It is always vital to have a storyboard during the making of a opening sequence to resemble the genre as well as having a plan on shots. Today's planning phase involved drawing and crafting the types of shots and what will occur in them on paper. We then made a montage of all the images with a voice-over explaining what will happen in each shot.
Some of the most important shots included in our opening will include:
Today's lesson topic was discussing some of the codes and conventions of Film Noir. Using some inspiration from the BBC Documentary "The Rules of Film Noir", we produced some research on what to include in our opening sequence to display the genre clearly.
The mood-boards created during the researching process display some of the most important aspects of Film Noir. These include costume, hair, make-up and setting.
Classically, Film Noir always features a certain type of music. The slow, jazz style music is a major convention to the genre. Our musical research is expanded further below.
Iconography and Mise En Scene is very important in Film Noir since there is lots of symbolism we need to include to make it look like the on screen appearance is set in olden times. Some of these shots require important props which have been analysed by us below.
A key feature of the research phase is analysing the representation in Film Noir. Film Noir is filled with representation in male and female figures. The research carried out here involves the portrayal of men and women in Film Noir as well as some of the previous actors and actresses traditionally starring in this genre.
We are finally carrying out our initial ideas and we have managed to decide on the pitch we like the best for our final piece of coursework. This was also my individual pitch which as a whole, the group decided on. We are now spending the next couple of weeks planning, constructing and evaluating our opening sequence based around the following pitch. Most of my ideas from the individual pitched remained the same but there were some minor tweaks to the location and narrative. The title of our production is "A Dame with a Clue" and the title is relevant to the narrative since the female character goes to the detective over a framed murder.
Another common mistake made by media studies students previously is how the titles appear during an opening sequence. Depending on the genre, titles will appear differently. These differences can range from the order of names, font family and style or even text colour. I have analysed the opening titles of blockbuster horror movie "A Nightmare On Elm Street" and the titles are portrayed in a particular way that symbolizes the genre clearly. Such as having contrasting colours from background to text and blood red titles on some occasions. Carrying out this research will aid me with my construction and planning stages of the coursework since I will ensure that the titles are entered correctly.
In order to help us succeed in our coursework, we was looking through past AS movie openings to ensure we had some inspirations and ideas. Using the marking criteria, I have evaluated some previous AS movie openings based on their strengths and weaknesses. We can then further use this as guidance to ensure we use the strengths as inspiration and avoid the weaknesses. I have chosen three movie openings in particular to evaluate. Inner Evil
Judging by the iconography of blood, stalking and music, we can clearly see that the convention is a thriller. There has been appropriate material used throughout the sequence. The Mise En Scene was heavily supported by the iconography. There are lots of conventions of a thriller which I really enjoy about this opening. For instance, the face covered with blood in the beginning was really effective with the makeup. It didn't seem amateur or unprofessional like using fake blood. The target audience I would presume is to older teens and adults since thriller's don't tend to be aimed at younger viewers. Titles are also presented interestingly by having them fade onto the screen. It is very similar to the opening sequence of "Gone Girl", a thriller movie. The institutions are displayed at the correct times which is a good, but there are some flaws in this part of the criteria. The use of the word 'starring' is incorrect since this is only used in television production. As well as this, the title is displayed at the end of the sequence which appears to be more like a trailer rather than a movie opening. Apart from these minor flaws, the titles appeared very clear and interesting. Sound was mostly non-diegetic, so it would have been better to use some non diegetic noise rather than purely relying on one melody. However, the song was very effective as it was not chart topping or known. It was atonal which allowed it to build suspense and intensity for viewers which I found interesting. The editing was excellent, the faded filter really set the scene of the production as it wasn't bright and colorful. This aspect also supported the Mise En Scene. Some scenes however, the camera wasn't very controlled and it had the tendency to shake about when doing tracking shots. The tracking shot was the only interesting angle used in the sequence. In my opinion, a wider variety of shots would have made it better. Finally, I particularly liked the transition used between the girl having her throat slit with the key and her standing on her porch. It gave the impression that she was having a vision as the transition flashed brightly when changing scenes which I found intriguing.
Mark Out of 60: 51 Blitz
This is another thriller from the G321 AS opening sequence category that I thoroughly enjoyed. The sound in this clip is particularly effective and interestingly used as there is a combination of diegetic and non-diegetic sound. You can distinctly hear the prime minister speaking on a war basis in the background and it has been edited in this specific way to support other sound effects in the background such as the air raid signals and bombing. The panning of the camera around the bunker is also very high quality, the camera doesn't shake at all and high quality equipment was clearly used here to see in the darkness and to fully focus on the torchlight. The layout of the room presented at the beginning of the opening sequence really supported the Mise En Scene, a small enclosed spaced with minimum lighting represents a nuclear bunker. There are also war posters and children's toys which show that people are perhaps trapped in the bunker. The camera remains consistently focused throughout each shot which makes it a much higher quality. To be totally honest, there isn't much I would improve on this project. Maybe including some more interesting shot styles like tracking, match on action etc. The titles are spot on to when they are suppose to appear on screen. I couldn't see a flaw in this aspect of the sequence. Mark Out of 60: 59 The Edge
The opening itself is very fast pacing, which would lead me to believe that this is a huge action convention. The opening sequence as a whole appeared very professional with high quality filming, excellent incorporation of titles within the Mise En Scene such as when the men in suits are coming up the stairs and the use of smooth transitions which were edited in. The use of adults in the sequence makes it unique since the majority of examiners will watch teenagers in most of the opening scenes. This opening however uses two adults and a teenager escaping which gives a variety in acting. Finally, the location was very suitable for the filming since the framing was very appropriate for the scene, there were no disturbances of people or weather as the car park was virtually empty. I felt as if however, there could have been more diegetic sound used since the soundtrack dominated most of the sequence. Perhaps using Foley for the roller-skates across the car park and perhaps some speech would have been suitable for the shouting when he was escaping. This would have balanced the sound use and therefore accessing high marks.
Most of the negative feedback on the prelim tasks we watched was sound. We discovered how lots of the background noise was overpowering over elements in each sequence. Therefore, we was educated and spent a lesson where we learnt about the presentation of sound in professional movies to assist us on sounding techniques in our future coursework.
I have already discussed the term Foley in a previous blog post but it is basically rerecorded diegetic noise is used to emphasize a background noise. It is commonly used for footsteps, text message tones or doors opening.
Synchronous Sounds are types of sound matched to the object or item displayed. For instance, clapping or cheering would show a large group of people.
Asynchronous Sounds however is the opposite of synchronous. This when a particular noise cannot be heard but the object is not shown onscreen. For instance, a siren could be heard in a particular scene when a character finds a dead body. You can't actually see the ambulance or police car but the body is a symbol of danger.
Sound Bridge noise will link scenes together. An example of this would be a school bell ringing in class gradually changing and entering a part of a song for a musical sequence. The school bell will be on a closeup in the classroom then the scene will change to a typical musical scene. Perhaps a school dance or stage production.
Ambient Sound tends to be used to confirm the location of a scene and is very supportive for the Mise En Scene. For instance, if a scene took place by a river, the sound would focus on the gushing tides, babbling brooks and perhaps feint chatters of nature to set the riverside scene.
Voice-over usually involve a narrator explaining or sharing a story to reveal information about a particular circumstance. You are most likely to find most voice-overs in documentaries or children's films. This sound method heavily reveals the movie plot.
Types of Music Used in Film:
Symphonic Music is performed by a large orchestra
Melodies are distinctive tunes
Atonal Sound has no established key and are commonly used in horror films to add suspense and intensity
Rhythmic Sound are sounds in percussion used to form a beat
Dissonant Music doesn't contain conventional harmonies
After the completion of the opening sequence, all of the media classes and teachers spent the commencing lessons watching each others preliminary tasks in order to retrieve feedback and criticism on the scene we created. Teachers also had influence and involvement in feedback that was given to us as a group.
Peer Evaluation
Generally, the feedback received over the genre convention was good. Most people stated that we was displaying a musical clearly and that it was easily understandable. This was due to some of the iconography we used such as the lip syncing, natural teacher-student conflict and the stage production at the end of the opening sequence.
We included all of the shots in our production so we received positive feedback in regards to the shots included. Many of the viewers complimented our tracking and high angle shots as they took a unique approach to some of the regular shots used in this content.
There were mixed opinions on our camera, editing and Mise En Scene work. Some of the viewers explained in the feedback forms that the content displayed on the camera was good. Some people liked the setting such as the running in the corridors, the props used for the end shot like the plants and the black headband and the spotlight used on the characters to highlight their importance. So overall, our Mise En Scene was quite successful. Camera work was mainly complimented on. However, we did receive some negative feedback on some scenes when the camera lens was unfocused and how it was shaking in some of the shots. Although this was due to the tripod not catering very well for the camera, not many of the viewers realized this. Editing was one of the main criticisms in our production. Many of the audience stated that we should have spent more time on slowing the pace down on the songs and including more effects and transitions. Some of the positive reviews we received though was based on the Foley we used for footsteps and the door opening in the match on action shot.
Most of our criticism was received on the script and the story line. Several viewers stated that they couldn't quite understand the concept or the plot of our production. There was also negative feedback on the fact that the characters didn't say anything. There was so set script that we included on our production since the opening sequence just involved lip syncing, During the planning phase, we agreed that we shouldn't use dialogue in order to portray the genre convention clearer. However, it was proven that this was successful therefore it is something to improve in our future coursework.
Overall, most of the comments received on our production was positive. Most viewers stated that it wasn't too bad. There were mixed reviews on the humor of the content. Some people found it funny and enjoyable whereas others despised it and couldn't grasp the concept of the sequence. We scored on average 35/50, which is the equivalent to a B grade at A level. We agreed as a group that this was a good score for our preliminary task, however, some parts of the process prevented us from accessing higher marks which we will improve on in the future.
Teacher Evaluation
As a whole, the teachers gave us mostly positive feedback. One of the strengths we received that was positive was the tracking and high angle shots used in the production. They liked the way that the students were hiding behind the wall from the teacher who couldn't see them . They further explained how the high angle shot clearly depicted this. They also complimented the Foley used throughout the sequence and they enjoyed how it was cleverly inserted for the establishment shot. Finally, they found that as well as it being a musical, there was lots of humor associated with the genre. For instance, the guitar scene with Luke and D. Amato's confused look when the pupils vanish from detention. Overall, teachers concluded that it was a funny yet interesting approach taken on an opening sequence.
However, not all of the feedback was positive. Some criticism was given on the camera quality and that it should have been less fidgety and more focused for improvements on our opening. We was also told that we mostly relied on non diegetic sound on the soundtrack and that we should have used more natural background noises. However, it was quite difficult to incorporate diegetic sound in our production as the wind was too noisy to use and we needed songs in our project to convey that it was a musical. Finally, we was told that we should have included a final miming sequence in the end to improve the script and story line of our opening. However, due to the amount of time given, we was unable to include this in our project. This is a further improvement for our future foundation coursework.
Over the course of these few weeks, I have expanded my knowledge on film openings by finally carrying out a practical task on creating my own ones in groups. We have learnt many key factors to producing a film opening and I can now evaluate my work as well as what feedback I have received from teachers and other members of my media class.
Self Evaluation
Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you? My group consisted of Myself, Elona Woodford, Luke Weldon and Jack Bezant. Since me and Elona had more musical influences that we have seen before in movies, we decided on the majority of the plot and sequences. The remainder of the group contributed to soundtrack ideas such as using "Queen" as our main musical number structure. We then gave each team member a specific job in the creation of the opening sequence. Elona and Jack were our designated actors, I was on filming duty and Luke had taken charge in the editing department. However, since we had a large amount of editing to do, we slightly split some of the jobs on editing to save time. Luke mainly focused on "Foley" for some of the sounds, Elona focused on trimming down the songs needed for the production and I ordered all of the recorded footage as well as creating bloopers at the end of the sequence. We all contributed equally in the planning stages but unfortunately we lost our storyboard footage which had to be rerecorded after our filming phase.
How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use? We began by choosing the genre musical. We decided to follow the generalized plot of a typical musical involving a school setting as well as a classroom and a performance stage. We began to debate on how to showcase the production. We concluded that two friendly characters are trying to get to their play on time whilst avoiding the teachers. Since most of the setting used natural light, there wasn't much involvement with specific processes however during the closing scene, we used a spotlight on the two characters to show that they were starring in the play and that they arrived on time. Whilst planning the sequence, we was heavily inspired by High School Musical and We Will Rock You.
What theorists do you think you could apply to your tasks? I feel as if that I could apply both Strauss and Aristotle to our opening sequence. Since Strauss believed in binary opposites, there is a sense of good and evil in the opening. The students being the cheerful characters who took part in miming who needed to get to their play whereas the teacher was the villain making them stay in detention so that they miss their play. His attempt to chase after them as well shows that he is trying to prevent their happiness. Aristotle however believed that movie plots follow the same pattern by having a beginning, middle and an end. In this case, the beginning shows the students escaping detention. The middle depicts the characters avoiding teachers whilst running to the play. Finally, the ending would show that they arrived and are about to perform.
What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing? One of the main factors we had to consider was the deadlines and times we had to produce each part of the prelim task. We only had a week for each phase which means that lots of hard work and dedication was needed to complete the task. This was why we split the tasks within our groups to ease off pressure to complete the project. Another issue we approached was the location for our filming. We had to make sure we kept the same location for our classrooms as the final cut would have looked odd if we used different classroom for each of the shots. Luckily, all of our necessary locations were always available for shooting in. Finally, costume was our biggest issue as a couple of the actors in our sequence didn't wear the same clothes on shooting days. Such as the teacher changing colour shirts in one of the shots. This was an issue because once the editing was completed, the final cut looked inconsistent. I must ensure I control this factor better in the future.
How successful was your sequence? Although the task and genre was quite difficult, I felt that it worked reasonably well. This was because we remained quite religious to our storyboard and followed our shooting schedule so that we had structured lesson plans. Our only fault was that due to our timings, we didn't have enough time to include all of the shots we needed therefore having to to change our story line slightly. Fortunately, this adapted to our shooting schedule successfully. Another problem we encountered during the sequence was that the camera didn't fit the tripod correctly therefore some of the footage wasn't as good a quality as we expected it. Especially the first shot which was really shaky. This may have prevented our opening being as successful as we hoped but it was a challenge to keep the camera skills. This is definitely something that must be improved for the future.
What have you learnt from completing the task? I was previously stating the costume incident with our production. As a group, we have learnt for our future coursework that costumes must be kept consistent in all of the shots as this may cause issues and confusion to viewers. We may even drop marks in our final task so we must control this factor. As well as this, even though we evenly distributed jobs within our group, on one occasion some of the group didn't arrive on a shooting day which put us behind schedule. This caused a bit of tension and pressure on the completion of the task however we did manage. This has taught us that we should be more organised and prepared. Bringing our sequence to life was a complicated process as there were lots of inspirations and ideas for soundtrack and script. Some of the ideas we couldn't quite agree on either which caused some complications in the group. This has taught us that we must have balanced ideas from each group member so that it is a pleasurable group working environment for everybody.
Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework? Learning about keeping a consistent use of outfits will increase our chances of getting higher marks as a group in our further foundation coursework which is an excellent learning curve for the future. As well as this, organisation is the best way to prevent stress and pressure on the group therefore I feel that in the future, we should prepare and organize ourselves in a more effective way to decrease the amount of stress our group had to meet deadlines. However, after the prelim task I have much more experience in working in a group environment which will heavily assist me in the future coursework. It also allowed me to work with people I don't usually work. This was on of the first times I had been in this situation but I now have more of an ability to communicate with fellow members in my group as I will be working with different people in my future coursework.
