2013 MAIN Post 4 - Group Meeting

As a group we had a group meeting to discuss what type of genre film to produce and what we should be included in the opening sequence of the film and what type of conventions to include in the film. Here we also discussed a brief outline of what was to happen in the film which we then later are to expand on. 

MAIN Post 3a: Further look at opening sequences

Main Post 2: Choosing my Genre

As there are many different types of genres to choose from such as:

comedy

romance

sci-fi

action

adventure

horror



It was hard trying to decide what type of genre we would pick for our opening sequence so as a group we decided to ask 15 friends to answer a questionnaire regarding their favourite types of films.


Using secondary research i found that comedy is the top grossing film genre since 1995 till 2012 was comedy as it takes $44,792,158,044 gross and 23.48% of the total market share. However in close second were adventure films taking in £38,199,674,469 and a market share of 20.03%
This will have a large impact on our film genre choice as we want to produce a film which is well liked by audiences as it aids us to gain a larger audience instead a small amount who like the genre, this way we are able to reach out to more with a well favoured genre. 
http://www.the-numbers.com/market/Genres/

the results from are questionaire are as followed.

The results show that within the people who we asked the favourite genre was comedy and second favourite was action adventure. As a group we decided firstly that we would produce a comedy opening sequence. However we then thought that we may find it difficult to show the conventions of a comedy film in the opening sequence and decided that for the purpose of the task we would create a film which we could include the conventions and also make it exciting to watch. Therefore as a group we decided that we would produce an action adventure opening sequence as we felt we would be able to portray the genre more effectively and also we would be able to use a lot of the conventions such as fast pace action, a hero and quick cuts etc. 

MAIN Post 1 - Conventions of an Opening Sequence

As my main task was to produce the opening film titles of a new fiction film that would last a minimum of 2 minutes so it was important that I knew that conventions of an opening sequence were important even across different genres of films as they all have elements in common.

Romeo and Juliet 

The website that I used to get the opening title sequence from http://www.artofthetitle.com/

Post 12: Independent Work Towards Targets

As part of my independant work my group and I created a table which would allow us to know when we were able to meet as a group to work on our film or when we were able to come in on our own and try to work on the film independently.

Post 11: Targets

Target 1 - My first target was to create a short film using all the requirements such as 180 degree rule and match on action. I wanted the film to be different compared to the rest.

Target 2 - My second target was to learn a range of new skills that are involved with media such as editing a film and being able to film different types of shots.

Target 3 - My thrid target was to have a completed and detailed blog by the end of the task and to be able to evaluate my work in great detail.

Target 4 - My final target is to imporve our script to make it more interesting and not as long as it currently is.

Post 10: Evaluation of skills developed

Here is our final version of the preliminary task 'The Break-up'

Technical Skills

Through the task which I took part in I have learnt new skill such as being able to film on a camera, knowing how to use the correct angles and not to break continuity and then edit it in Adobe Premier. As I started off with little knowledge of filming and no skills or knowledge at all of editing in Adobe, this has helped me gain a lot of knowledge of this and slowly helped me to developed these skills which I will be able to use in future tasks.

Creative Skills

During the task I felt like I’ve became a lot more creative, especially in a group situation. I have been able to quickly come up with ideas to help the group in situations where we had thought we had gone wrong on the task. Also as a group we were quickly able to come up with ideas for the task, like our plot for the shoot, we brainstormed a few ideas together but one idea was clearly the best and we then together developed it until we were completely satisfied.

Personal Skills

Personally I feel after completing the task that I have gained a lot more skills than I started with. I am now more familiar with a side of media I wasn’t so familiar with before I started the preliminary task. Also I believe because the group I was in was were able to help each other during the task helped me gain more of an understanding because there was 3 more minds working together which helped me a lot with understanding things. 

Post 9: Post-Production

As a group we had to decide the best way to get our editing done to the best standard but also the quickest so we wouldn’t be behind. We all checked to see when we had free lessons and what lunch breaks we were able to edit. Although we could not all be there at the same time we each put in as much effort as we could, dividing our time into when it would be best for each of us to go.

Although I had done media studies at GCSE I had never done this type of course and I had never edited before so it was a new experience for me. Luckily we had a group member who had experience and knew what to do. This group member taught me the basics but because I had never done it before I wanted to learn how to do it and put in a lot of effort helping to edit.

I learnt new editing techniques which helped once we had realised that we had messed up in the shoot which meant I was able to help and fix the problem.  We were able to change the audio levels where needed so if there was background music that was not needed we could fade the audio in so we wouldn’t have to re-shoot the shot.

Also at the beginning of the film we created an opening title screen with ‘the break-up’ wrote on in bold, which is the film’s title, and at the end we created a credits screen with names of the group and how they contributed to the task such as director and editors.

Post 8: Production Report

How did the shoot go? What problems do you encountered? How did you overcome the problems?

The shoot overall was okay, although we did encounter a few problems. During filming we didn’t leave long enough during the different shoots and after the characters spoke so once it came to editing it was difficult to cut them correctly and in a few speaking parts it was cut off too quickly at the end. Also once we had filmed most of it we accidently filmed over what we had previously shot at the beginning of the film.We overcame these problems quickly as a group by rescheduling to re record the parts which we had accidently filmed over and carried on editing to get it completed as quickly as possible.

 

 How well did you work as a team?

I thought that we worked well as group as we were able to divide the tasks equally and allowed members to do what they thought they could do best and complete quickly and to a standard that was needed. As a group we were able to listen to each other and each had an input into the project.

 

What do you think of the footage you shot?

Overall I think that our footage was a good standard for a first attempt at this as we managed to use all the correct camera angles that were required. Although some aspects of the film could be improved.

 

Are there any areas for improvement in the technical execution?

During filming we didn’t leave enough time between each shot. This would be something to improve on because it would make it easier for us to edit after and save us a lot of time trying to fix it.  Also some of our camera angles and shots could be improved, for example a shot we took was slightly blurred and slightly tilted so next time we have to make sure the camera is perfect and in focus ready for the shot. 

 

  Is there anything you will need to do now as a consequence of the footage you shot?

As a consequence of filming over some parts we had to re shoot a few scenes which took up extra time which we could have used for editing. Also a few shots haven’t gone together as we expected to we will either have to edit them a lot to make them work or have to re shoot. 

 

Have you abided by the rules of continuity?

Our group’s shoot has abided by the rules of continuity as we never crossed the 180 degree line and made sure that the mise-en-scene was the same when we had to re-shoot. We also made sure that we did what the preliminary tasked asked for, including 180 degree rule. 

Post 7: Additional Pre-production Documentation

Cast, Crew, Equipment and Props lists

Mise-en-scene description

Set Design/Location

The room is spacious and is a perfect school setting of a class room. It has 4 windows on one side of the room, with navy blue carpet; there are large lights on the roof creating a lit environment to work in, we placed the table at the back of the room.

Props

One light brown table and two blue chairs opposite sides of the table. We will use this layout for the props as it is a realistic set out. Another key prop is a mobile phone of which will be kept in characters pockets until it needs to be used.

Lighting

The main source of light will be the natural light coming from the many windows in the English room, we will be also using artificial lighting that is already provided to help make sure the audience can see everything that’s happening in the scene.

Character Movement

At the start of the filming PAUL is sitting in the class room on his own texting SALLY there is no monolog in this scene, SALLY then walks into the room and sits opposite to PAUL at the table. After the two characters have spoken their dialogue, PAUL gets up and goes to comfort SALLY, SALLY storms out and slams door behind her. We chose this character movement as it is straight to the point and has enough going on to show different shots.   

Costume

SALLY: Black body-con skirt, blue jumper and denim shirt.

PAUL: Navy Body warmer, black trousers, smart shoes and a t-shirt.

These costumes are everyday ware, and realistic to our situation as the characters are meant to be natural.

Hair / Make-up

SALLY: Hair tied up in bun, simple face make up.

PAUL: Hair, no-make up.

Location Recce

Technical Recce:

To prepare filming there are a few problems which could affect our filming during production. As we will be mostly be using natural light from the windows if weather forecasts predict bad storms it could make lighting more darker ruining the mood of the film. Another problematic situation is if the camera malfunctions and we are incapable of filming this could delay our timetable in which we use to plan out our shooting schedule.

As we are filming in the English room there is a chance that the room could be booked or locked restricting our access to the English room, or problems of people not part of the cast could come in causing chaos on set. Props are also at risk of breaking or not working as we have a scene of phones sending texts if the phones don’t work at the time it could ruin the text scene.

During the close up of the feet scene people could walk down the corridor student could come out of class and accidently come into shot going against continuity. Also during the feet scene we use unnatural light meaning if the lights short circuit it could be impossible to film with no light at all.

Shooting Schedule

Post 6: Shot List & Storyboard

LOCATION	SCENE	SHOT	DESCRIPTION
English Room	1	1	EST Shot DAY INT PAUL sitting at table in a room with an empty chair at the opposite side of the table.
		2	¾ Shot- PAUL getting out his phone sending a text message.
Corridor	2	1	CU DAY INT SALLY’s feet walking along.
		2	LS – SALLY walking down the corridor.
		3	MS – SALLY gets phone out and reads text message.
		4	CU – of mobile phone so the text message can be read.
English Room	3	1	LS DAY INT SALLY walking into the room and up to table.
		2	CU-Shot reverse shot SALLY talking to PAUL.
		3	CU-Shot reverse shot PAUL talking to SALLY.
		4	MS – SALLY sitting down on chair.
		5	CU-Shot reverse shot PAUL talking to SALLY.
		6	CU-Shot reverse shot SALLY talking to PAUL.
		7	CU-Shot reverse shot PAUL talking to SALLY.
		8	CU-Shot reverse shot SALLY talking to PAUL.
		9	ECU- PAUL looking worried.
		10	CU-Shot reverse shot PAUL talking to SALLY.
		11	CU-Shot reverse shot SALLY talking to PAUL.
		12	CU-Shot reverse shot PAUL talking to SALLY.
		13	MS – SALLY touching PAUL’s shoulder.
		14	CU-Shot reverse shot SALLY talking to PAUL.
		15	CU-Shot reverse shot PAUL talking to SALLY.
		16	ECU- SALLY starting to cry.
		17	LS- PAUL walking over to SALLY and tried to put his arm around her.
		18	CU- SALLY’s hand pushing his arm away.
		19	MS- SALLY pushing his arm away. Match on Action.
		20	¾ Shot – SALLY getting up from chair.
		21	CU-Shot reverse shot PAUL talking to SALLY.
		22	LS- SALLY running out of the room.

Post 5: Jump Cuts, Over-the-Shoulder Shots, Cutaways and Point of View Shots

A jump cut is a cut in which two sequential shots of the same subject are taken from camera positions that vary only slightly. This type of edit gives the effect of jumping forwards in time.








An Over the shoulder shot is a shot of someone or something taken from the perspective or camera angle from behind the shoulder of another person. Often used for conversations between two people.

A cutaway shot is the interruption of a continuously filmed action by inserting a view of something else, often then cut back to the first shot. Normally used to allow the shot to seem longer. 

Point of view shot (POV) is a shot which shows what a character or subject is looking at. Usually established by being positioned between a shot of a character looking at something, and a shot showing the character's reaction.

Post 4: Script Writing

Post 3: Continuity

Continuity



180 Degree Rule/Crossing the Line
The 180 degree rule or the crossing the line is a very important concept in video and film production. It is an imaginary line which is in the middle of the scene from side to side. If the line is crossed is can disorientate the viewer. When the camera crosses the line the view of the subject is reversed.
http://www.mediacollege.com/video/editing/transition/reverse-cut.html




Shot/Reverse Shot
A shot/reverse shot is when one character would be shown looking at another character who is often off screen. Then the character is shown to also be looking back at the character, as the characters are shown to be looking in different directions it makes the view believe they're looking at each other.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_reverse_shot



Match On Action
Match on action is a editing technique for continually editing where one shot cuts to another shot still showing the action of the first shot. Creating an impression of continuity.
http://www.slideshare.net/joe940/match-on-action-180-rule-shot-reverse-shot