- I think the sound / music in the opening sequence contrasted the images on the the screen that were going on as the sounds within the opening sequence did not suit what was happening in the scene.
- The end was effective as the word ' TRAPPED' came on to the screen with a black background in order for the audience to see the name of the film and bring them in.
- The images on screen represented the horror / thriller crime film in itself can show the audience what genre the film is which is good as it will attract fans of that particular genre.
- The opening sequence contains 21 titles or credits on the screen and most of these are credits which dominates the whole of the opening sequence. This could be due to the opening sequence itself not containing any speech by characters as it just contained non- diegetic sound added in after editing.
In the of Guardians of the Galaxy (James Gunn, 2014) opening star-lord is immediately shown which establishes him as the main character is dancing around to the song come and get your love (Redbone, 2006).
This music is effective as it shows the film is quite a happy film as the song is upbeat this shows the genre of the film.
Through the use of props the main character is revealed as he has the mask which he then takes off also the genre is easy to establish through the use of props as the main character has later guns and has holographic projections and shows that it is sci-fi.
The very long opening shows how high budget the film is as there are a lot of visuals which would be expensive.
The main actors names appears which shows the importance of their role as they appear first then the music hits and it starts showing the names of people involved in the production which shows their roles in the production of their film.
The title is in the middle of the trailer which is important as it establishes the film and it is shown in bold yellow font so it is easy to see which could show its importance.
The only distinguishable character is peter quill and other people are shown via hologram.
There are around 18 credits for the institutional line, there are a total of 18 credits on the visual line also.
Skyfall ( Sam Mendes, 2012)
Observations through analysis of film openings
In the opening of "Skyfall" (Sam Mendes, 2012) gives the audience a sense of what the film is about through the use of visuals, audio and institutional credits. There are a total of 14 institutional credits and 17 different visuals.
One song plays throughout "Skyfall" (Adele, 2012).
This is the use of convergence and synergy as the song is called skyfall which is the same as the movie, also the song is an example of 2 different platforms coming together as a way of promotion through the music industry.
The high budget of the film is highlighted by the length of sequences
The names' of the actors all appear in order of the importance of their role
James Bond the only distinguishable character throughout the opening, with the rest of the people only seen as silhouettes. This highlights the importance of Bond's role within the film.
In terms of tone, this opening is sullen and mysterious.
I found out that nearly all the intros for the films I watched I have seen that the music in them to build up dramatic tension. This is seen as the music starts off low and quite and throughout the extract the music get louder and louder and cuts out when the title pops up on the screen. This creates tension as its the build up to the start of the film with all he fast flashing images of war and then we can see the names of the director, producers, and distributors.
The title placement shows that the build up is important as it gives us a rough idea of the genre and the tone and atmosphere of the film.
The average number of credits in this intro is about 16 this means its a good enough into as it gives enough info about the producers and the min stars of the film.
There are still and moving images this creates a realism of the film. The still images of people, on the floor injured reveal the truth about war. The film intro sets up the plot of this film like most films.
'Skyfall' intro is set at the bottom of the sea not revealing any of the setting in the film. The more important credits like distributor names, director name and main actor names are always central making them more significant while less important parts of the crew like camera men are presented on the bottom right where the image is more dominant. Daniel Craig being the main part of the intro through a serious facial expression he makes it clear that the film is serious and possibly about action. In many scenes knives and guns are presented suggesting that the genre is action. Furthermore 007 is seen shooting gun killing shadows around him once again supporting that the film is about action. The intro of 'Skyfall' is very high budget as that is a USP of all Bond films. When it comes to sound 'Skyfall' by Adelle is played in the whole intro. Although you can see other actions all other sounds are muted making the song a key part of the intro. In conclusion, 'Skyfall' intro is successful just like previous Bond intros. With the high budget the film made it clear who the main character is and that the genre is action.
DEADPOOL (Miller, 2016)
Observations through analysis
In 'Deadpool' a part from 20th century fox and Marvel no other names are presented. Instead things like "A Douchebag's film " are shown as institutional credits showing that the genre of the film is comedy. Although the sequence is just a still image lots of violence is shown through props like guns and broken glass. This shows that the film is about action but the still image makes it less serious and more like a comedy. The font is kept simple and similar to other Marvel superhero films to make the film look more like a superhero film. Furthermore, only the main character is presented is his costume and seems to be in control of the situation. Through costume and makeup it is clear in the intro who the superhero is. The whole intro is set in the car so not much setting is shown but as the sequence ends a panning shot zooms out the car showing the entire setting around revealing the view of Vancouver. More on camera angles shots and movement, there is a tracking shot through the intro showing the whole car and action around the main character. Lastly, 'Angel of the morning' is played in the whole intro which doesn't suit the situation shown supporting that the film is a comedy. Overall, I believe 'Deadpool' has a very successful intro as it does a good job at making it clear that the genre of the film is comedy and makes a superhero film a spoof.
15 institutional credits
Our preliminary task needed to meet the following criteria:
of a person walking through a door and then
having a conversation while sitting down, minimum being 3 lines.
We were able to meet the criteria along with:
successful match on action
continuity editing
good camera work
Examples
This is an example of successful match on action where we are shot from the inside and as we start to open the door the camera switches to the outside filming the two characters go inside.
Our conversation was very short but this shows shot a good use of shot reverse shot along with successful use of the 180 degree rule. Beside this a high angle shot is used on the victim to make him look vulnerable while the villains are at a low angle making them appear superior.
In my opinion, our editing and camera angles made our short film appealing but we struggled with the camera focus and due to the limited time we had to leave the camera on auto focus. This led to most shots being blurry making the viewing experience worse. For our final project we should use manual focus which we need to learn how to use.
Furthermore, personally I am happy with most scenes but other viewers have said that this scene was too long leading to a fall in suspension during the chase. Reducing this from 5 to 3 seconds would have been a better alternative.
Finally, a miniature problem came up when in one of our shots our camera man was visible in the mirror for a short time. It is a small issue but next time we should look out for problems like these coming up.
person walking through a door having a conversation while sitting down, minimum being 3 lines.
We met this criteria and also included
match on action
continuity editing
Examples
Example of the successful match on action, as they walked through the door the camera changed to show them opening the door and then walking through the door
We were concerned about our conversation being too short, however the teacher told us it was fine. We made good use of the 180 degree rule and the high and low camera shots to show the person being kidnapped is weaker and they have superiority.
Our camera editing was good, however none of the shots are in focus due to the face that we couldn't figure out how to put the camera onto manual focus onto auto focus and so this left most of the shots blurry. On the final task we will make sure that we know how to put the camera into manual focus to avoid this happening again.
We had one problem at the end, when i was being pushed out of the elevator, you can see the camera man in the mirror of the elevator, we were afraid that this would make the film worse, however when the class viewed it no one actually noticed and pointed it out. For the final task we will make sure nothing like this happens
We were given a Preliminary task as a small group, the task was to create a short clip. The clip had to display our filming and continuity editing skills we have learnt. In this we had to display the three key aspects of continuity editing . Shot-reverse-shot, match on action and the 180 degree rule.These key features allow you to make continuity editing successful and smooth.Continuity editing is created in a chronological way to create a sense of realism. The main purpose of continuity editing is to smooth over the inherent discontinuity of the editing process and to create a logical coherence between shots. To compliment, within our short video we had to also include a consisting of two or more lines, a character passing through a door, finally a shot of a character walking. Our Preliminary task contained all four sets of actions which were :
1) Exchanging two sentences of conversation. 2) Walking across a room. 3) Opening a door. 4) Sitting down. The techniques we used and examples: Match on action Match on action is an editing technique that is used in continuity editing in which one shot cuts to another shot portraying the action of the subject in the first shot. This technique distracts the audience of the rather evident cut, by masking the cut and instead makes look continuous (hence continuity editing). This technique adds a sense verisimilitude due to its continuity and seamlessness. At four seconds the main actor Vince is entering the door and appears on the other side finishing of the action of opening the door. This allows the video to flow, while not being intruded by the “un-continuity” of the unedited footage from prior to the end of post-production. This technique allows us to connect two different views of the same action at the same moment in the movement. This is done by editing the footage carefully together. Shot-Reverse-Shot Shot reverse shot is a continuity editing technique. It is used in conversations or when characters are looking at each other or objects. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other. This style of editing consists of cuts to each person’s face while the face of the person who is being confronted is no seen through the use of the ‘over the shoulder shot’.
In the example, it shows a third camera being used. However we only managed to use two shots but still meet the requirements of the shot its self. In the practical there is a scene where Vince and Anderson are changing two sentences of dialogue between each other.
180 - degree rule
The 180-degree rule is a basic guideline regarding the on-screen spatial relationship between a character and another character or object within a scene. The rule states that the camera or cameras should remain the same side of an imaginary line. The rule is introduced during an establishing shot of the characters. If the camera crosses the line at any point, it will create a confusing and uncomforted feeling for the audience because it makes it look like the people are switching positions in the screen, which is unrealistic.
In our example we can see Vince and Anderson in the corridor communicating. The rule is not broken and follows the guidelines on the diagram above. This means the audience is not confused by the shot as it follows the 180 Degree Rule. As a result this creates seamless continuity within the editing. Production process
The production process refers to the three stages in order to make a final piece. pre-production, production and post- production during our preliminary task. Pre-production was the shortest stage out of the three tasks. This was because we had only been given 10 minutes as a group to complete this stage of the production process . As time was limited our ability to plan was limited but we still managed to use our time effectively . We managed to work out who was filming quickly . My team felt that i was the right man to carry out the cinematography. This was due to my experience using the camera and my creativity and steadiness when it come to framing and how i take advantage of different vantage point to make for a more interesting, moving image.The acting was allocated to Vince and Anderson as they seem natural in front of the camera. As we had to film inside school we were slightly limited so we collectively as a group decided it was best to use the Sixth form block so collectively we decided to film in the Sixth form block and the media block. However during the process we did not have enough time to create a storyboard. However if we had time we would of used one and a story board is a plan using a sequence of drawings that are planned a for a film.
Production During the production stage we gained our footage and started to use our pre-production plans. This included filming shots of Vince and Anderson in the four main objectives of this task which were exchanging two sentences of conversation , walking across a room , opening a door and sitting down. This stage lasted around 20-30 minutes and we managed to capture a lot of the same shots at different angles so that when it came to editing we had the best shots possible.
The rule of thirds is a "rule of thumb" or guideline which applies to the process of composing visual images such as designs, films, paintings, and photographs.
The guideline proposes that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersection.
The rule of thirds is applied by aligning a subject with the guide lines and their intersection points, placing the horizon on the top or bottom line, or allowing linear features in the image to flow from section to section.
I did a recce of the st marks playing grounds to find a suitable place to film
we collected pros such as the money, the bag
we created a story board about how we would need to film each scene
we also created a script for the actors
we did about 3 rehearsals before we started filming
production:
used a hand held camera that could be placed on a tri pod
we did a close up of an actors face this gave it quite an intense feel to it
we used natural lighting this gave verisimilitude as the audience could see we were outside this gives a realistic feel to the audience as we were outside and didn't use anything out of the ordinary
we used different camera angles throughout production so we could us them in post-production to capture al angles of the conversations the characters have with each other. this gives us a good look at the persons attitude and posture to tell the audience who they are as a character.
we did one scene of one of the characters walking through a puddle this gives the whole clip a sinister or an abandoned feel to it. also in this shot we could only see his feet then it moved up to his face this created tension.
post-production:
in the editing of this film we used the software to add in sound effects of a gun shot. this was edited in and makes it seem as one of them was shot even though we didn't have a gun prop which would have helped. so we cut out the bit where it showed his hand pretending to be the gun.
we also used music from YouTube which I researched this grew louder and louder throughout the clip this shows the build up to the murder.
we did re shoot a scene which was the murder this is because we didn't have a gun prop so we worked around that.
the diegetic sounds in the background gave an urban thriller feel to the clip which helped set the scene
WWW: I feel like the filming process was the best as we got a lot done in the time frame we ha given. we had a lot of footage to work with and import to give the different angled shots of the conversation.
also the post production went really well as we had no gun prop we cut tiny bits out to make it look like he pulls out a gun and shoots the character. this shows we have worked around a big problem which went well.
EBI: we could have made the story board better and spent more time on it as we cut scenes out in the post production process ad they didn't fit with the clip itself which wasted a lot of time that we needed. we could have talked louder while filming as at some points you can barely hear some people.
I'm very happy with the end product, we got good feedback on the product as it was distributed to YouTube and open for the public to see. i promoted it on my social media to get people to watch it for their feedback.
We thought of the plot for the short film, what would happen , the story.
We gave everyone a role such as camera person and who would be what character .
We did a story board of what would happen in each scene to take with us to film.
We decided what room in the film we would use to film in and what props would be used.
Production
We went to the drama room to start filming
We used the handheld camera to film each scene and did not really film from different angles, most scenes were filmed from the same camera angle and the same camera.
Filming took about half and hour.
We used close ups, such as the close up on the characters eyes at the start of the short film.
Post Production
Post production included editing all the scenes together so it would work and editing some scenes and parts out.
Also post production included adding the background sound and music and the sound effects to create an atmosphere.
Once this was all done we saved and posted the short film to YouTube.
WWW: The film came out well and we were able to edit and post it to YouTube without any problems.
EBI: The editing could have been better as it didn't look that great also the acting could have been better. Also the short film could have been longer as it was under 1 minute and only 45 seconds.
Final reflection:
Overall, as this was the first film we made, it was not that bad, as our group were able to think of a good idea and story board. Although it didn't come out as hoped. As nobody in our group didn't know how to use the editing software the editing was not that great as this was our first time. This will help us shape future production work as we got to use the camera and editing software for the first time, and so next time we will know how to use it. Also we can use this experience to build on any mistakes made during production or editing for next time. In addition we now know sort of what making a film is like and so this will help us in the future.
First all four of us started giving ideas on what the film could be about (thinking about the concept). Through this we thought of the general scenario, the genre.
We then decided to assign the roles and allowed the camera man to draw a story board as he has the best vision of what it is supposed to look like. However, we had to change many of the planned shots to improve the film.
Once the roles were assigned 1 person wrote the script and shown it to everyone. If any parts of the script needed changing we all discussed how we could make it better
We then sent out one person to find a good place where we can film the scene with good lighting and atmosphere
Once everything was ready we were able to move onto the production process.
Production process
Before the start of every scene we would look at the story board, the script and then we would get into positions.
The camera man would set up his camera and then he would say go signalling the start of the recording.
The same scene was recorded multiple times in order to have different angles in the editing.
We looked back at the scenes and if we weren't happy with any of them we decided to record them again. However due to the limited time we couldn't make every scene perfect.
Post-production process
Once everything was filmed we could finally get onto the editing. We had 20 minutes between 4 people to edit so each person did a different part.
While one person was editing with the help of another the other 2 were looking for sound effects and music to add allowing our post-production process to take less time.
Once everyone has edited and agreed on the music and sound effect everything was added in and the film was ready to be published
WWW
In my opinion the weather complemented our concept as it was cloudy and rainy giving the dark and moody atmosphere of a killing situation
Also due to the multiple angles we filmed we had a chance to use different shots if the others looked unfinished and unrealistic
EBI
We had very little props and we didn't have a gun so we had to hide the shooters hand in the filming to not give it away
A lot of the shots turned out blurry and due to the limited time we didn't have the opportunity to film them again.
Final reflection
I think we as a group did a good job to create a short film in the very limited time we had. The people that I have shown it to said it was very good as the camera angles were always different always keeping the viewers attention. However, we had a limited time on the editing meaning it was very rough. The audience has told me that there were too many cutaways making the scenes not flow. I agree with this but I feel like with more time we would've been able to improve this.
Planning, and then broadening our ideas out in order to construct this one minute clip.
Thinking about what equipment we were going to use : Camera and tripod. This is basic equipment however as we were limited to a certain amount of time we thought these two pieces of equipment were more than suitable for what we were planning.
We had to think about the props we could use. The watch played a role in a key scene in the elevator as there is a extreme close up of the watch ticking.
As we were limited to 20 minutes towards pre-production ,we were unable to present a storyboard as that would be too time consuming.
What Went Well: We managed to come up with a idea . This idea was not the best so we adapted it by using a different location so that we could actually film the one minute clip.
Even Better If : We had a few ideas rather than just the one as we could of chosen another if this one didn't work or even try and collaborate them all together.
During this task as a group we learnt how we worked best together as a group and could make changes in roles if we needed too.
Production
The filming process of making the one minute clip.
We used a handheld camera and a tripod for different sections of the clip.
We included a establishing shot , extreme close up in order to make a scene more effective to the audience.
Using camera work like adjusting the zoom to what suited us the best.
What Went Well : We managed to film the one minute clip in the timeframe we were given.
Even Better If : Had to take scenes and re film them after seeing them win the camera to make them as close to perfect as possible in the timeframe.
We learnt that getting it right the first time makes it easier and gives you more time to make changes and look back and change what you have done by re filming a scene.
Post- production
Sound effects
Special effects
What Went Well: We managed to add effects in order to make the short clip better and hide mistakes we made.
Even Better If : In one scene we left a tripod in view which we could have figured out to edit out but we were not able too.
We learnt that post production is what really makes the film as this is where everything comes together and starts to take shape.
In the future we would spend more time on the production process as if we had more time we could of rectified mistakes we made which could of made this short clip even better.
