Survey

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZCGL2XJ

I created a survey, that allows me to see what my target audience would be, what kind of things they like in a opening film. I also asked what their favorite film is, so that i can look up the opening and gets some inspiration to how my opening should be. I have collected interesting results that helped me realize what the audience want. I found out that a lot of people like really scary films, they also like the characters to me introduced first so they get a glimpse to what the narrative might be based on. Additionally i found out that people go the cinema roughly 2 times a month, also found out the audiences favourite films; which i can then take inspiration from to embed in my opening film. 

Lesson editing

Lesson 2, we edited our short footage on the iMac using iMovie. iMovie was a great way edit to help present techniques e.g match on action. We cut down lots of the footage to make some clips flow nicely. We edited Seth walking down the corridor from different angles, to get the effective that the audience is there with him. We also used a perfect example of match on action by editing two clips together of Seth opening a door from different sides. We also used the technique shot/reserve shot, by filming two people having a conversation, we tried to edit it so it looked smoothly as possible. We added text to the opening to inform our audience that it was a piliminary task. We also cut out the background noise and added tense music, to build up tension and make the audience ask questions. However we needed to film footage for example more takes in Seth walking down the corridor as the clip was too fast paced. As it was my first time editing on iMovie I learnt a lot of new things, for example how to add text, music and how to clip and reorder clips to make better footage. However some of the cuts were too jumpy and could have been smoother, but I think that comes with practise and time. This lesson was useful as it has taught me techniques that i can use when it comes to editing my opening 2 minute film. 

Definitions of camera angles (180 degree rule and shot/reserve shot)

Shot/reserve shot- a shot that views the action from the opposite side of the previous shot, as during a conversation between two actors, giving the effect of looking from one actor to the other.

180 degree rule- A rule stating that a camera should be placed somewhere inside 180 degrees,it makes it look like the people are switching places as one watches the film.

I will use both of these techniques for my opening film, as they are both conventions of an opening film. It will make my film seem more realistic and sophisticated. Furthermore it will also allow us to experiment with editing and which footage works best with others. Both of these techniques will also help shoot certain scenes in a professional way.

Lesson with camera's...

Last lesson, we got given cameras and we got into groups. We took footage that would demonstrate match on action, for example we filmed people opening doors filming from one side then the another. So when we edit it, the door opening will be seamless. We also filmed people having a conversation, so we could demonstrate 180 degree rule. Our group tried to get lots of footage so we had enough to edit. The aim was to get a video demonstrating different techniques. 

Match on action.

 Match on action is simply when the film editor cuts from shot to shot and making it all flow naturally.

In the video it's made seem like all the camera angle shots and different points of view are done in one take, when in fact each snippet of the scene could have been done hours or says apart. However if this does happen the set crew have to make everything from costume, hair, makeup and set be exactly the same, otherwise the footage will not be seemless. I will use match on action in my opening 2 minutes to make film seem more realistic to an actual opening film. Furthermore it will make the footage more visually interesting.

Toy story opening scene analysis

• This is the opening scene to Toy Story. The first thing you see is the institution of the film (Walt Disney) automatically the audience knows what type of film it will be (children's film). This is something that I will consider doing in my opening film, as presents to the audience what kind of film and whether its trust worthy.
• The protagonists of the film are then introduced, already the film has got the audience asking questions, e.g "who's that character","why is this happening." This is a key element of openings to films, as they engage the audience.  Therefore i will use that technique for my opening film.
•  The production and executive producers titles come after the introduction of all the characters. This finishes of the inter titles, and promotes the creators of the film; this technique is used amungst many films.
• The titles are overlapping the image sequence of Woody and the boy playing together, they have done this because the target audience is not interested in the making of the film; more what is actually going on. This is something to consider when deciding where to place the titles. However it is a convention of an opening film.
•  The colours are all bright and mostly primary colours which appeal to the children watching. Colours are extremely important, as they help determine what kind of atmosphere is being portrayed. For example the bright colours give off a happy emotions, which is uplifting to the audience. Furthermore the colours also help foreshadow what the genre of the film is and who it is aimed at. The Toy Story colours, appeal to the children of the audience and tells the audience the narrative will be friendly and will not be scary in anyway. This is a key element, that i need to consider when editing and filming the opening scene. As i could place effects of the footage to give a certain atmosphere .
• The music is bubbly and happy, which sets the atmosphere as uplifting. The title of the main song is "you've got a friend in me", this gives a subtle hint of what the narrative of the story will be. Furthermore the music helps complement the footage, it gives the footage more depth. This is because it also helps determine the emotions behind the narrative, the music makes the audience happy and it is uplifting. Furthermore the music for my opening film should also give an automatic emotion off to the audience. 
•  Most of the camera angles are from a low point of view, making it seem like we're seeing what the little boy is seeing. Point of view shot is effective as it allows the audience to feel more involved in the narrative. e.g feel like there playing with the toys too. Additionally the cuts are fairly slow, as its a children film it shows its a soft and gently narrative. Camera angles and editing is extremely important because it allows us to have some control over how the audience perceive certain scenes.  

Analysis of a blog

http://georgihonnorasmedia.blogspot.co.uk/
I believe that this blog is a perfect example of what a blog should look like. This is because it is organised and the blogger used convergence to show the different tasks, which made her blog more visually interesting. For example she used Prezi and Slideshare which is an excellent way of showing information in a more interesting way. The two software she has used, is something i am going to display on my blog, as they create a diverse way to present information.The blogger did a lot of planning for the final film, this is good because it allows the audience to see the process of the development of the film. I believe this is an key element i need to have in my blog, as it allows the audience to the growth and changes. The group had a lot of changes of there film ideas, which shows they had a wide range of creative ideas. This blog has inspired me to not only use text from my tasks, but to use different media platform so the information is represented in a more interesting way. Furthermore the consistent colour scheme and font, makes the blog seem sophisticated and organised, which makes the information easier to follow. 

Presentations Ideas for opening of film

Sleepy Hollow.

• In the first couple of minutes of the film, the name of the institution is shown first; next the name of the production then followed by the name of director. All titles were shown on black background which creates the intense atmosphere. The reason why the titles are shown first is to build up tension and as it’s a Tim Burton film, the audience will have automatic high expectation; due to his previous films. 

• The first image was what seemed like a drop of blood, (when it fact it was wax) which creates the idea that the genre is horror. It also misleads the audience, which creates a foreshadowing of what the rest of the narrative will be. This is something that I will take on board when producing my opening film, as draws the audience in by misleading them. 

• The use of thunder creates pathetic fallacy to create an intense atmosphere, which keeps the audience intense. This is something to take on board when producing my film as it makes the final product look more professional. 

• The music is very fast pacing and high pitched at the end, which emphasised what was happening in the scene. The build of music intensifies the narrative, making the atmosphere eerie. The digestive sound of the horse’s hoofs as they started running faster, also gave the idea to the audience that something, was about to happen because the tension was building up. This a convention of a horror/ thriller which inspires me to embed that element to my film, to heighten the fear.

• The narrative of the opening scene, gave lots of questions to the audience, which made the audience more interested in the film. For example Who’s that old man? Why was he targeted? Why did two people shake hands? Etc. This is an element that I will use in my opening film as it helps draw in the audience and makes them want to keep watching. 

• The camera angles were mostly close up, to get the audience attention, close-ups also intensify the fear as the audience cannot get away from the image. One of the camera angles was from a person’s view to help the audience understand his fear. Point of view shots and close ups, are essential to making the perfect thriller film. Therefore I will use these to create the same amplified effect.