Q2-47 : FILM OPENING PROJECT 2008/9

preliminary task 2

2009-03-20T08:42:00.000-07:00

Scrren shots

2009-03-13T08:30:00.000-07:00

These are screen shots for our evaluation

Freeze frames for powerpoints

2009-03-11T03:19:00.000-07:00

Lone Dog Reveal and Feedback

2009-03-10T05:15:00.000-07:00

Everyone revealed their final cuts in class and gave and received feedback. Our general feedback was positive, people liked the titles, soundtrack, editing, voiceover and the flow of the narrative.

Lone Dog

2009-03-10T04:05:00.000-07:00

2009-03-04T10:43:00.000-08:00

Today has definitely been a mark of change. In the media lesson this morning the whole group achieved a lot and implemented some changes suggested in the feedback gathered from the rough-cut reveal on Tuesday e.g. editing, titles etc. Also, Marcus and myself did some extra work during our free period in which we recorded and uploaded the voiceover, synced the music in time with the visuals and placed and positioned titles. The final cut is almost ready now, me and Marcus have already arranged to do some extra work tomorrow lunchtime when we can add further items such as the effects that were suggested on Tuesday, and we've also got the start of fridays lesson to do some final tweaking.

Feedback from rough cut

2009-03-03T04:10:00.001-08:00

Generally the feedback was good but there were obvious things that people didn't mention such as editing needs to be worked on, music needs to go in with the video ect.
Other feedback was:
- Titles need to be done
- Effects need to be in there to make it more agent and that will help with the pace
- remove some diagetic noise to get rid of the camera noises and directions
- Good way to show the genre and subgenre
- Soundtrack works well with what were trying to get across
- There are good quick cuts in chase scenes that show the speed
From now on we don't have that much time to complete our product but people also said that it has big potential to be good

very rough cut

2009-03-03T02:58:00.000-08:00

This is our unfinished rough cut, due to multiple problem we have not completed it to our satisfaction,,, here it is

Problems

2009-02-27T07:43:00.001-08:00

We thought we had lots of good footage, however, there are loads of obvious errors throughout the whole of the latest scene filmed. This means we've got to spend extra time on the editing and possibly have to film again after we show our rough-cut.
Also..... the music, titles and storyline is not quite what we were going for. And therefore the rough-cut will definitely NOT represent our final piece.
Also... Also... Ash and Stu haven't turned up to this lesson(one before rough-cut reveal), so its unlikely that the rough-cut will even be finished by the end of Tuesdays lesson.

Failure

2009-02-24T03:50:00.000-08:00

During one of the filming processes, the camera had become corrupt so we lost a lot of important footage to use. We have tried to overcome this by mixing in the footage that we got with the previous shots that aren't action; making the scene seem like a dream which works well for us.
Here's a a still frame of what we had.

2009-02-11T01:35:00.000-08:00

We've filmed some of our opening sequence.... the nerdy character- Nathan White.
However we still need to film the other side of my character, record the voice over and shoot Ash's section when he's being a villain.

The Villain

2009-02-04T02:08:00.000-08:00

As a villain we want someone who is very serious, not a man in a cape with a big collar. Genuinely someone who is intimidating to both adults and children. Bob Hoskins in this clip of "Unleashed" is a good example of what we are looking for from Ashley. He won't be talking but with his body language and the way he dresses we want something like this.

humour

2009-02-04T01:40:00.000-08:00

This sort of humour is going to be included in the nerdy side of Lone Dog... Nathan White.

2009-02-04T01:20:00.000-08:00

This clip is a good example of the sort of character we are going for with long dog. In this clip napoleon is exaggerating about his experiences. Lone Dog would tell similar stories however he would be telling the truth.

Script

2009-02-04T01:08:00.000-08:00

As the only person in the film speaking is going to be Matt (Lone dog), we have to make sure that the words we choose draw the audience in and don't get bored. Also as it is only the opening sequence, we need to leave the audience asking themselves questions to keep them thinking. The script needs to correspond to the video without describing it but just inferring about it. For example we want the audience to be agreeing with what he is saying and really think about it. We wanted it to have a serious base because of the seriousness of his character but then an immature edge in the sound of his voice too keep it in the "younger audience" category. This is what we came up with...

- It's hard waking up knowing that all you've got coming is another boring day, huh, you can probably relate. The college is split into three categories; The populars, the averages and the loners. It's no good being popular because it makes the average people jealous and in fact, behind the scenes, there's not that many people that like them. No good being average because, well it sorta says it for itself. then there's the loners. they don't have to worry about people judging them because no one knows them. But then again that could be a problem in itself... not that i would know. Then the question is raised, what category do i fit in? Well i'm not popular, definatly don't consider myself average, but loner is a very good explanation. I like to be myself, not run by other peoples examples. My name is Nathan White, i am Lone Dog, Who are you?

Concepts

2009-01-30T07:12:00.000-08:00

spy kids is another action film aimed at a young audience. the characters in this are younger than ours however it still has the same audience.

2009-01-30T06:49:00.000-08:00

this is the opening to the cartoon program known as "recess" has the school environment that we as a group are looking for. the school bell is very similar to that in our animatic an we use it to open our sequence aswell.

this is a image of Gus, a character from the comedy program. we are aiming for our main character to have this "boffin" feel about him when we 1st are introduced to him

Film Opening Animatic

2009-01-28T02:09:00.000-08:00

this is our animatic. We found it really hard to draw the kind of shots that we wanted because we need lots of fast paced snappy footage. We want it to be really slow to begin with and then the moment matt (Nathan) turns to his alter ego (lone dog), We have fast paced shots and lots of transitions. We have tried to show this when the music comes back on. Overall we don't think our animatic is a good representation of what we want the film to look like but in the sense of the shots, this is exactly what we want. We thought that the film would seem too serious if it had dramatic music because it sets the mood. We tried lots of different ways of presenting the music but in the end we came up with a funky style, like "starskey and Hutch" to keep it cool.

2009-01-27T03:57:00.000-08:00

Perfect example of what we're trying to incorporate into our opening

Moodboard

2009-01-23T07:43:00.000-08:00

Our finalised moodboard..

We decided to communicate a light-hearted action mood by using comical pictures such as Napolean dynamite and fast paced action shots such as the superhero on the bike. The reason we have shown images of bikes is to reflect content of our opening as we are going to have a bike sequence.

Storyline

2009-01-23T06:47:00.000-08:00

2009-01-20T03:03:00.000-08:00

So far our ideas our along the theme of 'Stormbreaker'. Therefore, we'll have one of us, possibly Matt, playing the teenage 'heart-throb' spy. His names going to be Nathan White, (lone dog). Lone Dog because he's quite rogue, he doesn't have any friends in his Nathan White persona, but when he's at the spy headquarters every knows and adores him.
We came up with the switch of persona from Superman, e.g. Clark Kent.
Ash will play the villain because of his devilish looks.
He'll kill someone at the start, unseen, to set introduce the character to the audience.
We chose this rather than the crime option because you need a lot of people for that and as we only have three.

Our Film Analysis'

2009-01-16T08:01:00.000-08:00

Analysis of “Donnie Darko” opening.

For the purpose of analysing “Donnie Darko”, it is possible to break down the concept of the opening sequence into micro and macro elements.
There are a small amount of opening credits right at the start, they are white on a black background, placed in the middle of the screen and are in a midi-evil style font, the sound is of thunder, suggesting a storm to the audience. When actually, it is a peaceful morning as the camera pans down the road where a teenage boys is seen lying in the middle of the road, wearing pyjamas and his bike to the side of the road. As he gets up his features are shown, he has scruffy hair looks like he’s in his late teens. The audience makes the assumption that he is not quite an adult because he is riding a bike rather than a car. All of this is shown in one long shot giving the opening a relaxed feel and emphasises the time of day. The mise en scene helps to set out the location of the opening, the classic large sub-urban American housing with trees along the side of the road and the morning joggers in bright tracksuits help to give the idea of a wealthy area, Donnie himself also has an expensive looking racing bike suggesting that his family are financially comfortable.
Within a short space of time the rest of his family are also introduced. His dad is given the stereotype middle-aged father, chinos with a polo shirt, he is using a electrical leaf-blower (more evidence of sub-urban wealth). Also introduced are his two sisters and his mum, throughout introducing them there is no dialogue and a non-diagetic song being played, it is an 80’s pop song. The choice of editing and camera-work is slow and long-shots are used this enables full view of each of the characters surroundings and the use of simplistic camerawork and basic editing gives a ordinary feel to the opening suggesting there is nothing abnormal about the film of the family introduced. However, and graphic effect used to fade out the title at the beginning contradicts this, “Donnie Darko” is displayed in the skyline and is faded out using an ‘end of the world type’ flash of light in the distance. This relates to the end of the film where the end of the universe takes place as a result of Donnie.
The genre is not made clear in the opening of ”Donnie Darko”, however, it is clear that the focus of the film will be on Donnie. His name is introduced to the audience with “Where is Donnie?” written on the fridge accompanied by his mum giving him a confused facial expression, suggesting that she is unaware of where he was that night. Overall, the audience will appreciate the different aspects of the opening; with their attention focused on what will happen to Donnie and how the whole film in general will pan out.

Matt Jones
Words: 504

Analysis of “Stormbreaker” opening

In this analysis I am going to write about the micro and macro elements of the opening sequence.
There aren’t any credits directly at the start and this is a way of introducing the main characters and their roles. When the credits do come in, they are on a video background of a London scene which immediately sets the scene of the film. The opening has a pre opening scene which I have notices is very generic in younger adventure films. Also the main character and his friends are the age of the target audience. “Alex” gets called up in class and is told to talk about his family, when he talks about them he says it in a very average way. At the same time it shows what was really going on within his family, this shows a contrast with the two lives and what the film is going to be about. What “Alex” is saying during his speech completely contradicts what his uncle is actually doing; this makes him seem like a character that is completely oblivious to what is going on around him. The camera work is very simplistic when it’s on “Alex” but when it is on his uncle, there is lots of shaking, lots of snappy shots and very fast movement. The way that the clip is edited and what he says makes it seem like he looks up to his uncle implying that he will follow his footsteps in his job. Later this is solidified with his uncle dying. When “Alex” is talking there isn’t anything interesting in the scene and to make sure that you’re concentrated on him, the camera blurs everything else. What the Clip really wants you to concentrate on is his uncle and the action in it. This is showed in music as well because there is no music when he is talking and fast paced music when there’s action. This is all generic in adventure films, there is normally a story establishing action scene to make sure that the audience can watch straight off with no confusion. Right at the beginning the camera pans across the class room showing all the students and then shows “Alex”, without clearly knowing, you could point out who the main character is. This is so the person looks special in some way to the audience. The film as a whole has a very “James Bond” feel to it, everything down to the way the credits is introduced. This is good because it makes the audience feel like they’re in for an action packed modern adventure film.

Marcus Howard

2009-01-16T07:57:00.000-08:00

Pre-opening sequence
These genre of film usually use a preopening sequence to establish a character or to "pick up where they left off" if the production is a sequel or previously in a different format. i.e. a book or play.

Ashley Borland

stormbreaker opening

2009-01-16T07:51:00.000-08:00

this is an example of an opening and pre-opening sequence

Conventions

2009-01-16T07:22:00.000-08:00

Conventions:
- Camera has lots of technical shots that are very shakey helping it stay fast
- Music is very fast paced and only in action scenes unless diegetic
- Editing is very fast
- Most things are very serious but in a very technical way so that it keeps the scenes interesting
- characters are always interesting in their own way but some show quietness in some aspects

Marcus Howard

Q2-47 FILM OPENING PROJECT

2008-11-28T05:31:00.001-08:00

Welcome