-you've laid out your blog nicely with a nice and orderly text size/colour aswell as imagery - although basic, its aesthetics give it a professional feel.
-black screen
1st shot
my first shot is of a oil drum. the shot starts with the camera inside the oil drum and slowly works it way out. the oil drum is in the centre of the shot for the whole of this shot.
2nd shot
my second shot is of the ground. the camera tracks over the ground, moving quicker than the other shots and then, after a few moments, it stops and stays static. then a hand pops up from the ground and then the screen fades to the title of the film.
3rd shot
the third shot is from the teenagers point of view when they see the reaper in the shadows. the camera zooms in slowly and the reaper doesn't move. the reaper is in the centre of the shot. you can't see the reapers face. he is silhouetted
so far, the idea i have for my film opening doesn't have that many different shot. most of them are tracking shots or zooms. because of this, my rough drawn out storyboard isn't very accurate in what i want to portray because there isn't enough detail. what i'm going to do is break up the shots into 2 or maybe 3 parts and draw them out on the storyboard, showing the transitions and how they move.
i know where i'm going to film my opening but i'm not sure of the limitations i have. i don't know what's there and what isn't. what i'm going to do is draw out what i'd like to film and then go scouting for it. for example. i want a pan rounmd shot of a tree but i'm not sure if there is a tree to meet my requirements.
if after i've drawn my storyboard and there isn't anything like that to film, i'll just adapt it slightly and film something similar in the same fashion. that way, it shouldn't affect my storyboard too much. due to my shots just being shots of the location anyway, changing some of them won't have a huge affect on the story anyway.
my idea is to have a number of different tracking shots fading out to eachother with credits going over the screen but keeping them simple. no effects on the titles.
1st shot
start by the camera moving its way out of an oil drum slowly. starting with the base of the oil drum and working its way towards the top.
2nd shot
shot of the inside of a bomb shelter, starting with the back and moving towards the entrance. tracking shot but keeping the speed the same as the other shots. credits over the screen same as before.
3rd shot
shot of the interior of a car starting with the camera under the drivers seat and moving to the back and out the window. shoot in two shots but use clever editing to create the illusion hat its one shot. credits over the screen.
4th shot
pan round a tree with a noose on it. have the tree in the centre of the shot at all times, keep the speed of the camera moving the same as the other shots. credits over the screen.
5th shot
tracking shot of the ground and the speed of the movement going faster because the music will go faster. credits shown on screen till the last few seconds where a hand pops out from the ground. when this happens the camera has steadied.
after each shot it fades out and then fades in but at a dark point. for example the shot in the car starts in the drivers seat shadow.
BRIMSTONE
the images i included in my moodboard are the images that gave me inspiration to follow up and carry on with my idea for a comic book adaptation. i was having serious doubts on whether or not it would work. because my film is based around one character, that character being reaper, most of the images i found are to do with his image or his past.
MOVIESTORM - TERMINATOR SPOOF
the other day we were asked to have a go at making a film on moviestorm. It was our first go at using the software and it took quite a while to get used to it. it's a hard thing to get the hang of because more than anything, it's very slow loading.
original
introduction to theme of film - for example, saw films have a brutal and gory killing in the title sequence which introduces the theme and mood.
to my brother
kestenbetsa
thomas langmann
presents
a co-production
AJOZ films - la petite reine
UGC images
TFI films production
120 films
crystalcreek Ltd (UK)
ultra films (mexico)
with the participation of
TPS cinema
vincent cassel
julette leis
michael madsen
"BLUEBERRY"
with
tenuera morrison
enerst borgnine
djimon hounsou
hugh o'conor
geffrey lewis
nicole hiltz
kateri walker
vahina giocante
kestenbetsa
special guest
tcheky karyo
with eddie izzard
and
colin meaney
in the tae of me chase
loosely adapted from the 'blueberry' comic book series
serie drawn by
jean mcebius giraud
script and dialogue
gerardbrach
matt alexander
and ian kouren
original music by
lean lacques hertz and francois roy
director of photography
tetsu nagata
visual effects
rodolphe chabner
production designer
michel barthelemy
costume designer
chattoune and fab
sound
albert bailey and dean humphreys
production manager
emmanuel jacqelin
editors
benedick brunet joel jacovella
assistant directors
pascal salafe
javier clave
co-producers
UGC images
timothy burril and michel lacor
produced by
ariel zeitoun and thomas langmann
a
jan kounen film
Dino De Laurentiis presents
"FLASH GORDON"
Sam .J. Jones
as flash gordon
Melody Anderson
as dale arden
Ornella Muti
as princess aura
Max Von Sydow
as the emperer ming
Topol
as Dr. hans zarkov
Timothy Dalton
as prince barin
Brian Blessed
as prince vultan
Peter Wyngarde
as klytus
Mariangela Melato
as kala
John Osbourne
Richard O'brien
John Hallam
Philip Stone
Suzanne Danielle
Production. Costumes and sets
designed by
Danilo Donati
executive producer
bernard williams
director of photography
Gil taylor B.S.C
film editor
Malcolm Cooke
Music composed by. performed
and produced by
QUEEN
orchestral score composed
and arranged by
Howard Blake
Screenplay by
Lorenzo Semple .JR.
Adaptation by
Michael Allin
based on the characters created by Alex raymond
licensed by king features syndicate
producer
Dino De Laurentiis
director
Mike Hodges
mostly orchestral where as flash gordons music was done by a rock band. queen did the song 'flash'. sound effects are used for both of the openins. flash gordon used wind gails and explsion sounds for when emperer ming is destroing earth. blueberry has sound effects all the way through the sequence including a small child talking and animal noises. all sounds help us establish what the films about. flash gordon is a traditional comic book theme with he 'sav the world' idea. where as the sound for blueberry suggests that the film will follow a boy in the wilderness, which it does. 
it's a nice dedication to the art work from the comic book.BLUEBERRY
this french film was based on the western comic book series thought up by Jean-Michel Charlier and Jean Giraud.
FLASH GORDON
the film was based on the comic created by alex raymond and licensed by king features syndicate.
my initial idea for my film opening is you don't quite know whether or not the main character is good or not. the name suggests that the film is dark and based on fiction. the name 'reaper', sounds as if the character takes peoples souls and isn't good. this idea is to create mystery which is good in comic book idea films. the wolverine in x-men is a mysterious character in that you don't know where he came from or who he is. this is the sam idea i want to achieve.
Alexander
my idea for the film opening is to have a static camera shot of the ground and hold it for about 20 seconds. before this have establishing shots of a forest/ grave yard type setting. have titles over the screen through the shot until the action takes place. after about 20 seconds have a hand punch its way through the ground and make a growl kind of sound to create confusion as to whether or not this person is good or not.
independant movie featuring a young protagonist. your film should appear to be financed through regional funding.
pitch ideas:
1- a boy wakes up one day and realises that he's changing, and that he's afraid his friends won't except him.
2- an old man who's close to death retells aspects of his life to his grandson as if it's one big adventure.
a supernatural thriller that will appeal to female audiences. your film should appear to be an international co-production.
pitch ideas:
1- after the death of her only son 32 year old mary swindon leaves her home and travels someplace new. when shes there she adopts a boy named eric, only to find that he knows a little too much about her sons tragic death which she knows nothing about.
2- many years after her husband dies in a car accident shes haunted by him again with the intention to carry on the sickly abuse he gave her whilst he was alive.
3- 31 years working on the maternity ward has been easy living for 51 year old aggie byers but one night she waes up after hearing cries and screams. from then on every night shes haunted by the wailing of babies and she tries her bes to find whats happening to her.
i think that the main thing when appealing to a female audience is the lead has to be a women. this way females can relate to the main character and go through what their going through. it's a way to get cloder with the main character.
1-he's escaped and ready to seek revenge on those who murdered his school friends back when he was 15.
2-after hiding from the world a man decides to leave his sanctuary after hearing the city is overpopulated with evil.
3- a man who has nothing to live for is going to fight to save the life of those who treasure it.
4- the after life is well-worn for the unlikeliest of heroes who decides to rise again and fight evil.
i like my last pitch because it sounds unique where as the others sound over used and plain. my pitch sounds dark which is the approach i want to go for and sounds interesting to do. if i find the right place to shoot i could have a scene where something bad happens and then show the hero rising fro his grave. i'll have to represen the hero in such a way that shows he's good and not evil. most of the time people rising from the ground means they're ombies or evil in some way. the 'something bad' as i put it, doesn't need to be anything drastic. it could be as mellow as a purse snatching but i might explore this idea and think of something a little more adventurous like a killing or kidnapping. the most important thing though is finding a way to show the story in such a short amount of time. remembering that the title sequence or opening will only be a couple of minutes long.
i've always been a fan of the Batman films, the tim burton adaptations were fantastic. he really captured the dark and sinful world of a comic book hero. there was just something about them though that didn't appeal. the playful villians and unrealistic fighting might have had something to do with it. christopher nolan did what nobody thought was possible. he completely transformed the franchise making batman a more believable person. he spent mre time finding ways to make batman look and feel like a real person. the gadgets and costumes were all real and are possible to obtain. burtons look and feel of batman was slightly more fictional.
the thing i like about nolans sequal to his first encounter with the character is that he created this corrupt and dismal atmosphere which felt so real. what he also did was he made batman almost the second character as the dark knight is all about the villian, the joker. the joker is hands down far more intersting than batman. the way the villian is portrayed in the dark knight is that he's always one step ahead of the hero. this creates some great moments in the film and also makes batman to be a far more grittier character. he gets put in situations that may resultin death. in comic book films, most of the time, good guys don't die. it's always the numerous amount of henchman that get killed off.
if i were to use pitch 1 for my opening to a film piece, i would really like to make it with a truely great villian and make it a believable setting, like hellboy. i believe that setting a fictional character in a real world makes it slightly more frightning and definalty more exciting. i want to be able to achieve this. maybe, since the opening is only going to be a few minutes long, only show the villian. focusing onl on one charactere should have it's dvantages. coming up with a hero and a villian will be difficult if i don't wat this opening piece to look loosely made and crude. by focusing simply on he villian, i should be able to concentrate on the darker side of comic book film which is what i want to achieve.
this is the trailer of the first Hellboy film which was released in 2004 and made by Guillermo del Toro. this trailer was the trailer i saw, their are a number of trailers that were released to market the film. this trailer made me go see the film at the cinema and it didn't disappoint.
the opening to a film in a way is like a film trailer. they both have the same purpose. their trying to sell people the ideo of the film. this is a very good trailer because it doesn' make the mistake of giving too much away and doesn't show the best parts of the film like so many other trailers make the mistake of doing these days.
hellboy was created my mike mignola and was ublished in dark horse comics. mike pitched the idea to DC comics before going to dark horse comics but they weren't too keen on the idea involving hell. they thought it was a bit too dark.
Pitch 1
A mainstream action film that will appeal to 15-25yr old males. Your film should appear to be based on a "fictional" comic book.
comic based films have always been a guilty pleasure of mine, having grown up with such films like masters of the universe and batman. their films that don't need much story line, just a great character. Batman, Spiderman, Ironman, Superman; their all the names of films based on comic book characters. the names of the films are of the characters so obviously the character has a lot of input in the film and has importance.
using the pitch, i straight away thought about where i could get ideas from. almost all comic inspired films are for a Male audience so that part of the pitch wasn't too difficult to come to grips with. the action and 'saving the day' aspect of film is always enjoyed more by males simply because that's what we enjoy. we like lots of action, loud noises and explosions.
the first film i researched as Hellboy. i think Hellboy is a very original film in that the good guy in a way is also the bad guy, because he's the devil. that's never really been done before although batman is seen as a authority-ignoring vigilante. the gritty atmosphere and dark setting make Hellboy so different from any other comic action film which tend to be colourful and vibrant to show the world in a more comic book like way. the world in a comic book is nothing like the real world. Hellboy, although based on supernatural, is more realistic. it rains, it's dark, nothings perfect in the real world. Hellboy reflects this and tells the story which could quite possible be real.
Hellboy himself is a great character. he's witty and has a gun. one of the greatest combinations in film history. it always seems to work. Hellboy's sense of humour and 'walk in guns blazing' attitude is what the male audience like about it. if i were to go with this pitch, i would want to incorporate a supernatural hero into the real world, possibly make it slightly more edgy and darker to give it more atmosphere and depth. things you associate to be real are far more interesting so setting it in true to life settings would an interesting choice.
this a logo i designed to be a production company logo for my work through out the course. i made this when i was playing around with after effects. it isn't my final one but it's given me convidence to move on and try and explore other ideas i could come up with. the production name and images i made up. for a production logo this one is a little long. most of them are around 4 seconds long. this one is closer to 10 seconds long. if i were to use this one i would change it's length and work on the tone of the images. by that i mean i would change the colour of the image so it wasn't the same colour as th background. at the moment it clashes.
this is a logo i made using the long road logo. i manipulated it using after effects for putting infront of the films i make during the course so people are aware who made it. it's farily simple but i beleive that the simplist of ideas are often the best. it isn't a long logo either but they usually aren't. the idea behind it is straight forward. my idea was to have every aspect of the logo moving towards the centre of the screen at the same time. cming together to form the gogo. then i decided to make part of it look as if it was dropping into the rest of the logo. this part is the last part of the logo that moves. that was the hardespart of the logo to do. i did it once but i didn't like the look of it so i went back and made it more simple. i'm happy with this logo though. it was one of the first things i did in after effects so i'm proud of it.
the opening we looked at in class was a good attempt at cracking the genre which is difficult. only a few people can manage to make a good thriller.
http://50thrillerproject08.blogspot.com/
the planning was brilliant. they had thought about the storyboard and the props they needed. they had thought about schedule and where to shoot. they had done priliminary titles for the film name as well to see which one would work best. they had written out the names of the people shopwn in the credits. planning was done very well except that they didn't have enough imagery. only a few videos were on it.
research wasn't done very well at all. they only researched one film. the film they researched was the usual suspects. the research wasn't done very well at all. you can't make a film opening without doing research.
the final film was good however there were parts that didn't work as well as others. the quick cuts of the eyes at the beginning wasn't done very professionally and looked tacky. the shots of the man on the bench were done well, they had thought about the shots and stuck to their initial idea from the storyboard which is good. a few of the shots were unneeded however as they didn't add to the overall thriller affect.
the quick cuts of the pills and fire is done very well and works well with the music. the music is very eary and compliments the genre nicely.
the acting is done well, the straight faces add no extra unnessessary emotion.
overall i would give the film about 38 because it was good but some parts needed work. the mirror scene was a good idea but the rough cut looked tacky and wasn't professional.
the planning and resdearch would be about 13 because the planning is good but theres hardly any research which is vital in making a thriller opening. knowledge of the genre is crucial.
because i couldn't get YouTube working at home and the libraries blocked it, i did my hwk on one of the as media films we saw yesturday.
the flicker effect and transparency of the titles is done very well and works well with the genre. it's very similar to Se7en. some of the shot's aren't set up very well. for example, the shot of the fish tank with blood is at a strange angle and looks displeasing.
the quick cuts of the stairs are good too however gets to the point of almost being a danger for people with epilepsy. the shots of the test tubes with numbers on looks tacky because of the pase.
the sound is good and compliments the genre but is rather repetitive. the credits were good, no rude or crude names mentioned.
this is a good opening however because it's so short you can't afford to have a few parts looking awkward and because their are, it isn't fantastic because it could have been a lot better if a few shots were changed and steadied.
the logo for warner brothers is very simple in the way its animted because it's a simple fade in effect. there arent any moving parts in the logo itself. it's a shield shape with the letters W, and B inside the shape. fairly simple but simple logo's are often better because they're easier to remember and more eye catching. complicated logo's are often forgotten.
the warner bros. logo has changed a bit though. for the matrix release the logo changed colour and texture to fit the theme for matrix. th logo was green with a black background. the normal logo is yellow and light blue. the significance of the colours is that they are warming and welcoming colours and this is what warner brothers want to achieve.
bugs bunny used to be leant against the logo as well when looney tunes was warner brothers' little big planet. i say that because little big planet is almost like the spokesman for the playstation 3. this is what the looney tunes was for warner brothers.
the logo is just a simple fade in effect. theres no animation what so ever.
i like the opening 2 minutes because it's a fantastic introduction to the three main characters. it starts off with titles and then your introduced to the characters. the titles fly past the screen. the sound when the titles are flying past livens it up adds to the pase. the sound is traffic and thats what the next shot is so it's a lead up to the film starting.
after the titles theres a shot of a car driving across the highway at night going very fast. the camera starts from behind and works its way to the side of the car and then goes ahead of the car. this is just an introduction to the setting of the film. after that shot, it goes back to a black screen and it says where the film is set and when it's set. the next shot is 30 seconds long and the camera is stationary. its of the interior of the car with the three main characters in. this is an introduction to the characters and because its a longer shot it's more natural and therefore the audience think its realistic and not fiction.
then theres a shot of the guys stopping and opening the boot of the car. we can see that they have knives and guns so they must be criminals in some way. we associate weapons with criminals and violence so it fits perfectly in the film. when the boot opens theres a man wrapped up in table cloth with blood everywhere. one of the guys stabs him some more and then another one shoots him a few times. then the last character closes the boot as if nothings wrong. narrations starts as he's closing the boot and then the titles come back with music that works really well with the film.
the main character who tells the stoy is usually shown on screen alone in a shot. where as the other two characters are shown together. this suggests that he doesn't really belong or fit in with the other two guys. also, the other two guys, tommy and jimmy, stab andshoot the man in the trunk where as henry does nothing. this shows that he's different. the light coming from the car is red and reflects onto the main characters. the colour red suggests death and anger and violence. when the light shines on tommy, all thee of theseattributes are true.
i stated with titles that i slighly based on the titles from goodfellas. the way they fly over the screen is similar. then your introduced to the setting on the film and music starts seconds later. i wanted the editing to be in time with the music and i think i did that okay. he first shot is of the statue of liberty and i did a key frame on this shot making the camera go up. then there are numerous shots of the city with actor names going over them in the same fashion as the titles at the beginning. i didn't cut and change the shot whilst there was a actrname onscreen to prevent confusuon which might have been the case.
