response to group choice

after choosing our genre as thriller for our opening film sequence we then had to come up with different ideas for the plot of our film. we all contributed different ideas until we came up with something we all agreed on. we chose to do something quite creepy and abnormal as we feel we can create more suspense and tension to fulfil our thriller. our opening sequence consists of the idea of a paedophile who deceives a teenager by pretending to be someone else. i think that if we think about it further we can be very inventive with our idea and use various techniques to create suspense. i am happy with our chosen idea as we all contributed to the final idea and we all agree that it is a good idea that we can work on together.

response to brief

we have been asked to create our own opening film sequence using our own ideas and thoughts. in our group, we all submitted creative ideas that we thought would work until we all came to a conclusion. firstly we decided on a genre that we thought we could be most creative with and have the most fun working on. we chose thriller because we are all fans of scary films and we had some very imaginative ideas within this genre. i am happy that we got given this task as it is more of a challenge than our preliminary task and also will be more exciting as it is all down to us as a group and working well together. i also really enjoy thriller and horror films and i think it is very exciting that we are able to create our own film opening.

Legally Blonde - opening sequence analysis (till 3.16)

The opening of Legally Blonde instantly sets the genre of a film as a clear romantic comedy due to the instant credits that appear over the blonde hair that fills the screen as the film begins. The credits are in curly girlish white writing outlined in a bright pink glow. Also the non-diegetic music is pop music that starts straight away which helps to convey the genre. The opening sequence helps to keep the viewers intrigued almost instantly due to the fact it hides the character to begin with, we don't get to see her face just what she is doing. We see the character do typical girlish things such as brush her hair, paint her nails and shave her legs as the credits are still running. The time in the opening sequence has been compressed slightly and it shows a montage of different scenes put together. The lyrics from the music 'perfect day' suggest something about a prefect life as we see in the beginning lots of people being happy in the sun and the main character being 'perfect' as she is getting herself ready. A lot of the cinematography connotes the romantic feel with all of the pink and the fact they are in a sorority house full of girls. Also there is dancing and fashion and relationship ideas introduced through people and objects that can be seen within the scenes. The opening sequence is filled with stereotypical 'american teenager' ideas such as the riding the bike in the sun, getting ready with all the makeup and the small dog and the sorority house etc which makes it very clear and it is obvious that the genre is not being kept a mystery from the audience. The credits have been placed over the top of the filming making them stand out clearer and easy to read and focus on. This opening uses cross cutting and a parallel narrative to show different things happening in different places at the same time, showing the sense of journey though and giving a perception of time within the film. The continuity editing is invisible and you do not actually realise that the scenes are changing as it is so smooth and doesn't have a sense of jumping at all.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 - opening sequence analysis (till 1.46)

This opening sequence starts with diegetic sound that as it fades out turns into non-diegetic sound which is hardly noticeable as the tone of both sounds is quite deep and low. The films starts with being introduced to a character almost instantly which is clearly not human. This suggests the film is some sort of action or thriller which can also be seen by the extreme low lighting and the darkness and loneliness of the character we see. The character then uses his wand and shoots a light at the sky which enables us to see the details on the characters face much clearer. Then an extreme long shot is shown to show the effect and how large the light was that came out of the wand. The colour from the light is the first bright colour we see in the opening sequence which then fades into clouds and the producer logo appears. The Warner.Bros sign is also dark and eerie fitting in with the theme portrayed in the film so far and as it is introduced the non-deigetic sound begins which is orchestral but very solemn and quiet. The Warner.Bros sign is within the clouds and it gets bigger and bigger until the camera looks like it is going through the middle of it which is when we are introduced to the next scene, through clouds again. It is still dark and more characters are being introduced as we see some sort of creatures hovering around a building. There is very little light and the whole scene is very silhouetted with just the block of the objects being clear and no detail revealed. This helps to keep the viewers intrigued as little information is being given. The scene sharply changes into another silhouette  of a man standing in what seems to be a big window or doorway as the music carries on. A low angle shot is then used so we see the face and identity of the figure in the hallway. As a low angle shot is used it gives the impression he is an important character who has authority. Then a high angle shot is used straight after to show what seems to be a large number of students walking in an orderly manner in a big courtyard and then a close up of the character seen just before showing an expressionless face which suggests the character before is in control of all the people. At this point in the opening sequence there is only negative connotations with nothing happy or bright. The close up fades to black for a few seconds and the non-diegetic orchestral music becomes louder and heavier but still eerie and reasonably slow. The title of the film then fades into focus through clouds which have been used frequently in the opening sequence possible connoting something to do with the sky for later on in the film. The title of the film slowly starts to fill up the frame as it gets bigger and bigger creating emphasis and making sure it has been seen. The same thing then happens again as the camera moves through the title as it did with the Warner.Bros sign and this time fades into a lighter lit scene showing a gravestone in sand and at the same time the music changes to a higher tone slightly. We then see another character holding a piece of broken glass which shows danger and the face seen in the glass changes from one to another. This creates a sense of suspicion for the audience as it is quite unclear as to what is going on. We then get shown an establishing long shot to show the scene where there is a beach and a just one house on it which shows the lonely theme again as it is a single house and we can only see one character within the whole frame. The lighting in this scene is very different to everything seen before and the title etc. I think this opening sequence shows the main genre and theme of the film at the very beginning to make it clear for the audience and then moves onto the actual story after the title is introduced which creates the audience to be intrigued as they have an idea of what sort of things could happen but then the mood shown changes completely.

Children of Men - opening sequence analysis

The opening of Children of Men begins with diegetic sound but with black filling the screen. This could confuse the audience to begin with as all they can hear is sound but not where it is coming from. As the film actually begins the sound fits into the image and although we cannot see the source of the sound we can see a group of people in a confined space looking up at where it is coming from. From the expressions on their faces you can instantly tell that something bad has happened, as well as the fact that the words being said coming from the source which we cannot see are explaining a terrible event. The room is quite low lit and it is not very bright. It seems the saturation in the picture is also quite low creating a dreary worn out look at times which helps to connote the sad aurora. As a character enters in too what seems to be a coffee shop he is the first person to talk and is in the centre of the frame which suggests he is an important character amongst the crowd. We are then shown a low angle shot of what seems to be what the crowd of people in the shop were so intrigued with; what looks like a tv or screen showing a news channel. Information is shown on the screen which helps to set the scene and time period of the film and also that there is a world crisis going on. From the news channel we have been shown information from a source within the film world. As the news channel carries on playing the non-diegetic sound begins as a song plays with a sad tone to it to accompany the atmosphere in the room. The character we were introduced to then walks out of the coffee shop and the camera follows him out but it seems as if it could be a point of view shot the whole time he is being followed giving the suggestion that he is actually being followed which creates more questions for the audience and suspicion. as the camera follows the man outside the coffee shop, the audience are first introduced to the outside and the surroundings as a date appears which sets the time period very specifically for the audience and also the location which can also be seen by the stereotypical red bus that goes past. By this point the  music has stopped and only diegetic sound can be heard such as people talking, traffic and general city noises. As the man stops and pours something into his coffee, the camera moves around him to the other side and moves away slightly. as the focus is still on him it creates tension as it moves away. Then suddenly as the explosion occurs and he runs back from shock, the camera also does slightly still following him like a shadow. The explosion creates a loud sound and then other noises unheard before such as screaming and an alarm start as the camera then moves away from the man and toward the explosion, slightly shakily, so again looks like a point of view shot. The frame fills with white smoke from the explosion and you see a silhouette of what looks like a woman carrying her own leg walk out of the building. You can also hear ringing and as the scene sharply changes to a black screen with the title 'children of men' in bold capital letters, the ringing can still be heard. The title is bold and clear making a statement and the colours contrast which is different from the colouring of the film which is dull and spooky and almost dirty which cold represent what the country had turned into. The opening sequence connotes action and tension with the sad news and the big explosions and the way that London is portrayed is very different to how it is which also may interest people as it is something new and very abnormal to them.

Phantom of the Opera opening - Lighting and Colour analysis (up to 1.08)

As the phantom of the opera starts the credits start to set the scene with the writing lit up with a glowing yellow/gold around them. This creates an eerie and spooky effect before the film begins. A candle appears and lights up the credits, creating a spooky effect again and giving the audience an idea of what sort of film is yet to follow. Then as the film begins, all colours are lost and it is now shown in black and white. This shows time changing and sets the timing for the film. The black and white film is neutrally lit with not much contrast and is relatively grainy and musty, adding to the time setting of 1919.

There is still no colour shown as the film focuses on the auction until the chandelier of the Phantom of the Opera is being sold. When this happens and it is pulled up, it pulls up colour with it and everything is enhanced with bright colours. It is emphasized and shows the importance of the chandelier right at the beginning. The room where the auction is held is turned into a theatre and deep reds, gold and other bright colours are all used which can represent wealth, royalty and importance as they are rich colours.

The colour change shows the clear division between the scenes and the time settings. The black and white grainy film that changes into bright colours that are rich and important also brings the fact that the chandelier from the phantom of the opera is important and powerful as when it was raised and pulled up it pulled up the colours as well showing that it is a powerful tool within the film and a main part. As the colour is pulled up by the chandelier, the room is lit up with bright gold lights also. This creates a warmer and busier feeling of the room and takes it from the cold black and white scenes into the busy colourful film that’s to follow.

preliminary task - feed the fish

We had to do a preliminary task where we had to create a short film called 'feed the fish'. We were given a script to follow and had too think of a creative way to work around it. We decided to not take the title literally and instead we used 'the fish' as a person held captive. As this was our first proper filming task there was a lot of things we learnt from it and a lot of things that could of been improved although I think we achieved a positive outcome and learnt about the roles and responsibilities we needed in teamwork. We achieved a variety of different camera shots in our film such as high angle shot when looking at the image of the next victim. The shot is of the photo being slammed down onto the table and the image is clearly circled in red and labelled victim which connotes danger and the idea of child abuse and kidnapping. We used continuity editing during the conversation between the two people as we originally filmed it as the actors reading their whole scripts and in both sitting in the same place. Some aspects of this have shown through and creates an unrealistic effect and we have learnt we need to think more carefully about what can be seen in the whole shot. We also used a panning shot to show the character running up the stairs which means we see the whole journey of her running making the fact she is in a rush much more obvious and clear. We faced a variety of problems during our preliminary task to do with filming, editing and managing time. We lost some of our footage when downloading it onto the computer and we did not have enough time to re-do it before the deadline so unfortunately we had to do without. We also had difficulty with filming because we had little time when we could all be together meaning we had to make individual decisions at times without consulting the rest of our group, the same applied to the editing. We also forgot things such as a title and credits etc which did not matter to much for this task but we must pay a lot of attention too in the future. Overall I think we completed the task well and we did have everything done for the deadline and we were the only group who managed to do that showing we do work well together and we have responsibilty. Although we faced difficulties we learnt a lot which we can apply to coming tasks.

introduction to myself

My name is Grace Ellen Jane Child and i am currently studying media AS level at Coombe Girls school. The media as a whole interests me a lot and i have always been passionate about films and photography. I have made my own films before and I have worked on film sets for work experience both in London and Washington DC in America. My experiences working with film and photography before have made me more enthusiastic about filming and studying media.I am very excited about this media course and the challenges and tasks i will be faced with during it. I will use this blog to document my research and display the tasks i face during this course and my feelings towards what i have achieved.