Evaluation Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? 

Evaluation Question 6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

The camera we used to film our opening sequence was a Panasonic SD60. This was the same camera that we used for the preliminary task, however this time we both felt more comfortable with the different functions of the camera and felt that we knew how to use it better.

We also used a tripod for the majority of our shots as it made the camera not shake and capture the action clearer. This was important when filming Megan (Jess) in the gym. We also used it for camera movements within our opening sequence such as when we pan the camera when Megan (Jess) walks from the hall way and up the stairs. 

We used an Apple Mac to edit all of ourlnlk footage for our opening sequence. Using many different software programmes to help us with different elements such as the editing of the clips together and the titles of the opening sequence.

The software we used to cut,trim,delete and move around our footage was called Final Cut Pro.Using this programme was a new experience for us as for our preliminary task we used iMovie.
Having the opportunity of using both of these programmes, we both decided that we felt a lot more confident using Final Cut Pro as we found it was set out clearer and had more functions available for us to incorporate into our opening sequence.

The software we used to make our titles for our opening sequence is called Motion. This was a new programme to us both, so we both had to learn to figure out how the programme works together. After getting used to the different aspects of this software we found that it was very useful and we were able to create our film titles in the way that we wanted, using many different functions available.

We have used Youtube a lot from the very start of our journey of making out opening sequence. We first used it to look at clips from other films to help us get inspiration of the type of film we were wanting to make. We then used it when searching for the right music to use within our opening sequence. Once we had finished creating our opening sequence, we uploaded it onto our youtube account.

The software we used to create our production company logo and title of our film is called Photoshop CS5. We enjoyed using this programme as we found it easy to use due to having previous experience of using it.

Using all these different types of software made us aware of all the different functions we were able to use within our opening sequence, and help us use the software that would help us create the best opening sequence we could make. 

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

We went around and asked a selection of people a number of questions so we could get a rough idea of a typical audience for our film. 

We found that the typical person for our target audience is: 

• Someone who enjoys Chick flicks 
• Majority would be girls 
• Most of them in their teenage years 
• Would go with friends to see a film 
• People who like to Dance and enjoy mixed marshal arts

Evaluation question 3

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

The most likely distributor for our film we think would be Warner Brothers. We have decided this because most of the films that Warner Brothers releases our big budget main stream films. We feel our film would fit into this category because it is a very typical chick flick. Also later on in the film, having a big celebrity such as Justin Timberlake feature in it would have to have a big budget to afford this. 

After having our classmates watch our opening sequence, they all agreed with us that our film would be seen as a mainstream film.

A lot of the people who attend the cinema are aged 24 and under. We feel that people under this age will be the ones who are interested in going to see our film and so appeals to a lot of cinema attenders!

After watching many different opening sequences for example 'Step Up' we saw that they have all the casts names appear first on the titles. We chose to stick to this structure as well as we thought it would be important to keep the directors and editors till later on in the titles as they have a very important role. 

Evaluation question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our opening sequence is about a girl called Jess who is currently practising her gymnastics in the gymnasium but is getting frustrated at herself as she keeps falling over. She walks home to where she is greeted by both her mum and sister Emily, but she is not in the mood to talk to them which she makes very clear to them. She is later on in the kitchen making herself a snack, where something is delivered through the post. Jess goes over to see what it is, where she reveals a leaflet that is advertising a competition with the prize of featuring in the new Justin Timberlake music video. She is excited about this and so calls her sister Emily down to see it as well. 

The main character Jess is very dependent on herself to be able to complete targets that she has. She gets very annoyed at herself when she is unable to do something and so storms out after falling many times. The character of Jess is based on the character Haley from the film 'Stick It'. Haley is also a very talented gymnast but finds it hard when she is unable to do something straight away. 

The particular social group that is represented in our opening sequence is the typical cheerleading and dance group. Similar to those in films such as 'Bring It On' and 'Step Up'. The main character Jess is the type of girl who would be seen as the "pretty, popular girl" who would be the head cheerleader, who wants everyone to be the best they can. 

By this type of social group being represented our targeted audience would mainly be females 12+ who are interested in gymnast and dance. Also those who enjoy the music of Justin Timberlake, which makes our film very mainstream targeted. 

Evaluation question 1

In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media product?

Audience feedback on our opening sequence

Seven different groups within our media class were asked to watch our opening sequence and answer the following questions:

1-- What film does it remind you of?
2-- Who do you think is the main target audience?
3-- Do you think it is a mainstream (wide-appealing) film?
4-- What are the films main strengths?

Response to question 1
After watching our opening sequence everyone wrote down what film our opening sequence reminded them of. A lot of the response we got was between 'Bring It On', 'Step Up' and 'Camp Rock'. We were expecting this as these were the films that we researched when looking for inspiration.

Response to question 2
After watching our opening sequence the main feedback we got from this question was girls 12+. This is the audience that we were hoping to appeal to due to our influences being the same to this.

Response to question 3
After watching our opening sequence, everyone in the audience decided that our film was very mainstream. This was what we were expecting as the story line of our film is very similar to others and this film would appeal to a wide range of audiences.

Response to question 4
We got many different opinions on what are the films main strengths were, ranging from editing to camera work. We were both very happy with the response we got from this question.

From all the response we have received from the audience of our opening sequence, we are pleased that a lot of people enjoyed it and gave us a positive comment on all questions.

Final Video - All Starz

Once we finished our opening sequence we exported it from Final Cut Pro then uploaded it onto Youtube. 

The final cut

Once we had finished our opening sequence we exported it onto iTunes. We watched our footage on iTunes several times where we both analysed it and picked out even the smallest things that we could change and improve on.

The first thing we changed were two of the titles of the cast. These were both just timing issues in which we edited to make shorter and fit better.

The second thing we noticed was that some of the background sound that the camera picked up on throughout filming. There were slight crackling noises and buzzes from the camera, to overcome this issue we changed some of the volume levels and also cut down some of the footage to make the transitions smoother.

The third and final thing we did was change the duration of the film title. We decided to make this shorter as we felt it was on the screen for too long and could potential bore the audience. 

Choosing the music to feature in our opening sequence

http://youtu.be/9V9ILGzSQS4 - Avicii - Levels

http://youtu.be/LIiy0zU42oY - Justin Timberlake - My Love Remix

http://youtu.be/IsUsVbTj2AY - Justin Timberlake - Suit and Tie

http://youtu.be/RtKacfAPsSA - Dirty Dancer

We had the problem up until the last week when we were putting everything together of which song to use. We needed something that had the right beats to fit with what Megan was doing. However we didn't want something that was very popular, and that everyone knew because that might be distracting from whats actually happening.

In the end we decided on Justin Timberlake - My Love Remix. This was because we felt it fitted well with what Megan was doing and it wasn't that obvious on what song it actually was because it is a remix.

We cut the music up and made it so that Megan was landing her flick on the beat of the music, making it more natural and fitting. 

Editing our opening sequence

Once we had all the footage we needed we uploaded it onto 'Final Cut Pro' and roughly put all the footage in order. Once we had ordered all of our clips we started cutting all our shots and perfecting the shots. We did this several times testing out several different sequences and effects to see which was the best option - we asked for other people's opinions also on what they thought so we would get an outside point of view.

Once we had cut all our footage together and were completely finished cutting we put in the titles and music. We did have to cut the music and titles up and move them around a little to get the best effect, but this made the opening sequence look better and flow smoother. 

We used a programme called Motion 8 to create all the titles for our opening sequence. Neither of us had ever used this programme before so we had to familiar ourselves with all the different things you can do on it. Once we had got our heads around how to use the programme we set out and made all our titles.

We used two different effects on our titles -NAME 1 and NAME2 - this was to break up the cast members names from the rest of the people involved. We placed all the cast members names throughout the gym scene which is fast and full of action and then the rest of the titles were throughout the calmer more slow scene. 

Throughout the filming process

When we filmed the scene of Jess practising her gymnastics, we had to mark on the mats with tape where she was to start each time she did the move. This way when we cut all our footage together she would be in the same place and it would look smoother.

Deciding on the title of our film

We spent a long time coming up with different film titles but struggled to agree on one that we both liked. Megan who features in our opening sequence as Jess, had previously told us about the gymnastic group she used to attend which was called 'All Starz'. She suggested this to us as a possible title of the competition held in our opening sequence. We then decided that we liked the idea of having the name of the film being the same as the name of the competition that our film is based on.

ALLSTARZ! 

Filming session 4

We did not intend to have a fourth filming session but after out first filming session we decided that we needed to re-film the parts of the opening scene that are filmed in the gym. In the previous filming session we found that the camera shook a lot when Megan landed from doing her gym move. To try prevent this from happening myself and Katie decided to try filming again but this time by having the tripods and cameras placed on top of a safety mat. Using the mat did help control the impact of the shaking from Megan landing from her gym move, but unfortunately did not stop it completely.
We are going to use this footage that we have now got and are going to use a software tool to help minimize the shaking in the scene.

We are now a lot happier with how this footage looks, and are looking forward to beginning to edit it all together!  

Filming session 3

Our third filming session consisted of us filming Jess in her kitchen, where she hears something come through the letter box and goes to see what it is. The ALL STARZ competition is then revealed. Jess is intrigued and shouts up to her sister Emily for her to come have a look at the leaflet she has just received.

This filming session went extremely well for us as we were able to complete it within 30 minutes. Our only problem while filming was making sure the film did not shake when we were doing the hand held shots. To prevent this we used the tripod instead and titled the camera.

This filming session was definitely a success for us! 

Filming session 2

Our second filming session consisted of us filming the scenes of Jess entering her house, walking up her stairs and having a short conversation with her sister Emily. We filmed this at Megan's house which was very convenient for us all to get to and had enough space to film all the shots that we wanted.

When filming Megan walking up her road and then up her drive way, we had to do a few takes as we wanted the sound of cars driving past to make the scene come across realistic. However we did find that some sound coming from the passing cars was a little over powering and so had to re-film to decrease the sound.
We then went onto filming Megan and Stephanie in their bedroom. This scene we found easy to film and was able to complete is rapidly. However when looking back on the footage we saw that the lighting of the scene was very dark and that we needed to re-film and adjust the lights in the room. We then re-filmed and was pleased with the result.

This day of filming was very productive for us as we were able to get a large amount of our opening scene filmed and were pleased with the outcome of our footage. 

Filming Session 1

Our first filming session consisted of us filming Megan in the gym. We prepared the set by placing down mats, this was also to ensure Megan's safety while performing these moves. We also used tape to mark where Megan should start and finish so that the camera was able to capture all her movement.

After reviewing and editing some of the footage, we realised that as Megan landed the camera shook and unfortunately ruined the shots. We have decided that we want to re-film this footage and to prevent this happening again we're going to place the camera and tripod on top of a mat. This will hopefully support some of the impact created from Megan landing.

We will keep you updated on how it goes! 

Props

We used a variety of props throughout our opening sequence. This is to create a more realistic feel to the film.

 Jess (Megan) uses the keys above to open the door.

 Emily (Steph) is sitting on her bed with her phone while in the bedroom scene.

 Jess (Megan) is wearing this coat and then takes it off and hangs it up in the bedroom scene.

Jess (Megan) carries this bag throughout the first scene.

Titles for our opening sequence

We looked closely at both Step Up and the Bring It On opening sequences and took count of all the different titles that were used. This has helped us when having to include our own. The titles we are using are listed below.

Title 1 : Megan Parker
Title 2 : Steph Parker
Title 3 : George Ticking
Title 4 : Lee Toby
Title 5 : Courtney Singleton
PAUSE
Title 6 : Casting by Iris Guri
Title 7 : Choreographed by Sian Staple
Title 8 : Music by Tom Richards
Title 9 : Costume Designer by Mackenzie Pickup
Title 10 : Editor Sofie Woods
Title 11 : Production Designer by Cameron Little
Title 12 : Written by Ollie Star
Title 13 : Directed by Lauren Shanahan and Katie Simpson
Title 14 :  ALL STARZ (film title)

Leaflet for our opening sequence

In our opening sequence there is a scene where Jess (megan) finds a leaflet that has come through the post advertising an gymnastic competition. Below is a hand drawn design that Katie and Myself designed of the leaflet. This was our first draft.

Below is our finished leaflet. To create this leaflet we used 'Microsoft Word' and 'Paint'. We got the picture of Justin Timberlake and the yellow stars from Google image and the font was designed on a website called 'DaFont'. We are both pleased with the outcome of our leaflet and are looking forward to it featuring in our opening sequence.

Costumes for our cast

Above is the costume Megan (Jess) will be wearing. She is wearing a leotard and leggings. We chose for her to wear this as Megan told us this is what she would normally wear to her gym practices so we believe this costume would look most realistic in this scene. We told Megan she was not allowed to wear socks due to health and safety reasons while filming.

Above is the costume that Stephanie (Emily) will be wearing. We chose this outfit for Stephanie to wear as it was something simple, that she said she would wear when coming home from somewhere. These clothes are her own.

Above is the costume Megan (Jess) will be wearing in her next scene. She is wearing her pyjamas  as we want this to represent that it is the late evening. These are Megan's own pyjamas.

Dialogue script

We wrote down the script for the whole of our opening sequence so that when we come to film our actors will know what they're saying. We decided to write a script rather than let the actors improvise what they're saying on the spot as we feel it will come across more realistic and they will be clear on what to say without hesitation. Within the script we used brackets, including information on how the dialogue is portrayed.

Influence for Jess' gym move

We searched different gymnastic moves on youtube and found the video above. We asked Megan who is going to be playing Jess if she would be happy to do this move, which she said she is. However she is only going to be doing a shortened version so that we can fit it within the time scale. 

Location Shots

This is outside the gym. This will be our first shot, which is an establishing shot. 

This is inside the gym. Which is where we will be filming Megan (Jess) practising. We chose to use the gym as it will look realistic as a place that Megan would practice and it is a vast space. 

This next location shot is of Megan's (Jess) pathway, this is where she will be walking when approaching her house.

This is inside Megan's (Jess) house, we will be using this hallway/ kitchen/stairs throughout our opening sequence.

This is Megan (Jess) and Steph's (Emily) bedroom. We decided to use this location as it was convenient for both of our actors. It was also an ideal location for what we wanted to film in this scene. 

Casting Shots

Jess Wall played by Megan Parker
We chose Megan as we feel she is the ideal person to play the role of Jess, due to her previous experience in gymnastics. Megan is also a close friend of ours who we find we can rely on during the process of all the filming.

Emily Wall played by Steph Parker
We chose Steph to play the role of Emily as she is Megan's sister so they both feel comfortable around each other. Also as we are doing a lot of filming in their house, Steph was the most realistic person to pick due to her availability. 

Film Schedule

We wrote down a filming schedule for all the different days we are planning to film our opening sequence and the different scenes. As we have two different locations in our opening sequence we are planning to film over three different days. 

This is our schedule for the first day. 

This is our schedule for the second day. 

This is our schedule for the third day.

Storyboard

We decided to take photos of each camera shot we are planning to use throughout our opening sequence. We didn't use the exact costumes that will be used nor did we use the exact props as we are yet to have made a final decision on some of these things. From shots 1-10 we are planning to have background music playing as it fits with the scene, however for shots 11-25 we are planning for it to just be natural sounds and speech from the actors. We are hoping to animate our title and make it link in with the name of it i.e 'starz', we are going to try and create a star shaped animation. 

Storyboard- Initial ideas

We wrote down a rough idea of what our opening sequence story board is going to be. We did this so it would make it easier for us to picture so when we have to take photos of the different shots it would be more simple for us to do.

Detailed study of the structure of an opening sequnce

We watched the opening sequence of Step Up and wrote down all the titles that were shown throughout the clip. We found a total of 21 titles overall which fitted between 0.00 - 1.58 seconds. From when the clip begins until 0.17 is where the characters are talking. Then from 0.17 - 1.58 is when the title song is used. Throughout this title sequence there are two different groups of people dancing so it cuts back and forth. Below we wrote a time scale of when each different title appears.

 

Below are all the timings of when the clip changes between the two different dance groups;

SS = Street Scene

BC= Ballet Class

The process of making our production company logo

Between us we came up with four initial ideas for our production company logo. These are displayed in the picture above. We used both of our initials as a starting point with the ideas, as we want something that is unique and original to us.

We decided on the design we like the most and drew our final design of the production logo.

This is our final logo which we designed on photoshop. When we put the line in between the two initials we decided we didn't like it as much as when the line wasn't there. That is the only change we made when making our logo.

Target Audience

To discuss our target audience we decided to do an audio. Within our audio we discussed points such as:

• Age Range 
• Gender 
• Mainstream or not
• Influences 
• Strategies we did to find this information

Enjoy!

100-150 Word Synopsis

Jess belongs to one of the country’s best gymnastic teams along with her close friends. Jess being one of their best gymnasts still always got put at the back of the displays and her full potential was never shown. After being convinced by her family, Jess decided to take herself out of the team and audition for a big opportunity to be casted in Justin Timberlake's new music video. Jess is successful in getting through the audition and finally gets to be part of the video. Jess then found herself getting many jobs within the music industry. However this did come with consequences. The fame became overwhelming for Jess and unfortunately this led to her losing a lot of her friends and the respect from her family.  After a massive reality check Jess decides the fame and her new found lifestyle is not for her resulting in her quitting her job. It took a lot but Jess managed to repair her friendship amongst her gym group and returned. The team are now doing the best they’ve ever done and shall be competing in the 2016 Olympics.

Feedback on our 25 word pitch

We read out our 25 word pitch to our classmates to give us the opportunity to get feedback from them. Above is a picture of the feedback we received. One question asked was 'what genre is it?'. In answer to this we have decided the genre of our film is dance/drama.
Overall we were happy with the feedback we received with people stating that they thought our pitch made our film sound interesting and intriguing. 

25 Word Pitch

"An underestimated gymnast finally gets her time to shine and everything she ever wished for but is it worth losing everyone and everything for it?"

We were asked to write a 25 word pitch to try and sell our film to an audience. We found this task quite simple to do as we were sure on what we wanted our film to be about.   

Influences from different film openings

Together we have decided to make our opening scene based on the life of a gymnast. Through knowledge of films we had seen previously and by searching videos online we have found some influences that we hope will help us when constructing ideas for our own opening sequence.

We have both previously seen 'Bring It On Again' and immediately knew that it had similar aspects to the opening sequence we were hoping to make. In particular we liked the idea of the gymnast being seen as the fragile character who is auditioning in front of someone who is of a higher status. We liked it as it conflicts with the stereotype of gymnasts being confident and strong. When the clip gets to around 2.01 the title of the film appears. This is something we hope to use in our own opening sequence as we thought it was quite affective to put it after the initial opening of the film as the audiences attention has already been caught by the action beforehand.

Another influence that we looked at was the opening of 'Step Up'. We initially enjoyed that it started straight with a dance routine as it captured our interest immediately. We liked the context of what was in the scene and how it has conflicts between the hip hop and ballet routines, but still danced to the same music. The idea of the credits been showed whilst the dance routine is going on is something we would consider including in our opening sequence.

We feel this is effective as being an audience ourselves we do not enjoy watching credits on their own as they can be seen as boring. However how play them throughout the dance we find is a good idea as they are made more entertaining by what is already on the screen.

 

Lauren's Mood Board

Above is a mood board that I constructed. Within my mood board I included things such as places I have visited, music I listen to, shops I attend and films/programmes I enjoy watching. The reason behind making this mood board was so I could collect my influences together and portray them in a collaged way. - Lauren.

Katie's Mood Board

I was asked to produce a mood board which would included images of places I have been, films/tv shows that I enjoy and music that I listen to. The idea behind making this mood board was to help both Lauren and myself when searching for influences for our opening sequence. I found this mood board helped a lot as it portrayed all the things that I am interested in.-Katie

What is an opening sequence?

An opening sequence is the first scene of a film. In a lot of opening sequences this is where the credits are shown, however this is not neccersarily needed. Most opening sequences will show the production company logo as well. We looked at four different opening sequences and wrote about what was in them and what we thought of the clip.

The Bourne Supremacy This is one the opening sequence examples we looked at and its unusual to your typical opening sequence due to it not showing any credits. However it does start with showing the production company - which is universal. The title of the film is then shown in the center of the screen.The clip continues where it jumps straight into the action of what is seen as the main character having a nightmare/flashback of 'random' people and places. We found this opening sequence effective as it intrigues the audience from the very first scene as we're wanting to find out more about the reason behind his flashback.

Red Lights
Red Lights The above link shows you the opening sequence to Red Lights. Within this opening sequence the production company logo is shown. This is followed by the full credits of the film. There is no dialogue in this scene, however audio is used in the background. Throughout this opening sequence various photos, books, x-rays and other items are shown. This gives a hint to the audience about the sort of genre the film is and gives the film a mysterious vibe. During the clip there is random circles of flashing lights that link back to the title of the film. At the end of this clip the credits finish and we see a plane landing. We found this opening sequence interesting and it left us wanting to know more, especially the reason behind showing the plane landing and what the photos and objects are representing. However it was a bit tedious as the credits continued for most of it.
 

The Dark Knight This opening sequence starts with showing the multiple production companies involved with the film. It then jumps straight into the action of the film, this is main part of the opening sequence. The difference between this opening sequence and all the others we looked at was it uses a lot of dialogue and action. However there are no credits throughout this whole scene. We really enjoyed this opening sequence as it caught our attention straight away as the action starts immediately. This made us eager to want to see the rest of the film.

Office Space This opening sequence starts with showing the production company of the film. In this opening sequence it involves credits and an introduction to the characters. The credits run while we are introduced to some of the characters as they are in a scene where they are all siting in traffic. This shows different sides of all the characters, and allows us to make a first impression. The font used for the credits links with the genre of the film which is a comedy. This shows that the producers have taken into account the genre of the film while deciding what font to use. As we are introduced to some of the characters, the camera focuses on the main characters so that they are on the screen for longer. This gives the audience an impression of who is going to play important and main roles within the film. We really liked this opening sequence as we found it had humour within it, which is something we both find really important when watching a film. Also as we both have not seen the film before, after reading the credits of who was in it, this has made us more interested in wanting to see the rest of the film.