Planning : Animatic

We created an animatic which consisted of the images from our storyboard being put into a video, with the images lasting for the amount of time that the actual shots would. We created this animatic using a programme called Premiere, and then we uploaded the finished video to youtube. We initially had problems with the images we were using for our animatic, as the programme would not allow us to edit them, and they did not appear to be saved as JPG files. We had to save them all individually again, and although this took up quite a lot of time we eventually finished our animated and uploaded it to youtube.
Here is the finished video:

Organisation : Locations

We decided to base our opening sequence in a wood, as this is present in a film that we researched in preparation, "The Blair Witch Project". Luckily, there is a wood beside college that we are going to film the first part of our title sequence in, which is useful as we do not need to travel to a further location. We decided on using a wood for our setting as this will work well with the noir lighting, and the sight of a wood in a film generally creates an aura of the horror genre. For the second part of our sequence, it shall be filmed in college as this creates the idea that the characters are two typical students living a normal life, and the events that shall follow in the film will be obscure compared to their normal life.
Above is a picture of Nunnery Wood, which is located next to our college. This is where we will be filming much of our opening title sequence, as it located right next to where we are based.

This is the path in Nunnery Wood where we will film our victim walking. We chose to film here because the pathway is clear and safe, and as it is a public place we did not have to worry about getting permission.
Our chosen area was also inspired by one of the films we looked at as part of our "Genre Specific Analysis" of film openings with a similar genre and idea. "The Blair Witch Project" also uses a wood as one of its main locations.

Planning: Script

We decided on not having a script, as our opening sequence does not include any dialogue. We decided to not include dialogue as it would interrupt with the pace of our sequence, and we decided to have non-diegetic music running throughout to create the atmosphere of a horror film. However, we have not yet decided on what music we are going to use, so this is something that we need to arrange.

Planning: Story Board

We created a story board which outlines the events of our opening title sequence, and the time that each shot will last for. This means that we will be far more organised when it comes to filming and we will know exactly which shot needs to be filmed as well as the duration and shot type. By creating a storyboard we have managed to organise our shots so when put together our final sequence will be as close to two minutes as possible. The storyboard also illustrates the surroundings and makes it easy for us to know where we are filming at each precise moment.

Genre Research Summary

The research that I have done on the openings to both Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Project have given me some good ideas about what to include in our opening sequence. I found that most horror films provide an enigma that makes the audience more eager to watch the rest of the film, making it far more successful. This has been an influence to our opening sequence as it is going to end on a cliffhanger which provides a sense of mystery, again a typical aspect of the horror genre within the films I have researched. The lighting in these films is generally noir, so we aim to film at a time that it is fairly dark in order to create this effect. If this is successful it will make the genre of our film far more recognisable and understandable.

Audience Research Focus Group

I have set up a focus group on facebook, and added people who I believe will give me helpful feedback during the process of the main task. I have also added both the members of the cast to keep them updated and to get them more involved. I also believe that they can offer me a sufficient amount of feedback.

Organisation : Props/Costume

The costumes that will be worn by our characters will be normal everyday clothes that a typical person their age would wear, to convey the idea that these characters are normal people that are experiencing a weird turn of events.We also thought about use of props, with a prop of a dead bird being used in the bag of the main character to act as an enigma at the end of our opening scene. We also need a bag for the character to search through and a mobile phone for the character to receive texts.

Organisation: Casting

I found two people from my drama course that are willing to be involved in our film opening, Adele Kepinska and Emily Gunning. This will involve Adele being cast as the main character that is seen in the woods and Emily being cast as the character that is in college with Adele when our opening skips to 48 hours before. I have also added them to my focus group so they can give me relevant feedback as they are involved in the filming process.

Synopsis

As an introduction we will display the name of the production company, and we will introduce the time and date of the scene being shown. We will use non-diegetic sounds and music. We shall film our opening sequence near and in the wood as this is nearby and is also influenced by The Blair Witch Project, a film which we have carried out research into. Our first shot will be the ending shot, followed by a flashback to show how the protagonist got into this situation. Our main character will look beaten and is if they have been subject to violence. We were thinking if the main character was a female, it would be more emotive if they had been severely beaten, they will also have been stabbed, to keep up a wonder of what happened, why and how. Then, as the character begins to pass away, we will zoom into the eye, which will then commence a flashback to the previous events of the day.

Target Audience

Our target audience is generally aged between 16-19 years old, as the age of the actors we are casting are this age. Our target audience is the same age so they can relate to whats happening in our opening sequence, whereas if we cast much older actors our film opening would attract an older audience. Our opening sequence is aimed at both genders as the genre generally attracts both genders, maybe focussing more on female viewers as they would typically prefer the psychological genre as opposed to  action or violence. The social audience we are targeting is C1, C2, and D, because this a large audience and this consists of the majority of society. Higher class people in the A and B sector would more typically visit theatres as opposed to cinemas. The cinema culture attracts the typical, working and middle class members of society. We are aiming for a mainstream audience as horror is a genre which typically attracts a mainstream audience.

Genre Moodboard

We developed a "Genre Moodboard" in order to showcase our ideas and depict what kind of genre we were aiming to work towards. We used images from similar films such as Paranormal Activity and the Blair Witch Project, along with a selection of other pictures to show what genre we were working in.

First Ideas

My partner for the main task is Tom. We shared similar ideas of creating the opening scene to a teen drama, before deciding that it was probably not the option best suited to us. We then talked about doing a crime scene/gangster type film, yet decided that we would not be able to supply sufficient props or characters to do so. We have finally settled on creating the opening to a psychological horror, similar to Paranormal Activity or The Blair Witch Project. Our target audience is older teens and adults, as the horror aspect is not suitable for younger children and the complexity of the psychological aspect will not be understood.
The protagonist in our piece will probably appear to be a normal everyday character, with underlying psychological demons. This is an idea inspired by "Dexter", a character who appears normal at first glance but as the audience is introduced it becomes clear that there is something odd about the character.

From Concept To Screen : Dexter

In the opening title sequence of "Dexter", we see the normal everyday occurances of what appears to be a middle aged man, from the moment that he awakes. However, his actions have a somewhat sinister and weird  aspect which is conveyed by an odd, upbeat yet slightly austere non-diegetic music, which creates feelings that there is something odd and unexpected about this character. The actions of this character that may we may usually consider normal or acceptable are accompanied by close up camera shots, an unusual track and visible suspicious facial expressions of the character which convey an aspect of severity and weirdness of this character, and cause the audience to re-think that what he is doing is normal. The clever mise-en-scene and camera shots convey an aspect of violence to what would otherwise be considered normal. For example, the shot above shows him squashing a spider, something which an everyday person may do without thinking twice about, yet the diegetic sound of his hand smacking it convey an aspect of violence. The smug look on his face along with the non-diegetic music that accompanies this opening sequence convey an idea that there is something odd within this character, he appears to be getting joy out of taking the life of a living thing.

Again, the following shot also conveys an aspect of underlying violence to his typical actions. The blood on his arm where the spider previously was conveys thoughts typically associated with murder.

The title is in block capitals, writing which is completely normal and offers no obscurity, yet it is a deep red which conveys both violence, again again thoughts of murder. The smudges on the writing appear to be blood,  and it also demonstrates splatterings of it. Again this conveys feelings of violence. As the writing is fairly typical and of normal yet with a hint of the smudged blood, it backs up the idea that at first glance Dexter appears a normal character yet there is an underlying aspect of obscurity and violence.

Here is a shot with the protagonist looking in the mirror. There is a shallow depth of field which causes the audience to not be able to see his face clearly, again making the character seem slightly odd and perhaps intimidating. The sillouhette of his body is clearly visible, which conveys him as just a normal man, but the way in which his face is not visible again conveys obscurity on behalf of the character.  The lighting that is used is noir, creating an aura of darkness to what lies ahead and to the characteristics of this man. The fact that he is looking in the mirror and his face is still not visible suggests that maybe he is unsure of himself and is perhaps suffering with something mentally.

Again, this shot shows another reference to blood, along with the read typical style writing that appears in block capitals throughout the opening sequence. He is engaged in what is typical considered a normal everyday activity of a male: shaving. A male cutting skin resulting in bleeding is also a very normal thing to happen, yet this shot shows the blood slowly trickling down his neck, making us focus on it and creating feelings of unease as this opening sequence seems obsessive over the idea of blood. Again, the non-diegetic music that accompanies the opening title sequence make this everyday occurance seem all the more odd.

Again the feelings of murder are again apparent in this shot which shows him slicing through meat with a sharp knife. This is also something that is completely acceptable in everyday life, however the non diegetic sound which accompanies it is that of a slight tearing, a suspicious noise which is somewhat severe and conveys an aspect of violence. 

This is a typical breakfast associated with anybody that leads a typical British lifestyle. However, the tomato ketchup that is present on the plate appears suspicious after all the other references to blood. It creates an element of suspicion over whether this normal everyday condiment is what it first appears. Likewise to Dexter, there seems an underlying aspect and complexity to this character which first appears normal.

Shots which appear to have an underlying aspect of violence continually appear throughout the opening sequence, showing the protagonist engaging in his usual morning rituals yet with an aura of severity and uncomfort. 

Research : Analysis of the opening of Juno.

The opening sequence of Juno tells its audience many things about the way in which the rest of the film will be. For example, we first see Juno walking down a street alone, suggesting that she is a character that is independent and can think for herself. She is holding a carton of sunny D which conveys that she is a typical American teenager. Her clothing shows she makes little effort and does not appear concerned with fashion, her jeans and hoodie convey a tomboyish style. It also shows that she is quite childlike as Sunny D is typically associated with children. The music is a quirky kind of folk track, not the sort of music a typical sort of teenager would listen to. The lyrics convey feelings of a relationship, connoting that the film will have an aspect of romance.  The lyrics state “If I was a tree, you would be the leaves” connoting that she is rather innocent and engaged in a teenage romance and that a ‘coming of age’ story might follow.

Fox searchlight is the indie bit of 21^st century fox, which suggest that this film is going to be quirky. The way in  which it is completely hand-drawn show that to this character nothing is very realistic, she appears trapped within her own bubble and separate to the outside world. The colours used are simplistic, also connoting ideas of childhood. It is also quite comic and cartoon like which also connotes feelings of childhood.

We see the character passing a street full of shops, and the background appears rather dull in comparison to her bright red clothing. This connotes that she somewhat sticks out and is slightly different, in a surrounding which appears normal and banal. It suggests that she may be a slightly “oddball” character, as she appears to stand out from her surroundings whilst not appearing considerably extravagant. 

This shot shows a team of runners passing her, and they appear to go unnoticed to Juno. This shows that other peoples way of life does not bother her and she is much concerned with her own. It also connotes that she does not fit into any typical American stereotypes such as Jocks or cheerleaders, again conveying her as an individual.

We see her balancing on something in a park, which shows she is in her own world and does not appear to be particularly concerned with anything, considering she is on her way to buy a pregnancy test perhaps connotes naivety. It is also quite a childlike thing to do, and her surroundings of a park also connote childlike behaviour. 

Research: Key Conventions

The key conventions of the opening sequences of films are typically details of the cast and crew, the title of the film, production companies, an introduction to characters or character types, indication of the place and time, information regarding the mood and tone, information about the genre, enigmas that may be of interest to the viewer, narrative expectations depicting what may happen in the film, or links to narrative theories. Any of these things are key conventions that typically appear in the openings to films. Flashbacks, Voice Overs, Exposition, or an introduction to the signature theme tune may also be included.
We looked at openings to films such as "Brick" and "Juno" in order to depict the key conventions.

Here you can see that the title of the film is being introduced in the opening sequence, a typical key convention included in the openings of films, acting as an introduction to the film.

Also, the time, date and setting of the film is introduced through a still image which helps the viewer understand more about the location and setting of the film. This is also a key convention of film openings.

Main Task

The main task is to produce the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.All of the video and audio material must be original and produced by nobody other than the members of the group.However,  We  are permitted to use music or audio effects from a non copyright source. There must be no more than three members per group. We must organise actors, locations, costumes and props, as well as working on a storyboard, shotlists, layouts, drafting, and scripting. To attain maximum marks we must demonstrate excellent use of digital technology or ICT in our presentation.

3 Targets

1. Use more detail about technology in my explanations, and become more familiar with the technology used and the technological terms.
2.Reach deadlines for all work set
3. Become more familiar with Ideology

Evaluation

During the course of working on our preliminary task I have learned and developed several skills surrounding continuity editing.Continuity editing is the predominant style of editing in film and television, making shots seem as if they run smoothly with no breaks or obvious gaps - it should be flawless in order to create the effect that it intends. The idea of continuity editing is to smooth over discontinuity of the editing process and provide a logical coherence between shots. The key rules of continuity editing include "Match on Action" , meaning that the subject is shown in the same stage of its movement as was left from cutting from the first shot.
Here is an example of a match on action shot in our clip:

Here you can see that the movement between his fist moving into the air and it being in the air is continual in our shot.
I also learned many skills about filming organisation. At the start of the course and our preliminary task I was extremely unorganised and absent for a few lessons meaning being left to catch up with the group. I soon caught up and got involved with filming, and I have now learnt that organisation and being present for all lessons is necessary. Also, our group learnt to be more organised with keeping things such as scripts safe, as ours went missing and meant that we had to spent far longer organising dialogue during filming than we intended.
After filming, we had to upload our footage from the DV camera to Premiere. We did this by plugging our camera into the computer and importing our footage into premiere.

Post-Production

Th editing process of the priliminary task was fairly complicated to start with, as none of us were familiar with the software that we had to use. However, once we got the hang of it it became fairly simple, more so for alex who seemed to find the editing easiest. I found the software quite confusing to use. We had to cut out the white fade in parts that our camera automatically included in our footage, and we did this quite successfully meaning we were left with a good example of continuity editing. Here is our finished task:

Production

In general, the filming process was quite succesful, however we did have to deal with a few glitches. Firstly, our camera had some sort of automatic fade-in setting, meaning that when we started filming a new clip there was a bright white fade in that overlayed our filming, in some cases interfering with key points and dialogue. As we could not figure out how to disable this setting, we had to do a run-in, leaving the white to fade before we started filming. This could then be cut out during the editing process. We encountered a few difficulties due to our lack of script, meaning almost all of the dialogue was changed in order to fit with our location and ensure that the cutaways were relevant. We did, however, manage to develop a fairly good conversation that was relevant to our cutaways and cut-ins.

Pre-Production Tasks

In order to start filming our preliminary task we had to carry out several pre-production tasts to ensure that filming was both safe and fully prepared for. Firstly, we completed a risk assessment in order to identify possible risks and fatalilities associated with the equipment and areas we would use for filming. It was also necessary for us to create a storyboard to outline the ideas that would be used in our clip and to demonstrate the area that we would be using. The storyboard offered a sense of organisation and made the filming process much easier. We also developed a script, meaning that dialogue could be remembered much more easily and we would not forget our lines. Unfortunately, this script became lost during the preperation process, but we managed to continue filming with only slight complications due to it taking much longer than it would have if we had a script. Alex and I had to be cast as the characters as Tom claimed that he was hungover and therefore it was necessary for him to do the camera-work.

Continuity Editing

Continuity editing is an almost flawless way of filming, providing scenes with smooth running shots. The point in continuity edititing is to encourage the viewer to become lost in what they are viewing and therefore express a greater interest in the storyline. It is logical, coherent and chronological. In order to achieve this, the 180 degree rule is necessary. This includes two characters facing each other, never crossing  the boundaries of one anothers half of the screen. If this is carried off successfully when the camera cuts then it will create a flawless example of continuity editing. Other key themes of continuity editing include the eye line match, establishing shot, shot/reverse shot, the 30 degree rule and cutting on action.

Preliminary Task

In order to proceed with this course, I must first complete a priliminary task which requires a group and I to film a short continuity task, involving a character opening a door, walking across a room, sitting down and exchanging a few short lines of dialogue with another character. This task should include the certain shot types - match on action, shot/reverse shot, and the 180 degree rule. The exam board also states that a "cutaway" and "cut-in" must be included. They must be relevant to the conversation taking place in the scenario.

Welcome

Welcome to my AS Media Blog. I shall be keeping you updated throughout my course on both my preliminary and main task.