In yesterday's lesson, Maria and I added the finishing touches to our video. We changed the font of our titles to make them look much more proffesional and we added some music to the end in an attempt to conclude our opening sequence. The only problem we had editing was whether to add a transition between two shots that where there was a shaky shot. We resloved this problem by using a transition to link the shots together. We spent the rest of the lesson watching other people's videos and giving feedback.
Tolu Lawal
Tuesday, 10 March 2009
Friday, 6 March 2009
Creative Tools
1. How did digital technology enable you to develop creatively and are there examples of the technology obstructing or preventing your creative flow?
Digital Technology helped me with filming a lot. The tripod helped me achieve different effects, especially making the images still. Also pan and movement shots. We came up with an idea of the actor holding the tripod and facing the camera towards the actor, it came out as a very moving effect. Of course the camera helped us record all of our progress. The most helpful technology was the computer and Premiere Elements, which made our film make sense. We could change the video clips we filmed, add different effects, music and titles.
2. Thinking About Audience – making meaning
How did you respond to the initial brief with the audience in mind?
We thought in a way of a person who didn't see the film and didn't know the ideas we had. We tried to edit in a way that it made sense for a person knowing nothing about the production, ideas and thoughts which were supposed to be presented.
3. How did your analysis and research into the type of film you selected impact on the creative process in pre-production?
We researched horror, thriller and differnet genres of drama to get ideas for our film. We looked at the different effects and ways of filming. We got our idea for the beginning of our film from Mr and Mrs Smith where they are talking to a psychologist, which worked out as a simple idea but effective. To make it Hollywood film-like we got the logo from universal pictures. From this idea I developed my own which goes straight after it. We looked at the editing from horror movies and the effects which make a film scary.
4. In filming and editing, how did you ensure that the meaning would be apparent to the audience? What creative decisions did you make in planning, rehearsing, filming and editing that were influenced by your sense of the audience and possible layers of interpretation?
We ensured that all the filming made sense and logic order. We used appropriate costumes and mise-en-scene. Also we used two main actors who were supposed to be a person in childhood and the same person grown up. We used actors who looked alike and had an age difference. We used a tripod in all the filming because it made the look more professional. Also we used different shots to make it more interesting, unusual and dynamic. We edited the film very thoughtfully because the shots had to make sense by being in the right order, as we had a difficult task in trying to show the future and the past which could only be achieved mostly by editing.
5. How did the audience respond when you trialled aspects of your film? Are there a variety of possible interpretations of your opening sequence that will depend on the cultural situation of the viewer?
The audience found it very scary and thrilling, also they liked our filming. One of the viewers made a comment on a mistake we had which we corrected.
Maria Timchenko
1. How did digital technology enable you to develop creatively and are there examples of the technology obstructing or preventing your creative flow?
Digital Technology helped me with filming a lot. The tripod helped me achieve different effects, especially making the images still. Also pan and movement shots. We came up with an idea of the actor holding the tripod and facing the camera towards the actor, it came out as a very moving effect. Of course the camera helped us record all of our progress. The most helpful technology was the computer and Premiere Elements, which made our film make sense. We could change the video clips we filmed, add different effects, music and titles.
2. Thinking About Audience – making meaning
How did you respond to the initial brief with the audience in mind?
We thought in a way of a person who didn't see the film and didn't know the ideas we had. We tried to edit in a way that it made sense for a person knowing nothing about the production, ideas and thoughts which were supposed to be presented.
3. How did your analysis and research into the type of film you selected impact on the creative process in pre-production?
We researched horror, thriller and differnet genres of drama to get ideas for our film. We looked at the different effects and ways of filming. We got our idea for the beginning of our film from Mr and Mrs Smith where they are talking to a psychologist, which worked out as a simple idea but effective. To make it Hollywood film-like we got the logo from universal pictures. From this idea I developed my own which goes straight after it. We looked at the editing from horror movies and the effects which make a film scary.
4. In filming and editing, how did you ensure that the meaning would be apparent to the audience? What creative decisions did you make in planning, rehearsing, filming and editing that were influenced by your sense of the audience and possible layers of interpretation?
We ensured that all the filming made sense and logic order. We used appropriate costumes and mise-en-scene. Also we used two main actors who were supposed to be a person in childhood and the same person grown up. We used actors who looked alike and had an age difference. We used a tripod in all the filming because it made the look more professional. Also we used different shots to make it more interesting, unusual and dynamic. We edited the film very thoughtfully because the shots had to make sense by being in the right order, as we had a difficult task in trying to show the future and the past which could only be achieved mostly by editing.
5. How did the audience respond when you trialled aspects of your film? Are there a variety of possible interpretations of your opening sequence that will depend on the cultural situation of the viewer?
The audience found it very scary and thrilling, also they liked our filming. One of the viewers made a comment on a mistake we had which we corrected.
Maria Timchenko
Thursday, 5 March 2009
Professional Practice
Tolu Lawal
Maria and I got on relativly well throughout the planning and the filming stages. the only time we began to disagree was when it came to the editing. we both had completly differnt ideas of the order in which the flashbacks were to come in. In the begining deadlines were not much of a problem as we managed to meet each one but as we began to run out of time, missing dealines became a regular thing but we tried to get over this quickly by sharing the tasks more evenly between the two of us.
The health and safety logistic problems we faced were very few. At one stage, we were taking shots of a girl walking through the woods in the dark. In order to minimise any sort of risk to her, we made her walk through a path in the woods instead of through forest areas to avoid any accidents. In the beginning we very good at organising the people involved in the production. We were never both doing the same thing at the same time e.g. if Maria was making the titles; I was looking for music to go with our media product or researching the type of screenshots used in our particular genre. Our actors were not managed very well as we changed the gender of our actors a few times. Once we got the final line up, our organisation was much better. We arranged where to meet our actors and we told the exactly what they needed to wear. The only prop that would appear in my media video would be a knife. This is because it is the murder weapon. The rest of the time, there are no props as we thought they would distract from the tense atmosphere we wanted to create in our opening sequence. Creating a shooting script helped us a lot during the filming because we had a guideline as to what we were doing. We did not change our shooting script a lot. The main ideas remained the same; it was only a few of the shots on the story board that changed. This is because we found that the shots we created while filming using the tripod were very effective and were more creative than our initial ideas. My time management was relatively good throughout this project. Although I feel I have spent too much time planning and researching and even more planning when our actors have failed to show up or have other commitments. So I find that now I have just a little less time that I would have liked to edit and add the finishing touches to my media product.
Tolu Lawal
Maria and I got on relativly well throughout the planning and the filming stages. the only time we began to disagree was when it came to the editing. we both had completly differnt ideas of the order in which the flashbacks were to come in. In the begining deadlines were not much of a problem as we managed to meet each one but as we began to run out of time, missing dealines became a regular thing but we tried to get over this quickly by sharing the tasks more evenly between the two of us.
The health and safety logistic problems we faced were very few. At one stage, we were taking shots of a girl walking through the woods in the dark. In order to minimise any sort of risk to her, we made her walk through a path in the woods instead of through forest areas to avoid any accidents. In the beginning we very good at organising the people involved in the production. We were never both doing the same thing at the same time e.g. if Maria was making the titles; I was looking for music to go with our media product or researching the type of screenshots used in our particular genre. Our actors were not managed very well as we changed the gender of our actors a few times. Once we got the final line up, our organisation was much better. We arranged where to meet our actors and we told the exactly what they needed to wear. The only prop that would appear in my media video would be a knife. This is because it is the murder weapon. The rest of the time, there are no props as we thought they would distract from the tense atmosphere we wanted to create in our opening sequence. Creating a shooting script helped us a lot during the filming because we had a guideline as to what we were doing. We did not change our shooting script a lot. The main ideas remained the same; it was only a few of the shots on the story board that changed. This is because we found that the shots we created while filming using the tripod were very effective and were more creative than our initial ideas. My time management was relatively good throughout this project. Although I feel I have spent too much time planning and researching and even more planning when our actors have failed to show up or have other commitments. So I find that now I have just a little less time that I would have liked to edit and add the finishing touches to my media product.
Tolu Lawal
Blog entry
25/02/09
For my opening sequence, through viewing various opening sequences of movies in the same genre as my own, I was able to adopt the micro-macro strategy. I wanted my film to follow the conventions of a typical thriller but at the same time challenge the conventions. The atmosphere created in my film by the camera work and music will be similar to that of the various trailers and opening sequences of thrillers that I have watched. The style of my titles and music will reflect the tense atmosphere I am creating in my opening sequence. I got the idea for the titles of opening sequence through watching trailers on YouTube and making a note of a reoccurring style of lettering and the sound effects that came with the style of lettering. The trailer that gave me the idea for my opening sequence includes ‘The Ring 2’, ‘Hide and Seek’ and ‘Collateral’. From these titles, I figured that the titles do reflect what the movie is about and add to the atmosphere that is being created. The music also reflects the happenings of the movie. As things become more tense or exciting the non diegetic background music tends to add to the atmosphere created. The Language of film is told through the non diegtic sounds and the diegetic sounds. This is when the dialogue is reflected through the soundtrack. In my opening sequence this is created through the murderer’s thoughts and the sound bridge into the flashback. When she says she still hears them calling her name, we hear the boys calling her name in a tuneful manner as if it what driving he crazy allowing the audience to hear her thoughts. This connection with the audience through makes the atmosphere extremely tense. Through the grammar of the edit, we are able to make connections through the flashbacks and the time changes throughout the opening sequence. Although my editing is non linear as it jumps through time, the audience are still aware of the happenings as the events will be explained by the main character in-between the flash backs. All our flashbacks will be in black and white to ensure that the audience are able to differentiate between the current time and the past. And during the first flash back there will be a caption inserted to show how long ago the events were. I believe we used the right transition effects eg fade to black as it is commonly used in this genre to portay the tense atmosphere being created . it is almost as if the viewer is having to wait to see what is going happen and the transition contributes to this feeling of anticipation.
The key mistakes made throughout the filming of my opening sequence were the constant changing of ideas and the gender of our actors. I could have been a lot more organised when it came to arranging times to film and actually getting the filming done. Our planning was good but I do think our story board could have been much more accurate. The errors I made in the preliminary task were avoided as I was much more familiar with the software I was using and the editing was technically harder but also easier because I had used the software before.
On a macro level, my film does challenge the traditional conventions of a thriller. Most thrillers I have watched start slow, almost portraying normal life but my opening sequence starts with a series of flashbacks and the confession of a murder in order to grasp the audiences’ attention. Instead of seeing the movie title first, the film title will end my opening sequence.
I do not make reference to any other particular film throughout my opening sequence.
My target audience will be young adults. It will appeal to many people as is a thriller but also a teen movie about bullying. The storyline of my opening sequence challenges the traditional conventions of this genre. Thrillers are not usually about teenagers murdering fellow peers. I think this difference in the storyline attracts a much wider range of audiences from different age groups. Those who like thrillers are likely to watch it and those teenagers who prefer to watch something they are able to relate to will also take an interest in the film.
Blog entry
25/02/09
For my opening sequence, through viewing various opening sequences of movies in the same genre as my own, I was able to adopt the micro-macro strategy. I wanted my film to follow the conventions of a typical thriller but at the same time challenge the conventions. The atmosphere created in my film by the camera work and music will be similar to that of the various trailers and opening sequences of thrillers that I have watched. The style of my titles and music will reflect the tense atmosphere I am creating in my opening sequence. I got the idea for the titles of opening sequence through watching trailers on YouTube and making a note of a reoccurring style of lettering and the sound effects that came with the style of lettering. The trailer that gave me the idea for my opening sequence includes ‘The Ring 2’, ‘Hide and Seek’ and ‘Collateral’. From these titles, I figured that the titles do reflect what the movie is about and add to the atmosphere that is being created. The music also reflects the happenings of the movie. As things become more tense or exciting the non diegetic background music tends to add to the atmosphere created. The Language of film is told through the non diegtic sounds and the diegetic sounds. This is when the dialogue is reflected through the soundtrack. In my opening sequence this is created through the murderer’s thoughts and the sound bridge into the flashback. When she says she still hears them calling her name, we hear the boys calling her name in a tuneful manner as if it what driving he crazy allowing the audience to hear her thoughts. This connection with the audience through makes the atmosphere extremely tense. Through the grammar of the edit, we are able to make connections through the flashbacks and the time changes throughout the opening sequence. Although my editing is non linear as it jumps through time, the audience are still aware of the happenings as the events will be explained by the main character in-between the flash backs. All our flashbacks will be in black and white to ensure that the audience are able to differentiate between the current time and the past. And during the first flash back there will be a caption inserted to show how long ago the events were. I believe we used the right transition effects eg fade to black as it is commonly used in this genre to portay the tense atmosphere being created . it is almost as if the viewer is having to wait to see what is going happen and the transition contributes to this feeling of anticipation.
The key mistakes made throughout the filming of my opening sequence were the constant changing of ideas and the gender of our actors. I could have been a lot more organised when it came to arranging times to film and actually getting the filming done. Our planning was good but I do think our story board could have been much more accurate. The errors I made in the preliminary task were avoided as I was much more familiar with the software I was using and the editing was technically harder but also easier because I had used the software before.
On a macro level, my film does challenge the traditional conventions of a thriller. Most thrillers I have watched start slow, almost portraying normal life but my opening sequence starts with a series of flashbacks and the confession of a murder in order to grasp the audiences’ attention. Instead of seeing the movie title first, the film title will end my opening sequence.
I do not make reference to any other particular film throughout my opening sequence.
My target audience will be young adults. It will appeal to many people as is a thriller but also a teen movie about bullying. The storyline of my opening sequence challenges the traditional conventions of this genre. Thrillers are not usually about teenagers murdering fellow peers. I think this difference in the storyline attracts a much wider range of audiences from different age groups. Those who like thrillers are likely to watch it and those teenagers who prefer to watch something they are able to relate to will also take an interest in the film.
Friday, 20 February 2009
Filming our opening sequence
Tolu Lawal
Maria and I are about half way through our filming. We have encountered several obstacles along the way. We have had problems with finding actors for our opening sequence. We have decided our bullies should be male and to keep our main character female. Also the weather has been a major problem for us as it has continuously been changing so some of the shots we filmed on different days cannot be incorporated into our film as they look too different. In order to avoid this, Maria and I have decided to film a scene a day.
Tolu Lawal
Maria and I are about half way through our filming. We have encountered several obstacles along the way. We have had problems with finding actors for our opening sequence. We have decided our bullies should be male and to keep our main character female. Also the weather has been a major problem for us as it has continuously been changing so some of the shots we filmed on different days cannot be incorporated into our film as they look too different. In order to avoid this, Maria and I have decided to film a scene a day.
Thursday, 12 February 2009
12/02/09
Tolu Lawal
Sounds for our opening sequence
I watched a few trailers of thrillers and listened to the change in the sound as the story got more exiting. I found that they made very little use of popular music and the music fitted with the scene. It was synchronous and became more exciting and tense at the same pace as the scene. This is going to help Maria and I when we editing our video and adding all the music into it. Our music will also have to be synchronous and help to portray the current happenings of each scene.
Tolu Lawal
Sounds for our opening sequence
I watched a few trailers of thrillers and listened to the change in the sound as the story got more exiting. I found that they made very little use of popular music and the music fitted with the scene. It was synchronous and became more exciting and tense at the same pace as the scene. This is going to help Maria and I when we editing our video and adding all the music into it. Our music will also have to be synchronous and help to portray the current happenings of each scene.
12/02/09
Tolu Lawal
Changing ideas
Maria and I have once again decided to change the some of the idea for our opening sequence. We have decided to change the gender of our actors from male to female. This is because finding an older male character was proving very difficult so we decided to employ female characters as we found it easier to find an older looking actress to play the part of the woman. This changes the bullies into younger female characters. also we have decided to have a female Psychiatrist because all the other characters in th The main story line of our opening sequence is going to stay the same. Also we have decided that there will be no murder scene any longer, we have finalised the story board and have decided on all of our shots.
Tolu Lawal
Changing ideas
Maria and I have once again decided to change the some of the idea for our opening sequence. We have decided to change the gender of our actors from male to female. This is because finding an older male character was proving very difficult so we decided to employ female characters as we found it easier to find an older looking actress to play the part of the woman. This changes the bullies into younger female characters. also we have decided to have a female Psychiatrist because all the other characters in th The main story line of our opening sequence is going to stay the same. Also we have decided that there will be no murder scene any longer, we have finalised the story board and have decided on all of our shots.
Tolu
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