FILM OPENING

 Ruby Lawson 1996

I worked with Finlay Williamson 1986.

Our brief was to make the titles and opening of a new fiction film (to last a maximum of two minutes). We made a apocalyptic drama thriller film opening entitled Chain Reaction. 

I took responsibility for a lot of the camerawork and filming. In particular the scenes of the man being attacked in the tunnel, the close up of the calculations, the newspaper scenes and part of the discussion between the scientist and the friend. As well as this I helped direct alongside Finlay for some of the scenes.

I also took responsibility for part of the set design, such as the newspaper scene where I created newspapers to fit with our film and then laid them out on a table with candles. 

I designed and made a production company logo, entitled Rocking Horse Productions, which featured at the start of the film opening. I used Adobe Photoshop to create the initial logo, I then edited it to make the rocking horse image move as I thought that this would be more interesting for the viewer. 

In addition to this I created the film title which appears at the end of the opening, I used Photoshop to create this. I started by making the background of the title which is made up of calculations in a red colour to match and fit the theme of the film, I then added the film title in the centre of this and then put an outline of the text over this title to give it a more 3D affect so that it would stand out.

REFINEMENTS, CHANGES, EDITS AND REFLECTIONS

MEDIA THEORIES

I researched theorists such as Curran and Seaton to understand how large conglomerates distribute films, this helped me to learn about different types of successful marketing campaigns that would help me to understand how I could market my own film.

 

CONSTRUCTION: FILMING THE CONVERSATION BETWEEN SCIENTIST AND FRIEND

We initially filmed this scene in the school's drawing room, we chose to make the shot slightly out of focus so that the audience could not see the face of the friend, however we found that this did not work as well as we intended and it was difficult to hear the conversation. We decided to reshoot this scene, however we had to change our filming location due to the drawing room not being free; by using a range of different in focus shots, our new location worked well and the scene worked much better in our final edit.

CONSTRUCTION: FILMING THE NEWSPAPER SCENE

For this scene we needed multiple slow zoom in shots of the newspaper headlines which tell the audience what is happening in the world of the film. I placed the newspapers on a table covered in a black cloth and then put candles around them to light up the headlines, the candles also help to tell the audience that there is no energy in the world of the film. When filming, it took me a few tries to get the right shots that had a good camera angle and were in focus. I tested out having the lights on very dim in the room as I thought that the candles would not be bright enough, however I found that after adding some more candles for light it looked better when the lights were off completely. 

CONSTRUCTION: FILMING THE CALCULATION LIGHT SCENE

For this scene we chose to film a birds eye view shot zoom in of the calculations written by the scientist. We shot this scene with the lights off and using LED red coloured lights to shine onto the calculations which were placed on a black cloth as the background. It took a few takes for us to get the correct shot that we wanted as we had to get the framing of the paper and the intensity of the LED lighting correct.

CONSTRUCTION: FILMING THE TUNNEL SCENE

Initially we chose to start the opening of our film with the camera following a man walking in the tunnel, we were going to have the camera track/follow him from the side however when filming we felt that this did not work as we expected; therefore we decided to change this camera shot into a series of shorter static shots with different angles using a narrow depth of field. For the final shot of this scene where the man gets attacked, we used a canted angle and changed the camera settings so that it was out of focus to create suspense for the audience. To create these effects we used a Cannon EOS camera as this allowed us to change and control the focus as well as increasing the quality off the footage. 

In the final edit of the film opening we decided not to use all of these scenes due to them not helping to explain the narrative and the length. However, we kept the final scene we filmed as we felt this created suspense as well as being an important part of the narrative. 

CONSTRUCTION: BBFC CERTIFICATE

The British Board of Film Classification awards and decides an age rating and content warning for film certificates. The BBFC consults and decides on the age rating of a film to ensure that the content of the film is age appropriate and suitable for children or young people.

I researched how the BBFC classifies films by studying their website. From this I learned that a 15 certificate may contain threat and horror and allows violence to be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. Due to our film containing mild threat and a few scenes containing mild violence, we classified it as a 15. We also aimed our film at 15-35 years old which reasoned us to construct our film to fit into the category that this audience would relate to. The next age classification up is an 18 which which is regarded as containing 'sadistic threat'; we felt that this does not reflect our film. I created my BBFC certificate for our film using Adobe Photoshop and a template that I found on the internet.

PLANNING: CALL SHEET

 Call Sheet 1 for 'Chain Reaction' - Tunnel scene

Length: 2 minutes

Shoot date: 18th November 2021

Location: Tunnel at Claremont Fan Court School

Times (everyone): 2:45pm - 4:00pm

CAST	Ciaran.S	********@gmail.com	079*****774
CREW/CAST	Finlay.W	********@gmail.com	078*****653
CREW	Ruby.L	********@gmail.com	072*****748

Camera Equipment:

- Cannon EOS camera

- Camera battery

- Memory card

- Lens protector cover 

Props:

- No props needed

Wardrobe: Cieran 

Suit, shirt, black shoes

Wardrobe: Finlay

Suit, shirt, brown shoes

 Call Sheet 2 for 'Chain Reaction' - Discussion between scientist and friend

Length: 2 minutes

Shoot date: 23rd November 2021

Locations: Claremont Fan Court School's drawing room

Times (everyone): 3:00pm - 4:00pm

CAST	Ben.HF	********@gmail.com	075*****971
CREW/CAST	Finlay.W	********@gmail.com	078*****653
CREW	Ruby.L	********@gmail.com	072*****748

Camera Equipment:

- Cannon EOS camera

- Camera battery

- Memory card

- Lens protector cover 

Props:

- Calculations paper

Wardrobe: Ben

Suit, shirt, black shoes, tailored coat

Wardrobe: Finlay

Suit, shirt, brown shoes

PLANNING: RISK ASSESMENT

 

	HAZARD TO HEALTH AND SAFETY	RISK POSED AND TO WHOM	LEVEL OF RISK (H/M/L)	MEASURES TO REDUCE RISK	RISK LEVEL ACHIEVED (H/M/L)	FURTHER ACTIONS
Weather	Rain – possible making floor slippery and causing wet clothing.	Everyone.	L	Bring weatherproof clothing to quickly put on in case of weather change.   The rain could make the stone pathways slippery, if so, make sure actors are careful and notified of this possibility.	L
Candles – contact with fire	Actor could burn themselves while handling candles.	Actor in scene handling candles.	M	Make sure paper is not directly underneath match.    Make sure actors are aware of dangers.    When finished filming turn the lights on and asses, as it might be easy to place a hot match on a piece of paper without realising	L	Extinguisher or water can be placed near the premises in case of emergency, only if dangers increase.
First aid issues	Trips/falls – hit head against stone walls.	Everyone in environment could trip/fall.   Actors in struggle scene could hit head against stone wall	M		L

 

 

PLANNING: SHOT LIST

 

Scene	Vision	Sound	Actor/Actors	Props	Notes
Entry of the first character walking through a tunnel before being ambushed.	1) EXT – EVENING: various CLOSE-UP shots with SHALLOW DEPTH OF FIELD. A man walks past the frame for each. Some are at a DUTCH ANGLE. Last shot of the scene is a WIDE ANGLE, with a SHALLOW DEPTH OF FIELD, see the man walk off into the tunnel, then get ambushed, there is a struggle then the sound of a gunshot.	à GUNSHOT	ADULT (SCIENTIST)	N/A	3 or 4 walking shots before the finale. OPENING CREDITS can be DISPLAYED at this moment, maybe SLANTED or in different POSITIONS. Actors FACE should NOT be shown to camera, must be hidden so all shots are from waist down. They should not be too out of focus.
Scientist working out the equations.	2) INT – NIGHT: CLOSE UP of candle being lit. CUT to various shots of newspapers, lit by candlelight. CUT to a WIDE ANGLE, behind the scientist sitting at a DESK. Jumps up in joy and leaves the frame.	à N/A	ADULT (SCIENTIST)	è PAPER è PEN è CANDLES  è NEWSPAPERS è DESK è CHAIR è MAYBE BIN è OTHER WORKINGS	Due to low light filming, may need to use FAKE CANDELS, due to their increased lighting. The actor will TURN around to the CAMERA after doing some WORK.
Discussion between the scientist and a friend.	3) INT – DAY: WIDE ANGLE, in a POSH SETTING, two characters (scientist and wealthy friend) talking to each other. SHALLOW DEPTH OF FIELD means they are out of focus. Wealthy friend usher scientist out, towards camera. Wealthy friend stops, leans down to pick up a piece of paper. PAN UPWARDS – TRACKING. CUT to EXTREME CLOSE UP of wealthy friend’s pocket, placing paper into.	à DISCUSSION BETWEEN TWO CHARACTERS	TWO ADULTS (SCIENTIST & WEALTHY FRIEND)	è SHEET OF EQUATIONS	WHITE NOISE may need to be REDUCED in editing due to LOCATION. Make sure ACTORS faces are NOT SEEN. They should only be in frame when the camera is out of FOCUS.
Overhead of the equations with a red light spilling from the side.	4) INT – NIGHT: background is black, equation in centre of frame. BIRD’S EYE view and a slow zoom towards the paper. RED LIGHT coming from left of frame. CUT between SCENE 4 and END of SCENE 3.	N/A	N/A	è THE SHEET OF EQUATIONS è RED LIGHT (not seen) è BLACK CLOTH BACKGROUND è MAYBE FAKE MONEY	RED LIGHT will only come from ONE SIDE, but if it’s not light enough then two lights from opposite sides can be used.

PLANNING: SOCIAL GROUPS AND ISSUES

I created Pinterest boards to allow me to create a visual representation of the social groups and issues presented in our film opening, thinking about how we would dress the characters to further represent their social class through the use of mise-en-scène, with clothing, props and locations. There are two contrasting social groups presented, one being the young hardworking and struggling scientist and the other his friend, a rich and wealthy man. Creating a board of the locations helped to reinforce the ideas of the contrast between two characters, one of the locations being wealthy looking and well embellished room/house whilst the other being an office that is dark and lacks furnishings.

The main issue presented in our film is global warming, and the result it will have on earth if nothing is done or no solution to provide clean energy is found.   

PLANNING: PROPS

For one of the scenes we needed newspapers with headlines mentioning the energy crisis to help explain the situation to the audience. I changed the headlines of a few articles in newspapers by printing the new title onto bits of off cut newspaper strips, I then stuck these over the original title and stuck pictures relevant to the crisis on top of the original ones in the newspaper.  

PLANNING: LOCATION RECCE

We decided to use these locations as the set for the opening of our film. The tunnel will be used for filming the first scene of the man walking and then being attacked, we thought that this would be a good place to film due to the dim light and its eerie setting. The next place we decided to film was in the school's drawing room, in this scene the scientist will talk to his friend about asking to use his calculations and the friends money to solve the energy crisis; the drawing room works for this as it helps to portray the wealth of the friend due to the expensive looking room. The office desk will be used for filming the scene in which the scientist is trying to figure out the calculations to solve the energy crisis, this will work well as it  will show that he is working. Finally for the close up scenes of the newspapers and calculations the location does not matter as we just need a table with a black background to place the objects on. 

PLANNING: STORYBOARD

 

PLANNING: OUR COMP LIST

Kezia Williams, of Entertainment One UK, on the FutureLearn Distribution by the Film Distributors Association speaks about how film distributors build a 'comp list' of comparable films that their target audience would enjoy.

She emphasises the importance of knowing your targeted audience. She asks questions like"what drives them to the cinema" and "what interested do they have", as well as this she also says distributors will compare data of films that are similar in their genre, story and selling points. The target audience and budget is developed from what box office take was like with previous films and the types of audience that saw these films. The target audience can be analysed to find the gender gap, and which cinemas the target audience usually go to.

 

PLANNING: MY AUDIENCE QUESTIONNAIRE

I am using Google forms to create a questionnaire for my target audience and send it to people who are likely to watch our film. I will ask questions referring to age, gender, what types of films they prefer to watch, what influences them to watch a film and where they prefer to watch it. Our production team want to make a film that would appeal to young people aged 15-35. Our questionnaire will be useful to ensure that our type of genre will appeal to this audience. Through the use of Google Forms I will be able to collect this data.

These are the questions I intend to ask:

1.  What is your gender?
2.  What age category do you fit into?
3.  Which of these your film genres would you watch? Pick as many as you wish.
4.  What was the last film you watched?
5.  What platform would you most likely use to watch a film?
6.  Which of these trailers have you seen?
7.  Which of these platforms would you use to find out about films?
8.  What is the most likely reason you would watch a new film?

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdPFXeL2THRD-qyMngWcMGxBwCUTz7cJQvbsCIx0QIgBgHt-g/viewform?usp=sf_link

The Results:

PLANNING: MY TARGETED AUDIENCE AND HOW I ENGAGED THEM

From the FutureLearn course that I am following, called Distribution: Connecting Films With Audiences, I know that all products are targeted at specific audiences. 

I needed to plan how to reach my target audience. Therefore, I needed to know who they are (including relevant factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, social class), what their media needs are (so that I could produce a product that they will want and are interested in) and how to reach them (in order to market my film). I will show how my research has shaped / influenced my planning. 

I started by investigating how brands define audiences, for example I saw how Bauer Media, NME and Sky defined audiences; this helped me profile my audience. I then created an audience profile below.

PLANNING: FILM TREATMENT

A treatment will normally contain:

• A Title that is dynamic and engaging 

• The Top line: An elegant sentence that sums up the action

• The Big Question: What is the cliffhanger? What is the enigma that it will unfold?

• The Synopsis: One or two paragraphs outlining the plot

• Characters: Brief introduction: Adam, 35, a dreamy design engineer... Lucy, 25, a disenchanted doctor... Mart, 18, an idealistic student

Next:

• After writing the treatment, you create a storyboard 

• And then a shortlist

Initial ideas:
Our production team brainstormed ideas about the plot, the soundtrack, our favourite films/ scenes from films, ideas for locations and characters.
- Shortage of food or water, people only have limited amounts of what they can use 
- Suspicious neighbour - looking through window (thriller)
- Pill that makes you super smart 
- Scientist/engineer discovers something that business want, they threaten him 
- Genetic engineering (changing/ mixing DNA) - dangerous 

- Time travel 
- Location ideas: woods, pond, school
- People: Dog, parents, tortoise 

The Plot:

An energy crisis has caused the world to fall into darkness, however a young man finds the key to helping to provide clean, green energy to the world, but finds himself betrayed by his rich friend who takes the glory for himself.

Structure:

Scene 1: EXT – Night, Opens with a man walking, we follow at ground level, his face concealed. However, we do see he is nervous and agitated about something. He turns, we feel the tension, suddenly from behind a man lunges at him, again we cannot see their faces, but we see the struggle. The grunts continue for a while until a gunshot is heard before cutting to black

Scene 2: INT – Night, A match is lit and placed upon a candle; we pan over different newspapers whilst a V.O states the worlds current situation before it is cut off. We begin to focus on the man’s work, seeing he is struggling, shot of a bin full of his equations. Suddenly he jumps up, he has found the solution after a long time, we see on his face realisation, he needs money. Close up to calculations, knock cuts to scene 3.

Scene 3: INT – Night, We cut to a bird’s eye view of the man’s calculations, V.O of the man shouting and saying ‘he took everything from me’, ‘this was my work’ and so on. We zoom slowly into the sheets of equations, whilst lights from either side off screen flash slowly different colours, red, green, blue, over and over. Sometimes money would be thrown over across the sheets, concealing the equations. We then see the fist of the scientist reach down onto the table. Cut to black.

Scene 4: EXT – Night, We cut back to the first scene, this time there is no struggle, we then slowly see a man flop to the floor, before the titles are brought up. Who is the dead man? Did the scientist get revenge? Or was it the man who simply got rid of opposition?

Title of film is shown

Locations:

1st scene: dark outside tunnel at school

2nd scene: science lab at school or office room

3rd scene: living room in house

4th scene: dark room with table

5th scene: dark outside tunnel at school

 Props:

- Candles

- Newspaper 

- Calculations of the solution 

- Coloured lights