Main role in production of the film

I believe my main role in the pre-production, production and pro-production was a good one. The story line is based on my own idea, but the whole group dynamics helped craft it and make it what we all wanted it to be. I believe we all put in the same effort and contributed in our own ways, but in each way we contributed, that helped to improve the quality and the smoothness of this production. I have a very specific way of how I want things to be and I was very adamant that I wanted it to be in a era that was not the era we are in now. I knew that it would add some more interest if we are not dressed the same way we are now, and that it would add some interest to our movie. As Anna and I are very good friends with Perry, the boy who played Teddy, we knew that he would be interested in acting with us, which was an advantage as we knew we wanted to have a boy in our production.

Music

As we are not able to use copyrighted music and have to have our own, we had chosen to use Susudio by Phil Collins but now that will be an issue to use that music. We did think it would go very well with the theme of the 80s but we will have to re-think our music to be used. Music is very important for our sequence as no vocals are used.

What is left to be completed

So far we have to finish out editing, which includes
-Title sequence
-Credits
-Scream (audio)
-Music

Editing

With our editing we were told to use Final Cut express when I was used to using iMovie from year 10 to year 11 but it's always good to try something new out, also Final Cut express seems more professional and can do alot more. We were taught the basics as a group and we picked it up fairly quickly. We started putting our clips into the software and trying to put them in order of the story line. We had a few clips of a certain scene we filmed so that we had more variation to choose the perfect one, after we had chosen these we put them into the timeline. We started to cut each scene that seemed to go on for too long, we soon seemed to realise that if a scene went on for even a second over it would look wrong and as if there was a error in the editing. We would all watch the clips and decide when to cut it, and then we would erase the bits that we did not want in the scene, we would move the clips around to see what looked better and made more sense to the storyline. Each time we would edit a few clips or cut the time down we would watch what we had so far, just to make sure that there was not something that we had missed out on.

Phantom of the opera analysis

Part one of ‘Phantom of The Opera’ starts in black and white with little lighting (low key lighting). Within the black and white colours being used it is clear that the black is more prominent.

The lighting is low key, this means that the people and objects are lowly lit. You can see that only half the people’s faces are lit, making a more gloomy and intense feel to the scene. The light that we can see in this scene appears to be coming from above. It is purely natural daylight and coming from the top of the theatre.

Silhouettes are used heavily to add a more mysterious feel. Another technique which was used was to shine light down in rays, which creates a dramatic feel to the scene.

Further on in the scene a chandelier is shown and hoisted up into the air. When this happens light becomes a lot more visible, light is very evident here to add an effect of surprise and shock. The audience would then understand that this is a significant part of the scene.

Colour is then introduced into the scene. A wipe effect is used as colour is slowly brought to life where ever the chandelier passes. The colours introduced are rich colours of red and gold. These are very regal colours and add the effect of the theatre being very grand and bringing it to life.

Light is then visible and not shown in any way to add an intense feel. The light is simply there to light up the theatre and show how it has been brought to focus.

Individual idea/response to the group choice

I was dissapointed at first that the rest of the group did not feel the same as me about the victorian theme idea, as I had high hopes for it and really felt that it would work well and be very inventive. But I knew that the idea would not work if the rest of the group were not on the same page as me about it.
Luckily the second idea that I proposed to the idea they liked and thought would work, we all felt excited about it. I liked my idea of using a 80's theme as I felt that this added more of a edge to our sequence as I find that when I watch horror/thriller movies, I can get bored if its a typical teenager horror or thriller film set in the modern day. So I felt an 80's feel would add more of a funky feel to the sequence and a light hearted feel to the begining of our movie. I did enjoy planning our filming and outfits, I also enjoyed getting into character and filming it as we all had fun and got along and swapped ideas and got our thoughts across clearly. I am sure that the music we have also chosen will go well with our sequence, as I like the song and so does Anna and it gives the sequence a more fun feel.

Week 3 - FILMING

On week 3 we filmed our opening sequence. Anna and I met, and then we both met Catherine, in our costumes. I brought a bag with touch ups for make-up and the camera and other props we would need, we also brought the tripod. When we arrived at the location (A house in New Malden) we all sat down and decided where we would start, which we thought it was right to start the filming at the beginning of the opening sequence that we had planned, this was because the last time we filmed, we started filming from the end of the sequence and then to the beginning, and we wanted to switch things around this time, and this worked well and made more sense. We all worked as a group and knew the ideas we wanted to get across to other people, although we knew initially what we wanted to film, where and at what angle, we did change things slightly during the process and we thought they seemed better, and these worked well too. The dynamics of the group worked well as we all get along and I felt that every idea we each had was thought on and a rational decision was made. After filming each clip we would then look at it to decide if that was what we were happy with, if we were not, we would then shoot that scene again until it was up to our standards of what we wanted to put across to our audience. The filming lasted around an hour or so and we were satisfied at the end of it that we had achieved what we wanted to, and we felt we could do alot with what we had. Personally I was very happy of what we had filmed because I felt that the quality of the filming was great as we had used HD filming, the costumes worked well and the location went well with the story line. I know that we can make something great with this and I hope that all of our efforts show in the editing of the clips.

Week 2 - Planning

On week 2 we had a brainstorm about ideas and finally settled on one. One choice we made was to change the theme more to thriller than horror, this was because the sequence we ended up chosing would be more of a thriller than a horror. I had thought the week before of using a 70's theme of a man being followed home by a jealous ex lover. I told this to the group and we all put in our own ideas and tweaks. From this idea we had all agreed on a story line that we each felt good about and all had our own individual ideas that we would use.

We started to storyboard this idea, we thought about different camera angles we wanted to use. We wrote down a list of props that we would need and arranged a location with our friend Perry, who we had also confirmed with that he would be an actor in our sequence. We also arranged who would play what, where we would film this at our location. We thought about the make-up to use and clothing to achieve our 80's theme. We also thought about what else we would do to make sure our sequence did not look in the modern day, one thing we did was to plan which angle to film from that would not show the TV in the living room as this would give it away as the TV is very living day.

Week 1

One week one after being told of my group with Anna and Catherine I was happy because I like working with these two people and find that it is easy to communicate and get your ideas across very easily.

As I had immedietly thought of the genre of horror I communicated it to the rest of my group and they had both thought about using the genre of horror too. I had had an idea that I thought would work well and that was interesting. I had thought of a victorian theme, set in a abandoned house or something along those lines. Even though the group thought this sounded interesting, they did think it would be quite hard to find the location and the costumes without spending alot. Even though I thought this would be possible with some hard work, it would probrably not be the easiest and most practical idea. We then decided not to use this idea.

Personal response to the brief

When the brief was explained to me I was very excited as I knew that I wanted to do the genre of horror. I watch alot of horror movies and understand what I respond to and find good and interesting in a horror movie.
I started to think about all of the locations and plots we could use. I thought of various locations that could be used and different characters and props. I was happy with this brief as it let you have some freedom to choose what genre and it lets you show what you can do, it also helps you work in groups and make group decisions together as well as putting in your own ideas.

Preliminary Sequence - Did you feed the fish

I felt that our "Did you feed the fish" task went well. I was a bit nervous as it was my first real practical in a-level media but I have experience from year 10 and 11. Obviously when you plan anything out it becomes easier as you know what you are supposed to do so when we arrived at our now different location we all sat down and decided where to start filming. We decided to start filming from back to front as we would work our way down the building filming. If I were to re-do this task I would have done this a different way, in that I would film in order of how the actual final piece goes but this did not alter the production it just made things a little bit more complicated. I think that the location we chose was excellent and went well with the context of the film. The outfits e.g hood and dark clothing went well with the characters as it was casual and not completely ott. As we shot this in HD I felt that the quality came out very well, yet as it was windy on the rooftop the sound was not up to scratch. The acting was not the best but I feel that as long as the camera angles, mise en scene and quality was brilliant then this would over shadow the fact that we are not hollywood actress's, however we did try our hardest. The filming experience was fun overall as we worked well as a team and all knew what we had to do and could make input knowing that it would be listened to. We had all studied this piece of work and knew what was to be put into it which made the whole process alot easier and run smoother. Overall I feel that every factor of this filming for example, the location, the quality of the camera, the angles and continuity all made the piece alot better, I believe that for our first piece this was a good one and I am proud of it.

Initial idea for opening sequence of film

Our idea is to have the genre of horror, but we do not know entire what the story is yet, but we do know we want it to be interesting, and to use some sort of unique and strange clothing and props, we want our opening sequence to make the audience want to watch the rest of the film, and for the opening sequence to not give too much away about the film but give the audience a clear idea of what the film is about. 

Preliminary Sequence – Did you feed the fish

When my group, Anna, Madihah, Catherine and I were planning on making this sequence, we had planned that we would add some comedy into it, yet keep to the script.

We started on making our story board and planning everything out, including writing down the props that were to be used, who would be what character and the clothing and location. We had come up with an idea that we thought would work well. We thought the camera shots we decided to use fit with what we were filming and that it would work well with the feel we wanted to get across to the audience.

Although when we came to filming in the building we wanted to film in, we had not checked if it would be open on a Sunday, and it was not.

So we thought fast and decided to use the rooftops of a department store in New malden, kept safe and watched by a member of staff, we filmed from the back to the front, we found this was easier. We all sat down and decided how we were going to film it, and wrote down what we were going to film first and where and how. While filming we did come across some problems as my camera went out of battery but luckily we had two other cameras with us so we could continue filming.

We tried the same shot a few times but changed them each time so they looked the best they could be. I believe the editing went well and we produced a good piece of work, although we could of planned better by checking the opening and closing date of our building of choice. Our original storyboard was not used entirely; we did keep most of the clips and shots we wanted to use, but had to change a few because of the change of building.

Watchmen opening title sequence

CHANGING THIS CLIP ---- ADD CLIP

At the beginning of the movie Children of men the screen is black, we then hear various news reporters reporting of the things that have been happening around the world. This helps the audience to understand what has been going on and the significance of this. We see a few titles and then we are shown a scene of a café full of people and we are aware that the people are watching a news report as we can hear this yet not see the TV screen. The colours are very dull and almost grey, it is obvious that this is not a happy scene.  We can see that this is a big deal to the people watching the TV screen by the expression on their faces.  A man is then trying to get passed these people who are watching the news report, he orders a coffee and we are shown the TV report that is telling us that the youngest person on the world has died, we hear someone crying in the background. The news report is telling us of how a boy died and shows 2009-2027, this shows us that this is the future. The camera follows the man into the screen and as this is done we see the rest of the street and the condition it is in, we can see more elements of the future as there is advanced technology on the bus. We see the man about to put some alcohol into his coffee; this is followed by an explosion from the café that the man was just in. This mundane view of how the world now is makes it clear to the audience that something is not right, this is unsettling and is a good introduction to the movie. This makes us want to watch it more as it can explain how the world got to this point.  

Juno opening sequence

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The sequence starts with the Fox soundtrack and fades into a childish hand drawn font with the words “autumn” to show was season it is and to introduce the film. We see a extreme long shot of the setting and the character in a red outfit to draw attention to her, we hear birds singing to show that it is the morning. We then see a long shot of the main character and a chair, this shows that this chair has some significance.

We see a close up of the characters face and then see a flashback of a memory which plays some significance to the chair. We see a shot of the girls feet as she is getting undressed walking towards a boy sitting on the chair, it is clear about what is going to happen. We then see a extreme close up of the boy saying something in the girls ear. The scene then quickly changes to a dog barking at the girl, which snaps her out of her flashback of the memory. We then hear a narration of her talking about the furniture. A tracking shot is then shown of her walking along the road drinking her bottle of Sunny D, as some light hearted music starts to play to get the introduction to this movie in full swing.

The style of the introduction then changes to cartoon and everything you see has been drawn, it shows titles of the crew members. The girl is shown walking through streets with leaves and people around her, she looks very relaxed as she walks and you are shown her drinking her drink a lot.

 We then see roughly a minute or two of this until she reaches her destination and it comes back into real life.

Phantom of the opera analysis

Part one of ‘Phantom of The Opera’ starts in black and white with little lighting (low key lighting). Within the black and white colours being used it is clear that the black is more prominent.

The lighting is low key, this means that the people and objects are lowly lit. You can see that only half the people’s faces are lit, making a more gloomy and intense feel to the scene. The light that we can see in this scene appears to be coming from above. It is purely natural daylight and coming from the top of the theatre.

Silhouettes are used heavily to add a more mysterious feel. Another technique which was used was to shine light down in rays, which creates a dramatic feel to the scene.

Further on in the scene a chandelier is shown and hoisted up into the air. When this happens light becomes a lot more visible, light is very evident here to add an effect of surprise and shock. The audience would then understand that this is a significant part of the scene.

Colour is then introduced into the scene. A wipe effect is used as colour is slowly brought to life where ever the chandelier passes. The colours introduced are rich colours of red and gold. These are very regal colours and add the effect of the theatre being very grand and bringing it to life.

Light is then visible and not shown in any way to add an intense feel. The light is simply there to light up the theatre and show how it has been brought to focus.