All of them start from black, this creates a sense of mystery.
Most text is sans-serif except The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. This is because it makes it feel more factual, like a real life crime. This is added to by the use of factual information creating a timeline of events for the audience like the police do when they're trying to solve a mystery.
There is also quite a lot of use of real life information - the news, radios, press questions and old footage. This is mostly in Fargo, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Zodiac and The Departed. It added to the 'real life' feel, made it more believable.
There was a lot of use of diegetic sounds to create life like scenarios like in The Snowtown Murders and Seven's credits. I liked the layering of diegetic sounds and the atmosphere this created.
On a similar note, there was also a lot of sound the audience couldn't hear - muffled or in another language (The Bourne Identity) - this created tension and added to the air of mystery as we didn't know what was going on.
I also liked the sound contrasts in Seven (metronome and bedroom) and Collateral (outside the taxi and when he shuts the door). This jolted the scene and foreshadowed something unexpected. It also made for uneasy watching which is what I want to focus on in my opening.
Lighting was all quite dark and blue/grey tinged, especially in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. This is because these colours have negative connotations and help set the tone of the film - serious and scary.
I liked the use of focus and depth of field in Collateral, the fact that the character was surrounded by an unclear background symbolised his unclear personality, motives or whether he should be trusted.
Mostly steady camera work but I liked the chaos the handheld camera gave in The Bourne Identity. I also liked how people were walking in front of the camera, it made it feel real and more panicked - I could do this in the hospital scene.
I like how in The Departed the audience's view of the man character was obscured until the end of the opening scene. It built tension and highlighted the characters importance and untrustworthy nature. I might do this when revealing who's on the hospital bed, slowly panning up the body to reveal the face last to build tension and emphasise the importance of that character.
These films actually had quite small budgets ranging from $90 million in 'The Departed' to $8 million in 'Pulp Fiction'. This is due to the lack of major special effects required in sci-fi and action films and makes the genre easier to recreate.
To create my whole film I would need an estimate budget of around $50 million. This is because I would need a significant amount of money to afford the different kinds of cameras for example the Arri Alexa Cameras which were used on Oscar award winning films such as 'The Revenant' and 'Birdman' which showed it's incredible capabilities to create shots with a huge amount of detail without distortion. This would be perfect for my film as I want to create a different look using contrasting camera angles and lighting so would therefore need cameras that can cope with such fluctuating conditions. I would also need a camera able to film in low light as many of the scenes would be filmed at night or in dark settings such as woodland to make the film more dark and sinister.
I would also need a professional make-up artist to create injuries and wounds that looked believable to the audience. This would go along with the need for hiring or recreating locations such as hospital wards and police stations to give it an exceptionally naturalistic feel which would greatly contrast with the changing camera work making he audience feel uncomfortable and unsafe.
I would also need to pay the script writers, producers, DOP, set designers, costume designers, a post-production team etc. This would take a significant chunk from my budget.
However, as all my scenes take place in one town I wouldn't need a huge number of sets or actors which would reduce costs. Also, as it's so naturalistic, I wouldn't need a lot of expensive props as everything would need to be what you would see in an average town.
Therefore I would not need an extortionate budget but it would still need to be significant enough to create a professional, exciting looking piece.
Wednesday, 30 November 2016
Initial Thoughts on a Film Opening
I absolutely love watching films and consequently have seen many openings in several different genres (admittedly excluding horror as I have never made it through a title sequence). From what I've seen there are different ways you can approach openings; you can either start it with a bang, have a full on action sequence providing a little, initially meaningless information but really leaving the whole thing as a narrative enigma (e.g. Dr Strange and Heat) or start out with scene setting, laying out all the information the audience initially needs (e.g. Beauty and the Beast and The Great Gatsby). Either way, the audience has got to be hooked by either the shocking opening sequence or the gripping, interesting plot.
Usually, the opening scene comes before the titles when the sequence ends (normally dramatically) the title then appears on our screens to give it the maximum effect - the audience is already pretty riled up or hooked in so when the titles come on they're like, "Oh yeah! I'm so excited for the rest of this film!"
If the credits come at the start (which they normally do in older films e.g. The Breakfast Club) something should be happening at the same time, in this example they have a soundtrack playing. Even so it can get a little tedious just watching name after name appear onscreen. Therefore in modern films they tend to have opening credits appearing in a more interesting way e.g. following people or objects into the shot or having them rolling while there's some kind of action taking place or sound they can listen to. This keeps the audience engaged in the film rather than having them zoning out. Some modern films such as 'Deadpool' even acknowledged the 'boringness' of credits and made them humorous for the audience which clearly set the tone for the film.
Overall the opening scene of a film has to engage the audience and set the tone for the rest of the film. It is the most important part as it what the audience will base their initial thoughts on and could be the grounds on which they decide whether to watch the rest. Therefore it needs to be impactful and concise, it sets the scene whilst leaving a lot of room for development and drama in the rest of the film.
Usually, the opening scene comes before the titles when the sequence ends (normally dramatically) the title then appears on our screens to give it the maximum effect - the audience is already pretty riled up or hooked in so when the titles come on they're like, "Oh yeah! I'm so excited for the rest of this film!"
If the credits come at the start (which they normally do in older films e.g. The Breakfast Club) something should be happening at the same time, in this example they have a soundtrack playing. Even so it can get a little tedious just watching name after name appear onscreen. Therefore in modern films they tend to have opening credits appearing in a more interesting way e.g. following people or objects into the shot or having them rolling while there's some kind of action taking place or sound they can listen to. This keeps the audience engaged in the film rather than having them zoning out. Some modern films such as 'Deadpool' even acknowledged the 'boringness' of credits and made them humorous for the audience which clearly set the tone for the film.
Overall the opening scene of a film has to engage the audience and set the tone for the rest of the film. It is the most important part as it what the audience will base their initial thoughts on and could be the grounds on which they decide whether to watch the rest. Therefore it needs to be impactful and concise, it sets the scene whilst leaving a lot of room for development and drama in the rest of the film.
Saturday, 26 November 2016
Crime/Thriller Films
Films in the same genre as my opening - Crime/Thriller
-The girl on the train - no opening scene
-The departed
- Cellular - no opening scene
- Hostage - just credits, no actual opening scene
- Pulp fiction
- Fargo
- The girl with the dragon tattoo
- Gone girl
- Tell no one - no opening scene
- Zodiac
-The snowtown murders
-Seven
-Bourne identity
-Collateral
Gone Girl
Director: David Fincher
Year of Release: 2014
Budget: $61 million
Profit: $369,330,363
IMDb User Rating: 8.1/10
Production Company: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
UK Distributer: 20th Century Fox
-Black screen
-Voiceover
- Character is in the first third of the screen but moves across to the final third
-Starts like its going to be normal but then takes a really weird, dark turn with the voiceover
-Simple, steady shot
-Very little movement
-Soundtrack, subtle
-Text sans-serif
-Starts with black, ends with black
-Short, concise
The Departed
Director: Martin Scorsese
Year of Release: 2006
Budget: $90 million
Profit: $289,847,354
IMDb User Rating: 8.5/10
Production Company: Warner Bros.
UK Distributer: Entertainment Film Distributers
-Soundtrack with lyrics
-Text sans-serif
-Starts with black with text telling us when it was - not specific but factual information
-Begins with 'real life' footage of violence
-Voiceover
-First time we see the main character he's silhouetted, we can't see him properly throughout the entire first scene, his face is always in the dark. It's only right at the end when he steps into the light
-Steady camera, tracking shots
-Flashback
-Starts early on then cuts to when the boy's grown up, gives us a bit of backstory first
-Long, we get a lot of information all at once but very little about the plot, more about the main character's views and opinions
-Little boy is always in the light
-Light when he's alone bright and yellow, when he's with the man it's dark and shadowy - implying he's a bad influence although we really pick this up ourselves from the voiceover
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Director:David Fincher
Year of Release: 2011
Budget: $90 million
Profit: $232,617,430
IMDb User Rating: 7.8/10
Production Company: Columbia Pictures
UK Distributer: Sony Pictures Releasing
Opening credits
-Black then with fire coming in
-Aggressive soundtrack with lyrics
-Text - serif until the actual title
-Extreme close-ups CGI images
Opening scene
-Steady camera work
-All very dark, black and grey, sometimes a slight blue tint
-Raining
-Press stories
-Mid-shots, no close-ups initially, only one of the main man later on
-No soundtrack, only diegetic sound
-Very very little dialogue
Pulp Fiction
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Year of Release: 1994
Budget: $8 million
Profit: $213,928,726
IMDb User Rating: 8.9/10
Production Company: Miramax
UK Distributer: Buena Vista International
-Starts off relatively normal coffee shop until you hear what they're talking about
-Steady camera
-Varying camera angles, switch every now and then throughout the scene
-Lighting coming from the window on one side, puts one side of their faces in light and the other in dark - two faced? More to them than first appears? Dark side?
-A lot of mid-shots
-A lot of dialogue and information for the audience
-Tracking camera shot
-No soundtrack, just diegetic sound
-Quite quiet, soft voices. Contrasts with the sound of the gun on the table - loud and abrupt
-Close-up of gun, indicates it's significance
Fargo
Director: Ethan and Joel Coen
Year of Release: 1996
Budget: $7 million
Profit: $60,611,975
IMDb User Rating: 8.1/10
Production Company: PolyGram Filmet Entertainment and Working Title Films
UK Distributer: PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
-Starts from black
-Text is sans-serif
-Starts by telling us its a true story - factual information. Font for this is kind of like a typewriter, not perfect, makes it seem authentic
-Credits are black on a white background
-White background merges to snow in the scene - Smooth transition
-Soundtrack, no lyrics, almost classical
-Camera angles switch - first car coming towards camera, then driving past the camera side on (tracking shot), the camera is watching it from behind
Zodiac
Director: David Fincher
Year of Release: 2007
Budget: $65 million
Profit: $74,785, 914
IMDb User Rating: 7.7/10
Production Company: Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros.
UK Distributer: Warner Bros.
-Starts with an establishing shot of the city
-Dark, night time
-Soundtrack, with lyrics
-Steady camera work
-Date given at the bottom - factual information
-Diegetic sound as well
-Soundtrack fades out into just the diegetic sound of the radio
-Brightly lit fro the side they're murdered from, makes them seem vulnerable
-No sound other than speech when the man comes round to the car so shots come as a shock
-Soundtrack comes back in when the murder's taking place
The Snowtown Murders
Director: Justin Kurzel
Year of Release: 2011
Budget: N/A
Profit: $8,452
IMDb User Rating: 6.6/10
Production Company: Carver Films and Screen Australia
UK Distributer: Revolver Entertainment
- Starts from black
- Diegetic sound, phone, can't make out the words - draws you in.
- Very subtle high pitched sound always running through.
- No soundtrack. I really like this sound combination!! It's really effective
- Still camera, characters in the final third
- Yellow/browny colours, musty, dirty, unpleasant
-Flickering light coming from the left of the screen, makes the scene unpleasant and uncomfortable to watch
- Slow motion
- Tracking shot, camera moving towards the characters. Characters are relatively still
- Close-up on one character's face
- Blue tinge when we see the body in the bath
- Body in the first third
- Harsh, quick transitions
- Voiceover, mumbly. Again, draws you in
Really like this opening, it made me feel uncomfortable to watch and thats how I want my audience to feel.
Seven
Director: David Fincher
Year of Release: 1995
Budget: $33 million
Profit: $327,311,859
IMDb User Rating: 8.6/10
Production Company: Cecchi Gori Pictures
UK Distributer: Entertainment Film Distributers
- Starts from black
- No soundtrack, just creepy sounds in the background - effective
- Dark
- Still camera
- Character in the last third
- People's voices, muffled - draws you in
- Close-up of his glasses
- Metronome builds tension
- Tracking shot very slowly coming towards the character
- Cuts from close-up of metronome with only that sound of whole room with background noise as well, good contrast
- Goes from silence and metronome into quite loud credit start noise - good contrast, a bit of a shock
- Credits have non-diegetic sound layered with diegetic sound - good, effective
Bourne Identity
Director: Doug Liman
Year of Release: 2011
Budget: $60 million
Profit: $214,034,244
IMDb User Rating: 7.9/10
Production Company: Universal Pictures
UK Distributer: United International Pictures
- Starts from black
- Starts with a storm foreshadowing turbulence
- Blue light, negative connotations
- No initial soundtrack, comes in when we meet the new characters
- Sailors speak in a foreign language - mystery
- Handheld camera - unease, chaotic
- Floating body suggests there's been a murder, creates mystery - this is what want to do with the child in the opening scene
- Title comes in before opening sequence is done
- Music tempo increases as they pull the body from the water
- Heavy rain - so much pathetic fallacy!
- Diegetic sound increases, increases the sense of panic
- Looks un-choreographed, people walking in front of the camera, blocking the action etc. Feels natural and puts you on edge as people are very close to the camera so you can't see much - frustrating
Collateral
Director: Michael Mann
Year of Release: 2004
Budget: $65 million
Profit: $217,764,291
IMDb User Rating: 7.6/10
Production Company: Paramount Pictures and Dreamworks SKG
UK Distributer: Paramount Home Entertainment (Wasn't at the cinema)
- Starts from black, we hear sound just before we get a picture
- Steady camera, Suggests this character is organised, knows what he's doing.
- Some people in focus and others out, main character in focus so stands out
- People walking in front of the camera, blocking our view of the main character, natural
- Diegetic sound only
- Slight sound effect when briefcases are dropped, emphasises the importance of the moment
- Starts off seeming normal but then the interaction between the two men creates a feeling of unease
- After their interaction the soundtrack kicks in, no lyrics
- Montage of taxi station, sets the scene
- Get the diegetic sound of the taxi station after the soundtrack has played over the montage for a while almost like a delayed sound entry
- Handheld shots of the taxi driver, a bit more rough and ready, more normal. Emphasises the differences in the two characters
- All quite close-up shots of taxi driver, more personal, less clinical
- When he shuts his door he shuts out all the outside sound, natural but also creates a contrast, suggests isolation. Jolts the audience
-The girl on the train - no opening scene
-The departed
- Cellular - no opening scene
- Hostage - just credits, no actual opening scene
- Pulp fiction
- Fargo
- The girl with the dragon tattoo
- Gone girl
- Tell no one - no opening scene
- Zodiac
-The snowtown murders
-Seven
-Bourne identity
-Collateral
Gone Girl
Director: David Fincher
Year of Release: 2014
Budget: $61 million
Profit: $369,330,363
IMDb User Rating: 8.1/10
Production Company: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
UK Distributer: 20th Century Fox
-Black screen
-Voiceover
- Character is in the first third of the screen but moves across to the final third
-Starts like its going to be normal but then takes a really weird, dark turn with the voiceover
-Simple, steady shot
-Very little movement
-Soundtrack, subtle
-Text sans-serif
-Starts with black, ends with black
-Short, concise
The Departed
Director: Martin Scorsese
Year of Release: 2006
Budget: $90 million
Profit: $289,847,354
IMDb User Rating: 8.5/10
Production Company: Warner Bros.
UK Distributer: Entertainment Film Distributers
-Soundtrack with lyrics
-Text sans-serif
-Starts with black with text telling us when it was - not specific but factual information
-Begins with 'real life' footage of violence
-Voiceover
-First time we see the main character he's silhouetted, we can't see him properly throughout the entire first scene, his face is always in the dark. It's only right at the end when he steps into the light
-Steady camera, tracking shots
-Flashback
-Starts early on then cuts to when the boy's grown up, gives us a bit of backstory first
-Long, we get a lot of information all at once but very little about the plot, more about the main character's views and opinions
-Little boy is always in the light
-Light when he's alone bright and yellow, when he's with the man it's dark and shadowy - implying he's a bad influence although we really pick this up ourselves from the voiceover
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Director:David Fincher
Year of Release: 2011
Budget: $90 million
Profit: $232,617,430
IMDb User Rating: 7.8/10
Production Company: Columbia Pictures
UK Distributer: Sony Pictures Releasing
Opening credits
-Black then with fire coming in
-Aggressive soundtrack with lyrics
-Text - serif until the actual title
-Extreme close-ups CGI images
Opening scene
-Steady camera work
-All very dark, black and grey, sometimes a slight blue tint
-Raining
-Press stories
-Mid-shots, no close-ups initially, only one of the main man later on
-No soundtrack, only diegetic sound
-Very very little dialogue
Pulp Fiction
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Year of Release: 1994
Budget: $8 million
Profit: $213,928,726
IMDb User Rating: 8.9/10
Production Company: Miramax
UK Distributer: Buena Vista International
-Starts off relatively normal coffee shop until you hear what they're talking about
-Steady camera
-Varying camera angles, switch every now and then throughout the scene
-Lighting coming from the window on one side, puts one side of their faces in light and the other in dark - two faced? More to them than first appears? Dark side?
-A lot of mid-shots
-A lot of dialogue and information for the audience
-Tracking camera shot
-No soundtrack, just diegetic sound
-Quite quiet, soft voices. Contrasts with the sound of the gun on the table - loud and abrupt
-Close-up of gun, indicates it's significance
Fargo
Director: Ethan and Joel Coen
Year of Release: 1996
Budget: $7 million
Profit: $60,611,975
IMDb User Rating: 8.1/10
Production Company: PolyGram Filmet Entertainment and Working Title Films
UK Distributer: PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
-Starts from black
-Text is sans-serif
-Starts by telling us its a true story - factual information. Font for this is kind of like a typewriter, not perfect, makes it seem authentic
-Credits are black on a white background
-White background merges to snow in the scene - Smooth transition
-Soundtrack, no lyrics, almost classical
-Camera angles switch - first car coming towards camera, then driving past the camera side on (tracking shot), the camera is watching it from behind
Zodiac
Director: David Fincher
Year of Release: 2007
Budget: $65 million
Profit: $74,785, 914
IMDb User Rating: 7.7/10
Production Company: Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros.
UK Distributer: Warner Bros.
-Starts with an establishing shot of the city
-Dark, night time
-Soundtrack, with lyrics
-Steady camera work
-Date given at the bottom - factual information
-Diegetic sound as well
-Soundtrack fades out into just the diegetic sound of the radio
-Brightly lit fro the side they're murdered from, makes them seem vulnerable
-No sound other than speech when the man comes round to the car so shots come as a shock
-Soundtrack comes back in when the murder's taking place
The Snowtown Murders
Director: Justin Kurzel
Year of Release: 2011
Budget: N/A
Profit: $8,452
IMDb User Rating: 6.6/10
Production Company: Carver Films and Screen Australia
UK Distributer: Revolver Entertainment
- Starts from black
- Diegetic sound, phone, can't make out the words - draws you in.
- Very subtle high pitched sound always running through.
- No soundtrack. I really like this sound combination!! It's really effective
- Still camera, characters in the final third
- Yellow/browny colours, musty, dirty, unpleasant
-Flickering light coming from the left of the screen, makes the scene unpleasant and uncomfortable to watch
- Slow motion
- Tracking shot, camera moving towards the characters. Characters are relatively still
- Close-up on one character's face
- Blue tinge when we see the body in the bath
- Body in the first third
- Harsh, quick transitions
- Voiceover, mumbly. Again, draws you in
Really like this opening, it made me feel uncomfortable to watch and thats how I want my audience to feel.
Seven
Director: David Fincher
Year of Release: 1995
Budget: $33 million
Profit: $327,311,859
IMDb User Rating: 8.6/10
Production Company: Cecchi Gori Pictures
UK Distributer: Entertainment Film Distributers
- Starts from black
- No soundtrack, just creepy sounds in the background - effective
- Dark
- Still camera
- Character in the last third
- People's voices, muffled - draws you in
- Close-up of his glasses
- Metronome builds tension
- Tracking shot very slowly coming towards the character
- Cuts from close-up of metronome with only that sound of whole room with background noise as well, good contrast
- Goes from silence and metronome into quite loud credit start noise - good contrast, a bit of a shock
- Credits have non-diegetic sound layered with diegetic sound - good, effective
Bourne Identity
Director: Doug Liman
Year of Release: 2011
Budget: $60 million
Profit: $214,034,244
IMDb User Rating: 7.9/10
Production Company: Universal Pictures
UK Distributer: United International Pictures
- Starts from black
- Starts with a storm foreshadowing turbulence
- Blue light, negative connotations
- No initial soundtrack, comes in when we meet the new characters
- Sailors speak in a foreign language - mystery
- Handheld camera - unease, chaotic
- Floating body suggests there's been a murder, creates mystery - this is what want to do with the child in the opening scene
- Title comes in before opening sequence is done
- Music tempo increases as they pull the body from the water
- Heavy rain - so much pathetic fallacy!
- Diegetic sound increases, increases the sense of panic
- Looks un-choreographed, people walking in front of the camera, blocking the action etc. Feels natural and puts you on edge as people are very close to the camera so you can't see much - frustrating
Collateral
Director: Michael Mann
Year of Release: 2004
Budget: $65 million
Profit: $217,764,291
IMDb User Rating: 7.6/10
Production Company: Paramount Pictures and Dreamworks SKG
UK Distributer: Paramount Home Entertainment (Wasn't at the cinema)
- Starts from black, we hear sound just before we get a picture
- Steady camera, Suggests this character is organised, knows what he's doing.
- Some people in focus and others out, main character in focus so stands out
- People walking in front of the camera, blocking our view of the main character, natural
- Diegetic sound only
- Slight sound effect when briefcases are dropped, emphasises the importance of the moment
- Starts off seeming normal but then the interaction between the two men creates a feeling of unease
- After their interaction the soundtrack kicks in, no lyrics
- Montage of taxi station, sets the scene
- Get the diegetic sound of the taxi station after the soundtrack has played over the montage for a while almost like a delayed sound entry
- Handheld shots of the taxi driver, a bit more rough and ready, more normal. Emphasises the differences in the two characters
- All quite close-up shots of taxi driver, more personal, less clinical
- When he shuts his door he shuts out all the outside sound, natural but also creates a contrast, suggests isolation. Jolts the audience
Wednesday, 16 November 2016
Making our Swede
We decided to do a swede of the teenage comedy 'Mean Girls'. We chose this because we thought we would be able to recreate it using settings at school because it's set in an American high school and we liked the comedic potential it held.
We decided to swede the trailer of the film because it told the story in a condensed way and we thought the handheld camera effect would be easy to recreate.
Our group decided to use a phone to film the swede. This was a deliberate decision to create the handheld effect quickly and easily however I personally thought a DSLR would have been a better choice to film the steady shots so we could have got the best picture, lighting and a level, still picture rather than shaky shots through the whole trailer.
When we watched the trailer we saw that the whole thing is practically a montage. There are 34 separate scenes that make it up an they are all only seconds long, some only 2 or 3. This presented a challenge as there are a lot of different shots and locations that we have to film and the editing process is going to be difficult as we will have to pull so many short shots together in the right order.
There is also a voiceover which we have to film and get in time with the scenes further adding to the work and editing process.
First of all we made a cast list:
Cady - Drew
Regina - Abbie
Karen - Me
Gretchen - Jenny
Damien - Victor
Janis - Me
Aaron - Eldon
For any of the other characters that made brief appearances we either asked our friends to step in or just filmed it ourselves.
We then split the tasks in pre-production. I was given the task to write the script which was a challenging task as I had to watch the trailer so many times to catch all the lines that happened in quick succession. I also wrote the camera angles and stage directions on the script to make it as accurate as possible and easier for us to recreate. Unfortunately, the large number of camera angles and movement throughout the trailer made this a long and difficult process. Overall it took me about two and a half hours to finish.
In the next lesson we started to make a plan about when we were going to film, what shots we were doing, which characters are needed and the props required.
We started by listing every location we would need and grouped them together so we could film them all at once to make the filming process as easy and fast as possible. However, this was a longer process than we first imagined (because the trailer has so many different camera angles and locations) therefore I ended up finishing it off at home too. This took me just over an hour and twenty minutes.
When it came to the time to start filming Drew, our main character, was ill which disrupted our filming processes dramatically. Therefore we had to improvise to try and film all the scenes we could without her.
In our next filming slot we got quite a lot of scenes filmed but, with our order broken, we were just filming random scenes. We also decided to film the cafeteria scenes in a cafeteria full of people; this seemed like a good idea at first because it would make it look more natural and true to the film however, I fear the background noise will be loud and overpowering in the scene and members of our group became distracted by others in the room making the filming process very long.
Then Jenny was ill for the next filming session so we were limited on the scenes we could film. The great number of scenes we have to do added with the disruptions have made the filming process rushed and, frustratingly, all the camera angles I'd identified and written down were ignored - e.g. scenes where the camera angle repeatedly changed (different close-ups, two shots and establishing shots) were all just filmed in one go from one angle. The scenes were also not filmed with a great amount of preparation e.g. identifying where the light is coming from, setting up angles and making sure the sound is ok. I fear this may result in substandard footage where some scenes are dark and character's lines can't be heard properly.
I feel like the editing process is also going to be frantic as we had to film different parts of the swede on different phones so now the scenes are spread over 3 devices which makes it a more complicated process to upload the footage and leaves a large margin for error e.g. losing a scene.
Overall I hope this swede is going to come out well and that we'll be able to edit it on time.
Next time I'm filming anything I would definitely ensure we know the deadline so we're not rushing to finish and consequently sacrificing the quality of our footage to get it done. I would also definitely use a DSLR because then the shots would be of a higher quality, we would have the capability to adjust the depth of field and focus and the overall footage would be much steadier and easier to watch.
I think the difficulty of this trailer was highly underestimated in terms of time, resource and input required.
We decided to swede the trailer of the film because it told the story in a condensed way and we thought the handheld camera effect would be easy to recreate.
Our group decided to use a phone to film the swede. This was a deliberate decision to create the handheld effect quickly and easily however I personally thought a DSLR would have been a better choice to film the steady shots so we could have got the best picture, lighting and a level, still picture rather than shaky shots through the whole trailer.
When we watched the trailer we saw that the whole thing is practically a montage. There are 34 separate scenes that make it up an they are all only seconds long, some only 2 or 3. This presented a challenge as there are a lot of different shots and locations that we have to film and the editing process is going to be difficult as we will have to pull so many short shots together in the right order.
There is also a voiceover which we have to film and get in time with the scenes further adding to the work and editing process.
First of all we made a cast list:
Cady - Drew
Regina - Abbie
Karen - Me
Gretchen - Jenny
Damien - Victor
Janis - Me
Aaron - Eldon
For any of the other characters that made brief appearances we either asked our friends to step in or just filmed it ourselves.
We then split the tasks in pre-production. I was given the task to write the script which was a challenging task as I had to watch the trailer so many times to catch all the lines that happened in quick succession. I also wrote the camera angles and stage directions on the script to make it as accurate as possible and easier for us to recreate. Unfortunately, the large number of camera angles and movement throughout the trailer made this a long and difficult process. Overall it took me about two and a half hours to finish.
In the next lesson we started to make a plan about when we were going to film, what shots we were doing, which characters are needed and the props required.
We started by listing every location we would need and grouped them together so we could film them all at once to make the filming process as easy and fast as possible. However, this was a longer process than we first imagined (because the trailer has so many different camera angles and locations) therefore I ended up finishing it off at home too. This took me just over an hour and twenty minutes.
In our next filming slot we got quite a lot of scenes filmed but, with our order broken, we were just filming random scenes. We also decided to film the cafeteria scenes in a cafeteria full of people; this seemed like a good idea at first because it would make it look more natural and true to the film however, I fear the background noise will be loud and overpowering in the scene and members of our group became distracted by others in the room making the filming process very long.
Then Jenny was ill for the next filming session so we were limited on the scenes we could film. The great number of scenes we have to do added with the disruptions have made the filming process rushed and, frustratingly, all the camera angles I'd identified and written down were ignored - e.g. scenes where the camera angle repeatedly changed (different close-ups, two shots and establishing shots) were all just filmed in one go from one angle. The scenes were also not filmed with a great amount of preparation e.g. identifying where the light is coming from, setting up angles and making sure the sound is ok. I fear this may result in substandard footage where some scenes are dark and character's lines can't be heard properly.
I feel like the editing process is also going to be frantic as we had to film different parts of the swede on different phones so now the scenes are spread over 3 devices which makes it a more complicated process to upload the footage and leaves a large margin for error e.g. losing a scene.
Overall I hope this swede is going to come out well and that we'll be able to edit it on time.
Next time I'm filming anything I would definitely ensure we know the deadline so we're not rushing to finish and consequently sacrificing the quality of our footage to get it done. I would also definitely use a DSLR because then the shots would be of a higher quality, we would have the capability to adjust the depth of field and focus and the overall footage would be much steadier and easier to watch.
I think the difficulty of this trailer was highly underestimated in terms of time, resource and input required.
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