media studies 2009-2011

For inspiration for our film we went onto youtube.com and searched ‘opening sequences of films’. Once we decided what kind of film we wanted to create (Horror), we could then use ideas from simular film openings.

Our first choice was to relate our opeining to the 3rd series of skins, an episode filmed in the forrest. We watched this opeining a few times to get a real feel for the different types of camera angles and shots. We decided to use a panning camera as our establishing shot, as they do in theres. We also liked the style of acting from ‘Skins’, so we wrote a script based on a typical teenage girl campout (with a twist!) Ideas kept flooding out and we now have a very good idea of how we want our opening sequence to look.

Then we got inspiration for transitions from the TV series ‘True Blood’. We liked the way that the shots flickered from one to another. There is use of dead animals in this opening to create a very eary feel to the programme.

Ideas for destination: Osmotherly Woods, a random field, deserted village.

Setting the scene: Sunset/dark, Evening time/ early morning, tents, bbq, fire, pajamas, sleeping bags etc.

Things we need (Props): Tents, sleeping bags, matches, fags, empty booze bottles, junk food etc.

Storyline: A group of youths having a campout but things go mysteriously wrong for one girl. She invites herself along, which no one is really pleased about, and begins making the well awaited trip hell for the other teenagers. Will they get their revenge or will she live to tell the tale?

Actors: Mixture of sexes, naughty misbehaving teenagers.

Evaluation

Overall i was very pleased with our final piece. We used a wide range of camera angles and shots to create what we thought was the perfect end piece. Little did we know that we broke a rule. The 360 degree rule. So we have to film for a second time to create the appropiate ending to finish our mini film. I thought that the section where i run around the corner worked very well, it gives an illusion that the place where we filmed was larger than it was. If we had to re-film i would have considered shooting the door handle differently. Perhaps further away from the camera. The outcome impressed us a lot. I am very happy that my group achieved such a wonderful piece.

A video shot log is a written record of the shots on a tape or disk. The Log can be written during or after the shoot has been done. It’s easier to do the Log during the shoot as it saves time in the long run.

Whatever works for you is fine when it comes to craeting a Log. If you are working in a bigger team you will probably have a ’standardised format’ so everyone uses the same system and gets the desired information.

The first task you will need to complete which goes to the exam board, is your preliminary exercise. This only has to be a small exercise. It will become 20% towards the final AS exam. The exercise has to include simple yet effective camera shots. No hand held camera can be used when filming this short sequence. The idea is to firstly create a storyboard to later turn into a sequence of a film (mini sequence). What it had to include is, a character opening a door then closing a room, character sits down in a ‘chair’ opposite another character, they exchange a couple of lines of dialouge (and an object). The exercise must demonstrate- match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180 degree rule.

Premiere is split into 5 main sections:

1. The project panel, where you store all the elements which make up your edited video.
2. The monitor panel, where you view video clips and the result of your edits.
3. The info panel, which shows information about the desired item.
4. The timeline panel, where you arrange the elements of your video in the desired order.
5. The tools panel, where you can select various editing tools to use in the timeline.

Adobe Premiere is a video editing software package suitable for both amateur enthusiasts and professionals.

How it works:

Premiere works by importing video, then allowing you to create new edited versions which you can export back to tape, disc or another source.

What Premiere does:

Premiere is extreamly expensive but works exceptionly well for editing situations.

Editing is the process of manipulating and rearranging video shots to create a new work. Editing is proberly the most important process when it comes to the post production process. Other tasks include titling, colour correction, sound mixing and many more.

Editing can mean any of the following:

• Rearranging, adding and/or removing sections of video clips and/or audio clips.
• Applying colour correction, filters and other enhancements.
• Creating transitions between clips.