Rough Cut.

This is the rough cut of our Abstract film opening for 'Something Wicked'.
Because it is uploaded under youtube settings, the video has lost its HD sharpness and also isn't as clear, however when it came to giving feedback the audience felt like it added a good effect to our final piece.

Re-shooting

Christina and I both felt that we really needed to re-shoot the ending hand sequence where the character is searching for the significant object(The Book) because the original camera work wasn't very clear and steady and didn't really show that the book is meant to be important- also the mise en scene wasn't well prepared.

We went out to film in the middle of the day- however when we got back to Coleridge we both realized the footage we had just filmed was too light and we had to tone down the contrast and saturation. The footage colour's also did not match the same as the earlier footage Christina filmed last week.
We had to correct this by using;
Effects
Video Filters
Colour Correction x2

With colour correction we had to lower the light and saturation levels until we were both satisfied with the sequence and also so it matched the colours of the other shots filmed a week ago.

I feel these shots work much better than the previous, although one of the fades is a bit jumpy and we both need to work on that again to get it flowing correctly.

Creating the titles.

Final Result.

It took a while for Christina and I to think of a title for our pretend film.
It took until we had finally found the significant object to be used in our sequence. On the cover of the book it says 'WS' from this, I got Something Wicked, a quote which has been used to represent witches for centuries- made famous by William Shakespeare's Weird Sister's in the play Macbeth. Earlier on Christina and I both decided that our film was going to be based on witchcraft and it could possibly be a potions book or full of spells.

At first, both Christina and I weren't too sure what type of font we wanted- we started off going through all the 'Gothic' fonts available on Final Cut Express, but we could not find one suitable.
We decided to go on Dafont.com and searched through the Gothic; Medieval fonts in search for something decorative yet sinister at the same time.
We both then discovered a font named Kingjola which we both felt would work really well, since it has swirls underneath as well.



Christina then opened the title into Adobe Photoshop. Firstly, she deleted the background using the Magic Wand Tool then replaced it with a bright, vibrant colour so it was easier to see what else needed to be erased. Christina changed the colour of text to white and then the background to black.


She then saved the text and the decorative under 2 different layers compatible with Final Cut Express so the titles would be able to move freely on the video.


I suggested to Christina that the swirls underneath should either fade in, or look like they're being drawn on with the titles- unfortunately this effect is over complicated for the equipment we're provided with.
Instead, both Christina and I decided on using the following tools;
Gaussian Blur
Earthquake
Directional



Both Christina and I are very pleased with the way our main titles have come out- it gives off an old, grainy Victorian style feel to the film opening.
We have both decided to carry on using this technique for all of the titles, however we feel they shouldn't be as decorative because the title of our film will not be able to stand out as well.

What we are proud of from our opening sequence.

Nick assigned us all the task to draw a shot from filming which we were proud of.
Unfortunately, I was not able to be with Christina whilst she filmed the film opening therefore I could not draw an image.
Nick then suggested that Christina and I should just a draw a shot from the editing which we really like. Again- this was impossible to draw, due to the fact it was mainly fades, so both of us decided to draw ourselves being very pleased with out outcome.

Film Openings so far.

Christina and I haven't started the comic book sequence yet, however Christina and I have been working together on the Abstract opening all this week.
Christina went out to do the filming in her Grandfather's Wine Shed and brought it in for us to both edit together.

A film opening which is similar to our abstract sequence is 'To Kill a Mocking Bird' which is posted earlier on in my both mine and Christina's blogs.

We have completed the rough cut of our opening, however we both need to go and re-shoot certain scenes where the wrong props are placed which look distracting in our opening. We may also add humming to the end of our soundtrack(like To Kill a Mocking Bird/Rosemary's Baby) but we're not too sure yet.
For our font, both Christina and I have spent a lot of time on photoshop creating the look.

For the comic book sequence, I have got a model to take a few pictures of in location for the strip- in costume and also I can take screengrabs of Christina's footage or take some photos on location.
I will be able to do this on Monday, since the model is free then.
Hopefully the comic opening won't take too long to create so both Christina and I have time to complete both our sequences on time.

LongroadMediaMusicVideo

Another video Nick suggested for me to look at was a final piece Long Road Media students produced as part of their 'music video' task two years ago.
I like how they've done the video although it is pretty basic and doesn't have the certain aspects a comic would.
I do like how the girl opens the comic and it goes in to the sequence though.

Planning.

- Need a young actor
- Dusky setting
- Christina's garden
-Need some character's for my version of the opening
- Camera/Equipment
- Musical Score(Kajenx?)
- Scenery
- Mise En Scene

American Splendor.

Nick suggested to me to look at the opening sequence for American Splendor.

The plot summary of the film from IMDB;
Harvey Pekar is file clerk at the local VA hospital. His interactions with his co-workers offer some relief from the monotony, and their discussions encompass everything from music to the decline of American culture to new flavors of jellybeans and life itself. At home, Harvey fills his days with reading, writing and listening to jazz. His apartment is filled with thousands of books and LPs, and he regularly scours Cleveland's thrift stores and garage sales for more, savoring the rare joy of a 25-cent find. It is at one of these junk sales that Harvey meets Robert Crumb, a greeting card artist and music enthusiast. When, years later, Crumb finds international success for his underground comics, the idea that comic books can be a valid art form for adults inspires Harvey to write his own brand of comic book. An admirer of naturalist writers like Theodore Dreiser, Harvey makes his American Splendor a truthful, unsentimental record of his working-class life, a warts-and-all self portrait. First published in 1976, the comic earns Harvey cult fame throughout the 1980s and eventually leads him to the sardonic Joyce Barber, a partner in a Delaware comic book store who end ups being Harvey's true soul mate as they experience the bizarre byproducts of Harvey's cult celebrity stature.

I understand why he has suggested this opening to me, since the sequence is based around a comic book- since the film is based on one.
However, I do not like how basic it is and found the sequence quite boring. Nothing exciting happened and it didn't really tell a story- like a comic strip would.

You can see the opening at Art Of The Title

Animatic

Here is the completed animatic Christina and I produced using final cut express.

We didn't know we were supposed to add titles to the sequence so they seem a bit rushed, but of course when it comes to the real video they will be spot on and placed in the right places.

L3 Group 1: CHRISTINA & ANGELICA - OPENING SEQUENCE ANIMATIC from cmdiploma on Vimeo.

Christina's influences

Christina's idea for her film opening is an abstract sequence, the genre being a supernatural thriller, the same as mine.
We are both using the same storyline and storyboard for our openings.

The opening is of a person walking in to a shed, where they'll search through the props to find a specific object at the end.

Barney suggested that she should watch the opening sequence of Cronos(Del Toro 1993)
The opening is based in an Antiques Pawn Shop in Mexico where the owner finds a specific item- like in our film openings.

The plot summary from IMDB;
In 1535, an alchemist builds an extraordinary mechanism encapsulated into a small golden device. The invention, designed to convey eternal life to its owner, survives its maker until 1997 when it shows up to an antiquarian. Fascinated with the strange device, Gris (Luppi) doesn't note that there's more than one person looking for it. The promise of eternal life has become an obsession to old and sick Mr. De la Guardia (Brook). He and his nephew (Perlman) will do anything to get the "Chronos Invention".

I also suggested that she should watch the opening sequence of To Kill a Mocking Bird(Mulligan 1962)
The opening credits is of extreme close-ups of significant objects this little girl is going through, she is also humming a tune(like Rosemary's Baby's opening titles)

The plot summary from IMDB:
Based on Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize winning book of 1960. Atticus Finch is a lawyer in a racially divided Alabama town in the 1930s. He agrees to defend a young black man who is accused of raping a white woman. Many of the townspeople try to get Atticus to pull out of the trial, but he decides to go ahead. How will the trial turn out - and will it change any of the racial tension in the town?



Another is one we looked at in a Media Studies class with Barney was Rosemary's Baby(Polanski 1968)
The opening is of a camera tracking buildings in the specific location of the film, with a pretty pink font for the titles with sinister music.
The music at the beginning is possibly the real reason we are referring to this- it consists of a slow score with a woman singing a 'lullaby' over the top- often having a creepy yet effective instrument at the end of each line.

The plot summary on IMDB;
Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse move into an apartment in a building with a bad reputation. They discover that their neighbours are a very friendly elderly couple named Roman and Minnie Castevet, and Guy begins to spend a lot of time with them. Strange things start to happen: a woman Rosemary meets in the washroom dies a mysterious death, Rosemary has strange dreams and hears strange noises and Guy becomes remote and distant. Then Rosemary falls pregnant and begins to suspect that her neighbours have special plans for her child.

Comic Life practice

Me and Christina have been practicing on the program 'Comic Life' using images of people we know and regular phrases they say in a variety of the different styles available on the program.

When it comes to actually doing my film opening, I will be using photoshop for the effects, because comic life doesn't offer the exact effect that I want, this way I can be more precise with my editing.

The Program Comic Life offers you a way to create your very own comic using simple techniques and filters on the font, layout and pictures.
I downloaded the 30 day trial on to the Mac at Coleridge which both me and Christina are using for both of our projects.

Here is the descripton of the application from the Comic Life website
Comic Life lets you create astounding comics, beautiful picture albums, how-tos... and more!
The easy-to-use interface integrates seamlessly with your photo collection. Drag in your pictures, captions, Lettering text (‘ka-blam!') and speech balloons and your work is done!
Comic Life gives you fun and professional templates for instant, impressive, photo layouts.
Tweak your creations to your hearts desire!

Music we might use

Christina and I put the music we were looking at on our animatic to see how it would work.

Obviously this video is just a draft of what we completed, which also had the titles on.

here is an image of Christina creating the storyboard and timeline for the opening.

William and Sly- Kajenx

Christina and I quite like the music used for an online game William and Sly

The soundtrack isn't copyrighted, so there will be no issue as long as we credit the creator.


The audio can be played (with out the game) here

We think it would work well in both of our opening sequences because it has a supernatural feel and a suspicious sound- really gets the audience in to it.


A screengrab of the game action.

Sin City

Another film I am using for an example is Sin City(Frank Miller 2005)

The film's artwork is the whole movie is only black, white and red, occasionally other colours too.

The whole film is based on a graphic novel created by Frank Miller- which also sticks to those rules.

The opening titles are introducing the character's in cartoon form and how they look in the comic.

The plot summary from IMDB;

"Sin City" is four stories inter-weaved telling tales of corruption in Basin City. The first story (The Customer is always right) is short, and is based on the depression of women that they need to pay a man to feel loved when they commit suicide. The next story is Part 1 of "That Yellow Bastard" about a cop who needs to save a young girl from being raped. The third story (The Hard Goodbye) features a man taking revenge on a heartless killer who murdered his one-night stand. The fourth story (The Big, Fat Kill) stars a man who must dispatch a cop's body, but it will be a tough ride to do it. Following that are two conclusions to Sin City, the ending of "That Yellow Bastard" which is set 8 years later, and a short story that ends Sin City.

For both Sin City and Repo! The Genetic Opera, I created the nine frames myself, since Artofthetitles does not feature these two film openings- and it makes my blog look a lot more neater than having big pictures everywhere.

Repo! The Genetic Opera

Repo! The Genetic Opera - First 5 Minutes | Movies & TV | SPIKE.com

This film opening is for the film Repo: The Genetic Opera(Darren Lynn Bousman 2008)
The opening sequence consists of a variety of different scenes in a comic book.

The plot summary of the film, from IMDB;
In the year 2056 - the not so distant future - an epidemic of organ failures devastates the planet. Out of the tragedy, a savior emerges: GeneCo, a biotech company that offers organ transplants, for a price. Those who miss their payments are scheduled for repossession and hunted by villainous Repo Men. In a world where surgery addicts are hooked on painkilling drugs and murder is sanctioned by law, a sheltered young girl searches for the cure to her own rare disease as well as information about her family's mysterious history. After being sucked into the haunting world of GeneCo, she is unable to turn back, as all of her questions will be answered at the wildly anticipated spectacular event: The Genetic Opera.

Jellycar Productions Ident.

L3 ANGELICA IDENT from cmdiploma on Vimeo.

This video is of my ident which will be pasted at the beginning of each film I create for my course.

I created my main image in a 'Jellycar' on photoshop using the paint tools.
For each object on my video, we had to create a new layer for each to sit on and save each separately so when it came to uploading it on to final cut, the objects are movable.
I went on www.dafont.com and picked out two fonts I felt were right for my ident.

I found the car sound effects on garageband and converted them to be usable on final cut.

Preliminary Exercise

Continuity editing consists of a variety of different shots which show the scene's progression.

For this task(Video above), we had to follow three rules:
-180 Degree rule
This is a guideline in filming, where the character's must face eachother, left right, in a shot.
However, if the camera goes over an imaginary axis, it becomes on the opposite side and is known as a reverse angle.
here's an image showing this;



-Match on action
This consists of the shots where you join completely different angles together to make the film flow correctly.
An example of this is when Max pulls down the handle for the door.


-Shot/Reverse shot
This is the technique of the camera looking over the shoulder of one character to see the other whilst they are saying their dialogue. This is often used for conversation scenes.
This gives the effect for the audience to believe the two characters are talking or looking at eachother.
This is an example from our video.

Me, Max and Alex worked together to create our sequence. Max and I acted whilst Alex did the filming.
Our object of choice was originally a mug, but then we found a teddy bear and thought that would work much better.
Because all three of us missed the main lesson on this task, we didn't have enough time to storyboard or scene, and chose to improvise the dialogue instead of writing out an entire script.
Max and I directed Alex's camerawork for each shot we worked with him, because both me and Max had done this type of thing before, we had to teach him a few camera tricks too.
We decided to use the nightvision as practice, since we never have before and thought we'd try it out.

Nine Frames

We were given the task to create a practice 9-frames opening titles on photoshop for a random film.

For this, we were given a layout to paste our images on to and also example text which we could also paste on, but change the names of the people used.

Mine and Tina's idea was a highschool thriller which starts off about the school being empty, then a mysterious figure is seen, whilst some drunk students walk past.
The figure approaches them and offers free candy, then transforms in to a fox.

Pitches.

A mainstream action film that will appeal to 15-25yr old males:
A young attractive woman is attacked by criminals, transforms in to a supernatural heroine who has to save her town from evil with loads of action.

A supernatural thriller that will appeal to female audiences:
Newlyweds move to a new town, where most of their past friends and family live, but all is not as it seems when her husband goes missing.

A Jellycar Production
A Long Road Film
(Caramel Diggory)
(Jack Howlett)
(Remy Tomkins)
Costume Design by Tasha Mcgonagal
Art Director by Christina Sherpherd
Production Design by Viktoria Weissova
Casting by Elliott Hickey
Film Editing by James Saini
Cinematography by Glenn Shadbolt
Original Music by Nine Inch Nails
Produced by Chloe Sparks
Directed by Angelica Thomson
Main Title

Moodboard Ideas

These moodboards are both for a comic based film. I worked with Christina on this task, we used a variety of different images which remind us of the comic book.

The first moodboard is suitable font to be used in the opening sequence.