Continuity Task

In class yesterday I had a little play with the new cameras that we will be using for our filming project. These cameras are really versatile and are a really good piece of equipment, most of us came across some technical problems which was that the sound didn't work. I think this was because the sound settings were not set up right on most of the cameras or we were just poor camera men/women.

But this has given us some practice with the cameras and now we can learn from our mistakes with them.
We were given a storyboard to use and then had to recreate it as best we can and to our imagination. This gave us practice in being able to create a movie from a storyboard.

Evaluation - Technologies Used

Blogger:

I had never used Bllogger before taking this course, I had never even heard of it to be honest. But I have found that this website is very useful of keeping track of your work and receiving homework, I prefer receiving homework this way as opposed to the more conventional way in class.

Youtube:

I have used youtube before in the past loads of times. But then again everyone has youtube and there isn't anything new to me since being on this course. But I have found this website to be very useful with this work, uploading our videos to this site helped us in receiving feedback and able to view our work from wherever we are.

Final Cut Express:

Final Cut is very new to me, I have used a film editing software before but Final Cut is a bit more powerful. I have learnt loads of techniques and transitions to make my movies look better. At first I was worried about editing and cutting but as soon as I got used to it I became very comfortable with it. It's very easy and versatile.

Adobe After Effects:

I started using this program a few days before we learnt it in class. I only learnt the basics and a few effects, then in class our teacher had taught us a few more effects and techniques. Then at home I was learning some more advanced stuff and this helped me in making my movie sequence.

Equipment:

I have used all of this equipment before, some of what we was using is slightly more advanced compared to other cameras and video cameras that I have used. Since being on this course I have expanded my knowledge and camera techniques.

Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of film openings):

I think that in my opening sequence I have used the convetional way as to which superhero movies start out. Alot of superhero action movies start of with a past of the hero, showing how he got to how he is or what he is. Makes you feel more for the character adds emotion to the movie and is a what to trap you in the movie right from the very beginning.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?:

My opening sequence represents the "family" social group. A group that is intent on securing eachothers safety and looking after eachother. The dad is traditional in his love for his family and insists they escape out of the house first. Putting his own life at possible risk to save theirs.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?:

A big hollywood company looking to create an action packed superhero movie full of special effects.

Who would be the audience for your media product?:

The target audience for my movie would be males from the ages of 14 - 40. generally the sort of person who goes to a cinema to watch a superhero action movie would be males, because at times this genre can be cheesy and only males can not see the cheesyness of this genre.

How did you attract/address your audience?:

The emotions that are captured in the opening sequence are a mixture. We have love , compassion, fear, distraught, confusion and worry. These are a good mix of emotions to keep the audience entertained and attracted to the movie. Also after having seen how the hero got to how he is, peoplen would be interested to stay in the movie to see how his life turns out.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?:

My skills in Final Cut Express have improved and in a way I feel like I have outgrown this software and would like to move onto another program such as Vegas in my spare time. I have learnt alot about the program Adobe After Effects, I had learnt some stuff prior to this project and having done this helped me with my project and also allowed me to be able to help anyone else in class needing assistance. There is still much I could learn with this program.

Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product? :

I have learnt that it is really easy to make stupid little errors in filming, such little minor detail and timing can easily crush your movie and make it look really surreal. After having done my continuity exercise I had learnt some of the mistakes that I had made and I didn't do the same mistakes in my main project. Such mistakes as props not being there in the next shot or timing with a hand opening the door.
I'm really glad that we had done a continuity exercise this really helped me get to grips with filming.

Evaluation - Social Groups And Characters

There are not any particular spcial groups in my opening sequence that are divulged as of yet. The main Character is meant to be a superhero but in his own way. He is like a vigilante just like the Batman and a criminal in a way just like the punisher is. He seeks to fight crime and evil in a way that is not upholded by the law, he is the law.

I found it hard trying to find some other characters that resemble my main character.
Seth Green from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, I chose him because he has some similaritys to my character by looks and somewhat his attitude, he is laid back and seems to let the world float by.

I also chose The Punisher for psychology traits, The Punisher is a vigilante, a criminal but above all a hero, and this is what my character is.

Evaluation - 9 Frames Of Our Film Sequence

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The Last Stand 2

Evaluation - Continuity and Final Product

Doing the continuity task helped me greatly in cutting footage to make it look right and believeable.
It also taught me to do shots more than once, this gives you more footage to be able to play around with and get the result you are looking for. With the continuity task we didn't do repeat shots we just hoped it looked good and left it as that, this gave me some problems when it came to editing because we didn't have more fottage to play around with we ended up having to cut it as best as we could but it still turned out ok.

With my project I had take 3 -4 takes of each shot so when it came to final cut I could do what I want, and having all this extra footage is really handy and useful just incase you decide you don't like the idea you just tried.

Evaluation - Action Plan

This plan is to help me understand what to improve for my next prject, a set of targets if you like.

These were the questions we were given for the action plan:

1. Indentify three practical/technical skills you feel you would like to work on developing. How could you organise this for your next project?

2. Choose three people in the class that you did not assist or receive assistance from in this project. How could you go about identifying ways in which you could be of assistance to them on their next project?

This task links with the invoice audit which I have posted further down.

My Answers:

Question 1:

One of the skills I would like to improve on is my camerwork I would like to use some more shot types and pans, instead of normal shots. This would add some more variation to my work.

I would also like to improve my lighting work and how to get the right lighting for what I need, this will make post production easier.

The third skill I would like to improve is my ability to keep within time constraints, I've been putting myself under a lot of pressure because I kept falling behind with some tasks causing unneccessary stress making things harder for me.

To be able to organise this for my next project I could maybe go out with a camera and practice some techniques to get the right lighting and good camera shots. I should also draw up a plan for when and how I am going to do stuff instead of doing it on the spot this will greatly improve my time keeping.

Question 2:

Kirk
Mike
Alex

I could give assistance to these thre people by either helping them with camera work or sound or even be an actor in their next project. I could also be a great help with after effects and helping them with post production.

Evaluation - Audience Feedback

Yesterday we had some professionals ( Jake & Jim ) come into our class to give us feedback on our film opening sequences. Jake was the one who gave me feedback here is what he said:

I like the idea you have I think it works well for the genre you are trying to focus on and the audience to. At the start it worked really well the quick shots and the suspense from going to titles back to the footage, but then when it came to the part where he is hurt it lasts too long, it needs to be tighter around that area. It kills the tension and suspense that has been built up throughout the sequence.

I also liked at the start when it was black and the alarm was going off it made me wonder what was going on also adding to suspense this worked really well.

The production logo made me laugh.

Evaluation - 9 Frames Analysis - Art Of The Title

First Frame - Transitions:

In my opening sequence I didn't use too many transitions I was looking for a quick sharp feel to my shots to make then switch to another rapidly. I did use one transition at the start, the screen is black and then the alarm starts going off then slowly the first shot fades in, which creates a more dramatic effect.

Second Frame - Lighting:

First of I had decided to produce some lighting in the rooms with some lamps because I originally had the rooms pitch black. But then someone had given me the idea of doing the whole thing in night mode which gave it more of an eerie and scary feel. This worked pretty well but did disrupt some of the special effects I wanted to use.

Third Frame - Visual Effects:

I had used a number of visual effects in my opening sequence such as fire and smoke I had also created some cgi but because of the night mode effect it looks like a paper bag. In this shot I had created some smoke using after effects I used the particular tool to create my own custom particles and animate them

Fourth Frame - Setting:

The setting of my movie is in the present, I wanted to keep it to this as that's how I imagined the characters and their scenery.

Fifth Frame - Framing:

In all my shots the characters heads are all placed in the screen frame well, in the fifth frame the main characters head is not in the shot. Although this is quite distracting to the audience and makes them wonder where it is, I did it like that on purpose to add more drama to it.

Sixth Frame - Costumes:

For the costumes I had gotten all the actors in pj's this creates a more authentic look and sets the scene. The costumes were not hard to come by and on the days I needed to shoot the actors brought their costumes with them.

Seventh Frame - Camera Movement:

For this shot we zoomed in as much as we could that kept a good amount of detail and quality in the shot. I liked this as it made the audience pay attention to him and nothing else. I didn't have a wide variation of shots but I still think my movie is effective.

Eighth Frame - Narrative:

This shot is of him in pain after being hit with some debris though not seeing this, I should have included it.

Ninth Frame - Typography:

I used a text that resembled the theme and setting of my movie this made it more eye catching and attractive. I felt that if I used boring text then some of the audience would lose interest in the movie. Keeping the titles interesting will keep them interested.

Final Version - Phoenix

Evaluation - Information Cloud

Rough Cut Feedback

Here I shall state all the feedback that I had recieved from all my peers, on my rough cut.

"Too much action, makes it confusing."
"Camere: some good shot throughout the house"
"Framework: good context within the shots"
"movement: done well to get a lot of movement in a small area"
"sounds of flames emphasised to bring out the fear"
"possible scary music?"
"shouting and people talking"
"The scenes seem very dark, and the use of night vision is good, but a bit to blair witch style, try and avoid that in future, also it seems like a thriller."
"needs more transitions between shots also the fire needs putting in, also make the shots brighter"
"Needs something interesting to keep the audience interested"
"Needs titles"
"felt unfinished, couldn't tell exatly what was going on?"
"who is main character?"
"i think sounds of them whispering would work well, to explain things going on and maybe some panic music"
"why night mode when its day?"
"good shot bit confusing at times"
"night vision give horror feel to film"
"good use of angles & shot length/distance - close ups etc"
"good cuts between shots - ocasional jump that didn't match up"
"not clear where they where running"
"good shots and we understand there is a ire, it is sometimes to hard to see and the shots are a bit too dark though"
"location - house"
"costumes - casual"
"no titles, Don't understand whats going on"
"too dark"
"cant see whats going on"
"night camera/ normal camera (jump is very rough)"

As you can see all the comments I had recieved were all constructive, however at times bing critical but they were constructive and that is needed to help me understand what I need to do next and how to improve my sequence.

To everyones feedback I had added sound to my sequence, without the sound my sequence is hard to understand but now its not, the sound also creates a nice atmosphere to the movie.

I've added some more transitions in some shots to make it easier on the eye and I have brightened up some of the scenes, I think that the reason it seemed so dark when everyone watched it was because it was on a projector because it was fine on my laptop and desktop at home.

Titles have been added, before I added titles my scene was starting to look a bit like a trailer but after some editing and adding titles I think it now looks like an opening sequence.

Rough Cut

This is the rough cut version of my opening film sequence and when I say rough cut I really do mean rough, this is severly unedited and hardly any post-production in it. There is a huge lack of sound and titles. Seems more of a trailer, especially seeing how short it is at the moment. All I had done at this point was put some of ym footage together and maybe a few transitions and that is it.

We have recieved feedback from everyone in our class for this and this shall be uploaded in another post.

Actor Changes

I was planning on using my mum as the mother in the opening sequence but it she wasn't available in the time that I needed her, for the father I had also planned on using my mum's boyfriend but he lives in Birmingham so that was also hard to get him here to film.

I then decided to use myself as the father and my girlfriend as the mother in the sequence.

My sister still remains the child in the sequence, there is a slight ethnicity issue as my sister is Jamaican and it does not seem right in the footage with me and my girlfriend as the father.

I shall upload actor images soon.

Checklist

I was sitting in the library trying to do some coursework for this project and I didn't know what to do so then I came up with the

Title Sequence Soundtrack

Throughout my title sequence I do not plan on playing any music but plan to create good ambience and background sound to piece the special effects and everything together.

All sound clips that I use will be apart of the creative commons act and if I cannot find the clips I need I will try my best to make my own.

So far I have gathered sound effects for fire which you can hear on my second piece of test footage.
The sound used in that was two sound clips pieced together, on their own they did not sound realistic for the type of fire or scene I am setting up but together they were perfect.

I had got these sounds from www.freesounds.org
This is a website where people upload any sound effects they have created and other people can use them.

Inspirations - Fantastic Four

Fantastic four, although not one of my favourite movies, as got the hero for my sequence just right.
I have had an idealistic fire controlling hero in my head for a long time, and the human torch in fantastic four is him. Although I would give him enhanced strength as an extra power but that's for another time.

Here is a video compilation of the human torch from the movie:



The effects are amazing and him as a character/hero is just perfect. They really got to grips with Marvel's creation of him, this is how the hero in my movie should look and how I want him to look.

The human torch in this movie is cocky and arrogant and full of himself. My hero I would like to have a darker side to him than that. He isn't cocky nor is he arrogant but aware of the dangers that surround him, but he is a bit more malevolent in his ways.

Actors & Actresses

In my film sequence I shall have three maybe four actors.

I have not got names yet for the characters that will be played instead for the moment I have them listed as their roles in the family.

I will need a young girl who will be the daughter, I will need a woman to be the mother and a man to play as the dad. I may have a fourth actor to play as another daughter of the similar age but that is not certain.

As the young girl I shall have my ten year old sister play the part here is a photo of her:



I will obviously have to gain consent from my mum to allow my sister to play in my sequence.
I hope that she will oblige to this, I see no reason for her not to.

The actress I will use to play the mum in my film opening will be my own mum.
I think that using real mother and daughter will add more authenticity to how they act in the shots. As they have an emotional tie they can then manipulate that to use on set.

Here is a photo of my mum:



I will have to gain consent from my mum for her to allow me to use any fotage that I shoot of her.

I will update with more actors at a later date.

Costumes Updated

In a post below I have described the costumes that I shall have in my film sequence.

Here are just a few of them:

Test Footage 2

This is my second test of setting my kitchen on fire.

This time it looks more realistic well the flames do anyway, the room appears darker as though there was smoke infront of the camera. I still need to add smoke effects though and place the fire better in the shot.

The addition of sound really improves the footage aiding the visuals in seeming more realistic.

I know I still need to improve but I think I am getting there.

Here is the link I did not embedd it because when you do that the quality is poor so click the link and press hd quality.

Clicky

3 Major Issues With Contingency Plans

These are:

• My fire and CGI look realistic.
• The actors make the sequence look believable.
• Health and Safety with risk assessments.
  

The most important of the three is the fire and getting it to look good.

Because my sequence is reliant on the imagery and effects that I come up with, if the fire does not look up to scratch then the rest of my sequence will fail. Despite the fact that the quality of my action and sequence relies mainly on one factor, the complexity of this is major and needs to be in exact proportions.

A solution to this would be to shoot some live footage of some fire and then mask it into my other live footage of the actors in the house and trying to make it look good from then on which would be tricky but at least then I will have realism of a real fire and smoke.

The only people that could help me on this would possibly be my teacher Nick or a friend of my Dave who's skills in after effects just surpass mine ><.

The second most important major issue is the actors and how well they perform.

Although my sequence does not have a lot of dialogue in it, it does rely on human emotion of fear, shock and anxiety. These are not the easiest of emotions to perform to the standard of realism but my sequence craves for these emotions and these are just as important as the fire in making my sequence look believable.

A solution to this would be to re shoot and re shoot until I get the look I'm after or maybe just do some sort of auditions with friends and family to get the right actors.

People who could help me with the realism would be my teachers.

The least important of the major issues to me is the health and safety issues.

The only risk assessment I need take into consideration is that my actors will be running up and down stairs and around them making this a huge hazard risk.

This could be easily overcome if I am not allowed to continue with this, I could film downstairs and then some how make it look like they are coming down stairs.

And again my teachers would be the help that I would need for this.

Problems That Are Getting To Me

Today in class I came across some slight annoyances and problems that will affect me and my project, most of these are easily overcome the rest are well will power and determination needed from me and also some slight technical hitches.

The annoyances or nuisances that will come upon me are the weather on Monday the 2ND of Feb and Tuesday the 3rd of Feb we lost to college days of work and it is possible that we might lose more due to snow, meaning I will need to pick up the slack.
Another nuisance is trying to figure out who would be ideal as actors for me and who would be good enough.

Here we get onto the more troublesome problems.

The setting of my location is what I'm struggling with, I need a fairly big house. Whilst mine is quite big it isn't the right shape that I need for some of my shots which I shall show with some location shots later on. Finding the right location is the key to my SFX working.

We've just been told today that we will only be able to use 4-5 of the HD camera from Coleridge school, now being in a class of 16 students this is quite hard to go about. As far as I am aware of currently two students have their own cameras they can use. That leaves 14 of use we are being allowed to use these cameras in half term but then have to share among us, there are two students who live fairly close to me but one of them will be using their own camera.
We also have 18 cameras in our class that are a bit "ropey" and are not of high standard and for loads of special effects it would be a shame if my live action footage degrades my effects.

Another minor concern is working within the time allocations for the footage. We have been told that our opening sequence has to be 2 minutes long and it could go 30 secs either way and not lose marks depending on the quality of our clip. I'm aiming for 2 minutes and 15 seconds.

Now we move on to the the major problems I have come across.

These are what really hit me in the face, as I am creating computerized fire and some CGI in my footage it has too look really good if it looks really unprofessional then that's my sequence ruined.

The actors I use, they need to make this believable. I'm not looking for the next James Bond or Spiderman but at least someone who can show emotion on demand.

Health and Safety. My actors are going to be running around a house up and down the stairs and near the stairs risk assessments need to be taken.

I will expand on my major issues in the next post.

Costumes

The costumes that will be used for my sequence will be pretty simple. As the actors in the sequence are playing people woken up in the night by the fire alarm they shall be dressed to the occasion as it were.

The mother will either be wearing a night dress or pajamas, slippers are a possibility but in the films situation I don't think they'd have time in real life to have them on.

The father will be wearing pj bottoms and no top, maybe a top depends on my restrictions. And again the same with the slippers.

The two girls will have the same dress code as the mother but, being little girls they may have put their slippers on.

I shall add images of costumes and cast within the next day.

Location Setting

For my opening sequence I will need one main location maybe two depending on how I progress and thoughts and ideas.

The main location will be within in a house mainly two of the bedrooms, the living room, the hall and stairs of this house. I would need a reasonably sized house though with clever camera angles I can make a small house big.

I may use my house for this or a friends house. I will observe my location options carefully so I can choose which would be the best to use, I could even use both.

The second possible location would be a shot taken from outside the house looking behind the family at the house watching the dad die.

I will post up images of locations ASAP

Timeline to my Film Opening Sequence

This is just another element to help me plan my storyboard. By creating this I get a feel for how long some shots should be and some specifics and key elements that I should most definitely have.

Film Opening Sequence: Shot List

Here are a list of shots that will be in my Film Opening Sequence this list will help me in creating my storyboard and also help me when it comes to shooting as a check list. These aren't neccesarily in order:

1. Production Logos.
2. Shot zooming in on the parents sleeping as we hear alarm bells.
3. Quick close up to the mothers face in horror.
4. Quick close up shot of the fathers face.
5. Shot of the mum opening the door with the dad close behind her.
6. Short tracking shot of them running to the childrens door.
7. Mid shot from behind the parents as they're sitting up on the bed looking at the smoke coming through their door.
8. Long shot looking down a hallway as the parents are running to the kids room.
9. Shot the same as above but then a pan to the kids door and we see it open and a little girl appears.
10. The parents quickly rush into the shot and hug their children.
11. We then have a mid shot of them running to the stairs.
12. Close up to the little girl's face she is confused and scared.
13. Close up to the other girl's face she is also scared grasping onto her mother.
14. Shot from the bottom of the stairs with them running down them.
15. Shot from behind them looking at the blocked door.
16.

Test Footage Fire

This is the first test footage of me setting my house on fire. I only spent 5 minutes on this, using after effects. I think the fire looks really good but, it does not fit quite so good with the rest of the scene. So I will attempt this again tonight and spend more time on this, making the scene look more realistic including more fire and smoke.

3 Film Stills

9 Key Frames Of My Opening Sequence Movie

After creating a time line to my Film Opening Sequence, I then created these 9 frames that are the key elements to my opening sequence. These don't have to be as detailed as a storyboard but they show importance of each shot.

Doing this has helped me to break down my opening sequence, to help me understand what will be going on in my sequence. And help me when it comes to doing my storyboard as I can then see all the possible shots between each 9 frames

Moodboard To The Fireman

Here is the moodboard that I created to reflect the emotion and characteristics of the movie that I am going to create an opening sequence to.

I gathered a selection of images and imported them to final cut express and "animated" the images to create a feel of the basic story of the movie. That was not the general idea of the moodboard, but I thought I would add some more character to it. I then created a soundtrack in garage band to go with my moodboard.

I also gathered some fonts from www.dafont.com. I placed these in my moodboard to give a feel for the texts that I might use in my opening sequence.

My Personal Production Logo

Aswell as animating the Long Road logo, I have created and animated my own personal logo using adobe after effects, photoshop and 3ds max.

After compiling all of my components from each program into after effects I then animated and came up with this.



This will be displayed at the front of every project I make.

The timing of the sound and the bubble getting bigger and popping may sound a little out of sync, but full quality on my desktop it is fine.

Long Road Animated Logo

This is my version of the long road logo that I had animated. This will be put at the front of every project I make.

Essential Elements for an opening sequence

Here are five essential elements that make an opening sequence successful:

- Eye-catching imagery that makes it look very effective.

- Don't let it drag out too long as this can make it boring and people will lose interest.

- Show off your production values, show people what you can do.

- It has to make people want to watch the rest of the film.

- The storyline has to be unique.

Research - Comparitive Analysis

For this piece of research I shall be looking into the briefs that we were given and then to come up with two films that fit in those briefs. One of them has to be a US production and the other a non-us production.

We then have to break down the structure of it down and here is what I have come across.

Brief 1:

X-Men : The Last Stand (Brett Ratner, US, 2006)
Oldboy (Park chan-wook, south korea, 2003)

Brief 2:

The Others (Alejandro Amenebar, US, 2001)
Ring (Hideo Nakata, Japan, 1998)

Brief 3:

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (Wes Anderson, US, 2004)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Garth Jennings, UK, 2005)

Feedback for my idea on brief two - Supernatural thriller

Generally people liked both ideas some preferred by second idea opposed to the first. One person even suggested mixing the first and the second idea together. Was told that the first idea could be complicated to shoot but if done it would be very good. Second idea would be easy to shoot but also would be good if well done.

Feedback for my ideas on brief one - Action Movie

From the feedback on my first idea, i've gotten the impression that people think that it sounds like a comic book. People liked the idea with some improvements on the storyline and for it to be more in depth. One person said that it is a bit complicated, they suggested that i should limit the storyline a bit. Someone else said that the effects could be difficult.

Film Opening ; Brief Two - A supernatural thriller that will appeal to female audiences

Idea 1: A librarian stumbles upon the bible of hell, reads an enscription in Latin and portal between hell and earth has opened. Evil rises again.

Idea 2: A young couple are low on money and decided to rent out their spare room, the new lodger is warming and welcoming but then the walls start shaking and odd occurances are happening.

Film Opening ; Brief One - A mainstream action film that will appeal to 15-25yr old males

Idea 1:

We have our hero, Searing Blade, he used to be a fireman, and was thought to have died in a fire.
His past forgotten he arises from the ashes to a city screened by darkness.

Idea 2:

Our hero, Twilight, born as a monster, mother died at birth. Father died in car accident, Twilight took up the position as a maruader of evil.


Searing Blade Powers: Flight, Fire Control, Enchanced Strentgth.

Twilight Powers: Teleportation, Great acrobat, immortal and vampirism. He regenerates his powers in the moon light.

My Production Logo Rough Cut

This is the rough cut of my production logo, my production logo will be displayed at the front of every project I do. I am hoping to make the bubble actually look like it blows up and then after the splat folds over the word productions will be revealed, also I will make the splat look more realistic.
It also needs cutting down by a second or two. Oh and to make the fold over actually look like its going over the word Squidgy.

Another Student thriller opening sequence

This opening sequence was a piece of AS level media coursework, to a movie they called Vengeance.

I like this project because it looks really professional, the shots are all well taken it is professionaly edited and the screenplay just looks great. They have a great sense of Mise-En-Scene, the right props the right camera work and lighting to fit their style.

It's not just the camer work and the effects that make it good, it's actually really interesting to watch. Within the first minute it is really intense and after watching this intro I was quite dissapointed I wanted to watch the rest!

Thoughts of student work : Blog and Video

In class today we were put in twos and had to look at previous work by As media students. We had to look at their blog and watch the final video they made. After doing so we had to grade them, 20 marks in total for planning and research and 60 marks in total for construction. I had examined this project T2-61.

After reading through their blog it was clear that they have gone into deep research and planning. They analysed to film opening sequences these being; Panic Room & Enemy Of The State.
This showed that they are looking at other thrillers to give a feel of how to introduce or open their movie, and also shows that they are planning ahead to keep giving themselves some ideas.

They also had team meetings at certain dates, this is useful for planning as they can check things of a list that have been done and talk about what needs to be done in order for completion, or what might need changing. At one of their team meetings they had watched the first 25 minutes of a horror called Switchblade romance, this gave them an idea of mise-en-scene and camerawork used.

They also looked at the sound used in the Panic Room opening sequence this helped give them an idea what to produce for theirs.

They had created a storyboard and then imported it into final cut and did some tweaking to turn it into an animatic they also applied their sound track into it. This gave them an idea of time allowances for both the sound track and the video on completion. The storyboard itself was well done it highlighted the key points and wasn't too long and going off point.

They also did some research on a font for them to use in their titles.

They had done a lot of research into the location and the costumed that they should use. They also researched and gathered up some prop images to use eg the phone title sequence.

They had tested out the CCTV style footage, this means that they are learning to do something new, and figuring out how it should be done. This makes them seem more professional.

Overall I gave this a 15/20, they did well but in my opinion they didn't do enough to scrape that A grade. There was 3 of them and they only managed to do 21 posts. This is a really small amount for the number of people in the team and the time they have been allocated.

For their construction (video), I think that some of the effects and camera work they used worked well with the style of film. The CCTV effect where it then went to real life worked well, although I think they should have kept it as CCTV footage instead of reverting back to real life. This would have built more of a feel that the stalker is watching him through cameras and technology rather than literally stalking him.

At the start when we are looking at the computer I think that the fact that it doesn't look like a computer they are looking at but a floating screen makes them look unprofessional. I think they should have included another light just so we can see the outline of the computer itself and maybe not see the man sitting at the computer screen. In my opinion this gives away too much at the start.

Their idea with the titles that they had some written on the phone and some written on the ipod, I think that this is a good idea. But they should have one or the other, having both makes it seem messy and again unprofessional.

The soundtrack in my opinion doesn't work so well and the eerie noise at the start when the guy is walking past the locker just seems random.

I think overall this was a good student made opening sequence, and I would have given this 40/60. The mise-en-scene could have been improved with a few more props and the camera work at the start was a bit jolty.

Analysis Of The Columbia Pictures Logo

This logo is extremly simple in how it's animated and pieced together. In the image of the logo we see a lady standing on a platform of steps holding a torch or a star. With a dense background of clouds behind her, almost like a mushroom cloud. The clouds seem to congregate to the point of the star/torch.

I believe that there maybe 4 or 5 layers in this image.
The first being the sky in the background, the second being the clouds the third being the lady standing on the platform the fourth being the star or torch that she is holding in her hand. And the possible fifth layer would be that the lady and her platform are two seperate layers. I don't fully believe this to be so, as the detail of the bottom of her skirt looks as though it actually is flowing over the platform.

Studios & Production Companies In relation to the Spiderman 3 titles

I was asked to watch the opening title sequence of a movie which was of my choice again and list the studios and production companies mentioned, and provide their logos and what other media productions they have been involved in.

Columbia Pictures:



This company had started out in 1919. It has only recently become one of the leading film companies in the world, being one of the "Big Six".
Some other media products it has been involved with are;
Hancock, Seven Pounds, 50 First Dates, The Grudge 2, White Chicks, Casino Royale.
Some future products are; Spiderman 4 and Metal Gear Solid.

Marvel Studios:



Marvel studios is relativly new to the film industry buisness, having been formed in the 1990's.
Movies Marvel Studios has been involved with include: Blade, Daredevil, Spiderman, Fantastic Four.
Futre invovlements include: Spiderman 4 & 5, X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Laura Ziskin:


Is a films producer and she has been involved with productions such as: Spiderman 3, Murphy's Romance and D.O.A.
Future involvments include Spiderman 4.

Interesting Film Opening Sequence

The reason I have chosen this, is because i like the use of effects to create a dramatic intro to the movie. Clips from the previous movies are used in the effects in a spiderweb sort of effect. Also displaying the titles of producers, director, actors etc. There isn't any camera work, the only camera work is from the prevous movies, which are then pieced together to create a small non verbal back story for any viewer or hasn't seen the prequels.

Moo Moo Lollage - Practice Footage Opening Titles

This is a practice of making an opening title sequence to a movie.
The effects i used where overlay fading. Blur and fisheye.

I also made sure the timeing of the visual went with the audio

Ncik's Hw: The importance of coverage and cut-aways

Coverage:

A coverage is the size of an image that a lense is able to produce when shooting a scene.

This is important because, if you're shooting something to be played on a big screen like a cinema then you will need a big "coverage" otherwise the scene will be coming pixelated and look really erm crappy :)

Cut-away:

A cut-away is where in scene a sequence of normally continuous action is inserted into the footage. This normally happens when a character makes a statement of some sort and then the "cut-away" begins. After which we then return to the scene when the character had said this.


The importance of this is that it in a way tells another part of the story. Ok so it's action and there isn't much of a storyline to it, but there generally is a lot of emotion going on at this present time. And it also keeps us interested in what we are watching

Lego Starsky And Hutch

The main thing we'll need to do this is the red white and car. Because that's the main symbol of the program.

We will only be making the first 20-25 seconds of the the title sequence due to the fact that it changed after that every series.

HOMEWORK for Weekend 29/11

1. www.Geofftech.co.uk

2.

3.

4. Because he’s a complicated man, everything he does is just strange and indifferent compared to the other characters.

5. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=4cJt2Eqwb_U

London Underground Tube Task

Yesterday in class we were given the task of "reconstructing" the London Underground Tube map.

By reconstructing I mean, replacing all the station names and tube lines with something else, something that will make the map a little bit more entertaining. We have been given the category of TV Drama to work with. Another reason behind doing this, is that it makes the map easier to read, seeing how stations connect with the diffferent categories and sub-genres of Tv drama. Means that people can understand better what line goes to what station and so forth.

We used King's Cross as our starting pint. (Deciding to start in the middle and work our way out).

For King's cross we used Eastenders which is a soap opera. Using Eastenders means we can branch of with other categories relativly easy making our life easier and for people who will use the map (hopefully).

Gangsta Tv Dramas

1. The Sopranos
2. The Black Donnelys
3. The Gangsta Chronicles
4. Hillstreet Blues
5. Gangsters
6. Brotherhood
7. The Last Don
8. The Last Don 2
9.

hello Ash