Change of Filming Idea

Still continue on the same lines as the original idea of the running I decided to scrap the idea of the women in the bedroom. This is because I encountered problems over the Christmas Holidays and being able to film in Belgium. I wasn't able to find the time but the setting was perfect, with both the woods and a large bedroom too film in.

So instead of the filming of the bedroom I have taken my inspiration from opening sequences from 'Se7en' 'Delicatessen' and 'The Walking Dead'. This includes me following action on a table with many different things spread out. Then throughout the opening sequence I will track the camera across the action and then insert different titles as it continues.

I still wanted to include the use of the POV shots from the running as it would again create mystery to the opening sequence and would quicken the pace of the opening titles and would add some variety of shots but it would be where to include them within the opening sequence which would seem a reasonable place to put it.

Character Profiles.

JAMES:
               JAMES is seen as a teenage boy, aged between 14-16 a boy who can fend for himself in times of trouble. It needs to be evident that he is not too young, because further in the development of the film, but not particularly in the opening sequence, JAMES is left abandoned. The age also allows him to be physically fit.







KATE:
               KATE is a kind, caring women who is mother to JAMES. The relationship needs to be apparent in the opening sequence that they are related because it will allow the story to develop and then create further moments of horror and sadness later on in the film, when JAMES loses his mother. Although KATE is JAMES' mother she does do everything for him and allows to fend for himself sometimes. However she is always there to help and be a pillar of support for anyone who needs it.




ROB:
              ROB is in no way related to either KATE, JAMES or CHRISTIAN but has teamed up with CHRISTIAN in this time of peril. This allows a relationship to develop further in the film with KATE.
ROB is seen as a strong, athletic man with a military background and this allows him to have a clear head and be skilled with a gun which allows him to get out situations.




CHRISTIAN:
              CHRISTIAN is the total opposite to ROB, he is a spindly man, thin and not athletic. This then makes him an annoying person who keeps moaning when he is in trouble. He is lucky to join up with ROB as ROB saves his life. He also late becomes attracted to KATE but this does not happen.

Props, Costumes and Make-Up.

NAME:	PROPS:	COSTUMES:	MAKE-UP:
James	Nothing.	Light t-shirt with jeans (sleeping in bed with them).	Look of tiredness and weariness on face
Kate	Radio, Torch.	Trousers and jumper for warmth.	Look of tiredness and weariness on face, no make up.
Rob	Nothing.	Loose jogging bottoms, and a hoodie.	Dirt on face to show battle, few scratches.
Christian	Nothing.	Loose jogging bottoms and a hoodie.	Dirt on face to show battle, few scratches.

Locations.

 They are only two main locations used in my opening sequence but another two extra that feature for about 4 seconds in the opening sequence. The main two are:

1. BEDROOM:

In this location I require the bedroom to be seen as a messy place. To achieve this I will be placing clothes around the room, to have the curtains closed so little light can get through the windows to give it a dark feeling. I also need to have a radio placed on the floor of the bedroom so KATE can use it and the opening sequence focuses around the radio a bit.

      2. WOODS:

For this location I will require it to be during the day. I made this decision because on filming the opening sequence I experienced a few problems with my filming of someone running in the dark and not being able to see the footage. The woods at winter will have no leaves but this adds to the spookiness. If it is possible I will try and get the footage to be either at sunrise or sunset. 

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The less major locations will include:

1. STAIRCASE:

I will be using this location to show KATE packing and leaving the house, I will use the natural daylight to light the scene and filming it following the actor coming down the stairs, but also from a side view and from the top of the stairs to get different shots.

      2. HOUSE NEAR THE WOODS: 

This shot will be filmed from a wide angle to show both the house and the people running. I want this end section to be quite fast and so will get many different angles to edit it faster. It will have to be the same light as the lighting from the WOODS to give a fluidity and continuity to the opening sequence.

Production Schedule/Risk Assessment.

DATE & TIME:	SHOT(s):	LOCATION:	ACTORS:	PROPS/COSTUMES:	RISK ASSESSMENT:
23rd December	3, 4, 6, 7, 17, 18, 19, 20, 26, 27, 28.	Untidy Bedroom in house, closed curtains.	JAMES and KATE.	Radio, clothes thrown everywhere, hoodies and/or scruffy clothing.	----
27th December	9, 10, 11, 12, 22, 23, 24.	Woods near the house, in the Daytime.	ROB and Christian.	Just normal clothing, comfortable to run in.	Take care on filming on and hazards to trip over!
28th December	14, 15.	Stairs in the house in the Daytime. Also bedroom.	KATE and JAMES.	2 Suitcases, different clothing than in previous scene.	Hazard on falling down the stairs!
29th December	30, 31, 32.	Outside the house, running from the woods.	ROB and CHRISTIAN.	Normal clothing still comfortable to run in.	Take care of falling over!
2nd January	Any Shots.	Any shots that need re-filming.	Any actors called.	Any used in previous scenes in called.	Any of the above.

The schedule above is planned for the only time that I will be in Belgium for over the Christmas Holidays which is when I am filming. As you can see I have steered clear of any busy day such as Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Eve/Day.

The Risk Assessment and Production Schedule is used to plan my time effectively and show me what I have done, and what may need doing over the holidays. It also emphases the point of care to take when filming, and especially in the woods of tripping over.

Peer Assessment of 1st Edit of Animatic

To start this assessment of by my fellow class mates, I had some negative feedback on the first edit of my animatic. This involved a lot of criticism on how I filmed it and not introducing the Character, Storyline and Location enough in the opening sequence.

As explained in previous posts I have expressed the desire that in my film's opening sequence I was not going to introduce the characters, location and storyline much in my opening sequence. After I completed my audience research I realised that in the opening sequence you did not have to set location, set up characters or have the storyline clear at the beginning. Therefore I have raised a lot enigma codes for the audience to question in the opening sequence.

From the peer assessment, this type of filming apparently raised a few questions that people wanted answered. However to counter that feedback, answering the questions within the first 2 minutes of my opening sequence would ruin the rest of the film as the story would have nowhere to go and would not develop into a climatic ending. This is one reason why I have so many enigma codes within the opening sequence.

Some feedback that I did take on board was to include a wide range of shots within the Point of View (POV) to create a more realistic film to the animatic and allow the character to get somewhere instead of having the voiceover and have one very long shot. When including this into the final edit of my animatic it did give the feel of a longer running shot and therefore I could add more sense of dread and fear onto the audience with the camera shots cutting away. It also gave the feel of a fast paced chase which was an effect I wanted to achieve at the beginning of the film.

Animatic Reflections

Looking back on my animatic has made me see a lot of mistakes that I have happened and therefore has allowed me to reflect on the success or failure of my animatic shots.

Range of Shot Types & Editing Transitions:

In the animatic I didn't include all my point of view shots which would have seemed to make the film have more direction with where they were going. The shots of people running away created the mysterious effect that I wanted from my opening sequence.

The transitions between the titles worked well with the fade out to blacks occurring and therefore not having the titles within shots.

Appropriate Pace & Content for Genre:

At times I feel the pace of my shots at the beginning is a bit slow and it detracts the focus from the film because it is not moving on in a quick pace. However with the point of view shot I feel I needed to have more then one shot to represent the POV to quicken the pace to the film, instead of just having one shot to represent the POV.

Position & Order of Titles:

Throughout the opening titles I feel the titles have followed a conventional order. The transitions between titles and main film shots I feel works well to take the titles out of the film. I also have the titles to switch focus away from one moment of action to another.

Introduction of Characters:

After doing audience research I felt that the establishing characters was not as important as establishing other things such as raising enigma codes in the opening sequence, therefore the characters do not seem to have much identity in the opening sequence.

Introduction of Storyline:

Again I felt that storyline establishment can be developed in the actually film and not in the first 2 minutes of an opening sequence. Therefore the opening sequence doesn't have much in the way of an introduction of a storyline.

Clearly an Opening Sequence:

The enigma codes raised in this opening sequence allow the movie to represent an opening sequence.

Use of Sound:

Although not all the official sound effects and soundtrack I will use in the film, it does still create the effect I want to get across to the audience. There are some sound effects that need to be included into the animatic, such as running footsteps when running through the woods.