Conflicting Idea's

We have discussed as a group about our idea and we have found that our 1st idea of where the villain an victim meet may be unpractical and not work so we have a second idea for this scene which is as follows:

The villain has the victim tied up in a dark room and the camera shift's around the room showing both the victim and the surroundings as the camera slowly reveals the hell that he is in. This scene will be filmed by both me and Matt and at the end of the scene the camera will zoom out to reveal a dark shady figure of the villain looking at the victim.

The script for our opening sequence

Below is the scrip for our opening sequence as there will be dialogue in two parts of it one part is where we hear an monologue of the news reporter talking about the news from the radio in the home of the hero which then transfers to the radio in the villains car. The next dialogue is a short conversation between the Ex-Boss and the Hero as the Hero is informed that he needs to solve this mystery.

News reporter

News Reporter: Big news has just been received by us and I am here to bring it to you. We have just heard information that the Prime Minister’s teenage son has been kidnapped by an unknown party. Currently the police of searching the local area but so far as we know no vital information has yet been discovered. We do know that his last seen location so far is Oxford Street which in my opinion is not the type of place where it is easy to take such a high profile person from but as I said we do not yet know for definite where he was last seen. This is the first high profile person to go missing in Britain in many years now and some people are fearing the worse. We have received reports that he must have been taken sometime yesterday as he was in the house during the day but he didn’t return home that night.

Ex-Boss and Hero

Ex-Boss: Have you seen the news?

Hero: I’ve seen it yes.

Ex-Boss: So you know why I’m calling?

Hero: Yes. I’ll get on it.

Our idea updated

Due to our background research our opening sequence have changed and been molded into something new. Now we see that the sequence opens with the hero who is in his mid 40s and he is preparing breakfast and whilst he does this the credits appear for the film. In the house we see objects which also show what type of person he is like.  We then see that he turns on the radio and we hear the news that the Prime Ministers son has been kidnapped. The villain will have some connection to the prime ministers son. This radio carries over into the villains car where we hear the radio and then panic form the car boot as the victim is in the boot panicking.  In the car we see certain objects such as a pillow to denote that he lives in his car. The villain then gets out of the car and opens the boot and gets the victim out of the boot and warns him about making too much noise. He then gets him back in the car boot and drives off. The scene finishes with the hero receiving a call from his Ex-Boss where he is told he must solve this problem.

Casting and costume preparation

Casting-

Four out opening scene the cast(in order of appearance) will be as follows:

The Hero- John Kelsey

The Radio presenter- Dom Mguiniss 

The Villain- Oliver Cox

The Victim- Alex Grandage 

The Ex-boss- Matt Gallagher 

Costume- 

The Hero's costume- The hero will wear light coloured clothes for example whites and light blues as he is the good character and this will denote he is a good person however there may also be darker clothes to suggest he has a split personality. 

The villain's costume- The villain will wear dark cloths so he will wear black jeans and a black coloured shirt and jumper this will be done to denote that he is a bad person/ suggests darkness.

The victim's costume- The victim will wear light coloured clothes as he is a good character too and is however innocent.

Background Research #9 Credits Font Research

Below are some possible fonts which we may use in our opening sequence for the credits of the people in the film and the when the film name "The Hunt" flashes up. We are yet to decide weather we want the text to just flash up or weather it will scroll onto the screen.

This first font I feel could be good as it shows that the film is a darker film as the clour is black and white which I feel should be the colour of the text. The splashes in the background don't give the text a clean feel however which I feel is important that the text does have a clean look.

 This text in my opinion is good for the final product as it has a clean look to it however it isn't absolutely straight which denotes that there may be some twists in the film, as it may not be what it seems.

 Finally this font is a font which we may well use as it is very straight which means that the font will suit the idea that it will scroll onto the screen as it looks more neat and typed whereas the other fonts look handwritten.

From looking at the fonts and choosing my three favorite fonts for the credits in the opening sequence I can see that the font used must denote something about the film itself and that if we want the text to scroll on to the screen then it is important that it looks like it could be typed and not handwritten.

All the fonts I got are form 1001 fonts.com

Our Preliminary Task

The video below is our preliminary task and in this we managed to further understand the editing software and how the camera operates. This will be useful for when we film and with our final task.




In this video we see that we have used different shot types and editing to make the final task. We first used a tracking shot to open with as the camera tracked the feet of the actor. We then used a fade transition to the next shot which could be an important part of editing which we could used in our final task. The majority of the transitions are cuts which is good as they will also be the majority of transitions in out final task so we can see how it will took with mostly cuts.One final benefit of the task is that we can now better operate a tripod.

Background research #8 Analysis of credits/typography in Jack Reacher

I will look at the opening credits for the film Jack Reacher as they are from a film which is of a similar genre to the opening sequence we will film. We will include credits in this sequence and therefore  it is important to see how films in the genre edit in the opening credits to the opening sequences.

This first shot shows that the name of a person involved in the film is shown in the bottom right of the screen however it does not tell their role in the film and this show me that we don't necessarily need to describe why every name in the credits is in the credits. The text is not to big so that it takes up the screen but just big enough so that the audience will acknowledge the name is there and it is all in capital letters and is a white and silver colour which I think suits the genre.

 This next shot shows that there is a man in the car which implies to me that the credits can follow the story line as the character is clearly important otherwise he wouldn't be shown, the position in which the name is shown has also changed to the top right of the screen which denotes to me that the positions of the names should change.

 Hear we see that the credits are also in the top right of the screen however what we see from the opening is that none of the credits have interacted with the environment in which they are shown in for example they don't interact with the cars and buildings.  This is an idea which we believe we should do in ours and have the credits interact with the environment and we now see that this would challenge the genre conventions.

 This image shows that there are two names on the screen both in different positions and the image shows the city surrounding this implies that the credits are also used when establishing a setting however they don't seem to be used when  there important things are happening on screen.

This is the final image and this shows how many names can be used in one place as all of the names are in the top right. We also see how there has been a consistency in the colour and size of the text as they all remain a very similar colour. We also see that although the description of the peoples involvement isn't used in some cases it also is in others such as hear.

From this research into credits I can see important details which we should include in our opening sequence in relation to credits and how we may be challenging the genre conventions in others. Firstly I think that all of the names should be in capital letters and this is a key and consistent detail used through this opening scene. I also think we should try to vary the positions in which we place the credits on the screen and sometimes include more than one name at a time. However I feel we should keep some of our own originality in the scene by trying to have the credits interact with the environment, for instance when the car boot closes the film name "The Hunt" appears at the same time as the boot shuts (this was not my suggestion). Another key point to note is that in this scene all of the transitions between shots are cuts which is used to create more of a fast pace, action feel to the scene. This is something I will probably do in my part of our sequence due to that also being relatively fast paced.

Storyboard of my scene

The two images below are both pictures of the storyboard which I have made for my scene and they both show the plot and shot types a swell as transitions for the shots that I will take. The comment at the end describes the shot and my intentions with the shot type, mise en scene ect.

The storyboard is for the scene in which the villain has the victim in the boot of his car and he hears that the victim is making noise and so he leaves his seat in the parked car and gets out to open the boot and take the victim out of the car boot.

Shot list (for the scene in which I will direct)

Shot Types
These shot types are from the scene in which the villain is sat in the car and hears the sound of the victim in the car boot and therefore gets out of the car to see what is going on.

1.Over the shoulder-The 1st shot will be an over the shoulder shot of the  villain as he is sat in the driver seat of the car. The shot will show his head and the seat head as well as what he is looking at in front of him.

2.Close up-of the villain's face, this is to denote that his facial expressions are important. The villain's facial expression will show that he has acknowledged the sound being made by the victim in the car's boot.

3.Wide shot-which shows the parked car. This is done to show where the car is and therefore establish the surrounding environment to show to the audience where the two characters are. 

4.Low angle shot-is used next and this is showing the villain leave the car and looks up at him but doesn't show his face. This is used to connote that he is superior in this situation.

5.Mid shot-is then used which shows the villain opening the boot but the there is sharp focus on the boot which implies that this in going to be important.

6.High angle shot-of the victim in the boot of the car is used to connote that he is vulnerable in this situation and that he may be in danger.

7.Low angle shot (POV) -this time again looking up at the villain but it is from the victims point of view to make the scene more intense and make the audience feel more submerged in this scene. There camera will shake to show panic.

Location shots- Images from possible filming locations

These images are from a location which me and the group feel could be a possible location for filming for the part of the sequence where the villain has the vice presidents children in the back of the car and where he will take them out of the car. I think this location could be good as it looks like it is run down and that not many people would visit hear so it is a good place for the villain to take the victims as not many people will know he is there.

 This shot shows how the area is empty as there is nobody there witch if we film hear we will make sure the scene looks like this as well to add to the idea that the victim's are helpless. We will also try to film on a dark/gloomy day if we chose this location as it adds to the dark feeling of the scene.  

 This next shot shows that it is a large open space and therefore it is very unlikely that the villain and the victims will be seen. This makes the have more suspense which is important in a spy/action film. This could also be the angle in which the car is shown entering the location as a wide shot will show the audience all of the surroundings of this location so they have a good idea of where the villain has taken the victims.

 This could be the location for an over the shoulder shot as the villain may take the victims around the corner but the camera could be a POV or over the shoulder of him forcing the victims around the corner of the building. This would make the scene more intense as the audience may feel like they are involved in the sequence and so there will be more intensity which is a vital part of an spy/action film.

 This is a place where I feel it may be good for the villain to take the victims as the building next to the container makes it seem more like the victims are trapped which makes the scene have more suspense. The graffiti on the wall of the building is also good for the scene as it helps to enforce the run down idea of the area.

 This angle shows the same place as the previous angle did however I think  this could be a better angle for the main reason that at the end of the pathway there is no open field just some grass and a fence which in my opinion makes the victims appear more trapped that if there is a field at the end of the path.

I think this angle could be used to either show the entrance of the villain in his car and also to show the villain taking the victims round to the narrow path shown in the previous shot. It think it could be good as there is the audience don't see what is behind the camera and therefore it denotes that the victims are trapped.

These location shots have helped me and my group to see some good potential locations for the opening sequence, we can see some good potential angles for this part of the sequence if we chose to film hear.

Background research #7 - The Bourne Ultimatum opening scene analysis of shot types

From doing this I will see how the different types of camera angles and shots are used in a spy/action film and will try to add these into my part of our opening sequence as best as possible.

This image shows that it is an over the shoulder shot which is done to help establish the the audience the environment/setting in which the character is in. The camera is also handheld as it is shaking which denotes panic to the audience as the character may be in a rush or is running from something. This is also shown with the energetic soundtrack.

The shot used hear is a high angle shot as the camera is looking down on Bourne who is an already established hero. The high angle shot unnerves the audience as usually a high angle shot suggests that the character is vulnerable or in some sort of danger and from the earlier shot with the camera shaking we can connote that he is. Also the light at the bottom of the steps suggests that it is a possible escape rout as bright lights usually connote something good in a spy/Acton film.

This image shows a close up shot which is used show the facial expressions of the character. This close up show Bourne and how he denotes panic due to his facial expressions. The close up imply's that the facial expressions are important and because he shows panic it means he must be into a bad situation.

The shot used hear is a point of view shot (POV) as well as an eye-line match transition as we see Bourne look down the corridor to see what is there and then the camera shows down the corridor and shows the audience what Bourne was looking at. This is done to increase the intensity of the scene which is a key part of a spy/action film as it is one of the main reasons why the audience go to watch the film. The POV shot makes the film more intense as it puts the audience in the place of the character who is in danger.

This is also an eye-line match but is not a close up as the camera shows the + for the pharmacy and it zooms in on it which denotes to the audience that it is important. It is also a use of foreshadowing as it shows the audience where Bourne will go next as well as denoting that he is in pain as he is heading to somewhere with medical supply's.

A close up is used hear and it shows that Bourne is trying to get a needle out of the packaging and it also shows the audience that he has blood on his hands the blood denotes that he has been in some sort of a fight or has been hurt in some way which worries the audience as  he is the protagonist of this film franchise. The close up is also used once again to show facial expressions accent this time Bourne denotes that he is in pain not that he is fearful.The fact that Bourne denotes pain worries the audience just like the blood does. 

A close up is used hear but it is also a POV as it when Bourne runs the tap in real time it gives him a flashback of what he experienced with water. The fact that the camera is shaking connotes that he may be panicking or be being held in the flashback as it is a POV shot and Bourne appears to have little control over what he is doing. 

This image is of a handle covered in blood and due to the fact that Bourne is bleeding the audience are expecting that it is the pharmacy which Bourne is in. The blood is noticed as a close up is used to denote that it is important. We see that a man opens the door and he is holding a gun and therefore this makes that audience think that it is the people who were following Bourne, this creates suspense as it makes the audience think if Bourne will be caught or not.

This is an over the shoulder shot which is looking at Bourne over the shoulder of two of the soldiers. The fact that Bourne is not looking at them suggests that he dose not know that they are there. This makes the audience panic as they feel that Bourne may be caught by the soldiers. Also the fact that Bourne is in the light and the other characters are in the dark suggests that he is a good character and that they are not which is already established due to Bourne being the protagonist of this franchise but it is a constant reminder that he is good.

 Finally the last shot is an over the shoulder short of one of the soldiers looking at Bourne as the other one was taken out by Bourne. The shot denotes that the characters will have some sort of interaction and they do as Bourne talks to the man. However they speak in a foreign language and there are no subtitles. This is done to create tension as the English speaking audience don,t know what the characters are saying so they have to make connotations from the facial expressions of the characters. Also the use of a gun denotes violence will or has occurred.  

From doing this research I have gathered some useful information which I will use in my part of the opening sequence. This includes: High angle shots connote vulnerability, over the shoulder shots imply interaction between two characters, shaky camera movements denote panic and that POV shot make the scene more intense as it place the audience in the characters position. There are all different types of camera movements and shots that I will try to add our opening sequence.      

Background Research #6 Target audience

Our film is a spy/action film and the opening sequence depicts this as we demonstrate most of the genre conventions for this film type. For this reason our target audience is male and females but predominantly males aged 12-21.

We will find out what our target audience think of our initial idea by seeing how they would change the idea by a survey as well as the focus group. This research will help to shape the opening of our film so that it will suit both us and the target audience.

The survey results are as follows:

This picture shows that James Bond is the most popular franchise out of the 4 that we have chosen. Mission Impossible is a close second. From this we can see that the audience like films which have more gadgets involved but this may also be due to these 2 being the most popular franchises out of the 4.

This shows to us that the audience are in slight favor of a more action based film which is what suits our current research and is what typical spy films are. We see this as in the films James Bond and Mission Impossible both contain lots of action. 

This shows us that most of the respondents to the survey are aged in our target audience and therefore that the results can be applied to show what our target audience thinks as 80% of respondents are in our target audience. We will also use a focus group to find out what they think.

The gender shows a 50/50 split which means we can make the film so that it can tend to what both the genders want. It also makes the results more valid as there is an equal split of male and female respondents.

The fact that the results show people would rather have the hero revealed later in the film can be incorporated as we plan so that the hero is not established right at the very beginning of the sequence but later on. This makes the audience more intrigued as they will want to watch to find out who the hero is and we also will do this to challenge the genre conventions of a linear narrative in a spy film as we believe it is important that the film is different.

These results show strongly that the audience would prefer a male lead character which is typical of a spy action film, we plan to have a lead male character as it is what the audience prefer and are used to in a spy/action film.

Finally this table shows that the target audience would prefer it if the villain were to be revealed later on in the film. This usually occurs in a spy/action film as the plot needs to be shown to the audience and then the villain revealed later in the film (however we are unsure of if we want to show the face of the villain at the start or not).

With these results we can now edit our idea so that it suits the target audience and we will also edit the idea more if the focus group show that the demographic think the opening sequence should change more. From these results we can see that the film should be more action based and that the lead will be a male character which are what we had already planned to do but we will also probably have the villain revealed later on in the scene or maybe not show the face as the audience would want the villain to be revealed later on. This is also shown in the results of the favorite film franchises as James Bond is the most popular and this is an action based franchise.