Our main points of action that we need to focus on are:
filming - We need to make sure have filmed everything we need to, to complete this task.
editing -We need to make sure we have edited all the clips, and put in the istop motion in, added the music from garage band, and put fades in ect.
istop motion - This section of our sequence is very important, therefore we need to make sure this is complete.
Monday, 14 December 2009
PG or U homework task.
There are two types of certification for children’s films. They are PG and U. PG stands for Parental Guidance. This may mean that there are scenes in the film that may not be as acceptable for young children to watch on their own unlike in a film with the certificate of U. Parental Guidance is only advised if a parent does not feel comfortable for their child to watch it on their own. The age range for Parental Guidance is usually between 7 – 11. The other certificate is a U. This stands for Universal, which means anyone of all ages is able to watch the film on his or her own. Most children’s films are classified as U’s however some are also PGs. I think our Children’s film is most probably going to be a U. This is because there are no scenes, which would frighten or scare any young children so anyone of any age should be able to watch our children’s film on their own. I think this is the right certification for our children’s film. The reason for this is because there are no scenes, which show any violence, bad language, horror or basically anything that would effect a young child who was watching it.
Friday, 11 December 2009
how the opening sequence has been so far
We did have a few problems while filming our opening sequence that we had to resolve, we had to find a good spot to film a shelf which seemed like a hard idea until we got access to a libary shelf to use which was very helpful. We also had some problems with i stop motion and this was because when we stopped filming and started filming the next day, the angle of the toy was too hard to get back into shape so we had to try for 30 mins to find a decent spot to start off again. We did some good things though which was our filming, we did not need to do any shots twice because we filmed them perfectly everytime which saved a lot of time and helped us spend more time on the time consuming i stop motion.
Thursday, 10 December 2009
media homework - similar films to opening sequence
With the childrens film that we made there are not a lot of films that are similar to this because this is quite a unique idea. But if any film had to be compared to this film it would have to be the Toy story films.
The reason why the toy story films are similar to our childrens opening sequence we made is because there is a same narration that focuses on the concept of toys being able to come alive and humans not noticing them. In the toy story the narration there are 2 toys get seperated from the other toys and they have to make it back and in our childrens film opening there is one toy that gets taken away from the others and it has to try and make it back and regroup, so both toy story and our opening follow the same guidlines in the narration.
The main characters used in toy story are two toys that hate each other and this makes it even more of a struggle to make it back to there group and this is a complete contrast to our opening sequence because there is only one toy that is lost that has to find its way back. And another way how these films don't link is because toy story is animation and our opening sequence is not.
On a overall the film does partially link and this is because of the concept of toys coming alive and how the humans can't see them actually moving.
The reason why the toy story films are similar to our childrens opening sequence we made is because there is a same narration that focuses on the concept of toys being able to come alive and humans not noticing them. In the toy story the narration there are 2 toys get seperated from the other toys and they have to make it back and in our childrens film opening there is one toy that gets taken away from the others and it has to try and make it back and regroup, so both toy story and our opening follow the same guidlines in the narration.
The main characters used in toy story are two toys that hate each other and this makes it even more of a struggle to make it back to there group and this is a complete contrast to our opening sequence because there is only one toy that is lost that has to find its way back. And another way how these films don't link is because toy story is animation and our opening sequence is not.
On a overall the film does partially link and this is because of the concept of toys coming alive and how the humans can't see them actually moving.
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Homework-Lesson log
Log process of media lesson on the 8th of December 2009
First of all we re-acquainted ourselves with our storyboard and went over what we were to do in that lesson. Two members of our group, Lauren and Ollie, went to the Learning Resource Centre to see if we were allowed to use this space for filming. After we were told we were allowed we regrouped and brought all of our props, toys and cameras to our filming location. Then we proceeded to shoot all of our shots from our story board. There were some shots which we slightly varied but not too much to affect the storyline. We finished shooting shots in our story line in roughly an hour using the tri-pod and video camera. This whole process was very successful as we planned to maybe take longer shooting our shots. Despite being very quick we did not compromise the quality of our shots. After filming we had roughly 20-25 minutes left to start the editing process. We spent this time cutting out the shots which went wrong or not as good as hoped. We deleted all sound as in our clip there will be no diagetic sound and only a soundtrack playing over the top. We also discussed what to do in future lessons; we thought as our sequence has no dialogue it may be slightly hard to follow for a child-based audience so to help this factor we could introduce speech bubbles or something along those lines to make it clear. Our filming process is not quite over as we still need to do one shot using iStop-Motion. Next lesson we plan to do that as well as continuing editing and possibly thinking about adding a soundtrack.
First of all we re-acquainted ourselves with our storyboard and went over what we were to do in that lesson. Two members of our group, Lauren and Ollie, went to the Learning Resource Centre to see if we were allowed to use this space for filming. After we were told we were allowed we regrouped and brought all of our props, toys and cameras to our filming location. Then we proceeded to shoot all of our shots from our story board. There were some shots which we slightly varied but not too much to affect the storyline. We finished shooting shots in our story line in roughly an hour using the tri-pod and video camera. This whole process was very successful as we planned to maybe take longer shooting our shots. Despite being very quick we did not compromise the quality of our shots. After filming we had roughly 20-25 minutes left to start the editing process. We spent this time cutting out the shots which went wrong or not as good as hoped. We deleted all sound as in our clip there will be no diagetic sound and only a soundtrack playing over the top. We also discussed what to do in future lessons; we thought as our sequence has no dialogue it may be slightly hard to follow for a child-based audience so to help this factor we could introduce speech bubbles or something along those lines to make it clear. Our filming process is not quite over as we still need to do one shot using iStop-Motion. Next lesson we plan to do that as well as continuing editing and possibly thinking about adding a soundtrack.
Monday, 7 December 2009
Opening scene Aladdin The Return Of Jafar.
For our homework in media we were asked to watch an opening sequence from a children’s and write about some of the key features such as narrative, characters, atmosphere, setting and the colours used to create the atmosphere.
The children’s film I have chosen to talk about is Aladdin, the return of Jafar, which is the second of the two Aladdin films. This film is made by Disney. The opening of the sequence is dark and set at night. There are dark colours that represent the thieves and this is giving a sort of scary atmosphere for children to watch, they also come out of shadows, which is making them seem dark and mysterious. I think it is also representing a scary atmosphere because the characters you are introduced to are all men but you are then introduced to ‘Aladdin’ and his monkey ‘Abu’ who give the film its heroic and comedy side. I think the character of the ‘flying carpet’ is clever because a lot of children will watch this and wish they could have there own ‘flying carpet’ There is a fight scene at the start as well but it is not showing any violence although they are using weapons. The colours that are representing the ‘good guys’ in the film are a lot brighter and happier and the music also used is a lot more cheerful.
The characters that are introduced in the opening scene are ‘Aladdin’, ‘Abu’ his monkey, ‘Iago’ the red parrot and ‘Jasmine’ who is sort of Aladdin’s girlfriend. Aladdin is seen as the hero of the film who makes a few mistakes and tells a few lies throughout it. He is also seen as very generous as what he takes from thieves he gives back to less fortunate people. Iago belongs to Jafar who is not introduced in the opening scene. He is red, which is a bright colour so that catches the attention of children. He brings comedy to the film with the song he sings he is trying to make out he doesn’t need Jafar when really he does.
The narrative of the film is that typical of a children’s film. Even though it starts off dark it changes when Aladdin and Abu are introduced. They are a stereotypical hero in the film as they take what thieves have stolen and give it back. Aladdin is also shown in the opening sequence as the perfect person who never does anything wrong.
The music in the film is non – diegetic. It starts off dark and mysterious and as more characters are introduced it lightens up into a happier tune, which children will enjoy.
The children’s film I have chosen to talk about is Aladdin, the return of Jafar, which is the second of the two Aladdin films. This film is made by Disney. The opening of the sequence is dark and set at night. There are dark colours that represent the thieves and this is giving a sort of scary atmosphere for children to watch, they also come out of shadows, which is making them seem dark and mysterious. I think it is also representing a scary atmosphere because the characters you are introduced to are all men but you are then introduced to ‘Aladdin’ and his monkey ‘Abu’ who give the film its heroic and comedy side. I think the character of the ‘flying carpet’ is clever because a lot of children will watch this and wish they could have there own ‘flying carpet’ There is a fight scene at the start as well but it is not showing any violence although they are using weapons. The colours that are representing the ‘good guys’ in the film are a lot brighter and happier and the music also used is a lot more cheerful.
The characters that are introduced in the opening scene are ‘Aladdin’, ‘Abu’ his monkey, ‘Iago’ the red parrot and ‘Jasmine’ who is sort of Aladdin’s girlfriend. Aladdin is seen as the hero of the film who makes a few mistakes and tells a few lies throughout it. He is also seen as very generous as what he takes from thieves he gives back to less fortunate people. Iago belongs to Jafar who is not introduced in the opening scene. He is red, which is a bright colour so that catches the attention of children. He brings comedy to the film with the song he sings he is trying to make out he doesn’t need Jafar when really he does.
The narrative of the film is that typical of a children’s film. Even though it starts off dark it changes when Aladdin and Abu are introduced. They are a stereotypical hero in the film as they take what thieves have stolen and give it back. Aladdin is also shown in the opening sequence as the perfect person who never does anything wrong.
The music in the film is non – diegetic. It starts off dark and mysterious and as more characters are introduced it lightens up into a happier tune, which children will enjoy.
Sunday, 6 December 2009
Opening scene Toy Story 2
We were told to research a children's film opening and discuss the setting, atmosphere, characters and colours. I decided to use the children's film Toy Story 2 because it used conventional techniques to convey a comical tone towards a child-based audience. It uses typically bright colours which engage a child-based audience as well as using skillful animation techniques.
The music as the character 'Buzz-Lightyear' is introduced to the scene is typically that of a super-hero and conveys him in a 'goodie' light. Also the fact that he is flying through the air represents toys coming to life, which that idea in itself could entertain a childs mind. The image of several toys being 'alive' in the second shot could entertain the viewer and create a fun and happy atmosphere. The use of darker yet smoooth colours go part in parcel with the setting of space and make the whole scene seem more believable to the audience.
The use of all 'toys' with humans voices and movements as characters plays with the viewers imagination and create a real to life feel about the whole scene. After the title scene is over. The first opening scene starts. There are bright colours which engage a child audience as well as warm and nice feeling non-diegetic music.
We were told to research a children's film opening and discuss the setting, atmosphere, characters and colours. I decided to use the children's film Toy Story 2 because it used conventional techniques to convey a comical tone towards a child-based audience. It uses typically bright colours which engage a child-based audience as well as using skillful animation techniques.
The music as the character 'Buzz-Lightyear' is introduced to the scene is typically that of a super-hero and conveys him in a 'goodie' light. Also the fact that he is flying through the air represents toys coming to life, which that idea in itself could entertain a childs mind. The image of several toys being 'alive' in the second shot could entertain the viewer and create a fun and happy atmosphere. The use of darker yet smoooth colours go part in parcel with the setting of space and make the whole scene seem more believable to the audience.
The use of all 'toys' with humans voices and movements as characters plays with the viewers imagination and create a real to life feel about the whole scene. After the title scene is over. The first opening scene starts. There are bright colours which engage a child audience as well as warm and nice feeling non-diegetic music.
Friday, 4 December 2009
Script and Actors/Directors ect.
Our group.
Jack - Actor/Editor.
Simon- Camera man/Prop/Make-up/Editor.
Lauren - Camera man /Director/Editor.
Ollie - Camera man/Director/Editor.
Script.
We will have no dialogue. This is because we think the sequence will be enough, also, having dialogue will give to much away about the rest of the film as a whole.
This is our story Board...
Jack - Actor/Editor.
Simon- Camera man/Prop/Make-up/Editor.
Lauren - Camera man /Director/Editor.
Ollie - Camera man/Director/Editor.
Script.
We will have no dialogue. This is because we think the sequence will be enough, also, having dialogue will give to much away about the rest of the film as a whole.
This is our story Board...
Shot List.
Shot one - Shot one will consist of a medium close up of the toys on the shelf.
Shot two - Shot two will consist of a close up of the toys.
Extended shot two - There will also be a pan of all the toys.
Shot three - This shot will be the establishing shot of the character being introduced. This shot will be an over the shoulder shot of the character walking to the toys. Shot four - Shot four will have medium long shot of a person (one of us) reaching for the toy.
Shot four - This shot will be a close up of the persons hand reaching for the toy.
Shot five - Persons hand moving the toy, camera following this.
Shot six - The next shot will be a close up of the persons elbow.
Shot seven - This shot will be a of the toy falling down of the shelf. (medium shot)
Shot eight - This will be of the basket, and the toy falling into it using a medium shot.
Shot nine - This will be of an over the shoulder shot from the basket, the camera angle will be looking at the person walking to towards the basket.
Shot Ten - Next will be a shot over the shoulder of the person, picking up the basket.
Shot eleven - This next shot will be an a front on view of the person walking with the basket, then tracking the person as they walk round the corner.
Shot twelve - The next shot will be a medium long shot of the person putting the basket down.
Shot thirteen - A close up of the toys face.
Shot fourteen - A point of view shot from the toys angle, then moving in a circle . Round and round.
Shot two - Shot two will consist of a close up of the toys.
Extended shot two - There will also be a pan of all the toys.
Shot three - This shot will be the establishing shot of the character being introduced. This shot will be an over the shoulder shot of the character walking to the toys. Shot four - Shot four will have medium long shot of a person (one of us) reaching for the toy.
Shot four - This shot will be a close up of the persons hand reaching for the toy.
Shot five - Persons hand moving the toy, camera following this.
Shot six - The next shot will be a close up of the persons elbow.
Shot seven - This shot will be a of the toy falling down of the shelf. (medium shot)
Shot eight - This will be of the basket, and the toy falling into it using a medium shot.
Shot nine - This will be of an over the shoulder shot from the basket, the camera angle will be looking at the person walking to towards the basket.
Shot Ten - Next will be a shot over the shoulder of the person, picking up the basket.
Shot eleven - This next shot will be an a front on view of the person walking with the basket, then tracking the person as they walk round the corner.
Shot twelve - The next shot will be a medium long shot of the person putting the basket down.
Shot thirteen - A close up of the toys face.
Shot fourteen - A point of view shot from the toys angle, then moving in a circle . Round and round.
Thursday, 3 December 2009
ToyStory.
ToyStory.
The opening to Toy Story has a happy and warm atmosphere. One elements that relates to this are the colours in the sequence. The colours are mainly light such as blues and yellows. These colours are very neutral, and are related to children. Furthermore, the cloud design of the wall paper shows being fun, and maybe the concept of wanting to be somewhere else, and daydreaming. As clouds and blue sky tend to be associated with warm summer days and fun and with imagaination, this also relates to the fact the toys can talk and come alive.
Furthermore the non-diagetic sound, is very upbeat and happy. This also adds to the sense of fun, and adds to the films atmosphere of being happy, and children related. If the music had been very dull and not very upbeat, it would have given the opening to the film a very different atmosphere. Also to add to the music, the lyrics "you got a friend in me" suggest the film is about friendship, which we know as the veiws, it very much is. The mise-en-scene within the sequence is all of toys. The unrealistic buildings made out of cardboard, show that the toys use this room, with blue cloudy skies, and the boxes as buildings, as there little minature town/city. Showing that the toys come to life.
The opening to Toy Story has a happy and warm atmosphere. One elements that relates to this are the colours in the sequence. The colours are mainly light such as blues and yellows. These colours are very neutral, and are related to children. Furthermore, the cloud design of the wall paper shows being fun, and maybe the concept of wanting to be somewhere else, and daydreaming. As clouds and blue sky tend to be associated with warm summer days and fun and with imagaination, this also relates to the fact the toys can talk and come alive.
Furthermore the non-diagetic sound, is very upbeat and happy. This also adds to the sense of fun, and adds to the films atmosphere of being happy, and children related. If the music had been very dull and not very upbeat, it would have given the opening to the film a very different atmosphere. Also to add to the music, the lyrics "you got a friend in me" suggest the film is about friendship, which we know as the veiws, it very much is. The mise-en-scene within the sequence is all of toys. The unrealistic buildings made out of cardboard, show that the toys use this room, with blue cloudy skies, and the boxes as buildings, as there little minature town/city. Showing that the toys come to life.
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
Discuss and list Ideas for...
Mise-En-Scene.
Props- The props we will be using are several toys, a movable back ground for the stop motion.
The Costume- The costumes we will be using are normal, everyday clothes. This is because we need the characters to look very natural. The main character who is lego, will be wearing the same clothes throughout.
Actors- The people we are using in our opening sequence are ourselves. This is because we will not need to take people out of classes to record, and on the whole will be a lot more straightforward.
Setting- The Setting we will be hosting the opening sequence in is some where quiet, where we will not be disturbed. We thought of filming it in the library where there is little distractions. Furthermore there are shelves there, like the shop we are trying to create. However as we will have to make some noise during filming, this may not be possible, and we might have to re-think.
Colours + Lighting- The lighting we will be having is natural. Using the surounding lighting, such as window light. If we need to, we can turn off the lights in the room we are working in , or prahaphs use a tourch for extra lighting. The colours we want to use are warm colours, as it is set around christmas time, and this time of year is all about fires, and yellowy organge colours.
Camerawork.
What type of camera will we be using- The camera we will be using to film our opening sequence with is
Style- We will also be using stop motion, we will be taking still images, and putting them together to create a short sequence. We want to use a dolly somewhere during our film. This is becuase we want our camera shots and angles to be controled, and not static. Also we in some parts we may want slow motion, for example when the main character toy falls into the basket and gets taken to the other end of the strore. This is because it slow motion can enfise what the insident, and in this situation i think it will.
Editing.
Pace- The pace of the film, will be slow paced at the begnning to show the calm atmosphere. And then prahaphs when the toy gets pushed into the basket the pace could change, so it is faster, showing that something major has happened. And this is the 'problem' in the film.
Props- The props we will be using are several toys, a movable back ground for the stop motion.
The Costume- The costumes we will be using are normal, everyday clothes. This is because we need the characters to look very natural. The main character who is lego, will be wearing the same clothes throughout.
Actors- The people we are using in our opening sequence are ourselves. This is because we will not need to take people out of classes to record, and on the whole will be a lot more straightforward.
Setting- The Setting we will be hosting the opening sequence in is some where quiet, where we will not be disturbed. We thought of filming it in the library where there is little distractions. Furthermore there are shelves there, like the shop we are trying to create. However as we will have to make some noise during filming, this may not be possible, and we might have to re-think.
Colours + Lighting- The lighting we will be having is natural. Using the surounding lighting, such as window light. If we need to, we can turn off the lights in the room we are working in , or prahaphs use a tourch for extra lighting. The colours we want to use are warm colours, as it is set around christmas time, and this time of year is all about fires, and yellowy organge colours.
Camerawork.
What type of camera will we be using- The camera we will be using to film our opening sequence with is
Style- We will also be using stop motion, we will be taking still images, and putting them together to create a short sequence. We want to use a dolly somewhere during our film. This is becuase we want our camera shots and angles to be controled, and not static. Also we in some parts we may want slow motion, for example when the main character toy falls into the basket and gets taken to the other end of the strore. This is because it slow motion can enfise what the insident, and in this situation i think it will.
Editing.
Pace- The pace of the film, will be slow paced at the begnning to show the calm atmosphere. And then prahaphs when the toy gets pushed into the basket the pace could change, so it is faster, showing that something major has happened. And this is the 'problem' in the film.
This video is well made because it uses really quick movements and there is a good lighting use too that makes it look like the robot is under the spotlight.
This video is self explanatory because it is showing you how the video is actually made. It uses grip bars to hold the figure in place.
This video is really clever because it uses a fight scene and there is a camera technique in this too where the camera is shaky to make the fight scene look more intense.
This is a clever video because it shows a break dancing sequence of a robot which takes the effect of i stop motion to its full potential. Its also clever by showing the transition from the robot back into the car.
these videos are all by PatrickBolvin on youtube. He has used i stop motion and other applications to make these superb clips. He also has many more great quality clips to browse on youtube tool
Production meeting.
Genre.
The genre of our childrens film opening is adventure.
The genre of our childrens film opening is adventure.
Narrative.
The narrative in our opening sequence is one toy gets taken away from his original shelf, and taken to the other end of the store. This toy has to find its way back to the other end of the shop. meeting different toys in the shop, making new friends. And meeting difficulties that obscure his way back.
Character.
The main character is a little lego man. He is small, this is because we want him, when he meets 'nasty' toys that try and block his way home, to look vulnerable. Other characters will be things like dinosaurs.
The narrative in our opening sequence is one toy gets taken away from his original shelf, and taken to the other end of the store. This toy has to find its way back to the other end of the shop. meeting different toys in the shop, making new friends. And meeting difficulties that obscure his way back.
Character.
The main character is a little lego man. He is small, this is because we want him, when he meets 'nasty' toys that try and block his way home, to look vulnerable. Other characters will be things like dinosaurs.
Our idea.
Another idea we have had is with Istop-motion and using actors. Its is christamas time and all of the toys have been sold for the children to have for chirstmas morning. However one toy is left on the wrong shelf. He has to find his way back to his end of the store, traveling, and meeting new toys along the way. The moral of the story is to never give up hope.
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Back to the Future storyboard
Back to the Future.
In this task we watched a short sequence from the film 'Back to the Future' Then we had to present the sequence in the form of a storyboard. In doing this we learnt several techniques including learning how and when to use arrows to show character and camera movements. It also gave us vital practice for when we do our storyboard for our childrens film opening sequence. We also learnt what type of information to put underneath the shot on the story board, for instance the actual shot number, shot type and the pace of the shot.
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