Here I have found some scenes from films that are going to help with our opening sequence research. I decided to look at these three as they all have something that is similar to our idea and can be used as inspiration and help us with ideas.
This scene is from 'Casino Royale' and I am looking at it as I can relate certain points that we will want to include for our bathroom scene within our sequence. I'm specifically looking at the way he washes his face, the ECU of his hands in the basin with water and himself looking in the mirror.
These scene is from 'Drive' and I am looing at the beginning in particular because I like the way in which it is filmed, especially close-ups of his face and it has very subtle transitions which I like and the building of tension. I can also look at the mise en scene with this to compare and see what we could possibly use as it's a common look for motel rooms.
This is from 'No Country for Old Men' and I am looking at it as the bathroom is very similar to what we want to create and the room also has little details that we want including the TV, lamp and framed pictures.
All of these films have similar stories. They all have the theme of a person being on the run either hiding from the law or the 'baddies'. Like ours it is usually a man who is in his later 20s early 30s.
The Next Three Days
Law Abiding Citizen
Taken
Mission: Impossible
The Fugitive
The Bourne Supremacy
Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.
Main task: the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.
All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source. Both preliminary and main tasks may be done individually or as a group. Maximum four members to a group.
For our opening sequence we as a group will need to do lots of research to make sure our sequence looks good and reaches its objectives. I will research multiple different elements to ensure this.
Here are a few of Cooper's work that I really like:
Dawn of the Dead
I love Dawn of the Dead's opening title sequence. I think it is extremely well done as it gives a great explanation of the context, genre and story of the film. A detail that I especially like is how the red text transforms into blood that quickly runs of the screen, I think it adds to the audiences understanding that this film is about some sort of disease that effects the blood and/or there will be lots of blood and gore.
I love the use of stock footage as it really adds to the sense of danger and chaos as there are multiple shots all filmed in different styles and techniques with different effects making it clear to the audience that this is a world-wide problem of a disease- concluding that it's about zombies.
The music's sound starting at 0:40 contrasts to the footage being shown as the music is happy and cheery. But the lyrics don't as they also refer to death and the lyrics also agree to the fact that there is mass disorder happening in the sequence.
Peter Jennings Reporting: LAPD
I really like how Kyle Cooper has edited the first few minutes of this intro. I think it's extremely interesting and visual as lots of shots are combined to give a sense of contrast between the police force and the criminals.
The way in which the numbers/ writing/ letters overlap each other make it a very complex and also highlight how crime and the police force work all day everyday, and that something is always going relating to the context for the audience.
I really like the use of quick cut as it can be seen as representing the fast paced lives of the police force which also relates to the context of the opening sequence. The graphics used are again stock footage from other cases and programmes which also let the audience know the type of programme it is.
This is a short video compiled of some of Cooper's work which ranges from films, to adverts to film companies etc. When watching, I was blown away with how complex and visual everything was. Its clear that he likes to explore creative ideas and search for shots that look exceptional. He uses simple techniques that are subtle but work extremely well for example layering is used as well as little details like words or pictures dissolving/fading to other things that spread across the screen, keeping the audience captivated. Whilst watching I wrote some words that came to mind to express how I felt watching it. Here are some examples:
Here are two videos that I found where Kyle in depth describes his view on title sequencing and how his ideas are created and developed. I found it extremely interesting as he speaks with such complexity and detail in relation to his mind process and what he thinks knows will look good and be very visual for the audience.
Known For: Specializing in graphic design for motion picture title sequences, acclaimed main titledesigner, art director and filmmaker. He has also founded two internationally recognized film design companies Imaginary Forces & Prologue.
Most Famously Named: He has been credited as the man who single-handedly revitalized the main title sequence as an art form and after SE7EN, one of the most important design innovations of the 1990s. He has done over 150 film title sequences.
Influences: To Kill A Mocking Bird (1962) by Stephen Frankfurt, The Dead Zone (1983) by Wayne Fitzgerald & Walk on the Wild Side (1962) by Saul Bass.
Today was our second production meeting with my group. It was a very successful meeting as we were able to discuss ideas and we have chosen a final idea for our opening sequence. In this slideshow I will go into the details and other things we talked about in order to create it.
In todays lesson we watched and analysed the opening sequence of "Don't Look Now" directed by Nicolas Roeg. We used the techniques of camera, editing, sound and mise en scene to establish how this scene was portrayed. This is a great piece of film to analysis as it does a brilliant job of introducing the main characters, setting the location and the overall mood of the film.
Immediately the camera draws you in, it focuses on the rain hitting the water and then zooms foreshadowing what was to come later on. The words "Don't Look Now" is a sudden warning to the audience and the electric blue could matches the current weather of rain/stormy/ lightening. It then cross cuts to a place unknown but suggestively is a different time and different country ) possibly Spain or Italy?) due to the weather and the pattern on the window/wood. The background noise is diegetic as it is church sounds suggesting we are in a place of religion. This part of the scene really doesn't have much relevance to the rest of it but may link to further on in the film.
Then there is a black screen and the shot fades into a new location and establishes the countryside. There is music playing that is very tranquil and its suggests child innocence and the piano chords are very childlike. The establishing shot is of a little girl in a red coat and a white horse running uphill. The girl in the red coat gives a sense of fairy-tale like as she looks like Red Riding Hood and she contrasts compared to everything else in the shot. The white horse running from left to right is also very folktale as it is very similar looking to a unicorn - a symbol of innocence and purity. Another thing I noticed was that the girl moves further and further out of the shot suggesting distance and isolation. It also gives a sense of danger as she moves further away as she is becoming more and more fragile.
It then cuts to the next shot, the sound of a bike being ridden slowly comes into the frame and we see a small boy ride in between the trees from side to side. We then go back to the girl were she has stopped pushing her wheelbarrow in order to explore the pond and woods, as she plays with the action man she finds a ball (which leads to be the main signifier of her danger and eventually her accidental drowning). There is a sense of danger as she very isolated and it seems quite unstable were she is playing. The camera has a shaky effective which gives the sense of unease and vulnerability. It then cuts from the boy and the girl and then it shows a wide shot of the girl with the house in the background. This indicates the location- an isolated house in the British countryside, possibly early winter, mid afternoon. The sound of a crow croaking suggests uncertainty and usually the bird crow is related to the goddess of death and a negative meaning. This could be a warning to the audience and the girl that there is some sort of mystery and risk. The piano playing also slows down and goes lower suggesting a darker tone is coming closer and closer. The reflection of her coat also is a very smart way to portray a certain message of foreshadowing and it's very effective.
It then cuts to fire - immediately suggests the occurring theme of death. The piano soundtrack stops and the location changes to the supposed parents sitting in their living room. There is a sense of distance as the adults seem to be cold towards each other- both focused on their own thing. The furniture and costumes are quite old fashioned suggesting 70s style. They both seem busy and as the father is looking through the frames there is an interesting shot of the mothers head and the frame on the slide this implies they are/will be linked in the film. The shot of the frame is very significant as it is very important and it will end up being a provoker for the father as he eventually senses something wrong. As an audience we also link the girl in the red coat to the frame with a hooded red object suggesting some sort of mystery and also helps us to understand the genre as a mystery/horror and we can see the church as the setting in the frame also linking to the earlier church sounds. Another connection is when the mother mentions the little girl 'Christine' as it also brings the notion of symbolisation as the ever growing feeling of being unsettled builds. This is also heightened when the father looks closer at the frame and we see the red hooded 'object/person' and we hear the traditional spooky music.
It then goes back to Christine where she is being filmed but it is reflecting her from the water - this technique is used to foreshadow her imminent death. Next we see the boy riding his bike and then back to Christine where as she jumps into the mud the boy rides over glass this is effective as it heightens the tension and makes the audience feel one edge. It then goes to the parents who are talking about Christine's question. There is then a match cut between the very similar Christine and mother who both put their hand up towards their mouth this is symbolic as the next shot is of the burning cigarette and old food linking to the idea of death and decay. There is then a very quick shot of the father- it's very simple but effective because as an audience we start to think a little deeper and question perhaps he is some sort of psychic and there is something not right.
It then cuts to the boy trying to sort out his bike, interestingly enough the camera blurs the boy out and focuses on the girl making the audience notice that the girl is very isolated and possibly endanger. We then hear her doll say 'Action Man patrol, fall in' this also brings anticipation to some sort of incident relating to the water and foreshadows what is to come. There is then another match cut of Christine throwing the ball in the water to the father throwing the cigarettes to the mother and then the glass tipping onto the table and splashing on the frame. Then it goes back to the boy with his bike but girl is not in sight and the boy is focused whilst the background is blurred suggesting Christine herself has had an accident and is 'fading away' as such. The red leaking over the frame is significant as it represents the girl that is drowning at this current point unknown to all members of cast and audience. The cross cut between the boy running and close up of the father is useful in helping the audience understanding as it highlights the fact that the father already knew something was wrong suggesting there is some sort of mystery/ supernatural feeling being brought to the surface. Also the relationship between the mother and father is also shown as they seem to be very unconnected and especially the mother seems to be oblivious. When she looks at the frame and then throws it to one side is also symbolic as it could almost represent their daughter Christine as 'dead' and is now lost. Also linking to this the liquid becoming more red can be taken as a sign to show that her death is becoming final and as the liquid draws to the glass it could symbolize Christine becoming closer to God / her own death.
We then hear very dramatic music as the liquid starts to engulf the whole frame which can also be representing the girl in the water. Then as the music heightens we see multiple different shots of the father holding the girl in the water. The way in which it is filmed is very interesting as it's shot in slow motion, the whole screen has a very dark screen and it almost seems a different location or time- it almost looks like a vague spotlight on the pair in the muggy water. This gives the audience the effect of loss and death and makes the audience feel the man's grief even more as we see close up of his face and especially his hands in which he is trying to cradle his child. As he leaves the water it goes back to the frame where music plays a slight magical harmony- using the harps, this suggests some sort of closeness to God and the sense that Christine has 'left Earth and entered Heaven'. As he is resuscitating the audience become even more involved as the camera is being hand held which forces the audience to connect with his loss and the sense of feeling unease.
Thriller and Suspense Films are types of films known to promote intense excitement, suspense, a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, and nerve-wracking tension. Thriller and suspense films are virtually synonymous and interchangeable categorizations, with similar characteristics and features.
The main goal for these types of films is mainly to make the audience feel 'on the edge of their seats' and either scared by building tension.
Here are the main genres as thrillers are hybrids there are many varieties.
Action or adventure thrillers (The Bourne Identity, Skyfall, Hanna)
Comedy thrillers (Mr and Mrs Smith, Silver Streak)
Drama thrillers (Leon, Fight Club, The Godfather, Blood Diamond)
Erotic thrillers (Basic Instinct, Dressed to Kill)
Film-noir thrillers (The Usual Suspects, The Last Seduction, L.A Confidential)
Horror thrillers (Psycho, Saw, Orphan)
Political thrillers (Vantage Point, State of Play, Z)
Psychological thrillers (Black Swan, Shutter Island, The Sixth Sense)
Sci-fi thrillers (Inception, The Butterfly Effect, The Matrix)
Spy Thriller (Enemy of the State, James Bond, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy)
Techno thrillers (Jurassic Park, I Robot, Die Hard)
Western thrillers (The Last Samurai, The Proposition)
Characters in thrillers include convicts, criminals, stalkers, assassins, down-on-their-luck losers, innocent victims, prison inmates, menaced women, characters with dark pasts, psychotic individuals, terrorists, cops and escaped convicts, fugitives, private eyes, drifters, people involved in twisted relationships , world weary men, women and many more.
These are some notable contributors to the thriller genre:
Alfred Hitchcock
James Cameron
Christopher Nolan
Brian De Palma
David Fincher
Peter Jackson
Some of my favourite thriller films are: Blood Diamond and Argo as they both promote excitement/ fear and do a really good job of building tension and I really like the storylines within the films. I also like the film 'The Lovely Bones' but I only like the parts with the real life acting not the bits with her in the dream space.
Today was our last time to edit and finish our group preliminary filming task. Within this process I felt that there were positives and negatives.
I felt that our group worked well. We all tried really hard and took equal turns in using Final Cut Pro and inputted ideas to create our sequence. I think I got the hang of it and now understand the basics of editing film.
Although I feel that there were a few negatives. Unfortunately today one of our group members was ill which meant that we didn't have the full team making decisions together. Throughout editing there were a few problems for example the programme crashed and we hadn't saved some of our work which meant we had to do it again-but it was a good learning experience and from then on we were all very conscious of saving continuously.
Another was at the beginning we had wanted to show a close up of the knees down walking in. Annoyingly we hadn't recorded just walking in with no dialogue so it meant we had to completely delete the audio which means there is a few seconds at the beginning where there is silence and I feel that it doesn't look that great for the first few seconds.
In our prelim I really liked how we used many shots and the sound was really clear and with the help of Matt we managed to cut very neatly and it looked and sounded good. I think it was a good try for our first time and I found it quite fun and satisfactory once finished.
Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.
Main task: the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.
All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source. Both preliminary and main tasks may be done individually or as a group. Maximum four members to a group.
In this lesson Adam focused on making sure we understand the 180 and 30-degree rule as it's an important factor in filming. The 180-degree rule is a basic guideline regarding the on-screen spatial relationship between a character and another character/characters or object within a scene. An imaginary axis connects the characters and by keeping the camera on one side of this axis for every shot in the scene, the first character will always be frame right of the second character, who is then always frame left of the first. If the camera passes over the axis, it is called jumping the line or crossing the line.
This picture is a basic illustration of how the 180 degree rule works and how it would look if we went pass the 180 line, if we break the rule it can look confusing to the audience. Sometimes it is broken for dramatic effect and it can work as long as the audience is taken with the camera so they understand.
30-degree rule:
The 30-degree rule is a basic film editing guideline that states the camera should move at least 30 degrees between shots of the same subject occurring in succession. If this rule isn't followed a jump cut occurs and there is a risk that the audience starts focusing on the filming technique instead of the story that is being narrated.
Today was our first editing session on our preliminary video sequence. We used Final Cut Pro to do this and were taught multiple skills and techniques in order to learn basic film language and how to work with the programme.
Once the programme was opened we created a folder named 'rush bin' which means the unedited version of our footage, we then watched our and decided as a group what looked good and what didn't work so well. Once watched, we created another folder named 'log bin', this is where we put the footage that we want in our final piece. Using the editing tools we used 'i' for in and 'o' for out, this is how we cut our footage in order to get a precise and accurate timed sequence. Once decided where to cut to and from we used the basic technique of 'drag and drop' to place in the timeline.
This editing session was a good beginning to starting to edit our footage to create a full sequence.
Sexy Beast was a very humorous opening sequence to analyse as we have this man who we suspect is the 'sexy beast'.
You get an immediate sense of this man's personality as we see him talking to himself about how hot it is, lounging in skimpy yellow speedos, icing his package and looking more and more like a lobster by the second. His working class, cockney accent suggest he's a 'geeza' who possibly is an ex-mobster/gang member and that maybe he's on early retirement, isolating himself from the world.
The music suggests that this man is totally and utterly relaxed and doesn't care- this is proven when an unrealistic boulder misses him by just a few inches. All the sexy beast does is cares about is the fact he got wet and then jumps into the pool.
We also see short shots of a women driving in a sports car in the same location as the sexy beast, is she driving to him? It gives a sense of mystery.
I personally thought The Shining had quite a boring introduction and I thought the writing/credits looked tacky in the electric blue and starting from the bottom and elevating upwards did not look good.
I thought it was very well shot and it gave good context to the location of the film. It was very clever how the camera would tease the audience as a few times the camera would come very close to the car and then sweep pass it in order for the audience to keep guessing who was in the car. The wide shots gave a sense of isolation and when the shot of the mansion is shown we understand that that is where the horror is going to happen.
The music defiantly told the genre of the film- thriller/horror as it's very creepy and mysterious.
We looked at the opening scene of 'Dead Man's Shoes' and analysed the film's first few minutes and how the editing created a very interesting beginning for the audience.
Dissolution was used as a technique to show that the two brothers were the same young adults, it also gave a sense of time passing. This was done by the fuzzy-like home recordings contrasting to the more modern, clear shots of the men. I also think the adult at the front could be the older brother leading the younger sibling-looking after him which is a continuous theme as he does so when they're children as well.
Throughout the scene I felt that the two characters had been very close when younger and growing up, but had possibly become more distance over time and the relationship was not as strong, this is done by using wide shots to suggest isolation. As an audience, we can't see the two older characters faces- which means we can't read their emotions, contrasting to this we see a lot of emotions and feelings when they are younger.
The music for this scene links to the sequence very well and it runs through both eras. As I listened to the lyrics I heard things such as 'my ideals have got me on the run' and 'connection with everyone'. This implies that the two men are going back home possibly for a family reason as the music suggests that and the home-recordings are very family orientated. Another clue to this is the fact that they both know exactly were to go travelling on the roads, through forests and fields.
Today we had to prepare and film a short sequence with dialogue and props. In groups of four we received a basic plan of what shots to capture and what to say.
We went to the studio and set up our equipment, we worked out what, where and when we were going to do.
Throughout filming we talked about what shots were going to do and what would be effective. We used multiple shots in our task including wide shot, over the shoulder, close up and POV.
I was one of the actors but did participate in deciding where to place the camera to shoot the other actor in order for a close up of them. We shot many didn't angles in order to create suspense and so that when we go to edit we can use many different shots to create the short film.
Adam asked us to choose a favourite part of a film between 1-2 minutes. I explored the different techniques used which include: Mise en Scene, Camera, Editing and Sound.
I was taught how to produce and film a short motion sequence. After setting up the tripod and camera and devising a simple repetitive sequence, my group and I had to plan how we were going to film it and how many different frames and shots we were going to do.
We decided that Claudia was going to walk up to a sofa, pick up her glasses whilst sitting down, read a book for a few seconds and then end the shot.
As we did this we made sure that every shot was focused and had the right exposure and white balance. We did a number of different shots which included long shot, mid shot, close up and medium close up.
We also learned the basic language to filming which were: standby, turnover, rolling, action and then finally cut.
Once the filming was complete we had to strike the equipment which means put away all the cameras and tripods used etc to be able to use for another time.
*Rush or Dailies are the first print made of a day's filming.*
Today we learned all about the different shot sizes. We were given the example sheet of 'My Summer of Love' were we looked at many different shot sizes which included close-ups, mid/medium/long shots, wide shots, over the shoulder, two/three shot, high/low angle and POV.
It was very helpful as it gave me a greater understanding of the different shot sizes can affect how an audience thinks and perceives the piece of media they are watching.
To help explore that idea we watched a very short piece of Pleasantville's beginning in which the main characters, location and story were being introduced to the audience.
Within the first few seconds I noticed the director had used many shots including long shots, wide shots, POV and big close up. It was done very cleverly in the scene as is created this atmosphere and sense of what was going to happen just by using techniques such as sound and editing.
Then as the scene went on I was drawn more and more into the fact that the two characters were speaking together. But then with the use of the sound changing and the use of a WS I realised that this character was actually isolated and there was distance between the two characters.
It was a good task as it helped me recognize that as a director you can control/ change how an audience interpret a film if directed well.
In this lesson I was taught how to set up and use a Sony NX5 camera. I learned about filters, exposure, white balance, zoom, how to accurately balance the camera and focusing within an image.
I learned how different lighting can make a huge difference to the final photo and how the eye may miss conceive how focused and accurate a picture actually is.
To make the camera sit straight you need to make sure that the yellow circle's bubble is directly in the middle otherwise you may get a wonky shot which would look unprofessional. The camera has three circles at the end of the lens; one is used for focussing, another is for zooming in and out, and the other one is for creating the right exposure for the picture. For filtering, in this particular case we chose level 2. Also, to get the right white balance I was taught that to do that you quite simply need something white and immediately press the WB button in order to make sure the colourings are all correct.
Overall it was a great lesson which enriched my knowledge of setting up and using a camera.
Hi! My name is Katie Gass and this is my first blog. I am currently studying Media Studies at Hurtwood House and from now on I will be posting regularly and updating people on my journey.
So here's some facts about me:
I like genres such as dramas, comedy's, action, thriller, epic and romantics films. My favourite directors are Gary Ross, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Zemeckis and Christopher Nolan.
My favourite bands/artists are the Arctic Monkeys, Oasis, The Killers and Lana Del Rey.
Currently I'm on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Vine. I enjoy using all these types of social media as I love exploring and finding new videos and photos.
So that's a part of me you now know! See you around....
Today was our last time to edit and finish our group preliminary filming task. Within this process I felt that there were positives and negatives. 
Although I feel that there were a few negatives. Unfortunately today one of our group members was ill which meant that we didn't have the full team making decisions together. Throughout editing there were a few problems for example the programme crashed and we hadn't saved some of our work which meant we had to do it again-but it was a good learning experience and from then on we were all very conscious of saving continuously. 
Another was at the beginning we had wanted to show a close up of the knees down walking in. Annoyingly we hadn't recorded just walking in with no dialogue so it meant we had to completely delete the audio which means there is a few seconds at the beginning where there is silence and I feel that it doesn't look that great for the first few seconds.
