I'm a student at Enfield County who is currently studying AS Media. My other A-level subjects are Maths and Psychology. I enjoy playing piano and watching comedy and mystery films.
We filmed at Morgans house on the 22nd December at 4pm. We were originally going to film a 12pm but it was too much light shone into the room, and we wanted it to be set at night.
We filmed for an hour and a half and we used Morgans brother, Kelsey, as our main actor. The shots we used were close ups of his hands, and over the shoulder shots of him watching the recordings.
For the Miss-en-Scene we made Morgans desk look messy and put up a pinboard which the investigator would use. A messy desk would symbolise that the investigator is so interested and engrossed in this case it is all he can think of right now, and this is supported with the fact that we filmed at night.
Yasmins information sheet
Along with the pinboard, another one of our main props was the File the investigator used with Yasmins name on it. This contained documents regarding the case, such as mine and Morgans written witness statements, and an information sheet on Yasmin.
We payed close attention to detail when writing these. I wrote the witness statements and Yasmin wrote her own information sheet the day of filming.
As there are two computer monitors, one of them was used for the investigator to watch the videos Morgan and I handed in to the police. On the other screen we put www.tweetping.net on fullscreen. This is a website that shows live tweets around the world. We used this to make it look like he could be tracking someone.
Starting from scratch is a major decision as when we will be around 2 months behind everyone. While we are still filming they will all be editing, but I believe starting again is the best decision as we are now somewhat experienced in choosing what ideas will actually be good. Plus, we could've spent ages trying to save what we already had, knowing in the long run it still wouldn't have looked good, resulting in a lower grade. Therefore we decided to start again and do our absolute best in making it as great as it can possibly be.
After school on Thursday 15th, Morgan, Yasmin and I went to the park. We filmed us messing about in the park and just having fun, and this will be used in our opening sequence when the private investigator is looking at the friends footage of the night of the incident. We chose to film at 4:45pm as it was quite dark and we filmed in the park as it was quite empty and to make it more believable that Yasmin could've gotten lost, as outside of the park it was quite light due to street lights and there were many people about.
Once again, we have thought of a new idea for our opening sequence. I understand that we are behind schedule and others in our class have almost finished editing whereas we haven't even filmed, but we are not worried because our new idea is much better than the last one.
In this video I'm talking about what our new idea is.
Today we're going to Morgans house to film the rest of our opening sequence.
I really like this title sequence and it may be one of my favourites as the non diegetic music is is not overpowering yet creates suspense, the audience questions what is happening and why this type of music is playing. The music builds up after the first minute to create an intense atmosphere.
The titles come up in a font which almost looks like it has been scratched on. Plus, the editing used makes it jolt on and off the screen which also adds suspense and tension to the opening title sequence.
The props used suggests that the story line is linked to crime as the person is doing things which are unusual.
As a group we watched over our recordings and we thought that the first half, the part where the girl kills another person, was terrible. We like the second part as that bit had good camera angles and techniques but we thought that it would be too short and too boring if it was just that part, as most groups film someone in their house making tea ect. Miss Foster spoke to us too and we decided to restart so we will have to plan, storyboard, film and edit all over again.
On 16th November we filmed first half of our opening sequence. We filmed from 4:30pm-6:30pm for lighting purposes as we wanted the windows in the background to show that it was the evening. Even though the main character, me, kills Yasmin by suffocating her, we used fake blood to show that she was already injured. The audience can assume that she was injured by the knife I put in my bag in the second half of the opening sequence.
Once we filmed we uploaded all our footage to the Mac.
On Friday 11th November we went to the British Film Institute (BFI) as a class for the day. In the morning Tom Woodcock spoke to us about conventions of film openings. Firstly, he spoke about Macro elements of a film opening and how important they are in the opening title sequence. Macro elements include Genre, Narrative, Character, Themes and Atmosphere. We watched three opening sequences; The Wedding Singer (1998), Napoleon Dynamite (2004) and Casino Royale (2006) and we had to fill out in our booklet how much the opening sequence provided for Marco elements. This was an good task as it made us think about what Macro elements are in our own opening sequences. Then he spoke about Micro elements such as colour, lighting, font, costume, props, setting and sound design. For this, we saw four different opening titles and evaluated what was consistent in them. Consistency helps the audience understand what is happening. Afterwards we had lunch and when we came back we saw Dexter Fletcher, an actor and director. He spoke about his three films he had directed and what he did for their opening sequences. His style is to integrate the titles into the film as he believes that the film should completely be about the film, rather than having a stand alone title sequence. His three films were Wild Bill, Sunshine on Leith and Eddie the Eagle. I enjoyed listening to his opinions as I saw what title sequences meant from a directors point of view, rather than a students.
Todays trip made me think about our groups opening sequence and possible changes we might make.
We filmed for the first time today and overall, it took almost 2 hours. We filmed from 1pm-3pm as we wanted to use natural light coming in through windows. Morgan did most of the filming, Yasmin helped direct and I acted. We were filming the second half of our opening sequence at my house, and we had to film this half first because the clothes Yasmin and I wear get blood on them in the first half, which we did not want in the second half. We used our paper and youtube storyboard to remind of us what scenes we had to shoot.
First we filmed from the beginning of this half, with the camera zooming out of my eye. The lighting where we were wasn't great, so we used a LED camera light borrowed from school.
This made the shot brighter, and it allowed the camera to zoom closer and stay in focus.
For one of the shots Morgan was filming from the top of the stairs for a high angle shot, however she couldn't just hold the camera as her hand was shaking. Therefore, she used a stabiliser and this made the shot steady.
We will film the first half of our opening sequence on Monday 14th November 2016 after school.
The age certificate for our film would be a 15 as there is violence and blood and it would be quite detailed. Also there may be a reference to drugs and other adolescent illegal activities depending on where the storyline would go if the film would be made.
In the bathroom the only extra things we will add is the blood. This is because in the story we are unaware of how the girls ended up in the bathroom and this means that it is not their bathroom. Therefore it is just a normal bathroom and the only added things is what the girls bought with them.
At the girls house it will be normal daily items around such as a cup of tea and a bag. We are also having my brother there to represent a casual, normal family house so that it doesn't look suspicious. We will also be having a knife come out of a wooden table and this knife is put into a bag. This is a type of foreshadowing as we have already seen that she kills someone but does this by suffocating her, so it is a mystery to the audience as to when the knife comes into play.
Once Morgan and I completed our storyboard at my house, Morgan made the storyboard film. This is our opening sequence in storyboard form with potential sound effects. We will work off this when we film.
In this clip, there are a lot of creative technique used. Right at the beginning, it has a man talking with subtitles at the bottom, even though he is speaking english. This gives a serious mood to the clip as the audience have to concentrate right from the beginning. There are diegetic sounds of men being hurt, accompanied with non diegetic, low level sounds which crescendo into the noise of a helicopter. This tells the audience that something, most likely an action shot, will come. While the music is rising, there is a pool of blood which trails off into the cracks on the wooden table. The camera pans to show this blood traveling around violent weapons such as guns and knives. These props suggest the character is involved in an illegal deal. The blood then drops off the table, and this blood drop is transitioned into a man skydiving. I like this technique as it connects two scenes, but does not tell the audience how they're connected, e.g. what did the skydiving man have to do with the blood and guns.
Once the man appears, the non dietetic sounds stop and you can hear the wind and birds. Then we hear music which indicates some action, and it makes the audience feel more upbeat compare to the previous scene. This is the part of the clip where it becomes apparent that this is a trailer for a video game. We receive point of view shots of a man locking his target and tracking of the car.
Then it goes back to the blood on the table, and this time it trails upwards into a white powder, which is presumed to be cocaine. The cocaine absorbs this blood and it looks grainy, and the camera zooms into this and it transitions into a birds eye view of soldiers running in the rain, and the camera tilts upwards so you can see their whole bodies. This is my favourite transition in the whole of the clip because its is original and inventive. Again like the previous transition, it connects two scenes but leaves the audience questioning why.
Later on in the clip (2:50) a soldier throws a drop into the air, the camera quickly zooms into the drone and the next shot is a point of view form the drone. This provides continuity as the audience knows exactly where the drone is going.
Even though this clip has very different themes to our groups opening sequence I decided to evaluate it as it had transitions and techniques I had never seen before. Also, I personally don't watch video game trailers but I had never seen one with such detail and though gone into it.
In our opening sequence I will be playing the main character and Yasmin will be playing a supporting character who I end up killing. We decided to use ourselves as we can film whenever we want to and don't have to wait for anyone else.
For our opening sequence we didn't have a script as there will be no talking, only movement. For that aspect we directed what to do when it was needed.
In
the beginning of this clip, there are ambient sounds of the waves crashing into
the sand, in addition to groups of people talking and laughing in the
background. This gives the setting of a normal, fun day at the beach. There are
people everywhere and this is shown using pans.
The
camera then follows the boy and leaves him when it reaches Martin Brody. He is
looking out to sea and in the meantime you can hear people talking. There are
still no non-diegetic sounds, every sound is natural which makes the audience
feel as if they are there at the beach.
A
man comes to talk to Martin Brody but the camera shots make sure that the
audience don’t focus on what he says. This is an interesting technique as most
people would decide to muff out what he is saying and make it not
understandable, but here we can clearly hear what he is saying but out attention
is taken away by Martin peeking over the man’s shoulder looking at the couple
yelling and playing in the water.
Then
we see a man floating on his back in the water alone. Martin Brody is looking
out to see, so the audience know something is going to happen. The vulnerability
of the man being alone suggests he will be the one in danger. However, this is
not the case. When the shark is approaching the child in the water, we get a
point of view shot from the shark’s perspective, and the first non-diegetic
sound is introduced; the classic Jaws music. This suggests something bad is
about to happen as the music sets the tone and atmosphere of the rest of the
scene. The music then stops, and you can hear splashing of the water followed
by children’s screams as they rush to get out of the water. This brings the
audience back to reality and they feel like they are yet again at the beach
witnessing what just happened. Then you hear sounds from underwater of the boy
being dragged down and the Jaws music starts again. The rest of the clip is
dramatic music which is parallel to the situation, along with the hysterics of
the public.
The
ending is just the boys raft ashore with the waves pulling it back and forth.
This is a calming sound which is contrapuntal as the water is slightly red from
his blood.
On the 18th October Morgan came over to my house to finish storyboarding and discuss timings for our opening sequence. We did this at my house because that is where we will be filming the second half of our opening sequence. After we drew the rest of the shots on the storyboard, we take about titles and timings.
We knew we wanted the titles to come in the second half of our opening sequence because we wanted the audience to focus on the first half as, if we were to finish the film, that part would be a huge key in the rest of the story as it is a flash forward. We decided to have the main title when the scene changes from the bathroom to the house. In the bathroom, the camera zooms into one of the girls eyes, then she closes her eye. The title will appear over her eyelid, fade away, and then she will open her eye and the camera will zoom out and she would be at home.
For timings, we timed how long 4 seconds were just so we had an idea of how long we should spend on each shot. I then worked out that we have 24 shots, so if we spent around 5 second on each shot, it would equal the 2minutes required. So we then put timings on each shot, and once we did that we added it together and it only came up to 84seconds. We decided not to change anything else as we would do that with the third member of our group, Yasmin.
On the 5th October 2016 our group pitched our idea to the class. After presenting our ideas, we received other ideas from the class that we could incorporate in our opening sequence.
We talked about setting, such as where we would film; the school old building toilets and my house.
We were asked questions about why the character is killing the person, mercy or gleeful killing, to which we answered that it is a bit of both. The girl is already in pain before she is murdered.
Our original plan for the second half of the opening sequence is for the girl to wake up, but we realised that this is a common shot used in opening sequences and is unoriginal, so we asked for ideas for another shot we could use, but our conversation drifted from that topic to us talking about the man/shadow that enters earlier.
One thing we did not mention in our pitch which is crucial is where we will be adding the opening titles. I believe we should do it in the second half of the opening sequence when the girl is getting ready, as the first half with the killing and blood is important for the storyline if we were to continue making and finishing the film. The second half is just the girl getting ready to meet her friend, and is not as important so this is where we would include the titles.
I have chosen 5 title sequences as some will be used for inspiration for our groups own opening sequence, and the others I have chosen due to their interesting techniques.
The first one I have chosen is 'The Neon Demon' (2016) as I like how the music, until 0:40, is not overpowering yet it is significantly important. We could use music like this combined with the breathing and talking of the girl from our opening sequence for the first half.
The second title I chose was "Drive' (2011) as our titles will appear while there is something going on, like in this title where the man is driving. This is how we would introduce our titles, while there is acting.
The third one I chose is 'Ovarian Psycos" (2016). In the first 55seconds, there is music accompanied with natural sounds from their surroundings. The music draws the audience in.
The fourth is 'Beyond Clueless' (2014). We could use music like this in our second half of our opening sequence as this is where it is the natural routine of a girl getting ready to meet her friend. She would put on the radio and a song like this will play
The last one I have chosen is 'Great Expectations' (2011). This is because I like the transitions and effects used in the titles; they pop up then crack and fade away.
This is our finishing product for our preliminary task.
Morgan and I edited it on iMovie. It was difficult to use at first but we got used to it and editing was fun. We had to trim the clips to remove the parts where we said "take...cut" and the parts where we laughed. We decided to have a black and white ending while sad music was playing to make it as dramatic as the acting. The ending says "Please Donate Now" which ties into the conversation in the task.
On Friday the 23rd of September our group filmed the Preliminary Task. We were the first group in the class to do it so we were nervous but it went well. This is our storyboard for the task:
Using a storyboard helped us as it told us which shots to film depending on where the camera was. For example, we filmed Shot 2 and then Shot 5 as they were from the same angle, so moving the camera would disrupt the shots. We had to film several shots more than once, such as Shot 1 where Yasmins head was cut off in the first take and Shot 4 where we were laughing too much.
We stuck by the 180 degree rule and used Shot Reverse Shot (Shot 6-8) and Match on Action (Shot 1 Yasmin walks in and Shot 2 is her sitting down)
Wide shots were used in shot 2 and 5 to show both Yasmin and I in the scene. We also used over the shoulder shots and close ups.
Morgan recorded it all using the tripod for stability and when I wasn't in the scene i would say "Shot __ take __ action" and "cut". Before saying this, Morgan would start the recording and stop it after i said cut. This way we don't miss out on anything and we will edit the clip using iMovie.
For shot 7 I gasp in a dramatic way, and we decided to turn off the lights and have a torch shinning on my face for an added impact. For this to happen, we had to roll down the blind behind my head, but after we realised that in the other shots previously filmed that the blind was up. Therefore, the continuity is disrupted and this is one of the mistakes that we have learnt from.
Shot 7 being filmed
It took us 25 minutes to film this and we now have to edit it on iMovie.
Before we start working on our Opening Sequence, we have to create a short (10-30 seconds) Preliminary Task in groups. I am in group 1 with Morgan and Yasmin. The task must include match on action, shot reverse shot and the 180 degree rule. We will also be filming and editing it as a group using iMovie.
Match on Action
Match on Action refers to film and video editing. This is where there are two shots that are connected, this is used for continuity filming such as the preliminary task. For example, a woman walks up to a door and the next shot is her reaching for the handle. This is two shots but it is clear to the audience that it is the same woman continuing her action.
180 degree rule
Where filming only takes place within 180 degrees of the camera, meaning that all the acting must be done in that space. The reason for this rule is to give the audience a sense of location as to where the characters are, and when they leave the 180 degree space it is called a reverse shot.
Shot Reverse Shot
It shows what the character is looking at, then the characters face and what the character is looking at again. It links with the 180 degree rule and match on action as it provides continuity to the audience. This technique is used mainly when characters have conversations with each other.
This is my second attempt of creating a storyboard. This is for the beginning of Luther season 3 episode 1. We watched the segment twice, the first while observing it and the second while pausing and storyboarding each scene. This activity helped me as i realised how much detail and information is needed for a storyboard. Plus, it helps during filming. If there are multiple scenes from the same angle we can film those scenes in one shoot, this way the camera doesn't move disrupting the camera angles. Doing this means that the sequence does not have to be filmed scene by scene, it can be filmed in a certain order, depending on the scenes, and put in order while editing. We can see this in this episode of Luther and can be seen in shot 3, shot 7 and shot 9.
This scene was interesting to watch as it was just diegetic sounds until shot 8, which created suspense as there were no sounds distracting the audience. Also, there were many points where the actress would pause and look around. These pauses, in addition to the diegetic sounds, added to the suspense which let the audience know that something was wrong.
This is the trailer for Fleabag. It is a great example of an actress breaking the 4th wall. This is when the person in the show or on stage talks to the audience, this is a good technique as it involves and engages the audience. Phoebe Waller-Bridge does this throughout the show and she lets the audience know exactly what she's thinking as it happens.
My first attempt of creating a Storyboard for the opening sequence of the BBC's 'Remember Me' (up until 2:44 in the attached clip). It includes what shots were used, when sound is introduced and what effect it has. This activity showed me how a storyboard is used and why. A director needs to know exactly what needs to be filmed and for how long and a storyboard provides all this information. They make sure that filming is time and cost effective.
