T1-30 : FILM OPENING PROJECT 2008/9

Final Cut

2009-03-16T07:15:00.000-07:00

Teacher Comments

2009-03-04T02:41:00.000-08:00

Further to our conversation in class, action points to take forward from the rough cut to final cut include (you may of course have been working on these tasks already):

- edit your sequence down so that the total running time is approximately 2 minutes
- Add your production company logo (with garage band sound track) to the start of your sequence
- Add titles (credits etc). Remember, your final cut needs to look like an opening sequence
- Record voice over and add it to your audio track
- Finish music track in garage band

ROUGHCUT

2009-02-27T06:07:00.000-08:00

Storyboard

2009-02-12T02:17:00.000-08:00

Shooting Schedule

2009-02-12T02:09:00.000-08:00

Daylight shots;

Tracking shot Hills Road
Tracking shot Coronation Street
Pan of Parkers Piece
Panorama from top of Grand Arcade
Long shot of Mill Pond and while there a shot of the Cam and punts
Spinning shot of sky while stood in small street near Sainsbury's
Tracking shot of Kings Parade
Town centre and bikes
Market
Coleridge park

Night shots;

Panorama from top of Grand Arcade
Long/mid shot of Jesus Green Bridge
Mill Road and cycle bridge
Christs Piece
Regent street
Market
Junction
A variety of Big Issue seller

Shot List

2009-02-12T01:42:00.000-08:00

Shot One

Tracking - Hills Road. Trees, schools, colleges, bus stops etc. Day time.

Shot Two

Tracking - Coronation Street. Council houses/flats. Day and night.

Shot Three

Pan - Parkers Piece. From police station. Park, people, bikes etc. Day

Shot Four

Panorama - Top of Grand Arcade. City buildings etc. Day

Shot Five

Panorama - Top of Grand Arcade. City buildings etc. Night

Shot Six

Long - Mill Pond. People, river Cam. Day

Shot Seven

Long/Mid - River Cam. Punting. Day

Shot Eight

Long/Mid - Jesus Green Bridge. River Cam, bridge etc.

Shot Nine

Long - Sky. From Green Street in town. near Catfish. Day

Shot Ten

Tracking - Kings Parade. Colleges, people, bikes etc. Day

Shot Eleven

Long - Mill Road. People, pubs, shops etc. Night

Shot Twelve

Long - Station, cycle bridge etc. Day/night

Shot Thirteen

Christ Piece - People etc. Day

Shot Fourteen

Tracking/long - Regent Street. People, road etc. Night

Shot Fifteen

Mid/Close up - Bikes. Town Center . Day

Shot Sixteen

Long/pan/tracking - Market. Day

Shot Seventeen

Long/pan/tracking - Market. Night

Shot Eighteen

Long/Mid. Junction. Lights on board. Night

Shot Nineteen

Panorama - Colerigde Park. Day/Night

Shot Twenty

Close up - Big Issue Men. Day.

Shot Twentyone plus

Whatever else pops up that will go in well with our genre.

Animatic

2009-02-12T01:25:00.001-08:00

This is the animatic to our opening sequence showing the type of shots and places we may like to shoot. This gives us a rough idea of what we hope to finish with at the end of the project although it may not be identical depending on what shots we can get while shooting; we may have some that are not in our animatic and not have some that are.

We have decided to use a variety of shots including panorama's, tracking shots, long shots, mid shots and although it has not been shown in our animatic we hope to also include close up shots. We want to use a wide range of shots to add interest to the sequence for our audience and also allow us to create different feelings in whats been shot. We want to use panorama's of Cambridge shot from a height above most rooftops to show the expanse of the city and give a sense of almost being lost while also being on top of the world shown using the height level. Mid and long shots allow us to include the environment with more detail than may be achieved with a panorama and tracking shot. The main use of the tracking shot is to show the expanse of the colleges in Cambridge along King's Parade including to a certain extent detail of the buildings and almost the kind of people that would be found there. The shots showing the evening or 'night life' will most probably be shot with less detail or stability than those during the day appearing more mixed up to the audience giving a sense of what is being seen through the main characters eyes although she is not shown in the opening sequence.

The places we aim to shoot should show contrast to each other and some should be shot both during the day and at night showing how areas change as the sun goes down. This will hopefully give an idea to the audience the contrast that can be found in and around Cambridge.

We have used upbeat music to give a happier feel to our animatic and give an idea of what we would like to use in our final sequence. The choice of this kind of music gives a light-hearted feel to what could possibly be seen as a not so happy sequence. This is because although the film shows two contrasting sides of Cambridge one appearing to be happier than the other both are equally appealing to different people.

Film Titles

2009-02-11T04:02:00.001-08:00

Panic Room -
We really like the way the titles appear to be floating around the city, and have a really cool 3-D feel. The colour of the font was very neutral and this made a good affect as you would concentrate on the whole scene and not just the names.

Max Payne -
We really like the way the names are split by the two contrasting colours, grey and red. This is similar our ShutDoor production logo. The main background colour is black and this gives the audience a hint that the rest of the film is going to be a dark themed movie.

Catch Me If You Can-
We really like the cartoon feel to this opening. The font is really cool the way it comes up and down from of the main screen, the lines give a really good travelling effect, which is one of the main themes of the film.

Donnie Brasco -
We really like the way that there are more than one name at a time on the screen, this gives us idea that it is okay to have numerous names during one shot of our opening sequence.

Film Title

2009-02-04T04:08:00.000-08:00

We have decided to call our film SaladDays. We choose this title as we wanted our film to be related to teenagers and so we typed 'youth' in to a thesaurus. This came up with several different words that can be used to describe youth and we liked the look of salad days. The definition of this is 'the best time of life'. Therefore it was perfect for our film.

Voice Over Script

2009-02-04T03:43:00.000-08:00

As we are having a voice over through our opening sequence i have written an idea for a script to be used in it. It is designed to be like a girl talking indirectly about her past and her life in Cambridge. It doesn't necessarily make it clear where is being talked about but talks about several areas of Cambridge. This is the initial idea;

Walk with me walk down the city walls and winding streets as the fairy lights twinkle on the black velvet sky and the pixies skip across the Cam top. Hide in the outskirts where the grass grows thick with dew drops of childhood memories and cigarette butts and old wraps. Watch me fall and climb and learn inside thick stone walls and iron gates with honeydew thoughts and rainbow smiles we sit in the grass on the far away side lost in a haze of the days, the months gone by. A constant daze brought from sleepless nights spent walking and dancing on industrial estates. Punting in the rays of the fireball sun looking at architecture and seeing the beauty. Of the butterfly bouncing on the breeze and the crystals sat waiting in the palm of your hand.

Feedback On Ideas In Planning Stage

2009-01-29T05:55:00.000-08:00

On Monday 26th January our group pitched our ideas and research to the rest of the class. Here, our fellow classmates became critics of our ideas and identified our strenghts and weaknesses.

Our synopsis went down well with feedback saying how our idea was clear, well researched and well thought out. We were told we had an interesting opening sequence with a good use on genre conventions. Our analysis of "Candy" and "This Is England" was detailed and very clear. One group commented on how we analysised the music in the opening sequence of "Candy" really well and were very perceptive. We made a good choice of films to anaylse and they fitted extremely well with our idea of the genre British Social Realist Drama.

Our MoodBoard gave a good sense of location and the desciptive photos went down well. Groups said that there was a great contrast shown in the MoodBoard which helped to illustrate our idea.

We had one piece of advice which was to pick out more important technigues on camera angles for social realist dramas, this has been duely noted and taken on board. Overall we are extremely happy with the positive feedback.

Sequence Summaries

2009-01-22T09:28:00.000-08:00

1. A teenage romantic comedy, for example

Juno

Conventions;

Generally would include a school or college
Stereotypical characters ie. girly girls and sporty boys
A relationship problem or friendship problems
Always has a happy ending

2. A crime caper with an ensemble cast, for example

Snatch

Conventions;

Humor can normally be found
Police involvement
Fast Paced
Energetic music

3. A British social realist drama, for example

Bullet Boy

Conventions;

Must be realistic
Set in Britain
British actors
Everyday activities
Normal people

4. Adventure story for a younger audience, for example

Son of Rambow

Conventions;

Can be fast paced
Shows different relationships
Generally easier to follow

5. Supernatural thriller with a strong female lead, for example

The Others

Conventions;

Builds up suspense
Shows darker sides to things
Doesn't have to have realistic lighting or set

Mood Board

2009-01-22T02:23:00.000-08:00

Mood Board

View more presentations or upload your own.

Our Production Logo

2009-01-22T01:57:00.000-08:00

We started off with a simple black background with the title "shutdoor" centred. We then decided to split the word in half separating "shut" and "door" with different colours. This design was attractive yet too simple for a production logo, so we decided to add an animation. We then transfered the logo from Photoshop to Final Cut. In this application we added the animation of a light beam illuminating from the centre. This turned out to be a difficult tasks as the animation of the white circle only ran for a certain amount of time before stopping, therefore we had to fade the background into the circle by adding a white background layer.

We are very happy with our final production logo as it turned out just as we wanted, although it took longer than expected.

Synopsis of Opening Sequence

2009-01-21T03:52:00.001-08:00

Our opening scene is going to be in the genre of British social realist drama. This genre contains a setting within Britain using British actors and typical everyday people. This genre must be shoot in a realistic way using simple, still camera shots, natural lighting and it must be shot on location rather than on a set. The characters would be normal humans; no superheroes, no monsters.

We have decided to base our film in the city of Cambridge. Cambridge is a well known through Britain and the rest of the world. Cambridge is best known for its university and higher education levels, however our film is going to show the other side of Cambridge that tourists don't necessarily see. To the people who live in the city as well as visitors this "dark" side is not always apparent.

We are going to shoot numerous shots around Cambridge for example a panorama from the top of the Grand Arcade and shots of the colleges and areas such as millpond and Christs pieces. We will also include shots of the centre of town and down the backs showing punts and the River Cam. We will then edit them together to make a montage of Cambridge life. We are going to have a voice over of a female talking indirectly about her life in Cambridge.

London to Brighton

2009-01-19T07:06:00.001-08:00

London to Brighton was released on 1st December 2006 and was written and directed by Paul Andrew Williams. Paul Andrew Williams is a British film writer and director, born in Portsmouth. He won the New Director's Award for the film London to Brighton in the 2006 Edingburgh International Film Festival.

This Is England

2009-01-19T06:48:00.003-08:00

This Is England was released 27th April 2007. The film was written and directed by Shane Meadows, who is an English film director, screenwriter and occasional actor, from Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, England. He is regarded as one of the rising stars of British cinema. This Is England, was Shane Meadows seventh and won the British Independent Film Awards 2006.

This Is England is set in the summer of 1983 therefore the opening sequence shows historic moments from this period of time, including Margaret Thatcher, riots and strikes. The first half is generally happy showing famous games, dancing, Prince Charles and Princess Diana's wedding. When the Prince and Princess kiss a shot of a building being demolished, from then on the shots are largely negative showing racial discrimination, fires, explosions, fights etc.
The soundtrack at the beginning is 54-46 That's My Number by Toots and the Maytals, this is reggae and rather jolly which is contradictory to most of the shots in the sequence.

The title are simple and initially when the titles are shown it is against a plain black background. The first five titles include the production titles and are in time with the music. The film title "This Is England" fades up eight second after the last title. The writing is on top of a tracking shot of run down council houses and garages. The font of the whole of the titles is white and worn, with the names in capital letters.

Film Production Logos

2009-01-14T03:58:00.000-08:00

We started to research film production logos by looking at existing production companies via the search engine Google, here we were able to see as many logos as possible. We also searched for logos on youtube, we found a video that showed numerous logos from popular well known names to unfamiliar. We then begun to pick out the logos that stood out and were really effective.

"DreamWorks" production is a well known company and logo with films ranging from American Beauty to Shrek. However, the company does not only focus on films but also television productions.
The main image consists of a young boy fishing whilst on a crescent moon. The boy is a ghost like figure but this is not scary to all viewers due to the soft calming music accompanying the sequence.
The "DreamWorks" sequence can vary from film to film, for example Bee Movie

"Terror Film" is a basic yet very affective production logo. The green contrasts against the black background and makes the logo stand out. The logo is two letters merged together, T and F symbolising the initials of the production company name.

"Pixar" are extremely famous for their cartoon productions, including Toy Story and Monsters Inc.

Candy Opening Sequence

2009-01-08T02:16:00.000-08:00

Candy was released on 3rd November 2006. The film was based on the novel by Luke Davis, published 1998. Neil Armfield wrote and directed the film version, who is an Australian director of theatre, film and opera.

Candy's opening sequence is simple and only set in one location. This setting of a fairground ride, called the Rotor, gives the audience a false impression of innocence and adolescence. The first shot is a door opening onto Candy which represent an opening for the audience to see into Candy and Dan's lives. The characters are shown to be somewhere in their twenties and are the only adults present on the ride. The rest of the characters are young children. Candy (played by Abbie Cornish) and Dan (Heath Ledger) look up to Casper (Geoffrey Rush) whilst on the ride with the use of a low angle shot, this symbolises the parental figure Casper holds in the couples lives. Casper also looks down on them from the top of the ride in an almost proud fatherly way.

The song played throughout the sequence is called Song to the Siren, which includes lyrics that link to the characters and their lives. "I'm as puzzled as a newborn child" indicates the unstable confusion of their lives and links the drug use throughout the film. "drew me loving into your eyes" this line of the song hints the affection the couple have for each other. These feelings are present through and portrayed through kissing and hugging.

The spinning of the ride is disorienting for the audience and this represents the impact of drug use in their lives as well as the extent the go to to fund their addiction. Towards the end of the opening sequence Dan is heard in a voice-over saying "When I first met Candy, those were like the days of "juice" when everything was bountiful" this shows the beginning of the relations and the simplicity that they used to live in.

The titles are in a simple white font with all the lettering in lower case apart from the names of people who contributed to the making of the film as they are capital letters. The irregular use of lower and upper case letters hint the childlike vibe throughout the film. Overall the opening sequence is simple yet strong.

T1-30 FILM OPENING PROJECT

2008-11-28T04:12:00.001-08:00

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