Monday, 30 January 2017
Camera Testing
Firstly, we tried circling around me with a handheld camera. For this, we did not use any guide to make sure that we went around in a perfect, smooth circle. We also did not use any editing software to make it look more stable.
Next, we sat Aimee, holding the camera, on a wheely chair as Molly pulled her around me in a circle. Again, we did not edit the footage after to make it look less shaky.
Thirdly, we created a harness system to make a steady circle by balancing the weight of the cameraperson with another person. This was slightly smoother however, as we still had to walk, the footage was still shaky.
Finally, we used 'Warp Stabiliser' in Premiere Pro to enhance the stability of the video. We found that this created the best final product, however this was filmed with a handheld camera and so we will need to practice walking around our actor smoothly and steadily.
Tuesday, 17 January 2017
Target Audience
Target Audience
When deciding on our target audience, we tried to create as detailed a profile of them as possible. Therefore, we considered not just what films they would enjoy but also their age, lifestyle and other interests.
As we had already done research into openings similar to the one we want to make, we knew that the films our target audience would most likely enjoy were psychological thrillers and critically acclaimed films such as 'Room', 'Silence of the Lambs', and 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'.
We also thought that they would watch similar, well known T.V. programmes with complex storylines such as 'Westworld', 'Luther' and 'Game of Thrones'.
We thought that it would be important to think about what music they would listen to, as music can often be used as a signifier of a genre. We decided that this would be popular yet meaningful music such as 'Green Day', 'Ed Sheeran' and 'Twenty One Pilots'.
From this we thought that our target audience would be 25-40 year olds of any gender and likely to be working or middle class.
As we had already done research into openings similar to the one we want to make, we knew that the films our target audience would most likely enjoy were psychological thrillers and critically acclaimed films such as 'Room', 'Silence of the Lambs', and 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'.
We also thought that they would watch similar, well known T.V. programmes with complex storylines such as 'Westworld', 'Luther' and 'Game of Thrones'.
We thought that it would be important to think about what music they would listen to, as music can often be used as a signifier of a genre. We decided that this would be popular yet meaningful music such as 'Green Day', 'Ed Sheeran' and 'Twenty One Pilots'.
From this we thought that our target audience would be 25-40 year olds of any gender and likely to be working or middle class.
Shooting Script
Shooting Script
INT. BEDROOM
Thump.
Close-up of actor's eyes, looks drained and tired. Holds for 3 seconds.
Zooms out into mid-shot, sitting on bed, black clothing. Zooms out for 4 seconds. No action.
Camera starts to move around.
EXT. PARK
Shot changes on the camera movement. Same girl in park. Mid-shot. Camera still moving around. Gets a third of the way around her. 3 seconds. Straight cut. No dialogue.
EXT. BRIDGE
Long-shot from bridge. No action. Can hear running footsteps in distance coming towards camera. Holds for 2 seconds. Straight cut.
EXT. PARK
Girl still sitting on bench. Mid-shot. Camera continues moving around her. Goes another third of the way around her. 3 seconds. No dialogue.
EXT. BRIDGE
Long-shot from bridge. No action. Can hear footsteps still but closer this time. Holds for 2 seconds. Straight cut. No dialogue.
EXT. PARK
Girl still sitting on bench. Mid-shot. Camera continues moving around her. Goes another third of the way around her. 3 seconds. Straight cut. No dialogue.
EXT. BRIDGE
Close-up of legs running past the camera. Running footsteps very loud. 1 second. Straight cut. No dialogue.
EXT. WALL
Extreme close-up of hand grabbing girl's face. Muffled shouting and screaming. 2 seconds. Straight cut.
INT. KITCHEN
Mid-shot of girl in chair at table. Muffled shouting. Slow zoom. Kettle boiling in background-sound getting more high pitched. Chair falling back. camera follows. 4 seconds. Straight cut.
INT. BATHROOM
Match-on-action of girl falling and changes to girl falling into bath. Bath has black water. Camera falls quickly as girl is submerged into close-up of water. Can hear water sloshing. Title appears and holds for 4 seconds. Straight cut. No dialogue.
INT. STAGE
Mid-shot from the front of girl standing on stage. Camera moves around her gradually. 6 seconds. Stops after complete 180. Sound of muffled clapping as empty chairs are revealed. Straight cut. No dialogue.
EXT. TUNNEL
Long-shot of girl in tunnel. Slow zoom into her. Dark. 5 seconds. Sound of train moving above. Straight cut. No dialogue.
INT. BEDROOM
Match-on-action to girl sitting in front of door. Sound of door banging. Camera zooms in as door bangs each time. 5 seconds. Straight cut. No dialogue.
EXT. BUS STOP
Girl sitting at bus stop. Mid-shot. Camera continues moving around her. As camera moves previous shots appear. Camera starts to move faster then suddenly stops. 6 seconds. Straight cut.
INT. DOCTORS'
Cuts to extreme close-up of girl's face in doctors'. Holds for 3 seconds. Sound of muffled speech of doctor saying girl's name, gradually becomes clearer as camera zooms out for 5 seconds to long-shot.
Thump.
Close-up of actor's eyes, looks drained and tired. Holds for 3 seconds.
Zooms out into mid-shot, sitting on bed, black clothing. Zooms out for 4 seconds. No action.
Camera starts to move around.
EXT. PARK
Shot changes on the camera movement. Same girl in park. Mid-shot. Camera still moving around. Gets a third of the way around her. 3 seconds. Straight cut. No dialogue.
EXT. BRIDGE
Long-shot from bridge. No action. Can hear running footsteps in distance coming towards camera. Holds for 2 seconds. Straight cut.
EXT. PARK
Girl still sitting on bench. Mid-shot. Camera continues moving around her. Goes another third of the way around her. 3 seconds. No dialogue.
EXT. BRIDGE
Long-shot from bridge. No action. Can hear footsteps still but closer this time. Holds for 2 seconds. Straight cut. No dialogue.
EXT. PARK
Girl still sitting on bench. Mid-shot. Camera continues moving around her. Goes another third of the way around her. 3 seconds. Straight cut. No dialogue.
EXT. BRIDGE
Close-up of legs running past the camera. Running footsteps very loud. 1 second. Straight cut. No dialogue.
EXT. WALL
Extreme close-up of hand grabbing girl's face. Muffled shouting and screaming. 2 seconds. Straight cut.
INT. KITCHEN
Mid-shot of girl in chair at table. Muffled shouting. Slow zoom. Kettle boiling in background-sound getting more high pitched. Chair falling back. camera follows. 4 seconds. Straight cut.
INT. BATHROOM
Match-on-action of girl falling and changes to girl falling into bath. Bath has black water. Camera falls quickly as girl is submerged into close-up of water. Can hear water sloshing. Title appears and holds for 4 seconds. Straight cut. No dialogue.
INT. STAGE
Mid-shot from the front of girl standing on stage. Camera moves around her gradually. 6 seconds. Stops after complete 180. Sound of muffled clapping as empty chairs are revealed. Straight cut. No dialogue.
EXT. TUNNEL
Long-shot of girl in tunnel. Slow zoom into her. Dark. 5 seconds. Sound of train moving above. Straight cut. No dialogue.
INT. BEDROOM
Match-on-action to girl sitting in front of door. Sound of door banging. Camera zooms in as door bangs each time. 5 seconds. Straight cut. No dialogue.
EXT. BUS STOP
Girl sitting at bus stop. Mid-shot. Camera continues moving around her. As camera moves previous shots appear. Camera starts to move faster then suddenly stops. 6 seconds. Straight cut.
INT. DOCTORS'
Cuts to extreme close-up of girl's face in doctors'. Holds for 3 seconds. Sound of muffled speech of doctor saying girl's name, gradually becomes clearer as camera zooms out for 5 seconds to long-shot.
Friday, 13 January 2017
Initial Opening Ideas
Idea 1:
Aimee came up with the idea of following the story of a teenager who has been abducted. We planned to open the scene with a close up of her in a car boot, possibly illuminated by a security light. This type of shot indicates the cramped and uncomfortable situation that she is in. The scene would then cut to her throughout the day, edited out of chronological order with black screens, showing our credits, integrated in. By doing this we intend to create a sense of confusion to reflect how the character would feel. The types of scenes we would use would be familiar to someone of her age in order to create realism, for example her at school, home and with her friends.
The diegetic sound in the opening would be speech, both her's and her friends' and family's. There would also be the sound of the car on the road and other traffic. We were also considering having the sound of her breathing amplified to draw attention to her panicked state.
The positives of this idea are that a thriller is an easy genre to work in as there are many different sub-genres to pursue; such as action, psychological or sci-fi thriller. This means that we have many different options of narratives, allowing us to create a more innovative opening.
The negatives of this are that a school is a difficult setting to use as we would need lots of actors to all be in character at the same time. We would therefore be more likely to get continuity errors (if we filmed it more than once and edited together the parts we wanted) or breaking of the fourth wall. We also thought that this could easily become very cliché as we are using a stereotypical victim in films; a teenage girl, in commonly seen locations.
Idea 2:
The main idea for this film opening is the main character being followed by someone or something. This stalker will be the camera as it will be shot in a point of view style. This stalker scenario will be immediately recognised due to the first being watching the protagonist through a window. The character will just be doing normal activities for example reading or sitting at a table. The main character will then move but the shot will continue in one movement from the outside as they walk from wherever they were situated to the front door and out of it, whilst the camera remains outside watching them. As the protagonist walks across the front of the house the shot will then switch to the camera being situated in a bush but still following the character. Location will then be changed to a train station and the character walking onto the platform. The camera will be placed on the opposite platform to make it look more distant. Some non-diegetic music will begin to play but only quietly. Another key character could be introduced here by having the protagonist quickly bump into them. A train will go by and the character would have disappeared. There will then be the sound of a car door closing. A taxi (or just a normal car) will then drive off as the camera moves back from it. The audience will be able to see the character in the car squinting out of the window towards the camera suggesting that they have noticed something. The car could then turn and start driving towards the camera as if it is trying to run it over. The camera will then do a whip pan backwards as the car is about to hit it. It will then cut to a ‘flashback’ of the scene in the driveway, but from the character’s perspective as they look around after hearing the rustling of the leaves. The camera will then whip pan again but downwards this time and back into the road where the car was about to drive into the camera, but the camera is now behind the car, watching it screech as it comes to a standstill. The credits will be integrated throughout the opening for example, when the train goes by the film title will be revealed.
The problem with this idea is that it has a complicated concept. We will need to carefully plan this to make sure other people like our actors can understand what they are doing. It also has many locations that are in public places. This is bad as we may have problems with continuity errors as there are so many people in different places. Furthermore we would need to change the location of the train station as we can not film there.
Aimee came up with the idea of following the story of a teenager who has been abducted. We planned to open the scene with a close up of her in a car boot, possibly illuminated by a security light. This type of shot indicates the cramped and uncomfortable situation that she is in. The scene would then cut to her throughout the day, edited out of chronological order with black screens, showing our credits, integrated in. By doing this we intend to create a sense of confusion to reflect how the character would feel. The types of scenes we would use would be familiar to someone of her age in order to create realism, for example her at school, home and with her friends.
The diegetic sound in the opening would be speech, both her's and her friends' and family's. There would also be the sound of the car on the road and other traffic. We were also considering having the sound of her breathing amplified to draw attention to her panicked state.
The positives of this idea are that a thriller is an easy genre to work in as there are many different sub-genres to pursue; such as action, psychological or sci-fi thriller. This means that we have many different options of narratives, allowing us to create a more innovative opening.
The negatives of this are that a school is a difficult setting to use as we would need lots of actors to all be in character at the same time. We would therefore be more likely to get continuity errors (if we filmed it more than once and edited together the parts we wanted) or breaking of the fourth wall. We also thought that this could easily become very cliché as we are using a stereotypical victim in films; a teenage girl, in commonly seen locations.
Idea 2:
The main idea for this film opening is the main character being followed by someone or something. This stalker will be the camera as it will be shot in a point of view style. This stalker scenario will be immediately recognised due to the first being watching the protagonist through a window. The character will just be doing normal activities for example reading or sitting at a table. The main character will then move but the shot will continue in one movement from the outside as they walk from wherever they were situated to the front door and out of it, whilst the camera remains outside watching them. As the protagonist walks across the front of the house the shot will then switch to the camera being situated in a bush but still following the character. Location will then be changed to a train station and the character walking onto the platform. The camera will be placed on the opposite platform to make it look more distant. Some non-diegetic music will begin to play but only quietly. Another key character could be introduced here by having the protagonist quickly bump into them. A train will go by and the character would have disappeared. There will then be the sound of a car door closing. A taxi (or just a normal car) will then drive off as the camera moves back from it. The audience will be able to see the character in the car squinting out of the window towards the camera suggesting that they have noticed something. The car could then turn and start driving towards the camera as if it is trying to run it over. The camera will then do a whip pan backwards as the car is about to hit it. It will then cut to a ‘flashback’ of the scene in the driveway, but from the character’s perspective as they look around after hearing the rustling of the leaves. The camera will then whip pan again but downwards this time and back into the road where the car was about to drive into the camera, but the camera is now behind the car, watching it screech as it comes to a standstill. The credits will be integrated throughout the opening for example, when the train goes by the film title will be revealed.
The problem with this idea is that it has a complicated concept. We will need to carefully plan this to make sure other people like our actors can understand what they are doing. It also has many locations that are in public places. This is bad as we may have problems with continuity errors as there are so many people in different places. Furthermore we would need to change the location of the train station as we can not film there.
Wednesday, 11 January 2017
Production Company Logo
We decided upon our Production Company name, 'COMA Productions', as it is an acronym of all of our names; Cassidy, Owen, Molly and Aimee. Once we came up with our name, we decided to think of things we associated with comas, for example hospitals. From this we got the idea of a heart monitor as it is simple yet can have great impact. We created a few prototypes for the logo before deciding which of these to use as the final design.
Idea 1:
Our first idea was to have the line of a heart monitor running over the top of the name of our production company. This was quite striking yet professional as the white writing and graphic stood out boldly against the black background. Despite this, it could seem a little boring and uninventive. As well as this, the title was quite small and therefore difficult to read. However, if animated with the sound of a heartbeat, we could create a smooth and simple introduction to our film opening.
Idea 2:
Our second idea was to make the 'M' of 'COMA' using the visual of a heartbeat monitor. This was our favourite as it was fun and interesting and does not require animation in order to attract the audience's attention. Again the colours contrast well to make our logo stand out by bringing a vibrancy to it whilst maintaining a professional feel. However, there may be issues with the translation of the logo as it is fairly spaced out and so the audience may not be able to make out the 'M' or understand that it is a heartbeat.
Idea 3:
Our third idea was to incorporate the word COMA into the heartbeat with productions written underneath. This was our least favourite idea as the finished product came across childish and unprofessional with us having to change the font to suit the look of the heartbeat. Although the overall look of the logo was not ideal we did make the logo all white to give as much professionalism as possible and the word 'productions' was kept in capitals to give optimum impact.
Idea 4:
Our final idea was to attempt animating our logo to make it more eye-catching and unique. For this we used black writing on a white background however we could reverse these colours as we have found that it would stand out more this way. The heartbeat monitor serves as the 'M' of 'COMA'. The use of this graphic to make up part of the production company name is more effective as the audience will have to focus more on what the name is.
Idea 1:
Our first idea was to have the line of a heart monitor running over the top of the name of our production company. This was quite striking yet professional as the white writing and graphic stood out boldly against the black background. Despite this, it could seem a little boring and uninventive. As well as this, the title was quite small and therefore difficult to read. However, if animated with the sound of a heartbeat, we could create a smooth and simple introduction to our film opening. Idea 2:
Idea 3:
Our third idea was to incorporate the word COMA into the heartbeat with productions written underneath. This was our least favourite idea as the finished product came across childish and unprofessional with us having to change the font to suit the look of the heartbeat. Although the overall look of the logo was not ideal we did make the logo all white to give as much professionalism as possible and the word 'productions' was kept in capitals to give optimum impact.
Idea 4:
Tuesday, 10 January 2017
Production Company Logo Research
Before creating our own production company logo, we researched famous production companies and their logos which are used in movies. We looked at the main features of their logos including colouring, font and animation.
The Weinstein Company introduction is kept short with the logo being the only thing featured.The logo fades in and out and then fades out at the end of the intro. This draws the viewer's attention in and makes the logo stand out. The company name is also the last thing seen during this fade out. The background is black which makes the white logo bolder. The logo is kept simple and only features three triangles. Music is played in the background of the introduction, making it seem more dramatic and grabbing the audience's attention. This logo shows that we do not need to over-complicate our own production company intro/logo.
Miramax's production company logo focuses more on the animation than the actual logo. It has a big introduction with a sweep through a city. Its actual logo only appears in the last couple of seconds of the introduction. We are not
going to be able to do this kind of animation as we do not have the skill or the time. The Miramax logo is kept very simple with a black background and a bold white font. The word 'Miramax' is the biggest word, as it is the name of the company, so it needs to stand out. Music is played in the background to make it seem more dramatic. We could use some sound in ours but it would only have an impact if it was an animation.
Unlike the others, MGM has remained simplistic when it comes to animation and sound. The only moving part of this logo is the lion in the middle which roars. The actual logo is complicated with many artistic pieces added. It takes up the whole screen and is balanced on both sides. The background is black which makes the golden-orange colour of it stand out. The production company's name is the biggest part of the logo so it stands out. We will most likely keep our logo design simple and less decorative but MGM's logo intro showed that if we were to make our logo animatic then keeping it simple works too.
Our own production company logo/introduction should be kept short to hold attention but also due to the limited skills and time we have. It is most common for the logo to be featured on a black background with bold lettering to make the name stand out. If the logo were to be animated, sound (most likely music) should be added. If there is no movement sound should not be added and it should be kept as a still.
The Weinstein Company
Miramax Films
going to be able to do this kind of animation as we do not have the skill or the time. The Miramax logo is kept very simple with a black background and a bold white font. The word 'Miramax' is the biggest word, as it is the name of the company, so it needs to stand out. Music is played in the background to make it seem more dramatic. We could use some sound in ours but it would only have an impact if it was an animation.
Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Our own production company logo/introduction should be kept short to hold attention but also due to the limited skills and time we have. It is most common for the logo to be featured on a black background with bold lettering to make the name stand out. If the logo were to be animated, sound (most likely music) should be added. If there is no movement sound should not be added and it should be kept as a still.
Friday, 6 January 2017
Storyboard
Storyboard
For our final storyboard, we drew out every shot and used arrows to indicate action. Underneath each picture we stated the camera angle, sound, location, action, transition and dialogue used.
Storyboard Animatic
For the animatic, we edited together the pictures from our storyboard with the sound we want to use in our final opening.
For our final storyboard, we drew out every shot and used arrows to indicate action. Underneath each picture we stated the camera angle, sound, location, action, transition and dialogue used.
Storyboard Animatic
For the animatic, we edited together the pictures from our storyboard with the sound we want to use in our final opening.
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