Q2-44 : FILM OPENING PROJECT 2008/9

Screenshots

2009-03-13T08:07:00.001-07:00

2009-03-13T08:06:00.001-07:00

Evaluation

2009-03-10T04:16:00.000-07:00

Cruorem: Final Cut

2009-03-06T07:45:00.001-08:00

Narrative

2009-03-03T04:16:00.000-08:00

It’s been 2 months since it happened. A single night, which can alter your destiny, your determination and your desire, I never believed until now. Weeks of sleepless nights, I’m always looking over my shoulder. The feeling of being watched is something I can’t shake off, some people might call it paranoia but I think it must be something different.Something. Something else?.

Rough Cut Feedback

2009-03-03T04:08:00.000-08:00

Positives:

Music fitted the scenes and worked well
Diegetic sound worked in places e.g. crows in the background and the wind in places
Titles worked both against te graveyard and in black and white
Liked it when cameras slowed down
The effects used on the clip to make it look dark - thought it was effective
Looked like an actual opening sequence

Negatives:

The ending looked a bit rough because it just stopped
Some diegetic sound didn't work
I doesn't necessarily show a supernatural sound

To make the sequence seem more supernatural we are now going to add a voice over to explain more what's going on and reveal the storyline a bit further. It will also highlight the supernatural side to the clip.
Also, we are going to look at the diegetic sound in the clip to make sure it fits with the music too, maybe turn down the levels of it.

Rough Cut

2009-03-03T02:56:00.000-08:00

Sound

2009-02-27T07:17:00.001-08:00

We created our soundtrack to the opening sequence using Garageband. We used different emotional piano sounds against effected drums to add an emotional, yet edgy feel to the film.

We also added some sound effects of birds to the background in the graveyard scenes to add atmospheric sounds that added to the sinister tone of the opening.

Editing

2009-02-27T07:00:00.000-08:00

We wanted to make our footage appear as if it was filmed in the night. Whilst filming we decided not to film our actual footage in the night because we thought that we would have trouble seeing the footage and that the quality of the video would be poor.
When editing the footage, we used the effect 'river rock studios - day for night' to give the impression that the film was shot in the dark. However, we faced some problems with doing this as some of the footage appeared darker than others, causing it to be too dark to see. To overcome this problem we used the effect of 'Brightening and Contrasting' to alter the clip's light so that it could be seen. Although, while doing this we had to be careful not to brighten the clip too much so that it would look dissimilar to the other clips.
We also used fading on some of the clips so that it gave a more smooth sequence instead of immediately flicking into different scenes and shots.

Feedback

2009-01-30T07:52:00.000-08:00

Positive

The class liked the soundtrack, as it was effective for the supernatural atmosphere.
The drawings explained the genre and the story in brief detail.

Negative

The titles dragged on a bit. However it only seemed long as we didn't have music or a narrative on top of the titles, which we plan to do.

Costume Ideas

2009-01-28T02:00:00.000-08:00

Costume List

2009-01-28T01:31:00.000-08:00

Main Character:

Boots
Black Jeans
Leather Coat/Jacket
Eyeliner
White foundation
Black Top

First male character:

Black Hoodie
Jeans
Eyeliner
White foundation

Gang:

Dark Hoodies
Jeans

Second male character:

Black T-shirts/hoodie
Dark Jeans
Eyeliner
White foundation

Third male character:

Long leather coat
Black shirt
Black Jeans
Eyeliner
White foundation

Anamatic

2009-01-28T01:18:00.000-08:00

This is our finished anamatic.

Shot List

2009-01-28T01:16:00.000-08:00

Long shot
Close up of hand
Close ups
Over the shoulder shot
Medium shot
Wide shot
Tracking shot
Action shot
Reaction shot
Group shot

We are going to break the 180 degree rule to add disorientation to our opening sequence.

Title List

2009-01-27T03:03:00.000-08:00

- Cruorem
- Hayden Jones
- Hugh Cline
- Chelsea Reeves
- Ray Jackson
- Directed by Frank Lopez
- Produced by Mark Lincoln

Logo

2009-01-23T07:44:00.000-08:00

Titles

2009-01-23T07:29:00.000-08:00

We have named our film 'Cruorem', whch means 'blood' in Latin. Our titles are very simplistic on a black background using the font 'Herculanem'.

Mood Board

2009-01-23T07:25:00.000-08:00

Storyline

2009-01-23T06:51:00.001-08:00

The opening is going to begin with white titles on a black background, which is very simplistic but effective. We are also going to have titles in some of the shots establishing the character. The scene is going to start in a graveyard where the lead character is visiting her sister’s gravestone, who she believes is dead but later in the film we find out she’s actually a vampire. The leading character can only remember the events of the last 2 days. After she has visited the grave, she then walks back home through the centre of town. During the time she notices some unusual things. People seem to be staring at her everywhere she goes but she doesn’t know why.

The storyline of the film is that at the beginning she is slowly turning into vampire. This happened 2 days previously at a rave when she was with her sister. Her sister died but she somehow managed to survive. The vampires are now out to get her as she appears ‘special’, but to begin with she doesn’t know, which is why she keeps getting strange looks everywhere she goes. Eventually, she starts to get flashback s of the night that she was bitten by a vampire and the brutal death of her sister by them. It is this that makes her want revenge and therefore leads her to fight the vampire race alone.

Blade

2009-01-20T03:46:00.000-08:00

Similar to Blade, we are going to have the leading character fighting against other vampires to protect the human race. We like the camerawork used in this clip as it makes the vampires stand out by focusing on them for longer, and use slow motion too. Also, the way blade is revealed slowly rather than just showing him in one shot.

Possible Locations

2009-01-20T03:10:00.000-08:00

Graveyard
City Scape
Forest
Warehouse
Alley way

Catwoman

2009-01-16T07:57:00.000-08:00

She sees a cat at her windowsill and she thinks it is stuck, so she attempts to rescue it. After she is spotted by the public, a detective thinks she is committing suicide but she explains the story to him and they form a friendship.
After being murdered, she is brought back to life by the temple cat she saw earlier, because the cat was moved by the fact that she risked her own life for it. The cat is actually The Egyptian goddess Bast. The Egyptian Mau is the leader of several feline deities such as Sekhmet and Mafdet. When she wakes up, she is transformed into Catwoman, a warrior with the force of a cat, who prowls the night in search of justice. The Catwomen were also meant to teach a life lesson to all humanity: There is no pure good or evil. There is no black or white, We are all grey beings. This is shown when she stops two men when they rob a bank in the middle state of the film. Her behavior becomes cat-like, and she gains heightened reflexes, senses, and physical power.

Underworld

2009-01-16T07:55:00.000-08:00

In Underworld the narrative is about a war between Vampires and Lycans(werewolves). The opening sequence immediately starts with a fight between the two. The opening sets the scene for the rest of the film, as the weather is stormy and the overall scene features quite dark colours, often associated with the supernatural. This film shows a strong woman character as the lead, Celene who is a vampire.
In the opening, Celene acts as the narrator to begin with, explaining the conflict between the two species. We like the idea of having a narrative beginning to our opening sequence.

Supernatural Thriller Conventions

2009-01-16T07:35:00.000-08:00

-Strong female character
-Often at night/stormy weather
-Supernatural powers
-Good vs Evil
-Elements of horror genre
-Ghosts, vampires etc.
-Questions???

A supernatural thriller is a film where the main character finds out some sort of unnatural powers they have i.e. Carrie being possessed by satin. Normally death and blood is involved throughout the film.

My film analysis

2009-01-16T07:08:00.000-08:00

Tony Montana is the main character in Scarface. He is a political prisoner who has escaped from Cuba to get away from Castro’s regime of communism; he was after the American Dream. He fought his way to the top where he has a cocaine empire in Miami; he started of with small jobs but eventually rose to being one of the wealthiest and dangerous men in Miami.
In the opening scene to Scarface, it’s not like any other gangster/thriller film. It shows the political history in Cuba, and shows Cubans escaping to America, Shows Castro’s speech to support communism and to those who oppose it. At the very start, a script of what is happening is shown to us, and it says. ‘125,000 refugees have escaped to Florida and 25,000 of them have criminal records’. From this, we know it’s going to be a crime or thriller based film. It uses a ‘This is England’ kind of opening. It has all the events that happened in Cuba in a compilation at the opening scene. This is for us to see the struggle of the Cubans, and their escape to freedom.
Once the opening credits end, it quickly jumps to an interview with the U.S immigration and Tony Montana. The camera focuses a lot on his face, especially his reactions to the questions he’s being asked. Using mainly close ups, some of Tony Montana’s facial features come into the scene. For instance, he has a scar that goes across his eyebrow, hence the film being called Scarface, so the Mise-en-scene is shown then. Also, the camera shows Tony being extremely low; as he answers he always looks up to answer them. This shows that the Immigration officers have a lot more power than Tony at this particular stage. The camera also shows the Officers lower parts of their body, the camera is still hiding the identity of the Officers therefore showing power over Tony. In Scarface, the music being used sounds very Latin American as it’s very lively and simple. The interrogation room is very quiet, and you can only hear questions being asked and questions answered. It uses non-diegetic music at the start of the sequence, it shows the Cubans escaping to Florida, and the music is very lively and flowing. The editing is at a normal pace when the interrogation starts, but as the temperature starts to rise, the flickering between the characters gets quicker therefore causing a lot of tension to arise.
Other Important characters in the film are Manny, Tony’s sidekick, even at this stage; Manny knows what kind of a person Tony is, so doesn’t dare double cross him. Frank Lopez is another that gets introduced to us not far in the film, he recruits Tony, but Tony being mad with power, starts to sit in his boss’ seat. It’s him who gives Tony his first job, the Rubanga hit. We also get introduced to Tony and Manny’s prey, Rubanga. We learnt that he was a rich and wealthy man, but as he double crossed Castro, he had to flee the country and come to America.

The Crow

2009-01-16T07:06:00.000-08:00

In order to analyse the opening sequence of The Crow (Alex Proyas, 1994) I will look at the different micro and macro elements to see how they establish the characters and the narrative.

The opening sequence immediately opens with two titles, stating the main character, Brandon Lee, and then the name of the film, which are the only titles displayed in the opening sequence. This is unusual as an opening sequence often contains many titles. Straight after the titles it cuts to an above, wide shot of the city to establish the setting of the film. The audience is then informed that the date is the 30th October, ‘Devils Night’, or as we know it, Halloween. This instantly suggests that the date is of some significance to the film. The camera then moves above and between the rooftops of tall apartment blocks, creating the effect like it’s flying like a bird, linking to the name of the film ‘The Crow’.

The camera eventually reaches an apartment of which has a broken window, surrounded by paramedics and police, making the film immediately open with action, which will have a definite impact on the storyline. Coming from the apartment is an intense red light, like blood, suggesting that something dreadful has happened within and that it is the scene of a murder investigation. The intensity is added to by flashing cameras taking photos of important evidence, and flickering candles, some of which light up a pumpkin again to show the time of year. It is also the dead of night, which emphasises the events that have taken part. As the camera passes through buildings and rooftops, there are a number of fires, yet none of these appear significant compared to the events that have taken place in one small apartment.

The action is added to by the non-diegetic music, which builds from the simplistic, black and white titles. Diegetic sound is then additionally added, with haunting sirens and radio calls, which adds to the tension and importance of the consequential events. A young girl (Sarah) is also speaking over the top, which we are later introduced to in the opening sequence, who is one of the important characters to the film. She speaks of how a crow will bring a person’s soul back from the dead if it cannot rest to put the wrong things right.

We then find out that the apartment belongs to a couple who were going to get married that same day, Shelly Webster and Eric Draven. An above shot is shown directly looking down at the chaotic scene of ambulances, and a body being covered over, though we can’t see who the body is, we are informed it is Eric due to a conversation between a cop and the young girl, Sarah, after he lied to a dying Shelly that he was ok. As we are not introduced to Eric, this leaves much mystery about his character, giving the impression that it will not be the last we see of him.

Q2-44 FILM OPENING PROJECT

2008-11-28T05:30:00.001-08:00

Welcome