Mood boards pt.1

These are the mood boards developed by me, which provide a visual representation of 4 characters from our opening title sequence (the two sets of parents).

№1. The real parents

⧐ Father:

    - wise and knowledgeable 

    - creative, artistic

    - the ambiance of safety and                 protection

    - empathetic 

    - respectful of the wife

    - lives by the values of honesty and     integrity

    - works as a plumber 

⧐Mother:

    - selfless, compassionate

    - introverted, shy

    - warm, caring, loving ambiance

    - humble, fair

    - works as a teacher in a                         kinder garden

    - connects with nature

    - is keen on reading

№2. The fake parents

⧐ Fake Father:    

    - manipulative, dishonest

    - cold

    - ignorant, immoral, self-centred

    - clever, educated, sneaky

    - top priority is money

    - involved in illegal business 

⧐ Fake Mother:  

    

    - narcissistic, self-centred

    

    - keen on fashion, expensive clothes     and jewellery 

    - great self-control, always has her         guard up

    - poker maniac

    - cheater 

    - deep down loves the daughter, but     would never admit it

Second day in the team (teacher feedback)

 Supervisor/teacher feedback (Adam Grant):

Today, we decided on the two best ideas for a potential opening title sequence all the teammates approved of (the kidnapped girl and the gym action pans). Together we evaluated them and concluded that both are doable, affordable as well as unique and captivating. Before having a conversation with the supervisor me, Isi and Zoe agreed the "kidnapped girl" idea was the strongest and our most favourite one. 

Adam reviewed both bullet-pointed action lists and gave us some valuable feedback. As we had a few other ideas as a backup plan, we provided our supervisor with their summary as well. After having a discussion about the possible location, actors for the title sequence based on our favourite idea, Adam came to a conclusion that this idea is indeed the strongest and the most developed out of all the ones we have. He suggested we try to roughly estimate the duration of this sequences, based on each shot we wrote in the action list. Moreover, we were given advice to start thinking and talking about the location, costumes, actors etc. 

After calculating the duration of each shot, we ended up with an approximately 2 minute long opening title sequence, which is perfectly suitable for this type of a project. As a team, we will still review our previous ideas one more time before making our final decision, but, generally, I think that our work is progressing rapidly, which I am undoubtedly pleased with. 

Camera workshop: day 1

Today was our first practical workshop, where we were taught the basics of using sophisticated filming equipment. The camera we were practicing on (and will be filming the opening title sequence on) is Blackmagic URSA mini pro produced by Blackmagic Design. Shooting up to 60 frames per second, this handheld camera has a dynamic range of 14 stops, which helps collect high quality footage. 

In order to have a clear understanding of how this camera works, we applied all the theory told by the teacher on practice. One of the important rules/tips that we were taught is the "yours"&"mine" rule. Its idea is in preventing the camera from being damaged and, particularly, from being dropped. When giving the camera to another person on set, it is important to make sure that individual is aware he/she is about to receive this expensive and relatively heavy filming equipment and, therefore, one should say "yours" before passing it. When the receiver replies with "mine", it means that the camera is safe and it is unlikely to drop on accident. 

Before taking the camera out of the box, we learnt how to set up the two-stage tripod (Vinten). Out of all of the information I processed, these are the main tips of using the tripod correctly:

1. Keep in mind it is quite heavy (thus, be careful when putting it on the ground).

2. Due to it being two-stage, make sure to regulate the height of the first section (=stage) of the tripod's legs before moving on to the second section. It is not a rule, but a useful tip: if one locks the first stage not on maximum height, the second stage on maximum height and while filming decides to set the tripod even higher up, they will have to squat down and move the whole construction up from the lowest part (first stage). It might appear to be inconvenient making all those unnecessary moves, which is why this tip is just a useful advice to apply on set.

3. Make sure, the tripod is facing the right way: in our case, there was a yellow circle, that we had to be facing before attaching the side leg to the tripod head (that helps rotate the camera later on). That side leg needs to be attached to the right from that circle (which can be seen on the centre column).

4. Check whether all the stages of the legs are locked evenly (so that it is not falling to one side) before attaching the camera to it.

There was also a device attached to the tripod, called the "spirit level". It is basically a sealed glass circle, filled with a substance and an air bubble in it. Looking at this air bubble, one can understand how level the surface is (if the bubble is right in the middle, the camera will be perfectly perpendicular to the floor). It helps to make sure that the camera is set perfectly straight and the horizon in the frame is not going to be at an angle. 

It is important to learn how to set the camera up on a tripod, which I found quite tricky to do. The camera should be held by the handle on its top, close to one's chest (there is no point in trying to hold it with a straight arm, it might be hard and also risky). The side leg fo the tripod should be on the right from the camera, when sliding it on the tripod's head. After that one should slide (not push, otherwise it might damage the construction) the camera forward on the plate until it is standing fully on the tripod's head. It is crucial to rotate the side lock of the tripod in order to clamp the camera at the end. We were also told to carefully try and move the camera around to check whether it is held tight. When taking it off, the actions described earlier are just reversed, except it is also necessary to press the release button on the plate's side for the camera to slide off. Throughout the whole process one should be careful about holding the camera in order not to drop it or accidentally let it slide off the plate. Finally, we were told to never unlock one of the tripod's legs without holding the construction at the top, otherwise, the camera will just fall down with the tripod. 

After learning how to set the camera up, we got to see (and try out) how it actually works. In order to make a high quality shot, it is important to regulate the focus. For that, one needs to choose an object far at the back of the shot, zoom in to it (it will be blurry), make the focus sharp and zoom back out to the initial frame. This is done by professionals every time before shooting: the process of changing the focal length (zooming in) and adjusting the focus determines the distance at which the object in the image is sharp. 

Subsequently, we explored what white balancing is and why it is important to change it depending on the filming location. It generally is the way the camera perceives colours in different types of light. Outside the colour temperature is more cool than indoors, where it is usually warm due to the artificial lighting (e.g. lamps). Depending on the location of the scene, the white balancing should be changed. On the touch screen of the camera, there are multiple options, including the outdoor, indoor and customisable lighting. Overall, it regulates the colour palette in the shot, making it look natural in a certain environment. 

At the end of the lesson, we were also told about the significance of exposure in filming. Exposure is the general brightness/darkness of the shot, which can be changed by rotating the blue wheel underneath the sensory screen of the Blackmagic camera. Exposure can theoretically be changed on the editing stage of filmmaking, but it creates more work and might not look as natural. Changing it while filming helps create the desired ambiance as well as keep the objects and actors lit enough and seen clearly. 

To sum up, I enjoyed this workshop a lot, as I gained valuable experience, knowledge and skills in terms of using the filming equipment properly, that will undoubtedly help me when shooting my opening title sequence. 

 

My teammate's action plan

Zoe Case's action plan:

• establishing tilt shot from ground to front of tread mill with women working out. 
• close up front shot of her breathing a little heavy no sweat 
• close up zooms out to mid shot from side of women 
• wide shot of gym ( few people in the background)
• mid shot from side of lifting arm up and other hand tapping monitor
• POV (woman ) check heart rate on monitor of heart rate (97 not too high)
• mid shot from front of women running 
• POV (guy) mid shot from back of gym as the women on treadmill 
• POV (guy) close up maze gaze shot take focus the women’s feet which then tracks up her body 
• Mid shot from the side and the woman starts to slow a little run. 
• Close up pan of the side of the woman’s face to into the mirror where you can see the man in the background
• Extreme close up on the woman's face and she starts to sweat and looks a little scared.
• mid shot from side as she turns treadmill down 
• POV (woman)close up of her pressing buttons down. 
• close up of her taking a deep breathe 
• mid/wide shot that tracks from the front of room as the woman walks to a different machine. 
• POV (woman)pan of the room to see if she sees the man staring 
• over the shoulder shot as she reaches down to pick up weights. 
• POV (guy)mid shot from side male gaze as she picks weight zooms on legs
• POV (guy) male gaze mid shot as she walk to sit on machine  
• POV (guy)close up male gaze on legs and she gets feet into the straps 
• mid shot of women from in front of the machine of her working out
• mid shot of women from the right side of machine of her working out
• mid shot of women from the left of machine of her working out
• POV (guy) watching her work out 
• close up shot of the woman from in front of machine of her working out 
• wide/mid shot from side of the woman as in the background she can see the man
• close up on her face from the side as you can see him in the background 
• extreme close up on the woman's face as her eye tracks to the side (she has noticed the man but just ignores him)
• mid shot of the woman front onwards and she starts to slow her pace
• POV (man ) closer to the woman as she checks the heart rate monitor 
• POV (woman) checks the heart monitor (92)
• close up front on of the woman drinking water from the bottle 
• mid shot of her drinking the water 
• POV (woman) places the bottle down 
• POV (woman) tilts trying to adjust her right legs/feet into the foot straps
• POV (man) 5 feet away from the woman and male gaze of the woman waist 
• POV (man) handheld camera as he takes a step closer to the woman 
• POV (woman) still adjusting the strap 
• POV (man) handheld camera as he takes a step closer to the woman 
• POV (woman) still adjusting strap, begins to sit up and sees the man 
• extreme close up on the woman's face as she is in panic 
• zooms out to close up of the women sitting up with the man out of focus in the frame 
• POV (man) as reaches for the woman's waist and grabs it 
• close up on the woman's waist, moves on the monitor swinging ('140 slow down') 
• camera tilts down and cuts 

 

Bullet-pointed action

 Action list (my idea + merged Iside's idea):

• blurred POV of the girl waking up (vision impairment because of the car accident)
• static mid shot of her seating up
• close-up to her hand reaching out to the bedside table to take the glasses
• static mid shot+ change the angle (e.g. from the table's perspective) of the girl putting her glasses on
• following close-up shot of the girl fixing her hair/yawning in order to expose the scars on her hands
• static mid shot of the girl starting to stand up from bed 
• long shot of her standing beside her bed and stretching for a second
• "over-the-shoulder" shot (through the books on her shelf) + rack focus to draw attention to the object
• following shot (from the back) of the girl walking to the bathroom
• mirror shot with the camera moving away from ECU to the mirror to a mid shot (creates an illusion in the beginning, that there is no mirror, but as the camera moves away, the audiences see it was a mirror after all)
• close-up to her turning the tab on
• "over-the-shoulder" shot (through the objects in the bathroom, like numerous pills), while the girl is washing her face
• static mid shot (profile) of the girl drying her face with a towel
• following close-up shot of her reaching out to a box of certain pills
• mid shot from the mirror's POV, as she can't get a single pill out
• close-up to her trying to get a pill out
• low angle "over-the-shoulder" (through the bin) shot of the girl approaching the bin and throwing the box away
• following shot of the girl walking out of the bathroom (the camera captures her from the front)
• match on action (she approaches the wardrobe) 
• close-ups to the objects in her room (posters, photos, neat clothes etc.) x4
• POV of her tying her shoes (while seating down on the bed) +she is already wearing the school uniform
• floor-level static shot of her standing up and walking away to apply her perfume
• "over-the-shoulder" (through the perfume on a shelf) shot+following shot when she takes the bottle
• close-up of her spraying the perfume (to show the scars again)
• static long shot (door's POV) of her putting the perfume back and grabbing her school bag 
• close-up of her hand approaching the bag
• long shot from the bed of her walking out of the room
• following shot (from the back) of her approaching the main door (to go outside)
• mid shot of her almost standing outside outside screaming "Mom? Dad?" in the direction of the opened door
• close-up to her checking her time (wristwatch)
• mid shot of her standing outside and the parents walking out
• close-up to the dad unlocking the car
• long shot (from the car's POV), as they walk towards it
• following mid shot of the girl getting in the car
• static mid shot from inside the car (the front window's POV)
• close-up to the dad starting the car
• following close-up shot of his hand turning the radio up
• reverse dolly shot of the girl suddenly getting a headache
• close-up to her face
• POV shot (from where she is), looking at the parents on the front seats
• the same POV with the other actors for the parents, in a different location (a flashback)
• as the last two shots keep "glitching" between each other, there is a POV shot of the mom turning around to look at the daughter
• back to the girl's POV, which starts to get blurry
• a following POV of her passing out, the screen fades into black (+the muffled voices can still be heard)

Purely Isi's idea:

My next idea is of this girl she’s kidnapped in the car and then a song starts playing, this song reminds her of her past, therefore we start seeing her memories of her childhood that reminds her of this song playing on the radio. The opening title sequence would be of the scene starting with the girl kidnapped in the car then suddenly the song starts to play and we get a quick flashback of memories of her childhood. She starts  reminding herself of the time spent with her family and there’s short clips of her playing in the garden and laughing and spending time with her whole family United.

First day in the team

 Today, during the lesson people in my media class got randomly allocated into groups, in which they will create their opening title sequences. I appreciate the fact that we didn't get to chose who we'll be working with, as this way we get to bond with individuals we haven't been talking to much before and, therefore, we can explore new perspectives, views, ideas of people in our groups. 

I am a part of one of the four groups in my class, with my teammates being Zoe Case and Iside Montaldo. Due to today's session being the first one we only got to share the ideas we previously generated on our own and make a list of the ones we considered to be the most workable and interesting. None of the opening title sequences we are thinking of shooting are purely one of the teammates' ideas, as we shared our thoughts and combined the plot twists we came up with. This way all of us got involved in this first stage of brainstorming and sorting ideas, which is important, as it set the extremely valuable team spirit. 

Next lesson, we'll work on narrowing the list of ideas down and trying to visualise the production process of each of the sequences in order to decide which one of them works the best in all aspects. At this point I am confident, we'll work well together and we'll be able to develop our project with no major conflicts or arguments. Our thought processes are different, but instead of interfering, they complement 

Opening title sequence idea №4

 Movie plot summary:

This is a dystopia/thriller. Imagine a world where the government tries to lower the population by testing people on their ability to control themselves. As soon as an individual turns 16, they get a chip inserted in their neck and a regulation/rule to follow given (e.g. "you must never have children", "you must never speak", "you must never have a relationship" etc.). If people violate it - they die instantly (the chip releases a poison). Two sisters (18 y.o. and 23 y.o.) live in a poor apartment. Their parents died a few years ago (because of trying to go against the system by extracting the chip from their necks). One morning the elder sister (whose rule is not to ever cry) wakes up with a note in her hand, which says: "Someone in your town was murdered. In 5 days your sister will be framed for killing that person. You have this time to catch me". After waking up and reading this the elder sister starts freaking out and gets extremely anxious. Her younger sibling (who can never speak) tries to calm her down, but she accidentally drops a tear and dies immediately. After reading that note, the younger sister realises she has to find the person, trying to set her up in order to save herself from execution. Was this task given by the government or by a citizen? Should she start by looking for the body or tracing the person who wrote this? And, finally, will she eventually find a way to break the system and have an opportunity to speak again?

Opening title sequence shot types:

The scene, where the elder sister wakes up with a note in her hand. It should start with slow paced close-up shots to the arms of the sofa the sisters are sleeping on, the blanket they are covered with, the hand with the folded note, the necks with small scars (where the chip is inserted), the photo of their parents on a shelf in their room. A long shot and a close-up to the face captures the elder sister waking up (because of some flashlight coming from the window). A low angle shot with a rack focus, changing from the note in the hand to the girls on the sofa. This is followed by a tracking shot, as the elder sister brings the note closer to her. A mid shot reveals the terror on her face as she reads it. A long shot captures the younger sister waking up as well and a mid shot captures her asking if everything is okay with gestures (sign language, because she can't speak). The camera then shots the girls from the back, moving closer to the note they are holding. A close-up to the note, dropped by the younger sister on the floor (short duration, so that the audience can't yet understand what freaked the girls out). An over-the-shoulder and reverse shot to show that the younger sister is trying to calm the elder sister down (without words). The younger sibling gestures "everything will be fine, please, just don't cry", which is shown through a mid-shot. A close-up captures the elder sister dropping a tear and the next close-up captures the younger sister becoming scared. An ECU shows there is blood coming out of the elder sister's ear and a tracking shot captures her touching it and showing to her sibling. A long shot captures the elder sister passing out (and dying) and the younger sibling trying to wake her up. An over-the-shoulder shot shows that the elder sister has died, as her eyes are opened and she is not moving or responding. A tracking mid-shot turning into a close-up reveals the younger sibling covering her mouth, crying and screaming without making a sound. 

Opening title sequence idea №3

 Movie plot summary:

 A thriller about a woman who has been in a relationship with an abusive guy for a long time. She knows that if she tries to break up with him by talking to him about it, he might get too angry and, therefore, dangerous. She, therefore, decides to run away at night and stay at her sister's place for a while. Knowing, she won't be able to hide for a long time, she decides to anonymously hire a killer to murder her ex (otherwise he will never leave her alone). Everything seems to be going as planned till the day the woman finds out the killer murdered the ex's twin instead of the ex himself. (Keep in mind the woman had no idea her boyfriend even had a twin). As soon as she finds out her ex is still alive, she becomes terrified and doesn't even realise how absurd the idea of the "accident murder" or a "mix up between two people" sounds. The woman assumes her ex guessed she would try to kill him, which is why she set everything up in a way that his twin dies instead of him. She then decides to meet up with the killer in order to discuss everything face-to-face and make sure this time everything goes truly according to the plan. While she waits for the killer to contact her and tell her where to find him, she decides to grab a cup of coffee in a cafe next to her sister's apartment. As the waiter brings a receipt to her, she finds a note attached to it, which says "I told you you would never run away". After a while of being the victim in these mind games, living in fear and hiding at her sister's place all the time, the woman receives a photo of herself in the window of the apartment with a text attached: "I know where you live, your sister is in danger. She will be safe if we get back together". Scared to death, the woman follows her ex's wish. As they get back together, he is being all nice, apologising for his mistakes and being a perfect boyfriend. Some time later she notices his laptop being unlocked and she decides to look through it. She finds out he was the killer she hired . To get him into jail she decides to set him up. She erases the dialogue, so that there is no trace of her in this whole story and calls her sister, who was going to record their conversation. She asks him certain questions and makes him confess that he killed his brother. Did he know this was coming and does he have something prepared for such a situation? Will he go to jail or will the police find out the woman was also guilty of that murder (because she hired the killer)? Even if he goes to jail, will he leave the woman alone or will she forever be the victim of his mind games?

Opening title sequence shot types:

The opening title sequence is the part, where the woman is waiting for the killer in a cafe. A long shot from the entrance of the cafe introduces the audience to the setting and the main character. Close-ups to her sunglasses, shaky hands holding the cup of coffee, bruises emphasise she was abused and she is trying to stay secretive at the moment. The mid shot, followed by an ECU reveal the texts on her phone (with the killer). A POV shot of her looking at the floor of the cafe and hearing distant steps (that are getting closer) will be interrupted by flashbacks to her boyfriend and him abusing her (shown through a POV as well). In the flashback only his legs and his fist (ready to hit the woman) would be revealed. An over the shoulder following shot (over waiter's shoulder) captures the waiter walking towards the woman's table to give her the receipt. A close-up shows her spilling the coffee, as the waiter puts the receipt on the table. A POV shot captures her opening the receipt and finding a note inside of it. A mid shot, followed by a close-up reveals a tear falling down her cheek (from underneath the sunglasses), as she holds the note. The camera moves closer to her hands and as she drops the note on the table(along with the cash for the coffee) and quickly stands up from the table, the viewers can see what was written on the note through an ECU ("I told you you would never run away"). A long shot captures the woman leaving the cafe in a hurry. A dutch POV and a dutch long shot as she walks to the exit will imitate dizziness. A following shot will capture her falling down. A slow motion low angle shot will imply she completely passed out. Finally, the shot fades out (into black screen with the name of the movie appearing on top of it). 

Opening title sequence idea №2

 Movie plot summary:

This is a thriller about a 17 year-old girl, who got into a car accident, when she was a child, which led to a complete memory loss of everything in her life before that tragedy. When she woke up from coma, she couldn't even recognise the family she went back home with. Since then she was told to take a certain type of pills throughout her whole life in order to avoid severe headaches, that were a result of the concussion. However, being a teenager, she started forgetting to take her pills regularly, which led to the occurrence of flashbacks to the day of the accident. The things she started seeing did not match with what her family kept telling her for years. The girl got curious whether those pills are actually meant to suppress her memories rather than cure her. She starts to investigate her theory and finds out she was correct. The family she has been living in is not her actual family. She was kidnapped from that hospital 11 years ago. What is she going to do now? Will she confront her "family" about it or will she just run off? Will she decide to find her real family or keep living the life she has right now? 

Opening title sequence shots:

The scene starts with a blurred POV of the girl waking up (because of the accident she has a vision impairment), followed by a mid shot of her seating up and putting her glasses on. Close ups to the scars on her hands and face (from the accident again) should be present while she is in bed as well. A long shot captures her slowly standing up and "over the shoulder" shots (through such objects, like school books on her table, clothes laying around the room) introduce the audience to the setting, while the girl walks to the bathroom. A bathroom mirror shot shows the character's face and as she turns on the tab (close-up), she starts getting flashbacks. A mid shot from the mirror's POV, blurred close-ups, shaky camera movement capture the girl having a sever headache. "Flashbacks" to the day of the accident will be added here while editing. Mid shots from the backseat to the front seat, where her parents were seating, close-ups to the hands of the dad (=the driver), pans to the windows, introducing the location, close-ups to such details like the fabric of the car seats will represent the memories the girl has of that day. A dutch angle mid shot with a handheld camera movement should capture the girl reaching out to the box of pills she has in the bathroom. A close-up will show the pills and a following shot will capture the girl falling down on the floor and dropping the pills. A POV shot (blurred, because she is dizzy) should show how she is trying to drink one of the pills from the ground. A floor level dolly zoom shot should capture her finally swallowing the pill and a static low angle shot should show how she eventually collapses on the floor. A POV shot should show how she is slowly closing her eyes. The titles will be appearing throughout the whole scene and the name of the movie will appear on the black screen as the girl shuts her eyes at the very end of the scene. 

Opening title sequence idea №1

 Movie plot summary:

 This is a psychological thriller/horror about a teenage girl, who gets lost between reality and the world within her dreams. She has always had vivid dreams, but lately they have become too real. To the point that one time after dreaming about being chased, running away and falling down, she wakes up with scratches on her knees. Undoubtedly, she gets concerned. After that from night to night her dreams keep appearing in a logical sequence, where she is walking to an unknown destination, getting further and further every night. One day she wakes up and turns on the TV, where the local news announces that one of the students from her school went missing that night. The awful thing is that the main character wakes up with dirt and soil under her nails this morning, which makes her think she might be guilty of the crime (she might have done something unconsciously while being asleep). She decides it is her responsibility to investigate this crime, but it doesn't seem to work out so well in real life. On the other hand every night in her dreams she finds more and more clues that might be connected to her kidnapped classmate. Will she turn out to be guilty of the crime? Why is her reality connected to her dreams? Will she find the lost student or will she give up? 

Opening title sequence shots:

The scene starts with fast paced long, mid shots and close ups of the girl running on a street in the evening. A POV reveals a silhouette following her and as she looks back, she trips over a stone (or any other object) and falls down on the street. The POV of her falling down is followed by a zoom out from a close-up of her waking up, panting. A long shot sets the location of the action (a neat room, designed in mostly light colours). A mid following shot captures her standing up and walking to the bathroom. A bathroom mirror shot shows how she brushes her teeth and a close-up shows how she turns on the radio to play some music. A mid-shot reveal her dancing while brushing her teeth and hair. A static mid-shot shows how she walks out of the bathroom and a pan captures her walking to her wardrobe to change the clothes. Here, several close-ups should capture the details in her room (e.g. paintings on her walls, photos of her family, a huge amount of books on the shelves, tidy clothes, a perfectly white carpet etc. A close-up shows her quietly  singing the song at the background and a following close-up on her hands shows what clothes she takes out of the wardrobe. A long shot captures her sitting down on the bed (or a chair) to change her pyjamas (pants) to formal school trousers. A POV shot shows how she takes off her sleeping pants and notices the scratches on her knees, that seem fresh. A close-up shows her eyes, that fill with fear and her mouth that stops singing the song. Flashbacks to her running away from someone in her dream appear here and the audience observes the girl holding her head and thinking (in a close-up). A following shot (from the low angle to a normal level) shows how the girl drops a tear.

"Ideas Time" PowerPoint

 "Ideas Time" PowerPoint