Final Film Opening

Final Film Opening

Feedback

''I am really impressed with your final opening, after seeing you develop your product from the start I know you've put a lot of time and effort into making every little detail perfect. The end product really is good,  you've captured the essence of period drama right from the start. I particularly enjoyed the music that you've created as its understated yet adds a sense sadness and romance to the film.''
- Jack Johnson

''I think that the opening is really impressive, some of the camera shots you have used are beautiful, particularly the opening shots of Billy. You can tell the genre of your product as through the use of costume, props and especially the well-spoken dialogue of the characters it is apparent.''
- Laura Anderson

''I liked your film. I don't really enjoy the period drama genre but I wanted to find out more about the Billy character after his speech from the start. I really liked the title sequence with the images from the film looking hand-drawn and it looks like you've put a lot of effort into making the titles perfect, its paid off.''
- Sam Emery

Conclusion
Overall I can say that I've enjoyed the process of creating a film. During the planning stages I was really excited about developing the product that we had so many ideas for. Although the filming process wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, we had constant issues with the weather for filming and limited cameras available meaning we had to postpone filming some days. I have learnt a lot during this process, learning to use the equipment, putting the footage onto the mac, using the editing programs and I feel I've developed my knowledge of the film industry considerably and learnt a lot about the procedures involved when making a real film. On a whole everything's been worth it and I'm really happy with our final product, particularly the title sequence as we put a lot of time and effort into that and its really paid off. We channelled the period drama genre as best we could, its not an easy genre to portray and I feel we pulled it off well. I've also enjoyed working with Miranda, I'm glad we worked in a group together as we've worked well together, supporting and helping each other other along during this process and together we've created a professional beginning opening to a well developed and thought out period drama film.

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

Film title

We decided to call our film Devotion. We came to this decision after researching other period drama films, we noticed a pattern in simple one word titles which hint at the film narrative, examples of this being Atonement (2007) and Persuasion (1995).

The title 'Devotion' hints at the typical period drama sub-genre of romance and gives the audience an immediate expectation of what the film is about.
The film title appears at 1:16, not straight away, this is also a convention of the period drama genre as when researching film titles we found almost all period dramas to wait between 1-5 minuets before the title appears.

Title font & style
We researched other period dramas to find out what type of fonts they used. We found that most period dramas used very cursive, elegant text or strong spaced out powerful lettering. We wanted to use an easy-to-read but also cursive font so that the element of romance within our film was hinted at. 
The font style we finally decided to used for our titles was Apple Chancery.
Our research and reason for the final font choice can be viewed here.

Narrative 

The narrative is very stereotypically period drama. The majority of real period drama films revolve around a love story and often they revolve around the struggle and discovery of a ''decent marriage''. Often the ''true love'' is not eligible for the other. This means our production narrative fits in perfectly with real life films.
how does the opening sets up the narrative?

The opening sets up the narrative as we begin to see the troubles of Billy and his efforts to contact Elizabeth after she tells him he can't ever be with her again. The audience begin to connect with Billy and want to know why this has happened to him and if anything will develop again between him and Elizabeth.

Genre
how does the opening suggest the genre?
The genre is suggested within the opening as we have used a number of conventions of typical period drama. The first shot of Billy writing a letter with basic equipment, the only light coming from a candle is an immediate indicator that our film is period drama. We then hear Billy talking in archaic language, this is the second big hint of the genre of our production. All throughout our production the characters are dressed in old-fashioned clothing and talk in a well-spoken manner suitable to our period drama genre. The music is another big indicator at our genre as soon as our opening begins and throughout our production the audience is greeted with soft classical piano songs and music which is a key convention of the period drama genre.

Settings/locations
Pride & Prejudice                               Devotion

One of the shots within the first sequence involves Billy walking through a forest path with his letter. We took inspiration for this shot from Pride & Prejudice (Above). We decided to try and re-create this sequence as I enjoyed the romantic feel of this shot and the beautiful open landscape. The shot is very picturesque and depicts the period drama genre. Filming in outside locations is key to the period drama genre as back in the regency era as there was no technology people normally used to pass the time outdoors.

Characters 
how are the characters are introduced?

Billy, the antagonist is introduced straight away, much like within the opening of Pride & Prejudice where Elizabeth is introduced. We felt that this suggests that Billy is the main character for the audience to be emotionally connected with. We wanted to imply that his story and emotions/thoughts were the most important to follow.
Elizabeth, the character of Elizabeth is first commented on within Billy's letter, she is introduced as Billy's love interest. We first see Elizabeth within Billy's flashback, firstly flirting with Billy suggesting that they are together then her telling him they cannot be together, this suggests a sense of confusion to the audience, they want to know why she has changed her mind so suddenly. Elizabeth develops the narrative.
Maid, the maid is introduced when Billy hands her the letter to give to Elizabeth. She tells him she won't read it and drops the letter, letting it fly away. This suggests that the maid is an antagonist.

Costume and props
To view all the costumes used within our production please click here.
We did lots of research into what specific characters wore in other period drama films and generally in the regency period.
We found it important to channel our period drama genre into the characters costume as its a big and immediate signifier to the audience as to what the genre is.

• We had many inspirations for Billy's costume the main ones being Mr Darcy from Pride & Prejudice and Angel Clare from Tess of the D'urbervilles. 
• Inspiration for Elizabeth's costume, based on Cosette, from Les Miserables. 
• Inspiration for the Maid's costume, based on the maids which appear in Downtown Abbey.

We also used a variety of different props which all hinted at the genre of the film as they were all typically period drama. The main props we used were:
Candle, the first prop used was the candle. The candle is significant as it was the only form of light back in the regency era and so this suggests our genre.
Billy's Letter, the letter which Billy gives to Elizabeth has a wax stamp sealing it together. This hints at the genre of the film as nowadays we use stamps and no longer have to seal letters with wax. We also chose to have a crème coloured paper, this is because white paper was rare to come across at this time this meant that it would be very unlikely for Billy to have it in his possession. The writing on the letter also suggests the period, and is written in calligraphy, we used this to suggest the period, and also to suggest that Billy is making the effort to impress Elizabeth. 
Elizabeth's book, one of the main forms of entertainment was reading in the regency period. The type of book also hints at the genre as its old and looks worn out. We took inspiration from Pride & Prejudice when in the opening shot Elizabeth is walking and reading an old-fashioned book (see picture under settings and locations).

Camera-work and editing
By using cross-dissolves and slowing clips down we have created a soft, slow opening which is typical of a romantic period drama. For example, the letter writing sequence we took inspiration from Mr Darcy's sequence (shown below), we slowed the sequence down making it seem romantic and give Billy a sense of longing.

Pride & Prejudice                                  Devotion

Special Effects
We didn't use any special effects within our production. Special effects are not a typical convention of period dramas as they are normally used within the Ski-Fi category. We did consider using some sound effects for the transitions between real life and flashback but we felt this made our production look too modern so we chose to stick to typical genre conventions.

How does your product represent particular social groups (gender, age, ethnicity, class, religion)?

Our film, Devotion, uses and represents lots of different social groups. As our film is a period drama one of the main elements is the social class.

Billy Walters

Billy Walters is a young boy with hopes of courting Elizabeth Harding. Billy comes from a poor background which is represented through his character background, he grew up farm with his Aunt and Uncle as his mother and father tragically died when he was just born. His social class is also represented through his costume and language. The costume is basic, messy shirt, black trousers, tattered waistcoat and his hair is messy and unkempt. The way the character talks during the flashback sequences is colloquial and common although during the letter voice-over Billy tries hard to write well-spoken heart-felt letter which Elizabeth will appreciate in hopes that she begins to see him more as a gentleman (like Philip Jeffories) and less as a scruffy farm boy. We based Billy on the character Robbie Turner from Atonement, Robbie is the son of the Tallis family servant and he falls in love with the families daughter, Cecilia. Therefore Robbie would have had a similar background to Billy. Both the actors have dark brown hair and represent the stereotypical ''tall, dark and handsome'' male appearance which is common throughout period dramas.

Elizabeth Harding

The character Elizabeth is represented as a innocent young woman who currently lives an upper-class life with her fiancée, Philip Jeffories, living in his grand manor house, while she really wants to spend her life with Billy. Her parents approve of Philip's wealth and think that he will be able to give Elizabeth all she deserves while they look down upon Billy and his more simple lifestyle. It is apparent that Elizabeth finds it hard to be away from Billy and doesn't care about his social class. 

The Maid

The audience don't find out much about the maids character. It is suggested however that she is practical, strong-minded and wise, for example, when Billy hands his letter over to the maid she tells him that Elizabeth isn't going to read it and he should stop daydreaming and waiting around for things that are not going to happen. The fact she asserts her authority over Billy suggests that her social class is similar as maid's in the regency era wouldn't dream of being so brash to social classes higher than themselves.

Philip Jeffories

Although you don't see Philip Jeffories in our opening sequence he is an high-class manor house owner. We imagined him to be a stereotypically wealthy, snobby, man who enjoys getting his own way. We took inspiration for his character from the rich gentlemen who live in grand manor houses with their large families in films such as, Atonement, Pride & Prejudice and the television dramas Downtown Abbey and Bleak House. 

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

What is a producer?
A film producer oversees and is generally involved in a film right from the beginning, it is often that they initiate the project. The producer may work with the director in choosing movie ideas as well as hiring cast and crew. A film producer makes the finished movie happen by taking care of the details behind the scenes.


Our production company: Skyline
For information about the development of our production company click here.

What is a distributor?
A distributor is a company responsible for releasing films to the public either via cinema release or home viewing (DVD, Download, Television). A distributor may do this directly (if the distributor owns theatres or distribution networks) or through exhibitors.

Distribution companies:



Marie Antoinette      Distribution Company: Columbia Pictures
The Duchess           Distribution Company: Paramount Village/Pathé Productions
Atonement              Distribution Company: Universal Pictures/Focus Features
Pride & Prejudice    Distribution Company: Studio Canal/Focus Features
Gosford Park           Distribution Company: USA Films/Focus Features
Emma                    Distribution Company: Miramax Films

Devotion
Our film would probably be distributed by Focus Features (the Universal Pictures 'arthouse' division), the reason for this being is that Focus Features already distributes similar films (as displayed above) and our film will fit in perfectly with what the distribution company aim to achieve.
We could receive funding from the UK Film Council (now the B.F.I) as our film is British and conveys British stereotypes/functions as well as as having an all British cast/producers/locations/dialogue. This means that our production will have qualified for funding and can apply to receive it.

Who would be your audience for your film?

This is Julie Taylor, 37, she lives in the quiet town of Winchelsea in East Sussex with her husband, two sons (aged 14 and 17) and two horses. She currently works part-time as a health care assistant at the local doctors surgery.


In her spare time she enjoys outside activities such as gardening, playing badminton and looking after her horses. Julie also likes spending time with her family but also enjoys going out with her friends, visiting posh gardens, going out for tea and shopping, the shops she normally visits are Dorothy Perkins, Topshop and Debenhams.


The music she enjoys is mostly soft old-fashioned piano music, she enjoys the work of Jean-Vyes Thiabaudet but she also enjoys modern artists such as Florence & The Machine, Duffy, Ellie Goulding, Adele and Sara Barellies.


When Julie gets the chance she enjoys watching high-drama television shows such as Eastenders, Holby City, Little Dorrit, Downton Abbey, Pride & Prejudice and Jane Eyre.  


She also likes watching mainstream films with her family, they have recently watched and enjoyed Avatar and Toy Story 3, but she secretly loves watching romance and period drama genre films on her own and with her friends. She has an extensive DVD collection, her favourites are, Love Actually, Gosford Park, Titantic, Marie Antoinette and The Notebook.


Our production, Devotion, will appeal to Julie Taylor as she it is apparent that she appreciates key elements of the period drama genre such as the outdoors, horses and classical soft music. She also enjoys romantic films and the romantic/period drama genre which is featured throughout our production. 

How did you attract/address your audience?

I have made annotations on our final production video above referring to genre conventions, use of music, inspirations and how we have attracted our audience.

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

Sony HD Video Camera & Tripod

I am very happy with the camera we were given to shoot with. It was easy to use and control and the quality of out footage and our final film looks very smooth. I learnt how to attach the camera onto the tripod and how to move it smoothly to create interesting dynamic shots I also learnt how to capture footage and transfer it onto a computer ready for editing. The only problem we had with the camera was when we forgot to clean the lens, as we were filming outside on a sunny day we failed to notice that over the top of the footage we captured was dust ruining the image, I have learnt to always make sure that the camera lens is clean to ensure the highest quality footage is captured.

We also used lots of computer programs and websites to create our final media production. All the programs we used were available to us on the school Apple macs.

Adobe Premiere Pro

This is the program we used to edit our film. During the editing process I learnt how to:

• Import footage/music
• Split slides/music
• Slow the pace of clips down
• Change the colouring of clips
• Cross dissolve the beginning and end of clips
• Add a 'flashback' effect to the edges of clips
• Add text over the top of clips
• Zoom clips in and out

Garage Band

When working on the soundtrack to Devotion in Garage Band the main things I learnt were how to add music together to create a good flowing tune and also how to change the pitch and length of notes so that the music connected together nicely. For research I learnt different types of sounds/music that are found within period drama films so that our film fit the conventions of our chosen genre.

Photoshop
We used Photoshop to edit the images used within our title sequence and also to create our production company logo. I learnt how to use lots of different tools within Photoshop particularly how to use different layers to change the look of the screen-shots from photos to hand-drawn/water-coloured images. I learnt how to use different fonts and how to arrange text artistically when creating the production company logo.

iTunes
We used iTunes to import the music that we had created in Garage Band onto our blogs and film and also to listen to our music back and gather feedback from other groups about our choice of music.

Flickr.com

I used Flickr to find suitable images for our film/blogs. For example, I found the feather image that we used for our production company (Skyline) on Flickr. The reason I used Flickr for my pictures rather than Google images or other search engine picture searches was that I found when I used Google images that it chucked out lots of irrelevant bad quality pictures while the Flickr website provided me with a large selection of good quality professional images.

Youtube.com

We used Youtube to upload our videos so that we could share and import them onto our blog. We also used Youtube to gather feedback from other users. (http://www.youtube.com/user/skylineproductionsuk).

Blogger.com

We used blogger to post regularly about the process of creating our film

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

To view our initial preliminary activities click here.

The preliminary tasks were very useful as during our first sequence as our main character (Billy) is walking through a field (match on action). We had to make sure that the audience first saw Billy walking down the end of the path and when the shot returned to Billy that he was further down the path.

Within our first sequence we also had the maid and Billy talking, we had to make sure that both characters were 180 degrees apart and that we had filmed them both so that the audience could see both the expressions of characters (shot reverse shot). It was useful that we had already learnt how to do this during our preliminary task as we had to then do it again during our filming for Devotion and knew how to do it.

Overall I feel that I learnt a lot when reconstructing our preliminary tasks in our final film, the smoothness of transition has dramatically improved from the original tasks and it is apparent in our film that we had control of every scene. As we had learnt how to do the match on action and shot reverse shot sequences before filming Devotion this saved time as we didn't need to figure out how to accomplish them on the day.

Using Garageband

We used 'Garageband' to develop all the sound/music for our film.
To create the music we used 'piano' sounds, half the music we recorded through the Garageband 'piano keyboard' which let us type notes which we then recorded. The other half we used the software tracks.

Piano Keyboard


Software tracks

The software tracks we used were 'Delicate Piano' numbers 3, 4, 6 and 15.

Using Photoshop

We used 'Adobe Photoshop CS4' to create our title sequence. We used photoshop to edit our photos and added a water-colour/sketch effect over the top. We edited the photos so they fit in better with our story and with the time period.

Here are some screenshots explaining how we edited our images:

1. We took the original image we wanted to use and imported it into photoshop.


2. We then changed the colour of the image to a parchment paper colour. We did this by going onto 'Photo Filter'.



3. We then looked for an effect that would make the image look like it had been hand-drawn/painted. We looked under 'Filter Gallery' to find an effect.


4. We then chose the 'Water-colour' filter.


5. The last process we went through was adding a texture to the image. We decided to use the 'cross-hatch' effect.



Before

After

Rough Cut

First Rough Cut of Devotation

Feedback

''The camera shots within the first sequence are very good, I particularly liked the last shot with candle in the foreground and the background out of focus. From the opening sequence you can tell that the genre is period drama.'' 

- Jack Johnson.

''I enjoyed the opening sequence although I felt like the titles dragged on a bit too long. Aside from this the camera work is very smooth and all the shots are very clear, the whole opening sequence looks professional.'' 

- Joe Haddow.

Evaluation
I am happy with our first draft. I think that the opening shot has a range of interesting cinematography. I really like the last shot of the lit candle in shot with the writing of the letter in the background out of focus, I feel as though this shot symbolises the confusion Billy is experiencing when writing the letter to Elizabeth, is this the right path to take? Nothing is clear to Billy. From the feedback one of the things that was mentioned was the timings of the credits and the opening sequence where Billy reads the letter people said that they were too long, we agreed with this statement and we have sped up our titles and removed some of the speech Billy makes within our final version. Apart from the timings of the credits and Billys speech I'm really happy with the font and I'm pleased with how the images came out on the parchment background. Overall I am impressed with our first draft and how professional it looks.

Preliminary Tasks

At the beginning of the course we had to film a variety of different preliminary tasks to get us used to working with the camera and equipment.

Task One - Match on action
Our first task was to film somebody walking through a door, we had to make sure that we got a shot of them walking through the door and then another shot of them in the room, the door closing behind them. This can be difficult to edit together as you need to make sure that you see the door opening and closing behind the character.

Task Two - Shot reverse shot
The second continuity task that we had to complete was recording a conversation between two people, we had to make sure that the camera was 180 degrees apart so that we could record both the faces of our subjects.

Our final preliminary task is below:


I filmed the task, myself and Miranda both edited and Miranda did the sound.
The 'shh' sound at the end of the sequence was myself making the sound which we recorded and embedded onto the clip.

Title Sequence - Final

Changes

• We decided on changing the colour of our titles, we felt that the images lacked vibrancy and the rich 'period drama' feel. 
• We also changed some of the screenshots so that all of them were taken from our film, we did this as we felt some of the shots didn't tie with the others.

Final Title Sequence Video



Final Title Sequence Grid

Evaluation
I am pleased with how our final title sequence looks. All the images we chose are suitable and give the audience a brief understanding of our film before it is played. I particularly like the editing and quality of the photos as they look vibrant and hand-drawn, you can tell what genre our film is from the titles. The music over the top of the credits fits in with our genre and ties the whole sequence together perfectly. The one issue I have with the title sequence is that we need to seperate our job roles (directed & produced by) so that myself and Miranda have a role each, this way we are following traditional conventions of other films, we will make this change within our final film.

Title Sequence - Second Draft

Research
Sherlock Holmes


Emma


Pride & Prejudice



Below I have experimented with different font types.


We finally decided on the font, 'Apple Chancery'


Why did we choose this font?

We wanted to find a font which was easy to read but also had an element of hand written style as the opening sequence depicts the main character, Billy, writing a letter and by having cursive writing for the titles it ties our opening sequence and title sequence together.

We have also made a few changes to our original title sequence.
We felt that having a continuous plain background was boring and would not engage our audience, to over-come this problem we decided to take screen shots from our film and edit them onto parchment paper to provide us with a background for out titles.
We took inspiration from Sherlock Holmes titles as demonstrated below:

As you can see we have taken still images from our film and added a parchment effect, over the top of these images will be our credits.

Title Analysis

I used the website http://www.artofthetitle.com/ to look through a variety of different films to view how the typical typical conventions of romance/period drama title sequences. I have briefly written about two title sequences which I enjoyed and then given a more in depth analysis about the Sherlock Holmes titles as I will be using them for inspiration to create my own title sequence.

Blue Valentine

The titles appear over the top of fireworks displaying images, the titles are in a bold white font which makes them stand out against the black background. The actors names appear with their second names more enlarged than their first names, this makes the font look interesting and engaging for the audience. The titles appear for three seconds and are three seconds apart. The sound of the firework bangs are in time with when the titles appear making the whole title sequence fit in together and look very professional.

Days of Heaven

The film starts with a sepia tone image with the title of the film in a big capitalised white font with a black border. The film names takes up the whole screen and fades in and out. The screen then shows a variety of different pictures, scrolling up or down and displaying actors names in the same font as the film title. The titles last for seven seconds and have a five second gap between them. The music playing fits in with the titles and overall the title sequence flows well.


Sherlock Holmes

The Sherlock Holmes titles is our main inspiration for our own title sequence.

The Sherlock Holmes title sequence firstly introduces the audience to the time period of the story this is indicated by the sketched images and the font of the titles being a messy hand written font. The pace in which the titles are displayed is fast perhaps indicating that the film will be quick and spontaneous. The images which are used throughout the title sequence are from the main events which happen throughout the film, this gives the audience an indicator of what is to come throughout the film and attract them into the storyline, making them wonder what events are going to take place. The images are also used to introduce the audience to the main characters and show the close friendship between them both, this is used to set the spectator up for events which involves the two friends later on in the film. The images go from moving scenes within the film to still frames which are transformed into sketched images on parchment like paper, the colours change from greys and blues to muddy brown and red colours, again introducing the audience to the time period the film is set in. The way the images suddenly are captured and transformed also hints at the genre of the film, mystery, the audience want to know what is going to happen next which gives the opening of the film a sense of wonder.

I personally enjoyed the Sherlock Holmes title sequence because of how it introduces the audience to the film and engages them without giving any of the storyline away. We have decided to take still images from our film and transform them into hand-drawn looking images for our title sequence, hoping to achieve the same effect on the audience in which the Sherlock titles do.

During Filming

We filmed over a series of days to complete our film.

Thursday 3rd February 2011
The filming was successful and we managed to film the voice-over and letter writing sequence in an hour. We used the school drama room during the hours of 1:30pm - 2:30pm so we didn't need to worry about the travel and weather forecast. We managed to get our actor, Ash Coombs, into costume quickly and dress the set without any major problems occurring this meant we were able to film the letter writing sequence quickly, the quality of all the footage we filmed was high and all was usable. When recording the voice-over we made sure that the sound quality was good and that Ash portrayed the the right emotions into Billy's voice. It only took two attempts to record the voice-over to a standard we were happy with. Myself and Miranda took turns to direct and shoot the scene. We worked well as a team and made sure that we made the most of our time.

Saturday 12th March 2011
We all arrived at Sandwich at 12:30pm. We lost a little bit of time scouting Sandwich trying to find a suitable location. But we finally found a suitable location, Fishers Gate, and then started to film the sequence where Billy gives the letter to maid who refuses to give it to Elizabeth. Myself and Miranda took turns in directing the shot and filming, we shared the work out equally and worked well together. The only problem we encountered when filming was as our location was public as people walked through the arch the camera would pick up their voices, this meant we had to keep stopping and starting filming to allow people to walk through. Although this slowed down filming slightly it allowed us to plan out all elements of the scene and make sure that it was all perfect. The rest of the filming went smoothly and we managed to finish all our filming at 2:30pm.

Tuesday 22nd March 2011

During our lunch break (1:15pm - 2:30pm) we filmed the sequence where Billy is walking to meet the maid and hands over the letter. The weather was really bright and warm which made filming conditions perfect to film in, we had no problems in finding a grassy pathway and fields to record in and we managed to record good quality footage in around forty five minutes. Me and Miranda took turns filming and directing, we worked well as a team and were well prepared for filming the sequence.

Wednesday 23rd March 2011

When looking back over our footage the previous day we found that the lens of the camera was dirty and had effected some of our shots, after talking through our options me and Miranda decided to re-shoot today so that our footage was all high quality.

Friday 25th March 2011

We arrived at our Sandwich location at 11:15pm with our actors Nicola Tee and Ash Coombs. We had created a list of shots we needed to get so we had no problems filming in the short amount of time we had. Myself and Miranda shared the job of filming, we each filmed a flashback scene each and took turns directing the shot.

Wednesday 27th April 2011

We arrived at Fishers gate ready and prepared to film our final shots and complete our film. Jess and Ash were in costume quickly and we had written out a shot list so we managed to complete the shots we needed very quickly, I filmed the first half of footage while while Miranda directed and then we swapped roles. Working as a team we managed to finish in less than an hour. The only major problem we had was the wind meaning we had to add on a voice-over onto our footage since you struggled to hear the actors voices over the top, although this wasn't ideal it was the best we could do without re-shooting.