Now that I have finished my first project I look at the my opening and see all the things that went wrong in my opinion. Once I get my feedback these will be the first areas I improve as I see the following went wrong;
In the middle of the opening the frame was not in the in the right place.
It is a little over the 2 minute mark.
Some of the audio doesn't correspond with the speech (however not very noticeable)
But in the on the other hand there were some aspects that worked well. These were the areas I did not have as much trouble in.
The transitions worked.
The heartbeat flat line at the end looks effective.
The slow motion clips add to the being created.
At first final cut pro was difficult to get with grips with, I had trouble importing clips and sound but it took a while of getting groups and countless youtube tutorials as well as written tutorials. However being quick to learn I got to grips with Final Cut Pro. There were also a few times were I lost all my work so I had to start from scratch twice. But with all that said and done it became easier and easier to edit using Final Cut Pro.
As for my sound track, my first track was made but I felt that it did not really fit with the genre/mood I was trying to portray.
During the month of November my main focus was to film and to edit. By Mid-November the main bulk of my filming was done, however because I was filming both my cousin and my sister I could only film during alternate weekends. Meaning the shots I took had to be close to perfect and there had two be at least 5 shots for each frame which proved quite tedious when filming in streets as we had to be careful of cars and pedestrians. I also had to make sure the camera was relatively close to the area being filmed because there was not access to a boom used in professional productions which means that some of the speech has to be recorded again because there were other elements which effect how clear the audio is. There is also the last bit of filming that has to be done. As the bulk of the filming has been done, the main story line is present. Now all that needs to be done is the tweaks, for example there is a frame at the very start where was filming in the mirror and because I was filming the reflection when my cousin turned around you see her in the view of the camera.
What is left to do?
The only things I have left to do is to make the adjustments to the whole clip which include;
Add the Institution logo
Film the missing clips
Adjust the audio
Edit the opening one last time
Once these five things have been adjusted and finished then my film opening will be ready to upload and ready to upload.
I have decided to use my cousin instead of my sister. I realised that it would not be smart to film once every two weeks because I will not have enough time and definitely will not have enough time to edit it all. So despite what I may have decided earlier about having my sister as the main character I have now told my cousing to watch at least one of the series I am filming my opening to on a parallel basis. I have also decided to start filming this weekend and continue after half-term, after half-term I will film everyday and hopefully within two weeks I shall be finished filming. Then that will leave me the rest of November to edit. I was also re-thinking my storyboard. I need to assess the storyboard and figure out whether the soundtrack is appropriate, it seems a bit to lively and jumpy and I am trying to create a serious mood. This is something that I will revisit when i have finished filming and adding the last touches to the editing. Now concerning the persona of the actor (my cousin) she is very quiet and usually excels in education, always getting the best grades so she theoretically speaking she can easily play the good half to the Character "Del" with ease however the contrasting personality she might not be as smooth as when portraying the innocent side. But practise makes perfect so the quicker I start editing the better quality it will be.
When I found out that i would not be able to use the sound track Bad by Wale Ft Tiara THomas. It has a little prelude that I was interested in putting in at the start and although that there is one little bit that doesn't fit, because it is only a word, the general themes will be there and the audience will see it as a powerful prelude and get into quickly. It talks about how everyone is getting caught up in things they are not ready for and how they are doing things they are not ready so I though that that will suit 'Del's Character' but then I was told that we would have to come up with our own soundtrack so that is exactly what I did. I managed to finish my soundtrack and in total it is around 2:37 seconds so along with the 30 second intro it should be around 3 minutes and roughly covers the time in which our opening should run for.
I have finally finished my storyboard and I think that it the storyline of my opening is finally finished. It is complete with transitions which are mostly cut scenes, as in Kidulthood the opening consist of mostly cut scenes with only a few sweep screens. However I do have a few flash back transitions, as a result of the type of way I am filming the scenes. I have realised that in order to get the filming finished as quickly as possible then I will have to use my cousin for all the shots that do not include her face because my sister is only around every other weekend and it would not be smart to wait to film only on fortnights because there would not be any time.
So I have decided to use my cousin in all the shot that you do not see her face because then I can film my almost everyday of the week and it would be more efficient to film that way. Also, having the christmas deadline I only have juts under 2 months to get everything done. Which although sounds like I have a lot of time it isn't if we factor weekends into that and half term I really only have about a month and a bit. Now although I know you might be thinking "Why not jut use your cousin for all of it?" The reason is that she is naturally an innocent person and I'm not saying my sister fits the role, but because she has seen things like Top Boy, like Anuvahood and also the fact that she lives in london she can relate a play the character better.
So for in my storyboard I have started to think about planning my story and how its going to work. I haven't started thinking about the lighting because I want to get the bulk of the storyboard finished. At the moment I have planned about a minute but the timing is rough because I haven't had a chance to play around with the camera to see how it will work or whether the times I have estimated are enough time for each shot to be seen and digested. I have a variation of different shots including; Medium, Extreme Close-Up, and Close ups. I want to see if i could integrate the types of shot we tried recording back in early september.
The story so far is about a girl name Delilah, is drawn between two different lifestyles. On one end she is the good christian girl who goes to church on a sunday however from Monday till Saturday she is influenced by the wrong in the world and having grown up in a rough area has grown up in a hostile environment. At home she is the good girl who loves her family. But when she has left the house it is almost as if she has been possessed by her alter-ego. Now this alter ego is something out of one of the worst grime/urban/drama movie.
This alter ego is the female version of Sam Peel from Adulthood. Throughout the whole of Kidulthood Sam Peel was seen as the "so called" villain, picking on people, causing trouble and causing havoc wherever he goes. A spiteful character, however, contrastingly in adulthood the switch was flipped. He was seeking redemption from all he had wronged in the past.
I am trying to represent the two different side in Delilah.
So hopefully I will get this character across in the time we were given as i have so my budding ideas which also means I have a lot of high expectations. I hope to start filming this weekend so I have enough time to get all the editing done. I have everything else set that I need to get this done, my story board is complete with annotations and transitions so I think it is time to start thinking about filming.
Although I am not looking at the content of this scene from the Channel Four Series Top Boy, I like the way the scene was shot. The dark, mysterious setting compliments the mood and themes I am try to get across through my opening. If this was the opening to this series, the audience would certainly want to know more about the characters they have just seen and what lies ahead. Which brings me to my next idea of ending the opening on a cliff hanger. That way the tension will be high and the audience will be on edge. The setting was very dim with the Artificial lighting in the back ground. I thought of having this but in a completely different way in my own way.
Even though this is only a segment of the actual programme, there is no difference between this clip and and opening scene, there is mystery and there is suspicion, most of the conventions you see in an opening. The purpose of an opening scene is to entice the audience into watching the remaining film. The film opening should also establish all or most of the characters and genre. in this scene the production team have based the scene on an enigma, using an enigma is a great way to get the audiences attention. Enigmas are usually used in action and crime scenes but can be also used in almost any other genre of film.
A further example could be a flash back this gives the audience of what has happened in the past and therefore sets up the film. Shot of the location is also a way films open this will inform the reader where the film is being set an example of this could be a Arial shot maybe taken from a helicopter that would fly over a location for example the Hollywood sign. This is exactly what the producers have done with this clip.
For my film opening I was looking at creating a Kidulthood based theme, its going to be a Dramatic film about the hardships of living in east london. I was going to base my two main characters on a mix of characters personalitties. For example, Trife; drawn between two different lifestyles. A young "street hustler" that will attempt to escape the rigors and temptations of the ghetto in a quest for a better life. To set the scene I want to have to have several establishing shots in progression. I want the audience to immediately know the setting. I may have a man on action to portray the main character "Delilah" to her family but "Del" out of the home environment. I want there to be a clear distinction between her two different lifestyles.
Establishing shot
Church
Going to school
Getting into trouble
Hardships at home
Phone call with alerting message
Drawn between two lifestyles
I think that having the contrast between "Del" and "Delilah" needs to be evident as it brings an irony to the film but also you get to know both characters in the short time the film is being opened. So the shot I take would have to be short, snappy and effective.
I have decided not to go down the parody route because I think that parodies a long with comedies are the hardest genres to convey and film successfully, it requires a solid storyline, a large cast and a vast amount of different equipment also with a large time span and besides a solid storyline I do not have any of those other factors so that is the reason have decided to stick with the more serious genre. It is not playing it safe by not doing a parody I just have to consider my options and how much time along with equipment that is available to me.
Although this is a trailer, there are many elements that I can use in my film opening. I like how they have added very subtle elements of distortion to each scene, sometimes unnoticed but it really adds to the whole trailer. How they were very abstract but you still had a clear idea of what was going on. I like how they have used sound effects like voices overs and echoes. There were other elements that I liked for example they had a varied camera shots, close ups, slow motion and action shots. I liked that you were immediately able to tell the genre. Violence, however I feel that the swearing was not appropriate especially in a trailer. But apart from that I think that the trailer is very entertaining. It captivates the audiences attention and the editing is not extremely unrealistic but rather it was used to enhance the the trailer, if I was going to imitate the type of editing they used I would have to find a way to edit it in such a way that it would be fitting to my genre and makes sure it enhances the frame rather than take away from it.
Task; Research what film institutions are and explain why they are used.
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation,also known as 20th Century Fox, or 20th Century Fox Pictures, is one of the six major American film studios as of 2011. Located in the Century City area of Los Angeles, the studio is currently a subsidiary of 21st Century Fox. They make many different genres including, thrillers, family, comedy. action and adventure. This is just one of many of the major film institutions.
HanWay Films was founded in 1998 by film producer Jeremy Thomas (Chairman), along with his colleagues Peter Watson (Deputy Chairman) and Stephan Mallmann (Chief Operating Officer), who continue to sit on the board. Created as an adjunct to Thomas' Recorded Picture Company, it entered a period of growth when Tim Haslam, previously of Intermedia and Majestic Films, joined the company as CEO in 2003.
HanWay films, named HanWay after Hanway Street in London's Soho, which houses both companies in a building with a Mondrian-style exterior. "HanWay is separate from me, but it has my spirit still," Thomas has said. "I try to make sure everyone working there loves films"
I think it is symbolic that the company has been named of a london street as it is a basis for their films, representing the culture they are trying to capture through their films. That again is where my inspiration comes from. The streets of East london, and also having living there for a large part of my life I know how hostile the environment is. I was also thinking of using Cypher Films, however when I tried researching the company I could not find any information about them other than the movies in which they had produced;
So other than that I couldn't find any information about them. But I already have HanWay films which is fine. Maybe the reason there is very little information about them is because they are not a big company.
Today we were looking at the 3 different types of shot, which include;
Man On Action
180 Degree Rule
Shot Reverse Shot
The first type of shot is called "Man on Action." This is where you have a character close up doing a certain action, then the camera pans out to a landscape distant shot of the same action being done on a much larger scale. For example in the James Bond movie Quantum Of Solace an example of the man on action shot would be James in his Aston Martin, then seconds later a landscape shot of the traffic jam Bond is trying to escape. This is a perfect way of emphasizing the intensity in scenes like this or another example would be a child eating ices cream at a fair, then seconds later another shot but this time instead of just focusing on one person eating ice cream you would have a wide shot where the audience can see the whole fair ground wit many people eating ice-cream.
The next shot is the 180 degree rule which is a little easier to explain. This rule just states that the camera must not switch sides whilst filming for the simply because if the camera switches sides in a different shot it would like like the characters have switched side whilst filming which would look very unprofessional. An imaginary line called the axis connects the characters by keeping the camera on one side of this axis for every shot in the scene. The first character will always be frame right of the second character, who is then always frame left of the first. If the camera passes over the axis, it is called jumping the line or crossing the line. Which would give the false illusion that characters have switched side, unless this was the intention of the director. "Jumping the line" can be used in fast pace fight scenes where the audience struggles to keep up with the on going action however this is one of the few circumstances "jumping the line" can be done.
Last but not the least Shot Reverse Shot, and this technique is where one character is shown looking at another character, and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other.
Having studied these three shots I decided it was far time I put these shots into action (pardon the pun). So I went out with my group to see how difficult it was to do each technique and in the end after much deliberation we managed to film the techniques and put them into effect. I had a lot of trouble editing the task on final cut pro so i had to use Imovie instead. Imovie was good to put it all into one clip but was difficult to add transitions and titles and headings on the iMac. If I am honest i would have had much nore succes editing on an iPhone or iPad. Now that i have practiced using all the different techniques I feel that I am fairly confident in putting into practice.
I have just watched Kidulthood in order to be able to review it. Surprisingly it is not only a coming of age film but a drama. It was interesting because there were some elements I can use in my film., it was humorous at times, serious at times, but it made me think and question life. The themes used are everyday situations which many people can relate to or say that they have witnessed. The plot, the dialogue were all relate-able to normal day in the life of an average person. None of the bright lights or bigger cities you would get in the Hollywood blockbusters. Just normal life, and for me this worked well as it had all the conventions of and drama film it exhibits elements of everyday life, it portrayed a journey and development of characters in Adulthood. The purpose of a drama story line is to move the audience emotionally; which it did. The heart of drama is the conflict between main characters, realistic struggles depicting hardships, difficulty, and pain the audience can relate to the Characters. It had structured with climaxes and anti climaxes to keep the audience emotionally attached and the tension form of realization at the end. Drama's can also be interlaced with other genres such as comedy, tragedy, etc. It does not have to be complete drama.
I am looking at different genres as a basis of my short film. Anuvahood is a parody of both Adulthood and Kidulthood. I like the fact it is making a light situation out of heavy cause. Something I will be looking at portraying later on when I make my own production. What I am hoping to do in my own production is to show the urban life in a mix of both serious through a way in which most people can relate to I want the audience to understand like technology everything is changing and how the society is no exception. The difference between this film and a film of the likes of Adulthood is that although they are both the same genre the way film directors took a different approach to the matter. One is a comical projection of the urban life and the other is a bit more violent, a bit more action packed. Which just goes to show that although your given the genre "Action" or "Drama" there is the obvious way to portray the subject or you can think a bit more out the box and take a different approach and stand out which is what I intend to do.
Whilst
studying at Rainham Mark Grammar School I discovered my interest for creative
subjects; media being one of them. I had not really thought of what A Level
subjects I could take, so when it came to actually picking my A Level I was
oblivious to what my options were. In the end I chose Media, Graphics
Photography and sociology. So as you can tell my strengths are in the creative
aspects of life. I chose media because it covers areas I am confident I can do
well in, for instance editing on programs like; Imovie, Fl Studio, Garage band,
Photoshop and Final cut plus the skills I learn in my other subjects especially
in photography are transferable I also have family in the film industry so I
hope to use that to my advantage and gain the best possible grade I can in
media. My aims are to take media and put my very own imprint to impress and succeed
beyond any expectations anyone may have. From my youth I have always
been the creative from making up puzzles on a normal trip to London to trying
to dissect how films are made. I do not see things from the usual point of view
I try to see things in a different light. So I hope that by choosing media I
can be lead to the right direction later on in life.
