Evaluation Questions - Charlie

evaluation question 5

Update process - Filming

Process Update - Filming




What Went Well - We were able to use a range of creative shots and shot angles. We also incorporated lighting into our shots very effectively also. We also effectively and strategically placed litter on the ground to further emphasise the danger of this area and how it may not be safe.

What Was Hard - We tried a range of different lighting effects, however we found it hard to find the perfect angle to effectively show the location of what we wanted to emphasise in the shot. We also found it difficult writing and acting the script for our interview scene.

Locations chosen for filming

Underpass to George Abbot Secondary School
This underpass is to be used as a scene in our opening sequence due to the secluded nature of this location.





Science Classroom

A science classroom will be used as a dark room due to the equipment that is avaliable in the science classrooms that is needed to give the appearence of a dark room (large trays, etc.)



Drama studio

The drama studio will be used for the interrogation room as the room has stagelights and light can be easily blocked out, making it perfect for an interrogation room.




Study room

The study room is to be used for the stalker's board of his victim because it has a large whiteboard that pictures and similar items can be pinned up on.




Charlie's house

Charlie's house is to be used as the residence of the girl's boyfriend due to it being close to the school, where most of our filming will take place.

Planning - Group Photos

Planning consisted of us discussing locations where each scene would take place in and and what type of shots we would use. It also consisted on us considering the whole plot of the story and what would happen for the rest of the movie, not just the opening scene.
We finalised the plot line and made sure everyone knew what the final idea was, we also made sure that we had noted down what movements there would be involved while recording, for example panning from left to right or zooming in or out.

Memento StoryBoard

This is our memento storyboard. We labelled timings and as well as the type of shot and shot angle. We also showed how long each shot lasts for.

planning the storyboard

BBFC Ratings

British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) Analysis

 

 

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), previously the British Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental association, founded by the film industry in 1912 and responsible for the nationwide classification and censorship of films presented at cinemas and video works (such as television programmes, trailers, adverts, public Information/campaigning films, menus, bonus content etc.) released on physical media within the United Kingdom. It has a statutory requirement to classify videos and DVDs.

BBFC classify films according to their guidelines, these guidelines are regularly updated to compensate for the ever changing film industry. These are the guidelines for the age ratings:

 

 

The BBFC makes the decision on what rating the specific film will be by looking at these factors and whether the film in question possesses these factors being discrimination, nudity, sexual violence, innuendo, imitable behavior and themes. The BBFC will also look at the tone and the context of the film to see what age rating it should hold. For example, a thriller including very strong language and violence will be rated 15.

 

Expected rating of our film and why

 

The expected rating of our film is 15. This is firstly because our target audience is 16 to 25 year olds. This means we are targeting adults as well as teens meaning we need to make sure its suitable for them too. Secondly, the genre of the film is crime-thriller. This means to maximize our potential we will need to make it a 15 and above rated film. Our film will include dark themes and maybe some violence. It will not include nudity, sexual violence or discrimination.

costume analysis

These brainstorms were created by us to gather ideas about the costumes that the characters in our opening sequence will wear. We analysed a variety of costumes from several popular and well-known films including The Matrix, The Dark Knight and Pirates of the Caribbean.

opening scenes

This opening scene used match on action, shot/reverse shot but did not follow the 180 degree rule. The shot reverse shot was used when the 2 kidnapped boys were looking at each other and trying to communicate. Match on action was used when the boys picked up the pen and then attacked the kidnapper.
The editing methods used were, overlaying, adding sound effects,
The shot transitions used were jump cuts, straight cuts, shot/reverse shot.




This opening scene used match on action but did not use shot/reverse shot, and 180 degree rule, as there was only one character in focus.
The editing methods used included, black and white colouring, parallel editing, and added news reports.
The shot transitions used were jump cuts, match on action and straight cuts.

This opening scene used the 180 degree rule, shot/reverse shot and match on action.
The editing methods used included, adding new reports, switching to titles during the action, adding Lions gate to the start, and speeding up motion.
The shot transitions include, match on action, shot/reverse shot, straight shot.


The point of this task is to look at previous examples to see what shots are used and what editing methods are also used. From looking at these opening scenes we going to add background noises to make the scenes more effective such as office noises and a police radio so that the audience know what the location would be. Another effective editing method was a crossfade which we will also use in our opening scene.

 This task was designed to help us further understand what a good Opening Sequence is. Also to give us ideas we can incorporate into our own opening sequences and to give us ideas we wouldn't have thought of ourselves. This task was specifically meant to inspire us.

What we learnt from this task is that its best to keep things simple. Minimal talking etc. Its better to have a very immersive and simple opening sequence  than a complicated one that constantly breaks immersion with inadequate filming and unnecessary dialogue.

We will make sure our OS is immersive and kept simple. If there is dialogue, we will make sure to incorporate in an interesting way, sound overlays for example.

Creative locations



The underpass on the path next to George abbot can be a location for the filming of our opening sequence because of the secluded and seemingly, isolated scene. This would also be a good scene because as it can seem spooky during at night-time, and imposes a feeling of feeling isolated and rundown, due to the graffiti and poor state of the tunnel under the train line and surrounding walls.








Another location in which filming can take place is on Guildford county's Urnfield fields. these can be good for a location for filming our opening sequence as it can seem spooky at night.

The merrow downs s another good location for our opening sequence because of the large empty space, and therefore this would be a perfect for a pursuit scene.

Iconic sounds used in the crime-thriller genre

There are many iconic sounds used throughout the duration of a typical crime-thriller. I will be discussing iconic sound effects and how we can use them. 

Firstly, the gunshot sound effect is an extremely popular sound effect utilised in many different thrillers. This particular sound effect is most commonly found in our chosen sub genre, crime-thrillers. This sound effect is usually accompanied by someone firing the gun which is shown on-screen. This is a very common effect and can be found in films such as The Godfather, Inception and The Taking of Pelham 123. We may want to incorporate this sound effect into our sequence as it could raise the tension of our Opening Sequence drastically.

Another sound effect commonly used is the heavy breathing sound effect. This is perfect for a crime thriller as it represent someone is in danger or that someone is vulnerable. Heavy breathing is usually used as openers in thriller films as it increases the intensity in the scene because the viewers would have no idea of why the protagonist or the victim is running therefore this makes the atmosphere more intense. Heavy breathing is used in thrillers such as Hard Candy and Hush.

Lastly, ambient sound effects such as rain littering on a window or a tap dripping are extremely common within crime thrillers. These sounds are usually played on their own to create an intense atmosphere. For example, you may hear a tap dripping while someone is hiding from their attacker. This is utilised well in Hush, in which victim is being chased by her attacker and the close he gets to her, the loud the tap dripping becomes. This keeps the audience engaged and on the edge of their seat. We could incorporate this into our opening sequence to make our OS more exciting. 


Researching these sounds, I have found many which we can effectively use in our opening sequence. We could the effects mentioned above or we could even record our film to make them seem more natural for when we implement them into our Opening Sequence. I chose the sound effects above as they are relevant for our chosen sub genre and are easy to find as they're so common. If we want to receive top grades, we will have to utilise lots of different sound effects to keep the audience engaged. 

Timelime of Se7en

Deadpool Opening Sequence Timeline

Deadpool Opening Credits Timeline

10 seconds - Production company (Marvel)

22 seconds - Production Company (Twentieth Century Fox)

29 seconds - in association with (Marvel)

34 seconds - "Some douchebags film"

39 seconds - "Starring Gods Perfect idiot"

46 seconds - " A hot chick"

50 seconds - "A British villain"

57 seconds - "The Comic Relief"

1.01 mins - "A moody teen"

1.14 mins - " A CGI character"

1.23 mins - "A gratuitous cameo"

1.44 mins - "Produced by Asshats"

1.47 mins - "Written by the real heroes here"

1.58 mins - "Directed by an overpaid tool"

Creative camera shots

In the first shot, we like the white bringing out the emphasis of the character's facial features. We can link this to our opening sequence as it can show the start of a plan that is about to become action.

In the second shot, we like the blurred and un-blurred effect in which the foremost character can be seen clearly, while the character in the distance is blurred. We can link the second shot to our opening sequence as it can be used as one of the shots during our opening sequence.






In the third shot, we enjoy the colour contrast and highlights on the shoes as this shows contrast between the grey ground and the black shoes and leggings. We can link this shot type to our opening sequence as it can be used during the sequence to show a character being dragged along the ground by another character, showing a point-of-view shot.





1. we want the audience to feel inquisitive and drawn into the plot of the film.

2. we want the audience to know that the girl has been kidnapped.

3. we want the audience to have the following big question: who is the kidnapper?

Preliminary evaluation task

Prelim Task

Representation

WWW: editing techniques such as layering, colour isolation and differing speeds are shown throughout. Good lighting is also shown.
EBI: better lighting, as not all the scenes were well lit. More work on the camera settings as not all the scenes are well lit, this can be improved by selecting the correct ISO.

Table of narrative theories

Film theory	Film theory advantage	Film theory disadvantage
Equilibrium Theory	Is a basic and simple	The plot can be too basic and simple; this can make the plot predictable
Binary code	- Sets up the film - The plot can easily deceive audiences - shows a good representation of characters	- Plot can be drawn out and long - too much of the plot can be given away  - It is very predictable; good beats evil
Enigma code	- it is a favourite among directors, producers and audiences - the audience are heavily drawn into the plot	- the audience has to read the signs to understand the plot - can become boring if the plot is drawn out too long

Sound Techniques

Key term	Definition
Diegetic sound	When the sound is visible or implied in the in the world of the film.
Non Diegetic sound	Added for effect. Source is neither visible on screen nor has it been implied to be present in action.
Ambient sound	Background sounds that are present in a scene or location
Dialogue	A conversation between two or more people as a feature of a film
Sting	A short musical narrative used as a form of punctuation.
Incidental music	Music used as a background to create or change a particular atmosphere
Sound effect	A sound made artificially for use in the film/TV series.
Sound motif	A piece of music repeated to create a larger symbolic meaning.
Voiceover	A narration, not accompanied by an image of the speaker.
Soundtrack	Associated music that accompanied by an image of the speaker.
Synchronous sound	Sound that is matched to movements, in the scene.
Contrapuntal sound	Sound contradicts what is going on in the scene
Sound bridge	When the film begins with the music being carried over
Sound perspective	A sound’s position in space as perceived by the viewer given by volume, fibre and pitch.