Props, Location and Fashion Planning - Risk Assessment

Props, Location and Fashion Planning - Risk Assessment 

In order to make the opening sequence both practical and efficient, the planning of: Props, risk assessment and location. This meant that we went in to more detail with our opening sequence through the planning of props. In addition, it will make sure that we arrive at the location with all the correct props and a safe environment to work in. 

Given that we will be using an outdoor location, the planning is slightly hindered by the issues we face with weather such as rain and bad light. As a result, we will not be able to film on Sunday 29th November because of rain and bad light. 

In order to film fairly soon, we will have to look at the weather every day and plan different days to film depending on light. This will result in us being able to film on a day that the lighting is adequate and there is no rain that will stop the acting. 

Credit Typography

This font fit the character in our opening sequence because the style of the writing is in a artistic way which can give an insight into the characters background just from the style the title of the opening sequence is written.

Using brail after the title is really effective in showing the potential problems the character has before the character is even in the shot.

This font is all in upper case which can have different effects on what the title is showing to the audience about the film. Using upper case text makes the title stand out being bold and should be the main feature of the film.

This font is more of a basic font but has the effect of smudged ink coming out of the side of each letter. This could be really effective for our opening sequence because with the character being a artist the effective ink or paint dripping away from the letters gives an artist style to the title of the film.

This typography is bold and in capital letters, this indicated that the title wants to be bold and stand out compared to anything else in the same shot in the opening sequence. 

This font is in a more cartoon kind of style which can be good for our opening sequence because the character is a teenager and a cartoon style of text could be really effective in comparison to the social group of the character.

A handwritten style of text is very effective because it looks like the character has written the title and can give a insight into the characters profile. 

This font is a basic style of font which could be a possibility for our opening sequence. The font could be used for a small title which isn't the main feature of the shot.

This font with the title in words and the title in brail would be very effective for our opening sequence because the use of brail can be relatable to the characters characteristic.

A handwritten style for the title can be very effective because the style of the title is in a artistic way which reflected on the characters personality

Final Script

Final Script

In this task we constructed our final script which will be handed to both actors in our play as well as the cameramen and us as directors. Similarly to the storyboard, this task allows us to have much better impression of how things will realistically take place in our opening sequence. Furthermore, it gives the actors a better idea of the opening sequence as they will be familiar with scripts from their respective acting careers. 

Storyboarding and Shot Lists

Storyboard

In this task we finished finalising plans for our opening sequence. To be able to film our opening sequence efficiently and correctly, the storyboard was imperative to our final planning. In order to make this opening sequence easier to film, the storyboard also had to be clear and simple. We predominantly focused on camera angles as the most important part of our shot because from researching previous opening sequences, the camera angles looked to be the biggest aspect of a good opening sequences. Furthermore, we found that the use of shot lists were extremely useful because it gives us a much better idea as to what and how we are going to film each individual shot.  

Focus Group - (Female teens) 

Shot list

Character Profile

In this task we have developed our ideas on our protagonist, Ralph Curtis. In order to make the character have genuine characteristics and allow the audience relate to a legitimate character. Not only does it develop his own character but it also allows our actor to be able to understand the role more and therefore resulting in the character being played both precisely and effectively.

Audience Profile

Some extra information on our primary audience:

Our primary audience needs to be interested in with similar plots or themes for example dramas and powerful films. We also want our primary audience to have hobbies such as watching films and television being the main hobby or thing they enjoy. Others can be listening to music, playing video games, playing sports etc. Music that we want our primary audience to be interested in is slow and calm music as this relates to the music we are using in our film. 

Preliminary Task

In this task we aimed to produce a successful short video where we demonstrate three key camera techniques - Match on action, shot/reverse shot and 180-degree rule. The most important reason for doing this task was to practice these techniques so we can include them in our final production.




Learning comment: This task proved very successful for my group as it allowed us to identify what we need to improve on when it comes to our final production. Several ways of improving we identified were aspects of the video such as faulty framing. Although it looks unprofessional in this video, it proves to be great value to us because we can make sure it will not happen in our final production. In addition, we had minor difficulties with the 'shot reverse' camera technique because of the number of actors and cameramen we had. As a result, we will carefully plan the logistics of our filming before filming days. This will allow us to efficiently make our opening sequence with hopefully completing our production within the set time scale. Despite my minor faults in our video that we have identified and will erase when it comes to final production, this preliminary task was a very good way of introducing complex camera techniques and rules such as 180-degree rule. Therefore we will be able to use these techniques when it comes to our final production in order to achieve a high grade.

Representation in Films

In this piece of research i aim to identify how different social groups are represented to us as an audience at the beginning of the film. This is an extremely important element in the opening sequence because the representation of certain social groups can tempt the audience into form premature opinions on characters they are yet to understand properly.






Although the two social groups are of similar age in these two Coming Of Age films. I have found that the representation of the two groups are extremely different. As a result, i have identified that it is extremely important not to stereotype the social groups we are going to use in our production. Therefore i can say that this piece of research is extremely useful because it has given me the knowledge to know that it is very important to use our own interpretation of the specific social groups.

Learning comment: From this specific piece of in-depth research into the representation of certain social groups in films, I have clearly identified how the use of mise en scene, sound and camera angles portray individual demographics. For example, in Ferris Bueller's Day Off the use of extreme close ups in the opening sequence allow the audience to immediate build up an idea of what the character is going to be like due to the facial expressions showed through this camera angle. In addition, the use of sound can also have an effect on how certain social groups are portrayed. For example, the use of rap/hip-hop non diegetic sound in the opening of 21 Jump Street allows us to understand what this demographic is musically interested in. This example in 21 Jump Street partially typifies the stereo typing of male teenagers as if they all listen to this genre of music. As a result, we see that in many films, specific demographics are often portrayed in an unfair and perhaps incorrect way. Moreover, I found that there are a wide range of codes and conventions used in opening sequences to represent social groups. This is often done through the use of mise en scene, sound and camera angles as I have identified above.