Production Diary

Smart Targets

S: specific
M: measurable
A: achievable
R: realistic
T: timely

Using these S.M.A.R.T targets, my team and I are hoping to achieve our aims through dedication and time, and deadlines set. We will keep account of our progress so that we can see how far we have come with making our opening film sequence, we will make sure that what we do is realistic and that we can all meet aims and deadlines through realistic targets, and we will be specific in what we do, using a variety of techniques such as camera angles, shots, editing techniques so that we can get the best out of our work.

Wednesday 17th February 2010

Today our group met at college to do some shooting for our film opening. Our original plan was to go to college to collect the necessary equipment needed, and film in a different location, which was to be near a local estate. However, we decided that filming some shots at college, which were not necessarily associated with our storyline would help during the editing process, therefore giving us more locational shots as well as back up footage in case there were to be any problems.

The first footage we shot was of Terry putting his stuff into a locker. This particular scene was shot again and again so that we can get a variety of shots such as a long distance shot, behind the shoulder shot, and to add more of an effect, we placed the camera into the locker.

The next footage shot was of Myrin sitting alone doing work. For this scene, an above angle shot was used, behind the shoulder shot, and a close up. This scene is supposed to portray that his character is very secretive and has something to hide, despite the innocent look.

The last scenes shot was of Josephine getting into a lift on her way to a lesson.

Saturday 27th February 2010

Today we were supposed to film some additional scense for our film opening. However a few problems occured which involved equipment, and management times, therefore we were able to film what we needed. Nevertheless we have rescheduled Monday for fiimg.

Monday 1st March 2010

As Terry & Myrin were unable to make it, Jospehine & I met up to film our additonal scences which involved a group of people, plus Josephine & myself taking drugs inside an estate. To get some extras in, Josephine recruited some friends to help out with the shoot. We shot close ups of the substances that would be used such as alcohol, cocaine, marijuana and cigarettes. We also filmed; close ups of the substances being used, medium shots of all of us taking the drugs, and establishing shot of the estate.

Tuesday 2nd March 2010



Using Adobe After Effects, I began to start the process of making the title animation and font 'Estate of Mind'. As this was my first time using After Effects, I had to learn the basics of the programme such as setting everything up, positioning where the title would go, fonts, colours etc. When this was done, I then began with making the title. I experimented with the different colours I could use, and I chose to have red and white, as these two colours connote danger, love, passion, hope, peace, many themes that link very well to our film. I also experimented with different animation techniques, and I have chosen a technique where the letters appear on the screen one by one, but jumbled up, which connotes the confused and jumbled up lives that the characters in our film are struggling with.

Me (Duane)


Thursday 4th March 2010

Today my group and I focused on different parts of our film: Terry focused on the opening credits, Myrin focused on the production logo, while Josephine and I focused on the different editing techniques for the footage we shot on Monday, as well as Josephine helping with the titles also. Using premier pro, I experimented with the different ways that I could make the footage better such as inverting colours, reversing some of the shots, freeze frame and so on. We are still yet to fully complete the editing for our film opening.

Myrin

Myrin creating the production logo.

Terry

Terry making opening credits and titles

Josephine

Josephine too helping with the titles, while also helping with editing of the footage.

Equipment List

Tripod
Alcohol Bottle
Glasses
Flour & Sugar (Cocaine)
Cigarette
Lighters

Lamp
Tape
Video Camera
Hd Camera (if accesable)

Location Shots

This location based at South Norwood is where we are going to film Terry being stalked by Myrin, who also plays a drug dealer that smuggles Terry after failure to deliver him money to buy more drugs. The shots filmed here will be filmed late in the evenings.




Here are images of estates that we are most likely to base the majority of our filming at. It is important we include an estate as it plays a big role in our film opening, hence the title 'Estate Of Mind'.


This room (located in Josephine's home) is where we are going to film the apartment shots of Josephine's character and a few of her friends as extras playing drug addicts who are deep into their addictions.

The locker where Terry is to place the drugs.

By these school lockers we are planning to film some scenes of Terry packing drugs into the locker and carrying on with normal college life. This scene should convey to audiences that Terry's character's life is kept private and secretive and that he leads a double life.

All Media influences for our Film Opening

Kidulthood/ Adulthood: These two films are a major influence for our film opening. It depicks the life of adolescents in the modern day and the daily struggles they go through i.e gangs, violence, drugs & alcohol.



Bullet Boy: The second most influential film for our opening sequnce, this film delas with a newly released Londoner who tries to starighten his life out but faces many trials and tribulations. This is reminiscent of how the characters in our sequence try to straighten their lives out.



Skins: Another major influence to our film oepning. Skins potrays the lives of each character as well as showing how disfunctional some of them can be. Skins represents different stereotypes of young adolescents and we have tried to incoperate some themes from Skins into our film opening.

Waterloo Road: BBC's Waterloo road is a programme that deals with the lives of teenagers struggling to maintain school life amidst all their problems. This is reminiscent of our opening sequence as our characters are students.



Pineapple Express: The main theme of this film is the use of marinjuana. This film shows how people behave under the influence of marinjuana, and this may help us make our acting more realistic.



It Takes More - Ms Dynamite: This song deals with the negativity that some adolescents impose on others and tells them to take a deeper look at themselves and that there is more to them than they think.



Rehab - Amy Winehouse: This popular song by Amy Winehouse deals with her refusal to go to rehab while facing personal issues, notably alcohol. This song tells a simular story to our characters whom are some point refuse to seek help for their problems.

Preliminary Task Evaluation

Aim of preliminary task: to prepare for opening film sequence.

Group: Josephine, Terry, Myrin & I.

Firstly to get the concept of what a preliminary task is, we studied other school's tasks via websites such as Youtube. We took into context all the different camera angles that the students used for instance the 180 degree rule, and camera shots such as the shot reverse shot & long distance shot, so that we could collect ideas of what we as a group could interpret into our own preliminary task. Despite looking at camera shots & angles, we also observed the many techniques of editing such as the match cut, wipe cut & jump cut to see what techniques we could incorporate into our task.

Secondly, as a group, we devised a mind map & discussed the possible themes for our preliminary task, resulting in the theme of spies. After this had been done, we began to prepare our storyline/board and during this process, we made a few adjustments including changing the location from inside to outside the building. This was done as we didn't want any interruptions while filming, and also we decided it would be a better location as it we would have more options of locational shots outside rather than in. As well as this, we also decided to locate part of our story in a nearby cafe on the high street. The initial reason behind this decision was that we wanted to be adventurous & imaginative, rather than be confined in school.

Soon enough, the filming for our preliminary task began, in which we have named Pokerface. Our first session of filming was shot within an hour, through terrible weather conditions; it was raining very heavily and there was some strong winds. Because of this, and also due to the fact that we were unhappy about the outcome of our footage, we had no other alternative but to re-shoot at another date. Nevertheless, our second session of filming went well & we were indeed pleased with the outcomes as the weather was fine, and we were allowed to film in the cafe for a second time. However, we did make small changes to our storyline such as taking out a scene where there spies have to run & when the spies are making an exit out of a building (the school building).

Furthermore, our pre-production process & production went rather well, and this has given us the skill and stepping stone we need to make our Opening title sequence.

Analysis 2: Film Openings of E.T & Independence Day

How are narrative & genre established in the opening 5 minutes of E.T & Independence Day?

The opening of E.T begins with a panning of a spaceship hidden in the depth of the woods at night. This connotes a sense of mystery and makes audiences inquisitive into what is happening. To add on to the mystery, smoke is shown as well as key lights coming from within the spaceship, which further emphasises the mystery as well as making the scenery enchanting. Also, slow haunting music and a close up of E.T's hand makes the atmosphere seem spooky and inflicts the feeling of spying amongst audiences. Later on, a low key lighting close-up of a rabbit is presented. The rabbit is shown as minding it's own business, therefore connoting a sense of peace. This informs us that E.T doesn't intend to cause any harm to nature and is very harmless, either wise the opposite would have occurred and E.T may have caused harm to the rabbit. All the while, non diagetic sounds of trees, insects and such is played in the background, emphasising that E.T is in the woods.

In comparison to this, Independence Day has a dramatical opening too E.T. The first shot we see is a medium long shot of the American flag on the moon. This may connotate two things: that America is a very triumphant country and also that perhaps outer space creatures that lived on the moon may be seeking for revenge on the Americans as they trespassed on their territory, which is very common in many science fiction films. To enhance the idea that this is a futuristic film, satellites and a spaceship are used as an iconography to distinguish the genre of the film. We are also exposed to a particular red light, which connotes that danger is most likely to be heading towards America.

The first character shown in Independence Day that is introduced to us is an Asian young man around 20 - 26 years of age playing golf. He appears to wear glasses. His appearance helps us to believe that he is very intellectual & while also giving him the typical 'nerd' image, a very common stereotype in many science fiction films. His actions show that he is unprepared for what is going to happen. In the background, we are exposed to a vast majority of machinery & gadgets which yet again are iconographies that represent the science fiction genre.

Saul Bass

Saul Bass (May 8, 1920 - April 25, 1996) was an American Academy award winner & graphic designer best known for his animation title sequences. His career spanning 40 years involved working with some of the most well known and critically acclaimed film makers in Hollywood, most notably Martin Scorsese, Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger & Stanley Kubrick to name a few.

Before Bass made his big break by creating the opening sequence and film poster for Otto Preminger's 'Carmen Jones' (1954), he had begin his career by producing print work for film advertisements. After making the promotional poster as well as the title sequence for 'Carmen Jones', Bass began to realise that making title sequences and closing credits would enhance the viewing audience when watching films and that doing this would help him to venture into his creative genius.

Other than his work in Carmen Jones, Bass is also well known for his work in 'The Man With The Golden Arm' which stars the likes of Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker & Kim Novak. Focused on the storyline of a jazz musician struggling with a heroin addiction ( a much tabooed subject during the 1950s), Bass decided to raise controversy with his opening title sequence; using a black paper cut arm to signify the arm of a heroin addict, while making white lines appear on & off screen, but appearing very weary to emphasise the heroin effect.

Saul Basses opening sequence will help my team and I to produce a title sequence to his level of greatness & perfection, although it will not be exactly in the particular style that Bass was known for.

Analysis 1: Batman Begins Film opening (Mise-en-Scene)

'Batman Begins' with Bruce Wayne having a flashback or perhaps a dream about his early childhood when he encountered an incident involving bats. From then onwards, he has developed a phobia of Bats. This scenery is set in a greenhouse. In the beginning scene, Bruce Wayne is shown playing a game with his childhood friend in a greenhouse in the daytime (high key lighting). The camera shots of these two characters are up close, to show their facial expressions and such. Moments later, Bruce is shown falling into a cave full of bats while hiding from his friend during a game, possibly hide and seek. While falling, the camera is tracking him falling from a below angle, to make the shot appear as if we are watching Bruce fall from the bottom of the cave. The camera angle also emphasises on how far down he is falling. Also, from this particular part of the scene, the lighting becomes low key, expressing how dark and gloomy it is to be in the cave with the bats.

Shortly after, the now adult Bruce Wayne awakens instantly in the midst of this dream. The camera shot at this point is a close up of Bruce's facial reactions, showing his disturbed and shocked expression. The scene then shows Bruce waking up in a prison, with an unshaven beard and shabby prison attire. This automatically gives us the impression that Bruce Wayne is a very tough and stern character, hence he later has a fight with a prison inmate. The lighting effects during this point of the opening scene is high key, although it is dimmer than earlier on, perhaps to compliment how gloomy and depressing prison life can be.

In this opening sequence, one wonders why there isn't any theme music to set the pace of the film. However, the sound of bats heard during the beginning brings out a very dreary tone to the film, setting the feeling of suspense for audience. Nevertheless, it can be suggested that the director intentionally didn't put any theme music to the opening credits of the film so that the images and sounds presented would set the pace for the film itself. For instance, the first image shown is a swam of bats flying around in the sky. However, rather than music being played, there are no diagetic sounds used, for instance in the fighting scene with Bruce and his prison inmate. This is to create more impact for viewers, although some may disagree and will perceive this as being quite unrealistic.

Overall, I have discussed the techniques used in this film in terms of Mise-En-Scene such as camera shots, sounds (diagetic/non diagetic), lighting etc. As a personal opinion, I believe that though the opening to Batman Begins was great, it would have been better with the addition of music, to make the atmosphere more dramatic and interesting.