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.

Sound

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Our Continuity task

chloe, harley, megan continuity task from Harley Golder on Vimeo.

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.

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)."

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

Hibo conventions of opening sequence from reigatemedia

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." 

codes and conventions website

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.

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.

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.

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".

Film Noir Cindy

Film noir - Cinderella from meganspelman

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

Film noir essay highlighted

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.

Film Noir Collage

The film noir collage i created of 13 different examples of film noirs

Example Film Noir

The killing (1956)- best scenes

Hit Film Noir Films

My Film Noir presentation

Conventions of film noir

What are the conventions of the film noir genre? 

History of Film Noir

Film Noir and the history behind them

Film Noir History from guest3b517b

About film noir

Film Noir from twsheehan

product research in film noir

Product research film noir from Diana

Our Finished Sweded film

this is our finished Version of our sweded film.

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

sweded film research

I have just found that there is a festival for Sweded movies in america, where people get to show off their own creations, as well as watching others films that them themselves have created to get inspiration for more films of their own.
http://swedefest.com

there are thousands of swedes films out there that many people have spent time creating, but the best thing about it is that it costs very little to make due to that all you need is a camera and a group of friends and you can create your own film for others to look forward to watching.
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/sweded-films

The history of sweded films came from the movie created in 2008 called be kind rewind, where a dvd stall owner accidentally erased all the dvd's so created his own version of the films so he didn't loose money.
http://redpenofdoom.com/2012/12/11/be-kind-rewind-a-history-of-sweded-film-2/

Snacked is a blog that has created a list of films that are some of the best films to swede, so that people who are new to the idea of a sweded film can still make their own and see how easy it is to do.
http://snacked.blogspot.co.uk/2008/02/attempt-to-complete-list-of-sweded.html

There has been a story in The Guardian newspaper saying that "swedes films could be the end to hollywood films as we know it". More and more people are becoming aware of sweded films, so why waste 2 hours of your life watching a film that may or may not be good, when you can watch a funny version that tells the story, but is under 7 minutes long.
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/jul/05/sweded-movies-end-of-hollywood

This is a website with a video that has 70 iconic films in one film, that is only 10 minutes long!
http://nofilmschool.com/2014/04/video-swedes-70-iconic-films-whats-sweded-cinema-again/

Esquire is a site that has picked 5 of their favourite sweded films.
http://www.esquire.com/the-side/video/sweded-movies-videos

sweded films

swededfilm.com is a website that watches loads of swedes films that people have uploaded from all over the world, and pick its favourite film to make it's film of the day.

10th favourite film: Sister Act

Sister Act
Whoopi Goldberg is a lengend in the film industry, and this just shows you why. you can't help but enjoy a funny yet action full film. whoopi hinds from her husband in a church and is changed by the nun's she meets. She becomes the choir teacher and makes sunday services popular. I laugh every time at this film and i enjoy everything about it. it puts a smile on my face and i love the music from both the film and the musical.

9th favourite film: Mamma Mia

Mamma Mia
This film speaks for its self. With flairs, platforms and perms, you can't help but to sing along to the classic Abba tracks that everyone knows and loves. Some of films biggest starts lead in this film, it is no wonder that Mamma Mia flew off the shelves in 2008. people of all ages could enjoy this musical, and this will be one of my favourite musical films.

8th favourite film: Friends With Benefits

Friends with Benefits
With Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis as the leads, there is not a lot you can't like about this film. is funny, witty and full of innuendo's, but it has quite a deep meaning within. with a ill father, Justin Timberlake's character pulls a few heart strings, and leaves you falling more in love with him than you were before you watched the film.

7th favourite film: Sherlock Holmes Game Of Shadows

Sherlock Holmes
The clever mind of inspector Holmes strikes again as him and his partner in crime Watson fight another case to save the day. Like all Sherlock films, you have to pay serious attention to everything or you may miss something, but the clever twists and turns in this film never seem to stop surprising me. with guns, mysteries and a false death, this is definitely a role that only Robert Downey jr could take on.

6th favourite film: The Hobbit Desolation Of Smaug

The Hobbit
Following the lord of the rings saga, the hobbit is an adventure from start to finish. It is action packed right from the moment the film starts. This saga contains: Hobbits, dwarfs, trolls, elves, wizards and a dragon. what more could you ask for? It's a boyish film, but even a disney/musical fan like myself can enjoy this film. I was on the edge of my seat throughout the whole film. I even jumped out of my seat a couple of times, but couldn't take my eyes off the screen.

5th favourite film: Tangled

Tangled
Not only does this film make you laugh and cry, but this is one of Walt Disney's best creations next to Frozen. You think you know the story of Rapunzel, but this classic has had a modern twist to keep all generations glued to the tv screen. You can't help but fall in love with Maximus the horse, and the very handsome (for a disney character) Flynn Rider. This film is fun for children, and the parents that get forced to watch it even come away with a smile on their faces.

4th favourite film: Legally Blonde

Legally Blonde

It's a fun film that shows that looks aren't everything, and not to judge a person before you get to know them. this classic blonde stereotypical girl heads off to law school to see if she can impress 'the boy of her dreams' which as you can imagine backfires, but not in the way you may think at first. Elle woods is seen throughout the film as a typical blonde, with little brains and big boobs, however she shows everyone wrong when she manages to prove the step daughter of a friend is guilty for her dads murder using her incredible sense on fashion and beauty to do so. this film has changed the way i see fellow blonde girls in everyday life, and i have learnt not to judge a book by its cover.

3rd favourite film: Billy Elliot

Billy Elliot

the reason i and many other people love billy elliot is that its based on a true story, and it pulls a few heartstrings due to the political problems within the film. This film is everything i believe in about boys and dancing. Boys of all ages should be allowed to dance, and should never be put down for doing so. I have seen both the film and the west end show, and have been amazed by both. The reason i love this film so much is it was one of the first films to show that it is okay for boys to dance, and i think this film has changed history in the making.

2nd Favourite film: The hunger games

The hunger games

In this film, its all for one and one for all. There can only be one winner. its an action packed 2 hours 55 minutes, with complex relationships growing, making it harder to kill each other. the story behind the hunger games sound gruesome (having to kill friends and foes in order to survive), however there is nothing gory about this film in the slightest. In fact you are  almost missing the blood, however the action makes up for the lack of deaths witnessed. the resin i love this film is just the fact i can't take my eyes away from the screen for one second   because i will miss something. there is so much happening, that you could not possibly be bored while watching it. once you have watched the first one, you can't help but want to watch the rest in the sequel, however only the first two film have been made, and i for one can't wait to watch the other films that follow.

1st favourite film: Frozen

frozen

even though this film is specifically for children, walt disney have created a story that follows two sisters, one of which has magical powers, that even adults can't resist. This is my all time favourite film because not only are the songs incredibly catchy, i can really relate to the relationship between the two sisters as it reflects the relationship between me and my own sister (without the magical power- unfortunately). It may be a winter themed film, but i can watch it all year round. The loveable characters make you laugh the whole way through and may even leave you with a tear in your eye when you see the twist to a typical Disney's happily ever after.

examples of Sweded films

there are hundreds of 'Sweded' films out there, here is YouTube's 7 best Sweded films

Sweded films

what is a 'sweded' film?
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/sweded-films

Prop making for our sweded film

Frozen sweded film storyboard

My short film about me

This is my film all about my interests and hobbies and some of my favourite things to do.

This is me

My name is Chloe Carman and i am studying AS media. i haven't done media before so this is all new to me. my ICT skills are very limited: i can use Microsoft programs, and get on the internet, but thats as technical as i go. I am usually in front of the camera dancing, acting, or singing, however i thought it would be nice to learn about what happens behind the camera. Thats why I'm here. I am new to blogging and my swedes film will be the first thing i have ever uploaded onto youtube. I have never watched a film and thought about different techniques used. The only thing i know at this moment in time about films is whether i like them and famous actors/actresses that are in the film.

This is me