Health & Safety Tutorial

We had been given a health and safety tutorial of how to use the JVC camcorders correctly. In this tutorial we were shown how to insert and eject the battery and memory card in and out of the camera. Also, we were taught about the different functions of some of the buttons on the camera. For example, which buttons were used to zoom in and out.

Framing was another aspect of filming that we had learnt in the tutorial. It was important to know how a shot should be framed properly because if a shot was to be recorded incorrectly due to the framing then the shot would be appropiate to use. For example, whilst recording it is important to make sure that there is not too much space left on either side of the subject or above the subject in the shot.

Within this tutorial we were taught how to construct and adjust a tripod carefully, so when the camcorder is placed it would be in a secure position.

Some important rules that must be obeyed whilst using the filming eqiupment is that:

-         Never leave any equipment unattended

-         Always return all equipment on time

-         Do not leave any equipment out in the rain

-         Do not touch the lenses or change the settings of the camera

-         Overall, take care of all equipment and use it safely

Art of the title sequence - Arlington Road

In lesson, we were told to research title sequences in thriller film openings which we thought the most conventional and what we were interested. We chose Arlington Road as we thought it had the most conventions of a thriller opening. 

The 'Arlington Road' opening title sequence had different titles on top of shots of different significant things, for example; one shot had the production company on top of a shot of fence. The title sequences cast names consisted of the production company, actors/actresses, producers, directors and writers. The titles are clear, small and white so they can be seen against the dark background of pictures and so you can focus on the pictures and its significance. The pictures on the background are heavily edited so it creates suspense and it builds up tension for the audience. 

Overall the title sequence does what it is supposed to; grab the audiences attention and make them intrigued to watch the film. The colour, the music, the video transitions all build tension and creates even more suspense. Arlington Road has the conventions of a good thriller opening and has successed in grabbing an audience. 

Art Of The Title Sequence - Arlington Road

In my media lesson, we were told to look on Youtube or Art of the title sequence to find a film opening that we like and that uses most of the coventions. The film opening that I liked most was 'Arlington Road'. This title secquence uses most of the conventions of a film opening.

This title sequence has the name of the film 'Arlington Road', the names of the actors, name of the production company, name of the director, producer, co-producer and the name of the editor. The font of the the titles are white, bold and plain and is in medium font. This is probably done to make the audience focus on the titles as well as the images.  

The negative effects used on some of the pictures automatically creates suspense for the audience. I also found this technique unique as I have not seen many thriller film openings like this. The tracking shots work well with the negative effect and scary music in the background. There are many camera shots in this title sequence such as mids shots, wide shot and a lot of close up shots.

The whole title secquence is really nice and it pushes the audience to know more about the film and what actually happens in the film this is what makes a good opening of a film.

Killers Remake Using Final Cut

In our media lesson we used the camcorder, which we borrowed from the media office to recreate a scene from 'The Killers'. We used a story board to help us react the scene which was quite useful as we didn't have the actual video clip whilst we were recording. we had a few problems as towards the start of the remake of 'The Killers' we didn't have another male actor, which was significant because he had a crucial role to play within the scene. However near to the end of the recording we managed to get a teacher to play a few of the shots from 'The Killers' Scene. But sadly he had limited time to work with us.

        Here are the pictures of the storyboard, which we took with a camera to show a step by step guide of how we recreated 'The killers'. Although we had to miss out some of the shot as we did not have all of the necessary props and background characters to help us with our remake, the remake still worked out for us as we completed most of the shots. 

Health and Saftey Tutorial

In our Media lesson, we had a saftey tutorial. We were shown how to use the JVC camcorders appropriately. We were shown how to insert the battery and the memory card into the camcorder properly, we learnt the functions of all the different buttons on the camcorder for example the red botton on the side of the camcorder is for recording and the WZ button on the top of the camcorder is the zooming button. In the tutorial we were shown a few shot on framing and the spacing of the frame, so for example while recording there shouldn't be too much space on either side of the subject or above the subject, with that we were also shown how each shot should look like. We were taught how to construct the tripod safley so that camcorder can be in a secure position while it is on the tripod.
The vital things that must be obeyed are the following:
Never leave any of the equipments unattended, always return all the equipment, never leave the camera out in the rain, do not touch the lenses and take care of all the eqipment and use it safley.

TITLE SEQUENCE ANALYSIS

For out title sequence, we analysed the opening THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123.

1) State production and distribution companies

Columbia Pictures and metro goldwlyn-mayer pictures
A scott free /escape artist production

2) Fil Title - where exactly is this placed?
The title is placed in the middle of the opening, by doing this it gives the audience
half the information on what the film may be about.

3) Title sequence timeline:

START

• production company 
• Director 
• Cast 
• Title 
• Cast 
• Action begins 
• Production director    
• Executive producer 
• Producer 
• Time code - 1:58 pm 

END

4) Where does the film title nearly always appear?

The film title nearly always appear before any action begins. Like for example THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123,  PSYCHO,  ENEMY OF THE STATE  all appear before any action starts.

What types of fonts tend to be used in title sequences?

The type of fonts that tend to be used in title sequences are usually capital and block letters, like for example TAKING OF PELHAM 123,  IN TIME,  FAIR GAME,  TOWER HIEST are all in capital letters and also tend to be in the colour white.

How many times does the institutional information such as production company and distributers appear?

The institutional information such as production company and distributors appear is at least two times throughout the opening of the film.

Health And Safety Tutorial

During our media lesson we were introduced the equipment we would use in our assignment. The main component which we were introduced to was the camcorder. We were given a tutorial on how to clip in the memory card and how to put in the battery. we were also told NOT to touch the camcorder lens. And also how to clip the camcorder on to the tripod.

Research & Practice

We had practiced various shots with the flip camera to get a sense of how the camera can be used to create shots required in a sequence. The shots we had used were:

1. long shot

2. extreme close up

3. medium close up

4. two shot

5. shot reverse shot

6. wide angle

7. point of view

8. looking at someone

9. low angle

Conventions of Film Openings

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2011

Conventions of Film Openings

A film opening usually consists of many different conventions, such as the name of the film, the names of the cast as an introduction to the characters, the names of the director and the producer. This can be done by using an appropriate font and can also be done by using other conventions such as the music/soundtrack, the graphics and the camera shots that attracts the audience. Alfred Hitchcock uses these conventions in his film opening PSYCHO.

This screen grab shows the title of the film, this graphic transition is significant as it reinforces

Conventions of Film Openings

These elements are all used in Alfred Hitchcock's 1960s film, Psycho;


The production company-

The production company logo is always shown first. The conventions of film openings set the audience for the whole movie. One convention of a film opening is the graphics used to introduce the names of the cast and the director, the name of the film and the production/distribution company. 

This screenshot shows the movie title and the beginning of the title sequence. The graphic video transitions reinforces the thriller genre; it looks as if the text is getting sliced which kind of foreshadows what happens in the film. 

The first actors name is shown and the same transition used for the title is used for this. This is carried on for a couple more actors, directors and producers. 

The editing crew are shown a little differently, and so are shown as a clump. This may be because they may not be as important as the actors and production companies.

The location of the future 'victim' is shown just before the actual film is rolling. The font size and colour is big and white so you can see it clearly infront of the shot of the city. We get a wide shot of a city scape, we cut to a shot of a building, then to a window in the building, then to a room in the building, where we finally meet one of the key characters of the film.  This type of classic sequence tells us a lot about the film to follow: the location, the type of area in which the film is set, the key characters, what the key character does etc.

Conventions Of Film Openings

within a film opening there are vital elements which are used. The key conventions of a film opening are : Names of cast, introduction of main characters, name of the film, directors name, production/distribution, graphics, music/soundtrack and the camera that takes us in closer.



In the opening the film 'psycho' contains almost all the conventions for an opening scene of a film. The first element used is the production/distribution and soon follows on with the introduction of cast and the name of the film.

Conventions of Film Openings

An opening sequence in a film usually consists of the names of the film, cast, director, producers and the production companies. These are usually shown through various graphics according to the type of film it is. For example, in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, the graphics used are dismembered which reflect the character of the psycho.

Also, there is some sort of action used at the beginning to hold the attention of the audience. In 'Psycho' we are introduced to a couple in a hotel room at 2.43pm, this suggests that they are having an affair as they are meeting up during the daytime in a hotel. In addition, the costume that the women is wearing at the time would be seen as controversial as it is revealing. This would help in keeping the attention of the audience as they would be curious as to why these two characters are meeting up.

Another key convention is music/soundtrack, the opening of thriller movies usually have a non-diegetic sound playing which helps to build up to the introduction of our characters and the location/setting that they are in. The introduction of characters and settings are usually presented in all films, this is also another convention of film openings.