Solace, Edit 2

This is how far we are at the moment, we still need to include our credits, title and production company. We also intend to include a kind of white flash to indicate where the flashbacks are. Furthermore, although we are happy with our voice over, we have recorded it again where we have cut some of it out, due to an issue with the length of it, and also included some more pauses in it so as to provide some breaks.

Solace, Edit 1

This is the stage we are at currently, we still have a couple of other frames to add, filmed in school, as well as include the voice-over and text.

Editing

First Editing:

When first looking at what we have filmed we weren't surprised that many of the shots were dark and virtually un-usable. We tried to play around with them on iMovie however we weren't very successful and editing some of the frames made them look unnatural and have an almost greenish tint. Despite this, we have picked out some of the shots that had the best lighting and we feel that it's fairly atmospheric and inevitable when filming at night. As we haven't filmed everything yet (our flashbacks still need to be done and also the voice over recorded) then it is quite difficult to put everything together in chronological order. We have added the music which immediately enhances the whole thing and have done a lot of splitting, and cutting the frames to try and get it to 2 minutes. We are over two minutes currently but this is cut down from over five minutes so removing any more might cause a slight issue.

Second Editing:

As we now have our voice over in our opening sequence, we currently face the challenge of arranging our various shots in accordance to the words being spoken at the same time. It is proving very tricky as the shots are all of varying lengths and must also fit together coherently. What we are finding at the moment is, despite the shots being individually good, they don't really flow together very well in a way that makes them all seem connected. We always knew this may be an issue as the plot consists of her just walking around different parts of the city but we have to put it all together in a way where the audience understands her journey and what she's saying.

Third Editing:

We recorded our voice over again and thus are having to re-arrange our frames. We are also including our credits over the top of frames which is causing a slight issue in the fact that we don't want the text carrying on to another frame but often a frames' length isn't long enough for the text. Furthermore, due to a problem with our desired fonts not being compatible with iMovie, we are having to re-consider our choices with font for the text and the film's title.

Fourth Editing:

Our opening sequence now has the text included with it, however we are still exploring different ways to include the font we want for our title or which other font we could choose instead for it. We are now having to play about with different lengths for shots, as we are still just over the requested opening sequence length, also the contrasting volumes for the voice over and soundtrack need to be edited, as well as a production company ident.

Filming our opening sequence

Filming in Bristol:

On Saturday the 5th we drove to Bristol to film the scenes we needed for our opening sequence. We arrived at around 4:00, hoping it'd still be quite light but wanted to be able to film a couple of films while it was dusk. However, it was dark almost immediately resulting in very low key lighting. Originally we wanted to film in smaller and less busy side streets but the light was non-existence so we had to film in larger streets where there was more lighting, albeit artificial, such as street lights, traffic and shop signs. It was very busy and thus many of our frames contain the public acting unnaturally due to the camera and so we have to cut and delete many of the rushes. Furthermore, we wasted a lot of time wandering around trying to find places where we could film and also our main actress wasn't always completely focused which caused the filming to take even longer. Despite this, we went to plenty of different locations to get a variety of shots, the only trouble we may face is getting them coherent and to flow together. If we did need to re-film anything it may be slightly tricky due to the location but there might be a chance to re-film a couple of location shots on the following Saturday.

Filming in school:

The filming took place in three different locations in school; walking down the corridor, standing at a whiteboard and in a corner writing. The filming went very well, however some of it was a bit rushed as we were trying to do it before other students finished their lessons. Near the end of filming we did run over time and thus had the slight issue of other students being in our shots but we have just ignored the original rushes and luckily the majority of people were very patient and waited for us to finish. We were worried about lighting as we had no equipment to create artificial lighting and the school is often quite dark but in the end we found the lighting we had adequate.

Typography

From the website 'Dafont', we collected a variety of different fonts that we liked for both our film title and the credits and asked our target audience which they liked. They could choose three and then we tallied to find out the favourites:

We asked our peers which fonts they liked because they're who our target audience is and their opinion is vital. We, as the creators, have an opinion but it is for the audience that we are making it for, thus we want to find out which types of font they like for both the title and the credits.

This is the font we decided on to be for our title:

We have chosen this font because we like the elegance and sophistication to it. We also feel like it fits with our genre and overall feel of the footage in our opening sequence. I think that it would appeal to our target audience, particularly females, due to the pretty style and overall look.


This is the font we decided on for our opening credits:

We like this font for our opening credits as it is quite simple and so don't distract from the footage playing, however is also quite classy and sophisticated. This again fits with our footage and voice-over, and I particularly like the overall shape of it with it's curves and edges.


This is the font we decided on for our production and institution credits:

We also decided to use a different font with the text for the credits about the production and institution. We have used a simpler and more bold style due to the importance of what is being said, and also because it is the only text that has only a black screen behind and thus your whole attention is on it.

Sound

Originally we were going to create our own music with either a guitar or a keyboard. However, this proved to be more complex then we thought and therefore we have decided to go with music already made that is copyright free. We found three songs we like and feel would fit well with our overall theme, feel and genre of our film.

 

We have decided that we like the song 'Better Days' most of all and will most likely use this as the soundtrack playing behind our voice over in our opening sequence. This is because we like the slow pace and ethereal sound to it and feel that it would compliment our footage and genre of film really well.

We are not having any dialogue within our opening sequence, however we are having a voice over. This will be in the style of a spoken word poem and will be along the lines of gender equality and teenage pressure in society. We will write this poem ourselves and it will be crucial to our whole opening. Due to having a voice over, our soundtrack has to be fairly quiet so as not to over power the words being spoken. It also needs to compliment the soft-spoken tone and pace.

Risk Assessment

It is always crucial to produce a risk assessment when doing any form of filming. this helps to point out and then minimise the risks that could occur. As we are filming in a city with expensive equipment and unreliablitity of the weather, we need to consider precautions we are going to take as this could affect the quality and process of our filming.

Props, Location and Fashion Planning

Contacting the cast:

So that our plans to film would go off without a hitch, we had to contact and organise details with the person who would be acting in our opening sequence. I first contacted her via email, and then we exchanged text messages organising it. Luckily, she was fine with everything and we are now able to proceed with filming.

Draft and Final Script

This is a collection of our original drafts we made when planning and writing our script in a form of a  poem:

This is our Final Script:

Storyboard and Shot list

Storyboard:

Shot List:

Character Profile

So that we have a solid understanding and background story for our protagonist, we created a character profile detailing important information regrading her personality, looks and background:

Initial Script Ideas

When discussing how we wanted to make our opening sequence slightly different, engaging and effective in putting our message across we came up with the idea of having a voice over for our script. This voice over would be a spoken word, modern poem expressing the protagonists' views and exploring the journey she'd made. We found lots of inspiriation all over the internet, and these are two examples of websites showcasing some really good examples of the impact these type of poems can have:

http://bluestockingsmag.com/2013/11/17/feminist-frequencies-a-spoken-word-playlist/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/04/slam-poems-feminist_n_6792536.html

Audience Profile

Knowing who your audience are is vital in producing a film, therefore we created a rate card, using 'Lino', in which we state our intended target audience, both primary and secondary:

Final Idea and Concept

To put down our various ideas and try and finalise details for our opening sequence/film we created a brief mindmap of our ideas so we also have something to refer back to:

To help try and visualise the look and theme we're going for within our opening sequence/film, we created a moodboard out of various images and words:

When first coming up with ideas, we came together and wrote down any words or phrases relevant to the script and our film:

Preliminary

To gain some experience and practice using a video camera and editing techniques, I created this quick preliminary video containing nine frames which fits to a certain brief I was given. Below is my product:




This is my original storyboard I used to briefly plan the contents of my preliminary video, I mainly stuck to it apart from changing and adapting a few things due to the location I had to film in.

Learning Comment:

Through creating this preliminary video, I now feel more confident in using a video camera and in certain terminology pertaining to filming concepts and angles. By doing this, it also gave me some experience in the process, from storyboarding, to filming, to editing and this will really help me when it comes to creating my own opening sequence. This has also taught me the importance of the quality settings when editing a video. My preliminary video is really bad quality and so I will have to keep in mind and learn how to get it clearer and more resolution so as to make my opening as professional as possible.

Representation in Films

Using the presentation software 'Popplet', I analysed two coming of age film opening sequences and wrote about how their social group (teenagers) was represented, from their costume and make-up to the camera angles used and the sound. Below are my results:

 

Learning Comment:

Through doing this task I have discovered how common codes and conventions have been used to represent 'Coming of age' films' social group-Teenagers-in their opening sequences. I have found that it varies significantly, as there are many sub-genres within the films themselves; for example one might be a comedy whereas the other is more of a drama. However there are some linking factors between them. Firstly, most of the films represent teenagers in the predictable and stereotypical way as over emotional, shallow and only focused on themselves and school life. I want to try and challenge this within my own opening sequence as I believe it's getting boring and expected by the primary audience; teenagers. Another common convention is using fairly modern and popular music as this is one of the things most apparent in the opening sequence and can really set the tone for the whole thing. It often represents teenagers as being upbeat and only listening to pop or rap music. However I think the use of more indie or alternative music would be just as engaging and representative of teenagers. Furthermore, the camera angles and editing used are often fairly unusual and interesting, effective in representing teenagers as unique, and the use of techniques like panning and tracking are often used to make the social group seem interesting but also restless and on the move. The way a film chooses to represent their social group is done in a large variety of different ways and almost everything can indicate and connote something about them. I will take what I learnt from this research and keep in mind my social group when creating my own opening sequence so that it will appeal to the social group themselves and others.

Narrative Structure

Below is the analysis of different narrative theories, techniques and elements found within a coming of age film opening sequence:

Learning Comment:

 Through doing this task I have learnt more in depth about different narrative theories, techniques and elements. I have seen how they are used within an opening sequence in an effective way which also reveals parts of the narrative subtly without giving too much away. In addition to this, they cause it to be engaging and keep the audiences' attention and curiosity. Different theories I indentified and spoke about, albeit there are probably many more, were Todorovs Narrative theory, Propps character theory, Levi-Straus' Binary opposites, Barthes codes, Campbell and Voglers archetypes/mythic structure and 12 stages of the hero's journey, Lacans' mirror stage theory, Neale genre theory and I also mentioned narrative techniques such as enigma, retardation, ellipsis and twist. I will try and include many of these elements into my own opening sequence to make it as effective and the narrative as appealing as possible.

Peer opening sequence analysis

Directors Cut-Peer Opening Sequence Analysis

This video features two previous AS Media students opening sequences and over the top of their videos is a voice over where I discuss what I liked about the sequences, what I thought could be improved and just the overall strengths and weaknesses:

These are the two original videos of the students work I assessed:

Learning Comment:

Through watching other students previous work and then analysing it, I have learnt a lot of useful techniques and ideas that I can apply to my own opening sequence. This includes the idea of having a 3D font for text which is placed in unique and varying parts of the frame so that it almost blends in with the background. I found this aspect of the opening 'The Edge' really clever and I hope to try and reflect this. I also liked the fast cuts used in 'The Visitor' as it was very effective in building tension. Watching the videos has also opened my eyes to easy mistakes or things easily overlooked that can be used to make an opening sequence just that much better. This includes having the correct mise en scene for the genre you're going with and not giving away too much of the narrative straight away. I can learn from these 'mistakes' or what I feel they could've improved on and keep them in mind when creating my own. Analysing and grading them was also really helpful due to me learning and realising what is needed to really reach the high grades and so that I have an idea in mind of whether my video content is up to the standard required. I've learnt that it is obviously difficult and time consuming to create a good opening sequence but that it is achievable if the hard work is put in.  

Audience Research

Audience Research

We produced a questionnaire/survey on 'survey monkey' and handed it out to our friends and family. It included various questions regarding what people like about coming of age films, their favourite ones they've watched, the sub genre they like etc. We collected this data together, analysed it and surmised what we think will be useful and effective to apply to our own opening sequence. Below are our results:

On the presentation software 'Emaze' we produced a powerpoint containing research, financial information, audience data and audience reviews on four different popular coming of age films in the genre that we are hoping to produce our own in-drama. This crucial information is important as it gives us insight into the popularity of these types of films, their primary target audiences and what people liked about them which we can hopefully take into account when producing our own opening sequence. Below are the results:

To gather information regarding our target audiences likes and dislikes within coming of age film opening sequences we showed a collection of different openings, within the drama genre, to several different people and then recorded their responses on what they found effective and engaging. From this we can try and apply preferred techniques and elements into out own opening sequence. Below are our results:

Learning Comment:

Through doing this task I have found out a lot of extremely important information regarding what people would ideally like to see in a coming of age film and ,more specifically, it's opening sequence. The majority of the research we have carried out was on the age group of 13-19 year olds which does suggest out results could be slightly one-sided however, as we are targeting our coming of age film at this age group (albeit also a little older), we feel this isn't counter-productive. The information gleaned from our audience research has definitely helped inspire ideas and the direction we're heading in in producing our final product. We now know about which previous coming of age films people have enjoyed and also which ones were financially successful so we can study them to see what makes these films popular and effective, we also know what people like about these particular types of films and what they hope to get from them. I have learnt that despite coming of age films reputation for being funny, over-the-top and cheesy, the most popular films were the more serious, drama ones. Also, our survey and interview results show that teenagers prefer a film that they can relate to due to providing insightful life lessons and reflecting their own life, character and age. I will take this forward into our own one and thus we are considering making a more serious and insightful film in the drama genre such as 'The perks of being a wallflower' and 'The fault in our stars'. Due to showing our target audience various opening sequences and interviewing them afterwards, I have also discovered what features they found particularly appealing such as the soft, engaging music and voice over narrative.

Title Research

Se7en opening sequence title analysis:

Learning Comment:

Through analysing the text within this opening sequence I now have a better understanding of the importance of the text within a film and everything it can connote. The font, the size, the positioning, the order it appears in, almost everything about text on the screen can be analysed to see what it's trying to foreshadow or reflect of the rest of the film . This is extremely important as it reveals to the audience some of what they can expect and also whether its something they would want to watch e.g. if the genre is to their liking. The text can effect the whole overall mood of the opening and can also indicate the importance of different people and their job roles in the production of the film. By learning this, I will now put extra emphasis and consideration into the text i'll use in my own opening sequence and think carefully about the choices I make with my text in regards to what I want it to connote.

Detailed Opening Sequence Analysis

My 'Forrest Gump' Opening Sequence Analysis:

 Keeva Holders 'Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World' Opening Sequence Analysis


Learning Comment:

Through doing this I have learnt how the narrative can be subtly shown in a variety of different ways in an opening sequence, this ensures it is engaging and piques the audiences interest by hinting at what is to come. This insight can be found in anything from the mise en scene ( for example the low key lighting foreshadowing dark events later on in the film), to certain camera angles, specific colours, the music etc. From analysing in detail these features and more, I discovered a lot about the film and the way it was heading context wise. I feel it is very important for an opening sequence to portray this as it is (usually) the first part shown of a film and should represent the hole thing in a way that casts it in a positive light. Therefore, I will try and implement these techniques in my own opening sequence so it is effective and reflective of what I would want my whole film to be like if made.

Film Producers and Distributors

Learning Comment:

Through this task I have gained a greater knowledge of both the major and minor film producers and distributors that dominate the media scene. I now know important information related to them such as their founders, where they're based and their most popular/famous films they've produced. By knowing this, I can recognise the common characteristics associated with each one and could identify the producer simply by watching the film. For example, Dreamworks Studio mostly creates fun and family friendly films with a seeming emphasis on adapting children books. Whereas a distributor such as Vertigo has a much more indie and unique style which I prefer and thus would want to have distributing and producing my own production. Furthermore, a production company such as Columbia Pictures would creating larger and more block buster films due to it's large budget and so it's style would be quite extravagant and dramatic. I have learnt that a producers style should be evident even within the opening sequence and that the logo for each producer/distributor should be instantly recognisable. I will try and apply this to my opening sequence and if I have to choose an already existing one then I have the information available to me to make an informed choice of which will be most suitable and beneficial for my own film.

Director Case Study-John Hughes

For this task, I researched and compiled together information regarding one of the most well-known directors when it comes to coming of age films:

John Hughes has made some of the best films that we would typically class as 'coming-of-age classics' including The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Ferris Buellers Day Off, Weird Science, Pretty in Pink and Home Alone.  All of them are comedy's while also reflecting the more serious and real side of teenagers nowadays.  In an interview with Roger Ebert for the upcoming release of 'The Breakfast Club' and 'Sixteen Candles', Hughes said " Teenage audiences are ready for movies that take teenagers seriously.....Kids are smart enough to know that most teenage movies are just exploiting them." He also said he thought that, "They'll respond to a film about teenagers as people. Both of these movies are about the beauty of just growing up." This is shown in the majority of Hughes films that are funny but don't exaggerate stereotypes or show a negative side to teenagers, this may be why his films were such a success.  Hughes films have a distinctive theme that could be termed his 'style' (coming of age films) and he also set a lot of his films in Chicago or Illinois as that was where he lived. He also refused to make any films in Hollywood as he detested it due to the pretentiousness and feeling that "everybody is trying to shoot you down." However as far as editing techniques and mise-en-scene goes Hughes didn't really have a go-to style. However, he did quite often break the 'fourth wall' where he had the characters talk directly to or acknowledge the audience. This was particularly affective in his film 'Ferris Buellers Day Off ' where the use of this got across the protagonists' character and his need for attention/being in the spotlight. He also used a form of it in 'The Breakfast Club' where he used narration/voice over where the characters explained what was happening to the audience in the beginning. Also, due to producing a lot of comedy's, most of Hughes films feature high-key lighting and upbeat, light-hearted music to convey the genre and atmosphere. Some less known facts about Hughes is that he was an extremely quick writer, he actually wrote 'The Breakfast Club' in only two days, while also letting the characters of that film ( while telling each other why they're in detention) have free reign and improvise. He was also notoriously hard to work with, once he fired the prop supervisor because they ran out of pizza in a scene in 'Curley Sue', possibly because he'd become so fixed on his vision for a film. Hughes attended school and university before dropping out and selling jokes to well-established performers such as Joan Rivers and Rodney Dangerfield. Awhile later he wrote his first screenplay 'Class Reunion' which was a failure before creating 'Sixteen Candles' which launched his career. He stopped producing major films in the late 90s and became a recluse, refusing any photos or interviews, before dying on August 6th, 2009.

Below is a mashup of clips from all of Hughes most famous films:

These are two examples of John Hughes most famous film opening sequences:

 

This is a particularly insightful two part interview between John Hughes and Corey Brunish:

Learning Comment:

Through this research I have learnt that a good coming of age film doesn't have to be cheesy, over the top and exaggerating the typical stereotypes related to teenagers and high schools. Often the opposite is more affective as it portrays a realistic view of teenagers as the young adults and growing people they are. A comedy can be created while the characters still maintaining their maturity( such as John Hughes as demonstrated in many of his films). I'm not sure if i'm such a fan of breaking the fourth wall but I do like the idea of a narrative voice-over as I feel that it can give you insight into a character that you may have not obtained otherwise. Even in opening sequences I think voice-over can be effective so I may try and in-corporate this into my own opening sequence.   

The History of Coming-of-age Films

The History of Coming-of-age Films

On the website 'Time Toast' I recorded and briefly explained 18 different coming-of-age films, all famous within their own rights, throughout the years from 1955 to 2015:

Learning Comment:

Through this task I have gained a greater understanding of coming of age films and also a greater appreciation of them from their origins in the early 1950s to the equally great ones created now. Through researching the history of them, I can now identify the significant movies created and thus how people's opinion on coming of age films has been shaped. I have also noticed the differences between some of the older ones and the more recent. There are the general differences that are to be expected in films from varying generations such as the differences in clothing, hair styles, the way they talk etc. However, there are more subtle differences I feel in the narrative. In the slightly older films, the protagonist was generally a 'rebel', someone who misbehaved and was mis-understood. The more recent films though seem to centre around the 'under dog', the 'wall-flower' who has hidden depths and breaks out of their shell. This development in the story-line may have come from changing social norms where it's not considered as 'cool' to mess around and get in trouble with the law.

Famous Opening Sequences

I watched 10 different film opening sequences from all different genres and analysed them to find the common codes and conventions and what made them so effective, below are my findings:

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Learning Comment:

In this task I have observed and learnt the various codes and conventions commonly found in film opening sequences. This includes certain fonts connoting the genre, music that fits with the feel and narrative of the overall film, institutional information being shown; particularly with the director at the end and so on so forth.

The typography is crucial in an opening sequence as it gives the audience insight into the kind of film it will be and also the specific audience it was intended for. The music is just as important as it can also reveal parts of the narrative and adds to the idea the audience is getting of the film from the rest of the opening.

Most of all, I feel that all of the effective opening sequences I saw were done in an creative and original manner that captured what the film was about but also drew me in as an audience by offering something I'd never seen before.

This was particularly prominent in one of my favourite opening sequences 'Se7en'. It told you what the film was going to be about but also straight-away put me on edge and excited to see what would happen next. Furthermore, in openings such as 'Footloose' the music was upbeat and contagious, thus making you want to join in and continue watching the film.