RESEARCH - Evaluation of 'SE7EN' remake

REMAKE OF 'SEVEN'

EVALUATION 

Throughout the planning, there were some struggles I had to face when making the storyboard for our title sequence remake. This was due a large number of different shots, which were very short, some of them lasted less than a second as it was a discrete opening. I missed out couple of them as I thought they aren’t very important and we won’t have enough time to record them all as we only had one lesson to record everything.

Also, I think that location and prop choices had a big impact on our final product. The kitchen where we recorded our sequence was dark and suited the thriller theme very well. We used phone flash light for our lighting. Moreover, we came up with an idea to use pink umbrella and flash light in order to create the red light effect that was used in the original title sequence. However, we weren’t allowed to use some of the dangerous props such as razor blade because it’s a hazard. Instead we used a nail file. As I was the person acting in the remake, I brought in dirt to make my hands look more like a serial killer’s. We also used a lot of print outs to recreate the drawings and pictures from the original piece.

It was quite a long process to create the title credits which made it not as easy as I expected. We looked closely at the ‘SEVEN’ title sequence and picked the most similar front. Also, we added a ‘jiggy’ affect which made the titles jiggle up and down creating a tension. Personally, I think that our title choice perfectly fits the tone of the film as it looks very similar to the original one; some titles are intergraded and some contrast on the simple black background. The most annoying difficulty throughout the making was the render time; it took whole night for our opening title sequence to render

If I was to complete the task again, I would spend more time on effects; we couldn’t get the ‘old tape’ effect on the black background. I would also include more shots and record first shot from a different camera angle. I would also consider of changing couple of props, but overall I’m happy with the outcome we produced.

 

BLOGSPOT 22 BLOGGING HEALTH CHECK 1

HERE ARE MY TARGETS FOR MY BLOGSPOT. I WILL TAKE EVERYTHING SAID INTO CONSIDERATION AND MAKE SURE I CORRECT MY MISTAKES.

BLOGSPOT 21 PLANNING- SEVEN REMAKE EVALUATION.

For the Seven remake I felt that I preformed better than my prelim task as I took the time to actual think about the different kind of shots use and analyse the film opening that we were remaking, by doing this I feel that less time was wasted and we were able to complete the task in the allotted time given which was less stressful and we were able to give a better final product. During this evaluation I have learnt even more skills than before. I have learnt how to:

• Position the lighting correctly to get the desired effect
• Use many more shots to create different images
• To work in a group effectively and share out roles
• To be more creative producing the film.
• I have also learnt how to put titles on the film opening using after affects and premier pro

I feel that my filming skills have gotten better and I have learnt from the mistake of moving the camera while filming which before made that bit of the clip unprofessional but with experience I have learnt to keep still with the camera and shake less.

 also feel that by analysing the original 'Seven' title in the detail that we did made it easier to replicate the film opening as we took every shot that was in 'Seven' and broke them up into individual shots, as we constantly had the opening playing.

The organisation I felt in this remake was better as the stuff was prepared and we used the time effectively as if two people were filming a shot the other person would go and get the next scene's stuff ready so we didn't waste time getting the different scenes ready and were able to retake shots if we weren't happy with them as we had enough time to do so.

The planning I feel was successful as well as we had a storyboard that was used to tell us what was going to happen in each shot. We also had a shot list to help us with the angle and the distance each shot had to be at. 

I thought I was particularly good at the lighting in each scene as it has to be held at an angle to stop any shadows appearing and to make sure everything needed in that scene was lit and everything else was dimmed. I also thought that I was better at the filming as I took time to position each shot and kept on checking back to see if the shot was as we wanted it to be.

The editing was hard and stressful as because we took time and broke up the shots individually we had a lot of clips to put together. We also had to refer back to the film to see how long each shot needed to be there and how long the blank scene appeared for which was difficult. We also had many titles to put in which we had to save individually to make them appear on the blank spaces we had created for them.

Overall I feel that this remake was much better than my prelim as everything was organised and we came up with an idea for different things quickly, I feel that this had improved my planning filming and editing more.

BLOGPOST 19&20 RESEARCH - Remaking of 'SE7EN'

REMAKE OF SE7EN

In order to create our remake of the SE7EN opening sequence, we had to analyse everything that occurred and what was used in terms of camera shots, credit titles and props that would be needed. 

This was a group activity but we split what we had to do between us so that we could get more covered. 

These are some of the camera shots which were used in the original opening of SE7EN, and were noted down in chronological order so that it would be easier for us when we go onto producing our remake. 

PROP LIST

The props we used includes: 

• Tea 
• Printed out Family photographs
• Printed out Pregnancy Article  
• Sharpie 
• Drawn pictures of hands 
• Red paint 
• Nail file 
• Plasters
• Dirt 
• Notebook
• Pen 
• Pink Umbrella 
• Black Ink 
• Paper 
• Thread 
• Toaster 
• Screw driver 
• Cardboard box
• Film
• Scissors 
• Printed out Pregnancy scan 
• £10 note
• Marker
• Reading book

Story board: 

PICTURES OF FILMING LOCATION

We used staff kitchen as our filming location, we had the light switched off and used flash light from our phones to create more mysterious looking shots. We also used some of the tools we found in the ktchen such as toaster and sink.

Once we had filmed all of the shots that we needed, we edited the film in the editing suite (premrier pro), added the sound and film credits (after effects)

This is our final remake of SE7EN

RESEARCH - BFI Statistic Yearbook results

I look at the BFI statistic year book so I could research more into successful films in order to get the right idea for the film my group and I are going to make. Here were the results:

The 3 most successful genres at the UK box office were Animation, Comedy and Action. The 3 least successful genres at the UK box office were Documentary, Romance and War.

During 2013-2014, Comedy was the film genre which release the most films, however - this didn't mean that they were more successful. 153 comedy films were made. Also, 33 animation films were made, followed by 47 action films.

This information shows that even though many comedy films were being made, over production companies still carried out their films to try and outdo the last one. This also shows that the film audiences like films which are less realistic.

The age group which made up the largest proportion of cinema admissions in the UK -who went to the cinema most are 15- 24 year olds. The comedy film which was most successful with this age group was Hangover 3.

The film which was most popular with people aged over 50 was Sunshine on Leith which comes under comedy and musical.

The genres which were most popular with men were thriller, action and comedy films and UK films appealed most to people aged between 45 – 54.

The 3 films which were most popular with the 7-14 age group were One Direction- This Is Us , Wreck-It Ralph and Despicable Me 2. This suggests that children like movies in which they recognise celebrities and animation films.

The 3 films which were most popular with the 35-44 age group were Frozen, The Croods and Jack and the Giant Slayer.

The 3 films which were most popular with the 25-34 age group were Django Unchained, Fast & Furious 6 and 26 Rush.

RESEARCH - Micro and Macro Analysis

Splice:

MICRO



Camera

The camera work in this film opening include; panning, tracking as well as the camera moving about. They have shot the film so it looks like the audience are inside the body of the creature and are moving to different bits and pieces inside it.

Editing

This is rare to see but the ident is customised to the movie. Another film that has this is the Harry Potter set.

Mise-en-scene:

They stick to a colour theme of green, as well as including many different skeleton features. Things such as organs, blood cells and the heart are also seen. As they're seen in a gruesome way, these are conventions of a thriller movie.

Sound:

Instruments create music in the opening - a piano and violin. As these are quite soft, it creates a suspenseful and tense atmosphere for the readers because of what you can see on the screen. The music however, increases and gets more intense further into the opening. They have also layered more sound by using sound effects such as the heartbeat.

MACRO:

The key plot introduced in the title sequence is the creation of something, as if the audience are actually in the creature watching it form. The storyline is introduced a little bit at a time. Primarily, the audience is unaware about what is going on but certain aspects of the film opening ease the audience into the storyline. However, there are no characters introduced in the film opening only the formation of one. This is a discrete film opening, so it's hard to see whether certain things are being represented.

The order of the titles:

1. Ditribution ident

2. Production ident  

3.Production ident 

4.Production ident 

5. Distribution company 

6. Production company

7.Production companies

8. Director

9. Actor 

10. Actor  

11. Actor 

12. Casting

13. Make up

14. Actor 

15. Visual effect supervisor 

16. Actor 

17. Digital effect and animation

18. Costume designer

19. Sound mixers

20. Music

21. Editor

22. Production designer

23. Director of photography

24. executive producers

25. executive producers

26. executive producer

27. Actor 

28. executive producer

29. Producer

30. Story writer

31. Screenplay

32. Film title

33. Director 

The Game:

MICRO:

Camera:

Throughout the movie opening, they use a range of close ups of peoples faces with various tracking shots of people acting out fast movements. There are clear shots used such as an establishing shot. This is used to inform the audience where a scene is taking place.

Editing:

The editing is significant in this opening. There are special effects that happen throughout. For example, the puzzle effect which links to the title of the movie, The Game. It also looks as if the movie is really old and old fashioned due to the effect. As there were black screens in between in each some shots, these created tension as the audience are expecting something to jump out on the screen.

Mise-en-scene:

As the opening is set mostly at a wedding, the characters are dressed in fancy clothing such as suits and fancy dresses for the women. They have done this to make it clear to the audience.

Sound:

The piano playing in the background creates an uneasy atmosphere as the audience are waiting for something to happen. When watching it personally, I was waiting for a loud bang and something to pop up and make me jump. They also use sound effects, this time it was things such as glass breaking.

Macro:

The key plot idea introduces in the title sequence is a intimate family event with odd seeming characters lurking around. The storyline is introduced slowly at different times as the movie opening doesn't seem to run consistently and it doesn't seem to be put together seamlessly so the audience has to put the pieces together; just the a puzzle. Characters are introduced at different times in the opening, for example the little boy and his father are show at the beginning of the film. The shows that they are significant throughout the movie and have key roles. More of the family are introduced throughout the opening. The family are portrayed stereotypically at the stereotypical perfect wedding. However some of the family are represented negatively as he father smoking and his pushed someone into a swimming pool; which shows their flaws.

The order of the titles:

1.Ident

2.Distribution company

3.Production company

4.Film title

RESEARCH - Why is sound important in a film?

SOUND
...............
In films sound is used to establish the tone, atmosphere or even gerne of the movie. It also helps people to 'suspense belief' ( make people believe in anything, even if they know it's not real) and also, make the audience feel as if they are the main character in the film. 

The actual definition of sound is: ''vibrations  traveling through the air that  can be heard.'' 

So it means that the sound is simply everything you hear.

 However, sound has many more elements. For example: soundscape is a piece of music that consists different components of sounds like rainforest. The layers of sounds add onto each other to create one noisy sound.

Moreover, people often tend to manipulate sound by adding or changing audio elements to make it more suitable for the target marker. This is called sound design. It is often used in film industry for background sound. 

Without background sounds many films  would be boring and hard to understand, there would be less emotions and feelings. Sound helps to create tension, release feelings and entertain the audience.

RESEARCH - Target Audience Surveys and Interviews

SURVEY

I created a survey using SURVEY MONKEY. 

I asked questions about the audience members such as: age and gender. Also, asked some other questions which were related to movies, such as: favourite genre, favourite movie celebrity, if they go to the cinema often, what kind of location withnin movies they enjoy, etc. 

I then distrubuted my survey using social media :

The answers that I got were:

All people who completed the survey were between age 18-24.

57% were females and 43% were males.

Top 3 genres were : Comedy (57%), Romance (28%) and Horror (14%)

Most people said that they prefer American movies.

71% said that they would prefer comedian as a main character in a film.

Film location:  School (57%), Supermarket (14%), Hunted House (14%) and other (14%)

70% of people said that their favourite movie celebrities are either Johnny Depp or Angelina Jolie.

66% of the people watched a film at the cinema in the past 6 months.

Moreover, interviewed 4 people each of different genre and age. Most of them prefer action and comedy movies. This is because they find it entertaining.

RESEARCH - Summary of thriller conventions.

Thriller usually consists a battle/fight between two sides. The story contains a chain of events which builds up a tension and suspense for the climax. Characters on one side (protagonist) aim to protect justice, while other side (antagonist) tries to destroy it. 

Most common conventions of a thriller are:

* Dim lighting 

*Quick cuts

*Shadows

*Tension music

*Changes in shot angles

*Diegetic sounds

*Black and white/ vintage effect shots

Characters: 

The protagonist will be a male who is looking for someone or tries to fix something, while antagonist will be unidentified character at the begging, but as the film will build up towards climax the character will be revealed.

Shot types:

There are many close ups and extreme close ups when it comes to the protagonist character. This is to make the audience feel his emotions and focus on props. However, when it comes to antagonist character the shots are ofter quick or shots from the back and low key. This helps to hide their identity. 

Editing : 

Many cross-cuting to create a suspense.

Soundtrack:

Very important part, usually chosen to reflect the main characters or key ideas. Mostly sad, tense or slow at the begging that builds up togeher with visual effects and shots.

Mise - en - scene:

Usually dark clothing, lots of make up and filmstroke.
 

RESEARCH - Macro and Micro elements of thriller title sequences

"The Game" 

Micro analysis

In the title sequence of "the game" there are many close up, wide and long shots as well as zooming in and out during the same shot. This way it makes the sequence look as if it is home-made video of a family celebration. Also, the vintage film tape effects are used throughout the whole sequence to establish that the settings of the film opening is meant to be in 80's - 90's. The mice-an-scene of the oipening is a family meeting/party in a big garden. The house that is shown in the opening is very big which suggests that the main characters had quite high status in society. Moreover, the costumes and props also convey that the memories are quite old and goes back for couple of century's. In addition, at the beggining audience is able to hear some noises of water, waves, rain and thunder. Hoewever, the mainsountrack of the movie is piano instrumental piece which is mostly sad and get even deeper (minor) towards the end. This sets the tone and reveals the genre of this movie.

 Macro analysis

The key plot idea in the title sequence is to show main characters memories about an important event of childhood. The whole storyline in this order: preparation for the party- people posing for pictures together - kids watching a pupet show - kids playing games - a man staruing through the window - clown show - mood of some characters chaging (getting sad/angry). The main character which is being introduced at this point is a boy which is as I quess the same man that is being shown at the end of the title sequence. Also, as mentioned before the main social class represented is high social class which is shown mostly postively but with some suspition.

The order of the titles 
The sequence of credits for this movie was very simple; it only uses four main credits which made the opening very discrete and mysterious. Credits only appear the beggining on digitally stylised screen made of black puzzles which then break and flow out of the image transitioning to another title.
The order of credits:
1.Ident
2.Distribution company
3.Production company
4.Film title 

Micro analysis

The title sequence of 'Splice' contains mainly of close up of different scientifical and biological organisims as it is discrete type of opening. The movement of camera and different shots are quite fast. All of the sequence has been created digitally adding lots of effects. The transitions between ident and didtribution company is edited to create a visual effect of a x-ray scan. Also, the rest of the credits are 'flowing under the water' as the trasition between them are water bubbles that flow straight into the screen creating a 3D type effect. The sound includes music (slow piano music which then gets faster as more instruments join in) and some foley sounds and sound effects            ( scietific tool sounds, water  and wind sounds, also some other weird blood, slime sounds).

Macro analysis

There are no key plot ideas or characters introduced, as well as there isn't a clear storyline to analyse. 

The order of titles

For this movie there are many credits which happens to be diffrent. For example actors names and the title are eddited to appear on the organisms which makes it look as if they are intergrated into the actual opening, where the rest of the team names appear on the moving images in white small font. The opining is dicrete with some use of stylised edditing done. 

Order of the credits:
1. Ditribution ident
2. Production ident 1 
3.Production ident 2
4.Production ident 3
5. Distribution company 
6. Production company
7.Production companies
8. Director
9. Actor 1
10. Actor 2 
11. Actor 3
12. Casting
13. Make up
14. Actor 4
15. Visual effect supervisor 
16. Actor 5
17. Digital effect and animation
18. Costume designer
19. Sound mixers
20. Music
21. Editor
22. Production designer
23. Director of photography
24. executive producers
25. executive producers
26. executive producer
27. Actor 6
28. executive producer
29. Producer
30. Story writter
31. Screenplay
32. Film title
33. Director 

BLOGPOST 18 PLANNING- 'SEVEN'- props and location.

'seven' Props and Location 

Location:

• Photography room in the dark room 
• Kitchen with the lights off with a spotlight 
• Room 333 with a spotlight Lights off, blinds closed 

props:

• Books - journal and sketchbook
• Pens 
• Plasters 
• Print outs of Hands and a scary baby printed out on lined paper 
• Red paint 
• Nail file 
• Maths pape 
• Sellotape 
• Metal part of a screwdriver 
• cardboard box 
• Teabag 
• White or grey towel 
• Metal box 
• Pictures of an ultrasound 
• Images of a child sitting down in a dark room 
• Film 
• Scissors
• Paperclips 
• Black and white photographs of family 
• Lighter
• Ink 

Dim lighting, mostly black, Also red lighting (red paper)

BLOGPOST 17 - GENRE SHORTLIST

Genre Shortlist

I think the 3 genres that our group may produce our own tittle sequence are thriller, horror or a romance. This is because the codes and conventions are easy but interesting  to explore.

BLOGPOST 16 RESEARCH - Analysing the sound of Gone Girl (CAMTASIA)

GONE GIRL

The Analysis of sound.

The opening title sequence of a 'Gone Girl' contains many types of sound starting with slow soundtrack to set the dramatic tone. It then goes into narrator voice which is as we can hear the main character speaking about his marriage, this reveals more about the film storyline. Also, there are many diegetic sounds such as a barking dog, sea eagles, sound of the wind, water and cars.

BLOGPOST 15 RESEARCH- WHY IS SOUND SO IMPORTANT.

Why is sound so important

 

Sound is very important to film and makes up 50% of the actual film

Sound is in media terms it is everything that you hear in a film.

A soundscape is combing sound to create a certain atmosphere.

There are different terminologies for soundscapes including:

• Wild track
• Ambient sound
• Diegetic
• Non-diegetic
• Score
• Song
• Voiceover
• Dialogue
• Dubbing
• Foley
• Synchronous  
• Asynchronous  
• Sound bridge
• Sound motif

Sound design  it is the process of specifying acquiring and manipulating or generating audio elements.

Sounds used in film to establish tone, atmosphere and to help give the audience clues about the plot, characters or to identify the genre of the film.

In lesson we watched Taking of the Pelham 123 without sound and the actual movie opening seemed longer. It made me feel disinterested and less intrigued and it was weird as the things that were meant to have sound didn't for example the trains moving. However when we watched the film with the sound on and it was more tense and entertaining. I also learnt that there was dialogue and a soundtrack in the background which added to the mood.