Editing opening sequence

After having a few practical lessons with Matt in the editing suite, we brought our editing skills  to our videos. We started by almost splitting the sequence up into three sections and we would edit the first section then move on and edit the second section, then the third section and finally join them together.

What ended up happening was we started with the middle section of our opening sequence and just kept progressing, we got to the point that we decided to just follow the second section through to the last few scenes of our sequence. At this point we then decided to add the first section of our sequence onto the program, we then finished the first cut of the sequence by adding the finishing scene.

All of the clips at this point were very jumpy and it was a very rough cut and all of the audio was very off and at certain points very crackly. Our first aim at this point was to make sure all the clips flowed smoothly together and in doing so it would make the sequence make much more sense. To try to get a perfect transition between shots we would drag the clips slightly to the side, which would give us more space to analyse the clip and then we would stretch out the timeline of shots so we could precisely find where was best to trim the clip.

As seen in the two images below you can see the process we went through to try to get the clips to flow better and a smoother transition.

The several shots of our character digging a hole and then burying the drugs was very challenging and frustrating as we had to find the exact spot which he was holding the shovel and then join that with a clip of our character digging into the ground.  This proved to be challenging as the particular shovel movements were very different in each shot.  We had to overcome this by looking in very close detail at the shots of the shovel and then change the shot to a close up of the actor digging.  

We were very careful to make sure this transition was not jumpy. We also found that if we cropped the clip halfway through the motion of digging it made the footage look very jumpy and something just didn't look correct, even though the transition looked as if it would have worked smoothly.  Finally we tried cropping the clips and transitioning when the actor finished or started the motion of digging rather than half way through.

Research - Style and Font Ideas

Opening title sequences are rarely used in movies, but when they are, you often will remember the movie for that reason.  It will set an image in your head and as its unique and not often used, it likely means it will stay in your memory.

One of the most famous opening title sequence and one of my favourites, is in Steven Spielberg's "Catch me if you Can".  This title sequence tells a story in itself and gives you a very strong idea of the genre and the plot of the movie.  The font is very simple yet it joins into the other fonts and fades away which suggests the theme of the movie i.e that of disappearing and getting away. As you can see in the images the font is very basic, but it blends into the sequence and disappears.

Another strong example can be seen in the James Bond movies.  An opening title sequence is used which heavily portrays the theme of action, with blood often pouring down the screen. Also the fonts used in the Bond films are very different to the fonts seen in Catch me if you Can. The fonts used in the Bond films are used for the purpose of catching the viewer's attention. Over the years the Bond movies fonts have evolved in style.  The early films had very basic fonts and over time there is a font change with every movie, which grabs the viewers attention and makes them more likely to remember a specific movie.  The font and opening sequence along with the music almost form the basis of the "brand" of the film.

For our group I feel a font similar to the fonts below would look good and would fit the genre of action and crime. I'm personally not sure what style would look better as if you look at "Skyfall"
font compared to "Die Another Day" they are very different. I feel that the simplicity of the Skyfall font looks very professional, more so than the others, however the others set the genre on the movie
much clearer of action.

Mise-en-scene video

Shoot day reflection Video

Reflection Video

Shoot day reflection write up

Yesterday we spent the day filming our opening sequence, at first I was nervous, but after ten minutes of shooting I quickly got into it and lost all the nerves. Originally we had planned on using the shed in the woods for only one shot and the garden shed for the rest, but after arriving we decided that the shed in the forest would be much more appropriate even though it was more dangerous, as it fit our opening sequence better.

Firstly, we started with getting a shot of our actor jumping over a fence and running desperately. We then went and got a shot of the actor running into the shed. After this we moved the camera into the shed and captured our actor walking around in the shed and panicking and then opening up the duffle bag. We had to get lots of shots in the shed as we had a few problems with the camera, as when filming we made a mistake and touched the screen which made the camera appear zoomed in, but actually it wasn't, so we had to re film a few shots as soon as we soon realised the mistake.

We then got a shot of our actor talking into a recording device in the shed.  We got a few shots of this to make sure we got the perfect shot, as this was a very important scene for us. After this we soon started to realise that due to the weather and the time frame, that setting up traps would not be feasible. Whilst this was not our original plan, we are happy, as in hindsight we think that the montage of setting up traps would have made the sequence too long and would have not fit with the sequence.

Our next shot was of our actor discovering a spade in the corner of the room and picking it up, this was a close up.  We then got a shot of him leaving the room from outside and then an over shoulder shot of him digging a hole and burying the drugs in the bag.  He then went back to the shed to collect the bag, followed by a shot of our actor texting on his phone his location.  Our final shot of our actor was of him running off.   The last shot of the day was of the shed with two voices in the background, shouting very loudly that they would soon be entering the shed where our actor had just left.  

To film our opening sequence we used a black magic camera with a tripod and we brought lights with us in case they were needed, however we ended up not needing the lights as the natural lighting hitting the shed gave a very nice effect. We used zoom lens and also exposure for the camera setting. 

If I was to do this again a learning from the process would be that I would go with are whole group a few weeks before filming, which would have made us all familiar with the site, when we arrived on the day of filming.

The camera workshops we had done before this, really helped me, as I was constantly remembering to make sure the camera was in focus and to make sure that the correct setting was used on the camera for outside lighting.  I had made this mistake in the workshop, which ensured I didn't do this on the day.