Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Possible locations for our Opening Sequence


These photos were taken on school premises, the chess pieces I find very interesting as the could connote many things and used appropriately could contribute to creating an abstract theme in my opening sequence.


These photos were taken in Central London whilst on the London Eye, the view from the eye is perfect for constructing an artistic establishing shot due to the vast area of architecture that can be captured. In terms of a Romantic film, slow establishing shots of beautiful scenes are a common feature of opening sequences.

Again the beach scene is perfect for establishing shots and was taken in Swalecliffe. The many colours of the beach houses could connote love and the pastel colours are a convention of the romantic genre.
The cabin shed and snow together create a romantic scene as well as the deep purple sky which could connote passion and foreshadowing.
The first of these images was taken on the Daisy behind the school and the green grass is a sign of life and happiness which could relate well to the idea of a romantic genre opening sequence. The second image is of a small cemetery, the colours are very light and pastel which contrasts to the dark subject of the photo and actually looks very romantic and serene.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Location






These images were taken by James Sullivan in Nonsuch park.
We chose to film in this area which I commented on previously in my 'research' section. We decided to visit the forest again to plan fully how we would film, which specific areas we would use and how to set up our props within that area which is when we took these images.

The tree branch, as I have mentioned previously, is twisted and eerie and is a true connotation of the film and Damien's mind within the dream (the scene filmed here).
The sharp edges of the leaves also portrays this sinister connotation.

The house we chose to film in fitted in with the film's colour scheme (blue) which is dreamy yet often associated with sadness, confusion and thriller films as it had a neutral/blue colour scheme throughout.

We decided to use these locations also as they scored highly in the questionnaires we sent out in the 'Research' stage of our project.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Conventions of an opening sequence

- Film titles and credits
- Soundtrack
- Introduction of some characters
- Sharp cuts (particularly in Thrillers)
- No real storyline
- Connotations of the ending
- Not much dialogue
- Either slow moving or very fast moving
- Draws in audience
- Low resonant sound (particularly in Thrillers)
- Close ups and extreme close ups (doesn't give much away, sense of mystery)

This image shows close ups and titles.
use of credits.this image is successful in portraying a matched colour scheme, titles and close ups in action.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Memento Opening Sequence



In the full length version of the opening sequence it begins with credits of cast and crew, the credits fade in from a light blue t0 dark, the fade connotes life to death, light to darkness. The title 'Memento' appears just before the image of the polaroid photo appears, the title therefore introduces the character, story and relates to the initial image of a physical memento (photograph). The development of the polaroid as it is shaken is in reverse order, which is the initial indicator to the audience that the film runs in a backwards order rather than what we usually expect in a film.

The colour blue which is used for the opening credits is a colour scheme that runs continually throughout the film, this use of colour could connote the main characters deep emotion and confusion.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Enchanted Opening Sequence

http://watchthetitles.com/articles/00139-Enchanted

I wasn't sure how to embed this, but here is the opening sequence of Disney's 'Enchanted'...

The sequence uses mainly pastel colours for the background of each scene, which represents to us that the film is 'princessy' and 'girly' as well as the Nutcracker theme soundtrack which plays in the background. The credits are displayed in a swirly, archaic-style font which again portrays princess/royal imagery, the font interacts with the animations on screen and show the image of a growing vine which also appears aesthetically very romantic. Each of the animations are based on previous Disney Princess films and engages the audience's attention as they relate the animations to the past film itself.

RomCom Opening sequence: Bridget Jones' Diary

Trailer:


Opening Sequence:




We see in the trailer, it meets the criteria we expect as an audience from a trailer, displaying more interesting parts and humorous lines delivered by a collection of montage edited clips, portrays a brief plot overview and persuades us to watch the film.

However, the opening scene establishes the tone of the film using music and slow shots. We are fully aware of the film genre and character. The opening sequence also credits cast and crew.

'Sixth Sense' trailer and opening sequence


Opening Sequence:
Here is a link to the opening sequence of the film.

The opening sequence for Sixth Sense begins firstly with slow appearing titles which slowly zoom in time with the soundtrack. The black background and blue font is quite typical of the conventional thriller film and could connote deeper feelings of characters in the film or atmosphere. The sixth sense title instantly denotes the film is going to relate to something supernatural.
The lightbulb introduces the setting and slowly draws the viewer into the movie, increasing audience interest. When the lightbulb is fully lit the setting and lighting is still moderately dark which creates a mysterious atmosphere in which the audience wants to see more and abides by the conventions of thriller mise en scene. This connotes the negative nature of the film (foreshadowing). The shot of the woman in the wine cellar suggests that she is being watched as she seems unaware and going about her normal business, however the music suggests unease. When she clutches the bottle to her chest and looks afraid the following clips are quicker and shorter which further portrays her fear and desparation to leave. The long shots show that she is alone and a vulnerable character to the hands of a higher power.
The low, resonant sounding music throughout the opening which builds tension and is typical of the genre, it draws in audience attention and openly connotes the atmosphere in the film.

'Se7en' trailer and opening sequence

Trailer:



Opening Sequence:

Friday, November 26, 2010

Understanding the differences between movie trailers and opening sequemces


Movie trailer:

an overview of the plot
grab our attention
action- the 'good bits'
who is staring in it
voice over
details
no giveaways
montage editing
fast pace
loads of shots
persuade viewer to watch


Movie opening sequence

got to hook you
familiarize view
setting/ establish setting
slow paced
lead into narrative
introduce characters
shots of characters and titles
establish mood or tone
creates an atmosphere
soundtrack (theme)
music helps set tone
viewers need to feel curious/ engage and have questions they want answers to.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

The Brief

to create the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Peer Feedback: Preliminary Task

What Went Well:
- Use of 180 degree rule
- Match on Action
- Innovation
- Eyeline match
- Match on Action (bin scene)
- Shot/Reverse/Shot
- Continuity (door)


Even Better If:
-Bad continuity (typing noise)
-No master shot
-Similar shots and camera angles throughout



I will use this feedback in my future work, for example I will take into consideration that continuity also includes noise (typing). As well as this, I will also try and use varying shots and camera angles in future projects as this was a problem frequently repeated by our peer evaluations.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Preliminary Task


Our preliminary task simply involved filming a secquence which included a person walking through a door, into a room and holding a conversation with somebody else. But the most important aspect of the task was to in fact record the sequence taking into consideration the continuity editing which would take place afterward.

180 degree rule:
This rule basically states, in terms of film, two people/characters/subjects in the same scene should hold a left/right relationship to make the conversation between them as realistic and easy to watch as possible. If the camera passes over the 180 degree line, the effectiveness is essentially ruined entirely according to continuity.









Match On Action:
A technique used by film=makers which involves cutting shots at a certain point and inserting a seperate shot also performing the same action. The two shots are edited to give the impression of a seamless, fluent and continuous piece of film.



We storyboarded our dialogue and shot types etc beforehand.
When filming our sequence, we took into close consideration how we would need to film our shots in order to be accurately edited later on in the process. For example, when filming our 'paper in the bin' scene, we had to record many different takes from many different angles and shot types; we also used the match on action rule when filming the opening and shutting of the door. When filming conversation we took note of the 180 degree rule to ensure our film was flowing and seamless when played back post-editing.

When at the editing stage we took care in ensuring our continuity was as perfect as possible by cutting clips and inserting transitions where necessary (also spending extra time editing the piece outside of designated lesson time, as we had trouble importing film to the macs).

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

EBI

Donnie Darko task:

Although I enjoyed filming the task, we had several problems with our storyboards at first and secondly, our continuity. We eventually worked it out in one hour, but Charlotte and I had our hair done over the weekend and our room we were previously working in was used by somebody else, so we had to start all over.

WWW

Push A Little Button task

This task went well because we had a lot of fun shooting the film but as well as this we spent a lot of time as a team editing the film and the hard work paid off as the editing was very well done and in time with the soundtrack.
However, the Macs did crash several times.

Friday, October 15, 2010

How I Personalised My Blog

I used the design tab to browse through the template options, deciding to opt for the bird design. I then used colour charts to decide what colour scheme I wanted my blog to take, applying these settings to the blog afterward. Following this, I also chose the colour scheme of post font, links, headers and title. Lastly, I used the design tool to alter my layout settings.

My First Blog Practice


How I uploaded:
1. Clicked 'add image' tab from the taskbar.
2. Browsed through images and selected which image I wanted to post.
3. Publish Post.