Filming Diary Entry - Friday 1st March

Today, I encountered a big problem whilst filming the remaining 9 shots of the opening sequence. 4 shots in to the filming, my camcorder ran out of battery and I had no charger to charge the battery. As this happened, I can't film until I get a battery charger for the camcorder. The rest of the shots will hopefully be filmed on Monday night.

Filming Diary Entry - Thursday 28th February

Today, I filmed shots 9-13 of my opening sequence, which includes the opening of the envelope to the point where the protagonist smiles. These frames from my storyboard above contributes with my work for which I have completed today. Today was the 2nd day of my filming schedule and my 3rd day of production overall. What went well for today was the fact that all of the shots included are exactly what I wanted it to be (the right use of camera terms e.g. close-up for the protagonist smiling). 

My plans for next time is to use the help from the volunteer to position the camera and the tripod in the exact position I want it in. Not many more changes are needed for this section of the filming. It is all running smoothly.

The pictures below show the 2nd day of filming for my opening sequence:

   

Filming Diary Entry - Wednesday 27th February

Yesterday, me and a volunteer filmed the first 8 shots of the opening sequence, with the help of a cam-corder and a tripod. The first 3 storyboard frames used in my storyboard we're portrayed on camera yesterday. This was our first major filming day and I will need another 2 days to film the remaining camera shots. As it was our first day and it was time to move the props in to the shed, I found that all the equipment were in the right place at the right time. I thought it was going to be much worse. Also, I had a volunteer working with me to film these shots, which worked very well with the structure of my opening sequence. 

The plans for next time is to work on my camera shots more carefully. Some shots did not match the expectations to my storyboard and some parts of the script were portrayed differently in the filming. 

Below are the pictures of the opening day of filming:  

Filming Diary Entry - Tuesday 26th February

On Tuesday, I recorded the dialogue needed for my opening sequence, using the 'H2 Handy Recorder'.

There is only going to be one part of dialogue of the film's opening sequence and this will happen when the man reads the letter, with the voice-over of dialogue in his head. The dialogue comes from the voice of the father, who is a key member for the rest of the film.

The photo (shown left) shows me and my dad recording the sound for my opening sequence. The strengths from this day of recording is that it was recorded several times to get the perfect sound for my film's opening sequence. No changes are needed to improve this part of the task.

Changes Made to 'Shooting Schedule'.

I have made some changes to my shooting schedule that I've constructed. First of all, only the dialogue was done on Tuesday 26th February because of the issues with setting up the equipment in our location. Instead, I decided to film the first 8 shots on Wednesday 27th February. I was not free that day, but with cancellations put in place, I was free for the nighttime. On Friday 1st March, I had problems regarding my camcorder, as it ran out of battery with only 5 shots to complete before the filming was finished. The rest of the other were completed on Monday 4th March, thanks to the supply of a charger.

The rest of the filming ran as normal.

Animatic Storyboard and Action Plan

Action Plan:

 

When filming my opening sequence, I need to consider an 'action plan'. Action planning is a process which will help you to focus your ideas and to decide what steps you need to take to achieve particular goals that you may have. The 'judging criteria' of this opening sequence is carried out by the moderator. The judging criteria is listed as followed:

 

• Draws audience in/engaging storyline   X                                    
• Variety of camera shots        X
• Use of conventions (genre)       X
• Continuity in editing        X
• Mise-en-scene: Attention to/care     X
• Use of sound. Is it effective?        X
• Material appropriate for the target audience and task.
• Using titles appropriately according to institutional conventions.     X

 

X - Used in the images/annotations above.

 

 

As shown above, almost all of the criteria meets the images and annotations in the video. I haven't included the material appropriate for the task and also the target audience. Because of this, I need to make an action plan. Preparing an action plan is a good way to help myself to reach my filming objectives. A 'romantic drama' and a '12 Film' can contain:

 

• Mature themes
• An engaging storyline relating to the idea of 'romance'.
• Music, which matches the age range, such as orchestral music.
• Scenes which can emotionally hit the audience.
• Should contain features of which a 12 year old would be recommended to watch e.g. moderate strong language and sexual references.

 

 

 

The features should relate to the plot and genre of the film. I will construct that feature to it's extent, so when it is finished and released to the public, they can identify this efficiently.

Shooting Schedule

The table above is the shooting schedule that I have constructed, so I know what days I am free and what shots I am going to film for each day, as well as the equipment needed and the location of the opening sequence. I have chosen to start filming at 6:30pm because this is the time when it's pitch black and the light inside the shed is brightest at night.

Location Scout

The location that I have chosen to use when filming my opening sequence is my shed, located at my house in the Bournville, Weston-super-Mare. I have chosen this location because it matches the personality of my character and it links well with the plot for my opening sequence. The shed will act like an office for my protagonist. The shed does not look untidy now, but when we come to film it, it will look cluttered with crisp packets and cans of Lager. This shows that the character of the film has no sense of motivation for cleaning. The shed is shown to be very small and non-decorated, also showing a lack of motivation for my protagonist. The shed will also contain the props I need, when I come to filming my opening sequence.

This picture is where the main character will sit and the table is where the  main character will rest the most important props e.g. the shoe box and his mobile phone. The table will remain mostly clean, with a few cans and wrappers. This could show that the character has a clean side to him, when it comes to cleaning his table, as it has a little area space.

This shows the outside of the shed of where the opening sequence will be based. None of the shots will be filmed outside but the structure has a resemblance to the inside of the shed. It is not decorated and looks very dull because the material of the shed is showing the original color.

Props and Costume

Props:

• Glass Garden Table and matching Chair - This is for Joshua to sit down and to rest his props on the table.
• Shoe box - This is the safe place of where Joshua's personal stuff is kept. The shoe box represents Joshua's poor background.
• Envelope - To keep the letter in, before Joshua reads it.
• Letter - For Joshua to read in the voice-over scene.
• HTC Wildfire mobile phone - This is used when Joshua goes to call his father (or does he?).
• Family photos - For Joshua to look at near the start of the opening sequence.
• Family tree - To present the title of the film and the above-the-line talent.
• Camera - Used by me and a volunteer.

Costume:

The main character will be wearing scruffy, dirty clothes. This will match the setting of the opening sequence, which contains loads of tools and useless equipment. This costume has the connotation that the protagonist comes from a poor background. Despite having enough doll money to spend on new clothes, he finds it hard to get out of the house and instead saves it for an airplane. This is all the costume needed, as there is only 1 character involved in the opening sequence. 

Diary Entry #3

Dear Moderator,
         I am now going to work on the costume/props list for my opening sequence and also the location scout of where the setting of my opening sequence will be. These are very important when working on my opening sequence, so the audience get an idea of the exact information of the props and the locations involved.

Shot List

Another important element for my film opening is a camera shot list. The shot list is very important because it gives the opening sequence an effect and an insight of what will happen in the filming. This helps introduce the characters, setting and the tension in the plot of the film.

The shot list is as followed:

Shot 1 - High-angle and panning shot of the floor and table.
Shot 2 - Close-up shot and panning shot of the drawing of a family tree, which reads the title of the film and the above-the-line talent.
Shot 3 - Close-up and point of view shot of Joshua looking at the photos of his father.
Shot 4 - Match on action and close-up of Joshua looking at the photos, with the camera focused on Joshua.
Shot 5 - Long shot of Joshua putting down the photos and then opening the box of personal things.
Shot 6 - Close-up and match on action of Joshua tipping the box over.
Shot 7 - Extreme Close-up and point of view of Joshua finding an envelope in the box and picking it up.
Shot 8 - Mid-shot and match on action of Joshua looking at the envelope and then turns it around to open it.
Shot 9 - Over-the shoulder and match on action of Joshua opening the envelope and unraveling the letter.
Shot 10 - Long shot of Joshua frantically looking at the letter.
Shot 11 - Point of view shot of Joshua reading the letter, with the voice-over of Dad reading out loud the letter.
Shot 12 - Shot/reverse shot which cuts back to Joshua concentration and the letter itself.
Shot 13 - Close-up of the happy emotion on Joshua's face.
Shot 14 - Ellipsis and close-up of Joshua's hand moving the papers and grabs his mobile phone.
Shot 15 - Long shot of Joshua standing up.
Shot 16 - Close-up of Joshua looking down on his dad's mobile number on the letter.
Shot 17 - Close-up of Joshua looking down on his phone, dialing his dad's mobile number.
Shot 18 - Close-up and match on action shot of the mobile phone with Joshua's thumb dialing the number.
Shot 19 - Close-up of Joshua's emotion: nervousness (he breathes heavily and looks very nervous).
Shot 20 - Close-up and panning shot of Joshua's mobile phone. It cuts from the number, which then pans to the call button.
Shot 21 - Slow motion and mid-shot of Joshua's thumb moving closer towards the call button. The call button is not shown to create an effect. 
Shot 22 - Fade to black. 

Summary of Opening Sequence

The beginning of my opening sequence shows a high-angle shot of the floor of the shed, panning towards the glass table. This is when the title of the film and the above-the-line talent appear on a sheet of paper. The camera pans at each title, like a structure of a family tree, gradually going up the tree. The shot then cuts to the man sat at the table, looking at photos of him and his single mum. He then searches through a box of personal things and inconspicuously finds a letter addressed to him and decides to open it. He then reads the letter, with the voice-over of his father in the background (non-diegetic sound) and smiles sympathetically. 

A close-up then shows the man's hand reaching for his mobile phone, which cuts to a long shot when the man dials the number on his phone. It cuts to a close-up to show the man dialing the number and then to another close-up of the man breathing heavily in nervousness. The ending shows his thumb moving towards the call button on his phone, in a slow-motion picture, when finally, it fades to black.

Timeline Opening

This image above shows the order of which my titles will appear in my opening sequence, which includes the 'above-the-line talent', the 'title' and the 'director and writer'. As shown in the top right hand corner of this image and also next to each title, I have given a key of different duration's of each title. A tick = 3 seconds and A star = 5 secs. I have labeled the 'title', the 'above-the-line talent' and the 'Written and Directed by...' because they are the most important titles of the film and also they would get the most interest by the viewing public. We have included other titles as well, such as 'Producer' and 'Editor' as these all contribute to the important stages of a film. I haven't included too many titles because of the length of our opening sequence is only 2 minutes.

Title Sequence

As mentioned in my analysis of the film 'Shrek', the opening sequence is considered the most important part of the film, or in film structure terms, the first act. When filming an opening sequence, I need to consider the genre of the film, the characters and the story line, as well as the above-the-line talent to highlight the main stars of that particular film. It must also set the mood and tone for the rest of  the film. A good title sequence should encourage and engage the reader into the rest of the film, so it can get great feedback and hopefully recommend the film to other people of the target audience.

For my title sequence, I wanted to create an idea of a young man who tracks down his father after he was sent a letter from his dad, telling him about his life in Berlin, Germany. My title sequence would play alongside the narrative throughout the piece, so the titles can appear, while the image is being shown. I chose this because then it makes the opening sequence a lot more effective and also because it looks more like an opening sequence to a film. It is also shown in many drama film opening sequences.

 The font I am going to use for my titles are going to be plain, like the 3 drama film titles above, for an example, 'Billy Elliot' has just used Arial Black to create the titles of the film. As my film is a drama film, I am going to copy the ideas from these 3 drama films and to put them into my film sequence. The above-the-line talent will have the same font. 

By using 'Microsoft Word' to find a wider variety of fonts, I looked for a plain title that would best suit our film and the font was called 'Adobe Caslon Pro BOLD'. This font is kind of similar to the font you see in a newspaper or broadsheet and it's an activity for 45-54 year olds, so it is familiar with the target audience. Any other font, which looks big and bold or weird does not fit in with the conventions of a drama genre.   

Storyboard - Father's Son

Below is my storyboard, which includes the camera shot and duration, the picture and the sound/dialogue for each shot.

Diary Entry #2

Dear Moderator,
         I have finished working on the script of my opening sequence and now I am going to work on my storyboard to give a much more clear outline of the opening sequence. I will draw my ideas on the sheets given and I am going to transport them from the paper to the computer screen by photography. I will include on the storyboard the use of camera shots, the duration of them, the sound/dialogue involved in each shot and the picture.