I watched a Music Video by Yungen with the song "Cuffin' Season" and I noticed techniques that were used in the Music Video that I would like to use in our opening sequence.
Negative Space (0:02 - 0:12) - This caught my eye straight away and gave me a clear vision of what it looks like on screen and why it would work so well.
Close up (0:18 - 0:20) - Close up on Yungen's face to show his emotion and what he may be thinking - We may use this in our opening sequence to show emotions of characters in the sequence.
Non - Diegetic Sound (0:24 - 0:29) - The heartbeat used to show his feeling. We want to use this for the music scene, with it being diegetic in the boss' place and non-diegetic in the action scene.
Overall it was a good music video and it definitely allowed me to think more about more ideas or to confirm old ones to implement into our opening sequence.
In Today's lesson we discussed ideas of how to shoot certain scenes, and with that we wanted to practice a 'Test Shot' to see if the shot would work.
From our clip we have deducted that using a skateboard for this shot would be better since it would slide across the screen and not have any jagged movements. But apart from that, and that we should have the camera slightly further away, we think its a good idea.
The success of a a film on opening weekend relies on good publicity and this will come from good marketing.
one form of marketing is interviews, directors and actors will both attend interviews that are bases around the film that is due to release. they will be asked about a variety of things from how fun the movie was to make to budget and for humour sometimes set gossip. As our group are trying ti take some influence from Quentin Tarantino, i have found an interview that was done with him about him recent release the 'Hateful8'.
another example of marketing would be teaser trailers and tv and youtube trailers.
a teaser is an early form of advert it gives away very little but just enough to grab an audiences attention, these teasers will usually be released to youtube or to the internet rather than to mainstream tv.
this example is the recently release teaser for cars 3, where this is not a thriller there are aspects of this that we could use in our opening sequence such as he use of black frames to add suspense and the lack of main character screen time to add mystery to as what is happening to the main character.
a tv or youtube ad is used to further entice an audience release a little more of the story.
this example of the recent trailer of the film sully is a really good example of a tv trailer it releases more of the story to entice audiences in. where it will release more of the story it doesn't reales to much to the point that it isn't worth seeing the film as too much of the story has been given away.
next thing that can be used as an example would be billboards advertising on road sides.this is the billboard for the film hateful8 the use of a billboard it to further advertise the film.
First we have to get the props and costumes ready fro the film. We will need a suit for each of us, toy guns and a car. The suits are easy as we all have a suit from prom we can use. Then we'll need to go to a toy store and buy a fairly realistic gun, we also need a baseball bat as a prop too so that will also need to be bought.
For shooting we will first go to Brent cross car park. Here we will shoot the scene where Tony and Al go to retrieve the package from the car. This is where the majority of the shooting will go on as most of the opening sequence takes place in the car park.
For the part showing the "Boss" on the other end of the phone, holding it up to his head, we'll go to my house, as their is an office there. This is the part that will be shot last as it will e very easy to shoot.
Negative Space (0:19 - 0:23) - The use of an area on the side for the Title shows the thought process that went through whilst making the scene.
Animation (1:25 - 1:39) - This shows the style of the movie and what the viewer can expect.
Symbolism (Throughout) - Main characters faces are shown whilst the others have only their bodies visible.
Relations (Throughout) - Shows a lot of of things related to the movie.
I also analysed the Spectre Opening Sequence.
Actual scene before titles (0:00 - 0:35) - The use of a scene beforehand of the ring which contains blood and an emblem on it, shows significance to the plot.
Specific Faces (Throughout) - Daniel Craig's character (James Bond) face is shown but everyone else is hidden and their bodies are shown, similarly to Spectre.
Transitions (0:59 - 1:08) - The transitions between the emblem and an actual octopus.
Repetition (Throughout) - The constant use of repetition of the octopus shows the significance of it to the story.
Ideas that I have developed after watching these 2 opening sequences is to try and relate anything that happens in the opening sequence to the rest of the film (Even though i'm not showing the rest, try and make it seem like it is.
Due to the violent nature of out film we have decided that our target audience is 18+ and with in this it will be more aimed at people in their 20s.
Our film is a thriller and so have done some research into what the main consumer of thriller movies are and what i found as quite shocking.From this table you can se that the main consumer of thriller films are men over 55 closely followed by females over 55.
i think one of the main reasons the statistic are this way as this info was taken from the bfi and to be able to watch films a the bfi u need to be a member and most of the members in the bfi are older people predominately male but with a quite a big female audience as well but due to the fact that they are older it will have a larger impact on the statistics of the table.
Even with this research and the evidence that is it showing we are sill going to aim our movie towards the demographic of people in their 20s, one example of thrillers being aimed at a younger audience would be films made by Quentin Tarantino.
During filming we can face many obstructions so we need to be careful and be confident with what we are doing and can guarantee that there won't be any problems
We are filming in Brent Cross Shopping Centre parking area where quite a few people are going to be walking in and out.
To avoid consultations with the higher authorities, such as the police, we need to place a sign near the elevator or stairs so when people walk in they understand that all the props are not real, and we are just shooting an Opening sequence for our Exam.
Location scouting is an important process in the pre-production of a film or TV show. Once scriptwriters, producers or directors have decided what kind of scenery they want for the various parts of their film/the show that is shot outside of the "studio" or in our case, school, the search for a suitable place or "location" outside the studio begins. Location scouts also look for generally spectacular or interesting locations beforehand. For shooting we're going to go to the giant concrete car park in Brent Cross. This will make the scene a lot more like a dodgy deal and is a common place for illegal transactions to take place, as it's fairly out of the public eye. Although it's fairly low key place, we will still need to call 999 and let the police know that we will be shooting in that area so if calls are made to the police, they'll know we're just shooting a film.
I wrote the script on the on the 14th of November 2016. I knew the movie had to be mafia Esc and that I needed to add some specific lines to make the dialogue sound like something a Mafia member would say. I used words like "schmuck" and "boss" and phrases like "forget about it" as these are terms and phrases used in other movie great like "Donnie Brasco with Johnny Depp and Al Pacino or "Casino" with Robert Deniro and Joe Petchy. The dialogue also needed to sound like somethings a New Yorker would say as that's where most Mafia members originate from. I also added stage directions into the script to make it easier for the people acting to know what they're doing, as when they're memorising the script they will also ecknowledge the dialogue in brackets.
Over the weekend, I watched the classic Spider-Man 2 starring Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker / Spider-Man and featuring Alfred Molina as Doctor Otto Octavius / Doc Ock.
From my viewing I came across many uses of techniques, that i'm going to analyse and present in this post.
Firstly a few techniques were distributed in this almost 5 minute clip alone.
Zoom(1:37 - 1:41) - Used to show a close-up shot of both the clock and Peter's (Tobey Maguire) face. This demonstrates importance in the scene of the remaining time of the pizza delivery, and the seriousness of Peter's (Tobey Maguire) face on this situation.
Mickey Mousing (2:29 - 2:40) - A sense of mirrored action with the music is given to the viewer when the music plays as he swings and lands, and stops once the pizza slice has been snatched from the man on the rooftop. Diegetic Sound (3:21 - 3:49) - The sound of the lobby music playing once the pizza has been delivered to give the viewer a sense of the environment, which is quite a boring and dull with a hint of repetition.
There were also more in this clip.
Point of View Zoom (2:16 - 2:27) - This shows the journey until the end of the tracks (also implementing fast motion). This shows danger to the audience since the train is heading at full speed and when it reaches the end, its a disaster, especially including all the cars and pedestrians underneath the tracks.
Close up shot (3:41 - 3:45) - The ripping of his suit shows the strain that Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) is facing by trying to stop a train from driving off the edge of the tracks, that saved many civilians on the train.
And in this clip.
Strauss' Theory (1:53 - 2:01) - When Doc Ock kidnaps Aunt May it pushes the narrative forward because it makes the situation with Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) more personal since it is his Aunt that has been taken hostage, and Peter (Tobey Maguire) will do absolutely everything in his power to stop it.
And finally in this clip.
Montage (Whole video) - The use of a montage shows the viewer Peter's (Tobey Maguire) new life as just Peter Parker rather than Spider-Man as well. This shows the viewer activities he does while he has a lot of free time, and the fact he does his homework and catches up in school while he couldn't whilst he was Spider-Man)
Stop Frame (1:37 - 1:40) - This shows Peter's (Tobey Maguire) expression showing that he is extremely happy with how his life is going.
Overall this film contains many techniques used to make the film, the film it is known for, but there are simply too many techniques to mention on here. Either way, this movie was very interesting and eye-catching. Overall I give it a 7.7 out of 10 rating.
Over the weekend I watched Wanted (2008), which I have attached the trailer for above.
In this film, there were many techniques used to show different emotions and sequences that are important in the film.
Firstly, it shows the use of slow motion when the character runs and jumps from the building and into the glass. This scene is powerful since it shows the audience the true power of the character and how unreal his abilities are. (0:30 - 1:17)
In the same clip it shows a reverse shot near the start of the film to show the audience the distance the bullet travelled and the type of bullet it is, since it is important for the plot to know the type of bullet. (2:26 - 2:57)
Another time, the use slow motion is effective is when FOX (Angelina Jolie's character) and Wesley (James McAvoy's character) are both in the grocery store and FOX starts the shootout. Wesley is shocked and this is shown when his face is shown to the audience in the slow motion shot. (1:10 - 1:20)
Overall, the film contained many different techniques that were very significant and used very well throughout the film, and I will give it a 8.3 out of 10 rating.
Tuesday, 22 November 2016
Today we listed multiple different techniques to do with sound, editing, misenscene, cinematography to use in our thriller so that it seems more professional. We also watched some opening scenes of years previous to get an idea of what examiners will be looking for in an opening scene. A few of the techniques to include in our opening sequence,
In today's lesson we found out about Levy Strauss and his theory. By watching an episode of 'Parks and Recreation' we have developed his theory to be "Binary opposition moves a narrative forward"
This incoperates the idea that a scene would not be able to progress if nothing 'interesting' was happening. For example, if someone was to confront someone about something and the other character agrees straight away, there would be no story. However, if the other character rebels, an argument could sprout thus backing up strauss' theory.
Today we learned about Strauss' theory "Binary opposition moves a narrative forward". To incorporate this idea we watched "parks and recreation" and picked out different bias' surrounding women and men.
On Friday we all headed to Southbank to go to a Lecture at BFI. Our session lasted from around 9am until 3:30pm with a 10 minute break, and a 45 minute lunch.
In this lecture, we discussed ideas that have been used in opening sequences such as Napoleon Dynamite, James Bond: Casino Royale and The Wedding Singer. In more detail, we discussed the use of the Macro Elements; Genre, Narrative, Character, Themes and Atmosphere and how important they are in the opening sequence.
We also had an open question and answer session with Director, Dexter Fletcher who directed such movies as Wild Bill (2011) and Eddie the Eagle starring Hugh Jackman (2016). He spoke about his movies and how he approached his opening sequences and we watched them as well. I particularly enjoyed his style since his opening sequences are almost a montage or a 2-3 minute scene to almost introduce characters and set the story.
We also discussed Micro Conventions; Colour, lighting, font, framing, costume, props and setting. The picture above shows the annotations we made in the session.
Lastly, we spoke about 10 steps to help us with our course and how to get the best results possible.
Man In The Middle This is a story of a young man helping sex addicts to overcome their addiction. However expecting a room full of men, Dave (the young man) is shocked to see a room full of young, gorgeous women. Dave has to help these women overcome their sex addiction however he feels as if he is slowly gaining one. Opening Sequence
Sound - I think i'm going to use a soft Jazz song such as "Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine" to almost create a sexual jazz feeling for the audience to hint that this show will consist of sexual activity and sexual verbs.
In the lesson with Mr Gillett (11/11/2016), we discussed ideas for our opening sequence and things that we should avoid, such as adding a Title at the end, since it is not a trailer.
We also suggested the idea that our opening sequence should only be the tip of the iceberg and have the audience understand what is submerged.
We also watched student made opening sequences from around 20 years ago to understand techniques and ways to shoot and edit our opening sequences.
In todays lesson (09/11/16) we discussed ideas for our opening sequence and we have developed a solid idea. However this may change and adapt in the future.
Our main idea is a about a gang that is after a certain object that is hidden in a trunk (the audience never know what the object is). The scene is set after a massive shootout and you see a few individuals on the ground badly injured and trying to escape from the devastating event that just occurred. The main character shoots these individuals in the head dropping them dead. The scene then cuts to darkness of the inside of the trunk and then we see the main character opening the trunk and the camera is sitting there as if it is the object, however there is no object. The trunk closes to darkness and the Director's name pops up. Intense music plays and intensifies as the video goes on.
Then the scene cuts to the main character calling his 'boss' to inform him that the object is not there. It cuts again to darkness with an actor's name. Then cuts to the 'boss' saying "what do you mean?", Then cuts again to another Actors name then cuts again to the main character and he replies with "I mean its not there". Darkness again, another actors name, then cuts to the boss who pulls down the phone and hangs up. As soon as he presses the button the screen cuts to black with the ending sound of a phone call (beep beep) then the title comes up. (Title is not yet discussed).
In yesterdays lson we came up with and developed our ideas for a tv series that would challenge gender bias, we done this is groups. to practice developing an opening sequence i decided to develop my ideas for and opening sequence for our tv series.
Well Then
"Well then" is a series that follows the life of a 20 year old phycology student who has been given the task of running an addicts support group, being young he thinks it will be an drugs or alcohol addiction support group full of men, but apon arrival of support group he find that he is wrong and is met by a room full of middle ages female sex addicts
In yesterdays lesson (01/11/16) we developed some ideas for a TV-series that would challenge gender bias. We did this in groups. To practice developing an opening sequence idea, I decided to develop my own opening sequence for our idea. Below is the mind map that we had a few minutes to construct with a few ideas such as gender switch etc.
As we come closer to the stage of this project where we will start filming storyboards will become a huge help.a storyboard is a series of small images used to visualise what a scene in a film should look like or how the director imagined it, it is useful as it helps to be able to put shots in the right order and to remember how the scene should look when finished.
i looked at already existing examples of our task, i done this so that i would be able to see the quality we should expect to produce to be able to achieve the higher grades for our opening scene.i looked at many different examples but will show 2 of my favorite ,
1 really liked this opening sequence a lot the mood created by the lighting and camera angles throughout the sequence works really well but i find that the music going from the start to around 57 seconds in doesn't fit the mood it feels to light hearted and so i will make sure to pay attention to the music to make it fell the mood i am trying to create
2 This opening sequence is very good everything in the sequence from the mise-en-scene to the editing of the titles in the sequence work very well to create a tense atmosphere.
1
2
I looked at a opening sequence called "Inner Evil" and I found it very interesting. The sequence consists of a girl who is going about her day but always facing her inner fears. The editing is particularly very good since it cuts back and forth through shots of reality and her inner fears. The Mise-en-scene was also very well done with scenes of the key that is later used to kill her in a "flash forward" showing the audience that it can be used as a weapon and highlighting the fact that she sees anything as a "threat".
The sound however could have used improvement since there was too much background noise at bits and through the cuts and edits the sound changes either volume wise, or it becomes muffles then un-muffled.
Overall the sequence was very good but still needs a few adjustments to make it perfect.
For a task, we were asked to create a short prelim whilst using and understanding Shot Reverse Shot, Match on action and the 180 degree rule.
We created this short Opening Sequence to practice editing and filming so that we are comfortable with how to do things correctly so when the official project is due to make, we are more in control of how it works.
