HOW SUCCESSFUL OUR PROJECT IS AS A FILM OPENING

FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF OUR FILM OPENING SLIDES

These are the slides I created on the forms and conventions of our film opening, Erica:

MAKING OUR SECOND IDENT

10/2/15 | CONSTRUCTION | MAKING OUR SECOND IDENT

Today Amber, Harriet and I decided to make a second ident using iStopMotion. We wanted this one to be different from our first one to provide contrast, so for this one we used an ornate fan. The fan would open and when it closed it would revealed the name of our production company. Because of this we decided to call our company ‘Revealed Productions’. Like before, we used dafont.com to find a suitable font. We chose one that was an oriental style to go with the oriental theme of the fan.

This is the font we chose. We had to size it carefully to ensure it fitted beneath the fan and remained hidden until we wanted to reveal it.

 This was the way we set up the camera and the fan. We had to set it up carefully to ensure everything was in shot.

  

This was me opening and closing the fan to practise how to make the fan move slowly to make the animation look smooth and realistic. 

X MEN EXAM QUESTIONS

1.    Explain 2 ways in which the narrative (characters and events) fits the action and adventure genre. Use examples from the extract.

The extract is a fantasy-superhero action adventure hybrid. I know this because the people in it have supernatural powers, such as Quicksilver slowing down time. It displays typical codes and conventions of this genre, such as speed and motion. Time is slowed down in the extract as Quicksilver races around the room. The bullets fired from the guns stop moving in mid-air and objects falling, like the oven trays and pans full of soup, hang in the air. Quicksilver runs around the room at a normal speed, showing his power to control speed and time. Combat and conflict is another typical convention shown in the extract. The soldiers hold guns and fire them at the men at the door, showing conflict between the two groups.

There are also typical action and adventure characters in the extract. For example, Quicksilver is an archetypal heroic protagonist. He saves the lives of the men by the door, including Wolverine, by using his powers to move the bullets on their path to kill them. This is a heroic act. He also stops the soldiers from attacking them again by making the soldiers punch themselves or fall over. These acts of heroism construct Quicksilver as the heroic protagonist, as well as his heroic qualities such as the fact he is calm, cool and collected under pressure, never displaying signs of panic. However, as he causes harm to others like the soldiers, even willing to kill suggests he could be an anti-hero. There are also villainous antagonists; the soldiers. They are constructed as antagonists because they are trying to kill the hero, Quicksilver, by shooting him as well as trying to kill his friends. They also vastly outnumber the hero and his friends they are trying to attack, positioning them as antagonists.

2.    Explain how the following are used to create effects, using examples from the extract:

·        Soundtrack

There is non-diegetic sound in the form of the music when Quicksilver runs around the room. The music is calm and delicate, with an acoustic guitar; it is not fast paced or dramatic. This creates the effect of a contrast between the life threatening situation he is in and the calm way he deals with it using his superpowers. It is an almost comical effect as the contrast is so great.

There are also diegetic sounds such as when time speeds up the sounds of the metal and glass hitting the floor and shattering. This loud, crashing sound is violent and brings the audience back to the real time action. The suddenness of the sound also highlights Quicksilver’s powers over time. 

·        Editing

There is CGI, such as all the objects being suspended in the air, like the bullets and the pots and pans. This emphasises the extraordinary powers that Quicksilver has as he can change and move things before they fall to the ground.

Slow motion is also used, for example, while Quicksilver is running around the walls it slows down as he sticks his finger in some soup. This emphasises his calm and collected manner as he stops to try food. It shows how he has complete control over the situation.

·        Camera work

There is a close up of Quicksilver’s face putting on a hat and then suddenly speeding away. The effect of this is to show how quickly Quicksilver can move; he is there one minute and gone the next.

There is also a bird’s eye view shot to show everyone and everything falling down to the ground, demonstrates the hero’s powers and the huge effect he can have. It contrasts with the situation before (the X men were going to die) and shows how Quicksilver has managed to turn the situation around using his incredible skill. It also heightens the drama as the huge impact of what he has done at the speed of light hits the audience.

·        Mise-en-scene

The extract is set in a kitchen, full of dangers objects like pots, pans, knives. This heightens the tension and drama as it sets up a dangerous situation full of potential hazards, creating suspense. The risk is high and this makes it more suspenseful for the audience watching, therefore engaging them in the action.

Quicksilver wears a leather jacket, a hat and dark glasses. The dark clothes create the effect of a mysterious being, which is built on by the fact he has these supernatural abilities. It constructs Quicksilver as a supernatural, maybe even dangerous but incredible character and so makes him interesting to the audience.

CONSTRUCTION: MAKING OUR PRODUCTION IDENT

In today's lesson we created our production ident for our film company, which we had already decided would be called Vault 15 Productions. We printed off a picture of a vault door and our production company name in a font we felt suited our production company's messages and values: it was bold, clear but unique with the angular letters. We used a website called Dafont (www.dafont.com) to generate our production company logo.
Our idea for our ident was to have a vault door spinning and then opening (which we would use StopMotion for), with our production company name around it. This is what we created; we had to use two copies of the picture to make the  animation appear real. We had to use a scalpel and board to cut out the handles of the vault so we could make it turn in our animation. To make the animation look effective, we had to make sure the image stayed in the same place and that we used slow, smooth, small movements so the animation flowed.

INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXTS: QI AND THE IT CROWD

QI

Institutional contexts:

•                  The media channels‘/stations’ brand identities

 •                  The media channels’/stations’ ethos and histories (only relevant if they affect   programmes)

 •                  Regulatory (eg Public Service Broadcasting) requirements

QI is broadcast on Dave and BBC 2. Dave used to be called UKTV but re branded as Dave in 2007 to create a 'strong and noisy personality'. This new brand identity was based on the idea that 'everybody knows a bloke called Dave' to make the channel more relatable and memorable to its viewers, and give the channel a 'personality'. Dave shows programmes such as QI, Mock the Week and Have I Got News For You. Dave's brand slogan is 'the home of witty banter' and shows predominantly comedy programmes, such as QI. 

On the other hand, BBC 2 is a Public Service Broadcaster; it's aim is 'to inform, educate and entertain'. QI fits well with this remit, as it covers a range of 'quite interesting' information about subjects like history, science, nature and food. At the moment QI is on it's twelfth series (Series L). It is shown on BBC 2 every Thursday at 22:00 and 23:05 and every Friday at 22:00 and 23:05. Many QI repeats are shown on Dave regularly, for example on Tuesdays at 20:00, 21:00 and 22:00; as well as at 03:15, 04:15, 21:00 and 22:00 on Wednesdays; additionally it's shown on Saturdays at 21:05 and 22:30

 •                  The media channels’/stations’ target audiences.

BBC 2's remit is 'to be a mixed-genre channel appealing to a broad adult audience with programmes of depth and substance. It should carry the greatest amount and range of knowledge building programming of any BBC television channel, complemented by distinctive comedy, drama and arts programming.' QI fits this remit very well because it offers a range of knowledge and trivia on multiple subjects, as well as incorporating humour to appeal to a wide range of people. 

Dave describes their target audience as a 'core 16-34 male audience'. QI's broad range of topics and humour makes it a suitable programme for such a large age group: young men as well as older ones. Stereotypically, QI would appeal to a male audience as there is a lot of slapstick and often crude jokes. 

The IT Crowd

Institutional contexts:

•                  The media channels‘/stations’ brand identities

 •                  The media channels’/stations’ ethos and histories (only relevant if they affect   programmes)

 •                  Regulatory (eg Public Service Broadcasting) requirements

The IT Crowd is broadcast on Channel 4; a Public Service Broadcaster. 

"The public service remit for Channel 4 is the provision of a broad range of high quality and diverse programming which, in particular:

• demonstrates innovation, experiment and creativity in the form and content of programmes;
• appeals to the tastes and interests of a culturally diverse society;
• makes a significant contribution to meeting the need for the licensed public service channels to include programmes of an educational nature and other programmes of educative value; and
• exhibits a distinctive character."

The IT Crowd suits this remit because it appeals to a niche audience and focuses on an original 'situation' as part of the situation comedy: an IT department of a big business. Because of its ingenuity as a programme and the niche brand of humour, the IT Crowd also fits the remit as having a 'distinctive character'. The IT Crowd had four series as well as a special; repeats are not currently being aired. 

 •                  The media channels’/stations’ target audiences.

According to Channel 4, 'Audiences lie at the heart of everything we do at Channel 4. Our unique model means that we aim to have as wide an appeal as possible while also reaching out to specific demographics under-served by other broadcasters' 
The IT Crowd suits this target audience because of its niche audience it reaches out to 'specific demographics'; people a sophisticated brand of humour that is often subtle and clever, not just slapstick or physical. Channel 4 appeals to both males and females of a broad age range; The IT Crowd suits this because the comedy is not rude or offensive and can be watched by a family audience. 

CONSTRUCTION POSTS

These are my two posts on construction; the filming of our film opening, Erica. We have to get a couple more shots before we can edit, so I don't have an editing post yet but these are the two posts on constructing our films so far.

29/10/14 | PRODUCTION | FILMING

Over this half term break Harriet, Amber and I met up and filmed for a day. We filmed using a Canon 550D video camera and a tripod to create steady shots. We filmed several quick shots from when Erica (played by me) is at home and going to bed, when she gets back up and escapes out of her window and when she comes back to her room again and goes back to bed. Amber was in charge of makeup, I contributed costumes and Harriet did a lot of the actual filming. We all contributed in setting up shots as we each had our own ideas as to how to construct each shot and we each had a turn at filming. Amber did a lot of directing the shots.

We spent 4 hours filming these scenes as we tried to get the same shot from different angles and shot types to make the film more interesting and draw attention to certain shots. Overall this filming was successful as we managed to film quite a lot of the shots we needed and included a range of shot types such as close ups, mid shots and mid-long shots in order to add interest to our film.

3/1/15 | PRODUCTION | FILMING

Today Harriet, Amber, Nikki Granger and I met up at Harriet’s house to do some more filming for our film opening, Erica. We filmed using a Canon 550D video camera. One problem we faced was that as we were filming after dark the lighting wasn't very good, however we overcame this problem by using torches to create eerie lighting, and this worked quite well. We did not use a tripod for these scenes as we wanted them to be handheld so they were disorienting and created a spooky atmosphere. We filmed a lot of shots for the main part of the opening, when my character Erica is walking down the street, sees Nikki’s character being bullied by Amber and Harriet’s characters, and then stalks and kills them. Amber again did the makeup for the scenes and both me and Amber helped style hair as part of the costumes, for example I gave Nikki plaits to make her look young and innocent. Amber and Harriet directed most of the shots but we all contributed our own ideas. We also all took a turn filming. I was mainly responsible for organizing getting everyone together and finding someone to play Faith (Nikki’s character). 

We spent 3 hours filming these scenes and I feel it was successful. We got a range of shot types such as canted angles, close ups and tracking shots.