Tuesday 31 March 2015

Friday 13 February 2015

Target audience

Before deciding a final target audience for a film within the industry, film makers do a lot of reattach using different ways of categorising target audiences to make sure the film is right for them. One way the film industry use to categorise their audience is by the NRS social grade. This system categorises people by their job. There are 6 gradings in this method- A,B,C1,C2,D,E.






















Another way of deciding on a target audience is by using the Pete Buckingham Audience model. This divides the audience into seven categorises- Hero Seeker, Impulsive materialist, Film Fanatics, Impressionable Socialites, Modern Parents, Fun Lovers and Youth of Today.


















There is also the Acorn structure where there are six headings, and each heading has a series of subheadings dividing the groups further and places people into specific target groups. the acorn structure divides people into where they live, the type of house they live in, and the lifestyle they live.




















The audience theory has an Effects model that also follows six headings based on how people react to media products. It structures people by the way they behave to a film or by media product




















all these methods will help us to decide what target audience we want our film to be based for. We must discus as a pair what people would be most likely to watch our film, and how they will react to it. Using the NRS grading traditional film noir's attracted upper class, well educated people. Neo noir's are based for the film noir audience members, and for people slightly younger because of the modern twist that neo noir puts on film noir. We have used all the structures to finalise what target audience we are going to base our film for. Using the NRS guide we have decided we want to aim it at people in band A,B and C1, so we attract all the educated people that would see film noir style, and slightly younger audience members that see neo noir's. Using the Effects model we are aiming our film at The Hypodermic Needle Model as we want the audience to feel involved, and believe our film. Using the acorn structure we have aimed our film at Affluent Achievers, Rising Prosperity and Comfortable Communities. This is because people who have more money and live the lavish lifestyle will connect more to our glamorous femme fatale. Using Pete Buckinghams method we have aimed our film at Film Fanatics and Impressionable Socialites, because we want to aim at those aged particularly around 25, but we want to interest people who are slightly older and younger as well because of the neo noir twist on film noir.

Thursday 5 February 2015

Second version of our OTS

This is our opening title sequence with all the sections of music in it. This is the second video we will show the class to get there feedback on how the different sections of music work with the clips, and if they have any advice of how we can link the sections of music. i have made some of the colour improvements that the class commented on in the last feedback, but with this level of software, i think its the best affect we can achieve. Megan will focus on the sound while i continue to work on the colour correction/mask, to see if it is possible to get the colour any better.


megan and chloe OTS from chloe carman on Vimeo.

Monday 2 February 2015

First feedback

This is the video of our class mates telling us how they feel about our  opening title sequence. We are still in the editing process, so there is still sound to be added, titles and finishing touches. Since this was filmed, we have made some improvements on the colour. The colour seemed patchy because of the light, and the movement of the red. I haven't been able to fix the colour problem completely but I will continue to try and fix the colour problem. From the feedback we have considered the drowning scene and thought about what they said, but in the narrative the body was put there by the police. The look of the body (still pretty, and half dry) symbolises she is working with the police and not against them. the half wet look shows she has been there a while and has dried.


OTS first feed back from chloe carman on Vimeo.

Thursday 29 January 2015

Drowning shot

This is the footage we are using for the drowning scene. The reason why I'm half wet is because i have been there a while because in the story line i pretend to drown myself, but in reality i am still alive. I am in that position because the police (who are in on the act) have dragged me out of the river, and placed my body like that. In traditional film noir's, the femme fatale always looks beautiful whether they are dead or alive. This is the look we where going for in order for our femme fatale to seduce even though she is supposedly dead.

Adding Titles

In an ideal situation we would of liked our titles to be an old fashioned looking font, but all of the fonts that were old fashioned were thin, and blended into the background of our clips. It was hard to find a shade of red that wasn't so bright that it was too light, or one that wasn't too dark so it didn't blend into in the darker scenes. We want all the titles to be the same colour and size so there is continuity.

Friday 23 January 2015

First version of our OTS

This is the first version of our opening title sequence. We have edited it roughly, and changed the colour to black, white and red. The problem with have is we move quite a lot, and with this level of software we can't outline the section we want red, which means that when we move and a light is casted over, the red turns black and white and looks a little amateurish. We haven't added any sound yet, the only sound we want is the diagetic sound of the rolling bottle and the shh's. We are yet to add the titles and select where they are going. We have a rough idea of where but it is yet to be finalised. This is the version we will show to the class for some initial feedback to make changes as we progress.

megan and chloe OTS from chloe carman on Vimeo.

Saturday 17 January 2015

Editing: day 4

Adding transitions 
Today we learnt how to add transitions between two clips.
Press the button with the four triangles. There will be a selection of transitions available. We picked cross dissolve to give our clip a spooky echoing feel.

Drag the cross dissolve button between the two clips that you want to overlap. To change the size of the transition, press the clips and drag it from the sides to make it longer or shorter. The transitions can also change speed if the clip already has s set speed, the transition will do that to.

Editing: day 3

Slow motion
Today we figured out how to put a clip into slow motion.

To make a clip slow motion you press on the microphone with the arrow. A pop out menu will appear, and you click the 'slow' option at the top.
once the option has been pressed you get the choice of three speeds. 50% is the quickest slow motion option and 10% is the slowest. Select the one that suits you.
If any of them speeds don't fit, press the coloured bar above your clip and an option to custom the speed will appear. you can type in any speed you want into the box.


Monday 12 January 2015

Editing: day 2

Today we played about with colour. We want the title sequence to be black and white but we still want the red. This is called chromaki. you do this on final cut pro by pausing on the clip where the red is showing. Once you click on the colour
menu, press the plus button to add a colour correction. Click on the dabber and use it to highlight the red area of the clip. This creates a colour layer,Then you press the arrow button next to the dabber option. Make sure the inside option is highlighted at the bottom, and the setting is on global. Slide the slider on the left up to the top for a bright red look. Then press outside and click global again and slide that down to the bottom. This takes the colour away from the background, and leaves the area you just highlighted red. I have also learnt that final cut always reads the top line of your timeline. This means anything you edit much be on the top line, or it won't show up when you press play.



Editing: day 1


Today we uploaded all of the footage onto final cut pro, and we have decided what footage we are going to use, and what footage we aren't going to use. We put the good footage onto a time line and checked if we had enough footage to make up the two minute time limit for our opening sequence. Our footage can to approximately six minutes but once we cut down all the clips and work out the transitions it should be roughly two minutes. We haven't yet put the clips in order as wanted to look over the clips and see if we needed to re-film anything. Once we looked at the footage we decide to film the type writing section again as it goes blurry towards the end. 

Filming: day 2

We have now finished all of our filming for our opening title sequence, all we need to do is to put everything together, edit, add the titles, add the backing track, and add the digetic sound. We had a struggle with angles. we knew what shots we wanted, but we didn't know how was best to create them when it came to shooting. Megan was the camera person for most of the shots. The only time i have had to get behind the camera is when you see someones hands. I don't like my hands and nails, but Megan has nice hands and nails, but didn't want to be in front of the camera. We solved this by making Megan my 'hand double' and used her hands for all the clips where her gloves are off. I decided to wear leather gloves for most of my shots so you can't tell who's hands they are when they are covered. This is the last shot we done. We had to make this our last shot as I had to get water thrown over me to make it look like I have been dragged out of the river by the police after she committed "suicide". It was a really cold day we were filming on, and the ground was frosty, so we had to tip warm water over me, and we only had one take to film it because I was really cold.

Tuesday 30 December 2014

Filming day 1

Today we filmed out by the river wensum. In this shot we had our female reporter looking by the river for a place to commit suicide for her plan. For my makeup I done smokey eyes, pink blusher cheeks, and red lips, this look matches the look of a femme fatale. For my clothes I wore black tights, skirts, shoes, top and coat. I wore purl earrings to match the big jewellery look, and to finish my look of I had black leather gloves to make her more secretive. The fur on the coat matches the look of a typical film noir as its like a fur coat that they used to wear. Because the fur is only around the neck, it gives it a untypical Neo noir feel.

Monday 15 December 2014

Sound

Powered by emaze
This is my presentation about sound in films (in particular the film Priest), and why sound is used.
This was my first time using emaze, and i couldn't figure out how to make all the slides all the same colour, so this is why all the slides are different colours. I found it difficult to work emaze, and i prefer to use slideshare and prezi to do presentations on.

Thursday 11 December 2014

Opening sequence story boarding process



We have finally finished looking at the order of our shots, and have worked out the scenes, and where the titles are going to go. We just need to stick our final plan down and create a perminant story board and follow it to create a plan to follow for the tasks, so we meet our dealine.

Neo Noir

We watched three different Neo noir film and compared them to film noir films and we discussed what is similar (typical) and what is different (untypical). We disscussed how we could use the Neo noir conventions in our opening title sequence of we wanted to make them more modernised and current. We decided to go with Neo noir when it comes to the chacaters, so instead of having a female femme fatale and a male anti-hero, we have swapped roles to make it more current, and to appeal to both older and younger generations.

Tuesday 9 December 2014

Roles for our OTS

My first role is to be one of the directors for the filming for the opening title sequence, and decide where and what we are filming. My second role is to be one of the actors in the opening title sequence and to sort out what props we needed, and how we were going to get them. My third role is to help edit the opening sequence when its all been filmed. It is my role to: cut down the clips, to arrange the order of the clips, and to change the colour on each clip. I will do most of the editing, but Megan will add in all the titles and will take charge how, where and when the titles appear, and she is the music director for our title sequence and is going to either use garage band, or to record her own music.

Friday 5 December 2014

Opening sequence planning

I have drawn some of the idea's we had for shots that we would like to include in our piece. We played about with the order of the shots so we get them in an order that makes sense.  We started with a shot of a calendar showing the date, that later comes into importance. We then move to a scene of a park where there is a pile of leaves that blow away to reveal a gun. We then move to a river by the park were there is an old boat shed, and we see a newspaper laying beside the river. The shot zooms in on the newspaper and it's an article about someone who has drowned. We then zoom in on the photo and cut to a live tilt of the girl, and the girls eyes open.

Thursday 4 December 2014

British Board of Classification

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), also known as the British Board of Film Censorship, is a non-governmental organisation, founded by the film industry in 1912. They are responsible for the national classification of films, trailers and advertisements, and judging the censorship of films within the United Kingdom on behalf of local authorities who licence cinemas. They follow classification guidelines that link with the public to consult in their change in tastes, any concerns and changes in laws that apply with age ratings. The job of the BBFC is to protect children and some adults from unsuitable media content that can influence their decisions in real life situations and potentially put them in harms way.
The BBFC has to take certain issues into consideration before classifying: context, theme, tone and impact, discrimination, drugs, sex and Imitable Behaviour.Context - The content is what is included. This can include issues of sex, language or violence used, that can cause children or vulnerable adults to act or behave in a certain way.Theme - The theme is the message they are trying to get across or any content, and needs to be taken into consideration to make sure there isn't anything that could be unsuitable for young children. Some themes that are avoided from junior level classifications are: Dug misuse, sexual violence, racial battles and violence.Tone and Impact - Dark and unnerving tones are generally classified at a higher level as it can be unsettling for children to watch.Discrimination - content such as race, gender, religion, disability or sexuality may cause issues to arise, and the classification decision will take account of the strength or impact of their conclusion of which the context of the content  and classify it suitably. Drugs - It is not always suitable to have young actors taking harmful substances, so often replacement substances are used so they don't cause the actors any damage, however in doing this it can promote drug use, and can cause people to take up the misuse of drugs, and can get them in trouble with the law if its the wrong classification.Sex-This can range from a kiss to detailed graphic sexual content. Those which contain sex will be given a higher rating.Imitable Behaviour - This can include criminal and violent techniques, and glamorise of easily accessible weapons, such as knives. Audiences can gather potentially harmful information from watching these, and can promote anti-social behaviour. These are likely to receive a higher classification.

"The U symbol stands for universal, which means the film should be suitable for audiences aged four years and over, though it’s not possible to predict what might upset a particular child, especially at this lower end of the category range.PG stands for parental guidance, which means the film is suitable for general viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children. A PG film shouldn’t unsettle a child around eight or older, but parents should consider whether the content might upset younger, or more sensitive children.Films classified as 12 are generally not suitable for children aged under 12. Strong language,  might be passed at 12, depending on how it’s used, who’s using it, its frequency and any contextual justification, but language might not be aggressive or frequent. Puns on strong language are often allowed, and there might be moderate language.15 films are not suitable for children under 15 years of age, and no theme is prohibited as long as the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds. This means the content might include strong violence, frequent strong language, portrayals of sexual activity, strong verbal references to sex, sexual nudity, brief scenes relating to sexual violence, discriminatory language or behaviour and drug taking.Films rated 18 are for adults, and no 18 rated works are suitable for children. No theme is prohibited, and as adults are free to choose their entertainment as long as the material isn’t illegal or harmful, some themes tackled might be offensive even to adult viewers."- BBFC age ratings
Imitable Behaviour/ violent themes
Drugs/ sex scenes




















sex scenes/bad language


drug/bad language (context)









My Opening Title Sequence Presentation


This is the powerpoint I used in my pitch to the class about our opening title sequence (OTS). In my presentation I talked through all the sides (video evidence is yet to come), but two of my slides didn't save when it came to the presentation, so i din't get the chance to talk about the credits or about the form of our OTS.

Monday 1 December 2014

Opening title sequence planning

This is our group chat for our opening title sequence. We talk about ideas, and communicating to organise when we are meeting and getting together.

Friday 21 November 2014

Evaluation of our continuity task

Our original plan for our continuity task was to do a scene for our "Cindy" film noir that we could then use in our opening title sequence. However on the day of filming, both Megan and Harley were absent, and both our other actress we planed to play the step mother, and our other class mate who film for us last minute, made mistakes when it can to filming. we originally had two camera's one set on a desk, and one hand held. But when it came to editing, we noticed that our camera person was in all of the shots from the set camera, so we couldn't use any of them angles, breaking the 180 degrees rule. our actress forgot to sit down, and made unnecessary noises (dragging a chair across the room) that disturbed the shot. This was our original plan for the task.
We had to re-record our task last minute making it less complicated and having a simple story line to go with. Our story line was I was late to work and my boss was telling me off, but i was having a bad day, so i left. But we should have included more dialogue as I just get up and leave at the end which doesn't follow the story line looking back at it. I came up with the idea of the frame shot through the window of the door. I like that shot, but it would have made more sence if there was more of a story line to it. The clip may have looked better if we added music to it, but because of the time we haven't had a chance to find a song that suited the story line and to fiddle about with volumes. We included: match on action, an eye line match, 180 degree rule, shot reverse shot and framing, in our task to fill the brief and to see what different angles and shots we could play about with, so we are ready for filming our opening title sequence. If we had more time we would definitely film it again with a better story line and more dialogue, and we might have even taken up our original plan so we could have the chance to include it in our opening title sequence if we wanted to.

Plan for continuity task

For our plan we amped out what we had to include, and the order we we're going to do shots. I was in charge if creating a plan, being the most prevelant character, and help to edit the clips for smooth transitions between movements. Megan was the other character in our clip and her other role was to over see the editing side and suggest what we need to do to improve our clip. Harley was our camera man, and he used both a tripod and hand held methods for filming. He also edited the clip and added the subtitles to the clip.
For our task we have to include: 180 degrees rule, shot reverse shot, match on action. we also had to have someone walking to the door, walking through the door, and sitting down on a chair exchanging conversation with someone.

Friday 31 October 2014

Dexter: "the opening sequence is considered one of the most innovative of its era"


"The opening sequence is considered one of the most innovative of its era".



Dexter's opening title sequence follows the conventions of a film noir. Its use of imagery is very clever as it links everyday things like cooking and shaving, and links them to murder by the use of the colour red, or the sharp objects that cut though things. It explores the morning regimen of a man and links him to death, telling us that he is going to be involved in a murder in some way. Usually the people they show in the clips are the detective or the victim, but sometimes to flip the coin the murder can be shown, and we learn how they did it. It makes use of cinematography and uses it to brilliantly to tell us about the character of Dexter. The opening sequence provides us with clues about the TV show and what/who the narrative follows. The music in the clip builds tension as it sounds like someone is plotting a plan to murder. The diegetic sound effects (eg. shaving) makes the audience cringe over everyday things. Everyone does these things, but making the sound diegetic and load compared to the music gives us an uncomfortable feeling, however we can't take our eyes off it. the low key lighting represents the early morning, but also represents murder/death/darkness and we can tell our prevalent character is involved in some way especially with the contract in high key lighting at the end, as it makes him seem like an ordinary person, when we know he isn't.
"These opening credits depict Dexter Morgan's daily morning routine, showing everything that embodies his character in a neat, stylised set of actions that detail vibrant colours and themes explaining the series in a calm pace. Every morning Dexter is seen being bit by a simple mosquito, which he smacks leaving a blood spot which he just simply stares at with somewhat of a smile. After the title is shown, he proceeds to shave and fix his breakfast. Blood from a shaving cut being magnified towards the theme of the show as well as the food he prepares (from simple ham and eggs, which he slashes open to a blood orange that he juices). At the end of the sequence, Dexter pulls a shirt over his head showing that he's a normal man with deep, cold eyes carrying a dark expression but as he leaves his apartment, all that seems to disappear under a colourful  nice guy mask as he nods towards the camera walking along the outside of his apartment."



"The main title sequence, shown before every episode, takes the morning routine of the main character, converting it into a highly unusual montage by adding new layers of meaning and expanding its significance beyond the literal (denotative message) into ideological, aesthetic, hermeneutic and ontological level (connotative messages)."

Friday 17 October 2014

Se7en opening title sequence

Se7en

This opening title sequence is very different from others, yet it still follows the convensions of a title sequence, and is true to the director David Finches. The title needed to set the pitch, plot and characterisation for the noir thriller. The opening title sequence has music playing throughout. The music matches the genre of the film and gradually picks up pace towards the end on the clip to increase tension and leave the audience on the edge of their seats. Unlike other tile sequences, we are not introduced to any of the characters, in fact we only see hands in the clip. The clips link together with hundreds of action matches telling the audience that everything links together at the end, revealing the murder element to this film. The font for the names is quite spooky, and the way they flash and flicker replicate a flashing light about to blow, that people associate with horrors/thrillers. The flickering also draws our attention away from the background for a second so the audience can take in the actor/director/production team involved.

Key conventions of a opening total sequence

Key Conventions
  • Title of the film
  • key actors/actresses involved
  • Cast and crew members
  • Director
  • Producers
  • The production company
  • Distribution company
  • music
  • Graphics/live action/both shots
  • Themes in the film
  • Tell the audience the genre
  • Pictures/images/clips/introduction of characters
  • Colour scheme to match the theme
  • Establishing shots that show the location


Key and conventions of opening title sequence from ownisr



Thursday 16 October 2014

Codes and conventions and target audiences

"What are codes?

Codes are systems of signs, which create meaning. Codes can be divided into two categories – technical and symbolic.
Technical codes are all the ways in which equipment is used to tell the story in a media text, for example the camera work in a film.
Symbolic codes show what is beneath the surface of what we see. For example, a character's actions show you how the character is feeling.
Some codes fit both categories – music for example, is both technical and symbolic.
What are conventions?
Conventions are the generally accepted ways of doing something. There are general conventions in any medium, such as the use of interviewee quotes in a print article, but conventions are also genre specific.
How codes and conventions apply in media studies
Codes and conventions are used together in any study of genre – it is not enough to discuss a technical code used such as camera work, without saying how it is conventionally used in a genre.
For example, the technical code of lighting is used in some way in all film genres. It is a convention of the horror genre that side and back lighting is used to create mystery and suspense – an integral part of any horror movie." 
This website has taught me that genre is has an impact on society. For example if you able something a horror, then people who usually likes musicals isn't going to pay to see the film. Certain genres have their own audience, and by breaking these genre codes and conventions you can increase the people who pay to watch it, for example if you make a film a horror/comedy then you are attracting two different types of audiences. Different Cinema's, have different target audiences as they show different films. Cinema's like Odeon and Vue show new releases, and show a wide variety of genres, to make sure they have something for all target audiences, to draw them in. Smaller cinema's like Hollywood cinema and Cineworld play films that have quite specific target audiences. This means that cinema lovers who know what genres they like can go what a film, and know what they are going to expect.


Conventions of an opening title sequence





Conventions of an opening sequence from emiliefreddie


Opening title sequences is a scene (graphics, live action or both) that identifies major actors and crew and the production company that are involved in the film and more importantly, the actual title of the film. This is important so that the audience can see the film title in context and you can clarify the genre of the film with the style in which it is filmed. It also tell a little bit of the narrative, telling the audience key details and facts without giving away the story line.
 

Codes and conventions of opening sequences from kcasmedia

opening title sequences contain themes and hints about what is to come e.g. if there was a murder, there is likely going to be a lot of red to symbolises what is going to happen and so the audience expect the unexpected. The Directors names name is often mentioned twice- at the beginning and end, to symbolise his important role and his status in the film. 

An Analysis Of The Opening Sequence Of Vertigo from Media Studies

Opening sequences play a different roles in each film, for example in Vertigo it plays a central role in establishing the visual style for the film and is used for the marketing for the film.  They uses camera and composition to introduce key influential characters, and immediately let us know who the prevalence character is. 

Conventions of a thriller opening from zubairkhan93

The title sequence is important to keep the audience on the edge of their seats, wanting to see more. Music is often used in film titles to create the mood of the film, and builds up tension and suspense.

Monday 13 October 2014



This is my Prezi comparing our Film noir photos, to real examples from films, and how we followed the conventions of a typical 1940's film noir.

Saturday 11 October 2014

Film noir story board

This is a typical film noir story plot. This follows the stereotypical narrative for a film noir. Film noir usually have a voice over that puts the characters feelings into perspective. Your femme fatale usually ends up getting murderd in the end of the narrative to get her back for all the bad things she has done my seducing the male characters and manipulating them into doing what they want, which can get them into trouble. The anti-hero usually end up getting shot/murdered as they also are taught a lesson.



Friday 10 October 2014

Film Noir in a nutshell


Origins of Film Noir from FilmmakerIQ.com on Vimeo.

This is a clip that tells you how Film Noir started and the conventions about what makes a Film Noir. I learnt all about the contributing elements of a film noir, they are low budgeting, low key lihting, nihilism and "hays code".

Friday 3 October 2014

Femme Fatal character interpretation

This is my SlideShare on my interpretation of Film Noir shots and what is a typical Femme Fatal typically look like and examples. To create our photos we decided what scene from our story board we were going to create. We decided on the casino scene, so we could introduce the long sexy ball gown style dress of the femme fatal. For our props we had a casino set with chips, dice and cards, a table and a cigarette holder. For my costume I chose a black and white dress to follow the conventions of a film noir style. I had statement jewellery of a purl necklace  and earrings to symbolise she is seducing her victims. My red lipstick adds depth to the picture and creates reflections of light and really stand out in the photos. The lighting we used was the softer more yellow light because the bright light washed me out on the pictures because of my skin tone and hair colour. We experimented with different amounts of light, and the angles to see which one created the best shadow to follow the film noir conventions.


Today's question and aim

Saturday 27 September 2014

Our story board for our film noir

we took a fairy tale (Cinderella) and altered the story to form a film noir story board that follows the some of the original features of the fairy tale. our story follows Cindy and her step mother. After assassinating Cindy's dad, the family receive a letter to go to the casino. The step mother sends Cindy and her two other children to kill the casino owner who wants to keep his identity hidden, so his nickname is Prince. People start to get suspicious at the casino so they abort mission. On their exit, Cindy drops her gun, and Price sends people to kill whoever the gun belonged too. Prince confronts Cindy, but he falls in love with her sexy female charm, and she loves him. But her step mother walks in on them together and fires a shot at Prince, but Cindy jumps in the way and gets killed.





Film noir picture ideas

Mood board

This is the story board i created to inspire our film noir photo shoot. I looked at casino film noir photo's and ideas, but i also looked at camera angles for femme fatale. we liked the idea of having cards and chips to match our story board, and also with a casino you could add that smokey effect on top of the shots to give it that film noir style. It also shows a contrast between the characters; the femme fatale and the bad boys. The femme fatale has glimpses of colour (red) to portray her dangerous and seductive side.

Friday 12 September 2014

Tuesday 26 August 2014

Monday 25 August 2014

Filming Frozen


Big Summer Blow Out Guy (messing around)
Young Anna and Young Elsa

Royal Family (Parents with young Anna and Elsa)
Prop Making and getting ready to film


trying out the moustache 

snowflake making

trying and testing the nose

Olaf

The Troll

drawing on the sideburns

Kristoff and Sven

Lewis playing with the toys

Emily playing with the toys and moustaches

Filming day: young Elsa and Anna