situation so therefore it will be a mystery to them.
The killer's character in our title sequence has an obsession with the girl. This is clear as he constantly observes the girl, while simultaneously stalking her. In addition, he has a lot of photographs of the girl in his possession at his home spread out on the table. The room is very simple and plain but yet, he has managed to put effort in getting hold of the pictures somehow. The blood on the pictures may be the antagonist's own. It could signify that he intends to murder her. We get the feeling that he may have had some contact/relationship with the girl as he knows what she does during the day (this is not the first time he has followed her) and he clearly does not want to be identified. This is shown by the fact that he dresses in black clothes and wore a mask on his face. Also, he hides behind the bushes so this helps it to camouflage himself within the dark scene. The girl could possibly be an ex-girlfriend of the stalker and now wants to get his revenge on her personally. They might have ended their relationship in a very negative way and therefore this has affected him tremendously. He is possibly mentally unstable as people who finish their relationship do not react by intending and planning to kill their ex-partner.
The character of the antagonist is supposed to be a male but we were not able to find a male who would play the character for us so therefore I volunteered to be the stalker but this is disguised by the fact that I am dressed in black so this did not cause us any problems. The sex of the stalker is not identifiable as my face is hidden by a black mask, a pair of black gloves were worn, my hair was covered by my hood and I wore a black coat, trousers and shoes.
The props used in our opening sequence were: fake blood, black mask, knives, white sheets and several photographs of the girl.
* We decided to hide the antagonist's identity to the audience to give it a sense of mystery. To get our idea across to the audience that the antagonist is obsessed with the girl, we had a shot of photographs of her on a table in the middle of the room. This will build up the tension as the audience do not know how the antagonist got hold of the pictures in his possession.
* In addition, we tried build up even more suspense as the audience saw the shot of the knives and see the antagonist pick up the biggest knife. This symbolizes that he has a wide collection of knives and it gives the audience a hint that it will be used against the girl as the potential murder weapon.
* We used white sheets to cover up the computer and other furnishings within the room which indicates that he does not care about his home environment and emphasizes the fact that his life revolves around murdering the girl. He puts more effort in chasing the girl rather than his home.
* We used fake blood on the knife and the photographs of the girl; this shot was intended to represent the theme of murder.
Setting: We decided the setting of our film will be in Abbey Wood Ruins, as there is a dark scary atmosphere. It is in the heart of suburban London and this location has been very important throughout history. As we chose to film early in the morning, there would barely be much people walking around and it would be fairly dark.
Overall, I think our opening title sequence represents certain social groups successfully and for this reason, it appeals to the audience who belong to these social groups.
Question 3 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Our opening sequence will be likely to be distributed on a small scale as it is does not have the image usually associated with blockbuster films.
As we do not have a huge budget, our opening sequence would not become very popular worldwide but I think it will contact those who have had interest in thriller films.
The sort of media institution that would be likely to consider distributing our film would be a distributor for instance Guerilla Films. Through distribution, they have maintained British films and over a few years they intend to increase their output. This media institution is willing to consider any completed film searching for UK distribution especially if it is British or Irish - www.guerilla-films.com
Another media institution could be Fragile Films as they consist of different genres and since the company was established in 1997 by Barnaby Thompson, this company has been behind 19 independent films in the UK. I think this production company is a potential media institution that could be able to distribute our film as all the film in the past have a success. Furthermore, it releases film of all kinds of genre including thriller and none of the films have been large blockbusters. It also distributes British independent films so this company may be interested in distributing our film. www.imdb.com
Another example of a possible distributor is Dogwoof. They are known for "renowed for supporting independent film in non-traditional ways" - www.dogwoof.com .
In addition, they have set up Dogwoof Indie and they help potential filmmakers by giving them access to professional film distribution services and offer a "choice of the services they need, whilst letting them retain the rights to their film, controlling costs, actually having the chance of seeing revenues and profits". They aim fro Hybrid Distribution launched this after the success of a film. I think this media institution will be very good in distributing our media prodcut as they "support independent filmmakers and promote fresh talent in the film industry" - www.dogwoof.com/indie
We could also consider using the Internet to distribute our media product. Using the Internet is a cheap method to market our film and this can assist us to increase more people to attend the viewings. Through recommendation, it can also attain popularity.
www.undergroundfilm.com - this media institution aims to "create a digital film library with the widest breadth of content possible and broaden exposure by making hard-to-find works available through Internet distribution". It focuses on independent film distribution through the Internet.
Within the film industry, the distributor plays a significant role as it gains larger audiences to improve further how successful it is and offers exposure for films. The distributor verifies the release strategy and date after the film is delivered. Subsequently, the distributor presents the film to exhibitors and agrees to have the film shown within cinemas. They develop a marketing campaign to attract the target audience and commence the film.
Our film could be shown at independent cinemas where they offer events and one-off screenings.
This would be likely to attract local people and people who are interested in the genre of the film.
Screentest is a UK National Student Film Festival which assists in encouraging student films throughout the country. In Bristol, they host a three-day film festival with celebrity speakers, workshops and screenings. This way would be simple to screen our film but the distributor may be able to get interest from independent cinemas which is likely to appeal to a much wider audience. An example could be Phoenix Cinema.
Exposures is the UK's largest film festival of student image work. This festival is held in Manchester and takes place every year.
Question 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?
Our PRIMARY target audience for our media product is:
* Age: Anyone between 13-21 years. We thought it would appeal to more younger people as our main character is a teenage girl.
* Gender: Both male and female. Our media product is not aimed at a particular gender. However, I think that it will appeal more to teenage girls due to the main character.
* Interests: Anyone who enjoys watching a scary thriller film and the themes within it.
* Class: All classes. Anyone who enjoys thriller films and themes of murder.
* Education: People with different levels of education.
* Occupation: All. Again, anyone who enjoys thriller films.
Our SECONDARY target audience includes:
* Age: 12-40
* Gender: Both
* We chose this wider audience as we consider anyone who has interests in the themes of our opening would be likely to be interested at any gender and these ages. Anyone who has an interest in murder or stalker themed films.
* We also believe our film could appeal to families as everyone would be familiar with it.
* I believe particular gamers would watch our film especially if they play scary games that involve murdering people. Therefore, our thriller opening sequence will be a possibility that they will watch it.
Moreover, people who have enjoyed watching thriller films like se7en, Messiah, One Hour Photo, Halloween, The Blair Witch Project will be likely to find our film very pleasurable. People who liked to be scared or like to watch it during the night/Halloween. Thriller seekers would take an interest in our film as they would want to see something that will scare them and the themes associated with murder.
People who enjoy romance, comedy may not be interested in our film as it targets certain social groups and audiences.
Regardless of the audiences' characteristics (gender, sex, ethnicity, class, occupation, race, level of education) I believe anyone who has an interest in thriller films will be likely to want to watch our film.
Question 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?
We agreed to include the conventions of thrillers so our audience will understand and therefore it will attract their attention as it is a popular genre. It conforms to a typical thriller film of the exact genre. Our opening sequence conforms to standard themes of thriller films so therefore the audience will know what sort of things to expect.
As a thriller opening sequence, we tried to create suspense to interest the audience. We tried to do this by changing from the scenes at the woods with Lucy walking to the scenes at the stalkers house where the knives were laid on the table with the stalker picking up a knife holding it up high and examining it carefully. At this point, we intended the audience to sense the anticipation that was gradually building up. We wanted the audience to think that this knife will be a possible murder weapon. We wanted to create tension as the stalker comes out of hiding and observes the girl walking alone who is completely unaware of what is going on. The audience is now aware that the stalker is the antagonist but becomes apprehensive as to what he will do next and what is going to happen as the girl is in a vulnerable position. We wanted to draw the audience within the world of film and make them watch the whole film thoroughly.
We mainly addressed our audience through the genre. We know majority of people enjoy thriller films as they like watching the scary scenes and we tried to do the same by making our audience watch the antagonist preparing to murder. This will hopefully have a similar effect on our audience as other existing thriller films. Our scary storyline will effectively attract existing thriller fans and make them watch it as we know that a lot of people fear a stalker especially if they do not know the person. The stalker is in fact an ex-boyfriend of the girl. Our opening sequence consists of creating suspense and tension through the pace and sound of the music and has a narrative element that gives them a clear and obvious idea what the storyline is going to be about without telling the whole story.
We identified that the audience would find our opening sequence familiar so we drew on what the audiecne knew already. The setting is in a popular site which many of the audience will be able to relate to.
On the whole, I think we addressed and attracted our audience effectively to watch our film.
Question 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
From creating this opening title sequence, I have furthered my knowledge a lot about technologies.
To produce this coursework, the technologies we used are:
* Blog: My media teacher taught me how to use Blogger as I had not used this before: how to create an account, to document creative ideas, add posts or remove them, upload pictures and videos on my postings. I have posted all my research and plans on my blog so I can see the different stages in film making.
* Video Cameras: I had to learn about using the tape and batteries as I had never used them before. We attached the camera to the tripod whilst shooting; which we had to learn to use effectively. This allowed us different types of shots which helped to make our opening title sequence more interesting. Also, it gave us more different angles and movements.
* Editing: To familiarize ourselves with this next step, we had to learn the technology of software which would enable us to edit effectively. We used I-Movie and I learnt many techniques, such as how to edit the unwanted scenes out and how to make the continuity of our scenes flow. We discovered that a lot of mistakes from shooting can be solved by using these technologies. After I have understood everything, it is simple to use and you can create a wide range of effects. We learnt that the editing process is crucial as each stage gives meaning to the audience. It has taught me patience as I have learnt from my mistakes along the whole process of creating our opening sequence.
We realised that using technologies to improve our final media product can have a positive impact and a lot of time needs to be spent using these effectively and efficiently.
From this process I have learnt:
* I have learnt various types of shots used and camera skills such as continuity and careful movement.
* I am much more comfortable with handling the equipment whilst shooting and my easy of use has improved. The portability of equipment is important as it is practical to use a car to take the equipment to the location because we used a tripod to maintain the steadiness of the camera movement. Also, it can be quite heavy.
* Once I had understood all the technology it is simple to use and you can create so many diiferent effects.
In Hindsight:
* We should have checked the quality of our DV tape as one of our scenes came out extremely bright. It would have been better if we did a test shoot to iron out any problems with the tape or camera. It would give us an opportunity to see what worked well and what didn't work so well.
* We could have used more interesting camera angles or movements.
* We realised that we should have watched our footage back on location and be alert for mistakes that we might have noticed while filming. We would not have had to re-shoot our original scene 10 if we had noticed the error and we should have focused on this more. This would have helped us to minimize the amount of shoots that we need and reduce the re-shoots.
Each stage in constructing our opening title sequence is very important and I have gained a lot of knowledge on it. Within the long process of planning, researching, filming, editing our opening sequence; I know that a lot of work is needed to produce a high quality film which the audience would pay to watch it.
Overall if we were to do the coursework again, I would feel more confident in making improvements and therefore increase the quality of our opening title sequence.
Question 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Preliminary Brief: Film and edit a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character. A couple of lines of dialogue must then exchanged between characters & match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule should be demonstrated.
Video Brief: The titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes (all video and audio material must be original, produced by candidates, with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source).
We saw the preliminary task as the beginning process which would enable us to prepare us for the main task.
Firstly, we made plans on who would be the casts, where to shoot and the types of shots we could use. We re-shot a couple of times until we were satisfied with it.
Some mistakes we made:
* Not zooming out when Emily (the visitor) entered the room. It began with a close-up shot of the door and Chris who was filming, was supposed to zoom out when Emily entered so the audience could see her.
* Lucy H and Emily kept on laughing when they were supposed to be engaged in the dialogue so therefore we had to re-shoot that several times.
* As Lucy existed the room, I (the guard) opened the door and accidentally slammed it against the cupboard behind it and it made a loud noise. As I closed the door, me and Lucy were trying not to laugh and Chris stopped filming. Fortunately, this error is not very noticeable and we decided to leave it as everything else went so well and we thought it sounded like a prisoner banging on the wall. This gave the ending a nice effect which goes with the title of our preliminary brief: "The Visit" which is a prison visit.
Apart from the last mistake, we were able to correct our mistakes by re-shooting and using the I-Mac to edit in order to make it look fluent. We were happy with the continuity as we focused a lot on this aspect.
* We had a script and arranged the shot order of how we were going to shoot. This saved us time as we knew every shot that we had to shoot and the dialogue between Lucy and Emily meant that it looked realistic.
* We made the process of running a shoot efficient as before we shot we would nod our heads or gesture so everyone in the group knew when to begin. We used this method when filming our opening sequence which meant that weveryone could check everything was ready before.
* To each member we allocated a role in order to make the shootings easier as everyone knew their role and this made it very efficient. We used this filming of our opening sequence and it helped a lot as it took a lot shorter to shoot than it could have.
These factors made our preliminary brief positive so we decided to keep this mind when we filmed our opening sequence of our film.
I have learnt that in the progression from the preliminary task to the full product:
* We need a script if we included any dialogue.
* Re-shoots are very important and is necessary if you are not satisfied with a scene.
* More time needs to be allowed for more takes of shots so that you can select the best take which can make a huge difference to the quality of the final product
* It is useful to shoot with more shot types of angles and distances to make the opening sequence more appealing to the audience.
* It would have been helpful if we had produced a storyboard; this would have enabled us to use our time more effectively.
* We clearly needed to go into much more detail for the video brief which our continuity sequence did not prepare us. However, it gave us an insight into what it would be like in producing the video brief so it would not be completely new to us.
* We could have showed our preliminary task to other people to find out if it attracts their attention and improve it further.
I felt more confident in using the different technologies after this task and I looked forward to the main task. We knew that it would be more difficult and needed a lot more planning to save time and make fewer mistakes so we were more organised. For the preliminary brief, we had four members in our group whereas for the video brief it was just me and Emily. Two members of our group were familiar with the technologies so this was very helpful as I had not used any of it before.
* When we produced the preliminary task we did not have to have a story behind it and unlike the video brief, it did not have to an opening sequence.
* The footage looks different on the camera to when you upload it on the computer and we need to keep this mind whilst filming so we do not come across a lot of re-shoots.
* This brief has taught me that team-work is essential throughout all the stages and our target audience is really important especially of an opening sequence of any film as this is the what the audience perceives first.
* We did not have to have a specific target audience as it was just an experience to learn how to construct an opening of a film and/or test out any problems.
* We found that filming takes longer than we think and shooting in a short space of time is not a good option so therefore we allowed a few hours to ensure everything would run smoothly.
Our film opening sequence pursues to the forms and conventions of other existing thriller opening sequences. The genre of our film is of a thriller; based on an obsessive stalker following a girl. We created an opening title sequence using conventions of this genre in order to make it common and well-known to the the target audience. The unknown antagonist follows the girl until the end where he stops and walks away in the opposite direction. We hope this ending will make the audience continue watching the film.
Our opening sequence conforms to the expectations that the audience would have of other films with the same genre. We have used the titles of the main actors, the production company, the director and the producer as the key codes and conventions expected to be seen in the opening title sequence of a film.
Our opening sequence was heavily influenced by "se7en" by Kyle Cooper. We preferred our audience perceiving a potential murderer planning his next murder but the audience do not actually see who the murderer is. This is where we got our idea from. The audience would see that this part of the opening sequence intends to builds up suspense and we was influenced by this and decided to that our sequence would consist of our audience seeing a stalker planning on to kill someone. We have also introduced the possible victim in our opening.
We were also inspired by the fact that the scenes of the murderer were in black and white as this will also build up the suspense and gives it a dark mysterious atmosphere. We intended to build up the same atmosphere in se7en by having the scenes in black and white when the antagonist prepares how to murder the next victim. This would make it clear to the audience that the black and white scenes are somehow associated with the stalker and it will stick in the audience's minds.
During our film opening, some of the typical themes include: Obsession, Murder, Fear, Paranois and Suspicion. These themes give an indication that throughout our opening sequence, it is very alike to the themes of most thriller films. With murder and obsession as being an obvious theme, our film involves a mixture of several themes.
Our opening sequence introduces the characters, the location - this is when the audience get an idea of what could happen throughout the film. Also, the title of our film gives an enigma to the audience of what they could possibly expect to see. We have tried to attract our audience by setting the atmosphere, the mood, the tone and pace . We have edited our opening sequence to cut between the shots of the stalker spying on the victim and the black and white scenes quite rapidly to signify that the pace of the storyline is swift. The audience knows that the girl is possibly going to be murdered so therefore the mood appears to be vague. This is the same for the tone as the antagonist is infatuated with the girl who is completely unaware of the situation around her.
Question 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our media product is aimed at a few social groups, including teenagers, young males and females. Our media product mainly represents teenage girls as the victim looks like a stereotypical modern teenage girl. This is because the girl is dressed in casual clothes and she is listening to her iPod whilst she is walking which indicates that she likes music. At the end of our opening sequence, the audience sees the girl meeting her friend which is what nearly all girls do in their leisure time. This is what we want to put across to our audience. The audience sees the antagonist following the girl and this might make them think that she is being followed for some unexplained reason which could be why this is happening in the first place. We agreed that Lucy Taylor would be the victim as she is viewed as a typical teenage girl which the audience would not expect to see as anything suspicious about. This would also make the audience consider how she got involved in this situation so therefore it will be a mystery to them.
The killer's character in our title sequence has an obsession with the girl. This is clear as he constantly observes the girl, while simultaneously stalking her. In addition, he has a lot of photographs of the girl in his possession at his home spread out on the table. The room is very simple and plain but yet, he has managed to put effort in getting hold of the pictures somehow. The blood on the pictures may be the antagonist's own. It could signify that he intends to murder her. We get the feeling that he may have had some contact/relationship with the girl as he knows what she does during the day (this is not the first time he has followed her) and he clearly does not want to be identified. This is shown by the fact that he dresses in black clothes and wore a mask on his face. Also, he hides behind the bushes so this helps it to camouflage himself within the dark scene. The girl could possibly be an ex-girlfriend of the stalker and now wants to get his revenge on her personally. They might have ended their relationship in a very negative way and therefore this has affected him tremendously. He is possibly mentally unstable as people who finish their relationship do not react by intending and planning to kill their ex-partner.
The character of the antagonist is supposed to be a male but we were not able to find a male who would play the character for us so therefore I volunteered to be the stalker but this is disguised by the fact that I am dressed in black so this did not cause us any problems. The sex of the stalker is not identifiable as my face is hidden by a black mask, a pair of black gloves were worn, my hair was covered by my hood and I wore a black coat, trousers and shoes.
The props used in our opening sequence were: fake blood, black mask, knives, white sheets and several photographs of the girl.
* We decided to hide the antagonist's identity to the audience to give it a sense of mystery. To get our idea across to the audience that the antagonist is obsessed with the girl, we had a shot of photographs of her on a table in the middle of the room. This will build up the tension as the audience do not know how the antagonist got hold of the pictures in his possession.
* In addition, we tried build up even more suspense as the audience saw the shot of the knives and see the antagonist pick up the biggest knife. This symbolizes that he has a wide collection of knives and it gives the audience a hint that it will be used against the girl as the potential murder weapon.
* We used white sheets to cover up the computer and other furnishings within the room which indicates that he does not care about his home environment and emphasizes the fact that his life revolves around murdering the girl. He puts more effort in chasing the girl rather than his home.
* We used fake blood on the knife and the photographs of the girl; this shot was intended to represent the theme of murder.
Setting: We decided the setting of our film will be in Abbey Wood Ruins, as there is a dark scary atmosphere. It is in the heart of suburban London and this location has been very important throughout history. As we chose to film early in the morning, there would barely be much people walking around and it would be fairly dark.
Overall, I think our opening title sequence represents certain social groups successfully and for this reason, it appeals to the audience who belong to these social groups.
Question 3 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Our opening sequence will be likely to be distributed on a small scale as it is does not have the image usually associated with blockbuster films.
As we do not have a huge budget, our opening sequence would not become very popular worldwide but I think it will contact those who have had interest in thriller films.
The sort of media institution that would be likely to consider distributing our film would be a distributor for instance Guerilla Films. Through distribution, they have maintained British films and over a few years they intend to increase their output. This media institution is willing to consider any completed film searching for UK distribution especially if it is British or Irish - www.guerilla-films.com
Another media institution could be Fragile Films as they consist of different genres and since the company was established in 1997 by Barnaby Thompson, this company has been behind 19 independent films in the UK. I think this production company is a potential media institution that could be able to distribute our film as all the film in the past have a success. Furthermore, it releases film of all kinds of genre including thriller and none of the films have been large blockbusters. It also distributes British independent films so this company may be interested in distributing our film. www.imdb.com
Another example of a possible distributor is Dogwoof. They are known for "renowed for supporting independent film in non-traditional ways" - www.dogwoof.com .
In addition, they have set up Dogwoof Indie and they help potential filmmakers by giving them access to professional film distribution services and offer a "choice of the services they need, whilst letting them retain the rights to their film, controlling costs, actually having the chance of seeing revenues and profits". They aim fro Hybrid Distribution launched this after the success of a film. I think this media institution will be very good in distributing our media prodcut as they "support independent filmmakers and promote fresh talent in the film industry" - www.dogwoof.com/indie
We could also consider using the Internet to distribute our media product. Using the Internet is a cheap method to market our film and this can assist us to increase more people to attend the viewings. Through recommendation, it can also attain popularity.
www.undergroundfilm.com - this media institution aims to "create a digital film library with the widest breadth of content possible and broaden exposure by making hard-to-find works available through Internet distribution". It focuses on independent film distribution through the Internet.
Within the film industry, the distributor plays a significant role as it gains larger audiences to improve further how successful it is and offers exposure for films. The distributor verifies the release strategy and date after the film is delivered. Subsequently, the distributor presents the film to exhibitors and agrees to have the film shown within cinemas. They develop a marketing campaign to attract the target audience and commence the film.
Our film could be shown at independent cinemas where they offer events and one-off screenings.
This would be likely to attract local people and people who are interested in the genre of the film.
Screentest is a UK National Student Film Festival which assists in encouraging student films throughout the country. In Bristol, they host a three-day film festival with celebrity speakers, workshops and screenings. This way would be simple to screen our film but the distributor may be able to get interest from independent cinemas which is likely to appeal to a much wider audience. An example could be Phoenix Cinema.
Exposures is the UK's largest film festival of student image work. This festival is held in Manchester and takes place every year.
Question 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?
Our PRIMARY target audience for our media product is:
* Age: Anyone between 13-21 years. We thought it would appeal to more younger people as our main character is a teenage girl.
* Gender: Both male and female. Our media product is not aimed at a particular gender. However, I think that it will appeal more to teenage girls due to the main character.
* Interests: Anyone who enjoys watching a scary thriller film and the themes within it.
* Class: All classes. Anyone who enjoys thriller films and themes of murder.
* Education: People with different levels of education.
* Occupation: All. Again, anyone who enjoys thriller films.
Our SECONDARY target audience includes:
* Age: 12-40
* Gender: Both
* We chose this wider audience as we consider anyone who has interests in the themes of our opening would be likely to be interested at any gender and these ages. Anyone who has an interest in murder or stalker themed films.
* We also believe our film could appeal to families as everyone would be familiar with it.
* I believe particular gamers would watch our film especially if they play scary games that involve murdering people. Therefore, our thriller opening sequence will be a possibility that they will watch it.
Moreover, people who have enjoyed watching thriller films like se7en, Messiah, One Hour Photo, Halloween, The Blair Witch Project will be likely to find our film very pleasurable. People who liked to be scared or like to watch it during the night/Halloween. Thriller seekers would take an interest in our film as they would want to see something that will scare them and the themes associated with murder.
People who enjoy romance, comedy may not be interested in our film as it targets certain social groups and audiences.
Regardless of the audiences' characteristics (gender, sex, ethnicity, class, occupation, race, level of education) I believe anyone who has an interest in thriller films will be likely to want to watch our film.
Question 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?
We agreed to include the conventions of thrillers so our audience will understand and therefore it will attract their attention as it is a popular genre. It conforms to a typical thriller film of the exact genre. Our opening sequence conforms to standard themes of thriller films so therefore the audience will know what sort of things to expect.
As a thriller opening sequence, we tried to create suspense to interest the audience. We tried to do this by changing from the scenes at the woods with Lucy walking to the scenes at the stalkers house where the knives were laid on the table with the stalker picking up a knife holding it up high and examining it carefully. At this point, we intended the audience to sense the anticipation that was gradually building up. We wanted the audience to think that this knife will be a possible murder weapon. We wanted to create tension as the stalker comes out of hiding and observes the girl walking alone who is completely unaware of what is going on. The audience is now aware that the stalker is the antagonist but becomes apprehensive as to what he will do next and what is going to happen as the girl is in a vulnerable position. We wanted to draw the audience within the world of film and make them watch the whole film thoroughly.
We mainly addressed our audience through the genre. We know majority of people enjoy thriller films as they like watching the scary scenes and we tried to do the same by making our audience watch the antagonist preparing to murder. This will hopefully have a similar effect on our audience as other existing thriller films. Our scary storyline will effectively attract existing thriller fans and make them watch it as we know that a lot of people fear a stalker especially if they do not know the person. The stalker is in fact an ex-boyfriend of the girl. Our opening sequence consists of creating suspense and tension through the pace and sound of the music and has a narrative element that gives them a clear and obvious idea what the storyline is going to be about without telling the whole story.
We identified that the audience would find our opening sequence familiar so we drew on what the audiecne knew already. The setting is in a popular site which many of the audience will be able to relate to.
On the whole, I think we addressed and attracted our audience effectively to watch our film.
Question 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
From creating this opening title sequence, I have furthered my knowledge a lot about technologies.
To produce this coursework, the technologies we used are:
* Blog: My media teacher taught me how to use Blogger as I had not used this before: how to create an account, to document creative ideas, add posts or remove them, upload pictures and videos on my postings. I have posted all my research and plans on my blog so I can see the different stages in film making.
* Video Cameras: I had to learn about using the tape and batteries as I had never used them before. We attached the camera to the tripod whilst shooting; which we had to learn to use effectively. This allowed us different types of shots which helped to make our opening title sequence more interesting. Also, it gave us more different angles and movements.
* Editing: To familiarize ourselves with this next step, we had to learn the technology of software which would enable us to edit effectively. We used I-Movie and I learnt many techniques, such as how to edit the unwanted scenes out and how to make the continuity of our scenes flow. We discovered that a lot of mistakes from shooting can be solved by using these technologies. After I have understood everything, it is simple to use and you can create a wide range of effects. We learnt that the editing process is crucial as each stage gives meaning to the audience. It has taught me patience as I have learnt from my mistakes along the whole process of creating our opening sequence.
We realised that using technologies to improve our final media product can have a positive impact and a lot of time needs to be spent using these effectively and efficiently.
From this process I have learnt:
* I have learnt various types of shots used and camera skills such as continuity and careful movement.
* I am much more comfortable with handling the equipment whilst shooting and my easy of use has improved. The portability of equipment is important as it is practical to use a car to take the equipment to the location because we used a tripod to maintain the steadiness of the camera movement. Also, it can be quite heavy.
* Once I had understood all the technology it is simple to use and you can create so many diiferent effects.
In Hindsight:
* We should have checked the quality of our DV tape as one of our scenes came out extremely bright. It would have been better if we did a test shoot to iron out any problems with the tape or camera. It would give us an opportunity to see what worked well and what didn't work so well.
* We could have used more interesting camera angles or movements.
* We realised that we should have watched our footage back on location and be alert for mistakes that we might have noticed while filming. We would not have had to re-shoot our original scene 10 if we had noticed the error and we should have focused on this more. This would have helped us to minimize the amount of shoots that we need and reduce the re-shoots.
Each stage in constructing our opening title sequence is very important and I have gained a lot of knowledge on it. Within the long process of planning, researching, filming, editing our opening sequence; I know that a lot of work is needed to produce a high quality film which the audience would pay to watch it.
Overall if we were to do the coursework again, I would feel more confident in making improvements and therefore increase the quality of our opening title sequence.
Question 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Preliminary Brief: Film and edit a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character. A couple of lines of dialogue must then exchanged between characters & match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule should be demonstrated.
Video Brief: The titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes (all video and audio material must be original, produced by candidates, with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source).
We saw the preliminary task as the beginning process which would enable us to prepare us for the main task.
Firstly, we made plans on who would be the casts, where to shoot and the types of shots we could use. We re-shot a couple of times until we were satisfied with it.
Some mistakes we made:
* Not zooming out when Emily (the visitor) entered the room. It began with a close-up shot of the door and Chris who was filming, was supposed to zoom out when Emily entered so the audience could see her.
* Lucy H and Emily kept on laughing when they were supposed to be engaged in the dialogue so therefore we had to re-shoot that several times.
* As Lucy existed the room, I (the guard) opened the door and accidentally slammed it against the cupboard behind it and it made a loud noise. As I closed the door, me and Lucy were trying not to laugh and Chris stopped filming. Fortunately, this error is not very noticeable and we decided to leave it as everything else went so well and we thought it sounded like a prisoner banging on the wall. This gave the ending a nice effect which goes with the title of our preliminary brief: "The Visit" which is a prison visit.
Apart from the last mistake, we were able to correct our mistakes by re-shooting and using the I-Mac to edit in order to make it look fluent. We were happy with the continuity as we focused a lot on this aspect.
* We had a script and arranged the shot order of how we were going to shoot. This saved us time as we knew every shot that we had to shoot and the dialogue between Lucy and Emily meant that it looked realistic.
* We made the process of running a shoot efficient as before we shot we would nod our heads or gesture so everyone in the group knew when to begin. We used this method when filming our opening sequence which meant that weveryone could check everything was ready before.
* To each member we allocated a role in order to make the shootings easier as everyone knew their role and this made it very efficient. We used this filming of our opening sequence and it helped a lot as it took a lot shorter to shoot than it could have.
These factors made our preliminary brief positive so we decided to keep this mind when we filmed our opening sequence of our film.
I have learnt that in the progression from the preliminary task to the full product:
* We need a script if we included any dialogue.
* Re-shoots are very important and is necessary if you are not satisfied with a scene.
* More time needs to be allowed for more takes of shots so that you can select the best take which can make a huge difference to the quality of the final product
* It is useful to shoot with more shot types of angles and distances to make the opening sequence more appealing to the audience.
* It would have been helpful if we had produced a storyboard; this would have enabled us to use our time more effectively.
* We clearly needed to go into much more detail for the video brief which our continuity sequence did not prepare us. However, it gave us an insight into what it would be like in producing the video brief so it would not be completely new to us.
* We could have showed our preliminary task to other people to find out if it attracts their attention and improve it further.
I felt more confident in using the different technologies after this task and I looked forward to the main task. We knew that it would be more difficult and needed a lot more planning to save time and make fewer mistakes so we were more organised. For the preliminary brief, we had four members in our group whereas for the video brief it was just me and Emily. Two members of our group were familiar with the technologies so this was very helpful as I had not used any of it before.
* When we produced the preliminary task we did not have to have a story behind it and unlike the video brief, it did not have to an opening sequence.
* The footage looks different on the camera to when you upload it on the computer and we need to keep this mind whilst filming so we do not come across a lot of re-shoots.
* This brief has taught me that team-work is essential throughout all the stages and our target audience is really important especially of an opening sequence of any film as this is the what the audience perceives first.
* We did not have to have a specific target audience as it was just an experience to learn how to construct an opening of a film and/or test out any problems.
* We found that filming takes longer than we think and shooting in a short space of time is not a good option so therefore we allowed a few hours to ensure everything would run smoothly.
The Crit Session
On Friday's media lesson, we had the crit session where everyone in the Media class watched each other's films and assessed it. Everyone said what they liked and disliked and suggested improvements.
The mark scheme: minimal, basic, proficient and excellent.
Mine and Emily's film was proficient but it can be improved further and possibly become excellent.
These are the improvements my teacher and the class suggested:
* Changing the title of the opening sequence and the typography of the credits - "He's Coming After You" is very obvious about what the film is going to be about, even just by watching the opening title sequence. Therefore, we need to think of an interesting title which is unusual and is likely to stand out.
* The Music - We need to tamper with the sound; maybe it could be quieter in some parts.
* Scene 10 - We don't necessarily need the conversation so we are considering editing this bit out.
We will be making these changes to our opening sequence as soon as possible and we plan to start next week.
The mark scheme: minimal, basic, proficient and excellent.
Mine and Emily's film was proficient but it can be improved further and possibly become excellent.
These are the improvements my teacher and the class suggested:
* Changing the title of the opening sequence and the typography of the credits - "He's Coming After You" is very obvious about what the film is going to be about, even just by watching the opening title sequence. Therefore, we need to think of an interesting title which is unusual and is likely to stand out.
* The Music - We need to tamper with the sound; maybe it could be quieter in some parts.
* Scene 10 - We don't necessarily need the conversation so we are considering editing this bit out.
We will be making these changes to our opening sequence as soon as possible and we plan to start next week.
Wednesday 11 March 2009
Our Animatic
We used our storyboard pictures to make them into an animatic.
Some of our ideas have changed since we drew the pictures for our animatic when we filmed, which affected some of the scenes. Apart from this, everything else is the same.
This is our Animatic, "He's Coming After You":
Some of our ideas have changed since we drew the pictures for our animatic when we filmed, which affected some of the scenes. Apart from this, everything else is the same.
This is our Animatic, "He's Coming After You":
Animatics give filmmakers acute technical control as well as creative control. It brings creative visions to life.
We filmed our animatic to see how our real film opening sequence would turn out like.
Friday 6 March 2009
Last Few Things
On Wednesday, we were able to make the volume of the conversation between Emily and Lucy louder so it can be heard clearly, so that is sorted and our editing is finished.
We will be doing our animatics very soon and upload it onto our blogs once that is finished. Hopefully, this will be completed some time next week.
In our Media lesson next Friday, we will be analysing each other's opening title sequence and the teachers will be giving us feedback on what is good and suggesting any improvements. So, I will be making changes after this crit session if there is any improvements that need to be done.
Finally, we will be posting our completed opening title sequence, "He's Coming After You" on our blogs and lastly my evaluation which I will produce after the crit session.
We will be doing our animatics very soon and upload it onto our blogs once that is finished. Hopefully, this will be completed some time next week.
In our Media lesson next Friday, we will be analysing each other's opening title sequence and the teachers will be giving us feedback on what is good and suggesting any improvements. So, I will be making changes after this crit session if there is any improvements that need to be done.
Finally, we will be posting our completed opening title sequence, "He's Coming After You" on our blogs and lastly my evaluation which I will produce after the crit session.
Saturday 14 February 2009
Pictures For Our Animatic
We are going to be uploading these pictures in order to make them into an animatic.
These are our storyboard pictures:
We decided to draw the pictures on post-it notes so it would be simple to arrange the scenes in any order we wanted.
These are our storyboard pictures:
We decided to draw the pictures on post-it notes so it would be simple to arrange the scenes in any order we wanted. Friday 13 February 2009
Continuity Sequence - The Visit
As a preparation to the main task of our AS Media coursework, we had to produce a Continuity Sequence.
Preliminary Exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing of a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue.
This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.
For this task, I worked with Emily Peachey, Lucy Hart and Chris Johnson. We agreed to do a prison visit and the title of the film is "The Visit".
Lucy is the prisoner, Emily is the visitor, I am the guard and Chris did the filming.
The Plan:
- Prison Visit;
- Any room;
- Long shot of the prisoner walking through the door, go to shot from behind inside the door;
- Shot goes to the person sitting down;
- Visitor comes to visit the prisoner in the room.
This is our Continuity Sequence:
Preliminary Exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing of a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue.
This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.
For this task, I worked with Emily Peachey, Lucy Hart and Chris Johnson. We agreed to do a prison visit and the title of the film is "The Visit".
Lucy is the prisoner, Emily is the visitor, I am the guard and Chris did the filming.
The Plan:
- Prison Visit;
- Any room;
- Long shot of the prisoner walking through the door, go to shot from behind inside the door;
- Shot goes to the person sitting down;
- Visitor comes to visit the prisoner in the room.
This is our Continuity Sequence:
Music
In our Media lesson this morning, we have added the music of our choice onto our film opening.
* We looked at this copyright-free music website: http://www.audio.lgfl.org.uk/, searched and browsed through some thriller tracks.
We looked at 10 thriller tracks by various composers :
- Men In Black/Action Hero/In Memoriam by Paul Mottram and Gareth Johnson;
- Espionage 2 (60) by David O'Brien;
- Hidden Threat by David O'Brien and Johnny Lithium;
- Mysterons by David O'Brien;
- Driller Thriller by Matt Hill;
- Gumshoe by Mike Stobbie;
- Covert by Tom Quick and
- Silent Pouncer by Orlando Jopling.
* By process of elimination we narrowed it down to either 'Hidden Threat' or 'In Memoriam', as both had slow-paced music which creates and slowly builds up suspense which is suitable for our thriller film opening of a stalker.
* We believe our audience will find this music mysterious and creepy.
* After listening to it, they would notice that the film is going to be about something eerie.
* We agreed to select 'In Memoriam' as we preferred this track and it would go better with our opening after listening to it a few times.
* We imported this track on our opening title sequence and watched and listened to it.
* We were impressed with the music, although we preferred Granite by Pendulum, which was our original choice but we were not able to obtain it from a copyright-free website.
* Scene 10 - volume of the music is quite loud and the audience will not be able to hear the conversation clearly as it goes over it.
* Need to sort out the music's volume so it is quieter in this scene and the conversation can be heard clearly, but the music can still be heard in the background.
This did not take us long to do and the music is now finally finished.
* We looked at this copyright-free music website: http://www.audio.lgfl.org.uk/, searched and browsed through some thriller tracks.
We looked at 10 thriller tracks by various composers :
- Men In Black/Action Hero/In Memoriam by Paul Mottram and Gareth Johnson;
- Espionage 2 (60) by David O'Brien;
- Hidden Threat by David O'Brien and Johnny Lithium;
- Mysterons by David O'Brien;
- Driller Thriller by Matt Hill;
- Gumshoe by Mike Stobbie;
- Covert by Tom Quick and
- Silent Pouncer by Orlando Jopling.
* By process of elimination we narrowed it down to either 'Hidden Threat' or 'In Memoriam', as both had slow-paced music which creates and slowly builds up suspense which is suitable for our thriller film opening of a stalker.
* We believe our audience will find this music mysterious and creepy.
* After listening to it, they would notice that the film is going to be about something eerie.
* We agreed to select 'In Memoriam' as we preferred this track and it would go better with our opening after listening to it a few times.
* We imported this track on our opening title sequence and watched and listened to it.
* We were impressed with the music, although we preferred Granite by Pendulum, which was our original choice but we were not able to obtain it from a copyright-free website.
* Scene 10 - volume of the music is quite loud and the audience will not be able to hear the conversation clearly as it goes over it.
* Need to sort out the music's volume so it is quieter in this scene and the conversation can be heard clearly, but the music can still be heard in the background.
This did not take us long to do and the music is now finally finished.
Thursday 12 February 2009
Things Left To Do
We are nearly finished with this Media coursework but there are some things which are unfinished and needs to be completed:
* Add the music on our film
* Put our Continuity Task on the blog
* Upload our Animatics and put it on our blogs
* Put our finished Opening Title Sequence on our blogs
* Evaluation
We should have all this finished soon.
* Add the music on our film
* Put our Continuity Task on the blog
* Upload our Animatics and put it on our blogs
* Put our finished Opening Title Sequence on our blogs
* Evaluation
We should have all this finished soon.
The StoryBoard
I have included my storyboard before in a previous posting in writitng, but I did not scan mine on my blog because I was embarrassed by my pictures.
This is our storyboard; drawn by Emily which is so much better than mine:
This is our storyboard; drawn by Emily which is so much better than mine:
Wednesday 11 February 2009
Finished Re-Shoot of Scene 10 and Editing
Emily and Lucy successfully managed to re-shoot the scene last Saturday morning in Emily's back garden.
* When we uploaded the new scene onto the iMovie in our next Media lesson, it came out so much better than the original shot and not as bright like it did last time.
* We had no problems with the camera or the tape this time fortunately.
* However, the weather was different this weekend to the weekend we filmed in January; when we oringinally filmed it was cloudy and raining but when we re-shot over the weekend it was sunnier and brighter.
* The audience can see the sun's reflection in the umbrella which is unavoidable but does not affect the scene.
* In this scene, the weather change is noticeable but it is not a drastic problem and the audience will not be able to see much difference.
* Apart from this, it went fine; Emily and Lucy wore the same clothes and used the same umbrella in the as before so the continuity will not be affected as much.
Last time we did not take any pictures but we took some pictures of us filming on Saturday:
* When we uploaded the new scene onto the iMovie in our next Media lesson, it came out so much better than the original shot and not as bright like it did last time.
* We had no problems with the camera or the tape this time fortunately.
* However, the weather was different this weekend to the weekend we filmed in January; when we oringinally filmed it was cloudy and raining but when we re-shot over the weekend it was sunnier and brighter.
* The audience can see the sun's reflection in the umbrella which is unavoidable but does not affect the scene.
* In this scene, the weather change is noticeable but it is not a drastic problem and the audience will not be able to see much difference.
* Apart from this, it went fine; Emily and Lucy wore the same clothes and used the same umbrella in the as before so the continuity will not be affected as much.
Last time we did not take any pictures but we took some pictures of us filming on Saturday:
We have edited the new scene 10: there were 3 re-takes in case we had any problems. We decided to use the second take as we agreed that this was the best shot of that scene out of the three. We edited out the unnecessary bits and put this scene into our film and deleted the old scene 10. Behind the unbrella, the scene resembles a lot like Abbey Wood Ruins so it is not recognisable that the location had changed due to the close-up shot with the umbrella in the background held by the victim, Lucy. This final editing process took at least an hour to do and we have now successfully edited all our film opening title sequence.
All that is left to do is to include the music of our choice which will be suitable with the stalker theme of our film - we will be doing this on the following Friday in our next Media lesson.
Tuesday 10 February 2009
Why Opening Title Sequences Are So Important
A graphic artist, Saul Bass once said, "making a main-title was like making a poster, you're condensing the event into this one concept, this one metaphor a back-story that needs to be told or a character that needs to be introduced".
Within the film industry, the opening title sequence of a film is considered to be the most important aspect in a film. Apart from the marketing elements, the title sequences are the very first images the audience sees. The quick clips lasts about two to three minutes long, in which the filmmaker's intentions and sets up the expectations of the audience. Most films last about 120 minutes, so the first two or three minutes are crucial.
Title sequence is what tells the audience who created the film and based on their past work and what the audience can expect from this film they are about to watch. If someone thinks the title sequence is not very good; their first impression would be that the film will not be good so personally I would consider the opening title sequence of a film the most important part.
Within the film industry, the opening title sequence of a film is considered to be the most important aspect in a film. Apart from the marketing elements, the title sequences are the very first images the audience sees. The quick clips lasts about two to three minutes long, in which the filmmaker's intentions and sets up the expectations of the audience. Most films last about 120 minutes, so the first two or three minutes are crucial.
Title sequence is what tells the audience who created the film and based on their past work and what the audience can expect from this film they are about to watch. If someone thinks the title sequence is not very good; their first impression would be that the film will not be good so personally I would consider the opening title sequence of a film the most important part.
Friday 6 February 2009
Re-Shooting Scene 10
Whilst me and Emily were editing our title sequence, our Media teacher Nina said she liked our film and was very good so far as she gave us positive feedback. She also suggested that we should re-shoot scene 10 which is a close-up shot of Emily and Lucy's chracter and the big colourful umbrella in the background.
The problem is that this scene came out extremely bright - we could not distinguish the faces and it would look strange compared to the other scenes we have filmed.
Due to this, on Saturday 7th February, Emily and Lucy will be re-shooting this scene, wearing the same clothes so that the continuity will not be ruined. After the re-shoot, our opening title sequence will be completed.
Tomorrow, the re-shoot will take place which will definately be better than last time.
The problem is that this scene came out extremely bright - we could not distinguish the faces and it would look strange compared to the other scenes we have filmed.
Due to this, on Saturday 7th February, Emily and Lucy will be re-shooting this scene, wearing the same clothes so that the continuity will not be ruined. After the re-shoot, our opening title sequence will be completed.
Tomorrow, the re-shoot will take place which will definately be better than last time.
Friday 30 January 2009
Editing
Our film has been uploaded and we have began to edit. So far, we are doing very well and have got a lot of work done.
Re-takes:
* All been edited out; took us several attempts to shoot a scene we were completely satisfied with - this part of the editing process took us a while to do as we were careful in the beginning and the ending of each and every scene so the the continuity looked as though it is following on after each scenes.
* We cut out unnessary bits, such as instead of beginning scene 2 with the victim standing still underneath the unbrella and walking off after looking towards the camera (me and Emily gesturing Lucy when to begin), we started it off by the victim walking immediately as the beginning is unimportant and we need our film to last at least 2 minutes. This aspect will be the part the audience will be interested in; it needs to be short and containing relevant information about what will occur throughout the film later on.
* The audience's attention needs to be attracted in order to make them carry on watching the film; this is why it is so important to have an interesting opening title sequence.
* After watching it a few times the scenes looked very fluent and we were happy with it.
* We got most of the scenes together in order and we cut out all the sounds apart from the scene where the victim and her friend have a short conversation, as we could hear the rain and us talking unnecessarily.
* This was simple to do and did not take a huge amount of time.
* We changed the scenes at the stalkers house to black and white, and in the very last scene at the stalkers house, the shot of the pictures covered in blood will also be in black and white.
* The titles of our opening appears in red and if this scene was in colour, it would have an affect so we decided this would give the ending a dramatic finish.
* We hope the audience will find this part attractive and look outstanding in the dark background.
* The names and titles need more work on but we have had a few difficulties, while adding in the rest of our titles to the other scenes as it was complicating in putting the titles in the correct places without cutting out any important sections.
* Fortunately, we have all the titles we need as we were able to sort the problem out - we used the effect 'wipe' and the texts in red for our titles.
* We are trying to put across to the audience: red title is blood and we used the effect 'wipe' to give the message that the blood is being being wiped on and off the ending.
* This decision took a lot of time to come to an agreement as there were a lot of effects we liked and we finally decided that this effect would go perfectly to our stalker film.
Add Music
* Get music from a copyright-free website.
* Decide on a music other than Granite by Pendulum - cannot find a copyright-free version.
A few more hours on the iMac and we will have completed and finished everything.
Re-takes:
* All been edited out; took us several attempts to shoot a scene we were completely satisfied with - this part of the editing process took us a while to do as we were careful in the beginning and the ending of each and every scene so the the continuity looked as though it is following on after each scenes.
* We cut out unnessary bits, such as instead of beginning scene 2 with the victim standing still underneath the unbrella and walking off after looking towards the camera (me and Emily gesturing Lucy when to begin), we started it off by the victim walking immediately as the beginning is unimportant and we need our film to last at least 2 minutes. This aspect will be the part the audience will be interested in; it needs to be short and containing relevant information about what will occur throughout the film later on.
* The audience's attention needs to be attracted in order to make them carry on watching the film; this is why it is so important to have an interesting opening title sequence.
* After watching it a few times the scenes looked very fluent and we were happy with it.
* We got most of the scenes together in order and we cut out all the sounds apart from the scene where the victim and her friend have a short conversation, as we could hear the rain and us talking unnecessarily.
* This was simple to do and did not take a huge amount of time.
* We changed the scenes at the stalkers house to black and white, and in the very last scene at the stalkers house, the shot of the pictures covered in blood will also be in black and white.
* The titles of our opening appears in red and if this scene was in colour, it would have an affect so we decided this would give the ending a dramatic finish.
* We hope the audience will find this part attractive and look outstanding in the dark background.
* The names and titles need more work on but we have had a few difficulties, while adding in the rest of our titles to the other scenes as it was complicating in putting the titles in the correct places without cutting out any important sections.
* Fortunately, we have all the titles we need as we were able to sort the problem out - we used the effect 'wipe' and the texts in red for our titles.
* We are trying to put across to the audience: red title is blood and we used the effect 'wipe' to give the message that the blood is being being wiped on and off the ending.
* This decision took a lot of time to come to an agreement as there were a lot of effects we liked and we finally decided that this effect would go perfectly to our stalker film.
Add Music
* Get music from a copyright-free website.
* Decide on a music other than Granite by Pendulum - cannot find a copyright-free version.
A few more hours on the iMac and we will have completed and finished everything.
Monday 26 January 2009
Finished Filming
Yesterday, we filmed our title sequence and were able to film everything according to our shooting schedule, starting about 7.50am and finishing about 11.30am.
Problems:
* We had to film it in the rain while Emily's dad held an umbrella over it to keep the camera dry - this made it difficult as the rain made the lens wet and we kept on wiping it and turning the camera on and off once we finished shooting a scene.
* The ending of the tape became corrupted and the last scene recorded at Abbey Wood Ruins with the brief conversation between Emily and Lucy, and as I watched them walk off before walking over a hill - deleted.
* We did not notice this error until we got back and watched the film.
* We decided to film the last scene again, but in Emily's back garden as we did not have time to go back and film it in the Woods.
* We agreed to have a close-up shot of the umbrella to cover up the background so it would not be recognisable that our location had changed and the continuity will not be affected.
Changes:
* Our original idea: stalker watching victim and her friend before walking away - but now we will have the conversation in the final scene.
* Our new idea: Shot of the stalker (me) holding a picture of the victim in one hand and a knife in the other both covered in blood.
* Another idea: shot of the pictures of the victim (Lucy) covered in blood with the bloody knife laid down on top of it.
* We will agree on which scene we like better after we have filmed both of the scenes.
Scenes at the Stalkers House:
* We shot the stalkers scenes at Emily's house as we had plenty of time left remaining.
* We moved everything out of the small room and used the white sheets to cover up the computer and chest of drawers.
* Emily had pictures of Lucy and also printed some of from MySpace.
* We laid them carefully on the table and smeared fake blood all over them.
* I came up with the idea of having the word 'die' written in the middle of the pictures in thick blood so it stands out.
* Emily walked into the room whilst Lucy stood behind the door and opened it slowly and carefully to make it look like it opened on its own.
* We had to ensure Lucy was not visible behind the door so it would not ruin the effect. The shaky effect was not intended on the purpose but happened as Emily walked into the room with the camera; but this managed to give the scene a mysterious effect.
* The scenes will be in black and white - this idea was inspired by the film opening 'Se7en'.
In Scene 5 -
* The plan: stalker picks up the largest knife up so the audience could see the reflection of a black mask.
* We were not able to do this: altered it to having the stalker picking it up and raising it so the shadow of the stalker and the knife is enlarged.
* Emily filmed this scene, while in front of her was a light used to make the shadows on the wall appear more clearly to give it a more eerie feeling.
In Scene 3 -
* Emily moved the camera slowly, from smallest to the largest knife - from the stalkers point of view: studying the knives very closely and picks up the largest knife which represents this particular knife has been chosen to be used in the film.
We got all the scenes we needed, the filming went well and we all enjoyed ourselves.
Things to do:
* Edit the film: include names and titles in the correct places, add music and put scenes in order.
* During our Media lessons, free periods and after school if necessary; we will be able to finish it this week (most of it is re-takes and mistakes).
Problems:
* We had to film it in the rain while Emily's dad held an umbrella over it to keep the camera dry - this made it difficult as the rain made the lens wet and we kept on wiping it and turning the camera on and off once we finished shooting a scene.
* The ending of the tape became corrupted and the last scene recorded at Abbey Wood Ruins with the brief conversation between Emily and Lucy, and as I watched them walk off before walking over a hill - deleted.
* We did not notice this error until we got back and watched the film.
* We decided to film the last scene again, but in Emily's back garden as we did not have time to go back and film it in the Woods.
* We agreed to have a close-up shot of the umbrella to cover up the background so it would not be recognisable that our location had changed and the continuity will not be affected.
Changes:
* Our original idea: stalker watching victim and her friend before walking away - but now we will have the conversation in the final scene.
* Our new idea: Shot of the stalker (me) holding a picture of the victim in one hand and a knife in the other both covered in blood.
* Another idea: shot of the pictures of the victim (Lucy) covered in blood with the bloody knife laid down on top of it.
* We will agree on which scene we like better after we have filmed both of the scenes.
Scenes at the Stalkers House:
* We shot the stalkers scenes at Emily's house as we had plenty of time left remaining.
* We moved everything out of the small room and used the white sheets to cover up the computer and chest of drawers.
* Emily had pictures of Lucy and also printed some of from MySpace.
* We laid them carefully on the table and smeared fake blood all over them.
* I came up with the idea of having the word 'die' written in the middle of the pictures in thick blood so it stands out.
* Emily walked into the room whilst Lucy stood behind the door and opened it slowly and carefully to make it look like it opened on its own.
* We had to ensure Lucy was not visible behind the door so it would not ruin the effect. The shaky effect was not intended on the purpose but happened as Emily walked into the room with the camera; but this managed to give the scene a mysterious effect.
* The scenes will be in black and white - this idea was inspired by the film opening 'Se7en'.
In Scene 5 -
* The plan: stalker picks up the largest knife up so the audience could see the reflection of a black mask.
* We were not able to do this: altered it to having the stalker picking it up and raising it so the shadow of the stalker and the knife is enlarged.
* Emily filmed this scene, while in front of her was a light used to make the shadows on the wall appear more clearly to give it a more eerie feeling.
In Scene 3 -
* Emily moved the camera slowly, from smallest to the largest knife - from the stalkers point of view: studying the knives very closely and picks up the largest knife which represents this particular knife has been chosen to be used in the film.
We got all the scenes we needed, the filming went well and we all enjoyed ourselves.
Things to do:
* Edit the film: include names and titles in the correct places, add music and put scenes in order.
* During our Media lessons, free periods and after school if necessary; we will be able to finish it this week (most of it is re-takes and mistakes).
Sunday 11 January 2009
Our Props and Casts
We have finished deciding on the casts and all our props are ready.
Casts -
* Shazna Khalique - Stalker
I have volunteered to play the stalker.
* Lucy Taylor - Victim.
Lucy will be walking through the woods listening to her iPod, where the stalker follows her.
* Emily Peachey - Friend of the victim.
Emily will appear near the end of the title sequence when she sees Lucy worried and and they have a brief conversation.
Props -
* Fake Blood -
I have decided to do research on the Internet to find out how to make fake blood as we will be using it in our scenes.
I found this useful website - www.dainter.com/infocus/fakeblood.htm
Ingredients:
- 1 pint of clear corn syrup
- 100 drops of red food colouring
- 1/4 cup of water
- 1/4 cup of sifted flour or corn starch
- 8 drops of blue food colouring
1) Remove about a 1/4 cup of the corn syrup and replace it with an equal amount of water. Add the food colouring and mix the blood by shaking gently.
2) Add sifted flour (or corn starch) to the mixture, gently mix it all again. If you use flour, you may get small lumps forming at the top of the mixture, if you do, wait about a minute and it will float to the top where it can be removed.
Unfortunately, me and Emily were unable to get hold of some of the ingredients required, but Emily's dad kindly ordered some ready made fake blood from a fancy dress shop in Bexleyheath after searching online.
* iPod:
Lucy will be using Emily's iPod when she's walking through the woods.
* Black Mask and Black Clothes:
I have all the black clothes but I just need a mask to cover my face to hide my identity. I doubt I have a black mask at home, Emily will look at home and if we cannot find one, we will have to borrow it from the Drama department at Welling School or buy one from a fancy dress shop.
* Knives:
Emily has the knives that we will be using throughout some of the scenes (the scenes at the Stalkers house will take place at Emily's house).
* Pictures of the Victim:
We will need to take several pictures of Lucy for the scenes at the Stalkers house to signify that he's been following her.
We just have a few more things to sort out, but apart from that, our casts and props are sorted and we are ready to film.
Casts -
* Shazna Khalique - Stalker
I have volunteered to play the stalker.
* Lucy Taylor - Victim.
Lucy will be walking through the woods listening to her iPod, where the stalker follows her.
* Emily Peachey - Friend of the victim.
Emily will appear near the end of the title sequence when she sees Lucy worried and and they have a brief conversation.
Props -
* Fake Blood -
I have decided to do research on the Internet to find out how to make fake blood as we will be using it in our scenes.
I found this useful website - www.dainter.com/infocus/fakeblood.htm
Ingredients:
- 1 pint of clear corn syrup
- 100 drops of red food colouring
- 1/4 cup of water
- 1/4 cup of sifted flour or corn starch
- 8 drops of blue food colouring
1) Remove about a 1/4 cup of the corn syrup and replace it with an equal amount of water. Add the food colouring and mix the blood by shaking gently.
2) Add sifted flour (or corn starch) to the mixture, gently mix it all again. If you use flour, you may get small lumps forming at the top of the mixture, if you do, wait about a minute and it will float to the top where it can be removed.
Unfortunately, me and Emily were unable to get hold of some of the ingredients required, but Emily's dad kindly ordered some ready made fake blood from a fancy dress shop in Bexleyheath after searching online.
* iPod:
Lucy will be using Emily's iPod when she's walking through the woods.
* Black Mask and Black Clothes:
I have all the black clothes but I just need a mask to cover my face to hide my identity. I doubt I have a black mask at home, Emily will look at home and if we cannot find one, we will have to borrow it from the Drama department at Welling School or buy one from a fancy dress shop.
* Knives:
Emily has the knives that we will be using throughout some of the scenes (the scenes at the Stalkers house will take place at Emily's house).
* Pictures of the Victim:
We will need to take several pictures of Lucy for the scenes at the Stalkers house to signify that he's been following her.
We just have a few more things to sort out, but apart from that, our casts and props are sorted and we are ready to film.
Saturday 10 January 2009
Shooting Schedule
We have two scenes in our opening title sequence and we have agreed to shoot the scenes of the person being stalked in the Woods first.
DATE: 25th January 2009, Sunday.
Due to mine, Emily's and Lucy's exam and lesson timetable, we are not able to film during a school day so we have arranged to film during the weekend as this day would be the most convenient time for us.
The shooting of the second scenes will not cause any problems as by then, all our exams will be over and we can film it in our own pace.
DAY/NIGHT: Day - Early morning.
We plan to arrive about 7.50am and begin filming about 8.00am. We will meet at Emily's house at 7.20am, drive to our location which will take roughly 20 minutes and have time to get ready to discuss where the victim should be walking, where the stalker should hide, where the friend meets the victim etc.
If we have enough time after filming the first scenes, we may be able to film the second scenes which will also be filmed in the morning.
DURATION: Unknown.
We are not sure how long it will take us to shoot these scenes, maybe a few hours. With good time preparation and following everything according to our plans, we should be able to finish with a few hours. We aim to finish filming about 10.40am.
The filming that will take place at Emily's house will not take very long either, but we will not have to hurry as none of us will be in a rush to go anywhere.
INTERNAL/EXTERNAL: External and Internal.
The filming will be external for the scenes at Abbey Wood Ruins and internal for the scenes at Emily's house for the stalker scenes.
LOCATION: Abbey Wood Ruins and Emily's House.
We think this location would be the ideal place to shoot as our film invloves someone being stalked and we will not have any problems in travelling as it is not far from where we live. Also, we do not need permission to film in this location.
We have agreed to shoot the scenes of the Stalkers house at Emily's house.
CAST: Shazna Khalique (stalker), Emily Peachey (friend of victim) and Lucy Taylor (victim).
DATE: 25th January 2009, Sunday.
Due to mine, Emily's and Lucy's exam and lesson timetable, we are not able to film during a school day so we have arranged to film during the weekend as this day would be the most convenient time for us.
The shooting of the second scenes will not cause any problems as by then, all our exams will be over and we can film it in our own pace.
DAY/NIGHT: Day - Early morning.
We plan to arrive about 7.50am and begin filming about 8.00am. We will meet at Emily's house at 7.20am, drive to our location which will take roughly 20 minutes and have time to get ready to discuss where the victim should be walking, where the stalker should hide, where the friend meets the victim etc.
If we have enough time after filming the first scenes, we may be able to film the second scenes which will also be filmed in the morning.
DURATION: Unknown.
We are not sure how long it will take us to shoot these scenes, maybe a few hours. With good time preparation and following everything according to our plans, we should be able to finish with a few hours. We aim to finish filming about 10.40am.
The filming that will take place at Emily's house will not take very long either, but we will not have to hurry as none of us will be in a rush to go anywhere.
INTERNAL/EXTERNAL: External and Internal.
The filming will be external for the scenes at Abbey Wood Ruins and internal for the scenes at Emily's house for the stalker scenes.
LOCATION: Abbey Wood Ruins and Emily's House.
We think this location would be the ideal place to shoot as our film invloves someone being stalked and we will not have any problems in travelling as it is not far from where we live. Also, we do not need permission to film in this location.
We have agreed to shoot the scenes of the Stalkers house at Emily's house.
CAST: Shazna Khalique (stalker), Emily Peachey (friend of victim) and Lucy Taylor (victim).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)