Friday, 28 April 2017

Marking Film Openings

Marking Film Openings
Clip: They're Coming
Level 1 (0-2)
Incomplete/minimal creative/technical skills
Level 2   (3-5)
Basic creative/technical skills                           
Level 3 (5-7)
Proficient creative/technical skills
Level 4 (8-10)
Excellent creative technical skills
Mark
Material appropriate to target audience




 8
 8
Titles conventional/appropriate



 5


 13
Sound/images and technical editing




 7

 20
Camera work/framing/variety of shot types/mise en scene



 7

 27
Editing for meaning/transitions effects



 7

 34


Overall feel



 5


 39




Total:
 39






Marking Film Openings
Clip:Rivalry
Level 1 (0-2)
Incomplete/minimal creative/technical skills
Level 2   (3-5)
Basic creative/technical skills                           
Level 3 (5-7)
Proficient creative/technical skills
Level 4 (8-10)
Excellent creative technical skills
Mark
Material appropriate to target audience



 6

 6
Titles conventional/appropriate





 11
Sound/images and technical editing




 7

 18
Camera work/framing/variety of shot types/mise en scene



 7

 25
Editing for meaning/transitions effects



 6

31 


Overall feel




 7

 38




Total:
 38



Marking Film Openings
Clip:Captive
Level 1 (0-2)
Incomplete/minimal creative/technical skills
Level 2   (3-5)
Basic creative/technical skills                           
Level 3 (5-7)
Proficient creative/technical skills
Level 4 (8-10)
Excellent creative technical skills
Mark
Material appropriate to target audience




 9
 9
Titles conventional/appropriate





 10
 19
Sound/images and technical editing





 8
 27
Camera work/framing/variety of shot types/mise en scene




 9
 36
Editing for meaning/transitions effects




 9
 45


Overall feel





 7
 52




Total:


Film Opening

Here is a YouTube link to the film opening that Alfie an I created.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZxHnQhgC8k

Thursday, 27 April 2017

Film Opening Evaluation

Our initial storyboard shows that we intended to have a lot more of an extravagant plot, with a victim being thrown into a makeshift grave by one or more antagonists, we also planned to use a shot where we would place the camera into the grave (a POV of the victim) and to shovel the dirt back into the grave (and on to the camera). However due to the lack of space we could work with as well as there only just being two of us it was soon found out that this would be very difficult to do. Therefore we aimed for it to be simple yet effective with hardly any acting in it at all, most of it would be composed of the car driving and some shots of random objects that will make the place seem very eerie.

The music that Will and I have decided to use is copy write free as the task has asked for. The music goes along well and fits in with the horror/thriller theme of the opening. The track also has many sound stings which allowed us to use these to our advantage by changing clips quickly and in time with the sound stings. We used he site Epidemic sound to download and use the sound track, this site is 100% copy write free and we have also named the author of the music piece in our opening titles to show credit where it is needed.

The props and costume that we used in the opening of our film required a lot of thought, this was due to the fact that we needed props and costumes that fit into the genre and that we could also wear/use easily. Our first thoughts were that we needed a shovel in order to dig a hole to throw the victim into, however we decided against this as we would need to get a shovel and also dig a hole into our local forest which would most likely be frowned upon by the community and also could cause a safety hazard for people using the forest. We decided to use the car for most of the shots during the opening as this allowed the audience to pay less attention towards what was happening with the props but instead pay attention to the mise-en scene and also the location and setting. The costumes on the characters needed to look casual this is due to the fact that in the films theory this would cause less suspicion among the characters and this also backs up the point that people do not need to be dressed in common criminal attire to commit crimes in film.

We took a lot of influence form the hit TV series The Walking Dead, this is due to the fact that we have a lot of cut away shots and sound stings among the opening to show credits and other parts of the setting that would not be visible in the main shots of the opening.  An example of this would be the barbed wire that ha s a close up in the opening to show danger. This also helps to keep the audience engaged with the opening and therefore they would be more likely to watch the film in its entirety. The shots are placed so that when the music hots a sting as such then the clip from the establishing shot of the car changes to one of the random shots of the scenery, therefore adding effect to the shots. We also took influence from the film Drive and other A level students work. This is due to having minimal dialogue and more mise-en scene to tell the story. We also used drive to work out how to take shots of the car in the story effectively.

The health and safety risk assessment we had to do was that we checked to make sure no sharp objects where on the road whilst the driving was taking place and that also whilst Alfie was driving the car he was not paying attention to anything other than the road and what was in front of him. The road that we were driving on was also very uneven and steep so therefore we had to make sure that the seat belts in the car where being worn at all times. We could not do any shots of the hostage whilst we were driving due to the fact that if the car were to crash then the 'hostage' would not have a belt on and consequently could have been injured. We also filmed the scene during the dusk hours this is due to the fact that we were filming in a forest and therefore there could have been wildlife later on in the evening that would be scared of the car or maybe could have attacked us eg a fox.

What we think went well - We thought we managed to get some good and effective shots in our film opening such as the POV shot and long shots. We also feel that we utilised the editing very well, as we were able to do things such as saturate out some of the colour so it looks a lot more dull. Parts of our opening were inspired to that of TV show The Walking Dead, where parts of random objects that had little to nothing to do with the actual film were put in to emphasise how isolated and abandoned the setting we used was. We aimed to have our titles presented as quite eerie and much like any other horror thriller title credits opening, we believed we have succeeded in this aspect especially with the use of the font. We also feel the setting we used was very effective, we managed to make it seem isolated and quite a creepy location.

What we could have improved - Although we though our filming location was very good for our opening, it was sometimes difficult to make an effective shot with much of the ground being uneven. We had to scrap a few ideas of shots because of the factor that filming it with the tripod was difficult as it was a challenge to get the camera perfectly straight. Although we couldn't effectively execute what was on our storyboard in the first place, we still managed to change it around to make it much easier to do. We also filmed among two days this proved to be an issue due to the fact that the sun was brighter on the second day, this meant that the camera was picking up more light which made the shots much brighter in tone. This meant that Will and I had to select the clips that were similar in tones and also the clips which we needed to include had to be changed in tone if they were different.


Editing Diary

When it came to editing, we had a very basic knowledge of how to use iMovie (because of our preliminary) however we were going to have to use a lot more editing techniques in our film opening, so the majority of what we edited is fairly new to us. We started by just adding all the clips together in temporal sequence and making sure they all cut and flow into the next shot. Afterwards we then started to experiment with transitions, we were aware that most transitions tend to negatively effect the verisimilitude of a film, but we tried anyway just in case if we could make a shot look more effective. Another aspect that was new to us was the actual opening credits. We had an idea of what they would look like, we aimed for the font to be quite creepy and more informal (such as the text font in the opening credits of Se7en) we were happy with the outcome of this. After the basic outline of the editing was done, we moved on to editing certain shots for example, we made every shot have less colour saturation so it looks dull and the forest looks a lot more lifeless. We also slowed down a couple of shots (the ones where the camera focuses on random objects in the woods) so it gave us enough time to put more credits over it, we aimed to not use too many slow motion edits as that could have an impact on the verisimilitude. Once we were happy with the overall edits we made, we took it to our teachers to see if they had any input, to which they had a few ideas on how to improve it and we tweaked it accordingly (for example we changed the type of effect the credits had as well as trying to make the cuts more in time with the music).

Filming diary

1st day of filming -10th of April 2017

The first day was all about getting the shots of the car going down the road. We took multiple shots from multiple angles of the car going throughout the forest and seeing what would work best. We also gathered some other misc shots in between (such as the shots of the dog, barbed wire and piled logs). This took a day on its own because to set the car up and have a continuous shot where there were no other pedestrians in between took an extended amount of time. All in all we managed to gain excessive footage of the car driving, this gave us plenty of room to work with when editing.

2nd day of filming - 11th of April 2017

The next day was all about finishing it off, We picked up from where the car pulled up in the road (which is when the actor was introduced). It took some time to get some of the shots as setting up the tripod on the road was very difficult as it was very uneven. Most of the footage was of the supposed antagonist going to the boot of the car and hitting the victim. We had some additional footage of the victim but decided not to use it in our final piece as it didn't fit in with the rest of the opening. We also felt that making the victim anonymous was effective in its own right. Fortunately, the location we are filming in is surrounded by trees, so the weather is less of a problem if it changes between the days.

Pitch For Film Opening

The film opening will and I are producing is following the story line that one character has taken another character as hostage. The characters identity is to be kept secret throughout the opening until the end of the scene, this is due to the fact that then the audience will be paying more attention to the setting, location and also the titles and music/sound. Will and I have been influenced by the hot TV series The Walking Dead this is due to us implementing sound stings along with cuts to random objects/actions around the scenery. This is used so that the audience does not lose concentration during the opening. To stop any confusion among the audience we have decided to use an establishing shot throughout the scene so that the audience can tell where the location and therefore setting is held.

Textual Analysis Will, Alfie

1)The conventions of a horror-thriller film includes: Not much light, darkness can often obscure things for the audience this can also create an enigma. The colours used tend to be very limited, often the colours used are black, white and grey which makes the scene look dull and has connotations to death. This opening has a green hue over most of it, which can also be connoted to illness and ultimately death as well.

2) These images were taken from the opening sequence of Se7en the thriller in 1995. This opening portrays the film to be very sinister and scary for the audience. This due to the mise-en-scene showing disfigured body parts among the opening and also a green filter which can be associated with the connotation of dark green being related to illness and consequently death. The titles that are showing the titles for the film are shown in an edgy text and appear to be shaking on the screen, this could be representing the characters personality that the film is about as someone that does these things shown in the opening to people on real life most likely has psychotic tendency's and therefore could have a non stable personality.

3) The music plays on common fears, hey have a strong relation with unhealthiness and death. This includes things like heavy machinery, hospitals and asylums. This is due to the mechanic sound that is present during the opening, the thought of heavy machinery often bring some kind of harm or damage to a person, as it is very dangerous. The hospital and asylums are shown to be quite eerie, as you can quietly hear screams and pain of people throughout the opening. This creates a sense of uneasiness and enigma to the audience, which fits in well with the visuals of the opening. The music has a constant beat in the background, this can be some kind of relation to a heartbeat and again fits in with the idea of the hospital. The beat slowly increases throughout the opening credits, this creates tension.

4) The font looks as thought it has been scratched into the screen it also has the animation of it moving and also reversing during the opening. The font is also very informal. The text animation is used to make the audience feel on edge as the text moves in a very uneasy fashion.

5) Detective Somerset is represented in this extract as more of an experienced detective. He has aged more than detective Mills and is therefore depicted as wise and thoughtful. When he is at his house, he has items around the house such as a chess board, this shows he is quite a logical man, and is a rational thinker. He also has a wooden statue of an elephant which can make him seem like a man of culture. He also tends to read a lot which can give off the impression that he is intelligent. He lays his clothes out for himself for the morning which shows he tends to plan ahead and is very organised. He also uses a metronome when going to sleep, this can give the impression he is quite thoughtful and can also connote that he is quite patient and possibly wont be irrational.
Detective Mills on the other hand is portrayed as more of a rookie detective. He isn't as experienced or wise as Somerset but he does have the confidence of someone who wants to prove themselves as a good detective. He is shown to be new to the job due to his messy lifestyle and constant rushing. When walking down the street with Somerset he occasionally bumps into people whereas Detective Somerset walks past perfectly fine, this shows that Mills is not used to the new environment around him and therefore is a rookie to the city. He tends to ask a lot of questions to Somerset, showing he is interested and possibly looks up to him as a role model. It is shown Detective Mills has a wife, and when woken up by the phone he tries to answer it quickly so not to wake her up, this shows that he is a caring person, especially for his wife.
Not a lot is shown who's hands are in the opening credits, but they make the audience feel uncomfortable by doing disturbing actions like slicing off his fingerprints and sewing while the camera focuses on the needle. This is hinted that this is the antagonist in the film, but he remains a mystery when being shown in the title credits. His motives are still yet unknown to the audience.

6) The narrative is hardly given in the opening, all the audience is shown is that there are a couple of forensic detective. the setting established in an urban area. There has been a murder, but it is made fairly insignificant to the audience.

7) The mise-en scene used has created the feeling of the genre very well. The lighting used is very dim and doesn't create many colours at all. There tends to be a lot of black/white and green colours. This has connotations of death and illness which fits in to the whole theme of the genre of the horror-thriller. The dull lighting and colours means that if any colour is shown at all that is outside fo the colour scheme used then the audience automatically draw their attention to it. The dull colours also foreshadows the dull mise-en scene throughout the film.

8) The impact it has on the audience is that it creates an enigma. We are shown someone doing strange and disturbing things like cutting of their own fingerprints on their hands, and sewing together pieces of paper, using tweezers and pens to alter what seems to be pictures and text. This gives off a creepy and disturbing feel to the audience and it is also assumed the person doing these things in the opening credits is most likely the antagonist in the film. Although we are seeing him do things that could be vital to the plot of the rest of the film, it is still unclear as to why he is doing the things that we are shown.