Introducing our title sequence:
In The Way
How did you integrate technologies - software, hardware and online - in this project?
For my creative critical response 4 I decided to present it as a website and used WIX to create it. I was a bit of a hassle to find my way around WIX and get used to it but I have managed to get the hang of it. I have attached the link to my website because embeding it would slow down blogger and the website would not function as it is supposed to. You are able to scroll on all of the pages of my website and the tabs for each section are at the top. It is interactive and each background is a screenshot from our actual opening title sequence. I have spoken about software, hardware and online technology in each of the categories - pre-production, production and post-production. Without integrating these technologies our product would not be the same, you have to use all of them together because if you didn't you would only be able to get so far in the project, using them together provides so many more opportunities to use more skills to develop things further.
For task 3 - "How did your production skills develop throughout this project" - I decided to present my response on a Prezi Presentation becuase it is something different and I was able to link the colour palette to our title sequence and make it visually interesting.
"How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?"
The primary audience for our opening title sequence is gay women between the ages of 15 and 25, however we want our film to be enjoyed by everyone so that the impact of the film affects a large audience demographic, spreading the message of how hate affects the live of people in the LGBT community.
For task 1 - "How does your product use or challenge conventionsand how does it represent social groups or issues" - I decided to create a powerpoint to display my information in an aesthetic and creative way
Now that all of the opening title sequences have been published we are able to constructively critisise each other.
My favourite out of the bunch is 'The Will' and 'Your Turn'. I both enjoyed the story line and the editing that came into them. In 'The Will' I really liked the surprise at the end and the various close ups of the meticulous cutting of the berries. I loved the shift of focus of the camera from the background to the foreground. In 'Your Turn' the shock of the girl not being real made everyone in the class gasp and I think it would make a very good film. The close up editing of the monopoly houses were very interesting and kept the audience guessing at what was going on. They used a lot of focus pulls in their piece as well which I really find engaging and impressive.
The Will
I was so lucky to be back from South Africa in time for the editing afer being stuck there for so long. In order to make up for my time away I tried to get very invloved in the editing process.
At the start of the sequence I cut the clips of the romantic scene and the exorcism one quite close together so the editing was relatively fast paced which helps the audience get sucked into the narrative straight away. Whereas right at the end I put the longer shots of the girls all together which creates a sense of suspension that works well with the sudden cut to the last shot of the girl looking terrified.The order and placement of titles:
Opening film credits order and how we plan to follow it:
Production Company presents (distributer) - Midnight pictures presents
a production company production - a russel company producion
a filmmaker film - a Tom Moore film
lead cast - Saskia Davis and Gracie Roberts
supporting cast - Bobbie Walton, Zoe Montaldo and Nicholas Cross
casting director - Adam Calow and Ben Elkinton
music composer - Rose Jovanovich
costume designer - Aimee Cooper
editors - Beth Parker
production designer - Olijtde Rughani
director of photography - Caleb Louise
executive producer - Emma Jackson
producer - Necati Yesilcay
writers - Ian Carter
director - Tom Moore
film title - In the way
Me Before You
Me Before You is a roamnce drama so I thought that it would be a good idea to look at how they present their credits. At the start they have a blank green screen that has the production company titles on it, there is also a voice over. I understand that the blank screen draws more attention to the production company but I prefer it when they are subtly in the corner. I really like the voice over and at first we wanted there to be a voice over at the end that says 'I love you' but it didn't work when we put it together because of how the original shot turned out. It then cuts to scenes of two characters in bed talking with music in the background. The rest of the credits are in the lower or upper corners of the screen in subtle writing that doesn't distract from what is going on in the scene. I really like this idea because I don't want the audience to focus on the titles but more on the relationship of the characters on the screen so they can get a taste of what the atmosphere of the film is going to be.
Fear (1996)
Fear has a plain black screen for the production companies which is followed quickly by the title of the film. I don't really like how quickly it comes in so for our project I would prefer to have the title later on in the film. The scene is a pan of a landscape and city with the credits in the corner of the screen in clear white text. I like that it is simple and easy to read so the audience doesn't have to try figure out what they are saying. Despite the titles taking up a large amount of the screen the audience member is still able to see what is going on and they don't distract from the colour and music of the scene which is what builds the atmosphere and mood. In our project we decided that we want the action to build up to a climax before the title comes in whereas in 'fear' the action of the running builds the atmosphere and then drops when it cuts to the kitchen. I would definatley prefer to have smaller credits in a clearer text.
The group made an pretend interview video to answer some reflection questions on the shoot day:
For the shoot day I was stranded in South Africa with an e.coli related illness so I was forced to miss it which I was devistated about. I was able to face time the group which made me feel more included and they all took loads of pictures to document the day which helped make me feel like I was progressing through the day with them.
We did however plan the shoot day before I went to South Africa and it looked like this:
March 3rd
9am: arrive at Beatrice Webb boarding house, set up the fort in the common room - cast needed: Saskia and Gracie
10am - 12:30pm: Film the romantic scenes in the fort
12:30 - 1:30pm: lunch
1:30: set up for exorcism - places crosses around, ensure bed is in correct position etc
2:00pm: film exorcism scenes
Aim to finish before or by 6pm
We all stayed in contact throughout the whole day and the group were sending me updates about what was going on. Mia told us that she made the fort the night before so that all that needed to be done was positioning and adding the details such as fairy lights etc. This made the day run more smoothly with one less thing to worry about.
From the footage that I saw when I got back and from the many photos I had recieved I think we were able to capture our image that we wanted quite successfully. Bea told me that they finished ahead of schedule and had time to take more unplanned experimental shots so we had more material to edit with so I take it that things went well with little issues.
I decided that I would focus my contribution in the editing stage and do as much as I could there which I hope my group felt that I achieve this. From what I could see I think my gorup worked very well together as they were so efficient. I learned that when filming it is possible to incorporate people who aren't even in the country! And that the preparation is vital because me not being able to be there was an unexpected hurdle and so my group will have relied heavily on the previous planning we had done.
The technology/hardware they used included:
Black Magic 4K mini Ursa camera with a DZO film pictor zoom lens of 20mm-55mm and 50mm-125mm. It had a Lexar Pro memory card and they used a Viten tripod. They decided not to use the Sennheiser Shotgun mic because everything was inside so it was possible to get the set silent ready to film.
Below are some of the many pictures and videos my group took - they appeared to have lots of fun and I am so sad to have missed it but I know that I will get other opportunities in the future.
All our cast members have now been confirmed for our shoot date on the 3rd of March
We have come up with names for our characters even though the audio is muted throughout. Religious girl is called Evelyn and conservative girl is named Jane.
Priest - Nick Larkin (music teacher)
Dad - Adam Grant (media teacher)
Mum - Nicola Jones (english teacher)
Jane (conservative girl) - Gracie Lupton (student)
Evelyn (religious girl) - Saskia Pattinson (student)
Genre Conventions and Similar Films
The film we want to make is a romance drama so it will of course have conventions of both genres woven through it. Concentions of films cover a large variety of different things from camera, editing, sound and mise en scene such as costume, lighting, casting/character etc
Most romance dramas follow the same layout of the following stages:
The film we plan to make pretty much adheres entirely to the conventions above, which is good because otherwise it wouldn't be an imediatley obvious romance drama. The opening of our film woluld consist of scenes of each girls individual lives and then scenes of their relationship forming. The disruption is their parents not accepting them. The realisation is when the confrontation between the parents and the girls happen because they realise they can't hide anymore and they will have to face the problem. The resolution is the girls deciding to run away so that they can live their lives the way thay they want to.
Conventions with camera technique mainly includes a lot of close up and mid-shots of characters so the audience can see their emotions clearly and the relationship between the characters can be established. The most common convention is the camera position leading up to characters kissing. First there tends to be two over-the-shoulder shots of each charcter looking at each other which builds tension in anticipation for the kiss and then a mid shot that usually move in closer when they actually kiss. . An example of this is in The Notebook where they kiss in the rain.