Key Information/Tips

Key information/tips for making an opening sequence:

MAKE SURE IT'S NOT A TRAILER/SHORT FILM
Some people put too much into an opening sequence and give away the whole story, you have to leave your audience asking questions and reason to carry on watching your film

SOUND = 50%
Sound is just as important as the visuals you see when making a film, if your sound does not match your visuals this breaks continuityand your audience will not believe your film, therefore won't bother to watch it (which is what you want!)

FOLEY (SOUNDS ADDED IN AFTER)
Similar to the point above, foley sounds are important to get right and in time with the action happening in your film, again this breaks continuity and your film becomes unbelieveable (not in a good way) - this also reinfocres my first point in that SOUND IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS THE ACTION/VISUALS

THE COMMON 6
The main types of films that students usually create are:
- Saw
- Gangsta Films
- Scream
- Waking Up
- Flashbacks
-Se7en
These are good types of films, but have been done a million times before and aren't very original, so when deciding what type of film you want to base your opening sequence on come up with something different to these 6 types of films.

Opening Sequence To An Action Film

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/buried/

I looked at an opening sequence to a film called Buried. I thought that for an action film it had a very slow opening sequence and wasn't very thrilling. Even though you're not supposed to know the whole story of the film in the opening sequence i felt that it didn't really grab me and make me want to watch the rest of the film. It had snapshots of action film stereotypes such as money but that was the only give away. However, i did like the movement of the titles and the colour scheme as it didn't have many colours and was quite basic.

First Production Meeting

Date: 6th December
Present: Jess, Andere, Josh and Alex
Agenda: Discussing ideas for film/opening sequence

Bullet Points:

• Action Film
• Motorbike? Car?
• Snapshots of actual story
• Use of props
• Video run down areas
• Voiceovers over titles
• Peaceful -> tension chase
• Peaceful music - violins/piano
• Chase music - faster/louder

Action Points:

• Look at opening sequences for action films
• Look at chases/car chases/motorbike chases
• Ideas for setting
• Ideas for storyline

Making A Video

A brake down of everything you need and need to have for making a film.

THE  CREATIVE TEAM
-Executive Producer
-Writer
-Producer
-Director
-Production Manager
-Storyboard Artist
-Camera Operator/Lighting Director
-Sound Technician
-Talent (actors)
-Editor

THE BRIEF/CONCEPT
-States intention and purpose of target audience
-Clear about target audience
-How long the project has to be                            <-- CRITICAL
-Completed in X amount of time
-Limitation (budget,timeline)

PRE-PRODUCTION
-Scripting                                          
-Scene-breakdown
-Storyboard
-Shot list/shooting schedule (where,time needed, different camera angles, when, how long)
-Casting
-Locations
-Equpitment hire
-Catering
-Transport
-Informing people

PRODUCTION (the doing stage)
-Involves shooting of the script
IMPORTANT TO:
- Keep to the budget/time schedule
-Get the accurate shots
-Safety
-Keep continuity
-Quality control (image, sound, performance)

POST-PRODUCTION (editing)
-Offline (rough-cut edit)
-Online (final edit)           <-- ELEMENTS ARE ALL COMBINED
-Sound mix

Opening Sequence Brief

Film the opening sequence of a new fiction film, including titles and a soundtrack to last approximately two minutes.