planning# ideas filming locations.

i have thought of many different locations for our movie
 firstly i thought of a grave yard , because the grave yard location will create a sinister mood and can be quite creepy.
also thought about hiring a storage , because its confined space, which creates that sense of being trapped and no where to go.
  we are going to film in an underpass , park , field and media studio room.

foley sound reasearch

Foley effects are sound effects added to the film during post production (after the shooting stops). They include sounds such as footsteps, clothes rustling, crockery clinking, paper folding, doors opening and slamming, punches hitting, glass breaking, etc. etc. In other words, many of the sounds that the sound recordists on set did their best to avoid recording during the shoot.

The boom operator's job is to clearly record the dialogue, and only the dialogue. At first glance it may seem odd that we add back to the soundtrack the very sounds the sound recordists tried to exclude. But the key word here is control. By excluding these sounds during filming and adding them in post, we have complete control over the timing, quality, and relative volume of the sound effects.

For example, an introductory shot of a biker wearing a leather jacket might be enhanced if we hear his jacket creak as he enters the shot - but do we really want to hear it every time he moves? By adding the foley sound fx in post, we can control its intensity, and fade it down once the dialogue begins. Even something as simple as boots on gravel can interfere with our comprehension of the dialogue if it is recorded too loudly. Far better for the actor to wear sneakers or socks (assuming their feet are off screen!) and for the boot-crunching to be added during Foley.

 here is a video explaining in detail.^

Without Foley, a film sounds empty and hollow - the actors seem to be talking in a vacuum. The sound recordist, if they did a good job, has given us the dialogue and excluded everything else, but our films needs more than this for the picture to come alive. We need to hear the little sounds of clothes, furniture, etc - but we need to control those sound effects so they don't obscure any of the dialogue.

Another common Another common use for Foley sound replacement is adding it to documentary footage. Old historical film seems lifeless when it is screened without sound, and adding foley to it helps bring those long dead images to life. Next time you watch a history documentary that uses silent archival footage, listen closely and you should hear at least minimal Foley sound fx, mostly footsteps, behind the narration.

Foley can also be used to enhance comedy or action scenes. Watch most comedy films and you'll notice that many of the sounds are enhanced for comic effect, and sometimes the Foley sound is the joke. As for action, most fist fights do not involve the actors really hitting each other, and even if they did we would not be able to record a satisfying punch sound. By punching and variously molesting such objects as cabbages, celery and sides of beef, Foley artists can record unique and much more 'realistic' action sounds.

The technique is named after Jack Foley, who established the basic modern techniques still used today. Like most terms that are named in honour of a person, it is customary to spell Foley with a capital "F".

180 degree rule

the 180° rule is a basic guideline that states that two characters (or other elements) in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line. The new shot, from the opposite side, is known as a reverse angle

. The 180 degree rule enables the audience to visually connect with unseen movement happening around and behind the immediate subject and is important in the narration of battle scenes. 

foley sound- reasearch

180 degree rule

 The 180 degree rule is an important concept in video and film production which enables viewers to follow scenes without disorientation or confusion. You can convey the 180 degree rule by drawing an imaginary line between two characters and keeping the camera on one side of them throughout the entire scene. It is sometimes referred to as the rule of line-crossing. Generally, in films the main character is usually on the left side of the screen and the secondary character is on the right, this relationshionship between characters should always stay the same through out the scene. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two characters, the rule has been broken because the camera would have crossed the line, thus creating reverse angle which nis not condoned in film making.

Just in case you need a little more understanding or your the type of person who learns more faster through visual interactions, here is a video from youtube by campusmoviefest that explains the 180 degree rule by also featuring an example from Hitchcock's thriller Psycho.

Using Soundtrack Pro for Prelim

Here are screen grabs of the process of using soundtrack pro for the prelim

Arlington Road Editing

Here are screenshots of the editing process on Final cut pro for the remaking the opening of Arlinton Road and adding titles for the first time.

Overall we think we did a good job on final cut pro for adding / making titles considering it was our first time trying

Arlington Road Practical

This video was a combination of captured clips put together of  a sequence put together the way we wanted.  We first wanted all the production icons to go first just like the opening of a film because that is how most film title sequences start in that order. Then we introduced the producer, using transitions blur to emphasise the horror genre and the title present. We wanted this clip to sort of be like the opening of a thriller.

There were some disagreements with the order of the clips from the original Arlington order. But the main purpose of this activity was to show that we were able to add title to an opening which we did. Even thought we did run out of time to finish it in class we were able to put in some title using Final Cut Pro.

Prelim Photographs / Editing

Here are screen shots of the editing done by the group (mostly Michael) on Final Cut Pro. We were unable to get photographs taken while filming because Jobedha was not in.

Here are screen shots of making the prelim. While editing on Final Cut Pro

Here are screen shots for while we were making the prelim animatic on Final Cut Pro.

We had fun while editing because we did it on one of the mac laptops in a classroom because there were no spaces available in the editing room. So we were able to be loud and mess around (carefully) while editing.

Final Prelim (with Soundtrack)

Here is group 24 final Prelim. We are happy with the outcome of the prelim because everything came together well at the end with the editing process and the soundtrack added using Soundtrack Pro. Apart from braking the 180 degree rule (which we all now know and full understand so we wont be doing that again when filming an shot reverse shot scene) and not having time to use Foley Sound we think we did excellent. We did what we had to do meaning there is a match cut of someone opening a door and entering a room and a shot reverse shot of two people talking.

I (Susan) came in at lunchtime to attend Rebecca's workshop to add sound using a new software Soundtrack Pro. At first I was unsure what to do but then Rebecca explained and then I found everything easy because the software was similar to what I used in secondary school for GCSE music. I looked around the library and found good sounds and I edited it by cutting the sounds and adjusting the volume levels. I am very happy with what I did especially with the sound I found for the fan. At first I was finding it hard to find a fan sound because I wasn't checking properly. But then I found a different sound that went well with my character entering the room and the fan turning setting the atmosphere and letting the viewer know something wasn't right.

planning # 1

 are group  have very different ideas but we are working together so that all are ideas are used and contributed to the making of our thriller title sequence.

we plan to use intertextuality from classic thrillers. however we don't want to do anything too cliché.

our group has been discussing a few ideas we may possibly thinking of doing a crime thriller or horror thriller in which we would like to use sound to give are audience an idea of what type of thriller it may be. we don't want our film too look amateur or over done, we are looking for a professional look a film starting sequence which can be played to many generations of candi students. 

 

we may possible do a discrete structured sequence to give that suspense , however we are not yet 100% sure. 

 hear is  a sound track we are thinking of employing in our movie ^

this may be a possible sound track because it has that thriller edge to it and i honestly think if deployed well, this could have our audience on the edges of there seats... yes it really does make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up!

  

Things That Need Soundtrack Pro / Foley Sound from Prelim

We have decided as a group that for are prelim soundtrack we would like to use sounds from Soundtrack Pro and make are own sounds by recording them and using Foley sound to upload them. Below are some screen shots of what parts of the prelim we would like to have certain sounds added from a soundtrack that we make.

Soundtrack Pro

We would like to find sounds in the Soundtrack Pro library for:

When Susan opens the door,

When Susan witches the light switch off,

When the fan is on

Foley Sound

We would like to record are own sounds and use Foley sounds to upload it to the soundtrack:

Susan jumps over the table,

When Susan drags out a chair to sit on,

When Susan and Myles are talking,

When Myles get angry and throws his chair

Prelim Video (Without Sound Practical)

The process of filming our prelim video was both enjoyable and interesting, it was our second time filming as we did also did a collateral remake. As a group we came to the conclusion that although our filming skills had improved, there were some filming techniques we could have enforced into our production and therefore noted it down to include in our thriller opening. One of the filming techniques that we would have liked to include in our prelim video was the 180 which we broke because as a group we were not 100% if we were filming correct, but us braking the rule it leaves us room for improvement because of we now what we did wrong and what not to do next time. Which we think we the purpose of this activity trail and improvement.

So here is are Prelim with out doing the soundtrack.

I (Susan) came in for workshop with Tony and during that time Tony helped me learn more about Film Cut Pro and I was able to add in transitions / dissolves at the begging to make the prelim not look like there are jump cut everywhere.

analysing different film openings

Angeldust

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg6sO9DivgE&feature=player_embedded

this is the movie i will be analysing above.


In Angel Dust there is an ambi gous atmosphere it seems like everything is fine however it is not, this is seen through the mise en scene created. Even the production logo at the beginning of the opening shows us that there is going to be danger(bleeding hand) , it also establishes what genre the film may be.


a teenage girl is depicted she  video blogs her life onto an internet based social networking site called facespace, and is stalked by another use on facespace. The background colour of the site is white which signifies the innocence and vulnerability of the teenage girl.


the sound is not over done and conveys to us that something is not right , they have used sound effectively to allow us to experience this. furthermore , we never get a view of the  person she is talking to apart from his or her hands this makes us want to watch more and creates a sense of urgency to the viewer to find out who this person behind the computer is.
the girl is also depicted playing with her necklace quite a lot this conveys to us her innocence.


After watching about 30 seconds of the clip, i could tell that the students had put a lot of thought and effort into creating the best opening they could have. They also use of a stylized opening, that relates to their film.

Sub-genre of Film Opening

The Thriller sub-genre that I would like to do for my film opening with my group will probably have to be Thriller Action because I think that it would be easy for me and my group to do and I like action films sometimes. I think this will influence the opening by making it with fast cuts to keep a fast pace going on because it is a thriller action and I would want to get the audience sucked in to the film straight away and keep the pulse running throughout  the whole film opening. So the type of opening structure could be discrete.

Structures of Thriller Openings

                                 A narrative opening with the titles running throughout
                                               

The is  usually use of an eerie soundtrack in the opening to indicate that the film is a thriller, it is also often shot in immensly remote locations, for example, the shining is in a remote and secluded location but it also has a very large hotel in the middle of no where which straight away seems weird and unusual to viewers. The opening also take viewers straight into the movie, in The Shining, the camera is tracking the yellow car suggesting that there is obviously some significance to do with the people in it. The title sequence is often also apart of the mise en scene as it is running through the opening scene, this is seen in the the opening of the panic room as the titles were apart of the buildings, ideally there is no effects except titles.

                                                                   The Shining opening

                                                           The Panic Room opening

                                                           A Discrete Title Sequence 

Films which use discrete title sequences do not have narrative voiceovers, and often do not introduce key characters. Instead, they use music to reflect the film's mood and often includes fast paced editing. Discrete title sequences have the credit titles running over the beginning of the film, with images and action taking place in the background. They are usually themed as political espionage and have a ton of action and camera jump shots, this is seen in films like Enemy of the State and Arlington Road which also include Non-diegetic sound such as Gun shots, police radio and helicopters. All this is done to establish what kind of genre the film might be or what the film is about. Sometimes there is also no production company present in the opening. There is usually a manipulation of time (fast and slow), sometimes moving handheld cameras are used for effect and there could be overlapping images through opacity change.


                                                       Enemy of The State Opening

Titles over a blank screen followed by narrative opening

In this type of opening, credits are simply presented over a black screen, it includes a soundtrack and uses fonts to often convey the genre of the film. The contrast of colour, as in white writing over a black screen is very subtle but powerful because it stands out.

Prelim Animatic

In this prelim video, we had to follow several tasks step by step. We had to have a match cut of someone opening a door and entering the room and a shot reverse shot of two people talking with out braking the 180 rule (which we did but we learnt from are mistakes as a group).

We took pictures of myself (Myles) and Susan acting out several scenes, whilst Micheal took pictures of it while it was happening. This video is a thriller and thriller action for sub genre. In total we took 22 pictures then edited it out on Final Cut Pro. We found it hard to take pictures of some scenes such as when Susan is jumping over a table, but  in end the end we got a good shot. It took us 45 minutes to take all our shots and  10 minutes to edited up on Final Cut Pro, Micheal did most of the editing while Me and Susan went out to come up with fresh new ideas for our video prelim. Overall we enjoyed this experience and have learned a lot,  we explored intertextuality in are piece, also this has given us so many ideas for are actual thriller opening.

We had intertextuality from the film Batman (Myles added in) and from the film National Treasure (that I {Susan} came up with) which was heard from the dialogue.

We came up with a script as a group for Me and Myles to act out while Michael filmed but we also decided that if we couldn't remember are lines we would improvise and Michael will then cut at the end of the sentence that was made up because neither was Me or Myles actors or do drama.

The script we had written out was:

Susan - Remember Me?

Myles - Why? Am I meant to? Why so serious?

S - You have something that belongs to me. Where is the vile?

M - The falcon lies beneath the birds nest. (intertextuality - National Treasure)

S - Washington!

M - WHY ME? (intertextuality - Batman)

Analysis of Previous Student Film Openings - The Rushes

I have analysed a previous students work from another centre called The Rushes.

The mise-en-scene is outside in a field which is dark because of the low key lighting

I like the editing because there are a lot of fast cuts and it and it is in sync with the sound

I like how the title title are shown because it is something different and smart

The use of layered sounds are really good because it shows different sounds and that they have thought about the sounds very carefully. I like the part when the boy is closing the door and the whispering

They have used a lot of different shot for example the close up of the moon.

The video of the rushes can be watch on the teaching blog in the link called work from different centres.

Different Types of Structures of a Film Opening

There are 4 different types of structure to a film opening. There are 3 basic structures which are A narrative opening with the titles running throughout, A discrete title sequence and Titles over a blank screen, followed by the narrative opening and 4th style which is a bit more complicated which is a ‘Stylized Editing’.

A Narrative Opening with Titles Running Throughout

An example of the type of structure of a film opening would be ‘The Shining’ (1980) and ‘Panic Room’.

In The Shining viewers are unsure what is going on but they know the people in the car are going to a very remote location. There are no effects used in this type of style for film openings because it goes straight into the film. The opening links to the genre of the film because it made the viewer aware something is wrong and something bad will happen and that what happens in Thriller genre films. The opening of the film uses rolling credits going up.

So with this structure of film openings there are very little effects and narrative because it goes straight into the film.

In Panic Room the film goes straight into the movie. The audience knows the film is set in the city which is New York because the location / setting are the first thing seen. The audience is introduced to the characters and the characters narrative gives some information to the audience. The genre of the film is indicated through the music and camera work (lighting and angles) so the genre links the music. The titles shown are almost like part of the buildings (the mise en scene).

A Discrete Title Sequence

A discrete title sequence style is visually exciting and they are heavily edited.

The characters are not often introduced. The geography / location are not clear. The audience doesn't get a sense of narrative. These factors make it hard to know what the genre of the film is, so the genre is not a clear give away but the sound (music) can hint the genre.

The style of title sequence has slow / fast pace editing so there is a manipulation of time. Sometimes colour filters are used. Moving hand held cameras are used and during editing they show over taping of images so the capacity has changed because the images are layered.

An example of this structure of a film opening would be ‘Enemy of the State’ (1998), ‘Arlington Road’ (1999) and 'Seven' (1995) which I have looked at in a previous blog.

Here is the discrete opening of 'Enemy of the State'. The way the opening is linked to the genre because the opening is discrete is by the fast speed of the opening. The devices / effects that are used to show this is by the diegetic sound and fast / slow motion. The thing that is missing from a discrete opening is narrative and introduction to characters.

‘Stylized Editing’
The structure of this opening is very stylized. For example in Taking of Pelham 123 opening (2009 - Stylized Editing Structure for Opening) starts off quietly with little sound with slow titles rolling on to the screen with the camera filming around buildings slowly and then it cuts to fast motions and cuts with louder diegetic sound (music), the titles are changed to a different colour and text also there are a lot of different camera angles and locations seen. The opening it a bit shorter then the other different film opening structure. A stylized editing opening is very interesting and will take a long time in post production meaning a stylized editing opening must be planned very well.

Titles Over a Blank Screen

Is the structure of a film opening when the screen is blank and only the titles can be screen. So in this structure of opening there is no narrative, no introduction of characters and no sense of location. But the genre will still be given away. This is by the sound and titles. The type of music / sound used for the opening will relate to the genre of the film. Also the font of the titles as well as the colour, the way and speed of how the titles appear will also let the audience have an idea or now the genre of the film. I think this structure opening goes really well with films that have the genre of horror. Examples of this type of opening structure in films are 'Donnie Darko' (2001) & 'Dead Calm' (1989)

Intertextuality #2 / Planning

In are group we have very different ideas but we are working together so that all are ideas are used and contributed to the making of our thriller title sequence.

In our groups film opening I would like for us to use intertextuality. Another idea that I think we should use is that to make remake of something that has been already done but develop it (either a previous students group work or one from a real film). Also I think we should use a subgenre of Action Thriller because I think it would be easy to do and fun.

Some of the ideas of intertextuality that I have thought of & that could maybe influence are thriller film opening:

-A slow motion footage and slow cuts to show confusion and dreams like done in the film Inception. A 2010 science fiction action heist film which was written, co-produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

Here is the trailer of the Inception film

-Use the way the editing and running is done in the film the Breakfast Club when the children are running away from the teacher during Saturday detention.

The Breakfast Club 1985 is a well known American film from the 80's and scenes from the film has been used and re-made many times here are some examples of this:

Here is an original clip from the film which has been re-made from different films and tv series

Here is a promo of an episode of the american tv series Victorious which did there own version of The Breakfast Club film.

Another is clip from the original film

Here is a clip from Family Guy which uses intertextuality from The Breakfast Club in one of their episodes

-We can have known catch phrase in the title sequence if we deiced to use talking actors or narrative for example some thing from Forest Gump, James Bond, Austin Powers, song sang by Edwin Starr 'What is it Good For' used in the Rush Hour films

-Have things light up when touched like in the music video of Michael Jackson 'Billie Jean'

-Poses from films for example The Charlie's Angles / James Bond gun Pose have used a lot in the media for many years.

Intertextuality is used a lot in spoof films

such as the Scary Movie films and other films such as 'Not Another Date Movie'

In 'Not Another Date Movie'  there is also intertextuality from The Breakfast Club (link below found from Youtube) even at the end of the film one of the actress Mollie Ringwald from the original film appears in the end of Not Another Date Movie film.

In the clip the actress Melissa Joan Hart is seen so some people will now here best for here role in 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch' (tv series & film) which is a teenage movie so there is intertextuality.

In the film there is also intertextuality to other teenage movies such as:

Bring it On, She's All That, 10 Things I Hate About You, American Pie, Footloose, Grease, Pretty in Pink, Never Been Kissed, The Karate Kid, Save the Last Dance, Cruel Intentions and other films that I do not now.

youtube link to clip, warning clip is inappropriate:http://youtu.be/_AB0WD0jGAA