Shot types

Match on action:

Match on Action is an editing technique where you cut from one shot to another that matches the first shot both in action and pace of the first shot. this is to create a sense of continuity although the shots may have been filmed weeks apart. if an action is started in one shot but finishes it in another this creates a visual bridge which is created to disguise one cut from another.

An example of match on action :

Shot/reverse shot:

A shot showing what the character is supposedly looking at is followed by a reverse shot of the character looking at it or of the character looking back at them for example. This shot type often ties in with the 180 degree rule to retain contuinuity.

An example of a Shot/reverse shot:

180 rule:

a basic rule where two characters should always have the same left right relationship to each other. when the camera crosses the line the new angle is called the reverse angle. this is to retain continuity because if the camera crosses the line then it will appear both people are facing the same way and will confuse the viewer

storyboard

Preliminary task 1.1

Brief 1.1 ASM

Preliminary task

you are to film and edit a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. you must demonstrate:

• Match on action
• Shot/ reverse shot 
• 180 rule

My Preliminary task:

Evaluation for prelimanary task

What have I learned ?

• during the preliminary task I learned a number of key tasks and skills that will help me during the make of my final piece.
• I learned how to use the cameras and tripods that my school use.
• I learned how to use adobe premier to edit my footage including inserting sound and layering different parts of footage to adjust in scene volume
• I also learned the production process and that not all shots are filmed in order

Areas of Success:

• In my group we co operated well when making the film and we all contributed ideas to the final product
• We also managed to avoid continuity errors which was important because if we were making continuity errors on a basic task it would not be a good indication for our final task.
• I managed to edit the footage well and found the software easy to use and easy to learn
• We followed the brief that we had been given and completed all the required parts of the task
• We was able to do it in one our lessons ensuring that the weather and peoples clothes were exactly the same and we didn't have to re film any parts of the task

Areas of improvement:

• A way that we could have improved is that we didn't design our own music and had to download it from a copyright free source this meant the music became a best fit and not what exactly we wanted for our piece. So for our next task we will make sure that the music I sourced properly as I believe that it is one of the most important part of the piece.

How well did you meet the brief:

• We did meet the brief we made sure we met the 180 degree rule and we also included match on  action when the main character opened the door and we included shot reverse shot during the dialogue that took place. We managed this through proper planning of our piece.

Evaluate your contributions to the group:

• During this task I positioned the camera, check that we were following the brief and I edited the whole film to make my version. I want in the film for my piece but I was for other group members.

Brief 1.2 ASM

Main task: the titles and opening of a new fiction film to last a maximum of 2 minutes

Opening Scene Analysis

Evaluating film Openings

What i like about this opening credits are the they give snapshots of what is to come later in the film. For example Dubai is shown during the opening credits and this where a key piece of action happens later in the film. 

The music is iconic and instantly recognisable and continues throughout the opening sequence and is familiar to any viewer who has seen the rest of the franchise. Also the burning fuse follows from action before the start of the opening credits and helps with development of the plot. As the film has already had ten minutes of action it draws the viewer. I also like how the opening credits are edited, they have quick cuts which gives pace and action to the opening sequence. Also with the opening credits one thing flows into another which is something that I should aim to incorporate into my piece. The non digetic sound in the opening credits is the franchises theme song which has pace and drama which makes it have greater effect to the viewer. The non-diegetic sound in the opening credits is the franchises theme song which has pace and drama which makes it have greater effect to the viewer. The diegetic sound in the opening sequence are all very similar and are of guns firing or of rockets firing this hints at the viewer that the film is going to be violent but it is also going to have a big element of danger first to the characters but also on a greater scale. This matches with what is in the scene as the pictures shown are of bullets and rockets amongst other things. 

The opening scene also has in places an overlay of a mathematical view of different locations which may be a link to how the agents have to think during the film.

James bond casino royal

In the opening credits of casino royal there are some consistent themes. One consistent theme is the one of cards and of the card games this links to the overall plot of the film as this film becomes about a card game.

Another theme in the opening credits is the theme of guns there are a number of guns being fired in the credits but very rarely does a bullet come out of the gun often there is something else in the place of the bullet for example there is often card suits coming out of the gun showing that he battle may be a tactical one which may revolve around a card game. 

This could show that character may not be able to rely on guns to wins this battle against his enemy. James Bond is portrayed in a strange way in the opening credits he is a dark silhouette which could show that as a character he is dark and can be cruel. 

The sound in the opening credits is all non-diegetic and is in the form of a soundtrack this soundtrack changes pace a number of times during the opening credits this could link to how the rest of the film pans out where there will be slower parts of the film with less action the parts of the film that are quick in pace and that have lots of action.

Guardians of the galaxy

The opening scene to guardians of the galaxy has quite serious music that is parallel to the location that the character is in but as the opening scene moves forward the music changes it becomes diegetic as it is from the main characters earphones and becomes contrapuntal tot the setting and task as it becomes a light hearted 80s song which is incorporated into the main characters actions. This is an opposite to what lot of superhero and comic book films do and is a unique twist by the makers of the film that gets the viewers’ attention. The opening credits begin with an extreme long shot that sets the scene this lets the viewer know straight away that the scene in a foreign planet and gives a flavour of what is to come. 

The main character and the only character in the opening credits is often in the centre of the screen this makes him the main focus of the opening credits and lets the viewer know that he is the main character of the film. The opening credits are edited with a slow shot duration this allows the viewer to take in the background of the shot and see the unusual nature of where the character is based. The opening credits are effective because they are quite unique as the film starts with quite a serious theme but that is quickly changed into a lighter hearted one.

Mad Max Fury Road:

in the opening scene we are shown everything that we can expect from this film. The landscape of the film is made clear as the opening shot shows a dessert landscape which is where he rest of the film will take place.

The viewer is also made aware that not everything is normal as at the front of the shot is a lizard that has two heads.

Also the main characters car is worn showing that maybe society isn't functioning anymore. the camera switches to a close up of the main characters face while he is eating a lizard that was shown in the previous shot this action shows that he is not mentally sound and the camera angle amplifies it. Then the shots move a lot quicker than what they did before setting the pace for the film this is purposely done when the film makers were editing the film. The costume of the characters chasing the main character give further indication about the situation that the world is in.

The voices in side the main characters head show that he is not completely normal and he could be lonely as they could be voices of his family. In the opening sequence the colour scheme for the film is set with very orange like colours used for the desert and the bottom 2 thirds of the screen and a bright blue sky for the top third of the screen, these two colours contrast from each other and make the other stand out more in the unique landscape.

Napoleon Dynamite Voice over:

Questionnaire/Survey research

The Questions:


for the first 2 questions I wanted to understand who was filling out my questionnaire by finding out the persons age and gender this will give me the basics I need about who is interested in what film genres.

Next I wanted to find out what peoples favourite film genres were and how often they watch films. These questions will help me develop my ideas into what sort of genre film opening I want to produce. 

Then I wanted to find out whether people prefer action or comedy as this is two areas that I'm most interested making a film for. Then I found out what peoples favourite comedies were so I could get an idea of what sub genres people like and what comedy was popular. then the final question was to see what peoples favourite action film is and this would give me an idea of popular sub genres and whether people like superhero movies or secret agent films.



How I sent out my survey:





To find out what films and genres were the most popular i created a survey on survey monkey. I sent this survey out in two ways. The first was to a few friends and teachers via email this was a controlled group as i knew who was going to be filling out my survey but the problem i only had a small amount of responses which was not enough to have reliable results.

The second way i sent my survey out to other people was via Facebook. Which i was a bit wary off as i didn't want people to purposely put false answers that would affect the validity of the results but there was potential for a lot of people to complete my survey so i thought that it was worth the risk. below is the post i put on Facebook: 

THE RESULTS

The majority of the people who answered my survey were male. Which means that the other responses for questions were answered mainly by males and I should take that into account when evaluating the results. These results show that more males are interested in my opening credits and I should make this my target audience for my piece.

The majority of people who answered my survey were 16-19 year olds this could have been because I posted the link to the survey on my Facebook and the majority of my friends 16-19 year olds. Also there were more under 20s answering the survey than over 20s which reflects that more younger people are interested in my opening credits and I should make this my target audience for the piece because based of the results I will know more about this target audience.

For this question action was the most popular response followed by comedy. The other answers were a small minority of my results and in the other box in peoples responses there were no repeat answers which shows that I didn't miss out any major genres of film. Based off these results I will make a piece hat fits the genre of action as this was the most popular response.

Next I wanted to see how often people watched films as this would help me decide whether people who were responding to my survey were big film fans. If people had said that they didn't watch films much I would have felt that it would have made my results less valid because these people would only be watching the most common films and not necessarily the best films. Fortunately people who responded to my survey watched films Regularly/Often and the 3rd most popular answer was more than three times a month. These results tell me that my target audience for the opening credits should be regular film watchers who can understand and notice small details and deeper meanings to different shots.

Then I wanted to find out what were peoples preference from the two big film genres as these two film genres are the most popular in the cinemas. Action films were slighty more popular than comedy films so I will aim my opening credits to follow this theme. This question further boosts my responses that I gained for my other questions.

Next I wanted to see what peoples favourite comedies were. I did this to see what sort of comedies people like the results tell me that people like moronic humour but the tied answer for shaun of the dead is an action comedy which indicates that people who mainly like comedy like action as a sub genre. 



My final question was about what peoples favourite action film was and I wanted to know whether people liked super heroes or secret agents etc. My results show me that people like secret agent films more than the other sub genres and i should consider this when making my piece.

My Target audience

Overall my target audience will be 16-19 year old Males who like action films and secret agent films.

Inspiration For My Opening Credits

Inspiration for my piece

The girl with the dragon tattoo was inspiring because of the visual element of this film opening credits. The genre of the film won't be relevant to my piece because it is quite a dark film and this not  the genre of the film that I will make. 

Casino Royale was another opening credits that I will use for inspiration because of the way that one shot flows into another and the overall presentation. The opening credits are always a feature of a James Bond film and have become iconic over the time that the films have been produced. The opening credits gets the viewer ready for the film and that action that coming later in to the film. The credits also tie into the name of the film with all the "casino" theme things appearing in the opening credits.

The above will inspire me for a animated part of my opening credits but for the real life footage I have been inspired by:

This sequence from fast five will inspire me for my chasing scenes. As it is fast paced and clever which is something that I want to recreate in my opening sequence.

Green screen practice

Related to my idea I wanted to make a title sequence like the James Bond franchise. I was unsure on how this would work and how it would look so I decided to make a test. I was restricted on time which limited the results but it gave me an idea of what i could produce should I choose to do this.

I think that from the test footage then I will decide not to this because I don't think that I could make it to a high enough standard where it would be really effective. This is something that I may consider doing if was to make the film again

My Idea

In my opening credits I will start with a man running from a long distance it will be a long shot. I will use selective focus while he coming closer into shot this will give a feel for the distance that he is running from. There will be some credits as the man is running down the road but not the name of the film that is to come later. As he is running down the road towards the camera there will be several flashbacks with action showing why the man is running. As the man reaches the camera he will stop to catch his breath as he thinks he has got away from the other man this will be a mid shot or a close up to show a sense of relief on his face he will then head past the camera and there will be a gunshot although the viewer will not see the gun being fired. Then the camera will pan to a high angle shot of the body on the floor and the man who chasing the man who was running will enter the shot and will check he is dead then there will the a close up of his face that will change to a silhouette and there will be some use of animation for the titles. The first man running is in fact the bad guy and the person chasing him is a good guy and is a secret agent. I will make sure the viewer knows this by using costume properly. Also there will be some fast paced music to add pace to the scenes

Possible Distributors for my film

There are a number of leading distributors for film they include:

• Walt Disney
• Warner Bros
• Sony Pictures
• 20th Century Fox
• Universal
• Paramount Pictures
• MGM

Walt Disney would not be a suitable distributor because they mainly make animated films and children's film which my film will be neither. Warner bros make a lot of comic book films and I don't think it would be suitable for my film because my film doesn't fit there sub genre of film. Sony Pictures could be a possible distributor because they do make action film but they have not made classic spy film in a long time so I will not use them as my distributor. 20th Century Fox's biggest recent hits are both superhero films but my film wont be a superhero film which shows that I shouldn't use them as a distributor because when people see a 20th century fox logo they may assume its a superhero film. Universal films made the Jason Bourne series which were very successful spy films so they could be potential distributor because they have history with the genre and have had success also. Paramount pictures don't make as many action films although they do the Mission Impossible series they mainly make comedies. MGM make the James Bond series which are the most successful series of spy films which is why I will choose MGM as the distributor to my films because the brand has  reputation and will encourage people to watch the film.

Genre Research

An action film is a film where an individual or group faces a challenge. They usually include fighting, chase scenes and life threatening situations and an evil villain.

There are a number of sub genres for the large genre of action. These are some examples:

• Action adventure
• Action comedy
• Action horror
• Buddy cop
• Disaster film
• Martial arts
• Sci-fi action
• Spy film
• Action thriller
• Superhero film

There are a number of actors associated with the action genre. In the 50s and 60s John Wayne and Steve Mcqueen were the main actors and in the 70s the Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris and Clint Eastwood were the most popular. In the 80s Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone were popular. Other actors such as Jackie Chan and Vin Diesel became very popular.

These actors and others starred in the most popular action films such as:

• The Dark Knight (2008)
• Taken (2008)
• Aliens (1986)
• Die Hard (1988)
• Predator (1987)
• The Matrix (1999)
• 300 (2006)
• The Fast and Furious series
• Jurassic Park (1993)
• The Great Escape (1963)
• Speed (1994)
• Goldfinger (1964)

Superhero films are now popular in modern day due to the advance in technology and change in trends. Spy films are also very popular with some video game based action films being made.

Similar films and influences:

The James Bond series is similar to what I am trying to produce and is a key influence for my film. The series has a number of unique qualities that make it successful that have influenced me into choosing an action film. The series has a variety of setting based all around the world in rural and city areas which enhances the film because it provides a unique scenario to each action sequence. The series has a theme song for each film which is like many film but the song is then combined with animated opening credits which are unique for every film. This has been an influence because every time I have seen a James Bond film I have been looking forward to the opening credits of the film.

Also another influence was the film Speed this film was an influence because of the action in the film and the storyline and I will try and replicate this in my film.

Mood Board

shot list and script

First shot list

My script

Risk Assesment

This is my risk assessment for my final piece: 

Location shots plus descriptions

These are the locations I will be filming my Film at:

I will film the first 20 seconds roughly at this location. This is where the chase between the secret agent and enemy will start.

This is the next location and will make another 15-20 seconds of the film. This is where the secret agent and the enemy will split. The secret agent will go down the lane to the left.

This location will only make up about 10 seconds of the film. This is where the secret agent will emerge around the corner and another running scene will be shot on the road.

This will make up about 5-10 seconds of the final film. The enemy will run around then corner looking over his shoulder and will start to think that he has got away from the secret agent.

this location will make up 40-50 seconds of the film with the secret agent waiting around the corner and the enemy running around the corner.

Text messages about filming

Calendar

My Calendar 

Planning process for shooting my film:

Weather

This is the weather forecast for when i aim to film my piece:

Storyboard

Character Profiles

Film Classification

I am aiming for my film to be an 12 rated this is so that it is suitable for all teenagers. If my film is to be a 12 then it must meet this criteria. If my film doesn't meet this criteria then i will have to cut parts that aren't suitable.

Espionage cut 1

Esponage cut 2

Sound source

This is where I originated my sound from and it is a copyright free music as long as I don't aim to make money by using the piece which I'm not so it is free for me to use.

https://youtu.be/4izl7DgWNmc

Evaluation

1. working with existing forms and conventions and reworking the familiar:

• At a 'micro', technical level, how well did you observe the conventions continuity, the language of the film and the grammar of the edit?

I preserved continuity by taking an extra person with me to the set of filming with whom I would talk about continuity and the shots this gave me an extra viewpoint additional to myself and the actors who I also met with before and discussed the story this ensure there was a clear story that made sense. I made sure that the titles of the film followed the conventions of the film by using an appropriate font and made an animated background for the titles which were inspired by popular spy films and common sets for spy films

• how many mistakes did you make, and how did you Improve main task, having made errors in the preliminary exercise?

I made a few errors when making my piece. One example of a mistake I made is at 0:42. This was a filming error because when filming I got my actor to stand and complete the action when he should have run up to the camera and then complete the action.

This wasn't something I had not realised until I was editing and whilst it still works and maintains continuity I decided to keep the shot. A common error when filming my preliminary task was that I didn't complete enough shots.

I would think that the shot was ok after one take but later notice an error with the shot. this is something I didn't do with my final piece I made sure that the shot was completed a few times and I watched the clip back before moving on.

• At a more symbolic, 'macro' level, how does your fiction film reflect or challenge the conventions of the genre or type you are working with?

A common convention of the genre is that the spy will often wear a earpiece or have some form of walkie talkie with another person helping them at base with some assistance that gives the spy the edge for example James Bond has M at base and in the radio while he is in pursuit of enemies.

This is the same for my piece and while you don't see the person back at base you do here from them on the radio in the secret agents ear. This is and example of how my piece follows the conventions of the genre. I didn't really challenge the conventions of the spy film genre because I felt like it could detract from the film and leave a viewer confused about the true genre of the film.

• Will it fulfil the 'contractual' nature of the film genre or will it subvert expectations deliberately?

My piece will follow the nature of the genre. I have used a number of items and props that are exclusive to the spy film genre for example the costume of my secret agent is a suit which is a common theme across the genre of film mainly set by the James Bond series. The nature of the film will follow the theme of most spy films because I wanted to create my own spy film.

Evaluation 2

• Are there any elements of deliberate pastiche or parody - where you "play" with the genres code and history?

When making my piece I purposely took things from other iconic films and made them my own. When editing my piece I purposely used quick cuts which added pace to the piece. This a very common thing done with spy films. I also used costumes that were popularised by the James Bond films.

• Are there any "intertextual" moments where you hint at a reference to another film?

The use of the microphone and radio is a clear reference to the James Bond. The role of the M in the James Bond for many years was played by Judi Dench. In my piece I used a female as the voice for the leader who was back at the HQ. Viewers should easily be able to pick up on this reference and if they are then the reference will have been successful.

• What kinds of audience pleasure are you trying to provide, and how confident are you that you have delivered on this promise?

From my piece I hope I have created suspension for the viewer as the secret agent doesn't succeed and this sets up the rest of the film.

I also want the audience to enjoy the nature of the film and be on the edge of their seat. I'm confident that I have succeeded because of the story and the music I have used creates suspension and a clear narrative for the rest of the film.