Divine Decree - Editing Screen Shots

Divine Decree - Film Opening Planning

Storyboard

Font & Title Ideas 

Script

Girl answering phone - Hello, Hello, hello, hello then screams

Bullying 

Bullies  - Satan, Loser, Freak (general nasty comments)

Victim of Bullying - Leave me alone

end of film - LEAVE ME ALONE (shouted) 

Shotlist for Divine Decree

Shot 1 - Establishing High angle shot (pans slowly of houses through rails)

Shot 2 High angled mid shot (zooms in slowly) of mobile phone laying in gutter 

Shot 3 - Extreme close up of screen (unknown number)

Shot 4 - High angle shot, mid shot of girl reaching mobile phone then fades to black

Shot 5 - Picks up phone mid shot - screams and runs off 

Shot 6 - Two weeks earlier appears on screen - flashes to the past

Shot 7 - Low angle establishing shot of trees - fades to white 

Shot 8 - Low anngle, following tilt shot of 3 girls following younger girl - fades to white

Shot 9 - POV shot 

Shot 10 - High angle wide shot of girls bullying abby (180 degree rule)  - fades to wbite - Girl walks off goes inverted

Shot 11 - 2 shot, pan of girls 

Shot 12 - Fast Pan of fences - Eye level shot - inverted - close up

Shot 13 - High angle shot of Girl in cabin - fades to white

Shot 14 - High angle shot of girl sitting at table - wide shot

Shot 15 - Close up, eye level shot of tablets

Shot 16 - Mid close up of car 

Shot 17 - Pan shot of gate - medium close up

Shot 18 - Following shot - long shot (continuity shot)

Shot 19 - close up of door handle/hand on door - high angled

Shot 20 - continuity shot - high angled of door opening

Shot 21 - Low angled mid close up of feet (flashes back to previous scenes)

Shot 22 - Tilt shot of door 

Shot 23 - Mid Shot of Girl 

Shot 24 - Wide Establishing shot of outside of cabin- Low angled 

Shot 25 - divine decree title

Asset List & Production Schedule 

Asset List 

 Actress/Actors x3/4

Phone (unknown Number)

Tablets

Car

Woods

Log Cabin

Kitchen Table

Fences

Outside scene - to show where the setting is

Casual costumes 

Camera

Tripod - when appropriate

Tape

Cable 

Production Schedule 

Who ? Abby, Bryony, Sophie & Mel (4 main characters within the film opening)

Where? House, Log Cabin, Rural Area, By road

What? Doors, bullying, Girls arguing, Phone, Lights, Darkeness, Cars, tense atmosphere, tablets...

When? Winter, Late at night, and the next morning (for the flash backs)

Film opening Ideas

I have come up with 3 main ideas for the titles and opening of a new fiction film, I have come up with ideas in different genres to give more of a variety and choice into the film opening I would like to make, the first idea was within the Horror Genre.

Idea 1 

 My idea for this was to base the story around a 16 year old girl who has been bullied ever since starting school being slightly strange due to her strong belief in the devil and paranormal activity, no one took much notice of her warnings and continued to bully her -  distraught and suicidal she takes her life,  no one batters an eyelid, no one remembers who she is until her mobile is found and the disturbing paranormal experiences she experienced becomes a reality, as the young girls study the phone  they begin to realise 'the wierdo' thats now gone may have been the only one to help them, as they continue to search through the phone more and more secrets become unlocked, more and more evil is released and more and more trouble begins to head their way.  From 4 normal lives the girls begin to live a nightmare, reliving Jades life of torment from their bullying, but in a way they would never imagine, and as a 'stranger' calls they begin to realize that their tormenter knows them only too well and wont stop until revenge has been had. 

I would call this Devils Calling, and would use a range of footage including footage of 4 girls, mobile phones ringing, strange paranormal activities, I may also include a voice over of the young girl who had been bullied to make it more effective. Images of memories relived would also be added to introduce the setting and also a variety of objects close up to create tension. 


There would be not much  talking in this film opening to create tension and also enigma about the film, however there would be mobile phone sounds (text message alerts) and also a rhythm in the background to make it more tense. The titles within the production would be basic text to fit in with the modern films  connotations today.  


I would vary the shots used within this film opening alot with close up of mobile phones to establishing shots of the graveyard where she Jade has supposedly been buried. 


I got my inspiration from this film from a few horror films such as sority row - due to the fact there is a group of girls used within this film who have done wrong in there life, it is also along the same lines as saw due to the fact that the people who have caused other people problems have to pay for this in an unimaginable way - however my film will not be as gory as this! 

The genre for my second film was friendship. I based the story on 2 girls who have grown up 2 doors apart ever since they was 2 years old - inseparable they were like sisters and had so many plans and enthusiasm for their life to come - approaching 21 they had their whole lives ahead of them and a load of events planned,however fate had other plans and as the day to celebrate ones 21st birthday devastating news is received, which will change both of their lives, Crystal has been informed she has cancer of the kidney, and without a donar will have only months to live, after looking for hundreds to fit, they have one last try, Hope (the best friend) fortunatley it is a match however after the opperation both girls fail to recover and are both told they have a limited time to live, the 2 girls embark on a journey where all they have ever dreamed of doing is done... they know that there life is to short to worry about little things so whatever opportunity comes along they no longer hesitate to take it up - their lifestyles are totally changed and so are their views on life. 


My inspiration for this opening title came from the film my sisters keeper - this is about a girl who was generically made to help save her sisters life who has cancer, this is upon the same principle apart from the fact that they are both closest of friends and they were not made to help save one another if an illness happened to affect one of them - unlike my sisters keeper both girls do not recover from there operation and therefore they spend the time they have left together doing things they have always dreamed of. However after both girls sadly pass there is an inquest into reasons why they have both died, as a shocking discovery is made both girls parents do not hesitate to find the man that caused this tragedy. 

The third film idea I had was about a group of 5 close friends, celebrating their graduation they head happily for the local club unaware of the problems they are to face as one of the girls swans off to meet a 'lad' she has been talking to over Facebook, blissfully unaware of the experience she is about to comprehend and despite the disapproval of her closest friends she brainlessly dissapears into the sea of people, in hope she will find her Facebook 'friend','her knight' and sure enough she does but her excitement soon turns to fear and anxiety as she awakes in the back of a truck hands tied, and gagged to see a middle aged man peering deeply into her eyes. 

The disapproval and words of her friends continues to flood back to her, as she feels all hope has gone, however by the next day she is reported missing, as her friends begin a bid to save her they too don't realise what they are about to comprehend, with their identities also being leaked their friendship becomes stronger but group becomes weaker as girls are lost along the way. 

I think this would be a good film to make as internet abuse and fake identities are big problems in society today particularly on social networking sites it would be therefore beneficial for both the male and female gender to understand the consequences of meeting and talking to the wrong people. It would be called That Knight - a play on words considering the knight the girl thinks she will meet and also the night it happened. It would be narrated by the first girl to go missing to make it more realistic and touching. 

My inspiration from this came from the film Taken, due to the fact it shows how stupidity and how leaking your identity and details to strangers can cause a whole lot of fear and terror for a number of people ...

Taken Trailer 

Preliminery Task

Preliminary Exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.

Shot list                Scrip 

Production Schedule 

Me working

Lily Working

Tom working

Today we filmed our prelim task, our idea was to have a boy and girl in detention - the girl being a geek and the boy a rebel! we filmed this within an office in the school because the corridor was of a good size and due to it being in detention we thought the 'head teachers' office was appropriate. Our video included Tom walking down a corridor opening the door,  crossing the room and sitting in a chair where he exchanged words with Lily, as the task explained we had to use match on actions, shot/reverse shot and also demonstrate the 180 degree rule, this made the filming much harder due to the fact you had to think of the shots you were going to use and the positioning of the characters, props and also where the camera will be, therefore it was fortunate that we had made a storyboard previously with the shots for each frame easily identifiable. We firstly conducted a practice run through of the filming to check that people knew what they were doing/saying and made sure we knew which shot was needed for each frame. We then started recording however after we had recorded we re watched the footage to check it looked okay. After importing the footage on the computer we captured and edited it in premier pro cutting and joining the clip so that it ran smoothly with no mistakes.   I am pleased with how the video turned out as it meets the requirements, however if I was to do this again I would make some of the cuts less obvious and alter the variety of shots.

Production Log for Divine Decree

Thursday 4th November 2010

Today I came up with 3 film ideas to base my opening sequence on, firstly about some high school bullies who get what iscoming to them when the girl they drove to death gets revenge. I gained my ideas for this from sorority row. 

My second idea was about friendship, based on 2 best friend who had grown up together, when one gets cancer, a transplant is the only thing that can save her, the best friends a match, however both girls fail to comply with justone kidney after their operatoin and as fate takes matters into its own hands the girls start to realise how much they have missed out so far on life. Here i gained my inspiation from my sisters keeper. 

My third idea was about a girl awho was going cubbing to meet her friends & a 'boy' she had been chatting to over the interent, hours in to the evening she dissapears to find this boy, but never returns, hands tied in the back of a van she realises her friends were right. 

To help with getting inspiration for my film i also watched a variety of film openings and trailers on youtube, i think that i have done quite wel with coming up with three ideas, was they are relativley different however quite interesting and mysterious. 

Monday 8th November 2010

Today i chose which film idea I was to choose for my opening titles, i chose the first idea however I altered it slightly due to the fact that i thought the final out come would be better. 

Thursday 11th November 2010 & Monday 15th November 2010

During these two days I created a variety of media documents to help me when filming my opening titles - i created a storyboard, script, Shotlist, Production Schedule, asset list and also various other things such as a film title and font styles. I also took the camera home to start filming. I also practised with the camera for a small amount of time to ensure that I was to know what I was doing and how to using the filming equiptment when it came t0 filming. I also took the camera home today so that I could film my opening when home. 

Over the next 2 weeks I continued to practise with the camera equipment and also with the editing equipment to ensure that I would be comfortable when filming, i also continued with my story board etc. I made sure that my blog was up to date and added my production schedule, asset list, script etc - all very important when filming.

Monday 6th December

I started filming for my opening sequence at my house this evening, overall it went very well and was able to get alot done, it so far looks very good - I have filmed alot of footage which I hope will be relavent and useable within my opening - after looking back there are many pieces that need to be cut out however there is some good footage involved. 

Thursday 9th November 2010 

Today I did some more filming for 'Divine Decree' i also used my lesson time to ensure that I was up to date with my blog, I also added some of my footage onto adobe premier pro and started to edit my film clips

Sunday 12th December

I was able to finish the filming off for my opening title today, again the filming went well - the 'actresses' all turned up on time and the weather was dry and fitted my storyboard well,  was able to use the camera well and again followed my storyboard sticking as closely to it as possible however alternating parts if they did not look right, i ensured that all filming was done today so I can get on with the editing tomorrow. 

Monday 13th December  

I continued with my editing today on Adobe Premier Pro, everything captured well and i was able to get some good clips from the footage i had taken, i captured within small pieces to make it easier to edit and cut, i got alot done within this 3 hour lesson almost half way. Throughout the day i also used spare time to ensure that i would meet the deadline 

Thursday 16th December 

I finished editing Divine Decree today and was very please with the out come everything went well and found some good royalty free music to go with the storyline which i think works very well. My piece has come out well and i think that i have created an effective and professional looking film opening 

Throughout i was constantly updating and checking my blog to ensure that nothing was left out and so it was detailed. 

Arlington Road Film Opening Remake

0 - 20 Woman & Man arguing - medium close up, low angled shot

Media

Film opening remake evaluation

I chose to remake the opening titles of the 1999 American drama Arlington road directed by Mark Pellington. I chose to remake this film because it portrayed a variety of filming techniques including a variety of camera shots and angles. The film opening consisted of a range of special/ computerised effects, therefore enabling me to familiarise myself with the computer software premier pro this will therefore benefit me when making my own film.

When remaking the film opening of Arlington Road there were many aspects to consider, firstly we had to view the opening a number of times (on www.artofthetitle.com) to familiarise ourselves with the main aspects of the opening titles and also to learn the effects which had been added – a common convention which was used throughout the opening was fences and also many landscapes, however faces, swings and objects such as fans, wind chimes, light bulbs etc were all part of the opening and despite these object being very plain a variety of camera angles and effects were added to make the opening titles much more interesting. When watching the opening titles we recorded each individual cut, with a brief description and also the length of each clip – this was then transferred onto a story board and was very beneficial when filming because we knew what we had to get footage of and the average length it needed to be, it was also useful because it reminded us of the camera angles needed, this was very time consuming, however it meant that less time had to be wasted cutting down the footage, so was more efficient long term.

To edit the footage we downloaded the footage onto a computed and imported it, cutting the relevant footage, the Arlington road clip was also downloaded onto the timeline so that my clip could be as closely matching the original as possible.

Arlington road has many effects added onto the visual part of the opening titles including – sepia, negative, black and white, strobes, and also cross dissolves, we added all of these onto the footage via premier pro However due to the large amount of effect which could be added it became very confusing and time consuming looking for the correct effect, therefore we wrote them on paper.

I enjoyed this task and am very please with the out come, however I found it difficult finding people who would be willing to star in the very beginning of the opening titles and also found it quite difficult remembering where all the effects were. I really like the strobe effect which are on our opening titles and believe they make the opening much more interesting. The general colours of the film are dark which connotes mystery and elements of sadness. However red tones re also used which promotes blood and also anger. All the effects, which are added help to promote and eery mysterious and tense atmosphere due to the fact you do not know what is going to happen as there is not much insite to the characters in the film – the effects are quite surreal and dark therefore making the film seem intense.

We used the same music from the original film however cut out the dialogue at first and cut it to fit ours.

If I was to do this again I would ensure that all footage was captured due to the fact that unfortunately the ending did not appear on the computer, I would also adjust the timing so it is more precise, however I am happy with how the effects look especially the strobe.

Film Opening Analysis

Blade 2 

Voice Over/ Sound Effects 

The opening of this film is very mysterious this is connoted via the colours used throughout the whole film opening. The colours used are very dark and therefore promotes a mysterious and eerie atmosphere/mood, however the dark blue tones and black tones of the opening is interrupted frequently through the use of bold red titles which fade in quickly at intervals which could promote blood and gore within the film. The font style of the titles mimics those used within spy films/action films and therefore promotes that the film will include both these things. The music added to this film opening is also quite intense, it fades in at the beginning and quickly gets into a strong rhythm and voice over is then used from here until the end of the opening. The voice used again creates a mysterious effect due to the fact that the words are sharp and spoken clearly, with frequent long pauses to build tension, during these pauses and also when the voice over is going running the music still continues to play adding effect because it sets the pace of the film and also the sets of the clips. There are also sound effects (non digetic sound) added at convenient times, the sharpening of swords is an example of this – this is convenient as it relates to the name of the film ‘Blade’ and also the idea and events which are to take place within the film.

Characters  & Enigma 

Within this film opening the character is also introduced, we learn that Blade is the man talking within the voice over but do not yet see him as a person, but as a baby via flashbacks – This is made very effective because the shots are edited to be negative creating more of a surreal effect, this also makes this clip more exciting.  Despite Blade telling us about his character via the voice over a sense of enigma is still created due to the fact we do not see him until the very end of the film opening where we see the silhouette of blade practising with his sword – however this follows the trend of the rest of the film opening and is therefore very dark so features are not defined, we then see him in a reflection of his sunglasses so this is obviously not clear and the cut is very quick, the camera then is tilted close up to his head and shoulders from behind. A cut is then made and the title appears with the sword sound effect again, the music and voice cuts off sharply leaving the title ‘Blade’ on screen for a few seconds.  Another character is also introduced briefly – Whistler – however we see his face and this therefore makes blade seem more mysterious, it describes how whistler has been transformed into a vampire and from this blades mission.

Shots/Angles/cuts 

Within this opening there are a variety of shots, angles, movements and cuts which all help to add emphasis and mystery to the film. All the shots within this opening flow together well despite them being from different cut’s, and look like they are all being wiped across the screen, either by other clips or by just a plain black clips. However there are also some clips, which fade in over other clips. Some clips are super imposed due to the fact there are more than one clip on the screen at one time this gives the effect that he is remembering these times and show they all relate together. The majority of the clips show items and features of people close up leaving the rest of the screen black (highlights what the producer wants the audience to focus on) this also creates mystery because it does not allow you to see the whole image, this gets the audience thinking and asking questions, which will make them more likely to watch the film. However extreme close ups, two-shot’s and reverse and reaction shots are used.  Slow motion is also used within this opening at points, which are significant and important to blade and the film, when slow motion occurs negative is also turned on – further highlighting the importance of it to understanding the film. There are also a variety of angles within this film opening but it mainly consists of low angle shots.

http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/03/31/blade-ii/

Zombieland

Sound/Voiceovers 

The opening of Zombieland is very well designed due to the fact it gets the audience interested in the film strait away this is due to many reasons, firstly the music starts strait away this therefore gives the effect that zombie land is a very fast moving film with lots of action, despite the slow music at the beginning of the film opening. There is also a voice over throughout the film opening – the main character is talking and discusses what has happened to the United States of America, this is effective and also an important part of the film because it gives the target audience a brief incite into what has happened previously therefore meaning they can follow the film easily. As the film opening continues the voice over runs through and at certain points synchronises with the text on the screen – for example when he is stating his list of rules they are also stated in bold on screen, this is effective because it re-enforces how important he believes these rules are, and also sets the theme for the whole film due to the fact his rules are stated quite frequently through out. There are other sound features within these opening titles which make the opening sequence effective, there is a lot of digectic sound when the characters are getting killed – for example: screaming, mumbling of zombies, cars screeching, people crying and various other commotion in the streets. However there is also a lot of non-digectic sound too, such as gun shots and the sound of fire roaring, background noise may also have been added to create and emphasise more panic among the people who have not yet been turned into zombies. This background noise continues to play alongside the voice over and is made louder at points when he stops talking. Towards the end of the film opening the voice over stops, and the screen goes black, there is a slight pause, which builds up tension – however the pace of the sound (music) then picks up making the film seem more alive and exciting, at the end of the opening the sound cuts of suddenly to promote the end of that clip and the start of the film.

 Camera Shots/angles/transitions

In the opening of zombieland it starts with a subjective camera which is hand held and facing the sky, this gives the audience a view from the characters perspective, giving the impression that they have fallen over and is effective because it makes you feel as if you are part of the film. There are also many other effects involving camera angles, shots and movement within the opening titles of Zombieland. For example as the opening gets going there are a variety of close ups and tracking shots to show the movement of the character and promote the idea of them running. There is then a low angle shot of a zombie to promote the fact that the zombies are theoretically in control of the people within the city. There is also a pan of the landscape and then a zoom out on an establishing shot to give an idea of the chaos caused by the zombies. This shot is then zoomed in to another point on the world and a following shot takes place. From this point on there is synchronous voice over to the words which come onto screen – this is effective because it emphasises the characters rules he is stating and shows this is going to be a common feature within the film. There are also following shots within the opening to promote the fact that the zombies were constantly following people. There is also a variety of high and low angle shots which help to keep the audience interested. The majority of the shots within this opening are two-shots which tend to involve a person and a zombie! There are also many titl shots which are used to promote the peoples bodies and also the bodies lying among the floor. Reaction shots are used to show the reaction of people when they are attacked by zombies reverse shot reverse’s are used to promote both peoples reactions. Also there are a lot of extreme close ups on features to promote the emphasis on detail. Within this opening slow motion is also used a lot, especially towards the end, after one slow motion shot the screen goes black, when the footage returns after a short pause a low angle shot is used along with slow motion to promote the fact that people are falling/jumping from a building, the slow motion is then used from here to the end of the film opening, this is effective because it adds a comical effect to the opening and emphasises the music because it has picked up at this point. Two shots are used a lot here because it emphasises people running and the reasons why they are running. At this point the titles of the producers names appear frequently of screen, however when the characters run into them they break and disappear this is interesting and therefore effective. The transitions used are mainly cuts however some cross dissolves are used. The overall effect of this film opening shows the film can be quite comical, however gory! But this does not create much mystery due to it being filmed in daylight, many characters are shown and the main character is not actually introduced in the voice over so we do not know he is to be the main character.

http://www.artofthetitle.com/2010/04/05/zombieland/

                                                                            

 Romeo and Juliet

Shots/Angles

Romeo and Juliet is a love drama, and the film opening is quite different to other film openings. It starts with a small TV screen within the middle of the screen, the TV screen at first shows interference and then the ‘news’ appears, the camera begins to zoom and the news reader starts talking – introducing the film and describing the love of Romeo and Juliet – this enables the audience to understand the film more easily. The zoom then speeds up and shows a close up of the TV screen this zooms in further to a clip of where the film is to be set, a strobe effect is then used to show Verona then quickly the text ‘in fair Verona’ these clips flicker about 4 times and the lady then stops talking. ‘In fair Verona’ is then frozen on the screen for a few seconds and opera music starts very loudly, there is then a close up of a statues face, which soon zooms out to be an establishing shot of Verona from a high angle. This shot is important because it introduces the 2 main families witih the film – the montagues and the capulets – these are stated at the top of two evenly high buildings. An establishing shot montaged is then flashed across the screen very quikly to show the audience the setting of the film, the music is synchronised well with this because at each strong beat a new building is shown and further establishing shots too.

Voice Overs/characters

A news paper article is then zoomed in on, which show the faces and titles of the montagues and capulets, this is important as it introduces the characters, there is then a zoom and a voice over starts. Fire then blazes over the screen and there is another emphasis on the setting because another high angle establishing shot is shown. At certain points the voice over is again synchronous to the footage as words from newspapers match what he is saying. As he is talking there is also background noise simulating helicopters which are used throughout the footage also to show the police – this is digectic sound. There is also music added as the parents of romeo and Juliet are introduced in a two shot medium close up, this is also a reaction shot as it shows there reactions to a situation.  The words continue to come up on screen in black and white as the voice over runs through, (however this is a differet voice and so keeps the audience interested to know who he is) the music picks up and the main characters are introduced, there is a zoom on their faces, then the footage stops and their name comes onto screen this introduces the characters well. The music then picks up again, and the run through of the synopsis is written on screen but flashes through quickly, emphasising the story again. Action shots, which are shown throughout the film, are then montaged and flashed through very quickly this is effective because it gets the audience in the mood for an action orientated film and the pace of the music fits well to the clips, this also makes increases tension!

Transitions

The transitions used are mainly just cuts, however there is a wipe at the end of the film opening where the title Romeo and Juliet appears on screen with a loud bang! This relases the tension and shows the start of the film, the cuts within the film opening are very blunt and quick this promotes that the film is going to be very action orientated and fast moving, it adds excitement to the film and presents to the audience the pace which it will move at. The shots used throughout this film opening are mainly establishing shots, the producers pay a lot of attention to where the film is set, in contrast to this there are also many close ups of character to emphasise there important within the film. Live footage is also added to make the film seem more realisic.

http://www.artofthetitle.com/2009/03/23/william-shakespeares-romeo-juliet/