We have now completed our preliminary task which we were set to test our skills of filming and keeping to certain rules such as match on action, shot-reverse shot and the 180 degree rule. We have posted it on our Youtube channel alongside our production company intro.
It can be seen here http://www.youtube.com/FlickaFilms so check it out. The quality isn't great because rendering on final cut express is limited.
Enjoy!
Thursday, 27 January 2011
Saturday, 22 January 2011
Production Images of Preliminary Task
While we were filming our Premliminary Task, George managed to take some prodution photos of us at work, these images show what angles were were shooting at and shows the environment quite clearly.
You can view the images below in a short slideshow which Jamie kindly made.
We managed to edit the Preliminary in an hour which was quite quick for us as me and George had no prior knowledge of the editing program "Final Cut Express".
We learnt a lot about this program while editing this take but we feel that it would be best to stick what we know.
You can view the images below in a short slideshow which Jamie kindly made.
We managed to edit the Preliminary in an hour which was quite quick for us as me and George had no prior knowledge of the editing program "Final Cut Express".
We learnt a lot about this program while editing this take but we feel that it would be best to stick what we know.
Friday, 21 January 2011
Production Company and Logo
We have decided to name our production company "Flicka Films" because camera reels used to flick through and that's why we felt it was appropriate to have that as a name with the added fact that it sounds quite professional.
With every company there is a logo to represent who they are, and with that on our minds we decided to make one. Me and George came up with different designs with how we could position the text, we came to the conclusion to have one of the Fs reflected so they are facing back to back to create a neat effect. We then put "Flicka Films" in small font size so the name can be seen alongside the logo.
Thursday, 20 January 2011
Preliminary Storyboard
What we needed to do first was to draw up some storyboards for our Preliminary. Jamie took up the job as the main drawer and therefore drew up a clear storyboard of what the preliminary would look like, They may look like basic and simple pictures but they outline the angles and shots we wanted to create.
The good thing about storyboards is that they can show more than just images, you can reference back to them when filming and can allow you to plan sound and how many shots it would take to make the film.
Below is a slideshow of the storyboards we did, please feel free to check them out!
The good thing about storyboards is that they can show more than just images, you can reference back to them when filming and can allow you to plan sound and how many shots it would take to make the film.
Below is a slideshow of the storyboards we did, please feel free to check them out!
Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Preliminary Task
George, Jamie, Sam and myself have been set the preliminary task to do over the next week to introduce us to the film making process. Our preliminary will be roughly 30 seconds long and contain the following criteria:
Match on action
Shot reverse shot
180 degree rule
What we will include in the video.
Character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. We have come up with a storyboard involving a student and headmaster, where the student approaches the heads office, opens the door, and then has a conversation with him, therefore overall meeting the set criteria we have been given. We plan to have 8 shots in total, creating continuity editing all the way throughout with a sensible choice of non diegetic music and sound effects.
We started the storyboarding for our preliminary task in todays lesson, and managed to get all of our ideas down on paper so we have a guideline to work from when it comes to filming the piece. The storyboard we have produced explains each shot and camera position to allow us to cover all 3 of the technical codes in our first short clip, along with the camera shots, we also state what music we will be using at the start, as it needs to be non-copyrighted, and sound effects throughout the preliminary. We will be editing the clips on Final Cut Express, installed on the Apple MacBook Pro systems at school.
Match on action
Shot reverse shot
180 degree rule
What we will include in the video.
Character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. We have come up with a storyboard involving a student and headmaster, where the student approaches the heads office, opens the door, and then has a conversation with him, therefore overall meeting the set criteria we have been given. We plan to have 8 shots in total, creating continuity editing all the way throughout with a sensible choice of non diegetic music and sound effects.
We started the storyboarding for our preliminary task in todays lesson, and managed to get all of our ideas down on paper so we have a guideline to work from when it comes to filming the piece. The storyboard we have produced explains each shot and camera position to allow us to cover all 3 of the technical codes in our first short clip, along with the camera shots, we also state what music we will be using at the start, as it needs to be non-copyrighted, and sound effects throughout the preliminary. We will be editing the clips on Final Cut Express, installed on the Apple MacBook Pro systems at school.
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
Comparison of 3 Film Openings.
This post will involve me analysing the beginning 2 minutes of 3 different films which are ("The Dark Knight", "Inception" and "The Da Vinci Code". I will look at how the films use there openings to set the tone of the film and let the viewer know what they film will be about and what kind of techniques the openings use to make the viewer instantly interested.
Inception
Inception is a film, which is in the genre we are currently studying for a final 2-minute film opening. After I watched the first 2 minutes of Inception I immediately saw different ways in which they made the film more interesting to the audience by grabbing their attention using different techniques.
The opening scene is on a beach with medium and close up shots of the waves htting the coastal rocks, this doesn’t show much in terms of location but shows that the location may be somewhere tropical.
The next shot is of what the audience would associate as the “main character” laying face down in the water, which suggests he washed up on the shore and is enhanced by the diegetic sound of the waves. This possibly shows us the opening sequence of the film is either a back story or a insight into the future of the film, there are quite a few examples of this and in most cases it proves effective. It does this by making us try and guess what happened to him or what is going to happen to him, which keeps us interested. The beginning 2 minutes of this film suggests a lot to me about how a film in this particular genre is introduced to an audience. Later on in this project I will do a more in-depth textual analysis of the beginning of this film as I feel it is a good example to go by.
The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight
The first 2 minutes of this film is very interesting as the film is an action film and starts off in a very cliché way. The beginning of the film involves a bank robbery and is introduced with a long establishing shot of the area which is zooming in towards a building while non -diegetic music is playing in the background, the diegetic sound of the window breaking springs the non-diegetic music up in temp and volume and starts to build suspense these happens throughout the first 2 mintues. The whole way through the non-diegetic music is playing which adds thrill and excitement to the action, this is helping build suspense as the film progresses. The robbery makes you ask questions such as "Who are the robbers", "Why are they wearing masks" and "Why are they killing each other". These questions ensure the viewer will stay interested and will keep them on the edge of their seat.
On a whole the beginning invloves everything you expect in an action film such as weapons, protagonists, antagonists, grenades and very fast paced action accompanied by up tempo non-diegetic music. This film was very successful at the box office and me and my group may wish to consider how this used the first 2 minutes to entice the audience through the use of sound and camera shots, and also shows that the beginning of a film must have the audience hooked straight away.
The Da Vinci Code
The opening 2 minutes of this film is mainly titles with a bit of slow tempo non-diegtic sounds. The film starts off with a man running through a museum there are many techniques the director used here to make this scene much more interesting to the audience. As he is running you can here him panter alongside the diegetic footstep sounds which add drama to the scene. As he is running the non-diegetic music slowly increases with volume as the man is being chased by an unknown figure first seen as a shadow on a wall. The mise-en scene in this opening is very realistic as it has been shot in the "Louvre" in Paris with the added darkness the scene is very dark and gloomy. All of these things combined help to create and atmosphere which will help the audience be more engaged with what is going on in the scene.
Towards the end of the beginning 2 minutes the man stops running to take a painting off the wall, he does this alert the police because a small light underneath the painting flashes read, this may indicate the man is safe as the room is sealed off with bars as well. When we finally see the person who was chasing what seems like the curator of the museum he is dressed in robes which connotes the idea he may be a priest or worshiper of some sort. He then pulls out a gun, this is ould be seen as countertypical of a priest as they are not ones to carry guns. Throughout this time the music had been slowly building up in tempo and volume to this last moment where the man is forced to tell the priest something which we can not hear as the shot moves outside where the loud rain covers the speech. This idicates what he is saying is very important and suggests we will find out later on in the film. This film is a great example to go by as the beginning is used very well to make the audience engaged in the film from the start, the dark gloomy atmosphere added mystery to the scene alongside the non-diegetic music which was playing throughout. As a group we will reference back to these film openings to see how we should entice the audience through the use of sound and mise-en scene.
The Da Vinci Code
The opening 2 minutes of this film is mainly titles with a bit of slow tempo non-diegtic sounds. The film starts off with a man running through a museum there are many techniques the director used here to make this scene much more interesting to the audience. As he is running you can here him panter alongside the diegetic footstep sounds which add drama to the scene. As he is running the non-diegetic music slowly increases with volume as the man is being chased by an unknown figure first seen as a shadow on a wall. The mise-en scene in this opening is very realistic as it has been shot in the "Louvre" in Paris with the added darkness the scene is very dark and gloomy. All of these things combined help to create and atmosphere which will help the audience be more engaged with what is going on in the scene.
Towards the end of the beginning 2 minutes the man stops running to take a painting off the wall, he does this alert the police because a small light underneath the painting flashes read, this may indicate the man is safe as the room is sealed off with bars as well. When we finally see the person who was chasing what seems like the curator of the museum he is dressed in robes which connotes the idea he may be a priest or worshiper of some sort. He then pulls out a gun, this is ould be seen as countertypical of a priest as they are not ones to carry guns. Throughout this time the music had been slowly building up in tempo and volume to this last moment where the man is forced to tell the priest something which we can not hear as the shot moves outside where the loud rain covers the speech. This idicates what he is saying is very important and suggests we will find out later on in the film. This film is a great example to go by as the beginning is used very well to make the audience engaged in the film from the start, the dark gloomy atmosphere added mystery to the scene alongside the non-diegetic music which was playing throughout. As a group we will reference back to these film openings to see how we should entice the audience through the use of sound and mise-en scene.
Sunday, 16 January 2011
My Introduction To This Blog
Hey, I'm Ramtin, I am in year 12 progressing through the first year of my A-levels in Media Studies, Biology and AGCE ICT. Throughout my blog I will be uploading posts commenting on my groups production process working towards a final piece of complete coursework, which then will be submitted at the end of the year. I enjoy Media a great deal, and I'm aiming for a reasonable grade in my coursework as I feel confident enough to achieve a good grade
For my coursework I have decided to work in a group with George H, Jamie C and Sam C. We have decided on a name for the production group (Flicka Films) and are undertaking research in different successful film genres which will help us decide on one for our 2 minute opening piece to a film.
When It comes to editing I've had a couple encounters with "Final Cut Express" and I feel that this program is too complicated for a basic editing programme. I would go as far as saying "Windows Movie Maker" is more useful and is more equipt with the features when editing is needed.
I have a lot of experience when it comes to editing as I have been usuing the software Sony Vegas and Adobe After Effects for around 2 years now so I will be very confident when it comes to the editing of our final 2 minute film opening.
For my coursework I have decided to work in a group with George H, Jamie C and Sam C. We have decided on a name for the production group (Flicka Films) and are undertaking research in different successful film genres which will help us decide on one for our 2 minute opening piece to a film.
When It comes to editing I've had a couple encounters with "Final Cut Express" and I feel that this program is too complicated for a basic editing programme. I would go as far as saying "Windows Movie Maker" is more useful and is more equipt with the features when editing is needed.
I have a lot of experience when it comes to editing as I have been usuing the software Sony Vegas and Adobe After Effects for around 2 years now so I will be very confident when it comes to the editing of our final 2 minute film opening.
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