Looking back at your preliminary task (the
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Saturday 17 April 2010
Friday 16 April 2010
Thursday 15 April 2010
Evaluation Question 6
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
We started of using Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, which wasn’t to hard to use as we were all familiar as a group with the Photoshop programme which had slight similarities.Adjusting and adapting footage to suit titles and soundtracks with this programme proved to be simple and easy tasks. We required help from with assistance for using the programme at first but once we had a basic run through with the media technicians at our college we soon grasped the procedure.
Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 seemed to help with the professionalism of our products as with its many advantages we had success. The advantages of the programme are that it is fairly straight forward to use, it allows us to import footage easily and to use split screens. It also allows us to use other programmes when transferring footage. There wasn’t really any problems with this piece of software as we’ve had success with it however a disadvantage is that sometimes the programme can be slow when many tasks are operating on a computer.
In the beginning we used tape based Sony cameras then later on we were introduced to new Sony camcorders. The tape based cameras we used to film our preliminary tasks, the Sony camcorders we used to film our second project and found that there was a big improvement with the sound quality from the use of the mic on the camera.
Audio recorders played a big part in our production as they produced the best quality sound for recordings. The cameras we handled were required simple manuals for their use , it was easy to import footage onto pc’s to amend. We came to the a conclusion that the tape based cameras were not were a preference as we had to carry tapes around.
The audio recorders were a successful use of technology in our production process; they produced excellent sound quality when used for the recording of our directors commentary and final voiceover for our opening sequence. The were simple to use, once attached to a computer with a USB cord it was easy to operate, with just the push of a start/stop button to record.
Social networking sites such as Vimeo and Facebook were key for our film progression as we used these sites to upload our footage and face book for constructive criticism. Vimeo we found was a very good site when uploading our rough cut and final opening. Also we found that advantages of using Vimeo was that the quality is higher than a few sites we tried out. For example when we tried to upload our rough cut onto you tube this proved to be much of a controversy. You tube was very much complex and therefore harder to use. Vimeo was not as restive as You tube and we didn’t have the problem of contemplating whether our footage would be removed. This site also created a wide variety of technologies.
Facebook was very useful for our group as we gained comments from part of our target audience through the site. This site also helped to promote our film opening, as the worlds biggest networking tool face book has help enable our film opening viewed by many. If I had the chance, I would pay Facebook to attach my film opening on the site to reach a section of the target audience.
Overall, we have learnt which cameras and audio equipment to use for different tasks and also which equipment would best suit a certain task. With our exploration of equipment as a group and also individually we can all confidently make certain decisions on the best suited technologies for a given task.
In the beginning we used tape based Sony cameras then later on we were introduced to new Sony camcorders. The tape based cameras we used to film our preliminary tasks, the Sony camcorders we used to film our second project and found that there was a big improvement with the sound quality from the use of the mic on the camera.
Audio recorders played a big part in our production as they produced the best quality sound for recordings. The cameras we handled were required simple manuals for their use , it was easy to import footage onto pc’s to amend. We came to the a conclusion that the tape based cameras were not were a preference as we had to carry tapes around.
The audio recorders were a successful use of technology in our production process; they produced excellent sound quality when used for the recording of our directors commentary and final voiceover for our opening sequence. The were simple to use, once attached to a computer with a USB cord it was easy to operate, with just the push of a start/stop button to record.
Social networking sites such as Vimeo and Facebook were key for our film progression as we used these sites to upload our footage and face book for constructive criticism. Vimeo we found was a very good site when uploading our rough cut and final opening. Also we found that advantages of using Vimeo was that the quality is higher than a few sites we tried out. For example when we tried to upload our rough cut onto you tube this proved to be much of a controversy. You tube was very much complex and therefore harder to use. Vimeo was not as restive as You tube and we didn’t have the problem of contemplating whether our footage would be removed. This site also created a wide variety of technologies.
Facebook was very useful for our group as we gained comments from part of our target audience through the site. This site also helped to promote our film opening, as the worlds biggest networking tool face book has help enable our film opening viewed by many. If I had the chance, I would pay Facebook to attach my film opening on the site to reach a section of the target audience.
Overall, we have learnt which cameras and audio equipment to use for different tasks and also which equipment would best suit a certain task. With our exploration of equipment as a group and also individually we can all confidently make certain decisions on the best suited technologies for a given task.
This Hierarchy pyramid simply carries the view that one has to sustain certain levels of satisfaction in order to eventually accomplish your experience Self Actualisation, to your hearts desire of happiness. With the Hierarchy we are able to appreciate that some films help with motivation in the sense that, we can feel love and belongingness and also a sense of hope or creativity as a result.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs
If we have been able to incorporate some of these aspects through our film, we will have accomplished a sort of positivism for others. The target audience are able to relate to the characters in our film through their own perspective and appreciate how we have interpreted certain everyday-life situations into it. This is why our film would be favoured; this could mean that we could have people with the potential to feel some sense of motivation of life helping them to achieve self-actualization
Maslow's hierarchy of needs
If we have been able to incorporate some of these aspects through our film, we will have accomplished a sort of positivism for others. The target audience are able to relate to the characters in our film through their own perspective and appreciate how we have interpreted certain everyday-life situations into it. This is why our film would be favoured; this could mean that we could have people with the potential to feel some sense of motivation of life helping them to achieve self-actualization
Wednesday 14 April 2010
Tuesday 13 April 2010
Monday 12 April 2010
Saturday 10 April 2010
Friday 9 April 2010
Meeting 9 &10
Having finished all filming and most editing, everything still had to be finalised to make sure things were completely finished, so we ran through a quick tasks checklist.
Thursday 8 April 2010
Soundtacks for Media Product
Sound for Production Logo
The sound for our production logo was chosen from:
http:// music-for -video.com
Soundtrack for Final Opening Sequence
To get the best suited soundtrack for our film we researched into popular music types and genres for teen movies and rom coms. In the begining we thought of conducting an instrumntal soundtrack but to avoid more than we could take on we looked into other ways of how we could acomplish this task.
We listened to examples such as the soundtrack of High School Musical and The Lizzie McGuire Movie and The Princess Diaries.
Later we found a suitable soundtrack from a Music producer on Myspace. Dominique, a member of our group then went on to email the producer asking for permission to use his music for our soundtrack.
Here's a copy of the email:
Hello,
I'm Dominique, a media student from Harris Academy in the UK currently in the process of completing my coursework for my AS level qualification.
This requires me to produce a film opening. For the film opening I require a piece of music to go with my work, matching the genre etc. I have found the perfect piece.
Cutting to the chase, would it be possible for me to use your guitar piece called "The Clap"?
I am not allowed to include any copyrighted material in my coursework unless given permission to do so. I do not intend to use the piece to gain any sort of income/profit or monetary advantage.
This piece of music fits perfectly with my coursework and I would greatly appreciate being able to use it in my work. All credits go to Steve Howe for the music.
The soundtrack of Princess Diaries:
The sound for our production logo was chosen from:
http:// music-for -video.com
Soundtrack for Final Opening Sequence
To get the best suited soundtrack for our film we researched into popular music types and genres for teen movies and rom coms. In the begining we thought of conducting an instrumntal soundtrack but to avoid more than we could take on we looked into other ways of how we could acomplish this task.
We listened to examples such as the soundtrack of High School Musical and The Lizzie McGuire Movie and The Princess Diaries.
Later we found a suitable soundtrack from a Music producer on Myspace. Dominique, a member of our group then went on to email the producer asking for permission to use his music for our soundtrack.
Here's a copy of the email:
Hello,
I'm Dominique, a media student from Harris Academy in the UK currently in the process of completing my coursework for my AS level qualification.
This requires me to produce a film opening. For the film opening I require a piece of music to go with my work, matching the genre etc. I have found the perfect piece.
Cutting to the chase, would it be possible for me to use your guitar piece called "The Clap"?
I am not allowed to include any copyrighted material in my coursework unless given permission to do so. I do not intend to use the piece to gain any sort of income/profit or monetary advantage.
This piece of music fits perfectly with my coursework and I would greatly appreciate being able to use it in my work. All credits go to Steve Howe for the music.
The soundtrack of Princess Diaries:
Meeting 8
Oyin and I looked through our media product and the last plans we had put down for the finishing touches.One of which,was to upload the final voice over to the final opening sequence.
Voice Over
For our film, we decided to do a reading of a transcript with the "american accent" to introduce the beginning of our film. The transcript was read in a radio station room to enable us to have as good quality sound as possible.The voice over was then thoroughy edited by our group and the finished copy uploaded.
The transcript was done by a member of our group, Oyin who has a vital part in the film with this role as her accent played a big part in our film as this is one of the ideals of the film as an American teenage romcom.
The final copy of the voice over
Hi, I'm Lisa, I'm 16 years old and I go to Alberto Hight, currently studying for my GCSE's in English, art and music. I only recently joined the school so I don't really have a social group to fit in with. Most of the time, I spend my school life doing extra school work and gazing at this one boy. Owen! He's just so perfect, always smiling. He's so hard working. He's really helpful as well, I'll never forget the time he helped me with my books. OMG! It was just after class and I, clumsy as ever, bumped into him and dropped my books. I mean, dropped them,like all over the floor near his feet. Then he bent down and picked them up for me and boy was there an eye connection. He noticed me, he looked right into my eyes and smiled. He's so fit. Adorable. Cute. Funny. I love him!
The transcript was done by a member of our group, Oyin who has a vital part in the film with this role as her accent played a big part in our film as this is one of the ideals of the film as an American teenage romcom.
The final copy of the voice over
Hi, I'm Lisa, I'm 16 years old and I go to Alberto Hight, currently studying for my GCSE's in English, art and music. I only recently joined the school so I don't really have a social group to fit in with. Most of the time, I spend my school life doing extra school work and gazing at this one boy. Owen! He's just so perfect, always smiling. He's so hard working. He's really helpful as well, I'll never forget the time he helped me with my books. OMG! It was just after class and I, clumsy as ever, bumped into him and dropped my books. I mean, dropped them,like all over the floor near his feet. Then he bent down and picked them up for me and boy was there an eye connection. He noticed me, he looked right into my eyes and smiled. He's so fit. Adorable. Cute. Funny. I love him!
Synopsis of Whole Film
The opening sequence starts by introducing the protagonists Lisa and Owen. Lisa a quiet and reserved girl joins a new school but struggles to fit in she finds herslef isolated amonst her peers as she isnt accepted. Furthermore, something helps Lisa to overlook the bad side of things ; she has a crush on Owen whom she is deeply in love with. At first she feels Owen doesn't notice her but later on things change.
Soon things start to turn around for Lisa she begins to settle in her school as she finds a group of friends.She begins to take part in school activites as she settles and even becomes bestfriends with a girl named Katie in her social group. Lisa becomes devasted as her closest friend Katie confesses that she is in love with Owen. Lisa remains in shock as she comes to terms with the situation but she doesn't give up on her love for Owen. The school talent show is less than two weeks away and Lisa decides that nothing will ruin the chance for her to get closer to Owen, for her wishes to come true.
To her ashtonishment, Owen puts on a performance singing a song dediacted to her at the talent show. Things couldn't get any better as he even asks her out. But Katie is shocked as she witnesses Owen asking Lisa out, she cannot bare the embarassment and therefore shouts "NO!" and slaps Lisa. There is a fight between the two but in the end the traditional convention of the "boy meets girl rom-com" is reflected as Lisa realises that her friendship with Katie is more important than Owen. So she tells Owen that she'd rather just stay friends.
Soon things start to turn around for Lisa she begins to settle in her school as she finds a group of friends.She begins to take part in school activites as she settles and even becomes bestfriends with a girl named Katie in her social group. Lisa becomes devasted as her closest friend Katie confesses that she is in love with Owen. Lisa remains in shock as she comes to terms with the situation but she doesn't give up on her love for Owen. The school talent show is less than two weeks away and Lisa decides that nothing will ruin the chance for her to get closer to Owen, for her wishes to come true.
To her ashtonishment, Owen puts on a performance singing a song dediacted to her at the talent show. Things couldn't get any better as he even asks her out. But Katie is shocked as she witnesses Owen asking Lisa out, she cannot bare the embarassment and therefore shouts "NO!" and slaps Lisa. There is a fight between the two but in the end the traditional convention of the "boy meets girl rom-com" is reflected as Lisa realises that her friendship with Katie is more important than Owen. So she tells Owen that she'd rather just stay friends.
Meeting 7
In this meeting we completed our audince testing for our first rough cut. From this we gathered information on what needed to be improved in order to improve the standard of our film to make it more professional.
Rough Cut
After a long period of editing and fianlising our we the rought cut turned out to have more potential than we as a group we thought it would however, progress was very much sucessful.
Here is some constructive critism made by students and media staff:
"Music and titles worked well together. Opening credits were too long compared to the film." -Sophie
"Really good. The soundtrack went with the voice over because it was jolly. The echo could be heard during the voice over." -Josephine
"The target audience was made apparent. You could have included speech bubbles for when she said "OMG" The camera angles were excellent but re-do the voice over and lower the music during some points." -Miss Goulds
"Instead of walking down the stairs, there should be a group of people laughing together and then Lisa walking alone." -Myrin
Here is some constructive critism made by students and media staff:
"Music and titles worked well together. Opening credits were too long compared to the film." -Sophie
"Really good. The soundtrack went with the voice over because it was jolly. The echo could be heard during the voice over." -Josephine
"The target audience was made apparent. You could have included speech bubbles for when she said "OMG" The camera angles were excellent but re-do the voice over and lower the music during some points." -Miss Goulds
"Instead of walking down the stairs, there should be a group of people laughing together and then Lisa walking alone." -Myrin
With the help of the constuctive critism we decided to redo the voice over to achieve a professional standard of sound. In the end we were able to solve this problem as our sound became much more clear and was no longer airy.Consequently, we were not able to re shoot the main character Lisa walking alone after passing a group of laughing teens instead of "the walking down the stairs scene" of her, as we simply couldn't find time to film.
My mood board
As part of research for our new film idea I developed a mood board to help create more ideas in all areas of our new film genre of "girly" "boy meets girl romcom ". This helped certain members of my group to discover more films simiular to that of our storyline.The pictures in the mood board above are of girly images strickly linking to the teen movie/ rom-com criteria.Some of the films I researched with influences from my mood board were: The Lizzie Mcguire film and The Princess Diaries.
As part of research for our new film idea I developed a mood board to help create more ideas in all areas of our new film genre of "girly" "boy meets girl romcom ". This helped certain members of my group to discover more films simiular to that of our storyline.The pictures in the mood board above are of girly images strickly linking to the teen movie/ rom-com criteria.Some of the films I researched with influences from my mood board were: The Lizzie Mcguire film and The Princess Diaries.
Friday 19 March 2010
Meeting 6
Thursday 18 March 2010
Tuesday 16 March 2010
SAUL BASS (1920-1996)
Saul Bass was not only one of the great graphic designers of the mid-20th century but the undisputed master of film title design thanks to his collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger and Martin Scorsese.
Part of his success came for Otto Preminger’s controversial new drugs movie. By the end of his life, he had created over 50 title sequences for Preminger, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, John Frankenheimer and Martin Scorsese.
Even before he made his cinematic debut, Bass was a celebrated graphic designer. After apprenticeships with Manhattan design firms, Bass worked as a freelance graphic designer or "commercial artist". He then opened his own studio in 1950 working mostly in advertising until Preminger invited him to design the poster for his 1954 movie, Carmen Jones. Impressed by the result, Preminger asked Bass to create the film’s title sequence too.
Over the next decade Bass created an animated mini-movie for Mike Todd’s 1956 Around The World In 80 Days and a tearful eye for Preminger’s 1958 Bonjour Tristesse. Blessed with the gift of identifying the one image which symbolised the movie, Bass then recreated it in a striking modern style.
In 1958’s Vertigo, his first title sequence for Alfred Hitchcock, Bass shot an extreme close-up of a woman’s face and then her eye before spinning it into a sinister spiral as a bloody red soaks the screen. This is slightly similar to our production logo – a close up of a woman’s face and her lips prior to the lipstick highlighting her lips as the logo spins onto the screen.
Part of his success came for Otto Preminger’s controversial new drugs movie. By the end of his life, he had created over 50 title sequences for Preminger, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, John Frankenheimer and Martin Scorsese.
Even before he made his cinematic debut, Bass was a celebrated graphic designer. After apprenticeships with Manhattan design firms, Bass worked as a freelance graphic designer or "commercial artist". He then opened his own studio in 1950 working mostly in advertising until Preminger invited him to design the poster for his 1954 movie, Carmen Jones. Impressed by the result, Preminger asked Bass to create the film’s title sequence too.
Over the next decade Bass created an animated mini-movie for Mike Todd’s 1956 Around The World In 80 Days and a tearful eye for Preminger’s 1958 Bonjour Tristesse. Blessed with the gift of identifying the one image which symbolised the movie, Bass then recreated it in a striking modern style.
In 1958’s Vertigo, his first title sequence for Alfred Hitchcock, Bass shot an extreme close-up of a woman’s face and then her eye before spinning it into a sinister spiral as a bloody red soaks the screen. This is slightly similar to our production logo – a close up of a woman’s face and her lips prior to the lipstick highlighting her lips as the logo spins onto the screen.
Kyle Cooper
Kyle Cooper based in LA, has directed and produced more than 100 film title sequences.
Cooper is the founder of two internationally recognised design and production companies - Prologue Films, launched in 2003, and was a finalist in the 2004 year's National Design Awards.
Creativity magazine named Cooper one of the 'Top 50 biggest and best thinkers and doers from the last 20 years of advertising and consumer culture.' The New York Times Magazine called the title sequence he created for Se7en 'One of the most important design innovations of the 1990s'.
He holds the honorary title of Royal Designer for Industry from the Royal Society of Arts and is a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale.
Cooper is the founder of two internationally recognised design and production companies - Prologue Films, launched in 2003, and was a finalist in the 2004 year's National Design Awards.
Creativity magazine named Cooper one of the 'Top 50 biggest and best thinkers and doers from the last 20 years of advertising and consumer culture.' The New York Times Magazine called the title sequence he created for Se7en 'One of the most important design innovations of the 1990s'.
He holds the honorary title of Royal Designer for Industry from the Royal Society of Arts and is a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale.
Sunday 14 March 2010
Location Recce
We chose to film our opening sequence at a school(Harris Academy South Norwood) as this was the best suited locaton for our production.We used the typical scene of a teenage girl daydreaming about a boy and therefore we chose the common location of this desk as Lisa's 'personal' spot,sticking to the traditional conventions of rom-coms.
As Lisa is filmed walking down this stair way alone this location maps out perfectly how she is practically deserted as she doesn't fit into any social group. As she walks alone this makes the audience feel sympathetic towards her.
Saturday 13 March 2010
Meeting 5
Although we had an idea of who would be suitable to act the characters in our film we hadn't yet decided who would be doing what. Later we decided Sara would be Lisa and we had two people in mind to play Owen (Duane or Paul).
We also designed a basic costume brief for the main characters.Then it was time to work individualiy on editing our footage after we had revised the tutorial from our media technition on using Adobe After Effects.
We also designed a basic costume brief for the main characters.Then it was time to work individualiy on editing our footage after we had revised the tutorial from our media technition on using Adobe After Effects.
Friday 12 March 2010
SMART TARGETS
S-specific
M-measurable
A-achieveable
R-reasonable
T-time
These smart targets will be used to help monitor our groups progress. They will also be used to ensure that all points are established;aims and goals of the production of our film opening achieved of a good quality and profesional standard.
Through following our plans devised from the smart targets this will enable us to sucessfully complete all tasks to create our opening sequence within the time frame we have been given.
M-measurable
A-achieveable
R-reasonable
T-time
These smart targets will be used to help monitor our groups progress. They will also be used to ensure that all points are established;aims and goals of the production of our film opening achieved of a good quality and profesional standard.
Through following our plans devised from the smart targets this will enable us to sucessfully complete all tasks to create our opening sequence within the time frame we have been given.
Treatment
For our titles we came up with the following:
Its Owen
All that jazz
Never gonna be the same
He's the one
In the end we settled for "He's the one" as this title would thoroughly reflect our film.This title also sums up our plot which creates a stronger appeal.
Our plot is mainly about the life of a lonley girl, Lisa who finds it hard to make friends as a reserved and very shy individual. Lisa has low self esteme because she's not confident with her looks this discorages her from trying to make friends with boys rather than girls. Which she finds even harder - mixing with girls.
Lisa life is practicly boring, she often gets upset whilst she thinks about her lack of social skills and why its so hard for to fit in as she longs to get out of her outkast profile. The charcter of Lisa is simular to the girl who plays Georgia Nicolson in the film Angus thongs and perfect snoging. Although Georgia is alot more outgoing she's not confident around boys at the start. Lisa is the same in this way.Never the less, Lisa has a crush on Owen,Owen is yet to find out but for the mean time Lisa continues to cherish the little times they bump into each other when she can only imagine her wishes come true.
Camera Angles & Editing
I have mentioned a selection of some of the camera angles and editing techniques that will be used in our opening:
A Low angle shot to emphasise on Lisa's low self esteme, as she looks down upon herself whilst walking down the school stairs feeling sympathetic.
A flashing(effect)techinque will be used for the effect of the titles appearing on screen with the production logo.
An establishing shot of the school setting will be merged to set the scene and establish the location of the sequence.
Close up shots of lisa's face showing her expressions of sad and lonliness as she can'f fit into any social groups at her school.
Medium close up of lisa again to reflect her feelings not only on how she feels about her school social life but also her deep feelings for the boy she fancies the camera movement shows the audience that Lisa is engrossed in doin something(doodling about Owen the guy she fancies).
Its Owen
All that jazz
Never gonna be the same
He's the one
In the end we settled for "He's the one" as this title would thoroughly reflect our film.This title also sums up our plot which creates a stronger appeal.
Our plot is mainly about the life of a lonley girl, Lisa who finds it hard to make friends as a reserved and very shy individual. Lisa has low self esteme because she's not confident with her looks this discorages her from trying to make friends with boys rather than girls. Which she finds even harder - mixing with girls.
Lisa life is practicly boring, she often gets upset whilst she thinks about her lack of social skills and why its so hard for to fit in as she longs to get out of her outkast profile. The charcter of Lisa is simular to the girl who plays Georgia Nicolson in the film Angus thongs and perfect snoging. Although Georgia is alot more outgoing she's not confident around boys at the start. Lisa is the same in this way.Never the less, Lisa has a crush on Owen,Owen is yet to find out but for the mean time Lisa continues to cherish the little times they bump into each other when she can only imagine her wishes come true.
Camera Angles & Editing
I have mentioned a selection of some of the camera angles and editing techniques that will be used in our opening:
A Low angle shot to emphasise on Lisa's low self esteme, as she looks down upon herself whilst walking down the school stairs feeling sympathetic.
A flashing(effect)techinque will be used for the effect of the titles appearing on screen with the production logo.
An establishing shot of the school setting will be merged to set the scene and establish the location of the sequence.
Close up shots of lisa's face showing her expressions of sad and lonliness as she can'f fit into any social groups at her school.
Medium close up of lisa again to reflect her feelings not only on how she feels about her school social life but also her deep feelings for the boy she fancies the camera movement shows the audience that Lisa is engrossed in doin something(doodling about Owen the guy she fancies).
Thursday 11 March 2010
Story Boards
The start of the strory board for our final film idea.
PICTURE 1
PICTURE 2 {storyboard pics
PICTURE 3
Our inspiration
This is the film that inspired us to produce a "girly" boy meets girl rom com film opening, appart from it being our all time favourite it had big influence in our production. Having changed from a horor genre to a boy meets girl rom com seemed a big step however, we've been successful with our final decision for our film openning.
Meetings 3 & 4
We decided to change our film opening to a teen movie/rom-com to make things easier.We also concluded that we would be able to acomplish all tasks with greater potential with this change of genre.New plans were devised to fit our new idea. We made our storyline quite simple about the life of a teenage student and her crush.
Along with all the other preparations for the process of filming and editing we disgussed several techniques on Adobe After Effects we considered to create a powerful effect. For example we thought of ways the the title could appear on screen and exit (the wipe/dissolve effect perhaps).
We created new story board and worked indivdually on our creating our mood boards as part of research.
Along with all the other preparations for the process of filming and editing we disgussed several techniques on Adobe After Effects we considered to create a powerful effect. For example we thought of ways the the title could appear on screen and exit (the wipe/dissolve effect perhaps).
We created new story board and worked indivdually on our creating our mood boards as part of research.
Tuesday 9 March 2010
Analysis of an opening sequence
The film Batman Begins tells the story of how, through the trials of his childhood, Bruce Wayne becomes Batman. The beginning of the film shows the story of his childhood and mental formation.
We are first introduced to the main character when, after having played with a friend in his garden on the family estate, he falls on a small opening in the side of a well and, following a clatter, hundreds of bats come flying out of it, trapping him in their slapping wings. The size of Bruce Wayne’s mansion and its grounds is made to look huge to make the audience laugh.
The main setting of the film is in a garden. High key lighting is used to show clearly the natural surroundings on the sunny day. The setting contrasts what young Bruce likes to do during pastimes, showing the audience that he very much likes nature. By positioning Bruce and his friend together in the frame, the camera enables the audience the see what the children are wearing; everyday casual clothes meaning it is an ordinary day.
At the start of the film opening, there is a wave of houses in black and white. This device is used to create a flashback effect, giving the audience a clue that the main character is thinking back. As Bruce Wayne wakes up to a different setting, this scene represents the end of his childhood.
Sound effects such as the sound of bats are played in the start of the film opening, we see a large group of bats in low key lighting and with lots of shading within the frame as the music is played in the background. This is done to create a mysterious effect and also to show that the main character is associated with the bats. These sound effects are also played whilst Bruce Wayne is in the well to emphasise his traumatic experience with bats. The music played during the beginning of the film is fast rock-like music which contrasts with the action genre.
Top lighting is used to reflect the different types of shadow in the well whilst low key lighting is used to exaggerate the shadows. The camera shows us a low angle showing the full view of how the boy is positioned in the well.
We then see a close up of the boys face showing his facial expressions in detail. As a result of the fall in the well, Bruce Wayne is taken in at an asylum camp. Where we see the first scene of fast action. As a fight takes place the lighting remains high key for clear visible shots. The uniform the people in the camp are wearing shows that they are in some kind of camp, the uniform signifies prison life. The fight is significant in the Bruce Wayne’s role, showing that he has been reinvented as a superhero, who will fight against injustice.
We are first introduced to the main character when, after having played with a friend in his garden on the family estate, he falls on a small opening in the side of a well and, following a clatter, hundreds of bats come flying out of it, trapping him in their slapping wings. The size of Bruce Wayne’s mansion and its grounds is made to look huge to make the audience laugh.
The main setting of the film is in a garden. High key lighting is used to show clearly the natural surroundings on the sunny day. The setting contrasts what young Bruce likes to do during pastimes, showing the audience that he very much likes nature. By positioning Bruce and his friend together in the frame, the camera enables the audience the see what the children are wearing; everyday casual clothes meaning it is an ordinary day.
At the start of the film opening, there is a wave of houses in black and white. This device is used to create a flashback effect, giving the audience a clue that the main character is thinking back. As Bruce Wayne wakes up to a different setting, this scene represents the end of his childhood.
Sound effects such as the sound of bats are played in the start of the film opening, we see a large group of bats in low key lighting and with lots of shading within the frame as the music is played in the background. This is done to create a mysterious effect and also to show that the main character is associated with the bats. These sound effects are also played whilst Bruce Wayne is in the well to emphasise his traumatic experience with bats. The music played during the beginning of the film is fast rock-like music which contrasts with the action genre.
Top lighting is used to reflect the different types of shadow in the well whilst low key lighting is used to exaggerate the shadows. The camera shows us a low angle showing the full view of how the boy is positioned in the well.
We then see a close up of the boys face showing his facial expressions in detail. As a result of the fall in the well, Bruce Wayne is taken in at an asylum camp. Where we see the first scene of fast action. As a fight takes place the lighting remains high key for clear visible shots. The uniform the people in the camp are wearing shows that they are in some kind of camp, the uniform signifies prison life. The fight is significant in the Bruce Wayne’s role, showing that he has been reinvented as a superhero, who will fight against injustice.
Sunday 7 March 2010
Meeting 2
We met at lunchtime today to disguss the props we would need for our film opening, and the locations we would need. We found that we had a bit of a problem as we initially planned to film in a park but closed after a certain time and wasn't open at the time suitable for our film plan.We soon discovered a new location that was suitable after carry out research.
Saturday 6 March 2010
Costume Research
For the main cahracters in our opening we decided that seen as the film would be best suited to a school for its location it was only key that they characters were clothed with uniform for the costumes to go with the rest of the production.
The characters are also in uniform to represent the fact that their students and to look smart which makes them appear to have a certain level of maturity.
The characters are also in uniform to represent the fact that their students and to look smart which makes them appear to have a certain level of maturity.
Analysis of two film openings
A comparison of two film openings
I have chosen to analyze Love Actually and Shrek 3 for comparison.The opening sequence of Love Actually introduces the universal theme of love. The audience are shown the love that parents feel for their children, this instantly shows that the film Love Actually is likely to be more romance than comedy.On the other hand, Shrek 3 uses many conventions of classic Disney films which ties in with its fantasy/adventure genre.
The opening sequence of both Love Actually and Shrek 3 successfully use techniques of camerawork, sound and mise en scene to establish the visual style.Shrek is introduced to us in a variety of ways which present his happiness, negative personality, exaggerate his size and make him appear to be scarier than he really is.The film starts with a close-up, birds-eye view of the story book which gives the effect that you’re reading it. Later on in the sequence we see an over the shoulder shot of Shrek cracking the mirror by looking at it this shows us that Shrek is portrayed as an ugly ogre.
Towards the end of the film opening, there is a low angle shot looking up at Shrek showing the viewer how tall he is in comparison to the villagers. We then hear the first words of the script ‘once upon a time’ and this tells the audience that the story is going to be a fairytale.
Both films introduce one of the main/central characters in the opening sequence. Consequently, the film Love Actually introduces one of the central characters played by Hugh Grant who appears to be heard but not seen in the sequence. In the beginning, the camera is at an eye level which makes the audience feel as if they were in, amongst the crowd of people in the film. This helps to put the audience in the position of Hugh Grant’s character. Close-ups are used to display expressions of emotion, emotions are shared. For example: the shots of the playful tossing of a child in the air are placed in slow motion to emphasise the heartfelt embrace actions.
The location of the film Love Actually is in the Heathrow airport, the interior gives clues about the films narratives. The titles of the two films play a big part in the opening sequences. The title font for shriek 3 is non-threatening and decorative, giving it the appearance of a children’s story. The red font for Love Actually ties with its genre; the red colour signifies love. Both films,Shriek 3 and Love Actually use orchestral sound; In love Actually, the music is an orchestral string arrangement with piano reflecting a strong sense of love and romance setting the tone of the film.
Shriek 3 is aimed at children as much as their parents. Whereas Love Actually is more for teenagers as of Juno. In conclusion, I feel that the most successful film has to be Shrek 3. It has more of a balance in terms of its target audience amongst the three films and I find it most entertaining.
I have chosen to analyze Love Actually and Shrek 3 for comparison.The opening sequence of Love Actually introduces the universal theme of love. The audience are shown the love that parents feel for their children, this instantly shows that the film Love Actually is likely to be more romance than comedy.On the other hand, Shrek 3 uses many conventions of classic Disney films which ties in with its fantasy/adventure genre.
The opening sequence of both Love Actually and Shrek 3 successfully use techniques of camerawork, sound and mise en scene to establish the visual style.Shrek is introduced to us in a variety of ways which present his happiness, negative personality, exaggerate his size and make him appear to be scarier than he really is.The film starts with a close-up, birds-eye view of the story book which gives the effect that you’re reading it. Later on in the sequence we see an over the shoulder shot of Shrek cracking the mirror by looking at it this shows us that Shrek is portrayed as an ugly ogre.
Towards the end of the film opening, there is a low angle shot looking up at Shrek showing the viewer how tall he is in comparison to the villagers. We then hear the first words of the script ‘once upon a time’ and this tells the audience that the story is going to be a fairytale.
Both films introduce one of the main/central characters in the opening sequence. Consequently, the film Love Actually introduces one of the central characters played by Hugh Grant who appears to be heard but not seen in the sequence. In the beginning, the camera is at an eye level which makes the audience feel as if they were in, amongst the crowd of people in the film. This helps to put the audience in the position of Hugh Grant’s character. Close-ups are used to display expressions of emotion, emotions are shared. For example: the shots of the playful tossing of a child in the air are placed in slow motion to emphasise the heartfelt embrace actions.
The location of the film Love Actually is in the Heathrow airport, the interior gives clues about the films narratives. The titles of the two films play a big part in the opening sequences. The title font for shriek 3 is non-threatening and decorative, giving it the appearance of a children’s story. The red font for Love Actually ties with its genre; the red colour signifies love. Both films,Shriek 3 and Love Actually use orchestral sound; In love Actually, the music is an orchestral string arrangement with piano reflecting a strong sense of love and romance setting the tone of the film.
Shriek 3 is aimed at children as much as their parents. Whereas Love Actually is more for teenagers as of Juno. In conclusion, I feel that the most successful film has to be Shrek 3. It has more of a balance in terms of its target audience amongst the three films and I find it most entertaining.
Wednesday 10 February 2010
Meeting 1
We thought carefully about potential storylines for a Horror genre and came up with two main ideas.
The first idea was that a group of girls went camping and were left traumatized aftter a member of the group discorvers a rather haunted labatory.
The second idea was still along the same lines set in woodlands however, this story was mainly based on one character a girl that was bullied so much that she soon began to develop a mental state of mind becoming a sadist and getting pleasure by inflicting pain on others.In the end this storyline was scrapped as it had been exaggerated a lot and we figured that we wouldn't have able to have produced a succesful film with this plan with all the work it would have involved.
The first idea was that a group of girls went camping and were left traumatized aftter a member of the group discorvers a rather haunted labatory.
The second idea was still along the same lines set in woodlands however, this story was mainly based on one character a girl that was bullied so much that she soon began to develop a mental state of mind becoming a sadist and getting pleasure by inflicting pain on others.In the end this storyline was scrapped as it had been exaggerated a lot and we figured that we wouldn't have able to have produced a succesful film with this plan with all the work it would have involved.
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