Monday 12 December 2011

Journal 8/12/2011

For the past two lessons my group have been sitting down and coming up with solid ideas to use in our title sequence. We had a lot of ideas that we discussed and even followed up by trying to come up with a title sequence around it. We eventually came up with one particular idea that we all agreed on and really liked, we were all assigned a few tasks that we should do to try and get the storyboard/planning done as quickly as possible so we could move on to preparing to shoot. I wrote up the storyboard so that another member of the group could draw the shots in, I also researched into other title sequences to look for ideas for music and myself and another member of the group searched different typographies to use. All in all the lesson was very successful and the way we've been arranging the work is helping us to make this title sequence as good as possible.

Friday 9 December 2011

Typography Ideas

This is a certain kind of typography I am very interested in using, I feel that it suits our film very well and links into the plot. The writing is in a style of a typewriter which connotes the police force. Also the way the words are rubbed out looks almost as if they're disappearing, which would link into the whole idea behind the film. 






This was an idea specifically for all the t's in the title sequence as it looks like a cross and involves the religion in the film with the title sequence. Though if we were to use this we would have to think carefully about the typography used for the rest and to make sure it wouldn't clash or look terrible together. So this could possibly limit our primary choice of typography.

In researching the typical codes and conventions of a thriller title sequence, I decided to look at some of the most well known thrillers. The title sequence to sixth sense I found particularly interesting and have even developed some great ideas from. I like the idea of this title sequence being very simple with the music being the main point of tension, however I don't think our title sequence would be quite as simple as this. I was very open to the idea of using music similar to this, I didn't want anything too heavy because our film is all about enigma's and this particular type of music is quite mysterious whilst still telling the audience it will be a tense film to watch.
My group was also very interested in the idea of blacking out part of the shots like they have done in this title sequence, it seems to fit not only our idea well but also the codes and conventions to a thriller. Thrillers usually encourage the audience to think very carefully about the film and engage their minds with a film more than they usually would, by blacking out part of the shot our title sequence would do just that and it would set up yet another enigma. What is blacked out? Is there something that is being purposely hidden from us? 
All in all using the sixth sense as part of my research was very useful and helped me to come up with some good ideas and suggestions to take to the group.

Tuesday 6 December 2011

Covered - First Film Idea



This was my groups first film idea that we presented and pitched to the class. The feedback we had from this was very mixed as it was made clear they understood we had researched and planned well and we used as much detail as we could. We each were assigned a slide we would focus on and in theory take control of, we then came back as a group and discussed what we had included and agreed on each slide. However, it was felt that our idea was not original enough and that our group was capable of a more original interesting film. We did try to make this film as original as we could and we even had some really good ideas for a title sequence, its just very hard to make a dance film original. Therefore the group and I agreed that this idea did lack originality and decided to take the time to come up with a completely new idea in a completely new genre. We have planned out our new film and our new idea suits the group much more, we are currently finishing the powerpoint for the new film 'Enigma'. 

Saul Bass Case Study

Saul Bass was born on 8th May 1920, he was a Jewish-American graphic designer that was very well known for his design in motion picture title sequences. Saul Bass has worked with some of the biggest names in film making and Hollywood such as Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger and Billy Wilder. Saul Bass is also well known for creating logos for companies - one of his most famous being the AT&T bell logo in 1969 as well as their globe logo in 1983. He has been known for creating some of the most recognized logos of the era.
Saul Bass was part of the title sequence industry for more than 40 years and was rediscovered by James L. Brooks and Martin Scorsese who had both grown up admiring his work.

Editing Tekker

  • TAKE
  • SEQUENCE
  • CUT
  • JUMP CUT
  • FADE 
  • WIPE
  • DISSOLVE
  • SUPERIMPOSE
  • MONTAGE
  • INVISIBLE EDITING/CONTINUITY EDITING
  • MOTIVATED EDITING
  • LONG TAKE
  • SLOW MOTION
  • SHOT-REVERSE-SHOT
  • DUBBING
  • EYELINE MATCH
  • MATCH ON ACTION

Sound

Asynchronus: does not derive from source that is visible.
Soundbridge: Adds continuity as sound from one sequence carries on to the next sequence
Foely: Reproduction of everyday sounds such as a crash being made from another source
Parallel: Directs attention specifically, matches what we can hear and see
Contrapuntal: Counterpart to what we see and hear, mismatch/no link
Leitmotif: Repeated theme or phrase used to suggest an idea or character within story
Synchronous: Sound that matches visual images such as dialogue
Non-Digetic: Only audience can hear, often used to create tension
Digetic: Inside frame, both audience and characters can hear sound