GROUP PITCH

After various group meetings with Perdy and Fred we all contributed to this slide show of our opening sequence pitch. We have all put our ideas together and I think it all works really well. 

Workshop 2

THE 180 DEGREE RULE

 In today's workshop I learnt about the 180 degree rule, which is one of the many rules in film making which you should not break. This technique is used to allow the audience to know what's happening in the scene and to let them know where everyone is standing in relation to each other. 

The 180 degree rule is a basic guideline regarding the on-screen relationship between the two characters in the scene. By keeping the camera on one side of an imaginary line between two characters, the first character is always frame right of the second character.

This is important because it allows the audience to know who's talking, and when as the camera switches between the other the shoulder shots. it lets the audience get a sense of direction within the scene. 

For example, In this film scene taken from the 1980 film, 'The Shining' this scene uses a wide angle shot from both directions of the characters.  This is a 180 degree flip. 

As you can see in these two shots, the camera flips to the other side of the two characters convosation This 180 degree flip is very effective. 

Research into Saul Bass

 In today's task, I have been asked to research into Saul and Elaine Bass's film making. 

This short documentary which interviews Saul Bass's work. From starting as a graphic designer on advertisements, he then worked along side Alfred Hitchcock and other big film makers during the 1950's Hollywood and started creating eye catching title sequences. He realised theres more ways to be creative with opening credits and trying different ways to use titles to help give context to the film. Bass found creative and visual ways to use title sequences to portray the genre and tone, by animating or showing certain emotions along with a similar soundtrack. Bass's iconic work incorporated bright primary colours which was frequently used in his work, he also always seemed to use animation. Some of his work however was more simple and straight forward, with subtle animations or effects which still reflects an effective title sequence. By using simple title sequences it can sometimes be saying so much but using such little content.  

So who is Saul and Elaine Bass?

Saul Bass was a graphic designer and film maker who worked along side his wife Elaine Bass in 1955. Throughout Saul's  career in Hollywood, he was able to work with some of the most successful film makers like Hitchcock, Kubrick, Billy Wilder and Otto Preminger and creating title sequences for their films. One of his most recognised pieces of work was the 'shower scene' from the 1960 film 'Physco', where through the use of close up camera shot and fast tight shots to make the audience feel as if they have witnessed the murder, however at no point in the scene do we see the knife kill the woman. 

Elaine Bass co produced 'Spartacus' in 1960 along with Saul, they then partnered together to create title designs and film work. Soon after marrying and Elaine giving birth to two children in 1964 and 1967.  Years later, the Basses retuned back to title designs with James L. Brooks and Martin Scorsese. Scorsese and Saul and Elaine bass together then created title sequences for Goodfellas, Cape Fear, The Age of Innocence and also Casino. 

ANALYSIS OF SAUL AND ELAINE BASS'S OPENING TITLE SEQUENCE

I am going to be looking at 'Casino' which was released in 1995, and it's opening title sequence which was designed by Saul and Elaine Bass, and directed by Martin Scorsese. 

In this title sequence, it is easily recognised that this is designed by the Basses with the climatic opening and colour co ordinated suit and building set. 

In this opening sequence, it begins with no soundtrack until a narration plays over the introduction to this man who we can guess is important, as he is walking out of a building.

 As the man is seen walking away from the building, he is filmed at a wide shot which establishes the setting. The voice over of the character allows the audience to become a part of his mind. The car and the suit together portray the mans wealth indicates this could be the main character in this film 'casino'. When the character turns the key, the car explodes into flames. The dramatic music that plays emphasises the car's explosion and instantly sets the tone and mood for the rest of the film. 

The design of the titles is similar to Bass's previous work, we see an animated image of a character being thrown across the screen in slow motion for dramatic effect. The colour red could represent the dangerous nature of the plot. The colourful bright moving lights we see are similar to bright lights you would see in places such as casino's. 

Workshop 1

 In today's lesson, I followed a workshop which discussed various rules and tips to create a good composition for film and photography: 

• Rules of Thirds 
• Foreground/background 
• Lighting

RULES OF THIRDS

Rules of thirds is a useful teqchnique to help position the subject in the frame. The lines and boxes help mark the points of interest, so where the lines cross and form a T is where you should put the subject of interest in order to create a more dynamic shot.

FOREGROUND & BACKGROUND

When you focus on a subject in the frame, the background behind will be blurred and out of focus, this is due to depth of field. However it is important to make sure the background compliments the subject and makes the shot more interesting. 

LIGHTING

Lighting plays a big role in achieving a good shot. Turn off the main room lights and you can use studio lighting such as soft box's, mono lights, umbrellas, background reflectors and colour filters to compose a semantic shot. 

This can be achieved at home by using natural day light, tv screen light, and the light from your laptop screen. 

Inderpendant research task

 FIGHT SCENE STUNT

In preparation for my production groups opening sequence, I have researched how to film a stunt scene to make it look realistic. This includes camera movement, sound effects, reaction, and the action. 

In this first video, it talks about the 3 key concepts to filming a great action fight scene, this includes:

• CAMERA
• ACTION 
• REACTION

CAMERA

One of the camera techniques they discuss is called 'Stacking', when the place of the fist or hit is dependant upon where the camera angle or position is. 

You should stand about 2-6ft apart from the oponent.

To make the punch look realistic on camera, the fist should aim for the eye level, however, if the camera is low level then aim across the chin, or if high angle then perhaps aim above their forehead. 

ACTION

In action comes acting, in order to make this scene look good, the actors must show emotion or even make sounds to show their emotion during this scene. The emotions shown could either be that one of the opponents is scared while the other one is determined to kill this other person. 

Body language is also key, in acting a fight scene, the actors must exaggerate the movements.

Small = weak 

Large = power

REACTION    

 To make any reaction look good, it's important to have rebound to the original position. Depending how strong the attack is determines the reaction. 

Timing is also key, the pair of stunt actors in this fight scene should practice their timings together, if the opponents reaction to the punch is late then it won't look good, in that case the reaction should be slightly earlier, before the fist has met with the others face. 

This second video clip talks about camera tips when filming a stunt fight scene.  

Some of the tips they discuss: 

• Keep the action in the centre frame
• Keep the camera on one side of the performers
• Movements like a 'cross effect' or 'international switch' 
• Shake the camera slightly at the point of the punch hitting the face
  
  

PLAN

In this last part of the second
video, they advice us to make a list of what angles and movements to shoot, here is an example: 

• Master shot/long shot
• Over the shoulder
• Special & close ups

They also mention the best lens for shooting action is wide angle, this helps when your editing to cut out any mistakes and also gives a cinematic feel. It enhances the action and speed of the fight scene. 

In this final third video, it discusses how to shoot the stunt fight scene, including movement and choreography. 

It covers important points such as: 

• Timing on point with the choreography 
• Use an irregular tempo of action to keep your audience engaged  
• being aware of your footwork
• Stand in an open space for the camera 

My Production Group

 I have been assigned into a production group with Fred and Perdy.

After our teams lesson with our teacher where we made this group chat on Whatsapp so that we can stay in contact and discuss how we can develop our ideas. 

Feedback of my ideas

 After pitching my idea 1 to my production group and teacher, I received positive and negative feedback. From this, I have reflected upon it and made various adjustments to my idea in order to improve it. 

I may have to shorten this opening sequence in order to include enough detail for the opening sequence to make sense, and to make it clear to the audience as to what is happening. Instead of filming the whole kidnapping of the office worker and then him being executed, we could shoot just the scene of a team of male teachers, dressed all in a black disguise, jumping out of the van and collecting items to use such as a pillow case, rope and tape. 

Another adjustment could be to only shoot a scene of this 'innocent' office worker being hooded by a pillow case and sat in a chair in a dark, empty room before one of the 'bad guys' comes forward and shoots him. This climatic ending of the opening sequence is the start to the titles appearing. 

Another adjustment which could be made is to think about the setting and location to shoot this. A suggestion was made that we could use a local basement to shoot the dark room scene. This is because it would be difficult to fin d the right setting at school.

To improve my pitch of the idea, I could have made it more clear as to what the opening sequence would contain and how long it would be. Next time I could do this as a powerpoint slideshow, in order to include more detail and also relevant links such as inspiration from other books or films. I also could have included more detail into the location, what the lighting would be like on the set, eg. a dark and gloomy room, and also finer details of which the camera could focus on, such as shots of paper work, photos, ropes, and weapons. 

However, aside from the negatives, I received plenty of positive feedback. My idea seemed ti be approved and intrigued the people in my production group.

 The action genre fitted with the other ideas that had been pitched in this call with my group. The scene of the men emerging out from the van was highly liked by the members within my group because it would be fun to shoot and we could get some cool shots in order to hook in the audience and build up to the action in the rest of the film. 

We all seemed to agree on the suggestion of leaving this opening on a cliff hanger, to allow the audience to guess as to who is the good guys or bad guys in the opening. My idea of having this opening sequence as a scene from the ending of the film is a good idea and so that the audience can then establish when watching the rest of the film as to who is good and bad or who the villain is. 

My group and I also agreed in having no dialog, as it is harder to cast the right actors/actresses in the sequence. We also decided that it would be better to cast teachers as the bad guys in the sequence as it would look more realistic. 

Idea for Opening Sequence 1

 For the first opening sequence idea I have come up with, It will be based around the idea of the opening being the ending. So we will see two suspicious looking bad guys who  and will track down, and kidnap one specific man, the audience won't know yet what he has done or who the good or bad guys are. 

Little do they know that this particular office worker who is abducted by these two bad looking guys had killed the bosses son, therefore these 2 bad guys had be sent on a mission to abduct and kill the man who's responsible. In this opening sequence, the audience would see the 2 assassinators looking at the image of the man who they have been sent to kill, we see them picking up the ropes and tape from the seat before they march towards the victim walking out of his office. Suddenly we see the man tied up in a chair in some unknown location, we can see that he has bombs tied to his body and as the tension rises, the ticking bomb gets faster as the music increases until the screen fills with darkness and then the titles appear.

Where will this take place and be shot?

This idea takes place outside the office of where this victim to be abducted and assassin works. This can easily be shot at school outside the buildings. My idea of these 'bad' men in this sequence would be dressed in black suits with sunglasses to adhere to the usual stereotype of the 'bad guys' in films. 

The office worker who is assassinated would look suspicious, to hint that he could be evil but is undercover as a normal looking man.

We could also shoot a few shots and scenes in the van in a car park where we would see the men discussing their plan before capturing their target. The last scene is simply in a dark room with only a chair in centre frame. This could be shot in the drama studio. 

After watching this opening sequence, the audience will automatically think that the bad guys are the ones targeting the office worker. However, as the film would continue, it will go back in time as we see this 'office worker' murdering the son of a groups leader, the ending of the film is the beginning.

Inspiration from other films 

One of the inspirations from other films or series is The Night Manager, where the bad mans son is attacked by another leaders organisation, this sparked one of my thoughts for this idea. 

Another inspiration for this opening idea was Man on Fire, which includes ideas of a chiefs child being kidnapped for ransom or as payback between these two groups. 

How will titles be included? 

As the opening sequence comes to a dramatic, climatic close, the screen will fill with darkness and silence. then suddenly, action sounding music would begin as the titles begin. 

The titles would be similar to ones we have seen in action films. They would be bold writing which would appear quickly, with dramatic non diegetic soundtrack playing over the title sequence.

Brief description of narrative

The narrative follows the brief idea of the audience seeing how one bad man group runs, and how they are as people. The leader in charge has a strong relationship with his son which we see grow throughout the film as the chief keeps him safe and protected. This is until another very bad group want revenge on the leader, we see what they do as they abduct and murder his son. This causes the audience to believe that even though both groups are apart of illegal activity, we choose to believe that the the good ones are in the right for then going after the man who murdered their leaders son. This all comes together in the end ands the beginning is the end however it will make sense by the end of the film.