After completing our final cut of 'Blackout' I decided that it would be worth finding out what our target audience thought of our product. This would enable me too see what went well and where we could improve our film and to see if our target audience would actually want to see the rest of the film.
I found that overall our target audience enjoyed the opening and would want to see the rest of the film as they found it confusing and interesting and wanted to find out what happened to 'Rose' in the end. This was very encouraging for me as it showed that our hard work has paid off. There were also many positive comments about the range of creative shots we used to make our film more exciting. People also commented about the choice of music and said that it fitted in extremely well with our filming.
However, there were also some constructive critisms from our target audience and some commented on the fact our shots werent extremely steady throughout the film, this has told me that maybe we should have thought about ways to keep our shots steadier such as improvising with our tracking shots and using a trolley for example. Another useful comment was the fact that Rose's make-up and hair was too prestine for the night she supposedly had been through so if we were to re-do our film i definetly think we could have made Rose look more distressed.
After talking to my target audience about our production and taking into consideration what they said, most of it was true and there were areas where the film could be improved. However, overall i think 'Blackout' was a very successful opening if our target audience is saying that they would want to watch the rest of the film, afterall thats what an opening is supposed to do.
Monday, 7 June 2010
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
Evaluation..
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
As we were working in a group of four our film opening brought about a lot of discussion about what genre we wanted to take on and how we were going to go about making an effective film opening that will entice the viewer to watch further. All of our ideas that we came up with were brought together to create various mind maps and notes to help us finalise all of our ideas. We also completed many film analysis’ to inspire us further, this was done on a range of films in order for us to make the right decision for us as a group. Not only did we analyse films we considered other media products such as popular television programmes including Skins and Lost, both of these series have enticed huge audiences to watch each week and therefore we took inspiration from these series to make our audience want to watch the whole film. After all of this initial research we decided on a thriller/crime genre as we thought that this genre would enable us to use creative and interesting film opening.
Our film analysis enabled us to decide what media conventions we wanted to include in our film opening. We particularly liked the extensive use of both close ups and extreme close ups of the characters faces which expose their emotions. This inspired us to include many close ups of Rose’s face and costume to illustrate her fear and confusion.
However, we wanted to use a range of interesting shots and not just extensive close ups of Rose to keep the opening face paced and exciting. The 2009 thriller ‘State of Play’ was very inspirational to us as we liked many elements of the opening including the use of ‘jolty’ shots in the chase to create suspense and excitement, the dim lighting and clever framing of shots to conceal certain characters identities and the general creation of a mysterious atmosphere, not knowing what’s going to happen next. This film helped us when shooting our scene when Rose is running through the woods as we also included jolty shots of her to confuse the viewer and make them ask questions about what is going to happen next and will she be alright. It also helped when we shot our ‘drugging’ scene as we also concealed the identity of the character to make the opening more mysterious and confusing.
We also considered the angle at which to shoot our shots and come to the conclusion that we should mainly use high angle shots to emphasise Rose’s vulnerability as she is on her own in the woods and doesn’t know why she is there.
However, a film good opening is not just about the shots you use. We also had to think about other aspects such as the casting of our main character Rose, the mis-en-scene and the setting in which to shoot our opening in. We chose to cast Sophie as our main character mainly because of her appearance and ability to act. She is a young, blonde, pretty girl who is the ‘stereotypical’ actress for this genre of film and is the type of actress that will attract our audience to watch the film. Our costuming was also carefully thought about as Rose we needed to portray some of Roses personality through her clothes. We chose to dress her in brightly coloured, glamorous clothing to help the viewer establish that she is an outgoing, party girl who likes to get dressed up and have fun with her friends. Finally, our setting in the woods was chosen as it emphasises the vulnerability and fear of Rose and is the typical thriller/horror movie setting.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
As the main character of our film opening is a young female, our media product represents both females and young people. These social groups are represented in contrasting lights during this film opening. Through the use of high angle shots, dramatic music and our choice of costume for Rose the film portrays these social groups as vulnerable and weak..
This high angle shot is a great example of a vulnerable representation of young females in “Blackout”. As she is stumbling through the woods, it gives the impression that she is scared and is not quite sure where she is. Also, her costuming has been cleverly thought out and her being dressed in ripped tights creates the connotation that she is hurt and confuses the viewer to make them ask questions of what has actually happened to Rose.
However, we should have thought about Sophie’s make-up before we began to shoot "Blackout" as her make-up is too pristine for someone who has had a rough night out and ended up in the woods on her own. If we had thought about this beforehand we could have made her look more 'rough' and therefore it would have added to the vulnerable representation of her.
Contrastingly, the film then reveals another side to these social groups through many changes such as those in the scenery, to the music to a more upbeat song and a change in her acting from stumbling to dancing this then illustrates the extravagant, fun life that Rose leads with her friends.
As this shot shows, these changes establish Rose’s lavish middle-upper class life style through her appearance and behaviour. She is obviously out for a good time and even possibly ‘asking for it’, this is illustrated through her being well dressed in a sparkly top and short skirt and her expensive accessories.
During the rave scene we decided to let the viewers have a short glimpse of Rose’s kidnapper. However, this creates more questions for them to ask as they can see that the kidnapper is female so they will wonder how they would manage to do this by themselves? The use of a female character for the kidnapper goes against the gender stereotype of females being loving and caring and shows females in a new light of being nasty and deceitful. Although the viewer now knows that her kidnapper is female her actual identity is concealed through the use of clever costuming of her being in a ‘hoodie’ with the hood up covering her face. The use of this hoodie also creates a stereotypical view of working-class thugs and makes the viewer ask if there is a class conflict between the two and maybe that is the reason for her drugging Rose.
The media has long been a central part of the sociological phenomenon known as 'Moral Panic' and by her kidnapper wearing a hoodie this also taps into the moral panic of the hoodie that was created by the media. In this case, the hoodie is seen as the 'folk devil' as the media have created this image of the hoodie as being linked to crime and deviance.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Although ‘Blackout’ is a very low budget film created by talented media students it has a strong message to young people to be aware of the dangers they put themselves in. Therefore I believe if this film was to be done on a larger budget serious film institutions would be interested in distributing it due to the message it sends out to young people. They would also look at the cost versus revenue analysis of the film and realise that as it can be made on a fairly low budget due to the use of ‘unknown’ actresses and little need for special effects, they could make a lot of money out of the film even up to 1000% profit and therefore be very interested in distributing it. There are many very successful low budget films out there such as Blair Witch, Saw and Desperado which show how a simple, yet good story line can sell just as much as those ridiculously expensive to make films.
There are many media institutions out there that produce and distribute films of the same genre as ‘Blackout’. I have found Relativity Media produce similar films such as State of Play and Bank Job so may be interested in producing Blackout. I also found Alfa films that have distributed films such as Halloween and The Grudge 2 so they may be interested in distributing our film. These similar films are of the same genre as Blackout and have many of the same media conventions in them such as a mysterious or confusing story line.
However, due to our song choice of the film we are unable to sell our film to make a profit as we do not have the rights to the songs that we have used for educational purposes. Although, if a big media institution were to produce and distribute our film a famous band may be interested in creating a song for our film as it could promote them as well as enhancing our film.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
‘Blackout’ is a film that would tend to interest a range of people due to the nature of the film. However, it is mainly aimed at the younger generation as it is a modern film set in modern times. This generation can therefore relate to what’s going on in the film. They would be either gender with a particular interest in thriller or horror type media products such as TV series ‘Lost’ and other films such as ‘The Hills Have Eyes’. However, women are more likely to be able to relate to Rose as she is also female. This gender was chosen in order for our film to have the greatest affect on the audience members as females are generally more emotional and will relate Roses situation to a similar one of the own. The audience will also enjoy films with an interesting or confusing story line that they almost have to figure out themselves so it can help them understand the film more.
This film would not be suitable for anyone under the age of fifteen as they may find it disturbing and even the older generations (60+) as they would also find this film disturbing and prefer to watch something more light hearted.
How did you attract/address your audience?
After establishing our target audience of ‘Blackout’ and determining what they look for in a film we had to make sure that we included everything they would expect from a thriller. They key to our film is anticipation, we had to make sure that our viewers were constantly asking questions about Rose’s situation and wanting to know what happens next. Firstly our production took on the kidnapper versus victim angle to make sure the viewer was immediately asking questions about what’s going on and what’s going to happen. By using the ‘typical’ settings and conventions of thrillers of being in a wood and establishing shots of Rose slowly waking up and then picking the pace up with quick edits we immediately build up tension in the viewers mind so they want to watch on to see if they can figure out what’s about to happen. We also wanted to be adventurous with our camera shots and angles as our audience would be familiar with the work of directors such as Danny Boyle, Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese. This is why we chose to include an interesting 360 degree shot going around Rose giving the impression she is dizzy and confused and taking high angle shots from trees to emphasise Roses vulnerability. We then edited these shots to enhance them by blurring them or slowing them down.
As we are targeting a younger generation we had to make sure they could relate to what’s going on so they would want to watch it. Therefore our choice of music was very important; we chose two fairly recent songs so that our audience is most likely to be familiar with the songs. Our viewers will also be able to relate to having a ‘heavy’ night out and perhaps something mysterious happening to them then they were under the influence. They can also empathise with Rose and understand her emotions of being in this horrible situation and not being able to remember anything from the night before. Our casting was also heavily thought about beforehand, we decided to cast a young, blonde, pretty female as Rose as a lot of gender media studies have shown audiences enjoy watching young, blonde, pretty, females as victims. These type of films go right back to Psycho, The Birds, Halloween and Scream. For males this may be a sadistic aspect or maybe even sexual as the ‘unattainable’ is punished. For females it is most likely to be ‘Schadenfreude’ which is a German word meaning ‘pleasure in the suffering of others’.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
During the process of constructing this film opening I have had the chance to learn a lot about Imovie and how it works as we used this software to edit our film. I have learnt how to simply cut the footage and create a simple outline of our film and also how to add effects to the clips such as slowing them down and putting a blurring over them. I have also learnt how to insert transitions between the shots as wash in and outs were used between the flashbacks to give the impression of separation so the two times are separate.
I have also learnt a lot about using a camera correctly to create interesting and effective shots. I now know that you need to think about the framing of the shot so it is giving exactly the message you want it to. Tripods are very useful when trying to create a steady shot or a pan of a setting, I have learnt how to set them up correctly and use them to my advantage.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in progression from it to the full product?
Looking back at our preliminary task I have learnt a great deal of new media skills from taking multiple shots at different angles to editing. I think I have developed my editing skills the most through this process as I have learnt how to put a blurring effect over shots and also how to slow them down however I would like to improve on my filming skills further and how to frame shots better.
However, I have not just learnt technical skills I have also improved my organisational, creativity and decision making skills through organising equipment for filming days, creating story boards and deciding on how to get the shot we want.
As we were working in a group of four our film opening brought about a lot of discussion about what genre we wanted to take on and how we were going to go about making an effective film opening that will entice the viewer to watch further. All of our ideas that we came up with were brought together to create various mind maps and notes to help us finalise all of our ideas. We also completed many film analysis’ to inspire us further, this was done on a range of films in order for us to make the right decision for us as a group. Not only did we analyse films we considered other media products such as popular television programmes including Skins and Lost, both of these series have enticed huge audiences to watch each week and therefore we took inspiration from these series to make our audience want to watch the whole film. After all of this initial research we decided on a thriller/crime genre as we thought that this genre would enable us to use creative and interesting film opening.
Our film analysis enabled us to decide what media conventions we wanted to include in our film opening. We particularly liked the extensive use of both close ups and extreme close ups of the characters faces which expose their emotions. This inspired us to include many close ups of Rose’s face and costume to illustrate her fear and confusion.
However, we wanted to use a range of interesting shots and not just extensive close ups of Rose to keep the opening face paced and exciting. The 2009 thriller ‘State of Play’ was very inspirational to us as we liked many elements of the opening including the use of ‘jolty’ shots in the chase to create suspense and excitement, the dim lighting and clever framing of shots to conceal certain characters identities and the general creation of a mysterious atmosphere, not knowing what’s going to happen next. This film helped us when shooting our scene when Rose is running through the woods as we also included jolty shots of her to confuse the viewer and make them ask questions about what is going to happen next and will she be alright. It also helped when we shot our ‘drugging’ scene as we also concealed the identity of the character to make the opening more mysterious and confusing.
We also considered the angle at which to shoot our shots and come to the conclusion that we should mainly use high angle shots to emphasise Rose’s vulnerability as she is on her own in the woods and doesn’t know why she is there.
However, a film good opening is not just about the shots you use. We also had to think about other aspects such as the casting of our main character Rose, the mis-en-scene and the setting in which to shoot our opening in. We chose to cast Sophie as our main character mainly because of her appearance and ability to act. She is a young, blonde, pretty girl who is the ‘stereotypical’ actress for this genre of film and is the type of actress that will attract our audience to watch the film. Our costuming was also carefully thought about as Rose we needed to portray some of Roses personality through her clothes. We chose to dress her in brightly coloured, glamorous clothing to help the viewer establish that she is an outgoing, party girl who likes to get dressed up and have fun with her friends. Finally, our setting in the woods was chosen as it emphasises the vulnerability and fear of Rose and is the typical thriller/horror movie setting.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
As the main character of our film opening is a young female, our media product represents both females and young people. These social groups are represented in contrasting lights during this film opening. Through the use of high angle shots, dramatic music and our choice of costume for Rose the film portrays these social groups as vulnerable and weak..
This high angle shot is a great example of a vulnerable representation of young females in “Blackout”. As she is stumbling through the woods, it gives the impression that she is scared and is not quite sure where she is. Also, her costuming has been cleverly thought out and her being dressed in ripped tights creates the connotation that she is hurt and confuses the viewer to make them ask questions of what has actually happened to Rose.
However, we should have thought about Sophie’s make-up before we began to shoot "Blackout" as her make-up is too pristine for someone who has had a rough night out and ended up in the woods on her own. If we had thought about this beforehand we could have made her look more 'rough' and therefore it would have added to the vulnerable representation of her.
Contrastingly, the film then reveals another side to these social groups through many changes such as those in the scenery, to the music to a more upbeat song and a change in her acting from stumbling to dancing this then illustrates the extravagant, fun life that Rose leads with her friends.
As this shot shows, these changes establish Rose’s lavish middle-upper class life style through her appearance and behaviour. She is obviously out for a good time and even possibly ‘asking for it’, this is illustrated through her being well dressed in a sparkly top and short skirt and her expensive accessories.
During the rave scene we decided to let the viewers have a short glimpse of Rose’s kidnapper. However, this creates more questions for them to ask as they can see that the kidnapper is female so they will wonder how they would manage to do this by themselves? The use of a female character for the kidnapper goes against the gender stereotype of females being loving and caring and shows females in a new light of being nasty and deceitful. Although the viewer now knows that her kidnapper is female her actual identity is concealed through the use of clever costuming of her being in a ‘hoodie’ with the hood up covering her face. The use of this hoodie also creates a stereotypical view of working-class thugs and makes the viewer ask if there is a class conflict between the two and maybe that is the reason for her drugging Rose.
The media has long been a central part of the sociological phenomenon known as 'Moral Panic' and by her kidnapper wearing a hoodie this also taps into the moral panic of the hoodie that was created by the media. In this case, the hoodie is seen as the 'folk devil' as the media have created this image of the hoodie as being linked to crime and deviance.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Although ‘Blackout’ is a very low budget film created by talented media students it has a strong message to young people to be aware of the dangers they put themselves in. Therefore I believe if this film was to be done on a larger budget serious film institutions would be interested in distributing it due to the message it sends out to young people. They would also look at the cost versus revenue analysis of the film and realise that as it can be made on a fairly low budget due to the use of ‘unknown’ actresses and little need for special effects, they could make a lot of money out of the film even up to 1000% profit and therefore be very interested in distributing it. There are many very successful low budget films out there such as Blair Witch, Saw and Desperado which show how a simple, yet good story line can sell just as much as those ridiculously expensive to make films.
There are many media institutions out there that produce and distribute films of the same genre as ‘Blackout’. I have found Relativity Media produce similar films such as State of Play and Bank Job so may be interested in producing Blackout. I also found Alfa films that have distributed films such as Halloween and The Grudge 2 so they may be interested in distributing our film. These similar films are of the same genre as Blackout and have many of the same media conventions in them such as a mysterious or confusing story line.
However, due to our song choice of the film we are unable to sell our film to make a profit as we do not have the rights to the songs that we have used for educational purposes. Although, if a big media institution were to produce and distribute our film a famous band may be interested in creating a song for our film as it could promote them as well as enhancing our film.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
‘Blackout’ is a film that would tend to interest a range of people due to the nature of the film. However, it is mainly aimed at the younger generation as it is a modern film set in modern times. This generation can therefore relate to what’s going on in the film. They would be either gender with a particular interest in thriller or horror type media products such as TV series ‘Lost’ and other films such as ‘The Hills Have Eyes’. However, women are more likely to be able to relate to Rose as she is also female. This gender was chosen in order for our film to have the greatest affect on the audience members as females are generally more emotional and will relate Roses situation to a similar one of the own. The audience will also enjoy films with an interesting or confusing story line that they almost have to figure out themselves so it can help them understand the film more.
This film would not be suitable for anyone under the age of fifteen as they may find it disturbing and even the older generations (60+) as they would also find this film disturbing and prefer to watch something more light hearted.
How did you attract/address your audience?
After establishing our target audience of ‘Blackout’ and determining what they look for in a film we had to make sure that we included everything they would expect from a thriller. They key to our film is anticipation, we had to make sure that our viewers were constantly asking questions about Rose’s situation and wanting to know what happens next. Firstly our production took on the kidnapper versus victim angle to make sure the viewer was immediately asking questions about what’s going on and what’s going to happen. By using the ‘typical’ settings and conventions of thrillers of being in a wood and establishing shots of Rose slowly waking up and then picking the pace up with quick edits we immediately build up tension in the viewers mind so they want to watch on to see if they can figure out what’s about to happen. We also wanted to be adventurous with our camera shots and angles as our audience would be familiar with the work of directors such as Danny Boyle, Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese. This is why we chose to include an interesting 360 degree shot going around Rose giving the impression she is dizzy and confused and taking high angle shots from trees to emphasise Roses vulnerability. We then edited these shots to enhance them by blurring them or slowing them down.
As we are targeting a younger generation we had to make sure they could relate to what’s going on so they would want to watch it. Therefore our choice of music was very important; we chose two fairly recent songs so that our audience is most likely to be familiar with the songs. Our viewers will also be able to relate to having a ‘heavy’ night out and perhaps something mysterious happening to them then they were under the influence. They can also empathise with Rose and understand her emotions of being in this horrible situation and not being able to remember anything from the night before. Our casting was also heavily thought about beforehand, we decided to cast a young, blonde, pretty female as Rose as a lot of gender media studies have shown audiences enjoy watching young, blonde, pretty, females as victims. These type of films go right back to Psycho, The Birds, Halloween and Scream. For males this may be a sadistic aspect or maybe even sexual as the ‘unattainable’ is punished. For females it is most likely to be ‘Schadenfreude’ which is a German word meaning ‘pleasure in the suffering of others’.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
During the process of constructing this film opening I have had the chance to learn a lot about Imovie and how it works as we used this software to edit our film. I have learnt how to simply cut the footage and create a simple outline of our film and also how to add effects to the clips such as slowing them down and putting a blurring over them. I have also learnt how to insert transitions between the shots as wash in and outs were used between the flashbacks to give the impression of separation so the two times are separate.
I have also learnt a lot about using a camera correctly to create interesting and effective shots. I now know that you need to think about the framing of the shot so it is giving exactly the message you want it to. Tripods are very useful when trying to create a steady shot or a pan of a setting, I have learnt how to set them up correctly and use them to my advantage.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in progression from it to the full product?
Looking back at our preliminary task I have learnt a great deal of new media skills from taking multiple shots at different angles to editing. I think I have developed my editing skills the most through this process as I have learnt how to put a blurring effect over shots and also how to slow them down however I would like to improve on my filming skills further and how to frame shots better.
However, I have not just learnt technical skills I have also improved my organisational, creativity and decision making skills through organising equipment for filming days, creating story boards and deciding on how to get the shot we want.
Monday, 15 March 2010
Thursday, 18 February 2010
Feedback Analysis..
The feedback we received was very useful for our final re-shoots and edits. Although there was way more negatives than positives, we were aware this would happen as our first cut wasn't great due to lack of re-shooting. We now have finalised what we need to re-shoot so on our re-shoot day we can get all the shots we need in order to complete our final cut.
We have decided to include a lot more close ups to create a more dramatic effect to the film opening to give more detail of Sophie's emotions at the time. We are going to look at the transitions before and after the flashbacks to establish whether to make them longer.
However, some of the criticisms are difficult to correct such as having more people at the party. This is due to not many people wanting to come and act in our film. Also some of the comments contradicted each other as one person didn't like the choice of song whereas many liked the song choice.
We have decided to include a lot more close ups to create a more dramatic effect to the film opening to give more detail of Sophie's emotions at the time. We are going to look at the transitions before and after the flashbacks to establish whether to make them longer.
However, some of the criticisms are difficult to correct such as having more people at the party. This is due to not many people wanting to come and act in our film. Also some of the comments contradicted each other as one person didn't like the choice of song whereas many liked the song choice.
Feedback..
The +'s
"P.O.V. shots are very effective"
"Good flow with the music"
"Good effects, sound and acting"
"Good music, continuity, edits and story"
"Really good camera shots and acting"
"Good choice of music, contrast with flash backs and good combination with filming"
The -'s
"The transitions need to be longer, between the flash backs"
"Needs a close up before the second to last flash back of her face"
"Music should stop when she's running away"
"Close up needs to be redone"
"More distressed central character! Smeared mascara etc."
"Needs steadier camera"
"Should have more people at the party"
"Slipping the drug could be better"
"More diagetic sound and suspencse needed"
"Not sure if music with lyrics helps tell the story or is a distraction, makes me think of a music video."
"P.O.V. shots are very effective"
"Good flow with the music"
"Good effects, sound and acting"
"Good music, continuity, edits and story"
"Really good camera shots and acting"
"Good choice of music, contrast with flash backs and good combination with filming"
The -'s
"The transitions need to be longer, between the flash backs"
"Needs a close up before the second to last flash back of her face"
"Music should stop when she's running away"
"Close up needs to be redone"
"More distressed central character! Smeared mascara etc."
"Needs steadier camera"
"Should have more people at the party"
"Slipping the drug could be better"
"More diagetic sound and suspencse needed"
"Not sure if music with lyrics helps tell the story or is a distraction, makes me think of a music video."
First Cut..
Unfortunately I forgot my memory stick to put the first cut onto my blog before we started editing our final cut so I am now unable to show the first cut of "Blackout".
Copyright Music..
As we have chosen copyrighted songs we have had to e-mail the licensing companies to gain permission to use both of these tracks. For the Kings of Leon track we have to contact sony music to gain permision to use their song so Becky e-mailed them..
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to ask if i would be able to use Kings Of Leon's track Closer in a media project that i am doing at school. This track would be used for educational purposes only and will be completely non-profitable.
Yours sincerly,
Becky Morrish
For the Prodigy track we had to contat XL Records to gain permission to use their track..
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to ask if i would be able to use Kings Of Leon's track Closer in a media project that i am doing at school. This track would be used for educational purposes only and will be completely non-profitable.
Yours sincerly,
Becky Morrish
For the Prodigy track we had to contat XL Records to gain permission to use their track..
Music Choice..
Deciding on the music has taken a while as we wanted the song to fit the footage perfectly. These are the songs we had in mind for the main footage of Sophie in the woods..
'Said It All' by Take That
This song is a mellow sad song however it doesn't quite fit with the footage as the lyrics start too soon and we want just the music for the first few shots of the film.
'Change' by Daniel Merriweather
This song was way too up beat for the film. It is also quite a happy song which would look stupid really as the film is a thriller/horror.
'Closer' by Kings Of Leon
This song fits the footage perfectly and gives the effect we wanted. Its eery and has a slow beginning with no lyrics.
'Sing' by Travis
The very beginning of this track is quite headachy and it carries on through the first section of the song which would put of the viewers. It then goes on to be quite up beat and happy.
'Before The Worst' by The Script
The very beginning of this song does fit the footage reasonably well however this is also an up beat song which doesn't give the effect we want.
'Resin On My Heart Strings' by Newton Faulkner
This track does start of slowly however the lyrics come in too quickly, we want them to come later on.
'Use Somebody' by Kings Of Leon
This is too up beat for the first few shots of 'Blackout' however it does fit well when Sophie is spinning round and stumbling about the woods.
We also needed a song for the party scenes but only came up with a couple of potential tracks we could use..
'Tarantula' by Pendulum
This is way too slow for our party scene and just doesn't fit well enough with the footage.
'Warriors Dance' by The Prodigy
This track is fits perfectly with our party scene so we will be using this song for our party scenes.
The Chosen..
Here is our two chosen songs for our film.
"Closer" Kings Of Leon
"Warriors Dance" The Prodigy
'Said It All' by Take That
This song is a mellow sad song however it doesn't quite fit with the footage as the lyrics start too soon and we want just the music for the first few shots of the film.
'Change' by Daniel Merriweather
This song was way too up beat for the film. It is also quite a happy song which would look stupid really as the film is a thriller/horror.
'Closer' by Kings Of Leon
This song fits the footage perfectly and gives the effect we wanted. Its eery and has a slow beginning with no lyrics.
'Sing' by Travis
The very beginning of this track is quite headachy and it carries on through the first section of the song which would put of the viewers. It then goes on to be quite up beat and happy.
'Before The Worst' by The Script
The very beginning of this song does fit the footage reasonably well however this is also an up beat song which doesn't give the effect we want.
'Resin On My Heart Strings' by Newton Faulkner
This track does start of slowly however the lyrics come in too quickly, we want them to come later on.
'Use Somebody' by Kings Of Leon
This is too up beat for the first few shots of 'Blackout' however it does fit well when Sophie is spinning round and stumbling about the woods.
We also needed a song for the party scenes but only came up with a couple of potential tracks we could use..
'Tarantula' by Pendulum
This is way too slow for our party scene and just doesn't fit well enough with the footage.
'Warriors Dance' by The Prodigy
This track is fits perfectly with our party scene so we will be using this song for our party scenes.
The Chosen..
Here is our two chosen songs for our film.
"Closer" Kings Of Leon
"Warriors Dance" The Prodigy
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Production Log..
20th January..
We finally completed all the planning today so we are now able to go out and begin filming. We have changed aspects of the film already as we believe some of the shots we initially thought of weren't amazing and wouldn't create the effect we are after.
26th January..
Today went well as we got all the first shots of the woods done, however they aren't up to the correct standard yet so we are planning to re-shoot those on our re-shoot day. We found that our setting fits very well for our film however it causes problems as it is the middle of winter so our actress, Sophie, was rather cold so we will have to address this on our re-shoot day.
27th January..
We had a few problems getting into the drama studio so were unable to complete the flashback shots today, although we did manage to get some filming of the point of view shots done. We tested out some effects on the camera such as slowing it down to create a blurred effect. However, these shots were also not up to the standard we want them for the final cut of the film as the slowing down of the footage was a bit too slow for most of the takes so these shots will also be re-shot on the re-shoot day.
29th January..
Due to the inability of filming the flashback shots we were only able to cut and edit the first few shots of the woods and the point of view shots for our first cut of the film. Therefore we have little footage to edit at the moment so we need to get our there and shoot the rest of the film in order for us to finish the final cut.
31st January..
Our full day of filming went very well as we have got many shots that can be used in the final cut of "Blackout". I believe this is because we stuck to our story board quite well although some shots were difficult to shoot due to our setting of the woods so they may have to be re-shot. In particular, the 360 degree pan around Sophie shot from a high angle was very effective and will definitely be used in the final cut. However this shot did cause a few problems as we were in the woods it was hard to find a method to create this shot effectively. In the end we decided to slow the camera speed and have Steve walking in the opposited direction to the way Sophie was spinning around. We thought that this gave the best effect as the other shots we took didnt look professional at all. Despite us filming a lot of footage that can be used in the final cut there are still some re-shoots needing to be done as some shots weren't that amazing, especially the shot of Sophie as she is stumbling about the woods, although it is quite clever and being filmed from a tree it is way too long so we will have to break it up a bit with some close ups. We plan to re-shoot those shots on the 17th february, obviously depending on the weather.
1st-3rd February..
Editing has gone well although as we do not have all the correct footage we are unable to complete the film until we have re-shot and got the shots that we want. Once we have got those shots we can play around with the editing to make the film opening more effective.
8th February..
Today we have decided to go and shoot the flashback shots as we have access to the drama studio. As the drama studio has lighting that we could play around with we took advantage of this for the party scene so we could give the effect that Sophie was actually at a club. Overall the filming went well and we have got all the shots we need for the final cut which is great.
9th February..
We now have a basic first cut of the film due to our filming yesterday however it's not amazing as we haven't had the time to go and re-shoot yet. We have also been researching the music that we want to incorporate in "Blackout" and come to the conclusion that we are going to use 'Closer' by Kings of Leon and 'Warriors Dance' by The Prodigy which we have put into the first cut. Hopefully now we can get the shots we need and bring the film up to the standard that we want it. As we had the first rough cut of the film, we got some students to evaluate our first rough cut of "Blackout". Overall they liked the general idea however as we knew there was a lot of critism about the filming, but we can sort that on our re-shoot day.
17th February..
We planned a re-shot day today however the weather has turned against us as it is raining so we will be unable to go out into the woods to do our re-shooting. This is definitely a drawback of filming outside however our setting adds to the whole thriller/horror genre. The plan is to see what the weather is like tomorrow and continue filming tomorrow depending on the weather:
From this forecast we can see that we may not be able to re-shoot tomorrow however fridays weather looks ok to go out a film. Therefore we may have to delay it for another day until friday.
18th February..
Raining again. Therefore our re-shoot day has been postponed again which is not looking good!
23rd February..
Finally we had our re-shoot day. It went well as we got the close ups that we wanted and we had a few new ideas while we were there so we took a few experimental shots that may be used in our final cut.
We finally completed all the planning today so we are now able to go out and begin filming. We have changed aspects of the film already as we believe some of the shots we initially thought of weren't amazing and wouldn't create the effect we are after.
26th January..
Today went well as we got all the first shots of the woods done, however they aren't up to the correct standard yet so we are planning to re-shoot those on our re-shoot day. We found that our setting fits very well for our film however it causes problems as it is the middle of winter so our actress, Sophie, was rather cold so we will have to address this on our re-shoot day.
27th January..
We had a few problems getting into the drama studio so were unable to complete the flashback shots today, although we did manage to get some filming of the point of view shots done. We tested out some effects on the camera such as slowing it down to create a blurred effect. However, these shots were also not up to the standard we want them for the final cut of the film as the slowing down of the footage was a bit too slow for most of the takes so these shots will also be re-shot on the re-shoot day.
29th January..
Due to the inability of filming the flashback shots we were only able to cut and edit the first few shots of the woods and the point of view shots for our first cut of the film. Therefore we have little footage to edit at the moment so we need to get our there and shoot the rest of the film in order for us to finish the final cut.
31st January..
Our full day of filming went very well as we have got many shots that can be used in the final cut of "Blackout". I believe this is because we stuck to our story board quite well although some shots were difficult to shoot due to our setting of the woods so they may have to be re-shot. In particular, the 360 degree pan around Sophie shot from a high angle was very effective and will definitely be used in the final cut. However this shot did cause a few problems as we were in the woods it was hard to find a method to create this shot effectively. In the end we decided to slow the camera speed and have Steve walking in the opposited direction to the way Sophie was spinning around. We thought that this gave the best effect as the other shots we took didnt look professional at all. Despite us filming a lot of footage that can be used in the final cut there are still some re-shoots needing to be done as some shots weren't that amazing, especially the shot of Sophie as she is stumbling about the woods, although it is quite clever and being filmed from a tree it is way too long so we will have to break it up a bit with some close ups. We plan to re-shoot those shots on the 17th february, obviously depending on the weather.
1st-3rd February..
Editing has gone well although as we do not have all the correct footage we are unable to complete the film until we have re-shot and got the shots that we want. Once we have got those shots we can play around with the editing to make the film opening more effective.
8th February..
Today we have decided to go and shoot the flashback shots as we have access to the drama studio. As the drama studio has lighting that we could play around with we took advantage of this for the party scene so we could give the effect that Sophie was actually at a club. Overall the filming went well and we have got all the shots we need for the final cut which is great.
9th February..
We now have a basic first cut of the film due to our filming yesterday however it's not amazing as we haven't had the time to go and re-shoot yet. We have also been researching the music that we want to incorporate in "Blackout" and come to the conclusion that we are going to use 'Closer' by Kings of Leon and 'Warriors Dance' by The Prodigy which we have put into the first cut. Hopefully now we can get the shots we need and bring the film up to the standard that we want it. As we had the first rough cut of the film, we got some students to evaluate our first rough cut of "Blackout". Overall they liked the general idea however as we knew there was a lot of critism about the filming, but we can sort that on our re-shoot day.
17th February..
We planned a re-shot day today however the weather has turned against us as it is raining so we will be unable to go out into the woods to do our re-shooting. This is definitely a drawback of filming outside however our setting adds to the whole thriller/horror genre. The plan is to see what the weather is like tomorrow and continue filming tomorrow depending on the weather:
From this forecast we can see that we may not be able to re-shoot tomorrow however fridays weather looks ok to go out a film. Therefore we may have to delay it for another day until friday.
18th February..
Raining again. Therefore our re-shoot day has been postponed again which is not looking good!
23rd February..
Finally we had our re-shoot day. It went well as we got the close ups that we wanted and we had a few new ideas while we were there so we took a few experimental shots that may be used in our final cut.
Sunday, 31 January 2010
Equipment list..
General
Video Camera
Tripod
Video Tape
Microphone
Props
Alcoholic Bottles
Glass
Tablet
Lighting
Costume
Little Dress
High Heels
Heavy Make-up
Ripped tights
Video Camera
Tripod
Video Tape
Microphone
Props
Alcoholic Bottles
Glass
Tablet
Lighting
Costume
Little Dress
High Heels
Heavy Make-up
Ripped tights
Scripts..
Synopsis
Our film opening "Blackout" begins with the young girl [Rose Kensington] in the woods who has clearly been doing drugs the night before and has no idea how and why she got there. It then goes on to give the impression that something or someone is following her, however the viewer does not find out who or what it is to create an element of confusion. The viewer cannot tell if she is even being followed as it may just be the effect of the drugs. To emphasise this feeling of confusion the opening includes a series of flashbacks of Rose the night before where the viewer sees her at a club drinking with friends. Later on, as she is trying to remember how and why she got there she flash's back to her drink being spiked; this then reveals to the viewer that she was on drugs but they do not know who drugged her.
Throughout the rest of the film it goes on to tell the story of Roses tragic life from then on. It tells of her kidnapp and how she becomes the slave to her kidnapper.
Script
Character
Name: Rose Kensington
Age: 19
Background: Rose comes from a rich, middle class family and lives in a large family home in the suburbs of London. She is a very outgoing individual which her family do not agree with, they despise the fact that she is out all the time with her rebelious friends partying.
Plot
[Rose is led in the woods 'passed out'.]
[She then has a flashback of the night before of her at the party.]
[She wakes up under the influence of drugs and can't understand how and why she got there.]
[She has another flashback of her dancing with friends at the party, where someone spikes her drink.]
[She looks around to see if anyone is there and hears something so begins to run away.]
[She then has her final flashback of her drinking and then the drugs taking thier effect.]
[The glass falls and smashes across the floor.]
[She trips and falls in the woods while she is running as she is looking behind her.]
[Blackout]
Our film opening "Blackout" begins with the young girl [Rose Kensington] in the woods who has clearly been doing drugs the night before and has no idea how and why she got there. It then goes on to give the impression that something or someone is following her, however the viewer does not find out who or what it is to create an element of confusion. The viewer cannot tell if she is even being followed as it may just be the effect of the drugs. To emphasise this feeling of confusion the opening includes a series of flashbacks of Rose the night before where the viewer sees her at a club drinking with friends. Later on, as she is trying to remember how and why she got there she flash's back to her drink being spiked; this then reveals to the viewer that she was on drugs but they do not know who drugged her.
Throughout the rest of the film it goes on to tell the story of Roses tragic life from then on. It tells of her kidnapp and how she becomes the slave to her kidnapper.
Script
Character
Name: Rose Kensington
Age: 19
Background: Rose comes from a rich, middle class family and lives in a large family home in the suburbs of London. She is a very outgoing individual which her family do not agree with, they despise the fact that she is out all the time with her rebelious friends partying.
Plot
[Rose is led in the woods 'passed out'.]
[She then has a flashback of the night before of her at the party.]
[She wakes up under the influence of drugs and can't understand how and why she got there.]
[She has another flashback of her dancing with friends at the party, where someone spikes her drink.]
[She looks around to see if anyone is there and hears something so begins to run away.]
[She then has her final flashback of her drinking and then the drugs taking thier effect.]
[The glass falls and smashes across the floor.]
[She trips and falls in the woods while she is running as she is looking behind her.]
[Blackout]
Saturday, 30 January 2010
Story Boards..
To begin with we created a conventional 'drawn' story board to get some of our ideas down and then to evaluate them to see what we will keep and what we will change.
This basic storyboard does incorporate most of our ideas although it is not detailed enough for us to go out and shoot our film opening. Also some of these shots we have decided aren't good enough for our final product for example the pan of our characters body that we decided to change as we thought it would be better to use a series of long shots getting closer and closer to give the impression that something is gettting closer to her. We decided to shoot some potential shots we could incorporate into our film to establish which shots would be effective and which wouldn't.
[Potential Shots]
This close up works well as it gives a lot of detail of the characters emotions so this will be effective for our film opening as we need the viewer to empathise with our character so they will want to see what happens to her. We will be using this shot as the character wakes up from her flashback.
This over the shoulder shot is framed really well however it won't create the right effect for our movie opening as the viewer is going to be kept guessing to whether there is something/someone following her or if its her mind playing tricks on her.
This high angle long shot works very well to give the impression of vulnerability. We will definitely be using high angles in our film opening as we want the viewer to know that our character is feeling scared and lonely. This shot also gives the impression she is being watched which is very effective as this is exactly the impression we want to create.
From creating our initial story board and considering all the potential shots we could incorporate in our film opening we have created this final story board which we will be using to go out and shoot our film.
Shot List
•Panning establishing shot of the woods with actress in the shot.
•Long shot of actress led on the wood floor.
•Close up of actresses face establishing she is ‘passed out’.
•Flashback long shot of a party scene.
•Close up of actresses face as she wakes up.
•Three point of view shots taken as actress gets up, filmed as if she is on drugs.
•Medium shot of actress looking around to see if she can see anyone.
•360 degree pan around actress shot from a high angle.
•Medium shot of actress looking around.
•Reverse shot of actress looking around.
•Flashback long shot of actress dancing with friends at the party.
•Close up of the drink being spiked.
•Point of view shot of actress looking around the woods.
•Reverse shot of actress as she begins to run.
•Long panning shot of actress as she runs past, filmed from a tree to give a high angle.
•Flashback medium shot of actress drinking with friends after her drink has been spiked.
•Flashback medium shot of actress feeling the effects of the drugs.
•Close up of glass falling and rolling on the table.
•Medium shot of glass falling off the table and smashing.
•Close up of actress tripping over.
•Long shot of actress tripping over.
•Blackout.
This basic storyboard does incorporate most of our ideas although it is not detailed enough for us to go out and shoot our film opening. Also some of these shots we have decided aren't good enough for our final product for example the pan of our characters body that we decided to change as we thought it would be better to use a series of long shots getting closer and closer to give the impression that something is gettting closer to her. We decided to shoot some potential shots we could incorporate into our film to establish which shots would be effective and which wouldn't.
[Potential Shots]
This close up works well as it gives a lot of detail of the characters emotions so this will be effective for our film opening as we need the viewer to empathise with our character so they will want to see what happens to her. We will be using this shot as the character wakes up from her flashback.
This over the shoulder shot is framed really well however it won't create the right effect for our movie opening as the viewer is going to be kept guessing to whether there is something/someone following her or if its her mind playing tricks on her.
This high angle long shot works very well to give the impression of vulnerability. We will definitely be using high angles in our film opening as we want the viewer to know that our character is feeling scared and lonely. This shot also gives the impression she is being watched which is very effective as this is exactly the impression we want to create.
From creating our initial story board and considering all the potential shots we could incorporate in our film opening we have created this final story board which we will be using to go out and shoot our film.
Shot List
•Panning establishing shot of the woods with actress in the shot.
•Long shot of actress led on the wood floor.
•Close up of actresses face establishing she is ‘passed out’.
•Flashback long shot of a party scene.
•Close up of actresses face as she wakes up.
•Three point of view shots taken as actress gets up, filmed as if she is on drugs.
•Medium shot of actress looking around to see if she can see anyone.
•360 degree pan around actress shot from a high angle.
•Medium shot of actress looking around.
•Reverse shot of actress looking around.
•Flashback long shot of actress dancing with friends at the party.
•Close up of the drink being spiked.
•Point of view shot of actress looking around the woods.
•Reverse shot of actress as she begins to run.
•Long panning shot of actress as she runs past, filmed from a tree to give a high angle.
•Flashback medium shot of actress drinking with friends after her drink has been spiked.
•Flashback medium shot of actress feeling the effects of the drugs.
•Close up of glass falling and rolling on the table.
•Medium shot of glass falling off the table and smashing.
•Close up of actress tripping over.
•Long shot of actress tripping over.
•Blackout.
Mind maps & Notes..
From watching and analysing the film openings in our initial research it has inspired us to come up with many different aspects we could include in our film opening. We made a mind map of these potential aspects that we could use:
Although we have come up with a range of different aspects to include in our film, we won't be using them all. We have to be decisive to make sure our film opening is successful in including the correct aspects to make the viewer want to watch more.
Disregarded Ideas
Genres..
We didnt like the idea of an action film as most action films have extremely high budgets due to the stunts performed in these films. As we have a small budget, even trying to attempt an action film would end in a disaster as we wouldn't have the money to create a huge stunt, for example a car crash. We decided against creating a comedy film as it is very difficult to create a successful comedy film due to peoples different senses of humour. It would look ridiculous if we created the film opening and nobody found it funny. We also decided against creating a chick flick as it would only appeal to females. Also chick flicks are very cliché and predictable.
Settings..
As we decided on a thriller/horror genre we have chosen to go against setting our film opening in a house, shopping mall or a theatre. This is because these settings wouldn't create the right effect for a thriller/horror film. Settings such a houses and shopping malls are too 'happy' and 'light-hearted' to set our thriller/horror film there.
Character..
We decided not to chose a male or older character for the main role as they wouldn't fit the role correctly. Our film opening needs an innocent, vulnerable character so an older person wouldnt give this effect as people would assume that they can fend for themselves. Males would also give this effect that they can fend for themselves.
Sound..
We decided against using any dialogue in our film opening, as we want to create the feeling of confusion for our viewer so they want to watch the rest of the film to see what happens.
This initial mind mapping and decision making has helped us to finalise some of our ideas for us to begin story boarding. This is what we have come up with:
The Chosen..
Genre: Thriller/Horror
Why?: We decided to chose a thriller/horror genre for our film as we thought that we could use an array of media skills whilst shooting. Also thrillers tend to have messages that they want to portray and have the most effect on an audience. This makes the genre appeal to most people.
Setting: Woods/Club
Why?: Most of the shots will be filmed in the woods, as we believe the setting will ephasise the vulnerability and fear of the character. The flash back shots will be filmed in a club, as this was the most apt setting for our character to be 'drugged'.
Character: Young female
Why?: We have chosen to cast a young female as our main character as it will create the right effect for our film opening. A young female will create a more innocent, vulnerable and petrified image, as the gender stereotype goes young women tend to be portrayed as weaker than males and more emotional.
Sound: No dialogue, great music, sound effects [foot steps/heavy breating]
Why?: The fact we have chosen to not include any dialogue is to create the impression of confusion, it enables the viewer to use their own imagination to figure out what happened to the character. We have decided to include some sound effects such as foot steps and heavy breating as it will emphasise the feeling of fear for both the viewer and the character.
Although we have come up with a range of different aspects to include in our film, we won't be using them all. We have to be decisive to make sure our film opening is successful in including the correct aspects to make the viewer want to watch more.
Disregarded Ideas
Genres..
We didnt like the idea of an action film as most action films have extremely high budgets due to the stunts performed in these films. As we have a small budget, even trying to attempt an action film would end in a disaster as we wouldn't have the money to create a huge stunt, for example a car crash. We decided against creating a comedy film as it is very difficult to create a successful comedy film due to peoples different senses of humour. It would look ridiculous if we created the film opening and nobody found it funny. We also decided against creating a chick flick as it would only appeal to females. Also chick flicks are very cliché and predictable.
Settings..
As we decided on a thriller/horror genre we have chosen to go against setting our film opening in a house, shopping mall or a theatre. This is because these settings wouldn't create the right effect for a thriller/horror film. Settings such a houses and shopping malls are too 'happy' and 'light-hearted' to set our thriller/horror film there.
Character..
We decided not to chose a male or older character for the main role as they wouldn't fit the role correctly. Our film opening needs an innocent, vulnerable character so an older person wouldnt give this effect as people would assume that they can fend for themselves. Males would also give this effect that they can fend for themselves.
Sound..
We decided against using any dialogue in our film opening, as we want to create the feeling of confusion for our viewer so they want to watch the rest of the film to see what happens.
This initial mind mapping and decision making has helped us to finalise some of our ideas for us to begin story boarding. This is what we have come up with:
The Chosen..
Genre: Thriller/Horror
Why?: We decided to chose a thriller/horror genre for our film as we thought that we could use an array of media skills whilst shooting. Also thrillers tend to have messages that they want to portray and have the most effect on an audience. This makes the genre appeal to most people.
Setting: Woods/Club
Why?: Most of the shots will be filmed in the woods, as we believe the setting will ephasise the vulnerability and fear of the character. The flash back shots will be filmed in a club, as this was the most apt setting for our character to be 'drugged'.
Character: Young female
Why?: We have chosen to cast a young female as our main character as it will create the right effect for our film opening. A young female will create a more innocent, vulnerable and petrified image, as the gender stereotype goes young women tend to be portrayed as weaker than males and more emotional.
Sound: No dialogue, great music, sound effects [foot steps/heavy breating]
Why?: The fact we have chosen to not include any dialogue is to create the impression of confusion, it enables the viewer to use their own imagination to figure out what happened to the character. We have decided to include some sound effects such as foot steps and heavy breating as it will emphasise the feeling of fear for both the viewer and the character.
The Group & Their Roles..
Our group consists of four people including:
Myself [Layla-jay Fox] that we have decided to be the director of the film as I am organised so I can organise our shooting schedule and I will be decisive about how the film should be made. I will also be organising when and where we need our equipment to make sure we can get all the filming done when we need to.
Sophie Davies that we have decided to be the main actress in our film opening as she is currently an A level drama student and therefore has experience in acting so this should make our film opening more professional.
Becky Morrish that we have decided to also be a director with myself as she is also an organised person and can help to make decisions about the making of the film.
and Finally Steve Hook that we have decided to be the main camera man as he enjoys making films on the weekends so he has experience in filming so this should also make our film opening more professional.
As a group we have decided to all take part in some of the filming so we can all get involved with the making of our film. We are also sharing the role of editor so we can all get experience in using the editing software and learn some new skills from this experience.
Myself [Layla-jay Fox] that we have decided to be the director of the film as I am organised so I can organise our shooting schedule and I will be decisive about how the film should be made. I will also be organising when and where we need our equipment to make sure we can get all the filming done when we need to.
Sophie Davies that we have decided to be the main actress in our film opening as she is currently an A level drama student and therefore has experience in acting so this should make our film opening more professional.
Becky Morrish that we have decided to also be a director with myself as she is also an organised person and can help to make decisions about the making of the film.
and Finally Steve Hook that we have decided to be the main camera man as he enjoys making films on the weekends so he has experience in filming so this should also make our film opening more professional.
As a group we have decided to all take part in some of the filming so we can all get involved with the making of our film. We are also sharing the role of editor so we can all get experience in using the editing software and learn some new skills from this experience.
Initial Research..
To begin.. I will research five film openings to get inspiration for our film opening. To do this i will watch the first two minutes of each film as this is how long our opening should be and annotate which shots they use, what music/sound they are using and the mis-en-scene in each film.
State Of Play
This 2009 thriller is directed by Kevin Macdonanld. The film is about a rising congressman and an investigative journalist that are perplexed in a case of seemingly unrelated murders. The congressman Stephan Collins, played by Ben Affleck, is they rising star of his political party. This was until his research assistant, also mistress, was brutally murdered. Her murder leads to a lot of buried secrets to come tumbling out. Investigative journalist, Cal McCaffrey, played by Oscar winning Russell Crowe, is tied between his old friendship with Stephan and his ruthless editor who assigns him to the story and demands answers.
The opening of the film begins at a slow pace with the camera just edging in on the action switching from an establishing shot to a long shot, the viewer immediately notices that it is set in the night time. This may create the connotation that something bad will happen as it is dark and mysterious. The setting, of an urban city, is established immediately through the sound of helicopters in the background and the use of the long shot to show the traffic in the city. The pace immediately changes as a man runs into an old couple in the street. He then falls into the road, the camera then follows this action using a panning tilt angling down towards the man. From then on a series of jolty shots are used as the man runs and falls trying to get away from 'something'. The shots are taken from behind the man creating the connotation that someone is following him. As he runs through the back alleys the director wanted to give the impression that something is about to happen so he chose to darken the lighting as he falls from a wall there is barley any lighting used at all. After he falls from the wall he then hides behind some oil barrels, close up shots are used to give the impression someone can see him. However, you can only partially see his face through the barrels and shadows showing that this 'person' cannot see him properly. The shots then gradually get further away from him ending with a medium shot of him crawling out from the barrels. Suddenly the man is shot dead, the sound of the gunshot is loud and prominent giving the impression that that specific moment is significant in the film. A panning tilt up towards the shooter is then used to establish who he is, however the lighting is suspicious as the background is lit subtly so the viewer is unable to see shooter in detail. This creates a mysterious element to the opening making the viewer watch the rest of the film in order to see what happens next. Throughout this film opening no dialogue is used this creates a confusing edge to the film opening as the viewer has no idea who that man is, what he is running from and why he has been shot.
I think that this film opening is very effective and that we could incorporate many aspects of this film opening in ours. I particularly like the jolty shots that are used to give the impression that someone is following this man. The gun shot is also very effective however using this in our film opening would be a disaster as we don't have the budget to create that sort of scene. I also like the variety of shots they have used it makes a very good film opening.
21, When you change the rules, you change the game.
This 2008 movie is based on the true story of MIT students who mastered the are of counting cards and took Vegas casinos for millions. The star of the film Ben Campbell, played by Jim Sturgess, is looking for a way to pay for his tuition for university and finds himself to be recruited by MIT's most gifted students in a daring plot to break Vegas. With the help of their brilliant statistics professor, played by Kevin Spacey, and in the possession with fakes IDs, intelligence and a complicated system of counting cards, Ben and his friends succeed in taking the Vegas casinos for millions.
This opening of the film is simple but effective. It consists of a number of close up shots of cards, poker chips and the poker table. Over this is a monologue of Ben talking about the phrase "winner, winner, chicken dinner" and where it came from. He then goes on to talk about his success with counting cards, he even says "I couldn't lose". Ben then states that not just anyone can count cards you have to be gifted and that he "has a gifted mind". The use of this monologue gets the viewer in the correct frame of mind for the rest of the film and enables them to begin to understand the situation that Ben is in.
I think that this film opening is effective as it is appropriate for the film. However, most of the filming used in this opening would be impossible for us to create as we wouldn't have the equipment to do so. On the other hand I think the monologue used is a great aspect that we could maybe include in our film opening as it is very useful to get the viewer to understand the situations that the character may be in.
American History X
This 1998 thriller was directed by Tony Kaye and written by David McKenna. The film unfolds through the eyes of Danny, played by Edward Furlong, whose older brother Dereck, played by Edward Norton, is seeking revenge for their fathers murder. Full of anger, Derek becomes the leader of a local white power movement. His hateful actions towards black people result in a brutal murder and lead to his imprisonment for three years. On the outside his mother Doris, played by Beverly D'Angelo, his girlfriend Stacey, played by Fairuza Balk, and his brother Danny await his release. However, little did they know that Derek is a changed man. Out of prison and ashamed of his actions in the past, he now needs to save his brother and his family from the violence he has brought to them.
The opening of this film is terrible. Despite the overall film being amazing with a heart-warming end, the opening does it no justice. It begins with a black and white shot of a beach which the credits are over. The use of large bold text makes it seem that the credits are more important than whats about to happen in the film.
I think that this film opening is not inspirational as it only uses one shot of a beach for the first two minutes of the film. I think that viewers would get bored immediately and wouldn't want to know whats about to happen.
Raging Bull
This award winning film from 1980 was directed by Martin Scorsese. It was based on the book written by Jake LeMotta and tells the story of an emotionally self-destructive boxer's journey through life, as the violence and temper that leads him to the top in the ring, destroys his life outside it. It tells the story of how when he steps into the boxing ring her obliterates his opponents and is a winner. However when he treats his family and friends in the same way, he definitely isn't the winner as he winds up in the ring alone.
The opening of this film is very similar to American History X as it is bland and has nothing going on. They have used a single black and white long shot of Jake in the ring punching the air. Almost psyching himself up ready for the film. This also has the credits over powering the shot behind it also making them look more important that the character behind them.
I think that this film opening is terrible as it wouldn't make a viewer want to watch the rest of the film. The only thing we may incorporate from this is to put the credit in shot of the opening however we will use small less overpowering text to make sure the viewer isn't distracted by the credits.
The Bank Job
This 2008 film was directed by Roger Donaldson and was inspired by an extraordinary true event, a daring bank robbery, that took place in the 70's. The film reveals an amazing back story where for once the criminals were the most innocents ones involved. The story begins when Martine offers Terry a lead on a foolproof bank hit on London's Baker street. She targeted a room that the security would be down that was full of safety deposit boxes worth millions in cash and jewelry. However, Terry and his crew do not realise the boxes also contain a treasure trove of dirty secrets in the form of photographs. Little did they know that these photographs will lead them to a deadly web of corruption.
This film opening has a lot going on for the first two minutes, however I think this works well as it is interesting to watch. It begins with a sexually orientated scene, with the very apt song by T-Rex, Get It On, playing in the background. The scene begins in the sea and lots of medium shots and close ups are used both under and above the water to convey the sexual tension of the characters involved. It then switches to them being in an assumed to be hotel room having sexual intercourse, however there is a twist to this as someone is taking photographs of them. Long shots are then used to show the man taking pictures and lots of camera sounds are added to establish that he is taking many photos of them. One reverse shot is used with the man in the foreground and the others in the background but slightly blurred suggesting that the man taking photographs is more important than what is going on in front of him. The title is then shown in order to split this sexual scene and the next scene. This then introduces the main character of the film, Terry. This scene begins with a close up of a car that tilts up to Terry and then switches to a long shot of him outside his garage. From using this tilt from the car up to him it shows his interest in the cars and how his business is important to him. The scene carries on with a conversation between him and his employee where a series of effective over the shoulder shots are used. Little dialogue is used in this film opening up until this scene where Terry has a conversation with his employee about what he is wearing to his wedding.
I think this film opening is good at interesting the viewer however there is a bit too much going on for my liking. There are various successful aspects to this opening such as the blurring effect at the beginning and the choice of song for the first scene was very good. I think we could incorporate a blurred effect in our film as I think it effective if used correctly. I also like their song choice so we will have to think very carefully about the song we are using.
State Of Play
This 2009 thriller is directed by Kevin Macdonanld. The film is about a rising congressman and an investigative journalist that are perplexed in a case of seemingly unrelated murders. The congressman Stephan Collins, played by Ben Affleck, is they rising star of his political party. This was until his research assistant, also mistress, was brutally murdered. Her murder leads to a lot of buried secrets to come tumbling out. Investigative journalist, Cal McCaffrey, played by Oscar winning Russell Crowe, is tied between his old friendship with Stephan and his ruthless editor who assigns him to the story and demands answers.
The opening of the film begins at a slow pace with the camera just edging in on the action switching from an establishing shot to a long shot, the viewer immediately notices that it is set in the night time. This may create the connotation that something bad will happen as it is dark and mysterious. The setting, of an urban city, is established immediately through the sound of helicopters in the background and the use of the long shot to show the traffic in the city. The pace immediately changes as a man runs into an old couple in the street. He then falls into the road, the camera then follows this action using a panning tilt angling down towards the man. From then on a series of jolty shots are used as the man runs and falls trying to get away from 'something'. The shots are taken from behind the man creating the connotation that someone is following him. As he runs through the back alleys the director wanted to give the impression that something is about to happen so he chose to darken the lighting as he falls from a wall there is barley any lighting used at all. After he falls from the wall he then hides behind some oil barrels, close up shots are used to give the impression someone can see him. However, you can only partially see his face through the barrels and shadows showing that this 'person' cannot see him properly. The shots then gradually get further away from him ending with a medium shot of him crawling out from the barrels. Suddenly the man is shot dead, the sound of the gunshot is loud and prominent giving the impression that that specific moment is significant in the film. A panning tilt up towards the shooter is then used to establish who he is, however the lighting is suspicious as the background is lit subtly so the viewer is unable to see shooter in detail. This creates a mysterious element to the opening making the viewer watch the rest of the film in order to see what happens next. Throughout this film opening no dialogue is used this creates a confusing edge to the film opening as the viewer has no idea who that man is, what he is running from and why he has been shot.
I think that this film opening is very effective and that we could incorporate many aspects of this film opening in ours. I particularly like the jolty shots that are used to give the impression that someone is following this man. The gun shot is also very effective however using this in our film opening would be a disaster as we don't have the budget to create that sort of scene. I also like the variety of shots they have used it makes a very good film opening.
21, When you change the rules, you change the game.
This 2008 movie is based on the true story of MIT students who mastered the are of counting cards and took Vegas casinos for millions. The star of the film Ben Campbell, played by Jim Sturgess, is looking for a way to pay for his tuition for university and finds himself to be recruited by MIT's most gifted students in a daring plot to break Vegas. With the help of their brilliant statistics professor, played by Kevin Spacey, and in the possession with fakes IDs, intelligence and a complicated system of counting cards, Ben and his friends succeed in taking the Vegas casinos for millions.
This opening of the film is simple but effective. It consists of a number of close up shots of cards, poker chips and the poker table. Over this is a monologue of Ben talking about the phrase "winner, winner, chicken dinner" and where it came from. He then goes on to talk about his success with counting cards, he even says "I couldn't lose". Ben then states that not just anyone can count cards you have to be gifted and that he "has a gifted mind". The use of this monologue gets the viewer in the correct frame of mind for the rest of the film and enables them to begin to understand the situation that Ben is in.
I think that this film opening is effective as it is appropriate for the film. However, most of the filming used in this opening would be impossible for us to create as we wouldn't have the equipment to do so. On the other hand I think the monologue used is a great aspect that we could maybe include in our film opening as it is very useful to get the viewer to understand the situations that the character may be in.
American History X
This 1998 thriller was directed by Tony Kaye and written by David McKenna. The film unfolds through the eyes of Danny, played by Edward Furlong, whose older brother Dereck, played by Edward Norton, is seeking revenge for their fathers murder. Full of anger, Derek becomes the leader of a local white power movement. His hateful actions towards black people result in a brutal murder and lead to his imprisonment for three years. On the outside his mother Doris, played by Beverly D'Angelo, his girlfriend Stacey, played by Fairuza Balk, and his brother Danny await his release. However, little did they know that Derek is a changed man. Out of prison and ashamed of his actions in the past, he now needs to save his brother and his family from the violence he has brought to them.
The opening of this film is terrible. Despite the overall film being amazing with a heart-warming end, the opening does it no justice. It begins with a black and white shot of a beach which the credits are over. The use of large bold text makes it seem that the credits are more important than whats about to happen in the film.
I think that this film opening is not inspirational as it only uses one shot of a beach for the first two minutes of the film. I think that viewers would get bored immediately and wouldn't want to know whats about to happen.
Raging Bull
This award winning film from 1980 was directed by Martin Scorsese. It was based on the book written by Jake LeMotta and tells the story of an emotionally self-destructive boxer's journey through life, as the violence and temper that leads him to the top in the ring, destroys his life outside it. It tells the story of how when he steps into the boxing ring her obliterates his opponents and is a winner. However when he treats his family and friends in the same way, he definitely isn't the winner as he winds up in the ring alone.
The opening of this film is very similar to American History X as it is bland and has nothing going on. They have used a single black and white long shot of Jake in the ring punching the air. Almost psyching himself up ready for the film. This also has the credits over powering the shot behind it also making them look more important that the character behind them.
I think that this film opening is terrible as it wouldn't make a viewer want to watch the rest of the film. The only thing we may incorporate from this is to put the credit in shot of the opening however we will use small less overpowering text to make sure the viewer isn't distracted by the credits.
The Bank Job
This 2008 film was directed by Roger Donaldson and was inspired by an extraordinary true event, a daring bank robbery, that took place in the 70's. The film reveals an amazing back story where for once the criminals were the most innocents ones involved. The story begins when Martine offers Terry a lead on a foolproof bank hit on London's Baker street. She targeted a room that the security would be down that was full of safety deposit boxes worth millions in cash and jewelry. However, Terry and his crew do not realise the boxes also contain a treasure trove of dirty secrets in the form of photographs. Little did they know that these photographs will lead them to a deadly web of corruption.
This film opening has a lot going on for the first two minutes, however I think this works well as it is interesting to watch. It begins with a sexually orientated scene, with the very apt song by T-Rex, Get It On, playing in the background. The scene begins in the sea and lots of medium shots and close ups are used both under and above the water to convey the sexual tension of the characters involved. It then switches to them being in an assumed to be hotel room having sexual intercourse, however there is a twist to this as someone is taking photographs of them. Long shots are then used to show the man taking pictures and lots of camera sounds are added to establish that he is taking many photos of them. One reverse shot is used with the man in the foreground and the others in the background but slightly blurred suggesting that the man taking photographs is more important than what is going on in front of him. The title is then shown in order to split this sexual scene and the next scene. This then introduces the main character of the film, Terry. This scene begins with a close up of a car that tilts up to Terry and then switches to a long shot of him outside his garage. From using this tilt from the car up to him it shows his interest in the cars and how his business is important to him. The scene carries on with a conversation between him and his employee where a series of effective over the shoulder shots are used. Little dialogue is used in this film opening up until this scene where Terry has a conversation with his employee about what he is wearing to his wedding.
I think this film opening is good at interesting the viewer however there is a bit too much going on for my liking. There are various successful aspects to this opening such as the blurring effect at the beginning and the choice of song for the first scene was very good. I think we could incorporate a blurred effect in our film as I think it effective if used correctly. I also like their song choice so we will have to think very carefully about the song we are using.
The Introducion..
The task I have been given is to create a film opening lasting two minutes.
[Specification]
All video and audio must be original, although music and audio effects must come be copy-right free. The task may be done as an individual or a a group with a maximum of four members.
In order to complete this task I have decided to joined a group of four people, as I believe being in a group has the advantage of different opinions and ideas which can come together to create a great film opening. As a group we will come up with many different ideas and aspects that we could include in this film opening and also complete some research into different films that can inspire us to come up with our final product.
[Specification]
All video and audio must be original, although music and audio effects must come be copy-right free. The task may be done as an individual or a a group with a maximum of four members.
In order to complete this task I have decided to joined a group of four people, as I believe being in a group has the advantage of different opinions and ideas which can come together to create a great film opening. As a group we will come up with many different ideas and aspects that we could include in this film opening and also complete some research into different films that can inspire us to come up with our final product.
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