Dom's AS media: 2013

We have got lots of feedback on the rough cut version of our opening sequence, mainly positive.
Is it obviously an opening sequence? Is it clear who the target audience is?
Many people have said that the genre of 'Luna' is quite clear as well as the target audience. However, some people have mentioned that it looks like a music video or trailer which is not what we hoped for.
Titles go with genre. Is the genre obvious? Are they clear? Are there enough and are they in the right order?
Feedback on the titles was overall positive saying that the titles were clear, relevant, in good order and went with the genre, and people saw that it was a romantic drama. Only criticisms were that the titles were too simple and there weren't a lot of them and one person did not understand how the type writer style font went with the romantic drama genre.
Think about the sound and the images are they appropriate? Do they go together?
Many people were impressed with the sound and said it was appropriate, the music is good and shows the genre. Some people said that the voice over in the beginning was good, effective and created a mood to the sequence however some said that they thought it was too quiet and the music drowned the voice over out. A lot of the feedback said that they didn't like the reverse sound in the sequence.
Camera - are the shots appropriate and relevant? Is there controlled use of camera attention to framing, variety of shot distance and angle? Close attention use of mise en scene?
We were said to have good use and variety of camera shots, clever camera techniques and they liked that when both characters in the sequence were alone the setting was dark but when they were together it was light which we didn't actually notice ourselves and we have very good mise en scene. Someone suggested that we could have included a high shot.
Editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer and making selextive and appropriate use of shot transitions and other effects.
Lots of the feedback was positive regarding the editing saying it was good and relevant and our opening had smooth transitions. However, a lot of people mentioned that they did not get the idea of the rewind part of our sequence, and said that because it blacked out before it rewinds it stopped the scene from flowing.
Total score and any other comments
Lowest score: 36
Highest score: 58
It has been said to be convincing that the couple in our opening sequence are truly in love due to their brilliant acting, cute, voice over is effective, confused about the link to the title needs more enigma codes, unsure about rewind and it has been cited as one of the favourites out of all the opening sequences.

Production Evidence

This photo shows our group working out the responsibilities of the other members and figuring out which pitch we will chose to film for our opening sequence.

This photo shows Dom and Jonathan working on the computers. One is researching narrative voice- overs in films while the other is searching for a useful soundtrack for the film.

In this shot we can see Jonathan looking for useful locations to film for our opening sequences.

This photo shows Jonathan and Zahra working out a shot list for our opening sequence and a script for our narration.

This shot shows Dom working on the safety assessment for the filming of the opening sequence and Ellie working on the various mood-boards for our pitch and the titles research needed.

This photo shows Jonathan editing the footage we captured for our opening sequence.

This picture shows Ellie editing the Audience interviews we recorded for our films evidence to place on our blogs.

This photo shows Zahra recording Jonathan while he is acting in our opening sequence.

This shot shows Zahra and Dom working on the storyboard and the timeline for the film.

Timeline

Here is the timeline for our openings sequences which we will follow when we film.

Task Assessment Analysis

I would give this a 54.
I gave this short film a score of 50 as it demonstrated a wide use of camera shot e.g. over the shoulder medium, long short and close ups. It also used a good use of camera angles and used props well and in the correct places. The film also has a great enigma code as it leaves a good cliffhanger at the end of the film.
I would be better if they had used titles to show who is in the film and showed who the distributor and producer was.

Romantic Comedy Title Analysis

This opening sequence from 'Submarine' demonstrates the kind of titles that we might demonstrate such as bright white bold font to make a instant statement to the audience. We will also copy this movies immediate introduction where they show their distributor and producer to let the audience know who was involved in the film. The blue background that is showed alongside the bold white text keeps the reader alert conflicting with the relaxed panning shots of the actual film.

Poster

Shooting Schedule

This shooting list describes all the scenes we will be filming for our opening secquence and its location, what props are needed, what date they are recorded and who will be filmed in them.

Risk Assessment

These risk assessments show the dangers when on set and the ways we shall avoid such hazard.

Audience Interview

This video demonstrates the things we are trying to mirror in our opening sequence and the background information we needed to know about our genre before we started filming.

Props

The props we will use in our opening sequence are as follows:

Books. There are several scenes which involve the characters reading books. These are staple icons in the movie as our characters are being portrayed as intellectual and avid readers. The books we will use are those such as The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye, Lolita, 1984, Pride and Prejudice etc.
Gaming console. The most easily accessible games console is the Xbox 360 so this will be included in the montage during the scene where the two protagonists are playing video games.
Television. During the montage there is a scene where the two protagonists are watching a scary movie whilst huddled under a duvet. A TV has to be present in this scene.
Sofa. There are several scenes in the montage where the two protagonists are together on the sofa.
Bed. There is one scene in the montage where the characters are sitting facing each other on a bed.

Titles Research

The following is the typical order for opening credits in the beginning of a movie:

Name of the studio

Name of the studio that is distributing the film and may or may not have produced it (Walt Disney Pictures, Columbia, Lions Gate, Universal, Marvel Studios, Dimension, Miramax etc.). Ours will show Fox Searchlight.

Name of production company

Name of the production company that actually made the film or name of the investment groups or companies that financed a substantial part of the film (usually credited as "in association with" or "A (studio name) production."). Ours will say An Iridescent Innovations production in association with Cool Cat Studios and Phoenix Rising Studios, with Forbidden Fruit Entertainment.

Director's first credit

A film by (director's name). Ours will say A film by Dominic Freedman.

Principal actors

Showing the principal actors in a list or with a single credit each, either in order of importance, order of appearance or alphabetical order. Our movie will say Jonathan Foulston and Ellie Robson, each with a single credit.

Film's title

Name of the film. Ours will not go in the sequence this early on but rather at the end of the opening scene. Luna.

Featuring

Featured/supporting actors. As we have no supporting actors there will not be a section for these in our opening sequence.

Casting

Casting director. This will say Casting, Casting Director or Casting By. Casting by Zahra Mukadam.

MUSIC or MUSIC COMPOSED BY or ORIGINAL SCORE BY

Composer of music. This will say Music; Music Composed By; Original Score By; Musical Director. Our opening credits will say Musical Director, Jonathan Foulston.

Production Design

Production design or production designer. Whilst she never actually participated in the opening scene, this credit will say Production Design: Lauren Hunt as we are aiming to not repeat each of our names.

As a variation some of the below may be noted:

SET DESIGN
COSTUMES or COSTUMES BY or GOWNS (older movies)
HAIRDRESSER
MAKE-UP ARTIST
SOUND RECORDING (older movies)
VISUAL EFFECTS DIRECTOR or VISUAL EFFECTS BY

(but we aren't putting these in our opening sequence)

Editor or edited by

The editor of the movie. Ours will say Edited by Jonathan Foulston, although we will all participate in the editing.

Director of photography

Director of photography - Director of photography, Zahra Mukadam.

Producer

Producers, co-producers, executive producers, 'also produced by'. Often, though, the name of the producer will be the next-to-last opening credit, just before the director's name is shown. Executive producer, Ellie Robson.

Based on the book/play/graphic novel by...

If based on a book or other literary work. Ours isn't based on other literary work so we will skip this title.

Based on the characters by/based on the characters created by...

If based on characters from a book or other media. We have been inspired by the characters from (500) Days of Summer and Perks of Being a Wallflower so our credit will say Based on the characters created by Scott Neustadter.

Story

Person who wrote the story on which the script is based, gets "story by" credit, and the first screenplay credit, unless the script made substantial changes to the story. Ours will say Story by Ellie Robson.

Writer(s)

The screenplay writers. Ours will say Written by Ellie Robson and Jonathan Foulston.

Director or Directed By

The director is the final credit in the opening sequence. This will say Directed by Dominic Freedman

Location and Recce Shots

Adventure Island theme park will be displayed in a selection of our final shots. The two main characters will be seen having fun on rides and running around the facility.

Electric Avenue and all of the other arcades down the beach of Southend will be shown in some of our shots. The two main characters will be seen playing arcade games and laughing together.

Either Starbucks Coffee or Costa will be used to create our final shot of the opening sequence. It will feature the meeting by chance of the two characters.

A few shots will take place on the Southend beach at sunset. This will increase the intensity of the romantic relationship for the audience.

StoryBoard

Our storyboard shows the plot and narrative of our opening sequence. It also showed that our sequence was to short and that we need to include more scenes to bring the time up to at least two minutes.

Safety Assessment

Due to our location and film scenes their are some safety aspect that need to be followed when shooting our opening sequence.
- As one of our locations is filmed on a beach the actors portraying the characters must be careful not to get any sand into their eyes. As to not damage their eyesight
-The group must also not go into the ocean while we are on location so not risk drowning
-The group must also be sure to wear shoes while on the beach as their may be hidden sharp objects in the sand
-The group must also be sure to have suitable warm cloths on while on set as the filming will be taking place in the winter where the temperate will be very low.
-The group must also be careful when throwing stones in one of the films scenes as it may hit a by-stander or another member of the cast.
-Dont drop the camreas while rideing the rollacoasters
-Wear the saftery harness while on the rollacoasters

Moodboard

These films help to illustrate the kind of films that gave us the inspiration for our opening sequence such as they way they show the romantic connection between the two main characters as well as the montages of sentimental moments the two characters share that we are trying to display in our own film.

This use of font and colour used in these films helps to show what kind of typography we will use in our own film.

The costumes that are displayed in the moodboard show the kind of costumes that the characters in our film will be wearing to emulate their persona's the best. As for the female character she will wear quirky and bright colours. And the male character will wear geometrically styled jumpers and waistcoats.

Film Pitch- Luna

Our Group decided to use this film pitch as our opening as it conveys its genre well and has good ideas about locations as well as having a very clear synopsis. This pitch also has many similarities to another film pitch we heard so by merging the two of them together we have a good range of ideas from these two sources.

Evidence of how planned opening fits with research into codes/conventions, genre, audience

The opening scene that we are filming will be a romantic comedy. This will be portrayed by the use of several romantic scenes that will be linked into a montage to be able to get all the significant shots we need into a short span of time. When we film these scenes we will also use a more hand held approach with the cameras opposed to static shots to allow for a more personal and up close experience with the characters.

Our opening scene will convey the conventions of the romantic comedy genre by:
-Using two main characters (Boy and Girl)
-Love song audio soundtrack
-Stereotypical love scenes (Hand holding in the beach)

The target market for our opening sequence will be 15/16 years old as it will appeal to their age as they can relate to the teenage character they are watching. Our film will be different though as unlike other romantic films the female character will have died this will give the opening scene a more emotional side to it than first appeared.

Some evidence to show how we have stuck with the conventions of or genre can be scene from a number of different movies that we took information from such as:

.

This use of a montage is the kind we will adopt in our opening scene to show the relationship between the two main characters. As well as this the montage shows many romantic scenes our opening sequence will use such as hand holding and walks on the beach.

Film Pitch

CandyMan

Juno

This Juno task was to give us the an idea of how to operate the cameras that were supplied as well as to understand how to use the editing software to develop our remake task.

I liked out scene as it has good camrea shots in it that match the orignal film as well as there were no continuity errors in the film as we matched the films props and costumes.

I disliked the tracking shot used as there were diffucult places to shot the trailer. Other people disliked the transition between shots.

Peer evaluation

My preliminary task was characterised as good by others because;

- Of the added outtakes to the end of it
-The title sequence was very effective and fit well with the given genre
-commercial comedy made sense to the audience
-Camera angles added variety
-Titles were professional
-The transitions between shots
-Good costumes and acting
- Sound effects were used well

What aspects could have been improved;
-Some parts were too long
-Some close ups were fuzzy and can be shot cleaner
-Continuity was an issue
-Change of setting
-Overlap in some shots
-Sound needs to be clearer