Media Studies 09-11

Annotated Version of The Film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0pLudxkzSI

Looking back at my preliminary task and seeing our film opening I can see the differences in the quality of the filming  and editing . In this first picture we can see a shot from the preliminary on the left and a shot from our film opening on the right. In the shot from our preliminary we can see that there is too much head space and general room around the character and we could of tightened that and framed the shot better, whereas in the picture of our main task it shows how we have framed it so that the camera doesn’t have to move and the character walks perfectly into view in the sequence.

The framing of the shots is one of the main noticable improvements from preliminary to film opening. The picture below is another way to see the improvements from the preliminary task. Once again the picture on the left is the preliminary and the film opening is on the right. The two shots are both point of view shots taken as though the camera is a mirror, the film opening shot is better because the camera is the right height for the actress to just look straight forward rather than having to look up, also the framing of the film opening shot is a lot better because it has more headroom and the spaces either side of the character are even. As well as framing we can see some improvements on lighting as in the preliminary shot there is an obvious lighting  change either side of the character which we balanced out in the actual film opening.

When watching the two films it is obvious to see that the overall editing of the film opening, including transitions between shots  and cuts, is a lot smoother and sharper than the preliminary which had a few jumps in it. Other features which are a big improvement are than in the main film opening we have included other aspects than just video, such as music and titles.

The lighting for the preliminary was quite harsh because we didn’t set the white balance properly every time, this was improved on the film opening and the lighting is even and the same in every shot.

In the preliminary we had a few places where characters where blocked by other characters because of the framing of the shots, in the film opening we stopped things like this from happening again by creating a split screen, this can be seen in the picture below:

Another thing that I think we improved was the continuity because in the preliminary there are some errors including bags being in different places in different shots and characters wearing slightly different jewellery, this was avoided completely in our film opening and we took care to make sure no furniture was moved between shots to keep the continuity of the film, as well as double checking costumes before filming.

Overall I think I have learnt much more about the filming and editing processes between the preliminary and the film opening.

The camera we used to produce this film opening was manufactured by Canon (See above picture) Using this camera gave us good opportunities for using professional features such as setting the white balance , which helped us make our film to a better standard.

These next few images show how we used the camera in different ways and also used the tripod with it. Some of our shots we did required hand held work with the camera whereas others could be done by changing the height of the tripod and experimenting ways to get the view we wanted. We found that the tripod was stable while it was on a solid base like the floor, however it needed some more support for some of the shots where it was places on the bed because the duvet made it a lot less stable. Once we had stabilised the tripod we would use the features of it to test out the different positioned and angles for the camera.

These three images are of us using the camera in different ways and experimenting with the tripod to get the right angles and shots. It was hard to position some of the shots in our film and we relied a lot on the technologies of the tripod to stabilise the camera in awkward positions such as the mirror shot where the camera was placed over the sink. The first image is of the tripod in the sink, at first this shot caused a lot of problems cause we didn’t know how to film it, we tried to use the camera hand held but I wasn’t able to keep it steady just holding it with one hand because I didn’t have anywhere to lean unlike the first mirror shot, so we took time carefully positioning the tripod at the right height and stabilising it so it didn’t end up falling in the sink.

The middle picture is of us filming the first mirror shot, for this there was no where to place the tripod so when filming I had to try and make the camera as stable as possible by leaning against the wall and my knee to make sure my arms and hands were at the same height and couldn’t slip.

The last image is of us trying to position the camera in the base of the shower at the right height for the shot of the characters legs, there was not enought distance between the shot and the camera if we filmed it on the floor so we had to use the shower to be able to fit the full frame in.

The picture below is a screengrab from ‘Adobe Premiere‘ which is the editing program we used to produce this film. I found premiere a very good and useful program, we managed to do all of the editing quite quickly and professionally by using it. Premier has taught me a lot about the editing process of films such as how to create split screens and how to include music and titles into films.

The picture below is of another program we used, for one of the evaluation activities, this was Youtube’s annotation tools, I found using this quite confusing at first but it was a good way to evaluate and comment on our film as we watched it, I think annotating makes it a lot easier to see the things we wanted to point out and talk about.

The two pictures below are of the Wordpress blogging, this is another major use of technology for creating this product because it is a way which I could include links and embed videos or images, before creating this film I had never used a blog before and this has taught we that they can be useful for creating multi-media information online.

Link to this video on Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0pLudxkzSI

In what ways does our media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of film openings)

The title of our film is ‘When Shelly Met Kelly’, we got the idea for this and based in on the same structure of the very popular romantic comedy, ‘When Harry Met Sally’ . We wanted the audience to recognise this title to show that we were relating to the well known conventions of ‘When Harry Met Sally’.

These 9 frames are the most important because they show the main features in our film such as the font and style. By looking at other films we realised that the title font styles are usually big and clear letters, so that is how we set ours. This makes them easier to read for the audience, and stand out more from the film opening in the background. Titles are important because they set the first impression for the film so we used a bright vibrant red colour because this immediately gives the audience the impression of a ‘feel good’ movie. We made our company logo in a computer program and integrated this into the very beginning of the film before the music starts.

The next frame is of our establishing shot, our film is set in a block of flats so even though all of the filming was done in the same house a few miles away from the fictional location so we could stage each character’s bedroom and bathroom, we were still able to stick with the location by using this shot of the flats to set the scene at the beginning. It was quite hard to film this because we had to try lots of different camera angles in order to get the full building in. The setting of our film is very typical to the usual conventions of a romantic comedy. In most comedies the first scene begins with an establishing shot of a building in which is related to the character like a home or a work place, we know this as later on in the first scene of the main film we see the character leave this building as though they are on their way to work.

For costumes and props our actors used their own clothing and we found props that fit in our own homes. The clothes we used were purchased from modern shops like New look or Topshop because these are the types of shops that our aimed audience would shop in, therefore allowing them to relate to the characters better. The costumes also represented our characters personalities. Our props were an alarm clock and most everyday bathroom items, such as face cloths and toothbrushes etc. The way our props are used in the film, like when the character ‘Kelly’ uses mouthwash, make it easy for the audience to relate to because they can recognise these things from their own lives

The story begins with the third frame, this is a mid shot with the alarm clock going off and we see a hand turn it off, this hand is the first introduction to the female lead character. Also in this frame we have the introduction to the story because it tells us the character is on a time schedule to be somewhere. The fourth frame is a mid shot of the second character in bed, we know this is another character as this scene is in another bedroom with different settings, this is the first introduction we have to the second character. The fifth key frame is a split screen of the two characters looking up at the camera, in the editing process we did this by dragging the two shots of both characters side by side into one shot and re-sizing them so that they fit together and fit in the frame. This is the first time in the film we see the characters faces and we created the split screen so that the story was able to follow both characters at the same time. The sixth key frame is still a split screen however it is a different type of shot, this shot is a point of view shot because the characters are looking into the camera as though it is the mirror and we see what they are seeing as their reflection. The last key frame is where the music stops and we have the natural sounds of the town, this was a shot of the character walking from the building towards the road whilst walking out of the camera’s shot, we panned the camera to do this, and as soon as the character is out of the shot the title appears, covering up most of the screen.

The first image, on the left, is our actress Hannah Whyman playing the lead role of Kelly in our movie ‘When Shelly Met Kelly’ , this picture is taken from the last shot in our opening sequence when she is on her way to work. The second picture, on the right is the actress Sandra Bullock  playing the lead role of Maggie in the movie ‘The Proposal’ , this picture is also taken when the character is on her way to work. We based the character Kelly on the character of Maggie because that is the image we wanted to portray, of a ’stuck up’, snobby, ambitious and career driven woman who doesn’t let anyone into her life, especially not to interfere with her work, and that is the type of character we wanted our character Kelly to be exactly like. These pictures were chosen because they show some of the similarities of the characters quite clearly just by looking. For example even the way the two characters both hold their bags on the same arm and have the same strong definite walk. They are both dressed similar and there is a sense of power in the way their faces are set with determination. However there are some differences in the characters, our character of Kelly isn’t supposed to be very confident and supposed to be quite shy, you can see this in the picture because whereas Maggie has her head up looking confident, our character has her head down. Overall I think the way we filmed and directed our character Kelly was successful because we managed to portray her how we first planned.

This image is of two who we thought would be good to represent our audience because they relate to the characters both by age and personality, which is what we wanted to happen. Both of the girls are between 12 and 18 which is the age range for our film audience. 

 We decided early on that our film, ‘When Shelley Met Kelly’ , was aimed at mainly teenage girls, the type of characters that go shopping with friends, listen to the latest pop music and watch TV soaps or sitcoms. We felt we managed to do this successfully because our audience can relate to the characters in our film and the morning routines we see them go through. Also the age of our characters can relate to the audience, the audience may see them as like themselves or like how they want to be, so they can connect with the film and the storyline better than if the characters were very unlike themselves because it is easier to understand the characters.

Shooting Schedule

Shoot number: 4

Int/Ext: Int

Film Title: ‘Well I Never!’

Storyboard shot numbers:

Day/Night: Day

Shoot Date: 25/03/10

Starting Time: 9:40am

Synopsis: Morning waking up sequence

Location: 34 Oak Tree Drive

Approx Wrap Time: 11:30am

Cast: Emma Tomkinson

Extras: -

Stunts/SFX: –

Risk Assessment Notes: Careful on the roads

Props: Alarm Clocks, tooth brush, face wipe

Wardrobe: PJ’s, hoody, jeans

Technical Responsibilities:

·         Camera: MS

·         Direction: MS, ET

·         Continuity: ET

·         Lighting: MS

·         Props Management: ET

·         Return of Equipment: ET, MS

·         Tape Logging: MS

Notes: Successful

Corrections to be Done: -

A film always opens with the two production company’s logos, after this the film opens with the female lead on a bike watching the screen, the camera is zoomed in n the screen so it looks like she is actually in the forest, then the camera zooms out to see her watching the screen in her front room by viewing an over the shoulder shot of her watching the screen. Camera zooms out a little more to an over the shoulder shot to show her reading on her bike in her front room. This is showing her multitasking to show feminine power. The camera then cuts quickly to a close up of her face, then cuts to a mid shot of her on her bike.

In the next scene the camera pans across the room to a mid shot of the male lead in bed and the alarm clock so we can see he is late. Camera zooms out to watch him get out of bed then cuts to an over the shoulder shot of the female lead looking into the mirror checking her appearance. It then cuts to a long shot of the male lead running across the road until he reaches the camera where there is a mid shot of him and the road. It then cuts to a mid shot of the female lead eating breakfast in her kitchen.

Then it cuts to the next scene where the camera pans out across the window to see him running past the windows and entering the shop, it cuts quickly to a long shot of him running past the customers until he reaches the camera view. It then cuts to an over the shoulder shot of a girl giving coffee to the male lead, this involves a shot/reverse shot with his responses she hands him the coffee. it then cuts to the next scene where it is a tracking shot of the male lead running across the road and dodging cars, it then cuts quickly to him running into a building and entering and then a mid shot of him running with a drink in his hand, this is also a tracking shot as the camera follows him.

As the male lead runs the camera follows him walking into an elevator, where it is a mid shot of him wedged between people in the elevator. The elevator door closes and it then cuts to a mid shot of the female lead walking on the street on her phone with a crowd of people, it cuts quickly to a mid shot of her right side walking across the road as a tracking shot until she reaches the camera’s view.

In the next scene it cuts to the male lead walking out of the elevator having a mid shot of his back as he walks away from the camera, it cuts quickly to him walking into a room as a mid shot and then cuts to a mid close-up of the male lead spilling coffee on his shirt and then cuts quickly to another mid shot of the male lead complaining to another character, extra character walks out of shot.

The next scene cuts quickly to female lead walking into the building as the camera follows her with a tracking shot. It then cuts to the male lead asking another character for his shirt, we see over the shoulder shots and a shot/reverse shot as they exchange dialogue.

The camera cuts quickly to two extra characters looking into the camera, then the camera cuts to a long shot of the female lead walking towards the camera, as if this was the view the two extra characters were looking at. It then cuts to a woman typing on the computer, it then cuts quickly to an extreme close-up of the computer screen of the message she is sending everyone, “Its here!” then a series of cuts as it appears on screens. It then cuts to a mid shot of the man reading the message then jumping out of his seat. Then it cuts to a tracking shot of the female lead walking into the room, and then it cuts quickly to another mid shot of a person reading the message and gasping.

It cuts to another tracking shot of the female lead walking along the room, then it cuts quickly to a long shot of everyone running to their desks as she walks past, walking towards the camera’s view. It then cuts to a mid shot of a character who was once leaning on his chair but quickly sits up straight as she walks past, then it cuts quickly to a mid close-up of her face as she looks down at all of her employees as the tracking shot follows her movements.

The next scene cuts to a mid shot of the male lead adjusting himself, then the camera cuts quickly to zoom out to show that he is standing in her office. It then cuts to a tracking shot of the female lead walking into her office with her back to the camera. I loved how the camera shots cuts quickly to one and other to show two different morning lifestyles as they link in with one and other, the range of shots come together nicely as the opening flows between these shots.

Shooting Schedule

Shoot number: 3

Int/Ext: Int

Film Title: ‘Well I Never!’

Storyboard shot numbers:

Day/Night: Day

Shoot Date: 18/03/10

Starting Time: 1:15pm

Synopsis: Morning waking up sequence

Location: 34 Oak Tree Drive

Approx Wrap Time: 2:30pm

Cast: Hannah Whyman

Extras: -

Stunts/SFX: –

Risk Assessment Notes: Careful on the roads

Props: Alarm Clocks, tooth brush, face wipe

Wardrobe: PJ’s, Shirt, Jeans, Coat, Boots

Technical Responsibilities:

·         Camera: MS

·         Direction: MS, ET

·         Continuity: ET

·         Lighting: ET

·         Props Management: ET

·         Return of Equipment: ET, MS

·         Tape Logging: MS

Notes: Successful

Corrections to be Done: -

Shooting Schedule

Shoot number: 2

Int/Ext: Int

Film Title: ‘Well I Never!’

Storyboard shot numbers: 3 – 7

Day/Night: Day

Shoot Date: 12/03/10

Starting Time: 1:15pm

Synopsis: Morning waking up sequence

Location: 34 Oak Tree Drive

Approx Wrap Time: 3:00pm

Cast: Clare Lake

Extras: -

Stunts/SFX: –

Risk Assessment Notes: Careful on the roads

Props: Alarm Clocks X2

Wardrobe: Anything sleeveless

Technical Responsibilities:

·         Camera: MS

·         Direction: MS

·         Continuity: ET

·         Lighting: ET

·         Props Management: ET

·         Return of Equipment: ET

·         Tape Logging: MS

Notes: Successful

Corrections to be Done: Check lighting

Shooting Schedule

Shoot number: 1

Int/Ext: Ext

Film Title: ‘Well I Never!’

Storyboard shot numbers: 1, 22

Day/Night: Day

Shoot Date: 21/02/10

Starting Time: 2:00pm

Synopsis: Establishing and finishing shot

Location: East Road, Northallerton

Approx Wrap Time: 3:30pm

Cast: Hannah Whyman

Extras: -

Stunts/SFX: –

Risk Assessment Notes: Careful on the road

Props: Work bag

Wardrobe: Coat, Jeans, Scarf and Boots

Technical Responsibilities:

·         Camera: MS

·         Direction: ET

·         Continuity: ET, MS

·         Lighting: MS

·         Props Management: ET

·         Return of Equipment: ET

·         Tape Logging: MS

Notes: Successful shoot however maybe too much background noise

Corrections to be Done: –

The film begins with the Touchstone Pictures logo, followed by the Mandeville Films logo, then the film opens to the first scene. As the film opens to the first scene the following tittles appear the disappear one by one in the following order:

·         Touchstone pictures presents

·         A Mandevile Films production

·          A Anne Fletcher Film.

The first two titles are the producers and the third title is the director. The camera cuts to the next shot of a close up of the female lead character and the following titles appear then disapear in the following order:

·         Sandra Bullock

·          Ryan Reynolds

After the two lead characters’s names have been displayed the title of the movie appears on screen “The Proposal”. The opening then cuts to the next scene where there is a close up of the male lead and the following titles appear and disapear in the following order:

·         Malin Akerman

·          Craig T. Nelson

·          Mary SteenBurgen

·          Betty White.

These are the other main characters in Alphabetical order however they are not the lead characters. Camera cuts to the next scene where the male lead is running into the shot and the following titles appear then disappear:

·         Oscar Nunez

·          Aasif Mandni

·          Michael Nouri

·          Gregg Edelman.

These titles are the names of the minor characters. The opening then cuts to the next scene of the female lead and the following titles appear then disappear in the following order:

·         By Amanda Mackey

·          Cathy Sandrich Gelfond.c.s.a.

These titles are the names of the editors. It then cuts to the next scene of the male lead in the coffee shop where the following titles appear then disappear in the following order:

·         Music supervisor Buck Damon

·          Music by Aaron Zigman

 Cuts to the next scene and the following titles appear and disappear in the following order:

·         Costume designer Catherine Marie Thomas

·          Edited by Priscilla Nedd Friendly

·          Production designer Nelson Coates

·          Director of Photography Oliver Stapleton B.S.C

It then cuts to the next scene where the following titles appear then disappear in the following order:

·         Executive producer Mary Mclaylen

·          Sandra Bullock

·          Produced by David Hoberman

·          Todd Lieberman

·          Written by Peter Chianelli

 Cuts to the next scene where the last title of the opening appears and disappears across the screen:

·         Directed by Anne Fletcher.

This first shot is the setting of our first sene after the establishing shot, where we first see the main character.

This next shot is of the scene where we meet our second character in his bedroom. To get across the different lifestyles of the characters, different bedrooms were key.

This next shot is of the scene where our first character walks from the bedroom to the bathroom mirror and we have a shot from the point of few of the mirror as if that is the camera.

The next shot is the scene of where our second character walks from his bedroom to his bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face.

This next image would be of the establishing shot we would use for the first scene, to show that the characters live in the same building, however later we show how they have never met.

The film begins with the opening logo for, “Universal Studios” along with their advertising of “www. universalstudios.com”, the next logo we see is from,”Studio Canal” and then that is followed by “Working Title”.

After this the film then starts, during the filming of people at the airport, the titles are appearing around the screen, starting with perhaps the most important ones such as, ‘Universal Pictures and Studio Canal present’ followed by the next title ‘A Working title Production’ and the next title ’In Association with DNA films’. After the three main titles the main if the film starts to do a voice over and playing in the background of the scene is some peaceful digetic music that gives the basic feel of the movie, the words of the voice over then comes up on the screen “Love actually is all around” then the ‘is all around’ fades and then you are left with the title “Love Actually”.

The next scene starts where the titles re-start with the name of the actors (Alan Rickman, Bill Nighly, Colin Firth, Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Laura Linney, Liam Neeson, Martine McCutcheon), the list starts in alphabetical order of all the main characters. The next scene starts and the credits continue with the names of the actors with the smaller parts (Andrew Lincoln, Chiwetel Elloiter, Gregor Fisher, Heike Makatsch, Keira Knightley, Kris Marshall, Lucia Moniz, Martin Freeman, Rodrigo Santoro, Thomas Sangster and Rowan Atkinson), Still all in alphabetical order apart from Rowan Atkinson who guest stared and the ones who guess star are always last to be read. The next shot starts and the names of the crew start, (Casting by Mary Selway, Fiona Weir, Music supervisor Nick Angel, Music by Craig Armstrong, Co-Producers Debra Hayward, Liza Chasm, Costume Designer Joanna Johnston, Line Production Chris Thompson, Production Designer Jim Clay, Photographer Michael Coulter, Editor Nick Moore, Produced by Duncan Kenworthy, Tim Benvan, and Eric Feliner, Written and Directed by Richard Curtis). After this all of the titles fade and the main storyline of the film starts.

Love Actually – Film Opening Analysis

The titles for this film and others in the genre usually start during the first sequence, when the characters and storyline are being set up and introduced. The first shot in this film was a medium close-up of a crowd, which the narration then set as the arrivals gate at Heathrow airport. The camera kept zooming in and out and cutting to different people’s facial expressions, quite a lot of the shots blurred into focus.

The main title of the film was introduced by the voice over narration and writing on the screen, the two things both said the words, ‘Love Actually is all round’, then after a few seconds the last three words faded to only leave the final title, ‘Love Actually’, and the next shot sequence started.

The film carries on in mid shots and medium close-ups as the characters start to appear, in the first seen comedy effect is made by using funny facial expressions, costume and comical singing + dancing. Throughout the first 3 sequences in the film the titles keep appearing and fading in different places around the screen, displaying actors’ names and people involved in the making of the film.

From the beginning of the film until the 3rd sequence there is music over the top of any dialogue, this stops suddenly when one of the characters suddenly swears really comically and the titles stop appearing. After this there is an establishing shot of London and the words, ‘5 Weeks to Christmas’, are on the bottom of the screen, there is then a sequence of wide shots and mid shots to show the time of year and the location, showing things such as ice skating rinks and shopping centres.

The action then cuts to a mid shot of someone rummaging through draws and moving to reveal another character sat behind them, this makes the sequence flow well and look good. After some dialogue between these two characters the camera then switches to a wide shot of the house where the action is taking place, this sets up the location and tells us something about the status of the character. The action then cuts across to introduce some of the other major characters in the film.

I think we did quite a good job on our Preliminary Exercise because it was our first filming task. The first shot was of someone running across the hall and up to the drama studio door, this shot was quite smooth with the camera however we had too much headroom. To make this shot more interesting we could of split it into a few different shots to show all the angles of the person running.

The next shot was a close-up of the hand on the door, this shot was good as the hand was framed well however in the editing stage we realised it was too slow and should have been a lot quicker.
The next shot, of the character walking into the room, was done by already having the camera waiting at the other side of the door at a distance, she looked into a mirror and at that point we cut to a shot where the character was looking into the camera as though it was the mirror. I felt that this was the most effective part of the exercise and the whole group were pleased with it.

For the next shot we jumped back out to see the person sorting out their hair and picking up a brief case before walking forward to a door, however at that point we didn’t have enough film so there was a big jump of about 2 metres, this was the least successful part of our exercise. This shot was also a problem because in order to take the mirror shot we moved a couple of bags and coats off a bookshelf, then when zooming back out we had to make sure they were all in the exact same place so that we didn’t ruin the continuity in the sequence. Also during this shot there is a section of the soundtrack missing, because we realised there was a radio playing in the background so we had to cut that out, but it is not that long and not too noticeable.

After the person had reached the door and gone into the room, we cut to a sign on the door which said, ‘Office’, this was a good cut and gave a good effect however we thought after filming that the office sign should of been before the character when in the door so that the audience knew what was happening and could follow the story easier.

We then had a shot where the character was inside the room and we had an over the shoulder shot of her walking, sitting down and putting the case on the table, this shot was good put is another one that could have been made into a few more shots with different angles.

When we did the part where the character had dialogue we set the sound levels to make sure we had really good sound so that they could be heard clearly. Unfortunately we missed out part of the brief which was to include a shot/reverse shot and this was quite an important part of the exercise.  Some of the shots run too long, like the hall shot. We are also missing a shot reverse shot. In all the shots we had great lighting even when the person walked through the door in the room. Throughout filming we had to make sure that the person acting came in the same clothes every time to keep with continuity.

Overall I think our Preliminary exercise could of gone better as there were a few parts which didn’t work for whatever reason, however most of it went as planned and for a first attempt the group was quite pleased.

The preliminary filming exercise is one of the requirements for the coursework foundation portfolio. The foundation portfolio counts for 50% of the final mark. The exam board supply briefs of what we have to do and for the preliminary exercise we have to produce a short film clip, of someone walking down a corridor, through a door, sitting down opposite someone else and giving them a package with 1 or 2 lines of dialogue. The preliminary exercise itself isn’t marked however if it isn’t blogged by the deadline the final mark gets reduced. Along with the short film clip we need to present the planning and research information, this is 20% of the 50% available for the coursework. This includes an aniamatic storyboard, Recce report, shooting script, dialogue script and a health and safety report. For another part of the coursework we need to produce the beginning sequence of a film, the genre is our choice. The research part of the coursework needs to be into films of the same genre of the one we are making the beginning to, we will need to analyse the opening 2 minutes of other films and see how they are shot and edited. Also for the research we need to look into the generic conventions of film, looking at titles for jobs, because on the exercise we will need to present it with full titles and credits. The film is 60% of the 50% for the final coursework mark, it is assessed for technicality, eg/ Shots, Angles, Light, Sound etc. The evaluation of the film is 20% of the coursework mark, this isn’t a written evaluation and uses multimedia, screen shots and audio clips etc.