Production Schedule/Log + Screen Shots of Film opening.

Production and times of when I prepared and filmed my opening.

Production Log.

14th December - Before I could film and edit my opening I had to prepare by drawing up storyboards, write up a shot list and script. Write about what clothes my characters would wear etc. To make sure my opening was as proffessional as possible. I also had to search on Duty Free sites for some relevant music to go with my opening. I told the people that was going to be in my film where would film, what type of clothes I would like them to wear and the times etc. to meet.

                                            Day 2 -  21st December 2:30pm - School scene.

                                           Day 1 - December 18th 11:45am - One of the outside scenes.

                                          Day 1 - December 18th 11:15am - One of the scenes from inside the house.

                                          Day 1 - December 18th - 11:15am - One of the scenes from inside the house.

Day 1 - December 18th - 11:15am - One of the scenes from inside the house.

Opening Sequence Evaluation Activity 7.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

These are some frames from my final opening sequence of my film.

These are some frames I chose from my preliminary task.

Looking at both of these frames I feel I have progressed with camera shots and editing techniques. When filming the prelim task we used basic shots such as the match on action such as walking through the door and filming shutting it behind, such as the last frame on my prelim frames. Also we had to make sure the 180 degree was done in the right way as we need to make sure the two characters in the scene have the same left or right relationship with each other. With my prelim task I used close up shots, medium close ups, over the shoulder shots etc. With my film opening, I improved as I used most of the shots I used in the prelim and more. I used full body shots, medium-long shots, I used camera angles which would make the audience understand the film as easiest as they could by getting the whole view of the characters and what is happening in the opening.

I progressed a lot when doing my opening as I also used effects and different techniques to make my opening as interesting as it could be. For example on my third frame of my opening frames I used a slow motion edit to show the reaction of my character in a more dramatic way. I also used in the opening, the program Adobe after effects an edit where I edited a shot to make the main character of my story appear as a ghost in one of the haunting scenes as you can see in the fourth frame. 

Opening Squence Evaluation Activity 6.

What have you learnt about tecnologies from the process of constructing this product?

Apple Mac Computers: This is the main piece of equipment I used to edit and transition my opening. The apple mac has all the programs and software needed to make my opening such as the 'adobe premiere pro' 'Adobe after effects' The internet which you can open blogger, youtube, google, wikipedia, which are all programs that helped towards my final opening.

The apple macs are a fairly new computer, which has high technology and allows things such as cameras to connect to the software to transfer our filming onto the computer to then put into adobe and edit. The software also takes USB memory sticks, headphones, and microphones, which is more help to making the opening as you can transfer work saved. Also microphones and headphones could be a great way or producing voice overs for your opening. Apple macs help to do work quickly and easily as the software with the mouse and keyboard and big screen is easy to use and the computer overall is a fast piece of technology which allows you to open different programs at the same time.

Tripods: This piece of equipment is a three legged piece which keeps the steady motion for the camera when the camera is placed and fixed on top of it. This piece of equipment is a great advantage to the person who is filming with a big camera as when holding it's quite tricky to hold a steady shot, with the tripod securely fixed to the camera the shots will be smooth and can be as fast or slow when filming as they want it to be.

Most of the shots in my film were with the tripod, this really helped as I could film without worrying about keeping the shot steady. It also helped as I could test out shots with it and see which one looked best for my opening. Although it's a big piece of equipment it folded up easily with the legs lifting up and down and the clips to secure it. It fitted in the bag and I could carry it easily to where I wanted to film.

Camera: The camera although being very big, was very easy to use with and without the tripod when filming. It had a handle at the top of the camera which helped keep hold of when filming to keep the shot steady and smooth. The camera has a lens cap, a touchscreen playback feature to choose to record, play or turn off the equipment. It also has a microphone to make the sound get picked up as clear and loud as possible. With the camera I could easily zoom in and out of my shots when I needed to. Overall the camera was a great piece of equipment to use and captured everything I needed and wanted to capture in the way I wanted to. 

These are the three main technologies I used to help film my film opening. The camera was fairly to work and film with, and the tripod helped to keep the shot steady whilst moving. Using adobe premiere pro is still a fairly tricky program to use but I am getting used to it as time goes on.

I mainly used Adobe Premiere Pro to edit and and transition my film. It was fairly straightforward but also quite time consuming and it is a program where I find you have to perfect it and make sure you do it to the best standard.

I also used Adobe after effects to edit the ghostly type effect into my opening. This is was quite tricky as I was just guessing and clicking different edits to see which one worked for my idea and which ones didn't.

Other programs I have used:

Blogger: Which is the program we use to show all of our work.

Youtube: This is how we present our film and the embedding code is copied and pasted onto our blog.

Itunes: We imported our music onto this program from a duty free site.

These are some examples of my timeline on Adobe premiere pro. The third example is from after effects which I had to use for the ghost effect.

Opening Sequence Evaluation Activity 5.

What attracted my audience?

Opening Sequence Evaluation Activity 4.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

For my target audience I chose 'Sophie Hunt.' Sophie is 18 years old and is studying A Levels at Sixth form. Sophie lives in Surrey and has done for all her life. Sophie dresses casually and likes to look smart and presentable wherever she goes. At weekends Sophie is normally working in the town centre in the shop River Island. She works there evenings and weekends. When Sophie isn't working and at sixth form she likes to go shopping, in shops such as H+M, Topshop, New Look etc. She also likes to go out to the cinema with either her friends or boyfriend where she enjoy every type of genre but mainly horror. Her favourite movies are Superbad, One missed call, Mean girls and Toy Story. She also likes the everyone of the Haloween films that have been made. Sophie usually listens to the 'Indie' and rock type of music but also likes other genres just as much.

I think my film would appeal to this girl as her main liking of films is horror, and my film fits that criteria but has teenage characters which also relates to her as she is roughly the same age. Also as my film is horror this may also interest her and make her want to watch it as she enjoys horror movies a lot and she as it relates to some of the things she likes and enjoys when advertised she would think about going and watching it at the cinema.

These are some feedback comments I received about my film opening.

I definetly agree with Hannah's comment which is I could have added more titles to my film opening about the jobs of the cast such as director, producer etc. 

I am quite happy that she also said that the story-line was easy to understand and clear to the audience because I was quite worried that the story-line would not be clear and confuse the audience.

I think I could have used more camera angles to make my opening more effective and make more of an impact. I do think the piece of music I chose worked well with my opening and created suspense which I wanted to happen, in comparison with Tom's comment but I do think with more time I could have added more effects to show the haunting.

Opening Sequence Evaluation Activity 3.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

My names Lia and this is my director’s commentary style voiceover.

I chose the production company name as Darkworld arts as I thought ‘darkworld’ would fit with the genre of my film and arts connects with the drama based production. A production company is responsible for development and production of films. The company may also organise to fund the production.

The idea of a distributor is the name given to companies who own films or videos etc. and sell them to cinemas and shops. I chose ‘Momentum Pictures’ to distribute my film as they are a popular company and have had many successful film releases which also fit with my horror genre that I chose for my film. Successful film releases they have helped are films such as ‘The crazies’ ‘The girl with the dragon tattoo’ The men who stare at goats, and many more.

I would receive some money by merchandising for a film like mine by advertising a product in the film, which would help towards the film. I would also borrow money. I would use the UK FILM COUNCIL who support film makers are able to create distinctive and entertaining work.

The order I have put the titles in is the producer first then at the end o my opening when the film is introduced I have put the cast names.

Films that have influenced my opening and could be released and a similar way, would be ‘tormented’ which basically has the same storyline as mine. The haunting, Paranormal activity and the sixth sense. These films all relate to my opening and have helped me in some way.

This is the logo I made for my company production.
I thought the name 'Darkworld' arts went with the genre of my film as its like the mysterious feel I want it to give out. I put dark in a black bold font obviously to represent the world dark then I chose world in red, as there is a lot of darkness and hate that goes on in the world and that also fits with my genre.
Then I chose arts in a different font and a green to give more effect.

Opening Sequence Evaluation Activity 2.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I chose to compare the main character of my story which is Lily, she plays a picked on bullied girl in my film opening. The way I portray her is to be a bit geeky with the glasses and in one part she walks weirdly with big black shoes. I compared Lily to the main character out of the film 'Never Been Kissed'. The films are completely different but the character in the story 'Josie' reminded me of Lily's character at the start of my film opening. Very unaware. The film never been kissed isn't a tragic or horror story but the characters are very alike in ways. They both have a 'nerdy' personality. Also at school people pick on them both for being the way that they are.

I would also compare Lily to the character 'Mullet' who is in the film 'Tormented.' The story-line for this film is basically exactly like mine, where he gets bullied at school and commits suicide, and comes back to haunt the people who bullied him.

I think this character fits perfectly to compare with Lily in my film opening as it fits with the genre and story-line of my film perfectly.

Obviously my characters are different sex but still the comparison fits well. They also fit well as they both wear the same type of clothes 'school wear.'

Opening Sequence Evaluation Activity 1.

In what ways does your media products use, develop, or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

   These are the nine images I chose to analysis.

The aspects considered in the nine frames:

The title of the film: The film title frame is the bottom frame in the sequence. I made it simple but made the font have an eery look to it. I have used the simple colours black and white. White on a black background to not exaggerate the thriller feel to this film but to just keep the audience's attention to want to find out what happens in the film.

Setting/Location: In each of my frames there is a different location for my film. It starts off with my first frame the victim in my opening is at school which shows an average everyday life of a teenager going to school, and is also a common place for bullying to occur which fits in with my story perfectly. The second frame is the two bullies walking down the street another average setting, very simple but also effective as I made it so that the bullies and victim meet walking towards each other in the street which could easily be done and isn't to far fetched. The next two frames are the victim in her bathroom, which is showing her alienation and depression as she shuts the door which shows she is shutting everything out from her.

The next two frames are the bullies being 'repaid.' The first one is set in the bullies living room, the second one is the bully in his bed at night being haunted. These settings are simple ideas for places to be haunted but also still works to keep the audience's attention as being alone makes the horror all that more effective.

Costumes and Props: The costumes in my film opening are basic everyday clothes that an average everyday teenager would wear. For example school uniform for the school section, a dressing gown when the victim is at home. This gives the film the everyday feel with a slight twist which is where the horror and intensity is involved and fits in with the film. The props used in the film are mainly the pills that are taken by the victim when she kills herself. Props used in these type of films help the audience to understand what is happening and give it a feel as if it is really happening.

Camerawork and editing: I used a range of different shots in my opening. For example in my frames I chose to use a medium close up , long shot, close ups etc. This was to get as much emotion into the opening as possible for example when I did the close ups it was mainly the section when the victim is about to kill herself this is to get across to the audience how devastated she is with what's happening to her at that moment. Using medium close ups gets the body language of the character such as the bullies, I wanted the audience to see their body language when they bully the victim but also their facial expression for their anger.

Title font and style: The title font which I used was a simple font. I didn't want it to exaggerate the horror theme of the opening. Keeping it simple makes it more mysterious to the audience in what happens. I also have a frame where it quotes "1 Week later, karma always finds it's way" The font I used for this stretched out the letters to make them long which I thought looked right for the opening and fitted in well to make it effective.

Story and how the opening sets it up: I have used the shot of the girl victim walking up the stairs in her school, I then have one of the bullies walking out of the door pushing her around, which immediately shows to the audience that the girl in the opening is being bullied which shows this is what my film is going to be mainly about.

Genre and how the opening suggests it: The opening of my film is an average real life setting such as a school which is the setting of my first frame. The opening of my film also has spooky and eery background music to it. This tells the audience that the story has a real life theme to it but at the same time something mysterious happens to it.

How characters are introduced: In the opening of my film I introduce the characters quite quickly to get straight to the point of my film. The first shot introduces the main character, the girl who gets bullied, then shortly after in the second shot it introduces one of the bullies pushing her around. It then goes straight on to another part where the victim has to face the bullies again in a different situation which then introduces the other bully.

Special effects: I do use some special effects in my opening for example in my last frame I chose I have used adobe after effects to show in one of the hauntings that happens in my opening, the bullied girl coming back as a ghost to give the audience more understanding and to make them realise that the girl is haunting them. I also used slow motion which is my 7th and 8th frame I have to show the reactions of the bullies when they are being haunted more clearly it also gives the opening more effect.

Final Opening Sequence.