Here is our main group mood board. We looked at each others mood boards and discussed what we liked about them and what we could take away from them. We decided to use my idea of separating each section, so we had characters in one corner, locations in another, props at the top and a section for the left over ideas in the bottom corner. We all decided to use a map for the background as Marnie used it for hers and it looked quite effective and it linked quite well with our films genre. We also included painting links such as 'The Scream' and included links with other films within our chosen genre, such as 'Taken' & 'Abduction'.
Overall I think it's a good representation of our ideas for our film project, and I think that we sort of have a clearer outlook on to what we want our film opening to look like. I think that this exercise or activity was quite useful as it allowed us to bring together all of our individual ideas to make one massive group of ideas all linked with each other.
I decided to separate each group like this so it made it
easier to see my ideas and share them. There are also words surrounding the
mood board. These refer to ideas we had about our film opening.
All of the photos are black and white. This is because our
preliminary task was edited to look black & white. We liked this effect so
we decided to carry it through to our main project.
There are some effects which we may use in our film opening;
these are the standard action effects which are used in action for example
explosions, blood & gore etc.
There are some vehicles we could use, we would add them in
when editing, or see if we can film in an area with vehicles, and these images
just show the conventional vehicles which are used action/thriller movies.
There are some locations I thought would be significant for
our film opening. Some of them we may not be able to use due to our location,
but we could use our town or some of the countryside nearby as some of the
locations.
There are different types of characters which will feature
in our film opening, types of characters such as hostages, family, hero, and
the image of Jason Statham shows that type of film and character that the main
hero of the film has.
There are just some props we are probably going to use, such
as cash, weapons, costumes, fabrics etc. Again, these props are stereotypical
for our chosen genre. These also signify what our film opening is going to be
about as well.
For research into film openings, I am going to look at two film openings in the same genre as mine, and see what I like, what is effective, and what we could use for our film opening. The two films I am going to be talking about are 'James Bond: Casino Royale' and 'Goodfellas'...
'James Bond - Casino Royale'...
I chose this film opening as it's very action/thriller. I like the black ad white contrast, and the shot's used. I like the fact that it has a small opening before the actual credits, I think it's very effective as it set's up the rest of the film. The opening credits are then quite long, this allows the audience to process what has happened in the opening scenes, and to prepare themselves for what is to come.
ANALYSIS OF THE OPENING:
The black and white colouring of the opening is similar to what we did for our preliminary filming task, it adds mystery to the scene, we can't see all of the detail, and we can just make out the faces, this is a good technique as it slowly introduces the film to the audience and the characters as well.
The pace is good, it's fast and yet easy to follow, this is good as the audience won't get lost within the storyline, and they won't get confused, pace is very important in action films, as it can't be too slow, and it can't be too fast, it has to be right, and this film opening has the perfect pace.
There were a lot of shots used, like for example wide shots, low angles, and close ups. These are used specifically to either introduce locations, key characters and to follow the action, such as the bathroom scene, and the scene where one of the key characters is walking towards his office. There were also quick cuts to match the pace of the action, and the music.
The music started off quiet and eerie, started to build up to signify that something is about to happen, then quietened down to allow the audience to hear the dialogue between the two key characters of the opening scene, then built up as the theme song began playing.
Overall I think that this is a good example to use as it shows all of the typical conventions of an action/thriller movie opening, such as the built music, fast pace, quick cuts, multiple close ups etc. There are many aspects of this opening that I think would look just as good in our film opening, such as the monochrome effect and the music.
'Goodfellas'...
I chose this film opening, as I thought the narration in the beginning was very effective and could be something that we can use in our project. Again this is a very action/thriller movie, and has a similar sort of feel to what our idea has, such as the gangsters being similar to the kidnapper/loan sharks in our movie idea.
ANALYSIS OF THE OPENING:
There's no background music until the credits start, this is probably to draw the audience's attention to the banging sounds coming from the car, to signify something is going to happen. It also allows the audience to be able to hear the dialogue.
There is narration near the end of the opening, this is a good technique as it introduces the key character to the audience without taking away from the action. It creates a sense of direct mode of address with the audience.
Again, as with 'Casino Royale', there are a lot of quick cuts, this is to create tension and to slightly match the pace of the opening.
Close ups are used, and wide shots, to introduce key characters, locations, and props, in this case the car.
Overall, this isn't as effective as the 'Casino Royale' opening, but the narration is an effective technique, and I think we could also use this in our film opening, I think it's a good technique to use, and I think the lack of music may also be a good technique to use as it draws the audience's attention to what is going on on-screen rather than what song is playing or what the music is like.
Our first job when it came to deciding on our pitch was to come up with a name for our film, we had many suggestions such as 'Ransom', 'Fisherman', 'Captive', 'Hostage'. We then came up with the name 'Loan shark' and we all agreed that it sounded better, and went well with our opening. It also tells the audience who the main characters are which is a key feature in most action/thriller movie titles.
We decided to go with the hostage/abduction theme for our opening. We all thought that showing the hostage scene before the actual film, and then cutting to the present, so making it seem that all that happened was a future event/dream. Our plot is that there is struggling man trying to make ends meet, running out of money, he decides to take a loan from loan sharks. They then come back asking for a repayment, taking his family, killing his wife and he has to fight to get them back. This is our main idea, this may change due to possible film issues like not having enough cast members, props etc, and limited locations.
For our pitch plan, we decided to agree on a plot, film name, and whether we would include some of the research - International Co-Production and/or Regional Funding. We decided to base our opening on two films - 'Abduction' and 'Taken'. We thought that these were good, role models for our particular genre. We agreed that we would include Regional Funding and International Co-Production for our film opening, we thought it was a good idea as we researched them, and it would make our film opening look more professional. This is our final pitch:
'A man facing challenges to get his family back from loan-sharks. Based around 'Abduction' & 'Taken', a typical Jason Statham film. Genre, action/thriller, male audience.'
We think that the pitch is simple yet descriptive, it includes the genre, target audience, film inspirations, dream actors, and brief description of plot. I am going to be talking about the main plot, film names, International Co-Production & Regional Funding and genre & target audience all in separate posts...
Overall, the Preliminary task was quite simple. I did find some areas difficult, like finding another suitable setting, and working around those who weren't in when we had to re-film. I think what could have made it easier would be having reliable technology, as that was one of the reasons why we had to re-film. My role was quite simple fulfil, I was filming and editing along with the other group members. I have realised that filming is a lot trickier than it looks, and have learnt how hard it is to keep the camera movements smooth without using a dolly or crane. I think I put in an equal amount of effort within my roles & I have realised that there are some skills I need to improve for the actual filming project. The editing process was easy, I have had lot's of experience editing videos' so I think that is one area which I am fairly strong at, and I did put equal effort into that role as well, along with my group. Overall, I think that I have learnt so many things about filming and editing, and there are a few areas I need to improve in order to make our main film successful.
