Q2-46 : FILM OPENING PROJECT 2008/9

Preliminary Task

2009-03-20T08:24:00.000-07:00

1.5 Lessons Work....
Fun....
Dubstep....

This is the result!
P.S No Paul was in this Work. At All!

Who would be the audience for your media product?

2009-03-11T02:40:00.000-07:00

Who would be the audience for your media product? Look at the BBFC website. Which classification criteria do you think would be most appropriate for your film and why?

The Certificate for the film Top 10 would be a 15. This is because of the requirements made by the BBFC. From the image it shows us that Language is an issue. The quote states that "There may be frequent use of strong language (e.g. 'fuck'). But the strongest terms (e.g. 'Cunt') will be acceptable only where justified by the context. Continued aggressive use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable."

The other problem for the 15 Certificate is Drugs. The quotes states that "Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse"

Character Comparison

2009-03-10T04:15:00.000-07:00

Lyle - Seth Green
•Laptop •Shirt •Cap

James Reaf - Ben Faiers
•Hoodie •Glasses •Computer
•Gloves

Fred chose Basher from oceans 11 because he also specializes in explosives. The dress sense is similar. He wears dark clothing like his character.

Josh chose the character Kano from the musical scene of Rap. He is leader in his genre so in a sense he qualifies to be the base of my character. My character would dress similarly to Kano.

Top 10 - Final Cut

2009-03-08T07:17:00.000-07:00

Overall the changes from the Rough Cut to the Final Cut were these...
1.) Voice Over - We added a voice over of "The Cocky" describing the team members and their special abilities.
2.) The Cocky - We added a freeze frame of "The Cocky" to the beginning scenes. We were originally just going to have him stumble in the same way that he is portrayed.
3.) Music - We changed the looping music and used it for the opening scene of "Sunhappy Productions". This allowed us to use the music to help the pace from the running scene and add in some more dramatic Montage music.
4.) Montage - We edited the montage a lot more clearly now. This should help let the group see what is going on and show a distinct change of time and pace.
5.) Title - The professional titles have been added in to allow the criteria of "Opening Sequence" to be met.
6.) Top 10 - We added in the title of "Top 10" into the film to show the name of the film at the beginning. Simple.

Elements/Concepts/Tools of Analysis

2009-03-04T01:09:00.000-08:00

The following elements are what the various groups would be marked on. These are the what we must base the changes of our film on.
Editing
Titles
Sounds
Genre
Pace
Mise en Scene
Lighting
Performance
Narrative
Characters

The changes to The Film Top 10 that we must change, due to feedback from the other groups, are:
•A change of Sound for the Montage Scene to make a change of pace. This would be done by editing and Garage band.
•The Montage Scene to be made more distinct. This will be done by just editing and fading the shots with overlays.
•We need to insert the words "Top 10" into the scene although preferable not at the end of the film. This will make the opening scenes of the film seem more like a trailer.
•Changing the order of the first shots because the scenes with the Brains and the Tech are in the same room. We need to break it up by adding in another scene before going back to it.
•The lighting for the montage shots is a bit dark, this needs to be changed to allow more to be seen. This could also change the pace of the film and allow the audience to understand it better.
•The titles need to have the professional beginnings to them like "Directed by" and "Produced by". This is purely for show but will allow us to make it hit the "Opening Scene" characteristics.
•The Sunhappy Productions begining needs to be added just to make the film look more professional.

Top 10 Roughcut feedback

2009-03-03T04:09:00.000-08:00

Today we showed the rough cut to the rest of the group and this is the feedback we got:

It had lots of good crime caper generic conventions.
Good music but it was too repetitive towards the end of the clip.
The freeze frames were effective.
The montage planning scene was too dark.
Lots of people said that the clip lost it towards the end, so we need to change the focus in some way.

Top 10 Roughcut

2009-03-03T02:57:00.000-08:00

Top 10 - Animatic

2009-02-27T07:39:00.000-08:00

Top 10 - Animatic
From the classes feedback we have discovered that we need to make some changes towards the animatic or the final idea.
The first idea feedback we received was on the soundtrack. Although, intended to be a quick idea, it proved to be very effective but ended up getting to futuristic towards the end. This means that the original idea was on the right track with sound but would need to be completely recreated to fit the timing and shots of the real film.
Another response we received was that the first few shots were not clear enough for the audience, this means that we should show more of the shot for a longer period of time or consider recreating them to show the plan going on more clearly. We could have also included subtle hints I.E Newspaper clipping lying around on the tables.
Overall, the animatic received a good responce but we have a lot to change to make it an easily recognisables Crime Caper.

Top 10 - Film Productions

2009-02-27T07:30:00.000-08:00

This is the introduction towards the opening sequence showing what film company was involved with the film. The "Sunhappy Productions" also relates against the nature of the film being about robbery and thieves. This shows a Dark and Unhappy scene for the film so it was a good choice. This would have also been well suited towards a thriller or a horror film.

We thought the scene where the sun clears the clouds from the skies was a stereotypical view but made it link in with the name. We also took the cartoon sun with a smiley face for the "Sunhappy" name of the productions.

We also involved animation into the film so that we could make it more "Visually Impressive" on the eye, the final shot also allows us to lead straight into the film as we faded it out to black and put the center of the a into the shot.

The Guardian - Top 10 Fake Newspaper

2009-02-11T02:09:00.000-08:00

This is one of the Fake Newspaper made on Photoshop revealing the Top 10 rich list. The main headline shall be used as the plot for the bank robberies. In the corner of the main headline there is a sub heading of

"Bank Thieves caught attempting to rob 4 Banks"

This will also allow the main character to see his assembled group and see how they failed.

We also added in the image of the pound coins being dropped into place to go with the theme of money from the Top 10 and Bank Robberies.

Shot List

2009-01-28T01:08:00.000-08:00

This is our Shot List from our Storyboard:

Past Experiences Scene
Shot 1: Over the shoulder shot of the leader, looking down on to newspaper clippings.
Shot 2: Overhead shot on to desk showing newspaper clippings. Leader cuts out the clippings.
Shot 3: Slides the first clipping in to place.
Shot 4: Cuts to an image of the "brains" Character failing at a job. He was caught finding out codes.
Shot 5: Leader slides the second clipping in place into the "brawn" section
Shot 6: Shows the "Brawns" character using too much explosives.
Shot 7: Leader slides clipping number 3.
Shot 8: Shows the "Tech" Character failing at hacking the wrong code.
Shot 9: Slides clipping number 4.
Shot 10: Shows the "cocky" character failing at the job.
Shot 11: Close up of all 4 people and the leader on the paper.

Montage Scene
Shot 12: Scene montage 1: leader working.
Shot 13: Scene montage 2: Tech guy working.
Shot 14:Scene montage 3: Brawns guy working.
Shot 15: Scene montage 4: Cocky guy working.
Shot 16: Scene montage 5: Brains guy working.
Shot 17: Final shot- Paper placed onto table saying "Top 10".

Shots 12 - 16 will not be in this order and as there are more then 1 shot each it will be in a rnadom order to show the montage scene.

Although for the Montage scene there will be more than 5 shots, there will be multiple shots being added and overlaid on the top. This will show the passing of time and the amount of work that all of the crew are putting into the plan to make sure that it is a success. It will also show each of the team members at work doing what they do best. This will allow us to freeze frame it and show any information about the charcter that we need to, Like actors name or the nickname.

Top 10 Mood Board

2009-01-23T07:31:00.000-08:00

Top 10 Mood Board
• Dark Background - This goes with the darkness of the crew, their background and quite simply the darkness of the room that they are planning in.
• Pool Table - The montage scene will try and be based around the pool table in the center of the room, this will have various items including beer, blueprints and laptops placed onto it.
• Explosives - "The Brawn" uses these to help take out the vaults, with these around the table it shows that he has been working on making the perfect explosive.
• Laptops - Mainly to help "The Tech" and "The Brains" these would be used to hack into the security systems and get information about the buildings I.E Blueprints and Cameras.
• Brain - Used the symbolize "The Brain" showing how knowledgeable they really are. Also to show "The Leader" as he really is the 'Brains' behind the plan.
• Beer - Left around the Pool Table being drunk as they sort out the plan.
• Cocky - The Symbol of "The Cocky" just to show his part in the opening sequence.
• Smoke - Smoke around the roof of the dark room emphasizes the darkness of the room and the isolation that the room holds.
• Eyes - This will be used to show "The Tech" and "The Brains" the fact that they will be watching and know what is going on at the time.

Original Plan Ideas - Top 10

2009-01-20T09:09:00.000-08:00

Mise en Scene
Montage Room
• Dark Room
• Possible Smoke
• Plans on Desks - Paper, Schematics, Building Plans, Blueprints
• Newspaper Clippings - Failed Jobs. Top 10 Rich List

• Electronics - Laptops, Phones

• Test Explosives

• Eaten Food to show the people with their Human Side

Characters
The Leader ~ The man who leads the group, he provides the basic information on the plan but doesn't know much about the skills involved around it. Past experience from previous robberies.
The Brains ~ The man who can get the security files. He gets access to where the cameras are, the building schematics and other classified information.
The Brawn ~ The man who is physically stronger than the rest and knows about explosives. Previous jobs been used to blow open vaults.
The Cocky ~ The inexperienced youngster who somehow succeeded in a previous job, probably a fluke involving walking out with the money.
The Tech ~ The man who hacks the files. The one who shuts down the power and prevents any communication with the security once the job has started.

Scene Montage
During the Scene montage it will show each character doing what skill they do best. An example could be “The Brawn” starting to make test explosives and training for the job. Another example could be “The Brains” drawing up Security files and Building Blueprints.
It will also show different parts of the body as they draw up the plans and start to put the beginning steps of the Heist into action. An example could be the typing of a hand onto a Laptop from "The Tech". This shows us what he is comfortable working with but also shows us what he would be good at. The Leader could also be shown pointing and advising the other members, focusing in on the hands and mouth of him.
The film will also have Freeze Frame shots in which the Character will be doing something "Stereotypical" and would be recognised by the audience. This would allow us to add in the Actors name and the Character name to get the titles into the opening sequence.

Slogan

10 Jobs, 5 Guys...10 minutes

This slogan is here to help catch the attension of the audience, it allows them to remember the film easily and gives an insight in what the film is about. The 10 minutes part gives the the film the challange and already gives us a glimps at what the plan is to be. The "10 Jobs" indicates that there will be 10 hiests for the group to complete in, the "5 Guys" shows us how many people will be working together and "10 minutes" is the total time that all the jobs will make, indicating they need to be in and out from each location in 1 minute.

Opening Sequence ~ The Dark Knight

2009-01-20T09:07:00.000-08:00

The Dark Knight is a 2008 sequel to the Film Batman Begins. Based around the Batman it follows his battle to defeat the Joker and Two Face.
The film starts off silent to build the tension of the job and is suddenly broken by the firing of a gun and smashing of glass. It has ong Establishing Shot near the beginning. Starts off zoomed out on a skyscraper building and pans into it where we hear a smash and see two clown thugs firing a grapple.
A match on action shot where he fires the gun from the window to grapping the grapple. This allows us to see more of the room but still not too much.
Then we see a slow zoom of a man’s back with him holding another clown mask.
Continuous shot following the two men in the building go down the zip line then shows how far above the ground they are. This then goes into 180o shot of the two men down the zip line.
A match on action shot where he fires the gun from the window to grapping the grapple. This allows us to see more of the room but still not too much.
Main outfits all hide the faces of the thugs. Introduces us to the style and personality of The Joker. The Joker, being he main character in the opening shot, shows us what his “State of Mind is” using the quote “Whatever doesn’t kill you, only makes you stranger”

Opening Sequence Analysis – Layer Cake - Fred

2009-01-19T23:10:00.000-08:00

Layer Cake is a 2004 British gangster thriller, directed by Matthew Vaughn. It is based on a novel of the same name by J. J. Connolly. The title refers to the human social strata, especially in the British crime and drug underworld, as well as the numerous plot layers in the film.
You are immediately made aware of who the main character of the film is because Daniel Craig gives a long monologue in the opening sequence, and he is the only one who speaks. Establishing the main character is a generic convention of opening sequences. The opening sequence also reveals support characters as well as protagonists, which are also generic opening sequence conventions. The monologue he delivers confirms what type of film it is, a british gangster drug film. The characters in the opening sequence are all criminals and drug users. This is perhaps to show how drugs are everywhere and it doesn't matter who or where you are, you're only one person away from drugs and criminals. The narrative is quite rude and hard hitting, emphasising the seriousness of the business.
The Non diegetic soundtrack is quite solemn, which reflects the scene’s that are being shown being shown. They build suspense and tension immediately grabbing the viewers attention and exciting them. The mise-en-scene shows the drug magnates to be rich and flash, and shows some of them to be naiive, by being very loud and conspicuous (the yellow range rover). The camerawork is very basic. There are lots of slow panning shots, making it easy for us to see what is happening. A lot of the time, the camera follows Daniel Craig around as he gives his monologue. The editing of the transitions between decades is so smooth that it seems that nothing has changed in the drug world and that it keeps going round and round, which it does.

Genre Conventions

2009-01-16T07:55:00.000-08:00

In Crime Capers there is often one thing going on the whole time. For example in the Italian Job there is that one crime they are planning, which continues as the theme throughout the film.

Sometimes there is sub-plots, or connecting crimes. I.e A serial killer, and the cops are trying to find the lad. Like in the movie; 'Bone Collector' Where there is one guy who goes around killing people then the detectives realize he coping it like out of a book, so they look in the book at the next crime and they catch the lad there.

we are going to try and get a cast of about 3 or 4 people, to be the cast in the film sequence opening.

The Italian Job - Crime Caper Analysis

2009-01-16T07:07:00.000-08:00

Macro
In both of the trailers for the films "The Italian Job" and "Oceans 11" it shows all of the members of the ensemble cast. In the case of "The Italian Job" it shows that the man guy behind the plan is Charlie Croker and what the reasons are for trying the crime.
In "Oceans 11" it shows again what the main reason behind the Crime is and that the main man behind the plan is George Clooney.
This help draw the audience into the film as they know some of the plan but not all of it, they also know want to know how the outcome of the film is and then encourages them to go see the film.

The trailer also shows the previous events as to why they are participating in the plan. In "Oceans 11" it shows Daniel Ocean being interviewed and in "The Italian Job" it shows the previous job after they succeed in the plan but, then get the money stolen by Steve which then leads to them both to do the plan.

Also, whilst the plan is in action something usually goes wrong. In the case of "The Italian Job" they change they change the safe around. In "Oceans 11" Mr. Weng gets stuck in the hidden comportment.

Micro
Mise en Scene
• Computer - Electrical Hacking Devise.
• Explosives - Usually to get into the vault.
• Vault - Holds the required items.
• Get Away Vehicles - Escaping the scene of the crime.
• Decoys - To hide to real plan going on in effect.
• Carry Case - To carry the goods out from the scene. Usually something normal like a briefcase.
• Communication Devise - To keep all of the team in contact with each other.

Q2-46 FILM OPENING PROJECT

2008-11-28T05:31:00.001-08:00

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