S1-19 : FILM OPENING PROJECT 2008/9

Final Thought

2009-03-06T07:48:00.000-08:00

Well finally we have finished the editing and added our final cut. There is still a few parts that could be improved such as the beginning more filters could be added to make it look less like a home video. I really like the smoking bit and the quick editing thats creates a jumping affect. All in all the end result is good and i'm happy with what we have achieved as a group. I can only hope the rest of the class agree.

Final Cut

2009-03-06T06:19:00.000-08:00

Film Title

2009-03-06T06:14:00.000-08:00

We have decided on the title of our film and have chosen "Push."
we came to this decision by searching on an online dictionary for words associated with our film. Push is one of the words that came up.

We made the titles and the end title small sized and made the letters closer together to make them look pushed smaller.

Additional Shots

2009-03-06T05:15:00.000-08:00

We have decided to film some extreme close up shots of drugs being smoked. We filmed the shots and uploaded the footage to final cut. We have incorporated these shots into our rough cut and made sure the cut edits were in time with the music beat. We now have to think of a title for the film and put it in a frame at the end of the opening sequence.

Catherine is putting filters and some lighting effects on the sequence.

Music

2009-03-04T13:13:00.000-08:00

I have completed the soundtrack for the film and it is on the rough cut. i used the keyboard piano function on Garageband to write a simple piano riff loop. I then incorporated a hip-hop club style dance beat. The contrast between the intentions and tone of the video with the simple, calm soundtrack is very effective. Although not as violent, this is similar to the following scene in "This is england" (2006) Danny Boyle.

In this clip the music is very calm and emotional. This is juxtaposed by the horrific violence and shocking language used in the scene.
This is where i got the idea of the style of music from, however not an as extreme as the above clip.

ROUGH CUT

2009-03-02T02:19:00.000-08:00

Here is our rough cut it still needs quite a bit of work...

Edting Update

2009-02-28T14:09:00.000-08:00

Now we are in the process of using the footage we have to create our opening sequence. It differs quite alot to our previous idea however the main plot is there. Editing a sociol realist drama is very hard because you are limited to the amount of editing you can do to the footage. It was quite hard to make the clips all run smoothly together because of the way we filmed the clips were a bit out of time.
We have to edit some shots to make it look good however we are not glomorising any shots by brightning/contrasting shots. Asher is now working on the music and that is going well we have lots of tester ones to come to a conclusion of the general sound genre we want to work on. Weve thought of mixing RnB with classical to find an obvous contrast that compliments each other well and in the end fits in with the scene. We will try and rythmical edit the music to go with the shots i think this will give the sequence a nice effect that will impact on the audiences reaction to the final piece.

Fonts

2009-02-12T04:04:00.000-08:00

We need to keep the font simple so as to keep to conventions. We have been looking at www.dafont.com to see if there is any fonts there. Here is some ideas....

Music/Soundtrack

2009-02-12T03:52:00.001-08:00

This is a screen shot of the music we have been working on. At the moment we have lots of different instruments and beats playing so we still need to work on making everything fit and sound professional.

Micro Elements!

2009-02-12T03:27:00.000-08:00

Lighting

All natural, Inside the lights are turned off but natural lights shine through.
No editing the brightness/contrast so as to keep to realist element.

Make-Up

We used no make-up because only boys were used in the filming.
We didn't want a Hollywood glossy look on our film because we want to keep to the conventions of social realism.

Sound

After listening to several tacks we have got some inspiration for our piece.
Using garage band we have used several instruments and beats we heard in other music. in our own. These include; Guitar, Drums, Beat and Strings.
We aren't going to have any specking in our film only the background best.

Oh Dear

2009-02-12T02:56:00.000-08:00

Whilst filming we ran into a few problems. Due to the weather and lessons it was very hard to find a suitable time to film. We had to film the scenes separately so Onder was filmed at the beginning of the day and Asher was filmed later on. Lighting wasn't a big problem as most of Onder's filming was inside. However when filming at the park it started to rain and get dark very quickly. We managed to film all of Asher' scenes although later we have to film both boys together to get the other films.

We had to film in a different location because of train and bus services being interrupted by weather. We ended up filming at a park on mill road. It was convenient because beside the park was some flats we could use to film Asher coming out of.

Our Sound Inspiration

2009-02-09T02:14:00.000-08:00

Since our project has been heading towards a 'London-underground-scene' type theme, we decided that we should use a well known artist from London's hip hop scene called Sway as an inspiration.

This video is an instrumental to the song 'Up your speed'. I feel like this song can create the utmost perfect tension in such a grimey atmosphere because of the gradual tempo used in this song. So for our opening sequence project, we intend to use a soundtrack that is heavily influenced by the use of beats and the heavy bass guitar and such instruments.

Log feedback

2009-02-09T01:44:00.000-08:00

During the course of our media lesson the students in our media class had to analyze each other's blogs. Many people had suggested an area for improvement in the blog and they had to also make positive points which is aimed at improving our overall score of marks in our opening sequence project.

Positive points of our blog

Detailed call sheet - it is really good
Plenty of posts and a lot of information to go with them
Lots of pictures, videos and examples etc...
Excellent location intake, clear images reflected
Unique Ident
Good location research
Really in depth research and good preparation for filming
Good genre research
Strong shot

Areas for improvement

Needs a couple of images
Test footage needs to be improved
Have not yet defined all the film types and their conventions
Animatic sequence, could have information (how you came about creating it?)

So how can we improve our blog? Well we welcome every constructive criticism because our aim is to figure out every flaw in our blog and improving it. As we aim to reach the highest amount of marks available, we are going to have to consider what our audience think could be done to upgrade it. This can be achieved by including more images, give the audience a visual image of our intent of producing our project and by being more descriptive in our thoughts whilst writing our blogs.

Comparing our opening sequence blog to our last thriller project blog, I believe, there is a huge difference because when writing our thriller blog, it was our first time doing such a task and took a while because it is like writing in a diary. However we believe our current blog has got much more potential to please our audience. Also we are going to aim for winning the blog-of-the-week title.

By Önder Köyel

Call Sheet

2009-02-05T12:38:00.000-08:00

Title: ??????????????????????????
Producer: A.J Lycam
Director: David Filys
Phone: 07867382037
Day of Shoot: Monday 9th Febuary 2009
Crew Call: 16:51 at Cambridge Train Station
Shoot Call: 17:30 at Bishop Stortford
Break: 18:50
Shoot Ends: 19:40
Nearest Hospital: Addenbrokes Hospital Cambridge, Hills Rd, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ

Shots 1-6 (17:30-18:00)

Cast: Asher and Onder
Locations: Ashers House, Two Seperate Rooms.
Props: Stray clothing and empty cups for mess effect in Boy 1's room.
Costume: (Boy 1) Baggy jeans and Dark hoodie. (Boy 2) Casual jeans and jumper.

Shots 6-21 (18:00-18:50)

Cast: Asher and Onder. Also a few background characters will be included.

Locations: Estate Flats and surrounding enviroment onto road.

Props: Mobile Phone, School Bags

Costume: Same as what boys were wearing before.

Shots 22,23 and 26 (19:10-19:25)

Cast: Asher and Exras

Location: Trinity Park, Bishop Stortford

Props: School bags, (Cigarettes?)

Costumes: Tracksuits, Hoodies, Dark Clothing, (Caps?)

Shots 24 and 25 (19:25-19:40)

Cast: Onder (maybe class mates?)

Location: Class Room (Long road VI College?)

Props: School bag, Desks, Chairs

Costume: Same casual jeans and jumper as before.

Other Sociol Realist Directors

2009-02-05T11:58:00.000-08:00

Our film ideas are very simular to 'Sweet Sixteen' a film directed by Ken Loach in 2002. Like Boy 1 in our film the main characters friends have also gone agaist schooling prefering to hang about a get into trouble. Like our film the actors are teenagers who are coming of age and making important choices about their future. Like our film there is another character trying to make a better life for themselves. I think this contrast is really good in a film because it brings more edge to the plot because you can compare the two different endings.

Another film directed by Loach is 'My Name is Joe' (1998). This is another example where there are two poeple who have taken different roads in life. One has fallen in love whereas his troubled friend is an alcholic. This film was filmed in the slums of Glasgow and filling small roles with local residents which fits the convention of Sociol Realism. We also will use local residents of Bishops Stalkford such as Asher.

Actors

2009-02-05T03:50:00.000-08:00

When filming the opening sequence we will use onder and asher as the two characters. The fist character will be dressed in tracksuit bottoms, this will give them a stereotypical look and the audience will recognise him as belonging to a certain stereotypical group. The second boy will be dressed in smarter clothes. He will be wearing jeans and a t shirt with a casual jacket on top. This will give an impression of a perhaps less popular person because of the way he is dressed compared to the other character. The audience will never see the less popular boy with any other people or in a social environment, whereas the other boy will be seen in social environments with his friends.

Locations for filming

2009-02-05T03:18:00.000-08:00

I have looked at some pictures on the interent to help give a visula idea of where we are going to film.
Heres where the first location. A small room with conventional mise en scene such as posters etc.

Whereas Boy 2 will have a cleaner room to make a contrast. The next scene you would see the outside of their enviroment which is an block of flats/estate.

Quite a lot of the next scenes are set in the park such as the one shown below.

The other scenes with Boy 2 will be set in a normal classroom like the ones in Long Road.

Animatic Sequence

2009-02-05T03:05:00.000-08:00

Here is our animatic sequence but i think we made need to edit it due to weather and transport issues. We came up with these shots by looking at other social realist dramas and taking some shots they used. The boys at the park and close of shots are inspired by other realist dramas because it represents how the boys live and their characteristics as a person. This helps the audience to relate and understand the actors making the film more effective.

Shot Captions

2009-01-30T14:09:00.001-08:00

Here you see Boy 1's face and so you can piece together his character and contrast him to Boy 2.
This is a medium shot of Boy 1's torso as he pulls on a black hoodie. Also a very short clip.
There is a medium shot of Boy 1 from the waist down pulling on some grey tracksuits. Very short clip lasting around 2s.
Then you see the face of Boy which contrasts greatly to Boy 1 because of his expression etc..
Like shot 2 there is another medium shot of Boy 2's torso. You see him pull on a jumper which contrasts to the hoodie worn by Boy 2.
Now you see a medium shot of Boy 2 from the waist down pulling on traditional jeans.
FADE INTO TITLE
It changes to a shot of Boy 1 coming down the staircase in which you only see his legs.

NON-ADDICTIVE DISSOLVE
You then see Boy 2's feet fade over so you can once again contrast the two.
Now you get a long shot where you see Boy 1 coming out of the block of flats, you can see the building and gather how the boy lives.
The camera then follows Boy 1 has he walks towards the road so you see how he walks and generally holds himself.
The camera then goes back to the door as Boy 2 walks out.
Once again the camera follows him as he walks towards the road so you can contrast how he walks etc to Boy 1.
You see a long shot taken from the shoulder height of Boy 2. Boy 1 looks behind him at the boy.
You get a match on reaction shot of the boy turning and staring at Boy 2 for a few seconds.
The shot then jumps Boy 2's reaction. You can see the fear in his face unlike the other boy.
You then go back to a long shot where you see Boy 1 receives a text message.
You see Boy 1's reaction to the text as he smiles in a close up shot.
Then you get a long shot from a 90° angle so you see both boys on the pavement. Boy 1 then turns around and walks back, as he passes Boy 2 he shoves him, Boy 2 doesn't react which shows the difference between the two when it comes to self pride.
The camera then turns to face Boy 1 as he walks away from Boy 2.
The camera turns as Boy 1 passes so that you then see Boy 1 walking away towards the estate.
You then see Boy 2's face as a reaction to Boy 1's choice. Close up shot.
Then there is a change in location where you see Boy 1 walking towards a group of boys in the park. This is a long shot so you can see the surroundings.
You see Boy 1 meeting the other boys with a respect sigh so you can see how this boy lives his life compared to Boy 2.
Then you get another change in location to the classroom where Boy 2 enters. This is also a long shot so you can see his chosen environment.
Boy 2 sits down and stares out the window, you see a close up of his facial expression.
The last scene is Boy 1 and his friends messing around in the park pushing each other etc.

FADE INTO TITLE OF FILM

Sequence Analysis

2009-01-28T06:27:00.000-08:00

Killer Of Sheep-1977
Charles Burnett, Student Film (UCLA)

Borrows techniques from documentaries to emphasise realism. Eg. one boy looks into the camera
Gives a feel of observation
There are natural sounds in the background
There are lots of shots of children playing in the street which the camera man has just shooted to add the feel of realism.
Also shows the children playing in the street to tell the audience that they are working class people.

Adventure Films

2009-01-28T05:35:00.000-08:00

Childrens adventure films are one of the genres that have been given to us to choose from for our opening sequence. The conventions of an adventure film are...They can be either cartoons or films but they usually revolve around the same sort of thing, like a particular member of society fighting for justice against an evil tryant or a group of people. For example Star Wars, Narnia and Home Alone.

A lot of childrens films involve animals and quite often they can talk and are the main character like in Babe and also are about finding lost treasure or a lost city for example films like Indiana Jones.

Kidulthood analysis

2009-01-26T14:07:00.000-08:00

Kidulthood Opening 0mins - 6.30 mins

Themes:
Guncrime
Parties
Sex
Relationships
Drugs
Bullying
Violence/Fighting
Popularity
Ethnicity

The first 6 minutes of the film "Kidulthood" is packed with many different, shocking themes. Although the film is very strongly stereotyped and stylised it gives a good example of what life for a teenager in a stereotypically "rough" area would be like.

There are clear divisions between groups and individuals in the opening, as the older group headed by "Sam" appear very aggressive and abusive whereas the other group withthe main character "Trife" are less powerfull and are younger. In the shots where the audience see conflict between these two groups there are lots of jump cuts to different shots that are usually very crammed full of the older boys. this shows that the younger group are not as powerfull as the others and that they are in a helpless situation.

There are also strong scenes of violence between two female groups. These shots show the victim of the bullying from a higher angle to show her helplessness and that her bullies are in a superior position. Some of the shots are handheld and jolty, to give the impression that it is from the characters' perspective. ]

However i realised that Kidulthood is very edited and therefore agaist conventions of sociol realism. So even though we will be inspired by some of there themes and characters we will take conventions from films such as 'This is England' for shooting ideas.

Asher

Mood Board

2009-01-25T08:42:00.000-08:00

This is our mood board. There are pictures of some of the issues we want to explore in our opening. Mainly the idea of gangs, drugs and truency from school. There is a picture of Jay and Sam from Adulthood in there because it also explores some of the same issues and we can look at what they have done to help inspire us.

This is England Analysis

2009-01-24T12:03:00.001-08:00

The beginning start's with a non-dietetic soundtrack which is represents the music of the time the movie was set in. Margret Thatcher shows us the main event of the time also so we can get a sense of what's happening. The font is really simple so as not to glamorise the lifestyle at all.

When you see the boys coming up the stairs and the graffiti on the walls the lighting is kept to how it would be rather than being altered to look like Hollywood films. The titles very subtle come up so as not to distract you from what's happening.

There isn't a particular storyline to the opening; instead there are lots of small clips showing what was going on in England. Even small things like the video game set the scene. There are loads of references to England especially flags so you get a sense of where the film is going to be set.

It doesn't look like there are any actors in it because everyone is so natural in it. This makes the film look almost like a documentary rather than a film.

All of these micro/macro elements stick to conventions of a British Social Realist Drama and in our sequence we are going to use some of these elements to make ours look more realistic.

Synopsis

2009-01-23T06:20:00.000-08:00

The film opens with an establishing shot of both of the main male characters in their rooms, getting ready for school. Idealy they will be in the same estate. Throughout both of the scenes, we understand that both of these males are in the mid-teens but have a different ethnicity, one is born in England and the other is an immigrant. This will be the main point of the film as it will focus on how they behave diferently and the difficulties teenages that aren't from England face. Both of these males are getting dressed. The first male is wearing grey tracksuits, a thin black hooded jumper and trainers that we image as a ‘chav’ style. In the next shot, we see the second character getting ready for school wearing the traditional jeans, a jumper and shoes. There will be a contrast between the two boys already through the way they both prepare themselves for school, through their speech and through their dress sense. Both boys walk out of the flats and they meet each others eyes, boy one scowles at boy two a and puts his hood up. Boy one gets a text and turns to go the opposite way whereas boy two carries on to school. Boy one goes to the park and messes around with his friends so you can contrast his lifestyle with that of boy two who is seen in lessons. You see boy two glance out the window and see the other boys messing around at the park showing his opinion on their chosen lifestyle. Last scene is the boys walking away still messing about. Throughout the sequence titles comes in and out in a simple way so as to keep to the realism.

Sequence Analysis

2009-01-23T05:46:00.000-08:00

Trainspotting (Opening sequence)
Directed by: Danny Boyle
Release Date: 1996

T

Catch me if you can (Title Sequence)
Directed by: Steven Speilburg
Released in 2002

During this title sequence, we understand the type of relationship between the two characters that feature in the sequence and this relationship is emphasized through macro and micro elements. This sequence describes how the first characters has a flawed personality. Every time there is a scene associated with him we see this effect of a line going up or down across the scene. And even in the scene he is associated in consists of him changing clothes in order to start escaping from the second character. This also indicates his personality is flawed because his previous personality he chooses seems to come with it's very own weakness which he cannot muster. This in term makes him weak and he then has the need to find a new personality.

Even with the second character, the mise on scene represents how much of a calm but unlucky man he is. He seems to be a man built in with patience as he waits on his target to show his flaw but is always late to pounce.

Basically this is an excellent title sequence which displays the characters strengths and weaknesses just by watching the mise on scene.

Written by Onder Koyel

Ratcatcher (1999)

2009-01-19T04:00:00.000-08:00

Lynne Ramsley
Sociol Ralism + Surrealism

Slow motion at the beginning with a distint sound off children laughing. The audience doesnt quite know whats in the shot which makes it surreal.
Very slow, long clip at the beginning. Slow unwinding of curtain.
The child being slapped also signifys reality being hit into place.
Lighting is very simular to that of a normal house so it isnt glamourised at all. This represents the idea that the family isn't wealthy and we can relate.
Diegetic sounds keep it all realistic instead of bringing in material ideals.
The accents are very strong to represent place. The language used is very 'slang' like showing that the family are working class.
The people deal with real life and real issues.

We could use some of these conventions in our own opening to improve it.

Our Idea

2009-01-19T03:53:00.000-08:00

We have decided on 'Britsh Sociol Realist Drama' for our genre. We have put together a few things we may involve in our sequence. For example we have thought of involving drugs, knife/gun crime, police etc.
We also want to involve some conflict such as rich vs poor and maybe some issues of racism but we still need to pull together the main plot of our opening.

Genre Conventions

2009-01-19T03:21:00.000-08:00

Social Realism "the kitchen sink drama" is representative of real life drama, with all it's difficulties. The stories and people are portrayed are everyday characters, usually from working class backgrounds. Typically films within the social realist canon are gritty, urban dramas about the struggle to survive on a daily basis. General conventions of the genre is the use of naturalistic lights. Also other conventions that defines social realism is the camerawork as most scenes include hand-held shots, the narrative of a social realist drama usually includes conflict either through large scale i.e. political conflict or on a smaller scale between individuals.

Adventure is a genre that is usually targeted for a younger audience. The conventions of this genre typically include a comedy element as this is popular amongst the younger generation. The characters in this genre are usually on a journey, to seek a thrill in life by searching for something or someone. Also this genre includes elements of fantasy / supernatural powers with the heavy reliance on special effects. The setting of this film is in a usually unfamiliar place to the spectator and the main character/s, like it's a fantasy world, a place with more dangers to overcome i.e. Narnia and Harry Potter.

Supernatural Thriller, this genre focuses on the horror and conflict that the main characters have to endure. The conventions of this genre include dark lighting, isolation, claustrophobia and lots of suspense. The story usually consist of a twists and sounds that achieve high tension amongst the audience.

By Önder Köyel

Definition of Teenage Romantic Comedy and Crime Caper

2009-01-19T03:02:00.000-08:00

"A humours movie about a long love story that usually ends happily"

Usually aimed at teenagers so that they can relate to some characters/situations.
Often a conflict in groups of characters ie. Unpopular vs Popular.
We often feel sorry for the victim, such as the unpopular group of people.
Males are usually 'good looking' and 'athletic'. Female roles are usually 'bitchy' and 'over confident'
In American films their is usually cheerleaders who are represented as slutty and th epopular group of school. Whereas the geeks are represented as having thick glasses and braces.
Teachers are often represented as controling adn strict so the audience doesnt identify with them.
Audience expects a lot of emotional "pay off" with a happy ending.
Bad characters usually get what they deserve in the end ie. become unpopular. Whereas the good characters over powers the original dictators. For example the unpopular people gang together to over power the popular.
In the end groups may come together to gain a patiular aim. Foe example in 'John Tucker must die' a cheerleader, a geek and a charity/fundrasing girl come together with a common goal, to destroy John Tucker.

Examples of Teenage Romantic Comedies are;

10 Things I Hate About You
Mean Girls
John Tucker Must Die
Never Been Kissed
Sixteen Candles

Definition of Crime Caper:

"A Comic Crime based film usually revolving around the criminals struggles"

Main character is typically male, usually 'good looking' and played by a famous actor.
The more famous the actor is, the more screen time they get.
The audience is meant to like the criminal even though what he is doing is wrong.
Crime is glamourised and usually unrealistic.
Robber/Criminal always gets aways with the crime.
Innocent people are never victimised byt the crimes.
If there is murder it isnt grusome, usually just a gun shot rather than anything to brutal.
The 'gangs' are usually wearing suits and look very smart, unlike usually ideal of criminal groups.
The ending is usually unrealistic. For example the criminal gets away with the crime or is let of.

Examples of Crime Capers

Oceans 11
The Snohomish Smokescreen
The Plumas Lake Penny Pinch
The Reverse Philly
The Washington-Jackson Switcheroo

Our Ident

2009-01-19T02:20:00.000-08:00

This our finished Indent that will appear at the beginning of the film

Our Preparation for our ident

2009-01-19T01:51:00.000-08:00

We liked the idea of using footprints for our Ident because it is original and we could animate them in a variety of ways.

Then we came up with the production name 'Billy Boy Productions'. We chose this name randomly off of the tops of our heads and it has no significant meaning.

Introduction

2009-01-19T01:38:00.000-08:00

Our group members

Catherine Mannu
Kristina Pascuzzi
Asher Howarth
Önder Köyel

Unlike the thriller project we now have a choice of 5 genres:

Social Realist Drama
Super Natural Thriller
Adventure Story for Young Audience
Crime Caper
Teenage Romantic Comedy

This gives us more freedom to develop our own thoughts and allows us to be more imaginative with ideas for our opening sequence.

S1-19 FILM OPENING PROJECT

2008-11-28T04:03:00.001-08:00

Welcome