Editing Process

Editing was surprisingly easier than we had first thought it would be. We had well over 2 hours worth of footage which needed to be filtered down into the most suited and most effective shots. We filmed much of the footage from 4 or 5 different angles and shots on purpose, because we were not entirely sure what would look best and figured it is better to hace to much to play with when editing than not enough. When editing we realised that in order to depict a realistic film we had to stick to traditional cuts and edits and not use the exciting more elaborate ones as they would make the extract seem unrealistic. 

Twisted Pictures

We added the production company "Twisted Pictures" to our opening sequence as it went well with the theme and the mood of our opening sequence.

A.S.E Productions

A.S.E Productions is the name of our production company, we put this into the opening sequence by making it appear that as the central character is walking the credit is following him.

Changes from the story board

The film stuck to the story board, for the most part. However after getting to the location we saw an oppertunity to enahnce the story. The original story board did not include the betting shop as in hindsight we hadn't really thought about the story after the opening sequence. We then came up with the idea that the central character had a money problem and this was portrayed with the camera at first so it appeared that he had a gambling problem. This also meant we had a reason for the gangsters to appear, the small twist was that he doesn't have a gambling problem, he owes a gangster money and the gambling was his last hope of getting it back. Consequently we had the idea of the central characters girlfriend being abducted by the gangsters as we figured it would seem realistic and we also decided as a group we like films where the action happens immediately. The changes made the film opening more exciting, more realistic, easier to relate to and also added more connotations of the action genre; a damsel in distress.

Filming!

We decided to film on 23/02/2011, we had also decided that we wanted to film the entire opening sequence in one evening, not to do it in sections as it would make it easier to edit the whole sequence together. We were filming where Adam lives so we didn't need to obtain much permission in order to film. However, we wanted part of our film to be in a betting shop- William Hill, but due to us being under 18 we were not allowed on the premisses, let alone allowed to film. This was only a minor hiccup that we dealt with by filming Adam walking in the the shop and walking out of it and we agreed to use a dissolve cut when editing to make it appear time had passed. Filming went relatively smoothly with no major incidents that prevented us from getting the footage that we wanted. There were a few times when filming that we didn't realise there was mirrors in the shots and it was possible to see the camera in the shots. We dealt with this by re shooting, this was a somewhat irritating set back but not a major one. The filming took longer than we had anticipated but by the end of it we all felt as if we had enough footage to be able to put together an opening sequence which reflected the hard work we put into planing and filming it.

Preperation for the shoot...

What we will need:

• Camera
• Memory card
• Charger
• Tripod
• Plastic bag to put over camera and umbrella (it might rain and the show must go on)
• Wallet
• Mobile phone
• Adam's moped
• Sami needs to come ON TIME!
• Torch as the lighting may be rubbish

Our chosen name

We decided that the best word that described the narrative was debt as the opening sequence shows how someone who has owed money has come to collect it. However, we did not think that word really stood out or sounded dramatic and so we put it on thesaurus.com to see if there was anything else:

It was when we saw the list that we decided to call our film "In The Red" as it did not completely give the narrative away and we thought that most people of the audience may not completely know the meaning which would build enough suspense for the opening sequence to be a success.

More influences

Influences

Below are the names of films that have influenced our opening sequence idea.

Where did our film get inspiration from?

There is no single film which as a group we based our film idea on. There are a varity of different films of the same genre which we considered whilst deciding the final idea for the opening sequence. We had decided that our opening sequence was not one set genre but many, it was a combination of UK drama and action. The films we considered ranged from the £600,000 Kidulthood/Adulthood; because of the fact that its a UK drama and the film's are aimed at a similar target audience, to multi million dollar blockbuster Taken, primarily for the infamous phone call scene and that one of the central characters gets kidnapped in our opening sequence. We looked at a lot of UK based films to gain inspiration for the credits, one film we looked at in particular was Football Factory, even though the films have entirely diverse plots, they're both drama/action films and we wanted to have a sense of authentisity by means of representing UK drama appropriately.

Thinking of a name...

After showing our classmates our storyboard, we were constantly asked what the name was going to be, so, as a group, we thought about the narrative of the opening sequences and thought of names. Below shows what we came up with. We each thought of a word that we thought best related to the narrative and looked up other words with the same meaning to see if they sounded more effective.

Our Storyboard

As a group, we decided that the best genre where we could use the largest range of shot types, camera movements etc would be a thriller/action genre. We also thought that we should aim it to suit audiences that are around aged 16 and over. Below shows the storyboard that we came up with.

Possible Opening Sequences

After being put in our groups, we created a mind-map of possible genres and ideas before we could design a storyboard. Below shows the genres that we believed would be possible given our budget, and limited locations; for example, we did not incorporate science fiction as it would be difficult to portray their features efficiently. We added lots of colour to make it look interesting and added connotations and conventions of the chosen film genres in order to help us when making our decision.

Open Sequence Analysis 3

Never Back Down was theatrically released in the UK on March 14, 2008. It was directed by Jeff Wadlow and produced by David Zelon, Bill Bannerman and Craig Baumgarten and distributed by Summit Pictures. The film stars Sean Faris as Jake Tyler, a teenager boy who, after the loss of his father, has befallen into an extremely irascible person. After a comment is passed about his father from a person on the opposing team during a football game Jake is sent into a wrath and he starts a scrap with the other player thus causing Jake to be released from the football team. But he takes this in his stride as he is moving schools, due to the fact that Jake’s younger brother Charlie (Wyatt Henry Smith) has been awarded a tennis scholarship in Orlando. Little does he know that his brawl had been recorded and uploaded onto You Tube. Ryan McCarthy (Cam Gigandet), Jean Roqua (Djimon Hounsou), Baja Miller (Amber Heard) and Max Coopermen (Evan Peters) also play crucial parts in the plot of the film. The genre of the film is action, which is apparent right from the start even before the film begins. Just the title of the film is enough for an audience to establish the genre and target audience. This is because “never back down” suggests there is an almost impossible task ahead, probably to do with a fight of some description that cannot be walked away from placing it firmly in the action/drama genre. The target audience is clearly teenage boys as stereotypically, boys, especially teenage ones, are not supposed to back down. The opening sequence evidently highlights the action genre as there are displays of fighting and the colour of the general picture is very dark. The music in the background is fast past and suggests something dire may happen. The fact that the opening sequence involves two of the things most connected stereotypically to boys; firstly sport which in this film is American Football, a very masculine sport and secondly; fighting.

We are first shown who distribute the film; Summit Entertainment. Then an advertisement for the company who produced the film; Mandalay Independent Pictures appears. Aggressive diegetic music starts to play as the title of the film appears. The film in sans serif and the writing is white on a black back ground which has an affect on it to make it look as if it’s raining. The first shot is that through a video camera screen, where we see a rainy American football pitch. This straight away tells us that the film is set in America and that the central character is most likely male as women do not tend to play American Football. We then see a close up and mid shot of a man in a white football shirt and helmet, clearly taking part in the game. As the shot is on him the music begins to sound like a heart beat and continues during the first part of the game that we are shown. This creates tension and shows that the game is an important part of the film. The game goes underway and the ball is passed about by the team in dark blue until the character who we were originally shown tackles the player resulting in the man who had the ball, number 32, trying to start a fight with the man in white by pushing his helmet. The man in white response is to simply laugh. We assume his name may be Jake as in the background when he tackled we hear “Tackled by Jake Tyler” and when the opposing team attempt to start a fight we hear “Cool it Jake it’s all good”. There is then an establishing shot and a tracking shot of the stadium in which the game is being played. The scene is then back to the action of the game being played and Jake makes another sensational tackle on “32”. Once again he gets rowdy and tries to start something, Jake simply shrugs it off by saying “Keep it up baby. It aint going to change the score”. All of this shows that the game is between two rival High Schools or Colleges as they are not in a lavish enough stadium to be professional and the fact that fights nearly erupt several times means the teams obviously have some kind of rivalry.

In an extreme close up we are shown how many seconds are on the clock, as well as the score, it appears to be with a hand held camera as it is not a steady shot. All the while a commentator is commenting on the behaviour of the to players who keep ending up in each others faces. Again the shot goes back to the game being played and it looks as if the black shirted team may score until “32” attempts to catch the ball but in unsuccessful as once again Jake tackles him. And they land straight in a muddy puddle.  This time as Jake is being applauded by his team mates “32” pushes him and says “It’s too bad about your old man”, evidently Jake had lost his father and this was a cruel and unnecessary comment to pass. While he makes this comment more diegetic music plays in the background, it is hostile and implies that a brawl is inevitable. In a close up we see Jake’s face immediately change, he goes form happy and cheerful to stern and serious at the mocking of his dads death. Jake looses his cool, undoes his helmet and grabs “32” around the throat, in a point of view shot through “32’s” helmet we see Jake screaming in his face. “32” pushes Jake’s helmet off in an attempt to get him off but Jake rips off the helmet throwing “32” to the ground as he does so, as he is about to hurl the helmet at him his is stopped by one of “32s” team mates whom Jake simply pushes away as if they weight nothing. Jake then punches “32” in the face knocking him to the floor, flips one of the opposing team who was running a them over his head, during this we hear the sound of a whistle, the referee is trying to stop this happening but Jake pays little attention. A fight between both teams break out and we are shown this through a long shot at a high angle. Already this film in undeniably an action film due to the fighting and the fact that Jake is a clear protagonist whom the audience already sympathise towards as he lost his father.

The next scene is in the changing room as the players are getting dressed after the game. Jake is sitting on a bench emptying his locker into a bag. He has his head down suggesting his is upset and he is being consoled by fellow team mates. In dialogue between Jake and his friend we hear the friend say “way to go out with a bang” signifying Jake will not be playing football anymore and when asked if he was coming out Jake replied “I still have some packing to do” this shows he is moving. We are also told where he is moving to; Orlando, this shows the setting of the film. During the dialogue between Jake and his friend we are shown many close ups of Jake, he is clearly saddened by the fact that he is moving but tries to put on a front that he is fine. There is also point of view shots, both from Jake showing his friends reaction to him leaving and vice versa. Diegetic music plays in a similar style to earlier on in the film, it sounds reminiscent of to a heart beat, except the music is softer creating a feeling of sadness As the shot zooms out we are shown the two characters shaking hands, the music becomes slightly louder and more depressing.

The opening scene of Never Back Downs shows codes and conventions of an action film throughout the duration of it. Through this action we are introduced to the central character and shown some of his personality traits and are enlightened about a sad time in the characters life which causes his uncontrollable temper which is evident in the opening sequence. The substancial amount of fighting is enough to keep an audience intised and contiune watching the film.

Opening Sequence Analysis 2

As the company logos appear, dramatic, tension building sound effects can be heard. The subtle yet dark symbol of Batman appears through the smoke, immediately setting the mood of the film and engages the audience's attention. A straight cut takes us to the first scene; Gotham City. The non-diegetic instrumental music gets louder as a zoom in camera movement takes us closer and closer to one building window. There are no credits appearing anywhere which tells the audience that they want us to concentrate only on what is happening. Although the audience know that this is a super-hero film that is going to include unrealistic events, the lighting and setting makes it look like a everyday scene making the super-natural seem realistic, almost automatically bringing the audience simply into another city rather than a whole new way of life. The window then explodes so the audience get their first taste of action. However, the music does not change which is a sign to the audience that this is not the main focus of the opening sequence, that there is still more to come which keeps the audience hooked and wanting more.

The first characters in the story are then shown to the audience. Instead of having normal, everyday robbers in balaclavas, the audience are introduced to criminals who are all wearing different clown masks. The clown masks are a symbolism of fear; although clowns are supposed to be people that make you laugh, there are many who have a great phobia of them. Therefore, when there is a focus on one robber and another zoom in shot takes us closer to his mask, the audience suspect that there is possibly more to this robber than meets the eye and so we are wanting answers already from this opening sequence; who are these clowns and why is this one (shown above) the main focus?
As a car pulls in the scene to pick up a robber, the non-dietetic music then changes to an even louder sound that is more dramatic, creating a constant build of tension with the music. Once the currently unknown character is in the car, the audience receive a small amount of information about the narrative: "So why do they call him the Joker?". The joker has been one of the most famous villains in comic book history, so the audience already have a brief idea of what this character is going to be like and we also know that he has organised this robbery. The robbers in the story, however, have only heard rumours about him: "I heard he wears make-up!"



The audience then get what they have been looking for as the action begins. As the robbers enter the bank, there are strong on-screen diegetic shot guns and screams of the bank's customers sound effects which gives them a dramatic entrance. This particular part of the opening sequence has a tracking shot; this allows the audience to follow their every move which makes them feel more involved in the film. This also adds excitement to the opening sequence.


Action then turns into danger as the people in Gotham City Bank's lives are literally in their own hands. A bank worker than appears and misleads the audience into thinking he is going to stop the robbers and save everyone. Another twist then occurs as the clown shoots him (this is done again with powerful and dramatic diegetic sound effects). 

The narrative then becomes more clearer to the audience as each robber kills the one who did the last job (like disable the alarm or open the safe). We discover how clever and manipulative the Joker is by how he has organised this bank robbery. To make the opening sequence even more entertaining, comedy is added as one robber thinks he has sussed out what is going on but is too late as he is hit by a bus: "no no no no... I kill the bus driver" Yet there is still the hook for the audience as we do not know where or who the Joker is.

The opening sequence comes to a heavily dramatic and yet massively entertaining end. The Joker finally reveals himself to the audience with a memorable, dark line "I believe that whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you...stranger" and a creepy evil grin.

Opening Sequence Analysis

In order to have a better understanding of the way in which opening sequences work, we analysed three different opening sequences.

White Chicks is directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans and written and produced by Keenen Wayans, Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans. The film was produced by Revolution Studios and distributed by Columbia Pictures and released in the UK on the 23^rd June 2004. It stars Shawn and Marlon Waynans as Marcus Copeland and Kevin Copeland; two disgraced FBI agents who, after a major blunder, have one final opportunity to restore their status. Their supervisor, Elliott Gordon (Frankie Faison) assigns them the duty of protecting cruise line heiresses Brittany and Tiffany Wilson (Maitland Ward and Anne Dudek) from a kidnapping plot, as a last resort to save them from being discharged from the agency given their recent slip-up. When the Wilson sisters get a facial scar in a car accident, they refuse to leave the hotel due to their appearance. In order to save their job, the Copeland brothers did the unthinkable by disguising themselves as white women in the form of Wilson sister look-alikes landing themselves in hilarious and disastrous circumstances. The genre of this film is a comedy and the opening sequence alone displays many of the conventions of this genre including mistakes, the teasing of others and numerous counts of tripping up and falling over. However, it could be said that the film is to some extent an action film as it also has some of the codes of a typical action genre film such as guns, fighting and other means of violence.  Genre is a method of film categorization based on similarities in the narrative elements. A narrative is a story that is created in a constructive format that describes a sequence of fictional or non-fictional events.

The first thing displayed is the infamous picture associated with the company that distributed the film; Columbia Pictures followed by the company the film was produced by; Revolution Studios. The title of the film then appears; the font is sans serif and is white on a black background which could indicate that the target audience of the film is boys. This point is then further emphasised with the diegetic music accompanying the opening credits which is “Latin Thugs” by Cypress Hill. The title of the film then cuts to an aerial shot, a bird’s-eye view over a busy city. Both of these are codes for an action genre as a lot of action films take place in cities and the music was suggestive of crimes. This shot then zooms closer when a blue van drives into the scene, the sound of the music then changes and it sounds more like the music is coming from the blue van than just being introductory music, three large, muscle-bound, suspicious looking men get out of the van. This shows that the people getting out of the van plays a part in whatever is about to happen. After that comes a mid shot of a man dancing in his shop to some Caribbean music. The way the man danced gave a comic element because he was shaking his hips and looked amusing both in how he was moving and the way he looked. He is wearing a washed out pale green shirt, unbuttoned low enough to reveal part of his hairy chest, his hair is big and wild and he is smoking a cigar. He was shaking his bottom half and is doing an almost moon walk like movement up and down behind the counter, he is so engrossed in his music he doesn’t notice the three men walk into the shop, until they arrive at the counter. The shop owner then talks about a bobble head which is comic as there are no bobble heads around and nobody mentioned anything to do with bobble heads. There is some dialogue between the leader of the three suspicious men and the shop keeper in an over the shoulder, point of view shot and the suspicious man asks for “Manny”. The shop keeper calls “Manny” who appears with maracas and is even more eccentric looking than the first shop keeper. He is dressed in a washed out blue shirt and his hair is wearing in the middle showing his probably older than the man in the green shirt. He doesn’t walk out; he dances out shaking the maracas as he does.  The two of them break out into song and dance which is again a humorous moment. A close up of the suspicious man shows by his faced that he is bemused by the two of them and doesn’t really know how to react. The film then cuts back to the two dancing men who are still singing and dancing. The shop keeper then says “Hammer Time” which places the film in modern day and with the younger generation as it is something which adolescents will associate with. The suspicious man then stops them mid flow and asks if they can “get down to business” this is a clear suggestion that whatever this so called business is, it is immoral which anchors us into the action genre as there is always some kind of corrupt plan involved.

In an extreme close up we then see the suspicious man hiss “you got the money” and his face is very intimidating which further emphasises the suspicions raised. In reply to this, and in an extreme close up, Manny then replies in random gibberish, this is very comical and the way in which his face moves to make the sounds is even more comical. Whilst Manny is making these arbitrary noises, we cut to a close up of the suspicious man who does not look amused and looks even more puzzled than when they were dancing. We are also shown in a mid-close up the expressions of the suspicious man’s side kicks who are both perplexed. The shot then goes back to a two man shot with Manny and the shop keeper who translates what Manny is saying. Manny was saying that he wasn’t going to give the men any money until they tell him what flavour the ice cream is, which is quite an odd thing for him to make so much of a big deal about again adding to the comedy of this film. The scene then switches between close ups of Manny and the suspicious man, one of these close ups shows Manny brushing his hair, this is funny in two ways, firstly because he barely had any hair to brush and the manner in which he did so was funny, secondly because stereotypically, men don’t usually brush their hair. The shop keeper is then instructed to give the men a silver box filled with money. Once again this shows that it’s a comedy and it’s not following stereotypes. In some comedies, stereotypes are used to create comedy by making a character an exaggerated stereotype. However some films create comedy by not following the rules of stereotypes, White Chicks is an example of this.  Not many small shops have cases with thousands of dollars inside it just lying around the shop.

In another point of view shot we see the main suspicious man ordering his side kicks to “go get the stuff”; this makes us assume that the stuff they are getting isn’t actually ice cream which is again a code for the action genre. When they return with the “stuff” the main man takes the money from the counter but is stopped by more of Manny’s gibberish. This time the gibberish seems more passionate, like he’s warning the men off of something. He does an action as if he is holding a gun and shooting someone, in close ups of the three suspicious men they all look perplexed and a bit scared.  Manny grabs a bottle and gets on top of the counter and continues avidly shouting in gibberish, pointing at the ceiling. As the shop keeper goes to explain what Manny meant they both pull off masks to reveal their true identity and hold their FBI badges as fast paced music begins. The two FBI agents then jump over the counter and each take a man (or mans) to scrap with. Fast paced diegetic music plays in the background whilst we are shown various shots of the men fighting; this places the film tightly in the action genre as fighting and violence are two of the main codes of an action film. This is further confirmed when one of the FBI agents uses a glass tea pot to attack the two men he is fighting and smashes on one of the men’s heads. The isn’t a lot of talking in this part of the scene, apart from the odd comical remark from the men like “Is that all your big ass got?”. The camera exchanges between the two fights until a low angled mid shot of the agent who dressed as the shop keeper in green is shown, the music becomes quieter as he shouts “Enough” whilst pointing a gun and the men. This shot make him seem powerful as we as an audience are almost looking up a him. It could be a point of view shot for the men who are on the floor looking up at him. The gun adds further to the action in the film as weapons are another code of an action film. We learn that the agent who dressed as the shop keeper in green is called Kevin. This is because he has to turn his attention to his partner who is on the back of the main man screaming for help, the music picks up again as they restart their brawl. Kevin punches the main man who is winded and drops to the floor allowing “Manny”  (whose real name we do not know yet) to get off. He then punches the main man in the face as the music stops, this tells us the action has stopped, for now. We learn “Manny’s” name is Marcus.

Marcus and Kevin congratulate themselves for “the biggest bust of their career” without any help. Just as they are about to gloat even further, Kevin sticks his finger in the “stuff” that the men brought in only to discover that it is in fact vanilla ice cream. Kevin picks up the main man who is bleeding from his lip and asks where the drugs are; he replies simply that he knows nothing about drugs and that he sells ice cream. This adds mystery to the film which can be found in action films. But is also quite funny, as the men have made a huge mistake. This is further emphasized when three men (whom are even more suspicious looking than the first three) walk into the shop and say “Tell many his ice cream delivery is here” Everyone in the shop looks at the men who immediately sense that something is not right about the situation. The camera shows the main man on the floor,  two men cowering in the corner with their hands rose. In a mid close up we see his facial expression, he looks calm at first but it is obvious he is worried as he is in a room with two FBI agents.  Marcus and Kevin pull put their guns but the three men are armed with guns themselves. The music picks up again and the men begin to shoot at Marcus and Kevin who dive behind the counter. The three criminals run out of the shop followed by the ice cream delivery men, both of whom jump into ice cream vans leaving Marcus and Kevin unsure which one to shoot at. The two of them are clearly gutted at their unfortunate case of mistaken identity.

The opening sequence of White Chicks primarily shows the codes of an action film although it is advertised as a comedy. There are small parts which are funny but that is over shadowed by the amount of action.  In my opinion, I think this is to draw the audience in. Because the audience are already hooked on the plot after all the fights and shooting, especially male viewers, they will want to see if there is any further action and the humour in the film could almost be seen as an added bonus.

Preliminary Task

In order to have a better understanding of how to produce many different shot types successfully, we created a preliminary sequence. This contains a large range of shot types and demonstrates different ways in which we can go to another scene that we discovered during our experimentation of the technology provided. When it comes to planning and filming our film opening sequence, we are now able to look back at this sequence and see what shot types provided the most creative and interesting effects.

Introducing.. Group P

Hiii,

We're group P and we consist of: Adam White-Johnson, Emily Phillips and Shauna Carroll.