I have made a variety of videos throughout the process of research, planning, construction and evaluating. These are all featured on blog posts however, I have put together all of the videos on this blog post for easy access and simplicity.
Preliminary Task:
Match on action example:
Lift Pitch:
Cat and Dogs Productions film ident (my own):
Drone:
Title Sequence First Draft:
Pirate opening idea draft:
First draft- Opening sequence:
Comparing real footage sounds to post production foley sounds:
Throughout the whole course, I have gained a lot more experience and knowledge in terms of technical aspects and practical. This has been shown from the difference between the preliminary task and my opening sequence.
I learnt mostly more about editing and sound portrayal with different ways to present it and carry it out to create a more professional look to the overall piece through the help of sound. This was done through using more high technology and quality soundequipment and careful decision. I think that this was improved through the use of more professional editing software such as final cut pro. With the preliminary, I edited on iMovie which didn’t give me enough variety to make the piece stand out meaning that it looked fairly basic with lack of colour grading to go alongside simple cuts.
I feel that I have learnt a lot since the preliminary in terms of the editing process due to the fact that I completed GCSE media last year meaning that I had some knowledge with the basics of filming and editing. I bought Final Cut which allowed me to expand and experiment with a variety of clips in which I have blogged. These allow me to experiment with different equipment, angles and methods of filming as well as how they are put together.
I think the most effective and noticeable part to me, is the development of sound however, in which I focused more on due to my questionnaires that readers said sound contributed to the genre. I feel as though I focused more on these different types of sound such as recording dialogue and researching royalty free foley sound effects.
I think throughout the process, my knowledge and technical skills have improved based on how to use and present different technologies to create a professional look within planning, filming and post production.
Through each stage, (research, planning, construction and evaluation), I have used different methods through technology of getting the final outcomes.
I targeted this questionnaire at everyone of all ages to allow myself to see if my predictions and chosen target demographic of female, over 12, was suitable for the genre and therefore narrative of the sequence. I found that mostly female were interested in the romantic genre as their favourite type of film. These were mostly over the age of 12 due to the discovery of different genres and narratives within.
I allowed different categories to suit all the asked demographics of the questionnaire which decided which qualities of my chosen genre were the most important to conveying the codes of conventions of the genre in their opinions. This allowed me to focus on the extra details in these areas to allow my genre to be portrayed correctly.
As shown in a previous blog post: Collecting the questionnaire answers , I have shown a section in which I presented the answers and data relating to each quantitative question. This is shown below:
This has given me the evidence that I need to focus on the correct characterisation and actors for the parts and narratives. This is due to the fact that most people agreed that acting was the most important.
I have found that from the first presented answer: Most effective factors contributing to the romantic drama genre, shows that acting is the most important part to portraying the genre. This allowed me to choose experienced actors, meaning that they were comfortable with it, and allowed characterisation to come across much easier. This attracted and addressed my audience by allowing the acting to flow so that the content looked more professional comparing it to other already made independent and Hollywood film styles.
Within the second presented answer based on: gender, it allowed me to address my audience through my target demographic from the clear decision that most of the genres attracted fans were female. This allowed me to understand that this genre could be based around the more romantic side of things as well as becoming quite emotive allowing the audience to feel apart of the film in which the Blumer and Katz, Uses and gratifications theory in conformed to. Personal relationships could be developed as well as using this opening sequence as part of diversion and escapism from the real world, however, this could relate more to their needs and experiences than they think which allows the emotive side to enjoy the sequence more.
The third answer shown: Age, allowed me to understand that my opening sequence could correspond to other made movies such as ‘The Vow’ which link to sensitive topics similar to the one within mine involving car accidents. This is due to the fact that the ages shown were mostly in the category of 12-18 with a few outliers of under 12. This is all based on upbringing and maturity. However, the legal classification ratings are suitable as a 12 rating.
These link together to create the basis to my narrative of the final opening and title sequence as they link to the themes and context within the film opening that are suitable to the audience.
Throughout, I have understood how audience profiling and classification is relevant and depends on the age range of an audience. I was able to make these decisions based on the fact that the narrative of the opening sequence includes sensitive topics such as the ending. This could upset some ages which is why I set the classification as a 12, at this age it is mature and understandable, also, I looked at the classification for “The Vow”, which is a 12A featuring similar opening content.
This classification relates to genre ideas and establishment due to the idea that I thought the romantic drama genre was more mature with the narrative dealing with sensitive topics however it is still seen as a “soppy” genre in which females are more drawn too.
Throughout the course, I have researched various films in order to view how professional they look. This is only successful due to the distribution part of the process making the film either independent or Hollywood. This is down to the money and budget spent on the overall process of planning, making, post production, marketing and distributing. I have researched Hollywood film openings in comparison to independent openings in previous blog posts: Vertigo Films, Film Distribution, British Film Institute.
Vertigo films (previous blog post):
Film Distribution (previous blog post):
British film institute (previous blog post):
The difference between Hollywood and independent films is down to marketing mostly due to the money spent. However, in some cases, it is about spreading the word through viral marketing, which is how the film gets promoted. This is how films like ‘Iron Sky’, developed through independent film companies such as Blindspot pictures.
I have named my production company ‘Cat and Dog Productions’ based on an independent distribution company. I have gone through the same process as an independent film company technically. This is due to the fact that my shots are less cinematic and professional than Hollywood films due to the lack of equipment and facilities compared to them that I had. I however, created a film opening with what I had which is similar to an independent distributed film.
To make my ident, I had an idea based around the production company name in which I thought of showing a dog chasing a cat. This is a realistic event that occurs in which i have chosen to animate. This allowed me to develop my skills in different software such as adobe photoshop and After Effects as well as developing my skills and knowledge within animation. I analysed the movement of cats and dogs, as i have recorded on previous blog posts: Animating process, Film ident: Analysing animal movements.
I firstly drew each movement of the dog and cats individually on photoshop and pieced them together to look like they were chasing each other. This was made accurate based on the analysis i had carried out through primary and secondary sources. This was made professional and into a film clip within adobe After effects in order to become the ident.
I have viewed a few independent and Hollywood dents to see if there is a theme used. The only thing is make the wording bold and noticeable, this will allow the company to seem memorable.
All of these ident’s include movement through animation which inspired me to have a go at creating an animated ident. Overall, I feel this makes the production company seem more realistic and cinematic because it is a set animation that has a theme of its own therefore it can suit all genre films in terms of different setting, media (cartoon, film) and identification. This is what the production company is known for whether they are big or independent!
I think when watching this opening sequence, there seems to be nothing noticeable going on however, subtly there is a common social issue shown based on social groups.
This narrative is based around the characterisation of a common social group of young adults. This may seem very common however within the narrative, I have focused on characterisation in terms of costume and location to determine the portrayal of modern societies idea of young adults. In my sequence, the young couple are shown through the use of taking care of their appearance as explained in a previous blog post: Ideas for costume and Props. This shows that modern society is full of issues such as appearance being perfected. Although this can’t be informed directly through the opening sequence, the problems within the relationship shown through the attitude the female character portrays to her husband. This shows (especially with the end event), how their is still the idea of new life experience as adults and taking things for granted. With this social group, there are so many problems and concerns that concentration is lost from being overwhelmed. This is presented with the end event in my opening sequence.
From the visible location set in a family house, you can see that the family is of middle class. This is reinforced through the location on the outside with the idea that they live in a rural area amongst fields. This could show that finance is an awareness within the social group always from things such as student debt etc.
I have created a slide share on stereotypical ideology of young adults which can be subvert in some ways to how I have portrayed them.
Throughout the process of planning, filming and editing my opening sequence I have referred to already made Hollywood and even independent films. This has allowed me to create a more realistic view on narrativeestablishing characterisation and ideologies presented too. I have found that makes the sequence look more professional through this understanding of when cuts are used to present different thoughts and emotions in the audiences head.
An example is with the end scene of my opening in which there has clearly been an accident involving the main character and a car. Despite this not being shown happening, this is established through long slow shots jump cutting between before and after the accident. This adds suspense whilst the audience have understood what has happened through comparing their knowledge from other films similar to this. This is mostly sure to the black scene representing the POV of the character.
Here, I have compared The Vow to my opening sequence in the end opening scenes with a car accident. This allows the focus between both to be portrayed building up emotion and narrative. This links the genre and ideology between representations of youth therefore creating awareness.
Visualisation and style
Part of creating a visual style is to create an outcome of developed ideology, characterisation and narrative. This can be done through, costume and location. I have covered them in previous blog posts: location and costume. This overall can show a variety of representations and ideology determining characterisation through social class, dress, emotions and attitudes. In this case, the husband goes on a cycle route nearby a field which can portray that the family live in a rural area. Stereotypically, houses in rural suburbs would be of the middle class social group. This can allow more people to identify with the social group and therefore overall sequence and narrative.
All of these qualities determine the overall genre look to convey to the codes and conventions of certain genres. I have completed previous genre research: Genre in which I have based the planning for my opening sequence around. This especially meant the locations, characterisation establishment and narrative.
Title Sequence
Whilst researching and planning the title sequence, I established characterisation through location and props. I have previously blogged this research: Analysis of Se7en Title Sequence, Analysis of Catch Me If You Can Title Sequence. This allowed me to view different styles. Also, I decided to create a homely environment portrayed through the use of a single shot and different camera angles in one movement. This, I compared to ‘Father of the bride (1991)’. The reasoning behind every item was explained in a previous blog post too: The reasons for everything I’ve used
I have created a table to show the similarities and focus between both, my sequence and ‘Father of the Bride’ sequence:
Location (previous blog posts):
Costume (previous blog posts):
Link to above shown video:
Genre (previous blog posts):
Analysis of Se7en title sequence (previous blog post):
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Link to above shown video:
Analysis of Catch me if you can title sequence (previous blog post):
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The reasons behind everything I’ve used (previous blog post):
I have received feedback on the final edit of my opening sequence in which I was advised to improve on a a few things including sound which would help to make the overall piece look cinematic.
I have finally finished editing the opening sequence meaning that I have put the ident together with it:
This final version included the ident at the beginning which I repeated the animation and looped the sound 3 times in order to stay on screen longer and become more memorable. During my research, I found that idents are memorable and don’t link to the film at all as they represent the production companies which can produce any genre.
When it came to adding the ident, I couldn’t find the original files as they were on a mac at school from when i had used after effects. To overcome this, I used quicktime playerscreen recording and audio recording to record the ident from my uploaded video on youtube. I then cut around this and edited it to sound better and fluent. This involved cutting and trimming some parts of the original clip down in order to create continuity between the footage of the animation.
Overall, I am happy with the outcome due to the fact that I was able to change the timings and shorten it. This made the whole narrative seem less boring and gave the audience more suspense. I feel as though this was mostly down to editing in different ways with different techniques and cuts to establish these themes.
Caitlin Jones 