T2-64 : FILM OPENING PROJECT 2008/9

Final Sequence

2009-03-05T01:53:00.000-08:00

Filming Log

2009-02-26T02:00:00.000-08:00

Shots types used
Over shoulder
Handheld
Zoom
Pan

Locations in order put into sequence
1st. Walking down mill road with over shoulder shot following main character and another shot looking at opposite side of road walking with camera.

2nd. Graveyard near mill road and used hand held shots as well as tripod filming.

3rd. Estate behind Cambridge crown courts. Variety of shots used mostly hand held though.

4th. Ran down Building with smashed windows etc behind the crown courts again. Zoom used as well as hand held.

Research.

2009-02-25T03:30:00.000-08:00

Nil By Mouth - 1997
Family live in working class London district. Alot of drug use, domestic violence, swearing ect.

Natural lighting used, quite dull quite a lot of hand held filming.

Costumes

2009-02-12T01:30:00.000-08:00

In our sequence, there is only one main character. His costume will consist of baggy clothes such as a 'hoodie' and 'trackies'. This is the costume style they used in Adulthood which i think works well with the genre being used.
This is similar to the hoodie we wil be using in the sequence. When filming near mill road, he will have his hood up to show a sense of mystery about what is happening.

Contrbiutor Release Form.

2009-02-11T04:05:00.000-08:00

This form shows that we have agreed to be filmed, where and when we are going film. These are used in media industry to show information on the filming.

Locations

2009-02-11T03:14:00.000-08:00

For our film opening, we have chose to film are sequence in a gritty, poor area of Cambridge. We made a decision that it would be good to film on Mill Road as it has lots of abandoned buildings and looks like locations used in similar films like Adulthood, Dead Mans Shoes etc. This will be for the first part of the sequence. the second part of the sequence will be filmed behind the Courts near the Grafton Centre. this is also a good location to use as it is a small estate with lots of terraced housing. In the film Cass, the is a part in it what looks exactly like a part of the estate. I think it is a good area to film for the genre we are portraying.
Behind the Grafton CentreFirst set of shops after the railway bridge, on Mill Road

Target audience.

2009-02-11T03:09:00.000-08:00

Our film is British Social Realism creating a certain target audience. British social realism has a broad range of target audiences depending on the film, for example films such as Adulthood have a teenage target audience. These films are shown in mainline cinema's as it is easier for the target audience to reach these cinemas as they are quite common.
The film openings for these films are usually very action packed to grab the audiences attention as a teenager would need to see action to keep them interested in the film. They also usually introduce the characters immediately making it simple to understand.
Other films such as Dead Mans Shoes have an older target audience and are usually shown in art house cinema's. These films usually have a longer slower opening often showing the surroundings for the film. They often do not introduce the characters as it is for an older, more patient audience. Usually middle aged men.
Our film will use the more conservative art house methods of filming as our target audience will be older than films such as adulthood, however it will be accessible to all ages over 14. Were using a slower approach only introducing one character and using no narrative. This is similar to films such as Dead Mans Shoes and Scum.

Feedback on Blog

2009-02-04T03:41:00.000-08:00

We got feedback on our blog from the rest of our class This is what they said.

Positives:
- Good use of pictures, shows props.
- Good use of images explains the written elements.
- Good mood board
- Detailed storyboard
-Good ident well presented, links with film genre.

Improvements:
-More information needed on pictures.
-Need Full synopsis of you overall idea.
-Apart from animatic no info on production
-More content-writing
-descriptions of construction - locations characters etc
-Writing in more detail instead briefly
-Analysis could be in depth
-More pictures and props.
-Description of mood board needed.

In response to this we will attempt to include all the things we have in the improvements section in our blog. Its essential to get feedback as it means we can improve our blog so its as complete as possible.

Animatic Sequence

2009-02-04T03:35:00.000-08:00

This is our animatic sequence showing the story board of our film. It gives you a sense of what our opening will be like and a sense to what the music may also be like.

Story board preview.

2009-01-29T02:22:00.000-08:00

Prop list.

2009-01-29T01:51:00.001-08:00

In our opening sequence we will be using only a few props:

A cigarette.

A mobile phone

Feedback on Pitch.

2009-01-28T03:18:00.001-08:00

We delivered our pitch in yesterdays lesson introducing our ideas for the opening sequence and the story. We used our story board to show the sequence explaining what shots and editing we are going to use.
We also analysed two films that inspired us for the sequence, Scum and This is England, explaining why they are significant to our film.
We got feed back on our pitch:

It was simple an easy to film creating a smaller chance of things going wrong.
It may need more concepts or some action.
Using only one actor, and not using dialogue, again makes it easier to do and will create a good effect.

In response to this feedback we may consider adding some action to sequence, however we are going to stick with keeping it simple as we believe it will be more effective and realistic.
We are going to continue with the same storyline and same effects.

Dan

Mood Board

2009-01-26T06:40:00.000-08:00

mood board

Analysis of Scum (1979)

2009-01-22T02:03:00.000-08:00

camerawork
Lots of dolly work following main character, Carlin.
A few over shoulder shots to create suspence.

mise-en-scene
All in uniform, no individual identity.
See characters hands are in cuffs on bus to borstal.
Plain dull colours. No bright colours.
bus has rails next to windows to show the are imprisoned.

sound
no soundtrack
only hear diegetic sounds from bus & prison cells etc.

editing
countinueous editing, foolowing every footstep were the main character goes.

2009-01-19T07:05:00.000-08:00

This is our groups i dent. An i dent is usually at the beginning of a film showing the logo of the production company showing who the film has been made by.

Genre Definitions

2009-01-19T06:06:00.000-08:00

As a class, we looked at 5 different genres and discussed each of them in depth. They were Adventure story for a younger audience, Teenage romantic comedy, British social realist drama, Crime caper and Supernatural thriller with a strong female lead.

Adventure story for young audience
Films which follow this genre are;

Harry Potter
The Chronicles of Narnia
Shrek
Etc....

Some of the conventions which this genre uses would be;

Exotic locations
Maybe animatic
Main character is portraied as the hero of the story

Teenage Romatic comedy
Films which follow this genre are;

American Pie
High School Musical
She's all that

Some of the conventions which this genre uses would be;

Mostly set in an american high school

Introduction.

2009-01-15T01:13:00.000-08:00

Hello and welcome to our film opening blog. Were group T2 64, and our group members are
-Alex McCarthy
-Dan Ashcroft
-Kimberly

In this project we are hoping to produce an opening sequence for one of five choices of genre.

Opening sequence Analysis.

2008-11-28T05:45:00.001-08:00

The Darjeeling Limited
Wes Anderson.

The Darjeeling limited is about three American Brothers who have set off on a train voyage across India to find themselves, and piece back together their relationship after the death of their farther.
The Film begins with an anonymous character (played by Bill Murrey) being hurtled through an Indian City in a taxi. The camera focuses on his scared yet hopeful (to get to the destination alive and on time) and the Indian drivers concentration.
The film uses temporal editing to skip the less important bits of the character buying a ticket as its creates a larger sense of urgency and shows how fast the character is rushing to catch the train.
There are Birdseye view shots showing the traffic and the colourful setting on India. This shows the setting that should be expected in the film, a colourful vibrant India.
The theme however is not yet apparent. At the train station we find this character running for a train, here a new character is introduced. It uses slow motion to slow him overtake Bill Murreys character, showing there facial expressions and introducing Jason Schwarzmans character as a snide yet nervous person.
Jason Schwazmans character beats the other person to the train showing the colourful train named the "The Darjeeling Express" showing one of the important settings for the film.
Throughout the opening sequence we see the colours and setting of the film, a third world country with a vibrant culture.
There is also very little dialogue, only Bill Murreys character talking to the taxi driver telling him instructions. During the scene where they are running for the train they use non diegetic soundtrack to make the scenario sound more dramatic.
The costume used on the Caucasian actors shows that they are wealthy westerners as they are wearing tailored suits with designer luggage, giving us an idea of the characters background.
Notably, there are no women in the opening sequence suggesting that the film will be very male orientated.
The sequence ends with a close up of the train sign saying "The Darjeeling Limited."

By Dan Ashcroft.