Location scouting and shooting schedule

For my opening, I looked for suitable locations, areas etc. so that I would be able to film effectively. In addition to the outside of my school, I also decided to go to another school (Holyhead) to film in one of the ICT rooms as the ones in my school were unavailable. However, when I talked to the secretary, she said that we couldn't film due to safeguarding and other checks that had to be done, despite the fact that only I would be filmed.

In spite of this, I was allowed to film in a room and along a corridor in a building called The Urban Café; I phoned and asked if I could use an available area. The man at the desk allowed me to use it for my opening - when I arrived, he showed us the way to one of the free rooms, which he unlocked. I began to use the room at 2pm, the time that I was told it would be available, and finished at 2:30pm, when the man locked the door.

I filmed all my scenes in one day (22nd Feb).

New character profiles and casting

As part of my new opening, I decided to have just 1 character instead of 2 so that  I would not have to play 2 parts. The character that I am going to play, Alexis, is a school student who is about to take important exams that will determine whether or not she goes to university; as she wants to ensure that she does go, she decides to steal a memory stick that has the exam papers she'll be sitting.
In the film opening, Alexis will wear a dark coat with a hood and gloves - the colour black connotes danger and mystery, while the gloves simply create mysteriousness as we don't truly know who the character is. Most of the opening, she will have her back to the camera, which will also show her hands and feet - these will portray her as a shady character and create a dark tone for the audience.

New timeline

The timeline that I have created as part of my planning shows the chronology of events that take place in the opening that I am going to film. I have done this so that I can see how the events will take place and correspond with each other.

New storyboard

As well as creating a script and shot list, I also created a storyboard by creating a template in Microsoft Word and printing it out, before drawing some sketches and making notes on types of shot used, what would be happening and camera movement, if needed. Doing this helped me to pre-visualise the opening and see how it could possibly turn out before I even started filming.
 Here are a few shots of my storyboard:

Changes to new shot list

Before progressing with the planning of my film opening, I made a few edits to my shot list by removing what I may not be able to film and adding shots of my character running out of the building and up the path where she would have walked up to enter. I did this so that the opening would be easier to film and developed in terms of the story, but not in a way that would lead to it exceeding the two minute mark set by Ms Ledwidge.

New shot list

To accompany the script I had written, I also created a shot list - like the one that I had before, it would serve the purpose of filming each shot effectively and quickly, along with a chronology of where the shots would go in post-production/editing and a clear sense of how the shots would convey mystery and engage the audience:

1)      Long shot – The top corridor at the end of the day. We can see the occasional cleaner.

2)      Close up – hoovers and black sacks that are being cleared away by cleaners.

3)      Long shot – IT corridor. It is empty except for a few students preparing to head home, and we see the doors to two rooms on it.

4)      Close up – exam noticeboard on the top corridor, with seating plans and posters promoting maths events.

5)      Medium shot – Introduction to the hooded figure of Alexis, who is walking down the top corridor and turns left down some steps.

6)      Medium shot – Alexis walks down the steps and the subsequent corridor, stopping when she gets to the end.

7)      Extreme close up – She looks left and right.

8)      Mid shot – She walks to the IT room furthest away from her.

9)      Close up – Alexis’s hand on the handle as she tries to open the door, only to find out it’s locked.

10)   Close up – Alexis putting her hand in her pocket and taking out a hair grip to unlock the door.

11)   Close up – Lock is picked with the hair grip and the handle is turned.

12)   Mid-shot – Alexis enters the room and scans it for the memory stick, before seeing something silver on the teacher’s desk and walking towards it.

13)   POV/close up – of the silver memory stick, which is taken by Alexis.

14)   Close up – Alexis’s hand putting the memory stick in her coat pocket.

15)   Mid shot – Alexis walks out of the computer room.

16)   POV – She looks left and right of the corridor, checking that there isn’t anyone nearby.

17)   Long shot – Alexis walks out of the door and walks back the way she came, before turning a corner.

Change of plan and script- 2

I decided to use Ms Ledwidge's suggestion of plot (see previous post) and create my own opening, with a few changes. Firstly, I changed the amount of characters from 2 to 1 so that I would only need to play a single character; this subsequently lead me to edit the synopsis and script so it would accommodate the character, as follows:

‘It is exam season, and everyone is stressing out over their revision and studying. However, no one is stressing out more than one student, Alexis, who wants to get top results so she can go to university. She comes up with a plan: steal a memory stick that has the exam papers she’ll be sitting, along with the answers, so she can succeed. When the stick’s theft is discovered and the exams are suspended, it has to be found and returned so that the other students don’t fall behind a year with their studies.’

Scene 1 – Int. corridors around school, the end of the day.

The top corridor of school is empty, except for a few cleaners, who are clearing away black sacks and vacuuming the floors. Pan across the corridor, revealing classroom doors, some open, some closed.

Cut to the ICT corridors; students are preparing to head home.

Cut to a close up of the exam noticeboard. There are seating plans with their subjects on display and posters promoting maths events.

Cut to ALEXIS, wearing a backpack on her back and a black coat with a hood, walking down the top corridor, before turning left and walking down the steps of another corridor, passing empty classrooms and the occasional student. She stops when she gets to the end of the corridor and looks left, then right.

Seeing the corridor on the left, ALEXIS walks to the computer room closest to a set of lockers, then tries to open the door, but to no success. She takes out a hair grip, uses it to pick the lock and turns the handle a second time – the door opens. ALEXIS enters the room and scans it for a memory stick – she sees something silver on the teacher’s desk. She walks towards the desk to see what the silver item is.

CLOSE ON/POV of a silver memory stick that has the exam papers and answers, just what she needs to pass her exams and be able to go to university.

CLOSE UP of ALEXIS pocketing the memory stick.

Cut to her making her way out of the computer room, cautiously checking that there isn’t anyone nearby watching her. Satisfied, she begins to walk back the way she came before turning at a corner.

END OF SCENE 1

Change of plot

When Ms Ledwidge looked over the footage we had edited together so far, she decided that it would be best for us to change the plot slightly - this was because some of the clips showed that the setting was a house, although I had tried to have it filmed in a way where this wasn't obvious.
She decided to have our opening filmed in a school (which was what I initially wanted to do) and gave us some ideas that I later put into a synopsis:

"It is exam season, and everyone is stressing out over their revision and studying. However, no one is stressing out more than one student, Alexis, who wants to get top results so she can go to university. She comes up with a plan: steal a memory stick that has the exam papers she’ll be sitting, along with the answers, so she can succeed. When the stick’s theft is discovered and the exams are suspended, it’s up to a fellow student named Saira to find and return it so that the other pupils don’t fall behind a year with their studies."

Additionally, because Amirah and I had difficulty finding people to play our characters, Ms Ledwidge suggested that we should film each other playing the roles and organise a day after school when we could film.

Storyboard

One of the key stages of planning a film is the storyboard - a series of sketches and notes showing and describing what will happen in a scene, along with camera shots and movements that will be used to tell the story.  For our film opening, I used the script and shot list created by Amirah to pre-visualise, as well as plan, the opening and for use during filming so that we would be able to effectively direct the actors that would play Alex and Agent O'Connor.

Shot List

In order to film our opening effectively and easily, a shot list was created to show all the camera shots that would be used (e.g. long shot, close-up)  and what they would be filming (e.g.  Agent O'Connor pacing the corridors, Alex picking up the jewel).
Writing a shot list would mean that Amirah and I would have a better, clearer and more effective sense of how to film and later edit the opening than if we filmed with just a script and timeline:

1)       Long shot – Agent O’Connor pacing up and down the corridor. The shot will start at the feet and then work its way up to the face.

2)       Extreme close up – A shot of the villains eyes, showing that he is watching the Agent

3)       Medium Close Up – O’Connor looking up at the clock, checking the time

4)       Long shot – The villain slowly walking towards where the spy is pacing. They are slightly crouched down. We only see their lower body.

5)       Medium close up – Introducing the villain, Alex.

6)       Medium Close up – Alex’s hand throwing a tennis ball across the floor where the spy is standing.

7)       Close up – shows O’Connor looking around, trying to find clues for as to where the object came from.

8)       Wide Shot – Agent O’Connor walks away from the door; he goes after the tennis ball.

9)       Mid-shot – Agent O’Connor turns a corner.

10)    Medium close up – showing O’Connor’s hand picking up the tennis ball, and him inspecting it.

11)    Mid-shot – Alex gets up and quickly heads towards the door

12)    Cut in – shows Alex’s hands opening the door, before he goes in.

13)    Close up – the villain looks around quickly once more before heading into the room

14)    Mid-shot – Alex moves towards the object, a pleased look on their face. They put their weapon down (a bat) and reach for their bag.

15)    POV Shot – Alex’s hands taking the jewel from where it is kept.

16)    Long shot – shows Alex zipping up their bag. He hears a noise from outside and turns around to see what it was.

17)    Mid-shot – O’Connor is getting up off of the floor, with the tennis ball in hand

18)    Mid-shot – Shows the Agent walking back towards the door, slightly confused.

19)    Medium close up – O’Connor realises that the door has been left open; he has a shocked expression on his face.

20)    Mid-shot – The Agents moves inside to try and investigate.

21)    Long shot – O’Connor has walked into the room, he realises that the jewel is missing.

22)    Close up – they have a shocked expression on their face.

23)    Medium close up – O’Connor has their back to the villain.

24)    Medium close up – Once the Agent has realised that there was something moving behind them, they turn around to see what it was.

25)    Long shot – Alex running away through the door, you can just about make out that it’s a person.

26)    Mid-shot – O’Connor goes out after the villain

27)    Mid-shot (Placed low down on the floor) – Of the Agent’s feet as they run after Alex

Characters, casting and shooting schedule

The film opening that Amirah and I will make will feature two main characters, Agent O'Connor (the protagonist and protector of the story's important item, the jewel) and Alex (the antagonist, who steals the jewel).
While Amirah chose the names, we both decided that these characters would be able to be played by either male or female actors that would be in our opening, depending on who would be available; Amirah used 'they' rather than 'he' or 'she' in the script, timeline and shot list, although O'Connor is referred to as 'he' in the synopsis. From this we wrote a schedule of the possible rooms that we could film in and the available times we could do it, along with props and resources for filming:

Location: One of the corridors and subsequent classrooms in school

Possible locations:

·         Study block – corridor, computer room and its centre tables

·         ICT 1 – villain hiding behind computer, jewel on centre table. Check w/ Mr Ali for details of unused periods and days. – P2 mon, P1 & P2 Tues P3 4 weds P2 3 Fri.

Times & periods: Actors (can be male or female), myself and Amirah will determine whether it’s either free/study periods, break time, lunchtime or after school during this week or next week - P1 & P2 (Mon, Tues), P5 (Weds), P3 and P4 (Fri).

Cast: Tom, Claire.

Props: wooden sports bat, tennis ball (borrow from PE dept.), prop gun?, jewel in a box, which is in a suitcase (provided by Amirah).

Resources: script, shot list, storyboard, a camera.

Unfortunately, we found out that the students we initially wanted to film were busy with other things and we were also unable to find other students in our year who would be able to film; while most were busy, another refused as she didn't want her face to be shown, despite me saying that we would find a way to avoid this, i.e. film her back and not her front. This led me to propose to Amirah that we could film each other - I would film Amirah playing one character, and she would film me playing the second.

Timeline of opening

After writing the script, mine and Amirah's next task was to create a timeline that would be illustrating the chronology of events in and structuring our opening; in addition, it would help us to understand where the actions would correspond with each other in the editing/post-production stage of the coursework.

The timeline shown below is what was initially constructed before we edited the script to keep within

the 2 minute time frame of the opening.

Script

The first major starting point of our film opening was our script, also known as a screenplay; it features lines of dialogue and directions for a film's characters, as well as camera movements and shots, e.g. panning, point-of-view shot. The script, which was written by my partner Amirah will be used when filming our opening so that we can effectively direct the actors playing the characters.
We had to remember to keep the script short so that the opening's duration would not be longer than two minutes, so I removed the protagonist's dialogue and the fighting parts, replacing it with the discovery of the jewel theft and the protagonist running out to see who stole it.

Script

Agent O’Connor is pacing up and down the corridor, staying close to the door, where the jewel is kept, like they are protecting it. They look tired; they look up at the clock to check the time. Enter the villain, Alex. First shot shows them slowly walking towards where Agent O’Connor is pacing. They are slightly crouched down, trying to hide themselves from O’Connor.

Alex throws a tennis ball across the floor, in front of O’Connor, to try and get their attention. O’Connor sees the ball roll across the floor in front of them. They immediately look around to see where it came from, a confused look on their face as they search the room for answers.

Agent O’Connor moves away from the door, and slowly goes after the tennis ball, to inspect it and get a better look. They turn a corner as they walk away, we can see them reaching down to pick up the ball. As they are doing so, the villain makes a move for it; they head towards the room where the jewel is kept.

Alex opens the door slowly, and looks around before entering at a slightly quicker pace. Alex moves towards the object, a pleased look on their face, showing how happy they are, as they have the jewel in their reach, literally. Alex puts down their bat, and reaches and takes the jewel and in a hurried manner, puts it into their bag.

As they are zipping up their bag, they pause; they hear a noise from outside the door. Alex turns around to see what’s going on. The camera cuts back to the spy and we see Agent O’Connor getting up after they have picked up the tennis ball and heading back towards the door, with the ball in their hand.

O’Connor notices that the door has been left slightly open, and, again with a confused expression on their face, they go inside to try and investigate. They walk into the room only to notice that the jewel is missing, from where they had left it. They have a shocked expression on their face.

Whilst O’Connor has their back to the villain, Alex sneaks past behind him fast. But as they leave, O’Connor notices something moving behind them so they turn around to see a glimpse of someone running away.

O’Connor then quickly runs out after them. We see mid-shots of the Agents feet as they run out of the door.

End of scene one

Idea and synopsis of action film

As part of the film opening planning, Amirah and I decided on a summary that would accompany the opening that we would make, so that the audience would be able to understand what was happening. To correspond with the genre and our research, I came up with the concept of a chase scene that would have arisen due to the theft of an important item - a jewel, which Amirah later used to construct a synopsis:

"When the governments most prized possession is stolen by a criminal who has reserved their seat on top of the UK’s most wanted list, all hell breaks loose. The jewel which was stolen opens the door to some of the nation’s biggest secrets. A war of opposites has begun. Agent O’Connor is assigned one of the most challenging cases he will have come across during his career. And it’s his job to save the country. O’Connor goes undercover to hunt down Alex (the criminal). However, he soon finds out that it’s not as straightforward as it all may seem."

This will also be useful in guiding us when writing the script and shot list, and creating the subsequent storyboard in preparation for filming.

Villain mood board

My partner Amirah also did a mood board as part of our first stage of research into the hero and villain character types - while I looked at pictures related to action heroes, Amirah looked at ones associated with villains of the genre to provide inspiration for our film opening. The photos she put on her mood board are ones that would typically be associated with villains of action films; the jewels and mask (pictured) have been included because in action films, villains often steal valuable things and wear masks to conceal their identities.

Focus Group Responses (Audience Research)

As part of my research into film openings, I conducted focus group style research to look at people's opinions on openings of the action genre and if they differed upon watching the clips I chose for viewing (Jack Reacher and Mad Max: Fury Road). I issued sheets to other students with which they filled out expectations of a typical film opening for films in general and actions films specifically, before watching the openings for the films and writing about what conventions they fulfilled.

Here are the responses so far:

Response #1

·         What do you think makes a great opening for any film?

An opening that doesn’t give a lot of the story away and about the whole film but perceives and unexpected or unpredictable

·         What do you think makes a great opening for a film of the action genre?

When it isn’t predictable unless that gives an overall feel to the movie

·         What conventions/features would you expect from these kinds of films?

I expect there to be levels of violence and suspense. Some that are high levelled and some low.

·         What do you consider to be typical plot lines?

Protagonist

Antagonist

Problem

That involves the world and citizens of the world.

·         For an opening, what are your expectations regarding elements e.g. surprise, tension/intensity etc.?

All of the above plus

Sadness

Happiness

A sudden change in tempo/intensity/ tone

Humour is advised

We don’t want a serious ass atmosphere.

Mad Max: Fury Road https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IJ8_Jf891k

·         Did the clip feature typical action genre conventions? If so, what were they? If not, how were they challenged?

Kind of

Intensity of the music and the cinematography was contrasted by the day and night views but it was very clear like most modern films and that further made the intensity higher. It made me want to further watch the film due to the presence the boy that is unknown to viewer. The beginning was uneventful but slightly graphic; it later progressed, peaking our attention.

·         What elements did you find in the clip?

A sudden change in tempo/ intensity/ tone

·         Did it meet your overall expectations of an action genre opening?

Yes

Jack Reacher https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xPm2I6M97E

·         Did the clip feature typical action genre conventions? If so, what were they? If not, how were they challenged?

It’s very typical of an action movie however during the killing the whole suspense and atmosphere was built up slowly.

·         What elements did you find in the clip?

Suspense and danger

·         Did it meet your overall expectations of an action genre opening?

Yes but also no because it was slow throughout which we don’t see as typical.

Response #2

What do you think makes a great opening for any film?

Something that draws your audience in e.g introduction to a key character or creating tension

·         What do you think makes a great opening for a film of the action genre?

Creating Suspense, either to introduce a protagonist or leading into a initial fight scene.  

·         What conventions/features would you expect from these kind of films?

Fight sequences, mystery story plot

·         What do you consider to be typical plot lines?

An important object, person or information is stolen and the attempt to get it back

·         For an opening, what are your expectations regarding elements e.g. surprise, tension/intensity etc.?

To see tension and building up into an action sequence

Mad Max: Fury Road https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IJ8_Jf891k

·         Did the clip feature typical action genre conventions? If so, what were they? If not, how were they challenged?

Created tension straight away by showing a montage of different shots of the action taking place. Before changing to an introduction of a character and a dramatic car chase scene

What elements did you find in the clip?

Voice over. To tell the audience what the setting is and what the film is based around.

·         Did it meet your overall expectations of an action genre opening?

Yes, it set the atmosphere for the rest of the film

Jack Reacher https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xPm2I6M97E

·         Did the clip feature typical action genre conventions? If so, what were they? If not, how were they challenged?

Establish shots of the setting, I think that long shots are common in the genre as they are a way to establish settings quickly. You also saw some characters however there identity were concealed which is also common.

·         What elements did you find in the clip?

The non-diegetic music really helped to build up the suspense in shots that otherwise could have been ordinary activity someone might do (e.g. driving)

·         Did it meet your overall expectations of an action genre opening?

Yes, it featured a building of suspense and long shots, which are common in the action genre.

These findings show that mystery is an expected convention of action films, along with violence and a problem that forms the basis of the story; respondent #2 specifically mentioned the disappearance of an item or person and an attempt to find them. Both respondents agreed that the two openings they watched (Mad Max: Fury Road and Jack Reacher) featured expected conventions of the action genre e.g. building of suspense, however the first one felt that the opening of JR was slow and therefore didn't consider it to be a typical genre convention. This research will be effective in helping me create my film opening.