Shoot day Reflection write up

 

We were very organised and on time, we planned to all meet at 8:40 and start to pack up the van ready to go to Cornhill and got there promptly. Once we got to Cornhill we farmiliarised our selfs with the area and planned where everything would go in terms of set design which we took our time with as it was a key part to the sequence. We then started filming all of the shots trying out different angles and variations to give us lots of options when editing. One of our actors susie then turned up after we shot the ones of the set which did not include the actors. We filmed her shots and the ones with her and mike also including the police woman and firenics in the background as extras. Once we filmed all of the shots we intended to do we had some extra time so filmed some POV shots from inside the house to add extra detail and suspicion to the plot. We then packed up and cleared up the rubbish we had and went back to school. 

Overall I think that the whole shoot went well. We were all on time and prompt and also had all of the props, costumes and equiptment we needed ready to go and did not forget anything. We also finished early as I have said previously due to our ready-ness and lack of faffing around meaning we could do some extra shots and really think about what we wanted to do and how we would go about it. We also all helped each other out taking turns with filming, directing and setting up/taking down the set. 

The main issue which arose was that 2 days before our shoot Dave who was due to play one of the police men and firrensic tested positive for covid so we had to improvise and used Tiggy and Grace as no one else was free so they played the small extra parts as background characters. This was fairly easy and did not cause too much stress as they were not in too many shots which did not include too much acting so was easily fixable. 

If we were to do anything differently I think we could have had a backup actor for Dave for the exact reason why what happened. Meaning we would not have to use our selfs in the shoot and would mean we would have had no stress as there was someone always we could use incase.

The new technical skills I learned was to always roll the camera before the action starts and always keep it rolling after the action cuts to make sure we have not cut it when the action is still happening. I also learned to keep an eye on keeping the continuity of it all for example some of the props which were on the floor moved due to being blown away in the wind so had to put those back into place before rolling. I did not learn any new technical languagage but got to use and practice the terminoligy I have learned previously. 

The skills we learned during the camera workshops were very helpful as it meant we were pretty confident using the camera and handling it safely and knew how to get the angles/shots we wanted already. 

The equipment we used included: camera, tripod and LED light strips to film our sequence. 

I really enjoyed the whole day but my favroite part was filming the close ups of the crime scene and finding the best angles to do them in and also setting up the crime scene as i had alot of creative freedom and could experiment in what would work best. 

I am very happy with the footage as i think we got everything we wanted and more. The great acting from the cast also really added to this and made our job a lot easier as did not have to do too many re-takes.

I have learned from this that being organised and working as a team is the best and easiest way to work making sure to check every one is happy with what we are doing in terms of costume, shots and if anyone wants to re take a scene or try a different way of filming it we will.

If we were to do it again i think i would have made it slightly more of a detailed sequence with more going on but also adding to the detail of the crime scene and finding a better substitute police car as this would really have made our sequence look professional and realistic. 

The thing I am most exited for in editing is watching it all come together and making the shots look effortlessly continous and finally seeing the overall product after planning it for such a long time and a lot of hard work.

Behind the scenes

 This is a short video we made during out shoot day showing the behind the scenes of the making of our opening title sequence.

Our Mise-En-Scene choices

 Costumes 

Mother was wearing a coat with joggers and trainers giving off the 'every day look' as if she is a normal middle class woman subverting the steriotype from a typical criminal/murderer.

The investigator male was wearing a black pin stripe suit with a white shirt and hair tied up to give off a serious and professional look making him look like he is very serious about his job and is here to work. 

The police woman Was wearing a florecent yellow high vis jacket with a typical police hat. We didn't worry about the bottom half as this part of her was not in any of the shots. The costume is what a police man in the uk would sterio-typically wear on the job of a crime scene. 

The Forensic wore an all white suit, blue gloves and foot covers with a face mask as this is what they would wear at a crime scene when collecting evidence and taking notes of the scene. 

The lighting was natural light and luckily it was not the best weather which helped to add the the mysterious and tragity of the event which just happened. We also used blue flashing lights reflected onto the car to imitate a police car and make it look more realistic as if we did have. police car. 

Props

The props we used included: police tape, car, bike, helmet, blood, evidence bag, number plates and gloves as these are all things we needed to add to the overall set of the sequence and help to tell the story of what has happened and how it happened. Also to help attract the target audience of people who are attracted to drama thriller type films, telling them what type of film it will be which is all straight away shown by the props and costumes drawing them in straight away.

Set/set design 

Our location was percived to be a grand middle class house owned by the woman adding to the subversion of the sterio-type of a rich woman commiting such a crime. The set design of the crime scene was one of the key parts to our sequence as it is what the whole thing is based around. We used a small car which was the car the woman was driving and crashed the child into. The bike of the child which is only revealed later on that it is a child's adding to a shock at the end, it also added a slight element of tragety as its a child but also makes the audience question weather its her child or not. We also put up police tape whilst filming certain shots making it obvious it is a crime scene. 

Performance and direction of actors

For our actor Susie we told her the story line of our sequence and the part she has to play. Her main and key shot was when she was freaking out in the car just after she just hit the child. We instructed her to hyperventilate and be really stressed in the car as if she is thinking irrationally and mind is going at a million miles an hour.

For mike who played the detective part of the police force we told him to be very serious and firm as the death of a child is very serious and distressing but also the murderer suspected to be the woman is his responisbility so has to be very professional.

For the extras of the police woman and firensic we told them to do things that they would naturally do on a crime scene like collecting evidence and talking to the detective about whats happend and how they are going to deal with it. 

Reasearch of Saul and Elaine Bass

Saul Bass was an American graphic designer and film maker specifically his design of film posters and title sequences. His wife Elaine Bass also American but a title designer and film maker who was married to Saul. 

Saul created a new art form through his title sequences being able to precisely show the theme and tone of the movie allowing the audience to accurately know what to expect within the film. Elaine worked with Bass for 40 years doing graphic, title designer and film maker (over 50 title sequences) . They created things such as the title for good fellas and cape fear. 

 

They worked with big directors such as Alfred Hitchcock and Danny DeVito and are hugely praised for the work they have done. 

This youtube clip shows snippets of the works they have created for various films. 

This is one of the title sequences Saul made for the film Oceans Eleven in 1960. 

It is a crime comedy film about a group of friends who rob 5 of the biggest casinos in Los Vegas in one night. This title sequence links to the genre and theme of the film using bright colours and bold lettering giving off the comedy tone with a slight mystery to it hence the dots fading in and out. 

The use of the dice and cards also suggest clearly the theme and part of the narrative being based around the casino.

The use of the non diegetic sound track also further emphasises the idea of creeping around and being sneaky with the loud trumpets and orchestra giving off the Las Vegas classy tone. 

In terms of the text it predominantly is a long and thick white filled font. deffinetly suggesting fairly modern times and people of a young age. 

The transitions into each section all blend in and out of each other creating a smooth and fun effect implying to the audience that these people are 'smooth criminals' with some humour. 

Some similar films which I think have been influenced by this style include catch me if you can with the use of each section blending into each other and having the sneaky fun tone. The non diegetic is also very similar using orchestral music. 

The BBFC and film certificates

 

The British Board Of Film Classification is a board which decides what the regulations are for films and what is sutable for specific ages. 

Their main role is to set rules to what can and can not be shown in films also to decide the age restrictions for each film before being released to the public as they cant be released in the uk if they do not have this. 

 These are all of the BBFC symbols starting at U which is unirversal meaning anyone can watch it to R18 which is restricted to 18+ due to the content included in it. 

These films should not cause distress to a child 8 or under, but parentals should decide weather its sutiable for their child. 

Dangerous behavuour: No

Dicsrimination: No unless has historical context 

Drugs: No unless has anti drug message 

Laungage: mild bad laungage only 

Nudity: yes but no sexual content

Threat and horror: yes but cant be long or intense 

violence: Mild 

Not sutable for children under 12 yrs, cant see in cinema unless with adult and parents should decide if sutable for their child. No one under 12 may buy or rent this.

Dangerous behavuour: no 

Dicsrimination: no 

Drugs: no unless shown infrequently

Laungage: moderate bad laungage and some strong depending on context

Nudity: yes and if sexual must be descreet and not prolonged

Threat and horror: moderate not frequent 

sexual violence and threat: only verbal refrences 

violence: Moderate but should not be intense

No one under age of 15 may see in cinema rent or buy this. 

Dangerous behavuour: yes but can not be dwelled on depending on intencity of behaviour such as self harm 

Dicsrimination: cant endorse it but may be used 

Drugs: yes but cant be promoted or encouraged and easily acsessable substances cant be used. 

Laungage: strong laungage and sometimes very strong will be allowed with justification

Nudity: yes but strong detail is beief 

Threat and horror: yes 

sexual threat and violence: yes but if intense cant be prolonged 

violence: yes but cant dwell on injury and pain 

No one under 18 can watch, rent or buy this. 

As adults they should be free to chose what they watch with exeptions including:

• Material not legal within the laws eyes 
• material which could cause harm to viewers or public
• Material which is not allowed in sex work at R18 is also not in 18 

Things that are taken into consideration when the BBFC decides the age restrictions are things such as:

- violence

- sex and nudity

- obscene laungage 

- criminal activity 

- strobe lighting and many more. 

Context is another factor which they must think about before hand such as if it's fictional or fantacy. This is because animated films are allowed to include more things such as violence as the audience know its unrealistic so can get a lower age rating. 

 The increadibles is a good example as it includes things such as hand guns and fights but is still rated a PG.

They also take into considerartion how sensitively a topic is handled within the film. For example drugs, if they are being portrayed in a negative way showing the dangers of it the film would get a lower rating compared to a film glorifying it and pretending they had no consiquences it would get a much higher age rating. 

Violence is also one which is deeper thought about and questioned in terms of:

- why are they being violent ?

- what injurys are caused by this violence ?

- is it glamorised ?

- is it realistic ? etc 

For example the purge is rated an R as it has a lot of disturbing ways of violence which sometimes are not necsary where as a film such as reminicance is a 15.

 

The last thing they take into consideration is the format of the release. For example they are usually more strict if its being released in a DVD format compared to cinema released films. 

EG; For the hunger games in cinemas it got a 12A certificate but for DVD got a 15. 

How does the process work?

The films production company sends the film to the BBFC for them to analise and use all of their criteria to decide the age rating so then can be released in DVD and cinema. If a production company do not agree or are unhappy with the age rating their film got they are able to re-edit it and send it back for further anaylasis. 

For our opening title sequence I think that the BBFC  would award it a 15 age certificate for cinema and dvd release as it includes a moderate and frequent amount of violence in terms of death, blood and dangerous behaviour which may cause stress to a younger audience.

For example there are clips of blood on her hands whilst she is being handcuffed and blood dripping off a child's bike implying a child has been killed. 

I think if the BBFC saw the 'whole' film they may give it a lower 12A certificate as the opening is the most intense part as we want to draw in the audience as the rest is about the women trying to prove her innocence which would not include a lot of violence or threat apart from some moderate laungage. 

Shooting dialouge sequence

Shooting 

As a group we wrote a rough script and filmed and recorded the sound the whole thing multiple times using different angles such as mid, wide and close up shots so we had lots of options when it came to editing to pick which clips would work best. 

The previous camera workshop helped a lot with this such as setting up the camera quickly/correctly, making sure we did not pass the 180 degree rule and when to say the official filming terms such as 'action' and 'cut'.

The only problems we were aware of was that we could not move the table we were filming with so did mess up some clips using the 180 degree rule and also not filming enough close up shots of each actor on their own so when we edited could not easily do a  back and forth conversation sequence. 

If we were to do this differently i would have been more time effiecent in terms of filming different angles faster so we had a wider range of options to choose from when editing and also moving the desk so there was space in front of it to be able to correctly use the 180 degree rule. 

Editing 

To edit the footage I  first went through all of the shots and selected the ones i would like to use and think works best, as i did not have any single person shots to do the back and forth dialouge with i had to work with what i had so used different angled shots and a close up of a tapping hand. Once that was done we cropped and fit all the different edited clips together to create a seamless continuation of clips making sure they all lined up smoothly. I then had to make sure the sound lined up with the footage so it was all in sync and to to that i slected one sound from one of the shots and cropped it into different sections depending where the clips changed angle to fit it all together. To make this look even more smooth i added a ..... on top of where the sound changed to give it a seamless effect.

Doing the previous editing workshop helped a lot as i was more comfortable and used to using the softwear this time and could easily find the footage and knew how to move it onto the strip where i could edit it etc. The other skills i learned this workshop was overall how to create a seamless back and forth scene without it seeming snappy and staggered. 

Mistakes we made included: 

- having the white balance slightly too dark as the room its self was very dark.

- not having enough cu shots

-some clips not following the 180 degree rule

When editing our actual sequence we will as a group take into consideration all the mistakes we made this time during filming and also editing to prevent these things from happening again to allow for a sucsessful title sequence. 

Target audience

Target audience fundimental aim is to make money buy getting people to watch it.

It's an important aspect to consider as it allows profit to be generated. Deliver what the audience wants and expects for example if it's aimed towards females we would expect attractive men and if it was a comedy we would expect it to be funny also easier to market towards in terms of how they market it (instagram, adverts) and what rules and conventions to follow to attract the right audience.

 Target audience is decided by gender and age. For our opening sequence our target audience is female 21-25 yr olds as what's included in our sequence is what would attract this gender and age that would enjoy it the most.