Jelly Baby Opening Credits

During my lesson using the research from other films and there opening credits i was able to create my own. Myself and partner created four scenes that willl be included in our film credits. We used jelly babis to represent the actors within our film, we used other resources around us to create the actual scenes.



In this scene the main character is walking through a dark alley way. As she panics because she feels she is being watched or followed, the camera fllows behind her and that is when the directors name appears on screen. 



In this scene the camera will be close up in the main characters face to show her destress. This is the point where her name appears at the side of her fac.

I decided to mention the directors again to show their importance. Also i repeated their names because they also act in this particular scene. When creating my actual opening credits i am going to make changes to this and put the less important actors.



This scene is going to be an establishing shot of a church and this is when the title will appear acroos the screen. This would illistrate to the audience that this is well all events will be taking place, this is the main setting and this is when Espiridion begins.



The Opening Credits

The opening credits of a film are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production.  They are now usually shown as text superimposed on a blank screen or static pictures, or sometimes on top of action in the show. There may or may not be accompanying music. To gain more knowledge and understanding on what credits really are and how they work, I have recently been doing some research. I have been looking at a number of films, so that I could analyse various techniques which have been included. I decided to do research on the films 'Se7en' and 'Vertigo', so that i could compare there opening credits.

I discovered that most films include the following:

• NAME OF THE PRODUCTION COMPANY

• STARRING

• FILM'S TITLE

• CASTING 

• MUSIC COMPOSED BY 

• PRODUCTION DESIGNER

• EDITED BY

• DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

• PRODUCER

• FROM A PLAY/BOOK BY 

• WRITTEN BY

• DIRECTOR 

The film Se7en  is a modern film which is a lot more lengthy and faster than the old film Vertigo. The opening sequence of Se7en included credits on the production, director, actors, title, cast, editor composer and many more. The sequence was playing at a constant pace that allowed the viewer to read everything on screen in time. The writing was clear and easy to understand because it was placed on a darker screen. I found it very strange that the title of the film did not appear first on screen. The production company, director and various important actors appeared before the title. The actors were shown before the titles to suggest that they are the most important ones, or the ones with the marquee names that cost them a lot of money to hire. After the title 'Se7en' came on the screen two actors appeared on the same screen, then it increased to three and so on. This was done to portray the less important characters as they were not on screen for long and had to share their time. Before analysing this film and how credits work, I was not aware that the costume designer and composer would get mentioned. It is very difficult to spot, but in the opening sequence the Director has been mentioned twice, this may be to stress that they done the most work or are very important. When creating my opening sequence for my film I am going to use this technique or repeating important people more than once to make it clear the most important people. Repeating names allows the audience to remember as it stays in their minds.

BELOW IS MY TIMELINE FOR THE FILM SE7EN:

Similarly, the film Vertigo also repeats the Director to show great importance. This film includes most of the credits used in Se7en but in different ways. Vertigo is a hold fashioned film so many of the techniques and credits used may not be modern. Vertigo used very bright colour to make it clear to the audience, however the music being played in the background may be somewhat disturbing to some people. This film also included the most important characters to open the sequence to attract attention. If the audience notices a particular marquee name in the opening of a film, they are most likely going to watch it. Unlike Se7en, Vertigo includes a lot more writing on screen. This may be a problem because usually at the beginning of a film the audience is not going to want to read a lot. In my film, when doing the credit I will learn from this mistake and put the least amount of writing i can on screen, so it does not bore my audience. 

BELOW IS MY TIMELINE FOR THE FILM VERTIGO:

My first experience of editing my horror film

Editing my final horror film was not as easy as I thought it would be. During the past week myself and partner have been taking the video camera to various locations to film the opening scene of our horror film. I began putting the scenes together to find that we shot too much footage, which we could not use. We were giving a specific length for the film and could not go over that time. Therefore, myself and partner decided on the most important scenes and cut them down. This was a huge problem because various scenes were needed and without them, the film may not make a lot of sense. Eventually we overcame this issue, by agreeing on the most important scenes to include and the extra footage we kept as back up.






Myself and partner found it difficult trying to make the 'match on action' shots look as neat as possible. In our horror film we used two different locations. The first one being an old church and the second the inside of a new church. Making the 'match on action' shot look perfect was hard because the doors were not the same. We cut and and adjusted the colour of the old church door and new church door to make them look similar. This made a slight difference, but it was still quite obvious that one door had an old large brown door and the other had a freshly polished brown door. No matter how hard we tried to make it look as though the character walked into an old church, the view from inside did not match.

After watching my edited footage back, myself and partner noticed that the main character was not as scary as we originally planned. We attempted to add various effects, such as the lighting and colour of the little girls hair, but it just didn't work. We then came to the conclusion that we needed to find a new actor that was suitable for that role. Overall, even though our horror film is not complete i feel that we have done a good job because we have good time management and have stuck to our plan which was the storyboarding.

How would i market my horror film ?

Trailers:

I would like to spend a lot of my money on the Trailer of my film. Trailers are the most important part of marketing, because it creates awareness of the actual film. They attract different types of people and discover their particular target audience. Trailers are often exciting, they are meant to persuade people to watch the film. I would spend money and time making sure the trailer looks good. Many people from all over the world are able to access trailers as it is on the internet. I would put my trailers on YouTube, where there can be various other links. I would create more than one trailer to attract a wider audience. For example, the film Sherlock Homes has one action trailer that has fast movements and full of excitement. They have another trailer which is based on the comedy side of the film. In the long run they benefit from it because more people will know about their film. They would get more viewers that enjoy action and comedy, and will then make a lot more money.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHBHMtl9YWw&ob=av3e

Website:

I would create a website for my horror film that people can go on. On my website I would include various things that would entertain people. People could go on the website and check updates on the film, when it is going to be released. The plot of the film could be put on the website and trailers also. The different actors could be included and which characters they are going to play. Soundtracks and pictures can be put on the website that can be downloaded and put on to mobile phones, ipods etc.. 

http://sherlock-holmes-movie.warnerbros.com/dvd/index.html

Breakdown Sheets

This is a breakdown sheet of my filiming schedules. This is to structure the timing of our film on time so we are able to finish our film before the deadline.

Animatic Film

Myself and my partner was given a task to create a storyboard for my horror film. We drew pictures of each scene in our film, which had various captions with it to explain what was happening. The pictures had to be drawn in detail, so that it is clear to see the specific angles and camera shots being used. On the back of each shot type we had to add the type of sound which would go with that particular scene. After myself and partner made our pictures come to life, by taking pictures of each shot and made it into a film. We edited the film and added all types of sound. I decided to make our sound original by making our won footsteps and ghostly noises, instead of downloading one. Once completed, we presented the animatic task to my class for feedback, which could help us develop our horror film. It was mentioned that we should make our film longer because it was under the time limit. Another feedback was the use of sound, we were told to use more sounds thrughout so that the audience isn't bored. The most important feedback i feel i got bback, was the fact that our shot types and storyline was not clear enough. We were told to improve on making the storyline clear to the audience, and to use more shot types. I feel that all my feedback was useful and i am going to take them all into consideration to better my final horror film.

Take a look at my animatic film

My Horror Film Location

My horror film Espiridion is going to be set in the night time. The audience will first be introduced to the main character as she runs down a dark alley way. The alley way is going to look very realistic, but scary at the same time. I choose an alley way that looked 'normal' so that the audience can feel scared and uneasy, as though one day it could happen to them.

The character after running down the alley way, comes out onto the main road. This would make the audience feel that the character is safe as there is many people around her. However, she is not she feels worse than she did before. I choose this location because its very easy to film a busy main road.

After walking down the alley and street, the character reaches a church where she feels she is going to be safe. I choose a church to be my main location because it is scary and there are many available. Churches are scary in horror films because, people automatically think of ghosts. Churches are suppose to be a place of safety, yet in my horror film it is the complete opposite.

I would want my distributor to spend money on:

• Actors and locations
• Producer, director and script writer
• Costumes, make-up and props

http://www.launchingfilms.tv/marketing.php


Games:

http://www.sherlockholmes-thegame.com/


Posters:

Online:

If i was to create my own film..

What funding opportunities are available for me?

• Film London recognizes the importance of supporting emerging talent, as well as actively encouraging film-making in local communities. I would be able to ask Film London for support and they will be happy to help. They recently offered various London boroughs residents up to £4,000 towards the production of a short film.
• Local councils will often put money towards a short film making initiative, especially if it deals with social exclusion or aids the local community in some way.
• A number of charities fund short films, depending on whether or not it is going to benefit them.
• I could also go to the BFI for them to fund my film, because they want to support emerging film making talent and provide them with the opportunities to demonstrate their potential to be feature film makers with the ability to entertain and engage UK audiences. 
• Grants are provided by Government schemes designed to encourage creativity and develop new talent.
• Tax shelters in the uk allow those who invest in UK films to pay less tax, provided the film is shot in Britain and employs a fair amount of British actors and crew.

• http://vimeo.com/channels/245562 <---Click on this link to view various films that have been funded and supported by someone else. 

How far would i go about funding and distribution for my film?

A film distributor is a company or individual responsible for releasing films to the public either theatrically or for home viewing.  It is the responsibility of the distributor to arrange the transportation of the film to the cinema, as part of its wider coordination of print use across the UK.  A film festival is probably the best place to get a distributor to randomly view your film. Different film festivals attract different distributors.

In an ideal world who would i want to distribute my film?

Paramount Pictures Corporation is a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, with robust and multi-faceted divisions across all areas including digital, home entertainment, network and cable television distribution, studio operations, and consumer products and recreation.  Paramount Home Entertainment is responsible for the worldwide sales, marketing and distribution of DVDs and Blu-ray discs for films and television shows distributed by Paramount Pictures Corporation, as well as many of Viacom’s leading brands including Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central and BET. I would choose Paramount to distribute my film as they have previously distributed successful horror films  , such as Paranormal Activity. Paranormal Activity cost $15,000 to produce, with little spent thus far on traditional media, so Paramount stands to recoup any overhead costs thousands of times over if the film catches on with a national audience.

http://www.paramount.com/

The key points that Paramount followed:

1. Let consumers dictate distribution
2. Don't waste money on large-scale TV campaigns when you can talk directly to your fans
3. Don't create false hype
4. When there are low financial barriers, have fun

For extra information:

http://www.independentfilmadvice.com/IndependentFilmAdvice.com/Distribution.

http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/funding

Espiridion

http://prezi.com/nnjex2ed4nb0/my-horror-movie/

The link above is a presentation about a horror movie I and partner created. The presentation illustrates a range of elements about the film; which include the plot, setting, sound effects and shot types. After presenting the pitch for my horror film to my target audience, I gained efficient information that could help me improve my film. My audience mentioned that the main character should be older than a teenager, because the ghostly child would have been too old to have a teenaged mother. I then went back and made changes to my Prezi and made the women much older. Also my audience made me aware that I may not be able to make the young child look scary. I decided that I would blur the camera to make her look more like a ghost. My partner and I created two separate presentations that were slightly different. We decided on a suitable film name which was Espiridion. The name Espiridion is the Spanish form of Greek Spiridion, meaning "little spirit". I feel this name best suits my film because it is unusual and eye catching and based on a ghostly girl.

 I have decided that the front of my film cover would look something like this. With the title Espiridion written in white letters, symbolizing peace. The fact that white symbolizes peace and innocence makes the film more scary and effective. The dead girl is going to be wearing white and the title will be white. This suggests that the little girl is going to be the definite hitch.

 

If this somehow did not go too well, I decided to create the cover of my horror movie as a pregnancy scan. This relates to the plot of the film, that the women aborted her baby. It allows the audience to have a rough idea of what the film will be about; however it doesn’t give too much information away!  This particular picture could be eye catching to my target audience, because you do not often see scans in horror films. I and partner had problems with the actors and who would play which role. We decided that we will get suitable actors: one adult and child, and that we will act as extras at the beginning of the film. I made changes to the settings and props. The horror film will be set in an old church. We are going to film outside a old fashion church with a grave yard, but when we enter it will be the inside of a complete different church. We will be using the outside of a suitable church and the inside of another because it is more convenient. Overall, I got some good and bad feedback from my audience, and I have used them all to develop my horror film.

The things i expect to see in a horror film

The shot types:

• Point of view shot allows the audience to feel as though they are in the characters shoes, which would make the horror film more scary.

• Establishing shot makes the audience aware of where the film is set, before the actual story begins.

• High angle shot which would illustrate the murder attacking the victim. It makes the film more scary as though the camera is looking down.

• Over the shoulder shot creates tension between characters and makes them seem closer than they really are.

• A low angled shot allows the audience to feel intimidated and unsteady. 

• Extreme close ups allow the audience to view the characters in detail. When the camera is zoomed into the persons face it creates a terrifying effect.

Characters:

• Unusual faces
• People with hidden identity
• Young children
• Females with long dark hair
• Strong muscular men

Sound:

• Rain
• Children talking
• Children playing
• Babies crying
• Screaming
• Silence
• Sudden break of silence
• Floor boards
• Footsteps

Extras:

• White clothing
• Black dark clothing
• Big eyes
• Pale skin
• Set in the night time
• Dark room
• Ghost
• Blood
• Death

This link below is similar to the expectations of my horror film.
IF YOU WISH TO SCARE YOURSELF CLICK THE LINK BELOW

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=Xw70E71G8Z8

The prelim task was based on editing my own PG film that myself and group created. This task allowed me to work well in a group and make equal contributions to improve the film. I learnt how to include titles at the start of my film, which made my film more apparent to the audience. The title at the beginning and end of my film was like a mini introduction to the actual message of the film; which was the proposal that stealing is bad. Throughout my film I included various camera shots, special effects and transitions. These effects made the film more exciting. In a particular scene I used match on action, which presented me walking out of a door on one side and coming out on another. I feel as though I developed my cutting skills in this scene because I had to cut various parts to make it shorter and look as real as possible. I wanted this scene to be a bit more clear and smooth. The prelim task helped me better my time management. Using the freeplay music I created different effects according to the mood of that particular scene. Overall I enjoyed being able to edit my own film and making it fun and exciting for children and families to watch. I believe I made it suitable for my target audience. I made sure I did not include bad language, rude humour, nudity, imitable behaviour and various other things that would disturb young children.

During the lesson we were taught how to Green Screen. I found this experience quite enjoyable as it was my first time. To begin with i had a few difficulties; however i ovcame these with the help of the teacher. I was taught the different stages of Green Screening; which was to firstly shoot the video and chose the pictures. My group and i decided to create a typical music video, which had various pictures as the background according the lyrics of the song. After i put the pictures into order i went to the effects chroming and replaced my original background with the one of my choice. This experience allowed everyone to interact with eachother.

My Survey Findings

I recently created a survey  to gather information on how many people like or dislike horror movies. I have analysed my findings which will help me when i create my own horror. From my results i noticed that people  around the aged group 16-20 tend to watch horror films indoors, on the TV or a DVD. They tend to watch horrors every few weeks because it excites them and they enjoy scaring themselves.  From my results i can tell that most of the respondents watch all of the latest horrors, they find true stories the worst and if they had to create their own horror they all involved a death.

Filming & Editing

Recently as an introduction to the media course I was given the task to create a short film and then edit it. Filming was quite difficult to begin with. I had never filmed anything before, so I wasn’t fairly sure on which buttons to press and how to hold the camera. Eventually, after a few practices it came natural to me. I was able to produce a film with various shots, such as over the shoulder shot, long shot, point of view and many more shots. Whilst filming I learnt that you did not have to shoot the different scenes in the correct order, because you can rearrange them after when it’s time to edit.

I found editing very enjoyable. The best part of editing was that i was the one in control of what special effect to add to my film to make it better. I decided how my film began and ended. Various special effects such as changing the speed sound or colour of the clip made a huge difference to the film. Depending on how many mistakes you made when filming determines how long it may take to edit your film to make it perfect. Editing takes a lot of patience and focus.  

The Horror Survey

The link attached to this post is a survey I created to find out what you feel about horror movies. My survey will take less than five minutes, please could you make me happy by filling it out. Thankyou

All About Me

http://prezi.com/nd2ag6yvfqs-/all-about-rockel-thompson/

Hi
My names Rockel Thompson and I am currently studying at La Retraite sixth form. The link attached to this post will give you a brief discription about the kind of person I am. I hope you enjoy!