Evaluation of foundation portfolio

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

Title of the film: The title and credits of my opening are displayed within the scene rather than using text that is added during the editing process. This is not as common in film openings but it is an effective method of displaying titles, the opening of Napoleon Dynamite uses this method which is where I got some of my inspiration from, although the titles are very different and are displayed on their own, rather than incorporated into the narrative.

The title is displayed at the end of the opening which is quite unusual but I had to have it this way because the title fades into the last scene of the opening. The credits are written in scruffy handwriting, in black pen, which fits with the dark gloomy mise en scene of the rest of the opening.

Setting and Location: The majority of my opening is shot in the characters bedroom, this is quite common in films and it shows the character performing simple tasks like getting up and getting dressed. I have developed this conventional opening style by introducing more of the narrative towards the end when the character finds the address. Although it is in the background, the bedroom is very important in my opening because the messiness and disorganisation represents the state of the character, this is also a very common technique of introducing characters in the opening. Lots of films use a similar setting but they are usually films of a different genre like more girly films, there is some exceptions for example Control opens into a bedroom scene and the mise en scene and mood is quite similar to my opening.

Costumes and props: The costume of my character is quite plain and dark coloured, which fits with the mise en scene and reflects the characters mood, this is a common convention in almost every film because the costumes can establish a lot about the character, for example their job, social class, wealth and regional identity.

I don't have many props in my opening but the piece of paper that has an address written on it is a very important prop and sets up the story for the rest of the film, props are quite important in the opening because, like costumes they can also tell us a lot about the character, but I have chosen to not use many props and not give too much away so the viewers are enticed and intrigued by my opening.

Camerawork and editing: Most of my shots are medium, or close up shots to give the impression that the character is very enclosed and trapped, which represents the theme for the rest of the story. The cuts are quite slow so it looks like an opening and not a trailer, a lot of openings are very slow cut.

Story and how the opening sets it up: The opening doesn't give away much of the story at all but it shows the address which is key element in the story although it doesn't explain the significance of it in the opening, this makes it more effective because it makes the viewer want to see more as there are unanswered questions.

Genre and how the opening suggests it: The Genre of my film is a drama which is based around one central character. The opening of my film is very slow cut and there is no high paced action scenes that you might find in a crime or action film. The main focus of the opening is to introduce the central character and the general mood for the film, rather than introducing the story straightaway, this is quite common in drama films as the story progresses quite slowly as opposed to action films where everything is quite fast and action packed.

How characters are introduced: The main character is introduced right at the beginning of the opening when he wakes up and the opening follows him getting up and leaving the house, this is very common in openings because the setting, costumes and props can show a lot about the characters personality without any dialogue.

How does your media product represent social groups?: The main social group represented in my film is teenagers/young adults, the main character who is introduced in the opening is aged 17. The costume he is wearing helps to portray him as a teenager because he is wearing simple jeans and t-shirt which is typical of teenagers and less common in older people. Also, in the bedroom, the posters on the wall are of bands that are very popular amongst the younger generation, and the bedroom is very untidy which is a stereotypical attribute of a teenager.

What kind of media institution might distribute yo ur media product and why? Momentum Pictures are a UK based film distributor. I have chosen them to distribute my film because they work with lots of British films rather than Hollywood blockbusters and they have distributed 'Control' which was one of the biggest influences for my opening.

Who would be the audience for your media product?: I think that teenagers and young adults between the ages of 16 and 25 would be the target audience for my film. People who like more serious drama type films but also want a character that they can relate to on some level.

How did you attract/address your audience?

In my opening, the character suddenly wakes up and seems very distressed which immediately makes the audience question why and makes them want to see more. Later on, when he finds the piece of paper with and address on, there is no explanation as to where the address is or why it is so important which leaves more unanswered questions, and finally the character packs a bag and leaves at the end of the opening. I did not have any dialogue in my opening and my character was rather mysterious so I didn't give away too much information, so the viewers would have to watch further to unfold the rest of the story.


What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?: I have learnt how to use the video cameras to film and watch back my footage before editing. I used imovie to trim and edit the clips together, as well as change the lighting and put effects on the shots for example on he last shot I used the 'day to night' effect so it gradually became darker, I also used imovie to put in titles, fade outs and music, which I imported via itunes.

I learnt to use blogger and post regular updates on the progress of my work and to keep track of my planning and development of ideas.

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

I learnt the 180 degree rule and how to compose shots properly when I was doing my prelimnary task, this helped me a lot when creating my final product because I made sure all of the shots looked professional and I maintained continuity throughout which is very important in making my film look realistic. In my final product I learn the importance of shooting each shot at least twice giving you lots more footage to work with when editing, to make sure that I had enough to complete the full opening and to make sure every shot was good.

Final Cut

Final Product

I have finished all of the editing and put my music over the top. I am generally quite happy with my opening because It achieves the mise en scene and mood that I wanted it to and I think it works quite well as an opening to a film because it doesn't give too much away but it does entice the viewer. I will be posting the final video shortly.

Preliminary task

Copyright Music

I can't use any of the music choices that I wanted to because they are copyrighted, so I have chosen a non copyrighted track from:

http://freeplaymusic.com/

Filming Finished

I have managed to film all of my shots over one evening and have about 10 minutes of footage to play with, I made sure that I filmed each shot twice so I had a range to use. I made some changes to my shots: the credits were displayed differently because I thought that the idea of having them on a t-shirt didn't work very well, so I have changed them and they are displayed on the door of the wardrobe. I also had to change some of my angles because of the limited space in the room that I was working in.

Preliminary Task

This is a short video that I have filmed and edited for my preliminary task.

The film didn't work very well because the shots didn't match up, so it didn't look as if the two characters were looking at each other. I am going to film a second preliminary which is better.

Music Choices

I'm not quite sure yet whether I am going to have music running throughout my opening or just at the end. If it is running throughout, it will have to be quite quiet and unobtrusive but If it is at the end, it can be more upbeat and obvious. I have picked four different songs which I am considering using

Filming Location

I have decided to film in my brothers bedroom because I wanted the characters room to be very messy and unorganised to reflect his personality, and I thought that it would be much better to use a natural mess rather than try and create one because it looks more authentic. I will make adjustments but I will keep the room almost exactly as it is in the pictures.

Ideas for Mise en scene and general mood

The mood of the opening will be very dark and all of the characters actions will be performed very slowly and half heartedly. The Mise En Scene needs to be quite dull and not very brightly lit, the colours will be very boring and neutral . I am considering doing my opening in black and white but I would like to highlight important objects by having them in colour, like in Sin City but I don't think I would be able to achieve this with the equipment available to me. Throughout the opening, the characters facial expression will stay almost the same, apart from when he realises that he has lost the piece of paper with the address written on it, this will show the audience that the piece of paper and the address written on it are significant to the film.

I am going to integrate my credits into the opening sequence rather than having them written in text because I think that it will be a more interesting way to do it, I took some of my inspiration for my credits from Napoleon Dynamite which we watched with Mr Cole in class.

Breakdown of shots

1. The scene will start with a front on medium shot of a boy suddenly waking up and sitting up in bed, he looks suprised and shocked, as if he has had a nightmare.

2. The music starts. Close up shot of his feet coming down onto the floor, inamongst lots of empty bottles.

3.Camera slowly moves up and stops at his face, giving the audience a close up of his profile.

4. Medium shot of him slowly getting up and reaching for a t-shirt

5. Medium shot from the front of him putting the T-shirt on, credits are written on the T-shirt.

6. Low angled shot from inside a wardrobe, character reaches in and takes out his trousers.

7. Medium shot from behind the character of him shutting wardrobe, credits are displayed on the doors of the wardrobe.

8. Close up of him tying his shoes

9. Close up of jacket on table, hand reaches in and grabs it.

10. Medium shot of him putting the jacket on and reaching into the pocket, he frantically checks all of the pockets as if looking for something, then begins to look around.

11. close up of him pulling books and papers out of his back until he finds a small scrap of paper at the bottom.

12. Close up of the piece of paper which has an address written on it, he turns it over and it has the title of the film, guilt, written on it, the piece of paper then slowly starts to burn and the music fades, there is a long transition and it slowly merges into a long shot of him walking down the road away from the camera. Fade to black.

Audience research

We interviewed a number of different people and asked them about film openings.


Questions:
1. What do you think makes a good opening?
2. What is your favourite opening?
3. Are characters important in the opening?

From my audience research, I have found that people enjoy something exciting and dramatic to happen in an opening, without giving away too much information, so I have decided that in the nightmare scene of my opening, I will use lots of close ups and there will be no shots of the characters face, so the audience are left wondering whether it's the same character that they see later on in the opening. I also found out that it's important to introduce key characters, so I will try to put across a strong sense of the characters personality throughout the opening sequence.

More Ideas

I have come up with some more ideas for my opening, as I said in my earlier post, the opening will be a nightmare that the character is having. It will start with him trying to wash blood off his hands but however hard he tries he can't get rid of it. He then looks in the mirror and in the reflection he sees the woman he killed with bruises and injurys all over her, he runs out of the bathroom and suddenly he ends up on the roof of a building and he is cornered, he hears the woman footsteps coming up the stairs towards him so he jumps from the roof and that is where he will wake up and the scene ends.

In the bathroom, I will use a white sink to symbolise innocence, which is then stained with the blood. The blood not coming off his hands represents him no being able to get rid of the guilt of killing the woman.

Fight Club

Right at the beginning of the title sequence, the music starts but is then interupted by a different very contrasting song, this could possibly represent the contrast between the two characters in the film, so right from the beginning they are setting the mood for the rest of the film. Most of the title sequence is the credits and there is images of the inside of a persons brain, this is very significant because the film is about a man with severe psycological issues. The shot eventually moves onto the barrell of a gun but this isn't clear at first because it is extremely close up, then the focus changes and you can see a man who looks quite badly beaten and very scared, the voiceover then comes in and says 'people are always asking me if i know tyler durden' this higlights him as an important character and the close up of the man and his expression accosiates the character with fear. The shot then moves to a profile shot, where you can see the man with the gun in his mouth but you can only see the hand of the man holding the gun, so there is an immediate sense of mystery created and the audience want to watch more to find out who he is. When the scene moves from inside the brain, the music stops and it is very quiet, this highlights the fact that they are alone.

The mise en scene is very dark and dismal, the character is tied to a chair and seems to be wearing only a dresssing gown, giving the impression he has been taken from his house at night.

I think that this is an effective film opening because there isn't much information given away even though it opens on a very dramatic scene so it leaves the audience hooked.

This is England

This is England has a very unusual title sequence because a lot of the images used are existing film clips for example there is shot of princess diana. None of the characters from the film are featured in the opening but it succeeds to firstly establish the time period that the film is set in and to show the state of the country during this time. There is quite a few shots featuring Magaret Thatcher because she was prime minister at the time. The union jack features heavily to symbolise the prominence of groups like the national front which the film is centered around. Although I can't use existing images in my foundation portfolio, this opening shows how the use of a few powerful images can establish time period and the mood or subject of the film.

Film Idea's

The gripping story of an 18 year old trying to live with the guilt of running over and killing a pregnant mother to be.

My opening sequence will be a nightmare that my character is having about the woman, but im not sure what will happen yet, and the scene will end with him waking up suddenly.

Trainspotting

Trainspotting is, in my opinion, one of the best film openings ever created. I think it works so well because you are thrown straight into the action and the audience are immediately questioning why the characters are running, therefore they want to see more. It's also effective in introducing the characters because it does it very directly by displaying the characters names on the screen, which may not be the most creative way of introducing them but it makes it clear who the main characters are. The mise en scene is quite dark and dingy and the colours are very unexciting, this represents the grim lifestyle that the characters have. The costumes are very scruffy and it looks as if there is no care taken in their appearance, this all adds up to create the feeling of desperation and despair.

Overall I think this makes a good film opening because it manages to entise the viewers and introduce all of the main characters in the first 3 minutes.

Action plan

Over the next two weeks I am going to carry out interviews with people about their views on film, to get a better idea about what people think makes a good film opening. I will also be looking at some existing film openings to get inspiration and look at the tequniques used in creating them.
Once I have decided on a final idea, I will plan out what will happen in the opening and storyboard it. I can then work out my different shots and start to think about music that I will use and how I will cut it together.

Research for my film

I have decided that for my research I am going to conduct video interviews with friends, family, and neighbours. thought about asking random people on the street but I decided against it because I thought that strangers might be reluctant to answer my questions and the answers might not be as good.
As well as the film interviews, I could create a survey which I could distribute using social networking sites like facebook, and e-mail.

Marking example work.

Voice from the past

Overall it wasn't too bad and the use of music was quite good in creating the atmosphere. The titles at the were very good, but the camera shots at the start were a bit boring and unvaried.

The Case

I didn't like 'The Case' at all. The narrative didn't make much sense and it was hard to follow. The camera wasn't steady for some of the shots and the mise en scene wasn't right and didn't fit in with the story, but by far the worst thing about this film was the sound, they used very fast paced dance music which was too loud and I couldn't really work out why it was used.

Initial ideas for my foundation portfolio.

1. What do you want to achieve in your production work?

I want my foundation portfolio to be a good film opening which engages and entertains the viewer. I don't want to waste my time making a cheesy film and I want to do something which will stick in peoples mind.

2. Do you want to work individually or in a pair?

I would prefer to work individually because I feel that if I worked in a pair, my film would not end up the way I wanted it to because of the other persons input.


I think that I will probably do the film task because the magazine brief is limited to music magazines only and although music magazines are something that appeal to me, I would still rather do the film option because there is more oppurtunity to be creative and my end production would be better because there is less restriction on what I can do.