Pre-Production

Storyboard

We have the base idea for what is going to happen in our sequence however we were having trouble coming up with the actual shots to go in the storyboard as a group, so we are all making our own storyboards. Here is the one I made:

Once we have all made a storyboard we are going to merge the best ideas together to create the final storyboard.

This will help us during filming as we will have a clear vision for what the end product will look like and guidance for how to achieve it.

The storyboard I have created is just some very rough ideas for what I think we are aiming for.

I feel that the beginning should start at the party as this is where the main action in our sequence is occurring and also where one of the most important moments in the film as a whole will happen (the characters meeting for the first time).

This should be started with an establishing shot of the house, and to make it more interesting i think we should have people in shot.

Then I thought a simple walk through would be quite good as in most high budget films the camera seems to always be moving, so I think this might make our film look more professional.

After this I thought a clever way to link between the party and the main characters would be a phone call between the host and the main girl.

We all agreed that we did not want to reveal the entirety of the girl until the boy sees her for the first time so that the audience feels what he feels. So I tried to put some interesting shots of the girl on the phone without revealing her whole face.

Then we also all wanted to superimpose the credits onto the products to make it more visually interesting so I just thought of a few products we could put the credits on.

I was unsure of how to link between the girl and the boy and start doing shots of the boy, but I thought that perhaps a graphic match might be quite an interesting way to do this. So I have drawn a few ideas for graphic matches e.g. colour matches between red lipstick and red shirt, visual matches between hairspray.

After the getting ready shots I thought it would be best if the boy was at the party before the girl so that we can create suspense through inter-cutting before she arrives.

Then I thought we should have the boy seeing her and then us as the audience see her.

And finally I thought we should end it just as the are starting to speak to each other with a tentative hello.

I was unsure on where to put the title of the film during the sequence, so I have left that out.

Narrative - Our Film

The narrative of our film explained by TODOROV:

Equilibrium - Girl and boy are going about their normal lives

Disruption - They meet at a party and fall in love.

Recognition - There is a slip up in their relationship and they break up.

Repair - They resolve the problem and get back together.

New Equilibrium - They live happily ever after.

Narrative

There is a difference between story and narrative. Story is simply the plot whereas narrative is the way the plot is put together and presented to the audience.

There are two main theories to explain narrative: PROPP and TODOROV.

PROPP states that there are only a certain number of characters in narrative:

TODOROV explains all narrative in 5 stages:

Equilibrium - all is in order 'normal' and happy.

Disruption - A disruption to the equilibrium by the means of an event/action.

Recognition - There is recognition that a disruption has taken place.

Repair - An attempt to repair the damage caused by the disruption.

New Equilibrium - The problem is solved and we return to a new type of equilibrium.

Both of these theories can be applied to the film In Time:

TODOROV

Equilibrium - Will is going about his normal life

Disruption - Someone with a large amount of time comes and gives Will a century

Recognition - Will goes to the rich areas and sees the difference between those who have and those who have not

Repair - Will and Sylvia try to fix the imbalance 

New Equilibrium - Everyone has enough time

PROPP

Protagonist - Will Salas

Antagonist - Raymond Leon

Heroine - Sylvia Weis

Father - Philippe Weis

Donor - Henry Hamilton

The narrative is told from the point of view of the main character (Will Salas) in which we follow him on his quest to right the wrongs of society. The narrative is in chronological order however there is a sense of mystery and enigma created by the fact that some information is hidden from us until the end of the film. The genre is drama but it is also a slight hybrid with the romantic genre as Will and Sylvia end up together, however this is not the focus of the film and it is not overly sentimental.

Target Audience - Pitch

We wanted to see whether our film idea would appeal to our target audience. To do this we got a focus group of ten teenage girls and pitched our idea to them, we then asked them a series of questions on what they liked or disliked about our idea and how they would improve on this.



From this we found that it was very important to make the music not to cheesy and to appeal to the audience by making it similar to chart music.

Target audience - Romantic films

Most Romantic films are targeted at females and are usually rated 12 or 15 meaning that the target audience age generally ranges from 12 -24. As part of our research into the target audience of romantic films we gave our questionnaires to people who we considered to be part of the target audience (young females) and also some who are not in the target audience to see why those in the target audience enjoy romantic films and why those who are not do not enjoy these films.

From this we found, as expected, that it was mainly the girls that enjoyed romantic film and the boys that did not. However there were some anomalies in that some of the girls said that the did not enjoy romantic film and some of the boys said that they did. This helps to show us that our genre is not restricted to the female audience and so we should not only target it at females, however the majority of males said they did not like the romantic genre therefore we will primarily target the film at girls.

Most of the negative feedback was due to the genre being seen as repetitive in that the same thing happens in every romantic film. Therefore to improve ours and draw in not only our own target audience but also a wider spread of people we have decided to make ours slightly different in that it is not just a romantic film, it is a hybrid between romantic and teen/coming of age films (e.g. mean girls, clueless etc.) we hope this makes the film more relatable to our target audience.

Negative comments about the genre were also that it is perceived as 'boring' and so to make ours more exciting for our younger audience we have decided to use party scenes to help portray the coming of age side to the genre, this also helps to relate to our ever changing audience, in that teens go to parties from a far younger age these days therefore to appeal to them, it is important to get this more wild aspect to their lives involved in our film because teens are nowadays more likely to relate to and watch hybrid films like American Pie (comedy/ slightly romantic) than films which are only in the romantic genre like The lake house or The Note book, because for the vast majority these are seen as 'boring'.

However all the feedback showed that the audience think the key aspect to a good romantic film is the relationship and romance between the two main characters, therefore we have decided not to make the film too much like a coming of age film and still stick to mainly portraying the romantic side to our film.

We have also decided that to make our film more visually interesting and to capture the attention of our audience by using a variety of different shots and editing techniques (e.g. a visual match, wipe ect.) this will also help to make the film more entertaining to watch.

Romantic films are generally watched by groups of teenage girls or couples. The genre is popular with couples because it creates a nice atmosphere for the couple to enjoy each others company and to relate to what the see on screen.

Audience

All films assume the existence of an audience, the core audience of films is usually males aged 15-24. Audiences are a particular group of individuals targeted by producers as the intended consumers of their media text, better known as a films target audience. The identification of this specific target audience is vital, as it will affect the contents of the film.

However the actual consumers may not always be those who the film was originally targeted at. For example,  a lot of superhero films are targeted at young males, but most of the big blockbuster superhero films like Spiderman and The Avengers are enjoyed by a much wider audience of all ages and genders.

When making a film it is important to appeal to the audience and to do this producers must think about who their film actually appeals to ensure that they are using the key codes and conventions of the genre to help to target their specific audience. They must also think about the effect their film might have on their audience so that they know that when an individual has watched the film they leave with the right feeling, because if for example you are making a comedy, the audience should leave with an uplifted feeling, if they leave with any other feeling then the audience will be confused as they will have expected to watch a light-hearted, funny film and so you're audience will not be happy, and will be less likely to encourage others of the target audience to go and see the film.

Opening Sequences

Playground

The story is about a man who picks up woman and kills them due to his troubled past with his mother. The story shows how every time he kills a woman he takes a bracelet like he did with his mother, however the woman who he picks up ends up killing him and it is implied that she does the same as him (kills men that pick her up (due to the collection of car key chains she added his car key chain to)). In the first 2 minutes we are given a brief background into the main characters past and shown the woman getting into the car. Emphasis is put onto the bracelet she is wearing and also the fact that the seat-belt doesn't work, both of which are key to the story and get the audience to start to piece whats going to happen together.

Opening Sequences

Last Train

This short film is about a couple who are getting the train home from a party and how the main character – Jay – becomes very paranoid due to the male youths getting the same train. The opening 2 minutes sets up the relationship between the couple and how they have had a falling out. The story is set up in the first 2 minutes by the arrival of the youths and a hostile conversation between Jay and what seems to be the main guy in the group. 

Opening Sequences

Paper Hearts

The storyline of this short film is about a dysfunctional father and son relationship in which we discover that the father has been sleeping rough. The main character in this film is the son as we are going through the story with him (feeling what he feels, being shown what he sees (we discover the secret with him – didn’t already know about it)). In the beginning 2 minutes we are shown the relationship between the father and son, immediately we are aware that there are problems between them due to the fighting and this is made to be clearly unusual by the woman intervening. The main issue that arises during the opening is the loss of the sons bag which sets off the rest of the story leading to the discovery of the father sleeping rough. Also in the opening there is some foreshadowing due to the homeless man that the father and son walk past and how the father and the man seem have some sort of connection. 

Preliminary Sequence

Feed the Fish

Feed the fish was a small editing task, which was intended to show our initial filming and editing abilities. We tired to make our sequence humorous.

The feed back from our class on our preliminary sequence was mainly positive however there were a few criticisms:

• Some of the dialogue shots were too short
• The inside zoom didn't work well

Good points:

• Good continuity editing 
• Smooth cuts
• Close up shot of catching chair worked very well - interesting
• Got correct eye line shots (angles)
• Amusing finish, as intended

The overall thought was that our preliminary sequence went really well. Most of the shots we used worked (the zoom to the balcony helped to imply deep thought, the close up of the chair was very effective), however some did not (the inside zoom - felt too much like a 1980s cop drama and did not fit with the feel of the sequence). The sequence flowed well (good continuity editing) and all of the match on action shots fit properly.

We did have a few problems whilst filming and editing. During filming it became dark really quickly which then posed a continuity problem in that in the beginning of the sequence it was light and as the character ran down the stairs and went outside it was suddenly dark, this meant we were unable to film outside as it wouldn't have worked. During editing we lost some of our footage of the dialogue scenes which then meant that we had to use other shorter shots to fill in the gaps of the dialogue, which lead to the dialogue part being way too rushed, to improve on this next time we would definitely go back and re-film the shots.

I think our choice of shots and experimentation was good - we tried many different angles and interesting shots to try and give effect and create interest e.g low angle on feet, zoom to balcony, cant. I think the cant didn't work that effectively and if using this type of shot during the main coursework we should try to use it better and make it flow more as it seems to not really fit in and be slightly random. But generally I think that our shots were quite good, but in the actual coursework I would like to make the cuts less linear and introduce things like inter-cutting.

Max Payne - Sound Analysis

Max Payne opening sequence - Sound Analysis

Shot	Technique	Effect
1	Motif	Brings you into the film
2	Ambiance sounds (wind) Non-diegetic Narration – voice sounds quite hard (strong)	Creates a sense of a harsh cold environment Shows you the characters thoughts and feelings also gives you a sense of what the film will be about
3	Sudden burst of sound Diegetic heavy breathing and gasping for air	Provokes emotion and helps you to feel the panic and desperation of the character Helps the audience to make a connection with the character
4	Sound muffles as character (and camera) are submerged in water	Makes you feel like you are there and experiencing the same things the character is
5	Diegetic splashing and gasping	Creates an emotional connect with the character
6	Diegetic band general under water noises	Helps to create the sense of being under water and create a sinking feeling, as if you are going down with him The contrast between the loud splashing and now the quite muffled noise of the bubbles helps to create the sense that he has given up
7	Non-diegetic  Defining noise as shot is shown Diegetic bubbles Non-diegetic  Narration	Provokes feelings of shock Create the feel of being underwater Keeps the main connection to the main character and also gives a little insight into the story
8	Sound bridge (sort of watery noise through the black leading to the shot of the door) Non-diegetic  Baby crying	Connects the two shots – shows us there is some sort of link Creates an eerie feel
9	Non-diegetic  Baby crying Non-diegetic  Eerie wind chimes Non-diegetic  Eerie music Non-diegetic  Clock ticking	Make the shoot seem unreal and somewhat spooky and sinister Makes it feel like time is moving very slowly
10	Non-diegetic  Sound bridge (baby crying) Non-diegetic  Sound bridge (clock ticking (getting progressively slower) Diegetic bubbles (letting out his last breaths) Non-diegetic  Narration	Creates a link between the baby and the main character Makes us feel like everything is slowing down and coming to an end Connects you to what is happening to the character in the present Connects you to the character and makes you think about what he might have done
11	Non-diegetic  Sound bridge (clock ticking) Diegetic creaky door Non-diegetic wind chimes Non-diegetic flashing sort of sound	Links all the shots Focuses you on that one point – makes it seem significant Brings thoughts of innocence Helps create the feel of moving through memories
12	Sound bridge (Non-diegetic flashing sort of sound) Sound bridge (Non-diegetic wind chimes) Ambient sounds (something goes past the window and makes a noise (maybe a car))	Links the shots Brings up the thoughts of innocence and links to the wind noises (wind chime) Odd as it gives a sense of normality and yet the shot we are seeing does not portray this
13	Sound bridge (non-diegetic wind chimes) Sound bridge (non-diegetic clock – becoming distorted)	Links the shots Makes us feel like something is wrong
14	Sound bridge (non-diegetic wind chimes) Sound bridge (non-diegetic clock – becoming more slow and distorted) Sound bridge Thunder (could be diegetic) into next shot under water Non-diegetic Narration Diegetic underwater noises	Links the shots Continues the eerie feeling Creates the sense that the characters past is quite dark Insight into how the character is feeling Creates the sense of a 3D world
15	Narration Sound bridge off screen diegetic police cars	Leaves us with a strong message Creates the sense of normality and gives us pre-emptive thoughts about what  might come next, also links with what he was talking about (dead criminals)
16	Sound bridge off screen diegetic police cars Ambient sounds (people talking, cars, general city sounds) wind	Links the shots and establishes the scene Sets the scene and creates the sense of normality Links slightly with the beginning

Opening sequences

Opening sequences are very important to presenting the narrative and setting up the plot. Most opening sequences do this by introducing the main character(s), establishing the setting and genre. This is usually done by using iconography of the specific genre, using establishing shots of cities or generally the area in which the film will be shot (suburbs, countryside, etc.) and making some sort of emotional connection with the character e.g in Juno we are immediately informed about how she is pregnant so straight away we make a connection with her. However sometimes key things like setting/ location are kept from the audience, this helps to create the sense of enigma and is especially useful in creating suspense in action/thriller films. For example in Max Payne there is no establishing shot it just goes straight to the character drowning and begins from the end which helps to create the enigma of the story and captivates the audience (which is another important aspect to opening  sequences).

Generally opening sequence also include the some of the main credits. These can be made a part of the sequence (words of objects in the scenes changed into the credits) or just put on the screen. I think the way the credits are depends highly on the genre of  film it is and the target audience for example teen films are much more likely to have integrated credits.