PJ: Storyboard Ideas

MJ: Storyboard Ideas



AC: Storyboard Ideas

Storyboard:

Group: Feedback on Preliminary Task

Creating a creative interpretation of the brief:

• A variety of different shots were used, ranging from handicam to steadicam, as well and different shot distances and angles.
• We made sure not to break the 180 degree rule, and by doing so, helped the continuity in the filming of our task.
• We decided on a chase scene, which meant we could experiment with different shots, and use this knowledge to further enhance our ideas for the real film opening, we will shortly be making.
•  For the editing, the main focus was continuity, so to make the film run smoothly, the cuts from shot to shot, so we focused on making sure the cuts were invisible.
• We tried to keep the after effects during editing to a minimal, to try and not disorientate the audience, however we did use a fade to black at the end, to add mystery to the scene, and to help close of the film, which i believe worked effectively for our dramatic ending.
• We edited the sound levels to make sure levels were roughly equal, and no sound was much louder than another sound level. The soundtrack to begin with, was at a much lower level, but through editing, we were able to boost the volume, and lower the volume on other sound levels at the same time.

Evaluation:

• I think we were able to provide a wide variety of camera shots and meet the criteria required for the preliminary task, by creating continity from the shots through editing.
• We succeeded well in out camera techniques the most, however due to time restrictions, we were unable to capture all the shots we would have liked to, such as some low and high angle shots.
• In editing, I think we could have improved on our sound, as there was a lot of unwanted ambient sound in the background, which we could have removed to make the dialogue clearer, and crisper, however I feel the soundtrack works well with the idea we had planned, and adds tension to the chase scene.
• For our opening sequence, i would like to experiment with more camera angles, and distances, to add more mystery to our horror film. I like the continuity we were able to achieve, and how smoothly the film turned out when comleted.
• I would like to adjust the mise-en-scene in the real opening, as we can eedit the lighting and costume, and add horror conventions to it, such as blood.

PJ: technical Analysis

Dawn Of The Dead (Snyder, 2004)

Shot: Zoom on the door.
Duration: 2 seconds
Mise-En-Scene: The door creaks open creating tension in the room.

Shot: Close Up on the door handle revealing a young girl who is out of focus.
Duration: 5 seconds
Mise-En-Scene: Creates a feeling of apprehension in the room, as no one knows who the girl is or what she looks like.

Shot: Mid- Shot on the couple sleeping.
Duration: 3 seconds
Mise-En-Scene: Sets the scene

Shot: Long Shot of the man waking up to see the girl.
Duration: 4 seconds
Mise-En-Scene: Setting a clam scene.

Shot: Long shot of the girl in the doorway.
Duration: 2 seconds

Shot: Panning in mid-shot.
Duration: 4 seconds

Shot: Repeat of long shot on the girl
Duration: 3 seconds

Shot: Repeat of panning mid shot on the man.
Duration: 2 seconds

Shot: Mid-Shot of girl as she walks out of the shadow with a zoom at the end.
Duration: 4 seconds
Mise-En-Scene: Juxtaposing the calmness of the rest of the scene.

Shot: Repeat of mid-shot on the man
Duration: 2 seconds
Mise-En-Scene: Shows the mans reaction to his daughters face

Shot: ultra high angled shot looking right down on the action
Duration: 1 second

Shot: Close up on the woman
Duration: 1 second
Mise-En-Scene: First shot of the woman looking anxious.

Shot: Over the shoulder shot so the audience gets a good view of the girl with her father,
Duration: 3 seconds
Mise-En-Scene: Gives the audience an idea of what might have happened to the girl due to her face being deformed.

Shot: Two Shot whilst the girl bites her fathers neck.
Duration: 2 seconds
Mise-En-Scene: Sets of the gore and horror side of the scene and the film

Shot: Mid shot of the man screaming whilst his daughter bites him.
Duration: 1 second

Shot: Mid shot of the woman throwing her covers off to help her husband.
Duration: 2 seconds

Shot: Close Up of man screaming whilst his daughter continues to bite him. Pan up following the girl.
Duration: 3 seconds

Shot: Cut to Mid shot on the man as he falls
Duration: 1 second

Shot: long shot as the girl is thrown towards the camera.
Duration: 2 seconds
Mise-En-Scene: Re-establishes the urgency of the woman.

Shot: Slow-mo of a high angle shot on the man falling onto the bed.
Duration: 4 seconds
Mise-En-Scene: Shows the mans injuries and the trouble they are in.

Shot: Close up on the man knocking over the lamp.
Duration: 1 second

Shot: First close up on the girls face.
Duration: 2 seconds
Mise-En-Scene: Shows the deformation of her face.

Shot: Mid shot to zoom on the woman.
Duration: 2 seconds

Shot: Long shot on the girl as she jumps up then the camera retracts.
Duration: 3 seconds
Mise-En-Scene: the odd way the girl jumps shows it is not he, but something else controlling her.

Shot: POV shot of the girl
Duration: 1 second
Mise-En-Scene: puts the audience in the shoes of the man.

Shot: reverts back to the original shot on the girl
Duration: 1 second

Shot: POV shot of the girl running at the door as it is slammed.
Duration: 1 second
Mise-En-Scene: shows the fear of the woman.

Shot: Extreme close up of the woman locking the door.
Duration: 2 seconds

Shot: POV shot of the man on the bed
Duration: 2 seconds

Shot: Over the shoulder shot of the man lying on the bed holing his neck.
Duration: 2 seconds

Shot: POV shot of the man again.
Duration: 1 second

Shot: Zoom on the door as the girl tries to break it down.
Duration: 3 seconds
Mise-En-Scene: shows the unnatural strength of the girl.

Shot: Mid shot of man with blood everywhere.
Duration: 3 seconds

Shot: Mid Shot of woman holding her husbands neck
Duration: 4 seconds

Shot: Over the shoulder shot of man again.
Duration: 2 seconds

Shot: Mid shot pan of woman grabbing a cloth.
Duration: 2 seconds

Shot: POV shot of woman rolling the cloth
Duration: 2 seconds

Shot: Over the shoulder shot of man holing his very bloody neck
Duration: 4 seconds

Shot: Close up of woman telling him to hold the cloth
Duration: 1 second
Mise-En-Scene: Shows the woman may have medical experience.

Shot: Repeat of over the shoulder shot
Duration: 3 seconds

Shot: pan to woman's face as she grabs the phone
Duration: 2 seconds

Shot: Close up of phone
Duration: 1 second

Shot: Mid shot of man dying
Duration: 3 seconds
Mise-En-Scene: Shows the blood everywhere and the damage the daughter has done.

Shot: Mid shot of woman calling an ambulance with no success.
Duration:  2 seconds

Shot: Close up of woman pressing a button on the phone.
Duration: 2 seconds

Shot: Mid shot framed in high angle of man dead
Duration: 2 seconds
Mise-En-Scene: Confirms his death.

Shot: Close up of door banging.
Duration: 2 seconds

Shot: Mid shot of Woman
on the phone as her dead husband gets up and comes into focus.
Duration: 10 seconds


Soundtrack
To start there is a silence, filled with an erie synth in the background. The drums that then come in are a shock to the audience and create dramatic tension. As the background music reaches is crachendo the sound of the zombie screaming is layered on top. There is then an orchesteral soundtrack behind the screams of the man which is fast paced creating tention. The speed and pitch of the soundtrack fit the mood of the scene.

What I Learnt
this clip helped me understand the importance of a soundtrack and also good techniques to keep the audience hooked, such as fast paced editing and cleverly angled shots to reveal, more to the audience than the charactor knows.

Link back to Key links

Group: Movie Opening Ideas

• We had the idea of a vampire horror movie opening.
• There were two ideas for the situation: One being a man running through the woods from a pack of vampires; whilst the other idea is a vampire ritual in which the audience sees the ceremony before the vampires feast on human flesh.
• The credits would be displayed in co-ordination with the background, much like the opening credits of Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009), in which credits come and go as characters or scenery pass.
• We were thinking of presenting the credits by having a vampire punch through the human, in which the blood splatter presents the title as it settles on the floor.

 

Group: Preliminary Task: Final Cut

The Bourne SchoolPremacy

Feedback on Preliminary Task:

• Good variation of camera shots.
• We tried to gain as little continuity errors as possible, with one extremely small case of an noncontinuous cut, however we struggled with one shot in which we needed a "body double" for one of the final shots, which turned out to not be as effective as was first thought.
• The movement of the cameras, such as the POV shot and the pan during the chase, were very effective.
• We used appropriate chase music for the task.
• It has an enigmatic narrative, in the sense that the chase and reveal at the end give way to a larger concept during the film.
• However frequently during the chase the sound levels are problematic, as wind is heavily picked up by the cameras microphone.
• All of these points will be taken into consideration for our final opening sequence, in which we will ensure that ambient sound is minimised so it doesn't clash with the soundtrack or dialogue.
• A POV shot is likely to be used, but with less shakiness, and many more camera angles, as we stuck to a basic chest height camera shot without many variations, whereas in other group's work there were bird's eye views shots and canted angles used.

Link back to Matthew Johns’ Key Links

Link back to Piers Jahn’s Key Links

Link back to Andy Cooper’s Key Links

PJ: Conventions of Thriller and Horror Openings

Horror: Ghost Ship (Beck, 2002)

Conventions of a horror film:

• Dark and eerie atmosphere created by the use of echo on the singer and the silence around the dance floor.
• Graphic scenes, typical of horror films is shown when there is a in focus, close up of the bloody wire after it has just gon through all the dancers.
• Creepy sound elements are used when the top halves of everyone's bodies start falling off.
• The slo-mo of the flowers being cut is typical of a horror film as it creates tension of what is to come.

Thriller: The Shining (Kubrick, 1980)

 

Conventions of a Thriller film:

• Very typical of a thriller film, The Shining has eerie music with very high pitched sounds juxtaposing the very low bass sounds.
• The birds eye view allows the audience to see how derelict the place they are driving to is. this is typical of a thriller because it sets the basis of the story line and thrillers aim to keep the audience on the edge of their seat.
• The helicopter shot of the hotel sets the scene for the film as large, mansion looking like buildings are typically haunted, this is also typical of thriller films.

AC: Conventions of Thriller and Horror Openings

Thriller: The Bourne Ultimatum

Conventions:

• Mainly non-diegetic sound used, with a high tempo soundtrack, backing the action sequence. The heavy breathing is also turned up, to allow the audience to hear the intense chase scene on-going, and and creates verisimilitude.
• Many camera shots appear to be hand-held, as apposed to steady cam, with a fast cutting rate between them, which hides the cuts between them, creating continuity, while adding suspense to the scene.
• There is dim lighting used, which is very effective in the scene, which I hope to emulate in our opening, as it adds drama and tension to the scene, and mystery which helps to create the thriller genre.
• Through the use of flashbacks, a montage is used, along with a haze effect over the top, to make it clear to the audience it has already happened, it builds tension, and helps the audience to better understand the story, whilst at the same time, not revealing a lot about the narrative.

Horror: A Nightmare on Elm Street

 

 

Conventions:

• CU on facial expressions and gestures used frequently
• A low key humming in background ass soundtrack, creating the atmosphere, and adding the horror to the film.
• White text appearing throughout the opening sequence, good effect, could possibly replicate in some way.
• few shots of antagonist, adds mystery to the villain.
• Screaming is a stereotypical horror genre sound, frightens audiences listening to it.
• Set in a dark, mechanical factory, creates the fear from the location, audience can already tell that it is clearly opening to a gory and scary film.
• Montage used at the beginning, where Freddie Krueger is building his glove, the cuts are fast paces, bridges with the soundtrack, building tension during the sequence.

MJ: Conventions of Thriller and Horror Openings

Thriller: Drive (Winding Refn, 2011)

 

Conventions of a thriller opening:

• Relatively, or no, dialogue used, meaning only non-verbal communication would be used to create a mystery around characters.
• A soundtrack is used heavily over the visuals to create the mood of the location or situation, for example the techno track used as Ryan Gosling's "Driver" patrols the city streets in his car.
• Not a lot of action occurs during the title sequence, such as someone walking down a street or driving in a car, focusing on mainly one person, surrounding this character in mystery.
• There is either a break in the narrative, such as the Driver entering his apartment before going out again, or a major event at the end of the titles to suddenly create adrenaline in the story for the audience.
• Low-key lighting.
• Body shots made up of close-ups and over the shoulder shots.
• Exterior shots are in bird's eye perspectives to give a miniaturised feel of the world.
• Low angles frequently used.

Horror: Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009)

 



 



Conventions of a horror opening:

• Slow-mo shot shows damage being caused.
• Loud, rock-metal soundtrack.
• Visuals of people running from creature, scared expressions on faces.
• Slight comedic feel, over dramatised or funny situation.
• Blood and gore shown explicitly, occasionally in comic fashion.
• Varying angles to show situation, characters and action.
• Main "human" characters tend not to be shown in opening sequence, they are used more as a way to introduce the villain.



PJ: Film Openings - Research

Casino Royale (Martin Campbell, 2006)

Techniques:

• The black and white filming shows the audience that this is an establishing scene, setting the film before the title scene.
• The non-diagetic humming sound creates tension and lets the audience know something is going to happen.
• The pan shot, revealing the over the shoulder shot of James Bond dramatises the scene as the audience will know who James Bond is and helps build tension with the screeching sound effects.
• The fast cutting rate with continuity editing creates shock and excitement for the audience.
• Bond saying "I know where you keep you're gun" is the first time in the scene he is shown to be in control of the situation and the parallel narrative  of the fighting scene juxtaposing the calm conversation, the audience finally sees Bond in his usual commanding role.

 A Nightmare On Elm Street (Wes Craven, 1984)

Techniques:

• Close up on the tools and non-diagetic sound of the breathing creates tension for the audience.
• The high angle shots on the girl shows that she is inferior to the man who jumps out at her.
• The close up of the knives ripping through the curtain gives the ability for the camera man to do a reaction shot on the girl and show her fear.
• The cross cut to the bedroom allows the audience to relax after the sudden shock of the man grabbing the girl.

Batman: The Dark Knight Rises (Christopher Nolan, 2012)

Techniques:

• Shot reverse shot between Bane and the army officer shows the authority of the officer over Bane, who is on his knees and with a black bag on his head.
• Over the shoulder shot shows the reaction of the army officer as he reveals Banes face with the mask on, before a slow zoom into a close up of Bane.
• The birds eye view of the larger plane coming into camera focus shows the audience that the power is swaying towards Bane.
• The Calm non-diagetic voice of Bane juxtaposes the position he is in and the situation, that the audience sees no way out of.

Link back to Key Links

AC: Film Openings - Research

Quantum of Solace (Forster, 2008)

Techniques:

• There is an establishing shot, which is also zooming into the action to open the chase sequence, this helps emerge the audience into the film, creating suspense. 
• Non-diegetic sound is used for gun shots, and the car sounds, it makes the chase scene more intense and dramatic, by highlighting the sound effects used.
• The colours used are very bleak and boring, but the location is set in a foreign land, making it exotic, and interesting to the audience.
• The fast cutting rate, and continuity editing helps make the film flow smoother, and is more enjoyable to watch for the audience, as the chase appears more intense and faster paced.
• Different shot distances are used towards the end, as well as different angles, it allows the boring drive down the tunnel, to be more entertaining for the audience, by viewing from various angles and distances.

The Matrix (Wachowski, 1999)

Techniques:

• The colour used is conventional for 'The Matrix', and easily recognisable by the audience when used.
• The narration over the top of the opening also adds tension to the clip, enticing the audience as the film begins.
• The raiding of the room is similar to a stereotypical 'cops and robber' plot, however we are positioned to see the police as the antagonists through the use of sound and mise-en-scene.
• The lighting used is minimal, and creates a gloomy atmospehere, making it more dramatic for the audience, as well as adding a thriller aspect to the film.

The Dark Knight (Nolan, 2008)

Techniques:

• Throughout the sequence, a parallel narrative is used to show the different lines of action. We slowly see all the characters killed of, leaving the Joker, which adds to the thriller genre of the film.
• The dialogue used at the end, between the Joker and the bank employee is a memorable quote, which portrays the character of the Joker well, and introduces us into the dark and twisted nature of his life.
• There are cross cuts used during the scene, moving to different lines of narrative, but through fast cutting rates, it is continuous, ans well as sound bridges used, to make the cuts invisible.
• Panning shots are used during the bank robbery sequence, which positions the audience with the antagonists, and with the use of CU and LS of the characters, we can see their gestures during the scene.

MJ: Film Openings - Research

Watchmen (Snyder, 2009)

 

 

Techniques: 



• The montage sequence charts the highs and lows of characters over a large period of time.
• This adds to a comic book style, using a range of colours from extremely bright in one section, to a deathly dark in another.
• The whole sequence is set in slow-mo, which allows audience to take in the vast amount of action.
• The non-diegetic soundtrack (originally Bob Dylan's "The Time They Are a-Changin'" in the film) adds to the feeling of the time, and the message within matches the actions shown.
• The camera tends to begin in each scene zoomed in one a subject, and then zooms out to show exterior actions, such as a CU on a newspaper clipping zooming out to a LS, leading the audience to shock as they see the dead bodies of previously seen characters.
• Occasionally the opposite is used to push focus onto one of the characters.
• A panning shot is also regularly used to follow a particular subject in the scene, for example JFK's vehicle as he is assassinated, panning with the car, allowing us to see The Comedian is the assassin.

Blade II (del Toro, 2002)

 

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/blade-ii/

 

Techniques:

• A non-diegetic electronic soundtrack plays on a black screen, as the first credits break through in a bright-red, bold font.
• A narrative is heard above the soundtrack, giving a back-story of Blade's past, with a montage of negative shots, mixed with CUs of weapons and bullets being built and wielded by the title character.
• The sequence begins with a tracking shot of Blade as he walks through his workshop, he is out of focus as the many weapons pass in front of him.
• Tension is added due to the camera never showing Blade's face (only in flashbacks) and various angles allow the audience to see his armour, weapons, equipment etc. 

 

The Cabin in the Woods (Goddard, 2012)

 

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/the-cabin-in-the-woods/

 

 

Techniques:



• The sequence begins with images of torturous rituals, which can be seen in puddles of blood, with a melancholy soundtrack in the background, creating a spooky mood.
• It then cuts to two men chatting by a water cooler about their mundane lives, a clever trick as TCitW is a horror film, and so catches the audience out when a large non-diegetic scream erupts, as in large, red letters the title covers the whole screen.
• Another cut leads to a parallel narrative of a teenage girl readying herself for some time away. The scene begins with a shot from a street, panning with a skater until it reaches her house, in which the camera moves both forward and upward until it reaches her in her room.
• The rest of this scene has a medium cutting rate, as characters come and go within the scene.

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Group: Preliminary Task

Brief

 

For our preliminary task we had been told we were going to make a short, basic film, which could be whatever we wanted in school, but we must ensure that we make it keeping in mind four basic principles:

 

1. Continuity editing: Varying distances and angles, using pans, steadicam, handicam, cutaways etc.

 

2. The 180° Rule: In which we have to keep to the correct perspective, as to not jump the line and cause audience disorientation, by staying on one side during a scene.

 

3. Two lines of dialogue must be used.

 

4. At one point in the short film a door opening should be shown.

 

 

Ideas

 

In class we were shown some previous students attempts on the preliminary task, which gave our group a lot of ideas to work with and think about, some had a basic chase scene, whereas others attempted to keep their main plot a mystery during much of the short film to lead up to a large, occasionally shocking climax.

However, we decided we wanted to try and combine the two, with a chase scene leading up to a shocking reveal.

 

 

Storyboard

 

This is our storyboard, showing the story of someone searching through a bag, only to be caught by the bag's owner, and so a chase ensues, and in the end the thief is caught, only to cause quite an upset when their identity is revealed.

We will be using various techniques throughout the short, including a point-of-view (POV) shot during the chase, many over-the-shoulder shots, as well as shot/reverse shots to create tension.