jAMeS

jAMeS

2. how does your media product represent particular social groups?






































my character, although he doesn't appear in the opening, is the kind of character that would appeal to zombie fan or fans who enjoy fantasy like creatures. there something mysterious about it and people like characters like that. i based it on the grim reaper. this type of character would appeal to goths or emos. teenage males mostly. but it would appeal to older men  as well who like the comic side of it.

1. in what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions or real media products? (i.e of film openings )



my first key frame is the first shot in the sequence and i like it because of its framing. i like the way the camera tracks from the centre of the barrel and slowly moves out of it, keeping the barrel in the centre of the shot. it reminds me of the title sequence of twelve monkeys and it is where i got the idea for it from. twelve monkeys is a very fictional mystery story which is what reaper is so the shot kind of ties in with that.

my second key frame is the shot of the bomb shelter. i like it because of the lighting. the way the shot starts dark an then slowly gets lighter looks visually stunning. the shot took a while to set up because the windows on the left side had to be in shot as well as the door at the end. i really like this shot and i think that the lighting is fantastic. it did take a while but it was worth it.

my third key frame is of an old defense wall. it wasn't in my storyboard but i thought it fitted the narrative better than some of the othershots. i like this shot because of the setting. it really feels secluded and dazzling visually.

my fourth key frame is the shot of the army vehicle and i chose it because i like the narative behind it. the idea behind reaper was that he was a war veteran so the fact that there's a shot of an army truck ties in with his past and fits the storyline perfectly.

my fifth key frame is a pan shot of bomb shells, and i like this because of it's camera movement. i did numerous takes of this shot during filming and the first one was the one i was most happy with.

my sixth key frame of the oil drums and such was chosen because i like the transitions. i think that the fade in and out looks really well done in this particular shot. the contrast effects i put on the shot itself looks fantastic as well. it looks really grittyand the colours remind me of that of sin city. very bold colours but look really earthy and almost dirty.

my seventh key frame is of the gas mask and i chose this because i like the props in the shot. i borrowed the gas mask from one of my friends and it works perfectly with the storyline and the past of the main character who used to be a war veteran. the gas mask reminded me of the doctor who episodes with the little boy and the gas mask. that was filmed in world war 2 london so i thought that using a gas mask that looked similar would help show audiences that hes a war veteran.

the eighth key frame is of the ground leading up to the hand scene and i chose this because o the effects. it isn't a floor at all, it was actually a work surface covered with leaves but you wouldn't be able to notice with out me saying so. it took a while getting it ready before filming but i'm very happy with the results. it fooled everyone i've shown so far and thats what i wante to achieve.

my nineth key frame is of the film title and i chose it because i like the typography. i think the font i chose stands out and at the same time looks epic which reflects the main character in a way and the film because the story behind it all is very far fetched on a big scale. the way the title comes in is a bit like the waythe titles come in for harry potter films. the fade in and zoom effect works well to draw your attention to it. i think it works well in my film.

4. who would be the audience for your media product?

the level 2 group that i showed all liked my surprise at the end and when i asked them they said that it made them want to watch on and were interested in what the film had to offer. this is what a film opening should do so i've attracted my audience by making them and to watch on.


the way i addressed my audience was by making it look visually dark and make the music create a mood. a mood in which people enjoyed and said fitted with the genre.


4. feedback sheet

what kind of genre do you think this film belongs to? why?
horror? action film? zombies?

who do you think the target audience of this film would be? why?
teenagers, similar age to me

what is your favourite image from this film? why?
the bomb shelter shot is good

if you were to borrow one idea from this film for your own film making project? what would it be and why?

the scene setting before it the film starts is good.

4. feedback sheet

what kind of genre do you think this film belongs to? why?

creep and maybe a zombie film

who do you think the target audience of this film would be? why?
young people, because this film seems like a scary, jumpy genre

what is your favourite image from this film? why?
the beginning with the muddy bucket, i like how the camera tracks out, it gives it an alien feel, but the ending with the hand gives a zombie feel.

if you were to borrow one idea from this film for your own film making project? what would it be and why?
i like the hand coming out the ground. it's a great shot and dramatic effect.

4. jake and jim feedback

today two film makers (jake and jim) came in to watch our film opening and give us feedback. this was an eye opener because it was nice to hear someone's say who understand the industry.


after watching my film opening, although impresses, he did have some criticism to give. he believed that the music was a bit too dramatic. he thought that when it started to get tense and dramatic, it made him feel as if something was going to happen. his advice was that if i were to do it again, maybe have slightly less dramatic music and when the hand comes out of the ground, have the music jump in as well. although saying that, he said that because of that, the hand popping out was more surprising because he didn't expect that to happen due to the music being dramatic early on. I'm happy because that is what i wanted to achieve. i wanted that hand to make people jump.

he liked the contrast of the shots and thought that my location was fantastic. he liked my titles as well. he thought that visually they were interesting and he thought that it was good that they were spread out.

information cloud - people who helped me


information cloud - people i helped


invoices

throughout this project we used an invoice system that meant that if we helped someone on their project, we would get it marked down and we would get credit. it was a way of showing that we could work together which is more like real life work in he mdia industry.

because we were set a deadline, it wasn't easy to do everything by yourself so willing help was needed.

the images above are about the people i helped and the people who helped me. the way it works is the bigger the persons name, the more times either i've helped them or the more time they've helped me. a font size of 12 for example means that i've helped them once. a font size of 36 equals to 3 times, and so on. the closer they are to the centre refers to the feedback i got from them regarding my services. if they are near the centre, it was clar and good feedback. if they are near the outside of the centre, it wasn't very good feedback.

invoice questions

identify three practical/technical skills you feel you would like to work on developing. how could you organize this for your next project?


working sound. i had a go at doing it during this project but it didn't go so well. 


choose three people in the class that you did not assist or receive assistance from this project. ow could you go about identifying ways in which you could be of assistance to them on their next project?

3. what kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? how did you attract/address your audience?

5. what have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
















garage band:
although the music was a piece of non-copyright music (composed by Paul Farrer), i changed the volume and pitch in garage band and added drones over it to create more depth and atmosphere. the sound for my production logo was made on garage band as well. 

after effects:
this project was the first time i was introduced to after effects and it took me quite a while to get the hang of it. i used it to create my production logo. i had no need for after effects for my actual film opening. when creating my production logo, i wasn't sure how to add a texture on to a solid. i found playing around meant that you could find your own solutions. after finding out how to add a texture, i added motion and then asked a class member how to use the light. i am now comfortable with after effects, however the tools i used were very simple compared to what some people can achieve.

final cut:
the editing software i used was final cut. i was familiar with final cut before starting this project but there were still some things i wasn't sure about. the contrast on some of my footage was too bright and i had to change it. i wanted to make it look more gritty and dark to fit with the genre and mood of the film. after invoicing someone to show me how to do it, i changed the contrast on all of the footage and i'm very happy with the results. the footage before was very amateur compared to my final piece. although i'd never put motion onto titles before, i was pretty sure how to do it. the titles i wanted over my tracking shots had to be very specific. i wanted it to slowy get smaller as the camera was moving away. i found out how to do it with no problem what so ever and the end result looks promising.

blogger:
blogger is the blog posting website we used to store everything we did for this project on. planning and research along with the links to the videos we made on youtube. it's an easy way to access all the work we've done and is very easy to use. i had trouble at one stage on how to put numerous photos onto blogger but overcame this problem by simply making the photos smaller.

youtube:
youtube is the website we used to add our films too. it's a public broadcasting website so anyone can access our films. it means we can get feedback and get real criticism that we can work on it. again, it's a place where we can access all of our films so it's easier to locate certain things. with everything online such as videos and blogs, it's easy to refer to them because you can easily just add a link to it.

macbook:
without my trusting macbook, i wouldn't have been able to do half of my project. it's what i did my research on and it's what i did editing on as well. most of my project has been done during lesson time so my mac has been used and taken advantage of greatly. 

HD camera:
this project was the first time we used these cameras and i fell in love with them instantly. before these we used smaller cheaper cameras. although they were okay, they weren't good enough for the scope that i had in mind. the HD camera's have so many different capabilities, it made filming far more experimental, and interesting. the sound was the part that i struggled on more than anything else. i got used to pointing the microphone in the right direction but surround sound was still irritating. i didn't use my footage with the sound recorded in the end though because it simply wasn't good enough. ad i believed that it didn't need it either.


all of these things have integrated to help me finish my film opening. 

evaluation

in what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? ( i.e. of film openings)

How does your media product represent particular social groups?
my film is dark and has a orchestral/ heavy metal soundtrack so it would appeal to social groups such as goths and grebs. it would also appeal to people who enjoy the genre. people who go to comic book conventions and enjoy the glossy sketched out feel from comics.

what kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
the one i had in mind was Warner Bros. because they did a lot of tim burtons films such as Sweeney Todd and the old batman films. they have distributed other films of the same genre such as the dark knight and watchmen.

who would be the audience for your media product?
my audience is teenagers around 14-15 years of age. mainly due to the action and suspense that people of that age enjoy. the film doesn't necessarily have a strong story line but because of the attitude of the main character and the atmosphere of the film, the audience will enjoy the thrills. i believe that adults will enjoy this film as well because the comedic value will be mostly intelligent humour, moslty from the main character and villain. some people from the younger audience might not fully understand the humour.

how did you attract/address your audience?
the music played in the beginning sequence is very dramatic and loud which reflects what the film is going to be like. the film is going to be fast-pased and action-packed. the overall mood and look of the opening is dark and eery. this would attract the social groups that would find it appealing.


What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
i've learned that filming the sequence isn't the most important part. the planning process is one of the most important part. i believe that without the planning and commitment to the idea the film won't be as good. if you don't understand where the film originated from you can't fully understand the film and then it will flop. it was the first film i did planning for, so i found that the final film came out better with the planning than past projects. i also learnt that you should experiment with ideas and always get too much footage while shooting. if you have the equipment at the location, you might as well try out different angles and new shots while also referring to the storyboard as well. the storyboard is a vital part as well. on location if you don't have the storyboard your missing the point of doing all the planning because all of the planning and priliminary ideas went into the storyboard.


Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?
i learnt that you must never lose interest and stay loyal to your initial ideas. you should always be enthusiastic about it as well and give it 100%. if you give it 100%, the final piece will always look better. you should always shoot more footage than you need. we were aiming for 2 minutes on this project and i got about 11 minutes including 2 scenes i didn't use in my final film opening.

what i changed

to begin with i was going to have a short scene where two teenagers find the reaper and confront him and that's when you find out that he isnt bad. the reason why i decided not to use this in my film opening is because i didn't feel it needed it. the hand at the endsets the tone for the rest of the film. you don't know what it is yet so it creates atmosphere and tension. it also makes youwant to watch on becasue of the mystery behind it.

not only did i not feel my opening needed it, but the sound wasn't very good so i felt that if i used it, it would ruin what was a perfectly good opening anyway.

what would i do differently

if i had more time to work on my film opening, i'd work more on the contrast. make it slightly darker looking and then possibly play around with black and white and see how that looks. the introduction to batman returns is in black and white ad has the same theme and genre as mine. it's the same idea, its mostly pan shots and trackig shots of the sewers. it sets the location for where the film is going to be set. that's what my opening is trying to achieve. batman returns was part of my inspiration.

final film opening - reaper

this is my final film opening after i'd worked on improving it. using my feedback i managed to develop the sound track so it wrks better with the film and the contrast has been improved. i've added the titles and the film title is now on as well.

what i need to do to improve my film opening

i need to concetrate on putting in good titles. the font has to work with the films theme and genre. i need to adapt the contrast level on some of the shots because it looks too bright at the moment and doesn't look professional enough. it isn't at a high enough standard. i need to play around with the music somehow so that it works with the flow of the film opeing. the hand popping out scene needs to be more dramtic so i'll need to play around with the music for that scene.

i need to put my prodution logo and long road logo at the beginning of the film as well. i'll slow down some of the footage to avoid making it look shaky.

feedback from rough cut

we watched all of our rough cuts through class and had to give feedback so we could maximize our films potential by making them the best we possibly could. the feedback was another way of getting someone elses opinion so it was a good thing to do.

different people had different things to look out for and give criticism on. for example, there was sound, camera, mise en scene, editing and titles.


sound:
.music works well but might be too dramatic for what your film opening is showing.
.music is good but gets dramatic quite quickly, should peak in towards when the had pops out.

camera:
.good establishing shots and could framework. i like the blend of shots although i think it was a bit shaky at one point.
.lots of good track and pan shots. the slowness helped set the scene.

editing:
.good transitions between shots, works well.
.the contrast of some of the shots is amateur looking and needs improving.
.the hand scene at the end needs to work with the music, at the moment it doesn't.
.the shots should be darker to compliment the dark genre.

titles:
.there aren't any titles and needs them.
.needs a font that works with your genre.

mise en scene:
.good choice of loation, has a sense of mystery about it.
.not too much is given away, the hand at the end is a good ending for the opening. good way to start the film.

moment im proud of

the part of my filming that made me feel good was when i was prepping my actors on what they had to do for my scene. when i went to film it they did exactly what i wanted so it made me feel as if i was doing a good job. unluckily the scene that i'm referring to didn't film because i had problems with battery and it didn't record which is a shame.

tips for next time

always give yourself enough light to film at night

don't be afraid to change your ideas

look back at what you've filmed before you go to upload it

overall, how did the shoot go?

overall i think the shoot went okay. it could of gone better but i managed to get everything i wanted done. even with the problems i faced, i managed to still get some footage of the same idea. the problem i came face to face with tought me that things don't always go the way you plan. you need to be smart though and rethink what you can do with the resources you have.

i enjoyed filming and found the camera to be easy going. didn't have any problems with it at all. if i were to do it again i don't think i'd change anything. i might try and film the hole in the ground if the water was evaperated but i'm happy with what i got instead of it.

how i overcame my problems

due to the hole in the ground being full of water, it meant i had to find another way to shoot that scene. there were a number of ideas i got. one was to use this old crate i found and lay in it, putting wood over it. the crate was coffin sized and was big enough for me to lie in it but it was stuck and therefore we could get it out to use. it also had nails in it so it was proberly for the best.

another was to use bricks stacked up on one another and then rest the wood on top of me, with me lying under it again. there weren't enough resources for us to do that though. there wasn't enough wood that we could have used and there were few bricks we could have used.

the last idea we had, and the one we stuck with, was to use an old table and to break two of the table legs off. then i lie underneath it and the cameraman could track up the wood. we decided to use this idea and it worked really well. it did take a while though to make it work as the first table we found wasn't good enough. we had to scout around looking for aothr table. luckily we found one and used that to film the scene.

we rested the table against a metal frame and then put a piece of thin wood over the metal frame. this piece of wood would be the wood i was going to punch my hand through. we put twigs and leaves and soil over the table to make it blend in with the ground. the end results were great. it looked fantastic on the camera. although i was annoyed about not being able to use the hole in the ground, i'm pleased i managed to find a way to get the same thing done. it also meant nobody was burried alive which was good.




instead of using a bench for my scene i decided to use a bus stop instead. this way i could have the same storyboard idea but in a different location. it also had a street light nearby which was good. i managed to film the teenagers in clear enough light but i couldn't film the reaper because he wouldn't show up on camera. it was too dark. i decided to film the rest the next day. it only took 5 minutes the next day so i wasn't bothered.

problems i faced on day 2

there were numerous problems i faced on my second day of shooting.

when i arrived at my location the hole in the ground was still full of water. luckily i brought a bucket so i began to bail out the water. after about 40minutes the water still hadn't got any less deep. i had to come up with another way of shooting my scene beacause it's the most important scene in the opening. without it my opening wouldn't count for anything.




i also didn't know where i could film the last scene with the two teenagers. i couldn't find a bench i could film. i started setting up with one bench and then two men asked me to not film there because i didn't have permission. i did scout around for a bench with the right space i needed. i neeed a street light nearby but there weren't any so i had o come up with a completely new idea.

it also got dark really quickly. i started filming at about 5 o'clock in the evening, and by that time i couldn't see the reaper through the camera. i was dressed up all in black and my girlfriend was filmin and operating the camera. the footage we got was terrble because it was just a black screen. you couldn't see anything. we decided to come back the next day and film then instead. there was nothing else we coul do really.

2nd day of shooting

i got up early and made sure all of my eqiupment was ready. i made sure to put the camera on charge during the night so it was fully charged by the morning. i also made sure my props were ready and i got a bucket to take as well in case i had to bail out the water from the hole.

i also made sure my actors were available to star in my film. i arranged a time and that was all sorted out.

2nd day of shooting

when i go yesturday t to my location and realized that part of it was flooded from the recent snow, i told myself that i would come back the next day hoping it would have evaporated. i have to take into account that it might not be evaporated. if not i'll take a bucket with me so i can bail out the water. i'm not sure what to do if that doesn't work. i'll have to try and find another place to film the same shot. the shot is of the hand its the main shot in the opening. there's no way around not getting it.

outcome of first days shooting

i'm happy with what i got done but a bit anxious to get it all done. there isn't much more to film but it's going to be tricky.

i need to film the hand popping out of theground scene and the dialogue scene with the two teenagers. it shouldn't take too long so i'm not too worried.

i hope the hole at the location still isn't full of water. if it is i'll have to bail it out or come up with another idea on how to do it.

using my storyboard

because of my storyboard being heavily involved with tracking shots, and me not being able to achieve them, i had to rethink how i culd do what was on the paper. i decided to use all the same ideas, just move the positioning of the camera.

some of the locations for the shots on my storyboard i was unable to do because i could never get it in the shot. there wasn't enough room to put the camera because of trees and other objects. i just filmed other things that would tie in to my idea and compliment the location.

i did the shots in order aswell. it was just an easier method rather than watch over what ive filmed. this way i could tick off what i'd filmed and moved on. my storyboard was really helpful whilst i ws out filming because it meant that i could just refer back to my storyboard instead of making up shots.

problems i faced on day 1

there were a number of problems i faced on the first day of shooting. a few of them were the reason why filming took me 2 days longer than it should have. i could have easily done it all in one day but because of the time of day i had to film, it narrowed down the amount of time i had to do it.

one problem i had was that the hole in the ground that i was going to use for the hand popping out scene was full of water due to the recent flood of snow. when i saw it i thought i'd leave it a day and then go back to it. possibly bail out the water. i decided to leave it and do it the next day.

another problem was that because the ground was so unstable and covered with rotten wood and rusty metal, i couldn't do my tracking shots. i decided to do zoom shots of everything instead which initially would provide the same effect if done correctly. it also meant that i would need to get the zoom to look as smooth as possible. that was a challenge because operating the zoom is rather fidly. i did numerous takes on each shot so hopefully the outcome will look promising.

setting up for shoots

on the first day of my filming during half term i went to my location early and began to set up for the scenes i was going to film for my opening. early on i realised that some of the shots i had in mind were going to be impossible for the technique i had in mind because of the ground area. there were no level areas big enough for me to attempt to do a good tracking shot, so i had to come u with a new way of filming it staying as true to the storyboard as i could.

i got props and packed them ready for filming. i gathered the crew together a couple hours before filming as well. they were helpful with getting the equipment from and to the location. it required a wal through a field but they did alright. i also knocked on the neighbours door to check and see whether the dogs were home but luckily they weren't so i wasn't interrupted by barking dogs during filming.

my girlfriend helped me do some of the filming so i went through how to use the camrea with her and made sure she was comfortable with doing it. i also looked at the storyboard with her so she knew what i wanted things to look like. she was comfortable doing it all so i was happy.

DV version of continuity task

this is the continuity task i acted in. the other one (HD version) i filmed and directed with matthew hornby.





sound test

continuity task - HD version

continuity task

because we have access to good quality cameras, we decided to do our continuity tasks again. the ones we did first time around weren't of a high enough standard so i was happy with the decision to redo them. it was also the first time i used the cameras so it was good experience and practice, getting to grips with the new equipment. 


the good quality cameras we used are the ones we're using for the film opening, so the continuity task was a way to practice with them. it was also a way to find out any issues with them so we'd be ready when we used them for the opening task.

problems with the camera:
the problems i found with the camera was that the microphones picked up surround sound so on the final cut of my sequence, there's a fuzzy sound throughout. we didn't use the wind guard during filming. if we used that it might hide the fuzzy noise. dialogue is too quiet as well but that's because we used the microphone on the camera. if we used the extension microphone, we could pick up sound better.

apart from sound i didn't have any other issues with the new camera. the picture quality is brilliant and the settings the camera has means that i can experiment and hopefully get some good results.

fonts for title






i have looked at a number of titles and have researched which ones i like.



metal lord

arnold boecklin

sidewalk


titles for credits i like:

dotum

adamgorry - lights

bradley hand itc

what i'll need need to do before filming

there are several things i'll need to do before the day of filming to garuntee maximum time for shooting. things include:

-clearing away any unwanted junk from floor that will appear in shot
-bury someone ready for shot
-make a scythe
-tidy up the bomb shelter ready for shooting
-make the reapers costume
-scatter guns around where shots will take place
-drop a gas mask on the floor
-drop a helmet on the floor
-tie a piece of rope round a tree
-prep my actors

major issues

lighting - to overcome the problem with lighting, i could have a practice shoot using the less expnsive cameras the week before my actual shoot. this means that i'll have a week to look over my shooting and i can determine what times to shoot.

tracking shots - some of my tracking shots are going to be impossible to do using a crane or a track, because the ground is so rough at my location. one thing i could do is move the camera slowly during my shots and then speed up later on during editing.

i could also construct platforms for the camera to move accross for the straight tracking shots. there's scrap metal at my location. i could use this to construct my platforms and then have someone move the camera along one with minor movement.

time i need camera - i can share the camera with philippa. because there's only a few good cameras, if i share it with philippa, i can still use it with out having to travel a great distance to ge it. philippa lives about 4 miles away. an easy distance to travel.

weather - although februray isn't the best month for shooting in, all i need is for the weather to be consistant so my shots don't look silly when some are of snow and some are of clear skies. i would rather have is clear and dry, but nobody can pretict how the weathers going to turn out.




who can help me during filming -

most of my friens live in the same village as where the location is for my shoot, so finding people to help me shouldn't be a problem. they can help me by steadying the camera during tracking shots and help me construct the platforms for some f the shots. i'll also end up using some of my friends to act in it as well. i need two rough looking teenagers, i know just the two.

problems while shooting

nuisances:

the neighbour of where i'm shooting has two vicious dogs. although their not always there this could turn into an issue.

i need someone willing to be buried alive in a hole.

everythings rotten. if something breaks, i'll need to re-shoot



minor concerns:

finding a scythe

who's going to act? i need convincing, yet laid back looking teenagers

i'm going over the 2 minute film time so i will need to make the finished outcome look good


major issues:

while shooting, i need the lighting to be consistant and the same for each shot. this will lower the amount of time i can shoot each day.

need smooth looking tracking shots. rough looking ones are un exceptable.

need my camera in half term.

weather needs to be consistant.

location/ the hole


this is the hole i'm going to use in my film opening. when the hand pops out of the ground, this is going to come in 'handy'. what i'll do is i'll make someone climb into the hole. then put a piece of thin wood over the hole and then put a thin layer of soil over the wood to give the illusion that someone has been buried. 

at the weekend i had a go at this myself and it works really well. although the hole is very small, i was in and out in less then 8 minutes and i was fine.

location shots




















location shots

i'm going togo to my location and scout around for the shots that are on my storyboard. if i can't find the exact shots i'll look for something is similar but works with the narrative as well. reaper was a war veteran so the location needs to look deserted and look gritty as if there was a past war.

prop list

because most of my shots are tracking shots over ground and terrain, most of my props are weapons that have been left behind. this suggests that there has been a war which reflects my heroes past.

props:
several rifles and shotguns - i shall need my friend to be with me who has a gun license for his gun.
a scythe - i'll make one from a piece of wood and metal or foil
a helmet (if possible)
gas mask
rope - to tie on a tree


these props are for the heroes costume. all clothes are for the reaper to wear

clothing:
a black hooded jumper
black silky clothe
a black balaclava
black jeans
black shoes



clothing for teenagers:
teenager 1:

blue jeans
green hooded jumper

teenager 2:
black faded jeans
red top and grey jumper

possible titles for film

these are my possible titles for my film opening.



rusted metal productions presents

james walker presents

river phoenix

david slater

christopher george

fiona hardwick

reese tomlinson

executive producer - matthew hobbs

director of photography - charlotte sawford

film editor - thomas parker jr.

music composed by - paul farrer

screenplay by - james walker

adaptation by - natalie whiting

based on the characters created by - thomas joad

produced by - daniel bergmann

directed by - james walker

reaper animatic

reaper animatic

reflections of this weeks work - storyboard

storyboard - reflections


this week i've been doing my storyboard for my film opening. the first thing i did was draw out 6 key frames from my film opening idea to practice drawing out storyboards and to get an initial idea as to how my film is going to look. i had a rough idea at how my film would look so i decided to draw out 6 different camera shots. the reason being that most of my shots in the opening sequence are tracking shots, so i wanted to show a bit of diversity.

we then wrote out our shot lists. this gave me freedom in what my film would look and work out. it also gave me new ideas and solutions to problems i might face. for example, one of my shots was a tracking shot through a car window. i managed to think of a way i could achieve this without having to use special effects. the simple solution would be clever editing and splitting the tracking shot up to 2 different shots. i'll go into more detail about this later.

after doing our shot list i drew out 3 key moments that would appear in my sequence. i used more detail than in my key frames. this was so we could get the hang of storyboarding out our film openings. 

we then went on to do our final storyboard. it didn't take me long to finish mine. it took me about 2 lessons to complete and photograph it. the only problem i had with it was thinking about the order of my shots. the freedom i have with it though is i can easily edit them into a different order. after photographing my images i imported them into finalcut to begin making my animatic.

after making my images the correct size, i began to put motion on my photo's the way i want my finished film to look. i then put the music i want to use over it. the music i used is non-copyrighted music. although i'm using this i'm also using dialogue and sound effects.


My views of your blog

-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.


-you've remained persistent in all areas of the work we've been doing, covering the uploading of videos, imagery and text.

-overall i'd say good job and keep up how your doing it, it's looking pretty cool.

shot list

-black screen

-shot of the bottom of the oil drum, slowly working its way up.
-fade out
-tracking shot of the interior of a bomb shelter, starting from the back working its way to the back.
-fade out
-tracking shot of corrugated iron
-fade out
-tracking shot of the interior of an old lorry, with the camera moving from the front to the back
-fade out
- tracking shot of the outside of an abandoned house, going over the window and brickwork.
-fade out
- tracking shot of the interior of a car, starting from the drivers seat to going through the window
-fade out
-tracking shot of the floor with broken wood and bricks on the floor
-fade out
-shot of the camera panning round a tree with a noose attached 
-fade out
-tracking shot of the floor, stopping at a certain point and then staying still
-still shot of a hand coming out of the ground
-when the hand comes out the camera moves and looks up at the moon
-black screen with the title of the film up
-shot of two teenagers sitting on a bench, wide shot
-zoomed in shot looking at the two teenagers
-shot from the teenagers point of view looking ahead
-shot of the teenagers looking confused and shocked
-shot of the reaper, zooming in slowly
-shot of the teenagers looking shocked again
-close up of the reaper
-shot of the reaper disappearing
-shot of the two teenagers again looking forward at where the reaper was
-shot of where the reaper was but nobody is there
fade out

stroyboard - 3 key moments



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

stroyboard planning

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.

storyboard - key frames

timeline for film opening

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.

research - brimstone

BRIMSTONE


my preliminary ideas for my film opening are very similar to an old television series that ran in the nineties. the television show was called, 'brimstone'. it only ran for one season (1998-1999) so it wasn't too successful but the idea behind it does share similarities with my film opening idea.

the show was about a police detective who was assigned by the devil to return to earth to bring back 113 spirits that have escaped. the main 
character is very similar because my idea was a war veteran. this is very similar to the shows main character being a policeman. the main character returns to earth. despite his reasoning behind returning, this idea is similar to my idea aswell. 

i think that the idea that the devil assigns him to return to earth is a great idea for a plot but i'm going to stick to my idea. i might work on it a little. i'll come up with a stronger plot idea 
and think of my heroes reasoning behind returning to earth.

i like the title font for brimstone as well. i think it looks really good and suits my film idea. it's pleasing to the eye as well. by that i mean it looks interesting. there are many titles that look boring and don't work. for example, the only films that should have red titles are horror films. 


moodboard




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. 


i came up with the idea that 'reaper' was  a war veteran, which is why he's strong and noble. some of the other images are of the location for where i'm going to film. i'm filming in the grounds of n abandoned house. it's perfect because disturbance will be minimal and i'll have the freedom to experiment. i haven't taken pictures there yet but i have some pictures that are similar. 

others are of the theme of the film. the film has a very dark and slightly gothic feel to it and therefore i got pictures of silhouettes and other dark imagery. i put the images together in an almost film opening fashion. this way the viewer can see how my ideas connect and they don't just seem to be random photos i gathered.

movie storm

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.


 i wanted to make my video visually appealing but the more i added, the slower it got. there isn't really diversity among the furniture you can use either. i thought the camera was good though. we had trouble making the camera go where we wanted. for example, when we wanted the camera static, it would move. this was an easy problem to solve once we read a forum but the instructions on moviestorm are vague in description. 

when we decided to add sound to our characters, the mouths didn't move. we tried everything to make them move but they wouldn't. although i don't really mind this small issue, it would have been nice. 

when we first started, all of the textures were blacked out. it took us a while to realise what was wrong but for a while we were stuck on what to do. instructions on how to achieve things on the software aren't very good. there should be a tutorial of some kind to help people with the software. also, it would be a good way to show people what they can achieve with moviestorm. 

apart from the problems, i did get into the software and enjoy it. it take take a few hours mind you. i thought the editing was good and the tools for making the camera move was easy to use.


the reaper - final brief

original

he after life is well-worn for the unlikeliest of heroes who decides to rise again and fight evil.

final
rest in peace. the 3 words that this hero ignores as he rises from death to fight crime and evil.

tagline
hellboy meets batman returns

essential elements for an opening sequence

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.


good soundtrack - needs to relate to the movie and make the titles less of a drag

don't let it drag out - titles that are repetitive or take too long aren't good because the viewer loses interest quickly. they need to be interesting and in keeping with the films genre.

taste of the rest of the film - needs to make the viewer wonder what will happen next or keep them interested. in the dark knight, the introduction is a bank robbery. straight away you get into the action.

build up / tension and mystery - needs a build up to what the films about. teen horror films usually have someone brutally murdered which makes you wonder 'who done it'.

idustry analysis - title designer name

the title design company i like the best is l'E.S.T. they did the titles for lord of war. i remember watching the opening sequence or lord of war when the film came out and being amazed that someone could actually portray a bullets life. that's what the titles are. it following what a bullet goes through. from when its being made in a factory to when it's being used for guns in Cuba (what the films suggests). the titles are fairly plain but stand out as they're white and thwe background is colourful or dark most of the time. the song played through the sequence is 'For what its worth' by Buffulo springfield, and sums up the film nicely. the fact that the lead character risks it all to earn money. the film is highly based around weapons so the bullet scene at the beginning is a great introduction. it's one of my favourite introdutions. i's mostly CGI but looks fantastic.


i also watched a film called 'le convoyeur' and remember the intrduction being reallyinteresting. i liked the way the action could transform into the title. i couldn't find a movie of it on the internet but found an image that demostrates what i just said about the title resembling the action. both title sequences are made by l'E.S.T and both look visually stunning but the idea is simplicity more than anything. they might have been hard to do but the idea was simple enough for both of them. the txt for both of them is white. it compliments the background nicely and works well.








titles for blueberry

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

titles for flash gordon

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

comparitive analysis - analysis






both of the film openings have music. this is the main feature for the introductions because it's the thing that gives the title scene it's rhythm and pase. you can clearly see that the editing has been based around the score and it compliments the music nicely. the music for blueberry is 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.

although both have music and sound in the opening, there are quite a lot of differences as well. flash gordon includes images from the actual comic with in it's opening sequence. ll of the images used in the opening titles show what's included in the film. for example, there are images of emperer mings palace and vultans flying army. these are all aspects of the film. blueberry doesn't have any images from the comic book in the film opening what so ever. blueberry is made up of fire and celtic style art clips.

flash gordon is primarily animated with effects such as fly across and moving images. blueberry is mostly layered film with fade outs. the effects used on flash gordon speed up the sequence and compliment the music well. although much older than the titles for blueberry, the titles used in flash gordon don't look aged much at all. in fact, i prefer them because they work well with the film and it's a nice dedication to the art work from the comic book.

flash gordon has dialogue at the beginning right before the titles begin. this is a nice alternative to having to watch titles first which can sometimes get rather tedious. it's the same kind of layout james bond films have. they start off with the pre credit sequence to interest the viewer before sowing the contributers to the film.

neither do anything fancy with the writing of the titles. they only appear and fade out. there aren't any effects on them. the titles in flash gordon are yellow which goes makes a nice contrast to the black background. the colour reflcets joy and happiness so it suggests the film will be easy viewing and exciting.

comparitive analysis - two comic book films

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.

final production logo - rusted metal

terminator 2 introduction

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.


the idea that you don't know whether the main character is good or not is like the introduction to terminator 2 ( 1991). in the first film Arnold Schwarzenegger was a bad guy in the film. he was sent back in time to kill the the mother or future  leader of resistance John Connor. in the second film he returns looking for John Connor but you don't know if he's back to kill him or not. your initial thought is he's returned to do what he was meant to do in the first film. this sense of mystery and confusion is what i want to achieve in my film opening. 

in the opening to a film, it needs to have something that makes you want to watch on. mystery is a great tool because people immediately get drawn into the plot.




feedback

Alexander

-good idea, thought out well
-character name thought out, reaper, good choice
-Hellboy style, classic comic book theme. slightly dark
-it's what people want, zombie style hero. male audience

Matt
-interesting idea
-might be difficult to follow
-gives abit of mystery to the plot. un answered questions, how did he die? why has he returned?

Tim
- like the idea
-difficult to make but if it's done well has great potential
- watchable and likeable idea for a comic book film
-good name, confusing. is he a good guy/bad guy





pitch 1 - the reaper

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. 


then cut to a group of teenagers camping out or sitting on a bench close by. their chilling and talking to each other when one starts to stare ahead and he can see a silhouette of a man. i want the man to have long hooded clothing and i don't want to be able to see his face either. this will create mystery. after the teenagers have seen the man in the shadows. i don't want there to be any dialogue except for the teenagers to be afraid so possibly panting and heavy breathing. then the man says, "don't worry, I'm not hear for you, I'm here to fight for you"

something like that, so that's the first time you know that this man isn't bad. then when he leaves the teenagers say, "who was that"    "the reaper"

then the title will come up.

pitch 3

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.

pitch 2

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.

pitch 1: ideas

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.

research - the dark knight


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.

research - hellboy







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 film opening

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.

logo design on after effects practice

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.

after effects logo - long road

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.