Monday 12 December 2011

Problems with uploading the Footage

Our team member Sam, who had all the footage on his camera, lost it all. This meant we had to shoot the film opening again. However this had a lot of advantages as we could include alot of the improvements that we feel would benefit the video from our first attempt at filming.

Thursday 8 December 2011

Shooting our first draft Film Opening

Our first attempt at filming was successful, but we felt that there were many improvements that could be made:
- Use a wider variety of camera shots and angles
- Include more locations for chase
- Compromise camera angles so typography can be included when editing
- Use sunlight to our advantage.

Tuesday 6 December 2011

Marking Criteria for Evaluation

Candidates will evaluate their work electronically. This MUST contain an element of audience feedback and may be either integrated with the presentation of the research and planning material or may be presented separately. Where candidates have worked in a group, the evaluation may be presented individually or collectively but the teacher must allocate a mark according the contribution/level of understanding demonstrated by the individual candidate. The questions that must be addressed in the evaluation are:

TO BE INCLUDED BY STUDENTS: (1000 words)

• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

• How does your media product represent particular social groups?

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

• Who would be the audience for your media product?

• How did you attract/address your audience?

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

• Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Friday 2 December 2011

The Logo

This is the logo my group and I have decided to use based on its simplicity, the clapper board is a classic icon in the film industry. It will also fit in nicely with our film opening, as apposed to our other drafts which were too comedic, this one fits nicely. 

Thursday 1 December 2011

Draft Logos

The top logo was designed purely because our group has come under a lot of pressure recently with meeting deadlines, it's often felt like the we're going to burst, we've been pushed to the limit but we have met deadlines. This logo is therefore testimony to the pressure we've rose to.

The middle logo simply reflects the groups favourite animal - a sheep. Having something representative of each individual we believe is important to represent the four of us in each production.

The lower middle logo is an old fashioned camera reflecting the attitude we all share that "They don't make films like they used to." We all share this mentality and want to merge old with new through this logo.

The bottom logo is a clapper board. This logo would be used for it's simplicity and relevance to the film industry. After my past research on film institution logos in my opinion this is the one that relates to the most.



Monday 21 November 2011

Past Film Opening from Cherwell School

This is an example of a film opening from our school. The use of rewind is effectively used here to create tension very quickly. The audience begins to feel absorbed by the film, wanting to see what happens. The typography and titles are also used well here, the font is a classic, almost posh style and signifies the film will be of a specific genre.

Sunday 20 November 2011

Arrangements for Filming

The filming for our film opening has been decided. It will take place on Wednesday 23rd November from 12:10.

Actors
Jonny Lavy - Escaping Man


Michael Roberson - Chasing


Sam Lockwood - Chasing

No other actors will be required unless we change our minds on the day.

Props/Mise-en-scene
Dirty Trainers
Gun
Football Shirt
Scarf
Hat

Location
Port Meadow - Chosen for its production value. Trees/Bridges could be used to film in etc. The Lakes also provide a great potential filming spot.

Thursday 17 November 2011

Storyboard first draft

This is the first storyboard draft of our film opening, "full time".
In this draft I have chosen a simple sketch format that can be changed easily; it can be seen that in this first sheet I have left some aspects of the edit open to later development.
In this case I have not made any finalisations regarding the opening credits as I am not in charge of title design.

What was drawn up on the storyboard was firstly discussed as a group and was a group decision.

I hope to upload the further two sheets in the new future...
If you have any suggestions or feedback, leave a comment or email me at www.06lockwoods@cherwell.oxon.sch.uk







BY SAM LOCKWOOD - RESPONSIBLE FOR STORYBOARDING.

Video Diary #1 - Storyboarding


This is a clip from our lesson where we discussed storyboarding, it was frustrating.

Saturday 12 November 2011

Other film institution logos








These Logo's are giving me inspiration for the type of logo our film instituion 'N.E.R.D.' will possess.


Monday 7 November 2011

The items required for media construction.

-Holding shot steady (camera)
-framing shot (camera)
-varied shot distances (camera direction)
-appropriate material for task 
-mise en scene (camera direction)
-edit meaning to viewer 
-varied shot transitions (captions)
-use of sound with images
-using titles appropriately (titles or typography)
-contribution (where relevant)

Friday 4 November 2011

How to.....Film a chase scene

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/697302/how_to_create_a_chase_scene/


This video helps our group gather information as to how to film a chase scene. As we have very little own knowledge to go with when we decide to film, this is could be very helpful and give us some key advice.

Thursday 3 November 2011

Film Poster Analysis

Rocky Balboa is of a similar genre to our film opening. This poster shows the protagonist, looking powerful, he is standing over his empire. The blank colours compliment the weather conditions. Being the only character in the shot immediately signify's the protagonist and connotes him as having a connection to the title.

The film institution logo is stated in the bottom corner of the poster, this gives me an idea of where to put our logo and institution name.

Similar film opening to ours.

We see a chase taking place - this is exactly what our film opening is going to be similar to. The range of camera shots and angles is exactly the effect we're looking for, this effect can be personified through the choice of music - in my opinion I believe we have to make sure it is high tempo and gripping for maximum effect. 

The items required for media construction.

-Holding shot steady
-framing shot
-varied shot distances
-appropriate material for task
-mise en scene
-edit meaning to viewer
-varied shot transitions (captions)
-use of sound with images
-using titles appropriately
-contribution (where relevant)

Title Sequence Research - Common Order of Opening Credits

The Most Common Order of Opening Credits:
1. Name of the Studio - Name of the studio that is distributing the film and may or may not have produced it.
2. Name of the Production Company - Name of the production company that actually made the film.
3. Director/Producer Production - Director's first credit.
4. Starring - Big name actors appering in the film.
5. Film Title - The name of the film.
6. Featuring - Featured actors.
7. Casting - Casting director.
8. Music/Original Score - Composer of music.
9. Production Design - Production designer.
10. Editor - Edited by.
11. Producer/Executive Producer - Producers, co-producers, executive producers. Often, though, the name of the producer will be the next-to-last opening credit, just before the director's name is shown.
12. Written by - Screenplay writers.
13. Director - Director. The Directors Guild of America permits a film to list only one director, even when it is known that two or more worked on it.

BY JAMES TURNER - RESPONSIBLE FOR TITLES

Different sounds for film intro


MADE BY JOSH POOLE - RESPONSIBLE FOR SOUND

Typography - Final Decision

After discussing with my group which font shall be used forThis blatant is the font to be used that shows the peoples names who are involved in the film opening
Unfortunately you cannot use punctuation in this font but i believe it is the one that suits the theme of our film opening

This is the font that shall be used to show the name of the film – full time. We believe this font is the one that appeals most to our target audience and suits The genre of our film opening.


Full Time
Full Time.
full time
full time.

Monday 31 October 2011

Primary Audience Research - Survey Monkey

I decided to go deeper into audience research and sent out a survey to people my age and older - the question was: What's you favourite film genre?

Action - 31%
Thriller - 17%
Comedy - 16%
Romantic - 13%
Sci-Fi - 10%
Drama - 7%
Horror - 6%

From the above results i can see that the majority of people questioned enjoyed watching fims that fell under the genre of action. This has further justified our decision to make an action film opening. These results have helped make sure that our decision was the right one, and judging from the response, it was.

Wednesday 19 October 2011

Typography

Below are possible fonts for our film opening, which we have decided to call "Full Time". I have decided to choose fonts that do not have curls on each letter, signifying the action packed theme of our piece, also connoting how it won't be pretty. Our target audience is men, therefore I believe they'd be more attracted to a blunter font.

Full Time – Accord Heavy SF
Full Time – Superfly SF
Full Time - Blatant
Full Time – Crazy loot btn inline
Full Time – Folio XBd BT
Full Time gf ordner normal
Full Time – goudy stout
Full Time – maximus bt
Full Time – Modern735 BT
Full Time – Orbit-B BT
Full Time - stencil
Full Time - Papyrus
Full Time - Punk Kid
Full Time – Super Black SF
Full Time – Undercurrent BTN
Full Time – Vineta BT
Full Time – WC ROUGHTRAD Bta
Full Time – Wide Latin
Full Time Zap
Full Time – Zolano Serif BTN


Note: These fonts can only be seen if on a computer with Microsoft Word 2007 installed.

Tuesday 18 October 2011

Audience Research

The opening to a film is important to how the audience will interpret the rest of the film. Producers and directors of the film need to know what the target market want and what will grip them to a film, it is important they are interested in the film right from the start. Character's are established in the opening scene along with the tone and main theme of the film.


The above diagram shows the demand for different genres of film, based on a poll taken by 1,978 people. Adventure, the genre of the film opening for my group is the second most popular demand, making our target market greater and room for creativity larger. Adventure has always been a prominent figure of the film industry, I do not know a single day where there hasn't been an adventure/action film out at the cinema. 


Adventure's popularity is justified here, being the second most popular genre. Men over 35 most enjoy this out of any other gender. The action packed nature of this genre could be to blaim for this result.


This is the top ten UK box office results from the current week. The action packed films appear to have the highest gross profit because of its popularity, people like to watch them because of the tension created in them and the creative story lines.

Film Opening Task

As part of our coursework we will be completing the Film Opening Task. My group has decided to make an action film, therefore an action packed opening. With a lot of work we've decided to assign roles to each other:
  • Michael - Audience Research and Typography
  • Sam - Storyboarding
  • James - Titles
  • Josh - Sound
  • As a group - The Narrative and plot 
We have decided to call our film "Full Time" because of the action involved in the film, it will start at a football match and the fight will slowly evolve into a life threatning situation, hence the name Full Time. Sam will be posting the storyboard on his blog.

Sunday 9 October 2011

Opening Scene Analysis - Casino Royale - Action


The usual shot staring at someone through the barrel of a gun was predictable of this James Bond film, as it has been tradition that each film begins with each one. This black and white clip then transforms into an array of pungent colours, signifying the difference of this James Bond film to any other. The patterns that appear are those that correspond to the patterns on a pack of cards (Spades, diamonds, hearts and clubs). The anchorage effect the colour red has on the audience is one of love.

The names of the production team appear in the middle of the spiral that these patterns are forming, showing the production team as the centre of the film, and without them, it wouldn't be possible. The budget of $150 dollars means the production team were able to perfect this film to whatever standards they wish.

Throughout the opening fights often occur between two men, one in black, one in red, connoting the future events of the film; there will be gambling, and violence. Although violence, the friendly colours and the way it flows from shot to shot makes it looks like a piece of art. The violent acts are filmed from a panning shot, showing the background changing and fight dynamics evolving.

The lighting however, is dark, illustrating a darker, more sinister side to the beautiful foreground colours, showing the juxtaposing events going on in the film. The colour red can have the anchorage effect of love or lust on the audience.

Opening Scene Analysis - The Italian Job - Action

                                                                                       

The setting of the Alps has always been known as a driving hotspot for enthusiasts, the wealthy looking man in the elegant Ferrari are testimony to the roads surrounding the area and set the scene well. The man is dressed in a smart suit signifying his social class, also connoting his social class is the Ferrari he is happily driving along the rural roads of Italy, the car also adds to the man's power.

As he continues to drive, non diegetic music begins to come into play, this music is a slow Italian opera piece suitable to show the relaxed manner this man possess whilst driving his expensive car, he is completely at ease with the world. The singing begins in the music when the production teams names are revealed...

The names of the institutions involved with the film etc. are shown at first from a shot showing the inside of the car looking through the front windscreen. The main actor's names are shown from this camera angle possibly illustrating their on screen jobs, being in an "inside" corporation. The rest of the names continue to be shown from this camera angle in an orange, fairly classic looking font. The high budget this film has allows the pyrotechnics to take place in the tunnel and many other action packed scenes to happen throughout the film. 

The next part of the opening is the crash of the car. He enters the tunnel, with the awaiting Mafia on the other side, there is a huge explosion and the car emerges on the other side in tatters and the man dead. The supposed leader of this corporation is emphasised when he walks out of the mist, taking this it in his stride and tells the digger driver to destroy the car. Juxtaposing this cruel even the Mafia then lay down a reef of respect, acknowledging the person's life and almost feeling sorry for him.

Opening Scene Analysis - Spiderman - Action


This opening scene of the hit film Spiderman is an action packed, scene setting gripper that tells the audience a lot of what the film's going to be about and the features of it. The budget for Spiderman wasn's small, and this is justified by the well edited opening with great computer effects. The institutions present in the film are Coulmbia and Marvel, Marvel is a company that runs a lot of comics and owns a lot of characfters, Spiderman is one of these characters.After the sponsors and institutions of the film pass, the opening proceeds with the credits, showing who possess' the main roles in the film. It begins with a panning shot of some never ending mist, the shot then escalates into a crane shot revealing the title "Spiderman". After this sequence of events each important cast member's name is flung onto a spiders web, signifying the action packed nature this film inherits. The soundtrack throughout all this is a sequence of short notes of a symphony, making the action taking place seem very fast and exciting. 

The mise en scene in this opening sequence consists of a spider web, to which the names of the cast are involved, the letters of each persons name are spread unevenly across the web, like how a flies would be caught in a web. The background is dark and daunting, connoting danger and risk, as the camera dives deeper into the illusive dark background the webs become more entangled, showing how the roles of each crew member becomes more complex as it continues. As the webs continue, some buildings begin to emerge, this is the first time the audience see Spiderman, hanging from a building. This is the first taste the audience get of the protagonist in the film. The audience s likely to be a male based audience, judging from the opening as the colours show a male orientated scheme, blacks and dark blues.

Whoever the audience is, they'll be glued to it from the start given this action packed, fast opening sequence giving hints as to what to expect in the film.



Tuesday 4 October 2011

Sound in Star Wars


The slow, sad music this extract begins with is representative of the boy, Luke's emotions. As he leaves his desert house, he walks over to see the sunset, an often quite tranquil image as the quietly droning fanfare continues at a slow pace, connoting the emotions of Luke, who seems to be in deep thought and of some confusion. It could be signifying the climax to an event, or contrastingly the beginning of a new one. 

The fanfare then changes from a quiet sound, into a louder one illustrating a new found hope he has, even in the actor's eyes you see a new sense of optimism and a lifeline. He seems to of had some kind of epiphany or moment of realisation. However, the notes are still the same length, therefore signifying the problem still at hand and although one problem may be resolved there are many still to conquer and the battle is far from over.

The Preliminary Task.


This is the final piece for our prelim task which makes up 10% of our final AS grade!

Monday 3 October 2011

Past Preliminary Task (Nov 2010) Evaluation.

In October 2011 I completed my preliminary task with my media group; we followed the mark scheme that was assigned and tried to incorporate the necessary camera shots, angles and the video manipulation and editing techniques that we were unfamiliar with.

This particular preliminary task - which was completed in November of last year - was similar to our groups in a number aspects.
Firstly the film is that of a 'thriller/action' genre that we - amoung many other media groups in the past - had chosen; consequently the camera shots and angles were limited by the popular choice of filming inside buildings or in confined and limiting space.
Secondly, and emphasing the genre further, the script of this prelim video was kept minimal and the audience were immediately placed in a situation of conflict and climaxing with a cliff hanger;
However this group was kean to show parts of the filming process through the use of bloopers and comical outtakes - this would never happen in a feature thriller as the filmakers are determined to never leave the genre they have chosen.

Finally the editing in this film was minimal and though this is sometimes a choice by the director to enphasise the sluggish/low budget genre of the film, in this case there was little consideration to advanced shot sequencing and the typography and choice of font was changed from the default setting; I know this because the font in our piece was the same.
In conclusion this prelim task was indentical to ours in parts but unlike ours there was very little if any at all consideration for emphasing genre through the use of props, costume and editing.

Sunday 2 October 2011

Preliminary Task Example from The Cherwell School

The use of a dialect building in this scene creates an uncomfortable feel for the audience, and as the two men close in closer together you get the impression that something chaotic will happen soon.

Tuesday 20 September 2011

Preliminary Task

The preliminary task makes up 10% of your final A Level Media grade.
There are three requirements:

1) Match on action (continuity editing) - This is how you make an action flow smoothly from one shot to another in the same sequence of events. Whilst some action is taking place, if you want more than one shot to show this, you use continuity editing, this is where you pick up the action in a different shot where you left off in the previous shot. For example you see someone going to open a fridge, they open it, then from a different fridge the camera is placed inside (to give a different perspective) but the audience are none the wiser to knowing it came from a different location, and the scene continues.

2) Obey the 180 degree rule - This rule means that only half of the scene can be shot, the camera's must all be positioned behind one imaginary line that divides the camera from the action. If not, apparently this disorientates the audience.

3) Shot/ Reverse shot convention (convention for dialogue) - This is where a shot is shown on one side and repeated on the other, it must be used in the preliminary task. It is usually used as an other the shoulder shot or a P.O.V shot. Commonly, it is used in a conversation to connect the audience with the conversation.

Sunday 18 September 2011

The shot type and camera movements effect on the audience


The scene begins with a shot showing the positions and environment that both characters are in, giving the audience a feel for what the scene is going to consist of. From this shot you can see the distance between either character and the anxiety in the room that the audience will pick up on. The two men are then only shown individually on the left side of the picture; being on the side is signifying that they should be standing side by side, but the obvious unease of the situation means there is now great distance between them. The camera always has one person in the shot, meaning their conversation is the most relevant and important aspect of the scene which has the effect of keeping the audience engulfed in the action to see what the outcome will be and what any problems there are between the two characters.

Thursday 15 September 2011

How is ethnicity represented in this scene of Spooks?


The scene begins with a crane shot showing the action happening in the opening sequence, at the moment you are unaware of any of their ethnic backgrounds because of the dark environment and lack of personal camera shots. The crane shot also shows the distance between each person, emphasising the lack of connection between each race. The first person the camera individually focuses on is the orchestrator of the capture, you can tell he's powerful from the camera shot on an axis near the bottom of him tilting upwards. The ethnicity and social class of the people can be seen from the position they're in. Being low down immediately gives the standing man more power, also the same camera shots are used all the time to show either person which gives them the same value and importance. Also whenever the camera is focussed on one of the hostages it is uneasily shaking, signifying their worried emotions and the unease they feel of being in that environment. The Asian man has stereotypically been shown as the person in danger, as the tracking shot follows him wherever he goes you find out that he is the dangerous person.