Desolation - Opening Scene

https://youtu.be/sr0DUf0ZMlg

Evaluation Question 7

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRz7Kkkz1U4

I decided to make a video on Premiere Pro to show the most important differences between the edits in the preliminary task, and also the main task.

The narrative of both of my films are different, as I was given a free choice of genre for my preliminary, but was given the genre of post apocalyptic for my main task. The overall differences of the narrative are that I have more than one character in my preliminary task, and only one in my main task. I wanted to signify the isolation in the post apocalyptic genre, whereas I chose the genre of thriller for my preliminary. 

For my preliminary task, I felt that there wasn't as much planning needed than there was for the main task. It required me to plan everything I did, whether that be my location, checking the weather forecast for filming day or documenting my characters. This wasn’t necessarily needed in my preliminary, as my main task was the most important. As I could choose the genre myself for my preliminary task, I felt that this took a lot longer to film, as we had a free choice of what to do, so therefore added more elements in. I also felt that the main task filming was much easier, as we knew exactly what we were doing and we could film it in a certain amount of time due to the weather. 

I think that the time working on both of the pieces are different, as I feel that I spent a lot longer editing my main task than I did my preliminary. I had discovered more techniques, and added effects onto my work so that I felt it was at its best. I believe that I have used many more features in my main task, as I was able to experiment more and had learnt different techniques from my previous task. Additionally, I believe that the sound has improved massively in the opening scene. In the preliminary task, the talking is extremely quiet and isn't very clear. However, in the opening scene, I decided that I were going to use voiceovers over the video clips, as I thought that this was clearer to understand and I think that this fit better with the film itself. I think that my main opening scene is far better than the preliminary, as it shows a range of techniques that I have learnt through the duration of my media filming. I think that the opening scene demonstrates the genre well, and shows that the post apocalyptic world is difficult for my character to live in. 

Evaluation Question 6

Question 6 from Jess Castledine

Evaluation Question 5

Evaluation Q5 from Jess Castledine

Evaluation Question 4

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question 1

Evaluation Question 1 from Jess Castledine

Characters in our opening scene & social groups

For our opening scene, we decided to use only one character, as we felt that this was the best way to represent the isolation. Our character is female, and has been surviving in the destroyed world by herself. Her family contracted the deadly virus which wiped out the population, and was the only one to survive. She is represented as strong, and is able to look after herself without the need of a male. We wanted to challenge the stereotype of the female gender by making her the powerful gender rather than a male.
We decided against a male character, as we felt that this would have reflected the dominance of the male gender, and would almost represent that the woman couldn't fend for herself.

Although the opening scene doesn't give too much information about the class of our character, we wanted to represent a character who perhaps took life for granted before, but now would do anything for life to be back to how it was.

• Strong female character
• Aged 16
• Shown as an isolated female
• Would do anything to have a life like she had before

Planning mise en scene and props

For our mise en scene, we wanted a setting which was quite isolated and "rough". After looking at post apocalyptic films, I noticed that the genre included derelict places and this is what we wanted to include in our scene.
We decided on a few places where we could film, and these included:

• Brierley Park in Sutton in Ashfield
• Kingsway Park in Kirkby in Ashfield

We found that the places where we could visit, without the consent from land owners, were quite limited, as we need a lot of space to show the isolation of our character. 

For the lighting in our opening scene, we want a foggy/misty atmosphere, as we feel that this would represent the destroyed, unused world. If it was to rain, we wouldn't be able to film properly, as it would be difficult to film without getting too muddy, however it could represent the pathetic fallacy of the character.

The music and sounds in our opening scene important, as we want music which is slow to begin with but builds tension towards the end. We want to also add voiceovers to our piece as we feel that this will move the opening scene along, and also help the audience to understand what is going on.

We want to keep our props to a minimum, to show that the supplies are scarce and that our character is extremely grateful for finding something. The props we could use:

• A bag
• Possibly an old blanket
• A few food supplies
• Something to eat the food with
• A photo of our characters family

Planning costumes and makeup

For the costume and our characters makeup, we wanted her to look like she had been out in the world for a long time by herself. We thought that by wearing simple clothing and by using dark makeup to represent dirt, I thought that this would relate to the conventions of the post apocalyptic genre that I had previously researched.

Clothing plan:

• Old t-shirt
• Worn shoes
• A pair of old jeans
• A coat 
• A wooly hat

Makeup:

• Dark eyeshadow which can be used to represent dirt. 

I thought that by using this, I could show that my character had been living rough due to the post apocalyptic event which had occurred. 

Main Task Mood Board

Planning for lighting

For the opening scene, I would prefer the lighting to be natural, as I want my film opening to be filmed outside. I would also like a dewy, dusky sky, as I feel that this will emphasis the destroyed world after the post apocalyptic event.

As we don't have the budget to be able to use professional lighting, the natural lighting on a misty day would benefit the opening scene.

Script for the opening scene

I decided that I was going to use voiceovers in my opening scene, as I felt that these were necessary to guide the viewer through what had happened. They would describe the inner thought of the character, and how she was feeling and how she is feeling now prior to the post apocalyptic event.
I wanted the voiceovers to be placed over subtle music and the videos of the character playing in the background; I want the videos to match the voiceover.


"It's 2022. It's been exactly 2 years since the apocalypse happened. I miss how it was before. I miss my family and the way I used to live.
Life's been a struggle, especially with the little supply of food that I have left.
I haven't even seen another human being, since they all got wiped out by the deadly virus.
Was I really lucky to not have caught it? Was I immune to that thing?
I always feel like I have eyes on me, watching my every move. Is someone out there? Or am I imagining things in my deluded mind?"

Main Task Plan

For our main task, we have decided that we are going to base it in a forest. This will be done in the daytime, where we can see everything going on in the footage. We don't have a budget which we can work with, so we will try our best with the lighting and use as many props as we possibly can which fit our genre.
We've decided that our main character will be female; we thought this would be different as this isn't generally seen in films, and the woman is stereotypically shown as the weak one. She will be dressed in old clothing, which shows that she has been in the forest/woods for a while and has few supplies.
She will be shown as an isolated character, who has experienced a post apocalyptic event (a virus has wiped out the population).

Weather

We decided that the day for our filming would be Sunday, as this was the day where it wasn't predicted to rain. We thought that the best time to film would be at 10am, as we thought that not many people would be around. It was a cloudy day, which helped us with our setting (as this is what we wanted).
We filmed our footage without any problems, however, discovered that in one part of our film, there are a few people walking pat.

Location

 For our filming, we decided to go to Brieley Park in Sutton, as we thought this would be a good place for greenery and would enable us to show the isolation of the place and character.
This place was just right for my opening scene, as it included areas which looked rough and showed that the place was derelict.

Storyboard

This is the storyboard for our main task. I took individual photos of my storyboard so that they are clearer to see. 

Animatic for storyboard

The storyboard gave my group and I an idea of how the film may turn out. However, I think that this may change slightly, depending on the location, the props that we have and the weather forecast.

Timelines of opening credits

For research, I had to analyse the opening credits of two post apocalyptic, and two other films with a different genre. I decided to do Mad Max and World War Z as my post apocalyptic, and Divergent and Tintin as my others. Whilst watching the opening credits, I found that there were slight variations in the order in which the credits came, and will explain this as I go along.

Firstly, in the opening credits of Mad Max, the production house has been placed first, as this shows the audience who has produced the film. The actors and actresses come second, as these are important and have been placed near the beginning of the credits. The title is quick to come in, as this comes next, even coming before the casting and screenplay credits. Throughout the whole opening credits, tension building music is used, as this leaves the audience wondering what will happen next and will leave them with questions in their mind.

Mad Max

Secondly, the post apocalyptic film World War Z had a slightly different way of portraying their credits. The title of the film is later on in the opening credits than that of Mad Max, and they have used footage from the actual film to create the title. After the actors and actresses names have been displayed, the music starts to get louder and begins to add tension to the piece, and this is when the title is displayed on the screen. Brad Pitt (the main actor) is shown on screen first, as he is the actor who is the most well known and enables the audience to see who the main star is. 

World War Z

 I decided that I would look at the opening credits for Tintin (2011 film). Throughout these opening credits, the Tintin soundtrack is played as a cartoon version of the film is shown throughout the opening scene. I think that this is quite nice, as it is calm and sets the scene.  In these opening credits, the producers are shown first, similar to World War Z. Steven Spielberg is a well known director, however his name is shown later in the credits, after the producers. The title of the film is displayed on the screen in bold writing, which is bright yellow and contrasts with the red background. The main actors are displayed first, as this shows the order of importance of the characters which appear in the film.

Tintin

The opening credits for Divergent included a lot of different names for different things. Firstly, the film producers are shown first with their company logo. Neil Burger (the director) is shown just before the film title, which continues onto the actors and actresses names. Throughout the opening credits, the opening scene of the film is played whilst the names appear on screen and while the characters are being shown. 

Divergent

The opening credits for all four films are very similar, as they introduce the people behind the scene before they do the actors/actresses which appear on screen. I think that this is a form of importance, as the directors/producers are the ones who put the films together, and the people who play the characters are being paid to star in blockbuster films. The more well known the actor/actress, the more money the directors, producers etc will make; this is why I think the names of the well known person are used first. 

Foley

1. What is a Foley artist?
A Foley artist is someone who creates the sound effects for a film during post production.


2. Who was Foley?
Jack Foley established the basic modern techniques, which are still used today, and was named after him.


3. Why are Foley artists needed?
Foley artists are needed in order to create the sound effects in a film. They include sounds such as footsteps, clothes rustling, doors opening and slamming etc. They are needed to emphasise the sounds in a film which sound hollow or thin. Another common use for Foley sound replacement is adding it to documentary footage and used to enhance comedy or action scenes. By punching objects such as cabbages, celery and sides of beef, Foley artists can record unique and much more realistic action sounds.


4. Give examples of how Foley artists traditionally achieve their outcomes.
Foley artists achieve their outcomes by standing on a Foley stage (an area with a variety of possible surfaces and props) in a Foley studio, which is a specialised studio. The Foley artists can see a screen which displays the footage they are to add sound effects to and will perform their sound effects while watching this screen for typing. The actions they perform can include walking, running, jostling each other, rubbing their clothing, handling props and breaking objects.


5. How is Foley work completed nowadays?
Increasingly, many simple Foley sound effects are done without Foley artists. The sound effects are stored electronically and performed by the post production sound engineer on a keyboard whilst watching the visual. It is much cheaper than renting a Foley stage and paying Foley artists to create the sound effects. However, if done poorly, this type of Foley effect sounds repetitive and bland, and is nowhere near as flexible as the real thing.