Story boarding

After presenting to the class we had a very good idea about how our opening title sequence was going to look like however they all differed slightly as we had different ideas. Once we began storyboarding we worked together, offering ideas and shots we thought would be suitable for our OTS. At the beginning we all worked on the story boarding however as Aidan's role in the production is director he took over towards the end making sure everything was practical and adding some of his own ideas as well. Below are pictures of the storyboard. Addionaly the exact props we would need began to become more overt therefore my job has has a lot more direction now.

At the moment as we are still planning and altering small elements of the concept we have not yet decided on the location of the titles however we have discussed possible solutions such as in the photos on the board. We have also decided as a group to use a single picture as a transition between our OTS and the rest of the film if it was to be created. It will involve a lingering shot of one photo before changing into moving film.

Title order- then and now

Modern films and programmes,after cross referencing, all follow a similar structure when displaying titles and credits during the opening title sequence. However After researching older films including classic noir films I realised that they differ widely from films made in the last few decades.

Title hierarchy

After analysing two of the featured title sequences on my blog and looking at others I have come up with a typical order of display. However it is rare when this list is identical to the display on screen as it varies from film to film.

During the 1940s opening title sequences were very basic and were confined to very simple conventions. They often included a series of pictures of simple animations with text super imposed over the top. Unlike modern OTS' they relied heavily on sound to establish a genre and the type of cinematography as the visual elements are limited. Evidence which reinforces this can be shown below in the form of the Maltese Falcon opening title sequence.

 Many different factors have influenced the modern hierarchy of titles within the film industry including Russia. These typically involved including the majority of the credits during the opening title sequence instead of the end credits. This has influenced modern film however the fact that older films had limited individuals working on films therefore there were not as many credits to be displayed.  Below is the opening title sequence of Casino Royale which is demonstrates how title sequences have changed and developed since the 1940s.

Title order for our opening title sequence

Penguin productions presents
In association with 666 Studios
Dog eat Dog
Adam Burton, Maria Hills, Jack Stelson
Will short, Brian Smith, Sam Tyler, Lauren Smith
casting director, Steve Mates
Music producer William Tomsett
executive producer Ryan Johnson
Leading writer, Adam Burton
Director, Aidan Rawlinson

Film footage 1# The alleyway

Today in preparation for filming I, Billy and Aidan went into a location to film the very last piece of film which will be in our opening title sequence. We went to Anglia Square where there are multiple alleyways and small areas which would be perfect for the shot. In the end we filmed in two places in an under path which proved difficult to film 
The reason why the under path was difficult to film was due to the amount of people which used it when we were filming. However after a few failed attempts I acted as a lookout at the other end to warn the others when someone or a group were coming. Below is the first shot of the underpass which gets interrupted and the second which has the same event happening in.

As previously mentioned this became tiresome and the interruptions were effecting the quality majorly so I stood at the other end on lookout and this allowed us to get better results. Finally we managed to film a shot which did not get interrupted however the we decided that the speed Aidan was walking was too past so we asked him to do it again but at a slower pace. The two videos below show both fast and slow version

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The alleyway proved considerably easier and in the end we have decided on using that one in the final opening title sequence however when we filmed it there was a considerable amount of background noise but this should not be a problem as we will be taking the sound out and making our own.

Will's presentation

As Will's main role within our production includes sound,within his presentation he focuses on this heavily and goes into explicit detail on the subject. He comments on what kind of music we will be using in the opening title sequence touching on the matter of creating original music or using loyalty free music. Additionally he shared some inspiration in which he feels could fit well with out concept. Below is a video of Will doing his presentation and a video of the music I refereed to.

A problem with embedding prezis

To add to my research I have created some detailed presentations using the online service called prezi. This allows me to create more interesting and engaging presentations however I have come across a problem when trying to embed them into posts. After I have embedded the code into the post the prezi becomes invisible and cannot be seen. I am going to look into this and work away around it as I think the prezis are very effective at delivering critical background information to noir.

Fake cigarette reaseach

After Christmas we will be filming the opening title sequence so I have been researching and brainstorming where I can get the props we need during the holidays. In particular I have been researching a technique I can use to make cake cigarettes. Below is a link to several websites I have found which may be useful later when I create the prop. The suggested use of tea to act as tobacco is something in which I plan to integrate into my version of the prop.

http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_2247312_make-fake-cigarettes.html
http://www.instructables.com/id/Fake-cigarettes/

Location and setting

Even from the start we were not sure where we were going to film however Aidan has come up with a very promising idea and we are going to film at his mothers work place, a office location where we will have a lot of freedom to film without disturbance if we go on a weekend. The other alternative we have is the dark room which is used for photography within the school. This would also be suitable as we can control the lights very easily to give the right effect. However as it is used on a regular basis it may be impossible to film when we need to therefore Aidan's alternative is a better option regardless of the minimal control of lighting. Below is a presentation Aidan has made featuring location shots and their potential uses.

Aidan's Presentation

Aidan's presentation included a detailed talk about the concept and some ideas about what physically happens  within the opening title sequence. Also he mentions the technicality of the filming and how the OTS is going to be captured. Furthermore he points out what his role within production is. He is going to be directer and be responsible for the overall organisation of the project. To see his presentation click the link below.
Aidans presentation

Presenting our concept to the class

Even though we were collaborately happy with our concept it was important to pitch the idea to others to confirm its validity. We were given a short period of time to prepare a five minute presentation to show to the rest of our peers. Additionally a short brief was given to us detailing the kind of information we had to include. This meant that the five minutes had to include the main concept and what are individual roles are within the project. Instead of speaking in front of the class I constructed a video which covered the necessary points.

I used a program called Camtasia Studio which is a video editing software available to be tested for 30s days for free. I think my pitch benefited from my decision because it made sure I did not leave any points out and ensured that the information I was sharing was clear Below is the featured video in full and a picture of the plan we worked on as a group created beforehand in preparation.

A discussion on props

After discussing together as a group we decided on the time in which our opening title sequence was going to be set. This is extremely important as the time period majorly affects the type of props which are going to be stationed in shot. For example, a type writer would be suitable in a classic noir film however it would not be appropriate for us due to the modern setting.
             Even though this does limit us considerably it does make the generation of props and my part in this process easier as I have easier access to modern props than older ones for obvious reasons.

Analysis of 'Priest' concerning sound

Below is a video I have made concerning how sound it used in film. To accompany the extract I have commentated over it and highlighted key use of the various types of sound. I comment on each and discuss why they are used and the effect they would have on a potential audience.

A change of concept

While on skype discussing potential ideas and concepts we decided to not carry on with our current concept involving a superhero. This is for many reasons but mainly due to how conventional we can make our final opening title sequence. We decided as a group that we could explore conventional noir much  more deeply with another theme which involves more iconic props and other pieces of mise en scene.

Production Log #2

Within this log, edited by Billy, the group discusses ideas which revolve around the concept of using a antihero superhero as a protagonist. However due to other commitments I was not present to meet with the others to inject my input. The following production log includes the others recapping the topics touched upon in this log and I react to this.

Production log #2.5

After the last log in which I was not present in this one is more of a update video for myself where the Will and Aidan recap ideas they talked about previously and I input my opinion on them.

Neo-noir Investigation

Red Riding Trilogy (1974)

Typical	Untypical
Voice over/narrator	Brown tint
Rain in exterior shots	cars
Trench coats	Small town
Crime	British
Death themes	Young protagonist
Substance Abuse	Acoustic guitar music
Weapons/violence	Child victim
Solemn music

Blade Runner (1982)

Typical	Untypical
Large city	Sifi
Smoke/haze	Flying cars
Drug use	Futuristic buildings
interrogation	Synthesised music
Rain in exterior shots	Blue tint

Bound (1996)

Typical	Untypical
Femme fetale	Colour
Heels	Sound collage
Flash forward	Female protagonist
Sexual themes
Jazz music
Gangsters
Money and manipulation

Sound within film

Even though the most prominent factor of film for most people sound, in all its forms, is incredibly important and influential within the scene it is placed. There are five different types of sound within a piece of film and these can be broken down even further into the nature of the sound.

Dialogue: Audible noise which comes from a characters mouth. This could include grunts and moans in combat and standard conversation. This is usually digetic however it may be amplified if it is meant to be particularly impacting within a scene.

Sound effects/Foleying: A collection of sounds which are direct audible reactions to actions. This could include the sound of a door opening or the reloading of a gun. Despite their frequency in film they are one of the most impacting ways of effecting the audience without direct visual display. When this is the case the sound effects are often nondigetic or amplified so they stand out from the rest of the scene. The source of such sounds are varied but the majority of the effects are collected through a process called Foleying, (please see my post about this process for information.)


Silence: Within the use of sound simply leaving it out can be largely beneficial for a scene. Without sound the audience is forced to absorb the film in another way, mainly visually. This can be particularly effective within battle scenes as an audience member can take in the massicur on screen without getting distracting by screams of the clashing of weapons.

Ambiance: This form of sound, in the majority of cases, is nondiagetic and forms a natural base layer of sound for the scene. This type tries to mimic the distinct and subtle sounds of a environment such as distant movement or creaks from thermal contraction in an old building. On many occasions these sounds are reverberated to distort them into something beyond recognition by changing their frequency and blurring temporal characteristics.

Noir Narrative structure example

To enhance our knowledge of how narratives are constructed within noir we ordered a series of plot points into a sensible order which would be suitable for a film noir. After arranging the paper me and Harley were told that we had a different one from the one below . Even though it was not the same as the official one it still worked as a narrative and proves that the conventional points involved in a noir film can be changed around without loosing too much style which links it to noir

To see a typed up version of the below picture please visit Aidan's blog post with the following link

Aidans post

Production Meeting and team roles

Within this first meeting we discussed our initial ideas and offered potential concepts in which we as individual felt would be a good idea. Additionally we seperated the project into parts and who within our group will be responsible for each part. Below is the our first production log, created by Will, which describes our roles and how we are going to accomplish them.

A problem with embedding with Youtube

To try and document our production logs I have been trying to embed YouTube videos from other channels instead of downloading and re uploading them from my channel.  After a series of research sessions online and experimenting  I have found a way to do just that. Above the comment section is the share tap where you can directly creates  post which embeds the video automatically .