U1-31 : FILM OPENING PROJECT 2008/9

touchstone pictures

2009-03-15T08:29:00.000-07:00

Timelines

2009-03-15T08:23:00.000-07:00

Preliminary Task

2009-03-12T08:55:00.000-07:00

This is my preliminary task. Here you can see how much improvement has been made with our pieces. The following improvements include:

The lighting in our latest piece has improved as you can always see everyones faces
The 180 degree rule has been stuck to
The editing has been better as now the individual clips flow into one another
The main character is well established
The mise en scene clearly relates to the genre

Feedback from final opening

2009-03-10T07:02:00.000-07:00

Titles could have been clearer but they did suit the film- however when watching this from the original on high quailty the titles are clear and fine.
Our soundtrack was improved from the roughcut and our class thought it was good.
Our class like the arrows on the freeze frames and thought it worked well.
The whole opening was seen as very appropriate for the genre.
Close up could have been good towards the end of the opening

Comparison shots

2009-03-09T05:09:00.000-07:00

Final Piece

2009-03-09T04:51:00.000-07:00

Roughcut Feedback

2009-03-02T12:07:00.000-08:00

After pitching our roughcut, several ideas to improve upon our final piece have been established. Some of these points include:

Making the titles clearer
Fading between production logo and opening
Wider variety of shots
Shot variety improved when establishing the main character
Making some shots less choppy
Make the music less repetitive

Roughcut

2009-03-02T02:57:00.000-08:00

Test Shots

2009-01-29T07:48:00.002-08:00

We used the same music as we used for the anamatic. However we did have a slight problem with the length of the music and we recognise we need to work on it more. Before shooting the shots we got consent from the people who were involved and consent to being able to use the library to film. Not all of the shots are included but the general idea is shown. The shots are not in the correct order.

From doing this we have learnt not to use the zoom and to use the tripod to make a better effect. It also helped to inspire us with different ideas which we could use.

Shooting Schedule

2009-01-27T06:19:00.000-08:00

Date: 10/2/09

Time: 1.00pm

Location:College

Characters:Emily Skinner, Rob Stopher, Hollie Godden

Film Crew: Natasha Hind, Pippa Atkins

Mood Board

2009-01-27T06:11:00.000-08:00

This is the location and geek mood board!

This is the mood board representing the romance side of our sequence!

Shot List

2009-01-26T03:50:00.000-08:00

Establishing Shot

- The college
-The entrance of the library looking in at the girl standing there

Close up shot

- Two characters bending down picking up books showing eye contact
- The bell is another close up shot to emphasize it is in a school

Long- shot

- Students down a corridor
- In the library of the geeky girl studying
- The two boys playing football

180 degree rule

-Conversations in different shots with various characters involved

Reaction Shot

- The geek girl when she sees the boy kissing his girlfriend

Props/Costumes/Location

2009-01-26T03:44:00.000-08:00

Prop List:

books
school bags
desk
football
characters (boys and girls)
Stationary

Costume:

White socks
Heels
Tights
Mini Skirt
Low cut top
Geeky shirt

Location:

Library
Classroom
Field
Hallway
Canteen

Animatic

2009-01-26T03:24:00.000-08:00

This is our completed animatic of our romantic comedy film opening. We chose the music as we feel it fitted with the conventions of a teenage romantic comedy. This is our feedback from the class:
1. Good Title
2.Good music
3.The anamatic was not that clear towards the end

Feedback from pitch

2009-01-22T07:06:00.000-08:00

What was said:
- Make sure the piece was totally different to other films already made.
- Sounded like their was a lot happening for just an opening.
- Use different locations.
- Make sure the location is obvious.
- The main character should be established clearly.

Pitch

2009-01-20T03:43:00.000-08:00

The establishing shot for our opening will be a shot of the college with people walking around like the beginning of a normal school day. Then we can move onto shots of couples together hugging and kissing etc. After we will see the lonely girl sitting in the library on her own. The camera will show a book case and zoom into a gap in the books where the girl can been seen at a table studying. We see the girl looking out of the window at a boy playing football with his friends. She gazes at him and he sees her looking so waves, she gets embarrassed and turns away. Then there is a close up of the bell ringing for then end of the lesson. As they are walking down the corridor the lonely girl trips and drops all of her books. The football boy sees and helps pick them up. As he is doing this they get very close and make eye contact, while they are gazing into each others eyes the boys girlfriend comes along and he walks off with her kissing. The lonely girl is upset. Then the title of the film will show. The comedy will be shown by the lonely girl being clumsy. As the film would have gone on the rest of the story would be the quiet lonely girl playing pranks on the girlfriend to win the boy.

Title Ideas

2009-01-19T03:42:00.000-08:00

- Love Lee
- A Kiss With A Fist Is Better Then None
- Love Wars
- Along Came Kate
- Bear Hug

Analyse - Clueless (1995 directed by Amy Heckerling

2009-01-15T14:16:00.000-08:00

The opening of a film is important. It is a chance for the viewer to understand the visual style and introduces them to the film itself through,

- Location
- Characters
- Plot
- Genre

The opening sequence of Clueless enables the viewer to get an insight into the way the film is going to unfold. Its a teen romantic comedy which was realeased in 1995. Written and directed by Amy Heckerling. Starring the likes of Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy, Paul Rudd and many more. Heckerling has directed and produced many films her first was 'Fast Times At Ridgemont High' 1982. Shortly after that only 2 years later her next film was released. 'Johnny Dangerously' One more along the lines of a parody of gangster films. Next was 'Look whos talking' In 1989 and just one year later 'Look whos talking 2' was released. Clueless was the next film in 1995. Five years later Heckerling produced 'Looser' in 2000. Her most recent project was a romantic comedey 'I Could Never Be Your Women' whist also directing the early series of NBC 'The Office'. This shows slight consistency with her films, the context, the actors, sets and costumes which are used again and again because they can be.

Clueless introduces a rich girls life to teens across the world. Aimed primarilaly at girls this chick flick introduces many obstacles which teens will face. Boys/Romance being at the top of the list. It highlights steriotypical examples of amercian schools and way of life which teens lead. Partys, alcolhol, Clothes and many more.

The other purpose of the opening is to introduce one or more of the main characters. In this case the opening of Clueless introduces The female lead role and has some other important characters involved. There is digetic sound of her voice and others within this. The music creates a upbeat tone with a digetic soundtrack.

Analysis - 10 things i hate about you

2009-01-15T11:44:00.000-08:00

10 things i hate about you is a romantic comedy and this is clearly established within the title sequence. The main character is introduced and we learn that his name is Cameron, a new guy to the school. He spots a girl who he likes within the first 5 minutes and it is clear to see where the movie is going.

The comedy aspect is portrayed particularly within the opening sequence where the girls are listening to there music in the cars and then another girl, who they obviously dislike, pulls up next to them with her music blaring over the sound of the original fun girly hits. The film is light hearted and easy to watch and more comedy is shown when we are in the guidance councelors and she is writing her novel and food is thrown on the window. It is clearly indicated that the school has little discipline and the students are full aware of this with no action being taken to Patrick exposing himself in the cafeteria.

The titles of the film relate to the genre well and are loud, colourful and fun. The font is messy and lively and implies that the film will carry on in suite. The soundtrack is also lively and fits in with the genre as it sounds like it could be performed by a teenage band and it is later shown that this is the piece that is playing in the car with the girls. This works well as it is unusual.

Research Into Conventions

2009-01-15T07:29:00.001-08:00

Our chosen genre is - A Romantic Teen Comedy

Codes and Conventions- These vary depending on the culture context of the film examples are:

Proms
Alcohol
illegal substances
High schools
Parties and all night raves
Loosing virginity
Relationships
Social Groups
Cliques
American Pop Culture

The most commonly used stereotypes and social groups are:

The Jock
The Princess/Plastic
The Geek
The Rebel
The Misfit
The average girl/boy
The new girl/boy

Teen films are almost always set around a high school, this allows all social groups to be shown! However this is different in hybrid teen films. But generally the classic teen romantic comedy is set around a high school.

2009-01-15T07:10:00.000-08:00

Teenage Romantic Comedy films

- 10 Things I Hate About You (1999 Directed By Gil Junger)

This is a good example of a romance teen film! It has the average boy who wants the perfect, popular girl. It uses all the codes and conventions of a teen film! Plus the conventions of the steriotpical characters.
*Prom
*Alcolhol
*Parties
*Loosing Virginity
*relationships
*cliques
*American Pop Culture

It is like most teen films set around a high school although that is one of the main sets.

- Clueless (1995 Directed By Amy Heckerling)

Clueless is a good example of a teen romantic comedey. It clearly shows the divide within social groups within a high school, which is one key feature for a teen film. Also it highlights most of the conventions of the specified genre.

*Parties
*Alcohol
*Relationships
*Loosing Virginity
*American Pop Culture

Like all typical teen films it has the average guys and girls mixing with the posh, popular kids.

- A Cinderella Story (2004 Directed By Mark Rosman)

Another good example. It shows how the different social groups are represented in a typical american high school and how the convenions work within that. One average girl dates the popular jock.

All the tee film conventions are used again in this film.

- Bride Wars (2009 Directed By Gary Winick)

Recently out in the cinema this is a good example of friendship and social groups mixed together. It uses a few of the conventions:

*relationships
*Cliques

What makes this one slightly different is the context. Its not a high school type film. It could be seen as a hybrid. Therefore not accounting for all the conventions of a romantic teen comedy.

- John Tucker Must Die (2006 Directed By Betty Thomas)

This film is a typical romantic comedy and follows the conventions to show this clearly. The main convention is the romance between two characters. In this film there is a main character (the jock) who falls in love with the geek. This is what we based our film opening on and used similar conventions.

All of these film follow the conventions of a Teenage Romantic Comedy

Film opening analysis

2009-01-15T07:01:00.000-08:00

Love Actually

Love actually is a romantic comedy. The main theme in the opening of this film is love; this is portrayed in a number of ways. The establishing shot is in a crowd of people in an airport, the camera shot shows the tops of the people’s heads in the crowd, this makes the audience feel as if they were in the crowd themselves and shows that it may be a characters point of view. Then when the voice over of Hugh Grant come in it clarifies that it is a character point of view. In the voice over Hugh talks about love in his opinion and how it can come in different forms, this gives then makes the audience create a first impression if the character. The camera focuses on people in an airport being reunited, they show the characters hugging and kissing which straight way follows the genre of this film. The slow, calm sound of the music shows happiness of being reunited with their loved ones. Also from the voice over the sound of the characters voice sounds upper class which again may add to the audience’s first impressions of the character. In the opening of this film there are a lot of close ups of the people reuniting which makes the audience relate to them and share their emotions that they are feeling. The slow changes between the shots emphasize the actions of the characters love and embrace. The location, Heathrow arrivals hall contrasts with what is shown in the opening. An airport is usually associated with people rushing about but the opening shows a calm arrivals hall where loved ones are reuniting.
The opening of Love Actually uses sound, camera work, editing and mise en scene giving the audience first impressions of the film and the characters within it.

U1-31 FILM OPENING PROJECT

2008-11-28T04:12:00.001-08:00

Welcome