Research

There are a couple movies in which are similar to my groups. These are 'Twins' and 'The Parent Trap'. They are similar as they both include a pair of twins which are from completely different ends of the spectrum. Which is the same as our movie which we are going to film. Both films have a huge amount of information on www.imdb.com .

Music Research

I found this music artist who is currently unsigned, therefore using his music wouldnt be against copywright regulation. I will ask him if he would allow us to use his music for our coursework through his youtube page, in which he has around 40 songs. I think a few of these songs would suit the genre of my film. http://www.youtube.com/user/MtEdenDnB08

Terminator 2 - Opening Sequence

• Titles appear on screen, producers, associates. Text is white and in the middle of the screen.
• Establishing shot of busy motorway/highway.
• close up of people walking amoungst traffic camera goes out of focus as they walk past, which creates realism.
• A non-diagetic, tense music is played over the top.
• Cuts to a mid shot of a girl on a swing, camera tracks her as she moves side to side.
• Diagetic sound of childs laughter over the top which is quite unsettling.
• Directors name appears on screen in the middle
• Build up of sound to a crescendo.
• The camera then goes into slow motion, where the picture saturates into a white screen, as the nuclear bomb hits.
• Cuts to a close up of a burnt out car with skeleton passengers, very little sound, diagetic sound of the wind can be heard to emphasise liveless area.
• Main colour on screen has gone from white to blue.
• The camera movement tracks sideways over the car to show the whole motorway, covered with burnt out cars and skeletons.
• Film has moved on to the future - Date appears on screen 2029.
• Slowly fades to an abandoned playground, track round to the swing in which the young girl was on in the first couple of scenes.
• Non-diagetic voice over.
• Camera tracks round to a single skull, where it stops. The skull is the suddenly crushed my the foot of a robot. Diagetic sound of a metal foot crushing a skull.
• Camera pans upwards to the robot shooting his weapon.
• Sound levels increase dramatically, diagetic sound of explosions and futuristic weapons being fired.
• Flames in the background, with human soldiers running around looking for cover. Long Camera shot.
• Non-diagetic droning sound.
• Diagetic sound of soldier screaming as he is shot.
• Mixes voice over with music.
• Cuts to a close up of a mans face, which then fades into fire.
• The film name then appears over the flames.
• Slowly moving foreward with actors names appearing above and below it.

Title Sequence

The ending is a long black screen which i couldnt get rid of, sorry for that enjoy ;) X

Film Treatment

We plan to produce a bildungsroman/drama genre film, following the rite of passage of two very different lifestyles of the characters William and Jack. The film will be starting in their early adolescence viewing their individual storys through life. There are only going to be two main characters as this will enable the audience to become engrossed in their life, consequently empathising for them.

William is a privileged private school boy, brought up by a loving, wealthy family. However, Jack is an only child living in a bed sit with his drug abusing mother. For years Jack hasn't received any education as he is more focused on stealing and caring for his mum. The twist to the film is that both these boys are now in their mid-teens however are actually brothers both adopted by different families. William was 2 years of age at the time, Jack no more then a few weeks. Neither boy having a clue either one exist, not even knowing they are adopted. Their real parents had tragically died in a car accident leaving them with no other relatives. As the story goes on, Jack enters into different crimes in attempt to earn money in order for him and his mother to survive, eventually ending up in prison and his mother sadly passed away. However William was an intelligent popular boy living life to the full, partying as any other boy his age would. Tragically things took a turn for the worse for William as he begun to take drugs and was on a slippery down hill slope, so bad his family couldn't help him. However at the same time in prison jack got a degree in being a doctor. The film has a controversial ending as William the once upon a time 'intelligent popular school boy' dies in a hospital bed from a heroin overdose, as his long lost brother who was once nothing but a thieving youth, is sitting next door in the hospital canteen as a doctor.

Music ideas.

This song is quite emotional. This fits in quite well with the genre we have chosen.

location choice (research)

This is an abondoned hospital which will be quite a good area to film as it already has lots of props able to use. It fits in with the various ideas i have come up with. I also think it is good as it is kind of scary and the lightin is very low therefore will be perfect for the mood i am aiming for.

To do list (Research and Planning)

• Film treatment (idea, representation, mise en scene) done
• Storyboard opening scene - done
• Photo's of location - done
• Photo's of costumes - done
• Photo's of actors
• Photo's of props - half done.
• Mind map of ideas
• Powerpoint - ideas - done
• Questionnaire
• Research other blogs
• Music
• Script
• Shot types

Opening to films (Research)

Scream - this film starts with a black screen, which then changes to show the production line of the film. In this case Dimension Films. The sound while this is all happening is quite eerie and unsettling, which emphasises the genre of the film to being a horror or thriller. The movie title the appears on a black screen, with white writing, this then changes to blood red, also suggesting to a horror genre. There is then a non-diagetic sound of somebody screaming when the title changes colour. As the title changes colour the sound of the slashing of a knife can be heard. These two details have been added to get the audience into the correct mood of the film. The picture then cuts to the diagetic sound of a phone ringing, with a close up of the phone. The film has the typical blond women, who tends to be oblivious towards the fact that the "killer" is asking odd questions. The camera has a shot of the outside of the house but it pans downwards from the branch of a tree before establishing the scene at the house itself. The pick up and down in volume of the non-diagetic music when she is scared, adds to the emotion of the film. The is a good use of props, with her playing with the knifes in the kitchen and the crackling of the popcorn, which is quite unsettling. When the character looks out of the window the camera uses a point of view shot, and it moves as if she was turning her head to look around. When she is in the kitchen the camera constantly keeps returning to the popcorn cooking on the hob, adding a bit more tension to the scene.

Seven - the movie starts with the titles of the film. Starting with the production lines, then the directors and writers etc. There is also pictures of weird this such as a pair of gloves etc. It has a non-diagetic scratchy and unsettling noise playing, which sets the mood, and emphasises the horror genre. It has a lot of flashing as well when changing the picture on screen, which is very unsettling. It then cuts to a black screen with the names of main actors and actresses featuring in the film.

What have you learnt about techologies from the process of contructing this product?

I have learnt a few useful things when using the camera, editing tools, and adding sound to the video. Using mise en scene was also good to learn as it gives a sense of realism to the video.
When using thee camera I learnt that if you use a bigger variety of shots and angles, we started off with a basic mid shot which panned round as the character went to the bottom of the stairs. The shot then cut to a birds eye view of the character, this also panned round as the character continued to walk up the stairs. The shot then cut to a mid shot with a high angle, this was to show that the character was still on a staircase. Then as the character passes the camera it then cuts to a low angle mid-shot. The camera is then used as a hand held movement following the character to the top of the stairs, to the doorway. Then cutting to the other side of the door as the character walks through, panning round to the right as the character walks past. We then used a mid shot from behind the character which films them walking down a hallway to a door eventually finishing as a long shot. We then used an extreme close up the characters hand on the door handle which showed that they were opening the door. We then used match on action as we film the door opening from the other side, the shot used on the other side of the door is a long shot, the camera then pans round as the character walks over to another character, here the conversation starts and the shots used are mainly over the shoulder and close ups. Overall when using the camera equipment we learnt that by keeping to the 180 degree rule the filming looks a lot better than if you didn’t, and also that by a regular but not too often change in shot type, not only gives you a different view of the scene, but for example the more often you change shot type the more exiting the scene becomes, for example a fight scene. Whereas the slower the shot type change the less tense the scene is.
When editing the clip I learnt how to import sound into the clip, by using adobe. I then had to set the timing of it so as the music sped up the character started running. Then the song faded out jus before the dialogue came in so that the soundtrack and the dialogue didn’t block each other out. Sound can be used to set a mood of a scene or add to the build up of a certain scene for example some bad news etc, in the case of our clip sound was jus used to give some sort of background sound other than footsteps etc.
I also learnt when using adobe how to fade scenes in and out which we did at the end of the clip, and when the match on action occurs with the door. I think it fitted in pretty well at the end, but when used with the door it jus looks a bit weird. I also learnt that timing is absolutely vital when putting separate scenes and clips together, if you want it to look right for example when changing shot type when a character walks round a corner for example you need to cut it to make sure they are in the same place in the end of the first clip to the start of the second other wise you could add a step or movement or miss one, or even watch one twice.
Mise en scene wasn’t a big part of our filming; we only had casual clothing for costumes which suited the film as it was only a talk between friends, whereas if it was an interview for example the costume would have been more formal. A newspaper was the main prop, which was the subject of the dialogue. We had a slight problem with lighting in the hallway which made it very dark and gloomy, which wasn’t the mood of the film.

Preliminary Task

Goodfellows

This film is in the genre of gangster. I knew this by the clothing which the characters were wearing and when they kill the man in the back of the car. The purpose of the opening sequence is to give you an idea of what the rest of the film is aboutm in this case killing etc, the introduction of the main characters, hook the audience by using the line based on a true story and gettin them to want to know more about the characters, set the time and scene, New York and 1970. Black screen is used to start with the names of the character with the noises of passing cars as they leave the screen. There isn't much lighting in the opening scene which gives it a myterious feel. The scene then lights up when the man in the boot of the car is revealed. A slow zoom is used to raise tension. The red light when they are stood at the back of the car, makes it look like they are covered in blood.

Film Opening Analysis - Children of Men

I thought the genre of the film was a mix of Sci-fi and action, as it is set in 2027, also there seems to be a slight advance in technology, such as the motion advertising on the buses etc. The action genre seemed emphasised when the explosion went off by the cafe, this isn't a usual occurance, therefore making it look like an action.

The purpose of the opening sequence was to show the current state of the world, it has been represented as a dystopia. The opening also informs the audience of the situation where humans have become infertile, and the youngest human had just died in Rio. The main character (Clive Owen) has been introduced, he as been portrayed as not very bothered by the happenings around him, just keeps his head down and gets on with his life. This gives us the impression that he is an anti-hero, due to his actions towards certain things as the explosion for example he simply jumps backwards then goes off to work carrying on with his day as normal. This gives the audience the impression that this does happen quite often.

The media language is used in several ways in the opening few minutes of this film, firstly the use of diagetic sound from the television in the shop. Next the is the introduction of Clive Owen, he enters the shop where everyone is stood still watching the TV and sqeezes his way through toward the counter to order a coffee. This is very clever as he sticks out as he is the only one moving in the scene. As he leaves the store you can see that the City is very run down and dull, very little lightingis used here to create a mood. The current date in the film then appears on screen setting the time of the film. It then shows a red london bus coming into the screen and it pans round Clive Owen who has stopped to put whisky into his coffee, this is very clever as it shows the advertisment which is moving on the side of the bus. This reprensents the advance in technology. The use of hand-held camera when he is leaving the cafe adds a sense of realism to the film. Mise en scene is used with the clothing people seem to be wearing as nobody we see looks to be very well off which is unsual in London. A fair few long shots are used setting the scene of London and represents it in such a bad state, more use of dystopia. The high pitched, constant, non-digetic use of sound after the explosion is used for realism as this is what you would expect to hear if a loud noise had jus gone off right next to you such as a bomb. This then leads to the scene of the office, where Clive Owen walks in on lots of women crying about the death of Baby Diego, this is a representation of gender, as women are all crying about it, whereas men dont seem to bothered or they are but are just hiding it. This gives you the impression that men are emotionally stronger than women in the film. When Clive Owen is on the train home there are TV screens on there showing cities around the world in distress, then stating that Britain 'Soldiers On'. This adds to the setting of the scene in London where it zooms into the screen showing Big Ben. You then hear the diagetic sound of the clock bells ringing.

Trial filming with equipment.

This task was given to us in order to get to grips with using the equipment and what camera angles and shots which can be used. We had a slight problem with the video as when editing it we had no sound therefore some of the dialogue doesnt make sense.