Never Back Down 2
This scene is a little irrelevant because the whole scene is concentrating on UFC, but I still think the shots used are a good example of what we could use for our film. The shots are short, sharp and constantly changing. Also the music goes well with this scene because the music is very modern and American, so it suits the scene well. I've noticed that a good way to show that time has passed is by changing their clothes and changing from night to day . This makes it seem like days/weeks have passed of training.
South Paw This is my favourite training scene because you can really see the determination in his eyes and the editing is amazing. First off, exactly like "never back down" they have included all the small stuff e.g. Sweating, heavy breathing and intense facial expressions. But what I like about this one is that the music is quite dark, but motivating at the same time. But because the music is quite dark they have filmed in a dirty, run down, dark boxing club. This shows that thee character has an evil side to him. Secondly in the editing they have lowered the lighting to make the room darker, this links in with my last point. The editors have also made it a bit of a montage. A montage is short sharp clips that have been added together. This gives the audience a sense of action and that he has been training for hours upon hours. This is what we need to include in our film because we need to show him training over a number of years. This will then give our audience a sense of time
Monday, 23 November 2015
Storyboard (Old VS New)
This is our story board, to show what we plan to have and film within our movie opening. The reason why we chose colours and images to portray each shot, was that so we can be reminded visually of our goals. We want to make each shot the best it can be, and we do not want to settle for anything less. We put a rough time amount/ limit so that when we are filming, we gain a rough idea of how long we should do each shot for. This also gave us an overall idea of how long our film opening will be and whether or not we need to make certain shots longer or shorter. The only thing we could have done better is put on each box the types of shots that we aim to do for each one, a defined word, rather than just movements. However, we added just enough information to gain a good understanding of the overall aims for our film opening. The box underneath the images allow us to tick off each section as we do it. Meaning that we can keep it organised and planned, not falling behind. A big thing for our group is staying on track and doing everything we are physically possible to stay organised and get an excellent end product.
My group and I decided that we were going to completely change this initial idea.
This is our new story board, to show what we plan to have and film within our movie opening. The reason why we chose colours and images to portray each shot, was that so we can be reminded visually of our goals. We want to make each shot the best it can be, and we do not want to settle for anything less. We put a rough time amount/ limit so that when we are filming, we gain a rough idea of how long we should do each shot for. This also gave us an overall idea of how long our film opening will be and whether or not we need to make certain shots longer or shorter. The only thing we could have done better is put on each box the types of shots that we aim to do for each one, a defined word, rather than just movements. However, we added just enough information to gain a good understanding of the overall aims for our film opening. The box underneath the images allow us to tick off each section as we do it. Meaning that we can keep it organised and planned, not falling behind. A big thing for our group is staying on track and doing everything we are physically possible to stay organised and get an excellent end product.
Friday, 20 November 2015
Production Diary
Day number 1. 9/12/17
On day number one we had to think about the group we were going to be in. We also had to start by writing our individual pitch ideas.
Day number 2. 10/12/17
The second day of our meeting we each presented our presentations to the group in order to voice our initial ideas making it easier for us to expand our ideas.
Day number 3. 12/12/17
Today we have drawn a group mind map of all our ideas. We made our ideas anonymous to avoid having problems deciding which idea to go for.
Day number 4. 13/12/17
On day number three of planning we showed our plan to a random sample and got feedback. We discussed straight away the feedback and responses that we got in order to better our ideas and tweak them.
Day number 7. 20/12/17
Today we have continued to do our individual contributions to the film research process. I was finding titles from similar films to imitate and Aisha was doing a shot list.
Day number 8. 23/12/17
In todays lesson we had decided that we wanted to change the storyboard completely, this was when we were trying to sort out a shooting schedule and we realised that it wouldn't work. So we scrapped all our ideas and started from beginning. We re-showed each other the individual film pitches which is when we decided that a more simplistic but yet moving would be the best idea. We then did a mind map/plan of everything that we thought we would need in order to pull it off.
Day number 9. 24/12/17
Today we went over some of the authentic footage . We also planned to get Spencer's dad's van which by using hard-to-get props made the opening look professional. As a group we came together and decided to plan out a storyboard, once that was done in rough we did a real storyboard which we then filmed. We were also getting on with our individually allocated jobs as well. We also had planned costumes and props that we would need.
Day number 10. 26/11/15
In today's lesson we all worked together to complete a risk assessment. Megan and I did the shooting schedule whilst Max and Spencer began the shot list. After that, Max wrote a script and we all went over to the location in order to plan our shots.
Day number 11. 27/11/15
We started shooting today, beforehand we went door-to-door to warn the neighbours that we would be filming a heist and as the costume and props we were using looked very realistic, we did this to ensure that no one felt wrongly unsafe.
Day number 12. 30/11/15
Today, we continued to film any extracts that we had missed out, and we all agreed to overfilm in order to minimise any shortage of shots.
Day number 13. 31/11/15
Today, we looked through all of our shots and footage that we had and we agreed that we had enough, so we started the editing.
Day number 14. 1/12/15
In todays lesson we continued the editing process and also got together as a team in order to see what was outstanding that we needed to complete. Once we had allocated everyone tasks we all got on with it helping eachother.
Day number 15. 3/12/15
In today's lesson, Megan began creating our film poster with the help of Spencer and I doing research into similar genre'd film posters whilst Max was editing.
Day number 16. 4/12/15
We realised that we needed location shots, so Max went back to the location and got photos of all our locations whilst I edited the film poster that Megan had put together. We spoke to a Media student from a past year in order to help us with the titles of our opening. In our spare time we each decided to continue with the editing, film poster and any outstanding pieces of work that we had.
Day number 17. 7/12/15
Today we reviewed everyones first drafts in order to give them efficient feedback in which they could use as guidance to make their pieces better. Due to the whole lesson being psent on looking at everyones drafts, we were unable to do any more improvisation to our film opening.
Day number 18. 8/12/15
Today we continued reviewing our peers' film drafts.
Day number 19. 9/12/15
In todays meeting we received our teachers feedback and we got to improve our first draft based on that feedback. We now knew what we needed to change and improvise in order to make our opening good enough for a final piece so again, we allocated jobs to eachother and individually got on with them. We also later on in the day received our peers' feedback and got to work on improving our first draft film opening so it was successful enough for a final piece.
Day number 20. 21/12/15 After all the work had been completed and the video had been uploaded onto our blogs, we then decided as a group to have a blog day. We wanted to ensure that everything was there that was needed and to ensure that everything was in the correct order. Therefore, we all sat round as a group, and went through the correct order and dates of the work that needed to have been done, and then updated and changed certain pieces of work that wasn't the same or as finished as another member of the groups.
Day number 35. 4/1/16
Over Christmas, we carried on ensuring that our blog work was detailed and finished, we then began our evaluation questions. As a group, we decided what piece of work fitted who, due to their particular preferences. For example, I said that I wanted to do the question on representation and audience, because I previously completed work to a high standard, with these topics being the main criteria. We found this helpful because it looked at each individual persons strengths and weaknesses, we then set each other a dead line to ensure that everything was done on time, allowing us to individually tweak an other person in our groups work, to fit our own preferences.
Day number 39. 8/1/16
After spending a few days on the evaluation questions, we then decided to all come round as a group and show each other what we had so far. This allowed us to check that every body was on the right track and to give feedback to where was appropriate.
Day number 42. 11/1/16
This was the deadline that we had set each other to send each other their particular evaluation questions. We then all adapted each question to how we liked, so that we all had a particular say in the evaluation question, rather than just using someone else's work.
Day number 44/ 13/1/16
After all of the evaluation questions were now on the blogs, we then individually went through our blogs, ensuring that everything was to a high standard. We then ensured that all of the work and questions made sense and included the correct and appropriate title. We then made sure that all of the labels were correct and fitted the correct pieces of work.
On day number one we had to think about the group we were going to be in. We also had to start by writing our individual pitch ideas.
Day number 2. 10/12/17
The second day of our meeting we each presented our presentations to the group in order to voice our initial ideas making it easier for us to expand our ideas.
Day number 3. 12/12/17
Today we have drawn a group mind map of all our ideas. We made our ideas anonymous to avoid having problems deciding which idea to go for.
Day number 4. 13/12/17
On day number three of planning we showed our plan to a random sample and got feedback. We discussed straight away the feedback and responses that we got in order to better our ideas and tweak them.
Day number 7. 20/12/17
Today we have continued to do our individual contributions to the film research process. I was finding titles from similar films to imitate and Aisha was doing a shot list.
Day number 8. 23/12/17
In todays lesson we had decided that we wanted to change the storyboard completely, this was when we were trying to sort out a shooting schedule and we realised that it wouldn't work. So we scrapped all our ideas and started from beginning. We re-showed each other the individual film pitches which is when we decided that a more simplistic but yet moving would be the best idea. We then did a mind map/plan of everything that we thought we would need in order to pull it off.
Day number 9. 24/12/17
Today we went over some of the authentic footage . We also planned to get Spencer's dad's van which by using hard-to-get props made the opening look professional. As a group we came together and decided to plan out a storyboard, once that was done in rough we did a real storyboard which we then filmed. We were also getting on with our individually allocated jobs as well. We also had planned costumes and props that we would need.
Day number 10. 26/11/15
In today's lesson we all worked together to complete a risk assessment. Megan and I did the shooting schedule whilst Max and Spencer began the shot list. After that, Max wrote a script and we all went over to the location in order to plan our shots.
Day number 11. 27/11/15
We started shooting today, beforehand we went door-to-door to warn the neighbours that we would be filming a heist and as the costume and props we were using looked very realistic, we did this to ensure that no one felt wrongly unsafe.
Day number 12. 30/11/15
Today, we continued to film any extracts that we had missed out, and we all agreed to overfilm in order to minimise any shortage of shots.
Day number 13. 31/11/15
Today, we looked through all of our shots and footage that we had and we agreed that we had enough, so we started the editing.
Day number 14. 1/12/15
In todays lesson we continued the editing process and also got together as a team in order to see what was outstanding that we needed to complete. Once we had allocated everyone tasks we all got on with it helping eachother.
Day number 15. 3/12/15
In today's lesson, Megan began creating our film poster with the help of Spencer and I doing research into similar genre'd film posters whilst Max was editing.
Day number 16. 4/12/15
We realised that we needed location shots, so Max went back to the location and got photos of all our locations whilst I edited the film poster that Megan had put together. We spoke to a Media student from a past year in order to help us with the titles of our opening. In our spare time we each decided to continue with the editing, film poster and any outstanding pieces of work that we had.
Day number 17. 7/12/15
Today we reviewed everyones first drafts in order to give them efficient feedback in which they could use as guidance to make their pieces better. Due to the whole lesson being psent on looking at everyones drafts, we were unable to do any more improvisation to our film opening.
Day number 18. 8/12/15
Today we continued reviewing our peers' film drafts.
Day number 19. 9/12/15
In todays meeting we received our teachers feedback and we got to improve our first draft based on that feedback. We now knew what we needed to change and improvise in order to make our opening good enough for a final piece so again, we allocated jobs to eachother and individually got on with them. We also later on in the day received our peers' feedback and got to work on improving our first draft film opening so it was successful enough for a final piece.
Day number 20. 21/12/15 After all the work had been completed and the video had been uploaded onto our blogs, we then decided as a group to have a blog day. We wanted to ensure that everything was there that was needed and to ensure that everything was in the correct order. Therefore, we all sat round as a group, and went through the correct order and dates of the work that needed to have been done, and then updated and changed certain pieces of work that wasn't the same or as finished as another member of the groups.
Day number 35. 4/1/16
Over Christmas, we carried on ensuring that our blog work was detailed and finished, we then began our evaluation questions. As a group, we decided what piece of work fitted who, due to their particular preferences. For example, I said that I wanted to do the question on representation and audience, because I previously completed work to a high standard, with these topics being the main criteria. We found this helpful because it looked at each individual persons strengths and weaknesses, we then set each other a dead line to ensure that everything was done on time, allowing us to individually tweak an other person in our groups work, to fit our own preferences.
Day number 39. 8/1/16
After spending a few days on the evaluation questions, we then decided to all come round as a group and show each other what we had so far. This allowed us to check that every body was on the right track and to give feedback to where was appropriate.
Day number 42. 11/1/16
This was the deadline that we had set each other to send each other their particular evaluation questions. We then all adapted each question to how we liked, so that we all had a particular say in the evaluation question, rather than just using someone else's work.
Day number 44/ 13/1/16
After all of the evaluation questions were now on the blogs, we then individually went through our blogs, ensuring that everything was to a high standard. We then ensured that all of the work and questions made sense and included the correct and appropriate title. We then made sure that all of the labels were correct and fitted the correct pieces of work.
Thursday, 19 November 2015
Props Research
We also chose gloves as a prop because it allows the characters to be able to break and enter without revealing finger prints and their identity. It is also what would realistically be included in a heist and our aims is to make the film more realistic than comical or a spoof. The mask would also disguise their characters and add to the dark and sinister atmosphere by scaring the audience.
Wednesday, 18 November 2015
Mood Board
The mood board shows everything that is needed and that I have used to have influence on the opening scene. Firstly my opening scene is based around war life and following an individuals life. I really wanted to emphasise that the impact that experiencing a war can have and that it is a serious and forever growing cycle that many people aren't aware of. This is why I plan to have some quite intense shots within the short film shown in the mood board, including several quotes and disturbing pictures surrounding the subject. Secondly I had to focus on setting a formal respectful representation seeing as it is a sensitive subject. This why I wanted to include facts without directly telling the audience, meaning I have drifted away from making it seem like a documentary. Thirdly I had to think of a key idea that would make my film stand out and seem original. To do this I decided to take advantage of my personal experience and use some authentic footage featuring a look into an interview on a news article done in 2006.
Tuesday, 17 November 2015
Group Feedback
After completing and presenting our group film pitches, everybody in the class had to fill out review sheets, giving us feedback on clear genre, target audience, why it will be interesting, character, setting, mood, style, enigma, similar films/ inspirations and any other film advice or concerns. By receiving these sheets, it allowed us to gain a further understanding from an audience point of view, of how our film will come across and seem. We wanted to know whether the idea and concept was appropriate to our chosen genre. However, since giving our group film pitch, we have changed our ideas further, meaning the genre too.
These are our feedback results on average:
What is the genre? Is it clear? - War film - action - yes very clear.
Who is the target audience and why would they pay to see it? - The target audience is for over 15's. They would pay to see it because it includes a good story line, and lots of action
Does it introduce character and setting? - Yes, it introduces main character Sam, and sets the scene of a battle field. You also see scenes of Sam with his mother, giving us an insight into his life.
Is the narrative interesting? Does it create enigma? - Yes, the narrative is interesting, represents our everyday lives, and shows Sam's life. It also shows enigma because you want to find out why Sam is lying on the floor.. What will happen to him?.... What happened to Sam's Father?... What will happen in the army?.... What happens to Sam's Mother?
What films is it similar to? - War films like Saving Private Ryan, Forrest Gump, Beginning section like Run All Night.
Comments/ advice to make it better- Try to have less happening. But overall really good idea.
These are our feedback results on average:
What is the genre? Is it clear? - War film - action - yes very clear.
Who is the target audience and why would they pay to see it? - The target audience is for over 15's. They would pay to see it because it includes a good story line, and lots of action
Does it introduce character and setting? - Yes, it introduces main character Sam, and sets the scene of a battle field. You also see scenes of Sam with his mother, giving us an insight into his life.
Is the narrative interesting? Does it create enigma? - Yes, the narrative is interesting, represents our everyday lives, and shows Sam's life. It also shows enigma because you want to find out why Sam is lying on the floor.. What will happen to him?.... What happened to Sam's Father?... What will happen in the army?.... What happens to Sam's Mother?
What films is it similar to? - War films like Saving Private Ryan, Forrest Gump, Beginning section like Run All Night.
Comments/ advice to make it better- Try to have less happening. But overall really good idea.
Working Together
This picture is showing my group working together. The reasons as to why our team works well together is because we all work hard and believe that working as a TEAM is vital for. We all take on individual jobs that we know will benefit us in the future. This will also save time and allow the most work to be don't as possible. We first brain stormed ideas together and then we wrote down and pitched everybody's individual ideas. This gave everyone the chance to voice and present their film pitch ideas. However, naturally, ideas changed. We went off each idea, developed it and then came up with a final product that we were happy with as a group. We all went round and decided on our best skills and qualities, for example, Max is very good at editing, so max will take on the main role of editing, however, we will all he as a group. We then realised that Spencer is better at filming, so spencer will be the main cameraman. Then Megan and I were both strong actors, directors and camera work. We will also contribute to the editing. By doing this, we were able to use everyone's strongest abilities. We then decided which of us were going to do things like story boards, diary entries, risk assessments etc. This will allow us to get work done quickly and efficiently. Overall, I feel that our group is extremely hard working and will work very well together. We all bounce off each others skills, personalities and work ability.
Friday, 6 November 2015
Sound
Sound
In today's lesson, I learnt about sound and the effects of sound in films and TV
programmes. The different types of sound that we were taught about are:
programmes. The different types of sound that we were taught about are:
- Diegetic - anything that the actors can hear (e.g. radio, cars)
- Non-diegetic - anything that the actors cannot hear (e.g. voice over)
- Synchronous - matched with the visible source of the sound on the screen.
- Asynchronous - not matched with the visible source of the sound on the screen.
- Sound bridge - blending two scenes together by sound.
- Ambient - the surrounding sounds that create the atmosphere and creates soundscape.
Analysis of Film Openings 2
Ones I have personally chosen to analyse.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, the sound is crucial for the opening to create the effect that it intended to. This opening relies on non-diegetic sound. The soundtrack itself is intense and exaggerates the suspense of the visuals. By avoiding using synchronous sound, the audience focus on the imagery as well as subconsciously receiving the dramatic and gothic effect of the soundtrack.
Richard Morrison interview.
Richard Morrison interview.
When doing film openings, I concluded that it is better to keep simple ideas rather than overcomplicating ideas as it tends to become too complicated and hard to follow. Despite my initial reaction of thinking the more ideas and factors the better, after watching this interview and multiple different film openings I concluded simple ideas come together to create a better outcome. It is essential that the genre can be clearly seen by any aspect of the film, whether it be the title or even the very first shot. The genre is the whole reason for a film therefore it is important it is always easily seen in order to keep consistency. Linking with the genre, it is crucial that the music ties in with entire theme, target audience and more importantly the genre. If you put a completely irrelevant song, whether it has lyrics or not, it will leave the audience extremely confused and it will ruin the aimed reaction. It is imperative that your film idea and the scenes aren't completely fictional (unless that is your intention) and that they present everyday activity in an attempt to get your target audience to relate to the story. Camera shots can always be edited or tweaked using different software, with this it is important to link the effects used on the shots to your genre (e.g horror//sharp movements or tense build up). The titles and effects reflect the genre and theme to basically show you the story without directly telling the story. Richard Morrison talks about the title sequence in a film named Sweeney Todd. They use the theme of blood and Morrison goes on to explain how it acts as a metaphor. As the theme is blood they use red titles and try to incorporate the colour red as much as possible. If you start with a drawn storyboard, it is better because as the project moves on you are constantly building ideas onto that instead of just keeping it in your brain. Once it has been written down as a storyboard you allow your group members to add some more detail and rub some off if you decide it isn't good enough or relevant. Technology has moved on and this allows you to almost create the impossible and layer things in much more than just a simple way. You cannot cheat perspective on film, you must actually do it and make sure you compensate for space and everything you need in order to create this perfect set.This interview can be found here: http://www.watchthetitles.com/articles/00193-Richard_Morrison_interview
Analysis of Film Openings
Ones we did in school.
Roses Are RedQuite a few of the ideas of this opening were really interesting to watch. Many creative ideas made a good effect and did well in fitting in with the genre of the film however I felt the introduction was a bit too long. I felt that they used a clever way of showing all the group members names linking in to the scenes whilst also telling a story, which was original and seemed challenging. Our class all agreed that the genre was clear, we also agreed that it went on too long. The music fit well with the film genre as it was very upbeat. I would give this a strong level 4.
Children & Men
There is a lot of enigma in this opening. There is asynchronous sounds in the very first scene where we can hear a news report and we can see a gathering of people enclosed in a small shop attentively staring at something, soon to be revealed as a TV. There is mainly silence in the background however you can hear cars going past a little bit in the nearby road. There is a violin sound to show sadness or distress in the scene, our class agreed that this was a good effort in deciding the audiences mood. Foley is used a lot in the opening, mainly for the cars as it is set on a busy London road. I would give this a mid-level 4.
Resident Evil
This is a very abstract opening. In the opening the sound is non diegetic throughout the opening and it fits with what we are seeing at one point, it then moves on to building up tension with the sound building. There is a panning shot of us looking from the bottom of the girls foot to her head, this is the introduction to the main character. This creates a lot of enigma for the audience as there are many unanswered questions in this scene.
This is the mark scheme that I used:
Mark Scheme for Film Openings.
This is the mark scheme that I am going to use to analyse multiple film openings. Three being ones I have chosen myself and three being ones we have gone over in our class.
Level 1 0–23 marks. The work for the main task is possibly incomplete. There is minimal evidence in the work of the creative use of any relevant technical skills such as:• Producing material appropriate for the target audience and task; • using titles appropriately according to institutional conventions; • using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set;• shooting material appropriate to the task set; including controlled use of the camera, attention to framing, variety of shot distance and close attention to mise-en-scene; • using editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer and making selective and appropriate use of shot transitions and other effects.Level 2 24–35 marks. There is evidence of a basic level of ability in the creative use of some of the following technical skills:• Producing material appropriate for the target audience and task; • using titles appropriately according to institutional conventions; • using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set;• shooting material appropriate to the task set;, including controlled use of the camera, attention to framing, variety of shot distance and close attention to mise-en-scene; • using editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer and making selective and appropriate use of shot transitions and other effects.
Level 3 36–47 marks. There is evidence of proficiency in the creative use of many of the following technical skills:• Producing material appropriate for the target audience and task; • using titles appropriately according to institutional conventions; • using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set;• shooting material appropriate to the task set; including controlled use of the camera, attention to framing, variety of shot distance and close attention to mise-en-scene; • using editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer and making selective and appropriate use of shot transitions and other effects.
Level 4 48–60 marks. There is evidence of excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills:• material appropriate for the target audience and task;• using titles appropriately according to institutional conventions;• using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set;• shooting material appropriate to the task set; including controlled use of the camera, attention to framing, variety of shot distance and close attention to mise-en-scene;• using editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer and making selective and appropriate use of shot transitions and other effects.
Feedback
Many people criticised us on the audio during the scene with the most script. This is because it was filmed outside in a windy area making our voices less clear. We could've fixed that with foley however given our priorities we decided to not do that. We made sure our different shots were very clear to the audience which reflected in the feedback that we got, people particularly liked our high angle shot which is shown in the very first scene. We missed an establishing shot and shot reverse shot. The genre seemed to be fairly evident because of the use of lighting and sound however a few people confused it with action and being a documentary. A particular criticism was that the credits at the beginning passed too rapidly not leaving enough time to read. We used foley of heavy breathing over the scene where one of the characters were being dragged down a hallway blanking out, some people felt like this went on for a bit too long. The most popular opinion was that we could've made the beginning part a bit stronger and that that was the part which let us down compared to the other scenes.
Self Evaluation.
I feel like I agree with most of the feedback given. Specifically trying to improve the scripted scene with a more exciting scene. I would also try to make it a bit more torturous to avoid people thinking the genre is action.
Self Evaluation.
I feel like I agree with most of the feedback given. Specifically trying to improve the scripted scene with a more exciting scene. I would also try to make it a bit more torturous to avoid people thinking the genre is action.
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