Promotional Material for Other Films- City of Bones

The colour scheme of the City of Bones website is black and brown. It is quite a dark background but the browns in it are very bright which contrasts with the darkness around it. The poster is symmetrically balanced. The website creates a supernatural feeling with the circular shape in the background and the strange designs carved into it. The indented audience is teenagers and more specifically, those who have read the books. It is very effective as it does not explain what happens in detail and it makes the audience want to watch the movie. 

Promotional Poster

Planning Part 1

For my website, I will need the promotional poster, the film synopsis, the movie and the character profiles for Blaire, Nate, the parents and Serena and Dan.

I will also need images of each other the characters.

The colour scheme for the website will be black and while as I want to create a spooky and confused feeling.

Self Evaluation and Reflection

Part One

1.Yes, I am satisfied with the final result of my website.

2.The website required less time than i originally thought. At first, I thought that the website would have taken much longer and that I would not have enough time to finish it. However my website was finished at the beginning of the lesson when it was due.

3.No, I am very happy with everything on the website. Except I would have liked to been able to change the colour of the top links that go to each page.

4.If I could start the project again, I would try harder to get the original top links to work as they didn't and I had to replace them with other links that I made.

Part Two

1.My website and poster did turn out the way that I had pictured them, although i would have liked to be able to spend more time on my poster as I believe it could have been much better.

2.The colours of the website and poster do depict the intended genre but it could have been much more clear. Our genre was hard to depict as our movie was confusing.

3.I had all of the necessary resources I needed to complete the site but I had to re-do the synopsis and character profiles as i had lost the ones that I did earlier on in the year.

4.The difficulties that I had were that the iWeb software did not work properly as the links at the top of each page did not work. My movie was also to big to put on the website so Mr Powell had to help me to decrease the size.

5.The planning made it much easier to make the website as i already knew what to do. the flowchart was especially useful because the pages became a bit confusing but the layout of the flow chart made it much easier.

6.The time management issues that I faced were that my poster was very rushed. I should have spent more time finishing my poster instead of rushing to start the website. 

7.I did not take adequate reflection throughout my project. I should have done more reflecting on the process.

8.No, I have not provided enough evidence to support my work.

8.    Have you provided enough evidence to support your work? (Look back at your blogs/journals and think about whether it looks like a whole terms worth of work);

Final Evaluation

The finished product was quite successful. Our film was well done considering the problems that our group had encountered. The filming was done in the allocated time frame although I think if we had more time we could have filmed better quality shots as some were not as good as we would have liked. I also missed out on a lot of the editing process because I was sick. However; I managed to catch up with the rest of the class quickly as the program 'Final Cut Pro' was easy to learn how to use. If I were able to do the film again I would have allocated more time to find more effective ways of filming to achieve a better mood for the film. I would have also spent more time finding music as I think I could have found better songs that fit the mood of the film better. I would have also tried to fing better effects to use while editing the film.

Mise-en-scene

In our film, we are using mise-en-scenein a number of ways. The main props that will be featured in the film are a frypan, a phone and a skateboard. The settings that we will be using are a park, a house, a road and a corner store. Our costumes are regular everyday clothes.

Reflection for Production Task

1. There were some problems that we encountered due to not having a long time for filming. We planned on filming during the holidays but we did not have the time because we were all busy. It was also quite difficult to find a time to film during the weekends because of previous commitments.

2. Some of the time management problems were that we could not film until the second last weekend before it was due as we were unable to get together. We overcame this by, when we could get together, we did all of the filming that was left and were able to film all afternoon which meant we finished it quickly.

3. Our group did not really use the provided templates. The shot list was useful to an extent however we found that we were unable to do all of the shots and we did not effectively use the props list of the shooting schedule.

4. The planning process did help as when we got around to filming we knew our idea well and understood the storyline of our film better. I think the story board and film synopsis were the most helpful as they let us see the film more clearly in our minds and let us finalise the finer points of our ideas.

5. some of the difficulties that arose from the filming process was that it was hard to find a cast. We did not have our final cast until the morning of the day we were filming as some people could not come due to illness. It was also quite awkward during the filming process as I was un sure of what to say during some of the scenes and had to do some improvisation.

6. After reviewing the footage, I believe that the entire film has turned out better than expected. However, I believe that there could be a wider range of shots in our footage. I also believe that we need to re-shoot the ending.

7. Some of the skills, techniques or tricks that I have least from the filming are that it is not necessary to film movies from the beginning. I also learnt that there are ways to film things that make the viewers understand what is happening with out having to actually film them.

Time Code

The timecode is mostly used for synchronisation and logging.

The time code is starting from the left, hours, minutes, seconds, frames

eg.
02:34:26:03

This means that it is 2 hours, 34 minutes, 26 seconds and 3 frames

Filming

The filming for this film was quite difficult as it was hard to find a day when everyone was free. Our shot list was really useful though as when we could film it did not take to long because everyone knew what they were doing and it was very organized. It was also difficult to film at some of the locations we were going to use origianally because we didn't have the time to get there. Our group works well when we are together but as previously stated we do not have much time to work together because of other commitments.

Converting to MPEG Streamclip

1.  Open MPEG Streamclip
2. Drag video file into centre of window
3. Press file
4. Select export to quicktime
5. Ensure the screen matches

Useful Filters

Glow--> Light rays
Image Control --> Brightness and contrast
                        --> Colour balance
                        -->Desaturate
                        -->Levels
                        -->Sepia
                        -->Threshold
Key-->Chroma keyer
Perspective-->Mirror
                  -->rotate
Sharpen-->Sharpen
             -->Unsharp mask
Stylize--> All
Tiling-->Kaleidoscope
          -->Offset

Lighting

Three point lighting
- Back light is behind object
-Key light lights one side
-Fill light lights other side
-Reflector is used to bounce light

Interview With a Vampire Synopsis

The first shot is of the priest is leaning back against the banister while the vampire is walking towards him in a menacing manner. Scary organ music could possibly be playing as it fits in with the church setting and the creepy vampire character. It is a low angle mid shot using the priest’s body language to show his emotions as the shot is from behind him and does not show his face. The vampire is shown face on, slightly to the left. We know the man is a priest because he is wearing the traditional clerical garb. The vampire is wearing old-fashioned clothes.  

Cut to a low angle mid shot showing the vampire up close from the priest’s point of view. The music could be similar but with suspense building up to heighten the mood. The vampire is more visible now and it is obvious that he is in fact a vampire because his clothes are the stereotypical clothes one would normally expect a vampire to be wearing. His face is also quite drawn and looks as though he has been around for a while, he also looks quite angry and mean which shows the audience they should be afraid of him.

Cut a full body shot, it shows the priest running along the altar still clutching the banister… the camera tracks with him, from right to left of screen. It once again is filming from behind of the priest so that you cannot see his face as he runs sideways. The vampire is standing at the right hand side of the frame watching the priest as he runs as if eyeing of his prey.

Cut to a long shot showing the vampire knocking the priest onto the altar and making everything else jump out of place on the table and some things falling off completely. The priest’s clothes are sprayed out under him onto the table, It then zooms out to an extreme long shot where it is seen that above the priest, with the Vampire still on top of him, is Jesus on the cross.

Genre Recipe

Ingredients

1 girl with memory loss

1 dead boyfriend

2 suspicious friends

2 guilty parents

1 fry pan

Take one girl, make her wake up and find that her boyfriend is dead. Add in, one at a time, the two friends whom she questions about his suspected murder. Mix in a few short flashbacks to create the suspense, all the while  making the parents try to convince her not to look any further. Stir in the final flashback where you will find her remembering she were the last one with him aand she killed him. Add in a twist that is it was her parents who gave her memory loss by hitting her with a frypan and Voila! It's done!

Developing the Plot

Short Story Plot Elements

• It should be about an event in a person's life
• It should contain a unifying theme
• It should contain a conflict
• It should contain suspense
• The structure needs to have a simple structure
• There should be a climax
• The setting is important to help with the plot
• You must have a clear understanding of the theme

Protagonists and Antagonists

• Protagonist drives plot forward
• Antagonist tries to stop him

Without a protagonist, the story would be weak and boring as there wouldn't be someone who makes the storyline and drives it. The antagonist is needed to stop the protagonist from reaching their goals.
The antagonist does not necessarily have to be a good guy. It can be either and in some cases both the antagonist and protagonist might be bad or they might both be good. The antagonist just must be able to put obstacles in the way of the protagonist. The antagonist is that who has the most to lose if the goal is achieved.

Story Boarding

• storyboards allow a filmmaker to pre-visualize ideas then refine them
• clearest way to communicate ideas to production crew
• Needs to include shot type
• show camera position/movement using arrows and proper terms
• Include camera action/dialogue/detail
• Include editing techniques

Genre Table

The main film genres:	The major sub-genres	Film categories (not genres):
Action Adventure Comedy Crime/Gangster Drama Epics/Historical Horror Musicals Science Fiction War Westerns	Biographical Films Romance Films Romantic Comedies Mystery and Detective Films Disaster Films Fantasy Films Film Noir Road Films Supernatural Films Thriller/Suspense Films	Animated Films British Films Children’s/Family Films Classic Films Cult Films Documentary Films Serial Films Silent Films

The main film genres	Description of Genre
Action Films	Action films usually include high energy, big-budget physical stunts and chases, possibly with rescues, battles, fights, escapes, destructive crises (floods, explosions, natural disasters, fires, etc.), non-stop motion, spectacular rhythm and pacing, and adventurous, often two-dimensional 'good-guy' heroes (or recently, heroines) battling 'bad guys' - all designed for pure audience escapism. Includes the James Bond 'fantasy' spy/espionage series, martial arts films. A major sub-genre is the disaster film.
Adventure Films	Adventure films are usually exciting stories, with new experiences or exotic locales, very similar to or often paired with the action film genre. They can include traditional swashbucklers, serialized films, and historical spectacles (similar to the epics film genre), searches or expeditions for lost continents, "jungle" and "desert" epics, treasure hunts, disaster films, or searches for the unknown.
Comedy Films	Comedies are light-hearted plots consistently and deliberately designed to amuse and provoke laughter (with one-liners, jokes, etc.) by exaggerating the situation, the language, action, relationships and characters. This section describes various forms of comedy through cinematic history, including slapstick, screwball, spoofs and parodies, romantic comedies, black comedy (dark satirical comedy), and more.
Crime and Gangster Films	Crime (gangster) films are developed around the sinister actions of criminals or mobsters, particularly bankrobbers, underworld figures, or ruthless hoodlums who operate outside the law, stealing and murdering their way through life. Criminal and gangster films are often categorized as film noir or detective-mystery films - because of underlying similarities between these cinematic forms. This category includes a description of various 'serial killer' films.
Drama Films	Dramas are serious, plot-driven presentations, portraying realistic characters, settings, life situations, and stories involving intense character development and interaction. Usually, they are not focused on special-effects, comedy, or action, Dramatic films are probably the largest film genre, with many subsets. See also the melodramas, epics (historical dramas), or romantic genres. Dramatic biographical films (or "biopics") are a major sub-genre.
Epic Historical Films	Epics include costume dramas, historical dramas, war films, medieval romps, or 'period pictures' that often cover a large expanse of time set against a vast, panoramic backdrop. Epics often share elements of the elaborate adventure films genre. Epics take an historical or imagined event, mythic, legendary, or heroic figure, and add an extravagant setting and lavish costumes, accompanied by grandeur and spectacle, dramatic scope, high production values, and a sweeping musical score. Epics are often a more spectacular, lavish version of a biopic film. Some 'sword and sandal' films (Biblical epics or films occuring during antiquity) qualify as a sub-genre.
Horror Films	Horror films are designed to frighten and to invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a cathartic experience. Horror films feature a wide range of styles, from the earliest silent Nosferatu classic, to today's CGI monsters and deranged humans. They are often combined with science fiction when the menace or monster is related to a corruption of technology, or when Earth is threatened by aliens. The fantasy and supernatural film genres are not usually synonymous with the horror genre. There are many sub-genres of horror: slasher, teen terror, serial killers, satanic, Dracula, Frankenstein, etc.
Musical Dance Films	Musical/dance films are cinematic forms that emphasize full-scale scores or song and dance routines in a significant way (usually with a musical or dance performance integrated as part of the film narrative), or they are films that are centered on combinations of music, dance, song or choreography. Major subgenres include the musical comedy or the concert film.
Science Fiction Films	Sci-fi films are often quasi-scientific, visionary and imaginative - complete with heroes, aliens, distant planets, impossible quests, improbable settings, fantastic places, great dark and shadowy villains, futuristic technology, unknown and unknowable forces, and extraordinary monsters ('things or creatures from space'), either created by mad scientists or by nuclear havoc. They are sometimes an offshoot of fantasy films, or they share some similarities with action/adventure films. Science fiction often expresses the potential of technology to destroy humankind and easily overlaps with horror films, particularly when technology or alien life forms become malevolent, as in the "Atomic Age" of sci-fi films in the 1950s.
War (Anti-War) Films	War films acknowledge the horror and heartbreak of war, letting the actual combat fighting (against nations or humankind) on land, sea, or in the air provide the primary plot or background for the action of the film. War films are often paired with other genres, such as action, adventure, drama, romance, comedy (black), suspense, and even epics and westerns, and they often take a denunciatory approach toward warfare. They may include POW tales, stories of military operations, and training.
Westerns	Westerns are the major defining genre of the American film industry - a eulogy to the early days of the expansive American frontier. They are one of the oldest, most enduring genres with very recognizable plots, elements, and characters (six-guns, horses, dusty towns and trails, cowboys, Indians, etc.). Over time, westerns have been re-defined, re-invented and expanded, dismissed, re-discovered, and spoofed.

The major sub-genres	Description of sub-genres
Biographical Films	'Biopics' is a term derived from the combination of the words "biography" and "pictures." They are a sub-genre of the larger drama and epic film genres, and although they reached a hey-day of popularity in the 1930s, they are still prominent to this day. These films depict the life of an important historical personage (or group) from the past or present era. Biopics cross many genre types, since these films might showcase a western outlaw, a criminal, a musical composer, a religious figure, a war-time hero, an entertainer, an artist, an inventor or doctor, a politician or President, or an adventurer.
Romance Films	While most films have some aspect of romance between characters (at least as a subplot) a romance film can be loosely defined as any film in which the central plot (the premise of the story) revolves around the romantic involvement of the story's protagonists. Common themes include the characters making decisions based on a newly-found romantic attraction. The questions, "What am I living for?" or "Why am I with my current partner?" often arise. The appeal of these films is in the dramatic reality of the emotions expressed by the characters. Another prerequisite is that the film has a happy ending (or at least bittersweet) and many would argue that no film with a sad ending may be correctly defined as "romance;" however, this second prerequisite is admittedly disputable and many screenwriters and directors will push the boundaries of the genre in this aspect.
Romantic Comedy	Often considered an all-encompassing sub-genre, romantic comedies sometimes referred to as 'chick flicks’ mostly include formulated romantic comedies (with mis-matched lovers or female relationships), tearjerkers and gal-pal films, movies about family crises and emotional carthasis, some traditional 'weepies' and fantasy-action adventures, sometimes with foul-mouthed and empowered females, and female bonding situations involving families, mothers, daughters, children, women, and women's issues. These films are often told from the female P-O-V, and star a female protagonist or heroine. This type of film became very prominent in the mid-80s and into the 90s.
Mystery and Detective Films	Detective-mystery films are usually considered a sub-type or sub-genre of crime/gangster films (or film noir), or suspense or thriller films that focus on the unsolved crime (usually the murder or disappearance of one or more of the characters, or a theft), and on the central character - the hard-boiled detective-hero, as he/she meets various adventures and challenges in the cold and methodical pursuit of the criminal or the solution to the crime.
Disaster Films	Disaster films, a sub-genre of action films, hit their peak in the decade of the 1970s. Big-budget disaster films provided all-star casts, with suspenseful action and impending crises (man-made or natural) in locales such as aboard imperiled airliners, trains, dirigibles, sinking or wrecked ocean-liners, or in towering burning skyscrapers, crowded stadiums or earthquake zones. Often noted for their visual and special effects, but not their acting performances.
Fantasy Films	Fantasy films, usually considered a sub-genre, are most likely to overlap with the film genres of science fiction and horror, although they are distinct. Fantasies take the audience to netherworld places (or another dimension) where events are unlikely to occur in real life - they transcend the bounds of human possibility and physical laws. They often have an element of magic, myth, wonder, and the extraordinary. They may appeal to both children and adults, depending upon the particular film.
Film Noir	Film noir (meaning 'black film') is a distinct branch of the crime/gangster sagas from the 1930s. Strictly speaking, film noir is not a genre, but rather the mood, style or tone of various American films that evolved in the 1940s, and lasted in a classic period until about 1960. However, film noir has not been exclusively confined to this era, and has re-occurred in cyclical form in other years in various neo-noirs. Noirs are usually black and white films with primary moods of melancholy, alienation, bleakness, disillusionment, disenchantment, pessimism, ambiguity, moral corruption, evil, guilt and paranoia. And they often feature a cynical, loner hero (anti-hero) and femme fatale, in a seedy big city. Film Noir has also developed into a sub-genre called Neo-Noir for more current films which use similar techniques and moods.
Road Films	Road films have been a staple of American films from the very start, and have ranged in genres from westerns, comedies, gangster/crime films, dramas, and action-adventure films. One thing they all have in common: an episodic journey on the open road (or undiscovered trail), to search for escape or to engage in a quest for some kind of goal -- either a distinct destination, or the attainment of love, freedom, mobility, redemption, the finding or rediscovering of oneself, or coming-of-age (psychologically or spiritually).
Supernatural Films	Supernatural films, a sub-genre category, may be combined with other genres, including comedy, sci-fi, fantasy or horror. They have themes including gods or goddesses, ghosts, apparitions, spirits, miracles, and other similar ideas or depictions of extraordinary phenomena. Interestingly however, until recently, supernatural films were usually presented in a comical, whimsical, or a romantic fashion, and were not designed to frighten the audience. There are also many hybrids that have combinations of fear, fantasy, horror, romance, and comedy.
Thriller/Suspense Films	Thrillers are often hybrids with other genres - there are action-thrillers, crime-caper thrillers, western-thrillers, film-noir thrillers, even romantic comedy-thrillers. Another closely-related genre is the horror film genre. Thriller and suspense films are virtually synonymous and interchangeable categorizations. They are types of films known to promote intense excitement, suspense, a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, and nerve-wracking tension. The acclaimed Master of Suspense is Alfred Hitchcock. Spy films may be considered a type of thriller/suspense film.

Sahara Intro

By changing the music in the intro for Sahara, my expectations are changed from when there was the funk type music I thought the film would be about two guys who are friends that are in the navy and do lots of traveling together and have lots of fun to when bad dreams was the music and it was much sadder. The second intro made me think that the movie was about how one of the two men are dead and that the movie would be about how the other man coped with the death of his friend.

Sounds in Film

Music--> Creates mood and emotion

Dialog--> Creates the narrative or storyline

Narration--> Another way of creating the storyline and narrative

Sound Effects --> Creates the mood and makes it more Dynamic

Sources Of Sounds:

Diagetic Sound--> Comes from the images you can see

Non-diagetic Sound--> Sound that is unrelated to the dialog

Editing Techniques

Jump Cut --> When two sequential shots of the same subject and taken from camera positions that are slightly different.

Match Cut--> A cut where the two objects in each shot match graphically.

Dissolves--> A gradual transition from one image into another.

Slow Motion --> Slow motion is most commonly used to stress a specific moment in time.

Montage --> Montage is often used to emphasise and create alternate meanings.

Wipe Transition --> Wipe transition is where one frame replaces another by 'wiping' from one side of the screen to the other.

Still/Thaw/Freeze Frame --> Freeze frame is when one shot is printed on multiple farmes to create an illusion of a still photograph.

Form Cut --> A cut from one scene to the next using similar geometrical or textural value.

Flash Cuts --> An extremely shot shot

Fast Motion/ Time Compression/ Time Lapse --> Multiple frames are played together quickly to create the illusion of time passing.

Tempo/ Rhythm --> The technique of controlling a film's length by changing the duration of clips in a particular pattern.

Jeep Commercial

The rhythm of this commercial goes in time with the music, it is really up beat and quite fast paced. The editing manipulated the passing of time but switching between shots of day and night time quickly for example, the shots of the party during the night and the mountains during the day. This makes it seem as if time is going quickly and that the car will last you a long time. There are many graphic matches in the commercial these consist of how the light of the sparklers turn into the light of the sun and how the lines on the road all match up, even when the background changes

Horror

The five major features that define horror movies are that:

-They often have supernatural elements

-They involve an evil force, event or person

-There is often a lot of death

-They startle the audience

-They use scary music/ dark sound effects