G321: Notes and Images for Institutional Logos

Now we have looked at possible names and initial ideas for our production companies we can design 3 in detail and include images of how we want them to look. After considering our 4 initial ideas we have decided to further develop 'Treehouse Pictures', 'Splish Splash Pictures' and 'Empire Productions'. We felt that Treehouse Pictures would be more effective than Lighthouse Pictures also, the lighthouse idea has already been created by an existing institution.

Treehouse Pictures: For this logo the screen would start off as black, the door would begin to open - as this happens the camera quickly zooms out to reveal the whole tree and the title.

Splish Splash Pictures: Starts off as water on the screen, then a single raindrop falls and after a short time the title appears.

Empire Productions: The camera starts off at a low angle of the building and quickly pans up the building (zoomed in), as this happens each window lights up in turn. When the camera reaches the top of the building the title is revealed and shines. 

After considering all three of our ideas, we have decided to use 'Empire Productions' as our main institution and 'Treehouse Pictures' as our supporting institution. We feel that these are more effective and look most professional of the three. We are using 'Empire Productions' as our main institution as this has the most animation and looks the  most like a mainstream production logo.

Cath, Charley, Joanna

G321: Notes on Institutional Logos and Names

We are using institution logos in our film; this will make our film come across as more professional. Logos are used in films as a symbol for the companies involved in the creation of the film and are often eye catching and memorable. Mainstream films, which are normally created by big name companies such as universal, have big whizzy logos often including animation and catchy music. Whereas, niche films which are normally produced by small individual companies, have simplistic logos generally without music or animation.

The film we are creating is a mainstream film so, we need to create big logos and maybe include animation and music. To do this we need to think about company names, images, animation and music. We came together and shared our ideas as a group; we wanted to create logo’s that would be realistic to create but to be effective as well. As our film is a mainstream film, we have decided to include two logos in our opening a main one with music and animation which would represent a large company and also a smaller one which would represent a medium sized company.

Our initial ideas for our logo’s are:

Empire- For this logo we were thinking of using the iconic Empire state building as an image for our design.

Treehouse Pictures - This logo would include a large oak tree that would sway in the breeze with a door on the trunk. It would start off dark and zoom out of the doorway to reveal the tree swaying.

Lighthouse Productions- We were thinking of showing a lighthouse with its light on acting as a spotlight and it would reveal the company name.

Splish Splash Pictures- For this logo we were thinking of using a splash from either a raindrop, teardrop or paint.

Cath, Charley, Joanna

G321: Notes and Images on Costume

As part of the planning for our opening sequence we have looked at the costume we want our characters to be wearing. As we only have one character in our opening (Penelope) we have focused on her outfit. We have looked at every aspect of the costume right down to jewellery as we feel this is very important in the portrayal of her character. Below are some pictures of the type of costume we want to use and explanations as to why these would be suitable.



By looking and planning what costume we intend to use at this point in the process means that we can think properly and consider the look of the sequence and characters in order to portray them in the way we want our audience to receive them.

Charley

G321: Notes and Images on Props

We have considered the props we would like in our opening sequence in order to create verisimilitude in our opening. It will also help to represent the characters and give hints to other themes that may appear in the rest of the film. By looking at possible props now, it means that we will be more organised when it comes to filming.

Cath, Joanna

G321: Feedback on Storyboard and Script

When we had completed our storyboard and script, we presented our ideas to another group to see what their thoughts were on our ideas. We received a mix of both positive and negative feedback to help us improve our opening and make it the best it can be.

Storyboard:


Positive Feedback:

• The titles are interesting and creative and the order of the titles is good and not distracting.
• The idea of the voice over is good because it fits our choice of genre - very 'Bridget Jones' or 'Sex and the City'.
• The narrative relates to other romantic comedies.
• The comedy element is clear in the mood change at the end of the opening with the mobile phone ringing.
• The fact that the characters identity is hidden somewhat in the opening makes the audience ask questions and adds interest to the opening and what will happen next in the film. 

Negative Feedback:

• Maybe too similar to 'Sex and the City' and other existing rom-com's, perhaps needs more originality?
• Some argued that the mood change at the end doesn't fit and that it changes the consistency of the opening, distracting the audience.

Script:

Positive Feedback:

• Shows the genre clearly, talking directly about love with the comedy element when jumps and swears.
• Hints to her job because it sounds like an article for a magazine.
• Realistic, sounds like someones real thoughts and ideas.
• It makes you ask questions about what will happen later as t doesn' give away the plot and makes you want to keep watching.

Negative Feedback:

• The script is too romantically focused rather than the comedy side of the genre.
• Could perhaps come across as being quite cheesy and unrealistic?
• A good actress would be needed to make it more effective because it could sound odd.

By recieving feedback for our storyboard and script, we are able to improve upon our ideas for our opening to make it more effective and realistic.

Cath, Charley, Joanna

G321: Storyboard and Script for Film Opening

We are now looking at the specifics for the opening of our film and are thinking about the storyboard and the script for our film. We put together the storyboard on post-it notes so that if we choose to make any changes we can easily move the shots around to alter the order. We have decided that the editing of our opening will be fairly slow and so have included a lot of tracking shots to make sure the opening runs smoothly and fits with our film genre.

Storyboard One
This is our first storyboard where we started to look mainly at the types of shots we would like to include in the opening and a rough sort of order we would like to shots to appear in. We were not thinking about titles at this point and were looking more at the content of the opening and the types of shots we wanted to use.

Storyboard Two
We were thinking about how we were going to introduce other characters in our opening and decided that we would like to use a photograph to introduce the character of Ryan Westwood and have incorporated that into shot seven which is a tracking shot and so it will fit smoothly into the sequence.

Final Storyboard
Now that we are happy with the shots and order of our storyboard we started to consider how the titles can be incorporated into the sequence and where they should appear in the frame. We wanted to be more creative with some of the titles in our opening and so we decided to make the main film title: Penelope Fox: Lessons in Love a part of the narrative itself and we have decided to have it written on a notepad where the character will circle it to make it clear it is the film title. We decided to incorporate this into shot three which is a tracking shot over the desk and therefore it will fit in smoothly. We decided that the other titles will come up fairly slowly in different areas of the screen throughout the sequence so that they do not distract from the narrative.

Here we have explained each shot:

 1. Long shot of Penelope sitting at a desk typing. This will be used to set the scene for the audience and will also be the point where the production title appears.

2+ 3 Cut to close up of magazines and paper on the desk then a tracking shot over Penelope's hands typing. There is then a close up of a notepad with the film title written on it - Penelope will circle this. Main actress and supporting actors names will appear here.

4. Mid shot (over the shoulder) on Penelope typing at computer. Editors name will enter here.

5. Cut to close up of the computer screen so that we can see what she is saying.

6. Close up from behind computer screen so that we can just see Penelope's eyes. Writers name will appear here.

7. Close up tracking shot over the desk again so that we see magazine article of Penelope with her award. It then continues over items on the desk including a photo of her and her boyfriend. Directors name appears.

8. Cut to a close up of her phone ringing in her bag.

9. Long shot of desk and Penelope frantically looking for her phone.

Order of the Titles
We have looked at some exiting film openings and looked at the order the titles appear and decided to use a similar format starting with the production companies followed by actors and actresses with the film title fairly early on.



Shot 1 - Production Company



Shot 2 - Main Actress



3 - Supporting Actors

Shot 3 - Film Title

Shot 4 - Editors

Shot 6 - Writers

Shot 7 - Directors


Now we have finalised our storyboard we need to create our script for the opening. We only have one character in our opening so the script consists of just the voice over. However we have also included on here the timings for each shot and where certain points in the voice over need to come in relation to each shot.


The Script

Penelope:

"Love at First Sight is perhaps the most romantic thing that can happen to anyone. It was Shakespeare who once said ‘Love is blind’ [pause] Passion can make people lose their heart and mind within a matter of seconds and that first glance can change your life. Oh crap, a title: Penelope Fox: Tips on Love, hmm no. [Scribbles out on paper] Penelope Fox: Lessons in Love, yeah I like that. Anyway,  Love at first sight can happen anywhere, anytime and the worst thing is, it can be uncontrollable. There are those who say it is just passion or lust that attract people to each other, and refuse to believe that one can really fall in love with another person at the first moment their eyes meet. But surely………. [phone rings] SHIT!!!! Oh crap where is it, oh where are you?!"


In order to consider how the whole opening will run, we have thought about how the script will run alongside each shot. These are rough estimates as on the day they might change depending on how fast the words are spoken etc. 

Background music begins when institution logos appear

Shot 1: 2-3 seconds 'Love at first sight in perhaps...'


Shot 2+3: 12-14 seconds '...is the most romantic thing that can happen to anyone. It was Shakespeare who once said 'Love is blind' [pause] Passion can make people lose their heart and mind within a matter of seconds and that first glance can change your life' oh crap, a title: 


Continuation of shot 3: 8 seconds  '... Penelope Fox: Tips on Love, hmm no. [Scribbles out on paper] Penelope Fox: Lessons in Love, yeah I like that...'

Shot 4: 4 Seconds No Dialogue but background music can be heard


Shot 5: 6 seconds '... Anyway, Love at first sight can happen anywhere, anytime and the worst thing is..'


Shot 6: 4 seconds '... it can be uncontrollable. There are those who say...'


Shot 7: 12- 14 seconds '... it is just passion or lust that attract people to each other, and refuse to believe that one can really fall in love with another person at the first moment their eyes meet. But surely………."


Shot 8: 4 seconds: Music cuts out. Close up of phone ringing. '... SHIT!!!!'


Shot 9: 4 seconds '... oh crap where is it, oh where are you?!'

Cath, Charley, Joanna

G321: Thinking about Mise-en-scene

Now we have considered the setting for our opening, we now need to think more specifically about the mise for our opening sequence. We have been thinking about our character profile and the type of person who will star in the film and have collected images that we feel reflect the characters personality. Overall we want to go for a 'girly' yet sophisticated look and feel to fit with not only the character of Penelope but also existing films in the rom-com genre.

The images and magazine cuttings we have gathered represent the type of look we are going for in our opening setting. The setting will be predominately feminine shown by the flowers and fashion related items. However, as it is an office setting we have also gathered images of desks and newspaper in order to represent her job. As you can see the images are very light and airy, which is what we want our setting to be like. We will use high key/naturalistic setting to create a happy, light-hearted atmosphere. The props we are planning to use will be business related but with a feminine, glamorous twist. For example the fluffy pens and colourful pencils and notebooks. We have included a lot of images to do with fashionand clothing as this will be a focal point of the opening in order to estabilish Penelope as a character. Again, her outfit and accessories will be bright and colourful with an expensive feel to them.

Cath, Charley, Joanna

G321: Thinking about Setting

After thinking about our overall plot line, we have started to consider the setting for the opening of our film. We have taken a range of pictures of the possible settings we may use and outlined the strengths and weaknesses of each.
 

After looking at each setting we have found that the most suitable and viable setting for us to use is the office setting. We have also decided to stick to one setting for the opening to make it more simple for us when filming. The office setting means we will not be restricted by weather and lighting conditions and can easily film over more than one day. As the office is a private room we will not be disturbed by other noise or distractions from other people around the setting. This setting also represents our main character (Penelope) the best out of the 3 settings we looked at, making it easier for the audience to understand her job and character as a whole.

Cath, Charley, Joanna

G321: Thinking about Actors

To develop our character we need to consider the type of person that will play then in our film. We are looking mainly at the characters who appear in the opening: Penelope Fox and Ryan Westwood (appears in photograph). We are looking at existing professional mainstream actors who have starred in similar genres of film in order to consider the look of the characters.

Penelope Fox
We imagine her to be a very classy, sophisticated yet stylish young woman. We would like her to be of a slim build with fairly long hair. She should be confident yet understated in her approach and should come across as welcoming and friendly.



Isla Fisher

 

Shenae Grimes

  

Jessica Alba

 

Leighton Meester



We have chosen these actresses as the type of people we would like to star in our film. They are all young, slim females who would fit the character of Penelope Fox. Isla Fisher has starred in films such as 'Confessions of a Shopaholic' which is very similar to our film. The character she plays in the film is style of women we would want for our main protagonist. She has the right look and personality for the role and would also offer a comedy element. Jessica Alba has also starred in mainstream films and has played a range of roles. She has a welcoming look about her and friendly face that an audience would warm to. She would also fit a glamorous role such as Penelope Fox but would also come across as down to earth. Both Shenae Grimes and Leighton Meester are currently starring in American T.V series: 'Gossip Girl' and '90210'. However, they have also played film rolls for films such as 'Scream 4' (2011) and 'Going the Distance' (2010). Even though they have not had main roles in mainstream cinema, we still feel they would fit our character Penelope and offer the right amount of likability and comedy. All they actresses we have looked at have had long wavy hair which we would like the character of Penelope to have.

Ryan Westwood

We imagine this character to be attractive with a slender, athletic body type with a charming personality. He should be down to earth and approachable but also have a flirtatious and enticing quality.



Jake Gyllanhaal





Jude Law



Heath Ledger



 

Josh Duhamel

We have looked at a range of possible actors who could play Penelope's boyfriend Ryan. We were looking for someone who looked down to earth and who would be well received by our audience. We wanted him to be attractive and have a charming quality about him. Jude Law would fit the role very well as he has starred in many romantic-comedies such as 'The Holiday' (2006) where he played a similar role to what we are looking for for the character of Ryan. Jake Gyllanhaal has recently starred 'Love and Other Drugs' (2010) which is also the same genre as our film. The role he plays is similar to the character of Ryan so we feel he would be able to portray him successfully and easily. Both Josh Duhamel and Heath Ledger have also starred in romantic-comedies such as '10 Things I Hate About You' (1999) and 'Life as We Know It' (2010). The characters they have played have been similar to that of Ryan and they have the type of look we want to go for.


Cath, Charley, Joanna

G321: Film and Opening Brief

As part of the planning for our opening we have already uploaded a list of scenes of how our storyline would run. Leading on from this, we have now created a 24 word film brief to outline the basic plot of our film:

'Penelope Fox, relationship columnist, has the perfect life - but how will she cope when the rules change and she needs the lessons in love?'

We have also written another 25 word brief in order to explain just the opening of our fiolm:

'We hear the thoughts of relationship columnist Penelope Fox as she is writing her latest article about love, when she is inturrupted by a phonecall'


Cath, Charley, Joanna

G321: List of Scenes

We have put together a hypothetical list of scenes that would be the basis for our whole film plot line. In doing this we can consider the film as a whole before concentrating on the the opening; in doing this we can eventually make our opening more effective. We can take into consideration themes that we would like to feature throughout and also grasp an overall feel for the film.

• Opening scene set in Penelope's office we are introduced to her as a character
• We then move on to introduce Penelope's boyfriends and friends
• We see Penelope in her work environment - giving advice to people that have emailed her
• Scene with her mum and step dad having dinner where the conversation turns to sex - humorous moment
• Penelope and her boyfriend have an argument in their flat - items are chucked etc. serious moment with hints of comedy. Her boyfriend leaves her.
• She goes into depression (light hearted) we see her eating lots and drinking on her own in her flat (Bridget Jones type moment). She goes out to get some food and sees her ex and tries to hide from him.
• She then has a day where everything goes wrong i.e. getting soaked on the  pavement
• Penelope goes to her mum for advice - her mum gives her some 'tips'. 
• She writes about her mistakes in her relationship in her column which her ex reads
• She eventually quits her job and vows to take some time off to re-assess her life
• She is out shopping and bumps into her ex where they arrange to go for dinner as friends

Cath, Charley, Joanna

G321: Character Profiles

We have created character profiles for the main characters in our film. Even though our opening only features on character, we have also thought about the other characters that will appear later on in the film and who will also be considered as main characters. We have created these profiles so that we have a clear image in our heads of what we want our character to be and act like - as this needs to be portrayed clearly to the audience. It will also help us to later consider what type of actor we want to play the characters.



Rebecca Bloomwood -
Confessions Of a Shopaholic



Name: Penelope Fox - Main character - features in opening.

Biography:  Born in Oxford, studied journalism at Nottingham University, she is work driven (workaholic), fashionable, confident, 'lives by the rules', nice, approachable, ambitious, intelligent, 'the perfect girlfriend'.

Age: 26

Body Type: Slim, healthy

Hair: Mid-Long, wavy 

Clothing Style: Smart fashionable, colourful and youthful

Career: Relationship Columnist

Best Qualities: Kind, creative, ambitious, easy to talk to and reliable

Worst Qualities: Workaholic, not spontaneous, stressy

Hobbies: Writing, shopping, cooking, giving advice



Andy Sachs -
The Devil Wears Prada



Emily Blunt -
The Devil Wears Prada



Graham -
The Holiday

Name: Ryan Westwood - Main character - features later on in the film (picture of him also seen in opening).

Biography:  Born in Australia, moved to England and got a flat in London after he received his honours degree in business, he is laid back, sporty, charming and intelligent.

Age: 29

Body Type: Athletic, tall

Hair: Long, 'surfer style'

Clothing Style: Modern business wear but casual when not working

Career: Accountant

Best Qualities: Friendly, relaxed, fun, spontaneous and funny

Worst Qualities: Overly flirtatious, too laid back

Hobbies: Cricket, surfing, sports, going for walks and cooking



Jamie Randall -
Love and other Drugs





Bridget's Mum -
Bridget Jones' Diary

Name: Maggie O'Donnell - Main character - features later on in the narrative.

Biography:  Born in Oxford, married but husband left her when her baby, Penelope was aged three. Re-married when Penelope was eight years old and raised her living together in Oxford.

Age: 62

Body Type: Curvaceous

Hair: Greying, mid length

Clothing Style: 'Mumsy' but stylish

Career: Retired florist/model

Best Qualities: Humble, kind-hearted, generous, puts others before herself, understanding

Worst Qualities: Picky, nosy and overly open about her relationship

Hobbies: Gardening, pottery, going on cruises and having sex.

Miranda Priestly -
The Devil Wears Prada

Cath, Charley, Joanna



G321: Mind Map of Initial Ideas

We have gathered together and noted our initial ideas towards what type of film/plotline we would like to create. Here is a picture of the mindmap we created:

Charley

G321: Film Re-makes

Here is the final product of our three re-makes:

Vertigo:



We felt that re-making the opening of the film Vertigo was the most challenging of the three. It was hard to hold the camera steady, especially on the extreme close-ups. We first tried filming it using a real person but the focus of the camera often went blurry and it didn't give the desired effect. To overcome this we decided to draw a face and film this instead. We also handheld the camera to film this instead of using a tri-pod, by doing this we could zoom in and out much more freely. When editing it was tricky to organise the titles in time with the background music and the actual image. We kept watching the original opening to ensure we had the right timings for each frame. Overall, we are relatively pleased with the final product and it has helped us to realise that an opening doesn't need to be complicated and can just involve one character.

The Strangers:



Initially we assumed that this opening would be easiest of the three to edit as there are were no titles or complicated transitions. Due to the facilities that were available to us we decided to print the image of houses the film them on a wall. By doing this it saved us a lot of time and we could choose the houses that we wanted to use in order to create a similar look. In the end, when it came to the editing stage, we found that it was in fact quite difficult to arrange the clips and organise the fade-to-black transitions in between. In spite of our difficulties we are quite pleased the final outcome and have learnt a lot in doing it. We have come to find that voice over can be really effective in creating a certain mood for the text and we are considering looking into this for our own opening.


Juno:



Juno was by far the most difficult of the three to actually film due to the various shots and camera angles included. The setting was also hard for us to re-create so we had to work with what we had available. Mainly, we tried to get the positioning and movement of the character on screen similar to the original rather than focusing on the background setting etc. The location we shot in did not have a flat surface which made it difficult to get the dolly to run smoothly which hindered the overall quality of the film. The editing process for this opening took the longest out of three due to the many titles and transitions. Also, the editing programme we used didn't offer the exact same transitions so we found the closest possible and used this. The titling took a while to place in each frame correctly, however in completing the opening we have learnt a lot about importance of titles in an opening sequence.

Cath, Charley, Joanna

G321: Shot Lists and Storyboards for Film Remakes

In preparation for making our own opening we have done three re-makes of existing films. The films are: The Strangers, Juno and Vertigo. They are of all different genres which mean we were able to gain a wider knowledge of how the sequences differ from genre to genre. Below are the shot lists and story boards for each film that we created. We did these as part of the planning so that when we came to filming it made it a lot easier and quicker.

Also, by re-creating existing film openings we have been able to prepare for our own film where we will need to plan and create story boards and shot lists in detail.

The Strangers: (2008)
Storyboard: 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Shot list: 




Vertigo: (1958)
Storyboard:

Shot list:
 
 Juno: (2007)
Storyboard:

Shot list:
 

Cath, Charley, Joanna