Final Sequence

Evaluation

Using Final Cut Express

We have been using Final Cut Express to edit our opening sequence. Although we did not know how to use this program, we worked it out. Very few minor problems have occurred and luckily they have been solved pretty easily.

Re-Shoot

After looking through our filming footage we have realised that there are some mistakes during some of our clips, so we have decided to re shoot some parts tonight. It will be very hard to get all lighting, props and costumes the same so we are going to ensure we have our previous footage with us to help us match them.

My Role in Sound

Ella and I both decided upon sound together during a group meeting. We used garage band to collect and create the sounds we would be using in our opening sequence. We have got all of the sound that we need and will put all of the sound into our opening sequence once the opening sequence is completed.

Making of a Production Details

We have started to produce a production identification for 'Fame Pictures'. It took us a while to learn how to use Adobe Flash, however once we knew what we were doing it did not take long to get started. We have started to produce a bouncing ball on a background. I think that we are doing well however I am not sure whether we will use this as our final production ident because it is not very original, but it have given us good practice into using Adobe Flash.

Group Meeting - Narrative

Today we had a group meeting to discuss narrative.
During our group meeting we discussed:

• Storyboards
• Actors
• Props
• Location
• Any changes to be made
• Any worries and concerns we each had

We confirmed location to be at my house. We also confirmed our main actress to be Shauna because she does acting and would play the part well and I brought up the idea of asking Freya Catmur-Hill to be one of the friends because she also does acting lessons and we want actors to have the highest ability that is available to us to ensure all roles are played of a high quality.
We talked about what props we would need to bring along to filming and what props would be provided by which group member.
We talked about our storyboards and ensured that we were both happy with the final outcome of them before we started filming, this carried on to a discussion about what changed we would want to make to the story. I put my opinion across and said that I was not sure that the ending of the opening would work well and gave a new idea for Ella to consider. We both decided we like the new idea and agreed to change the end to a shadow shot.
Another discussion was about any worries. We talked about what we would have to do if some of our shots didn't work and what we would have to do if this problem occurred.

Overall I think it was a very successful group meeting. We are very lucky because we have similar ideas and value each others opinion, this helps us work well in a group as if there is a disagreement we negotiate it quickly without much fuss.

There is a video clip from this group meeting on our group blog.

Opening Sequence Analysis - Sliding Doors 

Notes:

Sliding doors was released in 1998

It was written and directed by Peter Hewitt.

The main stars in the film are Gwyneth Patron, John Hannah and John Lynch

Opening Conventions:

The first shot you see is of ‘Paramount’, ‘Miramax International’ and ‘Mirage’ which are the companies that produced the film. It continues to show a shot of water and the credits start.

Narrative Functions:

The opening sequence of this film does not really introduce the genre however it does show the start of the alternative reality (second narrative). This draws the audience in; it makes them want to watch the rest of the film to find out what happens and why there is a double story line. This film does start at the beginning. It shows that part of the storyline will be based on whom we believe to Helens boyfriend who seems to be having an affair while she is off at work.

Characters:

The opening sequence of ‘Sliding Doors’ introduces the main character, Helen (Paltrow) very well, she is in most of the frames and is always in focus. However there are parts in the opening sequence when we are focused on her boyfriend Gerry and his mistress Lydia, showing his affair, which makes us, as the audience believe that the affair will play a big part in the film. Another character we seem to be introduced to ‘James’ His parts are only minor; the man in the lift and the man on the train, however she keeps bumping into him which hints to the audience that he will become a bigger part in the film.

Hook audience/enigma/action codes:

After watching the opening sequence to this film the audience are left asking themselves many questions; why are they using a double narrative? Who is the man in the lift and on the train? Who is the boyfriend’s lover? Will she find out about the affair? The viewers want to find out the answers to all of these questions; therefore they will watch the rest of film. The pace of this film is not very fast.

Film Lang – MES, cinematography (light & colour):

As the film opens the camera pans upwards from the water to show a bridge, which makes the audience think that it is set in London. It continues to show a birds eye view of central London, which then assures the audience of the location. All lighting throughout the opening sequence looks as if it is natural, however they have used key lights, fill lights and back lights to cause the natural effect. By looking at how London is and the underground and the costume of the characters you can tell that although it is not old fashioned, the audience can see that it is not set in the present (1998)

Film Lang - Movement, Framing, Editing & Sound:

At the opening film starts the song ‘Have Fun Go Mad’ goes through all most of the opening sequence, until the dialogue starts and that’s when the non-digetic sound stops and all digetic sound starts. All sound apart from the background music is on-screen. As the sequence gets through and you get a shot of Gerry’s affair and Helen in the lift when we first see James we hear some more background music which is slow to show the sad atmosphere of that part of the opening. As she is rushing towards the train the music gets a bit faster and as the shot is reversed as the parallel storylines start the music is also faster and as she gets on the train/misses the train the music starts to slow down and fade out. The editing of the opening is not very fast paced however does use a variety of different angles. 

My Role in Editing

I think that I am quite good on computers and work well on programs and if I do not know how to use a program I can learn quite quickly. I think this will help us during the editing of our opening sequence because neither of us are very familiar with any of the programs that we are going to need to use. Me and Ella have agreed to do all of the editing together, therefore we can make joint decisions on all editing cuts, sound etc. That means that we will both have an equal role in editing because we both want to make our opening sequence well and to the highest standard possible.

My Role in Organisation.

I have produced 2 checklists for Ella and I. One of the checklist contains everything we need to post on our group blog. The second checklist contains everything we need to post on our individual blogs. This allows us to know what we have done so far, and what still needs to be done. We have also planned group meetings together and arranged what the subject of the meetings will be.

Opening Sequence Analysis - Scream

Notes:

Scream was released in 1996.

It was written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven.

The main stars of the film are Drew Barrymore, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette.

Opening Conventions:

The first two shots the audience see is of  ‘Miramax International’ and ‘Dimension Films’ which are the companies that produced the film.

It continues to show the viewers the title of the film. Starting with Scream stretched vertically across the screen in white, bold, capital letters and as it bounces together it produces a bang and the sound of a ringing phone with a faint screaming noise. A red background around the text flashes as the sound changes into a more distinct scream and the sound of the ringing phone is only a faint noise in the background meanwhile a flashing red background gets faster causing the text to turn red as a text effect creates a zoom.

Narrative Functions:

The opening sequence to this film clearly shows the genre of the film, it shows it is horror. We can tell this by the dark atmosphere of the film and the voice on the phone. The killer is still a mystery however the way he killed her boyfriend also makes us assume that it is horror.

Characters:
One of the main characters Casey (Drew Barrymore) is introduced in the opening sequence; the audience can tell she is one of the main characters because she is the main focus in the scene. Also we assume that the person on the phone is also going to be a main character in the film. Although we are introduced to Casey’s boyfriend Steve, the audience believe he is dead and will not be a main part of the film, however they are not told that he is dead so he may be a main part if the film.

Hook audience/enigma/action codes:

The opening sequence starts in slow pace and as it gets further and further through the sequence the faster the pace gets. The end of the opening leaves the audience not know who the caller is and whether her boyfriend is dead; this makes the audience want to watch on and see what happens.  We ask ourselves; why have they chosen her? Who is the caller?

Film Lang – MES, cinematography (light & colour):

The film looks a little old fashioned. Her clothes look out of data and the phone is not modern; it has a cord and a base, and it is quite big. We can tell it is set in America because of the accents. The genre is clearly shown in the opening sequence as being horror through the kidnapping of her boyfriend and the strange calls.

Film Lang - Movement, Framing, Editing & Sound:

Most of the sound in the sequence is digetic, although from about a third of the way through there is non-digetic sound of background music: which is dark and slow which adds to the horror of the scene. There are a lot of both on and off screen sound because Casey talking on the phone and when you see the boyfriend squealing are examples of on screen sound, however the unknown caller speaking is an example of off screen sound. Many different camera angles are used. There is a close up on the phone, and mid shots of Casey. They also use a long shot of her house.  A zoom is used to go from a mid shot to a close up on Casey as the tension rises in the scene. An extreme close up is used to show her lock the back door. A scary music is used in the background to build tension and set the scene. 

Linking What I've Done to What I've Learnt on the Course

I have linked everything I learnt about the different angles to my opening sequence, trying to fit in various angles into my opening sequence. I have also used my knowledge of sounds to produce both digetic and non-digetic sounds that will be edited into my opening sequence once all the clips have been cut and put into order.

My Role in the Filming of the Opening Sequence

I was the camera operater/directer during the filming of our opening sequence. It was also filmed at my house therefore I brought the location to the film. I made sure the setting was ready for filming, and ensured our main actress Shauna knew exactly what she had to be doing with the help of Ella Trainor (the other member of my group). I believe both me and Ella contributed evenly to the filming of our sequence.

Personal Response - Filming

We filmed last night at my house and overall it went very well. However we did come across a few minor problems.
It took a bit longer than we had expected, everyone met at mine for 7pm, planning to start filming at 7.30, however they arrived at 7.30 which caused as to run late from the beginning. Filming finally started just past 8pm. Due to other family member being in my house we filmed in a different order to the way it will be shown
to be continued..

My Role in Organisation

I have been making checklists so I know exactly what needs to be done.
I have also ensured that all equipment has been hired out ready for filming tomorrow night. I have made sure that it is ok to film at my house without being disturbed. I also checked all props were available and realistic to get hold of.

Group Discussion Before Filming

We had a group disscussion to ensure we both knew what our role was when filming and what we wanted to achieve during the couple of hours we want to do our filming in. We discussed what angles we were going to film each shot from because our story board only showed one angle for each frame. We also checked through prop and costume check lists to ensure we would know exactly what each actor would need to bring with them. We also wrote up a script which we would give to the main character. We were both happy with what had been agreed during our meeting and were confident that we knew exactly what each of us had to do.

Filming Plans

Filming is taking place on Thursday 3rd of Feburary at my house. Ella Trainor will come to my house with our main actor Shauna Caroll after giving her the script while I get everything ready to shoot. Our other actress Freya Catmur-Hill was going to meet at my house for 7pm. We needed it to be dark due to it being set at night. We are planning to take about 2 hours to film. We want to file each shot from many different angles. this way we have differents shots if some do not go to plan we have others to choose from without having to re-shoot and we can also include various different angles in our opening sequence to make it look more professional and show our knowledge. I will be using the camera and filming it all and making sure it all runs as smoothly as possible.

Preliminary Sequence

Children Of Men Essay

“How effectively does the opening sequence from ‘Children of Men’ (2006) use the forms and conventions of film openings? What is your response as a member of the audience?”

Children of Men was released in 2006, directed and co-written by Alfonso Cuarón.  Set in London in 2027 it is an adventure, drama and mystery film. Being Produced by Universal Studios and starring Clive Owen and Michael Caine makes it an automatic must see film and most likely to be very popular with good effects as it probably had a big budget to spend. After watching the opening sequence, it leaves the audience with an enigma; why has he done that? What happens next? Who is that? Why did that happen?

During the opening sequence Alfonso Cuarón has already caught the interest of his viewers because they have asked many questions, for example; why is the youngest man eighteen years old? What was that explosion? Who is that man that we seem to be focused on? Why is he not as stunned as the other people when hearing the news? All of these questions make the audience want to watch the rest of the film.

With the youngest person in the world being eighteen years old it gives us a clue about what the film is going to be about, however we do wonder why there have not been any babies for eighteen years. This will also give the audience more of a reason to watch on because the film has a very unusual style and storyline.

We get told many times that it is set in 2027 on screen during the news broadcast and as a title on the screen. We can also tell ourselves that it is set in the future because there are moving billboards on the side of buildings, there are moving adverts on the side of buses, passenger bikes with engines and flat screen TV’s in coffee shops. This shows how technology has developed in the future and although things have changed London is still very much recognisable. We recognise London still because of a few things, they busy surroundings, and tall buildings, the accent of the newsreader, the passenger bikes, double decker buses, and police uniforms – although they are slightly different still similar and coffee cups are the same.

London does not look a very nice place in the opening sequence it looks dirty, as we can see litter and piles of rubbish bags just left on the side of the pavement, we can also see graffiti on the telephone exchange box he leans his coffee on and there is a lot pollution coming from the engines of the passenger bikes. It also looks very dangerous as there are helicopters in the sky which makes you assume it is a police helicopter, there is also a moving banner reading ‘Report Suspicious Behaviour’, also you see many people just trying to cross a very busy and dangerous road when passenger bikes with engines seem to be driving fast in and out of lanes and other cars.

A high angle shot is used when you are first brought into the coffee shop, this allows you to see everyone in there and see the reaction on their faces to the news report and also see the disgust in their eyes as the main character (Clive Owen) walks through them all at such a serious moment to buy a cup of coffee. A handheld camera is used when following him out of the coffee shop and down the street, there are two reasons this could have been used; to make the audience believe somebody is following him or to make the audience feel as if them their selves are in the film and following him. As the explosion goes off the camera also seems as if it is backing away and ducking down away from the smoke making you feel as if it is you.  

A voiceover of the news report is used at the very beginning before you see an image to introduce the audience to the scene.  A sound bridge is used at this point because a blank screen is shown and voiceover is heard and the voiceover carries on to the next scene, which is of the people in the coffee shop; that is also an example of off screen sound. On screen sound is used when the camera is focused on the TV when the news reporter is talking and when the camera is showing us the busy street and we can hear the sound of the traffic etc. Most of the sound in the opening sequence in digetic however some of it may have been edited to appear louder and more exaggerated. There is some sad music as the new reader tells listeners the exact age of Diego Ricardo (youngest person) is announced and the news reporter’s voice is slowed down and echoed out.

As the explosion goes off we also hear many screams but only woman seems to be able to escape from the smoke. What happened to the others? Are they ok?

Although only one of the main characters is introduced during the opening sequence he is focused on the whole way through which makes it clear the audience that he is going to be playing an important part throughout the rest of the film. As we follow him out of the coffee shop he put his coffee down and pours something into it from a hip flask which leads the audience to believe it is alcohol, which gives us information of his character. During the explosion rather than focusing fully on that they always had the main character in focus. That leads the audience question his part in it and whether he was to blame. Did he set it of? Does he know who did?

All of the characters including the main character are dressed in plain, dull coloured clothing. This could be because of the plot; it is about a death and set in a dirty dangerous place.

Alfonso Cuarón uses a black screen with a voice over at the beginning to catch the viewer’s attention, because it is a blank screen and the audience cannot see anything they are fully focused on what the news reporter is saying in their voiceover. This is a clever way to draw the audience in.

The production details are shown at the beginning of the sequence, this will give the audience a chance to make an opinion of the film before it has even began, for example if it was made by a big company such as Universal, they are more likely to look forward to it and think they are going to enjoy it, however if it is a company they have never heard of before they are more likely to judge that they will not like it and as the film starts have a negative attitude towards it.  No film title or cast information is given which leads me to believe it will be shown at the end of the film which is a very popular way to do it.

I think the opening sequence of ‘Children of Men’ works well as it catches the attention of the audience and has drawn them in, making them want to watch the rest of the film to find out what has happened; that is the whole purpose of a film opening. It sets the scene very well and introduces the audience to the main character and the setting – London 2027. This allows the viewer to get familiar with the surroundings before giving them too much information about the plot because they may then confuse them causing them to turn the film off and give negative reviews.