Our first idea was good but after we filmed and started to edit it we came to the conclusion that it wasn't what we were expecting it to me and that it was a little different from what we wanted to achieve. So as a group we have thought a lot about our film opening. We've been gathering and sharing our own ideas to see what we can put together and what we would be most achievable in. We also thought about ways in which we can show our capabilities.
We have put ideas together and have decided to change our idea again but this time an idea we're going to stick to. Amongst out group we've chosen to stick to our original genre which is comedy because this is what suits us best.
A big part of our opening idea involves lot's and lot's of sweets!
This is because we have chosen to set it in a sweet shop. We took a short trip down to the sweet shop to ask for permission if we can film for a few hours, so far it looks like a yes that's if the owner doesn't change his mind.
We are going to spell out names of the people in the credits with sweets to make our film opening fit in with the whole sweet shop theme. This idea came from the media trip we went on where we were shown a number of film openings but one we liked in particular as a group is the Napolean Dynamite one. Although what we are going to do is similar our ones going to be presented differenlty as we will be using a variety of different sweets, names, areas around the sweet shop and effects.
Here is one example of the Napolean Dynamite credits:
We have also been thinking about the sound we would like to add to our opening. One that we think will be great in particular is Candy Shop by 50cent. This is because it fits in with our setting and it will also be a rule breaker due to the fact that it'll be unexpected and also the opposite of what will be going on.
We are unsure about whether or not it would be a good idea to add it in our opening because it may cause us to lose marks but we have been trying to sort this problem out by asking a few people whether or not this will be ok.
Here's a taster:
Perrnission that we can use the 50Cent - Cnady Shop song:
We had quite an eventful trip. It was both fun, interesting and also educational. The trip allowed us to gain more knowledge from people with media experiences and also offered us different ideas for out two minute opening if a film that we are currently putting together. We were shown a few examples of good and bad openings which belong to a level media students. This i found was great help because by watching the bad ones we learnt not to fall into the same traps as they did and by watching the good openings we learnt to be more creative and to work towards making ours better.
After a discussion with the group, we decided to change our idea for our coursework completely. We still like the idea of an alternative/indie film but the genre of comedy was difficult and working with another character was proving harder than we thought.
The idea of shots we would like to use will remain similar, as will the credits.
We are currently working on the plot and storyboard of our opening but here are a few music videos that have inspired us.
In this video: Lana and I
Preliminary Exercise: Lady Gaga - Bad Romance
This video shows just how fun the exercise really is but also how long and hard it was to get some decent looking shots together, we managed to do so in the end as seen in the previous video!
This is a screenshot of the specific stair shot we would like to achieve and include in our 2 minute opening film. I have taken this screenshot from Pixie Lotts 'cry me out' music video.
My group have taken on the challenging task of making an alernative/indie/comedy film. The plot is simple but should be able to bag a few laughs.
The film starts with a pitch black screen. A cigarette is then lit (the only source of light) and the hand lighting it is covered in blood.
This will decieve our audience into thinking that the film is infact a thriller however these ideas our shattered as the male chokes on the cigarette (element of trying to act cool) and the camera zooms out to see a young male with shaving cuts on his face (the blood on his hands) sitting in a shed. A light will come on and this is the point where we realise that it is infact a comedy.The music will then start therefore by using no music in the beginning part it makes it more intense and this contrast will make our theme of comedy more obvious. He leaves the shed and makes his way to his bedroom where he gets ready for his day.
As he gets ready, he "attempts" a work out in which he praises himself for doing three pull ups on his door frame but awarding himself a sticker on his "workout chart". As he gets ready he puts a random selection of objects in his bag, confusing the audience. He is in his own world and as he leaves his house for his destination, he is confident. The camera zooms in on his feet but as it zooms out he is on a busy main road.
It is here we realise he is prehaps not so confident and we see his "awkward" character. The rest of the two minutes will be spent by the character trying to make it from one end of the road to the other, in which comical happenings occur. He then reaches his destination (however you never actually find out what his destination is) and says a line that again confuses the audience. The scene ends and the audience are left wondering where he was going, why he had these objects and what he was doing.
1. Our idea is practically possible to film as it doesnt involve any difficult scenes. The only possible problem would be cars on the main road we are using for the final part of the film, however if we time it correctly it will be possible.
2. Our film will definately show off the strengths of all the members in our group. We each had our own contribution to the plot of the film and due to our different interests, we can each show our strengths. For instance music, creativity and fashion.
3. It can be easily storyboarded as we only use 3 locations and there is nothing too complicated occuring.
4. It can be reasonably shot and edited in the time given as the scenes shouldnt take too long to shot - their concept is simple.
5. We can easily get access to the locations as we are using our actors own house and a public street.
We chose to use Camden Town for our main road as it's well known for being unusual and perculiar. We believe this will highlight the characters "awkwardness" and he will be able to react off of the people surrounding him.
6. Lighting should not be a problem for any of the film as for the first scene of the film as we are using a shed and the intentions is that it is dark. When in the characters bedroom, there should normal daylight and we will be filming early morning in Camden Town. Sound may be an issue in Camden however that can be eaily edited out.
7. We will be including dialogue in the film however it will be kept to a minumum. In the first two locations the sound can be filmed at the time however on our final location the sound will have to be added in.
8. For our main character we are using our friend James Mansfield as we feel he will fit the character well. He is reliable and therefore continuity will not be an issue. Our character is inspired by the actor Michael Cera as he portrays the "awkwardness" of the character perfectly. He stars in films such as superbad, year one and nick and Norahs infinite playlist all of which are successful comedies. The main character in our opening is possibly the most important part therefore his quirky unusual and hopefully funny characteristics are what we are hoping will make the theme of comedy work.
On Monday 27th of September 2010, our objective was to gain an understanding of different genres but also at the same time gain a few ideas for our two minute film opening. In this lesson, we watched different examples of film openings. One of the films we watched was Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Above is a video of the first two minutes of the film. Orginal Video
We watched the opening scene of this film, we noticed that no credits appeared until we were 6 minutes into it. In many films we usually see the credits appear in the first couple of minutes of the opening, but featured films like this one can afford to make their opening scenes quite long.
To help us build up some of our own ideas we looked at many different types of genre, a few of which were:
Comedy- Hot Fuzz, Shaun Of The Dead, Super Bad & Spoofs
Everyone deserves a chance to follow their dreams, but some people only get one shot. Tyler Gage is a rebel from the wrong side of Baltimore's tracks, only one thing that stands between him and an unfulfilled life are his dreams of one day making it out of there. Nora is a privileged ballet dancer attending Baltimore's ultra elite Maryland School of the Arts and the only thing standing in the way of her obviously brilliant future is finding a great dance partner for her senior showcase. When trouble with the law lands Tyler with a community service gig at Maryland School of the Arts, he arrives as an angry outsider, until his skills as a gifted street dancer draw Nora's attention. Now, as sparks fly between them, both on and off stage, Tyler realizes he has just one performance to prove that he can step up to a life far larger than he ever imagined.
Genres: Drama, Musical/Performing Arts and Teen Filming Locations: Baltimore, Maryland USA Produced in: United States
The whole of the opening of step up shows young people dancing with a soundtrack in the background which fits in very well with the dance moves and also the theme of the whole film.
As the dancing goes on opening credits continue throughout.
Some medium close-ups and frequent cross cuts are used.
Wide shots also known as the long shot are also used, this allows us to see the entire person or area, an example of this can be seen the third time the ballet dancers appear as you can see the entire person and area as the camera swiftly moves to the left allowing us to see more.
An example of a close up appears straight after the title of the film fades away and only the waist down can be seen of the ballet and street dancers.
The opening credit to this film has a creepy design and the music sounds spooky. The images and the text are dark, dirty, scruffy, scary and perfectly convey the idea that we’re going to be watching a complete psycho at work. The font of writing that has been used is edgey and colours such as black, browns and reds have been used for the background which really sets the tone.
The film Ghost Ship is made up of three very similar genres which include horror, mystery and thriller. It is easy to guess what genre the film may be made up of due to a few give aways such as the titile of the film, creepy sound effects in the background and also the way the singers voice changes from normal into an echoing sound. This opening also gets into the point of the film quite quickly which is why its one of my favourites.
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