Feedback MGS

1. Include credits by production company, distribution company, director, editor and title
2. Include more sound effects
3. Include transitions
4. Lighting experimentation
5. Take still shots from storyboard


by Friday 4th November

Storyboard of the film opening

Shot 1: This first shot is the title screen. The title is central and surrounded by darkness, so it has beams of light coming off from it to help it stand out and show a great contrast to the background. The camera will slowly zoom in on the title to create a mysterious tone. In the background creepy non-diegetic music will be played throughout some of the shots to set the scene and give a feel to what is happening in the scenes. This shot will fade into the next.
Shot 2: This is a medium close-up shot of a girl laying dead on the floor. We see half of her body on screen, the other half is out if the frame. We see this from a Birdseye view, with her surrounded by darkness with a single spotlight on her. Again the creepy non-diegetic music will be playing, to show a sinister scene. This is in the present and would also appear at the very end of the film. The girl will be very pale to show that she is either dead or only just alive. At the top of the shot will be two subtitles. This shot will again fade into the next.
Shot 3: This is another medium close-up of the girl. In this shot we see only see he girls hands, alongside someone's feet, facing towards the body. We see this in a Birdseye view, which makes it appear that audience are watching the girl with the mysterious person. The feet and hands will be the only things visible in the shot, as the rest of the shot will be in darkness. The music continues to play in the background, helping to show the dark nature of these shots. Also a non-diegetic sound of a girl screaming will be added in over the top of this shot, in order to add more suspense and almost show an echo from the recent past. Another subtitle will be added between the person and the girl. This is another shot in the present, after this shot, the rest of the film is a flashback. This shot fades into the next.
Shot 4: This shot is a close-up of two people holding hands, which indicates they are quite close to one another. There is light around the hands, showing that is it a happy, friendly shot, which is a big contrast to the first few shots. However the music is still being played in the background, creating a sense of unease. A subtitle will again be added near the top of the shot. The camera then zooms out.
Shot 5: This is a long shot of the two friends holding hands. We can now see the whole of the two girls who are still holding hands. The girls are surrounded by light, creating a contrast to the black background. This allows the audience to get a first proper look into the characters of this film. The music continues to be played. This shot is then cut to the next.
Shot 6: This is a long shot of the drama room, which will be made to look like an apartment. The camera pans so that the whole setting where the shots will take place is visible. The music is again playing in the background, giving the apartment and eerie, deserted feel. This shot will fade into the next.
Shot 7: This is a medium long shot of the two girls sat at a table drinking together, laughing and having a good time. There will be a spotlight on the girls, while the background is again in darkness. This music continues to play. The sound of diegetic chatter in the background and clinking glasses will also be heard, to set the scene and give the audience a feel of the characters surroundings. The camera then zooms in.
Shot 8: This is a close-up shot of one of the girls laughing at something the other said. Light will be directed towards her, allowing her face to be clearly seen, which shows that she is an important character. For the first time the music stops During this shot and instead diegetic laughing can be heard from the girl, which still gives a creepy feel to the scene. This shot is then cut to the next.
Shot 9: This is a close-up of one of the wine glasses in one of the girl's hands, with some wine still remaining in the glass. The creepy non-diegetic music returns, this time louder, so tension is built up more. Diegetic laughing, chatter and glass clinking can again be heard. Light is directed onto the wine glass so it stands out against the black background. This shot will fade into the next.
Shot 10: This is a medium long shot of the two girls mid argument. They are in a spotlight, while the rest of the shot is in darkness. One of the girls is pointing at the other who has her back turned and armed crossed. The music continues to play, getting louder still, showing that something important is happening. The shot is then cut into the next.
Shot 11: This is a shot in complete darkness. No light can be seen and no sound is heard. The music has stopped, giving the impression that something drastic has happened and the tension levels have been raised. This will create suspense and give the audience questions, as they will want to know what is going on.
Shot 12: The shot is still in complete darkness, but now white lettering has appeared on the screen. It reads, "We used to be best friends..." This leaves the audience tense and in suspense, as it suggests that something bad has happened and now gives a clue to the dead body seen at the very start of the opening. In the background non-diegetic beeping resembling a heart monitor will be heard to build suspense further.

Gone Girl Fan Made Title Sequence

Cinematography
Near the beginning of the title sequence for 'gone girl' it has a cross-cut shot of a woman's hand writing in a notebook from different angles. One of the shots is an extreme close-up of the words that are being written from a high angle, the other shot is a close-up from a high angle of the notebook as the woman writes. There are several other cross-cutting shots which are featured in the opening sequence, showing that there are many small details that the producers don't want the audience to miss. The scene cuts to big close-up of the woman's shoulders which then tilts downwards to show her arms resting on the table. In the middle of the opening scene the camera pans across pens scattered over the tabletop in an extreme close-up. Alongside the other shots, this could suggest that the writing is an important part to the narrative and may be some clue to the plot.

Mise-en-scene
Throughout the whole opening the colours are fairly muted, such as greys, whites, blacks, pale blues, dark blues and a slight accent of yellow, this could suggest that the narrative is sad natured or slightly dark. One notebook is used alongside many ballpoint or biro pens in the start to show key information about the narrative, however later in the scene a wash cloth and glass of wine are also used. In a few of the shots the location is shown. There is a large lake lined with trees and grass in a presumed countryside area. The long shot of the lake suggests that it could play a significant part of the narrative and could represent sadness or isolation, but also calm and peacefulness. This leads the audience to believe that the lake will somehow become involved with the girl that is shown in the rest of the opening sequence.

Sound
During the entire title sequence guitar music is playing, accompanied by a female singer who is singing at the same volume as the backing music. The music is quite upbeat but could also be interpreted with a hint of sadness.

The Notebook (Opening Scene)

Cinematography
This film title sequence includes very little examples of camera movement, other than still shots. However it starts with a fade into an extreme long shot of a lake shadowed in the sunset's light. In the middle of the opening there is a medium long shot of a man in a canoe on the lake, he stays central as the camera pans very slowly to the right, this shows that he is an important character in the film. At the end of the opening there is a tracking medium long shot of the same man in a canoe, reinforcing that he is an important character in the narrative.

Mise-en-scene
Throughout the whole film opening the only colours that are used are reds, oranges, yellows and blacks, though there is a slight accent of purple. It is set in a remote location, it has a large lake with grassy banks on the side and a scattering of trees. The two women that appear in the opening are both wearing long dresses.

Sound
Over the top of the video, piano music plays throughout. This sets a calm, relaxing mood and tone to the scene and alongside the colours could suggest a romance in the narrative.

Film opening inspiration

We got the inspiration for our short film, that we will be making, from various films. We did some research to find out about films that already exist which begin with a clip form the end of the narrative and film. We did some research and gained inspiration from films such as: Pan's Labyrinth; Sunset Boulevard; Citizen Kane and Saving Private Ryan. These examples of films are ones in which begin with scenes from the very end, so that the rest of the film is a kind of flashback and we will refer to these when making our film opening.


    We decided to make a film in the drama genre, because those are the types of films that we both enjoy watching and have had experience acting out. They are also fun to experiment with when filming.


    We decided to go with our first idea which had the film starting with a shot from the end of the whole film, where a girl is lying dead on the floor, almost as a precognition, enabling the audience to get a glimpse into the future and to see how the film will end but not yet knowing hoe the narrative will get to that point. Then the rest of the opening from the short film is going to be a flashback, or will be present tense, showing two friends that are happy in each others company most of the time, but argue a lot, with arguments then becoming more and more escalated, allowing the audience to make guesses about the rest of the narrative and start to work out what is happening.


    During the lesson we walked around the school looking for rooms or places that would be suitable to film in and we took pictures of these locations to get an idea of where we would set our film opening. Some of the locations, inspired us to include some extra shots or alter where we were going to film a few of our shots originally.

Next steps for the short film opening

Step 1: Choose a narrative and develop the ideas further.


Step 2: Take pictures of the drama room and picture where we could place the props to make the room appear to be an apartment or an office. Possibly film some experimental shots.


Step 3: Gathering props together and setting them up in a fake scene to let us get an idea of our set and any other props we need to add.

Ideas for an opening of a short film

Idea 1:
Working Title-A Dead Friendship/ The shadow puppet/ shadow of friendship/ the power of shadows
Genre-Drama
Narrative-It starts with a shot from the end of the whole film (one friend lays dead on the floor, the other stands looking at them), but cuts back to the start of the narrative, where the two friends are happy but argue on a regular basis.
Location-It is set in the drama room at school, that we will make to look like a cosy home.
Props-A gun for the start; blankets, cushions and rugs to make the drama room look homely; a phone; sofa like chairs.
Sound- Diegetic sound (talking on the phone); creepy music to put the audience on edge; dialogue.
Actors-Sian and I will play the main characters, we will need one extra for the phone call.
Audience hook-A question is posed about what happened that led to the death of one friend.

Idea 2:
Working Title-2 Detectives, 1 Case.
Genre-Crime/Detective
Narrative-Starts with a shot of a poser that says about a missing girl, cuts to two detectives viewing the poster, getting ready to take on the case to find the missing girl before a specific time or risk the girl dying. Shots are included with the mysterious kidnapper/murderer.
Location-Drama room in school, make to look like an office, but also dark alleyways.
Props-Tables; chairs; paper; trench coat and hat.
Sound-Mystery/crime theme tune from a TV show; dialogue; creepy music in the background.
Actors-Sian and I will play the main characters, we will need a couple of actors to play civilians, the missing girl and the kidnapper
Audience hook-The poster will pose questions about how she went missing and why.

I Miss You | Short Film

Cinematography
This short film includes a range of different shots and incorporates various camera angles. It starts with a medium close-up shot with the camera pointing at an open doorway. The people in the background of the frame are blurred and it's only just clear that the setting is a party. One man walks into the foreground of the frame and becomes clear, showing that he is the main character in the narrative and suggests that it is him who is talking. It then cuts to shot that's at a high angle looking at the cieling, then the camera titls downwards slowly and the main characters of the narrative come into the frame in a medium close-up. It then cuts again to a close-up of the characters interlinked hands, showing that the narrative's main focus is on their relationship. The film ends on a medium shot from a high angle of the main character sat at a desk on a computer. The shot slowly zooms out from the character, which could suggest his upset and lonliness at reliving the story of his break up

Mise-en-scene
The locations and the outfits of the characters change a lot throughout, since the video is composed of short clips of the couple from different points in time of their relationship. However the colours are mostly quite bright throughout, but is toned down slightly when the narrative gets to the point of the couple's break up.

Sound
The only sound that can be heard is the main charcter's voice-over, which is narrating the video and telling the story of his break up.

Break Free - Ruby Rose

Cinematography
This short film includes a range of different shots and incorporates various camera angles. It starts with a tilt shot from a high angle looking at her shoes in a big-close up. Then it cuts to a close-up shot of a handbag. Together these show an important part the narrative, as they are a symbolism of feminity. The shot cuts to a tilt from a low angle which shows the character's face and shoulders as they cut their hair with a pair of scissors. The way it is angled could show a sense of new-found empowerment as the character takes away the things that makes them appear feminine.  The short film ends on a medium close-up of the character, now looking more masculine, showing their face to be happier now than they were at the beginning.

Mise-en-scene
The location of the whole film is a white bathroom in a house, as it shows the character's transition from a woman to a man. They start off wearing a tight fitting dress, with high heeled boots, but by the end they are wearing a blazer, suit shirt, trousers and boots; these are modern stereotypical clothing items for females and males. The only props used were a pair of scissors at the start and a cigarette at the end.

Sound
Over the top of the video is a song where a woman is singing faintly. The singing is accompanied by a piano and occasionally the faint sound of drums can be heard. There is no other sound effects or sound from the actual video, only the music.