In class, we screened our opening sequence to other students. We also showed other students our opening sequence and gave them a table to fill in, which had strengths and weakness boxes, they had to choose at least one strength and one weakness and there was room for any additional comments. From the results shown we can see that our main weakness was our titles, which we agree with as we had a few difficulties with the software so used more simple designed credits. We also feel that the titles written on visual objects weren't clear enough such as the envolope. If we could have done it again we would have made our credits better.
We uploaded our video on to facebook to see what feed back we would get, most of our feed back was positive. so our overall view is that our opening sequence went well and would be suited for our target audience.
"Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?"
Mollie Musgrove: We did a preliminary task before we started are course work to get are head around how to use a camera with a tripod and all the angles and shots you can do with it. We also all got to have a go at editing and playing around with sound and effects. This was to help us get as familiar as possible with the Mac computers we were using as some people where not very confident on them and the programs it provided. I feel I have learnt an awful lot since then when doing are own opening as there is more pressure for you to do it yourself and think for yourself instead of letting others do it for you.
Below is the video of the my preliminary task I did at the beginning of the year also with snapshots of both my final opening sequence and the preliminary task to compare them.
1) Mid Shot
This a mid shot of my preliminarytask where you can clearly see environment talking to a friend. So our group adapted this to show the actor in outside a house talking to her friends and you can see all her facial expressions very clearly.
2)Match On Action shot
When filming are match on action shot for are preliminary task It took us a lot of retakes to get it right and even then the editing to get it in time after was very tricky and very time consuming but I feel it looks very effective. However In our opening sequence we took a lot of time editing ours and re-filming so due to are hard work I think our match on action looks more or less pot on.
3)Lighting
In this shot reverse shot In are preliminary task the lighting with the two characters was different in each shot. That was due to standard lighting in the building and couldn't change that. We tried to edit the lighting on the Mac after but it still didn't look the same. However In are opening sequence we were fortunate enough to have a member of are group who owned two translucent lighting umbrellas so the lighting in the room never changed.
4) Mise en scene
The use of mise en scene In our opening sequence was a key factor to of remembered as the twins in our project where meant to be as different and unique as possible. So costume and props where a key to show their different personalties. How ever in my Preliminary task we also had a sense of stereotypical social group. As we set the two characters In our preliminary task in a school setting with school blazers and sticky notes all over them to show they were "nerdy" type people. We also made the two characters In are preliminary task have posh accents to add the their characters.
.. Becky: I origionally worked with Kimmy on my Preliminary task and I feel we have improved a lot. Firstly we have a wider variety of shots from different angles, we also took many takes of each shot till we got the perfect one where as before we just went with the ones we took straight away. We have developed our editing skills as we now know how to do split screens,our match on action shots have also improved from before. We used translucent umbrellas to improve the lighting where as before we had to improvise with the lighting in the room which has also improved our work since. I also used live type where as before we just went with really simple credits from Imovie this has helped improve the look of the opening sequence and make it look more proffesional. In our opening sequence we also made sure our mise en scene was correct for our genre all the way through by using props such as the emo back pack in contrast with the girly handbag,clothing, alarm clocks, etc where as before the only prop used was a lamp and we didn't use certain clothing to fit the scenerio in the film.
Mise En Scene in our preliminary task wasn't used very well. The costume didn't fit with the scenario as the outfit looked very casual instead of the outfit a policemen should wear. Our costumein our opening sequence is good compared to the preliminary task as we went into detail on what they should be wearing to fit in with the genre of the film and the time it was set. The dressing gown and pjs show the time of the film, then when they get changed it shows time has past, it also gives identity to the Twins as one has 'goth' clothes and the other 'girly girl' so it sets them apart.
Props were rarely used in the preliminary task only basic props were used to show what the scenario was other wise it would have just looked like two people sitting in a room, in contrast to the prop use in our opening sequence. We used a lot of props to make it look more realistic and show the characters personalities. For example we used the guitar and a big backpack for the 'goth' twin and her friend where as we used a little handbag and make up for the 'girly girl'.
In our preliminary project we used very basic simple credits. Although we used some simple looking credits in our opening sequence a lot of thought went in to them such as did it fit the genre, what colour & font would go best. We also decided to use visual credits such as writing on the envelope and text on the phone to make them more interesting and unique.
Kimmy: 1) Lighting
As you can see, in our preliminary task, we had different lighting in different shots. However, in our opening sequence, we have taken this into account, and made sure all the lighting is the same in most shots. This is to make the clips transition well. Especially as we used a lot of cross-cutting in our opening sequence, the same lighting would show the audience that both scenarios are taken place at the same time. For example, if the gothic character's scenes were shot with a lot of lighting, and if the girly character's scenes were shot with low lit lighting, the audience may think that the girl character's scenes are taken place later on in the day.
2) Mise en Scene
As Becky had mentioned above, we made sure mise en scene was correct for our genre. For example, in our preliminary task, the actor playing the policeman character wasn't wearing clothes suited for the character role. However, in our opening sequence, a lot of mise en scene was used to portray the personality of each character. For example, the gothic girl would wear dark clothing, whereas the girly girl would wear pink clothing.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
To film our opening sequence we used a Cannon 500D camera. We chose to use this camera and we thought it would make the opening sequence better quality. Also, this camera captures more light and makes colours much more vibrant, which is what we wanted to have in our opening sequence as 'chick flicks' are very colourful and bright.
We also used a tripod to control the camera shots and movements, for example, we used a panning movement to show the front of the house as an establishing shot.
We also used two sets of Translucent Lighting to make the shot more bright. This is when umbrellas and a tripod are used to control the direction of the light.
To edit the our opening sequence we used many different types of software on an Apple Mac Computer.
We used iMovie to upload our video clips onto the computer and also to use the greenscreen effect to add our film title onto our opening sequence.
We also use iMovie HD to cut, trim and delete clips and tie all our video clips together in order to make our opening sequence.
To add text to our film company logo, and opening credits to our opening sequence we use Live Type.
To create our Film Title we used Photoshop CS5.
By using all these different types of software and equipment, we have now learnt how to uses each of these things properly and how they are used in order to create a film.
" How did you attract/address your target audience and how has this been done in other films?"
This is our opening sequence i have annotated it to show:
How similar it is to otherfilms- It has a lot of aspects from different films mixed into this one, as it has social groups like mean girls, conflict between the groups like Wild child, the morning routine like Bratz movie. How it fits its genre- production company and titles font/colour, chick flicks usually starting with a morning routine as does ours, having a girly theme, showing the main characters first so the target audience can relate to the characters (which most 'Chick Flicks' do) How the music used goes with the genre- Upbeat pop/rock fast music that the target audience would like, it also is used to set a happy fun tone to attract them to watch the film. unique selling point- Twins both played by the same actress, may attract the audience as its a rarely used in films.
