Preliminary Task

For my preliminary task I worked with Zoe and Ellie. From the preliminary task I have learnt how important it is to get lots of footage. If you don't have enough footage the shots will be jumpy and not run as smoothly as they should. I have also learnt the importance of the 180 degree rule, as well as the shot reverse shot and match on action. When people are talking it is important to use these rules in order to make it easy to follow the conversation. Additionally, when filming someone going through a door it is important to use match on action. That is the part of our preliminary task that we didn't get enough footage for. Not getting enough footage means that when I walk through the door the shot just cuts and doesn't run smoothly. If we had got more footage we would have been able to edit it together better and it would have been of a higher quality.

Analysis of opening 2 minutes - The Vow

• Production company - Screen gems and then spy glass both on a black screen
• Soft slow music playing in the background 
• Names of the production companies, this time in white writing over the action 
• Outside the movie theatre tracking shot from the top of the building to level with the two main characters who are walking out of the doors
• They have just been on a cliche date
• Characters walk out with their arms linked, which suggests that they are in love
• Snow outside is romantic
• She is wearing a coat that is red, which could suggest love and or anger that is going to come in the rest of the film
• Name of the film comes into focus over the action, which is out of focus
• Close up shots which change quickly between characters suggest they have a connection
• Car radio is used to make it seem like a normal drive home
• He sings along to a love song while looking at her
• Close up of their faces as he sings and looks at her
• 180 degree rule with both characters in shot but the character that isn't talking is out of 

 Analysing The Vow has really helped me with the production of the opening two minutes of my film as it has a lot of similarities. The Vow uses the kind of actors/actresses that I would like to use in the opening two minutes of my film.It also has a wedding scene. This is useful to me as in my opening two minutes people will be getting ready for a wedding. This will help me to decide on the costume and props I would like to use. As well as this The Vow contains a car crash scene much like the one I would like to use. This gave me a good idea of the angles and shots I would need to get of my character driving in order to make it look as realistic as possible.

Analysis of opening 2 minutes - Pearl Harbor

The opening scene is of a war plane flying in front of smoke. It gives it an old fashioned feel, which is enhanced by the slow classical music playing  in the background. The title of the film is over a picture of the sun. The mise en scene helps to create an olden day feel. The children are wearing dungarees and are on a farm. They are also wearing olden day pilot hats. This helps to give the film a felling that is set during the war. The use of a low shot when the children are looking at the dad flying the plane makes the audience feel like they are with the children and admiring the plane above them.

Diary Post - 6

I have been doing institution research. By doing this I have decided that I would like to use Screengems as my production company. I have chosen them as they produced The Vow. The Vow is like the opening two minutes of my film as it contains the husband and wife getting ready for a wedding as well as a car crash scene. These are both things that I would like to include in the opening two minutes of my film and why I have chosen Screengems as my production company. Screengems are also a production company that have made other romantic drama films such as Dear John. This means that it is a production company that is used to creating romantic drama films and also works with the types of actors and actresses that I would like to have in my film. This is another reason why I chose them to be the production company of my film. 

Diary Post - 5

In class I have been working on creating an animatic for the opening two minutes of my film. I have been drawing pictures of each of the separate shots from my shotlist that I wish to shoot when out filming for the opening two minutes of my film to put together to create a short animatic. This will be a representation using still pictures of what the opening two minutes of my film will look once I have filmed and edited it. I will refer back to this throughout the whole film making process to make sure that I am creating the film that I have always wished to create. I think my animatic has really helped me to get a real feel for what my film is actually going to be like. It has also been a good opportunity for me to experiment with different music that I may want to add to the actual finished product that will be my film.

Diary Post - 4

I have been doing certification research to find out how and why films are rated at the age that they are. I have also found out what goes into the film that makes it that certification age. From doing my certification research I have decided that my film would be a 15. This means that no one under 15 would be allowed to go and see this film in the cinema. I have decided my film would be a 15 because of the car crash scene that I wish to have in it.

As well as this I have been doing institution research to find out what type of institutions make films like the one I am going to make so that I can use that in the opening two minutes of my film. In doing so I think that the type of institution that would produce a film like mine would be screen gems. They make other films like mine such as The Vow and Dear John. I am therefore going to use them as the production company in my final film.

Institution Research

10 Things I Hate About You
Production company - Touchstone Pictures

Safe Haven
Production Company - Relatively Media

Like Crazy
Production company- Paramount Vantage

Pearl Harbor
Production Company - Touchstone Pictures

The Vow
Production Company - Spyglass entertainment and Screen gems

Dear John
Production Company - Screen gems and Relatively media

Water for Elephants
Production Company - 20th century fox

The Lucky One
Production Company - Warner Brothers and Village roadshow pictures

P.S I Love You
Production Company - Warner Brothers and Alcon entertainment

In Love and War
Production Company - New Line Cinema

A Walk on the Moon
Production Company - Miramax Films

Perfect Opposites
Production Company - The Vault

Remember me
Production Company - Summit Entertainment

The Death and Life of Charlie St Cloud
Production Company - Universal Pictures

Last Night
Production Company - Gaumont and Miramax

When Harry met Sally
Production Company - Castle Rock Entertanment

The Notebook
Production Company - New Line Cinema

The Fault in our Stars
Production Company - 20th Century Fox and Temple Hill Entertainment

From my institution research I have decided to use Scremgems as the production company for the opening two minutes of my film. I have decided to use Sceengems as they make The Vow. This film is very much like the one I am aiming to make as it contains the kind of actors and story line that I am using for the opening two minutes of my film. It also contains a car crash scene much like the one I wish to use in the opening two minutes of my film.

Certificate Research

This is my certification research. From this I have learnt what each certification means, and what films can and cannot contain in order to fit into a certain certification. I would like my film to be a 12A as it contains a car crash scene. This is not suitable for younger children as it may upset them. My film wouldn't be a 15 as it doesn't contain any strong language, drug taking, portrayals of sexual activity or strong verbal references to sex. Doing certification research has helped me as I now know what the opening two minutes of my film can and can not contain. I will bear all of these things in mind when I go out to film, in order to make sure that it fits into the 12A category.

Typical Audience Member

My typical audience member would be a female between the ages of 15-24. They would range from lower class to higher class. They would be interested in hanging out with friends a lot and being very sociable. They would also like doing very stereotypically girly activities such as going shopping, have sleepovers and having their nails done.

Shot List

This shot list contains all the shots that I hope to film for my opening two minutes. When i go to film the opening two minutes of my film I will use this to make sure I get enough footage of each shot. Without the shotlist it would be very hard to film as it is a guide as to how I would like my film to look.

Audience Research

From my audience research I have found that it is more likely to be girls aged 15-24 that are going to watch my film.This means that I will try to make my film fit into this category so that as many people as possible watch it. I will do this by analysing films like these ones and getting ideas to use in the opening tow minutes of my own film.

Actors

The wife - For the wife I would like someone like Rachel McAdams or Amanda Syfried. She is very good at acting in films like the one I am going to be creating.



The husband - For the husband I would like someone like Channing Tatum or Ryan Gosling. They often act in films like the one I am going to make.



For my film I would like actors like Amanda Seyfried or Rachael McAdams as they play the romantic, fully in love girl just like I want the girl in my film to. As well as this I would like a man like Channing Tatum or Ryan Gosling as they play the handsome man like the one I would like for my film.

Music

These are the types of music that I would like playing in the background of the opening two minutes of my film. I want music like this playing when they are getting ready for the wedding but i am going to use different music for when the husband gets in the car and during the car crash.

The Vow car crash

This is the type of car crash scene that I would like to use for the end of the opening two minutes of my film. I will need a car crash scene foe when the husband gets into a car crash with a truck. This will come after he has left Homeless Jack back at the house and has rushed out to do something.

Diary Post - 3

In class we have been editing our preliminary task to upload to our blogs. From editing the preliminary task I have learnt a few things. I have learnt that it is important to get lots of footage in order to make it easy for yourself when it comes to editing the final product. The more footage there is the more footage you have to choose from, therefore it it easier to make the final product look that of a higher quality. Also at home I have been watching films similar to the genre of the film I am going to make the opening two minutes of. Whilst watching them I have been analysing the opening two minutes of each of these films. As well as this I have been looking at any other parts of the film that I could take ideas from. This includes things such as camera angles/shots and font for the opening titles. From watching these films I have been taking away ideas to try and use in my own opening two minutes in order to try and make sure that it is the best possible product that it could be.

Analysis of opening 2 minutes - Safe Haven

• Eone entertainment - dark screen
• Reality media - dark screen
• Non-diagetic sound - eery music
• Crash - girl runs out the house scared with no shoes and a carrier bag of clothes in her hand
• Temple hill entertainment - dark screen
• Diagetic sound - heavy breathing/panting
• Girl runs to a house and bangs on the door - crying/panicking 'i don't know what to do!'

the old woman meets the stereotype of old people being kind and helpful 

• Extreme long shot - girl running towards camera
• Girl in a party dress suggests she may have been out the night before but got into trouble as she now has blood on her
• Early hours of the morning as no one is around - eery/dramatic music
• The girl is in a rush

Heavy rain and dramatic music is then contrasted with a beautiful sun set with cal/happy music in the background

• Music by, edited by, production designer, director of photography, line producer, co-producers ect over the action in the corner

Soundtrack Research

This is the type of music that I would like to use for my scene where the husband is driving in his car before the car crash an during the car crash. I think it will help to set the mood and let the audience know that something is going to happen and maybe they wont have the happy ending that they were hoping for.

Analysis of opening 2 minutes - Like Crazy

• Paramount pictures on a light screen
• Production company on a white screen
• Inter titles were in the corner of a black screen with dialogue in the background with no picture
• The male character was smart and looked at the female character lovingly
• She leaves a note on his car while looking nervous
• They look at each other in a cliché 'lovey dovey' way on their date in the cafe
• There is soft, slow music playing in the background as they walk together having a heart to heart   

Diary Post - 2

For homework I have been watching and analysing the opening two minutes of films. Along with this I have been watching the whole film to see if there are any other part in the film that I could analyse. In doing this it has helped me to get ideas for the type of music; camera angles; shots; editing and titles that I could and will use in the opening two minutes of my film in order to create the right mood for my film. 

Watching romantic drama films has been helping me a lot so far in the research and planning section of my coursework as I have got a lot of ideas for the types of music and inter titles that I would like to use in my own film. I think with further research into other romantic drama films similar to mine I will be able to create a similar product of the best quality that it could possibly be.

Diary Post - 1

Over the last couple of lessons I have created a mood board for the opening two minutes of my film. Thing included they types of props and colours that I would like to use if possible. It includes things such as:

• Dresses
• Suites
• Cars
• Phones
• Hair
• Makeup

These pictures are all close to the types of things that I will use for real in the opening two minutes of my film. I will compare my costumes and props to the ones on my mood board to make sure that I am creating the same mood as the one my mood board does. This will ensure that the right mood is set for my film.

I have also been doing location research. In doing this I found they pictures of the type of street and house I would like to use in the opening two minutes of my film. I also found a picture of a hotel room that I would like to use for when the girls are getting ready. However, i know that this is unlikely to happen and instead I will probably end up using a different room in thee house. The hotel is unrealistic to happen as I don't think I will be able to book a room in a hotel in order to film. Also if I needed to reshoot bits from the hotel shots I would not be guaranteed to get a space in the hotel again or the same room, so the continuity would not be there.

18/20 Mark Blog

http://thrillerblog2011.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-max=2011-11-12T22:00:00Z&max-results=8&reverse-paginate=true

Thriller Blog

• They watched and remade the opening two minutes of the film Juno – youtube video
• They created a film opening – youtube video
• They analysed the opening credits of RockNRolla - embedded onto scribd
• They did a soundtrack analysis of RockNRolla – embedded into scribed
• They did an opening scene analysis for latymer – blog post
• They did a preliminary task – youtube video
• They did a preliminary evaluation – blog post with pictures
• They analysed the editing technique of enemy of the state – photos
• They did and analysis of successful film director Quentin Tarantino – blog post with photos
• They did an analysis of the opening credits of Memento – blog post and  pictures
• They created a film opening – youtube video
• They analysed the opening  credits of  silence of the lambs
• They looked at different films to analyse the genre
• They looked at thriller conventions
• They looked at the representation of genre
• They looked at genre film convention and presented it in a table on scribd
• They analysed soundtracks – blog post and embedded youtube videos
• Initial ideas for film – blog post and youtube videos
• Credits and title analysis – pictures
• BBFC Ratings – pictures and blog posts
• Target audience research – pictures, mood board, youtube video
• Group planning shot list – pictures
• Animatic – picture
• Group planning initial ideas – picture
• First shoot – pictures and a bit of explanation
• Analysis of their mise-en-scene – pictures analysis

Analysis of opening 2 minutes - 10 Things I Hate About You

• Touchstone pictures and the production company were on a black screen
• There was upbeat music as the film title was over a skyline
• The camera then made a tracking shot from being up high in the sky to coming low and being at face level with the characters
• Actors names were over the action
• Characters and genre introduced by showing tension between a group of girls that look popular and are in a nice car and a girl by herself that doesn't look as popular looking at each other with disgust while stopped at traffic lights

This shot of the boys face is the kind of emotion that I would like to recreate in my film. The look of love in his eyes in what i want to recreate while the husband in the opening two minutes of my film is getting ready.

This shot of the young woman getting ready in the mirror is a shot that I would like to use in the opening two minutes of my film. I would like to use this shot to show the wife getting ready for the wedding.

Location Research

These are the types of locations I would like to use for the opening two minutes of my film. The top house is the location I would like to use for the husband and homeless Jack getting ready for the wedding. The street is the type of street I would like to use that the husband drives down before the crash. The hotel room is what I would like to use for the mum and daughter to get ready in. However, this is very unlikely to happen as it is unrealistic that I would be able to get a hotel room to film my opening two minutes in and I will probably end up just filming it in a different house or just a different room of the same house that I will film the husband and homeless Jack getting ready in. I hope that in using these locations I will be able to create the right mood and feel for my film. 

Research and Planning To Do List

Mr Oswick went through the research and planning to do list and the things I still need to do so that my blog is up to date are:

Research

1. Soundtrack research (non copyright music sites)
2. Location research
3. Font research 
4. Institution research
5. Certificate research
6. Audience research plus a typical audience member
7. At least 6 films analysed using key questions and music/costume/setting/style/shots

Planning

1. Costume and props
2. Actors and characters
3. Diary posts
4. Shot lists
5. Storyboard 
6. Script
7. Practice titles created and uploaded

Mood board

I have created this mood board in order to give people a feel of the opening two minutes of the film I am going to make. I have included pictures of the types of things I would like to use and create. I have tried to pick realistic images so that I know what kind of things I will be able to use and the things that I wont. I will bear these things in mind when I go out and film in order to make sure I create the right mood.

 

I will try to stay true to my mood board when it comes to filming my opening two minutes. I hope to create a film that does give the audience the same kind of feel that this mood board that I have created would.

Teacher Feedback

Blog is starting to come together - well done!

Key targets in red:
Prezi create/embed
Sleepy Hollow analysis with picture of film poster
Proposal analysis with picture/youtube clip
At least 4 films analysed using key questions and youtube clips etc
Hyperlinks to other G321 blogs and analysis of what they have done that works well – steal R and P ideas
Link to Mr Oswick’s blog
Definitions and picture/video exemplifying on blogs please:
Match on action?
Shot/reverse shot?
180 degree rule?
Diary posts – 1 paragraph summing up what you have learned so far about the process…6 of them?
Audience feedback about your idea and thought processes
Moodboard collage
Summary of your idea
Costume research and ideas?
Actors and characters?
Screen grabs of films?
Film clips analysed – music/costume/setting/style/shots

You are currently working towards a B grade if you can catch up with your R and P.

Opening Two Minutes - Final idea

In the opening two minutes of my film I am going to have happy/jolly music as there is a shot of the mother and daughter getting ready for the wedding. The music with then quieten down a bit while the daughter says 'I'm glad you gave dad another chance' and the mum replies 'me too.' The music will then get a bit louder again as the shot changes to the husband and Homeless Jack are getting ready for the wedding. The music will then quieten down a bit as Homeless Jack says 'I'm glad you pulled your act together and won your family back' and the Husband replies 'Yeah me too. Thanks for your help.' The music will then get louder again as it changes shot to the mother and daughter getting ready again looking happy and enjoying themselves. The happy/jolly music will then fade out as the shot turns back to the Husband and Homeless Jack getting ready. The Husband will then say to Homeless Jack 'i have to do something but I'll meet you there' and rushes out of the house as music to create suspense kicks in. The husband will then get in his car and start driving as the music becomes louder. He will then pull out his mobile phone and carry on diving for a bit before he gets in a car crash with a big truck and dies.

Opening Two Minutes Feedback

In our lesson we all presented our ideas of our opening two minutes of our film. We all gave each other feedback to see what we could improve and see if there was anything that could cause any problems in the making of our film.

The feedback that  got was:

• Do I have two males to act in my opening two minutes
• Can I get two suits that look like wedding suits
• Can I get a wedding dress
• Can i get a bridesmaid's dress or something similar
• Do i have accessibility to a car 

I am still going to continue with my idea as i do have access to a car. I can also get two males to act in the opening two minutes of my film. I can also get the costumes to make the opening to minutes of my film. 

Overall apart from the above factors everyone in the class liked my idea for the opening two minutes of my film and though that it would be good if I filmed it correctly and to a good enough standard.

Prezi - Opening 2 Minute ideas

This is the final idea for the opening two minutes of my film. It discusses the genre of my film which is going to be romantic drams. It also gives an idea of the types of people that I am going to get to be the actors and actresses in my film. In this prezi I also have the possible settings that I will use in the opening two minutes of my film which is houses and a street. I may also go to London to film a bit for my establishing shot. I have also discussed the music that I would like to use in the opening two minutes of my film. Finally I have put a suggestion for what the narrative of what the whole film would be, to let people know the whole story of the film.

I will try to stick to most of this when I am choosing my actors, actresses, setting and music. I will also keep this in mind when I film and edit my opening two minutes to make sure that I have stuck to my plan as much as possible.

Analysis of opening 2 minutes - The Proposal

The opening scene of The Proposal is a close up of a forrest, so it looks like someone is walking through the forrest. Although this is the opening scene we know is is not going to be a horror film but instead a lighthearted film because of the happy upbeat music in the background. The camera then zooms out to reveal the leading female role.

We can tell she is sophisticated as:

• She is healthy because she is using her exercise bike
• She is organised because she is riding her exercise bike while working/revising
• She wears a black business suit

The humorous element of this film are introduced when:

• The main male character is introduced as being lazy and oversleeping
• He runs into an elevator door
• He is unorganised as he is in a messy room
• He spills coffee all over a co-work and says "give me the shirt off your back, literally"
• The PA says to his boss "well done" to which she replies "if i want your praise i will ask for it"
• Everyone in the office thinks bossy as they call her names
• All the office workers send each other emails to warn each other that she is coming

The pop of the incoming emails keeps the film light hearted. 

The film is a stereotypical rom com as the two main characters show no interest in each other. The female and male leading actors seem to get on each others nerves as well. This is shown through the close up of each characters face, while the other one is talking. It is also shown as the leading female character calls the male character "pathetic". In rom coms there is always another girl that admires the lead male from afar and in The Proposal this is the woman who works in Starbucks. You can also tell that this film is set in the city of New York straight away as when the camera angle zooms out and you can see the woman exercising there is a view of the New York skyline out the window. This is then confirmed by the yellow taxis on the road when the leading male role is running to get coffee before going to work.This film challenges the typical gender stereotypes as a female is the boss and a male is the personal assistant.

Order of titles:

• Touchstone pictures
• Mandeville films

The production company and the names of actors are then over the action but they don't get in the way of the action. This means the the audience is not distracted from the film by the writing.

Editing our Preliminary Task

When we were editing our film on iMovie we had to upload the footage onto iPhoto first and then create a new project in iMovie and drag the images over to get started. Once all of our footage was uploaded we started to put our preliminary task film together. We cut the film so that there was not any laughing in it and also so there was not any long pauses between the speech. Once we had edited the film so that it was the best quality it could be with the footage we filmed we experimented with background music. We tested a lot of the music to see which one we liked the best and would best go with our task. Once we had decided on the music we added it to the film. We added it to the beginning of the film where I was walking down the corridor and we faded it out when I sat down and the conversation started. To improve our film for next time we should film a lot more footage so that we have more footage to choose from when it comes to editing our film. The beginning of the film didn't run very smoothly as there was parts that we hadn't filmed properly so by filming more it would have solved the problem. If we had of filmed more the final edit would have been better and we would have been able to produce a lot better quality film.

This has been a helpful experience as this is what I will have to do when editing my opening two minutes. It has given me a brief insight into the types of this that I will be able to do to the footage that I film and in what ways I will be able to edit the footage that I get.

Filming

When filming I have learnt that you need to film lots of footage so that you have a choice of footage to use when you edit it. The more footage you film the more likely it is that the final edit of the film will be better as you can choose the best footage and see what runs smoothest, or which one looks better. I have also learnt that you need to use a range of camera shots such as match on action, shot/reverse shot and close ups to make your filming and final edit better. You also need to use the 180 degree rule so that when you are filming and editing the film runs smoothly and doesn't look odd or backwards. 

This filming practice has been very beneficial for me. I now know how important it is too get as much footage as possible when filming the opening two minutes of my film. If I don't get enough footage I will not be able to edit it together nicely and produce something that looks even slightly professional. If I get enough footage it also means that I have a range of footage that I can choose form when editing and can just cut bits that I don't want out.

180 Degree Rule

The 180 degree rule is used when filming a conversation between two people. It means that you stay filming the same side of the people, so only turning 180 degree so that everything you film doesn't look odd or backwards.

If in the opening two minutes of my film I choose for two of my characters to have a conversation I will make sure that I follow this rule. This will make it easy for my audience to follow and will make my film look smooth and as professional as possible after editing.

Shot reverse shot

Shot reverse shot refers to a filming technique. This technique is generally used when filming a conversation between two people. It is when you record one person in the conversation speaking, you then pause the camera and walk stand behind the person who just spoke and film the other person in the conversation speaking. Shot reverse shot is demonstrated in the picture above.

If I choose for two of the character is the opening two minutes of my film to have a conversation I will make sure that I follow this rule. This will allow me to cut together my footage smoothly and will not be confusing for the audience to follow.

Match on Action

Match on action is an editing technique in which the editor cuts from one shot to another that matches the first shot. It could be when the perspective of the camera change but the film still continues to flow.

This will be helpful for me to remember when I film the opening two minutes of my film. If I want to film someone walking through a door, or cut from two scenes I will use a match on action shot.

G321 Blogs

http://media.ksgs.cumbria.sch.uk/blog/wiilliamwilson-as1/
It is very well organised and well laid out.


http://media.ksgs.cumbria.sch.uk/blog/sambell-as/
It contains a lot of pictures and videos. It also uses a lot of different resources to help make the blog interesting such as slideshare for the power points. There is also a lot of detail in all of the work that has been posted to the blog.


http://media.ksgs.cumbria.sch.uk/blog/eviethornborrow-as/
There are lots of videos and presentations that make the blog more interesting. There are also lots of websites that have been used in order to make the blog better and different.

Mr Oswicks's Blog

http://mroswickchsmediastudies.blogspot.co.uk

Teacher Feedback

Great start!

Ocr Media Weebly

http://ocrmediastudies.weebly.com/