AS media: 2013

Past student videos

I really like this opening sequence because there is not a single fault at all apart from the odd one. It seems like a real opening sequence. It might be boarderline trailer but I think it is mostly an opening sequence. There is good continuity, mise en scene and acting. You can tell it is a thriller because of the chilling flashbacks of the girl getting attacked in a dream. The sound and music is very appropriate. The titles go well with the genre but it looks a bit like the type of font you would get in an action opening sequence. However, overall it is a really good opening sequence especially for AS level.
I would give it 57/60 because it looks very proffessional.

I like this opening sequence too because you can tell straight away from the music in the beginning it is going to be a romantic comedy. The boy looks like he really likes the girl and the continuity is great. It has good mise en scene and acting, you can tell the guy is late for work because he is rushing, eating his breakfast, getting dressed, etc. The titles go with the genre of the film however they could look less action movie-ish.
I would give this 54/60

Production Evidence

This photo shows our group working out the responsibilities of the other members and figuring out which pitch we will chose to film for our opening sequence.

This photo shows Dom and Jonathan working on the computers. One is researching narrative voice- overs in films while the other is searching for a useful soundtrack for the film.

In this shot we can see Jonathan looking for useful locations to film for our opening sequences.

This photo shows Jonathan and Zahra working out a shot list for our opening sequence and a script for our narration.

This shot shows Dom working on the safety assessment for the filming of the opening sequence and Ellie working on the various mood-boards for our pitch and the titles research needed.

This photo shows Jonathan editing the footage we captured for our opening sequence.

This picture shows Ellie editing the Audience interviews we recorded for our films evidence to place on our blogs.

This photo shows Zahra recording Jonathan while he is acting in our opening sequence.

This shot shows Zahra and Dom working on the storyboard and the timeline for the film.

Feedback

We have got lots of feedback on the rough cut version of our opening sequence, mainly positive.
Is it obviously an opening sequence? Is it clear who the target audience is?
Many people have said that the genre of 'Luna' is quite clear as well as the target audience. However, some people have mentioned that it looks like a music video or trailer which is not what we hoped for.
Titles go with genre. Is the genre obvious? Are they clear? Are there enough and are they in the right order?
Feedback on the titles was overall positive saying that the titles were clear, relevant, in good order and went with the genre, and people saw that it was a romantic drama. Only criticisms were that the titles were too simple and there weren't a lot of them and one person did not understand how the type writer style font went with the romantic drama genre.
Think about the sound and the images are they appropriate? Do they go together?
Many people were impressed with the sound and said it was appropriate, the music is good and shows the genre. Some people said that the voice over in the beginning was good, effective and created a mood to the sequence however some said that they thought it was too quiet and the music drowned the voice over out. A lot of the feedback said that they didn't like the reverse sound in the sequence.
Camera - are the shots appropriate and relevant? Is there controlled use of camera attention to framing, variety of shot distance and angle? Close attention use of mise en scene?
We were said to have good use and variety of camera shots, clever camera techniques and they liked that when both characters in the sequence were alone the setting was dark but when they were together it was light which we didn't actually notice ourselves and we have very good mise en scene. Someone suggested that we could have included a high shot.
Editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer and making selextive and appropriate use of shot transitions and other effects.
Lots of the feedback was positive regarding the editing saying it was good and relevant and our opening had smooth transitions. However, a lot of people mentioned that they did not get the idea of the rewind part of our sequence, and said that because it blacked out before it rewinds it stopped the scene from flowing.
Total score and any other comments
Lowest score: 36
Highest score: 58
It has been said to be convincing that the couple in our opening sequence are truly in love due to their brilliant acting, cute, voice over is effective, confused about the link to the title needs more enigma codes, unsure about rewind and it has been cited as one of the favourites out of all the opening sequences.

Shooting Schedule

This shooting list describes all the scenes we will be filming for our opening secquence and its location, what props are needed, what date they are recorded and who will be filmed in them.

Risk Assessment

These risk assessments show the dangers when on set and the ways we shall avoid such hazard.

Evaluation Questions

Poster for Luna opening sequence

Props

The props we will use in our opening sequence are as follows:

Books. There are several scenes which involve the characters reading books. These are staple icons in the movie as our characters are being portrayed as intellectual and avid readers. The books we will use are those such as The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye, Lolita, 1984, Pride and Prejudice etc.
Gaming console. The most easily accessible games console is the Xbox 360 so this will be included in the montage during the scene where the two protagonists are playing video games.
Television. During the montage there is a scene where the two protagonists are watching a scary movie whilst huddled under a duvet. A TV has to be present in this scene.
Sofa. There are several scenes in the montage where the two protagonists are together on the sofa.
Bed. There is one scene in the montage where the characters are sitting facing each other on a bed.

Titles research

The following is the typical order for opening credits in the beginning of a movie:

Name of the studio

Name of the studio that is distributing the film and may or may not have produced it (Walt Disney Pictures, Columbia, Lions Gate, Universal, Marvel Studios, Dimension, Miramax etc.). Ours will show Fox Searchlight.

Name of production company

Name of the production company that actually made the film or name of the investment groups or companies that financed a substantial part of the film (usually credited as "in association with" or "A (studio name) production."). Ours will say An Iridescent Innovations production in association with Cool Cat Studios and Phoenix Rising Studios, with Forbidden Fruit Entertainment.

Director's first credit

A film by (director's name). Ours will say A film by Dominic Freedman.

Principal actors

Showing the principal actors in a list or with a single credit each, either in order of importance, order of appearance or alphabetical order. Our movie will say Jonathan Foulston and Ellie Robson, each with a single credit.

Film's title

Name of the film. Ours will not go in the sequence this early on but rather at the end of the opening scene. Luna.

Featuring

Featured/supporting actors. As we have no supporting actors there will not be a section for these in our opening sequence.

Casting

Casting director. This will say Casting, Casting Director or Casting By. Casting by Zahra Mukadam.

MUSIC or MUSIC COMPOSED BY or ORIGINAL SCORE BY

Composer of music. This will say Music; Music Composed By; Original Score By; Musical Director. Our opening credits will say Musical Director, Jonathan Foulston.

Production Design

Production design or production designer. Whilst she never actually participated in the opening scene, this credit will say Production Design: Lauren Hunt as we are aiming to not repeat each of our names.

As a variation some of the below may be noted:

SET DESIGN
COSTUMES or COSTUMES BY or GOWNS (older movies)
HAIRDRESSER
MAKE-UP ARTIST
SOUND RECORDING (older movies)
VISUAL EFFECTS DIRECTOR or VISUAL EFFECTS BY

(but we aren't putting these in our opening sequence)

Editor or edited by

The editor of the movie. Ours will say Edited by Jonathan Foulston, although we will all participate in the editing.

Director of photography

Director of photography - Director of photography, Zahra Mukadam.

Producer

Producers, co-producers, executive producers, 'also produced by'. Often, though, the name of the producer will be the next-to-last opening credit, just before the director's name is shown. Executive producer, Ellie Robson.

Based on the book/play/graphic novel by...

If based on a book or other literary work. Ours isn't based on other literary work so we will skip this title.

Based on the characters by/based on the characters created by...

If based on characters from a book or other media. We have been inspired by the characters from (500) Days of Summer and Perks of Being a Wallflower so our credit will say Based on the characters created by Scott Neustadter.

Story

Person who wrote the story on which the script is based, gets "story by" credit, and the first screenplay credit, unless the script made substantial changes to the story. Ours will say Story by Ellie Robson.

Writer(s)

The screenplay writers. Ours will say Written by Ellie Robson and Jonathan Foulston.

Director or Directed By

The director is the final credit in the opening sequence. This will say Directed by Dominic Freedman.

Genre codes and conventions audience

Our planned opening is a compilation of many different romantic shots in the form of a montage. It will all be handheld footage to look considerably more personal than static shots.

These typical Rom-Com conventions will occur during the opening scene:
A typical ‘Boy meets Girl’ scenario.
Often starts with a voiceover explaining characters.
Two protagonists, normally male and female.
A chance encounter.

However, as opposed to the movie being centred around a female protagonist, the main character will be a male. The movie will be aimed at the female gender predominantly however it can be aimed at the male audience too due to the relation with the main character. The age of the preferred audience will be of 15 years of age and up.

Examples of Romantic Comedy conventions:
We were inspired by the movies '(500) Days of Summer', 'Submarine', 'About Time' and 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower'. We were also inspired by my friends' student film 'Bottlebank' which includes a montage scene too.

Not officially from the movie but it shows what we are aiming to do with the aspect of cute/romantic scenes compiled together to create a montage.

The montage scene at 24:35 perfectly displays what we are intending to do with our opening sequence. A personal old-fashioned looking compilation of many romantic handheld pieces of footage.

Storyboard

Opening sequence of rom-com 'Luna' shot list

Here is a list of the shots on the storyboard for our opening scene:

1. Wide shot of the beach. Jonathan on left hand side facing away from camera towards ocean.
2. Wide shot of the beach. Shot fades evenly into Jonathan and Ellie on left hand side facing away from camera towards ocean.
3. Medium shot of Jonathan and Ellie sitting on the beach. 3 seconds.
4. Medium over-the-shoulder shot of Jonathan and Ellie sitting on the beach. 3 seconds.
5. Beginning of montage. Long shot of Jonathan and Ellie walking on the beach. 4-5 seconds.
6. Medium shot of Jonathan and Ellie sitting playing video games. 4-5 seconds.
7. Dutch shot of Jonathan and Ellie facing each other on bed. 7-8 seconds.
8. Middle shot of Jonathan and Ellie on sofa studying/reading together. 3-5 seconds.
9. Middle shot of Jonathan and Ellie watching a scary movie on the sofa. 5-6 seconds.
10. Over-the-shoulder middle long shot of Jonathan and Ellie skimming stones on beach at night. 10 seconds.
11. Rewind entire montage. 4 seconds.
12. Wide shot of coffee shop. Jonathan on one side of the room, Ellie at a table on another. Music stops. Silence before he walks towards her. 6 seconds.