We had lots of good feedback from teachers, family, friends and even acquaintances. They generally found it really good altogether as a product and said it almost looked like a real cinematic release opening sequence!
Our group is overall very satisfied from our hard work and the overall outcome had made us extremely proud, which all the months leading to this coursework to the final product had paid off!!! :)
Here are some shots from our Preliminary task and a match cut task. However it then shows the improvement of mise-en-scene, camerawork and edits from our first time filimg to our thriller title sequence.
For evaluation question 6, we had to get together as a group and think about our journey of progression with the use of technologies; to form the end product.
In this shot, it was extremely out of focused- we did not concentrate on focusing the camera when we was using it at first from our lack of experience. As you can see, it looks extremely unprofessional and we learned that in future we should always keep it in focused- either manually but auto focusing proved to be much more useful especially in dark surroundings- the 'red lines' helped us see whether or not it was in focus or not.
In this clip, (which the whole scene is shown on the 'Match Cut Prelim' post) we can see the poor 'match cut' we used. The scene where Czarina opens the door and a match cut of her closing the door straight after does not look effective. Later on in the Four Walls production, we used a much better match cut where she bangs on the walls with her fist which then jumps into a close up shot of her fist- which you can view on the 'Final Edit' post.
We therefore learned how to make better shots and our knowledge of use of cameras, shots, and ideas had been developed increasingly to the final product. We learned from our mistakes that we made in the beginning, but even after that, we can still easily make mistakes such as being loss of focus or the lack of light in our final production.
- From before our knowledge of the JVC camcorders was very limited- we was newbies using it. From practice, we developed ideas and new knowledge, our insight to how a camera looks on camera and the focusing helped us greatly- we thought about the 180 degree rules, the 1/3 rule and the space above the persons head we all thought about.
Editing on Final Cut Pro, Live Type and Sound Track Pro had been also developed from our developed knowledge and practicing using it helped us to the final product. In the Prelim and the Card Game sequence we did not use Sound Track Pro- Using that software is pretty much straight forward and I believe it requires more creativity rather than knowledge of the software.
However, I believe our Live Type titles could be improved as we spent the least time on that, however overall my knowledge of technologies and knowledge had been developed greatly from the result of experience.
Images= hand drawn by myself/ a home made video! :D
From our Preliminary exercise, we used various shots that we had been taught such as a match cut and over the shoulder shots.
In order of our first filming to our title sequence, you can see the difference in Mise-en-scence for our match cut shot. For example, the first shot above uses great camerawork but lacks in lightng but however in the third shot, there is dim lighting that makes the mood suit the thriller genre.
Leonel Velasquez, 23 (Model & Fashion Designer)
Hobbies: Designing new gear, clubbing
Contents: Mobile phone, wallet, keys, bottle of drink, cigarettes
(Leonel is a target for the audience because he lives in an urban area where violence is an everday thing. As seen in the photo above, money is a goal in their life and it is like a battle. So therefore, this type of person would definately be into this kind of thriller title sequence.)
Justin Timberlake, 29 (Singer)
Hobbies: Dancing, singing, making music, partying
Contents: Keys, mobile phone, headset, sunglasses, magazine
(Justin is a good target audience for our title sequence as he is interested in those types of movies. In American, most of the population love to view horrors and thrillers. And as a young artist, it is part of his life to go cinemas and watch scary movies.)
These can therefore appeal to a wide range of audiences.
Our audiences could be aimed at those who are 'TECH SAVVY.'
Newline had distributed and produced many films.It has been a filmography of many big titles including :
However, another 'ideal' production company that could promote our film is the Vertigo-Entertainment they produced film such as
They suit our type of genre- horror with a mixture of thriller. They greatly specialise in producing these type of movies.
Images taken from Google images/Four Walls video clip
Background music= Uematsu Nobou - Sign.
On Youtube, one of the world's best known website for viewing videos, i found a clip intro trailer from student Michael Maksim from Vancouver Film School. It was uploaded 10 months ago and currently has hit a high 158,037 views which shows that is had been a very successful video.
In comparison to our title sequence, both clips could be classed as a low budget simlpy because our sequence was distributed by New Line Cinema and 'Rise of Legends' uses great visual effects and editing but it was done on a computer and does not look like it costed a lot of money to produce.
Distributing a product nowadays is so easily to access since the technology is more advanced. Videos become well known and popular through file sharing between friends and family. Also because of social networking websites like Facebook, MSN and Twitter, people like to share links which does boost up the amount of views. Also, through the website Youtube, because it is a worldwide website so people all over the world view your work. And with that, even companies can promote people for jobs etc.
For our thriller title sequence, we chose New Line Cinema to distribute our film because we had watched a thriller movie in lesson called 'No Country for Old Men' of which inspired us since we loved the film. Also because New Line had distributed good films such as Se7en, The Mask. Another reason why we chose New Line Cinema is because we did research on google for different companies and we felt our sequence did not match a high budget company like Paramount and a low budget company like Working title 2. So we decided to pick a company that was in the middle ranking.
Our film will be released globally like 'Star Trek' so it becomes more popular in the movie distribution world. It will be released digitally and additionally on IMAX cinema because the 3D effect would look amazing and terrying to the audience especially when there are many extreme close ups in our title sequence.
For advertising, I would have a trailer for our sequence that would appear as an advert on TV after 8pm. This is because firstly, our sequence is not suitable for kids under the age of 14 as there is violence and blood. Hopefully at this time all kids will be absent.
Moreover, there should be billboards for example in Vauxhall and posters on buses that advertise our film 'Four Walls.' To the left and above are a few examples of which I used the website Photo funia to transfer our images into a billboard.
Images taken from Google/Four Walls video clip/hand-drawn
Background music= Uematsu Nobou - Kita no Daikuudou.
Looking at both the title sequences from a glance, they look very similar in terms of Mise-en-Scene, Camerawork and Titles which shows that our production of work was successful as our ideas were inspired by Se7en's title sequence.
One of the main similarites of both title sequences is that they both use extreme close-ups e.g. of an eye. However, Se7en does not reveal the main character as quick as our group did.
The character in the grudge has inspired us on how to represent our character. We wanted our character to look psychotic and at the same time scary to make it memorable in the viewers' minds.
The character from the grudge (left photo) is represented as a spooky, alarming character, this is because the genre is horror and not thriller. Opposed to our character, she is represented as vulnerable, isolated and eerie. I would say that the only similarities in both of the characters are the costumes and the make ups. But their roles in both individual films are very different as the genres are very opposite.
Our product does not clearly represent a particular social groups as there is only one character being shown. However, we would consider that our product could represent any social groups. Firstly, the main focal point of the character is a young female, therefore, this could attract young female audience. It could also attract men as they are more in to hard, tough film genres like the genre of our title sequence film. It does not represent any specific social class, therefore I would say that both the characters from the grudge and our title sequence(four walls) could be aimed for 15 and above ages.
However, even though these two characters look the same way, they have different personalities. For example, The Grudge's character is presented scary as a whole and she kills people. On the other hand, our character is a lonely isolated woman feeling vulnerable and depressed.
There isn't much or a particular social group as only one character is shown in the title sequence and pretty much expected she will be the main person throughout the film. This film will attract female audience because our main character so female audience can relate to the character easily. In addition, it will attract male audience because they are masculine so they would like scary movies. Furthermore, I would say the age group for this film will be 15 age and above.
For this part of the evaluation, i will compare 9 still shots from my title sequence (Four Walls) along with 9 still shots from the title sequence i was inspired by (Se7en).
Four Walls
Se7en
Four Walls 9 still shots
In our Title sequence film we have used and developed the forms and conventions of real media products instead of challenging them. In comparison with the real forms and conventions of a real media product, our aim for our title sequence film is to build suspense and tension.
I would compare our title sequence film with Seven as we have used similar camera works, mise-en-scene and sound. However, looking at the 9 still shots of Seven the character is not being shown in full instead it is oblivious to the viewers. This establishes a question of 'who' the character is. On the other hand, In the 9 still shots of Four Walls, the character is immediately introduce as she is the main focal point of the story. Her actions, gestures and facial expressions hints on what the film is going to be about.
The camera works are indeed quite similar if you look at both of the title sequences. Seven mostly uses extreme close ups to emphasise a sequence of things that could be hinting a meaning to the viewers' mind. Whereas in our title sequence four walls, there might be several used of extreme close ups which is similar with seven, but we have also used other camera shots/angles, such as tilting and long shots. I would say that we have developed the use of camera works as we have used a mixture of camera shots/angles. This is valid in our title sequence as it describes the mood of the character. For example titlting express the sub-genre of our title sequence film which is pyschological thriller. It describes the mind set of the character.
The convention of a thriller mise-en-scene would be dark, creepy and etc. and we followed this convention by using a dark lighting and shadows, this sets a tone and feeling to the viewers.
Seven is also our inspiration when it comes to sound, the eerieness and squeekiness start inspired us on how to start off our soundtrack. We started off our soundtrack with a slow pace as it introduces the character, then it changes to a quick pace until it gets to the upbeat part of the music which emphasises on the climax of the shot.
Looking at the props that are use on Seven and Four walls there are a few similarities. The slicing of hands using a blade but instead in our title sequence we have used a rusty scissors does look very effective as it would make the viewers cringe. The mise-en-scene, props, such as the writings, polarois photos, and blood hints a story which is similar to Seven.
Overall, the use of camera works, mise-en-scene and sounds gives the viewers an insight of what is going on in the film. However, the way that the shots and characters are not specifically shown in full, our title sequence establishes a question of who? (who is this character?) what? (what is her role?) why? (why is she trap in an isolated room?).
Richard, 16, as student. His hobbies are singing, going out, reading and doing some creative writings. During his spare times, he likes going out with his friends. He is reserved, adventurous and passionate. In the future he wants to pursue a job that he would find enjoyable, maybe a writer. And if he would describe himself through images, he would depict himself through images of culture because it reflects his culture, and also an image of a sky-diver representing his passionate and adventurous side.
Maiko, 16 gcse student. Her hobbies are going on websites such as facebook, partying, going out with friends, shopping and eating. During her spare time, she mostly spend her time eating while on facebook or on her blackberry. she is apparently random, funny, quite sometimes, unpredictable most of the times, always a happy person but can also get moody and mad easily. One of her goal in life is to pursue a job that is related to leisure and tourism industry. Through images or things, she would describe herself as a book which represent her personality and life story. Also an abstract painting as it tells a story on the different stages of her life.
Here is the title sequences of the different names that we created.
This is the final product- the final composition for Four Walls.
