Analysis of Final Opening Sequence

Use of Genre Conventions

To bring out the comedic side of the sequence, we used cartoon sounds to allow the audience to understand the genre. The soundtrack for the running scene helped to reinforce this. And as this was combined with fantasy, we took ideas of teleportation to show the wondrous element of the film.

Quality of Filming and Editing

We limited our camera use because they were mostly hand-held, although we, at some points, used the tripod. When it came to editing, we had access to a professional software to investigate approapriate sound effects. Fade in/out transitions helped with setting up the fantasy genre. For example, when the people step through the archway. Sounds of teleportation noises were also used.

Music and Image

Our choice of music mosty consited of gentle and calm acoustic instruments, and it works well with the background to give it that nice image of a sunny day outside. At the running scene, the music was set at a moderately fast pace to emphasise their (Harrison's) hurry.

Mise en Scene Choises

We used everyday clothes to show everyday life at a college, and a bottle of water was initially used to encourage children to drink water as a healthy option. Craig has a change of clothes halfway through the film, but this was to add humorous effect. For example, when Harrison runs to the teleporter and Craig walks in with his new change of clothes. Harrison's headphones were also used to show his personality, such as his love for music.

Is it an effective opening sequence?

We think that we were successful in making this film, mainly because we work very well as a team and our combined ideas improved upon our ideas that we had from the start. Although it wasn't accurate with the script and storyboard, we feel like we hugely improved upon those areas.

Final cut s1 36 childrens film

What we have left to do on the Opening Sequence

We have completed the filming process and the editing along with the soundtrack. But we have yet to add in the credits for both: people's roles and title credits.

Discussion of editing choices

To separate the scenes, we used fade in/out transitions to allow a more fluent feel to the film. In this case, we used Continuity editing. We also achieved this by fading in/out the non-diegetic soundtrack to mark key moments and leave space for dialogue.
The non-diegetic soundtrack we created is very descriptive in terms of situation. For example, when the actors were running/walking, the style of the music reflected the situation of hurrying to the teleporter. And there were some parts which were calm and played a slow and quiet tune to reflect the calmness. There were also some diegetic sounds of cartoon noises, such as when Harrison trips up. The comic noises of bouncing gives a humorous effect.
Sometimes, the background noise was hard to control, and the best way we could improve it, was to lower the volume on any scenes that contained unwanted background noises (overhead planes, wind, people talking etc).

Review of filming process

The filming was fairly easy as our plot was simple and the shot locations were close to each other which allowed us to quickly get to these locations and save time.
Sometimes the background noise was difficult to control, for example, people talking in the background, planes flying overhead and the wind. Since we filmed on different days, the actors had a slight change in clothes. We overcame this hurdle by mentioning this in the film itself for humorous effect.
Apart from this our, we managed to complete our filming process in a short space of time, which gave us more time to edit.
Our film compared with our storyboard and script was not exactly accurate as there were some shots in the film which were not included in our initial ideas. There were some scenes which were changed and some scenes which were added to lengthen the opening sequence and to add more to the plot.
We carefully chose our time of shooting, knowing that one of the locations (Refectory) is shut at a certain time. We wanted this location to be as less populated as possible, and we started shooting at the correct time.
At one point, a group was already shooting at one of our shooting locations and that caused a reduction in our filming time.

Script

EXT - Behind C Block - Daytime

Harrison and Craig are playing hide and seek, Craig counts down from 20 seconds while Harrison runs away only to find the mystical archway.
Harrison looks around area, sees archway and says, "Mmm, never seen this before." He wanders in and teleports to another place in college.

EXT - Outside mens toilets - Daytime

Harrison wanders out of toilets looking puzzled and says, "Huh? Wasn't here before." Show Craig running into archway then running out of toilets, then stops in his tracks in amazement. They look at each other in unison, and quickly run back to magic archway.

EXT - School gym - Daytime

 They teleport again and find themselves in the school gym. They scratch their heads in wonder before they then run back to archway.

INT - Refectory - Daytime

This time they find themselves in the shool refectory. Harrison says, "All this running is making me thirsty," he then buys some bottled water, drinks it, "Lets go!" they run back to archway.

EXT - Archway - Daytime

Craig and Harrison stare at the archway Craig says, "This is awesome."

End Scene.

Story board

Schedule

9:00 - 10:30 (Monday 17th Oct)   Filming behind C block and possibly more

2:40 - 4:00 (Tuesday 18th Oct)    Filming other areas of school

9:00 - 9:30 (Friday 21st Oct)   Filming any gaps

Costumes and Props

• Normal everyday clothes
• School bags
• Money
• Bottled water
• Trilby hat

Location ideas

Initial Ideas

Possible Genre

• Comedy
• Fantasy
• Adventure

Possible Locations

• Refectory
• Forest
• Field
• Near the Offices/Classrooms
• Car Park
• Toilets
• Corridors
• Courtyard
• Gym

Possible Themes

• Not Problematic
• Friendship
• School Life
• Quests
• Journey

Possible Props

• Map
• Magical Objects
• School Work
• Personal Items

Schedules

• Media lessons
• Free Periods
• Lunchtimes

 Story title ideas

• Harrison's Teleporter
• Harrison's Teleportation Device
• The Adventures of Harrison Twinn

Amar and Arron talks - notes

Preparation

• Preparation is key - good planning
• No guessing or luck involved - you can't be creative if you are not organised
• Creative processes - script writing, storyboarding etc.
• These processes build layers towards the final project
• If you miss out on one of these processes, the film isn't to its full potential

Planning

• Write ideas down, don't rely on memory
• Write it down in a simple way such as actions and emotions
• Format - EXT COLLEGE CAR PARK - DAY

• Walk through script - act it out
• If possible act on location - this will help you identify any problems with the script and with the potential locations
• ALWAYS do a location recce
• Find your locations and diagnose any problems.
• Make notes on what you see/hear.
• Take photographs
• Source location info - car park, toilets, food etc

Camera Shots

• Take variety of different frames, angles and shot types
• Print them/ put them on phones as reference for filming.
• Use Google Earth to get birds-eye view location maps
• ALWAYS have a shot list and annotate script 

Organization

• Get used to locations/equipment
• Help polish up your script
• Identify props/costumes needed
• Helps the edit process
• Will DEFINITELY help you before the real shoot
• Organize shooting day/time
• If organized - shoot on time, possibly shoot more (more options when editing)

Certificates 18 and R18

• No one under 18 can see an 18 film
• Parents cannot accompany a person under the age of 18
• The same applies for an R18 film
• R18 films usually contain pornography

Certificate 15

• No one under the age of 15 may see a 15-rated film
• Parents can't accompany them regardless of them being under the restricted age

Certificate 12 and 12A

• These certificates are suitable for children aged 12 and over
• 12A only exists in cinemas
• No one under 12 years old may see a 12A film unless they are accompanied by a parent or guardian

Certificate PG

• Some scenes may be unsuitable for children
• Any child 8 or over may watch any PG film without a parent or guardian
• If not 8 or over they must be accompanied by a parent or guardian if the child is sensitive or if some scenes can upset children

Cerificate U

• Suitable for all audiences aged 4 years and over
• Contains no threat, violence or horror

Conventions of Hoodwinked Comedy Film

• Witty humour
• Relationships - The Wolf is an enemy to Red and Granny
• Bright colours
• Costume - Reminiscent to the original 'Little Red Riding Hood' story
• Changes in the original story with a few humorous twists and unexpected story
• Added character

Action - Kung Fu Panda

Conventions of Kung Fu Panda Action Film

• Cartoon styled animation with bright colours.
• Relationships - Po works for his father
• Costume - Po's 'warrior' clothes are reminiscent to a japanese design. After dream, he wears an apron because he works in a noodle store.
• Explosions and fist-fighting

Fantasy - Harry Potter and the Chamber Of Secrets

Conventions of Harry Potter Fantasy Film 

• Special Effects (CGI) - Moving Photos in photo album
• Mythical Creatures - Owls that deliver mail
• Relationships in the family - Harry is like a slave to his autie and uncle.
• Harry's Scar - Mise-En-Scene - Makeup
• Costume - Harry wears casual clothes whereas the rest of the family are formal. Harry's glasses create the character.

Conventions of genres

Action

• Special effects (explosions, gunshots and fistfights)
• Stunts
• Fast paced
• Fast soundtrack
• Protagonist/Antagonist
• Vehicles

Fantasy

• Special effects (CGI) 
• Bright colours
• Mystical settings/landscape
• Mythical characters
• Story can contain quests and folklore
• Protagonist/Antagonist

Comedy

• Funny Characters
• Sound Effects
• Lighthearted, upbeat story
• Witty humour

Genres of Children's Films

• Adventure
• Fantasy
• Sci-Fi
• Action
• Comedy
• Romance

Three Opening Sequences

Nanny McPhee

• Introduces narrative with a voiceover (non-diegetic sound).
• Set in the countryside with an establishing shot.
• Introduces characters, the children are naughty and scare away the previous nanny. 
• Pace is quite fast at most times
• It is clear that it is a fantasy childrens because of the colours and setting.
• Relationships between the characters, the father cannot control the children.

Spy Kids 

• Sound bridge enters before the establishing shot of a house on a cliffside. Shows that it is quite dangerous.
• Introduces characters. Mother and Father are spies and the children don't know it, known as dramatic irony.
• Pace is moderately fast in the establishing shot, but then decreases as the shot zooms in on the house.
• High budget film as it used special effects.
• Voiceovers/Narrative in flashback (diegetic).

Where The Wild Things Are

• The pace increases and decreases very often in this film. When the opening credits were presented, a slow and calm song was played in the background. Then suddenly the song is cut off and the scene cuts to another where a little boy was chasing his dog. A lot of point-of-view shots were used to show the mayhem the boy was creating. The scene then freezes and sound is cut off as well to reveal the film title.
• The location was seen by the use of a combination of long shots and point-of-view shots.
• The colours of the boy's clothes were bright compared to the scenery around him, which was a street covered in snow. The colours may show that he is the main character, and that he has a fun and colourful personality, which contributes to the Mise-En-Scene.
• There is a relationship between the little boy and a group of teenagers, who playfully got into a snowball fight with him. When the snowball fight was over, the little boy was crying and one of the teenagers helps him.

Finding Nemo opening sequence

This film is set under the sea as an establishing shot. It is clearly a children's film from the bright colours and animations. It introduces the characters straight away, these are the father and the son Nemo. The father is over protective of Nemo. When it estabilishes the scene it is fairly slow paced but when Nemo wakes up is father it is very abrupt and the pace increases into an energetic scene, and makes the audience realise the genre (children's film) even better.