Delays

Well unfortunately the weather (as always) turned out worse than expected so it was nearly impossible for me to even attempt to go down to the field to take pictures. This presents a rather large dilemma. Mud is one thing but what if it rains the whole time of our filming slot? Sure there's no point worrying about "What if's" but its something to consider.

Out door locations are very dependent on weather. If it appears the weather won't change during our time to film, I may have to consider an indoor set such as the school. Hopefully things get better. Tomorrow, I'll try my hardest to get pictures though according to my weather map, it doesn't look so.

Time Management

Tomorrow (Tuesday the 29th) is calling for rain later in the afternoon so I'll be getting up early to get some pictures of the filming site. I'll be taking pictures about 6:30 a.m until about 10 a.m.

Hopefully, the rains will stay off. If it does rain I'll just wait till early Wednesday morning.

Facebook Questionaire

So after posting my storyboard on Youtube, I designed a Questionaire on Facebook to recieve some feedback from my friends.

1. What genre do you believe this is?
2. What did you think?
3. Is there anything you feel it needs?
4. How old are you?
5. What gender are you? (I'll be scared if you put, I don't know)
6. Would you go to see this?
7. What certificate would you give this film just from the storyboard?
8. What is your favorite genre of film?
9. Who's your favorite director?
10. What do you think of the type of music I have selected?

The results were quite postive. A lot of good feedback. I asked 20 of my friends aged between 14-22. Though this being Facebook, only 9 got back to me. However, this was still good and gave me very clear results.

For number one, most said fantasy/sci-fi/horror. This is good because this means, just from the storyboard, they were able to determine genre which means I kept to the conventions.

For number two and three, a lot of people said the narration wasn't clear. However, this was just a storyboard and I forgot to put what the heck was happening in it. Also, the intro isn't meant to be too clear till the end.

Question four, my friends were ranged between 14-22. I purposely chose these people because they're my targetted audience.

Question five actually landed roughly equal with five boys and four girls.

Most people for question six announced yes though I believe this is just for the sake of knowing me. Once again, most of them stated they needed more narration.

The Age Certificate was quite uniamous. 7 out of 9 said said PG-13 (or 12) while the other two were quite unsure.

Number eight and nine were just general questions just to see what people would answer. Since I have such a varied mixture of friends, as predicted, they all came out different ranging from Fantasy to Rom-Com's.

Number 10 involved their thoughts on music. This was rather positive saying it added to the scene well and made it more excitement which was very pleasing to hear.

Storyboard Animatic

So yeah, it totaled 1:50 with all the shots cut at the time. Even without most of the title screens, this gives me a great idea about how the film's gonna play out. The music is Def Con by Globus. This is not the song I am going to use (cause its copyrighted)but its the song type I wanna use. Fast pace that get's you sitting on the edge of your seat. I was going to add voices but then I realized I didn't have the computer program to do so properly.

Enjoy!

Shot List

Shot 1: Establishing shot- Pan of Fields

Shot 2: Close up- Princess Hope's feet

Shot 3: Long, wide shot- Princess sliding at fork in the road

Shot 4: Mid shot- Princess running towards camera

Shot 5: Worm's view- Princess jumping over camera

Shot 6: Worm's view- Villain (Prince Lupus) jumping over camera

Shot 7: Mid shot, slight low angle- Side view of Vivian

Shot 8: Long shot- Front, full view of Vivian before panning around to behind a tree

Shot 9: Mid shot- Side view of Princess running

Shot 10: POV, handheld- Princess's view of path in front of her then she turns her head back causing her to fall

Shot 11: Wide Shot, Still- Princess rolling down the hill

Shot 12: Close up- Princess's face as she hits the ground

Shot 13: Low angle canted- Vivian walking under a bridge

Shot 14: Wide, long angle- Wall of trees as Princess bursts through followed closely by Prince

Shot 15: Cut to Mid Shot- Prince Lupus shouting

Shot 16: Cut to Mid Shot- Princess Hope replying

Shot 17: Long shot, side view- Princess Hope suddenly turning around, swinging the sword

Shot 18: Mid shot, front view- Princess Hope jumping and raising the sword above her head

Shot 19: Close up- Blade slicing inches in front of the camera

Shot 20: Extreme close up- Prince Lupus's bloodied hand with Princess Hope running off into the distance. Soon as she disappears, Prince's hand moves

Shot 21: Mid shot, back view, handheld- Back of Princess's head as she's running away

Shot 22: Long, wide shot, side view- Princess running through forest

Shot 23: Mid shot, front view- Princess running up to camera then panting

Shot 24: Mid shot, 3/4 behind view- Princess looking up at two trees forming an arch

Shot 25: Extreme Close up- Princess's mouth breathing the word, "Activate" and raising the sword to her forehead

Shot 26: Mid shot, side view- Princess standing still with her eyes shut until she hears Prince Lupus behind her

Shot 27: Mid shot, 2/4 view- Princess throwing blade into the activated portal

Shot 28: Mid shot, front view- Princess shielding her eyes with her arms from intense light

Shot 29: Long shot, side view- Princess flying backwards

Shot 30: Mid shot, bird's eye view- Looking down at Princess lying, exhausted on the ground with a smile on her face

Shot 31: POV- Looking up at Prince Lupus from Princess's POV with scowl on his expression

Shot 32: Cut back to Princess, same shot- Princess laughs

Shot 33: Black screen with the words and Princess saying, "You lose" followed by blade stab

Shot 34: Close up- Blade in grab with Vivian in the distance then she runs up to it remaining focussed on her feet

Shot 35: Mid shot, side view- Vivian suddenly looking up and gasping before cutting to a black screen with her scream

Shot 36: Mid shot, back view- Vivian lying dead with a stab through her back and Prince Lupus standing over her

Shot 37: Mid shot- Prince Lupus's torso with his mouth and focuss on the bloodied blade in his hands

Shot 38: Close up- Prince Lupus's mouth as he speaks

Ends with a fading black screen as he laughs evilly.

Film Treatment- Opening 2 minutes

The opening begins with the two production companies followed by the title on black screens. After the title sequence ends, the screen flashes white and the scene suddenly appears behind a dark tree give contrast very similar to Terminator 2 opening. The camera immediately begins to pan left revealing a large field with trees behind it; the establishing shot. It is early morning and there is a strange uneasiness. All is quiet save some asyncronous sounds of crows. We hear wings fluttering by and suddenly the shot changes to a close up of a girl's feet running past the camera and the fast paced music slowly fades in. We cut to a long shot of the girl sliding to a stop at a fork in the road then running towards the camera.


Just before she hits, the camera shot changes again to a worm's eye view where the girl leaps over- followed a few seconds later by my villain, Prince Lupus, jumping over. The moment he passes, the scene cuts to a black screen with the Director's name, producer's name and editor's name in white (my name). That fades to a completely new scene of a young girl walking past the camera from the side view. She is smiling with a phone in her hand playing music and a bag in her arm. There is a surrean almost unreal calm in this peaceful location. There is no non-digetci music playing over giving the audience a sense, something bad's going to happen. We cut to a long shot of her walking towards the camera but slowly start to pan right behind a tree fading into the next title sequence listing the first actor. The title sequence fades back to a close up of the girl's face from a side view. I'll be running beside her giving the camera a shaky feel. Her breathing is really emphasized with the dark music playing over it but just lightly. It cuts again to a black screen with the second actor's name then back to the chase. This time the camera is in her hand giving us a POV shot. Her breathing is even harder and louder. She suddenly trips when attempting to look back and then we cut to a wide shot of her rolling down a hill. The camera then cuts to a close up of her face as she hits the ground with a loud thud. The third actors title screen comes up, this time listing all the final actors.


As you can see, editing is speeding up trying to get the audience's hearts racing. But just as tension is built, we cut back to a low angle on Vivian beginning to walk under a bridge. The shot fades into another black title screen listing the music producer. Unlike the previous times, the next shot cuts suddenly to a wall of trees and then Princess Hope bursting through now clutching the sword in her hand. She is covered in mud (from her fall) save her face which still radiates somewhat. Prince Lupus marches out behind her then shouts, "GET BACK HERE BY THE ORDER OF THE KING!!!"

Princess Hope briefly turns her head to look back at Prince Lupus and shouts, "YOU'LL NEVER BE KING!!!"

With that we cut to a long shot of her whirling around. She goes to jump then we cut to a front mid-shot, high angle view of her jumping towars Prince Lupus with the Moonblade above her head. She slashes down just inches in front of the camera. The scene fades to a black title screen of the Screenplay Director, Script Writer and Casting Director (me). It fades to a close-up shot of the villian's hand with blood splatter. In the distance we can just see Princess Hope running away. As she disappears out of sight, the villian's hand moves.

All sound cuts leaving the sound of her breathing and a faint heart beat as we cut to a mid-shot of the back of her head with a hand held camera. It cuts to a long, wide shot of a forest with her running through some trees. It cuts to her running up to the camera then bending over and panting heavily. The camera spins around to a 3/4 long shot from behind of her standing up and staring at two trees that form sort of an oval shape. It cuts to a close-up of her mouth as she raises the sword to her lips and breathes the word, "Activate."

We cut to a mid shot of her resting her head against the sword as a faint whirring. Suddenly Prince Lupus shouts, "DON'T YOU DARE!" causing her to turn her head. Ignoring him she turns back around and flings the sword into the portal. We cut to a mid-shot front view of her covering her eyes with her arms as a bright light suddenly shines on her face. She suddenly goes flying backwards and we cut to a match-on-action shot of the same fall from the side at a slightly longer angle. We then cut to a mid-shot of her hitting the ground and looking up at the sky. There is an expression of relief on her face. This scene is slowed down and a sad piano piece plays gently hinting she's about to die. She laughs as we cut to a mid shot of Prince Lupus leaning over with a scowl on his face. We cut to another black screen where the words, "You lose" appear with her reading them. We then hear a blade stabbing down and the black screen fades to the final scene with Vivian walking towards the sword. She screams, "What the hell?!" Then runs up to the blade that has just suddenly appear however the shot just remains on the bottom of the sword. We cut to a close-up, side view of her head suddenly snapping up and she gasping.

The screen cuts to black where we hear a blood curdling scream from Vivian then we cut back to a mid-shot of her lying dead on the ground with a stab wound in her back and Prince Lupus standing over her with the sword in hand. The camera rolls over her then slowly rises up his body to the bloody sword in his hand and just a smile on his face. It cuts to a close-up of his mouth with him smiling and saying, "Foolish girl... such a pitfal attempt. Like I said, I am the new ruler of this world. None...will stop me."

The screen cuts to black as an evil laughter echoes over.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day- Opening Analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcisPdJVNl8


The opening of Terminator 2 is a really good opening. It was quite slow but effective. It opens with a high angle Establishing shot of heavy trafic down a street. This gives no indication to what city it is but it gives us a clear indication of time (90's, modern) and setting because most congested streets are located in and around cities. It cuts to a mid-shot of people crossing the busy street- still no indication of setting. This is setting up a norm. That these people are living normal lives without even thinking twice about suddenly being burned to death. There is quite ominous sad music playing over top. Sound is the most effective piece of this opening. We know just from the music, this scene isn't going to last.

The scene cuts to children playing in a playground and in particular a girl swining on a swing. The camera follows the girl then it begins to slow. The sound and movements slow. The girl's laughter suddenly becomes unsettling. There is something oddly scary about a young girl's laughter that is really chilling. Steadily the music builds into a creshendo which builds tension and the screen is fading to white until it suddenly immediately cuts into what looks like a skeleton sitting in a car. There is a sudden contrast in everything; light, sound and mise-en-scene. Its night time, there is no longer any sound save a light wind blowing a piece of metal around and everything and everyone is burned. We're only like 25 seconds in an already just from this the plot is realized. It is also here the city is revealed but no real evidence (since its destroyed) to if it really is Los Angeles. A very clever low-budget trick. The camera slowly pans up fading the camera shot from a close-up to a long/wide shot of the full devastion. It then smoothly cuts to another close-up pan of remains of the playground we saw earlier with skulls lining the ground.

This is a complete parallel to what we saw 15 seconds ago. It opens with congestion, here it opens with the same congested street with dead bodies. You get the idea. Linda Hamilton's voice then comes over the scene to narrate what happens. We learn why we're staring at scenes of devastion. This really sets up the whole story. The Director mixes light non-digectic sound with a non-digectic narration as well as Digectic sounds playing in the background. A really effective piece that really sets up location and story. As she finishes her narration, the camera zooms into a single skull in the dirt and stays for a second allowing time for the audience to lean and try to figure out what they're looking for then WHAM suddenly a large metal foot comes down and crushes the skull causing everyone to jump.

Silence is a very good tension builder. Silence is very unsettling because we live in a world where hearing nothing is nearly impossible and when we do, its quite scary. For a whole minute we watch an epic battle scene between man and machine but the camera remains simple. At the two minute marker (the length of our films) we have the plot but its not till 2:30 that Linda Hamilton finishes her narration; giving us a summary of the first film then a little taste of this one: "The second (Terminator) was sent to attack John himself when he was just a boy..."

Now our films can only be a maxium of 2:10 however, the time between 1 minute and 2 minutes was just battle scenes. The narration took thirty seconds so it could be very easy to do something similar in our own films. Maybe not recreate a battle scene like that but just the camera work, mise-en-scene, sound and lighting. All of it was relatively simple. James Cameron usually only used close-ups, long/wide shots and mid shots. That's pretty much it.

A little note on titles; the titles always appeared in the middle of the scene in white. It started with the Production companies followed by the director's name and producers. Very simple but effective again. You could see it but it didn't take anything away from the scene behind it.

Also the editing is quite interesting. As the clip goes on it picks up pace. Shots become shorter and it cuts faster near the end.

All in all, a very good piece.

Music Research

Now, as I stated in my soon-to-be-uploaded slide show, I plan to add in music afterwards cause its a lot easier to see how the scene looks before deciding what would fit rather than the other way around.

However, I do have the scene in my head so here are some possible ideas. These songs are copyrighted so I can't use them but they'll give an idea of what I'm after.

Def Con- Immediate Music



Another idea is something someone made for a villain from the Sonic the Hedgehog series (ignore the video) but the song is creepy but has a nice beat behind it.

Blog Evaluation 1

Alright so a few before filming, my teacher requested we evaluate our blogs at this current stage ad give it a current mark as if it were the exam board (yikes!)

As you've probably seen up to this stage, there isn't too- much to erm mark. However, this gives me a good idea what needs to be done and I do know what must be done.

Here's where this blog is setting at now:

1. There is basic research into similar products and a potential target audience (well I do know my target audience...just gotta show it)- Level 2
~I am going to be improving this relatively soon. More research into fantasy films and pitch my idea to my target audience and have them vote.

2. There is Proficent organization of Actors, Location, Costumes or Props- Level 3
~I have my actors, I have my location and I have my props. Costume is just the last detail needed though my sister and I have started working on her dress. Its almost completely. I'll be getting in contact with my villain to organize his costume (yes its a he). Pictures will provided within the next couple of weeks.

3. There is basic work on shotlists, layouts, scripting or storyboarding- Level 2
~In other words, I've written about it but its still on paper. I am planning by next week to have all that stuff uploaded.

4. There is a good level of care in the presentation of the research and planning- High 3/Low 4
~I will upload then my powerpoint of ideas and what my class thought of it.

5. Time management is good- Level 3
~ I have everything planned on a schedule that will allow things to go wrong before I run out of time. These films are do in May and if I can get the whole film done (including editing) by March which leaves me April to do Evaluations or final work.

So yeah, on average, a high level 2/low level 3 thus far.

Locational Research and Cast

Both, have turned out complete failures. After following the advice of my teacher, I attempted to hold auditions for the role of my villain. However, none turned up so I'll change my strategy slightly and ask the drama teacher at my school to recommend people.

And the location? Filming at night, even with the moon, you can't see a thing. I attempted to take some pictures (even with flash) and you couldn't see anyone. So, I'll look to early morning changing the story ever so slightly that my actors are running early morning as they have been running all night (thus introducing the idea they're exhausted). I'll go down to location early morning sometime to find what time slot would be best. I'm really hoping to get a nice thick layer of fog on the ground. That'd be a cool effect.

I'll then post pictures of the Location and the finished costume (which my sister and I have fashioned together)

Film Treatment- Story

Here is my entire plot synopsis. Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The film opens with a young princess is on the run with her mother’s recently forged 10^th and final powerful Moon Blade with a man by the name of Lupus Darkening (Jezebel Pandora if a girl) chasing her for it. He is the current Prince of the land waiting his father’s approaching death to rule the people with his ideals; he knows best and those that do not agree are killed. Lupus seeks the ten swords in order to maintain his strong rule. Unlike most films, a wielder is not chosen. Its power works for anyone who knows how to use a sword. After a long and enduring chase and many battles with the protectors of the Moon Blade, Lupus is finally closing the distance between him and his final prize. However Princess Hope is not one to give up. In a final attempt to keep the sword away from Lupus, Hope throws the blade into a time portal to the Modern World (today); one that only opens when it has to.

In anger of losing the sword, Prince Lupus kills the young Princess then arrives to the Modern World by other means; Dark Magic. There, just before a young modern day girl named, Vivian picks up the sword, she is killed and Prince Lupus picks up the final sword then seals off all time portals to prevent anyone from going back and changing history.

~Ten Years Later~

The world is complete and utter chaos. King Lupus was not only using the 10 Moon Blades to defend his throne but also his Dark Magic. He poisoned the lands into an uninhabitable wasteland where the only way people survive is by working in his large castle. That is where our story picks up. A young servant boy named Arnold is thrown into the bigger adventure then he could ever dream. For many years, a coo had been rising within the castle to steal the swords away from King Lupus and take them Lunar Mountain where the Moon Spirit would take the swords back to where they came from thus ending King Lupus’s rule. Arnold is one of the children chosen to go with them. One day while he was working in the kitchen, one of the members of staff charged down the stairs and handed a wrapped out package to him and told him to hide for a few days.

Arnold obligates and follows nine other children who carried similar packages to the Northern Caves. There, they discover the Blades and what they are supposed to do. However, the one member was captured and forced to reveal where the children were hiding. A spy within in the castle sends a messaging hawk to the children warning them to run and apologizes for making them do it. The children flee the caves towards Lunar Mountain. As they run they learn how to control the special powers of the blades and in the end fight King Lupus before returning the Moon Blades back to the Moon Spirit thus allowing her to restore time and preventing King Lupus from ever taking over again.

Institutional Research

New Line Cinemas would be the perfect film production company to sponsor my film. In the past they have produced films such as Lord of the Rings and the Butterfly Effect and Inkheart as well as many famous horror films like Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday the 13th. from this people would know that my film would fall in the Dark Fantasy genre especially from the clip I have chosen when is from the film "Final Destination" but follows the theme of moon. I'll just edit out the sound.

My Idea Slideshow

This is my powerpoint for my film idea. Its very detailed and I did a lot of research for it. Enjoy!

Film Idea

View more presentations from Tina.

A lot of people just said, "Be careful not to go too over the top that it looks really bad." Other than that, they liked it!

Research and Planning "To-Do" List

1. Mind Map Ideas
2. Power-Point of Idea
3. Film Treatment
4. Story Board of Opening Scene
5. Photos of Location(s)
6. Photos of Costume(s)
7. Photos of Actor(s)
8. Photos of Prop(s)
9. Questionnaire (Facebook)
10. Research Other Blogs
11. Research Openings of Genre
12. Research Music (YouTube, FreePlayMusic etc.)
13. Write-Up Script
14. Note Down Shot Types
15. Upload Practice Shots (Optional)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So yeah, seems like a lot but doesn't sound too horrible.

Preliminary Conversation Task Evaluation

"What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?"





There are several things I learned through this Preliminary Task. Many of which through trial and error. But first, a brief evaluation of my video.



I used a lot of different types of shots but my main two were high and low angle mid-shots. This was to show the power (or lack of power) to the characters. Watching my video carefully, I actually kept the 180 degree rule and pushed it to its limits without actually ever crossing it. Sound I believe was the strongest part of my video. Only twice did the sound cut out weird causing to drop the audience. But you could hear every line and all the key sound effects such as the door slowly creeking open (which was actually the door sound not one added in later) and the foot steps. The foot steps, I got lucky with. I found a foot steps sound clip on the internet for some non-digetic sound but played with the next scene it didn't quite feet cause their was a definate sound change. The computerized sound effect actually matched perfectly with the steps of my villain. Editing, I struggled with a bit. There are lots of points when things seem out of place or broken. I need to work on that for my final piece. That was the weakness of the piece.



This task showed me several things. One, I was learned a lot more about Adobe. Its quite difficult to get used to but it does provide good results. The key to Adobe is patiences. Take things slow and don't rush. Rushing leads to mistakes or things being cut out (as I found). Also, I learned its okay to play with effects. In fact, I encourage it. The effects helped change the entire mood of my piece and also changed the setting. Save a few chairs and teacher's footsteps, you wouldn't think it a school.

The other main technology I learned about was the actual camera it's self. Like Adobe, the camera just requires a bit of patiences. Its not high quality major movie standard but its still quite good. Just be creative! Don't be afraid to lay on the dirty floor or stand on high things. Oh and don't touch the zoom button. It is a lot easier just to run up to someone (as I did) then edited out all sound or replace it. Plus it adds a nice effect that things are frantic.

Preliminary Task- Conversation Piece

After much annoyance, I finally uploaded my Preliminary Task! I hope you enjoy it! I thought it came out quite well.

Research- Two Romances and a Gansta Flick

So, in class today we watched three openings. The first two were from the Romantic Comedies of Notting Hill then Definitely, Maybe. Then followed by the completely opposite, Goodfellas.

To start off with, Notting Hill:
The film is a Romantic comedy. This is shown in several ways. It starts off with slow, close-up images of the female main character Anne Scotts (Julia Roberts). The camera is also at a slight low angle; looking up at her. This is to get us to love her from the start. It also details what sort of character she is. She's a rich and famous movie star. This is represented through the clothes she wears (very elegant, high-end clothing) and also the background is always paparazzi flashing their cameras. In contrast though, we jump to a bustling busy street of Notting Hill where Hugh Grant's character starts describing it. This is where the comedy comes in. Like he makes jokes of the guy who woke up with a Tattoo saying, "I love Ken." Or people coming out of the hair salon looking like the cookie monster. Also it shows where they live is completely different. She's constantly surrounded by paparazzi while he's surrounded by market, middle-class people. Introducing both characters like so shows that more than likely they are going to meet (and being a romance, fall in love) or influence each other in some way.



Definately, Maybe:

This too, is a romantic comedy... but the opening is portayed quite differently from Notting Hill. It starts off with the main character (Ryan Reynolds) sitting in his office and him recieving a divorce paper. This sort of sets up the whole story. Although, we know divorces are sad so this causes us to feel for the main character. He then steps outside and walks through New York City while listening to a very upbeat, feel good song. Other than the divorce paper, there is really no other indicator within the first two minutes of the film that this is a romance. Many comedy pointers, such as Ryan Reynolds nearly getting run over by a bus but someone stopping him and then they lip, "Thank you" to each other because they both have huge headphones on. Establishing the setting is quite different in this film compared to Notting Hill. Notting Hill, gave us a high angle shot of Notting Hill street then panned over some of the shops whereas here, everything is shot from the main character's point of view. Low angle shots on land marks such as the Empire State Building or Long Shots of Central Park. This also sets the time. Modern day New York.





In completely contrast to these two films, we finished off by watching the opening two minutes of Goodfellas:

This is a definate ganster film. However, it could also be looked at as a Period Drama. The film (as it states after the opening credits) takes place in 1970's New York. There is no real indication of it being New York city (because its pitch black) but there are a few indicators to time. The three men are driving a 70's style car and wearing quite 70's style clothing. The colors are very dark insinuating the theme. Its going to be a dark and violent movie. When the three gansters hear banging from the back of the car they pull over. Very slowly, the camera zooms in to the back of the trunk, creating anticpation. The three gansters are bathed in red light. When the trunk is open we see a bad bleeding man wrapped in paper. The other two men instantly begin stabbing and shooting the man till he dies. This sets up that the plot is going to be very violent and gorey.

Research- Children of Men

In class today, we watched the opening few minutes of Children of Men from the June 2008 Media Studies exam. Then we took some notes and here's my detailed analysis of it:

Genre:

As a class, we worked out the film is a Hybrid Genre, consisting of Action, Thriller, Drama and Science Fiction. We worked this out for several reasons.
Action- In the opening there is a huge explosion from a building then the images of the worlds in chaos give the film a sense its going to have a lot of fast paced action.
Thriller- There is a defiant ominous film about the movie right from the start of, "What's going to happen?" We learn briefly that there are no more children and we learn that the rest of the world is in chaos. The music plays a nice part in this. Its kind of eerie and sad.
Drama- There is a lot of dramatic emotion and also no emotion. The main character (Clive Owen) shows no emotion really to his surroundings. He's become harden giving us the idea that something really traumatic happened and he has been put into this state.
Science Fiction- Right at the beginning of the film, when the main character steps out into the dirty street of London, it tells us this film takes place in the year 2027. There are subtle hints that is the future. Its not like the old 1960's Cartoon the Jetsons when everything is covered in metal and hover cars. They still have double-decker buses but instead of just pictures plastered on the sides, they're moving LCD screens. Same for the buildings. London street looks a little more like Tokyo with all the moving screens around. This is a Dystopia time or bleak future.

Purpose of Opening Sequence:

Like most openings, the opening sets up five things: Main Character, Location, Time, Plot and Theme.
We learn the main character is a hard, unemotional man (played by Clive Owen). You're stereotypical Anti-Hero. We as an audience know from the moment the camera starts solely following him, something is going to happen that forces him to save either the world or some body.
It appears that most of the movie shall take place in London. This is represented through the red double-decker bus that is like London's icon. Then a little later in the clip a proper-gander avert on the bus (another futuristic indication) promotes that Britain is still going strong (despite we can clearly see its not).
This is quite a clear one because it tells us in text that the Year is 2027.
From the opening news report, we learn the plot which is no children have been born in the last 18 Years. Obviously this means something dramatic is going to happen but we don't know what yet. Other than that Clive Owen is the main character.
And finally the whole theme of the movie. This is portrayed through music and color. These two elements set the mood. Dark, dreary colors. Sad eerie music. So we get a sense that is going to be a very serious dark yet sad movie.


How the purpose achieved through Media Language:

Mise-en-Scene- This plays a huge role in setting time and location. Like I stated above, the LCD screens everywhere give away its the future. And then when our Anti-Hero walks into his office, we can see a lot of hi-tech computers that aren't around in modern time. Especially in an office. However, the costumes and buildings are quite normal to what we see today. Not a silver space suit in sight. This gives us a very grounded Sci-Fi. The Mise-En-Scene also shows us how bleak the future is now. Dirty streets, cities in chaos, people dressed in dreary dull colors.

Camera- The opening starts with a high-angle shot of the distressed backed cafe. Unlike normally, this doesn't mean the people are being looked down upon. I believe, this shot was used to give us a better feel of the atmosphere. You can see everyone's hands curled up at their chins, some carrying tissues. When Clive Owen leaves, the camera becomes static and moves with him. The camera following shows he's the main character. In my view, the static camera actually gave me the sense that another person was following him out because when it steps out of the cafe, it scans the city then refocuses on the main character. There are several long shots which establish setting again.

Sound- A Non-Digetic news reporter opens the whole film on a black screen. She has a typical news reader voice. Un-accented, crisp and clear. Once again, this grounds this whole film because we hear the stereotypical news reader voice. The sound also places in the film a bit. After the explosion, a high pitch whistle pulls across the scenes like you're ears are ringing after the explosion (because that's what happens with loud noises). Like I said with theme, the non-digetic music played over the top sets up the sad theme.

~*~

That's all for now. Bye!

Research- Conversation Piece

Well, my teacher told us as a Primlary task we have to film a conversation of someone walking into a room, sitting down then having a conversation. Me being the odd ball and not really wanting to conform to the usual, I decided to mix it up a little. It'll still be someone walking into a room and having a conversation...but with a twist.

A man dressed in all black enters a dark room; the only light is coming from the door behind him. In front of him, sits another man, clearly been beaten, tied to a chair. The man, as we learn from the villain, is part of a resitance. After a short interorrigation bit, the villain opens a current revealing the man's best friend strapped to another chair with wires attached to her skin. As a warning, the villian pulls the lever causing the girl to scream at the top of her lungs from the electrocution. The villian pushes the lever back up, leaving a singed but barely alive girl. This causes the man to give in and reveal where the restiance is hiding. The villian smiles and leaves the two victims in the darkness.

That is my idea thus far. Its probably going to change several times before I actually start filming but I just wanted to get it all down. Although, I have worked a few things out. Such as my Year 13 friends will be playing the three characters. I also did a little research into how to make blood and this is the recipe I found:

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons of flour
1 cup of water
Red food colour (add a drop
of green if needed)

Instructions: Mix the flour into the water and get all of the lumps out. Put into a pan and bring it to a boil. Let it simmer until it has the consistency you want (about 30 minutes). Let it cool and stir in the colour.
Note: This one looks good on cloth but is slightly slimy

Or

Ingredients:
Light corn syrup
Red food colour (add a drop
of blue if needed)

I'll probably use both. Such as the Corn Syrup one to film my victim's mouth then when he get's punched so he can spit it out.

That's pretty much it for now! See ya later!

Trial Run

So today, we had a trial run of filming a very, very short conversation. This was more of a task to get used to the cameras before we actually have to film our first piece (a conversation). I found that is was harder than I expected. You never think of something as filming a simple conversation would be difficult from what you see on T.V. but it actually is. But then again, those big T.V. companies usually have a ton of cameras and they can switch willingly.

We got one camera and everything has to be the same when we change camera shots. Such as keeping the same speed of your speech, sound and actually remembering your lines. Also, DON'T LOOK AT THE CAMERA!!! *whistles*

That's all for now!
:)

Route Planning

On Saturday, I took a stroll around town then walked the back way home which is the field I'm planning to film in. I planned the route in which my sister (the main character) shall be running and while looking crazy, I actually held an invisible camera and imaged the different shots. I also thought of different effects that I could preform cheaply.

Such as the portal. I don't have the resources to digitally input a portal. However, with a few clever camera angles and a lot of flashlights, I can create the illusion a portal is being activated. I'll upload some sketches sometime this week of some of the ideas I planned.

That's it for now!

Ideas

So, I've gotten some iedas for the opening two minutes of my film.

You have probably figured out (or are gonna figure out really quickly) I love fantasy/adventure movies. And when my teacher revealed that weren't very many (if any) fantasy openings created.

I have a really cool idea (which I'm still configuring) of a time travelling film. In my head at the moment its a girl running through a dark forest (which is located behind my house) carrying a sword (which I also have) from a dark figure who is slowly and ominously following her. Meanwhile, I shall be filming a young male teen walking through Leatherhead town centre and heading towards the forest. The camera will cut between the two until they "meet" in which case the girl tosses the sword through a time portal which lands directly in front of the boy.

There are a few kinks to work out yet such as squeezing into two minutes and special effects. Also the girl running is at night (while the boy walking is during the day) so it's gonna be tricky. Though kind of good we're (as in my other classmates) starting filming as the days grow darker. Meaning we won't have to work so late at night to get filming done.

At a later time (when I can find) I shall upload some sketches of costumes and possibly a rough storyboard.

As well as cutting from past to future, I shall be cutting away briefly for titles and actors. But nothing too fancy. White text on a black background fading in. I believe it'll keep the focus on the on the acting. Oh speaking of actors, because I'm by myself, I'll just be using my sister and friends.

That's it for now!