Friday, 27 November 2015
Thursday, 26 November 2015
Friday, 20 November 2015
DIFFERENT TYPES OF TITLE SEQUENCES IN FILMS
On a title sequence you would expect the following to occur:
-The name of the film
-An understanding of the tone/atmosphere of the film
-Narrative information
-Introduce some/all characters
-Sense of the films genre
-Actors name
-Establish the location
There are four different types of title sequences used in Hollywood:
-Traditional title sequence
-Discrete title sequence
-Straight into the film
-Stylised opening sequence
Traditional title sequence:
The traditional title sequence is stylised but still goes straight into the beginning of the film. In this type of title sequence, films use sound and font alongside the images to create the mood of the film. The film will then begin and jump straight into the action of the film.
For example: Drive
It makes him appear as mysterious and lonely. It is set in the late 1980's to early 1990's as shown by the use of techno music and the sense of dress and pink font. It gives presents the mood of an 'american diner' through the use of the pink font and jazzy music. Furthermore it represents a sense of loneliness due to the film being set in the late hours of the night.
Discrete title sequence:
The discrete title sequence is like a mini film before the film and helps to get the audience into the mood of the film, but not tell you what the film is specifically about. It can give you an idea of the tone and genre of the movie. A 'discrete' opening sequence is often animated and includes a lot of editing work, typically found in high budget films for example, James Bond or the girl with the dragon tattoo.
For example: The girl with the dragon tattoo
It gives off a dark atmosphere with the dark colours used such as black and grey. Furthermore the narrative is conveyed through certain objects that subtly appear on scream, for example it hints at a common motif of hacking through the presence of wires and keyboards. Moreover, location is hinted at via the constant flow of darkened water which further amplifies the eerie mood of the film.
Straight into the film:
A straight into the film opening sequence is a film that goes straight into the story and doesn't have a extra title sequence. This type of title sequence is far less commonplace and is more likely to be seen in action or horror because they want to go straight into the it and it increases the tension and pace of the film immediately.
For example: Scream
There are no titles at all and the film starts directly with the action of the opening scene, immediately building up tension with the mysterious phone call, increasing the pace of the film.
The stylised opening scene:
A stylised title sequence is a combination of straight into the film and discrete title sequence. The opening of the film starts straight into the action and then followed by a 'discrete' title sequence.
For example: The best and most famous examples are the James Bond openings. This type of opening is often used in stylish action films such as Casino Royale or Mesrine.
MY OPENING SEQUENCE:
I think I am going to use the Straight into the film opening sequence because the genre of our film is horror, therefore it is logically to use straight into the film because they are more likely to be seen in action or horror films. Furthermore this opening sequence will create tension and will increase the pace of our film from the beginning, drawing the audience in. It will allow us to jump straight into the action and allow us to build suspense from the get go, helping us to create a fast pace and scary opening sequence for our horror film.
-The name of the film
-An understanding of the tone/atmosphere of the film
-Narrative information
-Introduce some/all characters
-Sense of the films genre
-Actors name
-Establish the location
There are four different types of title sequences used in Hollywood:
-Traditional title sequence
-Discrete title sequence
-Straight into the film
-Stylised opening sequence
Traditional title sequence:
The traditional title sequence is stylised but still goes straight into the beginning of the film. In this type of title sequence, films use sound and font alongside the images to create the mood of the film. The film will then begin and jump straight into the action of the film.
For example: Drive
It makes him appear as mysterious and lonely. It is set in the late 1980's to early 1990's as shown by the use of techno music and the sense of dress and pink font. It gives presents the mood of an 'american diner' through the use of the pink font and jazzy music. Furthermore it represents a sense of loneliness due to the film being set in the late hours of the night.
Discrete title sequence:
The discrete title sequence is like a mini film before the film and helps to get the audience into the mood of the film, but not tell you what the film is specifically about. It can give you an idea of the tone and genre of the movie. A 'discrete' opening sequence is often animated and includes a lot of editing work, typically found in high budget films for example, James Bond or the girl with the dragon tattoo.
For example: The girl with the dragon tattoo
It gives off a dark atmosphere with the dark colours used such as black and grey. Furthermore the narrative is conveyed through certain objects that subtly appear on scream, for example it hints at a common motif of hacking through the presence of wires and keyboards. Moreover, location is hinted at via the constant flow of darkened water which further amplifies the eerie mood of the film.
Straight into the film:
A straight into the film opening sequence is a film that goes straight into the story and doesn't have a extra title sequence. This type of title sequence is far less commonplace and is more likely to be seen in action or horror because they want to go straight into the it and it increases the tension and pace of the film immediately.
For example: Scream
There are no titles at all and the film starts directly with the action of the opening scene, immediately building up tension with the mysterious phone call, increasing the pace of the film.
The stylised opening scene:
A stylised title sequence is a combination of straight into the film and discrete title sequence. The opening of the film starts straight into the action and then followed by a 'discrete' title sequence.
For example: The best and most famous examples are the James Bond openings. This type of opening is often used in stylish action films such as Casino Royale or Mesrine.
MY OPENING SEQUENCE:
I think I am going to use the Straight into the film opening sequence because the genre of our film is horror, therefore it is logically to use straight into the film because they are more likely to be seen in action or horror films. Furthermore this opening sequence will create tension and will increase the pace of our film from the beginning, drawing the audience in. It will allow us to jump straight into the action and allow us to build suspense from the get go, helping us to create a fast pace and scary opening sequence for our horror film.
Friday, 13 November 2015
WHICH NAME FOR OUR THRILLER?
There are a number of different names we have come up with that would be suited for our film's name.
1) The call-
Although we this name is very effective, we felt that it was too similar to existing film names such as 'the calling' and 'when a stranger calls', both of which follow a similar narrative to our film.
2)Alone-
Again, although this name was effective, we felt that it didn't suit the narrative of our film as well as some other names did.
3) A call from the devil-
From our research we found that this name was very popular, however we felt that it gave the storyline of our film away too easily, leaving the audience nothing left to found out.
4) 999-
This was our favourite name because in a state of shock the first thing people do is the call the police, therefore we thought that this name for our horror film would help us to attract our target audience. However, our opening sequence developed and we removed the phone call to the police because of timing issues, therefore we realised that this name wouldn't make any sense. This lead us to our last suggestion...
5) 666-
This is the name we went with because the numbers '666' is known as the devil's number. This suits our film perfectly because our killer is going to be a psychopath that believes he is killing in the name of the devil, thus the name is suitable to this narrative. Moreover, we were always going to have the killer write '666' after they murdered because it was in the name of the devil, therefore it made sense for us to just name the film 666.
Therefore, our horror film will be killed 666.
1) The call-
Although we this name is very effective, we felt that it was too similar to existing film names such as 'the calling' and 'when a stranger calls', both of which follow a similar narrative to our film.
2)Alone-
Again, although this name was effective, we felt that it didn't suit the narrative of our film as well as some other names did.
3) A call from the devil-
From our research we found that this name was very popular, however we felt that it gave the storyline of our film away too easily, leaving the audience nothing left to found out.
4) 999-
This was our favourite name because in a state of shock the first thing people do is the call the police, therefore we thought that this name for our horror film would help us to attract our target audience. However, our opening sequence developed and we removed the phone call to the police because of timing issues, therefore we realised that this name wouldn't make any sense. This lead us to our last suggestion...
5) 666-
This is the name we went with because the numbers '666' is known as the devil's number. This suits our film perfectly because our killer is going to be a psychopath that believes he is killing in the name of the devil, thus the name is suitable to this narrative. Moreover, we were always going to have the killer write '666' after they murdered because it was in the name of the devil, therefore it made sense for us to just name the film 666.
Therefore, our horror film will be killed 666.
Friday, 6 November 2015
EDITING AND FILMING PRE-LIM
OUR PRELIM TASK:
1. 180 degree rule we must adhere to
2. Film everything a minimum of 3 times
3. Film everything first from a wide shot
4. Then an over the shoulder shot
5. Then a close up
6. Something must either be thrown at someone or
a door opened (we did both)
FILMING:
Before we began to film we had to learn how to
set up the tripod. This was very easy after we were shown a demonstration by
our teacher. Next we had to bubble the camera and make sure it is balanced. To
do this we had to loosen the cog at the bottom of the tripod and put the bubble
in the middle of the circle, after that we tightened the cog. Next we placed
the camera on the tripod and slid the battery in with the arrow pointing down,
until we heard the click, meaning it was secure. Then we had to white balance
the camera, normally we would do this by zooming into something white and
clicking white balance button, but due to this being our first very real
experience with the cameras we were instructed to click the automatic white
balance button, then we were ready to begin filming.
Myself, Hannah, Danielle and Michelle all chose to film our sequence by the entrance doors to our school with the tripod which we set up. Hannah and myself acted whilst Danielle directed and made sure we stuck to the 180-degree rule and Michelle filmed using the tripod. In order to successfully present the conversation upheld between Hannah and I, we decided to film different shots:
1) Wide shot
2) Over the
shoulder shot
3) Close up
shots (in order to see facial expressions)
4) Low angle
shot
Furthermore, in
order to create the best sequence we could, we filmed
each footage from the different angles so that when we go
to edit our sequence we would be able to select
the best footage recorded for out prelim
film. However we didn't film each angle three
times which we later learnt was a burden when we came
to editing.
Overall as a group I believe that we worked very well during filming. However during editing because it was the first time we had used this edit software it was a very stressful and strenuous experience for us. Furthermore we all had so many different ideas during editing, however we compromised and distressed in order to put together our prelim task.
We didn't
decide to improvise because we realised we had to knuckle down and begin
filming because we only had a limited time to film. However, that being said it
did take us a while to decide on the story which we went with. For example we
began filming in one location and realised it wasn't right for this particular
task, therefore we moved location. Therefore I believe that our time would of
been better spent to improvise our story before starting to film as we could
then develop our idea.
We edited the sequence together to make sense by firstly cutting up all the footage we had recorded and then going through each cut up clip and deciding whether we liked that shot we took. Then we started to put all the clips that we liked together. I personally found the editing very hard master. I believe this was mainly because we didn't take enough shots during filming therefore we had less clips to work with. Furthermore the software is all very new to us and so we were still very unclear on how to use it. The software is called premiere pro.
I learnt from the filming how to set up the tripod, which will come in good use when I film my thriller sequence. Furthermore I learnt about spacing whilst filming. For example you don't want to much space above someone. Whilst editing I learnt how to use the editing software and I learnt how to stick different clips together through transitions. Furthermore I learnt how to realistically implant sound effects into the sequence in order to add drama and tension to increase the pace of my sequence.
If I could do this again, I would firstly record each shot more than once, maybe three times to get a precise shot and so that when I edit I will have a wider selection of clips that I could use. Furthermore due to having limited time to prepare and film, next time I would like to use a better location and possibly gather together some props and costumes in order to create a better Mise-en-scene for my sequence so that the story is easier to follow.
Thursday, 5 November 2015
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