Our Storyboard

We did a Story Board to establish when we will use a Match Cut or a Shot/Reverse Shot.

By making the Storyboard before filming, It made us have a layout of how we will film and when we will film and the location of filming.

We hope to create a Storyboard in a similar structure when we start creating our Opening Scene to a Thriller Film.

Preliminary Match Cut Exercise

Bradley is a Police Officer.
Reanne is Filming.
Kavita is The Mother.

Bradley has been informed by the police department that Kavita's son has been murdered. He has been asked as the lead Officer to inform Kavita about her sons death. Kavita gets really upset.

Props being used :
A Gun (Bradley has in his pocket throughout the scene)
Three Plastic Cups (Kavita uses to offer Bradley a drink)
A Cap (Bradley wears throughout the scene)

The Script:
Bradley: My name is Sargent Hession, are you Miss Kavita Kandy? May i come in ?
Kavita: Yes why ? ok.
Bradley: I am here to inform you that sadly your son has been murdered.
Kavita: What ? Noooooooooooooo!
Bradley: I'm Really Sorry.

Editing clip with sound

Editing clip with sound 

Title sequence opening edit with sound

To add sound to our opening we had to export our edited clip from final cut, and then drag our clip from the video drive and onto sound track pro. We then had to go through a load of different sounds to find one that suited the opening. Once some sound was chosen we dragged the sound onto the time line   and lengthened or shortened the sound. To add a fade in sound you should double click on the left hand side you click an arrow on the collum the sound is in, the arrow should go down. A purple box will come up, you then should double click the line on that box from the start and end point of when you want the fade to go and adjust it by moving your fade line down.

The picture above is what the choice of sound section looks like it would be in the bottom right of sound track pro.

The picture above shows where the sound should be dragged to. And on the bottom where it says submix1 , at the bottom of that collum you should change the number from 1.6 to 1.2. Only then you should save the finished sound edit to video drive. After you import the opening clip onto final cut where you can check how it looks.

analysis of a film openings

This opening to 'Get Carter' is  narrative opening.

With sound as soon as the opening starts a non diegetic sound of a train as if it is heading to a collision is heard. The sound immediately makes me think that there is going to be a lot of action in this film. The sound of the train could indicate that a major scene in this movie is going to be shot on a train. But the main idea you get from the train sound is that the film is going to have a lot of action in it. After, non diegetic music is played for a pretty long time. The music played seems very suspicious and mysterious. The speed of the music is also key as it has a fast tempo to it, it sets the pace to the film meaning that the film is going to be full on and action packed. Both the train sound and music link in well together.

With mise en scene there is hardly any lighting creating again a suspicious atmosphere. Lighting can indicate whether the film is going to be happy or sad but this type of lighting indicates that the film is going to have a bit of both in it as there is a slight bit of natural lighting which is coming from the windows of the train. The dominance of the dark lighting makes the audience think that there is going to be a regular occurrence of bad/sad things in this film. The suit the character is wearing makes him look serious that he means business, but not ordinary business, because of the build of the man it makes it look like personal business. The dark sunglasses and car usually indicate that the person who owns them is a villain but the contrast of the suit drags away the 'he is definitely a villain' look.

There is only one character the camera films throughout the opening. The amount of face time he receives makes everyone clear that he is the main character. A close up on stallone when he is sitting on the train is to give the audience a clear view on who the character is and emphasise the seriousness the character poses. Most close ups re used to show the audience who the character is and then once the audience verify the actor they tend to find figure out what kind of film they are watching, with stallone most movies are action. There is a mid shot after when stallone is tapping on the window, it shows that he is getting frustrated with the long travel and the frustration shows that he just cant wait to get his hands on someone. When stallone gets of the train a low angle and slow motion is used, the low angle is used to show again his seriousness, while the slow motion and pan down, lets the audience get a good look at the character.

A constant edit on either side of the screen like bluryness shows and emphasises what importance stallone is in this movie, it more or less blocks out everything around him. Finally the way the title sequences come on and off the screen cleverly link in with the opening, everything seems serious and the title sequences come of and on the screen like they do on army console games. That seems to indicate that there will be violent scenes coming up in the movie.

Analysis of Student Film Opening

Mise en Scene: The Lighting used is very dull which makes the character come across as quite harsh and dreary. It sets the mysterious tone of the opening scene, as the same lighting is used throughout. The Dull lighting also makes the room feel very cold. The opening scene is Set in a Public Bathroom which indicates to the audience that the character is not in its comfort zone. A Prop that is used is a Significant Butchers Knife which was also used in the Film Physco. This is a form of Intertextuality. Both Actors are wearing Black and White Suits which shows that they may be from a high status or from a high status job as they have to dress Smart. This also relates to Binary Oppositions as the suits are contrast in colour, Black - White which could represent the mixture of the characters personalities (The Characters could both have Dark Sides). The body language of the main character is quite timid as he isn't standing upright, He has a slight hunch back which shows that he thinks that people are watching him. He's constantly looking around which reinforces his guilt. This shows that he has done something that he regrets and is now realising the consequences of his actions.

Editing: Transitions are used from the very beginning of this Student Film Opening as it shows the Credits. The Opening Credits Fades in and out throughout. The Film title fades in and out which emphasises the title and sets the theme for the opening scene, as the dark colours are used during the fade in and out. This indicates to the audience that something bad may of happened. A Match cut is used when the Murderer drops the knife, We then see the close up of the knife on the floor. The close up puts a emphasis on the action that has happened and the weapon that was used. A Flashback is used when the Murderer goes towards the sink and starts washing his hands. As he looks into the mirror it suddenly flashes and shows the action when he has the knife behind the victim. This shows that the character may be feeling guilty about the situation and what has just happened, therefore he is thinking about it and he can't get it out of his head. The sound  of a Man shouting is used when the flashback happens therefore a Sound Bridge is used to link these two scenes together. This makes the audience refer to the victim everytime they hear that sound made throughout the scene.

Camera: The first time that the audience see a character it is in a Extreme Close Up. This only reveals the eyes of the character and creates tension for the audience as they want to see the full character being shown. When the Camera focuses on the Dead Victim it is a High Angle shot which is looking down on him. This emphasises the innocence of the victim and makes the audience feel more of a sense of sympathy towards the character. The camera also uses a High Angle Shot when focused on the Murderer which creates mixed emotions or the audience as it shows this character as quite Vulnerable. It also may make the audience wonder whether the murder was intentional or not. A Medium shot is used when the Murderer grabs the Mop so he could get rid of any remains shown from his act of Murder. The Medium shot allows the audience to see the whole location where its being filmed therefore we gather up the feel of the are where the murder took place. A Pan is used which swivels to the left after the extreme close up is showed of the murderer. The Pan takes the audience from the murderer, to the murderers weapon the to the victim therefore the audience automatically thinks that this character killed him with this specific weapon/knife. The pan allows the audience to gather up there thoughts on the situation and get a wide view of it. 

Sound: Non Diegetic sound is used at the beginning of the opening scene when the opening credits are being introduced. The sound used reinforces the Genre of the Film as it's spooky sound therefore the audience get a feel of either Thriller or Horror ?. After the Film Title is shown to the audience A Motif is used that introduces the character. The sound of dripping water is played very low then it increases as it gets closer to the character being shown on screen. There is also a built up shout which increases the same time as the dripping water therefore it explodes with sound once the character is introduced. This indicates the audience that the character must feel like screaming inside and there is a built up of tension being shown by the character. Throughout Non Diegetic sound is used which is orchestral scores. This sets the mood for the audience and reinforces the amount of character emotions. The Sound effect of the dripping Water is played when focused on the 'Dead Man' which conveys the it may be that characters blood that is dripping. This reinforces the action of Murder taken place. Diegetic sound is used when the murderer drops the knife, the knife rattles on the floor. This reinforces the act of violence and what it may of sounded like to kill an individual. Dialogue was used at the end of the scene where the Murderer states what he has done, which revealed more about the character to the audience and created a storyline.

Health and Safety Tutorial

Health and Safety Tutorial 

Health and Safety , Yes , this is where common sense comes in but there where other technical aspects that we learned a couple of weeks ago from our media teacher Dan the Man.

He firstly showed us the recording cameras we would be using , the reaction of the class was quite amazing as this recording camera was at such a professional standard and the fact that we had never used such a camera meant that we would have to take extra special care as Dan mentioned about more than 5 times.

The Recording Camera 

 

The camera is a JVC GY-HM100. This is a practical camcorder and also very lightweight which means it could be carryed around easily.

We had to be confident whilst using the camera and just to make sure , Dan made us do the following:

• Inserting and removing the sim card
• Inserting and removing the battery 
• Opening and closing the tripod 
• Inserting and removing the camcorder from the tripod

No wonder we exceeded over our lesson time but as mentioned before this is vital , if  you dont know how to use the camcorder than the thriller opening will come to an end before it even started.

Key Points: We were told how to use the camera buttons -

• On/Off
• Zoom In/Out 
• Auto focus/Manual focus

Rules that were set:

• We shouldnt expose the camera to rain or liquids 
• Leave the camera in a safe place 
• Hold the camera accurately 
• Make sure the camera is on the tripod tightly 
• And lastly one that Dan cant stress enough is DO NOT TOUCH THE CAMERA LENS

The Tripod 

Now you see the are two kinds of people when using a tripod - theres the kind who are able to master opening a tripod and on the other hand there are people like me who either get there fingers caught while opening the tripod or just play clumpsy.

So Opening a tripod , you simply just extend the first bottom legs and then extend it even further, then open the tripod up.Its extremely useful using a tripod as it reaches a high level , reduced shaking and gets good angels.

That concludes our health and safety tutorial : some technical aspects and a whole heap of common sense!!!