Film opening

Ollie Hill- 1942

I worked with  Millie levine, Grace Clare and Olivia Davies

Our brief was to make the titles and opening of a new fiction film (to last a maximum of two minutes). We made a thriller film opening / psychological thriller film opening entitled Extraction.

I took responsibility for the directing all of the scenes, as I came up with ideas of shot angles and what was happening within each scene  

I also took responsibility for the lots of the camerawork included in the scenes where I am not seen in the shot, in particular when we see Millie running away and escaping the male following her. 

I also take responsibility for the title design. As I used premiere Pro to edit the transparency of the title as it fades out at the end. 

I took full responsibility for set design, I created the pinboard which is a key prop. I used powerpoint to gather all the pictures used in this prop.  Were we see this at the beginning and end in the shed. Whilst filming the scene within the shed I also was cautious of the lighting in the scene by using my Iphone flash. As well as this I designed the set were we are in a dark room with two screens. I created the screens with the MRI scans of brains and picture of Millie and source the digital hacking screen we also see in this scene. I also decided the locations of filming.  

I took responsibility for the all of the editing, which I did individually. To edit I used Premiere Pro. Within doing the editing i faced lots of challenges as it was the first time is used the software and wasn't familiar with all the tools. However, one of the biggest challenged i faced was making sure that the action in the chase scene was interesting and grabbed the audiences attention. I also took feedback from external people and made these corrections alone. 

I designed and made the Production Company logo HILL LIMITLESS. I designed the logo in photoshop and took it over to premiere pro then took it over to Premiere to create the final cut adding sound and movement. I also made the production company logo LEVINE LOOPS in premier pro. 

CONSTRUCTION - EDITING CHASE SCENE

During the construction I felt that the chase scene was very important in making sure the film opening was captivating the audience. I spent hours individually trying to find a suitable soundtrack to go alongside the montage of clips. Once I had the soundtrack I continued to spend time to edit the clips to create a simulating sequel of clips which are cut to the beat, as well as fast paced to create an emotional roller coaster for the viewers. 

CONSTRUCTION: FILMING AND EDITNG HIGH TECH SCENE

During the filming and editing the high tech scene was key in getting a clear plot and presenting the antagonist and protagonist. When editing and filming this I felt huge importance in making a realistic environment, I did this through set design as well as editing in sounds and adjusting lighting. 

CORRECTIONS AND FEEDBACK

During filming I had to continually make refinement to make sure the final product was engaging as well as professional. The refinements including changing audio level to make sure that they have a smooth layout to create an atmosphere within the opening which is engaging. Another correction which I had to complete was changing the chase scene to being fast paced. During this process I decided to intro an energetic non-diegetic soundtrack, which I can use to make a cut to the beat sequel of clips of the chase scene. I felt like this refinement from the feedback I received helped to create a serious, intense scene. 

Detailed explanation of chase scene:

Corrections and Feedback by ollie hill

Within the Feedback we also received praise of  the mise-en-scene. An example of this was the Crime lab were we were praised for the mise-en-scène and the use of a voiceover which sets the scene with pinboard introducing protagonist and locations. The detail of the scene was praised as for it including various screens suggesting high-profile technical medical surveillance equipment that supports narrative of government agency on a mission to locate and utilise the protagonist’s brain power. Government constructed as engaged in hostile and potentially illegal ‘skunkworks’, setting up binary opposition of aggressor / victim. 

Another area of praise which we received when showing the film opening was the editing. When showing the montage of camera shots in black and white which clearly connotes undercover surveillance work, plus technical sounds edited in to suggest computer activity.  The scene was praised for the lighting as well due to it being low-key lighting which connotes secrecy montage of POV shots of subject being tracked. We also were told we had good use of protagonist’s headphone music indicating breaks in her feelings of security as she starts to suspect that she is being followed. Later in this scene we received praise on the use of diegetic sound – twig snapping intensifies fear; ECU reaction shot marks moment of real fear, accompanied by shift in non-diegetic music to capture chase scene; Rich variety of shots here with long shots to show chase in lonely woodland setting, tracking shot, CU of victim’s running feet – with series of hard cuts to create panic; hand-held camerawork connotes fear. 

CONSTRUCTION: CALL SHEET 1

 CALL SHEET 1 - CLAREMONT FAN COURT SCHOOL (OUTSIDE)

Call sheet 1

Date of shots 11th of November 

Filmed at Claremont Fan Court school (outside), in which you can see here on the map.

Crew members include:

Name: Olivia D

Number: 077899764

Email: LivLovesPonies@gmail.com

Name: Millie L

Number: 0798657223

Email: MillieMillie2005@hotmail.com

Name: Ollie H

Number: 0766539821

Email: OllieWollie@outlook.com

Name: Grace C

Number: 0758834892

Email: GracieC1889@icloud.com

Used to Film:

IOS 14.2 iPhone 11 Pro Max Camera 

Used for Lighting:

IOS 14.2 iPhone 11 Pro Max torch light 

Props:

iPhone x2

Laptop x3

Headphones x1

Wardrobe: 

Millie L - Black hoodie, headphones, school uniform

Ollie H - Full suit in black

Olivia D - Smart work attire 

CONSTRUCTION: CALL SHEET 2

 CALL SHEET 2 - BELVEDERE TOWER

Call sheet 2

Date of shots 15th of November 

Filmed at The Belvedere Tower at Claremont Gardens, in which you can see here on the map. 

Crew members include:

Name: Olivia D

Number: 077899764

Email: LivLovesPonies@gmail.com

Name: Millie L

Number: 0798657223

Email: MillieMillie2005@hotmail.com

Name: Ollie H

Number: 0766539821

Email: OllieWollie@outlook.com

Name: Grace C

Number: 0758834892

Email: GracieC1889@icloud.com

Used to Film:

IOS 14.2 iPhone 11 Pro Max Camera 

Used for Lighting:

IOS 14.2 iPhone 11 Pro Max torch light 

Props:

iPhone x1

Headphones x1 

Coffee Mug x1

Wardrobe: 

Millie L - Black hoodie, headphones, school uniform

Ollie H - Full suit in black

Grace C - Lab Coat and suit/smart attire 

CONSTRUCTION: CALL SHEET 3

 CALL SHEET 3 - CLAREMONT GARDENS/SCHOOL

Call sheet 3

Date of shots 16th of November 

Filmed at The Belvedere Tower at Claremont Gardens , in which you can see here on the map. 

Crew members include:

Name: Olivia D

Number: 077899764

Email: LivLovesPonies@gmail.com

Name: Millie L

Number: 0798657223

Email: MillieMillie2005@hotmail.com

Name: Ollie H

Number: 0766539821

Email: OllieWollie@outlook.com

Name: Grace C

Number: 0758834892

Email: GracieC1889@icloud.com

Used to Film:

IOS 14.2 iPhone 11 Pro Max Camera 

Used for Lighting:

IOS 14.2 iPhone 11 Pro Max torch light 

Props:

iPhone x2

Headphones x1 

Wardrobe: 

Millie L - Black hoodie, headphones, school uniform

Ollie H - Full suit in black

PLANNING: RISK ASSESSMENT

  A risk assessment is necessary to avoid any injuries or dangers which we may come in contact with throughout our filming. This table below presents these possible dangers and how we avoided them. I categorised this table into the main themed risks: Location/Environment, Weather and General Public. 

HEALTH HAZARD: 

These are all the factors which could be dangerous and are highlighted as risks to us. For example, we identified the fact there were rabbit holes where we were filming, factors of which may be dangerous to us due to if we accident stood in one it may injure us.

RISK LEVEL:

This is judged with labels, H, M or L, standing for high, medium and low, judging the health hazard by how dangerous it is. None of our risks we discovered were labelled H, mostly medium and low. An example of this is when we labelled the rain risk as M due to the rain wasn't an extremely significant risk, however it could effect us when filming.

RISK EXPOSURE:

This is a list of how and why the health hazards are dangerous, for example, we evaluated the 'trespassing' problem by explaining that being found in a location which we weren't given permission to film in may result in us being banned from there or just get in trouble with the teachers. 

CONTROL MEASURE: 

This box explains how to avoid the dangers and reduce the risk of them, such as wear more layers of clothing to avoid the cold weather when filming.

Curran and Seaton

PLANNING: MY TARGET AUDIENCE & HOW I ENGAGED THEM

Over half-term i started to follow a Future learn course on Distribution: Connecting Films With Audiences, I know that all products are targeted at specific audiences. Therefore, I needed to plan how to reach my target audience. As a result of this I needed to know who they are. This includes factors such as ; their age, gender, ethnicity, social class and finally what their media needs are. From this it can support me in producing a product that they will want and how to reach them while marketing my film.  I will show how my research influenced my planning of my product.  The next step which I took is that I started investigating how brands define audiences,

I began by investigating how brands define certain audiences, in preparation for creating my own audience profile for my AS Foundation Production. An example of this is when I noticed how Bauer Media, NME and Sky defined audiences. This assisted me when profiling my audience. 

PLANNING: OUR COMP LIST

Design by ollie hill

PLANNING: MY AUDIENCE QUESTIONNAIRE

I am using Google forms to create a questionnaire for my target audience and send it to people who are likely to watch our film. I will ask questions referring to age, gender, what types of films they prefer to watch, what influences them to watch a film and where they prefer to watch it. Our production team want to make a film that would appeal to young people aged 15-35. Our questionnaire will be useful to ensure that our type of genre will appeal to this audience. Through the use of Google Forms I will be able to collect this data.

CONSTUCTION; FILMING THE MEETING SCENE

PLANNING: INITIAL FILM TREATMENT

TITLE: Usually a good title is used to present a solid central idea - STALKER, UNSETTLED, JAMAIS SEUL "never alone", abnormal, extortionary, nature of human kind,  sui generis, 

LOGLINE: A one/two sentence stating an idea proposal - Girl with full access to her whole brain instead of just 10% like the normal human being has caught the attention of doctors and the government. Therefore, they try to catch her to use her for selective breeding. 

SYNOPSIS: Outlines the key idea in more detail (300-500 words)

CHARACTERS: outline each main character with a short description and introduction 

TOPLINE: an 'elegant sentence which sums up the action' 

BIG QUESTION: What is the enigma which will unfold? Will the scientist catch the super human girl?

NEXT:

•  After writing the treatment, you create a STORYBOARD (hand drawn on sheets we are given) which presents a brief visual idea of a storyline 
• and a SHOTLIST

BRAINSTORMING IDEAS:

 

 

We initially brainstormed multiple different ideas and genres to start off with. We have access to a boat house, and therefore thought planning something which involves that location would be successful. 

Locations for Shots:

• London
• Train station 
• Hospital 
• Elevator
• Woods
• Empty car park
• Walking down an empty dark road
• Dark room hacker screens

FILM IDEAS:

Props: 

• Pin Board
• Documents
• Pictures
• Files
• Doctors notes 
• Earphones

Effects:

• Clips from YouTube
• Titles
• Background music/sounds
• Filters
• POV filters

Simple shots ideas:

• Earphones in music playing walking down lonely street, music out silence. Mixed shots of agent and girl to create following creepy scene. 
• Dark room with hacker screens and reflecting in glasses
• Through ambulance wheel shot of agent walking out
• "Don`t worry leave it to me" chair scrape back low angle shot followed by door open and walking out. 

RESEARCH: ART OF THE TITLE - SHERLOCK HOLMES

RESEARCH: ART OF THE TITLE - SHERLOCK HOLMES (2009)

 

The film opening of Sherlock Holmes conveys certain codes and conventions which match the Mystery film conventions. This title sequence clearly emphasised and showed the well known cast, which will encourage interest and hyped around the film. As for the expectation which comes alongside the well-known names. 

Within the film opening the soundtrack used creates suspense and drama but also fits in with the old, vintage style of the film set in 1890 London. As well as this the soundtrack is fast paced, with heavy instrumentals which once again helps to gage our attention. Loud drums and violins are used in order to create speed within the title sequence which supports the actions we see within the visuals of Sherlock and his crew defeating crime. Another key way in which instruments in this film opening are used to keep a high tempo is that symbols crash whenever the tempo needs picking up again such as when new titles/characters are presented to the audience. Overall Dramatic music is used as well to help the audience understand the mood and tempo of the story.

Throughout the opening scene to Sherlock Holmes (2009) a lot of different titles are shown in similar ways. Their is a common theme in the titles as they are all given a grubby/vintage look. Characters are showed by freeze framing particular events which the character takes place in and then a tea-washed background is wiped over them along with the character name/actor’s name written in an old styled handwriting to give a vintage effect. An important part of this film opening is that the directors name (Guy Ritchie) is seen twice once at the very start of the film opening and once again at the very end of the film opening. Overall a lot of text is used to show who is in the film as well as important people such as the director.

RESEARCH: ART OF THE TITLE: CREED

 

RESEARCH: ART OF THE TITLE: CREED

Creed is a well known British Sports/Drama film directed by Ryan Coogler. The film is based on the challenging journey of Adonis Johnson (Creed), the son of heavyweight champion Apollo Creed. As he tries to for fill his farther footsteps as a boxer. Within the film we also get to witness the mentorship from, the iconic face, Rocky Balboa.

I chose to analyse this film opening because it allows me emerge into the world of boxing and life of athletes. As well as inspires and personally connects to my sporting passion. This done through the use of powerful visual style. Within the film opening we get to see a collection of still visuals. This helps to enhance the genre of a modern Sports/ Drama film as for the audience getting to witness the hard and gritty side which an athlete of a combat sport, such as boxing, has to face.

The first thing we see is a close up shot of the a young boy with scratch on his face, who we soon realise is Creed as a child. This establishing shot instantly creates a sense of realism and concern. The establishing shot of young Creed is followed by a visual of older creed wrapping his hands preparing for a boxing match in a boxing environment. From this it suggests to the viewer that the film is primarily based within boxing surroundings and based around Creeds lifestyle. The scenes of both young and older Creed are zoomed in and slowed, which is effective in making  him the clear protagonist as we join him through his boxing journey. As well as this, there is minimal diegetic sound, apart from the added wrapping sound put over the top of the visual of him in an isolated gym wrapping his hands. This is effective as helps build an aspect of suspense and competitivity, because the minimal sound drawing our attention to the nervous energy within the scene. This pulls the audience further into the boxing society as we feel emotionally connected to the opening. 

 

The film opening is further developed and explored through the contrasting colour palette in each visual. As it is constantly switching from murky dark tones of grey and brown infer realism onto the audience which emphasises the risk and loss in sport. Contrasting to the brighter more vibrant shots in energetic colours which mirrors victory and success inside boxing.

Furthermore, we can notice that the title sequence has purposely been made from a collage of still images. The images are low opacity and overlap each other as well as fade in and out. Consequently, giving the title sequence a mysterious effect reflecting both sides which comes with boxing as emotions are on edge. The images continually become slightly more blurred deliberately making the picture look more unfocused. Linking to an athletes fatigue and tiredness while competing in sport. Therefore, this makes the audience feel more emerged and part of the film, as if we are boxing ourselves. Equally, it also creates a manic and busy feeling as everything is happening at once. Making the audience feel panicked and emotionally involved. In addition to this, many of the the camera shot are from the point of view of Creed or a spectator, this will once again make the audience feel more involved and personally connected to the film opening. This will make them  have increasing anticipation and excited about watching the film. The POV perspective also gives us an insight into Creeds journey and character; meaning we can appreciate his challenges and upcoming to becoming the best boxer. Overall, it helped influence us as the audience to becoming supporting and relating to Creed. 

  

The audio codes in this title sequence consists of diegetic sound which is motivational, upbeat music .It is effective in creating a sense of meaning and motivation this is achieved through the upbeat tune and quick rhythm of the music because the quick cut editing.  More importantly the beat matches the pace of the changing collage still visual sequence, this results in the opening feeling faster and exciting.

RESEARCH: ART OF THE TITLE: GONE GIRL

 

The opening shot we see of the film opening is the well known studios Twentieth Century Fox and Regency Enterprises. This is also accompanied by the famous director David Fincher who has previously won the Grammy for the best music video and directed many other popular movies. Including these popular and familiar names and studios will increase the audiences interest and likeliness of the film as they will have a high expectation for the film. This is followed by shot were we are being introduced to a main character, the wife; along with the voice and dialogue of the husband (Ben Affleck), which has been edited over the top. This voiceover introduces the viewers to the character, and strengthens the offscreen relationship between audience and character. The gruesome, twisted narration is juxtaposed with the the soothing, tranquil voice and the hand movements of Affleck. These visual and sound codes together indicates to the audience that the genre of the film is a thriller..  

This mysterious feeling is furthermore emphasised through both the spine-chilling non-diegetic background music playing alongside his smooth voice, as well as the rundown/grubby filter used, this creates suspense as it is an uncomfortable setting compared to where the viewer is sitting in their warm home or cinema. The lighting and filters used also play a large principal in supporting the film in sticking to the genre convention by the  the darkened filter helps portray the mystery and uncomfortable environment and helps influence our initial ideas as an audience of outcome of the film. 

An engaging part of the film opening is that it is very secretive and mysterious which sticks to the genre conventions of an uncomfortable environment but also encourages us to watch it has we have built up suspense and curiosity about what will happen next. Therefore this portrays Gone girls into being a film which you need to watch the full film to find out the plot as for the dark and mysterious plot, rather than like other films where you can understand the pot through the film opening.

PLANNING:TOPLINE AND BIG QUESTION

 I watched a presentation by Frank Ash who is a Creative Consultant for the BBC. He has taught storytelling and creativity techniques to teams across the BBC and beyond. It is important to focus on the audience; what will interest them. 

Frank Ash film actors will need to think about what the top line and the big question will be. He call the top line "one elegant sentence" which sums up the story.  He then says that we need to leave the audience wanting to find out more, this he calls the "big question".  

Having learned from Frank Ash's presentation on FutureLearn, I decided to sign up for FutureLearn's  - Film Distribution: Connecting Films with Audiences. 

The course promises to cover  how our favourite films make it to our local cinema or television screen, through the film distribution process. The start date is 18 October.

RESEARCH: FILM OPENING ANALYSIS: AE FOND KISS

This extract research is the analysis of the opening five minutes of a film called Ae Fond Kiss (dir, ken Loach 2004). The opening of the film works very well for the purposes of analysing the representation of people; in this case we follow the journey of what it is like to be a first and second generation Pakistani immigrant living in Glasgow. The establishing shot reflects tranquil and togetherness feeling as for a mixture of people dancing in a  night club with bhangra music and watching Bollywood films. As well as this, the family is presented to be traditional and conventional as for them showing the father owning a corner shop selling fruit and veg which is seen to be . We soon are presented that the area they live in follows strong British values, reflecting the problems for the traditional Pakistani family as they are presented as a minority. 

Furthermore, we witness the challenges which the younger generation face in their daily life whilst growing up. For example, the first challenge we see is the daughter, Tarara Kahn, being presented as a minority and being racially abused by other children whilst at school. This ends in her chasing them out of school in frustration after them spitting on their car and stealing her personal items. Nevertheless, Tarara is shown to be proud of who she is and her religion as for her saying in front of the whole school "I'm a dazzling mixture and I'm proud of it" connoting independence and self-reliance. 

Whilst chasing his sister through the school after the bullies we witness the brother, Carim Kahn, first encounter of his hopeless love for the music teacher, a white Catholic girl. This creates dilemma as it being clear that their love is downhearted as for it battling against both his religion and his traditional Pakistani family where your father expects an arranged marriage. The despondent and unlikeliness of the love is also connoted through the title of the film, Ae Fond Kiss meaning 'one sweet kiss', this is effective as it supports the feeling that their love is battling against all odds and they only have one chance to get it right. 

Throughout the film opening their are nine titles which are displayed, within this we are shown familiar names such as the multi-award winning director Ken Loach. This will attract many viewers as for his work being recognisable and successful. Alongside, this the credits also express clearly how the film is a mutlicultural production, this is done through presenting the different co-production companies. 

Technology has also been used effectively as for the use of camera movement which helps to create the vision of liberty and tranquillity, this is shown through the loose camera movements within the shots in the night club. This contrasts with the extreme wide shot which pans over Glasgow at the opening of the film, this helps to establish the setting of where the film is based. Later on within the film opening we see the camera shot of the perspective of the older brother looking through the window into the music room at the teacher. This helped influence us as the viewer to realise the brothers love and

interests.