Lesson 1; film remakes

For this lesson we got into our groups and watched three different openings for three different genres. The genres we were given were comedy, horror and thriller. My group we decided on 50 first dates, The strangers and Vertigo. These were given to us to give us an idea of what genre we wanted to use for our final piece and to help us to make the choice easier by practising of different major genres. We decided on these three as we felt they would be both challenging and interesting to be able to film and come up with original ideas to make our opening as similar as we could. As there are three of us in our group we came up with a way that we felt was beneficial to split up the work evenly by focusing on creating the storyboard and shot list on a film each to make sure the work was spread out fairly. As there was not enough time in this lesson to begin filming we used our time productively and began planning ways of re-creating the opening and thought of where it was going to be filmed. We wanted to be imaginative but still make it look as much like the original as possible

25th January; Lesson 2

This was the first lesson where we were given the time to focus on filming our opening. We decided it would be best to focus on one film at a time and our first one we began filming was Vertigo. Our aim was to have that opening finished by the end of that lesson so that meant we could move on a concentrate on the others and work just as productively. We used the story board that was created by Paige to guide us through each shot and we used often referred back to it to re-cap on which shot we were using and the duration of the shot. For Vertigo we filmed it in the drama room as we wanted a room with black background to make it easier when editing as in the original there was nothing else in the background. To make our opening unique we made the spiral effect by using an illusion book and rotating it to make it look as though it was moving and drew another spiral on my eyelid which we felt would save time as well as look effective. We discovered that filming Vertigo was more difficult that we anticipated. It was difficult to keep the camera steady when you are try to make only slight movements as it becomes jolted and we found ourselves having to re-do certain parts to make sure we had enough usable film when it came to our editing. We finished filmed all of Vertigo in that lesson and we had already discussed that we wanted to began filming The Strangers next.


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To be able to finish our filming and concentrate on editing we decided to use one of our free lessons and dedicate it to filming The Strangers. For this opening as we were advised to film in the school we made the houses out of Lego. we set this opening outside and put the houses down in a line. The camera was on level with the houses and we used panning to show each of them where we would later used fade to black between each house. As there was not too much to filming this opening it only took us half an hour and we found it quite simple to do compared to vertigo. As we finished earlier than expected we decided to get started on 50 firsts dates and try and film as much of it as we could in the time we had left.
In the last half an hour we managed to film the first part where we sued an image of a beach and panned across to a pineapple which then lead to a conversation between myself and Paige. It made it easier getting as much as we could filmed as then we knew we wouldn't need much longer to finish it and were confident that by our next lesson we would have finished filming all three opening sequences.

Reservoir Dogs opening sequence

  Genre – What I gathered from watching the opening sequence of this film is that it is a gangster/crime genre. Although it does not give away much as to what the genre is it is clear that the men shown are in a gang which will be a subject that will run throughout the film.

Characters – The 8 men shown are in a suit which connotes importance and introduces them as being in a gang as they all walk together in a threatening way. As they are the first ones introduced it becomes obvious that they are the main characters shown. There is one character in a blue tracksuit which perhaps shows that he is different from the rest and is trying to be like them. They are wearing gold chains and sunglasses which is something that is associated with gangsters.

Atmosphere – The atmosphere of this scene comes across as quite threatening and intimidating as there is a group of tough looking men but also quite a cool edge to it shown in the way they are dressed and how they present themselves by walking in a certain arrogant way.  

Narrative – From this opening it is clear these characters are in a gang that looks as though they are going somewhere. Their body language suggests that they are an intimidating group that could be out to cause trouble  

Setting – The setting of this scene is based in an urban surrounding in the streets which also reflects on the gang genre as it is an environment that would be associated to them.  

Sound – The soundtrack played over the scene is incongruous as the upbeat song does not reflect what is happening in the scene and does not match with the atmosphere they create. Because of this the music is also juxtaposition as it creates an upbeat feeling in a scene involving gangsters. No speech is used in the opening so the music is what creates the first impression as well as their body language.  

Themes – Gangs, masculinity

Titles – The names of the actors are below the character they play to show who they are playing. The title of the film like in most opening comes after the names of the actors but in this sequence there are no mentions of producers or directors.

Catch me if you can opening sequence


Genre - Mystery, drama, crime, action. the mysterious music instantly sets the mood which makes the audience have a preconception of what the genre of the film in. the way it does not instantly use the actors but instead uses retro animations is a strange way to start a film which leaves the audience not being sure of what could be in the film which makes it more of a mystery genre


Narrative - (hints of the storyline) Images of planes suggests part of the plot is to do with airports. There also seems to be one running away from another person which indicates there will be a chase that is also given away by the title 'Catch me if you can'. It manages to tell you what’s going to happen by using animations as there is also someone dressed as a doctor and a lawyer and as that same character changes a lot it shows how there is going to be a issue with identity.


Atmosphere – It comes across quite mysterious, you get the impression that there is going to be a chase and that someone is running from something and secrets are involved


Themes – sneaky, secretive, imitation, loner, wealth, careers.


Setting – Retro animation showing possible setting that may come up in the film. For example airport, hospital, court which shows that they are going to have a big impact on the film. Yellow cabs suggest it is in America as the yellow cab chases another car containing the character being chased.


Sound – Music changes pace, it becomes faster on the chase parts and sets a mood that the film is going to be quite edgy and got slower on the parts that showed a more luxurious lifestyle in a big house having a party.


Titles – The names of the actors appeared early and had an arrow point towards a character to show that Leonardo DiCaprio was the one being chased and tom hanks was the chaser. Starts of with the company and is followed by the film title.  


Character – 2 male lead roles, the arrow pointing to Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks suggest they are the main roles and immediately it shows you which one is the one that is being chased. There is one in disguise and changes outfits to different professions which shows what is going to happen throughout the film








Wishin and hopin opening sequence


Genre - romance, rom-com, chick flick. The song that talks about being in love suggests that the film will involve love and marriage as the women are in formal wedding and bridesmaid dresses.


Narrative - Weddings seems to be the main focus of the opening scene as forecasts a wedding that will happen during the film, the bridesmaids also play a big part as it shows friendship and also something could go wrong involving a man that is suggested by the song


Characters – Women are the only ones shown suggesting the lead role will be female but they speak about men. There is going to be a bride with bridesmaids and they have a friendship


Setting – set in a studio with a feminine pink background the studio represents how they are making fun of how cheesy the song is and show the stereotypical bride.


Sound – diegetic love song that they are singing which is cheesy as they talk about love and men suggesting romance. The song is a comic element aimed to be making a joke of it

Titles – the titles are written to make it look like they are handwritten like it’s a wedding invitation. Names of big actresses (Julia Roberts) to attract the audience as famous actresses and actors is what draws in audiences

Themes – Weddings, love, happiness, friendship, not modern, men.


Atmosphere – feminine, light hearted. The colours are all pastel and it has a mood about it that nothing else matters to them and that they are all happy which makes the atmosphere of this scene become more cheerful

Trailer compared to an opening sequence

Casino royale opening scene & trailer  

Trailer;

Genre – action. This is shown in the way there is fast paced editing and a lot of action that is put into the trailer that shows a lot of violence and fighting.

Narrative – It seems as though the main character is a spy who is on a mission 

Character – 1 main character who is Daniel Craig, the lead character is going to be the good one that will be a spy and involved with women

Atmosphere – serious, no comedy is shown and it all seems to be involved in violence and serious situations

Themes – chasing, violence, action, romance, fighting, poker

Setting – Casino, big houses, planes, foreign countries. The title suggests that the casino is going to be a main setting for the film and there are also a lot of exotic places shown which suggest he travels to different countries and that its not only in one place

Sound – Traditional James bond music to reflect on the past films that is a famous piece of music that is well recognised.

Titles - the titles at the end made into a shape of a gun which carry on a theme of violence and weapons that's are frequently used.





Opening;

Genre – action shown in the way there is rock music played which sets a mood that is very fast and action packed

Narrative – spy on a mission to do with poker as the background has images that are on poker cards which shows that casinos are going to be a main point of the film which is also suggested by the title

Character – first introduced character is the main character who is a spy. he is the only one that is introduced as usually the opening sequence only reveals the most important characters.

Atmosphere – action packed, adrenaline. the music sets the atmosphere as it starts off with a lot of adrenaline 

Themes – fighting, poker cards, guns, violence

Setting – casino, get the impression this is the main setting for the scenes due to the title and how it’s in the opening credits.

Sound – Faced paced rock music which reflects the atmosphere

Titles – poker cards used to show the opening titles which shows how its going to be a running theme. Also images of guns used over the titles which also shows how they will be later used. Casino board as the background. Main characters name shown first

Differences between a trailer and an opening

The difference between the opening and a trailer is in the trailer you get a wider insight of what is going to happen throughout the duration of the film and usually is ended with a climax. In the opening you are only introduced to one character in this case which does not give away too much but just sets the mood for the film and gives hints by using background images and music that sets the scene for scenes to come later on. Sometimes the trailer can give away too much whereas the opening just gives a brief insight as to what is about to come. The actors names in a trailer will usually be last whereas in the opening it is the first thing that is shown to show which actors are involved and who is the main character.

Evaluation!

Media!

Preliminary task evaluation;

1. Do you believe your piece of film demonstrates continuity well? If so why?

- When looking back on our piece of film I do feel as though our piece demonstrates continuity well as we have included various camera angles and shots to make it look continuous. Also our use of music helps our film show continuity in the way we carried on some parts into the next shot. For example in the ending of our piece we had music starting and carrying on throughout the title sequence. During the editing process we decided to add in transitions. I think the transition we used which was fade to black helped demonstrating continuity in the way it faded into the next part of the film. Also by including our required techniques like shot reverse shot and match on action helped to make it continuous. This is because it flowed from one part to another, especially in our match on action part as you could see how it was following through from the other side of the door. For our flashback we used a dream sequence which made that part of our film purposely discontinuous as it was going back in time, instead of being set in the same time as the rest of the film. This however was intentional as we wanted to create a flashback to give an insight of what had happened to the character.   

This is an example of match on action that we filmed for our film. This was one of the required techniques as well as a contributor to making our film continuous

2. Have you demonstrated match on action; shot reverse shot and the 180 degree rule? If so why are these editing techniques helpful?

-  In our piece we have included the three required editing techniques as we were meant to. I believe we did this in a way which shows our capability in being able to produce work of a good standard. We had to be careful when doing our match on action to do it correctly to make sure the end result looked continuous. When thinking back on the reviews from the rest of the class I think it came across how we wanted and we filmed a good example of match on action by having someone enter a room through a door and come out the other side. This technique is very helpful as it makes the film look more professional and improves the quality of our film. It was also a requirement to include shot reverse shot. This technique was useful as without it our film wouldn’t be continuous. We used this throughout the exchange of dialogue to ensure what one of them was saying match with the response. With the 180 degree rule it was vital to include it as without it the scene wouldn’t make sense and could confuse the audience.

3. How do you feel your group worked together?

- I feel as though our group tried really hard to make our film a success and work together the best that we could to make sure the end result was of a good quality. We were perhaps not as organised for the filming as we could have been as we did not plan out before it came to filming, what part each of us were going to film. Once it came to filming we soon sorted out who was doing what but still could have saved time by planning it ahead. For our editing we made sure that not all four of us were there as it would not give us a fair chance of using the equipment. Instead we went in pairs and found that we benefited much more form that compared to what we would have if we were editing in a group. When planning our ideas we made sure each one of us had a say in what we was going to create, this way we each had an input.

4. If you were to film this piece again is there anything you could improve on?

If we were to film our piece again I think we would have thought about our costumes more as we didn’t really have anything planned. We should have asked the actors to bring in a set of clothing to wear when filming the flashback as we realised once we filmed it that both of them were wearing the same clothes and it was supposed to be set in the past. Other than that I don’t think there as anything else major that I would change but I just think we could have thought about mise en scene a lot more than we had as our main focus was including the requirements and the camera angles and shots. When getting feedback from the rest of the class, most of it was positive but they did comment on how we could have made the room in which we filmed in, look better and to have more props included. I would also have made slight adjustments to the editing of our film as when watching it back now I do not believe the sound effect that is used at 1:40 where we have a close up on the character. I now look back at it and feel that it didn’t fit in with the situation as we originally did when we edited it.  

5. Did you plan your video well, or could you improve on this? If so why?

- When it came to planning I think we planned out our ideas for the film well as we all had an input into what was going to be featured and by the end of the planning all had a clear idea as to what part we was going to focus on each like the script, storyboard, actors and others. I don’t believe that we planned out our mise en scene as well as we could have when it came to the filming. At the time our main focus were the required elements and we did not realise until the day of filming that we were lacking costumes for the flashback. This is something we would improve on if we could as our film could have benefited from this. We could have also been more organised when it came to filming and should have sorted out before filming who was going to film what part to make sure each of us had an equal opportunity to use the cameras. Luckily this problem was soon resolved as we had various parts in our film that could be spread out to make sure everyone filmed something.

6. Did you use transitions within your piece?

- Our group did use transitions as we thought that for some parts it would improve the quality of it by adding transitions. We only used two transitions in our piece as we only felt that they were the only ones relevant to our piece. We put in a fade to black technique so the scene would run continuously onto the flashback, and also we thought the fading made the flashback scene look more like it was revisiting the past. We also included this transition in the ending of our piece to give it a distinctive finish and a good way to run smoothly into the credits. We also used a dream affect transition to make the flashback scene look more like it was a flashback rather than set in the present with the rest of our film. With this transition we also changed the colour of that scene to black and white to add to the effect of it being a memory. We decided not to add in any other as we felt as though the others did not make sense with the type of film we were creating. We also did not want to over do it and make it look like there were too many, instead wanted to keep it simple to make it more affective.

7. Have your learnt anything about editing software and technologies whilst doing this exercise?

- I’ve learnt a lot about editing from this task as before this I was unaware of a lot of the techniques and technologies that are used in editing software. I now feel more confident that next time I edit a film that I will know the basics of what I have to do to edit it as before I wouldn’t have known. I have learnt how to upload our film onto the programme and actually edit it by deleting parts that we didn’t want and by adding transitions and effects to improve the quality of it. Before this I did not know about a lot of techniques that we included in our film. I also was unaware of how to make a film continuous and since filming I found out how vital it is to not have a discontinuous film. This task has also helped me become more aware of the technologies that we used like the cameras and other equipment. Now I have had the experience of coming to terms with it I now feel as though I will be able to operate a camera with more ease next time.  

Our filmed was produced and editied by Yasmin Young, Jessica Wilding, Kathleen Ransom and Millie Stone. We had to create this film and include the required elements of 180 degree rule, shot reverse shot and match on action.