Question 7

For the opening sequence I needed to use any different technologies successfully. Firstly I used an online log called 'Blogger' to store and share  my work at different states. This made it easy for me and my partner to take different parts of our research and planning to use and edit as we wished. This also acted as an online diary, so I can look at what I had created earlier, and eve change things that I wasn't satisfied with. This website was easy to use and helped me to see where I needed to improve my work, however there were some occasions where it didn't do what I wanted it to. For example on the location research and planning task the pictures never stayed aligned. This downgrades the presentation of my research, and personally annoys me.

In making the sequence it was the first time I had worked with a video camera. This presented me with lots of different problems that I needed to fix. When recording some scenes the camera needed to rest on a tri-pod. This was used to help the camera be more stable and straight, making it look more appealing to the audience.

For the opening sequence I needed to edit the footage using 'I-Movie'. To do this I imported all the footage from the camera's SD card on to the computer then onto 'I-Movie'.This was an easy tool to use and didn't require me to look up too many online tutorials to get the effect I was looking for. The most convoluted part of the editing was finding and choosing the shots that I wanted to use. I found there were large amounts of dead footage that just needed to be deleted. When making the titles for the sequence I looked on 'YouTube' to find different ways of doing it. I came across a tutorial that involves using 'Keynote' which is a programme that is already installed on the 'Mac' computer I was editing on. The use of this programme introduced me to many new transitions that were not available on the default 'I-Movie' and led me to the transition I used for the main titles 'Trace". As the time for this transition was quite long, and it was difficult to read at the  beginning, I decided to use a dissolve entrance on the rest of the titles.

This is the 'Youtube' video I watched to understand how to transfer the transitions from 'Keynote' onto 'I-movie'

When bringing all of my research and planning together I needed to use a variety of helpful online programmes. This involved the use of 'SpiderScribe', 'SlideShare' and 'Prezi'. 'SpiderScribe' is an online mind mapping tool, that constructs an interesting way for information to be viewed. It is more efficient that a pen and paper mind map because instead of having to rub away if I made any mistakes, or think about the arrangement of my bubbles before hand, I could simply remove a segment from it, or move the bubbles across the screen. 'SlideShare' is a website that can share any slide show that you create on 'PowerPoint', and allows it to be embedded onto other websites, such as 'Blogger'. 'Prezi' is similar to 'SlideShare' in that you can share a 'PowerPoint', however with this website, it is possible to create the slideshow online. In that sense it is like a mix between 'SpiderScribe' and 'SlideShare' which makes it a really efficient tool.

Question 6

From the preliminary task I had learnt of the techniques required to present a good looking sequence. I learnt there needed to be a large amount of 'Match on Action' to show the continuity in the piece. I should have learnt from the preliminary task the reluctance people have to act within a short sequence, I realised this when trying to film the opening sequence as none of the actors who said they could make it came. This resulted in a last minute effort at finding some actors, but it resulted in some bad footage. I have since removed the entire segment from the sequence, and have ended the sequence before it gets to that part in the narrative. From this whole experience I have learnt that it is better to use one or two actors that I know will be fully committed to acting tin my piece rather than having four or five that half-heartedly take part.

The camera work was quite difficult as I often struggled to find the correct equipment in order to film. From the preliminary task it was obvious that the camera always needed to be placed secure in a tri-pod, or else the footage comes up shaky, and I would loose marks on it. This means that in the final task I spent a fair amount of time on each filming day looking for the correct piece of equipment, which reduced the amount of time dedicated to filming. Some of the angles that I filmed in the preliminary task, such as the over the shoulder shot, proved hard to record, especially when the character was standing up. This was because the trip-pods I have access to do not have long enough legs to get to the actor's height. In the preliminary task I fixed this by holding the camera up with my hands, and keeping it still. However, in the final product  I avoided this entirely by not including any direct over the shoulder shots, instead only a small subtle one in the beginning. If this was more of a long shot then it would defiantly constitute as an OTS shot, however the medium close-up helps me to avoid this problem. Also, if it was a long shot then it would put more of the protagonist in frame, but that would go against the idea of keeping the true identity of Dylan a mystery.

Question 5

Question 4

Question 3

Question 2

Clique's representation of social groups from Ollie Favell

Question 1

The main character is the same age group from the primary audience (12-19), which is the same as many other coming of age films, such as 'Ferris Bueler's Day Off' and 'The Breakfast Club'. This is a very large demographic, and is easily accessible for a film maker, as most schools will allow filming within them when the students are on a school holiday. The use of schools implies that the primary audience would currently be attending a school. The only issue with my sequence in this regard is that Dylan going to a school is only implied, and at no point is it directly stated. The audience sees that Dylan is carrying a school bag, however because he is not wearing a uniform and there is no text or speech in the sequence it is possible the audience will be left in the dark. If the sequence led on to the full film, then the setting for the opening would be obvious, however this ambiguity challenges the obvious, in that, if you can't don't make the logical leap of a teenager running to school while crying a school bag; the film will not hold your hand
 

My sequence also uses aspects from 'The Breakfast Club' in that the camera doesn't do a close up on the main character's face in the beginning. This means the audience needs to associate this character with; what he wears, how he moves and what he does. I believe that this defines the character more, and people won't make assumptions of him from just how the actor looks, and what he's done in the past.


The soundtrack I have chosen to use is a 'feel good' indie song that should be relatable to the target audience, as it is sung and performed by members of the primary audience. This gives the sequence a feeling of youth and growth, that can be seen in films such as 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower', especially because the intro starts quiet but then explodes into sound and harmonising melodies. This develops the idea from 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' however, because the protagonist is seen at the very beginning. This means that my audience should associate the music with the character, and not narration. By keeping the protagonist's voice silent at this point it makes him more isolated, and connotes the idea of him being in too much of a hurry to talk directly to the audience or to himself. I also haven't included narration, because it would clash with the vocals of the music and reduce the impact of blossoming that it has.

I was largely inspired by Juno's opening scene, in that it is just the protagonist walking down a street. The purity of this is why there is not much action in my sequence. However, because Juno's sequence was animated it makes it easier to break continuity, as it is less realistic. This means that my sequence challenges the convention of an opening scene only containing movement being animated, and instead makes it more real
for an audience.

Where most films titles just appear on the screen, ours slowly constructs its self out of lines and shapes that appear on the screen. This is symbolic of how the protagonist will be constructing himself in the film, and makes the act of titles appearing no screen more interesting to the audience. This is an attempt to make the audience engaged with my product at the very beginning of the sequence, and to stand out from the rest of the films that have been
released.

Tuesday 16th February/ Not The Final Edit

Today I made the final changes to the opening sequence. This included swapping out the old music for an updated, version. This new one contains lyrics to the music now, however the two vocalists are still quite young so they are still relatable to the primary audience. Also most of the titles are in the same position on the screen, apart from the title of the film and the lead actors name. Also, all of the titles now stay on screen for the same length of time (4.2 Seconds), also excluding the title to the film, as the construction/transition of it takes longer than the others.

We have also found the 'Paramount' logo video, this is now the first thing an audience member would see when they watch the sequence. After that, we have also found the logo video for 'Vertigo Films'. As our main distributor they are in front of the sequence and have their full video shown.



My teacher has told me that the Paramount institution wouldn't fit with the style of my film, so instead I have replaced it with Mandate pictures, who are the company that produced Juno, so I felt that because we have similar style opening sequence, they would produce ours as well.

Thursday 4th February

The newest version of the sequence has been heavily cut down, and has had new parts added in, due to some audience feedback. During the editing of some new scenes my teachers suggested to "get rid of that bit, its too dark", in reference to when  Dylan walks through the door at school.