Progression from Preliminary Task to the Opening Sequence

Editing

In my Preliminary Task I tried a quick 5 minute edit of adding a gunshot in and this helped me prepare for my Opening Sequence as it gave me an idea of how not to do it . Luckily by the time I had filmed all of my clips for my Opening Sequence, I managed to get use of Adobe After Effects as I knew how to use the motion tracking tool and how to overlay multiple video images and I watched several tutorials of how to get the gunshots look more realistic as most of them had a copyright free videos and audio of gun flares.

Continuity

After shooting and finishing my Preliminary Task, I saw several errors within it such as I change an angle whilst Max is flicking his hair to one where he isn’t which is pretty obvious do in my Opening Sequence I tried not to get any continuity errors by checking each clip right after it had been recorded, unfortunately there were still 2 noticeable errors within my Opening Sequence which one of them was out of my control as the jackets change half way through as they were shot on different days and on the second day my dad used the jacket I previously used. The 2nd error is where in one shot, Dominic is wearing trainers, this is because there was a rush to get this last shot filmed before the sun went down and go dark and we just forgot about the footwear as you can see in the 2 images to left

Mise-en-Scene

For the Preliminary Task we couldn’t focus on Mise-en-Scene as we had to think of the idea and film it in 2 hours so in the background of it there are random chairs and tables so for my Opening Sequence, I made sure that I made an idea that I can easily portray in the Mise-en-Scene. I made sure I had a film for the right setting of the farm with the fields, old machinery, hay and worn out rubber tyres to give an isolated, farm like feel to it. I made sure the costumes looked realistic and believable to their characters with the Farm having old grubby clothes and the Mafia man having a black suit, shirt and waistcoat. For props, I managed to get permission to use the quad bike which really helped to get a realistic sense and outlook of the farmer as well as an old rusty shotgun as farmers typically have them and not shiny new guns like the mafia

Lighting

In the Preliminary Task we managed to luckily find the lights set up just how we wanted them to be as for an interrogation it would usually be a spotlight in the middle of the table with the surroundings black. This showed me that lighting is key to make the scene realistic and as I wanted my Opening Sequence to be in the day time outside I wanted it to be sunny, this was a problem as there wasn’t many sunny days in the filming stage and as I filmed half of the Sequence on one day, I needed it to be sunny for the rest and on that day it was a rush to get it before the clouds went behind the clouds and went dark, sadly by the last shot on the 2nd day the clouds got in the way meaning that it was darker then the rest of the other clips, luckily it wasn’t too noticeable

Camera

In the Preliminary Task, we mainly used one type of angle with the odd angle change so for my Opening Sequence I tried to vary it more, using long shots, establishing shots, high angle shots, low angle and medium shots. I didn’t use the focussing tool as I am not confident using it and I feared it would ruin some shots

Programs

In both my Preliminary Task and my Opening Sequence I used Sony Vegas Pro to edit and render which I find really easy and effective to use. I also used Adobe After Effects for the 1st time on my Opening Sequence for the Gun shots to improve and make more realistic. I had to make sure I knew how to use motion tracking and overlaying videos. I managed this from looking at tutorials and getting the basics of the program understood.

How Does my Opening Sequence Represent Classes, Sexes and Races

In my Opening Sequence the 2 actors are both white males but from different parts of the world. I tried to represent them from different parts of the world by looking at stereotypes of the specific characters by mainly looking at typical clothes and accents they would have. The farmer wore wellington boots, brown cargo trousers, chequered shirt and an old Wax Barbour jacket and an old double barrelled shotgun. These are classic stereotyped clothes and props of a an English farmer from Dorset. To represent the Mafia, I got him to wear a Suit, Black trousers, a waistcoat, a white shirt, a fedora and a black G36C to make him look formal and urban to give a sense of that he isn’t meant to be there. This also shows that he has more money than the farmer.