Editing 18/03/13

Since we have been using the new editing programme, Adobe Premiere, we have made consistent progress on our opening sequence. 
On Thursday we managed to finish the main bulk of editing, and downloaded a template which would help us construct our title sequence which we have finished. We experienced some difficulty when trying to export our titles, because the colour was not correct. However, we managed to fix this issue and luckily have managed to import it onto Adobe Premiere with the opening sequence. We now need to finish our sound sequence.

Re-editing

Last week my group and I finally started re editing our opening sequence and today we finished the visual editing. We have had to familiarise ourselves with Adobe Premier which was another obstacle we have had to over come but hopefully we have been able to re edit our film to the same standard it was pre-robbery.

Here are some of the photos from the recent editing:

Credits and Titles: True Blood and Misfits

I have analysed to title sequences from two television programmes and how they reflect the genre of the show. Titles are shown in both of the shows in a certain order, and often only feature the most important members of the crew.

          True Blood:

• The True Blood titles start with the names of the stars.
• The titles appear on a different part of the screen as a different name comes up.
• The titles look handwritten, they are not orderly or conventional, which indicates the horror genre of the programme. 
• The titles are shown in the order of: Casting, Music, Editing, Production Design, Photography, Producer, Production Company and the Creator.
• The titles are surrounded by people acting spontaneously and suspiciously, which is parallel to the title and the programme, such as a very unique church pastor and a decomposing dead fox.
• The titles are white: which symbolise purity and innocence.
• The "True Blood" sign wiggles and flashes on a red, blood like looking background without footage or action. 
• The entire sequence in one and a half minutes.

          Misfits:

• Like True Blood it has it's own title sequence. 
• There is use of both black and white writing which is in the form of graffiti, links to the grimy setting of the show and title sequence.
• Letters of the title a jumbled up before they become clearer, this suggests the characters involved in the show, who are "MisFits". The titles look as it they have been written on paper, or scirbbled down quickly, as if there is no thought or perfection behind them, like those involved in the story.
• Most of the title sequence is in black and white and so are the titles.
• The names of the stars appear before anything else. 
• There is action behind the titles, like in True Blood, however the name of the show is on it's own background with no action with what looks like a grey wall behind it. The font stands out: it is very bold black writing.
• The entire sequence lasts around the same as the True Blood one.

     

It is important that title sequences and credits fit the genre of the programme or film. This research has enabled me to understand that for my own opening sequence it is important to create credits which fit the mood and setting of my opening sequence.

Sound: A Mother's Son

I have analysed sound from the television programme opening of AMother's Son. This thriller programme aims through the sound is to set the mood and scene of what the programme is going to be like.
The sound of nature features heavily in this opening sequence, indicating that nature may have some significance to the plot. The first sound heard is the crashing of violent waves against the shore, and the sound of the grass rattling. This builds tension and suspicion among st the audience, as to why these sound are so powerful. Whilst the sound of the sea may be diegetic, the sound of the grass is most probably non-diegetic. Another non-diegetic sound in the opening sequence is the orchestral soundtrack, which heavily features violins. Such music is often used when mourning someones death, however this music is leading to the build up to this, so the pace of the music is faster, and more frantic. The only speech, which is diegetic, is the female saying "I'm sorry," however you can often hear her heavy breathing which adds to the tense mood of the opening sequence.

Coming from a thriller opening this has made me understand the importance of the soundtrack to build up tension and suspense when creating an opening sequence, as the sound is a vital part of creating a tense atmosphere.

Research into Similar Media Texts

This opening sequence comes from the film "Children of Men". 

• The Universal Studios sequence appears at the beginning of the film, Universal studios are both producers and distributors so we understand what institutions are involved in the making of this film.
• There is a black screen for the titles: however the sound we hear, is the news, presumably which is non-diegetic.
• The opening shot is a medium shot, taken from over head, of a group of ordinary people in a coffee shop- we are given no introduction the main character at first. However there is a close up shot of a male in the coffee shop, which indicates he is the protagonist. 
• Mise-en-scene: is ordinary clothing. This indicates those involved in the film are "ordinary people". It could also indicate the genre: it eliminates fantasy, fairy tale (which usually uses cartoon characters) etc...
• The tracking of the male from the coffee shop to outside allows a panning shot of a bleak London, which we know through the red bus, and the title along the bottom telling the audience of the location. There is also indication that this is set in the future, with moving bus advertisements.
• The music in the opening sequence is quite orchestral and reflective, gives a sense of something tragic.
• The music, lighting, and the narrative indicate the mood of the film, which is mourning and tense. 
• The lighting in the entire opening sequence is very dim and full of greys, blacks and white, there is a lot of pollution on the street which makes the setting look very unpleasant and boring.
• Characterisation: the main character seems to be very serious, middle aged white male. Males usually dominate thrillers. 
• Narrative: the narrative of Children of Men seems very easy to follow, there has been a killing of the youngest human on the planet. This adds a sense of enigma to the plot, as to why someone who is an adult is the youngest person on the planet. 
• Representation: Children of Men is very generic of thrillers, using a white male as it's main protagonist. Females do no feature heavily, apart from the fact that they may be portrayed as being more emotional, with more of them crying than males. 
• As there is a bomb explosion there is a piercing sound of what sounds like a female screaming. The camera's sudden movements indicates the intense and frantic situation of those involved. There is then a silence before the black screen with the title of the film, "Children of Men". The titles in this film do not move, and are black, plain writing.

The Day Coombe Got Robbed

Hello fellow blogger brethren,

12C6 and the rest of Coombe's media students received the unfortunate news of finding out that someone committed the felony of robbery in school over the weekend and stole our finished opening sequence with it. They stole all of the macs and all of the cameras but left our headphones. Unfortunately we don't have any computers to plug them in to. This has left us all shocked and frustrated at the thought of having to re edit our whole opening sequence all over again but thankfully we found that our title sequence was saved on to the public school drive so we don't have to re edit that again. Hopefully my next blog post will show the progress we have made on re editing, in the mean time you can check out the behind the scenes footage we took.

Showcase Feedback

Yesterday we evaluated the current progress of our peers, and they evaluated our video so far. I found their feedback informative because we now know what we need to work on. Here is the feedback.

Group Discussions: 07/02/13

Today in our lesson we gave audience feedback to our peers on their opening sequences. This allowed us to evaluate the work of others, but also helped me see how we could improve on our own because some of the editing, shots and narrative were very clever.
We also gained some very informative feedback from our peers who pointed out some valuable advice on how to make our opening sequence even better, this included lighting and match on action.

Initial Planning: Shooting Schedule

In order to structure our filming day to make it most time efficient, we planned the order which we would take our shots. During our filming day we generally stuck to this, however after we adapted some scenes, and the end of the opening sequence had an alternative ending, the order some shots were taken in changed. During the day we filmed in the house first, and then in the car (due to 1) Nikolai being a little late and 2) It was quite cold outside!), which meant time was not being consumed unnecessarily. I have included the original shooting schedule here:

Initial Planning: Script and Synopsis

During the initial planning of our opening sequence it was recommended that we included minimal speaking during it. As there were only two characters, we only planned for there to be one sentence of dialogue which occurred at the end. However, as the opening sequence changed, on the day we decided there to be no speaking at all. Here I have included both photos of our planned script, and the synopsis.

Initial Planning: Risk Assessment

Whilst initially planning the filming, we conducted a risk assessment to ensure that we understood some of the risks which may take place whilst shooting. Here is the risks we listed that may occur:

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.

Editing 01/02/13

In the lesson today, we carried on editing our opening sequence, however at times we have found it slightly tricky to match up some of the sound with the footage on Final Cut. We have now put the CCTV camera effect on both clips it needed to be on, and are now in the process of trying to perfect each shot to make the entire film look as professional as possible.
Today we also began to edit our 'behind the scenes' footage, which will also be put onto the group blog. Today I experimented with the text to put on some of the shots, and we will hopefully finish editing this sequence in the next couple of lessons.

Applying Narrative Theories to our Opening Sequence

I have previously researched the theories of Propp, Todorov and Strauss and found that their theories fit the vast majority of professional films. It is evident that their theories also fit our opening sequence, I have found whilst planning, shooting and editing the film.

Group Discussions 31/01/13

Today in the lesson Kiah, Laura and I experimented with the software, Live Type, and tried to create what the titles may look like on our opening sequence. This was useful as it familiarized us with this new programme, and it helped us understand what our titles may look like. 
We also decided the name of our opening sequence, would be "Abduction". After doing some editing, we also showed our progress so far to three other non-media students, who gave us feedback, and told us that they thought we had so far created a good opening sequence and had created a clear narrative.

Editing 31/01/12

Today we carried on editing our opening sequence. So far we have made good progress, and have tried to make shots as accurate as possible, and have tried to effectively integrate some cross cutting. Today we focused on editing the scene of our female character in the kitchen, however this will once again be another CCTV shot. However, we were unsure of whether to include a shot of the CCTV camera again. After some discussions whether to include it or not, we decided against it, because our previous CCTV had been in black and white had we had used an effect to make it look like the footage was taken from a CCTV camera.  Personally I think that the shots work effectively, but was unsure previously whether the audience would understand if there was another CCTV camera in the kitchen. However, I now think that the audience will be able to understand with the assistance of the filter.

Max Payne Sound Analysis

SHOT NUMBER	SOUND DESCRIPTION	EFFECT
1	20th century Fox theme tune	The 20th century fox theme tune is well know and the audience will be able to recognise this.
2	The sound of someone talking. There is nothing visual at this moment, only a black screen so we are unable to see who is talking.	This can be used to create suspicion. By only having dialogue and no picture this can make the audience feel dark and nervy as the opening picture and introduction to the film only contains suspicious talking.
3	The next sound that is heard is of who we suppose is the protagonist burst out of the water. We can hear his gasps for breath and almost desperation. The sound of the man gasping for air is diegetic however could have been enhanced to add more effect.	The effect of bursting out of the water is to primarily shock the audience. This is the opening scene and this would cause the audience to feel uncertainty due to the fleeting nature of the shot.
4	The sound heard when the character goes back underwater is non-diegetic in order to create a dark and eerie atmosphere.	The male is stirring: this could have possibly been used to make the audience feel a sense of desperation for him as he struggles. This is also used to cause frustration.
5	The sound of the splashes has been used again to demonstrate the character’s frustration as he struggles. The sound of splashing is on screen diegetic.	The effect created by the sound of splashing is racy and this has been used in order to create frustration and almost agitation amongst the audience as to why he is in this situation. The nervy atmosphere is created through the male’s gasps and continuous splashes.
6	The sound we hear is almost like sonar to show possibly how far underwater they are, especially as the shot is taken almost at an angle where the camera is pointing upwards suggesting how far underwater they are. This sound is non-diegetic as it was most probably not part of the film world.	The use of the sonar effect under the water has been used and creates an eerie and fleeting effect which leaves the audience in suspicious.
7	The noise we can hear is the sonar effect again, which is parallel to the visuals. We can also hear the character speaking slowly.	The effect of the pensive sound is to create a dark and mysterious atmosphere.
8	There is the small sound of the sonar again, as well as a baby crying, this sound would be non-diegetic sound.	The sound of baby crying is eerie, makes the atmosphere suspicious. The sound of crying sounds innocent, which could leave the audience questioning why this man is involved with the child.
9	There is a sound bridge as the sound of the baby crying is carried through from the previous shot.	The repetition is often used for emphasis and that something bad may happen.
10	The narration is non-diegetic however is parallel with what is being shown. The music in the background is also non-diegetic.	The music is used to create curiosity and is pensive so therefore makes the audience apprehensive.
11	The creaking door is non-diegetic and is parallel to the visual shown. The creaking door is used to add a scary effect.	The effect that is intended is suspicion as creaking doors often are connected to horror films. There is a dark atmosphere created.
12	The chimes in the background are non-diegetic and creates a dark atmosphere. The sound is slightly contrapuntal due to the fact that chimes are usually associated with relaxation and the visual shows a woman who may/may not be dead.	The sound of the chimes used are made to create an eerie and mysterious effect due to the fact there is a woman who could have died.
13	The sound of the clock ticking and the chimes are a sound bridge from the previous scene and are non diegetic.	The chimes and clock are repetitive and loud for an ominous effect.
14	The chimes are once again sound bridged and there is a sound of almost lightening. Both of these sounds are non diegetic.	To make the audience feel intimidated? It is to create a dark effect and to feel ominous.
15	The sound of sonar is repeated and so is the clock ticking.	Clock is insistent, and could symbolise running out of time to the audience.
16	The sound of the police aerial is repetitive and diegetic however could be enhanced for more effect.	This is used to make the audience feel slightly confused as there is an abrupt cut to the next scene and could create curiosity as to why the next scene is at a police station.

Codes and Conventions of Genre in Our Opening Sequence

In our opening sequence we will use various codes and conventions of horror and thriller, such as using a secluded setting, because the female will be in the house, and the male is in the car, alone. Another convention which will be used is black and white, which will be used in the CCTV footage. 

We will also use non-diegetic sound in our opening sequence, as well as diegetic sound, such as the flicking of the photo album. The use of an establishing shot in our opening sequence is a typical convention of thriller, as well as following the characters and over the shoulder shots.

Audience Research

It is important when trying to understand our target audience to understand what sort of films they like and if they would be interested in watching our opening sequence. We also videoed some people from our target audience talking about their favourite films which we uploaded onto the group blog.

What films do you watch?
I watch horror films most of the time.
I tend to watch both action and comedy films, both older ones and more recent ones.
I like thriller and comedy films, they tend to hold my interest most.

Why do these films interest you?
I quite like watching films which aren't based around love, horror films are the total opposite.
Action and Comedies such as 21 Jump Street are very entertaining, I also really enjoy "the chase" in these films.
I like thriller films because of the suspense that is built up in them. I also really like detective films like Sherlock Holmes. 

How often and where do you watch films?
I watch films around once a week, and I tend to watch them with my family.
I don't watch films very often, I go to the cinema around once a month.
I watch films quite often, about three times a week at home.

Do you watch British films?
Yes, I do watch British films quite often.
Not really, I prefer American films.
Yes, I watch British films all the time.

What is your opinion on our chosen opening sequence?
I think that the opening sequence sounds interesting, it looks like it would appeal to people who watch horror films too.
This opening sequence does sound appealing, although I don't really watch thrillers.
This opening sequence sounds very impressive, it would very much appeal to people who are interested in horrors and tend to watch thriller films very often.

Editing So Far

Since Monday 14th January our group have been editing our opening sequence. During the first week we had to organise all of our video clips and sort out what our best shots were, and what shots would be appropriate to use. We also started to investigate different music which we could possibly use both on our opening sequence, and on the behind the scenes video. 
This week we have begun to edit the opening sequence. So far, we have encountered some difficulties when trying to decide whether the sound in some shots should be louder or quieter, and this has helped us to become more familiar with using the different tools on Final Cut. We have made good progress and have tried to make all shots as accurate as possible, especially regarding match on action in some scenes.

Photos of Filming Day