Research & Planning: Titles

To get an insight into the correct font and style which will be needed for our film opening, we looked at a range of opening sequences of films which just have the titles and credits playing to see how they format the titles and lay it out on the screen. For our chosen genre (thriller), the type of font which is expected is something quite elegant but has an edge to it, making it look more appealing to the audience, where as for another genre e.g. romance you would expect a more smooth faced font which is curved. While editing we originally used a very mainstream font which looked very messy and unprofessional, which is why i wanted to research further into film openings which used typefaces that gave an impact to the structure of the sequence.

Out of all the film openings we watched regarding 'titling' we felt that the "Man Of Steel" opening sequence was the most effective, therefore we used it as inspiration and a guide towards the font we wish to pursue. The title sequence for "Man Of Steel" is very simple but has an effective element which keeps the audience engaged. A sharp, small and bold font has been used with all of the text and is in capital letters emphasizing each word which is displayed. Another element that makes the opening sequence striking is how smooth it flows with the titles and credits fading in and out in a refined and formal way. I want to use a similar font for the credits of our film opening, to give it a smooth flow making it look efficient and professional. We also liked how each scene cut to a new frame when a different credit was displayed on the screen. 

Film Opening: Filming

When we went out to our location to film our footage on Saturday, overall we had a successful day capturing a range of footage which can be used and deleted while editing. The lighting was perfect for our shots as the sun was out reflecting as natural light for our scenes. We had already shot some footage previously before and the we needed the lighting to be the same to show clear continuity through out the film opening. In my group, we all took turns in using the camera and equipment available, shooting different shots from various angles so that we had a wide range of footage to choose when it came to editing. Additionally, we made most of all of the equipment, for example, we used the tripod to keep specific shots steady giving off a traditional and professional film style look and on the other hand, we had handheld shots which were slightly shaky, but also came across as adding to the tension and suspense which was created. We used the steady cam to make the panning shots smoother and adjusted the cameras various lens to establish each different shot that we had, for example, we used the 75mm lens for our close up and extreme close up shots. For our mid shots, we used the 50mm lens, to reveal elements of the character and for our long shots we used the 35mm lens to establish the setting and location.

Research & Planning: Film Production Name

Image of a Blurred Path as inspiration

After researching various film productions companies, in particular British ones, as a group we contributed our ideas together to think of an original and unique film production name, which also had aspects of professionalism within it. Formerly, we had the name called "Alumination Productions", which I personally thought was too mainstream and was already an existing company in the film industry, therefore as a group we decided to change it. Our new ideas included names such as "Skyline Productions" & "Nightfall Productions" but throughout our research they were already taken and visible on the interest with copyright labels. However, we had an idea of basing the film company on the genre of the movies that they make; in our case it would come under the thriller genre. Eventually, for our film production name, we came up with the company name: Blurred Path Productions. We kept it simple but it's effective and unique, easy to remember, standing out to the audience. In terms of font and the way its displayed, we figured having a mini logo or photo would look quite effective with a elegant font which had an edge to it, linking to the genre of thriller. Ultimately, we want to keep it looking simplistic and professional, making it efficient for it's purpose. 

Research & Planning: Commands

In the lesson, we learned the commands which are used in the film industry, we can use this in our main task for a professional effect when filming:

Commands:
- Standby
- Roll Camera (pushing record button)
- Say "Camera Rolling"... "Action"
- Action finished... "Cut"
- 'Pause' at the beginning of the take and afterwards

Research & Planning: Model Screenplay & Script

To get a better understanding of how to write a screenplay, as a group we researched into various film scripts to see how they are written and adapted from them. Using this twilight script as a model, we used it to help us review the main conventions of a screenplay and script, for example the layout and (terminology) key terms which are used. 
http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Twilight.html

EXT: external
INT: interior
DAY: during the daytime

Research & Planning: Screenplay

BLACK SCREEN (diegetic sound of river) 

STRAIGHT CUT (non-diegetic music)

EXT. Jubilee River - DAY

Sunlight is reflecting on the river, silhouette of trees, sun in the sky

Tree tops with bright blue sky

Vanishing point of bridge 

White  sunlight glowing through the leaves with river in the background 

CRYSTAL 

Hand lying on grass with sun glistening on bracelet
 
Flashback/vision of bracelet being handed to Crystal (black and white format)

Eyes flickering with confusion, flashback/vision of her sister on the bridge 

Gradually getting up from the ground unstably near the river and bridge

Feet stumble on wet grass 

Hand in hair, looking around dazed with disorientation 

Walking towards the broken fence and climbing over, puzzled of her previous actions 

CRYSTAL POV

Walking away, looking around, quick glance at bridge 

Walks onto bridge feeling weak and walks away

Research & Planning: New Film Synopsis

A girl wakes up at an unknown location confused.

A 16 year old girl suffers from amnesia after being involved in a tragic accident. Her parents died in the car crash, due to the impact of the accident it resulted in her to suffer from amnesia. The girl is always confused and unsure of what she is doing. She now lives with her aunt who works long night shifts as she is a nurse. She is drawn to this bridge location frequently as she keeps seeing visions of her sister who committed suicide at the bridge. The girl does not have much knowledge of her sister due to her condition but learns more about her everyday through her aunt and the visions she has. The girl wears a bracelet which she received from her sister, however she does not know the full meaning of the item, but has strong feelings towards it being significant and an element of completing her as a person. Her aunt is concerned about her, therefore she recommends her to see a therapist to help her out with her memory. As time goes on, her memory starts to improve however, when she goes back to school she wanders off  with frustration and ends up hurting herself. As a result of hurting herself, she wakes up in hospital confused, not remembering the previous events that occurred. At the hospital she is put through some brain tests but the doctors are unable to diagnose her with anything but give her some medication anyway and advises her to continue on with her therapy sessions. The more time goes by, her memory deteriorates even more, she feels empty as there is nothing in her life to live for and she feels like she is dying inside. Due to the pain of seeing the frequent visions of her sister, it drives her to commit suicide at the bridge like her sister did.

Research & Planning: Location Shots

The photographs below are some of the shots I took of our filming location while on set. We chose this specific location due to it's overall eerie and enigmatic atmosphere which was created by the surroundings, as our genre is thriller; we thought it was great. This setting is very isolated and confined which links to our story as the character is detached from the world due to her condition of amnesia. 

Research & Planning: Actors, Costume, Lighting, Props & Target Audience

Research & Planning: New Ideas

As a group, we decided to think about a new idea which is more structured and had more depth about the character how this particular character can be established during the film opening. Our idea's revolved around the theme of it being based on a teenage girl who suffers from Amnesia. To develop our idea, we researched into previous films which had a similar theme and adapted how they revealed a character and the general conventions of a person who suffers from memory loss. I created this mind map displaying all of the different aspects of our new idea and summarised the specific parts which are important to consider in terms of making this film opening.