Sound Research

Music for this project is very important for an opening title sequence as in any part of a film we ely on music to tell us how to feel and act. For example slow string music might tell us that the scene is sad or if its an upbeat, fast paced pop song it could tell us this is a happy scene.




This is a very good song to fit in with the Film Noir genre. It has jazz elements like the drum beat but instead of having saxaphone

Production Company Logo Development

This is my first version of our Production Company logo. Our company name was AWA which stood for Aidan, Will, Adam, our names. So I wrote out the name and then mirrored it. The pattern looked good because the shape of the letters made triangles so they fitted together well. I then thought about adding an image as most big production companies have an image that easily identifies them. I picked a lamp. I edited a shape on top of the lamps bulb and put an Outer Glow on it to make it look like the lamp is on. To make it look semi-realistic, I put a drop shadow on the letters to simulate shadows created by the light. After all this editing I realised that the lamp is too associated with Disney Pixar.

Production Log #3

This time we have video and Adam! We are basically recapping Production Log #2 but adding Adam's input too.

Production Log #2

Disclaimer! This video is just audio

Analysis of "Priest Intro" - Sound (Draft)

Last lesson we analysed a 5 minute extract near to the beginning of the film "Priest". From that extract, I believe it is a Sci-Fi film but with classical western and religious themes and settings. I believe this as the three characters we see are all wearing typical 18th Century "Old West" clothing, they live in a old rickety wooden house with a little veranda which is quite typical of western houses. But we mainly focused on sound in the lesson so this is what this post is all about.

The first sound we hear is dialogue between the Father and Mother characters. Nothing else can be heard apart from distant wind sound.

Conventions of an Opening Title Sequence (Draft)

The opening title sequence of a film is used by film creators to credit the cast and crew of the film. It obviously involves titles while maybe involving live action scenes. Normally, the order of the credits goes:

• Name of production companies
• Director
• Producer
• Other key crew
• Executive producer
• Top billing actors
• The Movie Title

All movies do not stick to this format though as seen in the Watchmen OTS which is on my blog, here is the link

Experimental Titles

As we are having our film title at the end of our OTS, I spent the lesson on Photoshop coming up with different titles using our working title "Dog Eat Dog". We went through lots of fonts and designs, trying to find a suitable look for our OTS. These are the best ones out of that session. The third one is the one that we actually edited. We increased the letter spacing to space it out a bit.

Typical Film Noir Narratives

Production Log #1: Team Roles

Captain America: The Winter Soldier OTS Deconstruction (Comparison) (Draft)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a Action, Sci-Fi Film about the Comic Book character, Captain America. Here is the OTS:


This too also includes the main features of an OTS: Credits of cast and crew, in this one the director comes first like in most OTSs whereas in the Watchmen OTS, the director comes last.

Neo Noir - A Genre (Draft)

Neo Noir is practically the same as Film Noir but the main differences are that the themes, settings, visual elements, props are all updated to the modern day. The main principles are still there:

• Main Protagonist is a detective or police officer or an Anti-Hero, does good but not in the law's good books.
• Main Antagonist is a drug dealer, black market arms dealer, anything related to illegal activity to contrast with detective/police.
• Femme Fatale, is a very beautiful sexual woman normally used by the Antagonist or for herself to lure the protagonist and break him down using love and lust.

These are all updated like a more modern style of dress, modern guns, modern settings. It started to happen with directors in the 1970s when they felt like the genre would appeal to audiences more if they made it more believable by updating to the current generation.

Watchmen OTS Deconstruction

Watchmen is a Mystery, Neo-Noir, Comic Book movie. It follows many typical conventions of the Film Noir genre but also adds new ones as this incorporates politics and superheroes. Here is the OTS:


This OTS follows an alternative timeline of American history, where superheroes are a part of everyday life. It incorporates many conventions of an Opening Title Sequence such as credits of the cast and crew, Footage, giving the audience a brief understanding of the film without spoiling any of the film. Every mini-scene, has very smooth camera movement because its all in slow-motion. They follow the lives of superheroes, past ones and the heroes that are the main characters of the film. Each one almost has its own story behind it and they're very understandable as it shows very iconic scenes in American history such as the assassination of J.F.K but then each one has its own twist such as one of the superheroes were responsible for the killing. This is relatable because at the time there were conspiracies going around that the CIA hired someone to assassinate J.F.K. Each scene lets the audience know what period of time. Such as when a TV is playing news, it is about the Vietnam War you know its around 1965 - 1968.

Influences on my own ideas:

• The audience easily pick out different characters through the use of visual semiotics - The use of masks and capes, guns, suitable clothing to their profession.
• I am interested in the way the titles are positioned and angled to look like they're physically interacting with the environment of the shot
• I like the way attention is drawn to key characters by use of depth of field/pull focus / colour and other characters pointing

  

  Example of, a) How the titles interact with the background - shadows, depth of field
  b) How other characters have a different depth of field to  
  others, and how pointing focuses our attention.

• The references of iconic scenes from global events e.g. nurse and soldier kiss, J.F.K assassination

In my Opening Title Sequence I intend to have titles positioned in such a way that it looks like they're interacting with the background. This'll thicken the texture of the OTS, hopefully immersing the audience much more than just plain straight text over the top of the clips. I also want to use props to help the audience know what the time period is or what the current situation is, like a TV or a Newspaper, also positioning the actors in a way that emphasises who the audience should be focusing on most like have some actors looking in the direction of the main characters or directly at them. Using colour to emphasise key objects or characters is another way of drawing audiences focus and increasing their immersion.

Film Noir Photoshoot

We were assigned to create a Film Noir style photo-shoot based on a children's film. We chose to do Harry Potter but unfortunately it turned into a normal Film Noir shoot. After taking the photos using proper studio lighting and also natural outdoor lighting, Me and Aidan got working on the editing process. Here are the finished products:

1. I tried to give the illusion that Aidan that was going into the wall so I darkened the entire picture so his jacket merged with the wall. I then photoshopped a cigarette into his hands as we posed his hands to look like he was.
2. Using studio lighting we managed to create a good shot with lots of shadows but the lighting brought it out enough to be able to tell what it is. I then cut the background out and replaced it with a scenic city background.
3. This is my favourite edit because the angle at which it was taken gives the subject a sense of power over the viewer as it simulates the viewer as the person who's about to be shot. Also I made the background of the shot look very cartoon like. I made it very obscure by using Photoshop to make it look like he has chunks flying off of him. This highlights the fact that he is like a shadow, very mysterious.

Continuity Task

Adam, Aidan and I grouped together to make a Continuity Task. The brief that was given to us was that it needs to show someone walking up to and going into a door, sitting down and exchanging dialogue with another person already in the room. We accomplished the task and met the brief. Here it is:

We achieved continuity by counting my steps, remembering where i was positioned on the stairs, and remembering which foot i started on. By looking back at footage we already filmed we could see where my feet were so continuity was present in the raw footage as well as fixing a few bits in the editing process. We only used one camera so we couldn't use the 180 degree rule.

The 180 degree rule is a basic rule of filmmaking which regards the on-screen relationship between two objects or people in a scene. The cameras can't be on opposite sides of the two objects in question. They must be on the same side of an imaginary line going through the center of the two objects to make sure you can't see the other camera.

Film Noir - A Genre

Film Noir has been more described as a cinematic style rather than a genre although it has been argued that it is a genre. The style is normally associated with Hollywood crime dramas to do with cynical sexual themes. These films were set from around 1940s - late 1950s. Film Noir films are mainly filmed in black and white that has roots from German Expressionist Cinematography.

In a lesson we brainstormed the conventions of the Film Noir genre and this is the finished board:

Sweded Film Research

Sweded films are amateur films that are based on famous films using limited resources and technology. This blew up into a cultural phenomenon thanks to 2008 comedy film Be Kind Rewind. The films typically last for only 3-5 mins and use very low budget props to mimic the original materials.

Origin
The term “sweded” was created in Be Kind Rewind, starring Jack Black and Mos Def. The film is set in Passaic, New Jersey, where the troubled VHS rental store “Be Kind Rewind” loses its entire video collection after being accidentally magnetized. Mike and Jerry attempt to replace the store’s video collection by recreating films using a camcorder and claiming they are special editions from Sweden.

Now it has its own festival, "Swede Fest" where for free, everybody can submit their sweded films and see them presented at the festival.

Obsessions, Passions and Interests

Here is a video outlining my obsessions, passioons and interests. I apologise in advance for terrible hair, face, editing and anything else you find wrong with it.

8th Favourite Film - Transformers: Age of Extinction

I only went to see Transformers a couple of weeks ago in the cinema and I can safely say it was the best purchase in a cinema I've ever made. I was quite sceptical about the daughter character of Mark Wahlberg at the beginning of the film but then I thought "You don't go to see a Transformers film for the humans, you go for the big mechanical hunk of awesomeness!" and that's exactly what they were in this film. In the first and second ones they were saying things so cliché and cringy but this film shows their more humorous side, with lots of sarcastic lines and catchphrases. Also, GIANT FREAKING DINOSAUR TRANSFORMERS!!!! They are as awesome as everyone goes on about. It makes sense that they are dinosaurs as they came to earth when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. I'm really glad they got rid of Shia LaBeouf for this movie as he was starting to get old, but all in all Its a great movie.

7th Favourite Film - The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug

Even though this film and the next film are recent films, they still deserve to be on my list, even if that's not for very long.

The Hobbit has not been as apparent to me as L.o.t.R has to me until I heard they were making a movie out of it and that it was being split into three parts. I watched the first one expecting greatness, the same thrill and excitement as the other Middle Earth Trilogy but I was very disappointed. The second film however was amazing! The Dwarves, Gandalf and of course Bilbo seek out to reclaim Erebor from the great and quite poetic dragon, Smaug. The whole action scene where the dwarves try to destroy Smaug was fantastic and it gave you that feeling of rooting for the dwarves. Smaug has a poem that he says at the end of the film describing himself, which sets the next movie (The Battle of the Five Armies) up very perfectly.

6th Favourite Film - Forrest Gump

I know what you're thinking "This is odd.... I thought he only likes films that were part of a series, a trilogy or a saga..." Well its a great movie so shut up!

Yes, Forrest Gump is on my top ten list of movies. There are three main reasons for this choice:

• Simplicity: The story is very simple to understand for the most part. A man on a bench waiting for a bus, telling his life story to anyone willing to listen.
• Surprising Events: For who is a very simple minded man, Forrest, gets into very important events. From the Vietnam War to the U.S Ping Pong Team, to becoming a shrimp boat captain, even finding out he is a father.
• Tom Hanks: Enough said.

4th Favourite Film - Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

First off, I'm having to go back to the film and re-watch it for this post.

The Fifth Episode is, for me, the best Star Wars movie of all time. It has the three main character types: The young farmer boy turned hero who is coming of age, Luke Skywalker, the swashbuckling, devilishly handsome "scoundrel", Han Solo, and the strong, intelligent and beautiful Princess, Leia Organa.

 

Since the overwhelming and unexpected success of the first movie "A New Hope" as it was later called, lots of people were sceptical that a sequel was a good idea, they were worried it would be a flop. But Executive Director, George Lucas and Director, Irvin Kershner ignored them and out of Lucas' own funds they pressed on to create "The Empire Strikes Back".

 

This film unravels and exposes the love between Han and Leia while Luke is dealing with relationship issues himself, but in the form of him finding out and having to come to terms with his fathers true identity. (Side note: No one knew that Darth Vader was Luke's father until 5 minutes before they started filming the scene. Mark Hamill was taken to the side of the set and told privately.)

 

As the title suggests, after the rebel forces destroy the Death Star in the first movie, the Empire seek revenge by finding the new rebel base situated in the icy cold planet, Hoth at the beginning of the film. R2-D2 and C-3PO are the perfect comedy duo for the movie. Even though he does not talk in English his beeps and boops are toned in a way that give them emotions and you can sometimes understand what he says when C-3PO or Luke converse with him.

 

It racked in $538,375,067 at the Box Office worldwide and is priceless in mine and millions of other peoples hearts.

 

Website: http://www.starwars.com/films/star-wars-episode-v-the-empire-strikes-back

5th Favourite Film - Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith

Star Wars has always been a big part of my life, especially growing up, so I had to add one of them onto my list of favourites. I chose the third episode because I love CGI filled films. There's so much action and distress and LIGHTSABERS! The Lightsaber to me as a child and even to this day was so cool, it could cut through anything pretty much and lets face it, the sound they made was just, well I'll let Mr Tom Hanks, say it... Anyway, watching Anakin Skywalker grow up throughout the three films was interesting. Going from young boy, to teenager, to adult was a nice touch (even though we all knew his terrible fate). This film really puts the icing on the cake for me, lots of Lightsaber action, lots of CGI, and lots of intense dramatic jeopardy.

3rd Favourite Film - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Finally, my third favourite film in the Trilogy and of all time is The Return of the King. A lot of my points throughout the other two films are the same for this film so I'm not going to dwell on them too much. But I am going to talk about why this is my least favourite film of the Trilogy.

Whereas the other two films had more adventure and discoveries in them, the Third film was mainly just hack and slash, which don't get me wrong, I love, but it just doesn't feel like how it should be. But all that aside, the fight scenes are amazing,the CGI capabilities they had were phenomenal and most of all it was they were, at times, the most emotional. This film had balance, with major fight scenes contrasting with emotional scenes of Aragorn and Arwen and Denethor II and Faramir which also included Pippin. Overall, it is a well balanced film but unfortunately doesn't contain enough adventure for me.

P.S. Please don't hate me...

 

Website: http://www.lordoftherings.net/home.htm 

2nd Favourite Film - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Out of the trilogy, The Fellowship Of The Ring is my middle film. Being the first film it introduces all the characters that a lot of people from all age groups came to love. Having a mainly serious story and meaning behind it, the film needs a comic relief which can be found in the stupid and clumsy duo of Merry and Pippin. This makes the film into more of the adventure genre by adding contrast. The adventure genre is full of exploration and discoveries but also fights and deaths; this film is one of the flagships for the genre and also the fantasy genre. But all that being said, there isn't as much action as the other two films and some parts can be a bit boring. Overall, one of the best films ever made from start to finish.

Website: http://www.lordoftherings.net/home.htm

1st Favourite Film - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

The Two Towers is my most favourite film of all time because it mainly has lots of meaning and being the second film in the trilogy, it develops a lot of the story and lore of the land of Middle Earth. I love films that have a thick textured background like heritage of the different races and The Lord of the Rings trilogy fits perfectly into that category along with Star Wars trilogies. Despite being made in 2001 it's CGI was very advanced for it's time and the lighting effects they chose were all really appealing to look at.
Overall The Two Towers will be one of the best films I will have ever watched due to the thick texture of the story, good CGI effects and it's an overall well made film.

Website: http://www.lordoftherings.net/home.htm