Abduction

Here is our finished opening sequence. 

Question 7

Question 6

Question 5

Question 4

Question 3

Question 2

Question 1

Group discussion week of 18/03/2013

This week we have finally finished editing our opening sequence, we carried on using adobe after affects to create our title sequence with the help of a tittle sequence that we downloaded off of the internet. We also used garage band to create our own soundtrack that we placed over the opening sequence. 

Group discussion: Re-editing

We have finally finished re-editing our opening sequence due to all our previous work being lost after the robbery at coombe. We have used completely different software to create on (adobe premier and adobe after affects), this was very useful and allowed us to create an even better version as we could add more advanced features and effects.

us with our dre beats

Research into similar media texts

Taken:
This is the opening sequence for the film Taken.

• Before the film starts we are presented with the title of the film company "20th century fox", this a universal opening and is placed before the opening of every film that they create in order for the audience to recognise their work.
• The screen then changes to black while it introduces some credits and information about the company. The use of the plain black background with the white writing in smart font makes the film look very serious furthermore there is no sound present which adds to the affect. 
• The opening shot is home recording of a child and family opening presents  we still do not hear any sound on the screen at this point. The camera is fixed on the same eye level as the girl (child) opening her presents, this hints to us that she could be the main character and that we are just looking back at her life.
• Credits and titles start to appear on the screen in the same font as before, this font is very bold and modern like, almost futuristic, something you would associate with a spy. These helps the audience understand what kind of film genre it is. 
• The music then begins to start,it is the sound of a piano being played in a soothing but sad way, this sound makes us understand that what is being shown is a past memory and could be very significant to their lives.
• The characters shown are very happy and cheery and look to be having a good time celebrating a birthday whereas the music is very contradicting and upsetting. 
• Suddenly the camera changes completely and moves to a man sitting in a dark room, we see him sitting alone and straight away understand that he must of been having a flash back. The memory seems to be hurting him emotionally as his facial expressions seem to be distressed, upset and in pain. The lighting in the room is very dark and we can only make him out slightly, there are shadows behind him which set the scene making him look in the "dark" both physically and mentally.

Behind the scenes video.

Here is our final behind the scenes footage that we have made as a group.

Showcase feedback

This week we evaluated each others work in lesson time to see our progress so far on our opening sequences as a group, below are the images of the feedback we received from our fellow peers.

Sound

I have done some additional research in to thriller films to find out about what kinds of sound's and effects are present in these films. In return it will hopefully help me to create a suitable soundtrack for our opening sequence. I have only analysed the first couple of minutes of each film that I looked at as i felt it was only needed to do that part due to the length of our opening sequence. Below are the two films i looked at:

Gone: (2012 thriller)
Immediately the film begins with a high pitched but quiet noise of a piano in the background, it is kept subtle but we are able to hear it, while this is happening we are presented with a black screen, this gives a mysterious affect. The music begins to fade out as soon as we are able to see the picture, it becomes lower and fainter but is joined with an eerie sound that matches the scariness of the location. As the character shown begins to walk the music brings in chiming sounds that match her ever move, this creates suspense as we feel like she is being watched. The music carries on being very cold and dark throughout the first 2 minutes to compose a dramatic atmosphere.
This has shown me that that simple sounds like high pitched pianos add a lot to a film, they can change the mood and bring feelings of emptiness. Eerie sounds can also be used to thrill the audience and help create a feeling of suspense.




Safe house: (2012 thriller)
The films starts on a silent note, it is then joined by a slow crawling sound that begins to increase. Characters are present at this time and as the man begins to punch more viciously on the punch bag the music pairs nicely creating anger. The scene then cuts to set the location and the music lifts creating a pleasant atmosphere which contrasts well with the previous footage.
This has shown me that tension and curiosity can occur when there is no music present, it can also add the feeling of dark and coldness to the scene. Likewise matching the sounds to what is going on helps create a build up and anxiety to what is shown in the scene.

Group discussion 11/02/2013 (coombe robbery)

In today's lesson we found out that coombe had been robbed over the weekend by a anonymous individual. All the apple macs have been stolen along with our finished opening sequence and other edited footage, although thankfully the headphones were not touched. 

Here is an image of  us showing our emotions towards the disaster.

Group discussion 08/02/2013

In today's lesson Laura and I carried on editing our title sequence, we changed the style and design of the font to make it look elegant so it would portray our production company as being sophisticated.
We also searched on the internet for some clips of a "flock of birds" which would be placed over the title sequence.  Rianna also carried on editing our behind the scenes footage and finally finished it.

These are some Live type font's that we looked into
to see which one suited "Phoenix productions" the best. 

Group discussion 07/02/2013

In today's lesson Laura and I began to create our soundtrack for the opening sequence which we were going to place behind to footage. We used Garage band as our source of creating  some sound clips, we experimented with different genres of sounds such as dark, intense and deep. We also created an opening part which will be shown before the actual opening sequence, which will display the production company's (phoenix productions) name and a clip of a flock of birds flying around in the background.

Meanwhile Rianna finished editing our behind the scenes and out take footage on final cut. We also showed our video to peers in the class and looked at everyone else to see how far along we were and for general improvement's that each group may need. This really helped as we were able to get some useful feedback and opinions on parts of our footage which we could improve. 

Group discussion 04/02/2013

Today Laura, Rianna and I began to carry on editing our behind the scenes footage. We added in some pictures of ourselves and some videos so that it was clear who was in our production company. We also added a song over the video which we felt was most appropriate to our  behind the scene film.
This is the song we used:

Initial planning: Shooting schedule

To allow our filming day to run as smoothly as possible we created a shooting schedule, this consisted of all the shots numbered on a piece of paper that pared up with shot numbers on the story board. It also included the what type of shot it would be such as, "close up, medium shot and long shot"
 

Initial planning: Script, synopsis and storyboard.

We only wrote a very short script for our opening sequence as it did not contain much writing. We felt that it was not necessary to include a conversation as it may give the story line away to much. However when we began to film our opening sequence we decided not to include any narrative as it did not fit in well.

 

  

Before we created our storyboard we mind mapped some prospective ideas for our opening sequence, when this was done we began to create our storyboard from using post it notes. This was a good way to note down our drawings and then change their position with ease, if necessary. 

We wrote up the synopsis after story boarding our film idea to allow us to remember the story-line.

Initial planning: Risk assessment

Below are some possible risks that we felt were dangerous and were possible to happen. In doing so we decided to create a risk assessment making us aware of the possible issues.

1)------------------------------------------->	Be careful to not burn our hands whilst using the cameras as they may get hot quickly.
2)------------------------------------------->	Do not drop the camera.
3)------------------------------------------->	Do not eat or drink near any of the equipment.
4)------------------------------------------->	Be careful to not trip up over the wires.

Group discussion 01/02/2013

Today Laura and I finished editing our opening sequence, we added in a few more effects and changed the colour of the CCTV shots as well as adding the "REC" symbol. Furthermore Rianna began to edit our behind scene's footage and out take clips creating a video with all of them combined together. We also added some music over the top of our behind the scene footage to make it amusing.

Group disscussion 31/10/2013

Today In our media lesson we were introduced to the software called "live type". With this software we were able to experiment with creating and designing opening titles that we could place on our opening sequence. We looked at the different styles and fonts and tried out several effects to see which ones looked best.

Lastly we showed our opening sequence to 3 peers who really enjoyed it and described it as "exciting, thrilling and very interesting". 

Group discussion week of 28th January 2013

This week Laura, Rianna and I carried on editing and added in some effects, we changed the color of the shots that we taken by the CCTV to black and white so that they could look the part. We also researched in to other existing opening sequences to give us some additional help and ideas for music. 

Location work

For the filming of our opening sequence we decided to to use Rianna's house as our main filming location. The house had all the correct rooms and was big enough for us to film, we needed a sitting room, kitchen and long hall way leading to the front door, this house had it all. We were able to set up the lights and cameras with ease so that they weren't visible but used in each frame. The location of some of our other shots also were taken outside the house such as a long side the road and in the front garden. All of the locations used matched the ones perfectly that we had mentioned in our storyboard, allowing us to create ideal shots. 

Filming day 12/01/2013

On the 12th January 2013, me, Laura and Rianna filmed our opening sequence, we had two actors that helped us in the filming as they stared in the opening sequence. It took us several hours to film. We used Rianna's house as our filming location as it was the most suitable place, before we began to film we set up the lights and tripod with the camera on ready to film. We shot each frame in 3 types of shots: long shot, medium shot and close up. We used the storyboard as a sense of guidance to help us know what was next to film, although we made a few alterations along the way with the types of shots and locations as they were not always the best. In the end we had a successful day and were able to film some decent shots. 

Personal opinion on opening sequence

My opinion on our opening sequence is a positive one, I feel that the storyline is very intriguing as it maintains a feel of suspense throughout the whole duration. The use of the interesting camera angles  will define the suspense and highlight that something bad is soon to happen at all times. Our chosen genre is "thriller", I think this a really interesting genre to work with as we can explore it in many different areas. Hopefully we will be able to create an enigma that will keep the audience hooked and wanting to watch more.

Group Discussion 21/01/2013

Today we carried on editing our final opening sequence footage, we also added some transition's into our film such as "dip to colour dissolve" and "fade in fade out dissolve".