Live and Let Spy Opening Evaluation

This is the finished evaluation of our entire coursework

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-lLGQo0Ymo

Unfortunately Blogger does not recognize this as a video on you tube, but here's a sampleof what it looks like

enjoy

Finished Version of The Package

Here is a link to the finished version of The Package

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5zwAa1Ny8M

Finished Opening of Live and Let Spy

Here is a link to our finished opening for Live and Let Spy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z568PBom5KY

Title of the Film

When we looked at some classic american styled action films, we found a lot of titles with simply "The..." and then another word that involved the main object of the story. For example; The Matrix, The Terminator and The Mummy. This is why we decided to call this opening "The Package". This not only tells our audience what the film is about but also the genre of the film.

Choice of Music for the Chase Scene

Adam had found various examples of music for us to use. In the end though we chose only one piece for the whole scene. There was an upbeat piece of music which didn't match the mood of the scene, then there were two suitable tracks left. One was less sudden and didn't have the repetition of the other, so we chose the other one. So far it seems to have been a good choice as it fits well with the time line. 

The music was from:

http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?keywords=movement+proposition&Search=Search

The site itself looks like this 

Risk Assessment

This is the risk assessment, as created by Adam Lewis (http://adam-mediacoursework.blogspot.co.uk/)

Shooting Schedule

We plan to shoot the entire opening in one session. This will take place on Wednesday the 6th. We will start filming at 10:00 and finish at about 12:30. Thankfully all we need is two locations and one of these is on route to the other. To conserve time we will shoot the end of the opening before the beginning due to the ending being closer to school than the beginning. This is a much shorter time frame than that of our previous opening, however it may be an appropriate day to film as the weather forecast says it will be overcast that day so the weather will suit the mood of the shots. Even with less time spent on the shots i believe that it is not impossible for us to shoot all of our opening in this time scale.  

This photo shows the sort of shot that we wish to establish by shooting in a overcast weather condition

Time Line

This is how long our film should be and how long each individual shot lasts.

Shot List

Shot     Action in shot
1          Man is walking away from camera and drops a piece of rubbish on the floor.
2          Zoom in to rubbish and a foot of a man runs over the rubbish
3          Protagonist runs towards the camera then once he passes it the antagonists run towards the camera
4          Protagonist runs onto shot and looks slightly off camera
5          Protagonist runs around a corner of a building, antagonists run in behind
6          Protagonist vaults over a barrier, antagonist are held up by the barrier
7          Protagonist runs behind a corner and looks at the package he is holding, antagonists catch up
8          Protagonist runs towards bridge
9          Split screen shot of both the protagonist and antagonist running across a bridge
10        Protagonist runs towards camera then runs off screen with antagonists in mid-ground
11        Protagonist (after whip pan) is running down steps with antagonists behind
12        There is a POV shot of the protagonist looking at another bridge and focusing on a brick
13        Protagonist runs down the bridge and picks up the brick, threatening to destroy the package
14        Close up of the package and the brick
15        Antagonists come around the corner and freeze with their hands in the air
16        Protagonist walks around to the side of the bridge
17        Protagonist seems to fall off the bridge, antagonists are shocked and run towards the edge
18        Protagonist runs towards camera which is focusing on the antagonists at the top of the hill
19        Protagonist runs to in front of the camera and looks for a hiding place
20        Protagonist hides against a wall whilst the camera pans to show the antagonists running away
21        Protagonist relaxes and opens the package as the screen cuts to title

Storyboard for the Action/Thriller

This is the storyboard for our action/thriller film opening

Narrative

The main story of the opening is this. A man is walking down an alleyway, he throws a piece of rubbish on the floor where it lingers fro a few seconds. Then a foot stands on the rubbish as the camera cuts to see 2 men running out of an alley way. One running the other chasing  They run through an urban environment whilst performing various maneuvers of parkour. We see them then running across a bridge with some trees in the background. Then there is a whip pan to a set of steps which they run down and then to a bridge. Here the protagonist (the man being chased) stops to pick up a brick. He threatens to destroy a package that is in his other hand as the chaser runs around the corner. The protagonist throws the brick at the chaser and thus distracts him so that the protagonist can run away. He now enters a woodland area where he searches for a hiding place and sees the antagonist run past. Now he calms down and opens the lid of the package he is holding. Just as the lid is fully open the scene cuts to the title page.

Like in the above photo, the package will have no trademark logos or patterns as to emphasize the audiences wonder as to what is inside.

Roles of the Group

Our group has now been split into 3 main areas of the filming process.

Adam Lewis: Adam is in charge of finding the sound track, creating the risk assessment, he is an actor in the film and he is a part of the editing system

Jacob Simpson (me): I'm in charge of creating the storyboard (shot list and timeline), I am an actor in the film, I am editing the film and i created the narrative for the film.

Joe Cockburn: Joe was the cameraman for the entire filming, he is a part of the editing system and was an actor in the film.

Research Into the Action/Thriller Genre

A film that defines Action/thriller is that of Inception. This film's opening however focuses more on the thriller side. That said, the opening scene does cut straight away into an explosion. This itself is a very powerful effect. The beginning is a scene that is very powerful and intellectual, one could class it as civilized  Then this juxtaposed next to one of the least civilized events possible, an explosion, emphasizes that this is indeed an action film. This is an effect we could well use. The idea of starting off in a peaceful/calm opening only to be invaded by an item of action is a great idea which is also easily replicated. Another technique we could use from this film is the idea of confusion. Straight away we see the same character but in three completely different settings. This confuses the audience, making them pay more attention straight away. We could apply this theory, however it would require a lot of planning and we don't have a lot of time to do it in.

   

The First Draft of Our Opening

For some reason, Blogger will not accept that "Live and Let Spy" is on YouTube so the only way i can incorporate it onto my blog is via a link.

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

This shows our first draft of our opening and is what i will show in my feedback from target audience.

Second Trial at Coursework

For our second idea we have decided to try a action/thriller genre. We are trying to portray this in a chase scene. From our initial idea we think that the protagonist should start being chased off camera and he will run onto our establishing shot. From here we see him running through a suburban area whilst performing various jumps and vaults over objects. We then see him run across a bridge until a whip pan takes place and we see him on a bridge which goes into a forest. Here he distracts his pursuer and then runs and hides where we cut to the title. 

Most of these ideas of shots and the range of emotions came from watching the begging of the Bourne Ultimatum. From this film we gained the basics of chase scenes for us to expand on.

My plan for portraying the feedback from the target audience

After showing our media class our draft, we received numerous appraisals, criticisms and methods of improvement. From these we hope to increase the quality of our opening scene. My plan for presenting this information will be by video. I will use a copy of the opening scene and commentate on the several areas of improvement. For example, when this scene of Glen entering the house is present on the video, i will say on the commentary "our target audience said that this use of non-diegetic text was a contrast to our other shots where the text was diegetic".

Our first draft of our opening

Here is a link to our first draft of our opening scene
It now has a finalised title of "Live and Let Spy"

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vlOQsikUYrg

New Cloud Title Shot

After a well needed discussion we have finally decided which names are going where in the opening. This is the new photo to be used for the cloud shot.

Music for the spy area of the film

Earlier in the process we discovered that we didn't have any music that fitted the spy area of the film. Now I have found a piece of music that fits. It is also from audionautix like the first piece of music and has a more rock/guitar feel to it.

It can be found at http://www.audionautix.com/html/rock_pop_blues.html and is called "Purple Rider."

New logo possibilities

After showing our logo possibilities to our target audience we were told that the barn door was the best option. However the font didn't match the logo and it was presented in a way that made it hard to read. Taking this into account i created some new options but with the corrections that were needed.

Text for director of sound

For our entire film we are trying to incorporate all the names into the scene. Here is the one for director of sound. This effect is used in several films like Napoleon Dynamite. The terminology of this effect is called diegetic text. This particular shot is created by a piece of software called "Photoshop". 

Background photos for cloud shot

These shots are the shots which we will use for the cloud shot where we write "Director of Sound Jacob Simpson" 

Company Logo

These are three trials for our logo

I personally prefer the last one however the group will decide

Producer

This is the title for the producer and how it fits in the film

Title of the film

After consulting sir, he informed me that having a first name for the title of the film was a typically american humor thing to do. Since our movie could be classed under British comedy we had to change the name. Then sir came up with the idea of replacing the title of a spy film with the name of the character "Glen". My personal favorite was "Tinker, tailor, solder, Glen". However the title is still in debate.

How the Shootings going

Wednesday 30th- On this day we tried to film all shots that occurred at Adam's house. However, due to a laptop not working, we did not get chance to film all off the shots. We ended up with missing out the moment where Glen gets the message that leads to him becoming a spy. This will have to be filmed on Wednesday 6th of February.

Thursday 31st- On this day we filmed all scenes in school. This was done in our media lesson. We used a member of our class (Liberty Shaw) for the girl that Glen watches down a corridor. This shot itself took several takes as we could not do the shot without it looking fake.

Storyboard

This is the storyboard for the opening. It was drawn by Joe Cockburn

Preliminary task review

Specification

The task was to film a scene where a person enters a room, walks across it and has a conversation with another person. We took this and interpreted it to be a horror. We had to show examples of match on action, shot/reverse shot, and the 180 degree rule.

Planning 

The planning for our scene involved several pieces of research. This included research into our target audience and into the horror genre. We also had to create the storyboard, script and risk assessment.

Here is our storyboard for "The Locker Room" 

 

I was  in control of the risk assessment, storyboard, acting and editing.

Shot list

Shot list

1 - Dollys in to the alarm clock

2 - Crane shot shows Glen falling out of bed

3 - Close up of glasses

4 - Glen walks down stairs and hit head

5 - Toast pops out of toaster and close up of buttering

6 - Toast falls on floor and Glen picks it up to leave name made of mise-en-scene

7 - mirror shot of shirt

8 - Close up of books

9 - Glen leaves the house and can't find keys

10 - Close up of stepping in puddle

11 - Back shot of him going into the school

12 - Walks past a girl and trips

13 - Close up of drawing

14 - Long shot of him getting cutlery

15 - shot of sky

16 - close up of clock

17 - Steps in puddle

18 - Long shot of going in house

19 - trips over door

20 - close up inside cupboard

21 - Close up of phone

22 - Back shot on laptop

23 - close up of computer screen

24 - Back shot of Glen

25 - close up of sleeve

26 - close up of shoes

27 - Back shot of Glen walking down corridor

(taken from http://adam-mediacoursework.blogspot.co.uk/)

Shooting Schedule

The filming of our opening is going to take place over 2 sessions.

One of these will be from 9:45-12:30 on Wednesday 30th of January where we will film the majority of our shots. These all take place at Adam Lewis' house. These are for the scenes in the house before and after school. This is also the time when we will take shots of the protagonist walking too and from school.

The second session will take place from 3:00-4:00 on Friday the 1st of February where we will film all the scenes that take place in school. This is a small amount of our shots and require a few extras to act as students so after school is a good time to find these extras

Narrative

The opening title sequence gives background to the protagonist and builds up his character, showing him to have a normal life of a teenager going through college. At the end of the opening sequence the protagonist receives a message on his laptop. The protagonist then suits up and leaves his house. The protagonist signs up to become a British secret agent and in the early scenes of the film he is shown to go through training. He is then given a partner that is more experienced and capable than the protagonist. Just as he finishes his training MI6 is under attack. It is revealed that a number of MI6 agents were double agents. The protagonist and his partner must find out who did this.


Script
(Glen walks down the hallway confidently)
Mum - Put a coat on love it's chilly outside


(adapted from http://adam-mediacoursework.blogspot.co.uk/)

Roles of the group

At the beginning of the process this is how the roles were split:

Me: Research in target audience, timeline, risk assessment, sound
Adam: Genre, script, narrative, shotlist, finding location of filming
Joe: Storyboard, research into other areas

However in the end the roles changed slightly so that we all did the research into other areas and target audience and we all did the shooting schedule

Time line

Our timeline for the film is split into which shot it is (the numbers are from the storyboard) and how many seconds are spent on each clip.

Opening Scene Reviews

This opening i chose mainly due to its panning and in general camera techniques used in the opening sequence. This effect is one that i would like to replicate as it gives a more immersible feeling when the camera is moving. It also uses the very topical music in a coordination with the action to make the two combine. Due to our small choice of music this is an effect we cannot use, however i would like to try and create the pan effect on a dolly if we can. However the effect of the camera moving could also be recreated by editing. Another idea we could use is that of starting on a focused image of something and then having the action cut into it. In Beetlejuice this is done by a spider crawling onto the stationary house.

Another comedy film that has an effect we could use is "Zoolander". 

The main effect in this opening scene is a montage effect. We see all the aspects of his life which seem professional and serious, for example using real life celebrity fashion designers (something we cannot possibly do). This seriousness though is only used as a juxtaposition to the humor and thus emphasizes it. We may be able to do this but it would require some planning as to what they may be. However i do think that the idea of a montage is a good one. We could use this to cut time down on the editing as we would not require transition shots. 

Opening to a Knight's tale

This is another example of film where the randomness of the opening credits adds humour and sets the scene at the same time. It involves a jousting tournament with medieval jousters and audience apart from they are all singing "we will rock you" by Queen. This contrast emphasises the comic values of the film. The mise-en-scene is effectively used. The costumes mainly, they are tattered and bland for the peasants yet colourfull and bright for the lords. The font of the title and the names are all topical to the time of the film. This is something we could use in our opening.

Opening to 21 Jump street

I chose this as it is very similar to our openings story line. Both involve a member of the law in a high school. I like the use of music and also like it how it cuts when the protagonist talks to emphasise the awkwardness. This is something we could adapt for our opening scene as we too have an awkward line that adds humour. the mise-en-scene is used well as the girl is wearing red (a sign of danger) as the protagonist is made really embarrassed by her. This is something our group needs to work on as we have very little mise-en-scene planned, this could help.

Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy opening review

I have chosen this film as inspiration as it has come from the same genre as the film we plan to make. In it we see dolphins jumping and singing in a pool. This itself adds humor to the film as it is obviously a sci-fi. This effect of using the random factor as humor is something we could use in our video. Also something we could use from this is the idea of matching the contents of the video to the tempo of the music. I also like the idea of the montage that begins in the morning and ends at night. The main idea i would take from this is incorporating the text into the screen. The opening itself is great due to the fact it is not an opening at all, in fact it is just a small irrelevant piece of footage placed at the begging of the film. The shot at the end of the opening is effective as it is an effect that is not pulled off well. This may sound like a flaw but it adds to the humor as it shows the mistakes in filming and editing. Whether by purpose or accident, i'm sure our opening will have many of these.  

Feed back from our target audience

When i had the chance to ask a group of teenagers (age 14-18) I told them our idea for our film and they gave me their responses.

From all the girls there was negative feedback. This was in the form of people saying it was too cheesy and unrealistic. However from the boys there was a positive response. They said that the film sounded intresting and one laughed because he found the idea of it relateable.

 

The Genre of our film

After much debate, my team decided that we are going to do a comedy. I believe that this will be difficult as it requires a lot of work, but we can pull it off.

New music

We have decided to change our music to that off "Chasin it" from the site Audionautix

This is the link to the page where "Chasin it" can be found http://audionautix.com/html/country_jazz.html

Our first storyboard

This is our first trial storyboard (practically just a list of the shots in order) another version will be added once it has been made.

Trial Cloud Writing

For one of our names in our film we plan on having the writing in the clouds. This is an example of how it will look like

Risk Assessment

Here is a table displaying our risk assessment

Music for the opening

When i showed all the songs that i had gathered to my team mates, we chose the song "Boxcar Rag" from audionautix as a song for our opening.

Also we discussed the story line more and more and gave the ending the twist we were looking for. However after reviewing it i had spotted a problem which we identified in earlier pieces. The beginning became too eventful and had a large story line in it. This made it less of an opening and more of a film, thus we edited it to be shorter.

Finally i have found a site from which we can collect our sound effects http://www.grsites.com

Tuesday 22nd January

After we had decided our team roles in the previous lesson, i was left with sound and editing for my roles

In the weekend i asked various ex media students about music. I was directed to a site called audionautix and also told i could use any music from the band small words.

However the music from small words did not suit the genre of the scene and the website would not work at school. This afternoon i have searched through the site and found several possible pieces of music.

In the lesson we decided that we would have a voiceover on the video. This means that the music i choose must not be too aggressive as it might ruin the voiceover