The Book of Eli

This task was useful because it gave us an idea of what filming with a script would be like and what props, costumes etc would be required for specific things. It also helped us get more confident with exploring different camera angles and different depths of field which in addition make the film more effective. We included a range of camera angles, those being over the shoulder shots, close ups, medium shots, high angle shots, low angle shots and possible more.

Questionnaire

Questionnaire Results

1. Which category below includes your age?

A large proportion of my results were in the '17 or younger' age group seeing as I posted my questionnaire on my Facebook. However there were quite a few in the 18-20 category and a few but not many in the 40-49 category. 

2. What film genre do you enjoy the most?

The largest proportion of my results landed in the 'Thriller' and 'Comedy' genre's. There were a few, around 5 results in the 'Romance' genre and around 10 results in the horror genre. 

3. What 'thriller genre' conventions do you know of?

Many people avoided this question but the ones that did replied with answers such as: The narrative is usually centred around a crime, they try to convey a lot of action in order to 'thrill' the audience, the audience do not normally know the true identity of a killer and usually suspense and action is built up by the protagonist having an exploitable weakness the the antagonist takes advantage of.

4. How much do you like films in the thriller genre (1-5) and what is your opinion on them?

Seeing as a lot of people put the thriller genre as their most enjoyable film genre a lot of answers to this question were most probably based upon that, seeing as the most amount of results were on the '5' a few on the '4' and not many at all on the other ones. However, their opinions varied. Some said "I like them a lot but the plot can often be quite tiring, for example if the film drags on for too long!" and "I absolutely love them because they get my heart racing at times and they are the only type of film that I can really get into".

5. What is your favourite thriller film?

A lot of the replies to this question included the 'Mission Impossible' films and others included the films such as 'Taxi Driver' 'The Bourne Ultimatum' 'Taken' 'Black Swan' and 'American Psycho'.

Questionnaire Interview

Here I interviewed a person from my target audience in order to find out their audience expectations about my chosen genre of film.

After Effects Screen Shots

This title includes a fade in and fade out effect. 

This shot also includes a fade in and fade out effect.

And here. I duplicated the first set of text so that I would have the same timing of the fade in and out on each credit.

I applied motion tracking to this shot so that the credits moved down with the privacy window screen and also still applied the fade in and out effect.

To achieve this this type of shot I again used motion tracking and attached it with the glass tube.

Equipment

The Tracking Dolly

A camera dolly is a specialized piece of filmmaking and television production equipment designed to create smooth camera movements (cinematic techniques). The camera is mounted to the dolly and the camera operator and focus puller or camera assistant, usually ride on the dolly to operate the camera. The dolly grip is the dedicated technician trained to operate the dolly. The camera dolly may be used as a shooting platform on any surface but is often raised onto a track, to create smooth movement on a horizontal axis known as a dolly shot. Additionally, most professional film studio dollies have a hydraulic arm that raises or lowers the camera on the vertical axis. When a dolly grip operates a dolly on perpendicular axes simultaneously, it's known as a compound move.

Over-shoulder Camera Mount

The over-shoulder camera mount enables you to get a steady shot of something whilst walking, filming them. The screen attached gives you a clearer overview of what you're filming.

The Crane

I think the crane is a good piece of equipment to use because it can pan 360 degrees continuously and this sweeping arc through the air makes a much more dramatic pan than just turning right or left like on a tripod. The crane can do all three moves simultaneously (boom, tilt and boom-pan) if need be. It can also be set up to do dutch angles without having to buy separate accessories. The pulley and cable system allow the camera to tilt up to 180 degrees. It is an easy and fast piece of equipment to put up. The camera stays level as it booms up and down because of the pulley and cable parallelogram system.


Time Lapse Video

                                     Equipment Video

Practice Preliminary Task

Story Board/Animatic/Animatic Feedback

This is our class completing the feedbacks for each individual animatic.

Timeline 2

Timeline 1

Costumes and Actor Shots

This is my mum Tessa Tanguy she will be featuring in my opening scene as the witness of the incident. She will be wearing casual clothes because she will be returning home from the supermarket when she witnesses the situation.

This is my sister Mia Tanguy. She is the girl that gets abducted in my film opening sequence and she will look exactly like this. She will be wearing her school uniform because the abduction takes place when she is walking home from school.

The abductor (James Bailey) will be wearing something similar to this to disguise himself.

This is James Bailey who will play the role of the abductor in my film.

Extended Research on My Chosen Genres- Crime/Thriller/Drama

City of God

The opening sequence of this film has excellent camera and production work with the chicken. I think it is quite funny when juxtaposed against the terrible living conditions portrayed in the movie.

I like this clip in the movie because it starts of really sharp to get your attention by the sounds of the carving of the knife. Immediately we are intrigued and it shows what the type of the film is. I also like how it shows a really short clip of the knife then cuts off into a blackout. This in a way is symbolizing death, like the knife kills you then your worlds a blackout. I would like to possible re-create this sort of shot in my own opening sequence because when I first seen it I really liked it so I hope other people like it to. I would either need to be really quick and sharp carving the knife or speed it up on the computer.

I like how these shots refer back to the remaining chicken thats waiting to die. I like how it switches between the shots of the process of killing the chicken and the process of getting it ready to sell and then back to the living chicken, the use of camera shots and production work really make this shot because it speeds this shot up as the chicken is getting closer to dying and as the chicken starts panicking. When it switches back to the live chicken it has filmed it so that you can see that the chicken is panicking and trying to find somewhere to go, an escape. You can see this by the chicken eyes and heart beat.

Narrative

Actors: Mia- girl that gets abducted, Mum- witness, James- Abductor
Location: Back alleyway up Les Quennevais
Costumes: School uniform, casual clothes, conventions of abductor type outfit

Shot of Mia in her school uniform walking home down a back alleyway, mixed shots of feet, walking, kicking puddles, skipping etc. Shot to abductors point of view watching the girl, burring in and out of aperture. Shots of witness walking back to her home with shopping bags, shot to car pulling over, then shot of abductors face in windscreen mirror, focusing on eyes looking from one side to another. Switch back to girl, then witness. Back to abductors car then shot of him grabbing her and her screaming. Shot back to witness dropping her shopping bags and running over then car drives off and she throws her hands up in air and sighs. Then shot off police van and 'missing' poster in front, depth of field focusing on the 'missing' poster, police van out of focus, zooms slowly out of shot.

Sum Up of Opening Sequences

From my research on film opening sequences. Most of the film opening sequences that I have analysed fall into more than one genre category. It seems that I have been most attracted to the films which are in the drama/thriller categories. I also have done a few films which are in the comedy and adventure genres. However I think I may create an opening sequence which is partly in the thriller genre but mostly in the the horror and drama genres, because I have some good ideas to do with horror! 
Action- 2
Adventure- 3  
Thriller- 5 
Horror- 1 
Romance- 2 
Comedy- 3 
Drama- 7 
Fantasy- 1 
Crime- 1 
Sci-Fi- 1

Mission Impossible- Opening Sequence

This film is an action/adventure/thriller type of film.

This shot immediately introduces the main character. Just from this small segment of his face we know who it is and we also get the impression that they is something there thats frustrated or interested by the look in his eyes. The glasses make him seem like he's in a smart business. I like the lighting in this shot because it is made so that it looks like he is working at a desk with a desk lamp on.

This shot in the opening sequence is showing in an intelligent way, that times ticking out for him to complete his mission. I really like the neon kind of lighting in this part.

This shot seems like he's just found or seen something. The low angle shot makes it seem like he's looking down on someone or something. He looks quite frustrated still, because of the frown on his forehead.

Here he is removing his glasses, this shows to the audience that he has done his research and he is going out on a mission. I like the lighting in this shot because you can see the shadows of his hands on his face and I think this looks really effective.

This shot shows us that he obviously works as a spy or something along those lines, from all the details given in this shot. I really like how you can still see the sparkler burning out, faded into the clip to remind the audience that he is running out of time.

In this shot we can see who his victim is and what he most probably was looking at on the computer at the beginning of the opening sequence.

Six Feet Under- Opening Sequence

This film falls into the drama genre.

I like this shot because it shows that he is washing the dirt from something off his hands, this intrigues the audience and makes them want to watch on to find out what he is washing off his hands. I like how it is only focused on the hands and that there is no background features just plain blackness.

I like this shot because it seems they have made the body into an object that you can buy or send off, it could possibly be that they are sending it 'six feet under' the ground. 

This shot shows that the body is going to heaven or just out of life into nothing. I like the lighting in this because it shines through every gap in his toes and I think it looks really effective. I also like the camera angle because it has been positioned so that it seems like its the dead person looking down of himself.

I really like this shot because it shows that there actually is a body and secures the audiences possible thoughts.  I like the low angle shot that this clip has used because it seems like it could be the body looking up at the van. I also think that the light shining through the window looks really good.

I like how the credits have been made to look like they are engraved on the gravestone, I think that I would like to re-create this type of shot in my own opening sequence. I like how the colours have gone from quite bright to duller and darker as the body goes underground.

I really like how this clip draws the line down and around to show the position of the coffin, I think that it's quite clever and quite an effective shot. This shot also shows that the body has been buried away from anyone or anything and then the film title appears in the coffin square.

The Fall- Opening Sequence

This opening sequence is set in black and white to emphasize the fact that it's set in the old times. It includes really powerful and moving music, different shots and a range of different effects such as slow-motion to support and emphasize the powerfulness. This film falls in to the adventure/drama/fantasy genre.

I think this shot is really effective and powerful because it seems like he's gasping for breath, the slow-motion used in this shot makes it stronger and more powerful.

I like this high angle shot because it shows 'the fall' from a persons point of view standing on the bridges point of view. I like how the ore still remains in the capsized boat but upright, so it makes this shot quite unique and unusual.

This shot is quite striking in the fact that even the dog is barking because it is worried and trying to get attention and help. This shot is quite moving because the dog's owner only has one leg, this makes the audience feel a little less worried and a bit more emotional.

The expression on these guys faces make this seem so much more dramatic than it would have been if they had no expression and gasping for help. I like the camera angle of this shot because it shows that people are looking down on them.

I really like this shot because you can see entirely the whole reflection of the bridge on the water, how many people are on it, the train passing by and then to top this shot of you can still see the two men in the water. I like how this shot shows how little and far down the men are compared to the height of the bridge.

I like this shot because it has been taken as if you were the men looking up at the bridge. This gives you another insight on the location. This shot is quite strange in the purpose that there is a hanging horse in mid-air. I really like this full-shot as you get a really good insight, finally, of the location.