Evaluation

Prelim task - fed the fish?

Final opening sequence

Checklist

• Add sound to sequence
• make sure edits are sharp
• refilm anything a few weeks before the deadline
• add titles
• add credits
• get ideas of different opening titles from films

Editing the sequence

We have now got all the shots needed for our opening sequence, we used a program called Final cut express, at first it was quite confusing but after a few minutes of just playing around with it we soon got the hang of it, me and Daniel S did most of the editing as Kiran didn't really know what to do. before we played around with titles and credits we wanted the sequence to be cut and edited to perfection, we still have a fair bit to do untill it's perfect but it's coming along nicely, we are also discussing different types of music we could add to our sequence.

My main role in the production of our opening sequence

The main role I played in the production of the opening sequence was playing the character (Curtis) I've had some experience with acting as I was an actor in my preliminary task, my group members where a bit hesitant on being on film but after a discussion we agreed on who was going to act, the problem I had was the character I had to portray, as I didn't want to come across a completely different person than the character we have created, so after a couple times of practising my role I soon got the hang of it, I did have a go at filming so I've got a bit of experience that can help me later on in Media.

Prelinary Task (Fed the fish)

The task "Fed the fish?" was quite successful for our group, it had a wide range of camera shots from first person to over the shoulder shots, the fade out to the basketball game was a great idea as it answers the audience question if he really did "feed the fish" the transition from the dialogue of the characters where successful, we have looked at a number of clips to help us with this, the editing process took a while but it was worth it, our cuts where smooth.

An improvement we could make is the filming process as we didn't need to see all of the background so we could of zoomed in on the characters face

Individual response to the idea/thoughts about group choice

We each had different ideas on the setting, Daniel S had the idea to go to a park near the school, but when we started filming we realized the place wasn't good to work with so we had to decide on a different setting, I had the idea of filming in manor park, it was a good place to film but it was too far, on the way of finding different parks Kiran had the idea of going to blagdon park in New Malden, this was a good choice because it was near, quiet and easy to film in, the only problem with this park is that parents and children can come inside the park so we had to stop filming, we had to go to the park during school time where children and parents would be at work and school, we filmed on two different days but we had to start over on the second day because of change in the weather, it was easy for us to decide on what the characters would wear because it's advertised in music and we're familiar with the situation, so we definitely knew what type of clothes they would wear, we also got ideas by watching opening sequences and trailers for props for example we used the trailer of adulthood which can be viewed above, we decided to let Jay wear a black hooded jumper and a black hat, this shows he's not looking for attention from passers by, for Curtis we simply used casual clothes. on the setting we needed to find a blunt object to be used as weapon, this is a significant object and it could carry on the story.

Planning meetings week 3 (Jan 16-20th)

On the third week we finished up our very final storyboard which included a setting change and actor change, we planned every shot in detail and tried to commit to every idea we got, After we decided what props to use, we decided on black clothes, black hat and a black bandanna for Jay, we chose to use the black bandanna because it represents the Jays gang, He wears outfits that could be seen as a troubled kid just to be seen in public to gain respect, The other character, Curtis, wears normal clothes, for the audience he wouldn't be seen as a criminal, The story begins with Curtis entering the park and sitting on the bench, as he was playing around with his phone, he recognized a mysterious man who dressed in a uncertain way that he couldn't tell but the audience could, then that mysterious man who is called Jay was walking up to him in a swaggered motion to show his status, Curtis didn't take him serious and answered Jay's question sarcastically. Jay didn't take too well to his response, and he was getting aggressive towards Curtis, the situation escalated which Curtis couldn't control, Suddenly Jay punches him and it was clear to the audience that Jay wasn't messing around, After a few shots Curtis is lying helpless on the floor, Jay was very serious and picked up a blunt object, he strikes at Curtis with all his strength and the shot fades out, Jay called someone and started in another language, we have placed subtitles at the bottom so the audience knows what he's saying, and then you can hear a zip and a car door which Curtis won't realise but the audience will, and this will carry on the story. We decided call the movie "Redemption" because its a complex story which is not easy to deduce, can Jay clear his sins?

Planning meetings stuff from week 2 (Jan 9-13th)

We brainstormed a completely different idea to our first one, it involved a troubled teenage girl who found a friend that can relate to her, but behind the computer he was a criminal looking to manipulate this vulnerable girl, he was acting kind to the girl and she trusted him, the problem with this story is the girls religion which forbid her to be in a relationship with him. we felt this story wasn't exciting enough and we wanted something unique. During the planning we suddenly had an amazing idea which we could commit too, it involved a troubled teen which is played by Tawhir and a criminal thug which is playing by Danny Glazier, the story starts with a long shot at the bus stop in which tawhir receives a text message from his friend saying 'are you bunking from lesson' he just ignored him and didn't care about him, he catches the bus to an elusive park, on the ride we tried to film him and the scenery so that the audience can make a picture of the setting, we also wanted to add a special effect where he puts on his headphones and the music can be heard by the audience. when he arrives he enters the park by jumping over the fence, the audience can tell he's a dodgy character by his actions, in an over the shoulder shot you can see him taking what looks to be an illegal substance possibly marijuana, As he smokes the shot is changing from the over the shoulder shot to a medium shot in which you can see another character who is played by Danny Glazier, He comes to him and they start arguing, and Danny ran out of Patience and set Tawhir straight, he punched him and robbed him, on the next day Tawhir was eating in a fast food restaurant and as he was walking out he sees Danny on the high street, Danny recognised him and ran away, Tawhir ran after him and Danny into the back of a deserted building where he trips and is crying for mercy, You can see the anger in tawhir's face and the audience can tell that something is going to happen in the next few seconds, the camera focuses on a brick and this is a significant object as it will be a murder weapon, Tawhir picks it up and you can only see the shot where he drops the brick and walks away. This idea was good but during when we were filming we realized that it was hard to film in some places like the bus scene or the park, we needed permission to film there, so after a few tries we changed the story slightly.

Planning meeting stuff from week 1 (jan 4-6)

We where put into groups, my group consists of Daniel S and Kiran, the first thing we did was brainstorming ideas for our story board, everyone came up with some good and useful ideas, our first ideas was good but we couldn't commit to it, because we didn't have the right props and location to make our story effective, we looked at a few opening sequences by students to get some inspiration, after our first story we decided to make another story as backup just in case there was a problem, we brainstormed ideas for the second story which was completely different to our first.

Personal response to the brief

At first we all came up with ideas for a story, these where varied and we voted on which story would be better, we took ideas from each others story, for example different camera shots and the plots, it was quite easy finding a location for our opening sequence and we all agreed that we filmed the opening sequence in a park, our first attempt of filming didn't go too well, our story wasn't that easy to execute so we decided on a new story, a few lessons later we came up with a solid idea that we were able to execute with success, we now have a perfect location, and we have some added props, a black bandanna which will be a significant object later on. I've been assigned to be an actor in the film and I'm confident that it will be a success.

Seven opening credits

For the opening credits in the film Seven we're introduced to the actors in the film, this is shown in a quite sketchy motion to tie in with the genre of the film which is horror/action, there is a lot of quick fade in and fade outs, the sound used is quite eary and you can tell it's horror, during the opening credits it's hard to deduce what the film is about as it's quite confusing, we're not introduced to any protaganists or antagonists at this point in time, there is a sign of disgust during the sequence where a person pulls a needle out of his finger, there is a wide array of close ups so we can see exactly what's going on, the colours used are quite dull. a lot of white, black and Grey, i have noticed that there is a lot of high angle shots to show the over the head prospective of the person which is effective.

The Texas chainsaw massacre opening sequence

The opening sequence for the Texas chainsaw massacre starts off in an eary manner, the colours used are dark and gloomy, here we're faced with our main antagonist, who is known as leather-face, the music played screams out horror and it's clear the very second the audience watches it, there is an over use of fade outs, this is a great way of creating suspense for the audience as they don't know what's coming next, there is a wide array of close ups, especially on leather-face so we can see the extent and feel of the antagonist. throughout the opening sequence we as the audience have many questions that need to be answered, a select few of these questions are; who is this character? why is he putting this wrap around his face? when leather-face burns a picture of a baby we can see the he's trouble this could be a significant object later on, maybe that was him when he was younger.

Opening sequence (The Shawshank redemption)

The Shawshank redemption starts of in a prison ground which is clear to the audience, Red (Morgan Freeman) introduces his character by a voice over, his character is described as a person that can get anything to anyone in the prison ground and with this in mind we as the audience can deduce that he's going to be a key character through the film and maybe even the protaganist, The inmates know when the sirens go off new inmates are coming into the prison, the camera shots used to show that new inmates are coming is a crane shot to show the extent of the prison, As the bus goes through the prison we as the audience only hear the violin play in a type of gloomy and sad way, setting the scene of the shawshank prison, Red introduces another character called Andy Dufresne and tells the audience the key background of him, the camera starts off at a high angle when in the bus and moves to Andy, we can clearly see his facial expressions as "emotionless" there is a great number of diegetic sound used in the opening of shawshank redemption, we can hear the roar of the inmates as they greet the new inmates with fear, and the group of friends with Red betting on the new inmates, as the new inmates walk inside Shawshank redemption it's in the style of a P.O.V to make it look more real for the audience's viewing experience. the colours used are dull, a lot of grey is used to set the darkness and feeling of the prison, and that's exactly what a prison should be.

Opening sequence (Children of Men)

The opening sequence i have choosen is Children of men, the colours used in the opening sequence are quite dull and boring, there is a lot of grey and black which suggests depression and upset, the emotions of the people suggest this too, we're introduced to our first character (Clive owen) who unlike everyone else in the cafe he isn't affected by the news story of "Baby" Diego Murdered, it's clear to us that it's set in the future as it says the boy died in 2027, we follow Clive owen out of the coffee shop in a handheld motion, if it was anything else like a birds eye view it wouldn't be as effective and this gives the sense of realism as if we're in the film, the emotion of the character is quite relaxed and he could be seen as depressed as he takes out a bottle of alcohol and puts it into his coffee, we are then faced with a loud explosion which seems to be from the coffee shop, this shocks the audience as the character (Clive owen) was just there at the shop, it adds a lot of questions to the audience, for example, why is there no children and why was there a exploision.