Friday 28 January 2011

Journal: 28/01/11

In todays lesson we basically carried on editing our title sequence. We are nearly finished however, finding music to fit in with our piece of music is very difficult so we are still on the hunt for this! A thing that we did start to do today was to add our titles to our title sequence. We searched Final Cut Pro for ages to find an effect for our titles that we like but we couldnt find one. The kind of effect we wanted to use was to make them look like they are jumping and moving about in a awkward way. To do this we asked Jerry, a technician to help us. He told us to cut the titles into small chunks and move them about. This worked really well but takes a very long time to do! We hope to get this finished next lesson.

Our Final Production Logo


"With each of the previous production logo's we used a white background with black imagery and typography; in this design we used a negative effect to vary our possible options. The typography resembles the different strokes of the feather. In this design we were able to incorporate all the different elements we realised from our first few designs. The contrast of the white on the black creates a softness to the image without losing the sharpness on points of the feather. So far this is the design which we are most likely to use in our opening title sequence as it fits in with the whole look of the sequence."

We chose this for our final production logo as we could easily incorporate this into our title sequence without difficult as the black background was simple to add in on 'Final Cut pro'. 

Wednesday 26 January 2011

Journal: 26/01/11

In todays lesson we continued editing by adding both our production logo, title, and the Lionsgate opening sequence. Myself and Sarah both began searching for music/sound to include in our title sequence; the difficulty we faced was making sure the music was not so dramatic to make our title sequence seem a cliché of the typical crime/thriller genre. The search for music continues....

Monday 24 January 2011

Journal: 24/01/11

In today's lesson I continued analysing the production logo's we had created, we also continued to edit the filming we have done so far. Throughout the editing process we have realised that it is best some parts of our original idea are cut to eventually produce a better overall title sequence. 


From our original storyboard we had planned to have a scene where you could see the stalker chasing the girl in the background of a focused shot on the iPod. Firstly, we were not pleased with the original filming of the frame- this would have meant re-shooting and therefore loosing time for the editing process. We decided that we would rework the scene's to make them flow not loosing the original narrative of the title sequence. The final product itself we believe added more tension and excitement to the sequence than it would have done if we had proceeded with the original idea.


During our title sequence we have a chase scene, unfortunately when we watched it back the standard of the filming was not very high- the camera made continuos shaking movements which may have made the audience feel some motion sickness. We addressed this problem by incorporating shots of the book in between the chase sequence this meant less camera movement making it seem more professional. Even though our original concept was to have a point of view shot we felt it was best to split the frames to make them come across better to the audience. 

Friday 21 January 2011

Production Logo

This is the very first production logo we created, the feather itself has slightly been softened, and the typography we used follows a movement which mirrors the feathers movement. The typography colour has been faded in a way which adds a softness to it again relating make to the feather image. This is not my favourite production logo because it is very basic and there is no dimension to it or fading of colours or graining of the image. 


This was the second production logo we designed; from the first design we realised the different elements we had to consider to create a production logo which was the opposite to the first one we designed. Firstly we began by strengthening the dimensions of the feather making it more darker adding further depth to it- which we did not achieve in the original design. Also we added graining over the entire logo this give's an essence of the silent movie era. I thought it would be a good idea to use a typography which resembled an earlier period therefore I chose a font which looked like it had been hand written with ink; the typography also has a motion to it which follows the feathers shapes. A criticism of this design was that the heavy graining could have a harsh effect on the eyes. 


By coming to the conclusion that the heavy graining on the image is harsh on the eyes we used a different effect where there is a focal soft point in the middle of the images and the brightness gets darker towards the corners of the production logo.Firstly we began by strengthening the dimensions of the feather making it more darker adding further depth to it- which we did not achieve in the original design- as we did in the previous design.


With each of the previous production logo's we used a white background with black imagery and typography; in this design we used a negative effect to vary our possible options. The typography resembles the different strokes of the feather. In this design we were able to incorporate all the different elements we realised from our first few designs. The contrast of the white on the black creates a softness to the image without losing the sharpness on points of the feather. So far this is the design which we are most likely to use in our opening title sequence as it fits in with the whole look of the sequence.    


This was our next attempt at a production logo, we had the idea to relate the logo to the genre of our film, so we used a dark ash grey to create a dark mysterious mood to begin the title sequence. As in previous designs we chose to use a typography which mirrors the movement of the feather, as for the colour of the font we chose a slightly lighter version of the grey we had used for the feather- first we used the same colour but found that the writing could sometimes be lost in the background; but by using the lighter colour we were able to make the production name stand out against the black background. 


This was our final design for a possible production logo; in previous designs we had used a dark background with lighter imagery. So, in this design we went back to our original design with the lighter background and then chose a varying grey for the feather and writing. We used a soft effect on the image  of the feather as we thought it created a pleasant effect as it had done on the first and third designs. As for the typography, we juxtaposed the previous idea of having the font mirror the movement of the feather and chose a sharper type of typography; although bearing this in mind throughout the different letters there are breakages which could show some of the strokes in the feather. 


Journal: 21/01/11

In todays lesson we were attempting the editing process of our title sequence. We began experimenting with different transitions and effects to try and get an idea about how to use 'Final Cut Pro'. Also we done some more work on our blogs- I focused on developing my analysis of title sequences further, to gain a greater understanding of how to structure different parts of a title sequence in order for it to flow. 

Wednesday 19 January 2011

Journal: 19/01/11

LIGHTS.....CAMERA......ACTION 


In todays lesson our main objective was to finish all our film, we manage to get all the final camera work completed and managed to upload it ready for editing. The filming process itself went very smoothly although we did have to do a few retakes to ensure the camera was in the right position. The chase sequence itself needed focus from every member in our group, we were able to shoot it a few times without loosing light. A couple of run throughs made sure we were aware of what we were doing. 


Getting ready for filming

Monday 17 January 2011

Journal: 17/01/11

In todays lesson we filmed more shots of the book- we plan to use these shots at different points in our title sequence. As a group we thought filming the book at different angles would add more variation to our title sequence. The different shots were filmed at specific angles so we had a clear space to put in titles during the editing process.

Friday 14 January 2011

Journal: 14/01/11

FILMING BEGINS


Today we started the filming production, our first scene we began shooting was the book sequence; we needed a male character to feature in this part of the title sequence, luckily our media teacher was able to help us although his identity in the camera shot itself remains a mystery because our lighting made him appear as a silhouette.

Title Sequence Analysis: 'Mimic' (1997)


"In Manhattan, cockroaches are spreading a deadly disease that is claiming hundreds of the city's children.Entomologist Susan Tyler (Mira Sorvino) uses genetic engineering to create what she and her colleague (and husband) Peter Mann (Jeremy Northam) call the Judas Breed, a large insect (looking like a cross between a termite and a praying mantis) that releases an enzyme that kills off the disease-carrying roaches by speeding up their metabolism. The Judas Breed work spectacularly and the crisis is abated. Since the Judas Breed have also been designed to only produce one male able to breed, and they keep it in their care, the hybrid species should die out in a matter of months.
Some years later, people begin to go missing in the subways and tunnels under the city. Susan, Peter, and their staff learn that they severely underestimated the Judas Breed's ability to adapt to its conditions. The Judas Breed has found a way to reproduce and has evolved in order to better hunt a new food source. To everyone's horror, they discover that the Judas' new food source is humans, and now the insects have grown to be as big as people and can mimic the appearance and behavior of humans with uncanny accuracy. Susan and Peter have learned that huge swarms of the Judas Breed are living beneath the city in the subway system, and with the help of Leonard (Charles S. Dutton), a transit system police officer, they search out the insects, whose quick evolution (one fertile male and hordes of females) also made them humanoid, before they can take over the city and from there the world." -wikipedia


Mise-en-scene

            Similar to opening title sequences like ‘Se7en’, this sequence has a dark over tone over the filming. The filming looks as if it has a desaturated effect over it; this use of colour effect adds edge to the emotions being felt by the audience.
The lighting in ‘Mimic’ changes constantly, there is a dramatic sharp change from dark to light-this same pattern of dynamic alterations in light creates a disturbing, confusing effect on the mind of the audience. The title sequence’s use of lighting helps to suggest the type of genre of the film. This highlights the fast pace narrative of the film.  The opening sequence features no actors therefore there’s no introduction to the characters leaving the audience questioning who the main characters of the film are. Normally the genre of thriller and horror include the element of suspense and the unknown, this could be a reason why there are no characters featured in the opening sequence. Opening sequence’s normally include a backing sound track or a voice over although ‘Mimic’ has a dynamic composition of a variety of sounds; sometimes this is just a short tune created by sharp sounds then at very random points a voice over is heard although this voice over sounds like a radio transmission. The title sequence includes various camera shots they change rapidly to increase the pace and the amount of features found within any one frame.



Purpose and Character

            One major element missing in the title sequence of ‘Mimic’ is there is no characters, where the camera shots are moving so fast there is hardly a second to take everything-creating almost a claustrophobic environment for the audience. Many of the images in the sequence are jumbled perhaps suggesting there are a lot of mixed characters in the film itself. This jumbled effect also creates a disturbed state of mind for the viewers to consider enabling them to make links through the variety of images shown in the title sequence.  Throughout the sequence as the titles appear so do images of destroyed butterflies; this could suggest destruction of nature and therefore leading to destruction of the mind. The direct contrast of the destroyed butterflies and then the perfectly displayed butterflies shows there is a fine line between both beauty and destruction. This juxtaposition could represent the mix of good hearted and cold twisted characters who develop in the narrative. Also featured in the opening titles are images which look as if they are school profile shots, the same photo is not repeated showing that the focus is not on one person but many; this could highlight the need to keep a constant trail of thought throughout the film to try and work out for yourself what is going on as different events are occurring. In other words, linking past events to the present.

Cinematography

            This opening title sequence includes many close ups and extreme close up’s which make the surrounding extremely focused on a particular point. The majority of the lighting in this title sequence is dull; this dullness is used to create a frightening and unpleasant atmosphere. The use of dull elements does not stop at the lighting it continues into the colours, which are included. The main bulk of colours are rather dark such as shades of brown, black, and charcoal grey. These colours contribute a dark menacing tone to the entire title sequence.  Soft edged rays of light appear over some of the elements featured in the frame; this could emphasise the different events, which happen during the film are very dark and mysterious. Fast pace has been used to include many things creating excitement towards the movie, leaving the audience with a desire to want more. The negative effect, the change in colour on some of the images is very unexpected and shocking revealing what they truly are.  In relation to the film this could mean that some of the characters become seen to be who they really are; this leaves the audience questioning the different characters identities. All the things included in the title sequence portray the things which the director enjoys featuring in his work, "I have a sort of a fetish for insects, clockwork, monsters, dark places, and unborn things." 






Wednesday 12 January 2011

THE BOOK!

The book full of CCTV images

Pages showing CCTV images

Pages showing CCTV images

Pages showing CCTV images

Pages showing CCTV images 

Pages showing CCTV images

Journal: 12/01/11

In todays lesson we printed off our CCTV images and added them to the scrap book which is going to feature in our title sequence. 

Monday 10 January 2011

Typography Ideas


We chose this typography because we liked the non-imediate juxtaposition between the black background and the white text.The text is enlarged but slightly faded this gives the a focusing effect on the title. I like this type face because it has a slight distressed look to it which could relate to the distressed mind of our main character in the film. One criticism of this type face is the boldness of the lettering, although it does draw attention to the title it is a very obvious choice of typography for an opening title sequence; therefore it may be best to find the right composition between the boldness and lettering for our title in the opening sequence. 



This second typography example was chosen because it looks as if it has been hand drawn with a marker; we thought this would relate to our film because our main character creates his own book and shows he has a created yet twisted mind. The etching in the text shows the twisted state if mind the character in our narrative. Although this concept could also make our film very predictable and we don't want to give too much away about the entire narrative within the first few minutes; as our film is built on suspense and drama. So we need the element of surprise at the same time as we need the element of a twisted mind.


This is the third typography design we came up with, we found that the way in which the letter 'e' was mirrored created the effect of something being twisted and not right which resembles our male lead in the narrative  as his mental state is twisted and in a way not right. 



Type of Audience

There are some questions which need to be asked before deciding the audience of our piece these include:
  • What kind of people may be interested in your story?
  • Young people, older people?
  • People from different communities?
  • Specific groups of people?
  • What else might your target audience go and see?
  • What would they watch at the cinema?
  • What would they watch on television?
  • Would you want to watch your film?
  • How would you rate the content of your film?
Q:What kind of people may be interested in your story?
A:I think the type of people who may be interested in our story would be those who enjoy the excitment of the unknown and the constant questioning of what may happen next.

Q:Young people, older people?
A:The age range which we decided to aim our film at was the over 15s, therefore we would expect above 15 year olds onwards. So our film is aimed at both young people and older people.

Q:Specific groups of people?
A:There is not a single specific group which our film is aimed at although we would not recommend it to those who do not enjoy the genre of crime, thriller or drama.

Q:What else might your target audience go and see?
A:Our target audience would most probably go see films within the genre's of horror, crime, realism, drama possibly period drama's and also thriller's. Films such as 'The Stepfather', 'Disturbia' etc.

Q:What would they watch on television?
A:There could be a range of programmes which our audience may go see from documentries on the topic of crime to social realism as our film relates to some issues which arise in society.

Q:Would you want to watch your film?
A:I would watch my film because it falls into the genre of film I enjoy watching, also there are constant climax's and cliff hangers throughout the film enabling the audience to want to know what is going to happen next. Also I would enjoy watching the film because it is the type of film which always keeps its audience on edge.

Photo's of the different settings we are planning to use

These images were taken to show the various locations we may possibly be using for our title sequence. The following images show a range of possible locations if others are not available at the time we need to film.

The images below are of the different locations where we can set up our desk scene:


The next set of images we took show possible locations for the stalking scene which runs alongside the desk scene featuring the book of CCTV imagery:


Finally these images show the scene where the audience experiences the struggle between the man and girl, when the camera is on a tilt; it is also where the stalking sequence comes to a climax:




Some more CCTV imagery




Journal: 10/01/11

In todays lesson we continued with typography research and made final preparations for our film making sure we had all the props we needed for filming the title sequence. This included the book which is to be featured in the beginning of the opening sequence; the book includes all the edited CCTV imagery we have created. 

Friday 7 January 2011

Journal: 7/1/11

In todays lesson we began with an introduction to our new teacher Mr. Purday; we pitched the narrative of the story we are creating the title sequence for. He gave us some comments on ways we could improve our plans, he also gave us some other options of title sequence which relate to our genre of film therefore benefitting the production; the film he suggested was 'Red Road'.
Still Image from 'Red Road'

Wednesday 5 January 2011

Storyboard Animatic

Before and After of some of the images being used in our title sequence

We took images which we are going to put in a book, which is featured in the opening title sequence we are creating. First we took the images and then edited them in photoshop:
                                                      
                                                   



Journal: 5/1/11

In todays lesson I finished off some pieces of my blog and scanned the story board on there. We now have a clear deadline set to reach-so now the production begins. We begun by taking pictures which we later edited in photoshop making them resemble CCTV images we researched CCTV images of the internet and changed our own images to make them seem as if they are genuine security camera images.


Pictures of 'CCTV Images' of the internet 
example one
example two 


Typography Research

Examples of typography when used in title sequences

Title Sequence One: Le Souffler


“‘Souffleur’ means ‘the prompter’ and ‘the blower.’ It’s the same word in French because a prompter ‘blows’ the words to the actors when they are in need. This particular theater prompter happens to live in his prompter box. So for this title I chose to blow letters and words like a prompter would do. In this 3D graphic space, we are like the actor who forgot his lines, searching for the words between the letters.” – Julien Widmer

Title Sequence Creation Schedule

Here is the schedule our group is going to try and keep to in order to meet our deadline. We hope this will enable us to create the best possible title sequence we possibly can.
  • Week Beginning: 3rd January 2011 - TAKE PICTURES, EDIT THEM IN PHOTOSHOP AND THEN STICK THEM IN BOOK. START FILMING.
  • Week Beginning: 10th January 2011 - FILMING.
  • Week Beginning: 17th January 2011 - FINISH FILMING AND START EDITING.
  • Week Beginning: 24th January 2011 - EDITING.
  • Week Beginning: 31st January 2011 - FINISH EDITING.
  • Week Beginning: 7th January 2011 - UPDATE BLOGS
  • Week Beginning: 14th January 2011 - MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS FINISHED READY FOR OUR DEADLINE!! DEADLINE: 18TH JANUARY 2011

Storyboard for Title Sequence

These images show our title sequence: