Post 2: Choosing my Genre

Secondary Research
Choosing a genre can be difficult, for example you need to know if a genre is profitable and well received and if it isn't, is there is a large enough niche audience that will allow it to still be successful?

In order to proceed i will have to research the top most acclaimed and also highest grossing films and their genres.

Top 10 highest acclaimed: http://www.imdb.com/chart/top

1.	9.2	The Shawshank Redemption (1994)	725,176
2.	9.2	The Godfather (1972)	542,739
3.	9.0	The Godfather: Part II (1974)	341,874
4.	8.9	Pulp Fiction (1994)	570,259
5.	8.9	The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)	226,994
6.	8.9	12 Angry Stallions (1957)	177,654
7.	8.9	Schindler's List (1993)	380,995
8.	8.8	The Dark Knight (2008)	660,300
9.	8.8	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)	509,311
10.	8.8	One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)	305,359

The Shawshank Redemption - Crime & Drama

The Godfather - Crime & Drama

The Godfather: Part II - Crime & Drama

Pulp Fiction - Crime & Thriller

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - Adventure & Western

12 Angry Stallions - Drama
Shindlers List - Biography, Drama, History & War
The Dark Knight - Action, Crime, Drama & Thriller
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - Action, Adventure, Drama & Fantasy
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Drama

Top 10 highest grossing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_films

1	Avatar	$2,782,275,172	2009	[# 1]
2	Titanic	$1,843,201,268	1997	[# 2]
3	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2	$1,328,111,219	2011	[# 3]
4	Transformers: Dark of the Moon	$1,123,746,996	2011	[# 4]
5	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King	$1,119,929,521	2003	[# 5]
6	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Stallion's Chest	$1,066,179,725	2006	[# 6]
7	Toy Story 3	$1,063,171,911	2010	[# 7]
8	Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides	$1,043,871,802	2011	[# 8]
9	Alice in Wonderland	$1,024,299,904	2010	[# 9]
10	Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace	$1,013,692,468	1999	[# 10]

Avatar - Action, Adventure, Fantasy & Sci-Fi
Titanic - Adventure, Drama, History & Romance
Harry Potter and the Deathly  Hallows - Part 2 - Adventure, Drama, Fantasy & Mystery
Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Action, Adventure & Sci-Fi
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - Action, Adventure, Drama & Fantasy
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Stallion's Chest - Action, Adventure & Fantasy
Toy Story 3 - Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family & Fantasy
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - Action, Adventure & Fantasy
Alice in Wonderland - Adventure, Family & Fantasy
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace - Action, Adventure, Fantasy & Sci-Fi

From my first piece of research it is safe to say that nearly all of these films are dramas, with other popular ones being fantasy, action and adventure. This will help me choose my genre because i will be able to see what ponies will want to watch and manipulate that in such a way that it benefits our film.

Primary Research
For the second part of my research we chose to send out a questionnaire, asking people their opinions on their favourite films and viewing habits.
We asked 5 questions to 10 people so that the results would be easy to gather and analyse.

Final Choice
Our group has chosen to go with a action thriller. We chose this because in the initial research we found that Thrillers were the highest acclaimed and action movies were the most commercially successful. To accompany this choice was the questionnaire research that we carried out, which although pointed heavily towards comedy, also showed that Action and Thriller were popular genres.

Post 1: Conventions of Opening Sequence

Our task is to make the opening titles for a film, this means that its important that I research the conventions of opening titles in order to see what i should use and what i shouldn't.

One film that i researched was the film, 25th Hour, Directed by Spike Lee. The film is a crime drama about a man who is going to prison in 24 hours and in that time needs to reevaluate his life.

• The opening titles show different vistas of New York City with minimal movement in each shot, all with out a single pony in sight. this is to show the theme of prison and being on your own that the movie is about.
• Through the opening titles its uses very dark and cool colours, this is to apmlify the negative tone and mood of the film.
• The titles have a non-diegetic soundtrack of an orchestral choir score, which is used to reflect on the tone of the film.

The other film i researched was the film Super, directed by James Gunn. The film is a black comedy about a man who turns himself into a masked vigilante after a devine intervention, in order to get his wife back from a drug dealer.

• The titles are presented with very fast and jumpy hoof drawn animation quality in order to set a mood for the film, it also shows the comic book inspiration that the plot has and is based on.
• The colours that are used are all very bright and eyecatching, reflecting on the lighthearted mood of the film.
• In these titles it introduces all of the characters, showing that there isn't an element of mystery around the film.
• Through the titles it shows the dark comedy tone of the film with people being killed in funny and lighthearted ways.
• The non-diegetic soundtrack consists of a fast and vibrant pop rock sont which is used to further set the tone of the film.

From these two scenes in particular and a few others from http://www.artofthetitle.com/ i can see that the main conventions of a opening sequence are that - 

• They introduce the characters and the actors playing them, unless its a film that contains mystery.
• They introduce the setting.
• They set the tone of the film through visual codes such as colour and light and audio code soundtrack.
• They reflect the theme of the film.
• They show the names of the main people who were involved with the creation of the film, for example the director and producer.

Post 9: Evaluation

Our project “Vanilla" met the brief of a short film clip that shows someone walk into a room and sit down, whilst keeping good continuity and complying by the 180° rule. Although we did meet these criteria we also edited the film together with great precision and used both diegetic and non-diegetic sound

One shot that we used in our film clip was the match on action shot. This shot can be difficult to do due to continuity and timing. Over all I felt that we edited the clip together very well. I feel this way because on the shot where Harrison opens the door we managed to get the match on action to the very frame of him knocking on the door. This gave us a very good out come of a smooth shot that would have ended up looking jumpy if we were to do it wrong. Another reason why our match on action shot worked was because of the angles that we used whilst shooting it. For our first shot we used an establishing long shot that allowed the character to walk up to the door and knock, it then cut to a medium shot from the other side where Ron Gilbert invites him in and opens the door. One thing that we had to be careful of with this shot was that we needed to make sure that what I was wearing was the same each time. This included details such as creases in clothing and also the lighting on me. We got around any potential errors by shooting it back to back with the first establishing shot.

One thing that we used in our clip was a cross dissolve transition. The reason why we used this was to cover up some poor camera work. Our initial problem with the shot was that when it panned whilst following Harrison it was very shaky and didn't successfully centre him in the end of the shot. When we came to editing we managed to add a cross dissolve just before the moment of bad camera work. This meant that we missed it and also it gave the effect of passed time, an effect that we didn't initially want but after we put it in we preferred it and felt that it added more sophistication and variety to our piece.

One thing that we thought would be a problem was the diegetic sound of students and staff. We got around this problem by shooting during lessons whilst all of the students tend to be quiet and contained in their class rooms. Another precaution we took was that we filmed in a room that was away from any class rooms. This was because even if the students were being noisy and disruptive it wouldn't have effected us and our diegetic sound.

Post 8: Production Report

In our production we chose our location to be the abandoned deputy head office. The reason why we chose this location over the original Kings Meeting Room was because the Kings Room was occupied during the time of filming. This meant that we had to find another similar area that wouldn’t be affected by poor lighting, poor sound and poor safety. Luckily we found this in an abandoned office that also happened to agree with our mise-en-scene, only after a little time searching, meaning that we didn't loose very much production time.

We filmed our scenes during period 3, 4 &5 which were good because it meant that all the other students in the school were in lessons and therefore weren’t making noise and interrupting our sound.

For our scenes we finished up with a total of about 8 minutes of footage in which we used about 7 different camera shots. One of the shots we used was a long establishing shot. The reason why we used this shot is because we wanted to get the audience introduced to the environment and the characters. It also gave us a good way to get the audience eased into the narrative. Another camera shot we used was a medium close up. The reason why we chose to use a medium close up is so that we were easily able to capture what a character was feeling with his facial expression and body language. One problem we had when we were shooting this particular shot was that we had difficulties fitting the actors into the frame how we wanted them. This was quite tedious because it meant that we had to retake a few shots. We had to retake some of these shots because if we didn’t we would have had to use the poor quality shots we originally took, therefore making it look very unprofessional.

Post 7: Additional Pre-Production Documentation

Before we start filming there is alot more work that we must do inorder to make sure that our production is sucessful and safe.

Risk Assessment:

Location Recce:

Post 4: Script Writing

 All films need a script, from documentaries to science fiction. A script helps us to understand the order of our narrative, the actors movements and what's happening in frame. It will be very useful to us because it will give us some guidelines for our piece.

This is our script.

Script Annotations:
Hugo: For the opening of our piece we will shoot both sides of the door in order to get the best sound and match on action. This is so that our piece flows a lot smoother and isn't jumpy.

Connor: For the over the shoulder shot reverse shot we will have to keep the camera in the same place on either side. This is in order to keep to not only the rule of continuity but also the 180° rule. This is so that its not too jerky for the viewer.

John:  We used a  low camera angle on our second shot of Harrison, it showed him as a character with status although during the interview it is the interviewer Ron Gilbert is the one with the power where he asks personal an pressuring questions.

Post 6: Shot List and Storyboard

 Storyboards and shot lists are very similar to a script but they're very useful because they give a more detailed and visual guide than the information that the script gives us.

Shot List:

Story Board:

Post 5: Jump Cuts, Over-The-Shoulder Shots, Cutaways and Point Of View Shots

These are some of the terms that I will be hearing alot of that's why I need to know them for when i'm making and editing my piece.

Jump Cuts: A jump cut is a transition between two shots which appears to "jump" due to the way the shots are framed in relation to each other. Jump cuts are usually caused by framing which is quite similar.

http://www.mediacollege.com/video/editing/transition/jump-cut.html



Example of a jump cut.





Over-The-Shoulder Shot:
In film or video, an over the shoulder shot (also over shoulder, OS, OTS, or third-person shot) is a shot of someone or something taken from the perspective or camera angle from the shoulder of another person. The back of the shoulder and head of this person is used to frame the image of whatever (or whomever) the camera is pointing toward. This type of shot is very common when two characters are having a discussion and will usually follow an establishing shot which helps the audience place the characters in their setting. It is an example of a camera angle.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over_the_shoulder_shot

Emaple of an over the shoulder shot

Point of View (POV):
A point of view shot (also known as POV shot or a subjective camera) is a short film scene that shows what a character (the subject) is looking at (represented through the camera). It is usually established by being positioned between a shot of a character looking at something, and a shot showing the character's reaction (see shot reverse shot). The technique of POV is one of the foundations of film editing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_of_view_shot


Example of a POV shot.
















A small video made by us demonstrating all of the different shots mentioned.
Video Link

Post 3: Continuity

 In this post i will go into the details of continuity, in particular the 180 degrees rule and the effects of breaking convention. This will help me understand what rules i have to abide by when im making my piece.

What is continuity?
In fiction, continuity (also called time-scheme) is consistency of the characteristics of persons, plot, objects, places and events seen by the reader or viewer over some period of time. It is of relevance to several media.
Continuity is particularly a concern in the production of film and television due to the difficulty of rectifying an error in continuity after shooting has wrapped up.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuity_(fiction)

Continuity is where plot and visual consistency stay in order. For example,

In the left picture we can see that Frodo's scar changes from one side of his face to the other, where as in the right picture we can see that the characters t-shirt changes colour between shots. The reason why its important to keep continuity is because it can confuse the viewer and also break the suspension of disbelief, meaning that the audience becomes detached from the film and possibly loses interest.
One shot that we have to pay special attention to in terms of continuity is the match on action shot. We need to pay special attention to this shot because if we don't it is very easy for the shot to fail by breaking continuity.


The 180° Rule:
In film making, 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.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/180_degree_rule




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/180_degree_rule

 The 180° rule is an important guideline to stick to whilst filming because if you don't it would disorientate the viewer and potentially put them off.
We especially need to stick by this rule when filming shot reverse shots, during dialogue.

Post 2: Storyboard Drawing, Shot Sizes and Framing. Continued

 Long Shot: This shot used for showing not only a character in his full stature built also for showing his surroundings. For example if the director wants an emphasis on the mise-en-scene in a certain shot he may choose to use this camera angle.

Medium Long Shot: This shot is used to show the character in his full profile whilst also allowing for some space to see the mise-en-scene.

3/4 Shot: This shot is used for showing the characters body and could also be used to show an emphasis on a characters body language.

Medium Shot: This shot is used in a similar way to the 3/4 shot but with more of an emphasis on the characters face.

Medium Close Up: This shot is used for when the director wants a deeper emphasis on the actors face and also what he is saying.

Close Up: This shot is similar to the medium close up but shows more of an emphasis on the characters face.

Extreme Close Up: This shot is used for showing emotion on a characters face, although it could also be used to show the importance of a certain object.

Establishing Shot: This shot is used to introduce a new location that is of significance, for example a director may choose to use this shot when he is showing the audience where a character lives.

Post 2: Storyboard Drawing, Shot Sizes and Framing.

This post i have made and found some examples of storyboarding techniques, framing techniques and shot sizes. i have done this so that when i come to having to create my storyboard i will have a good understanding of drawing the ergnomes and also how to position the actors.

Pencil drawn shot size examples.

Digitally created shot sizes along with real movie examples and captions describing what they would be used for.

Storyboarding and framing techniques.

The Rule of Thirds:

The basic principle behind the rule of thirds is to imagine breaking an image down into thirds (both horizontally and vertically) so that you have 9 parts.

The theory is that if you place points of interest in the intersections or along the lines that your photo becomes more balanced and will enable a viewer of the image to interact with it more naturally. Studies have shown that when viewing images that people’s eyes usually go to one of the intersection points most naturally rather than the center of the shot – using the rule of thirds works with this natural way of viewing an image rather than working against it.

Source: http://www.digital-photography-school.com/rule-of-thirds

Post 1: Priliminary Exercise Brief

In groups of no more than 4. Continuity task involving filming and editing a 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. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180 degree rule.