Production Diary Entry 3

      Today Bex and I filmed the over the shoulder shots of the photograph and also the shot of myself all floaty in the distance to crop and use as the long lost sister where we will lower the opacity to make her seem freakily transparent.

      We also did a short voice over that we intend to use for our title sequence that relates to Amelia's emotions as she walks down the Pier and begins to reminisce.

Title

      After searching many font sites via google etc, we have decided to use this old, handwritten font for the title of our sequence. However, we are still deliberating the idea of each letter being written individually on the sequence, yet are just figuring our how to do this!

Production Diary Entry 2

Yesterday was our first day of filming and overall it went pretty well! Today in class we will begin to look into soundtracks and the script needed for Amelia's voice-over.

• What went well

      Low angle shots and reaction shots of Amelia on the Pier went well. 

• What might need improving

      Certain shots where we need to pan, or look over the shoulder for example, any shots where the tripod is needed. So far we have done the reaction shot and a low angle shot of the Pier and our Protagonist walking down, away from the camera.

• Any progression on ideas

      To work on using the idea for opacity changes in showing the girl from the picture to suddenly be stood right in front of Amelia, 

• Any changes to schedule

      Over the weekend we will need to re-shoot a few things, and also do the panning shots from the Pier (now in Weston) of the sea, the view that Amelia takes in when having found the picture.

• How the overall shooting has gone

      Overall the filming in general went quite well, despite the major problem that was the Pier not allowing us to take the Tripod on with us -_-.

Production Diary Entry 1

      Today we were enabled to take the cameras home to begin filming, yet sadly Bex was not in College today. Tomorrow from 12:15 onwards we will get the bus into town, to hop onto another bus to take us into Clevedon and from there we will begin to film our opening sequence. I believe we are all set, everything is planned and we are ready to film. The sound tracks and everything will come afterward and then we are on the roll!

Animatic

      An animatic is the oldest and historically the most popular form of animation. In a traditionally-animated cartoon, each frame is drawn hand by hand. 

Original animatic for Snoopy in Star Wars

      An animatic is produced in the pre-production stages of a film. The director usually meets with the storyboard artist to discuss how the scene's of the film should play out. The end result is a mini-movie, that resembles an animated version of the media product that has yet to be filmed. The animatic, is the chance in which the director is able to be creative and test his idea's through the use of animatic, another advantage of producing an animatic is that a detailed plan of the film can be tested in saving time (and money if a professional production). The animatic can also be a useful tool even when the film is shot, as the animatic can be used as place holders is a part of a scene is to be changed, re-filmed or needs high amount of editing.

Short animatic created for 'Up' 2009

Ours will be updated soon I promise, just waiting to work on the voice-over and upload it from the Mac after Easter...! 

Shooting Schedule

       Here is the schedule we have planned for shooting, the dates which worked best for Bex and I for filming our title sequence. 

Activity in Class

      Today's activity was to look at a few examples of opening title sequence by other media students in previous years. We were told to watch them twice, give them a mark out of 60 and comment on the use of camera, sound, editing, titles and mise-en-scéne. This exercise was very useful in helping me to understand the mark scheme which will later help me to adapt my work to cover all areas of criteria I need to accomplish a good grade. The 5 sections that we were looking at when marking each title sequence were;

1. Camera - Controlled use, attention to framing and variety of shots.
2. Editing - Using selective and appropriate shots, making meaning apparent and successful continuity.
3. Sound - Apprpriate sound effects and sound trace, good sound editing.
4. Mise-en-scéne - Appropriate props and costumes used in creating a realistic atmosphere.
5. Titles - To be used appropriately, according to institutional conventions.

Diary Introduction

      As the time nears for the filming of our title sequence I will now begin to publish a post that will work in effect of a diary entry of what has happened on the date of publishing. Things that will be included will be; 

1. What went well
2. What might need improving
3. Any progression on ideas
4. Any changes to schedule
5. How the overall shooting has gone
6. Techniques used when editing 
7. How the editing went. 

Prop list

The Photo

      This will be our main prop as during the title sequence it will mysteriously have one of the faces scratched out just after Amelia sees it and picks it up. We have considered using a very thin piece of string to make it appear to drift in the wind and land at her feet, as we know the wind on the Pier will not be able to control it so precisely! The other option for us is to move it along the green screen and use this on the Mac to enhance the drifting effect.

Location Scout

      Clevedon Pier is a grade I listed seaside pier in Clevedon, Somerset and has been described by Sir John Betjeman as "the most beautiful pier in England". The Pier was built during the 1860's to attract tourists and provide a ferry port for rail passengers to South Wales. It first opened in 1869 and served as an embarkation point for paddle steamer excursions for almost exactly 100 years with minor alterations and maintenance.    

   

   
Two of the spans collapsed during stress testing in 1970 and demolition was propoed, but local funding and heritage grants allowed the Pier to be dismantled for restoration and reassembled. It reopened in 1989 and ten years later was awarded the Pier of the Year from the National Puers Society and a Civic Trust Award.

 

Welcome to the entrance of Clevedon Pier. This is where we want to film our opening title sequence. We plan for Amelia Western to walk down the Pier, away from the camera on a low angle shot.

 

When she reaches the end of the Pier she will look out across the sea, to admire the view, and notice suddenly a picture on the ground. She picks it up, and with a reaction shot we will shot her face after the high pitched scratching sound to reveal the photograph having now been scratched out on the faces.

Shot list

      One of the most subtle parts of a film is the camera angles and the way those angles influence the viewer's perception of the movie. For example, shots from low angle give the character an impression of power and angles over the shoulder make the viewer feel like they're part of the film/conversation. 

 

Long shot

      Our title sequence begins with a shot looking down the Pier, a low angle as our Protagonist walks away from the camera. 

Eye-line match

      As she notices a picture on the floor, we thought this shot would enable the audience to understand that something just blew up against her feet. It enables the audience to connect with the film.

Over the shoulder

      This shot enables the audience to feel part of the film as they are able to view the picture Amelia just picked up and see what she sees.

Panning Shot

      When Amelia reaches the end of the Pier we use a pan to move from left to right as she looks out to the water. 

Close up

       A close up of Amelia's face enables the audience to see her shock and disbelief of the photo that now has a scratched out face.

Panning shot

      A slight panning shot of Amelia as she turns around, with her back to the Pier only to find herself unable to move forward because of the figure stood in front of her.

Over the shoulder

      We thought with the aim to involve the audience, this shot would work best. They are then able to view the figure standing in front of Amelia. 

Title shot

      We aim to finish with the title: 'The Remaining' being written on the screen, as if by the ghost in a old fashioned hand written font. At the moment we are considering doing it ourselves, yet are not keen on the idea of the hand being visible, so may just look into titles on Final Cut Pro.

Storyboard

     




      Overall I believe we have showed to use a wide variety of shots, as usually found in horror/thriller genre films. It helps to portray the idea and location a lot easier, also including a small control over the audience and their reactions.

      Here the over the shoulder shot enables the audience to see the photograph from the same angle and perspective as the Protagonist. This builds a relationship with the audience as they feel involved in the scene and that nothing is being hidden.















      The reaction shot shows the audience Amelia's face and the shock she will be portraying through strong use of facial expression. The panning shot will be slow, possibly a bit etchy, yet used with a steadicam as Amelia turns around to view the figure soon to be infront of her.

Ideas 7th February 2013

      Today while writing up our storyboard we had a few ideas into the voice over for our title sequence. We looked back over at the quotes Bex had researched and decided that the first one: "If anything is true after you are born, it is that you have to die". 

      A good idea that came to mind was to split this dialogue between our two characters; Amelia and Esme. We plan for our protagonist Amelia to say the majority as she turns around to walk away, forcefully stopped by the girl that stands in front of her, Esme who finishes her sentence. 

     Also known as 'off-camera' or 'off-stage commentary', a voice over is a production technique where a voice - that is not part of the narrative (non-diegetic) - is used in any form of presentation. It is pre-recorded and placed over the top of a film or video and commonly used to explain information. Sometimes is can be used to aid continuity in edited versions of films, in order for the audience to gain a better understanding of what has happened between scenes.

      We want to use a voice over throughout the whole sequence to add an eerie feel for the film. It also helps the audience to focus on the character, our protagonist which re-inforces the effect of a strong placement. 

Pros and Cons of the Horror Genre

Pros - 

• Large Audience - The Horror genre appeals to many different types of people, hence creating a wider audience.
• Easy mise-en-scene - The lighting for Horror films can be very simple and easy to achieve.
• Easy to find actors - The actors could be new to the business, as long as you have a good story line you can have new actors.
• Higher worldwide gross - The Horror genre is very popular worldwide and could easily create a higher gross than other genres.

Cons -

• Easy to go wrong - This particular genre is very difficult to get just right as you need the right balance of horror, thrill, fear and suspension to get people to watch it.
• Lots of shots - To create a truly scary film, the editing and camera shots are usually very sharp and jumpy which would mean us exploring a variety of shots to portray our idea correctly. (Maybe this isn't such a bad thing, but we want to get it just right)
• High budget - Many Horror films use many different props, costumes and locations to make the film more realistic. Of course we will try our best with location, trying to keep cost to a minimum.

Kyle Cooper

     

Famous for his jittery set-up to David Fincher's 1995 horror movie "Se7en," Cooper says, 

"A good title sequence sets the tone for a movie, it makes you block out everything else, it makes you feel like there's no place else in the world that you want to be than here right now, and it gets you excited about the material that's about to happen."






Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/movies/industrybuzz/article/Credit-Kyle-Cooper-for-title-sequences-4205896.php#ixzz2JSXn2F00

Mini Biography

      Kyle Cooper is a director and designer of film title sequences. He holds an M.F.A in Graphic Design from the Yale School of Art, where he studied under Graphic Designer Paul Rand, as well as a BFA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. In 1996, he co-founded and named creative agency Imaginary Forces. He has directed and produced more than 150 film titles and VFX sequences, including Se7en, Spider-Man, Final Destination 5  and The Mummy. In 2001, he directed a feature film, New Port South.

      He moved on to found Prologue Films in 2003, with which he has created title sequences for Iron Man, Tron: Legacy and The Walking Dead. In 2008, he was a finalist in the National Design Awards. He has earned five Emmy Award nominations and one win for his work on the 81st Annual Academy Awards. He also hold the title of Honorary Royal Designer for Industry from the Royal Society of Arts in London.

Mini Biography By: http://www.artofthetitle.com/designer/kyle-cooper/